How Green Becomes Wood

"Well, it does matter." Daizi said gently, resting her arms on the table so she could be slightly closer to him without actually touching him, "Of course it matters. But an explanation is not an excuse."

Dark exhaled, glad they seemed to have handled this better than they had a year ago, and he turned to look at Tristan, and if he caught the other man's eye, he'd give a little nod of the head to indicate they were okay if he came back.
 
It took a minute, but Tristan noticed Dark's look and rolled back to the table. His left leg was trembling again, but he ignored it. He rolled back to his former spot and smiled at the group.

"I'm sorry," Xander blurted uncomfortably. "I shouldn't have used the C word."

"Thank you for your apology. It means a lot," Tristan said gratefully. "I understand you are angry and perhaps worried about what dangers I pose. I understand. I would rather you didn't take your anger out on me like that, but I understand why you did."

Xander ducked his head and nodded. "It won't happen again."
 
Daizi visibly exhaled at Xander's apology, pushing up her glasses. As a disabled parent, the fact her kid would say something like that felt worse than she thought it would if she weren't. But, the fact Xander was willing to apologize showed a lot of personal growth, and that, if nothing else, she counted as gain.

Again, Ivy squealed, and again Dark shushed her, but his hard face softened almost perceptively for the first time in two meetings. Then, he looked back at Tristan, that brief break in his expression gone, and said, "I believe you had been asking Xander about judo?"
 
"Yes, thank you," Tristan said, grateful to Dark for his guidance. "I was wondering what sort of martial art it is?"

"It's... a lot of grappling. It's not like the punching and kicking style," Xander explained cautiously. "The first thing you do is learn how to fall, and that's what you do at the beginning of every lesson or contest, you start throwing yourself onto the mat to make sure you're prepared. They even have a name for it. And you're taught how to throw your partner so that you don't hurt anybody. Accidents still happen sometimes, but the worst injury I've ever seen is people getting their knuckles all scraped up on the uniforms. The fabrics are pretty touch and rough, so scrapes happen a lot."

"That is interesting," Tristan said genuinely. "I hadn't realized that was what Judo was like. And you enjoy the competitions?"

Xander was much slower and clumsier at explaining things than Alec, but he did keep going, telling Tristan about the sport and a little of what he and his team members did. Tristan patiently listened and asked questions only when he felt it wouldn't rush Xander, going as slowly as Xander needed.
 
Dark sat back, watching this conversation closely, impressed with how hard they were both trying. Neither he nor Daizi spoke unless a question was asked to them, or if Xander struggled with putting some particular concept into terms, then they would help bridge the gap. This wasn't about them. At some point, Ivy started getting particularly fussy, so Daizi excused herself and went on a walk with her, figuring it was better to leave Dark with the twins if one of them needed to step away for a little while, and when she returned, Ivy was sleeping, so they were able to put her back into the stroller and have the rest of the conversation without any more interruptions.
 
Alec eventually leaned forward to ask a question, quiet and timid once again. Tristan readily included him in the conversation, doing his best to not exclude either of them. He asked if they had any plans for the summer break, and Xander mentioned how he worked with a handyman doing small jobs as well as working with leath. He didn't go so far as to say he had his own business, but Tristan was suitably impressed. Alec mentioned he wanted to find a job to earn money for a Cyr wheel.

"You know, I work part-time at a flower shop, and I could use some help there," Tristan suggested.

"I thought you worked for a mortgage lender?" Xander asked.

"Yes, part-time. That's the job that feeds the pocket, and the flower shop feeds the soul," Tristan smiled, his eyes dancing. "Right now, there is only me and a young lady who is going to be going abroad to continue her education. After she leaves, I will be alone. I can get you the details of the shop, and you can visit it and think about it, if you would like," he offered Alec. "That is, if your folks are agreeable."
 
"What kind of flower shop?" Daizi asked, trying to obscure her own excitement, "Are you a part-time florist or a part-time nurseryman? I keep a a garden, I love flowers."

"If he is willing to visit the shop, I would have no issue with him visiting, attended, obviously, I would not be comfortable letting him be alone there." Dark replied, leaving an unsaid yet in his sentence. He wasn't sure how he'd feel if Alec decided to work there, but that was because he didn't know enough about Tristan, yet. It seemed like a premature offer, in his opinion, but they could take steps to approach it. "Do you own the shop?"
 
"A florist, I do a lot of floral arrangements and a few live potted plants," Tristan explained. "I do own the shop. It's pretty small, and I do not intend to try to grow it any bigger as, like I said, it is primarily for my own happiness. I work Mondays and Tuesdays and every other Wednesday at the office, and Thursdays, Fridays and most Saturdays I work at the flower shop. I keep the last Saturday of every month free as well as Sundays."

Xander frowned, unable to help the skepticism. "So, you just happen to have an opening at the shop you own for your nephew?"

"I was not planning to advertise for another month, and then whoever would take the job would train with my current employee," Tristan said. "There is plenty of time for you to decide if you wish to work there or not, and nephew or not, I'd still need to see if you can do the job." He nodded at Alec playfully.

"What would you need me to do?" Alec asked curiously.

"You would start with a lot of the cleaning tasks and things like that, nothing fancy, and then probably move to some basic plant care and customer service," Tristan told him.
 
