Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

Moya nodded her greeting at them her hands being busy with a shaker. "Hi guys." "Nice to know there's somebody around unafraid of heckling this one" Rinaa smirked, gesturing her chin at Matteo, gaining a laugh from his friends. Matteo's friends were a mixed bag of people and races. Most evidently came from same planet that they were currently on judging by their gills and un-dyed hair. But three of them were completely different, two had their hair sculpted up into high crests, with diamond shaped pupils and a long, elegant body shape while the third one looked human with no visible differences between him and any of the other humans at the wedding. "Damn straight that's our job! Plus you don't turn down an all expenses paid trip to what is essentially a private island." Matteo raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? That's the only reason you guys came, I should be insulted." "Well that and we all think you'r family is awesome.."

There were various greetings from the group, Cal explaining that she was the older sister of the violin player and part of "the weird and wacky entourage that came after my brother when he decided that returning to Attil was a good idea." Dan was the oldest of the triplets by a few minutes, a few very important minutes he emphasised. Tomaz was the middle brother and Andy was the youngest. The two brothers still lived on their home planet, also working as blacksmiths, partners in their own business, but Dan had left the family business after he lost his child and showed no signs of wanting to go back, even if Attil wasn't tolerant of his magical abilities. "But none of us exactly do anything the easy way, so its not surprising in a way" Tomaz shrugged.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia took note of what Matteo's friends looked like but without being that person who just gawked at people in a creepy way. She smirked at the banter going round between their little group, laughing that his friends commented on the fact it was an all expenses paid invitation that they couldn't pass up. It was such a typical quip to give friends or family that she had to chuckle at it. "I've come to realise it's stupidly easy to get a ride out of you Matteo" she smirked and chuckled, as this was now at least the second time she's seen him react in a similar manner to something that was said in front of him or about him. Not that she could say she was any different, as she was pretty easy to wind up as well if people really decided to go for it.

Kay listened to the explanation and introduction of who she was to the others, chuckling at the end part of the introduction as it wasn't exactly false. They were a weird and wonderful group that would literally drop everything to go after Elliott, which they did. If still felt a little strange to say she was just Fia's older sister but it was getting much easier to hear and go along with, the more it was brought up. She listened to the introductions Dan gave of his other two brothers, smirking at the whole 'importance' of him being the eldest our of all of them. Listening to everything, she found it all interesting, and she had to chuckle at Tomaz's ending sentence. "likewise with this lot. It's never the easy way that happens" she smiled.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Matteo just shrugged, he knew he was far too easy to get a rise out of, which is why he ended up as the butt of so many jokes. In a way he didn't mind as it meant he had an extremely thick skin for actual insults and people who wanted to hurt him verbally had a much harder job of getting anything out of him. "I just have really obvious pressure points it seems." "Oh we all know that, especially when it comes to certain people" one of the girls smirked, placing enough emphasis on the last word to make it clear that she wasn't referring to his family. "I have no idea what you're insinuating" Matteo declared, keeping a completely straight face despite the presence of the three other teenagers who had been around earlier when Charlie spilled the beans."But I have a feeling I don't want to be sober for it. Moya, Artemis, one of you please hit me with some alcohol, something spicy if you don't mind."

"Sometimes I wonder if it would just be easier for him to do things the normal, easy way, without looking for the route with most obstacles possible in it." Andy replied as he scribbled down a drinks order and stuck it to the bar surface. "But then if he did, he wouldn't be our Danny and that would quite frankly suck." Dan looked at him suspiciously. "Are you finally mature enough to get all sentimental on us little brother, or this just a side effect of being at a wedding all about sentiment?" "It a well known, medically proved side affect of weddings, outbursts of uncontrollable sentiment from those in attendance as their brains liquefy and turn into glittery sparkles." Cliff smirked, gesturing for Cal to pass her a sticky note and pen. "And if the doc says it it must be true" Cal smirked.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia chuckled mentally giving Matteo props for at least acknowledging and knowing he's easy to get a rise out of and just accepting and owning it. She smirked when one of his mate made the hint about his obvious crush on some girl that was mentioned earlier making Fia chuckle some more. "This about that "not crush" he has?" She laughed, as Matteo declared he needed alcohol and not be sober now the roasting was beginning.

