It's midmorning, and most of the town's been awake and working several hours. The idle classes, a.k.a. Ren, are ensconced in the Diner, seated at the table, or rather, beside it, as he's turned his chair to face a second, and crossed his legs demurely on its seat. There's a book in his hand, and it seems engrossing; certainly very little attention is dealing with the lollipop in his mouth.

Danny steps in the front door, sweating and a little dirty from some garden-like expedition or another. He's smiling but clearly tired, and he has a large burlap sack slung over one shoulder. Whatever's in it, they're large and round, and probably weigh a lot too. He pauses to give Ren's attire a curious look, then heads into the kitchen. "Morning Ren," he calls over his shoulder.

Serendipity looks up from his book, and grins back over his shoulder at the Perunka. "Mornin', Danny. 'sup? Bowling ball collection for th' poor an' unfortunate?" he inqures, removing the lollipop from his mouth in the service of clear speech.

"They *weigh* enough to be bowling balls," Danny mutters as he sets the bag down. After a little shuffling around in the kitchen, he returns holding a large and perfectly ripe cantaloupe. "They're *everywhere*. Aurelia and I woke up and found one in the bedroom. There were two more in the workshop, and a few in weird places in the house." He looks more vexed than pleased with this sudden proliferation of melons.

Serendipity blinks and sits up a little in his chair, closing the book and setting it aside, and grinning a little. "Heh, it's like a melon invasion. D'you hae a vine climbin' the house or somethin', maybe?" he asks, leaning forward to look at the melon, and reaching out to give it a little poke. "...Looks tasty, though."

With a sigh, Danny says, "Unfortunately no. Mrs. Foerester found some in her sink, and there was one sitting on her porch too. Melons don't just show up. These could be anything, maybe some trick by the F--the Neighbors." Having voiced this possibility, now he looks at the melon askance and warily goes to set it down on the counter. "Yeah, they do look tasty," he admits with a sigh.

"We got neighbours?" Ren asks, sounding sincerely surprised by this. He uncrosses his legs and stands, smoothing his skirt down absently as he head over to the counter where the melon has been deposited. It gets some more investigation before he decides, "Seems like a cantaloupe to me. Want me t' get a knife an' cut it open?"

"*Good* Neighbors," Danny says, with special emphasis on the words. Suspicious would be a generous way to describe him, and he eyes the melon like he suspects it capable of all manner of mischief. Finally he relents, and says, "Yeah, I guess so. Maybe they're just melons." Despite these brave words, the Perunka doesn't make a move towards the counter.

Serendipity watches Danny with some amusement, and heads into the kitchen, returning with a knife in hand. "Y'know," he remarks as he sets the knife against the rind and steadies the fruit, "I hear you c'n make a pretty nice wine outta cantaloupes-" As he presses the knife into the melon's flesh, there's a sudden loud noise, a thump and a clatter, and Ren squeaks, pulling back from the melon wide-eyed.

Danny makes a noise like nervous, squealing whinny and takes a number of hasty steps away from the counter, putting a table between himself and the offending melon. "What is it?" he whispers, eyes wide.

"It's..." Ren breathes, "it's..." There's an ominous, portentious pause, and he concludes in the same terrified tone, "a cantaloupe!" before he loses it and dissolves into laughter, resting the knifehand on the counter and his body against the side of the counter, to aid in staying upright. "Oh, dark, man," he manages through his hilarity, "'m sorry, 'm sorry, but you shoulda seen your =face=! 's a melon, just a melon..." He controls his arms enough to finish cutting the slice, and holds it out by way of proof.

Danny lets out a sigh of relief, then promptly scowls at Ren. "It's not funny! The F--the Neighbors can be *dangerous*. They do all sorts of cr--of things." There's a few moments spent giving Ren a look full of wounded pride, after which the smell of a good and propoer cantaloupe starts to lure him towards the counter. "Well, as long as they're real, we could make fruit salad." He's not entirely convinced just yet, but as he gets closer to the cut melon, he calms down.

