Whether Tolio had accepted the racism around him or not, the lands of the Basin were still cold to him. Hot springs or no, it was still mainly frigid. Far less than the Steppe, but noticeable. Tolio wished he could go back to those days. Before he met Phaedra, before his King disappeared, before Psyche took over. He'd patched things up with Phaedra in an awkward night of the Grove where the stars blessed them, but it lifted only the slightest of weights from his shoulders. So many other worries plagued him, and they hounded him out of the Basin to warmer lands. Nipping at his heels, barking and snarling like wolves. He couldn't run from them. 

Even so he needed something to lift his spirits, no matter how small. So to the Endless Blue he traveled, seeking the warm expanse of silver sand. Feeling as though ice chipped and melted off his bones the farther south he traveled. Sticking to shadows, fearing another situation such as the one with Avira. Smiling with a soft exhalation of relief and relaxation when bloody hooves touched the granules of sand. Letting his thoughts be tugged away by the warm, gentle wind as it stroked past him lovingly. As if welcoming him home to a place of solitude. 

A solitude that was not as barren as he had expected. Dark stallion stood a few paces into the sea, and Tolio tilted his crown in curiosity. Wings and a horn? He'd never seen a hybrid before. Curiosity officially piqued he strode across the soft sands until it hardened through the influence of water that lapped at his hooves. "Hello? Are you quite alright?" Calling out to the stallion with a worried look, expressive face betraying every emotion. Creased with the softness found in his heart, unable to be impassive to the well being of others. White streaked plume flowed in the wind that came off the ocean as mercury irises remained locked on the other male. 

[[Oh god that was crap.]]

 

Disruption of the rhythmic flow of water alerted the other stallion to his presence, horned cranium shifting so that vibrant emerald irises locked with the soft silver of his own. Visage, unlike Tolio's, betrayed nearly nothing but a vague welcome and interest. How long they stood there merely staring at each other Tolio was clueless to, but he was awkwardly trapped in that intense state that never wavered from his form. Only when he turned his body fully and began to speak was Tolio freed from being pinned beneath his gaze. He'd felt like a helpless butterfly with a feline's flickering tail the only warning he had before the imminent flight and ensuing capture. He'd never really felt so bare before and be wasn't sure be appreciated it. 

Relieved smile softened his face and eyes when assured that the dark draft was perfectly fine. Approaching as he spoke, not that Tolio took any notice. His personal bubble was so small it was nonexistent. The stallion was quite larger than him, something Tolio was not used to. Himself being sixteen hands, he was tall enough to sprout past most of his peers. Yet here he was dwarfed by the other male. Slim frame completely harmless next to his genetically blessed one. 

Embarrassed to have been caught so easily in his thoughts, head turned away slightly. Cheeks warming enough to match color of coat, should it be visible. Stammering, mumbling awkwardly before he could even think to form a word. Was he really such an open book? "Well um...it's complicated?" Giggling helplessly, to show that he really couldn't explain. Face lost and open, indicating how clueless he was in explaining the tumultuous season he had been and still was going through. Any words of use to him, should he have wished to use them, died in his throat as soft feathers brushed his side. It was the exact same move Phaedra had pulled on him, on this very beach. However Tolio was completely gay and was far more aware of another stallion than a mare. So this time his breath caught and he shrunk down slightly, eyes flickering quickly away. Flustered and embarrassed by his own reaction. Shivering slightly at the gentle touch. Gods what the heck was he doing? He hardly even knew the brute! Scolding himself he forced a few words out.  "B-But um....th-thank you." Stuttering slightly as he tried to figure out whether he should stay or run away mortified in complete embarrassment. 

 

Since leaving his herd at the tender age of a year and a half, Tolio had only known a few other scattered gay stallions. He'd crushed on a few of them and vice versa, but he'd never met someone like Loki before. Someone who was so incredibly forward, it turned him into a fumbling mess. He didn't know how to act or react around him and to his stimulus. If he was more subtle, Tolio would have been perfectly fine. But no, he just had to run into the one stallion that was touchy, seductive, teasing. Everything Tolio wasn't. The chestnut stallion simply didn't know what to do. How was he supposed to react?

Thoughts couldn't take hold as large black frame moved closer, crown dipping to be on the same level as Tolio. Tolio stiffened and leaned back a little, mercury eyes wide and lost. Completely helpless to this new form, this new art of seduction that his naive mind didn't understand. It heated his cheeks and made it harder for him to breathe. Soothing laugh made him give the larger stud a small, hopeful smile. Maybe that was the end of the confusing behavior? But no, Tolio wasn't so lucky to be freed from his own confusion. Green eyes bore into his and he flicked them away almost shyly, nervous. He didn't understand. What in the world was the stallion even doing? He may have had a few small crushes but he didn't know what in the world flirting was. He was practically a stone wall in that regard, body acting on its own accord. "It's...a girl loves me, but well...I don't like girls and it was a bit...strange." Mumbling out awkwardly and giggling, turning away a bit to try and catch his breath, figure out what in the world the other male was doing.

His body was reacting without his meaning to, and it was bothering him a bit. Feathers stroked his cheek and Tolio was startled, innocent face staring at Loki. This wasn't his area at all, and the surge of different feelings made him want to turn and high tail it back to the Basin. "I suppose? I'm Tolio," smiling sweetly at the taller stallion, hoping that saying his name would change the situation. Maybe it was a phase?