Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Kay like the rest of the day, enjoyed doing the walk back, and she had to admit the walls did look far more imposing than they had before. The idea however of walls having a good side and a bad side was amusing and weird to her, but it seemed these water break walls truly did have exactly that. "that you do" she agreed at Chas' comment about learning something new everyday. She found the day proving to be in a way highly productive as well as being nice to just spend time with their core group, and as it went on longer, the more she enjoyed it. She loved her teenager but she did enjoy having some adult only time with people, even if they did spend it being childish earlier.

Fia smirked at Nat just taking her word for what she said, knowing that would be the only way he could take it. When he spoke about fish guts and getting rid of that and the smell she could imagine how bad it would be. "I'll take your word for that. I can easily imagine it being just as bad as my experience with the blood of demons. I've even come across some that just reeked of sulphur so it's not far fetched for me to imagine how bad fish guts would be for you" she explained, glancing into the house and seeing the dog bowls empty. "I'll gladly do the grooming or at least help with it later if you want. I also better get them some food" she commented.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Spending time together, just as their core group of four was something all of them were finding themselves enjoying. It was what they'd been needing for quite a while now, a time without the teenagers and a chance to get away from the various problems and mysteries that plagued them. It was Jay who was the most surprised by just how much she was enjoying herself. Up until recently Jay had considered herself to be very much on the outside of the group, somebody who was there because there was no other option, she was the only one who could actually fly them to Attil after all. Back on Earth it was a similar situation, she was certainly on the edge of A.J's crew, they trusted her skills, but not her past or personality. But after spending the past few hours with them Jay had been hit by the revelation that somehow she'd become part of a family again. The last proper family she had would either have been her Isogrii clan or The Rats- the gang of thieves, pilots and mercs for hire that she ran with for many years. And if she was truly honest with herself, she'd missed being able to relax and let down her guard with people who not only understood her, but were willing to support and encourage her too.

They stopped twice on the way back. Once because Jay finally found a decent set of waves and decided to get some proper use out of the board she'd been carrying the whole length of the walk. She'd improved considerably under Charlie's tuition and it was clear she was enjoying herself. The second was because John and the others decided that they had to jump off the cliff shelves one final time. They emerged back near the dry dock area where one of the smaller trawlers was suspended up in the air by slings attached to sturdy crane devices. The hull was two third cleaned of barnacles, which littered the ground and there was a smell of alcohol spirits in the air (which was being used on the more persistent limpets). Benji and Rinaa were both working on different sides of the hull and seemed to be laughing about something or another.

Nat wrinkled his face at the mention of sulphur. "Lovely!" he replied sarcastically. The nearby volcanic island emitted sulphur dioxide gas as it was still active, the amount of gas increasing dramatically the closer the volcano came to erupting, and if the wind was right, the faint smell could be carried all the way to his home island. On the volcano itself the smell was overpowering. Part of him was laughing at just how weird and wonderful conversations had a habit of becoming when his new brother-in-law's extended family got involved. He wasn't complaining, he enjoyed the craziness. "That'd be much appreciated. You can take Meyer then, and I'll do the other two." He replied gratefully, before gesturing at the kitchen. "The food is in the far left shelves, at the very top, where they can't get at it."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay didn't mind the next two stops, she actually envied Jay a little being out on the waves as it looked like a lot of fun to try and it was a skill she had never tried. She also didn't think she would ever get a chance to try it, unless she got given the chance if they ever came back here after Fia was born. She also wasn't in the slightest but surprised that the men wanted to go cliff diving yet again and she even filmed a couple of times so they could have video evidence of their antics. She also couldn't deny she got a kick out of watching John doing such things and being soaking wet. She may be pregnant but her dirty mind was still very much active.

Fia laughed at his reaction, seeing that he could easily imagine how bad it was for her. She remembered that time was only her third night out training and hunting all in one hit and the demon they were after wasn't exactly all for hygiene at the best of times as it glamoured itself as a human being. The stench was so bad she wanted to puke but refrained from doing so so she didn't look weak in front of John. She was also terrified of coming across a weak when she started following in his footsteps, but that anxiety soon disappeared. She remembered even now the smell that lingered on her after they killed the demon and she got showered in its blood. It took a good five showers and a few baths before she began to lose that lingering smell out of her hair in particular. "deal" she smiled then made note of where he told her of the food's location for the dogs. "got it" she then said before walking inside into the kitchen and to the dog food cupboard. She could just about reach the very top cupboard and pulled down the food, ready to feed them all.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was aware that Kay was watching him in all his wet, shirtless, short-clad glory and thinking some very dirty thoughts and he, quite frankly loved the attention. He may even have showed off a bit more for her benefit. Elliott and Jay were also appreciating each other's beach bodies, Elliott having stripped off his shirt, while Jay's clothes just clung tighter to her lean form. As she eyed Elliott up, jay couldn't help but notice his scars (far less numerous than John's, but still a fair amount of them) and if asked, could point to at least three that she gave him. Elliott had only given her one scar and even then it was in an indirect way when she took a knife meant for him. She let out no sign she'd been stabbed, beat the shit out of the bad guys, helped retrieve the object the crew had been there for in the first place, motorbiked back to A.J's base and then collapsed from blood loss and pain. They waved at Rinaa and Benji who both waved back, brandishing what looked like long, thin metal chisels. Even from a distance Jay knew that they were sharp, there was a set of them on the ground near a heavy duty whetstone, some dull, others bright and shiny.

