He hadn't even bothered to move at first. The more he thought about his situation, the grosser it got. He had seen crabs, flies, fleas, seagulls, and all sorts of things crawling around on the sand earlier. They were probably all crawling through his fur now. Minus the seagulls, they probably were not in his fur. And the germs, oh god the germs. Ash was grateful for the thin layer of cloth between most of his body and the ground, but began to fret as he thought about the stains it could produce. In reality, there wasn't much sand could do in the way of stains, but he was on the ground and that was enough to set his mind into a state of panic.
Thankfully there was a distraction. Ashbrooke sniffed idly at the air, picking up on something weird. It didn't smell like salt or rotting flesh, so it obviously did not belong on the beach. It was nice, whatever it was. Light and airy, with a hint of rose, perhaps. He silently prayed it was a giant bottle of levitating shampoo coming to save the day. His happy dream was cut short by a long series of outrageous giggles. His ears flipped up and he started to move, but instantly froze once the laughter turned to words. He looked silly? Oh god, someone had seen him. He cringed, wondering how he could escape. He wished he could just bury himself in the sand and hide. As dirty as it was, at least he wouldn't have to face this new stranger.
Ashbrooke's dark blue eyes traveled upwards to find the wolf who had mocked him. He was in Optime form. Good. He always felt awkward talking to others when they were on all fours. The second most noticeable attribute was the boy's clothing. Or lack thereof, as was the case here. He was wearing only a thin pair of panties, which struck Ash as odd. Not because the guy was wearing panties, but rather, because it instantly made Ash feel overdressed. He did not think for an instant that a boy marching around in panties could be considered weird. The white male pushed himself up into a sitting position, anxiously giving his head a shake to free his hair of any granules of sand that may have clung to him.
He then looked up at the boy again, this time finding it much easier now that the world was right-side-up. He was awfully slender, and his coat blended in nicely with the color of the beach. Mostly a dull greyish hue, but there were all sorts of soft browns and reds scattered throughout as well. At almost six feet, Ash often found himself feeling short compared to other Optimes, but this stranger was considerably shorter than him. He had nice slender hips, and smooth limbs unburdened with bulky muscles. Even his calves were shapely. That, combined with his giggling and clothing choice, would probably confuse most. But Ash recognized him immediately as male. He had struggled all his life with his own feminine body, and was able to recognize similar traits in this guy. Simply because he was taller, Ash felt he could revel in the strange delight of being slightly more masculine than someone else. How odd.
"You look pretty." Ash had not even planned on speaking. At first the words startled him, not even realizing they had come out of his own mouth. His eyes widened in horror and he quickly tried to fumble for more words to complete the sentence. "Silly too." There. "You look pretty silly too." No, no wait, that was bad too. He didn't want to go around insulting people he didn't even know. Oh god, this guy probably hated him already. He had messed everything up, hadn't he? First he was laying on the ground like an idiot, and now he was insulting people. Why did he even come here? Of course he was going to mess things up. It was better to just stay back in his own pack and try to stay out of everyone's way. "I mean, no. No, you don't look silly, I uh-" He fidgeted, unable to summon any other words to rescue him.
