How Green Becomes Wood

"I'd be glad for you to join me," Daizi smiled, "It's about a nice as night as we can expect in the middle of winter. Sometimes I feel better walking with someone when it's snowy, too."
 
Alec helped Xander clean everything up, and then he bundled up to walk with Daizi, bringing her her coat and whatever else she needed as well as fetching Enkidu's lead. Once they set out, he made a conscious effort not to chatter but to walk in silence with Daizi so she could have some peace.
 
Although Daizi's thoughts were all bent on her husband, she tried to let it roll off of her. It was a shock, yes, but he just needed a bit of time to think it through. Personally, she thought the interview was a good idea for him, albeit not one without costs. It opened the door for him to have community with others who left around his same time. He deserved that. And he deserved to talk about what he had been through openly instead of always worrying about how others would react. But the costs of it worried her. There was no simple answer. Nothing was ever as easy as that.

"Are you excited to be on winter break soon?" She asked Alec.
 
"Yes!" Alec smiled. "It'll be nice to have a break from the standard. Lots of time to do whatever I want. Maybe some time to sleep in the middle of the day if I want to, or something like that."
 
"It feels really weird," Alec admitted. "We spent so much time and focus on your vow renewal and Ivy's birthday that it felt like the year just stopped, and then the... other stuff... happened, and now, bam, here we are at the end of the year."
 
"It's been a very busy year," Daizi agreed, "On the whole better than last year, though. I think last year was harder, even though this one wasn't easy." She paused, and on reflection, maybe it wasn't true. There was a lot of hardship this year, too. That assault, Dark accidentally cutting up his hand, Xander hitting her, their recent troubles... "I've found it more manageable, anyway. Maybe because I didn't spend a third of it sick and another third constantly sore. And our vacation was so much fun."
 
"That was a great vacation," Alec agreed with her. He touched her arm lightly. "The sidewalk isn't as well shoveled coming up here in a bit. The center is nice and clear, though, but the sides are rougher."
 
"Thank you," Daizi said, letting him guide her, "Before I got my cool off-roading cane tip, I had so much trouble in the snow, or worse, on the black ice. I wonder what we'll decide to do for our next trip."
 
"With your cool cane, I think you might fair better against the ice than a sighted person," Alec told her with a little chuckle. "For our next trip... uh... Man, going back to the ocean has a lot of appeal!"
 
"I might just," Daizi replied, "Before I had this tip probably not though. When I use a tip that taps instead of glides, I'd miss the ice. And the ocean is really nice. One day, though, I'll take you all to Egypt."
 
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