( Survived by. Somehow, that pulls up his brows, and he concedes a flicker of interest, the distant possibility of connection. There is an element of truth to her words: he is a survivor. His sister and he have survived.

But he will wear the signs of that victory into perpetuity, rushing now to wave her to bring the shirt strewn on his chaise. )

There won't be funerary words for him. This will be a quiet affair, consigned to gentle histories.