How Green Becomes Wood

After dinner, they danced in the living room--literally--because they could, and they were dressed for it, and Dark adored the way Daizi's dress moved. And at the end of the song, they retired upstairs for the evening.
 
Bedtime came late. Sometime around two in the morning, so, technically really early. Peter fell asleep first, passed out on his bed. He'd tried to give the bed to one or both of the twins, but they'd flatly refused to accept. Instead, they slept on the blow-up mattress Jack provided. It squeaked, but supported well. Xander was out next, but Alec couldn't fall asleep until nearly three.

The next morning, they got up to a beautiful pancake breakfast, courtesy of the breakfast restaurant not far away. Cooking was not a skill either of the Hollis parents shared, and they weren't going to risk burnt toast on the twin's first sleepover. The three boys chattered sleepily as they ate breakfast and tried to figure out what was happening next with foggy minds.
 
Early morning, too early for Dark, when the sun was rising over their crumpled sheets, Ivy decided it was the perfect time to remind them they were, in fact, parents. Forcing himself up and out of bed, he retrieved her from the nursery, where she had slept overnight for the first time, and brought her back to Daizi. After giving a kiss to them both, he went into the bathroom to quickly wash his face and brush his teeth, and then went downstairs to cook breakfast to his wife. Smiling at the sight of the wilted petals and melted candlesticks, he hummed lightly to himself as he cooked.

When Ivy was fed, changed, and ready for the day, Daizi came downstairs and kissed her husband behind his ear. At the end of their breakfast, Dark texted Xander, When am I picking you up?, knowing between the two, he was more likely to answer than Alec.
 
Anytime between now and lunch. We're just hanging, came Xander's reply to Dark. They were just hanging out, the three of them, with Peter and Alec playing a video game while Xander finished off the last of the snacks.
 
Just let me know, we are not up to anything either. Dark replied, then set his phone down on the table. He looked quietly at Daizi for awhile, and then in a low voice said, "Toq’borny."

"I love you too, Goose," She replied, moving her chair closer to his so she could lean against him.

"I am so grateful for you," He told her, enveloping her in his arms. In the back of his mind he knew he needed to clean up, there was candlewax and petals and dishes to wash... but not yet. It could wait, this time. Before it was time to get the twins, then he'd neaten the house.
 
"Was that Da?" Alec asked as Xander stuck his phone back in his pocket.

"Yeah," Xander said, watching Peter try to beat a round of the racing game they were playing. "We can just let him know when we're ready to go. Ready to kick us out?"

"Not yet. I have to beat you at least once first," Peter said cheerfully as he set up the game for a multi-player rematch.

"We could go now," Alec said uncertainly.

Xander stuck a controller in his hands. "One more round."

Alec hesitated and then nodded. "One more round. And we need to ask their opinion on pizza when we get home."

The game started, and they quickly lost themselves in the fun of trying to crash into each other at high speed.
 
Eventually Dark and Daizi did manage to extradite themselves from their reverie, and set about picking up after themselves, and Daizi went upstairs to get dressed in actual clothing.

Then, finally, he drove over to the Hollis' to recollect his boys.
 
The Hollis' lived in a nice area, like Dark and Daizi, but unlike Dark and Daizi's neighborhood of family homes, theirs was condos. Their condo was in one of the newest buildings and up on the third of four floors. It was a modern building, all class and metal, sleek and cold, but the door to the Hollis' place had a welcome mat and a little decorative weath, unlike any of the other black doors in the building.

Jack opened the door dressed in casual khaki shorts and a loose shirt with the name of an Australian band on it. He grinned and opened the door wider. "Hello, mate, come on in! The boys are making sure they didn't forget anything."

Inside was just like the outside. Black, white, grey, sleek, and clean lines. It looked like a house in a magazine, except clearly lived in. It was clean and tidy, but still had things like Peter's jacket tossed on a chair, books on a table, and someone's glass forgotten on a side table.
 
"Thank you," Dark said, stepping inside and taking a brief look up at the walls. It was nice. He wore his usual "casual" attire, which still included a button down shirt, but it wasn't buttoned up all of the way, "Did they have fun?"
 
"Seemed like it, yeah," Jack nodded. He moved toward the black and white kitchen. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

One of the walls held an art gallery of Jack's photography. It was mostly scenery with some animals and closeups of flowers, but there were a few smaller pictures of family members here and there.
 
"Oh, no thank you. I do not expect to stay for long," He said, holding up one hand. He looked up at the photography wall, crossing his arms over his chest. After some silent moments, he said, "This will be difficult to pack up."
 
Jack followed his glance at the wall. "I've gotten pretty good at packing things like that. We usually get professional movers to take care of the bulk of our stuff, and I focus on the important, breakable items."

Xander and Alec came out from Peter's bedroom at the other end of the condo, each with a backpack on their shoulders. "Hey, we're here and ready. See you at school, Peter."

"Later!" Peter said around a yawn. "You should think about going like we talked about."

"Not happening," Xander said, but smirked as he said it.
 
"Still," Dark mused, scratching his beard, "I am glad to be finished moving and packing. Being able to fill my space without worrying about what came next was comforting." He turned at Xander's voice, "I hear you had fun. What had you spoken about?"
 
"Culinary school," Xander told him. "Peter thinks I'd be great. I think he just wants to have one person in his life who can cook."

"That's not totally true!" Peter protested as he flopped down on the couch. "Dad can cook! Kind of."

"Thank you for that glowing endorsement of praise," Jack said dryly, but unoffended.

"I think he should try it," Alec said brightly.
 
Dark ran a hand through his hair, unintentionally revealing a hickey on his neck which he definitely did not know existed, "I think it would be a good path for you. You do cook well, and took naturally to it once you began to learn. Although I hear professional chefs go through great amounts of stress."
 
Xander shrugged. "It's fun, but working at a restaurant means dealing with people. Uh-uh, no way."

"You could do a food truck," Peter commented.

Alec frowned at Dark. "What's on your neck? Did you hurt yourself?"

""Looks like you got a bit of lipstick on your neck, there," Jack grinned to Dark.
 
"What?" Dark asked, putting his hand over his neck, and at Jack's comment he cleared his throat lightly, quickly figuring out what they must have seen, "...Ivy... probably accidentally hit me... She has been trying to touch our faces like we touch hers, but her dexterity is not..."
 
"They do turn into quite the little pugalists, don't they?" Jack chuckled.

"We should get going. Mama must be waiting," Alec reminded them, inching toward the door. "It was a lot of fun, thank you so much for having us over."
 
"It would seem so," He said, following the twins out to the car, "Thank you for hosting them."

As soon as he sat down in his car, before he had even buckled, he flipped the sun visor down, opened the little mirror, and craned his neck to look at the spot. Shit. Shutting it, he buckled his seatbelt and said, "You do not necessarily have to work with the public in a restaurant, you know. How many times have you spoken to the chef when you have gone out to eat? Or you could always open a restaurant that is take-out only, or a catering buisness where all you do is cook."
 
"I'd have to deal with a boss, maybe fellow employees, and suppliers," Xander pointed out. "And a catering business would have clients. Picky, unrealistic clients."

Alec sighed and leaned against the back of the front passenger seat. "You are so negative! At least culinary school could be awesome to learn new stuff even if it's not a business."
 
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