Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Fia put her phone away when Elliott was done with the looking through the photos and noticed the three girls coming back from their shopping trip. She rose an eyebrow when he said about some kind of disguise shopping. Luckily, her reaction got an answer by Elliott and looked over where he was pointing. She held her reaction together, until he said about Cal being evil enough to go full on drag, which was then when she lost it. She just burst into laughter.

She jumped out of her skin when Cliff appeared out of nowhere with her reply at Rinaa's comment. "I am not surprised dad has joined in on this!" She replied, noting Cliff was using her ice powers to levitate up to them. "You better prepare to have all of us make photographic evidence that this happened brother" she added, nudging him in the arm with her shoulder, grinning like the Cheshire cat. The type of smile that makes even her eyes smile and seem so much brighter. It really showed just how much she looked like both John and Kay.

(I'm not gonna lie.. I'm totally envisioning drag Cloud Strife from FF7 vibes right now for Elliott)

 

[_gallifrog_]

It took a fair amount of mental concentration for Cliff to levitate herself around. Cal could do the same with her fire, but she ran the additional risk of setting whatever she was carrying on fire. So she and Jay had opted for the more sensible option of the stairs. Cliff enjoyed scraping the shite out of people like that far too much, it was all too frequent an occurence in Rinaa's timeline. "I swear you're gonna give me a heart attack one day." "That's not how heart attacks work y'know."
Cliff smirked, stepping off and onto the roof. It was such a classic doctor reply that Elliott had to laugh at it. "I know, you always say that. But the point still stands." she smirked, watching as the ice disintegrated into nothing.

Elliott was already beginning to dread ever agreeing to this hare-brained plan in the first place. He could see the features of John in her grin, (even if John's grin looked completly different) it was somehow still there. "I'm gonna so regret this. Is it too late to go back to prison? Surely somebody is due a shift change by now, or whatever sod you have decoying as me deserves as break." But there was no weaseling out, he'd need this moment of fun before doing the emotional roller-coaster of revisiting his past. "Oh, it's waaaay too late brother, and the shifts fall perfectly for yesterday night, today and tonight. So it is happening, and theres plenty of time for fun." Cal grinned, having appeared on the roof too.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia laughed at the typical doctor response from Cliff about the heart attack remark from Rinaa. If Rinaa hadn't said it, Fia most certainly would have. She also loved seeing how different and yet how similar Cliff's ice powers worked to her, Cal's and Kay's fire powers when it came to disappearing after use. Looking at Elliott she could tell he was beginning to dread the plan in his face, she had grown up studying his features and expressions intently to know whether he was pulling her leg of not when he told her stuff about their family or random trivia.

She laughed more when Cal appeared out of nowhere and said what she did to Elliott's request and attempt to weasel out of the plan. "Face it, you're going through this and you can't get out of it. You also have to face the fact big bro that now I'm here to witness it? I can tease you about it in my timeline too! So you got 17 years of torment!!" Fia grinned and laughed more, feeling way too smug about that idea. She also had a feeling that that would amuse Cal greatly. If Elliott thought he was going to regret it now, he was rapidly going to learn that Fia would make him regret this oh so much more and get a kick out of it forever. She was a prankster and this was right up her street.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott just sighed, loudly, running a hnad through his hair, which only made Cal laugh further. He really should have just stayed back on Earth, but it was too late for it now. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know." He replied to Fia's comment, she was taking far too much enjoyment out of it. Actually it seemed that everybody except him was going to enjoy watching him being done up. "And it's basically my fault for coming back here on the first place. But you'd better do a proper job for the real disguise, it's not just my identity we're risking, it's your whole set up here." He directed the last part of the remark at Cliff, the only properly sensible one among them. "We got that covered. The real disguise will be done by the closest person we have to a qualified professional in creating disguises and that kind of stuff." "Here goes nothing I guess."

