How Green Becomes Wood

"Normally, I use lamb, but I did not see any in the freezer, so I am going to use beef. I will make a lamb dish before I fly home, but I am here for awhile still." Amty Zeinab said. She had already set the meat out to defrost so everything was ready, now she just needed to actually cook it.
 
Alec happily set to work helping Zeinab, but it was soon apparent why he was normally put to setting the table. He was enthusiastic and willing to help... and tended to grab the wrong ingredient or the wrong measuring implement, forget where he put something, dropped things, or accidentally knocked them over.

Xander arrived home smelling of a horse barn and looking a lot dirtier than usual. "Hey, I'm home," he called, carefully peeling his feet out of his shoes. He hesitated at the salt dish before picking his cleanest finger to touch it with.
 
This was not the first time Zeinab had cooked with someone who had absolutely no idea what they were doing, although admittedly they were younger. But still, she had a hand in raising many, many children, had the patience of a saint, and did her best to cover for his mistakes while chatting with him.

"Hello, habibti, we're in the living room!" Daizi called while Dark got up and walked around the corner to see Xander.

Sweating slightly but still feeling chills, Dark looked Xander up and down before saying, "You look terrible."
 
Xander returned Dark's up and down look. "I got knocked over by a horse. What's your excuse?" He started walking carefully toward the stairs. He'd knocked most of the loose dirt off himself before getting in his van, then again when he got out, but he didn't want to spread dirt everywhere.
 
Dark squinted at Xander, "...adrenaline."

"Goose, baby, maybe you should lie down," Daizi said, both concerned and amused as she came up behind him.

"Is he sick?" Zeinab asked, poking her head out of the kitchen and looking Xander up and down, "You, go shower, what are you doing tracking mud across the clean floors."

"No, Amty, he, got a flu shot." Daizi lied. They all knew he had tattoos, and Zeinab had mostly accepted it, but there didn't seem to be a point in announcing he went out and got another. "You know how those can make you ill for an evening, it's okay."
 
Xander pointed up the stairs. "The shower is up there, and he," he pointed at Dark, "stopped me to insult me. I had to risk a little dirt on the floors to defend dirt on my name." He started going again, treading with care.

"Amty, did you say salt or sugar?" Alec called, concern in his tone.
 
Zeinab was about to say something else when Alec's question caught all of her attention, "Salt! Alec, I said salt! Al'ama, salt!"

Dark pressed the heel of his hand to his face, staring in horror at the dirt on the floor, but Daizi gently placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him towards the stairs, "Go. Sleep. You need it."
 
Zeinab sighed in relief, murmuring something to herself, "Alec, habibi, I appreciate your help, but I do not know if I have been this stressed in the kitchen since your mother was learning to cook."

Trudging upstairs, sweaty and mildly feverish, Dark didn't quite have it in him to do more than look in horror at the trail of mud as he slunk off towards his bedroom and onto his bed, not bothering to get underneath the covers.
 
Alec ducked his head bashfully. "Sorry. I can set the table instead. Even if it is early, the table needs set!"

Xander took as quick of a shower as he could manage with the amount of scrubbing he had to do. Then, true to his word, he cleaned the floors until they shone.
 
Dark lay passed out in a sleep deeper than what he had experienced probably since before the start of October. His dreams were strange, but he slept like the dead.

When dinner was ready, Daizi stood at the base of the stairs, scratching her cheek with one finger, "I don't know if I should go up and wake him or not."
 
Daizi hesitated for a moment and then walked away from the stairs, "I'll give it some time. It's never easy to tell if I'm the normal amount of worried or not, especially with him." She sighed, dropping her voice to a whisper and said, "He was waiting to tell you both about his appointment until a specific date, that's why he was being weird about it. He was trying to fight off this version of the flu, while also trying to pretend like he didn't have a low-grade fever so he could keep his secret. I didn't tell you this." She rolled her shoulders back and headed towards the dining room, "You missed most of it, Xander."
 
"Poor Ba," Alec said sympathetically. "I'm sorry I gave him a hard time."

"His fault for being terrible at concocting a good excuse," Xander said with a shrug. "I say let him sleep a bit longer and then wake him up. Why isn't your dad coming today? Sightseeing?"
 
"In his defense, it's been years since a flu shot gave him this much of a reaction. I doubt he was expecting it." Daizi replied, "I'll wake him up after we eat, I think. And he is with his brother today, my A'amm Rashid." She paused again, "I think I'll quickly run water up to put on his bedside table. Hey, if he wakes up in a feverish haze and hugs me, does that mean we lose?"
 
"I have never once encouraged that man in my life," Daizi teased, taking it upon herself to button her shirt one button higher. She would've done it all the way to the top, but she was certain she wouldn't be able to do so without risking the buttons. She filled a glass of water with some ice cubes and handed it to Xander, "Just be quiet when you go in, okay? Or maybe don't be... No, be quiet."
 
"Yeah, I'm just going to ignore that," Xander said with a slight eyeroll as he took the water. "See you in a bit." He headed upstairs and let himself into Dark and Daizi's bedroom. He moved quietly but did not try to tiptoe. It was quick work to get to the side table, leave the water, and slip out again.
 
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