[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Sunny Slater

One of the strange things about being a Hero was the boredom. It was probably the last thing you'd think of when you considered the high stakes, dangerous situations that seemed to dominate the headlines these days. It was true though. Alice spent far more time waiting for a dangerous situation than she did in one. Sometimes those periods of boredom could stretch for weeks, with little more than minor incidents to break up the inactivity. Right now was in the middle of one such period, and she'd convinced the Program head in San Francisco to grant her a few days leave. She hadn't been entirely honest with her intentions for said days leave, but then it wasn't really any of his business. Besides, San Francisco had Heroes other than Paladin, it was probably about time some of them got some time in the headlines. She was in Los Angeles now, having suffered from only a small twinge of hesitation as she'd handed over the money for a flight. She'd had to remind herself that money was certainly not the issue now that it had been a year ago. It felt strange to have come so far. She'd been effectively homeless, now she shared an amazing flat with a pop star and thought nothing of buying expensive plane tickets rather than getting the bus. Now she was in Los Angeles, reading an address from her phone and debating whether to call an Uber or get the bus. If she'd been in San Francisco and wearing her suit she wouldn't have bothered with either. She could cross the city much faster than any normal form of transport. Someone might have raised an eyebrow at a blue haired teenager leaping through the air in Beverly Hills though. She settled for an Uber, giving the man an address a few doors down from the one she was actually going to. He still raised an eyebrow at her, she didn't exactly look the type to be living in one of those mansions. She ignored him, and he pulled away without comment. Less than an hour later she found herself outside the mansion with the sun going down. Creeping around the back, she kept her eyes out for a room that was completely pink. Eventually spotting what looked like the right one, she gathered her legs beneath her and channelled kinetic energy down through them, launching herself into the air. She landed soundlessly, absorbing the energy from her impact, then swung around to look in through the window, seeing the girl she'd come here for in the first place. Alice knocked.

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[Sunny Slater]

"Ohmigod! Bestie!"

We're Best Friends Now!!

Sunny would of argued, had she known Alice's description of her room had come about, that her room wasn't entirely pink. It wasn't entirely pink at all! Yes, okay, so the carpet was pink, and so were the walls (a nice shade of baby pink), and yes, the ceiling was a soft pink. Yes, obviously, the poster bed was entirely pink, as were the sheets and duvet cover (although the duvet cover was hot pink, entirely different), and yes, the wardrobes were obviously pink (of which there were a great many), and her huge wooden vanity table was, naturally, a baby pink, but, well, if you looked closely, some of the dozens of stuffed animals on her bed weren't pink. One was a white rabbit! And her jewellery box, while pink, was full of gold jewellery. And the literal hundreds of perfume bottles she had on display on pink shelving, while largely were pink (and the liquid within pink; Sunny believed perfume smelled better when it was pink), some of the caps were gold or silver! And the mirror was, well, reflective, so that wasn't pink. And obviously, she was in it, and she wasn't pink either, which was totally different!

....Okay, so maybe the room was a bit pink.

Sunny herself, being in the room and thinking she was unobserved, was making the best use of her time. Which was to say she was posing in front of a full length mirror in a small pink cocktail dress and trying out different model poses for imaginary cameras, because this was obviously the most important way to spend her time. She jumped when the knock came on the window, and span around with a squeal, only to see Alice outside. A perfect array of emotions played across her heavily made-up face (yes, even in the comfort of her own home, Sunny wore celebrity style make-up, even with false lashes). She was shocked, and then suddenly confused, taking a moment to recognise Alice out of costume, and then, suddenly, thrilled, so thrilled, she literally flew to the window to open it, throwing it open with glee.

"ALICE!" She squealed, grabbing her friend through the window for a big hug. Alice would know from experiencing Sunny before that hugs from here were an ordeal; the girl wore so much perfume they could make your eyes water, but somehow, it was worse in her bedroom, where obviously she constantly applied her scent, and it had seeped in to the very walls. The entire room was shockingly thick with it. It was hard for your brain not to imagine a pink haze in the air. "Ohmigod, like, what are you doing here? Come in! Come in!" It was obvious Sunny didn't have many visitors, or indeed, real friends at all, but it was also clear that she was extremely excited to have one visit.

