Chapter Four – The Theoretical Perfect Harmony
After the first dates, things become more routine.
Your nerves will fade and you will feel more at ease.
Once you find that harmony, everything else will fall in place.
The wait didn't take long, considering it was still early in the summer. Rei had intended for them to stop in during the first date, but found no reason to attempt showing up on the first Monday of vacation with the place crowded with drunken college students and groups of high school friends. On this day, it only took twenty minutes, giving the two plenty of time to spare since it was the only stop on the agenda. Once a booth opened up, they had it all to themselves for the next two hours for a very modest fee. Nagisa ran in giddily and plopped onto the padded seats, making himself at home.
"It's been a long time since we've done karaoke!" he exclaimed with a nostalgic sigh, "Last time we didn't even get to sing."
"That's because you fell asleep on my lap," Rei pointed out, "You paid for almost an hour-long nap in the end."
"But that's because Rei-chan took forever to pick out a song," Nagisa insisted, "Plus we ate too much after you accidentally ordered all that misleadingly-named food, so I was sleepy…"
Rei smiled, reminiscing about the last experience. Even though they never had the opportunity to sing and the overeating left him feeling sick, it was spending a quiet hour with Nagisa he loved the most. Being able to feel Nagisa's head rested against him so gently and warmly, soft murmurs escaping his parted lips, and enjoying the peace of his slumber made losing feeling in his legs worth it. He hoped to experience that again, but perhaps on another day. After all, that would only be in his own interest.
"Well, I'm not going to make either of those mistakes again," Rei promised, sitting beside Nagisa, "This time, I'll be sure to find a proper love song on the correct menu to sing for you."
Grinning, Nagisa grabbed the remote and scooted closer to touch hips with Rei as they went through the list together on the monitor.
"All right!" he said, "This is the list of songs for sure. It looks like a lot of stuff they play on the radio, so I'm sure we'll know at least a few. Let's see…"
He started rattling off song titles, commenting on a few in the same breath. Rei did his best to listen along, but eventually resorted to skimming the list on his own to look for familiar titles, finding one that stood out almost immediately. Only when Nagisa finished going through the first page did he speak up.
"I'd like to do that one," he said, going back through the selections to highlight the title, "Anything For You."
"Oh!" Nagisa exclaimed approvingly, "Good choice, Rei-chan! I really love this one!"
Rei couldn't help but grin. An unintentional success picking a song Nagisa loved, but a success nonetheless. Now he just had to make an impression with his beautiful voice that would hopefully resonate within Nagisa's heart and leave him with butterflies. Perhaps the best way to do this was to assure that the performance would be at its finest.
"Well then," Rei began, thumbing over to another menu, "Should I add any effects to—"
"Nope, we're not gonna do that," Nagisa interjected, confirming the selection for him, "I'd like to actually hear Rei-chan sing today."
"Nagisa-kun…!" Rei complained as the screen responded promptly to the command, "Don't just make decisions for me like that, I wasn't prepared to—!"
"It's just karaoke!" Nagisa said nonchalantly, picking up the microphone and placing it in Rei's hand as the song opened, "Hurry, you're on!"
Rei stood clumsily and faced the screen with both hands rigidly on the microphone, holding it close to his lips in anticipation of the first line. The lyrics began much sooner than he had been ready for, yet his voice sang out instinctually to fill in vocals where they had been removed from the familiar tune. However, for the entire first verse, his singing was subdued by nerves, pressure, and lack of vocal warm-up. He steadied his focus on the words displayed upon the screen, articulating each as it came along to distract himself from Nagisa sat right behind him, listening to him with high expectations. Imagining headphones cupping over his ears made it easier to drown out his apprehensions about the audience, and eventually he fell into ease with the song. By the chorus, his voice had crept up to a much more audible volume, and based on what he heard echoed from the speakers, he sang splendidly. Not a single note fell out of his range, and his vibrato had done especially well for late morning. From then until the last note, his voice did not waver.
As the song wrapped up, he felt so exhilarated he could soar. A lone applause extolled his performance, startling him as he became aware of his surroundings again. He had nearly forgotten Nagisa had been listening, but that only made his confidence skyrocket. He perfected that song and Nagisa heard it.
"That was amazing Rei-chan!" he said with a grin.
"Wasn't it?!" Rei agreed energetically, still breathless from the thrill.
