The moment he hears Claudius knock, Lan Wangji glances up, otherwise unmoving. He is suspended fleetingly between several feelings: mild embarrassment to have been caught struggling with a task that typically comes as easily as breathing to him, uncomplicated happiness at seeing his friend, and subdued wariness, because he is not at his best.

"Claudius," he says anyway. He is selfish enough to want the company despite his own turmoil. "You are not." He nods, one of his understated little gestures, to indicate that Claudius should come in and sit with him.