How Green Becomes Wood

"The angle you grab it from, I mean." He pointed to a rabbit, "The claw closes tighter around its head, but then the body weighs it down. So you have to get it right near the center so the weight is equal on either side."
 
"Oh, I see, that makes sense!" Alec said, nodding so enthusiastically he wobbled on his skates. "That is a genius way to look at it." He looked up at Dark, holding onto the side of the machine. "Are you going to try to get one? Is this your war plan?"
 
"Which one do you want?" Dark asked, going into his wallet to get the money necessary for a play, "as long as it is not one of the ones I already said are nearly in this current state, I will win it for you."
 
Alec frowned and looked over the stuffed animals critically. There were so many! He kept his gaze to the ones Dark had pointed out as being more spread out and thus easier to grab. He did like the rabbit, but there was also a little pony. Xander would love that! He hesitated. Should he ask for the toy for himself or for Xander? Or, no, he hated to ask for things for himself. Maybe he could ask for something he thought Daizi or Dark would like? Except there weren't any good animals he thought either of them would like. Maybe he could get Dark to make the decision.

"Maybe the rabbit or the horse?" he asked tentatively.
 
Dark looked at him, and then back at the machine, silently sizing up the two toys he had mentioned. Then he put his dollar in, deciding to go for the rabbit first. It was his first time on the machine, and it looked lighter, so it was a safer bet.

He frowned a bit and narrowed his eyes as the machine lit up and he began moving the claw, and after getting it to right about the spot he thought looked right, he leaned to the side and peered through the otherside of the glass, and continued to adjust. Then, at last, with his final few seconds, hit the button to let the claw drop, swearing slightly. Yet, the claw picked up the rabbit, and carried it to the shoot, and Dark casually bent down and retrieved it before handing it to Alec.
 
Alec held his breath and stood perfectly still as the claw moved. Was he going to do it? Was he actually going get it? There was no way! No one won at these things the first try! And yet, here came the rabbit, tumbling down into the chute. Alec let out a cheer, not caring about the surprised glances from the few other customers in the rink.

"I can't believe you got that on the first try!" he crowed, taking the rabbit. "That was amazing!"
 
He shrugged his shoulders, trying not to puff himself up at the praise, and said, "I am good at rigged games. Come on, we should probably see what your brother and Declan are up to." He lightly tapped Alec in the center of his upper back, the way he'd tap Daizi to help guide her.
 
"Thank you for the rabbit," Alec said, holding the rabbit close. It was a small thing, brown and white with slightly wonky ears, but in that moment, it was the most well-loved stuffed toy in the world. Alec wobbled his way to the edge of the ring and leaned against the wall.

Xander came swooping around, shockingly confident compared to the beginning of the event. He screeched to a halt next to Alec and Dark and grinned. "Come on, Alec, come skate!"

"Look!" Alec said, holding up the rabbit. "Look what Dark got me! He won it at the claw machine first try!"

"Really?" Xander glanced up at Dark. "Nice!"

Declan rolled over to them and spun around to face the wrong way. "Hey, what's with the group meeting without me?" he grinned. "Are we calling it a day?"

"My feet are getting tired," Alec admitted.

"Yeah, my ankles, too," Xander agreed.
 
"My feet are fine," Dark said, quietly proud, "and I won Alec a prize from the machine." He knew he wasn't really in a competition with Declan, but there was something he really, truly loved about the way they always came back to him. It made him feel warm, and not even really because there was something cosmic about the man who abandoned his kids being passed over by them. It was more about how... Well, he was safe for them. He liked that.

"I bet I could win you something too, Xander, no problem, but perhaps some other day, if you are tired." He smiled in his own way at Xander, "You are skating really well, though, I am very impressed."
 
"Yeah? Good for you," Declan said a little mildly while Xander stepped off the wooden rink and onto the carpeted area. "Hey, how about some food?"

"I'm not hungry yet," Alec said quickly while Xander examined the rabbit. "Thank you, though."

"Alright, then," Declan said. He came around and sat down, unlacing his skates. He put his feet on the floor and flexed them. "It always feels so weird right after taking off your skates, right, Xander?"

"I dunno, I haven't been skating that often," Xander said. He took off his skates, and Alec handed his rabbit to Dark before removing his own skates. "Huh, that does feel weird."

Declan nodded to Dark. "Well, then, I guess I'll see you later then, yeah?"
 
"I suppose so," He replied, staring at Declan for a moment, and then glancing down at the rabbit before saying to the twins, "Would you go return your skates if you are finished?"

He wasn't sure if it was a good idea, and in fact was pretty sure it wasn't, but with Declan sitting right there, and specifically talking to only one twin, he just... He really wanted to say something, but would not do so actually in front of the boys, and he wasn't sure if he'd get a chance to speak to Declan alone or if he'd scurry off right away.
 
