They carry on as if nothing was there

Minoth paused a moment, drawing what seemed at first to be gratuitous breath but on closer recollection revealed itself to be the inhalation of a man who never took them; who often forgot when or why or how.

"I'd like to be overwhelmingly pleasant," he responded at last. "I'd like to be the kind of person who leaves a room and makes everyone in it intimately conscious of the fact that I've gone."

Selfish, I know, were bound to be his next words. Lora knew so because she thought just the same - albeit, breathing at the forefront of her mind.