Serendipity's coat is hung over the back of an armchair -- and his legs over one of the arms, his head over the other. He's apparently engrossed in a book -- a rather large, thick, heavy-looking hardcover book.

In from the gently snowing day come Justin and Danny, lightly powdered. Justin's holding open the door with his staff, saying to Danny over his shoulder, "You're the expert on that, I'll leave it to you to decide how much we need."

Danny trails behind Justin, shaking snow off his cloak and brushing the hood back. "Let's see what Higami has, then. I think we can get by using most of the existing wood--it's not all completely useless. Just...mostly. Sort of." He hangs the cloak on the coatrack and runs his hands through his hair as he enters the library proper.

Serendipity arches to turn his head upside down and peer at the new entries, resting the book on his legs and lifting a hand to wave. "Hey, mornin', guys. 'sup?"

Justin takes off his own cloak and hangs it up. "More construction." He nods at Ren in greeting, although he doesn't smile, and doesn't look like he's smiled in the recent past, either. Striding over to the appropriate shelves he begins swiftly perusing bookspines.

Danny pauses and gives Ren a hesitant look, then waves hello. "...hi." He lets Justin get the head start and goes to help himself to some of Higami's tea. "We're going to try and make the shed a little more useful than a pile of splinters."

Serendipity flashes the both of them a bright grin, and twists in the chair to regard them better, closing the book on a finger to save his place. "What shed?" he inquires, and adds to Justin, "...and why th' long face, handsome?"

Justin grunts in reply, tipping a couple of books out from their places, flipping them open, and skimming them rapidly. It's not terribly often he plays the part of the grouchy wizard to the hilt, but today, apparently, is marked for the role.

Danny tenses at Ren's question, and he pauses in the process of dropping the tea leaves into the cup. He only waits a few seconds to see if Justin will answer, then continues with the tea-making process. "I just need to see if there's any good information on refurbishing old wood," he continues awkwardly.

Serendipity arches a brow at Justin, and swings around to sit up straight, still keeping his book. "Oh, prolly," he remarks to Danny, "...there's all kinda stuff in here." Standing, he wanders over toward Justin, to peer over the mage's shoulder. Well -- around it, really, given the height thing.

Justin sidles almost absently away from Ren to preserve his personal space, with the air of someone so used to doing so that he hardly registers it. The book he's skimming is one on small building projects. He does, however, glance up at Ren, over his glasses, and cock an eyebrow questioningly.

Tea assembly completed, Danny goes over to one of the desks and takes a seat. He watches Ren and Justin closely, sparing only an occasional glance at the random book he's pulled open in front of him: a copy of The Tempest.

Serendipity slides slightly closer, almost absently himself. Personal space? What is this thing of which you speak? He studies Justin's book a moment before asking, "...so did the shed ruin your carefully laid plans, or what? You look like you set up a big picnic to surprise it and it told you it'd rather stay in an' read a novel."

Justin snorts in unwilling amusement. "There's nothing wrong with the shed, other than everything. We're going to knock it down and build a workshop." He steps away further from Ren. "I think I'm going to defrost the entire backyard to do it. Maybe we can cut back the hedge monster while it's sleeping."

Danny dares to point out, "Safi will probably just make it grow back." He turns the pages of the small book in the manner of someone who's actually looking for a specific passage, but has no idea where it might reside in the book.

Serendipity lets Justin step away, this time, leaning against the bookshelf. "Workshop? Coool, what kind?" he inquires, then glances to the ceiling, "...can you defrost the whole town, instead? Snow's getting old."

Justin tucks the book under his arm and opens the next, and is caught by Ren's question. He tips his head back to look at the ceiling as well, suddenly very thoughtful. "I think I could. But it might not be a good idea, as all the plants would be fooled into thinking it's spring, and it'd throw off the growing cycle. That's going to happen in the backyard, unless I can find some way to prevent it, maybe Safi can help..."

"Defrosting the whole town would almost certainly summon some winter spirit to kick our asses," Danny says with a sigh. "Messing with the cycle is a great way to get their attention, and not the good kind."

"Well, hey, if Safi made the plants not think it was a restart, or something..." Ren suggests hopefully, glancing between the pair of them. "And hey," he suggests cheerfully to Justin, "Maybe it'd get ridda the cloud of gloom all around you. Could be that seasonal thing."

"She wouldn't do it over the whole town. That'd be against her paradigm." Justin gives Ren an irritated look as reward for his last observation. "I doubt it." He takes the books over to Danny and sets them down for the Perunka, then strides off towards another set of shelves.

