[The thing is, Lindow is considerably more than a comrade to him, as Lindow tends to be -- for all his lackadaisical attitude there are few in the branch who haven't felt his influence, for better or for worse. It had been a strange thing to realize, when he arrived at Fenrir, and added context to the lone God Eater from all those years ago.

Reflexively, he reaches for his pocket, only to to let his hand drop again. Now of all times he misses what he gave away, but others had needed the keepsake more. At least the pressure of Julius' hand manages to anchor him amid the total confusion of his thoughts.

The gaze he raises back up at Julius is cracked wide open, hope and a thousand questions and disbelief all intermingled.]

How...? We found his armlet. Sakuya-san did.

[His eyes drop to Julius' bare wrist again, briefly thoughtful. What if...?

It's a what-if he's going to have to pursue. Sorry, Julius, you kind of kickstarted a bit of an accelerated timeline, at least in terms of thought process and realizations.]