It is a bit after midday, and despite the drizzling rain, Serendipity and Danny have been harassed and herded into the woods by an enthusiastic Aurelia. The whole way out, she chatters endlessly about how she's found the most perfect place, and she wouldn't have even seen it except that she happened to be looking down (apparently Someone was out flying again) and noticed the ground didn't look quite right, but it turned out to be moss on a roof and this little cabin tucked away in the woods -- it's amazing she manages to breathe once in awhile. The men are further harangued along a narrow trail that might have once been a gravel road but has long since overgrown with wildflowers and ferns, with trees creeping out of the forest to engulf it again. At the end of the trail, up a gentle rise, is a small clearing wherein stands a dilapidated house, its roof sagging, and most of the floorboards missing from the porch. Off to one side of this rather sad domicile is a sprawl of blackberry bushes that seem to be in the midst of devouring the rusted out remains of an old VW bug.

Serendipity is not too difficult to herd; he's game for checking out this house of the raven's, and follows along, taking her domination of the conversation in stride, though he does ask a few terribly earnest questions to tease her at appropriate points. He absently picks a handful of blackberries while looking over the building when they reach their destination. "...y'been inside?" he inquires.

As they approach the house, Danny's face becomes a very professional mask of scrutiny and curiosity. He takes note of various things about the house without speaking, altering his approach ever so slightly to view it at different angles. Once they've made it to the porch, he raises an eyebrow at Aurelia, skeptical. "Sure you want something this far out from town?"

Aurelia is quick to reward Ren's teasing with various elbowings and smackings, but she would never actually cause serious physical damage, honest. Finally, the chatter ceases as she watches Danny's examination of the cabin's outer husk with bright-eyed anticipation. "Well, it ain't that far," she says, glancing back down the trail. "I mean, as the raven flies. But also, it only seems far on account of that fallen tree we had to climb over and all those switchbacks. But lookie!" She scampers up to the porch, her light steps merely causing the wood to groan a complaint as she traipses over the porch's remaining planks. "It's gotta real big kitchen."

Serendipity pops a berry into his mouth distractedly, and follows Aurelia up onto the porch and toward the door gingerly, though not so carefully as one might think the situation merited. One of the planks gives way under his foot, and he barely manages to leap into the doorway and balance there on the threshhold, holding himself in place with his hands. The berries, unfortunately, are a lost cause. "...might wanna consider a li'l work on th' porch," he remarks, after a moment's delay.

Given Ren's exciting experience with one of the less-than-viable porch boards, Danny closes the rest of the distance to the house with a bit of reservation, crouching down to have a look at the foundation boards. He pokes at them experimentally, feeling and even sniffing for rot and other damage. After a few seconds of this, he stands up, dusting his hands off, and makes to follow Ren and Aurelia onto the porch, testing each board before he steps on it. "Lot of rot here, we'd maybe need to redo this whole section. Could use something like brick, though, instead, if we could find enough." It's a neutral statement, neither full of hope nor damning with faint praise, and he gives Aurelia a reassuring smile.

Aurelia beams, and with a shadow of Ren's carefree manner, accesses the house by squirreling through a window whose glass has long since busted out and scattered, this despite the front door laying down in the foyer, having fallen in. The floorboards of the foyer are, where they exist, creaky and loose. The foundation is sound, at least. That is all solid concrete minus the basement. "Brick would be good," she agrees, her voice echoing in the empty house. Maybe around the outside, and wood on the top, cuz bricks are hard to sit on." She pokes around inside, and one might notice the settled dust and cobwebs have been previously disturbed, and recently, and there are bare footprints about the size of the ones Aurelia leaves now criss-crossing throughout the place.

Recent near-miss notwithstanding, Ren picks his way into the building proper, investigating it himself. He tests the wood a bit more, not, but not nearly as much as Danny. One would think one near-fall would have been enough to illustrate the wisdom (or lack thereof) of trusting to luck. "How many rooms's it got, Rae?"

Danny goes in through the front door, frowning faintly at it as goes. "There must not be a single house around here with a decent front door," he mutters, but there's the shadow of amusement in his voice. He tests the house's interior floorboards just as carefully as those on the porch, especially when he starts to move out over the basement. Caution can't quite make up for solid weight, however, and one of them snaps loudly, which has him scurrying back quickly. He gives the floor a wary look, then watches Aurelia wander around with concern. "Be careful, you don't want to fall into the basement," he says.

