How Green Becomes Wood

Although Sally frowned, Daizi laughed at Dark's comment and pulled him closer to her, "Witches are humans,"

"Who said I was calling you a witch?" He replied.

"Yeah, well you're always called a vampire. Or a werewolf, especially now," she reached up to touch his longer hair, and he looked down at her for a sweet moment before hurriedly glancing away.

"Go to the living room!" Cooger ordered them, and would have led the pair there himself had he not been carrying their baby, to whom he said, "What are we going to do with your parents?"
 
"Who starts first?" Alec asked, trotting into the living room ahead of them.

"With what?" Xander asked.

"The songs, duh!"

"Why don't you start, then."

"I don't want to. Someone else should."

"Like who?'

"Our guests! Who want to teach us how to make gravy!"

"Except Mrs. Hollis didn't get a chance to suggest a song, why doesn't she go first?"

"Or Daizi since she suggested Silent Night!"

Jack glanced at Dark. "Are those two always like this?"
 
"Do you have a favourite Christmas song, Ciara?" Daizi asked, sitting down on the couch and waiting for Dark to sit beside her, "I'm not saying you have to go first, or at all, I'm just curious about you."

Dark exhaled softly, "Essentially, yes. But it means they have no real right to complain about how I am with my wife, although they do so anyway. I feel bad for Ivy, she is the only one without a second half."

Cooger sat down on the couch, naturally going to the otherside of where he knew Dark would end up sitting, "This was your idea, Alec, I think you go first."
 
Ciara froze for a moment, not fully seated. She finished sitting down and carefully adjusted her skirt, tucking her crossed ankles under the chair. "I do," she said slowly. "It is... the David Bowie and Bing Crosby collaboration of Peace on Earth and Little Drummer Boy. Specifically."

Xander eyed her skeptically. "Really?" To him, it had looked as though she was frantically trying to think of any song other than the first that had popped into her mind.

Jack chuckled at that. "I'm sure she'll get herself a best friend to do that with."

"Alright!" Alec agreed happily. "My favorite Christmas song is, um, probably Carol of the Bells, but I don't even know how to sing that one. So, how about Christmas Wrapping?"
 
"Do they play it on the radio often?" Daizi asked, "I wonder how likely it is I've heard it."

Cooger looked around the room, especially after Alec gave his suggestion, "You all like real specific songs, don't ya? I was just gonna say Jingle Bells or Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

"Well, yes, the point of the exercise is to learn new songs, yes?" Dark told him.

"Are you gonna be singing?"

"Oh," Dark blinked, "I do not know Christmas songs so there is not really a point."
 
"How is Jingle Bells not a specific song?" Xander challenged Cooger as he pulled out his phone. "I'll play a bit of the Bowie Crosby song for you," he added more quietly to Daizi.

"Yes, there is!" Alec said, impulsively taking Dark's hand. "It doesn't have to be Christmas. It can just be vaguely festive! Or a nice song." He realized he was holding Dark's hand and quickly dropped it. "Sorry."
 
"I mean, it's a Christmas song but I don't care who sings it or what version it is. It's Jingle Bells, there's the snow to dash through, whatever." He shrugged while Daizi leaned in closer to Xander to hear the song.

"Thank you, habibi," She murmured, and very briefly touched the absolute edge of his sweater to work out the urge to touch him without actually touching him. In her mind, he'd feel his shirt move, but wouldn't have the actual feel of full contact, and it let her still show affection in the way that was natural to her. Still, she kept it brief, in case it still was too much. After the song segment finished, she raised her head and said, "That sounds lovely, Ciara. I'll have to listen to the full song later."

Dark blinked when Alec excitedly took his hand, but did not immediately pull back, "I think most of the songs I know are sad, so..." He rubbed his hand after Alec released it, "they may not be exactly... on theme."
 
Xander rolled his eyes at Cooger's response but let it go. He jumped a little at Daizi's touch because he hadn't expected it, but he didn't mind the touch.

"That's okay," Alec assured him. "If you don't want to share a song, you can still learn some happy ones with us. Xander! Come help me sing Christmas Wrapping. You're better than me."

"Only because you won't stop laughing," Xander grumbled, but he went over to stand next to Alec and started singing the song by the Waitresses.

