How Green Becomes Wood

"That's brutal!" Sloan laughed, "There is no way I'd let me dad get away with that. Absolutely none. I'd need to find a way to get back at him." When Alec asked for help with a distraction, she looked at him quizzically and then rolling her eyes the way she had when Xander asked and turned back to the other twin, "So, math, huh? That's what you're going with?"
 
Xander looked up at Sloan quizzically. "What I'm going with? What do you mean?"

Alec waited a second and then slipped away to go talk with Emma out of Xander's hearing. She smiled, happy to see him, and the pair stepped away.
 
"Of all the classes to really work on," Sloan replied with a shrug, but once she was certain Alec was out of earshot she clarified, "To hide your old religion book in? Pretty sure the US still has freedom of religion, we don't burn heretics anymore."
 
Xander shrugged, feeling a bit sheepish. "Thing is, Alec really doesn't approve. Like, really. Of religions in general. He could care less if you or them or whoever wants to follow them, but, you know, twin. Stuck with him. Really don't want to have that kind of argument when I'm just curious about stuff."
 
Sloan stared at him, stunned at the reason, "I never would've expected Alec would be such a strong atheist. Huh. He'd be really upset with you for even considering a higher power?"
 
Xander hesitated, tapping his fingers on the book as he tried to decide what to tell her. "He thinks that religion, anything religious, is just... a way to explain stuff. A crutch, which is fine for a while, but shouldn't always be needed. Sometimes, he refers to it being like talking to make-believe friends. He doesn't even mean it badly. It sounds awful, but he doesn't mean it as badly as it sounds. Unless it was someone like me. Someone who should know better."
 
"Huh." Sloan replied. It definitely did sound bad, but she trusted Xander when he said it wasn't meant that way, "Isn't your mom super religious though? In her own way? How do you think he handles feeling like you should know better while also being around her beliefs? I know I'm Jewish and all, but I'm not really--in it, you know? It's just a cultural thing for me, but I imagine it'd be pretty upsetting to be someone who wouldn't be expected to know better."
 
"Yeah, she is, and Alec basically ignores it in the politest way possible," Xander sighed. "She's pretty good about stuff like that. Ba doesn't believe at all, but he sometimes helps her with stuff for her, not for the religious aspect. I think he does that a lot. Just ignores stuff like that. Doesn't care, boesn't interfere, figures they have their own deal, and all's good and fine. As long as it doesn't actually impact him. I impact him."
 
"Huh. Yeah, I mean I guess I can understand that feeling, with everything you've been through together, but I guess I'd question how much your private beliefs do impact him. I mean like, maybe it's because I grew up in a religion which does not generally want to convert people, like you'll never meet a group of Jewish missionaries, but isn't religion generally supposed to be kind of a private thing? The Doctrine I was raised unfer talks a lot about how your personal relationship with God is one of the most important things." She paused for a moment and frowned sympathetically, "I'm sorry, I know you can't answer my questions for him. It just sucks that you feel like you have to hide it from him because you should be allowed to explore those curiosities without judgment. Self-growth is self-growth, you know? Regardless of if it comes from the Torah, a therapist, or a self-help book."
 
Xander shook his head. "It's alright. It's not something that's easy to understand, and maybe I'm not dealing with it right, but right now, where everything is in our life, I'd rather hide it than argue with him about it. It's better for him, I think, at least for a little while. Easier for me right now, too. Not the best answer, but there you go." He paused for a moment and then said, "Zoroastrianism is kind of cool, though. As a thing. It has a lot about doing and being good for the sake of that goodness and not in expectation of return. Apparently, it used to be the biggest religion in the Iran area, going all the way down to India. Now there's, like, hardly anyone who even knows it exists, but some people have been trying to bring it back. Weird how something like that can die, isn't it? And apparently it has something to do with Second Temple Judaism?" He looked at her questioningly, having never heard of it before and curious if she had.

Alec was finishing up his conversation with Emma and gave her a hug before turning to head back to the table.
 
"I'm sorry things are going rough again," Sloan said, quietly and sincerely, staying quiet until he changed the topic, "Don't ask me questions about Judaism, I know about Hanukkah, passover, and what I memorized for my Bat Mitzvah. I don't pay attention in Temple, I just like latkes and getting to use Hebrew words for emphasis. I'm pretty sure once my mom's parents die, we'll end up only going for Holidays or whatever."
 
"All right, that's fair," Xander said, nodding. He glanced over as Alec came over. "Where'd you get off to? You aren't going to have any time to eat your lunch."

"I'm here now, and I'm going to enjoy it," Alec chirped. He nodded to Sloan as a thank you.
 
Sloan gave Alec a brief look which clearly read I'm talking to you about this later but just said, "I hate how short the lunch periods are at school. How much nicer would it be if we could just enjoy it?"
 
"Mmm, teenagers don't need time to eat," Xander mumbled around a mouthful of sandwich.

"Not if he's anything to go by," Alec agreed, wilting only a little under Sloan's look.
 
"Xander polished off his lunch in not time flat. "True enough," he mumbled, his mouth full still. "Real good when enjoyed." He frowned at some stickiness on his hand that a napkin wasn't getting rid of. "Be right back." He stood and headed for the bathrooms to clean off his hands.
 
Alec blushed bright red and turned his attention to his veggie sticks. "Well, Xander knows we're friends, but I haven't gotten around to telling him... you know, that we're a bit more than friends. I know I should, really, but everything is so new right now, and there's never a good time. Besides, with how against all things romance Xander is... Well, I just don't think he'll take it well at all. He might see it as a betrayal."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top