How Green Becomes Wood

"They certainly have audiobooks," Dark said, "Shakespeare wrote plays, and he is the most famous playwright in the English-speaking world, they definitely recorded them."

Daizi nodded, and then added, "And he's in the public domain, so nobody needs to acquire rights to perform his work. Personally, I love Hamlet, it's so dark and heavy. Everyone jokes about and quotes the To Be or Not to Be soliloquy, but in that moment Hamlet is earnestly contemplating suicide... Dark and I saw a wonderful performance at a community college, once. It was gender-blind casting, so most of the cast, including Hamlet himself, were women, which is fun, since in Shakespeare's day all roles were played by women. I still think about the soundtrack, it gave me chills."
 
"I thought most if not all of the parts were played by men, including the female parts," Alec said, puzzled as he fussed with his food. "I read a fictional narrative from the point of view of a young boy who joins his troup. The reviews claimed it was quite historically accurate."

"All I know is Romeo and Juliette is overdone and usually has the wrong point," Xander remarked. "It's all romantic and mushy when it's supposed to be a tragedy about pointless loss and such."
 
"Oh, I misspoke. I meant men," Daizi replied, mildly embarrassed. She blamed it on her exhaustion, "Did you know Romeo and Juliet is sometimes argued to be a comedy? Some scholars say they argue it to be satirizing high societies like the Capulets and the Montagues were."

"I like Macbeth," Dark said, taking a sip of his drink.

"We would make a good Macbeth and Lady Macbeth," Daizi agreed, clearly finding it a sweet, if dark, thought, and then furrowed her brow, "Wait, no, they had a baby who died. We need to be others. Titania and Oberon."
 
"I could see a dark comedy," Xander mumbled around a piece of chicken. "But I'd rather not see it at all. Plays are weird. I don't like them."

"You are definitely not the Macbeths," Alec told Daizi, still chewing on the same piece of broccoli still. "I like plays, but I like listening to audio books better." He glanced out the window, watching the light play across the back garden.
 
"Plays for me are sort of like expensive audiobooks," Daizi said, slightly amused, not by the twins opinions, but at the realization she had paid so much money over the years to sit in a room and listen to a live reading of a script, "but I love the energy of a theatre. They feel so alive and full of possibility, and so ancient. Even the modern ones, the act of coming together to tell stories is at the heart of the human experience. And they're also always full of ghosts."

"I love the ghosts," Dark smiled slightly, "I cannot wait until this house is haunted."

"Oh, that will be great," Daizi agreed while Dark looked around at the walls.
 
"I thought it was her who liked the ghosts," Xander said in confusion, nodding toward Daizi.

"I'd prefer not to have any ghosts at all. It's rather unnerving to think of something who doesn't respect walls," Alec said unhappily. "What if they watch us in the bathroom?"

"I'm suddenly not so hungry anymore," Xander said, setting down his fork.
 
"We can share interests," Dark replied.

"I'm afraid to say, Alec," Daizi said with almost true empathy, "there will be ghosts, and there's nothing for it. Dark and I have already agreed to haunt this place, one day. We really wanted to have a sub-basement put in to be a little private mausoleum, but we couldn't get the planning permission. But regardless, we're never moving out."
 
"Well, I guess my chance is to go on not believing in ghosts as hard as I can, and hopefully that means I'll be left in peace," Alec said simply. He stood and started clearing up though he hadn't eaten much.

"Wouldn't you rather go be in whatever your version of heaven is?" Xander asked. "Even just ceasing to exist sounds more pleasant than hanging out listening to other people's problems for eternity.
 
Daizi shrugged, "What's more fun than getting to pester people? And I imagine our house will be inherited by of you three, and it'd be nice to keep an eye on things. An actual eye, because I'm certain my spirit can see. And it would be so nice to rest after a long cycle of reincarnation."

"I imagine it will be like the ballroom scene in the Haunted Mansion," Dark murmured. As always, it wasn't clear if he believed it or not. He made no secret about his atheism, so he easily might only like it as a story, nothing more. Or he may have chosen to make a show of believing because he knew his wife liked it.

