2. Welcome to Rivendell

[The Pilot]

What they saw next was probably the last thing they expected to see in Middle-earth. As the two bewildered fans made their way into the open space, where they were became obvious: A Barns & Noble bookstore.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Nicole asked.

"I'm pretty sure... everyone else seems to be in costume too..." Lauren pointed out. That was true. Everyone there was in the proper attire, but the whole store was out of place. As they walked around, they found out that it wasn't JUST a bookstore, but a two-story bookstore complete with Starbucks and internet café. The two decided that now wasn't the time to investigate the lure of rows upon rows of written literature, but to find out where exactly they were going to get their next meals and place to stay that night. Lauren suddenly felt like a hobo.

Just as they were about to walk out of the store, they were stopped by an elf at a counter by the door. A sign above it read ‘The Welcome to Middle-earth Committee'.

"Excuse me, but you two are new, right?"she asked politely.

"Yes..." they said in unison.

"Then you have to go through the introduction. It's DERIF policy."

"Oh. What's DERIF?" Nicole asked curiously.

"The Department of Education and Regulation of Imported Fanatics."

"Joy. What's involved? I'd like to get out of here and figure out where I'm sleeping tonight, if you don't mind," Lauren said, a little irritated.

"Oh, it won't take that long. Besides, Lord Elrond has a wing set aside for incoming fans. Now, these are for you two to hold onto," she said, handing each of them pamphlets. They reminded Lauren of pamphlets that travel agents piled on you when you say you want to go to Europe for spring break. "Now, the most important rule that you must heed at all times is to not reveal your true identity to the original residents. The penalty for breaking that rule will result in your permanent removal from Middle-earth."

"Ouch."

"Ouch indeed," she said, and continued. "Also, as a new resident of Middle-earth, you must essentially begin life over. You have to find a job, and eventually your own home wherever you choose. Marriage is also forbidden, except with other fanatics.."

All the two did was simply nod, contemplating how life will be for... eternity.

"The pamphlets will fill you in with the details," the elf finished with a business-like smile that was probably the same for the last bunch.

"A little brief, but thanks anyways."

Nicole and Lauren pushed open the double doors and was greeted by a rather bright noon- day sun as they walked out of the bookstore. Other small groups of people clustered outside sipping on their coffees or flipping through a new book.

"Wow," Lauren said with an almost-laugh. "I never thought elves could be so snobby."

"Shut up. The elves are cool! And I'm going to have to be one for the rest of eternity, so you'd better grow to like them."

"They never do anything exciting. So busy looking ‘fair and beautiful and at peace'," she said, looking through the pamphlet. Suddenly she stopped.

"What is it?"

"Aaaugh!" Lauren rolled her head and stomped a foot on the ground. "We have to completely abandon our old speech and learn to use proper grammar! No slang or modern lingo at all, except around other fans!"

"Holy freak! It'll take weeks to break that sort of habit," Nicole replied with equal frustration.

"I know!" She sighed, and read the pamphlet again. Then she realized something. "Dude!

Do you know what this means?" she said, grabbing Nicole's shoulders and shaking her slightly.

"We can't go prancing around reciting Monty Python lines or singing Marilyn Manson anymore!"

"Man! This sucks more than I thought it would," Nicole pouted, looking at the ground.

"Don't you mean ‘Oh! How my heart desires not of this unfortunate consequence!'" Lauren said mockingly.

"Something like that," Nicole mumbled. "You know? You've been reading too much Romeo and Juliet for your own good."

"God.. I hate that play. C'mon... we need to find out where we are. We're burning daylight."

"Stop! You're doing it again!"

"Shut. Up."

"Besides. I think I know where we are." Nicole pointed to a map that she found in the pamphlet. There was a big one of the whole of Middle-earth, and a detail of Eriador. There was a big, red arrow pointing to Rivendell that said ‘YOU ARE HERE'.

She glanced at the maps. "Really? How did you know?" Lauren asked sarcastically.

"Alright. We're in Rivendell. That much we know. What we DON'T know is where to go next," Nicole thought aloud.

"Ask him," Lauren said, and pointed to a tall, regal-looking, dark-haired elf down a long corridor to her left.

They scurried down the long hall and ended up in a library. Lauren recognized it as Elrond's library from the movies, even though it was quite different from how Peter Jackson depicted it. The elf, who ended up being Elrond himself, turned towards them.

