How Green Becomes Wood

"It's always good to have those moments in your pocket," Daizi told him and then turned to Xander with a teasing grin, "You should've seen how annoyed my colleagues were when I applied to my master's program and I was able to write about how I am a disabled woman who participated in Arab Spring. They were writing about their volunteering, I was writing about spray painting tanks even though I couldn't really see what I was writing. Although when I was your age, I was probably doing much less than anyone else here. Dark, Cooger, and I were all just teenage dirtbags. But we were free!"
 
"Hmm, I guess that does make me feel better, and it does give me a pass for if I ever decide to go spray painting something. I can just say my mum gave me the idea," Xander mused.

"I don't think that's what she meant!" Alec protested while Peter laughed and Sally and Jack looked intrigued.
 
"If you are ever in a positon where you are overthrowing a dictator, I welcome it, habibi," Daizi promised him, "I'm still an activist, there is not a cause I believe in I have not marched for."

"And I have had to hold you back many times," Dark very subtly laughed.

"People try to intimidate me, they need to know it does not work," She replied.
 
"I would love to march with you sometime," Sally chuckled as she watched them.

"Dear, we need to get back," Jack said, sounding a touch regretful. "Oh, and Sally got my schedule to you, right? Have you had a chance to decide when works best for you?
 
"I would be glad to stand beside you." Daizi told Sally, squeezing her arm lightly. She meant it. There had been a few protests she had wanted to attend over the last two or so years, but first she was in a high-risk pregnancy and then she had an infant, so she had to skip them. She told Jack when they were available for the photoshoot, and said she just wanted them done in her garden, by her apple tree, and then she said goodbye to her friends, once more praising Peter for the wonderful thing he had organized.

Then, they milled through the dispersing crowd so Daizi could greet and talk with every person they knew, while Sloan chatted with the twins and Cooger and Dark were able to catch up. Since they were in town square, anyway, Daizi suggested they get ice cream before going home, but knew they needed to head out soon, because Ivy was getting a bit cranky and overstimulated.
 
Alec was getting rather overstimulated, too, but his overstimulation had always been more like overenergized and bouncing in circles around the others rather than crankiness like Ivy. Xander just tolerated it while talking to Sloan until they went for ice cream. Ice cream was the best choice after an event like today, and he savored his butterscotch while Alec dove into triple chocolate.
 
Despite Dark and Daizi having both agreed Ivy didn't get any added sugar until her first birthday, and both knowing there were ingredients even in the sugar-free ice creams they hadn't determined if Ivy was allergic to or not, they still debated if they could give her a little spoonful. Ultimately, they didn't, because they knew they shouldn't, but it was a nice day, and now that she was used to being spoonfed, they thought she seemed a little left-out. Dark promised her that when they went home, he was going to make homemade ice cream out of all the nice stuff she could eat. He promised her.

Then, after making sure Ivy was dry, the stroller was packed down, and they went home. Alec was, unfortunately or not depending on perspective, tasked with keeping Ivy from falling asleep, because she'd be far grumpier if she had to be woken again when the car stopped than if she didn't fall asleep until after they made it home.
 
Alec took his task seriously and did his best to keep Ivy preoccupied until they got home. His success was uncertain, but she didn't fall asleep! Xander sat in the corner of his seat and did his best to not get as grumpy as Ivy.

Then, finally, they were home and free! Alec and Xander headed upstairs to change, and Alec got a text from Tom saying Peter was on the news. Of course he had to watch the recap of what they'd seen in person. Xander grumbled about an attention hog, but he did nod in approval. Peter had done a really good thing!

Perhaps fifteen minutes after they'd arrived home, Lex knocked on the front door, stepping back to stand with hands in pockets as she waited.
 
As predicted, Ivy went down for her nap almost as soon as they made it home, much to everyone's relief. Then, Daizi went upstairs to take out the braids she had done in her hair while Dark cleaned up a little, still thinking about his conversation with her Friday night. Could he quit? He wanted to, maybe. But at the same time, he didn't want to at all, because he did, underneath everything, value his students, and he did love watching that spark in their eyes when they finally understood something. He kept thinking about the map he had hung up in his classroom, full of all of those pushpins from students who wanted to show him the places he had been. How was he supposed to just take that down?

But. After his discussion with Daizi, those thoughts didn't seem as overwhelming as they had before. The decision of if he should quit his job or not felt infinitely more manageable than the complicated void he had been fighting through days before. So, when he answered the knock at the door, he was, genuinely, okay. "Marhaban, Lex," He said, "How may I help you?"
 
"Hey, Dark, how's it going?" Lex greeted him. She seemed a bit unhappy about talking to him and almost resigned. "I wanted to let you know that next weekend, my family is coming up to converge on my place. Brothers, mom, aunts, uncles, the whole thing. We're combining mother's day, fathers day, a couple of birthdays, amd my house warming all in oneIt's going to be a loud party."
 
Lex sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "My brother is a good guy who has done a lot for a lot of people, including literally giving the shirt off his back to someone who needed it, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he's also a massive racist. I don't want you guys dealing with that."
 
Dark inhaled slowly, running his hands over his teeth. "Thank you for the warning." He didn't really know what to do about that. They couldn't just get out of the house for the full weekend, so they'd just have to deal with it. What else was he supposed to say about it? Thanks, I'll try to be less brown! or The US Census actually says Arabs count as white because of these historical court cases? But it was better to know than not know, and he tried to fight the urge to go and hang up Egyptian and Iraqi flags purely out of his natural love of spite. "I will be sure to tell Daizi."
 
"It is not your fault." Dark answered mildly, pushing his hair back, "If he's antisemetic, too, you should head across the street to warn the Appelbaums." He made a mental note to try and convince Daizi not to play Arabic music at full volume all weekend in the garden. Let us not feed the racists, darling.
 
"It's mostly people he can visually see are different. It's so," she sighed, "so stupid. Anyway, they'll be leaving Sunday, arriving on Friday, and giving everyone headaches on Saturday."
 
"I see. Well, thank you for warning me, I will be sure to let everybody here know, who needs to. Good luck with them, I know how it can be when Daizi's family visits." Dark told her, not particularly thrilled about this turn of events, but accepting the fact he'd just have to deal with it.
 
Lex turned to go. "Thanks. I'm going to need it. See you around." She headed back toward home but kept going to warn the neighbors on the other side of her house about the noise.
 
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