When Ren comes to visit Kal, Maddy Smith actually looks pleased to see Haven's token troublemaker. "He's in his room," she informs the kin, glancing up the stairs worriedly, keeping her tone low. "I don't know what's gotten into him, but he won't come down except to do his chores."

Serendipity arches a brow, looking somewhat more solemn than he started. "...huh. Good t'know," he remarks, and offers a cantaloupe. "Brought you a melon." He looks upward thoughtfully, as if he could see Kalisto through the ceiling, and starts up the stairs as soon as is polite.

Maddy takes the cantaloupe with a wry smile and says, "Thank you, young man. Go on up. Maybe he'll talk to you." She takes the melon to the kitchen, where a few more are laid out in a row, destined for a fruit salad.

Serendipity half-skips up the stairs, hands in his coat pockets, getting quieter as he reaches Kal's door. He pushes it open and leans around the doorframe on one leg, hanging on with both hands, curtain of dark hair hanging down. "...evenin', sunshine..."

Kalisto lays on his back on his bed, hands folded over his stomach. Shadow is curled up on the bed beside him, a little black fuzzy danish snoozing away. Kal seems to have been studying the intricacy of the ceiling overhead, but as Ren pushes open the door, he glances over dully. "Hey."

Serendipity flashes a quick grin at Kalisto and straightens up, coming inside and closing the door behind him. "'s wrong, hot stuff? Y'look like someone blew out yer light."

Kalisto gives Ren a half-hearted glower, then turns over on his side, turning his back on the kin, and he reaches over to scritch Shadow, who stretches and mews sleepily. "You know how you said something about how you'd go nuts if Justin got both me and Miki?"

"I said I'd hafta kill him," Ren corrects easily, "that's entirely sane. It just ain't right." He drops himself on the bed beside Kal and makes himself comfortable. "Why, should I be brushin' up on my cunnin' plans?"

Kalisto shakes his head morosely. "Nah, he gets to live." He doesn't look at Ren. Instead, he watches Shadow knead the bed's blanket with is little claws as scritching abounds. Even a purring kitten can't get a smile out of the apprentice.

Serendipity winces slightly, and reaches out to stroke Kal's arm soothingly. "Sorry t' hear it, beautiful. I mean, it saves me a lotta work, granted, but..." He's quiet a moment. "What happened? Is he insane an' blind?"

Kalisto twitches a little at the touch, but he doesn't push Ren away. Rather, he steels himself and refrains from responding at all. Shadow gets pet, and he continues to watch the kitten. "I kissed him," he mumbles. "He pushed me away. We walked home. Didn't speak a word the whole way."

Serendipity is quiet a few moments, and keeps the stroking up. There's nothing untoward about it. "...did he kiss back?"

Kalisto snorts, shaking his head as he asks, "Does it matter? Maybe he was just confused, or maybe he was trying to be nice, and then changed his mind? I don't want to talk about it."

Serendipity's hand moves up to smooth Kal's touseled curls, and he shrugs. "'course it matters. Bodies don't lie. An' we don't gotta talk about it, but you oughta talk to him. Just sayin'." He pauses, considering. "Meanwhile, we gotta cheer you up. Lemme see..."

Kalisto tilts his head away from the smoothing sullenly. Shadow mews and headbumps his hand as he temporarily fails to pet. This is quickly rectified. "I don't want to be cheered up," he says emptily. "I don't care. Let him be that way."

Serendipity leans over, which makes his hair fall across poor distraught Kal, but is the only way to try to look the other guy in the face, if upside down. "Y'do too. You need cheerin' up. Either go see him now an' either get cheered up that way or come back an' we'll try some other shit, or we c'n work on it now."

Kalisto's gaze shifts to Ren, and he looks somewhat guarded, but the usual fire of his spite is burning low today, leaving him listless. "I'm not going to go see him," he mumbles.

"You are," Ren corrects, quite gently, "...but you don't gotta go today, if you don't wanna. It can wait 'til tomorrow. 'cept the catch is you gotta at least try t' have fun."

