How Green Becomes Wood

Dark was in his shed, of course. The crib was close to completion, but for once he was working on something else. He had finally figured out who Alec would be in the carnival, and had taken a break to work on it.

Daizi, out of respect, knocked on the door, and when Dark said she could enter, she came in and explained, "Sally called... She's bringing me to a work event tomorrow, those sophisticated ones like I've had to bring you to before. Would you help make me look nice for it?"

"Of course, love" Dark replied, "I am surprised. They are not normally your scene."

"No, they aren't. But you do for friends, right? And I couldn't let her take you, I'm too jealous," She smirked, coming up to hug him from behind, "You're not allowed to take out any woman out on your arm. Not to a place like that."

Dark chuckled, "I would not want to be with anyone other than you. Until she is old enough for one of those father-daughter dances."

"Well that's different," Daizi replied, kissing the top of his head, "Well... I have to go try on a dress. I'm not looking forward to it."

"The red one? I wish I was going to this event... It seems unfair someone else gets to take you out in that dress before I do."
 
Last edited:
Alec and Xander were in the kitchen arguing.

"It most certainly does not go together!" Alec stated.

"It most certainly does go together," Xander told him equally emphatically.

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"How about we ask him?"

"He's in the shed, so you can't, so there."

"So there nothing! We just wait for him to come out."
 
As Daizi headed for the stairs, she heard them, and naturally poked her head in, "Ask him what?" She asked, "What are you both arguing about?" It seemed the longer they lived here, the more they got into spats with each other, and it was amusing, but also continously bewildering, because it was always the most bizarre arguments.

But most of the time when they bickered, they also refused to reveal what they were bickering about, so she leaned against the doorframe and waited to see if they would actually reveal the cause of strife to her, or if they would simply shrug it off, as if they hadn't, moments before, been embroiled in debate.
 
Last edited:
"Nothing," they chimed in simultaneously.

"We're waiting for the professor to help us make a choice between two things," Xander said vaguely.

"What was that phone call about?" Alec asked brightly, hoping to change the subject. "Not to seem too nosy, but you seemed worried at first, but now not so worried. Was it good news, then?"

"Wow, smooth way to pry into her personal affairs," Xander drawled.

Alec made a face at him but didn't respond.
 
"I'm shocked to learn it's nothing," Daizi said sardonically, "and if it's a desperate need, you can always just go ask. Just knock on his door, he won't keep you out. As for the phone call..."

She sighed and then laughed, "It seems, I have a date! I guess Sally--Peter's mother, if you recall-- has some black-tie work event tomorrow, and her husband is out of the country, so she needed a plus one, and since she can't take Dark, she's taking me. So now I need to try to find a way to make myself look nice..." She turned towards the stairs and spoke like she was planning to climb Everest, "and I need to try that red dress on again."
 
"That red dress looks stunning on you!" Alec called after her. "You will be absolutely gorgeous!" He turned to his brother. "Let's go ask him."

Xander scowled. "No way. I know what I think will work. You're the doubting one. You go ask him."

Alec stuck his tongue out at Xander like he was five. "Okay, I will! You can stay here and help Daizi try on dresses."

"I'll beat you to the shed," Xander said, rushing for the door.
 
Daizi chuckled hearing their little bickering and continued on her long, arduous quest.

Meanwhile, down in his shed, after hearing the knock Dark called out, "Come in!" and waited. He was too focused on his work to open the door himself, and sat hunched over a magnifying glass with a little figure in his hand, carefully carving away the wood to reveal the shape he knew was under there, and he did not look up when the twins came in. In the back corner, the swan cradle seemed nearly finished, although was still unpainted and rough in a few spots, and the crib was covered in a tarp. It's shape was clear enough to those who knew what it was, but his careful engravings were hidden, "What do you need?"
 
"I need you to tell him that he's lost his mind," Alec stated, pointing to Xander.

"And I need you to tell him that he's not being very supportive!" Xander demanded, pointing back at Alec.

Alec glared at Xander. "It is completely out of the question impossible! It's not like me asking to dye my hair."

"Good luck finding a hairstylist willing to do that with our hair color," Xander snorted. "Come on! It's not that big of a deal."
 
Dark's eyes flicked up, and he set both the figure and tool aside. He, the figure, was looking up while bending one leg slightly, as if about to kneel, and his layers of coats were swirling around him, although he lay still against the desk.

"I need details if you expect me to form any sort of opinion," Dark said, turning his chair to face them.
 
"We were talking about this thing that- what are you working on?" Alec asked, interrupting himself with a curious look at the dramatic figurine.

Xander huffed. "Would you focus? I say no make-up with steampunk. Alec says make-up makes the steampunk. I say that's stupid and you don't need to turn yourself silver to put on a pair of goggles."

"Leather goggles!" Alec added. "Which are a safety hazard."

"How would you know? You refuse to put them on!" Xander protested.
 
