Unplanned Journey

Mako followed Lia out and into the kitchen and found no one there. Looking around he saw PAB and Ggwiyf out on the patio with what looked like a breakfast of assorted fruits, bread ready for toasting over the small fire they had going and several different cereals they had salvaged from the ship. There also seemed to be a large pot of coffee sitting next to the fire. Grinning he pointed towards them, "Looks like we are having breakfast outside today. PAB has gone to a lot of trouble so let's not disappoint him."
They walked outside and he smiled at the big Dragon and the Android. "Good morning to you both. I hope we have not kept you waiting long?"
PAB shook his head. "No, your lovemaking has actually helped me explain a few things about Humans to Ggwiyf that he did not know. It has been highly educational for him and me. We can put up with the slight delay it has caused of breakfast. Besides the Captain and Jason have yet to arrive. I believe there was an issue with the shower again this morning, so Jason is fixing it and the Captain went to bathe in the lake. I believe they will be joining us shortly though."
Mako had not been ready for such a frank answer and blushed a bright red as he looked at Lia. Had they been that loud?

Jason walked out and saw them all outside and began to join them. He walked through the doors and saw Mako blush a bright red but Lia's back was to him and he couldn't see her reaction, but her shoulders had cringed a little. He wondered what had happened this time but decided not to worry about it. Looking around he noticed Lucy wasn't here yet so he put the kettle on the grill over the fire to warm up and began to slice some bread.
"The shower is fixed, so you two get to have hot ones. I need to take a dip in the pool again so I will wait until after that."
Looking at Ggwiyf he smiled. "Is it just me or are you actually getting bigger. I swear you only reached to that stalagmite," he said pointing, " When you first visited, and now you are a good 2 foot past it. You have been holding out on us haven't you Ggwiyf. You are a Juvenile Dragon and are going to grow larger for awhile now," he grinned. "Good for you but I guess I will have to redesign the visitors area for you abit huh?"

Ggwiyf snorted in amusement. " I waz not sure hoow you wood take the news of me being a baaaby. I am raaather yong but strong. Grow up,,be stronger maybe stronger than papa. Take long time though, many moonshifts. What did your elders call...cycle." he said with his version of a grin. "Ggwiyf need at least 3 cycles to become big and strong like papa."

Lucy returned to the patio glad to see almost everyone together. Lia seemed to be having a hard time making eye contact and she wondered what she'd missed.

Lia whispered into her coffee, "Sorry, guys...I'll be more...discreet...next time." She promised.

This made Lucy feel a hint of pity for the other woman. "Lia, don't worry. It's hard to have total privacy in such close quarters but we need it for safety. We'll respect yours and Mako' s privacy in the future as much as possible. Ok?"

Lia nodded minutely.

Ahh now Jason got why the two of them were blushing. Maybe PAB or Ggwiyf had made a comment about their lovemaking. He was going to have to get those rooms finished quickly and insulated so it didn't echo as much throughout the whole house. They deserved their privacy after all. He looked at Mako and gestured with his head signalling him that he wanted to talk in the kitchen then got up and headed inside. Two minutes later Mako followed.

"Look about last night..." Mako started with a worried look.
"Forget about it," Jason smiled at him. "I know you were just trying to help but at the moment nothing is going to happen okay."
Mako gave a sigh but nodded. "Fine, but you would make a great couple."
Jason faked hitting his friend in the head then lightly punched his shoulder. "Look forget about me for a second, we need to get you some privacy. I think I have finally worked out a way to get the insulation from the ship into the walls and use it in the ceilings. Just let me fix the inlet pipe this morning and we can go get enough for at least your room today. That way no one need be embarrassed any more and you two can just be yourselves without needing to watch your volume. After all you shouldn't need to do that," he grinned.
Mako smiled. "You got it, and all the help you need. I will go make sure the buggy is charged."

As he walked off Jason chuckled. Wow it was going to be easy to get on his good side for awhile. He walked back outside to finish his breakfast. He was going to need a big one with all the work he had just committed himself to.

Lia's shyness passed after a little while when she was asked about the progress of the cement weeping cacti. Then, she got quite animated in her description of how unbelievably amazing they are and how big they've grown.

"You Scientists have certainly outdone yourselves when it comes to innovation." Lucy complimented with a generous smile.

