Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
So his brain had indeed managed to dredge up the relevant information on pheonix hair colour. John listened to the description of her mother, but with only a letter (and quite a freaky one that really invaded on what little privacy he had left in his life) on which to base his experiences of Kay's mother, he couldn't say if this was an accurate depiction, or the depiction created through the rose tinted lense of childhood. The eye colour was particularly intriguing, there was a whole belief system thing about eye colours and what they said with regards to a person or a race. Most of it was bullshit (considering races like the Devra where everybody had the same eye colour), but there was some truth to it too.

John had to smirk at the excuse Kay had given, it was really just a way of saying 'this is all your fault in the first place, so either accept this method or let me go back to my regular hair colour.' An underlying reason which couldn't be argued with, it was the school authorities who'd started this mess in the first place. "Makes sense, I suppose, but still. And yeah, I tot'ly get what you mean, some things are just a part of you, a fundamental piece, and changing or getting rid of them is like....losing part of your soul in a way. Its like with this get up, particularly the coat. I've tried to change it for something else a few times, but nothing ever sticks. This just is me, its a part of who I am."

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

Kay swore to herself that if she ever found a old photo of her mother, she would show John what she meant. Knowing her luck she wouldn't have to look for a family photo, but end up finding her mother in an old phoenix history book or something. which did actually make her wonder if that was a possibility, as it's not like they could go back to her old family home, it was pretty much destroyed so whatever photos of her birth family was in there would be no more by now. Or maybe something would happen that would make her have to think back to a childhood memory but would need Elliott's help to mindwalk to remember it correctly, and John could see her that way. She just didn't know but what she did know was anything was possible in her life now.

If anyone could appreciate the excuse she gave the school board, she knew John would be that person. Even as a teenager, she knew how to spew a load of mature sounding bullshit to get her own way. She listened to what he said about things just being a part of people, and she nodded, knowing that John wouldn't be John without the coat. "I know I've seen photos of your punk days, but even then, I just can't see you in anything but the coat. You're right, it is a part of you. It wouldn't look right to see you in anything else. Though I just admit, seeing the punk you in Ell's mindwalk that one time was pretty hot. The time it put me in the black super short dress with the Criss cross design and biker jacket" she replied, still even to this day being completely oblivious to the fact that John was staring like mad at her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
"Well in those teenage years, the punk was me, the trench and tie would have looked to grown up and therefore ridiculous. The piercings, eye make up, ripped clothing, leather jacket, combat boots and spiked hair was the most accurate representation of who I was. Punk music was basically my entire life bag then and magic was just a side interest." He touched his ears, the left side of his nose and his right eyebrow when he spoke, the pierced holes had closed perfectly over leaving no sign that there had ever been a hole there in the first place. "And yes, I really was a right looker in that get-up, probably still could be... if I was arsed" he smirked, knowing full well that he could still pull it off and that Kay would very much enjoy the sight.

"That wasn't Elliott's mind that did that, that was yours. The projection of yourself you see in his MindWalks is your image of yourself. If it had been his image of you, you'd have been wearing what you were when he had met you a few minutes ago. But the subconscious mind really seems to spilt between dressing you in what you find comfortable, or dressing you how you believe you are perceived by others or how you want to be perceived by others. Which means about sixty percent if the time people turn out damn good looking." He was thinking back to the outfit Kay had been wearing that time in the Mindwalks, it had really caught his eye. But there had also been one time where Chas had turned out extremely hot and John began questioning his life choices of that was the kind of thoughts he could get about his best mate, who was happily married with a daughter.

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

Just from the way he carried off the look, she could tell that the punk years were truly him and not a case of just being that typical teenage phase. She could always tell if someone was trying too hard to be look cool or if they truly did have their heart and soul into their look and style. John was the latter, even from that brief look she got of him in the punk look. She nodded seeing where he was showing where his piercings once were. She never really took to many piercings, except for her ears like everyone else. Not that she wore anything much anyway, only on special occasions did she ever wear earrings. She was more of a necklace and rings kind of woman.