"You really do sound beautiful!"
A silly grin made its way to Rei's lips, and it was all he could do not to squirm in delight at Nagisa's approval. He straightened his posture and puffed his chest, displaying his grace to fish for further admiration from his boyfriend.
"So, Nagisa-kun, did I do your song justice with my flawless performance?" he asked boastfully.
"Probably!" Nagisa responded back with enthusiasm greater than the word.
"Probably?" Rei asked, slumping.
"Well… I actually never heard that song before."
Rei's exuberance dropped a bit, confused by the conflicting and disappointing information.
"But you said you loved that song!"
"How do I put this…" Nagisa said, tapping his chin in deep thought, "I loved it because Rei-chan picked it."
"Really, Nagisa-kun…" Rei sighed, looking away bashfully to fidget with his glasses.
"Okay, my turn!" Nagisa announced, grabbing his own microphone and scanning through the catalog.
He muttered to himself with enthusiasm as Rei eased back into the seat, watching Nagisa with a furrowed brow. How could he say such embarrassing things to him without batting an eye? And why did he pretend he had heard the song before? What an impossible person to read.
"Found one!"
Nagisa made his selection and hopped to his feet. The screen lit up with vibrant colors as a catchy pop tune began. He faced Rei with both hands on his microphone, standing with his legs together, reminiscent to how an idol would stand on stage.
"This is called "You're my Favorite" and I'd like to dedicate this song to my Rei-chan," he said, as if to a thousand people in a crowd, zeroing in on Rei and winking before turning on his heel to face the words as they began to highlight.
The choice was very Nagisa, to say the least. The sugary sweet lyrics fit his personality well, a bit over the top and cheery. Not only did stage fright not even shake him, but he added in some choreography, sprinkling the dance with a few showy hip pops in Rei's direction every now and then that had him laughing. He found himself most enthralled and engaged when Nagisa turned away from the monitor and the comfort of having the lyrics in view to sing to him directly. All the while, he adored hearing his sweet voice. Though the singing didn't sound especially polished, he found it charming and lovely all the same. It was an honest, fearless voice that Rei felt comfortable with, knowing Nagisa felt just as comfortable sharing it with him. Rei admired his ease, watching the rest of his performance with a fond gaze.
At the end of the song, Nagisa twirled around to strike a cute pose meant just for him. Rei gave his performance a standing ovation, to which Nagisa took a deep, elegant bow.
"Very impressive, Nagisa-kun!" he praised, "You're a natural at this!"
"Aww," Nagisa replied with a grin, standing up straight again to scratch the back of his head.
"No, really! Your performance was breathtaking and every move had me captivated! I loved every single minute!"
Nagisa fidgeted and looked away, though Rei could see him glowing as he beamed.
"It wasn't as beautiful as your song," he said.
Rei waved away the modest reply.
"Your technique is flawless!" he said, "Everything fell exactly on beat! Was it from the music video? How long had you been practicing that routine?"
"I made it up on the spot."
Nagisa watched the floor as he admitted it with a casual tone, missing Rei's eyes widen in admiration. There was no prior practice or knowledge involved? Everything was improvised?
"Amazing…" he said, his voice soft with awe, "You did all that as you went along…?"
Nagisa shrugged and fiddled with the microphone.
"I mean, I like dancing, and it's not like it's the first time I've heard the song, so I just threw in some moves to the beat, it wasn't anything planned."
He put on a grin again as he looked up at Rei, chuckling.
"But I think I got a little too into it, because now I'm really hungry."
Rei instinctively glanced at his watch, realizing lunchtime had rolled around already. Then again, they did get in close to noon, so he should have anticipated Nagisa would start getting hungry shortly upon arrival.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, "Well, let's order some food, then."
Nagisa cheered and fell back into the seat, picking up the remote again. Rei took a seat beside him and went to reach for his wallet when Nagisa leaned against him, abandoning possibly every ounce of his weight.
"Rei-chan, what do you think sounds good?" he asked, holding the remote in front of his face.
Perturbed by the obstruction of his view, Rei patiently took the device to give the menu a better look. He came prepared with a decent amount of money but intended to spend most of it on whatever spread Nagisa had in mind, so he knew whatever he ordered had to be on the cheap side. For karaoke, the prices for the food weren't outrageous, but they would add up quickly with Nagisa's appetite, so he would have to forgo anything pricey. He skimmed the numbers, looking for the most inexpensive entrée.
