How Green Becomes Wood

"I am glad you feel safe with me," Dark said cheerfully, putting his arm around Alec's shoulder as he pointed out which flowers he wanted to pick for Daizi, not just which kinds of flowers but the specific blooms.

Daizi thought about it for awhile and then said, "Put it under the apple tree. Apples still haven't bloomed yet, so nothing will fall and make her discover gravity, but it'll be a safe place for her to rest."

Cooger briefly put his hand over Lex's and then pulled it away, "People get those. But, shoot, it's the fourth of July, Dark is high as a kite, and the weather is good. No reason to be sad today. And, our plan was to have one person sitting a distance away, disguised, to keep an eye on things, and the person buying would be altered of the plan in advance. We actually bought weed once using the system. And it was more trouble than it was worth."
 
Alec very carefully picked the selected blooms, showing Dark each flower for his approval and handing them over. It was deliberate work.

"Apples and gravity... That was... Newton?" Xander asked cautiously as he carried the pen over. It was awkward, but he made it work.

"Damn straight!" Lex said cheerfully to his comment of it being a lovely day. "Yeah, that does sound a bit," she snorted, "contrived," she settled on. "Quite the amitious plan!"
 
When Dark was handed the flowers, he carefully arranged them into a bouquet, and when he was satisfied, he smiled down at them, and said, "I am going to bring these to my wife."


"Isaac Newton, yes," Daizi said, and after the pen was set up properly, she carefully and gently placed Ivy into it, caressing her face after she was settled. "Sleep well, habiti. Mama loves you."

"Oh, Baba loves you too, my darling girl!" Dark said happily as he came up to them, and then gently tapped Daizi on his shoulder, "Hello, my dear." He said, nearly bouncing on his toes, hiding the boquet behind his back for literally no reason.

"Hello, Goose," Daizi replied, turning towards him.

"I brought you flowers," He said, handing them to her, "I know they are yours and I stole them but they are the most perfect flowers and I wanted to give something to you."

"Thank you, I love them," Daizi replied, finding it genuinely touching that even in this state he wanted to do things for her. Reaching up onto her toes, she kissed him on the cheek, "I love you."

"iloveyoutoo" Dark murmured, colour rushing to his face.

"I'm going to go put these in water, so they last, okay?" Daizi said, running one hand through his hair before wandering inside with Dark staring after her.

Cooger sighed, finishing his drink, "Those were some weird years, and they were hard, but damn they were fun."
 
"Aw, so cute!" Alec cooed.

"Ugh, so gross," Xander grumbled.

Lex chuckled. "Some memories are much better as memories than when we were living through them, eh? I remember this one time after this girl did one of my friends seriously wrong, we all got invited to a party at her house. Well, some people got invited, and everyone else just showed up. Anyway, while everyone else was getting totally trashed, I snuck around putting tuna in the curtain rods and as deep down the air registers as I could manage. She complained about her house smelling like death for weeks before they finally figured it out."
 
"Gross?" Dark spun around on his heels, "How can you call it gross? Do not take your misery out on me I am in love."

When Daizi came back outside, he trotted faithfully over to her, took her hand, and sat with her in the grass, nearish to Cooger and Lex, and Dark did his absolute best to have a normal conversation, but he kept drifting off. Daizi kept him seated, but everything was a distraction. He was good about controlling himself while sober, but at this moment, sitting beside his wife, his eyes drifted to her chest, lingering, happy as a clam.

At some point Cooger noticed this, and he snapped his fingers at Dark, "Hey, down boy."

Dark blinked, looking up at him, "What?"

"Good god, man, show some decorum, there are children present." Cooger said, unable to help but laugh.
 
"I am not having anything to do with this," Xander said before popping his fourth toasted marshmallow into his mouth. He shifted to keep his back fully to Dark and Daizi.

"It's not his fault," Alec said, though he looked a bit uncomfortable, too.

Lex sat lounging back, though she was slightly tense. She chortled at Cooger's rebuke. "I swear, you men and your eyes," she teased. "At least he's staring at the right woman, eh?"
 
