How Green Becomes Wood

"I would have said under twenty-five, but I am aware places like this often do not charge under thirty dollars for a simple t-shirt," Dark said dryly. "Gift shops know they can charge whatever they like for items and fools such as us will pay the costs."

While the twins wandered off, Dark walked over to the baby section so figured out what Ivy might like as a souvenir, since she deserved one too. As he anticipated, many of the baby items were also unnecessarily expensive but surely there was something she would like. When Alec showed him the onesie, he considered it for a few moments but ultimately decided against it although he agreed Daizi would like the necklace.

To his delight, he found a toy jellyfish designed to hang from strollers or above cribs. It had a sweet, sewn-on face and, if Ivy managed to pull a little fish which hung from it, it'd play a simple little tune. Perfect.

Once they had all gathered what their little souvenirs would be, they went to the checkout line.
 
Alec and Dark both approved of Dark's choice for Ivy, Alec particularly enthusiastically, but then they realized something.

"Ba, where's yours?" Alec asked. "Aren't you going to get a little something, too?"
 
"Okay," Alec said slowly, not fully convinced but wanting to accept Dark's statement.

Xander still had the map, and after their purchases had been made and they were on their way out, he handed it over to Dark. There. Now he had everything he needed.
 
"It's definitely got a lot of stuff, but I guess you'd call it 'curated,'" Xander said. He held up the keychain. "I still have the tag for the last time my van got serviced as a keychain, so I figured I could finally replace it. It was this or make a leather one." He paused. "Why haven't I ever thought of that before? Leather key chains. Huh. Could work."
 
"I always try to be mindful. Sometimes I am not, but I do attempt to be conscientious about what I bring home. If I cannot immediately envision where I will put something or what I will do with it, I do not buy it." Dark told them as they walked to the car, "Leather key chains are a good idea. Do you have your own logo?"
 
"Yeah, that was something I had to come up with before launching my online store," Xander said. "I kind of came up with it in a hurry, so it's not, you know, the embodiment of me, but it works."

Alec was only half listening to the conversation, tired and content and truly happy with his bag even if it wasn't a tote. It was still a highly useful bag! One could never have too many useful items. He didn't know where he was going to put it or hang it, like most of the things he brought home, but he didn't care. Unlike Dark's philosophy, he was all about figuring that out later. It was the items that made him happy, not the where they were. Right? But right now, he had a lot of happy memories and a penny and a bag! It couldn't get much better.
 
"If you make keychains, you should stamp it on the other side of the design," Dark suggested, "So one side is the image people bought it for and the other is your logo." Of course, he really wanted to offer to redesign it--and then, he thought, since Lex did iron working, she could probably make a custom stamp of it... and maybe he should talk to Daizi and then to Lex when it came to Christmas presents-- but it was his son's buisness and he had managed wonderfully so far, so it only felt right to be hands off about it.
 
"Alright," Xander agreed, taking the suggestion in stride. "That's a good idea. I'll give it a try. Maybe I can make a few practice keychains and test out some new logo designs on them while I'm at it. Unless maybe I haven't been doing this long enough for a logo redesign and that'd hurt business. Would it?" He frowned thoughtfully for a moment and then shook his head. "Never mind work stuff. Whale stuff is more appropriate right now."
 
"That is a question I would need to ask someone else to answer," Dark admitted, "I have very intentionally never owned a buisness."

Once they got to the car, he opened the back door so he could place Ivy in her car seat with the same care and stress as if he were diffusing a bomb. Thankfully, she was so exhausted from such a big day, she stayed sleeping deeply, not stirring even a little bit while she was moved around. Pausing, Dark watched her trusting little face as he buckled her in and wondered what it must be like to sleep so soundly. What must it be like to have so few fears? Leaning in, he caressed her face, kissed her forehead, and murmured something to her before stepping back and taking the stroller to the trunk.

Once he was in the driver's seat, he started the car and asked, "Would you like to go to dinner, now?"
 
"Yes! Unless we need to get Ivy home?" Alec asked worriedly. "Will she be alright coming to dinner with us?"

"She might just sleep right through it with the day she's had," Xander remarked, glancing toward her.
 
The twins argued briefly, but soon came to a joint agreement on where they'd like to go that Dark would likely not hate. They were trying to be considerate of his palate and not eat as if they were with Cooger.
 
Dark agreed to the restaurant, pleased that they had not chosen an extremely greasy American joint, and after adding it to the GPS, he started driving that way, "Xander, are there any leather stamps you wish you had?"
 
Xander glanced at him, surprised by the question, but considered his answer. "Mostly things with small details. I only have a couple of stamps right now - my logo, a rose, a dog, a raven and... oh, a bison - but anything that saves me from having to try to freehand tiny details would be perfect."

"Why do you have a bison?" Alec asked curiosly.

"A client requested a belt with bison, and no way was I freehanding something like twenty wild cows," Xander said stoutly. "I still added some details to make them more unique, but the stamp saved me so much time qnd cramping hands!"
 
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