idea_of_sarcasm (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
idea_of_sarcasm) wrote2007-12-23 12:29 am
idea_of_sarcasm) wrote2007-12-23 12:29 am
Entry tags:
Fic: Christmas on Serenity
Title: Christmas on Serenity
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A few short vignettes showing the holiday on the ship post BDM
Additional Notes: Short little thing written as a fulfillment of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fiiishy's wishlist. No other reason than that. She wanted part of it with Jayne being 'cute' and I tried to oblige.
"It's...very pretty?" Simon was no good at false compliments. He knew the supposed homage to her gift sounded more like a question than a true statement. But as he turned thing Kaylee had given him over in his hands, he didn't know what he was supposed to say about it. It was one of those ugly touristy things that she liked, and in truth, he didn't even know what it was supposed to be used for.
Fortunately she only giggled, snagging it out of his hands and bending the one wire and flipping a switch to prove it indeed did something. That something which appeared to be vibrate for no apparent reason. "I know it ain't much, but I had to give you somethin'."
"Really, you didn't," he replied, honestly, watching with raised eyebrows as she set it on the floor and now that he looked at it, it looked like some grossly misshapen person dancing by wiggling to some unheard tune.
Kaylee shot a furtive glance towards where River was sitting on the edge of his bunk a few feet away, paying more attention to the ceiling than to the two of them. They'd had dinner with the crew earlier, and exchanged gifts from their name draw for presents, but had come back to Simon's bunk for a more private celebration afterwards. A family celebration. And Kaylee had gotten a lovely little thrill in her belly when Simon had called it that. She hadn't seen her own in years besides, and though she knew it wasn't just trim between the two of them, it was always nice to hear proof. Considering that was more her normal fare.
"What I mean," she qualified, lowering her tone so that his little sister couldn't hear, "is I needed something to give you afore we were alone. I've got something you might like a little more once River goes ta' bed." Kaylee winked, thinking of the skimpy nightgown she'd had Inara help her pick out last time on Persephone.
Like every time, Simon blushed. It amazed her he could still do that after all the months he'd been sexing her so nicely.
"The girl is not deaf," River said suddenly – her gaze snapping from the roof to the couple that was sitting cross-legged on the floor. "She would leave for the cold of her bunk, but there is business unattended to yet."
Embarrassed, Simon and Kaylee broke their gaze from one another. "What's that mei-mei?" He asked, clearing his throat.
"She has not been given a present yet," River clarified. "And the pink sweater the captain gave her earlier is not of the satisfying that brings Christmas cheer. Simon is much more thoughtful."
Even though she was still often nonsensical, River knew how to butter her brother up. Kaylee hid a grin as Simon laughed and reached for the wrapped box to give to his sister that contained some chocolate he had acquired after their last mission. She rather thought though the box she had with a special dagger for River might suit a little better. She'd had Zoe find it. That woman knew weapons like the back of her hand.
**********************
"Gwai-gwai long duh dong! What are you doing in here?" Jayne heard the cocking of the gun the second after feet hitting the floor behind him.
"Nothin'," he said quickly, straightening to his feet and turning to find Zoe standing at the bottom of the ladder.
She cocked an eyebrow, but didn't change expression. Or lower her gun. "You're in my bunk Jayne."
"Jus'...." his face was blank and helpless for a moment. "Was looking for your Colt '49. Thought I might like to try it out on the next job."
"We don't dock for another week," she retorted, keeping her gun trained as she circled around in front of him, striding smoothly, "and you think the Colt is a 'woman's gun'. Just pointing out a few holes in your story. Still think you wanna be sticking with it?"
"Yup." Jayne crossed his arms, and didn't stay anything else.
Zoe kept scanning the room, looking for something amiss. For her part she had no gorram clue why he was in her bunk. Wasn't like she had anything of value for him to swipe. Her take on the last job had been spent on said Colt. And though Jayne was a proponent of supporting the whoring trade, she didn't think he was in here for a pair of panties to snatch for sexually deviant reasons. And her room was rather Spartan otherwise.
She noticed the box on the bed – and noticed Jayne's almost endearingly panicked expression when he noticed that she noticed. Motioning with the barrel of her gun, she asked, "What's that?"
