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Yeong had wanted to go for a walk, when didn’t he? He didn’t think the Jindo dog cared if it was cold, with snow on the ground, or not but Seung did. He was bundled up with a scarf, knit turtleneck sweater, tight jeans and boots meant to handle the snow and keep his feet warm. As he was tugged through the snow, as soon as they past the gates into the park, he called out for Yeong to stop and was grateful for the dog lessons and how well Jindo were when it came to training. The pulling stopped and he was stared at by the dog. Shaking his head he smiled. “Very good.” He had worked on giving orders in English and Korean for Yeong, which was good since Terry didn’t know Korean and couldn’t give orders in the language.

It had taken extra work but it was worth it, it really was. “Let’s go...get you walked and back home then.” Since it was still snowing, as the duo walked toward a large open field, Seung had slipped little booties onto the dog's feet to make walking easier and so he didn’t freeze. He didn’t have a long coat like some breeds, like Huskies or Akita.

As they got closer to the field, he had a feeling Yeong would like it more once winter was over, he spied some people building in the snow. A snowman already completed and other things being built...it was lovely. Finding a bench near to there, with a perfect view, he sat himself down and pulled Yeong up to sit at his side. “You know, they have snow festivals back home…” He whispered to the dog, as if Yeong would understand him, and perhaps even answer back. It was another thing they didn’t have here, at least not that he knew of, but it was most certainly something he missed.

“Maybe will get lucky and can go back home for winter games soon...can go to a snow festival with Terry.” He’d like to bring him back to Korea again, the other had enjoyed it the last time. Bringing Yeong though would be nice...maybe a bit more of a family feeling?



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Quinn didn’t really want to go out, he had work to do but keeping a cat that was equivalent to a medium size dog cooped up inside was suicide. At least when it came to getting work done. His cat was curious and rambunctious and after being inside for the last few days a run outside was necessary so here he was. Quinn was bundled up against the cold, the bright yellow leash wrapped around his gloved fingers as his savannah cat wandered ahead, her bright pink sweater standing out against the snow. She wasn’t a big fan of the cold so they wouldn’t be out for too long but the sweater would help out with keeping the large cat warm.

It didn’t take long at all to make it to a park and apparently there were a lot of other people who were out and about enjoying the weather. A ton of people were making snowmen, or sculptures, a surprisingly lively snowball fight, and even people just strolling hand in hand down the mostly cleared paths. And of course as soon as they got to the park Isis, his cat, wanted to go play. With a smile he let the leash out some so she could go wandering, as long as she didn’t take off on a wild jant he was content to just let her explore. While his cat was frolicling in the snow Quinn was studying the snow sculptures. It was fascinating to see what people were coming up with.

Quinn really should never have given his cat free range of the retractable leash while paying attention to something else since the cat in question had promptly started to wander. Quickly finding something to study, a dog. A fluffy dog. She meowed plaintively when she hit the end of the leash just a few lengths from the puppy. Awwww she wanted to play with the dog!



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The dog however was more curious and cautious then anything. Yeong had been sitting there on the bench with Seung, he really was well behaved, when a cat made it’s way toward the two. That was the odd thing...a cat approaching and one so big. It had gotten Seung’s attention, he’d been gazing down at his phone till Yeong jumped off the bench with a small bark.

His attention off his phone now and on the cat he took a moment to look it over, it was familiar. The large cat was eyed up before he followed the leash to the owner and then he smiled. “Quinn!” Calling out as he shifted, Yeong now deciding it was time to make his way toward the large cat, cautious as ever, the jindo dog was glad for his owner standing up as he got more leash now and could move as well. Stretching his legs out, and shaking himself free of some of the snow laying atop his fur, Yeong closed the distance between himself and the cat and took to sniffing at it.


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Quinn looked up when someone called his name, it didn't take long to spot his cat who apparently had tangled her leash around a light pole before making her way over to Seung. That would explain why he didn't feel her tugging at it any more. With a smile of amusement he waved at Seung before starting to figure out just what Isis had done to inadvertently tie herself to the pole.

Isis in the meantime returned the curiosity of the dog with a few sniffs of her own. She cautiously batted at Yeong before bouncing a bit in place, her paws kicking up snow. Her movements became more active when her leash loosened as Quinn finally got everything untangled.

He made his way over to his cat, retracting the leash as he went. “Hey Seung. What's going on?”



