[Alice Morrow]

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

At least Ashley hadn't found Alice's excitement embarrassing. Flattering was a much better response than the one she had feared. The thought that being a celebrity didn't make any difference helped as well. Even if Ashley didn't consider herself a celebrity she still was in Alice's eyes. After all, lots of people would know her name, maybe she wasn't super well known like Paramore or My Chemical Romance, but every artist had to start somewhere. "Oh my god, please don't say you're one of those pretentious music artists who think they're Jesus or something?" That really might have been a deal breaker. Although it was pretty clear that it had been a joke, so Alice played along with a mischievous twinkle it her eye. And who knew? Maybe one day she'd be able to hold Ashley to that promise. If she actually had a restaurant it would certainly help get people through the doors if a celebrity wore the menu as a dress. Some people took celebrities way too seriously. She commiserated with Ashley's sorrow at the end of her fro-yo, though her own was still half full thanks to her taking her time. "An establishment that knows people would never leave if they were bottomless. Seriously, I think some people could live on this stuff. I almost could if I wouldn't miss cooking too much." She nodded in response to Ashley's suggestion, mentally tallying up her affordable options in her head. It would make things difficult, but she'd feel worse if she sounded like a charity case. "Yeah sure, I guess it's your turn to suggest somewhere then. Do you have any cravings right now?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Ashley laughed at Alice’s teasing question, shaking her head so furiously that her hair began to whip a little across her face.

“As if any good practising Catholic would believe such a thing!” she said, her mouth open in faux shock. “Ask me again in five years, once all the hot dudes and stacks of cash have got to me,” she added with a mischievous smirk. Ashley planted her hands on her hips and pouted for good measure. If Alice wanted pretentious music artist she could have pretentious music artist.

“Can I seriously hire you to cook for me?” Ashley asked, the offer only half a joke. “A girl who can forego a lifetime of frozen Greek yoghurt in favour of her own food must be quite the cook. I’ll pay you in songs if you want.” That part was definitely a joke. Hey, a trade of services seemed fair, right?

Ashley did eat well as a rule. She had to. It just so happened that she had the luxury of somebody heavily advising her on what foods to eat and which foods to avoid. She had days like today where she indulged in things like fro yo and boatloads of Greek honey, but they were few and far between. Anyway, she’d probably make up for it with a quick intense evening gym session or something. As long as she still looked and felt healthy, with enough energy to do everything that she wanted to, then that was enough for her.

“Oh boy, what am I craving?” Ashley leant back in her seat, stroking her chin in thought. “I wanted to grab picnic stuff – sandwiches or something. Maybe find a grocery store with a good selection of that kinda thing.”

She looked up suddenly, with such an intense look in her eyes that she was surprised that Alice didn’t run for the door in terror. “Know what I’m craving?” she said, smile wide. “Cheese. Maybe some salad too, but definitely cheese. Let’s keep this dairy train rollin’.”

Ashley pumped her arms back and forth for a moment, making quiet little steam train noises to match. “All aboard?”

Alice Morrow

357 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

"Well that's a relief at least, I'm not sure what I would have done if you'd said yes to that question. Just run away probably." She mulled over the thought of Ashley's religion for a moment. It wasn't uncommon in San Francisco, but she'd never really been much interested in God. It wasn't that she had anything against the idea, she'd just long ago lost the belief that praying would make anything better. She certainly didn't begrudge others their faith though. "I hope you're willing to share some of those hot dudes. The rest of us don't have money and fame to help us score." She nodded in response to Ashley's joke, laughing lightly. "Sure, but you'd have to sing enough songs to fill the time I spend cooking. That way we both spend the same amount of time. Sure you're up for that?" In truth Alice was a little taken aback by the sudden hungry look in Ashely's eyes. Even so, it wasn't like it was one she hadn't seen in her own eyes in the mirror, or in those of anyone who had expected the pizza they ordered an hour ago. "Cheese I can do, at least, if you don't mind avoiding the sort of average super market crap?" Hopefully that wouldn't be the case, although judging by Ashley's reaction to Alice's taste in fro-yo, she was willing to be that she would take her advice on this too. She couldn't help but laugh at Ashley's train play, and it wouldn't have been half as fun if she hadn't joined in as she swallowed the last of her Greek yogurt. "Choo choo! Tickets please!"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Ashley laughed, doing her best to turn it into an evil cackle. “Just you try to out-run my friendship. I’m a cardio queen.”

