Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

"Surely what it REALLY needs is one those mini disco balls instead of the pom-pom" Chas commented. "Or a fibre optic pom-pom and glitter, just to go full rave party on the hat." Jay smirked, using her free hand to take a photo of Elliott in the hat. Once he realised he was having his photo he got off the couch to give Jay a better angle and began hamming it up, posing like he was some kind of professional hat model. John, Chas, Rinaa and Jay couldn't refrain from laughing at his antics, the teenager setting aside the bowl temporarily, lest she drop it on the floor by accident. "Personally rave party hat sounds far more exciting to me than road safety hat." She replied once the laughter had died down. As Elliott walked past, John grabbed the hat by the bobble, pulled it off Elliott's head and put it on himself. It didn't look any better on him than it did on Elliott, the bright yellow and his blond hair was an awful combination.

Nat was nearly finished with Rhys by now and was just working his way through the final dirty patch on his legs. The difference the grooming had made was clear just by looking at the dogs, their coats were shiny and healthy looking and in the case of Meyer she actually looked like a dog as opposed to a pile of fur that had run backwards through a compost heap, a garden centre and a beach. "That's good to hear, you clearly really care about this dog, and since he's a stray he'd need it more than any other dog. It really disgusts me that people abandon any kind of animal, living here all my life has really taught me that every animal deserves love, whether they're useful in the context of the planet, like these three are, or not."

 

[MzHyde]

When the chatter continued about what the 'hat needed' Kay kept chuckling, never tiring of these stupid moments that this group had. Though the laughter only got worse when Elliott stood up and started doing cliche hat modelling poses with the hat still on his head, making her laugh a lot, close to wanting to cry with laughter. She managed to control her laughter as everyone else did, but then John went and put the hat on his own head, it clashing with his hair greatly, making her laugh and put her head in her hand, shaking her head as she did so. "oh jeez.. That is one bad look" she giggled, taking her phone out of her bag and taking a photo, so she could show Fia later.

Fia smiled as Meyer looked a lot more like a dog now, proud of her work. She also listened to what Nat said, enjoying her conversation with him as she felt like it was the most she had ever said with him. She nodded in agreement at his words, finding she agreed wholeheartedly at what he saying. It always got under her skin when people would abandon an animal, "agreed. It really grates on me when people abandon animals and unfortunately it's a real problem back home. The rescue centres can't keep up with it all because it's such a problem. There was one case that went viral because someone found like twelve cats or more in three cupboard boxes taped up, no airholes poked in just dumped by a industrial bin." she explained.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John didn't doubt that the hat looked awful, it was clear as day by everybody's reactions, Chas openly laughing, Kay giggling, Elliott with his head in his hands sighing, Jay smirking and Rinaa doing her best not to fall off the side of the couch. "I don't think any of us would look good in it to be honest" he remarked, taking the hat off and throwing it along to Chas, who put it on purely to continue the joke, knowing full well it didn't suit him. "Think you have a point there mate, surely the only way to wear the hat is like this" he pulled down the hat rim so his whole head and facial features were obscured by the wool "so that when you rob a bank, nobody knows who you are" the thick material of the hat muffling his words.

With both Koso and Rhys fully groomed Nat began to remove the fur from the brushes, carefully wrapping it around itself to form a ball. He knew for a fact that this was the longest conversation he'd had with just Fia. Cliff hadn't been kidding when she said that Nat was the most introverted of her siblings, he was a quieter person by nature and wasn't one for being the centre of attention or the crowd. He listened to Fia's story with horror and disgust. "That's really, really awful. Why anybody would do such a thing or could even have it in them to do such a thing is beyond me. And unfortunately it seems that the more urbanised a planet is, there is inevitably going to be more problems with animal abandonment."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay knew that all of them would look bad in that hat, even her who could look good in a beanie and found beanies were her go to for hatwear, especially if they dark colours like burgundy or black. She was pretty sure when she first met John she had one on, though she couldn't remember completely. Yet she knew not even she could pull off a bright yellow bobble hat. She watched on as Chas got given the hat and put it on himself, only to find herself laughing more as he pulled it right down over his face, his voice being muffled. "that's one upside I guess you could take from it" she chuckled.

