Willa is pretty sure she shouldn't feel sad for the King in Yellow, but there's a sympathy in her for losing a piece of yourself and wanting it back that much. Not enough sympathy that she wants the King within a million miles of John if he doesn't want to go, but it's also easy to imagine how it might feel from the other side, seeing a piece of you fall in love with someone else in a world you aren't part of. Knowing that piece wants more than anything to leave you behind.

If she keeps thinking about it, it's going to make her brain hurt.

She balances another pair of socks on her pile. "I wonder if there's a way for him to be whole without getting John back."

And there goes her sockscraper, dumping quietly across the table.