How Green Becomes Wood

"I suppose I cannot fault you for that," Dark replied, mildly amused by Xander's idea of 'girl stuff,' but he understood the hesitancy around making clothing for feminine frames, "You know... Between the two of you, I had not expected you to be the one to open a fashion buisness. Do you have a name for your shop yet, or is it too fresh an idea?"

Naturally, Dark wanted to offer his help. Not on the leatherworking side, but on setting up the online storefront, shipping, coming up with costs... But he didn't want to offer too much and push in on Xander's passion project, so instead all he said was, "You will need a bank account for it."
 
"I had some ideas!" Alec grinned. "I think I should have some say if I'm the model."

"Your ideas were vetoed," Xander said bluntly. To Dark he said, "It just kind of made sense. I really like making stuff and designing the leather, but there's no particular thing I like making more than anything else, at least not yet, so I figured this was a good thing to try for a while. I want to get a few more pieces finished and polished before setting up an online presence. And I should probably figure out a name."

"I still like Geary Cosperov," Alec grumbled.

Xander ignored him. "Lots of details, but a bank account would probably be a good idea even if this doesn't take off."
 
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Dark squinted slightly at Alec's proposed name, since to his ears it just sounded like vaguely Russian nonsense, but he said, as if he and Daizi hadn't been quietly putting together a savings account for the twins with the money the state sent them, "That is true. Well, we have to get your permits soon, so we can take you at the same time to set up bank accounts at the same time. It will be an excruciatingly boring day, admittedly, but it will be for the best in the long run. Do you need anything else? You are welcome to stay and talk with me if you like, but I would also like to work on my figure. Or, Alec's."
 
Xander started to say something, but Alec started ushering him out. "Hope! That's all! Thank you! We don't want to get in the way of your creative juices!"

"This is just because it's your figure, isn't it?" Xander complained but let Alec push him out. "If it was the cradle or something, you wouldn't act like this."

"Stuff and nonsense!" Alec scolded him. He paused at the doorway, grabbing the door. "Bye, Da! Be creative!" And shut the door behind himself.
 
"And I do not want to get in the way of yours," Dark replied genially enough, "but you are welcome to come back, if you would like to." This time, he didn't have some big reaction to Da. He had heard it enough times to know that even if he did remark on it, he'd get no response. Daizi had the same problem, and both were too anxious and awkward to actually sit down with the twins and flat out ask if they realized what they were saying or what it meant. So, considering that, they just quietly accepted it, and held the feelings it inspired dearly.

The next evening, as it neared the time for Sally to arrive to steal Daizi away from her spouse, the two of them were sitting in their bedroom, and Dark was just finishing applying her makeup. He had already finished braiding her hair into a delicate, side-swept look that avoided being too formal and sleek, so it maintained to its fullest her true sense of style, and he added a golden hair vine too it. Since her dress was red, he had chosen gold as her accent colour, which tied in her wedding ring.

And Daizi was extremely patient while he fussed over her, and was sitting in a slightly uncomfortable position, mouth slightly agape, while he brushed what he called 'her truest red' lipstick on her. It tickled slightly, but they had sat across from each other enough times that she had learned not to squirm. When they were younger he threatened so sit on her to keep her still. Not that it was really possible now.

At last, he finished, and sitting back, he gazed into his wife's face and murmured, "You are glowing."

"Oh shut up," Daizi laughed, moving to sit up, but lightly Dark touched her arm.

"No, you are. You really are, I am serious," He replied, "you look like the green light of Spring."

"You know I have no idea what that looks like," was all she said, but she didn't pull away.

Dark ran his thumb just above her elbow, feeling immensely jealous of Sally Hollis for getting to take Daizi out that evening, "That warm light you feel on your skin, just breaking through the cool shadow of winter, like faerie kisses... with the sweet scent of the first few wildflowers in the air... That is what you look like. And all the birds shaking off the morning dew sing for you." The colours of her outfit matched winter more than spring, but he wasn't looking at what she wore, but what she exuded.

"Really?" She breathed, while he leaned forward to steal one last kiss before she had to leave, and then another. And in between, while moving closer, she complained, "You're going to ruin my lipstick,"

"I can fix it."

"And you're going to make me late."

"I do not care," Still, he pulled away, knowing that she was right, and not wanting to stress her out, "Okay... Go get dressed. Do you need help?"

She shook her head, and reluctantly stood, "It's a side zipper, I'll be okay. You go downstairs, when Sally arrives wondering why I'm not ready, you need to make excuses, because you're the one who caused the problem."

"Fine," Dark replied, and watching her for a moment longer, went downstairs to, as ordered, receive Sally while Daizi changed into her dress.
 
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Alec was stationed at the window watching for Sally to arrive. He glanced up when Dark came down and raised his eyebrows. "She must look especially fine tonight," he remarked, noting the moon-struck look on Dark's face.

