How Green Becomes Wood

Dark also gave Brego some treats, politely stroking his nose. It was another moment where if looking carefully, he seemed to have an almost ancient poise to him, but then it was gone, and he turned to Xander, "That sounds fair. And of course they stink," He turned and looked at the horses one last time, walking with Xander to the gift shop, "Enkidu stinks and they are far larger than he is. But I fear we may kill Daizi if we pick them up from the train station like this," again he checked his phone and frowned, "but I think we may have no choice but to. If we put the top down she may not notice."

~~

After an impassioned crescendo, the final song came to a close, and the whole audience rose to their feet in thunderous applause. Despite her bulk, Daizi still rose with a grace which seemed loath to leave her, and she tapped Alec's shoulder to indicate he should stand, too, although she understood if he was too awestruck to do so. There had been a few special performances she had listened to in her lifetime that left her too amazed to rise at the end, polite as it was to do so.

She dreaded the next part, filing out of the concert hall. She hated crowds like that in the best of times, but being pregnant and with someone infamous for his ability to get lost was not the best of times. Although, she thought, if this was the most stressful moment of the trip, it was a very good one.
 
"That's why you got the top-down model, so you could smell however you wanted and she'd never notice," Xander snickered. He paused and thought about what he'd just said. "Wow. That sounds really weird. Let's just see what an equestrian place has for gift shop, eh?" He opened the door and headed inside. "You wanna find like a little knickknack to take home so Daizi has something other than pictures to feel?"

~~

Alec sat in stunned silence, staring wide-eyed at the orchestra. He didn't even realize everyone was standing until Daizi tapped his shoulder. He stood as well. "Oh, that was so... so... so...." He gave up, the words leaving him. Instead, he just clapped and tried not to cry. It was a moment he never wanted to leave, but since he had to, he resolved to never forget.

Slowly, the audience started to move, filing out. Alec took Daizi's hand and heaved a wistful sigh. "Do you want me to walk in front? You can put your hand on my shoulder and guide me," he said, still sounding a little vague. It had all been overwhelmingly amazing!
 
Dark made a face at Xander's comment and only said, "Not everything is conspiratorial." Inside the gift shop, the main theme was horse. It was full of cowboy hats, horse shirts, horse pens, stuffed horses, horse posters---It was as if a horse girl's bedroom threw up in the little space. It certainly made Dark glad he had taken in Xander as a teenager and not as a child, or else he could only imagine half of their room would look just like this, as well as every birthday party.

"It is a good idea to get something for Daizi," he agreed, "and for Alec." He eyed the stuffed animals, "but the nursery has a theme now, so we cannot fill that space with an eclectic mix of random items with no relation to the theme."

~~

Daizi knew how he felt, or could guess, and so she squeezed him gently to her side, "I know." When she heard the audience move, she stepped out, "That's a good idea. Although I think it will be more you guiding me, I won't know what's in your path. Just follow the crowd, I'll be with you. And they have the merchandise area, we can stop there, if you would like to."
 
Xander looked around the room for a minute then walked over and cautiously poked the nose of a serotonin-pink horse standing in the corner. It was the size of Enkidu. "When you read book written like fifty years ago or a hundred years or whatever it was, it was always the boys wanting their first pony so they could be a cowboy. When did girls take over and turn it into four-legged Barbie?" He gave it another poke. "Seriously, I doubt even most girls want something this massively pink." He turned and spotted a brown stuffed horse that looked a little more realistic but was only the size of a cat. "Now that's more like it! Oh, hey, this whole area is a lot less pink. It was just hiding behind the rainbow glitter."

He browsed around until he came across a short wall around a corner of stationery products. The stationary was kind of tempting, but he didn't have anyone to write letters to, and he'd jump naked in a frozen pond before he took a horsey-themed notebook and pen to school. Then he saw The Wall. Rows of boxes housed horses of many breeds, all of them designed and posed to look incredibly realistic. The biggest ones were about nine inches tall, but there were others that were smaller, some about six inches tall, and the smallest not even four inches. Each one was absolutely beautiful. Some had accessories, some had foals, some had other animals, and a couple even had people, although the people looked kind of creepy and out of place with the realistic horses. Xander just stood and stared, mesmerized.

~~

"I can do that!" Alec agreed and started moving toward the exit, moving slowly and patiently as he waited for an easy moment for he and Daizi to join the steady stream. At least the audience were all behaving very politely, even chatting amongst themselves at a low murmur as they walked. "We don't have to get anything if you don't want to stop, although a CD might be nice."
 
