"I know!" Winter agreed. "How unfair is that? I need to know what he uses, I want my hair to be that amazing."

"Pretty sure it's something to do with spirit energy," Peggy said with a grin. "I wonder if it's actually as soft as it looks?"

Winter snorted.

"I leave that one entirely up to you," she said, grinning.

"Oh no, that was an idle wish, not a serious one," Peggy said, shaking her head almost frantically. "I'd probably get my hand eaten if I tried."

Winter snickered.

"Don't lie to me," she said, teasingly. "I know very well how you think."

Peggy stuck her tongue out. "Okay, it's a serious wish, but it's a serious wish on the 'this is seriously never going to happen so I can happily fantasize about it' list," she argued.

Winter grinned.

"Better," she said. She paused for a moment. "I honestly can't tell if I'm glad or disappointed that Hiei hasn't shown up yet. Like on the one hand, great, zero chance to make a fool of myself even further. But on the other hand, clearly the universe doesn't like me."

"Or, more likely, is just waiting to torment you at a better moment," Peggy pointed out. "I mean, with all the people we've already seen? He's bound to turn up at some point."

"This is true," Winter admitted. She sighed. "Well, probably a good thing, at least. There are several things I might say, and I would regret all of them."

Peggy snickered. "I know the feeling," she agreed. "Well, we're actually doing okay so far." She paused for a second and then found a piece of wood to knock on, just in case.

Winter did the same.

"Yeah, let's not jinx that or anything," she murmured. "I am still plenty capable of cramming both feet into my mouth."

"Oh no kidding, same here." Peggy sighed. "Maybe we can get a respite for a few days?" she asked, without too much hope.

"We can hope," Winter said. "Maybe we'll get to go back to the temple tomorrow, maybe put some space between us and such a high-level demon. I mean, Yukina's strong, but she's just so nice."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Peggy agreed. "I dunno if we'll be able to or not, Genkai did say that she was getting rid of us for a few days. I mean, hopefully, would be nice to go back, but I'm not gonna hold my breath. But maybe tomorrow we can at least not be around the main team?"

"Where would we go?" Winter pointed out. "I mean, Shuichi-Kurama doesn't exactly look fifteen anymore. And neither does Yusuke. I'm thinking our working knowledge is out of date now."

"This is a city," Peggy pointed out. "Cities have malls and stores and things. We may not have much with us, but we can at least go window-shop and get away for a day."

"We have no idea where we are," Winter pointed out in return. "I mean, they can probably track us pretty easily, but I can just see us getting so horribly lost unless we took someone along as a guide-slash-babysitter."

"Hmm." That made Peggy pause. "I'm not sure. I'll have to sleep on that one and let you know in the morning if I come up with anything."

Winter nodded.

"Alright," she said. She was quiet for a moment. "I'm not tired yet. I think I'm going to go out on the balcony for a bit, it's nice out tonight."

"Sure. You know me, I may or may not be awake when you come back in." Peggy shrugged and settled back.

"I'll make sure not to wake you," Winter said. Getting up, she padded quietly out onto the balcony. She sighed as she leaned against the railing; it was cool and quiet outside, aside from the sound of the city, and it was soothing.

Hiei was already out there, sitting on a corner of the railing. He'd heard her come out, but he hadn't bothered to move. Honestly, he was rather curious how this strange female would react.

Winter happened to glance over and did a truly spectacular double-take when she realized he was there. She gave a sharp gasp and jumped violently, one hand ending up clutching the railing and the other against her heart.

"Holy shit, I almost just had a heart attack," she said, voice shaky. "Have you been there this whole time? What am I saying, of course you have."

Hiei snorted quietly. "I've been out here since you two arrived," he said, looking at her.

"Great, of course," Winter said, hand still over her heart as she caught her breath. "Fuck that scared me." She couldn't help but glance at him.