It did not occur to Şahin that this visitor might be the first to wish to do him harm. He had a natural tendency to believe everyone was as warm and friendly as he was, despite having ben proven wrong on multiple occasions. So while the young stallion sputtered a reply, the Nez Perce cocked one hind hoof in the sand and relaxed. “Yes,” Şahin said with a loose grin. “I’ve been here for over a year now, I think, but the days all do seem to run together.” It was the heat that did it. Warm, balmy, and consistent: almost every day looked the same. Sometimes there were clouds in the sky and sometimes there weren’t. The storms that passed by were either far away at sea or relentless in their advance against the beach and inner land of Paradise.

It was the sort of monotony that he had once tried to avoid, but with his aging body now protesting the cold the blanketed palomino didn’t mind the consistency. “Who’s your grandmother?” he asked, purely curious. “I don’t know anyone who’s lived here before. The place was empty when I found it but— well. I can’t imagine it would ever stay that way for long, not when it’s this perfect.”

The stallion turned his head to look out over the ocean. Paradise and perfection seemed to be interchangeable terms for him lately. There was nothing he would change about his home, except, perhaps, to add more company to it. Şahin needed a variety of horses to interact with, which was just one more reason why he did not view the younger stallion as a threat. The boy’s lack of aggressive body language helped, of course, but in addition to that Şahin just assumed everyone was down for conversation. “I take it you aren’t from Atlantis?” he asked as he glanced back at the brindled stallion.