Nat nodded. "Give me a call whenever you want to start doing the dogs, I'll be out here, I've got no plans on moving." He sat himself comfortably back down in the chair, crossing one foot over his knee and taking up the wood piece again. He'd drawn out a rough pattern pencil lines on it and was in the early stages of shaping into it's most basic, blobby shape. The dogs sat obediently on the floor watching as Fia stretched up to get the food. They knew exactly where the food was, but none of them were able to jump high enough to access the cupboard. There had been incidents with some of the former dogs where the food had been stored too low and the dogs broke into it and gorged themselves. The family had learned their lesson after that, keeping the food, toys and other dog equipment firmly out of the way. Meyer wasn't begging or giving Fia a particularly cute gaze in order that she get served first. Yet.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay just smirked at seeing him show off, which could only really be for her benefit as none of the rest of their group would truly give a crap about whether or not he showed off. She didn't care that he had numerous scars, she had seen them plenty of times by this point and to her she just found they added to his character, she had always thought that and she was damn sure she would always think that. She also noticed the scars on Elliott, finding that knowing what he was capable of and got involved in, it wasn't too much of a surprise. She glanced over to see Benji and Rinaa still at work getting rid of the barnacles before going back to watching John. "you're such a show off!" she called up to him, thinking now it made utter sense even more where Fia got it from.

Fia nodded at Nat's words, deciding that once the dogs were fed and happy, it would be a good time to get them groomed. Pulling the food down onto the counter, she opened the food bag carefully to make sure she didn't get it absolutely everywhere. She glanced at the dogs seeing that they were all being obedient, with none of them begging her to be fed first. "okay, let's get your bowls" she remarked, leaning down and picking up their food bowls, so she could fill each of them with some food. She was expecting Meyer to try and get served first, so she beat the dog to it and put Meyer's bowl down first in its place, then Koso's and Rhys' down at the same time. She then turned back to the food bag, closed it up and put it back where it belonged. "now you're all served, I can get myself something" she grinned, heading to the fridge.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"That's really not anythin' new!" Chas called back in response to Kay as he and the others finished up in the water and began making their way towards the main house. "He's a drama queen and an attention whore this one, it's a full time job keeping an eye on him." "I don't need keeping an eye on!" John retorted back, pretending to be offended at the very notion. "You most definitely do!" Elliott declared, slinging his shirt over one shoulder and joining. "I had a tail put on you guys remember?" "And they got sloppy." "Correction, we got bored. Protection and watch duty is mind numbing when you can't interact with mark or fuck with their heads a bit."

Rinaa found herself staring at the half naked form of Elliott far more than was normal (or appropriate), trying (with mixed success) to disguise her gawping as looking at the work that still needed to be done on the boat. She had actually seem what he looked like naked in her timeline, thanks to the post mortem carried out on his body by an authority independent from Attil after his death. She'd poured through the autopsy report and accompanying photos far more than was healthy for any kid to do. It was how she'd found out about the kanji tattoos on Elliott's torso and the fact that Elliott had based them off John's. She'd used Elliott and John's kanji tattoos as inspiration for her own tattoo. But there was a big difference between a body on a slab and an actual living person. Since she was distracted she got sloppy, and the chisel slipped, opening up a gash on her forearm, which immediately began welling blood. She swore, dropping the chisel to the ground.

Putting down the two male dogs bowls at the same time was a good move on Fia's mood, serving the alpha dog last would have resulted in some kind of fuss on Koso's part. As it stood Meyer didn't start eating until the other two had been served, she knew where she stood with regards to the pack pecking order. With the lead dog's approval they all dug in. The food was a mix of meat off cuts that weren't suitable for cooking and the dry food pellets that came from a store. Meyer practically hoovered up half the bowl in one go, one eye looking intently at Fia and what she was poking around for in the fridge. As always Cliff's family fridge had some form of meal leftovers in it, as well as various ingredients for the next few days cooking. Anything that couldn't be sourced on this island or the surrounding one came in by boat.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay laughed at Chas replying to what she said to John as they all decided enough was enough and exit the water to come over. She listened and watched on as John pretended to be offended by Chas' words, only for Elliott to remind him about the tail he put on them. She looked across when Jay spoke up, smirking as she corrected John by saying they just got bored. "so basically John, you're not gonna win this one, so suck it up and accept what they say" she smirked, refraining from looping her arm round his as he was still wet. So instead she remained next to him, enjoying the fact he was soaked and topless. She heard a yelp from where Rinaa was but not fully what was said, however it was enough to make her look across and see Rinaa drop the chisel. "I think she's hurt herself" she remarked.

