This scene follows directly after the Unicorn Convocation, before the diner scene involving Miki's departure.

If a photographer were taking images to document a wedding, he could do worse than the play of light and dark as the bride came into view along the rim of the pond area, the train of the long white satin gown trailing behind, moonlight reflecting off the crystal beading on the bodice, setting off the vast contrast between it and dark skin and hair, a tasteful white fur jacket worn for warmth. It would be the very epitome of a winter wedding shot, but for two small problems. One, the bride appears to be wearing old, worn black boots. And two, it's Ren.

There's a cracked hole in the ice of the pond, and a dead deer lying on the shore, and Tristan has just lifted his head from the deer's throat, his skin flushed almost life-like. He squints in Ren's direction, rising from his crouch in a slow graceful motion, dropping the deer's head to the snow as he does. "...the dark? Ren?"

The figure grins, and yeah, unless he's got a flat-chested twin sister, that's definitely Ren. "Hey, Tristan!" he greets cheerfully, and lifts the front hem of the skirt so he can approach at a slightly quicker stroll, "...Wanna elope?"

Tristan slinks a few steps closer, his head low and thrust forward like a hunting cat's, his expression confused. "Y'look like you're out to catch you a man," he remarks, with half of an uncertain grin. "Ain't the marryin' type, though. Where n'Gaia did you -get- that stuff? That musta cost a damn fortune!"

"Why, all I ever wanted since I was a li'l girl was a big ol' wedding where I'd be all done up like a princess an-" Serendipity starts, overly sincere and starry eyed, and then breaks off. "Wait, wait, I wasn't ever a little girl. That musta been someone else." The grin returns, and he shrugs. "Robin did it. She was bein' a smartass. But, hell, it looks kinda hot on me, and what're th' chances of anyone gettin' me in wedding gear again, right?"

Tristan, who had been reaching out and just about to touch the mink coat, jerks his hand back as if Ren's garb had suddenly burst into flame. "Robin?!"

Serendipity blinks, arching a brow, at that. "....yeah, Robin. It's not gonna bite you. How come it seems like half the people in this town got issues with th' other half?"

"Issues? Issues? The woman's a ...a mage or something, she's some kind of fucking powerful THING, she--she--" Tristan's eyes are going wide and crazy. He plunges his hands into his hair and /yanks/ until bloody tears come to his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he relaxes, although his hands still twitch as he lowers them with deliberate care. "Forget it," he says briefly. "Robin's a freak, that's all there is to it."

Serendipity watches somewhat askance, a touch confused and a rather larger one worried, and nods once. "...well, yeah. There's a lotta freaks 'round these parts," he agrees. "Maybe you c'n tell me about it sometime, you feel up to it. ...anyway, don't worry 'bout it, 'kay? I just wanted t' show off my stylin' ensemble." He strikes a pose, giving Tristan a sidelong querying look from beneath his lashes. "Am I not somethin' to behold?"

Tristan considers the question, rubbing his palms on his hips. He grins, slowly. "Yeah. Yeah y'are. For a guy, you look good in a skirt. Good thing I just fed."

Serendipity grins again, pleased. "I'm a pretty flower," he announces solemnly, "...and hey, there could always be dessert later." He looks Tristan over appraisingly. "Y'look better t'night'n last time I saw you. Healthier, I mean. 'sgood," he comments, sweeping the skirt and its train in beneath him so he can seat himself on a handy section of a nearby boulder.

Tristan moves to crouch beside said boulder, at Ren's feet like a half-feral pet. "Yeah. Fed, and slapped myself around some. Useful exercise, I recommend it." Daringly, he picks up the hem of the white satin, rubbing it between forefinger and thumb. "Wow. It's the real stuff. How's it feel?"

Serendipity laughs. "Man, and all that energy I've wasted over the years tryin' to avoid other people slappin' me around inssteada just cuttin' out the middleman and doin' it myself..." He leans and reaches down to finger the hem of the dress just beside where Tristan is. "...feels pretty good, actually. Kinda slinky and smooth. Cool. ...you wanna try it?"

Tristan slides his hand up Ren's satin-draped leg, very slowly, letting the frictionlessness of the cloth do most of the work. Up to his knee, over the knee, up the thigh, even more slowly. "Mmmm," he says, reflectively.

"'s nice," Ren adds, watching. He rests his hands on the rock beside his hips; it's not a particularly ladylike seating, but surely he can be forgiven that, considering.

Tristan toys with the cloth, tugging it this way and that so it slides over Ren's legs and, probably not coincidentally, groin, with its heavy, slick, soft surface. "Yep, nice as nice can be," he agrees airily.

Serendipity shifts a little, planting the soles of his boots a bit more firmly against the ground. "...mm, yeah," he murmurs agreeably, "Definitely nice. 'fact, I may even miss it when it's gone."

