How Green Becomes Wood

"We should start at the place where they mark their place most frequently," Dark commented, following Xander who seemed to know the park better than he did.

~~

"I don't hate it, and I know at times I'll wear the bar. There are some my friends told me about which have little moths in them, or diamonds. Oh, speaking of, I need to wear the necklace Dark gave me for the shabka. I normally only wear it on our anniversary, but this feels like an exception." Daizi said, and would have gotten up to go to her jewelry box, if it weren't for Sally still working on her hair, "I've been good at avoiding it so far. I keep my hair down most of the time, so I don't think she's seen it so far."
 
Xander hesitantly led the way to where he thought he saw the joggers and runners pausing the most often. Ironically, there was a person stretching by the intended bench, and they had to wait a couple of minutes before they could approach. "How about there?"

~~

"I saw one once that had a dragon, I believe a Chinese one though I could be wrong, winding about the bar, and, I admit, I have never, ever wanted one, but that one almost had me going to get my ears pierced right then," Sally chuckled. She only had traditional earrings in the lobes, and while she didn't often wear large or dangling earrings, she did have a large number that she circulated through based on her moods. Today's earings were tiny pearls with even tinier diamond settings that dangled just enough to give the pearls a bit of motion. She gave Daizi's hair a tiny spritz of hair spray to keep it from escaping too quickly and stepped back. "There. All done! Yes, you need a good necklace, and how about a ring or two?
 
Dark waited for the stranger to walk on and then walked over to the bench. There was nothing on top of it, but when he looked underneath he found a locked box, which he pulled out, "I wonder how many boxes Daizi bought for this," he commented, sitting down on the bench and examining the lock. This one was a combination lock, but as far as he could tell, he had no codes. "What do you think, Ivy-Qadira?" He asked, and then handed her over to Alec so he could take out the blacklight again, shining it on the first two pieces of paper again, revealing on the first page: 1990 and 2013, and on the second, 1991 and 2028.

"Amount in," He said, looking at the glowing, purple letters, "That suggests adding, do you think?"

~~

"I have my wedding ring on," She said, getting up and going to her jewelry box and carefully taking out a cold necklace with thick, structured gold chain, and at the center, hanging just slightly down, was a large, perfectly circular opal. To the left and right of it, as well as pointing down diagonally from it, were two more crescent moons, and between them were four diamonds. "I think the idea of the Shakbka is so I can sell it and support myself if we ever divorced, and my father was annoyed he didn't give the traditional full set of gold jewelry, but I was just absolutely stunned he found this."
 
"There were a lot of boxes and not a lot of places to hide them," Alec said almost tiredly. "So many boxes."

Xander ignored him. "Yeah, that sounds right to me, unless it's too easy. It's worth a try."

~~

"That is far more stunning than any simple gold jewelry I have ever seen," Sally said honestly as she looked it over. "That is very lovely! Here, let me help you put it on so it does not catch in your hair."
 
"I do not think she would give me four options without any clues to suggest why one fits more than the other, and just testing them with reckless abandon has not been her style. The combination lock has four numbers. Multiplication would have more than four numbers, division and subtraction would have too few. Even if I added the numbers on the two separate pages together and subtracted one sum from the other, then it would not be enough figures."

He took out his notebook and added the numbers together, totaling on 8022, and put it into the combination lock, quickly getting it open.
Inside, in addition to a piece of paper, was a sack bag. He opened it up, and only saw... birdseed. "There is definitely something hidden in here," he commented, but unfolded the piece of paper to read through it:

To my Goose and my Goslings,
I drink to your health.
Fly to your cousins,
Let them share in your wealth.

"The pond, I imagine..." Dark said slowly, undeniably endeared by the first line of this riddle.

~~

"Oh, I adore it. I really do. The only reason why I don't wear it more often is because if I wear it to much, it will cease to amaze." Daizi replied, handing it carefully to Sally and then turning around so she could clasp it behind her, "I'll switch out the earrings I can switch so they match better. Then, I think that's it. Thank you again for helping me, really."
 
Alec's eyes lit up. "Do we get to feed the birds?" he demanded excitedly. "That's so awesome!"

"Why are we involved in this part?" Xander wondered, confused but willing to go along.