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With the cat having more room to move, and yeong having more room as well, the jindo dog had decided to take advantage of it and pounce the snow covered ground. He wanted to play and he didn’t seem to care that the animal in front of him was a cat, even though Isis was very large, he was used to playing with Ace at home.

Watching as Quinn made his way over he motioned the other to sit and join him, as he was moving back to his seat intending to do that himself. “Not bad...walking Yeong. Wanted to get him out - more snow tonight they said.” The tv had said more snow, and there had been other disturbing reports of people suddenly being snowed into odd places, including their cars.

“Isn’t all normal…” He whispered to the other, wondering if he’d heard or noticed as well. He didn’t know what it was but that snow and the bunnies, Terry had been bitten by one, it didn’t add up. “Terry got bitten by a rabbit...is better now but had to take care of him.” He’d spent the better part of two days curled up under a pile of blankets with the other in order to help keep him warm, via body heat. “Like Halloween...not normal but more is off…” And he’d been telling his younger cousin, since he could talk to her again, about things he heard and making sure she would be cautious. He didn’t want her getting hurt or anything, he’d been playing overprotective elder cousin to her.



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Quinn settled on the bench next to Seung keeping a close eye on the antics of his cat. The one thing he didn’t want was the two leashes getting tangled or worse one of the creatures getting tangled by the leashes. He had heard about the snow, it was one of the reasons he was letting Isis run a bit wild today, he wanted her to get as much of her energy out now so tomorrow wouldn’t be so bad. He had a moment of wishfulness for one of those energy draining crystals from nearly a year ago, it was hard to believe it was nearly a year now, as he watched his cat bound all around kicking up snow as she went. Quinn quickly squashed that desire. No one had the right to steal someone else’s vitality. No one! Even if it would have made his life easier.

“You have no idea.” Quinn muttered as he remembered those damn poinsettias. If only he had actually been able to beg off of going to that damn shindig he never would have ended up in that fight. It was kinda humiliating to get your a** handed to you by animated plants, even if you won out in the end. Seriously, it had been so messed up- Quinn’s trian of thought was derailed by Seung’s comment regarding Terry and what attacked the other knight. “A rabbit? A bunny? One of the fluffy things Isis chases when she sees them? Those kind of rabbits?”

He knew about the freak snowstorms, it was kinda hard to miss them when it was all over the town. Most just shrugged it off as a freak accident. Excess water in pipes or some other natural-ish sounding crap, Quinn knew better. It was the Chaos that was the city. But rabbits attacking people and making them sick. That he hadn’t heard of. First Halloween, Quinn hadn’t been affected but again it had been all over the local news and the city grapevine was gossiping a storm, it had been kind of hard to miss, now this. It was as if the very fabric of the city was unraveling. “Seung. Just what the hell is going on?”



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As Yeong continued to play, and bounce about in the snow, with the cat Seung was able to focus on Quinn. Every few moments he’d glance over, checking Yeong’s leash but otherwise he didn’t worry. Yeong wasn’t bothered by cats and wasn’t an aggressive dog, he had grown up with a cat and it wasn’t even a normal sized cat but a munchkin.

“No...all white...they bite people and people get cold - very cold...can’t warm up.” He answered the other as best he could and shook his head. “Tiny bunnies. News says they like people but then bite and run off right after. Fast also, saw people on campus trying to catch them and could not. Not normal bunnies...too many and all the same.” It was creepy really. All the white little bunnies that were around the city and knowing any of them could do to other people what they'd done to Terry.

“Terry was two days under pile of blankets freezing, even with them. Made it hard to sleep for him...warm food, soup, nothing helped.” He’d spent the nights, and days, sweating horribly but he wouldn’t go back and change it. He had tried to help the other warm up, via body heat, and it had hurt knowing he couldn’t help in warming the other up. Feeling what he felt, even in part, had only hurt more but at least he was there and that had helped in some sort of emotional manner.

“Keep away from rabbits...and keep Isis from them...news says they affect pets too.” He had been watching Yeong and making sure no rabbits decided to get friendly with his dog. There was no way he was dealing with it all over again, and he couldn’t picture Yeong suffering as Terry had.

“Don’t know...but not good...don’t like it. Halloween and this now...what next - New Years? Seollal?....Valentine's day?” That last word was foreign to him - it wasn’t what he was used to calling it..but he knew that’s what it was called here so managed the word, even if it came out sounding butchered.



