How Green Becomes Wood

Once Kiki turned around, Enkidu began to gleefully lick Kiki clean, very much enjoying the breakfast Daizi had made.

"But that hour when she naps is glorious," Dark said, holding up one hand.

"It's weird being a working parent, too, because I kind of go from one job to another," Daizi mused, "Next month I start going back to the office, which will be another adjustment."
 
Kiki let out the cat version of a yelp and scampered away from Enkidu, her feet skidding on the floor as she tried to turn. She hopped up onto Alec' lap and glared at Enkidu. What was that?

"Why are you wet?" Alec asked his cat, having missed what had transpired. He frowned at the few beans left in her fur and used a napkin to gently clean her off. "You get into the oddest trouble."

"Hmm, that will be weird not having both of you here all the time," Xander agreed. "I bet you'll enjoy it once you get used to it. At least, sometimes."
 
When Kiki walked away from him, Enkidu turned his head slightly to the side but then happily went and sat beside Dark, laying his head in his lap.

"I'm sure I will, but it'll be an adjustment at first. I'm starting out just going in a few days a week," Daizi said, "I'm grateful they allowed me to work from home this long, but I do miss being able to speak to my coworkers face-to-face."
 
"Not to mention walking around the museum occasionally and hearing people talk about your awesome work," Alec told her with a smile. He finished off his breakfast and stood to clean up his area. "Breakfast was delicious!"

Xander stood to clean up as well. "Speaking of work, time to get you to work."

"Very true!" Alec agreed.
 
"You'd be shocked at how much time I spend in my office most of the time, and as a result, little feedback I overhear from patrons," Daizi admitted. "And a lot of visitors don't stop and think about the humble employees doing the research and design behind the scenes."
 
"I'm sorry they don't. I hope they start thinking about them! You should go for a walk once a day to stretch your legs once you get back to it full-time," Alec told her, coming around to hug her. "Try to be good today! Or at least safe."
 
"Will do!" Alec called cheerfully.

Xander drove him to work, and Alec dutifully told Tristan that Daizi had said hi. Tristan appreciated the fact that Daizi still thought of him. He did not ask Alec about any details as to why he'd missed work the day before, and Alec did not offer them. Instead, they got stuck in, and focused on the work in front of them. Alec did very well that day, not getting distracted or overly excited when talking to the customers. He approached overexcitement a couple of times, but was able to rein himself in reasonably well. The day flew by, and Alec had to remind Tristan to take his lunch break and eat. Tristan was more than happy to give Alec a nice, long lunch break, but he had a hard time giving himself any more than ten minutes before he was back out front and working.

Meanwhile, back home, Xander did a few things in his shed, tried out a few experimental techniques, and caught up on some paperwork, and then he came back inside to relax. He played some with Ivy, stacking blocks and letting her show him things to do.
 
Ivy was absolutely thrilled to get to play with Xander, occasionally screeching and bouncing when he did something she thought was really funny. When they were stacking the blocks together, she suddenly froze, looking at the very well-built tower, and then looked wide-eyed up at her brother.
 
"Oh, you want me to do something now?" Xander asked her. He rolled the block in his hand and used his fingers to flick it up so he could catch it with the other hand and roll it more. "Alright. Let's see what I can build." He started to build a wall instead of a tower, building it quickly so Ivy wouldn't get bored. Then he looked at her very seriously and started to push it over, doing it slowly with a couple of false starts to tease her, until it all crashed down.
 
Laughing harder, Ivy hurried over to help knock it over with him, enjoying the loud, clattering sound of the wooden blocks. In her excitement, then, she picked up one of them, and threw it across the room, although very clearly she didn't direct it at anyone.
 
Xander clicked his tongue gently and shook his head. "Don't throw blocks, Mini, not inside," he told her. "Come on. Let's go pick it up." He stood and gestured for her to follow. "We need that block to build with."
 
Ivy shook her head no, but still started to follow after him before being distracted and looking out the backdoor. The sky was clear and, being mid March, the garden was just starting to turn green again. "This?"
 
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