[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

Alice didn't think she had ever been quite this afraid. She'd faced down metahumans capable of levelling buildings, been caught in hostage situations, even stood face to face with as close to a God as had ever walked the earth. And yet here and now, she was terrified. It was almost comical. After all, Carol and Lewis Havelock were but mere mortals compared to the beings she fought on a weekly basis. And yet they still inspired the kind of fear in her she hadn't felt since she was a little girl, hiding under the covers, afraid of the monster in the closet. It wasn't as if either of them had any powers, or even particularly wanted to see her dead. She'd actually already met Carol, although the other woman hadn't known at the time. It had been the same party at which she'd met Nate, but she'd been there as Paladin. There were very few people in the country who didn't know who Paladin was, and she'd half-toyed with the idea of showing up in costume just to make sure that Carol approved of her son's girlfriend. As it was, she was in the elevator of an apartment block she definitely couldn't afford, as well dressed as she could manage. Still, she felt terribly underdressed. There had been a man behind the desk in the lobby, and she could have sworn he had sniffed at her outfit as she entered. Or maybe he just had allergies. Nate had assured her that it would all be OK, but he'd said enough about his parents to her for Alice to understand that his mother placed an awful lot of importance on appearance and what she called breeding. Alice had precisely zero breeding that she was aware of, that wasn't helped by the fact that she didn't know her parents. She doubted Carol would approve of that. She turned to Nate, the young doctor was standing beside her. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I'm not the kind of girl your mom seems to be into, and it's not like I can tell her what I really do..."

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[Nathan Havelock]

Through the Looking Glass

Really, Nate wasn’t sure how he’d ended up in this situation. Alice was by far the coolest – was the coolest the right word for a total nerd? – girlfriend he’d ever had and that meant his parents would definitely not approve. As such, he’d kind of enjoyed the last few months of quietly dating her behind their backs. Unfortunately things were getting quite serious and there was only so much dodging of his mother’s matchmaking attempts that Nate could attempt before he would let something slip. It was best to come clean…

Carol Havelock instantly insisted on dinner, Nate instantly insisted on a more lowkey occasion, and the compromise ended up being a meal at his parents’ home. Nate was feeling more and more like that had secretly been his mother’s plan all along.

His father was vaguely intrigued – he’d asked Nate if he knew her family and grew less interested once Nate made it clear that Alice did not have her own pipe-smoking father that Lewis could hide away in the study with.

Alice was about as terrified as could be expected. She’d handled Carol’s social pleasantries perfectly fine as Paladin but meeting her afresh as Alice Morrow was a whole new ball game. Her hair looked extra blue where her face seemed a little paler than usual. Maybe, hopefully, it was just the light.

“Did I ever say this was a good idea?” he said softly, sighing dramatically. “Hey, no,” he grabbed her head and planted an overly enthusiastic kiss on her forehead. “We’ll survive, and it’s not like I care about her approval anyway. Just make all the right yum-noises about my mom’s cooking and I’m sure everything will be okay.”

Nate was trying to convince both Alice and himself, and he wasn’t doing a terribly great job for either of them. Still, there was nothing more he could say, as the door swung open seconds later.

“Nathan! How nice to see you on time. This must be Alice – please do come in – hello!”

Carol had drinks ready and waiting for them on the dainty entrance side-table, her own clutched elegantly in one hand. Nate’s father had obviously decided to hide away in his office until explicitly called for – the faint smell of tobacco creeping through the door. Nate busied himself with hanging up his jacket and taking of his shoes, with his mother taking the opportunity to introduce herself.

“I’m Carol, lovely to meet you.” Nate started to go faster with his shoes, returning quickly to Alice’s side, drinks in hand, so she didn’t have to be alone for too long.

“What’s this?” he asked pleasantly as he handed Alice’s over.

Carol waved a hand. “Just a Merlot, darling, 2010. We’ll have the nice wine with dinner – your father’s picked something out. You do like wine, don’t you?” she asked quickly, turning back to Alice. She spoke it like it was concern for Alice’s preferences, but it was pretty obviously the first of many tests. Fortunately, Nate knew Alice had nothing to fear when it came to her tastes in food and drink. If anything, her only concern would be knowing far more than Carol.

As they spoke, Carol led them down the hall to the lounge, which had clearly been redecorated again in whatever the latest interior design trend was amongst her friends. The smell of smoke from one of the wooden doors off the lounge was the only indication of his father’s presence, but Nate nodded courteously towards it all the same, smirking with amusement at the old habit.

