It is a chilly morning when someone tosses a few rocks against the bottom of the Treehouse and calls, "Hey, Ren! Ya here?" in Rex's voice.

There's a pause, and then a bit of thumping before the trapdoor of the treehouse opens and a flood of Ren's hair tumbles through, followed by the majority of the top half of his torso, including the (slightly sleepy) grin. "Mornin', handsome. Don't s'pose you're bringin' me breakfast in bed?"

Rex shoots a broad grin up at the coyote-Kin and gestures to the small pack over his shoulder. "I brought coffeecake and a thermos of coffee, if that'll do. I was wonderin' if you'd like to come along with me on a walkin' trip. Miss Anita's been after me for a few days to walk down to Millinockett an' pick up some things for her. It's a few hours down, a few back, but there's a nice little inn down there that owes me a room for the night, if you'd rather walk back tomorrow."

"So breakfast =and= bed -- sounds like fun," Serendipity replies, cheerfully. "Gimme a sec t' hide my glory, be right down." He withdraws, leaving the trapdoor open, and there's a few minutes more of various noises within the structure before he emerges again, feet first and clothed this time, and swings down and off the rope to the ground. "What sorta things're we pickin' up?"

Rex shrugs. "There's this old herb woman down there that makes some goose grease salve that Miss Anita swears is the best thing ever for her arthritis, an' we're hopin' that the heart medicine has come up river and such. Dr. Sean'd prob'ly be glad to hear about a medicine shipment, an' we can bring back such as we can carry. Plus I heard tell that there's some chocolate to be had, an' I was thinkin' about the chocolate chip cookie recipe I've got..." As he talks, he fishes out a large chunk of coffeecake wrapped in wax paper and hands it over to Ren for his consumption.

Serendipity accepts it and starts unwrapping the wax paper to reveal the cake. "I can do chocolate for you, 'f you want. 'least, it usually works, if you're not too picky what form it's in..." he remarks, and adds, "Bet you're right 'bout Sean and a medicine shipment, too. He's been waiting for more doctoring to do since the snow started." He breaks off a chunk of the cake and pops it into his mouth, offering the rest to share.

Rex takes a chunk of cake for himself and waggles his eyebrows suggestively at Ren. "I'd do a helluva lot for a chunk a' chocolate," he grins. "An' I keep tryin' t'get Miss Anita t'let me get Dr. Sean to come do doctorin' on her, but she keeps tellin' me he can't do nothin' for her that the goose grease an' old medicine won't do." He shrugs his big shoulders helplessly. "Even Missus Collins can't talk to her about it. So." He takes a bite out of his chunk, then indicates the nearby road. "Shall we?" he inquires, slightly muffled by an uncouth mouthful of coffeecake.

Serendipity grins back, and quirks a brow in return. "Sure," he agrees in innocent tones, "but afterward we prolly oughta get goin' on the road right away..." He breaks off another chunk of cake, and starts toward the road, comment nothwithstanding. "Maybe you c'n talk her into lettin' him doctor her as a favour t' him, seein' as he doesn't seem t' feel as useful in the winter..."

Rex drops into step with Ren. "Huh. Maybe that's an angle t'try. I'll suggest it to Missus Collins. A conspiracy!" He eats more cake. "They've got featherbeds at the inn, an' some of the best home-cookin' I've had since leavin' home. The cook's from Nouvelle New Orleans, y'see. I've been savin' this for a while as a treat, ever since fixin' their roof last summer." He downs the last of the cake and takes the opportunity to rub his hands together gleefully.

Serendipity talks between bites, managing not to display cake despite talking with his mouth half-full. "Worth tryin', if you couch it right. Gotta start it out as worryin' over him before it just happens t' get around to the suggestion. All the better if you c'n get her t' make it; always easier t' get your way if people think it's theirs," he agrees casually, gesturing with the cake. "...so you been t' this place a lot?"

Rex looks thoughtful. "You're pretty good at this sorta thing. Mama usedta say somethin' like that. Oh, yeah," he continues, in answer to Ren's question. He fishes around in his pack and produces a small, futuristic-looking black thermos bottle. "Millinockett's the end of the line for most shipping on Ol' Muddy. It's mostly local folks who bring big stuff up to the Lake an' Haven. If we want anything that's shipped up, we gotta send someone down t'get it. I usually go, 'cause I like the walkin'."

