Log:Undermoon Wedding, Scene 4

Undermoon Wedding 2014/10/02 	 Pelana Lorelei Vanatherion Ghost Paragon Titan Lily Porter

4

Duke Vanatherion has been saved from the Forsaken. They're still out there, though...a spectre hanging over this happy occasion. Former Duke Palanir, who had planned to replace Vanatherion as the groom of Princess Stephanie (Lorelei) has been freed due to the deal he made in exchange for his freedom. The mood is somewhat somber, though hopeful for the future. Outside of the city is the place for the wedding, a clearing that looks like a bowl. The treeline is well back from the edge, making it difficult for spectators not on the ground at the edge of the bowl to see down into the basin.

The representatives for the royal family are gathering on one side of the bowl...the Duke's entourage will arrive shortly at the far side from it, directly opposite the first. And on a third side, between them, are where visiting dignitaries will be. A fourth, directly across from where the human ambassadors and heads of state will be, is a place for the metahumans of Colonial Bay. It's a slight change from this traditional wedding ceremony, but it was deemed a necessary change.

An area of land with a natural-looking bowl shape to it, a good 50 meters across. The treeline is well back from lip of the bowl, such that if one was at the top of the trees right in front, one might be able to see the bottom of the basin. Maybe. Assuming that the guests won't block the view, which they likely will.

There are some benches lining three sides of the bowl, where those attending the wedding will be.

Ghost has wished the heroes well and asked them to remain alert during the proceedings. She is with the bride's group as Companion to Princess Stephanie. Her four messengers have been pulled away from watching suspects for the day and are patrolling the bowl itself and the surrounding area, two in the bowl and two outside it.

Lily is enjoying the festivities. Weddings are happy occasions! Usually. Though a thought keeps nagging at her that maybe Lorelei isn't doing this entirely out of love and her own desires. Still, she smiles and chit-chats with the other guests, and eats more than her share of food.

Lorelei of course, is with the rest of the royal family, on the first side. She's seated between her father and mother, in the second row - and so behind the king. The first row is just the king and a row of warriors of the royal house, in accordance with the ancient traditions the ceremony is drawing on. The soldiers largely hide her from view at the moment - all part of the ceremony.

Sure enough...various ambassadors arrive, along with Kings, Queens, Presidents, and Prime Ministers. Those of the Twilit Worlds are on one end of the section, with all of their variety...giants, flitting sprites, fae, dwarves... In contrast, there are a bunch of humans in smart looking suits and dresses at the other end of the section, including the President of the United States, Allen Illom. There are several guards for each ambassador and head of state, making hte area fairly well crowded.

Pelana is also there. Luckily, the magic of Undermoon isn't QUITE as high as the other plane Porter and Pelana had experimented on - something going wrong when Porter is involved, what are the odds - so she's not sticking out in the crowd too much, although she is probably one of the tallest non-giants thanks to an inability to shrink down as far as she might prefer.

So someone found a way to fit a square congregation in a round hole? Of course it'd have to be magic. In another image that suggests frustration, POrter is present. Maybe now, this time, there won't be some war/kidnapping/assassination/catastrophe. Then again, he did show up.

Porter even showed up dressed for the occassion, in the nicest suit he could manage. That means that there are no coffee stains, though the bow tie is not only bright red, but won't stay straight.

On top of all this, he could technically be considered to having multiple +1s. Though Third is probably more concerned with ensuring safety than sharing celebration and was invited as an individual. There's also Pelana, who may or may not be as much interested in the level of background magic and potential racial angst from fae as much as the festivities.

So he's sort of here with two grilfriends.

Wait... they don't do the throwing bouquets thing at fae weddings, do they?

Titan(#2358POeACF?)

This man stands about 6 feet tall, and probably weighs about 230 lbs...and looks very muscular, like someone from the cover of 'Muscle and Fitness' magazine. He looks fairly young, like he's around nineteen or twenty years old. He's dressed in a sharp looking tailored suit. The suit itself is jet black, which contrasts nicely with his royal blue dress shirt and the solid silver necktie. His watch and tie chain are both silver as well. All in all, he looks like he's ready to walk down the red carpet at the opening of one of his movies.

His shoulder-length hair is jet black, and it's currently pulled back into a short ponytail. His face is picturesque, his bright blue eyes that seem to burn with a certain intensity that is hard to describe. He's a very good looking individual...with that sort of GQ look to him.

