Sandro has found a relatively unoccupied corner of the communal table, and there he sits, rucksack and guitar case tucked under his chair. Arrayed before him on the table are three apple-oatmeal muffins and a bottle of apple juice. The youth's expression is intent as he meticulously peels away the lining paper from a fourth muffin, catching crumbs on his fingertips and popping them into his mouth.

Miki enters from the kitchen door, looking a bit preoccupied and not wearing his coat. He stops, just beside the counter, on seeing a stranger in the Diner, and carefully sets the mug he's carrying down on the counter. "Ah, um," he says articulately. "Hello," he offers. "I am called Majlath Miklos." Lacking anything to add to that, he boosts himself up onto the counter to sit and raises his mug to his face; then he fishes a lock of white hair out it, now tea-dyed, with a grimace.

There is a thud from the cot room, and then Rowan wanders through the main room, ignoring just about everything in his path, as he heads for the kitchen. Tea sounds happen soon, and then bread making sounds. He grunts at Miki in a form of greeting as he wanders out again and carefully sets his breakfast on one of the side tables. Sandro gets a quieter, almost puzzled grunt.

The main door of the Diner opens, and Ren comes through it, glancing around as it shuts behind him and he approaches the table. "Hey, Sandro," he greets the Corax absently, coming right up to the other youth, "...'lo, beautiful. Hey, and Rowan. Glad I found you, I had-" He breaks off, blinking, and turns to look at the Corax again. "Hey -- Sandro!" he repeats, distinctly more startled, and gives the tiny guy a big bear hug. "Long time no see!"

Sandro darts swift glances at Miklos and Rowan, though the quick perusal doesn't take much focus away from the important business of prying breakfast free of its paper prison. "Hey," he says toward Miklos, with a curt nod toward Rowan. "The name's--" But then Ren approaches, and the muffin is ignored in favor of staring at the man blandly. "You." Sandro has a soft voice, a little high in pitch, with a lazy lilt to it. This doesn't keep him from cramming a wealth of disapproval into that one word.

The corner of Miki's mouth curls up at Ren's reception by his 'friend.' "Ah, I see you know each other," he says blithely, and can't quite keep himself from tapping his heels against the underside of the counter. He takes another sip of tea to hide the amused look on his face. "Something catching up with you, Ren?"

As Rowan lowers himself down, the expression on his face, quite readable in his mussed state, would seem to indicate that if Sandro disapproves of Ren, then Rowan approves of Sandro. But he doesn't say anything, just starts breathing tea fumes.

Serendipity smirks and gives Sandro a big smacker of a kiss on the forehead before letting him go, confirming brightly, "Me! Fancy seein' you here. Gave up on the docks, huh?" He steps over to Miki and drapes his arms loosely around the boy from behind, replying airly by his ear, "Just the inevitability of our love, gorgeous," before straightening a bit -- though not letting go -- and adding more seriously, "...nah, I'm good. I just got a couple things t' ask you guys 'bout."

Sandro's brow furrows in vague disgruntlement as he's kissed, and he wrinkles his nose in distaste. He watches Ren intently as the fellow crosses to Miki. Then he relaxes somewhat and goes back to muffin-peeling. "Jobs dried up," he says after a thoughtful pause. "Thought there might be work up north." The more he speaks, the more that lilt turns out to be a drawl. "Didn't reckon I'd cross paths with you again."

Rowan carefully munches some bread, and then drinks half a mug of tea in one gulp. He doesn't appear to be /ignoring/ Ren, but he's also not focusing on him.

Miki's shoulders make a little tense movement as Ren, er, embraces him from behind that indicates he was not expecting that at all. He places his mug of tea in one of Ren's hands and smoothly slides down from his perch on the counter-- neatly putting the counter between them-- and takes a step away, towards the kitchen door. "Things to ask?" he says.

"But look, you got lucky!" Ren replies cheerfully to Sandro, then pouts at the escaping Miki, though it's mostly playful, and ensconces himself on the vacated counter, sipping the remaining tea. "Yeah, things to ask. Actually, couple things, but same basic point. Actually, all of you, seein' as you're all here. I mean, you all know I'm lookin' for the 'wisha, right?"

Rowan pours himself another mug of tea. He raises the bread in a kind of acknowlegement, then eats a large chunk of it.

