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Alister's concerns were considerably less than the one-night companion he had already put to the back of his mind.

His concerns were thus: Lisandru was being a shut-in again, Eknath was being a lazy cat and going to the spa again, and his mother -- okay, he wasn't going to get into his mother. Those thoughts would lead down a bad path, probably. But due to his family being ... well, his family, Alister was currently out at the markets, shopping and bartering for everyone he knew. As family, anyway. Not that Eknath was family.

Gross.

As Alister rounded a corner to look for some of those damn flowers Lisandru liked arranging in his house, he noticed that someone seemed to be trailing behind him. Someone with particular womanly wiles and perhaps a bit too much around the middle. It caught his attention faintly at first, but when he looked over his shoulder again in a minute to confirm if the lady was still there or not--and she was--Alister grew a bit more concerned. Why was someone following him around?

Assuming that it might be a thief or something, Alister brought his current groceries a bit closer to his body, walking perhaps a bit faster -- but he jolted when he noticed that the person was next to him.

Oh.

Just wanted to know if they had met before ... not steal his ...

Oh.

Alister had been a bit more lucid than the woman, at the time, considering she had just crashed in the bushes and he got up and wandered home (seriously, he had a house for sleeping), but there was no mistaking the colours of his skin or the voice she was speaking with. Very spacey, almost. Reminded him of a night sky.

Still, it seemed odd that an one night stand would come approach him and ask if they had met. Unless that abnormally large middle had something to do with -- no. No way.

"Uh, yes. I think so. Why?"

Uh?

Sounded like this woman hadn't really thought any of this through. Must have not been the unusually round belly then. Women got demanding when they were pregnant, right? He was pretty sure his mother did, or something. Not that he'd know for sure. He only knew stories. But his mother wasn't the first pregnant woman he had heard of. Perhaps he could go back to shopping --

Name? Why would this woman want his name? Did it matter?

Alister shifted a basket uncomfortably, before offering a genial smile. He supposed he could offer that much, though he wasn't entirely sure why a one night stand wanted to get so personal. Maybe it was the -- no. No way. No way in the Isle was that--

"Alister," offered the shetani, friendly enough, offering a hand for the woman to shake if she wanted to. "And yours? I do not give my name so freely!"

Coffee? Alister had some stuff to get done, like buying those new flowers for Lisandru's budding garden -- but it was the next statement that caught his interest. Enjoyed their time together? Ah! So this woman came up to him for a repeat. Lisandru could wait. He could do that. Wait, could pregnant women do that? Should they even be drinking coffee, or was that some kind of euphemism?

Alister shifted again.

Was acknowledging what the roundness was make him the prime suspect? Did this woman make a habit of bush-rolling or was he just an exception to the rule? No way--

"Should you be drinking coffee?" he asked, with a laugh, figuring that covered both the literal basis and the euphemistic basis.

For the moment, he set his bags down.

Alister was definitely more of a spontaneous type--he had spent most of his teenage years wandering the Isle, and he had most definitely thought a bush was a good place for ... things--but he was a bit more inclined to deeper thought than Kasmai, perhaps, and he was quickly catching where the woman's attempts to set up something with him were quickly crashing and burning.

His question did reveal Kasmai's true intent, the glance down at her belly--yes, definitely pregnant--and a reference to drinking tea instead. "Maybe a herbal tea," quipped Alister, ready to roll with the idea that Kasmai did not want to do the same things again, though that was a little bit of a disappointment--just in time for Kasmai to catch the real joke. Alister's lips quirked upwards a tad, though he did not quite know if that would be wise while the other was definitely pregnant either, only to watch her ...

Crash and burn a bit further.

A laugh escaped Alister's lips, and he shook his head. "Oh dear indeed."

At least for now? That was interesting. Was this a friends with other benefits potential arrangement, or was this woman thinking something else?

... Not a worry for now, he supposed.

Alister's eyes quickly darted down to Kasmai's torso as he shifted once again, seemingly pondering something--perhaps his luck--before glancing up at Kasmai's eyes again. "Alright, I'm always up for friends."

Of the three children of the mad scientist Esmeé, he was assuredly the most outgoing.

Delighted? Not so much.

Terrified? Probably.

