How Green Becomes Wood

"Oh yeah," She held her hand in front of her mouth so she could answer through her mouthful of sandwich, "it's super cool. The day before Spring Break, at the absolute end of the day, the whole school meets in the auditorium and watch everyone who auditioned show off, basically. Parents get to come in, too, to watch. I'm pretty sure auditions are in two weeks or something."

She reached into her bag and pulled out her planner which was surprisingly neat considering her aura of not caring, "Yeah, Wednesday, May 3rd, so about a week and a half from now," Sloan put her planner back into her bag, "basically everyone gets accepted into the show, the only people who are refused are people who are inappropriate. Like, last year, I wasn't on the student council yet, but I'm told someone's entire act was twerking to WAP."
 
Xander snorted softly and closed his lunch box. "Right. Well, we have a class soon. We should go." He stood and moved to leave.

"Not that soon," Alec said, still seated. He looked Sloan with deep interest. "I've never auditioned for anything before. Do you just show the basics of what you are going to do and fine-tune it until the day of the actual event? And when is the actual event?"

Xander looked at Alec oddly. There was no way he was thinking of doing what he thought his brother was doing, right?
 
"For this, what we're asking for is for you to show your whole act, because, you know, if you go in and sing a sentence, we don't really know what youe deal is, right? And everyone has a maximum of three minutes, because otherwise we'll run out of time," She finished her lunch and began packing her her things away, "If you're interested, there's a sign up sheet in Mr. Martinez' room, and you have to let us know if you need anything to help set up. We have like, two or three after school rehearsals, only so everyone knows when to go on and stuff, then the show itself is Tuesday the 16th."

She smiled casually at Alec, a bit surprised he was interested in the auditions, since he seemed like such a quiet kid, but she thought it was awesome.
 
Alec smiled and nodded, finally standing up and joining his brother. "Thank you for telling us all that, and thank you for joining us for lunch. I hope your friend gets feeling better soon."

"Right, and now we gotta go," Xander urged. They still have more than enough time to get to their class, but he didn't care much for hanging around strange kids, especially strange kids who seemed eager to get them involved. He was quite happy to not be involved, thank you very much.

"We should join the talent show," Alec stated as they walked through the cafeteria.

"I think you must have poisoned yourself with all those carrots you keep packing," Xander retorted. They headed for their lockers to put away their lunch boxes. "What makes you think we should join the talent show?"

"Because of Logan," Alec said.

Xander said nothing as they unlocked their lockers and put their lunch boxes away. "You're going to have to run that by me again with some explanation. What does Logan have to do with a school talent show?"

Alec stood with his back to the cold metal while the other students filed past along the hallway. "Everyone hates us because of Logan, or fears us, or doesn't even know us. You're the school troublemaker and sometimes considered a bully even though I don't think you've ever once bullied anyone ever, and I'm your brother, if I'm anything at all, and we're both Logan's targets. When we aren't those things, we're the poor, pathetic orphans who deserve pity. Daizi and Dark have both been wanting us to go beyond our comfort zones. This could be it!"

Xander snorted and leaned on the locker, facing Alec. "Beyond our comfort zone? I think that's usually something like walking down an extra block or something. This is in the stratosphere! What would we even do? We don't have any talents."

"I think we have a talent for learning talents, and I have an idea." Alec leaned over and whispered something in Xander's ear.

"You have officially lost it," Xander stated. "But..." He mulled the idea in his mind for a moment, considering. "You know, that's not the worst idea. It's a high school, talent show, it's not like anyone is going to be expecting much, so at worst we'll probably blend into mediocrity. Unless we do something really, really stupid."

"Which is what practice is for," Alec said brightly. "So, are you in?"

"Aw, why not?" Xander sighed. "It beats studying for a history test. But first, we have to get permission and then pass the audition."

Alec laughed and grabbed Xander's hand. Xander couldn't help grinning as they ran through the hallway toward Dark's room. He should be having his lunch right about now, so if they hurried, they should have time to catch him before classes started.

Alec burst into the room first with Xander on his heels. "Professor! Can we sign up for it, please? Can we do it?"
 
"Alright, see ya around," Sloan said with a wave, "and if you ever change your mind about needing a ride, just let me know."

In his classroom, Dark was leaning back in his chair, talking on the phone and holding some small piece of paper in his other hand, and considering he was speaking in Arabic, it wasn't hard to figure out who he was talking to. Whatever he was holding he kept looking at it. When the twins ran in, he glanced up at them, surprised and concerned because he couldn't recall the last time they had scampered into his classroom like that before, and he immediately presumed something had gone terribly wrong until Alec spoke, then he was only confused.

Now speaking in English, he said, "Oh, hold on, I apologize--Alec and Xander just came in... I will call you back... I love you too... Please try to eat something, okay... Goodbye," He hung up and tossed his phone and the piece of paper--which, now lying flat on the desk, was now revealed to by Daizi's most recent sonogram, and this particular image looked relatively like an actual human baby. Beneath it was a stack of exams he was supposed to have been grading.