Daizi didn't know exactly where he was looking, but the context clues said a lot, "In his defense, I can't make eye contact."

"I---I was not doing anything!" Dark adamantly stated, "I was only sitting here, next to my wife, having a wonderful evening!"

"We all understand," Cooger chuckled, trying to assure him, while Dark scrambled to his feet.

“It is not my fault she is a very attractive woman!” Dark replied, turning swiftly around on his heels, vaguely irate and frustrated, gesturing wildly at his wife, “She is a very attractive woman and I love her!"

Daizi hurried up to stand with him, "I love you too, Goose, but how about we sit down, okay?" She touched his cheek, and he looked at her, his expression changing from frustration stemming from not understanding what he had been doing wrong---he had been too zoned out to really recognize what he was doing, to utter adoration.

He paused, looking seriously at her, before setting his expression, nearly looking like himself, and then stated more emphatically, looking at Cooger, "She is beautiful!” He turned back around to Daizi, “I am sorry, my darling, I know you do not like being told you are beautiful, but you are beautiful, and I have believed it from the moment I saw you. I had never known grace until I saw you move, I never knew music until I heard you speak, and I never knew light or warmth until I sat beside you, beauty marches through your veins and conducts from your skin to mine, and I love you!”

Daizi took a half step back, her heart not quite pounding but doing more than fluttering. Everything was saying she had known he had felt, and she knew he was only saying it so emphatically in front of everyone because he was high, but it was hard to balance the love and embarrassment she felt. But then he took her face in his hands, and her knees went weak.

“I would brave a tempest only for a glimpse of your smile, and nobody understands, loving you is not like loving anyone else, because you are not like anyone else!” He gazed into her perfect, asymmetrical face. The shape of her lips, the curve of her nose, the crease between her eyebrows, he didn’t care what anyone else had told her or made her feel. They were all liars, he saw her, actually saw her, and she was lit from within.

Cooger leaned over to Lex, “He’s a poet, if you didn’t know.”

‘I am an acolyte to your divinity,” He lightly ran his thumb across her lips, “and I yearn for your sacramental wine.”

“It takes all he's got not to talk like this all the time,” Cooger added, keeping a close eye on his friend, “I feel like I should've brought a spray bottle, like people use for cats. Which you shouldn't do, actually, but he ain't a cat.”

Placing her hand over his, Daizi swallowed, entirely won over but fully aware they were being watched. Typically, they made little to no effort to hide how they felt for each other romantically, but he was treading a line that she was sure they didn't want to cross in front of friends and family, including their children. This was more emphatic than they ever typically were in front of people, “Goose…”

“I pray at your alter,” He said as though it were an oath, “and I--I--" He blinked, having lost whatever wind he had caught, "I think you're really really beautiful, and I like calling you beautiful, but I know you don't like it, so I don't, so I'm sorry for calling you beautiful in front of everyone," He rubbed her cheek with his thumb, and then dropped his hands shyly, for the first time realizing what he had just done, and he looked down at his shoes, "Ivy is beautiful, and you call Ivy beautiful, and Ivy looks like you. And I really love you. I want to kiss you but I think I probably can't consent when I'm like this."
 
"I gotta admit, I'm kind of jealous right now," Lex murmured quietly to Cooger, truly impressed by Dark's poetic announcement. "He's good. Very good, but you may not be wrong with the spray bottle idea."

Alec sighed, not looking at them, but wistful and thinking he should take notes. How romantic! Would he ever be able to talk to someone like that? Would someone ever talk to him like that?

Xander looked like he was going to loose his smores. "You two should take this inside and get a room," he told them, putting a hand over his eyes.
 
Dark blushed deeply, and Daizi, again, reached up to kiss him on the cheek, very softly saying, "Thank you, Goose. I love you."

"I really really love you," Dark murmured, and allowed himself to be sat back down, and Daizi snuggled up against him, her heart still pounding. Why did he have to be on drugs? She was grateful that wasn't the only time he had ever spoken to her like that, but it was so romantic and she was swooning over him, but he was high and so she had to be careful of what she did. But tomorrow Sally was going to hear all about it.