"Oh em gee! I can't, like, believe you're here! This is the best thing ever!" She said with a huge smile. Yes, her Mom probably wouldn't approve of a visitor, but she didn't need to know. The mansion was so large that her Mom would never hear even if she was in, and Sunny was pretty sure she was out on an engagement this evening. "Ohmigod, you gotta hang out with me! We can try on clothes together and talk about boys! It's gonna be so great!" She beamed, obviously super excited but without a clue for what Alice actually had in store for her.



Alice Morrow

"Do you like my room!?"

ulla

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Sunny Slater

Alice wasn't quite expecting the assault that came next. She was pulled in through the window by a hug that felt like it was going to make her eyes pop. Fortunately Sunny wasn't using her ability and so bits of jellied eye were not sprayed all over the scenery. That didn't make it much better, having her eyes explode might have been preferable to the burning sensation she was now experiencing. Maybe part of Sunny's ability was a resistance to toxic chemicals, and that was how she managed to survive the veritable fog that seemed to fill the bedroom. That said, calling it a bedroom was perhaps a little unambitious, the room was almost the size of Alice's entire apartment, and she was pretty sure that bed was the reason the word boudoir had been invented. Sunny had started talking at her normal excited volume, that which was several decibels above what was comfortable for a normal human. Alice put her finger to her lips. In the various foster and group homes she'd grown up in there was always someone a room away, secret midnight rendezvous had to be conducted in, well, secret. Although it was pretty clear to Alice that secrecy wasn't really one of the blonde's finer skills. "Well trying on clothes is sort of right." Alice said in a whisper, still under the impression that there might be somewhere nearby that might hear them. "Remember when we opened that community centre and I told you I'd take you out? Well that's what we're going to do, so it's lucky you're wearing that dress." She paused, wondering just how recognisable the pink might make the girl. "OK, maybe something not pink…"

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[Sunny Slater]

"Ohmigod! Bestie!"

We're Best Friends Now!!

Sunny gave Alice a slightly confused look when she tried to quieten Sunny down from her over-excited squealing, before she realised that Alice was under the impression that they had to be secretive. She smiled and shook her head as if Alice had been silly.
"Don't worry, Mom's out and the staff let me do what I want." Because of course Sunny had staff. Plural. "Oh, I can let Chef know you're here and he can make us some dinner!" She suggested with her usual bubbly excitement, again, because of course Sunny had a live-in Chef.

When Alice confirmed that they might be trying on clothes together, Sunny looked excited, because that was her favourite pastime (not that she hadn't been doing it anyway), but when Alice confirmed that she was actually there to take her out, something changed in Sunny's attitude. She went from just smiling to suddenly looking overjoyed, and her eyes filled with tears as she threw her skinny arms around Alice for another perfume soaked hug.
"Ohmigod. Nobody ever... Nobody ever wants to do anything with me... Thank you, thank you, thank you...." She was almost crying from happiness, and it was obvious that she was incredibly touched by the gesture. It was true that for all of Sunny's fame, she was usually unapproachable and had very few real friends. If any that weren't stuffed animals. Some might put it down to her controlling mother, but really, Sunny's general vanity and overly excited child like attitude tended to put people off, not to mention the perfume. The fact that Alice was offering to be her true friend touched Sunny so deeply she had to force herself not to cry.

Crying was bad. Even with her expensive make-up it ran the risk of ruining it, and she couldn't allow that!

She sniffled to stop herself from crying, but the shock of what Alice said next helped.
"Not... wear... pink?" She repeated, with a dainty frown of confusion. (Sunny had been well trained to control her facial expressions; frowning hard wasn't an attractive look, and it could ruin heavy make-up!). She looked at Alice like she had grown a second head, or proposed that perhaps flat footwear would be more practical than heels (the second one being even crazier!). She seemed to pause, think for a moment, and then her eyes lit up. "Ohhh, hold on, I've got the cutest dress!" She squealed, before heading to what might of deceptively looked like a door to a restroom or perhaps a cupboard and threw it open, revealing a huge walk-in wardrobe that was larger than even her bedroom. And of course, wall to wall with pink attire of every style you could imagine. She hurried through the room, moving between the various dresses like somehow she had an encyclopedic knowledge of every item in there (Sunny might of been terrible at hero training, but ask her to memorise the layout of her closet and she'd do it in seconds) before she pulled out an elegant evening dress.

