How Green Becomes Wood

"I'll let you know, but I'm sure we have it covered. Your school work is more important, Dark and I can manage Ivy. It's time she quiets down for tonight, anyway." She smiled, briefly squeezing his arm before he left.

Dark leaned back in his chair and carefully studied Xander's face with the same intensity as Anubis. "You are not unintelligent, Xander. I do not understand why you do not hold yourself to a higher standard." He held up one hand, "I am not going back on my opinion that grades are not everything. But you can do so much better in school, yet you choose not to. I do not understand."
 
"Alright. Love ya, Mama!" Alec called back before ascending the stairs.

Xander avoided looking at Dark as he finished the last of what needed cleaned. "Well. You know. It's just not... my thing," he mumbled. "Never has been. Why change now?" He turned to go. "Besides. Intelligence doesn't always translate to school smarts."
 
"It has not been your thing before," Dark agreed with a nod, looking over what Xander was doing, "but neither was cooking, and you have proven you are rather skilled at that. Neither was leatherworking. I suppose those are both... new things to you, not ones you had been forced to try before, I will give you that. But..." He inhaled deeply, falling into the silence he always did when he was thinking deeply about something, "How many things had you not been able to focus on, because of all of the other things which you needed to do first, just in order to survive? And now that you have not been needing to fight to survive, how many of them have you gradually adopted, and found are not so bad? With school you have not... dared, I think, to see what you could do, if you aimed for more than just to pass. I think you are doing yourself a disservice. I was your teacher once, too."
 
Xander shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted awkwardly. He knew Dark had a point. He might not want to admit it, but he knew Dark had a point. Still, he couldn't escape the idea that Dark was giving him too much credit. Cooking, leatherwork, that stuff was all hands-on skill. They didn't require brains. He wasn't clever or smart enough for school. That was an entirely different skill set, and no one had ever once given him any kind of idea that he might be better than passing. True, Dark as his teacher had never made him feel stupid like some of the other teachers in the past, but some of those had been shocked just to see him pass, and that had been enough. Could he really see himself doing more than passing? But if he tried and failed, then he'd just be proving them right.

"I dunno," he finally said, starting walking again. "I just don't see the point. It's not like it's going to get me anywhere, so, you know, why? I'm not going to need the best scores in English class to help Cooger shingle a roof."
 
"I could respond the way teachers are meant to and say how the point of English class is not to really know literature and write pointless essays but to know how interpret media, be critical about what we read, and learn how to craft an argument, but let us say maybe not. Maybe it will not have any bearing on your future. But some of what we do is not about our future, it is for ourselves. Our own satisfaction can be enough." He shifted his weight to one hip to get a better look at Xander's face, "Whatever you choose to do for a career in adulthood is enough and I am not going to try and dissuade you, although I hope you are not foreclosing on yourself and deciding working with Cooger is all you can do, I hope it is what you want to do. But what does it say if you choose to not see how much you are capable of, just because it may not have clear benefits?"
 
"You are not a loser, Xander," Dark said sternly, "but I think, maybe, you are scared? Just about this. It is a frightening thing to risk learning what your limits are, and there is nothing wrong with that." He ran his tongue over his teeth, spending a few moments thinking before saying, "Can you do me a favour? Pick just one assignment, from one of your classes. Any class, any assignment, really, so long as it is not something you get full marks on regardless of if you turn it in or not. Do the best you can on it, see what happens. I think you deserve it to see where your best actually is."
 
Xander didn't answer at first. He walked away from Dark, hands still in his pockets. Then he stopped and turned back toward Dark though he didn't look at him directly. "Alright," he agreed. "I guess that's not too hard. Could give it a try. Can't do worse than I already am, I suppose, so there's no harm in trying once."
 
Xander hesitated, glancing at Dark briefly, then just nodded and headed upstairs. It was a strange thing to be believed in so fully and completely. His mother had always told him she thought he could be better, but she'd always sounded frustrated, and he wasn't sure if she wanted him to be better because it would make her life easier, or if she really thought he could do better for himself. He used to believe the former, but now he wasn't so sure. Dark, there was no question what he thought for real, and that belief made Xander want to try. At the same time, strangely enough, it made him afraid to try because what if he disappointed Dark? That was the last thing he wanted to do. But maybe not trying at all would disappoint Dark more than trying and failing. Maybe... maybe it was worth trying.
 
Dark nodded back at him and then brought Ivy to the living room, sitting on the couch with her. He'd go up to the nursery in just a little bit, but he didn't want it to seem like he was following Xander, "That goes for you too, my dear." He told Ivy, running his fingers up and down her back, "When you are in school, I expect you to try your best, just like I expect it from your brothers. You don't get to smile your way out of things, Hummingbird, no you do not. You are the cutest little girl alive, but nobody is that cute."
 
Alec and Xander spent the rest of their evening doing homework and catching up on everything they needed to get done before the end of the week. While it would not always be feasible, they wanted to do their best to keep their weekends open. It wouldn't be very easy with Xander's Judo and therapy sessions and Alec's job and Cyr wheel lessons, but it was still a goal.

The next morning, they managed to get up a little earlier than usual and got ready for school. Alec packed sandwiches like what Milo would bring but made each one different. That way, if anyone wanted to trade, it'd be easy to find something to suit anyone. They then hugged their parents and sister, petted the dog, and headed out for another day.
 
Dark and Daizi sent their kids off to school and Ivy, for the second day in a row, waved bye-bye. Delightfully, she did so without immediately bursting into tears like she had anytime any one of her family members left her recently. Small improvements were improvements, and not having to listen to her cry made the morning easier on her parents.

At school, Milo was there the way he always was: wishing he was elsewhere and overwhelmed. This week had gone on for forever, and he just wanted it to be over, already, so he didn't need to speak to anyone for two days.
 
Xander spotted Milo immediately - having started to really get a feel for where Milo would hide and developing ways of spotting him - and went straight to him. He held out a small rock on his palm that glittered slightly. "Hey, Stitch. Look at this. I found it in my driveway. I think it looks like a howling wolf, but Alec thinks it's a sitting dog. What do you think?"
 
Milo took the rock from him and turned it over in his hands, examining the shape, "I think it's a coyote. But that isn't really helpful in terms of your debate, I don't think. It's cool, though." He handed it back to Xander, "It's a cool thing to find in your driveway."
 
"Yeah, I thought so." Xander frowned and held it up to study. "I wonder what it is. What do you think?"

Alec sidled up next to Milo and gave him a bright smile but didn't ask him anything. He just smiled to show he was there if Milo wanted.
 
"I think it's a rock," Milo replied, but then shook his head, "I don't mean---I mean, it's an amalgate. It's not a mineral, it's got a bunch of minerals, so it's a rock. It looks like it's got some mica in it, though. Probably. That's what makes a lot of rocks shimmer." He gave Alec a little nod and looked back at the rock, "Or maybe some quartz. It's not gold, so not pyrite, probably."
 
Xander nodded in satisfaction and pocketed the rock. "The rock is a mutt rock. Works for me. Pretty cool rock. You want it?" He started walking toward their first class, putting himself between Milo and the main crush of students.
 
"Yeah, but she's more of a purist," Xander said. "She appreciates things like this, but she's more about the... the ones that do stuff or are for things."

Alec followed close at Xander's heels behind Milo. Today felt strange. Not bad, but he felt off for a reason he couldn't ye put his finger on. He tried to shake it off as they passed by a group of footballers, who didn't seem to notice them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top