Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Kay listened to the chat that was going on about wings and how they're naturally ticklish. She had never been more grateful that hers could disappear. Jay wasn't the only one who else an eyebrow at the rabbit comment, Kay did also, curious to how an animal would get stuck in feathered wings. She listened to the answer given and couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "How'd you get the rabbit out?" She asked, strangely curious.

Walking the different route with Matteo, she smiled hearing that the dogs did actually miss her, and especially Meyer. She couldn't help but shrug and chuckle at the comment about her giving Meyer the most fuss. She also found the state of his blonde hair rather amusing. "What can I say? Us girls just stick together!" She joked, before hearing what he added about her playing and it actually made her blush. Something that not many people could even accomplish with her. "Really? I'm surprised. I know I have talent but I don't see my talent any better than anyone else really. I just play what I feel." She explained. "I just put all my spare time into practicing really and messing around with it. I started off learning covers from films and such and it just went from there" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John's eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline when Moya just off-handedly mentioned a rabbit getting stuck in her wings. This was a story he was very much interested in hearing, and the winged girl seemed only too happy to tell it. "Very carefully, but three feathers got yanked out in the process, I had a bad patch about here" she unfurled one wing slightly and indicated a point near the bottom of her wing. "And it didn't help that my friend didn't stop laughing the entire time." "Let's be honest here, it probably looked hilarious." Chas chuckled, imagining the confused state of the poor animal. "I have no doubt that it did. The rabbit was perfectly fine after don't worry." "Got anything else interesting stuck in your wings?" Cliff asked, with a sparkle of amusement in her eyes. "Not really, the rest has been pretty standard, hair clippings,which happens every time I get a haircut, loose bits of thread and scraps of fabric, lint, chewing gum, which is utterly disgusting by the way" Moya added seeing the looks of disgust on the others faces "and velcro bits, that's the downside of doing fashion design as your uni course and general hobby."

"Sure, sure" Matteo rolled his eyes, privately thinking that that phrase was total shit. He'd grown up in a mixed household with people of all genders, ages, sexual orientation and now with people from different planets. He was open and accepting, with very few biases or prejudices, which made him ways to be around. Fia's reaction to his praise surprised him. "That's the sign of real talent y'know. Having talent, yet constantly trying to downplay it and refusing to make a big deal out of it. It's the bets way to be really. And with music, the hardest thing to do is to put your heart, soul and emotions into it. Often runs the risk of becoming too emotional or revealing something about you that you don't want others to know. If that makes any sense?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay continued to listen to the story and how the rabbit was removed from the wings. She could imagine how painful it would have been to have feather yanked out in the process, even if it would have been quite the amusing sight to see a rabbit scrambling in a wing trying to get out. She looked at where the patch would have been and noted how well her wing healed up. She nodded glad that the rabbit was fine after its little ordeal. She wasn't surprised that out of all of them still in the room, it was Cliff that asked if anything else had ever been stuck in them. She smirked at the long list of things and she was definitely disgusted at the idea of chewing gum being stuck. It was bad enough getting it stuck in your hair or on the bottom of your shoe.

Fia just smirked at him rolling his eyes at her little remark, nudging him in the arm. She didn't really mean anything by her comment, it was just one of those things that came out of her mouth. She didn't have any prejudice against anyone or anything. She only hated demons and anything else that hunted her family, but in her eyes that was utterly justifiable. She then listened to what he said, seeing the surprise in his reaction about how she reacted. She then listened to what he was saying and nodded, understanding where he was coming from. "Yeah.. I get what you mean. I try and hide some of the more personal pieces but every now and then they get heard. Can't be helped really living in a small apartment. It's bound to happen, I'm just glad that my music doesn't include lyrics" she smiled.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Artemis did mention that's what you do, when not in the motorbike shop of course. I take it that you started clothing design due to your wings?" Jay knew damn well that was why Moya had started making her own clothes, just as Rinaa knew that Jay knew and was testing the other girl. "That's exactly what happened. They don't exactly make clothes with wings in mind. When I was a little kid it wasn't too bad, the wings were small enough and could be folded under really baggy clothes. But the wings grew so big that it just became impossible to fit them under clothes, so I started modifying things so they'd have wing slots. Then it became a way of replicating clothing I saw, more high end stuff. Meant I could wear things like leather jackets or form fitting clothes without having to fret about altering store boughf things to fit. Though it was a lot of trail and error really."

