The ice storm has only just started within the last couple of hours, but it is already coating the branches of the trees with a fine, clear glaze, and putting a layer of treacherous ice on top of the snow. A set of footprints breaking through the crusted snow are already being filled in with ice and freezing rain but are still just visible to those with excellent eyesight in the dark and freezing night. They lead to a sort of shelter formed of tumbled boulders and a leaning evergreen which is quickly being transformed into a waterproof covering by the ice which is coating it.

There's a small ruckus outside the makeshift shelter -- something smallish galloping by, and something larger not far behind, male and exasperated, "...steaks! And then I'll barbecue you with a light honey glaze... UMPH!" Sounds like someone tripped. Hard. After several seconds regaining his wind (and getting a light ice glaze of his own), Ren sits up, looking balefully after the uncooperative thief, and starts to push to his feet, pausing as he notices the footprints. Well... =that's= interesting.

There is a pause, quite a long one. Then, a voice near the boulders calls out, "Who is there?" On the heels of that question is a humming sound, as if the person were... singing? Something wordless? And then something very strange happens: light blooms over the area, white light as bright as Luna at her full. Indeed, it looks very like full-moonlight, except that it illuminates the immediate area and nowhere else. Miki peers out from underneath the leaning evergreen.

Serendipity winces at the sudden light, and stands the rest of the way, shading his eyes as they adjust. He's at least kind of dressed for the weather -- he's sprouted a hat and gloves, and a scarf wrapped, albeit in a loose and dashing manner, around his neck. "...Serendipity Jones, at your service," he responds, with the characteristic bow, and breaks into a grin as his eyes adjust enough to let him identify the questioner, "...gorgeous. What's a nice guy like you doin' in a night like this?"

Miki blinks at Serendipity for a moment, seeming more than surprised to see him out here. "I am freezing my segg off, what else is it that I should be doing in such a storm? And what are you doing on Katahdin, when the Mountain is in such a temper?"

"Yer segg, huh?" Ren inquires, teasingly. "..I c'n think of a few better things to be doing in such a storm, but they'd require somewhere warm, or at least a real good friend hiding in that leanto with you." He indicates the boulders with a tilt of his head, and an arch of an eyebrow. "As for me... that thrice-damned goat stole my cigarette case. It even had an actual cigarette in it," he explains indignantly. "You ever eaten barbecued goat?" he asks, then yells off in the direction in which the miscreant disappeared, "It's really =tasty=!!"

Miki grins a little, then laughs. "I can try to call the goat back for you," he says. "But you must promise to let it go, after. And it might have dropped the case, you know. By now."

Serendipity looks intrigued by the offer, and glances after the goat again, then back to Miki. "Sounds worth a try to me. And if it works, I promise not t' eat the goat. Coyote's honour." ...Not that honour's what that luminary's known for, but he seems sincere enough. "And then we oughta get our seggs down the mountain an' somewhere warm and comfy," he adds, brushing some of the ice off his chest, and if the pluralization of Miki's word comes out reminiscent of any other words, well, surely that's just coincidental.

Miki eyes Serendipity dubiously. "You talk as if that were easy. I have been walking on this mountain for months, all fall and all winter I have been hiking between my home and town, and I am not sure it is a good idea to try to walk down the Mountain when it is of glass, like a fairy tale." He shrugs, and rummages under his coat for a moment, then pulls out a short silver flute. "I will see if your goat wants to listen." He sets it to his mouth and starts to play, a quick merry dance-tune of four lines, repeated.

Serendipity looks as though the concept of 'not a good idea' had not previously entered his head with regard to... well, at least heading back to town, if not anything at all. He did end up out here in the first place, after all. He waits, watching the process of goat-calling, shifting a little with the music, as if it makes him want to dance.