Other dignitaries include the King and Queen of England, and the United Earth Vice-President. They're currently speaking to President Illom about something.

Titan is with the heroes, fidgeting as he looks around at the gathering. Something is clearly bothering him, but he remains quiet.

One of the fae...a Charmer, hurries around the lip of the bowl toward Ghost, trying to get her attention.

Duke Vanatherion's entourage starts to arrive, marching toward the bowl. A group of warriors starts first, forming the first line. The others fill in behind them. All of the guests rise as the Duke arrives and the ceremony itself begins.

Lily stands up!

Ghost slips away to the side to speak with the female fae charmer.

Vanatherion steps to the lip of the bowl on his side and beckons to two officiants. One starts to walk to where he is...and the other to where the King is on the opposite side.

Lorelei tries to hide her nerves, but of course the whole thing would be pretty overwhelming even without half the heads of state from seven worlds looking on. That she's currently largely shielded from spectators in some ways makes things easier - and in other ways harder, because she almost feels like she's hiding. She can barely keep still in her seat as the duke's party arrives. The king stands. He and his line of warriors exactly match the duke and his line in numbers.

The Charmer says quietly to Ghost, "We had been asked to look for Charm magic on anyone out of the ordinary. We found some. On two of your friends." She motions toward the heroes, specifically in the direction of Titan, though it's unclear who the second person she's referring to is.

Pelana sticks close to Porter, for the moment. She's trying to hide it, but someone who knows her well, like Porter, can see she's nervous. It's not quite as bad as Serbs and Croats on Earth, maybe, but part of her feels she's in 'enemy territory'... even if the wars of fae and some kind of dragon shouldn't mean a thing to her.

Ghost looks over at the heros. She whispers to the fae, "That man?" she says pointing to Titan, "And who else?"

The Charmer squints over in the direction of the heroes again, "The woman to his right." She indicates Lily.

Ghost thinks. o O (Where's Harlequin when I really need him?)

Lorelei tries to avoid stealing a glance at Vanatherion - by tradition, they shouldn't looks at each other till she's brought forward. A tradition perhaps rather like not seeing the bride on the wedding day before she enters the church.

Ghost asks the fae female, "Can you determine the type of charm magic? If it fae or human or dwarven?"

Porter gives Pelana's arm a pat and light squeeze. "It's Ok..." He tries to sound reassuring, though he's fidgety, too. "At least you fit in with all the famous people..." Of which, Pelana is one of the handful he might recognize.

The two officiants talk to their respective people they are representing....and then they walk toward the middle of the bowl to speak to each other. Everything about it feels very formal. Precise.

The Charmer shakes her head, "If I were to guess, it would be Fae magic. Well woven, though I can't tell by whom."

Ghost nods, "Would you or your companions be capable of unobtrusively dispelling the charms? Ideally without the subjects noticing."

One of the dignitaries, a red-skinned humanoid, edges sideways - ostensibly to get a better look at the duke's party, but actually to get further from the frost giant delegation - it's cold there!

Lily notices that President Illom acts a bit strangely. He winces and shakes his head, putting his hand on the back of his head behind his ear. He looks around, almost like he's looking at a new world.

The Charmer shakes her head, "It would be obvious...and difficult, as the music is likely to start in short order. We would need to be close to do so. And it would require song."

And sure enough, as if on cue, the music starts from a small orchestra between the heroes and the royal family. It's a light tune, the sound playing on the slight wind in the area. Meanwhile, the officiants head back to their representative sides, one to the Duke, and one to the King.

Titan keeps his eyes on the Duke, glancing over in Lorelei's direction once in a while.

Ghost nods and tries to work her work close enough to Princess Linandere to speak quietly, a task that will be made easier by the music.

Lily looks at the President curiously. . o O (Hopefully if something is wrong the meta arm of the Secret Service can detect it.)

The various dwarf delegations stand practically motionless, but for the occasional turn of their heads. Patience doesn't seem to be much of a problem for them, even if things are moving a bit slowly. One of the kings, indeed, barely seems to move at all. If indeed there is a king under all that armour: he could be a robot for all that's visible of him.

The Princess leans over to hear what Ghost has to say.

The Secret Service folks do check on the President, who waves them off after saying a few words to one of them.

