what are the chances

"Oh, my God. It's him."

What are the chances? Honestly, what are the chances he leaves Britain in his teens to undergo a four-year education in France only to come back to England for university and have someone from his past show up? And what are the chances that someone be Remus Lupin, the only person who was nice to him at the private secondary school he went to in Edinburgh?

Sirius can't take his eyes away from the Cookery Stand where Remus Lupin is standing with a smile on his handsome face as he listens to Pomona Sprout no doubt talking about cooking and the benefits of using fresh ingredients. He can't believe it. He just cannot believe it. Of all the places in Great Britain, of all the people in the bloody country, how can Remus be here, right now, where he is, at the Durham University Extra Curriculars Fair?

Looking at the other man, Sirius can feel his stomach tighten because Remus Lupin is so fucking pretty. He was already quite nice to look at back in secondary school, but now? Hot damn. He hasn't really changed all that much. He is taller now, his shoulders are broader, he looks more confident, but he still has the same windswept mousy brown hair and lovely crooked smile. The scar through his eyebrow is still there as well, though less noticeable now, and his eyes look as bright and alive as they had been years ago.

"I can't believe it," he mutters to himself. "He's here. How is he here? Why is he here?"

His best friend and all-round favourite person, Lily Evans, hums, her eyes fixed on her sign-up sheet. When she doesn't get a response, she looks up and says, "Did you say something, Padfoot?"

Sirius shakes his head and quickly averts his gaze, looking down at the list of names on his own sign-up sheet. "Nope," he answers. "Didn't say a thing."

Lily frowns at him. "Bullshit," she says, lowering her clipboard and taking a seat next to him. "You've gone weird. What's wrong?"

Sirius pauses and looks at his friend. He and Lily have been close since they were sorted into a flat together on their first day of university. He has only known her for a year or so, but it feels like much longer. Lily feels like family now – a chosen kind, more special than blood. He looks into her green eyes and finds that he doesn't want to lie or hide from her, so he says:

"Do you remember when I told you that I had been to a few different schools in my teens before I went to live with my uncle in France?"

"Yes."

"Well, I went to one called Hogwarts Academy in Edinburgh when I was about fourteen," he explains. "It was probably one of the most hostile schools I went to. It was the last normal school I went to before I was sent to Beauxbâtons which was – well, you know."

"Brilliant, yeah, you said," she replies. "I have a feeling this is not about Beauxbâtons, though, right?"

"Correct," he says, glancing at the Cookery Stand where Remus is still trapped. "Hogwarts was an okay school, for the most part. I mean, the syllabus was top-notch, but the students were awful, and the teachers didn't do anything about them. There were so many bullies, and it was just... so shit. Every day felt like an anxiety-ridden nightmare."

Ever intuitive, Lily says, "I feel a 'but' coming?"

Sirius exhales a laugh and says, "But there was one person who was nice."

"Right..."

"And he's here."

"Here? What, like, in Durham or at this university?"

"Both, I suppose."

Lily straightens up in her chair and glances around the Fair, correctly deducing that the person is literally here right now. "Where is he?"

"Be covert," he warns. "Over with Pomona."

Lily is covert as she slyly angles herself to look at Pomona's station. She studies the people there, then says, "Glasses? Oh, they've both got glasses. The tall one or the one with messy hair?"

Sirius frowns and looks over to see that James Potter is now standing with Remus and Pomona. He huffs because honestly what are the chances that two people from his past show up at his university?! He shouldn't be surprised, really. Remus and James were nigh-on inseparable at school. It makes sense for them to have decided on a university together.

"The tall one," he answers.

Lily focuses on the taller of the two and checks him out. After a moment, she says, "He's cute. What's his name?"

"His name is Remus, and he is cute," Sirius agrees. "He has actually gotten better looking, believe it or not."

Lily hums and turns back to him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go and talk to him," she says with an encouraging grin.

Sirius laughs loudly but when he sees that she is being serious, he stops and says, "No."

"Why not? You said he were nice, didn't you? And he's fit, and you're fit. What's stopping you?"

Sirius scoffs and replies, "What you're implying there, my darling, is that I fancy Remus and that he might be queer and that he might also fancy me which is, quite frankly, ridiculous. And besides that, what if he doesn't remember me? Or worse, what if he does? I was not very nice to look at back then. And anyway, what would I say? 'Hi, Remus, I know we went to school together years ago and spoke a total of five times, but you're here now, so let's chat.'?"