Jay had appeared on the rooftop too, but hadn't said anything, so nobody (not even Elliott) noticed that she was there, sitting in the shadow of the chimney. Except for Rinaa who made her way over to her mother, and sat beside her. "Are you going with Elliott and Cal later?" She asked quietly. Jay shrugged and let out a sigh. "Probably ...... maybe ....... I don't really know to be honest." "I'll put it another way, do you want to be there?" Jay thought for a minute or so, lapsing into silence as she always did when properly thinking something through. Unless she was really emotional, Jay was logical and methodical. "Yes, I want to be there. I want to see how different it all was. But he didn't ask...." "You should be there anyway, and he didn't ask because you were asleep when Cal brought it up." She passed over the sketchbook to Jay, flipping it open on the sketch of Jay asleep the night before.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia laughed at Elliott's reaction of dread and mortification at this whole thing and how everyone was getting a kick out of this. "Penalities of now having an older sister and younger sister, you're doomed for life" Fia remarked. Little did he know that when Cal did ever come to visit, he really was doomed when Fia and Cal got together to torment him. They were a nightmare together and no one was safe...especially Elliott. She listened to what Cliff said about how it would be done properly and all circumstances were thought out about this little escapade. She noticed how Rinaa got up and walked over to Jay, having a quiet chat, but just turned her attention to the others again.

Kay could hear commotion going on on the roof as the group weren't as quiet as they thought they were. "sounds like they're having fun up there" she commented. She couldn't hear what was being said exactly but she could hear voices, mostly Fia's. She could only guess they were seriously winding Elliott up considering what the plan was to be for later. She knew she wouldn't go with them, it wasn't her place to for one thing, so just figured she'd either nap when they were gone or take it easy on the couch with whoever stayed behind.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Guess I just have to live with it." He shrugged. "Damn right you do, now that you do actually exist again, there's no getting away from me now. And I am dragging you to a wedding as well, where you are required by my decree to wear a proper suit and get done up all fancy." The look of 'oh shit, what kind of monster has been unleashed' only grew when Cal added her next bit to the sentence. "Even if nobody else has a dress code, there's gonna be one specifically for you." "And I'm not getting you out of it, what she says goes in this case." Cliff added helpfully (or not so helpfully, depending on who's perspective it was from). Cal put an arm around Cliff, smirking. "This one knows her stuff." "Do I have to?"

John head the sound of increased noise on the roof just before Kay pointed it out to him. "The Holy trinity have returned by the sounds of it." The nickname came out before he'd even consciously realised it was a good one. In a way Cal, Jay and Cliff were the top three important women in Elliott's life. He wasn't sure where Kay fit in, and Rinaa.....well, she was a girl out of time, and only one possibility of the child Elliott may one day have. Knowing that there was something to listen out for allowing John focus right in on the sounds. He couldn't make much out aside from the voices. "They're probably ragging him about the copous quantities of make up and other stuff they've bought." He cast an eye ceilingwards as if it would help him hear better. "Wanna go join in? Or is the sickness still being a bitch."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia had never seen Elliott smartly dressed before, so the idea of seeing him dressed like so amused her greatly. She just couldn't picture it but she wanted to witness it. She knew there were photos in her timeline of the wedding and Elliott, but she had never found them and was never allowed to see them. She put it down to reasons like his reaction to the news gave off here and now. The look he gave made her laugh once more. "It's an important day for Cal and Cliff so if Cal wants you making an effort, deal with it!" Fia chimed in.

Kay chuckled at the nickname he gave the three girls who just returned. The nickname did suit Jay, Cliff and Cal's little trio group, she had to admit to herself. She knew how much those girls meant to Elliott and it didn't phase her if she wasn't thought of in the same way, obviously it would mean the world to her if Elliott did think of her in anyway near those other three, but if she didn't? She wouldn't be hurt by it. "It wouldn't surprise me if that was the case" she replied to him.
"It's still being a bit of a bitch but I'll be okay. If you wanna go join them, don't let me hold you back. Got a feeling I'd get lectured to go back and rest if I do get up." She told him, slowly sitting up so if he wanted to go he could. She rested her head on the pillow again as she was before.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John wasn't one to pass up an opportunity to poke fun at Elliott on this occasion. "Fair point. We haven't seen the docs stubborn all-business side yet, but I don't doubt it that it exists." He remarked as Kay moved her head off him. He hadn't realised how heavy it was till the weight had left him. Before leaving the room he leaned over and quickly kissed her forehead before heading for the roof. He didn't climb fully up, just stood on the ladder bit, with his elbows propped on the roof and his torso visible. "What's this about weddings and proper clothing?" He asked with a smirk, already guessing where it could be going. There was after all only one wedding in their imminent future. Cal quickly informed John on what he'd missed.

