Everything around them will have to wait; Luo Binghe is entirely focused on Shen Yuan. The person in his arms is skinnier than he's used to—without the trained build of a cultivator—and a little shorter, his hair shorn in the way many at the Mansion wear it. He wears elegant glass lenses framing his eyes, like Sagramore sometimes does—perhaps that is a fashion affectation shared by many worlds, like the haircut.¹ If this weren't a dream, Luo Binghe is sure his heart would be pounding fiercely. As is he is filled with a wild, fervent energy, too much to be contained in his dream body—it spills out around them as a hazy pink light.

"This is what you looked like?" he breathes. "You're—very handsome." That is inadequate. If Shen Yuan's feelings about himself are distorting the memory, he is a more confident man than Luo Binghe knew. Luo Binghe can imagine how Shen Yuan's personality fits this face—the way he must frown when he's being fastidious, or the way a smile might come over it without thinking when he looks at Luo Binghe. It is so charming, so endearing, so adorable—Luo Binghe cannot even think what to do. He has been more at ease in their relationship lately, but seeing Shen Yuan like this has him abruptly nervous. As though Shen Yuan is a stranger he's desperate to impress. "I like you so much," he says in a rush. "Shen Yuan—"

¹Bad vision simply doesn't exist in Proud Immortal Demon Way.