[FIN]Why try too hard, when it's so soothing?

[Lucca]

The warm sun on his quills...a glass of lemonade in his hand...water lapping gently at his feet as his claws tapped to the beat of music only he could hear...yeah, this was the life. The porcupine sighed happily, closing his eyes as he just chilled out. Why would he ever want to do anything other than just lie here, mere minutes from his house and on the edge of one of the best swimming areas around? Or, so he'd heard. Felix wasn't really one for swimming, himself...far too much work for a nice, relaxing day like this one.

Tonight, he was already planning what clubs he was gonna hit in the Capital. He knew what ones had the best music, the best dancing, and the best alcohol. Plus, tonight was the perfect time to get away from his parents. His dear Mom had given him the Look again today, the one that meant she thought he was due for another lecture on how he needed to get a job and actually do something with his life and blah blah blah. Pfft. Doing things was overrated, in Felix's opinion. Goofing off was far more fun, and how could anything fun be a true waste of time?

[Kari Muffin]

Splish, Splash! The penguin cheerfully jumped into the water. Once he was in he dove downwards, his ball and chain following him. He made a happy hum as he did a small cork screw under the placid lake.

This was the best place ever. So much better than a pool. A back flip of joy was in order. Honestly this just gave him so much more space to have fun. Why hadn't he come here sooner?

He popped up for a bit of air. And he could take a look at the people who might be hanging around. And there he spotted something in the sunlight. He titled his head as he slipped under the water again. Why was someone wasting their time sunning themselves when the water was so great? Maybe he should just play a bit of a prank on them?

Horatio popped out of the water, still a distance away from the interesting porcupine. "Hello!" he called out as he decided to float on his back to look at the person in interest. His binding bobbing up and down at the few waves on the water. "What are you doing out there when the water's so amazing?"

[Lucca]

The lazy porcupine was starting to doze off when he suddenly heard a voice...from the water. How odd...the last time inanimate objects had started talking to him had been after he'd been smoking...oh, wait, it wasn't the lake talking, but a Card IN the lake. Well that made a lot more sense. Sitting up with a reluctant grunt, he lifted his sunglasses to see the other better. Well, what an -odd- looking bird. Where were its wings?

"Hey!" he called with a bright smile. Odd or not, Felix tended to be a friendly person. "Is it? Well, I'm glad you like the water, but swimming's just not my thing, man. A lot of work and splashing around to make you all tired out, and plus it messes with the 'do." He preened a claw through his quills to demonstrate. It was then that he noticed the binding the bird had, and he sat up more fully, staring slightly.

"Dude...how is that metal ball...floating..." He couldn't help but stare at it. It looked like solid, very sinkable metal, but it was bobbing around on the waves like a buoy. He shook his head. Maybe the sun was getting to him. Or maybe he -had- been into something earlier that day and just forgotten about it? He took a sip of his lemonade, still staring.

[Kari Muffin]

Horatio titled his head. Well... he supposed that was a proper answer. But really splashing and swimming wasn't work! It was fun and you could see all sorts of things when you were underwater. Of course not many people appreciated the water as much as he did.

"Mmmm. Well I guess your 'do is important," he gave a small shrug. Really, that was more like something he thought a woman would say. But to each their own when it came down to it.

The penguin perked a bit at the mention of his binding. He glanced at it it before diving into the water, it disappearing with him. He popped back up fairly quickly, and righted to look at the porcupine. The mental ball came back up to the surface rather quickly, bobbing on the water. "It's enchanted. My mother didn't want me to drown if I decided to take a dip. Mom understood. Dad... didn't, hence the binding to begin with." He waved a wing, "Water is my life."

[Lucca]

Felix smiled happily at the penguin's agreement, taking it to be a compliment. He had always been proud of how he looked. His quills, his horns, his light blue markings...he was a good-looking Card, if he did say so himself. And a great many others would agree too, given how many dates he'd scored before. He tossed his head a bit at the thought, oblivious to the other's thoughts about him and therefore assuming them to be nothing but positive.

"Ahh...that's cool, man, very cool." He cocked his head slightly, fascinated by the weird, enchanted binding. "Your dad wasn't a...a water lover, then?" He was honestly not sure what sort of bird the other was, still, and he didn't want to embarrass himself by guessing. "I always thought it would kinda suck to be a Torquey, y'know? Having to carry around chains or whatever...being bound by some curse...I like being free, man, that's the life. Free like a bird." He was rambling a bit, but he probably didn't notice. He also didn't stop to consider that the penguin might be offended by what he said about his Realm. Really, he liked Torques...some of them wrote decent music, well as long as it wasn't the emo stuff.

