[ It's funny, isn't it, how the Director had always thought it to be beyond him, the future which he'd hoped to see; the light of hope which he wished to create with a joining of hands, the people of the Quad united by common cause and pursuit of a day when they each might be able to pursue their own happiness. Always, it had been something to fight for, an ideal he'd encouraged many others to rally behind for both themselves and all those they held dear, but in the here and now, it seems by far more tangible, marked by something which brings a smile to Sion's lips, the expression staving off tears which had welled at the corners of his eyes in the moment when that branch (when Julius) extends its (his) reach, twining about his fingers.

That something which he couldn't grasp for himself--...

It's funny and it's fitting, that it reached out to him instead.

Curling his fingers in reciprocal touch, he is quiet for a moment, perhaps two, wondering at what limited sensation he is able to feel and this thing called happiness. ]

And you saved me today, just now. [ —he murmurs, his gaze shifting back to Julius. ] I should like to think that we're even, going forward.

[ … ]

And that there might be room for me to recline beside you, as I keep you company.