The majority of the wedding photos were kept by Cliff and Cal. But there had been some long weeks spent distributing certain requested prints to guests. John and co all had photos, but they'd been careful to hide them from Fia, given that she herself appeared in some of them. And in Rinaa's timeline, the photos were the last proper pictures of Elliott taken which added a layer of extra sensitivity to the matter. Elliott just rolled his eyes at Fia's remark. "But its my duty as sibling to fight it all the way and dramatically bitch, even if I'd actually look really good in formal gear." He had an idea of how to turn this away from a mocking session of him. All heads turned to Jay who was the best judge for that comment.

She just snorted at it, but not out of malice. Elliott had the potential to look really damn good when scrubbed up, but part of the appeal was that he wasn't. "Oh please, if anybody here looks good in a tux, it's me. I can slay a tux, metaphorically and literally, it's far easier to conceal weapons in than a dress." Even after all the years, some things were still hardwired into her- such as hiding copiously large amounts of weapons on her persona, something she'd taught Rinaa, Leah, and the Fia in Leah's timeline. "Well, if you're wearing the tux, I'll go full on ballgown. I could totally pull that off. And it counts as formal gear Cal."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had to agree with that statement. She had only dealt with the fussing from Fia this morning, the idea if her getting backup by Cliff who wouldnt hesitate to use her professional expertise on the matter was quite intimidating in a weird way. "Exactly, you just know both Cliff and Fia would gang up on me gladly together on this matter" she smirked, seeing John stand up. She closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead, smiling, before watching him leave the room. She properly laid down and tried to relax, accepting this would be one day where she quite probably would be away from the group for a lot of it. Something hate hated but she had to put not only herself first, but unborn Fia too.

Fia glanced across when she saw John appear after a while and ask about formal clothing and weddings making her smirk. She guessed that if he was back with them then Kay had to be resting and looking a bit more alive or asleep. Either option she was fine with. She was indeed overprotective, but that was only heightened after she thought she was going to lose her mum in her timeline. She let Cal explain what John had missed before Elliott retorted to her comment about him having to deal with it, making her eye roll before turning to Jay like everyone else.

Fia thought Jay had a point in the reasonings for preferring the tux over a dress, even if Fia was completely different. She was all about her jeans, biker jackets and vests in her everyday clothing but she did love to dress up when she could and wear a dress every now and then. She also knew where she coming from as she taught by Jay how to conceal weapons when needed. The moment Elliott replied with if that was the case, he'd go full on ball gown she laughed. Sure, he was right it fell into formal wear but the idea of Elliott in a dress was hysterical to her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia wasn't the only one to lose it at that idea. John nearly fell off the ladder laughing at the mental abomination that had entered his head. He could picture Elliott pulling it off while at that same time making a disgrace of the name of fancy clothing. Cliff also lost it, which then set Cal off. Jay and Rinaa both genuinely found the idea hilarious, and it was obvious in their laughter. It was only the second time John has seen the assassin spontaneously laugh at something, and like Rinaa, Jay seemed to be a different person when laughing. Pretty soon the whole rooftop was in hysterics at the idea.

Rinaa (and by extension Leah as she had the exact same clothing and fashion tastes) were the kind of people who'd run a million miles to escape having to wear a dress. She was very much a geeky t-shirts, lumberjack shirts, leather jacket, hoodie, baggy cargo trousers, crazy socks and ratty converse/thick motorbike boots kind of girl. (Though not all at the same time). But that didn't mean they hadn't ever worn one. There had been a time when she'd been invited as a plus one to a friends great-grandfather's funneral in order that said friend would not in his own words 'die of boredom and overexposure to relatives whose favourite hobby it is to spend their time comparing me to my brother and bitching about my life choices'. Dress shopping had been a saga for both Leah and Rinaa. But eventually there had been success.

