Omegaverse

@☭ Wang Yibo "Baby, Yuning is waiting for us..." Zhan said, looking helplessly to his unfinished bag strap. Unless he had another hour at least, he wouldn't be able to finish, and they had to pick Yuning up /now/ if they wanted to make it to their escape room booking on time. "We have to go to the escape room after, too," he reminded Yibo. When he looked at his keychain again, he only felt that it was mocking him, and finishing this was going to be an impossible task. "How about we ask the worker if we can come back and finish this after our escape room?" Zhan suggested, growing more desperate by the second. He was barely able to sit still in his chair. "There's no way we can wrap up in the next two minutes..."

@☭ Xiao Zhan Yibo was very good at getting back into the zone when he was working on a project that he set his mind on. Zhan usually left him alone in moments of long-term concentration, but it didn't seem like the case today when his mate backhanded him on the mouth. It wasn't hard, but the gesture alone was enough to rile Yibo up. Putting his pliers down, he slapped Zhan over his shoulders, "It /is/ your fault," he insisted again, staring at Zhan's progress, "Don't distract me, I have to do this-" he said, picking up his own tools again to continue where he left off. Yibo had finished with getting the two separate chains linked together, but now he had to attach it to the top-most heart charm, which proved to be the most difficult challenge. Once again, he had yet to get very far when Zhan startled him once again, his voice making Yibo jerk and lose yet /another/ little metal hook. "What!?" he exclaimed, leaning over to check on Zhan's phone, "But we're not done!" he exclaimed, the panic starting to build up inside of him, "How close are you? I can't get this stupid ring to open up! It keeps falling!" Yibo said, his mind drawing a blank when he was rushed like so.

@☭ Wang Yibo Whenever Yibo got worked up, he seemed to forget his place. Zhan set down his pliers just to smack the back of his hand against Yibo's mouth, light even if it carried a reminder. "Don't talk to me like that," Zhan said, picking up his chain to try again. No matter which way he tried to angle it, the chain or the ring ended up slipping out of his hands every time. When he couldn't stand it anymore, he called the worker over again in hopes of getting her to finish the job for him. She simply verbally instructed Zhan again without touching his chain, leaving him growing warmer in his seat as he stared helplessly at his keychain. ", Yuning!" he exclaimed, setting down his beads to check on the time. "We have to pick him up!"

@☭ Xiao Zhan Maybe it was beginner's luck, or perhaps it was because Yibo had spent very many hours meticulously piecing together his Lego models that those skills were somehow transferring over to him in the DIY project. The pliers were quite easy to handle once he learned how to hold them properly, but the metal ring that was supposed to help him pry open the key rings seemed useless in that moment, so Yibo ditched it in favor of manually looping the metal sticks around each other. He was so focused on his own project that Zhan's string of cusses from next to him didn't really register with him, and he jerked slightly when his mate called to him. "What do you mean!" he asked, holding his project up to Zhan's eye level for the older to see, "It's not the best, but I used the pliers to clamp them down." It seemed that after Yibo broke his first round of concentration, things were not as easy as they first seemed. "It's your fault!" he cried out as a tiny metal ring flew out of his hands, "now it's not working!" he yelped, leaving the one that was lost and trying to find another ring.

@☭ Wang Yibo “How are we supposed to do this?” Even Zhan, who at least had more experience than Yibo when it came to arts and crafts, was stumped as he held his loose chains and beads in one hand, plier in the other. Seeing that Yibo was getting straight to work, Zhan lowered his head again as well, determined not to be outdone by his mate. He quickly found, however, that creating anchors for their chains wasn’t the hardest part—it was linking them to each other. The metal hoops were much too small and delicate to be held by Zhan’s thumbs, and even if he resorted to using the metal rings provided to hold their chains and hoops in place, it was completely useless. Try after try, Zhan’s joining hoops jumped out of his hands and skittered across the floor, usually getting lost and forcing Zhan to start again with a new ring. “,” he said under his breath when he picked up a new hoop for the nth time. “, this is way harder than it needs to be.” Taking a break, Zhan rotated his neck once before checking on Yibo’s progress. “Wait! How did you get those two chains together?”

