How Green Becomes Wood

"I will keep that in mind," Dark replied, amused at how scrambled their brains were, "alright, we have to go find Daizi, it seems time to report back to our commander. Are you both okay, do you need help getting up?" He put one hand on Alec's back to support him, able to see he was struggling a bit more with adjusting to the ride.
 
"I think." Alec paused and gulped. "Okay, I think I can move." Shakily, he edged his way out of the apple, constantly keeping his grip on the closest stable thing. He made it out and to solid ground without collapsing, but his legs trembled and he had a bit of trouble moving in a straight line.

Xander followed, not much better than Alec, but managing without help. Mostly. At one point, the twins caught hold of each other and nearly fell, but they sorted themselves out, and the longer they were on solid, non-spinning ground, the better they felt. It had been an intense ride! Neither of them regretted it entirely, but neither seemed as eager to go again as they had with the other rides.

Xander leaned on the guardrail with Alec beside him, both of them taking a moment to let their heads stabilize. "Why is spinning so much fun?" Xander moaned.
 
"Considering the terror of those apples in the first place," He said, helping the twins out to where they could stand, or sit, and steady themselves, "we came away better than we might have done. But I am not sure why it is fun."

He, too, rested lightly on the guardrail, because although he hid it better, he too was about as dizzy as you could get. Hearing their voices, though, Daizi made her way over, with a bright smile on her face, and cheerfully she said, "I'm glad to know you've not been devoured. I was putting on a brave face, but I didn't really want to try to make a go of it alone."
 
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"I think you might have to go on without me," Alec admitted. "I cannot take another spinning contraption. I think the apples really were demonic."

Xander groaned softly. "I hate to agree, but... I agree. No more spinning, please. Spinning apples are going to eat me in my dreams tonight."

Alec nodded gingerly. "I liked trying, but not again."

"I'd do the Gravitron again," Xander admitted. He squinted at Dark. "Was that as fast as you've ever gone?"
 
"It was up there," He shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets, "when Cooger was younger and worked out more regularly, we got it going really fast. And the entire time Daizi was witch-cackling. But I think it was the fastest I have gone without someone throwing up after."

Daizi laughed, but did so with a hint of pain, "Yeah, Cooger really should not have ridden it tipsy. I had to get rid of those shoes."

"It could have been worse," Dark replied, "and do not worry, that was the last of the rides that spin like that. But we said we were doing games next, right?"
 
"Ew," Xander groaned, wrinkling his nose as Alec muttered, "Oh, that's nasty."

At Dark's mention of games, they both brightened. "Yes!" Alec grinned. "Let's go do the games! I want to try to pop a balloon with a dart! I'll likely be terrible at it, but I've always wanted to try. That and getting a hoop around a bottle."

"I want to try to beat Dark at one of those ball-throwing games or shooting games where you do like water in a clown's mouth or whatever," Xander grinned.
 
"When you throw the darts, you need to angle them down, not straight at the balloons," Dark instructed as they walked, "and it is Daizi who is the best at the water shooting games, you know."

"We have time to play everything! And eat, we can try all of the classic faire foods!" Daizi chirped, walking off with Dark, listening carefully to make sure the twins were with them.

Dark shook his head, murmured something to her, and kissed the side of her head, "I am sure we will return home with an armful of prizes to fill up our house with."

"Only for them to fall apart in a month!"
 
"Really? Down? I thought up," Alec mused, miming throwing a dart. "It makes sense that you can't throw straight. Thanks to the density of the rubber and the rounded shape, even a nice, sharp dart would just bounce off. Unless it's a water balloon. Then there's no give in the rubber to protect it."

"Yeah, it might fall apart, but it's the experience that matters, right?" Xander grinned. "What's first in line? Let's do some games and then talk about food. My stomach is still in that spinning apple."
 
"My stomach spent three months spinning in that apple," Daizi laughed, "now I'm making up for lost time."

"We can do both. But whatever game you want to play is fine, there is no real science to it. I do not like," He looked around him, and smiled slightly, "planning everything out too much, here. It ruins the mystery of all of it, carnivals are at their best when it feels like anything could happen."
 
