Work Text:
Jiang Cheng is sitting in the living-room, just aimlessly zapping through the channels, and being annoyed with everything that is on. Still, he keeps going, because one of the many channels must have something that’s worth watching, right?
He circles through them twice, before he admits defeat.
He shuts off the TV, putting the remote control on the table instead of throwing it onto the couch like he so desperately wants to, because he knows Lan Xichen will sit on it, with unerring precision, and then he gets up to look for his boyfriend.
He finds him in their study, the printer working furiously at his side and Jiang Cheng leans against the doorway to watch him for a few moments.
Lan Xichen takes every printed page—Jiang Cheng only sees that there are a lot of pictures on them—before he takes a black marker and crosses something out under each and every picture.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Cheng asks after he watched Lan Xichen do the same to three pages, and Lan Xichen jumps on his chair he startles so badly.
“Don’t give me a heart attack,” he wheezes out as he grabs his chest and Jiang Cheng scoffs.
“As if I could do that, you’re way too fit for that,” he says and then takes a step inside the office.
Or at least, he tries to, but he is immediately stopped by Lan Xichen, who holds up a hand and yells “Stop!”
Jiang Cheng freezes on the spot.
“Can’t I come into my own office?” he wants to know and Lan Xichen narrows his eyes at him.
“Our office, and not right now, no. Go away,” Lan Xichen demands and Jiang Cheng frowns at him.
“Are you mad at me?” he asks, though Lan Xichen doesn’t sound mad, and they got really good at communicating what bothers them.
Jiang Cheng can’t remember doing something that might have upset Lan Xichen.
“No, I am not, but I am not ready for you to see this,” he says and then stands up to come over to Jiang Cheng.
He puts his hands on his hips and pulls him close for a soft, lingering kiss.
“I’m not mad,” Lan Xichen reassures him again. “But it’s not finished.”
“Okay,” Jiang Cheng agrees and darts in for another kiss. “I’ll be in the living room, then, pretending I’m not dying out of curiosity.”
“You do that,” Lan Xichen tells him with a teasing smile and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes at him before he walks away.
When he sits back down on the couch, he picks up the remote control again. Surely, the program must have changed in the last ten minutes, right?
It did, in fact, not change, as Jiang Cheng is loath to find out. He switches the TV off again and then just sits on the couch, pretending that whatever Lan Xichen is doing isn’t killing him with curiosity.
“How much longer?” he hollers through the apartment when he can’t stand it anymore but he is only met with laughter from Lan Xichen.
Jiang Cheng huffs and then figures he can very well answer some work mail while waiting for his boyfriend to be done with whatever it is he is doing.
It takes Lan Xichen another hour to emerge from the office, and by then Jiang Cheng is so completely engrossed in the completely unreasonable demands the Jin Company send to him that he doesn’t even notice him approach at first.
“I leave alone for an hour and you go back to your work,” Lan Xichen laments and effectively jolts Jiang Cheng out of his concentration.
“Thank the gods,” he sighs and immediately shuts the laptop. “My saviour, I thought I was going mad with reading Jin Guangshan’s mail.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t do work outside of your office.”
“Oh no,” Jiang Cheng says and looks up at Lan Xichen. “That’s why my boyfriend shouldn’t be all secretive and leave me to die.”
“You’re so dramatic,” Lan Xichen says and leans down to press a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s forehead.
“What do you have there?” Jiang Cheng wants to know once Lan Xichen pulls away again and he points at the papers in Lan Xichen’s hands.
He can tell that those are the ones he printed earlier, because even from the back he can see the black marks on them.
“So, you know how we are totally on the same page about getting married eventually?” Lan Xichen starts, and he sounds very nervous right now.
“Yes?” Jiang Cheng gives back, because they have talked about this before, and they both want it. And they both know it will happen eventually.
“And you know how you are very peculiar with the jewellery you wear?” Lan Xichen goes on and now Jiang Cheng laughs.
He is rather peculiar with what he wears, that is true, but so far Lan Xichen has an impeccable eye for always picking the right things for him, so he wonders where this is going.
“Yes, I know,” he finally says, because Lan Xichen still seems be waiting for an answer.