Either way, he leaned back in his seat, finishing the final bit of his dinner, and said, "but the reason why ghosts stay trapped, if I learned correctly," he gestured to Daizi, indicating he had learned from her, "ghosts stay trapped because they have unfinished buisness on the mortal plane, but if we remained from choice, we are not trapped, and if we grow tired of it, we could move on to whatever comes next."

"Together."
 
"Forever sappily sweet even into the after life," Xander said dryly. "Alright, fine, just stay out of the bathrooms, alright? If either of you cause bathroom mischief, I swear I'll go find a priest to exorcise you."

"That's rather harsh," Alec said mildly as he put leftovers in their containers.

Xander shrugged. "I like my privacy, especially concerning bathroom matters, and it's not like I can have a conversation about boundaries after their gone."

"What about that one thing, the wedgie board?" Alec suggested.

"From what I hear, there's no guarantee who or what you're going to call up with one of those things, so I'd rather not risk it," Xander told him.

"Fair enough," Alec agreed.

The pair of them finished cleaning up, not quite reaching Dark's standards of clean but getting close.
 
"No ouiji boards in my house, either living or dying," Daizi said firmly, deeming it very serious, "but I promise to stay out of the bathroom. I'm not interested in seeing what goes on in there either."

Dark stood to help get the rest of the cleaning done properly, although he was pleased they were getting better, and as he did so said, "But if the house becomes a wreck after we have gone, I will use my powers to spill cleaning solution across the floor. That is a promise."

"Babe what are you going to do when the baby starts making messes? It's kind of what babies do." Daizi asked, close to grinning, while Dark froze in place, trying to figure out what he would do. Because although he had not thought about it, homes with babies and toddlers were always, it seemed, an absolute wreck.
 
"He'll walk around with a blindfold, and we'll clean up. Until he can teach her to clean up after herself, which might be the only reason he puts her down," Xander said dryly.

Alec patted his hands dry on a towel and moved toward the stairs. "It looks like things are cleared up down here, so I'm going to head up to my room."

"I have a thing I was looking into, so I'm going to do that, too," Xander said. "I'd ask if you two needed anything, but I'm guessing you're just waiting for us to leave so you can have alone time."
 
"No, I was probably going to lie down myself," Daizi replied, standing up, "although he's welcome to join me, if he ever learns to rest. Actually," She turned towards Dark, "Goose, can you get me the flashlight, I need to borrow it." He frowned momentarily before remembering something she had told him, so he went and fetched it from where it was kept and handed it to her.

"You can go," He said, taking a moment to hold her hand, "I will come visit with you after taking care of Enkidu, okay?"

"Okay... And I'll wait for you for..." She held up the flashlight, "I just didn't want to forget." They lingered near each other, and then after Dark finally moved away, Daizi stood, and as she headed up to her room said, "We can't blindfold him, both of us being blind would destruction the delicate balance we've created."
 
Xander and Alec looked between the blind person and the sighted person and the flashlight.

"I don't even want to ask," Xander said, heading for the stairs.

Alec sprinted up the stairs ahead of him and went to his room. He hadn't apologized to Daizi, but it just didn't seem like the right time. At least things seemed easier and quieter between everyone. Why disrupt it with more emotions? He'd do it later.
 
As soon as he could, Dark joined Daizi in their room, and the two of them sat on their bed. She had changed into the ridiculous horse shirt, which she actually wore fairly often, because since Dark had bought such a large size she found it extremely comfortable. Now she wore it rolled up above her belly, with Dark sitting near her, feeling strangely nervous.

But he turned on the flashlight, and she helped guide it to where, inside, the baby was resting. Almost as soon as it was pressed against her skin, she half-gasped and half-laughed, and then excitedly announced, "Oh, Goose! She moved away from it!"