"I'm not too bad at it," Ren grants thoughtfully, "...though it's a lot easier in theory 'n practice." He settles what remains of the cake into his coat pocket for the moment, wax paper protecting it, and stretches extensively, forcing the remnants of sleep out of his back and limbs. "Haven't been through Millinockett, yet. Gonna show me all the sights while we're there? ...I mean, aside from the home cooking and the featherbed," he qualifies, with a sidelong grin.

"Oh, sure," Rex says, waving a hand that happens to contain a -- fortunately -- empty cup. "There ain't much there, but the bar's got good beer and the folks're nice, 'specially since we got rid of the Hive and they don't have no more random disappearin' folks." He pauses to pour coffee into said cup, and a rich, steamy aroma rises from it. After taking a sip, he offers it to Ren. "There's some pretty country there, but, o'course, once you get used to Katahdin--" he glances over his shoulder at the massif "--other mountains and trees don't hold much've a candle."

Serendipity takes the cup, a slow blissful inhalation, and a good sip of his own, in that order, lucky not to trip, what with his eyes being closed and all. "...Mm. 's good coffee; thanks. And Katahdin def'nitely puts the resta the local heights t'shame, yeah. Reminds me of bein' westward, kinda." He returns the cup with only minor reluctance. "Heard some about that Hive battle, just a bit. 'd you fight in it?"

Rex retrieves the cup and drinks, waving to a couple of folks as the pair passes through town. Passing it back to Ren, he says, "Ye-ah. It was... I don't remember much of it. That big ol' scar down here--" he pats a spot just off-center of his belly and just above his belt, where Ren might recall seeing a slightly ragged, vaguely pink line about three inches long "--got that at the Hive. Miss Sazabhadri hauled my ass outta that mess an' healed me at the same time, but I got myself into another mess not long after that. Had black eyes and busted ribs for weeks." He shrugs again. "I guess I did my part, though. Keepin' the Hive Kin busy topside while the big guns went down in."

Serendipity waves to people when Rex does, whether he's met them yet or not. The look of confusion this causes one of them is priceless, obviously trying to work out whether he's meant to know the Coyote-kin or not. Ren sails serenely on, grinning broadly again a few seconds past and taking a long draught of the coffee. "Yeah," he nods, reaching over and idly tracing a finger across the appropriate spot, "I noticed that one. Musta done pretty well; all worked out and you're still here, yeah?" Rhetorical, presumably. He doesn't wait for an answer. "Been thinking from what everyone's said 'bout it, we prolly oughta be doin' something 'bout that Argent guy."

Rex growls deep in his throat, a mighty convincing sound for Kin. "He's a slippery bastard, an' powerful. An' old, from what some folk say, though he doesn't look it. That Arm of his--" Yes, the capital "a" is audible "--is some kinda bigass artifact. He turns things to silver and teleports and stuff like that. Plus, o'course, it's silver, so it hurts the hell outta the shifters when he hits. The kid that Layla takes care of -- I dunno if you've met Layla yet. She's a Strider, red-headed an' pretty an' strange, y'know, an' she wanders a lot. Anyway, the kid she takes care of is Argent's daughter, an' he's tried as least once to take her back. I keep thinkin' that may be the key, y'know. Catch him slinkin' 'round here, huntin' for her or somethin'."

Serendipity shakes his head. "Nah, haven't met Layla yet. Though hey, always up for meeting pretty redheads of any description. And catching him slinkin' 'round here, that'd be a good opportunity, long's he's arrogant enough to be sure he wouldn't get caught. Otherwise, what I was sayin' was we oughta go to him, make sure we're the ones with the element of surprise on our side, y'know? ...they didn't seem that interested in the idea, though."

Rex bares his teeth. "I'm sure interested. And I'm sure Mr. Maker is thinkin' about how to go after him, and Miss Julen too. I think he's real good at hidin', and folks haven't been able to hunt him out yet. You got a way to look for him, maybe? Coyote-folk-stuff?" He pours out more coffee and evades a veritable pit that has opened in the roadway. Glancing back, he says, "Shit. I'll hafta get the Farm to bring out a load of gravel for that thing afore Lumia's truck loses both axles to it."