They were all finally starting to get their normal rhythm back when Ggwiyf sniffed the air and growled. This made Lucy pause and ask uneasily, "What is it, Ggwiyf?"

"Stormquakes, Ggwiyf hears them on other islands...They comin here soon..."

Lia repeated, "Stormquakes? Do you mean quakes or storms?"

Ggwiyf nodded solemnly, "Stormquakes, is storm and quake. Is bad. It comes soon."

Lucy swallowed her coffee and her mind was already worrying what this stormquake stuff might mean for them. "When?" She asked.

The first tremor hit hard, nearly splitting the floor of the cave, creating a three inch wide crack which swallowed some banapinles and Lia's gardening gloves. The thunder and balls of lightning outside accompanied a sudden downpour of rain. The lightning was like nothing she'd ever seen. It didn't appear to originate from the clouds the rain dumped from, the balls of lightning would build up from the ground, veins of electric mayhem striking anything at random. Terrifying!

Jason and Mako had been outside about to get in the buggy when the large black clouds appeared out at sea. They quickly rolled in and with loud booming noises the rain started to bucket down. It was like nothing either man had ever seen before, no build up just no rain then a drenching downpour.

What came next was even more worrying. As they attempted to tie down the buggy a large fissure opened up in the rock path towards the lake and a ball of lightning shot into the air. They gaped in shock at it only to see another one open up further away but this time the lightning shot sideways, bouncing off several trees before it's force dissipated. Small fires broke out from the heat but the rain soon put them out, what was more worrying was they could feel the ground all around them shaking.

They abandoned the buggy hoping that the job they had done would be enough and ran back inside only to find that they weren't safe from the storm in the cave either. Sure they weren't getting wet but the crevices were starting to appear in here and considering how much metal was now in the cave it was going to get very dangerous.

Ggwiyf had run to his lair to hide and Lia, Lucy, and Pab had run into the house to the room with the least amount of metal in it, the nearest bedroom,which happened to be Mako' s. They ignored the still ruffled sleeping area and all its reminders and implications. Curled up beside the bed they crouched, listening to the destructive forces of nature all around them. When the two guys came into the room looking for them, Lia jumped up and ran to Mako, hugging him tightly in her wide eyed fear. "Thank god you're alright!" She exclaimed, kissing him in greeting just before a lightning strike just outside the door made all three of them jump to get closer to where the robot and Captain still crouched.

Jason had watched Lia run into Mako's arms and for just a second had envied the man. He would have loved it if Lucy had done that to him. Speaking of which he looked at her and found her huddled next to PAB with fear in her eyes. He longed to go and cuddle and comfort her but he knew his advances would not be welcomed at this stage, in fact he was still not sure how he felt about her himself. Was it just because they were the only two beings on this island that could mate that he was attracted to her or were his feelings actually genuine.

All of that debate flew out of his mind when with a loud bang and a crackle they saw lightning running along the pipes in the ceiling. Luckily it appeared to be a minor charge and disappeared quickly without causing harm, still he wished the storm had come a week later. They would have had all their insulation in and this wouldn't be the problem it was today.

Then his eyes fell on PAB again. PAB the android. The one made of plastic and high tensile silicon alloys yes, but with a kevlar, polymer alloy steel framework for his skeletal structure. Oh hell one of those fishers opening near him and he could conceivably be blown to bits or at least have his positronic brains scrambled. "We need blankets and lot's of them. Mats, pillows, whatever we can use for insulation and we need to wrap it around PAB. He has enough metal in him to attract some of this lightning and if we don't want our friends circuits fried we have to cover him up."

PAB opened his backpack to get out the blue uniform coverall, first stepping into that, the soles of his shoes were good for neutralizing any ground level electricity, pulling up the hood, he tied it shut. "Does this help, Sir?" PAB asked.

Jason nodded and then wrapped him up in a big blanket. "This should help as well. You will just have to stay here and hope a fracture doesn't open up in here. Hopefully with this much insulation you won't attract a flare if a large one travels along the pipes. I just wish we knew how long these storms lasted."

Another rumble then tremor shook the place and Lucy moved even closer to the wall, hugging herself as she tried not to envy Mako and Lia who held each other for comfort. To her surprise, Lucy looked up to see Jason looking back her way. "I really hate this." She confided softly to him. "And, poor Ggwiyf is all alone next door too..."