Aurelia glances back at the cracking board and gives Danny a 'look' as if to warn him to stop being heavy. "It's got two down here," she calls toward Ren. "And there's two upstairs, and an attic, and a basement -- hey, look, there's the basement." She points at where the floorboard that cracked beneath Danny's feet has toppled down into the shadows. It smells dusty down there, fortunately not terribly damp. Aurelia may move easily, but she also seems to be skirting around the edge of the room when she can. "And there's a big kitchen." In case it was missed the first time. "And a dinin' room, and, uh... I dunno what this room is for."

"Orgy room," Ren replies promptly, deadpan. "See, this way, people c'n come right in an' get started. No messin' around with havin' to direct 'em upstairs an' first door to the right, an' endin' up with 'em all packed in the bathroom or somethin'." He leans forward as if it would let him see, and asks, "...what's the floor madea, in th' basement?"

Danny snorts a laugh at Ren, and gets as close to one of the basement 'openings' as he dares. He sniffs slightly a few times, and says, "Floor's probably concrete or stone. Walls might be brick, I can't quite tell." He follows the outer border of the room into the kitchen, and begins checking out the status of it, size not-withstanding.

Aurelia gives Ren a look that says if she were within reach he would be in for such a jabbing. "I think it's a room where they had a telly vision," she comments. "It's got this weirdo plug in the wall I seen once in a room with one of those." She nods to what Danny says, either having explored the basement or merely trusting the man's nose implicitly. The kitchen is indeed big. Those who know their history might suspect this house was owned by either orthodox Jews or chronic overeaters. There are two stoves and ranges, two sinks, a wrap-around counter, a walkin pantry. Aurelia hops up on one of the counters near Danny and says, "It's perfect." The tile is cracked, the windows broken, the electric units long since rusted and corroded. Perfect.

Serendipity gives Aurelia his most innocent look, and then grins broadly, fairly sauntering across the the kitchen. The floor squeaks horribly but by some miracle holds long enough for him to make it into the other room. Then, as if it had been waiting for its cue, another board behind him tumbles down into the basement. "Seems like a nice layout," he grants, leaning precariously against the doorway, "though, it's gonna take a lotta work, y'know, 'f alla this's rotted through."

Danny looks at each stove and range, checking them over, then moves on to the sinks, the pantry, and finally he winds up at the counter with Aurelia. He leans in to kiss her neck, then shifts and rests his weight against the counter. He nods at Ren in agreement. "Perfect, but it needs a lot of work, geliebt." He prods at a pulverized pile of tile shards with the tip of one boot. "The layout is good, and so's the size. Lots of room in here, for everyone. Let's see if we can have a look upstairs."

Aurelia smiles warmly, letting one arm drape over Danny's shoulders. "And the good weather's comin', perfect for workin'. Warm days, no shirts." She sighs softly. Then slips off the counter and makes her way toward the stairwell. "Stick to the edges," she recommends. "The middles is a bit wiggly." The ones that still exist, that is.

Serendipity watches the pair of them without comment, then smirks a little at Aurelia's comment on warm days. "That include you?" he challenges lightly, and follows her toward the stairs, following the path she suggests, "'cause I bet that'd inspire us t' work harder..."

Danny trails behind a bit, murmuring, "It'll inspire us to something harder, anyways." He can't quite suppress a grin, and as instructed he keeps to the edges of the stairs. Unfortunately the railing isn't in any better shape than the rest of the house, and a section crumbles the moment he puts any weight on it, unbalancing him and sending him into a comical series of arm gestures intended to get his balance back.

Aurelia glances down the stairs behind her, informing the men primly, "Yer all a buncha perverts." Still, there's just a hint of a wiggle in her step as she traipses up to the second floor landing, where there is a rather broad-spaced corridor in addition to two bedrooms and a bathroom that might function if the plumbing were ever fixed. Turning again, her eyes widen as she sees the flailing Perunka. "Danny!" she calls out.

"Damn straight," Ren replies brightly, eyes most definitely not on the stairs as they should be as he climbs up behind her. He glances back at the sound of Danny's mishap, and immediately turns and tries to grab the perunka's arm to haul him back upright. Given the state of the house, this may not be the best plan of action possible.

You paged Danny with 'If they actually make contact, Danny gets a lucky break. Not necessarily in the form of not falling, though; the gift's from Coyote after all, so it can be a tad random. Then again, it =might= keep him upright.'.

It's a near miss, but Ren's hand just barely grazes the fabric on Danny's shirt. A board under his feet snaps in an unlikely direction, sending him not out into the open space of the main house, but into the opposite wall that the staircase sits against. The wall panels are in no better shape than the rest of the house, and some of them collapse to set Danny in a shallow hole of wall material with a solid thunk. He coughs heavily as the dust and mold settles around him, and tries to pry himself out. "Ulch," is about the most informative thing he can say.

