How Green Becomes Wood

"He does not take care of his skin, regardless of what I tell him. It is impressive how much work he does with his hands, but it would not kill him to occasionally use lotion." Dark said blandly, "At least it may be comforting to his cats and remind them of their mothers grooming them."
 
"This was so much fun, Ba," Alec said, grinning happily as he followed Xander down the paths toward where they'd begun. "Thanks for bringing us here."

Xander paused to read a sign he'd missed on the way in. "I've certainly learned a lot!"
 
"We should do this again sometime. Maybe after Ivy can walk. I bet she's getting tired of being carried everywhere," Alec remarked.

Xander, pushing the barely usedstroller with one hand, could agree to that."
 
"I would enjoy that," Dark told him, "I enjoy spending time with you both." At the jellyfish tank, especially now that the day was winding down and it was less crowded, Dark once more sat down and let Ivy stand against the glass just like she had done earlier, letting her enjoy her beloved jellies.
 
Alec and Xander were happy to stand back and let her enjoy her time. Alec, especially, liked watching the beautiful, almost ethereal creatures. Xander wandered off a bit but didn't go far, looking over the fish they'd already seen.
 
As Ivy watched, eventually she sat back down in her father's lap and curled up against him, watching the jellyfish until her little eyes began to close and she fell asleep snug and happy in her father's arms. Once she was out, Dark stood up, placed her gently into her stroller and buckled her--miraculously managing not to wake her--and then said, "Right, I think it is time for us to go."
 
"Everywhere with animals anyway," Dark replied, glancing at the map for the exit, "All that is left is the exit." As much as he wanted to avoid the gift shop so Alec wouldn't be tempted to go home with a million items--because somehow that teen seemed to have an endless supply of money, even if Dark offered to just buy them something, he would buy himself more--but it didn't seem to be possible.
 
"Alright!" Alec agreed, accepting that statement. He walked with Xander toward the exit, and then he spotted what they had to go through to exit: The Gift Shop! His eyes opened wide, and his face lit up in delight. "No way! This is awesome! Look at all the cool fish stuff!" He started to scurry away, but Xander still had a firm grip on his hand.

"Nope, nope, not losing you," Xander said grimly. "I still need to fit in the car, remember? And you don't have that much money, anyway!"

"Loan me?" Alec asked, not looking away.
 
"Alec, Christmas is next month," Dark said cautiously, absolutely dreading this as they entered the gift shop, "If you borrow money to buy everything you want now, what will people get you for it? Or for your birthday, which is barely more than three months away?"
 
Alec slowed, frowning thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted.

"Not to mention, how are you going to get gifts with no money?" Xander grunted. "No, I'm not loaning you money for Christmas gifts. I need gift money, too."

"Good point." He frowned at the small but well-supplied little shop. Then he looked at his father. "One item? Please?"
 
Dark took a shallow breath and said, "You can both get one thing, but it needs to be reasonable. Under fifty dollars, okay? Your mother and I also need money for Christmas gifts." And that price limit likely prevented anyone from bringing home something massive.
 
"Fifty bucks?" Xander asked, startled. "That's a lot!"

"Okay, Ba!" Alec agreed without blinking and ran off to look at everything.

Xander browsed, wanting some sort of souvenir other than just the penny, but it was hard to pick. Most of the stuff availible were things like plush toys, clothes, or little kits like growing sea monkeys. None of that really appealed to him, although he did consider a shirt with the words, "We Will Protect," with a picture of endangered sea creatures and plant life between the words "We will" and "Protect." He ultimately decided against it because it was white and orange. He finally settled on a keychain with a manta ray on it for 11 dollars.

Alec took forever to pick. He picked up stuffed animals, held up shirts, considered hats, exclaimed over jewlery, and examined every little fish tank and science kit in the store. He found a cute onsie for Ivy with a jellyfish on it and presented it to Dark for his consideration as well as a nice necklace for Daizi. Finally, he found what he wanted: A tote bag with a beautiful watercolor-style Baluga whale in rainbow colors! Unfortunately, it was 65. After a long few minutes of agonizing, he picked up a sling bag with a sea turtle in similar colors.
 
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