It's Five O'Clock Somewhere [Varde]

[Lucca]

Felix stared at the Rat for a moment, golden eyes a bit fuzzy. Were they talking about...? No, no, that wasn't at all what the Rat, at least, was referring to, or it didn't seem like it. So he laughed, shaking his head. "Hey, man, you ever find a job where I can sleep in and don't have to do any real work, call me, okay? Unless I could get paid for...eating, or something. Dancing, yeah." Another laugh, another sip of his drink, and then his ears perked forward as the pretty Rat joined their table.

"Hey Dania! I'm Felix, and it's no problem at all!" He grinned suavely, but then his eyes strayed to her tail. "Whoa, your tail is weird too!" He blinked slowly, realizing that may have not come out right, and quickly hastened to amend the statement. "Uh, not in a bad way, but...it's not every day that you see a girl with her tail wrapped around one leg, y'know?" As far as bindings went, it was very curious. Her fur also looked oddly soft, and, perhaps without really realizing it, one paw drifted over to pet her neck gently.

[Harpsdesire]

The rat smiled at Fenzik, somewhat more at ease in light of his friendly tone. "No, this is my first time in the Capital. And you? Do you live nearby?" The conventions of proper smalltalk frequently eluded her, so Dania was inwardly rather pleased with herself both for managing to keep the conversation going and for choosing a suitably distant chair without offending Fenzik. This was going better than most of her social interactions, all in all.

She took a sip of her wine and tried not to wince at the peculiar bite of the alcohol, returning Felix's smile. "Ah, thanks." At his next comment, her smile faltered, her expression quickly morphing to one of slightly-offended bewilderment, then back to a nervous sort of smile. Weird? That seemed a little bold coming from a knitting-needle-covered fellow with ram's horns. "Well, it's my binding." Her tone was defensive, but not unkind, "I guess it is pretty... unusual...." She trailed off, apologetically. "My parents chose it."

She was even more taken aback by the way her stroked her fur-- she had braced herself to be stabbed with one of his many, many pointy bits, but his touch was gentle and not at all objectionable. It was rude, as she understood it, to go about petting total strangers, but then again she never had quite been able to understand those vital but unspoken social rules which seemed to come naturally to most other Cards. Since she had no idea how to respond to the unsolicited touch, she just... didn't.

[Varde]

Fenzik laughed good-naturedly at Felix's comment. "I certainly will," he replied. "We'll have to find you something." He took the first swig of his drink. It went down wrong, and he coughed hard a few times, preventing him from answering Dania's question right away. After a moment to recover, he looked back up from his mug and blinked his watering eyes furiously. "Strong stuff," he joked weakly before turning away quickly and coughing again. His statement wasn't entirely a cover-up; the infrequency with which he partook of alcohol meant he wasn't, even now, entirely used to its taste. "I'm from Corvistowne," he said, his voice almost returning to normal at last, although no sooner had the words left his mouth than he realized how mind-bogglingly obvious this fact was, due to his easily identifiable colors. "I mean, that's where I live," he quickly rephrased. "I have a lab there." Another idiotic thing to say. "Er, as most Corvies do, I guess." Brilliant. What was he going to come up with next? "Did you know this table is made of wood? Wow, and these chairs too. Hey, you have eyes!"

The scientist shut his mouth for the time being and let Felix and Dania do the talking. They spoke of the Torque's binding, which Fenzik was a little shocked to realize he hadn't even noticed before. Where was his brain tonight? Maybe he needed this ale more than he had previously thought. He nodded somberly as Dania mentioned it being her parents' choice. "It's definitely interesting," he offered, trying to make sure the comment sounded as positive as he meant it, since it could probably be taken either way. "I've never seen one like it. Though I've never been to Torquehelm, myself," he confessed.

[Lucca]

Felix just laughed, sure that Fenzik would never find a job he'd last more than two days at. He took another long swallow of his drink, and then frowned when he realized he'd just emptied the glass. Luckily, the barmaid was in sight, and he waved his empty glass in the air to get her attention before turning toward the pretty purple Rat. Man, both his drinking companions were Rats! Ha! That was hilarious.

