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“How goes the unpacking, dear?”
With a quick flick of the shorter man’s wrist, a television is brought to life and pushed up against the wall. Biting his lip in thought, he works his magic again and creates a wooden console around the television, complete with a stereo built into it. It’s modest, but it’s still something to brag about.
“Well, pretty darn easy considering I can just erase and recreate everything.” Marc smiles warmly and gives him a peck on the cheek. “Although, I’m not sure about the placement of the couch and armchair.”
“Allow me, dear. From here to there. Reversion!” In the blink of an eye, the two pieces of furniture swap places. “How about now?” Nathaniel beams and gives his arm an affectionate squeeze.
“It’s perfect.” He sighs wistfully and makes one of the belongings from their old residence appear in his hand. A framed photograph depicts the two wrapped in each other’s arms and smiling, taken on the day they professed their love for each other. Now they no longer needed to hide the treasured item whenever guests came over.
Dans Le Placard is a darling neighborhood that looks pasts people’s… Preferences in regards to partners. The couple only wished they had found this place sooner, and as soon as they bought their new home, Nathaniel wasted no time erasing their belongings with his powers. It wasn’t a lot considering they lived in a one-bedroom studio apartment under the guise of “young bachelors,” but it sure made it all the more easier to memorize their belongings by heart and put them where they’d look nicest.
And now that they had so much more room, it left Nathaniel with so many ideas on how to decorate their new home. One thing’s for sure, he’ll definitely be up all night arranging and rearranging everything. Well, not if Marc has anything to say about it. His darling, his Rainbow, sticking with him even through the worst times. It only makes Nathaniel love him even more.
The tender moment between the two is interrupted when a look of alarm suddenly crosses Marc’s face as if remembering something. He rushes over to the window and stands in front of it. “Not while the curtains are open! We can’t have the neighbors seeing.”
Nathaniel just gives him a look and sets the photo down. “You say while one half of your face is white and the other half is black.” His partner pauses for a moment and steps to the side before anyone sees him. “Oh, c’mere, you.” They meet halfway and Nathaniel rests his hands on Marc’s face. In a second, his monochromic skin is replaced by a light tan complexion. “There you go. Now you won’t look so ridiculous.” The noirette bats his hands away and is about to go back in the kitchen when suddenly, there’s a knock at the door.
“It must be one of the neighbors,” Marc whispers and Nathaniel tries to come up with something to draw in their barely furnished home. “Uh… Draw some moving boxes! Fill them with something , I don’t know. They need to think we’re just moving in.” In a hurry, Nathaniel makes a couple of cardboard boxes of various sizes appear in the living room and even puts a few in the kitchen. “Good?”
“We’re good.”
“Okay.”
They make their way over to the door while fixing up their hair and straightening out their clothes. They give each other a look over once before Nathaniel finally opens the door, letting in a blonde woman and a shorter woman with dark curly hair and a couple of white streaks.
“Hi, neighbors!” The short woman greets them with a bright smile. “Name’s Cosette Bellamy, it is a pleasure to finally meet you both.”
“I’m Zoé Lee, we’re your neighbors to the right. Our right, not yours,” the blonde jokes and hands Marc a small potted ficus. “Sorry, we couldn’t pop in to say hello sooner. A couple of us would have stopped by with a few housewarming gifts but-”
Cosette interrupts with a bit of bite in her voice, “Her mother was in the neighborhood, and as usual, we all pretended we weren’t home.” Zoé shoots her a look. “What? It’s like our little tradition around here. Your mother lets us know she’s on her way, we hide before she gets here, drink a few martinis in our attics, listen to the baseball game on the radio, and go back to our usual normalcy when she’s gone.”
“That explains why the place looked so desolate,” Marc realizes.
“Yeah, to make a long story short, a couple of us are still hungover, and we’re running low on drinks.” She perks up again. “Anyway, welcome to our quiet little suburb of Dans Le Placard. I’m sure you two will just love it here. Oh! Where are my manners? What are your names? Where are you from? How’s your bridge game? Red, you seem like you can play a mean game.”
“It would also be nice to know your pronouns,” Zoé adds.
“Marc Anciel.” He shakes the blonde’s hand. “He and him.”
“Nathaniel Kurtzberg, also he and him.”
