Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

To hear that it was the first kick just cemented in John's mind that six months had been completly wrong as a time period. Maybe for a normal pheonix pregnancy, but certainly not for this one. It was a relief to hear Kay confirm that it was nothing serious out loud, and he could tell it was to Fia too even if she tried to downplay the whole thing. John was vaguely aware that he had done an impressive series of facial gymnastics as a reaction and had they been on anybody else he'd have been laughing at them. "I call bullshit on six months. It's been a bit over three weeks, there's no way in Hells six months is the right amount." He knew his counting was right, he'd actually sat down and figured it out at one point.

He flipped the phone around in his hands, his reply already half typed out. 'A mess is probably an understatement for the state she's in (according to Chas anyway, he doesn't think there are words in the English language to describe it). Do you believe her on the anti-psychotics thing or is just some kind of clever half truth like she usually says?' "So I'm guessing I can tell Ell you are alive and kicking?" John smirked, preparing to either run out the door or duck as he fully expected to have something chucked at him for that particular joke.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded in agreement at John's words of six months being utter crap, and even if Kay tried to get Fee to talk, she couldn't as she had been way too quiet for way too long now, which made her wonder if herself and Fee were getting closer to becoming just one true entity. "I agree...it's ridiculously fast." Kay said back. She felt slightly awkward speaking about this in front of a teenage Fia, but it's not like she had much choice in the matter. With the first kick being properly acknowledged out loud, it meant she couldn't pretend any longer that her pregnancy wasn't excelerating at a fast speed, even for a phoenix pregnancy, which meant the possibility of her having a premature baby becoming more and more likely.

When John said about telling Elliott Fia was alive and kicking, Fia laughed finding the joke due to the timing of everything absolutely hilarious, yet Kay did indeed grab the nearest thing she could which happened to be Fia's old large elephant plush looking well loved, and threw it at him. "Oh ha ha asshole!" Kay said sarcastically, not meaning the insult at all. "But in seriousness, tell him I'll be fine, and I say you're not completely useless at dealing teenage girl drama" Fia smirked. "Nice one kid" Kay said, proud of the comeback Fia made. "Oh I didn't say that for you... You threw my elephant at dad!" She said crossing her arms.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John ducked the elephant which hit the wall a good half metre above his head with a look that said 'you call that a throw?" before straightening up again. John was pretty delighted to get a laugh out of Fia, at least one person in the room could appreciate his truly atrocious sense of humour when it came to these kind of things. He didn't even think of a premature birth, he just figured that instead of it being accelerated six months, it was accelerated three months or maybe even two months depending. "Well that's the elephant in the room addressed" He smirked, looking down at the elephant at his feet. He was referring to multiple metaphorical elephants- the fact that Kay's preganancy clearly wasn't going to be anywhere near six months long, Rinaa's werewolf aspects and the fact that he wasn't as shit at parenting a teenage girl as he thought he was- as well as the literal elephant.

He continued his text his reply to Elliott. 'She's doing better, feels like she's constantly being singled out by one part of Rinaa or another for just being in this timeline in the first place. (which isn't wrong, she does have a knack for always choosing Fia as a point to direct her anger at). She's feeling much better and apparently I'm not shite at dealing with teenage girl drama. (think that's just a platitude, but anyway)."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay gave him forced glare back at his look which she understood what he was conveying with the look at her. She could tell he was happy that he made Fia laugh with his terrible joke, and honestly it made her happy that he could cheer Fia up as well. It was another moment that gave her hope they would be able to do this whole parenting thing. She wasn't one hundred percent certain if it was a case of an upcoming premature birth or the timing was to be two maybe three months instead of the estimated six. She was just coming up with theories in her mind.

