How Green Becomes Wood

"Read the reviews, not all recipes are created equally." Daizi pointed out easily.

A tiny little jingle came drifting down the hall, and not long after Dark followed Ivy into the room. She had decided to make full use of the hallways and arches, and Dark had no issue walking after her as she explored. "You need a tube pan for angel food cake. I am fairly certain we have not, but otherwise an empty can and some pie weights in a cake pan will be fine."
 
"Ivy!" Alec squealed as if he hadn't seen her all day. "Hi! Look at you go! Go! Go! Go!"

Xander gently shoved Alec out of the way and more in Ivy's way. "A tube pan? I think I know what those look like, and there's a bunch in the thrift stores have them cheap if we want to get the real deal."
 
Ivy sat upright when Alec cheered for her and she squealed right back, presuming it was what she was being asked to do. After ginning up at him for a few moments, she crawled over to him and grabbed onto his pant leg with a happy squeak while Enkidu came around the corner to sniff her.

"That may be a good idea," Dark decided ultimately, "I will check our higher shelves to see if we have one and if not we can look tomorrow."
 
"Yay, Ivy!" Alec cheered. "Good boy, Enkidu!" He gave Enkidu a moment to sniff her before he picked her up and gave her a gentle and very careful toss upward. He cheered again, grinning like a baboon at Ivy.

"Cool," Xander nodded. "Either way works, I guess, and I'll go recipe hunting."
 
Dark watched Alec toss Ivy with mild unease. He happened to throw Ivy around the place all the time. He tossed her into the air, he tossed her onto the couch: Dark knew exactly how high babies were tossed, how much Ivy loved it (if her present laughter wasn't enough of a clue), and how not a big deal it was. Yet, the sight of anyone else tossing her into the air made him nervous. Alec was forgetful, not clumsy. Everything would be fine. But the distance between Alec's hands and Ivy sure looked significant...

Daizi grinned, "I'm excited. We're going to have a great day tomorrow."
 
Alec tossed Ivy twice and then drew her in close for a cuddle. "You are the cutest thing ever! Sorry, Enkidu. Would you like to go down now, Ivy? Down?" He started to lower her slowly, letting her tell him whether she wanted to go back to crawling or if she wanted to stay being held. He was happy holding her, but if she wanted to crawl, he'd let her.

Xander glanced at his watch. "If I leave right now, I could go see if I can find a pan at the thrift store. Then we'd have it for whenever we want to start the cake."
 
Ivy held tightly to Alec, refusing to be set down. Instead, she snuggled her head against the crook of his neck and gazed up at him, holding onto his neckline.

"Are you sure?" Daizi asked, walking to the window, "I really feel like a storm is coming on, I don't want you to get caught in anything."
 
"Alright," Alec chuckled, straightening. "You can stay with me. What should we do? Should we explore the house? Play with Enkidu? Fly? Tell each other about our days?"

Xander moved to where he could see out the window and considered. "I think it should be fine," he finally said. "Anyone wanna come with me?"
 
Dark walked over to Alec and Ivy, peering over at the pair of them. "She may like to fly. But I think she is in the mood to cuddle. You know how much she loves being held."

She still worried about the incoming storm. It had been building for a few days, when it arrived she could sense it was going to be bad. Still, she said, "I can go with, if you'd like."
 
"I'll go with you," Alec offered, still cuddling Ivy close, happy to be chosen. It was an honor!

"You have cuddle duty, and if I take you to a thrift store, we won't be leaving until they kick us out to close," Xander reminded him.

"Fair assessment," Alec admitted.

Xander glanced at Diazi. "Do you want to come with? There's plenty of room if you do."
 
"I do believe you may be trapped with her for the foreseeable future," Dark pointed out, a bit envious at the sight of Ivy snuggling down against her brother, as if she did not spend hours everyday being held by her father.

"Sure, why not? You asked if anyone wanted to come with you." Daizi replied, knowing she was worn out and that this wasn't particularly helpful for taking a break, but she'd be getting out of the house and proving she didn't need to bring Ivy with her everywhere all at once.
 
"I'm okay with that!" Alec said happily. He headed for the living room and settled down in the chair.