"Nothin'," he said quickly, grabbing it and shoving it in his pocket. "Present from my ma. Just haven't gotten 'round to openin' it yet."
Zoe resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He needed to pick stories that could at least be logically true. They'd been in space for the last month, and on a cattle job on a remote planet in weeks previous. There was no way any post had gotten through to any of them, especially anything personal. "'Fess up, and I might think twice about peppering you with buckshot."
"Fine," he snapped viciously – tossing the box to her. It caught her off guard, but Zoe let it fall to the ground rather than compromise grip on her gun - the result of training. As she bent down to pick it up, he continued, "it's a pres...it's something for you. No big deal. Just take the gorram thing so I can get outta here."
Raising her eyebrows, Zoe reluctantly lowered her gun and set it aside as she undid the tie on the box.
Pulling off the top, she saw two things stuffed unceremoniously into the vessel. The first was a bottle of whiskey. Real whiskey, not simulated gosse. Not her usual drink of choice. But these days there were few drinks to choose from, and one wasn't picky. Especially when it was real alcohol. It had obviously had a few drinks taken from it however. Still, she didn't know how Jayne came by it, let alone why he would give it to her. The other item was something a little less obvious. Confused, Zoe stared at it for a moment and let her finger trail over the ridged plastic, with a little...tree branch perhaps, sticking off of it. The smooth and rounded tip, the...
"You bought me a gorram vibrator!" she exclaimed, astonished, taking the purple thing out of the box and tossing it at him.
"Oww!" Jayne said indignantly. "Be careful with that. Had a hard time swiping it from my sister last time we...."
"You got me a used vibrator!?" Zoe's hand was back on her gun, her finger twitching on the trigger. "What...how...why?"
He stood there purposefully silent, but when she released the safety on the gun, he relented slightly. "Fine. Got you a gift 'cause this is your first Christmas without…and, he might have been a tiny little twig, but sexin is sexin, and no rutting ain't fun. And the whiskey cause well – you get the picture."
The temptation to shoot him was still there. Only in Jayne's convoluted logic would the gift make sense. And from him. But the intention had been good. She never would have thought in a million years Jayne Cobb would be capable of something thoughtful – or rather, attempting something thoughtful. The execution hadn't been quite there. Still, it dispelled the violent urge.
"Not going to touch that with a ten foot pole," she clarified, motioning towards the vibrator with a ten foot pole.
"Fine," he retorted, picking it up and shoving it in his pocket. "Leyla will get...." he cut off at the wave of her hand to end a spew of too much information.
Jayne turned to go, muttering to himself. Zoe just stood there for a moment – his concern focusing her attention on the empty bed. The bed that she would crawl into all alone and stare up at the ceiling till the wee hours of the night. It didn't haunt her, usually, his death. Didn't mean she didn't think of Wash and some point during every gorram day, but she survived. She laughed, she lived, even as she missed him. But there were days, like today, when she was lonely. So very very lonely.
And Jayne had nobody to go back to his bunk to anyway. Vera could wait.
"Wait," she said, stopping him as he went to climb up the ladder. Zoe regretted requesting his presence the moment she uttered the words, but she continued, "I don't know...stay, have a drink. Don't wanna drink alone anyway."
He looked a little a bit cautiously, casting furtive glances towards his escape. "You ain't gonna shoot me?"
"No," she said, but didn't expand. Still, she grabbed two glasses from the shelf to the north of the cabin and tossed him one, which he caught handily despite his initial surprise. She poured herself a large helping, then passed the bottle to him, letting him do the same.
Zoe sat on her bunk, taking large and slow sips from her glass. Jayne, seemingly uncomfortable in the small space with another human being not there for sex, leaned against the wall and shot his alcohol back in a single gulp. He didn't say anything, just poured himself another helping. They went that way for a few minutes, in silence that was civil if not companionable. Neither were much for words. At least not meaningful words.
"I miss him," the words slipped quietly from Zoe's mouth after the fifth drink. She hadn't talked about this ever – not with the Cap'n, not with Inara. River was the only one who could know how much Wash's death had left a hole in her given her annoying psychic capabilities, but she was rarely paying attention Zoe, be it in life or in thoughts. And it wasn't the same as admitting it out loud anyway. That she had a weakness. Love was a weakness of a sort, she had always known that, but she hadn't known how much the loss of it would cripple her inside.