Alec was already marching to the pond. "Onward to feed the birdies! Carefully so that we don't accidentally toss out the next clue."

~~

"I have a couple of pieces like that," Sally agreed, clasping the necklace. "There! And you are welcome. It was truly an honor to be of service!"
 
"I believe we are going to feed the birds, yes, and I think you are involved in it, because your mother thought you would enjoy it, or believed I would enjoy doing it with you," Dark answered, walking towards the pond where a number of mallards were lazily swimming, with the box with the birdseed in one hand, "I am enjoying doing it with you."

~~

"I suppose you're released, now," Daizi said as she switched out her earrings, "I was thinking, before I went to the restaurant, I may stop by Tristan's flower shop so I can give Dark a bouquet."
 
"Good," was all Xander said.

"Ducks! Ducks are awesome!" Alec pronounced. "I don't see any geese yet, but I guess Ducks are good cousins."

~~

"Would you care for a ride?" Sally asked. "I don't mind going a little farther."
 
"I think she expected ducks, rather than geese and that is why she said cousins," Dark said, setting the box with the feed down on a bench, "Would you mind laying the blanket down, Xander? I would like to set Ivy down so she can help, if she can manage it."

~~

"Oh, that'd be really helpful, thank you. After his mini-secondary hunt with our children, he's just going to be made to call my family and then go and get dressed at Cooger's, so, we're coming to the end of things, now." Daizi said, picking a purse she liked, only because her dress didn't have pockets, "Do you want to see the 'engagement' ring I bought Dark?"
 
"Likely so," Dark agreed, setting Ivy down on the blanket and taking out the bird seed, "But I still want to give her a chance to try." He furrowed his brows slightly, "Are you not enjoying this?"

~~

Daizi led Sally into her study and went into her desk drawer, taking out a black velvet ring box, "He designed my engagement ring to look like a ring he inherited from his family," she explained, "You've probably seen it, I imagine. He wanted to use his ring as his wedding ring, and I had no problem with that, given how little family he has. So at our wedding, I received my wedding band, and I switched his ring from his right to left hand. But since his wedding ring looks like my engagement ring, I thought his 'engagement ring' should look like my wedding band." She opened the box, revealing a pale gold ring with cut slightly into a u-shape so it would stack nicely with his wedding ring. "There was this one, oh it was beautiful, it was silver and had cutouts that reminded me of a cathedral, but I thought it'd look too busy. I might buy it for him for his birthday, he likes wearing rings on his other fingers. I feel weird not choosing a fancier ring, but the inside of the band is engraved, for him."
 
Last edited:
"I guess birdseed probably wouldn't hurt her even if she did eat it, as long as it wasn't too much," Xander remarked thoughtfully. He plunked down cross-legged and studied the birds. "Feed that one first. It's at the bottom of the pack," he said, pointing one out.

"Maybe feeding it first will incite rage in the others that are higher," Alec remarked.

"Good point," Xander conceded. "Then... spread out widely or feed two at once?"

"That could work," Alec agreed, nodding.

~~

"That is a truly beautiful ring, and it looks as though it would feel amazing," Sally marveled. "How precious! And the story... irreplaceable. You have very good taste." She gave Daizi a moment to collect everything she needed. "Are you ready to go?"
 
"I will keep an eye on her," Dark assured Xander, as if there was any universe where he wouldn't watch Ivy like a hawk. "We are all feeding them together, so I am certain all birds will be fed in their time."

He took a handful of seeds and tossed it out in front of him, and all the ducks descended on it, quacking and pecking with reckless abandon. The sight of it made Ivy giggle and she pointed excitedly at the ducks, babbling loudly. She had never before seen anything like this.

Smiling at her reaction, Dark bent over to kiss the top of her head, and tossed another handful of seed, causing Ivy to topple over towards him, purely from how hard she laughed.

"Oh no," Dark said softly, but didn't set her upright. Instead he put one hand on her, since she was much to small to put his arm around, and offered the bag of the seed to the twins. Then he looked at Alec, and nodded his head to the side, asking him wordlessly to come sit beside him.

~~

"I think so," Daizi replied, putting the 'engagement' ring into her purse, "Oh! Can you take a picture of me? I promised Alec I'd show him how I looked, and I'm pretty sure I'm just going to cry off all of my makeup when I ask my husband to marry me, considering he cried when he proposed."
 
