It's dark, and damn near freezing out... but, however briefly, not storming, no sheets of ice plummeting from the heavens. Serendipity's taken advantage of the fact to get out of wherever it is he's been holed up latest and head here, where a number of snow angels and various sculptures sit as evidence of his busyness. He's almost properly attired, having added gloves, a long scarf, nearly psychedelic in its knitted hues, and a somewhat battered fedora to the usual ensemble -- a good thing, as he's currently kneeling in the snow near the city sign, putting the finishing touches on one member -- no pun intended -- of what appears to be a snowman (and woman) orgy.

Tristan falls out of a tree. He twists in a back-wrenching maneuver mid-air to land on his feet with a hand slapped on the icy ground for balance. Then he slips and scrabbles around frantically for traction, claws popping out of his fingertips to dig into the ice with a series of small horrible screeches. Eventually he winds up poised with most of his weight on his claws and toes, in a truly ridiculous pose that only a terrified cat or an advanced gymnast could manage.

Serendipity yelps in startlement, instinctively trying to stand up and ending up landing gracelessly on his ass and both hands. There's a split second's attempt to scrabble backward before he recognizes the unexpected company, and relaxes with a breath of a laugh, dropping his head back as if his neck muscles had just stopped working. "...hey," he greets, with amusement but a touch of wariness, and tries to stand up again -- slower, this time, and much more successfully, though it certainly elicits a wince or two. Must've been a heck of a hard blow to the tuchus. "You, uh... wanna hand there?"

"I'm fine!" Tristan proclaims, despite all evidence to the contrary. "Fine, fine, just fine..." Moving with excessive delicacy, he gets his feet set on the ground and straightens up very slowly. "See, fine." He spreads his arms to demonstrate his fineness, his hands spread wide to accommodate the claws.

"Like wine," Ren agrees dryly, and dusts snow and ice from his coat and pants. "...well, hey. I was kinda worried you mighta gone for a new career as an ice sculpture, in this weather, so it's, uh... nicea you to drop in, and all." He grins, unusually fleetingly.

Tristan makes a series of vague gestures possibly meant to indicate to Ren that Ren should not overburden him with gratitude. "S'cool. Actually, s'fucking cold. But no ice fallin from the sky right now. I like it when ice doesn't fall from the sky." He eyes Ren's current project. "Anyone ever told you that you need to get out more?"

Serendipity endeavours to look wounded. "Yeah -- me, in this weather. But this is =art=, man. You shoulda seen yesterday, I was doing The Last Supper. Only it started sleeting again an' when I went back today, Jesus'd turned into the abominable snow lump. I figured I'd go for something warm and welcoming in case some travellers pass by," he explains with airy innocence and a few vague gestures. His hands slide into his pockets, and he shrugs idly. "Anyway. I like it when ice doesn't fall from the sky, too. 'fact, it's possibly onea my favourite things," he remarks, and glances at Tristan sidelong. "So. You're all fine, yeah? Y'know, with the falling. And the fleeing. And the freezing. And et cetera."

Tristan waves expansively. This draws his attention to his claws, which he retracts with a 'schloop' sound. "Yeah. Winter's kinda harsher than I been used to, but hey. I'm like adaptable or some shit. How you? Besides so bored you're sculpting snow winkies." He eyes the statuary sidelong. "...Hey, I don't remember 'em being quite that big, back when I was alive... maybe that was just me..."

Serendipity stares at the retracting claws again, though he doesn't snag a hand to examine them up close again this time. "...heh, well, not alla 'em are, but some. Show you sometime if you want," he offers, with a half-smile, and another little shrug. "Anyway, artistic license. ...snow tits, too, but I can't offer you any proofa those." He reaches back and runs a hand through his ponytail, teasing out the residual ice, silent for several seconds, surveying the snow scene. "So, hey. We're okay and shit, right?"

Tristan shoves his now-human hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders in a shrug. "Yeah. Fine. 'm just a dumbshit. It happens." Morosely, he examines a snow breast. "So uh... what we were talking about, again?"

"...a'ight, cool. I'd ask why 'n' all, but I kinda like when you don't suddenly leave." Ren half-smiles a little weakly, still studying the tableau. "I think we were discussing my amazing artistic talent, an' future as the toast of the art world. Yeah?"

Tristan prods the snow breast experimentally. "Yeah," he agrees wryly. "Y'oughta get some Toreador to be your sugar daddy."

It's cold and firm. And has an acorn cap for a nipple. "...Toreador?" Serendipity asks, brow furrowing slightly. "Sounds familiar, but all I'm getting's those guys who useta fight bulls."