"Florists are good too," Daizi said, only slightly disappointed. She would have loved a new nursery to visit. "Why didn't you lead with that when I asked you what your job is? Since it's your great passion?" Her tone was curious, not accusatory, and Dark and Xander were doing enough leg work to sus out the legitimacy of the business. It was her job, she figured, to get more information about the man himself.
 
"To be completely honest, I am still a little bashful about being a male florist," Tristan admitted. "I have not quite hit the two-year mark with owning the shop, and I am afraid to jinx it, as silly as that may sound, and I have had to deal with some... shall we say, unsavory remarks about my questionable manhood being even more questionable when you combine limited mobility and a so-called feminine career."

"Oh, that's sad. I'm sorry," Alec apologized.

"It certainly is no fault of yours," Tristan assured him. "I am somewhat used to it and mostly pity those who make those remarks because there was a time I, myself, was guilty of such foolishness, but I also try to avoid inviting such conversational topics."
 
"I can understand that," Daizi said with a sigh, resting her chin in her hand. "I'm sure you can guess the things I've been told. When Ivy was born," she didn't realize she had said her baby's name for the first time to Tristan, "and we brought her home, one of our neighbors actually reported us to CPS multiple times, and the agent kept implying I was crazy for believing it had to do with my disability. Eventually we found out that was why. And that's just... one example of many, at work or otherwise. Dark and I will show up at work functions with people who have never met us, and the placard will say simply Dr. Wahid, and so often they think I'm Dr. Wahid's wife." She chuckled lightly, "And you just never know who will be open to it, and who will react unjustly."

"Teaching also has those pitfalls," Dark said simply, not yet mentioning how he was bound to face it much worse than he had now that he was going to be a stay-at-home father.
 
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"I am sorry to hear that. I truly cannot imagine how difficult that must have been for your family," Tristan said, truly concerned. "I was a bit of a prat when I was younger, and I am now very much seeing the other side of things. Not necessarily the gender bias directly, but facing my views on one thing did lead to facing my views on other things, as well. I feel I have a long way yet to go, but I am also proud of how much I have changed so far." He smiled a little and shook his head. "In any case, yes, I do own a flower shop, and I am rather proud of it. I was told it wouldn't last a year. I'm still holding my breath, but I am confident of hitting the two-year mark in a couple of months." He reached into the small side pocket on his chair and drew out what looked like a coin purse. After a bit of quick searching, he pulled out a business card and handed one to Dark. "I am running low on these, so I am afraid you will have to share," he apologized to Alec, "but I would love if you could come visit."

"That's okay, and I would love to come visit!" Alec assured him happily.
 
"That neighbor moved away, it's been a lot easier since she did. And it didn't seem to harm her, so we've come to accept it as part of the story. I probably tell far too many people about it, honestly." Daizi replied, lightly shaking her head.

Upon taking the card, Dark looked at it for a few moments before showing it to Alec, fully intending to take it back before when he was finished with it, knowing otherwise it would be lost. In the meanwhile, he went into his wallet, and handed Tristan Cooger's card, "This is my brother's business. He does nearly anything, and his prices are fair. He is a good person to know."
 
Alec looked at the card closely. It was a nice card, clean and pretty but not too feminine. He gave it to Xander, who looked at it briefly before handing it back to Dark.

Tristan took the card. "Thank you! It is always good to-" He stopped short as he looked at the card. He turned it over and back again.

"Is there a problem?" Xander asked suspiciously.

Tristan looked at Dark. "Cooger is your brother?" He asked in surprise.
 
"Yes, he helped me with some renovations in my apartment and my shop," Tristan explained. He started to frame a question and then abandoned it. "He is, as you said, a very good man to know."
 
"What a small world," Daizi said, surprised, although she wasn't sure why. Cooger had a very successful buisness and had been in buisness for over a decade. The town wasn't that big, and he had a reputation for knowing everyone.

Then, all at once, Dark and Daizi both realized how lucky it was that Cooger hadn't brought Xander to work with him when working on either place. That meeting would've been... hard, because they both imagined one of them would've made the connection. For the first time, Dark looked carefully at Tristan for traces of Declan, while Daizi knew Xander would've noticed that last name.

"He really can do almost anything," Dark said, rather than voicing these thoughts.
 
While Tristan had the same red hair and similar jaw structure, that was the only feature he shared with his brother. They were similar enough that it wasn't a shock to know they were related, but one didn't remind people of the other.

"If I see him before you, it shall be interesting to tell him I met his brother," Tristan said in amusement. "It is unlikely as I do not think I have any work for him. Oh well. In any case, yes, it is a very small world."

"Not when you're the best handyman in town," Xander pointed out.

Tristan nodded in agreement. "True. Well, it is getting late. I should leave you be and find my way home."
 
"Right," Dark said, reaching across the table to shake Tristan's hand, again making sure to do so before he stood to seem less imposing. With a nod to his daughter, who was just beginning to wake, "We should probably be getting her home, too."

"Yeah, otherwise there will be hell to pay." Daizi commented, picking up the diaper bag. "I think this was... helpful."
 
Tristan returned Dark's handshake. "Thank you for... everything, really."

Alec shook Tristan's hand, as well. "It was good to meet you, sir, and I think it would be okay to see each other again. I'll come by the shop," he promised.

"sure, probably," Xander agreed vaguely, not shaking hands but giving a nod.

Tristan smiled and went with them until their paths separated and he needed to veer off toward his own car.

Xander waited until they were all in the car to say, "Well, that wasn't a complete disaster.
 
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