How Green Becomes Wood

"It's fine," Milo shrugged, then said, "No, I mean, it's good, I just, uh, I don't normally... This style isn't really..." He shook his head, "Nevermind."

"I do not know how compelled I am to repeat it," Dark said, turning his arm over, "but it is fun for now."
 
"Please get on with it, my foot is starting to cramp," Emma said while trying not to move.

"I think it's brilliant, Mister Dark, sir!" Becky said gleefully. "Really, it looks so fantastic on you!"

"Emma said she has tome for only one more game," Alec said, not wanting to rush his parents in their reveal of truly awesome artwork but also not wanting to loose that time with Emma. "We should get set up for one more round before she goes, and then how about Karaoke?"
 
"Thanks," Emma said, stretching out her foot. "Your camera is very cool. It's so old-school. I hope your pictures come out." She headed back to the group to rejoin them.

Alec shook his head. "She has to leave early."
 
"It's okay, Mama. Emma doesn't really like cake," Alec said with a shrug.

"What about cake?" Emma asked as she joined them.

"You don't like it," Alec told her.

"Oh, yes, it's true. I'm not much of a cake fan," Emma shrugged.

Alec held up the catch phrase game. "Does anyone want to go for one more round?"
 
"I wish I had been able to feed you a little bit," Daizi sighed but then smiled to Emma, "Oh well. I'm very glad you were able to come at all." Then the pair returned to Ivy's prison, leaving the teens to their own devices.

"We can," Sloan grinned, "Same teams?"
 
The others agreed, and they went for another round. This time, it was a tie between Alec and Xander's teams, but Emma had to leave before they could do a tiebreaker. Alec walked her out and thanked her for coming for as long as she could. While they were gone, Xander challenged Sloan to an ax throwing contest.
 
Sloan readily agreed to the challenge, fully expecting she'd lose. Milo, meanwhile, floated around awkwardly, taking pictures of people enjoying themselves. He did, eventually, work up the courage to ask to get pictures of Dark and Daizi's tattoos, and while they were free from the zoo, Dark quietly "stole" one of the pages from the sketch pads and some of the art supplies, bringing it back to the pen.
 
Alec and Peter joined in the throwing, but Becky and Austin just watched. Becky volunteered herself as the fetcher and ran back and forth collecting the axes and bringing them back to Alec, Peter, Xander, and Sloan, cheering them on. Alec brought up the karaoke machine, and Xander agreed to do it, only after cake. Cake first, then embaressing singing.
 
Just like the room, the cake was split in two styles of decorations, and each half was the each individual twin's favourite flavour, so Alec and Xander didn't need to compromise on one they both sort of liked. Dark also made sure to put a "17" candle on both halves, so they both got to blow them out.

"Is it better to sing once and hit both names or sing it twice?" Daizi asked, unable to recall what they had done last year.
 
"Once!" both twins said instantly. "Once is enough." There was only so long one could be expected to sit listening to a song with cake sitting right there, waiting.

Becky sang enthusiastically, throwing in some flair. Austin muttered the words awkwardly from the back of the group. Peter sang nice and normally.
 
Sloan sang along normally while Milo murmured the lyrics. Daizi, of course, sang it enthusiastically and Dark did his absolute best to sing it loudly enough to be heard, because he knew Alec and Xander would appreciate it. It was easier to sing in a group, anyway.
 
When the song ended, the twins carefully blew out the candles, trying not to spit all over the cake or anything else. Xander didn't make a wish, finding it childish. Alec did make a wish, a quiet little wish of his own.

"This cake is really good, Mrs. D!" Becky told Daizi as she had her piece. "Did you make it? Or Mr. D?"
 
"Oh, no," Daizi replied, waving one hand, resisting the urge to correct Becky on her title, "I'll take the compliment, but I can't decorate a cake like that. We ordered it from our favourite bakery."

Dark took a tiny piece for Ivy and sat down with her. Unlike on her birthday, he tried to get her to use a fork so she didn't end up totally covered in frosting.
 
"Really? What's the name of it? This cake is so good!" Becky gushed, eating another bite.

"So, you were working at a Christmas tree farm over Christmas break?" Peter asked Austin as they sat eating their cake.

Austin nodded. "Weekends leading up to it, too. I got to take home the broken branches at the end of the day, and my mom made wreaths. Wreaths and decor and stuff. It was everywhere."

"Sounds like a lot of decor!" Peter said.

"Oh, she didn't keep it. She kept a couple of her favorite pieces and sold the rest."

"Thrifty," Peter admitted.

Xander asked Sloan, "So, that thing you were doing to get me to guess 'milkmaid.' What the hell were you doing with your hands?"

Alec asked Milo, "What's a steam deck? I know what it sounds like, but that can't be it. You play games on it?"
 
Daizi told her the name, "They are a bit expensive, but they do great work. At the end of the school year, Dark always get Alec and Xander a cake from there, too."

"I was milking!" Sloan exclaimed, "You know---what a milkmaid does!"

"It's kinda like a portable computer, but it's also kinda like a handheld console." Milo explained, staring down at his shoes, "It's kinda like getting a Switch, but you can upgrade it a lot more. And you aren't basically locked into Nintendo games."
 
"Wow! That's really cool," Becky beamed. "I love your makeup, by the way. Do you do it yourself, or do you get someone to do it for you? I love doing my makeup, but my friend is really nearsighted and can't see the mirror, so she doesn't do it much. I keep telling her to get contact lenses so she can see without her glasses, but nooooo, she's too squeamish to touch her eyes!"

"That was miling?" Xander demanded with a laugh. "I thought you were stirring with two hands!" He tried to demonstrate stirring with both hands going in opposite directions.

"Oh. Cool." Alec ate a bite. "What's a Switch?"
 
"No, I can't do my own makeup," Daizi replied, "Well, I can't do it this well, I can do my lipstick fine, and I can do grungey eyeshadow, but anything more than that Mr. Dark does for me. Sometimes one of my friends or Alec will fill in for him, but typically my husband does my makeup."

"Well I don't know!" She laughed, "I've never milked a cow, I'm trying to remember what they do in cartoons!"

"It's a handheld gaming console," Milo told him, "it's got two small controllers and you can play it at home or wherever. It's cool, I just, you know. It's a bit limited."
 
"Wow, that's super cool! I don't know a lot of guys willing to do that. Well, straight guys. I hope I get lucky and land a Mr. D like you," Becky grinned.

Xander waved his hands a couple of more times and then let it go with a laugh. "I don't remember! I haven't seen cartoon cows in ages!"

"Oh!" Alec said, his eyes widening. "That sounds really cool. But the steam thing is better?"
 
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