"Mm-hm." Shen Yuan has been unconsciously angling his steps closer to Lan Xichen as they walk, both so they can talk more easily and so they don't get separated if the city suddenly decides to roll over in bed again. When Lan Xichen stops, Shen Yuan does too, though not so quickly that he's able to avoid bumping Lan Xichen's shoulder with his own.

"Oh, sorry," he says, giving his shoulder an embarrassed little pat. "My mistake. But yes, this is the third world I've lived in that I'm able to recall. The first time, I believe I might have actually died in my original world -- at any rate, I fell very ill, and woke up in a body and a house that wasn't my own. Waking up here was much more sudden but also significantly less unpleasant...I know it's not the same for everyone, but I sort of liked being a squid."

He thinks for a moment about how much he should share right away. "Some of the books in the library say that the Pthumerians bring us here to give us another chance, to make new choices divorced from the pressures and responsibilities of our old lives. That comes more easily to some than others; for my part I'd been trapped in a rather nasty situation in my second world, and it was a relief to suddenly find myself reborn here."