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Lethica Nightborne
Lethica Nightborne
A name that couldn’t suit her more, one that looks elegant in both parts and perfect in cursive, perfect as a whole. Lethica is unique, elegant, beautiful person and her name reflects it.
That’s why it irks Marius just a small amount when the nickname first utters from Briggsy’s large intimidating mouth.
“Letti, you’re okay!” The undead crocodile shouts the words out heartily, relieved at seeing Lethica unharmed standing In the creaky old wooden house they had found refuge in, it looked abandoned when they had found it, just furnished enough to say that someone had left it behind. Still, they kept their guard up and decided quickly they weren’t going to stay very long.
They had somehow gotten separated once more, they were walking through a dense forest when Lethica and Jericho had suddenly been nowhere to be seen. He remembered the panic that flooded through him when he realized he could no longer hear Lethica’s heartbeat, his cold body suddenly feeling much
“Briggsy- Briggsy!” He had grabbed the shoulder of the other man that was about to continue wandering.
“What, Marius?” Did the crocodile really not notice?
“Have you seen Lethica?”
“Well of course!—“ He looked around confident in the fact that he was going to see a masked face and silvery hair. When he didn’t he started to share a similar panic to Marius. “Now that you mention, I haven’t seen Lethica or Jerri in a bit…”
“Damnit.” Marius curses under his breath, he hadn’t even noticed that Jericho had disappeared as well, he didn’t have time to feel like a horrible friend. “When was the last time you remember seeing or hearing them?”
“Oh, well,” Briggsy pauses, “It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, Jericho was talking and I’m sure you would’ve noticed Lethica’s heart beat was missing in no time!”
He was right, it had probably been barely any time at all, all they had to do was retrace where they had been and not think about how though Lethica is strong and impressive at what she does, she is practically made of cobwebs when it comes to getting hurt, and Jericho was, in the best words to describe it, Jericho.
And Virgil.
Either way, he trusted her to protect herself.
Then the forest started to curl and come to life around them.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
But that was hours ago, the group has finally been reunited, and both Lethica and Jericho are okay, and so are Marius and Briggsy, this is joyous, they had not lost another member of their crew! Marius should express this, his joy and relief at seeing their faces, but all he musters is—
“Letti?” He utters in an incredulous voice without thinking; sure Briggsy likes to call him Mari and Jericho Jerri, but Lethica, Lethica Nightborne, ‘Letti’?
But she does not look taken aback by the nickname, as far as he can tell just from her body language.
Lethica turns to Marius at his exclamation, she tilts her head, “Not happy to see me, Marius?” Her voice is light and teasing.
“What? No, no of course not! I mean—“ Marius takes a second to clear his throat and try again, this time not fumbling his words, “Of course I am, Lethica, we all are.” He leans back on the creaky oak wood table behind him, like looking calm could make her forget how often she catches him off guard. He wonders if she’s smiling in amusement under her mask, if she can tell his expression no matter how hard he tries to school them around her. No matter how hard he tries to convince himself that he is no longer afraid to be closer than a few feet to her.
It’s not like she doesn’t love to go against my fears of myself. He’s past the point of trying to convince himself and her that he is entirely unsafe. She does not heed the warnings anyways.
“Well if it’s worth anything, I am quite happy that you are alive and unharmed as well, Marius.” Lethica takes a half step towards him, placing a hand on her chest to convey the sincerity her face and voice fail to. By the Gods she’s a sight for sore eyes.
“Me too!” Jericho suddenly stands in the space between Lethica and Marius, “Gawrsh It was real scary out there with just me and Ms. Lethica, was it scary for you and Briggsy?”
As the tension that was quickly building between Lethica and him breaks, Marius realizes they probably have more important things to discuss, like what they got up to in their time apart, any important information they’ve gained, practical stuff like that. It seems like Briggsy had a similar thought as Marius can see him placing some items down on what he supposed would’ve been an oak dining table. He should lead the conversation.
He can do that later.
Marius ignores Jericho’s question and turns to face Briggsy. “Since when do you call Lethica by anything but her name?”
Briggsy stops his fidgeting with the table and looks wide eyed at Marius… and laughs not really taking it seriously or literally, “What do you mean? I give nicknames to everyone!” He gestures widely to the three people in front of him.
