There's a Lump in My Tail

A Lumpy Awakening

Two hours had ended two hours ago, and the two were still in the Grove having completely lost track of time. The laughter had also ended some time ago, but feeling nothing untoward with her energy, Bai Zhi casually pulled his own back as Yang Cuo took another sip of wine. The two had barely talked having lost themselves to the laughter that had left him slightly shaken.

Not once in all the years his son had lived, had he heard him laugh like that and for the full duration, he had sat in stunned silence while trying his best to keep the tears at bay. The Celestial Heavens rarely gave anyone the opportunity to laugh and even less his son who was expected to be quiet, conservative and restrained at all times. So to hear him let go along with a girl who he obviously had feelings for, had left him feeling more than a little emotional.

Their relationship as father and son was bearable most of the time, he was closest to his mother and it was no secret that the two clashed in almost everything. But that didn't mean he didn't care for him or want the best for him. It merely meant that Yang Cuo had no idea how to reach out to him, and the sound of his laughter that the girl had forced out of him only gave him one more reason to sign the contracts that were sitting in front of him still untouched.

But, as if reading his mind, Bai Zhi was not so quick to pick up the brush just yet. If anything, he learned far more about Ye Hua just sitting next to his father, who he was observing very closely and what he saw suggested that his daughter might actually struggle in the Celestial Heavens going by the way the man almost jumped at the sound of his sons laughter followed by the tears which he was still trying to draw back.

"My daughter is a fox by nature, so very playful and at times mischievous. I would honestly hate to see her spirit die." He remarked casually and forcing Yang Cuo to look at him.

"The Celetial Heavens is a very big place and so is Xiwu Palace. She would have free reign over her own little kingdom, in fact, I think she would fit in quite well. The other Goddesses like to meet for tea parties and all manner of hobbies that they participate in, your daughter will no doubt make many friends among them." Yang Cuo replied with a curt nod of his head.

"Tea Parties...." Bai Zhi repeated softly to himself with a hint of a smile that was threatening to break his face wide open. The thought of that girl attending a tea party and acting all posh put the most ridiculous image into his head that he had to quickly bury his face into his wine cup to smother it.

"Well, I am sure she'll make friends, she is a likeable girl with a happy disposition. All I am saying, is I would hate to see that part of her affected because you know as well as I do, that happiness is a rarity among you Celestials." Bai Zhi replied with an air of annoyance, seeing as Yang Cuo was completely oblivious to what he was getting at, especially when the man had barely smiled since arriving, not to mention his amazement at the sound of his own sons laughter, which only made their meeting that much more uncomfortable for him.

"That will never happen." Zhe Yans voice suddenly broke into their conversation with a hearty laugh of his own to break the tense atmosphere he had just arrived in.

"That girl will even have that boring old fart spitting his antidepressants all over golden lap." he snorted loudly before toppling onto the stone seat beside Bai Zhi roaring with laughter and instantly killing the heat from one man and raising the heat in another.

The look on the mans face was just as hilarious as Zhe Yans laughter which was echoing through the grove towards the two who had since moved on from the swing and were resting beneath the trees and talking about all manner of things as Ye Hua quietly sketched out a picture of the petals landing gently in her hair.

"I learned to paint at a young age from my father..." he explained as his eyes remained on her soft cheeks that almost matched the colour of the petals brushing past them. "He is a far more accomplished painter than I am, in fact many of his paintings are hanging in Palaces all over the world, only no one even realizes that he is the painter because he uses a pseudonym." Ye Hua informed her with a sparkling wink of his eye as her own rose considerably.