How Green Becomes Wood

"Thank you. I'm sure you do too." She replied, since she had absolutely no idea how he had styled himself, and commented, "I forgot how uncomfortable dressing like this is. I'm glad I don't have to do it often. I wish Sally's hours were different, I think if anyone I know has a frilly apron, it'd be her, but she's at work right now, and I'm not going to bother her for this."

For a short time she did her best to help the obviously gothic decor, although occasionally when she thought it was totally hidden, it turned out to be visible in a different way, but when Ivy woke up she had to stop to take care of her while Xander finished up. When she came back down, she handed Xander a terribly bland, beige table cloth, "I don't even remember why we got this. Or why we kept it. I think at some point we said it would be useful for if we had kids who were engaged in messy arts and crafts or if we wanted to have a picnic but our good blanket was too dirty to use."

~~

"Have you been able to make any friends outside of the neighborhood?" Cooger asked, "Or have you been too stuck fixing up the place to get out at all?"
 
Xander used his foot to push the last of the decor behind a chair and took the tablecloth gingerly. "This is hideous," he stated. "It'd be good for a painting cloth and that's about it. I'll go put it on the table."

~~

"Mostly I've been stuck fixing this place," Lex admitted. "I did get to know the parents of one of Toby's new friends, but that's about it. Man, making friends as an adult is hard, man!" She laughed at herself and shook her head. "Once the bathroom is finished, I'm going to take a break and look around my new surroundings a bit more. I explored some when I was trying to decide if I wanted to make the move, but it feels different now that I'm here."
 
"Thank you. Then we can pick something boring for her," She bounced Ivy up, kissing her cheek, "and I think we're all ready."

~~

"When you're ready, I have a few recommendations of good places to check out. I'm sort of infamous for never meeting a stranger. There are a lot of really great people in this town if you go to the right spots." Cooger said, finishing the rest of his drink.
 
Xander fixed the tablecloth and checked over the kitchen again before returning to Daizi. "Can't be black. That's to interesting. Got anything in pink? Guess I should look for myself."

~~

"I'd like that," Lex agreed. She stood and took his empty drink and her own. "You seem like the type of person who only has friends he hasn't met yet."
 
"Yeah you should probably be the one to look through the colours," Daizi laughed, "but I'll go with you, it'd probably be easiest. And I don't know if you know where her clothes are kept." The vast majority were very sweet: pink with little mushrooms, ones with little foxes and trees (probably a gift from Cooger), luna moths on black onesies, and all of the sorts of clothes which were clearly perfectly curated and lovingly selected.

Then, clearly intentionally buried at the absolute bottom of the onesie drawer, hidden and kept for emergencies, probably, a simple white onesie with the text, "I get my attitude from pretty much every woman in my family" written on it, with 'attitude' written in a pink, obnoxious font.

~~

"I used to be a nihilistic bastard because I thought it was cool. But I was young and stupid then, and what teenager isn't a nihilistic bastard? But I don't know. I just think the world is more enjoyable when you're nice to people, you know?" Cooger said, standing along with her, "I like myself better now than when I hated everyone because I thought it was cool."
 
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Xander held it up by the tips of his fingers. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think you should be glad to not be able to see this one. My eyes are affronted. It's perfect, but... ugh."

~~

Lex chuckled at his statement and took his empty glass, carrying it into the kitchen. "I agree with you. The world is a much nicer place when you aren't boiling over with self-loathing and hatred for everything around you. Still stuff I don't get, like I don't know how some of my new neighbors can stand such boring styles and cookie-cutter lives, but I don't make it my business to hate on it anymore. It's just a passing, 'I don't get it, but different strokes, different folks' feeling. So much less wasted energy!"
 
"I think I know the one you're talking about," Daizi said, bouncing Ivy on her hip, "Dark brought it home one day from work, he told me it was one the worst onesies he had ever seen that wasn't outright disgusting, but it was a gift from one of the math teachers. I'm surprised he kept it. Well, Ivy," she said, lifting her up above her head, "I'm sorry to do it to you, but in a way, it's your Baba's fault for keeping it."

~~

"I always figure they're probably not quite so cookie-cutter behind the scenes and they're just too afraid to let the side down at all." Cooger shrugged, beginning to slowly gather up his tools, "but that's the story some people live by. And I think it's a real bummer, but there's nothing I can do about it, you know? As long as they don't try to change me, I'm not going to be bothered."
 