Last edited:
Alec laughed with Ivy, and Xander watched with a slight smile of clear amusement. The ducks were fantastic! Alec happily came to sit next to Dark, drawing his legs up to sit cross-legged.

When it was his turn to try the bird seed, Xander took a handful, paused to make certain it was just seed, and then carefully judged his throw. He flicked his hand to toss out the seed in an arc, creating a trail that would lead much closer to shore in hopes that the ducks would be lured much closer, and thus make an even better spectacle for Ivy. And Alec and himself.

~~

"Of course!" Sally took a couple of pictures from different angles to make certain she captured all of Daizi's spectacular look. "There we are!"
 
Dark put his other arm around Alec, switching his gaze between his children and the ducks, certain this was the exact reason why Daizi had included this portion. No time limits, no expectations, just feeding the birds with his children on a nice, cloudy day.

The ducks certainly did take Xander's bait, quacking and squabbling as the came nearer to them, causing Ivy to absolutely lose her head with laughter.

"The ducks are rather silly, right, Hummingbird?" Dark asked, scooping her up at last and setting her into his lap, holding her so she could see the ducks better. Then, he took a handful of seeds and held them open in his palm to her, miming what she should do. Not quite having the necessary coordination, she only successfully managed to drop the seeds into their laps, but he gathered up what he could and tossed it out for them.

~~

"Thank you." She held her phone, "I'd send them to him now, but I don't want Dark to accidentally see. I'll remember to when they call me and let me know they've finished their task with him."
 
Alec laughed, and Xander grinned at the flurry of birds. "Wow! They are even noisier than we are," Alec told Xander.

"Squabble more, too," Xander agreed. He glanced at Ivy. "Mini, you have seeds in your hair. Are you saving them for the birds?"

Alec reached into the bag, and his fingers found something. He handed Xander the bag before looking at what he'd found. "Oh, hey! I found a note!"

"I found a key," Xander said, holding it up. "That or a very iron-heavy treat for the birds."

~~

Sally led the way to her car and opened the door for Daizi because it was her special day. Lex happened to be out carrying in groceries from her car, and she sent Daizi a teasing wolf whistle. Sally chuckled and made sure Daizi was comfortable before going around and getting into the driver's seat.
 
Dark turned and carefully took the note, unfolding it to read:

You've made it to the end, no need to wallow,
At the old willow, find your next clue,
Hidden in the wooden hollow,
and you'll be with me soon.

This one was the simplest of this mini hunt, as a willow tree stood with its branches hanging languidly down towards the pond, and although Dark had never gone particularly near it, he had a suspicion there was a crevice just large enough to hide a box in.

~~

Daizi stood with surprise at the whistle, and then turned quickly to Sally, "Was that my neighbor? It sounded like it came from that way, but sometimes people go for walks here."
 
"Wow, that one is surprisingly simple," Alec remarked, leaning over to pick a couple of birdseed pieces off his pants legs and flicking them toward the pond.

"The only question is, where on the tree is the box?" Xander remarked. He flicked another bit of seed toward the birds, constantly trying to get them closer for Ivy. Her hysterical laughter was delightful.

~~

"Yes, the woman who does the blacksmithing, I think you said?" Sally remarked. "I believe she approves."
 
"I suspect she wants us to be able to still feed the ducks and needed something near by," Dark replied, getting up but leaving Ivy on the blanket so he could go and investigate the tree. While he was still in sight, but too far to do anything, and Ivy was no longer restrained by his very big hands, she decided to try to crawl after the ducks.

~~

"Oh, good," Daizi sighed from relief as she got into the car, "I didn't know. Lex and I are friends, or at least friendly, so that's okay, but not everybody is allowed to do that."
 
Alec laughed and followed after Ivy, catching her gently and holding her around the waist so she could keep crawling, like a dog swimming in air. "Wild ducks don't like pets, Mini. I mean, Ivy." He made a face at Xander. "Why am I saying it now?"

"'Cause it's catchy," Xander smirked. He tossed a handful of seeds over both Alec and Ivy.

~~

"I can agree with that," Sally said instantly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top