Xander glanced toward Ivy then back at Daizi. "Alright," he agreed. "I'm going to grab a jacket and shoes and I'm ready." He did just that and told the others goodbye before grabbing his keys. He waited for Daizi and made sure she was settled in the passenger seat of his van before he even started it.
 
Ivy curled up against his chest, gazing up at her brother with lovestruck eyes. A bit of green had snuck its way into them, and a bit of grey. She cooed and gurgled quietly up at him while sucking her thumb.

Dark walked Daizi to the front hall, eyeing the dark clouds, "Are you sure it is wise to go out now?"

"You sound like an evil advisor," Daizi replied as she slipped on her shoes and grabbed a coat with a hood, just in case. In a quieter tone she said, "He'll be more careful if I'm in the car with him."

He couldn't argue with that, so he kissed her goodbye before she went to Xander's van and settled into it. "It'll be a fairly quick trip. And worthwhile, if they have the pan."
 
Alec smiled back at Ivy and started talking to her softly, telling her fairytales as he thought of them. He spoke a little in Arabic as best he could, mixing it in with English. He still felt that his parents loved Ivy best, but as she stared at him with those big eyes, he couldn't blame them! He might pick her over himself and his brother any day.

Xander started the car and checked carefully before backing out onto the road and taking off. He was always careful, but with Diazi, as she expected, he was even more careful. He didn't speak much as he drove, focused mostly on driving and not naturally being talkative.
 
As he told her stories, she watched him intently until her eyes began to close, rather without her consent. She tried to fight it, but she was so cozy and so warm, and what he was saying was so soothing, it made her so sleepy. Taking her hand out of her mouth, she grabbed onto his shirt again, watching him for as long as she could manage before falling asleep.

Since Xander wasn't talking, Daizi didn't try to force him, instead choosing to rest her head against the car window and enjoy the drive. Ivy hadn't seen her leave, so she'd be okay. She'd be okay. It was still weird leaving her. It was an adjustment. When they pulled into the parking lot she asked, "Are you and Alec both going to help make the cake?"
 
As Ivy fell asleep, Alec watched her with a slightly awed expression. She'd fallen asleep with him! She trusted him that much! Brimming with pride, he settled in the stay until time to move her to bed.

"I dunno," Xander admitted, checking his parking. He turned off the car and went around to open the door for Daizi. "I will. I don't know about Alec. He might."
 
Dark came into the living room and sat on the couch, stretching out one leg in front of him and watching his son and daughter. After a few moments, he asked, "It makes sense why Daizi and I do not like to immediately set her down, no?"

~~

"We can make him separate the egg yolks for us, and we'll do the fun bits," Daizi teased, thanking Xander as she stepped out of the car and unfolded her cane, "We should find something to do with the yolks, though, so they aren't wasted. Maybe a crème brûlée. I think we have enough ramekins."
 
"She is very warm," Alec approved. "And rather comfy if you have your arms supported."

~~~

"Sure. Never had one of those before. I'm not even sure what they are," Xander admitted. When they came to the crosswalk taking them to the front door, he quickly reached out and touched Daizi's elbow, drawing her to a stop. A driver, though going slow, wasn't paying enough attention to notice the two going for the crosswalk and rolled right by. The car behind that one stopped, though, and Xander let go of Daizi's elbow. "The doors are straight ahead."
 
"And she trusts you," Dark murmured while Ivy shifted slightly in Alec's arms. He watched for a few moments longer before getting up to retrieve his living room sketch book and pencils. Then he sat back down exactly like he had before and flipped to a blank page.

~~

"It's a type of custard, like a pudding. You caramelize the top with a blow torch" Daizi explained, surprised by Xander touching her arm, but stopped quickly. "Thank you. I'm not sure I've been to this one before."
 
Alec yawned, suddenly realizing exactly how cozy he was. It was going to be hard not to fall asleep here.

~~

"Blow torch?" Xander repeated, more than a little interest creeping into his voice. "Now that sounds like some fun cooking!" He paused inside the door as he tried to remember the layout of the store. It was a larger one, but not huge, and while a little on the pricy side for a thrift store in his opinion, it was the closest one to their house. "There's housewears. To the right and down a little."
 
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