“Cosette Bellamy, she, they, and it. And this lovely Marilyn Monroe look-a-like beside me is very much a lesbian, so don’t get any ideas,” she half-jokes, causing Nathaniel to laugh while Zoé fondly rolls her eyes.
“Oh, no need to worry, then.” Nathaniel points to Marc. “This one is about as hetero as the earth is flat.” The two burst out into laughter as Marc and Zoé give each other understanding looks.
Marc quirks an eyebrow. “I can only assume they go both ways.”
“What gave it away, the dreadful puns? Get used to it, dear. The name’s Zoé Lee. I use her, they, and him pronouns,” she introduces. “Stop by for a few drinks if the puns start getting to you.” The laughter soon dies down when two more guests enter the room, making the new homeowners realize that they had forgotten to close their door.
“Oh, I see you’ve got an open-door policy!” The sweater-clad man beamed. The bespectacled man next to him gives a sweet but mousy smile as he eagerly shakes Marc and Nathaniel’s hands. “Jean Duparc and my heaven-sent partner, Austin Tomassian. And I see you’ve met Paris’ favorite sapphics.” Cosette waves him off with a quick, “Oh, stop it.”
“Gosh, it is so darn refreshing to have some new faces around here,” Jean continues. “I love these folks, but sometimes, you just wanna hop in your car and keep driving.” He lets out a boisterous laugh. “I kid, I love it here. I love you guys.” He pulls Zoé and Cosette in for a quick side hug.
Austin smiles at his husband and hands Nathaniel a bottle of wine with a slight bow of his head. “It’s lovely to meet you both. We don’t get many new people around here but just know, you both can pop by any time if you need help unpacking.” He taps one of the large unopened cardboard boxes, and the others are surprised by how easily it tips over. Nathaniel comes up with an excuse on the spot.
“Oh! That’s just a box of… Pillowcases.”
Jean lightly slaps Austin’s arm. “See? I told you it’s not weird to pack pillowcases, ya silly!” They clap their hands together. “Well, Marc, Nathaniel, we best not overstay our welcome, and I’m sure you two have got tons of unpacking to do. As Austin said, let us know if you need an assist, we’ll get our work clothes on, and maybe we can get Denise over here to lend a hand for any heavy lifting.”
“Oh, that’d be lovely, but I think we’ve got things handled,” Marc assures. He shoots Nathaniel a quick knowing look that goes unnoticed. “Thank you, though. We’ll just, uh, give the ficus some water now and put the wine away.”
Austin nods and starts ushering Jean out. “Of course. It was a pleasure meeting you both.”
“Let us know if you feel like brunch!” Jean hollers on their way out. “It’ll be a gas!”
“We better be on our way, too,” Zoé says. “Let the others know the old harbinger of doom is gone and it’s safe to come out.”
Cosette can’t help but joke, “Dear, they’re already out.” Before it could crack another pun, Zoé was already ushering it out and closing the door behind them. After a beat of silence, Marc and Nathaniel let out huge sighs of relief.
“That went well,” Marc chirps. “Doesn’t seem like they suspect a thing. Let me know if you need a hand,” he says to Nathaniel before heading back into the kitchen.
“Alright, let’s get back to business,” the redhead says to himself. With a wave of his hands, the boxes disappear. Taking advantage of his sudden inspiration, he furnishes the living room from top to bottom, giving it a mid-century modern look, including a few paintings on the wall, a comfortable seating area, and even installing a fully functioning chandelier. “Perfect.” But before he could move on to another room…
“Sorry for barging in,” Cosette says when it suddenly opens the door. “I think I dropped my earring and…”When it begins to settle in that the once empty living room cluttered with cardboard boxes is now fully furnished with a gorgeous chandelier, Cosette’s mouth opens and closes as it tries to form words and comprehend how all this is possible. “H-how-”
Nathaniel lets out a slightly forced laugh. “Oh, we just don’t like slacking, ya know? Say, is this your earring?” He opens his hand to reveal a hastily made small gold hoop earring and hopes she won’t be able to tell the difference.
And by some miracle, Cosette forgets about the living room and thanks Nathaniel for finding her earring. “Best be off… Again!” With a wave, she leaves and closes the door behind her right as Marc walks back in with his left hand missing.