Miki has to play for quite some time, the music speeding up infinitesimally with every repetition until it is played at a very fast tempo, the only sounds in the vicinity the flute-music and the hiss of the freezing rain. He plays, and plays, and *plays,* and finally the crunch of hooves breaking through the crust of ice on the snow is heard. The goat appears through the trees, wandering into the clearing as though it just happened to be heading in this direction and the music is quite coincidental, and stands there staring at Miki contemptuously. Then it yawns, dropping the well-chewed silver case.

Serendipity watches as the goat arrives, and restrains himself -- with difficulty -- from trying to snatch the case from its jaws. He leans down and snags it from the ground almost before it hits the snow, and when he straightens, grabs Miki's face in both hands and gives him a quick but resounding kiss on the lips, releasing him again right away. "Thank you!" he exclaims, exuberantly, and looks the case over more closely, wrinkling his nose slightly: "...ew. Goat slobber." Probably got some on Miki's cheek, too. Oops.

Miki raises one hand to get the... goat slobber off his cheek, staring at his exuberant aquaintance. Then he ducks once more beneath the canopy of evergreen, oestensibly to get out of the freezing rain, which has formed a crust of ice on the top of his hood while he was playing. Is that a blush? Hard to tell. "Ah, um, glad to help," he manages to say.

The goat trots off, snorting at these antics.

Serendipity wipes the case off carefully with an end of his scarf, then shoves it into his pocket and follows Miki into the leanto, finally showing enough sense to come in out of the rain, as it were. "...So. Walking home's a bad plan, you think? ...mind if I come in? Thanks." He takes off the hat, shaking the crust of ice from it, and then puts it back on. "Worse than staying here?"

"At least it is not storming in here," Miki points out, sitting down on the ground. He looks at Serendipity as if the other man is a serious problem which he has to solve. "You are not a shifter, right?"

"True," Serendipity grants, and hesitates a second, studying Miki appreciatively before his shakes his head slightly and takes a seat on the ground right beside him, knees touching. "...right. I was s'posta be, but it didn't work out." He sounds cheerful and chatty enough about it. "I'm a great disappointment to my family." Grin.

Miki smiles a half-smile back, involuntarily, then thoughtfully chews on the inside of his cheek. "This storm, I think it is going to get worse. I will be all right, because..." He looks at Serendipity for a moment, then shrugs and continues, "because my brother, he will fetch me home. By morning, I think, and in here I will be okay for that long. But he cannot do that for you, and if you are not a shifter..." He thinks for a little longer. "Perhaps we should try to go back to town, the storm is getting worse. It would be bad if you, you know, had to stay here alone."

"Well, it'd be much more fun t' hafta stay here with you," Serendipity grants, leaning back to put most of his weight on his hands, and watching his companion invitingly, "...even if we'd be forced to cuddle up together for warmth an' all. I think I could live with that. But!" He sits up, brushing his hands together in a businesslke manner. "We could try sledding down. It'd be quicker. And fun!"

Miki watches Serendipity in a rather bemused manner during the first part of his speech, then replies, "Sledding down? But that would be very... dangerous, would it not, in the dark?" Then he bites his lip and laughs. "Of course, I can make a little light. But what would we use for a sled?"

Serendipity considers a moment, and stands, lifting a finger. "Hold on," he replies, and unbuttons his coat, rummaging inside it for several seconds, brow furrowed. He pulls his hand out, and looks with evident confusion at a lacy woman's garter, the sort that hasn't been in style anywhere in decades. He shakes his head, smirking, and shoves it back in, then concentrates harder, muttering, "one sec..." This time, he somehow manages to find a simple wooden sled. It's not much wider than he is, and it doesn't have any obvious steering mechanism, but it's long enough that they could both squeeze onto it, if they were close, and it is, unmistakably, a sled. One would think carrying something like that would make more of a bulge in the coat.

Miki... blinks. Then he looks at the sled. Then he looks suspiciously at the coat, then at the sled again. "You... are a mage? A hedge-wizard?" he hazards. "That sled was not in your pocket, it would not fit!" Yes, Miki states the obvious, but perhaps he can be forgiven as he's rather startled at the moment. He raises his eyebrows at Serendipity imperiously, obviously hoping for an answer.