Fia knew that Koso was the alpha out of the three of them and so she didn't want to upset him by accidentally putting his bowl down last. So as she had two hands, she did both their bowls at the same time. Now at the fridge she was aware of being watched, which made her glanced back from behind the door to see Meyer watching her slightly, making her smirk. Looking back in the fridge, she just went for the safe option of some of the leftovers, pulling it out and closing the door, deciding to lean against the counter to eat. She didn't want to take the piss by rummaging through their fridge where she didn't fully belong, so she figured just grabbing a small amount of the leftovers was the safest option, especially as she was thinking of it more as a snack until the others came back.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott raised an eyebrow at what jay said, he evidently hadn't heard that part before. "Really?" "Yep, the others got restless long before I did, obviously and started letting themselves be seen in various ripped versions of the same outfit to see if it'd be unnerving." "Well it kinda worked, had me on edge for a good while, I even started making a log of sorts." Chas told her, he had been freaked out by the tail, John was sceptical, until he saw their mystery watcher himself and couldn't match it to anybody they knew. In the low light and at a distance it was hard to tell the gender of the watcher, let alone whether or not it was the same person each time.

All heads turned at the curse from Rinaa, it was an instinctive curse of pain as opposed to her shouting at a particularly stubborn limpet. "I think you're right" Jay said, before turning and quickly making her way over. Benji was the closest and therefore the first on the scene. "Kid, you alright?" he asked. Upon receiving the injury Rinaa had instinctively pressed her arm against her t-shirt, but now she peeled her arm away in order to inspect the wound. "Slit my arm open with chisel, got distracted and slipped, it's bleeding pretty bad." She replied calmly, her tone level. She'd been trained not to freak out when injured, to think rationally and make a plan of action. Benji took a look at the gash and visibly winced, it was a bad one, about six centimetres in length, running diagonally across her right forearm. "Will it need stitches?" he asked, by which point Jay had arrived, with Elliott close behind. Without waiting for any form of permission, Jay took a hold of the teenager's arm, twisted it around and then carefully ran her fingers over the wound itself in order to get a feel for it, not caring in slightest that her hand was being covered with blood. "Yes, it will." Jay replied curtly.

Nobody in Cliff's family would really have minded if Fia raided the entirety of the fridge and the kitchen cupboards, the past few days any edible food in the house was considered fair game by the guests and with so many people wandering in and out the only way to truly guarantee that the food wouldn't be stolen was to leave labels of ownership on it. The leftovers Fia selected for herself bore no label and was some kind of curry, lightly spiced with sea-herbs. Meyer eyed up the bowl in Fia's hands as the girl leaned against the counter before padding over and sitting down in front of Fia with a look of 'I'm such a cute hungry dog and I love you soooo much, please feed me some of your delicious human food' on her face.

 

[MzHyde]

When talking about the tail and Jay mentioning about the others wearing the dame ripped outfit, Kay distinctly remembered seeing them for herself twice, once when in the back of Chas' cab whilst they waited for John to do whatever it was he was doing to get any information to help her out and secondly when Elliott was training her in the abandoned building site. She also remembered Chas' log he made of all the times they were spotted and how on edge they did get at times due to frustration of not knowing who they were.

She then slowly walked over with John and Chas as Elliott and Jay went on ahead to see what had happened with Rinaa. From where they were, making sure to keep out of the way so Jay could tend to Rinaa, she could see just how much blood there was from the gash on Rinaa's arm. She found herself thinking about how Cliff would possibly be the one to do it or at least help in some way, and not expecting to be on duty on her vacation.

Fia fully enjoyed the food that she was eating, glad for it after such a long walk and frolicking on the beach with the dogs. She watched as Meyer walked over to her and sat in front of her giving her the 'butter wouldn't melt' cute tactic to try and get some of her food. It honestly made Fia chuckle at how Meyer could hoover down all her food and still demand some of her own. "Meyer you've just eaten" she chuckled, trying to not cave into the cute act that Meyer was giving her. She tried so hard to not break under the pressure of cuteness, and kept eating, enjoying what she had before she couldn't take it anymore. "dang it... Fine you can have a little bit of what I leave in the bowl" she told Meyer.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa nodded in agreement with jay's words, just bandaging the gash up wouldn't be enough, the chisel had cut down deep into the flesh of her arm, and if they didn't stitch it up soon, they'd also have to source a blood transfusion to make sure the teenager didn't bleed out. "No need to bother Cliff with this on her wedding week, I can do the stitches myself." John and Elliott raised identical, sceptical eyebrows at Rinaa's words, stitching a wound was a job for two working hands, and judging by the way Rinaa was holding the injured arm, she only had one. "She is the trained doctor here kiddo. We both know she'd be pissed if you made it worse or did a bad job." "It's nothing I haven't done before, a bit of medical tape or a staple gun beforehand to get the edges close together makes it much easier to do one-handed." the teenager replied stubbornly, to which Jay fixed the teenager with her soul piercing 'don't fuck with me, my word is final' look. "If you want to stitch it yourself you can, but no staple guns, I'll keep sides together. And If I don't think you're doing a good job, then I'm doing it, got it?" She told Rinaa, it sounded like a threat, but the teenager could easily see through that mask to the real meaning underneath, Jay knew the teenager was more than capable and respected that, but she also cared too much to run the risk of it getting fucked up. "Deal." the teenager nodded, having unwound the bandage from around her tattoo and was now pressing into the wound to staunch the flow

