[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

The Lie-in King

It was sweet to see Alice indulge her mother in a hug – Ashley herself was a definite fan of people who offered hugs alongside their introductions, although she knew not everybody was the same. It was why she herself didn’t hug everyone she met, just in case she offended. Her mother had no such concerns.

Ashley’s attempt to stifle her laughter had morphed her expression into a peculiar, barely-contained grin, and Alice’s own laughs broke it into a full-blown beam of amusement.

“Aw, you’re not that bad,” she said, her Cheshire cat smile implying otherwise. It was true though, Alice wasn’t tone deaf by any means. There were plenty of people who had probably auto-tuned their way into the charts with the same basic ability as Alice. Still… Ashley wasn’t about to bring Alice into any recording sessions – except to observe and schmooze with exciting people, of course.

Fortunately her parents let them escape with relatively few questions – well-practiced in the art of trying not to embarrass their grown daughter – and they quickly deposited their blankets back into the cupboard of cosiness before rushing back up to Ashley’s bedroom. Slippers safely placed at the foot of the bed, the girls quickly got ready for bed before clambering in. Ashley loved having a big bed – she was a bit of a sprawler when it came to sleeping – so she was surprised by the contrast as Alice curled up and burrowed underneath the sheets.

The light of her phone screen shone through the fabric. Ashley was a little impressed that it had taken this long to get back round to Jason again – they’d been having too much fun all night to think about boys.

“Hi Jason,” she said dutifully, ducking her head under the covers so she could join in. “Tell him I’m stealing you and he needs to duel me at sunrise for your hand.”

She looked at Alice. “What? Relationships need a bit of spice, right?”

Alice Morrow

326 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

A raised eyebrow emphasised Alice's questioning look. "What am I? A princess in a tower? Don't I get a choice in this?" She huffed and folded her arms as though sulking, doing her best to frown fiercely, though it was clearly put on. It didn't take long for a smile to break through and she prodded Ashley in the chest. "You can't just treat me like I'm a piece of meat to be traded!" She pulled back and eyed Ashley up and down reflectively, "Besides, you're not really my type anyway…" She stuck her tongue out playfully, pulling the covers tighter about herself as though to shield her from Ashley's forthcoming revenge. It was cosy in the bed, and Alice had noted that Ashley had immediately spread out. Not that it was a big issue. Ashley didn't take up that much room anyway, and Alice liked to curl up in the warmth of the covers. Really, they were ideal bed partners. They each had their preferred places and positions, and they complemented rather than conflicted. They were such a waste as friends. She texted Jason back briefly, her fingers flying across the touch screen to tap out a simple message. Better be careful, she says she's gonna make a move on me and you'll have to duel her for me. His response could have been expected, and she rolled her eyes, giggling at the suggestion, before showing it to Ashley. "Could he be any more of a guy?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

The Lie-in King

“If you were a princess in a tower, I’d have to fight a dragon, duh,” Ashley laughed, tickled by Alice’s sulky response. “And you know my cooking skills have no business being near pieces of meat.”

She gasped in mock outrage, raising a hand to her forehead and affecting a wounded expression. “But I was gonna ask you to prom!” Ashley fake sobbed for a bit, then quirked an eyebrow as Alice began to burrow defensively into the covers.

“So, like, I’m not good enough for you?” she demanded, prodding at the mass of sheets until she found a ticklish spot. “Nobody dishonours me! I was on a magazine cover one time!”

She stopped herself after a short moment – not wanting to be on the receiving end of a super-powered kick when Alice defended herself from the onslaught – and rolled back over to her side of the bed, laughing dizzily.

As she caught her breath, Alice quickly messaged Jason back. Then the phone was thrust into Ashley’s face, the offending message on the screen.

Ashley rolled her eyes. “He wishes. Ugh, gross.”

She didn’t even try to hide her reaction, thoroughly unimpressed by the comment. It reeked of the usual immaturity that guys their age often displayed – something that they could play off as a joke, but ultimately didn’t have to have been said in the first place. Were Ashley’s standards really so ridiculous that even an average guy in his twenties couldn’t meet them?

Well… she was biased. She’d never really forgiven him for calling her Fun Size. Still, she had to remind herself how happy he made Alice. He wasn’t a bad guy, just childish.

“What are you gonna say?” she asked, shuffling closer so she could watch Alice text, a playful grin back on her face.

