Dramatic Death Scenes!

Inque
I pull my sleeve down, looking at the penned in things, having another gun be drawn to life in my hand and I raise it to shoot at him. "T - Tim..." I imitate the weakling, playing along on the stage. Always the little trickster, even to Joker. Always the actress... "I'm sorry!" I mock as I start shooting off rounds. "I'm just a little weakling who fell for another bird. It was all a LIE!" I break off into giggles, not being able to hold the ridiculousness for very long.

Tim
Every word she imitates hurts. Every word that sounds so... /exactly/ like the voice I wanted to hear... hurts. The moment I saw the gun I knew better than to stand there looking like a broken, lovestruck idiot, but even as I dodged around chairs and other shelters, her words cut like knives.

Couldn't have been a lie, couldn't have been... her mocking laughter almost makes me snap, almost made me want the gun in my hand, reverse the roles...

"She wasn't- isn't weak" I said forcefully, though I wasn't sure if it had enough volume to carry across the room.

Inque
I stop firing as he hides and starts muttering to himself. "Little bird's not as feisty as the last..." I pout to Joker. "Seems Batty got paranoid, chose someone who couldn't do crap so he'd never be of any use. Would always have to stay home and cry to his lying cheat of a dolled up girlfriend..."

Cricket

I nodded, slowly lowering my hand but standing my ground. It was next to useless for me to try to do anything. I'd known that before I tried to intervene, and I knew it even more now. But if I knew anything else, it was that I wasn't about to leave a friend to die when I still had even a bit of next to uselessness to offer. "Aye, mate, I'm not leaving you 'ere."

But then, if I were in his place . . . I wouldn't want to kill my friends. I would rather die alone. I had a sick feeling in my gut that's what this was leading to . . . she was going to try to kill us, and if she were successful she would make it as painful as possible for everyone. I felt my gaze soften, and once again looked to Marley, wondering if she was thinking the same thing. What do we do?

T.Mor:

...on the one hand... knowing that he didn't want to leave was kind of nice... but.. on the other hand... I didn't want to kill him. At all. Like... there aren't even...words... for like... how much I didn't want to.... "Cricket... don't... It's not... uhm... " I managed to string together. Didn't make much sense really, thinking about it... but, hopefully the general Idea was there. Save yourselves, I don't really deserve to be here anyway. It's fine. Really.

Though... that meant that Ana wouldn't have any idea what happened... and... there was that whole mess... and Bells... and... all of everything... but.. it was still better than killing my friends... There were lots of things I would do before I would do that... lots and lots and lots of things... And I mean, it went against the friendship protocols... and... I didn't even...

TDL

I watched them with bit of amusement, finding my control dug deep enough into T.Mor's mind that I could look away without concern. Settling my eyes on Marley, my smile twitched once again, this time becoming a bit larger than the usual thin lipped one.

"Actually, I was anticipating another power struggle. Its not often I find a challenge, and that certainly was one. The harder it is, the more entertaining. This has the potential to keep my attention for awhile, so you see, the fact you're most likely going to fight me, just makes me all the less likely to leave."

With that said, I pressed my fingers together and turned my attention back to T.Mor, pressing against his mind once again. "Let's see if you know how to use those," I began, then gestured towards Cricket. "Make a cut deep enough to show blood."

Marley
So just when I thought my powers were going to help /save/ my friends for once, no, it's just making things worse. Great. So if we leave, she's going to kill T.Mor. But if we stay, she's going to kill T.Mor AND us.

Not exactly as fun as deciding between say, pie and cake for dessert.

"Cricket" I said quietly, glancing over at him and ignoring TDL's command to T.Mor. Hoping he can still get out of this... "Run. I might, maybe, possibly might be able to help this situation. Maybe. Possibly. Somehow." Or make it worse, probably...

Cricket

I was frozen to my spot on the floor, itching to move, burning to stay. If I were alone, I would be running. If I got caught, I wouldn't fight; I was going to die young, anyhow. But see, it wasn't about me at all. " . . . Oi my my, lassie." I sighed, ran a hand through my hair, and looked back at her face. " 'ow can I leave?" I was trying very hard to not think too hard about T.Mor. If he cut me, I was ready, and I wouldn't fight back . . . but if I could forget that it was him, I would.

