Duck Lake the echo of some foreign song

The lyrical voice caught the girl completely off guard, having Lainie step back quickly before spinning. Cold mud encircled both rear ankle, now, and the sucking mud was absolutely disgusting as she stepped towards the male, chuffing her own greeting. Distracted with finding her way back to solid(ish) ground, the girl's mud-tipped tail whipped behind her as she attempted to pull herself away from the muck.

This endeavour too was doomed to fail, however, and she lurched backwards as her front paws slid against the thawing ice again, rear meeting the mud with a particularly loud sound. Biting her lip once, she set about reclaiming the fast fleeing shred of her dignity, surveying the male with an expression that said only this is fine before trying for a "hello"