There's a knocking on the door. More of a pounding, really. In a move that may not aid his case as far as the inhabitants putting on any speed with regard to opening the door, Serendipity reveals who it is by voice, urgent but half-laughing, "Gah! Lemme in, lemme in!!"

Aurelia's voice calls out, from a bith further away from the door, "Serendipity Jones, you are a dead man!" For a little thing, she's got a set of lungs on her. Half of Haven must know by now that Ren has been marked for fiery Corax vengeance. There is the sound of tromping feet, and the voice is closer this time. "I'm gonna cut you open and paddle you around this yard like a canoe."

Something large and heavy is moving around in the house, that much is clear by the slightly muffled thumping sounds that come from inside. No amount of dampening can hide the weight of whatever's on the other side of the front door, and it's getting closer.

Apparently whatever's before Ren can't be nearly as threatening as the half-pint behind, since the knocking doesn't pause for a second. "I was just bein' helpful!" he exclaims, away from the house.

Aurelia retorts, "And I'm about to be highly educational." The menace approaches. Ren may well be trapped. Will this be the end of our Nuwisha kin hero? "If you feel like cuddlin' up to a man, you go find one," she scolds. "If I wake up an' find charcoal all over my face one more time..." Apparently the consequences are to dire to utter.

The noise inside the house has stopped, and there's a good deal of fumbling with the doorknob before it turns, ponderously slow, and the door swings open to reveal a towering, two-legged horse creature, bending nearly double to peer outside. The coloring and features are familiar enough, even if the shape isn't, and Thundersnow whickers a hello and flicks his ears at Ren and Aurelia. His mane nearly drags the ground in this awkward position, and he's blocking most of the view into the house.

Serendipity may not speak beastspeech, but hello he understands, at least -- despite being briefly taken aback by the form. "Hi, Danny, nice look for ya," he greets, somewhat hurriedly, "...protect me, she wants t' turn me into a boat!"

And coming up behind Ren, rising like Broadzilla from Tokyo Bay, is Aurelia. She stalks toward the open door, one hand clutching what looks to be a bundle of herb stalks tied together with intricate braidwork. Smeared across one cheek is the greyish black remains of what must have been a charcoal cosmetic job intended to give her a mustache. She says amiably, "Hey, Danny." She is, however, focused upon her prey. "Do me a favor and hold him down while I beat the ever livin' crap out of him."

Thundersnow blinks slowly at Ren and Aurelia. You would not make a good boat. Your skin would leak badly, and you would sink. Wood is much better. He glances behind himself, checking to see if he can stand up and move back to let them inside, when he shifts suddenly, the large, dark form shrinking and collapsing--literally--into his human shape. The weight change catches him by surprise, and he falls over, sprawling on the floor. "Damnit," he mumbles eloquently.

Serendipity ducks in immediately, and risks his own precious skin to pause and offer Danny a hand up. "Hard t' get the hanga it?" he inquires, unnecessarily.

Aurelia doesn't rush, but something about her steady unwavering stride has all the personality and inevitability of an oncoming freight train. Danny's downfall only diverts her course slightly, so that when she unleashes hell on Earth, he won't get caught in the fall out. The herb stalk comes up, and with a swift motion it clips Ren upside the head. Once, twice, and then to punctuate every word as she says, "Do not paint on me when I'm sleepin'."

Danny rolls onto his side and takes Ren's hand, using the other to push himself up, and dodges Aurelia's violent herb-outburst. "Something like that. They're a little...spontaneous." Once standing, he stretches his back until it pops, and asks, "So what brings you here? In need of protection from herb-wielding women?" A grin to Aurelia suggests the later may not be found within these walls.

Serendipity gives the little pull to help Danny's movement, and winces as his kindness results in a severe herb-whipping. He ducks, but fails to avoid the bundle. "Hey, ow, gah, quitit!" he protests, laughing, and ducks lower suddenly, pressing a shoulder into the girl's stomach and arms around her waist, and standing quickly, leaving her upside-down and in the air -- but still armed with the herb-bundle. "Okay, okay, no paintin' you when you're asleep, deal!" he exclaims, and stalks further into the room with his bony Corax burden. "'relia said she told y'all she'd be comin' by," he answers Danny, then.

