Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ "Raindrops on Kittens" ❯ Chapter 1

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

"Raindrops on Kittens"

A Prince of Tennis Fanfic

Rating: "R" for sexual content and profanity

By Andrea Readwolf <andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com>

Date Started: May 5, 2004

Status: complete

Revised: May 27, 2004

Pairings: Inui Sadaharu x Kaidoh Kaoru

Genre: YAOI LEMON

Disclaimer: Tennis no Ohjisama, characters and settings are the property of Konomi Takeshi.

Warnings: underage characters in homosexual scrumping positions and possible romantic situations of self-discovery. There's some BDSM hints/overtones in here if you're programmed to notice. ^.^

Summary: Inui finally stops fighting his desire for his younger classmen.

~Prelude~

We're at the river again.

He was already in the water training before I arrived; I'm not surprised. Kaidoh Kaoru is a serious player, and his dedication, focus, and drive carry over into his practice routine. I find the boy here more often than any other place he frequents, and so I always come here first, to check.

Even in my fantasies, he is always here, as if waiting for me....

"Raindrops on Kittens" by Andrea Readwolf

Inui watched the younger man critically. He was improving, that was evident--and the improvement was in more ways than one.

With a "Whoosh", the high school freshman rotated his body, snapping the soaked towel through the air with a <CRACK>. Water droplets rained over both boys, but that was okay. After many practices, they knew to come prepared to get wet. Even Inui had given in and started bringing a pair of swimming trunks to practice in the river with his younger team mate.

"That's good," he called now, nodding appreciatively at the way the water droplets clung to Kaidoh's chest and torso, blending with the sheen of sweat that glowed in the rays of the dying sun.

It would be dusk in another half hour; dark in an hour's time. They should move on with their practice, get out of the water and get dressed. Maybe head over to the street courts and practice with some of the other would-be professionals. Inui had already started heading towards the bank when another "Whoosh" and <CRACK> sounded. He frowned back at his companion.

"You shouldn't over do it," he reminded the boy, hands on his hips. He hoped Kaidoh wasn't going to be stubborn about leaving tonight.

But the younger man was frowning down at the towel in his hands. "It doesn't feel right," he finally answered, looking back up at his partner with that cute, puzzled little frown he'd sometimes get when he *knew* something was wrong but didn't understand *what*.

Inui did well to hide his sigh as a huff of breath as he waded back into the water and over to his partner. He ran his hands over Kaidoh's shoulder and back with professionalism. "Did you strain yourself?" he asked, fingers running down the younger boy's arm to his wrist.

The towel flopped into the water, and Inui looked up at Kaidoh with concern. 'Oh... '

He'd been noticing this a lot more recently since their last game--the younger boy's eyes on him, watching him, his cheeks infusing with color before quickly looking away. That wasn't the only thing he'd noticed, to be sure. It seemed Seigaku's viper had finally made the last step into puberty and the hell known as hormones.

Casual, cursory touches such as the ones Inui had just preformed were earning a higher percent response in particular: arousal.

A quick glance to the front of Kaidoh's shorts proved this correct. There was now a seventy-nine percent chance... For a moment, he debated whether he should wait for more data....

And then Kaidoh shifted uneasily from one foot to another--not dislodging Inui's hold on him, just a small nervous gesture, and the data-gatherer decided to hell with the remaining twenty-one percent.

His hands were still resting on Kaidoh's shoulder and wrist, and he wondered... Would the boy's skin be this soft all over while the body beneath remained hard and defined?

"Senpai?" He looked so damn cute with that little confused, embarrassed flush staining those cheeks. And everyone thought he was scary? This young man?

"Yes, Kaoru-kun?" Inui replies, slipping into a teasing more familiar tone even as his body leans in to sniff at the younger teen's skin. He wondered...

"S-Senpai?"

"Must collect more data," he murmured, swiping his tongue along the slick naked golden flesh covering one well-muscled shoulder.

Those muscled contracted with surprise, but Kaidoh didn't move away, didn't move to stop him. Eighty-four percent and rising.

"S-Senpai?" he asked again.

"If you want me to stop, you have only to say so, Kaoru." How many times had he thought of doing this? Touching this body? Like this? He'd always told himself that he had to wait, there was insufficient data to support such a move, but...

