Hey, you again!? [Alastair, Inanna]

"What's a crack team?"

Inanna asked from his shoulders, was that how old guys spoke? That was lame. The danava remained on his his shoulders while travelling along, looking around and knowing that she wouldn't remember any of the directions that she had taken after they arrived at the destination but she would insist that she knew where she was and where she was going regardless.

"No... you follow my lead... please?"

Don't forget to ask.

"Oh, it means something similar to a tight-knit squad. Like we would work well together if we were a crack team."

Alastair elaborated on his term with what he thought might make matters clearer but could well only further confuse the girl. He was not exactly on the top of his game when conversing with children, polite certainly but he was not so forward-thinking as to restrict his vocabulary to that which they might better comprehend. There was a little ways to go before he might consider fatherhood anyway.

"I think it might be better if I were calling the shots. It is my kitchen after all. You can be the boss and I can be the head chef? Is that a fair compromise?"

Well being the boss probably wouldn't be too bad right? Did that mean that she'd just be telling him what to do instead of doing the cooking though? That sounded way more boring! She was a girl of action here, Inanna wasn't here to just watch.

"Can I please be the head chef and you be the boss? Pretty please~."

Now she was trying to cheat and use her cuteness against him, she even leaned over to try and peek down at his face which only made the shift in gravity pecarious for the man who was carrying her but the veil of silvery hair obscured his vision and made it so that he was stuck looking at part of her looming face that pleaded.

How could he say no to this?

A response had barely formulated on Alastair's lips before he felt the sudden shift of weight as Inanna tried to fling herself over his head. Or, at least, that was how it initially felt to the man beneath her. Instinctively, his hands rose up to affirm their grip upon her and stop things from going too far whilst he tipped his head back a little to gaze up at the mischievous child.

"Very well, you can be the head chef. Just be sure to listen to what I have to say, I am the boss now. So sit up properly, I cannot see anything like this."

They were closing in on his apartment at least, the close proximity of city living once again coming to Alastair's aid as his neck was beginning to ache. Another quick stint and he would be able to get her down from his shoulders, then it would just be a matter of explaining all this to Reida whenever she eventually came over. Perhaps it was insensitive of him, but he could not deny that there was a curiosity within him about how she might react to Inanna being there. He had promised to help her overcome her demons, and this was definitely a little step in that direction.

"We are nearly there, just down this next street."

Inanna appeared to want to retort when she thought about the fact that the head chef did have to listen to the boss but she also was the one that got to do all the hands on stuff so for the little danava it was an absolute win! She was still ignorant to the trouble that her actions were causing him though and the sudden hands all over here to keep her steady made her let out a sound of surprise.

"Hey! Careful were you grab, mister. I'm ticklish you know."

Not much further though, that was exciting. Just a bit longer and she could do some cooking. It'd been a while since she had done that, right?

“Apologies, Miss, but if I cannot see where I am going then I need to make sure that you are secure.”

His hands did slowly retreat as Inanna eventually relented, resting on her shins again once all was back to normal. If one could call any part of this fiasco ‘normal’. The faint traces of a smile did crack across his features as she mentioned being ticklish though, a break from his stoically neutral tone.

It was not long at all, just as Alastair had forewarned, before the pair found themselves before the towering block of flats within which he lived. Thumbing through the entrance code for the door at rapid fire speed, he finally dropped down to his knees to let Inanna climb off his back before holding the door open for her.

“My apartment is pretty high up, so we shall take the elevator. And remember to take off your shoes once we are inside.”

He did begin to chaperone her towards one of the building’s elevators, hoping that she was too distracted by all the new things to cause much of a fuss.

"Well be careful."

She shot back and made it clear that he was going to argue with a brickwall about securing her with his hands, then she'd really fall if she got tickled and wiggled around too much. That wouldn't be fun at all, she might hurt herself even! Then he'd really get it but once his hands were back around her shins everything settled down again and finally they arrived at his place, or the start to his place.

If he thought that she'd be struck by the scenery, she wasn't. Inanna had seen a lot, don't you know. An apartment building interior wasn't anything special to her, don't you know.

"Fine. Just make sure your feet don't smell, I don't want your stinky feet in my nose."

Jumping to the conclusion, Inanna didn't even consider that maybe her own feet would smell. That'd be silly though, why would her feet ever smell. That'd be silly, it would have to be him if either of them.

It was amusing that she considered that his feet might smell. What had he done to cultivate such a poor opinion of his personal hygiene? He shook his head politely, declining her suggestion with as much candour as he could manage, whilst thumbing the button for his floor into the elevator.

"There will only be pleasant baking smells, of that I can assure you."

That she was not dumbstruck by the building was hardly a surprise, given that Inanna consistently managed to subvert his expectations, but at least he was giving her enough of what she wanted that she was being civil. That was how you handled children, right? You placated them and hoped that was enough.

Arriving, eventually, at his floor, Alastair continued to steer her in the right direction before finally opening the door and ushering her inside.

"The kitchen is straight ahead, in the main room, and do not forget your shoes."

Shoes off. Though haphazardly kicked off rather than neatly taken off and arranged nicely. Inanna left him behind to run off and look for the kitchen that he had promised and thankfully it was just straight ahead like he said rather than her running around his house and looking everywhere. Alas! She found it and readied herself.

"Where's the aprons, mister?"

She asked first, had to be prepared right? Inanna though was already opening up cupboards to try and figure out where everything was and remember what she'd need. Probably a couple of things right? Nel used things like flour, utensils like bowls- eggs! Very important.

"Alright, let's get ready. You're going to be blown away by my cookies."

Tidying away hastily the shoes that she had so haphazardly discarded, Alastair was still quick to follow in pursuit. He did not have a child-sized apron, naturally, so hopefully she was not expecting such a luxury. The best he could do was pick the smallest one he had and try to fold it up a bit.

"Alright, just hold still for a moment and we can try to get this one on you properly."

Setting what ingredients he had brought down upon the counter, he began to manoeuvre a chair into position for his aide whilst also pulling a pair of plain beige aprons from their hangers and trying to get to Inanna before she had opened every single cupboard. Doing his best to shut the ones that they were not going to need in any capacity, he did also start picking out some of the utensils too.

"So. Where are we starting, Miss Chef?"