Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

All in the room could relate to drunken student antics (or in John's case drunken teenager and young adult antics). Rinaa was tempted to add something about drunken teenage debauchery and how it was far worse than anything students could do. As Kay had seen in the brief flash of memory, Rinaa and her various friends were no strangers to drinking underage. Most didn't get totally smashed, just enough to give them a buzz before they'd head to some junk world and smash a whole load of crap, or organise a illegal street race. But Fia spoke before she could voice her thoughts. Which in a way she was grateful for, it didn't exactly show her or the future at its best.

John had a feeling that Kay being ragged by Fia about her dislike of horror movies was a regular event in the future. The bets thing for him to do was keep his trap shut and not take sides. So he stuffed in another piece of chocolate as an excuse to keep quiet. "This one is so bad you have to be both smashed and high to enjoy it, and even then, you'd be high enough that the political news bulletin would excite you."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia would have also added in many stories that her Aunt Sam told her about the horror film drinking game with Kay and her, but she didn't want to spoil too much of the future by saying anything. So she stuck with the little playful dig instead. It was definitely a constant thing in the future that Fia did, but Kay had her moments in getting her back anyway so it was all light hearted. She was also aware of John not getting involved and just eating chocolate which made her smirk.

Kay laughed at the added explanation from Cliff about the film they were talking about, nodding and taking her word for it completely. "I will take your word for it" she said, airing her thoughts as she ate some more chocolate herself, letting it melt in her mouth slightly first before fully eating it.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"You should take her word for it" Cal agreed, stroking Cliff's shoulder with one hand as she spoke. It was an unconscious gesture which conveyed just how much time they had spent in this position on the couch. "She knows her drugs." Judging by the smirk as she said it, and the dramatic eye roll from Cliff, it was a jab at being a doctor and handling drugs on a regular basis. "Which kind?" Jay asked, one eyebrow raised high. "Both. Illegal and non illegal." There was an aura of shock in the room, nobody quite sure what the doctor was implying. Cliff smiled, before continuing. "Med students do some craaaazy shit in their little free time, and there are some who get their hands on drugs they shouldn't have and go a little bonkers."

There was laughter at that, it wasnt too hard to imagine. "I wasn't one of them before you ask, but it just shows that each type of student has their own version of midnight debauchery." Jay smiled at that, thinking back to the antics of the assassin group during the small hours of the night and the trouble they got themselves into. "For mechanics and engineering students our thrills are organising teams and running illegal street races at night." Rinaa informed them, it seemed an appropriate moment to mention certain late night hijinks she'd been a part of.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay noticed how Cal was with Cliff once again, but didn't make any notion about it. She also noticed the smirk and eye roll from the two of them about the drugs comment, smirking at the two of them. Considering the amount of shock that filled the room, Kay wasn't entirely surprised knowing that doctors would have deal with both forms of drugs regularly in some way or form. She found it one of those surprisingly but not surprising remarks.

The explanation confirmed Kay's thoughts, and she certainly didn't take Cliff for the druggie type so it didn't even cross her mind that she could have been one of those types of students. She always came across as doing anything else borderline illegal than drugs. Fia looked at Rinaa as she joined in on the conversation and smirked, remembering the conversation they had earlier at the facility, whereas it didn't surprise Kay one bit that Rinaa would go through doing something reckless like that. She was just like Jay in that aspect.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It was a surprise to absaloutly nobody (Elliott included) that Rinaa would involve herself in something illegal and dangerous like that. It was a trait that both Jay (and to a lesser extent Elliott) possessed. In her timeline Jay knew about the night racing, but didn't stop Rinaa from doing it. Jay had done such things in her own past, and could see how much enjoyment her daughter was gaining from it. And if it made Rinaa genuinely smile it was worth it. Stopping Rinaa would only have made her more determined to do it. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me at all." John commented from his position on the couch. "It's not supposed to" she shrugged "It's in my blood, quite literally. As you all know, both of these two race." She gestured a thumb at both her parents.

