How Green Becomes Wood

"I've been putting 'em in. They're mostly paths of desire, they're not paved down or nothing just well tread. I go around cleaning them up but I'm cautious enough of the wildlife. Part of why I bought this place is to make sure others couldn't, cause a lot of 'em think all this land, right on the lake, would be great to develop. I bought the one plot that was already cut down and bought as much else as I could afford."
 
"The initial plot was from my Nana Lucy's inheritance. She always knew it was a dream of mine and didn't get to see it but she made sure it happened. The rest is a mixture of savings and being clever. Like, I bought one plot over from mine to drive down the property value of the one in the middle. My parents are lawyers who helped with investing, which helped."
 
Lex nodded thoughtfully. "That's a really cool story. Smart purchasing. I'm not broke, but the only reason I could afford that house I bout was because it was broke." She snorted at her own bad joke. "I kind of regret it, to be honest. Never thought I'd say that."
 
Lex sucked at her teeth briefly and then blew out a sigh. "I spent a lot of my life with not much. When I was a kid, my family was poor, but not flat broke. We all ways had food, clothes, and everything we needed plus the occassional luxury. No one had to miss a birthday present so my folks pay the bills. My parents owned their house. It was a townhouse that was a little cramped for the size of family we had, but they owned it and could do whatever they wanted with it. Because of arbitrary school zone lines, us kids ended up at school with some of the richer students. Not elite super rich, but way better off. Some of them had a pool! I looked at that, and I got jealous. I wanted what they had. And I was jealous of my sister, went down a bad road, and ended up broker than ever. Somewhere along the line, I started to equate owning a house that had a yard and didn't share walls with... I guess succeeding in life. When I owned that house, then I'd know for certain I'd made it. Not only had I made it out of the wreck I made of my life, but I'd achieved more than my parents. I was better in at least one way.

"So, when I chose to move Toby and me out of Jersey and make a go at standing on my own two feet, I bought the first house I could afford that had a yard and no shared walls, and I ended up in the suburbs. The house isn't bad. I love it in a way, and your work helped me love it even more, but the location is all wrong, and I bought it for the wrong reasons. I'm glad I did because I doubt I'd have run into you otherwise, and your family as my nextdoor neighbors is a hoot! But it's the wrong place for me."
 
Cooger nodded, listening carefully to her, nodding along as he thought about it, "That's hard. That's real hard. It's a good lesson to learn about yourself, but a hell of a way to learn it. Do you know what you want to do about it?"
 
"For now? Nothing. I'm not moving Toby right now, not after we just got here. For now, I'm going to put some of that sweat equity into the place and wait for a while. See what I really need and want. I do like not sharing walls, and I don't like living in the suburbs, I know that! But the rest? I don't know. Taking it one step at a time."
 
"At least there ain't no rush to figure it out," Cooger told her, squeezing her hand tighter, "And with all the work you've done on the place, the property value has gone up a ton, so I'd bet when you do decide to move on, you'll end up with more money than you had before so you can get yourself a place that really speaks to you. Just don't go running too far away, you hear me?" Admittedly, it did make him sad that he wouldn't have his girlfriend right next door to his brother forever. But he wasn't going to try to convince her to love surburbia just for his own convenience and how nice it was for him to be able to move back and forth between the two places.
 
"Don't worry, I'll stay close. Not as convenient as being next door to your brother close, but close," she chuckled as if reading his mind. "I like this area and this town. There's a lot of work for me, and I don't have to go far to see nature while having city conveniences. Now that I'm here, I can take my time and find what actually works for me."
 
Cooger chuckled, continuing to walk along the trail with her, still holding her hand, "It's good to be in a safe place to figure that sorta thing out. It gives you a lot of time to really figure out what you want. Although, honestly, I'm not good at that sort of thing. I guess I've always just sort of known. Drove my folks nuts that this is what I wanted, rather than doing something more academic like they did, but I never doubted and never regretted that the work I do and living in a place like this was what I needed. Honestly, I don't know if I'd have even finished high school were it not for knowing I needed to keep an eye on my brother."
 
"That's really sweet," Lex smiled, squeezing his hand lightly. "It must feel good to know what you want in life like that. I never really had a plan until I picked up smithing. Well, it was a bit more complicated than that, I guess. I was in elementary school, I forget exactly how old I was, but we went to this... fair thing as a school trip. The school ended up never doing it again because so many parents complained, but it was a historical reenactment of the middle ages. I don't remember most of it other than making candles looked cool, archery is hilariously dangerous, and smithing. I remember the smithing most clearly." Her eyes lit up, and she started using her free hand to gesture as she talked. "The way the coals glowed, the hammer on the metal, the way it bent to his will! The power, the heat, all of it! It was amazing!" She sighed happily and stuck her hand back in her pocket. It was getting chillier out. "Of course, you can't exactly set up a forge in the middle of a Newark neighborhood, so I kind of forgot about it. Until when I was getting clean and one of my mates told me about welding and how it was a great job to get into when you don't have the greatest resume. I didn't think much of it, but I checked it out, and I thought, 'This is modern smithing!' It was the greatest reawakening of my life."
 
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"That's really beautiful," Cooger told her earnestly, visibly admiring the light that came into her face as she expressed her love for her craft, "I'm really glad you got to reconnect with it and have been able to make it your life's work. It's a helluva lot more impressive than fixing leaking faucets."
 
"I don't know about that," Lex said, blushing lightly. "It sure is nice to know someone who can fix the damage leak. I did stick with welding for a while and got a certification for it, but I love the old fashioned way. Well, older fashioned, I guess. Problem is, it's not always useful. Good for gates, bridges, handles, and things like that, but you can usuallydo withoutthe fancy metal. You, you have a job that keeps the world ticking over." She shivered a little and drew closer to him, still not uncomfortable but seeking the warmth.
 
Cooger looked down at her, noticing the shiver, but for now holding true to his promise as he turned towards the lake, "I think we had this argument on one of the first days we knew each other. I don't think we're anywhere near resolving it yet."
 
Lex smiled up at him mischievously. "Every couple has to have something they argue about, don't they? This can be our thing. Or we can agree that both of our professions are equally important to the world for different reasons."
 
"I think it's undeniable they're both equally important, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop believing yours is more impressive," He told her, "Come on, the lake's just this way. I put you on a trail that leads to it so you get the full effect. Once we're down there we don't gotta hike back through the woods, there's a quicker way back. I figure I'm cooking you dinner tonight?"
 
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