Loungin' by the Lake (Open)

[Toni Craft]

“You know, after I accidentally kinda blow torched that tree outside the chem lab’s window, you’d think that Mother Nature’d have it out for me. But lookie! I couldn’t have designed a better day for a picnic, eh Hector?” Toni thinks about that for a moment. “Actually, I could design a better day. It’d have llamas and killer whales and a lot of those cool funny glowing jellyfish...And cocktail weenies, cause, you know, we gotta eat something, and llamas give me indigestion.” The snake lazily looks from his spot over her shoulders to give Toni a ‘So what?’ look. “You boring slinky.” She rubs the underside of Hector’s large head with a finger as she wanders out to a lovely sunny spot in the lawn, picnic basket in hand.

Examining the plot of grass carefully, Toni finally decides that she has located her ideal lounging spot and sets down her basket. With Hector still gently entwined around her neck and tail coiled around her right arm, she unfolds the tattered old blanket kept atop the basket.

When the sheet of plaid is flattened out against the grass, and Hector’s lifted from her shoulders, she plops herself down happily. “Here ya go, bud.” Toni lets the seven foot snake slither off her lap. “Just like I promised! A nice quiet day with lots of baskin’ rays and all the squirrels you can stuff down that throat of yours!” Curious, Hector slides out onto the grass and examines his surroundings, catching the taste of rodents and pollen and insects in the air. He looks back at Toni as she lays out flat, hands behind her head and smiling to herself.

Not to keen on exploring the great outdoors just yet, the serpent finds a nice spot on top of Toni’s stomach. He pulls himself into a tight ball, soaking in the heat from his owner’s body and from the sun beating on his scales.

[Megan Drukker]

There's a lot of things Megan's missing about being back in the Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, but the climate isn't one of them. Here it's pretty bloody glorious - a fact she's been taking full advantage of, lounging by the pool having become something of a ritual. Thankfully since that first minor embarrassment with Matty she's been careful to keep it to times when there's no one else around to catch her all scaly and silvery - because she's still aware of how blinkin' odd it is to be turning into a half-fish, even if the rest of them don't seem at all phased - and not met with any incident.

Today, however, is different, substantially more glorious than usual to have dragged other people into her sanctum to enjoy the sunshine. And as the day dragged on she'd gotten more and more tetchy at not being able to take to the water. Which was, she knew, all sorts of ridiculous - the whole point of her being here was to normalize the situation, convince her there wasn't anything to be embarrassed about... She should just sod it and go anyway. Minor victory for team "I'm a mutant and it doesn't bother me".

... then again, hadn't Josh mentioned something about a lake on the grand tour?

The water's not quite as crystal clear as in the swimming pool, granted, but it's still cool and deep, and she amuses herself for a while playing at being the Lake Monster, with terrifying webbed digits and horrible scaly skin, and then challenging herself to stay underwater a little longer each time, just to see what will happen.

Gills, it seems, are a little beyond her just yet, though, and once the burning in her lungs and the heaviness in her limbs and the sound of blood rushing in her ears gets too much she breaks the surface, coughing and spluttering and dragging herself up out of the water like some primordial half-fish half-lizard thing emerging shakily into the mud on its primitive legs. Rolling over onto her back, Meg sucks deep breaths into her lungs, content to just lie and soak up the sun and remind herself that's she's not yet an amphibian.

Something behind her head catches her eye, and she flips back over onto her belly for a better look at...

... ah, so much for escaping embarrassment.

Megan scrambles to her feet, brushing herself down reflexively, fingers nervously flying to adjust her costume, pick weeds out of her hair, and generally try to look less guilty about crawling out of the lake. "Erm, 'eya... Jus' takin' a swim s'all, see" (gack, how lame does that sound?) "I din't mean t'cause no trouble, not nothing like th... Is that a snake?"

It's preposterous to think that the woman stretched out underneath the tree might not have noticed the definitely-a-snake-and-not-a-small-one-neither curled up on her stomach, but Megan still feels the need to drive home the point that yes, it most assuredly is a snake, by pointing quickly towards it (and pulling her hand back as if she expects it to turn around and bite her, quickly concealing it behind her back as the by now familiar feeling of pins and needles which heralds the growth of claws kicks in). "Y've got a bloody great sapper on y'pin..."