"I miss the jokes, and the flying, and the fact I'm not celebrating anything worthwhile tonight, and the sex, and that little way he used to quirk his lips after he kissed me, and..." She would have gone on, but finally it came through to her that she was talking to Jayne.
Who despite being slightly thoughtful, was not a confidante. And should not be a confidante.
She met Jayne's eyes almost daringly as she refilled her glass. Challenging him to say anything. To mock her maybe, or maybe he was just filing it away to use against her.
"Zoe?" He finally said her name, shooting back another glass.
"What?" she snapped – ready for whatever he would throw at her.
"If you ain't gonna use the vibrator, I can help ya with some of those problems." His tone was surprisingly earnest instead of leering. And as she looked at him, he seemed like he honestly wanted to help.
That was enough to break the tension rather than tempt her. Letting out a bark of laughter, Zoe shoved the bottle towards him. "Just drink your gorram drink and get out."
**********************
"What's this?" Inara asked in surprise, looking up at Mal rather than opening the box he had placed in her hand. He had shown up at her shuttle announced an hour after dinner offering this gift despite the fact he had been assigned to buy for River. She'd been surprised enough she hadn't bothered to berate him on his manners or the necessity of knocking before entering her home.
"Gift," he said, waving his hand towards the little box, "after those fancy shmanzy earrings you got from the doc tonight, I think you'd be familiar with the concept."
She raised her eyebrows, surprised, but didn't bother inquiring further. Delicately untying the little purple bow on top, she set it aside before pulling off the lid. Nestled on a little cushion was a ring.
A seemingly very expensive ring.
Inara's gaze shot towards him. "Mal...." She said breathlessly, her look drawn back towards the ring. She was at a loss for words. Although she knew he hated it, she sent out mental feelers, but all she could find was a sense of expectancy, nothing else.
"Found it on Persephone," he said in a companionable tone, sitting down beside her. "Little out of the way jeweler's."
"It's beautiful," Inara said honestly, because it was. It was a little gold band, with a pattern inscribed on it, and a few small jewels. When she lifted it from the box, there was an inscription on the inside of the band, but it was in one of the old languages that she didn't understand. For a moment she felt a leap of inexplicable pleasure, but made herself continue. "But I can't say yes...Mal, I mean we....we've never...."
He looked utterly confused for a moment, then let out a bark of appalled laughter. "You thought this was an engagement ring?"
"No!" She said quickly, though she had. Why, there was no real explanation, outside of the fact it was a ring.
He'd gone from seemingly amused, to...some state of mind she couldn't quite define. "Did you want it to be an engagement ring?"
"No," Inara assured him again, getting to her feet, though she wouldn't look at Mal in the eyes. "Of course not, we've never...."
"And you've done all that with everyone...."
"If you call me a prostitute one more time...."
"Even if you fancy it all up as companion, that doesn't change...."
"Just stop it Mal," she could feel upset warring with anger, and Inara cut him off before they could get into a huge fight. "We've established it's not an engagement ring, and I didn't want it to be an engagement ring. Is it anything but a pretty bauble? If not – thank you." It didn't fit with the jewelry she normally wore, but she already knew she would at least be wearing it on a chain under her attire.
He spoke quickly, as if covering something up. "It's a protection ring. One of the cultures, on earth that was, they believed these symbols and this script would protect it's wearer. Ain't much, but if you go back to the training house, want you to have something. Can't be coming to save ya all the time."
"You conceited piece of gosse," she bit her tongue against a diatribe. "Trust you Mal, to turn a possibly nice gift into an insult. It's a real talent."
She didn't fight him though when he took her hand in his, sliding the ring onto her finger. She was not going to think about how this was mirroring the situation that wasn't, but could have been. She wasn't going to wish that it wasn't the traditional diamond ring, because really, she couldn't stand being tied to a pig like him anyway.
"Promise me you'll wear it." Mal's voice was stern. The best she could hope for in terms of admitting he cared.
And though she wanted to fight, she acquiesced easily. "Fine. I will."
