How Green Becomes Wood

"Oh," Daizi was a bit surprised, but then feeling immediately worried she would make him feel like she didn't want him, moved over slightly on the couch to make more room and said, "Of course, come sit. I would be glad for the help," she handed him one of the towels to get him started, "Do you know, Dark has a special towel just for his beard? I swear, if you are ever in the room when Dark and Cooger start talking about beard care, you do yourself a favour and walk straight out of that room."

She chuckled lightly, and then at last asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"
 
Alec smiled at the thought of Dark and Cooger talking beards then thoughtfully touched his own chin. When would he start growing a beard? So far, he hadn't gotten passed peach fuzz. Shouldn't he be shaving by now? Perhaps he was just a slow bloomer. Or grower in this case.

He cleared his throat, coming back to the topic at hand. "The professor and I were talking," he said slowly, his hands busily folding the towel, "and he told me, eventually, that I seem to have been hurting your feelings. By leaving randomly and sometimes finding it difficult to be in the same room. I guess I was so concerned with what I was feeling, I didn't stop to consider how that would make you feel. Um." He unfolded the towel and started folding it again. "The truth is it had nothing - or very little, I guess - to do with you. I was having difficulty accepting the... the baby." He stumbled over the word just a little. "I couldn't see how you could want it and us at the same time. Not that I blamed you or would blame you if you did, but I couldn't understand it. So I was... I was waiting to be forgotten or moved out."
 
Daizi was listening quietly to Alec speak, and very quickly stopped folding the towel so she could listen more attentively, "It's okay you found, or find, it difficult," She said at last. She rarely paused for as long as Dark sometimes did as he gathered his thoughts, and even this time she responded relatively quickly, considering the heaviness of the topic, "and your fears make sense, although I want you to know they are unfounded, we would never just... get rid of you, because we already think of you like family, and I think there's some famous quote related to what that means."

She tried to pick up the towel to start folding again, but let it fall back down into her lap, "So, when you would have those days where you avoided me? Was that... to try to... make it hurt less? Since you believed...?"
 
Alec nodded wordlessly then remembered and said, "Yes. I want you to be happy, and I want you to have the baby because that would make you happier than anything, but it hurt because I thought the baby would replace us. Me." He fiddled with the edge of the towel in his lap. "The Professor told me that there was absolutely no way you would ever change your minds about either of us and that we are a family so I needn't worry about that. I don't think I fully knew what it meant to have a family and have people - adults - who cared about me and other people before I met you, so I didn't understand or know what that actually meant." He took a deep breath. "I think I am starting to understand now."
 
"I wish you had told me about how you were feeling, although I understand why you didn't," Daizi shifted closer to Alec, "I am so sorry you've been carrying all of these fears around. If I had known, I would've, or we would've... talked to you sooner, to hopefully get you to set them down." Alec was so much gentler than his brother, and it was hard for Daizi to tell whose upset she found harder to take. Xander showing that side of himself seemed trickier to access, at least from her perspective, because she had already sat on the floor holding Alec in her arms, but she couldn't imagine ever doing that with the other twin. But even though Alec was the 'sensitive one', it hearing all of the thoughts he had been keeping to himself, even if it was more expected, it was never easy to listen to the pain and fears of someone so sweet.

"I'm glad you're beginning to understand," She said, her naturally gentle speaking voice growing even softer, "because we really do care about you, truly, and if there is anything we can do to help you feel more at ease, and more comfortable, I hope you know, or at least know now, that you can tell us, and we will do everything we can for you."
 
Alec set the towel on the table and reached out cautiously to touch her hand, trying not to make her jump too badly. "I'm sorry that I hurt you," he said quietly. "I didn't mean, to, really, but I didn't know how to talk to you. I thought you would be even more upset if I told you how selfish I was feeling. I'm not actually very good at talking about things like this except to Xander. No one has truly listened before. Not like how you do. I'll try to talk to you more in the future, I promise. I just don't want to ever hurt you."
 