"Just how much does chimera DNA pass down?" Chas asked, hoping he wasn't overstepping some boundary. He knew it was more than the genetic code that was received, but how much, he didn't know. "Too much I'd say. It's a complicated science, but it seems to increase the likelihood of passing on character traits, small mannerisms and habits, speech patterns and certain non-genetic abilities and skills. Some even say certain thought patterns are passed on, but there's not enough evidence either way. And it passes out both the good and the bad traits too, it's not selective..... But I'm a more extreme case anyway, not a typical chimera, too many DNA strands and too much magic involved." That was one crucial difference between her and Leah. There had been no magic used to create Leah.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay ate another piece of chocolate yet again, as John said Rinaa's antics didn't surprise him. She was pretty certain it didn't surprise anyone in the room, with the DNA she had and upbringing, it was clear she'd get into things like illegal racing. As Chas asked about her chimera DNA, she really.boped Rinaa wouldn't close up or fly off the handle over it, as if it was her that asked, she had a feeling she'd get a mouthful. Luckily, Rinaa explained it calmly and willingly after Chas asked it, so she listened to it intently, finding it interesting in a weird way.

Fia noted how different Rinaa was to her Leah, noting the magic difference mostly. Leah wasn't made of any magic, and came into the world the normal way as both her folks were alive in her time, and not through science and magic. It was moments like this that those differences stood out the most to Fia, and she was reminded she wasn't the Leah she grew up with. Which was still weird on a great scale, Rinaa not being the only one getting used to her having the face but not the personality of the person in her timeline.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It was a weird topic to say the least, and if questioned further there were some aspects of it that Rinaa would have to lie about. Despite how well she seemed to be getting on with everybody, she still had secrets and a hidden agenda of things to do. Had it not been Chas, she mightn't have answered the question, but she, like everybody else had a soft spot for the cabbie. And upon seeing that Dan was struggling to keep up (or simply lacking the information that everybody else had) she launched into an explanation in fast paced Attili. Her native accent was flawless. Up until now Elliott had never heard her speak in his birth language and couldn't help but be impressed by her fluidity and how natural it sounded coming from her. Both Rinaa and Leah spoke a wide variety of languages, and knew sign, simply because they had so many relatives who weren't from Earth.

The blacksmith listened, concentrated and asked questions, before nodding, satisfied he knew what was going on. "I hate to be a downer but any idea when our 'dear' father is going to show his sorry hide?" Cal shook her head. "Nope, as far as I know he's off world, hence why you've been in beurocratic stasis for so long. Until he comes back, they aren't going to do anything. But they're certainly getting ready. It's gonna be a big hoo-haa."

 

[MzHyde]

The Attili language always fascinated Kay to hear it, even if she couldn't keep up with the speed at which Rinaa spoke it. Then again, she always had a fascination with other languages even if she hadn't found the time to truly learn any. Little did she know deep down, due to her bloodline, she knew the dead language of her kind, it just hadn't been unlocked yet. Fia on the other hand, knew bits and pieces of Latin due to her mage side and spell work she had either taught herself or John taught her. She also already knew the dead language of the phoenix kind.

Then came the topic of Elliott's birth dad and his whereabouts. She assumed they should be lucky that he was still off world for the time being as it did them more time to prepare for that inevitable day shit hits the proverbial fan. "Getting ready?" Fia asked, being the curious nosey teenager she was.

 

[_gallifrog_]

At the mention of the real reason they were all here the atmosphere in the room changed and everybody leaned forwards. Rinaa laid her head on Elliott's shoulder not trusting herself to speak on the matter. Cal nodded at Fia's statement. "Or at least trying to. There's not much I can do really. Being a royal guard gives me certain authority and grants me a certain amount of respect from others. And being friends with one of the crown princes certainly helps matters. But when it comes down to it, all I can do is hope he doesn't do anything rash." "Not to mention how awkward it's going to be for all parties involved. I haven't seen him for half of my life, and Cal you haven't seen him for what? Ten years?" "Nine since I last talked, or more rather yelled and threatened to brutally decapitate him. But I've seen him around, it's unavoidable."