Sandro smiles slightly as Miki escapes. Dropping his gaze, he studies the muffin for a moment, then tears off the top of it and commences with the nibbling. "Still ain't found 'em, eh?" he comments between bites, sounding less than surprised.

It takes Miki a moment to parse the term, then he nods. "The Coyote-folk," he says, and nods. He backs up a step or two more, coincidentally towards Rowan's table, although that's probably not on purpose, as he doesn't seem aware of what's behind him, and makes a vague gesture with one hand as if reaching for a chair.

Rowan mutters, "Over y'left," to Miki.

Serendipity nods, tapping his fingers on the counter. "Yeah, still haven't found 'em. Workin' on it. So, see, at the moment, I'm workin' on leads. I was talkin' on it with Rex, and tryin' to, y'know, come up with paths to follow and all, so -- any of y'all got any ideas or heard anything that might relate or anything?"

Sandro shakes his head, tearing off another bit of muffin to pop in his mouth, garbling his words as he speaks and chews at the same time. "Ain't heard nothin' about them, no." He shrugs a little, adding, "Sorry."

Miki finds the chair, pulls it out, and sits down without looking at it. He shakes his head. "No, I... I know little about them. I did not even know that they were all gone until you told me, only that they were very rare."

Rowan regards the rest of his bread sadly, then puts it down. His voice is only slightly hoarse. "We've looked. Garou as a whole. Don't have clues. Not lately."

Serendipity nods a little -- he probably knew better than to hope anyone would've been given a forwarding address in the last couple days -- and focuses on Rowan for a moment, "...yeah? D'you know much about that, or know who I could talk to that does? Might be some stuff in there that'd help..." He addresses them all again, going on, "But, also. See, I talked to this unicorn, and he said they'd come by lookin' for Perunka to come with 'em on some really big journey, and a hun'red of his had gone with 'em, an' Rex suggested, maybe the others might know somethin', too. So, any ideas on how I might be able t' track somea 'em down or somethin', to ask?"

Sandro glances up to Rowan, poised with a bit of muffin raised to his lips. While he studies the man, he looks like someone has pushed a pause button. He doesn't move. Then, without a word, he reanimates and goes back to eating, dissecting his breakfast carefully before each bite.

Miki thinks about this, then shrugs. "I would talk to the unicorns some more, or maybe to some Perunka who do spirit-things. Danny knows about..." His thought hitches on the fact that Danny isn't around right now, and trails off uncomfortably.

Rowan breathes the remains of his tea for a moment. Then he's talking, with remarkable fluidity for someone who's just been in the throes of waking up. "You could ask Eos; she is, after all, Galliard, and the memory of many a Garou. As for unicorns and Perunka -- are you in search of the unicorns, or the Perunka? There /are/ quite a number of unicorns about here, though, of course, less than there were."

"Haven't met Eos yet," Serendipity replies, thoughtfully, swinging his legs slightly. "Introduce me, yeah, handsome? And I meant mostly unicorns, seein' as most of 'em are older'n most Perunka I'm gonna find, more likely to've actually been there and all, y'know? But I dunno how to find 'em. Rex 'n' I tried makin' pudding to lure the air foals out, but it didn't work."

Sandro comments quietly, "I don't think they want found." He reaches for his juice, taking swig as he seems to mull something over. Decision reached, one way or another, he adds, "You also might check your sources. I'm not sayin' no one wants to be responsible for the 'wisha comin' back in numbers. I'm just sayin'..." He frowns thoughtfully. "Yeah, I reckon that's exactly what I'm sayin'."

"I could try to call them for you," says Miki, with a strange sort of reluctance in his voice. Those who know him, at least will find it strange: usually he is grateful when his limited magic is good for something. "The unicorns. I do not think that I could... *make* them come, but they might come any way. If I used the calling magic."

Rowan mutters, under his breath, "I have a name," but nods at Ren in remarkably affable fashion. "Sure thing. She's one of the big heap mojo people, but I'll drag her down here sometime. Or you up there. Whatever." He glances at Miki, almost surprised, and showing it.

"I'm draggable," Serendipity replies, "...any time that works for you. Thanks. ...and would you?" he continues, to Miki, now. "That'd be -- I'd appreciate it a lot, y'know? Sounds like my best chancea chatting with 'em, really." He finishes the tea, and glances over to Sandro, but doesn't even respond to his conjecture, at least not yet.