T.Mor:

I... I didn't... didn't want to... to... hurt Cricket... But...I felt myself like... uhm... moving. Against my will. I wondered if I was making the horrified expression that I thought I was making in my head.

I felt myself step forward... and forward again... and I really wanted to stop, you don't even... I mean... I... I so wanted to stop moving forward... I just... it wouldn't work.

Maybe someone would just pull a gun on me...or...or something... someone could fight back... and... and yeah... and everything would be ok... and... it would be good and nice and... and I'd be dead...and... it would all be ok.

Or... or I could be moving my hand to knife Cricket and everyone was just going to stand there and let it happen....for... I didn't even know why... Though... Marley had told him to run... But... I mean... people tend to stay...and... and yeah... It's... I...

And then... and then... uhm... I... it... ...and then... and then... I... I... cut... Cricket... with.. with my...knife... and... it was bad and... I didn't I.... I it was... I... I had no control...over... over... anything... and...and I just wanted to go... die or something and... and...

"I'm... so... sorry..." I muttered immediately...and kept repeating. Forever... I could...could have apologised...for...forever...for...for that.

Cricket

I winced more out of surprise than pain.

It didn't hurt much at all. Just a sharp slice, a lingering sting, and that warm feeling trailing down my arm that told me I was bleeding. I didn't even move. And yet, when I stole a glance back at T.Mor, he looked like he'd just commited some unforgiveable sin. A pang of guilt struck me, because . . . what? I didn't draw it out?

"It's a'right, T.Mor, nonono, it's a'right . . . !" I cut softly through his sorries, and looked back to Marley as if she held all the answers. What to do? To run, to stay, to . . . agh!

For once, could I have a clue what I was doing? Could I, for once, have something to offer to anyone at all?

So, I just stood there, looking down and feeling like a waste of space.

TDL

My lips twitched again, that thin lipped smile almost becoming something that would qualified as an actual expression. It seemed that this would be easier than expected, there was already blood, and I was hardly warmed up.

"Very nice," I began, glancing at Marley again, eyes daring her to do anything. "Not enough though, I want to know that you really know how to use those, I don't care how, but cut him enough to make him cry out, some kind of noise, that's always nice."

Marley
I watched T.Mor and Cricket carefully, not making any movements. Just... watching to see what TDL was headed with this, what she was going to force T.Mor to do. Because really, what else could I have done to stop her?

Not intervened, I wasn't going to use my powers. Yet, anyway. Not run away and abandoned my friends. Didn't have the strength to physically halt anybody. So I was just frozen. Helpless. Weak. Cricket looked at me, his gaze searching, like I knew what to do... and I couldn't let him down.

"Run" I mouthed over to him, the best suggestion I had, even though he had turned it down once. "Please." Until I came up with a plan, that's all I had to offer...

Then I felt TDL's eyes on me as she spoke, and realized that those words were meant to make me scared. Make me /act/ against her. Because this was all just some game, entertainment... the small girl with the big powers a target for manipulators yet again...

T.Mor:

Cricket... Cricket was... I don't know... trying to make me feel better.. better for... for... For doing that...I think... and that, that didn't make any sense to me. I mean, I hurt him. I hurt him and I was a horrible person fro not being able to fight this... in my brain... and... and...It wasn't fair to Cricket...or... or Marley... and... It... It wasn't alright because... because... I was going to end up ... ...end up... ...killing them... and... I... that...

And then.. and then.... she talked again. ... ... ...I didn't... I didn't... want... to... to make Cricket scream. ...ever. I mean... there's a reason that you keep work and... things that aren't work separate. Because work is scary... and friends...aren't. And... and... work involves... doing bad things to people... and friends... friends... you never do bad things to friends... ever. You're not suppoused to... so... you keep them separate.

I could feel myself shaking as I moved... neither thing was really something I could control... but kind of for different reasons. ...I mean... the shaking... no one told me to do that... that was just... I don't know me... feeling horrible about everything.

I was kind of stuck wasn't I? I was going to have to do something to make him scream, because she told me to, and I was stuck.. whether I wanted to listen or not... and I found myself running through all the things I'd learned how to do at work. ...I knew a lot of things form work that people probably shouldn't know... or at least.. that I would rather not know... and I wondered which thing was least... bad. ...because... If I could do the least bad thing... then.. then it would be... less.... bad.

