[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice had barely been back in San Francisco for two hours, and she was already trying to work out how she would explain the events of New York to Ashley. Most of it had not been unexpected. The parties and fashion shows she'd been just about contractually obligated to attend, the various landmarks that any tourist of New York was similarly obligated to visit. What she hadn't expected was to sleep with someone on the second to last night, someone she'd just met, and who had met her while she had been in costume as Paladin. Once the fog of alcohol had lifted she'd had some regrets about that, but it had been a pretty good night… Of course she'd texted Ashley immediately the next morning, taking advantage of her companion's time in the shower to quickly message her best friend. Much to Alice's continued perplexity her famous friend still continued to be single, so she hadn't hesitated in rubbing in just how hot Nate was. Even if she'd been sober she would have found it hard to resist his advances, once his shirt had come off it had been no contest. Still, she was pretty sure Ashley would want all the details in person as well. Somehow you couldn't quite communicate it as well through text, and she would repeat each and every detail, probably with some embellishment now that she'd had a flight on which to reflect on the night. She was definitely looking forward to it, although she was worried about the admonishments that the diminutive brunette might have for her. She was sat on the couch waiting for the return of her friend, one of Ashley's many stuffed toys on her lap as an impromptu shield. Alice had one stuffed toy of her own, a dog that nonetheless looked more like a bear, with patchy fur and stuffing leaking from one leg. She kept meaning to fix him, but somehow couldn't bring herself to take needle and thread to the animal she'd had since she was little.

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Kiss and Tell

Whilst Alice had kept Ashley more than up-to-date on her life as Fashion Week progressed, practically bombarding her with excited messages and the occasional snapchat, it still wasn’t the same as catching up in person. Ashley had been busy while Alice was away but it had still been lonely coming home to an empty apartment and so, although she was definitely excited to hear all of Alice’s gossip, she was mostly just excited to have her roommate back.

It was easier when you were the one away on your travels. Ashley was doing plenty of that now that McKenna Chase had shows planned all around the country and she had already granted Alice full access to her stuffed toy collection in case Alice got lonely and needed hugs. Apparently those might not be needed now, if Alice’s reports of her rather unconventional souvenir were anything to go by…

Alice’s flight had landed a couple of hours ago, so Ashley was pretty sure she’d find her best friend waiting for her once she got back. She didn’t even bother trying to exert some self-control as she hurried back to their apartment building – an assortment of groceries tucked under one arm – and when she finally reached the door it was with a rather dramatic swing of the door that she burst into the room.

Groceries dumped unceremoniously on the floor, Ashley slammed the door shut before launching herself onto the sofa. “I missed you!” she exclaimed, noting with some amusement that her over-sized purple bear was planted in Alice’s lap. She laughed and settled back onto the couch, groceries forgotten.

“How was the flight? Have you had anything to eat, drink?”

Mom-questions out the way, Ashley leaned in conspiratorially.

“Bring back any more souvenirs – apart from your new maaan?” She wriggled back swiftly to avoid the inevitable backlash from her super-powered friend. Sitting back actually allowed her to take a look at what Alice was wearing, which she beamed admiringly at. “Oh okay, new threads and a new boo. I see.” Ashley winked.

Alice Morrow

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Ashley barely even allowed Alice to consider her initial parental questions before she began questioning her on rather more personal matters. Not that Alice minded, she was just as eager to share as Ashley was to inquire, after all, it had been one of the most exciting things to happen to her over the entire week long period. Visiting the Empire State Building had been amazing, but she couldn't exactly bring it home with her. On the other hand it wasn't as if she'd brought Nate home with her, but at least he was in the same city as her. Or would be, she wasn't sure when it was that he was flying back. Alice scowled as her friend wriggled out of reach, settling for hurling the purple teddy bear at her instead. It was on target and she smiled innocently at Ashley, as though her friend hadn't just watched her assault her with a stuffed toy. "I have a mini Empire State Building and a mini Statue of Liberty." She listed the two objects off on her fingers as she spoke, as if the list could go on. Then she stopped abruptly, blushing a little. "It is so not like that, it was just one night is all." Not that the expression on her face or her tone of voice did anything to back her up. They in fact told the opposite story. Perhaps it was just one night, but Alice was dearly hoping that it would be extended to more than one. She'd liked Nate, he'd made her laugh, played along with her not wanting to be noticed, and she couldn't stop her mind from coming back around to when he'd take his shirt off…

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

kiss and tell

“Oof.”