Lily shrugs, "Yeah."

"No!" he snorts. "That would be so weird." He glances at Remus for a second, then down at his papers. "He'll probably skip over this section anyway. That friend of his, the one with the hair, he's as straight as can be. I doubt Remus is any different."

"That's awfully assumptive of you. Thought you didn't do that?"

Sirius rolls his eyes but doesn't get a chance to reply as a couple of students wander over to their stand, querying the club – LGBTQ And Then Some, a club for those in the LGBTQ+ community – and signing up. When the first years wander off, Sirius glances across the Extra Curriculars Fair to find Remus and James laughing as they make their way around the stalls.

The closer his ex-schoolmates get, the more Sirius begins to feel nervous. He is worried that they will recognise him. He is worried that they won't recognise him. He doesn't know which he would prefer, honestly. If they remember him, it is a solid link to a past that he has tried to move on from. If they don't remember him, it's embarrassing and a bit insulting that he never made an impression.

Not that he could blame them for not recognising him.

Believe it or not, Sirius Black has not always been the attractive sight that he is today. Once, he had been small and scrawny with loud braces and a buzzcut hairstyle that did nothing for him. He'd also had acne, as most teenagers do, and a bad stutter.

All of this amounted to a kid who was an easy target.

By the time he reached his mid-teens, Sirius was well acquainted with bullies. It didn't matter that he came from money or that his cousins were amongst the popular crowd. If you were different, in any way whatsoever, and if you had no friends to protect you, you were a target. A lot of the students at Hogwarts Academy came from illustrious backgrounds which meant that they were self-involved, pompous, and believed themselves to be above others. His cousins were no different and teased him as much as everyone else did. Those who didn't come from money either stayed under the radar or were targets like Sirius.

He can still remember the first time he met Remus.

"Get out of my way, Nancy-Boy," Silas Mulciber spat before he roughly shoved Sirius aside.

Sirius tripped over his own foot and went crashing to the floor, his stuff spilling out of his open bag as his hand smacked off the floor and his knee smarted from the fall. One of Mulciber's cronies kicked his pencil case across the floor and muttered another slur that he didn't quite hear before the older boys traipsed off down the hallway, cackling as they went.

Sirius frowned and ignored the looks – some full of pity, others full of amusement – from those in the corridor with him as he began packing his belongings back into his messenger bag. He reached for his calculator just as another hand grabbed it and he glanced up, startled, to find Remus Lupin, a scholarship boy in his year who everyone seemed to like, holding his pencil case and now the calculator. Remus offered him a kind smile and held the calculator out.

"Um, what are you d-d-doing?" Sirius asked, frowning.

Remus looked confused by the question. "Helping you?"

Sirius had been at Hogwarts for a few months now and the only person who had been kind to him was Ms McGonagall, his English teacher. He had seen Remus around the halls and the other student seemed to be nice, but he had learned the hard way that looks could be deceiving.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm not a dick?" Remus replied, still holding the calculator and pencil case.

Sirius was eighty percent sure that Remus was telling the truth, so he nodded and took the things. "Th-thanks," he replied, packing them away.

"S'alright," said Remus, picking up the Geography and History textbooks that had fallen out of Sirius's bag. He stood up and held out a hand for Sirius, who took it hesitantly. Remus then hauled him up easily, offered the textbooks, and said, "Are you alright?"

Sirius stared at the other boy, unused to such questions. He had no friends at Hogwarts and his parents couldn't care less if there was something wrong with him or not. He had tried to make friends, but everyone seemed to have their groups sorted and no one wanted the new kid infiltrating. Unsure how exactly to respond, Sirius nodded and took the books, stuffing them into his bag and zipping it up.

"Doctor Who fan?"

Sirius blinked and hiked his bag up onto his shoulder. "Excuse me?"

Remus pointed at Sirius's bag where is a cluster of badges and pins sat, one of which had an Ood on it. Sirius had always been a fan of the Ood: an innocent species who were kind and gentle but who were corrupted and manipulated by humanity.

"The Ood," noted Remus. "I prefer the Weeping Angels myself, but the Ood are good. D'you have a favourite classic?"