"You have a point there brother, so I'll let you pick your poison on this one. Proper tux or proper ballgown?" Cal finished, not sure which way her brother was going to go, and not really caring either. Both were going to be funny and humiliating for her brother. "Hmmmmm...... Can I do both? Tux for the formal pictures and the dress to take the piss?" He was genuinely serious, figuring that he might as well do it, and own it. "I one hundred percent endorse this idea, now that we've all had the mental image, it needs to happen Ell." "Oh yes, Benji will have an absaloute break down of overexuberent pansexual joy if this is what his new brother-in-law does." Cliff was all for it, imagining just how her eldest brother would react to the whole debacle. And figuring that Fia wouldn't have ever met him she added "Benji's my oldest brother, he's well.... English doesn't have apt words to describe him."

 

[MzHyde]

Seeing her dad almost fall off the rooftop in hysterics made Fia laugh more, as it showed her there was future John in him even now. Hearing so much group laughter made Fia wholeheartedly happy. It made her feel like she was back home again for that brief moment, as she was slightly home sick earlier when looking through her photos. But not enough to want to go home. She looked between Cal and Elliott when she told him he could pick between a tux and gown for the wedding, when he decided to pick both. This revelation making Fia so glad she didn't decide to stay in her timeline and miss such a moment in time.

Benji was indeed someone Fia had never met, so she appreciated the little snippet of information about him, smiling with a nod in acknowledgement. "Good to know! Can't wait to meet the guy!" She said with a smile. She loved meeting people due to her lack of friends and social life. Yet despite that, her personality just meant she could get on with anybody if given the chance to, and wanted to get on with anybody and meet new people. She also hoped this would mean things would change ever so slightly in her timeline that would allow her to gain her own set of friends and the like, instead of being so shut off. The closest person she had to a friend was the local coffee shop barista who served her when she was coming back from a run every other day. Which for a 17year was quite sad and pathetic in her eyes.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff had to smirk at that. None of them had any idea what they were getting themselves into when it came to her four siblings. They were all tall, blond and athletic like her. All were insanely smart and scarily capable in their respective areas and not to be messed with. Rinaa was closest with Beji, as he was the crackpot mechanic/inventor of the siblings. They also spent their entire time together squabbling, bickering, bantering and picking on each other. "You have no idea what you're signing up for with my family." She extended that comment to the rest of them. "None of you do, except Cal, she's met them." The fondness in her tone was evident, even though she often felt sorry for her parents having to deal with all the siblings and their shit. She passed Fia the photo that a the others had already seen of Cliff and her three brothers and one sister all fighting in the surf of their homeworld. "Benji's the one putting me in a headlock."

Any slight change in the timeline here could cause ripples in both their respective timelines. Elliott had never agreed to wear the dress in either of their timelines, so already that tiny ripple was causing changes. Neither Fia nor Rinaa would notice it, as the new memories seamlessly replaced the old ones. Only a breacher or a timeline sensitive like Jay would have noticed the change in the future. Cal turned to Elliott. "You do realise this means we have to take you dress shopping later today. Any volunteers?" John raised a hand, earning a laugh causing Cal to rephrase the remark. "Any with good taste?" "Are you saying I don't have good taste?" "Yes." Cal relied back deadpan. John responded by giving a dramatic mock gesture of 'you wound me' by putting his hands over his heart and pretending to be upset about the comment. Which he wasn't in the slightest.

 

[MzHyde]

The moment Cliff said that, Fia found it a challenge. She smirked at the comments and just found herself more intrigued to meet her family now. She was one of these kids that if she was told 'no', she'd hear 'yes' which in her timeline made her at times a huge pain in Kay and John's ass. She took the photos Cliff handed to her and looked at it seeing all the siblings and Benji once she had him pointed out. She chuckled at the photo, before handing it back. "Seems cool!" She remarked.

