How Green Becomes Wood

"That's the other tragedy, I want to dance with both of them," Daizi explained, "but I need to choose!"

"Scrunched?" Dark asked, thinking about it, "If I am just walking around outside, no, I do not feel scrunched then. But on public transit and planes, in some restaurants where you cannot move the table at all, in these sorts of tents, in a hotel bathroom... I usually need to be in spaces through my day which I am larger than."
 
"I guess you could try dancing with both at the same time, but I don't know how that would work," Alec laughed.

Maybe try not slouching. Xander texted Milo. He took a picture of the people dancing for Milo. "Mama and Alec are coming in," he reported to his father.
 
"I guess if we both kneeled down and held hands in a circle it would work," Daizi suggested.

"I see them," Dark replied, twirling Ivy one last time and hugging her before he stood and stretched out nearly every vertebrae and walking towards them so Ivy could run up to them. "You looked like you were having fun."

"We were," Daizi answered, bending down to give Ivy a big hug, "Ivy, were you dancing with Baba?! How special!"
 
"That does not surprise me," Daizi replied, kissing the top of her baby's head, "You are the cutest girl in the world, sweet miss Ivy-Qadira."

"She must be," Dark replied, helping Daizi upright, "She is your daughter."

"Even I have to agree that's cheesy," She teased, holding his hand. "Dance with me, Goose?"
 
"Of course," Dark replied, handing Ivy's leash over. After they both told Ivy they were just going to be over there, they went off hand-in-hand like two lovesick kids, falling easily into each other's arms.

Ivy, meanwhile, watched them go off together in shock and then turned wide-eyed to her brothers, amazed her parents had walked away from her.
 
"Mama and Ba will be right back," Alec assured her. He picked her up and held her so she could see them better, pointing them out to her. "See? They're dancing! Would you like to dance with me?" He crouched down to set her down again and offered his hands.

Xander clapped softly for Ivy. "Show Alec your dancing, Mini."
 
After the time spent totally-not staring, Dark felt a mild electrical shock through his body when he actually put his hands on Daizi's hips. Although they were both skilled dancers on their own, it was nothing like when they came together because they had such absolute trust in one another. They moved more like one creature without even trying, whispering contentedly to each other.

Ivy continued to stare at her parents, not understanding how special it was to have parents who truly loved each other the way hers did, but soon Alec distracted her enough to dance with him like she had before. It was pretty fun to dance!
 
Alec focused on Ivy, dancing with her and giving her his full attention so that she would not feel left out of her parents' fun. They deserved some time to themselves.

Xander took a long video of Dark and Daizi dancing, intending to send it to Dark later. He figured his father would enjoy watching Daizi.
 
Soon enough Ivy was dancing and wiggling with Alec just like she had with her father, a big grin on her face.

Dark spun Daizi around and then, with one hand on the small of her back, kissed her gently. It wasn't anything that would be inappropriate in their public setting, really just a brief peck, but it was enough to make a smile spread slowly across her face until her entire face and just the look if it made Dark's heart flutter.
 
Xander watched them, smiling unconsciously. He would never say it, but he was glad of Dark and Daizi's affection for each other. Open and honest. It was something that still took him by surprise sometimes. He knew it shouldn't, but his time around this sort of genuine love was much shorter than the amount of time he'd spent not around it. He wished his mother had been able to have something like that, but then that wouldn't have brought him here. It was a tangled web, wishing to change the past. Maybe it might be nice to have something like what he was watching in the future, for himself, but... no, he still could not accept that he'd ever be able to find something even close to resembling what Dark and Daizi had. That was okay. It was just nice to know it existed at all.
 
Daizi leaned in and whispered something to Dark which made him laugh in his little, quiet way, which made her laugh in turn. They knew they could stay there all day, but also that they couldn't, so after the song ended they walked hand-in-hand back to their family.

"You two look to be having fun," Dark commented, pleased to see Ivy was still having a nice time with her brother.
 
"She is a natural," Dark praised while Daizi picked Ivy up to give her a hug and a kiss.

After murmuring sweet things to her toddler, she asked, "Do you want to go look at a few more vendors before we eat?"
 
"I want to see all the vendors in any order that is most efficient," Alec said with grave seriousness.

"I want to eat more food than is good for me, and I also want to see all the vendors," Xander said in equal seriousness.

Alec nodded. "Both."
 
"I think the dancing tired her out enough, now is probably a good time to look at more of the vendors," Daizi said, giving Ivy a big good snuggle before putting her into her stroller and handing her the stuffed rabbit from the diaper bag.

"Some vendors may have food samples," Dark said, waiting until Ivy was settled before leading them in that direction.
 
"That is the best news you've said yet!" Xander stated. He pushed himself up onto his crutches and started off.

"Have we gone down this way?" Alec asked his parents, pointing down an aisle. "Let's go this way if we haven't been yet!"
 
Alec led the way down the street at first, but he quickly fell behind as he wandered to look at one thing or another. There were so many cool things! He tried to stay close to the rest of the family. They made it easy by being spotable with their height. For once, being Arabic wasn't enough, but Dark and Daizi still stood taller than most of the people there, so it was easy to spot them even now. Xander was solidly average height - well, on the taller end of average, but he was currently slightly bent because of the crutches and therefore shorter - so he was hard to see as well.

Xander, for his part, showed studied disinterest, but when he saw a booth with leather-made goods, he hopped over to check it out. He did not often get the chance to see handmade leather items in person, and he was eager to learn more about his chosen craft. The stall next to it had a lot of handmade sewn goods, and he found himself drawn to that, as well. He'd never before seen how similar the two were. Very different mediums, and different tools needed to create things, and yet, at its core, they were incredibly similar. He called Dark over to look at a particularly interesting pair of coveralls that had a sort of utility belt of pockets designed into it. Different pockets had been designed to hold specific items, and they wouldn't fall out or bounce around on a separate belt. He couldn't decide it it would be great, or severely uncomfortable.

While Dark and Xander were occupied, Alec continued down the row, not realizing the others had stopped while he'd been looking at a second little shop full of natural gemstones. He noticed the two tall heads he normally aimed for were not ahead of him, and, falsely thinking they'd continued, sped up to try to catch up. They were not there. Nor were they around the corner down the next street. He turned back, wondering if he'd passed them. Somehow, thanks to the jostle of the crowd and the numerous flags, he saw nothing. of his family. He wandered a little farther until he realized he was completely turned around and had no idea which direction would even take him to the edge of the crowd, let alone to anywhere where the family would think to look for him.

"Well. This is annoying," he remarked out loud to himself.

"Want to try some roast nuts?" asked a vendor next to him.

Alec considered and then nodded. "Absolutely." If he was going to be lost, might as well not be lost on an empty stomach!
 
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