"I hope we are not annoying her..." Dark breathed, shifting closer to his wife, moving the flashlight across the swell of her belly, while she reported on her actions. They didn't do it for too long, because they knew the baby was really only meant to be in darkness still, but even after the light was switched off, they stayed together, allowing themselves to take time to bond with each other and their unborn child, without any distractions. More than anything, Dark wished he could feel the movements Daizi was reporting, but she just kept urging him to be patient.

"You know..." She whispered, putting her hand over Dark's, "she moved from the light... that means she can see. Or at least, see better than me."
 
Alec sat in his room staring out at the garden below. As it started to grow dark, he glanced toward Xander. Xander was looking at something online and grumbling to himself. Quietly, Alec slipped out, heading outside in silence, hoping not to cat anyone's attention. He walked through the garden and let himself into the shed at the back of the garden. It looked exactly as it had the last time he was in there. He moved straight to the carnival and leaned over, looking amongst the buildings and trying to pick everyone out. There was Daizi as the fortune teller. There was Cooger as the lion act. There was Xander as the firebreather. There were several others that he didn't recognize but looked like they were likely people Dark knew. He looked, and then looked again. He was nowhere in this diorama of Dark's life. He knew Dark had a hard time deciding where people should go, and yet he still felt hurt deep down. Where was he? What was his duty? Was he not a part of the carnies but only a spectator? Was there no room for him? Did he not belong? Alec's fists balled. Anger, confusion, and hurt boiled up inside him in one tangled mass, building off the frustration still lingering from his confrontation with Daizi.

Some of Dark's unfinished mockups sat off to the side. Alec picked them up, careful not to disturb any of the finished works, and grabbed a larger piece of wood before carrying everything outside. He tossed the small pieces of wood onto the ground and gripped the board as tightly as he could. He didn't belong here. He didn't have a place! He was just floating along! A spectator! He swung the board hard, smacking the wooden pieces as hard as he could. Again and again and again!

"What are you doing?"

Alec yelped and spun around. Xander ducked as the board sailed over his head. "What are you doing?" Alec gasped.

"I asked first," Xander retorted and walked around him to look down at the pieces laying on the ground. "You're... planting a really weird type of bush?"

Alec glared at him. "Not funny. You're really not funny."

Xander shrugged. "And you're not good at throwing temper tantrums. Haven't I taught you anything in our fifteen years of life?" He knelt down and picked up one of the pieces. "This isn't even anything valuable or important."

Alec looked away, pouting. "I didn't want to hurt anything."

"Smacking something Dark made with a board doesn't look like not hurting anything." Xander shifted to sit down. "Seriously, what's up? Why are you so upset about Daizi? For real. I know it's not just because you want to help make her life easier."

Alec growled in frustration and plopped down beside Xander. "I don't have a figure in the carnival."

Xander stared at him blankly. "Okay?"

"I don't have a figure in the carnival, and I don't have a place here. I don't have a position, a job, a duty. I'm just floating along like a jellyfish stinging people who get to close and contributing nothing! Nothing at all." He gave the pieces in the grass a half-hearted smack, the angle too awkward to do much with. "You can cook, at least. You can build useful things with leather. What can I do? I can make plain sandwiches. I can lose my stupid phone in stupid places. I can get lost. I can dress like a clown. I can draw pictures that no one cares about, or at least don't have any impact. I can't do anything. I just want a job! I want a way to contribute! Daizi talks about people codling her, but I don't want to be cooled either. I'm the person that people look at, smile vaguely, and say 'that's nice' to. I'm the person who causes stress and anxiety and who needs to be pestered to take care of themselves. I just feel so... useless."

Xander didn't say anything as Alec poked the wooden pieces. "You know... Declan once told me something, and it was probably the only right thing he ever said."

Alec glanced at Xander sideways. "What was that?" he asked suspiciously.

"He said you fit into this Addams family better than I did. He was right about you fitting in. You just," he waved a hand, "slid right into the family all comfortable-like. You brought light and laughter and, yeah, some fighting, but only ever fighting over things that you thought were important. Things you wanted for other people, not yourself. That's pretty special."

Alec heaved a sigh and dropped his board so he could hug his knees. "It doesn't feel special. It feels like I've outgrown my usefulness."