Fia looked at Cal and Elliott when Cal brought up the realisation of having to take him dress shopping. The moment John held his hand up she laughed, and had to side with Cal. "Dad, I'm with Cal on this one. You may pull off this whole...." She waved her hands over him, "look, but leave the dress shopping to the women!" She commented, with her tone showing just how cheeky she meant the words, poking her tongue out the side of her lips and winking. "So Cal I'll come with! Would need to get something to wear anyway myself and pretty sure mum would too" she added with a grin.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was only acting to take the piss out of the whole situation. The person with the best sense of fashion out of his inner circle would be Chas. Even if he rarely had occasion to use such a skill. "And Chas, he can at least look like he knows what he's doing, even when he doesn't have the foggiest." John still hadn't climbed onto the roof fully, finding his position half on the ladder half leaning on the roof surprisingly comfortable and stable. Jay was about to voice her willingness to drag Elliott out for a day of shopping, not specifically staying on Attil, but the others beat her to it. There were a few places off world that could be easily teleported to, and a teleport centre was located in the main city. "I'll come as well, nothing I have is suitable either. Plus, I know some good places both here and off world."

"Yeah..... I should come too, even if dress shopping is the bane of my existance and I'll just return with more t-shirts." That was a frequent occurence with both her and Leah. They seemed to be able to hone in on the one nerdy t-shirt in the entire department store. And if anything, she'd be able to keep Elliott company in not enjoying being forced into various ridiculous outfits. "The only two suitable things I own are back in my timeline as a last resort." She wasn't overjoyed at the prospect of having to go back, even for a brief time, and it showed. There were some loose ends and she had just upped and left in the middle of the night without telling anybody. So who knew what kind of frantic state her family and friends were in by now. Not something she wanted to be around unless strictly necessary. "Well that's sorted then, looks like we're all going shopping."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smirked at John's reply about Chas, and she knew it was true. It was the same in her timeline. She distinctly remembered one day when she forced Chas' hand in taking her and Trish out because she was technically grounded and would only be allowed out if a responsible adult went with her. Needless to say the only responsible one was Chas. There were other times she could think of as well but they weren't from discussing without buggering up her timeline in some shape or form. She then looked toward Jay who spoke up about coming and as more of them all agreed to go, she couldn't help but grin excitedly, which gave a hint to the fact she didn't get to do this often if at all. Something that only Rinaa would know due to their previous conversation at the facility about her sheer lack of friends.

"Hopefully mum will feel better enough to go, if not I'll pick something out for her" Fia commented, already getting many a thought in her head of what she could pick out to make Kay wear, down to having similar thought process as her aunt Sam, that would not take away the limelight from either Cliff or Cal but also make John definitely stare. Whilst all this was going on on the roof, Kay tried to get some sleep but couldn't really drift off, so she had rummaged through her bag and sat in bed sketching instead. At first she couldn't decide on what to do, so just let her pencil lead the way. It ended up becoming a sketch of herself, John and Fia in his apartment.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff's eyebrows immediately raised at that last statement from Fia, her face morphing into what was nicknamed 'the doctor face' by literally everybody who had ever met her. It had naturally been her siblings who had first coined the term, but almost everybody arrived at their own version of that nickname at some point or another. Between John and Elliott she was informed that it was just a particularly bad bout of morning sickness, nothing nefarious or life threatening. "And besides, this is for later, or tonight or whenever the times next fall right, it's not like there is a great rush anyway." "And there's going to be some person who shows up in burnt flight gear after crash landing on the way down. It always happens at a large gathering of pilots." "True that." Jay smirked, with Rinaa nodding her agreement. There really always was that one person.

With that settled they all clambered down from the roof. Elliott took up position in the kitchen making large quantities of pancakes. It was just universally accepted that pancakes were the ultimate food. John leaned a against the counter chatting with Elliott as he worked away. Cal and Cliff hadn't gone completly overboard with disguise shopping, and had actually bought more groceries than anything else. Jay had also taken the liberty of buying for her own disguise collection. There was a place that did excellent quality wigs in the barracks, which Rinaa was also inspecting, half looking for hair ideas. Cal and Cliff plopped down on the sofa and began finally discussing important wedding things, such as wedding rings. Cal had made their engagement rings as a surprise and was also going to make the wedding rings too.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was about to clarify her words but both John and Elliott beat her to it. It also explained why Kay wasn't around them. "Well yeah, I didn't think we'd be off right away. Just saying, you never know if she'll have another bad bout or not" Fia added after Cal said it was for right now, the trip. Like the others, she climbed down from the roof after John as she was next closest to the ladder and as Elliott and John were in the kitchen doing pancakes, she walked to the room that Kay was in to check in on her.

