Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

Charlie chuckled at Kay's words, clearly amused. 'Politics is one of the things on the firmly don't talk about list as a general rule for this family. I can imagine that dealing with two different political systems and candidates is bad, but believe me, you have no idea how complicated it gets when there is multiple planets involved.' "How confusing is it?" Elliott asked, from his spot, his arm had around Jay.'Well there's the politics for this planet that we're all entitled to vote in, even Matteo. The system is as organised as it can be. There's one central government here, as we have no proper countries, but it's split with various sub-groups for each region.' "That doesn't sound too bad, but I'm guessing there is more?"

'You guess absaloutly right. Three of us currently live off-world and are entitled to vote on our respective planets. Cliff isn't an Attili citizen, but as a royal guard gets a vote in Attili political affairs anyway. Nat gets to vote on the planet he goes to uni on, despite also not being a citizen. Law on that planet states that since students are affacted by the outcome of votes, the get votes too. As for me, I got lucky enough to be stationed in this star system, just on a different planet y'see. So I get a vote there as well.' "That' s head-ache inducing, at least to me." "Well that makes me so happy that I don't get a vote anywhere, I'm not registered on Attil, and I technically don't exist on Earth." Elliott declared with a grin.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened to Charlie's reply and chuckled also, completely taking her word for it, that it would be a lot more complicated than how she would have it. She's just glad that whilst she lived in the UK she didn't vote in anything on the American side, but with how obsessed the world is at American politics, she's well adversed in it. Then Elliott just HAD to ask the question that would create a very long answer. She listened to the answer none the less, whilst trying to get her head around it, which she did just about, she agreed with John.

"I'm with John. That sounds like an utter headache. I'm just glad the only time I'd ever have to actually vote in American politics is if I went back there." She smirked, deciding not to add 'which I don't plan on doing at all as it's too high a risk'. "It's alright for some I guess!" She retorted to Elliott's words. Fia just zoned out the conversation completely, politics weren't her thing at all to talk about. She always found them incredibly boring, so when Charlie said it's a 'not to talk' about topic she was very thankful.

 

[_gallifrog_]

'I wouldn't advise going my method to get out of voting and politics, it's really not worth it just for that.' Elliott relied with a smirk, thinking of A.J's reason for always voting in the Irish elections. He said that by not voting he lost the right to complain about any politicians at local and national level. Only those who helped put the politicians there could complain about them. Complaining about politicians seemed to be one of his favourite past times (and sometimes seemed like his only one). "Very much agreed." Jay replied, refring to her own method of not having to vote- not actually having anywhere you were a registered citizen of. 'Like I said, we don't talk about politics or politicians' Charlie waved a hand dismissively, ending that line of conversation.

"Yet, every time you say that we end up talking about politics anyway." Cliff retorted. "Well it technically falls under alien culture and traditions at the moment' Benji replied 'which reminds me, this planet doesn't exactly have a lot in the way of consistent culture- everywhere is a strange mix of cutting edge design, old traditional fishing villages and everybody doing their own thing. Agriculture is a thing too, but not all islands are suitable for it." "What about hunting?" Jay asked. "Again it depends on the Island, some of the bigger ones have herds of deer and enough small game animals that hunting can be done without decimating the eco-system.' "And poaching?" Charlie took that question, first answering in a fimr tone that left no doubt that she was a cop "Officially there is no knowledge of such activities taking place, either by us or by others." "And unofficially?" Charlie gave a wicked grin. "It occurs all the time, sneak over to the island of somebody you don't like and fish in their waters, take some small game, generally stay away from deers unless your certain you can carry it back. Or just bring along the oldest brother for the grunt work."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had to agree with Elliott on his last words about voting. At least with Kay it was a legitimate reason for not voting in America. She hadn't lived there for so long she wasn't able to vote, even if she wanted to. She nodded at his words and Jay's, "agreed" she simply said as well before Charlie waved the topic off dismissively. She had to smirk when Cliff made the retort that practically called out her whole family on the subject matter, only to see Benji find a loop hole in the topic they spoke about just moments ago.