Aurelia flails, kicking her legs as she's turned upside down, and she lets out a wail of protest. Ever resourceful, it doesn't take her long to use her new vantage point to smack Ren firmly on his backside with her makeshift whip. "You put me down!" she demands. Suddenly, the herbal assault ceases. There is a moment's peace. Then Aurelia jabs Ren in the ribs in an experimental test for ticklishness.

Danny looks blankly at Ren and Aurelia as they go by, then shakes his head. "Oh! Right, right." He shuts the door and indicates the living room with a nod, wincing as Aurelia's protest echoes throughout the house. "Did either of you want any tea? We have, um, orange spice, and plum rosehip...I think black pepper too..."

Serendipity infuriatingly insists on appearing to enjoy the herb-smacks now. "Mmm, yeah, just like that, baby," he teases, grinning broadly, "...ooh, yeah, I've been a =bad= boy." The pause when she stops hitting is just long enough for him to opine that orange spice sounds pretty good before the tickling finds one of the actual ticklish spots, and he squeaks, breaking into laughter and attempting to get away from Aurelia's fingers without putting her down. This is doomed to be ineffective.

Aurelia tucks the herb stalk under one arm to deliver a sharp slap to Ren's rump at his lewdness. Then it's with the tickling again, viciously and without mercy. "I'll kill you," she threatens. "Beat you so hard your grandkids'll be bruised." Without pausing in her assault, she says toward Danny, "Orange spice would be wonderful, sweetie." Then, "You put me down or so help me..."

Danny disappears into the kitchen and rummages around for a pair of clean mugs. Presently the scent of oranges and cloves precedes him as he emerges with two chipped but serviceable and steaming mugs. "Orange and spice, as requested." He sets them down on the table that sits just at the entrance to the kitchen.

Serendipity has given in and put the little bird down by then, flipping her back to the floor and giving her a big wet smack of a kiss to the top of her head, then dancing away, out of immediate reach. "Oooh, smells nice. So how's it goin', aside from the unexpected shifting? Anything new'n exciting?"

Ren's instincts are well-placed. Upon being set on her feet, the first thing Aurelia does is take a vicious swipe at Ren with a highly opinionated, "Grrr!" As Danny emerges, she smooths her clothes tidily and pats at her hair, attempting to look prim and casually sweet and innocent. Approaching the table, she walks an arc around Ren sullenly, then is all smiles as she reaches for one of the teacups. "Thank you, darlin'" she coos at Danny.

The living room is a little cleaner than usual, with the exception of the table by the kitchen. Several pages of the workshop's plans are scattered about, weighted down by a small cardboard box filled with several red, orange, yellow, and clear shiny marbles and beads. A handful of suncatchers similar to those in the diner sits next to the box, frosted and etched, all in the process of having their strings applied. Danny takes up his own mug of tea from the middle of this chaos and sips from it absently, smiling at Ren and Aurelia's antics. "No problem. There's always tea to be had here," he tells Aurelia with a smile. "We're going to get started on the workshop soon. We won't really need to force a thaw now, so Justin can put all his energy into digging like the rest of us. Nothing much exciting, though--no more disappearances, anyways."

Serendipity grins, half-hiding it with his teacup and looking amused and rather pleased with himself. "People not disappearin' is good; I'm definitely in favoura that. And hey, check it out, 'relia. Shiny things." He indicates the box of marbles and beads with his free hand, leaning over her shoulder to do it. Ah, living dangerously.

Aurelia indeed has spotted the shiny things and is admiring them intently, right up til Ren makes a comment. She darts her attention to him, brandishing the herb stalk menacingly. On closer examination, the braiding that binds the stalk has been done with hand-knotted colored threads, woven into patterns of runes and inscriptions. Someone put some serious work into it, but not recently from the look of it. The threads are frayed here and there, and the dust of much traveling has dulled the colors and patterns so carefully wrought. "Be quiet," she suggests toward Ren. Then, to Danny, "Well, if y'all need help putting it together, let me know. I ain't adverse to a day's hard work."

