How Green Becomes Wood

"I saw you protecting people you love, Mama. That's what I saw," Alec whispered to her. "I'm sorry it was costly, but I saw you standing up for yourself and someone else when boundaries were crossed."
 
"Okay," Alec murmured. "Do I have to leave?"

Xander finished cleaning up what he could and sat on the couch. He felt safe here, so he closed his eyes. He felt calmer with his eyes closed. There was less to see. Less to take in. Less to deal with. Of course, the demons of the mind liked to come out to play, but it was a little easier to deal with them without external issues, too.
 
Daizi thought about it for a few moments and then shook her head, "I guess not, if you don't want to. I just." She swallowed hard but didn't finish her sentence. It was impossible to get the words out. She touched his hair for a moment, then dropped her hand again.

Downstairs, after laying Ivy down to sleep, Dark wandered around, feeling a bit restless and not sure of what to do. He had left his wife be after carrying her to bed and tucking her in because at the time she said she needed it--although, unbeknownst to him, she was glad Alec had come to check on her, even though it didn't make things much easier--but it felt wrong. Then he saw Xander on the couch and walked over, sitting down near him, "Are you okay? I know that was a lot."
 
"Just what?" Alec asked gently, his eyes closed. He didn't mind if she didn't finish, but he would listen if she did.

Xander opened his eyes when he felt Dark approaching. He started to answer instinctively but then paused and considered. "Yeah," he finally said. "Not great, but, you know, feeling like it'll get better. It wasn't great seeing and hearing, but it was stuff that needed out." He scuffed his foot against the floor lightly. "Stuff like that doesn't like to be buried, I figured out. Doesn't make it anymore easy to deal with."
 
She shook her head, not being able to form the words, "Tell me about your day, habibi. Or tell me about anything. You always know how to think of something uplifting."

"It was a long time coming." Dark nodded, "It is for the best, ultimately. And I am proud of your mother."
 
"Hmm." Alec stroked her hair as he thought. "I went on a date. You know about that. We talked about some lovely things. She hopes to be a dog trainer, maybe, and she's been training her dog. She likes when I tell her what Ivy is up to and has asked for updates on her. She also wears a very nice perfume that smells like very light lilies. We got sandwiches at a little cafe, and I paid but she left an extra tip even though she disapproves of tipping culture."

Xander glanced at Dark. "Was she Valkyrie?"
 
"It sounds really nice," Daizi mumbled, her back trembling as she breathed. "I'm glad you had fun."

Inhaling softly, Dark touched his tongue to his back teeth as he reflected on it, "She stood up for herself just as much as she stood up for me. I hope he gets out of her head now."
 
"It was a nice day. Almost warm enough to think it was spring, not fall,".Alec murmured. "The birds are loud and feisty today with many flying away and others hanging around to scold."

Xander gave a sharp nod. "Good. Might still be a bit before he's fully gone, but good for her."
 
"I've been listening to them. We have a lot of of chickadees here. I like birdsongs."

Dark glanced at the stairs, knowing it was for the best but still struggling with how hard it was on her. She so desperately wanted to have a relationship with her father, for reasons he struggled to comprehend. "I cannot claim to not have found some small enjoyment in finally having the freedom to say what I think."
 
"Birdsongs are really pretty," Alec murmured drowsily. "The wind is cold today, but the sun is still warm and gentle. Sometimes, the air smells almost like frost and fresh earth and all thing gourd."

Xander smirked. "Now that's something I get," he admitted. He glanced at Dark and opened his mouth to tell him what had transpired earlier. Then he changed his mind and closed it again.
 
"Persephone is going to be with her husband." Daizi murmured, her body shuddering again.

"I have earned it, I think." Dark said, knowing he wouldn't have spent what he had earned if it hadn't come to this, "He called me a dog."
 
"That will be really nice for her," Alec said, rubing Daizi's back. "They will be really happy, then. They get to be together!"

"Fine words coming from a swine," Xander scoffed. "Kind of funny, though, since dogs are supposed to represent both positive and negative teachings in Islam. Bad for the whole purity and being clean thing, but good in, like, companionship, hunting, and guarding."
 
Daizi didn't say anything more, feeling too tired to continue the conversation. It was strange, really. It almost hurt worse that it was her choice than it did during the period of time it was his. Maybe it was more so because of how disappointed she was that he couldn't do the bare minimum for her. And the things he said to her... With her eyes shut, she just tried to appreciate the fact she wouldn't have to continue to try so hard for someone who never gave her the same effort. Even though she really, really wanted him to.

"Khinzir," Dark murmured the Arabic word for pig, "It is an incongruent insult, but it is very common in the Arabic-speaking countries. I cannot explain why."
 
"The changing seasons are a lovely thing to experience," Alec continued, his voice soft. "It brings new life. New light. New ways to experience the world. Like how some birds leave and some stay. How the snow comes in flurries, melts, then comes back over and over. And then spring comes, allowing new growth. I like spring the best because then I get to watch you work in the yard. It looks like some kind of magic the way you coax things back. Things that looked dead and twisted and gone, you just fiddle with them a little, and here they are again. They spring up vibrant and new. You protect them from things that would eat them, things that would trample all over them, or things that would poison them. And it is so beautiful to watch."

"I got ideas, but it probably doesn't matter," Xander muttered. "At least a pig just does what it does. You can't blame a pig for being a pig. They aren't people. People, on the other hand, they are ridiculous."
 
A small whimper escaped Daizi's lips and she gripped him just a bit more tightly but otherwise only listened.

"He had a decade of warnings. It was his decision." Dark said simply, a bit of frost in his voice for his father-in-law. Then he looked briefly at Xander, "We lost the bet, Daizi and I."
 
"Your touch is so kind and gentle in everything you do. There are times when you have to yank out a stubborn weed, but you never resort to brutal yank and pull and poison first. You try the soft approach. You try being as kind as you can to all the plants, but when you have to be tough, you are. It is truly amazing to watch you work. Speaking of work, the stuff you focus on in your job. It is astounding! You grasp words and passion and not just your own but other people's. You work so hard to try to bring people into the world you see, to introduce them to foreign things even if that foreign thing is one state line away. You research until your fingers and ears are exhausted, and then you turn around and put it on into a book and on plaques. Well, you might not literally put the things on plaques yourself, but close enough."

Xander stared at Dark blankly for a minute, having no idea what he was talking about at first. Then he snorted and shook his head. "Really? That's what you are worried about? I think this counts for extenuating circumstances and don't count."
 
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