How Green Becomes Wood

"I like tide pools," Daizi said, walking with Xander back towards the shore. That was something she didn't need his help with, she just needed to follow the sound of the waves. "I've gone to an aquarium a few times, and it's always pretty boring for me, because if I wanted to listen to descriptions of fish, I could just put on an audiobook of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and walk around our neighborhood, but I like that more and more have the touch tank, now. It's always a bit intimidating to put my hand into unknown waters with urchins and nurse sharks and stingrays, even though I know they're safe, but I think it's a lot of fun, and just about the only way for me to enjoy a living fish."

~~

Dark moved the stroller to a place where nobody would bump into her but he could still see her, and took a spoonful of his ice cream before looking at Alec's immediate brain freeze with some amount of amusement, "That was fast, maybe we should have gone outside."
 
"I hadn't thought about that since I'm not really a toucher, but it does make sense." Xander paused and frowned. "Man, if I ever go blind, that would suck." He winced and glanced at Daizi. "Sorry."

~~

Alec giggled. "It's not a brain freeze. I just didn't expect it to be so cold. Yes, I know, I didn't expect ice cream to be cold. It just feels extra cold." He dug in happily. "Cold, but so good! Want a bite?"
 
Despite not replying immediately, when she did speak up, Daizi told him, "It's okay. It would go suck to go blind, it's not something I want to happen to you. To anyone... And sometimes... Sometimes I think it would be harder to go blind, rather than be born blind like I was. Not that it's particularly enjoyable to have been born without sight, but... I've never gotten to see the sky. The way people talk about it, I think if I had to be blind, I'm glad I never got to see it, because otherwise, I'd have to know what I used to have. And I learned how to cope with it from day one, but people who lose their vision need to relearn how to do everything. I wish that I could see, but I don't grieve it, because I never knew it."

~~

"I suppose I can have one bite," Dark said, although he wasn't sure how it would taste in conjunction with his own dessert, but he was trying to agree to small requests like that, at least while on vacation. It wouldn't hurt anybody. "Would you like to try mine?"
 
"You're a pretty awesome person," Xander remarked. "Not 'cause you're blind, and you're not an inspiration because of that, just... you. I'd bet you'd be a different person if you weren't blind, but I think you'd still be awesome. Just a different kind of awesome." He shrugged awkwardly and shoved his hands into his pockets.

~~

"Sure! If you don't mind sharing," Alec agreed readily. He pushed his desert closer so Dark could try a bite and snagged a bite from Dark's desert. "Hmm... Not sure I love it, but it's a different flavor," Alec remarked thoughtfully. "I am glad I tried it."
 
All of the times she had expressed concern over bonding with Xander flooded through her mind. He hadn't really said anything too grand or special, and it didn't really... He had already asked her to adopt him, but it still struck her. She kept walking, because she knew he would prefer to keep walking, "Thank you. I think you're pretty awesome too."

For a few moments she was quiet again, walking with one hand in her back pocket, and after opening her mouth a few times, she committed to confessing to him, "I've always been worried about bonding with you. I can't see you, so I'm sure I miss out on a lot of how you communicate. And you can't touch me, which is fine, I hope you don't interpret this as me trying to guilt you into anything--but that's how I express a lot, because I can't see. And we had most of last year, where I couldn't do so much because of Ivy, and you're so active, and because you had your own feelings about... all of that. None of it is insurmountable, but it's harder, isn't it? But I love you, and I love spending time with you. Even though it might take more effort sometimes. You're worth the effort. And I--" a half smile crossed her face, and she tipped her head back to feel the sun on her face, "I talk too much. But I want you to know. I hope you know."

~~

Dark tasted Alec's, "It is colder than normal," he was not certain that it was, "It is good, though. Although I do not typically enjoy carbonation very much." As they spoke, Ivy stirred in her stroller, so leaving his ice cream be for the moment, Dark bent down and lifted his daughter up, "What is this, hmm? What does my darling girl have to cry about?"
 