"Also, I'm going to punch him ast some point, so when he does show up, tell me yeah?" John added. "Join the queue" Dan replied, in his accented English "I've got beef with him too." "I'm in that queue too, though I take dibs on either be taking his nose, or breaking his balls." Jay added, and nodboy was in any doubt about whether or not she would do those things. "Though it is worth pointing out that not all Devra are as anti magic, it's just those few in power ruining things for everyone. Zan happens to be a particularly fanatical one." Cliff felt that it was worth mentioning it for Fia's sake, not knowing what lnwoledeh she had of her brothers race, the basloure rule of certain people and their politics.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened intently at what Cal was saying before turning her attention to Elliott as he spoke up, and so forth round the room as each and every one of them spoke, who had beef with the guy. She then turned to Cliff who mentioned about how not of all Attil were anti magic and she appreciated the fact she mentioned it. She only knew what future Elliott and Cal chose to disclose to her, which wasn't much and she never pushed for more information, knowing it would be pointless to do so. "Right..and whose Zan?" She asked.

Listening to Fia ask all these questions, Kay knew she'd have a lot to deal with in her near future when this time's Fia grew up. She could imagine how much the future Kay had to put up with as well as future John. "You sure love your questions kiddo" Kay commented, which got a simple nod from Fia. "What? I like learning about my family backgrounds" Fia replied with a shrug.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas also had his grievances, but wasn't going to resort to violence like the rest of them. Cliff had never been formally introduced to her fiancé's father, and didn't really want to be either. Neither if them needed his approval for anything. She knew him to look at, and could the similarities between him and his children. They all possesed the same facial structure and build. His hair was brown, both children had their mother's hair. As Cal spoke, she rubbed her shoulder with her thumb. This was an old wound. Jay's hand gently rubbed Elliott's shoulder, a gesture hidden from the sight of the others, but she knew how raw a wound this all was for him too. Rinaa also had her beef with her grandfather, she'd said as much on the ship and didn't feel like reiterating it.

She also wanted to make some comment about how asking questions was a good thing, but refrained from doing it. Elliott answered Fia's question. "He's our birth father." He gestured at himself and Cal. "His full name is Zann'Pak'Lott." He paused. "I presume you know that he gave me the scar?" "With the sword I made" Dan added, once again putting this fact out in the open. "If you didn't, you know now. Was it ever explained in your timeline how Attili names work, and how I chose my Earth name?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia looked between Cal and Elliott and saw on their faces how it was a sore wound and she sort of wished she never asked, but she wanted her knowledge from her time to be clarified by information in this time so she knew if she was remembering it collecting. Her attention fell on Elliott and when he spoke up more to explain who Zan was, which the moment he did, it all clicked into place. She really wished she didn't open that can of worms now.

"Ah right. Yeah, future you explained the scar, how you got it and how chose your name. Though it took the other you a couple of repeats before it sank in...I was like 6 at the time and even more nosey than I am now. So..yeah." she replied to him. She also felt like it was a bit of a warning to him, John and Kay that it does start early on. It literally did start from the age of 6 as well, she was that typical kid who would ask a thousand questions until she was satisfied with the answers she got. It just so happened one of those first lot of questions was to Elliott and how he got his scar. Though she distinctly remembered, when he told her she felt so bad that 6 year old her cried and flung herself at Elliott to apologise for prying and how she hated the "big bully man" did that to her "big brave brother".

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Well, that's where the middle syllable of mine and Cal's name comes from, our father's." It had just been the way that both off them had ended up with their fathers name in theirs. There was no particular custom stating which child should get which parents name, it was left at the parents discretion. Both Leah and Rinaa had two names, the regular name of Leah Tziyen, and the Attili name of Lea'Qui'Tziy. (which did sound exotically badass, but they were both hesitant to use it, given the pain attached to it). They also both had a large variety of fake aliases that they used. Their preferred one was Artemis Taylor (the name she was using on her Attili Uni passes).

