Not So Washed Up [Lancelot]

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It was taking some getting used to, the idea that he actually couldn't just go into the ocean every time he wanted. See, he actually tried to the week before, because he was so used to the tropical climate that was Estiland, he figured, How bad could fall really be? It's not like I'm freezing to death here... only to be reminded that part of the reason people went in the water was to cool down when he jumped out of the water the fastest he ever did, his teeth chattering. He didn't really want to think about what this meant for him when winter came. It was bad enough realizing that he and the great love (that he could find, anyway, he was still desperate to find that girl) of his life were going to have to part ways until the weather decided to be nicer.

Well, it was a good thing he still had to practice for Swim Team then, wasn't it? At first, when he stared down at the chlorinated water, he was more than a tad skeptical. He was pretty sure he would rather have salt water in his eyes than have to immerse himself in water that was so clean it actually had a smell because of it. Besides, nothing was going to beat the ocean, that much was certain...oh well. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and once he finally dove in, he realized that, yes, it was definitely an acquired taste, but once he actually got into doing laps, it wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it'd be.

After an hour or so, he was putting his towel to good use (another weird thing, seeing as usually he would just stay at the beach while he dried off. He just loved being out at the beach that much), then figured that he might as well head on out, because it turned out that the pool was pretty empty. Shame, it would've been nice to run into some people, he thought as he exited the pool area and headed on out, passing through the other areas at the center.

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Lance liked to keep fit, it was sort of part of being a knight, even if he wasn't quite there yet. He had to be ready any time Arthur wanted to challenge him, any time he needed to prove his worth. It was easy to forget what he was here for, what with school and work and getting drunk with Gawain and fighting with Gwen, but he still made sure to keep in as peak physical condition as possible.

He was in the gym, enjoying the peace and quiet that came with being one of the only people there, and just finishing up a set of weights, when he decided to finish off in the pool, do a few laps and generally cool down. He didn't really like the pool for much the same reason Eric didn't, he grew up with more natural water, but since it was there he may as well use it.

Standing up, he grabbed his stuff and headed towards the pool area, almost running into someone coming the other way.
"Oh, sorry," He grinned a little "What's the water like?" He nodded in the direction Eric had just come.

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Apparently, Eric wasn't nearly as alone as he had thought he was, seeing as the fact he wasn't paying as much attention as he probably should have led to him nearly crashing into another guy. Whoops. Not one of his smartest moves.

Thankfully, it looked like the guy was okay and was even pretty cool about the whole thing. Not that he expected much different, but there definitely were the arrogant jerks who took something so accidental personally, which was just plain sad.

Friendly as always, he smiled at the apology and answered, "Oh, don't worry about it, no harm, no foul, right? Anyway, water's pretty good, can't complain too much." He ran his hand through his currently damp curls, pretty glad that he had a shower to get to, because sure, he would've done it if it were salt water too, but something about the chlorine just...he felt like he could feel the chemicals on him and in his skin, and it was weirding him out just a little. Ah well, he wouldn't make too big of a fuss about it, just something he noticed.

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"Good, good..." Lance nodded slightly, and for a moment he wondered if he should just let the guy go on his way. After all, who wanted some random stranger accosting you in the hallway and striking up a conversation, maybe he just wanted to get on with his work-out in the gym, or get home and relax, not stand about chatting.

"Sorry, this might sound like a strange question, but..." he began, reasoning that one quick question wouldn't really be that much of a problem, and this guy seemed nice enough. "What's the chlorine level like? I suppose it's hard to tell, I'm just used to fresh water, I don't like it when it's too clean..."

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Eric was well aware of how easy it was for these sorts of accidental run ins to get awkward, and he was definitely sensing that happening. That was always a bit of a shame, seeing as he was very much a sociable person and conversations dying so pathetically was...well, it wasn't something that bothered him too much, it was just a disappointment, really. Still, it happened, and he was thinking that he should probably leave now before it was confirmed--

Wait a second, did he just ask him about the chlorine level and not liking it too quickly? Awkward feeling was officially gone.

"Oh God, me neither," he responded, letting out a little laugh as he realized that this was a stroke of luck. Mind you, he had realized a while ago that a lot of people around here were going to be from places that too different from home, but how many people were really going to think of chlorine when making those kinds of discoveries?

