How Green Becomes Wood

"You can help cook, if you would like," Dark told Alec, handing Ivy off to Daizi.

"I get her first," Daizi said, stepping inside the house, able to tell very quickly they needed to change her before anything else occurred. "Then I think she may need a bit of quiet time."
 
"Have a nice quiet time, Ivy," Alec called after her before following Dark into the kitchen to do his best to be helpful.

Xander finished putting everything away and then headed over to plop onto the couch for a bit of downtime. It was nice to be home again.
 
After Xander had been sitting on the couch for a little while, Milo sent a text to him reading simply, Do you want to come over on Friday? I don't really have a lot of plans but we could get a pizza or something
 
Xander read the text and then called into the kitchen, "Ba. Need me for anything on Friday? I need to go to Stitch's."

"Oh, for his birthday?" Alec asked, sticking his head through the doorway.

"Yep." To Milo, he texted, What time?
 
"You are more than welcome to spend time with your friend," Dark said.

"I had thought you were already planning to," Daizi said, having heard Xander yell for Dark as she came down the stairs with Ivy on her hip, "Or were you planning to bring the tart to school?"

idk, 6pm, I guess? Not immediately after school, but at... normal hangout time, I guess Milo texted back.
 
"I hadn't made any plans because I wouldn't have been surprised if he did decide he didn't want anything," Xander replied. "Looks like he decided to do a hangout time with pizza."

"Oh, that's really nice," Alec grinned. He hesitated, considering asking if he was invited, and then discarded the question. "Pizza hangout time with excellent tarts will be great."

Cool. I'll be there. With tarts.
 
I never get hyped about anything but food, and you said there'd be pizza, so I'm hyped. Xander tipped his head back to look into the kitchen upside-down. "Hey. Our next birthday is going to be real annoying."

"Our 18th?" Alec frowned. "Hmm. You have a point."
 
"Yeah, that's the problem. Do we go all out because it's the mythical number 18? Or do we go low-key because it's all just numbers and we have had a couple of big parties?" Alec asked as he wandered in. He flopped down onto the couch, his head on Xander's leg. "It really is a conundrum."

"You have honey in your hair," Xander commented without making Alec move. "I do need to make sure to get a nice tart ready for Friday."
 
"I think it's still worth having a big party," Daizi said, setting Ivy down in the living room before sitting on the couch, "18 is sort of the last year you can enjoy a big party until you're thirty. And how many times before now have you had the chance to enjoy a good party? Or, instead of a party, you could choose to do something you've never gotten to do."
 
"Ooohhh, now that could be interesting. Something we've never done," Alec said thoughtfully. "Also, you have a good point about the amount of parties we've missed. How come you don't get a party when you turn 19 or 20? Or 21? 21 is the next age of interest. Full, legal adult! Completely free of all adult supervision. Terrifying."

"Probably because they're busy at college or jobs or whatever else comes with being free of all adult supervision?" Xander suggested.
 
"In most of the world, 21 isn't a special birthday," Daizi pointed out.

"I think Cooger is still hungover from his 21st birthday," Dark called from the kitchen.

"That's another part of it," Daizi chuckled, "but I guess the birthdays that matter most are the ones you want to make matter most."
 
"Honestly, I don't know. I'm not sure if there is one for every age. The year I turned 32 was special, and I don't even know why. It just felt like an important year." Daizi mused, playing with the ends of her hair.

Watching Alec, Enkidu came over and started sniffing him intensely.
 
"Yeah? That's interesting," Xander said. "I dunno. At least we have time to think about our next birthday.

"Hey, buddy. What are you sniffing at?" Alec asked, grinning. "Did you have a nice time alone?"
 
"You have almost an entire year, I have until July." Daizi said, and then, calling to her husband asked, "Do we know what we're doing for Cooger's birthday?"

"All he has said so far is it will be a barbecue at the Homestead, and I am fairly certain he is running behind," Dark answered.

As much as Enkidu wanted to get on the couch, he was trained not to do so without permission. Instead, he made a grumbling dog noise and pawed at Alec.
 
"Mmm, barbecue!" Alec said happily. He laughed at Enkidu and slid off the couch to sit on the floor. "What's the matter, Enkidu?"

"How do you run behind on your own birthday?" Xander wanted to know.
 
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