It was a can of worms that needed to be opened, they couldn't deny or ignore why it was they were really here, Elliott planned to sort this whole mess out once and for all and take control over the one thing that left him paralysed with fear all those years later. "Same thing happened with my other name, and I presume her Leah also has two names. I got Jay's surname for both, which makes sense, all thing considered." Elliott hadn't expected that. "You've got an Attili name and an Earth name?" "And many fake names, just cos, but yes, I do. It was Cal's idea, a way of flipping the bird to certain people."

 

[MzHyde]

"I see" Fia replied, understanding it all so much easier now she was older than when she was younger. When Rinaa continued the topic in a round about way, Fia felt a little easier about opening the can of worms. Neither seemed to get angry with her for asking or diverted/refused to talk about any of it. She knew deep down that being on this planet still did mean there was still a lot to overcome. She nodded when Rinaa assumed that the Leah from her time had more than one name as well. "Yeah, she does" she confirmed as Elliott asked Rinaa about having an earth name and an Attili name, to which Rinaa went into detail about having nervous names, not just those two. "So that's what the Artemis name on your pass was all about huh" Fia commented, remembering she had a different name on her student pass, rather than the name Rinaa.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It was reassuring in a way to know that her other self had the same names, even if neither had cause to use them. She nodded at Fia's remark "Yeah exactly, I don't use either of my birth names any more, and Rinaa was just something to throw everybody off the scent and distance me from you guys. But it also send out various red flags to people of power. So for the uni pass I used one of my go to names- Artemis." She smiled slightly at the name. It was the nickname she had been given by her best friend, the same guy who had travelled through time to save her life. It was also the vigilante name she worked under. Her friends shortened it to 'Tem' usually. "Where'd that name come from? Not that I've got anything against it."

"It's a nickname from a friend. His unofficial job is to name everything and everyone, he's got quite the flair for doing it. It's based of the whole badass Greek goddess of the hunt mythology." Agian the flicker of a smile that suggested more to the story. The exact quote reason had been "Artemis was both terrifyingly badass, insanely brainy with the air of dangerous beauty about her, its a perfect fit for you".

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded at the explanation given by Rinaa, the whole Rinaa name decision made sense to her. If she ever went out in the evening to hunt herself (something she was unsure if her parents knew about) she thought she really ought to come up with a fake name herself but it was never a thing to do in her direct family, at least with John and Kay, so she didn't think about doing it. She also always loved the name Artemis so she thought it was cool that Rinaa would take it up.

She saw the flicker of a smile in Rinaa's face when she explained how it was a good friend that gave it to her Nd did wonder if Rinaa had a thing for this so called friend. "Pretty sure I read somewhere Artemis has ties to the moon or something? But I can definitely see why he'd give you the nickname, you are badass so it is fitting" Fia chimed in. "The mythology of Artemis is equally badass actually" Fia added. "The idea of you two being into various mythological things like Greek Gods does not surprise me one bit" Kay commented.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Kay's remark wasn't surprising, considering the sheer volume of mythological texts both had access to, and that The House was very good at seperating the two wfrom each other to ensure as little fighting as possible. Fia was right with that remark, in more ways than one. "In more ways than one actually. Artemis is also the name taken up by NASA for the new space programme that returns to the moon. Its not really a spoiler either, even in this time the first class of Artemis graduates are in training and the tech is being built and tested." She replied with a shrug. There was also the link of Artemis and her hounds of the hunt. Conventional mythology said they were just dogs, but digging deeper into ancient texts revealed that they were actually wolves. Another weird connection to her being bitten, and the nickname Fia had given her, though she didn't mention that thought aloud.

