Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Kay also wondered if it was more aimed at Fia as she was the only very single one out of all of them. She just thought if she started the whole 'not gonna be a problem' replies, it wouldn't make Fia feel like she was being singled out in any way, even if it was very much warranted. She got why it would be a bad idea for Fia to eye any of them up or get attached to any of them, particularly Matteo. She smirked at Rinaa's comment about the subject at hand, as well as Elliott's teasing of what she said.

"Duely noted, I won't do anything of the sort" Fia commented, holding her hand up in a mock Brownie's honour salute. "glad to hear it Fia" Kay said in a motherly tone. She could handle her kid getting along well with Cliff's siblings and even pranking each other, but she did not want to deal with the repercussions of her getting feelings for any of them. It would be too much to deal with with the time travel suspect of things, as they are all technically 17 years older at least than her. "I know... It's not worth the whole time travel issues" Fia added knowing what that one sentence was actually conveying, earning just a simple nod from Kay.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Yeah time travel is complex and puts a real bummer on things." Rinaa nodded, running a hand through her hair, pulling it down from her work ponytail. She glanced at the colouring on the ends, knowing that as soon as she got into the water it would be stripped right off, and she'd be back to her natural colour of black with just a few dark highlights. "Good, we've got that sorted. And when it comes to my parents let me do the explaining first yeah? I've given the basic details, but promised an in-depth explanation for a face to face meeting." "I'll give you company on that, and explain what I can. And besides your parents really like me, and this is my side after all."

Cliff nodded, before casting an eye out if the cockpit and latching onto something, a faint speck against the inky background. One that could easily be mistaken for dirt on the outside of the glass, but it wasn't. "We're getting close now, you can just about see it." Cliff gestured at the speck, but it was barely visible to those who didn't know where it was. At those words, Rinaa seemed to simply shoot out of the ladder and land on the upper deck, craning over Cliff's shoulders to get a better look. "That's what, about twenty minutes away?" "Give or take yeah." "Can't see anything from here." "That's cos only these four know what to look for."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded in agreement at Rinaa's words. It really was a complex pain in the ass sometimes, but it was worth it to regain that bond with her mother and save her from being dragged into the Void, and experience life outside of The House or the apartment. She got to actually live for a bit and she wouldn't trade that for going home and never experiencing it at all. She and Kay wouldn't dream of not letting Cliff explain things properly face to face to her family.

When Cliff then said that they were almost there causing Rinaa to instantly head over and lean over from behind Cliff, Kay couldn't help but smile at the action. It was such a typical teen move in her eyes, and one that Fia had done to her several times when she was drawing. She couldn't see anything either, but she didn't speak it out to the group like John did. She smirked at Elliott's matter of fact tone in his reply to John. "I'm happy just taking their word for it that's it's only a few minutes away" she said. She trusted that lot with their timings, as they would easily know the ETA's by glancing, better than any of the rest of them.

Hearing the ETA, Fia had to admit to herself mentally that she was getting more excited to seeing Cliff's planet, the idea of dipping into the waters and relaxing on sand seemed so incredibly enticing to her the closer they got. Not to mention she'd get to see The House again and see it in this timeline which she was curious if it liked her as much in this time as it did in hers, as she never really got lost in there.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"It's there all right" Rinaa confirmed, fixing her eyes on the slowly growing smudge. "And before you say something smart like 'well where would a whole fucking planet go that isn't along its orbit' there is things out there that can destroy a whole planet." "She's right on that, I've seen the aftermath." Jay added, getting up to look at where Rinaa was indicating the planet to be. Elliott, John and Chas followed suit, squinted as Rinaa and Cliff attempted to show them where their destination was. "Are you sure there's something there?" "Looks like a smudge of dirt on the outside of the window." John commented, squinting at the small blob in the distance. That comment was followed by a hiss of pain as the doctors elbow jabbed into his ribs. Hard. "No insulting my planet." Cliff told him, well aware that she had used enough force to result in a smallish bruise.