A pink tongue darted out from between those deceptive lips. "H-hai, Senpai," he whispered, breath shallow despite the length of endurance training he's received.

The training Inui had taught him. He grinned. Ninety-two percent.

Inui reached into the water flowing around their thighs, cupping the steady stream and pouring the tiny river over Kaidoh's chest, watching the tiny rivulets raced down the boy's torso to be absorbed by the boy's shorts. And then, Inui repeated the process, but this time, he chased after the river droplets with his tongue.

Kaidoh was shaking like a leaf, but still he didn't move away; he didn't push Inui away from him, didn't tell the other to stop. Inui was crouched into the water, his chin resting at the waistline of Kaidoh's shorts--did the boy know how incredibly sexy he looked in those damn shorts? He looked up at Kaidoh's face, only to discover the boy wasn't watching him; instead, Kaidoh's face was pointed directly ahead, eyes staring unfocusingly at whatever was before him.

Inui tusked, standing up again. The boy's skin tasted sweet. He wondered... His lips brushed over Kaidoh's, and he sucked in the tiny gasp the escaped the other youth before adding just that much force behind the kiss, pressing their lips together. Then he pulled back, and he tried a different approach, allowing his parted lips and his teeth to graze over Kaidoh's.

This time the other boy allowed a tiny mew of sound to escape as his breathing hitched. Was that it, he wondered? Inui continued this kiss, bringing his hands to rest against Kaidoh's hips... And then one hand moved up and around to the boy's back, coaxing him forward, into Inui's body space, and he stepped forward.

So obedient... and there, Inui could feel it, the other boy's arousal, pressing into his thigh. He pressed back and was sure he heard the mewing sound this time. His fingers curved, and he dragged his fingernails down the small arch of Kaidoh's back, relishing in the response--that mewing again, this time coupled with a sway, half into his thigh, half into the palm of his hand...

So perfect... Inui allowed the fingers of both hands to slip inside the waistband of Kaidoh's shorts, stretching the elastic and dragging his nails across the damp skin.

"Se--" he breathed, moaning as Inui's tongue swiped inside his lips and over his teeth, which he parted readily enough. And then Inui was shoving his tongue into Kaidoh's mouth, hands moving to cup the twin globes of his ass, squeezing and molding with hands accustomed to griping a tennis racket--calloused and strong.

Still stabbing his tongue in and out of Kaidoh's mouth, Inui freed his hands long enough to shove the soggy, annoying shorts out of the way, stepping back finally to look at what he'd revealed. Breathing just as heavily as the younger teen, he studied every naked inch of the youth.

"Beautiful," he whispers appreciatively, reaching out to wrap a hand around Kaidoh's engorged penis, stroking the silken length with a firm, knowing grip.

"S-Senpai!" Kaidoh cried as his knees buckle, and he reached out to prevent himself from falling, clinging to Inui's shoulders for support.

"Do you want me to stop, Kaoru?" Inui whispered against his ear, nuzzling the bandanna out of the way.

~

Too embarrassed to speak, Kaoru shook his head, struggling to keep the rest of his body still. Inui-Senpai's breath was so warm against his ear and throat; his hand so torturously good against his arousal. Dimly, he became aware that they were moving, back towards the banks.

"I want to fuck you, Kaoru-kun," Inui-Senpai whispered against his ear again, and for a fearful moment, Kaoru thought he was going to be embarrassed further by coming right then and there. He had to bite his tongue, and even then he couldn't stop the moan when he gave into the need to breathe.

"Do you want me to fuck you, Kaoru-kun?"

Oh gods, yes, please, anything you want, I-- "H--hai."

Inui-Senpai chuckled against his throat, and Kaoru fought the urge to cry in frustrated need. "Good. Then I want you to go and finish taking your shorts off. Leave them up on the bank," Inui-Senpai ordered, removing his hand from Kaoru's cock and swatting his ass as he turned to obey.

His knees felt like they were made from jelly, it was hard to walk knowing Inui-Senpai was watching him. He finished shoving his soaked shorts off and then stood, turning to go back when he thought of something else. It was probably pretty ridiculous to be out there, completely naked of everything except his bandanna. He reached up and pushed the cloth off, leaving it with his shorts.

"Come here," Inui-Senpai whispered hoarsely, and Kaoru shivered just from the tone, throat constricting painfully, among other things.