Lia piped up, "When I was a kid we used to all climb into my parent's bed and snuggle and listen to my dad tell stories during really bad storms."

Lucy chuckled, "Well, you've got someone to snuggle you, anyway. I guess if you can remember your dad's stories you're all set, Lia." She teased.

Jason glanced over at Lucy then got up and walked over to her. He wrapped her in his arms and held her tight. "Don't get any ideas Captain this is only for the duration for the storm and is as much for me as it is for you," he told her. It was a lie of course but he hoped she bought it. Well most of it was a lie. He actually did feel a little better cuddling up to her like this.

"Well Lia I for one wouldn't mind hearing a story to take my mind off of this storm. I don't suppose you have one do you?"

She shook her head but Mako grinned and squeezed her tight and cleared his throat. "Well it may not be anything special but here goes." Mako's voice took on that sing song sort of quality all story tellers get when they are telling a tale and he leaned forward a little but away from Lia's ear so he did not deafen her as he tried to be heard over the loud sounds of the lightning.
" This is a tale told to all little boys and girls as they grow up to teach them the value of hard work and to be content with were they end up in life. Once upon a time there lived a stonecutter, who went every day to a great rock in the side of a big mountain and cut out slabs for gravestones or for houses. He understood very well the kinds of stones wanted for the different purposes, and as he was a careful workman he had plenty of customers. For a long time he was quite happy and contented, and asked for nothing better than what he had.

Now in the mountain dwelt a spirit which now and then appeared to men, and helped them in many ways to become rich and prosperous. The stonecutter, however, had never seen this spirit, and only shook his head, with an unbelieving air, when anyone spoke of it. But a time was coming when he learned to change his opinion.

One day the stonecutter carried a gravestone to the house of a rich man, and saw there all sorts of beautiful things, of which he had never even dreamed. Suddenly his daily work seemed to grow harder and heavier, and he said to himself: "Oh, if only I were a rich man, and could sleep in a bed with silken curtains and golden tassels, how happy I should be!"

And a voice answered him: "Your wish is heard; a rich man you shall be!"

At the sound of the voice the stonecutter looked around, but could see nobody. He thought it was all his fancy, and picked up his tools and went home, for he did not feel inclined to do any more work that day. But when he reached the little house where he lived, he stood still with amazement, for instead of his wooden hut was a stately palace filled with splendid furniture, and most splendid of all was the bed, in every respect like the one he had envied. He was nearly beside himself with joy, and in his new life the old one was soon forgotten.

It was now the beginning of summer, and each day the sun blazed more fiercely. One morning the heat was so great that the stonecutter could scarcely breathe, and he determined he would stop at home till the evening. He was rather dull, for he had never learned how to amuse himself, and was peeping through the closed blinds to see what was going on in the street, when a little carriage passed by, drawn by servants dressed in blue and silver. In the carriage sat a prince, and over his head a golden umbrella was held, to protect him from the sun's rays.

"Oh, if I were only a prince!" said the stonecutter to himself, as the carriage vanished around the corner. "Oh, if I were only a prince, and could go in such a carriage and have a golden umbrella held over me, how happy I should be!"

And a prince he was. Before his carriage rode one company of men and another behind it; servants dressed in scarlet and gold bore him along, the coveted umbrella was held over his head, everything his heart could desire was his. But yet it was not enough. He looked around still for something to wish for, and when he saw that in spite of the water he poured on the grass the rays of the sun scorched it, and that in spite of the umbrella held over his head each day his face grew browner and browner, he cried in his anger: "The sun is mightier than I; oh, if I were only the sun!"

And the mountain spirit answered: "Your wish is heard; the sun you shall be."

And the sun he was, and felt himself proud in his power. He shot his beams above and below, on earth and in heaven; he burnt up the grass in the fields and scorched the faces of princes as well as of poorer folk. but in a short time he began to grow tired of his might, for there seemed nothing left for him to do. Discontent once more filled his soul, and when a cloud covered his face, and hid the earth from him, he cried in his anger: "Does the cloud hold captive my rays, and is it mightier than I? Oh, that I were a cloud, and mightier than any!"

And the mountain spirit answered: "Your wish is heard; a cloud you shall be!"