Jericho nods enthusiastically, copying Marius’ lean on the creaky table, Lethica stands silent in the open middle of the room, observing. Marius’ eyebrows furrow at Briggsy and he folds his arms in front of him. “Yes, but I’ve never heard you call her that before today.” He’s trying his best to press an answer from the undead man, but he just looks at Marius like he’s being crazy.
“I call her Miss Lethica, is that okay?” Jericho pipes up once more. Faintly Marius hears her reassurance to the scarecrow.
The energy in the dim room is weird and Marius finds himself ungracfully attempting to express his words with his hands under Briggy’s confused stare before finding them, “I’m just saying it just a feel a little unsuited, and wouldn’t ‘lethi’ or ‘ica’ make more sense, at least they don’t change the pronunciation of her name at all.” Yeah, that.
“Adding a y sound at the ends of names is my thing, Mari!”
“It’s just jarring—“
“You’re quite defensive over my name, Marius, I am unsure whether to be utterly confused or honored.” She’s obviously amused by the scene going on in front of her, it seeped into her tone and infected Marius’ mind like so many of her other words have before.
“My apologies, it is rude to talk about someone right in front of them, just know I had good intentions in my words.” He probably should’ve thought about what he was saying before going off with a skeptical lit to his words, Lethica is more than capable of speaking her own opinions.
“You do not need to apologize, Marius, it’s flattering to see you so adamant about preserving my name, I’ve always thought it suited me quite well.” When did she shuffle closer to him? Marius has no room to back up nervously due to the table. “While on the topic, I’ve always thought the name ‘Marius’ suited you perfectly.” Even without seeing her eyes her stare is piercing. Thank Gods he no longer possesses the ability to blush.
Marius’ response is at the tip of his tongue when, “Wait, does that mean you don’t like the nickname?” Once again the tension vanishes with the words of one of their fellow party members.
“Well I did not say that, I think it is nice that we are all at a point that we are comfortable enough for you to call me ‘Letti’” she pauses “Except Marius apparently.” Again with the teasing, both Jericho and Briggsy laugh at his expense.
He can play this game. “Pardon me, I’m deeply apologetic for saying your beautiful unique name shouldn’t be misshapen into an unoriginal nickname, Letti.” That surprises a laugh out of her, and it distracts Marius from the bad taste using the nickname left in his mouth.
“Does that mean I should call you Mari now?” Oh, those are some interesting and unplaceable emotions he is going to shove away!
Briggsy claps his hands, “Yes, it’s catching on!”
The blonde man glares at Briggsy and then at Lethica. “Absolutely! Not.”
“Aw”
“Look, it’s nothing against Briggsy, or you for that matter,” he runs a hand through his hair and glances at the floor, gathering his bearings before committing to saying what he’s about to express, “Lethica, if you do not mind me saying so, you are obviously a beautiful and unique women, that is apparent to even the most uneloquent of people, you are so very you and your name reflects that in a way I have never seen before, it is a part of your very being and to transform it seems almost disrespectful to the reflection of you.” Marius looks intensely at her, like suddenly nothing else in the room matters but them.
He puts his hand over his unbeating heart.
“You are Lethica Nightborne, anything less than is terribly ill fitting.”
Silence is all that fills the air of the old wooden house after Marius finishes speaking, even the creaking of the worn interior seems to stop to take in the moment.
“Gawrsh, Marius… that was beautiful.”
“Thank you for your words, my friend, but all I did was speak my true opinion on the matter.” Lethica’s lack of response is unsettling him in a way he was trying his absolute best not to show.
“No he’s correct, that was a beautiful sentiment, Marius, I almost don’t know what to say in response.” Her voice betrays no emotion, but he still searches for it, blood red eyes boring into the shadowy black that’s cast over what he knows are sunset red eyes framed by long eyelashes.
Then he notices it, in a form of irony, the constant sound of Lethica’s heartbeat that he has spent a large amount of time attempting to block out, managed to slip his attention.
Oh wow.
Her heart was beating much quicker than what he has become familiar with being her resting rate.
“I’m glad you think of me so highly.”
“I’d be a fool not to.”
At that Lethica turns her head to the side like she’s trying to conceal her already masked face from Marius’ eyes.
“…” Briggsy stares at them, jaw dropped in an obnoxiously obvious way, is this finally it? Are they going to do something about the tension?
