How Green Becomes Wood

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, even if it was mostly cleaning," Daizi grinned, carefully taking the flower and running her fingers over the petals, taking time to really examine and appreciate its shape and the scent, "I think it's lovely. I don't mind that it's a cutting..." She turned her head to the side as she considered the plant, "In theory I might be able to graft it onto one of my rose bushes, but... I think it's better to appreciate this one for what it is, rather than try to make it something else. Thank you, habibi, I'll go and put it in a vase now."
 
"And Katherine is really nice to work with, too," Alec said, following her. "She showed me the basics of the till - it'll be a while before I'm trusted with that by myself - and we chatted a little bit. She's kind of a history slash mythology buff! Really into Lord of the Rings. But super professional. We didn't chat at all whenever there was a customer, but it was a slow day for customers."
 
"Oh, good, I'm glad you get along, at least for as long as you have together before she leaves." Daizi said, setting down the rose carefully before reaching up and finding a vase of a size and shape she found acceptable, "She sounds like a very interesting young woman. Do you know when her last day is?"
 
"He's just upstairs changing Ivy," Daizi replied, setting the vase with the rose in the windowsill, "but he'll be down in just a few moments."

Sure enough, at that moment Dark had just finished washing his hands and returned to the nursery to reclaim Ivy from where he had temporarily set her in her crib, causing great displeasure, and not long after, the sound of his voice as he came down the stairwell, reminding Ivy that he had, in fact, come right back to her, drifted downstairs.
 
"Ba! Ba!" Alec called, dashing over to him. "Thank you for securing me a job!"

"Eh?" Xander asked in confusion.

Alec grinned at him and then Dark. "Tristan complimented me in my cleaning skills and said that he'd never seen anyone who could do it so efficiently and properly. I was just trying to do what you do."
 
Despite initially being surprised at the suposition he had been the one to get Alec a job, when he heard the reasoning, he could not help but smiled in his proud, subtle way, "I am pleased to know I have taught you well. It makes me almost want to share the report with your aunt, so she will hear a neutral source declared my cleaning methods the best."
 
Alec was momentarily confused until he remembered his aunt's reluctance to remove her shoes in their house. He grinned and nodded. "You should do that!" He paused and frowned. "I wonder if she knows about him? She seems to know about everything. Anyway!" His smile returned. "It was fabulous! And I think I might have the best smelling job ever."
 
Feeling immensely satisfied he had 'won,' Dark nearly did give into the temptation to declare his victory in a competition he didn't think Ciara realized they were having, but then he sobered, like he always did, "I would not call her unless I knew she was aware. If you and Xander have not told her yourselves, I would not say a word of it unless I was absolutely certain you wanted her to have that information." He exhaled softly, and then said, "It must smell better than a high school, so I do not doubt your work smells better than mine did."
 
"We should all show up sometime as a surprise inspection after he's been working a few days," Xander smirked.

"That sounds very inconveniency," Alec frowned.

"What? We'd buy something!" Xander assured him. "Everyone likes flowers. Could get a potted plant or something, too."
 
"At least give it a few weeks," Daizi said, coming over to them, "so he's properly settled in and he's no longer expecting it."

"Do not torture him," Dark tried to talk them down, bouncing Ivy on his hip, and giving her a little frown said, "That includes you, my darling girl."

Daizi laughed, "We're not torturing him, we're just curious and want to see him excel."
 
"Absolutely. That is absolutely the best reason to check in on him," Xander smirked. "You're right, though, Mama. We should wait."

"You guys are so nosey," Alec said, pulling a face. "But I'll still bring you flowers from work! I bet Tristan's place is full of them! I wonder why he chose cut flowers instead of living ones? But I guess he does have a lot of smaller potted things, and he does make those terrarium things, too."

"You could ask," Xander pointed out.

"You're right! I will ask tomorrow! And then tell you all about it before we go see Cats!" Alec grinned. "Aunt Ciara is picking us up, right?"

"That's what I heard last," Xander agreed.
 
