How Green Becomes Wood

"So... what you're doing now?" Milo asked, not actually trying to catch Xander up in an inconsistency.

Sloan laughed again and found Peter, "It's so cool your parents agreed to do this!"
 
Xander shrugged. "A bit different now. I got other friends here."

Peter grinned. "You might not know it to look at them, but they love a good party! Are you having a good time, then? No one stomped on your feet?"
 
"Wouldn't you also have friends at prom?" Milo asked, furrowing his brows, "Unless you expect Peter and everyone to move before then. Sloan will have graduated, but you only need two people besides yourself to have other friends there."

"No, not yet! And it's a good thing, because I'm just in my converse, I'm not all that protected!" Sloan replied, dancing with Peter while they spoke, "I think they look like they'd enjoy a good party. They'd enjoy it more than my parents would, anyway."
 
"Peter's not a guarantee since he nearly already moved once, and even if he stays, that just makes one," Xander said. Then he shifted. "Never mind, it's a long way off still. Wanna talk about something else? Something a bit more upbeat?"

Peter laughed as he danced with her. "Good! And I gotta say, Alec plans a pretty good party mix. I don't recognize most of these songs." An Alanis Morissette song came on then, and he pointed to the ceiling. "I recognize the singer if not the song! She did the unironic ironic song!"
 
"One so far," Milo said, "Peter and your brother, that's two. That's more than some people've got." He quieted and looked back at the dance floor, "I'd say something upbeat if I ever knew something upbeat to say."

"Her album Jagged Little Pill is awesome!" Sloan said, "And Alec should be a party planner if this was his idea. But I think people are too hard on Ironic, the point wasn't to teach literary concepts, it was to express a feeling, you know? Everyone knows the feeling."
 
Xander chewed on the end of a small sausage, choosing not to comment on how he didn't think his brother counted as a friend even if they were friends. "If your bird and your dog were the same size, which one would win an eating contest?"

Peter thrilled and struck a disco pose. "Maybe so, but it's sure confused a lot of people who think it is actually ironic!" He grinned.
 
"My birds, probably. Presuming their metabolism stays the same. Birds need to eat a lot." Milo replied, "Do you have pets?"

Sloan laughed at his pose, "I think she did think it was ironic, I just don't think the mistake matters as much as people think it does."
 
"Kind of," Xander said slowly. "Our parents had pets and we moved in, but the only pet we really share is Enkidu, the dog. He's a pretty good dog."

"Or maybe arguing about the song is as enjoyable to them as the song," Peter said, pointing both fingers at Sloan and attempting to moonwalk past her. He almost pulled it off. "It's another form of entertainment!"
 
"What kind of dog is he?" Milo asked, doing his absolute best to keep this conversation going without falling back to downer topics.

"Maybe," Sloan giggled, stepping to the side to avoid being trampled, "Did you know that You Oughta Know was written about the dad from Full House?"
 
Xander paused with a toothpick sticking out of his mouth as he tried to remember. "German Shepherd," he finally stated, though he thought maybe Enkidu was a mix. "Mama also keeps a couple of rats and a spider. Alec wants a cat, but they're not sure if they can fit a cat right now." He used the toothpick to stab another meatball.

Peter grinned at Sloan. "I have no idea what any of that means," he admitted. "I'm guessing it has something to do with Alanis Morisette, but the Ironic song is the only one I know by name."
 
"It sounds like a pretty full home. That's... five people, a dog, rats, and a spider? That's very full. But rats only live a few years, don't they? Maybe they'll agree to get a cat after the rats die." Milo said, thinking about it and not realizing how bleak the thought of that was.

"You'd know You Oughta Know if you heard it," Sloan told him as she twirled around, "It's the one that's like, 'and I'm hear to remind you of the mess you left when you went away.' You know, it's really angry? It's great. And Full House is this show from, I don't know, the 90s, I think?" She shrugged, "It's super vintage, but it's pretty good."
 
"Dark, dude," Xander said dryly, "but true. I think Mama even mentioned something along those lines at some point. It might happen for him, we'll see."

"Oh, it's one of those songs. And I don't know Full House, but if I remember, I'll look into it." A mashup song that combined Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba, and Avicii's "Wake Me Up" came on. Peter started doing the disco finger-point dance move. "Ever wonder why this is the only move anyone ever seems to remember from the disco era?"
 