Fia also cleaned the brush that she used for Meyer, doing the same technique as Nat did with rolling the fur up into a ball. It was a natural technique for her to use as she did it with her own hair when she cleaned her brush. She found herself enjoying her chat with Nat, for someone who was very introverted, he was interesting to talk to and good company. "I agree. I swear if I wasn't doing what I do and not what I am I'd be running around London just saving every stray animal I could find" she smiled and chuckled slightly. She really wouldn't have put it passed her to do such a thing. Putting the brush away, she gave Meyer a well deserved scratch behind the ears for behaving so well.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John laughed at Chas' face being obscured and had what was (in his opinion) the best smart-alec remark in response to what Chas had done. "Mate, it really suits you, the more of your ugly mug covered by a hat, the better." "OI!" Chas yelled, flipping John off with both hands, which John took a photo of. "That's your new contact photo sorted." he smirked, turning the screen around so that the others could see the photo he'd taken of Chas in all his glory. The cabbie quickly took off the hat and put it down on the table again. "On a side note, I think there might be an actual balaclava somewhere in here." Rinaa reached into the backpack again, feeling right down at the bottom before triumphantly pulling out an standard black balaclava and tossing it onto the table. John for some reason found it hilarious that Rinaa would have both a balaclava and a hat that could only be described as the exact opposite of the balaclava.

Nat scratched the two boys in the sweet spot where the neck met their shoulders, making Koso and Rhys pant happily. Seeing that Fia was done with her equipment he took it and began packing it into the main bags again. Her next comment made him smile, in his mind he could see her doing such a thing, based on the little time he'd spent with her. She was an interesting person and he also found himself enjoying talking to her. "Well you can always have that as plan B if things don't work out, just doing a one woman animal saving crusade. Or you could just volunteer at one of those shelters and spread the love to the animals that need it. I did that for a few weeks, covering for a friend of mine after he had an operation and needed to stay in hospital for a while afterwards. I had a great time doing it and you really see the effect you have."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay laughed at what John said to Chas, feeling it was such a typical smart ass comment to be made by him. She also had to admit that when. Chas flipped him off with both hands it did make for the perfect photo opportunity which John clearly thought the same thing as he took a photo declaring it to be Chas' new contact photo. Hearing that Rinaa probably had a balaclava in her bag somewhere didn't entirely surprise her considering the character she was. Seeing her indeed pull out one just made her smirk, finding it strangely in keeping with Rinaa's personality to have something so garish alongside something like a balaclava. "that is equally amusing and yet so perfectly you to have these two complete opposite things in your bag" she smiled.

Fia smiled as she continued to give Meyer the much fuss she felt Meyer deserved. She nodded at him saying it could always be a plan B for her, finding it being a very good plan if she didn't think that her lifestyle and world wod give her a big enough break to do such a thing. She was pretty sure that being born into the world she was in, she could never get out of it and she still had the whole fact that somehow she was meant to be this key to bringing back phoenix kind. "yeah, it's certainly something to think about if I ever can get out of the world I'm in. I'd love to do that kind of good for a change instead of fighting for survival and such" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The teenager smirked at Kay's comment, knowing it was referring to how she was a contradiction in many ways and possessed interests and skills that normally wouldn't go together. "If you think seeing this stuff in my bag" she gestured at the items spread out on the table"fit that description, then you should see my wardrobe back home." She gestured over her shoulder, to indicate that she was talking about her timeline. It didn't escape Cha, Jay or Elliott's notice that this was the first time she'd ever referred to her timeline as 'home', she'd always said that she never knew where 'home' was for her. Evidently something had changed. "Most of it is the super-nerdy t-shirts, a couple of band shirts, the brightly coloured novelty socks, the lumberjack shirts, the combat boots, the ratty converse, the leather jackets, the mechanics overalls and the other stuff you've seen me wearing. The stuff you'd expect." "And the other side?" Jay asked, knowing that Rinaa was deliberately building up to shock them with whatever was in the other part of her wardrobe by emphasising how typical of her the majority of the clothes were. "Black tie." The teenager smirked, knowing that nobody could possibly have seen that coming "all the components of a good tux- white shirts, waistcoats, suit jackets, those trousers with creases that could poke your eye out, bow ties, regular ties- the full shebang."

Nat nodded, he didn't know as well as Matteo did about the various dangers and problems in Fia's life, but Cal and cliff had explained enough that he understood where she was coming from and how dangerous life for her was because of her race. It seemed to him that at the end of the day, her race was going to affect and dictate everything she did in life. But if there was something she truly wanted to do and felt passionate about, then it was his opinion that he shouldn't let that stop her. "If you really love a thing, you should do it regardless of circumstance. Cliff's a doctor and she's completely deaf. Alex is a lawyer, working mainly for free defending those who wouldn't get proper defence otherwise and he's technically royalty. Artemis is dying, yet she'd trying to finish her degree before she dies. If you can't get out of the whole world of magic, then you just have to find a way to make it work with the life you have. The trick seems to be not doing it alone and not giving up, no matter what."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay rose her eyebrow ever so slightly when Rinaa replied to her remark. She listened to the spiel Rinaa gave of the usual things they had heard of her owning before, not finding of it surprising yet it did make her curious what the not so usual things would be. She continued to listen when Rinaa suddenly said black tie. She was right in thinking none of them would be expecting that in the slightest, Kay certainly didn't. She would have been less surprised if Fia had said that after seeing the type of outfit Fia wore on that heist mission. "well I wouldn't have thought that, that's for sure" she replied. "not from you anyway, Fia possibly, but not you" she added.