@☭ Xiao Zhan "Well of course I did!" Yibo confirmed, proud of his own work. Once it was all put together, then he and Zhan would be able to proudly display their matching couple bag strap on any bag that they brought out with them. He gestured at the pink charms that were laid out neatly on Zhan's tray, "You told me to put in a pink accent, so I worked my way around that. See? I even made sure not to put two round shapes together, and I tried to switch up the pattern on each segment," he reported to Zhan, feeling rather proud that he could create something with such an artistic touch. When the worker came over to demonstrate, Yibo was still nodding along rather naively, thinking that she was giving a live demonstration of how to put it together so there would be no doubt when they saw the final product that this was their very own design. Once she handed the pliers over to him though, he stared blankly at Zhan, "/What/!?" he exclaimed, starting to pick at the little metal strand that were left at their work station, "You're kidding right- we have to do this on our own? Aren't they going to do it for us?" Not being one to admit defeat easily though, Yibo picked up his first chain, and added the small beads onto a straight metal strand, trying to use the plier to hold the charms in place while he figured out how to wrap the top into a loop to close the charms inside. "This is ridiculous!" he exclaimed under his breath.

@☭ Wang Yibo "Right," Zhan agreed, turning his wrist over to check on the time. "We'll be right on time to pick up Yuning from daycare, too." While they waited for the worker to wrap up what she was doing to attend to them, Zhan admired his own tray of beads beside Yibo's. "You did a pretty good job," Zhan said, pulling Yibo's tray closer to examine his selection. "Yours looks so cute, baby. Where'd you get the inspiration from, huh?" Both of them knew between the two of them, Yibo didn't exactly excel in this department. The store worker came over with a basket of pliers and minuscule rings, demonstrating on one of Yibo's chains on how to chain their straps together. Zhan nodded along, but when she left them to their own devices, he blanched. "Wait, we have to do it ourselves?"

@☭ Xiao Zhan "I like that one too," Yibo agreed after Zhan helped him pick. He set aside the cute candy to decide its placement later, and continued to build around the charm with other green charms. The green gummy bear that Zhan picked was so cute, but there wasn't a pink one that Yibo could use on his own. Yibo eventually realized that having only one accent seemed a bit too random in the midst of his bag strap, so he sought out the ribbon from earlier, adding it to the mix too. Once he had laid out two rows of charms on the place mat, he elbowed Zhan, "I think I'm done," he announced, "So we should just call them over to help us put it all together, and then we're done, right?" he asked. The young women in the store hadn't seemed to realize that a celebrity was in their shop, and Yibo wanted to keep it that way. He pulled out a black cap that he always kept in his bag and fit it over Zhan's head before raising his hand and calling for the worker. "Hi excuse me, this is my finished design."

@☭ Wang Yibo Zhan snatched the pink-and-white heart from Yibo before he lost it in the charm box again, arranging it neatly over his tray and bending over it again to fiddle with his arrangement. He glanced over at Yibo when he was poked again, glancing over his options before pointing at the pink candy for Yibo. "I guess I should choose a candy one, too," Zhan mused, his fingers skimming over the boxes before deftly picking out a pastel green gummy bear. "What about this? Couple strap enough for you?"

@☭ Xiao Zhan Zhan's anxiousness to find the same charm that Yibo had in his own color already confirmed with Yibo that his mate liked his choice. He smirked smugly as he pulled out the little tray that he found it from, "Over here," he said, sifting through the bulkier beads at the top, "Oh! There is a yellow one here...and a pink one!" he said, picking up the pink one between his index finger and thumb to show Zhan, "Are you going to match with me?" he asked, eyes widening at the realization, "That's perfect! It'll definitely be a couple's strap then!" he egged Zhan on. After that, Yibo started going through the pink charms, wanting to work around the pink accent that he'd promised to add to his design for Zhan. "Let's see...maybe this one...this one...or this one..." he mulled over a little candy charm, a ribbon charm, and a pinkish crystal sphere.