Kalisto shakes his head and mumbles, "Nope. I'll help Maddy out around the place. I owe her that much. I don't -have- to learn magic, though, and I don't -have- to try to enjoy being here."

Serendipity puts a hand down on either side of Kal, caging him... sort of. "Wrong. T'morrow you're gonna talk to Justin. Today, we're gonna do some shit an' try to have fun."

Kalisto turns onto his back again so he can gaze up at Ren, looking irritated, if only vaguely so. "I don't want to," he says quietly, uncharacteristically earnest in his tone. "I don't have anything to say to him. I let him know how I felt. He made it clear how he feels. It's over. Just let it be."

"You still gotta learn how not t' blow things up," Ren points out, "so you gotta talk to him. Meanwhile? We could blow things up. Or mess with people. Or get shitfaced. Or all of the above. Helps not t' think about it. Trust me."

Kalisto searches Ren's face, studying him intently. The shift in focus doesn't do a thing to lessen the sorrow that composes his features. Anger might be an improvement over the look of helpless, listless depression. "I'll be okay," he replies. "I'm not okay -- I get that. But I will be."

Serendipity lifts one of his hands to brush curls from Kal's face, and leans forward to give him a soft, chaste little kiss on the forehead. "Yeah, you'll be okay. An' it'll suck for god knows how long, but less an' less. But are you sure you wanna spend the day moping insteada having fun?"

Kalisto shakes his head a little. As the kiss, his expression softens, and his eyes glitter with tears he doesn't shed. His voice is calm though. "I wouldn't have fun," he admits. "I'd only be pretending. Ren?"

"Mm?" Ren asks, looking decidedly sympathetic at the tears.

Kalisto is quiet a moment, breathing softly, his gaze eerily intent, with not enough blinking as he searches Ren's eyes, perhaps for an answer that has nothing at all to do with his question. "Does getting fucked hurt?"

Serendipity blinks once, and tilts his head a little, studying Kal's eyes in return. He starts to say something, then pauses, arching a brow slightly as the implication of the question vis a vis Kal's earlier claims sinks in. "...all honesty? First time, yeah, at first. Then it feels good. After that, just a tiny bit. 's a good hurt."

Kalisto nods solemnly, taking the words at their informational worth. "Okay," he replies. "Thank you." An awkward silence descends, in which Shadow sniffs at Ren's wrist, then takes a sample bite delicately.

Serendipity half-smiles, idly fingercombing Kal's curls. "Don't worry, 's worth it," he assures him, "An' y-" He breaks off with a squeak at the bite, startled into losing his balance. It's a good thing he's not particularly heavy.

Kalisto's lips twist in a bitter parody of a smile. "Thanks for rubbing it in." He glances over at the squeak, and he scoops Shadow up, giving him a stern look. "Be good," he scolds. Shadow, getting the attention he so richly deserves, starts purring and gets placed on Kal's chest, where he curls up, once more in the center of all things.

Serendipity rolls his eyes, and sits back up, rubbing his wrist absently. "'m not rubbin' anything in. Justin or no Justin, you're hot as hell. Sooner or later you're gonna find out."

Kalisto winces at the mention of the mage's name, and he glances away. Shadow grooms one of his paws primly, giving Ren a look through half-closed eyes. The purring is loud, and it seems to sooth Kal somewhat, as the youth gently scratches the kitten's ears and sighs softly. "Don't have to," he mumbles. "And I'm not hot. And even if I am, so what? So a bag of blood and bones is easy on the eyes. Doesn't mean there's anything beneath it."

Serendipity reaches over and tilts Kal's chin up with two fingers. "You are drop-dead gorgeous," he informs him quietly, "...and there's plenty beneath it, okay? You got talent. You got brains. You got guts."

