How Green Becomes Wood

"Even when she is asleep," Daizi corrected herself, "it's been awhile since it was this bad. I'm not sure if it would help him, though. It would probably need to be a really specific kind of exercise," It didn't occur to her until a bit too late how that sentence could be interpreted in a way she didn't intend, and so she swiftly changed the topic, "One of the best parts about Ivy being on this side of life is I'm able to take hot baths again. I never have the time to, but in theory I could. But Xander, if you want lavender body wash, you just have to ask, we can get you some."
 
"Maybe a hot bath would help him sleep. Or he'll fall asleep in the bath, and that's not good," Alec mused.

"I don't get lavender scented things. That's for girls," Xander stated. "Girls get flowers, and guys get things like sandlewood. I don't even know what sandlewood is, but like half of the men's products have that as their scent."

"You hate the smell of sandlewood," Alec pointed out, "and you like the smell of flowers."

"Doesn't change the fact that men's products don't have flower scents," Xander pointed out.
 
"That's not true," Daizi argued, resting her arms on the counter, "Dark uses floral scents sometimes, especially at night or for a special occasion. Scents are a powerful choice to make, and men are allowed to like flowers too. It is all marketing, anyway, the Parisens created labels to increase profits. I can assure you, as a blind woman, I have never smelled flowers on a man and had any thought other than, 'he smells nice.' Just like I've never smelled sandalwood on a woman and thought anything of it. Wear the scents you like and don't worry about the rest."
 
Alec smiled to himself, knowing Daizi would have an answer like that. It was a very Daizi answer. It didn't mean he didn't agree with it, it was just a very Daizi answer. "You know, I read once that as far as scents were concerned, men liked smelling lighter scents like flowers and such on women, and women liked smelling earthy tones like cedar and sandalwood on men, which kind of means the majority of scents marketed to specific genders are actually for the opposite gender, not the one they are actually marketing to."

Xander frowned at Alec, slightly confused by the sudden ramble. "So... sandalwood is a girl's scent?"

Alec shrugged. "If you want to see it that way, but I think Daizi's right. Besides, I like lavender and things like that, and hardly anyone is ever close enough to smell me, so why shouldn't I wear what I want to wear?"

Xander considered the question then pushed the plate closer to Alec. "You can have your cookie. It's cool enough now."

Alec brightened and selected the warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie. "Yum!"
 
"For me, scents are more important than what clothes you wear," Daizi commented, taking a cookie as soon as she was certain she was allowed one, "Thank you, this is delicious. With clothes, I'm not always going to be close enough to you to know the shape of your outfit or its texture--for all I know, Xander dresses like a Ken Doll or a clown every day-- but I can recognize scents, which is why Dark has such a large collection. When he puts on a fancy suit, that's him dressing up for himself. When he puts on a nice cologne, that's him dressing up for me."
 
"What's a Ken doll? It sounds dirty," Xander asked, mystified.

"Male Barbie, but without nearly as many cool careers," Alec mumbled around a mouthful of cookie.

"I'd rather dress like a clown," Xander muttered before nibbling on the cookie.

Alec finished his cookie before saying, "It makes total sense for you, Daizi, and I imagine your sense of smell is stronger, or at least more finely tuned than ours is. I can't smell most people unless it's a bad thing. Usually. Sometimes people smell nice."
 
"I don't think I have a better sense of smell, but I think I'm more aware of it because I don't have visual stimulus to distract me from it." Daizi shrugged, "when I wasn't with Dark, there were times I'd end things with a partner because they didn't smell nice enough. They didn't even have to smell bad, necessarily, but like... You don't have to comb your hair with me or worry about wrinkles, on your face or your clothes, you have to at least try to smell nice." She paused to finish the last bit of cookie before asking, "Did you really not know what a Ken doll is? I'm not even from the US and I knew."
 
Xander shrugged. "I never really paid attention to thinks like that. It wasn't something I cared about."

"He had one toy he really loved, though," Alec grinned.

"Hey, leave that out of this," Xander protested.

"A thick, stuffed rabbit called Bun-Bun," Alec went on merrily. "It was pink and white and had the softest fur! For a while anyway. After a couple of years and a lot of spills, it wasn't very soft anymore, or very white, but it was still very huggable."