Pelana is working on being as nonthreatening-looking as possible, just in case one of the Undermoon types decide to up and accuse her of rampaging or something. Although the trip has proven educational in one respect; she knows very little magical lore, but a world where things are built on those principles means she keeps seeing patterns that might be lost to someone else. Mostly things that would be as obvious to the natives as rocks falling.

Maybe Porter does recognize a few other people here. Even if they are dressed up. That one looks like.. oh, nevermind. He thought it might've been somebody he knew, until they turned around. Not even the right species. Good thing he didn't call out. That and there's the music that just started up, too. With Pel as the only easy one to talk to, he asks, "Any idea what's going on?" while looking around.

Vanatherion starts to remove his sword, and he hands it to his second in command. As he's doing that, Titan starts to walk around the lip of the bowl toward Duke Vanatherion. And by the look in his eye, he looks like he might be looking to confront the Duke.

Ghost whispers quietly to Princess Linandere, "One of the spotters has informed me there are charms to two of the Princess Guard party. We must consider they may have been compromised. I had thought to send them away but that may in itself trigger the charm's effect and I'm not entirely sure how bad a breach of ettiqutte that would be if they obeyed and left."

The Duke takes a hold of his blade again as he sees Titan approaching. He calls out, looking a little confused, "Ableman Jonathan. Is there something amiss? This is not how things are done. You should know that."

Ghost adds as she sees Titan moving. "Too late. Looks like I'm too late. Titan would not be doing that under his own volition."

Pelana shakes her head. "Never had reason to really train up my magical senses, Port. I'm about as ignorant as you are... what is he doing?"

Lorelei hasn't been peaking, but realises something's up. "What's going on?" she asks Liandere - and sees that Ghost's there.

There is some murmuring amongst the fae as Titan gets to within easy earshot of the Duke. The foreign dignitaries aren't quite sure what to make of what's going on, though a couple of the Twilit World emissaries look amused. The music actually stops.

Ghost summon a fresh messenger, dismissing one of the ones patrolling in the bowl. She instructs it to go to Pelana and Porter and instruct them to stop Titan. Then go to Lily and instruct her to withdraw from the wedding and the bowl.

Lily watches with interest. . o O (Ooh! Could it be romantic drama!?)

The Charmer who had told Ghost the news starts to run around the lip of the bowl, but she's on the far side from Titan at this point.

Ghost steps through the Astral to confront Titan. "Johnathan. Stop!" she tells him.

Titan says in a bellowing voice that he usually uses for acting or scaring villains, "Duke Vanatherion, I challenge you to a duel! For Lorelei's hand!" That gets the fae murmuring more loudly, unsurprisingly. There are shouts and jeers that this nobody....this upstart gold digger...might challenge for the hand of royalty.

Lorelei hears that and goes pale. "No...."

Pelana checks the messenger. She's still reluctant, but she elbows Porter and tries to make her way close. Her options for stopping Titan are fairly limited to 'pick him up and carry him away', and she's not sure how a fight would go over. Porter, on the other hand... maybe he can cause a banana peel to appear or *something*.

Lorelei thinks. o O (Should I get involved? But that would break the traditions of the ceremony......)

The Duke furrows his brow, "Ableman Johnathan. I thought I knew your heart in this matter. Why the change of heart? This does seem a bit...odd for you, and I would prefer to not fight, if we can avoid such."

"Is this the part where someone speaks up or forever... " Porter cringes when he is pre-empted but his guess ...is right? "Uh oh. Uh... This is a bad thing, right?" He looks to Pel curiously.

Porter is also semi-dragged along with Pelana.

Lily looks quizically at the messenger, "Hmmm? But it's just starting to get good!" She doesn't move.

The Charmer continues to run around the outside. "Someone just...delay him! I can remove the spell!"

Lorelei shifts position - seeing if she can get a look at Titan while still not peeking at Vanatherion. Damn tradition...

Ghost is thinking fast. . o O(Okay, we're in damage limitation now. The challenge has been made. But the fae are familar with charm magic.) She says loudly, "If a duel is to be fought there must not be a repetition of the foul play that occurred during the previous duel. Any blades used must be checked for poison and all charns on both participants must be dispelled before the duel starts. Would both parties agree to this?"