When he said the pun about the elephant in the room, Kay groaned and rolled her eyes but she did chuckle as well. Fia groaned but did laugh more than Kay did at the joke, as she walked behind John to pick up her beloved soft toy. "Benny the elephant is not a joke and if either of you say anything about me having him still I will deny it til my dying breath" Fia said, giving the plush a squeeze hug as she walked back to her bed and placed it back on her mattress with a fond smile on her face. "Benny?" Kay questioned. "Don't ask" Fia replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The elephant in the room pun was less atrocious than his first one, but only just. This time round nobody said anything he could turn into a pun, which was a good thing. Everybody had their limit and sooner or later John would be pelted with less plush things from the room in order to get him to stop. (Though chances were it would only encourage him more). He raised an eyebrow at the name of the elephant, at first mishearing it, thinking of Cliff's eldest brother instead. He saw nothing wrong with the name of the elephant, but there was a story there alright. Maybe an early childhood toy judging by how worn it was? "It's a good thing you didn't call it Benji, though Cliff no doubt would be able to find some kind of ammunition in that."

Elliott's text then came in. He hadn't put his phone away and glanced down at it, reading for the reply. 'He's probably right on that, this is Chas after all. I believe her on that, these aren't off the shelf stuff either, it's proper heavy hitting stuff, Jay recognises the stuff, apparently she's seen it used to placate particularly violent wild beasts (I kinda regretted asking that). Good to hear she's doing better, I can only apologise (if that's even worth anything?). I really hate how it's always these two against each other, neither deserve it. Well whatever you're doing, it probably better than what we're doing. She's talking alright, but clearly all over the place about the whole incident."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was also glad that no more things that could be turned into jokes or puns were made for John to take the opportunity to use. She really would not have put it passed her pregnant hormonal self to throw a book at him or something even harder than that. It was just lucky that it was the elephant plush she grabbed first and not anything else. She could imagine Fia metaphorically killing her if she threw anything else in the room. She also didn't see anything wrong with the name, she just found it a random name choice yet for some reason it sounded familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"No she wouldn't because Cliff isn't going to be told about him!" Fia warned with a smirk. She could also tell both of them were noticing how worn and we'll loved he was. "And judging by both of your looks, you're assuming he's an old childhood toy. You'd be right. It's a bit stupid to try and not hide that from you guys at this stage. But he's given to me when I'm born and I never let him get thrown out as I grew up" Fia explained, keeping out the information of who gave it to her, which was her Aunt Sam. Kay listened to what Fia was telling them both, nodding finding that makes utter sense to why Fia was so protective over the plush, especially as she had the upbringing she seemed to have. Both girls then looked over as John got a reply from Elliott. "All alright on Elliotts end?" Kay asked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia's defensiveness over the old toy was actually pretty amusing to John. He couldn't claim to have any kind of toy like that given the state of his childhood, so it was good to know that Fia had this in her own. It was good to know that Fia had a lot of things he didn't, like two parents there full time who treated her properly. Thinking back on his own childhood was something John rarely did, some parts if it were just too painful. John listened as Fia explained the story behind it. His earlier guess was proved right, it was from early childhood.

"As well as can be expected" John replied, pausing before elaborating with a despairing sigh. "In other words, really shit. He agress that this isn't fair on either of them. Rinaa's in a bad state over all this. Remember back on the ship when Chas found her raiding the place for anti-psychotic medication? Well it turns out that's what she's been using to suppress her wolf side. And if I'm inferring right it's like the inhibitors you have to keep increasing the dose for the effects to continue. Evidently the dose she's currently taking isn't enough, so she's decided to up it to see if that gives any effect. And Jay being Jay recognises the medication. It's typically used on wild and feral beasts. So make of that what you will."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia wasn't phased by the fact that John found her defensiveness over her elephant amusing in the slightest. He still did find it amusing in her time, and if she ever went too far with her pranks there was the threat of throwing Benny the Elephant out. Of course, he wouldn't actually do it, but it was always enough to make her stop as she didn't want to take the risk. It was bad enough one day when she found Elliott 'giving him a bath' in the toilet as a prank.

