How Green Becomes Wood

At the station, Dark and Daizi made their usual long and loving goodbye, although now it's colour had changed. Dark knew the goodbye would not be as long as Daizi expected it to be, and she was really just sad to be leaving because they had been so sweet to her. But the train waited for nobody, so she left him there at the platform, like she did each morning, and then he hurried home.

The plans were made and everything was set, so when he walked inside the door, he realized with horror the one part of the plan he hadn't thought out: what to do with the time before they got on the train to surprise her?
 
Xander answered Dark's question by greeting him at the door. He stood just inside, giving Dark enough room to take off his shoes, and that was it. He stood with arms crossed, one foot tapping on the floor. "I hope you are incredibly happy with yourself," he stated.
 
"...I am?" Dark replied, bending to take off his shoes and, of course, touch the salt, "She did not miss her train, if that is what you are worried about?"
 
"Nope, not that." Xander hooked his thumb over his shoulder. "Alec is currently in the bathroom staring in the mirror and counting wrinkles. He also has his phone and is trying to research best facial lotions. While counting wrinkles. And is telling me which five hundred of them we need to get. While counting wrinkles. Wrinkles! At fifteen!"
 
"Uh-huh. Have you both not been using moisturizer?" He knew this was not the response Xander was hoping for, but he was too confused by this change to have the perfect replies. "Obviously you do not have wrinkles yet but you should be using moisturizer."
 
"I think the answer to that should be obvious," Xander said mildly, stepping out of the way so Dark could come inside. "Neither of us even knew moisturizer for guys was a thing. I thought it was just a scam for cosmetic industries to get posh girl money. Anyway, would you please explain to him that he doesn't need to panic and get him out so I can have a turn in the bathroom?"
 
"Your skin is your largest organ, you need to take care of it," Dark said, "it certainly is not gendered. But, yes, I will go speak with him." This was the last thing he had expected to come home to, but it wasn't the worst possibility, so he went over to the bathroom and knocked on the door, "Hey, Alec? How is it going?"
 
"I'm turning into a wrinkled raisin hag!" Alec wailed from within.

Xander leaned on the wall beside the door and rolled his eyes. "See? Now he's paranoid." He scowled at the floor. "Why now? What's wrong with a few wrinkles?"

"I don't want to look like a backwoods hillbilly," Alec retorted through the door. "I'm too young to go mining for precious metals!"
 
"You are not turning into a hag," Dark replied, leaning with his shoulder against the door, "it is just the lighting. Take a mirror out into the sunlight, you will look as youthful as ever, I swear it."

Naturally, Dark wanted to educate Alec on hillbillies and what they actually mine for, but it didn't quite seem like the time for it. Another day, maybe. Just like Cooger ardently defended Dark and his heritage, Dark did the same for him.
 
There was a long pause. "Are you sure?" Alec asked suspiciously.

"You're certainly never going to find out stuck in there, are you?" Xander challenged. "Come on, try it out!"

After a moment, Alec opened the door and stepped out with a hand mirror. Xander half-pulled him out of the way, stepped into the bathroom, and slammed the door behind himself. Alec shot the door an annoyed look but then focused on the mirror.

"See? Lines! I give myself a year at best, all because I didn't know to moisturize," he moaned, pointing to the tiny, barely visible creases next to his eyes that pretty much everyone had.
 
"You are young, Alec," Dark said, "young enough it does not matter, yet. I am fairly certain people are not meant to even begin moisturizing until they are in middle school, so you have hardly missed any time. I will buy you a full skincare set, and then you can make up for lost time, yes? I did not start until I was older than you are now, and I grew up under a harsh desert sun, you will be completely fine, okay?"
 
"Really?" Alec looked up to study Dark's face. It had a few lines as was natural for someone of his age, but they were not deep. He looked down at his own youthful features. "Are you certain?" he asked, still unsure but wanting to believe Dark. "I haven't missed a deadline or anything?"
 