Aurelia puts her hands on her hips and says, "Stop messin' around, you two." She cautiously comes down the steps to where Danny has ensconced himself in the wall. "You okay, puddin'?"

Missing Danny means Serendipity's balance is off, leaving him teetering himself a moment before he falls. He catches onto the banister on the way, and miracle of miracles, the section he's got loosens precariously at the moorings but doesn't collapse, even with his full weight hanging off it into space beside the stairs for a moment. "...this is =not= messin' around," he retorts as he tries to get back onto the stairs. "Messin' around gen'rally shows a lot more skin."

"It's okay, I'm fine," Danny says, levering himself up out of the wall. He's covered in rotted wood, mold, and who knows what else, and in the struggle to get back to his feet a good deal of it goes everywhere. He quickly reaches out to Ren, despite additonal protests from the stairs. "I think your house doesn't like us much, geliebt."

Aurelia looks unconvinced. Boys! Alongside Danny, she moves to help fetch up Ren. "Well, it needs a little work," she says in defense of the killer cabin. "The foundation's sound, and most of the support beams are intact. It's just all this little stuff that needs redone." Little stuff being the stairs, apparently. She cracks one by stepping on it and, with a raven's fleetfootedness, sidesteps and kicks the severed plank over the edge of the rail.

Serendipity comes up fairly easily, and pats the railing once he's rather firmly on the stairs -- good banister. "Chances are anywhere we find's gonna have a lotta the same problems," he remarks thoughtfully, looking up to the top of the stairs. "I like it, so far, 'f we c'n get it inta shape b'fore the freeze comes back. Even if it =doesn't= like us."

Danny mmmphs in response, and once Ren is (safely?) back on the staircase he dusts off his hair and clothes. "That's the biggest problem--I don't know that we could get all this done by wint, even with plenty of help. It's a lot of lumber." He looks up the rest of the staircase, concern in his expression. "Still think it's safe to check upstairs?"

Aurelia glances up the stairs thoughtfully. "The more y'all tear up this place, the more work it'll be. Why don't we check it out after we fix up some of this stuff down here? B'sides, it's mostly empty anyway." She makes her way down the stairs again, carefully. "We could get lumber by clearing off some of the land," she suggests. "There's lots of trees come up where there use to be pasture and a yard."

Serendipity gives the upper level an almost longing look, clearly torn, but gives in and follows the corax back down. For now. "'s a thought. I s'pose we'd only hafta get enough of it t' all live in done... d'you think we oughta take out all th' basement floor, or just parta it? Or should we be workin' with somewhere else for that?" This appears to be directed almost entirely to Aurelia, as if she's expected to know what he means.

Danny smiles at Aurelia, torn between exasperation and going along with exactly what she wants to do, regardless of what's involved. He listens to Ren thoughtfully, and bites at his lip as he goes back to the ground floor. "It'll keep for a bit, so maybe you should look at a few other places first," he suggests to both of them. "Just to make sure there's not something you'll like more, and that won't need as much work. We won't lose too much time for working, regardless."

Aurelia says mournfully, "But this one's got a big kitchen." Looking toward Ren, she replies, "I ain't seen all down there, but there ain't nothing laid down by mankind we can't tear up." Her arm sneaks around Danny's waist. "We can look around some," she allows graciously. "But I must admit, I got my heart set."

"Might be another house 'round here with a big kitchen too," Ren points out, "Or one that =could= have one, without too much work. Never hurts t' look, right?" He looks around again, appraisingly. "Still plennya light t'day. Could go out house-huntin' even now."

Danny inflicts his dusty self on Aurelia, slipping an arm around her waist to hug her and kiss the top of her head. "Ren's right. This may have the best kitchen, but even if another place had a small one, we could make it into a nice one for you. That'd almost be easier than fixing a place this far along, and you'd get to say *exactly* how you wanted it." He looks down at her and raises his eyebrows. "If your heart's set, looking around will give us ideas where to salvage things, at least."

Aurelia chews her lower lip, looking hesitantly between Ren and Danny. "Well," she hedges glumly. "You are the two most important men in my life, and I surely do value what you got to say, so I guess we could look around some. I don't think much in this area was reclaimed, so there's gotta be more houses around."

Serendipity nods once, firmly, and grins. "We'll take a look. I mean, hey, not like we can't come back." This decided -- at least as far as he's concerned -- he stretches, and adjusts his coat, glancing around again. "So, you guys up for looking' now?"

"It's wonderful to have my opinion valued," Danny says, grinning and giving Aurelia a squeeze. Towards Ren, he says, "I can stand to look around at some more, if you both want to." He glances down at his clothes, and sighs. "Going to have to do some wash later too."

