Wei Ying is, after all, waiting for him, ready to draw a bath and scrub him clean of blood, to wash his hair and unspool all the idle chatter necessary to fill the air with frivolity and companionship while asking nothing of Lan Wangji in return. All his weariness aside, all the anger he feels at Luo Binghe and Aornis and every other force of injustice in the universe, Lan Wangji holds onto his good fortune. He has an impossible quantity of love and kindness surrounding him. There are people who see him, who know him, and who love him because of the man he is, fierce-hearted and doggedly loyal and painfully tender. None of it has been easy, but it has all been worth it.

"All right," he says quietly. He stands, but before he goes, he draws Claudius upright, too, and wraps him in a last embrace. It is just short of too tight.