"How your skin ages is a combination of genetics, the amount of water you drink, how you take care of it, and little things like drinking and smoking. But there is no deadline, and starting whenever you choose to begin is better than never starting at all." He crouched down to study Alec's features better, "You look great, even without years of moisturizing and sunscreen. And I have seen half of your genetic makeup as an adult, and I do not doubt that man has ever so much as put motel room lotion on an ashy elbow. You will age fine."
 
Alec visibly relaxed and smiled at Dark. "Thank you," he said quietly. "That makes me feel a lot better. I never knew any of this before, but I guess it does make sense. Thank you." He turned to go back into the bathroom and paused. "Xander?" He knocked. "Lemme back in!"

"Ha!" was Xander's only reply.

Alec huffed but shrugged and looked at Dark. "So... what are we doing until we go see Daizi?"
 
"You cannot know things before you learn them," He smiled slightly, not mentioning that part of his good skin was certainly due to how neutral his expression remained, "but you can trust me when I say aging really is not something you need to fear. You could not pay me to go back to my early 20s or to my teenage years. Being an adult means having a lot of frightening responsibilities, but it also means having a lot more freedom. Even if you do not look fifteen, but nobody looks their best at fifteen. And I think it is his turn in there now."

He looked at the closed door for a few seconds, and then said, "I think all we are doing is trying to pass the time. I have to make myself ready to see her, but besides that... It is a normal day until it is time to leave, I think."
 
Alec smiled and nodded. "Normal days are better than frantic ones, that's for certain." He sighed and rolled his shoulders. "I think I have a lot to learn from you. Maybe you should write a book. Then you don't have to repeat yourself." He glanced up at Dark. "And I like your stories of your younger days with your now-wife. Even if they are really, really sappy." He grinned up at Dark teasingly.
 
Dark furrowed his brows briefly and then smiled, walking down the hall away from the bathroom door, "I thought I lecture too much? But I am not sure I have anywhere near enough to say for a book, and you are the only person who would be interested in reading it," he sighed, mostly just amused, and suddenly feeling very old indeed. When they passed the wedding portrait, he stopped and looked up at it. Happiest day of your life was such a cliché, and he still was not entirely sure if he supported marriage as an institution, at least not the way it was treated. But he couldn't deny that on his wedding day, everything truly did feel divine. It was the closest he had ever come to believing Daizi when she said they had been chasing each other through time, because during the ceremony, it really did seem like it was all he had ever been meant to do in his life.

"Well," he said, slowly, turning away from it, "I am glad you like them, because you are bound to hear many more. We have been together a long, long time."
 
"You do lecture too much," Alec said without hesitation, "but that doesn't mean you don't have good things to say that we want to hear. We just have short attention spans and want our feasts of knowledge delivered to us in spoonfuls instead of mounded plates." He smiled at Dark. "Lots of people would enjoy reading your book. It needn't be long. Lots of impactful books are short." He turned away as the bathroom door opened. "Finally! I can stop carrying this mirror." He scampered away from Dark.

Xander headed up toward his room, more or less figuring today was a normal day and already thinking about a new leather technique he wanted to try.
 
"I am sure you do, but if I give you the time to interject, you will surely find a way to take what I am trying to say in the worst possible way," Dark teased, but let Alec go off. They all had a lot of nothing to do until it was time to leave.

For his part, Dark once more returned to his shed. The cradle was slowly nearing completion, the crib a little bit less so, but that was only because they would need the cradle first. He still doubted either would be finished before August, but he had faith they would be completed before school began again.

Eventually, Dark found himself by the door, well dressed and wearing his best cologne (and wearing it properly, so it wasn't overpowering), waiting for the twins.
 
Alec dressed as he had for the concert he'd gone to with Daizi, primarily because he knew it was an approved outfit for special occasions, and he didn't want Dark to feel he wasn't taking this seriously. He straightened his tie proudly and looked to Enkidu. "What do you think?"

Xander wore all black, which made his hair look even redder. He wasn't certain if this was right, he felt like he was going to a funeral or to bus tables at a fancy restaurant, but at least there were no holes. He refused to wear a tie and had the top two buttons undone for comfort.
 
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