"No insulting planets, got it." Chas smirked, making his way back to his seat with the others. Cliff's location proved to be correct and the planet began to grow in their sights. At first it seemed to be little more than a grey blob, but as they drew the closer the blob grew in size, revealing itself to be a mixture of blues and whites. Cliff wasn't joking when she said it was really just islands and water. The water to land ratio was even more extreme than that of Earth. There seemed to be no discernable continents like on Earth. The blue was far more mottled than that of Earth's oceans when viewed from space. The range of blue colours was due to the varying depths of the sea beds. The planet was splattered with dark brown and green landmasses. Like with Earth it had two ice caps, made of water ice. Near the lower cap was a swirling storm vortex. The rest of the planet was speckled with various cloud formations.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay stayed where she was as she hadn't long got comfortable, but she let Fia get up with the others to take a look of where the planet was. She watched on as Chas and John questioned the planet's existence in front of them and had to stifle her snigger when Cliff jabbed John hard in the ribs, which included putting her fist up to her mouth to try and hide it more. John so had that coming with his comment, even if he did make a relatively fair point. Fia didn't hold back the snigger nearly as well as Kay did when it happened.

As they all came back to their seats, she continued to look out the window as the planet came closer and closer, revealing its water to land ratio more and more. She was actually really impressed by the look of Cliff's home world, and had to take a couple of quick snaps of it from their current viewpoint before putting her phone away. "It looks amazing Cliff" Kay commented, being the opposite to John and complimenting her home world instead of insulting it. She was personally looking forward to dipping her feet into the waters and feeling the sand beneath her feet. For someone who was so heavily tied to fire, she did appreciate a good beach like area and the salty sea air in her hair.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"I completly agree, but I'm very biased on this whole matter." Cliff replied, her grin hidden from all but Cal's view. She really did love her homeworld and had suffered from intense homesickness when being treated off-world and when she moved to Attil. Even though it had been her own decision to move and her family had supported her all the way, that didn't change how much she desperately missed her home planet, particularly the ocean. Her hills weren't particularly noticeable when closed, so many didn't know they even existed. Water had been a big part of her life growing up and being a cryokinetic it had been a steep learning curve. Salt water was much harder to freeze than fresh water, but that had made her even more determined to do it. Freezing the sea had provided an excellent way to get back at whatever sibling had annoyed her.

"Well of course, I think we're all biased towards our 'home planet' on some way or another." The emphasis she put on home planet made it clear that it didn't neccrsarily have to be their birth planet. Rinaa stayed silent on the matter, just fixing her eyes on the ever growing orb of Cliff's planet. "Very true. It's like how we can talk shit about Earth all day every day, but if anybody else does it's all 'shut the fuck up, this is our crappy planet and you cannot slag it off under any circumstances'." Cliff laughed in amusement at that, having seen that approach in action applied to all kinds of things. She turned to face the others "buckle up everybody, we'll be getting into orbit soon enough, so I hav eto turn off the gravity and do a whole set of manoevers to slow us down and orientate us the right way." The planet was visible in its entirety behind her and John was now able to make out the various island chains and arrangements. Some looked to be about the size of maybe Iceland or Britain, but the majority of the islands were smaller.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smiled at Cliff's reply to her remark. "And you should be" she replied back. She may not have seen the grin on her face but her tone seemed to convey that grin, so it was obvious just how proud of her home planet Cliff truly was. Hearing what Cal said on the matter, she nodded, finding the girl did have a point, which Chas echoed openly so perfectly. It was true after all, Kay could easily slag off Earth and many of its countries very easily for one reason or another, but if anyone else did it? She'd defend her homeland with all her heart.

Kay didn't need telling twice when Cliff instructed them all to buckle up. She very gladly did as she was told, and made sure she was securely strapped in. As the planet came into view well, she looked on in awe at it, and how it was set up, yet again she found it utterly beautiful. Fia was just as mesmerized by it as she strapped in securely. "...wow...." She breathed. "I am soooo glad I bought swimwear" she muttered to herself.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa smirked slightly at Fia's comment on swimwear. In her experience with the planet there was rarely ever any time to change into anything (unless you wore it underneath your clothing like the natives did). She didn't really bother with swinwaer, usually being in a t-shirt and light trousers when on the planet. She had already changed into a pair of shorts she'd made by cutting up a pair of old trousers that were too short. "Good call, though not strictly necessary, we basically live in the sea and just jump in wearing whatever. And my species evolved on this world, we've all got certain genetic advantages that make swimming much easier, namely water repellant skin and the gills." Cliff buckled herself up, along with the others, Cal swinging around to check that all the others were firmly buckled in, before giving Cliff the okay.