Alice Morrow

299 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

Alice raised an eyebrow at the thought of Ashley fighting a dragon. "Hmmmm, maybe it's a good thing that's not going to happen then, otherwise I'd be stuck in that tower forever." She stuck out her tongue challengingly. It wasn't hard to think that the diminutive brunette might face some challenges when fighting an enormous flying lizard. Ashley might not have liked the name Fun Size, and in truth Alice wasn't much a fan of it either, but it was pretty accurate when it came to describing the musical sensation. Alice wasn't sure if she was technically a sensation, but she'd heard of her, and that cut it in her book. She giggled at the tickles. Rolling over to try and escape their unrelenting assault. Ashley needn't have feared any sort of super power based response, Alice still hadn't worked out how to release anything other than all of the energy she was carrying. She wouldn't dare use it as a joke; she'd probably send Ashley flying across the room and into the wall. She typed out a response to her boyfriend, speaking out loud as she did so. "In your dreams! Am I not enough for you?" She put her phone down, turning back to Ashley, her face surrounded by the covers as if she were an Eskimo. "Guys are just so greedy, could just be satisfied with me, but nooooo…" Even though it might have just been a stupid joke there was a tinge of jealousy and insecurity in her voice.

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

The Lie-in King

“Rude! You’ve seen my abs, I can take on dragons!”

A quick flash of the six-pack would surely intimidate them into submission. Welcome to the gun show, pow pow!

Ashley watched the response being typed out, nodding approvingly. Alice wasn’t about to indulge him in his fantasies.

“Dude, I’m sure he knows you’re amazing,” she said swiftly to the floating face hovering in the mass of sheets. “Your golfing skills certainly impressed him – he barely gave me a second look once he saw your raw talent at work,” Ashley added with a giggle, enjoying exaggerating Alice’s prowess as though she were legitimately some kind of professional mini-golfer.

She pondered her own experience of childish guys pushing for things she wasn’t interested in yet (saving herself for marriage was currently her number one option, it seemed). Ashley wasn’t quite so oblivious as to pick just any old guy to try and date, but it always either fizzled out or led to pressures that she just wasn’t even tempted to give in to. So that made her innocent, and Alice’s love life seem very exciting in comparison, which was okay, but definitely made her feel a little lost in wing-woman moments. And Ashley was definitely an experienced wing-woman.

“Do you want things to be more serious?” she asked, remembering that Alice had not even thought of them as being at the “meet-the-parents” stage yet. It would explain why she seemed a little touchy about not being enough for her boyfriend. “I know he’s just joking,” she lied, fully aware that Jason would probably drop everything for a three-way, “But he might not know your …like, expectations?”

She stuck her tongue out a little, laughing awkwardly, “Unless you guys are secretly trying to seduce me, of course.”

Alice Morrow

294 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

"That's true." Alice had forgotten about Ashley's abs, hard to believe though it may be. After all, they were the kind of abs you would normally see digitally imposed on an actors midriff. Surely any dragon faced with that sight would either flee for the hills or drop to their… knees (?) and beg for exercise tips. She wasn't all that convinced by Ashley's comforting words. It was just mini golf, something that was fairly stupid in and of itself. That wouldn't impress a guy. In truth she didn't really know how to impress a guy. Except for… well… the obvious really. It wasn't like she was frigid or anything. He'd stayed over a couple of times already. She'd never really known what else to do, and desperate for the positive attention in school, she'd not put up all that much resistance when pressured for it by her high school boyfriends either. "I… I don't know…" Did she want things to be more serious? It wasn't like she expected Jason to propose to her or anything, but she guessed they weren't exactly just taking it easy. They'd been sleeping together, that was supposed to be something right? She pulled a face. "Maybe you're right, I should let him know how I feel. What I want…" Snapping herself out of her melancholy, she prodded Ashley's tongue sharply. "Pffft, you wish! If I were trying to seduce you then you wouldn't even see it coming. Whabammm I'd be in your bed." She paused, looking around herself slowly, then made a long, dramatic wink at Ashley. "Like I said, you wouldn't even see it coming."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

The Lie-in King

Ashley nodded encouragingly, settling back onto her side of the bed with one leg dangling off the side. Truly elegant.

“Communication is key, right?” she said, echoing advice she’d heard a thousand times before. “You obviously really like him. It would be great to know that he feels the same way, which,” Ashley added hurriedly, “I’m sure he does. After all, you guys have, y’know…”

Ashley blushed.

