Chapter Text
Wymack
David Wymack sighs as he pulls out of Abby’s driveway. Celebrating a big playoff win with the team is nice, especially when everyone decides to come to Abby’s, but wow can they be exhausting. He loves this team, it is his passion and life's work. He would do anything for those kids, that doesn’t mean they can’t drive him mad. Today alone he had to stop Andrew from pulling a knife on Nicky three times, prevent Allison ordering a fox themed bouncy house while drunk and deal with hours of the whole team’s commentary every time he chose to sit beside Abby on the couch.
‘ Oh coach, you are gonna have to learn some better moves than that to score Abby’ and ‘ I know flirting in the stone age it was acceptable to look like an animal, but now you should clean up a bit if you want to impress. ’ Damn kids. Little do they know, he already has Abby, they have been happily dating for close to a year, but choose to keep it private. If the team and their incessant betting found out, he is sure someone would be out hundreds of dollars. He shakes his head fondly as he makes the short drive home.
Just as he is about to park, he remembers he volunteered to go to the court and retrieve Abby’s keys that she left there. Earlier she had been in such a rush to get out and buy enough alcohol for the team, she had left them in her office. Thankfully she had a spare under the doormat for situations like these. Wymack reverses his truck and makes his way to the Foxhole Court.
When he arrives, he shuts off his truck and starts walking to the front door. He is already pushing the key into the lock when he hears a soft voice right behind him. He startles, he hadn’t even heard the approach of this…boy?
“Excuse me s-sir, are you David Wymak?” the kid asks? This boy can’t be older than six years old. He has bright auburn hair and a slender face and big blue eyes. Frankly, the combination is adorable (David will never let anyone know his vocabulary consists of the word cute or adorable). After a second he realizes he still hasn’t answered the boy’s question, so he stops coming up with adjectives to describe the little kid.
“That’s my name” he says in his gruff voice. The voice seems to startle the kid because he flinches back slightly. Now that he looks closer, the kid looks frightened. It may be because he is seemingly wandering the streets in the dark at 2am, or maybe he isn’t fond of adult men. The reaction is so similar to how David himself behaved as a kid, it leaves him unsteady.
“What can I do for you, kid?” Again the kid twitches, it seems he doesn’t appreciate the nickname. He makes a mental note not to say it again. The kid now looks at him and studies David. The youthful face now has a slight furrow in his brow as he scrutinizes every aspect of the coach. David doesn’t think he has ever felt so bare in his entire life. He gets the feeling this is not just an ordinary boy.
“I would like to see Kevin Day, if it’s not too much trouble sir” is what the kid says before promptly passing out. David has just enough time to catch him before his head hits the concrete. It is only now that he is holding the kid that he realizes the kid’s black clothes are wet and unfortunately it is not water. Now he is sitting on the ground outside his court with a bleeding kid in his lap. He doesn’t even know the kids name, age or anything. Most people would not think this was part of the job description when signing up to coach Exy, but over the years with the Foxes he has learned to expect anything.
His first call is to Abby, telling her to get out her medical supplies and he is on his way. He doesn’t have time to spare her any more details which he knows he’ll regret later when she finds out in person. Abby is a soft woman, but man do you not want to be on her bad side. His next call goes out to the one and only Kevin Day, who is most likely black out drunk at this time, but he calls anyway. He has to call 3 times before he actually gets through, which isn’t surprising since it is nearly impossible to wake Kevin once he is asleep. By the time he finally gets an answer he has lifted the boy into the passenger seat and has gotten behind the wheel.
“Coach? What? Do you know what time-”
“Kevin Day, do you want to tell me why the hell there was a 5 year old kid bleeding outside my court asking for you?”
“I-What was his name? What did he look like?”
“Small, red hair, blue eyes ring a bell?”
“Oh my god. Oh my god. Where are you? Is he okay?”
“Be at Abby’s in 5” is all he says before hanging up. He glances at the boy and sees he is still unconscious. He looks peaceful, which is worrying, considering the amount of blood he is losing David fears he could pass on wearing that same expression and no one would notice. The only thing that reassures the man is the steady rise and fall of the kid's chest. He pushes his foot down on the petal and continues to speed down the road. He ends up beating his five minute estimation by 2 minutes thanks to his incessant speeding.