The first thing to do was to actually get into orbit around the planet. Due to their speed and angle of entry it started off as a very elliptical orbit. Passing around the dark side of the planet was an experience. The veil of the atmosphere could be seen cloaking the planet, a fragile membrane yet utterly vital to everybody below. Lights could be made out shining below interspersed in seemingly random patterns across the dark side of the globe. Thanks to the speed of the ship the orbit quickly became more and more circular. At that point Cal and Cliff could use the thrusters to both slow down the ship and angle it in the right direction for entering the atmosphere. Cliff consulted with the ship computer on plotting a trajectory that would get near enough to her home island without actually landing on it. This was her territory and she fully intended to make good use of the boat 'mode' this ship had.

Re-entry was a completly different sensation to lift off. "One piece of advice, keep your teeth clenched shut, an open mouth could lead to you biting the tip of your tongue off, so let's not have that." Cliff told them, before flicking some switches on the dashboard, turning off the gravity and at the same angling the ship towards the planet. As the descended the heat-shield began to glow, a red hue tinting the main window. It started off subtle, but was soon a shade of red that could only be called angry. All were pushed back into their seats as the g-force increased. It took less than six minutes to fall through the atmosphere, Cliff's homeworld was significantly smaller than Attil. The planet filled the windows as they streaked downwards, the blue waters coming closer and closer. The ship hit the water with a thud, sending up a shockwave off water. The impact passed through the passengers and Chas could see the truth in Cliff's earlier warning. The ship bobbed upwards, rocking back and forth in the choppy impact waters. The sea gradually calmed and they were left floating.

 

[MzHyde]

In Fia's mind, she was going to fully make use of getting into a bikini the moment she could. Even if it meant she kept it on underneath her clothing. She wanted to make the most of not being locked up 'for her own safety' and enjoy things like a typical teenager. Which if people truly realised that she doubted they could deny her that. She was still in her usual loose fitting Racer back black vest and black jeans, which she figured she may regret soon enough and would have to change into shorts like Rinaa did. "Fair enough! Just wanna make the most of it all ya know? Do things the typical teenager way. It's not like I get much of a chance to wear swimwear in actual water back home. It's usually only worn for sunbathing on the roof of the apartment in the summer" she explained.

Hearing what Fia said, Kay really couldn't blame her for her reasonings even if it make her feel a smidge guilty that it was down to future her and John's rules that that was the case. She watched as Cliff manoeuvred the ship perfectly round the orbit before breaking through it, the red light filling the entire cockpit with its glow, and unlike most people probably would be effected by it, she didn't too much. This was a hue of bright light she was used to and made to see through when she was fully in her phoenix form. She kept her mouth and teeth firmly shut together, not daring to open her mouth, Fia doing the exact same thing. As they landed with a thud and crash of the water flowing over the window, Fia smiled, as did Kay.

 

[_gallifrog_]

For John the intense red hues thrown up by the heat shield as the friction with the atmosphere caused it to heat up brought back a different set of memories and a completly different set of emotions to those Kay was experiencing at that same site. It reminded him of when he died for the first time. The flames that had risen up, the choking feeling of depsiar and hopelessness. The intense scorching heat that seemed to peel his body apart yet leave it utterly unharmed. The sadistic laughter that ran through his ears and his own voice screaming. He shook his head slightly, stopping those thoughts, stopping the panic before the bind had a chance to pick up on it and pass it along. Instead he focused on the water rushing up to meet them, bracing himself for the impact he knew was coming.

After slamming into the water, he looked around to verify that yes, they were alive and breathing. "Bloody bollocks that was....." "Exhilarating?" "Crazy yet terrifying?" "Something that should be turned into a theme park ride?" "Terrifying?" "Not what you all signed up for?" "All of the above?" The others quickly joined in, adding their own opinion to the list of words used to describe the entry and landing. John could hear his heart pounding in his ears and feel the surge if adrenaline in his blood, and he had no doubt that the others did too, judging by the wide grins that conveyed 'holy shit, we actually survived that!" " Something like that yeah." "Welcome to my world." Cliff declared as the water drained down from the craft roof and the bobbing slowed. She flicked the switches for the other engines, which came online with a smooth whir, pushing the craft through the water. The bulky design of the ship sworked perfectly for a boat, leaving the cockpit area above the water while the cargo bay was under the waterline.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay wasn't aware of what the hues reminded John of as he did manage to shake those feelings and memories off before she could feel them through their bond. If she had felt any of it, she would have stretched her hand across to place on his to give him comfort. When they landed, she smirked at John attempting to find the words for what that was like, something she too was struggling with. Her smirk never left her lips as the others have a bunch of example words to describe it, finding it was Rinaa's addition of 'all of the above' to be the most accurate in her mind.