Kay listened smirking what what was being said, with the banter going on it was clear to her just how well the triplets got on with each other and deep down respected each other. She had to admit that weddings did create all kinds of sentimental feelings, opinions and emotions out of people. She chuckled at Cliff's remark, the mental image of having people's brains just a mush of glitter was a bit disconcerting bro her. She hated glitter with a passion because it just ended up everywhere for weeks on end and in places you didn't think was even possible. "I would hope not because glitter is the world's worst" she commented. "That shit gets everywhere, and I mean everywhere" she added, putting emphasis on the word when she repeated it.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Ar Fia's remark all head turned in her direction, clear surprise written all over their faces. Thy clearly weren't expecting some essentially random girl who'd known Matteo for less than a few days to find out about something that they'd been trying to figure out for at least a couple of months. The black haired guy went as far as to inhale half his drink in shock. "Drinks are for drinking, not snorting y'know." Moya quipped before passing the guy a napkin which he accepted gratefully. "How the hell does some random chick, no offence by the way, know about this within the space of barely a few days? Were you writing soppy poetry or something?" Matteo sighed, cursing Charlie internally before explaining. "Charlie being the omnipresent cop that she is, may or may not have blackmailed me earlier today."

"HAH!" One friend exclaimed with more glee than was strictly necessary."I knew there was a reason your sister was so awesome! I need to congratulate her immediately." One of the more sympathetic friends turned to the black haired boy "You okay Chris?" "Yeah, its just that I know I'm the new fish and all in this group, but how did I miss something like that?" He explained, wiping the remains of his drink from his face. Rinaa pushed an orangey-brown drink over to Matteo. "You're gonna need this if this turns into a shite fest, or just liquid courage in general for a long night." "Thanks." Matteo replied, taking a large swig, feeling the whiskey burn the back of his throat.

"I'm not gonna deny that" Cal told Kay as she put the sticky notes with her and Cliff's drinks orders on the bar (it also contained a note stating that this was the brides' drinks and deserved priority)."Some ass once set off a glitter bomb in the locker corridors in school when I was fifteen. I swear on my life that they are still finding glitter there to this day." Cliff nodded her agreement with that. "I remember that! Luckily I was in a different corridor for my locker. I still say it was Mya'Ti that did it. They never proved it, cameras had been knocked out earlier when somebody lost control and blasted an electromagnetic pulse which fried a lot of stuff." She added by means of explanation for the benefit of the two triplets and Kay who hadn't heard that story before.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia knew she was meant to keep that a secret but seeing as his friends hinted to it, she figured she would say it anyway. She also didn't want to pretend she was this sweet 'i wont say anything' girl just because they were his friends. She wanted to be herself around them, just like she would around anyone else. When the dark haired mate, who she would soon find out was called Chris, practically snorted his drink she laughed. "No offence taken" she replied when she got the 'random' girl. She kept listening in, nodding in agreement as Matteo explained if was because of Charlie that she knew about Matteo's crush. She then drank more of her drink before finding it soon was finished. "So...whose gonna come on the dance floor with me?" She asked, deciding to help Matteo out by changing the subject.

Kay knew that no one could really deny the horrors of glitter. She listened to the story that Cal was telling her, which Cliff elaborated on and she chuckled and groaned at in equal measures. "yeesh, yeah I can imagine there still being glitter around after that. Reminds me of this one time in university, my best mate Sam decided it's be a great idea to fill my hairdryer with the stuff once. I turned it on not knowing, wondering why Sam was peaking out round my doorframe and blasted in the face with multicoloured glitter, whilst almost damn near electrocuting myself in the process. She found it absolutely hysterical because if was stuck all over my face and in my hair. She also once it funny to glue glitter to my face for a party. Ever since I've hated the stuff" she told the story, pretty sure that Sam would still have the photos.

 

[_gallifrog_]

At the offer of dancing there were two distinct reactions from Matteo's group of friends, facial expressions that said 'hell yes I am so up for this' and 'not until I have for more alcohol in me will I consider it'. Matteo decided against going, gesturing at his drink"not right now, but definitely put me down for later." He told her taking another swig, he hadn't really tasted the first mouthful, but now that he tried it properly he found himself nodding appreciatively. It was a roughly fifty-fifty split with who decided that they were up for dancing while the rest descended on the food tables and drinks. Benji noticed them heading towards the dance floor and switched the track to something more upbeat.