"And a day's hard work it'll definitely be. We'll probably be getting help from the farm too. Gotta dig the foundation, pour it, put in the frame-posts, get the roof on, lay in the walls, and then, the kiln." Despite the incredible amount of work he's described, Danny sighs happily. "It'll be nice to get back in front of a wheel." He nudges the box of beads and marbles in Aurelia's direction. "Go ahead and take a few, if you want. Bryce isn't here right now, or we could do the dreaming stuff."

Serendipity bats his lashes at Aurelia, and sips the tea. So sweet and innocent. "I'll lend a hand too," he offers, "long's I'm around, at least. What kinda stuff're you expecting to make, once the place's all set up, anyway? And -- d'you think there's gonna be a lot more'n we'll need 'round here?"

Aurelia actually looks wistful at the prospect of so much work, and she lets out a content sigh, then peeks into the box and murmurs a quietly pleased sound as she plucks out a few beads, seeming to favor blues, purples, and greens. "Thank you so much," she says graciously. The beads disappear into one of her many pockets, and she steps back to avoid further temptation. "We don't have to wait on him if you don't want," she says. "I mean anything worth sayin' once is worth sayin' twice. I can go over it again with him."

"I do ceramics, woodwork, and glass," Danny says to Ren. "The glass and wood I've been doing in the house, but it'll be nice to get that mess out of here, and use the workshop. Glass is just small stuff, like the beads, with a little burner Justin made me. The main thing with the workshop will be the kiln, though, and then Justin will have some room to do his alchemy, and Bryce may even have a tinkering bench too for his electronic things. I can do just about anything with ceramics as long as I know what it's made of. Then hopefully we can trade down in Millinockett or even out to one of the big cities." Finished with this lengthy explanation, he tells Aurelia, "No problem. That sounds good--do we need to do anything in particular?"

Serendipity nods at Danny, and glances fleetingly at Aurelia before replying, "We were talkin' the other day about maybe heading out 'n' doing some trading when the weather warms up, so if you guys end up with stuff y'want traded but don't feel like trekkin' out, well." He shrugs slightly, cheerfully, and drops bonelessly into the closest rocking chair.

Aurelia nods emphatically to what Ren says. "Sure, if you want any help. Hell, I traded most've my young life down in Appalachia." She gestures toward the nearest kin-free seats as she says, "I just wanna take a load off. Get nice and comfy. You put on your listenin' ears, and Ren, don't help. I reckon that's all we need for now."

Danny nods firmly at Ren and Aurelia both. "Sounds good, then. It'll be nice to maybe get some trade up this way too, if we can tempt people to make the trip." He settles himself in his own rocking chair, and pulls an obliging blanket down off the back and into his lap. The other rocking chairs are similarly adorned.

Serendipity pats his lap, inviting Aurelia to sit in it, all innocence again. "Plan, then. We c'n talk 'bout it more when we're all closer to the time, I figure."

"Get bent," Aurelia tells Ren as she passes by his patted lap and takes a rocking chair of her own, carefully laying the stalk across one arm to free up a hand for drawing down a blanket for her lap. Then the stalk is set across that, and she curls both hands around her tea mug. "All right, where should we start? What do you wanna know, Danny?"

"Everything," Danny announces. "At least, everything you can tell me. I know there might be some things you're not allowed to, but, I don't know anything about dreams except I have them and--" He stops for a minute and bites his lip. "And, well, I'm a little screwy from that," he admits. "It's getting better, I just need to know more."

"Love to," Ren leers to Aurelia, "You offering? Maybe Danny could whip a little somethin' up to help you out..." He grins at her wickedly, almost challenging... and just tense enough to imply he's ready to run again if need be. There's a certain sparkle in his eyes that just looks like he's having far too much fun.

Aurelia seems to consider launching herself at Ren and giving in to an orgy of violence, but she's just gotten herself all comfy, so she merely snorts instead and turns her attention to Danny after informing Ren, "Snowball's chance on Helios." Then her expression goes serious, and she chews at the inside of her lip thoughtfully. "To tell you the truth, Danny, there ain't really any s'posed to about what I say. There ain't no one giving me any rules, except what I decide not to say, but... well, I reckon if you were interested in doing me harm, you've had your chances. I reckon if I'm gonna be part of this town now, I'm gonna have to start trustin' people. You seem an honest sort. Truth is I don't know much more than what my granny was able to find out before she died, and what I've tried to find out on my own since. Now, I doubt you and I are the same in this, but I'm thinking there might be some stuff that crosses over. I can't teach you to be what I am, but I can tell you how I've learned to deal with the dreamin'."