Serendipity keeps laughing, though he tries a couple times to stop and cracks back up. He ends up just nodding agreement, and sets the knife down, heading back into the kitchen. When he emerges again with a salad bowl full of what fruits were in the fridge, he's got it down to just periodic giggling.

Danny finally arrives at the counter and takes up the slice of melon, looking it over thoroughly. He smells it several times and fails to find anything new or disturning, so he nibbles at it delicately. When he's still alive a minute later, he begins to eat it in a more normal manner for anyone but him, taking reasonable sized bites that are considered thoughtfully before he moves on to the next one.

Serendipity gets himself mostly composed, and cuts himself a slive of the melon as well; the lollipop seems to have disappeared somewhere. "'s a lotta melons. All from your place?" He seems to have far fewer misgivings about the fruit than the perunka does.

Danny sets the picked-clean rind aside and says, "Our place, and the Foeresters'. Some folks have found carved ones too, like jack-o-lanters. Just, melons instead of pumpkins." He eyes the contents of the bowl hopefully. "Aurelia didn't mind the first couple, but finding them all over got on her nerves."

Serendipity gestures to the knife and the fruit in the bowl, clearly giving Danny full permission to start making fruit salad of it and the rest of the cantaloupe on the counter. Himself, he keeps leaning comfortably against the counter, and eating his slice of melon between comments. "Like jack-o'-lanterns? Maybe it's some kinda holiday. Like... Cantale'en," he suggests, and brushes his hair back behind his ear.

"Uh-huh," Danny replies dryly. His skills with cooking are nill, but at least making fruit salad isn't much more complicated than 'cut things up and put them in a bowl', and he's handy with a kitchen knife. Grapes, nectarines, and berries are sliced or pulled apart and added into the bowl.

Justin strides in through the front door as if he owned the place, with a song wending around in his chest and occasionally sneaking out. He's about to say something when he doubletakes at Ren. "You got that from Kal, didn't you?" he accuses.

Serendipity starts to say something to Danny, but stops as the door opens. He flashes Jastin a grin and waves with the slice of melon as he relaxes back into his lean, looking decidedly satisfied with Justin's reaction. "Mornin', Justin. Innit nice me an' Kal're so close t' the same size?" he inquires by way of reply, and extends a leg slightly our in front of him, pointing the toe and regarding it critically. "I mean, who knew I had such nice legs, yeah?" He returns to munching his cantaloupe, grinning all the while.

"Ren offered to prove they were really just cantaloupes," Danny says to Justin by way of a greeting. "And they look like they are, so we can have fruit salad." He beams at this favorable outcome and moves on to slicing up the rest of the melon, cutting it into even pieces and then further slicing them up so they're generally of similar sizes. This large collection of cantaloupe chunks is tossed into the bowl, and he begins halving cherries.

Justin eyes Ren's gams critically. "Indeed. It's a crime to cover them. Uhm, I'm not sure about the," he waves vaguely in the direction of Ren's pelvis, "skirt, though." Shaking his head, probably envisioning the amount of trouble that Ren and Kal, and Kal's wardrobe, could get into, he joins Danny at the counter. "They're just melons. Somewhat prankish melons. But plainly, and only, melons." To prove it he steals a chunk of cantalope and devours it.

Kalisto's boots can be heard clomping against the ground as he approaches the cafe. He unlatches the door, then bumps it open with his rear. His arms are laden with two rather decently (or rather indecently) sized honeydews, held to his chest, and as he turns around to enter the cafe proper, he says, "Hey, check out my melons."

Serendipity snickers, giving Kal an exaggerated up-and-down look, and wolf-whistles. "Hot," he replies, "They look so firm an' ripe I just wanna take a big ol' bite." He finishes off the slice he's got, instead, and sets the rind aside, glancing to Justin. "'s wrong with the skirt? I kinda like it. Nice an' breezy."