Tristan grins a wide and sudden grin. "Good ta hear it. Toreador was the one who ruled Europe. His clan's all artsy n shit, they're all into making art and keeping pet artists. Course," he adds, thoughtfully, "I dunno if there's even any Toreador left anymore, since big daddy Toreador took the big sunlight nap."

Serendipity snaps his fingers, ending with the thumb up, index finger extended at Tristan. "Oh, =right!= Right, I remember now. Man..." He sighs, glancing up at the cold, threatening sky. "I dunno why I'm so fucking scattered today." He glances to Tristan, with a crooked grin. "Wouldn't mind a sugar daddy for a while. Not so sure I'd wanna take my chances with some random vamp I didn't know, though."

"Prob'ly for the best," Tristan says blithely. "Most vampires don't have friends, they have pets." He wanders around, looking down the road that leads out of town. "Y'wouldn't do so good as a pet."

Serendipity leans against the town sign, watching Tristan wander, hands still in his pockets. "...heh. Y'don't think?"

Tristan ffts. "No," he drawls. "Never knew a coyote who liked being tied down, even by love. Jimmy went through two dozens girlfriends. He'd be like, 'oh baby you're the one who'll make me mend my ways!'. And then a week later he'd cheat on her. Tears, screaming, throwing stuff, breaking shit... Then Jimmy'd be like, 'Eh, well, I guess she wasn't the one for me.' Repeat until forever."

Serendipity snirks, breaking into the customary grin again. It's like the sun coming out. In a very, very small area. "Well, hey. Obviously she wasn't," he replies flippantly, and relaxes a bit, getting comfy against the post. "Luckily, =I= don't have any ways that need mending. Can't cheat on someone unless you promised 'em they'd be your one and only, right? And why'd you wanna do that?" He shrugs again, light and airy. "See, way I figure... if you love someone, right, why would you wanna restrict 'em from what they wanna do? If they love you, that'll be you mosta the time anyway, right?"

"You're askin the wrong guy," Tristan laughs, holding up his hands. "I don't get involved. Listen to everyone else tell their tales a' woe, yes, actually go out and make my own, no."

Serendipity shrugs, still grinning. "Well, hell, neither do I. But you know. Hypothetically speakin'." He lets his head rest back against the flat of the sign. "...did you ever? Get involved, I mean."

"Ya mean when I was alive?" Tristan shakes his head. "Can't remember. I think I might've kind of had a girlfriend once, but mighta just been something I saw on TV. I been dead way, way, way longer than I lived."

"Kinda figured," Serendipity replies, "I mean, you said you were over a hun'red, and you don't look a day over, mmm, fourty-two..." There's a mischievous glint in his eye, there. Teasing. "...anyway, I meant before or after, I guess. Just in general."

"Oh, well, nope." Tristan shrugs again, looser this time, more casual. "Had...folks I was close to, but never really, like that. I mean, if you don't count the Kiss, which I didn't get to do too often anyway."

Serendipity nods, with a quick, tilted smile. "'s too bad. It's pretty nice," he murmurs. He glances to the sky, again, then back to Tristan. "So after a hun'red years or so, still works okay? Doesn't get all lonely and shit like people're always sayin'?" It's pretty casual. "I mean, hey, friends is all good, right?"

Tristan looks away, mouth twisted and brow furrowed, down the road south again. "Course it gets lonely n shit," he mutters. "S'why I got myself snowed in here. Missed people."

Serendipity looks down the same way, staring off for a few moments. "You done missing'em? Keep looking like your shoes're sprouting wings again," he comments, quietly.

Tristan pulls a face. "This town's just so -small-," he complains. "I seen landfills bigger than this town. Shit, callin' it a town is fuckin' dignifying it. I been out on my own in the wild for the past few years, I miss the city." He glances sideways back at Ren, his eyes gentler. "Ain't you I'm runnin' from."

Serendipity glances back, and quirks a faint smile, glancing up at the sky again for a second. "Well, =that's= good anyway. ...Yeah, though. Place IS kina... pocket-sized. Even if we got a ridiculous concentration of Hot here. It's not bad when the weather's nice, but..." He looks back down, nigh beseeching, "...c'mon, you wouldn't abandon me t'be stuck here all wint, wouldja? You 'n' Sean're the only sane people 'round here."

Tristan shakes his head, grinning a sideways little grin at Ren's beseechment. "Can't anyway, snowed in. Wouldn't get down to Millinocket before I ran outta go juice." He adds, reflectively, "Ain't often been called the -sane- one around..."

