How Green Becomes Wood

"I have three holes in both of my earlobes," Daizi explained, touching one ear, "and on my left ear I also have a helix piercing and a snug. On my right I have a daith. I was thinking maybe I'd get an industrial on my right ear. Or a forward helix. Maybe a flat piercing. I don't know." She touched her ear. Mittz was telling me about industrials that are chains rather than the bar, and I think that with a flat on my right ear would be gorgeous. If I did that, I'd have it done on my right."
 
Dark couldn't help but chuckle at their advice, "What you do not understand is she finds it difficult to choose not because she does not know what she would like, but because she wants so many."

"I like how tactile they are! But unlike your father and his tattoos, I have a much more limited space to work either!" She exclaimed, tortured, "I don't like lip piercings or other face ones because I'm always afraid they'll somehow get stuck in Dark's beard, although I think about a septum piercings. There are some cool ones where it's attached to a chain, the other end of which goes to your lobe piercings, but also I think it might actually put my dad into cardiac arrest. For awhile I had my tongue pierced, though."
 
"You could get some clip ons," Xander suggested, smirking. He still wore his now and then, though he hadn't brought any with him on this trip. "Then you can change them out whenever you want."

Alec was moving his tongue around in his mouth and making faces as he thought about how annoying a tongue piercing would be. He still didn't know how they could stay clean!
 
Daizi made a face, "I hate how clip ons feel. They're always way too tight, I'd rather just put a needle through my cartilage and be done with it." She ran her fingers along her, "I miss getting to wear more dramatic ones, but somebody may go ahead and decide to rip them out, so I'm making do mostly with little studs."

"There really are three types of people," Dark teased, "Those with lots of tattoos, those with lots of piercings, and those who are aghast at the idea of either." He, personally, missed Daizi's tongue ring.
 
"What about the ones with both?" Xander asked.

Alec winced at the expression "stick a needle through my cartilage." It sounded so violent! He shook his head. "So! How long until lunch?" he asked brightly.
 
"If I had to guess, most people with both still have some sort of preference for one over the other." Dark answered, knowing there were always exceptions for broad categories like that.

"It shouldn't be too long." Daizi said, "We need to feed Ivy, soon, so it makes sense to do both at the same time."
 
"On the road again!" Alec sang. "Just can't wait to get on the road again! The life I love is makin' music with my friends, and I can't wait to get on the road again!"

Xander gave him the side-eye. "How do you know the words to that?"

"No idea, but it's fun!" Alec said cheerfully.
 
"I have no idea what that song is." Dark commented, not understanding why Xander was so bewildered by those lyrics. Daizi, too, had no familiarity with it, but she guessed it must be a language thing. Or a generational one.

After driving a bit further, Dark asked them all where they wanted to stop, and then exited the highway so all five of them could eat and stretch their legs.
 
Xander and Alec both tossed out ideas for where they could go but were ultimately fine with wherever had food. The moment they stopped, the pair got out and stretched, bemoaning their legs. It was so cramped! Roomy at first, but steadily more cramped as each mile rolled by. Alec went to check on Ivy while Xander stretched out his legs, and then they followed Dark and Daizi into the resteraunt.
 
Ivy was getting a bit cranky in her seat by the time they stopped and was absolutely thrilled when her mom came around to retrieve her, "You're being so good!" Daizi assured her, giving her kisses as she snuggled her up, "Come on, Hummingbird, I bet you're hungry! Let's go feed sweet Ivy-Qadira!"

They hadn't gone to a nice sit down restaurant, because Dark didn't want to extend their drivetime, but he wasn't the sort of person to demand they all eat in the car. Plus, with how long he was, he was glad to get to walk around.
 
"Imagine if there was a truck stop that drove along the road. You could have a no-stop truck stop," Alec said as he sorted through his veggie cup.

Xander poked at his chicken fried steak. "But what if you pass your exit as you're eating your grits or whatever?"
 
