I wish you wouldn't. [ It's muttered without conviction or enthusiasm, surprisingly flat in affect. ] Not for me, anyway.

[ He isn't worth that. Any world is certainly better served with her in it, if he's the other option.

But this doesn't feel like an argument he can win, and Anders has always done his best to avoid those. He pats her clasped hands before taking his own back, looking around the market again as if trying to recall where they were before this sidetracking. ]

Come on, then. We're not going to get the rest of our shopping done, just standing around.