"Welcome to Imladris, friends," was his greeting.

‘Wow,' Lauren thought to herself. ‘He doesn't look anything like Hugo Weaving.' For one thing, his hair was black, and he didn't have that crease in between his eyebrows from scowling so much.

"Awesome!" Nicole said, thinking the same thing Lauren was. "You look way cooler than Hugo Weaving!"

Lauren elbowed her. "Alright. What's the deal? Do we now officially live in Rivendell?"

"You will stay the night here," he replied. "And if you wish to leave tomorrow, I can arrange for supplies and horses to be made ready for you." Talk about pampering.

"That works," Lauren said.

"Where are our rooms?" Nicole asked.

"Take the west path out of the gardens to the House of Gwaitholin. Have some rest; death is not an easy process to undergo. Or so I've heard..." he finished.

‘Those were probably murder victims he's talking about...' Lauren thought.

"This is beyond amazing..." Nicole said. "Come on! I want to go check stuff out."

"Wait! Before Nic and I go off ‘to play' I have a question for you.."

"Yes?"

"How exactly do you keep all of this hidden from other people?"

"Good question," he said, smiling. "Are you familiar with the ford of Bruinen?"

Lauren nodded.

"A similar enchantment has been put on the building to ensure that no one, save for a few Elves, set foot inside, or even find it for that matter. Though all Elves are aware that your kind inhabit Middle-earth, almost all do not have permission or access to your technology."

"So... that means that the only people that know about us are the Elves and other fans?" Nicole asked.

"That is correct."

"Wow. That almost sucks... but then again, we get to be like... undercover."

"Well, if we have any other questions, we'll be sure to come to you," Lauren said.

"Anytime."

Lauren and Nicole walked out of the library, hoping their general direction would leave them in the gardens.

"So where do you plan to go after this, Miss Elf?" Lauren asked.

"Dunno... probably Mirkwood."

"Mirkwood? Why Mirkwood?" she replied gingerly.

"I've always wanted to meet Tharanduil and see if he's as insane as all the fanfictions make him out to be."

Lauren nodded. "That is if he hasn't left for Valinor. But then again, it doesn't seem like any of the elves have left for Valinor..."

"True... but besides. I'm an elf now, so I can't go partying around with your human buddies."

"Ha! You got that right." Lauren took out her sword and looked at it. "You know what?"

"Hm."

"Elves know too much." She put it back in the sheath at her side.

"Hey, it only seems that way when compared to humans," she teased.

"At least humans actually enjoy their lives, and don't waste time stating the obvious," Lauren retaliated. Legolas came to mind with that last remark.

"Your face."

"Your mom."

"Your mom's face."

"Your face's mom."

Nicole made a face. "Why do you always have to have the last word??"

"Because I'm human," Lauren mused and stuck out her tongue.

[The Pilot]

Simply put, the movies did not do justice to the natural beauty of Rivendell. The flowering glades, the soothing fountains, the non-allergenic air, the cascading waterfalls, the...

"Mika!" Lauren stopped dead (no pun intended) in her tracks, staring at the elf in front of her. Her costume closely resembled the one she made specially for RotK-seeing. "You too?"

"I guess so," she said.

"Mika!" Nicole squealed, and ran to give her a hug. "Where's Rebecca?"

"You know, I'm not sure. She might even still be alive..."

"So." Lauren put her hands on her hips. "What are you doing in Rivendell?"

"Right now?" she looked up at the angle of the sun. "Well, now I'm working. I'd say I'm on break in about ten minutes."

"What? You've got a job? Already? How long have you been here?" Nicole asked.

"Oh, around a month..." she paused. "I don't think anyone will notice if I take my break a little early. Let's go sit over there." Mika gestured towards a stone bench.

They all sat down.

"So wait.." Lauren was the first to speak. "You ‘changed' into an Elf, moved into Rivendell, secured a job, and are doing fine? All within the span of a month?"

"Yep."

"How much do you get paid?"

"A gold piece an hour."

"A gold piece an hour? Is that good? What do you do?" Nicole barraged her with questions.

