How Green Becomes Wood

"I see," Dark said, a bit disappointed now but only Daizi could've known.

"Oh, that would make sense," Daizi nodded, "but I made sure we didn't use any fragrances before we left the house so we could use the ones we made."
 
"I suppose this way is more logical," Sally agreed with Daizi. "Less romantic, but more logical."

Jack chuckled and presented Sally with his fragrance. "Then I hope you like this sweet smell for my sweetest of loves."

Sally smiled at him fondly. "You do have a few romantic bones in your body, I see."

Jack kissed her lightly on the cheek, a bold move of PDA for him.
 
Daizi smiled at Jack's very sweet attempt at romance and turned to her husband, "Goose, come here, let me show you yours," she told him, holding out one hand. When Dark put his hand into hers, she turned his arm over to be palm up and gently sprayed it onto his wrist, "I wanted to make it smell like..." She paused, the corners of her lips twisting as she chose to let some things stay unsaid, "Well. Anyway, it's yours."

Dark brought his wrist to his face and smelled the perfume, "It smells wonderful."
 
Before showing Daizi the perfume he made, Dark made sure to apply to the one she made to his other wrist. Then he took Daizi's hand and sprayed it on her wrist and told her, "I wanted to make you a perfume which smells like a forest witch in her garden."
 
"Oh, Goose, it smells beautiful." Daizi said, admiring it's complexity, "I love it. It does smell like a forest witch."

"You are a forest witch," Dark replied, continuing to hold her hand and wishing they were somewhere else for just a moment.

"Is there amber in it?"

"Yes, I know how fond you are of it."
 
Sally and Jack suddenly felt very awkward and wandered a few steps away to give Dark and Daizi a moment. They paid extra special attention to some of the scents they'd already covered.
 
Noticing Jack and Sally had backed away, Dark kissed the back of Daizi's hand and they murmured briefly to each other. For them, personally, it felt like quite a lot of restraint, and then they rejoined Sally and Jack.
 
"Time to dine!" Sally said cheerfully.

They headed out and met Dark and Daizi at the prearranged restaurant. While it was not the nicest restaurant in town, it was certainly upscale. As they headed inside, before they walked into the building, Jack calmly told Dark he fully intended to pay and would not be fighting over the check. "This was my wife's idea, after all, and our choice of restaurant, essentially. It only makes sense that we should pay for it," he said jovially. "If there's a second time, you can pay that time." He knew the tendencies for fighting over the check, and he wanted to head that off. This was not exactly his idea of a good time, but Sally was truly enjoying herself, which made it more than worth it for him. Dark, he figured, was having even less of a good time than he was, so he felt it was his duty to cover the check.

They were soon seated in a half-circled booth, and Jack and Sally sat on one end, leaving plenty of room for Dark to sit on the end and stretch his legs.
 
"If you insist," Dark replied, and might've argued more had Daizi not asked him not to on the car ride over.

To her absolute delight, this restaurant actually had a braille menu, so Daizi sat reading hers, leaning slightly against her husband who had his hand on her knee beneath the table.
 
Jack and Sally had not eaten here before, and they discussed the different options with Daizi and Dark amiable until the server came to take their drinks orders. Jack ordered a light alcoholic beverage, and Sally took water with lemon. They chose within a relatively quick time with Jack getting a fish dish, and Sally a fancy salad.
 
Both Dark and Daizi ordered red wine, and Daizi chose her meal fairly quickly, but Dark took a bit longer to decide. That was one problem with being his size when someone else was paying for his meal. The Hollises were wealthier than he was, so he supposed it didn't matter, but he still didn't want to look like he was taking advantage of their generosity. Then again---they knew the size he was. There were some things they should logically expect.

Nonetheless, he still chose before the waiter came, and sat back to really just listen to his wife talk with her friends.
 
Sally talked animatedly with Daizi, discussing house plants she was considering getting, plants she'd killed, and plants she wanted but knew could never withstand her haphazard husbandry. She also brought up a new artist she'd discovered. They'd been going for only a year now, but had a strong operatic-rock style she liked.

Jack made a few contributions and nodded along. After the food came, he struck up a brief conversation with Dark about random things, but mostly let Dark sit in as much silence as he wanted.
 
Daizi did her best to advise on houseplants, but it was hard without having been in the space itself. Eventually, as the conversation went on, she said, "I know way back in November you mentioned you had bought your own home, how has it been settling in there? I feel like you haven't mentioned it much since."
 
"It is very strange to be a homeowner. I keep thinking I can call the landlord, but I am the landlord," Sally said with an amused smile. "It is a lovely home, and I think we've settled in quite well."
 
"I'm so glad," Daizi smiled, "Normally I'm quite pleased to not have a landlord, but... Ciara, her landlord maintained the water pipes in her home so poorly, the other day multiple burst open all at once. In that instance, I was glad she had one, just because it meant she isn't financially having to cope with all of the damage."
 
"From what Cooger said they're just old and rotted, so that cold snap we had recently just destroyed them," Daizi explained, "She seems okay, Dark was actually there when it happened so she was able to help."

"Yes, I was," Dark said dryly, taking a sip of wine, "Luckily I think most of her belongings were protected."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top