He gets out of the car and lifts the kid into his arms and carries him to the door. He has to knock because he can’t reach for the key while carrying the boy. Before he can even lift his fist from the door, it swings open to reveal a distressed Abby. “Is that a little kid? Is he bleeding? Who’s kid is that?” That last one is an important question he still doesn’t have an answer for so he simply makes his way inside and lays the kid down on the couch. This is when the front door slams open emitting Kevin, the twins and Nicky for the second time this evening (two too many if you ask him.)
Kevin is the one responsible for the door slamming it seems as he barrels his way into the living room. Once he catches sight of the kid he stops as if frozen by the sight of him. After a second he is back in motion, he scoops the kid into his arms and holds him into his chest and starts pacing around the room. “ Nat..Neil...petit diable...Neil I’m here ” Kevin says into the boy's hair. Kevin continues talking but it becomes difficult to understand as he starts crying . The only time he has ever seen his son cry was when he showed up at his hotel room with a broken and bloody hand.
Now Kevin is openly crying as everyone else in the room remains silent. Even Nicky seems to be rendered speechless by the display. The spell is broken when Abby tells Kevin that they need to assess the kid's injuries. Kevin then reluctantly lays him back down on the couch and latches onto the kids hand. Now the questions come. The room is filled with various ‘ who is he? ’, ‘ Kevin, how do you know him? ’, ‘ coach, how did you get a kid? ’ and ‘is he okay? ’
Abby then lifts the kids shirt and once again everyone goes quiet. David would laugh at the effect one small child could have on six adults were the situation not so tragic. The kid's abdomen is littered with scars, most look as though they are from knives, the exception being the imprint of a hot iron on his shoulder. However that isn’t what silenced everyone, everyone in the room seems to be fixated on the newest addition to the boy's scars. Carved into the boys chest in angry red lines is:
‘ Seems you forgot something behind #2 ’
Kevin begins crying more violently now and with ‘sorrys’ in between sobs. Abby gets her kit and promptly begins stitching. The one positive of the situation is that the kid is still unconscious so at least he won’t have to feel any more pain. “Aaron, come help me” the nurse asks, Aaron is quickly by her side helping her heal the boy. Now Nicky is crying too, even though he doesn’t know the boy. Andrew is observing the scene with the same blank expression he has worn since being taken off his meds, but if you look closely you can see in his eye that he is distressed. David doesn’t know what to do with himself.
After all of the kids' gashes have been stitched up, the hysteria from earlier has died down and now the stress of the last couple hours has caught up with everyone. They are all assembled in the den. On one couch sits Nicky, Andrew and Kevin with the child seated in his lap and sleeping back against his chest. Aaron is seated in a chair to Kevin’s left and he and Abby are seated on the loveseat across from the bunch. “Well now seems like a great time from some answers, Day” Andrew says.
Kevin tightens his hold on the boy before answering “Uhh, what do you want to know?” he says clearly, stalling for time. His green eyes are even more vibrant contrasted against his pink and puffy under eyes from crying earlier. “Well, let’s start easy” he proposes, “what is the boy’s name?”
Clearly this was not the easy question Wymack expected it to be if the extended silence it is met with is any indication. Finally Kevin answers “you can call him Neil.” No one comments on his bizarre behavior and for the first time this evening David decides to stick to his I don’t interfere with your personal lives rule by not lingering on the subject (even if this rule doesn’t really apply to his son.) The next order of business is figuring out the relationship between Kevin and the kid. “How do you know him?”
“When I was at the nest, sometimes some of the main branches' associates would pass through on game days or even practice days if some of the higher ups were in the East Tower. One of the people that hung around the most frequently was Nathan Wesninski. I don’t know enough about the main branch to say for sure, but I think he was important to them. Anyway, usually when he would visit, he would bring his son” Kevin gestures to the sleeping boy. “It was rumored that Neil would be joining the lineup when he was of age and that was why he tagged along. I think it was because he loves Exy and the little devil found a way to manipulate his dad into bringing him along under the guise of ‘learning the family business’. Either way, he would be at the nest for a day or two every week or two. Usually he would hang out with me and Jean. Neil is like a brother to us, but he never actually lived at the nest so I don’t know why Riko wrote I left him behind. Neil wasn’t there when the-the thing with my hand happened, if he had been I probably would have snuck him away with me, but the point is, he was never for Riko or Tetsuji to touch…I don’t know what happened since I left.”