I heard Marley mutter something to Cricket... probably about running..and... and... as much as I wanted him to... the part of me that she was controlling... didn't want him to get away... so... So...

I... ...I took his arm...

Arms.... arms are less bad than... than... other... things... because.. they heal... and.. it's ok.. instead of like... torso...where...where all of those...important organs are...so... arms are less bad than that.. but they still hurt... and... and I didn't want to do this... but... I couldn't stop.. because... I wasn't in charge of... of... me.

Something made me think about hands... and about how all these nerves were in your hands so that you could feel... like.. when you touched things with your hands... and ...and how it was like... like ... when.. when you sliced up feet... because... because... it hurt really bad... and you didn't have to do...a whole lot... gore wise...

But... I didn't actually... WANT to hurt him...so I didn't... I didn't... know.. what... what to... do... exactly.. and I just stood there... holding his arm... and staring at it... not wanting to do anything but not being able to not do it... because, like I said... I wasn't in control... and so I couldn't not... but I wanted to...

I felt my attention drift towards his hand. ...And then I felt myself moving... I actually wondered if I could let her be in control and I'd just shut my eyes and pretend not to know that his was being done... but... that didn't work at other times, so it probably wouldn't work right now... and... if ... if I screwed up... I'd ... I'd like... ruin the nerves in his hands...forever... and I didn't.. I didn't want that because he was my friend and friends don't give friends nerve damage and... and...

More apologies kept happening as I went... because.. It was really all I could do... as I tried not to watch myself run the knife up and down each of his fingers... You had to work to keep knuckle bones from getting your straight lines all screwed up... because... they'd... do that and then you wouldn't be on the central nerves anymore...Some bones... would crack under the pressure sometimes, but I tried not to pay attention to that...

parallel lines all across his palm... ...palms were easier... because there weren't bones on that side to get in the way... I thought about the soft tissues between each finger... and how easy it would be to just keep going... because... she didn't want me to just... stop... probably... but... but I couldn't do that to him... I didn't... I didn't...want to.. I mean... I didn't want to do any of this... and it was horrible and there was blood and... I was so... it was...

I heard more apologies dropping out of my mouth... It was getting really weird inside my brain. I could control some things beut not others... and apparently I was doing that apologising thing without being consciously aware of my talking and I was a horrible person and.... it was bad and... Cricket was bleeding and... and... and... I ... It ...

Cricket

Marley's eyes were just as lost and pleading as I felt. Leave? How? Being left with a choice was worse than being bound. There was always that doubt, that struggle, no excuse of 'there was nothing I could do'. By staying, I was making things worse. But the thing about friendship . . . it's a binding. I couldn't move any more than if I were physically handcuffed to both of their wrists. I searched her face. How can I leave?

And I looked to T.Mor, the same question shouting over my thoughts. Oi my my, I would hate to be in his position right then . . . and I was making it worse by staying, wasn't I? I could stay, make it quick, let out a small bit of a scream, and hope it didn't get much worse . . . but my pride was in the way of that. I realised that it wasn't me TDL was trying to hurt. It was T.Mor through me, and Marley through me through T.Mor.

Lovely. I was the bad end of a looping chain reaction that would lead to someone's death . . . and . . . death. That word hit me. Someone was probably going to die . . . please, not that. I never asked for it! My friends were my most prized possession, and the thought of them being gone, never talking to them again . . . because someone was making a toy out of us . . . and I would never see them again . . .

Bright side. If I was at the victim end of it all, I might be the first to go.

That . . . wasn't much of a bright side. I didn't want to leave while they were still alive to deal with whatever TDL had planned. Please, don't make me leave . . .

All of those thoughts ran through my head in the seconds before T.Mor grabbed my arm. There were more apologies, and I soon felt a knife cutting along my hand. This time, it was a bit more than a sting. I shut my eyes behind my hair, quivering with the urge to pull away, restraining myself . . .

. . . I was going to have to scream. That would end it for a while. If it weren't T.Mor at the end of my bleeding fingers, I wouldn't dare scream, but it was him . . . I had to cut it short, for T.Mor.

All that came out at first was a low growl, sort of like I was testing the water. I supposed TDL wouldn't be satisfied with a whistle, which would be a lot easier. I finally shoved all of my pride out of the way, and what replaced it was a quiet, forced cry out.