Fia listened once more to what he said and simply nodded. She knew she shouldn't let anything stop her from seeking out things she loved, and it was one reason why she was going to talk with AJ about getting a part time job att the restaurant of his, with the help of Elliott when she went back to her time. Yet she also knew it was a lot more complicated than it seemed. "yeah, you're right, it's just finding a way of making it work. I'm sure I'll figure some thing out though without risking putting myself or anyone else in danger at the same time. It's a tough balance to keep ahold of sometimes" she told him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa may not have seen the outfit that Fia wore in the heist, but she'd heard it described when Fia was re-telling the story the other day. The Fia in her timeline switched easily between a relaxed sort of biker grunge and high, sexy fashion when it came to outfits. None of the others saw black tie coming because when they'd been discussing wedding outfits Rinaa had made her hatred for dresses and skirts firmly known. "Well then" was all John could say on the matter, he couldn't visualise the teenager in a tuxedo, a blood and oil stained shirt (like the one she was wearing currently was definitely more her style. "Really? I definitely didn't get that vibe from you." Chas was in the same mind as Kay, that formal, high end fashion was more likely to be Fia's thing (even if she was only wearing it for heists to gain access to exclusive parties. Elliott raised both eyebrows in surprise he ws expecting something more along the lines of a full outfit composed entirely of tie-dye clothing. "I was thinking tie-dye as opposed to black tie, so you got me surprised there." "You're right, I didn't see that coming, yet you said you had no outfit suitable for the wedding?" Jay asked pointedly. "I wasn't lying when I said that, they aren't suitable for wedding, think more along the lines of the tuxedo orchestra members would wear for a concert as opposed to the ones Bruce Wayne would wear at a corporate do. Plus I wanted to wear armour for the wedding anyway." Rinaa shrugged, like it was the most normal sentence in the world, which for her, it was.

Nat could see that Fia was taking on board what he was saying and was glad to see it was getting through to her in some shape or form, he was quite often the one people in his own friend group came to when they needed to talk. He was a natural listener and anything said to him in confidence stayed secret. His advice was more hit and miss, but in this case, he genuinely believed that Fia would be able to find a way through everything and make it work. "Yeah, I get that it's a tough balance to make work, can't claim I fully understand it, but at some point you have to make a choice between getting your own happiness and playing it safe. Doing what you like always has an element of risk to it. But I don't think any of them in there" he jerked his chin towards the living room"doubt you can do it."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened as everyone share and expressed their thoughts with Rinaa about her other wardrobe collection that she had back in her timeline. It was just so far from what they could ever expect from Rinaa, it was almost too difficult to visualise her in such garb. She smirked at Jay's remark about how Rinaa said she had nothing to wear for the wedding before finding Rinaa's response was a fair comment to make. She definitely felt that if they were any other group, it would sound highly abnormal about wanting to wear armour to a wedding, but for them it sounded perfectly normal. "whatever is comfortable for you, that's what I think" she commented.

Like with Matteo, Fia found Nat incredibly easy to talk to and enjoyable to talk to. She appreciated his thoughts on the little she told him, or more to the point Could tell him about her life. She knew it was better not to delve into it too much as it would just fill his mind with so many questions, she'd never be able to answer them all in time before going back to Attil. She nodded at his words and she had to smile when he got the vibe from her family that none of them would doubt she could manage such a balancing act. "yeah.. I know" she smiled. "they all see what I can achieve when I put my mind to things, that much is obvious, and I know John believes I can do most things which helps a lot" she added, fondness for the group clear in her tone.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"We can come back to the black tie in a minute, but what I really want to know is the origin story of this hat." John twirled the yellow monstrosity around his finger, before throwing it at Rinaa, who caught it and pulled it on. It completely covered her newly shortened hair and didn't look too bad on her (if the massive blood stain on her t-shirt was ignored). "Funny thing about this hat. Not only is it related to the black tie thing, it's not actually MY hat, I'd usually wear a beanie of some kind, but on that particular day I didn't have one." She pulled out her phone and flicked through the gallery to find the photo that would help explain it all. It showed Rinaa alongside two other girls and a guy in a muddy field (with some mountains just visible in the background), grinning at the camera, their arms were slung around each other, a set of instrument cases in front of them (two guitars, a violin and an accordion) with some drum sticks on top. All four were dressed in some form of black tie, which was just visible under the knee high wellies and thick hiking jackets. All were wearing bobble hats, each a different lurid colour- bright green, neon pink, highlighter orange and the safety jacket yellow. She passed the phone along so the others could get a good look.

