There’s that feeling again of a connection made, a mystery solved, a key sliding into a lock. Lan Wangji said himself he was known to be cold, and difficult to approach. Only the second, Claudius thinks wryly, of the cultivation world’s most eligible bachelors. When Lan Wangji was young, he easily believed he’d been sent counsel in the form of Claudius for dealing with his peers and his first frustrated crush. It all makes sense. It doesn’t surprise Claudius.

But it does humble him. And it shifts something in his perspective, the same as Lan Wangji’s shifting perspective of Crowley. “And to think,” Claudius says, “I was so concerned about prevailing on you for too many favors. I’ve even been holding one in reserve, until the last favor’s been cleared.” He laughs. “I think you’re a truer friend than I’ve had in some time.”