"That seems like a great idea until you are the one driving the entire time," Dark pointed out. This trip wasn't the worst he had driven, because they split it into two days, but it was also significantly more continual driving than Xander had ever done.
 
"You could have a rotation of drivers!" Alec suggested.

Xander glanced toward a table a couple of spots away. It looked like possibly a mother with her two children, a teen girl about his age and a boy a couple of years younger. The girl and her mother seemed to be having an intense but mostly quiet argument. The girl's voice was rising in agitation while the mom stayed quiet and calm. Everyone around them was, of course, trying politely to ignore what was happening.

The girl stood up suddenly and yelled, "Ugh! FIne! Ruin my life! F*** this life, and f*** you! This is so stupid!" She turned and stormed off.

"Alright, love you too, kiddo!" the mom called after her wryly.

The girl flipped her mom off over her shoulder and slammed the door closed behind her.

Xander stared, watching the mom and glancing toward the door.
 
Dark also turned and looked towards the door, and Daizi angled her head that way. "I hope everything's okay..." Daizi murmured, unconsciously pulling Ivy closer.

"It could be many things." Dark had seen those arguments between a teen and their parent because the teenager is in a rebellious phase and thinks everything is unfair, because the teen had some serious problems and was acting out, because the teen wasn't really asking for much but the mom was controlling, and about a dozen other reasons. Eleven years as a teacher had shown him just about every way a teenager could be.
 
"Hmm," Alec said quietly, glancing toward the group and then back at his own family. "I'm sure it's fine," he agreed.

Xander was still watching the mom. She had turned her attention to the boy and seemed to be trying to make the best of things for him. The boy seemed to be slowly cheering up, and peace had been restored between them. When she sat back and the boy wasn't looking, there was a moment, just a moment, when she looked tired and sad. Then the look was gone, and she was smiling again. Everything was okay because it had to be okay.

"I need to get some air," Xander said, standing up. "I'll meet you at the car, okay?"

Alec looked at Xander's half-finished plate. "But you haven't finished your lunch."

Xander mumbled something and kept walking.
 
"Xander..." Daizi said softly, torn between not wanting to discourage his inclinations towards helping others and also not wanting him to develop a savior's complex. It was a tricky line to walk. Certainly Xander must of known he wasn't as slick as he pretended to be, both she and Dark knew exactly what he was planning to do. They understood the inclination, of course, but at the same time... "Don't be too long."
 
Xander waved a hand to show he heard. He headed out to the parking lot and spotted the girl pacing off to one side. He noticed her, but despite his parent's assumption (which was not ill-founded), he did not head to the girl. Instead, he did just as he said and walked to the car. He moved to the far side of the van and leaned against it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, shakily.

F*** this life, and f*** you!

He rubbed his forehead briefly. It didn't matter. It was the past. The past didn't matter anymore. Just forget about it. It didn't matter, and it wouldn't matter. He shook his head and shoved the feelings down deep before taking himself on a walk, coming back to his family right before they were about to leave.

Alec looked at him closely but didn't ask any question.
 
Out the window, when Dark noticed Xander was actually taking a walk, murmured a soft, "Huh," but didn't address it any further. When they joined back up with him, he handed his leftover food over, took a brief but focused look into the teen's face, and chose not to say anything.

"I think we should reach tonight's hotel before dinner," He chose to tell them instead as he buckled Ivy back into her carseat, much to her frustration and distress. This, her mother mitigated by revealing a brand new toy---the plush dolphin she had bought on Thursday. She had kept it secret from her for this exact reason."
 
Xander didn't say anything, just returned to his corner of the car and settled down for the long drive. Alec pulled out a book and started reading. He felt he knew what was going on in Xander's mind, but he didn't want to ask. This wasn't an "in the car" kind of situation. So, they settled down into a silent drive except when Alec tried to help keep Ivy entertained.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top