Aurelia smiles, warm and fond. "Oh, don't fret," she tells Danny. "I'll do the wash this week." She draws away to catch him by the hand and lead him toward the door, giving Ren a beckon to follow as well. "I think there might be one just over the hill about a quarter-mile down. Looks like there used t'be an old road running by here."

Serendipity extends a hand toward the beckoning one, arching a brow in a look that quite clearly telegraphs 'you have =two=, y'know'. "Sounds good t' me. An' after that, there's a few clustered 'bout a mile or so from here that look worth checkin', too."

"You'll do the wash, hm? I guess we can share and do the wash together." Danny squeezes Aurelia's hand and allows himself to be led towards the door. "See, so there's plenty to choose from," he adds after Ren's comment.

Aurelia rolls her eyes amiably and snags Ren's hand as well. "C'mon you two," she murmurs. "My dumb boys." She leads them both by the hand, not back the way they came, but rather through the woods that used to be a pasture. The route circles back toward town, gradually. "You know what would be cool? A workin' well. We used to get the best sweet water back home."

"Well, it'd beat carryin' water from the lake," Ren agrees dryly, following along. "Be nice if we got running water goin', though. Not that there couldn't be both..."

Danny nods his head back at the derelict house they're leaving. "Most of these houses have wells, actually. They didn't ever put city plumbing out this far, so they have wells, and septic systems. Ours is like that, there's a pump out back and then the main plumbing." He grins with amusement. "Well, the plumbing that works, anyways. Justin's still working on some of it."

Aurelia says wistfully, "We had a well feed from a mountain spring. There wasn't any water better, but I admit I wouldn't mind a septic system that worked. I could do without havin' to get dressed in the middle of the night just to go outside into the cold t' pee." She traipses through the underbrush, her long skirt collecting burrs and seedlings. "The best part'll be havin' a kitchen though."

Serendipity grins, but has nothing to say for the time being, and just listens to the others as he's led.

"Ground water's not so good as spring water, that's for sure," Danny says with a sigh of his own. "But, definitely better than hauling it back and forth from the Lake, or from town." He looks around as they go. "So, what else d'ya have to show us?"

Aurelia nods ahead, and sure enough, about a quarter mile away from the run down old piecer, the trees thin out, and there is another abandoned house. This one isn't as large, but it's still a decent size. The paint is badly worn, so much so it's hard to tell what the place's original color was. The yard is overgrown, but there are still orchard trees bearing fruit in one of the pastures, and the overgrown garden has caused the herbs to spread wildly and with abandon. There are also blackberries, as blackberries do tend to swarm all available space, like fruit-bearing kudzu. The front porch is only missing one step, and the door is still mounted in the frame, even if it is hanging only by a rusty hinge. "I dunno," she says as she gestures to the house. "This one might be good for scrap."

Serendipity looks around at the gardens with apparent delight. "'s wrong with it itself?" he inquires, stepping ahead to get a closer look without actually disengaging from the chain of them.

Danny walks up to this house with much the same attitude he had for the other, scrutinizing and examining. "Maybe...it was painted, though. The wood might be in better shape." He lets go of Aurelia's hand and starts a more thorough inspection, sniffing at the porch boards and crouching down on the ground to have a look at the edge of the foundation. "There's a lot less rot here."

Aurelia releases both men's hands so they can explore. She walks up to the house, giving it a thoughtful frown. "It's only got one stove," she complains. Not that the stoves in either house would work with the lack of electricity. "And the basement's not as big, and... well, I guess the dirt floor's okay."

"Bet we could find you another stove," Ren muses, and climbs up onto the porch, testing the wood a bit with each step. "...move it in, arrange things how you like 'em. Either place, really. How many rooms's this one got?"

"Stoves and ovens we can get ahold of easily. I've already put in a floor else where, in Robin's place. It's not that hard, especially if we can salvage some bricks for in sulation." Danny finishes his tour of the porch and front area, and steps up to enter the house. "How many rooms does it have?" he asks as he carefully opens the door.

Aurelia steps up on the porch as well. There are loose boards, some rot here and there, but most of the woodwork holds up fairly well. Even the stuff that needs replaced isn't death-trap bad just yet. The door creaks as it hangs off its one hinge, and within, there is some clutter that has degraded over time. There is a couch all mice-chewed and currently housing a family of opossums, the mother of which hisses at Danny, but lets face it, opossums are cowards. She huddles miserably with her babies all around her, clinging to her fur. "Oh hiss yerself," Aurelia tells the thing as she sneaks in past the boys. There are bare footprints here too, as though someone dainty and Aurelia-sized might've snooped here previously. "It's got three rooms upstairs, and I guess one down here what might be a room or study or somethin'. Course the basement, and there's some attic space. It ain't, like, a huge attic. Would have to make a rookery outside."