Xander flushed slightly and ducked his head at Daizi's words, but he didn't interrupt. She was right. It had been hard to connect with her with everything they had going against them, and he believed she loved him, but it was different to hear it out loud. Lots of people could say it, but he knew she meant it. He hadn't been sure if she actually liked spending time with him or if it had been an obligation she felt she needed to fulfill, but this proved it to him that she did enjoy being with him. Not him and so-and-so. Just him.

"You do talk too much," he said at last with a hint of levity, "but somebody has to say the things, don't they? And I don't mind listening. You are very good at talking. And thank you. For the effort, I mean." Maybe it was his turn to try to make more of an effort for her and to stop relying on the old, "We don't have anything in common," excuse.

~~

"She's crying because she's not old enough to have ice cream yet," Alec said with a smile.
 
"You're worth it," She repeated gently. "I think of it like... This whole thing, you, and me, and Dark, and Alec, Ivy... It's like we're all running a race, but you and I have extra weights on us, when we're running together, so we might have been running a little bit more slowly, but we're still running it. We're not all the way back at the starting line. And now we don't have quite as many weights strapped to as as we did last year. So we're catching up. Or maybe we're exactly as far into the race as everyone else is. We're just on a differently shaped track."

~~

"That is a fair reason to cry," Dark admitted, bouncing Ivy, "I would sneak you some, even though we are not meant to give you sugar, Hummingbird, but you also cannot have cow's milk, and that is not a decision Mama and Baba made, that is what all of the doctors said, and Baba does not want to make you sick."
 
"I think I followed that analogy," Xander said slowly, thinking it through. "Except I'm not sure that there's ever an end. And why is everything always compared to a race when we're constantly reminded that we don't need to rush through life?" He frowned thoughtfully as he mulled it over. "Maybe one of those exploration trails? But with the weights and stuff still applying."

~~

Alec chuckled and left Dark to soothing Ivy, turning his attention to his ice cream. There wasn't much he could do, anyway, so he might as well enjoy slurping up soda and ice cream.
 
"There's no end, but those tracks that are in a loop don't have an end either." Daizi pointed out with a shrug, "You're right life isn't something we should rush through, but don't we all kind of end up rushing anyway? I mean, does it feel like Ivy is almost a year old or does it feel like she was born not too long ago? I feel like I have to run just so I can keep up with the year. Regardless, though, I don't think the exact metaphor matters. Just the meaning."

~~

As Dark settled Ivy, he looked quickly around the shop, trying to spot the bathroom and gauge the likelihood of them having a changing table in the men's room, but as he did, Ivy, who had been holding onto his hand, was calm enough to look at his hand, and she furrowed her little eyebrows. Turning her baba's hand over and then turning it up right, she looked intently at his fingers, getting the same wrinkle between her eyebrows that her mother had.

"Do you like Baba's nails?" Dark asked, recognizing the source of her confusion and wiggling his fingers for her.
 
"Yeah, you're right, I was just thinking I like the idea of explor- AH!" Xander tripped on the sand and nearly face-planted. "Ow," he wheezed. He coughed, assessed himself in a second, and assured Daizi, "I'm okay." His Judo training had come in handy helping him to not smack his face in the sand, but now he had sand everywhere.

~~

"Just imagine the first time she gets to wear polish," Alec giggled. He finished off his treat and said, "Instead of using the resteroom here, how about we head back to the rental?"
 
When Xander exclaimed, Daizi took a quick step back, because she really wanted to try to catch him, but knew it wouldn't help him, and the only way to stop herself was to move out of distance. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, getting down in the sand beside him, "What did you trip on?"

~~

"If she chooses to, I am sure she will love it," Dark said, kissing the back of Ivy's hand, "We can go back, if you like. I just need to change her. I suppose she may be getting a bit hungry, too. Do you want to go home, Miss Ivy-Qadira?"
 
"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm not sure what I tripped on." Xander looked down and rand his fingers through the sand. He came up with a Mardi Gras style necklace that looked in good shape. He tugged, and the necklace came up with two more attached to it. "I tripped on tourist trash," he said, frowning. He put one end in Daizi's hand so she could feel the length. "I think this is what I tripped on."