"Anyway, my name's Felix," he said, actually getting up and shuffling closer to the water to properly introduce himself. "Welcome to Selkie, a place with lots of sun, relaxation, and of course water." He considered the water of the lake as he polished off his lemonade. Now that he was already up...maybe a little bit of a dip wouldn't be so bad. He wouldn't have to swim a lot...he could stay in the shallows and keep at least his head-quills dry.

[Kari Muffin]

Horatio stared for a moment at the Selkie. He honestly didn't take offense to what the other Card was saying but... gee. Either he was slow or just had his head that far up his wazoo he didn't notice things. "My Dad wasn't a penguin, so he never really understood why I loved water so much." He paused to tilt his head in thought. "And I think I'm pretty free even with a binding. It's not like I can't do things with it. Even if I couldn't do things with it, it would probably teach me how to adapt."

He bobbed on the water for a few moments before flipping to his back again. "And I am a bird."

Really wasn't it obvious?

"My name's Horatio! It's nice to meet you Felix!" He perked up quite a bit as the porcupine made his way into his water. "Are you going to join me?"

[Lucca]

Felix shrugged. "I guess that's true. Whatever works for you, though." He personally could do without having to adapt to being limited. His horns, pretty as they were, could be bad enough sometimes with how heavy they were. He snapped his fingers and looked cheerful as the bird mentioned what he was without him needing to ask. A penguin, huh? Interesting. He'd have to remember that one.

"Oh..." Felix felt a bit dumb, suddenly, but he laughed good naturedly. "Ah, yeah, I knew that just...well, y'know, didn't connect it to...the expression..." He shrugged sheepishly; he knew he wasn't the brightest person ever, but really, it didn't bother him. At least his parents had never insisted he try to get beyond a basic education. That would have been too much work.

"Nice to meet you too!" Really, he loved meeting new people. But like most other things, he rarely went out of his way to do so. "Well..." He hesitated, eying the water...backed up a bit...and then grinned. "Might as well, I guess! You only live once! Woohoo!" With a loud cry, he ran and dove into the water with a great splash, apparently already forgetting about trying to keep his quills in order. Later he'd just have to lie in the sun for a bit until they dried, no big deal, right?

[Kari Muffin]

The penguin clapped his wings together happily at the splash before he dove under the water. This was much more his thing. Horatio was quite happy that the porcupine hadn't bothered to worry about his quills getting wet. It was much more fun this way!

Horatio was sorely tempted to sneak up on the Lakelander from under the water, but he figured he should be at least a little less devious since they had just met only a few short minutes ago. He popped up in front of the porcupine, with a grin on his beak. "See! Isn't the water fantastic? I think this is much better than laying in the sun!"

He splashed the other card, still grinning like a fiend. "How well can you swim? Do you want to race?" It had been a while since he had a race with someone, though he probably wouldn't get much of one with the porcupine if he accepted. He seemed a bit on the... lazy side to put it nicely.

[Lucca]

Upon surfacing after his dive, shaking his head in a way that made water fly off his quills in what he imagined would be a rather aesthetically pleasing way, Felix looked around in confusion. Where had that penguin dude gone? He opened his mouth to call for him when the other Card suddenly popped into existence a little bit in front of him, causing him to flounder for a moment.

"There you are, Horatio!" he gasped out, laughing slightly. This was already turning out to be fun! "It is a rather nice temp. Cool but not too cool, know what I mean?" He paddled lazily in place, enjoying it...until he was splashed. With a loud chortle, Felix splashed right back, both front paws scooping the water towards Horatio.

But his grin faltered slightly at the next question. "I dunno, man...I haven't really been swimming much in the past few years..." He'd learned to do so as a child, of course, since his parents thought it was a skill all Lakelanders needed to possess, provided they had the capacity to do so. But it really was a lot of work, and floating or wading or just splashing around were far more fun. Still...he was already here...

"If you really wanna race, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try...well, not much, anyway." He frowned slightly, fuzzily recalling a previous attempt at racing. He'd gotten such a horrible stitch in his side after that... "Usually though I prefer to float...ride the waves of life..." He twisted gracefully to end up on his back in the water, paws relaxing at his side and feet kicking half-heartedly. "I'm a go with the flow type of guy."

[Kari Muffin]

Horatio bounced back as he was splashed, laughing a bit. How could someone not enjoy the water when it was this inviting? And even Felix agreed that it was a good temperature! But then he seemed to falter. The penguin's beak clicked in dismay.

"Well, you don't have to," he said with a small disappointed shrug. "You are a "laid back" kind of person. I just thought it would be a fun as a change. I mean, I don't get to come to this place often, and I rarely get a chance to, you know swim with other people."

The bird dipped down under the water again, this time he swam a little ways out and popped up with a good distance between him and the porcupine. "It would only be this far! But if you aren't up to it, you aren't up to it." He grinned as he did a back flip into the water.