Serendipity moves quicker through the house, once it's clear it's less likely to come apart under his feet than the last one. A glance in the kitchen, glances out the windows... his voice cames back from the possible study. "...I'm likin' this one, so far, Rae. Much better shape an' all..."

Quiet-mother, friends, friends, Danny nickers at the oppossum. He pauses at the couch to watch them for a moment, then takes up his tour with another placating whicker for the small, fuzzy family. "Rookery outside would be easier to clean, and keep anything out of your quilting," he points out. He's not quite as careful as he was in the first house, as this one doesn't seem inclined to kill them all on general principle, but he does test some of the iffier looking boards as he goes.

Mother opossum huddles protectively around her babies. In the dim light, the trio of bipeds are regarded by one set of glowy reflective eyes surrounded by many, many smaller ones. The babies are curious, but mom frets with them to stay back. She seems willing not to do anything rash, but it's clear she's iffy on this whole 'friends' situation. No more hissing, but there is grumbly chittering from that quarter. My babies. Don't touch the babies. Don't come -near- the babies. Meanwhile the babies are wanting to know who's that? What are they doing here? Do they have food? Maybe they have food! Mother has her paws full with this crew. The kitchen is smaller than the one at the other house, it's true. There is a pantry though, and the tile work isn't too bad off. Some will need replaced, and the grout is in sore need of help. The sink is rusted out, but the floor is stable and this window even still has glass in it. "I guess," Aurelia says, though she doesn't sound entirely won over. "Course you'd have to get stone for a good rookery, and that'd be a pain."

Serendipity heads up the stairs, and from the sound of the footsteps has trouble getting a balance between 'careful on the possibly rotten stairs' and 'really wanna see what the upstairs looks like'. The latter mostly wins out.

Coyote-child and Thundersnow and Dreamwalker. Neighbors. No food, no food for 'possums. Food is outside, crawling in the grass. Danny keeps to the low whickering tone, trying to soothe the mother. He finally leaves off to inspect the kitchen, giving Aurelia a warm smile as he does so. "Stone the mountain has plenty of, and it's not so much trouble that it's not worth it, either." A glance for the rusted sink, and he adds, "Plenty of sinks to be had too, I'm sure."

The mother seems content enough to not flee the nest. The assurance that the trio isn't trying to steal her babies carries weight, apparently. Threetoes and litter, she chitters. My nest. I found it. Aurelia glances at Danny and muses, "The place comes with pets already." She then looks around the kitchen dolefully. "The dinin' room ain't as big neither," she points out. Upstairs (the stairs don't try to kill Ren, either) there are the aforementioned bedrooms, plus a gutted smaller room with some leftover tile that may have been a bathroom. There is a hatch that probably leads to the attic, its rusted chain fallen to the floor. The place is in much better shape structurally than the other bigger one. A nest with a sparrow in it on the windowsill becomes boisterous with twittering as the mother sparrow launches herself off her eggs and divebombs Ren's head. Apparently, the mothers in this house have a problem with humans coming near their nests.

Serendipity wanders about, checking out these bedrooms, generally moving faster once it seems fairly sure the place isn't collapsing. "Rae! Didja see the- GAH!" There's a thump, a couple steps. "...FIRST we gotta evict the upstairs squatters..."

"Neighbors," Danny corrects Aurelia, glancing upstairs with a grin. Threetoes, well-met. A fine nest. He walks into the dining room, looking it over. "No, not too big, but plenty big for me to make you all a nice dining room table. And the kiln's just about big enough...if you wanted, I could see about getting enough high-fire ceramic to make a sink, and paint it by hand, with whatever you want. Or we can pull the ones from the other house, those were in pretty good shape."

Aurelia eyes upstairs, then smirks a little and calls up, "What're you doin' up there!" As if whatever is going on surely Ren has brought it upon himself. Meanwhile, he gets buzzed by mama sparrow again. Anyone who can hear the twittering and make out beastspeak might hear I'll peck out your eyes! I'll tear out your hair! I'll do it! So help me I will! Where can a poor Nuwisha kin get a break these days?

There's a squeak and another couple thumpy noises. "Gah, back off, I don't wantcher eggs! Back ooooff!" Sharp eared listeners might note this is followed by a quite quiet sound kind of like rainfall, or uncooked rice being poured into pan, and then footsteps on the stairs, this time coming downward.

