Hiei eyed her but he didn't pry. He knew that tone of voice, and he knew that she didn't want him to pry. So he nodded, accepting that answer.

"I'm not sure how much progress we're making here," he murmured, half to her and half to himself.

"Progress-- what?" Winter asked, blinking. "What are you talking about?" Because she knew what it sounded like, but that couldn't be right... could it?

Hiei glanced at her and decided to tell her one of the multi-fold meanings there.

"Searching," he said after a moment, not quite able to meet her gaze.

"Oh." Winter deflated a little at that. "For the sword? I mean, we are chasing rumors, progress is probably going to be slow until we start closing in on the source of the rumors."

"Hmm." Hiei eyed her for a moment but stayed quiet for now. He wasn't about to give up all his secrets, after all.

Winter noticed the look.

"What is this really about, then?" she asked before she could second guess herself. "I mean, I know you're not usually one for talking much, so what's going on?"

Hiei shrugged. "Curious," he said. That was true enough, but it wasn't quite everything. Not that he was ready to tell her everything yet.

"Curious about what?" Winter pressed cautiously. She was trying to be careful of how hard she tried to get information out of him, since she was certain he would clam up pretty soon.

Hiei didn't answer her directly. "You are from a different world," he pointed out. "An unknown." He glanced at her.

Winter nodded a bit.

"You can ask, if you're curious," she said. "It's not as if there's anything I'm not allowed to say."

Hiei blinked at her before he smiled a little.

"I'll keep that in mind," he murmured. "Tell me about your life there?" It came out as a request, at least.

Ithica blinked.

"What do you want to know?" she asked. "I mean, really, my life is boring."

"Normal?" Hiei guessed, working an eyebrow at her. "Normal hardly applies anymore."

"I was normal, before," Winter pointed out. "Shared an apartment with Peg, worked a desk job, that was pretty much it." She shrugged a bit, looking just slightly embarrassed. "Binge-watched old TV shows occasionally."

Hiei quirked a bit of a smirk. "Like ours?" he asked, looking at her. He'd eventually gotten used to that idea, and now it was even rather entertaining.

Winter turned a bit pink.

"Yeah," she admitted. "That one was rather recent. There were a lot of things I hadn't realized I'd forgotten, when I binged-watched it again."

Hiei snorted quietly. "Like what?" he asked, curious. She already knew practically everything, so he was curious to see just how in detail this show went.

"Different things," Winter said. "The fact that Kuwabara has a cat. The first couple of traps in Maze Castle. The first round of the Dark Tournament on the ferry. One of the psychics from that thing with Sensui." She shook her head a bit. "Things that sort of get buried in favor of the main action."

Hiei absorbed that and nodded. That made sense, in a way. "He still has the cat."

Winter blinked.

"That cat must be ancient," she said. "And extremely well cared-for."

"As far as I'm aware, yes," Hiei said, in response to both conditions. "Yukina still visits Kuwabara." He pulled a face, because he still didn't like it.

Winter couldn't help but laugh a little at that.

"Something you just have to put up with," she said.

Hiei grumbled a little at that. "I still don't understand what she sees in the buffoon."

"He makes her happy," Winter said. She grinned a bit. "Probably enough reason to put up with him."

"When necessary," Hiei agreed, scowling a little.