Xander was reading something on his phone and didn't bother to look up. Occasionally, he reached out and scratched Enkidu's ears.
 
"Of course she does," Dark replied quickly, averting his eyes as he hurried into the kitchen. Lightly, and he hoped subtly, he touched his mouth and then looked at his fingers to make sure her lipstick hadn't transferred onto him. Thankfully, it hadn't.

"I was sent downstairs to wait for Sally," to steal his wife away for the evening, "Daizi is just getting dressed, now, she will be down soon."
 
Alec turned and grinned at Dark. "Are you jealous of Mrs. Hollis?" he teased. "Jealous that it's not you taking her out?"

Xander looked up. "Why would he be jealous of that?" he asked in confusion.

"Don't worry, I'll explain it to you when you're older," Alec assured him. He looked out the window. "She's here! That's a nice car. A Mercedes Benz, I think. I don't know cars well."
 
"I have taken her out since we bought the dress," Dark replied solemnly, "but at first we were busy for anything grand, and since then..." Cozy? Normally they went out a lot more in the summer and stayed home in winter, but there was something about this summer that made them just want to spend time at home together, and it didn't seem necessary to dress up for that. It seemed a bit lazy but it was nice to just sit together on the couch. But he would have taken her! They had been chatting casually about maybe going somewhere they would need to dress up, but Sally just got there first.

Seeing the car he said, "You are probably right. That it is her, I mean. I do not know much about cars, either."

Finally, Daizi came drifting down the stairs, the crimson fabric falling around her like water. When she tried it on the first time she looked amazing, but now, somehow, it seemed to fit her even better, like it had been tailored especially for her. But she couldn't see herself, so even though she felt comfortable in it, she still felt it necessary to ask, "It fits okay, right? I don't look silly or kind of stuffed into it?"

"yeah..." Dark whispered, when he turned to see her, meaning to answer the first question. When he realized what he had actually implied, he cleared his throat, and a bit more strongly said, "No, no, you look... It is... You..."

A bright grin spread across Daizi's face, which only weakened him further, "Alright, okay, I understand. Take the time while I'm gone to put your thoughts in order, okay?"
 
Xander finally looked up and actually took a second look. "You look ready to knock some people dead tonight," he commented. "Have a good time, but we expect you home before nine, young lady."

Alec giggled and said, "I'd hug you, but I don't want to wrinkle your dress. As you probably already guessed, you look fantastic. Have fun!" He glanced out the window again. "Mrs. Hollis is coming up the drive. Oh, she looks stunning in a black dress!"
 
"Thank you," Daizi blushed slightly, and went to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear until she remembered it had all been braided. Then, in the whiniest voice she could muster, "Ugh, nine? But that's so early!" because cracking herself up.

Dark looked again out at Sally while she walked up, and although he could, objectively, see she looked nice, with complete sincerity he said, "You look better, darling."

"It's not a contest," she replied, coming over to stand near her husband, "and I am certain she can see you looking out at her. Go open the door."

Of course he obliged her, because he knew she was right, but he fully intended to make Sally walk up all the way and knock before getting to the door, just so he could have those few extra moments. But, instead he opened the door just as Sally came up to it, and said, "Hello, Sally. You look beautiful. Daizi is just inside."
 
Sally smiled brightly, dressed in black and silver with a small strand of diamonds in an artful setting twinkling at her neck. Her hair was up in a simple updo with what looked like decorative black sticks holding it in place. Incongruously, she wore a pair of worn flats on her feet instead of the heels one would expect with her elegant dress. "Good evening, Mr. Dark, it is a pleasure to see you again," she smiled. "I can wait here for her."

"Fine, nine-thirty," Xander called after Daizi, smirking at the joke, "but not a second later!"

Sally laughed. "I certainly hope to have her home before then! I want to be home before then."
 
"Oh, I can stay out much later than that if you let me," Daizi laughed, coming from around the corner, "Or, I used to be. Who knows now. Hi, Sally. Your perfume smells nice... That's about as much as I can say about it."

Dark sighed, "Right... Whenever you get home, I will be waiting for you... But, I suppose you ought to be going, now. I do not want you both to be late."

"You don't want me to go," Daizi said softly, turning towards him.

He shrugged, "I want you to have fun. So go! And," he looked past her towards Sally, "Take pictures of her, if you can remember to. Posed ones are boring to me, or I would take one of her now."

"No, please don't," Daizi said to Sally, and then stretched up to kiss Dark, "bye, darling. Bye boys, torture him for me, won't you?"
 
"Happily," they both said Alec cheerfully, and Xander with an edge of mischief.