Fia had one of the widest grins from still amazed that they survived such a landing, forgetting momentarily that her and Kay would have survived it anyway, even if the others didn't, though if she had given it a thought she would have realised neither her or Kay would have known if her unborn self would have survived. Neither knew if Kay died whilst still pregnant if Fia would actually survive as well or would her unborn self just die and stay dead. It was a somber thought and one that was luckily not thought about by either girl.

She watched out the window as they started to sail on the waters, unbuckling, she went closer to the window to see just how much of the ship was under water and how much of them was above water. "This is incredible" she remarked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Oh I know it is, wait til you see the rest of this place. Although being encased in this ship means we lose some of the experience. Trust me, there's nothing quite like the wind in your face and the feel of seawater in your hair. And adding a bit of speed never hurt either." Rinaa and Jay nodded at that remark, the former already making plans. "Remind me to take you lot out on a speedboat or the jet-skis some time." Cliff grinned, unclipping her harness and standing up, pulling up the yoke so that she could steer while standing upright. "Or water-skiing, I volunteer to drive others if somebody will drive me." Rinaa was ecstatic at the thought, her eyes switching to a bright silver-white like star-light. "I'm up for that, haven't driven a boat in years, but it can't take too long to remember."

"Just don't crash anything or you'll never hear the end of it. Ever." Cal smirked, slinging an arm around Cliff. "Well that disqualifies me from driving duties, but I'm definitely going to make an arse of myself on waterskis." "Sounds like a plan." John agreed, looking out at the view in front of them. It seemed to be mostly sea, there was nothing that he could discern as a landmass. The spaceship was skimming the water the nose raised up slightly to combat the waves in front of them. Cliff gently eased the yoke sideways, expertly guiding the craft into a wide left turn, the floor tipping slightly before she righted the craft to horizontal again. It was clear by her stance and grin that she knew exactly what she was doing. "If this was a boat, I'd be doing sharp fast turns for the sheer hell of it." Cliff remarked, glancing down at the holo map of the surface beside her and adjusting course slightly. "But since this is a spaceship, I don't have that kind of manoeuvrability."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia glanced sideways at Cliff as she replied to her little comment. She could imagine what it'd be like to feel all of that, and wanted to experience it. "Oh I'm so down for that!" She grinned, even if she wasn't prepared to drive a boat as like Elliott, she would no doubt crash it, having no boat driving or sailing experience whatsoever. She went back to looking out in front of her seeing nothing but the open sea, not being able to stop smiling.

Kay unbuckled herself and walked over to see it closer up herself whilst the others all spoke about going jet-skiing. "I'll go on a boat gladly and watch the rest of you attempt to jet ski." She smirked, more implying that toward Fia, John, Chas and possibly Elliott than Jay and Rinaa, as she didn't know if the two girls had already done such a sport or not before, and assumed the others hadn't. As Cliff manoeuvred the ship, she watched to see how much Cliff was absolutely loving being back home and doing what she was doing. She then looked back out at the world in front of them all.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"It's not that hard" Rinaa answered in defense of jet-skiing. "It's just a matter of balence, holding on and not getting overconfident. And having a good driver helps matters too." It had been about three years since Rinaa had been to Cliff's planet and had an opportunity to do proper water sports. But she suspected she'd slip right back into it again. "Correction, it's not that bad if you know how already. The learning curve is really just a case of screwing up, falling into the water and making mistakes until you don't." Jay found herself being the one trying to give a more balanced view of the situation, which was usually Cliff's job. "In other words, basically every sport ever." Elliott smirked slightly, leaning against part of the console that didn't have a large array of switches and buttons.