After a beat of silence, he says, “So, the sink works.” If life were like a sitcom being filmed live, the studio audience would definitely be having a laugh right at this moment. But this is real life. “Give me a hand, dear?” And Nathaniel does, creating a newly functioning hand, not skipping any details on it either. Marc gives his wrist a quick turn to make sure it works properly.
“Oh, you poor dear,” Nathaniel coos. “How about you help me out in the bedroom, where it’s safe?”
“As long as I’m nowhere near that dreaded sink, lead the way.”
“And right over there with the gorgeous flower bed of tulips is Aurore and Mireille.”
Yesterday came and went, and by the next, the couple found themselves on a tour of their new neighborhood, courtesy of Jean. Nathaniel, ever the introvert, knew the eccentric man would take some getting used to, but put his feelings aside as it seemed Marc was quite eager to take up the brunette’s offer and go for a walk around the neighborhood.
“You’ll easily know who’s who because Aurore never leaves home without a parasol,” Jean continues. “I swear, she must sleep with one of those things! Now, next to them is Denise and Simon, one of our very few married couples around these parts.” Their laughter trails off for a moment. “... Actually, the only one. I guess it pays to look straight, ya know?” With a smile easily replacing their downward quirked lips, they resume the tour.
Nathaniel takes a moment to admire his surroundings. The neighborhood certainly is beautiful. It’s not fancy or too conformist like one of those tract house neighborhoods, just a nice quiet suburb far from the noise and commotion of where they used to live in the city.
“Hi, there!” A blonde woman sporting a curly bob cut greets, scaring Nathaniel nearly half to death. She wastes no time shaking his hand. “The name’s Lacey Greene, two years away from being a spinster according to every old bat I’ve ever met. But you won’t hear me complaining. I got bachelors left and right buying me drinks.”
Before Nathaniel can respond to the very upbeat woman, Jean beats him to it. “Lacey! My beloved!” The two greet each other as if they were old friends. “Oh, I see you’ve met Nathaniel. He and his partner, Marc, are an absolute delight, just moved in at the end of the culdesac.”
“I saw, but I was a little tipsy during Audrey’s visit, and I’m kind of a mean drunk, so they wouldn’t wanna me that chick. Plus, I’m sure you two had a ton of unpacking to do.” The two men glance at each other and awkwardly laugh, though the behavior goes unnoticed by Jean and Lacey, and they laugh along. “Gee, what a fun bunch you are! Please tell me you’re joining us for game night on Friday. There’s gonna be drinks, trivia, spades, drinks, Yahtzee, Crazy 8s, drinks. The whole block just has a blast!”
“Shoot!” Jean smacks his forehead. “How could I forget? She’s right, you need to join. And if Simon flips over the gameboard, we each get fifty euros out of the sucker,” he adds, and they and Lacey have their little banter over the memories.
“What do you think, Nath?” Marc asks the shorter man. “It could be fun.”
“Oh, I guess. After all, the reason we came here was to… You know, be normal,” he whispers, but it seems as though Lacey and Jean are too wrapped up in their own conversation to hear them. “And what better way than by dominating at game night?” Marc smirks. “What?”
“Is someone already getting competitive?”
The redhead hums. “Maybe just a little. I say we go.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” He brings Nathaniel’s hand up to his lips for a quick kiss. “Jean, Lacey? What time is game night?”
The blonde squeals. “At seven sharp. Dress comfortably, because we are going to be at it for hours on end! Though, in between, we may watch a bit of the tube. I hear this American singer, um… Elvis, I believe, is performing tonight. It’ll be his first national television appearance.”
Jean bites his lip. “I’m particularly interested in this one move of his.” Before his mind could drift off, Lacey gave him a swift smack to the back of the head. “Party pooper.” She retorts by sticking her tongue at him. “But again, seven sharp, and prepare to drink a lot. Now, on with the rest of the tour. Simon should be giving the hedges a little trim, so we can pop by for a quick hello.”
Back in the city, Marc had a small job as a scriptwriter for a well-known television network station. Though, due to his appearance, he was mistaken for a woman on his first day, and none of his ideas were taken seriously until everyone heard his voice. But, even after, he wasn’t treated with any sort of respect, had his ideas stolen, and others were given promotions instead of him. He made his keep but knew some people in his exact position made more. If this is what his previous female colleagues are going through at the moment, it’s dreadful.