A bizarrely amusing image of some strange harem of adoring hot dudes entered Ashley’s mind; imagining dishing some of them out to friends just adding to the hilarity. It was certainly a thought – fame and money probably would expand the dating pool. Maybe her mother would just have to hold back on the grand-baby enthusiasm until Ashley had a few awards securely under her belt.

“Alice,” Ashley said, trying and failing to look serious. “I am an artist. I could sing for you all evening and each word would be a drop of stardust for your ears.”

She stuck her tongue out.

“So long as stardust sounds like nonsense and ramblings about anything and everything I can see at that moment in time, of course.” She looked around, unable to resist demonstrating in true, terrible style. “Eating fro-yo with my new pal, tastes real good but it’s all gone now…!”

Pulling a sad face, Ashley set the empty cup down on the table.

She was glad that Alice was a fellow in cheese appreciation. There were a surprising number of haters, or strange in-betweeners who only liked cheese on pizza. “Hey, if the foodie can think of a better place to get cheese from round here then I’m all ears.”

Ashley let out a delighted giggle and leapt to her feet, motioning for Alice to follow. “C’mon, you can finish that while we walk. Next stop, flavour town?”

She wasn’t actually sure where they were going so she just hovered in the doorway, arms gently circling as the train impression continued. It was always so, so nice to meet somebody who not only appreciated but actively joined in with her quirky sense of humour, and Alice was definitely on her wavelength. It was always more fun pretending to be a locomotive when you had a buddy alongside you doing just the same, after all.

Alice Morrow

337 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

What Ashley had said sparked a thought in Alice. She wanted to be able to fight crime, to go out and save people. Ashley looked pretty fit, and Alice believed her when she said she was a cardio queen. Alice was willing to bet she wouldn't be able to outrun the shorter girl. That wouldn't bode well for a budding super hero. Ashley's description of her songs sounded about right for most songs these days. That didn't mean they weren't good though. "Will you want a receipt for that stardust?" Alice stood, clutching her fro-yo as Ashley headed towards the door, still moving her arms in gentle circular motions. Of course she couldn't let Will's sister look like some kind of loser, so she started circling her arms as well. "The next station is like ten blocks away… you don't mind taking the train all the way there?" She had a place in mind, it was a tiny little supermarket run by the most American man she had ever met. Except for his taste in food, at least the food that he stocked. It was full of spices and cheeses and strange breads and other things you didn't find in the typical Walgreens. It was a favourite haunt of hers when she had a little more disposable income. It would at least do for today though, the prices were fair and a nice meal out with a friend was a good excuse not to worry about everything else for a little while. -- It did not take them long to get to the small supermarket, which was tiny, but packed tight with all sorts of exotic foods. There was a small fridge at the back piled high with cheese under some sort of haphazard system. That is to say, there was clearly no system. Alice lead Ashley straight to said fridge. "What kind of cheese then?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Ashley was finding it hard to think of a time where she’d had such a good time meeting somebody new. Her positivity was significantly enhanced by the fact that every time she looked down at her nails she was reminded that they matched Alice’s hair perfectly. It could only be fate. There was nothing else to it – Ashley was simply going to have to cling onto this friendship like a koala.

As they walked, the train imitations gradually faded away in favour of normal conversation and normal methods of ambulation. They were still being pretty silly, as carefree young women often are, but the constant giggles were at least a little less likely to attract the attention of a passing psychiatrist. Not that Ashley was really paying attention to on-lookers; her heart and mind were set on cheese…

Yet again Alice led them to a place which simply screamed “hidden gem”. It was definitely not the kind of place that Ashley hit up very frequently. Quite simply, she wasn’t sure what half of the ingredients in here actually were, and there were more still that she recognised but couldn’t tell you what they tasted like. She decided not to inform Alice of this fact – not wanting to risk a foodie-breakdown.

“I like brie… and Swiss…” She gazed for a moment at the disorganised mountain of cheese, trying to identify, well, anything. “I want something nice to go with some good bread, I think.” Ashley turned to Alice for support that this was a good suggestion. “We should get grapes too – essential cheese board ingredient. And maybe find somewhere to get free plastic knives …”

She assumed there was some fruit hiding in this cramped little store – she hadn’t really looked on the way in.

“Then we can go explore; find the perfect park to eat our fancy cheese in if you want? Hopefully passers-by won’t be too jealous and try to steal it.”

Ashley narrowed her eyes, bottling her imaginary rage for these imaginary cheese thieves. She wasn’t above chasing them off – unless they were nice cheese thieves, of course, in which case she could probably be persuaded to share. Ashley liked making friends.

