How Green Becomes Wood

"Burger flippers also don't spend all day alone with their boss," Cooger said, "The most I can say is that I'll consider it. I'll take some time to think about it and I'll get back to you."
 
"Thanks, Mr. Cooger. I promise you, you won't regret at least considering," Rumy told him.

~~

The twins arrived home, and Alec called out, "I'm home!"

"I am also home," Xander added.
 
"Yeah, you're welcome kid," Cooger replied, hanging up. After setting the phone down, he paced a bit and stretched deeply, feeling pretty uneasy about that whole thing.

~~

"How was work?" Dark asked, sitting on the floor with Ivy.
 
"I had a great day!" Alec said happily. He paused. "Except for one Karen, but I'm trying to move past her."

"It was pretty good," Xander said. "Some girl kept getting in the way while I was trying to work. Wouldn't stop asking questions, which I guess is fine, except she didn't actually seem interested in the answers."
 
"Hopefully she will not return," Dark said solidly and then looked at Xander, "Did not seem interested in that she just wanted to hear herself talk or did not seem interested in that she just wanted to hear you talk?"
 
"I dunno. Neither? Why would she want to hear me talk?" Xander asked, genuinely confused. "Nah, she'd ask a question, and I'd tell her the answer, but then later either she'd ask the same question again, or if I asked her a question, she didn't have a clue what I was talking about."

Alec gave Xander an amused look and glanced toward Dark. "Sounds like a very interesting day." He started up the stairs to his room.

"She wouldn't stop hovering," Xander grumbled.
 
Dark nodded solemnly, having some guesses as to why exactly this woman kept hovering around Xander, but not really feeling like he should mention them, "Ah, perhaps she had much on her mind, but I am sorry you found her bothersome. At least now you are home and no longer need to deal with her."
 
"Really? How did that go?" Alec asked.

Xander emerged from the basement. "How did what go?"

"Ba tried to teach Ivy how to dust."

"Oh." Xander turned to Dark. "How did it go?"
 
"I am not sure if I can call anything she rubbed the cloth over dusted, but she did successfully wipe a cloth over things." Dark answered, "I am also trying to teach her to help wipe down her high chair after she eats. So far, she spreads the mess around more, but it is a start. Right, Hummingbird?"
 
"Gotta start them young, I guess," Alec said cheerfully.

Xander glanced at Alec and gave him a nudge. "You said to remind you to clean your room when we got home."

Alec groaned and rolled his eyes. "Can't I have two minutes first?"

"I think it's been two minutes." Xander glanced at his father. "Yeah?"
 
"You're welcome!" Alec smiled. He made a face at Xander as they headed up the stairs. "See? I was doing it for them!"

"Uh-huh, and not because you were trying to procrastinate," Xander said, following him up.

"Not at all. I didn't think you'd come help me," Alec remarked as they headed into the bedroom they used to share.

Xander sat on the bed that still remained. His area was still mostly clear, he noted, though the clutter had started to creep back. "I'm not helping. I'm supervising."

Alec heaved a sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. "Oh, goody for me."

"Come on," Xander said, making himself comfortable. "You've been bemoaning your room for ages. So. What do we gotta do to fix it?"

"That's the problem, I don't know!" Alec groaned through gritted teeth as he surveyed his items. "When I don't get distracted by stuff, I've been trying that Marie Kondo method. 'Does it spark joy? Or is it useful?' It doesn't seem to be working."

"There the problem," Xander pointed out. "Everything in this room either gives you joy or security or can be rationalized into being useful even if it really isn't or the feels are just temporary."

"So, I'm doomed," Alec sighed.

"If it was covered in sh!t, would you try to save it?"

Alec ogled at his brother. "What?"

Xander gestured around the room. "Enkidu had a bad stomach ache. He came in here and sh!t all over everything. Literally everything. What are you saving? You have fifteen minutes and then it's all destroyed. Go."

"That's... a way to look at it," Alec said slowly, still dumbfounded. He looked around. Then he looked down at his feet and picked up the rug he'd been working on. "I'd save this if it was possible."

Xander held out a hand. "Toss it here."

Alec did so and then picked up a mostly disassembled mobile. "I wouldn't save this."

Xander got up and grabbed an empty tote. "Toss it here."

"Maybe this?"

Another tote closer to the bed. "In it goes."

Alec smiled a little, but it faded under concentration as he focused. For the first time, choices were coming easily.
 
When Daizi's workday finally came to an end she stretched deeply and went downstairs to join her husband and baby. They had some time before they had to start cooking so they just sat beside each other and talked, enjoying a peaceful early-evening.
 
The last few days before Christmas passed by peacefully. There was a lot of tiptoeing around and yells of, "Don't look!" if anyone inadvertently walked into a room without looking. Fertive looks, whispers, and secretive giggles were the norm.

Then.

Finally.

The day arrived! The twins snuck down in the night and put the gifts to their parents under the tree for fun, trusting Ivy would not be attacking the gifts before they could be opened. Then they were up ridiculously early and sitting patiently on the stairs.
 
In the days leading up to Christmas, Daizi decided to get her hair cut so she looked fresh for the party. She hadn't changed up her hairstyle in a few years and was feeling a bit bored. When she came home, Dark complimented her but tried not to make a big deal about it until after the twins had left the room, because, frankly, her having her v-shaped bangs cut back in with the addition of face-framing tendrils worked for him. It was so vampiric and gave him more pieces to tuck back behind her ears.

Ivy didn't understand what was about to happen, but she could tell in the lead up to Christmas something was happening with how excited almost everyone else in the house was and Enkidu behaved similarly. On Christmas morning, she was up early, just because she always was, and Dark and Daizi sleepily started heading downstairs to prepare breakfast and keep her occupied when they encountered their sons waiting.

"Oh. Good morning." Dark said, his morning voice still deep and gravely.

"Merry Christmas," Daizi smiled, although she also was very much not yet awake. Both she and Dark probably would've taken Ivy into their bed for cuddles to delay starting the day were it not Christmas morning.
 
"Morning!" Xander said, far more awake than he normally was.

"Good morning, sleepyheads!" Alec greeted them cheerfully. "It's Christmas morning!" He popped to his feet and practically bounced down the stairs with Xander right behind.

"Ivy's first Christmas," Xander remarked. "First Christmas that counts, anyway."
 
"She still will not remember this when she is your age, but she may remember it next year," Dark told them, looking at his daughter who was suddenly very excited by how her brothers were acting. "If not, she will enjoy today."

Daizi stretched, following them down the stairs, "Do you want to do presents after breakfast?"

"We certainly not doing presents before breakfast." Dark grumbled.
 
"Oh, come on, Ba! It's the one morning of the year where even Xander is happy to be up this early! Please?" Alec pleaded.

"Can we make it a fast breakfast if we have to do food first?" Xander asked, seeking a compromise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top