TDL

That was it, a small cry, but it was something. Almost, musical to my ears. Yes, wonderful, it really had been too long since I'd heard even that much. For a moment I forgot my game, just wanting a bit more of that sound. My lips twitched once more, the smile growing bigger as I considered this. The game, yes, I'd continue with the game, just had to stay focused.

It didn't mean I couldn't cause more pain, actually, it gave me more of a reason to cause it. How else was I to drag the little girl into, hm? Yes, more pain. For a moment my eyes mind turned back to the past, running over another time, when it wasn't me causing the pain, but him.

That time wasn't now though, I'd grown stronger since then, I was no longer the weak girl I'd once been. As if to prove this to myself I turned my attention back to them, pushing sharply on T.Mor's mind as I ran the next part of my plan though my mind.

"Good, very good. Now that it's clear you know how to do that, let's move on. We need more noise, that's not that awful apologizing of yours, which I insist you quit this moment. How about taking those daggers of yours and continue working on that hand of his. Those fingers, one by one, need to be disconnected please."

Marley
It was terrifying to watch Cricket in pain. Seeing his blood flow from his hand... hearing him cry out in pain... he was being mutilated, and I wasn't even moving to stop it, my stomach clenching. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I could move if I wanted to, just frozen, watching him get hurt...

And it was flat out horrifying to see T.Mor do it, with his murmured apologizes and steady, practiced slices. Could I stop this if I tried? If I gave in and gave TDL what she apparently wanted- a struggle? Probably not, but maybe I could at least stall her enough for them to get away, then for me to make an escape. Cricket'll need medical attention for his hand, but if that was the worst injury sustained today, at least it'd be bearable.

The question was if I was willing to give up enough of my humanity long enough to use my powers against TDL. There had to be another way though, right? I thought back to the knife in my dress pocket, the dull key chain one I pinched from a gas station a while back, then mentally cursed when I remembered I had given it to Peter. Oh well, not like I could have done anything real with it anyway...

Though my hand to hand combat skills weren't nearly good enough to fight off either T.Mor from Cricket or TDL from T.Mor. I'd probably just end up throwing a couple of punches, failing, and making everything that much worse for my friends.

That's when TDL gave her next command

"No!" I said, the word escaping my mouth without a conscious thought "Just... no. Stop, you're not gaining anything from this" I tried to put some sort of authority in my voice.

T.Mor:

And then TDL told me the next thing... and... and I ... I was.... this was... this... I...

Ok. It's one thing when I don't want to do something because it really hurts people... and then it's another thing when I don't want to do something because my training as a bad guy tells me it's not classy or sophisticated... which... my bad guy training sounds literally like... like Mr.Face talking right in my ear.... which is creepy as all crap...

So... yeah... It's not very often when both the training...and...and me...say the same thing... I mean... different reasons.... because... yeah... but like.... uh...

And I registered that my mouth ad snapped shut... effectively cutting off my apologies... which... wasn't... fair... or...good... because... now I couldn't.. I couldn't apologise...and.. and.. they couldn't just go not knowing I mean... i .. it..

I felt awful... ...I mean... how could I do that? ...both...erm... like... just morals wise...and also...I'd never been taught how to do that...uhm...right. WHY WAS I THINKING OF THAT?

Uhm.

So... I kind of silently glanced at Cricket and then decided that that was a bad Idea because then I was thinking about how this was Cricket's hand and... and... not some... random floating space hand... from... the sky...or...something...and... and... and then... I was... I was slicing... into.... into his index finger...and... and... ... ...and... it... I...

I... It...

This was actually kind of hard to do properly without any support to go through the bone.... uhm. ... ... ...I kind of wanted to be sitting down for this... so it was less... like... I mean... if he twitched or something... It would be weird...

GAH... Stop... thinking...about that...about... those kinds of... of... things. Just... STOP...

But so... yeah... I felt myself stop halfway through and....just kind of brought Cricket to the ground with me, so that I could do this... uhm... less... weirdly...

InternetInternetInternetInternetInternetInternetInternetInternet.... I .. I was cutting off Cricket's fingers... and... and... every piece of me was like... "STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU MONSTER" ...evern the parts that learned... like...badguy things... and... and I wanted to apologise but I couldn't and it was so bad and... and... yeah.