Alice Morrow

364 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

Alice had always been a little bit weird in school, and she certainly hadn't grown out of it, not yet anyway. Unfortunately at that age most teenagers were too concerned with being cool for it to have really made her much in the way of friends. At least in this case that didn't seem to have mattered. Ashley was clearly entirely comfortable in herself in a way that people Alice's age weren't. In truth Alice wished she were that secure in herself, but at least she was happy enough messing around and being herself in this way, even if she had other insecurities. "Okay…" Alice hunted through the cheese stack, carefully prying out a small triangle of cheese as though she were removing a block from a Jenga tower. She placed it in a small metal basket she'd collected at the door. "Brie…" Her eyes roved up and down the wall of dairy produce, searching for the next request. They were disappointed. "Well there's no Swiss, but there's Jarlsberg, which is like Norwegian Swiss cheese…" That was the problem, and advantage of this place. The prices were often quite low, but there was no guarantee that they would have the same stock the next time you came in. She paused to hunt through the stack for a few more things that caught her eye. Satisfied with the small pile of cheeses in the metal basket she moved on to the bread. This was essentially a basket with various different loaves in. She grabbed what looked like half a dozen buns stuck together. "This stuff is great! It's from Germany, or the recipe is anyway." Into the basket it went and they progressed into the second of two aisles the store actually possessed. There was another fridge here, along with a few plastic crates of fruit. Clearly this had been raided already today, but there were still a few things left, mostly less exotic unfortunately. "I've done all the picking so far, so go ahead and grab some fruit if you want some." That done, they took their shopping to the heavy man somehow crammed in behind the register. He rang it up an item at a time, chatting happily with Alice, clearly having seen her before.

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

“Ooooh, Jarlsberg…”

Ashley did her best to help steady the leaning tower of cheese-a while Alice carefully made her selections. As well as Ashley’s suggestions, she also added a few of her own including something with distinct veins of blue running through. It was the kind of cheese that her parents brought out for dinner parties but didn’t know enough about to really introduce into normal mealtimes. She’d probably tried it at one point, but she couldn’t remember, so she was excited to try it again.

Bread she was a little more comfortable with. She didn’t really care what dough it was made from as long as it smelled good – and this whole collection definitely ticked that singular box.

“Oh ja, the finest of loaves!”

Ashley’s mock German accent was so terribly unrecognisable that any actual Germans within earshot wouldn’t have even understood that they should be offended. Ashley’s talent with vocal work was strictly in the realm of singing, it seemed.

There was a whole load of fruit to choose from too, so Ashley went for some grapes, and then a couple of pears, and then (to be adventurous) something yellow with a few green specks which, upon purchasing, she was informed was a “papaya”. Sweet, you learn something new everyday! She’d been wondering if was some kind of mutant mango.

Yet again Alice was on great terms with the owner, and Ashley stood back while they chatted, only stepping forwards to put what she insisted was her fair share of the payment. Alice had been the one to find this place and chose most of the food after all, it was only fair that Ashley covered most of the bill.

“Okay, we can go find a random park, or…” She pulled out her list. “We’re just by the Avenues, right? There are these beautiful steps on 16th Avenue that have a great view at the top – do you know them? They’re so, so pretty, and walking up a bunch of steps will definitely mean that I deserve all this cheese.”

Alice Morrow

342 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

"Of course I know them, I grew up here!" Alice did indeed know the steps that Ashley was referring to, although the thought of climbing them was a little daunting. Still, she supposed it would mean that the multiple blocks of cheese they had just bought wouldn't make them feel too guilty as they'd probably lose ten pounds just climbing the painted concrete. It would also just be somewhere nice to eat. Alice hadn't been entirely happy with Ashley paying for most of the food, even if she was secretly grateful. Still, the other girl had insisted, and Alice certainly didn't want to get into an argument over something like money. They walked out of the shop with their cheese, bread and fruit clutched in large paper bags. Alice immediately turned to the right, already knowing where she was going. "It's not far, you're going to have to prove your title of cardio queen when we get there though." Alice was under no illusions in this regard. She was slim… well… skinny… because she was gifted with a fast metabolism, not because she worked out. In fact, her heaviest exercise since gym in high school had been running for the bus when she was late to work. That was shortly proven when they reached the top of the stairs. Alice was definitely out of breath, and had to set down her paper bag and rest with her hands on her knees while she got her breath back. "No… fair… you…" Alice had to breath between each word, she was intensely regretting her challenge of a race at the bottom of the stairs. "… are… really… fit…" She settled down as she regained her breath and scowled at Ashley, "remind me to believe you next time you say that you're cardio queen." Alice definitely needed to work out more…

