The kitchen door bangs open and Miki enters, drops an armful of just-split firewood into the box by the door, and exits again, letting the slight wind rattle the door closed behind him. After a moment, the door slams open again-- he kicked it, in fact-- and he staggers in under the weight of another load of wood. This he also drops in the woodbox, and stands there staring at it for a moment before it occurs to him to shut the back door.

Which is about the time the door from the diner opens, and Ren pokes his head in, brow furrowed with curiosity. "...Oh, hey, it's you, hiya gorgeous," he greets Miki, brightening a bit but seeming a touch subdued nonetheless. "How's it goin'? They got you relegated to manual labour?"

Miki glances over his shoulder at Ren. "I am well," he replies, with the curiously flat tone he usually adopts when he's lying. "And after all, I should pay for my food, right?"

"Don't sound it," Ren observes, pushing in through the doorway and wandering toward Miki, coming up behind him. "And sure, I s'pose you should, but havin' you haul wood's like using Michelangelo's David to keep the roof up. I mean, sure it might work, but it's not exactly suited to it and it's really kinda a waste..."

Miki shrugs a complicated shrug, half turning towards Ren. "It is just that I did not see anything to shoot on my way here, not a bird, not even a rabbit. It is nearly the end of winter, everything is hungry."

Serendipity studies Miki, and half-smiles a little, crookedly. "Are =you= hungry?" he asks, with the faint arch of an eyebrow. Well -- he does cook and such, after all, right?

Miki regards Ren thoughtfully, his expression giving nothing away. "I do not go hungry usually," he replies. "But it is a long walk from home, many miles. That is why I am often in the Diner."

"Because you don't feel like walking the many miles home?" Ren asks, "In the snow?" He drops his voice very slightly, a hand moving absently up to examine the edges of a roundish hole about the size of a quarter in the arm of his coat, "...alone?"

Miki looks away, turning his head to gaze thoughtfully at the door into the Diner. "I thought," he says after a moment, "that you asked whether I was hungry." He glances back at Ren out of the corner of his eye. "It is a long walk," he admits, reluctantly.

Serendipity grins, a smaller grin than usual, briefly wicked. "I did," he confirms in a low purr, and then shrugs lightly, seeming to notice his fingers on the wound of his coat and letting his hand drop, voice more cheerfully casual, "...and if all I can give you for it's food, well, do what I can anyway." The brow quirks again, slightly, "...if you wanted to stay in town and avoid the walk, though, I'm sure you've got your choice of anywhere you like t' stay..."

Another glance at the door into the Diner, this one with a flash of-- irritation? unhappiness? Whatever it is, it is gone very quickly., and seems directed at something which is not there in any case. Miki offers Ren a rather sad half-smile, which he manages to force into a quite passable sort of mischief. "Is that a sideways complaint that you have nowhere to stay? *Surely* that can not be true."

Serendipity favours Miki with a woeful look. "You don't think so? It all depends, but you'd be surprised, then." Aw, poor unloved boy. "...though it wasn't," he adds, rather cheerier, "Just pure observation. I've just got a treehouse I borrow most nights, but even =there= I know you'd be welcome."

"How... generous of you," murmurs Miki, with a laugh in his voice. "You are very kind." His eyes spark with amusement. "But that treehouse, it must be very cold, with the big window."

"Oh, =very= cold," Ren confirms gravely, with a solemn nod and wide, innocent eyes. "Even with the blanket over the window, and the little stove, and all the nest of blankets there to sleep in, it's just not quite enough to keep out all the chill."

Miki sighs and nods back, agreeing solemnly. "It is because it is up in a tree, maybe," he says. "Or because the walls are so thin. When it is very cold Mrs. Collins will not let Rex stay in his shed," one corner of his mouth twitches, "even though he has a heater now." He backs up to the counter and leans against it. "Winter is just very hard," he concludes.

