Sweet Saturday - Open

While Alec certainly wasn't expecting a commentary as he poured over the candy's label, trying to decipher if they were real cockroaches or not, he got one in the form of a very decisive 'ew' from a young girl. He looked up from the package and turned, with an easy smile settling in across his handsome (if not slightly stubbly) face. The source of the disgust was a young girl who seemed please, if not a little shocked to see him standing there. Alec's smile took on a bashful quality as recognition dawned in the young girl's expression. It was an interaction he'd had a hundred times and would have a hundred times more before the month was out.

Alec enjoyed his fans very much, even if he occasionally found his fame uncomfortable. Usually everything was well and good until the magazines pried too much into his private life, not his supporter's fault though and he was disinclined to take his frustrations out on them. He nodded at her exclamation that he was there "I find it hard to stay away, I've got a bit of a sweet tooth." the Beater commented, setting the box of questionable candy on the shelf so he could take her hand, shaking it. The name tickled a familiar part of Alec's brain and he quickly sifted through his mental list of important names to remember. "Oh, you're the one who's written me." He inclined his head in greeting while burying his hands in his pockets. "It's nice to meet you and put a face to the letter."

The Puddlemere Captain leaned forward and dropped his voice low as if sharing some deep secret. "After the way the Arrows played yesterday I probably would have 'forgotten' that name too." he added a wink with his teasing. It was all in good fun, of course. Alec respected all of the teams, even the cannons although the two teams played up their rivalry. Enough about Quidditch, sweets were the objective of the day. One thing that he did find a bit odd was that the girl was there alone, Hogsmeade was more fun with friends. Perhaps now that the students could visit every weekend it had lost it's appeal and excitement. "I'm here to try and buy my team's forgiveness, myself. They've been pushed particularly hard lately." He picked up another box from the shelf, wrinkling his nose as he read the label "Hopefully jelly slugs do the trick."

Alec placed the package in the basket hanging from his arm before looking back to the girl, Hayden. "What about you?"

The girl seemed rather pleased with his joke, laughing even. At her question he grimaced, as if the match truly pained him as he nodded. "It was dreadful. I thought for a moment they might've replaced their players with trolls or something." Honestly, the match he was referring to wasn't that bad, and Alec made a point to watch other teams play each other but he couldn't let the chance for good natured ribbing slip through his fingers, even if it was with the man's new niece. "Chocolate is a very good consolation prize." Alec agreed with another nod. Chocolate could fix all the world's problems, he was sure.

"Ah, true." When the girl was right, she was right. "But unlike cockroach clusters I can personally attest to the fact that Jelly slugs are not made with actual slugs. They're my third favorite." The Wizarding World of Sweets seemed to be fond of naming things after the most unappetizing creature they could think up. Jelly slugs, cockroach clusters, ice mice, peppermint toads... No peppermint bunnies or sugar kittens. Maybe the namer of sweets was a sadist who delighted in tempting children while repelling them with repulsive names and imagery to see if their disgust or their sugar craving would win out.

Alec, who had a wicked sweet tooth found it odd that someone would question whether the things in the shop were worth the money. "Everything's worth the money." It was candy! Was anything worth the cost as much as candy? He tilted his head, a child who didn't seem to like candy, now he'd seen everything. Speaking of everything? "All of it." he said with a grin. "You're putting too much thought into it, Miss Ravenclaw. Sweets should never be thought about so deeply." She was going to try everything, he decided. "You're going to need a basket." Alec dropped the jelly slugs into his own basket and handed it off Hayden before hurrying off to grab a new one, calling a "Wait here." over his shoulder.

When he returned to her he had another basket of his own hooked on his arm. He examined the shelf with a critical eye before deciding where to start. "Chocolate frogs are a classic. You'll need one of them." The Beater plucked a few right off the shelf and dropped them into the fifth year's basket. "Or five." He did the same with his own before moving on to the sugar quills. "You'll appreciate these, I think." Alec mused, filling the girl's basket with a handful. "You can look thoughtful while you're eating it. Just don't confuse them with your normal quills."

Alec grinned and laughed, shaking his head. "The Hogsmeade game was an anomaly. We could hardly be judged by it, half of both our teams were gone." The Cannons nearly got them. Nearly. He enjoyed the match all the same and was still trying to twist Potter's arm into playing for them more regularly. Their Seeker was talking about retiring after the current season and who better to replace him than the best seeker of his age? The Boy Who Lived And Played Quidditch Brilliantly. He wasn't sure what the man's hold out was, most would jump at the chance to play Quidditch professionally... Especially for Puddlemere. Alec had his pick of the litter when it came to players.

Nothing brightened his grin like talking about sweets. It brought him right back to his youth, made him feel like a kid again standing inbetween the shops shelves, faced with an endless assortment of sugar. "I'm rather fond of chocolate. Cauldron Cakes will always be my number one." Mm, cauldron cakes. His stomach rumbled at the thought. What wasn't to love about them? Chocolate cakes with a tasty cream filling, shaped like a traditional cauldron. They were cute and delicious. "I think I'd like chocolate frogs better if they didn't jump, but that knocks them down to the number two spot in my opinion." And he took his opinion on candy very, very seriously. He didn't want to work for his sugar rush, when one was craving something chocolatey catching the frogs could be a pain.

As a professional Quidditch player, Alec was fairly well off and he often barely registered the cost of the things he bought. He never wanted for anything and lived very comfortably in his less than modest beach front home. Candy, expensive? No child should have to fret over the costs of things like candy. "Sweets can turn someone's day right around if used effectively. Their power to do that is priceless, really." On top of being well off, Alec was a very generous soul and understood the power of a little bit of gifted sweetness to brighten the darkness that so often crept into people's lives.

"Oh, it can." he assured her, nodding as he reached for the shelves again, hand hovering uncertainly between ice mice and fizzing whizzbees. "Feathers taste surprisingly unpleasant." Alec pulled both candies off the shelf and tossed them into Hayden's basket before turning his attention to the candy in question. "Oh, of course. They're just like chocolate frogs except they're peppermint and...well..toads, not frogs." The Quidditch player grabbed a handful as he spoke and into the basket he went. "Personally I don't know the difference between a frog and a toad. They'll still get a good jump in if you're not careful."

Alec made sure to fill the young Ravenclaw's basket and his own with all sorts of sweets. Honeyduke's fudge, acid pops, licorice wands, and exploding bon bons. "You've got an assignment." he said, taking the basket so he had one in each hand, motioning up towards the counter. "You're to try these and write me to let me know which is your favorite. I've got a feeling it'll be the sugar quills. But you've got to pace yourself a bit or else you'll end up in the Hospital Wing with a stomach ache and if that happens, I had absolutely nothing to do with this."