How Green Becomes Wood

As soon as Alec called go, Daizi helped Ivy down the slide as quickly as she safely could, which made Ivy nearly scream in joy. It was so fast! She could even feel the breeze in her hair! Once she got to the bottom, Daizi scooped her up and spun her around, saying, "I have absolutely no idea who won!"

As Enkidu ran out, he kept glancing over his shoulder, and then as soon as the ball was thrown, he took off even faster to go retrieve it.
 
Alec dragged his feet with a squeak, letting Ivy get to the bottom first. It was still close as he had a hard time balancing his speed from all go to all stop. "Ivy wins!" he cheered. "Hurrah, Ivy!" He clapped excitedly and then stood up stiffly. "I don't think these slides are great for bigger kids," he said, rubbing his backside.

Xander snorted and watched the dog run. "Yes, yes, you are so fast," he grinned. Maybe they should try some something different. Like Keep Away if Alec was willing to play.
 
"You're so fast, Ivy!" Daizi cheered, kissing Ivy on the cheek. Then, grinning at Alec she said, "There's a reason why I had you race her instead of me trying." She rubbed Ivy's back and after a moment said, "I think I need to go change her, I'll be right back, okay? I know how to get to the public restrooms from here."

Enkidu ran back to Xander and dropped the ball from him, panting hard from all his hard work.
 
"Alright. Give a shout if you need anything," Alec said agreeably. "I'm going to go see if Xander needs help." He walked over to where Xander had just picked up the ball. "How goes the tossing?"

"Go long, let's see what he does," Xander suggested.

Alec grinned and trotted away to put a decent amount of distance between them. Xander threw the ball to Alec in a high arc, keeping it out of Enkidu's reach. Alec returned the toss, and they did that for a couple of throws before lowering it so Enkidu could grab it if he jumped a bit.
 
Not long after Daizi had made it out of earshot with Ivy--who was, by that point, in tears over the fact she had been carried away from the park while she was having so much fun, despite her mother's assurances they'd go back soon--a man walked up to the twins, a scowl deep on his face. He looked pretty average, standing at about six-feet tall, and when he came up to both twins he cleared his throat as though he believed they should automatically attend to him and then, in an exasperated way, said, "Excuse me."
 
"It is incredibly inappropriate to let your dog off leash," The man immediately went into scolding as Enkidu immediately returned to Xander's side and sat down as soon as he was called, "It is disrespectful to everybody else here and puts all of the children on the playground at risk."
 
"Yeah, all of the kids that are just crowded around this specific area," Xander said dryly, giving Enkidu a quick pat. His body stood tensely, but he tried not to hold the leash too tightly. He didn't want to upset Enkidu. That could only lead to more trouble."

Alec stepped in to try to keep things from escalating despite the man's clear intent to start a fight. "Thank you for your concern, sir, but, as you can see, we didn't take him off the leash, and there are no kids in the area."
 
"I don't really see a difference between having a leash attached or not if you aren't holding onto it." The man complained, crossing his arms and glaring at them, "Maybe the fact you both feel entitled to let your dog run loose is why kids aren't here, they're all too afraid of it."

Enkidu, meanwhile, was panting with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.
 
"You mean like how you feel entitled to yell at people who have their dog under control?" Xander asked mildly.

"Sir, no one was here when we arrived. As you saw, when you came over, we retrieved his leash, like we would have if anyone else had come," Alec said firmly, a bit of irritation seeping through. "Thank you for your concern, it has been noted."
 
"That's the problem with kids these days," The man huffed, stepping closer to them and seeming very accustomed to throwing his weight around, "Everything is always about me, me, me, and no care to what anyone else wants and needs. Go to a dog park if you want to let your mutt run free, don't come here and bother everyone trying to be with their kids. Teenagers got no damn respect."
 
"Me, me, me?" Xander snorted. "The hell, man? You are the one getting in our faces. How about you get yourself some damn respect and get out of our faces?"

"There are no other people here to bother," Alec repeated through gritted teeth. "We have retrieved our dog. Please leave us be."
 
"And how soon after I walk away are you going to let your dog loose again?" The man asked, scowling at them, "Causing a nuisance and making it impossible for kids to actually play on the equipment."

Coming back from the bathroom with Ivy on her hip, Daizi was surprised to hear a man's voice talking with the twins. As she came closer and heard more of their words, she picked up the pace, and introduced herself by saying, "Is there a problem?"