"You will have to tell me what the inside of her car is like," Dark mused, having won. And he won, despite having a baby. That was an impressive win.

Daizi lightly shoved his arm, but then said, "I'd like to invite Ciara to come out with my friends and I sometime. I wouldn't be surprised if she has friends, but I also wouldn't be surprised if she forgets to make time for them."
 
"Really? I don't see her as the friends kind of person," Xander mused.

"That's kind of harsh," Alec said. "I bet she does have friends, but probably not a lot. A few really good friends that, like Mama said, she forgets to make time for outside of work."

"I bet she only has work friends," Xander replied.

"You're so pessimistic," Alec grumbled. "But I will see what the inside of her car looks like and maybe ask about her friendship status."
 
"I think it'd be fun," Daizi said simply, not wanting to reveal too much of her opinion, because it didn't feel right to say to teenagers. She just felt, every time she spoke with Ciara, that she was afraid, that she was absolutely petrified of seeming... human, or of seeming flawed, or of just letting the side down in any way. It wasn't a very comfortable way to live, Daizi knew, and maybe she was wrong, but it's what she perceived in Ciara. So she wanted to give her space to gradually just be, even if she was imperfect.

"People are not required to surround themselves with friends, it is not comfortable for everybody," Dark pointed out.
 
"Maybe not, but everyone deserves to have at least one good friend," Xander muttered.

Alec glanced at him, shocked, but made an effort not to draw attention to what Xander had just said. Instead, he said, "I'm going to go take a quick shower. It's not nearly as dirty working with flowers as horses, but I moved a lot of dust today!"
 
"That's true," Daizi said, snaking her arms around her husband's waist, pleased he had his one good friend. He didn't like to admit it, but she was certain he had more than one friend, because she knew he had some coworkers he was close to. She couldn't help it, planning to propose to him made her feel so absolutely besotted with her man. Dark didn't know what was going on, but he liked the expression he had caught on her face when he was speaking, so he didn't question, because he wasn't going to risk it going away.

"I should start on dinner," He said, "It will not be ready by the time your shower is finished, but it will be soon after."
 
Alec slept hard that night, in part due to the actual work, but mostly due to his high level of stress about doing things exactly right. Tristan was actually pretty laid back and did do his best to be clear about what he wanted, but since this was his first job, Alec was determined to do it well. The next day, after breakfast ad taking a long time to pick his outfit, it was back to the flower shop!

Xander gave him a ride to the shop, and on the drive, Alec looked up and studied the names of the main types of flowers Tristan carried. He figured he wouldn't be expected to know them all, especially at the level of floor sweeper, but a head start never hurt! He headed inside and greeted Tristan, who was working the till today, and Katherine, who was putting together some of the simple arrangements they sold at the front. Today, his job was to help clean up the back of all the bits and pieces of flower that always managed to migrate somehow and to prep several "kits" for making the bouquets. That involved laying out the plastic sleeves, measuring out the twine, and cutting swaths of paper. Tristan preferred using paper over the plastic sleeves, but some people prefer the plastic over the paper as it was easier to show off the flowers. Next, after Katherine had made certain he wasn't going to chop off his own finger, he was set to sharpening all the scissors and pruners. That was loud, cautious work, but the sharpener came with a protective guard, so it wasn't too dangerous.

Xander came to pick him up after work, and it was time for them both to eat a quick, small dinner and get dressed for a night out at the theatre!
 
Daizi was just as confused as Dark was about why Ciara would choose to take them to see Cats of all shows, but she figured it must just be a newly discovered side of her. While they waited for her to arrive, she went over to Xander, because although she knew how Alec felt about this plan, she wanted to ask, "Are you excited to go to the theatre tonight?"
 
Xander picked a bit of lint off his black button-up shirt. He hated this shirt, but it was his nicest one and looked good on him, he was told. It went well with the black formal pants. "Not really," he admitted, "but, you know, it's an experience, and Alec really wants this. I guess I can do a couple things he likes once in a while and get cultured."
 
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