Danny grimaces at Justin's back and gives Ren a tired look. He sets aside old Will for a book by Taggart and Wiggins about Yard Construction. In a dry tone, he tells the Coyote Kin, "As you can see, our house is full of sweetness and light lately."

"Clearly," Ren agrees, equally dryly. "He's just Mr. Sunshine, ain't he? But hey, hard t' blame the guy.. I mean it's gotta be tough, having neat magic powers, stuff t'do, a buncha good friends, half the town in love with you, an' sleeping with unicorns an' the most unearthly hot guy in five hundred miles... it's amazing he c'n even find the motivation t' get outta bed in the mornings, really."

Out of sight, since Justin is on the other side of several bookshelves, a large book drops with a loud and leafy thud. There is a silence of no little tension. Then, he says very, very dryly, "I beg to differ. Half the town is -not- in love with me." The book gets picked up. "I will, however, allow that you may have a point about the rest."

"Maybe just a third..." Danny murmurs under his breath.

Serendipity grins briefly, over where Justin can't see him. "Oh, sorry," he replies innocently, "Math never =was= my strongest talent."

Justin reappears, holding the quite solid book, which has the Guild of Technology sigil stamped on its cover. "If any sizeable percentage of the town is in love with me, I'd quite like to know who," he says, still dryly, but not irritably. "Miki's the one who gathers lovers like flowers in spring."

Danny tips his head thoughtfully, tapping on a page in the construction book. "So maybe it's just Miki and a unicorn. The town's small enough, that almost qualifies as half." He shrugs and adds, "We're still alive after all the things we've been through, that's worth being happy about just on its own."

Safi comes in with a book hugged to her chest, a glitter of melting snowflakes in her hair, and a face flushed from the cold.

Serendipity fffts. "There's at least one or two others, and the place can't possibly hold more'n, what, ten of us?" He grins, quickly, and shrugs. "Anyway, that's not a real fair comparison, is it? I mean, you're pretty damn hot, but he's like -- the elemental avatar of Hot. Plus, handsome, he's a lot more approachable. Less likely to mope atcha." He sits on the edge of the desk, heavy tome pulled into his lap, finger still marking his place. "An' yet, everyone an' their yeti's still nuts over you. Go fig." He glances to the door as it opens, brightening a fraction, and grins as the girl enters, "...heya, beautiful. We were just talkin' 'bout you a minute ago." If he was hoping for anyone in particular, it wasn't her, but he couldn't be said to be =disappointed= to see her, either.

Ren's shameless flattery is rewarded with a blush rising behind Justin's beard, and a "Bah. I am -not-. And yes, well, he is. That's why he's got four lovers at last count, and I've got one." He grins wryly, and glances up when Safi comes in, the grin turning pleased. "Hello Safi." Well, he is lightening up, a little?

Danny opens his mouth to contradict Justin, then closes it so quickly his teeth click. "Mmmm," he says wisely.

Safi glances from Serendipity to Justin, her faint smile fading into seriousness. "Two," she says quietly.

"Sure's hell =looked= like two, with th' vines an' all," Serendipity teases, and grins again, "...and hey, you wanna make it three, I'm still up for it, y'know." He shifts back to sit himself crosslegged on the desktop, and pulls the book fully into his lap.

"More of a fling, really," Justin demurs, the blush intensifying to a lovely shade.

Danny grins at Justin. "See? Like he said, we're already up to half the town."

Safi shakes her head, watching Justin with solemn eyes. "No," she says softly. "Zis does not go away. It does not mattair, if we cannot... be together, in body. Zere are different ways."

Serendipity half-smiles, and arches a brow at Justin. "...Like I was sayin'," he murmurs, and stretches his arms, switching off place-marking fingers to do it. "...Hey, Danny, you see a bookmark 'round anywhere?"

The look Justin gives Safi is primarily shocked, not negatively so, but completely surprised that she'd think that. Not that she'd say it; since when has Safi not said what she thought? There's a few other interesting emotions swimming around in there too. He drops his gaze, clearing his throat. "...Thank you, Safi," he says, softly. "That means a lot to me. Uhm." He pushes his glasses up his nose and makes a transparent effort to get beyond the moment. "Could I ask a favor of you?"

The wild-mage tips her head, studying him with a look of brooding worry. She answers with a silent nod, still hugging the hardcover of _Great Expectations_ to her chest.