Sandro regards Ren benignly. Then he glances over at Rowan and asks, "What is it?" One muffin down, he grabs another and begins the process of slowly unpeeling it from its wrapper. "Your name, I mean."

Miki stares down at the table in front of him, his face suddenly illuminated by An Idea. Without really listening to any of the other people in the room, and avoiding the furniture mainly by instinct, he navigates into the kitchen, where the banging noise of the kettle suggests that he's attempting to make tea without really looking at the stove, either.

Rowan eyes Miki worriedly. "Rowan," he answers, somewhat abstracted, and then drags his attention back to Sandro. "Rowan Congreve. Shadows the Edges, too, but mostly Rowan. 'm a Spiral Dancer, but more t'th' point, I take care of the Diner around here. Th' muffins're mine. You're..." He trails off. "You're someone I don't know."

Serendipity finds this sudden scurrying about intriguing, and twists to sit the other way on the counter, watching Miki in the kitchen. This is probably for the best, just in case something untoward happens with all that distraction.

Sandro nods slowly, fixing his attention on Rowan studiously, with a slight and curious tilt of his head. "Alessandro del Cuervo," he replies, soft-spoken and politely toned. "Sandro's easier, I guess. I'm one of Raven's children." He pops a bit of muffin into his mouth, adding self-consciously, "I put some money in the box."

In the kitchen, a mug clanks on the counter and water pours. Miki yelps.

"Don't /burn/ yourself," calls Rowan, though he doesn't move. "Good. Thanks. It's always appreciated. Y'can do herbs or trade or whatever, if you're going to be staying." This is not, quite, a question.

Serendipity does move, dropping off the counter into the kitchen, and moving over to the stove to investigate the fate of the Miki.

Sandro's eyes dart quickly toward the sound of the yelp, then stray back to Rowan as Ren heads over to investigate. "I was hoping to find work here," he admits awkwardly. "I work hard, and all I'm asking is room and board. If you know of anyone who might be looking for someone to do odd-jobs."

Miki has absently overfilled his tea mug (having generously given his first away to Ren), and is currently shaking his hand and saying something under his breath in Hungarian which is probably not nursery rhymes. He tips a little of the tea out in the sink and turns around, looking startled to see Ren in the kitchen.

Rowan says, with vague relief, "Oh, /work/. Well, there's me, actually, though I don't got a /lot/. Old Man Collins might have more. He lives thattaway." Rowan gestures out the door and to the left.

Serendipity catches Miki's wounded hand and dries it on his shirt, gently, bending down to give it a light kiss. "Don't hurt yourself, yeah?" he suggests wryly. "...Whatcha so distracted by? Penny for your thoughts."

Sandro glances toward the door, nodding as he makes a note of it. "Thank you," he says quietly. Then he laughs a little as he adds, "I don't think I can go much further until I've earned some traveling money. I put the last I had in your box."

"Unicorns," Miki replies, reclaiming his hand. He adds, with a wry twist of a smile, "And I did not mean to hurt myself, I never do." He takes his tea out of the kitchen and sits down with it, peering into the mug as if it might hold the secrets of the universe. Then, just to prove that he HAS been listening, just a little, he says, "There is always work at the Farm, Robin works there some times."

Rowan's smile is surprisingly bright. "Well, then I'll just have t'pay you y'own money back. But yeah, the Farm, too. Speaking of which," he adds, rising to his feet, "I have to go see a horse about a man. Y'all excuse me..." He puts his mug back in the kitchen, and grabs another piece of bread for the road. "I'll point you at where I need repairin' done when I get back, 'kay?"

"=I= work there sometimes," Ren agrees, following Miki back out and dropping into one of the chairs. "...Later, Rowan. Thanks for th' thoughts 'n' all."

"You work?" Sandro asks dubiously. Without waiting for an answer, he tells Rowan, "No need, sir. Where I come from, my folk give charity but we don't take it." He smiles warmly, if somewhat bedraggled. His expression brightens further as he adds, "I grew up farmin'. I could help out, sure thing." With prospects looking up, he tears off a bit of celebratory muffin to wolf down. "I reckon I won't go too far," he tells Rowan. "Anything that needs fixin' I can fix."

