How Green Becomes Wood

Daizi blushed, having not made the connection with Tristan's earlier statement she had been grabbing the wheel and not just staring at it. Sheepishly apologizing she said, "I'm sorry, if I had been able to see I would've intervened. Please tell me if it becomes a bother and I'll grab her, okay?"
 
"Oh, she's fine!" Tristan assured her. "I really don't mind, and I've locked the wheels so that she can't hurt herself. Or pull me around," he chuckled. "I cleaned my chair before coming here, too, so she shouldn't get her hands too dirty." He did keep an eye on her still as some spots were greasy.
 
Ivy did spend a bit of time exploring, but once she realized she couldn't manipulate the wheel at all, it bored her and she crawled away, managing to be completely ungreased.
Daizi sighed in relief a bit when she heard Ivy crawl off, still feeling a bit embarrassed despite Tristan's assurances. He seemed okay and Ivy was unbothered, happily going to get her other toys and very quickly demonstrating the work Dark had to do to make the living room spotless before they came over, because she seemed determined to dig through every potentially hidden area where anything she wasn't supposed to have might have lingered.

Looking at Lex, Cooger said, "What if I unleash the crab?"
 
"Maybe sometime I'll give her a ride," Tristan said, watching her in amusement. As long as he didn't accidentally teach her to ask other wheelchair users for rides, particularly strangers.

Lex grinned and waggled her brows. "Do it!"
 
"I'm sure she would love that," Daizi smiled, "It might be better saved for when the weather is warmer, so there's more space."

Cooger bent down, switched on the crab, and let it loose. The sound caught Ivy's attention, but it wasn't until she saw it that she squealed and she scrambled to her feet, staring at the crab move back and forth, bouncing off walls and objects to switch directions.
 
Ciara tried very hard to not look too disapproving as she carefully moved her feet out of the way of the crab.

"What is Enkidu going to make of this thing?" Xander wondered, coming over to watch. "It's going to drive him wild!"

Alec slipped over to sit behind Cooger. Very, very carefully, he started fiddling with the edge of Cooger's shirt.
 
Ivy stood and screeched in delight as the crab crossed the room.

"Honestly, I think he may just try to chase it down," Daizi said, turning her head to the side and trying to figure out how to store the crab so it was only a sometimes toy and not one she always had access too.

"I tested it on the kittens, they loved it," Cooger said, "It's about as big as most of 'em, and it's much bigger than Poppy." Since he was watching the crab and his niece, he didn't notice the tickling on his shirt.
 
"It might help her get to walking sooner, if she wants to chase the crab," Xander remarked. "That, or she'll just crawl even faster."

"Poppy? Is that the little," Lex paused as she tried to remember, "tabby kitten?" she hazarded.

Alec worked a little bit more shirt out from under Cooger's sweater and finished his work before tucking it back. Then he crawled back to his corner while Toby tried not to laugh.
 
"Tuxedo," Lex confirmed as if she'd known it all along. "I should come by when the roads are a little better and see them again. Socialize the little curtain scratchers, right?"

When the crab came near him, Tristan leaned over and nudged it so it would go scurrying back toward Ivy.
 
"They'd love to see you again, most of 'em are rambunctious as hell. Then there's this one all black one, biggest of the bunch, and she hangs around the place like nothing phases her."

Hearing the noise, Dark poked his head in from the kitchen just as Tristan nudged the crab back towards Ivy. This time as it went past her, she squeaked loudly and without thinking about it, excitedly walked after it, even though it was much faster than her.
 
"Sounds like a heck of a good cat," Lex chuckled. Then she noticed Ivy walking and reached out instinctively to grip Cooger's forearm. "Look at that!"

Xander pulled out his phone so fast he almost dropped it and got a recording of Ivy as she walked unassisted and without any clothespins.

"Ah. Ivy appears to be walking unaided," Ciara remarked calmly.
 
"Is she?" Daizi asked, eyes wide, and instinctively reached over to touch Ciara's forearm purely because she was the nearest to her and she was too excited to not make physical contact with someone, "She's never done that before! At least not without tricking her!"

Dark's eyes lit up, "Ivy-Qadira, look at you my darling daughter." He crouched down, watching her waddle after the crab, hoping he didn't distract her.
 
"Ah, yes," Ciara said, glancing at Daizi's hand. She willed herself to remain still and not pull away, understanding the importance of the moment. "She is making good time as well, though she is not as quick as a crab."

Alec stood to watch Ivy, grinning broadly. "Wow! Look at her go!"

Xander inched sideways to try to keep her in frame. "She's going for the long game."
 
After a moment or so Daizi pulled her hand away after recognizing what she had done and instead pressed them to her chest.

"Watch her folks give me hell for giving their kid that thing," Cooger grinned, his hand firmly over Lex's, "Good girl, Kitten!"

Ivy squealed, delighted by how excited (almost) everyone in the room was. When the crab bounced off the wall and changed direction, she noticed a familiar pair of socks and pants and turned direction, "Baba!"

"Marhaban, my daughter," Dark said, smoothing her hair, "You have done so well."
 
"Once she figures out running, you will absolutely be blamed for it," Lex teased. "They'll miss the crawling days. Good job, Ivy!"

Xander, satisfied, sat back to do his duty of sending everyone the videos.

"That was very well done," Ciara stated.

"She can walk so much better than I can!" Tristan quipped. Then he realized this might not be the best company for that style of humor when Ciara glanced at him, shocked.
 
Daizi laughed at Tristan's joke, "Don't worry, habibi, she sees better than I can too!"

Neither Dark nor Cooger reacted with much shock to Tristan's joke. They were too used to Daizi. Cooger chuckled a bit, but it took more than that to make Dark laugh, especially now. He held his daughter's tiny hands and looked into her eyes for a few moments, hoping he knew how proud he was of her, before picking her up and rising to his feet, "Dinner is ready," He told them.
 
Tristan relaxed at Daizi's laugh. If the blind woman could be amused by the lame man's joke, then all was well!

"Oh, good, dinner," Lex said, standing up. "You are one he-" Again, she caught herself. "A very good cook," she finished mildly. "I've been looking forward to it."

Alec put away his bedazzler and made triple certain everything was out of Ivy's reach before heading into the dining room. "It smells great."

Tristan almost forgot to undo the brake on his wheel, which would have been embarrassing, and waited for the others to go first before finding his place.
 
"Thank you," Dark said, standing aside so they could all go to the dining room before him, "Really, Daizi did much of the work before the party, I was just finishing it for her." He watched Tristan warily as he set Ivy down into her high chair, worried the dining room table may be too tall for him, but not exactly knowing how to circumvent that. It wasn't like he could replace his table wholesale, a lower would would cause him to constantly bang his knees.

Now that everyone was eating, Daizi made sure to get everyone something to drink before sitting down at her spot, all but instructing Ciara to sit beside her. One thing she refused to do was allow Ciara to end up left out of conversations and forgotten.
 
The table was high on Tristan, but he could work with it. It amused him, actually, because it reminded him of Franklin from Snoopy's Thanksgiving. (That was one of the few things where his mother overrode his father's wishes: They would watch that movie every year. He had it memorized.)

The twins sat with Toby, taking the opportunity to talk to him. They didn't normally have a lot of chance to just chat, and while they didn't have a lot of overlapping interests, he was an okay guy. Lex sat between Toby and Cooger, enjoying her first holiday shared with him.

Ciara agreed to Daizi's demands, keeping her elbows tucked in neatly, her manners impeccable as she eyed the offerings on the table. Some were familiar, some were not, but she didn't want to offend, so she did try some of the less familiar dishes.
 
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