"A gold piece an hour is like minimum wage around here. So, it's okay. And you were asking what I do?" she held up a dark blue pouch that seemed to be made of a very, very expensive material. "I distribute money to all the noobs. Here." She handed each of them ten coins. "And between you guys and me," she said in a whisper. "Here's five more. I'm only supposed to give out ten, but since you guys are my friends, I'll let it slip."

"Awesome! You are the best," Lauren said, pocketing the money. Nicole did the same (even though she didn't have any pockets). "But, say, if you decided to take some, how would they know if you did or didn't?"

"I wouldn't risk it," she said laughing. "The Elves seem to know everything."

"Ha!" Lauren suddenly turned to Nicole. "Told you."

"Shut up."

"So, d'you guys want to see where you're staying tonight?"

"Yea. I was just going to ask you where the House of Gwaitholin is. It's Elvish, huh?"

Lauren asked, standing up. They did the same, and started walking.

"Yea."

"What does it mean?"

"I thought you were learning Elvish?"

"I was, but that was Quenya. All the ‘modern' Elvish is Sindarin. All I remember is flipping through the back of the Silmarillion a coupola times, looking for names.."

"Oh, well, it's something to the extent of "Strange Children" or "Foreign Children" or something."

"Well, that's kind of them to name our wing that," Nicole said sarcastically.

"The name sucks, but it's actually a really cool building inside. And even outside." Mika pointed to a large building with a vaulted roof that was painted a neutral green. It was almost three stories tall. She could see people all in it through the non-walls, as she called Elvish walls, doing stuff.

They walked in and talked some more as they climbed up an elegant spiral staircase that led to the second level. The whole second story of the house was divided in two, but the larger portion of it was filled with beds. Lauren estimated around forty beds all lined up in neat little rows, and in between them were kids laughing, talking, reading, or sleeping. She also noted how almost all of them were elves. Elves. Yuck. Elves were an epidemic, it seemed. Lauren laughed a little as she thought of going to the store looking for "anti-elf spray" that would keep the Elves from biting.

Mika vaguely gestured to the room. "Pick a spot."

Nicole and Lauren made their way to a generally deserted corner of the room with two unoccupied beds next to each other. "I think Gwaitholin in the Common Tongue is "Fan Bunker"," Lauren commented to Nicole.

"I'm never going to hear the end of how ridiculous the Elves are, will I?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

Lauren smiled. "Nope."

Mika joined them.

"What do we do now?" Nicole asked.

"Whatever you want, really."

Lauren pulled the wad of coins out of her pocket. "I know where I'm going."

"I think that's where I'll be going too," Nicole said. "Wanna come?"

Mika shook her head. "Can't. My break is probably over by now. But my shift will be over before dinner, so I'll see you then."

"Alright," Nicole said and they began to make their way back downstairs. Lauren stopped.

"Is the food any good around here?" She asked.

"Really good."

"Noice."

The human and "Elven" girls made their way down the stairs, down the path, into the gardens, out the south end, up another flight of stairs and up to the double wooden doors that would take them back into the last bastion of technology in Middle-earth. They pushed the doors opened, held them open for two others who walked out and walked in.

"I wonder what exactly I can buy with fifteen gold coins," Lauren asked.

"We'll have to figure that one out," Nicole replied. They exchanged glances, and they were thinking the same thing.

"Ciao!" Lauren bolted off to the music area.

"See ya!" Nicole headed for the magazine rack.

Lauren browsed amongst the hundreds and hundreds of CD's for what seemed like forever, and found what she was looking for: Tool's Lateralus. She had to make sure it was a CD she wouldn't mind listening to over, and over, and over again. With a closer inspection, however, she discovered that it cost four gold pieces. Couldn't be that expensive, right? She looked at a rack in the middle and plucked out a CD player. Seven coins. That left her with four more coins to buy a crap-load of batteries and some root beer. Throwing everything into a basket, she picked out three six-packs of AA batteries. She paid the nice lady at the counter, and that left her with one coin. (Yes! No sales tax!)

She walked over to the café while keeping an eye out for Nicole. She was probably upstairs. She got lucky: three bottles of IBC root beer for one bloody coin. That was the best fifteen gold coins she'd ever spent, not to mention the only fifteen gold coins she'd ever spent.

Lauren met up with Mika and Nicole later that evening in the House of Gwaitholin.

Nicole showed them the two Wiccan/New Age books she bought, and Lauren shared her music.