Bah! Humbug!
Now that's too strong
'Cause it is my favorite holiday
But all this year's been a busy blur
Don't think I have the energy
To add to my already mad rush
Just 'cause it's 'tis the season
The perfect gift for me would be
Completions and connections left from last year
Ski shop encounter most interesting
Had his number but never the time
Most of '81 passed along those lines
So deck those halls
Trim those trees
Raise up cups of Christmas cheer
I just need to catch my breath
Christmas by myself this year

They continued the song through the poor lady's story of her Christmas struggles, including the repetitive chorus of "Mery Christmas, Merry Christmas, but I think I'll skip this one this year." Peter vaguely knew the song, so he occasionally chimed in, and Sally and Jack joined the chorus. Ciara nodded along politely as the twins brought the story to a close with the singer meeting a very nice fellow.

That Christmas magic's brought this tale
To a very happy ending

Merry Christmas, merry Christmas
Couldn't miss this one this year
Merry Christmas, merry Christmas
Couldn't miss this one this year

Xander had to hug Alec to get him to stop repeating the chorus, and Alec dissolved into laughter.
 
Neither Dark or Daizi had ever heard this song before and were shocked to see everybody else knew it. They knew they weren't raised Christian but they had both lived in America for the majority of lives by then. But Daizi grinned at the way Alec laughed and Dark watched with subtle, shining eyes, because anytime he saw his boys just have pure, simple fun, it made him feel somehow... better, just deep down inside.
Cooger laughed a bit with them, and sang a bit, although it also was by no means a song he was super well acquainted with, and since he was still holding Ivy, he bounced her on beat to the music, which she seemed to enjoy.

"Okay," Daizi giggled as everyone seemed to calm down enough, "Who's next?"
 
"Mr. Hollis, why don't you go next?" Alec suggested, collapsing on the couch with Xander, the pair still lightly pushing each other.

Jack grinned gleefully. "I'd be delighted to!" He stood and moved to where the twins had been standing. "Right. Don't worry if you can't understand it, that's perfectly fine. Just have fun!" He cleared his throat and began singing enthusiastically.

Out on the plains, the brolgas are dancing
Lifting their feet like horses prancing
Up to the sun, the woodlarks go winging
Faint in the dawn light echoes their singing

Orana! Orana! Orana to Christmas Day!

Down where the tree ferns grow by the river
There where the waters sparkle and quiver
Deep in the gullies, bellbirds are chiming
Softly and sweetly their lyric notes rhyming

Orana! Orana! Orana to Christmas Day!

He took them through the rather lengthy six-verse song with Peter singing along just as enthusiastically when he could remember the words. Sally just smiled and sighed, love glittering in her eyes even as she pretended to be embarrassed by his choice. Jack had no embarrassment to hold him back and waved his hands to encourage the others to join him in the refrains of, "Orana! Orana! Orana to Christmas Day!" When the song ended, he sat down with a hearty laugh.
 
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Bizarrely, Cooger knew a surprising amount of the words and joined in after a little while, and Daizi joined in on the orana refrains. Dark sat politely and silently beside her and occasionally glanced at Ciara to judge if it was a problem he wasn't joining in. If he was the only one not singing, especially as the host, he'd feel like he was doing wrong, but if she wasn't joining in either, then he was just making her comfortable. Yes. That was all. Certainly. Even still he might have felt bad about it, but just then, Daizi let go of his hand and instead shifted closer against him and wrapped her arms around his waist, and it was enough to shake him out of it.

"I guess it's good enough to be my turn now," Cooger said, "but I hope it's okay if I don't stand up to sing, 'cause I'm still holding this little kitten, and she looks real close to sleeping, and I don't want to ruin my two favourite people's night by waking up their baby."

"You can stay seated," Dark said immediately and Daizi seconded it. As Cooger promised, he just sang a simple, unedited version of Jingle Bells and called it a day. That was a song Daizi recognized, obviously, and she gladly sang along.
 
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"Nice and totally not specific song," Xander said, clapping lightly.

Alec nudged Xander with a frown before smiling at Cooger. "Nicely done! Who wants to go next?" He turned to Daizi. "How about you?" He almost called her mother, but being in a more public setting made him nervous, and he abandoned the word at the last second.
 
"It's probably the most popular Christmas song ever," Cooger replied, "How much more vague do you want me to be?"

"Sure, I'll go," Daizi replied, forcing herself to pull away from her husband, "I can sing Ya Leilet El Eid, it's not exactly a Christmas song, but it's for holidays. There's a Christmas specific song I know, but the whole point is to learn each other's songs, right? But I don't know the words in English."

