How Green Becomes Wood

"She probably would love it," Dark admitted despite himself, "So long as they stay on, otherwise she will end up swallowing one."

Daizi smiled, bending to scoop up Ivy, "The two of you will have a great afternoon. And I think Alec deserves a day like that, as different as it is from my style, I really love his commitment."
 
"He is... committed. Usually," Xander agreed.

Alec came galloping down the stairs. "Okay! I didn't mop, but other than that, that room is sparkling! Now what is it that required room cleaning?" he demanded.

Xander smirked. "I was saying hi to our family, so I haven't gotten it yet. How about you say hi to our family while I go get it?" He headed down to his room.

"Hmm, so it's an it!" Alec mused. He grinned at the other members of his family. "Hello, family!"
 
"It was pretty good," Alec said, accepting Ivy. He hugged her and cuddled her for a moment. "Math is hard, and history was weird, but otherwise, it was good. How was home and work?"
 
"Weird," Alec said cautiously. "I don't really like her, but there's not really anything I can say against her, either."

Xander returned carrying a closed cardboard box. "Alright. Let's head upstairs. Sorry, Mini, but no mini hands allowed for this get-together."

Alec kissed Ivy's cheek and blew a raspberry on her belly before handing her to her father. "We'll play later, okay, Mini?" He made a face at Xander. "You got me saying it."

Xander snickered and headed up. "Come on."
 
"So, what are we doing?" Alec asked, following Xander into his room.

Xander set the box down on the floor and looked Kiki, who was sitting on the bed, watching them. He pointed at her. "Behave, okay? I don't want to have to kick you out."

She blinked at him.

Xander knelt down, opened the box, and displayed the contents.

"I thought you were against me getting new stuff?" Alec asked uncertainly.

"No. Well, yes. I don't want you mindlessly grabbing everything and ending up on that stupid, exploitive show," Xander admitted. "You can get all the actually meaningful and needed stuff you want, but, actually, it's not all for you." He dug out the two plain belts (he couldn't bring himself to use his good leather for this) and held them up. "Got your bedazzler handy?"

Alec's eyes lit up. "No! Really?"

Xander nodded. "We're going to bedazzle the s**t out of this stuff."

Alec actually squealed and ran across the room to fetch the crystals, tweezers, glue, and the applicator. "Let's do this thing! Where do we start?"

"How about with my belt?" Xander suggested. "I don't know how this thing works, so you'll have to show me."

Alec actually looked tearful for a moment and nearly commented, but bit it back hard. "Cool! How about silver and black? We could lay out a pattern and see if you like it. Maybe even add a couple of red pieces or dark purple."

"Perfect," Xander agreed. "Let's see how it looks."

The pair flattened out the belt and got to discussing first the pattern, and then the how. It took a bit as Alec hadn't been bedazzling that long and was still a bit clunky with it, but soon they were chugging right along. Laughter and cursing flowed as they both accidentally burnt themselves more than once, glued the wrong thing, or dropped the rinestones. Kiki eventually got kicked out as she could not resist chasing the shinies, and she sulkily sat outside the door until she got bored and went to find Dark. The twins worked on Cooger's hat after the belts, and then a random shirt Xander had picked out, and finished it off with the pants. Alec, of course, loved the bellbottoms and accepted them with glee. It took them several hours, but it didn't feel like it to them.
 
By the time the twins came back downstairs, dinner was warm on the table and their family was waiting for them.

"How was your surprise?" Dark asked, wanting to give Alec a chance to explain it himself.
 
"Brilliant!" Alec grinned. "It was so much fun, we made so many patterns, and there was so much sparkle! And we got a lot done." He held up Cooger's hat to display it. It was fully covered on the front with pink and white rhinestones with a swooping, swirling letter C done up in baby blue. "What do you think?"

Xander looked at his hands. "These hands will never be the same again," he said somberly.
 
Dark stared at the hat for a moment in silence. Then he finally answered, "It is horrible. I adore it."

"To be loved is to be changed," Daizi told Xander somberly, a teasing grin pulling at her mouth.
 
"I'm glad you approve," Alec said smugly. "We did some other really cool stuff, but this one is my favorite."

Xander heaved a melancholy sigh. "True, I suppose. "I had to handle pink rhinestones. Worse, I took pride in making a totally awesome belt in all sorts of colors. It looks good. Blegh."
 
"I am excited to see the rest of it," Dark replied, "It sounds like a lovely afternoon for you."

With a small laugh, Daizi said, "Your hands will recover, they can't tell pink from black. But I'm glad you found pride in your craft, maybe you'll have to start selling them."
 
"It was so much fun. Do you really want to see them? I'll show you after dinner," Alec promised, plunking Cooger's hat on his head for safe-keeping during dinner. He didn't want to hang it on the back of the chair or put it somewhere else in case he forgot it.

"I'm pretty sure my hands can tell the difference, especially now that I burned myself multiple times playing with colors. But I only burned myself while dealing with the lavender ones. What's with that?" Xander frowned.
 
"Of course I want to see them, I love to see your projects." Dark told him.

"I have no idea," Daizi shrugged, "If I hurt myself working with particular colours, I'm not aware of it. Maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, though, or if you just think you hurt yourself more because you pay more attention to those injuries."
 
Alec lit up in delight and turned his attention to his dinner. The quicker he finished, the quicker he could show off what they'd made! "Xander's belt came out so good! I think he might actually wear it."

"Hmm, not sure. Maybe, but don't think so," Xander said. He glanced at Alec. "What am I wearing? Not the hat."

"Of course not the hat," Alec chortled. "The belt."

"Oh. Yeah, sure, I'd wear that."

Alec didn't believe him, not really, but he still nodded happily. "I knew you'd like it."
 
"If he said he'll wear it, he'll wear it," Daizi said with a little grin.

Thoughtfully, Dark took a sip of wine and then said, "I used to wear these thick, studded belts. Sometimes multiple at a time. I suppose it's just the opposite side of bedazzling, since affixing is the same."
 
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