How Green Becomes Wood

"Are you?" Dark asked coolly, looking down at Alec as though he hadn't been the one to lead them to safety in the first place. "I had not noticed."

"Where did you get off to?" Daizi asked.
 
"Yep, I thought you should know," Alec told him with a cheeky smirk.

"I have no idea. Somewhere out among the trees with some cool mushrooms," Xander told her, coming up to her. "Thought about picking you one, but I don't know anything about mushrooms, so I decided not to risk it. You should know something, though: your husband puts his woodworking over your peace."

Alec nodded soberly. "This is true. He wanted to take time ot look at wood instead of coming straight back."
 
"What are you talking about?" Daizi asked, scrunching her face, "Goose, what were you doing?"

"Listen," Dark breathed, dropping down in front of his wife. The excitement in his breath and the way he grabbed her hands was immediately clear to Daizi, "Daizi, Spider, I found the largest burl I have ever seen."

And they had been married for ten years, after many years of dating beforehand. So Daizi had heard this tall, goth, strange man talk about burls extensively for nearly twenty years. It may not have been something she totally understood, but nonetheless, "That's amazing!"

"And the tree is already dead," He told her.

"So it's harvestable? What kind of tree is it on?"

"Maple!"

"Maple?! Fortune smiled on you, babe!"
 
"It's kinda like tree cancer," Cooger told Toby, then to Dark said, "If the tree is dead, you can have it. Is on the trunk or a branch?"

"The trunk," Dark answered, standing up after Daizi kissed his cheek.

"The chainsaw'd be faster than the axe," Cooger said, walking towards his tool shed.
 
"Can I come help?" Toby asked hopefully.

Lex waved a hand. "Go have some fun, boys."

"I am staying right here," Alec said stoutly.

"I'm hungry. I'm finding some food," Xander said, heading into the cabin.
 
"I suppose so," Dark said, walking after Cooger, "but I do not know how much help is needed. You are more than welcome to come along, though."

"Ivy is just about to fall asleep, so I'm stuck here I think," Daizi said, rubbing Ivy's back.
 
"I was probably going to lay her down on the bed," Daizi replied, "We brought the baby monitor, so I'll be sure to get her when she wakes up, otherwise who knows what trouble she'll cause. But once my husband is back with his burl, we'll trade off again, I want to do a forest walk too."
 
"It is a real nice forest," Lex agreed. "But maybe you should have stuck a baby monitor to your boys. How did they get lost? Alec, I can see, but Xander?" She snickered and shook her head. "Kids. They keep you on your toes, don't they?"

Toby happily followed Dark and Cooger into the forest. He was of no real help, but he was happy to be included, and he wanted to know what a burl looked like.
 
"I think that's what their phones are for," Daizi replied, "but next time I'm going to have to try something different. They snuck away so quickly, I didn't have time to give them a warning."

Back at the tree, ultimately Cooger and Dark decided it was better to use the chainsaw rather than the axe---although admittedly Dark thought the axe would've been more fun---so after Dark put on all the requisite safety gear, he got to work cutting out the section of tree stump with the burl. It took a bit of time, and Cooger had to help make sure the tree fell in a safe direction, but eventually he had his prize. Lifting the large, heavy bit of wood, Dark said, "This will not dry out before I am fifty."
 
"We did not sneak away," Alec protested, sticking his head out, having overheard the last bit. "We walked completely normally! We were going to turn around and come straight back."

"Worked out well, I see," Lex said dryly.

Alec grumbled and disappeared again. "Xander, save some chips for me!"

Toby loved every second of it, grinning like a fool as he stayed safely out of the way and watched the whole thing. When Dark made his announcement and held up the wood like a video game character who'd just opened a chest, Toby raised his hand. "I know a guy in Jersey who's got a drying kiln."
 
Daizi shook her head, shifting how Ivy was in her arms, "We'd tease them less if they didn't forget to tell us what they're doing so often."

"Do you?" Dark asked curiously, needing to carry the burl in both arms, "I always wished to build one, but we only have so much space in our yard, and I do not want to encroach further onto my wife's garden."
 
"Although, if they had told you they were going this time, it would have taken a lot longer before anyone realized they were lost," Lex remarked. "Not saying they shouldn't start communicating better."

"Yeah. He does it commercially, and he worked with my mom some. I could give you the deets, and maybe you could send him your burly thing for a good dry so you can have it before you're too old to do anything with it," said the teenager who thought anyone over thirty was really old.
 
"Or we would've noticed sooner because we would have kept looking around to see if they had returned yet," Daizi countered, "Either way, we've had so many conversations about this."

Dark looked steadily down at Toby, his expression as muted as ever while Cooger turned to hide a laugh, "I would appreciate that information. Without a kiln, it is one year of dry time per inch of width."
 
"Wonder why they have such a problem remembering it, then. At the most weirdly convenient or inconvenient times possible," Lex mused. She shrugged. "Eh. Teenagers. Distractable as squirrels, I think."

Toby grinned, pleased to have been of some assistance. "Cool! I'll text Alec the deets so you can work it out."
 
"I consider it selective memory," Daizi chuckled. Then after a few moments she asked, "Toby is turning 19 soon, right? What's that like?"

"I would appreciate it," Dark replied earnestly.

"Come on, we should head back," Cooger said, already beginning that way, "We still need to eat dinner."
 
"Woof," Lex sighed. "It's hard to figure out the lines. 'You are and will always be my little kid,' vs 'You are technically an adult, and I need to treat you like an adult.' I don't always get it right. I want him to know he's always got a safe haven to come back to, but I know he wants to stretch his wings, and I gotta support him in that. He's a good kid. Kind, thinks of others first, and I'm real proud of him, but he's also a bit... I'm worried people will take advantage of his... good nature."

"Yes, sir! Looking forward to it," Toby said, walking with Cooger.
 
"It must be difficult," Daizi said sympathetically, "We struggled with Alec and Xander---I suppose, in this way, moreso with Xander---because they've been so much, sometimes it's hard for them to remember they aren't already adults. But with Toby.... Does he have a good group of friends, who would look out for him?"
 
Lex shrugged. "For the most part, yeah. It's almost exclusively skaters and such, but they are pretty good kids. Get one now and then who's not such a good egg, but the group is pretty good about sussing them out."
 
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