And that, he decides, is confirmation he didn't particularly want. But he did need it. Forewarned is fore-armed, and he would like to avoid his analogue at all costs. In spite of this mental assessment, however, he shows no outward reaction to the news. Whereas Lucius twitches his hands - something he has come to think of as a release of tension - or tilts his chin or the thousand other tics he has come to associate with the other man, Severus is almost preternaturally still.

Save for a breath drawn in, slowly released, and a slight lift of an eyebrow - all as if to say Oh, well. He is taking this news far better than expected, or appears to be. Later, he'll find a nice brown paper back into which he can hyperventilate.

"And others?"