“So the scars..those are from..?” Abby inquires even though David knows the answer even before Kevin responds with “his father”. Everything Kevin just revealed is a lot to digest, but it does affirm that the nest is an awful place and Wymack is forever grateful that they were able to get Kevin and now Neil out. They end up staying up and talking for a bit longer before retiring to sleep. It is decided that they will all spend what is left of the night at Abby’s with the cousins taking their usual bedrooms and Kevin staying out on the couch with Neil in case he wakes up. Even though everyone knows that Kevin really couldn’t bear to separate from his long lost brother so soon.
Eventually he falls into a restless sleep filled with memories of his own childhood. Since he can’t sleep anyway, Wymack lays awake that night thinking of a plan. Tomorrow he will call the upperclassmen and alert them of the new development as well as hopefully getting more answers from Kevin and potentially Neil if he feels up to it. He has gone against the Moriyamas for his son and he is willing to do it again if it means that the little boy never gets harmed again.
Kevin
“Oh my god he is so cute!”
“You mean the kid right? Because if you call Kevin cute I might vomit”
“I obviously mean the kid Ally, Jesus christ”
“Sorry Renee”
“Who knew Kevin was so maternal”
“Oh you should have seen him last night. He was holding him so tight I thought his tiny lungs would pop! Oh ya and he was crying like-”
“Nicky, clearly reuniting with Neil was a huge relief to him. We shouldn’t judge how those emotions presented themselves in the moment”
“Sorry Renee”
“Anyway, no one has met the kid yet, well except for Wymack, but he didn’t give us much”
“It’s good that he is coming to us now, I fear if he spent too many of his formative years with limited exposure to people who aren’t Kevin he may have grown up to become unbearable”
“I didn’t even think about that! Or imagine, even worse would be too much Riko”
“Ugh ew no”
“His hair looks so soft I just want to touch it”
“Don’t”
“Geez Andrew, no need to go crazy I wasn’t actually going to”
“Who do you think will wake up first? 20$ says it’s the baby”
“Oh come on, no one is going to take that bet. There is no way that Kevin wakes up on his own, especially with him all cuddly like that”
“Cuddly isn’t a word”
“I bet you 10$ that it is”
This is the specific sound of Kevin’s least favorite alarm clock. He tries to block out the noise of his teammates, but it proves futile when there is no indication of their conversation slowing anytime soon. Eventually he gives in and opens his eyes and comes face to face with eight heads looking down at him. Correction, looking down at Neil. He has no idea what time it is or when the upperclassmen arrived but he wants to tell them all to fuck off. Ya Kevin is definitely not a morning person. He groans and tries to turn away from them before he remembers Neil is still sleeping on his stomach.
Kevin looks down at him and smiles softly. He distantly hears the click of a camera and he knows that that photo will end up on the wall in the lounge, but he can’t find it in him to care. Kevin has been worried about Neil ever since he left the nest. Actually, no, he has been worried ever since he befriended him and found out about what his father did to him. Now it feels so good to finally know that Neil is with him and safe. He will do anything to ensure it remains that way. Kevin looks up to find Andrew looking at him. Andrew also has a kind of softness when observing the boy. It seems even he isn’t immune to Neil’s cuteness. Just wait until he opens his mouth. Neil is a sweet, charming little boy. He can get scared in unfamiliar situations, but once he feels comfortable enough he shines. Whether it is his sharp tongue that is impressive considering he is only 6 (and his insults are beyond the elementary ones Kevin knew at the age) or his sweet and soft side. Either way it is impossible not to adore the kid, hence why after a couple of years together Kevin thinks of him as his baby brother.
He feels Neil stir against his chest and then go very still. He knows he is awake, but is waiting to evaluate the situation further before making it known. Kevin pushes himself into a seated position and then rotates Neil in his lap until they are seated face to face. “Neil, I know you're awake” he starts with. Now Neil starts making exaggerated snoring noises, Kevin rolls his eyes while the rest of the team snickers and observes the interaction, it appears they have the decency not to overwhelm the boy (yet). Kevin moves on to now poking Neil’s cheek until finally the redhead gives up his performance and opens his eyes. He smiles brightly at Kevin and jumps forward to hug him. “Kevin! I was 92% sure it was you I was sleeping on, but now I am 100%.” Oh ya, another thing about Neil is he loves math, specifically statistics (even though he doesn’t really know how they work and usually just adds random percentages to his sentences).