When he touched her hand, she didn't jump, and instead moved to hold his hand in hers, 'Thank you for apologizing. And you weren't being selfish, you were just scared, it's different, and I forgive you," She didn't say that it was okay, or that he hadn't hurt her, because... he had. She had spent weeks doubting herself and judging herself and feeling like her pregnancy caused one of her fosters to grow to dislike or fear her, or something, and that hurt. She really wanted to soothe him by telling him his behavior didn't actually bother at all, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. But she did forgive him, because he was just a kid, and he was still learning how to adjust in this new environment where people actually cared for him, "I would be very glad if you did try to talk to me more, rather than just bottling it up."
 
Alec gave her a wobbly smile even if she couldn't see it. She could probably hear it. "I am very good at bottling. I have a nice collection." He shook his head. "Thank you for... for not giving up on me. On either of us. I know we don't make it easy. I'll try to do better and be a better kid for you and the professor, and I'll try to be more helpful to you." He leaned forward a little. "May I hug you?"
 
"I will never give up on you, or on Xander, I promise. And you don't have to be anything other than who you are, you don't need to go out of your way to help me with anything, I promise. It's my job to help you, not the other way around." She smiled warmly at him, and when he asked if he could hug her, instead of responding verbally, she leaned in and hugged him first, although she did say, "It's very nice that you always ask for consent first, that's very important."
 
Alec nestled into her hug, letting out a soft sigh of relief as he hugged her back. He felt better than he had in weeks! All felt right with the world. Right here, right now, everything was fine. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply of her scent. Incense and warmth and everything that was comforting. She smelled of home.

Suddenly, a jangle of angrily struck guitar strings crackled through the air followed by a string of colorful words.

Alec pulled back from the hug and sighed. "I should probably go see if I can help him," he said, meaning Xander. "I think it's probably time for a break, but he won't unless someone tells him."
 
Daizi laughed hearing the upstairs calamity, although Enkidu and the noise scurried to her side, feeling a little spooked, "It's good he's getting it out of his system now, before the baby comes," she joked, "but I would love it if he took a break. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, and for helping me with the towels." She said this, even though not a single additional towel was folded during their conversation.

After Alec went upstairs to check on his brother, she leaned back, and took a few moments to breathe in the newfound emotional calm. Both twins had been more or less settled about the news, and it felt, strangely, like now their lives could really begin. Daizi put both hands on her little belly, which was still really only a slight outward curve on her lower abdomen, and if someone didn't know the truth, they'd probably just presume she had enjoyed a big lunch, but she knew, and smiling to herself, she murmured despite knowing perfectly well the baby couldn't hear her yet, "See, I've been telling you, everything would be okay. You've got to learn to trust your mama."
 
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Life seemed a little better after that. Not perfect, life never is, but better. And so the days whisked by until the Wednesday of the audition. Xander, Alec, and Peter had all more or less invited themselves into Dark's classroom right after class and were hurriedly getting ready. Dark's classroom was not the closest to the auditorium, but it did have a straight shot and was a lot closer - and cleaner - than trying to change in the restroom.

Peter stood at the end of Dark's desk using the phone camera propped up on a stack of papers to check his outfit. It was just dark jeans with a black tank top, a belt, and a gray chain necklace, but he wanted to make sure it wasn't tucked weird anywhere and his gelled hair was holding its spikes. He wasn't used to styling his hair, and he couldn't help grinning at himself in the camera.

"Would you hurry up before we're late?" Xander grumbled from where he sat backward in a school chair.

"If you'd stop wiggling, I could get this done faster," Alec told him as he applied a thin line of eyeliner.

Xander huffed but tried to hold still. He also wore dark jeans, but his shirt was white, and he wore a grey jacket over that. His red hair stood out starkly in the monochromatic attire. "You're sure I don't look like Greenday? And why do we have to put all of this on for an audition?"

"One, so I can practice getting ready on time, and two, so we make a good impression," said Alec, also dressed in dark jeans but with a black shirt and a white coat. His hair hung down loosely, free to flip and fly as it willed unlike his two bandmates.
 
Since Dark had given his classroom over to his foster kids and their friend, he was hanging out in the teacher's lounge doing work, and he wasn't exactly feeling nervous, because he had watched 10 years of talent shows at the school, and although he had never been involved in the audition process, he had seen the performances, and it was probably a 70/30 split of well done acts and acts that... probably could have been workshopped a bit more, and he knew the boys had been putting a lot of effort into it, so he doubted the possibility of any failure.