Walking in, she found Kay humming a melody and drawing. Her pencil moving precisely but quickly as she seemed to be shading in something. From the doorway, Fia couldn't make out the subject matter at first, but then as she walked in further and perched on the edge of the bed. Kay looked up and stopped humming, giving Fia a smile. "Hey kiddo" she greeted. "Hey mum..what you drawing?" Fia asked curious. "You, your dad and myself" Kay explained, using her index finger to blend in certain lines for a softer light and shade look on each face. "Can I see?" Fia asked, which made Kay smile, "sure, it's not quite finished though" Kay replied, showing her the piece. Fia was surprised she was allowed to see the work as Kay became quite secretive over certain pieces of work in Fia's time. No one ever knew why though. There was the odd piece framed and hung up in the apartment to Kay's demand, but on the whole she got really funny about people seeing her work. So to be allowed to see was a big surprise to Fia, an opportunity she took with both hands.. literally.

"By the way, Ell is making his famous pancakes, if you're interested?" Fia added, finding herself staring in awe at the sketch. She recognised it as one of the hanging pieces in the apartment. "And can I show dad this?" Fia added, making Kay chuckle. "Sure Fia. And I'd love some of Elliott's pancakes" Kay replied, making Fia jump up, kiss her cheek and leave to the kitchen with the sketch. "Mum wants pancakes when they're done and she's been doing this" Fia declared in that typical little sister way, whilst shoving the sketch in John's face.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"She along with everybody else in this apartment. I swear we're gonna use up the entirety of Attil's egg supply if the demand keeps growing." Elliott sniped back, well used to having to make massive amounts of food. He'd long ago perfected a method for making batter one handed while working the pan with the other. He had also on occasion been known to use his feet as an extra pair of hands to speed the process along. "What toppings and shit do you guys want?" He asked, knowing most people's preferences after years of making them. John for dark chocolate chips, Chas and Renee both preferred them plain, Trish would have a mix of all kind of chocolate. Cal as a teenager had been the kind to want blackberries chucked in, and he wasn't sure if that had changed over the years. Jay had been much harder to figure out, refusing to say anything for years. But she'd eventually relented and told him that it was lemon and orange peel, with a dash of their respective juices.

There were replies of 'you know what I like' from John and Jay. "Bacon, this little street food strip things you can buy at every phas-ball game." Rinaa replied, and Elliott nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. "I haven't changed since we were kids, it's still blackberries all the way." Cal replied. "That's a relief in a way, you were crazy about them when we were younger. You wanted blackberries with literally everything, including that time with the squid dish." Cal groaned at the memory of one of her less dignified moments (of which there were many, this being one of the particularly bad ones). "Pineapple for me if that's cool. And general announcement, if any of you don't like pineapple on pizza the door is that way." Cliff gestured all the time when she spoke, having relaxed enough to do so around them. Ever since she'd started speaking in sign, she'd started signing and gesturing when speaking normally, it was just one of her habits.

John blinked when the picture was shoved in his face out of nowhere. It was instinctive just from the sheer amount of flaming embers and demonic blood that had flown in his face during the course of his life. His vision snapped it into focus almost instantly and he could tell that Kay had drawn it even before Fia had told him as much. "I can tell, its her style, it's very different to Ell's two styles. It's good." For most good was a dismissive answer but not with John.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia just did her usual grin in response to Elliott's reply about Kay wanting some pancakes. "Well, she did try to eat toast this morning and then sickness came in so.. she kinda needs to eat" she commented just before he asked everyone what they wanted on theirs. Just like John, Fia was a chocolate kind of girl with pancakes, though she did have her moments of liking strawberries and maple syrup. "Chocolate for me, I'd say put some kind of fruit with mum's to play safe. And syrup" she gave her request after everyone else had. She then looked at Cliff, "pineapple on pizza is the best!" She chimed.