Matteo listened as Fia talked about her music, leading the way through one of the forest trails, a narrow, worn dirt path one he knew so well he could probabaly tread it blindfolded. "Yeah I get that, lack of privacy is kinda the norm here, but I figured out that I can practice singing out in the woods or in the boats and I'll usually get some privacy. And I agree on lyrics, one hundred percent. They're the biggest disadvantage of being a singer like I am. Every. Damn. Thing has lyrics. Sure you can do it without putting in the emotion, but that never feels right, never feels like you're not doing the song justice. That's probably why I wnat to take up an instrument, so I have an alternative to bearing my soul in front of entire crowds. Not that I have stage fright, it's just some things are better left unsaid or unsung."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay remembered about Rinaa telling them all that Moya had to make her own clothes to fit around having wings, and even she could tell that this was Jay's way of testing the girl. She only recognised it due to the fact that if this was Fia in the situation with someone she likes, Kay would be doing exactly the same thing very gladly. She damn well knew John and Elliott would be drilling whoever Did eventually meets, so it was only clear that Jay would be doing this for Rinaa's possible girlfriend. "Makes sense, there's oddly satisfying about modifying clothing at the slightest." Kay commented, as she would rip or slash her own t-shirts or vests. Or at least, used to when on the streets in the summer months. It's the reason a lot of her original vests have such low sides.

Fia continued walking beside him as they talked and kept an eye on the dogs. She took in their surroundings whilst listening to what Matteo had to say the whole time. She nodded at his words, understanding where he was coming from wholeheartedly. "It's a reason I dont particularly like singing so much. It's my weakest attribute, despite the links to my race and singing. I just prefer the violin and to use that as my voice instead. Much prefer to leave the singing to Kay, yet even then I can't remember the last time I heard her actually sing. It's been years come to think of it." She replied, going off on a slight tandem as she talked. She checked her pocket and found a hair tie in there, deciding to tie up half her hair, just to get a lot of it out if her face, the shelter strands falling out and framing her face, much to her dislike.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing JAY." Rinaa called over as she came back in with a drink in each hand placing particular emphasis on the last word of the sentence. Jay just shrugged and smirked, a wide grin that ever so slightly verged on sinister. "Well I am technically your legal guardian, so it is my job." "And I'm technically a legal adult by the laws of various planets, including your birth planet." Rinaa replied, setting done the drinks, casually flipping Jay off in the process. "And I was trained in interrogation tactics, so this is me 'playing nice' like you suggested I do." Jay's air quotes gesture perfectly showed the seriousness and the playfulness of their exchange. There was a hint of a smile on both their faces, and Moya was looking decidedly amused by this game of verbal tennis.


"Yeah, I get what you mean." Matteo nodded, turning along a different path, which led up a hilly slope, the dogs already eagerly running ahead. "Once you exclude singing in the shower and deliberately awful karaoke, I'm the only one with any real musical talent in the family. My Pá can sing a bit and Charlie plays drums only when there's nobody else around to. Cliff doesn't have any musical talents by the way whicchh is probably a good thing as she'd have had to give it up after she lost her hearing." He touched his ear unconsciously as he said that. At the time Cliff had become deaf he'd been barely old enough to understand what was going on. Their house had been filled with worried nervous tension for weeks afterwards. "The rest of your extended family group are quite musical yeah? Or am I making that up?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay found the whole thing amusing. Hearing Rinaa trying to make Kay not drill Moya was just entertaining, especially when Rinaa brought up the whole age thing. "Doesn't matter how old you are, it'll always happen" Kay spoke up, remembering the many times she'd drill the new girlfriend of Sam's to make sure they were good enough for her sister, and vise versa. She also knew if Sam was to come back into her life she'd definitely be questioning John about anything everything to make a point, that even as adults she still wanted the best for Kay.

