Alice's house the morning after

James let his eyes open to see an unfamiliar environment. Where was he waking? As he looked around it all became clear to him pretty fast. He could feel Alice resting against him snuggling up to him. Had they? Oh hell... he probably had no chance with her now... His mind began to replay the night of love making. He had never intended it to end up like this. He really just wanted to take this woman out on a date. But now she was probably going to think he was some kind of creep who preyed on drunk women.

He looked to her and watched her sleep for a little, she really was amazing... and he hoped he could make this better.

Alice woke to the feeling of warmth. That was unusual... her apartment was always cold, to keep the sensitive electronics in her workspace from overheating. Oh well, she wasn't complaining. Being warm was nice, and her pillow was more comfortable than usual. She snuggled into it, smiling. Her eyes were still closed, but they struggled to open as she mumbled sleepily. The struggle suddenly became non existent as she felt her 'pillow' move. Pillows weren't warm... and they didn't move! Her eyes shot open and connected with a familiar pair.

She blinked stupidly for a moment. What was going on? Who was... Oh. OH! Memories from last night came back to her all at once, as did a headache from the drinking. She stared at him silently. Last night... oh, what had she done? He probably thought her a loose woman who slept around! Great AJ, just great! He had seemed really nice too. A date... she wouldn't have minded a date with him, but now he was probably just going to leave in disgust. Well, might as well bite the bullet. "G-good morning..." she mumbled.

James noticed she wasn't yelling or anything, maybe she wasn't mad? In a way last night was fun... they both just got a little too drunk to stop each other. "Uh... I.. I hope we can still go on that date I owe you.. I just hope you don't think I am some sort of pervert who gets women drunk to fuck them.." It really had been a total mistake and he hoped that she would understand that and trust him.

Alice blinked. He... still wanted to go on a date with her? Well that was a relief if it meant he didn't think her horrid. She bit her lip and looked up at him. "I... would like that," she murmured. "I was just hoping you wouldn't think me a loose woman or a tramp." Color suffused her cheeks and she looked away. She had enjoyed last night, that much was true... but she couldn't help but think about what her mother would have said. A twinge of shame ran through her and she sat up, wincing slightly as her head pounded.

They did make love however that was not a bad thing really, it may have been a little sloppy but it was still in a way romantic, they had just met and yet gave each other the biggest gift someone could give. So James chose to be positive about it. "Oh no... if anything I think your amazing... and beautiful." James was just happy that she was giving him a chance. "So, how bout I pick you up for our date at 8?"

Alice's face burned red. "E-eight would be fine," she murmured. He was sweet... very sweet. Well, last night had been a result of her drunkenness, but she couldn't exactly say she was sorry. It had been wonderful, and to her, lovemaking was special. it forged a connection between to people who were previously unattached. She smiled. No regrets. Sure, you were supposed to go on dates and get to know each other first, but well, being a bit backwards was never a bad thing. She looked back into his eyes and smiled, brushing her hair out of her face. "So handsome, not to be rude or anything, but I believe I'll go take a shower." She stood, realizing she had nothing on, but shrugged to herself. He'd seen it all last night, so there was no point in hiding now. Yawning slightly, she stumbled over to her drawers, pulling out a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom, wincing slightly at the pain between her legs. A quick shower and some breakfast sounded good about now. He would probably want a shower as well, when she was done, so she wouldn't take too long. Humming to herself, she stepped into the shower and turned on the water, letting the heat relax her sore muscles.

It had not been his house or he would have cooked her breakfast. James just wondered how everything was going to play out. He was happy to be with her and happy to see that she trusted him enough to not worry about him seeing her naked. She really was a gorgeous woman. James was really excited about their date that night, To think that they had met on a drunken one night stand. But now they were going to start a relationship. 'Alice...what a beautiful name...for an angel on earth.' He thought just relaxing waiting for her to come out of the shower. He would have went in with her and massaged her in the shower, but he did not know if that would be something she wanted.

Alice shut off the water and sighed. Drying off, she put on her clothes. A dark green oversized sweater and grey sweats fit comfortably over her frame. Still humming the tune, she gathered her things and straightened the bathroom. Going back out, she smiled at James. "The shower is yours if you want it. I'm going to go make some breakfast. Any requests?" She asked, all the while braiding her hair. Cooking was something she loved to do, and cooking for others always made her happy. Finishing the braid, she flipped it over her shoulder and looked at him eagerly.

"Just you." James got up and walked over to her kissing her passionately on the lips well aware of the risk. She might think it was too soon, she might get distracted that he was naked, but James knew if she kissed back it would be magical. He pulled back after a few seconds looking to her. He was unsure what it was, but around her he just felt alive and he really wanted her to know that he cared. His mind was aflutter with romance, and this strong feeling that she was special, and he was meant to discover just how special she was.

Never before had he met a woman who just blew him away like she did. And she seemed to not even be trying to do so. She was just her, there was no fake act going on, what he saw is what he got. An amazing woman named Alice.

Alice flushed and looked up at James as he broke the kiss. She drew in a shaky breath and smiled. Leaning forward slightly, she placed a hand on his chest and kissed him back. There was just something about him, the way he spoke to her made her feel special. She had never felt that before. His lips burned against hers and she leaned into him for a moment before pulling back, and impish gleam in her eye. "Well handsome, I'm afraid I'm not on the breakfast menu... for now," she purred. Looking up at him, she willed her heart to cease its fluttering. She didn't know what it was, but there was a spark there that caused her heart to leap into her throat. smiling, she looked down and pushed away slightly. "I guess I'll make it a surprise." She continued, winking at him and laughing slightly.

