How Green Becomes Wood

"Hey I can wear a dress when the mood strikes, and I don't think you're one to critique fashion choices today," Sloan replied, teasing Xander right back, but then turned to Alec and said much more warmly, "You have no reason to be nervous, you'll do great. And I think ultimately everyone is rooting for you to do well, or at least rooting for everyone to do well. And you were good enough to get this far, right? So just take deep breaths. When you're under the lights you won't be able to see any of them anyway."

After Peter said Mr. Dark and Daizi were there--Sloan, as a child, would try to say 'Ms. Daizi' or 'Dr. Daizi', but was always swiftly told just Daizi was fine, much to the ire of Mrs. Appelbaum--she grinned and said, "I never thought she'd actually come here, not that I could blame her for staying away from this dump. She must really care about you both. Are your parents coming, Peter?"

~~

"I didn't realize we were that obvious," Daizi smiled, and held out her hand to him, unaware he had already initiated the gesture, "I'm Daizi, it's lovely to meet you. I hope it's only been good things Peter has been saying, you never can tell."

"Your son is a wonderful student, Mr. Hollis, and very well behaved when he has been at our home," Dark said, unsure of if he should respond as the foster-father of Peter's friends, or as his teacher.
 
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"They'll be here," Peter said with absolute confidence, "but my dad did text me that my mom might be a little late. Good thing we don't go on until later. She'd be so mad if she missed us!"

Alec smiled at Sloan, appreciative of her absolute support, but he wasn't really certain how to express it. He supposed that if he was interested in a relationship, which he wasn't, he'd like it to be with a girl like her. But obviously not her. And even if the obvious problem wasn't there, he liked her as a friend.

~~

"My son told me to look for an illustrated man and a woman like Morgana, both about ten feet tall," Mr. Hollis grinned, easily moving to accept her hand. "He's had a lot of good things to say about your class, sir, and a lot of respect for you, Doctor."
 
"There seems to be a lot of that going around," Sloan chuckled, glancing around at the other students in various stages of panic and preparedness, "My parents aren't coming. My dad has work and my mom says it's not worth it since I'm not actually performing--nobody watches a variety show for the commercials, right? Anyway, she has to take my brother to Hebrew School today."

If the fact her parents wouldn't be there bothered her, she didn't show it. After all, it really wasn't about her, although she felt like she had some pretty good jokes lined up for her in-between segments, and she had a lot more to worry about with helping to make sure everything ran smoothly.

~~

"That's certainly a succinct way to describe us, and very flattering," Daizi laughed, pushing up against her husband as she did so, "but I was unaware we were of a noticeable height."

"You really get a lot of milleage out of that style of joke," Dark murmured to her, making her grin.

"I really do. And I'm glad to know Peter likes us."

On stage, one of the students just finished introducing the next act, so Dark, choosing the moment to lean more into his teacher role said, "It would be wonderful to talk more with you, and your wife, if she is here, after, but for now, it might be good to take your seat, these kids worked hard." He didn't actually care about the vast majority of performances, but he didn't want to be a rude audience member.
 
Alec smiled nervously at Sloan. "Thank you for doing this. I'm sure you will do a fantastic job. You are far more assured than the rest of us."

"You kind of have to be if you want to be a council member and take care of these monkeys," Xander said dryly. "And you need to fix Peter's eyeliner."

