[Julian's chest swells a little in something like unaccountable pride in the wake of Eichi's words, at the implication that his presence is enough, that an understanding that runs deeper than verbalisation exists between them, now. A shared experience that binds them in a world so different from the one they both occupied together, for a little while.

And he feels it, too, the possibility of complications falling away, the ghost that stood between them potentially exorcised.

He smiles a sloppy smile, falls into step with the younger man as his pace slows, and when he stops and turns and extends a hand, he's swift enough to take it.]

My darling, it would be an honour. And if you're promising me a better night than the last one, then I daresay I'm in for a treat. It was a good evening, wasn't it?

[He remembers it well despite the amount of alcohol they'd consumed-- a night of drink and conversation, of a dizzy dance beneath a starless sky.]