They both listened to the update on Rinaa and how she was doing, both nodding at the information, but Kay knowing what he was referring to more than Fia did. "Bloody hell..." Kay replied simply. "She really is keeping just how critical she is from everyone" Kay summarised. She didn't even need to be told that to get the jist of the truth. Fia was also slightly relieved that Elliott agreed with them that it wasn't fair on her or Rinaa, that Fia keeps being the target of Rinaa's aggression. She thought he would take Rinaa's side on the whole matter when it came to this particular version of Rinaa, so to know he was still very much not taking sides was a relief to Fia. "I guess it's just a continued case of everyone taking each day as it comes?" Fia suggested her theory. There rely wasn't anything that they could other than that. She just hoped that when Moya arrived it would lift Rinaa's spirits a bit more and make the rest of this trip a lot more doable.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John knew that what he was saying would bring the mood right down, but now was the best time, given that they were in the privacy of The House (which had decided to be agreeable and connect to the local cell network, John suspected that was once again thanks to the quasi-telepathic link that he had with The House. It understood the urgency of the situation currently while with Kay it was very much a case of 'do not disturb'. "That's really just the only thing we can do." John sighed in agreement with Fia's statement. If he had been on the bed, he would have flopped backwards onto it with a sigh, so it was probably just as well that he wasn't.

"And yes, once again, she's been playing her cards close to her chest. Outside she did just confess outside to having known her proper diagnosis from her timeline" this part was directed at both of them as he knew Fia wasn't around for it and that Kay had spaced out during that crucial moment. "And she's known it the whole time she's been here.... including how long she's got left. She won't make it past twenty, and she's already well over nineteen." He shook his head numbly. Like Fia he hoped Moya would be able to lift Rinaa's spirits or at the very least distract her from everything going on. She deserved a break, even after how she'd behaved earlier maybe even because of how she'd behaved earlier.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded, she fully intended to avoid any confrontation with Rinaa as possible for the time being, unless they had to be around each other. Even then she'd give her as much space as she could without it coming off as rude or passive aggressive in any sense. She didn't want her wolf side to make her lash out at her again. They both listened to what was being said, Kay realising only now that her silent negative reaction to the split personality remark made her space out during that piece of information, and Fia hearing it for the first time completely.

The information was a lot to take in for both girls. The added information about Rinaa knowing it the whole time and was only possibly at most months away from dying for good was even more to take in. It struck a chord with Kay because of her current situation, it made her motherly side come out mentally. For Fia it brought home why Rinaa was so volatile, as she figured she would be too towards the easiest target if she was that close to death. However she also knew she couldn't really put herself in Rinaa's shoes at all. "Then...I guess we gotta hope Moya brings Rinaa out of her funk for a while" Fia commented. "And no matter what I'm staying clear of her as much as possible" she added. "It's probably for the best." Kay agreed, feeling another kick.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John could see the shock and the hints of sadness at his revelation. It was hard enough to grasp the fact that she was dying, but to have it narrowed down to such a specific window just made things worse. He found himself wondering if it had been Cliff who had to give that terrible diagnosis and what the reactions of everybody else was. This wasn't the kind of thing that could be kept secret, and even if it was it would surely have come out, potentially yelled by Jay in anger at more than likely Kay or Fia. He could visualise the scene, some kind of awkward family gathering where everybody was forced into a small space with no alternative. One joke made in ill taste would have been enough to set Jay off.

"She seems to be doing a good job of doing just that so far. Every time she's been out with Moya she's come back in a good mood." John remarked. At first they hadn't known she'd been out with anybody, once again simply assuming that it was just her in the lab. But then when Rinaa was being found constantly texting and grinning broadly while doing so it only took a few well phrased questions from Cliff to find out the answer. "And besides I'd put my money on Rinaa bring the one staying away. That does seem to be her default way of dealing with things like this. Plus she's been here before and I bet she knows exactly where to go to get away from people."

 

[MzHyde]

If things came out at an awkward time, both girls could easily see it being on of them that got he brunt of it. Which was something neither of them needed, no one in their group needed to witness that either. They both nodded at his comment about Moya making Rinaa happier whenever she was either texting or seeing her, so there was hope this black cloud over them all could be deminished for a while soon enough.