"Exactly. That'll be a whole lot more than I've got right now, even if it's just information--if I can't use it, it's something I can use to guide me. Something like that." Danny shrugs off the whole uncertainty of the situation and listens intently.

Serendipity gives Aurelia the cutest pout he can muster, and relaxes a little, getting comfortable in the rocking chair. This takes some doing, apparently. He ends up crooked, with one knee hooked over the arm of the chair.

Aurelia eyes Ren sidelong, arching a brow. One can put a lot into such an expressive face, conveying mild amusement mixed with a vague threat, but as the Nuwisha kin seems to be temporarily behaving himself, her attention returns to Danny. "Well, okay. Why don't you tell me what you do, and where you're having trouble? That'll give me a starting point. Also, if you like, I can tell you a little bit about what it is I do, so we understand where the other's coming from."

Danny toys with a corner of the blanket he's covered himself with. "The problem is they're loud. Well, they were; it's not so bad since I've been meditating and since we did the whole dead thing. I could hear them all the time, though, even when I was awake, and that were always sort of," he waves around the top of his head, "Running around in there, like noisy kids. When it was really bad I'd seem them even if I was awake. That's been a while, though. I get them all the time. After I have one, it's kind of like it's been collected or something, and it never goes away."

Serendipity glances over sideways to Danny. If he were standing, he might do the 'tactful' step away from the crazy person, but as it is, he just looks as though he isn't sure the kind of dream problems Danny's discussing are the sort Aurelia's vaguely mentioned.

Aurelia regards Danny with an air of serious authority, frowning faintly as she sips from her mug. She at least seems to be taking it all at face value. "Yeah, the meditation is important. There's also things you can to do prepare yourself for sleep that'll make it easier. There's ways of breathin' and listenin' and things you can do to sanctify your sleepin' space." More tea is sipped, then she says, "Tell me about the dead thing, what happened there."

"When Ruth and I went and got the new forms you saw? We died. A raven named Nothing took our lives and we went into the Underworld." Danny says it as nonchalantly as possible, but the desire to squirm in his seat is plain on his face. "It...wasn't a lot of fun. Since that, though, the dreams feel different. I feel like I can, not really control them, but at least not get herded by them. I don't have to let ones like First kick me around. I can feel the Shadow Place, the Umbra, too. I can tell where it is, and go into it." After a pause, he admits, "Kind of. I've only done it once or twice. But I never used to be able to feel it, not before."

"Relative of yours, Rae?" Ren asks Aurelia innocently, but at least he doesn't look like he half-thinks Danny's just nuts, now. Plus, he looks interested. "D'you go into it with your body or in your dreams?"

Aurelia turns her head to give Ren a mild look, perfectly innocent in its intent and all the more creepy for the way she merely replies, "Possibly." The talk of death and ravens doesn't seem to unnerve her, but rather plunge her further into her element, giving her an air of confidence and calm not often seen in the skinny half-starved straggler who's drifted into town. Sharp, dark eyes scrutinize Danny thoughtfully as she sips again from her mug, unhurried. "Have a care not to touch the shadows too deeply when you're walking in your dreams," she advises. "Getting out is the easy part. Getting back, not always so."

"Into the Umbra? My body." Danny thinks for a moment, and bites at his lip. "Maybe I do in my dreams too, but I don't know about that. I don't *think* I do. They're like, like riding in Kem's ship." He seizes on the somewhat accurate analogy, and elaborates. "I don't feel like I get to direct them, they just go on. Like the ground goes by when you fly overhead and you just watch. I don't make decisions, and they're always the same. They don't change, not that I can tell. What do you mean by shadows?"

Aurelia shakes her head dismissively. "The Umbra. If you go in your dreams. That doesn't seem to be the problem though." She frowns again, mulling it over. "This ain't like what I do. You should be able to have some measure of control. That comes with practice. Unless you're being influenced from the outside, in which case someone's messing with you."

