How Green Becomes Wood

There was a hesitation during which Dark attempted to determine if Xander was being intentionally cagey or if he really didn't understand, and if he didn't, if it was better to let it go or bring it up. There wasn't a good equation for determining the right course of action, but he guessed it had already crossed Xander's mind, so since he was only asking if he wanted to talk about it, "Do you want to talk about what if Alec finds someone he is romantically interested in?"
 
Xander stared at him. "Uhhhh... No," he said slowly. "Nope. That is the second or third last thing I'd like to talk about," he stated matter-of-factly. "Probably second. Yep. I'd rather talk about a whole lot of things other than my brother's love life." He gave a slight nod.
 
"I understand." Dark said, still sitting, although he rocked back and forth and side to side. "But I did not mean, you know, what it would be like for him. I meant what it might be like for you, since it has always been the two of you. It might feel weird if there comes a time when it is not."
 
"Oh." Xander flushed a little at having gotten the wrong idea twice in a row. "Well, you know, I... well, you know. It'll just be a change. I guess." Great, now he was babbling like his brother as he tried to avoid a direct answer. He looked down at the table and pretended to check for scuffs. In truth, especially after everything that had happened over the past year, losing Alec for any reason was a massive fear. Xander felt uncomfortable selfish and possessive even thinking about it, aware of what a jerk it made him, but the idea of Alec hanging out with someone as more than a friend, devoting his life to them... he hated that thought.
 
Dark carefully watched Xander's expression and movements, "Do you know, Xander, most cultures around the world are not centered on the nuclear family with just the married couple in a home with their children? Very often, they live in a house with relatives. If my family were alive, in this country, and not... the way they were, we would all live with them, still. And since I have no elder relations, we probably would all live with Daizi's family, if they lived this side of the Atlantic. So it will be a change, but if a relationship ever becomes so serious, it does not need to be so drastic." He shrugged, trying to find a way to hopefully bring some peace of mind despite knowing he could not possibly comprehend just what the relationship between both twins was like, "and all of that is many, many years away, if ever. Right now, if he dates anyone, it will probably be for a month or two, and then he will need his brother more than ever."
 
Xander nodded a bit and muttered to himself, "Another reason I don't get the push," referring to Dark's last statement about month-long relationships. He knew that a few managed to actually last for years, sometimes the length of high school, and even adults might have a lot of short relationships, but teens tended to have much shorter ones as they tried to sort themselves and their lives out. He pushed aside the thought, though, as the conversation had moved passed that.

"I thought it was a bad thing to have the whole family living together," he remarked. "At least, that's what everyone said until apparently now it's too expensive to survive on your own. Is it really that common outside of the good-ole USA?"
 
He chuckled good naturedly af Xander's question, "Habibi, have you ever heard of a twenty year old with their life together? Or new parents who were not exhausted? Or an elderly person who has never a single time needed help when they are ill? If you live with your family then you can go to work but your children do not need to go to daycare, you do not need to stress about rent and food when you are just entering adulthood, and when you are old there are people there to take care of you so you do not need to be put into a nursing home to be hidden away. It makes me sad we do not have more of a family structure here. It makes life easier, and that is why Daizi and I will not kick you out, it does not matter if you are thirty five and still want to live here. We built the house expecting children who would probably have their own children," he gestured vaguely and sat back, gently patting Ivy's back, "I never had the full home myself. My grandfather died in war in the 70s, my uncle died in the 90s when I was a baby, I do not know what happened to my grandmother and we were kept seperate from my maternal relatives but with the exception of Saladin and some of the aunties and uncles and cousins--who are all aunties and uncles to you three--I like being in with her family."
 
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"Where I come from, most kids were lying about their age so they could get away from home faster," Xander said with a shrug. He picked up one of the leather stamps Daizi had gotten him and turned it over in his hand thoughtfully. "But... Your way... it makes sense. It sounds nice. Safe. Maybe how it's supposed to be." He shrugged again and set the stamp down. "But there's probably no one way to do it."
 
"No, you are right. There is no 'perfect family unit.' Had my home not been bombed and I had not fled my country, my wife and children would live in a home with my parents and the people they were. I want to say I would have left, and in that case starting a nuclear family like we have here would have been better." He sat back, looking down at Ivy's dark hair. It was thinning slightly, which he knew was normal, but he'd have to warn Daizi about it so she wouldn't panic when her own hair began to fall out. Some strange pregnancy hormone that kept hair in one stage of growth that was slow to leave the body. "And that is kind of my point. Since there is no one version of family, whatever structure makes you feel most secure is the best one. Even if he grows up and decides he wants a spouse and a kid and all those normative ideals, it does not mean you need to be separated... I do not mean to cause you anxiety about something that is at least a decade away, if ever."
 
"Nah, it's cool, I don't get anxious," Xander said, shaking his head. "At least, not about things that are a million years away. I'm more interested in today."

