The Morning After

[Darren Liten]

Darren had never, in his entire life, been in a situation where he woke up and couldn't remember where he was.  He'd never actually been drunk before, so he'd never gotten trashed and fallen into bed with anyone.  

Until now.

He woke up in a bed that was practically a war zone.  That annoyingly uncomfortable 'comforter' usually found on hotel beds had somehow ended up on the floor, and the sheets were a wreck.  An even bigger surprise was waking up to find a warm body in his arms that smelled of cloves and some sort of sweetness that was all her own beneath everything else, including his own scent.  He could smell himself all over her, and before he even opened his eyes, he remembered.

He didn't regret it.

In fact, he took a good, long whiff of her, though he didn't move much.  He was a bit reluctant to wake her up before she was ready.

[Paris Black]

Paris awoke slowly, roused not by sunlight but by sound. She'd heard something shifting around, and she opened her eyes, only to immediatly regret doing so. That was a hangover. She shut them again and stretched, finding that she was twisted, literally, in the sheets of her bed. She knew she didn't have any clothes on, which wasn't abnormal, because Paris always slept in skivvies, and sometimes when she was drunk, she forgot those.

She opened her eyes again and looked down at the arm wrapped around her. "Aw, shit," she said aloud. She rolled over and came face to face with a damn attractive man who had amazing green eyes. He must have been real fantastic, too, 'cos she couldn't remember anything about him.

"Hi there," she attempted with a smile, though it was slightly awkward when she had no idea where her clothes were. Paris, thankfully, was fairly transparent. "Where are my pants?"

Humans, unlike shifters, would need a few cups of coffee or a nice Manhattan to remember the night before. And right now, Paris wasn't bankin' on any alcoholic beverage for a long time.

[Darren Liten]

Well, hearing the first words out of her mouth as 'aw, shit' wasn't exactly encouraging, but she'd smiled, even if the situation was a little awkward.  He returned the smile, having the grace to look somewhat embarrassed himself.  "Hi.  I think your pants are on the floor somewhere, with all the rest of our clothes," he told her, slipping his arm off of her and sitting up in the bed.  Looking around, he fought the urge to whistle.  Their clothes weren't just on the floor, but everywhere.

They'd had more fun last night than he cared to think about right then.

Actually, there was something even worse that popped into his mind.  He didn't know her name, and he'd just gone and had crazy break-up sex with her after leaving Mars.

Oh, hell.

"Uh, this might not be the best time to ask, but...what's your name?" he asked her, actually blushing this time from embarrassment.  Oops.

[Paris Black]

Paris sat up and surveyed the room, and then just layed back down and rolled over. She had bedhead and she knew it, not that her hair was managable in the first place with all her little braids and whatnot strewn through blonde strands and extensions.

"Paris," she said into the pillow. She pulled what she could of the sheet over herself. "And Paris has a hangover." She closed her eyes and sighed deeply, trying to convince herself that no, vomiting was not the best answer for this equation at the moment.

"So yeah, cat-boy, I can't remember anything. Except that."

And then she sat up.

"OHMYGOD. AGH!" she cried, grabbing her head after her outburst. But, more importantly, "OHMYGOD!" She snapped her head over to look at him and stuck an accusing finger out. "What if I'm a cat?!"

Paris had been way, way too drunk to even think about that. Or had she? She couldn't remember!

[Darren Liten]

Oh!  So the nicknames continued even when she was sober or hungover!  That brought a smile to his face, especially since it meant that she remembered he was a cat.  No awkw---nevermind.

"I'm Darren, by the way," he told her rather dryly from his side of the bed.  "Paris, I promise you, I didn't do anything that would make you a shifter.  You scratched me up nicely, but I like it, so I don't mind.  I didn't scratch you at all."

And why had his tone gone from that dry amusement to actual amusement?  Perhaps because he could remember more of what happened as he woke up, and he rather liked it.  "So, are you still psychic when you're not drinking?" he asked, that amusement plain in his voice.

If so, you don't have to look far to remember what happened.

[Paris Black]

"I heard that," she snapped, referencing his thought. It came out more like, 'Ah hurd that' though, which was equal parts amusing and adorable. She wrapped up in the blankets again.

"Well Darren, since it seems I'm a-okay on the feline end of things... I'm gettin' some room service. You c'n stay or you c'n go, but I promise, the food here is good enough to hang around for, if nothin' else." She looked up at him as she spoke, and then moved for the phone by the bed. That was a nice, polite way of giving him an exit if he wanted it.

She went right on and dialed, though. Not too much stopping Hurricane Paris when she really set her mind to things.

[Darren Liten]

He actually laughed at her words, which he actually did find to be almost cute in that neat accent of hers.  He'd never traveled down south, so he'd never heard anything that deep.  He'd heard a good bit of it the night before.

"You're fine on the feline thing.  I promise," he assured her, right before settling into the bed again.  "Room service sounds great."

Really, he didn't care too much what she ordered, though he preferred something with a little meat to it, personally.  He wasn't taking that exit unless she wanted him out, though.  

[Paris Black]

Paris ordered a bunch of things, really. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, sausage, the works. And a stiff Martini. So sue her, she hated coffee. She plucked the olive out and sat up, having climbed out of bed long enough to find Darren's shirt and put it on. She hunkered down under the covers and ate the olive, watching Darren survey the food.

