[ tseng sets the bag on the kitchen counter and glances inside to find the plastic container with its neatly-wrapped onigiri. it's almost surprisingly domestic, charmingly so, and he hides a smile in the corners of his mouth as he turns to attend to the teapot. ]

Umeboshi is my favorite. [ sasuke couldn't possibly have known. it feels like a small stroke of luck. ] And I prefer green tea, but I have both, for variety.

[ but since sasuke has asked for green too, that's how tseng will prepare both cups. it's an abbreviation of the traditional wutaian preparation, mostly because the full ceremony takes ages and nobody has time for that—but tseng does at least warm the cups with water before adding the tea leaves directly to the pot to steep.

when he turns to see sasuke sitting on the stool, there's only the slightest hitch in his movement to indicate that tseng, too, is thinking about the last time he saw sasuke on a stool. ]

Here. [ tseng presses one of the warmed ceramic cups into sasuke's hand. ] Keep it warm while the tea steeps.