"I offered to give Janet yours," Gabe said innocently, "but she didn't seem to want to rely on my having a boyfriend for too long." He shrugged. "I don't know if she'll ask me to take care of the newcomers until I get settled, but once I get in behind the desk I might not need to meet them in person to rule them out. And if Marr walks in the door, I'll know. No matter where in the building I am."

That was one of the 'helpful' things about a soul such as hers. They were hard to miss. It was just too bad that the rest of the building had so much resonance of pain from its residents; he couldn't passively tell if she'd been there, and didn't want to try and actively read the building while he was still internally twisted from his journey through the Cacophony.

He slurped up the last, melted dregs of the ice-cream from the cup, and then folded it neatly so it kept all the remaining drops inside. "Where are we going next, then?"