"Mr. Maker?" Ren inquires, following Rex's glance back to the pit. "I got a way that =might= work, 'least if I tried it enough, Coyote willin'. But nothin' =dependable=, 'least no more than anyone else 'round here." He considers a moment. "Somethin' that senses bigass deposits of silver'd prolly work, if it had a decent range. Higami and his computers 'n' all might know of somethin'... anyway, I figure, best we find where he's hiding, and then drop a whole shitload of overkill on his head before he knows anything's happening." Pause. "...=details= I'm still workin' on."

Rex quirks a smile. "Lucas Maker, Perunka Smith. That's his forge out near the Farm. He's been in and out, doin' a lot a... spirity stuff, I think. He's been teachin' me t'use El Cid." He pats the sword hilt protruding over his shoulder. "I wonder if Kem an' the Turtletop could find a bigass chunk o' silver. She's a mage, y'know. A little touched, but seems okay. But, y'know, no one's got anythin' dependable for findin' him, so if you were t'find him, I'm sure folks'd come outta the woodwork to help get him."

Serendipity snaps his fingers in recognition, and they end up pointing at Rex. "Ah! Yeah, I remember you mentioning him, and that he was doin' that. How's it goin', anyway?" He claims the coffee, and sips at it a couple times. "Still haven't met him yet -- or Kem, though I keep hearin' of 'em. I'll look for 'im harder when we get back, maybe -- well. After we deal with the leechsicle, anyway."

"Oh, yeah, I heard somethin' about the leechsicle," Rex says, frowning slightly and patting at Ren's coat to try to locate the cake. "What was up with that? And the bigass hole in the dock?"

Serendipity blinks at the patting, works out the intention, and informs Rex gravely, "The cake's in my pants," before producing it from the side pocket of his coat, and handing it over. "Well, see, Tristan 'n' I were chatting by the dock, and this other vampire showed up 'n' grabbed me as a hostage, sayin', y'know, agree to let my master eat you or the human gets it, and Tristan was bein' all noble and self-sacrificing and agreeing to it, so when Faro, that was the name he used, let me go, I kinda sidled back up and tried to kill 'im. Which," he indicates the hole in the arm of his coat ruefully, "didn't quite work. Only, he did that and was just about t' see if he could do better with me than I did with him, when the dock collapses, and sploosh, he doesn't come back up. So we figure... leechsicle."

Rex gropes Ren's crotch playfully until he gets the cake, and then his attention turns to the satisfaction of a different base need. Both his eyebrows rise, however, at the story. "Tristan?" he says, a couple of crumbs flying out of his mouth in surprise. "Self-sacrificin' an' noble? Man, you're damn lucky that he turned out that way or you'd be gacked right now." He eyes the hole in the sleeve warily. "I could... try t'patch that for you, if you liked. Or not. And you're damn lucky the dock went out. I told the Old Man that we needed to get some serious lumber in and fix that thing up last summer. Good thing for you we didn't!"

Serendipity withholds the cake just a liiiittle longer than he might've otherwise, grinning. "...mmm. Yeah, well -- Tristan's a good guy. Be less likely t've been there hanging out with him if he weren't, y'know? But, yeah, the dock, a lotta the smaller things goin' on -- yeah, damn lucky. Coyote was keepin' an eye on me, for sure."

Rex snarfs a slightly-too-large chunk of cake and has to work very hard not to choke on it. After a series of hard and painful swallows, he says, "Yeah, man, you gotta friend in Coyote. Though, from tales I've heard, he's a kinda scary friend to have sometimes."

Serendipity can't help snickering a bit at the snarfing, and he reaches over to take back the cake. "Here, lemme have that, it's too dangerous for you..." That and, apparently, he wants a hunk of it himself. "Coyote's ineffable, 'less, of course, he's in the mood t' get effed," he agrees, cheerfully, "But he's on my side in the long run. 'cause hey, I'm onea his. I hold up my sidea things and he holds up his, it all works out." He seems something oddly similar to serene about this assertion.

Rex smiles at Ren's assertions. "It sounds like you have a closer relationship to Coyote," he says, more than a little wistfully, "than I could ever have with Lion." He rakes one hand through his hair. "Some Kin have It, I guess, and some don't."

