"You expecting to need to whip out your bass at any point?" says Tim, by way of even retort - considerably less bladed and more relaxed than is his usual style, but that's just the name of the game when it's the holidays and mood-altering cookies sing an inexorable allure, to the point where you straight-up just end up eating them without meaning to.

Still. There are worse fates than this - plucking out an E while Jay strums a few bars of Smoke on the Water. Every kid's first tune on the bass. It nearly cracks a smile out of him.

Nearly.