Work Text:
Jiang Cheng would faceplant into the door if his wonderful boyfriend wasn’t waiting on the other side for him, he’s that done with today.
He can already imagine Lan Xichen’s big eyes when Jiang Cheng comes home earlier than usual, but today was horrible and Jiang Cheng decided that someone else could deal with the mess at work. He isn’t the CEO for nothing. What is even the meaning of that title, if he can’t decide to just fuck it all every now and then and let someone else figure out how to get everything back on track.
Just for today, Jiang Cheng promises.
So he opens the door, and he immediately relaxes when he steps inside. He knows Lan Xichen is at home, because the light is on, and the soft music Lan Xichen loves so much is playing in the background and Jiang Cheng can’t wait to just cuddle up to him on the couch.
He puts his keys away, shrugs his jacket and shoes off and then goes to look for his boyfriend.
He finds him in the living room, on the couch but when he sees what Lan Xichen is doing, he does a double take.
“You know how to knit?” he blurts out and Lan Xichen’s head snaps up as he startles badly, his hands jerking and he quickly looks down again to see if he messed up his work, before he looks back at Jiang Cheng.
“What are you doing home?” he asks, with a distinct deer-in-headlights expression and Jiang Cheng has to fight off a smile.
“What, can’t I come home early once in a while? I distinctly remember you complaining about my work hours more than once already.”
“But not today!” Lan Xichen protests and looks back at the mess of wool and needles in his lap.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Cheng asks and walks over while Lan Xichen tries to hide whatever it is he’s knitting.
“Nothing,” Lan Xichen desperately tries but he obediently lifts his head so Jiang Cheng can kiss him.
“You’re such a bad liar,” Jiang Cheng softly chides him and then settles down on the couch next to Lan Xichen. “Is it supposed to be a secret?” he asks, as he peers at the half-finished project.
“Yes!” Lan Xichen immediately agrees. “Yes, it is, so you can’t know about it.”
“But, babe, I already know about it now,” Jiang Cheng argues and reaches out to take a closer look at whatever it is Lan Xichen is knitting.
“Nope,” he says, and tries to move the project away, but Jiang Cheng catches his arm in his hand.
“Just let me see.”
“It’s not finished,” Lan Xichen argues, but his ears take on a red shade and now Jiang Cheng is really intrigued.
“Doesn’t matter,” he decides and then brings out his best puppy-dog eyes. “Please let me see?”
“That is so unfair,” Lan Xichen grumbles under his breath as he leans over to quickly press a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s pouting lips. “You know I’m weak for that look.”
“I do,” Jiang Cheng smugly agrees and scoots closer, eager like a child. “Now show me.”
“You’re not allowed to laugh,” Lan Xichen says, his hands still protectively cradled over the wool and Jiang Cheng throws him a betrayed glance.
“How dare you think I would laugh at you,” he says but Lan Xichen levels him with an unimpressed look.
“We both know you would. You will.”
“But not in malice,” Jiang Cheng amends and Lan Xichen sighs, so Jiang Cheng knows he has won this round.
“Fine,” Lan Xichen almost snaps at him and then shoves it all at Jiang Cheng. “Laugh then.”
Jiang Cheng frowns at him, confused why Lan Xichen is so convinced that he will laugh and then carefully untangles the mess until he can see what exactly it is that Lan Xichen is knitting.
It’s a mitten. With two, no three, thumbs.
Jiang Cheng stares at it for a long while, his lips pressed together in a desperate attempt to not burst out laughing, and Lan Xichen huffs.
“Come on, let it out, you’re going to suffocate otherwise,” he mutters and Jiang Cheng starts to laugh almost immediately.
He laughs long and hard, leaning over to rest his head on Lan Xichen’s shoulder and he cannot believe just how much he loves this man.
“I love you so much,” Jiang Cheng says when he calmed down, filled with an incredible warmth at the thought that this man is all his, and Lan Xichen melts into the couch.
“It’s a test mitten,” he tells Jiang Cheng, prompting him to laugh again.
“And that’s a good thing, too,” Jiang Cheng says between chuckles as Lan Xichen tugs the mitten back to himself.
“How do you end up with three thumbs?” Jiang Cheng asks, honestly curious, and Lan Xichen shrugs.
“I made one, and then briefly forgot that it was supposed to be a mitten, and made a second finger. And then thought, since it’s already ruined, I can use it as practice.”
“It already seems pretty good,” Jiang Cheng says, tugging the thumbs this and that way and Lan Xichen sighs again.
“They are coming along.”
“I didn’t know you could knit,” Jiang Cheng says as he snuggles into Lan Xichen’s side, putting his arm around himself when Lan Xichen is too slow to make space for him.
“Your sister actually taught me,” Lan Xichen tells him and presses a kiss to his temple.
“Of course she did,” Jiang Cheng agrees, because it’s not actually a surprise. “Who is it for?”
“Jingyi,” Lan Xichen gives back. “He always complains about his cold hands and I thought I could help with that.”
“Oh, my dear heart,” Jiang Cheng softly says and then peers up at Lan Xichen.
“What?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at Jiang Cheng.
“Jingyi keeps saying his hands are cold in a desperate attempt to get Sizhui to offer to warm them up for him. He will appreciate the gesture, but he will certainly lose them like two days after you give them to him.”
“Oh,” Lan Xichen breathes out and Jiang Cheng hides his laughter in his chest this time.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the observant one? You figured out Lan Wangji before anyone else.”
“Because he’s my brother! It’s easy to see that he’s in love with Wei Wuxian.”
It’s actually not, not at all, but Jiang Cheng doesn’t disagree. For now.
“I’ll just gift them to you then,” Lan Xichen decides, but Jiang Cheng shakes his head.
“I have you to warm my hands.”
“Not if you keep laughing at me,” Lan Xichen threatens and Jiang Cheng laughs at that again.
He slides into Lan Xichen’s lap, careful to move the test mitten out of the way in time, and then puts his hands on Lan Xichen’s shoulders.
“My boyfriend would never be so cruel as to deprive me of his warmth,” Jiang Cheng whispers as he nips at Lan Xichen’s jaw and he’s proven right when incredibly warm hands slide under his shirt.
“My boyfriend would never be so cruel as to mock my projects,” Lan Xichen gives back as he slightly pinches Jiang Cheng’s side.
“I didn’t mock. I found great delight in it,” Jiang Cheng replies and then lets out a startled laugh when Lan Xichen topples them over on the couch.
“I’d like to see you do better,” Lan Xichen whispers against his lips and he really shouldn’t be surprised when Jiang Cheng surges upwards and claims his lips in a hot kiss.
The mitten is a lost cause when they finally remember it.