Miki watches Rowan go, his expression a strange mix of cynicism (the I-expected-that kind) and wistfulness (the but-I-wish-it-hadn't-happened kind). He drinks his tea.

Rowan shoots Sandro a nod before he departs out the back door.

"When I feel like it," Serendipity replies evenly to Sandro, and pushes a couple crumbs around on the table, slouching a bit in his chair and watching Miki sidelong. "I earn my keep, the bits I don't keep myself." Shrug.

Sandro finishes the second muffin, then tucks the others away in his rucksack. That done, he grabs up the juice bottle and ambles toward the counter to get a gander at the white-haired beauty making tea. "So are you staying around here?" he asks Ren.

Miki finishes his tea and slowly gets to his feet. "I hope you find work," he says politely to Sandro, and then adds thoughtfully, "If you have any trouble, talk to Rex, he lives in the shed behind Miss Anita's house. He does, um, small work for the Collinses and things, and he might know what is needed." He nods to them both, sets his mug on the counter, and heads for the door, where he pulls a dark-blue cloak off the hook and puts it on, buttoning it up carefully, before pushing open the door and going out.

Serendipity pushes up from his chair, following Miki to the door. "Hey, Miki," he says quietly, putting a hand on the youth's arm as it opens the door, "...wait up a sec?" He leans in, but not enough to otherwise touch him, and says something quite softly before letting go of him and heading back into the other room. "Yeah," he replies to Sandro, "Mostly up in the treehouse by the lake, though sometimes other places..."

Serendipity says, quietly and entirely sincerely, "...it was nice, you bein' happy to see me at that scientist's place yesterday. Thanks."

Sandro smiles warmly at Miki as he says, "I have no idea who Miss Anita is." He then waves off the conundrum, meandering back toward his seat, where his guitar case is still tucked under the table. "I'll work it out. Y'all seem real nice. Reckon it'll be a nice place to cool my heels a spell." Toward Ren, he adds with a wry twist of his lips, "Well, I reckon folks around here must be plenty kind, seein' as you ain't strung up yet."

Miki pauses in the doorway and gives Ren a startled look. "Well, we were worried," he says, and then just shakes his head a little, obviously puzzled. He smiles again at Sandro, over his shoulder, and then quits holding the door open and letting the warmth of the Diner out, vanishing out into the street.

Serendipity slides back into his chair, and half-smiles at Sandro. "Been here a few months. No one tryin' to lynch me yet, far's I know. So hey, take it as you will, I guess."

Sandro muses idly, "Goodness, I could probably become an arsonist and still have a place to lay my head at night." He reaches under the table, pulling out the guitar case to lay out and pop open. Then he rummages, apparently using the thing to store more than instruments. "Still, they seem like nice folks."

"They are," Serendipity confirms, "...mostly, anyway. And geez, man, what kinda things d'you think I =do=?" He looks =almost= somewhere vaguely in the neighbourhood of offended, or at least wounded. "I don't hurt anyone."

Sandro glances over at Ren, and there's warmth to his expression, despite the jibes. "I just recall a farmer and a farmer's son," he replies mildly. His attention strays to the door briefly, then he's rummaging again. "That one just here was easy on the eyes, I'll grant."

Serendipity laughs once, at the memory. "Yeah, but I didn't hurt either of 'em," he points out. "...hell, I made the son pretty damn ecstatic. See, if his father'd just mind his own business and all..." He trails off, glancing over to the door as well, and half-smiles. "...and yeah, Miki's gorgeous. The place's overrun with beauties, but he takes th' cake so far."

Sandro snorts, shaking his head. "You," he accuses, albeit almost amiably. He uncovers a piece of dark green cloth wrapped around something small, and he closes the guitar case, offering the parcel over. "Beauties are trouble," he says wisely. "But at least they give you somethin' to look at."

The half-smile stays in place, Ren still considering that door. "He's kinda sweet, too. And unpredictable," he remarks, before returning his attention to the here and now, with a sigh, "...buuut, of course, he won't give me the timea day most times." He looks at the parcel curiously, and accepts it, unwrapping the cloth. "But yeah -- this place's got amazing scenery, and not just the mountain."