She listened to what else was being said, whilst Jay asked about hunting and then subsequently opening it up for John's question about poaching. She found it all interesting how their planet was so diverse in the sense that the citizens had to rely on where they were to do what they could. She smirked at Charlie going from professional cop to normal citizen in a few seconds of Chas asking his follow up question. Fia during this conversation just listened, interested but she had nothing to say to join in on it, so she took that moment to drink her own water that she stashed in her back pocket this entire time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Charlie was quite the character, Cal and Cliff knew it well. Her ability to switch personas was borderline terrifying at times. Benji made a noise of mock outrage. "I'm way above just being the grunt person here." He scoffed. 'So you're saying if we did manage to down a deer while hunting one night, you wouldn't be the first person volunteering to help bring it home?" Matteo smirked, knowing full well that Benji loved a good piece of venison. ' Well........ I wouldn't go that far Matteo.' He admitted sheepishly, prompting Cliff to laugh and sign "You're busted on that brother, don't even try to deny it." 'Fine, fine, yes, I love a good bit of deer so shoot me." Charlie' s hand flicked towards the pistol on her belt. 'Metaphorically, jeez, I know you could probabaly cover it up, and Cliff definitly could, but this is supposed to be a wedding not a funeral.'

'Here, here' Cal agreed. From there the conversation just meandered around, everybody relating various stories and anecdotes. Rinaa's presence (or lack of it) was asked about and Jay wa sthe one to give the explanation, saying that the travelling hadn't agreed with her cousin's newly developing wolf side, making her irritable and angry. As that meant she wouldn't be good company, the teenager decided to attempt to sleep it off, but more realistically wouldn't sleep at all and would end up binge watching one of the numerous detective shows she'd downloaded on her laptop. The skies had darkened and it was Nat who first suggested eating. 'Don't know about anybody else, but I could eat now.' He'd been the quietest of the lot so far, only speaking when he felt it necessary, his words carefully chosen.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia both joined in on the various topics spoken about, laughing when something amusing cropped up, and just generally being interested in what was being spoken, whilst speaking when it warranted it. Kay definitely saw how Fia and Matteo seemed to just get on well really quickly, which made her happy, even if she spent most of the time resting against John for comfort. They both laughed at the hunting chat and how Charlie reacted to Benji's metaphorical comment.

As the topic of food came up again, both girls nodded, easily able to go for some food. Kay was starting to get to the point where she could nibble on food constantly, but she was a guest and refused to come across badly because of it. It's one reason she resorted to drinking water when she could to stave off the peckish feelings, even if it did cause havoc on her bladder. "I could too if everyone else wants to eat" Fia replied politely. "You're always hungry Fia, how you're so bloody skinny is a mystery to me" Kay smirked, teasing her.

(FYI- if I get slow replying I'll be on my PSVR)

 

[_gallifrog_]

John had expected the whole thing to be awkward as Hells, but some who it wasn't. Maybe it was the fact that Cliff, her family, Cal and Dan were all completly relaxed together that made John and co relax around them. Or maybe it was because Cliff's family were laid back and easy to talk to, but also knew how to take a joke and give an insult. The communication runes were holding up perfectly, so apart from when things devolved into sign language, everybody could follow everything going on. Cliff had fallen right back into her old place with her family members as soon as she came home. "I'm always up for eating and home cooking is the best, I've said it before and I'll say it again."

'Suck up' Benji smirked. "Try living off world, then tell me I'm wrong." Cliff replied. 'I'm with Cliff' Charlie agreed, as Nat just nodded. 'And I'm with which ever side means I get food the fastest.' Matteo declared. 'You know where the kitchen is then, looks like you just volunteered for cooking duty' Cliff's father smirked, gesturing at the door to their house. "I'll help too, make sure he doesn't burn the house down or something." Cliff replied, then paused as an idea occurred to her. "Here's a thought, Artemis is afraid of fire and its pretty severe too, but since she's in the houseboat and isn't planning on joining us, I say we do a fire pit cook out, either on point beach or one of the headlands." "Already in." "Same here." "Count me in as well." "And me."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was also glad that the whole meeting Cliff's family wasn't awkward. She always prepared for awkwardness, even if she was pretty laid back when meeting people lately. It amazed her how much she had changed as a person, and this whole meeting just showed her even more how much she had grown as a person. She wasn't cold toward new people lately, or kept them at arm's length, she was happy to be herself and have people see her for who she was. Unlike when she first met John and gave him utter hell and snark before letting him in. She even gave Rinaa the cold shoulder the first time she met her, but granted, everyone was still learning how to take that teenager.

