How Green Becomes Wood

"My aunts all wanted me in a big ball gown for my, our, wedding," Daizi explained with a sigh, settling against Dark, "but I absolutely refused. I probably broke all their hearts, and my father's, but I don't think I'd survive in a poofy dress. Our party was a ton of fun, though, it went until, what, Goose, 5 am?"

"The venue had to send us home," Dark confirmed, "and that was before most family members liked me. That is just how our type of weddings are."
 
"That sounds quite," Ciara paused as she searched for the right word, "exciting."

Jack smiled in amusement. "That was our wedding, too, almost. The ceremony was as prim and proper as you like with all the right dresses that cost a few arms and legs, but after the first hour of the reception, folk really loosened up. We left on our honeymoon around eleven, but my brother told me the party didn't break up until after two in the morning. A bit shorter than yours, sadly, but a decent-sounding party." He winked at Ciara, who did not seem to know how to respond.

The twins and Peter came thundering back down the stairs with Xander in the lead. "Hey, is it time to eat yet? We're starving!"
 
"Dark and I already had to fly to Egypt for the wedding, so we more or less had our honeymoon there, which meant we were able to stay for the whole party. That summer we took a smaller trip so you could argue we just delayed our actual honeymoon. But, actually, do you know how Dark announced his engagement at work?" Daizi asked with a bright laugh, as if it were the first time she was aware of the story.

"Darling..."

"This man is so secretive, I love him so much, he went to his boss the Monday before our wedding, we flew out on Friday, and said, 'Excuse me, I have to take Friday off. I have a wedding to go to,' and his boss asked, 'Oh, whose wedding?' And Dark--" She laughed, resting her head on his shoulder, "He says, 'Mine.' They didn't even know he was in a relationship."

When the twins thundered downstairs, though, the noise of it startled Ivy mildly. Dark looked up at them, "As soon as Cooger arrives we will eat. He should be here soon."
 
"You have such noisy brothers, don't you?" Sally chuckled, rocking Ivy gently.

Xander grumbled and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He spoke aloud as he texted, "Where are you, man? We're starving!"

"I'm sure that will get him here faster," Alec said dryly.
 
"Oh she does," Daizi agreed, "Poor sweet girl, she's still learning... Such a good baby... I'm glad she was born late in the year, because it means we get to be cloistered up with her at through the cold, but I'm sure she's so much more sheltered than if she were a spring or summer baby and we took her to parks."

In his truck at a red light, Cooger saw the message from Xander flash up, and he chuckled responding with, "Shit, I thought the party was in an hour. Leaving now." but nonetheless arrived about fifteen minutes after sending the text. He, of course, let himself in, and throwing the door wide said, "Howdy, family! I brought presents and cranberry sauce, not together!"
 
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"The way Americans treat their children is so different from England. Or Australia," Sally remarked, handing Ivy back to Daizi.

"Hey, Cooger, it's about time!" Xander grumbled, going up to help him with his packages.

"Cooger! Hi! They loved the tree! But you already know that since we sent the pictures," Alec crowed, bouncing over to him.

"Hello, Mr. Cooger," Peter greeted him.
 
"Hey this whole dang party is about respecting people's cultures right?" Cooger asked with a charming grin, and then, after setting everything down, squeezed Alec with one arm while offering a fist bump to Xander. Then he attempted to initiate the dap handshake with Peter, "Well hey man, you're their friend, yeah? How do you cope with 'em, anyway? You don't gotta call me Mister, anyhow. Hey, Sally, good to see ya again. Is this your husband?" He offered Jack a vigorous handshake, "Howdy! I gotta tell you, man, Dark and Tarot have both told me what you do ten thousand times, but I still ain't got no idea. Bug people, right? You, uh, do the bug science?"

