How Green Becomes Wood

"We've been together for about twenty years, so I suppose we've had time to really know each other," Daizi replied, holding Dark's hand, "and I entirely believe we've been searching for each other throughout all of our past lives, so we have thousands of years behind us, too."

Dark looked over at the teenagers, who seemed to be completely unaware there were adults on the other side of the table, "Our sons are friends, so I am certain we will be seeing a lot more of each other."

"It really is so good they have friends, it hasn't been easy for them," Daizi sighed, leaning against him. She was running her finger along his wedding ring, but was focused on their boys.
 
"Peter told us what little they'd told him and a few things he'd guessed," Mr. Hollis said, glancing at the boys sadly.

"I cannot even imagine that type of life," Mrs. Hollis sighed. "It is a blessing that you had the ability and the chance to help them. And they have no family at all? None?"
 
Dark shook his head, very glad the twins weren't listening, "Not that we have been made aware of. It really is fortunate I happened to be out buying one last Christmas gift for Daizi, otherwise who knows what may have happened to them."

"And if they do have family, I can't imagine what would drive them to stay away for so long. I suppose if they didn't know, but... I think the fact they chose the streets over finding relatives says a lot." She held Dark's hand a little tighter. Neither her husband or her fosters had any extended relatives, and she felt that absence strongly, "We try our best to make up for it, but it's a difficult line to walk."
 
Mr. Hollis shook his head, frowning. "I can understand cutting out toxic relatives in your life when they are adults, but children? I would think any person with even an ounce of morals would keep their homes open to orphans. It's not like they have any choice in the matter." He sighed and shook his head. "What a dour topic."

"Indeed. We should change the subject before little pitchers clue in on what we are talking about," Mrs. Hollis said quietly. "A fine dinner and dessert like this deserves a lighter topic."
 
"You're probably right," Daizi sighed, although she had stopped eating her dessert, at least momentarily. It was always difficult, though, when deciding to talk of something else to think of any other topic. She briefly considered about lying about feeling the baby kicking for the first time, just so they had an easy distraction, but she didn't want to cheapen the moment it happened for real.

Dark had similar issues with changing the topic, but after a moment said, "Well, when the fine dessert is finished, I would not mind showing you my workshed or my carnival room, if you would like."
 
"I look forward to seeing that," Mr. Hollis said happily.

"What is it you do when you are not working, Daizi?" Mrs. Hollis asked curiously as she finished up her dessert.
 
"Oh I'm always working," Daizi laughed, and then corrected herself, "No, I play the harp and the piano. I have a beautiful garden I really devote myself to. Upstairs we have three rats and a spider I adore... and I spend a lot of time practicing witchcraft and listening to podcasts. And I read constantly. Although the amount of free time I have is soon to quickly decline, obviously. How about you both, what do you do when you're not working?"

"Jack is a photographer, he mentioned it while you were in the kitchen," Dark said.

Daizi nodded, "Oh, fascinating! I... can't really relate to that at all, but I hear photographs are very popular."

"Are you from the 1920s?" Dark asked, nudging her slightly, which made her laugh.
 
"There are actually a few blind photographers. I haven't looked into them too extensively, but I know there are some good ones out there," Mr. Hollis mused. "I'm not that good of a photographer. Yet! I have only really been into it for the past five years, which sounds like a long time, but it's hard to carve out time to really practice."

"I do Judo once a week, and I am training for my first marathon," Mrs. Hollis said. "Running is great training for Judo, so I thought I might as well combine the two. It's a virtual run, a charity event for an animal sanctuary."
 
"Oh, I'm sure there are. It's amazing the sorts of things blind people can do, especially with all of the adaptive tech we have these days. I can't envision it though, but I was born blind..." She hummed, resting her arms on the table, "I wonder if those photographers lost their sight. I would be hopeless at getting the colour balance right, although that could be the appeal. I haven't even really enjoyed having my picture taken since my wedding."

"Those are still my favourite photos," Dark said, and looked at the wall where his favourite was hung. It was taken during their first dance, and only half of their faces could be seen, but their joy was beyond obvious. Much of the frame was filled with Daizi's dress, which was an a-line gown decorated with gold stars with lace sleeves, and her long hair fell elegantly down her back, "I have never run a marathon, and I do not do any martial art, but I do run most days, and I spend much of my free time exercising. It really gave me something to focus on when I needed it. But, we have actually been talking about finding a good martial art for Xander, so if you have a good gym I would love the details, if you are willing to share them."
 
"If you'd ever like to have your picture taken again, perhaps a family photo, I'm willing to offer a one-time free-be session," Mr. Hollis said with a smile. "As for the other photographers, they all have different stories. Like I said, I didn't dig too deeply into that particular subject, but I do know many of them had at least limited sight from the time they were born. Perhaps one or two were born blind? I might look into that for curiosity."

"I have not yet found a dojo here," Mrs. Hollis admitted, "but if he's serious about it, I'd be happy to give him a recommendation once I find one of my own. Of course, I doubt he'd be on my level as I've been training since I was seven, but I can ask around once I find one. Many of the other adults also have children in the lower levels."
 