Alice Morrow

594 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

Alice grinned at the kiss, feeling a little better, even if the colour did not entirely return to her face. "I can definitely do yum noises, anyway, I’m sure she’s not that bad a cook. She can’t be any worse than Ashley after all." Nate had no more time to try and make her feel any better however, as the door swung open, revealing Carol. Somehow the woman looked far more imposing now than she had in New York. Maybe it had been something to do with the costume. Or the champagne. She had no more time to muse over that as she was whisked inside by the hostess. She looked around quickly, wondering if she might spot Lewis, Nate's father, but was disappointed. She refocused her attention on Carol. Alice held out her hand, and was surprised when Carol not only took it, but swooped in to kiss her on the cheek. She did her best not to look shocked as the elegant woman moved back, sipping at her wine. "It's nice to meet you to Carol, I'm Alice." Alice was hoping against hope that Carol wouldn't recognise her voice, but it probably would have been a miracle if she had. The party in New York had been loud and they hadn't talked for long. That and Carol might struggle to reconcile the image of the powerful, confident Paladin with the nervous, pale faced girl in front of her now. Nate's return was a relief, and she turned slightly towards his comforting presence at her side, reaching out to take the wineglass that probably cost more than the entire set she had in the apartment. If Carol's question was a test, then no doubt Alice passed with flying colours. "I love wine, especially pairing it with the right foods. It just makes certain flavours pop when you get the combination right." She paused to lift the wine to her nose, testing the aromas, before taking a small sip in the manner of wine aficionados the world over. She was grateful for the alcohol, and immediately took a larger sip the moment Carol's back was turned. Hopefully she wouldn't need too much more before the evening was out, it would be even worse to get drunk in front of her boyfriend's parents. She looked towards the boy in question as they entered the large space. Alice's apartment was nice, but this was something else, this was a penthouse, the kind of apartment most people would never set foot in in their life. She reasoned that being impressed at Carol's lounge would be appropriate, so she let her reaction show, not that she had done a good job of hiding it in the first place. "Wow, this place is amazing. And that view… I am so jealous…"

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[Nathan Havelock]

Through the Looking Glass

Nate was yet to sample Ashley’s cooking, though he’d met her many times. Alice hadn’t exactly sold the culinary experience to him somehow, and Ashley seemed equally eager to remain a healthy distance from the kitchen whenever possible. Apparently she was able to fend for herself but objected to doing so for the most part when she had a live-in chef at her disposal. Alice seemed to love having a live-in cheerleader, though, so it worked out.

Alice was positively enthusiastic in response to his mother’s question about wine. She smiled broadly, lips together. “Well then, I do hope my choices this evening… pop for you.”

Nate joined Alice in taking a very generous sip as they followed after Carol, not having quite the same reservations as Alice when it came to over-indulging. He was planning on making the evening as bearable as possible and he knew he could count on his father to keep their glasses filled.

He had spent the majority of his childhood in this large apartment, although the interior had changed a hundred times over since he had last called it home. Nate’s old bedroom had long been turned into a tasteful guest room. If he closed his eyes, he could still picture his mother’s horror when he and Tyler had plastered the walls in posters. They’d been fifteen so their tastes had been… less than refined.

Alice, of course, had not spent the majority of her childhood here and as such was impressed by the understated grandeur of it all.

“It’s fantastic, isn’t it? Especially when the fog behaves itself,” his mother added with a faint sigh, casting her eyes distastefully over the day’s choice of weather. “Now, I know there’s no use asking Nathan, so come and look at this coffee table. What do you think?”

Nate settled himself into the sofa, propping himself up against one of the many designer cushions. She always asked him his opinion about the furniture in her home and he never had an answer. He didn’t really care what the coffee table looked like, so long as it supported a healthy stack of books, the TV remote and a couple of mugs of coffee. From what he could tell, the Havelocks’ current table fulfilled that purpose, although it didn’t have anything remotely useful on it such as books or remotes. That would ruin the aesthetic, apparently.

Once Alice had responded, there was a quiet creak and an increased aroma of tobacco as Lewis appeared in the doorway. He gave a small smile to all present before moving to the armchair besides Nate.

“This is my husband, Lewis,” his mother explained, as though that wasn’t clear. Lewis nodded wordlessly in Alice’s direction by way of greeting.