The others laughed good humouredly at Kay's stories, groaning in annoyance while Cliff face planted. "Don't mention that around my siblings, they'll only get ideas." "Sounds like something we'd have done back in the day" Tomaz remarked. "And there would have been literal murder. Remember what you did to that asshole professor who lived near campus, Andy?" Dan remarked, to which his brother smirked "ohh yes, that was brilliant. This professor was a total pain to everybody, and there were load s of rape allegations against him, so a bunch of us decided to get back at him. We got this, like, military grade adhesive and stuck everything in his entire apartment to the ceiling, made a perfect replica of it, but on the ceiling and some even turned in photos and a report on it claiming it was their project work."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia looked around at the facial expressions to see who was up for it and who wasn't. She wasn't shocked that Matteo declined seeing as he only just got himself a drink. "You better, I'm gonna hold you to that!" She smirked at Matteo before going toward the dance floor with the ones who were up for it. She noticed how Benji put something more upbeat on as they went to the dance floor, appreciating it greatly and was glad that she left her violin with Kay earlier on. It didn't take her long to get into the beat of the music and danced with Matteo's friends, not like her seriously thought out dancing but it wasn't awful dancing either at this stage. It just her having a bit of fun and letting go.

Hearing Cliff say not to tell her siblings Kay wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. Having been on the receiving end of the prank, she wouldn't want anyone have to experience what she did. She was going to reassure Cliff she wouldn't do such a thing when Tomaz started recounting one of their memories of sticking stuff in places they weren't meant to be and she listened well. The moment they explained about the rape allegations she decided whatever they did to the professor, he would have deserved it if those allegations were indeed true. "That's brilliant. Don't say that to Fia, she'll purposely remember it for future use. Like Cliff's family she's a prankster" she told them. "But if those allegations were true, sou ds like the guy deserved it if not worse if you ask me" she added, finding it only brought back I to her mind what her demon possessed father told John that day whilst she was in the room. It was then she noticed Fia had already managed to rope people onto the dance floor and she found herself smirking and shaking her head. "And it's begun" she commented toward John.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"I will, I keep my word." Matteo told her with solemn nod. "Chris back me up on this!" he added, calling on the nearest friend to be his moral witness. The black haired boy nodded "he'll do it, don't worry and I'm not saying this under duress either." None of Matteo's friends actually possessed any proper dancing ability and were having a laugh by deliberately doing the worst and least coordinated dance moves possible with the aim of making each other laugh. Due to the nature of the music nobody else was really taking it seriously. Rinaa and Moya settled into a comfortable routine of making drinks and chatting with Matteo and his friends, while managing to get in a bit of flirting with each other at the same time.

"We wont say anything" the three replied in total unison, making it seem as if the three were sharing the one voice. "That sounds so freaky" John remarked, to which the triplets just grinned. "That's the whole point really. Used to freak the teachers out so much." "Its definitely more jarring with triplets than twins." Jay remarked, and expression of amusement on her face. The next comment was aimed at Kay and just spoken by Dan."He deserved far worse, you're right on that. And he got what he deserved in the end."

John cast an eye towards the dance floor to see Fia and the group of teenagers. "It was only a matter of time, bets on whether she can get the whole group to dance with her?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia believed Matteo would keep his word, he hadn't ever proved otherwise in the last few days since knowing him that he was anything but trustworthy. On the dancefloor she found his mates utterly hilarious to dance with, she was having the time of her life hanging out with people her own age. She wasn't even aware of Kay and John glancing over and talking about her as she had fun. She just couldn't stop laughing and smiling, dancing with them, seeing exactly why Matteo got on with these people so well. She just hoped she could get the others involved as well, and she was still making that mental note of seeing how many of Cliff's siblings she could rope into dancing with her. It was.proving clear that Matteo was definite, the others she was weighing up, thinking Benji very well may be her next easiest challenge after Matteo.

Kay didn't find it creepy over the triplets talking in unison, but she find it amusing. She could see however how people like John would find it creepy and disconcerting. "I can see why it's freak teachers out" she chuckled. She also looked at the triplets when they said about the professor got what he deserved, nodding at it. "Good to hear. Scum like that don't deserve a good life" she replied, before she looked at John when he replied about Fia and then back at Fia and the group of teenagers.

"Oh she'll manage it eventually. She's determined enough to at least attempt it. But it's good seeing her having fun" she commented back, knowing their kid was stubborn enough to attempt anything.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"There is that, but some people simply can't be persuaded to dance. Even Fia's charms have a limit." John was referring to himself when he said that. Nobody or nothing could force him to dance, and the more anybody tried, the stronger his refusal would become, even with people he cared about. The only reason there were so many photos of John doing mad dancing (such as the leather mini skirt stripper pole extravaganza) was because people didn't force him, just let him do his own thing.