He giggled, but waved a paw at Dania. "Oh, nah, no worries at all, I mean, it actually doesn't look too bad compared to some bindings I've seen, ya know? It's kinda cool and shows off your pretty tail." He nodded at Fenzik. "Yeah, I've never been to Torquehelm either, though one time I met a Penguin from your Realm, and his binding was this metal ball and chain, except it was enchanted to float on water so he could still swim! So I guess a lot of bindings are kinda magic in some way." He grinned, looking between his two companions, and probably would have said something else, except that the barmaid reappeared with his refill, and he paused to take a long, careful sip this time, determined to make it last longer. After all, how fun would it really be is he were to pass out in the middle of a conversation? Answer: it would be super lame.

[Harpsdesire]

Dania nodded as Fenzik made a series of obvious statements. "I'm sure it's a fascinating place to live. All that... science..." She cleared her throat nervously as she utterly failed to diffuse the awkwardness of the conversation. "I would love to see it some time. I hear there are a lot of very unique sights." Okay, that was a little better.

She was not terribly surprised that Fenzik had never visited her home realm: the perpetual twilight and dreary character of the area did not lend itself to a lot of tourism. Besides, many cards found that just passing through Torquehelm was enough to induce depression and crush the optimistic spirit. "Visitors from other realms are... rare." She agreed, taking another sip of her wine, which was somehow tasting better as she consumed more of it.

She set the glass down with more force than she intended, a little surprised by the porcupine's comment. She was relieved to note that the drink hadn't spilled, merely sloshing about in the stemmed glass. He thought her freakishly long tail was pretty? Dania felt her ears going a little warm as it occurred to her that it was possible, at least remotely possible, that he was hitting on her.... No, that would never happen. Absolutely not. She was a little embarrassed to have even thought such a thing.

At least the topic of bindings was one she was familiar with, if not entirely comfortable discussing with 'outsiders'. "Floating metal... that's really cool." Too bad her own parents hadn't put as much thought into the practical aspects of her binding. Still... "Mine is enchanted. It gets a bit looser at night so I can sleep and get circulation to my foot." If it didn't, she would likely have lost all feeling in the limb by now. As it was, a tingling numbness her in leg was so constant that it usually went unnoticed until evening, when feeling was quite painfully restored by the freer flow of blood.

The rat had a love-hate relationship with the traditional bindings every Torque wore. Her longing to be free was a constant tug in the back of her mind, but one that was ever overshadowed by the mental, as well as physical, hold of the Curse. Her binding meant security, sanity, and the promise of a brighter future for every Torquehelm. It was also a source of continuous inconvenience, emotional and physical pain... there was no way to explain it to her companions, and she was too timid to try. Dania fell silent, a small nervous smile under sad eyes her only outward response to Felix's grin.

She took a bigger sip of wine, trying to relax into the unaccustomed companionship.

[Varde]

Fenzik nodded at Dania's comments. "I imagine," he agreed, then hastened to add, "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with your realm, of course! Nothing of the sort. It's just..." his mind raced to think of something to say that was both true and unmistakably inoffensive. It was a surprisingly difficult task. "I mean, heh, for me personally... believe it or not, I'm actually a little skittish about dark, eerie places like that," he admitted at last. "I'm sure it's downright lovely if one is used to that sort of thing." He took a longer drink than before, hoping it would help to wash down the taste of his foot.

Now that he thought about it, of course, the rat had heard some highly intriguing stories about Torquehelm from fellow Corvies who had braved its foreboding borders. Specifically, stories about the realm's assorted native flora. He had known scientists who spoke rumors of plants indigenous to Torquehelm that seemed to possess extremely peculiar chemical qualities. Fenzik was contemplating whether this topic would add to the conversation or simply bore everyone besides himself. His decision was made for him, however, when the other two moved on to further discussion of bindings.

His eyes widened as Felix and Dania discussed those bindings that were of a magical or enchanted nature. There was so much he didn't know about Torques -- even basic things. "That's fascinating," he commented to the female rat. "Really. And your parents did all that? Are many Torquehelms educated in these... enchanted... ways?" He felt a bit foolish as he asked this, as he didn't know the proper terminology, and he caught himself waving his paws around stupidly.

[Lucca]

Felix wondered if he should ever visit Torquehelm. Really, it was a nice, poetic place, but it was probably a bit too down for him. Being around so many depressed Cards would make the Porcupine want to just start singing at the top of his lungs and hugging everyone. He wasn't sure how well that would exactly go over. Subconsciously, he shifted closer to Dania, as he was thinking about just hugging all the sadness out of those Torques. She'd be nice to hug! All that soft fur...

But he was happy to talk more about enchanted bindings. He looked at her tail, thinking about it loosening at night...and trying (and failing) to not have his mind go straight to the gutter on that one. Eheh... "Ohhh, I see! That's cool. So does it like...only get a little looser or does it come all the way undone?" His own spiky tail thrashed thoughtfully.