Tristan grins a little, that sharp grin of his. "When's it gonna be gone?" he asks, while pulling absently at the flowing skirts, back and forth across Ren inside them.

It's a nice night, all in all -- cold but clear, moonlight reflecting off the ice of the lake, the snow on the ground, and, well, the crystal beading on the bodice of the long white satin princess-cut gown that Serendipity appears to be wearing. A dead deer lies near a hole in the ice; a close examination of it might imply to the astute local that Tristan had been here, but said local, being astute, would probably notice first that the vampire is, in fact, =still= there. He's crouched by Ren's feet, beside the boulder the coyote-kin's sitting less-than-ladylike on, and playing with the material of the gown's skirt. Ren does not exactly seem to mind. "...mm, I dunno," he replies with a hint of a purr, "I figure if it doesn't wear off by midnight or t'morrow or somethin', I'll hafta ask 'er to fix it... I mean, fetchin' as it is, I at least gotta get my proper coat back." His current one, it might be noted, seems to be a lovely white mink.

Safi's steps are faintly audible, as she comes up the mountain toward the pond.

"Better make the most of it while it's here then," Tristan says, very seriously. He cocks his head, suddenly, and shoots a glance over his shoulder, at the path that leads up the mountain to the pond. His hands, though, don't cease their motions.

Serendipity grins wickedly and shifts his weight slightly, as if he were about to sit up straight or lean forward, but stops and follows Tristan's glance curiously, toward the path.

Safi comes into sight, windblown and snowy, her eyes trained on the figures by the pond.

Tristan hehs. "S'the nymph. Hey, nymph." He grins at her, looks back around at Ren, showing no inclination to stop teasing him with the satin of the dress.

It takes a fraction of a second past Tristan's identification for Ren to be able to focus on Safi himself, by which time he's already extracting a hand from the rock beside him to toss her a light wave. "Heya, beautiful! Check out my new look," he greets her, cheerfully, and gives Tristan an amused look.

Safi grins at them, speeding her pace. "Ren! You are all pretty!" She comes closer, reaching out to touch the fabric, her eyes widening in fascination. "Is so beautiful!"

Tristan chuckles, shifting to the side to better let Safi fondle Ren. "Ain't it though?" he agrees. "Feels all nice and soft too." He offers her the handful of heavy satin he's been tugging back and forth.

"Plenty of dress for everyone to enjoy," Ren declares happily, and preens a little, "....'s pretty nice, huh? Not that I think I'm gonna take up dresses for general wear, can't run as well in it for one thing, but all th' same..."

Safi touches it, taking up handfuls of it and then grinning up at him. "It is wonderful!"

Tristan glances back at Ren, a certain glint in his--hazel, tonight--eyes. "Pretty neat, ain'it?" As he's about the same level with Safi's thighs, he rubs his mouth, and looks up at her. "So, uh, whatcha doin?"

Serendipity catches Tristan's glance, and keeps it a second, grinning a sideways grin. "Yeah," he agrees, to both of them, apparently, before looking up to Safi himself. "'s kinda cold 'n' late t' be out," he remarks, as if that had ever been known to stop either of them yet, "you huntin'? Or just talking a walk?"

Safi catches her lower lip between her teeth, and smiles to them shyly. "No, I am... I did not want to sleep. Ze mountain is so beautiful..."

Tristan, who had been staring at a spot on Safi's thigh where her furs left a bare patch of skin, blinks and looks up again. "Yeah... yeah. Hey, Ren is like the mountain now! All dark n stuff, and covered in fluffy white."

Serendipity snirfs, and nods. "Yeah, and we're both well-built forces of nature, too," he claims with extra immodesty, striking a manly pose. Considering the coat and dress, the effect is less than perfectly convincing.

Safi beams at Serendipity, and reaches out to run her hands through his hair. "So pretty," she murmurs. A muscle tenses in her thigh, and she leans forward and rises on tiptoe, to kiss his cheek.

This move leaves Tristan staring again at Safi's thigh, but he doesn't let himself stare for long. No, there are more torments to inflict. While Safi is busy kissing Ren, he takes up Ren's skirt again and moves it so it caresses the kin in an...interesting way, flashing him an evil grin.

Serendipity tips his head a bit coyly to present the cheek to the kiss, almost formal. The formality is somewhat marred by the tiny startled noise of pleasure that escapes at the thing Tristan does with the dress, not to mention the far too amused and not nearly reproachful enough Look he turns on the vampire in turn. Safi might feel his cheek go slightly warmer under the kiss, though even the best eyesight wouldn't be able to detect a visible blush.

With a startled laugh, Safi looks over her shoulder to Tristan, her eyes widening slightly. "What did you do?" she asks.