"I told you I don't know how to be upbeat." Milo replied, but did laugh slightly at his own comment, taking a few pictures of Peter's disco dance, "But it is hard to make room for a lot of new pets too soon. Gotta give them attention and time to adjust, right?"

"Probably because it's ridiculous," Sloan replied, attempting to copy the move but laughing too hard to continue it, "You and Alec should dance together, I think you'd match each other's energies perfectly,'
 
"I guess so. If he does get a cat, it'll be the first pet either of us have ever had. At least, that's fully 'ours,' you know? Could be interesting," Xander said, watching Peter. "This might be a dumb question, but what the hell is he doing?"

"Alright!" Peter agreed with a grin. "Then who should you dance with, then? Who matches your energy?" He spun in place and shot her with finger guns.
 
"Dancing, I think." Milo replied, stopping himself from sitting with his legs crossed on the couch, because they were in a nice place and he didn't want to do harm with it, "When I lived with my dad, we had a cat named Mr. Larry Fluffernutter. And he was giant, and would sit in the sink and scream until you turned on the faucet."

"I don't know," Sloan said, swaying to the beat, "I don't know what my energy is! I just like to dance, I'll dance with anyone as long as they're not a creep!"
 
Xander slowly turned to look at Milo directly. "Mr... Larry... Fluffernutter..." He repeated, drawing it out as long as he could.

Peter laughed. "Then I'm glad I passed the creep test!" He spotted Alec behind Sloan and pointed him out. "I'm going to go dance with my energy equal. You good?"
 
"He looked like when you mix marshmallow fluff with peanut butter," Milo explained, furrowing his eyebrows, "and he had this really deep meow, so he was, you know. A man. He spoke like a grumpy man, so he just acted like a Larry. And I was just a kid, my dad died when I was eight, remember? Larry died a year or two later."

"Yeah, I'm great!" She replied with a big grin, "You have fun, don't poke somebody's eye out with that disco finger!"
 
Xander considered this. "Mr. Larry Fluffernutter." He turned away. "Better than some of the names Alec's come up with, and I guess peanut better and marshmallow fluff makes sense."

Suddenly, Toby came wandering over and collapsed onto the couch across from them, a plate full of pizza. He stretched out his legs with a groan. "Man, my legs are shot! What a party! Hey, neighbor!" He grinned and saluted Xander with his plate before addressing Milo. "I don't know you, sorry, but I've seen you around school. I'm Toby. I moved here recently and ended up next door to him!"



"Roger!" Peter called cheerfully before bounding off to ambush Alec. Alec was more than happy to join Peter for a dance, and several people ended up having to move out of the way to give them more space.

"I knew Alec was gay, but I didn't think Peter was," remarked a girl behind Sloan.

"Nah, I don't think he is, I think they're just goofing off, but they sure are cute together," said her friend.

The first girl let out a forlorn sigh. "Peter certainly is, and he's a drummer! Cute, musical, and rich. He'd be any girl's dream guy, but he's also just so nice all the time! I wish I could get a dance, but he's never looked twice at me."

"Come on, daydreamer," giggled the second girl. "Peter never looks twice at anyone. I think he's ace or something. Let's go see what kind of weird drinks the bartender will mix up for us before you embarrass yourself."

The first girl agreed, and they wandered off.
 
"I'm Milo," Milo murmured, averting his eyes awkwardly, "I um. Live kinda near. For now, anyway," he rubbed his arm, "You looked like you were, you know, having... fun."

Sloan's grin as she watched Peter and Alec have the time of their life faltered slightly when she heard the two girl' comments, and although she tried to let it go, she realized she couldn't and followed them over to the bar, "Hey, I couldn't help but overhear what you two were saying, since everyone kinda has to yell here, but... I just wanted to say, it's not nice to speculate about people's sexualities."
 
Toby grinned broadly. "Yep! This place is fantastic! So glad I could come! Hey, nice camera. Have you been taking pictures?"

The first girl shifted uncomfortably, but the second girl looked at Sloan directly and asked bluntly but not unkindly or rudely, "Why not? It's not like we can just walk up and ask. I tried, and they tend to get mad at you."
 
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