"Artemis being the twin of Apollo. Which was the name of the other moon programme." Chas remarked making the connection. "Exactly. That's why it was chosen, as humans love naming space missions after mythology." "They aren't the only race to do that kiddo, a lot of them seem to do it." Jay commented. It was one of those things she'd learned as a pilot. It wasn't taught, but most had an interest in the space faring history of their own planet. "Just sounds cool I guess."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded agreeing with everything, also pleased with herself that she remembered it correctly. She prided herself on her memory being good but there were times she got mixed up with her knowledge. She still isn't living the moment down where she got her spells mixed up when learning the Latin for it, and ended up turning her hair into a massive splodgy multicoloured mess (hair everywhere and mattered) and the spell sparked and blew up in her face, giving her that soot covered look. It was quite the sight to have seen.

"Basically NASA think they're cool when deep down they're just very very smart nerds with a good imagination" Kay remarked. Unlike most people, she didn't mean the term nerd in a derogatory manner either which would have shown in her tone of voice. She knew she could never have the IQ of someone working for NASA, and always had the opinion of 'good for them and their accomplishments'. She just wasn't ever the space need type.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Leah had delighted in the hair disaster as she'd never managed to screw up her own cut that dramatically. And she'd done many, many weird things with her hair over the years. Rinaa had always been the kind of person who would spend their time looking at NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos and any other space agencies posts that she could get her hands on. It was partially due to her natural interest in science, and partially due to her space faring heritage. "Goes without saying really. Pretty much everybody who works there or in other countries agencies is really passionate about what they are doing and had been for many, many years. But everybody needs a passion."

"Can't argue with that." John replied. "And they aren't stupid enough to do things like put nucleur weapons into space, that never, ever ends well. It always backfires somehow. There's quite a few worlds that are dead radiation saturated zones due to misuses of nuclear technologies." Jay had seen such worlds for herself. They stayed uninhabitable forillions of years, and even whne the radiation cleared, people rarely visited them. Hence why they made excellent hideouts in an emergency situation. "There's always somebody who takes it too far." Cliff agreed.

 

[MzHyde]

The fact that Fia never intentionally learned the spell to change her hair, it proved what a complete mess up it truly was. The spell had nothing to do with personal appearance in the slightest, so having Leah always bring it up to her and not let her love it down was the bane of her life and one she refused to ever tell anyone. It was bad enough her family and Leah knew. She was about to say 'cang argue with that' when John literally beat her to it and said exactly what she was thinking.

"Because unfortunately there's always idiots out there who lack common sense or an IQ to know neucular weapons are a stupid idea" Fia commented. Kay nodded in agreement with Fia, and she knew that went for any planet, in any decade. They'd always find someone out there who seriously lacked a brain between their ears. "Agree with that, stupid people are like cockroaches.. they'll survive anything whereas the rest of us will end up dying or suffering badly from their mistakes" Kay remarked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Yeah, all people contain the same characteristics and groups, no matter the race, age, species. Stupidity is immortal, it somehow transcends the mortal shell and moves between people." There was almost a poetic sense to the way Jay spoke those particular words. "In the end there isn't much you can do against it." "Unfortunately true, it's just a matter of staying out of the way and not becoming one yourself, which is easier said than done sometimes." Chas could spend many, many hours complaining about just how dense the human race was and how they only seemed to be getting worse. John raised his glass of drink from the table in a mock toast "To not being stupid feckers" he said with a hint of snark in his tone.

Chas and Dan followed suit in both Attili and English and the action was taken up by the rest of them, each adding their own language where possible. The group were drinking out of various mugs pilfered from the kitchen. Cal and Cliff's selection of mugs could only be described as a hodge podge of styles and messages. Some were bought because they had cool designs or colour patterns. Others were gifts and had been customised with their most used phrases and quips. There was also the mandatory mug that said in large letters "I'm not gay, my girlfriend is" . Neither if them could remember buying such a mug, but they had ebeded up with one. There were also some mugs that had migrated from Deke's lab with geeky diagrams and quotes on them, naturally Rina had commandeered one of those.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded in agreement to what Jay and Chas both said in continuation of her little remark. She knew that herself, Chas, Elliott, John and probably Fia could all have gone on for a mega long rant about the human race and their stupidity, but luckily none of them did. Instead with John's comment and raised glass she could help but smirk and raise an eyebrow. She found it ironic that one of the people in this room who did stupid in spades, was the one starting a mock toast for not becoming an idiot. She kept her mouth shut though, and joined in with everyone else.