Lethica clears her throat, “So shall we discuss our times in the forest?”
Of course they won’t.
The room was suddenly cut off from all the atmosphere the shenanigans cultivated as Lethica brings them back down to reality, Marius blinks and wills himself back to a serious demeanor. “Yes, of course, we need to discuss what happened back there.”
Marius and Lethica fall into a discussion, but Briggsy is barely listening. He and Jericho look at each other, then back at the pair.
“I guess we just…ignore what just happened?” Briggsy whispers.
“Well, if they don’t wanna think about it then maybe we shouldn’t either?” Jericho whispers back. Kind of.
“Pretty impossible if you ask me.” Briggsy rolls his eyes, with how obvious those two were it was almost painful to watch and literally unignorable, especially if you’re always in a group with the two “too smart to be this repressed” people. He wasn’t even paying attention to what Lethica and Marius were discussing, he’s sure they’re gonna talk about it again tomorrow anyway.
“Jericho, Briggsy, do you have anything to add?” The pair jump at Marius’ acknowledgment of them. The attractive duo look at them expectantly.
“Yeah—erm, no!” Briggsy answers nervously, he glances to make sure Jericho was on the same page, they need to let Lethica and Marius be alone. Well, he just came up with that so he’s just hoping Jericho gets the hint.
“Well!” The scarecrow smiles about to begin lamenting his point of view, but at the last second sees Briggsy’s intense expression. “Well, no!”
Lethica tilts her head confused, “But didn’t you tell me that you saw something—“
“Nope!”
“Lethica was telling me—-“
“Nah!”
“Alright, then I believe—“
“Nada!”
“Jericho, please!” Marius pinches the bridge of his knows, he can feel in his bones this is the work of Briggsy. “If we have nothing more urgent to discuss tonight, then I suggest we all rest.”
“I agree with Marius, it has been a long day, and if we plan to leave by morning then we must rest.” As Lethica speaks she turned her attention and body towards Jericho and Briggsy, but Marius wasn’t even trying to hide the way he was staring at her, tense, yearning. With how observant Lethica is they have half a mind to think she knew very well the way Marius looks at her when he thinks she can’t see. Or maybe he doesn’t even know he’s doing it.
“Yeah, gawrsh, I have to admit I’m ready to end this night!” Lethica nods at Jericho’s words.
Briggsy looks at the three other people in the room, squinting in thought. “Well if that’s the case… I call rooming with Jerri!”
Marius quirks an eyebrow at him in surprise, “Well I do believe there are enough separate quarters so none of us are forced to room with another, but if that is what you want, I implore you to follow your heart.” He finishes with a smirk.
Thoroughly embarrassed Briggsy stutters “Oh- dang, I just thought…” Briggsy sighs, defeated “I didn’t think there were more than two rooms.”
Both Marius and Lethica laugh in unison, annoyingly in sync.
“I thought as much.”
They group finally settles on nothing more being added to the discussion, the four disperse to the available rooms that catch their eyes, small rickety things, but comfortable enough for a nights stay.
Time ticks by.
Of course Marius can’t sleep, there’s rarely a night he doesn’t struggle with doing so these days. He's run a hand through his, now messy, blonde hair ten times over by now. The creaking sounds in the dark room don’t help. Neither do the events of the day playing in his head over and over. Lethica’s words. Her heart was beating so fast.
He curls in on himself, tightly gripping onto his own off-white nightshirt, willing himself into rest. Of course he fails.
Marius sits up slowly with a groan of annoyance. Damn it all, I’m going outside.
He attempts to move through the house gracefully and without a sound, but the ancientness of the house disagreed with almost every painstakingly slow step he takes. He tried his best, so he hopes he managed not to wake any of his companions.
He finally slowly opens the front door, peaking out at the familiar darkness before stepping out onto the small porch area. He takes a deep breath he doesn’t really need, relaxed until something unexpected catches his eye.
A louder heartbeat, long silvery hair catching in the moonlight, spilling beautifully over midnight lilac skin, reaching all the way down to a lithe waist. Lethica, a calm and unguarded looking Lethica. She’s standing in a white night dress, looking out at the darkness before her. For a second, he’s entranced.
