How Green Becomes Wood

"Of course I would still toss her around," Dark said over the sound of Ivy's squeals and giggles, "but that is because it is so easy to do so."

"And she loves it," Daizi cooed, stretching out the word.

~~

Cooger paused at Xander's comment and looked seriously at him for a moment, "He works five days a week, and is at the school longer than you are." He reminded him, actually frowning slightly, "When you were suspended, I'll bet you were more excited to see him at the end of the day and on the weekends."
 
Alec laughed. "She really, really does. Her face lights up like the sun when he does that! When he does anything with her, really. It's almost like they love each other."

~~

"I have a feeling you're trying to make a point, but I don't know what it is," Xander said dryly. "Anyway, they're probably wondering what we're doing out here for so long."
 
"Playtime is her absolute favourite," Daizi said, reaching up to touch Ivy's back, "Especially when playtime means she gets to fly. When she's old enough to be tossed, I bet it'll be all she wants to do."

"It makes her sleepy enough for her second favourite thing, which is useful, considering she does not love bedtime," Dark commented, bringing Ivy back down to his chest, and chuckling slightly as she grabbed at his face, "You should try it sometime, Alec."

~~

"My point is it wouldn't hurt to give him a break." Cooger said, taking a step towards Dark's shed. "He works a full-time job, he lets her out of his sight then. He's making you a wardrobe, I'll bet he doesn't bring her into his shed when he's working, and I can tell by looking at him he still works out, you don't stay built like that only lifting one baby. Anyway, it's not like Tarot isn't just as dedicated, she just doesn't have severe anxiety like he does."
 
"I don't know, I don't think I'm small enough to be tossed like that," Alec said, purposefully pretending to misunderstand. "I mean, I know you're pretty strong, but that strong? Not to mention, I'm quite gangly."

~~

Xander rolled his eyes. "When did people get so sensitive? I wasn't being serious. Sheesh. It's not like I don't objectively get why he's so attached, even if I can't actually understand it. It's still weird to me."
 
Dark turned and looked at Alec, "I could absolutely toss you."

~~

"Kid," Cooger said, leaning against the shed, "How do you think it affects an notoriously anxious man to have the people around him act like he's being weird all the time? I get sometimes he can be intense about it, but you can't look me in the eyes and tell me Tarot can't be, too. A little teasing is fine, but. Come on. She's not his lockscreen, as far as I'm aware he doesn't shower with her, or wear matching outfits. He just wants to spend time with her and make sure she's still breathing."
 
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Alec raised his brows. "No way, I'm too tall!" protested the teen who didn't quite reach Dark's shoulder. "There's absolutely no way you can toss me up. You'd hurt your back."

~~

Xander gave Cooger a level look. Cooger was not someone Xander had ever viewed as being a good advisor. Sure, he'd pulled it out a couple of times, and he was a good listener, but he was no "parental" figure in Xander's mind. As far as Xander was concerned, Cooger was overstepping bounds and had no idea what he was talking about. Cooger might be the "oldest and bestest" friend, but Xander lived there, and he had a pretty good idea that Cooger wasn't fully understanding him. He wasn't about to explain.

"Thanks for the bike. I appreciate it," Xander said. "See you inside. I gotta shop around to see who carries decent tires." He turned and headed for the house.
 
"Probably," Dark agreed, "But I could lift you up and toss you onto the couch. As long as I don't have to catch you again, I'm not afraid of hurting my back. I definitely lift more than you."

~~

Cooger watched Xander back and knew perfectly well the teen hadn't listened to a word he had said. That was fine, he was still going to say it. Sure, he didn't live in the house, but he was willing to bet Dark was more open about how he felt with him than he was with his teenage sons. "It was no problem," He replied, smiling, "Tires are easy to find, you won't have any problem with it."

Then, he gave it a few minutes before following Xander back into the house.
 
"Maybe, but I'm way more squirmy!" Alec pointed out. "And lumpy. I'm not a nice, straight, thin barbell handle thing."

Xander had come in and started for the stairs, but he stopped and changed course for the living room when he heard that. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

Alec smiled and pointed to Ivy in Dark's arms. "Ivy loves getting tossed. Da- Baba said he'd toss me, and now we're discussing whether or not he could actually do it."

