IC:

"Can do."

Alistair replied cheerfully, raising a hand in acknowledgement as KK and Sayuri took off towards the storage lockers. He maintained a slight grin until they rounded the corner, at which point it faded slightly, shrinking until it was more a look of thought than one of cheer. The crowd was still exiting, but it had thinned enough that he could see the person he needed to talk to across the auditorium. He began slowly picking his way through the throng of people, knowing it would be a minute or two until he could get anywhere near her, and a good few more until the crowd vacated enough for them to talk. That in mind, he moved at a quite leisurely pace.

It gave him more time to think. He hadn't really decided what to say to her proposition, nor was he really sure what he would do. The question was quite far outside his realm of expertise, nor was he adept at handling the intrigues of society's upper classs... But maybe that was the problem. Maybe he was looking at it the wrong way.

Several more minutes of pensive though elapsed before the auditorium was more or less empty, and he decided it was time to approach. He stopped a short distance away, hands in his coat pockets. Truly, the two were an odd pair, even in conversation; Arara displayed all the hallmarks of high class society, from the weapon she held, likely a family inheritance by the look of it, to the clothes she wore. Made by her family's company, of course, and the highest quality, by the look of them. In contrast, Alistair was slightly unkempt. He needed a hair cut, he had what looked like a small smudge of oil under one of his eyes, his coat clearly hadn't been in its prime for a [i]long[/i] time, and though thy couldn't be seen very well, his clothes seemed similarly utilitarian, with slightly faded colors that indicated a long life of use.

After a pause, he spoke.

"Well, I've been thinking, Ms. Sakanade." The taller boy began, clearly picking his words carefully at first. The longer he spoke, however, he seemed a bit more confident in his speech, though the note of politeness never left his voice. "The first thing that I wondered, if truth be told, is why a member of the Sakanade family spent more than a few moments talking to a miner's son. Why anybody here has, really.

"I couldn't seem to find a reason. The nearest I could find was that I'd managed to piss off one of the richest people here. Which makes a degree of sense, at least initially. The cynical part of me agreed with what someone else said; That you were looking for a puppet."

A pause, though he spoke again soon enough that it was clear he was continuing his line of thought. "My existence hasn't lent me towards thinking the best of the wealthy. In my limited experience with them, they didn't care about you unless you brought something to the table. I've always trusted those in the middle classes more. Maybe it's because they were always kinder in their rejections, even if they refused to help."

"Which is why I realized that my line of thought wasn't really fair. I was looking for the string, for the fine print, rather than considering the offer for what it was. Though I highly doubt my opinion matters much, it wasn't fair to automatically lump you in with the people I've known."

Alistair stood a little straighter, smile inching back onto his face. "I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. It probably makes me an idiot, but I'd rather think you mean well than the opposite. Which is where I come to my counter proposal."

"If you want to be friends, great. We're friends. No fine print, no trade, it's as simple as that. If, after getting what you said you wanted, you find that you [i]want[/i] to help, that's your perogative. I don't expect one outcome or another."

Smile blossoming into a slightly hesitant grin, he withdrew his hand from his pocket and held it out to shake. "So, Ms. Sakanade. Friends?"