[ Their outing, their to-be-decided date. Fanciful though it may seem (and is, given the Director's inclination toward whim), arrangements to take tea are how he experiences the Quad at large, learning of all the vastness beyond his reach through the spoken word of others.
Were time not so critical, and Company's forces not stretched so pitiably (and precariously) thin, it is likely that Sion would not have been cleared to leave the Command Post in Westerley. For as much as he boasts the nature of a diplomat (the parting thanks he gives to the boutique's owner is warm, promising that he will do his best to return again), so too is he is a liability: there are those who would wish to see him gone (distant and never-before-heard of relations who feared that Sion might seek to retake his late-father's land and fortune from their covetous hands), and those who would simply see him taken (and stored away for a rainy day when the need to create a weapon to serve their purposes arose).
And so: as Sion beckons with a carefree nod of head for Saber to follow as he takes his leave of the boutique, pushing open the front door, he...! Glances back, over his shoulder, his expression nostalgic and somehow fond as he surveys the store—he doesn't want to forget it, this place—and completely (miserably, lamentably) fails to pay proper heed to that which occurs in his blindspot: the too-swift approach of a man-for-hire, ending with...!! ]
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[ Their outing, their to-be-decided date. Fanciful though it may seem (and is, given the Director's inclination toward whim), arrangements to take tea are how he experiences the Quad at large, learning of all the vastness beyond his reach through the spoken word of others.
Were time not so critical, and Company's forces not stretched so pitiably (and precariously) thin, it is likely that Sion would not have been cleared to leave the Command Post in Westerley. For as much as he boasts the nature of a diplomat (the parting thanks he gives to the boutique's owner is warm, promising that he will do his best to return again), so too is he is a liability: there are those who would wish to see him gone (distant and never-before-heard of relations who feared that Sion might seek to retake his late-father's land and fortune from their covetous hands), and those who would simply see him taken (and stored away for a rainy day when the need to create a weapon to serve their purposes arose).
And so: as Sion beckons with a carefree nod of head for Saber to follow as he takes his leave of the boutique, pushing open the front door, he...! Glances back, over his shoulder, his expression nostalgic and somehow fond as he surveys the store—he doesn't want to forget it, this place—and completely (miserably, lamentably) fails to pay proper heed to that which occurs in his blindspot: the too-swift approach of a man-for-hire, ending with...!! ]