[It's worth it to see that brief smile, so rare as to be like a stray beam of sunlight through storm clouds. Kratos tucks away that particular memory for future review, and starts making some vaguely reluctant headway on eating.

[Then he pauses. It's almost a surprise that Yuan admits to someone he'd prefer not to deal with; let alone implies he might have striven to do so, if it weren't for the time limit they had.]

May I ask why?

[It's a curious question, reserved in the event Yuan wants him to drop it; but Kratos is secure enough in his position to at least ask.]