Cliff took the ship into another sweeping arc, it wasn't as manoeuverable as she would have liked, but it was also bigger than the average powerboat. In the distance an a series of islands appeared on the horizon. The closest island was clearly volcanic judging by the towering mountain and the dark black volcanic soils. "Is it active?" Jay asked, eyeing up the volcano carefully. "Yup, the lava lake is quite the sight, though its a serious hike to actually get up there, usually you have to bring masks due to the gases being released, but today seems to be a quiet day." She steered the boat in arc around the island, so they could all get an eye full of the volcano, but going back to their original course. With one hand she pulled out her phone, unlocked it and passed it to Cal. "Text the family please and tell them we are..." she made some calculations "eight minutes out and we'll be docking in the harbour." "Aye, aye captain."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay just rolled her eyes at Rinaa's little response whilst Jay said what she was partially thinking, but not completely. Her other thought were along the lines of 'im not falling off a jet ski at full pelt and risking smacking my unborn child to death'. There was no way she was prepared to make Cliff work when they were all here for her wedding to Cal. It would make her feel incredibly guilty, when all they want to do is have some fun, relax and enjoy the big day with the happy couple. She smirked at Elliott's words about it being like every other sport out there, and that was something Kay could agree with it.

The moment Jay asked what she did, it made Kay look to what she was talking about and saw the volcano in the distance. She listened to Cliff's answer and found it fascinating and interesting. Volcanoes in water always intrigued her anyway, as it felt so opposite, but then her whole life was proving to be about opposites in one shape or another, not to mention Cal and Cliff were the walking definition of 'opposites attract'. She looked at it, respecting the danger that such a natural thing is before Cliff brought them back on course and got Cal to do the typical eta text to family.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff rolled her eyes at the remark, it was a running joke based on the fact that Cliff was utterly proficient with a boat, maybe even more so than any other kind of vehicle. It was also a private joke about the first time Cal had seen Cliff in a boat. It had been on trip to somewhere or another and at the sight of her sort of friend masterfully piloting a speedboat all Cal could think was 'shit, this girl is hot. Why haven't I noticed it before?' Followed by a not very well disguised gay panic. And then when Cal visited Cliff's homeworld for the first time Cliff took almost every opportunity possible to be near a boat, having seen exactly what Cal was thinking that day. It was immature yes, but it was a sort of pay back for Cal being so oblivious all those years before.

"You want me to keep the phone, in case your siblings end up throwing you in the water and ruining all electronic devices?" Cal asked, to which Cliff nodded vigorously. "Yes do that please, I don't mind destroyed hearing aids at this stage, but a phone is a step to far."
Cal nodded, tucking the phone into her pocket. The ship cruised on past the other islands in the chain, slowing down as they avoided the shallows. The islands were a mix of beach coastline, swampy bits, mountains and flat plains land. (Not all the islands had all land types). The island Cliff's family called home was the second last in the chain, with a sheltered natural harbour on the eastward side. It was a mixture of beaches and towering sea-cliffs around the edges, with some mountains in the interior surrounded by grasslands and some forested bits. It was between twenty and thirty kilometres in circumference. Cliff performed a loop of the island, partly to show off her home and partly because she prefered to approach the harbour with a right turn rather than a left turn.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia looked out still, watching as Cliff's home island came into view, seeing the mountain views. The place looked utterly beautiful, and as Kay looked out at the mountains it brought back memories of what she saw in that flashback moment she had at the Atilli arena. The mountains reminding her of her species homeland and the grand mountains and caves she saw when she got that glimpse. It made her strangely nostalgic, even though the mountains weren't the same at all. It did nothing of the sort to Fia, just made her look in awe at the view before her, to which she did the usual of taking a photo.

Kay had to shake the thoughts from her mind so she could focus on the other parts of the views or she knew she'd instantly go quiet and withdrawn, something she really didn't want to do right now. "Please say I can go exploring whilst I'm here?" Fia spoke up, being the typical 'i want to see and experience everything' type girl she was. She was so ready to see what this place had to offer. "If you go with someone, there's time to and it's okay by Cliff" Kay commented back. Fia smiled and nodded.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The others found themselves staring at everything, it really did look like a kind of paradise, and they could easily see why Cliff and Cal had decided for the wedding to be there and not on Attil. It was incredibly scenic even when viewed from the water. Jay had no doubts that life wasn't as easy as it looked. They had to make an income somehow, get to schools and deal with the violent storms of the winder season. The main industry on the planet was fishing, sea based manufacturing and tourism. Asking for permission to go wandering hadn't even entered Rinaa's mind, it was just a given to her that they'd all be exploring it. "It's fine by me, just drag either me or one of my siblings along. It may look beautiful, but there's hidden dangers, mainly blow holes, crevasses, loose rock faces, certain types or plants and animals and we do have snares and traps there too, there are some predatory animals in the west side."