"Anyway, myself and a couple of mates were at a music festival, which like any good festival in my timeline took place in a mix of muddy field and bombed out buildings, the later being used to erect the stages in. That particular day, which was in the winter by the way, it was cold. Really. Fucking. Cold. There was murmurings of snow, but that didn't happen. And since we were going to be hanging around for a good forty minutes or so we layered up with anything we could find, which included a collection of hideously coloured bobble hats Flick had brought along for the laugh. I ended up with the yellow one as you can see, and we kind of ended up just keeping them, they became a sort of running joke with us."

Nat had known beforehand that the crazy family group meant a lot to Fia, her fond tone only cemented that view. It was clear that, unlike his family, Fia's was an extended network of complicated relationships. John was at the centre of the group, everybody else orbiting around him, but it was Chas that held everybody together, despite being related to none of them. Chas was the one everybody trusted, liked and respected and Nat could see why, the cabbie was a good man. Well balanced, dependable, reliable and just gave off the aura of being somebody you could talk to without judgement. Fia's word made it clear that out of all of them, it was John opinion that mattered most, which made sense, the man meant what he said and said what he meant bluntly. "It definitely does." He reached over to scratch Meyer, before getting up and brushing the loose hair from his legs. "I think I'm gonna go see how Dan's doing, maybe give him a hand. Mind putting back the dog kit if you happen to be passing through the kitchen?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay wasn't surprised in the slightest that John wanted to know more about how the yellow bobble hat came to be in the possession of Rinaa. She listened as Rinaa explained about it, whilst taking a look at the photo on her phone that she was showing everyone. The idea of a music festival in the winter sounded absolutely horrific to Kay, as much as she loved music she did not like the idea of attending a festival in the winter. Not because of the mud and dirt, that didn't bother her too much, but it was the cold temperatures. "kudos to you lot even thinking baout going to a festival in the winter months, I couldn't do it. But it's cool that you could create a running joke amongst your friends like that" she commented.

Fia was the kind of person that couldn't even pretend that John's word didn't matter the most or how much she admired him even if she tried. She loved her father dearly, finding being a daddy's girl was something to be proud of and own the nickname with no remorse what so ever. She knew he was flawed, probably more so than anyone of her family but it was his strengths and ability to still be a good dad that she admired so much. Though for the sake of Cliff's family she had to act like he had become a bit like a big brother role model to her due to his relationship with Kay. Which deeondown still felt incredibly strange to her and she would be thankful when she wouldn't have to pretend he was her dad anymore. "sure thing, if either of you end up needing anything just hollah" she told him, meaning it just like she did when she asked if Dan needed anything like a drink or similar earlier.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Even if Rinaa hadn't told him the photo had been taken at a music festival, John would have been easily able to tell from the state of the field, the fact they were wearing wellies, the tents and camping set up in the background and most importantly, the instruments in the foreground. Neither of the guitar cases matched his or Jack's, so he figured they must belong to Rinaa and whoever played bass. "Looks like you guys had one hell of a time." "Those hats are quite something, but I think you got off relatively easy with the yellow one." The yellow was only slightly better than the others in Chas' opinion. The one thing Elliott and Jay really took from the photo was just how happy and relaxed the teenager looked in the photo, she was grinning from ear to ear and her eyes seemed to sparkle. In the photo there was no bite marks so she was some age between sixteen and seventeen.

Rinaa smiled at the comment about her friends, she truly loved them and somebody else complimenting them always made her feel good. "There was NO WAY we were gonna turn down the opportunity to go, even if the weather was shite. All five of us crammed into a second hand car with luggage literally strapped the roof, instruments on our laps, passing around sweets and engaged in some seriously dodgy singing along? Far too much fun. And my group of friends have far too many running jokes, the hat one happened to be successful, probably because we made a detour on the way back, just do this" Rinaa passed over the phone again, the photo showed the same four teenagers, with hats firmly on their heads, at a train station, gesturing at the station sign which proudly bore the full name of the Welsh town 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch'. "So who plays what, then?" Elliott asked as the phone made it's way around. "The blond girl is on drums, the guy does bass guitar and some backing vocals, the other girl mixes between violin and accordion, I do main guitar and vocals."