Cricket

Through all of the raging, winding, tangling thoughts running through my head, I found it uncanny that the first one to stand out to me was Why doesn't Mr. Face cut off fingers for torture? I . . . really . . . didn't want to lose my hands. I was a pickpocket--

My face tightened up in pain, the knife messily carving into a bone as my hand was still held in midair, and I flinched back. "Agh!" Pain shot up my hand as quick as fire moves through a struck match. I had to bite my tongue to keep myself quiet.

Oi my my. To stay put and let him cut all my fingers off, or to abandon the scene? . . . I still couldn't leave, I couldn't run away . . . these were my friends . . . but would I give my fingers for them? But I couldn't leave! But T.Mor's expression was more than hard to face, and Marley could get herself k-- killed, trying to help, and guilt panged through every bit of me so strongly that it almost hurt. What was there to do? What was there to say? Why couldn't I do anything, and why was I just so . . . helpless?

T.Mor brought me to the ground, and the pressure of the knife felt more clean. I was caught between struggling and keeping still and screaming. Oi my my. It hurt . . . I felt like I couldn't do a thing. I was useless. Honestly, Cricket . . . why are you always the one to get hurt, and then need rescuing? Why can't you ever be more than meets the eye? Any way I moved was a terrible mistake . . . for once, I wanted to do something that actually helped. Please, someone give me the chance . . .

Crack. Something came loose. Another cry escaped between clenched teeth. Well. That was that.

TDL

I have to say, this was entertaining. I hadn't realized until then how much I'd missed causing emotional torment, although, this wasn't near that level yet. Hm, that would have to be fixed. After all, just causing pain, and/or possible maiming wasn't my forte, it would ruin my reputation of someone didn't die today.

With that in mind I felt the smile on my lips turn into an actual smile, watching the blood with a bit of morbid fascination. It was quite relaxing, just listening to the pain, and picking up on the emotions of T. Mor, just.. very..very nice...

Then, I realized that Marley was speaking. Irritation crossed my mind as I tore my eyes away from the wonderful scene, to look at the midget. "Excuse me, I believe that I can feel emotional problems from the skinny one, and can hear/see pain from the accented one, so.. that means I am gaining something from this. Wonderful entertainment."

Mallow

"Now now..." I muttered, cradling the baby in my arms as I slipped off the back of the bugger, the other child and its mother sitting behind me.

Of course, the mother was more in a lying position than in a sitting one, that tends to be the case when one is passed out. Easily keeping my emotions in check I glanced around the dark area, and nodded to myself slowly. This would be the perfect spot. These breeding grounds hadn't been occupied for a few years now, so there was no chance of a hungry starlighter interrupting my fun.

"Shhh," I urged the child, my irritation growing slightly as it let out whimpering noises, squirming in my arms. "Come now, I'm going to let you live. Shouldn't that be reason enough to like me?"

"No." Came a trembling voice behind me, and I turned to see the little boy, his eyes glaring daggers at me from where he sat atop the bugger. "You're a mean starlighter. Papa warned me about you. He says you eat people."

I fought back a smirk, instead raising my brow at the child and moving to take a hold of it with one hand, not bothering to release the still. Dropping the kid on the ground, I went ahead and used the same hand to drag his mother down as well, giving the bugger the chance to leave, which it did.

"Did it now? Well, your papa was right. I mostly eat little kids who don't mind their manners. Are you one of those kids?"

"...." The kid chewed on his lip for a moment, then glanced over at his mother, seeming to make a decision. "You're a mean 'ol bugger face! I'm not scared of you. Not one bit."

"Oh really...." I murmured, unable to help the small twitch of my lips. "Not one bit?"

"Uh-uh."

Rowan

I'd been working when I suddenly felt her fall unconscious.

Alarmed, I dropped the box I'd been holding, narrowly avoiding it hitting my feet. I ran to grab my sword and my wrist- and shin-guards, hastily equipped them, and hurried out the front door. Securing the shop hardly crossed my mind--there was no time to lose.

Once outside, I leaped into the air and took off for Maolmin's stables, which, thankfully, were on the way from here to the city gates. I'm sure I drew a good amount of attention, but I didn't care. I touched down in front of the front door and practically threw it open.

"Maolmin real quick I need Lilani," I said in all one breath.