@☭ Wang Yibo Yibo was talking like Zhan had some kind of monopoly on the colour red and all its shades, and Zhan was extremely pleased to hear it. He picked his beads from the pink tray Yibo offered to him. "You're right. I don't want people to mistake my strap as a Christmas chain." He bowed over his tray again, testing beads out this way and that in all kinds of configurations for the most harmonious one. When Yibo nudged him again, Zhan glanced over, intending to answer noncommittally when he saw that it was really, the perfect large piece to sit on top to connect the two strands they were building. "Where'd you get that?" he demanded, immediately pawing at the trays in front of Yibo. "Is there a pink one?"

@☭ Xiao Zhan "Mm, we have time," Yibo said, his eyes also focused on the palettes of ornaments while his index finger sifted through the ones he didn't like. "The escape room isn't until 3:45 anyways, and this shouldn't take us longer than an hour to choose our designs." While Zhan was analyzing how their designs should intersect, Yibo peered over at the red selection. As much as he liked Zhan's idea, the red was much too blaring against his softer green palette. "I like green," he confirmed, as if the options in front of him didn't speak for themselves. "But I think you should use...these instead," Yibo said, pulling out the pink tray of charms, "It's a muted red! I'll choose one from here to add for you," Yibo grinned, "One that will definitely scream 'Xiao Zhan' if people were to look at my charm." With their game plan set, they continued pulling out the layers and layers of options from the mini organizers in front of them, building their own perfect bag strap. After a hard internal debate, Yibo settled on the top piece to be a pastel blue and white marble looking heart charm for his design. He nudged at Zhan, holding out his open palm, "What do you think about this one?" he asked, still wanting some affirmation from his mate despite having made up his mind.

@☭ Wang Yibo Zhan liked red the most, but the red selection of beads seemed jarring, especially on a keychain that was supposed to be versatile and be able to hop between any of Zhan's bags and onto wherever he needed them to go. "Dunno..." he said noncommittally, far too focused on mapping out the perfect keychain rather than make conversation or tease Yibo now. He reached for each tray of beads—and there were many—and inspected each one carefully for the perfect bead. "You like green, right?" Zhan suddenly asked, leaning over to look at the beads Yibo was considering. "I'm going to add one red thing to my chain, so you should add one pink one to yours." Then, everyone would know they were meant to go together.

@☭ Xiao Zhan "Of course I didn't forget," Yibo said without an actual thought in his head, "I just wanted to make sure you knew where you're driving." He reclined in his seat, holding his stomach and rubbing it from their big meal. The drive from their food spot to the DIY workshop wasn't very long, so Yibo didn't have time to get tired or too comfortable before it was time to get out of the car once again. The workshop was filled with designs from handheld mirror to phone cases to necklaces and other trinkets. Yibo thought he was going to be seated with Zhan at a big work station, but once the worker heard that they were going to make bag straps, they were led to the smaller beading booth. As he started to pull out each of the little boxes to examine the contents, Yibo tried to find charms that appealed to his color senses first, laying out different shades of green. "Not sure yet, what are you gonna find?"

@☭ Wang Yibo A little disappointed Yibo didn't go to town on the whole piece, Zhan tucked the last of the bing amongst their trash. "What do you mean? Did you forget our schedule already? We're going to the DIY studio." Opening the door and helping Yibo with his seatbelt without thinking much of the habit, Zhan only settled in the driver's side once Yibo was comfortable. The studio itself was quiet, thankfully, giving the two of them an ample amount of privacy. Once they were given the rundown of the beading booth, Zhan diligently began to lay out his materials in an organized manner. "What design are you going to do?"

@☭ Xiao Zhan Yibo really wanted to help Zhan finish his bing, but he was also really full. Seeing that the beef was still tender and fresh on the inside had him second-guessing himself though, and since he didn't want Zhan to think something was wrong because of his diminished appetite, he opted to eat the filling out of the middle when it was held towards him. Chewing on the juicy beef chunks, he nodded at Zhan, "I'm done, can't handle any more if we're moving around a lot later," he reminded the older. "Let's go, Lao Xiao." Yibo scooted out of the booth first, and regretfully, they put their unfinished food into the trash before stacking up their trays. Once they had washed their hands at the sink that was conveniently placed out front for all the customers (truly a thoughtful gesture), they got to the car, and Yibo poked Zhan curiously, "So what's the next stop!"