Nat nodded "will do, keep an eye on these three obviously, they're looking beautiful right now and last thing we want is for their coats to get ruined, destroying all our hard work." He bent down to give the dogs a rub and pat before saying "behave you three, no getting yourselves dirty, especially you Meyer, no ruining Fia's hard work." He told the dog who was giving him a 'who me? I'd never do such a thing' look, which wasn't working, Nat could see through it easily."We'll give a shout, or more likely a text if we see the others arriving back." They weren't due back for another couple of hours (longer if Charlie and Matteo decided to get a decent meal as opposed to a takeaway), but chances were neither he, Dan, nor Fia's group would move far from their places in the meantime. He grabbed his own set of farriery tools from one of the out buildings and gave Fia a wave goodbye before making his way to the stables. The dog grooming bag was kept in the same shelf in the kitchen as the other dog equipment.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay thought it was pretty obvious that Rinaa and her friends were at a festival even without being told but it did still bring a lot of context to her story which is why she supposed Rinaa mentioned where they were. She so had to agree with Chas over the hat choices, as she was pretty certain no one could ever get her in a hat that were the other colours. She looked at the next photo and saw the sign at the train station to show where they were and smiled, having always wanted to visit the place herself but never had such an opportunity. Yet again, there were a few places in the world she wanted to visit and never were able to. She listened to who played what and going by the photo she could see how fitting each instrument fitted each of the friends.

Fia smirked and nodded at what Nat said, in full agreement that the last thing they needed was for the dogs to ruin all their hard work making them look so beautiful. She chuckled when Meyer gave an innocent look to Nat which just wasn't working in the slightest on either of them. She was going to make it her utmost important mission to keep them all clean, especially Meyer. "sure thing, catch you later" she replied, sta ding up off the porch steps and dusting her jeans off just that bit more, but making sure it was away from the three dogs so they didn't get dirty all over again. "right you three, inside" she told the dogs, grabbing the dog grooming bags and stepping inside at the end of the conversation the others were having.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott chuckled at the description of the car journey to the festival. With that kind of set up, it could either go amazingly well or they'd drive each other to the point where they'd willingly murder each other in order to get some peace. Luckily Rinaa's group were in the first camp. Asking who played what had been a shot in the dark, Rinaa being Rinaa hadn't just straight out said 'oh by the way myself and the band were playing at the festival, we have enough of a reputation in that music community to be asked to play and wearing black tie is our thing, it's a nod to another artist', but all the clues were there, both in what she said and the photos she showed. The fact that Rinaa was the front woman didn't surprise him (or Jay), when on the stage at the wedding it was evident she was utterly confident on a stage with a mic in front of a crowd of complete strangers.

"I'll take it that you guys are extremely good them, what do you play then?" Jay asked aware that Fia had entered the room a few moments ago. "Yeah, we're pretty good" Rinaa nodded, a small, proud smile on her face. "As for what we play- a mix of punk, folk rock, protest singing, some covers of whatever other genre we feel like tackling and some original stuff." John smirked at the photo of the teenagers and the sign. He had done the same thing back in the day when he was almost the same age as Rinaa had been. That Welsh village was one of those places people visited, just for the purpose of saying they'd been there. It took a bit of digging, but he found the photos, which showed a very young John (all punked up), beside a young Chas (also punked up, though not to the extreme John was) and a couple of others, along with Chas' original taxi (which had been long since destroyed) which was just visible at the edge of the photo. The group was leaning and posing near the sign. He held it out to Rinaa. "Snap. You're not the only one to do that as a teenager."

Rinaa took the phone and looked at the photos, a half smile, half smirk on her face. She'd seen very few photos of John from back in his punk days, it was rare in her timeline that John would start reminiscing about the old days. It always, in some way or another, ended up with him blaming himself for not being able to save Elliott or bring his body back. The wounds ran deep all those years later. The only times she was around when he was in a mood to reminisce and share such photos with her, were those rare days when Fia and Kay were out of town for some reason or another and Rinaa would sneak into the apartment for a catch up (of sorts) with him and Chas. The apartment was hardly a neutral place to meet, but they couldn't go to Rinaa's student apartment and the security system at John meant Rinaa could slip out the window at a moments notice and vanish. (Which happened all too frequently). So like Fia, she treasured the glimpses into John's past. "I had no idea, here I was thinking I was the first." she replied with a smirk, though not in a bitter way. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but we got there first." John replied. Rinaa's eyes narrowed, something catching her eye in one of the pictures, a glint of metal. "Is that....... a tongue piercing?" She asked, surprise in her voice. "Yup." John smirked, almost proudly,