When Fia chided Meyer for already having eaten the dog simply shrugged, not feeling the slightest bit of shame for being so blatantly cheeky and gave a look that said "so what? I'm cute and still hungry" followed by widening her eyes so they looked even bigger and deeper than normal. There was no denying that the dogs was deliberately switching on the charm to get Fia to do her bidding. She was not only persistent, but patient too, keeping that charm right on until Fia cracked. If dogs could roll their eyes and scoff, that would be exactly what Koso and Rhys would be doing in reaction to Meyer's antics. When Fia relented Meyer bounded over to her side and waited expectantly for the offering from Fia.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay also found herself raising an eyebrow when Rinaa stubbornly said not to alert Cliff. It wasn't out of disbelief that Rinaa couldn't handle it without Cliff, she just thought a gash that big required a professional and like Elliott said, Cliff would be pissed if Rinaa messed it up in any manner. Especially as in the great scheme of things, doing a stitch up job wouldn't take all that long. She was pretty sure that cliff wouldn't mind in the slightest at helping Rinaa out. Yet the stubbornness seemed to win over partly as Jay gave the teenager a non negotiable second option. She was actually glad that Jay put her foot down on the subject as the idea of using a staple gun on such a wound did not sit well with Kay as an outsider.

Fia could see how Meyer's brothers clearly was not surprised baout her behaviour. She found that for dogs they were highly expressive and she could almost tell what they were thinking about what they were witnessing. As Meyer hoped, her widening of her eyes and looking ultimately cute did work on her which made Fia cave under the pressure. She continued to eat as Meyer sat by her waiting patiently for what remains of the food Fia would leave for her. As promised, Fia left a little bit of food for her and put the bowl down on the ground, "as promised girl... You drive a hard bargain" she smiled giving her a scratch behind the ears.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay didn't doubt that using a staple gun would work, there were medical staple guns made for that exact purpose in field and combat medicine. But when there was an actual doctor and a house filled with all the necessary sterilised equipment you might as well avail of it. Cliff was highly skilled and while the doctor would have been annoyed at the injury happening in the first place, she would have no qualms with using the skills she'd spent years learning in order to put it right and she was too professional and level headed to let wild emotions get in the way of her work. Attending to her own wounds was clearly important to Rinaa and Jay could respect a certain amount of independence in that regard, but it was also important to be able to know when things were serious enough to warrant asking for help. Jay did have healing powers, but they were low-level and left her feeling drained for hours after use, though in this case she wouldn't hesitate to use them on Rinaa if things got bad. With the deal made the group began to make their way towards Cliff's house, Benji going on ahead to get the necessary stuff.

The other two dogs didn't eat all their food at once, leaving some behind for when they got peckish later. As there was nobody in the living room Koso and Rhys took advantage of the empty sofa and jumped up on it, curling up comfortably on the cushions, tucking their tails around their legs. Meyer leaned into Fia's affectionate scratching, looking delighted with herself for making such a plan work. She ate her second course far slower than the first, almost savouring the taste of the meat and the sea-herbs used to garnish it. Nat had been watching the scene play out from the chair on the porch with an amused look on his face. "She's basically made you her slave now y'know." He remarked as Benji ran into the kitchen and pulled one of the numerous first aid kits out of the cupboards and set it onto the table. "It takes a lot of will power to deny those eyes, even if you've known her your whole......." he trailed off at the sight of the other arriving, or more precisely the blood stain on Rinaa's t-shirt, Rinaa's arm and Jay's hands "shit. What happened?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smiled at the way Meyer leaned into her hand as she gave her head scratched, letting her eat what was left for her in the bowl. She smirked and sniggered at what Nat began to say but rose her eyebrow when she Benji running in and grabbing a first aid kit. "good job I'm only a slave for the rest of today, so she may as well enjoy it whilst she can" she replied to Nat. She wondered what had happened and in her head, her first thought was that something happened to Kay on their trek and the urgency was down to the fact she was pregnant. So when the others arrived and it proved it was indeed Rinaa that needed the help, she was surprised to say the least.