Kalisto moves with the tilting, displaying an uncharacteristic lack of resistance. He meets Ren's gaze evenly, those blue-green eyes searching, vulnerable. "It was stupid," he says. His voice isn't bitter nor angry. He says it like a mild statement of fact. "I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have let it even get to that point. I don't know what I was thinking. I just... I don't know how not to feel bad right now, Ren."

Serendipity strokes Kal's cheek with a finger and shifts position, offering an arm. "C'mere," he invites. "It wasn't stupid. Nothin' ventured, nothin' gained. An' you're allowed to feel bad." He's quiet a moment. "But it's a hell of a way to spend a life."

Kalisto curls into the offered arm, causing Shadow to slip off his chest and meow a complaint before he nestles down between Kal and Ren, perhaps acting as a chastity kitten. Laying on his side, Kal studies Ren's face yet again, lightly touching his cheek. "Am I really beautiful?" he asks.

Serendipity smiles a little, not his usual grin. "Yes," he replies simply. After a moment he muses wonderingly, "...how can you not know that?"

Kalisto smiles weakly, glancing away. "I feel so ugly inside," he replies, almost apologetically.

"You're red an' white an' blood an' bones inside, just like the resta us," Ren half-teases gently. "What makes you feel that way? Ugly inside, I mean."

Kalisto's lips twitch at another smile, short lived. "Just..." He sighs, closing his eyes as he sidles closer. One arm comes to rest on Ren's hip thoughtlessly. "I've always felt like there's something wrong with me."

Serendipity leans his head idly against Kal's. "Hair outta place? Hangnail?" He grins a little. "Kal, there's nothin' wrong with you. An' I don't just mean outside. What kinda thing feels wrong?"

Kalisto tilts his head to rest in turn against Ren's. Shadow complains, stretching pointedly, as though his tiny self will keep the young men separated. Or more likely he's convinced he's not getting enough attention. "Feel broken," Kal murmurs. "Like when they put me in the hospital. I did a bad thing. It was really, really bad, and they put me away."

"How bad? What'd you do?" Ren asks gently.

Kalisto utters a mirthless laugh as he hides his face against Ren's shoulder and says, "I set someone on fire. Not with magic. This was before the magic. I just... he had been making fun of me, at school. He wouldn't leave me alone, and one day I just snapped and emptied a bunch of lighter fluid on him and lit him up." He swallows a lump in his throat before continuing, quieter, "He was okay. After some skin grafts, you couldn't even tell. But they put me in the hospital."

Serendipity whistles low. "That's pretty fucked up, yeah," he grants. "But would you do it again? Are you glad you did it?"

Kalisto shakes his head, a shiver coursing through him as he whispers, "I'm so sorry. It was just the last straw. I couldn't take it, that place was so evil, and he was just the poor bastard who pushed me further than I could take it."

Serendipity tightens his arm around Kal just a little, in a squeeze. "You're not broken. Everyone's got a point where they lose it. An' everyone does things they're not proud of, later. 's okay. You're fine."

"But they put me in the hospital," Kalisto persists, stubborn in the telling of whatever it is he seems to feel the need to confess. This doesn't mean he resists the contact at all. "They put me there, and I kept flipping out. They had to put me on drugs. They used to have to dose me with morphine and put me in a quiet room because I kept making the lights explode."

"Which was the magic," Ren points out. "I mean, I've met plennya crazy people, an' the light fixtures're usually safe from 'em." He curls in more comfortably, picking up Shadow and setting the kitten atop Kal's hip.

Shadow mews a complaint, but he gets settled in, curling up on Kal's hip in a little black danish, his blue eyes peering at Ren over the curl of his tail. Kal shifts a little, careful not to displace the kitten as he gets a little more comfortable. "They used to say things when they thought I was knocked out," he says dully. "Like how they were going to get me alone and make it so they'd never get caught. Every time they dosed me, I was so afraid I wouldn't wake up."

Serendipity pets the curls gently. "They ever act on it?" he asks. "...glad you always woke up..." He tilts his head to touch foreheads very softly.