Which to the casual observer was very pink.

"What do you think!? I mean, it's totally fuchsia, not pink, but I still think it's cute!" She beamed. Yes, that was as extreme as Sunny was willing to go in the 'not pink' department.

Alice Morrow

"Do you like my room!?"

ulla

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Sunny Slater

It was difficult to follow exactly what it was that Sunny intended, words seemed to trip out of her mouth at a breakneck speed and she leapt from subject to subject like a bird hopping between branches. It almost made Alice feel dizzy, and barely left her with a chance to respond as Sunny suggested dinner, thanked her effusively and hugged her alternately. She fought not to cough in the rising clouds of perfume as she was pulled into the embrace. It was challenging, it seemed that Sunny just about bathed in the stuff. How she managed to breathe amidst it was beyond anyone's guess, but maybe it was a cunning plan to distract her opponents with the tears that it brought to their eyes. Alice blinked back said tears once she was finally released from the hug. She was surprised however, to see tears in the eyes of her companion. Sunny always seemed so happy, so enthusiastic that to see tears in her eyes took Alice aback. Outside of the costume it seemed that there was another side to Sunny, she hadn't thought so, thanks to the fact that she had no secret identity. Even so it seemed that more of what she had presented to the world was false than Alice had otherwise assumed. Except the pink thing. Alice stared in astonishment at the enormous walk-in wardrobe. It was almost entirely pink. Sunny pulled from a rack halfway down the wardrobe. The dress she pulled out was entirely and precisely pink. It was also an evening gown. "Ah." Raising a hand in objection, Alice paused. In several ways this was exactly what she'd expected, but that didn't mean she was just going to let it continue as such. "You've not been out much before have you?" Grateful that she could finally get a word in edgeways, Alice didn't stop there. "The kind of places we're going to go to are definitely not the kind of places you wear a dress like that, lovely though it is." She dropped the hand, "And come on, a well-known Hero dressed all in pink? You're recognisable in pink, and it's not a big jump from there to think that the blue haired girl with you might be another well-known Hero. I wouldn't ask this, but can you please wear something not pink? I brought some of my own stuff with me?"

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[Sunny Slater]

"Ohmigod! Bestie!"

We're Best Friends Now!!

Sunny smiled proudly at Alice's astonishment at her wardrobe. Of course, she only took it as a good thing that Alice was impressed. She didn't think that there could be any negativity or disbelief in her astonishment. After all, with all of Sunny's money, why wouldn't she own this many outfits and why wouldn't they all be pink? Why would she even own other colours? What was even the point in other colours? Everybody knew pink was the best!

When she commented on how Sunny hadn't been out much before, Sunny gave a bit of a nervous laugh. This was, of course, true. Well, at least not socially, but Sunny didn't want to look like a total loser. She was rich, she was famous, she was pretty, she didn't want Alice knowing that she didn't actually have any friends or ever get to really get out.
"Well, um, I go to, like, movie premiers and stuff. They count!" She said optimistically, but then her smile fell a little. "But, um, n-not really, like, not really with friends before..." She admitted after a pause, before looking, by her standards, incredibly shy. "I don't... Um, I don't really, like, have any friends." She turned away for a moment, feeling like a total loser, before realising that wasn't true.

She had one friend. Alice. Alice was her friend!

"Except you!" She said cheerfully, finding her unwavering optimism again. She did, at least listen when she explained why the cocktail dress wasn't practical, and put it back as suggested. She also listened to Alice's rather well thought out and heartfelt plea that she not wear pink (not that Sunny understood how fuchsia was pink, they were clearly different!). "But the only not-pink thing I own is my black Gravity Girl costume, and I can't wear that!" She pointed out, before pausing at Alice's suggestion of the clothes she brought. Was she suggesting what Sunny thought she was suggesting? "But you're like, totally way taller than me, I can't wear your outfits, and you can't wear mine." She pointed out, before her eyes suddenly lit up with an idea.