~~

"I don't mind if we head back. Our rental is awesome!" Alec grinned.
 
"Wow," Daizi murmured, turning it over in her hands, "I wonder what their story is... if they were buried intentionally or if they were lost by someone who was sad to realize they were gone... You know, for a moment, I thought you might've tripped over a body. That probably would've ruined our vacation, huh."

~~

"It is very nice," Dark agreed, and was about to put Ivy back into her stroller, but decided to carry her instead. "It is a bit small, though. I realized this afternoon when we were moving I can touch the ceiling and two walls in the living room."
 
"It'd be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I hope, but, yeah, it might be just a bit of a damper," Xander snorted. He paused and picked something else out of the sand. "Hey, here's a couple of rings, too." He stealed himself a bit before touching Daizi's hand so he could put the rings in her hand. They looked to be the handmade variety usual sold at a business' front counter. Not particularly expensive, but good quality, and each had a different small semi-precious stone.

~~

"Yes, it is small, but who wants to spend all day inside when they have the ocean as their backyard?" Alec grinned.
 
"Woah," Daizi said, turning the rings over in her hand, "I wonder what happened here. They feel nice." She ran her thumb over the stones, "What colour are they?"

~~

"That is an excellent point," Dark replied, having Alec push the stroller since he was holding his baby. Ivy was a bit grumpy because she was hungry, but otherwise she was alright, and found this point of view interesting, because it was her first time seeing the boardwalk like this."

However, when they made it back, because he wasn't focused on making sure the stroller went over the threshold properly, he promptly hit his forehead on the door frame and swore, but luckily he knew he hadn't hit himself too badly. It wouldn't bruise, at least, although it might have if he had paler skin.
 
"The rings are both silver, and this one with the leaf pattern has a green stone, and the one with the... squiggly? Maybe they're waves? That pattern has a blue-ish stone," Xander said, squinting at them.

~~

Alec winced as Dark's head met the sill. "Ooooh, that looked like it hurt." He folded up the stroller and set it aside where it could wait by the door. "Would you like an ice pack?"
 
"It reminds me," Daizi sat back, not putting them on but rolling the one with the leaves between her fingertips, "of how little girls play. Have you ever seen two little girls in a pool? It's so common for them to play mermaids, or if they're in the grass to play faeries, and so many books marketed towards them include magical jewelry. These feel nicer than the cheap stuff they sometimes sell with 'girl' books, but I just imagine these being found, and being mistaken for magical rings. It almost makes me sad."

~~

Dark rubbed his forehead for a moment, "Yes, probably. I am so used to our home, I forget other doors are absurdly short."
 
"I've never seen that before or heard of it," Xander said with some thought. "I guess I could see that, though. But why's it make you sad? Half of magic is believing it, isn't it?"

~~

Alec glanced at the perfectly normally-heighted doorframe. "Indeed. Absurdly short. You sit, I'll go get something cold for you." He hurried to the little kitchen area and sorted through things until he found a bag of chocolates Xander had stashed in the freezer. He liked them cold. Alec brought them over to Dark and offered to take Ivy.
 
"Because I wonder if, maybe, two people buried them there for a reason." She said, handing one back to Xander so he could look at it, "Or what might have happened had children found them, rather than you or I. What games they might have played with them..." She ran her finger along the inside of the band, trying to feel for any inscription, "They feel a bit big for a child to wear, but something like this? It would have been enchanted, when I was a kid. And I guess it makes me sad I'm not that young, anymore."

~~

Dark did as he was told, although he knew he couldn't sit there for too long, because Ivy had care requirements, "Unfortunately that is not the first time I have done that here. Thank you." He looked at the bag of chocolate for a moment and then held the bag to his head, "If Xander questions the oddly human shaped dent in these, I know nothing about it."
 
"Really? 'Cause the way I see it, you're living a lot of kid's dreams," Xander remarked, taking them. He studied them for a moment. "I haven't seen a lost and found section around here yet. Do you want me to look for one, or should I stick them back in the sand?"

~~

"Neither do I," Alec agreed. "I don't think he'll mind too much. Want any water?"
 
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