Kalisto closes his eyes, resting his forehead against Ren's lightly. "I don't know," he admits shakily. "Not in any way that would've left a mark. I mean I never woke up feeling like... There were cameras all over, see. They had me in a maximum security lockdown, so it would've been hard to not get caught."

Serendipity nods his head just a touch. "'s good. Prolly means it's all okay. We ever meet up in that area, though, point out the fuckers who need an attitude adjustment..."

Kalisto shakes his head and says quickly, "Just let it go. It's not worth it." His eyes drift open, and he studies Ren further. "I'm telling you this for a reason. I'm telling you these things so you'll understand. I've never felt safe, except when he was holding me."

Serendipity doesn't say anything at first, watching Kalisto's eyes. The kin's expression is uncharacteristically subdued and serious; it actually makes it all the way to the back of his eyes. "...yeah," he murmurs eventually, "I understand."

Kalisto smiles a little, and though the expression is slight, the gratitude there is quite real. He touches Ren's cheek lightly as he says, "I thought maybe you might. I... when I was in the hospital, I had to have these sessions with a doctor where he would talk to me about why I did things. Sometimes I think about it, and then, like just now, I have this weird feeling of clarity. Like I know suddenly, even though I'll forget again. I fucked it up with Justin because that's how it has to be. I can't feel safe. If I feel safe, then... I don't know. It's like it can't be real."

"'s easier," Ren replies, "...goin' with whatcha know. An' you can't fuck up what you haven't got, yeah? Better t' try an' get it outta the way before you act'ly get used to it." He half-smiles.

Kalisto nods solemnly. "Exactly." Then he sighs, nestling closer. "So I'll be okay, but I just need some time. I've built up this thing that I am, and when it starts to slip, I just need some time to put myself back together." He hesitates, then confesses, "I've told a lot of people a lot of things. It gets to where I forget who I'm trying to be."

Serendipity sighs himself, and gives Kal a little squeeze. "I say, be yourself. Easier t' remember shit when it's true. Keep it simple." He's quiet a moment himself before adding, "...'s not like you always hafta be =alla= yourself."

Kalisto points out, "The problem is I don't even know myself. That's just it. All I got are the stories. Like I'm this big party boy, or I'm not depending on who I want to know what. All I am are these little lies and stories. Strip all that away, and I don't know what's there."

"Whole world's stories. Just, some of 'em are truer than others." Ren smiles a little more evenly, if faintly, and touches the tip of his nose lightly yo Kal's. "So why don'tcha figure out yours?"

Kalisto smiles awkwardly, then leans in to press a soft, tentatively chaste kiss to Ren's lips. "You think I'm not trying?" he whispers.

Serendipity returns the kiss in kind -- still soft and chaste, if rather less tentative. "'m glad you are," he whispers back. "Let me know if I c'n help somehow. ...so tell me, Kalisto. Who are you, d'y'think so far?"

Kalisto relaxes some, his head upon his pillow, and he smiles a little, sadly. "My name isn't even Kalisto," he confides. "It's Phoebe."

Serendipity grins just a little. "Phoebe," he echoes, with only the slightest hint of amusement. "'s a nice name. But I see why you changed it. Useta know a guy called Phoebus, once..." He drops his eyes, half-smiles again, and seems about to speack, but doesn't say anything more.

Kalisto sighs, bristling only a little at the amusement. Mostly, he seems resigned. "My mom and dad thought it was edgy to give their son a girl's name," he grumbles. "They didn't give it a second thought, but you do you think got beat up in boarding school? It sure as hell wasn't them."

Serendipity brushes a curl or two back again, and grins. "Yeah, parents can suck that way. Good thing names aren't permanent, yeah?" After a second, he admits, "My middle name's Francis. Never liked it. So I never use it."

Kalisto considers this for a moment, chewing thoughtfully at his lower lip. "Francis isn't too bad," he decides. "It means free, and that seems to fit you well enough, right?"