"Ohmigod, BUT, the best way for us not to get caught, right? Like, if you dress LIKE me, and I dress LIKE you, nobody will ever realise who we are! 'cause like, you never wear pink and heels and stuff, and I never wear anything BUT pink, so they won't suspect a thing! I know some late night malls around here, we can totally go clothes shopping and get ourselves some outfits, and dress as each other! It'll be, like, totally fun! Like a costume party!" She beamed. "I love costume parties! I always go as Aurora or Rapunzel because, hello, cute pink dresses, but one year I went as a pink Tinker Bell!" She added happily, not surprising anybody that her entire costume library consisted of Disney characters...



Alice Morrow

"Do you like my room!?"

ulla

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Sunny Slater

Sunny's life, privileged though it may be, also brought pity to Alice's heart. She obviously lived in quite staggering luxury, the kind of luxury that Alice could only dream of. Even with her sponsorships and success, she doubted she could afford a mansion like this one, and certainly not in Beverly Hills. Struggling for rent might be a thing of the past for her now, but well-off was probably as far as she would stretch. Her Federal salary was just that after all, Federal, so it was fairly small, and she couldn't rely on licensing all the time, they were like tips in a diner, nice to have, but not guaranteed. Before Alice could spend much more time thinking about it however Sunny had moved on. She didn't seem entirely thrilled about Alice's plan, though her initial objection did at least make sense. Annoyingly, Alice hadn't even thought about their difference in height, but Sunny was definitely petite, and with the blonde girl not wearing her heels Alice towered over her. "Uh…" Fortunately, or unfortunately as Alice would soon realise, Sunny had a solution for this crisis. "Oh, you want to go shopping with me." Her heart dropped. Alice had faced down megalomaniacal villains with laser eyes, and she was pretty sure she hadn't dreaded those experiences with quite the same level of bowel rocking terror. Sunny's wardrobe was vast, and it was entirely stuffed with pink clothing. There was no way the girl could get any more clothes in there, but apparently that was what she was going to try. Then something else clicked into place. "Wait? Costume party? You want..? You want me to dress in pink?" Alice… Did not wear pink…

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[Sunny Slater]

"Ohmigod! Bestie!"

We're Best Friends Now!!

Sunny sensed some reluctance in Alice's voice, which to be fair, for Sunny was a good catch. After all, she was usually so ditzy that it would never occur to her that anybody would be reluctant to go shopping with her. But somehow, she knew that Alice would take further persuading on her genius plan. She put it down to their super special best friend bond that they clearly had since they were obviously besties now.

"C'mon! Think about it! It'll be SUPER fun. 'cause you're right, I'm kinda famous right, and if anybody recognises me, they'll probably recognise you too, and it'll totally wreck your superhero identity. But like, everybody knows you don't dress all girly. So if you're seen in all pink nobody will ever suspect it's you! Plus you'd look AH-MAZ-ING." Sunny explained her new plan. Of course the flaw in the plan was that Sunny would have to dress like Alice, but, well, maybe that'd be fun too? In like, a one-off, experimental way. Maybe she'd finally learn what all the fuss was about with wearing flat shoes and sneakers. She just didn't get it, they weren't cute, they weren't sexy, and they made you look small. Life without high heels wasn't worth living, Sunny thought, but well, she supposed she could try it just once.<p>

"C'mon! It'll be fun!" Sunny beamed happily. "I never get to go shopping with anybody anymore!" Yes, that was probably because even Sunny's personal shoppers had retired or quit in fear now, but she wasn't going to point that out. "We can even take my car like a couple of normal people instead of flying if you like! It'll be like a proper girly shopping trip!" She beamed brightly, as if this was the greatest thing in the world.

For somebody who had decided Alice was her new best friend, she really didn't understand Alice very well.


Alice Morrow

"Do you like my room!?"