“It’s why I have numerous different wedding ring designs here, without the price, I might add,” Lan Xichen eventually just rushes out and pushes the papers into Jiang Cheng’s hands. “And I want you to pick a few you would like to wear.”
Jiang Cheng takes the papers, but he stares rather incomprehensibly at them.
“You know I love whatever you get me,” he tells Lan Xichen who shakes his head at that.
“I know that, yes, but this would be something you have to wear all day, if you choose to accept it, and I want it to be perfect.”
Lan Xichen seems so earnest as he says it too, and Jiang Cheng presses his lips together to hide his smile. Instead he gets up and drags Lan Xichen close, and into a deep, slow kiss, before he pushes the papers back at Lan Xichen.
“Babe, you’re adorable, but you’re way too late,” he then tells Lan Xichen and pulls out the small black box he started carrying with him everywhere.
“What?” Lan Xichen asks, eyes going big and round in surprise as he stares at the box in Jiang Cheng’s hand.
Jiang Cheng goes down on one knee.
“Lan Xichen, will you do me the absolute honour of marrying me and becoming my husband?” Jiang Cheng asks as he flicks the box open and Jiang Cheng expected this, truly, he did, but he still can feel a few tears threatening to spill over when Lan Xichen goes all teary eyed on him.
“Jiang Cheng,” Lan Xichen breathes out, but Jiang Cheng shakes his head.
“That’s not the answer to that question. It’s a yes or no answer,” he helps Lan Xichen, who slaps his shoulder at his teasing tone.
“Yes, by the gods, you know it’s always yes,” Lan Xichen laughs out and then pulls Jiang Cheng up and right into a kiss.
“And you let me do all that work for nothing,” Lan Xichen complains against his lips, but Jiang Cheng simply shrugs.
“If you would have let me peeked at your work I could have spared you,” he gives back and then takes the ring out of the box.
“I didn’t consult you on this, but I still hope it’s okay,” he says as he slides the ring on Lan Xichen’s finger.
It’s rather unassuming as far as engagement rings go, Jiang Cheng knows that, but it felt right somehow. It’s a simple silver band with one purple stone in the middle.
“I love it,” Lan Xichen breathes out, voice all wobbly again and Jiang Cheng gets out a second box which he holds out to Lan Xichen.
“Where are you even hiding these?” Lan Xichen wants to ask, and pets Jiang Cheng down. “How many more do you have hidden?”
“Well, since I don’t plan on marrying someone else, that’s about it,” Jiang Cheng gives back and shoves the box at Lan Xichen.
“I took the liberty to get a ring for me as well,” he informs him and when Lan Xichen opens the box he really starts to cry.
“It’s my colour.”
“Of course it is,” Jiang Cheng says as he rolls his eyes. He got them a matching set after all, except that his has a blue stone instead of a purple one.
“And if you don’t ask me, I might take this the wrong way,” Jiang Cheng says when Lan Xichen takes too long to get the ring out of the box.
“I already said yes, no take-backs,” Lan Xichen rushes out, causing Jiang Cheng to laugh, but he does go down on one knee.
“Jiang Cheng, my heart, my fiancé, will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”
“Let me think about this,” Jiang Cheng says and Lan Xichen springs up and swiftly slides the ring over Jiang Cheng’s fingers.
“Too late, can’t take it back now,” he decides and Jiang Cheng laughs.
“Lucky you, that my answer would have been yes anyway,” he whispers and kisses Lan Xichen again.
“Mh, I like fiancé kisses much better,” Jiang Cheng decides and Lan Xichen gently bites his lips.
“How long have you been carrying these rings with you?” he wants to know and Jiang Cheng shrugs as he slides his hands under Lan Xichen’s shirt.
“A few weeks now,” he says, can’t quite think with the way Lan Xichen is biting kisses into his throat.
“You could have had fiancé kisses a lot earlier then,” Lan Xichen whispers, now at the hollow of Jiang Cheng’s throat.
“Have to make up for lost time then,” Jiang Cheng decides and starts to push Lan Xichen towards the bedroom. “This calls for a little celebration anyway.”
“It calls for a double celebration, if I’m not mistaken,” Lan Xichen lowly gives back and Jiang Cheng groans at that.
Maybe he should propose more often.