Chapter Ten: Foolish

Rin knew the journey would be long but she'd be in western territory and she'd gone through most of it before with Sesshomaru as a child but she'd never seen the sea before.

Rin had been thinking about age a lot lately. She still had years before she'd need to slow down and possibly settle in one spot. Lord Sesshomaru had been traveling since probably childhood because it was different for demons. They grow and age differently. Which sparked curiosity in the young woman's mind. Exactly how old was the man beside her? Rin knew Inuyasha was reaching near seventy and Sesshomaru was an adult by demon standards when Inuyasha was born. So how old was the eldest brother?

Rin stared at him as he rested peacefully on the branch. He looked very young, perhaps a bit older than her by maybe a year. There was not a wrinkle in sight. Obviously, he was an experienced fighter and very intelligent. Perhaps two hundred and some odd years?

The demon lord felt her eyes on him and when she didn't look away he opened his eyes. The human gazed into his eyes and leaned her head to the side. Rin's gaze traveled down his form and back to his face.

"What is it." he said.

Rin grinned," My Lord, how old are you exactly?"

Sesshomaru responded quickly, "Older than you."

The woman repeated what he told her earlier, "I'm too curious."

Sesshomaru thought for a moment and asked, "How old do you think I am?"

Rin squinted her eyes at him, "I'm not sure. Demons age differently than humans. Inuyasha is in his late sixties but he's also half human, So I assume you're double his age but you both look so young."

Sesshomaru was very amused. He was indeed more than double Inuyasha's years but he wasn't considered middle aged in demon years, he was actually quite young for a demon.

Rin asked again, "How old are you, my Lord?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer her and waited for her to say something.

"My Lord?"

No response.

Rin huffed loudly but she knew she wouldn't get a response from him unless he wanted to give her one.

"Are you considered young by demon standards?" she prodded.

Sesshomaru smiled inwardly, "Yes."

Rin remained quiet for a while, pondering on the next question she could ask to narrow down his age since he wouldn't outright tell her.

The demon Lord never was one for words but Rin had the ability to engage him in mindless chatter since she was a child. Age meant nothing for a demon such as himself, most didn't even keep track of their ages as the years progressed. There was simply no need too when you live so long.

Rin's curiosity about him was something she never expressed as a child, now that she's older she's become curious about his demonage. It oddly made him feel at ease speaking to her this way because he was no longer speaking to a child. Rin had grown into herself, in turn she'd become more confident and curious about the ways of things. It was very different from the singing child who picked flowers and yelled at Jaken, and it made him want to talk to her. She got frustrated with his lack of responses to the questions building up in her head and that was very amusing.

"So at what age is considered an adult for a demon?" Rin asked.

"It varies." He responded, dryly.

"Varies on…."

The demon gave no response and looked up at the moon.

"Are you two hundred years old?" she inquired.

"No."

"Ninety." she tried again.

"No."

"Hundred and fifty?" she said.

"No."

"Two hundred and ninety?" she tried again.

"Rin." he said sternly.

"Five hundred!" she said quickly.

Sesshomaru paused for a moment, "Warmer."

"Older or younger?" she persisted.

"Figure it out." he said blankly.

Rin rolled her eyes, "Damnit."

All of a sudden, Rin's eyes grew wide as she came to a revelation.

"Demons age like trees. That's why you're so stubborn, Sesshomaru."

For the first time in many years, the demon laughed. Sesshomaru gracefully tilted his body to the left and landed swiftly on the ground below.

Rin was astonished, he'd never laughed before. She'd only seen small smiles and those were far and few between. His laugh was deep and beautiful, there was nothing Rin could compare it to.

Rin looked down to where Sesshomaru had landed and began grinning widely at him. The demon looked at her in confusion.

"Come down," he ordered.

Rin's grin grew impossibly bigger and said simply, "Okay!"

Rin came down but not in the way the demon had expected. Rin jumped out of the tree towards him.

Sesshomaru widened his eyes at the crazy human but swiftly caught her in his arms.

He looked down at the smiling woman with a grim expression, "That was foolish."

She looked up at him, "Then so was dropping me miles above the clouds."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her, "You dare call me foolish?"

She shook her head, "Never but calling my action foolish stands on equal grounds with you intentionally dropping me. So we are either both foolish or equally foolish my Lord."

Sesshomaru went quiet again.

"My Lord?" questioned Rin.

He looked at her, "I'm thinking about dropping you now."