"--Don't know who's picked to ride J, yet. JC thinks it might be one of the really big mamas, though." Chris had another puff of the pipe. "Frankly, I'm glad you guys have dropped by. We were starting to worry."

Justin peered around the corner, saw Chris, KM and that little brat Dane smoking a pipe. KM shrugged. "Someone's already there, they're just being quiet."

Dane scowled. "I still don't know what a bunch of bloody poofs are gonna -- hey, do we have nachos, then?"

Justin leaned against the wall. Chris's voice was audible. "Can you maybe talk to him? Lance has done like, a hundred readings for him and they're all still murky."

Murky. Murky -- there was a lot of smoke floating into the hallway from Chris's hotel room. He heard KM reply, "What deck is he using?"

"Fucked if I know. That's all Lance. He keeps pulling the Nick Carter card, which isn't good."

Justin crept away, back to his own room. He layed down on his bed, and shut his eyes. It didn't matter; he could still hear their voices, but he could also see, something. Out of the corner of his eye. Something blonde and precious.

KM said, "That's the fresh meat, right? Jane Carter has been on our list for a while."

Dane grumbled. "I want some fucking nachos. Or champagne."

Chris replied, "Fresh meat, I dunno. He's kind of stale."

Justin covered his ears up, put his head under the pillow even though it didn't help. The room smelled like sage. He covered his ears so tightly that he couldn't hear the phone ringing, or Britney's sad little voicemail: "Hi there, just wanted to see how you were. Chris said that I should stop calling. But I can't."