[ Though she turns from him, minding the tea as it steeps, Sion hasn't yet lost sight of her expectant look; the too-cheeky (impossibly endearing) satisfaction which had crossed her expression in the instant he'd ceded his ground to her, obediently taking a seat. I'm just happy to see you, she's said, and more than anything else, those are the words which he'd needed to hear: they are a weight off his shoulders, granting him a lightness of being which sees him settle in, his posture easing though he remains ever-aware of the space surrounding him; alert. ]

You and I, we are similar then. [ His eyes catching sight of her profile, he bows his head with a sheepish smile—the lighting indoors is better than lamplight by far; inside, the dark circles beneath his eyes are readily apparent. ] Rest does not find me readily on most nights, either.

[ He is, after all, the legendary "Demon Administrator"—where there is work to do, he will see it done, sacrificing all else to accomplish it.

(Even his own morals; his beliefs. All the facets of the boy Lapis used to know.)

Softly: ] ... What is it that you see behind your eyes, when you try to sleep?