"Don't see why," Serendipity disagrees mildly, giving Rex an appreciative Look, "...seems t' me like you've got =plennya= It to work with. But I dunno how Lion goes about things, so."

"Well," Rex says, hooking thumbs into his swordbelt, "there's talk that Mama or my father did something that pissed off Lion. Y'see, all my sibs're full Oroszlan. Every last one of them. And my father, well, he wasn't Oroszlan himself, but he was a really damn powerful Kin, as good as any Oroszlan, and chock fulla, y'know, the genes. So everyone figures I shoulda been Oroszlan myself. But I ain't. And Lion ain't never spoke to me." Shrugs seem to be the "in" gesture today. "There's talk that maybe Mama had a one-night-stand with someone outside the Pride, and I came of that, and Lion's pissed about it. 'R somethin'."

Serendipity arches a brow very slightly. "=All= of 'em? How many sibs've you got? I mean, from what I've seen, your family oughta be feelin' the love havin' =that= happen, not feeling slighted they rolled a spare 'steada a strike. And you sure Lion's never dropped a line? I mean, Coyote doesn't exactly buy me a rounda drinks and lay it out in diagrams for me, either," he points out, with a quick grin. "...I mean, don't get me wrong, I understand the whole disappointin' people by not turning out t' be trueblood and all, but..."

"You'd *think*," Rex says with a surprising amount of bitterness. "But *no*. I'm the kid that just didn't 'turn out right'. An' I got shit from the other kids, the fosters as well as the kids from the Pride, so I always had to prove myself. You know, show that I was 'worthy' t'be the Alpha's kid." He shakes his head. "Lion always seems to be real forthright when talkin' t'Mama or my father. Or even my sister. Nothin'. Not even a dream, y'know?" His shoulders hunch uncomfortably for a moment, then he straightens up. "Sorry, man. Self-pity ain't all that. An' I forgot you had somethin' like it happen."

Serendipity tosses an arm about Rex's shoulder and gives him a quick, tight squeeze, letting the arm continue draping there afterward, companionably. "I 'spect it's easier t' deal with when it was more of a hope-against-hope than an expectation," he points out, "...but hey, on the bright side, such as it is, you got a perfect set up for becoming an epic hero, right?" He grins rather affectionately.

Rex laughs. "Thaaaat's what they keep tellin' me." Just then the pair comes around a turn in the road. Up ahead, a small female figure bundled up in a dark brown parka, hood and all, is sitting on a rock, fiddling with something on her lap.

Serendipity tilts his head slightly, studying this new development from afar, and then arches an eyebrow at Rex, indicating the girl with a slight nod, "...fellow traveler, looks like. I say we oughta go be friendly; how 'bout you?"

Rex nods and shrugs amiably. "I'm game." He settles in to follow Ren, the one with superior social skills.

Serendipity grins again and starts strolling toward the girl on the rock, humming a cheerful tune, not too loud, but enough to keep from startling someone half out of her skin with an unintentionally stealthy approach.

When Ren gets within about ten feet of her, she stands bolt upright, looking at him with big, startled, blue eyes. Then she smiles and sighs, pushing her hood off and revealing a mass of wavy golden mane. "Hi, there! I thought you were a bear!"

"Nah, just strange men bearing coffee cake," Ren replies cheerfully. "Mornin', beautiful. Serendipity Jones, at your service," he introduces himself, favouring her with a needlessly flamboyant bow, "...and this's Rex. ...you =expecting= a bear?" He offers her a hunk of the coffee cake, as promised.

"Oh, wow!" she says, taking the coffee cake delicately and flashing a brilliant smile up at Ren. "How cool! We have the same last name! I'm Callie Jones!" She unzips the long parka, revealing a dark blue denim shirt and tight blue jeans. In her un-coffee-caked hand, she holds a small aluminum box, the size and shape of a walkman, and some wires. "I wasn't /expecting/ a bear! Just worried, you know!" Her voice is high and pleasant, but does seem to have a breathy squeak permanently screwed onto the end of each sentence. "So, why are you walking along the road, offering cake to passerby?"