But oh! Oh, he knew the answer to Fenzik's question! One of the Torques he'd actually seriously dated for a week or so had told him about bindings, and though he didn't understand a lot of it he knew the basics. "Actually, Fenny, bindings are usually done not by the parents of the child, but by a special Card whose job it is to bind children. The parents just get to make special requests for what sort of binding they prefer! And I guess sometimes the parents do it themselves, too. I dunno how common enchanted ones are...a lot of Torques just have normal chains or a blindfold or something." He looked over at Dania for confirmation, taking another gulp of his drink.

[Harpsdesire]

"Hm." Dania said noncommittally, sipping her wine to avoid responding to Fenzik's comment. She was surprised that the other rat seemed fearful of her realm. After all, it wasn't like she was from Tulgey Wood or the Bog! In fact, it was really one of the less dangerous realms, with little in the way of either wild beasts or unsavory cards. "I suppose it's all in what you're used to." She agreed, looking at the 'skittish' card a little askance.

With no notion at all of what Felix was thinking as he looked at her bound tail, she told him"It just gets looser, not untied altogether. Although," Her voice took a strange tone, somewhere between wistfulness and fear, "I suppose I could get my foot out if I wanted to, it's loose enough for that at least." Of course, she had never tried, frightened of the mental breakdown that would follow... and the equally dramatic response she expected from her horrified parents. This was a dangerous line of thought, so Dania was relieved when Felix took over the discussion of binding.

He was very accurate, and she nodded with a smile. "Within a few days of birth, children are taken to a binding smith to have bindings applied. Many times they're enchanted to grow with the child, but others need to be adjusted or replaced by the smith every year or so until adulthood. Other kinds of enchantments are more rare, and depending on the smith and the parents' preference, the bindings can be so light as to be almost unnoticeable to the child, or very severe." This was a topic of interest to her, both out of morbid curiosity and her fascination with her own realm's culture and history. Since both her companions seemed interested, she continued. "Binding smith is actually a very highly skilled trade. One needs to be able to work with metals, leather and magic, as well as be able to make piercings in the skin with precision and have a good grasp of the anatomy of every breed of Card. It may seem harsh to outsiders, but binders consider it a form of art, as well as a service to the community."

The rat fell silent and looked into her drink bashfully. That was probably more information than either of the men wanted. She hoped she hadn't made herself look foolish with her chatter.

[Varde]

Fenzik blinked at Felix, a little taken aback at how intelligently the porcupine had answered his question. Not that he had doubted the intelligence of the Selkie, of course, but the latter was already on his second drink -- and the majority of his previous observations tonight had been markedly less astute. So unnecessarily startled was Fenzik by this that he entirely forgot to protest the use of the "Fenny" nickname.

He turned to Dania and nodded with scholarly interest as she added to Felix's explanation, taking sips of his drink now and then -- very small sips, as he desired not to incite another coughing fit. "Huh," he remarked at last, "fascinating. It does sound very much like an art." He had often thought of his own trade in the same way. Which made him wonder... "So what do you do? For a craft? Or a... hobby, or whatever?" he attempted to clarify, not wanting to make any assumptions. "I mean, obviously I'm a chemist. And Felix here is... uh," Oops. It'd slipped his mind that the porcupine didn't have a job. The rat's mind raced. "...A dancer!" he recovered finally, emitting a sheepish laugh. "Right, Felix?"

[Lucca]

Felix really, honestly tried to listen to Dania's explanation, because it really was very interesting. But he didn't end up absorbing most of the information, just because there was so much of it. He ended up getting binding being considered an art (he didn't know that, but that was pretty cool!) and something about anatomy. He smiled at her brightly, already feeling a pleasant buzz even though he hadn't had very many drinks yet.

"Ah, well, cool!" His good mood meant that, far from being embarrassed at Fenzik's bringing up the job situation again (not that he let such a thing bother him normally anyway) he merely laughed heartily, and slapped the Rat on the shoulder affectionately. "Yep, that's right! I'm a dancing champion. You'd be surprised how fluidly all -this- can move." He made a rather showy gesture at his Selkie bulk. It was entirely unclear if he meant the statement to have any sort of innuendo under it, as the smile he gave them was the same sort of innocently happy look he'd worn for most of the evening.

The Porcupine grabbed another drink off a passing waitress and took a few sips.