The sun was setting, making this one of his favorite times of the day, and with how beautiful the weather was, with the soft clouds and gentle breeze, Qi was certain that today was the day.... Today, he would ask for her paw in marriage. That was probably a cheesy way of wording it, but then, their relationship seemed to have an edge of cheesiness to it anyway. In his opinion, that was part of what made it so fun.
The black lion scanned the field in front of him, trying (and so far failing) to spot Xing’s shiny yellow coat amidst the sunset’s colors. He let out a muffled huff as he noted that she was nowhere around here, which meant he needed to try the next hunting area. He hoped he found her soon. The last thing he wanted was for his creation to fall apart before she could even see it.
In his maw was a large bouquet of flowers. They varied in color and shape, but in the very center, clearly the main focal point, was a bright yellow sunflower. The plant had been a lucky find, and one that had given him the idea in the first place. Surrounded by all the colors of the rainbow, the flower seemed to bloom out of it all with a vibrancy that he hoped matched their love. At least, that’s how he viewed it, and he hoped Xing felt the same.
With a flick of his tail, Qiguai hopped down a sloping hill until he was going at a trot, green eyes scanning the area around him in the hopes of spotting his query as he walked. Perhaps he should have asked Yu for help, but the little bird was notorious for yapping his tongue, and he was sure that he’d spill the preverbal beans to Xing before Qi was ready. Not wanting to risk that, the lion had chosen against that option.... and was paying the price now.
Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk.
As he made his way closer to the next hunting spot, he perked up at the flash of gold at the corner of his vision. Could it be?
Yes! He smiled as he spotted the shimmery yellow coat lounging out across the grass. She was in the middle of a bath, it looked like, and for a brief moment, he wondered if maybe he should try again when she wasn’t doing so... but then his gaze hardened in determination. No, he’d gone through so much work to find this bouquet. He refused to let it wilt in that time!
So, striding forward, Qi padded forward until he was only a few pawsteps away, stopping only when Xing’s head snapped up to look at him. He tried to smile back kindly at her initial shock, though it was difficult with her flowers in his mouth.
That said, he’d succeeded in grabbing her attention with them. Xing blinked in surprise both at his sudden appearance and the odd colorful splash in his mouth. What...?
“Qi! You scared me.” She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. It was ridiculous, she had no reason to be scared here in the Ela lands. The lioness rolled over to face him more directly, and shot a curious look at the bundle in his mouth. We’re those flowers? Oh, she had never seen such vibrant colors before! It was odd that he was carrying around though. Were they for someone?
She ignored the little pang at the thought of him giving something to someone else, but she knew that she wasn’t the only one he was close to. It’d be silly to think otherwise.
... but that didn’t stop the feeling of longing nonetheless. Of course, had she been able to read his thoughts, she may not have been so saddened by the idea. Alas, she wasn’t a mind reader.
Instead, she would have to rely on other methods to find out who they were for.
“... What have you got there?” That was a fair, subtle question, right?
Qi couldn’t help the small smile at her question, excited that she’d taken notice so quickly, and trotted forward until he could drop it gently down at her paws.
“It’s for you - a beautiful bouquet for a beautiful lioness.” Here, his ears pulled back a bit bashfully, “I picked it for you, if you’ll accept it like you accepted me.”
Xing blinked in surprise as the bundle was dropped between her paws, and she couldn’t help casting that look back and forth between him and the flowers. For her...? As the shock started to wear off, she threw him a watery smile, “I... Qi, they’re gorgeous.... are you, I mean....” Yu always said she was a stutterer when she was overwhelmed. Looks like he was right.
Finally, the lioness gathered her wits enough to figure out what to say, “Thank you, I love them.” Not that she knew what to do with flowers other than look at them, but maybe that was all that needed to be done. Honestly, she was more ecstatic that he’d gone through the effort of giving her something than anything else.
Happy that she’d accepted it, Qiguai leaned forward to url his head up against hers, enjoying the rumble that he got in return for the gesture. Then, with a quick nuzzle against her ear, he pulled back.
“Xing, I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you as well.” He paused to take a deep breathe and to watch as she put all of her attention on him. Despite his assertions that today was the day, it was still nerve wracking to actually be doing it now.
“I... Xingyun, I can’t imagine my life without you. You’re the sun that brings light to my life, and... and I adore everything about you. I’d like nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you as well. Would you... would you be willing to marry me?”
As he spoke, her eyes went wide, almost disbelieving. Slowly, tears started forming, but it wasn’t from sadness this time. No, she could hardly believe her ears.
They had been dating for a while now, but for as much as she’d been hoping for him to take it a step further, she was also scared that he was losing interest. It made sense, after all, no one had ever stuck with her this long. To hear him say that he wanted to be with her, to marry her.... it was like a dream come true.
Almost on auto pilot, as if in a daze, she stuttered out a response, “I-I... Qi, I would absolutely love to, yes.” And then, as if her brain had finally caught up to her words, she let out a joyful laugh and got up to tackle him to the ground. It was perhaps a bit tougher than it needed to be, but she tried to put as much happiness as she could into it.
Qiguai let out a grunt as he fell to the ground, but her joyous mood was infectious, and he couldn’t help the responding laugh as the two rolled across the floor.
With that, the night began to set, and with it, the two lovers snuggled happily in the grass, both looking forward to the future.