"The chicken katsu sounds like it might be good," he concluded, handing the remote back to Nagisa.
But Nagisa didn't take it. He pursed his lips and frowned, dissatisfied with the response. Then, he pushed the remote back to Rei.
"Try again," he said.
"What, I don't get a choice?" Rei asked, annoyed and confused by the rejection.
"If you could pick anything, what sounds good?"
Playing with hypotheticals seemed to be a favorite pastime of Nagisa's, and as much as it didn't change anything, Rei decided to play along. Sighing, he took a second look at the menu, carefully searching the names of the entrées this time around. Many of the dishes appealed to his tastes, however the ones that appealed the most, naturally, had higher prices. Though, he supposed price had no place in hypotheticals, so he pulled his gaze from the numbers and focused solely on the names. He hummed thoughtfully, deliberating for a moment longer before answering.
"The Hamachi Roll platter."
"Ohh, I should have guessed Rei-chan would go for sushi," Nagisa said, "That's one of your favorites, huh?"
"It is," Rei nodded, handing him the remote again, "So, what about you, Nagi—"
Before he finished asking, the remote interrupted him with a blip as Nagisa sent an order for the Hamachi Roll platter. His heart flopped over into an anxious pace as he suddenly came to the realization of the purpose of Nagisa's "hypothetical."
"W-Wait a minute…!" he cried, as if to call the order back in vain.
"Relax, Rei-chan," Nagisa said reassuringly, "I'm buying lunch today, so order whatever you want."
"But I asked you on this date," Rei protested with a weak voice as he reached for the remote, "I should be paying for this…"
Nagisa pulled back, keeping it from his grasp.
"You paid for the karaoke, so it's only fair if I pay for lunch," he said.
"Karaoke was only 600 yen! It's really no—"
Nagisa scrolled to three random entrees and tapped the remote at each one, to which Rei let out an agonized shriek.
"Oh no, I accidentally ordered all this food," he said casually.
"You did that on purpose…" Rei groaned, burying his face in his hand.
And of course, Nagisa's random choices were on the more expensive end of the price range. Buying lunch was out of the question at this point. As he lamented the bill, he felt Nagisa's hip touch his. He lifted his hand to meet eyes, finding a calm smile.
"I've got this, Rei-chan," Nagisa promised, "Order whatever you want, okay? It's only fun if you eat too."
Rei stiffened, finally understanding Nagisa's persistence. If letting him foot the bill this time would make him happy, he supposed he could let him just this once. With a sigh of surrender, Rei took the remote again and scrolled through the list. His memory flashed to something before that caught his eye and gave him an idea on how to turn this situation around a little, and he moved down to the sweeter foods.
"They have a parfait that looks very beautiful," he explained, pausing on the selection to show the picture of the six-layered dessert of pastel colors.
"Ooh!" Nagisa exclaimed, "It's really pretty! I'll bet it's tasty, too. Do you want to get that?"
"It looks like a rather tall glass, though, doesn't it? I couldn't possibly finish it on my own," Rei said, and then with a coy smile, "Would you be willing to help me eat it?"
A wide smile spread across Nagisa's face, the delight at the suggestion filling Rei's heart with warmth. Flawless execution.
"I'd be happy to!" he chirped, "As long as you help me finish all the food I ordered!"
Rei nodded in agreement and made his selection before handing Nagisa the remote to pick out their drinks.
The food and drinks came out as promptly as possible, considering the amount prepared, and filled up the entire space of the small table before them. As promised, they divvied up the food between the two of them and ate whatever they offered each other. Before long, however, Rei felt himself slowing down and staring at a great deal of leftover food reluctantly. Nagisa managed to keep it up a little longer, but eventually took a break as well.
"I think we bought too much food again," he chuckled, taking a sip of his strawberry crème soda.
"Still, it was less than last time," Rei said, leaning back against the seat, "Let's not push ourselves too far, though."
Nagisa replaced his drink on the table and sank back in his seat like Rei, sighing contentedly.
"That was good," he said dreamily, "I'm glad you got that parfait. It was my favorite part."
Rei smiled, pleased. He had suspected as much, judging by how his face lit up when he accepted his first spoonful.