This was going just about as well as Nate could have hoped. He took another healthy swig of wine.

Alice Morrow

476 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure they will." Having at least one subject she could talk about had granted Alice some courage, and a little colour returned to her face. As long as she didn't consume too much of said courage she should be OK. At Carol's next comment, Alice kept her disagreement to herself. She happened to be a fan of Karl, San Francisco's local fog, and she quite enjoyed the site of the city's towers and buildings wreathed in the misty tendrils. On the other hand, she could appreciate just how breath-taking the view might be from the window when it was a clear day. This was the kind of apartment that even now Alice couldn't dream of affording. She was pleased that Carol seemed to have taken to her, while at the same time worried that this latest question might simply be another test. The coffee table in question was definitely not practical. It was set low to the ground, far too low to comfortably be able to set anything on it while sat on the couch. There was a strange, modernist sculpture on a raised section. There were no coasters, and Alice very much got the impression that to place a glass on it would be heresy of the highest order. All in all, it was pretty, but utterly impractical. Nothing like the coffee table in her apartment which had various discarded magazines and half a dozen coasters strewn about it. Clearly it was intended more as a conversation piece or a statement than to actually be used. In fact, the whole lounge area looked a little like that. Almost as if Carol had simply opened the page of an interior design catalogue and ordered the exact room she saw there. This was a room for impressing guests, not relaxing in. "I like it, it sort of… like… works with the room. And I really like this…" She pointed at the strange sculpture on one side of the coffee table. To her eye it appeared to be nothing more than a lumpen piece of rock, but she was sure it had actually been very expensive. They were distracted by a gentle creak, the kind of creak that has to be cultivated, and Alice wondered idly whether Carol had done that to give her advance warning of her husband's presence, or if it had been his design decision. Clearly the man who had just arrived was Lewis, Nate's father, although his mother cleared up any possible confusion there might have been immediately. "It's nice to meet you Lewis, I'm Alice." Damn, she sounded like a broken record, or a good little wife from a house with a white picket fence. She supposed Carol might actually approve of that. After all, there was so much more of Alice that she wouldn't approve of, starting with the hair and ending with the dead end job in a diner. It wasn't as if she could tell the Havelock's that she was a Hero. She took a sip of her wine, smiling a little as she noticed Nate doing the same thing. "Nate's told me so much about you both."

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[Nathan Havelock]

Through the Looking Glass

Brief introduction to her husband complete, Carol pursed her lips and gave the table a long look. “I think I might have it painted white to bring some light into the centre of the room. Brightening your living spaces is very important at this time of year,” she told Alice, the look on her face suggesting that Alice should be very grateful for this nugget of interior design wisdom. “That was a gift from a friend. Her husband collects interesting pieces, you see. She knows I have an interest.”

“You gave me something like that once,” Nate said, amusement twisting his mouth into a lop-sided grin. “I still have it.”

At this, his mother shot him a somewhat piercing glare. “Ah yes, you moved it to the windowsill in your bathroom last I saw.”

He beamed broadly. “It brightens up the room, mom.”

Lewis chuckled, though gently. He was wiser than to directly antagonise his wife with uproarious laughter at Nate’s defiance. Instead he turned his attentions to Alice.

“Wonderful to meet you, Alice,” he said. The way he said her name suggested he was hearing it for the first time, and not the fiftieth as was actually the case. “Has he indeed?”

He turned to Nate. “Only good things, I hope.”

“What else is there to tell?”

Carol smiled delicately at Nate’s innocently-presented response. “Let’s not talk about us, I’m afraid we’re not very interesting. I’d love to hear more about you, Alice. And the both of you! How did you meet?”

She had asked him this before but he’d brushed it off. He’d assumed he’d done so successfully, but apparently Carol’s curiosity was piqued. If only she knew the truth… that she had in fact met Alice before on the very same night that they had. He’d have loved to have seen the look on her face if Alice had said that. But no, probably best not to reveal her secret identity on the first meet-the-parents. Nate wasn’t sure that his mother could actually be trusted to handle such information with the secrecy it demanded anyway.