[Freddy Hunter]

It was nice outside, the sun was shining, and Freddy was bored.

As the wind rushes at his face and stray students duck out of his way, he beings to think that being bored is not the best state to be in as far as he's concerned. The idea was sound, in theory. Honestly, it was.

The execution, however, failed. Well, more his memory than the execution. He probably should have remembered he can't stop or change the course of moving force fields, which is a useful ability when he's riding on one, using it as a sort of flying skateboard. Except that he's having trouble staying on it and warning the people in front of him at the same time.

What had originally started as "Wooooooooohooooooooo..." has evolved into "Waaaaaaaatchh Ouuuuuuuutt!!!"

Gradually, as he approaches the lake (inwardly sighing in relief that it won't be as much of a crash and burn as it would be on dry land), he spots two women. They increase in size and detail rapidly, and he manages out only one final start of the evolved sentence before he loses balance and falls into the lake, fully clothed and still with his cell phone in his pocket.

Relieved that the force field dissolves as soon as it gets out of range, Freddy swims up to the surface, kicking one of his tennis shoes off by accident. His mom did always tell him to tie the shoelaces.

Dragging himself out into the mud blissfully unaware that this very thing had already been done second before, Freddy pants with excitement, jumping onto his feed and starting a small victory dance.

As a very bad pirouette ends at the 180th degree, he spots the two girls, one of whom he'd almost decapitated. A hand immediately raises to his head and scratches the back of it as he smiles amicably.

"Hi! I hope I didn't hit you?" he asks moments before the snake is registered. "Oh cool!!! Can I pet it?" a reaction very typical for Freddy. In truth, he's not even sure if the snake belongs to the woman, or if it just crawled there for nutritious belly-warmth...or something.

[Toni Craft]

Hector is oblivious to the splashing and the flailing of the strange fish girl, but he perks up when his owner and cushion glances down at the lake. His body rises, and then falls in a sigh from Toni.

“Oh joy...kiddies with fins. You know,” Toni scratches Hector’s head. “For a school with only a limited number of students, they always seem to find me out in the middle of butt freakin’ nowhere. What’s up with that?” The snake tickles her nose with his tongue in response.

"I din't mean t'cause no trouble, not nothing like th... Is that a snake? Y've got a bloody great sapper on y'pin..." Even though she’s a touch upset that her nap time has been interrupted, Toni smiles. There could always be joy found in the seemingly relentless fear of snakes.

“Indeed it is an adorable amiable ophidian, my aqua-enabled amigo.” Hector, interested in the scent of human fish flesh, ambles his way toward the newcomer. With less grace than one would expect from a snake, he slides off Toni’s tummy and slithers into the grass. “Careful, he might wanna nip your fingers since he’s a wee bit peckish. It’s gettin’ up on feedin’ time for him and he gets a little testy when he’s hungry.”

As Hector wriggles his way toward the girls feet, there’s a yell, a splash, a muddy crawl of sorts, and then a chirpy little exclamation. "Oh cool!!! Can I pet it?"

Toni sits up and brushes away any dirt or grass the snake may have carried up onto her “Thought you should know I totally blasted my pecs today” shirt. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she gives the happy kid a pondering look.

Not really wanting to give the ‘Warning: Snake may cause finger injuries’ talk again, Toni shrugs. “Sure, go for it. And sneak up on him from behind so he doesn’t see you coming. He loves that!” She grins wide as Hector recoils slightly at the sight of the newest arrival, flapping his tongue in and out to pick up his scent.

[Jack Russell]

He bounds over limbs and ducks underneath arching roots with startling ease, somehow managing to squirm his muscled bulk between every empty space nature had made for him. Branches whistle back over his head as he shoves past them--trembling in his wake--and his blood rushes through his ears, drowning the relative silence in which he moved. Beyond these sounds, Jack hears nothing else.

Skidding into a crouch, he surges up about fifteen feet, landing hard on a sturdy bough that sways beneath him just slightly. It's here that Jack pauses, inhaling the redolence of the woods and relishing in the relative silence. At peace, he gives his bushy tail a thoughtful wave, flexing his toes to keep his grip.