Fia smiled when the dogs ran on ahead up the slope as she watched them do so, whilst keeping focused on what Matteo was telling her. She nodded at his words, seeming to remember something along those lines be mentioned before. She also noticed how he touched his ear when speaking about Cliff, but said nothing about it. "Yeah, John and Chas used to be in a punk band together called Mucus Membrane...don't ask, I don't get the name either. John on guitar and vocals and Chas on drums. Elliott and Artemis both play guitar and sing also, I think Jay can too, but I don't really ever see her play anything so not sure hundred percent on that one. Then there's Kay, who as I said can sing, but she also plays the piano" she explained, confirming that his assumption was indeed correct. As she said if all, it really did bring home how much music was such a large part of her family's life. There was seemingly also a pattern of most of them drawing to the guitar compared to other instruments. Herself and Kay bring the two that could play something completely different.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa sighed in agreement with Kay's words, she knew the woman was right, but it didn't make it any less annoying. Though thankfully this Jay had no ammunition on her past relationships. "I know, I know. But at least it work in my favour that my dearest cousin has no baby photos of me." There was no photos of either Rinaa or Leah as a baby, their accelerated growth meant they completely ignored baby stage heading straight to the dimensions and skillset of a four years old in less than a week. "Pity really" Moya smirked, her golden eyes alight with mischief. "I'd totally fulfill my role as wanting to see them and pour over them for at least an hour while you get steadily more embarassed." "And besides, baby photos are nowhere near as interesting as the other stuff like the time I tested a pair of jet boots and ended up in a tree."

Matteo had heard about the others instruments playing instruments through off-hand remarks that none of the others ahd followed up from. He too noticed that most were drawn towards vocals and some form of guitar,which he supposed came from the fact that guitar was one of the easier instruments to pick up as a teenager, and never quite seemed to go out of fashion as the stereotypical teenager instrument. He raised an eyebrow at the band name, his mouth opening to ask, but Fia beat him to it with her explanation. "Well names don't really have to mean anything I suppose, they have to sound good. You probably wouldn't know, but space pirates are a thing, and one of the crews is captained by somebody named 'Robin DeBanks'." His words were delivered with a grin, wondering if Fia would believe him or not.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay wondered how Rinaa would take her butting into the conversation the way she did, but luckily she seemed to take it in her stride which she was thankful for. She didn't want to particularly anger Rinaa, though if it was a choice between herself or Fia, she'd rather take the brunt of it in Fia's place. She smirked at the baby photo comment, knowing she had a very valid point. That was one thing that they both had in common as being adopted at age 9, meant no baby photos remained in her life to be used as a tool to embarrass her. She chuckled at Moya joined in saying she would very much enjoy seeing them if they existed and she decided then and there that she liked this girl. Although Fia had seen the photo and video of Rinaa in a tree, Kay hadn't, and she rose an eyebrow at the story.

Fia nodded at Matteo's initial words about names not having to mean anything, knowing he had a valid point there. Yet the nod stopped and her eyebrows raised when he mentioned about one particular space pirate's name. "You're kidding" she replied, not sure whether to believe it was true or not. She also wasn't sure whether to think it was utterly genius or utterly stupid or both. "You gotta be pulling my leg on this one" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay's eyebrows rose upwards in a far controlled fashion than the others in the room. Chas' reaction was to snort quietly with laughter, John's eyebrows had shot upwards and Elliott was giving his daughter that look that said 'I can't tell if you're pulling my leg or not' . "I gotta see proof of this." Cliff replied, in a split mind over whether what Rinaa said was true, on one hand it wasn't unbelievable that she'd test out a pair of jet boots, but on the other it seemed crazy that it would be done anywhere near a tree. "Yeah Artemis, it's not just enough to be incredibly hot, smart and say things like that, you gotta prove it." Moya smirked playfully leaning forwards. "Well lucky for you, I happen to have it on me" Rinaa smirked in reply, pulling the USB from around her neck and plugging into the side of the television.

She searched through the various files before finding the one she was looking for. The files were all labelled with a numbered facility (usually number 53), a test date, location and a mention if what they were testing. "I didn't work on every single one of these, before you ask, this files is specifically for things that went horribly and hilariously wrong." She explained, pressing play on the file. The camera opened with a shot of Rinaa in the jet boots and hand stabilisers, goggles on (along with some various other protective pieces. She launched slightly jerkily unused to the mechanisms, but the determination and concentration on her face were clear. The flight was going well, her putting it through its paces, until the call of 'Hey Mark Watney! Dodge this!" followed by the blue vibrational blasts that emanated from somewhere off-screen, hitting Rinaa Square on, causing her to spiral out of control and into a tree. The footage became shaky as the camera person ran over to check if she was okay. It refocusing, showing Rinaa tangled up in the tree's highest branches. But Rinaa didn't stay there for long, the movement of checking who was down below causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground, hitting every branch between her and said ground in the process. Rinaa ended up face planted after what could only be described as the most undignified and graceless descent from a tree. Her reply of 'Ya I'm good.....definitely.....pretty sure I'm fine.....maybe....owww' reduced those watching to stitches, as did Rina throwing the person who offered her a hand up (the same person who'd hit her with vibrational blasts) over her shoulder, making them slam onto the ground.