She watched on as everyone made it into the house and made sure to keep Meyer out of the way so Rinaa could get seen to without having three dogs crowding around. She wasn't too worried about Koso and Rhys on the couch as they did curl up and remained as such. "I second Nat's question, what happened?" she asked, concern in her tone for Rinaa. Kay would have offered to heal her as unlike Jay's healing ability, hers was naturally stronger and didn't wear her out nearly as much, but she also was very a ware that Rinaa probably wouldn't have let her get that close to her again and offer the assistance. She still remembered how toxic it was when she tried to help last time and didn't get any kind of gratitude for the assist, so she figured it was just best to let Jay do the honours of helping her the standard medical way instead.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The thought had crossed Rinaa's mind to ask Jay or Kay to heal her with their powers, but she decided against it. In her timeline Jay had gained better control over her powers and they'd grown slightly stronger, but the amount of energy required nearly always floored her and as a result it had only been used on her when she was majorly bleeding out, the time she'd collapsed, convulsing and bleeding from the ears shortly after she was bitten by the wolf and the time she'd barely escaped from a burning building alive. Her reasons for not asking Kay were more complicated, there was the obvious distrust that still lingered from her timeline (fearing that it wouldn't be healing she'd be on the receiving end, but fire instead) and the fact that even though Kay had managed to heal her on the ship, the healing process itself had been extremely painful, she'd been screaming in pain throughout the whole thing as it was like acid or electricity racing through her body at unbearable speeds (which she suspected was to do with the fact that Kay's powers came from a divine source and Rinaa's body had an extremely low tolerance for divine energies).

"Barnacle scraping gone wrong." Rinaa replied, aiming the answer at both Nat and Fia, her tone still level and controlled."I got distracted, slipped and the chisel slashed through my arm instead of the barnacle mucus. It needs stitches, but it looks worse than it is. I'll live." Entering the kitchen it was decided by some unspoken agreement that it would be Elliott, Jay and Benji who would be assisting Rinaa in stitching up her arm. Jay grabbed two cloths from the hook on the wall, setting one down on the table where they'd be working and running the other under the tap to wet it. Elliott found a basin to fill with water as well as a bright lamp. Benji had already found the sealed bag with sterilised thread, scissors and needles, along with dressing, antibacterial gel, antibacterial wipes and a tweezers just in case anything had ended up in the wound. This wasn't the first time somebody had needed stitches on the island (and it wouldn't be the last) and everybody in Cliff's family was able to stitch somebody up safely and hygienically. The set up took just under two minutes.

"Anaesthetic or no?" Benji asked. "None, not with all the other medication in me anyway. I'd rather not risk some weird reaction as a result. I don't normally use anaesthetic when stitching myself up anyway, I can take the pain." Rinaa told him, laying down her arm and carefully peeling away the bandage to reveal the full extent of the gash. The first step was to clean the blood away from the wound and to examine it for any debris. Rinaa winced slightly at the cloth touching the raw edges of the wound, angling the light to see better. "Anybody see anything in there? I don't think there is any, but better safe than sorry."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia pulled the face that conveyed perfectly the reaction of 'yeesh!' and as the rest of them came into the kitchen to do the stitching up, she took Meyer out of there and into the living room to be out of the way so the others could have full use of the kitchen. She was also aware of how she was still a bit of a mess and didn't want to risk anything getting into the air or on the table to contaminate anything they needed. She saw the others in the living room as she came in, seeing that they clearly did a lot of cliff diving like they said they wanted to do as all but Kay were still slightly soggy from the water.

"Meyer really did a number on your jeans huh kiddo?" Kay smirked seeing the full extent of the state of her own teenager in person finally. Fia just shrugged with a smile, "yeah but it's no big deal. The madam even got the last of my food due to using the dirty trick of acting like butter wouldn't melt" she chuckled. Kay smirked not in the least bit surprised that Meyer won Fia over when it came to the food as she had witnessed her giving her nibbles at the wedding from under the table. "pretty sure you two are the same when it comes to food, considering you'll pilfer whatever you can" Kay remarked back, earning the 'so what?' smirk from Fia. "which reminds me, I need to get this one and the boys groomed and cleaned with Nat" Fia commented before turning to him, "I'm good to go when you are" she then told him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The others who were watching on, peered carefully at the wound. Rinaa was right, there was nothing in there, it was a clean cut thankfully and nothing from the boat's hull or the chisel had made it's way in. They all confirmed there was nothing, before Jay carefully scrubbed up her hands, then pressed the two sides of the wound together while Rinaa took the needle from the packet. It was times like this that being ambidextrous came in handy, she could sew equally well with both hands. The first stitch was always the most painful and the feeling of the needle penetrating her flesh made Rinaa want to pass out. But she gritted her teeth, steeled her mind and kept going. She'd said she would stitch herself up, so she was damn well going to stitch herself up. Each stitch hurt, but Rinaa worked through pain, biting her lip as she concentrated on making each stitch as precise as possible. The others watched on silence, impressed by Rinaa's determination and ability to work through what must be agonising pain, they'd all had stitches before and knew how it felt.