Danny looks puzzled and glances around the desk, then the floor. "Um...no..."

"Damn," Ren remarks, without sounding too put out about it, really, and flips the book open to study the page he's marking. "...Page one hundred 'n' forty-two. Remember that for me, yeah?" he instructs, then shuts it again -- this time finger-free, so he can set the tome aside for the time being. And watch.

Justin goes to sit down with his own sizeable book. "I'm planning on bringing a sort of spring to the backyard," he tells Safi, more amiably than he's said anything all day, really. "Do you think you could keep the plants from waking up and thinking it's a real spring? We need to do work back there, you see, and I don't want to upset the plants or the hedge monster."

Safi's brow furrows. "Why... why do you make spring wis'out waking zem? Only... only the air, and no snow?"

"Can't promise anything," Danny warns Ren. He explains to Safi, "We want to make a workshop, and we'll need semi-thaw ground for that so we can set a foundation and the walls. That'll take a few days, even with a handful of us working on it. Once the roof's up we can do the rest without much worry about the weather."

Serendipity tuts at Danny, once, and shakes his head. "Well, what good're you?" he inquires mildly.

Justin nods at Danny. "What he said. We need space to work that's inside and not in the house, lest something go wrong--at least, with my work."

Safi blinks, looking over to Danny. She nods, then, and her attention returns to Justin with a somewhat worried smile. "O.K.," she says. "I talk to zem." The smile is quick to fade, as she looks at Justin--into an open, guileless expression of deep concern.

"Not much," Danny admits to Ren with a mock-innocent smile. "But I can run pretty fast."

Serendipity grins. "Well, that's been enough t' keep =me= alive once'r twice, don't see why it shouldn't be good enough for you, too," he decides, and picks his book back up, absently.

"Thank you," Justin says gravely to Safi, inclining his head to her. "I will owe you a boon in return."

She remains silent, watching him for a long moment; then she pacess toward the area that houses fiction, only looking away when the shelves finally come between them. She returns Dickens to its place, and browses silently.

Danny snaps his fingers and points at Ren. "Exactly. Well except the one time it didn't work, but, that was different. After Lucas puts on my new shoes, I can even do it *quietly*."

Serendipity laughs. "Yeah, all the better. Musta worked okay, though, since," he reaches out to touch a bare spot of Danny's skin, but only a moment, a bit clinically, "...you feel pretty warm for a dead guy."

Justin's eyes don't leave Safi as she moves, until she goes out of sight. He looks back at the other two men, a wide-eyed 'what was -that- about' sort of expression on his face. It takes him a moment to realize what Danny's said. "Your shoes are going to be enspelled in some way?"

There are only a few quiet sounds from Safi's direction, as she finds a book and a corner and proceeds to distract herself.

"Death can be really funny like that," Danny says gravely. He can't hold the expression nearly as well as Justin, however, and soon he's grinning again. "Actually I almost drowned when I was, um, ten I think. And then there was the avalanche." He follows the Mage's gaze to Safi and shakes his head in confusion, but answers the question readily enough. "He said he could put Gift magic in them. I thought about asking if I could go even faster, but, quieter sounded better. Then I can patrol and not make loads of noise!"

Serendipity grins back, and listens with interest -- but quietly, this time. As far as Justin's unspoken question, all it gets is the ghost of a shrug.

Justin grins, too, down at his book, idly rubbing his thumb over the Guild's stamped seal in the cover. "I like the idea of a Stormrunner Thundersnow sneaking up on bad guys as quietly as a fox in the woods."

Danny laughs softly. "Well I don't know if it'll be *that* quietly, but that's a nice thought." He drains his teacup, then shuts the Yard Construction book and gets up. "That reminds me, I wanted to see if I could find something in the cultural section..." The Perunka drifts off into the stacks, murmuring to himself as he disappears further into the library.

Serendipity indicates Justin's book with a tilt of his head, curiously. "So what'd you find, there? Somethin' thrilling an' interesting? Any swashbuckling pirates in it?"

Justin flattens his hand against the cover, his expression musing. "No swashes nor buckles, I'm afraid, it's a technical manual for certain types of force." He flips open the cover and thumbs through several pages, which are all very tiny print and incomprehensible diagrams. "Of course, as it's written in the paradigm of the Guild, I don't know if I'll be able to use it or not."

Serendipity nods once or twice, slowly, then admits, "...I have no idea what you just said, honestly." He slides off the desk, his own book in hand, and wanders over to take a better look at Justin's.