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had taken a guess that Rinaa's group played at said festival as she couldn't imagine another reason to take so many musical instruments, more out of risk of getting them nicked or damaged. She also didn't think they'd all wear black tie just play round their tent in a campsite, but then again she knew people wore all kinds of crap at festivals. She was known to herself when attending the odd summer ones in Seattle, including face paint. She looked over John's shoulder when he pulled up the photo on his phone of his teenage self with teenage Chas doing exactly the same thing at the same sign and smirked to herself as he passes it over to Rinaa to see. When she pointed out John's tongue piercing, Kay couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him confirming it proudly.

"you.. Had a tongue piercing?" she asked, she knew about his punk days but the piercing was something new to her. "seems I learn something new about you every day" she smiled. Fia wasn't as surprised to hear about the piercing from where she was in the kitchen, as she put the dog grooming gear away in the top shelf. She had found out about that in her timeline after she found some of his old band stuff one day tidying up, and that was part of the information she found out about him then. What she was surprised about was that it was this moment Kay found out about it. Fia then walked back into the living room and perched on the arm rest of the couch that John and Kay were sat on as she normally did. She let the dogs just chill out in the living room near her, making sure that whilst they were just chilling out they couldn't ruin their newly nice coats of fur.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It was at moments like this that John really enjoyed being able to surprise people. The look on Kay's face was priceless in that moment. In a way imagining him with a tongue piercing was a hardly a big leap of the imagination. Looking through photos of John in his punk days one could track the progress of his tattoos and piercings. He'd had his ears pierced first, then the tongue, then his nose and back to his ears again. Fia didn't look in any way surprised which he took to mean she already knew. Rinaa then passed the phone over to Jay so she could get a look. Both Jay and Rinaa had multiple stud piercings in their ears, but neither had ever considered a tongue piercing. "Got it done after I had me ears pierced. There's still a scar from where it healed over." And to prove that point he stuck out his tongue, pointing right at the small ridge of scar tissue, it was easily missed if you didn't know what you were looking for.

Once everybody was finished gawping he explained the rest of the story. "It was probably me favourite piercing, if I'm being honest, but I got rid of it after I saw what happened to this mage, he was tortured by metal demons, who ripped his tongue piercings, plural, out of his mouth using their natural magnetism. Which left the tongue in ruins, and then in got infected." He relished telling that particularly disgusting story, though there was something about the look on Jay's face that said she'd either seen or done something like that before as a form of torture. "I had a thing with a girl who had a tongue piercing" Jay remarked at the exact same time as Rinaa said "my second girlfriend had a tongue piercing." The two then looked at each other in surprise with looks that said "Really?" "Yes"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay felt she shouldn't be surprised, and in some ways she wasn't but in others she was. She took him for the piercings type, she just didn't ever think about tongue piercings. She listened to when he got it done before he stuck his tongue out to prove where it once was. She could just about to see the ridge of where it used to be but, she did think it healed over incredibly well because it was difficult to see it. She then listened to the rest of his story when he continued it, finding it utterly disgusting whilst never realising that there were such a thing as metal demons. She could definitely understand why he decided to get rid of his own after that incident, as just the mental image was not something she wanted to imagine ever again.

When Jay and Rinaa both said pretty much at the same time that they had a thing with a girl with a tongue piercing once, it didn't surprise her in the slightest, but she was amused as a smile crept on her face, seeing the two girls react at each other the same way to the information passed on. Whereas Kay had no experiences in the slightest with anyone who had a tongue piercing, though she distinctly remembers Sam going on and on about one partner she had with one and how 'it makes making out and sex sooooo much better' as she would put it. Kay was always anti tongue piercings for herself as she heard far too many horror stories of them going wrong or being ripped out, that it put her off.

Fia just smirked at the whole conversation happening in front of her and how Rinaa and Jay both acted partly surprised at each other. She also knew where Kay stood on tongue piercings, having never once been anti them on other people, just when it came to herself. "Never been with anyone with one, and never would even think about it for myself. The amount of horror stories I've heard revolving around them just put me off. Not that I could probably get anything done anyway" Kay just remarked shrugging.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott couldn't help but laugh at the identical expressions on Jay and Rinaa's faces. Jay's dating history he knew consisted of a good few serious relationships, one of which lasted nearly a year and a half, along with various flings, one night stands and even a friends with benefits set-up. Rinaa's was much shorter, she'd given him a brief run through while doing the tattoo, needing something to talk about to keep her mind off the pain. There had been three serious girlfriends (four if Moya was included), some casual hook ups and a couple of crushes that went nowhere (including a particularly persistent one on her best friend that could never go anywhere as he was, in his own words 'very, very gay'). Rinaa had never had a boyfriend, despite being bi, she was very much female leaning. He couldn't resist saying "Like mother, like daughter it seems" with a broad smirk on his face, highly pleased with his own wit.