Serendipity nods to Danny, slightly disappointed, and settles back again, watching the pair of them -- Aurelia, mostly.

Danny sinks into his chair a little. "Maybe. But they're all so different, I don't think they all come from the same place." He laughs, morbidly amused, and continues, "They just all *stay* in the same place. I used to only have one, the really bad one. First. Then after Justin and Bryce and I came back from the other world I got them all the time."

Aurelia nods attentively. "Tell me about one of them," she... well, kind of asks. There isn't an imperative tone to her voice, but neither is she standing on niceties. All business, this one. "I'm trying to get some idea of what you're experiencin' sweetie, and I just ain't gettin' a clear picture. Describe one of the bad ones."

Danny makes a muffled grunting sound and shifts in his chair. "The one I first had, that was four years ago. I'm standing in this field, and it's a really beautiful summer day. And a solar eclipse starts, at noon." He swallows and fixes his gaze on the floor in front of him. "But it's not an eclipse, the moon's really this huge, dark metal sphere thing, with red veins all over it. It smashes into the ground and there's all this fire and ash, and everything's destroyed. Except me, or maybe I do die and I'm just wandering around as a ghost. I don't think so, though, because I can feel the ash and the dirt. So I walk to the crater, and it's a huge black abyss, and there's something down in the bottom of it. And I jump into it." He clears his throat noisily, and murmurs, "That's it. I either wake up or have the next one."

Aurelia chews at the inside of her lip, eyes narrowing intently. With a slight shake of her head, she asks quietly, "And you can't control it? Next time you have it, and you're standing on the edge of the crater, see if you can choose not to jump in. It ain't much, but if you can learn to control small parts of it, maybe the rest will come."

Danny shudders and shakes his head. "I've tried, and tried, and tried. I always have to go in there. Higami tried too, but it killed him. I mean his dreaming form, he said. He, his regular body was just fine." He sounds vaguely embarrassed about that last bit.

Aurelia tilts her head curiously. "How did he feel when he woke up?" she asks. She doesn't seem to find any of this at all strange, or at least she hides it well if she does. "For that matter, how do you feel when you wake up after something like that? Physically, I mean. Anyone would be emotionally shaken."

"Sure was last =I= saw him," Ren remarks, sotto voce. Louder, he adds, "So, a'ight, you can't not jump in. Can you bring a light or at least a weapon or somethin'? Or switch what you do earlier? I mean, I don't know much about dreams, but I know the kinda things I'd try if it wasn't one..."

Aurelia eyes Ren with mild disapproval at the low toned remark. "Drag yer mind out of yer pants for just a few seconds, Ren honey." The latter part of what he says seems to get some serious merit though, and she nods a bit, looking to Danny again. "When you have that dream, see what you can change, no matter how small. Try to figure out what range of control you have."

"I, I don't think he said. Sometimes, if it's a really busy night, I feel like I haven't actually slept, even though I have. But maybe that's just my mind? I don't hurt, or anything." Danny runs a hand through his hair nervously, and gives Ren a confused look. "There's...nothing to bring. It's all gone. Just ash and grey. I've tried to make it stop, or run away, or anything, but it feels like I can only watch and...do."

"=You= haven't seen him yet," Ren points out to Aurelia, almost ruefully, before dropping the subject. "So try anything you haven't tried yet. Maybe you c'n confuse it," he suggests, "...can't hurt t' try." A little shrug.

Aurelia utters a long suffering sigh and nestles further into her rocking chair, curling the blanket on her lap more closely around her. "And every time you jump in, you wake up or go into another dream?" she clarifies. "Is it the same dream you go into? Or is it another one? Sounds like you're receivin' a vision."

Danny gives Ren a very sad, tired look. "Oh, it can. It can hurt a lot, for something that's just supposed to be a dream." He looks over at Aurelia and tips his head. "When it was just that one, I always woke up. Then when I started getting the others, it could be any of them, but the broken Moon was the one that usually came next. In that one Luna's all...broken apart, into pieces. Destroyed."