"Mine too," he said, "We should order it again next time."
Nagisa looked his way quickly, exuberant.
"Next time, huh?" he asked, "So do you like karaoke?"
"It's fun," Rei replied, "I'll admit, I felt nervous at first, but everything went so well. I felt my performance was nothing short of perfection."
"I thought so too!" Nagisa said, "Rei-chan has a beautiful voice!"
Grinning, Rei involuntarily shifted his gaze away, feeling an oncoming blush.
"I…" he started awkwardly, "Yes. Th-Thank you."
"Pretty songs like that suit your voice way better than nagging."
Rei frowned and slumped, looking back at him irately.
"I don't nag you! Stop saying that!"
"You're nagging right now."
"I'm not nagging! I'm defending myself!"
"Maybe instead of nagging me when you want me to stop doing something, you should just sing to me instead. I'll listen a lot better, probably."
"You can't even guarantee it?" Rei asked.
"Nah," Nagisa said nonchalantly, "I'll probably be too busy listening to your voice to hear the words."
"That's hardly any different from what you do now! Honestly, it's like talking to a wall with selective hearing, sometimes… The least you could do is consider what I'm saying. It bothers me when you ignore me not just because you ignore me but because it doesn't end up helping you at all! I'm only trying to help you, Nagisa-kun, and I would appreciate if you'd stop calling my concerns 'nagging.'"
Rei waited for a reply, expecting some sort of snarky comeback, but found himself surprised as Nagisa gazed back at him placidly, cheek in hand. It was neither sarcastic, nor apologetic. What was with this response?
"What's wrong?" Rei asked, worried he may have said something insensitive.
"Nothing," Nagisa replied simply, "It's just been a while since I've heard you talk so much. You've been really quiet on our dates… I was getting worried about you."
Rei's eyes shifted away, now feeling guilty. In truth, he had not noticed his silence as of late, though he had spent a lot of time in his own head fretting the details of their dates. How awful Nagisa must have felt accompanying him for extended periods without having a single word spoken to him. No wonder he appreciated the mere sound of his voice.
"Um… please don't get quiet again…" Nagisa said nervously.
He did it even now!
"I'm sorry," Rei said, "I didn't even realize it was upsetting you. You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine."
Nagisa hummed doubtfully, frowning with concern. Then again, assuring someone "I'll be fine" was probably the least reassuring thing to say. Before Rei could speak again, Nagisa reached abruptly for the remote and began scrolling through the list of songs. The titles disappeared as quickly as they displayed on the screen, clearly not the specific song Nagisa was looking for. When he finally stopped, he highlighted the title of a popular radio song of which Rei was a victim of having stuck in his head for days at a time.
"You know this one, right?" he asked, clicking it anyway.
"Uh…" Rei started intelligently, "Yes?"
Nagisa stood up and took his hands, pulling him to his feet and pushing the remote into his hands.
"I'm singing it?!" Rei asked.
"Yeah, and you're gonna dance too!"
"I'm dancing now?! But I can't make up moves on the spot like you can!"
"That's okay, I'm gonna show you! Follow my lead, Rei-chan!"
For the duration of the song, Rei's eyes focused less on the lyrics on the screen—which he had mostly memorized from the countless times it had played on the radio anyway—and more on Nagisa's freestyle moves, most of which were cute or some other style Rei wasn't sure fit his form. While Nagisa moved completely on-beat, Rei's following movements fell short by delay, and felt lacking in beauty and grace, to his embarrassment. He began to sit down again, but Nagisa pulled him back up, moving a bit more simply and repetitively, allowing Rei to study his rhythm and sync his movements. As they finally moved in unison, Rei began to feel the music not only in his head, but throughout his body as well. How intriguing. He looked back to Nagisa, who spared him a big grin as they met eyes, and only at that time did Rei realize that he had begun smiling as well. And he wore that smile through the remaining movements and final notes of the song.
With the closing, Nagisa thrust his arms in the air in celebration.
"You did it!" he cheered, "See, that wasn't so bad!"
Rei scratched his cheek.
"Only because you showed me what to do," he said, "I wouldn't have known where to start on my own."
"You had fun, didn't you?" Nagisa asked, "That's all that matters."
He took up the remote again and began scrolling the list.
"Let's find another one for you to dance to."