"You'll have to be really careful with that, though, if you're planning to use it outside of Rivendell," Mika warned. "It's like a bomb waiting to explode."

Lauren looked down at her CD player. "And the effects of the detonation would be devastating, and then the DERIF will come after me, huh?"

Mika nodded. "Technically, you're not even supposed to bring it outside the borders of any Elf Haven. Crap like that in the countries of humans are dangerous, to be honest."

"I'll just have to be uber careful, then."

"For all our sake, you'd better," Nicole said.

"Well, better in my hands than yours," Lauren retaliated.

"Come on, guys. Quit bickering and get to the Great Hall before we're late to dinner," Mika said, motioning for them to follow.

[The Pilot]

| There's a chapter missing here, and it's been missing since the dawn of time (I did write it once upon a time, I swear, but it was lost in cyberspace.)
Recap: Lauren and Nicole and everyone go to bed (with difficulty and mainly out of boredom), get up, have delicious waffles, crack jokes about "waff-elves"; Mika take N and L to go see Glorfindel, and they announce they want to leave later that day. Mika gets very depressed and begs them not to leave yet, but they don't change their minds.|


After visiting Glorfindel at the stables, the Trivial Trio (?) made their way back to the main part of the haven, and eventually back to the House. Nicole looked excited, Lauren looked... like Lauren, and Mika looked slightly depressed.

Lauren would have continued her futile efforts of Operation: Get Mika Out Of The Ditch, but frankly, Nicole was much better at being happy go lucky, so she decided to ease off and let Nicole take over.

And she did. "Oh, come on Mika! We’ll visit, I promise. And maybe you can take a month off and visit one of us! Hey! How about you and Lauren come over to Mirkwood and stay for a week or so for Christmas?"

"Wait... what?" Lauren said; this conversation was going in a wayward direction, and one she had hoped that it would not go. Lauren did NOT want to go to Mirkwood. In fact, she would rather go through Moria, ALONE, than stay a night in Legolas’ former residence with a crapload of his girly fans that wasted their afterlife thinking they would get to live with him in Mirkwood, when he was really in Gondor right now. Stupid Orli-fans. They knew nothing about Lord of the Rings, and thought ‘Hey, if Legolas is the Prince of Mirkwood, he probably lives there, right?’ But then again, with the Elves not even leaving Middle-earth, some other event of great importance could have been another one of Tolkien’s twists. Or perhaps it was decades after the war, and everything was all boring again. She had heard that Legolas stayed in Minas Tirith until Aragorn died... Those last thoughts brought up two questions.

She asked: "Isn’t Tolkien himself in Middle-earth?"

"Actually, he is, and was living in Rivendell since he came here, but decided to go say ‘hi’ to his favorite little Hobbits over in the Shire not but three weeks ago. He’ll probably be gone for a few months, knowing him," was Mika’s reply.

"‘Knowing him’? You KNEW John Ronald Reuel Tolkien?" Nicole asked, and she looked as if she was prepared to shake the information out of her.

"Yea. All of us Rivendell Fans knew him at the least. I was actually a friend of his," she said smugly.

Lauren looked as if she were not only prepared to shake the information out of her, but strangle it out of her as well. "Why didn’t you tell us before!"

Mika shrugged. "You never asked."

"Isn’t THAT the lamest excuse ever."

"You’d better tell us fast, if we plan on leaving at two, Mika," Lauren almost growled.

"Alright! Alright," she said in defeat and sat down on a bed to begin the explaining, starting from the very beginning.

It turned out that after an un-publicized near death experience Tolkien had before he went to WWI, he was accidentally brought to Middle-earth, and was the first of our world to do so. He found himself in Rivendell, and the Elves were as fascinated about him as he was of them. So began his learning of Middle-earth, and indeed he did learn a lot. He learned the languages of the Elves, Dwarves, and learned pretty much everything there was to know about the world, all in the time span of roughly twenty months. He compiled all he knew into a red, leather-bound book that he carried with him everywhere. One day Mandos himself, in the guise of an elf came to him and told him that it was time to go, and that everything had been straightened out, and it turned out that it wasn’t his time yet. So, after some debate with the Vala, he was forced to leave Rivendell and everything there, but Tolkien, before he left with Mandos, asked of him two things before returning to the mundane world: he wanted to keep his red book, and he did not want to forget everything he had learned while he was there. Mandos told him that Manwë would be furious if he found out that both worlds knew of each other, but Tolkien assured him, saying that he would tell his world of Middle-earth in the form of stories, and fictional tales, so that none would truly think it was real.