Serendipity shrugs a little a Danny, with a gesture that appears to indicate something along the lines of 'why are you listening to =me=, anyway?' and settles back in the chair again. He doesn't really have the complexion to blanch, but the idea of broken-Luna does briefly make it give a try. "Sure =hope= they're not visions," he mutters.

Aurelia says grimly, "Visions are usually symbolic. The crumbling of Luna could warn of a sundering of her children, or a coming danger. I doubt it has anything to do with the moon fallin' apart in the literal sense." She sighs glaring briefly at her teacup in fruitless frustration. "It sounds like visions, in which case someone is tryin' to tell you somethin' and you don't seem to be gettin' the message, or else they wouldn't still be tryin' to hammer it into you. Have you had these dreams before coming here, Danny? Or was it just after you got close to the mountian that you started havin' 'em?"

Danny shakes his head at Aurelia. "No, First started back when I lived at home. Four years ago, now. It's more like it's been driving me around than anything else. As long as I moved away from home, I'd only get it every couple of weeks or so, but once when I tried to go back, it was there all the time, even when I was awake. Then eventually it made me come up here. I don't know if the others are because of the mountain, really, or...something else. At least, the mountain's never *in* them, and none of them happen around here." He glances away for a second, then straightens up a little and looks back at her. "What about you? Is the dreaming different, for you?"

Serendipity huhs thoughtfully at Aurelia's potential interpretations, and goes quiet again, this time giving the impression of percolating thought. And not located in his trousers, either.

Aurelia's expression darkens further, her focus somewhat faded as the thinking mill seems to be running overtime. One can almost physically see the mental process of tucking away bits of information for further investigation, filing everything away neatly. "Hmm," she replies ineloquently, and her countenance softens as she lifts her head to look at Danny, gradually letting her attention drift into the change of topic. "Me? Oh yeah. I don't have visions so much. I'm a good-walker. Benandanti."

"Benandanti. What's that?" Danny asks, eyes wide. "Is that like Higami? He can dream-walk."

Aurelia shrugs as she says, "I don't know Higami so I can't say as it is or isn't. Dream-walkin' yeah, plus some other stuff. Fightin' too. The good-walkers are dream warriors. We slip out of our bodies and go wanderin' the worlds -- mostly the dream lands. There's things there that'll feed off your dreams, and someone's gotta beat 'em down, yeah?"

Danny stares at Aurelia. His voice is quite faint as he says, "Robin said--Robin said Higami does that. That he...eats dreams." It takes quite a bit for him to force the words out, and he pales a little as he does. "Is there a way you can teach me to do that? To dream-walk? Or see if I even can?"

Serendipity glances up fairly swiftly at Danny's remark and request, turning his attention from the Perunka to the Corax. "=Can= you?" he asks, decidedly interested, "an' if so, just Perunka with vision, or anyone?"

Aurelia's expression goes from one of attentiveness to alarm as she sits up and leans back, regarding Danny like he just grew an extra head. "Where is this Higami?" she asks in a low tone, and if ever a half-pint scrap of a girl could radiate menace... She glances around quickly, as though some unknown threat might break down the door any second. "It ain't like that," she says quietly. "It ain't... who is this Higami person?"

Danny flinches at Aurelia's reaction, and his body blurs and takes on the satyr shape as he scrambles to stay in his chair. His ears flatten into his hair and his hooves slip along the floor until he's sitting upright again. "He's the librarian. He works with the Guild. He's, he's kind of weird. But he's helped me a lot, so maybe Robin's wrong about the--about that one part..." For once, the uncontrollable shifting is the least of his worries.

"Also, he's gorgeous," Ren adds, "he's got a little computer thing that talks, he's Japanese, interesting, and observant, he said he's not human, an' Safi says he hasn't got feelings. I think she meant literally." He shrugs a little, but watches Aurelia closely.

Aurelia's breath comes quickly, a panic response. Danny's sudden shift doesn't help matters, and she sits bolt upright, looking ready to spring to her feet. "He won't make such a gorgeous corpse," she says bluntly. "If he's what I think he is, one of us is goin' down, and I ain't plannin' to be the one."

