How Green Becomes Wood

This may have been the best weekend Dark had experienced in a long time, and he managed to get the house more decorated internally than he had planned, which was fantastic. Tomorrow, Cooger would come by to help do the outside. Daizi filled in where she could, but mostly floated with delight at the success conclusion of her plans.
 
The day ended well, and as things were winding down, the twins hung out in the living room on opposite ends, sipping hot drinks and doing their personal focuses. Alec had his sketchbook, and Xander was rereading a book about a horse. It was a fictional retelling of a real horse that began a modern bloodline and one of his favorites.

When they went to put away their mugs, their books were forgotten on the table. They cleaned up, arguing lightly about something school related for the next day, and headed upstairs to get ready for bed in what was beginning to feel like the only non decorated room in the house.
 
Dark and Daizi stayed comfortably downstairs, still feeling especially cozy with each other after yesterday, and enjoying getting to cuddle and plan their second wedding, with all of the joy and none of the apprehension as they had when they were newly engaged.

As they sat, Dark noticed Alec's sketchbook on the table and frowned slightly, "Alec forgot his sketchbook down here."

"Oh," Daizi said, blissfully lying with her head on his chest and his arms firmly around her, "I'm sure he'll get it in the morning. I wonder what he draws in it."

Dark shifted, turning his gaze to the ceiling, "I looked once, even though I should not have. He draws comics?"

"Oh?"

"He draws me as a vampire. But I scare him."

"Oh." Daizi replied, eyebrows furrowing in conclusion.

"He is scared of me, in his drawings."

"Well that doesn't sound right," Daizi said, sitting back up, and would've grabbed the sketchbook if she knew where it was, "You probably didn't look far enough. Maybe it wasn't even you. You should look again."

Dark hesitated, not believing it at all, but, his curiosity getting the better of him again, reached out, grabbed the sketchbook, and once more flipping through the pages, describing to Daizi what he saw.
 
The sketches where the vampire chasing the boy hadn't changed much. They remained as they were without words, telling their story only through expression. Alec has tweaked some of the expressions some, attempting to make them more obvious and open while still being natural. It mostly worked. The story continued, and now there were words. Sometimes, he wrote out different possible wordings or responses off to the side, surrounding the simple squares with scribbles of text. The vampire took the boy to a chair - the background was vague and smudged as if he'd changed his mind a few times as to what it should be - and towered over him. Then the boy - with comically fat tears - explained how he'd run away from a terrible fight. On the boy's shoulders, a tiny tiger fought with a similar-sized rabbit, chasing them around and around as the rabbit tried to run or fight back. The vampire remained absolutely still through most of it. Then his hand emerged from his cloak and rested gently on the boy's head. The vampire was comforting the boy. He offered the boy bandages and led him out of the building.

From there, the boy was pictured wearing a striped suit, like a jail suit, while he did menial tasks. But he looked happier despite being in a jail suit, and the rabbit and the tiger each slept on opposite shoulders.
 
"See, he comforts him!" Daizi pointed out, when Dark described the panel, still worming her way beneath his arm.

"He has also been imprisoned."

"Don't be bleak," Daizi tutted, "The story isn't finished yet."
 
There were a few sketches beyond that, and some of them showed the boy out of his prison outfit, but there were other troubles. The tiger had a tendency to dig its claws into him, and the rabbit always wanted him to flee. The other boy disappeared for a little, and some of the pannels showed a great loneliness, but the most recent one showed him returning and carrying what looked like a twig with leaves. That boy had a tiger and a bunny as well, but the tiger was bigger than the bunny. The vampire and the witch drifted in and out of the panels, sometimes funny and sometimes serious, but always supportive. The vampire in his very serious way, and the witch constantly engulfing them in hugs or making real magic spark from her fingers.

