How Green Becomes Wood

He shook his head, "No, it is okay. You go on to bed. I enjoy being alone." Checking his phone to see if he had heard anything, he cracked a little smile and turned his phone around to show Alec a short video one of Daizi's friends had sent him of Daizi dancing with Ellis, the pop-punk one of her friends. It was still fairly early in the night, and neither of them looked particularly inebriated, just like they were having fun with their friends, "It looks like it will be awhile."
 
Alec grinned. "Go, Mama! She is a lovely dancer. I'm glad she's having fun and dances the night away!" He gave Dark a quick hug. "Night!" Then he headed up to his room to get ready for bed.

Xander was there, but he pretended like Alec wasn't as he finished reading the Judo book he'd picked up. After a while, he put the book away, grabbed his pillow, and headed downstairs. Alec just sighed and didn't bother to try to stop him or talk to him.
 
"She really is," Dark agreed, rewatching the video before setting his phone down, giving Alec a hug, and wishing him a good night, not about to express he adored how Daizi danced. It didn't seem like the right time.

After Alec went upstairs, he returned to the living room, planning to stretch out while he waited for his wife to come home, pausing in the archway at the sight of his other son, "I did not hear you come back down."
 
"I am not startled, I just did not expect to see you." He replied, sitting down on the couch, "No, you are not interrupting. I am only waiting to make sure my wife returns home safely."
 
"Probably a good idea," Xander agreed. He made himself comfortable on the chair and picked up a book on leather work for beginners. He knew how to do most of this already, but he was hoping to spark some ideas for variations of what he was already doing.
 
Dark checked his phone one more time, settled down on the couch, and took out his sketchbook. There wasn't much on his mind, but there wasn't nothing. There was never nothing. As always, he stayed open in case Xander wanted to talk, but he was more than content to just sit in silence. There had been so many days of him and Daizi trying to sort things out, he wanted to give them a break and see if they'd open up on their own.
 
Xander didn't take the opportunity to talk. He was content to sit in silence and allow them both to do their own thing and just rest. He didn't often just sit with his parents without talking about something. He was a little tense at first, wondering if Dark would take the opportunity to talk about a specific event, but when the topic didn't come up, he relaxed. After a while, he dozed off, his book sitting in his lap. He shifted to a more comfortable position and settled down to a light sleep.
 
Eventually, Dark turned his head and noticed Xander had dozed off, so he set his sketchbook aside, stood up, and with the dexterity of a man who had perfected laying a clingy baby down in her crib without waking her, set the book down on the coffee table (careful to not lose his page) and placed a throw blanket over him before lying back down on the couch.

A few hours later, his phone buzzed again, this time with a picture he would not be sharing with his children, due only to the pose Daizi had taken, she remained fully clothed.

Eventually, fairly late into the evening, Dark received a voice note from Daizi explaining she was coming home, she was taking a taxi, none of them were suited to drive, and she missed him. In the background, some of her friends were teasing her, and her whispers to them to be quiet were cut off before her sentence finished, but he could tell she was about to warn them they'd wake the baby. It seemed unlikely it'd wake Ivy, but he did walk into a different room so it wouldn't wake Xander.

Not long after the message, he spotted headlights pull up, and he stood in the doorway to see her inside safely.

"Welcome home," He said to her softly in Arabic, guiding her inside, "You seem to have had a wonderful time."

"I did," Daizi replied, reaching out to touch the salt and somehow managing not to spill most of it, "and I already took off my shoes, so it's not even a problem, I can't forget to take them off!"

"I appreciate that," Dark replied, shutting and locking the door behind her.

She dropped her shoes to the ground, "Do you know, I was thinking about you the entire way home? I was. I was thinking about you, and that flower shop, and it made me miss you so much." Stumbling over to him, she reached up on her toes and kissed him messily on the mouth, but Dark, making a surprised *mm!" sound, pulled away immediately, and held up one hand to prevent her from trying again.

"No, darling."

"What?" She pouted, wide eyed, "Why not?"

"Because either you are too drunk, or I am too sober."