Ashley found herself smacked with a faceful of purple fur. The bear dropped into her lap and she pulled him close, fixing Alice with a reproachful glare. Then, as Alice talked about acquiring miniature statues for souvenirs, she couldn’t help but burst into gentle giggles. “Oh Alice, that is so lame. You cannot put them on display, all our guests will laugh at us.”

Once Alice was blushing, Ashley knew they were onto the good stuff.

“It was only one night ’cause you only had time for one night,” she pointed out. “You have his number, right?”

She wanted to figure out Alice’s intentions with this guy – although they were pretty plainly written on her face – but first… she needed to find out just a little more about him than how attractive he was. Ashley planted her chin on the purple teddy bear, eyes inquisitive.

“You gotta tell me more about him, dude. How else am I gonna stamp my seal of approval on him?” She laughed to herself. “Listen to me, I sound like my mom.”

Alice Morrow

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice had never been a good liar, and living with Ashley hadn't help her develop her skills in deception, if anything it just made it even more impossible with her flatmate. The singer could always tell. "I have his number. This isn't my first rodeo!" She instantly regretted saying that, and seized a cushion from the couch beside her, holding it threateningly and extending a warning finger towards her friend. "Not. One. Word." Naturally the warning had no effect, and the cushion was sent on its way, much like the bear before it. Alice could be alarmingly accurate with such things. Eventually she relinquished and began to fill Ashley in on the details. "He's called Nate, he is like, seriously funny and really sweet. He seemed quite normal but apparently his parents are like, loaded or something." She crossed her legs, pulling the last cushion into her lap, just in case she said something stupid again. "It's so cool though, he's a doctor. Like a proper medical one, he works at the MNRU. I never thought I'd have a chance with a doctor." She lay back against the couch, hugging the cushion absent-mindedly as she visualised, "and oh my god he's so hot. Like good looking in a sort of rugged kind of way, and muscles, oh the muscles…"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

kiss and tell

“First rodeo? Yee-hawwwouch!”

Ashley wasn’t one to take warnings seriously from Alice, even though it usually resulted in something getting thrown in her direction. Cushions and teddies she could handle – Ashley tended to finding herself treading more carefully if Alice was in the middle of chopping food. The girl had a lot of big, sharp knives.

This was actually a particularly favourable outcome for Ashley; now she had another cushion to lean on. Ashley plumped it and set it against the sofa before snuggling into place.

“Go on!”

Alice began to fill her in on the details. Starting with the personality was a really positive sign, and who was Ashley to deny the attraction of a guy with rich parents? She kept her lips sealed, although she could tell Alice was bracing herself for further mockery. The fact that he was a doctor was cool too. Clearly not just a pretty face with a trust fund and an abundance of spare time.

Of course Alice eventually melted away into the sofa as she described his good looks, and Ashley found herself laughing even though she knew Alice was deadly serious on some level about how handsome this guy was. Ashley tried to picture him. It didn’t give her butterflies, but she could definitely see the appeal from Alice’s perspective.

“Alright, alright, do I need to page Dr Dreamy and revive you from whatever this is?” she giggled, gesturing to Alice as she sprawled back onto the sofa. “Is he an actual doctor? Dude must be kinda old, right?” She was trying to picture all the doctors she had ever met – none of them particularly young or dashing. Alice must have hit the medical hunk jackpot.

“You should see if he’s back in town yet,” she suggested. “You’re clearly smitten.”

Alice Morrow

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice was running short on ammunition, and she wasn't ready to relinquish the one piece she had right now, so she settled for a glare in Ashley's direction. "No you don’t need to page him." She glared some more. Eventually she relented from her visual assault and continued to answer Ashley's questions. "Yeah he's a proper doctor, I mean, at least I think he is. It's definitely medical, he's not like a doctor at college or anything. He's doing a residency, which means that he works with people and they call him doctor. But he's not like fully qualified?" Alice wasn't entirely sure how it all worked, but, to her credit, she was at least honest about her ignorance. "I mean, that's what it seems to be anyway." She pulled a face. Ashley's question was perfectly innocent, but she still felt kind of awkward about it. Nate wasn't exactly old, but he was the oldest guy she'd ever been interested in dating, and at twenty-six, he was nearly seven years older than her. "He's not that old, I'm really not that desperate, but he is like… older than me…" At Ashley's suggestion she almost reached for the phone that sat beside her on the couch, but she restrained herself. Instead she dropped her head back against the couch. "I so want to but you know I can't. I did text him while I was still in New York, but I feel like I can't be on him all the time for a date cause I might scare him off." She screwed her lips together and picked at the corner of the cushion, "I mean, I want it to be more than just one night. I kinda wish I hadn't invited him back to my room now. Maybe he thinks I'm just a slut…"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

kiss and tell

Ashley raised a hand as though to shield herself from the ferocity of Alice’s glare. “Has Paladin got a new power? C’mon, talk about if looks could kill!”

