---
Fizz stared into his stew as if onions might float into a map. John thanked Harb properly and paid a coin because courtesy without coin turns to a story people resent later. Harb pocketed it with the gravity of a man who would spend it on something useful like drinks and tell no one what.
At the door Harb paused, not nosy so much as human. "Who is she, that you chase old memories?"
"Someone important," John said.
Harb tipped a hat that had known many heads. "Then I hope the road gives you truth, not stories."
They stepped back into the trunks. Fizz floated in silence for three heartbeats, which for him qualified as reverence.
"You said 'Someone important' without flinching," he said at last.
"I learned to stop flinching when people did not care," John said. "Feels wasteful to keep the habit when someone does."
"Progress," Fizz declared, then spoiled the ceremony: "Progress pancakes later."
A few days later…