.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A few short vignettes showing the holiday on the ship post BDM
Additional Notes: Short little thing written as a fulfillment of
fiiishy's wishlist. No other reason than that. She wanted part of it with Jayne being 'cute' and I tried to oblige."It's...very pretty?" Simon was no good at false compliments. He knew the supposed homage to her gift sounded more like a question than a true statement. But as he turned thing Kaylee had given him over in his hands, he didn't know what he was supposed to say about it. It was one of those ugly touristy things that she liked, and in truth, he didn't even know what it was supposed to be used for.
Fortunately she only giggled, snagging it out of his hands and bending the one wire and flipping a switch to prove it indeed did something. That something which appeared to be vibrate for no apparent reason. "I know it ain't much, but I had to give you somethin'."
"Really, you didn't," he replied, honestly, watching with raised eyebrows as she set it on the floor and now that he looked at it, it looked like some grossly misshapen person dancing by wiggling to some unheard tune.
Kaylee shot a furtive glance towards where River was sitting on the edge of his bunk a few feet away, paying more attention to the ceiling than to the two of them. They'd had dinner with the crew earlier, and exchanged gifts from their name draw for presents, but had come back to Simon's bunk for a more private celebration afterwards. A family celebration. And Kaylee had gotten a lovely little thrill in her belly when Simon had called it that. She hadn't seen her own in years besides, and though she knew it wasn't just trim between the two of them, it was always nice to hear proof. Considering that was more her normal fare.
"What I mean," she qualified, lowering her tone so that his little sister couldn't hear, "is I needed something to give you afore we were alone. I've got something you might like a little more once River goes ta' bed." Kaylee winked, thinking of the skimpy nightgown she'd had Inara help her pick out last time on Persephone.
Like every time, Simon blushed. It amazed her he could still do that after all the months he'd been sexing her so nicely.
"The girl is not deaf," River said suddenly – her gaze snapping from the roof to the couple that was sitting cross-legged on the floor. "She would leave for the cold of her bunk, but there is business unattended to yet."
Embarrassed, Simon and Kaylee broke their gaze from one another. "What's that mei-mei?" He asked, clearing his throat.
"She has not been given a present yet," River clarified. "And the pink sweater the captain gave her earlier is not of the satisfying that brings Christmas cheer. Simon is much more thoughtful."
Even though she was still often nonsensical, River knew how to butter her brother up. Kaylee hid a grin as Simon laughed and reached for the wrapped box to give to his sister that contained some chocolate he had acquired after their last mission. She rather thought though the box she had with a special dagger for River might suit a little better. She'd had Zoe find it. That woman knew weapons like the back of her hand.
"Gwai-gwai long duh dong! What are you doing in here?" Jayne heard the cocking of the gun the second after feet hitting the floor behind him.
"Nothin'," he said quickly, straightening to his feet and turning to find Zoe standing at the bottom of the ladder.
She cocked an eyebrow, but didn't change expression. Or lower her gun. "You're in my bunk Jayne."
"Jus'...." his face was blank and helpless for a moment. "Was looking for your Colt '49. Thought I might like to try it out on the next job."
"We don't dock for another week," she retorted, keeping her gun trained as she circled around in front of him, striding smoothly, "and you think the Colt is a 'woman's gun'. Just pointing out a few holes in your story. Still think you wanna be sticking with it?"
"Yup." Jayne crossed his arms, and didn't stay anything else.
Zoe kept scanning the room, looking for something amiss. For her part she had no gorram clue why he was in her bunk. Wasn't like she had anything of value for him to swipe. Her take on the last job had been spent on said Colt. And though Jayne was a proponent of supporting the whoring trade, she didn't think he was in here for a pair of panties to snatch for sexually deviant reasons. And her room was rather Spartan otherwise.
She noticed the box on the bed – and noticed Jayne's almost endearingly panicked expression when he noticed that she noticed. Motioning with the barrel of her gun, she asked, "What's that?"
"Nothin'," he said quickly, grabbing it and shoving it in his pocket. "Present from my ma. Just haven't gotten 'round to openin' it yet."
Zoe resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He needed to pick stories that could at least be logically true. They'd been in space for the last month, and on a cattle job on a remote planet in weeks previous. There was no way any post had gotten through to any of them, especially anything personal. "'Fess up, and I might think twice about peppering you with buckshot."