Serendipity grins crookedly. "Yeah, well, as my ma would say, consider the source. Still, imagine what'd happen by the enda wint if there wasn't anyone 'round here t' keep =me= sane. Not a pretty picture, yeah?" He shakes his head in mock dismay, then drops it, looking at Tristan curiously. "...how's that work, anyhow? How long can y'go on a tank, as it were?"

"Not all that long," Tristan admits. "Ya use a certain amount of it as everyday fuel, just like food, then like, anything neat and vampiric I wanna do makes me use it, too. Plus I gotta kill two deer and drain 'em entirely to fill up, so it doesn't go real long."

Serendipity nods, considering that. "...how much's it take from a person, if you wanna fill up? You don't gotta drain =them= dry, right?"

Tristan waves a hand, "Nah, nah, not anywhere near. I mean, yeah, if I was completely starving and empty, but trust me, I don't let myself get there, it's real stupid." He scratches his head. "Don't take much from a human to feed me pretty well. Shifters 'n wizards, they're even more filling."

"...'bout Kin?" Ren asks, leaning more of his weight against the sign and crossing his ankles, hands still in his pockets. "...an' how often d'you hafta do it, an' how long's it take a guy to refresh the pump so he doesn't go all anemic and shit?"

"Kin're about the same as humans, a little heavier, not so's you'd notice a lot," Tristan responds, wandering around again, skidding a step here and there on the ice as if skating. "In this weather I gotta eat a lot, keep the heat up. An' it usually takes someone about a week or so afore I could drink the limit from 'em again, you know, to be safe." He spins around on one heel.

Serendipity nods, shifting onto one foot, placing the other sole flat against the signpost, holding onto it behind him, and considering. "Huh." He studies the the vampire thoughtfully.

Tristan pushes himself with his foot to keep spinning, until he loses balance and scrabbles around until he can stand again. "Whee," he comments, dizzily. "Why ya ask, anyway? Morbid curiosity?"

Serendipity watches, grinning just a little as he watches. "...I do got a lotta that," he admits idly, "Makes life interesting. Nah, though, not just that. I was thinkin' maybe it'd be somethin' I could help you out with while you're stuck here in the arctic keepin' me from putting too much though inta whether I could get that compost heap backa the diner to explode." He pauses, studying the sliding vampire again. "So. ....you hungry?"

The noise of galloping hooves echoes through the woods, giving no clear direction of the approach -- yes, approach -- of the beast making the ruckus. With startling speed, a yellow and black blur streaks out of the woods closest to the mountain. The regular beat of its hooves hesitates, breaks up, and slows, resulting in a skidding turn that ends with a sturdy buckskin unicorn facing the pair on the road.

Tristan eyes Ren, a smile beginning. He cocks his head, though, towards the sound of hoofbeats. "What's--" And then he springs backwards a good ten feet as the unicorn streaks up. "Th'darkinfuck!" His feet go out from under him on the icy ground and he lands hard, poinging right back up like he was made of rubber.

"Gah!" Ren jumps about a foot himself, but the sign keeps him up, though both feet meet the ground now. Luckily, Tristan's bounciness is too funny to let him stay startled. He bursts out laughing, and calms down. "Uh, hey. Welcome to Haven." Around him and the sign, there seems to be a snow tableau of some kind of orgy. It's getting a bit obscured by the fresh snow, but apparently someone was bored and artistic earlier.

The unicorn shifts from hoof to hoof, cocking its head to one side. It studies each of them intently, in turn, with bright, dark eyes. At last, it tosses its head in the air and imparts, in a strange, pseudo-telepathic way, *I see! /You/ are dead! And /you/ are like the wolf-people! And /both/ of you are very silly!*

Tristan reels slightly to keep his balance, arms outthrown. He stares at the unicorn, and Ren, and giggles hysterically. "I'm dead -and- silly, and that's a unicorn with like zebra legs or somethin. Man, welcome to fuckin Haven, you can say that again!"

"...Welcome to fuckin' Haven," Ren replies with overly innocent obedience, and grins at the unicorn, though he looks just a touch wary. "Serendipity Jones, Child of Coyote and admittedly silly person atcher service." He lets go of the sign to give the thing a deep bow, and straightens up, glancing to Tristan sidelong, with a slightly arched brow. "Niceta meetcha."