She hadn't had many relationships, and the men in her life before had never been this close to her. James was different. Well, okay, it had started as a one night stand, but she felt that it could become so much more given the chance.

James smiled and went into the shower to get clean. He was so happy to be with this girl. Things had already moved to sex so he hoped the fact that he kissed her did not bother her. As the water hit his body he just closed his eyes picturing Alice. He needed to snap back into reality and stop daydreaming about their date. But that's what a shower was for right? Getting clean and thinking? When he had washed himself fully, James walked into her room and got dressed once again. Soon enough he was out in the kitchen seeing the woman he knew he was falling for. "Hey Gorgeous."

Alice smiled to herself as she made pancakes. They were among her favorite breakfast foods, and most people she knew enjoyed them. Setting two places on the table, she made sure each one of the pancakes were done right. She remembered the first time she had tried making them. The smoke alarms had gone off and her mother had been shrieking with laughter. The corners of her mouth twitched as she remembered the incident. Her father had ripped off the cap covering the alarm in frustration when it refused to shut off and had rewired the entire place himself. In fact, it was his wiring that still ran through the apartment today. She sighed and stacked the ready food onto a plate, getting the syrup and butter from their places and putting them on the table. Turning her attention back to the stove, she waited for the final pancake to finish cooking. She was just flipping it over when she heard James' voice.

Turning around, she smiled at him. "Hey handsome. Breakfast is almost ready. Have a seat. Juice?" She opened the refrigerator.

James smiled giving her a little peck on the lips. It smelled delicious and James was happy that she had cooked for him. He just wondered if she thought they were rushing things. But soon enough they were sitting in front of one another enjoying breakfast. "I will probably stop and get some coffee on the way home, I have to call up people to watch the bar tonight, then after that, we get to go on our date." James was practically singing he was so happy about being with Alice.

Alice looked at James from across the table and nodded. "I have to call in to work and tell them I won't be taking an extra shift tonight like I usually do. Hopefully I can finish up my project before six today." Her eyes glazed over for a moment as she thought of her 'baby.' The sleeper virus was a combined effort that had taken several years to make and she was currently writing a set of commands to shield it from detection. It was one of her greatest accomplishments. Shaking her head, she forced herself back to reality. Their date... she smiled. Really, she was on cloud nine. James was a great guy and she looked forward to getting to know him.

James took a bite of the delcious pile of fluff that was a pancake and smiled a little bit. "Delicious! Your a great cook, guess I can add that to Beautiful, sweet, kind." James stopped listing just because he knew that he might be overdoing it. Though in truth he already had about 50 other things that he really liked about her. "So, what exactly do you do at phoenix then?" He questioned wondering if she was a programmer or an engineer. Hell maybe he would stop by her office and see her during lunch?

Alice took a bite of her pancakes, a pleased smiled crossing her face, as well as a minor flush. She was glad he liked them. He kept calling her beautiful too. It felt nice to hear that, especially since it wasn't something she had heard often. Oh, he wanted to know what she did? Swallowing her food, she answered."Oh, I'm a hacker there. I just plug myself into the computers and look for viruses and programs that shouldn't be in the systems. I was going to be a programmer, but that wasn't nearly as fun." More than once she had almost gotten stuck in the systems, but that was just part of the fun for her. She looked up at him thoughtfully. "Other times I'm contracted out to small businesses to help them with their problems, but usually my body just stays in one room and my mind goes everywhere else." She grinned. "It's a very interesting experience to be nothing but data on occasion."

James thought that was rather interesting that she had that kind of power. He was after all just a shape shifter. Soon enough his phone began to ring, He took it out of his pocket and answered. Apparently the cops wanted to talk to him about being a part time detective. So now they wanted him eh? They wanted him to help take down Shadow? He shook his head and hung up then looked to the women he was starting to fall for. "Apparently they want me now... the cops that is, in an hour I have a meeting with the police chief."

Blinking, Alice tilted her head. "Oh?" She rested her chin on her hand. "Are you going to accept?" She was curious to find out. His abilities would be useful if he decided to become a detective. But the question was did he want to help them now, after they had turned him down before. He seemed to be happy owning the bar and he might not want to become a part time detective. Then again, he might decide to join. That would be interesting, nd maybe she would get the chance to work with him on something. The police worked with Phoenix on occasion, and she had even been called to do a little information gathering for them once. She pushed the memory away. Diving into Shadowclaw's computers had not been fun, and she'd barely gotten any information before nearly getting caught. Of course, that was right after she'd just started working there, and she was much better at hiding her presence on a server now.

Anyways, that wasn't what was important. He only had an hour before his meeting. He would be leaving soon then, to get ready to meet with them. And she had to go to work soon herself.

"Depends on what they ask me to do, At any rate... I do have to get going..." James was bummed that he could not spend longer with her. He stood up and walked over to her kissing her on the neck since she was in the middle of a bite. Normally that was the international sign for sex, but he was pretty sure she knew what he meant. James strode over to the door and opened in. "I will be back at 8 to pick you up for our date!"

Alice chewed what was in her mouth and swallowed. "Alright. See you at eight James." She smiled as he left. Clearing the table did not take long, and she went back to her room, gathering her things. It was time for her to go to work. With the thought of their date in her mind, she left her apartment, humming cheerfully.