Sirius hesitated but eventually replied, "The, um... I d-don't think you can beat the, um, the Daleks."

Remus made a face and said, "I disagree. Cybermen; that's where it's at. Always coming back with new technological advances, always reinventing themselves."

"But the D-D-Daleks always believe they're, um, perfect as they are," replied Sirius. "Very, ah, confident."

Remus laughed and replied, "Aye, I s'pose." There was a second of silence, before he said, "Sirius, right? We have Science together?"

Sirius nodded and replied, "Y-yes. And, um, English."

"Right," Remus smiled – crooked and beautiful. "English is good. Fun, I mean. I'm shite at Science, but I like English."

Sirius nodded and offered a closed-mouth smile, conscious of his braces. Before he could say anything else, the school's most popular and well-liked student, James Potter, shouted from the end of the corridor:

"Moony, come on! I've got to get to practice before Sinistra makes me do laps!"

"Aye, I'm coming, two seconds!" Remus shouted before he turned back to Sirius and rolled his eyes. "Sorry. He's obsessed with me."

Sirius exhaled a laugh but didn't say anything.

"Right, well, I have to..." Remus gestured to his friend and shrugged. "I'll see you around, aye?"

Sirius nodded. "Y-yes," he answered. "Yep."

Remus offered another lovely smile before he turned and jogged away.

As much as he wished it, Sirius did not see Remus around as much as he would've liked to. Remus sat with him in English a few times and they swapped tests in Science to mark each other's work twice but that was about the extent of their interactions. Two months later, Sirius was forced to move after he was outed to the school and then to his parents. He was unofficially disowned and shipped off to live with his uncle Alphard in France where he finished his education at a private boarding school.

Sirius has grown a lot since then. His acne cleared up when he moved to France and his braces were removed on his sixteenth birthday. He began eating properly and working out. He grew his hair out and learned how to style it. He even worked with elocution coaches and teachers who cared about him, and his stutter nowadays is almost non-existent. It now only makes a reappearance when he is nervous or angry.

"Look sharp," Lily says, snapping his attention back to the present. "He's coming over."

Sirius frowns and refocuses his attention only to find Remus walking their way – sans James, who has wandered over to the Rugby section and is speaking to the club's foreman, Peter Pettigrew. Remus pauses in front of their table and glances up at the sign above.

"LGBTQ And Then Some," he reads in his wonderful Scottish accent. "What happens here, then?"

Sirius freezes, feeling like an awkward fourteen-year-old all over again. Lily seems to sense this, and she answers for him: "We organise events for people who happen to fall under the LGBTQ+ banner." She nudges Sirius and says, "Padfoot, care to elaborate."

Sirius swallows and offers a smile. "Yes, um," he clears his throat and picks up a leaflet. "It's not really a club as such."

Remus focuses his lovely hazel eyes on Sirius and says, "No?"

Sirius shakes his head and dredges up his courage before he answers, "I mean, we're registered as a club, but we mostly just, um, organise events and meet-ups for the LGBTQIA+ students."

"Ah, that's cool," Remus says with a smile – still crooked, still beautiful. He takes the leaflet and glances down at it briefly before returning his eyes to Sirius. "What type of events do you do?"

"Um, we mostly just hold Coffee Sessions at the local café but, uh, we sometimes organise parties, and we contribute to the various charity bake sales held around campus," he replies, feeling a little hot under the collar at the undivided attention. He glances at Lily who is smirking down at her chart. Evil wench, not helping him in his time of need. He turns back to Remus and explains, "We pride ourselves on this club being a safe space for people who want to make friends and socialise and meet like-minded individuals. Everyone is different, from looks to personality to sexuality, but we all have something in common and that's, um, what we celebrate."

Remus nods and opens his mouth to speak again but is stopped when James bounds over and throws an arm around his shoulders. He glances at the banner above, much like Remus had, and grins. "Finally!" he exclaims. "I told you there'd be something like this here."

Remus rolls his eyes and mutters, "Aye, I ken." He offers Sirius an apologetic smile and asks, "How do I sign up?"

Sirius doesn't respond for a second as his mind registers the request, then: "Oh. Uh, here." He hands his clipboard over (old-fashioned, he knows) and says, "We'll need your name and email address. You can put your phone number and course down as well if you want."