She giggled all the same, and she knew that Alice was secretly enjoying the attention. Maybe even not-so-secretly – the two girls could read each other so well at this point that there was usually a second layer of communication threading throughout their conversations. Keeping secrets from each other was a pointless exercise at best.

Like Alice, Ashley didn’t really know anything about becoming a doctor. She’d assumed that it took a long time to become a doctor, and therefore assumed Nate must be significantly older than the two of them, but that was about it. “What does he do at the MNRU? I thought that was for like… secret metahuman stuff?”

Will had told her something of the MNRU once. She didn’t really know what went on behind closed doors there, but she was intrigued to see what a not-completely-qualified doctor was doing at a metahuman research institute.

“Not that old? How old are we talking here – twenties, thirties?” Ashley’s last attempt at a relationship had been with an older guy – Imran, PhD student in a subject Ashley had never quite wrapped her head around – but she was also two years older than Alice. She usually found herself enjoying relationships a little more when the other person was more mature, but she wasn’t sure how Alice felt about such things. Jason had been slightly older but not by much – and certainly not much more mature. This sounded like unchartered territory for Alice.

“You don’t have to ask him on a date,” Ashley insisted. “Just say hi, let him know you’re back in San Francisco in an off-hand kinda way. Did it seem like he wanted to see you again?”

Ashley pouted sympathetically at Alice’s lamentation. “I bet he doesn’t! Plus, it takes two – it would be pretty hypocritical of him to judge you for that. You don’t wanna waste your time on hypocrites if that’s the case.”

Alice Morrow

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

"I bet my life would be a lot easier if I could do that. I can't imagine anyone thinking they can take on the strength of Paladin if I could kill them with a look." Although it probably wouldn't. Alice had managed to avoid actually killing anyone as a Hero, it was nigh on impossible for normal people to hurt her now, and difficult for any metahuman packing physical powers. In turn that meant it was fairly easy for her to deal with them without having to hurt them permanently. Shaking her head, she cleared up Ashley's confusion, or tried to anyway. "No, I mean, I guess they do that stuff too, but he said he mostly helps people who are struggling to deal with their powers. Like if they have pre-existing conditions or if they just can't control their abilities." She frowned briefly. Alice could understand a little of that concern, but not all of it. When she had first developed her abilities they had operated mostly on instinct, protecting her when she was afraid and empowering her when she lashed out. What she was capable of now was on a whole other level, but she'd never truly been unable to control her abilities and with her involvement in the Event came a hefty dose of guilt, especially considering how much she had benefitted from everything that followed. "Twenty-six." She'd hesitated for a moment before revealing his age. He wasn't really that old, and that guy Ashley had been dating had been older as well, but then Ashley was older too. She was more worried that Ashley would have a problem with it than she was uncomfortable about the age gap. "I guess, he seemed like he'd want to see me again, and we were still texting in New York. I had to get on the plane then though." She scowled, although the expression softened a little when she realised that Ashley had a point. He'd gone to bed after all, and they'd both had perhaps a little too much to drink. It also wasn't as if she expected him to be texting her all the time. She wouldn't complain, but she certainly didn't expect it. She was needy, not controlling. "I guess I'll just let him know I've landed and if he wants to meet up again I guess he can call me or message me or whatever." She picked up her phone as she spoke, her fingers flying confidently over the digital keys. "Now I just got to wait…" She stared at Ashley, "I'm already going crazy…"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

kiss and tell

Ashley smiled. “Would make your job pretty boring though – I know how much you love punching bad guys in the name of justice.”

She listened as Alice explained a little more about Nate’s role at the MNRU. It made sense. A centre that conducted research on metahuman abilities was likely to be a pretty safe bet for using that knowledge to help when those abilities went wrong. She felt bad for not realising such a place existed. Will could probably use some therapy for dealing with his power… but Will could probably use some therapy for a whole basket of things, if she was honest.

