How Green Becomes Wood

"Not needed," Daizi smiled, feeling the leaves, "Thank you. I had one growing up. Although, I think our climate is a bit different here," she joked, "Thank you. I'll just go and grab your present."

"We should sit," Dark said, heading towards the living room, "It will be easier to open presents that way I presume. Alec, Xander, will one of you grab a bag for the wrapping paper?"
 
"Just a bit," Tristan agreed, relaxing now that it had been accepted. He was not entirely certain Dark actually liked it, he was difficult to read, but at least it hadn't been chucked out the door. He also doubted that the care of a fig tree outdoors in its non-native Egypt would be the same as indoors and potted in equally non-native Pennsylvania, but Daizi knew plants. She'd figure it out without him needing to overexplain everything.

"Sure thing!" Alec said, heading for the kitchen to get a bag.

Another tap sounded at the door, and Xander went to open it, admitting Ciara. She was dressed pretty much the same as always, though with a great coat to stave off the cold, and she'd allowed for a simple necklace with a small Christmas tree ornament. She wiped her shoes and hesitated a long time before carefully removing them and then touching the salt, all while never once dropping the packages she held.
 
"We'll have to find the right place for it," Daizi smiled, touching the leaves one last time before starting to go towards where the presents were waiting. Then, though, the door opened, so she went to greet her guest, "Ciara, welcome! I'm glad you made it, we're all just waiting in the living room. Everyone is here apart from Cooger."
 
"Ah. I hoped I would not be late," Ciara said seriously. "Seasons Greetings, Daizi. Mr. Dark. Ivy. Alec. Lex. Toby."

"Ma'am," Toby said, slightly bewildered. As far as he could remember, he'd never met this lady before. How did she know his name? He chalked it up to having met her and not remembering.

"Nice to see you, Ciara," Lex greeted her happily. "Merry Christmas to you, as well!"

"Come sit down, Aunt Ciara," Alec called.

Ciara walked through the room with great care and chose the most out-of-the-way chair. The twins sat on the couch, and Toby and Lex found seats. Tristan already had a chair, so he maneuvered to a good spot and settled in, humming along with the music.
 
Daizi left briefly but soon after returned with wrapped presents for their current guests, "I don't know where everyone is sitting right now, but I know that the smallest box is for Tristan, the largest one is for Lex, and the one in the middle is for Ciara, so we can do with that as we will," She said, setting them down on the coffee table.

Just then, Cooger tossed open the door, since he was allowed to, wearing a frankly embarrassing Christmas sweater featuring cats playing with a string of lights and tiny plastic ornaments hung in his beard, "Merry Christmas!" He announced, taking off his boots, touching the salt, and coming to join them with a totebag full of presents. He was certain the fact he had put them into a bag meant he'd get jokes from the twins he was too much like Santa, but what was he meant to do? Try juggling all of them while still taking off his boots? He just repurposed the bag he used when doing bulk shopping for the cats. "Sorry I'm late, man, the roads back where I'm at are no joke."
 
"Well, look who finally showed up so we can open gifts," Lex grinned. She stayed where she was because she wasn't sure about standing in front of the man's family and kissing him at their stage of their relationship and, far more importantly, she was comfortable. "I am loving your sweater. Where'd you get it?"

"Look, Mini," Xander said to Ivy and pointing to Cooger. "It's Santa Claus!"

Alec giggled. "Hi, Uncle Cooger! I'm glad you got here safe!"

The twins added their gifts to the pile, and Ciara cautiously did the same.
 
"Hell if I knew you'd be here, I'd've taken even longer to get here," Cooger teased, going to sit beside her and setting the bag of presents down by his feet, "That's a bold statement coming from two kids who look like a sugar plum and an elf respectively. Ivy, kitten, you look adorable."

Ivy squealed in delight at her uncle with such fervor she was quickly passed down the line so he could hold her, "and thank you, Lex. My mom bought it for me."

"I was beginning to think you had stood us up, Cooger," Daizi grinned.

"You, never. Him," He nodded to Dark, who was silently looking at the fig tree, "It depends on the day."
 
Lex cackled in delight and gently shouldered him. "I'm glad you finally got here. You're going to have to consider a sled or something in the future. So! Who wants to go first?"
 
"Wow, Sims, you better watch yourself or you'll get coal," Cooger teased while Ivy took immense delight playing with the ornaments in his beard. She was the main reason he committed to them, he frankly thought they looked stupid as hell.

They gave Ciara a cream colored fountain pen with a medium-fine gold nib, but since Sailor, the pen manufacturer, was Japanese, it wrote more similar to a US or European fine nib. Dark surmised Ciara would prefer that. Along with the pen they included a bottle of De Atramentis Sherlock Holmes ink, which was a gorgeous, no-frills, navy blue. It still had lovely, delicate shading, but no shimmer and a fairly short dry time.

