How Green Becomes Wood

Dark looked solemnly at Xander after he had sorted, saddened by the fact his son clearly did not believe him. "I did," he said seriously, but took a breath and putting his emotions aside said, "I should take her upstairs so she can take a decent nap. I do not want to disrupt her routine."
 
"Go ahead and take your time," Alec told his father. When he was sure Dark couldn't see, he gave Xander's good leg a nudge, which made Xander look at him, confused. Alec scowled at him.

Taking a guess at what Alec wanted, Xander said, "Maybe we three can do something when you get back. It's been a while."
 
Dark stood, keeping his baby settled in his arms, and told his boys, with not even the slightest trace of a lie, "I would like that. I am glad we will have so much time together this week."

Then, he brought Ivy upstairs and spent some time rocking her to sleep, murmuring fragments of legends he could recall. Even after she had fallen asleep, he continued to rock her until finally he stood up and lay her gently in the crib he had built for her. One day she'd outgrow it, but not yet.

Then, he slipped into his own bedroom for a moment, and after a few moments of hesitation, called Ciara.
 
"He's had a hard day. I don't know why, and he clearly doesn't want to talk about it, but something happened," Alec told Xander.

Xander nodded. "Got it. Give Ba attention. Can do." He was also texting Milo, asking about times and things they could maybe do together, and Peter was also in contact. At the moment, neither Peter nor Xander had any clue as to what they should do, but they agreed they should do something.

Ciara answered after three rings. "Mr. Dark, good morning," she greeted him professionally. "Is anything wrong?"
 
Milo replied that he had pretty much the whole week to do things, but also that he and his mom were going to the zoo at the end of the week so he couldn't do anything that day.

Despite his mental preparation for this conversation, Ciara's question made him go silent for a few moments. When he spoke, he said, "I am calling you on a personal level regarding something I suspect you will learn about professionally. There was an incident at Tristan's store involving his father, I happened to be in the area and found myself involved. Daizi was at work, all of my children were at home, and they are all, therefore, uninvolved and quite safe."
 
Peter suggested that they get together for a gaming session. He knew Alec and Xander weren't exactly gamers, but perhaps they could invite Milo, and there were games that even newbies would enjoy. Plus, it was something that would not be annoying to do with a booted foot. After some thought, Xander texted Milo and asked if he wanted to join him, Alec, and Peter in a gaming session sometime within the next couple of days, and then maybe he and Milo could do something together in the middle of the week.

"I see," Ciara said coolly. There was a lot she could have said. She could have remarked about Mr. Walsh being a source of trouble or always knowing that he would be, but Ciara was a consummate professional. All she said was, "Thank you for letting me know in advance. I appreciate your care in this matter. I am glad the children were uninvolved. And you? You said you were involved. Are you injured or in need of any assistance?"
 
Milo agreed it would be fun, and suggested some games that might be enjoyable as a group.

"I am as I ever am," Dark replied, sitting down on the edge of his bed, "Only bruises, nothing necessitating a doctor's visit. There is security footage, I am sure you will end up seeing it."
 
Xander told Peter of Milo's agreement, and Peter put all of them in a group chat so they could agree on a day and time as well as the games they'd like to try. He had quite a few and different platforms, so there was a lot to choose from, but final game choices could happen on the day.

"Very well. And you are certain there will be no retaliation against you? I would not wish for this to follow you home," she said, her tone as calm and controlled as ever, but with true concern.
 
"I do not recall ever giving him my name, and I should hope he learned he has no buisness seeking to harm me," Dark replied, recalling the look on the elder Walsh's face after he was thrown to the pavement, "but who can say? I unfortunately have some degree of notoriety, my face was in the paper in February if he chose to try to search for me. I would not have engaged had this man not seemed quite likely to cause serious harm to Tristan, I have no desire to bring more stress and fear to my family. Still, I am presently more concerned about the footage being spun to make me appear the aggressor."
 
"I am pleased to know you are safe and are reasonably certain you will remain so," Ciara said. "I will look into the footage as much as my position allows. If there are any unpleasant developments, I will be able to let you know, at the very least."
 
"Thank you," Dark said, and he was grateful even if his voice wasn't filled to the brim with it, "I want to believe I will eventually be fine from it all, after the dust settles, but until then I am not looking forward to the legal process likely to occur from here. In any case, I called you so you would learn from me, not from what's methods I am sure you have which alert you any time my name is included in a police report."
 
"Understood. I appreciate that you let me know so that I might be on the watch for this report," Ciara said. "I wish I could say that you would not be needed in the legal process, but I am afraid that will not be true."
 
"Understood. I shall keep you informed as I can. Be well with your family," Ciara said brusquely.

Alec had gotten all the toys picked up by this point, except for a couple of wayward toys in shadowed corners that he hadn't seen, and was talking with Xander about their upcoming plans.
 
"Take care of yourself," Dark replied, and after hanging up, he lay back in bed with his eyes shut for only a couple moments before getting up, changing into a more comfortable, unripped shirt, and went back downstairs to his son, "What would you both like to do?"
 
"Chess," Xander said.

"You can't play three-person chess," Alec pointed out. "We could make a craft."

"Like what?" Xander frowned.

Alec considered. "We could do a collaborative drawing. Each person does one stroke, and then passes the paper to the next person."
 
"What if we design something?" Alec offered.

Xander frowned. "Like your collab art thing?"

"No, I mean, just for fun, what if we design a thing? Like Ba's carnival?" Alec suggested. "Obviously not a carnival, and not to the degree that we need a wooden model of it, but that sort of thing. We could design a business together!"

"What kind of business?" Xander asked.

Alec looked to his father. "A... tattoo parlor inside a... plant store? With leather stuff?"
 
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