“Oh, that’s actually really cool!” she said excitedly. “That must be super rewarding work. I award him bonus points for career choice.” Ashley ticked her imaginary review in the air, a strong indication of her positive impression of the guy. Alice knew that Ashley would be honest – even if that meant brutally so.

Alice had hesitated before saying his age, but Ashley was pleasantly surprised at how young he was. She’d been imagining closer to thirty.

“Twenty-six is fiiiine,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “So young to be a doctor – resident, whatever – at the MNRU! He must be so smart.” Her eyes widened in awe. “What do you think of it – do you like it or is he too old for you? For the record, I’m on board.”

She perked up even more as Alice talked herself into sending him a text. Ashley wasn’t about to pressure Alice into persuading him into anything remotely serious, she’d learnt her lesson after her meddling got Alice dumped by Jason (good riddance), but she was thrilled to see Alice excited about a guy. Recently, it had felt like Alice was throwing herself a little too fully into her role as Paladin.

“What would you do if he asked you out?” she asked, a little dreamily. “Dinner, drinks… mini-golf?” Ashley poked her tongue out the side of her teeth, grinning playfully.

Alice Morrow

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

"It's true, it just wouldn't be the same if I couldn't punch people…" At least Ashley seemed equally excited by Nate's career as Alice was. He was a doctor after all, and while Alice was no longer struggling to make ends meet, she was still just as vulnerable to the various stereotypes and societal expectations. A doctor, as they would say, was a pretty good catch. Who they were, and where exactly they got the information to make this claim was shaky in her mind. But they would say Nate was a good catch. "Wait, bonus points? How does this scoring system work exactly?" She narrowed her eyes, "And where do I rate on it?" She patted the cushion she was clutching meaningfully, as though implying it could shortly find itself in Ashley's face if she did not give Alice a good review. She didn't realise she had been so worried about Ashley's response to his age. Especially considering it should be up to her rather than anyone else. Even so, she would have felt weird if this thing did continue and Ashley kept giving him weird looks when he came round. It certainly would make things easier. "Yeah, I mean, I think it's great. I mean I've always like dated guys that were older than me, but never by that much. I guess I was just more worried that you would think it was weird or something. I can't tell you how relieved I am that you don't think it's weird." The next question gave Alice pause as she considered her response. "I dunno, we've already kinda done the drinks thing. Dinner might be nice. Or should that be for like a third date? I suppose it's the only thing I've left for the third date." She couldn't help but blush at her own comment. "And definitely not mini-golf."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

kiss and tell

Ashley nodded in sincere, firm agreement. “Paladin not being able to punch people would be like McKenna not being able to sing. I’d just be standing up on stage like this.”

She suddenly went stiff, staring blankly into the distance. She stayed motionless for a solid five seconds before slowly sliding her gaze across to stare directly at Alice, followed by a familiar transition into a creepy smile complete with crazy eyes. Ashley could feel the extra chins forming – God, she was attractive.

“It’s a scoring system for boys! And men,” she added generously. “But if you were eligible you’d be off the scale, obviously, and too good for anybody to deserve your lovin’. I also make it up entirely depending on how nice and mature they seem so don’t worry… Nate’s doing well for now,” she said with a wink. “Would be neat to meet him face to face, but I guess I can wait for you to actually start dating him first.”

With a dramatic sigh, as though Alice was being deliberately cruel in not having immediately entered into a committed relationship with the guy, Ashley leaned her head against the sofa with a forlorn look.

“Of course it’s great, that Jason was such a child – probably best to keep your catchment age above 25 if you ask me.” She grinned. “So nope, I definitely don’t think you’re weird. Hey, most of the guys I’ve dated have been older than me too. Probably all of them.”

None of the relationships had been particularly successful, of course, but that wasn’t the point.

“Dinner would be perfect – you’re a total foodie so you could show off by taking him to one of your many hidden gems! And if he doesn’t wanna, then you can always invite me instead. You always find the best places. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?”

Ashley joined Alice in a blush, and then snorted with laughter at Alice’s quick dismissal of mini-golf. “I understand, babe. Mini-golf is our thing.”