@☭ Wang Yibo Yibo's appetite was always a good sign for Zhan, because he was either pregnant or he was going to grow a little plumper if he kept it up like this. Knowing better than to burst out laughing when Zhan noticed Yibo's mournful stare at Zhan's leftovers, as if he was a little street rat, Zhan bit down on the inside of his cheek. "I'm full. You can eat it if you can," Zhan said, shifting his bing out of the bag to hold out to Yibo, keeping it closer to his side so that Yibo would be forced to lean over the table to eat directly from Zhan's hand, like he was a little animal. "Finish this and then we should get going."

@☭ Xiao Zhan Since Yibo and Zhan were sitting next to each other instead of across from each other, they didn't turn their heads to steal glances at the other while they were eating for the most part. Seeing that the wontons were filled with meat and they were manageable, Yibo happily accepted the exchange of two wontons for two strands of liangpi. He finished all of his bing, but at the end, had to tap out with the liangpi. That was quite strange. It was either that this place had /way/ to generous portions, or his appetite had shrunken for some unknown reason. He hoped it wasn't an internal illness of some kind. He sipped on his fizzy plum juice while waiting for Zhan to finish up, and when the older did, Yibo noticed Zhan had some leftover bing. "What? You're not going to finish that while it's still hot and fresh?" he gasped. Albeit being only a bite or two left, Yibo still stared at the leftover food like it was a monumental waste.

@☭ Wang Yibo "A lot of mala things are like that," Zhan encouraged, putting a second and third piece of wonton into Yibo's bowl in hopes of pushing his tolerance just a little more. "You'll see. Try to have some more." In exchange, before Yibo protested that he shouldn't so Zhan could have more, Zhan stole too pieces of liangpi from Yibo's bowl, collecting his coffee on his way back to his own. Although Zhan's tongue was quite resistant to spice, by the time he finished, his lips were swollen, red, and glossy from a coat of oil. Quite oblivious to it, though, he wiped his mouth and sat back to finish his still ice-cold coffee, letting the bit of sugar in his drink neutralize the acid on his tongue.

@☭ Xiao Zhan They were going to be doing a lot of activities today, so surely Yibo was going to be able to work off the excess energy off from the caffeine. On the other hand, he wasn't sure if Zhan, who was so coffee-dependent, would be able to make it through the day without his first coffee in the morning. After taking another sip to savor the smooth caramel texture of the coffee, he finally handed it back to the older. Yibo started on his bing after, feeling what could only be described as an out of body experience when the crispy out layer mixed with the juicy pork filling on the inside, creating the perfect texture and flavor profile that had him opening his mouth as wide as possible to take another bite. "Wahhh!" he gasped, covering his mouth so he could chew and rave about his food at the same time, "This is seriously insane!" Seeing the reddish dumpling that was placed in his bowl of liangpi was a little suspicious though, so Yibo picked it up after swallowing his mouthful, "Let's see," he said, popping it into his mouth in one bite. After giving it a few chews, he nodded his head, agreeing with Zhan, "You're right, it's like my liangpi - looks spicy but isn't that spicy!"

@☭ Wang Yibo Zhan didn't even spare Yibo a glance when the younger threatened to keep his coffee, too fixated on keeping crumbs from his bing from flying everywhere. "You're not going to be able to sleep tonight if you drink all of that, so yes, you /will/ give that back." Zhan took one more sip from the fizzy plum soda before sliding it back in Yibo's direction to encourage him to return the coffee. Once he had gone through half his bing, Zhan started on his chilli oil wontons. They were deliciously mouth-numbing as a tingle that spread across his tongue, and a perfect training tool for Yibo. Zhan drained a piece before putting it into Yibo's bowl. "Try it. It's not that spicy."