"You're damn right there's a problem," He replied, turning to look at her and only pausing for a moment when he saw a tall, blind woman with a toddler and an odd manner of dress, "These kids are letting their dog run loose, making it impossible for anyone to be in the area." He looked back at the twins, nearly sneering at them, "Do you see? How is a blind lady and her kid supposed to feel safe here? That dog will run them over!"

"That dog is my dog," Daizi replied, swiveling to the side to mostly block Ivy with her own body, "and those are my sons. I'd prefer they not be harassed when all they're doing is playing fetch in the park."
 
"Looks like they feel safe," Xander muttered quietly. He was more than willing to stand back and let Daizi have her say at the interloper, but he was also ready to give him a proper beat-down if he pushed against his mother too hard. He could be as rude as he liked to them, and Xander would stick to using his words. If he was too rude to Daizi, it wouldn't be his words Xander used.

Alec smirked quietly and wondered if he should offer to take Ivy from Daizi. He said nothing, waiting to see what she would do.

Both of them agreed, this was going to be good.
 
"Is it a guide dog?" The man asked.

"No, he is not," Daizi replied, and was about to say Enkidu had gone through some guide dog training before the man interrupted her.

"I thought not. You do realize you don't have any extra rights to allow him loose?" The man said, "You need to abide by the park rules just like anyone else."

Pressing her lips into a thin line and forcing a polite smile, Daizi stood proudly, "I'm well aware, but I'm also aware the park rules allow for playing fetch."

"Not if you're disturbing others," He told her.

"I'm sorry, were you and your family attempting to play in this area?" Daizi asked, holding Ivy out to hopefully indicate for Alec to take her.

"No, but---"

"So why does it matter to you? Was my dog coming anywhere near you?"

"No, but---"

"So you just saw boys playing with their dog and decided to make it your problem?"

After being interrupted twice, the man's face flicked in anger, and he took a step closer to Daizi, very used to being able to throw his weight around and get what he wanted, "Do not interrupt me."

"Don't yell at my kids," She replied, "And don't try to intimidate me."

"I can see where your children got their entitlement from." He said, staying within her personal space. For a moment there was an uncomfortable pause, where it seemed like he may say something else, or try to grab her arm to try to get her to give into what he wanted, or something, but then Daizi, feeling the shift, just started barking at him. She made herself as physically large as she could, and just started barking at him, which caught the attention of everyone else in the vicinity who had been ignoring this confrontation before. The man himself flinched backwards from surprise, stepping instinctively out of Daizi's personal space.
 
Alec was quick to take Ivy, and he stepped back, letting Xander get between him and the adults. He smiled at Ivy and cooed to her that everything was fine. Then Daizi started barking. He watched in fascinated awe.

Xander was impressed but not particularly surprised by Daizi's forceful intervention. He loved her fire! He had been ready to intervene if the man did anything stupid like touch Daizi, but he jumped back a step when Daizi started literally barking at him. He couldn't help grinning as he watched.
 
"What the hell?!" The man sputtered, trying to get ahold of what he had been planning to tell her before this crazed woman started barking at him. Not long after Daizi started barking, Enkidu stood up and started barking with her, which made the man back up further. The man tried again to get a word in, but Daizi just swore in Arabic and spat on the ground, turning her head to the side so she knew it'd just hit the grass and not the man.

"Crazy bitch," The man said as he started leaving, wanting absolutely nothing to do with... whatever this was.

"Such a big man," Daizi called after him, "Strong man. Intimidating children and a blind woman." Again, she swore in Arabic, and after he was well and truly gone, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed. "Are you both okay?"
 
"Confused and overcome with delight!" Alec laughed, stepping forward to hug her with one arm. "Ivy, Mama was fabulous, wasn't she?"

Xander waited until the man was well on his way before telling Enkidu to hush. "Good boy," he praised, patting him. "Mama, that was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Nice."
 
Hugging Alec back, Daizi said, "Sweet Ivy-Qadira, I hope you learn a good lesson from Mama." Then, shaking her head she said, "What a prick. Some people just want to make their problems everyone else's business." Passing one hand over her hair to smooth it, she told Xander, "That is probably the greatest tool in my self-defense toolset."
 
"It's a highly underrated tool," Xander said. "It works really well."

"Probably because people are too worried about not making a scene," Alec mused. "I love it! I'm going to tell Sloan and Becky about it."

"What if I want to tell Sloan?" Xander countered with a smirk.

"Fine, but I want to tell Ba!" Alec agreed.
 
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