How Green Becomes Wood

Ivy looked down at the water and squeaked at them.

"Hi baby!" Daizi yelled back at them and then asked with a smirk, "Dark lost his balance?"

Dark swam back, getting a better look at Xander, "I am certain I was pushed, but on the off-chance I suddenly and inexplicably lost my balance, how do you know I was not simply trying to steady myself, but it was too late? We are not equally balanced, gravity would work against us."
 
Alec kept Ivy secure and talked to her about everything they were looking at, but he kept it chill and happy. He didn't always talk, allowing the sounds of the environment to take over now and then.

"I know I-" Xander paused and coughed as he got water in his mouth. "I know-" More water. "How do people stay alive in these things?!" He leaned back and unclasped the life jacket. He pulled it off but kept it under one arm as a support. "Much better. Anyway, Mama! Baba knocked me in the water!"

"That was a terrible whine!" Alec called from up on the boat. "You need to put your heart into it."

"My heart is full of water!" Xander yelled back.
 
Dark swam closer to Xander when he was struggling in his jacket, "Are you sure you are wearing one that fits you properly?" After nearly panicking when Xander taking it off, he felt obligated to stay right beside his son, just in case, because no way was his teenager drowning on his watch, especially not when he was the one who pulled him into the ocean in the first place. Daizi would flay him, if Alec didn't do it first.

"What it sounds like to me is you both pulled each other into the water, and you both got what you deserved," Daizi teased, swimming close to the boat just so she could push herself off of it, wishing she weren't in the life jacket so she could do a flip under the water.
 
Xander shifted the jacket around and folded his arms on top of it. "I dunno. The guy fitting us said it looked good, but this is way more comfortable." He reached out and flicked a bit of water at Dark. "How's the water, Professor?"
 
"I think it is a great temperature," Dark replied, splashing a bit more water back at Xander. The teen was incredibly fortunate he could not be touched and was not in a life jacket. If either one of those did not apply, Dark would have swiftly dunked him underneath the water or otherwise terrorized him. As was his right. "You are calling me Professor again?"
 
"Feels right for someone who pulls a kid off a boat," Xander teased. He splashed back before turning and kicking away, swimming reasonably rapidly away from Dark. He stayed close to the boat, not wanting to push his luck, but swimming like this was far more freeing!
 
Dark kept a close and cautious eye on Xander, trying not to be anxious or not trust him, but the water below them was deep, and he didn't want anything to happen. But he didn't want to express his concerns and seem like a helicopter parent. "Feels right for someone who pushed his father off a boat, too."

"Okay," Daizi chuckled, once more pushing herself off the boat but finding it frustrating how limited her movement was, "We can stop acting out a cruise ship's production of Hamlet at any point."

"Claudius was Hamlet's uncle, not his father."

"I don't care!" She swam near enough to him to push him, and then returned to the boat, lifting herself half out of the water, "Are you both okay up there? I don't want you to feel left out!"
 
Xander snickered and kept paddling about cautiously. He was not a particularly strong swimmer, having not grown up swimming, but he could manage to keep his head up, especially with the life jacket to lean on. He noticed Dark was sticking close and could guess why. Dark's concern made him happy, but there was no way he was actually going to say it out loud.

Alec had managed to find a speck of shade, and he and Ivy sat with their feet propped up. He was wearing sunglasses and had offered Ivy a cheap pair to "wear." "Oh, we're fabulous!" he assured Daizi. "All I need is a mocktail and maybe some kind of snack, and I'd feel like I was on a luxury yaht. Ivy likes watching you guys splash and I think the birds."
 
"We do have snacks," Daizi said, letting herself settle back down into the water, "and water. Unfortunately no mocktails, but we can get some when we're back on shore. Did you see what happened between those two? I'm not sure I can trust either of them."
 
"Hmm, I could say I did, but then I'd be forced to choose between my father and my brother. Now that sounds highly Shakspearean," Alec mused. He rousted himself enough to fetch himself some water and then sat back down, reclaiming his comfy position. "But I suppose I could tell my mother the truth."
 
"I'd appreciate to not be the one left out," Daizi would've looked very much like a mermaid, or maybe a modern-day interpretation of a siren, were it not for the life jacket, bobbing with just her head and shoulders above the water with her hair spread out around her, "I only heard it."
 
"Xander gave into an impulsive urge and knocked Baba into the water, who then somehow managed to pull Xander in after," Alec told her succinctly. "Aren't you worried about your hair getting all snarled and caught in your life jacket?"
 
Daizi snorted, "I can't blame either of them, I'd have done the exact same thing." Then, gathering all of her hair into one hand, she held it awkwardly, "I... I wasn't before. Now I am a little bit. I don't really like having the jacket on, but I think it's better safe than sorry. It'd probably ruin our vacation if I drowned. I'm a pretty strong swimmer, but..."
 
"I'm not going to argue with you there," Alec agreed. "I guess if you felt you trusted yourself and your swimming skills, you could ask Ba to hold it for you while you swam a little bit and then put it back on."

Xander, for his part, was getting tired of holding his jacket. He moved closer to the boat, intending to use it to hold himself steady while pulling it on, but he paused for a short break. He was now at one end of the boat and hanging on with one hand and the jacket in the other as he watched Daizi curiously.
 
She touched the top of the jacket where it clipped, not knowing Xander was there. "I think if I took it off I'd be okay. I just, I don't want to make a stupid choice just to have a bit more fun."
 
"That's a wise, responsible choice," Alec agreed.

Xander, for his part, called out, "It's your birthday! And you have you're massive husband right here waiting to save you. Take off the jacket and have a dash."
 
Daizi jumped, "I could..." She hesitated again, but then took it off, handing it up to Alec, "Your brother is right, Dark would probably swim to the bottom of the ocean to get me if something happened."

Now, free, she pushed off the boat again, now successfully able to do the little flip before swimming over to where she heard Dark, intention slapping the water with one hand so she always knew where he was. "I'm a Marco-Polo champion!" She exclaimed as she swam off, now unburdened by the awkward jacket.
 
"You are like a mermaid," Dark hummed, slipping her hair back behind her ear.

"It's because I wasn't allowed to do any sports!" Daizi threw her hands up, taking the compliment for what it was, "They wouldn't let me play any ball games, they wouldn't let me run, but my home had a pool, so they let me take swimming lessons, and that was the physical activity I was allowed to do!"
 
Alec clapped and then helped Ivy clap. "Your mama is so awesome! She is the best swimmer ever!"

Xander turned his attention back to his own jacket. He fumbled with it, trying to figure out how to get it on. He was so focused on the jacket, he forgot to pay attention to his grip. He let go of the jacket and let it float on the water as he tried to sort out the straps. He let go of the boat. His body sank. Sheer shock froze him for a second before he started flailing in an upwards motion.
 
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