The most recent storyline seemed to center around the littlest of the family. They were all grouped around her as they hung things up one at a time, and then the witch or the vampire would hold her up to see if the items were high enough. There would be a serious discussion, and then they would move on to the next item. The tiny girl seemed to enjoy what was going on even if she was puzzled, and a thought bubble showed her equating herself to a yardstick as her brothers took turns hanging up the items over her head.
 
"See," Daizi nuzzled against him, pleased by how much he had relaxed as they continued to read, "It's just us. You got stuck at the beginning."

Dark looked at the final drawings for a little while and then shut the book and set it aside, lying back and bringing Daizi with him, "I wonder if Ivy will have magic too, in the drawings. And the boys."
 
The next morning, Alec retrieved his sketchbook, none the wiser that anyone had looked through it. They got ready for school and headed out for a regular day. They were still a little tense with each other, especially now that they were heading into a place that usually held stressful situations, but they were working through it.
 
The regrowing peace was certainly a comfort. Daizi had already booked the next family therapy session, for the end of September. It'd be right before the adoption was finalized, and that on its own seemed important. They'd have a lot to talk about then, she guessed. But things were going to come back together, she was certain of it. At around 11, Cooger drove by. As promised, he was going to help Dark set up the lights, which really just meant he was going to hold a ladder for a few hours while Dark fussed, but at least they got to talk during it, and Dark always either bought or made him food after, so it was a worthy venture indeed. In a way it was repayment, Cooger typically coerced Dark into helping him coppice the trees which could regrow larger and remove the ones which were at a risk to the rest on his property, and that was much more difficult work than this.
 
Lex came out after Cooger and Dark had been at work for a little over an hour and leaned on the fence to watch. She sipped her coffee, a loose leather jacket draped over her simple blue shirt. It was a good show!
 
When Dark climbed down the ladder again, he took a number of steps back to look at his terribly spooky and delightful home, making sure they were placed where he needed them, while Cooger leaned back by the ladder, knowing exactly what was going to come.

"No," Dark said, arms crossed, "I think the droop needs to be widened slightly, it looks messy, not haunted."

""Should've done this on the weekend, so you could send Xander up and down the ladder and just direct us from the street," Cooger replied casually, knowing exactly how this went every year.

Dark shook his head, "I was getting proposed to this past weekend, and I have a wedding to attend this coming weekend. You do, too."
 
Lex cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "Left side needs to go out, don't you think?" She was more amused than invested and tempted to offer to come over to help, but yelling observations was more amusing. If they invited, even jokingly, then she'd come.
 
Dark turned his head sharply to the side, to see who dared question his decorations before they were even finished. Clearly, he was still working on them.

But then he saw it was only Lex and relaxed, waving with one hand before turning back to his work.

"Aw hell, Lex," Cooger chuckled, stepping around to see her better, "You can't just start poking the bear like that, 'least not without giving me any warning."
 
"Someone who doesn't want an innocent person to be knocked out," Cooger replied with a grin.

"Would you kindly stop flirting and hold the ladder," Dark asked, "I want to have the parts we need a ladder for finished in one day, if it can be managed."
 
"If you want to hold the letter while Cooger climbs up it, you are welcome to," Dark replied, "but I do not want to take over your day."

"Woah, hang on now, why am is she not the one going up the ladder?" Cooger asked indignantly.

"Because I care if she falls and hurts herself."
 
"You really do know how to flatter a girl," Lex chuckled. She checked her watch and then came around the fence so she could join them. "I've got two hours to kill, as it happens, so you might as well put me to work holding a ladder. I think I'm strong enough to support a man, should he choose to let me." She gave Cooger a saucy wink.
 
"If you insist, I will not deny you the chance to help us. Thank you." Dark replied, opening the gate for her. "We have a lot of house, so two hours with extra hands is truly very helpful."

Cooger, shaking his head at Lex, looked to his friend and said, "You make sure you keep an eye on where she's looking."
 
"The trust you give me is overwhelming," Lex smirked. She took her place at the ladder. Despite her teasing, she took her job seriously and made certain the ladder was always stable and secure.
 
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