How Green Becomes Wood

"My daughter would never betray her heritage." Daizi huffed, snuggling her baby close, "Right, Ivy-Qadira? Right." Ivy cooed at her, looking at her with all the love and admiration a baby could have.

"Do you really think Ivy would choose to grant us all access to soup rather than torturing us?" Dark asked flatly.

"You realize your desire to learn the recipe unfairly only proves you aren't worthy of soup-knowledge?" Daizi asked.
 
"I dunno, depends on what kind of personality she grows into," Alec said cheerfully.

"Why on earth would the desire to learn a soup recipe be bad? And how is it fair that only the girls get the recipe? Why not just the chosen one or the eldest or something like that?" Xander asked with a frown.
 
"How is it fair that if an Egyptian woman marries a foreign man, he doesn't gain citizenship through her but if an Egyptian man marries a foreign woman, she does?" Daizi asked flatly, "God forbid a woman reclaim some of her own power."

"Bad choice of argument," Dark chuckled lightly.
 
"Because that's politics and all politics are stupid no matter who or where you are unless you are really and truly ultra-rich," Xander pointed out. "Because you claim the soup is basically a super helpful thing and by following your traditions you are withholding something beneficial from mankind in general and basically doing the same thing stupid dudes do when they withhold certain stuff from women."
 
Dark shook his head at Xander, trying to indicate this was not an argument he was going to win or wanted to have.

"Considering the historical and on-going exploitation of women and the way women's interests, work, and contributions have been consistently downplayed, what incentive to do women have to give their secrets away? If part of the power in the soup is its scarcity then giving the recipe to anyone who inquires would decrease its potency anyway. It's a tradition which binds me to all of the women who came before me, and all of those who come after me--a tradition which has survived despite all of the hardships and violence women have faced. Explain to me how holding onto that thread the same as men working hard to enforce the idea of 'woman as inferior.''
 
Xander shrugged. "Okay, if that's how you feel," he said mildly, but he still felt it was stupid. If she wanted to keep the soup recipe secret, fine, but she also risked losing an entire heritage because of "tradition." Not to mention, most of her arguments could easily be turned around to being exactly what men would say about women, or even how women would argue that it was "there turn" to subjugate men. But, at the end of the day, it really was just soup. He didn't feel like ruining the nice time they'd had by turning a joke into a feminist argument. It wasn't worth it.
 
"It is how I feel," Daizi frowned, "It's my family heritage. It's my right to decide how I honour it." It was one of the biggest connections she had to her own mother, really, having never known her. According to her aunts, she had her laugh, too, but she didn't really have proof of that. But she did have this recipe her mom had made, and her mother's sisters, and her grandmother. And she'd teach it to Ivy, and if either twin had daughters, she'd teach it to them. One day, hopefully, Xander would respect it. Dark did. She didn't know about Alec.

After giving Xander a quick satisfied? I warned you look, Dark cleared his throat and said, "I am wrapping up the cake so it does not dry out."
 
Xander rolled his eyes at Dark. His "warning" had come rather late! He moved on and helped finish cleaning up before heading out back.

Alec didn't say anything, keeping his head down and focusing on what needed to be done. He wanted no part of any of this except cake.
 
Dark shrugged, not knowing what else he was expected to do besides explicitly say, bad argument before empathetically shaking his head no when the teen chose to continue. If Xander had lived here for two years and not learned it's not a good idea to suggest their anthropologist mother was performing her own tradition problematically--- that was on him. Maybe it'd help if he'd apologize.

Daizi picked up a blueberry and popped it into Ivy's mouth, having more or less moved past the conversation already. She was pretty sure they had already had a similar conversation, anyway.
 
"That's why we aren't giving her sugar yet," Daizi replied contentedly, "Part of why, anyway."

"It is good she does not seem to be a particularly picky eater." Dark said, coming to sit back down. "It makes it easier."
 
Ivy tried, looking at the small tray of cut up berries set out for her, to grab and eat them on her own, but her pincer grip wasn't quite finely tuned enough, so she ended up mashing quite a few. But she tried.

"I think she made need a bath tonight," Dark pointed out, trying to wipe away some of her mess with a napkin.

"At least she likes baths. We should do it before it gets too late." Daizi said, letting Ivy finish her berries before standing and stretching with her.
 
"It's just making her extra sweet," Alec grinned.

Xander eventually came in after doing some Judo practice, and after the twins had spent some time with their family, they headed upstairs for bed and a quiet evening.

The next morning, Xander had gotten an order, so he went to make sure he had the requested item in stock - he did - and then packaged it up. He'd either take it out for shipping later or maybe ask Dark if he'd be willing to drop it off if he went shopping today. Then he spent some time taking inventory before going inside once more.

Alec was upstairs practicing the piano, but he left the door slightly ajar in case Daizi wanted to join him. He nearly asked her if she wanted to, but he didn't want her to feel like she had to split the time between Ivy and him. So he compromised by leaving the door open as an invitation.
 
Dark was preparing to go to the shops later, and was in the kitchen going through the pantries checking to make sure he had on his list everything they needed. At first during this, Daizi had Ivy, but when the desire to join Alec struck, she brought her to her husband, who simply strapped her to his back with the baby sling and talked her through what he was doing to her amusement.

After joining Alec in the music room, Daizi played with him until Dark traded Ivy back off so he could go to the store. Not long after he left it was naptime, and after Ivy was asleep in her crib, Daizi went back downstairs to sit on the couch and take some time by herself. Her plan originally was to just listen to an audiobook, but ended up falling asleep right there on the couch. There was just so much which always needed doing, and with the house quiet and everyone occupied and okay, her body just couldn't keep up.

It wasn't like she had been sleeping well, anyway. Ever since the incident with Xander, she kept waking up in the middle of the night, dreams of what had happened plaguing her. Distorted versions of events, anyway. Even then, in the middle of the day, her dreams went straight to cold, still air, a voice in the dark, pain, the smell of her flowers, and trying to run, but she couldn't escape. She tried to fight, but couldn't, she wasn't strong enough to, and in her dream she was screaming, but nobody came.
 
Last edited:
Alec asked to go with Dark to the store just for the fun of it, and Xander asked them to take the parcel to be mailed. It just needed to be dropped into the mail box for parcels, not a big deal, and wouldn't take them more than a minute.

After the others left, he spent some time by himself out in his shop. Then he headed inside, distracted by thoughts of things he needed to do.
 
Dark agreed to take the parcel without complaint, the post office was on his way and he had Alec. It was great when someone else came with him because it meant he did not need to talk to a single soul. When the cashier asked how they were doing, he could trust that Alec would make all of the polite conversation and he could stand there making the occasional polite nod. Although, he was planning to go to the Arab Market. He would talk there, if it was not busy.

On the couch, Daizi was sleeping, but not restfully. Her breathing was shaking and she moved fitfully, occasionally making small, incomprehensible, utterances.
 
When Xander first heard the noises, he thought it was Ivy. No, that didn't make sense. It was Ivy's nap time. Enkidu? He'd never heard Enkidu make those noises. He went to check it out, worried for the dog. Oh. It was just his mother. But now what was she doing? He frowned as he realized it was a nightmare. Should he let her sleep through it? Or should he wake her up? He'd once heard that letting someone sleep through a nightmare meant they were less likely to remember it, but he didn't know if he believed that. Making his decision, he knelt next to the couch.

"Mama?" he called carefully. "Mama, time to wake up."
 
"Mama? Wake up, Mama," Xander tried again. It didn't seem to be working. He hovered anxiously, wishing Dark was home, and finally reached out and carefully pushed on Daizi's arm. "Mama!"
 
Back
Top