He blinked at the twins and then, after a pause, asked, "Sign up for what?"
 
"The talent show!" Alec said eagerly, hurrying over to his desk. "May we sign up? I already know exactly what it is we are going to do!"

Xander tipped his head to stare at the sonogram curiously. It was the first time he'd seen one in real life. It looked a lot like one of those blurry pictures people claimed proved the existence of aliens. Was that what a baby was supposed to look like?
 
"Oh," Dark replied, mostly just shocked that they were interested in performing. He looked over at Xander, because of the twins, he seemed even less likely to be interested, but the plural of "we" suggested he was going to be involved as well. It was a bit strange, but he was glad they were stepping out, so naturally he said, "of course you can. What are you planning to do for it?" He knew Daizi had been teaching Alec piano, so he presumed it would have something to do with that, but he had no idea how Xander would be involved.

Dark looked again at Xander, this time perceiving that he was looking at the sonogram, and said, "That is the newest one, she has grown a lot," but he didn't want to force them to talk about the baby, because he knew it was a sore spot, so he followed up by saying, "what interested you both in performing in the talent show?"
 
Xander was not particularly interested in performing in the talent show, but Alec seemed excited about it, so how could he say no? Even if it did backfire, it couldn't lead to anything worse than what they'd already lived under with Logan around. Maybe it would work how Alec thought and it'd show the other students that they could do something cool. Maybe. He doubted it.

"A girl actually talked to us at lunch today," Alec said proudly. "She said she is on the student council, and she wanted to know what clubs we were involved in. Obviously, none, as none of them want us, but then she mentioned the talent show in a week and a half, and if we can do well, maybe people won't be so weird about us."

Xander just shrugged. "It's something new to do."

"Exactly! And I think we should do a song and a dance," Alec said with a sharp nod. "If we start now, I think we will have a good shot."

"Apparently I need to learn to play the guitar," Xander added.
 
Dark listened, nodding, "it is nice you hear you had a positive interaction with someone other than each other," he picked up the sonogram, looked at it again with a strange look in his eyes, and then put it away in his drawer, "I think the talent show is a great idea. Even if it does not make people less 'weird' about you, it will still be something to be proud of yourselves for. It takes a lot of bravery to stand up in front of your school like that."

He ran one hand through his hair, "I used to play guitar, years ago. Mostly to impress, well, my wife. It has been a long time, I do not know if we even still own a guitar. But I think the music department has a loaner program."
 
"I forgot you used to play guitar! It's perfect!" Alec cheered. "See, Xander, it's like serendipity!"

"Yep. Now we just have to serendipitously find either someone who can play drums or get a recording," Xander said dryly.

"You can learn the drums right after the guitar," Alec teased.

Xander shook his head and grabbed Alec's arm. "Right. But first, we have to get to geometry. See ya, Professor."

Alec walked backward with Xander pulling him. "We'll talk guitars later! Bye!"
 
Hearing the number of instruments Alec was planning, Dark slightly shook his head, curious about the product he would end up seeing on the day. When they said they were leaving, he quickly wrote them hall passes, just in case they ended up running late, and said his goodbyes.

Then, with a sigh, he picked up his pen and decided he couldn't continue procrastinating on grading the tests. Most of them were decent, but... Some of them were certainly questionable.
 
The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully. Alec and Xander crammed themselves into their usual seats at the back of the bus on the way home, not even trying to talk over the loud conversations of their fellow students. Once they reached their stop, they hastily pushed to the front to get off before the bus driver started up again. They were the only ones to get off at that particular stop, and the driver didn't like to linger any longer than necessary. It was hard enough to stay on time without waiting around for students to take their sweet time. Alec chattered excitedly all the way back home about his big plans for the talent show.

Xander reached halfway up the walk before stopping and turning to him. "Alright, seriously," he interrupted, "what's the big idea about signing us up for this show? And I mean for real."

Alec started to repeat what he'd said about good impressions, but Xander's raised brow stopped him. He hesitant only a moment before coming clean to his twin. "Can you think of a more legitimate way of avoiding certain conversations with specific people?"

Xander considered the statement and shrugged. "Alright, you got me there." He sighed, glancing toward the house. "This whole thing is just so fudged up. It's not fair. To anyone."

Alec shook his head. "No, it's not, but what can we do? Hate someone for being born?"

"Not likely," Xander said dryly. "Alright, fine, you got me. We'll do this talent show thing. Practicing guitar has to be better than trying to pretend to do homework for like four hours." He turned and headed into the house.

Alec glanced briefly toward the house across the street. It was a strange feeling to think that someone who lived there had spoken favorably to them. He wondered briefly what she sis after school before he forgot the thought and hurried after Xander.
 
When Dark came home from work, he went upstairs and knocked the twins door just to let them know he had come home. He hated yelling through the house and preferred to go out of his way so he didn't have to. Then he put his bag away and went down to the kitchen to begin dinner. More than the twins, he found adjusting to the bland diet of whatever few foods Daizi could manage to eat harder to adapt to, but he said nothing about it because even altering his own plate to have a bit more flavour, in his estimation, would make him the least supportive husband in the world, and honestly, the only thing he had going for him as the person who, in some ways, caused the absolute misery Daizi was living through was that at the very least he was supportive.