Matteo shook his head "I'm not seriously, that's their actual name." He passed to ammend his first statement slightly. "Well alias, whatever their real name is is unknown. Robin DeBenks is the most favoured alias, but there's some other variations like Robin Loot or Robin Gold, that sort of thing. They're notorious, not just for being pirates, but for carrying out complex heists usually on freighter ships and having a pretty good moral code, even if it's not exactly in with the legal code. Their ship is called 'The Mechanically Banjaxed' and I can't decide if that's genius or not. There's a lot of rumours about them, but they're definitely real."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay watched the banter going on and smirked at what Moya said to her in particular. She watched as Rinaa got up to provide the proof that yes, she did in fact go flying into a tree and fall out in the most undignified manner possible. She had to admit, it was highly entertaining to watch and extremely funny. She found more amusing because it seemed like it wasn't even Rinaa in the video, that it was a completely different girl they were watching, yet she did see it as a bad thing in the slightest.

Fia went wide eyed before just laughing at it. She continued to listen to him about who these.space pirates were, what the other names were and so forth. "That's insane and I think I'd lean toward genius with the names. I wish I could tell you some kind of story of that sort of person on earth, but sadly I can't. I do however have plenty of stories of 'family hunting trips' as I dub them and training days. But when I say hunting it's not deer or fish, it's demons and anything else that goes bump in the night so to speak." She replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Could you possibly have hit any more branches while falling out of that tree?" Elliott asked, once they'd all finished laughing at the clip. Rinaa looked so at ease and so open throughout the clip, even when she was throwing another person over her shoulder, her eyes were sparkling with something that could only be described as 'life'. The fact that the blast was so unexpected just made things even funnier. Chas got a sense that the girl in the video was the person Rinaa was supposed to be. "Ha ha ha." Rinaa rolled her eyes, drawing out each syllable. "Remind me never to get on your wrong side, if that's how you deal with that kind of joker." Benji remarked. "So what happened with the jet boots after? They looked like a hell of a lot of fun." "Oh they were, believe me. We fixed them up, tested them, this time properly, then sold them on to the client, they were a commission y'see. And before you ask, no not all my days working at the lab were like that." "What she means is that all the other days were just crazy lab parties, funded by government money." Chas smirked in a 'am I right or am I right?' tone.

Matteo nodded in agreement, enjoying Fia's facial gymnastics in reaction to his words. "Yeah, I think genius too. They're pretty infamous and I'd give a minor organ to meet them, or at least see them in action in person." He gave a grin before adding "Don't tell Cliff I said that or she'll put me on an organ donors list. And besides, it's all relative anyway, you guys don't ahve the kind of interplanetary travel we do, just like a load of systems don't have any kind of 'surpernatural' influences on them. Some planets are.... hotsposts I suppose you'd call them. And all of us having different stories keeps things interesting, got any good ones?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay laughed when Elliott made a remark like he did. She was pretty sure they were thinking along the same lines, but it took Elliott to actually say it. She listened to the story of what happened to the jet boots afterward and then smirked when Chas came out with what he did, remembering the stories that Rinaa had told them before about using government money to go on vacations.

Fia nodded, guessing that the reasons he gave were precisely why there was differences. She also smirked when he said not telling Cliff about what he'd do to see the pirates in person and chuckled. "don't worry, secret is safe with me" she told him reassuringly. She then thought for a moment about which story she could tell him of one of the many she had in her head. She then decided on one and smiled, "okay...not sure if you'd consider it a good one or not but it was during training one day. Well..it started off as training and turned into a full blown real fight with a rogue lesser demon." She began. "I was training in an abandoned building site, mostly things like parkour and such, but was also doing my dagger combat training as there's plenty of things in such a place to throw daggers. So anyway...it was one of those days where the person I train with starts at one end of the site and me the other and I have to try and hunt them down. I was doing that and all was great for a good two hours as we did it a few times. When suddenly a rogue bloody demon shows up, comes after me when I'm on a rooftop, hanging off the support beams. I'm thinking 'great! Can put my skills to the test!' right? Only to be utterly distracted, the demon comes for me and knocks me off the beams. I only JUST manage to save myself before hitting the ground on my back all while casting the spell to send the demon back to Hell in midair" she tells the story, remembering it fondly as it was one training day with John.