“Am I right to assume the person who has joined me out here is Marius?” She breaks the silence, not bothering to look back to check that her assumption is correct.
“Yes, yes you would be right.” He awkwardly shuffles just a bit closer to her. “Are you decent?”
She barely reaches beside her to pick up her pale mask off of the wide wooden railing she’s leaning against, he didn’t even notice it beside her, despite the fact that when he asked that question, he entirely meant her mask. Marius can tell from her movements that she is fixing it to her face. The flawless face he had only been blessed to see in instances of hurt and fear.
“I am now.” Despite that, she still doesn’t turn to face Marius as she speaks to him.
The blonde only slightly hesitates after Lethica’s assurance, pausing for a moment before taking long strides to reach the railings she’s at, not too close, just close enough to comfortably speak.
Marius chances another glance at her. It's always a bit strange to see Lethica in something comfortable, something vulnerable. “You could not sleep either?”
In response Marius sighs from somewhere deep inside his soul, too much to encapsulate in words. “I have a lot on my mind.”
“I know the feeling well.” Lethica finally slightly turns her head to acknowledge Marius’ presence beside her, her gaze finally settling on him makes him a little more nervous to dive into the topic he’s about to.
He continues on despite the added pressure of her eyes on him. “I can’t help but admit, I’m a little embarrassed by the conversations that took place in the kitchen today.” He looks down at his own hands in an attempt to hide his own nervousness .
“Embarrassed?” Lethica has a genuine questioning tone lacing her words, not mocking or teasing like earlier. She shakes her head, voice soft, the way her accent curls around the word makes him want to sink into the ground and rejoin the cold earth. “What reason would you have to be embarrassed?”
What reason? You were there, you watched me talk myself into a hole. “I don’t know what possessed me to interrogate Briggsy before even discussing what was important.”
“Again, I honestly find your passion endearing, no one has ever said such kind words about my name.” Even if it has not always been hers, it’s the one Marius has known her as, the one she wants him to know. She puts a hand over her heart, her heart, a part of her that Marius has practically memorized the patterns of.
Marius clears his throat and tries not to desperately track the movement of Lethica’s slender hand tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “I am glad you don’t hold it against me.” From what he’s hearing she sounds almost pleased, Marius is not self-centered enough to believe it is because he specifically did such actions.
“I think I’ve done quite the opposite, maybe the next time someone calls you ‘Mari’ I’ll find the fervor to come to your defense, just to even the playing field.” She trails off her sentence with a light laugh. Marius huffs and quickly runs his hand roughly through his already tousled blonde hair. The night is the only thing tethering them to reality. Marius is real, undead, standing before her, maybe two steps away at best.
He lets out a light scoff, reaching his arm up to rub the back of his neck, “I’m not sure my name deserves such reverence.”
“And mine does?” She unabashedly steps closer, a full step, not a shuffle or slight movement.
For a moment there is silence, tension, but then Marius mimics Lethica’s earlier motion of putting her hand over her heart. “More than I could properly express in words.”
In response, Lethica laughs breathlessly. She takes a moment and runs her fingers through the ends of her hair before straightening her posture and taking another confident half step towards the blonde man.
“Well I think,” she looks down, and then back up into Marius’ red eyes. “You’re a kind, sharp witted man, not afraid to act on what he believes is right, and passionate, almost to a fault, about his beliefs,” a breathe, “Not to mention you have quite the striking appearance.”
“I think any other name than Marius Renathyr might misinterpret such aspects.” She says it with such reverence that Marius almost believes himself worthy of such a high opinion, how could he disagree when she says it with such conviction?
It's dangerous for her to be so close to him.
“Lethica…”
“Marius.”
”You’re so…you.” How is he so breathless when he has no need to breathe? He wants to tell her everything I should've known as soon as we met you’d captivate me one way or another, not just beautiful, no you’re everything, or something like: As much distance as I’ve attempted to put between us you have bewitched me. You are as smart and witty as you are exquisite. But he can’t keep the words straight in his mind.
“Marius, do me a kindness and close your eyes.”
He does so before he even thinks of asking his own question. “Of course, but may I ask why?”
For a second he hears movement, and then he feels a pair of lips crash into his own, hands gripping the sides of his face like he might disappear. He stands, stunned and unmoving like an imbecile as Lethica pours everything she has into the brief kiss and then pulls away.
