How Green Becomes Wood

"Yeah, it is." Daizi agreed, hugging him suddenly, "I'm very lucky."

The initial excitement passed, they went back to enjoying the park itself and the sculptures in it. Since the park wasn't massive, within an hour or two they had seen everything at least twice, so as they all took one final pass, Dark asked, "Are you hungry? We are right by central downtown, we can get something to eat."
 
Alec hugged her back willingly before they joined the others. He enjoyed himself immensely and touched everything he could get his hands on. Xander could occasionally be persuaded to touch something, but for the most part, he kept his hands securely in his pockets and only looked. He wasn't as much of a fan as Alec was, but he enjoyed himself.

"I could definitely eat," Xander agreed. "Burgers?"

"Italian!" Alec suggested.
 
"Let us just arrive to the main square first and then decide," Dark told them, amused. They so rarely agreed on where to eat.

"I think we should get sushi," Daizi said, "It's been forever since I've had good sushi because I was making her, and I've been cloistered inside since having her. Have either of you had sushi before?"
 
With that out of the way, Dark led the way to the sushi restaurant. It wasn't a far walk at all, and once again Dark was pushing the stroller with Daizi lightly touching his back.
The weather was perfect, Ivy was cooing in her stroller, and then--

Bang.

It came from seemingly nowhere, but around them, and Daizi yelped in surprise while Ivy immediately began to cry--frightened for the first time in her life. At the sound, Daizi took instinctive step back, causing another bang.

The twins were behind Dark and wouldn't have been able to see his face, but his whole body tensed and then trembled, and he staggered forwards, at first trying to push the stroller out of the way of whatever--this--was, but it caused a third bang and he didn't know where the exit was, and couldn't breathe, every individual breath was rapid and ragged. All of it happened in only a moment or two, and the air took on a faint smell of flash powder.

He couldn't perceive it, but in an allyway just to the right of them was a little trio laughing.
 
Last edited:
Alec yelped and danced to one side, setting off another bang. He froze, heart thumping, confused.

Xander figured it out first. He spotted a tiny pellet like device that had been scuffed up in the snow. He caught Alec's arm and pointed it out to him. "Firecrackers." He turned toward the alleyway, first driven by instinct. If he'd been the one to pull off the prank, that was where he'd hide to watch. "Take care of them," he snapped at his brother and took off running into the alleyway.

Alec swallowed, trembling. He wanted to cower and hide, but he couldn't. Not right now. He took a couple of deep breaths and stepped forward, taking Daizi's arm. He didn't dare touch Dark. "It's okay!" he called, trying to be loud enough to be heard through their panic. "It's okay. Hold still and we'll be alright. It's fire crackers, nothing bad. I'm going to move them out of the way. You will be alright, just hold still."
 
"I just didn't know," Daizi exhaled. She had been startled, but only because it was a sudden noise, and then because she couldn't see where it was coming from. First she turned towards Ivy, leaning down to scoop her up to help comfort her, but as she stroked Ivy's cheek, a new thought crossed her mind and her shushing fell quiet. "Goose," she said gently, unsure if it was better to tend to her baby or husband.

If he heard Alec at all he made no sign, Dark still staggered forwards, but thankfully had passed the last cracker without stepping on another, and he still couldn't breathe. And he could hear his baby screaming, and his son had yelled, and his wife, and the scent in the air, and he couldn't think, he knew there was something he should be doing, but he couldn't breathe so how could he think?

In the alley, two of the three were still laughing, if not laughing harder, at the sight of the giant man clumsily dropping down to sit on the pavement like his legs couldn't hold him up. The third had stopped.
 
Alec glanced around quickly and spotted a bench a short distance away. He hurried toward it, carefully using his foot to make certain the path was clear before returning to Daizi and taking her by the elbow. "There's a bench right over here," he said, tugging lightly. "You should sit down with Ivy. She's scared and won't want me. When you're safe, I'll go talk to Dark, okay? If I can't talk to him, I'll hold Ivy for you." In his mind, right now, Ivy, being the littlest and least experienced was the most important person to keep safe. Daizi was second.

Xander dashed up to them, his vision a haze of red. He knew there were three and that they weren't significantly different than him in size, but he didn't pay attention to anything else. They could have been ten-year-olds or retirees for all he cared. He caught the closest of the two by their shirts and twisted, shoving them hard against the brick wall. "You think that's funny, do you?" he hissed, his voice a rumble of rage. "You think it's funny to remind a man of bombs that blew up his friends and family? You think it's funny to make him think he's going to die with his wife and kids? How about I take those crackers and shove them up your asses, eh? That'll give me a good laugh!"
 
"Okay," Daizi nodded, quickly taking Ivy from her carrier and holding her close to her chest, but the whole time she was partially turned towards where she could hear the panicked breaths of her husband, but let herself be guided to the bench. And Alec was right, anyway, Ivy needed her mother, so she sat and cooed to her baby.

"Get off of me," The man against the wall, a college kid by the looks of him, exclaimed, trying to push Xander off, "It was just a prank!"

"Yeah, dude!" The other one who had kept laughing even after the consequences yelled, trying to pull Xander off his friend, "How the hell were we supposed to know!?"
 
Alec made certain Daizi was settled with Ivy before hurrying back to Dark. He nearly stepped on another cracker and forced himself to slow down, using his foot as a sweep in front of him until he reached Dark. He knelt down and spoke softly. "You are in a safe place. A bad thing happened, but now you are in a safe place. Deep breaths. In. And out. You will be alright. No one will hurt you."


