Bring it up sideways, through something that has nothing to do with it. Push off from this if it helps: a lighthouse.

keeps voice low You know what I thought about the other day, out of nowhere — that lighthouse thing near where my cousin used to live. Big automated one, hasn't had a keeper in decades. And there was this whole controversy locally because they decommissioned it and just left it standing, dark, and people wanted it torn down or lit again, one or the other, and the town just... did neither. Voted on it twice. Nothing happened either time.

half laughs And I keep thinking about that because it's the same thing, isn't it. Something just left standing there unresolved because actually deciding what to do with it is worse than doing nothing. Nobody wants to be the one who says out loud what it means that it's dark.

nods slowly, glancing at the room Right, "revitalization." That's the word for it, always some clean word standing in for somebody made a call and won't own it. Roof collapsing on its own timeline, sure. Structures don't fail like that overnight, that's years of nobody checking the beams.

quiet for a second That's what gets me about your boss shrugging — it's not that he doesn't see it, he sees it fine. He's just decided seeing it out loud costs more than pretending. Same as the lighthouse board. Same as — stops, exhales — same as a lot of things, honestly. People just let the roof go and then act surprised when you point at the hole.

You ever notice nobody ever says "I decided this." It's always "it happened."

snorts, shakes head "Funding shifted." God, that's a good one. Like the money grew legs and wandered off on its own, nobody's fault, no hands anywhere near the decision.

looks at Omar a beat too long You stopped asking though. That's the part — you get tired and you just start wearing better boots, work around the flood instead of naming it. I get why. I do. I just think that's how it stays a ghost forever, you know? Somebody's got to keep saying it, even when the clerk smiles and walks off, even when nobody's listening in the room.

quieter, softer I'm not saying it to you. I'm saying it's the pattern. It's always the pattern.

quiet for a second, like that landed somewhere Yeah. Wood rots regardless. Fine. Maybe the naming's not for the fence anyway — the fence rots either way, you're right, screaming doesn't drain a tunnel.

lower, less argumentative now Maybe it's just so somebody, somewhere, at some point, said it wasn't nothing. That's it. That's the whole ask. Not that the water goes away. Just — one person on record saying yeah, that happened, that was real, I saw it too.

glances away, toward the crowd Your uncle got five years out of it and lost anyway. I know how that goes. Doesn't mean the yelling was for nothing, even if the fence is gone and nobody's left to hear it now.

jaw tightens slightly I never called it a solution. I said it's the ask, not the fix. You're the one keeps wanting it to add up to something, fence fixed, tunnel drained, and when it doesn't you call the whole thing pathetic.

voice drops, sharper now, but controlled — mindful of the room His voice cracked because it mattered to him. That's not pathetic, that's just what it costs. Minutes get shredded, sure, paperwork's gone, fine — that's exactly the point, isn't it. Nobody keeps the record so it's easy to say it never happened. You're proving my case and calling it the opposite.

looks away, quieter Forget the fence. I don't even know why we're back on the fence.

doesn't say anything for a second, jaw working Fine. Silence is the answer. You win.

picks at the edge of the napkin, not looking up Funny thing about silence though — you only get to call it an answer if you're the one who gets to walk away from it clean. Some of us just have to keep living next to the tunnel.

quiet, almost to himself Anyway. Forget it. You want another drink or not, room's getting loud.

slides the menu across without looking at it Yeah. Here.

after a second, quieter, almost gentler I know you're tired. I'm not — I'm not trying to make you carry it every time. It just comes up. Lighthouse, mill, whatever, it's always sitting right under the thing we're actually talking about.

picks up his own glass, turns it once Rain's coming regardless, sure. Doesn't mean I have to like standing in it quiet.

small huff, almost a laugh, not quite Yeah. Order the food.

glances at the menu without really reading it Get the dumplings, this place does them decent. Better than that place on Kessler you used to like, before they changed owners and ruined the broth.

flags the waiter with two fingers, doesn't look up from the menu Fine. You never liked it. I'll take the salt then, apparently that's mine to keep.

to the waiter, half-smiling Dumplings, two orders. And whatever he's having to drink, put it on mine.

lifts a hand toward the waiter, apologetic Water for him, then. Sorry.

to Omar, quieter, some of the edge gone out of it Flat, salty, whatever it was, it doesn't matter, does it. Nobody remembers these things the same. That's kind of the whole problem, isn't it.

quiet, just nods, picks up chopsticks Okay. Flat. Gone.

a beat, eating, not looking up You're right, I do that. Turn everything into the same shape. Probably annoying as hell after this long.