Meyer followed Fia willingly into the next room, the dog knew something was going on, she could feel the tension and worry in the room, it was heavy and thick. Her years with the family had taught her that when there gatherings of worried people and sharp cutty objects, dogs were to stay out of the way and be as unintrusive as possible. Nat was watching the proceedings from the doorway and turned at Fia's words. "The dog grooming stuff is in the kitchen and I'd rather not disturb these guys while they work." He told her. "Once they're done, we can start."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was glad that Meyer knew to follow her and did so willingly. When Nat said the dog grooming stuff was in fact in the kitchen, she nodded having not known that bit of information when she said she was good to do the grooming. "right, sure. Makes most sense" she replied to him perching on one of the arm rests as she waited. Glancing inside the kitchen she could the determination in Rinaa's eyes to stitch herself up and knew how much that must have been hurting. Before she got her healing rune and her phoenix healing ability unlocking, she got into plenty scraps and cuts which meant she got patched up quite a bit and every time she hated it. There were still times also that she'd have to partially patch herself up before she could heal herself well as her abilities were still growing, just like she was.

Kay sat down on one of the chair as the couch was well and truly taken up by Koso and Rhys, gently rubbing her bump to soothe it from the little signs of movement that was coming from her womb. On top of that she was getting hungry but knew it was far more important to wait for Rinaa, Jay, Elliott and Benji to finish in the kitchen first. Feeding herself could wait in her eyes. She was also thinking how professionally and maturely Fia was taking her role of dog sitter, as she was even willing to groom the dogs as well as just keeping an eye on them and feeding them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The first time Rinaa had tried to stitch herself up, she'd passed out part way through, unable to handle any more self inflicted pain. It was at that point Jay had taken over, finished the job and carried her daughter to bed, staying up the whole night in case the girl had nightmares about what had happened (she didn't sleeping soundly the whole night). Stitching herself up was a mind over matter challenge and once Rinaa learned how to shove the physical pain to one side she quickly mastered the art of stitching herself up. She'd still have to deal with pain when it came rushing back later. The last step was to bandage over the wound. Rinaa first covered the site of the wound with waterproof gauze, then wrapped a proper bandage around her arm, keeping it tight and tucking the loose ends in on themselves. Jay and Elliott refused to let her help clean up, instead directing her into the living room.

Seeing that the kitchen was now free Nat whistled for the dogs, who jumped off the sofas and made their way to his heel. With a grateful nod Rinaa flopped back on the sofa, her skin paler than usual from the blood loss, the dark circles around her eyes visible again, the good nights sleep she'd since the wedding had done little in the way of getting rid of them. The blood loss was making her feel both tired and light headed, she suspected the chisel may have nicked a vein, it would explain why there was so much blood. Nat easily navigated all the people in the kitchen, grabbing the grooming bag and making his way out onto the porch with Fia, sitting down on the steps as opposed to one of the many chairs around. "Ever groomed a dog like these before?"

 

[MzHyde]

With the kitchen now free, Kay got up and went there with everyone else, knowing that Rinaa would need all the rest she could get. She also knew that after the rest was had, Rinaa would need a lot of energy through sugary foods and drinks to bring her blood sugar levels back up, especially in her situation outside of the arm wound. She sat at one of the chairs at the kitchen table, using her state as an excuse to do such a thing and if anyone said anything she would be a stubborn mule over it. She would grab some food and a drink once everything was properly tidied up if she didn't manage to rope someone else to get it for her.

Fia helped Nat grab the grooming gear and then followed him and the dogs out onto the porch. She joined him on the steps as she just preferred it and wanted to be more on level with the dogs than above them. She shook her head at the question, knowing she hadn't ever groomed a dog quite as large as these three or like them. "no I haven't, only a little one and by little I mean I could tuck him in my jacket small" she told him honestly. She helped wash the dogs the other day with Nat and Benji after that day on the beach but not properly groomed them, as they didn't really need it and Nat and Benji told her they had it under control. She was willing to learn though and pull her weight when it came to the dogs.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The cleaning up didn't take too long. Cliff's family actually had a biohazardous waste bin in the kitchen as they kept syringes of adrenaline, anti-venoms and emergency insulin (none of them were diabetic, but there was no harm in being prepared) in the house at all times. The cloths were left to soak in the basin and the medkit packed away again, Benji writing a post it note for what need to be replaced and sticking it on the fridge with the other shopping lists. "Kid you need to eat something and fast, want something from the fridge?" "I might have something in the bag, it's kind of a bottomless pit of random crap I think I need in everyday life. But is there any goat or barracuda there? Or anything that isn't deer really, after this morning deer is firmly off the menu for a while." Rinaa had no qualms with the circle of life, but after returning to consciousness with the taste of deer blood in her mouth and no memory of the last few hours under Syke's control she wasn't too keen to be eating deer again.