"I can take yours, if you like," Alec offered to Declan, holding out his hand.

Declan grinned and handed Alec his skates. "Thanks, little man! You are a right helpful lad."

Alec beamed, and he and Xander started toddling awkwardly toward the counter to return their skates. Their rains and feet were confused as to the state of things, trying to go from smoothly wheeling across the floor to actually walking again. It was awkward as they occasionally tripped on the carpet as they dragged their feet. Alec giggled as they went, and Xander grumbled good-naturedly.
 
Dark watched them go, smiling a bit at when he saw them stumble, and after a moment, turned towards Declan and said, "I am going to ask you something. And, please forgive the fact I cannot think of a... gentler way to phrase this. It is just--Why do you ignore Alec? Just today, you were helping them both skate and then began to only focus on Xander letting Alec trail behind you until eventually he gave up and came by me."
 
Declan frowned, pausing in the middle of tying up his shoes. "I don't ignore Alec. At least, I didn't think I was. I thought he was doing fine, and then Xander started showing me his skating backward, and I guess we both just got carried away. It wasn't like I was maliciously intending to leave him out. I guess it just sort of happened." He turned his attention to finishing tying up his shoes. "Xander's a handful by himself. I don't know how you balance them both. It's a good bit of practice I don't have."
 
"This is not the first time it has happened. You ask more questions to and about Xander, at the arcade you prioritized his interests..." He shrugged, speaking casually, as if it were just small talk, "and to be honest, I do not find it too difficult to handle them both. But I am not," he paused, searching for the right word, and tapped his fingers against the stuffed rabbit he was still holding, "I am not as... staunchly... 'manly' as I... appear, do you understand? I am not one of those men who go around devoid of emotion only wanting to watch sports and act tough, I am just athletic, and Xander is too, so we have common ground there, and Alec is an artist, and so I am I, so... It is not difficult."

Again, he broke eye contact and looked over at the twins, and his usually unemotive face broke a bit, and the love he had for the twins shone through. Instead of looking like their watch dog he looked, well, like their dad, "I just like to be with them. Both of them."
 
Declan snorted and shook his head as he stood. "Sorry, big guy, but you lost me. I have no idea what you are talking about, but if you really think I'm trying to make one more special than the other on purpose, well," he shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you other than to maybe take another look. It's not like you'll believe anything I say, anyway."

Alec and Xander returned, now free of skates, and moved toward Dark instinctively as he was their ride home. Alec slowed, though, as they drew closer, sensing something amiss.

"Hey, lads, I'll walk you out," Declan said, patting both of them on their shoulders. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, it was cool," Xander said, nodding.

"And you, Alec?" Declan asked a little pointedly.

Alec smiled at him. "Yes, it was enjoyable, but I think my legs are going to be sore for a while!"

"It's a great work-out, that's for sure," Declan chuckled, moving toward the exit.

Xander followed, but Alec hung back closer to Dark, quietly asking for his rabbit back.
 
Dark frowned, but said nothing. He had said what he could, and he didn't really expect Declan to recognize what he had been doing, and he knew he was right.

"Here you go," he said, handing the toy over and then briefly pulling him close before also heading to the door, "I am glad you had fun. And do not worry, I have epsom salts, if you take a bath with them, they do wonders for sore muscles."
 
"I never take baths," both twins said instantly.

"Although, it might be time to make an exception," Alec groaned as his legs wobbled under him. They didn't hurt yet, but he could tell already that they were going to hurt pretty later.

"I dunno. Baths are just so..." Xander waved his hand vaguely, trying to hide his own wobbling legs. His were already hurting as he had done a lot more skating than Alec had.

"Revealing? Vulnerable? Cold?" Alec suggested.

Xander nodded. "All of those."

"I'd still consider making an exception," Alec said.

"I'm hungry," Xander commented.

"Me too."
 
"They are not cold if you make them properly. You shower before hand, make the bath as hot as you can possibly tolerate and then add cold water to bring it to where it is a comfortable temperature, and you put the salts in a mesh bag so you are not sitting on them, and it is perfect. And honestly," He looked at them and waved his hand, "if you think a nice bath with soap and candles is revealing and vulnerable, you would not survive the way my family bathed ourselves in my home country. A nice bath with a door you can lock? Very secure."

He chuckled, and unlocking the car asked, "Where do you want to eat? Wherever you want."
 
The twins quietly agreed Dark had a point. Locking doors were the finest invention ever.

"Why don't you pick this time?" Alec suggested. "You always ask us to pick."

"Huh, that's true!" Xander agreed. "All I really want are fries, and most places have those. You pick this time, Professor."

Alec leaned forward in his seat. "You said you don't mind it, so why don't you pick?"
 
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