How Green Becomes Wood

"No it was good, and they may like it, but I don't want..." He gestured around, "There are lots of people here, and I thought you might like to have leftovers of your own birthday cake."
 
"Dude, we have so much cake. Mama will be disappointed if you don't take some, and most of the others already have," Alec assured him.

Xander frowned. "Did Slo get some? I'm going to see if she's gone already and ask her. Nah, I'll just text her later. We can take some to school if anyone missed it."
 
"Let's get you some cake, then!" Alec said cheerfully. "Mama! Milo hasn't gotten his cake! And his grandparents need cake, of course." He half herded Milo toward the cake table.

"It is futile to resist," Xander told Milo mildly.
 
"You have to take some home," Daizi said, turning, "We have the to-go boxes just there, take as much as you like!"

Milo hesitated, not wanting to take too much, but ultimately took a small piece of both flavours for his grandparents and the opposite flavour from what he tried for himself.
 
Xander watched in amusement but gave him a thumbs up. He was taking something. That was an improvement. "I can wait with you until they get here," he said, meaning to walk Milo out.

Alec helped clean up the tables now that everyone else had gone and the cake was split up. "This was a great birthday."
 
"Thanks," Milo mumbled, taking the to-go box of cake and following him out.

"I'm glad," Daizi smiled, rocking Ivy, while Dark continued to neaten the area.

"What was your favourite part?" He asked.
 
Xander found a good spot to lean and watch for Milo's grandparents, giving Milo plenty of space. He shoved his hands into his pocket and found his earring still there. He couldn't help pulling it out and fiddling with it absently.

Alec thought back. "Karaoke and spin the nail polish because... we were all together," he finally said. "Don't get me wrong, I loved the face painting, and painting on the easels was a lot of fun, but it was most fun when we were all together."
 
Milo stood beside him, looking down at the cake in his hands, "Did you have a good time?"

"It looked like you were having a lot of fun then," Dark replied, "Can I see your nails? I did not get to before."
 
"Yep, it was a pretty fun time," Xander confirmed. "You did pretty good at throwing axes. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Alec proudly displayed the array of colors. "I'm going to wear them to school tomorrow! I'll probably take it off after, but I think it'll be fun to rock the bizzare polish for one day."
 
"I don't know if it will ever be useful, but I suppose I could theoretically, one day, be good enough at it," Milo replied, "The split activities was cool."

"They are quite something. They are painted well, even if it is an odd choice, and I think it is the sort of thing it is perfectly okay to be a little bit weird with," Dark replied.
 
"Yeah, it was a lot of fun," Xander agreed. "I think it'd be better outdoors, but kind of hard to do that in Feb." He blew out a breath of condensation in a plume of "smoke."

Alec smiled and nodded. "It's just a little paint. A little bit of paint is easy to change!"
 
"I dunno. I haven't thought about it. I guess I haven't really done anything for a really long time. My mom always made sure I had at least a cupcake, though, she never forgot it. And I know that's not really... saying much in the grand scheme of things, but it still mattered to me."

"Nothing wrong with that," Dark told him.

"I wonder how old Ivy need to be before she can have her nails painted," Daizi mused.
 
Xander gave him a curious look. "What are you talking about? That's not a small thing. That's like the biggest thing in the grand scheme." He looked away. "To not be forgotten. To mark something important. Doesn't matter how big." After a pause, he asked, "Do you want a cupcake or a full cake for your birthday?"

"Old enough to want to sit still for it at least mostly!" Alec suggested with a laugh.
 
"It seems like the kind of thing people would call the bare minimum. Like, 'The bar is on the ground, you can't give her credit for remembering your birthday.'" He shrugged, "I dunno. Still meant something, though. And I don't think it really matters to me, just that there's enough to share. Doesn't even need to be a cake, I think. It could be a pie or a tub of ice cream."

"And old enough so she does not try to eat it," Dark added, eyeing his sleeping daughter.

"I'm sure they make non-toxic ones," Daizi laughed. "She sat beautifully for her tattoo."
 
"It matters," Xander said bluntly. He looked at Milo. "What you want matters. So. What,,, do you... want?"

"She's super cute with it, too," Alec agreed. He looked around. "I think that's everything."
 
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