"Then let's just go to the first one we see!" Xander spun around and pointed. "That one!" His hand dropped a little when he saw what he was pointing to.

"Hook-a-duck?" Alec asked curiously. "Catch a duck with a star, win a prize."

"Maybe not that one," Xander admitted. "How about-"

"Oh, no you don't! You said the first one you saw, so let's go!" Alec grinned. He grabbed Xander's arm and started tugging him along. "Let's go hook a duck!"

"It's a kid's game!" Xander protested as he reluctantly plodded along behind Alec.
 
"Well then at least you know you'll win!" Daizi said, "and I can win too, it's a matter of chance, so I can win as easily any of you."

"And I will make sure they do not lie to you and tell you that you lost." Dark said confidently. He didn't mind at all that it was a kid's game and would gladly play if it was what had been selected. Truly, there was nothing anyone could suggest they do that was not agreeable to him, here, which Daizi knew quite well.

"I think," She said coolly, "whoever wins the best prize should get to pick the next game. Or, whoever doesn't win, to make it up to them?"
 
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They approached the game, which was a simple little circular channel of water somehow rigged so that it always circulated in a slow, lazy circle. Dozens and dozens of yellow ducks floated along in the channel waiting to be "hooked." Not many people were at that stall, but a small family stood in a group as a boy of about seven or so held out the "fishing pole," which was a rod with a little magnet on the bottom. He held it out over the ducks and carefully picked one out of the water. The lady running the booth checked the bottom of the duck, and if it had a star, she rang a bell. If it did not, she just shook her head. The chosen ducks sat off to the side with their bottoms exposed so you could see how many were winners. The boy picked up the last one as Xander and Alec arrived, and it appeared he'd gotten two stars and three blank ones. The lady pointed out his choices in prizes, and he chose a large, polka-dotted rubber duck.

"That looks simple enough, and it can't be too rigged unless they didn't put any prize winning ducks in at all," Alec remarked as they watched. "It's all blind luck."
 
"I should have an advantage then," Daizi joked, while Dark paid the tickets for them all to play.

"Xander," He said, turning towards them, "You picked this game, so you can go first. Since, you know, clearly you are most excited about this game over all others."

"Oh yes, this is all you've spoken about all day! Everything you've said has been about how excited you are for the duck game!"
 
Xander scowled as he took the fishing rod and bounced it in his hand a bit. "Okay, you two, keep on laughing. Just don't be surprised if I'm the only one to win anything in this game." He wasn't serious, but he couldn't help himself. He just wished he had a better comeback, but none was coming! Betrayed by his mind, he turned his attention to the identical ducks floating past. He chose the middle duck every time, plucking them out of the water one by one. The lady manning the booth checked them, but only one had a colored star. For his prize, he got to pick from a selection of miniature novelty rubber ducks. He picked one with a tiny pirate hat and held it up to stare at it eye to eye.

"It's a cute duck," Alec tried to encourage him. "A great try! Daizi, why don't you go next?"
 
"Alright," Daizi agreed willingly, going up to the duck pond, taking the rod from Xander, chuckling slightly at his misfortune following such bravado. Then, however, the first two ducks she pulled were blank, or so the woman running the booth said (and Dark confirmed). After the third blank duck, she shook her head, and now laughing at herself said, "You may be right, Xander, you may end up being the only one of us to win a prize."

Her final two ducks, however, had stars, which meant she outranked Xander, even if she beat nobody else, and with great satisfaction she was able to pick her own rubber duck, one size larger than the teen's. Very triumphantly, she held up a duck modeled to look like a dragon, "Okay, Goose!" She exclaimed, passing the rod to him, "Your turn!"

Dark stepped up, and his first three ducks all had star bottoms, much to his delight. He had a good grasp on carnival games, but like Alec said, this one was just blind luck, so to be lucky at it first was still a thrill. His final two ducks, however, were blank, and he came away with a small stuffed crab.

"That star distribution makes sense, though," Daizi said happily, quietly touching her duck to his crab.