"Shouldn't it be my turn to choose?" Rei asked, realizing he had been skipped.
"You know one?" Nagisa asked.
Rei nodded with a smile and took the remote to look for the title. Meanwhile, Nagisa grinned back, bopping to an imaginary tune joyously. Though possibly foolish to decide so early, this date seemed like it was going in a good direction.
For the following several songs, they kept to this pattern of choosing more upbeat tunes, all of which Nagisa fell into easily whether he had heard the song before or not. Some of his moves were easier to keep up with than others, and after the third song, Rei began to improvise his own wherever he could not replicate Nagisa's. Though he felt his own moves were flawless, Nagisa's laughter at a few of them caused him some doubt. In any case, he was happy, so Rei did his best to ignore it.
After a particularly tricky song to get down, Nagisa dropped back into the seats again, weary.
"Rei-chan, can we take a break?" he huffed.
Rei agreed, seating himself next to Nagisa so that he could catch his breath as well. As the two of them rested, Rei pulled up his wrist to look at his watch. No wonder they were so tired. At this rate, the next song would be their last. Clearly, neither felt up for dancing, so a slower paced song would be best, and since he had sung the last song, the microphone would go to Nagisa, who had not sung anything slow-paced all day.
"There's just enough time for one last song," Rei said, sliding the remote to Nagisa, "It's all yours."
Nagisa hummed thoughtfully, reluctantly accepting the offer and slowly thumbing through the selections. He seemed almost disinterested, and Rei tried to remind himself that they had both worn themselves thin today. Even for Nagisa, this much excitement proved a bit much.
But without warning, Nagisa jolted up straight in a moment of realization, scrolling through the list more quickly, in search of something. Rei felt a little uneasy about his urgency, especially in such unsettling silence. This did not last long, however, as the blipping of the selection change stopped and Nagisa let out a small exclaim, then facing Rei with newfound vigor.
"Rei-chan, let's do this one!" he said, pointing to the highlighted title.
Rei's eyes followed the line of Nagisa's finger to the monitor, finding the title "Our Love's First Summer" highlighted. Something seemed different about this choice, when his sight fell upon a colored note beside the title. Then he reran Nagisa's request through his head.
"'Let's…?'" he repeated, "This is a duet…?"
"Yeah! Let's sing it together!"
"I'm… not sure…"
"Aww, come on, we're not dancing to it. And it's a slow song, so you'll be able to keep up. Besides, I wanna sing a love song with Rei-chan!"
Rei's face burned as his lips moved into a smile involuntarily.
"Well… how can I argue with that?" he murmured.
Satisfied with his answer, Nagisa happily finalized his selection and stood up slowly, holding his hand out to help Rei to his feet as well. A soft piano instrumental opened the song at a much slower pace than the previous choices. Nagisa turned to face the screen, readying the microphone to his lips, volunteering to start. The gentle melody alluded to something more heartfelt, which had Rei's attention glued to Nagisa in anticipation of hearing what the song would sound like coming from him.
As the piano led into the last notes before the first line, Nagisa took a deep breath and let the lyrics ease out,
"Out in the last summer rain, standing underneath your umbrella…"
Rei's breath caught and his mouth fell slightly agape. "Beautiful" didn't even begin to describe his voice… All of his singing before sounded more like the voice he knew, but this came from the heart. Nagisa glanced back at Rei, nodding hintingly to the screen that he was snoozing his verse. Flustered, Rei sang what was left of the line.
"-our hands feel warm when they intertwine."
Relieved, Nagisa smiled and sang the next line to the screen again,
"Everything's right with you, all of it's fun and new, how your smile shines…"
Rei's next line overlaid Nagisa's, so he was unable to appreciate Nagisa's range for the time being, to his annoyance.
"How your smile shines…"
"I hope this downpour never ends… "
The following lines displayed in a new color. Now the duet truly began. Rei tightened his grip on his microphone, listening closely for Nagisa's voice alongside his own.
"So I won't have to leave your side…
Our love's first summer, so full of color, I get so lost in your eyes. Why am I stumbling? Why am I crumbling? My stomach's got butterflies! Next year, we'll meet here, and all will come clear, by then we will get this right! But for now, we'll keep trying and trying to find a way to break fear.
Just hold tight."
