Cäkäna, his faithful bullwhip was left in the shallows hidden by lilypads. After he had let it's crack shake the ears of all in attendance he had been quick to hide it from any who might wish to take it for themself.
Though when he discovered that he was to be paired with a Reichenbach his heart truly fluttered. The gilded one would never admit it, not ever; such a vibrant, impulsive response to one's name was weak and selcouth in his taught and stiff mind.

Still, The gelding waded nervously into the lakeshore. He daren't seek out the bay from the threshold - that would look far too keen!
Or would it be improper and rude not to?
Giving a snort at the insolence his mind granted him this evening, Toulouse glared angrily down at his curly-haired reflection. It was as if he had been abandoned by all manner of charm and whit simply upon hearing the name of that star-faced stranger, and thus, was left a blonde heartbeat at the water's edge.

Toulouse he read through glazed eyes, his heavy head threatening to tip him off balance. The effect of the apples he'd had throughout the first round of pairings had jeopardised his inclusion in the second round, with the world swaying gently around him, the bonfires flames flaring and dancing enticingly - though not as enticingly as the lone man spun from pale gold and star beams. Reich had kept an eye on him throughout the night under the excuse that he was the "whip-bearer" (and gods, did he want that whip!), but in truth he'd been meaning to take the sly man aside at the end of the night to get to know him better. Reichenbach didn't want to admit it (and potentially didn't realise it) but -- Toulouse was an illusive mix of both of his parents. He held the sly, sharp mind of his sire, and the elegance of his mother, and it all bundled up into a package that was more than alluring in his muddle-minded state... and regardless, the velvet lipped man looked somewhat vulnerable standing alone in the reflective water.

Reich shook his ebony curls out around his chiseled face, coins clinking delicately as he approached in semi-silence. The water was a welcome chill against the burning underneath Reichenbach's mahogany skin, striking through his alcoholic buzz and shifting it so that it settled neatly into his chest. He stood silently next to Toulouse for a long moment, allowing the night air to flirt with each of them, running fingers of cold breeze down his spine and around his hefty neck. Eventually Reich turned, a pleasant smile on his black lips, "I have been meaning to visit you at the Edge - to thank you, for your welcome into Helovia." It was a mediocre beginning, when he felt strangely sombre and more than a little unpredictable. "You and Cäkäna are hard to forget."

"Ah, well, how could I resist a chance to meet all the singles of Helovia?" Reich joked in response, silver eyes gleaming through the darkness as if they were luminescent. The water rippled softly about them, giving the large bay man a moment to collect his thoughts as he watched the inky ripples. Toulouse appeared as a silken shadow through the thick night, and Reich couldn't help but to watch him with ever increasing interest, his eyes lingering silently on the conflicting softness and sharpness of the man, the full sensuality of his voice and the matching fullness of his pink lips. "I plan to visit Tiamat soon," he began, unaware that the blue mare was actually present at the event "I'm looking forward to the long trek to the Basin - the silence, the warmth of a lone fire under the stars, its all very soulful." He grinned at the depth of his words, brushing his shoulder against Toulouse's intimately, "You should join me."

Reichenbachs response caused Toulouse to smirk, and perhaps if you could see through his opalescent fur you might have seen a blush rise to his cheeks. Though, this was not a blush born out of giddiness or flattery - it was one given by jealousy. The idea that Reichenbach might creep away from this party with anyone else lit an inextinguishable fire in the pit of Toulouse's stomach; the kind that caused him to shift uncomfortably and cast his sights away, over his other shoulder to hide his face.

Toulouse was certain it would only get better, but no;
It got worse.
'I plan on visiting Tiamat soon'

Do you now.
"Oh, Tiamat? She lives so far north" Toulouse muttered, straightening his neck and craning his head in Reichenbach's direction. "A sweet girl though. She and I had a lovely time this evening" take that.
Though just when he thought he was losing him, like he had taken the hook and bait with him, Toulouse was met with an intimate touch upon his shoulder and an invite to journey north with him.
"Well," the palomino murmured "... when do you leave?"

If Reich had been more observant, he might have noticed the uncomfortable twist in Toulouse's handsome frame, or the jealousy in his smooth voice. Instead, he was happy watching the curve of his cheekbone, the strange sense of otherness that emanated from his companion. He could not have known that Toulouse was infected with vampirism - though the jovial bay man would not have cared even if he had known. Life was life, and love was love - and in time, perhaps he would share both with the star-spun man beside him. The wind took his heart and twisted it beyond even his far reaching hands at times. "A sweet girl though. She and I had a lovely time this evening", Reich's brow furrowed instantly, his stomach churning with a strange mixture of jealousy and nerves - Tiamat was here? And... dating? ... dating Toulouse? A choked smile twisted his sooty lips in an effort to appear normal. He wasn't entirely sure which felt worse: Tiamat interested in Toulouse, or Toulouse being interested in Tiamat - and neither made him feel like staying at the event. With an effort, he tuned in to Toulouse and answered, somewhat hoarsely "Well, how does tomorrow sound?"