Danny's ears are no closer to resurfacing from his hair. "Wait, let's wait and calm down for a second. Maybe it's not like that. Robin was *really* upset when she told me that, so maybe it's not completely correct." He sounds like he dearly wants to believe it, but isn't sure he can, and rather than dwell on the fact he steers the topic back to something a little less panic-worthy. "You said it wasn't like that? Teaching to dream-walk?"

Serendipity shifts in his chair -- and shifts the chair itself -- ending up with both feet on the floor and both his arms draped around Aurelia's shoulders from behind, as if he were some sort of cloak. It's not too tight, and his hands studiously do not go anywhere they oughtn't, but it would likely make any sudden exits difficult. Not that that's the idea or anything. It's just affectionate, y'know. "=If= he's whatcha think he is, Rae," he points out with gentle emphasis. "Maybe you oughta talk t' Robin and maybe even meet Higami before you decide whether he's gotta die? What 'zactly d'you think he =is=, anyway?"

Aurelia starts as Ren drapes his arms around her, and the defensive little jerk has all the signs of last-minute restraint from either bolting or attacking him. As it is, she tries to squirm away, turning to keep her eye on him and Danny at the same time, as if all trust has suddenly fled and both are suspect. There's a hunted look in her eyes and genuine fear. Her hands on the tea mug clutch so tightly the knuckles have gone white. "It's somethin' yer born to," she tells Danny with a tremor in her voice. Her gaze darts between him and Ren, pausing on the latter. She looks torn. There's the urge to escape written plainly all over her features, but at war with something else not so easy to identify. "I can't meet him," she says. "I can't let him see my face. If he's malandanti, then he'll kill me if he knows what I am."

"Malandanti," Danny echoes. "Okay. Can't meet him, can't let him see your face. Got it." He shudders uncontrollably. "Born to it. How can you tell if someone's born to it? Is there a way to try?"

Serendipity nods a little, and doesn't let Aurelia get away, but keep the hold loose, all the same. He even unwinds one arm enough to brush a bit of hair away from her face, lightly. "A'ight, then, can't meet him. But you can meet Robin, and she c'n tell you more." Pause. "=He=. I think Robin's bein' a guy still. We'll track him down, and you can ask. Yeah?"

Aurelia doesn't look convinced, but she does untense a little -- it would be inaccurate to call it relaxing. More that she resigns herself to not flying off the handle just now. She nods curtly to Ren. "I'll speak to Robin," she graciously allows. The grip on her mug relaxes somewhat, and she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a long sigh. "The legends say babies born in the caul were destined to become dream-walkers," she tells Danny. With the calm that starts to ease into her, there also comes a sense of weariness. Defeat. Waving a hand vaguely, she adds, "The caul is a membrane, like... never mind, it's bloody midwife stuff. You'd know it if you saw it. It was a sign that the child was a dream-walker. There isn't a lot known anymore about them. They was all but wiped out in the Inquisition, way back before the long dark. I never met another one. I don't even know if there are others. Maybe they're born all the time and no one knows, so they just grow up ignorant. Except there's malandanti out there, so someone is teachin' 'em. They're like us, only different. They use what they are to hurt folks. Control 'em, manipulate 'em."

Danny calms down as the tension level in the room lessens. "Back home we just have Dreaming-Seers. They're supposed to dream with Gaia and the world soul, so they see anything the world sees. Futures and pasts and possibilities, all sorts of things." Hesitantly, he asks, "Can you try to teach someone, and see if they just can't? I'd like to try, at least. If I'm not born to it, we'd know right away, wouldn't we?"

Serendipity gives Aurelia a soft kiss on the temple, and lets the particular tension of readiness ebb, though he doesn't actually let her go. It just subsides to friendly without being imminently restrictive. He rests his chin on her shoulder, making her look almost like a two-headed (and four-armed) monster. "Wouldn't mind trying either. I mean, we were both present at our births, but a little young t' take good notes."

Aurelia hesitates, then leans in against Ren, tilting her head to rest her brow against his cheek briefly. This seems to calm her more. She takes another deep breath, letting the tension flow out of her. "I suppose it's possible," she says quietly. "Only there's so much I don't know. I ain't had anyone to train me up, just what I worked out on my own. My Granny knew a little, but before she could teach it all to me, she was gone. I could try. I just need... can you give me a few days? I might be able to find out more. I was gonna check the library, but I ain't goin' in there now."