The two gave a sigh, before smirking and responding in unison with "Shut up Elliott." The phrase made the tips of his ears redden ever so slightly, an he hoped nobody would notice, or worse, ask what exactly it was about that phrase that could make him blush so easily. "I've been with quite a few who've had tongue piercings, and it definitely adds to the experience." John declared, there was no shame in it, and since everybody was bringing up their past partners, he might as well see how weird people's tastes ran. "Any of you ever done somebody with one of those forked snake tongues?" He asked casually, having met a person with such a tongue once, but didn't get a chance to try it out for himself.. Everybody in the room except for Jay shook their heads. "I have actually." She smirked. "And let me just say, the forked tongue is very much improvement, especially if the person in question is VERY skilled."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had to smirk at Elliott's comment about Jay and Rinaa which only grew when the two girls told him to shut up in perfect unison. She noticed slightly that he was blushing but she wasn't going to embarrass him even more by bringing it up, instead choosingnto spare him of that. When John said about how it added to the experience, she found it matched up with what Sam said, "Sam used to say the same thing except she'd be a bitch and be a lot more graphic to wind me up" she replied, now remembering those wind up days fondly, compared to when she was a teenager, around nineteen years old, making it be the last thing she wanted to hear her sister, just like its usually the last thing any kid wants to hear from their parents.

When the topic of the forked tongues came up, Kay relaxed back into the couch, really not wanting to hear it but she let everyone dicuss it anyway. Fia just smirked finding it was so typical of them to discuss these sorts of topics in front of her. She wasn't surprised that it was Jay out of everyone that declared she had been with someone with such a modification done to themselves and she found it a pleasant experience. "I am not in the slightest bit surprised it's you Jay that has experienced it out of this whole group" she smirked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott wasn't that surprised by the fact that Jay would have experience of somebody with a forked tongue, they were far more common among aliens. he didn't find it particularly weird that the conversation had essentially turned into a public dissection of John and Jay's dating life. He did get a slight twinge of jealousy when Jay made the insinuation she did about forked tongues and what they brought to the bedroom, but he had to admit that he was now curious as to what it'd be like. Had John not been bonded to Kay, making him very much off the market, he would have said something along the lines of 'well that's one I'm gonna try before I die'. Instead he just nodded, satisfied with the answer. "I suspected as much, met somebody with a forked tongue once, but never got the chance to try it for meself."

Jay didn't take Kay's words as an insult and if they had been meant in an insulting way, she really wouldn't have cared less, her past relationship history was nobody's business but her own. "I'm taking that as a compliment since I am the one here with the most experience of alien races and species, both humanoid and otherwise, having spent all but three years of my life planet and star system hopping. Forked tongues aren't as much of a novelty in space as they are on Earth, if you want to find one look no further than the reptilites or insectoids. Some people get them for cosmetic purposes, but many are born with them, a genetic adaption to wherever it is they're from." She replied with a shrug, the three years in question being the ones when she was on Earth, even as a young kid she'd moved around her home planet quite a lot. "That's true, y'know there was a couple of kids in my school with forked tongues actually, they also had snake eyes and patches of scales too."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had a feeling that if he was still very single for all in tense and purposes, John would have made it a point to ttry it out for himself just to see what Jay was talking about. As for her comment toward Jay, she did mean it in a positive manner, nodding at her reply about taking it as a compliment before continuing on about the o fee her species who have it as a genetic trait and not a fashion trait. "I don't doubt that and I did mean it as a compliment" she smiled. She still always found it incredibly interesting at the types of people that everyone had come across in their time when such weird and wonderful topics had come around like this. It actually made her feel slightly uncultured in some ways having never even known such beings really existed until she met John and the group.

