Archive of Our Own ^beta

He can tell Zhongli is trying to get his attention by the way he takes progressively louder sips of his tea, but he’s in the middle of a thought and he doesn't want to lose it. Because he can’t choose just one proposal idea, he decides to split the ones he likes amongst different important dates so that he has backups in case he flubs one.

“Venti, if you write any harder on that napkin, it will split apart and you will lose your musings,” Zhongli says between another sip of tea.

He huffs, releasing the poor napkin from his grasp and taking a moment to examine what he’s written so far.

WAYS TO PROPOSE TO XIAO!!

ring in almond tofu choking hazard

almond tofu in the shape of a ring too difficult

serenade with new flute piece -> for his birthday?

flash mob xiao kills me

fancy restaurant -> my birthday?

where we met -> anniversary!! :)

“What do you think?” He holds up the napkin and grimaces at how hard Zhongli squints at it. “It’s not that hard to read is it?”

Zhongli hums. “I assure you it is because this is on a half-destroyed napkin.” 

“I can read it out loud to you if you want.”

“No need. I think it is a good list.” Zhongli gives the napkin a nod of approval and returns to his tea. “I would implore you to also consider that there is not always the right time to propose. Xiao will be happy to spend the rest of his life with you regardless of how you ask him.”

“I know,” Venti whines, swinging in the napkin in front of him, “but I still want it to be special, you know? It doesn’t have to be flashy - it just needs to be a lovely memory we’ll have when we’re old.”

“I am sure it will be, regardless of what happens.” Zhongli reaches over to pat his hand reassuringly. “Let us continue ring shopping then. What is a proposal without a ring?”

Truth be told, he has already gone “ring shopping” without Zhongli, in that he commissioned a local jeweler to make the exact ring he was envisioning. Zhongli is there to be the voice of reason when his brain conjures doubts about Xiao liking the ring, because he knows Zhongli has both their best interests at heart and is willing to tell the truth.

Which makes it all the better when Zhongli takes one look at the ring and tells him that Xiao will love it. High off that mini ego boost, he slips the box and the crumpled napkin-list into his bottom drawer underneath his mountain of novelty socks when he arrives home and begins to scheme.

On the dawn of Xiao’s birthday, Venti wakes up, gives Xiao a wake up kiss, and mentally goes over the steps of the plan he’s lovingly dubbed “Plan A: The Ultimate Birthday Proposal.”

He needs to:

1. Pretend to go to work, sneak back home when Xiao’s not looking
2. Prepare their place with birthday memorabilia while Xiao is out
3. Surprise Xiao when he’s home
4. Serenade with flute
5. PROPOSE!!

The decision to not have their friends over was tough but he figures since it’s a weekday, they can fully celebrate over the weekend and let this night be a quiet night for themselves. Plus, there will be less pressure on Xiao to say yes.

(Gods, he hopes Xiao says yes.)

He shakes his head. They’ve both agreed that they want to be married when the time is right, so rejection isn’t going to be a problem, silly brain. He should focus on making this proposal the best it can be instead, right?

“Weird thought cross your mind?” Xiao asks softly next to him, giving his forehead a kiss.

“Mhm. Definitely weird thoughts. You know how they are,” he says shiftily.

Thankfully, Xiao doesn’t pursue that line of thought any further, giving him an amused look and getting up to prepare for work. With an internal sigh of relief, he follows along. Close call, but he should be able to survive through their whole morning with no further slip ups.

By the time they’ve both exited their apartment building, Venti thinks he’s succeeded in staving off suspicion until he realizes he’s forgotten to initiate their usual send-off.

Xiao beats him to it though. “Venti?”

“Hm?”

“Have a nice day at work, love.” Xiao pecks him on the lips and heads off in the other direction.

Waving, Venti yells after him, “You too, love!” and patiently waits until Xiao rounds the corner. Good. Rather than take his usual route to work, he takes a left to the bakery near their place to pick up a freshly-baked birthday cake and scurries home to continue with the remainder of his plan.

Step two is more involved than he’d initially anticipated, but somehow, by the end of the day, he’s accomplished all that he’s wanted to accomplish. Cake? Acquired. Home? Decorated. Liyuen dinner? Cooked. Ring? In his pocket, ready at a moment’s notice.

Now all he has to do is wait for Xiao to come home.

He predicts that Zhongli will allow Xiao to go home earlier than usual as a birthday present, giving him about another hour to practice the flute piece that he’s gifting to Xiao this year. Considering that they spend almost all of their non-working time together, he hasn’t had much in the way of practicing this piece.

It's times like these where he's glad he's a musical prodigy, easily flying through the piece once and deeming it acceptable for Xiao. With that settled, he stows his flute away behind their couch for easier access and flops down on the couch to stare at his phone. 

In hindsight, he probably should’ve used that time to think of how to get from serenading Xiao to getting down on one knee instead of watching funny cat videos because dinner and cake pass by in a flash and Xiao is looking at him expectantly as he holds his flute up to his mouth and oh gods he’s about to propose after he’s done playing this piece.

“I got this for you,” he says clumsily, trying to stall to let his brain think of better ideas. “Well, more like I made this for you, but you know what I mean.”