"I practically lived in the ocean back at home, it's a miracle I didn't sprout gills...but anyway, I guess it's not too high. I was able to get used to it, anyway," he continued, ending with a little shrug.

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Lancelot immediately relaxed when it seemed that Eric not only welcomed the question in general, but also actually agreed with him.
He couldn't help but be a little glad, it wasn't that he didn't have friends here, but it would actually be nice to have a couple more, to actually get to know people. After all, he was here in this place, with so many people from so many different worlds, and so far all he really knew were... well, people from back home, even if he'd met them here, that still wasn't exactly getting the most out of this opportunity.

"Oh good," he grinned with relief "I've never swum in the sea myself, but there was this lake, well, it was right there, and it's such a good work out, I was barely out of it."

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"Oh, nice!" Eric stated, his smile broadening. "You know, I don't think I've ever swum in fresh water, now that I think of it. I guess that's kind of what happens when you grow up on an island. Must be nice, though."

So he felt like he had a good chance of making a new friend here. Now that he thought of it, he so far had only made friends who were girls since he had arrived...oh, except Telemain, but he hadn't seen the odd young magician (as he had put it; it all just sounded like magic to Eric, but who was he to say anything?) in a while, and besides, more guy friends wouldn't be bad at all.

"I'm Eric, by the way," he added, sticking out his hand.

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"Can't say I've ever swum in saltwater myself, but I can understand how different it is to that." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the pool behind them. He figured he'd probably find saltwater swimming as odd as he found the chlorinated pool, in comparison to his usual swimming experience, but he had a feeling he'd prefer a more natural experience to the cleanliness.

"Lancelot, call me Lance." He shook the proferred hand with a friendly grin. "You been here long? At the school I mean."
Maybe he should let the guy go and go swim, but he was actually quite enjoying this conversation.

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Eric nodded in agreement about how different just about any "natural" water would be from anything with chlorine. He had a feeling he probably would never be used to it and would be very happy once it was warm enough to go to the beach again.

"Huh, cool name," Eric commented, and luckily for Lance, he really wasn't in too much of a hurry. He was pretty sure Mia could handle Max for a little longer, right? Sure, the first time had been somewhat...well, Max had gotten away. Eric couldn't blame the poor girl, even when he wasn't inexplicably under her spell. Max was a handful, especially now that she had hands. Still, for now he was sure he could spare enough time to talk to a potential new friend.

"Not too long. I actually showed up just in time for prom this year, but I definitely like it so far. How about you? I have a feeling you've been here a bit longer."

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"Cool?" Lance laughed slightly "Well thanks, but it's just my name, I don't think it's really cooler than any other." As far as he was concerned, it was just your average sort of name, because where he came from, it was.

"Yea I've been here... well, ages really, longer than it feels like I think, there's so much going on it's easy to lose track of time." Especially when you have friends like Gawain, who seemed intent on making him so drunk he actually did start forgetting things, "it's good here though, interesting. There's a lot here we wouldn't get the chance to see otherwise."

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Eric shrugged a little. “Yeah, I guess so,” he noted, although he still thought it was pretty cool. Most likely it was because he had never actually met someone with the name. He might have vaguely remembered something similar being brought up in his studies back at home, but considering the fact that he spent most of his studies staring out the window, just wanting to get back outside, the details were more than a little vague.

Still, what was going on now was more important, or at least, he found it more interesting. He nodded in agreement with Lancelot. “Oh, definitely. I had never really gone too far from home before, and there weren’t a whole lot of people my age where I lived…” Well, besides his people, but he really only got to meet up with them once in a while. Eric himself didn’t really care that much about class differences, so when he was out on the town and had a chance to talk to people, he relished it. He figured if he was going to be any good at this whole King thing, he was going to have to figure out what made them tick.

“So it’s a nice change, really, meeting different kinds of people.”

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"I know what you mean," Lance agreed, although it had been a little different for him - he wasn't sure about how many people his age had been around growing up, all he'd known was that he didn't have time for them. He'd been so focused on becoming a knight.... when had that changed? More recently he'd just been so relaxed about it all, he still trained, just not as fiercely as he had before.
Everything seemed to be sort of suspended here, they were all just... on holiday, almost. He would be a knight eventually, and in the meantime he could become one of Arthur's friends.

"It's nice to just relax," he admitted, coming to the realisation that he really was sort of enjoying it "not be so focused all the time."