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Blarney was a child of the summer, and that could never be denied. He reveled in sunlight and enjoyed every little bit of the June-July-August glow that he could. Typically, he did not do well in the winter months; minus the holidays, he tended to get grumpy and tired when it got dark so early and the sun rose so late.

But there were bad guys about, and that meant Blarney had to head to work, even when it was cold, even when it was snowy. Even when it was very very snowy.

And anyway, Blarney had agreed to meet Ekstrom, and he wanted to get to know someone who knew Joy better than he did, and a promise was a promise, so there he was, tromping him way through the snow that had kicked up overnight. He wasn't going to wimp out on meeting a new Knight, especially one that was friends with Joy. Mason might want to stay cuddled up at home, wearing matching plaid pajamas with Mads and drinking hot cocoa, but...Blarney had responsibilities, so here Blarney was, cursing the linear progression of time and the existence of the seasons in the northern hemisphere.

Blarney's outfit, he decided, was also more meant for summer than winter. His boots appeared to be somewhat waterproof, but - only somewhat. His toes were going to fall off, probably, and then where would he be? The no-toed Knight? Then again - he'd complained to himself about sweaty palms during the summer, he thought to himself as he flexed his fingers, safe and warm in their leather gloves. Maybe he just had to take the good with the bad.

But maybe he should see if the rules of magic would let him put a freaking coat on next time--

So caught up in his mental complaining that he missed the exceptionally large snowdrift that had blown up in his path. He did not go through it, as he expected to - instead, he tripped fully over it, and it was much more - solid than he thought--

And much--louder than he thought?? In that he expected snow to be - not loud at all? Snow was supposed to be quiet??

Why was the snow bleating?

"What the--" Blarney scrambled to his feet, uneven as it was with the snowy terrain. Flashbacks of demon chickens swarmed his brain and he gripped his shillelagh tighter. "What--what are y--"

His words utterly failed him as a. sheep. bounded away from him, sounding every bit as offended and confused as Blarney himself was. Blarney stared, mouth opened in just - flabbergasted shock. If the chickens had been weird and frightening, the sheep were. Just--

Just--

"...What...the heck?" Blarney asked aloud, still staring after the sheep, which seemed to have poofed into another snowdrift. He wanted to go after it, give it a poke, see if it was still - corporeal?? Or if it had turned into a snowdrift??

"Why are there--sheep??"

"...No, I'm his klutzy cousin....Shlarney," Blarney said, the bllush in his cheeks having nothing whatsoever to do with the cold breeze or the snow still clinging to his clothes. He smiled, though, and shook his head at himself, then shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you," he said, "and I would owe you a big one if you would tell No One about this, 'cause...however graceful that felt, I'm sure it even more impressive to observe." Blarney chuckled and shook his head. "I met the bunnies already, but nobody told me there were sheep. I feel like - you remember those really old commercials for like, mattresses or something? Where the sheep are like, that one weird old animation style? That's what they remind me of." Blarney's eyes flicked over the - herd? - of sheep once more, squinting slightly.

He kind of wanted to pet one of them. He also kind of wanted to catch one and get revenge for so cruelly tripping him in front of People (Ekstrom, Joy's Friend, Oh God), but he put that aside in favor of trying to salvage his first impression.

"Nice to meet you in real life," he said, giving her a sheepish (haha) smile. "Thanks for coming out in the cold."

Blarney pouted overdramatically as she began to pet the sheep, and indeed encourage more of its little tripping-hazard friends to come closer...but when he reached down to cautiously pat at one, he realized why. They were awful soft. And maybe even with the wool they were cold...

"You would think that Mercury would be, like - not with the coats and stuff because it's so close to the sun," Blarney said absently, "but then again I guess you'd also think that people couldn't have Wonders on Jupiter since there's supposedly no solid ground, so..." Blarney shrugged and looked back at her. In truth, when he'd gone face over teakettle with the sheep, the actual reason for his being there had fallen out of his head - but he was just as glad that one of them remembered the point here.

"If you're still willing to share," he answered with a grin as two sheep jostled around his legs. "Guys, relax, really, there's enough of me to go around--I'm not gonna fall over you again, no matter how funny it was, I'm sorry--"