How Green Becomes Wood

Still the same man. Just different. That wasn't particularly comforting, Dark thought, looking out at the long dark road, not knowing how to reply to his sons.

"I can hardly imagine being attracted to anyone who isn't your father anymore," Daizi admitted, playing with her hair with one hand, "I don't know if that means I don't have a type or my type is highly specific. When we were broken up it was different, but now?"

"I'm just glad we don't have to worry about that kind of thing," Xander mumbled to himself and his brother. "So much easier this way."

"Yes, simpler," Alec agreed weakly.

"It's fun though," Daizi shrugged, "I had fun. Not all of the time, mind you, sometimes it was... awful. But most of it I look back on fondly. I learned a lot."

Dark gave an almost inaudible chuckle.

"Shut up."

"You learned a lot."

"Khalas! I did!" She shoved his shoulder but not hard enough to make him accidentally swerve the car, "You don't have a whole different fiancé and plan a whole different wedding without learning a lot. Plus everything which came before that engagement."

"You two have lived such wild lives," Alec remarked with a smile. "I don't think I even want to know what all you two got up to, but it's kind of fun to find out!"

Daizi waved the hand she had been using to play with her hair earlier, "I've revealed nothing that you didn't already know about me. It's not like you met my ex. Although if you ever come with me home to Egypt, you can still meet my ex-fiancé."

"I don't mind the idea the idea of Eygypt, but I'll happily skip meeting any an all exes, especially fiancé's," Xander remarked mildly.

Daizi laughed, resting her head against the window, "He's not so bad, just boring. Ultimately I did him a favor, I don't think he really wanted to marry me either."

"I do not understand how he could not have wanted to when you are so evidently out of his league." Dark said, stealing a glance at her.

"I'm intimidating, Goose, very few people can handle me and those who aren't strong enough can't take the pressure of it. I eat weak men for breakfast."

To the twins, who had mostly known Daizi when she was highly hormonal, that seemed an odd thing. Neither of them would argue that she was a free spirit, strong, and noble, but a man-eater? Or, at least, a destroyer of weak men? That was a foreign idea to them. Maybe it shouldn't have been, and Xander was willing to entertain the idea, but Alec was having more trouble with the idea.

That said... Both could easily see how not everyone could "handle" Daizi.

Unlike his sons, Dark had no problem envisioning his wife that way, and without looking away from the road, he brought her knuckles to his lips and said, "I know you do, my darling."

Chuckling softly, Daizi sat back and pulled her hand back into her lap. As they continued the drive home in the dark, in a comfortable (if a bit melancholy) quiet, and as they were nearing home, Daizi with her eyes shut and one hand still playing with her hair hummed La Vie en Rose to herself.

Once they got home, Xander grabbed the diaper bag, and Alec gathered up any extra paraphernalia that had gotten left behind. They took everything into the house and made sure Ivy was okay before heading up for their room to get ready for bed. They didn't talk, worn out and peopled out for now. It had been fun! But neither wanted to do that again for a while. Bedtime came quickly, and they told their parents goodnight before crashing for the night.

Since she was the best at it, it was Daizi's task to remove Ivy from her carseat without waking her. Her track-record wasn't perfect by any means, but she was generally more successful than Dark was. The running hypothesis was it was due to her smaller hands. Unfortunately, this time Ivy did wake slightly, but not long after she had been brought to her nursery she was sleeping again and allowed herself to be set down in her crib while Dark took Enkidu on last walk before bedtime.

Then, after changing and going through their own nightly routines, they both crawled into bed together. Dark felt heavy, like his bones were weighted down. Completely earnestly, Daizi offered to sing him a lullaby but he shook his head and promised he'd be alright. She fell asleep easily, her face against his chest, while he stayed up against his will, stroking her hair and thinking before finally sleep took him.

The next day, Lex was out running errands. She dropped off a selection of small commissions, picked up some groceries, and went to look at a couple of used pickup trucks. She loved her little car and would likely keep it for daily use, but she was getting more and more commission work from people who couldn't pick them up.

As she wandered around the used car lot, she kept hearing a soft, pathetic noise. She frowned. What was that noise? It was like a squeaky car engine, but not, and rapid. Was there an electric engine here somewhere that was having issues? Or maybe a forgotten kid's toy? She tried to ignore it as she went to look at an old Ford that seemed to be in good condition. The sound got quieter, and she soon forgot until she circled back to look at a white Chevy, and the sound increased. What was it? It was so familiar!

Then she recognized it. Cat. Multiple cats. What would multiple cats be doing out here? Abandoning her car search, she started looking under the vehicles until she came across a taller truck that she hadn't even considered in her search. Under the truck was a cardboard box. The box mowed pitifully.

Ignoring any potential stains on her jeans, she knelt down and grabbed the box, pulling it out into the sunlight. The box popped open by itself, and a scraggly little grey string bran tried to crawl out without much success.