Rinaa from her perch at the bar had an excellent view of the dance floor and found herself thinking of various nights out to clubs she'd been at, both on world and off world. Her usual places were punk/grunge dives along with anywhere with an open mic, cheap entry and drinks, a relatively young patronage and LGBT+ friendly. On stage she could be the life of the whole event and off stage she had more skills than most, particularly when it came to more athletic styles of dance like break dancing. could feel the happiness and joy radiating off Fia with the others. It brought a strange smile to her face as she considered how Fia would have acted in the various clubs she'd been at (both as a performer and for a night out). She suspected Fia would be the life and soul of the party. It wasn't the first time shed pondered how different their lives could have been if they'd actually managed to get along and for one to treat the other with basic dignity.

True to is word Matteo did join her on the dance floor, but two of his friends staunchly refused to join the rest, filling up their plates with even more food and ordering another drink in 'protest'. Benji gave over his position at the lights and sound rig for one of the doctors that worked with Cliff who fancied a go.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked at John's words knowing he was referring to himself in that statement. He had said enough time over these last few days that he wouldn't be dancing for anyone or anything, which she at first refused to accept but eventually did fully accept it, especially as her pregnancy was growing so fast that even if she wanted to truly dance with him, she probably couldn't. "Oh I know doll, I know. Nothing could make you do anything you didn't want to" she smirked.

Fia would have gladly gone to the clubs and bars with Rinaa if they had grown up together and not in separate timelines, she would have loved nothing more than to go for a night out and had fun with Rinaa. One thing she did mentally think to herself was that she wanted to make more of an effort with her timeline's Leah when she eventually went back to her time. She didn't glance back at Rinaa at the bar but if she had and saw the smile on her face, she would have smiled back and offered for her to join them on the dance floor. She eventually looked across when Matteo joined them, cheering slightly when he did, somehow managing to jump and down a bit in joy in her heels.

When Benji got off the decks, she got a wicked smile on her face, held her finger up to the group to signal 'one moment' and ran over to Benji without skipping a beat, grabbed his hands and started to pull him to the group. "Come join us! You know you want to and to make a girl's night!" She smirked. She wasn't even flirting, just playing the whole 'I'm the sassy charming redhead' game that she always played so well.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John wrinkled his nose in disapproval at the pet name, not the statement from Fia. "And gods help us when somebody gets him to do something against his will. It never ends well. Just let the man do his thing, while it mightn't be the 'right' way, it works." Chas replied, knowing from experience that while coercing John against his will was a short term solution to a problem, it never ended well, instead making things worse. "I'll drink to that." John agreed as the two clinked glasses. Jay had succeeded in persuading Cal and Cliff to let her have some of the bottles (it wasn't hard) and returned to see Fia and co on the dance floor. "Seems like she got her way." She remarked, slipping back into the group starling Andy and Timaz neither of whom who'd had seen her coming.

Matteo's group shifted on and off the dance floor (bar the two non dancers who remained at the tables, filming the antics to record them for posterity). Matteo had the most skill out of the them, but that was more to do with the fact that he could make stupid move look classy as opposed to having any real technique. At Fia's words Benji simply rolled his eyes. "You don't need to use 'so called charms' on me by the way, that sassy redhead game doesn't work on me anymore. That's what I was gonna do anyway, it's clearly the most fun group around at this whole thing. Not that me or Matteo can actually dance properly. Though that's the fault of our school for trying to drill in the formal stuff to us." He explained before following her to their group.

True to his word he wasn't a great dancer, but the joy and the energy he put into doing it more than made up for his lack of talent and by being his usual charismatic self he even managed to get a bit of synchronised dancing going on by persuading some of the others to join in. "That's completly the wrong song for that kinda dance." Rinaa called over. "You got something better?" Benji challenged. "As a matter of fact, yes. In terms of both music and moves."

 

[MzHyde]

When it came to the pet name, it was something that just came.out before Kay could even stop herself from saying it. She had called it to him before so she didn't even think about it when she said it. It was just one of her terms she used every now and then to people she cared about. She smirked and nodded at what Chas said, knowing he was right, which is why she wouldn't even THINK about making John do something he didn't want to, let alone actually attempt to do it. She then chuckled at Tomaz and Andy getting startled at Jay's arrival to the group before giving her a single nod. "Yeah she did, and she's got Benji involved too by the looks of it." She replied.

Fia just grinned at Benji's reply to her efforts to getting him on the dance floor. She didn't even care if he proved to be bad at dancing, she just was just all about having some fun and she knew if she couldn't get Elliott or the rest of her family to dance with her and make memories with, then Cliff's siblings would have to be her back up. "Good!" She simply said, but her unspoken bit was 'at least someone's big brother will dance with me' as she knew she couldn't say it out loud. If she could, she would have said it loud enough for Elliott to hear.