"This stuff," Tristan replies, archly, "makes some real interesting sensations, 'specially on certain parts. Ain't that right, Ren?" He does whatever he just did with the skirt again.

Serendipity half-expects it, this time, but it still causes a slight jump in his breath. "You," he accuses Tristan goodnaturedly, "are an evil vampire =tease=." 'course, he's not exactly flouncing off in a huff. Or huffing off in a flounce, for that matter.

Safi glances back to Serendipity, fascinated. She takes a careful step closer, laying a hand on Ren's thigh and sliding it upward, rubbing the fabric against his skin. "Like zis?"

Tristan's grin really is quite wicked and evil and several other adjectives. Including 'pointy'; his fangs have extended a bit, their tips pressing into his lower lip. "Yeeaaah, just like that," he croons, pulling one side of the skirt, then the other, over Ren.

Serendipity laughs and gives the sky a mock-resigned look, leaning back more against the boulder and surrendering to their tender mercies. "...Mmm," he comments emphatically, and shifts a leg. "...I oughta wear dresses more often."

Safi nods, rubbing the satin upward along his thigh, her smile touched with mischief. She edges another step toward him, leaning down and bending her head to nibble on his ear.

Tristan's eyebrows shoot up, and he gives Ren a 'hey THIS is unexpected' look, from behind and under Safi. He's all too willing to increase the torment, however. "You oughta try it too," he informs Safi, picking up the hem of Ren's dress. After a moment's consideration of the very limited exposed-to-the-elements bits of Safi, he goes for the gold, and strokes the material across an exposed bit of thigh.

Serendipity's eyes, half-closed, open completely for a second at the nibbling, and he groans a little appreciatively, lifting his arm from the rock and wrapping it around Safi's waist, pulling her in a little closer. He responds to Tristan's look with one momentarily arched brow, still smiling wickedly.

Safi gasps, making a little whimpering sound, a warm breath descending on Ren's ear. "Oh," she whispers, tensing in the curve of the arm. Her eyes are closed, now, her head bent to the dark hair.

You might think that Tristan, with his claims to asexuality, wouldn't be getting a kick out of this. However, he is. Maybe it's seeing Safi enjoy herself for once. Regardless of his motivations, though, he caresses the slick satin (cold at first, but warming rapidly against skin) against as much of bare Safi-thigh as presents itself. The look he gives Ren could be encouraging him. What, trouble? Tristan -never- causes trouble.

Oh, but =nobody= in this company ever causes trouble. Ren hardly needs encouragement, though hey, it can't hurt; he tilts his head slightly when Safi releases his ear, just enough press a smattering of kisses against her neck. Well. And maybe a few bites while he's in the neighbourhood. His arm's not so tight around her she couldn't easily pull away if she wanted, but it's firm enough to be clear he'd rather she didn't, if it's all the same to her. His free hand manages to find itself a bit of flannel; presumably it's Tristan's...

Safi's breathing is harshly audible, quickening in the quiet of night, her lips parted. She arches her neck to offer her throat, pressing into Ren's attention. Her hand still slides along the muscle of his thigh; the other reaches out and down, touching Tristan's hair.

Tristan is gleeful. This is like reaching for a lollipop and getting the whole damn candy store. He twists his head against Safi's hand like a cat, his lips finding her wrist, and he licks her there. If his saliva glands still worked, they'd be doing overtime right now. Meanwhile, he scoots closer to Ren, practically straddling his leg at this point, and figuring there's no need to be coy any longer, slides his hand up to the junction of the coyotekin's legs.

There are ways in which the designer of this dress never expected it to have to drape, and one of them is currently nicely exemplified. The hands moving in that area don't do anything to help the hang of the fabric. Serendipity is, however, magnanimously willing to overlook the matter for now. Or oblivious to the 'problem', more likely. He inhales once rather sharply, nuzzling against Safi's throat, and returns to biting and licking the skin there, the arm around her waist moving a bit, hand drifting lower.

Moaning softly into Ren's hair, Safi turns her wrist, pressing the inside to Tristan's mouth. She shivers, arching her back and pushing her body closer to Ren's side, soft suede and leather cold against him.

Well, there's simply no way any cold-blooded vampire can resist that. Tristan grips Safi's wrist and sinks fang, letting out a happy sound at the taste of her mage-heavy and arousal-spiced blood. His other hand, perhaps unfortunetly, goes still on Ren, but continues to grip him.

Serendipity makes a quiet whimper of protest, shifting his hips a bit on the rock, and opens his eyes a bit more, releasing Safi's throat to look down and catch sight of the biting -- which he watches for several seconds. He tugs her in closer, then, and leans up to catch her mouth with his, warmly murmuring the first coherent word for quite a while, "...c'mere."

A sharp gasping breath comes from her as the vampire sinks his teeth into her wrist--and then Safi is melting into Ren's kiss, the taut body almost going slack over him, a low sound coming from her throat as pleasure takes hold.