She reached over to her backpack, pulling it on to the table and spreading out the various contents to see if she had any food left. The bag contained a couple of novels, two notepads (one squared, one lined), a pile of pens and pencils held together with an elastic band, a maths set, a tape measure, a Swiss army knife (with torch), some lockpicking tools, a bright yellow bobble hat (which John couldn't help but snigger at. "Really? I didn't see your style as being bright yellow." "It was either that or hot pink" the teenager shot back, some energy returning to her tone), a set of fingerless leather gloves, a spare t-shirt and finally, a bunch of energy bars. Rinaa pulled a face at the sight of them. "Definitely not, speedster food is disgusting." "Speedster food?" Elliott asked, intrigued, picking up one of the bars, and turning it over, there was no obvious branding or even nutritional information, just an interesting geometric design of black, purple and red. Chas passed one over to Kay so she could have a gawp too (they were all doing it after all). "Yeah, they've got hyper metabolism and burn through regular food like crazy, if they don't get enough calories they just black out. These bars were developed to fix that problem, they're like protein and carb bars, but on illegal steroids. They never quite got the taste right in my opinion"

"Okay, obviously it's very different with these guys as not only are they far larger, but their fur is a different texture, length and is actually hollow, which helps for swimming. They also have a waterproof skin layer below the fur and the paws are more webbed than a regular dog, again, to help with swimming." Nat explained, carefully parting Koso's hair so Fia could see what he meant. The dogs were native to the planet and had various adaptions to make them more amphibious. Using Koso as a guide he demonstrated for Fia how to groom each part of the dog, starting with the back on and working his way towards the head, then back towards the tail. It took him a little while to get into the swing of teaching, but once he got into the groove he proved a surprisingly good teacher. Each of the dogs had their own set of brushes, a preventative measure in the unlikely event that one caught ticks or fleas it wouldn't be transferred by the brushes to the other two.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay didn't blame Rinaa not wanting deer after knowing that she let Sykes take over for the morning. She was pretty sure that anyone would have replied with the same thing if they were in Rinaa's position. She couldn't help but glance over at the amount of things that was in Rinaa's bag and did find it surprising that there'd be something bright yellow in there, having not thought that'd be the sort of colour that the teenager would have gravitated towards in any situation. If it was Fia, she could have imagined it in a strange way, despite almost always seeing her own teenager in black or monotone colours. When Chas handed one of the energy bars over to her to look at, she took it and glanced over the packaging noting its appears ce and lack of information on it. If Rinaa hadn't told them all what they were, she would have been highly suspicious of it. She then handed it back.

Fia listened carefully to what Nat was saying and looked closely at what he was showing her, noting the differences to the dogs compared to earth ones properly for the first time. She knew the differences were there but she never really paid much attention to it until now. Watching carefully at how Nat was grooming Koso, she found Meyer's brushes and copied him exactly, as she found Nat really good at teaching her and easy to follow from. "this might sound weird to some people but I always find grooming animals so therapeutic and calming in a really weird way." she said with a slight chuckle, knowing that to some it must sound utterly strange that someone liked the whole brushing dogs or any animal. Yet she did like it, it was a calming repetitive action that she just enjoyed, and she knew hher little Max enjoyed it too as he would just slump down in her lap and let her brush his fur. Though with Max, she put it down to the fact he had clearly gone so long without any kind of fuss or love before she came along.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John eyed the bar with undisguised suspicion, he didn't trust it as far as he could throw it (which was deceptively far, he had a good arm). In a strange way he wanted to know what it would taste like, it had never occurred to him that the speedsters would burn through energy at such a ridiculous pace and would need specialised food, but hearing Rinaa say it, it made sense. Especially when about 60% of the time he ended up at one of the League's never-ending meetings Barry Allen or one of the other flash mob were eating something or another. He tossed the bar back on the table with the others. "Sounds disgusting, give me a greasy fry up any day." He declared. "Agreed, the only good thing about these is they're indestructible and will last for YEARS if kept sealed. I only have them as a last resort kinda thing anyway." Rinaa explained, gratefully taking the bowl of food Jay had procured from the fridge.

Jay and Elliott sat on the couch with Rinaa, while the others spread out in their usual places. The teenager found herself drawing up her legs onto the sofa beside her and curling up against Jay's side. Rinaa never had the choice between being a 'mummy's girl' or a 'daddy's girl', and at that particular moment in time she was feeling an oppressive combination of tired, shitty, vulnerable, worried and sad and was seeking comfort from one of the few people she had always been able to rely on for it. Just like when Fia was crying against John on the roof, Rinaa looked far younger when curled up on the sofa. When Jay put an arm around the teenager Elliott gave a fond smile at the sight. It was a rare moment where the softer side of both jay and Rinaa was showing. But he couldn't resist taking the bobble hat and trying it on, setting it at a jaunty angle on his head, looking utterly ridiculous in it.

