How Green Becomes Wood

Dark failed to sufficiently hide the impish look in his eye but attempted to feign innocence, pleased he had done as intended. Secretly, throughout their entire match, he had occasionally thrown a stray at either twin, but in the chaos, it had gone unnoticed. It was worth being caught in his mischief only for the look on Xander's face.

When all of the teens sat together on the deck, Daizi brought them lemonade. During the fight, she had been sitting outside with her husband and baby, who had very much wanted to hold a water balloon, but was not allowed to because they were designed to burst so easily and she liked to put things into her mouth.

It was an enjoyable enough day that Milo even had conversations with Sloan, even managing to be somewhat affable with her, even though it was hard. Being in a friend's backyard with very few people around made it easier, though, because there were less people around to be looking at him. He also spoke a little bit with Ivy, because as he had stated before: he liked babies, he thought they were very interesting. Sloan still didn't really understand the hype, but she was glad some people did.

It was a great day, and Milo went home happy. Sloan joked slightly about how this water probably ruined her hair, but she claimed it was worth it, and from where Dark sat, his thick waves shrunk into ringlets from the humidity, deeply empathized with her.

That evening, as they were settling in for the night, someone nearby began setting off fireworks, and Dark tensed, especially at the first unexpected explosion, and he looked down distressed at how Ivy reacted in fright first to the sound and then to seeing that her father was frightened, too, which made her more difficult to settle. Daizi took her, so Dark didn't have to worry about flinching the wrong way and hurting her, and after attempting to work through it, he gave in and retreated to his secure, quiet basement.
 
Alec sat with Daizi and Ivy and started to sing one of the common Fourth of July songs quietly. He wasn't particularly patriotic, but he'd heard the songs while seeing fireworks so often that it was hard to separate the two. Most of the fireworks weren't very visible, it was mostly the sound, but they could see a couple. Xander sat on the deck looking out over the garden.

After a while, they went inside to rest and sleep after a long day of brilliant fun. It was the best idea ever, in Xander's opinion, and he was already trying to think up the perfect plan to get back at Dark, but it couldn't be too soon. He had to let it simmer for a bit so he wouldn't be immediately suspicious.

The next morning, Alec and Xander sat eating oatmeal and planning their day. It was a pretty empty day, deliberately so after having people over the night before.
 
While he protected himself in the basement, Dark felt a level of frustration that after all of these years, the sound still affected him enough that he could only really find peace by retreating to his quiet, protected space. He was better than he used to be about it, much better, but he didn't like how his reaction had further startled his baby. He didn't want her to grow up with a fear of fireworks because of him, and although he knew he deserved better to beat himself up over something that was not his fault, he did make a mental note to bring up these concerns to his therapist.

Daizi wanted to sit down with her husband, but she knew what Dark did: they needed to make sure Ivy wasn't afraid of them, so she soothed her, letting Alec sing about the Fourth of July, and asked for help showing Ivy where the few lights were, so she could form a connection. Fortunately, they didn't last too late into the night, so Ivy was mostly able to get enough sleep, although Daizi worried about what the next few days would hold. It always seemed to sneak up on them.

Still, the following morning, Dark came downstairs, stretching deeply, more or less rested. "I am surprised you both are awake already."
 
"I think it's all the water we absorbed. Well rested, and well hydrated!" Alec said cheerfully.

Xander finished a spoonful before asking, "How was your night?" He looked at Dark with low-level concern. He knew Dark had been dealing with this for a while and could handle it, but he wanted to check in.
 
He raised his shoulders half-heartedly as he went to make coffee, "I have had worse nights. This past month has been less stressful than last year, which makes it easier. I have an appointment with my therapist today. I worry about Ivy, though."
 
Alec tipped his head at that. "Why? She seemed to enjoy the flashy lights once she got used to the noises."

"The noises still make me jump sometimes," Xander muttered. "No wonder it took her a bit."
 
"Because babies react to the people in their environment. Being around calm people makes them calm, being around anxious people makes them anxious. I do not want to transmit my problems onto her." Dark explained, his back towards them. "But I am glad to know she learned to enjoy them at least last night."
 
"Oh," the twins said simultaneously.

"That's going to be a lot of time away from her for you," Alec said sympathetically. "Do you think you can handle being away from her that long? It's for a good cause!"

"At least it's mostly quiet during the day," Xander remarked.
 
