How Green Becomes Wood

"I play a bit of guitar, but I do not count myself as much of a performer." Dark replied, looking down at Daizi as she pressed herself right where she usually stood by him.

Daizi positively sparkled, "He's so modest. Of course I'll never make him do something he's uncomfortable with, but Dark is such a wonderful singer. I'm sure you can tell just by hearing his speaking voice." She was just as supportive of him as he was of her, and equally unafraid to express it, "There is so much he might have been, so much, I hope his students recognize how blessed they are that of all of his strengths and multitudes, he chose to aid them. I think it's so noble. But I could talk for too long about it! What do you both do?"
 
Last edited:
"Neither of us are at all musically inclined, sadly, but that does not stop us from singing along in the car to songs on the radio," Mrs. Hollis chuckled.

"Unfortunately," Peter muttered, but he seemed more amused than actually disparaging.

"At night, we are parents who embarrass our son," Mr. Hollis said with a grin. "And by day, we're basically life scientists who look at teeny-tiny things in microscopes and scold people for contaminating samples when we aren't behind desks or in meetings and not doing what we actually signed up to do. It's really quite boring."

Mrs. Hollis nodded. "The good news is that while we work in the same field, we do not both work in the same department, meaning we aren't being forced to scold each other for contaminating samples. It is an excellent way to meet a future spouse, but not necessarily a good way to keep that spouse." She smiled fondly at her husband.
 
"By all means you do what I can't," Daizi laughed, "I have such a fondness for little things, but if you need a microscope, and this may shock you terribly, but it's too small for me. I'm dear friends with a paleoethnobotanist, and her research is absolutely fascinating to read, but I'm the only one who doesn't get to look when she finds something exciting."

"From what I understand, the largest flaw with all fields of study is how much time you spend behind a desk or in meetings. Even as a teacher, so much of my time is--" He quickly glanced around to see if his boss or one of her underlings was around, "wasted, because we are made to sit through meetings which might have been an email, and I could use that time lesson planning or grading."

Daizi frowned, "And you get paid so poorly for all of it. It's really terribly unfair."

He shrugged, "It is what is is, but my job has served us well."
 
"We really must have you over sometime for dinner," Mrs. Hollis remarked. "We would have so much to talk about!"

"We still haven't found half of our kitchenware in the boxes, dear," Mrs. Hollis remarked, amused.

Mrs. Hollis responded without missing a beat. "Then we will order in and have a lovely picnic on the floor."

Mr. Hollis laughed and suggested, "How about we wait until we have the time to get everything properly organized before we invite people over, especially people we intend to make a good impression upon?"

"I suppose that's a fair assessment," Mrs. Hollis sighed. "Especially as we were hoping to move to an actual house when we next have time off."
 
"You are always welcome at our house," Daizi offered, "for awhile it wasn't really possible because I had been so unwell, although I wouldn't have been able to visit anywhere either, but I'm really doing much better, and Dark loves to show off."

"I do not love showing off," Dark argued, and she laughed, nudging him teasingly.

"You fold the dinner napkins into little shapes! It's adorable. But," She tucked her hair back, "I don't envy either of you with moving. I absolutely hate it, it takes me ages to relearn where everything is, Moving twice in such a short span of time would probably actually kill me."

Dark, being an excellent best friend, upon hearing about their house search said, "If you find a house you love but it is a bit rough around the edges, I know an excellent handyman. He can fix nearly anything, and he's very fair. I have his card, if you would like it. Does your search mean you intend to stay here long term?"
 
"We could not possibly impose!" Mrs. Hollis protested in her light British accent.

Mr. Hollis sighed. "We're going to stay here at least until the end of the school year. That was the agreement when we accepted the rather sudden assignment to come here. After that, I am not sure." He frowned, his happy-go-lucky expression fading into one of concern. "Sometimes I think we are too easy to move and forget to think about Peter, but at the same time, it's hard to pass up things that are your passion and helpful to other people." He shook himself, and his smile reappeared. "Anyway, I'll take that card. I'm not sure if I'll be needing it, but it never hurts!"

"I should say so!" Mrs. Hollis said happily. "You are completely hopeless when it comes to handyman skills."

"I wouldn't say hopeless," he protested.

"When you tried to build Peter's playhouse when he was three, you put the door on upside down," she remarked dryly.

"Anyone can make that mistake!"

"Five times in a row?"

Mr. Hollis relented with a sheepish grin. "It looks like I'll need to keep that card close in hand."
 