Daizi stumbled off from him, pointing towards the kitchen, "Well that's easily fixed, I can just pour you something--"

"That is not a good idea."

"Why not?"

"It just is not." He paused, gazing intently at her, "Did you eat?"

"I had---" She tried counting on her feelings, "a lot of limes."
 
Xander woke with a start at the not-too-quiet voices and slowly sat up, feeling a bit blurry. He squinted around the chair at Daizi and sighed when he saw she was drunk. It was not even the slightest bit surprising to him, he just knew that drunk people tended to be a bit unruly. And loud. And clingy. And tended to lose their clothes. Maybe he should just pretend to be asleep.
 
Still whispering, Dark told her, "Come sit down in the kitchen, Spider, let me cook you something to eat."

"I did eat!" She giggled, allowing herself to be led to the kitchen.

"More than only limes?"

"Yesss!"

He sighed, sitting her down, "I am still going to cook you eggs. To be safe." Before he began to cook, he poured a big glass of water, "Drink this for me, okay?"

"Okay," She cooed, "Because you told me to." There was a pause, presumably when she was drinking water, followed by, "It'd be really easy to get drunk, actually, Goose, because--"

Whatever action she did was blocked from Xander by the wall, and Dark only responded to it by saying, "I am not getting drunk."

"You're no fun."

"No, I am not."
 
Xander smirked and shook his head. He stretched and got up out of the chair, leaving his blanket and pillow in the chair. He wandered to the kitchen but stood in the doorway. "Do you want me to cook eggs?" he asked Dark mildly. "So that someone can keep an eye on her?"
 
Daizi turned around in her chair, managing it fairly well in her state, and grinned at him in a way which made it very clear she and Ivy looked alike, "Hey! It's you! Why are you still awake? Somebody wasn't good about making sure you had a bedtime!" She giggled, holding out one finger, "He's very naughty, and I'm very drunk, because I had a lot of limes. And I haven't been drinking in a very long time. It's not good, and you shouldn't do it."

"No, I think it is okay, but thank you," Dark replied quietly, "I think she will be alright."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"
 
"Alright. I'll be in the living room if you need me." To Daizi, Xander said very seriously, "I will make certain to never eat too many limes and to not stay up past my bedtime. As long as you let Ba make you eggs." He headed back into the livingroom, shaking his head. Parents.
 
With absolute solemnity, Daizi placed one hand over her heart and then broke into more giggles. While Dark cooked for her, she did her best to tell him about all the things they did: dancing, shots, getting the bar to cheer for Spencer, but most of it was difficult to follow because she kept jumping from one story to another.

At some point, she interrupted herself to say, "Hey, Goose?"

"Yes darling?"

"Do you think Tristan has security cameras?"

"I suspect he does."

"Do you think he'd be mad if he knew we kinda made out in his backroom?" She asked, resting her chin in her hand.

Not having an answer to this, he set the plate of eggs down in front of her and sat down, "I believe my experiences there count as sexual harassment."

"If he didn't have security cameras, I'd kill 'em," She giggled, "all those old women in there flirting with you. 'Cause you're my man. Only I get to flirt with you."

Dark shoved the plate closer to her, "Eat your eggs, darling."
 
Xander had taken over the couch since Dark didn't need it anymore, and he nestled down with his pillow and blanket. He was too exhausted to really care what was happening in the kitchen, so he dozed and listened with half an ear when he was awake. Partying with people like Daizi's friends sounded like a lot of fun, but it was not his scene, and he was quite happy with his quiet life. Maybe someday he'd meet some people worth going to a party with, but not right now. Well, Sloan was pretty cool. She might be fun to party with. And... maybe Peter. Did one friend make a party? And half a friend? Eh, why not.
 
Being once more commanded, Daizi took a bite of her eggs, and then a second bite.

"Do you like them?" Dark asked, endeared by the faint blush across her face.

"Yeah," She mumbled, "They're really good."

"You should finish them. They are good for you."

Daizi ate a few more bites of them, gradually slowing down as she did, until she told him, "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Of course I am going to take care of you," He replied, smiling softly even though she couldn't see it.