To Tristan, they gave art-deco inspired cufflinks and to Lex they gave a wooden shelf Dark definitely made and it definitely wasn't perfect for the exact area Lex had told Cooger she wanted to put her teacup dragons. It definitely hadn't been built because Cooger happened to let it slip she needed a good shelf there, Dark and Daizi definitely thought about it all on their own. Although the carvings in it were truthfully something Dark had thought up on his own, he thought it suited the dragons.
 
Ciara delicately removed the pen from its box and looked it over critically, but with a pleased crinkle in her eye. She returned the pen to its box before examining the ink, after which she put it all away and gave a firm nod. "Thank you. This is most appreciated. I shall put this to good use," she told them, and she meant it. The pen looked good in her hand, and it felt good, too.

Tristan was quite pleased with his gift of the cufflinks, and he held them up to the light before putting them away, afraid he'd drop one and lose it. These would also get used, though perhaps not as often as Dark's. He didn't like wearing his nicer accessories while working with the flowers. He'd lost one ring one time in a bouquet a young man had bought for his young lady and... Well, he never wore that sort of jewelry to work ever again. Still, it would be fine for his job at the lending office. He often forgot thanks to his paranoia developing a habit to not wear anything at the flower shop.

Lex laughed when she opened her gift. "Wow, this is perfect," she grinned, admiring the shelf. "It's like you were in my house and read my mind. My house was missing a certain something, and this is exactly it." More seriously, she said, "This is a da- Really good shelf." She glanced at Ivy, knowing that if she was going to pick up any new words, it'd be the words they didn't want her to repeat.
 
"I hope you enjoy it, Ciara," Dark said with a nod, "The ink is a dark blue so it remains buisness appropriate." He could see how pleased she was and it satisfied him. With how Ciara was, although he didn't think she'd dislike it, he had some concerns she'd just find it acceptable. It was nice to see she really liked it.

Daizi explained they found the cufflinks at an actual Vintage shop but they didn't know exactly how old they were. Being the man he was, Dark largely shrugged off the compliments towards his craftsmanship and simply expressed how everybody needed a good shelf. Afterwards Cooger handed Lex the present he had bought her. It was a little blue dragon in a teacup, the dragon was holding onto the cup lip, and it was designed so the cup actually included what was meant to look like tea (although in practice it reminded him a bit more of hot chocolate, but he supposed it was festive). "I'm pretty sure I haven't seen this one at your place before," He said, praying he hadn't been wrong. It was surprisingly difficult to find them.
 
"I don't have this one. It is so adorable!" Lex almost crooned she was so delighted by the little dragon. "He's even got a little tea bath!" She paused and looked at it. "Or maybe hot chocolate or coffee, but since it's in a teacup, I'm assuming tea. It's perfect and will make my new shelf complete!"

Tristan received a leather belt from Xander, though he'd made it thinner than typical belts to make it more comfortable to wear when seated, and it was themed with flowers, of course. Tristan thanked him and praised the craftsmanship, marveling at how soft it was.

Ciara also received a leathercraft from Xander, this in the form of a very professional and streamlined purse. No frills or flippantry, just high-quality efficiency.

Both Tristan and Ciara received a mobile from Alec, something he'd made himself from broken pieces of jewelry or other mobiles. Tristan's was made with metal flower pieces and several pieces of small gems. Ciara's was smaller and made with five pieces of clear quartz. Both mobiles were appreciated, thought Ciara was a bit more reserved. She wasn't a fan of random dangly bits, but she recognized the work Alec had put into it. Perhaps it would not hurt to hang it in her window.

Toby gave Cooger a selection of nice jerky, including a few more exotic types. Basically a handmade sampler pack.

Then Lex gave Cooger her gift: A really heavy box that turned out to be a piece of metal work she'd done. Two long pieces of metal were hinged together with one side made with multiple, evenly spaced steps and the other side a sharp blade. "It's for kindling," she explained. "You hang it on the wall and use it to make smaller pieces. Once you've gotten the log chopped, you put a piece here on one of the steps to give it support, and the blade hinges down, using leverage to chop right through."

 
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Of course Cooger was delighted by the jerky but when he opened up Lex's present, a bright grin lighting up his face, "Lex, this is awesome. I love it. I'll be sure to put it somewhere it won't rust when it rains, 'cause I can make kindling with a hatchet, but this'll really save me time. And my back when I get old, I'm sure!"
 
