How Green Becomes Wood

"Okay," Dark nodded, quietly pleased at Xander being able to redirect his own feelings, "that is how I understand it too. So, looking at the example, what do you think it is saying?"
 
Xander hesitated before cautiously detailing out what the example looked like to him, which did not line up with what he'd read. "I've been over this so many times I think I've memorized it," Xander said, rubbing his eyes. "Maybe the book's wrong. Or more likely, I just can't get it. I'm missing something obvious."
 
Dark nodded and explained he could see where the confusion came from, before explaining what he thought the example was actually portraying, which was much more aligned with the description, although he confessed the book could have been more clear. "Does that make more sense?"
 
Xander tapped his pencil for a moment as he studied the book and the example. "Yeah," he finally said with a nod. "That does make sense. I can finish this now." He closed the book and stood up. "Thanks."
 
"You are welcome, I was glad to help." Dark replied, "Let me know when you and Alec wish to go to the store, okay? And really, I do not mind just sending you with money, I trust you will buy what you have said you will. I have trusted you with it before."
 
"Oh, sure, I know you trust us, but I don't know if we trust us. Besides, you said you'd come, and how often do we get the chance to go places just us guys?" Xander smirked. "We should be ready in, I dunno, half an hour or so, I think."

He headed for the stairs but paused when he saw Ivy scooting around. Leaning over, he caught the back of her onesie in one hand and lifted her up so she dangled in the air for a moment, turned her around, and set her down so she was facing her mother just to amuse himself and confuse her. Then he dashed up the stairs before Ivy could try to convince him to play with her more. There would be plenty of playing happening later.
 
"I feel as though we spend more time running errands just 'us guys' than any other organization," Dark replied with gentle sarcasm as he reopened his laptop. Over it, he caught sight of Xander scruffing Ivy, but chose to make a mental note of it and the look on Ivy's face as he jotted down a few messy lines on his notepad before returning to his meal prep, only setting it aside again when his sons came downstairs, ready to go to the store.
 
The twins came bounding down excitedly, Alec taking time to tell Ivy and Daizi goodbye with perhaps more enthusiasm than the moment warranted, and then came to bug Dark until he got in the car. They didn't say a word about what music he chose, at least letting him have that in peace. The store would be hard enough for him, they thought.
 
Although Daizi didn't quite feel like she needed to make some grand goodbye in advance of a shopping trip, if Alec needed a strong goodbye, she'd respond in kind, although Ivy wasn't a fan. She had come to learn what bye-bye meant, and she didn't like it, especially not when her Baba said it. Baba never went bye-bye.

Her distress made Dark regret not waiting until she had gone down for a nap to leave but he knew she had to adjust to it, so he did his best to make his goodbye quick and painless, because as much as he wanted to linger when she got that look in her face, he knew it was better this way.

"Baba is just going to the store," He promised her, kissing her forehead one last time while his sons pestered him to get moving, "I will be home before you have had time to miss me."

Leaving the house was harder, because he had to hear her cry as he did, but at least it wasn't every day. He was certain he wouldn't have been able to handle her crying for him every morning. The car ride itself, though, was fine, and it was nice to be able to chat with his sons while he went. He still hadn't adjusted to driving to the Walmart so regularly, but he knew the way, and the drive itself was painless.
 
Alec cheered when they reached the store, but Xander was more composed. Alec insisted in sitting in the cart at least for a while, and Xander steered until they reached the first snack section. Then Alec was out of the cart, and the cart had been abandoned to Dark's care as they showed him twizzlers, red vines, several kinds of chocolate, all the many types of crackers and chips, and, of course, spray cheese. The spray cheese they got with Ritz crackers. There was no debating with that. The rest they mostly showed him to tease him while actually considering what they wanted. Microwave popcorn also made it into the cart along with a few other things.
 
Dark argued strongly against Alec being in the cart, feeling very much that a sixteen year-old was significantly too big and he did not want to need to pay to replace a cart after it was broken. They got enough strange looks with this tattooed giant following after teenagers. Hopefully his unyielding griping about the situation at least did enough to make other people in the store fully aware he was not okay with this.

He did not, however, understand the point of having both red vines and twizzlers, because they both looked identical, and he pointed out that American wasn't even that good.

"I am aware of American snacks," At some point Dark felt the need to mention, "I lived with Cooger for many, many years." but then he spotted Sour Punch Kids cereal and felt all hope for a better tomorrow leave his body, "You cannot feed Ivy any of this."
 
"You are absolutely right," Alec agreed seriously, placing cheetos in.

"She shouldn't have a single piece of any of this," Xander agreed, adding the Sour Patch Kids only because of Dark's expression.

"These are not her snacks. They are our snacks," Alec nodded, adding a couple of Kit Kats.

"She has to wait until she's a little older," Xander remarked, tossing in Pringles.

"And then she can have her own snack pile," Alec agreed with an evil grin.
 
Dark passed one hand over his face, tugging lightly at his beard, knowing it wouldn't be right of him to forbid her from eating any of it, especially because he knew some were nice. He liked oreos, he liked sour skittles, but--god. Look at this, "What harm this must do to your tastebuds. I understand the importance of cultural relativism, but-- What does a childhood of eating this do to a person?"
 
Xander took Alec by the shoulders and steered him to stand in front of Dark as if presenting him. "This."

Alec grinned and waved. "Hi! It's Me! I'm the sugar, it's Me! And the artificial colorings."

While Alec had Dark distracted, Xander did slip in some oreas and three types of skittles including the sour ones, hiding them so that they could surprise Dark with them later. Then he had to find Daizi's favorites. The parents shouldn't be left out to suffer.
 
"I do not think you do as much harm as Red 40 does." Dark replied with a bemused shoulder pat. "But, seriously, you are baby sitting for one day, how many snacks do you need? I know we said we would get you snacks, but I have a sinking suspicion when it comes time for the actual wedding and rehearsal dinner, you will expect more. And then probably..." He inhaled, turning his head to the side, "die of a coronary event."

Daizi, a woman of taste, liked peanut butter cups. Of all American snacks, they were probably her favourite.
 
"Oh, please!" Alec said with a flippent wave of his hand. "Diabetes is far more likely to be the death of me! But less likely than it used to since you've started to force me to eat a tiny bit more healthily."

Xander located the peanut butter cups and snuck in a few different types like the ones with chips and cereal inside the cup. Once he was sure they were hidden from Dark's sight, he came over to join them. "Come on, we wouldn't ask for more. Never! But this should probably be enough to tide us over. I think."
 
"You can have two things," Dark replied, turning back to Xander, "It must tide you over. I do not expect this," he gestured towards the corn syrup in all of its varieties in the car, "to be all you eat that day. You have to at least have a vegetable."
 
"Hey, it's a little late to be adding on conditions," Xander pointed out. "But we will accept and agree to eating a minimum of one vegetable that day."

"Possibly even fruit," Alec nodded.
 
He looked at the two of them and sighed, bringing the cart towards checkout, "Maybe this is why you both are so short," Dark commented, as though the average height of an Iraqi man wasn't 5'5--a number, he argued, was primarily due to a lack of data, people were not going out to Iraq to conduct those surveys.
 
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