Serendipity arches a brow. "Yeah?" he asks, considering it. "Was told it meant somethin' about bein' French. Which doesn't even exist anymore. Free I don't mind."

Kalisto explains patiently, "The Franks were a collection of barbarian tribes from Gaul who resisted the Romans. They were also partly responsible for the birth of feudalism in continental Europe. Clovis, King of the Franks was the monarch who pretty much put France on the map for as long as it lasted. Anyway, their name comes from the same root as the word for freedom." He pauses, then adds with some embarrassment, "I read that somewhere."

Serendipity grins at the explanation, and steals another small, chaste kiss. "You know all this shit. That's so cool," he murmurs. "'s not so bad then, I guess. Freedom's... just 'bout everything, I figure."

Kalisto sighs, as though this particular coolness was a horrible burden. "I read a lot," he confesses shamefully, ducking his head. "I can't help it. It was kind of okay in high school because I hooked up with the pseudo-intellectuals who were into some kinds of philosophy and stuff, but even so, I read too much."

Serendipity ffts. "Eh, no such thing. I mean, 'less you're spending all your time with your nose in a book an' not actually =living= t all, but you're not, y'know? You do other stuff too. 'mazing thing t' me is how you remember it all."

Kalisto shrugs helplessly. "I just do," he apologizes. This confession of intellect truly seems to make him miserable. "Some of it is stuff I remember like I lived it, some of it's from books."

Serendipity touches Kal's cheek again. "How come you make it sound like a bad thing?" he asks.

Kalisto complains, in a short-lived burst of his usual bitchy self, "Because no one likes the smart kid. If you're smart and you show it, they play tricks on you, and beat you up, and ostracize you. The worst part is being smart enough to know they're not laughing with you."

Serendipity moves his hand away long enough to make a dismissive gesture to go with the sound, then lets it rest lightly against Kal's chest. "Fuck kids," he tells the young mage, "...not literally, obviously. But fuck 'em. You're not a kid anymore; who gives a shit what they want you t' be? 'less you're usin' it to make people look an' feel bad, they c'n shove their insecurity right up their tight li'l asses."

Kalisto's cheeks color a bit, and he drops his gaze, but he laughs a little as he says, "I feel like a kid. Sometimes, I mean. I don't know. I thought was so grown up, and then I came here, and I feel so little."

Serendipity shrugs just a little. "Far's my people're concerned, you've prolly been an adult four, five years now. 's not like you stop growin' up after, though. Sometimes it seems like the less mature y'feel the better you're doin', but I dunno."

Kalisto points out, "Well according to my people, I won't be an adult for a few more months yet. But it's stupid and arbitrary. He made me feel like a little kid, and then he made me feel like maybe I could be a man. Now I feel like a stupid kid again."

Serendipity curls in a touch closer, and half closes his eyes. "What were the things that made you feel like maybe you could be a man?"

Kalisto shakes his head, blushing a little more as he mumbles, "Nothing. It's stupid. Just... he said he wanted to be my friend, that maybe we could be peers. I thought maybe he was seeing me as something more than the kid he's stuck with. But the look on his face after I kissed him..." Kal's voice falters, and he curls up in a fetal ball of newly prodded misery.

Serendipity curls around Kal and tries to stroke his arm and back comfortingly. "'spect he meant it," he says, quietly, "'bout bein' friends, an' peers. My guess'd be, the kiss... he prolly just never 'spected it. He's not 'zactly the most perceptive guy around on that kind topic, y'know? 's why you guys oughta have a chat. At least make sure you've got the truth, yeah?" He kisses the boy on the forehead softly again, and closes his eyes.

Kalisto sniffles and curls in against Ren. Shadow mews a complaint and hops off Kal's hip to curl indignantly at the foot of the bed. "Oh come on," Kal retorts, his voice muffled against Ren's chest. "How can he not know? It's not like I've been particularly subtle."

