Meet his mom? Zaid’s ear shifted in an almost dog like expression of curiosity. Especially hearing that someone else had ears. He was assuming bunny ears based on the way Jude was talking about it. He was starting to feel Luke he had uncovered the secret underground of rabbit ear mutations, the alleged bunny burrow of New York. Okay, maybe that was a bit much. ”I haven’t talked to many people since I moved here. Well, other than work. It would be fun to see someone familiar with Japan. I miss it sometimes.” it was one of few places he could walk around with his ears exposed and no one would care.

As if to emphasize that point, someone yelled at them. While Jude tried his best to be mature about it, Zaid was...less controlled. He threw on his most flirtatious, dazzling smile, turned and waved at the guy with all the sass his bunny body could muster. The look on his face was absolutely worth it. There was the stunned expression he had come to recognize as “am I being hit on by a guy or a girl?”, then the terrified look that came with homophobia, and the man walked straight into a light pole. Mission accomplished.

Thankfully, the giant bear/dog he was walking maintained a steady walking pattern while he executed his “attack”. There was a little less terror on his face now and a little more confidence for tackling some pinhead on his own. Point for the bunny boy. Hold your fluffy ears high, you are walking with a cute guy and no one is going to interrupt your swan song!

The wave surprised him, not because it was dangerous or flirtatious. And as hilarious as it was, not because it caused a grown-ass man to walk into a big-ass pole. It was because for the first time since they'd met, he saw Zaid smile and look confident. Jude was sure if he'd had human ears, they would have turned red. Actually... did he have human ears? Checking that was a nice distraction from the saucy saunter walking ahead of him.

He also checked over his shoulder at the aftermath and couldn't help but snicker. The guy was dazed, but unharmed physically. He was getting a few catcalls of his own now and that was the sweet, sweet social justice that New York loved to dish up. You step up publically? You better be ready to defend your actions.

The park opened up around them, the treasured green space of New York City mostly brown from the cold winter, but somehow still a more quiet and natural place. He felt a little something inside of him relax and, if he had to guess, the dogs were a little less on edge as well.

"Where do you work?" He'd said it was just him so logically he had to work... unless he was a bajillionaire or something. That would also be interesting to know. Oh, but wait. Hadn't he said he didn't have a lot of cash for Jude's phone? "I work in security. Uh- just the administration side of things, actually. I just got a promotion, actually." It was new enough that he hadn't even told his adopted mom, and otherwise probably no one in New York gave a shit.

Zaid visibly relaxed when they entered the park. His nose twitched from time to time as new smells caught his attention, and his ears pivoted to take in the change of sounds. He looked much more... rabbit, in this scenario. While the city made him tense, the trees were calming. Maybe it was a side effect of his mutation. His mom always loved pointing out he was born in the year of the rabbit, and under the earth element, so being drawn to nature was natural.

”I work at a cafe nearby. It’s not the greatest but it pays okay. I spent a lot of time smelling like code though,” he remarked. He always assumed his scent at this point had a somewhat coffee undertone. People seemed to smell a little like their environment from his experience.

He smiled when Jude mentioned his promotion, ”That’s awesome, congrats!” his praise was genuine. He knew how it felt to finally feel Luke you were getting somewhere in life, or rather, he knew how HE would feel. ”Do you enjoy your job?”

"I don't know anyone that dislikes the smell of coffee." Even non-drinkers seemed to enjoy the smell. It was weirdly comforting. Like it was a part of their collective upbringing- everyone knew at least one person who drank coffee.

> ”Do you enjoy your job?”

"I guess so. It's my first real adult job, y'know? The first thing that I did from scratch all on my own and it's enough to pay my bills. It's basically playing secretary to a lot of scary dudes, but it's my freedom." It wasn't exactly inspiring, though as he moved more into a leadership role, perhaps he was going to get to choose what sort of jobs their band of mercenaries took. He could maybe even direct the chaos toward good assuming he could shoulder the same amount of respect that Michael had... that would be the hard part, really.

"It's not at all what I thought I'd be doing right now, y'know?"

Dammit gave his arm a tug and he was easily able to keep her on the path despite a passing squirrel. She really was a good dog. They both were. They just needed to get out all their extra energy.

