How Green Becomes Wood

"Dark has been," She said, "I sort of... She goes through so many changes of clothes a day. I can't bring myself to get attached to anything I put her in, I know there's a very good chance she'll be in something else later in the day... It's been a bit better, but," She shook her head but smiled, "Babies are messy little creatures. Dark is unperturbed, when he changes her onesie into a clean one, he still chooses it as if she's going to the Met Gala. He's actually fussed at me a few times because if she spits up a little on herself I'll clean her up but won't rush to put her in something new, but he thinks it's very important we do. So he does her laundry." The little grin on her face made it really obvious she found this trait of his more endearing and amusing than annoying.

"You don't remind me of an owl cat," Cooger replied, "it's the way she sits with her tail over her paws and isn't demanding like a lot of the other cats. She likes to sit on top of the fridge and watch everyone, with good cat posture, quietly asserting her dominance."
 
Sally laughed. "I can certainly understand both of your perspectives! I was a bit like Dark at first until I started running out of clothes far too fast and didn't want to do the laundry."

"I see," Ciara said slowly. "I believe I will take that as a compliment."
 
"I bet eventually Dark will give in, but it'll probably take a while. He really doesn't like mess, and he is convinced even if it is dry it must be uncomfortable for her," She smiled, angling her head towards the stairs to listen for him returning, "But he's like that. I love it about him."

"Good, it weren't meant as an insult." He replied. As he said this Dark, finally, came back downstairs, and Cooger tipped back in his chair, "Hey, let me hold her for a lil' bit."

"She is getting tired," Dark replied, stopping to kiss Daizi's head, like she had with him.

"Aw, I don't mind that, just wanna hold my niece. Everyone's been talking about her all night," Cooger said, putting on hand sanitizer, and Dark blinked tiredly at his friend for a few moments and then cracked a small smile and handed Ivy to him before walking back to his side of the table.

"If we are all finished eating, we can go to the living room again. I am sure there is some proper Christmas activity to do following dinner, but I do not know it." Dark said, standing directly behind Daizi with one hand on her shoulder, but he looked to the twins.
 
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"Usually, there's games and things, maybe some drinks or small treats to snack on, and some people sing songs," Alec informed Dark. He studied their tired faces. "You adults could sit and talk while we teens go out and see if the snow is any good for making snowmen. Or we could stick with the theme of this evening and teach each other Christmas songs from our country of origin. Or songs in general, if you don't know any Christmas songs."
 
Internally, Dark smiled ironically at continuing to sit and talk with the adults all night, "No, it is too cold, I do not want you three to get sick. And what is the point of Christmas if we are not spending it with you?"

Reaching up and holding his hand, and visibly relaxing a bit when she did, Daizi said, "I think music sounds nice. I really like that song 'Silent Night,' I've always thought it was pretty."
 
"I could teach you all 'How to Make Gravy,'" Jack said cheerfully.

"Absolutely not," Sally said firmly.

"You never let me do anything fun," Jack said, pretending to pout. "Carol of the Birds?"

"Far more acceptable," Sally said as she stood, "but no one is allowed to make fun of my mispronunciation of all your birds."

"Right," Jack grinned, giving Peter a wink.

Everyone stood up from the table and started clearing it off.
 
Daizi was about to ask about why they would learn to make gravy now, but quickly realizing it was a song title, she was immensely glad she thought it through first, "I can try to teach you some Eid songs, but the pronunciation might be difficult for non-speakers."

"Arabic is like singing in cursive," Dark said, clearing the table and shooting a look at Cooger who had managed to find a way out of cleaning up by holding Ivy and rolling his eyes at the grin his friend shot back.

"Hey, Dark," Cooger said, "what is English like?" He looked at the twins, "Have you heard his American accent?"
 
"No!" Alec said eagerly as he carried a load of plates to the sink. "You can do an American accent?"

"Which one? The British shows always have an American accent as a thick Southern thing," Xander complained.