Justin glances up at Ren, with a wry little smile. "Mage stuff. Not important, really." He leans back in his chair, eyes half-lidded, the book open on his lap so that Ren can see it, not that it's interesting in the least.

"Sounds interesting, though," Ren opines, taking a good look at the text and little diagrams. "So you can learn the Mage stuff from books, then? ...presumably you gotta already have the power, though, right? It's not like I could learn to do that stuff from the book or anything, yeah?"

Justin tilts his hand back and forth. "Sort of. It's a little complicated. I learned quite a lot from books, but I had a fifteen-year long formal apprenticeship. Safi has only just learned to read; everything she knows she learned from, well, I don't know, actually, but it wasn't from books." He looks Ren over, appraising. "You do need to be Awakened to the power, yes. It's certainly not unknown for kinfolk to become mages."

Serendipity looks what some might consider dangerously thoughtful, at that. "Yeah? ...I guess that's not that weird; I mean, a lotta us have Gifts we c'n use to start with. ...Heh. I bet it'd be handy for the mission 'n' all, if I could do th' big mojo." He mulls this over several seconds, as if the only barrier to whether he became a Mage were whether he decided he wanted to or not. "Fifteen years, huh? 's a long time. Fifteen years ago, I was four. Or so."

Justin grimaces. "Now you make me feel old. The worst part is that Miki's your age, or younger. Anyway, it's not like you can just Awaken because you want to do it; believe me, many people have tried for years, and failed. It's one of those things that happens or doesn't without your consent."

Serendipity grins, with a little rolling shrug. "I'm good at makin' things happen," he replies easily, and whether that's confidence or cockiness is probably a matter of opinions. "Anyway, how old're you? Same as you look, or...?"

"I could ask 'how old do I look', but I think I'll spare myself the pain," Justin grumbles, although it's a reasonably good-natured grumble. "I've seen twenty eight summers, twenty nine this coming season."

Serendipity grins again. "Heh. 'bout what you look, then. =That's= not old. =Tristan's= old," he declares dismissively. "...so what d'you need for the Awakening thing, a psychic alarm clock? How'd it go for you, 'n' all?"

Justin shakes his head. "Something has to happen to you that wakes up your soul on a deeper level than you have been living before. It's not quantifiable. How it happened for me, well, it's private. Not now. Maybe later." He adds, curiously, "Who's Tristan?"

Serendipity hmms, considering the soul-matter, until he's distracted by the return question. "You dunno him yet? He's been 'round here a while. The vampire, y'know? He's a hundred an' twenny or so, I think." He pauses a moment, then adds, "...he's a good guy. ...so how come you can magically thaw out the ground for building, but you can't just make the building appear or something like that? Or handle the plant part of it as well?"

Justin's eyebrows go up at the news that the vampire has a name. "Oh." Next question. "Well, to answer that would take a lot of magical theory and such. The short answer is, the first is too hard, and I don't know how to do the second. There are nine specialties of magic, you see--we call them spheres--and I am not skilled in the sphere that governs living things." He's definitely relaxing, oddly enough; talking about this kind of thing is calming him quite a bit.

Serendipity drags the chair he'd been sitting on earlier over to face Justin's, so he can sit crosslegged on the cushions, book in his lap, and face the Mage. The book, should Justin pay it any mind, appears to be a medical textbook of some kind. "What're you skilled in?" he asks, paying admirable attention. He'd make a good student. In certain styles of classroom, at least...

"Mainly the sphere of Forces--that's energy in all its forms--and Matter, which is self-explanatory. I'm also good with Prime, the First Sphere, which is the essence of all things." Justin considers Ren, watching how the kinfolk is taking this in.

"So... fire and lightning and... springs'd be in Forces?" Ren asks, thoughtfully, "...and Matter's, like... water inta wine, and people inta frogs, like in all the old stories?" He drums his fingertips briefly on his book before continuing, "...Prime, though. What's the essence of a book? I mean, like... its... bookiness?"

"A spring's physical form would be governed by Matter, but its movement, by Forces. Does that make sense? Forces controls only energy, but all kinds of energy. I can turn water into wine, or lead into gold, with Matter, but I can't turn a person into a frog--that's Life." Justin chuckles. "Yes, in fact, its bookiness is as good a way as any to put it. Prime is about the woven patterns underlying the mere facts about a given thing, or the universe."