Remus nods and jots down his information. "So, how does this work, then?" he asks.

"We'll, um, be sending you an email in the next 48 hours – just to confirm who we are and what we do, and to direct you to our section on the university website," he answers. "From there, we'll send you emails or texts to confirm what events we have on and the details and things like that."

Remus nods again, then hands the clipboard back to Sirius with a smile. "Cool," he replies. "Sounds good."

"Do you have events often?" James asks, apparently interested. His eyes keep shifting between Sirius and Lily. "Can anyone come or is it just for the LGBT crew?"

"Um, we have Coffee Sessions every week but it's not an obligatory thing," he answers. "Sometimes, uh, people can't make it due to, you know, exams or holidays, or they're just not feeling it. It's all very casual."

"Allies are welcome," Lily says. "Anyone can come, so long as they're there for the right reasons."

James grins and puts his hand up in surrender as he says, "I am not a homophobic prick, I promise."

Lily straightens her shoulders and offers a placid smile. "Good," is all she says.

Sirius glances at his friend, recognises the tell-tale signs of a woman who sees someone she finds attractive, and grins. He turns to Remus and says, "We'll be having our first meeting next week at the café. You don't have to come, if you decide it's not for you, but you're welcome. Both of you."

"Great, no, I'll be there," Remus says quickly. "For sure. Will you be there? You two, I mean."

Sirius can't stop the beaming smile that climbs onto his face at Remus's apparent interest in him being present. "Yes," he answers. "Lily and I are co-leaders of the club. We're at every meeting."

"That's cool," Remus says, pointedly not looking at James who is staring at him with a knowing grin. "That's cool. I guess I'll see you next week, then?"

Sirius nods and replies, "Of course."

Remus offers a smile, then grabs James's sleeve and departs with a wave. Sirius bites his cheek and watches the other man leave before he looks down at the sign-up sheet in his hand which shows: Remus John Lupin followed by an email address, a course, and a phone number beginning with 07.

"He seems nice," Lily remarks.

Sirius glances at her and says, "He is."

The first official meeting of the LGBTQ And Then Some club is underway.

As club leaders, Sirius and Lily have been making the rounds, meeting and greeting both old and new members. They have a fair few returners this year as well as a bunch of new members, and they have all taken over the local café: The Cactus Branch. It feels good to be back. Sirius is both a people-watcher and a social butterfly, and that is why he loves the club: it gives him the opportunity to talk with people and help them find their place, but also to watch people mingle and make new friends.

Sirius and Lily are at the coffee counter when Remus and James walk in. Sirius stumbles in what he is saying to Lily which she notices, and she immediately turns her attention to the doorway.

"Oh, they're here," she remarks. "Do you want to go over and say hi?"

Sirius feels his heart jump at that but replies, "We probably should." He picks up his coffee, clears his throat, and braces himself. "Okay, come on."

Lily offers him a comforting smile before she picks up her own frappe and links their arms. Together, they walk over to where Remus and James are standing.

"Hi," she says, giving the pair a large smile. "We're glad you came, aren't we, Padfoot?"

Sirius nods and offers his own welcoming smile. He notices Remus's attention is on him, subtle as the man is trying to be, and it makes him feel a little nervous.

"Of course we are," he says. "Always happy to have n-newcomers. My name is Sirius Black and I am co-leader of this club. I'm gay and my pronouns are he/him, though I don't really mind what people call me."

Remus's expression flickers at that, the tiniest of frowns appearing on his face, as if he recognises the name and is trying to work out why. Sirius, for his part, pointedly doesn't let his expression waver.

"And I'm Lily Evans, the other co-leader," Lily says. "I'm pansexual, and my pronouns are she/her. You don't have to tell us your preferences if you don't want to."

"Nah, we're good, right, Moony?" James grins, nudging Remus with his elbow. "I'm James Potter, I'm probably straight but, hey, who knows, right? And I go by he/him usually."

Remus, after another nudge from James, smiles and says, "Remus Lupin, bisexual, he/him as well."

"Brilliant!" Lily chirps, high fiving both Remus and James. She then makes a sweeping gesture to the rest of the room and its occupants. "Grab a coffee, take a seat, mingle. Most everyone here is here for this meeting. Sirius and I will be around, so please come and see us if you're a bit uncertain, alright?"