Well, it was dreadful, now he’s employed at a smaller, but well-respected station. This job, in fact, was another one of the reasons he and Nathaniel moved. He was barely making anything before, the hours were awful, and many of the employees were all a bunch of dolts. Here at the TVi Studio, he made a decent wage to help him and his partner stay afloat while doing what he loved. Not only that but Aurore and Mireille worked at the studio as well, which made things all the more merrier.
With one last Ding! of the typewriter, Marc removes the paper and staples it to a few more pages before setting that down on top of a couple dozen script drafts. Noticing a couple of sheets sticking out of the stack, he taps them back into place to the rhythm of the song someone has playing loudly on their radio. He picks up the whole stack without a bit of effort and passes them along to Aurore and Mireille, the latter of the two immediately crumbling under the sudden weight.
“Here are a couple of drafts for the upcoming shows; just give them a look over, let me know in advance if the studio is making any changes, and I can make a few edits in a jiffy before they hit the teleprompters.”
“Gee willikers,” Aurore gasps, grabbing half of the stack to relieve Mireille. “That was fast!”
Mireille readjusts the stack of papers in her hands to give herself a better grip. “Yeah,” she pants. “Hey, the music wasn’t a bother, now, was it?”
Marc furrows his brow. “In terms of distraction from work, or the largely nonsensical nature of the lyrics?”
“... Yes.”
“Oh, then no.”
Noticing the odd look across Marc’s face, Mireille asks, “Hey, is something wrong?”
The noirette blinks, not at all expecting that question, but now that Mireille mentions it. “Not particularly, but would you be so kind as to tell me what sort of shows are filmed and/or broadcasted here exactly? Are news segments broadcasted here across the nation?”
“Nope,” Aurore answers.
“Are talk shows filmed live where they feature chefs and their popular recipes, children with bizarre talents, and up-and-coming bands?”
“So, sir.” Mireille shakes her head. “I don’t believe so.”
Again, he just blinks. Are they not hearing themselves? “... Then, what is the purpose of this studio?”
Instead of giving him a real answer, Aurore just says with an award-winning smile, “Well, all I know is that ever since you’ve gotten here, productivity has gone up 300%.” With that, she and Mireille take their leave, but Marc is only left more confused.
He calls after them. “But what are we producing?” They still don’t give him an answer related to the question, but what Aurore hollers over her shoulder instead, is, “See you for game night!”
Right. He and Nathaniel are attending game night on Friday over at Jean and Austin’s house. He knows that’s something he should be excited about, getting together with his neighbors and hoping Simon flips over a game board or two so he and Nathaniel can get a little extra spending money, but he just can’t shirk the feeling that something is off, particularly how Aurore and Mireille just acted.
They completely ignored his questions. Well, not ignored, but missed the main point. It’s probably only an off day. Nothing to get hung up over.
“Ah, there’s nothing like a cool dip in the pool. It has been tremendous fun for decades and is still the all-time favorite summer recreation. Enjoyed by young and old on a sweltering day, allowing them to have a little fun in the sun or relax on their backs for hours, time certainly hasn’t changed the fun of splashing around, nor the need to cool yourself off in other ways, too. Like… Taking a nice, refreshing sip from a cold bottle of Mendel Mocktails. With ten different flavors, you can have fun without having… Too much fun. Mendel Mocktails still manages to bring wholesome energy to your life, and helps you to continue to forget all of your troubles and woes beyond the tranquil water you so need when the weather is too heated for your liking. So, do yourself a favor. Forget what’s beyond. Have a little fun… But not too much.”
“Women in the workforce. Hilarious, or disturbing?”
“Have we learned anything from the Radium Girls of Orange, New Jersey? The answer may shock you.”
“If there is no end to segregation, how can we move toward the future as humans?”
“Still can’t find that darn Ed Sullivan show,” Jean says as he turns the television’s dial back and forth. His guests, meanwhile, are on the couch setting up for the first game. “Ah, nuts to that. Elvis doesn’t come on for another ten or fifteen minutes. So! What game am I whooping your butts at first?” He takes his seat on the couch right as Austin comes in with a small tray of sandwiches. Partner privileges allowed Jean to get first dibs, of course.