Xiao exhales quickly through his nose. “I would think so, since it’s my birthday.”

“Oh hush love, you’re being mean.” Venti reluctantly gives up on stalling and takes a deep breath. Everything will be fine - he’ll just have to wing it and he works better under pressure anyway.

Except he doesn’t and the last note drags out for so long that he hastily cuts it off when his brain catches up. He puts down his flute and fidgets with it, allowing Xiao some time to react.

And boy, does Xiao look like he needs a moment to react, mouth agape and eyes teary.

“Love? Do you like it?” Venti asks gently.

Frantically, Xiao runs to their room and emerges with his own flute. “You have to teach me how to play it. I want us to play together.”

“Huh? Like right now?” 

Xiao nods excitedly. “Please.”

Later, wrapped in Xiao’s arms, he silently laments the ring now placed back in the bottom drawer and promises that the next proposal will be a resounding success.

This time, it’s his own birthday and he is prepared. Well, he’s a little thrown off when Xiao surprises him with a trip to his favorite amusement park, but he’s given enough notice to adjust and get “Plan B: The Incredible Amusement Park Proposal” off the ground.

The plan this time is certainly cheesier than the last one, but there is only one step: get on the ferris wheel when the fireworks are out and propose as their compartment reaches the peak.  

Should be easy, right?

He really should have expected more resistance, but past-him was a fool. As he’s putting on his shoes to leave, Xiao receives a call from Zhongli.

“I’m putting you on speaker,” Xiao says into his phone, tapping the screen in time for Venti to catch Zhongli’s hum of approval.

“My apologies. I know you two are celebrating Venti’s birthday, but I believe I left my wallet in one of your couch cushions yesterday,” Zhongli explains. “If you have a moment, could you drop it off at my apartment?”

“Of course we can,” Venti chimes in, already going to the couch and fishing out said wallet. He waves it at Xiao.

“Venti found it. We’ll come by in a few minutes.” 

“Your assistance is much appreciated,” Zhongli says, voice laced with relief. “I was beginning to worry something worse had happened to it.”

“Think of it as my birthday present to you then,” Venti says, quirking an eyebrow at Xiao. “See you soon!”

Things seem to fall into place after they return Zhongli’s wallet and arrive at the amusement park without further incident, the bright lights and nostalgic scents bombarding all his senses, much to his pleasure.

Every second is filled with joy that makes Venti’s heart flutter. There’s no place he’d rather be than by Xiao’s side for the rest of his life and he’s determined to make this proposal work out as he tugs Xiao towards the ferris wheel.

And as if the universe decided to be on his side for once, the fireworks start as soon as they step into their compartment.

Xiao is already gazing out the window, his eyes lit up in wonder by the fireworks, and it takes everything to not be distracted by his gorgeous boyfriend and actually propose. He feels around his pockets with as much subtlety as he can muster.

… 

Where is the ring?

Trying not to reveal his panic, he pats himself down a second and third time, heart sinking when he fails to find the box.

He doesn't have the ring.

All his willpower is funneled into not letting out the loudest exasperated groan known to man as they pass over the crest, perfect proposal moment passing like it’s just another regular ferris wheel ride. From the recesses of his mind, the memory of his sweater feeling lighter after he leaned over the couch to retrieve Zhongli’s wallet comes back to him, and he wants to cry.

Frustration rolls off him as they exit, which Xiao immediately notices, pulling him to his side and giving his arm a comforting rub.

“You okay?” Xiao asks worriedly.

He’s not going to let this ruin their lovely birthday date. “Thought about something work related. Can you make it go away with a kiss?” He pouts and leans his cheek closer.

Like the amazing person Xiao is, he delivers not one, but three feel-better kisses, and Venti has to stop himself from swooning. “Better?”

“Definitely,” Venti says, sighing fondly. “And maybe some birthday cuddles when we’re home?”

“Demanding,” Xiao mutters with no malice, leaning over one last time to kiss his nose. “But only because it’s your birthday, you hear?”

He almost forgets to dig through the couch cushions when they arrive home, only remembering as he’s drifting off, and sneaks away from a sleeping Xiao’s grasp to retrieve the box nestled in the same couch crevice Zhongli’s wallet had fallen into.

Next time, next time. Failure is not an option.

“Plan C: A Proposal Will 10000% Happen On Our Anniversary” commences with solutions to his past mistakes in his immediate thoughts. Firstly, he needs to not give Xiao a chance to accidentally interrupt him. Secondly, he needs to make sure he has the dang ring with him.

That’s it, right? No other things necessary. The location is simple - just the cozy seaside cliff where they officially decided that they were going to date. He tells Xiao to look at the sea, gets down on one knee, Xiao says yes, and they live the rest of their lives happily married.

And right now, all seems to be according to plan. They’re leaning over the railing, the gentle sea breeze playing with their hair, the crowd minimal because this a fairly secluded spot, Xiao distracted by the rolling waves.

It’s perfect.

“Look over there!” he exclaims, pointing at the ocean to distract his boyfriend from the impending proposal.

Xiao squints, leaning farther forward to get a better look.