"Yeah..." Cooger replied slowly, watching his friends, "That's one thing I do wish I had found. Marriage, who cares. But I've never been that passionate about someone before in my life. I just wish they weren't perpetually in heat." Although, technically, Dark was fixed.
 
Lex glanced at Cooger briefly. "I understand that," she said softly. She looked back at Dark and Daizi. "A once in a lifetime love, possibly for the whole world, yeah?" She smiled a little. "At least there's pets to make things bearable, and it's a lot less awkward in public."

The twins stayed sitting with their backs to Dark and Daizi, letting them have their moments despite their burning cheeks. So intimate! But at the same time, sweet.
 
"If you ask her," He nodded toward Daizi, who was resting with her head on her husband's shoulder, her arms wrapped lightly around his waist, "They are soulmates who have been chasing each other through time since, like, the Stone Age. He's never been able to come up with an explanation." He sighed, not about to mention it, but it had been a sight to behold to watch them fall in love with each other. "I'll always have my garbage cat, Hank, and that's a bond they don't understand."

"I think I am going to be really embarrassed tomorrow," Dark said quietly, pressing his cheek against Daizi's perfect hair.

"Maybe," she agreed, "but it'll be okay."
 
"You've mentioned Hank," Lex remarked. "I'd like to meet him sometime. And I think I'm about ready to get a cat." She didn't mention the soulmate thing. She wasn't sure she believed it but saw no harm in someone else believing it as long as it wasn't a problematic relationship. Which this was clearly not. It was sweet and something she wanted, but maybe a bit more low-key.
 
"He's the best cat I've ever had," Cooger said, "and I've had a lot. But if you're ready for cat ownership, I can get you the paperwork you need to fill out. I foster through a shelter, so I can't just hand 'em out willy nilly. You're welcome to come by the cabin any time."

His embarrassment passing by quickly, on account of the intense drugs in his system, Dark had soon bounced back, and was soon dancing in the yard.
 
"Yeah?" Lex smiled at Cooger. "I'll hold you to that."

When Dark started dancing again, Alec eagerly scrambled up to join him, laughing as he tried to follow along. Xander absolutely refused to join, but he did video just a bit before turning his attention to the fire and poking at it happily. Lex stood and encouraged Cooger to join them. She liked the song that played next, she liked dancing even if she wasn't a dancer, and this was a fantastic evening!
 
Dark, even high, was a great dancer, having much better control over his hips than someone might expect from someone so stoic and restrained. At first he danced alone, and then with his wife, but when he saw the rest of them there, he exclaimed excitedly, grabbed Daizi's hand and commanded Alec to grab Daizi's. Cooger knew what this was, so he grabbed Alec's and offered his other to Lex, as Dark did his absolute best to teach them how to dabke. He knew exactly how to do the dance, but his teaching skills weren't sharp in this state. Thankfully, Daizi and Cooger both also knew the dance so they could help get Lex and Alec to understand how it worked.
 
Xander was glad he'd stayed out of it and happily took pictures. A lot of them would get deleted later, but for now, it was fantastic fun. Alec caught on fairly quickly and eagerly tried his hand - or feet - at the dance. Lex kept stumbling over her own feet, but she just laughed and kept going as best as she could. She couldn't stop smiling as she tried to stumble her way through the dance and almost getting it right.
 
Dark laughed so genuinely and without the weight that typically weighed him down, and when the dance felt like it was coming to an end, he broke away, putting his arm around Daizi's waist and twirling away, lifting her off the ground as he did so, which made Daizi laugh.

When the fireworks started, Dark jumped and turned towards the sound. It was confusing, because his mind still remembered how he typically reacted, but his heart rate hadn't sped up, and he wasn't sweating. It was strange but he was okay? He was okay. And when the noise woke and startled Ivy, he was able to life her up, give her a kiss, and be the one to comfort her. It was beyond bizarre.
 
Alec plopped down next to Xander, and the pair of them leaned into each other as they watched the fireworks. They oohed and ahhed over the shiny display, and once they realized Dark was fine, they relaxed, too, and just enjoyed.