"And as a bloody compliment? I get swiped from under my legs and pinned to the floor with the words 'good work but don't forget to always look behind you' before being helped up." She smirked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Thanks Chas" Rinaa answered sarcastically with an eye roll. "Now I can't even start denying that we have parties in the first place. Which are utterly awesome and far too much fun for their own good. Denying it would feel like being dishonest to my mates and coworkers. Though I'd like to add, on the record" she glanced at Charlie while saying that "that we don't sue government money for parties, we use the money from our partnership with Kane Labs and Wayne Tech. After all they are the ones who give us the more.....how shall I put it?.... unusual commisions like jet boots and motorbike mounted crossbows." John's eyebrows rose at the mention of Wyane Tech, and the look on Rinaa's face told him that she knew exactly what Wayne Tech did on the side and what illegal activities Mr Bruce Wayne got up too."So what's governmnet money used for?" Moya asked with a smirk. "Foriegn holidays and comic cons mainly. But that only happens whne they give us too much money. We put it under 'travel expenses' usually." Rinaa shrugged. "That's awesome, the whole thing, not just putting government money to better use than the politicians would" Nat declared, not needing to know anything about Earth politics to know that politicians would likely not spend money in the right places. "Got any more fails we can see?" "I might have a couple." Rinaa smirked in a way that made it pretty darn clear she had a whole load of them.

Matteo listened as she told the story, rapy with interest. His eyes weren't popping out of his head, but they were wide. The idea of the training session sounded pretty cool to him, a good way of learning through experience. At the end (and the punchline of the story), he sniggered, holding in the laughter, it was funny, even if it may seem slightly clichéd to some. "Well it is good advice, I'll say that much,certainly applies to hunting here. But yeah wow, that's something else really." He ran a hand through his hair, pausing for a moment to check the dogs were still within eye range. "Reminds me of this one time I was out spear fishing. Not in the river with the rope swing from the other day, a different river. So I'm moving from rock to rock, trying my best to do it as silently as possible, so as not to startle the fish. And I'm doing pretty damn well at it too. I stop at one of my favourite spots, a deep natural hollow at the side of the riverbed. All's normal, I'm rigging up a lure, then out of nowhere this river viper, as thick as my arm jumps out of the river, right at my face. And those guys are bloody terrifying close up, all teeth and attitude. I jump backwards in shock, trip over my own pack, go head over heels, whacking my head on the ground and going unconscious. When I wake up, I'm two metres up, suspended in the air by one leg. I'd accidentally triggered a different snare, one of my own. Took me about twenty minutes to get out of the stupid thing."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened to Rinaa feeling like she has to explain herself after Chas made the remark he did. She could see how interested Moya was, as well as noticing John's reaction at the mention of Wayne Tech. She was surprised to hear it, but not nearly as much as John was as she only knew of the company as something owned by the famous Bruce Wayne. She knew of it the same way as she knew of STAR labs. It was a company that existed and that was it to her. She listened as everyone spoke in general and smirked at Rinaa covering her back with what she said whilst in the presence of Charlie. Seeing her smirk as she said she has more fails, Kay just found herself noting how much nicer and different Rinaa was now Moya was around.

Fia smirked at Matteo's reaction, seeing how much he was holding in the laughter. Sure, it was a cliché at the end but that just seemed to be how her family were in her eyes. They all had their cliche moments and she wouldn't trade it for the world. As he said about it reminding him of one day he went out, she listened intently as she always did, as she checked on the dogs as well. She went slightly wide eyed at the mention of a river viper and how big it was before sniggering at the end of the story and what happened to him. "That's crazy, yet I can easily picture it" she smirked. "Closest to being caught in a trap I've gotten is when I got tangled up in my dog's leash and went flat on my face in public whilst on a run." She said back chuckling remembering that day all too well as it was relatively recent before she time travelled back to this time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Well I for one would be very interested in seeing them." Moya told Rinaa with a soft smile, one that the other teenager knew hse hadn't a hope in any of the circles of hell of saying no to. "Same here, who doesn't love to laugh at others fucking up?" "Either a weirdo or somebody with no sense of humour." "Well luckily somebody had the genius idea of making a failure compilation with highlights of each year in it. It works on the philosophy that if you can't laugh at your own mistakes you can't learn from them. Though sometimes people deliberately do stupid things for the laugh and we put those in too." Rinaa easily navigated through her files before finding one of her favourites and pressing play. The video consisted of both everyday mishaps (people tripping over cables and faceplanting, somebody throwing themselves on a beanbag, only for it to explode filling everywhere, a metallic boomerang that spiralled uncontrollably around the lab, scattering the employees into chaos, computer/security errors, somebody getting tangled up in the lighting rig and curtains being set up for a press conference) and deliberately stupid stuff (somebody attempting to ride a space hopper down the stairs, a teenage girl doing a professional waltz with a life sized model skeleton as her partner, somebody attempting to fire a crossbow using their feet, doing a handstand and wearing a welding mask for protection) and various other stuff. The footage was a mix of security camera tape, phone footage shot while the other was unaware and professional filming kit.