"What's the hurry?" Maolmin asked, at the same moment that Erin exclaimed, "Papa!"

"Can't talk," I replied. "Please, just--"

"Whatever, whatever," Maolmin waved. "Come on, then!"

We headed out the back of the shop portion to an open area. Erin ran up to my side. Ordinarily I would've stopped to hug her, but this definitely wasn't an ordinary situation...

"Papa, what's wrong?" she asked, frowning and looking up at me with wide eyes.

"Nothing you need to worry about," I told her gently. Her frown grew, but there wasn't really anything I could do about that...not at the moment, anyway.

"Over here!" Maolmin announced. I rushed over.

"Thanks," I told her. Then, to Erin, "Sorry I can't stay, hon, but I'll be back later. Bye."

"Bye..." she replied quietly. I felt bad, but there were more pressing matters...and we'd both be feeling--no. No. No. I wasn't going to think about that.

I climbed on Lilani and flew for the gates.


She said she'd be in the Eastern Field, but that didn't do a whole lot to narrow it down... I checked through our bond. Thank the gods I could do that...

Wait a minute.

This wasn't right.

More worry clawing at my insides, I had Lilani head towards the area.

Mallow

A smirk tugged on my lips and I carefully pushed it away before replying, the child's response amusing me to no end.

"Well then, perhaps we'll fix that." As I spoke I let go of the still on the child, grabbing his mother's collar and holding the baby in my other arm. "Follow me."

I started walking and as expected, the kid didn't follow, instead choosing to dart into the sky, in the opposite direction of I. Barely holding back my resulting grin, I reached for the child's mind and pressed down on it, the resulting pain sending him crumpling to the ground. Amused, I watched him from a moment as he curled up in a ball, whimpering softly, then sighing I dropped his mother and walked over, kciking the kid lightly in the side.

"Come on, get up. Told you to follow me. " I told him in a bored tone, dragging him up with one hand.

The kid bowed his head, sniffing and giving me a small nod as I turned away, grabbing the mother's collar once again nd dragging her in the direction I'd been heading. There was a nice little cave back there, and I knew it would be perfect for my little performance. The kid followed and we managed to easily make it into the dark stone cave, the trees surrounding the entrance being just ennough to conceal us slightly, but make it hard to sneak up. Dropping the mother's collar I listened to the crack as her head hit the stone floor, and the child's intake of breath at the sound.

The baby squirmed in my arms, and I couldn't he'll the small growl that escaped my lips. "Be still!" The sound almost came out as a snarl, and the baby began crying louder out of fear.

"Fix it." I managed between my teeth, shoving the baby into the boys arms. "And both of you need t be quiet, or you'll find out exactly why you should be scared."

The boy nodded quickly, cradling the baby awkwardly in his arms. Making soothing noises beneath his breath.

Rowan

A freezing jolt went down my spine as I felt her start to move again. But she wasn't headed for the starlighter city...thank the gods... I followed her through the air to a cave. When I was still a fair distance away, enough that Lilani's wings wouldn't be heard yet, I instructed the raven to stay nearby but out of sight. I jumped off and into the air, using wind power rather than my own wings to head towards the mouth of the cave. If there were starlighters in there...I would definitely need every advantage I could get...like surprise.

I landed by an outside edge and peered in, expecting the worst and praying for the best.

Mallow

The child managed to calm that baby, and after awhile I began to relax, waiting for the fay to arrive. After all, if they had children then surely they had to have the soulbond. In that case it shouldn't be long till.. what was his name.... oh well, fairy boy, came in search of his children.

"My Papa is gonna come." The boy said after a moment, when the baby seemed to have fallen asleep. "He'll be mad."

"Oh.. I'm so scared." I replied, that same bored tone to my voice, this time reflecting my own emotions.

Waiting certainly wasn't as fun as I'd imagined it to be. Perhaps... I needed to have some fun while at it. My eyes drifted over to the mother, a bit of an idea tugging at the back of my mind. Perhaps if she was in pain it would make the fay come faster.

"You should be." The boy continued, spite entering his voice. "Papa's a solider, and he's... papa. He's gonna kick your buggin' -"

I frowned, and the kid cut off with a cry of pain, clutching the baby closer as he made an attempt not to fall down. I had to admit though, for a young fay child, he was a pretty strong boy. Perhaps I'd keep him as well.