With the topic of food still happening, she listened to the banter going on which made Matteo incidentally volunteer himself for cooking. With the suggestion of making a fire pit cookout, she nodded totally up for that idea. "I'm in" she replied. "Me too" Fia replied, looking forward to the idea as the closest she got was a barbeque on the roof of the apartment most of the time. It sounded honestly like a great idea to Fia and the perfect way to continue the first day on Cliff's home planet.

(Sorry for delay, site didn't notify me you replied lol)

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Well that's a resounding yes, guess we'll need a bit of everything then" Matteo agreed as the rest of the family nodded their agreement. John had to agree, it's sounded like a perfect idea, he'd never had a campfire cookout on a beach before, but campfire food always tasted better as did food eaten by the sea."Benj, come on, we've got grunt work that needs doing and you really are the only one for the job." "You're such a shit sometimes, you do know that Matteo." "Of course its going top level on my job level application- grade A shit to people". Matteo replied with utter seriousness."I dread for the universe when you are released on it as a legal adult." Cliff smirked, standing up, neatly tripping up Matteo so he fell straight over the balustrading into a bush. By the time she'd untangled himself from the bush Cliff was already running.

The chosen site for the campfire was one of the headlands close enough to the house. It had evidently been used for that purpose before as there was a ring of stones set up as well as charred sticks and ash. Charlie set the bonfire up, while it was Nat who hauled the wood from the drying pile in one of the outbuildings, proving that a lifetime of manual labour had left him strong. Cal used her pyrokinesis to light the fire, igniting everything in one go, creating a giant fire ball and fire column that blazed a couple of metres upwards before settling back to a amore contained regular height. This had been her duty ever since Cliff's family had found out that she was pyrokinetic. Benji and Matteo were the last to arrive, bearing a selection of meats that they'd caught, cured and dried right there on the island. "Take whatever you want, we've got loads"

(it does that sometimes, really annoying)

 

[MzHyde]

Kay watched as banter continued continued between the siblings, as she lifted her head off of John. Fia smirked as Matteo came out with a reply to Benji that would easily be something she would come back with, chuckling. She moved out the way so Matteo could leave as Cliff tripped him up, making her laugh at the whole thing, including Cliff quickly running away. "Matteo just remember..payback!" She smirked before letting him go off with Benji to do the brunt work.

Both girls walked with everyone else to the chosen place for the cookout and campfire, noting how it clearly was used for such times regularly, judging by the scene they walked into. They watched as the rest of the siblings all worked together to set up the campfire, and Cal lit up with her ability. It was obvious to both Kay and Fia that they were a well rehearsed team for such a moment. As the last two brothers arrived with the haul of meats, Fia nodded at remark seeing clearly that judging by the haul they brought over, that was indeed a true statement. Kay sat down near the campfire, finally needing that sit down, and as always feeling at home near a fire. She wasn't fussy tonight for what she ate, so she literally would take anything.

"Sis, what you want?" Fia asked toward Kay, "anything, I don't mind kiddo" came the reply from Kay.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The spread was impressive, but Cliff would expect no less from her family. There were going to have to feed a whole platoon of wedding guests in the coming days, so it made sense that there would be a lot of everything. Being an island meant there plenty of fish and seafood, but there was also venison, lamb, beef and a bit of goat. It wasn't just simple cuts of meat, they were marinaded with a variety of spices before being smoked and cured. They'd also minced some of the meat to burger patties, while other cuts were made into sausages. They looked to Elliott like something that could easily be bought off the shelves back home, they were that professional. "So you make all this yourselves? It looks really professional by the way." Elliott asked as soon as they were in a semi circle around the fire to stay out of the way of the wind.

"Pretty much yeah, the exception is the beef, this island isn't suitable for cattle, a family friend has cattle and we trade our venison and shellfish with them for it. They do the preparation of the meat, we just store and eat it. We don't have sheep here either, again that meat comes from another friend, but we prepare the meat ourselves." Cliff's father replied. "Growing up here there was a rule from about seven onwards, you can eat whatever you want, but you have to learn how to prepare it and cook it." Charlie added. "In other words were all totally desensitised when it comes to gutting animals and fish, we could probably do it blindfolded. It also means that we can all cook pretty decently." "A lifesaver at uni, I ended up getting cooking duty for my flat group and they do other jobs. Of course you don't know how useful a skill cooking is whne you're trying to learn to make sausages and they just keep getting worse and worse." Nat added, warming his hands close to the fire.

