He was beginning to regret his curiosity. She was bafflingly, annoyingly, irrevocably weird, in a way that made him wonder if she was stupid. Or if she just didn't want to admit to being stupid. Or shove her stupidity over on him; she certainly did her best at that, looking at him intently and rolling her eyes as if he was the stupid one. Still unimpressed, his ears clenched tighter against his neck. Maybe it had entirely escaped her mighty notice, but if she wanted to know something in particular, the best way to get to know it was to ask for it, and not something else and then pretend he was the idiot for not understanding. And then refusing to acknowledge her own poor judgment. On the whole, it was very unimpressive, and his half-a-mind to just leave her was beginning to grow into more than just half a mind. He had nothing to gain by talking to idiot girls.

But alas, he was just about to learn that he still had somewhat a temper.

At his words she spun on the spot, face contorting into an angry, snarling mask, ears flat against her slender neck. For a moment Mauja just stared at her in bewilderment, wondering why expressing his lack of interest was such a criminal act, but her anger was contagious, and his eyes turned to blazing flint. "Or each time I have, it's just gone to hell!" he snarled at her; the hell, why did he have to be the one defending himself in this? Was it somehow his fault that he didn't want mares bothering him? Wasn't it enough that he'd barely avoided a disaster with Psyche, that his first-born daughter had run off when his son was born, and that Leyra had made him choose between a guilty conscience and promising her a child, or.. or.. damn, everything! Was it somehow his fault, so that he had to justify why he didn't want some half-grown mare running after his balls? Shouldn't she just be the one to accept that maybe every man didn't want her attention? His teeth were gritted and nostrils wide, but she went on and came up with some far-fetched tale and sort of hopped up into his face. Definitely in his personal space. Mauja pulled his head even higher and stared down at her with narrowed eyes.

"Well, are you gay?" she prompted, and even as all he did was stare he somehow spoke: "So what if I am?" The underlying currents of his temper remained around the edges of his voice, a lacing both hot and cold. And besides.. it wasn't even true, the implication of what he said, but frankly, he couldn't care less. So what if he told some random, ditzy girl that he was gay? It wasn't like he actually cared, anyway; just the idea of getting physical with anyone was enough to make his mind turn itself inside-out with terror, and if you only left emotions.. then what did it matter, as long as your hearts beat together? Love, that pesky emotion, was love, regardless. And his forays into love were few and far between, and definitely uncomfortable, and mind-wrenching, and just generally something he rather wished hadn't happened to him.

Some of his flame had burnt itself out, leaving him less volatile, but no less intent of protecting himself from this...weird, vexing mare. He pinned her with an icy stare. "But I wouldn't be interested in the attention of a half-grown stranger anyway," he added for good measure. You know, just in case she's got gender-switching magic up her sleeve.