"I think someone or something's really upset at him." Danny casts his voice upstairs, calling, "Ren? Are you okay?" He walks around from the dining room and towards the staircase, listening closely and peering at the upper level of the house.

Aurelia follows after, frowning a bit as she makes for the stairs. "What's he gotten into now?" she wonders aloud, but not without a certain degree of fondness. As the sparrow gets the Nuwisha on the run, she circles a few more times, then flits up to the rafters and lurks up there, scolding Ren furiously. Imagine the swear words of the sparrow vocabulary.

Serendipity clears his throat slightly as he strolls down the stairs, all dignity intact. Honest. "Fine, yeah. No problem," he assures them, one hand in a pocket of his coat, the other casually smoothing his hair back into proper place. "..so, yeah.. Do we like th' place?"

"The women in this house are dangerous," Danny murmurs conspiratorially at Ren. He starts up the stairs, nickering at the sparrow. Hush hush, no harm. Not-cats-not-stoats-don't-want-the-babies. Hush hush hush.

Aurelia eyes Ren oddly, and trundles up to him, her dubious expression melting into a grin as she lends a helping hand to smooth his hair. "Makin' friends and influencin' the locals I see." The bird warns Danny that he is next recipient of sparrow fury if he upsets her nest. Aurelia glances toward the twittering and muses, "We're gonna have to either move that nest or work downstairs til them babies grow up." Apparently, she likes the place if she's already making repair plans.

The floor of the room the sparrow is in, Aurelia and Danny may notice, appears to recently have been littered with handfuls of birdseed. Ren grins as Aurelia helps out with the hair, and bends his head a little to make that easier. "Everywhere I go they love me," he replies in a the-boy-can't-help-it kind of tone.

Will not disturb the nest. Law-of-territory, nest is home and territory. Nest is yours. Danny tips his head at the sparrow. Nest will be safe with us here. No cats. No stoats. No foxes. Safe nest, safe babies. He turns and gives Aurelia a sly look. "Think you'd rather scrap the other place than this one?"

Aurelia pauses, glancing Danny's way. The bird in her can't help but notice the birdseed, but she says nothing of it, instead merely giving Ren a warm grin and a kiss on the cheek. "You're quite the charmer," she tells him. Then, to Danny, she says, "Well, I suppose this one would be okay. I mean, if y'all don't mind the work that'll have to go into it."

Serendipity grins back and ducks his head the slightest fraction of an inch at the kiss. "...this one's good, I think. Got plennya room, not so much work t' try an' get done b'fore Wint..."

"It's nowhere near as much work at the first one," Danny says graciously. "You can even safely live downstairs with Threetoes and her babies until the bedrooms are clean." He whickers a polite farewell to the sparrow, then heads back down the stairs. "Think you want to give this one a go?" It's more of a formal question now, and he's all seriousness as he looks at the two of them.

Once the trio looks like they'll be heading downstairs again, the mother sparrow sweeps down and starts snapping up the birdseed greedily. She chirrups a little under her breath, something about those blasted two-feet coming up and threatening her nest. Some mothers just aren't as reasonable as Threetoes, who is peering toward the stairs uncertainly. Who's that? Is that you again? Aurelia regards Ren solemnly, then Danny. "Well, I suppose since you like it," she says. Then her expression splits into a big smile as she snatches at their hands again to draw them downstairs. "You gotta see the bathroom," she insists. "There's this claw-foot tub in there that hardly don't need nothin' done to fix it, and they got an old chicken coop we could fix up, and you won't believe the barn, or what's left of it."

Serendipity lets himself be drawn along perfectly happily. "How big's the tub?" he inquires, on the way, looking thoughtful.

Danny grins at Aurelia and gives her a kiss on the forehead when she's close enough. "What's important is that the two of you like it. It won't be *my* house, and I'm happy to work on whatever you choose." He follows along dutifully, and gives Ren a knowing look. "And does the plumbing work?"

"It's huge," Aurelia gushes. "I dunno if the plumbing works, but I bet it did once on account of there bein' pipes and what-not." The downstairs bathroom is sizeable, as it turns out. Someone had this remodeled to be luxurious back in the day. The club-foot bathtub set into an alcove and surrounded by shelves with little cubbies and nooks for setting things without having to get out of the tub. There's a towel closet in here, as well as a commode and other bathroom things off in another alcove, making the room somewhat L-shaped. The place is worn with age, but it's nothing some TLC and repair couldn't fix up and brought up to modern standards. "I saw the wellhouse, and the holding tank looks good. It's all dense plastic, and that don't ever degrade."