 

[MzHyde]

In Kay's mind the spread was more than impressive, and she had to agree with Elliott's comment about it all looking like it came from a professional butcher or shop. She listened to what Cliff's father said about how it's all homemade except for two of the meats which made a lot of sense to her. She also wasn't too surprised to hear Cliff's additional information about it all, as she figured that would very much be the case on a planet such as this.

"I agree with that one, when I was at uni I always got roped into doing the cooking and baking" she replied to Nat. "All because one time one of our roommates tried cooking once, gave him and one other food poisoning. So after that, I was the only one allowed near the kitchen if food was involved" she added, remembering the moment fondly, but as it was Ethan she was talking about, she also thought about him sadly, knowing the poor guy was in Hell and a demon's bitch. Fia listened to the story, having heard it before not just from future Kay but also from Sam, so she knew instantly that Kay was meaning Ethan. She instinctively put her hand on Kay's out of comfort.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John guessed from Kay's story and the pieces he knew of her past that it was the demon possesed friend that she was referring too, and judging by Fia's reaction, somebody had told her that story in the future. Kay's story brought a smirk of amusement to Nat's face. "My group isn't that bad thankfully, they were doubtful I could actually cook at first, but it only took one meal to change their minds." "Now he has the opposite problems, everyone in the building wants him to cook for him" Charlie smirked, as Nat groaned in embarrassment. It was true that practically his whole back wanted the leftovers. "Don't you start on that Charlie, please, it's bad enough that some of my friends keep trying to persuade me to do culinary courses in my spare time."

"They do?" Cliff's parents replied in almost but not quite perfect unison. "Yes, they do, it's really annoying, and my time table is full enough as it is already." He complained, pushing the glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "I told them if I took any more courses I'd have to stop cooking for them. That shut them up." "You tell 'em middle brother." Charlie grinned. "That nickname is so unimaginative" Cal smirked, which resulted in a wooden skewer being thrown at her head (which Cal set ablaze so it fell harmlessly to the ground as a pile of ash). "When you have this many siblings it gets hard to come up with anything imaginative." Elliott was watching the siblings with great interest, this was the kind of family dynamic he never had in his life with his only sibling millions of miles away, he couldn't help but try to imagine what it would be like to grow up with so many siblings. "Cliff's right about you guys being crazy, but in a good way."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened to Nat's reply, seeing he was clearly amused by her story. To her it was still amusing and she did remember how much crap she gave Ethan for making such a rookie mistake, but it so brought a lot of pain mentally to her still, as she never really took out time to accept Ethan was truly gone. She smirked and chuckled at Charlie adding to Nat's reply, which made him groan in embarrassment.

She continued to listen to the rest of the chatter, being amused by some of it and glad that it wasn't ever that bad for her time in university. Though she only got to be there for about a year and a half before it all kicked off and her life took a massive u-turn, leading her straight to John and Chas and subsequently into the rest of their lives. She also noticed how interested Elliott was watching them all, guessing it was down to not being able to grow up with Cal in his life for so many years. Fia also watched on both with I detest and amusement. She couldn't ever openly say it whilst they were here, but it did remind her of her upbringing around Elliott, and little did he know but he was just as much like Cliff's siblings were to each other, to her. Yet for the sake of their 'holiday', she only had Kay as an older sibling.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Well it's a relief to know she hasn't been bad mouthing us." Benji replied with a gri, identical to that of his siblings and his parents. It was the one feature they all shared. "Weeeell, I wouldn't go quite that far, your name has been mentioned in the same sentence as 'utter idiot' quite a few times." Cal smirked, as Cliff went to put a hand over her fiancé's mouth. "Don't listen to her." "But I want to though, I like where this is going." Matteo replied. "Well since you are so interested, your name was mentioned along with 'infuriating' 'little' and 'shit' in that order." Cliff retorted as the others laughed as he walked himself right into that trap.