He was knee deep in the water when Inui-Senpai stopped him with a hand against his chest. He held perfectly still as that hand slowly descended down his body... and then Inui-Senpai's lips were on his chest as well, licking and kissing him. Kaoru wasn't aware of when exactly Inui-Senpai had gone to his knees in the water, or when, for that matter, he'd started to lean against his Senpai's shoulders for support. He didn't think he could remain standing, however, if---

OH GODS!

Kaoru's breathing was ragged and burning as he fought to keep air in his chest, and Inui-Senpai just continued to lick his penis, fingers encircling the base and caressing his testicles. He licked his lips and tried to warn him.

"Se-Senpai--!"

"I'm sorry," Inui-Senpai whispered, rubbing his cheek against Kaoru's cock.

'Sorry? What the hell for?' he wanted to shout, but didn't.

"I didn't bring anything," the kneeling teen added, placing another kiss on Kaoru's cock.

'Oh, gods, that's *so* not a problem,' Kaoru thought. "Understood."

"I'll try not to hurt you," his senpai continued, fingers now massaging testicles.

'Just don't stop!' "...Hai..."

And then he was sucking Kaoru's cock again... 'Oh, my god...' Warm lips wrapped around his tip so perfectly, executing a suction that must have surely been designed to drive him insane, because it was doing a very good job of it. It felt so good... And then that mouth swallowed more of his cock and Kaoru was sure he must have screamed.

It was at that moment that Kaoru became aware of the fingers teasing apart the crease of his ass. Instinctively, he tensed, and then his nerves jumped when teeth grazed against the sensitive skin covering his penis. Inui-Senpai really wanted him to... Kaoru breathed and forced his body to relax.

The water felt cold against his heated skin, and the position Inui-Senpai moved him into wasn't the most comfortable, kneeling against the older boy's chest as he was sucked off, ass hanging in the water as Inui-Senpai started to finger his opening. It hurt, the water not really providing much lubricant, but Kaoru didn't want the other boy to stop. He thought he would go insane if Inui-Senpai chose to stop suddenly. Surely he wouldn't---he couldn't---!

"Senpai!" he gasped when one finger began to fuck him. It was tight, yes, but also so incredibly good, too. But then the molten heat left his cock and Inui-Senpai laughed, causing Kaoru's stomach to flip-flop nervously.

"You can say my name," Inui-Senpai said, continuing to nibble at his cock, and then he swiped his tongue along the tip again. "You do remember it, right, Kaoru-kun? You remember my name?"

Hell, yes, he remembered it! It was the same name he screamed out in his fantasies every night, but... but... that was when he was alone, in his bedroom, behind a locked door.... and this... this was here... in front of him, and... Kaoru nodded, swallowing. "Hai..."

He cried out when sharp teeth pressed into his already aching penis. "Say it," he was ordered.

The fingers inside him--where had the second one come from?--curled painfully, tugging, and Kaoru *did* cry out this time. "Sadaharu!"

The fingers uncurled, pressing deeper into his body as a tongue laved over the bitten skin. "Very good," Sadaharu murmured. "Good boy," he added, grinning up at Kaoru. "You're gonna come soon, aren't you?"

Kaoru thought that was a rather dumb question, and probably rhetorical anyway.

"I want to be inside you want you come, Kaoru."

Oh shit! 'Then don't say things like that!' he wanted to shout as his testicles tightened just *thinking* about it... He was so hard already... He'd never lasted this long when he was alone in his room...

Sadaharu was pushing him back up to the bank. "Lay down," he ordered before they could leave the water, and Kaoru did as he was told.

The bank was smooth here--the grass smooth against his shoulders and upper back. The muddy clay slick against his lower back. And the sight, breath-taking.

Sadaharu didn't bother getting up to take off his cutoff-sweatpants; he just pushed them down off his hips and somewhere closer to his knees. Either he wasn't wearing underpants, or those had been successfully pushed away as well, because suddenly Sadaharu was kneeling in front of Kaoru naked in all the ways that mattered.

And Kaoru could think of only one thing--from now on he wasn't going anywhere without being prepared.

He looked up when he realized Sadaharu was watching him. "Like what you see?"

'Like? Hell, no, I think I'm in love. And dying....' Hesitantly, he nodded, not trusting his voice at that moment.

