Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Kay couldn't stop the smile and fond eye roll when John quoted Doc Brown, being reminded that she wasn't the only one who had a habit of quoting pop culture references when she could but it also reminded her she hadn't done it in a long time. She also smirked when Jay agreed with her by saying just that one simple word, before Chas being Chas, asked what happened to the speedboat and other belongings after they got away. She turned to Elliott when he explained what they did with everything, nodding before she found her attention got taken from Elliott and to the sound of the boat coming back.

She and Fia both watched it come into the harbour as the others returned, and Fia knew that Rinaa would be happy to see her girlfriend once more. She was just glad that the dogs could see Matteo again, and stayed with her group as she watched them eventually disembark off the boat to come back onto land once more. Neither girl said anything about it and just let the returning people disembark in their own time and let them do what they needed as neither wanted to get in the way.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The dogs sat patiently on the pier, waiting for the boat to come in. As puppies they'd all been trained not to go into the water when a boat was arriving to prevent them from being accidentally injured by the speedboat or even worse trawler propeller. The dogs all knew that this was one rule always to be obeyed, they may push the boundaries of others, like not being allowed food from the dinner table, but incoming boast was a different situation. Thankfully none of Cliff's family's dogs had ever been injured in a boating accident, but they'd all heard the horror stories. Having one of their own dogs be injured or killed in such a way would break their hearts.

Charlie was piloting the boat with complete confidence and one handed, the other hand waving a greeting to the others on the pier. With her hair tied back, a set of cool sunglasses covering her eyes, dressed in shorts and a sort of tank-top she looked like she could have come right out of action movie. Her outfit was a direct contrast to the formal uniform she'd been wearing when they first met her. She skilfully manoeuvred the boat up against the dock before leaping out to tie it up. "How was it herding all those teenagers around?" Cliff asked as she and Cal made their way over to help tie up the boat. Charlie let out a sigh, giving an over the top fake shudder. "Next time Benji's doing it. Utter nightmare." She then smirked. "Alex threatened to throw himself overboard to get away from it all." Cliff laughed, before Charlie added. "And Quin just sat there, cool as anything, cleaning her knives with an ornate blade and deadpan says 'well I sure as Skaris won't be pulling your ass out, so go ahead" not looking up the whole time. That girl has her moments of pure badass snarkiness, now that she's defrosted and actually talks to us."

The second Matteo leapt out of the boat the dogs ran over to him tails wagging, barking happily. He crouched down to rub them all, laughing, smiling and murmuring endearments to them as the licked whatever bit of bare skin the could. After a few minutes he got up again and turned to Fia. "They're looking good, knew you were the right one for looking after them. I see they've been groomed. Did Meyer do that thing where she runs through every bit of dirt possible and gets it all over you?" He asked with a knowing smirk.

While the others were talking or hanging around watching, Rinaa made her way over to the boat, a broad smile on her face. Moya easily disembarked, vaulting over the side of the boat like she'd been doing it her whole life (she hadn't, not growing up near the coast, but she still managed to make it look both effortless and badass). She Moya a quick peck on the lips, before she was wrapped into a firm hug.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia stepped forward a little bit to be more in line with the dogs when Matteo exited the speedboat and went straight to the dogs to give them a warm welcome and some well deserved fuss. She didn't even focus on how Charlie looked, though she did notice how different she looked as she docked the boat. She smiled when Matteo could tell they had been groomed and she smirked as she chuckled when he asked the knowing question. "could say that yeah. Think I got more covered at one point than she did as she found my legs very comfortable" she replied, explaining. "but yeah they have been groomed, Nat helped out with that to make things go quicker" she said, deciding not to take full credit for that. Out the corner of her eye she saw how Rinaa greeted Moya and smiled fondly, glad that she had her girlfriend back and could continue being happy.