"They're very nice melons, Kal," Danny says politely. He doesn't let his mask of innocence slip as he continues with, "If you let me cut one up we can add it to the fruit salad." Justin, on the other hand, gets a Look from his kumimate that's almost but not quite a scowl. "You never know what the Neighbors might be up to. What if eating one sent people to more of those alternate worlds or made you sprout melon vines from your ears?" From the sound of his voice, these are just two of the untold number of horrors Danny has been imagining all morning. He takes solace in halving more cherries.

"Danny," Justin says, very very patiently, "it's melon season. There are melons practically lining the streets. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that this is a natural event, and does not involve vines intruding upon one's anatomy." Looking up at Kal, he grins. "They're lovely." To Ren, he replies, "Yes, but it's so...short."

Kalisto flutters his lashes coquettishly at Ren and complains, "That's what all the boys say." He ambles over to the counter, setting the melons on the counter as he invites Danny, "Knock yourself out, handsome." The talk of the origin of the melons seems to sail right over his pretty little head. Instead, Ren gets a once-over, then Kal comments, "You look good. Turn around and let me see your ass."

Serendipity waves a hand dismissively at Justin's concerns. "You say that like it's a bad thing," he retorts, and quirks a brow at Kal, purring, "Thought you'd never ask." He slips his coat off and turns to pose obediently for the young mage.

"Melons grow on vines, Justin, they don't mysteriously appear in people's bedrooms." Kal's honeydews distract Danny from any further worrying over the subject, and he neatly slices one in half. Like the cantaloupe, it's a perfectly normal and ripe honeydew, which elicits a sigh from him. He takes it into the kitchen to scoop out the seeds and innards, snorting good-naturedly at Kal and Ren as he does so.

Justin rolls his eyes. Perhaps at Danny's slightly flawed reasoning. Perhaps at Ren. Perhaps at Kal. Perhaps at Ren and Kal. Electing to not partake in the fashion show, he eats some more cantalope. Melon vines completely fail to erupt from any portion of him.

Kalisto tilts his head slightly, checking out the view, as it were. "See, you've got a great ass," he mentions, with the air of one who knows whereof he speaks. "And if you're not wearing a thong, you're going to give someone a heart attack." His assessment made, he hops up on the counter to sit, glancing over at the eating and slicing of melon. "So what, did the melon volcano erupt or do you freakish country people have yet another bizarre ritual I'm so better off never knowing about?"

Serendipity shifts his hips a touch from side to side, making the hem of the skirt swing dangerously, and then slips his coat back on, leaving the back view entirely safe at least. If less compelling. "Glad you approve," he replies to Kal, only a little flirtatiously, and snags another melon slice before it can get cubed.

Danny returns with the emptied honeydew and cuts it apart. A quarter is used for the fruit salad, and the rest is set aside for casual eating. "If this were back home, I'd think one of the katsina clans *was* celebrating. Squashes show up mysteriously when the squash clan gets uppity. Maybe Katadhin has local melon spirits." He shrugs amiably. "As long as it's not the Neighbors or anything like that."

"The melon unicorn came and blessed the region with the fertility of her people," Justin replies to Kal in a perfectly bland deadpan. "There may have been an orgy to help things along."

Kalisto shudders, giving Justin a deeply affronted look. "I'm not sure I'm old enough to be learning about that. Bestiality, vegephilia... I'm starting to think you're a bad influence." He leans over the counter, stretching to reach a slice of honeydew. To Danny, he mentions, "I'd be uppity too if I was part of the squash clan. Are they in heavy competition with the turnip brigade?"

"That many melons around, definitely an orgy," Ren agrees, nodding to Justin. "And don't be so provincial, Kal, really. You're more'n old enough t' know these kindsa truths." He shakes his head and takes a solemn bite of cantaloupe.

Danny's expression brightens considerably. "Hey, maybe it *was* one of the unicorns. Solstice is soon, so Summer could be giving everyone an early gift. I can't imagine Spring would be giving us a late one." He shoots Kal a puzzled look, but thinks it over seriously. "I don't think there are any turnip katsina," he says eventually, "Probably because the First People didn't have turnips. They grew a lot of beans and squashes and corn, and they had katsina for all that. So, a Squash Clan."