She smirked at his comment about still pulling it off, before she continued to listen to what he was said about the mindwalk. She didn't mean to imply that it was Elliott's mind that did it, just in general that the mindwalk caused it in a round about way, even if it meant it brought it forward in her mind and made herself put herself in the outfit. She did actually secretly still love that outfit, it being one of many Sam made her wear, only difference is she didn't protest the choice. "I get it, I'm just saying.. I remember that outfit of tours particularly because it was the same mindwalk I was in the one dress I never protested to wear." She clarified. "And now I'm already missing the idea of wearing whatever I want" she laughed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
The first piercing John had gotten was the ear piercing in defiance of school rules. The rest quickly followed as they worked with both the punk look and the tattoos. The eyebrow piercing had been the hardest to get used to, and stayed sore for the longest, but in a roundabout way, it made him learn how to raise his eyebrows independently of one another, a gesture Kay and the others would have seen him do many times. In the distance the base city was beginning to grow more visible. It had been built into the mountainside for camouflage and the buildings were kept in neutral colours to act as a disguise of sorts. The ground was beginning to climb upwards as they had to climb one of many ridges in order to reach it.

"Makes sense, and I can see why, it looks damn good on you." He smirked,feeling that he could finally say what he thought without being branded as a creep and without the entirety of their gang listening on. "At least you only have to do it for probably five months as opposed to the even longer period ye'd go through as a human." John pointed out, as it was the only reassurance he could really give in this situation. There was also a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that Key was showing far too early even for an accelerated pregnancy. In Hans it didn't show until at least three months, so why was Kay showing after barely a week? But he pushed those thoughts aside, evidently the growth wasn't proportional to the human stages.

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

The whole raised eyebrow mannerism was always a weakness of Kay's. It didn't matter who done it, it wasn't just when John did it. If she found anyone attractive and they raised the eyebrow with a smile, she was interested. She saw how the base city was becoming more visible and she was aware of how the ground was beginning to gain an incline as they walked.

Hearing him compliment her openly, not only made her smirk but also impressed that he even expressed his thoughts on something relating to her so openly. She didn't show it outwardly too much, just expressing her smirk and smile at his comment. "Shame I don't have it anymore" she remarked. She certainly wouldn't have branded him as a creep, feeling that way for a while. "that's a valid point, and when this over I'm going to constantly work out to get my body back" she said, determined to get back to being trim again. He wasn't the only one who was niggling feelings about the accelerated pregnancy. She too thought it was growing way too fast, but she was partly too scared to ask Fee anything about it. She wondered if having Fia here was causing some kind of weird consequence to her or something but couldn't be sure.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
John wasn't the kind of guy who gave out compliments easy, and if Kay had commented on his remark he probably would just have retreated back to his regular self and not repeated the event. He was still trying to figure out how this whole thing was meant to work. The few serious relationships he'd had before had ended extraordinarily badly and left their mark mentally. "If you miss it that much it can probably be found somewhere on the Internet when we get back to Earth. And besides a shit tonne of Internet shopping will be required anyway, considering what we need to buy in order to be ready."

At the next comment John couldn't input anything. He knew that pregnancy weight gain was a thing, but he also knew that both his sister and Renee hadn't had much of a problem with it. Rushing around the house dealing with a baby at, all hours had gotten rid of it quickly. "I don't think that's gonna be a problem and besides we'll be rushed off her feet when she does arrive. So living life will just become a workout."

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

Kay knew better than to comment on his compliment to her. She had remarked to him before about things and saw how he retreated back into himself. So she kept her thoughts on it to herself, and just appreciated it. She listened to what he said about trying to find it again on the internet and nodded at his other remark. That thought had gone through her mind before, as it's not like they could just go out and buy from stores like normal parents to be. Not unless they got someone like Chas to pick up stuff for them. "Good point" she simply replied.

