How Green Becomes Wood

Dark nodded to Xander, washed his hands again, and then quietly went up to the bedroom, letting himself in. The curtains to their bed were drawn, so he padded across the room, and pulled them back to find his wife curled up in bed, lying on her side, with Ivy sitting up by her. The infant was looking at her mother intently, touching and grabbing at her face and hair. In return, Daizi stroked Ivy's hair with one hand, occasionally trailing her fingers down her back languidly and murmured lovingly to her. Her daughter was too wiggly just then to sit and cuddle and she was too exhausted to play, but they had found a level of peace. Ivy asked so much of her mother, simply by being alive, but somehow, in moments like these, she gave a lot back.

When Dark approached, Ivy grinned and tried crawling over Daizi to say hello to him, and it seeming as good a chance as any, he bent and scooped her up, "Tifla, Baba missed you," He cooed at her, "Are you taking good care of Mama?"

Daizi rolled over onto her back once Ivy was lifted off of her, "hey, goose."

"Hello, darling." A brief moment of silence followed, as neither knew exactly what to say to each other, but then Daizi extended one hand to her husband, inviting him into bed, not even questioning why he was there. Willingly, Dark crawled in beside her before looping one arm around her and pulling themselves together. "I love you, Spider."

"I love you too," She mumbled, shutting her eyes as Ivy wormed her way into the space left between them.

After adjusting the blankets, Dark began to softly sing to both his wife and daughter. It may not have been enough to settle Ivy, who still wanted to crawl and play, only stopping for the novelty of the situation, but with the safety and security of being in their bed, in their bedroom, with her husband right there, it was enough to lull Daizi into a deep, needed sleep. When it seemed certain she wouldn't stir, Dark looked over at his daughter and whispered to her, "Okay, Hummingbird, are you ready? We have to sneak out, so Mama can sleep." Then he put one finger to his lips, cautiously detangled himself, and lifted Ivy. Still whispering he said, "Now we have to tuck Mama in, right? Can Ivy help Baba? Look." He did manage to get her to grab the blanket as he pulled it over Daizi, and then, as he shut the curtains and slipped downstairs, he first murmured praise to Ivy for being such a good helper. Then, as they went down the stairs so they could play in the living room asked, as he often did when Daizi wasn't around, mostly when the twins were at school, "Can Ivy say Mama? Ma-ma?"
 
This version of chicken and rice was pretty easy, and once everything was in the casserole pan and cooking, Xander sat at the table and stared at nothing. He'd meant to figure out some kind of vegetable to eat as a side dish, but once he'd stopped moving for a second, it was as if everything shut down. He sat at the table, staring, his mind empty and full at the same time. Fragments of thoughts flitted through his mind, nothing whole or tangible, all of it snarling and tangling into a nasty mess. Underneath the tangled mess was a vast space of emptiness. Sheer nothingness. Both halves were equally terrifying. He needed to sort it out. He needed to let his mind rest, but in that moment, he was lost. He didn't have a puzzle to work on, a horse to brush out, or leather to shape. His hands were still. His mind was free to explode. A tiny nugget inside his mind started panicking. He was drowning hin his own thoughts! He needed to fix this! He had to shape up! He could do this!
 
With Ivy on his hip, Dark stopped into the kitchen to check on Xander, wanting to see if he needed any help. When he saw the teen, his satisfaction from the clean initial phase of his plan faded, and, with a frown, he moved Ivy to the far side of himself and angled his body slightly away. Only then did he say, "Xander? Are you okay?"
 
Xander jerked, startled out of his dark reverie. His fists clenched, but they stayed on the table, not lashing out as they had at other times. He blinked a couple of times, unable to immediately focus on his surroundings. He recognized Dark and his hands relaxed. "Um, yeah," he said, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly. "Yeah. I was just..." He gave his head a shake to clear it. "Figuring out the... vegetable that should go with this. I'm kind of blanking."
 
Dark nodded, exhaling softly as Xander only flinched, and didn't immediately adjust his posture so it didn't look like he purposely made sure Ivy was out of distance. "I think anything would work. We just need a hot meal tonight, I think. But I can make the vegetable." He paused for a few moments, looking down at the teen, and then decided, after everything they had talked about that afternoon, it was worth just coming right out and saying, "Maybe it is time for your version of a hot bath, Alharis."
 
Xander barked out a shaky laugh. "Yeah, I guess so." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Haven't quite figured out what that is yet." He thought for a minute as an idea occured. "I guess I could step away for a bit. That stuff just has to sit in the oven for another," he checked the timer on his phone, "twenty minutes, so I got time." He stood and started to walk out but paused. "Are you sure you're good with getting the veggies with the mini? I can be back in fifteen."
 