"This is true," Xander agreed. He dug around until he located a tiny skirt that wrapped around and attached with velcro. It was also pink and likely also a gift, though he had no real idea who would give it. Maybe it went with the onesie and they'd gotten separated. "Here you go. A onesie and a skirt thing. It's perfect."

~~

"Agreed. Some people even seem to actually like it. I guess somebody's got to be beige to make the rest of us stand out," Lex pointed out. She came over to help him gather up his tools. "So, tub next, then tiles, and then a lot of detail work like paint and stuff. This is coming together faster than I feared. I thought for sure it'd take weeks longer."
 
"Oh, wonderful," A devious grin crossed Daizi's face, and she carefully set Ivy down on the changing table. Although she didn't have an issue with changing Ivy's onesie in front of him, her diaper was staying on and to her, a baby's chest wasn't particularly shocking, especially since he had already seen it while Ivy was in the hospital, but she still waited a few moments to give him a chance to leave the room or turn, if he felt more comfortable that way. After Ivy was in the new, horrible, clothes (although the skirt part Daizi kind of liked, for special occasions), she walked towards the living room, "The part I'm not looking forward to, is the wait for them to get home."

~~

"When we got down to it, the repairs weren't that significant. At least not in this room, although the tile may take longer than we anticipate, but it should still keep going along. Many hands make light work, and all that. Between you, myself, and my nephew..." He knocked lightly on the wall, and turned to look at the rest of the home, "We should be just fine. And that's good, that saves you money, as long as we don't fight to rush it, and do it poorly. But I don't do shoddy work."
 
"Alec should be home in about... fifteen minutes if he gets a ride with Sloan," Xander said, checking the time. "A bit longer if he takes the bus alone, and a lot longer if he comes home with Da. I mean, Baba." He still struggled to say Baba, though he especially tried when around Ivy. He was more relaxed when it was around Alec or his friends.

~~

Lex shook her head. "It's in my nature to rush things, but I learned the hard way to slow my ass down and take my time. I found out once I stopped chafing at the bit that sometimes it was actually more fun and definitely more satisfying to do things slower and right the first time. Still catch myself rushing sometimes, though."
 
"Perfect. I hope he gets a ride home with Sloan." Daizi said with a grin, "The waiting is the hardest part. I hope he rushes home."

~~

"See I... I've never been good at hurrying. They can get a fire under me when there needs be one, but the rest of the time..." He shrugged, shutting his toolbox with a satisfying click, "There are many miles to go til the big sleep, and I'm in no hurry to get there any sooner. I'd much rather take my time with what I enjoy doing. But not too much time, or my clients won't keep hiring me."
 
"Suspenders look stupid, but they are kind of comfortable," Xander admitted, scowling. "More comfortable than belts." He pulled on the suspenders awkwardly and then went to check if his hair was still lying flat or not.

Meanwhile, true to his promise, Peter stuck with Alec through all of their classes. Normally, being a total social butterfly, Peter tended to bounce from friend to friend throughout the day and sit with a different one each class. This day, he stayed right by Alec until the end of the day and even helped ease some of his anxiety by keeping him distracted. Finally, at the end of the day, Peter turned Alec over to Sloan, who'd offered him a ride home, and he eagerly accepted. He didn't mind the bus. When not alone.

~~

Lex checked around to make sure he hadn't left anything out, but he hadn't. "I guess we cancel each other out, then. I think I got so caught up in always looking for the next best thing or at least something better than where I was I accidentally turned rushing into a personality trait. Means I can churn out any job you get me at the speed of light and get through any unpleasant task in no time, but not much good for anything else."
 
"Dark prefers suspenders, which works out, because I like how they feel. He can wear the most heavily patterned shirt in the world, but if it's all the same fabric, I can't notice that, but if he's wearing suspenders, I can feel that he's accessorized. You know?" She preferred them for other reasons, too, but it didn't seem at all appropriate to explain to her son about how the combination of Dark rolling up his sleeves, unbuttoning his top buttons, and wearing suspenders was particularly attractive to her. "He only wears belts when he is concerned about looking like a hipster, or when he wants to wear that snake one Alec made him buy."

But when she head the door begin to open, she fell silent, and quickly hurried to hit play on her phone, which, connected to a bluetooth speaker, because to play, Nice to meet you, where you been? I could show you incredible things, magic, madness, heaven, sin, because true to her word, she played Taylor Swift when when he entered.

