"Love," the Yiling Patriarch repeats, with a disdainful little laugh. He feels cold and scared, but he compensates for that by making himself hard. It is the only thing he can do.

Coming back over to sit on the edge of the tub, he caresses his pet's chest with a swirl of light claws. The gesture is almost a tender mime of the gesture it would take him to tear out Lan Wangji's heart with those claws.

"I remind you of this man you lost, so you imagine that you can save me with love how you failed to save him. How faithless. And when you lose me, who will be your next comfort, your next project?"

Rising, he turns his back and picks up the collar, letting it dangle from one finger. The only path forward that he's offering. "Come on, then."