"Kit, lot's of children ask 'dumb' questions that really aren't dumb. Stuff that seems obvious to adults can be things you might not understand, and it's their job to teach you, not make you feel dumb." Marin ran their fingers through Kit's hair, humming softly.
"I guess so…" Kit sighed softly and leaned into Marin's hand. "I don't wanna bother them or make them mad or anything, though. I'm sure they get annoyed answering a bunch of questions…"
"They shouldn't." Marin hummed softly, holding Kit in their lap still. "Know that I'll always answer any questions you have as best I can, okay?"
Kit looked up at Marin curiously and nodded, fidgeting with his hands. "O-Okay… I don't wanna annoy you or anything, though."
"You won't annoy me," Marin assured. They offered a small smile as Kit looked up at them, patting the boy's back.
"Are you sure?" Kit relaxed a bit into the touch, trilling softly. "I don't… don't wanna cause any problems."
"I'm sure. You're not going to cause any problems by asking questions." Marin smiled, starting to gently rub Kit's back when they saw the boy relaxing.
"Mmm…" Kit closed his eyes and huddled closer, seeming to like the attention. "Alright… if… if you're sure…" He was quiet for a bit. "Are there a lot of kids where you're from?"
"Lots and lots," Marin said, nodding some. "There's a lot of humans in general, too." The mage continued to rub Kit's back, arms wrapping more securely around him.
Kit nodded a bit. "Did you ever have any kids?" He asked curiously, tilting his head slightly to the side. "It seems like you're used to being around them."
"No, I haven't," Marin admitted. "But when I was younger I would help care for the other children in the home who were apprentices, too."
"Oh, that's cool! How old are you?" Kit asked curiously, seeming to relax a bit with the distraction from his family and situation.
"I'm thirty-two," Marin said, letting out a small breath. Every day, they felt like they were much, much older than they actually were.
"Oh, that's cool! I'm…" Kit paused for a moment and looked down at his hands as though counting on his fingers, "…ten! You're younger than my parents are. They're pretty old. They don't look that old, though."
"Ah, I am?" Marin said, chuckling some. They found it strange to think someone older than them had such a young child.
"Mhmm! I think they're somewhere in their hundreds…" Kit hummed thoughtfully, trying to remember exactly. "I've got a fair amount of older siblings, and fairies live a really long time. I think we stop physically aging somewhere in our twenties or thirties."
That was… older than Marin had assumed Kit's parents were, to say the least.
"Oh, really? That's quite interesting," The mage said, smiling some. "Humans don't live for long at all compared to fairies."
"Oh, really? My parents said fairies are im.. immort… tortle…" Kit looked confused as he struggled to pronounce the word. "We can't die of old age or something."
"Immortal?" Marin said, smiling softly at Kit's attempts to pronounce the word. "That sounds about right."
"Yeah! That!" Kit nodded a bit, smiling. "Fairies are that. We can only die if somebody hurts us or something. How long do humans live?"
"Humans live for about one hundred to two hundred years, depending on how strong their magic is," Marin said after a moment to think.
"Oh, that's cool! What if they don't have any magic, though?" Kit asked, confused. "My parents said a lot of humans don't."
"Well, when a human doesn't have magic let usually live to about eighty to one hundred years old," Marin said.
"That's not very long… wouldn't they be sad a lot?" He asked. "Then the people around you aren't living very long…"
"It can be sad, yes," Marin said softly. "We humans have accepted that we aren't immortal, though. We learn to deal with the sad."