She had the mug she had in the morning, not really paying attention to the slogan, but was aware of there being one. It's not like she had it for the slogan anyway. Compared to what the others could have possibly had in their mugs, she just had some juice. Being unable to drink anything with high levels of caffeine and alcohol in was after all a no go area. She found herself yawning a little and sinking into John's side a bit more.

 

[_gallifrog_]

They all appreciated the irony of John's remark as it made the toast funnier. To Cliff's surprise nobody had raided the cupboards and fridge for booze. It wasn't the kind of evening for drinking she supposed. That didn't mean certain people (Jay and John mainly) hadn't been tempted to add in a slug of whiskey/vodka equivilant. They'd decided against it, it was common knowledge that Kay should stay away from both, and considering how violently she had reacted to the mention of coffee, neither wanted to see what negative affect (if any) the presence of the actual stuff would have. So instead they'd opted for various combination of juice, water and the other strange drinks that lurked in the fridge.

It was later than they realised, Cal thought when she flicked her eyes to the watch on Cliff's wrist. She could see that some were beginning to show signs of tiredness. It had been a weird day, even if they hadn't really been anywhere. "So who's sleeping where tonight? We've got enough room, it's just that of everybody wants to be in the apartment, somebody will have to sleep on the kitchen table, upright on the armchair, or in the bath, cos all the beds, and couches are taken up." "I can sleep in the forge room like last night, it's just easier on everyone really." Chas offered. The system had worked perfectly the last night, and the forge spare room was surpringly comfortable. It had started as a store room, but then Cal moved in, and for a number of months had slept on a hammock amongst various supplies. But eventually it had been converted into a proper mini bedroom. Though Cal was still partial to hanging up the hammock every once in a while for old times sake. "Yeah, that makes sense. It's not that we don't want to have you here." She added.

 

[MzHyde]

When the conversation of sleeping arrangements came up, Fia looked up realising that a few of their group did look tired, mainly Kay. She could only imagine it was a side effect of being pregnant, or as she liked to call it- brewing a tiny human inside you, though in this instance it was her in Kay's womb. A reality that was still weird to compute for her. She was ready to say she was fine with sleeping sitting up in the armchair so Chas could have his bed back, but he beat her to the punch and said he'd go back to the forge.

"Chas I can take the armchair if you don't wanna go back to the forge. I dont mind" Fia replied, figuring it was worth bringing up anyway, even if he may refuse the offer, she didn't want to come across as almost entitled that she'd have the room he originally had again. She had also slept in worse ways before so it wasn't a bother to her either way. She knew Rinaa and Jay had the living room but she took a guess they wouldn't mind too much if she was in the same room as her. She just didn't want to take anything for granted either. Kay smiled at the kind gesture of Fia's, thinking that they clearly raised her well if she did that. Most kids would just accept what was said and take shit for granted that they'd get the better deal out of a situation.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Nah, you're fine kid. Forge is fine for me, and the company's great too." That drew a smirk from the blacksmith, the two were the odd ones out in the room, but luckily they got on very well. It was a frequent remark of Chas's no matter where in the timeline that he needed to find more people who were in some way 'normal' or at the least more normal than the people he usually spent his time with. And in this case he'd succeeded. Chas appreciated the offer, but he was also aware that having Fia sleeping within a few metres of Rinaa mightn't be the smartest move, even if the two seemed to have come to some kind of truce. The same thought had occurred to Rinaa, she was considering the armchair for doing her coursework in, which meant she'd more than likely crash there over the couch.

John could see where Fia was coming from with her offer, but knew what Chas's answer would be before the cabbie opened his mouth. John rolled his eyes at the remark from his mate. "Probably a wise decision to keep the two smart, rational people together, just don't go plotting intergalactic take over or whatever." "Can't promise that mate, always fancied myself as the omnipotent God-like supreme ruler of the galaxy." He smirked, leaning back in the chair as the rest began laughing.