The bickering continued for the rest of the evening, broken up by various stories, John and Chas had people in stitches with their tales of stupid things John had done in his youth, with Chas fact checking constantly. At one point a text came through from Rinaa asking somebody to set aside some of those delicious seafood skewers, she could smell them from the boat and was starving, but couldn't go near the fire for obvious reasons. By the time they'd finished eating the fire was dying out, and it had become dark, revealing a spectacular star scene. There was no light or air pollution to obscure the stars and the weather was clear. It was a totally different star scape to what anybody from Earth was used to, so Cliff and her siblings pointed out a few basic constellations explaining the stories behind them.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia both laughed as the banter and fake bickering went on, it was only a matter of time until one of them walked into the trap of what was said about them all, and Cliff didn't disappoint with her retort. They both listened and laughed to stories said by John and Chas, as well as adding their own when someone said something that reminded them of a time of their own. Kay naturally had more to tell than Fia, as most of the stories would have resulted in screwing up the timeline or giving away the fact she was in fact not Kay's sister, but her and John's daughter. That didn't stop some stories being able to be said though, that wouldn't even matter if Kay and John heard them.

Kay just loved the whole atmosphere of the whole evening, not to mention she loved hearing more about John's past and his youthful days. It taught her more about him, which she always loved to do, as her own stories taught him more about her. With the night sky being so clear, she looked up seeing the stars, listening to the constellations that were pointed out to them all. It was incredible and it took Kay's breath away seeing it all. Fia loved seeing it all as well, so much so she didn't even take her phone out to take photos, she just enjoyed what she was witnessing. For her, this was the perfect type of night to bust out her violin, if she didn't leave it in The House as it was so inspiring. "It's so beautiful" Kay commented, just imagining herself in flight on a night like this.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John took note of the mythology and how some of it was almost identical to that of Earth. The same themes were recurring, hunters, animals, life, death, afterlife. Evne the stories of the gods sounded similar to those of Earth, just with different names and different symbols. He enjoyed listened to the others stories, and didn't mind Chas' interruptions. John also enjoyed listening to the stories Kay was wiling to share and the few Fia could share and he could tell by their (unsuccessful) attempts to suppress their laughter that they were enjoying his stories of stupidity that may or may not have been a consequence of alcohol. Cliff's parents also produced some surprisingly interesting stories frik their respective teenage years, both had been semi-professional racers at one point.

"It really is quite something else here, you came at a great time, even if the circumstances weren't." "We get a wedding out of it, so it's not all that bad. This place, from the little ice seen is amazing, and I think I speka for everybody on that." "Certainly for me." "And me." The fire was reduced down to mere ember's at this point, which Cal carefully extinguished, kicking them over with dirt as they began making their way back towards the respective houses. Cal lit one of the remaining logs on fire to act as a torch to give light as nobody possesed night vision. Cal and Cliff lead the way, knowing it well. The drop was a dangerous one, and a wrong landing would be fatal. Down below the harbour could be seen, the water rippling and distorting the reflection of the moons. A figure could just about be made out standing on top of the roof of one of the boats, guitar in her hand.

 

[MzHyde]

Similar to John, some of Kay's stories involved alcohol, namely one Halloween/birthday of Sam's (which she just said was a Halloween party) that involved an extremely drunk Kay in a latex devil costume and dancing on a bar coyote ugly style. It was not her proudest moment and if it wasn't for Sam videoing it with great delight, and reminding her in great detail, she wouldn't have ever remembered it. It was a rare time she managed to get properly drunk due to not caring how much she put back (enough that would have put a normal person in hospital) as she didn't particularly want to be involved that one year. Yet it always made for a funny story to tell.

As they all spoke about the night sky, Fia and Kay listened, and agrees with Elliott that wasn't all a bad reason to be here. "Definitely for myself and Fia" Kay spoke for the both of them in agreement. With the campfire extinguished properly, and making their way back to their each houses, she stayed close to John and Fia to make sure she didn't fall over or something equally as clumsy. She wouldn't have put it passed her to be that person as she was that person after who fell of John's couch wrapped in a blanket in front of John, much to his amusement. Fia looked out at the harbour and saw Rinaa on the roof of one of the houseboats playing guitar.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The ground sloped downwards towards the harbour. There were no official path, just well trodden grass. Cliff kpet safely away from the edge, but there had been numerous times spent skirting the edge as a kid, seeing who could look over furthest without falling in. As they approached sea level, the guitar could just barely be heard over the sounds of the sea and occasional seabird. The accompanying vocals were even fainter, Cliff's hearing aids couldn't pick them up, but Jay could just about. The melody was haunting, yet powerful (or so it seemed to her from the little she could make out of it). "Is she singing, or am I just hearing things." "There's something more there alright, can't make out any words though."

