"I'm sure," Kurama agreed easily. More likely the original owner was dead, but that wasn't something she needed to know for certain, even if she likely suspected. "But it's yours now."

"Lucky me." Peggy grinned a bit. "One day I'll even be good with it."

"I look forward to it," Kurama said with a small smile. "I'm sure you'll be quite skilled."

"Eventually. Given enough practice." Peggy grinned a bit. "It's definitely still a work in progress."

"I'll try not to distract you from it too much then," Kurama said with a teasing smile.

Peggy snorted quietly. "Pretty sure you're distracting even when you don't mean to be," she said, only partially teasing.

"So I've been told," Kurama replied. "No matter what I do, I fear I will always be distracting." He grinned a bit to let her know he was still teasing her.

Peggy snorted quietly at that and shook her head. "Such a crime," she teased. "Always distracting people. Poor you."

"The very least of my crimes, I assure you," Kurama replied, grinning just a bit.

Peggy snickered at that. "You sticking around for a while or just on your way to do your rounds of the gardens?" she asked, half turning her attention back to the target in front of her.

"Just passing through today, I'm afraid," Kurama replied. "I just wanted to drop in before I went on my way."

"Ah." Peggy smiled a bit. "Well, have fun wherever you're going. Don't get into too much trouble."

"I make no promises," Kurama replied, grinning teasingly.

Peggy snickered at that and shook her head. "Just so long as you don't need rescuing later," she teased.

"I appreciate the concern," Kurama said. He smiled at her. "I doubt I'll be long."

Peggy nodded. "Have fun," she agreed with a little smile. "I'll see you later."

Kurama smiled and leaned in to lay a chaste kiss on her cheek before turning and leaving.

Peggy blinked, thoroughly derailed by that, and blushed. She didn't manage to recover from that for a couple minutes, and then she went back to work.

Meanwhile and elsewhere, Winter was definitely getting better with her teleporting, having the chance to perfect it as she followed Hiei around looking for the soul-cutting sword. She was seeing a lot more of the Makai than she'd anticipated, and she was actually having fun.

She was starting to notice that Hiei's prickly mood was mellowing out some, as well.

Hiei was never going to be the best for companionship. But he was actually starting to enjoy spending time with Winter, rather than simply tolerating her.

Winter was actually enjoying his companionship, since she knew what to expect from him. And now that she was more finessed in her teleporting, she was able to keep up with him when he decided he wanted to put on some speed, or go over particularly rough terrain.

"So, think we're starting to zero in on the sword?" she asked him.

"It's possible." Hiei shrugged. "I won't be certain until we're much closer."

"Are we still even on the right trail?" Winter asked, stretching a bit. She grinned teasingly. "Not on some wild goose chase?"

Hiei snorted softly. "We're on the track," he said firmly. "I just can't tell how far away it is." He shook his head at her, though a faint smirk was tugging at his lips.

"Excellent," Winter said. She pulled her hair out of its tie, shook it out a bit, and then rebound it. "Are you enjoying yourself, at least? Tracking it down?"