"Oh please, it's not an imposition. Our home is big and mostly empty the majority of the time, although, increasingly less so, it seems. But that's a wonderful thing. And," She waved her hand, "I completely understand the conflict of wanting to work on your career but also wanting to focus on things at home. I'm supposed to give a talk in October, all the way up in Nova Scotia, but I don't think I'll be able to, and I'm trying to make peace with it."

Dark took out his wallet, and with a casual flourish handed it to Mr. Hollis. It was, of course, for Cooger, and surprisingly, given the man's general atmosphere, the card was highly professional. It even included braille, a subtle cue to the relationship between the Wahid-Dark household and the owner of the card, "He is also nearly always willing to barter in lieu of traditional payment--not that I expect payment to be an issue, but I like to mention it because I think it really displays his character."

Daizi was chuckling a bit at the Hollis banter, and eventually cut in with, "Dark can build nearly anything, but if it comes to a broken appliance, he is no better than I am. Right now he is mysteriously working on two large projects but will not say a word about them to me."
 
Mr. Hollis took the business card, looked it over with a glimmer of approval, and tucked it into his wallet. "Thank you for this, I will certainly give him a call!"

"Ahem," Peter coughed politely. "It is still a school night, you two."

"Oh! Oh, yes," Mrs. Hollis chuckled. "Here we are talking your ears off. Do pardon us. We really should be going." She gave the traditional Egyptian farewell to Daizi and turned to Dark. "Do be in touch, please." She handed him her card. "I am far more reliable with answering texts of phone calls than Jack here, so, please, either one of you, when you decide a reasonable time that works best for you, let us know."

"We have a busy but predictable schedule," Mr. Hollis agreed. "And we'll happily bring something, if we can."
 
Dark retrieved the card from Mrs. Hollis, thanking her for it, and tucked it away in his wallet, "We will gladly do so. Our schedule is also fairly predictable, mine especially. It was lovely getting to speak with you both."

"It makes me happy to know Peter comes from such a good home, meeting you explains a lot about how respectful he is," Daizi said, and repeated the Egyptian farewell, but then suddenly remembered something and with an apology, hurried back to the seats she had been in for the show. Then she went up to Alec and Xander, "I meant to give this right after the show, but it was under the seat, and I forgot to. I brought these for you," She handed Alec a lovely bouquet of pale pink roses, although she didn't know what colour they were, and then took, from inside her purse, a little potted cactus and handed it to Xander, "You didn't seem to adore the flowers at the garden very much, but I'm not sure what you bring to a performance besides flowers, so I thought a different plant should suffice."

Still with Peter and his parents, Dark bid them goodnight, and said, "When we do find time to have you over, you are of course welcome to bring whatever you like, but it is by no means necessary. You are still setting up your lives here, do not put yourselves through undue stress on our account."
 
"Thank you, you are too kind," Mrs. Hollis smiled. "Good night, and drive safe home!"

"It was good to meet ya!" Mr. Hollis grinned. He shook Dark's hand, giving him a light pat on the arm as he did so, then escorted his wife and son out of the rapidly emptying building.

Alec's eyes widened at the bouquet and he smiled with glee. "Thank you, Daizi! Thank you! These are beautiful! I really like these." He hesitated a moment, looking around, and then said, would you excuse me one minute? I need to talk to Sloan before we go."

Xander held up the small cactus and grinned. "Heh. Thanks. This is kind of perfect, isn't it?" He lightly tapped the spiny plant, amused by the gift and grateful.
 
"It was good to meet you too," Dark replied. He was a little bit bewildered. Jack Hollis seemed to have a strange affinity for patting him on the arm. He was willing to write it off as a cultural difference, but it was still rather strange to him. He did not love being touched by people he did not know well, but he also was not someone who would tell someone he just met, do not touch me. Dark knew two things: that it was a friendly gesture and that he could be unintentionally intimidating, and he didn't want to accidentally create tension between himself and the parents of his fosters' friend.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked them, you really did such a great job," Daizi beamed at them, and to Alec said, "We'll be here, take your time."

Sloan was still backstage, cleaning up the last few things back there. It was a less glamorous part of her side of the talent show--the council were all responsible for neatening up backstage, or else the stagecraft teacher would lose his mind. He wasn't unfair, but he did take backstage extremely seriously, so they had to be absolutely certain everything was back in its proper place. So, Sloan was going around and collecting all of the left water bottles and other loose trinkets.
 
Alec found Sloan and gently extracted one of his roses from the bouquet. "Sloan? I wanted to thanks one last time for everything you did. I think you did amazing out there!" He held out the single rose shyly. "I wanted to give you this. I think you've earned it."
 