As for the reply about her little self comment on getting back into shape when Fia was born, she just smiled and nodded. "I guess so yeah, I know it's the least of the issues and incredibly shallow of me to think about that. I've never been so body conscious until now" she admitted to him. She was always confident in her own skin, so this whole pregnancy was a massive change in mindset for her for so many reasons. "Anyway.. I'm bringing things down, sorry" she said.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
Chas would definitely be dragged on any shopping trips as the most qualified parent John knew within a short distance of his apartment. (Plus he'd volunteered his services for this, a decision John suspected he might come to regret in later weeks and months). For doing this John would owe him even more than he already did, even though that was really just something they said as opposed to something they seriously kept track of. Both owed and were owed at the same time and over the years they had actually lost count of who actually owed who. But they still said it for old times sake

John just shrugged at that, weird thoughts and ramblings were the one thing he knew with certainty was going to be a part of this pregnancy. It was planned by the universe and not by them (given a choice, John really wouldn't have wanted a kid anytime in the foreseeable future, but the universe never really took into account what John wanted). "It's probably something to with all this happening ridiculously fast and image is one of the few factors you can actually control in this whole thing, so it's something to focus on that won't freak you about as much as everything else...... I think." He added, pretty sure he'd just spouted a whole load of shite that would have sounded better in a self help book. "And this stuff probably has to be talked about anyway" even if he didn't enjoy having to think of what to say in response.

 

[MzHyde]

the walk back

If Kay could have more of her own life to live with John and company before falling pregnant, she most certainly would have taken that option. Like him, it was way too fast but like with everything else the universe decided to throw their way, she knew she had to take it in her stride and put up with it. If she was alone in this situation, she would have fought it and thought of terminating Fia, but things were different and it wasn't even a option in her mind when the news broke because she knew she had enough support to deal with it.

She listened to what he said, finding it did actually make sense and help her. "I guess so" she replied, "makes sense to me anyway" she added, nodding at the next thing he said, "I guess it does. I just refuse to bring down the mood even a little bit today because I've really liked our day out of the apartment just us two. It's the closest to normal we've gotten in a long time." she explained, meaning every word. Their lives were so crazy 99% of the time, that she did appreciate spending time with him on their own, shopping and just generally enjoying each others' company like a normal couple. It made her feel normal, even if she was far from it.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
Judging by Kay's reaction John's words seemingly weren't as much of a pile of shite as he thought them to be, or Kay was just giving him the benefit of the doubt on the matter and moving on before he managed to say something even stupider. "Yeah, by the standards if regular people this has been a pretty normal day, which I suppose makes it an abnormal day for me." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he realised that they sounded more like a criticism than praise 'well done John, your grasp of English to convey things is truly astrounding' he snarked to himself, before amending his earlier statement.

"Which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, I really have, it was actually kinda fun, and the closest thing to normal for me in years." He'd relaxed a bit over this trip, he'd really needed to to get away from it all, which wasn't exactly easy to find in his life. They were closer to the city now, the bridge was in sight. It was a different one from earlier as John had chosen a different route back, but it was similar in style and magnificence to the earlier one. "Apparently one of those canyon brigades shakes whne you go across it to fast."

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

The moment John said what he did in the manner he did, she rose an eyebrow but was smiling at it. She did honestly did understand where he was coming from, but she could tell he was clearly mentally scolding himself for the way he worded his reply. She let him amend what he said to what he meant and she just chuckled at him. She could have stopped him before he tried amend his words, but she didn't, deciding to let him continue anyway.

"I get it. Don't worry, I knew what you meant the first time, but..I give you props for amending your meaning" she said, her tone soft even though she did chuckle. "Also, i'm glad you've enjoyed it as well. You deserve a normal day as much if not more than any one of us" she told him wholeheartedly. When they got to seeing the bridge, she listened to his little bit of trivia and nodded, "then I shall not be ever going across it too fast if i find myself on one of them" she smirked. She didn't really have too much of a problem of shaky bridges, but last time she went on a shaky bridge she wasn't carrying a unborn phoenix mage child who loved giving her morning sickness. She didn't want to experience and see if motion sickness would be another thing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
At the 'deserving a normal day' comment, John smirked, knowing that if he did get an opportunity for that, he'd donate it to Chas if at all possible. Now he was a man who needed a normal day, considering that his grand plans for going on vacation and leaving John and his assosciated life out of the frame for a while had been well and truly thrown out the window by the universe. Which had decided that now was the perfect time for Kay to become pregnant with a part pheonix, part human child who grows up to learn the mage ways too. "Yeah well" was his eloquent comment on the matter.