"Never had any problem with it b'fore," Ren replies innocently to Danny, then lets out a low whistle as he takes in the bathroom. "Missed this earlier. Nice!"

"This'll fix up real nice," Danny says appreciatively. The tub gets a thorough once-over, and he runs his hands along the interior, feeling for cracks or damage. "We can make new tiles in the kiln, if Martin and Justin can get me the right materials." His voice is distracted as he finishes inspecting the tub and starts in on the floor tiles, and then the shelves. "Plenty of cleaning to do, but that's not so bad, not so bad at all."

Aurelia gives Ren a look at his reply to Danny, then smirks and shakes her head. "I got a confession," Aurelia admits as she hops up on one of the counters, propping her feet on the tub. "I kinda wanted this house to begin with."

Serendipity grins at Aurelia, finding a suitable spot of his own on which to lean. "Yeah," he replies cheerfully, "I kinda 'spected. 's a good one, though. Needs a lot less work'n somea the ones I was thinkin' 'bout showin' you."

Danny joins Aurelia at the counter, leaning most of his weight on it, and a little on her. "If this is the one you wanted, why not take us right here?" he asks, frowning slightly with puzzlement.

Aurelia flashes Ren a grin, almost proud in a way, for being at least almost as canny as a girl. Leaning against Danny's shoulder, she explains, "Because this one needs a bunch of work, but after you seen the other, it looks like a picnic by comparison, so I knew y'all would like this one because it's so much better than that other."

Serendipity nods a little. "Y'make things relative, it's easier t' control th' way people react to 'em. An' =everyone= takes things better when they think it's their idea..." He winks at Aurelia, and stretches. "This one's got everything I'm lookin' for, far's I c'n tell. I'm good."

"Oh," Danny replies sagely. He tips his head at Run, then shrugs, and explains, "You didn't need to do that. I don't like it because it looks like less work, I like it because *you* like it. I've worked on harder than this, and easier, so it doesn't matter either way." He slips his arm around her waist and rests his head on hers. "But it was nice to go on the walk and see the other place, even if it didn't like us very much."

Aurelia nods to the fellow trickster sagely, as if some great wisdom has passed between them. "It's got everything I'm lookin' for too so we're good." She then gives Danny a kiss on the cheek as she says warmly, "Let me have my illusions, dumplin'. B'sides, now we know a good place to salvage scrap from, and I got to spend the day with my favorite boys."

"So everyone wins," Ren remarks, and straightens up a bit. "Yeah, this'll do fine. You wanna come back t'morrow, maybe, make a lista stuff we gotta get done?"

"I can't think of many better ways to spend an afternoon." Danny sighs happily and is content, for the moment, to stay where he is, although he does at least make an effort at talking about productivity. "Tomorrow will be okay, I think. It needs to be cleaned up first. Then you can decide what should go and what can stay. Then the salvaging starts."

Aurelia nods agreeably. "Yeah, and we could start cuttin' a proper path to the house so it'll be easier to haul stuff up. Maybe we could work on clearin' the land first, give the mama's some time to raise up their babies before we come in and start makin' loud noises. Shouldn't be too much longer anyway."

Serendipity nods, considering. "Might be a good way t' start, yeah. Figured also, we make a list, we c'n start salvaging bits from other places, cartin' 'em up here for when we put 'em in."

Danny chuckles and says, "Mmmmm, gardening. We can make lists, I'll bring some of the paper I've got left, and the graphite. It's too bad all those blackberry bushes can't go to much better use than mulch and compost." He chews at his lip thoughtfully. "And pie, I suppose," he adds.

Aurelia continues to nod agreeably right up to the part about mulching blackberries, where she starts to look a touch 'oh no you did not just say that' but then relaxes and agrees, "Pie. And cobbler, and maybe some brandywine if y'all are nice to me."

Serendipity nods agreeably at the list of foods, and gets a faraway look for a moment before musing, "...maybe I'll drop by later or in th' mornin' an' go berrypickin'..." There's something about it that just sounds like there might be more up his sleeve than his arm.

Danny makes a low sound and gives Aurelia an amused look. "More nice than usual? Or just my every day nice self?" he asks innocently.

Aurelia's lashes lower, all sultry like. "I'll let -you- know what you gotta do when I get you back to your place," she informs Danny. Ren gets a look then. Something up his sleeve, this piques the Corax's curiosity. "Maybe you oughtta," she agrees hesitantly. "I could tell you where there's some good wild blueberries."

Serendipity rolls his eyes at Aurelia and Danny, which an uncharitable viewer might deem rather hypocritical. He grins, though, and nods at the Corax. "Where? Found some early strawberries the other day, but not enough t' do much with yet..."

