How Green Becomes Wood

"Right." Dark said blandly, not particularly thrilled about what he had to wear, but he wasn't going to mope about it, because it was not about him. If the brides wanted him in lavender, he would wear lavender, he knew his aesthetic wasn't more important than their wedding. After the wedding he would hold it over their heads, but until then, he was going to shut up and wear the suit. It was one day, he'd survive. "We need to pick up your car, Xander, do you feel ready to come with me or would you prefer I have Cooger help?"
 
"Oh, yeah," Xander said slowly, having forgotten. "I guess we do need to do that." He took a deep breath as he forced himself to straighten up and ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah, I can do that. Need a hairbrush, first."

"I can go with," Alec offered. "I'm not doing anything right now,"

"Alright," Xander agreed, quietly grateful.
 
Daizi stood up, holding Ivy on her hip, as she brought her dishes to the sink to rinse them, "I guess I'll stay here with Ivy, then." It didn't seem particularly necessary for her to load up Ivy into a car seat to just drive to pick up a car, but there was still some part of her who, just like the day before, felt a bit... she didn't even know the word for it. But it seemed like the expectation would be she just wouldn't go, and it made her feel silly and like she was overreacting, because obviously Dark would be the one to help pick up a car, she couldn't drive. But once it was everybody except her, for the second time in two days, she couldn't help but feel less than positively about it.
 
Xander stood and started to walk out but then hesitated. "You know," he said slowly, "sometimes they let families look around the place. Not like all the time because they don't want to stress out the horses, but unless they're really mad at me, they might let you check them out. I bet Ivy would like to see them."
 
"Are you sure?" Daizi asked, "I wouldn't want either of us to get in the way." She bounced Ivy up on her hip and asked her, "Would Ivy like to see horseys?"

"One of us may want to call before we all show up," Dark cautioned, not wanting to put the center into an uncomfortable position.
 
"You wouldn't get in the way," Xander assured her. He hesitated, knowing Dark was right, but really not wanting to be the one to call. He told himself he needed to get over it and said firmly, "I'll call them after I get dressed."

"A family outing to a horse stable! That's going to be so much fun!" Alec cheered, running ahead of Xander to get ready.
 
"If you need me to I can call," Dark said, although he did think it would be better if Xander did. He was the patient there, after all, but he understood why Xander seemed somewhat hesitant at first.

"It does sound fun," Daizi agreed with Alec, "so long as we get home in time for me to shower before meeting Spencer and the rest of the bridal party. I'd feel terrible showing up unprepared and messy."
 
"Nah, I got it," Xander said, despite his desire to latch onto Dark's offer and let him take over. This was his mess to clean up, and Dark wouldn't always be there. Couldn't always be there. So, he went up, got properly dressed, and brushed his hair until it mostly behaved. It wasn't perfect, but now it looked like deliberate bedhead instead of real bedhead. Black jeans and a longsleeved shirt and a belt were all he needed. Then while Alec changed, he called and ensured that, yes, his family could come take a look around, and, no, he wasn't kicked out. Yet.

Alec took a lot longer to decide what he was wearing. After far longer than necessary, he finally settled on a wide-legged orange pant, black belt with a double layer of studded holes along the entire length, and a vibrant green turtleneck. He picked out a couple of rings to wear, and he was finally ready to go!

"The seventies called," Xander said dryly as Alec showed off a bit. "They want to know if you'd like to buy a hamburger phone."

Alec smirked at him. "That's more of an 80's thing, I think, but, yes, I would love a burger phone!" He grabbed his boots from the closet since he had too many shoes to keep them all by the front door, and headed downstairs, flashing rainbow socks with each step.

Xander rolled his eyes and followed. "We're ready. And, yeah, we can all go check out the stables."
 
Daizi had dressed Ivy in the only onesie they had with a horse on it, finding it too impossible to resist. When Alec came downstairs, Dark took a few moments to look over his outfit, but ultimately decided he approved. He also liked to wear a perhaps unnecessary number of rings, although he avoided them now because of how delicate Ivy's skin was. One day he'd go back to wearing one on most of his fingers.