Alice Morrow

348 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

Alice nodded seriously, as though she were taking internal notes on the advice Carol was imparting. She thought that was the best response, even if she would probably not be decorating her apartment like a page from Elle. She'd learned enough from Nate however, to know that acting as if Carol's advice were precious pearls of wisdom wouldn't send her far wrong. She nodded in appreciation at the piece of art that probably cost more than a month's rent in her apartment, while appearing to be little more than a misshapen rock. Although the way Carol used the word interest sounded like it was more of a sound financial decision, something that was simply expected when you were Carol Havelock. She resisted the urge to giggle at Nate's antagonism of his mother. She recalled the sculpture in question; it was indeed on the windowsill in Nate's bathroom. She'd thought it was just some sort of souvenir, she hadn't realised it had been something of real value. Not that she placed much value on lumpen pieces of stone. Obviously it's location was something of a sticking point for the Havelock matriarch, although clearly Nate's father didn't mind, taking the opportunity to get in the chuckle Alice was too scared to attempt. It was clear to Alice that there was a more relaxed relationship between father and son than there was between Nate and his mother. Nate had told her as much anyway, but it was obvious even here. Then that awkward question. How did you two meet? After all, Alice had met Carol as Paladin, only for a brief time it was true, but it had been the same party. She couldn't exactly tell them that she was the Hero that plastered billboards all over the city. Without that though it was much harder to explain how she had met Nate. "Oh it's not all that exciting. My best friend is like, a fashion designer, and he got me a ticket to his show in Fashion Week. We met at one of the after parties there, got talking and well… this is where we ended up I guess." It was technically true, she was lying through omission rather than explicitly telling a falsehood after all. She had gone to New York Fashion Week, and she had met Nate at an after party. She'd just been there as Paladin, rather than as Alice. She also carefully refrained from telling Carol that they'd gone back to her hotel room that first night. She didn't want her getting ideas about the morals of her son's girlfriend after all.

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[Nathan Havelock]

Through the Looking Glass

The best way to lie was to tell as much of the truth as possible. Lying by omission really wasn’t such a crime when you were protecting your secret identity as the country’s most famous hero, anyway, right? Nate certainly didn’t feel too bad about failing to mention that he had actually met Paladin first, Alice second, and he certainly didn’t feel too bad about failing to mention that his third introduction of the night had been to Alice’s hotel room. There were some details that parents didn’t need, or want, to know.

His mother’s eyes had lit up. She had been there too, of course, and had considered it one of the highlights of her social calendar at that time. She had attended the February occasion as well, but Nate had managed to be too excruciatingly busy for that one.

“Amazing – a designer, you say? Will I have seen any of his work?”

Having finished her own wine, with her husband lacking a glass at all, Carol then suggested they move through to the dining room while she prepared the first course. Lewis followed her into the kitchen and emerged with more wine – topping up their glasses en route to his chair. Nate thanked him cheerfully and made a small show of offering Alice her seat before walking round to his own.

“Business good?” he asked his father.

“Of course,” Lewis said with a nod, and then he fell silent.

Nate was feeling under pressure to push the conversation further – normally that was where it ended, but in Alice’s presence he felt like it should continue before she died of awkwardness.

“Harriet told me you met up with her mom the other week,” he said eventually, trying to conjure up something. “Expanding into petroleum engineering now?”

Lewis scoffed. “Not if I can help it. Lovely girl though, that Harriet. We haven’t seen her in a while – you should bring her for dinner.”

Nate cringed at the comment, so brazenly spoken in front of the girl he had actually chosen to bring for dinner. There was nothing between Harriet and himself, but that hadn’t stopped every girlfriend he had ever had from being uncontrollably jealous of her. Lewis’ comments wouldn’t help if Alice was feeling the same way. He looked across the table at her. Hopefully she wasn’t jealous.

“She’s still travelling the world at the moment,” Nate said lightly, doing his best to pass the question by. “Tyler should be back soon, though.”

“Ah.”

His parents weren’t quite as big fans of Tyler. He was the closest thing to a bad influence Nate had, after all, and those weren’t usually popular no matter how wealthy or successful their parents were.