Tristan doesn't drink long, despite all the lures. He pulls out and seals the wound he'd made after only a few moments, his expression vaguely horrified at what he's done.

Serendipity is still busy kissing Safi, of course; his hands haven't even had time to decide to venture from where last they've landed.

Released from the vampire's teeth, the mage's hand moves to stroke Tristan's face, touch his hair. Another shiver, and she slowly pulls away from the kiss: reluctant but determined to break the contact. She leans her head against Ren's hair, breathing fast. "I-- I am going, now," she whispers. "I have to--"

Tristan sits down hard in the snow with a *flumph*. He stares up at Ren and Safi, eyes unfocused and suddenly blue.

Serendipity reaches up and catches Safi's jaw in his hands, pulling her face to his again, to give her just a quick kiss on the lips, and then a half-apologetic grin. "Yeah, I un'erstand," he murmurs, "...sorry, beautiful. Shouldn't putcha in situations like this, mm?" His gaze drifts over her shoulder to the vampire in the snow, and he murmurs even quieter right by her ear, nearly nuzzling it, "...think Tristan might be worried he shouldn'ta bit you," before he lets her go.

Safi swallows, and opens her eyes dazedly to look down at Ren for a moment. She touches a kiss to his hair, forsaking Tristan to give a swift hug to Serendipity. It is brief, however, and before a second passes she turns to the vampire, touching a hand to his cheek, dark eyes still a bit wild from the ecstasy of the Kiss. "I wanted," she says simply. "Thank you, for doing it."

Tristan's expression softens into lines of relief. "Okay," he says quietly. "Next time I'll know, huh?" He turns his head and kisses Safi's palm. "Thanks."

Serendipity watches with an unusually small smile and apparent approval, resting his elbow on his thigh, cheek on his hand. "...'s nice seein' you, beautiful. Don't be a stranger, yeah?" The foot of the leg that isn't currently holding most of him up shifts out a little, and hooks itself around the vampire's calf, drawing it in a bit.

Safi nods, her hand tracing the curve of Tristan's cheek before drawing away. "I will not," she promises, looking to Ren and offering a wistful smile as she finally disentangles herself from the close trio. "You..." A glance takes in the vampire, and the edges of her smile tug upward. "You have a good night." Then she turns and bounds up toward the higher path.

Tristan rolls forward to his knees, still dazed and flushed from the power of Safi's blood. "That was...unique," he remarks dizzily, and slumps forward, practically into Ren's lap.

Serendipity catches Tristan and slips down off the rock, turning practically into actually. It's a welcoming lap. "Yeah," he agrees fairly brightly after a moment's consideration, "I think I can say f'sure I've never been in 'zactly =that= situation before. ....you okay, Tris?"

Tristan shakes his head slowly, not in negation. "Her blood's intense... heavy, so heavy. Makes me see things. Makes me feel weird." He blinks, looking down at both himself and Ren. It becomes apparent that Ren isn't the only one spoiling the line of his trousers--or, skirt, rather, in his case. "Whoa. Lookit that."

"Good weird, or bad w-," Ren starts, and then blinks in surprise, reaching around to give the unexpected visitor and experimental poke. "...Huh. Dunno 'bout you," he drawls, "but where I'm from we usually consider that 'good weird'."

Tristan pokes it, too, squinting. "Issat what that's called?" he asks vaguely. Then, with a sudden twist like an escaping cat, he turns in Ren's lap with a grin. "So, uh, hey, seem to remember that I was gettin' you all worked up." His hand slides down Ren's torso with the faintest rasp of satin. "Only fair that I don't leave ya hanging." Unerringly he finds what he was searching for, grips it in folds of satin, and gives a gentle stroking pull.

Serendipity smirks a little. "'mong other things," he confirms, "And yeah, I seem t' remember somethin' of the... mmmm. Sort. Yeah..." He grins lazily, and reaches a hand to the base of Tristan's skull, leaning forward and pulling him in a touch, stopping just short of an actual kiss, close enough that his lips just barely graze the vampire's when he inquires, "...so... d'you =mind= bein' kissed?"

"Uhhh... well, it's kinda, weird, dunno about the good way," Tristan admits, his eyes half closed. "Makes me wanna bite."

"...well, I c'n stop doing it, 'f y'want me to," Ren offers, without pulling the slightest bit away, and then flicks out his tongue, licking Tristan's lips, and grins wickedly, "...but maybe I kinda like it when you wanna bite me."

Tristan gives Ren a sideways and uncertain look. His fangs, still at full extension, press into his lower lip, even with his mouth closed. "...Yeah?"

Serendipity meets the look with one that's just barely too playful to be a proper challenge, and arches a brow, one corner of the grin quirking higher. "Yeah."

[...FTB.]