Hearing all this made Fia just nod and agree about the types of people that existed out in the universe. Having been born into this world, she knew about them from a relatively early age so none of what they were saying was much of a surprise to her. Especially as she spent many a day just reading up on all kinds of people as a recreational thing, rather than work given to her by John. "I remember reading up on those kinds of people out of just wanting to because I was bored one day. Was highly interesting" Fia spoke up for the first time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott had never really thought of traits like snake eyes, gills or wings as being anything particularly unusual. On Attil, such mutations were common as a result of various birth powers and as result were readily accepted by all. Credit where credit was due, Devra society was leagues more accepting than the human race when it came to skin tone, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, disability and planet of origin. For him it was the most natural thing to see all kinds of appearances and unconditionally accept them. That trait still carried through to when he saw demons or Downworlders, he didn't judge them on how they looked, most of the time the creatures in question couldn't help the way they looked. It had been one of the biggest culture shocks when he landed on Earth to see the hate people got for being even slightly different physically, and the stories of discrimination and mistreatment one faction of the human race had inflicted on another disgusted him.

John smirked at Fia's comment, this wasn't the first time she'd mentioned researching aspects of the magical world for no other reason than she was bored. To have that kind of drive and natural curiosity was a good thing, in his youth John would have to stumble into a creature he didn't know or recognise first in order to ignite the interest. But once that interest was ignited he'd stumble down all kinds of rabbit holes in his quest to understand. In John's opinion it was Elliott who was more like Fia when it came to reading up magical creatures. "There's worse things you could have done with that time." John shrugged, which was as close to a seal of approval as he'd give. "I can see why you'd do it, I did a similar thing, but with alien species and Isogrii history." In order to have enough money to finance Rinaa's upbringing, Jay had turned back to her old assassin ways, leaving Rinaa either in the care of Cal and Cliff or at one of the Isogrrii outposts. Rinaa read voraciously from a young age consuming anything and everything."I didn't actually do any real research or theory reading related to magic and the Downworld until I met my landlord and discovered Q's bar."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia never found those traits as particularly unusual but she did always find it interesting and for the most part beautiful in their own unique way. She noticed how John smirked at her comment, knowing she had told him before how she would read pretty much any book in the library because she felt like it and wanted to learn. She even remembered when she was around 8years old, and Kay called her Matilda because of her love of reading anything and everything she could get her hands on. Whether they were books suitable for her or not. "that's always my thinking too" she replied to John.

She then looked at Rinaa who agreed with her mindset when it came to researching or reading in general about other cultures, species and everything in between. It also wasn't surprising that her focus was more alien based rather than downworld based. "makes sense considering our different upbringing. I just found a love for books from an early age, even when I struggled with reading, I was too stubborn to give up and it kinda went from there." she explained, giving a slightly insight to what Kay and John will have to expect without it being too much of an issue to know. " you struggled?" Kay asked, finding it surprising considering all her previous statements declaring her love for reading. "for a while... Yeah. From about four to six years old actually." Fia admitted.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa had never really had a reason to be interested in the Downworld. Jay had lasted just over a year on Earth with Rinaa after she was formed in the chimera process, before deciding that enough was enough and taking her off world. Had Rinaa showed any signs of being magically inclined like Elliott was, Jay would have found a way to have her daughter properly trained in the magical arts and given access to whatever knowledge on the subject she needed, but Rinaa never inherited that particular skill set. Rinaa had no interest in the Downworld or the world of magic, it was just a reminder of what she could never have and the abuse she'd been put through. That changed when she found her student accommodation, a set of apartment blocks run by a lycanthrope, housing alien and Downworlder students. It was there that Rinaa was exposed to all kinds of people and became friendly with the, which gave her an incentive to actually start looking into the world she had shunned for so long. That she did with the help of The House library, The House itself having become a master of keeping the two teenagers separate from each other.

Like Kay, John was completely surprised by the fact that Fia had reading issues, she clearly had no problems with reading now, so it couldn't have been some permanent disability like dyslexia. Kay beat him to the mark asking the question. He didn't say anything, just nodded, but his face quite clearly said 'huh, that's something we'll have to look out for then'. Rinaa didn't know if her Fia had the same problem, she had no memories from her first few years, but like John and Kay was surprised by it. "I can't say if the Fia in my timeline was like that, I really wouldn't know. I came into existence aged four and spent the first couple of months learning four years worth of life skills. Didn't help that even as a four year old I was lanky with stupidly long legs and arms." She gestured at her own limbs to illustrate her point, she'd been tall and lanky her whole life and always had been a couple of centimetres above Fia, even when the latter was having a growth spurt. "I'm like seventy percent arms and legs" was one of Leah's commonly used phrases."I spent most of my time as a four year old falling over, Cliff thought I had a coordination disorder or some kind of physical problem from the DNA splicing, but a brain scan showed that the problem was simply that my brain wasn't wired up right enough that I could walk without falling over."