"Of *course* I can wait," Danny assures her with a weak smile. "I've been waiting four years, a few days isn't going to kill me. If you want, I can go to the library for you. I haven't seen Higami there, and I can just avoid him if I do. I can ask Fred for help looking things up, if you give me a list. Or Justin and Bryce can help me." He leans forward and gives Aurelia a hard and sincere look. "Either way, I won't tell anyone anything about the rest, especially not him."

Serendipity smiles faintly, and gives the raven a small squeeze. "'s not a bad idea. You can send me in, too, if you gotta," he offers, and considers a moment. "I'm starving. Wanna go see if there's anything interesting we can cook at the Diner?"

Aurelia curls the teacup to her chest one-handed, freeing her other hand to reach up and cup Ren's cheek lightly as she lifts her gaze to his. For someone who isn't sleeping with him, she sure doesn't seem to mind him in close proximity. "I want to go home," she says with a weak smile. "Maybe you could bring us somethin' from there?" Glancing toward Danny, the smile manages to gain some strength, and there is a tentative trust about her as she says, "Thank you. Just... til I find out what's what. These malandanti, you have to understand. They attacked our home. They killed the only one who could teach me, then came after me. They're bad business. If you look in the library, be careful -- find out anything you can on the benandanti. I doubt you'll find much, but it's worth a shot. Also, get yerself a fennel stalk." She nods toward the banded herb stalk she brought with her. "Have it near you when you sleep. It might not do anything, but if you got the gift, and if you're a quick study, it might become a weapon for you. Couldn't hurt."

"A fennel stalk. Right. I'm sure they've got lots of that at the Farm. I'll get Justin and Bryce to help look things up. They're a lot better at research than I am, really." Danny finally takes a drink from his long-ignored tea. "Thanks very much for everything. Even just the listening, if you can't teach me anything. The listening's good too."

Serendipity gives Aurelia a little smile back, and nods, not enough to dislodge her hand. "Yeah, I can do that. I'll walk ya home and see what I can dig up, no problem." He glances over to the indicated herbal baton, and grins, adding to Danny, "And if it doesn't help you when you're asleep, you can always hit your kumimates with it when you're awake."

Ah, Aurelia must be feeling better. Ren's remark gets a fleeting look of irritation from her, but it passes quickly. "It's me who should be thankin' you," she tells Danny with awkward solemnity. "There ain't many folks I know enough to trust, and you've been pretty good to me. I'll do what I can to live up to what you need me to do." She musters up a smile as she adds, "As for the listenin', that's what we ravens are for. Anytime you need t'borrow my ear, you just let me know, hon." Ren's cheek gets another pat, then she starts to extract herself from his arms so that she can gather up her fennel stalk and set the tea mug aside. "You just be careful," she warns. "And we'll talk again in a few days, alright?"

There's a first time for everything, and this is one of them: a suggestion of Ren's that Danny actually gives serious consideration. "Hey, that's not a bad idea," he murmurs, rubbing his chin. He disentangles himself from the blanket and awkwardly gets up to escort Ren and Aurelia to the door, his movements on the satyrform's legs unsure. "I'll be careful. And we have wards on the house, maybe that'll help some. Spirit wards that Miki did."

Serendipity lets Aurelia extract, giving her shoulders a squeeze as they pass his hands, and then stands up, stretching from fingers to toes. "....mm. Sounds like we got a plan, then," he remarks, voice somewhat distorted from the stretch, and follows Danny toward the door. "Catcha later, Danny. Cool form, by the way."

Aurelia follows as well, having more or less composed herself. When she gets to the door, she gives Danny's arm a squeeze and tries to give him a kiss on the cheek -- she's not very tall, and this satyr-form isn't something she's used to being around. Still, it's a fond little gesture, and at least she's not menacing him with the fennel stalk she's taken up in her hand. "You be well darlin'," she says quietly. Then she turns to shoo Ren out into the yard with the stalk, looking preemptively irritated for whatever might come.