Nine Tails of Twin Brothers

How we do this

"It's your wedding, you should be showing more enthusiasm" Bai Qian said to the figure sulking in the corner of the room while she settled deeper into her perch on the window.

"I'm enthusiastic. Very enthusiastic but if I have to decide between two more shades of blue or answer a question on who can sit where, I'm going to elope" Bai Zhen grumbled in response. He was curled into the corner as though he was trying to become the shadow

"Mother will kill you."

"That's the only thing stopping me so far"

"It's your fault, she had over 200,000 years to plan the wedding between you two. more than enough time to consider and merge what you both wanted with what she wanted. And Zhe Yan, the poor, love sick fool, is so happy, he's agreeing with everything she says" She concludes with a small laugh

"Don't mention his name here" Her brother replied giving up on his task of merging with the shadows and going towards the tea pot

"Somebody is sour at their soon-to-be husband" She giggled

"It was supposed to be a small wedding, family and close friends. How did we end up with over 150 guests" He replies with a slight pout

"Ah Si Ge, don't blame him. he's happy he can finally marry you and he wants the world to know"

"You're supposed to be on my side" Bai Zhen pouted throwing a pillow at his sister who ducked then smiled widely 

"What does my darling brother want to do on the eve of his wedding? Come on, let's get you to the mortal world, you'll have enough time to get drunk and nurse your hangover several times and still be back to get enough beauty sleep before the celebrations"

Bai Zhen bit back a chuckle as his very sober sister attempted to sneak him back into the fox den in his not so sober state, he should be more helpful but he could only focus on one thing at a time; he had enough presence of mind to be quiet but that was about it. Bai Qian patted him gently in approval as he held his hand over his mouth while she wondered again how he had managed to get drunk in the space of the time it took her to get to a bathroom and back. 

They'd successfully gotten into the fox den, only needed to get to one of their rooms and she could avoid having to explain to her parents what had happened. Thankfully, their mother had insisted Zhe Yan stay in his house while fourth brother stayed in the den or there was no way she'd be able to get past him. She'd thought the arrangement was moot point, neither of the two had any chastity or virtue to protect, she'd even gone as far as to point out that they'd been sleeping together since she was a cub but that had not been well received so she'd given up.

"I hope you had fun" she whispered as she tucked her brother into her bed "I'm happy your greatest wish is finally coming true"

She reheated the tea that had been left sitting on her bedside, poured two cups and took them with her as she left the room and headed towards her brother's room. She sat on his bed and held out the other cup towards the bookshelf and after a few moments, Zhe Yan materialized to take it from her.

"Where is he?" he asked after taking a sip from the tea.

"Sleeping." She replied casually

"Where?" his usually sunny face wore a slight frown with the question

"Somewhere you can't disturb him. Why aren't you sleeping? You need to look rested and good tomorrow"

"I can't remember the last time I slept alone, I'm not good at it. I couldn't even fall asleep tonight" he replied with a sigh as he let himself sink into the bed

"Explains why he tried so hard to get drunk. He probably couldn't sleep either" She murmured into her tea

"I expected that so I thought I'd come keep him company"

Bai Qian smiled then waved her hand towards him quickly casting a spell before his shields went up. Zhe Yan's upper body dropped onto the bed with a plop.

"You'll thank me tomorrow" she said as she settled him into the bed then moved a blanket over him.

She woke up to noise and bustling and kinks in her neck from sleeping on the chaise in the main area; her reward for being nice and letting the couple take up two rooms in the fox den. From the conversation she could make out, it was a few hours before the ceremony which gave her enough time to get ready.

The ceremony was beautiful; in typical Qing Qiu fashion it was simple and elegant; the old phoenix had added touches of what he claimed were phoenix traditions, every one went along with it, it wasn't like they had another phoenix to confirm from. And it was his wedding after all. Now guests piled up in clusters to greet the couple who had changed from their wedding reds and were now enjoying the elegant reception that had been planned for them getting ready to bid everyone farewell as they left for an extended honeymoon.

Bai Qian stayed in her seat; she was family anyway and had congratulated the couple multiple times and could still do so at a later time if she desired. She had been surprised to see Mo Yuan and Ye Hua at the wedding. While the two were close to the couple, Mo Yuan was supposed to be in seclusion while Ye Hua was the crown prince of heaven with multiple responsibilities. Their presence was proof of the strength of their bonds with her brother and his husband. She'd also been surprised to see her first disciple brother who was good friends with her brother but who scarcely left his home as his elder brother was sick and all the responsibilities for his territory as well as for his brother fell on him. She made a mental note to find him when there was less of a crowd around him. She'd initially found herself surrounded by strangers (or admirers, if you really wanted to call them that) but before she'd been overwhelmed to the point of drawing her weapon, her father had shown up beside her and dispersed the crowd without a single word.

She sighed, as the only daughter of the legendary fox emperor and the only female direct descendant of the four ancient immortal lineage, she was a considerable conquest for most people but she did not care enough about that. Her parents had always said that when she found her person she would know but she had been too overwhelmed with all the responsibilities of governing the second largest immortal kingdom. She enjoyed it too; not that she was going to admit to her parents or anyone for that matter but it gave her precious little time to do as she pleased and when she had that precious free time, a lot of things ranked higher than finding a love interest  on her list of things to do. She moved closer to the rest of the family, grabbed a jar of wine and smiled as she tried to get out of her own head into the conversation around her.

Ye Hua knew he was staring but he could not help it, the object of his affections was both very alluring and very captivating. He swallowed the sigh that nearly escaped at that thought and felt a hand on his shoulder. 

"Didi, you've been standing here for a long time" Mo Yuan said as he rejoined his brother following his chat with Dijun. 

Ye Hua reluctantly tore his eyes away from Bai Qian to his brother "you're done chatting with Dijun?"

"Yes, he's leaving for heaven shortly. Why do you have that look on your face? it's a happy occasion"

"I'm happy for the couple" Ye Hua replied, returning his eyes to focus on Bai Qian

Mo Yuan took the wine cup from his twin who neither resisted nor moved his hands to show he noticed the cup was gone. "You're distracted" he said, taking a sip of the wine in the cup 

"Dage, remember the discussion we had before you started your seclusion?" Ye Hua asked finally looking back at his brother

"Yes" Mo Yuan replied and followed his brother's line of sight as he turned back to the area he had been staring at the entire time

"That's her" Ye Hua said with a sigh as his gaze landed on Bai Qian. 

"We need to talk" Mo Yuan replied in a tight voice.

A/N: I'm back and I missed you all. took a break from writing for personal reasons :) Thanks for all the love, the comments, votes, messages kept me encouraged to find my way back here.