"So. You have Christmas plans?"

>>”I don’t know anyone that dislikes the smell of coffee.”

”Imagine having to smell it all day long, and the intensity is magnified by like, ten.” he pointed to his nose to emphasize the point. ”Anything can give you a headache after awhile when your head is stuffed in a cocoon of smells.” He paused to let the dog sniff a tree, and a nearby squirrel gave them an apprehensive evaluation.

As he listened to the job description, Zaid blinked in surprise, ”You don’t look like the type for that line of work. I mean, you seem nice. Not that you couldn’t be tough, that is. Just—“ open mouth, insert foot! Zaid rubbed his neck awkwardly.

”I don’t know what I expected to be doing, honestly. I guess probably something like an accountant or a boring desk job. That seemed to be the route my parents would have preferred. Not that I was super great a math. So it’s the cafe for me.”

>>”You have Christmas plans?

Zaid looked surprised again. ”It is almost that time, isn’t it? Usually I work, since everyone else wants the day off. This year we are closed though so I mean, I’ll probably just play video games. I got a great deal on some downloadable content during Black Friday, and I really want to crack the new level!” he felt excited at the prospect. It had been years since he actually did anything for the holidays. In fact, he seemed completely oblivious to the fact most people mentioned actually going somewhere or hanging out with people as a festive tradition. ”Maybe I’ll have some ramen... the good stuff, not the instant type.” he mused, face lightening.

Ah. Was now a good time to spill the beans on living three different adult lives? On temporarily assuming the identity of a mob boss for money? On breaking rules, hiding runaways, running a pre-pubescent gambling ring, and running away from home not once, but twice?

Maybe on the surface he seemed like a nice guy, but Jude had forged his own path and he'd hurt plenty of people to get to where he was today.

"What you don't think I'm tough?" Jude grinned with as many teeth as he could manage, but immediately felt a bit self-conscious about it. "I don't really have to be scary. I haven't trained with the guys in the field and there's never been anything that's required all hands on deck. That's the beauty of it. Most of it for me is being the reliable guy behind the scenes who does the paperwork." Value assessment of skills, of a life, of a threat. He might even be more ruthless with his paperwork than the insurance industry. He was pretty good at it now.

"I hear there's temp work if you did want to work through. Like, at department stores and stuff. People get money from Santa and then they can't wait to spend it. Time off is good too, though." How long had it been since Jude had played a video game? Probably since he had lived at the Mansion. He had seamlessly transitioned into adulthood via a short stint of homeless wandering on foot after getting stranded in Canada by ColdSteel. It certainly broke his addiction to trashy tv shows quick.

"Oh man, there's so many awesome ramen shops around. It's sort of a hobby of mine to walk around and find the most hole-in-wall places. Any kind of food and the smaller the place, the better it usually is. There's a place just before you walk into SoHo, it only has spots for 4 people and only if they're all standing-" he could, and would, go on if Zaid let him.

>>”You don’t think I’m tough?”

On the one hand, Jude smiling at him was definitely a test on his heart. Zaid’s brain was trying to ship something, and he told himself it was just because of the rescue. Who wouldn’t be a little dazzled by someone who rescued them from—albeit, somewhat much more well mannered, now—dogs? Maybe it was also because they were the same age. Whatever the reason, he didn’t need to get attached to someone he may never see again. That didn’t stop him from smirking in a somewhat mischievous way, and poking the end of one of Jude’s newly grown ears. ”From experience, if you want to look tough, you’ll have to do something about these. Bunny ears generate more ‘awww’s then ‘ahhhh!’s.”

Listening to the job description made the job sound more cryptic, but safer at least, ”I feel like that is still some exciting paperwork. You must have done a lot to earn the trust.”

When Jude mentioned temp work, Zaid looked thoughtful, ”I’ve taken gigs around Easter for, well, obvious reasons. And sometimes I pick up delivery work if I need the cash. But I may just keep my day off this year. I made decent tips with work and I could use a break.”