"There is nothing wrong with Barbies," Dark said, looking up and down the pink area, "although I do think pink has become so intensely tied with 'girl' because of the push for everything to be gendered. We are looking for things like strollers and diaper bags, and you would be shocked at how many companies make a 'for men' version. I saw a baby sling designed to look like military gear, and I do not understand. Daizi and I are taking a firm stance against intensely gendered items like that for the baby, we want to buy her clothes and things that are nice, regardless of if they are marketed towards boys or girls. It is also why we did not do a 'gender' reveal."

He was also glad to see the non-pink areas, and really only followed Xander. He kept an eye out for some Daizi may like, but was not personally interested in getting anything for himself. Xander's amazement at the wall of horse figurines made him smile slightly, and he stood behind him, "Those are wonderful," he said, "You should see if you have one like Ghost. If not..." He could make one. It wouldn't be the same, these were visibly a material other than wood, but without question he could carve a wooden horse. Dark loved carnivals, and therefore he loved carousels, and horses were the most famous animal on a carousel.

~~

"I don't mind stopping if you want to look," She smiled, "Just keep an eye out." Thankfully, the lobby was more open, since there was more space to spread out, so Daizi was able to release his shoulders and instead hold onto his hand, like when they came in, "You can get something for Xander, too, if you'd like, since he didn't get to experience it with you."
 
Xander spotted one that looked a lot like Ghost and picked it up to look it over. It was surprisingly heavy, but not too heavy. This horse had the odd name of "Catch Me" and was apparently in the show hunter hall of fame, which sounded pretty cool. Then a different horse caught his eye. He set the grey horse back and picked up another box. This one was a brown, white, and black painted horse, heavier set than the others, and powerful looking. The box said it was called a Gypsy Vanner. He recognized that name. These horses were a smaller draft that had been bred in the UK for traveling communities that often shared the first half of the breed's name. This one had a feisty pose, one front hoof stretched out with head ducked and body stretched out as if frolicking. The lush main and tail flew out around it in glorious waves, as did the massive amount of hair around its feet. It was a plastic model, yet its eyes seemed to twinkle.

"This one," Xander said firmly. He caught sight of the price tag and hesitated. Then he steeled himself and gave a firm nod. "Yeah, this one."

~~

Alec guided Daizi through the crowd, careful to stay close and block others from accidentally bumping into her if they were distracted. The little shop wasn't as busy as the rest of the lobby, giving them space to breathe. He stopped and looked over the different items carefully. Then he spotted a rack of CDs and guided Daizi over to them.

"Here's a whole bunch of CDs," he told her. "That would definitely let him experience this, too!" He chuckled and looked over them for a moment before spotting something glittering. He left Daizi's side for just a moment and came back with a charm bracelet. He put it in her hand and asked, "What do you think of this?"
 
Dark looked at the model, and the joy on Xander's face, before finally looking at the price tag. It was more than he had expected, but it didn't seem ridiculous, so he smiled slightly and said, "Okay. It looks beautiful, very well detailed. Do you want to poke around for something for your brother?"

He looked around the shop a little bit more, hoping to find something which really stuck out to him for Daizi. There were some delicate windchimes with a horse on top she might like, but he wasn't certain. In one corner of the room, they had horse themed items for babies, and from where he stood, he looked at the baby onesies for a little while, but he wasn't sure if he liked them because of what they were, or if he liked them because he was, for the first time, able to look at them and think about how he was actually going to have someone he could dress in them, rather than seeing them and being reminded of what he and his wife had failed to achieve.


~~

"I know one day they're bound to stop selling CDs, but I really hope they don't," Daizi mused, feeling like she was able to breathe more deeply now that she didn't feel so crowded. It seemed impossible for her to ever really gauge where she ended, now, because anytime she thought she had adjusted to her new size, she had grown again, and it wasn't like she could see how close people were to her or not. Dark had remarked a few times that she had a bruise on her belly from misestimating the distance between herself and a countertop. When prompted, she took the bracelet in her hands, and gingerly felt the charms dangling from it, "This feels beautiful... Oh there's a little harp!"
 
"I don't see anything right off that he'd like," Xander admitted, carefully tucking the box under his arm. "I want him to know that I was thinking about him, but it seems wrong to get a bunch of random crap after just cleaning out our room and decluttering." Then he spotted some coloring books near Dark and went to investigate. Most were childish, a few were the incredibly intricate adult ones, but a couple were actually in the middle. He looked through and found a decent looking one and held it up. "Here we go! Art and horses. And it's a lot cheaper than my horse."

