Meanwhile, Zhu Hong had brought the little phoenix chick over to his house. He carefully held it with one hand while he closed the door behind him. Before he had even managed to close it completely, the little phoenix already jumped from his hand. Zhu Hong whirled around in a panic, hastily pushing against the door with his back and glancing at the windows to make sure that neither of them was open. Thankfully, he had indeed closed them before he left the house before. He heaved a sigh of relief, glad that he wouldn’t need to rush outside and alarm everyone else. This really … it seemed that taking care of a little phoenix could be quite difficult.
The phoenix didn’t actually intend to run away either. It jumped onto the ground, fluttering its tiny wings to make sure that it wouldn’t crash down. As soon as it landed, the energy around it changed and it turned into the graceful figure of a male youth.
He raised his hands, looking at them with a smile, and then turned back to Zhu Hong, his gaze almost seeming as if he was asking for praise.
Zhu Hong stared at the phoenix, needing a moment to sort his thoughts. He really was pretty. He had a pair of apricot-colored eyes and waist-length, pearl-white hair. It reminded him of how the egg had looked back when he found it. He unwittingly smiled at it and then left his place at the door, stepping closer. He reached out his hands and gingerly took Zhen Zhu’s. "Welcome."
The little phoenix stared up at his face, his expression crumbling a little. A phoenix could take on an appearance they felt would represent them the best. When he had seen Zhu Hong, he had really liked the way he looked so that was what he thought of when finally being allowed to transform. Now though, he had to find out that there were a lot of differences between them. The most prominent being that Zhu Hong was actually two heads taller than him.
Zhu Hong noticed that his future spouse seemed to be a little out of it. He tilted his head, giving him a questioning look. "What’s the matter?" He reached up and brushed back his hair, only to finally realize that the little one wasn’t wearing any clothes. Well, he probably should have figured. The little phoenix had been brought over immediately after hatching from the egg. Where were his clothes supposed to come from?
He hastily took back his hands and then cleared his throat. "Wait, I’ve prepared your robe for the wedding." He turned to the side and then grabbed an exquisite box that had been standing on a cupboard at the side of the room. He had kept it right in the first room so he would be able to get it fast. He brought it over to Zhen Zhu and then held it, motioning for him to open the lid.
Zhen Zhu wasn’t quite sure what to do. He looked at the box and then back up at Zhu Hong, and finally pointed at his nose. "For me?" Despite how he looked, his voice was surprisingly hoarse.
Zhu Hong was stunned for a moment until he realized that this little one had just transformed and thus was using his voice for the first time. Thinking of that, he smiled. "Yes, it’s for you."
Zhen Zhu was happy hearing that. He tried to take the box from Zhu Hong but his future spouse didn’t let go.
"Careful. The box is quite heavy. What’s for you is inside. Just take a look, I’ll hold the box for you in the meantime."
Zhen Zhu looked up and blinked his eyes in confusion. He fumbled around for a bit but then managed to open the lid.
Zhu Hong grabbed the box with one arm instead and then held the lid up with the other hand so Zhen Zhu could look at the robe inside by himself.
The little phoenix’s eyes widened when he saw the bright colors of the dress. It was actually a shimmering pearl-white with apricot-colored embroidery, similar to how he himself looked. He looked up at Zhu Hong with some surprise, not quite sure what this meant.
Zhu Hong smiled. "Do you like it? I chose the colors based on the shell of your egg. It had a pearl-white base with an apricot-colored pattern on top. I hope that I got the pattern right." He looked at the wedding robe for a moment before looking back up at Zhen Zhu. His little fiance seemed quite happy with his choice. It seemed that despite the connection they lacked, he had still been able to make him happy. This wasn’t bad. It seemed that their future was up to a good start. "You can take it out. It’s for you to wear for the wedding ceremony."
Zhen Zhu nodded eagerly and then took out the beautiful robe, unfolding it to get a better look. Because of the memories he had inherited from his clan, he actually knew a bit about the world outside. It was just that these memories that weren’t his couldn’t quite compare to seeing things on his own. He knew what a wedding robe was or a wedding in general even. He had also known that the robes were usually made to resemble the ones who were getting married. But he really wouldn’t have thought that he would have such a beautiful robe. He was quite happy with that.
After looking it over from all sides, he started to unravel the three different layers and then started putting on the innermost one while he gave the other ones back to Zhu Hong. Soon enough, the little phoenix was dressed completely, and looked at Zhu Hong, asking for praise. He couldn’t see himself but he definitely felt very beautiful in this robe. It fit him perfectly as if Zhu Hong had known how he would look back when he had the robe designed.
In fact, Zhu Hong hadn’t had any idea. Before phoenixes hatched and then finally transformed, not even their gender was clear. So he hadn’t quite known if he was supposed to make a robe for a female or for a male one. The difference wasn’t that big save for the fact that the cut was a little bit different. Thankfully, the fabric he had used could accommodate different bodies. It would fit almost any type. Now that Zhen Zhu wore it, it just was a little bit flowier than if he had been bigger.
"You’re looking beautiful. There is also some jewelry. Do you want to wear it?" He motioned inside the box but didn’t move to have Zhen Zhu put it on immediately. While the robe was customary and the jewelry definitely needed to be prepared, not all phoenixes liked wearing it. Their feathers were their greatest beauty. Some felt that jewelry would take away from that and thus weren’t willing to put any on.
Zhen Zhu wasn’t like that at all. He curiously opened the smaller box at the bottom of this one and looked at the set of jewelry that was lying in there, then, he took out one piece after the other. Turning them over in his hands, he finally nodded.
Zhu Hong still smiled at him. This little one wasn’t one for many words it seemed. Or maybe he just needed a bit more time to get used to everything. That would remain to be seen. "Alright. Put it on then. Do you need help with something?"
Zhen Zhu first put on the bracelet that came with the set, and then slowly looked over the rings. There was a set of ten, one for each finger. He hesitated for a moment and then picked one for his left hand, pushing it on his finger and looking at his hands again. He really liked his hands. Although they were smaller than Zhu Hong’s, they were still neat. Happily, he picked out a few ornaments for his hair as well. He knew that these were to be worn with some more complicated hairstyles so he looked at Zhu Hong questioningly.
The dragon motioned over to a table in the next room where two chairs had been prepared, one on each side. "Let’s go over there. I’ll do your hair." He led him over, grabbing a mirror on the way over, and putting it on the table.
Zhen Zhu immediately grabbed onto it when he sat down, and turned it in all directions, taking a look at his own face. His eyes lit up immediately and he couldn’t help but touch his cheeks, his white eyebrows, and wrap a strand of his hair around his fingers.
Zhu Hong picked up a brush from the side and combed the other side of Zhen Zhu’s hair while giving him a long look through the mirror. "Didn’t I say you were very beautiful? You will definitely make the phoenix clan proud."
Zhen Zhu nodded and let go of his hair, putting the mirror down again. He turned it so that he could see Zhu Hong, and then just folded his hands in his lap, waiting for his fiance to finish doing his hair. He was really curious how it would look when it was finished.
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