@☭ Xiao Zhan Like any normal couple that was having a day to themselves, Yibo and Zhan didn't hold back when it came to their food. The moment Yibo lifted the lid off his bowl of liangpi, he was already salivating at the delicious red oil that was clinging onto the long strands of noodles, along with the crispy chili flakes and green-blanched bok choy that added an even more appealing flair to the entire dish. Yibo picked up his chopsticks first while Zhan went for the bing, slurping up half a noodle in a single bite. "Mmm!!" he exclaimed, nodding his head and forgoing all thoughts of maintaining his weight for his competition. He flashed a thumbs up at Zhan, too busy chewing to give any more than that. Noticing his drink in Zhan's hand though, Yibo stared at Zhan like a hawk, waiting for him to try it and return it. Well, it was only fair then, that Yibo got a sip of Zhan's coffee! The moment he brought the straw to his lips and took a sip though, Yibo's eyes widened, and after swallowing his mouthful, his first words were, "Wait I don't want to give this back anymore!"

@☭ Wang Yibo Since Yuning was an alpha, Zhan would be happy if his pup took after him. He beamed, saving the photo to his phone. When Yibo rose to collect their food, he nodded for him to get up, reaching out to give Yibo's pert bottom a squeeze as he shuffled out of the booth. Upon their return, Zhan was ready to jump their tray of food. It was hot and presented in such an appealing way that Zhan could not resist digging into it right after he put Yibo's straw in his drink for him. The bing itself was crispy and so hot that after the first bite, steam was pouring out of it like there was a fire. "Yum," Zhan managed through a mouthful as he up stray crumbs around his mouth, reaching for Yibo's soda first. "This is delicious."

@☭ Xiao Zhan Yibo rested comfortably against Zhan in their booth, which just so happened to be facing the order counter. It was easy for them to pinpoint which tray was theirs as the workers started to prepare a coffee drink and a fizzy plum soda that Yibo had chosen for himself. Yibo peered over at Zhan's phone, seeing Yuning's chubby cheeks and arms barely contained in the tight green frog outfit. It made him snicker in adoration. "He's so cute," Yibo commented, holding down the photo on Zhan's screen to send a heart back to their pup. "You know, I thought green was his color too, but I noticed that he seems to be gravitating towards red items recently. I wonder if he's changing his mind," Yibo said, furrowing his brows, "I think he's taking more after you!" Looking up when he heard their number being called, Yibo gestured for Zhan to stay seated, "I'll bring the tray over, wait for me!" he said, sliding out of his end of the booth easily to collect their hot and freshly prepared food back.

@☭ Wang Yibo Zhan grinned at Yibo’s need to report even a discrepancy of 10 yuan to him, pocketing his card without trying to hide it, as if letting everyone in their vicinity know /he/ took care of his mate. “Eo, that’s okay,” he said, welcoming Yibo to sit against him while they waited. It was still early enough in the day that there weren’t too many people sitting around in the restaurant, so Zhan wasn’t shy at all (not like he ever was) to sling an arm over his mate’s shoulders. Yibo’s mother had sent him updates of Yuning, who was dressed in yet another new onesie. He was dressed as a little frog this time, his usually curious hands contained within the fluffy food. Zhan chuckled, turning his screen to show Yibo pictures of their son looking quite baffled in his new outfit. “Green is kind of his colour, don’t you think?”

@☭ Xiao Zhan Yibo was all too eager to get up the next day for their day out together. With Zhan planning everything out for them, Yibo didn't have to worry about which activity was meant to take place at what time. He was just here for the joyride. Their first stop, a place that specialized in shaobing burgers, had his stomach grumbling. The combos were a good price, and there was a big variety. Yibo tapped his chin as he scanned the menu, his eyes mostly fixated on the different combos. "Wah! They have liangpi!" he told Zhan, pointing it out as if it were some type of rare superfood that they rarely got to eat. "I'll get it with the pork bing combo." Elated as Zhan handed over the credit card, Yibo gestured for the older to save a spot for them at one of the tables nearby, and he went on to place their order, swiping Zhan's card with due diligence. Once he returned, he reported to his husband, "I chose the beef bing for you. Also, your coffee was an extra 10 yuan, but I said that's okay."