"So, how'd you like alcohol?" she asked with a shit-eating grin. "Seems like your first endeavour went well, considering." Considering he'd ended up with her anyways.  

[Darren Liten]

He'd found it insanely amusing that she opted to put HIS shirt on to get the room service, but he hadn't said anything.  He was at the point where he couldn't help but think about just how different this woman was from Mars, and it was incredibly refreshing.  Of course, all of that shot right out of his mind when the food arrived, since he WAS hungry.  He'd been too busy fighting with Mars, and then feeling stupid at the Lounge, then drinking and sleeping with Paris, that he hadn't made time to eat.  Now was a good time.

"I liked it.  It was strange and very different from catnip, but I liked it," he told her with a smile that got the slightest hint of wickedness when she mentioned that it seemed to have gone well.  All she had to do was peek at his mind to get his opinion on THAT, and it was favorable.  

[Paris Black]

"Eh, catnip is weaksauce compared to the bar Papa has stocked," she said with a smile. She settled back down and made a mess with her food - Paris' way of cleaning was to fling the sheets off of the bed, shake out all the crumbs, and then throw them back on and sort of shuffle-tuck a few ends in to make it more accomidating to sit on.

"Man. I gotta go look for apartments today. This is going to blow," she sighed. "Oh well. I think I'll like living on my own. It's so much... easier. For everything." Paris didn't think she wanted a boyfriend again for a while. Although Darren was a fun guy so far. Maybe he'd be up for something casual. Paris was not feeling serious.

[Darren Liten]

"I noticed," he remarked, having already taken note of the differences between what that Papa guy had, and catnip.  For one, he hadn't had to fight with his feline half last night, which was a definite downside to catnip.  That was why he didn't intentionally do anything involving the feline form of weed.  Not his idea of a good time, though highly amusing for anyone watching.

Watching Paris 'clean' the sheets after they'd finished eating was a treat as well, though.  This girl knew how to treat a hotel room, apparently.  

"I'm staying in a spare room at the Hollow until I find a place, but I'm in the same boat.  At least I won't have to worry about my ex's insane cat anymore," he added with a happy smile, thinking back on Dante.  The cat had HATED him, even though Darren was the one who fed him most of the time.

[Paris Black]

"You should have given him to the Humane Society," she remarked wickedly. If Liam had a cat that was that shitty to Paris, she'd have snatched off its collar in an instant and marched right down to the HS and said, 'Ohyes, found lost cat'. Paris could be mean too.

She got up and headed for the bathroom as she spoke, taking her clothes with her. She just wanted to get dressed and brush her teeth, especially now that she had bacon stuck in there. She poked her head out of the door with Darren's shirt still on, half-tucked into her jeans, with a mouth full of foam.

"Woofaya goofah?" she asked. She didn't seem to care that he couldn't understand her, and went back into the bathroom to finish her ritual. Once her face had been washed and her teeth and hair brushed, she came back out and lept up onto the bed.

"Whatcha wanna do now?" she asked. Paris seemed re-energized. Like she wanted to go play soccer or something. The girl just never got tired.

[Darren Liten]

He had to stop and wonder if she was serious about that suggestion, and he ended up deciding that she was, if only because of her tone and what little he knew of her.  She had a damn good point, but he didn't think he could have done that to Mars and then lied to her when she asked if he knew where her cat was.  That was just a little too underhanded for him.

By the time she came out with her mouth full of toothpaste, he was already up and thinking about his rather serious need for a shower while he tried to find the articles of clothing she wasn't already wearing.  She had his shirt all tucked into her jeans as well, which wasn't going to fly.  Not if they planned on going anywhere.

He was NOT wearing her shirt.

"I don't know.  The only plans I had for the immediate future involved cleaning up.  Why, you got a suggestion?"

[Paris Black]

Paris didn't want him to wear her shirt anyways, and besides, he'd probably look like Chi Chi the Drag Queen if he had. She threw his shirt at him when he mentioned getting cleaned up, and walked across the room shamelessly to find her own clothing.

Once she'd pulled her bra and shirt back on, she put her hands on her hips. "Well, h'bout this. You get showered up or.. whatever it is you want to do, and I'll try to straighten up the room."

Paris meant shove everything under the bed, but she wouldn't say that.

[Darren Liten]

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed easily, glad to have her throw the shirt to him.  He didn't want to go out looking like Chi Chi the Drag Queen.  He probably wouldn't have even done anything like that for Halloween, nevermind any other time.  He'd have never lived crossdressing down.

He had to appreciate her shameless nudity as she walked around to find her own clothing, and he found that he rather shamelessly watched her.  He'd discovered that there were two types of women in the world: those that were embarrassed if a man looked at their naked form like he wanted it, and those that enjoyed it.  He didn't know which Paris was, but if he were to wager a guess, it would have been the latter. 

Besides, sometimes he just couldn't help himself.

A shower was sounding pretty damn good.  "Be back in a few," he told her, and he was gone.  Fortunately, it really did only take a few minutes, especially since he really didn't have any toiletries for shaving or anything.  He'd just have to bum it for a day.  Nothing he cared about.