Serendipity shakes his head, grinning at the reaction as much as anything else. "Nah. Just garden variety kin. With a couple things anna mission left t' me by my grampa. =He= was trueblood." He stretches, the hand not holding the sled arching above his head, and looks sidelong at Miki. "...do have a =couple= tricks up my sleeve, though. C'mere, an' I'll show you another."

"What?" says Miki, mistrustfully, but he does scoot a little closer, curiosity radiating from his expression. He glances at the sleeve of the Unexpected Coat, then back up at Serendipity's face.

Serendipity breaks into a wicked grin that might give one second thoughts, but doesn't leave enough time for that, leaning down and grasping the back of Miki's head in one swift movement, giving him a second kiss -- this one rather less spur-of-the-moment grateful. More of the 'better hope the victim's too startled to deck you' variety. He releases the other man and takes a quick step away -- out of reach of any instant retaliation to delicate areas, at least... he hopes -- still grinning. "That oughta do. C'mon -- you wanna sit in back or in front?"

Miki does look considerably startled, although surely this is not the first time such an event has happened to him. And, despite recent events in the Diner, he doesn't show any inclination to hit Serendipity, although the action does garner a slightly sardonic look. "You are very... bold," he says, eyeing the other man with a raised-eyebrow expression. "It must get you in trouble sometimes." He gives the sled an even more dubious look than Serenity has gotten, and says reluctantly, "You are taller than me, you should sit in back, and that will be safer, isten adja, hogy ugy legyen." The last phrase sounds *very* heartfelt.

Serendipity flicks the tip of his tongue across his upper lip, and shrugs lightly. "Usually worth it," he replies brightly, "...an' I always get back outta it, anyway, one way or another. C'mon," he says again, this time turning to head out into the sleet, sled in hand.

Miki follows him, looking dubious about the whole affair. Too late to back out now, though.

Serendipity looks about critically, as if he were somehow qualified to judge sledding trails in ice storms, and finds a path apparently to his liking, as he steps over to the head of it, fastening the last button on his coat and leaning down to set the sled on the snow, holding the edge of it tight. "'kay, get in front of me, just straddle it for now... not leaving anything behind, right?"

Miki looks sadly at the little sled, then at Serendipity. "I have only my backpack," he says, and the mentioned item is over his shoulder. With the air of one who is attending his own execution, he sits down gingerly on the sled and puts his pack in front of him, carefully sheltering his bowcase between the pack and his body. "I am ready," he says, taking a deep breath.

Serendipity pats his pocket, where the case was earlier placed, and, satisfied it's there, gets into place behind Miki, digging his heels into the snow and wrapping his arms around the smaller man's waist as he sits, pulling him the rest of the way down at all. "Good," he replies, and pushes off as best he can, pointed down the hill. "Geronimo!!!"

The start is slow and almost gentle, a descent over ice, snow, rock, and frozen ground cover. Then the sled hits a marginally steeper slope, and the speed gathers. Bump, bump, bump, bump bump bumpbumpbumpbumprattlerattlebump. Ground rockets past. Steeper still. Trees lurch into view, and then a rock, bump, or angle slides the sled past without harm.

Miki does not close his eyes. No, he does not. His hands, one of which is holding on to his backpack and the other of which has somehow come to rest on Ren's wrist, however, are white-knuckled in their grip. "Ha isten is ugy akarja!" he mutters under his breath.

Miklos pages: Just let me know if you're translating, by the way.
Long distance to Miklos: Serendipity rolls... yup! Translating that. :)
Miklos pages: It's just a phrase which translates to, roughly, "Please God," as in "Please God get me out of this..."
Long distance to Miklos: Serendipity grins.

Serendipity's hair and scarf whip through the air behind them like a pair of flags, and his other hand finds its way to close over Miki's on his wrist as they hurtle down the slope. By contrast to the pale youth, he seems to be thoroughly enjoying the ride, if the whoops are any indication. Maybe he just doesn't have any sense.