“I’m sorry, I— it was presumptuous to think that you would…” Marius doesn’t have to open his eyes to know Lethica’s fear; worry and embarrassment drown her voice and Marius can hardly stand to hear it.
It's idiotic, what if I can’t control myself, what if she hates me afterwards?
For once Marius does not listen to the rational voice in his head and, eyes still shut, grabs Lethica’s arm and pulls her close, chest to chest. He trails his hand slowly to her face, feeling what he is not permitted to see, cupping one side gently, he pulls her back in.
They kiss, passionately, so much time of fear and holding back crashing into this connection they’ve finally permitted themselves to indulge in.
Lethica’s lips are full and soft against his own, he’s melting. He’s surely died and this is a dream or a cruel joke played on him by the Gods.
Just as Marius thinks he’s keeping up, Lethica bites his lip and deepens the kiss, making a soft sound into Marius’ mouth that makes hands scramble to finally find real purchase upon her body, one ending up in her hair and the other pressing her closer by the small of her back while one of Lethica’s hands slides to hold the back of his neck and the other tightens on his shoulder. She’s so warm. Her heart is beating so fast. She’s so good, Marius is entirely unsurprised that one kiss from her would rock him to his core. Does she even know what she makes him feel? He feels he’s being consumed by the sun, like Lathander himself is blessing this “union” and finally showing him a sign of prosperity..
Lethica kills every thought in his head that isn’t about her, or about them together and how complete he feels with Lethica in his arms knowing that she praises him just as he worships her. She’s worshipping him by using her skilled mouth to render him speechless. She runs her hand up and down his back as confidence surges Marius and he finally licks into her warm mouth like a man starved, his hands and arms making sure Lethica doesn’t slip out of his grasp (though if she wanted to, she could). He curls in on her more, she’s quite tall so he can’t fully encompass her, but he’s gonna try and steal whatever he can in the moment.
Oh, Lethica.
They stay like that for what feels like forever to Marius. He wished it was. Lethica leads him and she consumes more and more of his being the longer she’s pressed against him, the warmth of her mouth gliding against his is a feeling he hopes to never forget.
Marius is far too much of a gentleman to let his wandering continue, but Lethica doesn’t have that much care, which becomes evident when she gently but firmly pulls Marius’ head back by his hair and slides her hand slightly under the hem of his sleep shirt when she momentarily breaks away to catch her breath.
A whine threatens to leave Marius’ throat as he unnecessarily pants for air like Lethica is forced to. He doesn’t want to disrespect her wishes so his eyes remain closed. No matter how much the idea of seeing Lethica flush faced and her chest rapidly rising and falling makes a pang of want strike through him. At his core he is a gentleman, and moreover, he respects her far too much to let his own desires interfere, he’d die happy never seeing Lethica’s face again if that’s what she wanted. Being near her is more than enough.
“Marius.” She finally says breathily.
“Lethica.” Marius mumbles in return, “Oh Gods, Lethica.”
“Open your eyes Marius, I’m allowing you to, I want you to.” As previously mentioned, Marius is a gentleman, but the warmth of Lethica against him and the pleading tone in her voice put a stop to the half of mind he had to ask her if she was certain.
His eyes slowly open.
Lethica Nightborne is right before him, dark lilac tinted skin flushed even darker, her long silvery white hair is messy from hands being tangled in it, she’s looking at Marius like she needs him more than she needs air, her crimson eyes half lidded and surrounded by long white eyelashes, her plump lips darker in color. She’s beautiful, more than he remembered, more than Marius is worthy of witnessing. He wants to commit every detail of her to memory, every line, every curve, every quirk and mannerism, and selfishly store it in his heart.
And Lethica, lovely, lovely Lethica, is looking at him with just as much reverence as he is her. Her crimson eyes burrow into Marius and refuse to leave him.
Her hand on his shoulder trails up to cup the side of his face, he leans into it easily, blonde hair framing his sharp features. He turns his head to kiss her palm reverently, burning red eyes similarly refusing to leave the sight in front of him.
Lethica once again is the one to break the silence between them, “You are beautiful, Marius, absolutely strikingly handsome.” She tells him in a soft voice.
He had been too busy being stunned to tell her how perfect she was and she is calling him beautiful first? Unacceptable.
