How Green Becomes Wood

"I've noticed that. I'm sure it helps. It's nice he's so positive about everything, you know? A lot of people aren't like that. I try to be upbeat but I'm not great at it all the time." She looked over at the pair, "but I guess nobody is, all the time."

"...No, I cannot." Daizi said uncomfortably, trying to listen for her husband or one of her children. She very specifically did not give any additional details about her disability.
 
Alec smiled at Sloan and touched her arm. "That's because you are a real person, not a robot. I'd rather real upset you than fake happy you."

"How about this? Or this?" He waved his hands in various patterns before loudly clumping to her left. "Ha! You moved to follow me! You can see!"

[presuming she moved her head to follow the noise of him walking.]
 
Sloan smiled slightly and bumped against his arm, "I hope how fake all of my mother's guests are don't bother you too much. She's really concerned about opinions."

"No you're just very loud." Daizi said sardonically, deciding she did not, in fact, have the energy to continue to be extremely polite to him.
 
"Oh, it's alright," Alec chuckled. "Nearly all of them are incredibly insecure, so if I can give them the gift of letting them believe I have no idea how nervous and frazzled they really are, I don't mind. Some of them are pretty cool, though."

"But you followed-" Alfred started to say.

"Hey, girl," Lex said, walking up to Daizi. "Sorry to bug you, but this is really important. Can you come with me for a second?" Looking at Alfred, she said, "Sorry to interrupt, but it's kind of a small emergency. Hope you don't mind. I'll give her back later!" Touching Daizi's elbow, she started guiding her away.

"Well, sure, um, right, if it's an emergency," Alfred said, starting to follow.

"A girl emergency," Lex said with emphasis.

That stopped him in his tracks with a blush, and he watched them walk away.
 
"I'm hoping eventually the cool people start taking over. And I also think... I don't know, I think some of them would be more chill if there wasn't the pressure from the rest of them." Sloan sighed, resting her chin on her knee, "Honestly, I hate it here. I really do. It's better now that you and Xander are here, because you're different, but it's exhausting."

Daizi had absolutely no idea who had taken her arm, or if it was a real emergency, but she chose to just go with it and allowed herself to be led away, "I'm sure Blair has a pad or a tampon if you need it," she said, just in case it was a real issue, but since she doubted a stranger would choose the blind woman for help, as they walked away she exhaled and said, "Thank you."
 
"It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy, a circle that feeds on itself," Alec remarked, watching the people mingle. "I can totally understand why it would be so difficult and draining. You aren't yourself. You aren't allowed to be yourself." He glanced at her sideways. "But you might want to put your leg down. Someone standing across from you can see a lot with that skirt. Sorry." Returning his gaze to the crowd, he asked, "Do you have a college you want to go to?"

"No problem." Lex glanced over her shoulder and slowed before releasing Daizi's arm. "Okay. We're out of that scummy dude's line of sight. We should be good here. And the real emergency was getting you away before you were tempted to murder him outright. I'm no expert on high society etiquette, but I'm pretty sure that went out of fashion with the guillotine." She realized her mistake and added, "I'm Lex, by the way, the new next-door neighbor, and you're Mr. Darkness' wife, right? Sorry if I'm wrong. I've met a lot of people tonight."
 
Sloan blushed, changing how she was sitting, "I do have shorts on underneath. But. Thank you. It's not that I don't wear dresses, but not normally ones like this. But my mom says..." She shook her head, furrowing her eyebrows, "Nevermind. I've put a little bit of thought into it, but I haven't settled on anything yet. I know I should, but at the same time, I'm not guaranteed to be accepted anywhere, so it's better to have a number I want to apply to, right? I think I want to be a guidance counselor, though. Or a social worker."

"Some people really want me to be a party trick." Daizi told her flatly before taking a breath and shaking it off, "Hi, Lex. It's nice to meet you. Yes, he's my husband--his name is Dark, by the way, not Darkness. I believe you're the mother of the boy who nearly ran me over." When she shared this, she laughed slightly and didn't sound upset about it. Once the fright had worn off, the situation was amusing.
 
