He wasn't sure what he'd landed himself in. At first it had just been another odd encounter (and those, you had plenty of in Helovia), which had quickly turned into somewhat of a mouth-fight, and just as quickly it had turned into.. this. Whatever "this" was. He'd never known himself to be quite so kind—if he tried to look back on himself.. if he truly dredged up the memories of his past self leading up to Mirage invading... He'd almost been deranged. Feral. Every action had been lined with that cold darkness, his face the stage for many expression yet few of them honest, or deep; he'd locked away his secrets but smiled, smiled at the world even as he stood poised to strike just behind it. Oh, when he'd been with his herd, or those he otherwise deemed companionable, he'd not been quite so cold, quite so cruel at heart.. but whenever the opportunity had presented itself, he'd taken it. He'd taken it and his charming little smile had simply intensified, eyes going wicked as all the warmth of sun-lit snow froze into midwinter's ice.

Coming back from the time rift, he'd sought the stability of glaciers, that icy mask once more, but somewhere along the line he'd forgotten just how wild he had been: how untamed, how heedless of rules. In the light he'd been nothing but a charming gentleman, if somewhat of a recluse, and in the veil of such they had never heard the snaps of rules breaking behind his back. Stress had worn him out, weighed him down, to the point where the only thing he remembered, and sought, was the frigidity, impenetrable walls to hide behind. And what am I now? Aurelia's eyes had fallen, only to rise again. Her tongue had been defeated into silence, but her gaze was warm. It unnerved him. It unnerved him, but he didn't show it, because wasn't that what Mauja did? Hid himself behind his wall and always did what he thought was best—for others? He didn't know whether it was noble or pathetic.

He waited for her to say something, and he waited in vain. Silence held between them, his reverie and revelations locked away behind blue irises. Here in their glade the air was both warm and light, yet the woods around him seemed to darken, mocking his eventual journey to leave them again. And still she said nothing, and he said nothing, and the seconds trickled by like curious, meaningless things. His head remained tilted, the edge of curiosity coming out again, nosy as ever about the secrets of others. Somehow he felt like the burden of saying something lay on him, an invisible weight against his shoulders trying to prompt his mind into finding something, anything, to say. Slowly, he tilted his head the other way instead, peering at her with his usual open expression, feigning a kind of honesty he knew wasn't there. "So.. if I ask about your group again.. will I get more of an answer this time?" he finally said, voice light, as if half-joking and expecting another rebuttal.