As he warned, she saw that Benji really wasn't a great dancer but she found that made her enjoy herself even more, laughing and dancing with him and Matteo and friends. She even started just letting go and purposely doing some bad dancing herself. She laughed at Rinaa's call out to Benji, and smirked, "then come and prove it!" She called out.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The brothers looked at each other, then at the others, confirming what they already knew, that they were the only ones who'd been startled, but decided not to make a comment on the matter, putting it down to the fact that the wedding was extremely noisy and not giving too much thought to the fact that this woman had snuck up behind them in a suit of full armour and made no tell-tale sound. "Well those two are the most likely candidates." Cliff replied, having already cashed on her bet with Cal over whether it would be Benji or Matteo that was danced with first, they'd made sure to squirrel the exact amount of money at stake in one of their boots."Charlie won't be dragged in unless the rest of the cop corner go for it too, which would be kinda awesome to see actually, they have some talent between them. And as for Nat.... well, to say its not his style is a MASSIVE understatement."

When Fia issued her challenge all of the teenage heads, and Benji's turned towards Rinaa to see whether she'd take up the challenge. For Rinaa there was no question, backing down meant losing face. in her own timeline, she wouldn't have bothered, she had no face left to lose there and proving herself to Fia was something shed stopped attempting years ago. But here, things were very, very different. She'd crossed her arms after dissing Benji, but at Fia's 'challenge' she unfolded them and leaned forwards on the bar counter top. "Challenge accepted" she smirked, tossing the bar cloth to one side and vaulting the bar (which was fast becoming her trademark move for the evening) and made her way over to the light and sounds booth, pulling out both her phone and a transfer cable from a concealed pocket in her leather armour.

Once there it took her less than a minute to find the track she was looking for and another minute or so to put in a basic lighting programme that she hoped would work with the routine. After instructing the person on when to start she walked back over to the others, rolling her shoulders to loosen up before indicating for the music to be started. The music had a more electro vibe to what Rinaa usually listened to, but that made it ideal for what she was about to do. As soon as the first beat rang out she was off launching right into dramatic break-dancing routine (with a couple of acro-combat moves thrown in for good measure). Her movements were rough and aggressive, almost like a sort of Maori haka, conveying both power and anger in equal parts, but there was no denying that they were expertly executed with through an inner mental strength and an immense physical strength that let her do the whole routine while still in armour.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded at Cliff's words, guessing that they would have sorted the bet they had going when it came to Fia and which out of Cliff's siblings she'd get to dance with first. She watched on as Fia danced with everyone, even when the embarrassing dancing started which made her grimace and shaking her head. "Wouldn't put it passed Fia to try, but if seems she's trying to get as many people as possible in general" she replied to Cliff. As the banter around them went on that was between Benji and Rinaa, she just smirked more, but didn't fully pay attention as it wasn't of any her business. It was only when Fia challenges Rinaa to prove her words to be true that she peeked up with curiosity. "Oh this ought to be good" she commented seeing Rinaa vault over the bar.

Fia watched Rinaa vault over the bar after accepting her challenge. She wasn't expecting her to take the bait as she was so used to Rinaa just brushing her off and ignoring her, yet here she was accepting the bait and coming over. She watched as Rinaa went all out with the choice of music and setting a lighting programme and pattern before coming back down. What she started to see did not disappoint, as the music began and Rinaa was break dancing in full blown armour. She stood back to make sure Rinaa always had enough room and watched on smiling and cheering with others. She never knew Rinaa could dance like this before and she was amazed watching it. She always thought she was the only one who danced. She noted how it was full of raw strength and emotion similar to a haka and it made it all the more interesting to watch.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Oh it damn well will be" Jay agreed, watching as Rinaa easily vaulted the bar, noting the determination in her eyes. She had been half following the banter with Benji and knew by instinct that tonight was the night Rinaa was going to prove herself and blow everybody's preconceptions of her out of the water."That's the face of a girl who is NOT going to back down from a challenge." "Why now of all times?" Elliott asked, a valid point in Johns opinion, to which Jay believed she had an answer for. "Because now she stands to lose something by not acting on her words. The other teenagers are what changes it, she'll lose more face by refusing around them than she would by refusing to us." She then smirked, gesturing at the glass beside her."Also alcohol is a great social lubricant."

None of the others had any idea what to expect from Rinaa, she'd never expressed any opinions or anecdotes about her dancing ability before then, but judging by her confidence, she wasn't about to make a complete fool of herself. They watched with interest as the teenager spat on both hands and rubbed them together before the music came on. The other weddings guests had fallen silent and formed a sort of oval 'arena' around Rinaa. Once the electro beat came on, they could only watch as Rinaa came to life, twisting, flipping and spinning across the floor, her motions sharp, swift and above all angry. There was no denying she was skilled, even if most had only the barest knowledge of break-dancing, all her moves were being executed in full leather armour and perfectly in time with the music.

