About what I expected. "Can I touch your soul" would be a big ask in most places. Probably not happening without buying someone dinner first, at a minimum. [ he chuckles to himself. ] In the meantime, there's always the Tree.

[ because john has theories about that. he can't reach the River here and supposes he'll have to replace one metaphysical nature analogy with another eventually. ]

As you say: perhaps. We're preparing for war; I expect someone will die sooner or later.

[ john mostly wants to observe what the energies do at the moment of violent death, but he wouldn't pass up a good hands-on opportunity. ]