Serendipity sighs. "Two ways," he replies wryly, "First off? Like I said, you gotta hit him over the head for him t' see it, like the kiss, or Rex practically pushin' him up against the wall, from what I hear. An' second...." He takes a breath. "A'ight. Say you gotta work with someone, you're practically responsible for 'em, yeah? Then say that someone's like half your age an' sexy as hell. Wouldn't you kinda... try =not= t' risk fuckin' it all up by maybe seein' an attraction t' you that isn't there, or maybe accidentally makin' him feel like it was parta the deal or somethin'? I'm not sayin' for sure that's parta it, but it makes sense t' me."

"Rex too?" Kalisto groans, drawing away and flopping dramatically onto his back, one arm draped over his eyes. "I can't compete with all these guys. Miki, Rex. No wonder he pushed me away. After those two, I must be like having a dog try to lick your face."

"Last I heard he turned Rex down," Ren comments. "...an' the only way you'd be like havin' a dog lick your face'd be if the lickee was canine too. Trust me, you c'n compete. I don't so much see the big draw t' start with, but baby, you aren't even near outclassed. If nothin' else, at least trust my judgements on human beauty, yeah?" He quirks a brow slightly.

Kalisto sighs, and he's quiet for a moment. Then, sullenly, he mumbles, "Yeah, but I'm not like Miki the little angel everyone loves. I should've just given up. But you know, it's better this way. Because like I said before, it's not a good idea to feel safe."

"'s nice, though," Ren counters softly. "Feelin' safe. An' sometimes it's better not t' do the easier thing. Better t' take the risk." A hand drifts up to his ear, fingers idling brushing along the earrings and cuff that line its rim. "Anyway, tell you a secret," he offers, then grins and stage whispers, "Angels are darkin' boring as fuck."

Kalisto grumbles, "Apparently Justin likes them." Then he sighs. "I'm sorry. I'm being... this is all still so fresh. It hurts. I can't just shrug it off and stop hurting."

Serendipity shrugs just the tiniest bit. "I know," he replies simply, and then, self-deprecatingly dry, "Think I haven't been turned down a couple thousand times? ...a few of those hurt."

Kalisto lifts his arm to glance at Ren, teary-eyed, but calmer. "You put yourself right out there," he replies. "I imagine you get turned down more than you get taken up, but at least you take the chance, I guess."

"Nothin' ventured, nothin' gained," Ren agrees, and grins fleetingly. "...nothin' ventured, nothin' lost, too, I guess, but that's not really living. Might's well be dead, then. Anyway..." He glances away from Kal for a moment, focusing on the kitten, "...only hurts when I wanted more'n being friends. So mosta the time, 'sokay."

Kalisto nods a little. He watches the kitten to who, now that he's the center of attention (finally!) deigns to merely sleep daintily, his chin propped on his paw. "For what it's worth," he says quietly, "I think you're hot. Even though I kind of like bigger guys, you got it goin' on. I'm just not sure... I've said a lot of stuff that isn't really true, and I'm just not sure I could handle casual. At least, you know, not at first."

Serendipity grins again -- the boyishly pleased one, this time, and it stays. "Thanks," he replies, sneaking a look back at Kal. "An' that's fair enough... though what's casual, t' you?"

Kalisto smiles a little, but looks away self-consciously. "I don't know," he says. "I mean I've kind of messed around a little with friends, and... um. It ended badly." He laughs. "I ended up here."

Serendipity laughs once. "Here's not so bad," he opines, "Not perfect, but there's worse fates'n Haven. An' we got a lot less in th' way of vampires." He watches Kal again for a few moments. "...this's prolly a bad time t' ask. Just... 'sokay if you don't wanna, yeah? C'n I kiss you?"

Kalisto bristles a little. There's no sense of anger about him, but suddenly he seems acutely aware of his proximity to Ren, and this doesn't seem like a comforting revelation. "Why?" he asks.