Serendipity thinks a bit, brow slightly furrowed. "So... you could, like, make a pair of shoes with springs on the bottom, and make the springs bounce you, like, three miles in the air? But you couldn't make a frog jump three miles high, 'cause it's alive?"

"That all depends. You see, I could not change the frog's physical form to make it capable on its own of jumping three miles high, but I could manipulate the forces it generates by moving to make it jump three miles high. If it jumps, I can take that energy and amplify it." Justin grins a little. "Of course, whether the frog would survive such an adventure is another story..."

Serendipity grins. "Heh.... frog-bombs. A'ight, so what if it was already dead? Does it turn into matter so you can make it jump by itself then?"

Justin nods, leaning back and lacing his fingers across his belly. "Mmhmm. As long as it is well dead, and no living cells linger."

Serendipity leans forward a little. "So why can't you just make the electrical impulses in his nerves and all fire so he jumps, and then manipulate those forces to make the jump 3 miles high?"

"What is clothed in flesh is beyond my reach," Justin replies promptly, as if expecting this question. "You can't say, 'this is an electrical impulse, only running through nerves' if the nerves are alive. The very existence and power of life prevents it. Now, I do have a -little- control over living flesh, but mostly my own, and not all that much."

Serendipity hehs. "I didn't think you guys had to deal with 'can't'. And it's still electrical, innit?" He considers it a moment. "...Whose rules are they you guys're going by?"

"Sure, it's still electrical. The difference is that it's created by and dwells within a living being. A mage like Safi can deal with that sort of thing, but I cannot." He looks wry. "There's a lot of 'can't' in magic, I'm afraid. Like any other discipline it has its limits, and its very bad ideas. What do you mean by 'whose' rules?"

Serendipity shrugs, "All rules start with someone, right? Someone says this's how things are, this's what you can and can't do, and everyone says oh, okay, if you say so. We start when we're kids, right? Kids play games, one kid tells all the others what the rules are, sometimes they argue about it, but someone goes we're gonna have rules and here's what they are in the first place."

Justin spreads his hands, tilting his head. "In most ways, it's just how magic works. There are natural delineations, much as there's a division between water, earth, air, and fire. However, I know what you're asking, and the answer is that my Tradition, the Order of Hermes, is the one who quantified and categorized magic. Most magic," he adds. "Most -Western- magic. Most Western -True- magic."

"What about mud 'n' dust and steam an' all?" Ren asks, tilting his head a bit. "...mostly, a frog can't jump more'n a couple feet, right? Because of natural laws and all, yeah? That's just the way the world works. Only, you can make it jump a few miles, break those rules. So what makes the other rules so special?"

"Mud and dust and steam are still combinations of the primal elements. In fact, that's the basis of alchemy, that all matter is formed from compositions of more basic, primitive matter." Justin settles his arms across his chest, considering the last question. "It's one of the questions of True Magic, one that has not a single answer but many different answers which all form a whole. One of the reasons is that magic -is- a part of the natural world. Imagine a river, for example. A river will, in its normal course, create thousands of smooth rounded stones, because of its natural course. However, a river might also happen to carve the Grand Canyon. Both are well within the realm of possibility; one option, however, is much more common, and the other can only happen under specific circumstances. Magic can appear to twist the rules of physics, science, and nature, but the deeper truth is that magic is simply a level of physics, science, and nature that is extraordinary, instead of ordinary."

Serendipity is quiet for quite a few seconds, mulling this over,and then breaks into a wide grin again, with a little nod. "Cool," he decides, and unfolds, getting up and out of the chair, stretching once he's on his feet, huge book dangerously above his head.

Justin grins in return, looking tired with those dark circles around his eyes, but more relaxed and certainly more amiable than he was when he and Danny came in. "I'm glad you approve," he says. "I'm curious as to why you ask, though. Thirst for knowledge?"

"...yeah, pretty much," Ren replies cheerfully. "...plus, I figure maybe I'll see i I can work out how to do it. I don't have a whole lot else t' do in this weather, anyway."

"I wish you luck," Justin says, seriously. "Be careful, though. It takes a life-altering event to Awaken, and obviously, it doesn't always happen."

"Well, everything you do 'n' experience alters your life," Serendipity replies with a hint of a shrug. "Thanks, though. Point taken an' all." He salutes with the book in his hand, and moves to pick up his coat.

"Not in the way I mean," Justin says quietly. "You're welcome. Again, good luck." He picks his own hefty book back up.