How Green Becomes Wood

Xander went to his next class and tried not to think about anything other than what he was supposed to be focusing on at school. He kept instinctively looking for Alec and Milo out of habit, but they weren't here. It was weird being alone at school. He was kind of grateful to Sloan for joining him at lunch as a distraction, not that he'd admit it. He just had to get through this day.

The school day finally ended, and he packed up and headed for home. There was no Alec to wait for as he talked to everyone. No Milo to offer a ride to. He could just leave. That was weird. And it meant he got home five minutes before he expected to.

Alec had finally come down out of his room, and he was sitting in the kitchen with another piece of toast he was nibbling on. He brightened a little when he heard Xander's van pull up, but he didn't go to greet him, just in case.

Xander kicked off his shoes and touched the salt, looking for Ivy on the floor first to make sure he wasn't going to step on her.
 
Being on the floor, as soon as Ivy heard the door open, she crawled over to Xander, responding to him with her usual excitement. She did make an attempt to use his pant leg to stand up, but quickly toppled over.
 
"Sup, Mini?" Xander greeted her. He reached down and used the back of her clothing to gently right her. "There you go. Now you can try again." He stepped around Ivy with care and headed for the kitchen. "I'm going to grab a snack before therapy. You want anything, Mini?"

Alec turned on his chair as Xander came in. "How was school?"

Xander ignored him, heading for the snack cabinet to find something to eat before heading out.
 
Of course, Dark was right within eyeshot, since Ivy wasn't allowed to crawl around on her own, but besides greeting Xander, he didn't interfere. He tried not to hover more than was strictly necessary. At least, not until Xander asking Ivy if she wanted a snack, at which point he metioned what she could have, if he wanted to give her any finger foods.

Ivy just crawled after Xander, more than happy to just watch what he did.
 
Xander got himself something small and snagged a small thing Ivy could have. He crouched down and handed her a tiny bite. "There you go. Ba, you want anything?"

Alec turned around entirely to sit backward on his chair and watch. "Did you bring me home any homework?" he asked weakly.

"Don't spread crumbs," Xander warned Ivy.
 
Well this will need to be addressed. Dark thought as he perceived this conversation, but he wasn't sure the right time or how to go about it. Xander had every right to be angry, but this would go... poorly if allowed to fester.

"No," he answered cautiously, "I am alright."
 
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"Alright." Xander sat on the floor and helped Ivy eat her finger foods, careful not to touch her, and when he was finished, he stood and brushed himself off. "I'm going to head out to my therapy session. I'll see you guys after. Tell Mama I was here and gone again."

"Drive safe!" Alec called after him. He wilted when Xander continued to ignore him. He watched as Xander left and then stood. "I'm going to go back to my room, I guess," he said quietly. "Since I'm not going to work."
 
"I will," Dark promised, getting up to collect Ivy. After Xander left, but before Alec did, he said, "It will improve. He is upset still, but it will pass. Daizi thinks I should go to work in your place."
 
Alec shrugged. "If he didn't demand restitution for you stealing his shop boy, I guess he wouldn't need it, but you could always go see how he's doing and being home flowers for Mama."
 
"I guess I have homework to do, and I should text Sloan," Alec said. "Have fun with flowers." He headed upstairs slowly and flopped on his bed. After a minute, he texted Peter for any homework he knew of. Then he texted Sloan for a ride.
 
Dark nodded, and a little while after Alec went up, he sighed, bounced Ivy up onto his hip and brought her to Daizi before changing into something that looked less like he had been on the floor with an infant and decided to go ahead and go to the flower shop, just to put this crazy idea to rest.
 
I hate to inconvenience you, but would you be willing to give me a ride to school tomorrow morning? Xander and I had a... disagreement, and he's still too annoyed with me to give me a ride. Alec knew her first question would be to ask why he'd need a ride, so he went ahead and just told her.

