How Green Becomes Wood

Dark looked at Alec, utterly confused, "Why would I be confused for one of the actors?"

"I think we'll probably have Cooger come by and watch Ivy, as much as I love to bring her places with us, I wouldn't want Dark or I to have to miss parts of the musical because she began to cry and needed to be hurried out of the theatre. When she's older, we can start taking her to age appropriate shows, but I don't think now is the right time for her. I suppose you can wear whatever you like, we both sort of like to dress up, but it's so far away."

"By dress up, we mean dress more formally, not that we wear costumes," Dark clarified.
 
"Because you look and bear yourself like someone out of an old movie more than a regular street person," Alec said promptly. "It's a compliment. I look forward to formal dress!"

Xander heaved a sigh. "If I must, I must."
 
"I appreciate the compliment, but I do not think it is likely there will be someone who looks like me on the stage," Dark replied, unable to imagine a world where an actor ended up resembling him.

"You don't have to dress up," Daizi promised, "Only do it if you want to."
 
"I know we're not skipping school," Alec said, waving a hand. "It just feels like the large majority of our life is school and... well, getting schooled in other activities. It'll be nice not to have to learn."

"Agreed!" Xander nodded. "Learning about history. Learning about leather. Learning about how to pin someone. It'll be nice to have a break!"
 
"You might end up learning about a myth," Daizi pointed out, grinning, "but I understand what you mean. Anyway, it's a little ways off, still. There's a lot in the way, still."

"And soon we get to go to the Pumpkin Patch," Dark said, looking pretty much like he always did, but somehow still being visibly excited for these outings, "And the apple orchard. And the pumpkin patch has a corn maze, I do not know if you recall, we did not do it last year, because Daizi did not have the energy for it, but it is one of the largest in the state. And all of those, you do not need to learn, either."
 
"I'd forgotten pumpkin patches were on the docket," Alec said. "And corn mazes. Those sound like a lot of fun!"

"With this apple orchard, do we get to bring home apples?" Xander asked, mentally trying to come up with all the apple recipes he could think of.
 
"There is so much," Dark said, "and so much we were unable to do last year. I do not believe any of us carved last year's pumpkins. Typically, I like to wait until October to do both the pumpkin patch and the apple orchard, but I think, with Ivy's birthday being in mid-October now, it is better if we start visiting the Apple Orchard in September, because I do not want the holiday season to be so busy we are doing something every week. And it means we get to visit sooner. We did not even make it to the apple orchard last year."

Daizi grinned silently at her husband, gently squeezing his arm as she listened with pure delight at his excitement. Last year, all those activities were much less enjoyable for her, because she felt exhausted and sore basically every day of the previous autumn. Really, in retrospect, she had made jokes the previous year about how she was just in the start of her eighth month, it didn't make sense why she felt so worn out going through it, but she was, quite literally, one week away from giving birth---and even if she hadn't been, it was still that close to the end anyway. But this year, she'd be able to actually enjoy herself, "We do get to take apples home, and even pick some ourselves, if we like. There is an apple taste-test area, where they slice up all the varieties of apple they grow, and you can try them. Their shop is full of other foods you can sample. It's less Halloween-focused, and more an excuse to get fresh apple cider and apple cider donuts."
 
"Really? That sounds-" Xander started to say, but Alec practically scrambled on top of him to demand, "Apple cider donuts? Really? I haven't had one of those in years! When can we go?"

Xander pushed his brother off. "Relax! We'll get donuts! But not by squishing me."

"Xander," Alec said slowly and clearly, "it's apple cider donuts! There are few foods that are more worth crushing you for, and I know I will have to crush you to get my share because you're acting all cool now, but the second those golden delectables are in sight, you'll scarf them all!"

"I will not!" Xander protested.

"Will too!"

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

"Will not!"

"Will too, and you have done!"
 
Daizi laughed and did her best to scurry away so they didn't collapse onto her, but Dark stayed where he was and accepted the occasional nudge and knock as the battled, finding them much too endearing to care.

"Sometime this month," He answered, "I will be certain to get enough donuts for all of us. I think it is too soon in September to rush out, but perhaps next weekend or the one after?"

"Don't forget, we still want to take you both out for trips just for the two of you as indivduals, so we have to also make days for that," Daizi reminded them, choosing to sit on the floor and pet Enkidu while her sons battled.
 
Xander was currently under Alec with his head near Dark's knee and hanging over the edge of the couch. He let his head fall back farther so he could look at Daizi. "Yeah, we do need to do that. When's our schedule open?"

Alec had one of Xander's arms and one leg in an awkward grip, and he glanced at Dark. "This weekend is good except for band, but we could maybe put it off if that's the best time for an outing. I'll ask Peter what he thinks."
 
"This Saturday we have Spencer's wedding," Dark replied, barely able to exist patting Xander on the head, "but after that I do not think we have anything major until the court date for the adoption, so anytime after that, and I think the academic calendar has some school days off this month, so there is certainly plenty of time."

"If we do it a week your school is closed on a weekday, then we could do one outing on that weekday, and the other on the weekend, and we'd be able to do both in one week, easily, but I also don't mind we do two weekends back-to-back, it's whatever you both prefer. We still need to know what you want to do, in case it needs to be booked in advance," Daizi explained thoughtfully.
 
"I have an idea for what I want to do, but I haven't decided for certain yet," Alec said, flopping more onto Xander and making him grunt. "I like the weekday-weekend plan. What do you think?"

"I think I pick weekday," Xander wheezed. "That sounds like a good plan to me."
 
With a nod, Dark took out his phone to pull up the school calendar, "It looks like Friday the 21st is an Institute Day, so we could take Xander where he wants to go then, and Alec on Sunday, unless you want to do something which is closed then."

"That sounds great," Daizi grinned brightly, truly excited for these days out with her children, "You just have to let us know what we're doing, and we'll do it."
 
"It's a date," Xander agreed. He sounded strained but still hadn't tried to get out from under Alec. He was a little concerned he'd accidentally hurt his brother by dumping him on the floor, and this wasn't too bad.

"Sunday should be an excellent day!" Alec agreed cheerfully, staying where he was since he hadn't been told to move, but also taking care not to stick his knees or elbows anywhere they'd hurt.
 
"Are you two just getting sit like that for the rest of the day?" Dark asked, bemused but adoring. This was the exact thing he liked to sketch out, and he hoped he could remember their exact pose so he could, later.

"Sit like what?"

"Like two pretzels that had a horrible accident."
 
Xander twisted his neck so he could frown at Dark. "We don't look anything like two pretzels, and definitely not like we were in an accident." Then he reached up and twined his arms and legs around Alec's, ignoring his brother's sudden cry of surprise and protest. Then he gave a wiggle-twist and dumped them both on the floor in an even messier tangle. "This is a pretzel accident!"

"Hey!" Alec protested, trying to wriggle free and failing. "This floor is cold! And hard! And slightly dog-haired because it hasn't been swept in the last five seconds!"

"You started it, Pretzel," Xander told him.
 
Daizi laughed at the sound of the clatter, crying out, "Don't hurt each other! I don't want to take one of you to the hospital!"

Enkidu, of course, scrambled over as soon as they were on the floor and began to sniff at them, confused at what this ball of person was doing on his level.
 
"Enkidu!" Xander squawked with a laugh as the dog snuffled them.

Alec laughed and tried to avert his face. "Good boy, Enkidu! Good boy! Everything is okay. We aren't hurting each other! Except for your elbow, Xander, it's in my shoulder! How are you even doing that?"

Xander snorted and finally released his brother, letting him go. "I'm twisty, that's how."
 
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