When Jude started to talk about Ramen, Zaid listened with interest. This was the first time he met someone as excited about noodles as he was. ”Man, that does sound great. I would die to have a decent bowl of ramen again. I never was able to recreate it the way my mom used to Kaze it.” His ears dropped for a second, feeling an unusual ping of sadness. He was usually a lot better at avoiding depressing thoughts like that. The holidays did have a knack for pointing out all the joy of family though. ”If you ever feel like company, I could use a good tour guide around here. I don’t venture out much on my own.”

He really wasn't used to the ears and he most certainly wasn't used to the feeling of soft fur from the other side. Zaid tweaked one of his ears and for some reason Jude just wanted to grab them and hide them away. He was scandalized into a snort-laugh that escaped without his permission. Jude reached out and gave Zaid's ears a test feel and.. yes. They were just as soft.

"Do you... ever get tired of yours? Other than the obvious annoying commentary, I mean. I kinda like 'em." Any time people opened their mouths around physical mutations, stupid seemed to fall out. He'd been on the receiving end plenty of times, and it was just possible that Jude had just said his stupid for the day. He took back his hand. Oh. Right. They were walking. There was walking to do.

> "You must have done a lot to earn the trust.”

"Or they just hate paperwork that much. You should have seen what they had in backlog when I started." He'd had mountains to get through when he started. It was sort of impressive how long they'd been able to put some things off.

Jude didn't miss the sadness, but he also didn't know what to do about it. Every family had their sadness, so rather than acknowledge it he decided to bulldoze over it. "Dying for ramen seems a bit extreme. What makes your mom's Ramen special? Maybe you could try to cook it? Then you could dish it up any time you want."

Also not going out was a hell of a waste. "Zaid, you're killing me. I love just wandering around and people watching. There's all kinds of stuff going on at all hours here. You're in the city that never sleeps!"

Zaid had a new understanding for why people wanted to touch his ears. Fuzzy bunny ears were much more amusing on someone else’s head. Plus, Jude’s reaction made the action worth it. He even tolerated the return poke, although his own ear gave an involuntary twitch in response. That kind of tickled. ”It depends on my mood, honestly. When I was a kid it was easier to just run with the commentary if I could. It made them tease less. I get more annoyed by the whispers. ‘Is that a guy or a girl?’ I was having a bad day at work once and blurted our ‘are you stupid or just loud?’ I no longer work at that place, surprisingly.” it was evident that his carefree attitude could only be stretched so far. Even a bunny would bite if it needed to.

Zaid considered the ramen question seriously. ”Maybe it was just the flavor? There are a lot of spicy dishes that are okay, but my mom liked to lake this teriyaki sauce and it was different. Sweeter. Actually, a good bowl of teriyaki is up there with ramen on foods I’m craving now... I think I would have to just experiment with the sauce, and hope I don’t burn my apartment down.”

Zaid held onto the leash as someone came closer with a tiny terrier. The little devil barked at them a few times, eying the bunny ears with distaste. Even dogs seemed to be judgmental sometimes. The colder weather made the park less crowded though, so that helped. And having fuzzy ears kept him from needing earmuffs. His nose sometimes felt the chill though. ”Can you really see me wandering around in this city?” Zaid gave him a dubious look. He may not have gotten out much, but he had read his fair share of manga, and even he knew there were places you should not go as a bunny boy. ”I can’t drink yet, and I either get treated as a sideshow attraction, or a hunting target. People watching is easier when you aren’t the one being watched.”

He sounded a little pessimistic now. While he tried to make it sound like his choice he never went out, the truth was, he was just a little too nervous to explore on his own. If he were around someone bigger or stronger, maybe he wouldn’t feel like running away as much. There was a lot out there he wanted to see but never had the guts to. ”Other than places to eat, what is your favorite place in the city? The curiosity got the better of him. He was dying to know where Jude hung out in his spare time.

The retort would have been funny if the story hadn't ended up with Zaid getting fired.

"When did your powers kick in?" Pun unintended. "I think I sorta messed mine up by finding someone to jumpstart mine." He'd been far too informed and connected from a young age. A benefit of having lived a whole life in a dream before living this reality.

