Black Knight To The Rescue

Zizi followed Anita go to the register, but after that she turned away and took a small piece of one of the cake pieces. If she looked at Anita too much the lady might realize that this was some sort of plot. But from what Zizi heard Anita's approach was good. She sounded enthusiastic, maybe a bit too enthusiastic, but the way she "coincidentally" noticed the cinnamon rolls was what Zizi would've done as well. Same with pretending to not have money. And when Anita mentioned her mother, meaning Zizi in this case, Zizi pretended to be surprised to hear her title mentioned and looked over with an asking expression. And yes, the old lady was looking at her, and Zizi took on an apologetic expression and waved around a coin purse she pulled from her pocket, seeming to indeed only contain enough coins for the bus. But this was all the assistance Zizi was going to give Anita, the rest depended on how much the old lady bought.

The old lady turned her attention back to Anita, on her face a flattered but flustered and bothered expression.
"I'm not sure honey, we can't just give these to people willy nilly, you see. Can't you come back with your mommy some other day and get some more? You still have plenty of treats left, don't you?"
The old lady wasn't caving, but from her voice Zizi could hear she didn't need much pushing in order to topple over. Now, would Anita give up, or continue with it?
Hopefully she wouldn't disappoint Zizi.

Using your family as leverage. Clever. Zizi, who was now facing away again, let a small smile creep to her face. Anita hadn't disappointed her, and when Zizi glanced at the register it seemed to be working. The lady looked less flustered than earlier. But she still needed one more push...

The push came in the form of Anita's teary eyed look, which was good. It was something Zizi had used as well when in the body of a child. Zizi turned all the way to face Anita, and this phase needed her cooperation more. Zizi stood up and walked over to the register, putting both her hands on Anita's shoulders. On her face there was a gentle and pitying expression.
"It's alright sweetie, don't cry. I'm sure daddy will appreciate you saving him more. We can just get you birthday treats when my next paycheck comes in."
Zizi sent the lady behind the register an apologetic smile, and began leading Anita back to their table. Inside her head Zizi counted. One..two..three...
"Wait. I guess I could share one cinnamon roll. As a birthday gift for the little lady."
A victorious smirk rose to Zizi's face while their backs were still facing the lady, and she whispered into Anita's ear
"Jackpot."

The old lady wrapped up the cinnamon roll and gave them boxes for the rest of the cakes, and Zizi and Anita grabbed their things and headed on out. Zizi saw Anita was still teary, she had actually started to cry? Those weren't false tears? That was somehow disappointing again, Zizi would have to teach Anita how to at least fake crying without actually beginning to cry.

"You did very well, considering it was your first time, little queen."
Zizi said, putting in some pride to her tone since Anita probably needed some of that encouragement stuff. Zizi looked down at her and gave Anita a thumbs up with the hand she wasn't carrying the cake bags with.
"It comes with a lot of practice. You need to make people feel good about themselves, make them think helping you is in their interest. That old lady is now feeling pretty great, since she gave a pitiful little girl a birthday gift that made you very happy. It's about stroking the ego."
Zizi let maybe just a bit too much of her devious side show there, and she quickly covered for it by ruffling Anita's hair and smiling at her.
"That was great charisma practice, if you have charisma you are also cool."

Anita seemed eager to learn, at least. That was good, kids in general were at least quick and eager to learn, even mortal ones. And Anita was eldritch, so that made her probably an even faster learner.

Anita asked if they could dye her hair now, and this time Zizi couldn't help but snort just a bit. That was an excellent idea, hilarious. But Zizi was still supposed to be more or less responsible, so she cleared her throat and grinned down at Anita.
"You know what? Let's get you one of those dyes that comes out when you wash your hair. If big..king likes it then you can just make it permanent bit later. And if he doesn't like it then it's still a really funny prank if you claim it's permanent."
Zizi snickered, but mentally hit herself. She had almost said big boy, she was lowering her guard too much. Anita wouldn't find out that Zizi actually knew her dad, that would ruin her plans. And that would be boring.

Anita seemed excited, and Zizi was actually kind of excited too, though in a lot less innocent way than Anita. Zizi just wanted to laugh at whatever reaction big boy would have.
"Your wish is my command, little queen."
Zizi said and did a small two-finger salute. Anita's excitement was contagious, and Zizi let it contaminate her. What was the harm, since they seemed to both be entertained by this?
"You have to talk the haircut out with teddy bear king, I doubt the strange lady that saved your life is going to have much of a say."
Zizi answered, and stuck her tongue out back at Anita.

"Okay then, let's go. I once saw a small salon just around the corner, let's get your hair done and prank the shit out of your dad. And then you're going to give me your number so you can tell me all about it later."
Zizi snickered, not really caring that she said a "bad word". She was focused on the fun to come.