Meanwhile, in the auditorium, Sloan had been sitting with the rest of the Student Council, sitting through a multitude of acts. They were mostly music or dance based, because that was standard for talent portions, although they had one magician, a gymnast, and someone doing a dramatic monologue. For every act, they had a printed form to rank it, and it was kind of boring, but it was what she had to do. Honestly, she had already fully committed to giving her highest praise to her friends' act, because like she said the first day she met them, she took bribes, and she counted their budding friendship as big enough of one. Still, she was really excited when it was finally their turn to come in and show the council what they had been working on.
 
"Okay, you're ready!" Alec said at last. He stood and stepped back. Xander glowered back at him, looking every inch the grumpy, moody rocker that Alec had been going for. "Here, you forgot your chains." One was a lightweight necklace, and the other went around the waist like a belt, although it did absolutely nothing to actually hold pants up. It just looked "edgy."

Xander sighed but accepted his fate and put on the chains. "Fine. Peter, lemme see the camera. I need to make sure I'm not swimming in eyeliner."

"Nah, you're good, mate!" Peter assured him but handed over the camera so Xander could get a look.

Alec pretended to pout. "You don't trust me!"

Xander grumbled softly and handed back the phone. "I'm working on it with you and makeup, okay? Now, come on."

The three set out for the auditorium at full speed. Their instruments were waiting backstage for them, so all they had to do was wheel out Peter's drum set and Alec's piano, then they'd be golden. They got there right on time, and as they stood waiting for the latest act to conclude and move, Peter reminded them of something rather important.

"You know, you never did tell me if you'd named this band or not."

Xander looked at Alec, who winced. "I knew I forgot something!" he moaned. "I don't know!"

"Well, it looks like we have about twenty seconds to decide," Xander said, glancing at the stage.
 
The president of the student council, after calling the band out, said, "Alright, so... Alec, Peter, and Xander... Do you have a... name for your group, or do you want us to just introduce you like that on the actual day?" He seemed as bored as the rest of them, and it wasn't because the acts were bad, it was because it was his fourth year watching talent show auditions, and the forms they had to fill out were mind-numbing.

"If you don't have a name now," Sloan offered, "and you get in, you can just tell us later, it's not a big deal." Despite normally being very chill, she was grinning at the stage. She really wanted to tell them they looked great, but she was trying not to appear overly biased.

"No, not really, but it's way easier to have that information up front," The president replied, "if we have to rewrite a form along the line, something will get messed up."
 
Alec smiled as he took front and center to talk to the council. "Yes, we have a name. We are to be called... Driftwood!" He held his hands out to the side, getting his long white coat to flare dramatically. Behind his back, Xander mouthed, "driftwood??" He gestured to the piano off to the side. "I play piano, my brother, Xander, plays the guitar, and Peter Hollis plays the drums. Our song will be That Song by Amaranthe, and we will do a small amount of dancing." He paused to make certain he had given them all the information he needed to.

Peter tried not to laugh at the name Alec had come up with on the spot as he checked the positions of his drums and his stool. It was a surprisingly precise science to get everything including the stool at just the right distance from each other. Xander picked up the guitar and took up his spot stage right and stood waiting, trying to ignore the temptation to fiddle with his ridiculous necklace. At least they were all wearing white and black sneakers which were quite comfortable.
 
"Driftwood, alright," The president murmured, writing it down the name and song on his form, and most of the rest of the audition panel did too. Then he raised his head, and said, "Whenever you're ready," indicating they were allowed to begin.

Sloan gave them a sneaky thumbs up, and set her form aside, because she already knew what she was going to write, and just sat there excited to see what her friends had put together.
 
Alec gave a tiny bow and hurried over to the piano. He and Xander glanced over at Peter. Peter raised his sticks. There was a breath of silence. Then the sticks descended. Guitar and drums rang out in a simple yet bold rhythm, demanding attention. Alec joined in, the purposefully discordant keystrokes taking center stage with the drums in the background. The mic picked up his voice, quiet and a little shaky at first, bur quickly gaining strength as he lost himself to the music.

