How Green Becomes Wood

"Ah hell, it ain't like I'm a catch. I'd offer to pick you up, but I gotta get there early since I'm officiating and all." Cooger replied and finsihed out the conversation with her pleasantly. When they finally hung up, Cooger quickly texted to confirm the fact that, yes, he and Lex were officially dating.

Thursday, immediately after school, they all went to the venue itself to do a quick rehearsal. They made sure not to use the cords they were using for the actual handfasting, but they talked through the order of events and taught the twins how to properly knot them so Dark and Daizi would be able to slip out of the bonds without them needing to be untied or cut. Then they did a brief walk through of drinking from the cup, but that was the simplest part. Afterwards, Dark took the twins and Ivy home while Daizi went to have her henna night with her friends.

The next day was Halloween, and although at breakfast Dark and Daizi weren't already in their costumes--even for them, it was a bit early, especially with a baby--they were clearly delighted. Dark had made pancakes in the shape of ghosts and had bought Count Chocula and Booberry cereal for the occasion and Ivy was dressed in a little Halloween shirt and an orange tutu skirt until it was time for her to be put into her costume.
 
The twins hadn't thought their house could get any more gothic and Halloween-y. They were wrong. While Dark had been putting more, appropriate decorations up, they had more or less blended into the background. Now that the day had arrived, it was like an explosion! Alec was absolutely delighted and loving every second. Xander was mostly ignoring it.

They enjoyed their ghostly pancakes with great relish before heading off to school where most of the place was decoration free, and what was there was mostly cheap and a little tacky. Tristan was closing up early, not wanting to keep it open this particular evening with so many troublemakers on the loose, so Alec didn't have to worry about work after school.

When they got home, they changed into their attire, and Alec helped Xander and himself with their makeup. They were going as basic background characters from Beetlejuice, so they picked a method of terrible death and tried to recreate it with a humorous twist. This being their first real Halloween complete with costumes, they mostly came across as awkward, but they did their best.
 
At school, about half of the students wore costumes. Milo insisted he was in one but looked more or less like he always did. When truly doubted, he'd remove his glasses bemoaning the fact he didn't have contacts. It didn't help much.

Sloan was in part of a costume, and not one she seemed particularly jazzed about. Dressed in a floral corset and a blue skirt over a cream, billowy chemise, all she said was, "Claire made me." The Gymnastics team had been cajoled into a group costume that year and, unfortunately out of the whole team, only her and Claire attended their school.

By the time the twins made it home, Dark, Daizi, and Ivy were in full costume. Even Enkidu had been dressed in a Sandworm costume to match Ivy. Daizi had opted for Lydia's black costume rather than her red wedding dress because she didn't want it to compete with what she'd be wearing the next day. Rather than use any sort of one-day dye in her hair, she had just acquired a nice quality black wig and had Dark fill her eyebrows in darker. He, however, given his beard and eyebrows, went with a temporary green dye he would be able to wash out at the end of the night because there was no other way. Although he did not commit to making himself look like he was balding---not like it was possible to, without a wig--- he nonetheless combed his hair out wild. Both he and Daizi looked good. It was almost unfair how well the vertical striped suit worked for Dark and it made him look somehow even taller. Ivy didn't understand what was happening but since Dark had her watch him paint his hair green it didn't frighten her.

When the twins came home, he was waiting by the window, peering out the blinds, waiting for when the littlest kids would begin trick-or-treating, since they often started before it got dark.

When the twins came down, Dark looked at them excitedly, because this was the one day a year he could reliably be excited, "You both look great."
 
"Thank you," Dark replied, satisfied, "Were you expecting me not to?"

"It is, and Dark spent forever getting it on properly. I doubted my ability to wash black out of my hair before tomorrow," Daizi replied, "How did you two dress?"
 
"No, because you're annoying that way. And an icon for what a lot of kids want to be when they grow up," Xander said.

Alec grinned. "I've been in a car crash, and I've got a sign about seatbelt safety stuck in my shoulder. Xander got run over by a horse."

"I don't know if I'll be able to salvage these clothes after this," Xander said, looking down at his artfully dirtied clothes with clear hoof prints painted on. He had a horseshoe painted on his face, but Alec hadn't been able to get the squished in effect he wanted, so it just looked painted on.
 
"There's a reason why we plan our costumes so many months in advance," Daizi grinned, "Although Cooger and Lex agreed they were dating sooner we could've roped them into being Adam and Barbara."

"Or Delia and Lydia's father," Dark teased.

"I have enough problems with my own father, I don't need to complicate thing further by making Cooger pretend to be my dad."

"Maybe he would dress as Delia."
 
Alec snickered. "Lex would probably totally go for dressing as the dad! I still can't believe Uncle Cooger is dating someone! Delightful."

"One word for it," Xander grunted. "I guess we could have been Barbara and... what's his face."

"Adam," Alec supplied, "and I couldn't find a good dress for her that would fit."
 
"You two would've dressed up as a married couple?" Daizi asked the twins, thoroughly confused.

"How are you going to sit there and grumble about Cooger finally making things official with Lex when this whole curséd bet began because you were teasing him for taking things too slowly?" Dark asked Xander dryly.
 
"Our options are limited when it comes to your chosen theme for this Halloween," Alec sniffed. "You two already claimed the titular character, one of the mains, and two sandworms. All that was left were two married couples and a bunch of background fillers."

Xander shrugged. "I'm a complicated person and hard to please."
 
"You love it," the twins said at at once.

"I still feel a little uncomfortable," Alec admitted, "but I wanted to give it a try."

"I feel like an idiot, but I can deal with that," Xander shrugged.
 
"No, it's okay," Daizi said, frowning slightly, "What did you mean? I'm sorry I misunderstood you."

"I am afraid not. However..." Dark told Xander, leading him to the number of Halloween themed treats he had spent the day preparing.
 
Alec cleared his throat. "I mean... this is important to you and you love it, so we wanted to try to like it. For you."

Xander's face lit up as he looked over the treats. "Yes, please!" he groaned.
 
"I really appreciate that, Alec," Daizi replied warmly, only squeezing his shoulder rathet than hugging him because she didn't know if any makeup he had on would be smudged or if it'd transfer onto her dress, "I hope you learn to love it too, but I'm glad you're willing to try it because you know how important it is to us."

"Normally I would advise you not to spoil your appetite, but since Daizi likes to do a Dumb Supper on Samhain Night, we need to eat dinner after most trick-or-treating has ended because it is not the sort of thing which works well if it is regularly interrupted." Dark advised Xander, picking up some of the cured meat he had meticulously folded inside a fake skeleton and putting it on a cracker, "As always you are not obligated to participate. I find it meditative."
 
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