"I don't know which one it is, all I know is that it wasn't meant to be shaky, but some bad engineering made it like that, and now it's sort of famous and a classic dare is to run across it in the dark. But the really shaky bridges are the old rope and plank ones up in the really high and remote mountain passes." John was quite amazed by all the things he was remembering Elliott saying about Attil and his childhood. He guessed being here and having something to relate them too, was helping these memories to come to light again.

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

Kay just smiled but shook her head at his weak response to her deserving comment. She knew it wouldn't be long before returned to his typical ways of replying to things. She then listened to him say about how he didn't remember which bridge it was, and she had to admit she was impressed by just how much information he had truly remembered and taken in from what he was told.

"There's always someone out there to dare another to run across creaky bridges. Even home on Earth it's a thing, it's ridiculously cliché" She replied, waving her free hand in a dismissive manner as she said so. She couldn't really relate too much to having done such a dare, but she had seen enough videos on the internet of people doing it. She was more of the walking through the woods and climbing trees type of person.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
"Hey, it may be quote unquote 'ridiculously cliché' " John made the air quotes gesture as he spoke, with a slight snarky edge to his tone. "But it's actually pretty fun too, espescially when you're really high up with a high chance of death below you..... Or in my case, more often than not, behind you." John had run across such bridges, but not for dares. It seemed that whenever he ended up in some mountainous temple or pyramid ruin in South America or Asia he ended up running across rope bridges as a means of escape or getaway. John was extremely nimble, with an instinctive sense of how balence and speed worked together and that had gotten him out of many a tight situation.

They crossed over the bridge together, which passed straight over the deep chasm. There was no river in this one, but John couldn't resist breaking away from Kay and leaning over the edge railings slightly in order to see just how deep it was. "Woah, that's a damn big drop." He remarked more to himself than anything else. If there had been a stone around he would have chucked it off to see if he could even hear or see whne it hit the bottom of the sharp sloped gorge. He then wonedwde if there was a sort of protective forcefield along the bridge in case if car accidents or suicide attempts. He couldn't see any tell tale shimmer, but his exireunec with forcefields were limited.

 

[MzHyde]

The walk up

Kay held her hands up in a playful defensive manner. She took his word for it, it just wasn't ever her thing. "I take your word for it. I was more the running through woods and climbing tree kind of girl to see how high I could get. Also cliche but it was fun" she replied to him. In her eyes, just because some things were ridiculously cliché, she didn't find anything wrong in enjoying them. As for him running from something behind him, she got the reasons for it.

She smiled as he went to the edge to look over to see just how high they truly were, which made her walk over to see for herself the moment he mentioned the drop. "It sure is" she remarked, "good height for taking flight though" she commented, which hinted she had done such a thing before. She may not have known what she was for years, but that didn't mean she abused the crap out of having wings. Which probably is why Fee loses her rag with Kay often as she was pretty careless or stupidly carefree depending on which way someone thought of it. Mostly ever occurred when she was on a roof to hide out or when Fee took over to fight passed demons which made her lose sense of time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
Those particular pastimes didn't particularly surprise John, given what kind of person he knew Kay to be. "I'd like to be able to say I did that, but the joys" he rolled his eyes "of inner city living made that a non option for me. So instead I grew up climbin' buildings and fire escapes and spending far too much time on roofs. Which kinda hasn't really changed much since then." The roof was John's spot for meeting up with Chas and whatever others people in the area he could tolerate. It offered a chance to get away from the adults, and later in life became John's smoking haunt. He easily mastered the art of escaping out the window and swinging up onto the roof.