"Yeah, but, thank you," Her shoulders slumped slightly, and she took another bite of her eggs, because she wanted him to, "It just means a lot to me. And I don't tell you."

"You do tell me."

"Not as much as I should," She said with more emphasis than was necessary, "I love you so much, Goose. I love you so much. I'm so fortunate to have you, and I feel it literally every day, because everyday I wake up and know how much you love me, and I don't tell you enough."

Dark turned his head to the side, concern spreading over his face, "...Spider... did something happen?"

"No!" She replied emphatically, the loudest she had been since coming home. And she was completely honest, even when she sobered up in the morning she would agree with this assessment. It had been a great night out, "but I just---I came home, drunk off my ass, and you just said, 'go sit down, I will make you eggs' and that means something to be, babe. It means so much to me. And I know that you'll want to tell me it isn't a big deal, and I know that you'll point out I'd do the same for you, but that's not the point! It's not the point. You treat me like I'm the Sun."

Inhaling deeply, rather touched by this drunken outburst, he leaned forward and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently, "I know, Spider. I love you too."

She shook her head, pulling her hand away, and leaning in, she took his face in her hands, speaking a little too close to his face, "I mean it. Ghalib. Ghalib," She stroked his cheek, "If something happened to you, I'd find a way to bring our children somewhere safe, and I would light the sky on fire. I would rip the earth asunder. Because you're my man, Goose. You're my soul mate. And nobody makes me as happy as you do. And you made me eggs, even though I'm sloppy."

Dark allowed her to hold him like that for as long as she needed, genuinely unable to think of what to say besides, "I love you too." Then, as a confession, "You are sloppy."

"I'm really sloppy."

"It is okay."

"Goose?" She murmured, dropping her hands and leaving them in her lap, "I really want to kiss you."

A small smile pulled at his face, and leaning in, he gently kissed her forehead, like a Disney prince, "That is the most you can have tonight, my darling." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and she winced away.

"Ow!"

"Ow?"

"Oh! I forgot!" She laughed shyly, turning her head, revealing a brand new industrial piercing in her left ear, "I got my ear done."
 
Those two were so sappy! And loud. Well, Daizi was loud. It was easy to hear her half of the conversation. It was so weird! And uncomfortably sweet. He hated it. Mostly. He refused to think too far into why he kind of didn't hate it. Maybe later, but not right now at like two in the morning. He did lift his head at Daizi's "Ow," and then listened in confusion to her explanation. She got her ear done? Done what? Elf points? Tattooed? Wasn't it against the law or at least a really bad idea to tattoo, pierce, or whatever a drunk person? Oh, forget it. He'd see it in the morning. He plopped his head into his pillow and closed his eyes.
 
Dark pressed his lips together as he examined the piercing, refraining from admonishing it. Where did she even go where someone would pierce her ear in this state? Turning her head to get a look at it, the holes seemed even, nothing about it--besides the fact it was done on a drunk person--seemed immediately concerning. He knew this was one she had been talking about while sober, so she wouldn't regret it---presuming it healed well-- but...

"It looks beautiful, my darling." He replied, knowing if he said any of those concerns now, she'd just cry. Ivy was going to rip it out. She was going to look like Van Gogh.

"I'm going to replace it with a chain when it's healed! Isn't that going to be pretty?"

"It will be gorgeous," He replied, "Finish your eggs."

She did so, as ordered, and then, with a sigh, Dark led her upstairs, helped her to wash her face and moisturize--skipping pretty much every step of her routine--and made sure she pumped before tucking her into bed. He sat by her side until he was certain she had fallen asleep, and then he went downstairs to clean up the kitchen.
 
The next morning, Xander dragged himself off the couch and set about trying to remember what life was like. It was Saturday, and he never had any set plans on Saturday. Sometimes he worked with Cooger, sometimes he worked in the shed, and sometimes he just hung out because he could. He had no idea what he wanted to do today except to maybe work out and then crash.

Alec came down at his usual time, yawning and half ready for the day, having forgotten until halfway through that he wasn't going anywhere today. Oh well. Maybe he and Ivy could do something fun together."
 
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