~~

At the flower shop, Tristan was surprisingly busy. A family that seemed to consist of a matriarch, three daughters, and somewhere between four and a dozen children swarmed his poor little piece of peace. It was hard to tell how many children were actually involved due to the speed they moved. At least nothing had gotten broken yet. Their mothers were more or less keeping them corraled when they weren't being distracted looking at floors for a wedding. Tristan divided his attention between keeping his glass vases safe and finding something that would make the matriarch and the daughters happy. He wasn't stressed yet, but he was slowly inching in that direction.
 
Sloan murmured in surprise at Alec's text. Although she obviously knew Xander was angry at lunch, she didn't imagine it'd be directed at Alec, Sure, that's no problem. What time do you normally like to get to school? and then shared time she normally left.

~~

When Dark walked in and saw the chaos, he quickly stepped in and in one fluid motion lifted one of the glass vases to get them out of the way of youthful hands and looked down at the children. Really, he was only curious, and maybe the slightest bit amused, but being him, he looked rather stern and reproachful.
 
That time is fine for me. I don't want to make things any more difficult for you. Thank you for being willing to give me a ride, Alec texted back.

~~

Two of the children, perhaps five and seven, stared up at Dark, suddenly frozen in awe and more than a little intimidated. They didn't say anything, just stared.

"You wish for orchids, roses, hydrangea, and cala lilies in the bouquet?" Tristan asked the matriarch as he held several flowers in one hand. He noticed Dark and gave him a slight smile of welcome and recognition.

"Yes, absolutely, they are all such amazing flowers!" the older woman said.

"I agree, but the problem is each of those flowers has a strong presence. It is usually a better idea to only have one or two large flowers as the main ones, and then use other, smaller flowers to help showcase the showstoppers," Trsitan explained, quickly putting together a miniature bouquet to show them as an example. "If that is what you want, then, of course, I can do that for you."

Another pair of children - maybe three and seven - ran into Dark's leg and stopped short, also staring at Dark.

"Good, considering that as the customers, you should be more interested in doing what we want," the older woman sniffed.

The youngest of the matriarch's daughters rolled her eyes. "Mom, please, the whole point in coming to a florist is to get someone who knows what they are doing. Besides, I hate hydrangeas! And roses are so standard."

"You can't go wrong with standard," the older woman said.

Tristan placed the flowers he was holding back in their holders. "How do you feel about orchids? They come in many colors, they have a unique shape, but they are not too... non-traditional. I have some lovely peach colored ones that would match your skin tone quite well." He gestured to a small clump of delicate peach colored orchids behind Dark.
 
Sounds good. Just come across the street to my place in the morning, okay?

~~

Although not paying too much attention to the conversation, Dark did feel a small bit offense at roses being standard. He supposed they were common, but they were a classic. Although, he did like orchids too, and he turned slowly to see the flowers.

Still, he didn't speak up, waiting to hear more about the conversation if he chose to. When the children ran into his legs he looked very far down at them and narrowed his eyes slightly, before raising his head again. He'd have to get used to that when Ivy could walk, and when she began having her small friends over.
 
Okay, I will see you tomorrow.

~~

"Those are... okay," the younger said, not sold on the idea.

"Yes, yes, those are lovely, but what do they represent?" the older woman demanded.

"Well, specific colors change the meanings, but in general, orchids represent feminity, virility, purity, and spiritual growth among a few other things," Tristan said calmly. "Would you like to see an example?"

"Oh, could we?" asked one of the other women breathlessly. "This is so exciting!"

"It's not your wedding," scolded the other. She realized four of the children were still staring and quickly murmured an apology to Dark before shooing them back to their side of the store.

Tristan held up a finger. "As an alternative - Oh, please don't pick that up!" He held out a hand - rather pointlessly - toward an older child, perhaps twelve years old, who was starting to pick up a cactus in a small pot. The child was on the other side of the store and much closer to Dark than to Tristan.
 
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