Many of the other guests were openly gaping, especially the teenagers, and Benji who'd started the whole thing in the first place. Moya could barely tear her eyes of the figure in front of her, having seen Rinaa dance normally once when they went out back on Attil, but not this acrobatic break-dancing. Jay and Elliott both had matching expressions of 'our kid is giving them hell and we're both in awe ad incredibly proud'. Both could get the warrior vibes from it as well, which they assumed was why shed been drawn to this form of dance over any other. When the music (and Rinaa) stopped, there was a pause, followed by a round of applause.

"Well I for one, didn't see that coming." John remarked, finding himself highly impressed. "That was amazing!" Benji declared"I bow to your expertise on this." He did give a mock bow, which only made Rinaa's grin widen, as she ran a hand across her forehead to wipe away the sweat.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened to Elliott's valid question about Rinaa, only to pay attention to Jay's explanation and reasons why. It made sense to her that Rinaa would be more willing to do it as there were strangers there, than if Fia challenged her alone. Even though it made sense, it still surprised Kay that it happened, knowing how much the two hadn't been getting on before this particular day. She looked out as the crowd seemed to form a oval shape around Rinaa, and watched on finding herself impressed that she could all those moves in full leather armour. As it came to an end, she shook her head in response to John's comment, "me neither. Though I don't know what I was expecting to be honest, but if certainly wasn't that" she agreed.

Fia applauded Rinaa with everyone else and chuckled at Benji's mock bowing to the other teenager after her suffusing and impressive show of skills. "Damn girl! That was amazing!" Fia agreed with Benji, always happy to give credit where credit is due. She really didn't think Rinaa had any of that in her and it was actually nice to see this other side of her and not the constant 'i wanna punch you in the face' side that Fia always felt Rinaa partially had when she was in the facinity. She truly felt if they weren't constantly at war with each other in Rinaa's timeline, this was something they could have possibly bonded over.

 

[_gallifrog_]

At Fia's praise Rinaa started, she really wasn't used to praise coming from Fia and the instincts she'd built up over so many years were screaming at her that it was either meant sarcastically or that it was going to be followed by an insult of some kind. But it wasn't and being around this version of Fia was very slowly affecting her mindset towards the other girl, so she was able to see that the praise was indeed genuine. Despite all the people applauding she didn't look particularly overwhelmed by it. "Yeah" she smiled broadly"it certainly felt good to me, don't usually do this kinda thing decked out in full armour."

"Well maybe should" Jay told her, wrapping an arm around the teenager's shoulder (Jay wasn't a hugger, and this was as far as she usually went)"because that was something else entirely, pretty sure you melted a few brains doing that." Rinaa knew that not only did Jay mean every word, the assassin had been seriously impressed. Looking at this version of Jay she could quite clearly see all the traits she knew and loved in her own mother. "So long as it isn't any of the doctors we should be good on that." Rinaa joked back, making her way over the bar, exchanging a few high fives and fist-bumps with people on the way there. At the bar Moya passed her over as large a glass of ice water as possible, as well as giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Though seriously, not only was that totally unexpected and impressive, you've clearly done it before, so spill." Elliott fixed her with a look that not only conveyed his paternal pride, but also made it clear that he wasn't going to let the subject drop and would use his position as the biological father she'd never had to get the information out of her. "I'm with Ell, spill." John added as the rest of the group made their way over to hear the answer."Yeah, you can't just leave us guessing on this."

Even Moya asked, to which Rinaa smiled to herself before explaining. "Well when I'm on Earth I always make a point to spend good chunk of my evenings cruising various clubs, both as a performer and a patron and I just kinda picked up the basic break dancing moves from watching and copying." "But there's obviously more to it than that." Cliff prompted."Well obviously. The real catalyst was when I got dumped by my girlfriend of that time. I needed something to distract me, uni work, lab work and course work helped during the day and afternoons, but it was the evenings that were killer, me left alone with my own thoughts.... not a great combo given that my mental health has never really been great my entire life. So I'd go to clubs and dance until I was too tired to think, I found that break-dancing was the most physically and mentally demanding. It took a little under a month to get over Cass, by which point I was a pretty decent break-dancer and it became something to do for fun."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smiled seeing that for once Rinaa was taking her genuine praise pretty well which made her happy and internally sigh with relief. She was too used to Rinaa taking everything she said badly, even the positive things that she knew it was a risk to say anything. She walked back toward the bar with her and the others as she watched Jay show her vague and rare form of affection to Rinaa, before down down her order on a post it note for another drink, which happened to be the same as before. She smirked as Elliott and John demanded to know where Rinaa learned that from, deciding she was also curious about the origins of this story.

