How Green Becomes Wood

Milo scurried off to class, blending in with the crowd, scanning it as he went so he could hide if need be, and then slipped into class, where most people didn't even notice his existence, or if they did, they didn't acknowledge it. Even after his talk with Alec, he still kept thinking about Xander, and how maybe it was his own fault that they didn't, but another voice kept reminding him it wasn't like this was his first time at a new school. It wasn't like he hadn't tried before. He was operating on what he had learned, this school wouldn't be miraculously the one school that mattered. The world didn't work like that.

And at the end of the day, he went back to the room that was really a scrapbooking room, and sat down on the bed that had his grandmother's floral bedspread, said hello to the parakeets, and flipped through his box of photographs.

Meanwhile, when the twins came home, Daizi greeted them at the door, "Hey, habibis. Cooger visited earlier, so I made some rose lemonade. There's still some left--how was school?""
 
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"It was..." Alec hesitated, not sure how to answer as he took his time with the salt bowl.

"Sucky," Xander grumbled. He kicked off his shoes, barely touched the salt, and headed upstairs with his backpack. "I've got homework."

Alec watched him go before turning back to Daizi. "Lemonade sounds really good," he said softly. "How was your day at home?"
 
"Oh, I'm sorry," Daizi said, and still said all of, "Let me know if you need to talk about it, okay?" as Xander went upstairs, even though she knew he probably wouldn't take her up on it. She was always going to offer. Then she sighed, and turned to Alec, "It was nice. Ivy is sleeping, now, playing with her Uncle really tired her out, I think, and we were out in the garden for a lot of the day." She walked into the kitchen, assuming Alec would probably follow, and poured two glasses of lemonade, putting one on a little tray so she could take it upstairs to Xander, and leave it outside of his door. Then she paused, frowning, before going into the pantry and getting a few snacks to add to the tray, "Did you have a difficult day too?"
 
Alec deposited his bag at the bottom of the stairs out of the way so he could take it up later and followed Daizi into the kitchen. "It wasn't a great day, but it was more of a... vicariously bad day. Xander had it a lot worse, and I dealt with some of the fallout." He pointed to the tray out of habit. "Would you like for me to take that up to him?"
 
"I know what those days are like very well," Daizi sighed, and tried to think if there was anything else she should add to the tray, "You can if you'd like. Otherwise I was going to, but I would just knock and leave it outside his door. I want to give him space if he needs it... I'd ask you if you know anything, but I don't want to try to come in between you and ask you to betray his secrets."
 
Alec considered this and decided to say, "He got into a verbal fight. It seems to have upset him more than physical fights, and I don't actually know much beyond that." He sighed before picking up the tray. "I think I'll put it in there and see if he'll accept it. He's probably listening to music now. Be right back!"
 
"Alright," Daizi said slowly, thinking through what Alec said, "I'll be in the living room." Then she did as she said she would, stopping at the bassinet to check on Ivy, who was still sleeping peacefully and breathing deeply. Then she turned on some quiet music and sat down on the couch, where Enkidu joined her, trying to make the home feel as relaxing and comforting as possible. But somewhere in her mind, she thought to herself how relieved she was that the 'drama' at school--although she hated that word, it seemed patronizing--was normal teenage stuff for once. Or at least the little she knew about it seemed to be, and after having that thought, she felt both guilt for it, and dread about if she was wrong.
 
Alec tapped lightly before letting himself into the room he shared with Xander. As expected, Xander was not doing homework. He sat in the corner with his earbuds in, listening to music. Alec set the tray on the desk and crouched down in front of his brother. Xander sensed he was there and opened his eyes. Alec smiled and pointed to the tray. Xander nodded and closed his eyes again. Alec waited, but it didn't seem as though Xander wanted to intereact any further. So, he headed back downstairs to join Daizi.

"Hi, Enkidu," Alec whispered to the dog, reaching over to pet him before going to his own chair. It felt extra nice at home today.
 
As always, one pet wasn't enough for Enkidu, so when Alec walked away, the dog scrambled up to his feet and followed him to the chair, and rested his head on his knee, looking up at him with his big, warm eyes.

"It's hard to remember, sometimes," Daizi said, after giving Alec a few moments to settle in, "after the year we've all had, that days like this are always part of life. We like to think we've done it, we're through it, and now there are no storms ahead. And it's not true, but at least we have umbrellas."
 
Alec leaned over and buried his fingers in Enkidu's fur, cooing to him softly as he gave the dog the best scratches in all his favorite spots. He smiled at Daizi's analogy. "True. Compared to past storms, this is barely a summer-time sprinkle. I like that we have umbrellas now. In truth... I'm glad it's not all smooth sailing. We'd get so bored." He frowned. "Did I mix too many analogies?"
 
