Wei Wuxian stays frozen, ears pricked, but Lan Wangji is as courteous as ever and doesn't leave the front room. Wei Wuxian relaxes, hitching his legs high one after the other to wash the tomatoes from between his toes in the sink.

"Are you hungry?" he shouts next, slapping minced carrots under the stove with a dishtowel. "I hope you are! I've made you something, go and sit at the table before the hearth!"