Xander glanced at Dark. "He totally could. Probably into a lake or something."
 
"You are not more squirmy than Ivy," Dark retorted.

"He's able to toss me, and I weigh more than you, I bet," Daizi added, and then hoped nobody stopped to think about why they knew that from experience and not in theory.

"I could bet you anything I could toss you."

When Cooger entered the room, he watched the conversation quietly, his eyebrows knitted together, and then said, "There is only one way to know for sure."
 
Alec clapped his hands. "Does this mean I'm going to get thrown around by my foster father?" he asked gleefully.

Xander stared at him as he went over the sentence in his head. "There is something very wrong with that statement."

Alec ignored him. "But we might break the furniture."
 
"Oh," Cooger chuckled, "You were baited into it. You don't gotta worry about the furniture, just take the couch cushions off the couch and put it onto the floor. Then you just have to worry about his aim."
 
"Cool," Alec agreed. "Let's do it!"

Xander shook his head. "Nope. No tossing for me. I get plenty of tossing at Judo practice. If my feet are leaving the ground outside of that, it had better be on an amusement ride."

"Spoil sport," Alec told him.
 
Dark chuckled and gave Ivy over to his wife and then stood, stretching slightly as a joke, "Come on, Alec, you've got to help me cushion the ground if we're doing this, I'm not untidying the living room alone."

After making absolutely certain the layout was safe to toss a teenager onto, Dark rolled up his sleeves and turned to his son, "Are you sure?"
 
Alec grinned, eyes sparkling. "Let's do this! I want to see what all the fuss is about!" Despite his excitement, a tiny spark of fear lurked at the back of his brain. What if he actually got hurt? What if Dark got hurt? Strangely, the tiny fear spark made his excitement that much stronger.

Xander stood well out of the way, arms crossed as he watched, both in amusement and disbelief that this was actually happening.
 
"Okay," Dark said, almost entirely confident. His only real doubts were about throwing Alec too hard and hurting him, and that was really just because of the angle. But, since the room was about as soft as he could make it. he grabbed Alec underneath the armpits just so he could lift him up high, sort of like when that monkey lifted Simba, before adjusting his grip to something more reasonable and tossing Alec down onto the pillows. He tried to be as gentle as he could with it, and the force with which he tossed the teen suggested, had he wanted to, he could have been way more forceful, had he wanted to, and much of the effort went into making sure he only tossed Alec, rather than throwing him.
 
Alec yipped when Dark picked him up, somehow startled despite knowing exactly what was happening. Then he was sailing through the air. He landed amongst the cushions safe and sound, only losing a bit of air from the force. He lay there for a second before digging himself up and holding up his hands triumphantly.

"That was awesome!" he crowed. "No wonder Ivy loves it! And you are very strong and capable. i apologize for underestimating you."
 
"You should not have doubted me," Dark replied cooly, and after Alec was up off the floor, he began picking up the couch cushions, "Surely you remember when I flipped Xander upside-down?"

"Goose really loves showing off," Daizi commented in a sweet tone.

Dark chuckled as he replaced the cushions, "It is because I never learned how to interact with people."
 
"He was a lot lighter back then," Alec pointed out, scrambling to help.

"What, and you're a beefcake now?" Xander snickered.

Alec threw a pillow at Xander. Xander caught it and used it to lightly bop Alec on the shoulder.
 
"Are you staying for dinner?" Daizi asked when Cooger came around to her side of the room.

"If you're inviting me, I don't have any other plans. Really, the best thing about that neighbor's house being in shambles is having an excuse to be over here more often," Cooger said, stretching and putting his arm around Daizi's shoulders. "Love it. Get to keep an eye on my people." He released Daizi and pointed at Dark, "Show me what you're working on."

"You know what I am working on."

"Yes I know I've seen the pictures you send, I want to see them in person."
 
Alec leaned over to give Ivy a little tickle. "If Baba is out showing off his awesome wood skills, that means it's up to us to make dinner!"

"I bet he could do both," Xander pointed out, "but we can make dinner if you want. Do you want to pick what's for dinner, Mama?"

"I can hardly wait to see what's being made in the magical workshop," Alec murmured with a happy smile. "It's always amazing!"
 
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