Serendipity nods again, agreeing, and takes a couple idle steps forward, closing the distance between them again. "Very hard, definitely. And it could be the walls, or the height... it's hard to say. Sometime, you should come up and tell me which you think it might be," he suggests, invitingly.

"Oh, I have been there before," Miki assures Ren. "I used to spend... um, a lot of time up there." That smile is tugging at the corner of his mouth again; surely that sentence can't *really* be meant to be suggestive. It is, after all, a perfectly innocent assertion.

Serendipity grins wickedly again, and leans on the counter very close beside Miki, resting his weight on his arm there. "Oh, yeah? Pretty pleasant as places to spend some time go, innit?"

Miki tilts his head back and looks at the ceiling. "Oh, yes," he says, consideringly. "It is very nice. It has privacy, and is near the lake."

"'s prime real estate," Ren agrees, "...except, 'course, for that little problem with the cold. 's sad. 'cause you just know the place's =meant= to be cozy, by rights..." The fingers of his free hand fidget absently again, this time reaching out to catch and idly toy with one of the free-hanging ties of Miki's shirt. If there were any actual pressure being applied to it, it would almost seem an attempt to draw him closer.

Miki glances down at Ren's hand, then looks over at the Kin, his eyes thoughtfully half-lidded. "It is," he agrees, "but then, so is Rex's shed, is it not? Such places are always better when shared." He allows himself to smile, but it's a curiously reflective expression. "Perhaps you should share Rex's shed with him, then," he adds, reaching up to gently disengage Ren's fingers from his shirt-tie, and gracefully, inexorably, eeling away, "since your other lover, he will not exactly keep you warm in your nice nest, ah?"

Serendipity doesn't fight the hand removal. But he pouts. Still, there's no bitterness in it; it's a cute, somewhat playful pout, and ephemeral. "...what, you mean Tristan? Don't think you could count him as a lover. Vampires aren't inta that kinda thing. ...plus, haven't seen any sign of him in days." There's something that just touches the edges of that -- a hint of glum, maybe, and a bit more of worry. "...s'pose the others'd do just fine, warming things up," he continues, shifting, and gives Miki a sidelong look, "...but y'know -- I was asking =you=."

Miki regards Ren with an odd look-- "questioning" is part of it, and so is "incredulous," although these are mostly subsumed under amusement, still. "Were you? I guess you did. And now you ask again." He shakes his head a little, his hair falling into his eyes. "Surely I am not worth so much trouble."

"They fought a war over Helen of Troy," Ren murmurs, half-smiling. "=That's= trouble. And =she= was only beautiful." His hand moves again, to brush those strands of hair out of Miki's eyes in a quick, oddly wary move.

"That was... a long time ago," Miki replies, raising the back of his hand to his mouth in a gesture of contemplative uncertainty. "What do you mean, she was only beautiful? I thought she was also... a queen, or something."

Serendipity nods slightly. "Married to the king of Sparta," he agrees, "but being a queen -- it's a title, it's nothing. I could be a prince; it's nothing real. Not like intelligence, or talent, or even grace. Not like a sense of humour, courage, the ability to surprise." He glances at Miki straight on for a moment, tilting his head, "...certainly not like the fire you have."

"But I do not have fire," replies Miki, his tone teasing, but the expression in his eyes sad. "Fire belongs to my brother." His mouth twitches a little, pulls back in a part-smile. "And to Justin, of course." He reaches out and touches Ren's shoulder, tracing his fingers lightly over the fabric of the coat, finally brushing for just a moment over his neck. "You are much too kind. I should go." He withdraws, heading for the back door.

Serendipity stays where he is, and watches -- no move to try to stop him. He doesn't even speak above the same quiet level as he addresses Miki's back. "But you do. It's everywhere inside you. It radiates all around you." He sighs, and straightens up, stretching. "G'night, Majlath de Holtsapadtbolyh Miklos. Don't be a stranger," he murmurs, as the other heads back out into the cold.