Danny blows out a breath and looks at Aurelia for a moment, considerably more serious than he has been, and then he shifts his gaze to Ren instead, and his demeanor changes to one of eager anticipation. "All this great fruit coming into season, think of all the things we can make. Tarts, pies, cobblers, jam, fruit leather..."

Aurelia says amiably, "Up on the ridge where the trees is kinda thinned out. Can't miss 'em." Danny's listing causes her to grin fondly, and she gives him a gentle poke in the ribs. "If we get some glass jars I'll even can some to tide you over through the winter."

Serendipity glances in the general direction of this ridge, not that it's visible from within the bathroom, and nods once. "Makes sense. Thought I saw some bushes up there b'fore Wint hit, but I forgot 'bout 'em." He glances around again once, then nods. "A'ight -- think we gotta plan. You guys 'bout ready to head back inta town?"

"Don't tempt me," Danny warns Aurelia with a poke to her stomach. "I'll make you enough glass jars to fill this place to the attic." He straightens up and nods at Ren. "Back to the house for me. I have to finish loading the kiln."

Aurelia squeaks at the poke and jumps a little. Ticklish! "I'll do it," she swears. "My granny taught me how." She nods to Ren as well and says, "I gotta go figure out what I'm doin' for dinner and who all I'm crammin' food into. I think yer friend wanted to see you, the one with the hair."

Serendipity looks blankly at Aurelia for a moment. "...they've =all= got hair," he replies dryly, and starts toward the door, speaking to her over his shoulder, "...li'l more description maybe?"

"Praise Gaia for your Granny, then." Danny steps away from the counter, taking Aurelia's hand and tugging her along.

Aurelia waves her hand vaguely over her head, like this would somehow sketch out for Ren the nature of the hair. "He's got that gold hair on him, you know who I mean." She hops off the counter, clasping Danny's hand. To Danny, she says with a crooked grin, "You'd like her. There ain't nothin' anyone in this world could eat she couldn't cook up."

Serendipity breaks into a quick, bright grin. "Oh, Martin," he catches on. "Yeah, I was thinkin' I'd go track him down anyhow." He turns and walks backwards across the porch and down the stairs so he can talk to the Corax behind him. "Why d'you think that? You talk t' him earlier or somethin'?"

"I'd a lot more than just like her, I bet," Danny says with a smile as he leads Aurelia along. "Say hello to him for me when you see him, Ren."

Aurelia shakes her head with amused resignation. Danny's stomach gets a patting. "I guess he's okay. Didn't talk for long. I popped by the treehouse t' get somethin' and he was outside there askin' if you'd be by tonight. I said hell I dunno, and he said well okay then." She hesitates, then admits, "Kinda easy on the eyes, anyway."

Serendipity grins at Aurelia. "You'd like him. He c'n eat as much 's Danny," he replies, "...an' as usual, you're th' mistress of understatement." He makes a mock salute to the perunka, and nods, "...I'll pass it on."

"Thanks Ren." Danny gives the barely-in-place door a look as they leave the house. "Martin's a great guy, he's gotten us plenty of things for the workshop and the house. I owe him a few kiln-fulls, at the least. It's wonderful to have a trader in the area, otherwise we could make things to our heart's content and have nothing to show for it."

Aurelia shakes her head again, but doesn't add her two cents on the matter. "He said he'd come back later. I think he's sweet on ya." This she says to Ren, to Danny, she assures, "Now sugar, you could make a bunch of stuff, and give it to me, and that'd be plenty to show. I'd make, you know, pies and stuff for ya."

Serendipity nods at Danny, and continues strolling a few steps ahead of the couple. "...what, just 'cause he said he'd come back later? People do that sometimes, y'know, when they're droppin' by t' see someone who isn't home," he teases.

Danny laughs quietly at Aurelia. "Then your house'd be filled with glass jars *and* ceramics," he says. "And I'll be making more than will fit in this one house. At least I hope I will." He glances at Ren, eyebrows raised, then at Aurelia.

Aurelia gives Ren a bland look. "Uh huh," she says. "Yeah, he probably just wanted to borrow a cup of sugar or somethin'." She steps away from Danny to give Ren a hug. "Better go get yourself some sugar, cutie. Y'know, in case he comes back." Something about the situation seems to amuse her. She rejoins Danny, taking his hand again.

Serendipity returns the hug tightly, burying his face in Aurelia's hair for just a second, and giving her a kiss on the head before he lets her go. "Can't ever have too much sugar," he agrees casually, and quirks a half-grin at her before turning to start down the road again.

"See you later Ren," Danny calls, waving to Ren as he goes.