Fiddling with the ring in his pocket, the last thing he remembers is slipping when he turns to face Xiao and Xiao’s horrified expression as his head blooms with pain.

The sun is too bright. He paws at his face to cover it, but a hand stops him.

“Sorry, let me move again,” Xiao tells him quietly, shifting so his body blocks out the sunlight. “Better?”

He hums sleepily, wriggling closer to where he thinks Xiao is. “Why is the sun so bright?”

“Probably because of that mild concussion you have.”

Makes sense. Wait, no. Concussion??

If his eyes could fly open they would, but a pounding headache stops them so instead they open slowly, blinking to adjust his focus. “Concussion? How…?”

“You slipped and hit your head on the railing two days ago.” Xiao brushes the bangs out of his eyes and gives his forehead the most delicate of flicks. “Doctor says you have to take it easy for the next month or so, but you should be able to do things normally within a few days.”

His thoughts are fuzzy, trying to work out the implications of Xiao’s words. “Work?”

“We’re both off until you’re recovered.”

“Food?”

Xiao strokes his fingers through his hair reassuringly. “Our friends are keeping us fed, but even if they weren’t I can still cook.”

There are alarm sirens blaring in his head but he can’t exactly figure out why, so he asks the next thing anyway. “Ring?” Who cares about brain alarms when he can just listen to Xiao talk all day?

The confused tilt of Xiao’s head tells him his answer, he thinks. “What ring?”

“Proposal!” he exclaims happily, before groaning when a wave of nausea hits him.

“Venti?” Xiao asks, a deeply concerned look on his face that Venti’s semi-aware brain finds heartbreaking. A glass of water is gently pushed up against his lips and he eagerly drinks from it. “Drink some water and go back to sleep. We’ll talk about it when you’re feeling better, my love.”

“Okay,” he mumbles sleepily. “Love you too!”

His eyes do gain the ability to fly open a few days later when his brain fog has lifted significantly and he sits up wide-eyed at the realization that he’d spoiled his own proposal plans, startling Xiao awake. He lets out his most anguished sigh but shakes his head slowly at Xiao to assure him that he’s fine.

“I am a fool,” he says dramatically, hiding his hands in his face. 

Xiao kisses his hands and removes them from his face, giving his now-exposed forehead a kiss. “So you remember.”

“I can’t believe I spoiled my proposal plans thanks to a concussion, of all things.” He brings Xiao’s hands up to his face and kisses them in apology. “I’m sorry Xiao.”

“No need to apologize.” Xiao squishes his cheeks, a smile playing on his lips. “I’m just glad you’re safe and you’re here with me. But I do need you to do something for me.”

“I would do anything for you, love,” Venti answers seriously.

When his boyfriend’s gaze goes impossibly soft, his heart stops. “In the interest of making sure you don’t get any more concussions while trying to propose to me,” Xiao says, pulling out an unfamiliar box from behind him, “will you marry me?”

WHAT.

“Xiao, when did you-?!” he wails, tears blurring his vision.

“Oh no, Venti,” Xiao puts down the ring box and pulls him in for a hug, “don’t cry love.”

One loud sniff and a choked sob later, he manages a “yes” before capturing Xiao’s lips with his own. “How long have you had this?”

“A few weeks before my birthday.”

Hold on. “Is that why Zhongli delayed my ring shopping by a week? Because you asked him first?” 

Xiao lets out an amused huff as he puts his ring on Venti’s finger. “Probably.”

“This isn’t fair! I’ve been set up to fail from the start,” Venti complains, bumping their foreheads together and gazing curiously at Xiao. “Why didn’t you propose earlier?”

“I,” a light blush dusts Xiao’s cheeks, “I didn’t know when the right time was.”

“Great minds really do think alike.” Venti drops his head into the crook of Xiao’s neck and laughs. “Speaking of great minds,” he continues, gingerly getting out of bed, retrieving his own ring, and crawling back into Xiao’s arms. “Will you marry me? To make me feel better?”

“Absolutely.” Xiao holds out his hand, admiring the ring when it’s fully seated on his finger. “It’s beautiful.”

“Only the most beautiful ring for the most beautiful fiancé,” Venti says proudly. He links their hands together, rings complimenting each other far better than he could’ve ever imagined, and heaves the biggest sigh of relief as he buries Xiao in more kisses.

When the news breaks to their friend group, they’re met with many enthusiastic congratulatory statements and quite a few “finally!”’s, which makes him think he should’ve just thrown caution into the wind and proposed one random night before his whole planning fiasco. But he thinks it all worked out in the end as him and Xiao sit across from Zhongli, the latter looking like a proud father.

“Congratulations to you both,” Zhongli says, giving them many strong affirmative nods. “Though I must know, how did it end up happening?”

Eyes dancing with mirth, Xiao opens his mouth. “Well-”

“Xiao,” Venti cuts in, shaking Xiao’s arm with fervor, “the love of my life. My sun in my dark days. The one I want to spend forever with. Please,” he puts on his best pleading look, “spare me.” 

With the loveliest smile plastered on his face, Xiao gives him a chaste kiss on the lips. “No.”

“Xiao!”