Then, when Alec stepped inside, after she was absolutory certain he had already touched the salt, she said, using her American accent, "Welcome home, Alec."

~~

"If you didn't already have a job planned out, I'd say we'd make great buisness partners," His face broke up into an especially genuine and kind smile, and he shook her hand, "But I'll be over soon with the tile."
 
Alec ran from the car to his home, barely taking a second to tell Sloan thank you for the ride. He dashed into the house, hurriedly kicking off his shoes. He didn't realize anything was different at first thanks to his hurry, but then he paused, realizing the music was wrong. He turned slowly, looking around in confusion. Something was very wrong here. Then Daizi walked in and spoke to him, but it wasn't Daizi. He drew back slightly, eying her warily. "Hello?"

~~

"That or learn to hate each other," Lex chuckled. She accepted his handshake and returned the smile with a warm one of her own. "Thanks for all your help. I know I'm paying you, but you go above and beyond. Thanks. Hope you enjoy your soup!"
 
"I was thinking about taking the salt down, you know, I'm worried it gives our guests the wrong impression." She said, sighing and resting her weight on one hip, "but I was going to ask your father's opinion."

~~

"Well, I try to." He said, lingering for a moment, "but I couldn't imagine hating you. I told you already, I gave up being a person-hater."
 
"The... the wrong impression?" Alec asked weakly.

"Is that Alec?" Xander called down the stairs, forcing his voice into the most proper tone he could manage. He descended the stairs. "Ah, there he is. How was school? I was sorry to miss it?"

"Hadlepheth?" Alec stammered bewilderedly.

~~

Lex shrugged. "True, but business can do some weird things to people when they're in it together. Either you get to be good friends or mortal enemies. At least, that's what I hear."
 
"Yes, I was talking with Mrs. Applebaum," Daizi said, turning towards Xander to obscure the grin she was fighting back, "that having rituals like that really make us seem, well, like heathens, and that's really not the right enviornment to bring a baby up in, you understand." Having successfully fought back her grin, she turned again towards Alec, although she delayed the reveal by kissing the top of Ivy's head.

~~

"Dark and I used to say we'd start a traveling carnival," Cooger said, lifting up his back, "I'd be the strongman, he'd be the illustrated man, and Tarot would be our fortune-telling witch. We were going to buy a train and travel that way. I don't think there's any way we could've actually done it, but I still wonder what might've happened had we tried."
 
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"He-heathen?" Alec stammered. "As opposed to what?"

Xander frowned. "Really, Alec, what seems to be the matter with you? It's all perfectly reasonable. We desire the baby to grow up a propper little girl, do we not?" He was managing to control himself perfectly, although Daizi nearly losing it had nearly made him lose it. He held himself perfectly composed, trying to channel the nerdiest nerd he could think of.

"Proper?" was all Alec could manage, staring between them. They had gone collectively mad. That was the only explanation. But why? How? Was it in the house? Had Mrs. Applebaum cast a Jewish spell on them? Was that how Judaism worked? They had Jinn, didn't they? No, that was Isalm that had Jinn. Then what? Maybe he should call someone.

~~

Lex considered the idea for a moment and nodded. "That sounds like a swell way to live, I gotta tell you. Probably stressful and hand-to-mouth, but pretty cool. But why a train and not a caravan?"
 
"Yes, a proper young lady. It's really important we teach her to be well mannered, you understand, we can't have her turning wild. We want her to be respectable. Not like those girls who run around acting like they know everything, right?" She laughed a fake, polite laugh, "The only people she'll boss around are her kids! Well, and maybe her husband!"

~~

"Trains are faster, and I think Dark felt like they were more stable. I guess it seemed just a little bit more like a home when we were traveling compared to like... a bunch of camper vans."
 
"Quite right. It would be most improper to have her grow up to be a loose woman who reads things that encourage her to question," Xander said, twisting his lips as if the words were the worst he could possibly say.

"I... I... I think I'm going to step out for a moment," Alec stammered, groping behind himself for the doorknob. He opened the door and bolted outside, yelling a bit before he could get ahold of himself as he ran down the front walk.

"Oops," Xander said dryly.

~~

"I guess it's a fair-" Lex stopped short at the sound of the yell outside. Moving quickly, she half-ran for the door, scooping up a bit of wood as she went out of habit.
 
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