Meadow

Taurus grazed quietly, his unfocused gaze loosely held to the ground itself as he disassociated. The sun had finally found him, and while it's rays were not nearly as strong here as they were on Salem, it was still a welcome change.

The sound of approaching hoofbeats drew his attention from the blank refuge he'd been hiding in, and he paused in his grazing to turn toward the sound apprehensively, his ears flicking forward and back. He hadn't really expected to be approached at all, if he were honest. Not because he wasn't conventionally attractive (his once-gold patterned coat had begun to skew silver, giving the colored parts of his hide an almost metallic glitter), but because he had nothing interesting to offer. He knew that he did not carry himself with the swagger of a herd stallion, and he had made sure to settle himself far enough off the path to not be in the way.

And yet here she was, already speaking to him as if she were certain that her greeting would be reciprocated.

Taurus hastily swallowed the remaining bite of grass and appraised the svelte mare in front of him. Where he was fading from the world - both in mind and coloration - she seemed bright in comparison. The violent red of her markings spread out across the whole of her body, gathering more thickly in certain places while leaving other sections nearly bone white. It was striking. She was striking, but the guilt that followed that observation was as instantaneous as it was all-consuming.

He had no right.

Swallowing, he offered a smile that lasted a mere moment and then introduced himself in return. "I'm Taurus." The silence that followed was inescapable as he waited for her to explain why she'd approached, but when no explanation was forthcoming, he shifted uneasily on his hooves and then tried to bridge the gap. "How, uh, how are you, Mathilde?"