Pelana nods. Well, delay is something she can do. "Porter, think of something real quick... if he makes one more step towards the Duke, I'm gonna embiggen and grab him. Yeah, it'll be disruptive, but at least I have the excuse of not knowing."

The dignitaries at least look rather more interested now! Looks like there might be a bit of excitement. Even the dwarf king's helmet has turned.

The Duke nods to Ghost, "I agree to this." Titan hesitates though, looking over toward Ghost. His eyes look almost glazed over. He halts...like he's unsure what to do. "I..." He takes another step toward the Duke, looking like he's torn up inside. "I..."

Think of something quick? Porter can do that. It doesn't mean he'll think of something /good,/ but every little bit helps, right. "Ok. Got it..." He doesn't know all the rules and trappings of their weddings or duels, but maybe he doesn't have to? As long as he can keep things from getting any worse.

Ghost commands the new messenger to go to Princess Linandere and pass on the message, "This distraction could be used to cover an attempt on the Princess. I request, by all the spirits of the Nebula, guard your daughter."

Ghost steps between the Duke and Titan, "Johnathan, it's me. Ghost. Fight it. You can break any fae charm. You just need to try. Try for me."

The Charmer gets past the heroes, moving to where Titan is. She starts to sing...and the haunting sound carries across the bowl.

The Charmer smiles...and turns to sing in the direction of the heroes...focusing on Lily.

Lorelei breathes a sigh of relief.

Lily smiles, "That's a pretty song!"

Ghost doesn't care about proper fae etiquette at this moment. She moves to Johnathan and says, "Welcome back, my love." and if he stands still long enough she lifts up to wrap her arms around his neck and kisses him... in front of everyong.

"Ok... maybe they've got it under control?" Porter offers to Pel, giving her arm a squeeze. Hopefully so she doesn't biggify and bound in, now. Then it goes from a lovers duel to ... sort of dueling in another way lovers? He can't help but grin. "I'm pretty sure that's a good sign..."

Titan looks horribly embarrassed. He doesn't pull away from Ghost, though. He puts an arm around her, but he still look mortified. "I'm..." He shakes his head, "Duke Vanatherion, please accept my apology."

The Duke smiles slightly, "I accept. But...we will have words about this later, Ableman. That we will."

Lily cheers, happy to see something romantic happen at least. She asks the Messenger, "So why did you want me to leave anyway?"

Pelana phews. She whispers to Porter, "Yeah, and I'm sure having a dragon bound down on the Duke's general area would go over SO DAMN WELL, don't you think? Keeping an eye on it..."

Lorelei thinks. o O (I wonder who's behind this. As if things weren't complicated enough.....)

Ghost turns on the Duke, "Johnathan was not himself when he issued the challege, your grace. You should not lay any blame at his feet." She takes a breath, "You two are a pair of the most decent people I know. You ought to be friends."

The Duke waves off Ghost, "You misunderstand me. I do not blame him. He was clearly ensorcelled. I merely wish to talk with him later about what happened. Do not concern yourself with how I take what happened. I still hold him in high regard. As I do for all of your company." He nods, acknowledging Ghost as well as the other assembled heroes.

The same, apparently, cannot be said of many of the wedding guests. There are murmurs about Titan, mostly. He already had a fairly poor reputation among many of the nobles, and this has done nothing to help that.

Ghost bows to his grace the Duke.

Porter gives Pelana a shrug. "Hey, it all worked out..." He notices all the murmuring. "Mostly? And, yeah, if somebody's magicking people..." Now he has more reason to look around, since she's keeping an eye on Titan and the people up front. In the middle. Wherever the important folks are.

Lorelei goes back to trying not to peek, reluctantly. Presumably things will resume now, so she doesn't want to risk messing things up again.

Titan bows slightly to the Duke, "Thank you." He makes his way back to where the heroes are, though he doesn't return exactly to where he was previously. He instead moves toward the back, clearly still feeling ashamed about what happened.

Lily moves back and pats Titan on the shoulder consolingly.

Ghost tells Johnathan, "I'll see you later." and then Astral steps back to the bride's group. . o O(This is nerve-wrecking. And my failure. How did whoever it was manage it without my even suspecting?)

Pelana murmurs, "Wow, someone doesn't really want this to happen, do they?," to Titan.