So he came back to the modern world of Men (those twenty-some months he spent in Rivendell had taken up a total of three seconds in our world), and found his book on a bedside table. And so it came to pass that in 1954 he began to tell the world about Middle-earth.

And when he died for the final time in the seventies, he was strangely enough the first to go to Middle-earth in the afterlife since the books had been published. But after his arrival people from our world began showing up on Elrond’s doorstep, and so the Elves had to come up with a system to keep all of these outsiders in check, if there was nothing that could be done to stop them from coming. And so the DERIF was created, and it was decided that only the Elves could know of how these outsiders came to be in Middle-earth, and forbade them and the outsiders to tell anyone else. Then began the construction of the House of Gwaitholin and a proper portal out of the Waypoint, which came to be known some time later. And then the Barns & Noble was constructed a few months after the completion of the House.

Strangely enough, the number of fans coming in every day was not as the Elves had expected, even though the number of fans in the Mundane World (as our living world came to be known as) soared into the millions, and odds were several hundred of them died every day, and more were being born every day. On a "good" day, a total of nine would walk out of the portal. A fan that had been a mathematician and astronomer in the Mundane World suggested that this had something to do with the Space/Time Continuum or the intervention of supreme beings, and so everyone left it alone after that seeing that it was reason enough.

Enter Mika. She had no idea what would be involved in living here until the end of time, and so she decided to lie low and stay in Rivendell until she knew exactly what was going on. At that time, Tolkien was at home in Rivendell, having completed his life’s work and content at how many people took the history book of Middle-earth for their bible. She herself almost screamed and tackled him out of excitement when she first met him, and soon afterwards they became good friends.

Nicole plopped down on the bed when Mika was finally finished with her story. "You know, that was almost like hearing a bit of the Silmarillion, only, well, you get it."

"That I do," Mika said with an exhale.

"And one more question," Lauren said. "How many years into the Fourth Age are we?"

"Year number five and counting," Mika replied.

"Five years? Nothing is happening anymore! Remember? ‘Now are the days of peace’ or something. Peace? I want to go traveling in the wilderness and lob off orc heads in the process!" Lauren griped, startling both Mika and Nicole, as well as a few other elves who were loitering nearby as she suddenly ripped out her sword and held it high in the air, then sheathing it once more. Indeed she had hoped that some shred of action and adventure would be left for them to snatch while here; that was one of the reasons she came here. If she would be spending the rest of her afterlife tilling fields and puffing Hobbit weed, what was the use of coming here at all?

Nicole, too, began to deflate, but Lauren stood up and began to pack what personal items she had into the saddlebags, trying to change the subject for the sake of her own outgoing mood. "You should write that story of yours down if Tolkien himself hasn’t already. You might make a pretty penny in royalties off it."

Mika shook her head. "No, Tolkien hasn’t written it here yet. I would do that, but you know, editors and publishing companies haven’t come into existence yet."

Lauren paused. "Oh yea. And all the book binding, and writing would all have to be done by hand... Gah. Never mind." She continued to pack her root beer bottles.

Mika watched her pack. "You know what the first thing I bought with my money?"

"Hm."

"A toothbrush."

Lauren stopped and made a frustrated noise out of that realization. "Argh! I completely forgot! Oh well. I’ll get one later; when I have some cash."

And so two o’clock in the afternoon rushed upon the small company before any of them were aware of it, and with heavy hearts and saddlebags they -made for the stables once more. As promised, Glorfindel had Thinroch and Miril ready for them as they walked up the path.

Glorfindel greeted them warmly. "Mae govannen, friends! I see that you are eager to leave this dull and idle haven West of the mountains?" He handed Lauren and Nicole the reigns to the horses.

"That we are," Lauren said. "Though my heart is loth to leave so soon."

"As is mine." Nicole sighed, and the two of them turned to Mika who looked the saddest of all.

"Though I would bid you leave in the waning of the year, I will not block the paths you wish to take," Mika said elegantly.

The trio fell silent for a moment and each looked at the others, before bursting out laughing, despite the mood of the moment.

"‘Loth’?" Nicole said with a smile.