And a cloud he was, and lay between the sun and the earth. He caught the sun's beams and held them, and to his joy the earth grew green again and flowers blossomed. But that was not enough for him, and for days and week he poured forth rain till the rivers overflowed their banks, and the crops of rice stood in water. Towns and villages were destroyed by the power of the rain, only the great rock on the mountainside remained unmoved. The cloud was amazed at the sight, and cried in wonder: "Is the rock, then, mightier than I? Oh, if I were only the rock!"

And the mountain spirit answered; "Your wish is heard; the rock you shall be!"

And the rock he was, and gloried in his power. Proudly he stood, and neither the heat of the sun nor the force of the rain could move him. "This is better than all!" he said to himself. But one day he heard a strange noise at his feet, and when he looked down to see what it could be, he saw a stonecutter driving tools into his surface. Even while he looked a trembling feeling ran all through him, and a great block broke off and fell upon the ground. Then he cried in his wrath: "Is a mere child of earth mightier than a rock? Oh, if I were only a man!"

And the mountain spirit answered: "Your wish is heard. A man once more you shall be!"

And a man he was, and in the sweat of his brow he toiled again at his trade of stone cutting. His bed was hard and his food scanty, but he had learned to be satisfied with it, and did not long to be something or somebody else. And as he never asked for things he did not have, or desired to be greater and mightier than other people, he was happy at last, and never again heard the voice of the mountain spirit."

He smiled as he finished his story and the others realized that the noises were slowly fading away.

Although she'd never have admitted it, Lucy found herself relieved for Jason's embrace. Several times the loud storm around them had made her startle within his arms and cuddle a little harder each time. This also made listening to Mako' s story a great deal more enjoyable. Jason's arms around her felt too nice to mention.

When the story was finished they could hear the storm beginning to move out toward the coast again. All five of them waited in tense silence for the storm to stop.

Everybody was glad when the storm started to fade away and they started to gradually get up nervously. Mako and Lia still held each other tight but Jason decided to reluctantly let Lucy go. He wanted to keep cuddling her but he had said it was only for the duration of the storm and he didn't want her to know that he was actually becoming very attracted to her.

"I will go and check out the house. Someone should check outside and maybe somebody should go and see how our friend Bluey is doing. Remember he is just a kid and even us adults were scared of that storm."

He walked out and started going through the rooms. Most were undamaged but a couple had small fissures in them. Luckily they could be easily repaired if any of Lia's cement cacti had survived. The kitchen though was a mess. All the metal in it must have attracted the lightning. There were about ten fissures in the floor raging from small ones the size of his finger to two large ones about the size of his arm and a hands width wide. The sink, cooler and cooker were all singed and he would have to check to see if they were still working after he checked the circuits. He was sure the automatic surge protectors he had built in would have all been tripped so his first job would be to flip them back on. Sighing he headed towards the utility room for the second time today.

Meanwhile Mako decided it would be a good idea if he and Lia went to check on Ggwiyf, after all Lia seemed to have built up a good relationship with him. "C'mon Lia, perhaps we should be the ones to check on young Ggwiyf. If he is scared perhaps you can cheer him up. I know you do that to me ," he chuckled.

Lucy went to check the damage outside. Thankfully, the damage to the garden had been minimal. None of the plants looked irrevocably harmed. The fruit trees had lost much fruit which birds and animals were already coming out of hiding to quickly snatch up. The path to the beach was difficult. It was littered with fallen trees and large fallen branches, one, spanning a large sinkhole apparently caused by the storm. By the time she got to the remains of her ship her eyes welled up unexpectedly at the sight. It was barely a structure at all. It looked to have exploded. And, a huge sinkhole was slowly devouring it.

Jason flipped on the switches and heard everything hum back into life. Returning to the kitchen he made sure everything was working then decided it was best to go and get some spare parts from the ship just in case and maybe start grabbing that insulation.

He walked outside and looked for the buggy. It was on it's side against the mountains face and would require several people to right it. Shaking his head he set off down the path glancing at the devastation. It would take them a week to clean up this mess. As he got closer to the ship he was puzzled that he could not see it. Normally they could see it for the last part of the journey peeking over the rise. Well maybe it had shifted in the storm and it was now just under the ridge.

As he crested it and began the short descent to the beach he saw why he could not see it. It was disappearing into a sinkhole while littering the beach was bits and pieces of it. Running down he found Lucy standing there looking as the main part slowly sank, tears streaming down her face. She must be devastated. This had been the last remnant of her ship. This time he did not hesitate, he grabbed her and pulled her into his arms giving her all the support he could.