Gingerly, Sloan took the rose from Alec, and turned it over in her hand, "Thank you, that's so kind... It was nothing compared to what you did," She raised her head, her eyes crinkled at the corners, "I'll probably hang the rose upside-down so it dries out pretty. Or press it in a book, that way it'll last for ages."
 
"Well, I kind of mean more than just tonight, but you definitely earned a rose tonight with all of the work you've done." Alec backed away. "I should go now. I'll see you tomorrow at school!" He turned and hurried away back to his family.

Xander was still turning the cactus around in his hand thoughtfully. He'd never had a pet before or even a plant. Did this mean he was responsible? Yes, he thought so. Especially if he could keep the thing alive. Maybe he should name it. Was that dumb? To name a plant? It wasn't like it was going to come when he called. Then again, half the time he didn't come when called, either. Why not? He'd think of a name for it and put it in the windowsill.

When Alec got back to Dark and Daizi, he said, "All done! Shall we go now? What did you think of Peter's parents?"
 
"I'll... see you tomorrow." Sloan said, confused by what he meant about not just tonight. She hadn't even done anything. Humming, Sloan took another look at the rose before carefully putting it into her bag and returning to her work.

When Alec returned to their little group, they all began to walk to the car, "I thought they were very nice, and far friendlier than either of us," Daizi said, "and his mother, at least, seemed very keen to have us over. Although it made me feel old, very--'proper adult,' you know, being invited over because our kids are friends. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to be a hag, but it's the step between being young and decrepit that I fear. Those are the boring years, when you're expected to be normal and responsible."

Dark hung his head, hiding his slight smirk, "My dear, no one will ever accuse you of being 'normal,' and if anyone tried, they would receive what they deserve, and swiftly."

"Do you mean that?"

"I do," He nodded, and his answer pleased her immensely. Then in response to Alec's question Dark added, "I liked them well enough. I do not know why his father keeps patting my arm. Everytime he says goodbye, it is these quick pats."

"Maybe he has it backwards and thinks you're the blind one," Daizi teased, "but I think he's just being friendly."
 
"I think I've seen businessmen and politicians do that a lot," Alec mused. "They shake hands and pat the arm of the one they are greeting, right? I think it has something to do with feeling connected or something. Maybe he has done it so long for work that he forgets to turn it off. At least it's better than the two-handed handshake in my opinion."

Xander snickered and glanced at Daizi. "Or maybe he thinks you're both blind and it's a case of the blind leading the blind."

"If ever there was a time to be overly polite, it's to the friends of your son who just moved to the area," Alec said, ignoring Xander.
 
"If Dark has been blind this whole time, he has disguised it terribly well," Daizi laughed, "although, if he is blind, then he must be like Daredevil or something, and that'd annoy me. It'd be very unfair if I'm regular blind and he can smell neon."

"I hope he does not think I am rude for not returning the gesture. Although I think I can get away with claiming cultural differences, his wife knows a bit about Egypt but I am not Egyptian."
 
"Or you can just tell him?" Xander pointed out. "Adults play some weird games in the name of politeness."

"And you play some weird games in the name of surliness," Alec said glibly.

Xander tossed a wad of paper at him and chased him the rest of the way to the car. The pair ran around it in circles until Dark let them in. Then they piled in and collapsed in the back seat, utterly exhausted.
 
"The problem is he is very small, and I am not that way, and often when I try to politely express I prefer to not be touched, it comes across vaguely threatening," He looked down at Xander, and as an example, said, "Please, do not touch me. It can be very intimidating. I cannot tell you the amount of times someone has accused me of threatening them."

Daizi took her seat in the car and stretched, "My husband is not a gentle giant. He is kind, and he is gentle, but only because he chooses to be. And god, this dress is tight." She shifted in her seat, adjusting the fabric as best she could.

"We will be home soon enough," Dark replied, looking at her as he buckled his seat belt, but said nothing specific regarding the dress. She was uncomfortable, so it wasn't the time to say how perfect he thought she looked... Especially not with the twins nearby.
 
Last edited:
"Sounds like a perfectly legitimate response to me," Xander yawned. "Besides, I don't think size has anything to do with it. I get accused of being threatening all the time."

"That's because you growl everything," Alec murmured sleepily.

"Not everything. But even people taller than me get offended." Xander slouched down comfortably. "People are just weird and don't like to be told what to do."

"I never get accused of being threatening," Alec said, eyes closed.

"Peachy little rainbow saint," Xander grumbled without much emphasis.

Alec just smiled and said nothing more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top