The fact that it was one of his own traps that had caught him made it all even worse. The only good thing that had come out of it was that Matteo now knew just how effective his traps were. He'd also remembered to have a knife in some kind of sheath on his person at all times. Usually it was on his calf or attached to his belt. Today it was the former. "Not my proudest moment, I'll admit that much." Matteo admitted as Fia snickered, his face very slightly flushing with embrassment. It was something he wasn't going to hear the end of anytime soon, just like how Cliff never heard the end of the time she'd been utterly drunk and crashed a speedboat into a cliff she should have seen coming from miles away. "Ouch! Yeah, that sucks, but it's just one of those things that happens as a dog owner." He replied in response to Fia's story, having tripped over a few dog leads in his time. "Fishing nets are the same, I don't know a single person who hasn't been on a boat and got tangled up in one at some point or another."

 

[MzHyde]

Seeing Moya smile at Rinaa in that way, Kay just watched on, guessing why that type of smile was being used. It was something similar to what she herself or Sam had used on partners before. It's just seemed to be the go to to use when someone wanted to wrap someone round their finger. Kay also had to agree with what Rinaa said, it was similar to what she was always told by her adoptive parents, 'if you can't laugh at yourself, then don't laugh at others'. She watched as Rinaa put on the montage of fails, whether be accidental or not, and a lot of them did not disappoint. She found them highly entertaining to watch, and she could tell that Rinaa clearly was enjoying herself when she was at the lab.

Fia noticed his face flush slightly out of embarrassment from his story which just made her smile. She nodded in agreement at Matteo's words, knowing it was just part of the deal of having a dog. Legitimately or secretly. "Yeah, luckily Max hasn't done it often to me, but he sure picked the most irritating time to do it in front of the most people possible in the park and I got covered in mud. Had to tell Kay and John that I just tripped in a pothole in the ground. Needless to say any time I go out now I get the 'watch out for potholes!' crap" She explained fondly.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Most of them had no idea what to expect from the compilation and found themselves shocked, suprised, amused and a few times questioning the sanity of the people Rinaa worked with. The video mainly focused on the interns, but the lead researchers got in on the action too, they were big encourages of 'playful science' knowing that it often lead to unexpected discoveries. The compilation was rough about eight minutes long and John, Chas, Elliott, Jay and Moya spent at least six of those laughing and groaning. Cliff's siblings were also highly enjoying it, though the language barrier proved a problem in certain places."Ye gods, that was bloody brilliant." John told Rinaa once the clips was over and he'd finished laughing. "What I want to know is how you get any work done with those kinds of antics going on." "Looks like an amazing place to work Artemis." Cliff smiled, liking this new relaxed, happier side they were seeing to Rinaa. The teenager removed the USB while Charlie strayed telling a couple of stories from work, mainly about the Christmas party shenanigans, which Benji used as an opportunity to find out if her work partner was coming to the wedding (which they were). Chas then gave some stories about crazy customers he'd had, including the one about the at lady who took at least twelve cats with her in the cab.

Matteo chuckled at Max' innate knolwdge of where the worst place in the park to fall was. He wouldn't be suprised if, on some level the dog had done it deliberately."It's a pretty good excuse I suppose. And that is kinda the purpose of older family members, be they biological or not,- to take incidents and make sure you never forget them." Once they reached the peak of that particular hill, Matteo stopped and let Fia take in the landscape around them. It was mainly trees and hills bits, with a glimpse of sea in places. When heading back to the main family house, he retraced the path they'd came along.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay also found herself laughing at a lot of the clips that were shown, and it truly felt like a monstage that she'd see on YouTube of great fails from people's stupidity, which was something she didn't understand why it was so popular to watch until Sam showed her some videos online once and from that moment on she was utterly hooked. They spent an entire night once just watching them, desperately trying to not wake their parents in the process. With it over, she listened to the stories that Charlie told aswell as the stories that Chas told. The cat lady one particularly made Kay both chuckle and roll her eyes at, amazed that there indeed people like that out there.

