Guess Who! ♡ [Alastair, Inanna]

"I like chocolate and caramel. Also lolipops, they last really long when I suck on them so it lets me enjoy the taste way longer. I have lots of lolipops at home, did you know? I hide them in the closet where Vegas won't find them."

She said with a cheeky grin. Not elaborating that she slept in that closet at the moment, she was naive but she wasn't stupid. She knew people didn't sleep in closets and then he'd take that information and insist on dragging her back to her mother or something. Blugh, boriiing.

Speaking of that, she had forgotten or moved on completely but more likely the former about his phone. He'd need more prompting if he wanted to keep her scatterbrain focused on that single train of thought which wasn't high on her priority list.

"I do like 'em all though. Sweet things are great, you should buy yourself something nice too mister."

Inanna acted like it wasn't his money funding this little expedition but he had her permission to use his own money, so that was good. Right?

"You are quite the little sweet tooth, I see. Be careful to eat them in moderation, though, too my sweets and lollies will make your teeth all nasty."

His chastisement came out so suddenly, before he had even considered a proper response, but he should not have to look out for her. It made him feel like his father, always quick to subtly put him down, and it did startle him how quickly he had turned to that. It did not make his remark any less true, but it was not his job to weigh in on how she was being raised.

"We will get a selection then, you can pick a few of your favourites and then we can see about what to do with you."

Bribery was a suitable strategy, he reasoned, but what would he even say when he got in touch with her guardian? If they were not here then what was he meant to do? He had appointments to keep, and showing up with Inanna would only put her in more danger.

"Yayyyyyyy! Can I really? Hey do you like bubble bursts or gagapops? They taste really good and then there's sweet nukes!"

Listing off her favourite candies, she made no acknowledgement of his chiding attitude. If anything it just reminded her of her mum, she'd always tell her all about how bad candy was and how she shouldn't eat them and always fret over her wellbeing. That was so boring though and how could she not say no to such tasty things!? That's like telling her to stop working, it's just not cool.

"Alright alright, let's go. Let's go. It's just this way over here!"

It was strangely endearing listening to her reel off a list of different confections, just a sweet little girl enjoying life at her own pace. A small part of him was envious of that childhood, so far removed from his own as it was. He had never been allowed out on his own until he was well into his teens, and even then there was curfews and other restrictions.

"Just do not get too much, okay? And stay where I can see you."

He picked up the pace a little as Inanna began to pull in the direction of the shop, letting her lead him without letting her get too ahead of herself. Was this a look into how he would be with his own children? He was far too young to be thinking about that, right? Though it did get him thinking about what his and Sophie's kids would look like. Hastily he snapped back to the situation at hand before he ventured too far down that path.

"Guh. Can you settle down? You're acting like an older brother or my dad or something. Don't tell me what to do, mister."

This guy really thought that he could keep the temptuous danava of freedom and her rebellious attitude in check, get a load of this guy. Once they got there, Inanna was quick to start bossing him around and dragging him through the isle. Not being skimpy here either, there was surely a bit too much in this little girl's hands for Alastair to pay and she didn't seem like she was intent to stop either with how much more sweets were available.

Maybe he could buy out the whole store for her!? That'd be so awesome.

"Remember what we said about not getting too much? This is too much."

Exasperation strained Alastair's voice as he watched Inanna begin to clean out the aisle one by one. He had brought some spending money, perhaps enough to grab a little souvenir for Sophie too, but there had been no intention that he would make any considerable dent in that for some sweets. Were he given the chance, he would begin to start plucking stray items away and returning them to the shelves too.

"Remember who kindly offered to pay for you, so a little respect please."

This girl would be the death of him, he was sure.

"Why are you so cheap, mister? Guh. You're so boring, can't believe you don't want to let me have all this candy. It increases my sparkle power and makes it easy to fight bad guys."

Kids will be kids right? Hopefully he thought it was her babbling about nothing instead of actually exposing her status as a famous magical girl. They were pretty big on the news here you know, the local news at them up.

"Fine. I'll pay for half of them and you pay for the rest. Deal?"

She reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out some money, apparently a hundred dollars. Thanks Mum, this money that was supposed to be used for easing her status of living with Vegas' mum but frankly it was just extra spending money.

"Now you put in this much too. Sounds fair, right?"

Of course, she wanted to have the sweets to fuel her little fantasies. However wild and creative they might be. Naturally, he was oblivious to the local news and the rise of these magical girls that looked rather similar to Inanna. Still, it was time to put his foot down.

"We can get a few things, but it is my treat. You can save your pocket money for another day."

He looked down at the money that she produced, expecting to see a few coins or maybe a single note, and could not help but be surprised. She was carrying around this much in loose cash without even batting an eyelid. Reaching down, he placed a hand over hers and covered up the money. The last thing he wanted was for someone unsavoury to see her carrying that much cash on her.

"That is a lot of money, though. Where did you get that? I do not think it was money to buy sweets with was it?"

"Mum gave it to me. What do you mean put it away? I'm going to buy candy with it."

She said it without batting an eyelid, apparently completely oblivious as to why something like this would be an issue. Inanna had no concept of money, what else did her mother want her to use this money for? She got everything she needed provided by Nel. So mum didn't need to give her money for anything other than whatever she wanted.

"What else would I spend this money on?"

"This is not the kind of money you send someone to buy sweets with, it is for something important."

Alastair knelt before her again, a genuine look of compassion in his eyes. Whatever was going on with Inanna, he did now know but it was clear that she should not be left to her own devices. If her parents had given her that money on purpose then they were even more irresponsible than he had first assumed. Otherwise, she had acquired the money from some means and that was a conversation he was frankly not willing to have with a little girl that he had known for all of ten minutes.

"Look, I will buy you some of those sweets. Enough for you to get by on for a while. Just tell me how I can contact your family, or this Vegas, and you can keep that money for another time."