"Maybe, but isn't that what being a teenager is all about?" Xander pointed out. "I could still be the same Xander that first walked through those doors. What would you think about that?"

Alec smiled half-heartedly. "You are easier to get along with."

Xander nodded. "And I had to learn that I kind of like cooking. You haven't learned what you like yet. So, all we have to do is figure out what you like and how we can use that to help the family. It's definitely not being Daizi's nanny. It's not cooking, but that's okay because Dark and I both cook. You're a good cleaner, but Dark's too obsessive for that to help right now. Maybe when Mini's around. You could try your hand at making clothes for Daizi?"

"That sounds like it would all end in tears," Alec moaned.

"Yeah, probably," Xander agreed.

Alec glanced at him sideways. "Thanks."

"Welcome," Xander said.

They touched shoulder gently and sat in the cool, shadowy garden.

"We should probably clean this up," Xander remarked.
 
Inside, Enkidu stood pawing at the glass, very confused why his smaller humans got to go outside and he didn't. It seemed very unfair, and he whined slightly, but not loud enough for his big humans to hear him.

They had heard, or thought they had heard, footsteps, but not the sound of the front door opening, and with their fenced in backyard, they weren't concerned anyone was sneaking out. The twins weren't prisoners and didn't have a bedtime, so Dark and Daizi gladly still stayed inside their room. They were lying down, now, together. It was just another normal day, although a very, very long one. Daizi still had work in the morning, but for the time being, they were together, deeply engaged with each other. Their conversation had shifted away from the baby, but still stayed light and comfortable. Mostly. Daizi did explain, in much more detail than she had with Alec, how their fight made her feel, and all the emotions it had drudged up, and they talked about the twins and Alec in particular, but...

It felt they had so little time together, some days, and they just couldn't bring themselves to dwell.
 
The twins picked up the splinters of wood, careful to get every single piece just in case anyone was out in bare feet. One of the pieces was completely destroyed. Xander tossed that and hoped Dark wouldn't notice. The other two looked alright. Alec did his best to buff out the scrapes and put them on a shelf. In doing so, he brushed up against some of the neatly stacked sketches. He started sorting them straight again but paused.

"Look at these," he murmured to Xander.

Xander unabashedly snooped and looked over the papers. "Hey, see? You do belong! It's just, not even Dark knows what your job is yet," he grinned, looking through the quick sketches of Alec playing instruments, spinning plates, and various other random action scenes. "I guess we have to figure out what your talent is so he can put you in."

Alec smiled and carefully put everything back the way it was. Then they turned out the light and headed up for bed.
 
Dark and Daizi both stayed awake much longer than either intended, and both ended up waking up the next morning without an idea of when exactly it was that they had fallen asleep. Dark rose, as he always did, to brush his teeth and wash his face while Daizi, in one of her newer habits, took a bit of extra time to get up and out of bed. The baby was always the most active early in the morning and very late at night, which wasn't ideal, but it meant she got to spend her mornings with her little one.

Then, while Dark made his way downstairs to drink coffee and slowly start breakfast, it was Daizi's turn to start getting ready for the day. At least the week was nearly over.

Dark was right, it had seemed, when he told Alec not to worry because by the next day it would be like nothing had happened, because when Daizi came downstairs, she greeted the twins exactly as she always had, with no hint of harbored grudges or private upset in her face or voice.
 
Alec approached Daizi slowly and cleared his throat. "About yesterday," he said slowly, "I didn't mean to make you feel that I don't think you can do things. I didn't mean to make you feel... inferior, I guess is the right word. It's just, you give so very much of yourself, and I really want to give back to you. I just do it in the wrong way, and I'm sorry. I care a lot, and I want to make things easier for you. Not because I don't think you can handle them, I know you can, but because I want to give back to you. I just really don't know how, and I get frustrated and react badly when I feel you are rejecting my attempts to show you that I love you back. It's my error. I'm sorry." He fidgetted uncertainly, hoping he'd said it right.
 
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