How Green Becomes Wood

Claire looked at the way he looked at her after saying he wanted to see the skirt, and a faint blush came into her face.

Glancing at Xander, Sloan linked her arm with Claire's and said, "If I glue my fingers together, I won't be able to use my phone to take a photograph, so you'll just have to imagine it. See you at lunch, okay?"
 
"See ya," Xander agreed, guiding Alec away, who was slowly blushing deeper red. "Dude," he said once they were out of hearing from Sloan and Claire, "get it together. You're embarrassing everyone."

"I know," Alec sighed. "It's my greatest talent, I think."

Xander huffed and shook his head. "Seriously. You're kind of pathetic mooning around her like that."

Alec covered his face with both hands. "I know! I know, but what else am I supposed to do? She leaves in a few weeks, and I'll probably never see her again unless it's when she comes to see Sloan. It's better to try to stuff these feelings in a box and wait them out."

"You need a better box," Xander said blandly, catching Alec's shoulder and guiding him away from walking into another student.
 
"Girl, you're down bad," Sloan said, walking with Claire towards their next classes. They weren't in the same one, but it was the same hallway.

"Ssshh," Claire whispered, staring down at her shoes and pulling her bag in closer.

"It is so obvious," Sloan lightly teased, "Even Xander noticed! You've got to just tell him already!"

"I can't!"

"Just use your words! I beg you!" Lightly tugging Claire towards her to shake her slightly, "End my suffering!"

"He literally just broke up with his girlfriend! It's too soon!" Claire argued.

"Okay, but like." Sloan replied, leaving her sentence there.

"Sloan."

"Am I wrong?"

"We're going to be late to class!" Claire exclaimed, making Sloan groan and drop her head back.
 
The rest of the day went smoothly, despite the fact that Xander had the distinct impression that he was herding Alec and Milo both through their days. He did not mind, but it was unusual, especially for Milo. Lunch time came around, and he challenged Sloan to a cracker stacking contest. The crackers were promptly eaten afterward.

When school finally ended, the pair headed for home after Xander checked with Milo twice to make sure he was okay riding home on his bike. Just in case.
 
Milo promised he was fine getting home on his own. He was definitely a bit off kilter, but he would be able to get home safe and without incident.

The same could not be said everywhere. The second the front door opened, the sound of Daizi shrieking and laughing were heard, and she was hurrying down the stairs yelling, "I have our baby! Stop!"
 
The twins paused just inside the door. They traded glances. Safe laughter, or the kind of laughter that indicated they should walk around the block? Daizi said she had Ivy, so that indicated a level of safety. The twins took off their shoes and touched the salt before daring to go the rest of the way inside.

"Hello! We're home!" Alec called out.
 
"Help!" She shrieked, trying hurriedly to fiddle with the gate latch before giving up and stepping over it, running to the front door while Ivy laughed on her shoulder. From the looks of it, Ivy's hands were a bit messy, but it wasn't clear quite what was on her hands? The colour of it was similar to her own skin tone, it might've been some sort of paint?

"I take one nap!" Dark called from upstairs, his slower footsteps heading downstairs, not really sounding angry, more bewildered.

"Hide us!" Daizi wheezed.
 
The twins wasted a second to stare at them in bewilderment before snapping into action.

"Follow me," Alec said, taking Daizi's elbow and leading her to the kitchen. "Quiet, now!" He led her to the pantry and gently ushered her inside. "There we are. Hidden! I'll help distract."

Xander walked loudly toward the living room, making it sound as if everyone had gone that way. When Alec came shuffling as quietly as he could into the living room, they quickly created a mounded lump behind the couch to make it look as though Daizi was hiding behind the couch. It was sloppy, but the best they could do in a few seconds.
 
Daizi followed them without complaint, doing her best to shush Ivy, who was quickly getting an education on how much fun it was to be mischievous, certain that the toddler was most likely to be the one to give away their hiding place. She sat down on the pantry floor, rocking Ivy, and fighting for her life to not keep laughing.

When Dark came downstairs, he was shirtless. And the right side of his chest was... blank? Mostly blank, anyway. In some areas, the ghost of his tattoos still showed through, and the edges of the blank area were uneven, sometimes looking like it had been finger-painted. Over by his lower ribcage was a very clear Ivy-sized handprint. Not seeing them anywhere else, he walked into the living room and asked, "Where are they?"
 