"Fine," he snapped viciously – tossing the box to her. It caught her off guard, but Zoe let it fall to the ground rather than compromise grip on her gun - the result of training. As she bent down to pick it up, he continued, "it's a pres...it's something for you. No big deal. Just take the gorram thing so I can get outta here."
Raising her eyebrows, Zoe reluctantly lowered her gun and set it aside as she undid the tie on the box.
Pulling off the top, she saw two things stuffed unceremoniously into the vessel. The first was a bottle of whiskey. Real whiskey, not simulated gosse. Not her usual drink of choice. But these days there were few drinks to choose from, and one wasn't picky. Especially when it was real alcohol. It had obviously had a few drinks taken from it however. Still, she didn't know how Jayne came by it, let alone why he would give it to her. The other item was something a little less obvious. Confused, Zoe stared at it for a moment and let her finger trail over the ridged plastic, with a little...tree branch perhaps, sticking off of it. The smooth and rounded tip, the...
"You bought me a gorram vibrator!" she exclaimed, astonished, taking the purple thing out of the box and tossing it at him.
"Oww!" Jayne said indignantly. "Be careful with that. Had a hard time swiping it from my sister last time we...."
"You got me a used vibrator!?" Zoe's hand was back on her gun, her finger twitching on the trigger. "What...how...why?"
He stood there purposefully silent, but when she released the safety on the gun, he relented slightly. "Fine. Got you a gift 'cause this is your first Christmas without…and, he might have been a tiny little twig, but sexin is sexin, and no rutting ain't fun. And the whiskey cause well – you get the picture."
The temptation to shoot him was still there. Only in Jayne's convoluted logic would the gift make sense. And from him. But the intention had been good. She never would have thought in a million years Jayne Cobb would be capable of something thoughtful – or rather, attempting something thoughtful. The execution hadn't been quite there. Still, it dispelled the violent urge.
"Not going to touch that with a ten foot pole," she clarified, motioning towards the vibrator with a ten foot pole.
"Fine," he retorted, picking it up and shoving it in his pocket. "Leyla will get...." he cut off at the wave of her hand to end a spew of too much information.
Jayne turned to go, muttering to himself. Zoe just stood there for a moment – his concern focusing her attention on the empty bed. The bed that she would crawl into all alone and stare up at the ceiling till the wee hours of the night. It didn't haunt her, usually, his death. Didn't mean she didn't think of Wash and some point during every gorram day, but she survived. She laughed, she lived, even as she missed him. But there were days, like today, when she was lonely. So very very lonely.
And Jayne had nobody to go back to his bunk to anyway. Vera could wait.
"Wait," she said, stopping him as he went to climb up the ladder. Zoe regretted requesting his presence the moment she uttered the words, but she continued, "I don't know...stay, have a drink. Don't wanna drink alone anyway."
He looked a little a bit cautiously, casting furtive glances towards his escape. "You ain't gonna shoot me?"
"No," she said, but didn't expand. Still, she grabbed two glasses from the shelf to the north of the cabin and tossed him one, which he caught handily despite his initial surprise. She poured herself a large helping, then passed the bottle to him, letting him do the same.
Zoe sat on her bunk, taking large and slow sips from her glass. Jayne, seemingly uncomfortable in the small space with another human being not there for sex, leaned against the wall and shot his alcohol back in a single gulp. He didn't say anything, just poured himself another helping. They went that way for a few minutes, in silence that was civil if not companionable. Neither were much for words. At least not meaningful words.
"I miss him," the words slipped quietly from Zoe's mouth after the fifth drink. She hadn't talked about this ever – not with the Cap'n, not with Inara. River was the only one who could know how much Wash's death had left a hole in her given her annoying psychic capabilities, but she was rarely paying attention Zoe, be it in life or in thoughts. And it wasn't the same as admitting it out loud anyway. That she had a weakness. Love was a weakness of a sort, she had always known that, but she hadn't known how much the loss of it would cripple her inside.
"I miss the jokes, and the flying, and the fact I'm not celebrating anything worthwhile tonight, and the sex, and that little way he used to quirk his lips after he kissed me, and..." She would have gone on, but finally it came through to her that she was talking to Jayne.