"Why is that?"

"Because mine was three blanks followed by two stars, and yours was three stars followed by two blanks, so together we got all five!" She beamed at him, and he couldn't help but bend down to kiss her cheek. He couldn't deny it was a corny statement, but... Well, it was luck, wasn't it? It's not like they made it happen that way, but it was true that by sheer coincidence, the ducks they pulled perfectly mirrored each other's.
 
"Huzzah, we shall have a sky full of stars and a bathroom filled with ducks and crabs," Xander said mildly. He was a little miffed at his luck, but it couldn't be helped. Maybe next time he'd get a better outcome. At least this time he got any prize at all. He made the tiny duck bob its head and mentally thought of it quacking. "Right. Alec, you're up now. No stars or all stars?"

"Probably no stars, but I'd like maybe one," Alec said hopefully as he stepped up. "Then I can get a duck to go with yours!"

He took the pole and held it out. He chose the ducks specifically, finding the ones he liked and trying to pluck those out. He knew it made about as much difference as choosing blindly like Daizi, but he liked to pretend it made a difference. He picked out the "friendliest" looking ducks and fished them out. The first one had a star! As did the second. And the third. And the fourth. Even Xander was leaning forward and holding his breath as Alec pulled out the last one. Five stars!

"I got all stars!" Alec gasped.

"No way! You have to be the luckiest guy here!" Xander crowed in disbelief.

Alec picked out a large, inflatable pink dolphin as his prize, grinning madly as he held it up for Dark and Xander to inspect. "Pink dolphins are endangered."
 
"Great job, habibi!" Daizi cheered, even though she knew full well it was just chance. She stood between Dark and Xander and felt the large plastic dolphin.

"I always forget the pink dolphins exist," Dark said, "I hope you did not waste all your luck for this dolphin."

Quickly, Daizi jumped to his defense, "Hey, this prize is better than what a lot of what people come home with!"

"I never said it was not!" He replied, hooking his arm around her waist.

"Pink dolphins... I always, with colour, since I've never seen them, I always associate colour with a sensation. Blue is water, red is fire, that sort of thing... Pink for me is the scent of wild flowers, not really something you associate with dolphins, is it?" Daizi remarked.
 
Alec grinned and hugged his dolphin. "Even if I did use up all of my luck, that's okay with me! This is fantastic. We should get one of those kiddy wading pools and splash around with him."

"Most people don't think of dolphins as pink, no," Xander told Daizi. "Actually, I think pink dolphins are ugly. They've got these long noses like needlenose pliars and a weird nob on their forehead, but loads of people think they are important."

"I think they are cute!" Alec protested.

"You think naked mole rats are cute, you are not to be trusted with the word cute," Xander told him.
 
"Don't worry, Alec," Daizi said, as they began to walk away from the duck game, "Dark can't be trusted with that word either." She meant, of course, herself, but knowing how Alec didn't like her speaking that way, she hoped he didn't recognize the implication.

"It is good that you think naked molerats are cute, though, because it means you probably think the baby is cute when she is a newborn, considering human babies all look sort of like meatloaf until they are at least six months old, and I am sure ours will be no exception." Dark said, allowing Daizi to lightly shove him in defense of their baby.

"Since you won, Alec, I think that means you get to pick the next game," She said, purposely sounding a bit annoyed to try to make Dark think he had upset her--although he could clearly see by the look on her face he hadn't.
 
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"At least they will be a sentient meatloaf," Alec said with a grin, missing the implication entirely. He had been trying to accept Daizi's way of seeing herself, but it was hard for him to accept that it was not a negative thing. Still, he tried.

"Oh, great, that means we can add sentient meatloaves to our nightmares of getting eaten by talking apples," Xander grumbled. His rubber duck nodded in agreement.

Alec rubbed his chin thoughtfully at Daizi's statement and looked over the immediate games he could see. "Oh! There's a knock-the-bottles-down type of game. I bet Dark can win that one! And maybe even Xander! Let's try it."

"Hey, what do you mean, 'maybe even?'" Xander protested.
 
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