How Green Becomes Wood

"Cool, perfect," Xander nodded. "I'll be there. With a pinched nose." He started to walk away, heading for the bus. "Photography is weird the way it goes from those plastic strip thingies to big paper stuff. Looking forward to seeing your magic."
 
"I don't know if it's magic," Milo said, following after him, "I'm still just learning. But, I think it smells nice. Different, but... I don't know. I like it. You don't smell stuff like that anywhere else."
 
"I never really thought about smells unless they were bad until smelling my foster mum's flower garden," Xander admitted without thinking. He caught himself and continued a little more carefully, "I guess I'm looking forward to smelling it? I guess?" He smirked, amused by the thought.
 
"It'll be pretty miserable if you hate the smell," Milo very cautiously teased, not mentioning his comment about flowers, because to him it wasn't particularly strange, "but I guess you'll find out what you think of it soon enough."
 
"Ah, man, getting myself trapped in a dark room with weird smells," Xander pretended to complain. He paused. "Actually, that reminds me of a lot of my bedrooms as a kid when I've forgotten to clean."
 
Milo wrinkled his nose, but laughed, "I don't really want to know how your dirty bedroom smells." He scratched his arm, but wasn't stimming as much as he tended to, "Anyway, I hope your room didn't smell like chemicals like that... I'm not even sure if it would be safe to be around those chemicals that often."
 
"Probably not," Xander agreed on the basis that no chemicals seemed to be all that safe, not because he knew anything about these particular chemicals. He hooked a thumb toward the bus and his anxiously awaiting brother. "I gotta get to the bus. Text me the details later?"
 
"I will," Milo promised, "I've got to get on my bus too, so I'll send it to you on the way. It's cool you want to go. It's cool." He stood for one minute longer, then looked away, "Well, see you," before scurrying off to his bus.
 
Xander lifted a hand to say farewell before heading to his bus. He and Alec got on just in time, and the bus trundled off with its load. Xander and Alec discussed their plans. Alec expressed delight that Xander was planning to go hang out with Milo even if it did mean he'd be left home. Then he told Xander how his plans were going for the surprise on Friday evening. Xander reminded him that that Saturday was a gig day at the pizza parlor, but they agreed that it was worth the potential exhaustion to not cancel. Then Xander talked a bit about his three prospects for a car, and Alec nodded along politely. It was going to be a busy week!

"Mama! We're home!" Alec called as they walked in the door.
 
"Marhaban," Daizi said from the living room, where she was sitting with Ivy and a braille baby book, which Ivy immediately tried to eat the moment her mother was distracted, "Ivy, sweet girl, your brothers are home, isn't that special! We were just reading together down here. How was school?"
 
"The usual," Alec said. He came over and gave Daizi a gentle hug if a bit awkward from the angle. Then he leaned down and gave Ivy a little kiss on the head. "Hello! I missed you!"

Xander finished taking off his shoes and came over to them. "Milo is going to a darkroom tonight. He said I could come. Any reason I should tell him I can't go?"
 
Ivy looked up and grinned at Alec, drooly and happy. She cooed at him and kicked her legs, and Daizi took the moment to set the befouled book down, out of her baby's reach. "I don't think there's a reason why you couldn't," She told Xander, adjusting how she supported Ivy so Alec could take her if he wanted to, "What time tonight? Because if it's before Dark gets home, you need a way to get there."
 
Alec gently took Ivy from Daizi and held her up, grinning and making faces at her and babbling incoherently. She was so cute!

Xander glanced at his phone. "It's after he gets home," he reported. (I think?) "I don't think it'll be a problem, and it'll be easy enough to get back."
 
Ivy cooed and babbled back at him, grabbing at his face.

"Then I don't see a reason why you couldn't go, unless you have something due tomorrow that you don't think you'd be able to finish in time," Daizi told him, getting up so she could clean up the book and coffee table so Dark didn't collapse in on himself like a dying star, "You should eat something before you go."
 
Alec laughed and let Ivy grab his face, pushing his nose into her belly and wiggling it lightly.

"Sweet." Xander cleaned off the coffee table before Daizi could reach it and then went toward the kitchen. "How was your day?" He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Dark, asking if he would be willing to give him a ride to the location Milo had sent him. That was better than ambushing him right when he got home, he thought.
 
"Oh, it was fine. Not much has really changed. I work when she's napping, we play and read the rest of the time, just about." Daizi shrugged, not realizing the mess had been cleaned up until she tried to get it and realized it wasn't there, "You'd be shocked at how consistent home life is. I'd still take it over all the drama we had last year."
 
That was for sure. Almost anything was better than the drama they'd had last year. Almost. Xander put together a small dinner for himself and Alec before calling his brother into the kitchen. Alec came, still holding Ivy and dancing with her as he walked, trying to keep her laughing until he had to sit down and eat.
 
Daizi followed them into the kitchen, "Do you want me to take her so you can eat? She sounds like she's been having the time of her life with you..." although she wasn't hungry yet, she sat at the table with them, "It sounds like it's going to be a quiet night in for the rest of us."
 
"I don't mind holding her," Alec assured Daizi. "Can I start letting her try foods yet? Or is it still too soon?" He gave Ivy a large spoon to play with and started gulping down his food quickly, knowing it wouldn't be long before she tried to grab it.

"Need anything while I'm out?" Xander asked.
 
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