@askrcalled / li’ari has a birthday today!
( also mentioned in this drabble is @bladerevered! )
Mercifully, Li’ari had been out all day. Qiu’xi was usually kept in the dark about the army’s operations, but they know that scouting parties were common, and that they would be returning soon. They had little time, then, to finish the surprise before the party returned. The plan was simple, but required far more work than either had anticipated.
Of course, Say’ri and Ying’zi were in the know, but neither had helped Qiu’xi as they’d gathered gifts, having even bought a few things in the rare visits to a village. Having taken old branches and loose bark from trees that the army had passed in Chon’sin, they had woven a basket just big enough to hold the present itself. Pressed flowers were spun into the handle.
Qiu’xi had learned the craft from Li’ari himself. What almost felt a world away, they had seen his work hanging in the palace, or on beds. He had woven blankets, tapestries, beautiful works of art. Traditional looms were large, impressive, but not conducive to constant travel. The solution came to them while knitting - needles were easy to transport, so why couldn’t a loom be too? So, they had bought a loom, about the size of a handheld harp.
It sat in the middle of the basket, surrounded by different colors of warp yarn, and covered by a scarf. Of course, it was entirely mostly Ying’zi’s money that had bought these things, but the scarf was handmade!
Their youngest brother had his own part in the plan, of course. While Ying’zi and Qiu’xi prepared the family’s tent for the surprise, Morgan had been buying them precious seconds of time, distracting Li’ari and preventing his entrance until the final moment possible. While the two ran around, and could use the sound of Morgan’s chattering to guess how much time they had until they had to pose and grab the basket.
At which point, the tent’s flaps opened, and there stood Li’ari, flanked by Morgan and met with a resounding cry of, ❛ Happy Birthday! ❜