[ unseen: he smiles, briefly drops his head, before answering. ]

I'll mark that off in my calendar.

[ one down for this year, apparently. there's less of a pause here than a one-two-three, just long enough for faint humor to bleed into sincerity. ]

I need to thank you for your help back there. [ he's not here to raise any specters, but he doesn't want that to go unsaid. ] It's because of you I got out of that thing.