The twins stared at Dark in absolute shock.

"What on earth," Alec started to say, and then his voice started to wobble, "happened to you?"

"You look like you've had an eraser taken to you," Xander said, leaning forward, hypnotized by the sight.

"You really are the Illustrated Man, but unfinished," Alec said, his voice a tad squeaky as he tried not to laugh.

Xander tipped his head. "No, it's more like someone changed their minds partway through."
 
"Your mother happened to me," Dark replied dryly, "with help from your sister. You understand why I must find them?" Spying the suspiciously Daizi-shaped lump, Dark pointed to it and asked, "Is that them? Ivy-Qadira, are you hiding from Baba!'

From inside the pantry, Daizi could hear the shock and annoyance in the living room and bit her tongue. When Dark called Ivy's name, she quickly put her hand gently over Ivy's mouth to stop her from calling to her father. Worst case, she decided, she'd just start nursing.
 
"Isn't it kind of cheating to ask your kids to help you with your game of hide-and-seek?" Xander asked with a faint smirk.

Alec put a hand over his mouth, giggling as he did so. "Sorry, Ba, but you're going to have to go lifting blankets by yourself."

"Just be careful not to get ink everywhere," Xander warned, his smirk widening.
 
Dark stared at his sons and then groaned, pushing his hands back through his hair like he was trying to rub his face off, "All I did was take one nap!" Then he went over and gently pulled the blanket back, because for all of his annoyance he wasn't going to risk hurting his wife and child. Seeing it only pillows, he looked again at his twins, "Cheating, y'hmar. And it is foundation, not ink."
 
The twins snickered, watching him.

Alec reached out and ran his finger over Dark's shoulder. He looked at the smudge of foundation critically. "It makes marks like ink. Makes a mess like ink. Covers up or adds like in. I'd say it's the same difference."

"Don't you have a wife to find? Or have you forgotten what she looks like? Like an Ent?" Xander asked.
 
"Do you not have anything to do?" Dark said, but instead of searching around, he raised his voice slightly so it would carry and said, "Ivy-Qadira! Where are you, Tifla? Baba misses you!"

In the pantry, Ivy squirmed and was just about to call back when Daizi kissed her on the cheek to hopefully distract her before whispering, "Shh, Ivy! It's a game!"

"Ivy!" Dark called again.
 
Gesturing to the Ivy-shaped handprint on his chest, Dark said, "Have I not also been wronged by my daughter?"

Enkidu gladly came hurrying to Alec, happily wagging his tail.

"Ivy-Qadira!" Dark called again, walking out of the living room, and again Ivy nearly yelled back for him. Exhaling in stress, Daizi carefully stood up, and as quietly as she could manage, pulled out some of the cookies from the twins' American Snacks stash and handed one to Ivy. This delightful, forbidden food, very quickly forgot all about calling back while she ate it.
 
"Sure, but I doubt she was the one to come up with the idea, and what are you going to do with her? Paint her up with foundation?" Xander teased.

Alec grabbed one of Enkidu's toys and started playing with him loudly, encouraging him to make noise and hopefully cover up any noise Daizi and Ivy might make.
 
"She must learn to not go along with such things," Dark said. He knew Daizi had run downstairs, which limited the number of places they could have hidden. These options were further decreased by Daizi being six feet tall, so he took a look under the dining room table but wasn't surprised to not find her there. Then, as he walked towards the kitchen, an option occurred to him. Walking past the pantry, he opened the front door--taking pains to stay firmly indoors with his feet planted so nobody could attempt to push him outdoors and lock him out--he looked around to see if Daizi had brought Ivy outside. Again, he called for Ivy, but since she was eating cookies, she didn't even try to respond that time.
 
Alec and Xander watched Dark, deeply amused and curious. This was, quite frankly, the best thing to have happened to them all week! Even though the week had barely started, they doubted anything would top this. They followed Dark only enough to be able to watch what he did, staying out of the way. If their mother had done something like try to push him out, they likely would have given her a helping hand, but they weren't going to do anything themselves. Probably.
 
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