Then, at last, he turned to Ciara, but with her offered a polite, calm, and respectful handshake after using a bit of the hand sanitizer he kept in his pocket, "Hello, Ms. Cunningham. It's good to see you again, too. Thank you so much for helping my friends, I'm glad they had someone in their corner, 'cause, I would've just started punching, and that wouldn't have been helpful, would it?"
 
Peter totally fumbled the dap but laughed it off goodnaturedly and turned it into a quick handshake before moving aside so Cooger could come in farther.

Sally smiled and called a greeting to Cooger with a small wave.

"But scientist works," Jack chuckled with his deep Australian accent. He happily accepted the hearty handshake. "Most folk don't remember, but a few get as far as a biologist. Yeah, I'm the husband! And you're the brother slash uncle. Heard a lot about you. You're a handyman who rescues cats, right?"

Ciara noticed the sanitizer and the quiet handshake. She returned it in kind and gave him a professional smile, but it was softened with genuine warmth. "It's good to see you as well. It was the least I could do, and I think I owe them that much. Though I cannot say that while punching would have been highly ineffective, it would have also been rather satisfying considering the circumstances."
 
""They're swell people, aren't they?" He said, "You leave the punching to me, alright? I'm my own boss, you'd face repercussions. We can't have that. And, Jack," He turned, returning to his usual volume, "I've been called worse, so that works just fine with me!"

While Cooger was making his greetings and introductions, Daizi placed Ivy back in her cradle, and about as soon as she had, Cooger came up to her and squeezed her into a hug, and even though he was shorter than her, he lifted her briefly off the ground, "Great to see ya, Tarot. You look great." Then he greeted Dark with a smooth handshake into a hug, and as he pulled back he squinted at Dark's face and said, "You look like shit, man."

"You saw me a week ago."

"And you looked like shit then, too," Cooger laughed, "Let's go eat."
 
"He refuses to take any time for himself and feels guilty when he does, even when it involves basic hygiene," Alec told Cooger, totally tattling on Dark.

Jack and Sally pretended not to hear Alec, though they did exchange a rief glance of amused understanding. Xander and Peter were already in the kitchen, and Peter helped Xander check to make sure everything was set up and had the proper serving utensils. Xand had set it up buffet-style to give everything more room rather than try to pile it all on the table. Ciara followed a couple of steps behind, ready to help but mostly feeling a bit out of place.
 
"I engage in basic hygiene," Dark said, almost offended and somewhat embarrassed, "I just have not been getting haircuts."

"Sure, bud," Cooger said, patting Dark on the shoulder. Then, his eyes brightened, "Okay, where's my favourite niece?" Before anyone could answer, he spied her in the cradle and scooped her up, "Ah, look how big you're gettin' Soon you'll be sitting in my lap, huh! Aw, but you're sleepy, ain't ya?" He touched her nose and then lay her back down, heading towards the food, "Tarot, you're feeding her well!"

Daizi came up beside Ciara and warmly asked, "Would you mind helping me pour drinks? There's a lot of us."
 
"I'd be glad to," Ciara said quickly. She followed Daizi's lead, watching her out of the corner of her eye. While not as hovering as some people when around a blind person, Ciara did watch Daizi like some might watch a toddler pouring juice, ready to interfere at any moment. She didn't even realize she was doing it, and as Daizi moved confidently, Ciara relaxed a little.

"There is so much food!" Sally remarked. "We are never going to be able to eat all of this."

Jack grinned. "Maybe, but we can sure try! "Does something need carved? I've been practicing my turkey carving skills on rotisserie chickens."
 
Daizi took out the glasses and worked on pouring everything. Normally, when she was just pouring for herself, she would just keep the tip of one finger in the glass or trust the change in sound, but under these circumstances, she had dug out the little piece of adaptive technology that hooked onto the edge of glasses and beeped. "Have you heard of a shop called Wooligans? I remember you crochet... Cooger was telling me about them, they adopted one of the cats he fosters. It's a couple who run the buisness, they raise the sheep, shear them, and spin the fibers into wool all themselves."

