How Green Becomes Wood

The twins started cleaning up the rest of the kitchen, and Xander declared his tarts a near success. He still needed to figure out just the right baking time for the crust, and he did kind of want to try out some different flavor potentials, but he was confident that he could put together a tart or tarts that Milo would like.
 
Although Ivy usually received her baths in the evening, that Sunday Dark and Daizi took pains to bathe their sometimes wild toddler before driving to Ciara's new apartment, knowing perfectly well it was likely to be absolutely spotless. It seemed very important Ivy was as clean as possible when she visited.

As promised, they packed an Iraqi dessert as a welcoming gift and once the twins were ready, drove a much, much shorter drive to Ciara's new home.
 
Ciara's new home was situated in a very nice apartment complex. It was all very neat, very orderly, and very well-maintained. As the twins looked out the window at the nearly identical rows of white walls with their identical windows and identical doors, both were struck with a feeling of low-key horror. The only thing differentiating one unit from another was if there was something hanging on the door or not, and maybe a tiny something on the front step.

"I don't think I like plain or minimalism anymore," Xander said quietly.

"Have I gone to hell?" Alec asked worriedly. He looked down at himself as if worried his usual colorful attire had been replaced by something more boring.
 
Dressed in all black, Dark looked like a walking shadow against the tidy white walls. Putting on his own sunglasses, he said, "I can certainly understand why she felt at home here."

That day, Daizi was wearing a big midnight blue dress with celestial patterns on the sleeves and skirt, cinched at the waist with a wide belt. While they talked, she occurred tapped her cane against the nearest wall and front step, acquiring her own feeling for the similarity of the area, "I wonder what the insides are like."

"We will learn soon, this is the door," Dark said, ringing the doorbell once he reached the one with Ciara's number. Ivy he just carried on his hip, since there was little sense in bringing the stroller and she was too big to carry around in her carseat all the time. Honestly, he realized, he probably could have had her walk along with them.
 
Ciara opened the door almost instantly and stepped aside so they could come in. "Welcome. Thank you for coming," she said seriously. "Please, come in and make yourself comfortable."

Her apartment was not quite as devoid of color as the twins had expected, but it was close. It looked like something that had been built in the early 2000's or possibly late 90's when that particular shade of yellow/orange cabinetry was all the rage, which contrasted somewhat with Ciara's white aesthetic. White walls, standard wooden flooring (probably vinyl or similar), and simple wooden cabinetry in the kitchen. The first floor was open plan, and there was very little inside. There was a couch (white), a sitting chair (white), and an oval coffee table on a short-pile rug (both white). The kitchen table was white and modern-looking with padded white chairs, the kind without arms and with fabric, the kind that just asked for trouble. There was a pony wall at the entry, and a glass bowl sitting on top acted as a catchall. The bowl had a few keys and a thing of Chapstick, nothing more. There were no plants, and only a handful of pictures that were either people or abstract.
 
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Daizi greeted Ciara warmly, and would've held out her arms to her if she were not busy folding up her cane, "Thank you so much for having us over! Would you prefer our shoes off or on?"

"We brought you Kleicha," Dark said, going into the diaper bag with his one free hand to get the box out, "It is the unofficial national cookie of Iraq."
 
"Whichever will make you more comfortable," Ciara replied. "I did sweep and mop, so if you would prefer to have your shoes off, it is clean." She, herself, wore house shoes that looked nice enough to wear outside. She probably would never think of wearing her house shoes outside.

"Hello, Aunt Ciara!" Alec said, stepping forward to give her a hug. "Your place looks very neat."

Ciara hugged him back gingerly. "Thank you, dear. It is a very well-built house, and the plumbing was redone recently."

Xander didn't say anything, watching to see what the general consensus was on shoes on or off.
 
Casting his gaze around the white room, Dark said, "If you have just mopped, it is probably for the best we remove them. I would hate to track the outside across your clean floors."

On his hip, Ivy held her hands out to Ciara and happily babbled out the best she had for a greeting, which was a sort of stumbled maha sound.
 
"Hello, Ivy. How are you?" Ciara greeted her just as seriously as the adults. She did not offer to take Ivy, the idea not even occuring to her. "If you would like to remove your shoes, there is a shoe rack there by the door."

Xander considered keeping his shoes on since it was an unfamiliar place, but he decided to remove his heavy boots after all and put them neatly by the door. Alec copied him with his yellow Converse shoes.
 
Rather than attempting to hand Ivy to Ciara, Dark simply set her down on the floor. There was no way to hold her and take off his shoes. As soon as she was released, while Dark helped direct Daizi to the shoe rack, Ivy looked around this new place, immediately seeking the nearest way to cause herself grave bodily harm, as toddlers are want to do. By the time Dark looked back up from the shoe rack, Ivy already had started making her way towards the stairs, but she wasn't yet so quick that his long arms couldn't get the back of her shirt to prevent her from wandering too far. "Tifla, where do you believe yourself to be going?"

"From the sounds of it, she is inviting herself on a house tour," Daizi commented.
 
"You are all welcome to come in and explore," Ciara invited them. "There is not much to see." She glanced around again, suddenly worried that she had not removed anything that could possibly injure Ivy.

"It looks really, really nice, Aunt Ciara," Alec assured her, wandering in a little to look around. "What a lovely kitchen!"
 
"Would you guide me around the space?" Daizi asked, staying by the door. Dark could, easily, but firstly they had a toddler to wrangle, but more pressingly, it was Ciara's home and it seemed right to allow her space to host.

"We made certain her hands are very clean," Dark explained, as Ivy switched her goals and went to grab onto the nearest piece of white furniture.
 
"Thank you," Ciara said, not sure how to react to that, but also grateful that Dark understood. She reached out and gingerly put her hand on Diazi's forearm, more than willing to be shifted to a better position. "Of course. Please, this way. We are in the entryway here with a short wall to your left, and there is a closet to the right. If we got a bit straight, now there will be a living room to your left, and the kitchen is on the right. Which would you prefer to start with?"
 
"I think the kitchen first," Daizi said, "I would guess you'd have us sit in the living room, so we'll make it there regardless."

"The natural lighting is pleasant," Dark commented, but he was mostly keeping an eye on Ivy.
 
The twins trailed behind Ciara and Daizi as Ciara gave a very professional tour of her small but efficient kitchen. She described everything with great care and let Daizi touch anything she wanted. Then they circled around to her living room, and she described everything there, showing Daizi where things were so that she would not run into anything. There was very little breakable in her place, thankfully, but running a leg into the table would definitely hurt.
 
Daizi gladly walked along with her, asking her questions and touching the feeling of the cabinets and counters, "It feels like a really comfortable space," she said, "You must have been delighted to find this place."
 
"Yes, I was. It is a little... not quite my taste, but I believe that is the cost of renting," she said calmly. "I can tolerate it quite comfortably. It is likely much closer to my tastes than yours."
 
"I would imagine so," Daizi replied as she ran her fingers along the back of the couch to feel its overall shape, "but I hope your home is something you do more than tolerate."

"What would you change, if you could?" Dark asked.
 
Ciara considered his question seriously even though she doubted anything would change. "I would change the color of the cabinets and the floors, although I do not hate the floors. And I would remove the pony wall. Otherwise, it is mostly small things. I am, admittedly, rather picky. It is something I have to control continuously."
 
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