"Maybe when the baby is born... I don't really photograph well... And the twins said they don't like being photographed at all. But it would be good to have pictures of at least the three of us..." She tucked her hair back and smiled, "I'll think about it, thank you."

"I would appreciate it if you did. Our current plan is to do trials with a few different types, so he can choose which one he likes the best, and," He looked at Xander, amused at the thought of him going to class with his friend's mom, "it may be for the best he would not be in your class. It does not exactly seem like a teenager's idea of a great time."
 
"Well, if you don't photograph well, and I'm not a good photographer, perhaps the two negatives will cancel each other out," Mr. Hollis chuckled, but he had no intent to push the subject.

Mrs. Hollis laughed. "Of a surety! I'll let you know when I find something."

Xander turned from the conversation with Peter and Alec. "How come I keep hearing my name?" he demanded.
 
"Because Mrs. Hollis does judo, so I told her you are interested in trying a martial art, so we spoke about dojos. She mentioned you would not be in her level, since she has done it for so long, and I said you probably would not enjoy going to class with your friend's mom." Dark calmly explained, not at all upset Xander had pushed in. They were talking about him, he had a right to know.

Daizi also turned to them, "And I was also telling Mr. Hollis you both don't enjoy being photographed, because he offered to take our pictures, but I didn't use your names so I'm not sure if you heard."
 
"Oh." Xander glanced at Mrs. Hollis. "You sure are prim and proper and skinny for a fighter. Shouldn't you be buff?"

"Hey," Peter said mildly.

Mrs. Hollis laughed. "Martial artists are not usually built like that, no. You are thinking of boxers and wrestlers. Those are brick walls. We are more like mantis shrimp. Maybe monkeys, but I don't like monkeys."

"Mantis shrimp?" Xander muttered and made a note to look that up later. "Why do you need pictures?"
 
"Do you think you could flip my husband?" Daizi asked, and immediately Dark responded with:

"I would really rather we not find out." For one thing, if a person so much smaller than him could flip him over, it wouldn't emasculate him, but it would shatter his world view. But more than that, he didn't want her to try and hurt herself. Or, him, he supposed, but that was an after thought.

And Daizi oh so desperately wanted to push the issue, but also--despite being a notorious jokester--deeply respected her husband's wishes, so as amusing as she thought it would be, she let it go, and instead answered Xander's question, "We don't need pictures. I was just saying I haven't enjoyed having mine taken since my wedding, and he offered to take some new ones. And we probably will, once the baby is born and has started to look cute. But I'll be taxidermied before I take maternity pictures."
 
"Perhaps someday when we are both appropriately dressed and on protective mats, we can find out, but I am not in the habit of randomly slamming men down onto hard floors," Mrs. Hollis said, amused by Daizi's suggestion.

Xander and Alec both shuddered in revulsion at Daizi's mention of taxidermy. "Pictures, no pictures, no skin off my nose either way if I'm not in them," Xander grumbled, looking just a hair green.

"I think you would look nice with the baby," Alec said meekly.
 
"It is for the best, I am not..." He paused, realizing saying, 'I am not in the habit of being slammed onto hard floors' might sound a bit... off, and he knew Daizi would be unable to resist making a joke about it, so instead he said, "a fan of denting my floors, if it is possible."

"Thank you," Daizi hummed, "I think Dark would look nice in them. I always feel a bit awkward, I don't know where the camera is, exactly. But I suppose neither would the baby, so if Dark promises to also not look at the camera, it may seem intentional."

"I would like to have pictures taken with the baby, and with you. They would be nice in the scrapbook." Dark said, unaware of what danger had put himself in.

Her textbook crooked grin came over her face, and he instantly knew it was not a good sign for him, but he couldn't figure out how, "Do you know, at our high school, seniors were tasked with assembling a scrapbook of their time in high school, which was then returned to them at their 10 year reunion. I never made one, because I graduated at a different school, but... Well, babe, it's been more than 10 years since you graduated, hasn't it been?" She brought it up not from malice, and as always if he pushed back hard on it she would leave it be, but she couldn't resist mentioning it, since they were talking about pictures and scrapbooks to begin with.

"...It has been twenty."
 
"Scrapbooks? I don't think I've ever done a scrapbook," Mr. Hollis said, looking a bit mystified.

Mrs. Hollis arched her brows. "A highschool scrapbook? Oh, what fun! And how cringy!"
 
"I was 18 when I assembled it. It very much is how you would expect it to be," Dark explained, a bit relieved it seemed like the twins and Peter had once more tuned out the adults' conversation, "It does have some nice pictures of Tarot from back when she would dye her hair, but I do not know why she finds it so funny, she cannot even see it."

"Because I remember what you were like then. And I don't find it funny, I find it really sweet, because you've really grown up a lot, so it's nice to reminisce about when you were wild." She smiled at him, and he rolled his eyes at the innocent face she gave him.

"You were not any better, you know."
 
Mr. Hollis turned and asked, "Peter, did you ever do any scrapbooking for school? I don't think that was a thing when I was in school."

Peter and the twins both turned to the adults' side. "Scrapbooks? No, I don't think so. What's a scrapbook?"

"What about scrapbooks?" the twins asked as one, glancing between them with an almost eager gleam in their eyes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top