@☭ Wang Yibo Since Yibo’s mother couldn’t pick Yuning up from daycare later in the day, Zhan had carefully arranged their activities around picking Yuning up and then dropping him off with, begrudgingly, Baekhyun before he and Yibo continued with his day. They would have lunch early, go to their DIY activity, pick Yuning up, then do their escape room and have a meal before collecting Yuning again. It was a well-thought out day that required precise timing, but Zhan had no doubt they had enough time and leeway between all of them. In fact, they even arrived at their lunch spot with minutes to spare, affording Zhan some time to look at the menu. “What should I eat…” he mused, tapping his feet against the ground from where he was sitting. The menu was quite expansive, but since Yibo had brought up wontons the day before, Zhan said, “I want that combo with the chilli oil wontons.” Feeling quite lazy, and knowing Yibo liked to act like the alpha between them, Zhan handed him his credit card. “I want it with an iced coffee.”

@☭ Xiao Zhan At times, Zhan was needier than Jian Guo. In fact, he could be the most childish of all in the house. Yibo snickered as his husband silently demanded head rubs, which he provided with gentle and rhythmic on the top of his head down to his neck. "Yes, /we/ need to win," Yibo corrected his mate, sliding a little lower on the bed to cushion his lower back. He needed to get some good rest for tomorrow, since the game restrictions did mention having to move and crawl through tighter spaces. With two exciting date activities to fill their day tomorrow, Yibo wanted to head to bed sooner too. "Mm, sounds good," he agreed with Zhan, pressing a kiss over Zhan's head. It was suddenly very out of the blue for him, but he wanted to mark his mate again. It probably wouldn't do for Zhan to have an open wound on his neck while trying to do an escape room, so as Yibo got into position in bed, he leaned over and bit down on the shell of Zhan's ear, hard. "Love you," he quickly mumbled, then curled into Zhan's chest, refusing to have any further conversation and willing himself to sleep instead.

@☭ Wang Yibo “Oh… are we spies or something?” Zhan asked, wriggling about and making movement against Yibo to hint to his mate that he wanted to be d like a pet. “Sounds complicated, but I don’t need to understand the story. I only need to win. Got that?” He tunnelled into Yibo’s arms, finally reaching to grab Yibo’s hand and place it directly over his head rather than wait. “Yeah, I booked the DIY already.” They had decided on bag straps a few days earlier, since it was the most practical option and didn’t leave them with useless trinkets lying around the house that Yuning or Jian Guo could swallow when Yibo and Zhan weren’t looking. It also didn’t seem overly difficult—Zhan was the artistic one, but Yibo would flounder if he was faced with too many colours and options at once. “Well, that’s tomorrow, so let’s turn in early, hm?”

@☭ Xiao Zhan Once more, Yibo could tell how Zhan's feelings for him truly surpassed what he thought was possible. He didn't know how his husband could put his love into words so well, and say it with such different words every time. He smiled wryly at the thought of Yuning being all grown up and having a mate in the blink of an eye. It felt too soon, so Yibo hoped that the passage of time would afford him a little more grace. One so that he could spend more time with his mate to do all the things they hadn't done together yet, and two so that their happy family of three could stay together a while longer.

It was peaceful in the house that evening without having to entertain Yuning and get him ready for bed. Yibo found his shower time relaxing and unrushed. As he and Zhan got to bed a solid hour earlier than they normally did, Yibo held his mate in his arms while staring blankly at the TV in front of him. Even such a mundane activity like this felt like a good use of time when he was with Zhan. "Mm," Yibo hummed at Zhan's question, trying to remember the premise, "It's about this Chinese physicist who figured out some revolutionary project and he goes missing. We have to find him or else we lose all the date of his research." he explained to Zhan. "And after that, did you book our visit to the DIY place that you mentioned last time? We're making matching bag straps right?"