After confirming with Xander if they should bring the stroller or not, they all loaded into the car and drove over to the horse therapy center. It was a good think, Daizi thought, because this would certainly tire Ivy out, and that meant she would be able to leave the house when she was napping, rather than upsetting her with a goodbye.
 
Xander had said no to the stroller, figuring the uneven and really dirty ground would be far more of a hassle than it'd be worth. Alec volunteered to carry Ivy some of the time if Dark and Daizi lost arm strength, but he was excited to see the place.

It was a quiet day with only one lesson currently going on, which was probably why they'd agreed to let Xander bring his family with him. They checked in at the office where Ivy got most of the attention, and then Pam met them at the door.

"Hey! So good to see you again!" she greeted them. She looked especially relieved to see Xander again. "I hear you want a tour of the place?"
 
Ivy was still in her shy phase, so all of the attention just made her turn towards her parents, who were more than happy to both comfort her and hear how excited everyone in the office was at the mere sight of their daughter. This, they thought, was even more evidence that their daughter was in fact the cutest baby in the world. They weren't being egotistical if everywhere they went, people made it incredibly obvious. She was even cuter now that she was a bit shy, Daizi thought, while Ivy curled her fingers around the neckline of her shirt, occasionally finding the courage to look at the strangers.

"We came to pick up Xander's car," Dark told Pam, "but he suggested we get to look around. It was not really something we could do, last time."
 
"Understandable," Pam said with a grimace. She looked at Xander. "How are you feeling?"

"Embarrassed," Xander said flatly. Then, after a thought, he added, "But better."

Pam looked surprised at his openness but quickly moved on to not embarrass him further. "I'm glad you're feeling a bit better, then. Come on. I'll give you folk the grand tour! Xander's told me a lot about you. By the way, Dr., you'll want to stick close to your husband. A lot of the ground around here is uneven, so you might find footing a bit challenging. I do sometimes, and I'm used to it! Let's start with the paved paths to the arena!"

Pam led them along and did her best to describe everything that was happening or could happen in each place. A lot of her descriptions weren't necessary for a sighted person, but she managed to slip them in amongst her usual patter so smoothly it wasn't immediately obvious she was trying to fill in for a blind person. There was a large, covered arena that they'd only recently finished building, and she was proud to tell them about that. Now they could continue classes even in inclement weather! The outdoor arenas were of various sizes for various challenges and classes, and she showed them the large one primarily used for ground work. Judson was currently being exercised by one of the staff, but they brought him over so that Daizi and Dark could meet the horse Xander had worked with the most. Alec remarked that Judson was big enough for Dark to ride! As they walked, various staff members called out greetings, a couple even coming over to check on Xander, who found it embarrassing, but they didn't linger long. All of them remarked to Dark and Daizi how he was their best worker when it came to the stalls.
 
When Pam warned her about the difficult terrain, Daizi passed Ivy over to Dark so there was no chance of her tripping while holding someone so fragile. She did have the right cane attachment for this kind of terrain, which helped, although she did make sure to hold onto Dark as they walked.

The grounds were impressive, and Dark was glad to see everyone there was certainly passionate, and although both Dark and Daizi was proud of the good things they were hearing about Xander, only Daizi occasionally replied with the sort of repeated praise that was a bit embarrassing to hear, although she didn't mean for it to be embarrassing.

She was absolutely thrilled to meet Judson, and excitedly stroked his nose. It was strange to be with such a large animal, but she thought it was amazing. Ivy, however, burst into tears when Judson attempted to sniff her so Dark took a number of steps back to help her calm down. She had never met such a large animal before, and he decided in that moment they should really take her to the zoo.
 
Judson startled a little and tossed his head, but he was gentle and didn't even come close to hitting anyone. He did sniff curiously at the crying baby but didn't crowd her. He just wanted to know what she was.

"Good boy, Judson," Pam praised. "Right. I've saved the best for last." She led the way toward the quarantine barn. "We don't take most tours this way, but this is where Xander does most of his work." She glanced at him. "We'll have to talk about that later."

"Right," Xander mumbled as they stepped into the barn.
 