"Yes, loth. I have to practice this style of speech sometime or another."

"Have you been practicing, Mika?" Nicole asked.

"Not really. Just being surrounded with all of these people that talk like that all the time really gets you talking like them."

"I got the disease from watching the movies too much," Lauren admitted. "But seriously, folks. We’re not going to see Mika for a rather long while, now are we?" She stepped up to her friend. "Sh. You can’t go telling everyone about this, got it?" Lauren said, and gave Mika a hug. "If this gets past the valley, I’ll have your head."

"Alright, alright," Mika replied with good nature, her depression seeming to drift away.

"And like I said too many times before: I’ll come and visit soon." Nicole gave Mika a bear hug.

"Well, looks like this is goodbye," Lauren said, looking at her horse who seemed ardent to get the show on the road as well. "Let’s see if I can actually get on this thing..." she mumbled to herself, sizing up the horse as Mika and Nicole shared a farewell.

"Let me help," Glorfindel said, weaving his fingers together in a makeshift step. She nestled her boot in the palms of his hands and he hoisted her up as she quickly scrambled on the horse before losing her balance. "That was easy enough..."

"Now my turn," Nicole said as the elf went over to Nicole and her horse. Thinroch was almost as tall as Miril. She did the same, but with a little less damage to her dignity. Lauren scoffed. Must be the elf-ness taking effect. Lauren noticed her horse grow fidgety and impatient. Glorfindel put on the saddlebags, and put in five bundles of way bread as well as three apples in each bag.

"That will hopefully last you a week or so, with meager rations. Perhaps you will be lucky to find a village in Dunland, if your road leads there. Word has reached my ears that a band of Dwarves have again tried to retake Moria, and would have to be very stout and brave to do so. But I know not of how their plight fares for them, or even if this news is simply gossip from travelers of the south who knew naught of it themselves. But nonetheless, if you dare pass that way, perhaps fortune will be in your favor and there will be grand halls and blazing hearths to gladly greet you.

"And a word of warning: though five years has passed since the fall of Sauron’s empire, not all of those that were once in his service have been dealt swift justice. Some still go abroad in bands, and near to the Misty Mountains. And so be careful; you may be immortal, but your invincibility is uncertain."

Nicole shot a look at Lauren. "Yea, Lauren, don’t go getting yourself killed thinking fighting orcs is fun."

"Oh, hush you. I’ll fight one or two if necessary, hoping that all of those parties with pinatas has honed my sword-fighting skills at all, but I’m sure the horses will help if we’re in a bind. But I’ve got a feeling that we won’t run into anything serious."

Mika laughed. "He’s being serious, you guys," she said, her laughter dying down. "You can get seriously hurt out there in the wilderness all by yourselves, and getting yourself gutted by a rusty blade isn’t the nicest feeling thing in the world."

"And you’re the one telling ME to be careful out in the wild? YOU’RE the one that fell in the lake when we went hiking by my house that one time, and freaked out even though the water wasn’t even knee-deep."

Mika glared at Lauren. "And THAT doesn’t get out the valley, either," she spat.

"Fine."

"Fine."

They fell silent again, until Miril neighed and pawed the ground anxiously. "I think it’s time to go," Lauren said, keeping her horse under control.

Mika heaved a heavy sigh. "Yea. You don’t want to leave too late; too many miles ahead for you to get a late start."

"Then let us be off before we tarry any longer."

Glorfindel walked alongside Mika as Nicole and Lauren directed their horses to one of the main archways that led out of Rivendell. They paused just inside, and waved back at Mika and the elf before continuing on their journey into the wilderness of Middle-earth. It would be a long ride.

[Lady Hammer]

Interesting! ^o^ I like how this is so fan-oriented, 'cause I can totally relate to it, or at least I could back when I was in my LotR trip. Awesome!

The only thing I can pick at is your description. When you go into it, I trip over it when I read. It's just kinda messy and hard to read, and doesn't flow very well.

Other than that, I really liked it. ^^

[The Pilot]

Exactly. Unfortunately, I do it so often in the early chapters, I'm too lazy to fix it all. xD

Maybe I'll go and seriously edit the whole thing when I'm done.

[Lady Hammer]

Mayhaps! I understand that this was like four years ago, so I don't want to harp on you a whole lot. Especially since you seem to know what you're doing in the present. xD