"Oh. Right." Alec went to help Peter, then the three of them watched the first act as best as they could from the back. It was cool and dark back here, and the lights did block out quite a bit of the audience.



~~~



"Oh! Quite right!" Mr. Hollis said, glancing toward the stage in semi-alarm as he realized he was taking up stage time. "Good luck to your boys!" He gave Dark a quick, friendly pat on the arm and hurried to a pair of seats not far from Dark and Daizi. He draped his coat over the empty chair and settled back to watch. There were a lot of acts, and he seemed ready to take each one seriously, not just his son's.
 
"I've had to calm Emily down backstage more than a few times. Break legs!" Sloan waved and left them alone to check on some of the other acts as they prepared to go on. The performers who had already finished were lying around in various states of exhaustion and ecstasy, occasionally talking to acts who hadn't yet performed about how fun it was.

~~

In the front of the house, Dark politely acknowledge Jack as he left, but rubbed his arm where it had been touched, unaware he was doing so. Then he put his arm around his wife, and the two settled in.

There were a few highly visual acts, like a kid who projected their art on a screen to show it off, and a magician, who Daizi sort of tuned out of, since there was no way for her to engage with it, although she still applauded for them. Although, she good naturedly had it out for the magician, because halfway through his set, he clashed a pair of cymbals together which made her nearly leap out of her skin. The rest of the audience saw it coming, and Dark was in the process of warning her too, but he was a second too slow.

She held the program tightly, even though to her it was just a sheet of paper, while she and Dark waited to see what they both considered to be the main event.
 
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"Break legs?" Xander muttered in confusion.

"It's a theater and performer thing," Peter and Alec explained nearly on top of each other. "It's for good luck."

"Sounds like bad luck to me. Why would wishing harm mean something good?" Xander muttered.

"I think it has something to do with the opposite of what you say happening in the theater," Peter mused. "I'm not sure. It's deeply rooted in theater superstition, though."

"Shh!" Alec warned.

The three fell silent and waited for their turn in silence.

Part way through the third act, Mrs. Hollis came nearly running down the ailse, panting as though she'd run clear from the parking lot. "Am I too late?" she tried to whisper to her husband, but, unfortunately, it is very difficult to gasp for breath and whisper at the same time, so her words were not quite as quiet as she'd hoped.

Mr. Hollis assured her she wasn't and shuffled her into her seat where she could catch her breath and watch the magician's act.

Then it was time. The new band "Driftwood" was introduced, and Peter, Alec, and Xander walked onto the stage with their instruments. They took just a moment to push the drums and the piano into place and make certain they were secure. Then they nodded to the audience - where Mr. and Mrs. Hollis were applauding enthusiastically - and took their places. Peter raised his sticks and brought them down with a hard thunder, Xander coming in right on the beat with his guitar. Then Alec began to sing as the purposeful discordinant jangle of piano keys filled the sudden silence.

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

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 boys put their heart and soul into the song, giving it every bit of passion that they had in them, hitting every note and singing every line as if they'd written it themselves. For most of the song, Alec seemed out of the way at the piano, and Peter was mostly hidden behind the drums with Xander in his sleeveless shirt taking center stage as the guitar growled angrily. Xander didn't have quite as good of a singing voice as Alec, but the roughness fit the song and his appearance. If any girls in the audience had a "bad-boy" attraction, now was their time to get their fill.
 
When the twins and Peter took the stage, Daizi dug her nails into Dark's arm from the excitement of it all, and he tried to pry her loose but quickly saw it would not happen. Dark couldn't help but smile in his own, muted, way, but anyone who knew him knew he was beaming. Sure, they had already said they didn't do pictures, but he couldn't resist taking one or two sneaky pictures of them up on the stage. They wouldn't need to know, but it was nice to have.

They really were wonderful, and they sounded better than they ever had inside of the house. Dark and Daizi both felt surprised by just how proud they felt listening and watching their kids perform. For ten years, Dark had been sitting through talent shows, but he had never watched one that made him feel like he did during this one song. He could never be the parent who stood up and screamed, because it wasn't in his nature, but he did, at last, understand why parents would get that way.
 
Then came the true climax of the song. Alec left his piano and joined Xander at the front of the stage. They stood on either end, clapping and stomping rhythmically with Peter in the back copying them until it was time for him to bring the drums back in. Alec's coat flaired out dramatically every time he turned and moved, giving him almost a flying effect while Xander was heavy and solidly anchored to the ground, the guitar singing out loudly.

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, suddenly, Xander flipped around and tossed the guitar to Alec, who caught it and went flawlessly into the solo. He wasn't perfect, the techniques were far too advanced to perfect in just a few short weeks, but he was able to copy it far closer than Xander had managed to, bringing out the fuzz and the snarling confusion, making the instrument seem to come alive in those few seconds.

Then all three came together for the finale, all three of them singing the last stanza together.

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 drums and the guitar faded into silence as they posed, sweat glistening on their faces.

Mr. and Mrs. Hollis stood up and started clapping, cheering enthusiastically. Mr. Hollis even whistled. The prim and proper not seeming to care what anyone else thought as they cheered their son and his friends. Peter came out to stand with Alec and Xander and waved to his parents before the three of them started to push their instruments back off the stage. Then Alec caught sight of Dark and Daizi. He nudged Xander, and the pair of them waved to Dark before hurrying off.
 
Dark and Daizi were both clapping as earnestly as they could. Daizi bounced in her seat a bit, but ultimately they both remained seated. For Daizi, it was mostly because loud applause around her was a bit disorienting, and even though she wouldn't be moving, it still persuaded her against standing to her feet. For Dark, it was more to do with the fact he was so tall---if he stood up, when not everybody was, he would block the view of so many people behind him. He had already specifically chosen the back row in the teacher's section to cause as little trouble for everyone else as he could.