Lex smiled, her face lighting up despite her best efforts to play it cool. She was incredibly pleased her gift had been well recieved. "I just thought maybe your poor, aged back might have enough to worry about without adding bending over a stump to the mix. Just be sure not to take off a finger, okay? It's not that sharp, but it can make a lot of pressure!"
 
"I think I'm less likely to cut my finger with this than I am with my hatchet," He replied, grinning at her, momentarily forgetting everyone else. Then he felt a firm tug at his beard and looked down at his niece and put the ironwork back in its box, "For now its best to tuck it away. Hey, Alec, Xander, y'all want your gifts?"
 
Lex very much wanted to kiss Cooger, and she might have even with everyone else there, but Ivy yanking on his beard was a block she didn't want to try to get around. So, she sat back and watched the others open their gifts.

"Ooo, we get presents? Then we should give you yours, too!" Alec grinned.

Alec gave Cooger a color-changing mug that, when cool, had a picture of a cat chilling on the side with its eyes closed and the caption, "Cool Cat." If he put a hot drink it in, it would change to an image of an excited dog with its ears flying and eyes open wide with the caption, "Hot Dog!"

Xander's gift was, of course, a belt. This one had cats walking, sitting, lounging, and bathing along its length, and one cat looked suspiciously like Hank. There was also one, single goose in what would be the center of the belt.

Tristan gave Cooger a small gift, as well. He had known Cooger professionally for a couple of years, and he did often send a card or small gift on Christmas. This year, it was a decent-sized insect feeder/house. He'd made most of it or sourced it, but some assembly would be required on site.
 
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Cooger thanked Alec, Xander, and Tristan. He'd definitely end up using the mug, and he knew he'd wear the belt---he was extremely fond Millie had been included. After passing it along to Daizi, she laughed genially and jokingly asked Xander if she was the only one forbidden from wearing belts. He wasn't all that sure what he'd do with the insect house, but it was still pretty cool.

He gave Toby a gift card to his favourite skate shop, since he had no idea what exactly Toby would need and didn't want to guess wrong. Tristan received the Lego Orchid set, and Cooger explained there wasn't a point to give real flowers to a guy who owns a flower buisness but he thought it'd be a fun thing to occupy them with. To Ciara he gave a simple candle sampler and was prepared to argue why she deserved a gift from him if she tried to say it was too much. Darn box was $40, it wasn't a big deal. And anyway, it came from a buddy in the homesteading community, so it was helping local business--which he'd mention even if she didn't try to argue. The labels were simple and beige and, in his opinion, the scents were a bit fussy (vanilla and cashmere confused him---it definitely didn't smell like vanilla scented goats wool to him.) but they smelled nice.

To Xander, he gave a mug which read "I like horses, dogs, and like 3 people." To Ivy, he gave a blue crab which crawled back and forth, playing music. When Dark and Daizi looked at him in horror and amusement respectively, he impishly said, "It's rechargeable, so you don't gotta go out and buy batteries!" Ivy's face immediately lit up in amazement when he turned on the crab to show her.

Finally, to Alec, he gave a bedazzler.
 
Xander briefly explained to Daizi that he'd attempted to make her a braided leather belt and it had... not gone... well. That was all he was prepared to say on that subject. Plus, he hadn't made a belt for Ciara!

Toby and Ciara were both surprised to receive gifts from Cooger. Toby crowed in excitement at the gift card and started telling his mother about what he wanted to get. Ciara politely thanked Cooger for the candles and expressed her appreciation, though she, too, was a bit confused by the scents. Lemon drop and black currant were nice, but why would she want to sniffed a vanilla scented sweater? Still, it was a nice thought.

Tristan was amused and enthralled by the Lego flowers and looked forward to building it.

Xander loved his mug. "Three people. Well, looks like that leaves you out," he told Alec.

Then Alec opened the bedazzler. He squealed like Ivy and held it up. "I've always wanted one of these! Look at this! It's so cool!"

Xander gave Cooger a flat look. "What have you done?"
 
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Cooger placed one hand over his heart, "If he is going to bedazzle anyway, I rather it be at home so he is not sneaking out and consorting with unsavory bedazzlers."

After Dark whispered to Daizi what everyone received, he looked at Alec and said, "I trust you do not need to be told not to use that on anything which does not belong to you without express permission?" Beside him, Daizi nodded in support, but the look on her face said she was already planning on teaming up with Alec to sneakily switch one of Dark's garments with a bedazzled clone. His shirts may be difficult, since they were bespoke. Getting replacement socks could be feasible...
 
"Maybe you should take him home for a while," Xander told Cooger.

"I understand, absolutely, I get it," Alec babbled excitedly, eyes still glued to his new toy. "Only bedazzle acceptable items!" He grinned broadly and was clearly thinking, Which is everything!
 
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