ulla

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Sunny Slater

Alice was not opposed to shopping on principle per say. What she was opposed to was shopping with Sunny. It wasn't as if the shorter girl needed any more clothes. Alice was pretty sure that the walk in wardrobe she had stuffed full of pink clothes was in fact bigger than her own apartment. Even if the girl did need more clothes, how exactly was she going to fit them in there. It looked like she needed a specialist team just to organise the wardrobe (and probably re-organise it regularly whenever Sunny tried to pick out an outfit). She caught herself. She was being particularly uncharitable. Probably because she felt like an idiot for allowing herself to be roped into a shopping trip with one of the most materialistic people she had never met. It wasn't Sunny's fault, judging by the house, or rather the mansion, it was clear that she'd been raised like this. There was a good heart in there as well, that had been clear when Sunny had opened the community centre with her. There her misplaced comments hadn't been through arrogance, but ignorance. The girl genuinely had no idea what growing up without money was like. That still didn't mean Alice wanted to go shopping with her, and certainly not to buy a pink outfit. Unfortunately it seemed that their plans for the night had changed and shopping was not just on the cards, but seemed to be on every card, no matter how many she desperately pulled out of the deck. "Sure. Shopping it is." She struggled to sound excited, but managed to inject a bit of it into her voice. At least they'd still be going out afterwards. The shopping wouldn't take all night, she'd at least have to put her foot down about that. Realising that she probably wouldn't be needing her bag she slung it off her shoulder. "Am I cool to leave this here?" She doubted Sunny would mind if she crashed here later anyway. The superheroine would probably see it as an opportunity for a slumber party. No doubt pink pyjamas would make an appearance. As they started heading down towards the car, Alice found herself feeling relieved. At least the car wouldn't be pink. The car was pink…

© seadra of gs

[Sunny Slater]

"Ohmigod! Bestie!"

We're Best Friends Now!!

Sunny had enthusiastically assured Alice that of course it was okay to keep her bag at her place, and even told her it would be fine if she wanted to sleep over, since they were obviously besties now. In fact, it would be better than fine, and Sunny might of gotten a bit overexcited about the possibility of sleepovers, staying up late watching movies, giving each other facials and talking about boys, as she had seen on dozens of TV shows and in films, but never actually gotten to do in real life...

Sunny led Alice down out of the main entrance of the mansion, since her Mom wasn't around. Of course, it was extremely opulent, although perhaps a little more tasteful than Sunny's room. Classical paintings adorned the walls and there were plenty of expensive looking ornaments, but nothing quite as pink or fluffy as Sunny's room, although often there were splashes of pink or Disney, including one particular display cabinet filled with Disney ornaments that, thanks to its pink wooden frame, was clearly Sunny's.

She led her outside and around to the garage, which was filled with several classic cars and fancy sports cars, all belonging obviously to her mother. Then, in a corner, were a few different pink cars, including a classical Bentley and a small cute bubble car, but both were obviously in storage as Sunny led Alice to her actual, current car.



It was, as Alice had so astutely observed, pink. Very pink. A more modern Bentley, but of course, in perfect baby pink. Sunny opened the door and hopped inside, automatically checking herself in the driver's mirror and freshening up her lip gloss. A totally standard action for her. The inside of her car, being much smaller, smelled even more strongly of Sunny's perfume than her bedroom had. It was obvious that this place was a nexus for Sunny's cosmetic storms. Not that Sunny used the car as much as she probably should; she loved it, but well, she could fly. Driving always took a back seat to that.

"Okay, so, like, we can go to the local mall. I know, like, I know, they don't have LOADS of designer places, but sometimes it's just fun to shop for cute clothes, y'know?" She smiled, as if this was some kind of incredibly unusual event. After all, while Sunny's clothing tastes were, well, eccentric, in that everything she owned was pink, she actually wasn't often that bothered about designer labels if the outfit was cute. Of course, designer labels made the cutest outfits, sure, but sometimes going to the mall could be fun too. "Just, um, like, a warning. All my personal shoppers like, totally quit. I KNOW, it's like, SO unfair, but they all refuse to shop for me anymore like, no matter what I pay them. So we're gonna have to like, go on our own." Sunny didn't elaborate why her personal shoppers might of all quit rather than help her out, but anybody knowing Sunny's personality would find it pretty obvious. She may of been a sweet girl, but she was clearly the definition of high maintenance.