Cooger clapped both Sally and Jack on the shoulder, "Oh, I assure you we can eat all of it."

"The twins made a turkey breast, but I am not sure it needs carving," Dark said, "the Biryani I made, it is a rice-based dish, and the fatteh is Daizi's."

"It's Egypt's answer to nachos," Cooger whispered to Jack.
 
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"I have not heard of them, but I will look into them," Ciara assured Daizi. "I have never tried true sheep's wool yarn before. It would be interesting to test it for something like sweaters or fuzzy socks."

Jack chuckled at Cooger's whisper. "I am looking forward to it! Truth be told, I have never been an adventurous eater, mostly due to laziness and a bit of a cowardly nature."

"Oh, I love fatteh!" Sally said in delight. "If ever I forced myself to learn to cook, that would be at the top of my list of dishes to learn to make."
 
"Sometimes I think about taking up knitting or crocheting. I think as long as I do projects that are only in one colour I could do it well enough. It's mostly tactile, isn't it?" Daizi said, lifting some of the glasses and bringing them to the table, being as cautious as she could to pay attention to the sounds of where everyone was. Both Dark and Cooger stepped to the side to make space for her, and since Cooger already head his hands on Sally and Jack, he guided them back apace as well.

"Come visit with my family sometime, Jack," Cooger said, "We'll show you real classic American cuisine. Not the pretentious crap expensive American-themed restaurants'll sell ya."

"Cooger is from New York City." Dark revealed calmly.

"I moved there when I was 8, before then I lived in the heart of Appalachia, and I went down to visit my grandma every summer," He pointed out with a disapproving finger wag and a grin.
 
"Yes, it is," Ciara said, following Daizi with the rest of the glasses. "You might need someone to show you the stitches when you are first learning and help you get started, but once you get a feel for the stitches, you can do it without looking. Those who have done it a long time do not have to do anything other than maybe occasionally glance. I could help you get started, if you would like."

"New York City? How uptown," Sally said, covering a smile.

"Where is Appalachia?" Jack asked curiously.
 
"That would be nice, I'd like that," Daizi said with a warm smile, "then I can be that annoying mom who is always knitting hats and socks. And I'm the only one of the four of us who doesn't have a crafting hobby. Dark draws and has his woodworking, Alec also is an artist, and Xander does his leather working. I don't make anything."

"It's not uptown, my parents are just lawyers," Cooger grumbled, "Appalachia is the lands immediately surrounding the Smoky Mountains, its part of the South but a really specific part. I'm from West Virgina."
 
"Perhaps another time I will bring some of my extra yarn, and you can see if you enjoy it," Ciara said. "It is not something everyone enjoys, so it's good to start small rather than buy all the things all at once."

"Huh, I did not know that," Jack mused. "It sounds as though it must have some beautiful scenery."

"Everything's all set!" Xander announced.

"Let's all sit down and enjoy," Alec urged.
 
"That would be really nice. And I agree completely, and even if I didn't, I don't have the time to embark on a big project right now anyway--" She gestured, and then grinned as she sat down, "But I'm sure Dark would love it if I over invested in a hobby and then gave up on it."

"Oh, it's real pretty," Cooger agreed, taking what he determined to be his usual seat, "there's a reason why the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States."

Daizi and Dark joined the table after getting their food, but about a third way into the meal, Ivy began to scream for her dinner, and making her apologies, Daizi left the table. Dark took a long glance at her place at the table and then joked, "It is terrible, she is the one of the two of us who knows how to socialize."
 
Sally rose and followed Daizi a few steps. "Would you like for me to come with you, or do you prefer to be alone?" she offered.

"You're not that bad," Alec protested on Dark's behalf. "We just have to find the subject you are passionate about."

Jack grinned. "Well, you teach history, right? Are you the type who likes to talk about work outside of work hours? If so, have you heard about the great Australian Emu war?"
 
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