Here Comes Trouble

[Alice Kelly]

She didn't know. It wasn't on the list of her usual stand-bys... but a quick flip of the menu and a glance into the items listed under beef and the flickering worry in her mind vanished. Alice certainly hadn't planned what to do if the requested item hadn't been available. Her need to try and make this whole transition as smooth as possible probably would have had her calling every Chinese food place within delivery radius to see if anyone had it... and probably a few that were pick-up only.

Thankfully extremes wouldn't need to be taken. But it did have one potential problem.

Alice flicked the menu back to how she had been previously holding it. "Well, they have it." She shrugged a shoulder and half-smiled. "Can't truthfully answer for the 'good' part, though. But I can say that I've tried over half the menu and haven't come across anything that wasn't yet. I'd say it's worth a shot."

[Kat Harriman]

"Hmm."

Kat frowned, silently chewing the inside of her bottom lip as she contemplated this grave and life-saving decision. Done well, crispy shredded beef was like eating little chunks of battered, spicy heaven. Done bad, it was like trying to chew your way through cardboard soaked in your own vomit.

Not that Kat would let it go to waste, mind. Chinese food was Chinese food, and she had long ago learned to consume as much as she possibly could before her brothers finished their locust swarm sweep of the dishes; taste, texture, and huge, accidentally consumed chunks of hot chilli were all ignored in the interests of ensuring as much of it ended up in her stomach before her brain caught on to the fact that she was full.

"Ah, hell," she muttered. "Go for it. I'm feeling adventurous."

There was a moment of silence, and she watched intensely as one of the impossibly attractive men in a suit started yelling with righteous passion at another impossibly attractive man in a suit, about the most important thing in the world, apparently. Kat wasn't particularly sure what they were on about, but she definately agreed with the blonde one, whatever it was he was saying.

He had pretty eyes.

A thought struck her and she turned, finally peeling her eyes away with the television screen. "Does the Chinese come with wine?"

[Alice Kelly]

"It can." Alice's finger hovered over the speed-dial and she nodded her head towards a small pantry off to the side of the refrigerator. "I don't have a huge selection but the rack's in there. Feel free to pick whatever you want."

Alice wasn't entirely sure exactly how depleted her wine stock was, things had been somewhat lean thanks to Tom's absence. "No roommate" was always a perfect opportunity to drink yourself silly while trying to paint the more stubborn images in your head.

Aside from opening the cabinet where the wine glasses were kept, Alice left Kat to her own devices as she called, placed the order, and immediately began rifling through her wallet for the amount to cover the whole meal.

Feeling secure enough she could get to the delivery guy before Tom, Alice set herself down in one of the armchairs in the room and looked back to Kat. "So what are we watching?"

[Kat Harriman]

"I have no idea."

It was an honest answer. Kat had been channel-hopping, and her attention had been focused more on the faces - or other body parts depending on the channel - of the guys that had been appearing, rather than the little box thing that told her the name of the show. Right now, the guys in suits had gone - the focus had switched to their ridiculously attractive secretaries now - and had been replaced by men with bulky muscles wearing scrubs.

American television was weird, she decided. Sure, Britain recieved a sampling of their shows, but the whole balance of what was on was just plain different. Britain seemed to take all of the good - or at least popular - American shows, and compressed them down onto a handful of channels. Spread around between all the networks though, those good shows were diluted by all manner of tat. Unfortunately, it seemed to be car crash telly: you didn't want to watch, but sometimes you just couldn't help staring.

That didn't stop her from talking, however. Fortunately, the parts of her brain involved in staring at cute boys were distinctly separate from the parts of her brain that handled conversation.

"So," she asked casually, letting the remote rest on her leg for a while. "What's the deal with you and my brother?"

[Alice Kelly]

"What?" It left before she could put a stop to it and she felt her cheeks growing warm as she cast a subconscious glance towards the door the bathroom - and shower - were behind.

She shook her head slightly and gave Kat a reproachful glance. "I'm Sorry...it's just..It's not what you think."