Alice Morrow

341
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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice stared at her motionless friend for a moment, an evil grin creeping onto her face. "I thought that's what you do on stage anyway?" The extra creepy smile that followed didn't help the situation. Alice couldn't exactly imagine anyone that might show up to a concert when that face was on the posters. Although she was sure there were a few weird and desperate individuals that might have shown up. "Well that's OK then, as long as I break the scale I'm happy with it." She shrugged, "You're right though, might be a bit weird if I started introducing him to my friends before we were actually dating. Although he has kinda already met Stephen, so I've not exactly been great at that bit." She slapped her head back against the sofa again, "Oh my god, I have no idea how I am so bad at dating. I used to be OK, am I just that out of practice now? I swear I didn't mess up this much when I was dating Jason." Not that it had been all that serious. Like Ashley said, Jason had been pretty immature, he might have been older that Alice, but he wasn't that much older than she was, and in terms of maturity he had been a lot younger. Becoming a Hero had not been great for her social life. Most of her old friends hadn't had to face anything in the way of real responsibility yet , and it had made it much harder to spend time with them these days. She snapped her fingers in inspiration at Ashley's suggestion. "That's such a good idea, I will definitely take him somewhere. And maybe I'll take that route. After all, that stomach…" She nodded, "You see, I knew you'd get it, I didn't want you to worry that I was replacing you."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Kiss and tell

Ashley pouted. “Oh okay, now I see why you refuse to be my number one groupie and attend all my shows. All these excuses of saving the city and working diner shifts when really it’s because I have the stage presence of a corpse?”

She pointed her finger at Alice. “When they reanimate me as a zombie I’m coming for your brain first!”

The two of them would still probably be best friends even as zombies. They’d roam San Francisco together in search of frozen Greek yoghurt (topped with brains, and maybe fresh strawberries too). It would probably put a bit of a dent in both of their respective careers but so long as the landlord never kicked them out for fear of getting zombified as a result they would probably happily make their way through their zombie lives together. This kind of thinking was exactly why Alice and Ashley were perfect roommates.

“Woah, what, Stephen gets to meet him before I do?” Ashley folded her arms. Stephen was a very jealous friend of Alice’s – his feelings obviously stemming from unrequited love – and his attitude towards Ashley had left their relationship a little less friendly than Ashley usually kept with her acquaintances. There was only so much side-eyeing a girl could take.

Ashley reached out to pat Alice’s arm sympathetically. “You’re not bad at dating! You’re just out of practice because you’ve been in a committed relationship with your job for so long,” she explained. It was a pretty valid comment.

She was happy to see Alice’s reaction to her suggestion – it seemed to have boosted her confidence significantly. After all, if there was one thing Alice could be confident about, it was her taste in food. Punching bad guys was a relatively recent hobby compared to her lifelong appreciation of the culinary arts.

“Are his abs better than mine?” Ashley asked, looking down at her stomach. She still liked to maintain hers, although they were toned rather than bulky. She wasn’t sure her management would respond too happily to McKenna Chase, American sweetheart, suddenly turning into a weightlifter, no matter how hilarious that would be.

“Alice, as if you could replace me! He might be a rich, intelligent hunk, but you know there’s nobody who can belt out our karaoke playlists word-for-word better than me.”

Alice Morrow

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

"Pfffft. Like I have enough brains for you to sniff out. You'll never catch me!" Ashley would probably be unsurprised to know that there was a very similar train of thought trundling through Alice's mind, although she had planned on zombifying the landlord immediately instead of threats. They were best friends for a reason after all. "Don't take it so personally, Stephen helped us sneak out of the building without getting caught, that's all. It wasn't anything big. Why? Worried I'll replace you with him?" While Alice knew Ashley wouldn't worry about such things, she unknowingly hit worryingly close to the mark had she been talking to Stephen. He had been her best friend for years. They'd even dated briefly in high school, and as everyone but Alice had noticed, he had very much not gotten over the breakup. If she'd realised how he felt she'd have been feeling a lot more guilty right now. She felt a little better at the sympathy regarding her dating abilities however. It was true, since Jason she'd pretty much thrown herself into being a Hero, and Jason had been well over a year ago now. It was a long time for Alice to go without a boyfriend, which didn't say much for her self-esteem previous to becoming Paladin. Alice followed Ashley's gaze to the other girl's stomach. It was true that Ashley had some very impressive abs, although Nate's had been more so. That said he was a guy so it was much easier for him to develop and maintain them. "I think I'm more impressed by yours, although I almost drooled when I first saw his." The point about karaoke was true. "What would I do without your karaoke skills? I bet he can't entertain me when I'm cooking half as well as you can." She paused and looked thoughtfully at her friend. "Should I cook for him? Or is that too soon?"

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