At Kay's comment John could only nod. He hadn't put two and two together yet, and now that Kay pointed it out in a roundabout way it seemed kind of blatantly obvious. "Well, on that subject I can't say anything that isn't a bunch of bullshit. You're clearly the expert here when it comes to flying." There were no spells for flight that worked on John. He'd trued, like anybody would once they realised magic could let them do that, but no matter how hard he trued, flight spells never worked on him. Though now he had to wonder was this because the universe had predestined his meeting with Kay or if it was simply just because of the demons blood that ran in his veins. Most of the time it was a ahlep acting as a magical conduit, but in a few csesa it was a hindrance, preventing the spell from working.

 

[MzHyde]

the walk back

Kay really wasn't surprised that that's what John's past time activities consisted of. Sure, she had her fair share of that, but that was the pros of living somewhere like Seattle for most of her life. She loved in a city but with the right route taken, you could easily find yourself in woodland areas down near Lake Washington and it was like being somewhere completely different. Not to mention she was only a boat ride or car ride away from Canada across the lake which had many woodland areas.

When he called her an expert for flying she had to laugh. She didn't see herself as an expert, but she knew enough to not be able to fall from the sir and scare the crap out of a pedestrian. "I'm not exactly an expert but I know enough to stay in the air and such. And well.. you've seen it for yourself when Fee took over to make me fly" she commented, referencing the time they had big ol' fight in London. With her waking up on the floor wondering what the hell happened between her seeing the damn birds and Fee taking over for the fight. "Maybe one day I'll stretch my wings, gotta say I miss it" she told him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
At Kay's laugh, John just rolled his eyes. He could see why she thought his remark was funny, but he also hoped she could see how his remark was also true. "Which means, compared to us non avian humans who have no wings or magical flying abilities you are the expert." He leaned back from the drop and nodded. "Yeah, I remember that time, it was pretty damn impressive from what I remember, though my attention was elsewhere given the massive bollocking load of carrion crows that were attacking us, and the fact that Chas got ripped apart by them in one of his more brutal deaths."

He leaned back against the railings. "That will happen at some point again, though probably here, as staying under the radar is kind of the deal of us staying here and probably not during this whole pregnancy thing, it's probably fine to do, but risking it, maybe not." He knew instinctively that flying with wings was a part of who Kay was and it was something she had to do, an animal instinct, a tribel instinct....whatever, it was something deep within her that couldn't be changed. He knew that for somebody with flight to lose the power of flight, it was akin to losing a part of their soul and usually resulted in severe depression.

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

She could indeed see where John was coming from with his remark. It was a natural way of thinking toward someone who had an ability someone else didn't. She was still just coming to terms with everything she was indeed capable of, despite having wings for her entire life, now she was more connected to Fee, she knew she was capable of so much more. Listening to him reminisce about the day she was referring to, she had to also nod. They were all having their attention on more vital matters that day, and she wouldn't ever forget how she reacted to seeing Chas die for the first time.

She had to agree with him about the whole flying again subject. She didn't plan on flying whilst pregnant or on Attil. She didn't want to risk their current safety they had. "I'm in complete agreement don't worry. I wouldn't dream of compromising anything for anyone here, not go mention I don't plan on making anyone freak out because I'm pregnant" she reassured him with a smile. Before she knew what she was, she just did it because she thought was equally freaky and damn cool she had wings. Now she knew what she was, the idea of just stretching her wings and flying was like breathing oxygen to most people. It was so deep in her soul and brought her so much calm. Yet she also didn't want John or anyone else worrying about the fact she was carrying his child, and a child that was destined to save the phoenix kind.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
If Kay had been pregnant and they were back on Earth without every single Downworlder after then, John would have been totally okay with Kay flying as much as she wanted. But on Attil the rules were different, and he didn't fully understand them yet. There was also the matter of Cal, Cliff and their group trying to stay under the radar and break the system from the inside. Compromising their position would be unforgivable, and more than likely would cause even more trouble for Elliott. They all had their differences, but the one thing everybody could agree on was that keeping Elliott as safe and as out of trouble as possible was their number one priority.