It was a hard time living in the city
Broke my mind, I was trying hard to fit in
Somehow I tried to belong
They were always telling me that I was wrong
I was running around, I was chasing a dream
They had their eyes on the dirty limousine
I had to decide, I was coming along
And then it changed when you sang me that song


Xander's guitar came back in at the chorus, growling and angry as the three of sang out the words. They harmonized rather well, and while Xander missed a note or two, Peter never missed a beat, and if Alec struggled, the already jangling keys hid it. There was anger and frustration in the song, yet also longing and a sense of freedom.


Oh-oh, sing me that song
At least there's some song bringing me home
Oh-oh, same old song
I left my soul sold, play me rock and roll
Oh-oh, sing me that song
At least there's some song bringing me home
Oh-oh, same old song
I left my soul sold, play me rock and roll


For the next verse, it was Xander's turn. His voice was not quite as pure and notable as Alec's, but it suited the song just fine with just a hint of grit to it as he managed to remember the lyrics perfectly.


It was a rough time, running out of money
Had a guitar and my jacket on my shoulder
Somehow I tried to be strong
But everyone just told me that I tried for too long
When you come to the room, well you have to decide
I tell you not to fight it and it will be alright
I've got chains deep inside now I can't live without it
And yes you are right, they are playing my song


Then came the chorus again, and after the chorus, Alec stood and moved away from his piano. He stood next to Xander, and the pair of them began to dance. It was a simple enough dance seen in a thousand music videos with all the right stomps, head shakes, and arm flailing, but they were perfectly synchronized. There wasn't even a nanosecond of difference between their moves as they stomped out the beat and clapped.


Woo-oo, everybody come along
We're together for one night and together we belong
Woo-oo, the best is yet to come
There's no reason why we can't keep singing that song


Then came Xander's solo. The original song actually had an incredibly complex solo that lasted only 14 seconds, but it utilized every strumming trick in the book! Most people only ever thought of fret work when it came to difficult guitar pieces, but strumming practices were often far more difficult and much harder to see. Xander did his best and stuck to the simpler version that he and Alec had come up with, but it was clear he was struggling, and it took a little bit of the fire out of their performance. He made it to the end, and they finished strong with the last verse.


Oh-oh, sing me that song
At least there's some song bringing me home
Oh-oh, same old song
I left my soul sold, play me rock and roll
Oh-oh, sing me that song
At least there's some song bringing me home
Oh-oh, same old song
I left my soul sold, play me rock and roll


The three ended on a flourish and brought the song to a dramatic end, plunging the auditorium into silence. Then they stood, waiting, hoping desperately not to hear hissing and booing or, worse, snores.
 
After they finished their audition, there were a few seconds of silence, followed by all the teens on student council applauding nicely. It wasn't explosive, breathtaking, "you stole the show!" applause, but, to be fair, there was only about eight of them. Still, it was obvious they really liked the performance.

Sloan clapped hard, though, feeling extremely impressed by her friends, and she couldn't resist saying, "Dudes, that was so awesome!" but it wasn't a problem, because it the audition process really wasn't that deep. They still had a few acts to get through, but

"Thank you so much," The president said, also looking pretty impressed, "by Friday we should have the list of acts who got in outside the auditorium door, so definitely keep an eye out for that."
 
Alec grinned at Sloan and gave her a tiny thumbs up. Even Xander looked pretty satisfied with himself. Peter was grinning, but then again, Peter was always grinning.

"Thank you for this opportunity, and we look forward to hopefully playing again!" Alec called before he, Xander, and Peter pushed their instruments off the stage and back into the storage area. "We did it!" Alec squealed happily, trying to keep his voice down. "We have to go tell the professor!"

"We almost did it," Xander warned him. "We still have to wait for the official announcement."

"Xander's right, but I think they really liked us," Peter said happily. He glanced at his watch. "My mother is waiting for me out in the parking lot, but she wanted to know if she could take us out for ice cream as a congratulations for getting this far."

"No, better not, but tell her thanks," Xander said. "Come on, Alec, we should tell the Professor, you're right about that. See you tomorrow, Peter."

They waved their goodbyes, Peter fetched his bag from his locker, and Alec and Xander grabbed theirs before finding their way to the teacher lounge to tell Dark what had happened.
 
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