"And American shows always have British accents as either high society or Cockney," Peter pointed out with a grin.
 
"People cannot always understand me on the phone," Dark said flatly, "I do not know the specific accent. This area, I suppose?"

"Go on, then," Cooger said, carefully standing because although he wanted to tease his best friend, he didn't want to jostle his niece, "do it for them."

"No,"

"Oh, but it's Christmas! Wouldn't it be such a good present?"
 
"Oh, but it's Christmas," Cooger said, letting himself whine just a bit.

Dark rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, but then said, "Hey, we should go see that new Avengers movie on Tuesday, it's literally the most hype I've been for a movie since the last Marvel film." His accent was surprisingly passable, although on a few words it slipped. It was higher than his usual speaking voice, although not by much, and was probably most comparable to a soft New Yorker's accent, and he bobbed his head a lot more when using it. After finishing his sample sentence he sighed again and asked, in his actual voice, "Happy?"
 
Alec put a hand lightly to his mouth to try to hide his grin, especially at the head bobbing. "That was quite interesting. Thank you!"

Xander leaned forward, his expression serious. "Now say, A, I'm wolkin' ear."
 
"That is not how I sound," Dark said, only briefly rinsing the plates, choosing to delay actually washing the dishes until after the party. "And it is only so I can be understood over the phone, I learned English in New York City."

"I think your American accent sounds lovely, Goose," Daizi cooed, lingering near the kitchen just so she had a chance to hear the accent, "His is better than mine."
 
"No, but it's how you could sound, if you wanted," Xander grinned. He wiped down the table and counters while Alec found storage containers for the extra food.

"It's better than mine," Jack said as he helped Alec.

"I have never even tried," Sally admitted.
 
"You should," Daizi told Sally, "I don't think either of us would have made a serious attempt if it weren't for some phone operators finding our accents impossible to understand, and the automated phone services just... are not designed for us," she laughed lightly, "I'm told I sound like a Valley Girl when I do mine."

"Some of our non-native English speaker friends have an accent they use with American friends and an accent they use with family," Dark mentioned, drying his hands and helping out where he could.
 
"I thought all phone operators were from India," Sally remarked. "At least, any time I call anyone with a problem, that's who I get."

"Why would they do that?" Alec asked Dark.
 
"To be understood, to blend in... a lot of reasons. I do it a little bit, I do not switch accents most of the time, but I can also choose to speak with a much stronger one if I chose to. And whenever we come back from Egypt we speak a little bit more intensely."

"Not all of them, but even when they are, that doesn't mean they're necessarily more equipped to understand different accents," Daizi pointed out, "but my greatest hell is trying to get AI to understand me. Smart speakers and phone assistants are really useful tools for me, but I either have to have them set to Arabic or use a fake accent with half of them."

Cooger looked down at Ivy, "I wonder how she'll end up sounding."
 
"Oh," Alec said. "I like the way you talk. I might not always understand, but that's not your fault. My ears just are not attuned."

Sally said, "I am rather lucky in that I have never had a problem, but Jack, on the other hand..."

"I got told by an AI that I was not a human," Jack grumbled sourly. "An Aussie accent is a nightmare with AI, so I understand your pain."
 
"Alec you have lived with him for a year and still can't consistently understand his accent?" Cooger asked, confused but not mocking.

"It's really brutal," Daizi sighed, "and not really something most people have to speak about. You've beaten me, though, I've never been accused of not being human."

Dark, not looking, reached out and held Daizi's hand and said, "At least, not by AI."
 
"Only occasionally. I've lived without it for a lot longer than with it," Alec pointed out. "I would say I consistently understand and inconsistently don't."

Sally frowned at Dark's comment then firmly moved on. It was Christmas, and they'd already talked about enough sad things already. "Well, the kitchen looks cleaned up now, so let's go into the living room, shall we? Would anyone like a cup of tea?" She held out her hands, gently ushering everyone toward the livingroom as if she was showing chickens.
 
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