"I like doing her bedtime routine with her," Dark admitted, "I like reading to her, rocking her, and watching her relax and fall asleep. She likes to fight it, at night. It is only for a few days, but I am going to miss those evenings with her. But I am sure when it is over, Daizi will give me her nights to balance it." Still, it bothered him. Being apart from her would be difficult, but the hardest part, really, was the knowledge of how he could negatively affect her.

Dark took a breath, lifting the coffee pot off the stove before setting it back down. He was going to talk about it with his therapist, dwelling on it now would not serve him. They would figure out a solution, "Do you want to go back to Cooger's on the Fourth?"
 
"It would be fun," Alec started to say.

"But maybe not this year," Xander finished.

Alec nodded. "Ivy's little, and Mama might want some help in case the big boom-booms get to be too much for her. For Ivy, I mean, not Mama."

"Besides," Xander added, "it might be nice to stick around the homestead. I wonder if anyone else is manning a grill?"
 
Dark nodded, "If you do not visit there, I am going to invite him here. He enjoyed it a lot last year, he will be glad to be able to be here instead. As for the grill, we have a mangal, we do not have a traditional grill. Or you can cook over our firepit, like how I cook masgouf. It is up to you."
 
"The fire pit is the best," the twins said immediately.

Xander grinned at Alec. "We have so much junk food we gotta buy."

"Good thing it's all on sale right now!" Alec said happily.

"We're going to eat like kings," Xander agreed.

"Even better than kings!"
 
"When do you intend to go to the store? I will give you money to pick it up with. Just remember to also get something for a meal, not only marshmallows." Dark told them.

Daizi had overheard that part of the conversation as she came downstairs bouncing Ivy, followed closely by Enkidu, "This is why Cooger adores you both so much."
 
"Alright, fine. We'll get the cheapest, grossest hotdogs, too," Xander smirked. "How about that, Kidu? eh? Do you want to share the hotdogs? I'll 'accidentally' drop one or two for you."

Alec giggled. "Okay, one pack of childhood cheapness, but we need to get some nice ones, too!"

Xander paused with a frown as he reached out to pet Enkidu. "Do you think Lex is going to be doing anything for the holiday?"

"Her family seemed the type to go all out, but I don't know about her," Alec said worriedly.
 
Enkidu wagged his tail and rubbed againt Xander's leg, flopping down onto his back to acquire his demanded belly rubs. Dark looked down at his dog and smiled slightly, "I think he is the only one who would truly enjoy the trashiest of hot dogs."

"Just remember we don't eat pork," Daizi said, making breakfast for herself, "and it's sort of silly, because neither of us believe in the rules against it, but it's like a worm in my head."

"I think it is because we did not grow up eating it," Dark commented, newly considering that little quirk of theirs, because it hadn't ever really been something they had discussed. Then, regarding Lex, he said, "She might. I would not know... I wonder if she would respect a request to not shoot off fireworks in her yard." He had been much better at coping, but he wasn't certain how well he'd manage if someone directly next door shot them off, because he'd be able to smell the powder, and that affected him more than the sound.
 
"Good thing you mentioned that. I don't think either of us would have remembered to check the dogs," Alec commented, making a mental note.

"Can't hurt to ask," Xander remarked. "So far she's been pretty open to conversation."

"Or she might be going on a trip. Lots of people travel around this time, right?" Alec remarked.
 
Daizi joined them at the table, handing Ivy over to Dark, "I'll stop over there today to talk to her about it. Ivy is a good excuse to beg for not having fireworks shot off next door, although I hope when I get a feel for her plans I won't need to beg. It feels sort of strange to ask someone not to celebrate how they like to for the sake of their neighbor, but at the same time... Dark deserves to feel safe at home."
 
"Sure!" Alec said.

Xander was on the floor giving Enkidu a good amount of pets and scratches.

"Speaking of plans," Alec said, standing up and picking up their bowls. "Does anyone have any plans for today?"
 
Alec shook his head. "Not really. Actually, I was thinking of maybe... if everyone is amenable to it, and it doesn't have to be today, but I thought maybe if there are no other things going on today, that perhaps it might be interesting, maybe-"

"Could you maybe spit it out sometime today?" Xander finally interrupted.

Alec shrugged and asked in a quiet voice, "Does anyone want to go to a floral shop?"
 
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