"Well, fruit /is/ ripened plant genitalia," Justin muses, to no one in particular. "And the Summer unicorn is very generous with her gifts." He eats another chunk of cantalope. "This is good."

Kalisto toys with the slice of honeydew absently, trailing the tip over his bottom lip, his tongue flicking out to catch a drop of juice as he gives Justin a big-eyed pout. "Daddy," he croons, "where do melons come from?" Then he rolls his eyes, taking a bite out of the slice rather pointedly, mumbling around it, "Mmm, tasty plant nads. Rich in Vitamin Yum."

Serendipity watches Kal and his melon, wincing a bit at the pointed bite. "I'd say it's never nice t' bite like that, but I s'pose once the parts've been removed already..." He catches his hair behind his ear again -- it does tend to fall into his face when not restrained as usual -- and goes back to eating his slice all the same, polishing it off tenderly.

Danny chokes and chortles, trying to stifle his reaction. It takes an attempt or two to get ahold of himself. Gradually he regains enough focus to finish with cutting up all the fruit, and heads into the kitchen to find a few more things. "I don't think fruit is male organs, is it? It seems like it would be female."

Justin shrugs amiably at Danny. "I'm an alchemist, not a botanist. I'm sure one of our several dozen resident herbalists could tell you, though." He gives Ren an amused eyebrow-raise.

Kalisto studies Justin a moment, then smirks and opts to nibble the rest of his melon slice daintily. "Who cares if it's male or female?" he opines to no one in particular. "It's food."

"Well, it makes a difference in how you oughta eat it," Ren informs Kal innocently, and quirks a brow back at Justin, rather less innocently. He sets the empty rind aside again, and smooths down the skirt along his thighs before he starts picking this and that out of the fruit salad.

"Not necessarily, as long as you enjoy eating it," Danny says with a shrug as he returns. He's brought cinnamon and allspice with him, and he waves Ren's hands away before putting just a little of each into the bowl. The spices are returned to the kitchen, and he procures a large spoon to give the fruit a few good turns. "There. Fruit salad!" he announces triumphantly.

"I don't think it matters if it's male or female," Justin says thoughtfully, then gives Danny a scandalized look. "Danny, Aurelia is a bad influence on you. That was almost cooking."

Kalisto shakes his head sadly. "You've all got too much time, and melon, on your hands." He hops off the counter, sauntering into the kitchen to poke around in cupboards at random. "So I emailed my dad," he mentions casually.

Serendipity grudgingly allows his hands to be chased from the fruit, and arches a brow at Danny, this one much more skeptical. "I'm gonna stand by neccesarily," he responds, "...though enjoyin' it, yeah. Why eat things you don't like, right?" Justin's remark makes him laugh, and he steals one of the cherries, using it to point at the Perunka, "...he's right, y'know. Y'don't watch it, you're gonna turn peculiar..." The cherry gets munched, and he calls toward the kitchen, "What'd you say? 'Wish you were here, insteada me'?"

"I watched her make it once," Danny admits in a low, conspiratorial voice. He looks around, making a show of assuring himself that she's not around to see this cooking-like act of his and deem him a girl. He pulls out plates and forks from under the counter and passes them out, with a backwards glance for Kal. "What all did you tell him?"

"Did he write back yet?" Justin asks, watching Kal with a certain brand of curious caution. He accepts a plate and transfers fruit salad to it.

Kalisto emerges from the kitchen with a half-bag of flour tucked under one arm. "Nah," he says diffidently. "Not yet. I just told him where I was, and that I was probably going to stay, so maybe he could send me the rest of my stuff."

Serendipity nods agreeably, pausing as he notices Kal's prize. "Bakin' somethin'?"

Danny dishes out some fruit salad for himself, but pauses before the first bite. "The *rest* of your stuff?"

Justin frowns a little, in that thoughtful way of his. "So your parents will know you're here. Well, that's fine, I'd think."

Kalisto offers Ren a coy smile as he says, "Flour's combustible." He then nods to Danny and Justin. "The rest of my stuff. I only had a chance to pack two bags and some knickknacks. He said he'd send me the rest once I got settled. Since you guys haven't kicked me out yet..." He frowns faintly. "What, too soon? Should I tell him to forget it?"