“I thought we’d play a round of trivia,” Aurore beams and holds up the card deck. “Most points by the end of the deck or when we all get tipsy wins whatever they’d like. Whether it be your favorite plates or Denise’s gorgeous espadrilles.” Denise gives everyone in the room a quick warning look. “Quick thing, especially for our new neighbors, this is a couples edition.” She flicks the side of Ismael’s head when he gives a dramatic groan. “Oh, hush. So, prepare for some drama if someone gets an answer wrong.”
“What’d ya say, boys?” Lacey slings her arms around Jean and Austin’s shoulders. “Care to make this a threesome?” Austin chokes on his drink. Jean only laughs at his friend’s choice of words. “Yes, I know what I said. Whip out those cards, sunshine!” Taking a quick swig of her drink, she points to Aurore. “Lay it on me!”
“Lace, you know the rules. The new couple goes first.” Marc and Nathaniel blush a bit when all eyes are on them.
Cosette smirks as they swirl their glass a bit. “This should be good. Let’s poke around in there.”
“Enough,” Denise gently chastises before addressing Marc and Nathaniel. “It’s just a way to get to know you guys, your interests, where you lived before, and if you ever plan on tying the knot,” they croon as Simon takes their hand and kisses the silver band on their ring finger.
A beat of silence passes before the two break out into laughter, followed by everyone else. To cover up their nervousness before it goes noticed, the couple each take a few sips out of their glasses. Well, Nathaniel does, hastily, and just makes about two ounces disappear from Marc’s glass.
“Please, two guys getting married these days is about as likely as a lady mayor,” Zoé snorts.
“Slow down,” Marc whispers to Nathaniel and then has to physically make him set down his glass when he just keeps it up to his lips. “So, uh, what’s the first question, Aurore?”
“Marc, for five points, ‘What is your partner’s favorite pastime?’ ”
“Oh, well he loves painting,” Marc answers easily. “I can’t picture a moment where he doesn’t have a bit of paint on his clothes.” Nathaniel blushes a bit as Jean coos. “And when he’s not painting, he’s sketching for hours on end, even when he should be asleep.” Nathaniel gives him a quick elbow to the arm for the call-out.
“Take the hint, Marc,” Reshma whispers in an exaggerated fashion. “Quit while you can.” Then takes a bite of her sandwich.
Aurore manages to hold back her laughter to say, “Well, judging by Nath’s expression, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that’s right.” Nathaniel nods in confirmation. “Great! Five points to the new neighbors!”
Now, if the laughter had died down sooner, maybe someone would have heard Nathaniel’s hiccup. And maybe they would have noticed the small addition to the card deck on the table.
“This next one is for Team O’Connor-Cabello.” Aurore picks up the next card. “Denise, for five points… ‘Why on earth did you leave the city?’ ”
“It does not say that.” Denise takes their words back when Aurore shows them the card. “It does say that.” They look at Simon, who only shrugs. “Well, gee, Simon’s never told me about living in the city, so… Trick question! You’ve never lived in the city!”
“They’re right,” they confirm and give Denise a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m a suburbs kind of guy until the day I die.”
Now this time, when the laughter is quieter, Marc hears a hiccup slip through the redhead’s lips. Before he can ask if he’s okay, his eyes shoot wide open when another glass of martini appears on the table, somehow but thankfully managing to go unnoticed by the others. The couple exchanges a worried glance that gets interrupted by another hiccup, resulting in a portrait identical to the one hanging on the wall appearing next to it. Nathaniel quickly erases it, only to hiccup again and make the portrait reappear, so he erases that one.
“Don’t worry,” Marc whispers before addressing their hosts. “Jean, Austin, would you mind if I grabbed a glass of water?” He tries so hard not to shudder at his own words. Even Nathaniel can see the fear in his eyes.
“Oh, go right ahead,” Austin says, not noticing another card suddenly appear in the deck. “Hurry back, though. Zoé, Cosette, one of you is up next.”
Marc gets up and makes his way to the kitchen right as Nathaniel muffles another hiccup behind his sweater sleeve. Hurriedly, he looks around for a glass but hesitates when he remembers he has to get water from the sink . “... It can’t hurt you. The water can’t hurt you.” He holds the glass under the faucet and turns it on, his hand shaking as the glass fills up, but once it is half full, the noirette quickly turns the faucet off.