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He must have missed the bit about the rabbits on the news, not that he really payed attention to it when it was on. Hell he heard about the snow mostly from coworkers. They gossiped like a bunch of magpies in the break room. They didn't even notice he was there, granted he took pains to be someone they wouldn't see. He didn't want to be bothered. He had too much to do to be bothered with company gossip, especially since he was only there for a few weeks, three months max.

“Damn. He ok now?” It sucked to hear that Terry had been a victim of the ‘rabbits’ but Quinn had to forcibly squish the dirty joke that rose in his head by biting his tongue. It was so tempting to crack a joke, something like ‘you sure you tried everything’ or ‘I bet I could think of something’ but he kept them to himself. Quinn was trying to be better than he was. He was trying not to be such an a**. Even if it meant suppressing every natural instinct he had.

“And I will. I try to keep her away from any ‘wild’ animals but it's not exactly like I can train her like your dog.” He smiled, nodding his head towards the pair where Isis even then was jumping over Yeong as only a savannah cat could, the leash trailing behind like a kite string. Any amusement he had in watching the animals quickly faded as their topic turned back to the strange goings on of the city. “I don't...Seollal?” He had been about to say that he didn't know. It wasn't possible to really predict these kinds of things, was it? But rather than finish his thought he got distracted by ‘holiday’ Seung mentioned. It made sense it was a holiday since the other knight mentioned it with other ones.



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Nodding his head to the others question. “Yeah...wouldn’t beo ut if wasn’t. Been helping to keep him warm - body heat.” While sweating himself. But it seemed to help, even if the help was more of the emotional and mental sort. “Around two days of cold - took off work and school to help.” And neither was something he’d normally do, he was the sort to push himself to the edge and then fall right over it at times. Quinn knew it, though he doubted the other knew just how much he’d push himself. Quinn had more of a clue than most did.

“Rabbits might approach her - social things.” He said shrugging. Did they come up to people with the intention of biting them? Were they not so...kind, not like how they appeared to be. Social rabbits with the intent of biting and hurt ing - how nice. “Maybe trying to bite people by coming close.” If that was the case they had more thought, at least he thought so, than most rabbits. But what could be behind it?

“Oh! Lunar New Year...is late January this year...also everyone's birthday.” He added the last part after a moment, it had been a bit interesting when explaining it to Terry...so had telling him that everyone was born a year old already. The age thing in Korea was very odd, and interesting when explaining to people. It also made him a year younger here than he was back home.



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Oh the jokes he wanted to make. Seung was just setting them up and didn't even realize it which made it that more tempting crack a few but Quinn kept himself in check by biting his lip. He couldn't look at the younger man or he might slip, instead he deliberately watched their pets noticing the way Isis was starting to move slower shaking her paws free of snow more often. Unlike Yeong, Isis didn't have booties on. She couldn't stand things on her paws. “Well I'm glad he is doing better,” he murmured right before whistling softly. “Isis, come here kitten.” Patting his leg to get his cat to come over. She likely needed to warm up a bit.

As the cat came up and snuggled into his lap, as much as she could at least, Quinn nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. I try to keep her from strange animals as it is but not always successful.” He absently scratched behind the big cat’s ears. “Ah. I've heard of the lunar New Years. Everyone's birthday? What? Everyone in your country gives birth on the same day?” He smiled at him, showing that he was just teasing even thought he was rather confused with that comment.



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He wasn’t trying to set himself up but he did know how some of what he said could be taken. He also knew what would surely be said, and he wouldn’t have been upset about it, if he were to mention a lot of the time spent under the piles of blankets was spent stripped down to little to no clothing. He hadn’t wanted to overheat though….that had been hard to avoid at some points - impossible really.

“Same here, didn’t like that he was unwell.” Who would be happy to have a loved one, especially their partner, sick? He was very glad the other was feeling better, though the time spent together was good for them both - bonding.

Watching as Yeong came trotting over to his side he reached out to pet him, scratching behind his ears gently. “No.” Shaking his head he smiled. “No...when born you are a year old. Also everyone ages on the Lunar New Year. Hard to explain but everyone born a year old because of time before birth.” The time they were still inside their mother, no matter that it was only nine months and not twelve. “Lost a year in age when came here.” He added in.



