Oh, this is a great scene, isn't it!?! I've watched it so many many times! Thank you so much for this write-up! I'm a bit swamped right now, and I have a (possibly alarming /o\) number of thoughts and feelings about this scene, so I'll comment again later, but just a couple of things for now.
I think this scene starts with Shen Wei having a lot of feelings about Zhao Yunlan's putting himself in harm's way and doing so partly to make Shen Wei reveal himself. (Though I agree with whoever said in the discussion about the reveal that ZYL was retconning his actions somewhat when he said that was the reason he'd pretended to be mind-controlled.) Shen Wei has made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want to talk about being the Envoy, that he can't confirm it, and Zhao Yunlan just rode right past that and forced the issue. So I don't know that I'd characterise this as apology tea? I suspect they got to the hallway between their apartments, and Zhao Yunlan said, "We should talk," and Shen Wei said, "I'll make tea." And they ended up at Shen Wei's place so he wouldn't have to cede any more ground than he already has. He's not feeling particularly conciliatory, to my mind.
I think he's also recalculating what he has to reveal vs what he can keep secret, now that Zhao Yunlan knows his full identity. And maybe, despite himself, he's secretly hoping that Zhao Yunlan's knowing his identity will make Zhao Yunlan behave more like Kunlun. He might be really missing that dynamic with (kind, supportive) Kunlun right now.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlan is feeling extremely smug and doing a bad job of hiding it. I don't really read it as patronising, but I do think he's gloating.
Anyway, I'll come back later and blather some more, but I thought I'd just jump in with this now while I was thinking about it.
Oh, and some related works:
I have two fics inspired by this scene: Getting to Know You starts here and plays with the idea that Shen Wei can -- and does -- wipe Zhao Yunlan's memories. And every day closer is set after the team dinner, but deals with Shen Wei's emotional response to the events in this scene.
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I think this scene starts with Shen Wei having a lot of feelings about Zhao Yunlan's putting himself in harm's way and doing so partly to make Shen Wei reveal himself. (Though I agree with whoever said in the discussion about the reveal that ZYL was retconning his actions somewhat when he said that was the reason he'd pretended to be mind-controlled.) Shen Wei has made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want to talk about being the Envoy, that he can't confirm it, and Zhao Yunlan just rode right past that and forced the issue. So I don't know that I'd characterise this as apology tea? I suspect they got to the hallway between their apartments, and Zhao Yunlan said, "We should talk," and Shen Wei said, "I'll make tea." And they ended up at Shen Wei's place so he wouldn't have to cede any more ground than he already has. He's not feeling particularly conciliatory, to my mind.
I think he's also recalculating what he has to reveal vs what he can keep secret, now that Zhao Yunlan knows his full identity. And maybe, despite himself, he's secretly hoping that Zhao Yunlan's knowing his identity will make Zhao Yunlan behave more like Kunlun. He might be really missing that dynamic with (kind, supportive) Kunlun right now.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlan is feeling extremely smug and doing a bad job of hiding it. I don't really read it as patronising, but I do think he's gloating.
Anyway, I'll come back later and blather some more, but I thought I'd just jump in with this now while I was thinking about it.
Oh, and some related works:
I have two fics inspired by this scene: Getting to Know You starts here and plays with the idea that Shen Wei can -- and does -- wipe Zhao Yunlan's memories. And every day closer is set after the team dinner, but deals with Shen Wei's emotional response to the events in this scene.
Also, there's