The others craned their heads listening, but the music quickly cut out. "I didn't hear anything" Matteo shrugged, kicking the dirt by his feet. "Nor will you. She's got severe performance anxiety in front of family, which you all are now by extension." "In other words, basically no chance of a duet Matteo at the wedding. I know what you're thinking." "Who said I was singing at the wedding?" Matteo eyed up his siblings who all shook their heads, indicating that they'd said nothing. "It's pretty obvious you will. You love a chance to show off in front of a crowd and you sang at the lats family gathering. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Plus you're the only one of us with any amount of musical talent."

 

[MzHyde]

Neither Fia or Kay could hear Rinaa singing, just like the others, but they could hear the faintest melody of a guitar being played. Even if they couldn't hear it, it was pretty obvious from the silouette what was happening on that rooftop. Both girls smirked at Jay and Cliff shutting down Matteo's unspoken idea whilst saying why Rinaa wouldn't ever do what she was in front of them. They heard Cliff's reasonings for how she figured it out and just found it slightly amusing, only for the last bit to be considered interesting to Fia.

"Oh really?" Fia asked, aiming it more at Matteo. "How so?" She added, deciding to walk a bit closer to Matteo just so they could talk better and not through other people. Kay watched, raising an eyebrow at Fia's action, but left her to it, she knew how far to take things to keep the lie up, so Kay wasn't all that worried. "aaaaand we've lost the kid to another topic. It really was only a matter of time" Kay smirked. She then decided if Matteo and Fia were talk with each other for a while, she'd leave her to it, letting her have a normal time for a change.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas was amused at just how quickly Jay and Cliff managed to double team Fia and shut her down. The two had clearly bonded with each other on the trip over and on those days where they were alone together in the apartment. Cliff's deductive reasoning was as impressive as ever, even though this was her family who she'd known all her life. "Yeah really. Cliff can't do music for shit, but that's due to being deaf and not being able to hear the muisc properly. Benji doesn't have the interest. Charlie played cello when she was younger, but gave it up once she discovered boxing. Nat never bothered, never had the interest in it. As for me? I can sing. When I was younger I used to be able to do a pretty decent alto, but one my voice broke I went down to a tenor, with the occasional low alto notes. I've messed around with various instruments, but never quite found one that suited me." Matteo explained as the two drifted away from the main group.

"Yep, it was. But it's a good sign." John replied looking at the two of them as they talked. There was potential for a great friendship, but as usual time travel was preventing that from being fully realised. As they were talking Elliott and Jay mad é their way over to Cliff's family to thank them for the food, the company and the excellent night they'd provided. "Hey John" Elliott called over, briefly interrupting the conversation with Kay. "We're going to the boat, probably gonna kip there for the night too. Just so you know where to find us." "Got it, night then Ell, night Jay." "Night you two, tell Art I say hi and hope she's feeling better." Chas called over, using Rinaa's assumed name, figuring it was best to practice with it.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to Matteo, finding a lot of the reasons made reasonable sense to why none of his siblings picked up music or stuck with it. She found it interesting that Matteo for a while played cello, having not taken him for the type, but then she wasn't exactly certain she looked the type to play violin, especially with the music background of the rest of her family. "That's cool, I play violin, but not classical stuff. I wrote my own stuff mostly but know how to play established stuff too. I'm able to sing but I dont much as I much prefer playing rather than singing." She explained, before continuing. "Music is kind of in my family on both sides. My sister has the talent too, she plays piano mostly and sings, John used to sing and play guitar in a punk band, Chas was the drummer..Elliott plays guitar as well...it was kind of bred into me I guess!" She smirked, completely unaware she was even being watched over by Kay and John.