Just like everyone else Kay was also curious and they all listened together about how she learned to break dance, finding it an interesting story but also quite sad that it came out of a breakup. Yet there was a part of Kay that found it an uplifting thing that she learned something amazing out of a horrible point in her life. She knew she wouldn't be able to do something like that if her mental health dipped that much. It was rather inspiring actually, Kay thought. "Well I think it's pretty admirable and inspiring that you could find the energy to learn something new when you went through. A lot of people wouldn't, I can tell you that much" Kay remarked as she made herself another soft drink seeing as the bottle was right by her and her empty glass. "Kay's right, a lot of people would just willow in their thoughts and do nothing but that" Fia agreed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa for once didn't mind that everybody was being incredibly nosy about her past (and by an indirect way her private life), maybe it was the positive atmosphere at the wedding party, the high of endorphins, dopamine and adrenaline she was still riding through or the fact that she was finally experiencing what it would have been like to have grown up with a whole extended family behind her (something she had fantasised about, but actually experiencing it firsthand was something else entirely).

The one story gave a surprising insight into Rinaa's life. John was surprised to hear that she'd infiltrated the London club scene as both a performer and a patron, shed mentioned very little about how and where she played and sang, citing open mic night as her usual example. But the club scene suggested to him that she'd been sneaking in underaged, using a forged ID that he highly suspected was sourced by Jay. Chas picked up on how Rinaa manged to fill her days without interacting with any family members at all (not that he could blame her given that being around them seemed to be more trouble than it was worth). For Jay it was the coping mechanism that caught her attention, one she herself used, doing something physical, pushing herself to her limits until she passed out. She guessed that was something Rinaa had picked up from her. While it was hardly the healthiest method, it was better than going on a killing spree. Elliott soaked in everything, trying to get a shape of the girl in front of him, who'd grown up without his influence, but was slowly proving to be an incredibly talented and deep person, not just the hostile teen who refused to say or answer anything, let alone explain.

Like Kay and Fia, they all picked up on her resilience. Rinaa's tone told them that she had been hurt by the break-up and the girlfriend- Cass- was somebody she genuinely liked and been close to. To pick herself up and get on with it like that was exactly like the women said, inspiring. Rinaa did blush at both Kay and Fia's words, her ears along with two spots on her cheekbones reddening. "Thanks, I guess?" It was a strange sort of compliment and she had no idea what the right way to respond to it was."Yeah well, I had to do something with myself. I did wallow in self pity for a few days, but that became all consuming and if I continued like that I mightn't have gotten out of it. Throwing myself into everything else seemed like a good idea, plus when I accidentally ended up in the same club as Cass, well lets just say there is no fury in the worlds like somebody passive aggressively singing about their break-up and doing a kick ass break-dancing routine after." "Damn" Jay smirked in amusement, as did John."I wish I could have seen that." "One helluva way to get the message across, good onya." John added.

 

[MzHyde]

Like with most things with their group, each of them all picked up on something different out someone's story. This one of Rinaa's was no different, both Fia and Kay did take in everything she said to them, just like Elliott did, yet like with most things they picked up on the girl's resilience to not just solely wallow in self pity and nothing else. They both smiled and nodded one simple nod at Rinaa when she blushed and thanked them for them compliment. Which it was meant as. They continued to listen to the rest of what Rinaa was saying, explaining how she did wallow for a bit but it wasn't solving anything. Each of them found it just as amusing as Jay did that Rinaa vented her anger about the break up in the manner she did, not to me room it sounded like such a perfect way to move on for Rinaa.