"Pleased t' meetcha," Ren responds, flashing a brilliant grin of his own back down to her, and adding with a light wink, "...no relation, I hope. We're heading down to Millinockett to pick up some supplies; 'bout yourself? Interesting box you got there, by the way." He peers at it curiously a moment before returning his attention to her.

Callie waves the box around a little. "Oh, it's just my music thingie. You know. So I can listen to it, y'know? But, I guess I'm lost or something. I'm doing this survey thing, going from town to town, but I made this wrong turn and ended up in the woods, so I walked and walked and /walked/ and ended up on this road. And /then/ my music broke. It's just too, too much!" She stamps her foot, but then immediately softens and leans a little closer to Ren. "So, this Millieknockey place, is it a town? Could I maybe /go/ with you?"

Rex, meanwhile, is watching this woman with as blank a face as he can manage.

Serendipity nods solemnly. "Oh, yeah, it's a town. Right on the river, I hear." He turns to Rex, and asks him earnestly, with wide, innocent eyes and only the faintest hint of amusement, "...what say you, Rex, shall we escort the damsel and protect her from marauding bears?"

Rex grins at Ren. "Oh, sure, why not? The bears are pretty hungry about now."

Serendipity grins back, and turns to Callie again, making a gesture of welcome. "We'd be happy to escort you to Millenockett, beautiful," he declares by way of official invitation. "...so what's this survey you're taking?"

Callie squeaks, both in response to Rex's comment about bears and Ren's invitation, and seizes Ren's arm to cozy up next to him. "Thank you! That's great! This way, I won't get lost again!" She smiles up at Ren. "I'm just helping a friend out with her dissertation work! I'm totting up the shifters and shifter-Kin in this part of the world!"

Rex rolls his eyes fairly surreptitiously and moves to fall into step with RenAndCallie if they start walking.

Serendipity gives Rex a 'hey, go fig' sort of grin and half-shrug, and starts strolling onward again, pretty barnacle and all. Hey, he's not complaining! "Dissertation? Your friend's in a school somewhere 'round here?" Ren asks, intrigued, "I didn't know there was anything like that about..."

"Oh, she's in school down around Boston," Callie says. "There's a bunch of us out in different parts of New England, doing the survey for her. She's got this faaabulous grant! So she even /pays/ us! It's such a cool way to spend a year, don't you think?" She snuggles a little closer. "So what about /you/, Mr. Jones? Are /you/ a shapeshifter?"

Serendipity gives Rex a sidelong wry look, at that, before looking back to the girl to answer. "Nah, gotta admit I'm not. Can't shift so much as a pinky. 'bout yourself?"

"Nope!" Callie squeals, giggling. "I /wish/ I could, though. I think I'd like to be a Perunka, though. I /loooove/ horses! But then, I just wouldn't want to choose, really, if I /could/ be a shifter. I mean, I love cats, and wolves, and bears, and, well, /every/thing. It'd just be /cool/! Do /you/ ever wish you could do that?"

Rex answers Ren's wry look with one of his own.

Serendipity laughs; he can't help it. "Heh, sweetie, you got no idea," he replies brightly, with another glance to Rex. "But hey, some of us got other destinies to fulfill, right?" He breaks off another bit of coffee cake, and munches on it. "What's your friend gonna do when y'all report in? Can't imagine everyone you find at the beginning of the year's still gonna be where you found 'em by the end."

Callie notices Rex at last and, apparently, decides to make him feel included by latching onto his arm too. Rex looks positively appalled for just a moment, then seems to resign himself to his fate. She says, "Well, it's really just a count, you see? Trying to get an approximation of the numbers. Like, have the Garou re-established themselves? Or has another group gotten bigger? That sort of thing. Some people agree to be interviewed later, too. It's all so /neat/!"

Serendipity shakes his head, amused. "Bet she's not half as enthusiastic about it as you," he remarks, continuing along. "So, what've you found so far? Anything interesting and unexpected?"

Callie grins and squeezes both their arms gleefully. "All /sorts/ of people from all /sorts/ of backgrounds. But /none/ of them as handsome as you two!" With that, a powerful electrical jolt hammers through Ren's body, and before his vision goes out, he sees that Rex is being treated similarly. Callie squeals as the pair drop to the ground. "And none as ex/cit/ing as you two might be!"

Then the world goes black.