Still, even though they weren't cheering and whistling, it was impossible to say they weren't absolutely thrilled. Daizi was emotive as ever, and was clearly saying something to Dark and gesticulating wildly, and Dark had broken into a true grin--which, might have been a bit off putting, considering how rarely he showed any clearly visible emotions.
 
"We did it!" Alec gasped as they hurried backstage. "We really did it! And they liked us! Xander, did you see? The professor smiled! I saw it!"

Xander actually laughed, the sound short but sincere, and hugged his brother. "Yeah, I saw it."

"Peter! You were absolutely perfect!" Alec told their friend, squirming giddily despite Xander's hug.

Peter laughed lightly. "I still can't believe you tried the old toss and catch let alone pulled it off! Talk about risky."
 
Sloan hurried over, grinning at them, "You sounded great from back here! I wish I could have seen it, it sounded awesome! Congratulations!"

As the next student came out to introduce the next act, Dark and Daizi settled back down, and had a moment where they really felt like parents. In a hushed whisper, Dark explained as quickly as he could some of the visual components of their performance, but stopped in time for the next students.
 
"Thank you, Sloan. We wouldn't have done this without you," Alec said softly. He turned and hugged Xander again because he wasn't sure Sloan would accept the hug. It was then he caught a faint wife of something herbal yet acidic. He backed up and gave Xander a stern look.

Xander shrugged. "Good way to keep a calm head."

Alec huffed in disapproval but settled down to watch the other acts and help the other two get off their makeup. Peter nearly slept while waiting, but the twins were still buzzing with adrenaline.
 
"You give me way too much credit," Sloan replied, and hurried off, her job not yet being done.

But eventually, the talent show came to a close. It was, in Dark's estimation, one of the better years. There were only a couple awkward performances, and even if the twins hadn't performed, he would have enjoyed it. It could not always be said.

After the final act performed, all of the other performers were ushered out for one group bow, and this time, since all of the audience did so, Dark and Daizi stood. Then, as everyone left the auditorium, the couple lingered, awaiting their twins.
 
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Xander tried to hang back, but Alc pulled him forward to bow with the others. He followed along, trying not to draw any further attention to himself as he bowed awkwardly. Alec practically glowed in pride at what they had accomplished. They had done something big! Something amazing! And they had done it virtually all on their own with the support of others, and they had made their foster parents proud!

Once they were released, the twins and Peter went down to find Dark, Daizi, and the Hollis couple. Peter split off from the twins when he spotted his parents.

"Daizi! Daizi, could you hear everything alright?" Alec asked, running up to her. He touched her arm briefly then hugged her, vibrating in excitement.

Xander stood back, grinning.
 
"I could! You sounded incredible! I'm so proud of you both!" Daizi exclaimed, hugging Alec tightly, "It was so, so good, all of your practice really paid off!"

"You both did really well," Dark nodded, glancing quickly at the few groups of students who were staring at them, or more specifically, staring at Daizi, and whispering, but said nothing about them, "it was certainly one of the best talent shows I have seen here."
 
"Thank you for coming, Daizi," Alec said, letting her go but still touching her arm lightly so she could feel where he was. That, and he just liked the connection. "I know it's strange for you, but we really appreciated it!"

"Yeah," Xander said quietly, feeling awkward, but wanting to express a little. "It was... it was cool." He shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded to Dark.

"Mr. Dark!" called Mrs. Hollis, moving toward them, a smile on her face. She was dressed neatly in a navy pencil skirt and a conservative white blouse, but her smile and the excitement in her eyes was anything but conservative. "Ah, there you are! I was hoping to find you here this evening."
 
"Not as strange as you might think--I go to a lot of concerts. I've even indulged Dark in a trip to a ballet--I can enjoy live music even if I can't see what you all are actually up to." She smiled as Dark nodded back to Xander.

"Where else would I be?" Dark asked Mrs. Hollis, "I am the only one of the four of us who never misses a year," He touched Daizi's shoulder to orient her towards Mrs. Hollis, "This is Peter's mother.

"Oh, yes, hi!" Daizi chirped, "I'm Daizi, but my friends call me Tarot. It's so good to finally meet you! Dark tells me you used to work in my country?"
 
"Good evening, Daizi," Mrs. Hollis greeted her warmly, not wanting to jump straight into using the friendly name. "Yes, I did! It was years ago, and I am afraid my grip on the language is slipping, but I have been accused of being somewhat indecent in my obsession of Egypt. It is such a lovely place!"

"One she would happily return to if she could be free of us," Mr. Hollis chuckled, joining them with Peter at his side. "We have not actually been to a talent show before. That was something special!"
 
"It really is, I miss my country terribly. We normally visit every summer, but for so many reasons it is not possible for us this year. I think I would move back there myself, if I did not have so many more opportunities here. And some of the laws are still so difficult--Did you know, that under Egyptian law, Dark cannot get citizenship through me? But if I were the man, and he were the woman, he would be able to. So for us, anytime we visit he needs to get a visa. It's so difficult," She sighed, not wanting to continue to stress the difficulties of citizenship too far. She was grateful she hadn't earned her American citizenship through her marriage to Dark, because if she had, she likely would have lost her Egyptian rights, and it was all too complicated. Mindlessly, she touched her belly, knowing what a headache the questions of rights would be with the baby. But she brushed it off, knowing nothing she was saying was exactly small talk, "But I am sure you speak better than you believe that you do."

"If you had to have had your first, this was a good one to begin with, although the year, too long ago to mention, when we were in high school and Tarot played the harp was also an excellent one," Dark told Mr. Hollis.

"It would have been better if he had agreed to my plan, I wanted to do a cover of 'Don't Fear the Reaper,' with him, but he refused entirely. I still think it would have been amazing."
 
"Citizenship and visas are truly a pain, believe me, I am well aware," Mrs. Hollis sighed.

Mr. Hollis grinned at Dark. "Do you play, too? What do you play?"

"A cover of Don't Fear the Reaper would be amazing to hear," Mrs. Hollis agreed.
 
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