How Green Becomes Wood

"Thank you," She took it from him and dumped it into the bowl, sensing how uncomfortable he was, but not knowing what she was supposed to do about that. In her opinion, she should be allowed to feel frustrated in her own home. Xander couldn't understand what it was like living inside of a body that didn't work, but still, "I'm not upset with you. It's just hard. Come here, I want you to learn how to whip these."
 
"Okay," Xander agreed, moving a little closer to her. He just didn't know what to say, and he didn't have a good track record of saying the right thing. After everything he'd already put Daizi through, being insensitive about a problem wasn't something he wanted to add to the list. So, saying less seemed to be his best solution.
 
"You always need to do it in a glass or metal bowl, never plastic, and there can be no moisture, or else it will ruin it." Daizi explained, handing the hand mixer to Xander, "Increase the speed slowly, but you'll want to get it to high."
 
"Remember to scrape the sides down," Daizi advised, "it's going to get bubbly first, or foamy, but still pretty much feel like how it did before. I normally turn it off to touch the egg whites themselves, but you can see, so you don't need to. Once they're foamy we need to add a tablespoon of the sugar at a time until all the sugar is in and they form stiff peaks, which is when it's much thicker, and when you whip it, parts of the meringue stick up like little waves or broken snow, and they need to support themselves upright, they can't fold back down on themselves."
 
Xander did as she told him and scraped down the sides thoroughly. "Alright, it's definitely frothing up and foamy," he reported, "so I guess it's time for sugar." He kept beating and eventually asked, "How does this work, anyway?"
 
"Like the science behind it?" Daizi asked, "We're putting air into the egg whites. That's the extent that I understand it, really. I'm sure other people could explain on a molecular level what's happening, but that's not really something I ever put an effort into learning."
 
"So it's just air? It's like building a stiff froth just out of air and egg? Wild," Xander told her. After a couple of minutes, he tested it. "Hmm. Close, but the tips are still saggy. So back to beating it we go." He gave it another minute and tested again. "There we go. Now we've got stable building blocks."
 
"And some acidity, yes," Daizi confirmed, going to measure the flour while they waited. She split it into three bowls and grabbed a sifter, and once the meringue was ready, sifted half into, "We have to fold this in and make sure it's fully incorporated before adding the next bit, otherwise the air will deflate."
 
"Sure, I can," Daizi said, setting down the flour and fetching a rubber spatula. After sifting the flour to make sure it was smooth, she worked diligently to fold it until fully combined, occasionally stopping to make sure the texture was still okay. As she worked she listened to hear if Dark was around, she said, "I'm going to ask Dark to do a vow renewal for our anniversary."
 
"Oh, that's cool," Xander said. Then after a beat, "What's a vow renewal?" It sounded important and like something to keep secret, so he lowered his voice, but he couldn't immediately think of what vows Daizi might be thinking about. Was it something to do with her pagan stuff? Or something else?
 
"It's like getting remarried without getting divorced first. There's nothing legal about it, but it's a way to reaffirm or update your wedding vows. Although, technically, Dark and I never took vows in the first place. Our wedding was very traditional to appease my family. Our reception we had more freedom in." Daizi explained as she folded the batter, "But I thought, Dark and I have been through so much, and it's our tenth anniversary, so why not marry him again?"
 
Xander blinked. "Oooohhh, okay. That makes sense," he nodded thoughtfully. "That's kind of cool. So, are you going to, like, propose to him or something? Is that how it works?"
 
"I'm going to, yes. And if I was a betting woman, I'd say he'll accept," She laughed, "I know how I'm going to do it, too. There's still some details to work out, but I have the broadstrokes. It'll be nice to really make the ceremony exactly as we'd like, since I don't have to worry about offending my more traditional family members."
 
"Wow, you're going to have a whole second wedding?" Xander asked, impressed. "That's going to be pretty epic. Going all goth for it? And how are you going to ask him?" He would have been surprised if she was going to do a traditional style "restaurant, pop the question," but he couldn't even begin to think of how else someone did that.
 
"Sort of." She sifted a bit of flour, "I'm not sure what he'll want to do, and he has an equal share in deciding it. But I don't think we'll have a bridal party or anything, I don't want to be self-indulgent. But I want to reaffirm how we feel after... everything. And I'm not just talking about these past two years. I'm surprised you're interested in it, rather than aghast at the idea of something romantic." As she folded the last bit in, she said, "I want to send him on a scavenger hunt and propose at the end of it."
 
Xander shrugged. "I dunno, it's fine, I guess. I don't think I ever saw wedding stuff as being romantic. It sounds more stressful than anything else for women, and the dude just has to show up. I doubt that's how you're going to handle it or did handle it, but that's just how I've seen it. And, besides, you two are allowed an allotment of shenanigans to get up to. Like romantic scavenger hunts, which sounds awesome."
 
"This one will be romantic," Daizi assured him with a nearly scandalous grin, "We don't do anything partway. I know I'm sending him to the botanical garden, and his shed, and Cooger's... probably the train station... I'm going to have it end where he proposed to me. I'm going to fill it with candles." She tipped her head back slightly and told him, "I would love your help with it."
 
Xander actually stopped what he was doing to stare at her. "You want me to help you propose to him?" he asked, unable to keep the shock from his voice. "Like, what, get down and ask him or something?" He was envisioning himself kneeling and holding a ring while Daizi stood behind him saying the words.
 
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