Nat shook his head at her comment, it made perfect sense to him. "Doesn't sound weird to me, you are talking to the guy who find hacking fragments off pieces of wood therapeutic." He reminded her with a smirk. Koso was relatively clean and as a result he was able to move on to Rhys while Fia continued working on Meyer who had been staying still throughout the whole process."But I do find grooming this lot and the horses quite relaxing and grounding. Though when I was younger I was less fond of doing it, It'd piss me off no end when the dogs would go through the muddiest patch possible and I was lumped with cleaning them. But when I began living away from home at uni, I really started missing it. I guess there's some element of truth in the whole 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' saying. I guess it's just one of those things about having pets or growing up around animals really" He finished with a shrug.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked at John's remark about rather having a greesy fry up instead, and she couldn't exactly disagree with him on that one. She usually fou d anything designed for any kind of athlete in general was disgusting to eat, so something designed for speedster didn't exactly seem any different in that regard. When they all left the kitchen yet again, she plonked herself down on the other couch in her usual place just like the others did. She notices different Rinaa seemed when curled up into Jay's sideand in return how different Jay was as well. It was rare to see the softer side of either of them but was equally good to see it at the same time. She then looked up at Elliott when he put on the hat and sniggered at his antics. "not sure it's your colour Ell" she remarked smirking.

Fia smirked and chuckled, finding he had a very valid point with that comeback, "touché" she replied with a chuckle as she continued to work on Meyer and make sure her fur was perfect. As she did so, she listened to what Nat was saying about understanding where her thoughts were coming from and how he missed it when he went off planet. "yeah.. I definitely hear you on that one, though Kay and John think I don't hang around animals at all. They don't know I saved a stray dog in our nearby alleyway and kinda secretly adopted him, so all they know is that I've grown fond of your dogs and think they'll be in for the begging of a pet when we get home" she explained, the last bit bringing out a cheeky smirk in the corner of her lips.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Nobody made any comment on how different the assassin and the teenager seemed in that moment. The responses had been instinctive on both their parts, Jay not being full aware of putting her arm around her daughter until the teenager curled right into the embrace and Rinaa getting to see the protective caring side of this Jay (it had been there all along just buried under layers of mistrust, sarcasm and icy coldness). Elliott didn't need to take a photo of the sight, his memories were enough, but he wanted to, to have some kind of physical evidence that this had indeed happened.

John couldn't help but laugh at Elliott in the hat, it was most definitely not his colour and the fact he'd put in it on in a deliberately lopsided fashion wasn't helping matters. "Not sure it's your anything Ell, let alone colour." He smirked, to which Elliott rolled his eyes. Elliott was aware that the had wouldn't suit him in any way, but he'd put it on to see if him wearing it would bring a smile to Rinaa's face (it did, a small grin appeared and she sniggered quietly, which was a pretty major reaction given how little she used to smile when they first met her). "It looks like something somebody'd wear in a road safety add. Some reflective stripes would really complete the look. Actually, kiddo are there any reflective stripes on this?" Rinaa shook her head "no, there aren't, but it really doesn't need them, if you were wearing it on a stakeout you could be seen for MILES, it's almost like it glows."

Nat listened as Kay explained about the secret dog. Hearing that somebody could just abandon an animal really tugged at his heart strings, on his home planet, hunting dogs and horse were vital for island survival. Little dogs (like those the size of Fia's Max) were pretty useless in a hunt, but made up for it by being excellent trackers. "Well, they're probably not wrong on the last bit, they just don't know you've got one lined up already." He replied with a smirk before adding"but I'm gonna have to burst the bubble on that, it's never a good idea to get a small dog and a baby at the same time, it's complete chaos. Babies take up every hour of every day and really leave no room for anything else, I have five siblings, I've heard the stories. And by the same token dogs aren't just looked after by one person, no matter what you promise in that regard, it'll almost always end up being looked after by everybody, because, at the end of the day they are nowhere near as independent as cats. Plus, dogs can get a form of cabin fever when living in apartments." He wasn't trying to dissuade Fia from getting a dog, in fact he was all for the idea, but the circumstances he knew she had were working against her.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay knew that Elliott was doing it purely to try and make Rinaa smile and cheer her up, even if it was just ever so slightly. It was quite a typical thing to do in her mind if there was something ridiculous around, to use it to get a chuckle or at the very least a smile out of the upset person. She smirked at John's addition to her remark and noticed the small reaction he got out of Rinaa, seeing that as always the old trick worked, even on someone like Rinaa. The mental image of it with reflective tape on just made the hat seem so much more stupid, along with even less like something Rinaa would picked for herself. "I was about to say its bright enough without the reflective stripes" she chuckled.

Fia could see that the story of someone just abandoning Max tugged at his heartstrings a bit, and figured it'd tug at anyone with a heart, especially if they saw the poor sorry state of thw dog when she found him. She listened to the rest of what he was saying and she did agree with him, whilst not letting on that in her case there was no baby soon to be arriving into the world and it was just her. "yeah I know, it's why I kinda transformed a hidden spot in said alleyway for him to be comfortable and such. There's also people I trust to check in on him" she explained, whilst keeping up the facade that she wasn't from a different timeline. She eventually got close to finishing with Meyer's grooming, just focusing on on little stubborn bit before fixing it and putting the brush down.