"Teriyaki's good, but full disclosure. I know next to nothing about cooking. I can't help except maybe by finding a restaurant." Ghost did all their cooking when they lived together. And he traded language lessons for dinners at the co-op apartment where he lived. Add in that his favorite hobby was walking to hunt hole in the wall restaurants and he'd probably cooked two, maybe three times on purpose.

Oh. Zaid reminded him that he wasn't yet 21, either. Huh. He couldn't legally drink yet. That was a head trip. "I guess I'm not supposed to be drinking either, but I can once July comes around." Europe was completely lax as far as alcohol and minors went. Not only was the drinking age lower, but the rules were far less stuffy to begin with. That would have been a nice, logical explanation. The real one was that Jude had aged himself up, down, and all around so many times he forgot what age his body was. He also often came home with physical mutations and somehow people asked fewer questions when you had horns and really needed a bottle of wine.

He bet the same would not be true of the bunny ears. Maybe he should get rid of them... or offer to get rid of Zaid's for a while.

"I could... borrow your ears. For little bit. If you ever wanted to go without them." It was sort of a tricky subject to broch. Many mutants didn't want to set their powers aside even for a ew minutes. That was fine and good for them. But, if Zaid wanted to go out and just not deal with it, even once...

Jude had to think about the 'favorite place' question. He didn't really hang out in any one place... "In town? Maybe the L. You know the elevated train line people turned into a garden space? I don't go much 'cause it's way on the far side of town and I actually work over in Brooklyn." He stopped when Dammit needed to do her thing. It made him realize that as much as he went "out" it was never out with people. "I guess I'm more of a wanderer than a favorite place kind of person..." Was that... weird?

>>”When did your powers kick in?”

”I was born with mine. But as a kid, no one really minded them. Japan is pretty open minded about the rabbit ear thing. They would just squee how kawaii my ears were, and didn’t question if they were real or not.” he did not go in depth on the little girls in his class using him for dress up and the number of Lolita dresses he was shoved in during his childhood. He tolerated a lot back then, just to feel accepted.

”If you ever want something cooked I can help. I’ve been making my own food for awhile now. I couldn’t afford take out all the time so I had to learn a bit. I swear I wouldn’t just feed you carrots and salad,” he joked. Full disclosure, he had a decent amount of veggies in the fridge at all times. Some things couldn’t be helped.

Then came the curve ball. Jude offered to “borrow” his ears. Zaid tilted his head, trying to process what that would actually entail. ”Honestly, I don’t know how I would feel about that. I mean, I’ve never had human ears, so I never had anything to miss. And if I liked it better, then I would just be disappointed going back to normal, you know? It’s a really nice offer though!” he quickly made it clear he was touched by the suggestion. Offering to be a bunny so someone else could have some freedom was really nice. His heart skipped a little. He mentally shoved the feelings deeper inside, trying to keep them in check. Stop feeling things, dang you!

”I don’t think there is anything wrong with wandering. I always wanted to travel when I was younger. There are lots of places I haven’t been to, even in the city. I’ve never been to the L actually. Or the museum... I went into that giant toy store once, but that was a bad idea. Some rich little kid wanted to buy me, and I swear the store associate was considering it. People are crazy.”

He'd... never had human ears. Jude had to think real hard if that was true for Ghost's child, too. They hadn't known Roger right away. Roger took a circuitous route back to his family, via the mansion. Ro's ears had changed slowly. He'd started with human ears. He'd started with human skin. Now, he looked closer to Dammit than human. Even at nearly 8, Ro never remembered having human ears.

"My sort of brother, the one with rabbit ears? He usually wears a hat. Sorry... if that was out of line." There was a big difference in maturity between being 8 and being 20. And as a former 8 year old who'd meddled more than he should with his and other people's mutations, he knew better than to offer to take Roger's ears away.

Did Jude need something cooked? Hm. Almost always. "I usually barter for dinner, but the girl I was teaching English to moved out..." So, recently he'd been eating out much more than he had eaten in. He could afford it, but maybe his waistline couldn't. "I don't suppose you know someone who needs to learn English, French, or the most limited set of Russian dog commands, do you?"

And speaking of dog, he had to deal with that. One rather full bag went into the park receptacle and they continued their walk.