"No more cookies for you, secret spiller," Xander growled, though he wasn't actually mad. "Bun-Bun is not to be talked about."

"No cookies?" Alec whined.

"Nope. None. No more. Unless you tell her about Muggy."
 
"Who's Muggy?" Daizi asked with a smile that wasn't the least bit mocking, "Do you still have them? I used to have a little dinosaur I loved. I used to bring her with me everywhere when I was small... I actually still have her, I'm thinking about putting her in Ivy's room. But I know then she'll definitely be destroyed."
 
"Bub-Bun got his head ripped off a couple of years ago, but we gave him a nice burial," Xander said. "Want more cookies?"

"Muggy was my toy," Alec said. "It was this strange crocodile that was sitting up like a begging puppy, and it had wings. I dont know why it had wings, but it did. I took it everywhere and got a lot of questions, since it looked horribly demonic. Can I have another cookie?"
 
Daizi smiled while they explained the toys, but it faded slightly when both seemed to try to shift away from the topic, "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I know how much emotion are wrapped up in those sorts of things. I'm sorry if I brought up any difficult memories for you."
 
"I don't actually mind, really," Alec assured her, getting up to get a cookie. "I had my Muggy for a really long time, longer than Xander had Bun-Bun, but then, one day, poof!" He waved his cookie vaguely to encompass the poof. "He was gone."

"Yeah," we never did figure out what happened to Muggy," Xander frowned.
 
"Oh, that's strange..." Daizi hummed, furrowing her brows, trying to figure out what might have happened, "Did he make noise? Or, was he dirty? I wonder if your mom tried to clean him as a nice little surprise, he fell apart in the wash, and she hid the evidence."
 
"She would never!" Alec gasped.

"She totally would," Xander said blandly.

Alec hesitated. "Okay, she might."

"And you made fun of Bun-Bun being dirty? I don't even remember what color Muggy was supposed to be!"

"He was brown! Um, I think... or... peach colored?" Alec frowned as he tried to remember.
 
"I'm sure there are other possibilities, like being forgotten somewhere or put somewhere safe and then you forget where that safe place is, or you left him outside and there was a storm..." She shrugged, slightly amused, "Or maybe he ran off to join the carnival. I bet if you described him to Dark he'd be more than glad to carve you a little memorial to Muggy. He likes bizarre monstrous creatures. And he might have been peach coloured originally, but turned brown with time and love."
 
"It's alright," Alec smiled, nibbling on the edge of his cookie. "I was heartbroken when I lost him, but I don't feel that sad anymore. Now it's just puzzlement because I don't know what happened to him."

"The carnival would probably be like retirement for Muggy," Xander agreed.
 
"He seems like the sort to want to go out on a mystery," Daizi said, finishing just one more cookie, "and I know Dark would want to retire to a carnival. I like to think that all of our lost things are waiting for us somewhere, you know? The lost things that matter to us, not just a mountain of pencils and chapsticks, but lost toys and jewelry and concert ticket stubs, and when we're at the end of all things, we'll have those good memories again." She sighed, "Then you'd actually have an answer to a lifelong quandry."
 
"I think I saw an old Disney movie once on rerun that had some kind of... room where lost things appeared," Alec said thoughtfully. "There were a lot of socks. And something about a girl who couldn't do magic."

"Can't most girls not do magic?" Xander asked, puzzled.

"The movie implied this was a weird thing, to not be able to do magic," Alec said. "Anyway, it was a really underwhelming scene, visually. I like your idea better. The carnival thing."
 
"No, most girls do magic," Daizi argued as if she were entirely serious, "It's just more subtle than you might think. We're all steeped in moonlight and the wilds." She picked up another cookie and handed it to Alec, "Habibi, would you mind running this upstairs and seeing if Dark wants one? I'd hate for him to miss out."
 
"Sure!" Alec agreed quickly. He took the cookie and hurried upstairs, walking quietly as he searched for Dark. He didn't want to wake Ivy or Dark if either or both had finally managed to sleep. Were they still in the nursery, or had they gone to the bedroom?

Xander glanced at Daizi. "So. Any other plans for today?" He put the last tray of cookies in the oven and started cleaning up what was left of the mess he'd made.
 
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