The Duke hands off his blade to his second, and walks with the officiant down toward the center of the bowl, where he kneels, facing the King. The King turns to Quentin, Lorelei's father, "Fetch the Princess."

Titan places a hand on Lily's, "Thanks." He nods to Pelana, "So it seems."

"Uh..." Porter starts with his favorite word as he looks over the wedding... parties. "I didn't think he did anything that bad," he says probably louder than he means to, "but alot of these faeries look really, really mad. Like turn him into a newt mad, maybe? Is that normal?"

Lorelei doesn't have to be "fetched" from far, of course. Quentin offers a hand to Lorelei and raises her from her seat, and together they step through the line of guards. For the first time Lorelei can be seen clear, in a long flowing dress of far-silk which glisten like silver in the sun.

Lily swoons, "Aw, Now I want to jump in and declare my love for her@

The King, Lorelei, and the officiant for the King all head down into the bowl. The King is still armed with his sword. Once they arrive, loud words are spoken in an ancient version of the Fae language. The translation spells are only able to make out a few words. 'Wed' 'Husband' 'Wife' 'Bond'.

The sudden turn of heads as the princess appears is almost comical.

The exchange of vows takes a good fifteen minutes or so, with the long-winded ancient language being used. 'If something's worth saying, it's worth the time to say it', after all.

Paragon mills through the crowd checking for safety when the commotion with Titan and Ghost began. It takes her a while to walk through the crowd again near the others, where she starts standing back with her arms folded over her chest, settling into observation mode for the most part as she tries to grasp the intricacies of fae weddings. "Strange affairs, these weddings. Is it often like this?" she comments mostly to herself with a soft, metallic ring to her voice. But maybe one of the heroes has an answer to clarify things for her.

After the exchange of vows, the officiants withdraw...and the King returns on his own to his side. The Duke and the Princess head back toward his side. As soon as they get out of the bowl to where the Duke's entourage is, the crowd erupts in cheering. And thus the wedding ceremony itself is over.

Pelana follows along with the ceremony, apparently understanding every word. She murmurs a translation to Porter, if he doesn't understand.

Lily claps enthusiastically!

Lorelei and Vanatherion embrace and kiss - with what seems a rather sudden passion after all the formal ceremony. The cheering continues.

Lily gets carried away and looks for someone to kiss too!

Paragon doesn't realize it's over until a few ticks past everyone else's clapping. Her arms unfold and she starts to clap along as well. "Aww, that's sweet." But her head pans about to check the crowd for any other mischief.

Since Porter wouldn't understand any of it on his own, he's grateful for Pelana's translations. Even if it would've been five times quicker to just say everything in American. "Thanks..." He offers her a grin and then joins the cheering with a whoop and a waving of his hands. No coffee cup, no spills!

Titan claps as well, but not with a lot of enthusiasm. He otherwise remains quiet, and toward the back of the group, wanting to be forgotten.

Pelana politely golf-claps, given even with the translation there is a whole load of cultural baggage she is utterly unaware of.

A nearby attendant says to the heroes, "There will be a short break, and then there will be some festivities at the castle proper. A...reception, if you will."

Vanatherion indeed formally invites the gathered crowd to the wedding feast, in a loud voice, then once more kisses Lorelei.

Paragon glances towards Lily as she looks around, thinking perhaps she's spotted danger. "Do you see something?" she asks cautiously, starting to look around as well.

Pelana shrugs. "Not me..."

"So..." Porter looks to Pel. "Going to the reception?" He then looks around at the thinning crowd, finally spotting Para and offering her a wave and loud, friendly, "Hey!" to be heard over the crowd.

Ghost dismisses all her existing messengers and summons four fresh ones to start scouting out the venue for the wedding feast. With special attention to the kitchens.

Lily shakes her head, "Nope! Just looking for someone to kiss!"

The crowd mingles and talks, with various nobility and heads of state meeting each other. The group slowly starts to make its way toward the castle and the feast due to happen shortly.

Titan remains quiet and off to the edge of the crowd, remaining as unobtrusive as possible.

Vanatherion takes Lorelei to the feast on his horse, in accordance with tradition.

"Oh. Well. Good luck with that," Paragon wishes Lily the best. When she notice's Porter, she waves over the crowd. Seeing as how there doesn't seem to be any imminent danger, she changes back to her 'formal' wear, her armor retracting into her. Beneath it, she's dressed in a form fitting three piece black suit and tie with men's dress shoes, looking very tom-boyish; something she borrowed from an old teammate. She runs her hand through her bangs and hair to undo the helmet hair affect. "Guess it's back to fancy dress for the reception."