Fia nodded again at John's assumption that it would be Rinaa staying away, at least it shouldn't be too hard to keep a distance from each other she figured. "He's right Fia. She's been doing the whole leaving and keeping to herself all this time. So I don't think you'll have any problems keeping away from her" Kay agreed, standing up and walking over to two of them, standing between them both. She placed her hand on Fia's back and rubbed it slightly. Fia gave Kay another side hug quickly before pulling away slightly. "And besides, after this I don't want you on your own too much particularly if you're ever both near each other." Kay added, figuring it was best Fia remained beside someone who could stand between the two teenagers and break it up before it could too messy. "yes mum.." Fia sighed, rolling her eyes.

"So...how about for now we move forward from this? Because us three can't do much about it. And I'm getting really bloody hot in this jumper and jeans" Kay said.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"I'd say the problem will probably be finding her when she actually has to be around." John replied, very much relieved that they were finally getting off this topic. He didn't think it would come to a physical fight between the two, certainly not with Jay anywhere in the vicinity. He had no doubt that she could keep a handle on Rinaa and prevent her from doing anything rash. None of them had seen Rinaa fight so they couldn't give an accurate guess of her skill set, but since she had been trained by Jay it was best to err or the side of caution and overestimate her abilities. "Ell gav ethe boat description and name, just so we know which one it is, but has advised we stay away from it, let her have her space an' all that."

At Kay's words John nodded. "Agreed, standin' here and talkin' really ain't gonna achieve much more." The weather on Cliff's planet (from the little they had experienced of it so far) was warm and bright, with little wind and clear skies. John suspected that the coastal parts of the island would be prone to strong winds and waves when the weather turned, the dramatic sea caves and cliffs they'd seen on the boat ride in were his evidence to this theory. "And I think it's more important that we sort out this whole language barrier thing while we're at it. Sign language is useful and all, but I'd rather be able to talk and understand while we're here."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded at John when he said what he thought the problem would likely be more plausible. Both girls also agreed that Elliott's suggestion of staying as far from the houseboat Rina had acquired for this trip, was the best idea yet. They were also glad that they were beginning to move forward from this topic, as it was a big downer on them all.

Most of Kay's issue with the temperature was down to her hormones with being pregnant. Being a pregnant phoenix was not the easiest thing to live with when on a beach planet. When she was outside in the breeze she wasn't too bad, but she would still prefer to be less heavy clothing. Fia then nodded, being reminded about the language barrier issue. "ah right! Reminds me!" Fia said, walking over to her bed where her stele was, picking it up and then walking back to both Kay and John. She looked down at her left arm at the rune just below her elbow on her forearm. "You might be able to find another way, but this is an old communicafion rune I learned, it makes the bearer both understand and speak any language they come across. Human or downworld or whatever. It should work here too as I'm yet to find a language it don't work on" she explained, holding her stele like a pen and brushing it over her rune, which lit up briefly before fading back to its original black tattoo looking state. "easy as that" she said. "You can either bear the rune as well somewhere or find another way. There are ways to rid yourself of them, but I'm yet to figure that out" Fia concluded.

"Things don't last long on me, but I have no idea if it'll be the case with this." Kay replied, impressed with what she saw her daughter do. "I got another theory but don't know if I'm barking waaaaay up the wrong tree. My theory is if I can understand the language, then maybe due to the family bond, you might be able to as you're still pregnant with me, but there's no way of knowing until we see Cliff's family" Fia theorised.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John had seen Fia use the runes before, but it didn't get any less impressive seeing it again (and he suspected it mightn't ever get old). Not all of his extensive tattoo collection was functional. The huge spiralling collection that covered his back couldn't be used like Fia's as he couldn't reach them and know he was activating the right one. Instead they were protective warding, protecting him from possession by demons and ghosts as well as helping to maintain his psychic wards. The kanji tattoos below his ribcage (the ones that Elliott and Rinaa bore copies of) created a different kind of protective ward that allowed him to handle cursed artefacts without (too many) side effects. The matching tattoos on his forearms were the most powerful, creating a defensive shield blast that radiated outwards.

