How Green Becomes Wood

"That's very true!" Alec laughed. "Especially if she's kept partially unaware of what is really going on around here. She'd be very useful."

Xander cocked his head thoughtfully. "I wonder if the FBI has bugged this place already. That'd be an interesting conversation to have."
 
"They better not have," Dark grumbled, glancing at the corners of the room. He and Daizi had some conversations their friendly FBI spy would blush to hear.

"We'd be a fun house to listen in on," Daizi grinned.
 
"I bet," the twins said simultaneously, Alec cheerfully and Xander dryly.

The pair finished up their dinner and then helped clean up after, discussing the different possible outcomes to the FBI bugging their house. Alec's favorite idea was the FBI creating a listening group like a podcast and they had popcorn while listening to the best parts.
 
Daizi laughed, taking Ivy into her lap, "I bet our FBI spies love listening to you talk, Hummingbird! They must be so proud of you!"

Dark shook his head, perfectly at peace to not be spied on, especially given some of his political beliefs, and set about his nightly chores.
 
Once things had settled down a bit, Alec came to Daizi and asked, "Mama, I've been trying to do this thing on the piano, but it's just not coming. Do you think you might have time to help me with these chords?"
 
Alec happily led her to the piano and sat with her. He explained the technique he was attempting and what he wanted to achieve. He showed her how far he'd gotten and where he was stumbling, hoping she'd be able to help him.
 
Daizi listened carefully to what he was struggling with, asked clarifying questions about what he was trying to achieve, and then sat down beside him to give it ago herself. It was definitely tricky, she couldn't deny that, especially before she had warmed up, but she took time to figure it out herself. After clarifying that's what he was trying, she slowed it down for him.
 
Alec gave Daizi all the time she needed, and when she was ready to teach him, he paid close attention. Thanks to her teaching, he was able to pick up on it much more quickly. He practiced for a bit and then invited her to play a duet with him.
 
Daizi immediately agreed to the duet. She adored getting to play with him and was even more delighted because he had asked her. There were so many ways he could have chosen to spend his evening, but he chose to spend it with her, and that meant so much to her.
 
Alec enjoyed playing with Daizi until it felt like their time was naturally winding down to an end. Then he thanked her for playing with him and teaching him, gave her a big hug, and headed off to start getting ready for bed. He felt much calmer today, more at peace with himself and the world around him. It was a nice feeling.
 
The next day was Dark's monthly trip to get the American snacks for his sons. Typically, he went alone, but Daizi practically begged to go with him because she felt like she was going a bit stir crazy. Even with their trip to the baby group, she felt like she had simply spent too many days home in a row. It was a short enough trip it wouldn't get her in trouble at work, and it was sort of a fun game, going to the normal American grocery store as husband and wife with their baby. It was so domestic, she teased, she felt they were basically obligated to dress normal for it. Dark squeezed her hand gingerly and told her if she forced him to do that, he would simply not bring her with, and so they instead dressed like their normal alternative selves which (in Dark's opinion) made their strange domestic display much more amusing.
 
Purely by happenstance, Tristan was at the same store, as well. Although for him, it was a pretty normal and regular occurrence for him. He tended to go weekly in an effort to keep the trips short and the list small, but, of course, he'd run out of several staples all at the same time. Normally, he'd get a small hand basket and set it on his lap for the trip through the store, but he didn't think all of his stuff would fit, which was a good thing seeing as when he arrived, there weren't any hand baskets available. He had to get a regular-sized cart and wrangle it through the store, instead. It was doable, and he'd seen some of his fellow wheelchair users handle the carts with surprising ease, but still felt like a little kid whose parents had let him push the cart even though he couldn't see over the top. Some skills took longer to master than others.

The freezer section was his first and biggest stop. He stocked up on a nice variety of frozen meals, most of them relatively healthy, all of them promising to be ready in five minutes or less. He picked out a couple of oven meals even though he knew they'd feed him way too much just to be able to turn on the oven once in a while and make sure it still worked. Then on to the less fun stuff: the paper goods aisle. He just prayed that the toilet paper he liked would be low enough so he could reach so he wouldn't be stuck with the super cheap stuff. Awkwarldy, he wheeled himself with one hand and pushed the cart with the other, hoping others could see him since it was debatable if he could see them.
 
Daizi wasn't always the most helpful when grocery shopping. When Dark couldn't spot a certain item on the shelf, she couldn't really help look unless the package was a unique shape, and even then she had to be careful to not knock everything over. But Dark still enjoyed when she came with because it was nice to just talk to her. And especially while in the most bog-standard fluorescently-lit grocery store he ever dared visit, she made him laugh, not that it was obvious to anyone who looked at them. She also made Ivy laugh, and since she had yet to really grasp the concept of an "indoor" voice, Ivy's laughter meant their odd family was heard before they were seen, although both adults tried to keep their baby from being disruptive.
 
Tristan heard the baby laughing, and, at first, it meant nothing to him since he had not spent enough time with Ivy to truly memorize the sound of her voice and laughter. After the second time of hearing it, he thought he recognized it. Then he heard Arabic being spoken. Pushing his cart to the side where it would hopefully be out of the way, he shifted his chair so he could see around it. Huh. It was a familiar pair. He waited until they were a little closer before calling out, "Daizi! Ghalib! And Ivy. I did not expect to see you here."
 
"Oh, hello, Tristan." Dark replied, looking down and seeing Tristan in surprise.

"What a coincidence running into you!" Daizi said cheerfully. She had been holding onto the side of the cart rather than Dark's arm, although she stayed by the push handle side to be closer to her daughter. "I tagged along on Dark's monthly pilgrimage to get what we call The American Snacks."
 
"Ah, I see," Tristan said, a smile tugging at his lips. "I take it this pilgrimage is for two boys who desire to taste the junk of their hometown rather than the finery that you have to offer them?"
 
"How could you guess?" Dark asked, his eyes passing over Tristan's cart, noting how much of it were frozen meals.

"It's very important people experience the cuisine from their homelands," Daizi teased, smiling brightly, "Ivy-Qadira, say hello to your Uncle Tristan!"
 
"True, it is very important," Tristan chuckled. He waved happily at Ivy. "Hello, Ivy! Are you having fun out and about today? You look like it. Have you learned any new words lately?" He turned to eye the towers of toilet paper. Not the most embarrassing to be seen shopping for, he supposed, but not the best, either. To make matters worse, the brand he most preferred was just out of reach. So. Ask the vertically standing people to give him a hand, or wait until they left and play monkey bars with the shelf? The third option was taking the cheapest brand that was in easy reach, the stuff that he wasn't sure actually qualified as "paper."
 
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