How Green Becomes Wood

Dark paused for a moment, blinking down at his tattooed hands, "It is not the eighth, is it? I thought..." He did the math in his head, "No, nevermind. You are right." After another pause, Dark took a breath and simply asked, "Do you plan to compete?"
 
Xander eyed Dark for a while, watching him warily as he came to a realization. He hadn't realized the day? That had to suck. When Dark was ready, Xander answered his question. "I dunno. Maybe. Life's been busy lately. Might skip this one, unless things calm down a bit."
 
Xander finished putting in another rivet before saying, "You don't have to come to every competition. I know you have a lot on your plates." He paused, digging out the next metal circle to put in place. "But. It's cool. When you do come. You and Mama."
 
Xander almost smiled but hid it self-consciously, though Dark likely could have spotted the signs if he was in any mood to pay attention to the smaller details. Xander kept going until he finished the rivets. "That's the last one. Thanks for your help. It went way faster with another person."
 
Even not looking up, Dark noticed. There was a way Xander shifted when he was forcing himself to be cool that he couldn't not recognize. "I am always glad to assist you," He said, withdrawing his hands, "It looks very well made."
 
"Thanks. I think it's going to turn out well," Xander agreed. "Speaking of being made well, can I run a business thought by you? I was considering a feature in my online store, but I wanted a second opinion."
 
"I don't always get things right when making stuff. Sometimes, if it's early enough on, I can at least salvage the material and turn it into something else and start new with what I meant to make. But sometimes, not often but sometimes, especially with a commission, I get something wrong enough that it won't work for the commission, but still works as an item. Or might be something silly like sewing a piece on backward. Like this purse I was doing. Not a commission, but weird enough that it isn't up to my standards," Xander said. He fetched the clutch purse to show to Dark. It looked nice enough and was fully functional as a clutch, but he'd put the main decal on upside down, and it was very attached. "What if I had like a separate spot in my online store where I sold mistakes like these at a bargain? Call it, I dunno, 'Oops Sales,' or something. Or would that be damaging to my reputation? Or the reputation I have for my store's quality standards?"
 
"Hm." Dark considered this for a few moments, turning the purse over in his hands, "I think plenty of companies do something similar, so I do not believe it would negatively affect your reputation. However, with commissions, depending on how clearly personalized they are, you may want to ask the client if they would be comfortable with it, in case part of why they did a commission was to have something unique in the world. Or you could just put in your commission terms and services."
 
"That's a good point," Xander agreed thoughtfully. "I like including it in the commissions agreement so I'm not having to waste something perfectly useful even if it doesn't look perfect. I'll have to look into that. For now, I'll just ask the person if they are okay with that."
 
"I think it is a solid plan. I am sure people will buy the imperfect ones, there are always people who love a deal." Dark said with a satisfied nod before rocking back in the chair and looking around the shed. "You really have made it a proper workshop in here. It looks nice." The ceiling was a bit low but that was just because they had to order a prebuilt shed, rather than a custom designed one due to all of the time constraints they were under. Choosing one that matched the aesthetic of the house from the exterior was more important than choosing one that was tall, since Dark spend much time in it, "Cooger is coming over for dinner tonight."
 
"Thanks," Xander said, pleased with Dark's praise. He'd actually used Dark's shed and workshop as a blueprint for how his workshop should be laid out at first, and then, over time, had rearranged a few things to suit his personal needs. Having something to copy as a base worked far better for him than trying to do it from scratch now that he had space to make it work rather than like in his bedroom where things went wherever they fit. "That's cool Cooger's coming over."

He glanced at Dark sidelong, one thought leading to another in a train. "Ba? Are you okay for a serious question? It's not, like, urgent or anything. It can totally wait if you aren't up for it right now. It'll keep for a sunnier day."
 
"I wish he had given us notice, but he never does." Dark said scratching his beard, "I suppose that is why I like him." At Xander's question, he looked down with furrowed brows, "Why would I not be okay for a serious question? I am fine. What would you like to know?"
 
Of all things, that was certainly not the question Dark expected to be asked. Then again, Daizi had said Xander had started asking about her beliefs, so maybe it shouldn't have been surprising. "Do you want the honest answer or the easy one?"
 
Xander shrugged. "I got time. Whatever you wanna tell me. It's okay if you don't want to talk about everything, I'm just curious. I get it if it's too big of a deal for you, really. But if you want to give me the full answer, go for it."
 
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