The unicorn begins to circle them, still watching their movements with interest. Its hooves make a solid sort of sound on the ice, and it shows no evidence of slipping. *Neither of you are judges* it observes, almost to itself. Then, *Coyote-child, I know coyotes, though they do not come from my home. You would like my home, I think, if you are anything like your forebears.* It cocks its head at Tristan. *And you move, though you have no blood of your own. Fascinating. Your kind never reached into my homelands in any great numbers.*

Tristan asks curiously, "An' where might that be? Thought vampires ruled the world, y'see."

Serendipity nods a little, curious himself. "An' I've got forebears that've been there? I mean, not that surprising, we've been everywhere, but. Which kinda forebears?"

The unicorn tosses its head scornfully, picking its way gingerly around the work of art. *In name, perhaps. But few bloodless ones wishes to make their way into the trackless steppes. It is a land that remembers the Sun strongly at all times.* To Ren, it says, *The coyotes, of course. They traveled all places and lived well in all places.*

"Coooool," Tristan murmurs, fascinated by the unicorn now. "So that's, like, Tibet or something, right? Trackless steppes n stuff. Yeah, I can see how leeches wouldn't want to go there." He sidles half a step closer to the unicorn, peering at it.

Serendipity turns, watching the unicorn move, but doesn't take any steps, either toward or away. "Yeah," he agrees, with a grin, "We do that. I just wasn't sure which parta my family you meant, y'know?" If he's disappointed at the answer, it doesn't show.

The unicorn gives Tristan a somewhat jaundiced look. *Close enough* It pauses to bend its head until the horn is quite low. It then scrapes the point of its horn with its hoof in some bizarre contortion. Sparks fly off in this impromptu sharpening. Then it lifts its head again. *The coyotes have traveled widely. They came to look for Perunka to help them when I last saw them. There was to be a great journey of some sort.*

Tristan skitters backwards the half-step he'd advanced, when sparks fly. He glances at Ren, eyebrows lifted, a sort of 'hey this is for you!' expression of encouragement.

Serendipity's eyes widen a touch at the sparks, but he brightens at the remark. "There was to be a great journey, huh? Like... 'bout two generations ago? I mean humanwise. You dunno where they were headed or anything, by any chance? Or what they wanted a Perunka for?" he inquires, hopefully.

The unicorn watches Ren's expression for a long moment, then says *They did not tell me where, just that it was far, and they wanted Perunka of the oldest blood, those who look like me, because they are the most enduring. The coyotes did not feel they could run all that way without help. They took a hundred of my children with them when they went.*

"That's a long way," Tristan mutters, glancing again at Ren. He can't stand still, begins prowling a few steps back and forth. "Musta been real important."

Far enough they didn't think they could go that far without help? "Yeah," Ren agrees, brow furrowing slightly, "gotta be a helluva long way. Musta been. ...so you ever hear back from your kids? Y'know if they got where they were headed,or anything?"

*No* the unicorn says, with another head-toss that might be a shrug. *Their path is their path. Or was, being that they were all mortal and are likely dead now.* It examines the sculpture work critically. *Why were you making this?*

Tristan laughs at the unicorn's question. "Cuz he's a perv," he replies.

"Might not be," Serendipity replies, "somea us've lived a hell of a long time, 'least as the stories go...." He gives Tristan a wounded look. "Dude. You're voluntarily entirely celibate, an' =you= think =I'm= sick?" he protests, shaking his head, and then grins, shrugging. "I was makin' it 'cause I was bored, and I figured it'd be fun. I mean, why do anything, y'know?"

The unicorn turns an extremely serious look upon Ren following Tristan's comment, and nods as Ren responds. Then it says *I was told by a reliable source that mortals do things like this when they are sexually frustrated. Are you sexually frustrated?*

Tristan collapses upon the icy ground, absolutely cackling with glee. He can't manage to say anything at all, just laugh, and roll back and forth.

Serendipity pauses, eyeing the unicorn appraisingly, and arches a brow. "...I dunno," he drawls, "Did you wanna help me find out an' make sure I wasn't?"

The unicorn seems surprised by Tristan's breakdown but says *Well, I've not taken my human form for a hundred generations or more. Can the dead man help?*

Tristan waves a hand vaguely at the unicorn, gasping enough breath to say, "Nah, my dick's all shrivelled up n stuff, I can't do nuthin for him. I'm dead, after all!"

Serendipity points at Tristan, but addresses the unicorn, "...See? That's what I was sayin'! An' he thinks =I'm= a pervert!"

The unicorn considers Tristan carefully. *But your hands and mouth work, don't they?* It then looks at Ren. *Yes, well, the bloodless ones are /all/ that way, you see.*

Tristan blinks at the unicorn, shocked into silence. "...Yeah, but... I mean... " What he means he can't decide, apparently, for he trails off.

