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“Well, good morning, little bird,” Miko purred in that low, husky tone of hers, the one that still made nervous excitement knot up in Sara’s gut, even after nearly a year of dating and several months of sharing a living space. “Coffee for you.” Straightening up from where she’d leaned in to murmur in Sara’s ear, Miko placed the steaming mug she was holding onto the bedside table. It smelled rich and earthy, the dark roast she most favored.
“Good morning,” Sara mumbled back, groggy and glancing around the room in search of the time. Ei’s sleeping body was no longer next to her, only a long, cold expanse of mattress where both her lovers must have vacated some time ago. Unusual, as she tended to be the earliest riser. “Did you turn off my alarm? Or is something going on? Why are you both up before me?”
“Stop with that,” Miko scolded, cutting her off midway through coming up with another deluge of questions. She smoothed her fingers through Sara’s short hair, adjusting anything that had gotten messed up from sleep. “There’s nothing wrong, so don’t get yourself all riled up about it. We just thought you’d earned a lazy morning, or what qualifies as one to you. If not now, then when?”
Sara’s brow furrowed. What did Miko mean by that? Hoping that getting caffeine into her system as quickly as possible would help it make sense, she picked up the still steaming mug of coffee and took a sip. It burned, but only a little. Figuring out Miko, who was now sitting next to her and running a daring hand up her thigh, was an ample distraction from it.
“What do you mean?” she finally asked.
“Are you that focused on everyone else? I mean your birthday, of course. You can’t have forgotten what day it is.”
She could and did. Feeling her face go red, Sara took another drink of coffee to stall, then finally muttered, “Oh, right. My birthday.”
“You did forget.” Miko scoffed, but not angry. The same gentle exasperation she often showed Ei. “What are we going to do with you?”
Before her rhetorical question could be answered, Sara mustered up the courage to lean in for a kiss, Miko’s lips soft against her own. That was the only birthday gift she needed.
“Is there anywhere special you’d like to go?” Ei asked gently, lacing their fingers together more securely at her side. Sara was perpetually self-conscious about her callouses, the roughness of her skin, but Ei, a warrior herself, never minded despite the softness of her own. She held Sara’s hand whenever she got a chance, so automatic that Sara was never sure whether it was meant more to comfort her or Ei herself.
“Not especially,” she said. “I’m happy to go anywhere with you. The company is enjoyable enough.”
“But it’s your birthday,” Ei protested, in an even more cajoling tone than Miko earlier. When she looked at her like that, wide purple eyes as round and innocent as a youthful mortal. Like that, no one would ever believe her to be Inazuma’s archon. “You have to want to do something more to celebrate than an ordinary afternoon out with me. You have all the riches of the shogunate at your disposal.”
Sara squeezed her hand a little tighter in reassurance, then shook her head. “I could never use your resources in such a way. Nor have I ever been given to extravagance. A simple day is all I need.” Wracking her brain for something she could say, certain that Ei wouldn’t give up until she got to feel like she was treating Sara to something special, she suggested, “We could go to a tea shop for a slice of cake.”
“That sounds perfect,” Ei agreed, perking right up. Her sweet tooth was always one of the easiest things to appeal to. “I know just the right place.” She whisked her off down a side street, walking with such purpose that Sara forgot to ask what work Miko was so busy with on a Sunday.
“Where are we going?” she asked upon their return to Tenshukaku late in the afternoon, hand still locked in Ei’s. They were already inside, but instead of relaxing as she normally did upon getting home, Ei was still leading the way with purpose, guiding her to a wing of the palace she didn’t normally frequent.
“You’ll see,” was her only answer, nudging Sara along with even more enthusiasm as they turned a corner. She thought she might have caught a muted snatch of conversation from the other side of the shoji they were approaching, but before she could work it out, Ei was reaching past her to push the sliding door open. In a riot of noise and motion, Miko and a small gaggle of friends leapt out from behind walls and furniture, all shouting the same thing.
“Happy birthday, Sara!”
For just an instant, her heart jumped in her chest as she looked back and forth at the people gathered around her. Ei had curled an arm around her waist, leaning in for a soft kiss before she murmured her own, softer “happy birthday.”
“Miko and I spent quite a bit of time planning this,” she admitted. “Were you suspicious of us?”
“No, not at all. I had no idea.” She fidgeted a little, but made no effort to extricate herself from Ei’s embrace. Their guests had started chatting amongst themselves, making her feel less conspicuous. With the exception of Miko, of course, who’d come over to cling to her from the other side. “No one’s ever thrown a surprise party for me before.”
“You deserve to be spoiled,” Miko declared, sharing a look with Ei past her. “You’re in a relationship with the archon and her familiar; it’s about time you get used to it.” Another kiss then, to her cheek. Sara felt the slight stickiness of pink gloss left behind, and for once, she wasn’t struck with the embarrassed urge to wipe it away.
“You aren’t mad at us for tricking you, are you?” Ei asked then, hand stroking up and down her side.
“No,” she promised. “This is the best deception I could’ve imagined.”