There wasn’t any way she could think of to finish that sentence that wasn’t crude, so she left it entirely. Her reddened cheeks said all she needed to say.

It was still a little weird to think that Alice was one of many of Ashley's friends who were happy to sleep with people without that established level of commitment and comfort that Ashley sought in her own relationships. Maybe it was Alice’s age that made her seem the more innocent type and thus made it weird to process. It wasn’t like she was significantly younger, clearly she just formed that bond far easier than Ashley and had better luck with finding a "spark".

Alice winked. Recoiling with wide eyes, Ashley nearly flung herself out of the bed in her elaborate displays of shock. “Whaaat, mind-blown! You fiend.” She curled up defensively. “I can’t believe you turned my cute night of Disney and cocoa into a game of seduction. And you won.”

She laughed and sprawled out once more. “We should definitely do this again some time. Not, uh, not the seduction. But like, you definitely need to return the favour of playing hostess. A sophisticated dinner party followed by sophisticated karaoke, yeah? You didn’t get to hear my Mulan! It’s a treat, I promise.”

Alice Morrow

281 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

Ashley's words did seem right, after all, people always said you had to try and communicate with your SO. Alice put the phone now, even if she were going to have that conversation with him she wouldn't via text. It was just a bit too personal to entrust to digital symbols. The younger girl was surprised at Ashley's coy reaction to the mention of sex. After all she was two years older, she might not have 'done anything' yet, but surely she could talk about sex without blushing the same colour as a fire hydrant. She grinned. "Jeez you're like a nun. You can say the word sex y'know." The mention of her own apartment put Alice back on the defensive however. It wasn't that she was ashamed of it… Well maybe it was. Ashley might still live with her parents, but she lived in a three bedroom house with plenty of space. Even if she moved out soon she would likely still end up with a place that was bigger than the veritable broom cupboard Alice currently lived in. With just enough room for a bed, a tiny kitchenette and a wardrobe, it was the definition of compact living. "Uh… yeah… I guess I can sometime then. It could be fun, just the two of us. And I'll definitely have to hold you to the promise of Mulan!"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

The Lie-in King

It was definitely a fair call to tease Ashley about her squeamishness. In all honesty, Ashley probably would have been completely comfortable talking about it with – say – Dana (sparing the details that the party girl always felt necessary to include), but it just seemed odd with Alice even if the topic had been one that Ashley was personally intimate with. She was going to have to completely readjust her evaluation of the blue-haired girl when it came to this sort of thing.

“Well you can find me in church every Sunday, but I don’t think the convent is calling my name,” Ashley said with a laugh. “You wanna hear me say it? Sex!”

She raised her voice. “Sex, sex, sex!”

Below, her parents were sleeping peacefully with unfinished glasses of wine beside them. It was probably for the best.

“I’ve never written songs about it, you know,” she added as an after-thought. “Well, a couple, but from perspectives of friends. And I don’t think my manager would want me to record them anyway – kinda takes away from McKenna’s sweetheart vibe.” She grinned. “Not that I’m not a sweetheart myself, of course.”

Ashley tipped her head back to study the ceiling, a few leftover glow-in-the-dark stars still clinging on for dear life. These were the stubborn ones – the ones she’d failed to pick off when she’d turned sixteen and declared herself too grown-up for glow-in-the-dark stars. Now, at twenty, Ashley was grateful for the ones left, and considering installing a fresh set.

“Of course! It might be a little while until I’m not super busy but we should definitely arrange it. By the way,” Ashley said, recalling the reason for this sleepover in the first place, “You have seen Mulan, haven’t you? Any other Disney classics I need to force you to sit through?”

She laughed. “Or maybe it’s your turn to do the educating. Dude, there are tons of films I’ve never seen.”

Alice Morrow

323 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

The topic of religion didn't come up much in Alice's conversations, even with Ashley, though she knew that the girl was… if not devout then at least committed. Even so, it was rarely something they talked about, Alice wasn't an atheist, but she didn't really think much about what greater being there might be. It just seemed too complicated when there was so much more to focus on right now. She giggled, striving hard to keep it at that instead of out and out laughter as Ashley crowed about sex. She could only hope that her parent's downstairs either couldn't here, or had fallen asleep with their glasses of wine. She really didn't want them questioning her on what exactly they'd been talking about during the night. It might have been relatively innocent, but she certainly didn't want to talk to Ashley's parents about her sex life. "Pfffft, songs about sex are boring. I'd rather have it than sing about it." She patted Ashley's hand lightly, moving on. "Tick with that vibe, it's what makes you so awesome!" She nodded hesitantly, "Yeah I guess. I mean, I've only watched like three Disney films so there's a lot of education we need to get through there." Alice shrugged, "I guess there's a few ones I could pull out for you, but I was never that big into movies. Always liked the old Superman ones. They were pretty sweet, but old fashioned y'know? Truth, justice, the American way. Kinda sweet. Bit dated. Plus it's not like the homes were rolling in DVDs."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

The Lie-in King

Ashley laughed, shaking her head at Alice’s dismissal.

