Memories

Chapter 23

Attempt no.2

A few days later, Wei Wuxian was ready to try again. He and Lan Wangji were taking a walk through the park by their house on a Tuesday afternoon. Yes, they are living together . Both men had managed to get out of work early that day, and Jiang Cheng is also not here to ruin it again.  Luck was clearly on his side this time.

There were only a handful of other people at the park at this time a day, a few mothers toting around strollers and a young couple are in their own world. He can't help but wonder  if Jiang Cheng was here he would have said those couples are displaying a frankly gross amount of PDA.

It was early spring, and while there was still a chill in the air, the March sunshine was warm on his face. However, it was not nearly as warm as Lan Wangji’s hand in his, fingers calloused from a lifetime of tinkering with this and that. Wei Wuxian’s heart felt like it would explode. He cleared his throat, nerves getting the better of him again.

“Lan Zhan, you know that, uh, that I love you right?” he finished somewhat lamely.Lan Wanji laughed.

“Well I should hope so, I’ve only lived in your house for four months and eaten all your food and stolen your blankets every night.”

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes. “It’s not my house, it’s our house,” he corrected.

“I know, I’m just making a point,” he smiled. Then, “sorry, I interrupted your declaration of love, please go on.” He was amused how  his Wei Ying is trying to take a lead.

Wei Wuxian inhaled shakily. Right. Proposal. He could do this.

He reached into his pocket with his free hand for the ring, when there was a screech from nearby.

The obnoxious young man from earlier was down on one knee, his girlfriend covering her mouth and sobbing loudly. She threw her arms around his neck, and the mothers at the playground all clapped happily. Wei Wuxian groaned loudly. He couldn’t believe this.

“Aw, are you jealous, Wei Ying? Do you want me to propose to you too?” Lan Wangji teased. He scooped up a dandelion from the ground and got down on one knee.

Wei Wuxian barked out a laugh so loud it reverberated across the park. The young lady from earlier scowled in his direction, clearly annoyed that she was being mocked.

Wei Wuxian held out a hand to Lan Wangji, wiping a tear from his eyes with the other. Lan Wangji stood from his position on the ground, knee popping as he did.

“That was beautiful, Lan Zhan, couldn’t have done it better myself.” Lan Wangji beamed down at his partner. But all people in the park can only see a straight face. It's Lan Wangji after all.

As they resumed their walk, ring forgotten in Wei Wuxian’s jacket, he worried that he really wouldn’t be able to do this afterall.

Attempt no. 3

A week passed this time. Wei Wuxian was still shaken from how close he had gotten last time, only for it to blow up in his face. This time he decided doing it at home was the best bet, where he and Lan Wangji could be alone.

It had been a long week, and Lan Wangji was exhausted, his job id stressing him out more than usual. He had fallen asleep early, so Wei Wuxian knew he had to make the most of the morning, before it goes wrong again. He carefully extracted himself from where he had woken up with Lan Wangji’s arms around him, and tiptoed to the kitchen to make Lan Wangji breakfast in bed.

He decided he was going to do this up right, and make all of Lan Wangji’s favorites. And then he would write “will you marry me?” in syrup on the pancakes and place the ring next to it on the tray. It was a little cheesy, but then again so were He and Lan Wangji.

He got to work preparing breakfast, and he had pancake batter in the pan when his phone buzzed. It was Huisang calling. He answered the call and held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he flipped the pancakes in one pan and tended to eggs in another.

“Hey , kind of early for you to be up, isn’t it?”

Wei Wuxian’s ears were accosted with a loud commotion in the background, and Huisang answered angrily and drunk.

“ Da-ge kicked me out , I want to come to your home.”

Wei Wuxian exhaled in annoyance. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

“I’m sorry you got kicked out, but I’m a little busy right now, dude. Why don’t you apologize and try to make up?”

“I did! He is not listening . You know my brother.” Huisang sounded close to tears. Wei Wuxian felt guilty for putting his own needs before his friend’s for once, but dammit, he was going to propose to Lan Wangji if it killed him.

Wei Wuxian was about to reply when the smoke alarm went off, the beeping sound loud and shrill. That’s when he noticed the burner under the pancakes was on fire, dark smoke billowing out. Wei Wuxian swore loudly.
“A-Sang, I have to go! The kitchen is on fire!” he yelped, disconnecting the call and throwing his phone to the opposite counter.

It had been a while since something like this had happened, and they didn’t own a fire extinguisher. Fuck, how did you put out a kitchen fire again? Was it water? Or did that make it worse?

Suddenly there was a presence at his side, and Lan Wangji had sprung into action. He grabbed a pot lid from under the cupboard and smothered the fire, turning off the burner as he did so. Wei Wuxian jumped back to give the man room to work.

After a tense couple of minutes the fire was under control, the two men breathing hard and looking frazzled. Lan Wangji opened the window to let the smoke out, and the fire alarm quieted a moment later.

There was a beat of silence, and then Lan Wangji spoke.

“Take a minute to catch your breath, okay? I’ll take care of the kitchen,” he said gently as he lowered his partner onto the couch. Wei Wuxian groaned.

“I’m so sorry, Lan Zhan. I didn’t mean for you to have to tend to a kitchen on your day off.”

Lan Wangji smiled as he shrugged. “I’d rather tend to our kitchen than the one at work.”

He gave Wei Ying a final reassuring pat on the arm as he strode back into the kitchen to clean up the mess. Wei Wuxian put his head in his hands. Not only had he botched yet another proposal, but he had just about burned down the damn house and made Lan Zhan clean up his mess. He couldn’t believe this.