Alice Morrow

"Do you like my room!?"

ulla

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Sunny Slater

The car was clearly the kind of vehicle that cost more than some houses, not least because of its clearly custom colour. Somehow Alice doubted that Bentley made a vehicle in quite that shade of baby pink. She steeled herself to enter the vehicle, wondering if the inside would be quite as… 'Sunny' as the outside. Unfortunately it was. Opening the door felt like being slapped in the face by a bath full of perfume. True to form, the pink clad blonde was checking her hair in the mirror and even applying a fresh coat of lip gloss. As if there wasn't enough of the shiny substance already on her lips. Not that this gave Alice an opportunity to speak, as all too soon Sunny was talking once again. It was appropriate that the girl in pink was driving, because Alice had certainly lost control of the situation right about the moment that Sunny had been introduced to it. Really she should have known better. It wasn't that Sunny was bossy… it was just that she was so oblivious to the world around her that she didn't seem able to process that her audience might not be one hundred percent with her. Clearly that had been the case with her personal shoppers, and Alice finally managed to shove a word in edgeways. "Don't worry, I'd rather do my own shopping than have someone else do it for me." That was also perhaps a not so subtle hint that she didn't want to be dressed up all in pink like Sunny's knew Barbie Doll, but she had a sneaking suspicion that the comment might have simply floated past Sunny's bubble. She didn't quite sigh, but she came damn close. "So is it far to the mall?" This was going to be a long night.

© seadra of gs

[Sunny Slater]

"Ohmigod! Bestie!"

We're Best Friends Now!!

Sunny slowly drove the car out of the garage, trying to look at ease but truthfully a little uncomfortable. It wasn't that she couldn't drive, of course she could, she had passed driver's ed and everything, but, well, she didn't drive very often. If she was needing to arrive somewhere by car she usually was being driven and if not she could fly, but since this was a private escapade she couldn't call her driver to take them very easily, and she was at least excited to show her car off to Alice.

She smiled across to Alice as Alice explained she'd rather do her own shopping.
"Ohhh, that IS way more fun!" She admitted, before quickly returning her eyes to the road with a slightly nervous yelp. Yes, okay, watch the road Sunny.

Then a miracle happened. Maybe it was because Sunny was forced to concentrate on driving, so her mind wasn't drifting off in to a wonderland of cosmetics and pink outfits, but she seemed to actually, for once, pick up slight hesitance in Alice's voice, and realised that maybe, just maybe, Alice wasn't SUPER down with her brilliant idea.

"Hey, um, you get to dress ME up like YOU too, remember? That'll be fun!" She remarked, because somehow imagining Sunny in hoodies and sneakers was as unimaginable as Alice being in pink. She paused, however, feeling slightly guilty. She realised that Alice had come to her to try and help her out, to be that friend Sunny never had, and Sunny had just hijacked everything and turned it in to a shopping trip, which Alice never wanted. Slowly, she got the creeping feeling this might be why she never had many friends...

She looked a bit guiltily over at Alice.
"Uh, sorry. I... I um, like, kinda get carried away sometime. We don't have to go shopping." It wasn't like she couldn't just go shopping tomorrow, anyway, was it? "You... You don't know how much it, like, means to me that you came to see me, and you wanted to take me out and stuff. I... I didn't mean to get all carried away and ruin it for you. You don't, like, have to do anything you're uncomfortable with. I promise." She said, trying to be supportive. Trying to be a friend.

"I-I mean, I still totally need an outfit, right? B-but, uh, well, I-I guess... I can be quick." She said this as if it was a totally foreign concept to her. "I-I mean, sometimes, people are quick in shops right? They go in, they just like, buy ONE thing, and then they come out?" She went on, as if explaining some strange alien behaviour she had only ever heard about on television. "W-we could do that. You can even like, pick my outfit! 'cause like, whatever I pick will never be right!" She added chirpily, hoping it would go some way to repairing the damage she was afraid she had done to their friendship.

Alice Morrow

"Do you like my room!?"