Serendipity actually looks kind of sheepish. "'cause you're sweet an' beautiful an' I like you an' I just really want to," he admits, with the tiniest of shrugs. "But I'm not gonna do anything you don't want me to. So, y'know. Asking. You c'n say no, y'know. I won't freak or anything."

Kalisto looks torn. Wary, but also terribly vulnerable. Puppies could take lessons on making sad eyes from the apprentice, the way he gazes at Ren. "I want to feel beautiful," he admits quietly.

Serendipity studies Kalisto silently for several moments, lightly stroking a few curls, then touches the youth's cheek lightly and says with unusual solemnity, "Outsida the fact that we're friends. Whether you ever let me kiss you or not. I've seen tensa thousands of people in my life. Maybe millions. And you are, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. Anywhere."

Kalisto's eyes widen at the words, and his breath catches. With all the walls torn down, the words affect him visibly and strongly. "You can kiss me," he decides. "If you want to."

Serendipity smiles, small and genuine, and leans in to accept the offer. It starts quite gently, slow and lingering as if not to risk wasting a moment of the opportunity by overdoing things, but any positive response lets it intensify.

Slow is good. Slow means Kal only twitches a little and tenses up, rather than pushing away and leaping out a window. "I just don't," he murmurs against Ren's lips, between a peppering of light kisses, "want to ruin our friendship."

"So don't," Ren teases in reply, stealing one of those light kisses himself, and then more seriously, "nothin' has to ruin a friendship but betrayal. Anything else y'can sort out." He steals another kiss, this one soft but lingering again, and then pulls slightly back to study Kalisto again. "...an' you should always feel beautiful. 'f you felt even half as beautiful as you are, you'd never ever doubt it."

Kalisto laughs nervously, averting his gaze. "I'd probably just be a more arrogant prick," he mumbles. Then, perhaps sensing that pillow talk isn't his forte, he makes with the kissing.

Serendipity laughs once himself. "I mean it," he replies simply, but lets it drop for the moment. There's kissing to be done.

Kalisto seems to know his way around kissing, at least. He sidles closer to Ren, curling a hand through his hair, and getting down to the business of the age-old art of the teenage makeout.

This meets with absolutely no resistance on Ren's part, unsurprisingly. He slips in a little closer himself, sliding his hand around to the small of Kal's back, but lets the mage set the limits on things and only tests them lightly; wouldn't want to spook him or anything.

Kalisto does seem highly spookable. He shivers every so slightly, and though he gets more intense with the kissing, he doesn't quite relax. When Maddy's voice comes from downstairs, "Boys? It's time for lunch," he bolts upright, looking panicked, like heavens forbid they should be caught. Shadow wakes up at Kal's reaction and stretches, topping off a massive yawn with a mew. After a few calming breaths, Kal looks back to Ren and asks awkwardly, "D-do you want to stay for lunch?"

Serendipity seems more startled by the panicked reaction than the call, and sits up decidedly more calmly, taking the kitten's example and stretching. Kal's question gets a grin. "I've had her cooking before," he comments, "...of course I do. Thanks." Standing, he offers Kal a wholly unneccesary hand up.

Kalisto clasps Ren's hand and takes the offer, regardless of its necessity. Once Kal's on his feet, Shadow gives a demanding little mew. He has Kal trained, and the mageling scoops the kitten up to tuck in the crook of his arm. "She's pretty good," Kal agrees, not quite so smooth with the small talk. "Um..." He smiles, tentative, but sincere. "Thank you for coming by. It means a lot."

Serendipity gives the kitten a scritch, and smiles back. "Anytime," he replies cheerfully, "...'s nice havin' people around t' hang out with who understand things like the beauty of compost explosions." He grins again, then, and opens the door, holding it for his host and the kitten to precede him down the stairs.

Kalisto laughs. It's a quiet thing, but hey, it's more than he was doing before. Maddy looks duly surprised to see him come downstairs, but her lack of faith didn't cause her to skimp on lunch. There is roasted chicken, with potatoes and carrots from the garden and cookies for afterward. Ren picked a good day to come by.