How Green Becomes Wood

"You did?" Alec asked, holding a piece of bread delicately. "Oh, that's nice! How's he doing?"

Xander scowled at his plate, deciding between fingers and fork. He chose fingers because it was his turn to wash the dishes. If he didn't use a fork, that was one less dish to wash. "Was he shopping for American snacks, too?"
 
"He seems to be doing alright," Daizi said, eating with her hands without a second thought, "Although he doesn't seem to eat very well. He had to confirm with us blueberries were fruit."
 
"Blueberries are, indeed, a fruit!" Alec grinned. "Maybe he meant to ask if they were a berry or not, with his a valid question since, apparently, a banana is a fruit, but a strawberry isn't. What kind of sense is that?"

"Did he have way more junk food than what you buy, then?" Xander asked, more curious about what selections Tristan favored. "Is he a twinkie fan?"
 
Dark held up one finger, "Strawberries are a fruit, they are not a berry. But that is only biological, they were termed berries before science progressed enough to figure out fruit taxonomy, so ultimately it depends on ones definition. And no, his food choices were not... horrendous, just mostly frozen. His sodium intake is certainly higher than it should be."
 
"Right, berry. I meant berry and accidentally said fruit," Alec corrected himself. "Do all frozen foods have a high salt content? Or are some of them better?"

"No fruits or berries, then?" Xander asked.
 
"Frozen vegetables are fine, but I think most frozen meals tend to have a higher sodium level than a fresh meal does," Daizi said, "Maybe that has changed though."

"Technically he had berries, he had one sad bunch of bananas in his cart," Dark said.
 
"Wow," Xander said, arching his brows. "Did he get a good lecture on nutrition?"

"He eats some cooked stuff!" Alec volunteered. "Mostly the pastries from the bakery or, well, ordering in something when he's realized he's forgotten lunch. He gets really, really shaky when he forgets lunch." Alec frowned. "Then again, maybe I should start packing him a lunch, or linner, I guess, since it's usually after lunch time when I start work."
 
"I wonder why he doesn't seem to ever eat out with his friends," Alec mused.

Xander glanced at him. "How do you know he doesn't?"

"Because literally any time I ask him about a scheduled thing, like the karaoke the other week, he literally says he has no plans and that he'll happily go along with whatever the rest of the family chooses," Alec said.

"Maybe he prioritizes us over his friends, and his friends are very understanding if he cancels or reschedules," Xander pointed out.

"I'll choose to believe that. That's much nicer than thinking his only friends are from that support group," Alec agreed.
 
"I do not have a large number of friends, most of the time I do not have set plans with them," Dark pointed out, although he supposed he went out a bit more when he was twenty nine or thirty.

"Support group friends can be great too," Daizi added, "The members of my blind support group may not be ones I hang out with much outside of the group, but they still mean the world to me. It's just awkward sometimes because you're so vulnerable with them."
 
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"Really?" Alec asked in surprise. "Wow, I hadn't realized. I'm going to have to up my friend game in hopes that more stick around for longer!"

Xander polished off his plate and started clearing off the table.
 
"You don't have that same socialization opportunities," Daizi said, "You have work, but for some reason, coworkers are not always as fun as your classmates are. I'm not sure what it is."
 
"The stress of trying to be professional and knowing that if you yank someone's chain too hard, instead of just ignoring you in the cafeteria, they'll report you to HR?" Xander suggested.

"That would put a crimp in things," Alec agreed.
 
"I think you're also around so many people who are not your peers," Daizi said, "when I was first starting, it was weird because everyone was so much older than I was. Now I'm established, but intimidating to the new employees."

"You also lose the ability to really segregate yourself by interests." Dark said blandly, "You encounter fewer people so you do not have the same freedom to find people you find tolerable."
 
"Tolerable," Alec said, grinning, immediately picking up on Dark's word choice. "That makes sense. Well, right now I only work with Uncle Tristan, and it's either really busy, or he's teaching me flower things. I've been learning how to make those tiny terrariums he builds. They are so delicate!"

"I like my job. I only work with people I like," Xander said.
 
"So do I, now," Dark said, quite satisfied.

"Yes, you're all very lucky," Daizi drawled, standing up to clear her part of the table, "That is one thing which is nice about working from home, it makes it easier to avoid the coworkers I can't stand, but they still exist and I do still need to return their messages and phone calls."
 
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