"There's a lake not far from here," Rose said as she snuggled closer to him. "Maybe a fifteen minute walk, if you want to go down." She knew where it was by heart, having visited every summer since she was a child.

"Sounds good to me." Damien grinned briefly. "For swimming or just to go walk around and get away from the madhouse?"

"Can't swim in the lake," Rose replied. "I don't remember why, but there's no swimming or fishing. I think it's a reservoir of some sort. But there's a community pool that my grandmother has passes for that we can use, if you want to go swimming." She grinned. "I'll warn you, though, the pool is always pretty cold."

Damien snorted. "That doesn't bother me. But we'll go check out the lake first." Being out in the open again was making him more eager than normal to go out and explore and run around.

Rose grinned and gave him a small kiss.

"Then that's what we'll do," she said. Reluctantly, she got up and grabbed some clothes out of her bag. "I need to shower before the hot water is gone, if it isn't already. With this many people here, it's best to shower really early or really late to make sure there's hot water."

Damien nodded. "Go ahead. I'll wait here." He had to get dressed still anyway, but he figured he could spend some time sniffing around. And maybe that night he could shift and run around for a little while.

"Alright," Rose replied. She gave him one more kiss and then turned to go into the house proper. She needed to shower and get ready for the day.

Once she was clean and dressed, she went to put her other things back into her bag. That, and she wanted to see what Damien was up to.

Damien was out walking around the grounds, getting his bearings for later and taking in some of what he could smell. He'd already caught the scent of three different rabbits, which were too small to properly hunt but fun to scare.

Rose watched in amusement as he scared off another rabbit.

"Feel free to continue," she said, albeit a little teasingly. "My grandmother can't seem to keep the rabbits and deer out of her garden, or the squirrels away from the bird feeders."

Damien grinned briefly. "I can help her with that." And not just by hunting down a few things. The scent of large cat would linger for a while, making the prey creatures wary of getting too close.

Rose grinned.

"I'll bet," she replied. She gave him a kiss. "Just don't get caught when you go out for a run." Because she knew he would. She could see he was getting a bit twitchy and restless. "How close is the next moon, anyways?"

"Four days." Damien shrugged. "I can always go elsewhere. But it's been a while since I've been out in the country like this. I got too used to the city." He looked at her and grinned.

"Ever thought about moving to the middle of nowhere?"

"I wouldn't do well in the middle of nowhere," Rose replied, grinning back a bit. "I'm still kind of attached to things like paved sidewalks and power lines."

Damien laughed quietly. "Alright. Maybe somewhere in the middle, then."

"Suburbs wouldn't be too bad," Rose agreed. "Maybe near a wooded park." She blushed a bit when she realized what they were talking about. She hadn't considered moving in with him before.

Damien smiled slowly. He'd been talking (mostly) hypothetically to see how she'd react. He definitely liked this reaction.

"True," he agreed, still watching her. "But somewhere we can both get work."

"That isn't such a big problem for me," Rose replied carefully, now aware of what they were really discussing. "Anywhere with a museum or library will take my degree, and I have working experience. I could even work in a school, if I had to."

Damien nodded. "True. We have time to think about it more." He could see she was getting a little wary of the conversation. "Besides, it's not a concern just yet."

"Alright," Rose replied. She hesitated for a moment. She almost wanted to say that she wouldn't mind moving in with him, if he wanted her to, but she wasn't sure if that was the right move for them yet. It wasn't that she didn't trust him; on the contrary, she trusted him implicitly. But she wasn't sure if living together was quite right yet.

Damien looked at her and smiled. "Come on. Lead the way to the pond so I can go terrorize some fish." He grinned playfully. It was still too soon for them to move in together. Besides, there were other things to think about first.

Like this wedding.

"Just don't eat any of them," Rose replied teasingly as she took his hand. "Come on, this way." She gestured down towards the gravel-and-oil road that passed for pavement in the community.

Damien followed her, keeping her hand in his. Life was good at the moment. He had small creatures to terrorize, a very good relationship, and he was out in the woods again, basically.

The day passed far too quickly, and the next day, everyone was rushing to get ready for the wedding. Lucky for Rose, she'd chosen something low-maintenance to wear, and it was easy enough for her to do her own hair. Regardless, even with her simple choices, she was still barely ready in time. She had to share the bathroom with fifteen other people, after all.

Damien was ready much earlier than Rose, since he just had to change and brush his hair back. Nothing fancy for him. Nice, but not fancy. He didn't usually approve of really fancy things. So he stood around with some of the other guys, watching them and waiting for Rose.

Sera, meanwhile, had half-dragged Taylor off to look around town. Hey, they were in a tourist trap of a town, there was bound to be something interesting to look at.

Once Rose was ready, she gestured for Damien to head out to the cars. In an effort to conserve gas, the family had opted to carpool to the wedding. And that meant cramming the Clan into a minivan and two compact cars. Rose just prayed the venue wasn't far.

Taylor let Sera drag him around. Hey, the weather was warm, the sights around the island were great, and Sera was happy. Life was great at the moment.