Serendipity grins at Kal, and nods once. "Which reminds me, you busy later?" he inquires, and leans into the kitchen to grab a bowl from within. "...you got a lotta stuff."

After taking a couple bites of the salad, Danny slowly repeats, "Only two bags." He glances at Ren and nods in agreement, then more of the salad vanishes. He tips his head, and says, "Not too soon, unless you don't want to settle or don't want them to know you're here. I'm just surprised you have more stuff."

"Not too soon at all. I only...well, I think your parents would be even more horrified than you are at Haven." Justin moves to sit down, then freezes in midstep. "Dark. I think I left the oven on." He sets the plate down and heads out the door.

Kalisto snorts as Justin heads out, shaking his head as he murmurs, "Genius." His tone is more fond than disgusted, though. He then darts another quick smile at Ren. "I can arrange not to be," he says. The bag of flour is set aside, and he casually helps himself to another slice of melon. With a rare look of self-consciousness, he explains to Danny, quiet-toned, "My suite in my parents mansion is bigger than Maddy Smith's entire house." He offers up a sheepish little shrug. "What I brought to Haven isn't even a fraction of the stuff I left behind."

Serendipity returns the smile, and serves himself up a bowl of fruit salad, finally going back to the table and reseating himself in his chair, legs nicely crossed again. At least he tailors his seating to his garb.

"Are you sure you *need* all that?" Danny asks hesitantly. "I mean I'm sure there are things you really want, and have them send those, but I can't imagine what you'd do with a house full of things here. Trade some of it, maybe..." He finishes off his plate of fruit salad, and serves up another.

Kalisto shrugs again and replies, "It's my stuff. It's..." He glances around, sighing softly. The slice of melon is munched down, and then he pokes around in the fridge until he surfaces with a bottle of juice. "I don't need it, but it's all I've got left, you know? Of my life before here. That's it."

"It'll be interesting seeing that much stuff get moved out here," Ren muses, eating fruit bits with his fingers. "How many wagons d'you s'pose it'd take? Or do your folks have some planes that'd do it?"

Sympathetically, Danny says, "You have your memories, though. Those are a lot better than things people can break or steal, or that might get lost." He gives Ren an amused smile for the thought of planes in Haven, and ducks his head, taking the plate of fruit salad into the kitchen. It takes him only a moment to put the fruit into a simple ceramic bowl and cover it with an equally plain lid, and then he comes back out into the Diner proper. "You might be able to store some of it at the Farm," he suggests. "But they'd want you to work in exchange for that. Speaking of which, I'm gonna get back to the yarrow planting. We've still got plenty to do while it's not raining."

Kalisto points out dryly, "Yeah, but I can have my memories -and- lots of stuff." He uncaps the bottle and takes a swig. "My folks could afford a plane. Besides, I'm not going to keep everything. I just don't want them to have it."

Serendipity laughs once, low. "Well, might as well work out a way t' have it do some good here rather'n let it rot with them, yeah?" he agrees. "Hey, Danny... if Dawn's still at the Farm, tell 'er I say hi, yeah? An' get Aurelia to stop by the Treehouse? Have fun with th' yarrow."

"At least some of it will make for good trading," Danny assures Kal. He blinks at Ren, looking confused, then shakes his head. "Oh! This is all Aurelia's yarrow, and plenty of it there is. I'm not planning on going to the Farm for a couple days, but if I do I'll let her know. I'll let them both know." With a smile he waves a goodbye to Ren and Kal, then steps out onto the road at a brisk pace. The front door thumps shut behind him.

Kalisto sighs woefully, but the smile he musters up for Danny in genuine, if weary. "Take it easy, horsedude." He drinks more juice, pausing only to find a chair to slump into, and then with a few more gulps, the bottle is empty.

Serendipity studies Kal, absently snacking on his fruit. "Look kinda worn out," he remarks, eventually. "Still hot as all hell, but. 's up?"

