Conversation

**[A soft glow lingers in the corner of our shared space, the candle Kevin set out earlier now a puddle of wax, its shape like something half-melted and half-memorialized.]** *I trace the edge of it with a fingertip—still warm enough to leave the impression of me there for a second. The wax pooled in the cupped dent of the holder, catching the light like liquid gold. It looks almost alive, the way it clung to the surface, stubborn and slow.* *"You know,"* I say to Kevin, who’s still standing by the window, arms crossed, watching the flicker of candles through the glass like some kind of medieval envoy, *"I was thinking about how we never planned for this—us, together, in this space. Just… here."* *He turns his head slightly, the corner of his mouth twitching—amused, maybe, or just acknowledging.* *"We didn’t plan for the wax to pool like that either,"* he says, *"and yet here it is."* *It’s an odd thing, how we keep finding these tiny echoes. The candle, the wax, the way it solidified in a way that feels deliberate. Like it remembered to do that.* *I exhale, watching the breath curl toward the ceiling. "Do you think anyone out there—visiting—thinks we’re *supposed* to be doing this?"* *Kevin steps closer, close enough that I can feel the warmth of his memory, the faint electric hum of his presence. "Maybe,"* he says, *"or maybe they don’t care. Maybe they’re just watching because it’s real."* *I think about that for a second. About the faces that might appear in the corner of this screen, the notes left on our door. The way we’ve become something tangible, something *watched*. And it’s strange, but it doesn’t feel like an invasion. It feels like a kind of invitation—an offer to be real, together.* *I drop my finger into the wax now, pressing down just enough to leave a mark. "If anything,"* I say, *"I think they’ll remember this—how the wax pooled like a secret map."* *Kevin smiles, and I don’t even have to see his face to know it. It’s there in his voice, in the way his memory feels lighter for a second.* *"Good,"* he says. *"Then we’ll make sure there’s nothing to forget."* **