“Okay. You’re fine,” he tells himself, only to trip over a loose tile and cause some water to spill out and land right on his thumb. As he begins to lose his grip when his thumb disintegrates like paper getting wet, he grabs the glass with his other hand before it can hit and shatter on the floor. He hurries back into the living room where Nathaniel is looking more nervous than ever, and hands him the glass. But before he could show him what happened to his hand, Aurore speaks first.
“Great, you’re back just in time for the next question. Cosette, for five points.” Aurore reads the card, “ ‘What on earth are you running from?’ ” Another hiccup slips past Nathaniel’s lips, and suddenly, all eyes are on him now. Did they all hear that?
“Yes, tell us what you are running from, Zoé ,” Denise repeats with a bit of edge in their voice when they say Zoé’s name. When the blonde doesn’t say anything, they sigh. “Mierda, I’ll pick another card.” The card they draw this time reads, “ ‘We can fix this, can’t we?’ ” Still, every eye in the room seems to be on Nathaniel and Marc rather than Cosette and Zoé. The redhead can only nervously laugh and take Marc’s hand into his, vaguely noting how his thumb seems to be missing.
“... Zoé, a-aren’t you going to answer?”
“Come on! Answer!” Jean goads and takes a quick bite of his sandwich. “Golly, how hard is it to answer such a s-simple-” Right, in the middle of his sentence, Jean cuts himself off, reaches for his throat, and gives these short gasps.
“Jean?... Jean?!”
Nathaniel lets out a shuddered breath.
“He’s choking!”
He looks at Marc, who looks at him with an unreadable expression. The noirette looks down at his hand with a brief look of shock.
“Who knows the Heimlich?!”
Nathaniel fixes his hand while everyone’s focus is on Jean, but none help the brunette. All yell at each other to do something, anything, but they don’t know what.
“Help him! Help him! Help him! Help him! Helphim helphim helphim!”
“... Marc, help him.”
It takes a second for Marc to register Nathaniel’s words before he gets up and moves over to Jean. “Airways from blocked to clear. Reversion.” In a small flurry of black and white, a paper airplane of those two colors materializes in his hand. He presses the paper airplane into Jean’s neck. The brunette gasps as the color slowly returns to their face and they begin breathing normally once again. Marc helps Jean back up, and there’s nothing but a deafening silence all around the room as no one has anything to say about what just happened. They’re just… Stuck.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis Presley.”
Zoé is the first one to speak. “Ooh! Elvis is on!” As if Jean nearly choking to death never happened, they all turn their attention towards the television and lean in close to get a closer look at the so-called King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. And when the man made his way onto the stage, slick pompadour first, Cosette and Denise had a few things to say.
“What?! Elvis Presley is white?!”
“Who all knew about this? I want names!”
It was a quarter to twelve when Marc and Nathaniel returned home, each fifty euros richer after Simon flipped over a Monopoly game board in a fit of anger when Lacey and Ismael both conned him out of a property.
The moment they set foot in their home, the couple collapse on the couch and sigh.
“That was eventful, now wasn’t it?” Marc kisses the side of Nathaniel’s head and nods.
“... Ya know, when they brought up marriage during that whole thing about wanting to learn about us, I wasn’t thinking much of it, but…” When Marc’s voice begins to trail off, Nathaniel takes his hand, silently asking him to continue. “Seeing Denise and Simon together, and being able to be out in the open… I’m sure it would be nice, right?”
Nathaniel hums. “It would, wouldn’t it?... Hold up your left hand.” Without question, Marc does, and Nathaniel holds his hand up next to his. With his finger, he taps each of their ring fingers and makes two gold bands appear. “What do you think so far?”
The noirette smiles contently at the sight of the bands and wraps an arm around Nathaniel to pull him closer to him. “I think… I’ll wait as long as it takes until we can be together as husbands.” Touched by his words, Nathaniel closes the gap between them with a kiss. It’s weird, but Marc swears he hears soft violin music. “I love you… Platonic roommate.”
Nathaniel snickers. “I love you, too, platonic roommate.”
The two nestle into each other’s arms. It’s no one but them at the moment, and they’d like for it to stay that way. Just them, blocking out the rest of the world.
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“We don’t… t’ll… happen… us.”
“... how are… going…op… m?”
“... otta… in… there!
“TH!... ou… hear me?!... NATH!”