Claudius did it without thinking, but with Lan Wangji in his arms and Lan Wangji's wrapped around him, he wonders whether the Twin Jades ever held each other like this, Lan Xichen coming to collect him from outside their mother's empty home. "Thou art loving," he says. "And loyal. Thou always hast been. And thou know'st not every loving feeling is mild or gentle ... how thou feel'st imagining Magnus's many deaths, how thou feel'st remembering the image of A-Yuan on that branch, knowing that villain saw his face ..." He tightens his hold. "This is love, too. And there is nothing I would not do to protect that part of thee."