“What was the 8% that made you doubt it was me?” he finds himself asking. “Hmm well you are more buff now, you used to be nice and soft and now you are all lumpy and bumpy” Neil says with a pout. “Also, I used to have to make you do 30 pushups with me on your back before you were awake enough to talk in the morning.” Kevin can’t hold back his laugh and it seems neither can everyone else.
Neil is only now realizing there are other people in the room, which is unusual for him, he must be really out of it after last night. Now Neil retreats back into Kevin as he observes the rag tag group of people assembled. Almost everyone is smiling at him (except for Andrew and Aaron even though they both look more content than usual.) Matt being the human embodiment of a puppy that he is is the first to reach out his hand to Neil to shake. “Hi, I’m Matt Boyd, nice to meet you” Neil looks at the hand carefully for a second before smiling evilly and placing his tiny hand in Matt's large one. “Hi, I’m Nathaniel Wesninski, but don’t call me that unless you want to die”. The room goes silent, then Neil blinks both eyes (he thinks he is winking but doesn’t actually know how). Neil is still shaking Boyd’s hand all the while and Kevin can see the backliner and the rest of the team stifling giggles.
The next brave one to come forward is Nicky. Honestly, Kevin is surprised he was able to restrain himself this long considering the way he has been cooing over Neil’s adorableness since last night. “Hey, I’m Nicky” he says while also extending a hand. Neil seems reluctant to release Matt’s hand, that makes Matt smile and look at Dan and Kevin can read his thoughts to his girlfriends about wanting to adopt Neil. Neil does however let go of Matt in favor of shaking Nicky’s hand. “Hi Nicky, I’m Neil, did you know you are the worst on the team by 12%?” The shock on Nicky’s face is evident, but to his credit he doesn’t falter (probably because he is used to hearing much harsher words from Kevin). Before Nicky can respond, Allison interjects. “Oh no! He is already infected with Kevin!” There are some laughs around the room and Kevin finds himself scoffing at the remark. He was just about to say how proud he is of Neil for using his math powers towards Exy.
“No I’m not. If I was like Kev I would say it more dumbly like this” Neil puts on his Kevin voice that sounds nothing like him (okay maybe a little). “Nicky, you need to get your ass on the court right now. You are the reason this team is a joke. Stop sitting around you lazy fuck!” This is met with a shocked silence. They were probably not expecting a six year old to swear like that, but really that is the least mature content Neil has observed and learned over the years. Soon everyone is laughing though. Even Wymack and Abby who are leaning against the wall next to the door are chuckling softly. Renee and Dan introduce themselves in a similar manner and they get Neil’s soft side. To everyone's surprise, Seth jumps up next and ruffles Neil’s hair. “Hey little man, I’ll make sure you don’t turn into a total loser while hanging out with all these freaks.”Seth is one of the biggest assholes Kevin has ever had the displeasure of knowing and yet he is good with kids? After that, Allison walks up to Neil and points at his little hand that he has extended at her approach. Rather than shaking the hand she picks it up and brings it to her face.
“Neil honey, you are so cute but these nails are disgusting, you are in dire need of a manicure.” Kevin can see her pont, Neil’s nails are jagged and bitten with dirt and even blood underneath. Suddenly Neil jumps out of his lap entirely too excited by the prospect. He now grabs Allison’s hand and examines her pristine nails. “Great idea, lady. I want like yours, but maybe…orange?.” “Of course baby, and it’s aunt Ally to you” she responds with a wink. They all collectively groan except for Nicky who is too happy to join Allison in what is sure to be just the start of turning Neil into their personal live doll to spoil. After reassurances about doing the nails later are made, Neil turns to the last two teammates who have yet to introduce themselves.
Neil points at Aaron, “you’re the grumpy one who played doctor last night” then at Andrew, “you’re the short stabby goalie who said no to Kev”. Andrew and Neil both seem a little too smug at that reminder. The rest of the room seems lost on how Neil could tell apart the twins so easily. Renee and Andrew both are wondering how he knew about Andrew’s knives, but before any of these curiosities are voiced Aaron speaks up. “How did you know about last night, you were unconscious?” Now Kevin goes still. He didn’t even consider this. “Oh, I woke up for a bit and saw Kev there so I just went back to sleep without saying hi”.”What do you mean you went back to sleep? How could you when two people were poking you with needles and stitching you up with no numbing?” Aaron sounds horrified. The only reason they opted out of numbing Neil was that it would take additional time they didn’t have and he was already unconscious anyway. Now across the room Abby looks sick.