Lia spotted Ggwiyf sleeping curled up in a huge, blue, ball in his cave. He seemed nonplussed by the storm. Ggwiyf opened his violet eyes and yawned as Lia and Mako approached him, murmuring, "Mmm...is it over?"

Lia nodded. "It's over, Ggwiyf. Lucy and Jason are checking on the extent of the damage. PAB is attempting to put the kitchen back in order."

"I stay here, finish my nap. I come over later with meat for supper, ok?"

Lia nodded, patting Ggwiyf affectionately. "Ok, Sweetie. You finish your nap." She said, taking Mako' s hand and turning to leave the dark cave.

Lucy couldn't stop herself from weeping openly into Jason's chest as he held her. "It's over. We're really never leaving here." She said, realizing this was the final straw. "I know it's silly but a small part of my mind had still been hoping we could somehow still be rescued...Every day that passes I see that dream slipping further away."

Mako walked back with Lia chuckling softly to himself. "Looks like our big friend survived the storm a lot better than we thought. Here we thought he was the one that may be the one who would be frightened and he was sleeping peacefully through it. Just goes to show that you can't judge another race by your standards."

They walked back calmly towards the house.

Jason enfolded her in his arms and cuddled her tightly.
"I know Captain, I know. It is okay," He told her stroking her hair, "It is all getting out of control, but we are going to be okay. We are going to make a home here and then we are going to defeat Ggwiyf Papa and free all those other people on the other island and then maybe we can move over there. See everything is going to be fine you will see."

Lucy was without words. Her depression at their situation had finally broken through and now it became hard to do anything but cry. She was too distraught to even be embarrassed at the moment. She held Jason tightly and cried herself to exhaustion as the last remnants of ship became mere bubbles in quicksand.

Lia and Mako returned to the human cave and the house. She was anxious to check on her garden, though. "Do you think the plants are alright?" She asked anxiously. PAB was doing quite an efficient clean-up in the meantime. He'd done what he could in the kitchen and had moved on to the bathroom and communal living area. He was faster than any one of them would have been at these tasks.

Once back Mako looked around and decided it would be a good idea if they were to make lunch. Of course they could kill two birds with one stone if they checked the Lias plants and gathered some fruit at the same time. They walked out and towards the patches and saw that luckily because of their positioning the gardens had been hardly touched. "Looks like you were right to plant them here," he told Lia. "You did say it would keep them out of the wind but still let in most o the rain."

They walked through the patches picking up all the fallen fruit they could and replanting anything that looked like it might survive. It looked like they had only lost a few plants that had been on the very fringes of the patches and Lia was pleased. "We are going to have to do something with all this fruit though or it is going to spoil," he told her. It was going to take them several trips to cart it all back.

Jason sat down on the beach and pulled Lucy down so she was sitting between his legs. He cuddled her from behind as they watched the waves break onto the beach.
"Look Lucy I know you always held out hope of a rescue and quite frankly so did I, I mean who wants to admit they are stranded on a planet who knows where, far from any known shipping lanes because of some fluke computer glitch with three other people and a PAB unit. Not ideal is it. Of course the other way of looking at is we did survive, we have a whole planet to explore, we made friends with a bloody dragon and we have a place to live. Not bad all in all I would say," he chuckled trying to cheer her up.

Lucy leaned against Jason heavily, taking shelter in his supportive embrace until the tears had dried. They watched the waves lapping at the sand in silence for a few minutes, bonding in the lonely acceptance of their changed mission; survive, help each other, make a peaceful existence on this strange world. She knew he was right. They'd probably be ok if they continued working together. "At least we six have each other." Lucy finally said, resting her head in the crook of Jason's neck. "Jason...Thank you for not thinking me a heartless, self absorbed bitch. I'm a little worried I have come off that way by not really explaining my outbursts...It's selfish, I guess, to feel sorry for myself while the rest of you are also mourning and also scared...I'm sorry, Jason. I'm going to try harder from now on." Lucy said, reaching an arm around Jason's neck and craning hers up to kiss him on the cheek. She then returned to her snuggle position.