A wistful look crept into Alice's eyes as she leaned back into the chair as if it could envelop her and keep her from having to answer questions. "Your brother has a large heart." She started, letting a small laugh pass. "I needed help with having a place to stay... he barely had met me but just somehow knew that something wasn't right. He wanted to help and offered to let me be his roommate. I couldn't say no. Not given where I was at, which basically meant accept his offer or be homeless in a country I shouldn't even technically be in."

A soft but deep breath left her as she looked back to Kat. "I owe him a great deal... but yeah, we're not dating if that's your worry."

[Kat Harriman]

"Uh-huh."

Kat wasn't convinced, and her tone made that abundantly clear. It was the same old story: Tom meets girl, girl has problem, Tom straps on shining armour and rides to the rescue, girl welcomes Tom into the Friend Zone. Playing hard to get wasn't Tom's style. Saying Hey, I like you, do you want to go to dinner? wasn't Tom's style. He couldn't do anything the simple way... he was way too hung up on the romanticised notion that one day he'd stumble across his perfect damsel, everything would click instantly, and they'd ride off into the sunset together and live happily ever after.

A scathing sigh escaped, and Kat willed it to tumble across the appartment, sneak under the bathroom door, assault her brother in the shower, and slap him firmly around the face. Clearly, her brother wasn't equipped to deal with this himself, and it was her sisterly duty to intervene.

"So, Tom is just a friend," she summarised. She'd toned down her voice an impressive amount, and it now sounded almost insightful. "Just a friend who helps you out in every way he possibly can, and who - let me guess - remembers everything you've ever told him, pays attention to the things that make you feel better when you're down, does everything you ever ask him to, refuses to let you pay for things all the time, and who you keep catching staring at you when he thinks you aren't looking?"

Her jaw clenched, and her eyebrows rose in a come on, do I have to spell it out for you? expression, though her eyes were still firmly directed at the television. "Sure, there's nothing going on there at all."

Fingers tapping at the remote control, Kat changed the channel and the topic at the same time. "Do you have anything white in your wine collection? Red wine kinda makes me gassy."

[Alice Kelly]

She was certain that Kat had it wrong. Not that she was naive or completely closed off to the idea... it was... well... it was Tom. And he was, well, he was the type of guy that could probably get whatever woman he wanted if he put his mind to it and she well... she was no super model that was for damn sure.

Besides, all those things that Kat had listed off sure sounded an awful lot like things a good friend would do.

Thankfully the entire thought process was put to an immediate halt as Kat changed the subject. While her phrasing had been...interesting... it was enough to keep Alice from glancing back towards the bathroom again.

"Yeah, I think I have two of three left in there." She glanced back towards the kitchen, with the open cabinets showing off the wine bottles and the other the glasses. Apparently Kat had decided that the television was going to be her domain and not even alcohol was going to tear her from it. Tough. Alice considered herself a good hostess, offering someone free reign on your wine selection, but if they were going to be roommates the girl was going to have to learn to get things for herself.

[Kat Harriman]

"Sweet."

With a flourish, Kat tossed the remote in the air, flipping it end-over-end before catching it again. She rose, instinctively tucking the device into the pocket of her jog pants, and sidestepped the sofa, eyes still half-watching the television. It was okay though, there was an ad-break on so she wasn't missing anything important: but she hadn't yet learned how long a reprieve such breaks would grant; it was essential that she not take her eyes away for too long.

She grabbed a bottle as swiftly as she was able - she didn't pay much attention to the label; as long as it was alcoholic, that was fine. She even grabbed two glasses - Alice hadn't expressed a desire for a drink, but who in their right mind would actually turn down the offer of wine? - clutching the glassware awkwardly as she returned to the sofa.

A last-minute flash of foresight convinced her to set the glasses and the bottle down before she flopped back onto the couch. She frowned a little as she poured the first two glasses - probably filling them too much, but whatever: if they ran out they could just send Tom to go and by them more - the liquid glugging away as it and air swapped places inside the bottle.

"He really likes you, you know," Kat added off-hand, as she passed a glass in Alice's direction. She brought her own glass to her lips, hesitating for a moment before downing her first mouthful. "If you don't believe me, you should ask him. Ten dollars says he goes bright red and stutters before eventually admitting it."