Remus nods and is immediately pulled over to the counter by James. Sirius and Lily take a seat next to their friends, Marlene and Dorcas, who they met last year thanks to this club. They are talking about Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Sirius is half-listening whilst subtly watching Remus who is now chatting with James and two third years, Raina Spowatt and Rory Hiscock.

After an hourlong meet-and-greet, the event is deemed over. There are no restrictions or obligations; people are free to stay at the café for as long or as little as they want. When it reaches two o'clock in the afternoon, people begin tapering out. They say their goodbyes to Sirius and Lily on their way out and by half past, the café is full of its usual occupants and a sparse few leftovers from the meeting.

"Right, we're off," Marlene says, taking Dorcas's hand in her own. "We'll see you tonight, yeah?"

Without waiting for a response, Marlene drags Dorcas out of the café. Lily rolls her eyes affectionately and stands up.

"I'm going to grab a latte to go. Want one?" she asks, brushing herself off for effect.

"No, I'm fine, thank you," he replies, pulling his mobile phone from his pocket to check Instagram. He is scrolling through the feed when he hears someone clear their throat:

"Sirius?"

Sirius looks up to find Remus Lupin hovering near the sofa. "Remus, hi," he greets. He puts his phone away and offers a smile. "Can I help you? Is something wrong?"

"No, no. I'm all good," he says, taking a seat on the opposite sofa. "I just wanted to say hi, and to thank you for inviting me to this."

Sirius chuckles and says, "No need to thank me, Remus. This is what we do." He glances at Lily and finds her chatting with James in the queue. He returns his gaze to Remus and says, "Um, how have you found it?"

Remus nods, "Good, aye. Everyone seems nice."

Sirius grins, "Good, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully you'll be back next week."

"Oh, definitely," Remus replies quickly. After a second of quite comfortable silence, he asks, "So, what do you study?"

Sirius sits up a little straighter. He hadn't expected Remus to want to talk to him. "I, uh... Music and Theory," he answers.

"Really? That sounds interesting," Remus says. "What do you do in that, then?"

"Ah, well, I mostly learn about the history of music and its different genres," he answers. "There is a fair bit of contemplation involved. You know, um, we ask why a certain artist uses this word or this instrument or this composition. We think about lyrics and what they might mean on a surface level and what they might mean on a deeper level. Things like that. There is some practical work but a lot of it is theory-based."

"That sounds really fucking cool," Remus says, and he genuinely seems to mean it. "Do you like it?"

Sirius grins because a lot of people think it sounds boring. He remembers joining the course in his first year and listening to a bunch of people moan that it was too theoretical and that there was not enough practical work. He had wanted to shout at them that it was called Music and Theory – of course it was mostly going to be coursework about music and connotations.

"It is fucking cool, and I love it," he replies. "What about you? When you signed up, you wrote that you were studying Film and Media. What does that entail?"

"Whoa, good memory," Remus says, oblivious to the fact that Sirius had spent an hour memorising his details from the form. "Aye, Film and Media, it's neat. I get to watch films on the big screen and then talk about them. It's interesting to see what others think. Everyone has a different view or theory to apply to a film or a scene. It's a bit similar to yours, I s'pose. We see the surface and then we look into it a bit more and think about what every action or word or prop might symbolise. I also get to learn about the media – which is more fun than it sounds, I swear."

"It, um, it sounds plenty fun," Sirius laughs. "I agree, it does sound a bit like what I do; both of us listening to or watching a piece of art, and then working out the different possible meanings behind everything."

"Aye," Remus says with a lovely smile. There is a moment of (again, surprisingly comfortable) silence before he says, a bit hesitantly, "Say, Sirius Black... That's an unusual name."

Ah, here it is.

The moment.

Sirius takes a second to think about how he should respond, and ends up saying, "I was wondering if you would remember me."

"So, we do know each other, then?" Remus checks. "See, I said to James that I recognised you, but he said he didn't. How do we know each other?"

"I'll give you a clue. Picture me much shorter with braces and bad skin and really short hair. I also had quite a bad stutter," he says. When Remus just frowns at him, he decides to help out a bit further and says, "Hogwarts Academy, about five years ago."

It takes a second, but Remus's eyes go wide, and he mutters, "Oh, fuck. Sirius Black. Year nine, right? You were only at Hogwarts for, what, a year?"

