How Green Becomes Wood

"If I hardly helped, do it on your own next time," Dark replied, swaying so he rocked her nearly precariously, since he still had her by the waist. The sound of her laugh only brought more delight into his enduringly weary face.

"No, I can't!" She whined, squeaking out a sound remarkably similar to the noises Ivy made when she was dipped further back than she was expecting, "You need to help me aim. I do the rest on my own."

"Okay, but I get credit for this one," Dark said as he righted her and they got into position for the final pumpkin shot.

"No you don't," She shot back, and as they pulled back into the same position as before, they bickered quietly about how to adjust their aim, and this time, when the fired, the pumpkin exploded right on target. And Daizi would've fallen directly into the mud, had Dark not been there to catch her.
 
"Bravo! Bravo!" the twins cheered, clapping enthusiastically. "You hit dead center! Well done!"

"I'd say you should win a prize for that, but I don't think they want to give two prizes for one pumpkin," Xander smirked. "Or one and a half since one of you did hardly anything at all."

"Are there prizes?" Alec asked curiously.

"Didn't see any. The prize is getting to explode a pumpkin."
 
"One and a quarter," Daizi grinned as Dark led her away from the slingshot, "All he did was help me aim. It's only a disability accommodation."

"I think too many people hit the center to make prizes worthwhile," Dark said casually, pretending like he wasn't immensely pleased with his success. His and Daizi's ssuccess.

"He's only saying that because he couldn't hit it on his own," Daizi teased.
 
"True, you did kind of et us down by missing the bullseye with your own two pumpkins," Xander mused.

Alec grinned. "He was, how do they say, getting his aim in! That's all. If he had one more chance, he'd totally have gotten his own bullseye all by himself without Mama's help."
 
"I had to miss, otherwise you would have nothing to aim for." Dark replied with a shrug, "If I achieved it, then all you could hope to do was match me. If I missed it, you could hope to beat me. So I had to miss, for your sakes."

"Sure, Goose," Daizi joked, pulling his arm across her shoulders, "You keep telling yourself that."

"I will." He replied, pushing the back of the stroller with his other hand, "We are getting food now, yes?"

"It's the perfect time to look over the schedule and see if there's anything we'd otherwise miss."
 
"Food time," Xander grinned. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scents around him. Then he turned and started walking with unerring accuracy around the various stalls and distractions toward the food trailers and tents.

Alec found the schedule and looked it over. "I don't think we'll miss anything." He paused as something caught his eye. He bit his lip and chose to look past it as a gleam of excitement rose in his chest. "We have time for food and some games before anything special happens."
 
Once they made it to the foods, Dark helped Daizi to a table and said, "I am going to find somewhere to change Ivy, the lines are long here, so feel free to order without me."

"I know what you like here," Daizi promised, handing him the diaper bag, "We need to be sure to visit the gift shop before we leave."
 
"Absolutely we gotta see the gift shop!" Alec agreed stoutly. "I can't wait to see what they have in a gift shop for a place like this."

"It is unavoidable," Xander said dryly, peering forward to try to see the menus.

"But first, food," Alec stated.

"What are you getting, Mama?" Xander asked.
 
"At one of the stalls, they have soup in a bread bowl, I like it. Every year it's a different soup." Daizi replied, "Dark likes the 'Spud Hut.' All they do is baked potatoes with different toppings, and he loves them. And we always get apple cider and apple cider donuts."
 
"Mmmm, potatoes and soup!" Alec chipred. "Hmm, I think... Soup."

"I'll go baked potatoes," Xander said. "Hey, if Ba wants baked potatoes, and soup is just soup, how about you stand in line for baked potatoes, and I'll stand in line for soup, and Alec can stand in like for cider and donuts?"

"That sounds very efficient," Alec agreed. "What do you think, Mama?"
 
"It's probably the fastest way to do it, but somebody needs to come and get me after you have the food, it's such a crowd and if I'm carrying baked potatoes, I won't be as deft at navigating." Daizi replied, taking out her wallet and passing cash to both twins, "Are the lines horrible today?"
 
Alec shaded his eyes and looked around. "The donut line is the longest. The potatoes and soup lines are not bad. Maybe around ten people each? Fewer in the potato line." He very carefully folded the money and put it in his pocket.

"There's two other lines, I don't know what they're to, and they're longer," Xander reported, also putting the money in his pocket.
 
Daizi nodded after Xander told her the toppings he wanted and, taking her cane, headed off to her line. It was the quickest plan they could manage, certainly, and she knew about where the potato stall was, so she made her way off there. Since she was walking on her own, she had to rely much more on her cane than she did when she was on someone's arm. It was definitely more difficult to move about the relatively busy pumpkin patch on her own, but she made it into the line alright. It moved a bit slowly because all of the toppings needed to be added independently, but eventually she had the objects of her quest. Dark's potato was certainly something Cooger had introduced him to. The monstrosity was topped with brisket as well as the normal sour cream and cheese, and certainly not something that resembled most of the foods Dark gravitated towards.
 
Xander's chosen potato was not quite so monstrous, but it did bare a certain resemblance to Dark's choices. He would be jealous about the brisket later as he hadn't spotted that as a topping. He waited patiently in line for the soup bowls, and the line moved at a fairly quick pace. Once he'd gotten the two soups, he headed straight for Daizi and guided her to a clear table. He took a moment to make sure it was actually clean before letting her sit down and put the soup on the table before going to make sure Alec was alright.

Alec's line took the longest, but he did eventually emerge victorious with cider, water, and donuts. He spotted Xander first and went to him so Xander could lead the way to the table. Alec greeted Daizi as if they'd been separated for an eternity instead of just a few minutes.
 
"I hope you weren't too worried about me being on my own for just those few minutes," Daizi chuckled, hugging him briefly, "I was just ordering eldritch potatoes, "It really wasn't hard. I do need to get my change back from the two of you, but we can wait until later. If there are any bills, they're a pain to sort."

Not long after Alec returned, Dark found their table and did his best to angle the stroller so Ivy could see them, because holding her in his lap as they attempted to eat such messy foods wouldn't end well, "I was stunned by how difficult it was to find a place to change her."
 
"No, I wasn't worried. Just missed you," Alec said happily and confidently.

"You are right on time. The food needed a chance to cool down," Xander said, poking his potato in an exploratory fashion.

Alec slurped some soup and hummed happily. "This is good!"
 
"That's very sweet," Daizi smiled, squeezing his hand as he sat down, "I love the soups they have here. Despite always having a new one, it's never disappointing."

"What is it this year?" Dark asked, leaning over, "It looks like lentils."

"I think it might be," She nodded, "We came at the right time, they said yours was the very last of the brisket."
 
"That's some good looking brisket," Xander said with a nod. "This is pretty good. I thought about one of those roasted corn cobs, but they seemed a bit much."

"We could get one to share after a few games," Alec suggested.

Xander gave him a nod. "Good idea."
 
"The roasted corn is really nice. I just don't like how it get stuck in my teeth," Daizi commented.

"I am not really meant to have it. Sometimes I do anyway." Dark mentioned off-handedly.
 
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