As they reached the instrumental, Nagisa turned to Rei with a grin, giddy with exhilaration. He heard it too. Rei trembled, overwhelmed with emotion, but able to smile back with fondness. The music swelled again, leading to the bridge. As Nagisa's lyrics began to display, he faced his body toward Rei to sing to him directly, and Rei followed in kind.
"Always wanting you."
"And I need you too."
"Please just take me far away, where we two can just be you and me."
"You and me, just we'll be."
"And show me a sight…"
Both beamed, belting the final verse together.
"I haven't ever seen!
Our love's first summer, no storm nor thunder, our long story's just begun. What is this feeling? Am I still dreaming? I feel like you are the one! Next year, we'll meet here, laugh at our old fears, relive the times of our youth. I'll come back to that same summer of our first love,
and promise I'll be… here with you."
At the final chord, a tear slipped down Rei's cheek, and he spun away from Nagisa so he wouldn't see. But of course he saw.
"Rei-chan?" he asked with audible concern, "Are you crying?"
"I'm fine," Rei said quickly, "It's just… our voices are perfect in harmony… Together, we sound so beautiful…"
There was only the briefest of pauses before he felt Nagisa's body thump against his as threw his arms around him, rubbing his cheek against his shoulder.
"Rei-chan!" he cried, "You think we sound beautiful together! Rei-chan!"
Rei stood still, stunned by the loud affection as Nagisa continued his ecstatic cheering with bubbly laughs and adoring nuzzles. He hadn't expected such a strong reaction from a merely honest statement. But it made him happy. It made him so happy. Happier than he had seen him in a while. Now that the final song had ended, he could safely conclude that this date went flawlessly.
Heart bursting with joy, Rei laughed too, wrapping his arms tightly around Nagisa and lifting him just enough to stand him on his toes. Nagisa laughed more, burrowing his face deep into the crook of Rei's neck, spreading warmth throughout both of their faces. Once he set him flat on his feet again, Rei pressed his forehead to Nagisa's and gave his face an affectionate snuggle. Nagisa's laughs faded into a contented hum and he nuzzled back. The song's final notes ended their two-hour session, leaving the two to their soft chuckles and sighs. Though their time had expired, they felt no rush to leave.
Dusk had fallen by the time they reached Nagisa's house. They stepped out of the warm evening glow and into the shade of their familiar ending point, wrapping up their long, comfortable conversation from when they left the karaoke bar. Not so casual as small talk, not so deep as an intimate discussion, but merely comfortable. As he faced Rei directly for the last time that evening, Nagisa beamed brighter than the sun itself, warming Rei's heart.
"I had so much fun today, Rei-chan!" he said, "Thanks for letting me hear your beautiful love songs!"
"Anytime, Nagisa-kun," Rei responded, "I enjoyed hearing your beautiful voice as well."
Nagisa's grin widened as he ducked his head, bashful. Then, he took Rei's hand and met his eyes with a sincere gaze.
"Let's have more dates like this one, okay?" he asked.
So he agreed this date couldn't have gone better. Perfect. As long as Rei managed to successfully execute dates of this caliber from then on, their relationship could blossom in the perfection he had intended from the beginning. And with perfected harmony, he could keep this beautiful smile on Nagisa's face forever. Rei smiled and nodded once, gripping the hand holding his.
"Of course," he said, "Nothing less."
His response brought forth another rosy-cheeked grin, and Nagisa swiftly pecked his cheek to make his face match his own blush before releasing his hand to wave. They shared a short, sweet farewell before parting ways for the evening.
Rei caught himself humming their last song while stepping out of the bathroom after his shower. When he acknowledged it, his smile crept on his face, and he permitted himself to continue as he took up his phone to text Nagisa good night. He had never shared something so heartfelt as song with anyone before, nor had Nagisa shared anything quite like his genuine voice with him. Though he had planned for such a small date, this day brought something so much more.
He barely had to organize his thoughts to transfer to text, sending out the message without a second glance,
I had a wonderful time with you today. I can't wait for our next date, Nagisa-kun.
A short while after he closed his phone, a reply came through:
you and me just we'll be (^^) sweet dreams rei-chan~
Rei smiled and tucked his phone away, turning in for the night with Nagisa's voice running through his head. Things between them were starting to change, and for the better it seemed. They had found a rhythm, one he could work with. Now that he had overcome this obstacle, he could plan for even greater things.