Still, Alister had to get to the bottom of this, as much as part of him very much didn't want to and would rather if he just fled now. Besides, there was certainly a chance that this Kasmai had done this more than once. Perhaps even more than twice! Whatever Kasmai was carrying was most assuredly not his.

He cleared his throat quietly to himself while Kasmai was pointing timidly and glancing in some other direction. Tariq? That was an interesting name, to say the least. Tar-eek? Taaaar-que? Tar-ee-que?

Okay, now he was just distracting himself. He needed to be friendly.

"Sure, we can go there. I'm admittedly curious about a magic that could boost the energy of people drinking a draught," offered Alister, grabbing his assortment of goods off the ground and heading in that direction in nearly one smooth motion. He attempted to keep his pace slower, realizing that Kasmai likely would not be able to easily keep up. Didn't most pregnant women waddle a little? A bit like his mother's penguin familiar, actually. Not that he had ever dealt with a pregnant woman up close before. That wasn't really something he made a habit of, nor honestly did he want to...

When they arrived at the cafe, Alister went for a coffee, of course, wishing for that magic energy. He also thought that a jolt might possibly shake him out of the grim feeling that was growing stronger and stronger that the baby Kasmai was carrying was likely his. Why else she would approach him?

She clearly didn't want another romp in the bushes. (Yet, anyway.)

It was almost awkwardly quiet until Kasmai offered an 'I'. And then cut himself off again. There were only a couple guesses of what Kasmai was too nervous to say, and none of them were possibilities Alister truly wanted to consider, though he knew the likeliness of them wasn't totally one hundred percent, right? Certainly Alister was not the only one that Kasmai was with if Kasmai had done that with --

Oh.

So the chances that this woman had been with someone beside him took a dramatic plummet down to zero.

Was he really this woman's first? She was quite charming, it was a bit surprising. Of course, maybe he caught her at an opportune moment and she was really always this awkward and nervous--

Okay, Alister was distracting himself from the point.

Alister cleared his throat. Well.

"I can't say I'm shocked considering your obviously pregnant state." He was clearly trying to come off as calmer than he actually was about the whole ordeal, hands visibly shaking a tad when he reached to his mouth and cleared his throat again. "But, ah. You're pregnant, then." A pause. Duh. He just said that. "With my child?"

... What had he gotten himself into?

There was something of relief when Kasmai said she would handle raising the child on her own. Honestly, Alister wasn't really ready for settling down with children; that wasn't really his style at all. Not only that, a child! Of his own! With his genes! That kind of responsibility was not only terrifying, but frankly, it was unwelcomed.

What had he gotten himself into?!

The second that Kasmai actually looked up at him, though, Alister instantly felt bad for his thoughts. He was really going to shackle this poor woman with something that was ultimately his responsibility as well? Sure, Kasmai had .. well. She had. But so did he. Alister wasn't exactly an innocent party in the creation of whatever parasite was inside her right now...

And then he heard that hope.

Damn.

"This is a lot to think about," offered Alister, awkwardly, with a somewhat shaky smile. He was trying to keep it together, but with every passing moment of confirmation, it somehow got harder. What had he done? "But I," I what? "I can't necessarily leave you to take care of something that's kinda my fault by yourself."

Yeah. That sounded right...?

Alister didn't really know the first thing about babies other than the fact they couldn't take care of themselves, cried a lot, and needed a lot of cleaning because apparently they couldn't control their bodily functions either.

... Okay, so that was three things...

So he knew three things about babies! Awesome. That meant he was in a totally great position to be helping a woman raise one. Clearly. Alister made a small groan to himself, leaning forward and rubbing his temples. Then, he realized he was cracking a bit in front of Kasmai, and laughed nervously, instead going for his drink and quickly drowning his visible doubt in that.

Koehaira? The Vineyard? Alister had heard there was some good wines down there. Clearly he needed to drink some of that. A lot of that. He had created a life?! Why had he done that? Well, the why was obvious, he supposed, though at the same time --

"I'm from the City." His head was spinning right now, which was unusual for him. Stay calm, Alister. Stay calm. "Uh, yeah. I live in the area. Most of my family lives here, too."

Another sip.

"So here is convenient, though I'd understand if you'd want me to head down to Koehaira at some point." It'd be a new adventure, though he wasn't sure if it was an adventure he wanted, for once.