"Even if you did, I'm not an English teacher, I won't take off any points," She very gently teased. "You're right, we would get bored. Sometimes I think I already am bored, I've been home for a long time... Some of my coworkers were convinced I'd quit my job and be a stay at home mom, but I don't think I've got it in me. It's weird, because I'm not bored of her, I think I just really miss other adults. Which is why it was great Cooger came over. But I'm also basically trapped in our neighborhood because I can't drive..." She thought for a few moments, then shifted on the couch, "I think as long as we don't have any huge upsets, I'm content with little ones."
 
"I can understand your feelings," Alec agreed. He gave Enkidu another good scratching before sitting up. "It would be really, really hard. I wish there was better public transport so you could get around easier no matter what, but you are so active mentally, I think staying home all the time would drive you bonkers!" He glanced upstairs to where Xander was. "I'm happy with little upsets, too," he agreed, hoping this was a little upset.
 
Since she couldn't see, Daizi had learned carefully to pay attention to the qualities to silence, and after waiting for a little while to see if Alec would say anything else, she offered, "Would you like me to read your cards? I know it's not something you really believe in, but it can be very grounding."
 
"Cards?" Alec asked, taken by surprise. It took him a moment to realize she wasn't talking about playing cards. "Oh, you mean tarot cards? Um..." He hesitated and then shrugged. "Alright. Sure. That sounds interesting." What was the worst that could happen? They were just cards with pretty pictures.
 
"Okay, great." Daizi said, doing her best to hide her excitement at the fact one of her boys finally agreed to it, "Stay here and keep an eye on her, okay? I'll go get them."

She hurried upstairs and in a little while she returned, sitting down near to Alec, "Normally I light incense for this, but smoke isn't good around her. It's why I've stopped burning sage, too. But I think we can get away with lighting a candle. Here," she handed the deck to Alec, "You need to ask a question. After you have, shuffle them until you feel like it's time to stop."
 
"Ask it out loud," Daizi said, "I know that might be uncomfortable for you. "And you can ask anything. Last year I asked a lot about if my pregnancy would last, if next month would be easier, what steps should I take to help solve whatever crisis we were dealing with... It's better to avoid 'yes or no', questions and instead ask open-ended ones, and to not ask more than one question at a time. But really, whatever you feel like you need to ask. Sometimes last year I even just asked, 'Who should I seek guidance from?' or, 'How is my past affecting my present?' when things were really difficult. But they don't have to be difficult questions, either."
 
"Hmm." Alec considered his question carefully. "Alright. Um. How can I best help someone who does not want to be helped?" He shuffled the cards a few times with no idea what he was doing. After about five shuffles, he set the deck down on the table. "Okay, I've shuffled. Now what?"
 
"Give them back to me," Daizi said, holding out her hand to receive the cards. Once she had them, she spread them out to Alec, "Pick one. Then give it to me, I'll lie it down on the table. We're going to do this ten times, okay? And I'll put them where they need to be."

As they did this, she lay the cards out in a specific pattern. The first in the middle of the table, the second on top of the first, turned to the side. The third below them, the fourth to their left, the fifth above (but not on top of), the sixth to the right. To the right of the sixth card, in a vertical column, she placed the 7th, above the 8th, then ninth, then finally the tenth.

All of her cards were modified with a brail strip to say what they were, and the top of each card was notched in an identical place so she knew which card was which, and she took some time feeling over them with a serious, concentrated look on her face, "It's interesting," she mused, "almost all of them are Wands. They deal a lot with what's going with you at the spiritual level, way deep inside, and every single one of your cards is upright... Hmm... Here," she tapped the first card she had placed, "This one represents your current situation. It's the Moon, which speaks to taking a path you are uncertain of. The moon's light can bring clarity, but there's fear and anxiety in your mind, and there's some... Hidden truth, you haven't found. Be careful, though, because the Moon is also an illusion, and you can't always trust what you know."

She took a breath and waited for a moment, "Here, the second card, this is what's blocking you, this challenge. The Hierophant. So, here, what I would say is... Hm. There's an urge to stay within what is familiar, and there's an apprehension to trying new solutions to problems. It's... staying within firm boundaries already set. It also speaks to seeking being part of a group who have a clear and defined belief system. Your third card, here," again, she gestured, "This one is the root of the block, or what's causing the issue. It's the 3 of Cups, the last of your cards not to be a wand. The Three of Cups is all about friendship and companionship, and the cups as a suit deal with thinking with your heart, rather than your head. It's interesting," she made a face, "The Three of Cups is all about gathering with close friends and forming, for lack of a better term, bonds of fellowship. And it's the root of the challenge, which reads like being afraid to be different from the rigidity of what you know for yourself."
 
"So, so far," Alec said slowly, "I am getting that I shouldn't always trust what someone is telling me? Or has told me? Or an assumption I've made? But there's something I haven't found, a secret, that is possibly throwing off what I think I know. And thinking with my heart rather than my head is... a bad thing?"
 
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