Nick sat across from Judy, watching her carefully, trying to figure out what exactly was troubling her. Currently, she was starting blankly at the table, and had the most intense expression of concentration he had ever seen. This was not exactly what he expected from her on a Sunday morning brunch. There had been a pause in their conversation just moments ago, but they had simply run out of things to discuss, it wasn't the sort of pause that would warrant this type of behavior.
He slowly raised his glass to take a sip, her gaze switching to his lips while he drank before quickly reverting back to the table. He set the glass back down carefully, watching her slight facial movements, hoping for some kind of a clue as to what had her so pensive.
She was still considering how to approach the maneuver, trying to get the tongue shape right. She didn't notice Nick staring, and she slowly reached for her glass, lifting it slightly. She hesitated for a moment, leaving the glass a few inches above the table. After a short pause she continued lifting it to her muzzle, bringing her head down to meet the glass. She then stuck out her tongue, dipping it in the water.
Nick was thoroughly confused at this point, but almost as quickly as it had started, this strange moment ended, Judy pulling her tongue back into her mouth. The swiftness of the movement surprised her. It was almost instinctual: once her tongue was in the water, her brain had done the rest.
"You feeling ok Carrots?" Nick asked, his face twisted in concern and confusion. She finally realized how odd it must have looked, and laughed, facepawing for a moment.
"It was something I read... apparently that's how our ancestors drank," she said, looking at him as his confusion softened slightly.
"Really?" He asked, looking away briefly. The move she had just pulled seemed fairly inefficient for intaking water, perplexing him.
"Yeah, they put their tongue in and scooped it into their mouth... it felt pretty natural actually, it kinda surprised me."
"Were you building up the courage to try it or something?" He asked, still not sure why she had looked so intense before. She hesitated before answering, the topic a strange one.
"I was trying to get my tongue in the right position..." she said, embarrassed. He raised an eyebrow.
"Position?"
"I don't know... it's kinda hard to describe... like folding the tip of your tongue back into a scoop, " she said. He smirked.
"Why don't you just show me?" He asked, lifting his eyebrows suggestively.
"Would you keep it in your pants for just one second while I tell you something interesting?" She snarked, making him laugh.
"So what do you do?" He asked, genuinely curious now.
"I don't really know, I was trying to get the right shape for a while but when I tried it, it just happened."
"Well, I don't want to go in blind..."
"Just, like, pull the tip of your tongue back, kinda."
He developed a similarly intense expression as he manipulated his tongue in his mouth, unable to really tell what he was doing. He lifted up his glass and dipped his tongue in, quickly lapping up a single scoop of water, Judy laughing at the sight.
"Hey, it worked!" He said, surprised.
"Do it again!" Judy said, quite entertained. His tongue shot out and lapped up another sip, the two immediately laughing.
A lone jaguar nearby saw the exchange, and looked at his own glass of water. He picked it up and looked around to see if anyone was watching, soon deciding to dip his tongue in. The attempt was futile, and he set the glass back down after failing to lap successfully. He looked at the few mammals who were now staring at him.
Of course it doesn't work for me...