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Quinn sat there in confusion trying to wrap his mind around the concept of being born a year old. He could in theory using that for animals who actually gestated for 12 months but it didn't make sense for the 9 months humans gestated. He opened his mouth a few times to ask questions only to shut it again as he failed to produce one. ‘The hell?’ isn't exactly a question or at least a coherent one.

“Well that sucks.” It was all he could really think. Nothing else really made any sense. To be considered one age only to come to a new one and find that you are seen as younger then you are, or at least as you feel. The older you get the better that would likely be but a year difference was a big deal when you were early 20s. “Does that mean you can't drink? Even though you do?” What did that mean for his classes? His driver's license? All of it. God, the shear paperwork headache would be enough to make a normal person just headdesk.



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“Can drink...have to be 20 in Korea. I’m 24 back home, 23 here. Can drive and do anything else. Only thing impacted is mandatory military service, though it may not be mandatory soon - is big discussion going on about it.” Trailing off a bit he shook his head.

“Is still hard to think about at times - to remember difference.” It would, of course, be natural for him to give his proper age the one he’d always gone by. But he had to remind himself he was younger now, and he came from a culture where age defined a lot of things - it set the mood for conversations in a way. Older was always over younger, they were confusion in that regard and his age change here did change things for him a bit.

“Still South Korean citizen with papers to go to school here. Not sure how dual citizenship would go...or passport.” With conflicting ages, though his date of birth was the same. He also wasn’t sure how to go about the paperwork for dual citizenship or what would allow it and qualify him for it. He was here on a visa for school, as was his younger cousin. His parents were on them for work, though he knew they were working for the duel citizenship or at least they had been.

Turning his gaze on Yeong, watching the puppy jump up onto the bench and curl at his side, one hand reached out to pet the jindo dog.



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“Well that's good at least. Only thing you're missing is being able to rent a car and you can't do that till you're 25 anyway. Besides it's over rated.” Quinn joked as he continued to cuddle with his cat. The way she was balled up likely meant she was either cold or was taking a nap… or both. He kept his mouth shut about the military thing. Drafts in general tended to be a sore subject with many people and he had no idea what kind of hole he would be digging if he spoke out regarding it. Personally he hated the idea. What was the point of fighting for your country if you didn't really want to be there? It was kinda defeating the purpose. Drafting resulted in desertions, lying, jail, and maiming. None are good things, not when it came to being a soldier.

“Yeah I can imagine. I know it always takes a bit to get use to the metric system whenever we go overseas so I can only imagine what it's like to have to mentally correct your age. As for the federal paperwork, they would likely want your western age since that is what America goes by. The day you were born that is.” Quinn smiled over at his companion before looking down at his pet and sighing. “I’m going to have to head out shortly. Isis is cold and I really don’t want her getting sick.” He gently poked the cat who just tucked herself in tighter. “It actually looks like I might have to carry her back at this point.” It wouldn’t be the first time he ended up lugging the big cat around but it sure wouldn’t be a easy trip, not if she used her claws.



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The military thing had come up, as it had to, with Terry. It would be nearly nearly two years, maybe more, spent back in Korea and he couldn’t really escape it. Well...he could but that would not look good, and he didn’t like the idea of it either. He hadn’t pushed any which way on how Terry should handle it but the other had mentioned living there when it came up, to be close. The fact Quinn didn’t point that out, when he mentioned the mandatory service, pleased him since it was one big mess to explain. The whole thing with North Korea was a big thing really.

“Was not easy to get used to here. Still have to, at times, convert things on phone app.” It had been terrible in the beginning when he’d tried shopping for clothing. He’d had to use his phone for everything in order to figure out clothing sizes. “Was harder at the beginning when people would ask, at school or elsewhere. Job wasn’t so bad.” Since they were from Korea as well and understood when he gave his age. They had asked if it was his Korean age and went with it and made the needed change on his papers.

Looking from Quinn to the cat, Isis, he nodded his head and stood slowly. “Should be going also.” As he spoke up Yeong seemed to realize they’d be going also. Though the dogs attention was on the group of people, not far off, having a snowball fight while a few members of the large group were trying to rein their friends in so they could work on a snowman build.

“Keep warm and safe...don’t like how this feels...like Halloween - isn’t normal.” A small smile and a nod of his head before he was turning, giving a gentle tug to Yeong’s leash, so they could leave and head home.