Who despite being slightly thoughtful, was not a confidante. And should not be a confidante.
She met Jayne's eyes almost daringly as she refilled her glass. Challenging him to say anything. To mock her maybe, or maybe he was just filing it away to use against her.
"Zoe?" He finally said her name, shooting back another glass.
"What?" she snapped – ready for whatever he would throw at her.
"If you ain't gonna use the vibrator, I can help ya with some of those problems." His tone was surprisingly earnest instead of leering. And as she looked at him, he seemed like he honestly wanted to help.
That was enough to break the tension rather than tempt her. Letting out a bark of laughter, Zoe shoved the bottle towards him. "Just drink your gorram drink and get out."
"What's this?" Inara asked in surprise, looking up at Mal rather than opening the box he had placed in her hand. He had shown up at her shuttle announced an hour after dinner offering this gift despite the fact he had been assigned to buy for River. She'd been surprised enough she hadn't bothered to berate him on his manners or the necessity of knocking before entering her home.
"Gift," he said, waving his hand towards the little box, "after those fancy shmanzy earrings you got from the doc tonight, I think you'd be familiar with the concept."
She raised her eyebrows, surprised, but didn't bother inquiring further. Delicately untying the little purple bow on top, she set it aside before pulling off the lid. Nestled on a little cushion was a ring.
A seemingly very expensive ring.
Inara's gaze shot towards him. "Mal...." She said breathlessly, her look drawn back towards the ring. She was at a loss for words. Although she knew he hated it, she sent out mental feelers, but all she could find was a sense of expectancy, nothing else.
"Found it on Persephone," he said in a companionable tone, sitting down beside her. "Little out of the way jeweler's."
"It's beautiful," Inara said honestly, because it was. It was a little gold band, with a pattern inscribed on it, and a few small jewels. When she lifted it from the box, there was an inscription on the inside of the band, but it was in one of the old languages that she didn't understand. For a moment she felt a leap of inexplicable pleasure, but made herself continue. "But I can't say yes...Mal, I mean we....we've never...."
He looked utterly confused for a moment, then let out a bark of appalled laughter. "You thought this was an engagement ring?"
"No!" She said quickly, though she had. Why, there was no real explanation, outside of the fact it was a ring.
He'd gone from seemingly amused, to...some state of mind she couldn't quite define. "Did you want it to be an engagement ring?"
"No," Inara assured him again, getting to her feet, though she wouldn't look at Mal in the eyes. "Of course not, we've never...."
"And you've done all that with everyone...."
"If you call me a prostitute one more time...."
"Even if you fancy it all up as companion, that doesn't change...."
"Just stop it Mal," she could feel upset warring with anger, and Inara cut him off before they could get into a huge fight. "We've established it's not an engagement ring, and I didn't want it to be an engagement ring. Is it anything but a pretty bauble? If not – thank you." It didn't fit with the jewelry she normally wore, but she already knew she would at least be wearing it on a chain under her attire.
He spoke quickly, as if covering something up. "It's a protection ring. One of the cultures, on earth that was, they believed these symbols and this script would protect it's wearer. Ain't much, but if you go back to the training house, want you to have something. Can't be coming to save ya all the time."
"You conceited piece of gosse," she bit her tongue against a diatribe. "Trust you Mal, to turn a possibly nice gift into an insult. It's a real talent."
She didn't fight him though when he took her hand in his, sliding the ring onto her finger. She was not going to think about how this was mirroring the situation that wasn't, but could have been. She wasn't going to wish that it wasn't the traditional diamond ring, because really, she couldn't stand being tied to a pig like him anyway.
"Promise me you'll wear it." Mal's voice was stern. The best she could hope for in terms of admitting he cared.
And though she wanted to fight, she acquiesced easily. "Fine. I will."
.
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psst: just wanted to add - don't know if you got the email I sent quite awhile ago, since there were no DLs, but two of the links on the music post I made were for albums you had requested on your wishlist. I let the other one or two I had expire, but can reupload if you want. Unless you are set on hard copies, or found them already. Just wanted to let you know, in case you were still looking :D
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Loved it!! THANK YOUUU!! :-DDD!!
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Seriously.
Glad I could provide you with such an up and down evening :D