How Green Becomes Wood

"I think vampires can be any colour," Daizi mused.

Meanwhile Dark, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, took it out and read the message, "Huh."

"What?"

"Your father wished me a happy birthday."

Daizi blinked, and in surprise only said, "Oh."

"He has never done that before."

"What did it say?"

"Eid Milad Sa'eed." Dark replied, then after a moment added, "...and a clearly AI generated image of what appears to be a minion blowing out candles on a birthday cake."
 
Dark handed his phone over to Alec, "I do not know if I am more confused by the happy birthday text or by the minion."

"By the happy birthday text, certainly," Daizi said, "Everybody knows the elderly love minions."
 
"I also do not believe it can get weirder." Dark agreed, putting his phone away and scooping Ivy back up. "Do not fear, my darling girl, Baba will never accost you with AI jellybean men on your birthday."
 
"Enjoy being a jungle gym!" Alec said cheerfully and headed upstairs to his room. He had a long conversation with his girlfriend while carefully cutting bits of paper to fit his junk journal better.
 
An hour or so later, Dark and Daizi did their, by then, fairly well-practiced dance of passing Ivy off between them so they could both get dressed and otherwise prepare themselves for Dark's birthday dinner. Seeing as it was his birthday---and his 40th birthday at that---Dark allowed himself to dress to the absolute maximum vampire goth look he had. It was one of those days which called for it. Daizi, meanwhile, slipped into the dress she knew was Dark's favourite in her entire closet, because it was the sort of night where she really didn't mind dressing for his pleasure.
 
Xander wore his usual black attire, quite content with high-quality night sky as his party outfit. He did add some silver earrings and a silver chain necklace to add some interest.

Alec, in an effort to take Dark's tastes into consideration (it was his birthday, after all, even if he would just say he wanted Alec to be comfortable and happy), borrowed a pair of Xander's black pants and paired them with a black, sequined top that looked plain until the light caught it. He copied Xander's silver choices, fighting the urge to add more than was necessary.

The pair collected their gifts for their father, and they were ready!
 
Daizi dressed Ivy in a little dress with a black bodice, a red skirt, and a sheer overlay with textured bats. She had bought it without her husband's knowledge and had been hiding it in preparation of his birthday.

"Ivy-Qadira!" Dark said happily, lifting her up above his head, "What a pretty dress!"
 
"Ivy is even cuter than usual," Alec remarked, fiddling with the clip-on earring he'd borrowed from Xander.

"Stop fiddling with it or it'll fall off," Xander scolded his brother. He glanced at Ivy. "I'll take your word for it since right now she's a blur of red and black."
 
"She is beautiful," Dark said, rubbing his thumb along the back of Ivy's head before hugging her close, smiling slightly as she snuggled against his chest.

"We have enough time before we leave to do presents now, if you'd like," Daizi suggested, knowing Dark absolutely didn't want to open things in the middle of the restaurant.
 
"Really? Now? Before rather than after?" Alec asked in surprise. "Alright! If you want. Or we can leave them here, and you can open them after."

"If you want to open mine, you should sit down," Xander told Dark, gesturing to the chair.
 
"Nope. I just think you should," Xander replied.

Alec waited until Dark sat and offered his gift, first. "Here! Open mine first. It's simple."

It was a very simple "Happy Birthday" card Alec had made himself. Inside was a voucher for a woodworking class for two people. It looked like more of a beginner-style thing, but a good place to spend some father-son time.

"I know it'll be way below your level, but I thought maybe we could have fun?" Alec suggested.
 
Dark smiled a bit looking at the voucher, "Thank you for this. It will be fun to do with you." Admittedly, he didn't understand why Alec didn't just ask to learn from him, but he appreciated thought anyway.

"You should pretend to be a novice, Goose," Daizi suggested.
 
"I thought it could be something you enjoy, but in a different setting," Alec explained, reading the tiny indications of confusion on Dark's face. "Working in your shed is awesome, absolutely! But this is familiarity in a different setting. And maybe we'll learn something interesting! Even if it's not about wood."

"Here, open mine before he explains himself into the ground. Before you ask, you're hard to shop for, so I aimed for an unusual experience," Xander told him, holding out his gift. It was an unwrapped cardboard box and very light.

Inside the box was a bright red birthday balloon that floated upward gently when the box opened. Tied to the string and barely heavy enough to keep the balloon from floating all the way to the ceiling was a voucher similar to Alec's. Only this voucher was to an Italian cooking class, also for beginners, and three classes long.
 
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