The welcoming smile turned slightly quizzical as the painted draft appeared to struggle to produce words. Her answer was just as vague as his own had been, if not more, and the ever curious part of him had to wonder why. Was she still hesitant to speak to him, after the misunderstanding with the kidnapping? He hoped not; that matter should have been resolved long ago, and if anything the stallion had hoped that their adventure in the Marsh had sealed some kind of mutual camaraderie.

The more Tor struggled with what to say, the more curious the silver-coated equine became. "Yes? Of course you can, we're friends aren't we? You don't need an excuse to spend time with me, I always have time for you." He tilted the head slightly to the side as the smile grew warmer, intending the words as kind and reassuring - completely oblivious to his own good looks, how such phrasing of words could be interpreted, or what kind of effect they might have. Even though he almost always attracted the presence of females for some reason, Lace had never learned to take advantage of that; too much the gentleman, the silver knight was just that - polite, friendly, kind. And rarely more.

As such, the question that suddenly spluttered from the lips of his friend was completely unexpected. Golden eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment the seasoned warrior, the noble glazier and urbane stallion so wise to the ways of the world, found himself rendered speechless, completely taken aback by the question.

Astonishing. Were they so good friends that a question like that would be reasonable? No, wait, that kind of question could never be reasonable. Why was she asking? Was it just curiosity, was she trying to find out if he had weaknesses, did she have someone in mind? For a fraction of a second his mind struggled to recall the faces of eventual mares that could be connected to him and thus might be in danger, but then he reeled himself in. Tor was a friend, remember? There was no way she'd be out to harm him, what was he thinking?

Hiding the confusion behind a mask of thoughtfulness, Lace's eyes avoided Tor's gentle brown ones, voice slightly aloof as he tried to reply in a reasonable way.
"What is love..?" he said with voice that trailed slightly, as if he wanted to avoid the topic entirely but couldn't find a good enough reason. "When Fajira's egg was handed to me, it was because I promised her kin to care for her, for as long as we both breathe, through good and bad. Unconditionally and with all my heart... But since our minds are so intertwined, can you really call it love? I love her like I love myself - no, more than myself; when she dies, so will I, for we are a part of one another, and one cannot exist when the other is gone."

As he spoke the gilded orbs slowly returned to look at the mare, warm and bright as he explained the nature of the bond to her. It didn't answer her question though; in all honesty, he wasn't sure what to say.

"I suppose I do care for the Qian, too. Somehow they've become family to me, as much as they are to Mirage. I care for her as well, we are friends and she knows me better than most... " He was struggling, it was becoming more and more apparent for each sentence, that was delivered with a slightly questioning tone, as if trying to glean from her expressions when she'd heard the reply to what she asked about.

"I... suppose I love a great deal of people" he finished with a slight shrug, more or less giving up the mental fishing for faces, names and reasons. Shifting the weight between his feet, the eyes narrowed the tiniest bit as he looked back at the healer, as if she was a puzzle he hadn't managed to solve.

"What about you?"