Kay nodded in agreement at John's words. It was a good sign, even if it wasn't to be permanent. She just wanted Fia happy and genuinely so, and in her eyes a temporary friendship had to be better than none, like Fia had grown up with. "Agreed, and music clearly makes her happy to talk about" she replied, as Elliott briefly interrupted them to let them know how they were playing the evening. "Night guys" Kay added, before looking over at Fia, she debated whether to tell her not to stay up late or not, or just leave her be.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Charlie's cello playing came as quite a surprise to those who knew her. She'd started learning it young, something different from the fishing and hunting lifestyle, a distraction from school work she said, and she did enjoy it. But as a teenager she discovered boxing and feel in love with the sport. When it came to making a choice it was easy. The cello was rarely used any more, kept in the attic. Matteo listened with genuine interest as Fia explained her musical connection. "Wow, you write your own stuff?" He was impressed there was no mistaking that. "You've clearly got talent, I on the other hand can't write music to save my life and kind of read it given all the instruments I've experimented with."

"Yeah, it's clearly in the DNA somewhere, even if Cliff says that isn't medically possible, you've basically got a full band between you guys, though I suspect you've never actually all played together, or am I wrong on that?" Matteo finished with a grin, then checked his watch, noting the time. "Well it is one of her favourite hobbies and it's a universal thing." John shrugged as the group made their way towards the houses. "Plus it is not on Cliff's 'do not talk about' list." Two of the dogs were asleep, but the third (not Meyer) was awake and watching the group from the window.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia could tell that Matteo was genuinely interested and it made her so happy inside that she could talk to someone who genuinely wanted to hear what she was enthusing about. Someone other than family that is. She chuckled and smiled at Matteo's reply before nodding her confirmation on the writing her own stuff. "yeah, it just...kinda comes naturally to me, like it does with my sister. I can show you some of my stuff over the next few days if you want? Got recordings and videos on my phone, as well as my violin with me" She replied. She had to smirk at the comment about their family practically being a band, as if reminded her of when Chas said it in Cliff and Cal's apartment only days ago. "Yeah I guess we are and no we haven't...but I want to at some point." She added, deciding to lie was better than telling the truth, as in her timeline her and Elliott played a few times together, but that was it. "As for the whole being in the blood...Cliff wouldn't be fully right. It literally is in mine and sister's blood. We're phoenix's and our entire history revolves around music and rebirth" she explained, deciding it was okay to divulge that information as it was only a fact that they couldn't exactly hide forever. Especially as Cliff had already warned them that Kay wasn't exactly human, even if Fia didn't know that's what was said, she guessed it would have come up.

Kay nodded in agreement to both John and Chas' words, finding it all that more reassuring that they all agreed with each other. She then overheard Fia say what her and Kay were and just shrugged it off. It would have no doubted come out eventually so it didn't bother her. She trusted Fia to be careful with what she said to people, and she couldn't remember if Cliff told them not to mention it or not. "Fia you coming to The House now or staying up for a bit?" She asked. "On my way, just give me a second..I'll catch up!" Fia replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Matteo was delighted that Fia would be up for sharing some of her music with him. He probably would have asked could he hear/see it if she hadn't been so upfront in volunteering it. "I'd be totally down for that. I'll trade you some of mine if you're interested? It's mainly just covers of stuff or me messing around with a couple of friends. And there's various ones of me trying out almost any instrument I can get my hnads on. Still haven't found one that feels right. Matteo gave a sigh of annoyance at that. He believed that somewhere there had to be an ideal instrument for him, but he had no idea what it was. He smirked when Fia declared that Cliff wouldn't be fully right on the topic. It was rare that Cliff was wrong on something related to medicine, but she wasn't infallible, nor did she know everything (as she frequently reminded her youngest brother).

His eyebrows came together in thought as Fia mention what exactly she was, a million and one questions already rushing to mind, but he bit back his tongue. "That makes sense, in some strange way y'know. There are species where skills and knowledge is hereditary. Or at least if my sister is to be believed, and she did spend all those years in medical school." He paused, scratching at the side of his neck in whatny member of his family could indetify as embrassment. In this case embarrassment about nky even knowing what a pheonix was until a few hours ago. "Cliff told us that your race was believed to be little more than a myth on your homeworld, but couldn't really give much detail on the matter. There isn't really an equivilant mythology on this planet, we tend to be more water based, so she ended up explaining it as the aqua bird of our lore, but with fire instead of water."

At those words from Matteo, John looked over at Cliff who just shrugged. "Water is the dominant element here, the prvidor and the destroyer. Attil lore and the little I know of Earth lore have a better balence of elements." Cliff then turned to Fia. "Did you volunteer for the morning dog walking shift or just whenever they feel like exercise?"