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Ah, the power of words. Ausdauer hadn't meant anything snarky by his comment; it had been uttered in the spirit of amusement, nothing more. But Atlas was proving to be one of the most easily-read mare he'd ever met, and each emotional change was displayed for the world to see on her face. Or maybe that was just Aus' own opinion. Either way, it was no trouble for him to see that he'd managed to upset her, the contented expression vanishing from her face in seconds.

At least the sour expression didn't last long; he'd have hated to have utterly ruined the encounter! "Oh, YOU'VE been trying to find someone for him? Yes, we only met that one time, but he seemed old enough to make his own romantic decisions, or lack thereof. Maybe he doesn't want a mare, ever considered that?" Devil's advocate, meet Ausdauer! "Maybe he wants a stallion? Or a starfish. Or...no one!" He finished with a dramatic wing gesture before breaking off with a grin. "Seriously, though, doesn't that seem a little...odd? Cruising on behalf of your brother? Though sister would be weird as well, I'm just not sure if it's as weird as you soliciting mares. Unless that's your thing," he hastily backpedaled, realizing this was a prime topic for him to waltz into insensitivity territory. "Not that I hope that's your thing, or even suspect that's your thing, but it takes all types to make a world, right? Don't judge."

Smooth. Very smooth.

"Judgement? Why on earth would I be judging the somewhat creepy-close antics of siblings getting up close and personal with their siblings' potential future romantic partners? There's nothing weird in that arrangement at all, really." Ok, perhaps there might not be actual judgement in his tone, but Ausdauer couldn't argue with the fact he found the whole thing...strange. In the course of his travels, he'd seen all sorts of things; an Angeni had to learn to roll with the punches or, as the situation might be, the local customs. Heck, that wasn't even something limited to Angenis; any Soquili who made it their business to be out and about had to learn to be accepting, or at least to keep their mouths shut, lest they accidentally offend someone.

And since Ausdauer had never been good that the whole 'keeping his mouth shut' thing, being accepting had been par for the course. But just because he understood that different people had different habits didn't make the whole thing logical to him. He'd never understood arranged matings, either.

Though he'd have to say that at the moment, the awkward 'you want to choose your brother's mate' conversation seemed a veritable safe haven to the hornet's nest of innuendo he'd managed to stumble into. Normally he loved innuendo, but that was when he was the one remarking ON it, not the one making the actual remark! "Whatever your thing is is your thing to...be into, for lack of a better phrase. Have I mentioned I'm not the most eloquent Soquili, best intentions aside?" Once again, Ausdauer broke into his rumbling laughter, matching Atlas' grin with one of his own. "You're a lovely mare, so I'm sure whoever you choose to pursue is a lucky...Soquili? Am I at least right there?" He asked with a grin.

"Oh, surely I don't sound THAT bad, Atlas." Still, Ausdauer had to chuckle at the mental image brought about by Atlas' words; just add a few strategically placed ferns and other tall plants for her to hide behind, and you'd have the perfect Soquili secret agent, on patrol for her quarry. "Besides, I never said anything about a fee; why would you charge your own brother a fee? That sounds rather crass, if you ask me." Chuckling again, Ausdauer made a move as though to lean against something; fortunately, he caught himself before committing to the action, realizing there was nothing around to lean on, not even a shrub. Obviously Atlas' contented appearance was inspiring thoughts of relaxing in his mind as well!

"Selectively eloquent; yes, I think I'll take that. Beggars can't be choosers when it comes to compliments, and I'm definitely a beggar when it comes to compliments about my speaking skills." Ausduaer snorted there; not only were the compliments on that subject few and far between, they weren't usually so much true compliments when they arrived as backhanded insults: 'Well done, Ausdauer, you managed to make that statement sound much less foolish than usual.'

But that was neither here nor there, he reminded himself. Today was a good day, this was a good interaction, and all was well with the world. Provided he could wrench that foot out of his mouth and keep it out! "I am not personal. Or meaning to be personal. Or prying. I am..."

Fortunately, good humor could cover a lot of social blunders; even though Ausdauer's luck had run out (Atlas had finally caught onto the faux pas he'd been trying to cover!), he wasn't the type to stammer and shuffle. Nope; if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with B.S! "I am merely making conversation, like the polite stallion I am," he finished regally.

Honestly, it was a good thing Ausdauer wasn't the sensitive sort, he thought with amusement, because for some reason Atlas seemed to be spacing him out more and more! Either he'd have to try harder to be interesting, or he'd just have to concede this conversation to whatever fascinating thoughts were currently occupying the mare's mind.