Nestled within the cloth is a rock. While this might be a questionable gift, what can be said in its favor is that it is a rather attractive rock, all things considered, slate-grey and shot through with whitish-pink veins of quartz that, on its flattest edge, by sheer coincidence create an outline that looks like a laughing face. Sandro doesn't explain the token, nor why he handed it over. Instead, he settles down in a chair and takes a swig of his juice before he says, "I guess. I don't fancy doin' anymore than lookin'."

Serendipity looks the rock over carefully, and then grins widely, rubbing it between his fingers. "...Where'd you find this?" he inquires interestedly, turning it and testing its shape and weight in his hands. The comment sinks in then, and he quirks an eyebrow, "...wait, what, you mean like =ever=?"

Sandro replies amiably, "I found it in the last town I was working. Or rather on the road a few miles out. Picked it up cos it was neat." He downs the last of his apple juice, letting out a satisfied sigh as he sets the bottle down. Then he shrugs and says, "Yeah, I guess. Don't see what all the fuss is about."

Serendipity nods slowly, giving Sandro an almost wary look. "You ever =tried= anything more'n lookin'?" he asks, managing to sound only a little incredulous.

Sandro shakes his head, regarding Ren blankly, as if he can't imagine why this is even an issue. "Haven't really thought about it, no." He hesitates, then drops his gaze and admits, "Okay, I've thought about it, but it ain't likely gonna happen. You know ravens mate for life, dontcha?"

"No," Serendipity replies, "but if you hum a few bars I can fake it..." He grins, briefly, and slips the rock into a pocket. "No, but seriously -- you're not all raven. You're human, too, and they fuck anything that moves and a lotta things that don't," he points out. "I mean, by rights you either oughta be promiscuous in this form and monogamous in raven, or somewhere in between in general."

Sandro shrugs, studying a loose thread on his sweater, which he then starts to pluck at. "Dunno," he said noncommittally. "The folks that raised me never carried on like that." He hesitates, then admits, "Well, okay. Some of the younger folk, but then they'd find someone and settle down."

Serendipity grins. "So you better get goin' while you're still younger folk, then, hadn't ya?" he replies reasonably. "...anyway, wouldn't you hate t' wait until you found the person you were hopin' t' settle down with, and not know what you were doin'?"

Sandro laughs and says, "I don't know what I'm doin' anyway. And I ain't lookin' to settle down, so it ain't like I'm in any hurry." He deigns to look mildly affronted as he adds, "Plus, I'm plenty young yet." He might have a point there. His voice doesn't sound like it's changed quite yet, and for all his hard traveling, there isn't a whisker to be found on that smooth face. Peering at Ren, he asks, "Why're you so concerned anyway?"

"The point is, if you learn what you're doin' now, you'll know for then, see," Ren explains, "...and how old're you, anyhow?" Curious, now. He examines Sandro a little closer.

Sandro eyes Ren, then glances away, frowning faintly. His sweater becomes a subject of interest again, and in tilting his head, he lets his hair fall over his face, veiling it. "Sixteen," he says lamely.

Serendipity tilts his own head, consideringly. "Yeah? That's plenty old enough," he replies, shrugging, and reaches over to flick Sandro's hair out of the way of his face. "...hell, by =my= people's standards it's even gettin' on a bit," he adds, and grins.

Sandro draws back, curling in on himself, which doesn't make him look any bigger. In fact, the sweater nearly swallows him in its voluminous folds. Dark eyes stare at Ren through the parted strands, suddenly quite suspicious, defensive even. "I got other things I gotta worry about," he says quietly. "Like finding a place to sleep t'night."

Serendipity hesitates a second. "You can stay with me t'day if you want," he offers, "...promise not t' molest you or anything. Or if it's more comfortable for you, there's prolly somewhere open at the farm, maybe the loft if all the guest rooms're full."

Sandro snorts, giving his head a shake so that the ratty mop of hair can settle where it will. "I ain't afraid of you molestin' me," he says reasonably. "Reckon you coulda done that if you wanted when we was travelin' in the woods." His smile returns, if somewhat less open and bright. "That'd be nice, though. T'have a roof over my head tonight."

"My roof is your roof," Serendipity replies with an expansive gesture. "...act'ly, feel free t' stay there any time y'want, at least unless I'm entertaining company or somethin', which happens approximately never." He grins again. "I sleep other places 'bout half the time anyway."