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"It can be difficult to find." Dark told him, and then shook your head, "Do what it is you need to do, Xander. I will be alright, and anyway, I have a sous chef," He bounced Ivy up higher, "I will call you when dinner is ready."
 
Xander gave a slight nod and walked out. Ivy made things difficult, not easier, in his opinion, but he wasn't going to argue with Dark right now. Besides. It was just the side vegetable. How hard could that be?

He went upstairs to his room and found Alec laying in bed completely cocooned in blankets and facing the wall. He took a second to make sure Alec was still breathing and not in obvious distress. Alec didn't even twitch. He was either asleep or caught up in his own thought process. Xander left him to it and picked up Dark's puzzle box from his side table. From there, he headed downstairs and out to his shed. It was quiet and peaceful in here, full of the faint of leather and leather treatment. He cracked a window enough to get some fresh air, sat on one stool with his feet up on the other, leaned back against the wall, and focused on the puzzle box. It was the hardest puzzle he'd ever faced! And one of the best. He'd put off solving it because, to be honest, he didn't want it to end, but maybe now was the time. Maybe. If he could figure out the last few moves. He relaxed a little, his fingers pushing and prodding the little pieces of wood, his mind calming down.
 
It was only vegetables, and he set Ivy in her high chair, pulled it near the counter, gave her a bowl with her little baby cereal in it and a spoon and told her, "Help Baba cook," and showed her how to stir. She didn't get the motion right at all, and certainly made quite the mess knocking the cereal to the ground, but he told her all about what he was doing as he made the vegetables and pretended as though she was actually doing something to help. It seemed to occupy her well enough, and Enkidu was glad for the treat. And all the other treats. Much of the cereal hit the floor. That, Ivy found hilarious, seeing him dive for the falling cereal, and soon enough was trying to drop them for him.
 
Xander fell into a sort of zen-like state as he worked on the puzzle. He would not have called it such a silly name, but that was more or less what it was. Pieces clicked and swiveled or slid. It did not look like he was getting anywhere, but by now he'd learned to have a sense about puzzles, and he had a feeling he was getting close!

Despite his anticipation, unlocking the inner part of the puzzle still came as a surprise. He jerked upright as smaller puzzles came tumbling out like spiders from a nest, and he hurriedly leaned over his workbench. Thankfully, only the first few fell out, leaving most of them stuck inside the puzzle. He set them aside long enough to hunt down the escapees, and then he started pulling the others out, looking at each one in curious surprise, grinning a little as he coaxed them out. Something white caught his eye, and he dumped out the last of the puzzles to get to it. It looked like a letter with an actual wax seal. He studied it for a long moment before carefully popping the seal off the paper and setting it aside so he could open the letter.
 
The wax itself was red, and the design on the wax was two skulls angled in front of a number of roses. Perhaps it wasn't the friendliest looking seal, but it certainly looked like what Dark would choose. There was nothing written on the outside of the letter, but the inside was patterned with Dark's strong, flowing handwriting:

To my son,

Congratulations. I wondered, at this sealing, how long it would take for you to succeed in accessing the hoard. It must have taken you sometime. I hope it did, in any case. Otherwise, I failed. As you worked at it, I wondered also, what did you conjure as the ultimate prize? The true reward hidden within? I wonder what you hoped it would be, and if you are disappointed, now.

I hope you take this as proof of what you can achieve through patience and dedication. Brute force would have 'solved' it more quickly, but hollow victories only shine with the veneer of success, which is easily rubbed away. I know it is not always easy to sit back and think things through when it seems simpler to leap into action. I still find it difficult. Yet, more rewarding.

You are clever, Xander. Perhaps more clever than you realize: I see it. Use it. The thoughts we have in our quiet moments can overwhelm us, if we allow them to. They are so much larger than we are, or so they seem. But when dark evening clouds pass over the moon, the light is still there, even if we do not perceive it in the moment. With patience, the cloud moves, and we can enjoy the quiet glow once more. You have never stuck me as one for metaphors, and I do not know what transpires in the dark of your thoughts, but I hope, with the same patience and dedication you used to access this, you can use the strength you have to be still. May the worry objects I left amongst the puzzles be worn away to dust beneath your thumb, it is better they are than you.

I have the utmost faith in you

Your father,
G.M. Dark

His signature was as meticulous and elegant as the rest of his work.
 
Xander stared at the letter. He read it through once. Then twice. Then again the third time. A drop of something wet landed on the page right next to, "I have the utmost faith in you." A tear. Xander hurriedly tapped the moisture away before it could spread and held the letter out and away from his face as the tears came more rapidly. Letter in one hand and held safely out of the way, he started sifting through the puzzles. They weren't all puzzles, he realized, stacking them neatly on one side. There were stones, too, but not real stones. They looked like stones, but they were made of wood and smoothed into the exact shape that fit perfectly in his hand. He sat there crying, holding a wooden worry stone in one hand and the letter in the other. He hadn't known what to expect inside the puzzle. A number of possibilities had gone through his mind, but he hadn't thought any of them were right, knowing Dark, and he was right. This was nothing like anything he could have expected. It was better.