John recognised the rune Fia was using, and it was more than likely going to be the one he was using on himself. "I think that rune will work here, but only on the spoken language. For signs you're still going to be in the dark, there's no runes that work on sign language as it varies from region to region and many add their own custom bits too it. Though I'll probabaly use the two separate symbols on Chas, and give him the one for reading languages as well." He listened to Fia's suggestion, it was viable yes, considering the bond between all three had functioned across time and space, and if the bond was already in place between the unborn Fia and Kay then it seemed like a good plan. "It could work, but I'd say a mental link would work better than the bond. Chances are the bond could transmit what's being said near me too, giving two completly different conversations at the same time.ental links make it much more fluid, like when Ell's mind walking he can translate what people are saying on other languages if he wants to."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia noticed how John was impressed seeing her use the runes, and it always made her happy that she could impress him. She did learn from the best in her eyes afterall, whilst putting her spin on things. She didn't like the other ideas of activating them, especially the whole using one's blood for certain things, which is how she came to the whole making her own stele and enchanting it, so she could use that instead. The rune was simple enough looking, but it never failed her.

She listened to what John explained about it only working on spoken language, something she had indeed guessed would be the case. She was still trying to get round to making time for learning sign language herself, and only really knew the odd word from watching, but that was mostly BSL and nothing else. "I figured that's be the case" she replied. She then listened to John's theory about possibly having Kay understand the local language without having to get the rune done after she gave her other theory. His made a lot more sense to her and nodded. "good point." She said.

"So what do you two suggest?" Kay asked, willing to try anything if it makes understanding conversations a very possible thing. She didn't want to be left in the dark during chats again, or rely on people translating for her all the time. "I'll try whatever if it means I don't have to rely on someone constantly translating for me" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John had already made up his mind on how he was going to approach the problem. "I say we try it with runes first, see if they can even work on this language, Chas can be the unwitting control for the non-bonded people. It's best to let Ell and Jay do their own thing on this." He wasn't sure what their plans were, but at a guess he'd say Elliott would use some form of runes on himself and Jay. Or he could make a mind link with Rinaa who'd act as their translator, already knowing the language. Making these mental links through magic came easier to Elliott as he could us this mind walking powers on that. "If these runes don't work, then I'll try a different translation rune, an older one. Different process to activate and use."

"And if none of these work then we're well and truly buggered" John saw no point in suger coating any of this, saying the situation as he saw it. "And will have to try and make a mental link through somebody who understands the language. And it can't be Cliff as her deafness means the spell won't work. So that leaves Cal, Rinaa and potentially Dan to link with. And the more people you link together the more strain it puts on the translator. If it comes to having make a mental link that size I wouldn't risk it, better to try and customise something specifically for this language." John's stream of words may have sounded like he was thinking out loud, but what he was actually trying to was explain it in enough detail that Kay could understand it.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded, agreeing that his plan was the best course of action. Kay also nodded, being perfectly fine with that plan. It also made sense that they'd leave Elliott and Jay to do their own thing to get passed the language barrier, especially as they were dealing with Rinaa as well. Fia had heard of there being an even older translation rune, but she never went as far as to look for it in books of learn how it would work. She figured it might have to learn the older stuff at some point as a back up, but for now, she'd leave the older stuff and knowledge to John.

Kay listened intently to everything that was being explained, realising he was explaining it fully for her benefit more than Fia's. "Okay, fine by me. Let's try the rune Fia has first then and go from there" Kay said, taking off her jumper and tying it round her waist, luckily having remembered to have a vest on underneath. "I'll let dad do the honours with both you and Chas" Fia smiled, spinning her stele between her fingers idly.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Yeah okay then." John replied, he'd experimented with drawing runes in marker as an alternative to proper inks, but it never worked. The marker ink just smudged too easily, resulting in the rune deforming and essentially becoming useless. When it came to emergencies blood was always his go to, having demons blood in it made it all the more potent for spellcasting, and pain was always a good catalyst for magic. But he had the time to do it properly now, so John sat himself down on the bed, reaching in the pocket of the trenchcoat for his proper ink powder.