“Me, Beautiful?” Marius places his hand over the one Lethica currently has cradling his face and guides it down to rest where Marius’ unbeating heart lies. “I am nothing compared to your presence, Lethica, you are the most gorgeous person I have ever been blessed by the gods to witness,” Marius leans his face closer to hers, “You are so magnificent that I know not why I was deemed worthy of being in this position.”
“Because we deserve each other, this moment together.” She gently pulls both of their hands off of where they were laying on Marius’ chest and readjusts her grip to hold Marius’ hand in the palm of her own and brings it closer to her. She starts by pressing one kiss to the back of his hand, then two, then three, and so on. Marius stands still for a moment, stunned by the display of adoration from the most cunning and ethereal woman he has ever had the pleasure of meeting.
He uses his free hand to tuck Lethica’s hair behind her ear to get an unobstructed view of her face. “Though this might just be fleeting in the long line of suffocating events we keep going through, this night is one I will never forget.” He hates it, the thought that they may never have time to let themselves feel this way again, so busy, and their quests, there are a dozen things that get in the way of this happiness.
She sighs in a melancholic way and presses closer against Marius, “Then at least we will always have tonight, though we never know what the future may hold.”
Marius feels his chest tighten, he steps back to put the tiniest amount of distance between them. Lethica looks at him in confusion. “Then either way, there’s something I need you to know tonight.” If he passes this opportunity out of fear then the next time one arrives he might be in a dire situation, he has thought plenty about this, his feelings, what he might say.
“Yes?”
“No matter if tonight ever happens again, if we ever get to be happy,” Her eyes are so intense, zeroed in on Marius, like she’s both appreciating him and seeing right through him at the same time. “I need you to know that my feelings for you are not merely surface level, how I feel about you is something I never thought I’d experience in the form I currently live in.” He takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through her hair. “You have captured me, mind, body, and soul, and if this is our only moment, then I shall think about it far past when it is my time to rejoin the earth. I will think of you for even longer than that,” he eliminates the miniscule distance between them and allows himself to lay his forehead against hers. “Lethica Nightborne.”
Lethica’s focused expression turns into a wide smile, he realizes that these are things he should be memorizing, expressions he had never been able to comprehend beyond her tone of voice. She shakes him from his thoughts by wrapping both arms loosely around his neck, instinctively his hands move to hold her waist, less hesitant than before.
“I couldn’t have expressed the sentiment better.” She continues, “Well, I possibly could have, but that’s not important.” She's still smiling, beautiful, it’s a word that seems to have been invented for her. Seeing her so happy, gazing at him, makes it almost feel like everything they went through to get here was worth it.
“I whole heartedly believe you, my lady.” Marius leans in to initiate a kiss now, much less frantic and heated than earlier. The kiss is soft and romantic in such an intimate way that neither of them could believe they hadn’t been doing this for as long as they’ve known each other. The warmness of her body, the thumping of her heart are just background noise as Lethica smiles against him and softly cards her fingers through his hair.
They break apart once more, slowly and quietly.
Lethica places both hands gently on Marius’ chest and takes a small step back. “We should probably go back into the house, we need the rest for tomorrow.”
Her words spiked his unease, he doesn’t want to lose this. “But tomorrow is a new day, and it means this is in the past.”
“No, I don’t look at it that way.” She keeps one hand still lightly on Marius, tracing against him as she moves to grab her mask from the railing she laid it on.
“How?”
“Because it’ll feel like tonight every time I look at you and know you feel the same for me, Sir Marius Renathyr.” She walks back in front of him holding her mask, but not putting it back on yet, trying to convey her sincerity in both her voice and expression.
Without a second thought, Marius takes a step back and steadily drops to one knee, putting his right hand over his unbeating heart and bowing, devoting. “I am yours, my feelings will never falter.”
She steps forward and caresses the side of his face and lifts it to look. up at her. “Then let us end this outside portion of tonight and go inside.”
“Of course—“ he begins to stand. “Wait,”
“Hm?”
“The outside portion?” He fully stands and looks at her hopefully. She doesn’t respond, taking a second to put her mask back on.
“You think I’m letting you go so easily? Of course, if you’d rather go our separate ways and rest for the night I’d be happy to oblige.”
“No, no, I think I’d rather like to follow you.”