Alice Morrow

451 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

Alice hadn't actually thought that her connection to Stephen would be one of her big selling points as Nate's girlfriend. It was silly really, clearly Carol was a person who placed a lot of importance on appearances, on who you knew, and if she'd seen a friend of Alice's on the signs for New York Fashion week then surely that would only make her look better. She only hoped that Carol wouldn't spot her complete lack of connections to anyone else. "Ummm, you might have seen some of it, it was Stephen Boyer, they're calling his stuff Hero Chic." He was also on record as having designed Paladin's costume, although Alice didn't mention that. Bringing that up might give the game away, although she was pretty sure Carol would struggle to connect Alice with the confident, assured Paladin, identical hair colour or not. That hair dye had grown more and more popular since the launch of the Hero Program and the arrival of Paladin in the public eye. She took another sip of wine as she sat, smiling at Nate as he pulled the chair out for her. Uncomfortable though this was, she found it intensely reassuring that Nate was here with her. It gave her some measure of confidence, and at least it seemed that he wouldn't place too much importance on the judgement of his parents, or more specifically his mother. Then Harriet came up. Nate had mentioned her before, but Alice had never met the girl. It seemed as though she and Nate were really close, and Alice couldn't help but feel a flash of jealousy whenever she came up. She'd resisted the urge to look her up on Facebook, afraid that she'd feel even more jealous if it turned out that she was hot. She returned Nate's glance with a smile. She really liked Nate, and she didn't want to be that psycho jealous girlfriend who chased him away through paranoia. She struggled to join the conversation, "So what exactly is it that you do Lewis? Nate's explained it to me but I'm not sure I really understand it."

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[Nathan Havelock]

Through the Looking Glass

Carol’s smile broadened considerably at Alice’s mention of Stephen’s ‘Hero Chic’. Nate had found all the costumes pretty cool and even enjoyed some of the artier, more “fashion” looks, but his overall impression of the guy had been severely tainted by the cuttingly jealous glares Stephen had sent his way while they were escaping the after-party. Surprisingly, despite meeting Ashley on several occasions, they had not crossed paths since. Stephen was obviously not interested in being friends with the people Alice had chosen to date.

“I remember that collection well, yes! How very cutting edge,” his mother commented, looking genuinely impressed. “I did manage to run into him in New York, of course, but it would be fabulous to get in touch again.” Never wasting an opportunity to expand her network, of course. “I assume you know him well?”

Nate couldn’t imagine a more awkward experience for Alice than introducing his mother to Stephen – who was, after all, not Nate’s biggest fan – but it would be severe bonus points in her eyes if she even made the offer. He noticed with some relief that Carol was trying to act casual about the whole Hero Chic party, otherwise she would have undoubtedly started name-dropping and there’s no way he could have kept a straight face once she brought up Paladin.

Alice swiftly changed the topic from Nate’s friends – it was going nowhere anyway, and she didn’t exactly know them herself – and Lewis looked across the table at her in gentle surprise.

“I run a large financial conglomerate – we’ve expanded greatly over the last decade or so, but I’ve yet to convince Nathan to come aboard,” he added with a chuckle. Lewis had long given up on tempting Nate into the family business. Carol, on the other hand, seemed to have a lingering hope that Nate might tire of medicine some day.

Nate rolled his eyes. “Tempting though the offer is, obviously.”

At that point Carol entered the room, a plate in each hand. “You wouldn’t mind helping with the rest of the plates, would you Alice?” Nate looked up eagerly to see what was on offer – it probably wouldn’t rival Alice’s cooking, but it was sure to be something delicious all the same, if needlessly fancy. He was looking forward to hearing Alice’s critiques after dinner.

Alice Morrow

385 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

Alice was thrilled to have actually managed to impress Carol with something about herself. Technically it was the person she was connected to that had impressed Carol, but Alice was still counting it. After all, she had known Stephen for a very long time. "I know him pretty well, he's been my best friend for like 8 years. We used to have sleepovers and things when we were little." She still considered him a best friend, and still talked to him, though strangely he'd never gotten around to meeting Nate. Of course he'd helped them escape the after-party, but that hadn't really been a proper meeting, just two minutes of hurried changing and a quick hug of thanks and goodbye. Maybe she shouldn't mention that Nate had also met Stephen in that case, although that might just get him into trouble with his mother for withholding such information from her. Of course Alice would have no problem introducing Stephen to Carol, especially if it earned her approval, but she hadn't moved in this world before, and the thought to offer simply passed her by. Lewis' answer didn't really clear up Alice's confusion, but not wanting to seem stupid she nodded with an expression that she hoped conveyed understanding. It was about what she had understood from Nate, but maybe it was just something she was never going to understand. She laughed gently along with his chuckle; she struggled to see Nate in a boardroom wearing an expensive suit. Nate happened to own several expensive suits, and she happened to think he looked damn hot in all of them, but she still couldn't imagine him in a boardroom. He very much seemed to want to avoid that in his life. She couldn't blame him, she'd sat in on a few meetings concerning her image with Dominic, and she had been tempted to simply leap out of the window rather than sit and struggle through it. She looked up suddenly as Nate's mother re-entered the room, plates in hand. After all, this was the main attraction of the evening. Alice liked Nate, but she loved food. Carol might not be a professional chef, but then neither was Alice, technically. She sprang up, perhaps a little too eagerly, she really hadn't understood Lewis' description of his job after all, and moved towards the door into the kitchen. "Sure. What're we eating?" She was already willing to make a guess from the glimpse she had caught and the tantalising wafts from the kitchen, but it was the meal the hostess had prepared. To guess would just be rude.