This particular powder was a deep-reddish black and stored in a small vial. John had made himself, using his own blood as an active ingedient, despite not being an actual liquid the powder behaved exactly like one. It was magic after all. He also had a thin brush in one of his pockets. Drawing the rune was an easy set of lines and curves, performed with a sort of rough elegance on the exposed skin of Kay's arm. As he drew the rune he spoke the incantation that activated it, causing the ink to flare deep blue before fading back. The rune would turn grey and them to ash when it ran out. John then drew the rune on himself, rolling his right arm sleeve all the way up and applying the rune with ease using his left, it was evident that he'd practiced with a brush in his non-dominant hand before. "Right, I'm gonna find Chas then."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded, and sat back down on the bed as John walked to it and sat down himself. She trusted him fully with this sort of thing, even if she did hope it would just work first time and they wouldn't have to go through with plan B or plan C. She let him take her arm and draw on her, she watched with her full attention on what he was doing, always finding it fascinating when he spell cast in one variation or another. She watched as it glowed a bright blue before fading again, noting the rough elegance of what he did before watching him do it on himself.

Fia also watched seeing how differently he did things to how she did it. Her runes remained as tattoos because of the use of her stele to draw them on. It practically burned the rune into her skin and it hurt like a bitch as she did it, but she was used to the sensation, the smell and the pain as she did it. Luckily, it only went that way when it was to put a new rune on, and not for activating current runes already on her skin. "I'm gonna head to the kitchen to get a drink" Fia replied, "I'll join you Fia" Kay agreed. "Meet back up in there?" Kay suggested.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was pretty pleased with his handiwork as he rolled his sleeve back down over the newly drawn rune which remained as a sort of dark-brown mark, easily distinguishable from a tattoo. The application of the rune was followed by a short, sharp burn which quickly faded away with the glow. John was happy with how accurate the rune turned out, there had been times when he'd really fucked up runes by drawing them with his left hand, but this wasn't one of those times. "I'm gonna head out to Chas, do his rune now, so it's probably best to meet out on the porch." He answered, pulling on his trenchcoat again. He also wanted to see if Chas had been told anything more by Elliott and he was in no doubt that the cabbie would want to do the same to him.

He made his way back outside to find Chas leaning against the porch with one of the dogs. "Made a friend eh?" "Somethin' like that yeah. So how is Fia doing?" "Better, not enjoying being singled out as Rinaa's quite unquote 'punching bag'. Feels like Rinaa is trying to push her out of the family, apparently Rinaa even said that by showing up in this timeline, she's copying what her Fia would do- try and one-up her at any opportunity and steal any attempt at limelight Rinaa gets. But she's getting over it, bounced a few of your theories of her." "Good to know you listen to my yabberin' in some form." "And I need to rune you so you can understand what all these people are saying." "Don't balls this up, yeah? And do it on the shoulder blade, the usual spot." Chas told him, pulling his t-shirt to the side to expose the planes of his shoulder blade.

 

[MzHyde]

When John said it was better to meet out on the porch, both girls nodded in agreement. "Sure thing" Kay replied, kissing his cheek. As he headed to the porch, Kay walked with Fia to the kitchen to get a drink, finding herself in the kitchen, which made Kay smirk to herself and desperately trying to not laugh. "What's amused you?" Fia asked, recognising the look all too well. "Nothing kiddo" Kay replied, not wanting to get into that conversation with her teenage daughter. That was one path she was most definitely not prepared to go down.
She walked to the fridge and found some bottled water in there, which she was hoping to find, taking one out. "You want one or something else?" Kay asked, waving the bottle of water in the air to Fia. "That's fine with me" Fia replied smiling, still curious to why Kay was so amused about being inside a kitchen.

