How Green Becomes Wood

"Like I am," Xander snickered. He left the room, closing the door gently behind him. He took the plate downstairs and cut some of the pieces even smaller for Ivy's sake. Then he went to find his sister to share some pieces with her and his father.
 
Dark had brought Ivy outside, having nicely bundled her up so she'd stay warm, so she could enjoy the weather while they could. When Xander came out, he nodded to him, "I was wondering where you were. Are you enjoying your afternoon off?"
 
"It's always kind of weird when my schedule gets thrown off, but it's not bad," he replied. "Oi. Mini. You want some of nature's sugar? I've got apples and oranges and exotic stuffs."
 
Ivy crawled over as quickly as she could, not for the food so much as it was from excitement at seeing her brother, although once she did see the fruit, she was more than pleased to eat some. Before she could, her father loomed over the plate to double check all of it was cut in a safe way for her--the apples, especially, could be a choking hazard unless they were sliced thin enough, but once satisfied he sat back. Daizi had eaten most of the carved fruits, and all of the best ones, because although she didn't say so, the effort he took did make her happy, so Dark didn't look at anything other than if Ivy was at risk.

"I understand that feeling perfectly well," He said, satisfied while Ivy picked up one of the orange pieces, "The leaves are falling from the trees. Soon we can make an excellent leaf pile."
 
"Are you going to let her crawl through one of those spider pits?" Xander asked, amused. He moved some of the pieces to an easier position for Ivy to grab. "I'm game for that. I'd totally toss Alec in a leaf pile."
 
Dark glanced down at Ivy who was gurgling to herself as she happily ate fruit and the juice dribbled down her chin and said, "I think sometimes she needs to be allowed to take a risk. And I also intend to toss Alec into a leaf pile. I would toss you, as well, if only you could handle it. And I certainly intend to toss your mother."
 
"Darn straight." He picked up a piece of banana and offered it to Ivy. "Want some of this? It's good stuff. Tastes even better with peanut butter. Best of all in a pie with cream."
 
Dark frowned, doing his best to stop Ivy from painting herself in banana, "No no, Ivy-Qadira, you eat the banana, see?" He ate one of the slices for her and sighed patiently as she just smashed another one before eating it, "I do not mind picking him up but you are welcome to do so instead if you would prefer. I may find myself occupied cleaning up the bespoke banana purée."
 
"Yeah, alright, I can do that," Xander agreed. "It's not a big deal and takes one banana off your plate." He waited for Ivy to finish off the last couple of fruit pieces before standing up. "I guess I'll do some work in my shed until it's time to go get him."
 
As Ivy finished the fruit, Dark valiantly tried to redirect her on how she ought to be eating, but she hadn't even been a year old for a full week yet and could only listen so well. "I am sure he will be delighted when you are the one waiting for him."
 
Xander paused and looked back at Dark, puzzled. "Me? Doubt it. He looks forward to rides with you. Anyway, I have pomegranate to wash off my hands now."

He headed inside and washed the plate before walking back out to go to his shed. He spent some time out there working on a commission for a detailed wallet. It was a lot more detailed and advanced than he was used to, but he was more than willing to give it a try, and if the customer wasn't happy, he could sell it on his online store. He'd have to sell it for less and maybe take a little bit of a loss considering the time spent on it, but that was better than no compensation at all.

His phone alarm rang, letting him know it was time to go pick up Alec. He finished what he was doing and put everything away neatly before closing the shed door and locking it. It was a simple, weak lock and easily broken if there was an emergency. It was more to keep random opportunistic thieves and, far more importantly, Ivy out. He told Darkand Zeinab he was heading out and then drove to Tristan's shop.

Alec came out a little surprised and confused. "Where's Ba?" he asked, climbing in. "Why aren't you out with the horses?"

"My session got cancled today, so I thought I'd take a bit of work off his plate while he tries to keep Ivy clean for five minutes," Xander told him.

"Oh, that makes sense," Alec said, relaxing instantly.

When they got home, Alec touched salt and took off his shoes before calling out, "I'm home!"
 
"Maybe, but you are still his brother." Dark replied, scooping up Ivy but holding her with outstretched arms to try and prevent himself from becoming covered in fruit, bringing her inside to clean her before everything they owned was covered in banana.

When Alec and Xander returned home, he met them at the door while Ivy was happily and loudly playing in the living room, "Welcome home. I hope work was good today?"
 
"Yes! It was a good day," Alec said with a solid nod. He smiled and held up a stack of four sets of pot holders. "Look what I got! Uncle Tristan is experimenting with gifts to go with flowers, so he got in a small order of pot holders. These ones were misprinted, so he said I could have them if I wanted. Aren't they cool?"

Two of the pot holders were flower-themed, and flowers had been labeled in flowy, cursive font. Unfortunately, someone had gotten the labels wrong and a daisy was labeled as a rose, a rose a hyacinth, and a hyacinth as a dahlia. The other two were baking themed, and they looked alright until you looked a little closer and realized that it was not an abstract art print but in fact two pictures printed one on top of the other.
 
Dark took the pot holders and flipped through them, his expression obscuring his confusion about where they would put the holders, "The misprints are rather interesting. There is something amusing to me about the incorrect ones flower names."
 
"I agree!" Alec grinned. "I love them. The flowers are my favorite, but I think if you hold the misprint out really far, it almost makes its own pretty picture!"

"You don't cook. What are you going to use them for?" Xander asked, frowning.

"If they can't be used for cooking, then they can be used for other things," Alec said glibly. "I'll find a use! Where's Mama?"
 
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