For several moments still the towering, lanky young man merely continued to peer down at the sand around his bare feet. His lips continued to part, muttering words only he alone could hear- much less understand- and yet that awareness of his surroundings existed still. Tobias, perhaps, far more aware of the world then he ever truly let on and yet, why would he? Others were so inclined to do things for him when he appeared incapable of them. The boy deceptively cunning in every sense. Tetradore perhaps one of the few beings unwilling to tolerate such things from him and yet with the lack of his Alpha and brother the boy was content to express those distinctly more animalistic traits. Birdie, after all, was his possession, his mate, Tobias so often intolerable of other men around her. Especially those inclined to call her 'beautiful'. His head abruptly lifted upward to eye the fellow once more, those near black eyes meeting Tarquin's own in that unspoken retort and yet his gaze shifted near as quickly to Raven herself, the woman's cheeks flushing that bright pink hue as his own features formed a distinct scowl.

He liked it when his mate's features seemed to find that shade of colour. The delinquent of a man so having come to associate that simple look with her happiness. His grip upon emotions, even his own, a decidedly obscure thing and yet he had long since learned to associate some of those more basal emotions with those facial expressions. The boy far better at perceiving that which remained unsaid. His read of body language far better than his understanding of words. After all, words so had a habit of jumbling within his thoughts, of becoming lost and tangled until he hardly cared to listen to them anymore. The tone of someone's voice so often gave away that intent all the same. Tarquins tone was decidedly.....passive. Little about the other man holding any true aggression and yet how he disliked others so stirring that colour to his mates cheek. That was his own job, Tobias was sure of it.

Tarquin hardly pulled away from the hand that reached for that single lock of hair, Tobias content to examine it even as the fellow chuckled. The Leopard releasing it a moment later to return to his own apparent fascination with the sand, oblivious to that look exchanged between his companion and this stranger. At least until the other man chose to respond to his declaration that Birdie was his own. Tobias glancing upward once more with an almost feline-like abruptness to peer beneath those lashings of dark, unruly hair so desperately in need of cutting. Not that any could truly get near the boy with scissors. His gaze narrowed slightly.

"I am not....man. I am.....Tobi."

That he had so believed Tarquin was calling him 'Man' by name was surely apparent. His attention continuing to linger upon the other fellow now as he made some effort to explain his presence on the beach and Raven offered her own introduction. That mention of the mans name however, readily seemed to prompt a sudden and near alarming grin upon Tobias' own features. His head tilted suddenly to the side in a gesture near dog-like before that lopsided look seemed to see his lip quirk upward. Tobias never truly had mastered smiling properly.

"Tar-quin....Tar-quin.....Tar-quin...why do you.....talk.....like that?"

The man's name was, seemingly, some source of delight to the fellow. Tobias repeating it several times over as if he somehow enjoyed the sound of the words even if he appeared incapable of saying the man's name without that stutter in between. Tarquins clear accent another source of apparent fascination. Tobias clearly holding no issue with querying another on why they spoke differently even despite his own clear shortcomings in that department. His toes continued to curl in that damp, grainy sand, as if flexing claws he no longer wore. His attention continued to remain upon the other man- at least until Raven's sudden words. He hardly cared to hear most of them and yet he seemed to seize upon that somewhat implied invitation. One eye lifting slightly upwards before that infamous scowl returned with a fury.

"He is....not staying....with us!"

Tetradore, he was sure, would be equally displeased about it. Tobias displeased in the presence of any other man whom was inclined to call his mate 'beautiful'. The boy having failed to perceive that such a compliment was simply that and that Raven might very well enjoy another being displaying such manners towards her. Tobias' own understanding so tending to be near black and white in this instance. The sudden cries of those fisherman pulling into the pier with their boats bumping against those wooden balustrades that surrounded the docks and those nets full to bursting with fish seemed, thankfully perhaps, to distract the boy all over again. He could smell that seafood so freshly caught. That inner feline practically purring. If he could get a fish big enough Birdie might cook it for him and for Tetra. She might make it into soup or bake it and let him have the bones. His attention shifting between Birdie and Tarquin then before back to those fisherman. Tobias was, so unfortunately, well known to those local fishers. Most of them already having spotted him upon the sand and displaying a clear intent to protect their catch, the young man content to grumble once more. Those dark eyes settling at last upon Tarquin again. His very demeanor so suddenly (and suspiciously) seeming to change. Tobias almost....polite now.

"Tar-Quin are....you....hungry?"

madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push