“Well, first I closed my eyes, then I counted the sheep until I fell asleep. If you need a more-what's the word Kev?”
“Umm detailed, comprehensive, du-”
“yes comprehensive guide, tell me.”
Now everyone looks a bit sad. It should not be normal for a little kid to easily sleep through pain as though it is nothing. Abby seems to realize that now is as good a time as any to check the stitches though. Neil tells her it is alright to just do it there on the couch and so she lifts his shirt and removes the bandages. A sharp intake of breath can be heard from somewhere and there are lots of whispers of ‘what the fuck’ and ‘holy shit.’ Most of the team looks teary eyes when observing the damage inflicted upon such a small boy. Since the mood is already somber, Kevin decides that now he might as well ask about the message so he can avoid having to bring it up later.
“Neil, why did he write that I left you? What happened after I left?” Neil seems to consider his answer with a concentrated expression on his little face “My dad has been taking me to the nest more, then a little while ago he took me there for a sleepover. It was fun, but not as much as before when you and Jean were there. I even got to play on the court with all the older kids! After that I had a sleepover there for 3 nights in a row, but then Riko came into my room in the night. He picked me up and didn’t listen when I tried to tell him to go away. Then I started yelling at him and calling him an ugly monster and a bunch of other stuff. Then he cut me up and put me in a car and we drove for a really long time, the car didn’t even have a booster seat for me. Then I got told to get out and find you,”
Kevin realizes that this means that Neil was most likely given to Tetsuji by his father, similar to the way Jean was. The only thing that doesn’t add up is why Riko would give him away. I guess maybe he just really wanted to send a message and try and get Kevin to return to the nest. That is truly stupid because if anything this motivates Kevin to stay as far way from the nest as possible in order to ensure they can never take Neil back. Kevin wraps his arms around the boy and whispers “I’m glad you are safe now, I will make sure it stays that way.” Neil gives him one final smile before declaring he is hungry.
Everyone is in motion asking the boy what he wants to eat and what his favorites are. He thinks that Nicky and Matt’s hearts actually break when they hear he has never had pancakes or waffles. “This is such a disgrace, I vow to right this wrong” Nicky declares before getting started on the batter. For once Kevin doesn’t complain about the unhealthy meal. The Foxes all move to sit around the breakfast table while breakfast is being prepared.
“So Neil, how old are you?” Renee asks
“I’m 6 years old, but I’m basically 7.”
“When is your birthday?” She asks.
“January”
“That is 10 months away, you are not almost seven” Aaron scoffs
“Shut up Minyard #2, you couldn’t even succeed in being your own person”
“What! That’s not how twins work. Also that means Andrew isn’t his own person too” He defends
“No”
“What do you mean no?”
“He is the older twin, you copied him”
“What! No! We don’t know if Andrew is older what would even make you say that” Aaron sputters
“It is easy. He knows who he is, you just act like you do. He is older”
Now the table is quiet. This was perhaps one of the most honest observations of the twins. Even after almost two years Kevin isn’t sure if anyone else ever thought of it this way. It isn’t that Aaron doesn’t know who he is as much as he is scared to be as unapologetically himself as Andrew is. This results in him being silently resentful and him putting up a front. Even if what Neil just said is a very simple rendition of that, it is still shocking he could pick up on the dynamic in such a short period of time. Aaron looks totally lost but quickly plays it off as a muttered ‘whatever’. Andrew is studying Neil closely with a slight smirk. The rest of the room has now moved on to debating which twin they think is older until Nicky is done with breakfast.
“So Neil” Nicky says through a mouthful of food, “what do you like to do for fun?”
“Um, I like to play and hang out with Kevin, Jean and some of the other Ravens. Wait! Kevin, do you know where Jean is?”
“Ya, Jean is in California, he is going to play as a Trojan next season” Kevin responds.