"Those are some high aspirations!" Alec said in genuine admiration. "I agree, it might be better to have more than one in mind. I just thought... perhaps college might be the best way for you to get away for a bit. I'll totally miss you and expect frequent texts and calls, but I think... maybe it's what's best for you."

"Hmm, Dark, Darkness, they both suit him pretty well," Lex said with a faint smile. "I'll keep Dark in mind, though. And sorry about Toby. He was trying to problem solve, and when that happens, the whole world disappears!" She rolled her eyes in exasperation before admitting, "I think that's the only trait he inherited from me, unfortunately. By the way, I didn't catch your name?"
 
"Yeah, I'm not really planning to take a gap year," Sloan told him, "but I'm only starting my senior year next year. Then I'm going to go. I'll probably end up staying local, though, because in-state tuition is a lot cheaper. Once I live in a dorm... everything is going to be so much nicer."

"They do," Daizi agreed, and the way her face lit up couldn't be hid by her sunglasses. He was her gloomy, gloomy man. "And its alright. It worked out, us running into each other, literally, meant I was able to get our family more business. So we all won, in the end. I'm Daizi Wahid."
 
"You should look into scholarships. They can open so many doors, but if you want to stay local, I certainly won't argue!" Alec grinned. He grin faded to a thoughtful look. "A part of me wants to go to college. There's just so much to know and learn! But another part knows the stress and the money and the... everything will just eat at me. Not to mention, the chance of getting into the same college as Xander is small. If he goes at all," he added in a quiet murmur.

"Daisy... daz... Sorry, my pronunciation sucks," Lex apologized. "I'll get it eventually. So, you work? Or are you a stay-at-home mum to your kids? Or some third option I'm not thinking of?"
 
"It depends on what college you go to, honestly. If you go to some Ivy League school, yeah, then the chances of you both being accepted are slim. But the University of Tennessee seems to accept just about everyone. Not all schools are ultra exclusive. And if he doesn't want to go to school, it's easier, because then you can just get an apartment on or near campus and live together that way. You just have to go to community college first, because then the 'must live on campus' requirement won't apply to you, since it's for first-years. It's super possible to have both." Sloan told him, not even considering the possibility of them living apart. She knew it wasn't what they wanted, it wasn't her job to try to warm them up to the idea.

"Daizi," She repeated, but didn't push it, "Right now I'm staying at home, because we just had our daughter, but I've slowly started transitioning to working from home with her. I talked about it with my boss and we agreed jumping straight into a full workload wasn't the best for me."
 
Alec glanced at Sloan and smiled, sitting up a bit more. "You're right. There are options!" he said brightly. He might have said more, but then Xander stumbled over and sat on the ground at their feet.

"I don't feel so good," he admitted and burped. "I think it might have been the deviled eggs. Or the carrot sticks. Maybe the mini meatballs."

Lex nodded. "Right on. What do you do for work?"
 
"That's why food eating contests should be left to the professionals," Sloan chuckled, "Have you drank anything today?"

"I'm a cultural anthropologist at the museum up in the city," Daizi proudly told her, even though it was five months since she last stepped foot in her office, "I work a lot in ethnographic analysis, so although I'm not an archaeologist I collaborate with them on a semi-regular basis. I was actually supposed to travel up to Nova Scotia to present at a conference back in October, but then my daughter had other plans."
 
Xander groaned and leaned sideways against Alec's knees. "Bit. Not enough."

Alec nudged him into sitting upright. "I'm going to go get you some nice water. Stay here and don't throw up on anything or anyone, okay?" he instructed, amused.

Xander grumbled and stayed where he was as Alec got up and stepped around him to go get water.

Lex blinked. "I have no idea what you just said, but traveling to Nova Scotia is pretty awesome," she admitted. "I haven't been to a museum since..." She pursed her lips, trying to remember. "Fourth grade field trip, I think. I remember it being really boring, but looking back... you get to work with all that stuff and be a part of it? Cool."
 