Pelana shrugs. "I suppose we could. I could eat, anyway."

The fae, for their part, also "change' for the reception. Or at least, they glamour themselves. Weddings are supposed to be kept free from enchantment, as much as possible. Parties, not so much.

The guests all gather in the courtyard at the castle, where tables have been set up, and food has already been brought out.

Ghost changes into her Sercian Space Navy uniform but keeps the sash of a warleader across her chest.

Lily stays as she is!

After the festivities have been going for a bit, the Duke gets everyone's attention. "I...am not one for formal speeches, for the most part. However, the time has come for me to do so."

Lorelei arrive once most guest have had a chance to get back. While they're stll dressed as they were - in Vanatherion's case an interesting mixture of robes of state and ancient warrior grab - they seems to have "freshened up" a bit. Lorele's dress, in particular, now seems always to be blowing in the breeze, even if there isn't actually a breeze about.

"Come on, then, let's go." Porter chuckles and heads for the reception. He keeps Pel close and offers a hand to Third, including her in the us, of course. "You look good." It's not a dress, but it's better than the armor. Probably a nicer suit than his, too.

The Duke raises a glass, "I propose a toast. To the Kingdom, may it last. And to our marriage, may it do the same." He smiles and looks at Lorelei with a clear look of love in his eye, "I feel like I am as fortunate as I could ever be. May our union last for all time."

Paragon stares at the offered hand uncertainly. She had been on stag mode this whole time, as is her custom when Porter is with one of the girlfriends listed ahead of her. With reluctance, she accepts his hand. "Thanks," she murmurs.

Lily wipes away a tear and claps.

Ghost lifts her glass in salute to the toast.

Pelana is, at least, wearing a decent enough dress, since she can wear anything... and she's had plenty of ideas with modelling side gigs. "I agree with Porter, Third. You do the Annie Lennox thing real well."

The Duke raises his glass, and the crowd does so in unison. And all drink. Vanatherion then walks over to Lorelei and kisses her again, which causes another eruption of cheering and clapping.

Paragon looks a little shy but flattered by Pelana's comment. "Thank you," she grins slightly, then looks to the Duke as he makes his speech. She declines a drink though; she's on duty.

Lorelei drinks from her husband's cup - well, at least when their mouths aren't otherwise occupied!

About the room, several fae are busy casting spells over crystal balls.

Between glamours, genetics, plain old good looks, physique, muscles, and most any other category, Porter is probably the least conspicuous and/or impressive one here. He can't even drink... wine. But he can lift a cup of ...whatever that is in response to the toast.

Titan continues to stay at the fringe of the gathering. As things start to move toward more eating than speeches, he heads up from the courtyard to one of the battlements, looking out over the city proper.

Pelana, on the other hand... well, she's no Lorelei, but she does okay. And she even ventures to talk to some of the more daring fae. Just small talk at a party, but she tries very hard to not look like someone about to rampage.

Ghost is in on-duty mode staying alert and trying to be aware of everything happening. So she sees Titan's exit and follows him, depending on her network of messengers to keep her undated on what's happening. Reaching the battlements she calls out ahead, "Care for some company, Johnathan? Or would you rather be alone?"

Titan hears Ghost and takes a deep breath. "I...don't know. I'm not sure what to think."

Ghost stops a few paces short of Titan. "I'll be here when you decide, Johnathan." she says quietly and leaning against the castle battlements she looks out over the city of Undermoon.

Lorelei says, "As must I. Thanks again!"

Titan quietly says to Ghost after a long moment, "I appreciate it. I just...I feel like a liability. I'm clearly not trusted. And why should they?"

Ghost looks at Titan, "I trust you, Johnathan." is all she says.

Porter now has more reason to people-watch. Even if it's mostly fae around Pelana to make sure no one gets in trouble. And he can drink from his cup of ... magick wedding festivities stuff.

Titan nods againt to Ghost, "Thank you." He moves over and puts an arm around her. "I'll be okay. Eventually."

Ghost snuggles in beside Titan. "Time is one thing we're not short of, Johnathan." she reminds him.