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

163 gorgeous mosaic steps stretched and spiralled up the hill from its base tucked away at 16th and Moraga to meet 15th at the top. Just over this road, to the right, was a much smaller set of concrete stairs which led to the aptly named Grandview Park. It had also earned itself another apt name from San Franciscan residents; Turtle Hill. The park was pretty sandy and mostly confined you to its dusty paths to prevent erosion, but there was at least one bench that Ashley could think of where they could sit and enjoy their feast.

Unfortunately for her rather flushed and breathless companion, it was just a little further up the hill from the top of the steps. A few minutes, tops, but a few minutes uphill nonetheless.

Ashley tried not to seem too smug about beating Alice to the top, but at the same time Alice had challenged her to a race.

“What? I told you.” She stuck her tongue out, retracting it quickly in case Alice actually took offence. “You’ll have to come with me to the gym sometime, it’s pretty satisfying when you start building your stamina up. Oh, and your abs, of course.”

Whilst not even approaching the bulk of a serious body-building junkie, Ashley was definitely very, very toned. Her six-pack spoke for itself.

She hugged her own paper bag to her chest and looked up to the top of Turtle Hill before grinning back at Alice. “You ready to walk for just a few more minutes? I wanna get a load of that 360 degree view while I gorge myself on cheese.”

Alice Morrow

271 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

Alice groaned as they finally reached their destination. Her legs were burning now, and she was still out of breath, despite her pause to recover halfway up. The long climb would make her feel better about the enormous amounts of cheese they were about to consume though, as she felt ravenous. "Right now I could eat your abs I'm so hungry…" She stood up straight again, climbing the rest of the way to the top of Turtle Hill. She sat down with a sigh of relief, setting the paper bag beside her while she regained her breath enough to actually begin eating. And talking… "I am never challenging you to something like that again." Of course she was already intending to start working on that. It wouldn't do for her to run out of breath while she was chasing someone. Or fighting them… She could just imagine having to ask for a breather in the middle of a street brawl. The mental image almost made her laugh out loud. She looked out over the city. "You know, even though I live here, I don't see this often enough…" After a moment longer of looking out over San Francisco she started pulling things out of her bag. "Ok, I got the bread, that means you should have the fruit then. What do you want to start with?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Hands moving to shield her stomach from Alice’s hunger, Ashley quickly composed herself and grinned impishly. “Eat them? Why, my dear-” she pulled at the bottom of her top, flashing her stomach for a second “-you could always just grate cheese off them.”

She added a comically un-seductive wink for good measure.

It was a nice little walk, tempered only by the fact that Alice wasn’t really capable of the same mile-a-minute conversations they’d been having while walking around town. Ashley just took the opportunity to look at the view. It really was pretty. She never got the same vibes from other cities as she did San Francisco. Even the famous fog charmed her. It was an eternal hope of hers that no matter how famous she became, she wouldn’t need to move away.

She sat herself down next to Alice and perched her bag on her lap, giggling at Alice’s sorry state of fitness.

“Sure I can’t count on you as a future gym buddy?” She laughed, trying to imagine Alice keeping up with her usual regime. It could be fun to try something a little lighter though… A workout pal was always a good motivator.

She joined in with Alice’s contemplation, looking at once more at the City extending out into the horizon to meet the ocean. “When you work all the time it’s sometimes hard to give yourself these moments,” Ashley said thoughtfully. “They’re valuable.”

Ashley watched as Alice rummaged through the contents of her paper bag, pulling out some of that German bread which looked pretty damn appealing right now.

“Yup, fruits in here,” she said, plucking out a few grapes. She popped one into her mouth, and then offered the other to Alice. She had her hands full but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy a grape, right? “I say we just have a mix of everything. I definitely want to try some of that blue cheese, but maybe it’d be safer to start with brie…”

She frowned, and awaited the budding chef’s sage advice.

