Even if he holds his shoulders straighter than you? Or... has different sorrows, behind his eyes.

[ she knows why she asks, but she doesn't know why she's asking him. is it because of how heavy the burden of memory feels on her back, and him having no parallel in her past? is it a heart made unsteady by being recognized, by being mourned in her own presence?

is she really this lonely? ]

No... don't answer that.