~~

Alec smiled at her as she examined the bracelet. Now that he was away from the music, away from the crowd, and allowed to breathe, it felt strangely empty. Still, he tried to focus on Daizi. "I like that. It's really pretty, and I think it suits you. Do you like it?" He turned back to the CDs, rubbing the back of his neck briefly. He found a cheap CD that had a few of the songs the orchestra had played and picked it up. Maybe Xander would like it.
 
"A colouring book seems like a great idea," He agreed, "Alec had mentioned he had been struggling a bit with art, recently. He will probably find it relaxing." He looked around some more, and seeing some... weirdly overdramatic black t-shirts with horses on them, which he pointed out to Xander, "Maybe I should buy one of those. If I say it is for myself, it is inevitable Daizi would steal it from me. But you are right about clutter, it is probably a bad idea to buy unnecessary things."

~~

"I do... and I am sure Dark would find it pretty, too." She touched her hand to her middle, "although I could only wear it on special occasions. I don't want it to scratch her... Do you know what I should do? I should buy Dark a t-shirt and then steal it from him. T-shirts are only comfy if they're his first, that's a law. Is there something you like? I can't see what they sell."
 
Xander grinned at the idea of Daizi wearing one of the black horse shirts. "You should totally get the shirt for her. I mean, you, obviously." He started moving toward the check out, giving Dark plenty of time in case he wanted to pick out a pretty pink pony for himself.

~~

"I picked out a CD. It's only five dollars." He read of the names of the songs to her. "I think it will be perfect. Oh, if you don't want the charm bracelet, they have scarves. I see... a dark red one, and there's a black and white one, but most of them look like something a grandmother would wear. Would you like to feel one and see if it's comfortable?"
 
"If you tell her how awful they are, I will never forgive you," He teased, and went over to find a shirt in the right size. It might be a good idea to size up a bit, just to be absolutely certain she could be able to wear it comfortably all the way through the end of November. The worst part, as he selected one that wasn't too terrible, or at least, was less terrible than the rest, was the fact he was going to have to wear it for a few days until it smelled enough like him, she wouldn't steal it until then.

After making his selection, he rejoined Xander and checked out.

~~

"No, I do like the bracelet. I think it'll be nice, even if I can't wear it every day, but there's nothing wrong with that.. Do you see anything Dark might like?" She asked, gift shopping was not always easy, especially with a smaller selection like this, "And is the CD all you want? It's okay if there's something you like that costs a little bit more, I don't want you to go home wishing you had been able to get one special thing, if only it were a bit cheaper."
 
Xander stared at the shirt. He opened his mouth to make a comment about how it was big enough to be a tent and then closed his mouth. He dug out his allowance money and placed it on the counter. "I'll never say a word," he assured Dark.

~~

"No, I just like the CD," Alec assured her. "I don't really see anything... Wait! There's a shirt that he might like. And thus, you might like. It has a picture of a piano on it, not a harp, and it's dark blue. Oh, or there's black option, or white, but I don't think the white is as good."
 
Dark saw the look on his face, "It need to be able to fit me," he explained, "and her, comfortably. It is tricky because she will not be built like the t-shirt expects... And she likes to wear them long, so. And she sleeps in them, so it needs to be loose fit." He was also just estimating. To an extent he worried, illogically, about his child being too large. Seeing Xander's allowance money, he said, "No, you do not have to. I surprised you."

~~

"Are you sure? You can get more than one CD if you'd like to." She didn't want to guilt him into buying something he didn't want, but... The day should be perfect, "If we're telling him it's for him, it should be the black one. Or, well, dark blue is similar, isn't it? I don't know," She laughed lightly, "I don't care about colours, really."
 
This was getting uncomfortably comfortable for Xander's tastes. He really didn't want to think about how Daizi fit into any of her clothes. It was a perfectly everyday thing, but it felt like peeking at something he wasn't supposed to. He was quite happy to move on to money. "What's the point of getting an allowance if I don't spend it on anything?" he pointed out. "Alright, you pay for this, but if I ever get to surprise you by going on an awesome trip of a lifetime, you have to let me pay. Deal?"

~~

Alec considered her question and picked up another equally cheap CD that had more aggressive songs like Under the Hall of the Mountain King. "Here's one for Xander! How about we get the blue shirt? It's close to black but a little different. He always wears Black." He picked out the one that looked most likely to fit and held it up to Daizi. "Got it in one! This one fits perfectly."
 