"Good," Sadaharu purred, lowering himself over Kaoru. "Because I'm going to be putting this inside you real soon."

'Thank you, gods, and hallelujah!'

~

Sadaharu didn't need to tell Kaoru to spread his legs, as the boy was already trying to wrap himself around the older teen. Still, he pressed his fingers to the younger teen's entrance, offering an extra moment of preparation for what was about to come next.

Easing back a little, he grabbed his cock, working some extra precum to the tip--any little bit of lubricant to make this easier on the boy was better than none. He used a hand on Kaoru's hips to angle them up and out of the water, smearing the tip of his cock over the boy's entrance.

Still, he couldn't stop himself from teasing them both. "Tell me, Kaoru: Do you want this? Do you want my cock inside you...or should I stop?"

"No," Kaoru gasped, legs moving to press against Sadaharu's sides entreatingly. "Please. Don't stop. I--I want...."

It was a choppy, flimsy, barely strung together jumble of words that ended in a strangled moan as Sadaharu pressed his cock into the boy's body.

He knew he should go slowly--it was the boy's first time (his, too, for that matter) and they didn't have the proper materials like condoms or lubricant to make things smoother. The water helped some, but it couldn't ease the burning of skin thrusting against skin as Sadaharu found, his cock shoved completely inside Kaoru's tight, and writhing body.

He had to remind himself to watch the boy, to take notes, regardless of whether this act would be repeated or not.

"Do you want me to stop?" he gasped, noting the pained expression on Kaoru's face, and not liking the fact that he was the cause of it.

Kaoru shook his head violently, dark strands of hair getting caught in the green grass, his eyes squeezed tight, his body tensed. "More," he finally said.

Sadaharu almost laughed--that was so his Kaoru-kun; always a masochist asking for more pain, always for more. The boy shifted beneath him and gasped, "Please, Sa-daharu... Please, more... Don't stop...?"

A masochistic angel, begging to be fucked? Who was he to refuse?

He reached for one of Kaoru's knees, lifted it up and onto his shoulder, burying his cock deeper into the boy's ass in the process. Kaoru caught on pretty quick as he wrapped his other leg around Sadaharu's waist and moaned as the angle of penetration shifted just enough...

Sadaharu braced his weight on his arms and began to move. Short, choppy thrusts at first, trying to coax a little more water into the burning passage gripping his cock. And then he began to experiment, trying out different styles and patterns---speed, pressure, and angle... any number of combinations.

Beneath him, Kaoru was doing his best to be as quiet as possible, but even his self-determination couldn't stop the tiny gasps for breath. Watching him, Sadaharu knew they would do this again, if only so they could go someplace where he could hear the screams and shouts, and moans and cries that tore at Kaoru's body and throat, but were denied the breath to vocalize. He knew that Kaoru's scream must be beautiful.

Leaning over, Sadaharu nibbled at Kaoru's ear, nuzzling the silky strands of dark hair before whispering, "Come for me, Kaoru."

It only took a few more strokes to achieve this goal, and in another four, Sadaharu was pumping his own cum into Kaoru's tight little ass. He groaned, absently watching as the river chased away the evidence of Kaoru's climax, and then his arms gave out and he was laying on top of the younger boy, kissing him lazily.

"We should get out of the water," he mused, running his nails down the length of Kaoru's raised thigh.

The boy didn't reply; he just laid there, eyes close, breathing.

"Do you regret letting me fuck you, Kaoru?"

One dark eye peeked open and then slid shut; a small smile seemed to tug at the boy's lips, but he shook his head.

Sadaharu decided he would analyze the feeling of relief that overcame him then at a later time. Instead, he asked, "Would you like me to fuck you again?"

And now a smile really did appear on the younger boy's lips--and it was even more breathtaking that the boy's face during orgasm. "Yes, Sadaharu-Senpai."

His cock was already stirring; he was sure Kaoru could feel it, still joined as they were.

"I want you to suck my cock before I fuck you again."

"Mmm..."

"And I want you to do it *out* of this water... I'm already water-logged," Sadaharu noted, holding up a shriveled hand. "And so are you."


"Hai, Senpai." But Kaoru was grinning. "You'll need to get off me before I can get up," he pointed out.

