[ Billy asks around, feels uncertain while he does it, like someone's going to ask: What's it to you? Mostly though, VT or local shrug in response. The old ladies titter over their canning, He hasn't come by, they say. Oh, he's not answering, another says, worried, she's the one who's sure he looked like her departed husband. Sometimes you Void Touched... you go off, a third says, sadly, uncertainly. She pats his arm and it feels cheap, because she should be gripping Jem's arm, or one of the others, someone who 'got' the God Emperor.

Later: ] When we fucked with the tattoos... [ sorry, Eddie. ] It would've worked... until it came back. The monster kept them connected. Or the caves. They were weird.

[ That doesn't feel good either though. The thought that John's in a cave or mark-less somehow or... ]