Alec stirred and groaned as he slowly pushed himself upright from his awkward sleeping position. "What about today?" he mumbled, wincing and trying to straight out his back.

"You have to find someone to get married to by the end of today or the world will implode," Xander told him.

"Oh. Okay." Alec thought about it. "Just married? For real, or will a for-show-only work? Sloan might be willing to accept if it's for world-saving reasons, and she's right across the street. That'll save time."

"Cool, perfect," Xander nodded.
 
"Lay flat on the floor if your back hurts," Dark advised, "Sloan would probably agree but then you would have Mrs. Appelbaum as a mother-in-law, and that is a terrible curse. You would have what I have with Saladin."

As they spoke, Daizi came flitting back into the living room, wrapped in a fluffy robe with her damp hair held up with a claw clip so it did not drip down onto the floor. The slight scent of jasmine and roses trailed after her and Dark's attention was immediately captured.

"Hello, darling," he murmured, looking up at her, "we were talking about sham marriages."

"...I hope my name was never mentioned?" She replied with a light laugh, coming to sit beside him.

He shook his head and smiled, adjusting how he held their daughter so he could wrap one arm around her waist, "No, of course not. We were discussing the possibility of Sloan and Alec marrying to save the world."

"From what threat?"
 
"That is a good question," Alec agreed. He turned toward Xander. "What is the threat?"

Xander frowned, thinking about that. "A Facebook group of mothers and mothers-in-law who want grandbabies went completely unhinged and decided to create that ultimatum. Their kids all get married, or they pull the world's plug."

Alec shuddered before stretching out on the floor. "Ugh, that sounds too believable. This does feel pretty good."
 
"Oh, you can't have a sham marriage if babies are on the line," Daizi said, making a face, "first they will be appeased by just a marriage and then they'll create a new ultimatum where if you don't start having kids they'll pull the plug, and then suddenly the situation becomes much less easily coped with."
 
"Well that's essy," Daizi answered surprisingly quickly, "You find yourself a partner the mother would hate. They don't have to be a bad person, just the kind of person the mothers would absolutely hate you ending up with. And you just say how much you want to get married right away and start having babies and say you'll name them things like Breydinleigh and Tea Leaf and then suddenly they will want you to take it slow and date around and focus on yourself."
 
Xander snickered at that and nodded.

Alec pushed himself upright and grinned. "So! What's the worst possible partner for us in your eyes? Both of you?" he teased, glancing between Daizi and Dark.
 
They hesitated, neither having really thought of that before, but then Daizi settled back when she felt Dark start to speak. "Obviously anyone abusive is wrong, but also just anyone who just shuts you down all the time. I once dated a guy who constantly insulted my woodworking and if I showed him a new tattoo design he never had anything nice to say, and someone like is the worst possible for either of you."

"Or if Xander tried to date someone who was sedentary and never wanted to be active with him," Daizi added, following on from Dark's train of thought, "or if Alec tried to date someone who couldn't cope with quiet. I know opposites attract, but if it is a person you have absolutely nothing in common with, and they are not willing to try the things you enjoy, that is the wrong person."
 
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"That's a pretty straightforward answer," Alec said, almost disappointed. It was almost too logical and boring of an answer, but he was touched that they knew what they wanted for them. If it ever happened. "Finding things in common would definitely take some time to figure out."

Xander stood and stretched. "I'm going to take this stuff to my room. When do we need to get started with the food?"
 
Daizi squeezed Dark a little tighter, "If it's really a good match, it wouldn't be. The best partner you can have is one who is your friend first. Someone you're comfortable around and who it is just easy. Getting butterflies with someone means you're nervous, if you find someone you're not nervous with..." She shrugged, moving her hand from Dark's chest to Ivy's back. "If you can't talk for hours with whoever you're dating, they probably aren't right for you long-term."

"And also--" Dark began to say, but fell quiet when he realized he didn't know the right words to use. He and Daizi felt like a miracle, he was so deeply and passionately in love with her that it made it difficult for him to give proper advice. They were best friends, they trusted each other implicitly, they just enjoyed each other's company, it was all too simple and cliché to have any meaning useful to teenagers. "No, nevermind. Soon, probably, but I need to make the Christmas cookies first. And I am a bit stuck at present."

"I'll bake them. You just keep her asleep." Daizi offered, standing up. "Oh. When you get a chance, when she's up, will you go through my old clothes and find me something to wear? I think I have some maxi skirts that are stretchy enough for me to wear again but I just tossed all my clothes into a box and I can't match colours when everything is mixed up."
 
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Alec smiled at Daizi, finding her advice sweet. Daizi and Dark's relationship was unlike any he'd ever seen with anyone else, so much so he didn't know if it was possible to find another even remotely similar to it, but he was glad to have seen at least one couple happy. "I'll help with the cookies!"

"Why don't you help with the mini and color matching?" Xander said quickly. "We got the cookies."

"Alright," Alec agreed, glancing at Dark for his approval.
 
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