How Green Becomes Wood

"He's about to start grilling, then I'm free," Cooger winked, "Anyway, today, his only daughter's first birthday? He's walking on Sunshine."

"Oh, sure," Sloan replied, taking out a phone and pulling up her uneven bars routine and handing Xander the phone, "This video is taken from the side, and if you scroll one over, it's from my perspective. I'm actually really proud of my switch between bars, I've been working on that for like a month. If my spotter wasn't on it, I'd have broken my arm yesterday I think."
 
"But not so much so that he cannot abuse his best friend," Sally chuckled. She glanced between Lex and Cooger. "How are you two doing?"

Jack was talking to Dark about grilling and expressed curiosity about the style. He asked if he might join Dark, willing to take no for an answer if Dark wanted to do it alone.

Peter, Alec, and Xander crowded around to watch. "That's smooth," Xander complimented.

"It's like you have a mastery over air!" Alec grinned.

"Oh, wow, that's dizzying," Peter said, wincing at the video from her perspective.
 
"I'm doing real good," Cooger replied cheerfully, not sure if she was specifically asking about the two of them and choosing to ignore it if she was, "Still thinking about getting some goats."

"I definitely don't have mastery, like I said, I had a pretty rough fall yesterday," Sloan chuckled, putting her phone away, "I love bars so much. You just spend so much time in the air."
 
"I've been good. Started a big project alongside some small ones. I've got a new tattoo," Lex said thoughtfully. "Is that something you tell people you're only casually friends with? It's been a long time since I got a new one."

"I think that's alright to tell people," Sally said with a slight smile.

"If you keep this up, you'll be a master in no time at all!" Alec assured her.

"You really have been improving since I last saw you," Peter agreed.
 
"Did you really?" Cooger asked, looking back at Lex, "What did you get?"

"I like to think I'm always improving," Sloan replied, looking behind her shoulder as Daizi let in some of her relatives and looking at them curiously. This group included her cousins Aya and Eman, as well as their husbands and children. Both Aya and Eman were absolutely gorgeous, at once revealing themselves to be the women in her family Daizi had always been unfavorably and cruelly compared to. Aya's son looked like he was about fourteen and much shyer than Hassan and Eman had a son and a daughter who looked maybe twelve.

Dark, on his way to the grill outside with his fish, stopped by the twins to briefly help Daizi make the introductions, and then continued outside while explaining to Jack it wasn't that he didn't want help, it was that it was a highly specific method of grilling, and he wasn't certain how well he could teach it.
 
Lex smirked. She had an answer on the tip of her tongue, but Sally was "polite company," so she swallowed it. "A little dragon sitting in a teacup. It's something I've loved since I was tiny."

"That sounds adorable!" Sally said with a smile. "Oh, I should go say hello to Daizi's family. It was lovely to talk to you again, Lex, and Cooger."

"Daizi has a lot of family," Peter remarked. "Quite the tribe."

"Yep," the twins agreed simultaneously.

Jack tagged along with Dark anyway, assuring him he'd stay out of the way and only do exactly as he was told. He was deeply curious.
 
Cooger caught the smirk and waited until Sally walked away to ask, "And where is this dragon? Somewhere I could see?"

Daizi was delighted to introduce Sally to all of her family, who just. kept. arriving. Marwan greeted Sally warmly and expressed he had heard much about her, immediately offering to host if she ever decided to visit Egypt again, stating he had been told how much she enjoyed it. Of course, when Marwan arrived, so did Hassan, who immediately ran up to the twins, "I convinced my dad to take me to a truck stop diner! It was disgusting! I loved it."

Outside, Dark handed Jack the fish and then bent down to build a fire in the pit, keeping it low and cautious. Then he pinned the fish upright on stakes around the fire, like some sort of aquatic Vlad the Impaler, with the flesh side directed to the flames.
 
"Depends on who's around when you want to see it," Lex said with a twinkle in her eye. "It's nowhere you've seen yet."

Sally thanked Marwan for his gracious offer and chatted with him delightedly, practicing her rusty Arabic as she did so. She asked about him and his family, referring to what Daizi had told her about them.

Xander smirked. "Told you. And you aren't going to find anything like it anywhere else."

"It's terrible, but it is home," Alec sighed.

Peter looked at Hassan in amusement. "What did you eat?"
 
"Is that so?" Cooger asked, "Am I allowed to take guesses?"

"I had this big, giant burger," Hassan held up his hands to demonstrate, "It was awful, they made it taller than it was wide, you Americans must be like snakes to eat like that! And I had these thick fries and they waitress told me I should dip them in my milkshake! And she told me to mix mayonnaise in with the ketchup! Noor just got a boring salad."

"Everything on the menu looked like it would kill me," She replied coolly.

"I'll be honest, I don't really love that kind of stuff either," Sloan replied, looking at Noor, and then back at Hassan who was wearing yet another jersey, "Except for after a meet."