When Daizi herself came home, before saying hello to anyone, she slipped upstairs to brush her teeth, because the train ride had not been kind, and then she went back down to say hello to Dark. She liked kissing him hello and wasn't vile.

Not too long after, the four of them were sitting at the dining table, but they weren't all eating. She was sitting, one foot on the ground the other on the chair with her arms wrapped around her knee. Dark wasn't eating either, because he was too busy watching her and quietly imploring her to at least eat a little bit.

"I will, just not yet, I need a few minutes," she hummed. Daizi looked utterly worn out but proud, because she had succeeded in her goal of staying at work all day and actually managing to do a bit of work, even though it was extremely difficult for her. She turned her head towards where Alec and Xander sat and asked, "How was school? I know you both stormed Dark's office earlier, but I never learned why because somebody never called me back as they promised to do."
 
Alec smiled at her as he played with his food. He didn't hate the bland diet as he'd struggled to eat some of Dark's spicier stuff, but he hadn't been very hungry lately. "Actually, we entered the school talent show! We had to ask his permission before I could write our names on the list."

"Huzzah, it's going to be amazing," Xander said, his tone flat. He shoved a forkful of food in his mouth.

"I agree!" Alec said brightly. "We're doing a musical performance."
 
"Oh, that's very exciting!" Daizi chirped, "I mean, I can't believe he made you give his permission to sign up, though, I'd think school activities are just broadly accepted."

Dark waved his hand, "The facts are being misinterpreted, I did not make them ask for my permission, they came to me to ask for permission and then I gave it to them."

"Oh, but you still create an environment where they think they need your permission," Daizi teased, leaning over to him. She leaned a little bit too far and had to catch herself on the table while Dark instantly reached out to steady her, "I'm okay--but, anyway, you know, I'm just saying, I didn't get a text or a phone call asking if I was okay with it, which means you must be big and scary and authoritative."

"I reject that notion."

She grinned, a sleepy look on her face, "Hm. You would. But a musical act, that sounds wonderful. I do hope I'm invited to the performance. But you don't sound particularly thrilled about it, Xander."
 
"I think all of the parents are invited to the talent show," Alec told her. "We'll be looking for you, of course. I intend to put what you've taught me to good use."

Xander shrugged before saying, "Alec is going to be picking the outfits and putting makeup on me. Other than that, it should be okay, but I'm not thrilled with the makeup deal after the eyeshadow debacle."

Alec pouted a little but couldn't blame him.
 
"Good." Daizi smiled, "I'm glad I get to go. I need to hear how you've developed. And I'm told all the best musicians wore makeup, Xander, so if anyone gives you trouble, you go ahead and direct them to David Bowie."

"I only stopped wearing eyeliner every day when I had to start spending twenty minutes every morning hiding my hand tattoos," Dark complained, "if I ever rise in the ranks at that school to have enough power to enact change, my first decree will be that visible tattoos are entirely acceptable." He turned his hand over. He had already washed the foundation off, but the principle of it ever being there at all annoyed him.

"What's the outfit theme you're planning, Alec? And have you already chosen a song?"
 
"Yes, I have chosen a song, but it's a secret at least until we pass the audition," Alec told her. "Maybe even then not until we perform it so you can be surprised with everyone else."

"I'm not sure how that's going to work since we have to practice in their house, and it's not like it's silent," Xander pointed out.

Alec ignored him and continued, "For outfit theme, it's going to be simple black and white with leathers. I'm still working on the details in my head. I want it to be simple, hard, cold rock, but with sharp details."
 
"You've got the hours between when you both get home and when Dark and I get home," Daizi suggested, "plus while I'm at my doctors appointments, although those are normally scheduled during the school day, but we could probably shift them around to give you both a little bit more privacy. Right, babe?"

"If it is possible, then it is your choice, they are your appointments." Dark replied, cordially, and then to Alec said, "there are blank fashion models you can print off if you want to sketch anything, you already know our printer is fair to use."

Daizi tried to conceptualize the concept Alec was describing, and she had no idea if the textures and shape she 'envisioned' was anything like what the teen had in mind, but still, she said, "Right on," and then settled her hands on her belly, "I wish she'd have hearing by the time of the talent show so she could hear it too." It was impossible, despite her exhaustion, to miss how genuinely excited Daizi was--and depending on who was looking, it was obvious her excitement was purely related to Xander and Alec deciding to perform in the talent show, and had nothing to do with, well, however the twins privately referred to the fifth life at the table.
 
"Thank you for the printer use," Alec said to Dark, "and please, don't worry about rearranging your appointments, really. We'll take care of things. This is our event, after all."

"We might need a ride to the thrift store later if you're going to play dress up," Xander pointed out.

"We can ask Sloan!" Alec replied brightly.

Xander almost choked on his food. "Yeah, no, we just barely met her. We'll take the bus."

Alec nodded. "You're probably right."
 
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