Jack had been spending lots of his time getting reacquainted with the leafy hills and earthy ravines as of late, and today is hardly different.

Pricking his ears forward, he looks attentively to the lake hidden just beyond the edge of the forest. No matter what he did, he managed to still feel the same, hammering pang of guilt for inadvertently turning one of his own students. From his perch, Jack can hear and smell several bodies playing around the lake, and for a brief moment he's hesitant to approach.

No one blames him.

He chuffs to himself, shifting his weight on the heavy limb. Trying not to think about it, Jack thrusts forward, clearing several feet of barbed vines and poison ivy before he takes another lunge across the narrower end of the pool of water. He doesn't quite make it, but the almost accomplished feat makes him feel good, even as he splashes into the muddy shallows and crushes a bed of browning reeds while stirring up dirt that swirls around his soaked limbs. Jack gives a toss of his head, spotting Toni nearby beneath the welcoming shade of a tree. Nurturing the tiny light of confidence within him, he lopes up from the edge of the lagoon and trots towards her slowly, still dripping in beads that streamed from his waterlogged fur. Given the sunlight, he retains his bestial shape.

She must think you look great.. all muddy and wet.. And then the self-assurance starts to wane a little..

[Toni Craft]

[[ I just spoke with our dearest Megan, and it looks as though she may not be returning for a while, so she has given us permission to carry on this thread without her. To carry on in the established order, Freddy, dude, your up ]]

[Freddy Hunter]

>“Sure, go for it. And sneak up on him from behind so he doesn’t see you coming. He loves that!”

Freddy laughs a bit, waving his head. "I don't wanna scare him, seeing how he doesn't know me and stuff. What's his name, anyway? Silvester or something?" he asked, coming up slowly to the snake and extending his open palm, as if it were a dog or something.

Speaking of...

A considerably large one splashes into the lake, trots up and stands before them. Not just a considerably large dog, that thing is huge! Freddy smiles and points at it.

"Hey look! I didn't know dogs liked to go diving? Or is that a wolf?”

The rather happy teen, still under the effects of adrenaline from his previous short but extremely amusing trip through the air, turns around, losing interest for the snake and heading towards the large animal. He wonders if it will try to bite him, overly confident that his body field will come up every time he's in danger, and extends a hand, lowering himself into a crouching position.

”Hi there! Where'd you come from?” he wonders out loud, craning his head a bit to see the full body of the beast. It really is big. The thought that it might in fact be a mutant, and a teacher nonetheless, does not cross his mind.

[Toni Craft]

“What's his name, anyway? Silvester or something?"

“Hector be his name, and he’s quite the noble little serpent. He strikes fear into rodents wherever he goes…and then he usually eats them. Almost had himself a raccoon the other day.” Toni watches, amused as the new kid reaches out towards her snake. Hector slithers up to the hand and observes it curiously before flicking his tongue across the palm. “Aww, how adorable! The little dude has a friend!”

Hector’s just about to try climbing up the kid’s arm, but a change in the breeze bring a new scent to him and he promptly returns to the safety of his owner. Toni lifts herself to her feet and scoops up the snake, rocking the big green knot in her arms as Jack comes bounding across the grass. When the wolf stops, water and mud begins to pool around his paws and Toni can’t help but smile.

Much to Hector’s dismay, she walks over to her furry boyfriend (I suppose that’s what I’m supposed to call him given that there have been dates and kissing and just general cuteness). The snake tries to hide behind an arm, but still manages to expose most of his large body.

“Well hey there tall, muddy and furry.” Despite Jack’s dirty and matted fur, Toni reaches up and gives him an affectionate (or as affectionate as one could be with a soaking wet werewolf) scratch behind an ear. “You shake on me and you will face my uninhibited, estrogen-filled, female wrath. Though…you’d probably enjoy that…” Hector, not happy being that close to such a feral-smelling predator, slips through Toni’s arms and plops to the ground, where he promptly takes off toward the only other notable source of safety and warmth. He bumps his nose against the new kid’s knee, his snake-speak for ‘pick me up you big, warm, food-giving thing!’