"If you ever surprise me with a trip of a lifetime, you can pay," He agreed, while paying for this group of items. Then he paused, handing the bag to Xander, "You can pay for part of it. Some of it."

He then began heading to the car, "Are you hungry?"

~~

"Does he?" Daizi asked, lightly teasing, "but I'm told he looks good in it." She took the shirt, CDs, and bracelet and laid them on the counter, preparing to pay, "I wish there was something for the baby. She was with us here today too. After this we can go eat--wherever you'd like."
 
"Starving," Xander admitted. "I could eat a hor- Cow. I could eat a cow. Are we meeting up with Alec and Daizi for food? Or are we finding our own way?" He placed the bags carefully in the back seat and made sure they wouldn't slide around too much before climbing into the front seat and buckling up. He stretched out his legs slowly, groaning a little as sour muscles protested.

~~

"Oh, he does," Alec nodded, "but imagine if you only ever wore the same skirt and shirt every single day. No matter how nice it looked and felt, it would start getting old." He followed her to the counter and watched as the cashier rang up their items. "She can listen to my CD, if she wants. Then she can enjoy something from the orchestra, too." He paused when she suggested eating. "Oh, are we eating without the others?"
 
"We will eat first, then meet them at the train station. The times do not work out perfectly, our activities end at slightly different times, and they're working with the train schedule, so it's easier to eat separately. We will be back together before our normal dinner time, though, although with a late lunch, we may not be hungry," Dark explained while putting the top of his car down, "Do you have any preferences about where to eat? I am unfamiliar with this area, so if you want to just search for a place you like, we will just go there."

~~

Daizi nodded, handing the bag to Alec. She'd carry it herself, but she had to have one hand on him and the other on her cane, "We tried to make it work so we could all go together, but one of us would have to wait way longer to eat, and with the baby making me hungry all the time, and Xander never being full, it'd be unfair to one of the groups, however we managed it. And this way you can go wherever you'd like. Is that okay?" She was clearly empathetic, and it was obvious that they had really tried to make it work out, but it just didn't.
 
"Hang on." Xander dug out his phone and started searching. "There's not much out here. One really fancy place that looks like they'd turn us away as soon as they caught a wiff. Oh, there's a country dinner... It's about half an hour and right on our way. Good-old American country cooking, it says. Oh, nice! These places are awesome! You get like a platter of food for the price of one burger at a fast food joint. Our mum worked at one of those for about five years, and we'd get to eat there sometimes. The gravy went down like wet cement. It was great. Yeah, let's stop there! Unless you can't stand the idea of eating at such a place. They better have a sassy waitress."

~~

Alec picked a place nearby that looked nice but was still small. He wasn't familiar with it, but it smelled good even standing outside. It seemed quiet, too, meaning Daizi wouldn't have to worry about crowds, and neither would he! To top it off, it was not so casual that they would stand out in their very nice clothes.
 
"I can stomach it," Dark replied, challengingly, "although one day I need to take you to a proper Arab restaurant, the kind ran by people like me and Daizi, born and raised across the ocean, where they servers yell your order back to the cooks, and that is how you know it is good food." But he willingly drove to the restaurant Xander selected. He wouldn't deny it seemed fitting after a day of riding horses--he couldn't wait to shower, and he knew he'd have to, because Daizi wouldn't be able to stand him smelling like he did currently. In the meanwhile, Daizi took Alec to the quiet restaurant he had picked, and in not too long of a time, they were both on their separate paths home to each other.

Dark and Xander arrived at the train station first, and for once he fully parked the car, and then said to Xander, "Yalla, we should meet them on the platform. Daizi knows about where I try to park, but it is easier if we are already where they will be. And I am sure it will bring your brother great joy to look out the window and see us waiting for them."

With that, he parked the car (careful to put the top of the car back up, because although he doubted anyone would try to steal their horse themed memorabilia, it just seemed safer), and led Xander up to the platform to await the remaining members of their family.
 
"Good idea," Xander agreed, finally comfortably full after eating was he was pretty sure was half of a fresh-baked chicken and at least a quarter of a potato field in mashed potatoes. He stepped out of the car and stretched mightily before heading for the platform. He paused and glanced at Dark. "Thanks," he said simply. "For today." He turned away and watched for the train's approach.

Alec sat sideways in his seat by the windows, staring out at the platform as they approached. He had been fidgeting since they got on the train, but he'd gone still once they got close enough to see the people on the platform. Now he sat up, putting one hand on the window. "There he is! They are! There they both are! They're waiting for us."
 
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