She got up but couldn't stand where the others had sung, since she didn't really know the exact location, but she willingly began to sing. It was a pretty song and she clearly felt strongly about the lyrics. Dark watched her intensely for the first verse, and reached over to stroke Ivy's cheek, softly whispering something to her.

After a moment, he realized he couldn't quite resist joining in as he watched her standing alone and singing a song only he could perfectly comprehend. He joined in, a bit hesitantly, but the richness of his voice perfectly harmonized with her higher, sweeter tones. When she heard him, her face lit up and she came closer to the couch to be near to him.

Still, Dark didn't feel much more comfortable than he had all the way at karaoke, but it was somewhat helpful he was sitting down and able to somewhat lean behind Cooger and pretend nobody was looking at him.
 
Sally knew the words and hummed along, barely resisting the urge to sing. She did, though, as it seemed this song was special to Daizi. When Dark started to sing along, she felt proven right. She still hummed along, smiling as she did so.

The others sat listening intently, Alec grinning a little and forcing himself not to act too excited when Dark started to sing along, too. He was even more delighted to realize how many words he could pick out as Dark and Daizi sang. Not enough to piece together what the song was saying, but enough to bolster his confidence in his language studies.
 
When the song finished, it occured to Daizi she had no idea what to do next, so she awkwardly laughed and said, "It's about, you know, coming together. It's really popular to sing on the last night of Ramadan," as she sat down with Dark and snuggled back up to him, whispering something sweet and secret in his ear, and he cracked a tiny little smile and rested against her.

"Xander," he said, "you should go get the cookies we frosted. Or Alec, and the," he paused, trying to remember the word, "the eggnog."
 
"On it!" Xander agreed, springing up.

"Eggnog is fantastic," Alec agreed, following Xander.

"Especially with a splash of whiskey," Jack muttered under his breath, earning a gentle smack from his wife as a warning to behave.

"I'll help," Peter offered. Between the three of them, they had the cookies out on the table in no time along with enough eggnog for everyone.

Up to this point, Ciara had mostly sat in the background, content in her corner chair and listening to the songs. She made no attempt to sing, but she did nod along occasionally, enjoying the music. She accepted her glass of eggnog with a quiet thank you and leaned back in her chair again.
 
"You can have whiskey," Cooger said, "Yeah, Dark? We want whiskey?"

Dark looked over at this friend, and then shrugged, "Sure, why not. I can go get it," he looked down at his wife who pouted slightly but allowed him to get up so he could get the bottle. When he came back, he offered it first to Jack to add to his cup, then to Cooger, and then asked Ciara, "Would you like any?"

"The cookies we all decorated blindfolded," Daizi said broadly to the table, "well, they were blindfolded. It seemed redundant with me."
 
Jack thanked Dark profusely and enjoyed his drink with extra relish. "This is good whiskey."

"No, thank you," Ciara told Dark politely, holding up her hand in refusal.

"They certainly are festive!" Sally said in amusement as she looked over the cookies. "A bit abstract meets Van Gogh." She picked up one that was mostly green and red. If it were not for the shape of the cookie, it would have been impossible to tell what it was.
 
"Thank you," Dark said, capping the bottle when it was returned to him and setting it down on the coffee table, "It is old, I had abstained while Daizi was pregnant, and even now it is not too common I have any."

"When Ivy is weaned then we can have some sort of... college style party to celebrate," Daizi teased, "because then I'll be really free."

"Oh, please, darling, do not make me," Dark said, sounding nearly betrayed.

Cooger snorted, "What's it to you? You have to drink a disgusting amount for it to matter anyway." He looked at Jack, rolling his eyes, "It's unfair, I'll tell you, I've seen him really badly hungover once, and that's because we were doing shots all night."

"It is not the drinking it is the people and the noise at those sorts of parties," Dark replied blandly, "One of the parts of fatherhood I am most excited about it having an easy excuse to get out of social obligations."

Daizi chuckled, "No, I wouldn't actually want to go to one of those parties either. I've always found them disorienting." She leaned against him and took a sip of eggnog, "I thought the cookies were a good idea, I realized I didn't feel great about being the only one who couldn't make mine look as I intended... Oh, Goose, we should've made a gingerbread house, you'd be great at that!"
 
"How on earth did you manage to survive?" Jack chuckled, looking at Cooger in amusement. Cooger was big, but not nearly as big as Dark.

"You could always have a very nice cocktail party," Sally suggested in amusement. "Or what I believe is known as a potluck? Which I think is what we had here."
 
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