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[Nathan Havelock]

Through the Looking Glass

The one on Carol’s face was a look of polite, wavering interest. Nate gave Alice a fond, reassuring smile but he was pretty sure she had just failed that miniature test. His mother didn’t really care how close you were to somebody, just that you were close enough to get her in as a fellow contact. Alice wasn’t used to the shallowness with which Carol Havelock conducted her social life and so there was no way she could have been expected to answer any differently, really.

In a way, Nate was pretty pleased that Alice wasn’t conforming to his parents’ ways. He liked her because she was so different, after all. He’d never had an ex who was exactly to their tastes anyway – Nate’s quiet, lifelong rebellion against his upbringing even extended to his love life.

She did her best to look like she knew what Lewis was talking about but there was nothing she could really say in response to that. Nate imagined that his father deliberately enjoyed being vague about his work for the purposes of avoiding having to actually participate in conversations for too long with people who weren’t also wealthy older white men with a love for tobacco. He wasn’t exactly adventurous in who he kept his company with, and Alice was far too young and blue-haired for him.

As Nate’s mother entered with the first plates, his father dutifully filled a glass of Chablis for everybody; no doubt specially selected for the dish. It was one of Lewis’ favourites – he tended to prefer whites with less fruitiness to them. It suited Nate fine; if there was one thing about his parents that he couldn’t fault, it was their taste in wine.

“Prawn and salmon terrine, darling,” Carol informed Alice, placing said dish before Nate. The small mound in the centre of the plate was circular, wrapped entirely in salmon, garnished with cucumber and what seemed to be dill (Nate had difficulty telling such things apart when they were finely chopped). He wasn’t surprised by the food choice – Carol had been telling him about a lot of “excellent seafood restaurants” lately.

“Nathan told us you were a chef,” Carol added, almost bluntly, when Alice returned to the table. “You must tell me what you think.”

Nate took a rather large swig of wine at this point, almost instinctively. He tried to mask the gulp, letting it trickle down gently, before raising his glass. “Well, this is great,” he said.

Carol did her best to pretend she hadn’t heard him.

Alice Morrow

423 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

Entering the kitchen, Alice was momentarily dumbfounded. It wasn't that she was surprised, just struck so completely by jealousy she had to struggle simply to regain basic control of her body. The whole thing looked like it probably cost more than her apartment. It was finished in much the same style as the living room, and Alice struggled to envisage how much Carol must spend on redecorating. Alice had one high quality kitchen knife that had been a graduation gift from Stephen's Mom, Carol had a whole set. The whole place was gleaming, and while Alice kept her kitchen in as good, if not better condition, she doubted that Carol got her hands dirty herself. She stared at the gleaming double oven, wondering how hard it might be to carve it out of the wall and take it home, before spotting the plates left on the counter. Grabbing both, she inspected the plate and the food upon it, before quickly heading back into the main room, realising she had probably taken a little longer than would have been expected. "Sorry, I just have to say I love your kitchen, it's like my dream to have one like that. I am so jealous." She sat down once she had distributed the terrine, smiling her thanks at Lewis for the wine. Chablis, so it had obviously been chosen to pair with the dish. It was a good pairing, and Alice wondered if it had been Carol or Lewis who had made the choice. She smiled at Carol, and then looked at Nate as soon as his mother looked away. She was wishing right now that she had taken several more substantial sips of wine by now, maybe it would help her relax a bit. "I'm sure it will be delicious, it looks it." A few minutes later she had sampled enough of the terrine to make a decision. It was good, certainly better than she had expected, but she had also tasted better, and though she wasn't particularly immodest, she was pretty sure she'd made a nicer one herself. "Oh my god Carol it's lovely." Of course she couldn't pass on that thought to Carol, Nate might seem to enjoy deliberately antagonising his parent's, but that didn't mean Alice wanted to join in the game. She certainly didn't want Carol as an enemy; she couldn't see that making her life any easier. It wasn't long before they had finished the appetiser, and Alice leaned over to talk quietly to Nate as Carol rose to check something in the kitchen. Fortunately Lewis had already gone to fetch another wine for the next course. "So does she hate me yet?"