Faster, faster. Tree! Slip. Rock! Slide. ROCK! Skidslideskidslideskidslideskid. Hey, where'd that ravine come from? Rattlerattlerattle LEAP openspacefallingnothingbeneathnothingnothingTHUMP skid sideways, miss that tree, spin in a complete 360, end up pointing downward again, still with the landscape shooting by.

Okay, Miki closes his eyes. Imminent death is *not* how he likes to spend his time. And why did he agree to do this again? "I am stupid!" he shouts to the passing trees and rocks and other inanimate objects just waiting to kill him.

"...damn, that'd suck as last words," Serendipity comments less than comfortingly in Miki's ear. He squeaks, then, as they make a particularly harrowing jump, and laughs aloud, holding on tighter to Miki and the sled.

Tree tree tree rock tree tree Is that a frozen stream? Rattlethump NO it's a cliff! rattlerattlerattle LEAPhanghanghangdropdropdrop no sled no sled THUD and there's a sled again, still moving, ow that hurt more trees more rocks moremoremore... CLIFF! airhangdropdropplummetTHUNKRATTLESPINSKIDSPEEEEEED TREE ROCK TREE TREE TREEROCK NOTANOTHERCLIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF... CRASHSKIDTHUMPtangle of limbsheaptree ow...

And somehow, you are bruised, battered, shaken, stirred, but alive, at the foot of the mountain.

"Ow," says Miki, after a moment, then, "A fenebe, the second time in two days." He tries to move, first shifting his bag a bit, in hopes that his bow is all right, then says, cautiously, "Um, can you move? Off of me?"

Serendipity is silent for several moments after the impact, winded for the second time in an hour, and then starts laughing. "...'f you insist," he replies, tightening his arms around Miki again as he rolls over in the snow -- a bit painfully -- until the pale youth's on top of him, instead. But doesn't let go until he's kissed him again, a quick exuberant smack like the first; then he collapses fully back into the snow, hands stretched out above his head, and laughs while he recovers from the crash, ignoring the continuing rain of ice. "Damn, I feel =alive=."

"You are damn lucky we do not both feel dead," says Miki sourly, propping himself on his elbows on Serendipity's chest and staring down at him. "Are you always like this?"

Serendipity grins and shifts his hips just the tiniest bit, just enough to let him decide, "...don't feel dead to =me=." He laces his fingers under his head, in the snow, and grins back up at Miki. "And I dunno -- am I always like what?"

Miki says, apparently in perfect faith that Serendipity will understand him, "Bogaras," and rolls off into the snow. He picks up his backpack and makes a relieved noise between his teeth when he finds that his bow is unharmed.

You paged Miklos with '...oh yeah, translating that one. :)'.
Miklos pages: Crazy, eccentric, wayward, or kinky.
You paged Miklos with 'Good lord, they're ALL appropriate! :)'.
Miklos pages: Chose that particular word for crazy with care, he did!

Serendipity stays where he is, hands still relaxed behind his head, and grins extra-broadly at the description. "Got us off the mountain, di'n't I?" he points out. "But hey, I'm always me, so if that makes me bogaras... yup!"

Miki gets to his feet, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, and gives the sled a disbelieving look. "You did," he says grudgingly. "Are you going to lie there and freeze to death or come to town and get in out of the storm? It is getting worse, I think." He pulls his hood up, although there is already ice crusted in his white hair.

Serendipity laughs and sits up, hopping to his feet and brushing ice and snow from his coat and hair. "Town sounds good," he allows, and picks up the discarded sled, shoving it back into his coat. No sign of a bulge in the line of the coat this time, either.

Miki watches this process with faint disbelief, then shakes his head. "I do not know why you are still walking. You must have much luck." He looks around, sings something under his breath, and summons the wan moonlight that he did earlier. It illuminates less, for the storm is getting worse, but he seems to recognize where he is, anyway. "Town is this way," he says, and starts walking.