How Green Becomes Wood

"It is well earned." Dark told him, "You'll have to find a good place for the trophy."

Cooger laughed at the description of her newest project, "See, that's another reason why I think Dark doesn't do commissions, but I hope your client was satisfied! The competition went real well, Xander took home third, and like I said, it was his first ever competition, so we're all incredibly proud."
 
Xander smiled to himself and turned the medal over in his hands. Where to put it? Somewhere safe. He'd find a good spot.

"You really did do awesome, and I can't wait to see you display your trophy," Alec said quietly, beaming. "We'll clear a full shelf, if you want. I think they make displays for medals. Or we can hang it on the wall off a peg or something."

"Thanks," Xander said.

"Did he?" Lex asked, impressed. "Right on! That's incredible for a first time."
 
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"What does it look like?" Daizi asked, tipping her head back.

~~

"We couldn't be prouder, and we all went out to dinner after," Cooger replied, grinning, but then scratched behind his neck, "But, look, uh... I'm sorry, I don't know if this is something I ought to be doing over the phone, but I just felt like it was important. It ain't nothing bad or anything, I just gotta ask you know... What are we, Lex? 'Cause I get asked and I ain't really comfortable saying I don't got anyone in my life, but I don't want to give an answer you're not okay with."
 
Xander handed it up to her. "It's heavy, careful. It'd probably hurt if it landed on your foot or something. It's bronze and has the name of the Judo company on the back. On the front, there's one guy throwing the other one and, like, rays or something around them. Stars on the border. It's got a lot going on, I guess. Looks cool."

~~

Lex paused and sat on the edge of her bed. She wasn't certain how to answer Cooger imediately, mostly due to a sudden feeling of disappointment. He had to ask? She pushed it aside firmly. That was not his fault. She knew what she was getting into with him. "What do you want to be?" she asked, her voice carefully controlled. "What did you want to be?"
 
Daizi carefully took it over and spent some time running her fingers over it, "The sun rays remind me of the flag of Imperial Japan, but I'd guess that's not the impression you're supposed to get. But it is really interesting," She turned it over a few times in her hands, "It feels nice."

~~

Aw hell. He didn't want to go and hurt her feelings, but he could hear in her voice he had. Answering truthfully, he said, "I mean, I had been thinking of you as my girlfriend, but I didn't know if you were more casual about it. Cause I've called women my girlfriends before and they were thinking of me as more of a friends with benefits situation. I just don't want to be going around town calling you something you don't want to be called."
 
"I think Judo is Japanese, so maybe you are supposed to get that impression?" Xander said uncertainly as he took it back. "I don't know, but it looks cool."

"It's shiny!" Alec assured her with a grin.

~~

"You are a considerate man, Cooger," Lex admitted with a bit of warmth. "I suppose not everyone's standards are the same, so I can't fault you for checking, but..." She took a deep breath and blew it out. "I don't know if I'm in it for the long haul, but I want something more serious than a FWB situation. I want someone I know I can turn to if and when s**t happens. How long it lasts, I guess we'll see. Short can still be intense, if you know what I mean."
 
"Imperial Japan is equivalent to Nazi Germany, so I would doubt that was the goal, and if it was I have some questions for the company." Dark said with a grim chuckle.

~~

"I don't know if marriage is ever something I want in my future, and I don't think either of us want to give up our respective houses. Honestly, given the work I put into that house, I think I'd have to take some offense if you decided to sell it," He joked lightly, but then shook his head and got serious again, petting one of the fosters who climbed into his lap, "But I like you Lex, I really like you. And if you don't want to define things, I won't define things, but I... I guess I've been taking things slow with you, 'cause I like you enough to not want to mess it up. At least not this soon."
 
"I think it's just a style," Xander assured him.

~~

Lex stretched out into a more comfortable position as she chuckled. "After all the work I put into this house, it'll be a while before I even consider selling it. Marriage doesn't appeal to me. I don't really see the point. Either you're with someone or you aren't, and I..." She trailed off and took a breath. "I'd like to be with you. Girlfriend, lover, partner in crime, I don't care what the label as as long as we agree on what it means for us. Something meaningful, but I don't want to chain you down or for you to chain me. Make sense?"
 
"I don't want to chain you down," Cooger agreed, "but only if that means we're still exclusive. I'm not getting down on one knee or nothing, and I won't make you stay a moment longer than you want to, but I don't want to be one of many."
 
"Exclusivity is the only way to go for me," Lex agreed firmly. "If you and I are together, it's just us. That's one of my few ground rules. No cheating, no beating, and while I wouldn't say I'm high-maintenance, I still want attention, and I'll give as good as I get. I get wrapped up in my work sometimes, so there might be a couple of days here and there where I forget to surface. Toby comes first. I'm not looking for someone to be his dad, but you do got to get along and try not to be the worst role model ever. Does this sound like something you'll be okay with?"
 
"Well sure, that's basically what it's been like already, I think," Cooger replied, "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. Because like I said, I really like you, and I want to be able to introduce you to people as my girlfriend, but I didn't want to do that and make you uncomfortable."
 
"Now that we've made it official, I expect to see you darkening my door on a semi-regular basis," Lex told him with a smirk in her voice. "And I don't just mean for a bit of happy-fun-times." She paused and added thoughtfully, "You know, I still haven't even seen your place. Not a big deal, just kind of hit me how long you've spent in my house and I've not even seen your place."
 
Lex chuckled at his tone. "I wasn't blaming you, Tiger. Just noting it. I'll try to come by here soon. In my defense, your place ain't exactly 'turn left at the Walmart and then you're there.'"
 
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