"What is this?" Lex asked no one in particular, staring down into the box as another fluffy creature emerged from the dark depths and a third tried to use it as a ladder to get up. Hastily, she nudged them all back into the box and counted as she did so. "One, two, three... six? No, five. Six? Stop squirming!" she lightly scolded. Two had longer fur, two had shorter fur, one of the long furs and one short fur were grey, two were a tricolor sort, and one or two were black. She thought. It was hard to say for certain.

"Can I help you find what you are looking for?" the car dealer asked as he walked toward her. He looked at the box questioningly.

Lex pulled the box out further to let him see before the kittens escape. "I found this box of kittens under the truck," she said, trying to close the flaps again as they tried to escape. "Are they yours?"

He frowned for a moment and then brightened as he remembered. "Oh, yes! My son, he's eight, he said he was going to sell them. One of his friends' cats had kittens or something, I don't remember the details, anyway, he said he was going to sell them. I guess he got bored and forgot about them. So! What sort of vehicle are you looking for?" he asked with a bright grin.

Lex picked up the box and propped it on her hip, giving the man a level stare. "Aren't you at all concerned about a box of kittens left under a truck?"

He glanced at the box dismissively. "It's just cats. They aren't even worth a dime a dozen anymore. It's amazing anyone pays for the mangy things. I'm sure it would have been fine, he'd have remembered eventually. Now, right over here, we have a lovely blue Mazda!" He started walking but stopped when he realized Lex wasn't following.

"You are so lucky I can't afford a lawyer right now or else I would punch you right in that smug mouth," she told him evenly. "And none of my anger management classmates would blame me." She shifted the box to a better holding position. "I'm going to check out a different car dealership, and I'm taking the mangy things with me. Any arguments?"

The man didn't answer, only scowled, so she walked away back to her little, banged-up car. This hadn't been anywhere near the top of her list in places she expected to find a truck, but now she was glad she'd decided to stop on a whim! She punched in Cooger's address in the GPS and took off. Normally, she'd have called or texted first to make sure he was home, but right now, she was too fuming mad to think that far ahead and too distracted trying to keep the lid of the box closed while driving. She ended up leaving one arm on the box and driving one-handed as she headed out of town and followed the roads toward the woods.

Cooger was outside just in a tank top despite the chill in the air standing at a stump and chopping wood with a hatchet. From the effort, he was sweating slightly, but it was clear despite the soft layer obscuring them, his muscles were more than usable. When Lex's car pulled up, he was too focused on the pile of logs he was working through to notice Lex's car pull up.

Lex got out of the car and wrangled the box with her. The kittens were quiet now. She hoped that meant they'd worn themselves out. She stood with the car door open, watching Cooger in silence. When the ax swung up, glinting in the sunlight, and then came down with a solid thud amid rippling muscles, she let out a little, "ooo," of appreciation. She was not a religious person, but she would have thanked the man upstairs for tank tops if she was.

She stayed that way for a few more swings before reluctantly closing the car door and walking toward him, still taking in the view and not actively trying to catch his attention.

Still not noticing her, because he was focused on his chore, when one of the logs wouldn't split all the way, he bumped it against stump he was cutting them on and then, freeing his hatchet, slammed the hatchet into the stump temporarily, and then pulled the log the rest of the way apart before throwing it down. Then he freed his hatchet, set another log down, and went to swing for it when he noticed Lex. Wiping the sweat from his brow with one arm, he flipped his hatchet over his shoulder and said, "Well hey there. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

That log did not stand a chance. Not a chance!

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine," she assured him, just a bit breathless and with just a hint of a purr. She cleared her throat and told herself, get it together, woman! "I don't know how pleasurable it is for you, but I brought you a... gift?" She stepped forward, holding out the box.

Catching the tone in her voice, he raised his eyebrow and sauntered over to her, "Is it really? Well--" He was about to say something else to flirt with her a little bit when he heard something that sounded like a frail, young, meow. The playful look on his face faded and he walked closer, setting down his hatchet and taking the box from her, "What do you have here?"

"I found them in a car lot. No one wanted to claim them, and they look pretty young, soooo..." She made a gesture that encompassed Cooger and his place. "I don't know jack about cats, especially not kittens. I think there's five. Maybe. They don't like to hold still for head counts."

Cooger took a quick look into the box, pressing his mouth into a thin line, "Let's go inside. Bring my hatchet, will you? I don't want it to rust."

Lex grabbed the handle of the hatchet and followed Cooger, looking around curiously. This was a really nice place. It was maybe a little more rural than she would like, but it was a heck of a place to visit! She'd have to come surprise her boyfriend more often. The cats were adorable, of course, and all looked a lot happier than the box of kittens, and the chickens were kind of hilarious. She stepped inside and waited for him to tell her where he wanted it before setting the hatchet down. Cozy place. Again, not somewhere she'd want to live, but she could see herself spending a lot of time here.