“Geez Kevin. Jean always says you have a boner for them, whatever that means. If you are trying to hide him, you are doing a bad job”
“ Oh my god!” “KEVIN!” “I have actual tears in my eyes.” “NEIL BABY!” The entire room bursts into uncontrollable laughter. Neil, having no idea what was so funny about that statement looks perplexed, but seems satisfied that his new friends are happy. Once it dies down again Neil asks if Kevin can call Jean later which he easily agrees to. As strained as his and Jean’s relationship has been since he moved to Palmetto, it has been improving in the few weeks since Renee got Jean out of the nest. Kevin had offered to let his friend heal here is Palmetto, but Jean elected to spend his recovery in California in order to get acquainted with his new team and hope that the healthy distance can help their relationship. Which so far it has.
Once breakfast is done and the plates are cleared, it is decided that they need to get Neil some necessities since he only has the clothes on his back. Coach, or his dad had volunteered to go out and pick some up but there had been many protests because ‘ he wears such heinous things himself, they could never inflict his style upon a defenseless child’. Since telling Wymack about him being his father, they have tried to shift their relationship slowly from less of the brisk coach player dynamic to more of a father son one. It is awkward and clumsy and hard to get used to calling him dad (he rarely does), but they are trying.
It is decided that the upperclassmen will take Neil to the store and the nail salon. This took much convincing from Allison and Neil (Allison demanding that this poor boy needs cheering up and pointing to a pouting Neil with puppy eyes.) It seems they have already found a system to get whatever they want. Before the coach can retract the statement, all six of them are out the door. Now it is the same group as last night that remains (sans Neil obviously).
“Should we really have trusted them with a kid?” Nicky asks nervously in the new silence since half the team's departure.
“Renee is with them” comes Andrew's answer.
“Ok, now that they are out of here, we need to ensure we can keep Neil” his dad says. Kevin has been avoiding the topic since last night. It is true though, they need to come up with a solution, because as it stands right now Nathan could knock on the front door and demand his son back.
After some deliberation, it is decided that they should act while they are ahead. This results in Kevin’s finger hovering over Tetsuji Moriyama’s contact 10 minutes later. His dad had offered to be the one to place the call, but he knows that they will have the best chances if he is the one to do it, since Neil was addressed to him and he is more familiar with the coach.. If this were a year ago Kevin would need to be drunk to make this call, even then he would probably be too scared. Now though, with his family around him and knowing that he is doing this for Neil he is ready to do whatever it takes and finally take his stand.
“Tetsuji Moriyama”
“Hello, Ma-Tetsuji, this is Kevin Day”
“Kevin, I’m assuming you are calling in regards to the Wesninski boy”
“Yes sir”
“The boy is of no use to me, I am not in the business of raising children. You are to do with him as you wish. His father will send his documents to you soon.”
“I-Thank you”
This is met with the sound of the other line hanging up. That was so easy, too easy and yet it still feels truthful. It is true that Tetsuji has no desire to raise kids. He merely tolerated a young Kevin and Riko around the nest, but even then Kevin was a bit older than Neil is now when he moved into the nest. Throughout his entire childhood at the nest the Master was always a coach who only dealt with him on the court, never a father figure. It is unclear why the Master would be in possession of Neil in the first place if he had no intention of keeping him to train, but maybe he just decided it wasn’t worth the trouble and gave him to Riko with the intention of scaring Kevin back to the Ravens.
“Well?” Wymack asks
“They are letting us keep him”
“Just like that? What’s the catch?” Nicky asks
“No catch”
“Kevin, don’t lie to me” Andrew says
“I’m not, I swear. The Ma-Tetsuji said he has no interest in raising another child and said we can keep him. Nathan will send over his documents soon”
“This confirms the kid is super annoying if they are this desperate to get rid of him” Aaron adds
“You're just bitter because he called you the inferior twin” Andrew says
“Am not”
“Just admit that you find him as adorable as the the rest of us” Nicky taunts
Wymack cuts off their conversation by telling them he is going back home to shower and change and he suggests they go do the same if they want to be back for when Neil returns with the upperclassmen. It is only now that Kevin realizes he has blood on his shirt, along with Aaron and Wymack. They decide to go along with the coach's request. Back at Fox Tower Kevin takes the quickest shower of his life, he needs to get back to Abby’s. Even if it has only been a couple of hours, he misses Neil and needs to reassure himself his brother is safe.