Serendipity tilts his head to look at Tristan. "The unicorn's got a point," he grants gravely, before turning back to the creature in question, ....but y'know, I don't think I do anything for him, y'know? He doesn't properly appreciate my hot young flesh," he laments airily. "...course," he continues, "not nearly enough people do."

The unicorn looks back and forth between the two men. *He would appreciate your hot young blood, perhaps. Or perhaps he is one of the choosy bloodless, and can only take blood from a certain type of mortal.* The unicorn then eyes Ren up and down. *It /is/ a shame I am not a frequenter of the human form. It would take me a long time to remember how to assume that shape. I'm told by some of my cousins that the mortals around here are very... eager to experience our kind.*

Tristan grins a little, crookedly. "I take whatever I can get, man. Beggars, choosers, etcetera." He smirks again at Ren.

Serendipity sniffs haughtily at Tristan. "Damn, dude, you really know how t' make a guy feel wanted, y'know?" he remarks reproachfully, and grins crookedly at the unicorn. "Yeah, though, looks like we're all sluts for a nice mane an'a shiny horn, round these parts. But hey, y'know, you feel like getting back in practice with the human form, feel free t' look me up."

*I shall indeed* the unicorn says to Ren with a last speculative glance. *You, dead man, there are unicorns here that you might want to meet. I will certainly spread the word that you are here. Imagine! A bloodless one who has /not/ tried to seize me and drink my blood.* It begins to stride on into the forest for which it was originally headed.

Tristan blinks after the unicorn, mystified. "Why would I wanna do that?" he wonders. Glancing back at Ren, he grins apologetically. "Didn't mean it like that, man. Just, yannow. Hey, any port in a storm, you know all about that one, right?"

Serendipity gives the unicorn a wink by way of farewell, and leans back against the signpost again, eyeing Tristan. "You keep diggin' that hole, I'm gonna hafta confiscate your shovel," he warns, successfully radiating an aura of wounded pride. "I'm easy, not desp'rate." He considers a moment before adding more matter-of-factly, "anyway, everyone'd rather drop anchor in some harbours than others, yeah?"

Tristan tries to look innocent. It fails really spectacularly. "Hey, honest, didn't mean any offense," he says, after dropping the attempt. "I -like- drinking from anybody sentient. It's a -good- thing. And you're pretty hot in and of yerself."

Serendipity grins, relaxing against the post again. "There, see, that's more like it. =Stroke= the ego, =stroke= the ego. It will not bite you," he declares in the tones of an educational filmstrip announcer, and then drops it, "...but I might. 'f you ask nice."

Tristan laughs. He relaxes, tucking his hands behind his head. "Bite me, and I'll bitecha back." It's an invitation."

Serendipity grins wider, and pushes off the sign, hands in coat pockets, to saunter idly over toward the vampire. "Yeah? Sounds fair 'nough..." He considers Tristan speculatively. "So... d'you not get turned on at all, anymore? Or do things just make you hungry, or what?" he asks, still gradually approaching, "'m just curious..."

"Hungry," Tristan replies, his gaze sharpening a bit as Ren approaches. "Kind of horny, like, my fangs feel like they wanna be in flesh, so, I guess that's horny..." He grins suddenly. "I could, yannow, get hard, if ya wanted. Yannow, if ya'd like that."

Serendipity laughs, surprised by the offer, and stops perhaps a foot away from Tristan, neck tilted to look up to his face. "=That's= an interesting thought. I mean, hey, I always like it when people get hard for me, but usually I think they got less control about it..." He grins again, hands still in his coat pockets, for now. "...s'pose the real question is whether you'd have any fun with it, if you did."

Tristan shrugs, still grinning. "Well, I don't mind either way. Sometimes it really gets someone goin, yannow? That's always cool."

Serendipity takes his hands from his pockets, stepping one more step closer, leaving the two of them just a couple inches apart, and takes hold of the edges of Tristan's overshirt with his gloves. "...you wanna find somewhere warm 'n' cozy, and show me whicha those biting places's your favourite?"

Tristan insinuates himself against Ren, his eyes half-lidded. "Got a couple good ones to show you," he breathes. "You'll like em. Promise."

Serendipity smiles, slow and wicked, and presses in in response. "Bet I will," he murmurs, and reaches up one hand to the back of the vampire's head, pulling it down closer to him, "...c'mere." Cool flesh or not, he claims a kiss, body comparatively hot against the leech. "...C'mon, then. Know a loft 'n' maybe a couple other places to check."