The east side of the island was where the majority of the settlement was. It had developed near the harbour and the better pasture and grazing lands. Cliff swung into the harbour, glancing at the various boats and other crafts moored there. The high, sheer sea cliffs surrounding the harbour protected the boats from all but the worst of the storm damage. A series of pontoons and dock walkways had been constructed to allow for the berthing of various sizes of sea going ships. The smaller boats were pulled up high onto the beach, safely out of the reach of the water. A few of the boats were houseboats, where overflow guests would be staying and Cliff knew that one of the other boats had just become a sort of storage point for all kinds of odds and ends. The larger boats were the size of Earth fishing trawlers and served the same purpose, but with the addition of solar panels on the roof to provide extra power. She steered their cumbersome ship into one of the berths, making sure to dock the airlock by the walkway. "Give me a couple of minutes to tie this up, yeah?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia asked about going to explore because it was a habit that future Kay brought her up to do. Sure she had her moments.of sneaking out...a lot, but she did try to keep to the upbringing Kay tried to do for her. This was no different in her eyes, as it was somewhere she didn't know at all and knew deep down she would need to go with someone who knew the land to be able to remain safe. So when Cliff said it was perfectly okay by her as long as it was her or one of her siblings that went with her, she grinned happily. "Deal!" She replied to Cliff.

Kay listened to what Cliff when she agreed for Fia to go exploring about what dangers were out there, part of her had that maternal concerns about the list, yet the other part of her knew she was being irrational to an extent because Fia had the blood of her and John, which meant she would be perfectly safe. Especially if she was with Cliff or her siblings. She then looked at all the boats docked on the harbour and the harbour itself, taking it all in. It reminded her of the harbour in Seattle, so she instantly felt at home, even though neither harbour resembled each other. It was the general vibe of it that made her think of her American home. She nodded when Cliff said about giving her a couple of minutes to tie the ship up before they all go to disembark.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John could see that Fia was delighted by the prospect of being able to explore the island and had to smile slightly. He was definitly going to have a poke around, there was plenty to see and there was two days ntil the wedding anyway. "Oi Chas, this surely counts as holiday, I've brought you on an all expenses paid trip to a private island." He smirked, as the cabbie rolled his eyes, seeing the truth in John's words. "I'll give you that much mate." Cliff cranked open the airlock, letting in the air of home planet. It was a different composition to that of Earth, sharp and salty. There was no mistaking that they were near the sea. Cliff secured the front end of the ship first, nimbly climbing across the nose of the ship, securing the ropes around the specially designed loops on the nose cone. She then repeated the process with the rear end of the ship, then the mid section. She enough slack in the ropes to compensate for the fluctuating tides. Cliff stuck her head into the hold and called up to the others "we're secured, you can all come out now."

Cal was the first one out of the ship, already starting to pass her and Cliff's baggage out of the hold and up to Cliff. The others followed suit, realising that it made more sense than trying to deal with climbing out of the airlock and climbing up the short ladder while carrying baggage at the same time. It was a team effort to get everything out of the hold of the ship. Helping hands were offered where needed and it wasn't long before they were all standing on the synthetic wood boards of the dock, taking it all in. The boardwalk led straight to the side of the beach. The harbour was surrounded by high sea cliffs, the cliffs got lower the further into the harbour they went. An elegant flight of steps had been built at either side of the main beach, giving access to the headlines. "I don't see anybody waiting, they're probably at the house, c'mon then." Cliff set off waking along the docking towards the main beach, Cal at her side.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay felt the pull to go exploring as well when they could, so there was definitely no way she could deny Fia of that privilege, even if she did know deep down Fia wanted to go at times not with her parents following behind. Yet she also felt she'd love to chill out on the beach as much as possible and enjoy the salty air. She shook her head whilst smirking at John's comment to Chas thinking 'only you could see this as a loop hole in Chas' wish to go on an actual holiday'. As Cliff opened the airlock, the salty sea air hit her, and it definitely reminded her of Seattle. Her house there was near the bag, not that far from the cafe she took John all that time ago, so smelling salt in the air wasn't all that unusual to her.