ulla

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Sunny Slater

Alice mused that it was odd that someone who was virtually indestructible was such a nervous driver. After all, it would take significantly more force to hurt Sunny than it would to total a car like this. Maybe she'd had a bad accident in the past. Alice could certainly appreciate that, after all, it was a fatal accident that had resulted in her receiving her own powers. She wondered sometimes how her world would be different if she hadn't gotten on that bus. It took Sunny's voice to snap her out of that particular memory, not that it was the most delightful daydream she could have been experiencing at that moment in time. Although just about anything might have been better than being trapped in an enclosed space with the other Hero. Alice was grateful for the air conditioning, at least it filtered out a little of the cloying perfume that otherwise seemed to pour from every surface. She felt guilty for thinking such a thing. There were much worse places to be than in Sunny's company. A war-torn African republic, for one. She stopped herself as she heard the uncertain tone in Sunny's voice. That was strange, Alice had only heard that tone once before, at the Community Centre. It seemed that despite Sunny's desperation to be famous and popular, she really did want to be a good person. Maybe it just took a bit of effort to get through to that part of her. And it wasn't like Alice was totally opposed to shopping, she just hadn't been expecting to have to do it with Sunny. "No no, I like shopping, I just really wanted to take you out, so we can't take more than a couple hours. Deal?" She smiled the same winning smile that had won America's heart, albeit without the mask covering the top half of her face. "Oh don't worry, if you're picking my outfit then I'm definitely picking yours." The grin became entirely more sinister, albeit playfully so.

© seadra of gs

[Sunny Slater]

"Ohmigod! Bestie!"

We're Best Friends Now!!

Sunny's social circles were usually full of two types of people; the superficial, vain and wealthy who had no reason to deal with Sunny's... extremities and could see her as a threat for attention, and those people who had to deal with people who were superficial, vain and wealthy all the time and therefore were extremely sick and tired of people like Sunny before even meeting her.

It was therefore a pleasant surprise when Alice remained friendly and nice with her, and it seemed that her foolish over-eagerness hadn't ruined anything. In fact, Alice still wanted to go shopping with her, which was super exciting!

"You're the best!" She reached across and grabbed Alice in an intense, perfume soaked hug, before releasing her with a squeal to look back at the road. "I promise, we can be quick! I won't even stop in any of the perfume stores!" She exclaimed, with an air that suggested this was an incredibly shocking, unbelievable feat. For Sunny it actually was. She couldn't remember the last time she had been to the mall and not come out with at least four new perfumes...

"You promise not to be TOO mean, right? Can I still have heels?" Sunny asked hopefully. Not wearing heels was an utterly alien thought to her. They pulled into the mall car park, and soon enough Sunny parked up. Well, 'soon enough' for Sunny's standards. There was a lot of reversing and straightening before she finally got the car parked. Apparently spatial awareness and smooth parking were not in Sunny's skill sets. In her defence, she usually flew to the mall, after all...

She climbed out, and gestured for Alice to follow her.
"Okay! So, like, where do we start? Ohh, where do you normally buy your clothes?" She asked hopefully, wondering what the answer would be. Despite her wealth, Sunny was happy to shop anywhere that sold cheerful, pink, girly clothes. She wasn't a slave to designer labels like, say, Alyson, her best friend. She just loved anything 'girly', so she was confident she could find something similar in the shops Alice liked.


Alice Morrow

"Do you like my room!?"

ulla

[/quote]

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Sunny Slater

Alice tensed up, and it was only through sheer force of will that she didn’t instantly absorb all of the kinetic energy in the car. Sunny had not just taken her eyes off the road, she’d leaned across the middle of the car to seize Alice in yet another eager hug. It hadn’t been the hug that had prompted such a reaction, but rather the brief period in which the car had been out of Sunny’s control. Both of them were virtually indestructible, they wouldn’t be hurt in the slightest if they crashed, but it brought back unpleasant memories. She didn’t actually remember the car accident. What she remembered was waking up in hospital and being informed that she’d been technically dead. She’d received her abilities thanks to that accident. Still, that didn’t make the recollection pleasant. She got her breath back once Sunny returned her attention to the road, sighing internally with relief. It seemed the mall wasn’t far from Sunny’s house it seemed, although that wasn’t exactly a surprise. Alice looked over at Sunny’s hopeful face. It was difficult to say no to that face, it definitely conjured up mental images of puppies when she pulled it. ”I guess we can find you some heels.” Alice did actually own, and occasionally even wear heels, but only when she really wanted to impress, like when she met her boyfriend’s parents. They hadn’t been, but it hadn’t been for lack of effort on her part. The next part of the conversation would be harder though. ”Hot topic a lot, Forever 21, H&M, that kind of thing.” Alice had been, for want of a better word, poor for a long time. She’d bought stuff that was cheap, and mostly re-worn stuff that she’d actually owned for years. Her fame and fortune hadn’t really changed that habit. At least not for clothes.

© seadra of gs