How Green Becomes Wood

Khalil shifted awkwardly, not feeling entirely certain he was comfortable with the turn this conversation had taken. He knew his friend had certain... proclivities which he did not himself agree with, but he hadn't fully recognized how those opinions would be passed onto the children, "Luckily, he is only a vampire in play-pretend. I know my sons are desperate to break some of those rules."

"They have it at most libraries, I think," Hetty said, before good naturedly mentioning a few other books she liked which included dragons, "I think, and it's ironic because I'm an English teacher, but I think schools often have a problem with beating the love of reading out of children, so adulthood is really a time to reexplore and rediscover what you like in literature."
 
"That's because they're young, stupid, and don't know what rules are for," Xander said bluntly. "Anyway, I'm going to excuse myself now."

"I actually do want to talk to Mr. Major!" Alec said brightly. "Thanks for coming, Mr. Khalil!" The twins excused themselves and moved into the rest of the room.

Would it be a bad thing to mention that she didn't have a library card? She didn't even know where the library was, come to think of it. "I guess that makes sense," Lex agreed. "Reading is work when you get to highschool, so if you haven't learned to love it by then, it's not hard to stifle."
 
Art was loud and delighted to chat with them, asking about a million questions about how their break had been going, expressing how Rose wished she could be there but was still visiting with her family, and talking a bit about the art projects he had been up to and what oddities he had chosen as his newest muse.

"Even if you do love it," Hetty said, "I stopped reading for pleasure for a long while when studying, it was embarrassing even though it shouldn't have been."
 
Alec was only too happy to match Art's energy, eagerly answering his questions and chattering excitedly. He liked Art as a person and as a teacher, and it was fun to be able to talk to him outside of work. Xander quietly snuck off and went to see if he could find food to snack on.

"Really? Why was it embarrassing?" Lex asked curiously.
 
"It shouldn't have been," Hetty said shyly, rocking on the balls of her feet, "It was an identity problem. I had always been a big reader, so when I wasn't reading in my freetime anymore, I felt like I had lost something, so I felt like a fraud, which was embarrassing."
 
Hetty shrugged, "I was young. I don't really feel that way anymore. I just try to make sure reading stays fun for my students and let them know it's okay if they fall out of love with it."
 
"When I was little, I was convinced I'd be an author spending all day in a beautiful library in a cottage or tower or something. I do still write, and I've gotten the occasional poem or short story published, but I've not quite managed the rest." Hetty smiled, rubbing her arm.
 
Lex nodded happily. "I've been invited to a couple of Ren fares, and they were fun, but not really my scene in the long run. Glad I did it, though! I make a lot of art pieces, some practical stuff, and sometimes repairs for people."
 
"Oh dear," Lex chuckled. "I haven't been in costume since I was a kid doing trick-or-treat." She paused and winked at Hetty before saying in a lowered tone, "Well, not a public costume."
 
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