Shining Stars [Al'in, Inanna]

He hadn't meant all that much by his passing comment on her name, though seeing her blush did make him wonder if he had overstepped. It had sounded innocent enough, but perhaps that was where he had gone astray. It was rather cute to see her get so flustered though, over only a single errant word.

"You are named after an ancient goddess of love and war, after all... Ah, apologies, I did not mean to persist on the matter. I just found it quite interesting."

Flashing a toothy smile, Al'in tried to help her regain what composure she had been robbed of by his previous comment. Likely he was not making things any easier but he was trying.

"But the beaches here are beautiful too, plenty of good places for you and your friend to swim and enjoy. I'll happily be your guide, I know most of them like the back of my hand."

"You know about my name!?"

That surprised her, no one ever knew about what her name meant. She thought only her mum knew what she was named after since he was the first person to ever comment on it to her. The danava was absolutely elated though albeit just as flustered by him expanding on it.

Then they were thankfully on beach talk and Inanna was nodding along with rosy cheeks.

"That'd be great and if you want I'll pay you back in pancakes. I make really good pancakes, just ask Mum and Alex."

"Of course I do, it originates from a far-off land that I once called home. If the choice was intentional or not, I cannot say, but it is a historical name nonetheless."

His statement was plain, factual even, but it was actually more of a coincidence that he knew of her name than a given fact. There were many lesser Sumerian deities that he could not name nor recite the portfolio of, it was fortunate that she had been named after one of the major ones. Still, he wasn't going to give up the information and have her think less of him.

"You make your own atayefs? They are a favourite of mine, I will not lie, so I would be honoured to try your cooking."

Ataye-what? Inanna looked puzzled for just a moment, she'd probably eaten them at some point when her mum made them but for now she just assumed he meant pancakes. Yeah, it was probably just another name for pancakes and so that's why she'd make him her pancakes and he'd love 'em!

"Yeah! I'll make you some really good ataye-somethings! I assume you mean pancakes so that's fine."

Inanna said while shifting in her spot. He was weird but he was pretty cool and he knew lots about her somehow. She didn't really get how he knew all this stuff about her, was he as old as her mum? There's no way this guy was four thousand years old but maybe. Okay now she had to think a bit more, did he know her mum somehow? Maybe he'd met her mum.

"Yes, those are a variation of pancakes." Al'in confirmed her suspicion, offering an upward curl of the lips to reinforce his statement, "But there are many other styles too, I trust that you have your own?"

Nanna was equally strange, a young lady that knew so little of her past and perhaps her homeland, yet was not native to this city either. Her family lived here, or at least her mother did, but she wanted a tour of the beaches. She seemed innocent enough that it was unlikely she was pulling his leg, nor did he think she was the type of person to do so.

"Then maybe one day I can return the favour too, and the cycle of sharing good food and merriment can continue."

"Um. I guess I do. I learned from my bestie's mum how to make them. They taste really good. You'll love 'em, Al'in."

Inanna was never more confident in something that she said. Who didn't like pancakes? Only villains and monsters didn't like those so he must like them. Still she did really like him, he was really familiar despite the fact she'd never met him before or maybe she had and didn't remember.

"That sounds great. Can Mum and Alex also have some of your pancakes too? You should probably meet them before that though, we can all visit you sometime. How's that sound?"

"I'm sure I will, Nanna, never been surer even."

Pushing himself up to stand, he brushed off a few errant bits of dirt and branches before looking back down at Nanna. He reached out a hand, both to offer her a lift to her feet and to shake on their little arrangement. That was the way that honest people sealed the deal.

"Of course, you can bring whoever you want. Though if you want to bring a lot of people then I might need a little advanced warning so I can make sure there's enough for everyone. My place is a little more open air too, right out on the beachfront."

He was helping her up too? She was grinning ear to ear as she took his hand to let him pull her up and shuffle a little bit. It was a little strange to have a guy act like this to her, he was so nice and gentleman like but he was kinda old wasn't he? He was a bit like Alastair and she remembered back to when she met him and he was acting all parent like to her.

She even thought he was her dad, jeez that was dumb huh? This guy seemed way more like he could be her dad than the big dumb redhead. That big dummy struggled to get anything right about her but this guy felt like he knew a whole lot about her.

"What do you mean open air? You mean like a house with lots of windows?"

Al'in did not really mean to come off like a responsible adult, he was just offering her a hand to her feet as any well-meaning gentleman would do. Still, there was a strange look in Nanna's eye as she accepted his offer. Was she just being overly friendly, or was there something else on her mind? He'd already put his foot in it by prying, so it would be better to let her come to him if there was something.

"More like a tent. A pretty specious tent, but it's a little bit of a shock to most people."

A hand scratched at the back of his head, ruffling through his hair as he kept it nice and messy.

"It's kinda like camping out, but, to me, it's just how I've always lived."

"A tent? You live in a tent, Al'in? Awww, that doesn't sound comfortable to live in."

She said like she didn't approve her new friend and maybe Dad living in a dodgy tent. He should have somewhere nice and comfortable to rest after working all day and so she had a brilliant idea. She'd just take him home with her, he could sleep on the couch and then he was nice and close for being able to get his pancakes. This was a genius idea, then she can gauge her mum's reaction and that'd tell her really good if they knew each other.

"Hey, hey! Come stay with us. You can sleep on the couch, Al'in. Mum won't mind and I will make you those pancakes as well. You should get some good sleep after hard work, especially if you're gonna do it again tomorrow."

Inanna declared while holding onto his hand which had helped her up, waiting to see if he'd agree with her train of thought.