Alice Morrow

340 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

The brief flash of Ashley's stomach that Alice did catch was both a little surprising, and demoralising. Annoyingly enough, Ashley did actually have solid abs. And not just a toned stomach, actual, defined abs. Alice had never seen abs like that on a girl (or a guy in person). It made her realise just how far behind she was when it came to fitness. "You might have to wait a while before I'm even close to being that fit…" Judging by the collection of food they had acquired not ten minutes ago, Alice felt that Ashley wasn't a complete health freak. The amount of exercise she would have to do to eat and still have those abs must be terrifying. Plus Alice didn't have that much spare time. Between her job and training her powers this was one of her few days off. She would start working out more and getting fitter, but it might be a matter of starting to run at night or something. Clearly Ashley understood what it was like to not have all that much time on your hands. "Yeah, you're right…" It might have been one of her few days off, but Alice was glad she was spending it with Ashley. She might have only met her today, but they seemed to get on well. It had been fun so far and she saw no reason why it wouldn't continue to be so. "You've got to make sure you don't become a super boring adult after all." To prove that she wasn't a super boring adult she stuck out her tongue at the other girl. Alice opened her mouth in response to the proffered grape, taking the juicy fruit on her tongue as the other girl fed it to her. She nodded at the other girl. "Mmmmf… yeah, start with the brie, otherwise this one will just ruin you for other cheeses. It is kinda strong too. Don't want to spoil all the other flavours."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Ashley had the grace to blush at Alice’s comparisons of their states of fitness. She worked hard for the body she had, so it was nice to be recognised for it. An ambitious nature came hand-in-hand with a constant desire for more, better, now! and sometimes Ashley would forget to take a step back and feel satisfied with her current progress. It was something she was improving at though, and her deep-rooted natural optimism certainly helped in admiring her own achievements.

“Hey, it’ll be fun, we can do before and after photos – you’d be surprised at how quick progress happens.”

Even if she didn’t feel like she’d changed much physically, Ashley knew that she was quite different in terms of musculature compared to her early high school body. Her fitness regime had been quite intense for a few years now but she made sure not to let herself bulk up. It just didn’t fit with the mental image she’d created of McKenna Chase all the way back when she was first performing imaginary concerts to her teddy bears. A bodybuilding side-hobby was definitely not part of that dream.

Sticking her tongue out to mirror Alice’s totally un-super-boring-adultness, Ashley shook her head with a laugh. “Not sure that future’s on the cards for people like us. I know I read Peter Pan way too many times as a kid for that to happen to me.”

In fact, Ashley was quite sensible for her age. Dedicated, career-driven, honest and pretty squeaky clean when it came to things like drink and drugs. Sure, she’d indulged on occasion, but it wasn’t something she sought out – especially when she had a budding public image to maintain. However, she was immature in other ways, and touched with a stroke of naivety that she was too naïve to notice. It all balanced out, as these things tend to.

She clapped her hands delightedly as Alice allowed her to place the grape into her mouth. It felt a little ridiculous, as though Alice should be relining on some exquisite piece of furniture surrounded by grape-bearing servants, and it tickled her immensely.

“You’re the boss! Do you want some too?”

She reached over to begin preparing her first cheesy morsel. After the beauty of the frozen Greek yoghurt they’d enjoyed earlier, she was only expecting great things. Honestly, with the sun shining down on them as they gazed out across San Francisco, Ashley could probably be eating a Kraft single and still enjoy it.

…Alice probably wouldn’t agree with that sentiment.

Alice Morrow

422 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

"Hmmmm…" Despite knowing that she would have to start working out, Alice wasn't convinced. After all, she hadn't worked out in any way since High School, and even then that was only Gym. It hardly counted as a proper workout compared to the kind of thing that Ashley was talking about. "I'm sure, still not sure I'd be the best fit for it though, I think I enjoy my cheese a little too much, I couldn't leave it behind if I wanted to." She nodded in agreement with Ashley's next comment though. Alice couldn't quite imagine herself being a proper grownup with a job, bills to pay and… Damn. Suddenly Alice felt old. It felt weird having to be like an adult, especially when she was only just out of High School and her best friend was in University. Stephen definitely didn't seem like he was an adult yet. He was living at home over summer break, his mom still making his meals and doing his laundry. Alice did all her own laundry, and meals, and struggled to pay the bills most months. "I wish I could be like Peter Pan, life seemed much simpler in Neverland. Never having to grow up? Yes please. Way too many responsibilities when you're an adult…" She raised an insulted eyebrow at the question. "What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I want some." She looked out over the city as she waited for Ashley to start doling out the bread and cheese. She could see everyone going about their days, enjoying life, working, getting by. It was weird to think that now she was one of those people. Except not quite, she was something more, or maybe one day she would be. Just having powers didn't make her better. Nothing would ever make her better than them. Maybe one day she would be able to really make a difference. "So how would I even start working out properly?"

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