Sally chuckled and took Daizi's arm lightly. "Thank you, darling. You look absolutely divine! You would have any fellow eating out of the palm of your hand if you chose. Don't worry, Mr. Dark, I shall ensure to get plenty of pictures." She led Daizi to her car and warned her, "It is a little low, but very comfortable once you get inside. This car is nearly twenty years old, but when I bought it, I got the luxury model. If I was going to be driving around in a car for a couple of decades, I wanted to be comfortable doing it. I already moved the seat back for you."

The outside of the car was nice but nothing much to look at - not that Daizi would know - but that was because the car's manufacturers had poured their attention on the inside of the car, both in luxury and in performance. The seats felt like butter, giving perfect support and comfort to the passenger while every surface gleamed bright and sleek. Twenty years ago, it had been at the top of the market. These days, it was missing many things commonly found in cars, like most of the electronic parts, but it still looked and felt brand new.
 
"Oh, I don't think so," Daizi replied, truly doubting anyone but her husband would fawn over her. She knew she had other suitors in the past, but she was younger then and not heavy with another man's child, "and thank you for moving the seat. So many people don't think about doing it. Poor Dark, once, years ago, had to get a ride from a coworker because our car broke down, and he had to be crammed into a little VW Bug for half an hour. Both ways. But I guess the seat was all the way back for him, then, but he said his knees still touched the dashboard."

Very carefully, Daizi lowered herself into the car, taking the time to be certain all of her dress was inside the car before closing the door and buckling her seatbelt. The seat was extremely comfortable and she quickly relaxed into it, "Twenty years is a long time... I can't imagine. You must have been young when you bought it. Our car is much newer, but for most of our time together, I had been cut off, because my father does not approve--and approved even less historically--so we struggled for a long time with our two college tuitions and those low paying early jobs you earn. Bless him, he's worked every job imaginable while we were getting settled."
 
"I was young, and I admit my parents bought this car for me, but only because they knew insurance and car salesmen would try to gouge every penny they could out of a naive young girl, and only after I'd jumped through every hoop imaginable to prove I was responsible enough to have a car like this," Sally chuckled as she pulled the car away from the curb. "My family was - is - well off, and I am fortunate in that I was never put through the kind of struggles it sounds like you went through, but my father and mother were big believers in hard work. We didn't get an allowance, we got wages earned for doing tasks around the house from the time we were toddlers. Appropriately aged tasks, of course, but still tasks. My brother once got caught paying one of te servant's children to do his tasks for him, but for a third of what he received."
 
"Oh, my father didn't make us earn the money we received before being cut off. Then when he forgave me," She gestured back towards the house, "He didn't like us living in a one bedroom apartment. Especially because we weren't married. I would've rejected it, I was very happy in our crummy apartments, but rejecting it would be like rejecting my father so... And now that we're about to have three kids, it's a blessing. But I think he always worked my brother harder than he worked me..." She smiled, and settling even further down into the car, "Dark and I already talked about it, and when my father dies, we'll put some of his money away for the kids, and some into savings, but we'll donate most of it to help the Egyptian people. Iraqis, too. The vast majority came because of the work of impoverished Arabs, so we want to put it towards their aid. Especially since that's where Dark comes from."
 
"That is incredibly sweet!" Sally said with a smile. "Fathers do seem prone to favoring their sons in some way or another, be it excusing their behavior or coming down harder on them. When my father found out what my brother was doing, he figured out exactly how much the child had earned doing my brother's chores, paid him exactly that much, and then had my brother work without pay for a while. Of course, after a discussion on how my brother's actions were financially profitable and therefore apparently a good idea, but ethically wrong. That was quite a summer!"

She waved a hand, making her silvery bracelets jangle. "Nevermind all of that! Tell me what you have been up to. Any news I should be up to date on?"
 
Daizi laughed at the conclusion of Sally's story, "Well, it's good the other child was paid what he was worth, in the end. And that your brother was punished for it, even though it was perfectly capitalistic. As for news... hm..." She fiddled with the end of her braid, "Last Monday was the twins' mother's birthday. Their aunt is trying to form some manner of a relationship with them, which I really appreciate... Dark keeps having nightmares of me dying in childbirth... We went to the Carnival last Saturday... Oh, and---"

She turned towards Sally, beaming, intentionally saving the best and greatest news for last, "Dark felt her kick for the first time. Right on top of the Ferris Wheel, and about a thousand times since. Alec's felt her too. And we know her name, but we aren't sharing it."
 
"Oh, did he?" Sally asked, glancing at Daizi briefly. "That is so wonderful! I thought Jack was going to pass out the first time he felt Peter kick. Apparently, no one had gotten around to telling him that was a possibility, and he was taken by surprise. Once he calmed down, it was possibly one of our most intimate and magical moments during my pregnancy." She sighed blissfully and then scowled. "Daizi, you are making me want to be a mother again! It's just a fleeting thought, but still!"

She sobered a little, though, and said, "I am sorry that he is having nightmares. That is distressing. Poor fellow."
 
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