Fia smiled as he said it was as good an excuse as any, glad that she wasn't the only one who thought it was the best one to use. Especially as she shouldn't even be having Max the dog in the first place. "Oh I know that all too well. I swear, I thought it was bad enough with just Kay, then John, Chas and Elliott all came into my life and now I get it from every angle possible." She chuckled slightly, keeping up the fake background story. Reaching the peak of the hill, she took in the sight in front of her. It was utterly beautiful just like the rest of the place she had seen. She took a couple of minutes to truly take it all in, taking a quick snap for Chas, so she could recommend the view point later on before heading back with Matteo and the dogs.

 

[_gallifrog_]

As with all story telling sessions it became a 'who could get the biggest laughs' affair. The stories ranged from funny to truly bizarre, and Charlie seemed to have it in the bag with her story about the grizzled cop who rode through the entire precinct on a racehorse on the day of his retirement creating utter chaos. "I think I can do one better, but probably only John, Elliott and Chas will appreciate this one." She explained, leaning forwards slightly in her seat, knitting her fingers together. "Go on..." "Well it involves a certain Bruce Wayne......" Rinaa smirked, savoring the various micro expressions- anger, annoyance, intrigue and surprise- that flickered over John's face. His relationship with Bruce Wayne never changed in her timeline, neither could stand the other, but accepted that when it came to working together, the other was the best of a bad lot. "This is gonna be good then." Chas smirked.

"So anyway, Bruce often gives the lab I work at contracts for things, both public ventures and more personal stuff. If y'know what I mean. So it's not totally weird for him to show up without warning, but it doesn't happen often. The real head of the lab is a total fat cat, sits on arse and does NOTHING all day. So instead it's run by a coalition of other scientist, including a teenager, one of my friends, I'll call him Paco for the sake of this story. So anyone one day, this teenager in question has an old DeLorean car up on jackss and is doing work on the chassis underneath, draining oil and whatnot when Bruce comes along with another lab guy who's all like 'er Paco, bigwig here to see you, your needed up in the cortex right now. He looks pissed.' Only under the car he can't tell Bruce is there. Its pretty normal for clients to waltz in without warning and it's been a long day. He let's out this massive angry sigh followed by 'well please kindly tell him to fuck off I'm busy here, this is My damn lab and if he has a problem with waiting until I'm finished this delicate procedure then I'm gonna shove this monkey wrench so far up his arse he'll see it when he yawns' while gesturing with said wrench." John's jaw dropped at the sheer cheek of the guy, while Elliott and Chas burst out laughing trying to imagine just how Bruce would take it.


"And its never really the same when you remind them of things they've done because more often than not they've learned how to turn that story around and us wit against whoever told it in the first place." Matteo added. He was finding himself enjoying showing off the island to a stranger, in a way it wa like seeing it for the first time. Its beauty lost its effect on him, to him it was normal, but seeing Fia's reaction made him re-evaluate his thoughts they arrived back in the house on time to hear the round-up of one of Cal's stories from her teenage years aling with the whole od Rinaa's.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay like the others, laughed and cringed at some of the stories. She became intrigued when Rinaa said she could do one better and how it involved Bruce Wayne. She noticed all the facial expressions go across John's face, which made her now even more intrigued. She knew he didn't like Bruce, that much was obvious when Bruce came over and John made her and everyone else remain out of sight of the guy. She listened to the story intently, making sure she didn't miss a single part of it. When she said what the teenager came back with, she cringed at it thinking how that could have not gone well.

Fia nodded agreeing wholeheartedly at what Matteo said, "yes exactly! It's worse when you're the youngest too because they always manage to still get one up on you. It's so frustrating!" She replied, glad that she had someone who could totally get her and what it's like being the youngest in a family. Getting back to the house with him and the dogs, she heard the stories unfold, instantly realising this was another mass story time moment with people, which always seemed to strangely and discreetly get competitive. Or at least, in her timeline it did, and judging by Rinaa saying she can do one better, it clearly was the case here also. She listened to the Bruce Wayne story and looked slightly shocked, as she sat on the arm rest of Kay's chair.