Bits of the letter ran through his mind. He tried to read it again but couldn't through the tears. Clever. He was clever. No one had ever called him clever. He was given something he was allowed and even encouraged to destroy. It was such a little thing, and probably not even the thought process Dark had, but it meant something to him. He was given direction. Something to do with the constant fidgeting of his hands and destructive tendencies. Most of all, he was... seen. Heard. Noticed.

The timer went off on his phone, jarring him. Snuffling and wiping his eyes, he carefully folded the letter and set it and the wax seal on a small shelf out of the way. Then he made sure all of the puzzle toys and worry "stones" including the original box sat safely out of the way on the bench. One stone he kept in his pocket. Then he wiped his face with his shirt as best as he could and took several deep breaths. He'd tell Dark about the box eventually, but for right now with everything going on, he wanted to harbor his little secret. He'd made it in!

Xander headed inside, trying to project calm, and he did feel better, but his eyes were a little red and swollen from crying. That wasn't something he could fix. But he could make sure the chicken and rice casserole didn't burn!
 
Nearly finished cooking the vegetables, Dark was still chatting with Ivy in Arabic. Now she had a few more unneeded pans and was happily hitting the spoon around inside of one.

"Ivy-Qadira," Dark said, leaning against the counter, "Can you say Mama? Ma-ma?"

"Ah-bah-mah" Ivy gurgled, holding the spoon clumsily up to him.

"Ma-ma,"

"Ah-ah-mah!"

"Ma-ma," He said slowly, but looked up when Xander entered. Immediately, he saw his son had been crying, but guessed incorrectly at the reason. Rather than immediately addressing it, he said, "Your cassarole seems about ready."
 
"Yeah, yeah," Xander said thickly, clearing his throat in an effort to sound more natural. He glanced at Ivy as he walked past her to get the oven mitts. "Is Baba prompting you again? Teaching you to say the wrong words? Silly Baba should know you are going to say 'skull' next. Aren't you? Or 'Enkidu.' Or something to do with food." He made sure she was safely out of the way before opening the oven and pulling out the casserole. "Yep. Looks perfect." He set it carefully on a trivet on the counter. "Just got to let it cool. What's the veggie that's going with this?"
 
"You saw her mother today. She needs this," Dark said softly, soothing Ivy's hair with one hand for a moment. She really was such a pretty baby, wasn't she? He and Daizi made a pretty girl. After a moment he answered Xander, "I made mashed potatoes. I figured I should put her skills to good use, so after they were boiled, I put them in a plastic bag with the," He mimed the part of kitchen bags that zip, forgetting the word, "and let her destroy them to the best of her abilities without risking her contaminating them. Then I finished them so they were smooth."
 
Xander wondered for a moment if Daizi would feel even more responsibility that her daughter was saying her name not too terribly long before she went back to work in person, but he couldn't deny that she would absolutely be 100% over the moon about it. No question about it! He dismissed the thoughts. Ivy would say what Ivy wanted to say when she wanted to say it. As it was, she already defied expectations by saying "flower" first.

"laqad qumt bieamal jayid jdan fi darb albatatisi," he told his sister. His accent still left a lot to be desired, but at least his words were clear as he told her she did a good job beating the potatoes. "Potatoes are a good choice. Maybe we should have some carrot sticks or something with this. It's a lot of warm mush without much crunch."
 
Raising an eyebrow, Dark couldn't help but be impressed with how Xander's second language skill was progressing, but he didn't want to embarrass him by calling attention to it, "It may be wise. I just wanted to prove she could help in the kitchen, mashing is one of the few actions she can do."
 
"We're totally taking advantage of that, aren't we? Maybe set you to mashing some steamed carrots, eh?" He finished making sure the casserole was ready and got down the plates. "I think I should go get Alec. He won't come down on his own, I don't think."
 
"If we let her mash steamed carrots, then we are in the same problem of only having soft foods," Dark pointed out, getting silverware out of the drawer, "Yes, you should get him. He needs to eat most of all. I should get Daizi, too. I do not know if she is awake yet."
 
"I meant later, not for this meal. I'm not waiting for carrots to steam for this meal," Xander said dryly. He cut up enough carrot sticks for everyone to have four and put them out. "I'll go get him. If Daizi wants to eat upstairs, I'm cool with that." He headed out, aiming to go upstairs to get his brother. Alec most definitely needed food most of all.
 
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