Lex stood next to Cooger alternating between watching Dark and the fireworks. Once she saw Dark was not going to lose his mind over the fireworks - justifiably so - she relaxed and rested her fingers in her pockets, watching the fireworks and enjoying them.
 
Dark and Daizi lay in the grass together, and Dark had one arm around her, with Ivy snuggled in between them. And things were good. He had never been able to lie back like this and watch the fireworks, and he didn't know if he'd be able to again, but just for that one night, things were good. Daizi traced circles on Dark's chest with her finger, and he could feel her hair against his face. Ivy was wiggly, but easily distracted by the pretty lights.

He couldn't help but think, even through his drug addled mind, at how much he had missed out on. It wasn't his fault, but he made so many sacrifices just to stay alive. There was so much he had given up, so much he had made himself to be comfortable living without to keep himself safe. But he was lying on the grass in his garden, watching up at bursts of colour in the sky, with his wife and baby, hearing his twins admire the lights, and hearing Cooger chat with his neighbor, and he was safe, and he was home, and the sky was beautiful.

He inhaled quietly but sharply, unable to fully process or recognize what he was feeling, but knowing he was so happy, but so sad, and a million other things all at once. Daizi heard the little sound and turned towards him, and whispered, "Goose? Are you okay?"

"I am okay," he replied, equally as quiet, "I just. I think..."

"Yeah?"

"I want to be named, again," He said, still watching the colourful, distant explosions, "I want to have a name. I think I deserve a name."

"I think you do too, darling," Daizi replied cautiously, sitting up slowly, carefully moving Ivy more onto him so she didn't topple onto the grass. When she did so, Dark caught her hand, not wanting her to go so far. It was hard for Daizi to tell if this was an actual desire of his, or if it was a result of his medication, but she did earnestly believe he deserved an actual name. "Is there anything you have in mind?"

Dark shook his head, looking at her silhouette, illuminated against the lights. Her hair was all aflame with reds and blues and greens, demarcating the shape of her in the dark, "No, I have no idea." He ran his thumb over the back of his hand, and then squeezed it firmly, tenderly, "I want you to. I want you to name me."

"Me?" She asked, surprised, "Why?"

"Because I want to know what it is like to be named by someone who loves me," Dark answered, wanting to let go of her hand to touch her face, but feeling, somehow, like he would break them out of this moment if he did. It was better to see her.

Daizi moved her other hand to be over his, "I do love you. And I'll name you."

"Spider?"

"Yes?"

"I wish you could see you, the way I see you."

Cooger had stopped watching Dark the moment he lay down in the grass, knowing certainly they would be alright, and stepped a bit to the side, gesturing for Lex to sit down beside him, rather than standing around hurting their necks, "I wasn't worried." He said, but what he actually told her was he had been extremely worried, and now he could relax. Nearly, he decided to joke with her that his wrestling scholarship implied they'd be fine, but he didn't want to talk about his friend in those terms. "Next year you should come to my cabin for the 4th. These fireworks are nice, but try seeing them over the water. There's nothing like it."
 
The twins didn't even know what was happening behind them as they lounged on the grass staring up at the sky. In that moment, they, too, were utterly happy and satisfied. They had a home. They had a father who, while slightly drugged, was happy and kind and gentle yet firm and protective. They had a mother who was lively and fun and compassionate and tender. They had a baby sister who had not replaced them but had instead somehow managed to expand their lives even while complicating it. They had an uncle in Cooger who was the fun uncle, chill and relaxed, but could be serious when he needed to be and loved them for some reason. They had friends for the first time. Real, honest friends that had lasted through two school years. And so much food! All the food they cold ever want! And hobbies they could enjoy gult-free. Life was utterly perfect as they sat on the lawn and watched the sparkles above.

Lex sat next to Cooger and glanced at him at his statement about worry. She smiled just a little, knowing the statement to be a lie, but she allowed it. Sometimes people needed their little lies. She stretched out, watching the fireworks and listening to the booms. She missed being with her son on this special occasion, but she didn't regret this chance one bit. Good food and new friends who were becoming good friends. "I'd like that," she told him. "It sounds really cool."
 
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