"You should go. The museum is safe. The L is... I'll take you to the L. And I hear they were closing that toy store down 'cause it's failing anyway. Have you been to the specific toy stores? There's a Lego store right next to the Flatiron building. I only found it 'cause the universe portal was, like, right freaking there."

The more Zaid heard about Jude’s brother the greater his curiosity became. It could be fun interacting with another bunny mutant, Jude not included.

The hat comment brought a glint of mischief to his eyes though. ”Well, I had a hat, but you may recall a certain someone’s foster dogs decided to use it as a chew toy.” There had been little chance of saving the beanie at that point anyway, but it was true he needed to shop for a new one. Maybe he could convince Jude to go with him sometime. Probably after the holidays. He suspected Jude would spend that with family like most people, and Zaid could probably find a cheap Santa hat in the meantime to use.

”I don’t know anyone needing language lessons, unfortunately. And as fun as learning French would be, I lack the finances to make it worth your time. But I’m your guy if you ever need help with Japanese! Well, unless you have other friends that speak it.” he said ‘orher’ In hopes they were in fact friends now. Jude had offered to take him to the L. That seemed to suggest they could stay in contact! He grinned as he heard about the LEGO store. ”Legos are the best! I haven’t played with some in ages. I saw ads for the new dragon sets though and they seemed epic!” His ear twitched slightly as sounds of another nearby dog distracted him. It was far enough away he didn’t feel worried. Actually, the dogs seemed to be more protective of them now. It was as if they decided this particular pair of rabbits were theirs and they were not going to share.

He honestly had not put that together. "Ohhh. That was a hat?" He grimaced the oops of all oopses. "I mean, I guess I'm thankful it was already dead when we got there. I'm sorry. Can I get you a replacement?" Here he was thinking it'd been squirrel or something. He should have checked on it. Rest in pieces, hat. He did feel bad about it, but at least it was just a hat. Those were cheap.

"I think I can count to three in Japanese and say 'sit down!' and 'cut that out!' Oh and say Ramen and gyoza and stuff. The food part is the most important, really. My adopted mom speaks Japanese. Mostly when she's mad. I didn't see the point in learning it, myself." Which seemed a real shame now.

LEGO were awesome. "I hadn't seen those. When I popped into the store, I was distracted by the bins where you can grab pieces and make your own mini figure." He was trying to remember if he'd seen bunny ears. That was a safe enough thing and Easter was a thing... surely they had some, right?

The dogs were slowing down, Jude noticed. Hanging back more. Panting. If he'd been alone he would have called it there, anything to finish the dreaded walk. But that wasn't the case any more.

>>”That was a hat?”

”True, it didn’t look much like one once Dammit got ahold of it. But it was enough to keep my ears hidden. At least it was cheap, so I can replace it pretty easily. Although, if anything happens to my Legend of Zelda beanie, my heart might break. It takes way too much effort to alter a baseball cap so that’s less forgivable.” While he said it as serious as possible, he had a feeling he might forget Jude even if one of the dogs chewed his gaming console. He was becoming attached to his new friend. In a normal, friend way. Right, friends.

Zaid wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or please Jude didn’t know much Japanese. On the one hand, maybe he could teach him some. On the other, it would have been fun to talk with someone in the language he grew up with. ”It’s pretty useful if you want to get into business. Especially since you’re working as a secretary. Japanese and Chinese are big for transportation of goods, negotiating with warehouses, drop ship, and stuff. I looked into some side work translating and the pay wouldn’t be bad.” he got the idea from some of the guys he gamed with. Once they heard he knew Japanese they were eager to suggest more side jobs. Being an English teacher back in Japan was the best prospect, but that meant leaving New York.

”Making Minifigs is awesome. I have a few, but they’re mostly nerdy ones, like the Harry Potter set. If they made a Legend of Zelda one I would be all for it. I’m partial to the Bunny Hood mask myself.” he admitted this proudly. No shame in liking the Bunny Hood.

As the dogs slowed, he realized they had finally burnt some of their energy out. That felt a little disappointing. ”I guess you better get these two home, huh?” he inquired.