"Aaaalastor? Let's go, honey."

"Coming, mother!"

The aisles were much taller than him, worth about two his height. As a youth, he'd always been one of the shorter ones. His classmates, all in the same age, were always a step ahead in that. Looking at a particular can of beans, he tilted his head, looking at the text behind talking about its vitamins and 'superiority over other products.'

His height never did bother him though. Sometimes he'd get teased over it, but it was nothing harmful, he knew. Different people, in whatever category it was, tended to be... treated differently. He felt he was lucky enough that they weren't so harsh. It was all a fun little joke, and it wasn't that expensive that it hurt for it to be at his expense. Placing back the beans, the entertainment he found from the reading long passed, he looked around himself.

Alastor was barely able to loom above a box of fruits, his eyes level with the mangoes. But, he wasn't looking for his mangoes. Where was mother?

"Mother?"

Her familiar voice wasn't in the midst of the noise of the store, soft chatter, humming lights, cart wheels, and barely comprehensible music all in stead. Alastor's footsteps joined the rest's as he lightly jogged to end of the aisle, then looked around. There wasn't a trace of her. Where had she gone...?

This wasn't the first time. In this particular instance, his height was particularly bothering him. If only he was tall enough to peer over the shelves, to which he'd surely spot his mother. But, he wasn't scared. It was sort of exciting, even; a larger game of hide and seek... so, he peered aisle to aisle, darting past carts and analyzing more 'superior' products. Superior rice, superior butters, and superior meats... but no mother.

The candy aisle was fun. But enough time had gone that he was more concerned with finding his mother. He did have his allowance, but Alastor normally only bought things with her approval. Looking at the exit, the brown haired boy hummed, rubbing his chin.

'Maybe she's already outside, waiting.'

It was cloudy, and in a bad way. The gray clouds had already been stirring before he entered the store, and now it was a starker contrast. The light could barely penetrate between the seams, only producing more dull colors. The rain had started pattering, and as Alastor felt it atop his head, he sighed. The droplets were clouding his glasses, and he was getting wet.

Vision blurry, he took off his specs, wiping away at the fog that had formed to no avail. The humidity was getting the better of it seemed, so he huffed onto them. Quickly moving back under the umbrella of the grocery store's red, glowing lights, he huffed some more. Finding better success, he looked at the clearer reflection of his glasses, noticing something in the way of the green of the top above him. Putting them back on, he looked up.

"Um... hello." Alastor greeted sheepishly. He wasn't all that great at talking, but he was working on it. "...Can I help you?"

It was another boy. In comparison, they were much taller... no surprise. Blonde hair adorned their head, and freckles upon their paler cheeks. Their clothes were all dirty, caked, and the rain didn't really help with washing it off, despite how wet they'd gotten. Their eyes seemed to be mismatched, their pupils in different colors.

The other boy didn't say anything, just staring weirdly. At this, Alastor tilted his head again.

"Is something wrong?"

"No..." The other boy finally said something, rather fast from the long pause they'd just awakened from. "...I just saw that you seemed lonely."

Alastor blinked at that, but smiled. "Are you a mindreader? I... I have been lonely!"

"I wouldn't say that." The other boy smiled, but it seemed nervous. "Where are yer parents?"

Alastor's smile faded a little as he looked around. "I've... actually been looking for mother. But I can't seem to find her. I thought she'd be out by now, but..."

"I'll help ya find her."

"You will?"

The two began walking.

Alastor was already taking a liking to this boy. He hadn't really done so well with finding friends at school. Despite them being friendly, it was as if they... didn't really exist. The way they talked, and acted, every single emotion, felt like plastic. It was as if he was in some sort of unspoken play, no one telling him that they were all in theatre class! He was still trying to get to the bottom of it...

"What's your name?" Alastor looked over brightly, his glasses starting to fog up again.

The other boy seemed to blush. "...Anthony."

"Anthony? Oh, that's a lovely name!"

"Pshh. It's... ordinary." Anthony expressed with a shrug, throwing up his hands. "I bet yers is nicer."