Well, that was a no brainer; Ausdauer did NOT concede anything, thank you very much! No doubt she was just just being polite herself, acknowledging to herself that he was making a very big muddle of their current conversation and leaving him to dig himself out on his own. How very courteous of her...to a point. With a solemn expression only slightly marred by a twitching lip, he responded innocently to her question with, "You were probably slipping and falling in the mud. Don't worry, though, I've heard that slipping and falling can be very distracting, so there is absolutely no offense taken." Atlas might be willing to let him dig his own way out of his muddle, but Ausdauer himself had never been good at leaving well enough alone! And on that front...

"So, I have to ask; am I just proving that dull, or do you just need a good nap," he queried with a full-fledged grin. "Because you seem to be zoning out on me a lot; if I had an ego, I think it would be hurting." A shameless lie, that; he most certainly DID have an ego, it was just very well protected! "No one I've ever met would really want to be considered dull, after all."

At the familiar shortening of his name, Ausdauer couldn't help but grin. Obviously Atlas was rapidly becoming comfortable with him, which was flattering in and of itself. But beyond that, it was simply nice. He might not be the most sappy or sentimental of stallions; he'd always had a bit of a 'frat boy' mentality. But that didn't mean that he didn't like to know he was getting through to someone, especially someone as generally likeable as Atlas.

"Well, I'd say it has to be equally rough on the menfolk, being cursed to snore so loudly that it keeps others awake. I'm not a snorer myself, but I've been around them enough to know that I couldn't hack that sort of company long term. Though I appreciate you telling me about your snoring problem; I'd really hate to think you found me so uninteresting I was putting you to sleep," he finished with a chuckle. "I have an ego, after all." Massive understatement there, but the truth all the same. And didn't it take a big man to admit he had an ego? The truly conceited ones tried to pretend they didn't, he'd always noticed.

Still, in spite of his jesting his voice had softened slightly; he might be a tease, but he was a polite one who wasn't going to antagonize a drowsy mare. So he remained as he was, solid and strong, as Atlas came over and settled down. "You can sleep if you want, just so you know; my ego can hack that since it knows it's not the cause." And to show just how accommodating said ego was, he proceeded to spread one of his own massive wings over Atlas, effectively blanketing her in feathers.

Ausdauer was, and always had been, a flirt. This was old news to anyone that knew him well, and a major bone of contention between Ausdauer and his old mentor, Regelus. But Aus could no more change his ways that he could change his appearance; he was what he was, without shame.

But there was flirting, and there was being a gentleman. It wasn't often Ausdauer had the opportunity to BE a gentleman, but stranger things had happened in the Kawani lands. Right now, he was in a unique position to enjoy the benefits of being both a flirt AND a gentleman, and he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it. Atlas was proving to be an interesting mare; in their first meeting, he had liked her well enough, but joined at the hip with her brother as she'd first seemed, his opinion hadn't gone any further. Today, on her own, she was proving to be a pleasant surprise. So he was ok lying there and letting her drift off. He was already soggy, so there was no discomfort to be had there.

So as Atlas drifted off, Ausdauer remained as he was, a stable, solid foundation against which to lean.

"Well, it depends on your definition of 'long,'" Ausdauer said with a cheerful smile at Atlas. It had been a few hours, to be sure, but he'd spent that time more or less awake, awake and preoccupied with various thoughts. It had been no hardship to remain in his comfortable upright position; Atlas was small enough that supporting her was easy; he had no reason to want her wakking rushed.

That said, it was pretty comical when she woke up; it was as though she was lurching dramatically from sleep to wakefulness while being chased by the hounds of hell. He didn't have a lot of experience with females waking at his side, but he doubted they were usually so...animated! "But however long you slept, you clearly needed it. Falling in the mud can be very exhausting, I wouldn't sweat it."

For his own part, he thought newly awakened Atlas looked rather fetching, drool aside. He couldn't speak for others, but he rather liked the rumpled look; it was a little less formal and quite pleasant to boot. "Besides, I'm in no hurry. Don't leap to your feet if all you're going to do is tip over; take your time and wake up a bit!" Smiling companionably, he gave Atlas' shoulder a little pat with his near wing. "Once you're a bit more in control of yourself, we can see about getting some supper for ourselves. I'm thinking..." he said, making a great show of looking around, "Grass."