Jason almost froze solid and had to physically restrain the groan that threatened to break free from his body. There was also another physical response to what she had just done, but he was sure he had enough close on that she would be unable to feel that.

He continued to cuddle her and thought about his bodies responses. Ah who was he kidding, he knew what was going on and had known it for awhile. He had fallen in love with the captain and would do anything for her. The problem had been that he didn't want to admit it because it had just been so damn cliched. Oh there are two men and two women marooned on a desert isle and two have already paired off. Oh of course the other two have to then because they are expected to. Damn where was that written, what if they didn't want to?

The Captain seemed to agree with him too which was good. Now though he was not so sure. Sure she was cute and charming and all, but she was also really smart and knew how to handle herself and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Jason could respect that. She also had ideals and she stuck to them and took her responsibilities seriously. She also smelt damn nice and felt good too.

What!! where had those last two thoughts come from. Oh yeah he thought as he looked down at her in his arms and smelled her hair. He smiled and went back to watching he waves roll in. Well he might never be able to have the same sort of relationship as Mako and Lia but damned if he was letting go until Lucy asked him too.

The following week was full of repairs and hard work by day and taking comfort in each other's company by night. Lia and Mako had their blooming romance, and the rest had their very odd friendships beginning to feel like a mismatched family. Only, Lucy and Jason had broken a little of the emotional wall down between them and hugs and even occasional extended periods of long conversation snuggled beneath a shared blanket had occurred (still quite chaste but the trust that was building between them was still growing) and Lia had noticed but not said anything about it, not wanting to make the pair self conscious. One night, while alone with Mako in his room she mentioned, "Jason and Lucy are starting to become closer, have you noticed?"

(OOC: I'll make changes if you don't agree with Jason's side of the week described above.)

(OOC: Actually I love it.Sounds exactly how I thought it might go.)

Mako nodded back at Lia. "Yes I have noticed that too but I haven't wanted to say anything in case I spoiled anything. I wonder what happened between them that has allowed them to become more comfortable together?"

They chatted about it for a little while throwing ideas back and forth but then they got a little distracted and for the next hour the sounds emanating from their room were ones of passion.

Jason heard Lia and Mako start again and sighed. The last week had seen them get the house almost completed but he had yet to find a great insulation material yet. As soon as he did he could get all the insulation in and the finishing touches done. As it was he was getting used to hearing Lia and Mako's nightly romp's.

Actually who was he kidding. He was glad that they were happy together but maybe they could take a break one or two nights a week. Still he guessed if he had a special someone like that he would be doing the same thing. He was just going to have to find that insulation as soon as possible. He did have a few things he was trialing and if the two that looked the most promising passed the last couple of tests he could look forward to a peaceful sleep within the next few nights.

Lucy returned from a successful fishing expedition and was out on the rocks, falls-side, gutting and cleaning six reasonably sized fish and had also netted ten crab-like shellfish and some algae she had intended to ask Lia about analysing for nutritional or medical possibilities...But, first the fish needed dealing with. It was messy work so she did it outside.

Jason stepped out looking red faced and distracted and she chuckled, waving him over to show him her catches. "Look what I got! This net's awesome!" Lucy exclaimed happily while scraping off scales. "In that bucket there's also crabs. Seafood dinner tonight...You ok, Jason?" Lucy could guess what would make him color that way and seek time outside the house he was so proud of. "Are they at it again?" She asked softly.

Jason was glad to see Lucy when he walked outside aster he had finally given up trying to fall back to sleep and had snuck out. "When aren't they," he answered then shrugged and laughed. "Well you can't really blame them can you," he shrugged. "I mean they have finally gotten together after I don't know how long and they are still in that honeymoon stage of their relationship," he chuckled. "I don't really blame him. Lia is a very pretty woman and I suppose I might be doing the same thing if I was in his shoes."

Jason looked at her and then blushed furiously realizing what he had just said. "Ahh what I meant to say was that I...Well I meant...That is..." he stammered and then gave up as his face grew hotter and blazed redder in embarrassment.

"I think I better stop now before I really put my foot in it," he managed to stammer out. "I better go and check on those experiments of mine. Hopefully one of them has worked and I can put the insulation in today," he said as he fled in embarrassment towards the clearing where he had set up his small lab.

Smooth Jason, he thought to himself as he stumbled through the trees, very smooth. Lucy was sure impressed with you now.