"I," Alastor stopped walking for a second, doing a bow. "am Alastor! So pleased to meet you!"

"Figures." Anthony scoffed, running a hand through his matted blonde hair. "Your kind have always had nice names..."

"Hmmm?"

"Nothin'. Hey, you said you were looking for your mom? I think I saw her-!"

Anthony began running.

"What?" Alastor nearly exclaimed. He hadn't noticed it, but the rain was getting harder. Seeing Anthony run around a nearby corner, he followed fast, running too.

As he caught up, seeing Anthony turned around, he sighed. "Phew... you ought to warn me next time you do that!"

The other boy turned around and began walking towards him.

"How do you know what mother looks like, anyways? I haven't even introduced you-"

Anthony had gotten much closer than he thought they would. Alastor backed away as a response, but they turned, leading him back against the brick wall of the alleyway they had gone into. The other side of the path was a dead end, and the other, nothing but shining, white gray. Barely, he could make out the other buildings.

The other boy's eyes shone more clearly up this close. His hazel ones stared right back into blue and pink ones... a lovely pink that he'd never seen from anyone else's. Heat crept onto his cheeks with how they close they were. He'd failed to realize that an arm was against his neck, and a sharp sensation on his belly.

Instinctively, Alastor grabbed at whatever was poking him. Anthony's hand was grabbing whatever this thing was.

"You gonna play nice?" The other boy spoke lowly.

"Are... are you robbing me?"

"Yeah."

Alastor just tilted his head again as Anthony stared hard in what looked like an attempt at looking... scary. But, they didn't look scary at all. Alastor had seen scary things, yes, but this... didn't seem genuine.

"You know, you could just ask."

Anthony blinked.

Alastor removed his hand from Anthony's and reached into his pocket. "How much do you need?"

"What?"

"Tell me how much you need!" Alastor spoke a little too loudly in excitement. It was just that, he had just the thing the other boy apparently needed.

"Uh..." Anthony's look turned confused, and their grip against Alastor loosened. "...a quarter?"

It was Alastor's turn to look confused. "Just a quarter?"

As Anthony nodded, he just grinned. "Well, boy, do I have something for you!"

Pulling out a bill, he presented it to Anthony, who backed away slightly to look. As they saw the paper and the number written across it, their eyes seemed to light up. But, they just kept looking at it. It was only now that Alastor noticed the sharp object in their hand to be a knife, rain dripping along the razor edge.

"Well, aren't you going to take it?"

"Take it?" Anthony looked up to Alastor, his smile crooked. "Are ya crazy?"

Alastor's grin lowered into a smaller smile as he shook his head, extended his hand. "Take it!"

The rain came to a slow stop. Just as quickly as the downpour had come, bright rays emerged. Looking up, Alastor was pleased to see the blue peek out from purer fluffs. Looking back at Anthony, who still looked stupefied, he took their unarmed hand by the front side. Then, he placed the bill upon it.

"I want you to have it. It seems like you'll find better use for it than... some superior butters."

Anthony stifled a laugh. "Superior butters?"

"You know, the silly advertisements on the cans?"

"Alastor?" A woman's voice interrupted, to which Alastor immediately recognized. Seeing them look into the alleyway, he waved. "What in the world are you doing there?"

Alastor looked at Anthony who looked frightened. "Oh, I was just playing with a friend! He's a nice boy, I swear it!"

The mother put their hands on their hips, pausing for a second, before turning around. "...Well, say goodbye, honey! I still have to make dinner!"

Alastor felt a frown teeter onto the edges of his smile as he looked to Anthony. Letting the bill rest in their hands, he sighed. "Well... I guess this is goodbye."

Anthony was wordless.

"I'll have you know, I had a grand time." Alastor forced a grin. "Even with what little we-"

Chh.

Alastor was stunned, seeing them lean forward and feeling a peck on his cheek. Blinking rapidly a few times, heart racing and face aflush, he looked to see them red all the same. But before anything else could be said, they had turned away, muttering quietly.

"...thank you, Alastor."

He wished he'd said something more, but left in stupor, he watched where Anthony once was.

"Alastor!"

"...Coming, mother!"