（ sasuke opens his mouth, and immediately goes off-script. it is a measure of unexpected that even all the wonders of the ximilia could not have prepared him for. there is an imperceptible twitch to one finger as he, instead of answering with any immediacy, pours tea.
two cups.
he feels brittle as frost in early autumn, he can feel the thrum of his pulse in his fingertips, pressed bloodless against clay as he lifts one of the two cups and takes a drink, holding sasuke's mismatched gaze dispassionately as he does.
once lowered — ）
Death is not a deterrent to one making a bargain with the Orb.
（ he is not the only one to whom such a fate is pinned. the second of the questions is superfluous, and he ignores it. the answer does not matter. ）
no subject
two cups.
he feels brittle as frost in early autumn, he can feel the thrum of his pulse in his fingertips, pressed bloodless against clay as he lifts one of the two cups and takes a drink, holding sasuke's mismatched gaze dispassionately as he does.
once lowered — ）
Death is not a deterrent to one making a bargain with the Orb.
（ he is not the only one to whom such a fate is pinned. the second of the questions is superfluous, and he ignores it. the answer does not matter. ）