Sandro says consolingly, "The fine people of this town don't know what they're missin.' I should fly on over to that town where we met and have your farmer boy send on a recommendation." He smiles cheekily.

Serendipity laughs, leaning on an elbow on the table. "Hey, that's a thought. I mean -- it's not =that= bad, I got a few friends who're where I'm generally stayin' the =other= halfa the time and all, but there's definitely fine people of this town who need s'more persuading. Maybe a resume..." he muses, grinning to bely the mock-seriousness of his tone.

Sandro rolls his eyes. "You're s'posed to be finding the Nuwisha," he points out. "Not repopulatin' 'em." He sighs, slouching in his chair. Then he digs into his rucksack for one of those muffins and begins to unpeel the paper cup around it. "I reckon with all the beauties around, the competition's pretty stiff."

"It's not the only thing," Ren agrees innocently, and leans across to snag a muffin from the counter, nearly overbalancing his chair. "And hey, I'm kin; I'm =s'posta= be fruitful and multiply. ...so sometimes I multiply and sometimes I'm fruitful, what can I say?"

Sandro shakes his head wryly. "I was gonna say, if you're tryin' to multiply, you're barkin' up an awful lot of wrong trees. Though I can't blame a guy when the boys are prettier than the girls."

Serendipity laughs. "More of 'em, too. 'least around here." He considers a moment, apparently realising something, "...I miss breasts, though. Damn, breasts're nice. Nothin' against chests, absolutely, but it's not the same."

Sandro laughs abruptly, and his cheeks color just a touch. "Sorry. Can't help you there." He shrugs helplessly. Then commences the tearing apart of the muffin, and the devouring of the resultant crumbs. "So I take it there ain't many girls here?"

Serendipity nods. "There's a buncha women, or at least a decent number, but mostly they're old enough t' be our mothers. Or grandmothers. Et cet'ra. There's Safi, who's great, but with a real possessive garou, an' also a tease, and there was a girl called Kismet I saw here once, an' a couple others, lessee, Dali and Sazabahdri, I think. Oh, and there's Robin. And there's girls on 'n' off at the Farm -- had decent luck with =them=, at least. But mosta the ones who stay around aren't around that much, and when they are..." He shrugs, a bit resigned -- what can ya do? "...Kismet seemed like fun, but haven't seen her since. Julen's, she's prolly our moms' age, I s'pose, she's the Alpha 'round here. Like her."

Sandro nods slowly, nibbling at bits of muffin as he listens. "What do they do at the farm?" he asks. After what seems like undue consideration for such a simple act, he hesitantly breaks the muffin in two and offers over half.

Serendipity accepts the half with all due solemnity. "...thanks," he replies, and breaks a bit off it to eat. "They do... y'know, farmy things. Grow crops, keep animals, make fabrics, et cet. Lotta things."

Sandro nods again, chewing at the inside of his lip as his expression grows distant and thoughtful. He shakes it off then, getting to his feet. "Well, I'm going to wander around a bit, I think. Stretch my legs and all that." He eyes his guitar case possessively, seeming to ponder a moment before he takes it up, and his rucksack as well. "I imagine if I go looking around the lake, I'll find a treehouse that's yours?"

"Yeah..." Ren pauses, glancing at the window. "'s a full moon -- I gotta do somethin', but then I'll be up there. Though I'll prolly be right outside it before then, anyway."

Sandro shoulders the guitar case, shrugging a bit until it rests against his back. Then he does the same with the rucksack. "Okay," he replies agreeably. "I promise not to have any wild orgies while you're gone."

Serendipity smirks. "Well, at least make sure they don't peak b'fore I show up," he replies, finishing off the muffin half. "'splore well. I'll see you in a few."

Sandro waves over his shoulder as he heads out toward the street. "If you see that Rowan fella, tell him I ain't gone far. Just checkin' stuff out," he calls back. Then he nudges open the door and steps out, off to explore.

While Sandro explores, he might hear singing from the direction of the lake -- and, at one point, something very like howling, if a little too human. By the time he arrives there, though, there's no evidence of anyone there, and Ren's already ensconced in the treehouse, perfectly happy to share his nest of pillows and various blankets with the raven.