Provocation was a lowly means of amusing the self, but the stunted Pegasus retort had been so easy to foresee that it drew a chuckle from Mauja. He didn't bother responding to it, just gave another infuriating little smile as the conversation rose and fell, weaving its own pattern in the air and in the minds. The pup slid onto the floor, adding its own flavor to the sounds, the click of claws on a wet floor as she scampered in underneath her bondmate. The King's eyes drifted onto the black-furred creature, listening to Enki's grumbles with a patient, wistful sort of look in his distant gaze. "Perhaps we've traded intelligence for virility," he murmured in a distracted fashion, flicking his tail behind him. He hadn't wanted to barb the Pegasus for his rather unusual appearance, but this time he'd actually asked for a snide retort. He gave a shrug. "But if so, I think you're at the better end of the bargain." Perhaps it was well that Knox butted into the conversation then, re-arranging its flow entirely, for it certainly would keep more stupid words from rolling off Mauja's tongue. It was a surprising turn the conversation took, but not as surprising as the look on Enki's deformed face. That was more wondrous than anything else, to watch the grumpy old bastard transform into - something, something like the look on one's face when thinking about good old times that would never come again, like a fond remembrance of one's childhood...

Psyche had been his lover and his favorite, but he had never dared to love her. If she had stayed true to her word of being different and had stuck around, perhaps it would've grown into it - he had, after all, been ready to give a crown to her and raise her to the position of Queen. But by then, she'd disappeared, taking their daughter with her, and Mauja's marble heart and grown cold and empty again, locking away every emotion that found no outlet. Where Enki's face grew dreaming, Mauja's grew tinged with sadness. Still, there was a mirrored quality of wistfulness to his voice when he spoke his own sentiments. "If you always run west into the sunset you'll never see the sunrise. Looking for it will just bring it further from you, and when you find it, you'll want to capture it, but the more you grasp after it, the faster it slips through your hooves and flee. It would be like taming a storm, and what would a storm be if it was tame?" He shook his head, heavy heart rattling around in its stone cage of a chest. It was a miracle it didn't drop straight through his bones, the way it felt, a cold, painful lump that seemed to stumble and stutter in its rhythm. It held nothing of power, only frantic, erratic spurts of energy aimed at a creature that could be anywhere, dead or alive, a young girl who had been whisked out from under his nose. What did he know of love, but pain?

He found it marvelous that he shared Enki's sentiments in it. "It is better left alone," he said in a tired voice, watching the Pegasus shuffle backwards yet not finding it in himself to care. The alabaster stallion didn't move, didn't follow, didn't push and press; had the subject of love not come up, he likely would've matched the stunted creature's steps with his own, taunting and pushing into his space, but now he was just tired. He didn't want the colt's questions, didn't want to explain. He just wanted Snö back.

Tired and guarded eyes settled on Enki again, a humorless smile drifting onto his face. "He's right, you know," he said, clearly directing it at the black colt and his pup, while just watching him from the corner of his eye. After all, he was in Mauja's line of sight. In a defeated voice he echoed Enki. "Do not want for it." Then you'll never know the pain of losing it.