"There'd probably be a competition for biggest freak out among our weird group." John smirked, but at the same time knowing that two people in particular probably wouldn't give a fuck about the situation. Jay because, well she still didn't seem to trust them or feel a part of them and Rinaa as her moral compass had decided that it's orientation was 'permanently confused' and decided to stop bothering trying. Though she had shown signs of change recently, but John being John wondered when this would all come crashing apart. He pushed away from the wall. "And that really says something about us, we all enjoy a good bit of drama, but usually not at the time it happens."

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

Kay half chuckled with a smirk and nod at his reply about the freak out. She knew the only two that wouldn't, would be Jay and Rinaa. She knew deep down neither gave a shit about her and she was done truly trying to make them like her like she tried with the others. She swore to herself that she would always be polite, accommodating and such to the both of them, but she knew it was pointless to try and force someone to like her. She just always hoped one day they'd see Kay as an alright person.

"That is scarily accurate" she smirked, standing away from the railings so they could continue their walk once more back toward the forge. "One thing we're good at though with a lot of things is having the ability to look back on said dramas and laugh about them. Granted, not all dramas but a few of them. If we don't laugh at ourselves we're all pretty much screwed" she added. Life was hard. Ridiculously hard at times, and always wanted to throw more curve balls at them than during a game of dodge ball, but they always got through it in their own weird crazy way, and for Kay particularly that meant finding those moments that once annoyed or upset her and looking back at them laughing at how stupid they were.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
John matched Kay's smirk with one of agreement. When it came to some mistakes the best way to move on was to make a joke out of them, to make them funny. Turning the embarrassment on yourself led to making peace with the past and being able to move on in a weird way. Plus as soon as one person said their embarrassing story, everybody else tended to try and best it with one of their own. "It's more fun to laugh about yourself when others are with you. And with us, it seemed to just turn into a competition for who made the worst and most embarrassing life choices and we all end up pissing laughing by the end of it."

John decided to take a slightly longer route to the forge, as they had time and they might as well see the sights the training base had to offer. The longer route involved going up onto the perimeter wall and walking around on it. The extra height gave a completly different perspective on the landscape they'd walked through earlier and the city they'd been in. "Honestly I think this group would get competitive about opening an envelope, or the number of sprinkles they have on a cupcake." John smirked, but not unkindly.

 

[MzHyde]

The walk back

Kay nodded with a smile and chuckle at just how accurate both their opinions were over things. Laughing about all the things gone wrong in their lives did make things better for all of them and they certainly did always try to match or beat the previous story with their own.

Walking the longer route didn't bother Kay in the slightest, she actually enjoyed it as it meant they were alone for longer. Not only that she saw more of the views available on Attil and truly take in the sights which she always loved doing. "That actually wouldn't surprise me if the group did make that sort of thing into a competition. Like yesterday, I swear Fia was trying to make it a world record of how many brownies she could consume during the day. She's a fricking hoover for baked goods I swear. I had to hide the lot I made for the rest of you." she laughed, remembering just how much the girl ate, yet still managed to find room for the dinner they all had at the restaurant. She wondered who Fia got such an appetite off because as much as she loved food, Kay wasn't anywhere near that bad.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The walk back
John chuckled at Kay's remark about Fia and the brownies, he had his own theory as to why this was possible, which he voiced readily. "That's just normal teenager behaviour, it's like they just send food to some other pocket dimension in order to not get fat. And no self respecting teenager turns down free food, espescially junk stuff as they know they'll get away with eating it too. As an adult you apparently have to show 'maturity' and 'restraint' in these kinds of situations." John's tone quite clearly said fuck the social norms, I'd rather do what I want.' "I've seen this behaviour in the three teenagers I've had in my adult life before Fia came along, and it's exactly the same thing, they're all bottomless pits." He smirked.

Elliott had actaualy explained to him why teenagers could eat whatever they wanted with relatively minor side effects. It was because of something called 'brown fat' that burned up food really efficiently. As a child and teenager you had plenty of it, but as you grow older the fat is lost and along with it, the ability to eat anything without consequences. It was a typical Elliott thing to do to find an explanation for something John complained about. "And besides, it clearly has to come from you in some capacity, considering your reaction to Elliott's pancakes." He gave her a teasing smirk as he said that.