As Dark shushed Ivy, and as she calmed down a little bit, he held Ivy so that she could see the horse better. When she seemed ready, after getting permission from Pam, he helped Ivy to stroke Judson's nose like Daizi had, which helped settle her further, because it seemed sort of like petting Enkidu. Speaking gently to her, Dark explained to his daughter that this was a horse, and that he was a very sweet horse, and Ivy didn't need to be afraid of him at all.

Then, with everyone else, he brought Ivy into the quarantine barn. He recognized it somewhat from Xander's stories, and Daizi remarked that she had imagined it somewhat differently. For some reason, her mind had made it much more sterile, like a vet's office, maybe, but the feel of the ground and the scent reminded her of where they kept the cows at a state faire.
 
There were only three horses in the barn at the moment. One was a friendly fellow who'd developed a limp, wo the confined him to a smaller space until the farrier could look at him. The other was a new rescue that paced nervously and watched the humans warily. The third was, of course, Big John.

"That's Big John," Xander told the others, pointing them in the right direction.

"Whoa. He's huge!" Alec gasped, staring at the horse with wide eyes. "He's so big you don't even realize how skinny he is at first."

"Yeah," Xander said quietly, watching the horse standing in the corner as he had for weeks now.
 
Even Dark couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer size of Big John, and looking at the sad, distant look in the horse's eyes, he understood why Xander talked about him so much. "Maybe he does not like his defining characteristic is his size," he allowed himself to joke in the muted way he could joke. He remembered the time Xander was asking for name suggestions and the teen had described the horse as being like him. It was nearly uncomfortable that he could see it.

Now that Ivy had somewhat adjusted to seeing the horses, when everyone else was talking about the big one, she began to squeak at it, not understanding.
 
"I can't say it was my favorite name," Pam admitted with a little laugh, "but it was the one that won our poll by a massive amount. I thought we should name him after a mountain. Quiet and steady."

"Kind of like the name John," Xander mumbled. "Could do without the 'big.'"

"He's beautiful either way," Alec assured them all.

As Ivy squeaked, Big John's ears flicked. Then they turned toward her, listening. He'd not heard anything like it when he came to this barn. It was so high-pitched! Slowly, almost grudgingly, he shifted so he could turn his head and look at the people standing outside his stall. Pam and Xander both stopped in surprise when the horse turned.

"Huh. So after all the babytalking you got, what you wanted was a real baby?" Xander said, finding his voice first.

Big John stood looking at them. Then his nostrils flared. Slowly, deliberately, the big horse shifted his weight, moving with precision delicacy as he turned all the way around to face them. The sound of his wuffling breaths could be heard over all the rest of the ambient noises of a horse barn. He reached out his nose, sniffing so deep his ribbed sides barreled out. Then he walked forward, step by deliberate step. Both Xander and Pam practically held their breaths as Big John raised his head over the stall door, expecting him to aim at Ivy thanks to her squeaking, but instead, he turned toward Daizi. He inched his nose closer, drawing in deep breaths with every move as he reached out to her.
 
"He can recognize how special she is," Daizi grinned ag Xander's comment that all Big John needed to catch his attention was a baby, but when she heard her sniffing towards her she froze, unsure of what to do. With everything she had been told about this particular horse, she certainly didn't want to do the wrong thing.

"What do I do?" She asked Pam, who she trusted as an expert.

Dark, for his part, rested his weight back on one hip. This made perfect sense to him: If Big John was like him, of course he was drawn to Daizi. He remembered being told of all the companions they had tried with him, clearly they needed a horse like his wife.
 
"Just hold still," Pam urged quietly. "He seems quite interested in your scent, but he's not showing any signs of aggression." She inched closer just in case. "I'm right here next to you. Wow!"

The horse gently leaned his forehead against Daizi's chest and let out a deep, heavy sigh that seemed to come from his hooves. He stayed there, resting against her, ears relaxed and eyes mostly closed.

"I think he's giving you a hug," Xander said in surprise.

"If you want to pet him, just reach up slowly and find his cheekbones. Here, I can help guide your hands, if you want," Pam said, reaching out, taking great care not to startle him.
 
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