Kalisto laughs weakly, leaning against the table as he slouches further. "Mm, same old," he mumbles. One arm splays across the table, and he rests his cheek against it, regarding Ren from this sideways angle. "Just finding a rut, making it nice and cozy. You?"

Serendipity grins. "Same's usual," he replies, "shootin' peas into the ruts." He lifts his brows playfully, and pops a cherry into his mouth. "...so," he continues, after finishing it, "what's your rut look like?"

Kalisto quirks a brow, his expression going wry and a touch chiding. Too lazy to be terribly condemning. "It's got a clueless older man who's already with someone a billion times hotter than I'll ever be, but on the plus side, I think this clear mountain air is good for the skin."

Serendipity waves a chunk of apple dismissively. "You're just as hot as he is," he asserts matter-of-factly. "...sometimes hotter. =That's= not a problem. 's just too bad you wanna be his one an' only. Although if he was datin' both of you, I'd hafta kill him, y'know." Grin. "...an' your skin looks clear as rain."

Kalisto snorts and says, "I never said anything about being his one and only. I mean... well, yeah. I don't want to just be someone to fuck because I'm willing." Ruefully, he adds, "I'm not that desperate. Yet." Another sigh. The mercurial mood swings again. "Thanks, I think."

"There =is= a whole lot in between," Ren replies somewhat dryly. "I mean, it's not like the only two choices are convenient sextoy or true love always or anything." He shrugs. "'f you =don't= care if he sees Miki as well as you, not that big a problem there all, I'd 'spect."

Kalisto shakes his head, curls splaying, as he drawls, "I'm young but I'm not stupid, and I've been around the block a few times. Some people are made to be adored. Others are made to be used, chewed up, and spat out. The trick is knowing where you stand."

Serendipity shrugs. "I'm not made t' be either particularly often. How d'you propose one determines where he stands?" he inquires, and distractedly reaches out to brush one of those curls back down into place before going back to his fruit salad.

Kalisto smiles vaguely at the curl-taming, sleepy eyes fixing on Ren with a spark of warmth. "I guess you just pay attention to where you're at," he replies. "How people treat you. Where life takes you. Maybe it's not clear cut for everyone, but some people? Some people are golden boys. Some people are whores. Doesn't matter what they do, it's just what they are."

Serendipity halfsmiles crookedly. "Don't think anyone's ever called me a golden boy," he remarks wryly, making short work of most of the cantaloupe still in his bowl. "The way people treat you, though, that changes. 's different when what they think you are gets closer t' what you actually are."

Kalisto shrugs, uncoiling from his awkward position to reach over for Ren's bowl to pluck up a bit of melon. "That's the thing. You can either become what they think you are, or you can be who you are and to hell with them, but you can't be trash and think anyone's going to see gold."

Serendipity pushes the bowl to let it sit about equally between the pair of them, and taes a few berries for himself. "I've always gone for the bein' me and hell with them option, pers'nally. An' I dunno... I've known some people who were damn near trash, an' plennya people thought the sun rose an' set on 'em."

Kalisto points out, "Yeah, but you're not like most people." He steals a berry, popping it in his mouth, and then he drags himself to his feet lazily. "If you'd been calling the shots, instead of a bunch of doctors and teachers, and parents, and... anyway. Maybe I would've been a little less fucked up. You're nice."

Serendipity grins boyishly, running a hand though his hair. "You're not bad yourself," he replies, and looks up at the suddenly taller Kal. "So you wanna go combust some flour?"

Kalisto nods quickly, curls bouncing with an incongruent innocence. "Yeah, I found an old compost heap at the abandoned Faulkner place. It's already smoldering." He leans down to give Ren an annoyingly chaste kiss atop his head, then bounds over to where the bag of flour is. "Let's go see if we can make it blow up."

The grin widens. "Cool," Ren opines, and gets to his feet, disappearing very briefly into the kitchen and coming out with another of the cantaloupes tucked under one arm. "'f y'ask me, hasn't been nearly enough stuff 'round here exploding lately."