Inui Sadaharu bit back the laugh that threatened to escape from that obvious deduction from his young lover...'lover'? he wondered, sinking back onto his knees, pushing away the feeling of disappointment as his cock slid out of Kaoru's body. They use each other for support in climbing to their wobbly legs, wading a little deeper into the water to wash away the traces of their recent tumble. He couldn't resist rubbing his hands down Kaoru's bare back, smearing away the mud and grass, watching as the younger teen shiver in response.

Yes, 'lover,' Sadaharu grinned.

"Kaoru," he said, slipping an arm around the boy's front and pressing his front to the other's back. "I don't want wait to fuck you again."

Again, the boy shivered, his body leaning that much more into Sadaharu's. He couldn't resist rocking his hips against that tight little ass. "Let's grab our stuff and go to the bridge," he suggested, his hand running down Kaoru's chest and torso, down to encase that hot cock that's already struggling to full arousal.

"Hai...."

Sadaharu pressed his smile into his boy's shoulder--before quickly biting down on the skin.

"Quickly," he ordered, drawing away from the boy, least he be tempted not to even wait to get to the bridge before fucking him again.

At least the bridge offered some small bit of privacy from casual passer-bys, he thought as he arranged his tennis bag onto one of the stone blocks, pulling his towel from it as he did. He threw his wet shorts onto another stone slab, leaving his dry pair within easy reach as he took a seat on his spread towel. He watched Kaoru do the same until the point Sadaharu sat; then the boy stood, looking nervous and unsure of what to do.

Sadaharu grinned. "Come here, Kaoru," he ordered. "On your hands and knees."

There was a moment of indecision, and Sadaharu wondered if maybe he'd miscalculated--but then Kaoru is on his hands and knees and has covered the short meters that had separated them and is kneeling before Sadaharu so prettily... He reached out an hand to tangle his fingers into his boy's wet hair, using the hold to pull Kaoru's face to his, kissing him hungrily for several moments before pulling the face away, pressing it to hover above his arousal.

"I want you to suck me, Kaoru," he said, noting each and every shiver of his boy's body. "I want you to wrap your lips around my cock and suck." And now it was his turn to shiver when the other did exactly as he was told.

It took Sadaharu's pleasure-filled mind a moment to notice that Kaoru did only as he was told. He tested this theory with stunning results, constantly praising his boy each time an order was filled precisely, letting Kaoru know not only how pleased he was with his performance, but also how good it felt. This resulted in his boy's increased eagerness to please him, Sadaharu noted.

"That's it... now, run your tongue underneath--yes, yes... ooh, that feels goods, Kaoru-kun. Touch my balls, yes, that's right. Mmm... roll them around a little, ah, yesss... Now suck the head of my cock back into your hot little mouth, cup the rest of my cock with your other hand and stroke. That's good, not too hard, not too soft. You're so good, Kaoru-kun... Now, make me come"

The boy paused at this seemingly ambiguous order. Sadaharu's hand still nestled in quickly drying dark hair fisted, a warning *not* to stop. Kaoru moaned and Sadaharu answered it with a matching sound, thrusting his hips up to fill the boy's mouth completely with his cock.

"Suck it all," he ordered. And Kaoru did, moaning and sucking and swallowing against Sadaharu's length until he ripped the boy's mouth away, grabbing his cock and aiming the sloppy streams of cum over his boy's face, watching the stunned shock on Kaoru's face.

He continued to work his cock, lazily, although no more cum was forthcoming. Not yet, at any rate. Sadaharu grinned. "You look good with cum on your face, Kaoru-kun," he told his boy. He reached up and scooped the milky and clear mess from his face. "But you look better with your lips wrapped around my cock."

He ran his hands down Kaoru's back, careful not to loose any of the cum he'd gathered in his one palm before he reached his boy's ass. Then he smeared his cum-covered fingers against Kaoru's already sore ass, moving them in and out of his body gently, careful of abused skin.

"Make me hard again, Kaoru," he murmured, his fingers already pumping in and out of the boy's greedy ass, "Or I won't be able to fuck you."

Kaoru moaned, falling face first onto Sadaharu's cock, lips, tongue, and fingers dancing to a frenzied tempo that was set to make the older teen as excited as the boy was feeling. Sadaharu was almost tempted to tell him that so much zealous effort was not needed when all he would have needed to do was open his pretty little lips and beg to be fucked--it would have gotten the same response from Sadaharu's body, he was sure. Even the mere thought of Kaoru's voice rising in a plea to be filled with Sadaharu's cock was enough to engorge the flesh.