"Oh! What kind of sport do you play?" Hassan asked excitedly.

"I'm a gymnast, but I don't really think it's something you play." Sloan replied.

At this, Noor looked up looking more curious than incredulous, "Really?"

"Can you do a backflip!?!"
 
Lex moved a little closer to Cooger and said, "You can if you'd like to. I may or may not tell you if you're right."

"A backflip is weak sauce for her," Xander told him. "She's flippin' awesome on the parallel bars and a bomb in the freestyle."

"Freestyle is my favorite to watch, but the beam is the most awe inspiring for me," Alec said.

"Beam or bar, that's a tough one to choose," Peter mused. "How about you, Noor? Is there anything you are interested in?"
 
Passing Ivy off to the first person he could so he didn't continue to have this flirty conversation with a one-year old tugging at his beard and babbling, he shifted his weight and I asked, "Is it somewhere you can see without using a mirror?"

"I think you mean Mat, not Freestyle, Freestyle is its own thing," Sloan corrected.

"Could you do a flip?" Hassan asked, wide-eyed.

"What, here?"

"Yeah. Or, I mean, outside."

"Not in these jeans, dude," Sloan laughed.

Noor rolled her eyes, "Ignore my idiot brother."

"Ignore my annoying sister."

"It's chill," Sloan waved one hand, "It's the number one thing I'm asked when people learn I'm a gymnast. But answer Peter's question, what do you like?"

Noor's dark eyes widened slightly at the fact not only Peter asked but that Sloan made sure she answered. Rubbing the back of her neck, she cast her eyes down, "I draw a little. I don't really do anything interesting."
 
Sally was happy to take Ivy and didn't even ask why Cooger was handing her over. She took Ivy to hold her in the center of attention of all her aunts, uncles, and other relatives.

"Hmm, yes," Lex said with a little nod. "I'll let you have one more question."

~~

"I mean mat," Xander agreed.

"No, I think I mean freestyle, maybe," Alec said uncertainly. They both watched Noor, and when she said she drew a little, Alec said, "I saw her pictures of flowers the other day. She's quite good."

"Really?" Peter asked with a bright smile. "What medium do you prefer to use?"

~~

Meanwhile, Tristan and Ciara had arrived at the same time and reached the front walkway at the same time. They smiled and nodded awkwardly to each other.

"Ciara."

"Tristan."

"Won't you go first?" Tristan asked, waving a hand.

"Thank you," Ciara said and stepped up the driveway first before knocking. She was wearing a dress instead of a suit for once, but it still looked quite formal and was dark green with only small gold accessories and embellishments.

Tristan took a deep breath and straightened his hat before following her up. After what had happened yesterday, it had taken some convincing to get himself to come here. It was for the children, he reminded himself, and not showing up might make things worse where the parents were concerned. He was wearing a dark, vibrant blue suit with a matching tie, dark blue hat, and dark pink shirt. The hat band around his Tyrolean hat was also pink, but that was thanks to a bit of paper from his shop. It matched his shirt perfectly and did not look like paper until you looked at it too closely. He rolled up behind Ciara, leaving her plenty of room, and waited to see if he'd be let in.
 
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Cooger looked her over, trying to figure out where she might put it compared to where he might like it to be, and trying to figure out which guess to give, "Is it above your hipbone?"

~~

"If you mean freestyle, then your favourite kind of gymnastics is one I don't do," Sloan said plainly.

"I mostly do coloured pencils," Noor answered, "Sometimed I'll use watercolour pencils, but I never really paint."


~~

Daizi opened the door, at this point not even asking who was there because there were so many people at the party and so many people still arriving. By then, most of the family was there, but her father and A'amm Rashid had only just been dropped off as she was welcoming Ciara and Tristan inside, "Dark is outside grilling, we have appetizers spread out in the kitchen, can I get you anything to drink? Ivy-Qadira is with Khalaty Amira and Amty Fadia."
 
Lex had to pause a moment to draw a mental line where her hipbone was in relation to her tattoo. "No, but only just barely."

~~

"What are watercolor pencils?" Alec asked, intregued.

"I enjoy painting as a theraputic thing. I just swirl around some colors for a while until I am satisfied, and then I destroy the picture," Peter said.

~~

"A bit of water or lemonade would be nice, thank you," Ciara said. Once again, she pulled on plastic shoe covers rather than take off her shoes. She was feeling especially uncomfortable taking off her shoes around so many people, but she was doing her best to respect Dark and Daizi's wishes. "Where would you like gifts to be placed?"

Tristan did not bother taking off his shoes, and since he could not exactly remove his wheels, he once again carefully put on the wheel covers. He had to wait until Ciara and Daizi had moved away so he had enough room, and it took him a couple of tries to get the left one to stay put, but once he had them on, he rolled forward to hear Daizi's answer to Ciara's question.
 