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[Nathan Havelock]

Through the Looking Glass

Alice was such a nerd. As she rushed out of the kitchen with the starters, Nate could see that her eyes were widened in awe at the sight of his parents’ kitchen. The kitchen that Alice and Ashley shared was definitely pretty well equipped but there was no way it could compete with Carol’s desire to ensure her family’s wealth dripped through every part of her home. The room implied she was a far more enthusiastic chef than in truth, but that was the way she liked it. It caused her socialite friends to gush and coo over its sleek style and abundance of “useful” appliances.

Neither Alice nor Carol were fans of Nate’s kitchen. It was basic, according to his culinary skill level, and full of (deliberately) mismatched utensils, pots and pans. At least his cupboards were full of high quality items despite his attempts to make it seem otherwise. Alice had pointed out once that he had a very fancy pepper grinder which he was then quite embarrassed about for a while until they stuck some stickers on it.

It was not surprising, therefore, that Alice was in love with the kitchen.

Carol beamed at the praise. “Thank you, you’re too kind, Alice. The countertops are new this year and I’m very happy with them.”

Nate glanced at his father, who shrugged. “I didn’t notice,” Lewis confessed quietly.

He had to give his mother credit – the terrine was very nice. Certainly better than anything he cooked up for himself, and he wasn’t exactly inadequate. The conversation wasn’t exactly buzzing at the table but it also wasn’t as frosty as it could have been, which was a relief. At this rate, Nate was going to have to slow down on the Chablis lest he peak too soon.

Alice complimented it enthusiastically, prompting Carol to talk at length about the sources of the ingredients, the recipe she had used and the famous chef friends of hers that she had consulted when planning it. The name drops meant little to Nate beyond vaguely recalling meeting one of them at some point, but if they were local names then Alice was probably considerably more impressed than he was.

The course finished, Carol collected the plates and went to check on the main. Lewis took the opportunity to leave the table, seemingly taking a long route via his office to collect the next bottle of wine. Alice leaned across the table at him, her voice low.

“Hate you? No way. You listen to her going on and on about her friends in high places and that’s all she cares about, really.” Nate winked at her. “You’re doing great, you look fantastic, and the city doesn’t seem to be burning down in your absence.”

It was a genuine concern that Paladin might be called for if something unexpectedly big came up, but Nate was hoping the villains of San Francisco could maybe take the night off. Or just do some light mugging sprees at most.

“She was impressed by your connection to Stephen, right? You got this.” He chuckled at himself, amused by the motivational talk.

Alice Morrow

522 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

"I suppose that's true. I'm not surprised your Dad is so quiet, how does he get a word in edgeways?" She glanced in the direction Lewis had disappeared in, maybe that was why he spent so much time in his office, it was the only way to get some real peace and quiet. Nate had told her a little about his parent's, but she'd found it a little hard to believe that they might have such a stand-off relationship, but she could believe it now that she'd met them. They both seemed pleasant enough, but in an entirely different way, as if they just happened to have met here, not that they lived here together. Not that Alice had a great deal of experience when it came to parents. She'd met the parents of friends, but the closest relationship she'd had was with Stephen's parent's, and they were divorced. She looked out of the window, the view really was amazing, and probably fifty percent of the price of the apartment. There were no fires blazing across the landscape it was true. Her phone was in her bag, and there hadn't been a whisper from it all night. It was on silent, but a call from the Program would override that. She'd been praying for a call before they arrived at the Havelock's apartment, but those prayers had gone unanswered. Not that it was going as bad as she'd been afraid it might. "That's true, she seemed to like that, but I feel like she wasn't that thrilled. Should I have invited her to our next get together or something?" She grinned, then dropped it to a polite smile as Carol re-entered. "Do you need any help with the main Carol? Anything I can carry?"

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