Sadaharu withdrew the four fingers that were busy tormenting Kaoru's ass, pushing his boy's face away from his cock and pulling him up to sit in his lap. He rubbed the tip of his cock against Kaoru's entrance--back and forth, again and again, only the uncomfortable position they were in prevented Kaoru from sitting down, seating himself on Sadaharu's cock.

Easily rectified.

"I want you to ride my cock, Kaoru-kun," he gasped, slipping the tip of his cock inside Kaoru's tight, cum-smeared ass. "But we're going to have to shift a little..."

Kaoru's moan echoed in the small space beneath the bridge as he slid onto Sadaharu's cock. Sadaharu drank the sound up, his hips shifting just that little more to bury himself more deeply.

"Ride me," he repeated, hands moving to Kaoru's hips to move him--but the boy needed little prompting and was soon biting his lower lip in an attempt to keep from screaming as he crashed and grinded himself down on Sadaharu's cock. When he came, his body shaking with the intensity of his second orgasm, Sadaharu was there to steady him, a hand wrapped around his cock, coaxing each little drop from his body.

Kaoru pressed his forehead into Sadaharu's chest, panting. Sadaharu decided he definitely liked it, shifting his hips just a little to cause a delicious rippling reaction along Kaoru's inner passage. After another moment, he forced his boy up into a sitting position, burying his cock that much deeper inside Kaoru.

"You're not finished, yet, Kaoru-kun," he chastised. "Not until I've come, too."

The freshman moaned, although to Sadaharu's ears the sound was more like the protesting mew of a kitten. He smiled at that thought, hips thrusting up and filling his 'kitten' again. "Finish riding me, kitten," he purred, dragging his fingertips down Kaoru's chest at just the right angle for his nails to be felt but not to leave a noticeable mark.

Kaoru whimpered above him, but forced his body to move, rocking his hips against Sadaharu's groin, burying his cock again and again and again until he was practically crying aloud; and when he couldn't take it anymore, that's when he begged, "Please, senpai, please, come inside me..."

And really, that was all Sadaharu needed to spill his final load inside that still tight ass.

They lay like that for several minutes, Sadaharu's softened cock still buried--just barely--inside Kaoru's body, his hands running up and down Kaoru's back as the boy's breath slowly returned to something resembling normal.

"It's already dark," Sadaharu spoke first. Kaoru didn't say anything, didn't even move. "We have tennis practice tomorrow," he added, and grinned when this got a response.

"Ssss," the boy spat like an annoyed kitten, finally shimmying to sit up. But the movement resulting in both Sadaharu's cock slipping out of him as well as his body protesting the use of several muscles he *wasn't* used to using. "Damn," he winced.

Sadaharu frowned, sitting up as well. "We'll have to do something about that," he commented, struggling to his feet as well, beginning the process of redressing. He paused in the process of wringing out his soggy shorts.

"Kaoru-kun, we're still... partners?" he asked.

The younger man blinked, looking back at him. Then he frowned and nodded.

"Ah, good. There was a slim chance that...that this," he nodded his head at the stone slab they'd just fucked on, "might have..."

"Senpai," Kaoru interrupted. Pulling his tank top on. And when the shirt was finally in place, Sadaharu could fully see the blush staining the young man's cheeks. "I'm Senpai's partner for as long as Senpai will have me," he mumbled, not quite able to meet Sadaharu's gaze.

Sadaharu grinned, pushing his glassed up into place. "You know," he commented lightly. "This will provide some interesting comparative data."

"Hn."

"We'll continue our... training... tomorrow?"

There was a small grin on Kaoru's lips as he bent over to lift his tennis bag. "Senpai knows where to find me," he answered, slowly climbing the rise that would bring them to the street up above.

Sadaharu grinned--truer words had never been spoken, he thought. He knew where to best find his... partner, at any given minute of the day. He was just a bit anal retentive like that, he admitted of himself, smiling as he, too, climbed to rise to walk back through the park with the younger teen.

~Owarimasu~

End Notes: this story just did *not* want to stop! >.< I had to finally force it to, thank goodness...