Dark looked at them both very seriously while he thought over the quandry. At last, with the quiet grandeur of Soloman, he came to his decision, "Steampunk comes from punk. And punk is about a spirit of rebellion and going against the norm. I do not believe makeup is required for the Steampunk aesthetic to work--although I personally think some eyeliner elevates it--but to say it needs a specifc style of makeup ignores the freedom punk provides." He paused to see if they understood, and then turned back to his desk, "Clockwork androids are not necessarily all there is to steampunk either, so relying on silver paint is not necessary. If you are wearing goggles, though, the use of makeup around them to look soot-splattered would look interesting. Why are you both so intrigued in the genre now, anyway?"
 
"I'm not," Alec told him. "I found a band I kind of like called the Cog is Dead. YouTube recommended them to me. They're good, but then there was another band I found linked off them called Electric Giraffe."

"I think the Cog is Dead has a way cooler vibe." Xander used his phone to look up the picture of the band showed it to Dark. "Then Electric Giraffe is some kind of... I dunno, school play." He looked up the picture and showed it to him. "They don't look serious about it."

"I think that the Electric Giraffe look like they are even more committed," Alec stated.
 
"Do you mean Steam-Powered Giraffe?" Dark asked, "and for folk who are not interested in it, you certainly have formed opinions. But I do not think there is a right or wrong way to do it, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a gatekeeper."

He turned towards his desk and lifted the unfinished figure, which he handed to Alec. Only the right side of the body was finished, the head and the left side still needed shaping, so the features weren't clear, "This one is you."
 
"I'm interested in their styles, not their music," Xander stated. He frowned and tipped his head, studying the figure. "Huh. That really does look like you."

Alec held the figure carefully in both hands, his eyes wide. "This... this is me?" he whispered. His heart squeezed painfully as he turned the figure over and over in his hands. "This is for me. I get to be a part of the carnival?" He didn't dare look at Dark as tears pricked his eyes.

Xander grinned and gave Alec a gentle nudge. "Told ya," He whispered.
 
"It is not finished," Dark replied, "I need to finish carving it, it needs details... And I need to paint it," He took a long look over at the full, brightly coloured display, and then looked back at the twins, "The plate spinner. I heavily considered the Magician, but... I liked the movement I could add with the plates."

He knew, of course, what it meant for Alec to finally have his place, but Dark, who was lightly scratching behind his ear, found it difficult to engage in that importance before the craft was completed. He pulled open a drawer and then handed Alec the brightly coloured sketch--which included the grey jacket as the middle of the layers the figure wore, and was the only one of the three swirling coats that was not embellished, "I need to get thin dowel rods. And I was thinking clay for the plates, if it is not too heavy, so they actually look like plates."
 
Alec cleared his throat and carefully handed the figure back to Dark. "Thank you," he said softly. "I look forward to seeing it when it's finished." He turned back to Xander and suggested, "What about something in the middle? Something not as dramatic and over-the-top as Steam-Powered Giraffe, but a bit more than Cog is Dead? After all, you want to be showcasing your pieces, but you still want to be interesting and captivating for your audience."

Xander nodded. "Nice compromise, and I guess you're right. A bit of make-up would really draw in the cosplayer crowd without being too overwhelming for the more serious folk."
 
"It will not take too long. And I needed a break from all that," He nodded towards the cradle and crib, "the crib is almost finished. I just need to seal it. The cradle still needs more work..." He pushed his hair back and put the tiny figure back down on his desk.

Then, once more, he turned towards the twins, now looking almost exclusively at Xander, "Now. Your audience? Tell me, what are you planning?"
 
Alec turned to Xander and raised his brows.

Xander hesitated. "Well... when Alec showed me the music videos of the giraffe and the cog and all them, I had an idea. I bet that kind of costume wear is pretty niche, so most folk would have to make their own. When I looked it up, anything you could buy was either cheap crap or really expensive. So I figured maybe there's a market for some middle-grade leather outfits and accessories. They'd be more expensive than the crap, lest quality than the really expensive stuff, but it'd be a great place for people to start who are just getting into cosplaying and stuff."

"And I can be the model for his wears!" Alec chirped happily. "That's why we couldn't agree on the makeup."

"I don't know that I'd be turning much of a profit, but I do the leatherworking for fun already, so maybe it's a way to get rid of some of my extra stuff and fund my hobby," Xander shrugged.
 
Dark smiled lightly, in his own way, and sat back in his chair, "I think that is an excellent idea. There was a time I thought about," he gestured towards his creations, "selling. And briefly we were friends of someone who owned a small shop. Well, Daizi was friends with his wife, now his ex-wife, and I did sell a few things... Not my carnival, but little toys. Then the shop went under, but no harm to me."

He shook his head, and then refocused on the twins, "Are you only going to be selling men's and unisex items? Or do you need a woman to help model?"
 
"I'll start with what I know and go from there," Xander told him. "I bet there's a fair few woman looking for this kind of thing, but I'll wait until I'm comfortable making guy stuff and unisex before trying to do actual girl stuff. Maybe put in some, like, color or decal options that are kind of girly, but nothing too fancy. I don't want to try to promise too much upfront and find out I can't deliver. I'd rather promise little and deliver big than come up short."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top