Xander leaned into them harder, tightening his grip. "A prank that redacted a man's head to redacted. You can try knowing by using your redacted brains! But I don't think you got any, you psychopathic long string of redacted morons!" He gave them a hard shake again. "Where you going after this? Huh? To laugh at people jumping off a bridge? To drown a puppy? To steal a kid's favorite toy? Pain isn't funny you flippin' redacted. I get it was a prank, but you LAUGHED at a man's pain! The least you could have done was run off! Or better yet, stepped up and f**kin' helped!"
 
Dark didn't look at Alec, he was staring into the middle distance with wide, petrified eyes. He had one hand over his heart and while Alec spoke, he squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head for a few moments before gathering enough strength to raise it again, but he still couldn't breathe. Some small voice in his head was telling him he was not dying, but he was still fairly certain he was.

"I told you it's not funny," the third man shouted, although he neither helped nor hindered Xander.

"Whatever!" The first man replied, still struggling against Xander, "Okay, sorry! There! Get off me, it was just a mistake! You'd laugh too if you saw a giant man go down like that!"
 
"I'm here," Alec assured him, his voice low and gentle. "We're safe. We're all safe, and we can sit here for as long as you need." He held out his hand, putting it where he thought Dark might be able to see it. He didn't touch Dark, but if the older man wanted to reach out, Alec was there as an anchor.

"Do you see me laughing now, jacka**?" Xander snarled. He finally let go, shoving them both away with a look of disgust. "Why don't you run back to your frat house and tell your mates what a big man you were hiding in the shadows and laughing at someone having a mental breakdown? While walking with his BLIND wife and newborn baby? Oh, yeah, real hilarious! Real manly stuff! I'll bet you'll be the stars of the campus, all three of you! Now get lost before I kick your collective sorry asses for real." He swept all three with a scathing look and stepped back but did not turn away.
 
Last edited:
Finally Dark was able to attempt to take a deep breath, but it choked him, and a few tears rolled down his face as he tried desperately to remember all the things he was supposed to do when he felt like this. He couldn't hear Ivy, anymore.

As soon as he was released, the man shoved Xander back but then wasted no time in running off, followed by the other one. The third, the one who hadn't laughed, hesitated, not wanting to run after the other two like he was on their side, but also not wanting to stroll past Xander. He mumbled out, "I'm sorry they're assholes," and decided to hurry out the allyway in the direction the other two had gone, but didn't yell for them to wait.
 
"You are in a safe place," Alec told him. "Feel the cold concrete. It's real and it's safe. Feel the breeze. It's real and it's safe. I'm here, and I'm safe." He tried to remember what Dark had told him the one other time he'd nearly broken down back when Xander had yelled at him, but in his fear and worry, the memory wouldn't come.

Xander snorted and watched them go before turning and heading back to Dark and Daizi. He paused near Dark, but Alec seemed to have it in hand for right now. He was too angry to talk quietly anyway. Instead, he headed toward Daizi and waited until he was a little closer to talk. "It was a couple of jackasses thinking they were funny," he told her bluntly, trying to keep the snarl from his voice. His fists were still clenched at his side. "They're gone."
 
With great effort, Dark shut his eyes, but kept his head up, and he was able to take an actual deep breath, but he still kept his hand over his heart. His other hand reached up and grabbed his own wrist, attempting to feel a new sensation.

"I don't know why they would do something like that," Daizi said, rocking Ivy close to her chest, but her face was hard as stone, even though Ivy had calmed back down. It looked as though, had she been physically able to, she'd have fought the people who had done this. And she ached that comforting her baby meant she couldn't also comfort her husband.
 
Alec glanced around and spotted a small stone. A pebble, really. He picked it up and offered it to Dark. "Here. This is something for you to hold. Will you take it? It's smooth and round." Maybe playing with something like a cold rock would help focus his mind.

Xander watched her for a moment. "Do you want to go to him?" he asked. "Alec can take the mini." He couldn't. Not now. Not even on a good day, but especially not now as he still shook with adrenalin and anger. He wanted to punch something!
 
He took another choking breath and kept his eyes shut. He really, really, really wanted to keep locked up, but he was just calm enough now to be able to actually hear Alec as more than just white noise. So he released his wrist and held his trembling hand palm up so Alec could give him the rock, because he had just enough of his mind back to know holding a rock was smarter than digging his nails into his skin.

Daizi nodded, "Yes, I want to go to him." She hadn't even thought about it before answering, Ivy was calm now, she was settled. The scary thing had passed for her. But for him... She kissed Ivy's head and squeezed her as tightly as it was safe to.
 
Alec placed the rock in Dark's hand carefully. "Here. It's a nice rock. Very grey and cold. As clean as a rock can be, too."

Xander left Daizi to go get Alec. "Hey. You need to hold the mini," he said, leaning over.

Alec hesitated, glancing between Dark and Xander, but he nodded and stood up. Xander stayed standing next to Dark while Alec hurried over to Daizi. "I'm here. I can take her now, and then I'll lead you to where he is."
 
Dark closed his hand tight around the stone and then brought his arms tight across his chest again.

"Thank you," Daizi breathed, and then tried to sound cheerful, "Okay Hummingbird, Alec is going to hold you now, okay habibti? Mama has to go make Baba safe too. Oh, good girl, baby. You're such a good girl." She kissed the top of Ivy's head and then handed her to Alec, and Ivy settled comfortably into his arms as if nothing upsetting had happened at all. Then Daizi followed him to Dark, and she wasted no time in sitting beside him, gently speaking to him in Arabic, with the same, coolly enraged look on her face.
 
Xander and Alec moved a whort distance away, keeping watch over Dark and Daizi. One walking couple stared openly until Xander glared and growled, "What are you looking at?" It wasn't the most original line, but it did the job and sent them hurrying on. Alec held Ivy securely against his chest, rocking her gently.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top