 

[_gallifrog_]

While Cliff and her family may not know anything about Bruce Wayne, they all knew that one good guideline for life was to never insult your boss or the people giving you funding when they were anywhere within earshot. And to do it with such explicit gestures (that Rinaa helpfully demonstrated using a sheathed knife in place of a crowbar) just made it even worse. But for those who had the pleasure of meeting Bruce Wayne, it was even funnier, the guy took no shit and insulting him to his face was guaranteed to result in spectacular consequences. "Bloody Hells, I like the sound of this kid!" "you sound like you wnat to give this guy a medal." "John's just getting inspiration fro the next time he locks horns with Bruce." "Just to clarify this kid wasn't you." Jay asked, eyebrow raised skeptically, Rinaa wasn't telling the story with any hint that the teenager in question was her, but she wanted to be sure. "No, no, it wasn't me. I was the one escorting Wayne around."

"So what happened next? Is this kis now lying in a shallow grave somewhere?" John asked, leaning forwards with interest, practically on the edge of his seat. "So after Paco had given his spiel and I'm trying to decide whether to laugh, be embarrassed on behalf of my friend or to knock Bruce out and hope he gets amnesia." "A logical and sensible option." Jay smirked, with a gleam in her eye, that made it hard to tell whether she was joking or not. "Good guess, but no. What happens next is that Bruce clears his throat in that quite distinctive way of his and my friend drops the wrench in shock, goes silent and says 'he's heard all that hasn't he? I'm so fucking dead', the last part being muttered in Spanish before slowly sliding out from under the jacks, to confirm that that yes, this is happening to him. He was fully expecting to be fired and decided he had nothing to lose, so he looks Bruce dead in the face and goes 'I'm a little busy right now, but give me ten minutes and a coffee and we can talk business Mr Wayne' as cool calm and collected as possible, before sliding back underneath again. And the last time I saw this friend he still has a job in the labs and a truly awkward relationship with Bruce."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia both smirked when John said he instantly liked this mysterious kid that slagged off Bruce. It was of no surprise to either of them that he'd react that way in the slightest to the two of them. "As if John needs any inspiration for that" Fia cheekily grinned. They both then listened to the rest of the story of how it all went down, and both thought the kid got off pretty lightly if what was said about Bruce was anything to go by and was true. "Sounds to me they got off pretty light all things considered" Kay commented at the end of the story.

She then noticed how Fia had managed to trap hair when she roughly tied up her hair partially. So Kay being Kay, couldn't resist but to sort it out for her, making Fia wonder what she was doing before realising and just letting her get on with it. It was rare in Fia's timeline for Kay to do anything of the sort after Fia turned 10years old, so it was actually a nice surprise for the teenager.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Oh yeah, he certainly did get off lighter than any normal guy would. If he was a normal guy he'd have been fired and who knows what else. But my friend was lucky and had quite a few things in his favour, namely dirt on Bruce which he could use to sue the man, the fact that my friend was still a teenager at the time- a massive PR scandal- and the fact that he's basically a genius and like it or not, is one of the best at what he does and Bruce damn well knew that. But the long lasting effects were certain contracts being awarded to other labs instead of us, increased suspicion and paranoia and my friend installing a voice activated lock on his workshop. If I had to guess I think Bruce was secretly amused at the whole thing as my friend is kind of overdramtic anyway. And naturally neither us staff or Bruce ever let him live it down."

Nobody paid much attention to Fia getting her hair fixed by Kay. Even if none of them had seen it before, it just made sense, espescially as most of the people in the room had long haired siblings and friends. Rinaa tan a hand through her own hair, which was still cut in a sort of scruffy Bob. She'd had notions of styling her hair before the wedding itself, which reminded her of the fact that she was designated hairdressers for the brides. "For tomorrow am I only doing your hair and my own hair, or is there a whole list of clients?" She asked, leaning over towards Cal and Cliff. "Just us three unless anybody else wants in?"

 

[MzHyde]

As Kay fixed Fia's hair, both girls listened to what else Rinaa had to say about her friend getting off lightly, small smiles appearing on both their faces as it went on. It didn't take Kay all that long to fix what was wrong with Fia's hair, and gave her the unspoken tap on the back to let her know her hair was fixed. She didn't really think much of her actions, or hair for the wedding until Rinaa brought up the subject. She was fussy with her hair so as much as Rinaa was clearly talented with hair, she wasn't letting her near it. Fia was the same, only because it was completely hit or miss how the two were with each other when in the same room.

"We're good to do our own but the offer is appreciated" Kay said diplomatically. She figured the decline in the offer was better coming from her, rather than Fia and it seemed Fia thought the same thing as she got a nod of agreement. Fia also already had in mind how to do her hair, as did Kay. "Already know what I'm doing with mine and the bride's are way more important for having their hair done by someone else anyway" Fia added in as a polite tone as she could muster to keep the mood light.