She also looked at John when he commented on Kay's sketch. She wondered if she'd be able to say anything about this particular piece or not. "In my time I see this piece everyday but never been there when she actually drew it. Now I know why, it's older in my time than I ever thought..though she swears it's not finished. Looks pretty finished to me" She explains, knowing that him saying 'good' was high praise from him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Luckily nobody in their group had objection to pineapple on pizza as being a good thing. If they had, there would have been a serious problem in Cliff's mind. She flashed a thumbs up to Fia at her remark. "Damn right it is!" was her take on the pineapple, while "As a doctor, I agree" was her take on Kay and eating. Elliott just continued with his industrial grade production of pancakes. Had this been anywhere but Attil he would have been using some minor magic to levitate plates and ingredients around the kitchen. But that wasn't a risk worth taking, so he did it the old fashioned way, giving a shout whenever a particular person's plate was ready. He made a guess for the portion sizes, figuring that if somebody didn't eat them now, they'd be eaten later, or by Rinaa who had explained that she required a large amount of energy to fuse the transformation or she'd black out. They didn't need a repeat of last night.

"Same here, but my artistic knowledge is limited,and sometimes people just never think something is finished." That was a jab at Elliott who had been known to be a perfectionist on certain pieces he'd drawn from memory, including the skyscape of Attil (minus the rings) that hung in the room Kay had taken up. John had framed it to stop Elliott from working on it. The pancakes were served in no particular order, but John, Jay and Cal got theirs first, symbolising some kind of underlying bias from Elliott. The rest followed shortly suit, with an extra lot of batter left in the fridge along with a plate for Chas. They all settled down to eat, perching on the edges of various chairs, tables and arm rests.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia just knew that Cliff would side with her when it came to making sure Kay ate something. She then kept her focus on John and the short conversation she was having with him about Kay and her artwork. She smirked knowing that was a jab at Elliott, she had heard it all before. "I should give it to her back so she "can finish it" but I'll take her pancakes in with it" she said. When Kay's and hers came up, she left hers on the kitchen table just temporarily so she could give Kay hers. Taking Kay's plate and sketch, she walked down the hallway to the bedroom and walked in. "I got a delivery of pancakes with fruit and one so called unfinished sketch" she grinned, walking in. "Thanks kiddo" Kay replied, sitting up enough to be able to eat. "I'll try and come out later okay?" Kay told her, to which Fia nodded and smiled, handing her food and sketch and then proceeding to leave again to get her own food before someone tried stealing it.

Back in the main room Fia grabbed her plate and fork, and sat down in any space available and began tucking into them. They were as good as she remembered from her time. "She said she'll try and come out later, she's looking even more alive which is good" she said, aiming it more at John than anyone else. Despite never showing it (publicly at least) she knew he cared for Kay's well-being a lot, knowing that one thing was true no matter the time, her parents were tight.

 

[_gallifrog_]

There was various nods at Fia's remark, ranging from relief (John and Cliff) to utter disinterest (Jay). It wasn't Jay being rude, she simply had no personal attatchment to Kay compared to everybody else in the room. She had more attatchment to Fia than to Kay, which wasn't saying much, considering how long she'd known Kay compared with the length of time that she had known Fia. It was evident from all the facial expressions in the room that the pancakes were going down immensely well. It was by far everyone's favourite thing for Elliott to make. Over the years he'd perfected the art of the perfect pancake, combined with being able to flip the pancake high into the air and catch it blindfolded. (That was really just him showing off, but it also provided useful for practice for whenever he was caught in the dark or unable to see what was going on).