With their cue to exit the ship, she followed pursuit as everyone left the hold, taking her baggage that she had, slinging her bag like usual onto her back and taking her dress bag, not expecting Fia to carry it yet again. Fia took it upon herself to help where she could until they got out onto the dock and looked around. The air and breeze being very much welcome to both Fia and Kay. Kay followed with her eyes the length of the boardwalk that lead to the beach, before looking in every other direction at the rest of the scenery. She nodded when Cliff said about going to her house as there was no welcoming party, smiling.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff hadn't been suspicious that there was no family members around. Sometimes they'd all be on the beach waiting in anticipation, other times she'd show up at the house and they'd be acting as if she hadn't been gone at all just to annoy her. There had also been that one time with the surprise party. It was just how they rolled. And explaining all the new faces she'd brought along was a task best done while sitting down at the kitchen table with a nice drink of something warm. Her plan was to get the whole clan assembled then explain everything, otherwise she'd spen dthe next few hours repeating herself and getting steadily more annoyed, but refusing to show it.

Cliff had been walking a few paces ahead of everybody else, so they all got a front seat view when it happened. A head popped up over the edge of the boardwalk, just out of Cliff's line of sight. The person's hair was wet and plastered down on their forehead, but it was unmistakably blond. They'd been waiting in the water for this exact moment. The head was accompanied by a pair of long arms which grabbed Cliff around the ankles, pulling her over the side and right into the ocean. Cliff reflexes were fats enough that she dropped everything she was carrying, but not fast enough to allow her to get out of the vice like grip. She fell into the water with an extremely undignified noise.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay walked with everyone down the boardwalk, letting Cliff lead the way. She noticed a head pop up from the water's surface and she just knew what was coming next but she didn't fully have it in her to warn Cliff, so just watched it all unfold. She laughed when she saw Cliff drop the baggage before going straight into the sea with an almighty splash and squeal. She had to out her hand over her mouth as she laughed at Cliff's unfortunate and undignified moment. It was clear to her that this was one of her siblings who took the opportunity to prank her at the most perfect time.

Fia laughed, liking the prank of choice. She too saw it all unfold from beginning to end, and smirked whilst laughing. Whichever one of her siblings this was, she instantly approved of their prank choice. She adjusted her bag as one strap started to fall off her shoulder from her sudden laughter. "You alright Cliff?" She called down to her, but was still giggling at it.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal saw the head as soon as he popped up, moving too fast for any of them to actually react to it, but she could have sworn that there was a wink on his face as he tightened his grip around his older sister's ankles. There was nothing she could do but laugh, seeing Cliff who was usually so controlled in public now in this state of being utterly undignified always made her smile. The laughter was infectious, spreading quickly to Dan and Rinaa who knew exactly which sibling it was that had done such a thing. Looking over the edge of the boardwalk Cal could see that Cal had been dragged right under so Fia's words were essentially being directed at thin air. "No point asking that just yet, she can't hear you."

Floating on top of the water were two utterly fried hearing aids, the water having done a thorough job on the electronics. Streams of bubbles were rising to the surface and below the water two figures could be seen grappling at each other. About a minute and a half later Cliff's head and shoulders emerged above the water. Her hair dye had been completly stripped away, revealing her natural blonde hair. She also had a teenage boy in a firm headlock. He was trying to get out, but with no avail, Cliff's grip was firm. She said something to him in her native tongue before introducing him to the others. "This wiggling being is my youngest brother- Matteo. Say hi." The teenager gave a wide grin and a wave at the others up on the boardwalk, not looking too phased by the whole situation.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia had for that moment completely forgotten about the whole not being able to hear her, it was just something she felt was an old trait people did, and it just came out. So when Cal pointed that out to her, she mentally slapped her forehead. "Right..old habit I guess" she chuckled. It was then she noticed the hearing aids floating on top of the surface of the water looking worse for wear. She then watched from the bubbles the two figures scrambling with each other under the water.

As the two surfaced, Fia knew it'd take a while for her to get used to seeing Cliff with blonde hair, as even in her timeline it was always purple. She saw who the culprit was, and guessing by his apparent age, she figured it was her youngest brother. With Cliff introducing them all to him and saying his name was Matteo, she nodded, smiled and waved hello back. Kay also smiled and waved back, seeing why Cliff called him the prankster of the siblings back on the ship. She really did get the feeling now that if Matteo and Fia got left alone together they would ALL have to be on their guard and ultra alert to their surroundings.