Kay grabbed Fia a bottle as well, before closing the fridge door and throwing the bottle toward Fia, to which Fia grabbed effortlessly one handed. "Good catch" Kay remarked. "Learned most of my reflexes from Elliott" Fia stated back, but didn't go into detail how exactly she learned from him, yet it was mostly down to him trying to catch her off guard by throwing things at her, thinking it'd be funny. It was the one downside to being a prankster, it meant she became a target for paybacks. Opening their bottles, they both took a gulp of water, before sighing with relief. Which made them both chuckle as it was in perfect unison the entire time. "Come on kiddo...let's see the other two at the porch" Kay told her, wrapping her arm round Fia's shoulders as she walked over to her and walked to the front door together, reaching the porch.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The sight that greeted them on the porch was unusual to say the least. Chas was sitting on the front steps, one of the dogs sprawled lazily across his him, having decided that the cabbie's lap was the ideal place to rest. One of Chas' hands was ruffling the dog's fur while the other was pulling up the dark green t-shirt to allow John to draw the rune on his shoulder. John was in a crouch, balencing on his toes and lower arch, one hand on Chas' back as a prop the other drawing the rune with what only those who actually knew John could describe as a practiced ease. Unlike John, Chas's back wasn't covered in tattoos or scars, there was only a series of perfectly straight white lines radiating from his shoulder. They were so perfectly straight and precise that they could only be surgical.

Only John knew the origin of these scars, Chas had broken his collarbone close to the shoulder joint and these scars had been left by the pins and wires that had been used to help set the injury in place. John finished drawing the rune, which flared just like the first one before moving on to the second one. Chas didn't even blink at the pain. "Right that's that done." John declared stepping back. "If this makes me grow a second head or something I'm going to commit murder and get Jay to help me cover it up." "It won't. Honestly anybody would think you had no faith in me." "Weeeeeell." Chas smirked, getting up, gently removing the dog's head from his lap.

 

[MzHyde]

Stepping onto the porch, they both looked on the sight before them, smirking at it. Fia sat on the steps on the porch, drinking her water, watching the whole thing. Kay leaned against the wall next to the front door. When Chas smirked and joked about not trusting John, both girls chuckled. "you walked into that one" Fia stated to John with a smirk, as she watched the dog move from Chas' lap.

"So, that's all of us here done?" Kay assumed. She sipped her water, looking at the bottle and thinking about the particular kitchen she had to get it from, smirking and shaking her head to herself. She felt unborn Fia kick again and rubbed her stomach to try and calm her baby. "Damn our kid has a strong kick" she complained, but there was a tone of love in what she said also. "Seriously John, you need to feel this" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John just rolled his eyes, choosing not to rise the bait as he stood back up again, tucking the various items back into his pockets. Chas chuckled as he rose, unaware that they were being watched for a good chunk of the application process. He would have made some kind of joke about 'It's not what it looks like' but that would be a rabbit hole nor worth going down. As he moved the dogs head he caught sight of the collar around its neck, which came complete with a name and identification. Glancing at it it appeared to be written in English, but he knew that wasn't the case. "Well the reading rune is working anyway, her name is Meyer." He gestured at the dog. "At least based on my limited knowledge it's a she."

The idea of doing the whole 'feeling the baby kick' routine in front of people and said baby now as a teenager was a frankly awful idea in John's hand, it was one of these things best done when the two of them were alone (at least in his mind). "Since when was that a thing, kicking I mean?" Chas asked, wondering just how he'd managed to miss this. "As of about twenty minutes ago." "So much for six months being a thing." Chas scoffed making the exact same conclusion as John and Jay did. "My thoughts exactly mate." Chas' phone went off almost at the exact same instant as John's. "Elliott?" "Elliott. The two of them are coming over. Rinaa's staying in the houseboat, claiming something about trying to sleep." "She won't sleep, she'll be up til three in the morning like she usually is, I can tell you that much."