The conversation meandered from place to place, as it always did and settled on Cliff's homeworld (which was where the wedding was going to be). Jay knew of the system, but had never been there. Rinaa had, but in the future. "What can I say about home really? We,the inhabitants have all got gills and water resistant skin, along with an inbuilt knowledge of how to swim. As a planet goes, it's standard for a waterworld. For those who don't know, a waterworld is a planet with only 20% or less of the surface being solid land. In the case of my home only 15% of the surface is actually landmass, and even then, it's mainly small islands. All the big cities are built on artifical platforms anchored to the seabed by some pretty impressive engineering." "It really is totally and utterly dope." Rinaa was practically getting misty eyed over the undersea constructions there. Elliott and Jay both smiled at Rinaa's evident love of all things engineering. Elliott reached over and ruffled Rinaa's hair.

"People make their livelihood from fishing, engineering, boat mechanics or work off-planet. Most live in the shallower areas, but there are some who lead a completly nomadic boat lifestyle. Which is risky during storm season. The magnetic pull of the sun on the tides has the worst effect when the orbit brings my home closest to the sun." She mapped out the path of the orbits and movement with her hands. "My family just so happen to have our own island. It makes me sound super posh, I know. But that isn't the case. The main bit is about three kilometres square, with some other small rocky bits just off the coast. The terrain is a mix of beach, grassland and forest. One end has been converted as a spaceship landing port, while a different, sheltered part serves as the boat harbour." On the table she drew a rough outline from memory

 

[MzHyde]

Fia kept eating, whilst listening and joining in with the varying topics that they all spoke about. When the subject of Cliff's homeland came up due to it being the place of choice for the wedding, she listened intently. She may not have the same love for mechanics and engineering like Rinaa did, but she did love learning about new places and deep down was excited to see the place when the day would come round. She watched as Cliff drew a rough outline of where she personally lived and could get a good jist of the layout from it. "Sounds beautiful" Fia said.

Kay on the other hand was eating slowly and making sure she kept everything down. Turns out, Elliott's pancakes were staying down and proving very satisfying. She had a feeling his pancakes were gonna end up being the craving if not one of the cravings she'd have throughout her pregnancy which was perfectly fine with her, but if it did become the case, the moment she was able to, she was going to get back to working out because if she kept this up, there was no way she'd keep her figure. The very idea made her smirk to herself.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"It is." Cliff agreed. "You don't notice it when you live there, its just the background, there's more important things to do than stare at scenery. It's only when you leave do you realise just how breathtaking it is." The first time Cliff had noticed this was when she came back from hospital after losing her hearing. She had been gone for the bones of a month, and that space of time was enough for her to be shocked by the beauty of it all when she came back. "But it's two faced beauty. It can be a harsh place to live, both with the weather and the local wildlife. There's a lot of local horror stories about that kind of stuff. But in the end you take the bad with the good and keep going really."

Jay liked the sound of the place, even with all the downsides. "Sounds like one hell of a place to grow up." Cliff nodded "It's is, belive me, I would trade it for anything. But I'm not the only one with an unusual upbringing. If it was a competition, I think you'd win in that regard. How many planets did you live on as a child?" "Maybe thirty or so, some only for a few weeks, others for whole years. It's the Isogrii way. You experience different climates, cultures, landscapes, lifestyles, languages, skills, the whole lot. The point is to learn and to assimilate all these skills and nuances of living, so you can blend seamlessly wherever you go. You can always tell a traveller, but you can't tell the Isogrii from the natives."

 

[MzHyde]

When Cliff said about not taking note of the scenery of a place when you live there, and only taking note when you leave, she nodded. She didn't know from experience as such, but she figured it was the same no matter the planet or time. She was fed up with London but she knew when she went back to her time, she'd appreciate her surroundings so much more now she was spending a considerable amount of time away from it. She then listened to what Jay said when off threw the topic over to her, most of which Fia hadn't really heard before but she heard similar things in her time told by Jay. They were just that bit more vague.

"I've never left London before now. Not even for a vacation so you lot beat me on basically everything worldly" she chuckled. She would have added 'so I think mum and dad owe me at least one family holiday' but she held that bit back. There were other things she wanted more first, like a circle of mates and maybe a boyfriend. Yet being daddy's little girl, she didn't want to know what could be done to anyone who showed interest in her by either John, Chas or Elliott. Even though she could look after herself, she was treated like Trish when it came to certain normal things.