"How do you still not know how to take care of yourself?" Sloan teased, hoping it wasn't too far over the line. "My mom will kill you if you throw up. Benny once got sick on our good couch and she still brings it up."

"Yeah, it would've been. At some point I'll get to go." Daizi said, but really she didn't care she ended up missing it. Most of her didn't care, anyway. She probably would have, if she didn't get to go but Ivy was born on time, but now that Ivy was completely recovered from the ordeal of arriving six weeks early... It didn't bother her much. That Friday in October, she might have been presenting, but instead she was holding her baby for the very first time. "You should visit my museum. It's really well done, and I'm not just saying that because I've helped to design the exhibits. It's genuinely very special, and its in one of the oldest buildings in the city."
 
"I know," Xander said morosely. "It's a terrible thing, ain't it? It's a good thing I have someone to look after me, eh?"

"Very lucky," Alec said, catching the last bit as he walked over. He handed Xander the cup of water. "Go slow. Sips. Not gulps."

Xander glanced at Sloan. "It takes three parents to keep me alive and properly healthy."

"Yeah, alright," Lex nodded. "I'm not very experienced with culture and such, but as long as your museum crowd isn't as easily offended as this one is, I think it'd be good for me." She paused for a long moment. "And that is the extent of my small talk."
 
"At least. You'd think you're the youngest, not the oldest." She looked at Alec, "Are you sure you don't want to check the birth certificate to make sure you're not actually the older one of the two of you?"

"Don't let this neighborhood bother you too much. There a bunch of sad, bitter folk in these houses, but a lot of them, mostly ones who didn't attend, I think, are actually totally fine. And I think it's literally impossible for you to have a worse experience than what Dark and I went through with the woman who used to own your house, so really it should all be smooth sailing now." Daizi told her, not bothered enough about small talk to try to keep those little conversations going, "And even Blair, you know... She can be a lot, but somewhere inside she's got a good heart. She raised good kids, anyway."
 
"And if it's proven that he is the younger he'll just take that as an excuse to act even more childish," Alec pointed out.

Xander snorted and looked around. "This party blows." He looked at Sloan. "Wild idea, but what do you say we blow this joint and go find something fun to do?"

"What if our parents start looking for us?" Alec asked worriedly.

Xander pushed himself up to his feet. "We don't have to go far to get something more fun than this brightly decorated graveyard of manners. What do you say?"

"That does make me feel a little better," Lex admitted with a slight smile. "I was beginning to think this wild idea of mine was one of the worst I'd ever done."
 
"My mom would kill me," Sloan said, standing up, "but she'll probably find a reason to anyway. I'll let my dad know, if I get permission from him then he'll be yelled at instead of me. Your parents are cool, I doubt they'd mind if you said you wanted to leave."

Daizi chuckled, resting her weight on one hip, "You can imagine how it felt for us. Two Arab immigrants, the way we are, building a home like we built... And because we built the house it was infinitely more difficult for us to leave. There aren't many people who would want to buy it after us. But once you learn who to ignore and who to avoid, it gets easier. And honestly, most of these people... You rarely have to even talk to them. It's really easy to be out of town or have a cold when one of these invitations comes around."
 
"Yeah, but that's not really the point," Xander told her. "If you want, you can, but I'm just going to bounce. Meet you out front if you want to come." He started walking, taking the long way around to avoid the attention of most of the people.

"Oh, dear. He's feeling rebellious," Alec sighed. "Don't worry. I'll text our foster dad." He found his phone and did just that, keeping it short and succinct. "Meet you out front!" He hurried toward the front, following Xander.

"Ugh," Lex winced. "I got an idea, though I bet you had it a thousand times worse." She glanced around. "Honestly, with the number of toes I stepped on tonight, I doubt I'll be invited to anything ever again." She didn't sound one bit sad about that.
 
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