"About that, yes," he says.

Remus laughs, his hazel eyes studying Sirius carefully. After a second, he mutters, "Fuck, Sirius, you look... different."

Sirius shifts and scratches his neck, a bit self-conscious. "A good different, I hope," he replies.

"It is!" Remus yelps. "I mean, you look – good. Really good."

Sirius smiles, "Thanks."

"Not that you were bad before," Remus is quick to amend. "I mean, we were teenagers. Puberty pretty much destroyed us all but you – uh. You look like you came out of it well." He winces at himself and mutters, "Fuck, that sounds really bad. What I mean is—"

"Remus, it's okay," he replies. "I get what you mean."

Remus nods. There is a moment of nothing before he says, "I remember you in school, y'know? You were quiet, except for that time you called Silas Mulciber a conceited twatfucker."

Sirius grins, coy but proud, and mutters, "Well, he was a conceited twatfucker."

"Oh, I agree," Remus laughs. "Wholeheartedly."

"I remember you, too," he says. "You were nice to me. You were probably the only person who was."

"Aye, well," Remus shrugs, "I knew what it felt like to be alone, and to be bullied. I had James but you... You didn't really seem to have anyone. I'm sorry about that."

"Ah, don't be," he replies with a breezy air. "When I left Hogwarts, I went to live in France with my uncle. I went to Beauxbâtons Boarding School and made loads of friends there. Being bullied and having no one at Hogwarts... It was shit, but it helped me to become the person I am today."

"Aye, I s'pose," Remus murmurs thoughtfully, then he grins and says, "On a lighter note, once you left, the bullying culture kind of simmered down after James socked Mulciber in the face. James got about a week's detention but Mulciber got two weeks and didn't pick on anyone after that."

Sirius's jaw drops at that, speechless for a moment before he exclaims, "Silas Mulciber got a well-deserved punch to the face and I missed it?!"

"I'm afraid so," Remus laughs but before either of them can say anything else, Lily wanders back, James in tow, and pauses at the side.

"Padfoot?" she says. "Are you coming?"

"Oh, uh."

Sirius looks at Remus, who shrugs and says:

"I was thinking about maybe staying a bit longer. If you wanted to join me, that'd be cool. I wouldn't mind. I mean, I'd like it. If you wanted to."

Sirius grins, endeared by a nervous Remus, and says, "I'd love to." He says to Lily, "I think I'll stick around for a bit."

Lily smirks and says, "Okay. Have fun, lads."

Remus seems to realise James is there and says, "Prongs—"

James puts a hand up to halt him and replies, "Say no more, Remus, my love. I will see you later." He winks obviously at Remus, then turns to Sirius and nods, "Nice to meet you, mate."

Sirius grins, because James Potter clearly doesn't remember him but is polite all the same. "It was nice to meet you too, James."

Once Lily and James have left and it is only him and Remus, Sirius finds himself wondering if he is now on a date or if he and Remus are just hanging out as newfound friends. He wonders if he should ask or if that will make things awkward. He is wondering what to say when Remus stands up and says:

"I'm going to grab a tea. Can I get you a drink? Coffee, water, something fizzy? My treat."

"Oh, um, I've had a lot of coffee today, but I'd love a Pepsi Max," he replies.

Remus nods, "Great. I'll get those, and then you can tell me the meaning behind Apeman because I think I know what it's about but I'm not entirely sure because James says it means something different, so I need an official opinion."

"Oh, have I got some thoughts on that song," he replies with a laugh because he has a lot of opinions on The Kinks songs and there are basically three lanes of thought with that particular song which he finds he is interested in going through with Remus.

Remus grins and says, "Aye, I thought you might. Back in a minute."

Sirius smiles and watches Remus move to the counter to order their drinks. He finds himself feeling strangely optimistic because Remus Lupin, the only boy who was nice to him in Edinburgh, seems to like him. It probably shouldn't make him feel as good about himself as it does. He decides not to analyse it and instead wonders: what are the chances he leaves the United Kingdom to undergo a four-year education in France only to come back to England for university and find Remus Lupin, of all people? And what are the chances that, after reconnecting, Remus likes him?

When Remus looks over at him from the counter and offers a smile, Sirius returns it and finds himself thinking the chances, it turns out, are pretty good.