“C’mon, there’s so many songs about it sex, they can’t all be boring. Or do you think the only people who sing about it are the ones not getting it?” She stroked her chin, pretending to have just expressed a thought deeper than the Mariana trench. “I sense a new career direction… Time to say goodbye to my pre-teen fanbase!”

She was visibly mollified by Alice approving of her vibe, her smile ever-so-slightly smug. She posed as best she could while horizontal, basking in Alice’s praise. “Thanks dude, you’ve got a hella awesome vibe going yourself!”

Definitely feeling tired now after their action-packed evening, Ashley tried her best to hold back a yawn. She looked up at Alice apologetically from behind her hands that she was attempting to cover up her mouth with. It was definitely past her bedtime.

“Only three??” Ashley gasped, horrified. “I might have to set you homework young lady, this could take a while…”

She snuggled into her pillow as Alice began talking about her own movie suggestions. Ashley perked up a little at watching a superhero movie – it was beyond perfect considering Alice’s alter-ego.

“Yes, yes please! While Paladin will always be my favourite, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to expand my knowledge of comic book heroes,” she said gleefully. “We can pretend it’s you up there on the screen. Well, except for the flying bits. And that magic vision stuff… But you can definitely stand for truth and justice! My hero.” Ashley swooned.

Alice Morrow

257 words

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[Alice Morrow]

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

Ashley probably had a point, and Alice shrugged. "I guess, I haven't found them yet though." Her eyes widened in mock surprise at Ashley's suggestion, "Maybe that's why there are so many! Half of those guys are so cringy I wonder who would ever sleep with them…" Yawning sympathetically, Alice felt her eyelids grow heavy as she realised the time. It was getting late and they'd been fairly active all the way through the evening, that and the pizza was beginning to sit heavily in her stomach and drag her down into the depths of slumber. She fought it off briefly, just in time to roll her eyes at Ashley's poor knowledge of the hero to end all heroes. "I might not be able to fly, but maybe I'll be able to leap tall buildings one day." It had been a throwaway comment, meant as a joke, but it started the cogs turning in her head. It was slow perhaps, but eventually things would get faster, and that train of thought would become unstoppable. If she could use that kinetic energy on other things then why couldn't she use it on herself? "Magic vision? Please girl you are so out of touch. Just wait until we get to the magic green rocks." She winked, then yawned again. "Sorry, I'm just feeling super tired all of a sudden."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

The Lie-in King

“No, no,” Ashley protested, Alice’s yawns setting her off again. She didn’t even try to cover it up this time, and it was a pretty big one.

She finally burrowed her head into the pillow at just the right angle and sighed with satisfaction at the comfort level this action had achieved.

“I’m probably about to crash anyway,” she said apologetically. “All this talk of leaping tall buildings and magic green rocks is enough to tire a girl out, y’know?”

She giggled, peeking over at Alice in the darkness. Ashley really was looking forward to the next time the two could hang out. They’d formed a pretty strong bond already despite hardly knowing each other, and it felt like tonight had really cemented the fact that she’d found herself a friend for life. Being friends with Alice wasn’t draining or complicated. It was fun, silly, easy – everything you’d want from a dream BFF.

“Is it okay if I try to catch some z’s? We don’t have to get up super early but before noon would be great.” Ashley laughed. “I’ll see if one of my parents can give you a ride home after breakfast. If they manage to get up before noon themselves, that is,” she added teasingly.

With a final rustle of the covers, she twisted round into the perfect sleeping position – one arm dangling over the edge and the other reaching under the pillow to support her head. Without the bed as context, her position would probably resemble that of somebody who’d just been hit by a very fast moving vehicle. Hey, Ashley liked to sprawl!

“G’night – sweet dreams!”

Alice Morrow

271 words

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