"Really is, yet so perfectly 'you' as well" Fia smirked, aiming it at Rinaa and hoped it came across in the nice way she actually meant it. Though she had to think to herself that she was glad she never had to go through the break up scenarios due to never actually having a relationship before. The whole heartache thing was not something she particularly wanted to experience, even though she knew she probably would have to at some point in her life. Kay started to get her usual back ache by this point from standing around chatting and watching everyone having fun, making her place her hand on the middle of her back, massaging it slightly. In the time they had been talking, Fia had gotten her second drink and started drinking it, which she was glad of, but she also now was ready to go back on the dance floor, so she did exactly that putting her glass down next to Kay's soft drink and went off to join anyone she could find.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa just smiled at the reactions of the others, it wasn't the kind of thing John had ever done (but then again, he didn't do proper long term relationships until Kay had showed up), but it was something he loved the idea of and she had the distinct feeling that if he'd seen it in her timeline he'd have started applauding and brought her a drink as a sort of reward for doing it. Jay was proud of the fact that her kid could think of something like that and use it to her advantage and to show people she wasn't to be messed with. Elliott had to agree with Fia, it perfectly suited who Rinaa was and he was slowly beginning to get a grasp on what made her tick. "That's right on the border of awesome and terrifying, so basically you in a nutshell." Rinaa smirked, knowing it was meant as a compliment, and as it was coming from her father, it had far more impact. "Its probably not a good way to be, but I'm gonna take it anyway." "Well you already seem to be owning it."

Moya listened with a mix of interest and surprise while mixing up the next round of drinks, sliding them to the relevant people. Exes hadn't ever come up in conversation with Rinaa, but they both had them. She was impressed and ever so slightly intimidated. "Wow, that's seriously ballsy! Remind me to never get on your wrong side." She smirked, to which Rinaa smiled softly, shaking her head "don't worry, you are. "I think avoiding getting in her bad books is a good rule for life in general." Jay smirked, taking her drink and leaning against the bar.

Charlie did eventually come onto the dance floor and exactly as Cliff had predicted she only agreed when the rest of the cops said they'd go. They managed some proper synchronised dancing which Matteo filmed and posted on social media with a witty caption about the force's finest before Charlie had a chance to stop him. Rinaa didn't venture on the dance floor again, but she did man the lights and sound.

 

[MzHyde]

Like John, she hadn't really done the long term relationship stint before John. She had one ex boyfriend that she could actually an ex, the rest were quite literally either own night stands or 'friends' with benefits. She always used the term friends loosely as they were more Sam's friends and her acquaintances, but they proved a good enough shag when both parties needed it. As for the one ex, it was her that did the dumping and not the other way round. She couldn't put her full being and attention into the relationship a d didn't feel emotionally connected to the bloke and so broke it off. He wasn't a bad guy by any means, it was solely all about her and her lack of motivation for being in the relationship. Now she knew why that was, that guy wasn't the one who was meant to be with her but back then she just put it down to her mental state of not being fully connected with Fee and she was too lost mentally, she couldn't let someone else in.

Before Fia went off back to the dance floor, she felt quite glad that Elliott agreed with her statement and that it wasn't just her that thought it was a perfectly Rinaa, whether it was a good thing or not, it was clearly fitting for the moment at hand and that's all that she thought should matter. Both her and Kay smirked at Moya saying about not getting on her wrong side, both thinking it wouldn't be possible from what they had witnessed of their blooming relationship so far. Fia then was back on the dance floor, the alcohol just starting to kick into her system now making her not care for how she looked on the dance floor. She pulled Matteo up to dance with her after he filmed Charlie, making the most of having 'dance partners' whilst she could.

Back at the bar Kay just tapped her foot to the beat of the music slightly whilst massaging her back. "Think I'm gonna sit down for a bit..my back is killing me" she said, gently pushing herself off the bar.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John and Chas both nodded at Kay's words. "Feel free to drag up a chair over here or something, cos I don't think any of us really plan to move from here for the rest of the night." Chas told her. By now the wedding guests had figured out their places and were settling down for the more comfortable part of the evening. The initial feeding frenzy and alcohol grabbing had been and gone, as had the initial craze for jumping around wildly on the dance floor. Cal and Cliff suspected that things wouldn't get crazy again until people started feeling the effects of the alcohol and started doing things in a drunken haze that they were bound to regret the next day.

Rinaa eventually decided that enough was enough with the leather armour, the combination of the heat from the lights, the armour's dark colour and the stickiness of semi dried sweat from earlier was making the whole thing extremely uncomfortable. "Screw this, I'm not gonna boil alive at the wedding, and if somebody has problem with this combo, then it's on them" she sighed, pulling off the outer jacket, and water bottle, carefully placing them to one side under the bar, revealing that she was wearing a purple t-shirt underneath with an organic chemistry joke on it. "Serotonin?" Jay guessed, to which Rinaa nodded. "I had to take two mandatory chem modules in my first year, so I do understand the joke."

Matteo didn't mind dancing with Fia an his mates had the decency not to give ant cat calls, knowing there was nothing going on between them. Matteo was finding dancing with Fia pretty fun and she was getting on really well with his friends so far which was also a plus.

Spoiler: Rinaa's t-shirt