"If I'm out of guesses, does that mean I get to see it?" Cooger asked.

~~

"They're like a normal colored pencil, but if you touch it with water they blend like watercolour paints," Noor answerer, "Normally I just get annoyed it ruined my details, but sometimes I like it."

~~

Daizi had already begun to walk to the kitchen to pour lemonade when she heard the question and stopped, a bit embarrassed, "I. Well. Dark welcomed the first few guests, and he established a place, and nobody else has asked me, so. Somewhere... immediately visible, I would guess," She hesitated, turning slightly when a voice in the doorway spoke up.

"Buffet table," Saladin answered, having let himself in, pointing in that direction.

"Baba!" Daizi smiled, hurrying to her father before stopping awkwardly in front of him while, after a beat, he patted her shoulder.

"Hello, Daizi," He replied, looking around the house, "The decorations look nice. I like the colours."

Beaming at the compliment, she earnestly and happily said, "Dark chose them."

As her uncle Rashid slipped in and slipped off his shoes, he looked around and said, "I cannot believe the idiot cab driver could not find this place."
 
"You absolutely can see it. Either the next time I'm in a string bikini or maybe at a party with fewer people," Lex teased. "I was thinking of throwing a party here soon. Maybe something with a dress code."

~~

"Those sound really cool! I'm going to have to try to find some," Alec said happily.

"Oh, Sloan," Xander said, remembering, "Hassan here's the one who wanted the ball. He's not bad with the... drabbling stuff."

~~

"Mr. Wahid. Mr. Wahid," Ciara greeted them both with an inclination of her head.

"Ciara, if you would like, I can take both our gifts to the table," Tristan suggested.

"Thank you," Ciara agreed, handing him the small, perfectly wrapped box.

"Mr, Wahid," Tristan said, nodding to them both.
 
"Oh?" Cooger asked, "What sort of dress code?"

~~

"Do you mean dribbling?" Sloan asked, mostly teasing.

"It'd be so cool if we could play again!" Hassan said excitedly, "There's so many of us this time! And the yard is so big!"

~~

"Isn't blue a boy's colour?" Rashid asked, only pausing his look about the place when he was addressed, at which point he smiled charmingly.

"A'amm Rahid, Baba, this is Ciara Cunningham, the twins' biological khala, and the man there is Tristan Walsh, their biological A'amm." Daizi introduced, "Ciara, this is my paternal uncle Rashid and my father Saladin."
 
Lex flicked her eyes up and down Cooger. "One where less is more."

~~

"Sure, we can do that," Xander agreed.

"As long as we look after the flowers!" Alec warned. "And the fire pit."

"I haven't played soccer in ages, but I'm game," Peter agreed.

~~

Ciara dipped her head again. "It is a pleasure to meet you both in person. I have known the names, but not the faces. Welcome to Heather Hill. Officially."

Tristan delivered the gifts and then returned. "Interesting comment about blue being for boys, Mr. Wahid," he remarked, turning to sit next to Daizi. "As it happens, blue was for girls and pink for boys up until around the 1940s when manufacturers chose to swap the colors, and it stuck rather firmly. I find color assignments based on gender rather arbitrary, but it is interesting how quickly a standard that was centuries old was overturned. Do those in your area of Egypt follow the same 'blue for boys, pink for girls' palate? The only bit of Egyptian coloring I know, not being particularly knowledgeable, is how males are represented with reddish-brown coloring and females with a more yellow tone on hieroglyphic walls. I am quite eager to learn more."
 
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"Oh?" Cooger grinned, "Do me a favor, don't invite your neighbors."

~~
"We cannot play if there is a fire going," Noor said, "You almost fell into the flowers last time, do you want to almost fall into the flames?"

"I wish we had nets! That's what we really need!" Hassan sighed.

~~
"Thank you," Saladin replied, walking further into the house and looking around for his granddaughter.

Daizi turned to Tristan, impressed, while her uncle turned to him looking bored, "You sound like you work with my niece. She's the one to ask about Ancient Egypt, I'm not really one for history."

"Rashid is the baby brother," Amty Fadia said with a laugh, "Because he is the only one of us still in his fifties he still acts like a teenager."
 
"I can agree to that," Lex agreed with a wink. "The one thing I haven't pinned down is time. I'm pretty sure I have a place picked out, but not a time."

~~

"Why do you need nets?" Xander asked, picturing a butterfly net and then a fishing net.

"The net catches the ball in a goal," Peter explained to him. "They are usually about..." he nudged Alec into place and stood at the other end, "this big. And a bit taller than your father."

"Oh. We could maybe make something that could work," Xander said slowly.

~~

"Actually, I work with her son, my nephew." For the barest instance, he glanced at Daizi. Then he steeled himself interally and said casually, "I work in flowers. Colors are very important with flowers."

"What is it you do for work?" Ciara asked Rashid politely.
 
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