Kay saw how they all came into the dock, noticed the large difference in how Charlie looked compared to when they saw her in her uniform, whilst smirking when Cliff asked the sarcastic question. She thought the whole conversation was amusing to overhear, finding it interesting that Quincenti proved to be quite the character when she got talking to people. She still however didn't find it her place to say anything so she just watched on as everyone else had their conversations for the most part. She saw how Fia was explaining how the dog sitting went, seeing that Matteo was clearly happy with left the dogs with her. "Fia took the dogs out twice today, she's done a good job from what I've seen and they've done nothing but obey her all the time" she told Matteo.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Matteo's knowing expression grew as Fia explained just what Meyer had done, not looking in the least bit surprised, he ruffled the dog in question's head as he listened to Kay confirm that Fia did an excellent job of looking after the dogs. He could tell just by looking at them that not only had they been physically cred for (ie fed and groomed) they had been walked and tired out. He could feel the contentment radiating off them, the trio were very expressive when it came to their emotions and conveying what they wanted. "Like I said, I knew she'd do a good job at looking after these three. I could tell straight away, they're looking great, and not just the grooming, good one there Nat." He smiled and gave a thumbs up at his brother who just shrugged. "Meh, no problem, Meyer was in a right state and Fia's a quick learner." Knowing that Kay and John were around he deliberately left out how this wasn't Fia's first time dog grooming and all he did was show her how to deal with a larger dog with different texture hair to Max's. Matteo nodded, before turning his attention back to Fia. "They look and feel happy, they're practically buzzing with it, beneath the tiredness of course. And what you've just said Fia, is Meyer to a T. She's always been like that. You should see the pictures of her as a puppy, she's only about 40% dog, the rest is random crap she rolled in, ran through or jumped into." He spoke with fondness as he said that, there were days when he wished Meyer was different, but for the most part he wouldn't change a thing about her.

Jay nudged Elliott very slightly in the ribs at the sight of Rinaa going over to Moya. They weren't expecting their teenager to be so forward and kiss the other girl in front of everybody, but looking at them, it was quite clear the two only had eyes for each other. Everybody else could vanish in a puff of smoke and she believed Rinaa and Moya wouldn't notice. "Definitely her girlfriend now." Elliott remarked softly to Jay, who nodded. "Agreed. They weren't before, but certainly are now." After a pause Jay added. "They make a good couple." To which Elliott just nodded. The two easily overheard the conversation between Cliff and Charlie about the other assassin.

"Yeah, she's like that, always did have a sharp mouth when we were younger. As for the 'defrosting', it's not really our job to be friendly with the mark or their circle of friends and family, but with a long haul assignment like the one she's on, sometimes you get along with them and make a friend or two." Jay remarked casually, to which the two siblings and Cal turned around. Charlie couldn't resist asking the question that had been nagging at her for hours and that Quin herself had refuse to answer. "This is basically none of my business, I know. You two go back years, so feel free to tell me to piss off." Jay couldn't help but notice that Charlie use the exact same phrasing as Cliff had when asking if Rinaa was related to Elliott. (It was only after they found out she was engaged to Cal that the question made sense, she could see traits of her future wife in the teenager, but knew the child couldn't be Cal's). "But what was with that whole cryptic parting thing?" Jay shrugged, drawing her shoulders almost all the way up to her ears. "Outside of her being infuriating in general to annoy me? Not a clue. Sounded like a warning of some sort. The woman is a precog after all, she could have seen something. Or she could just be trying to rattle me, wouldn't be the first time she's done such a thing."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smiled seeing Matteo's knowing look only grow as Fia explained what went on, as well as when he replied to her saying he knew Fia would do a good job. She listened on from where she stood at Nat saying what a quick learner Fia was, always having got that expression from her kid that that would be the case, whilst being none the wiser about Fia's secret dog Max. "I had a good teacher!" Fia grinned, keeping up the facade, whilst giving Nat the look that said 'thanks for keeping the secret'. Fia then looked back at Matteo as he turned his attention back to her, chuckling at his words, "Nat told me the same thing after seeing for himself just how bad she made my jeans" she laughed, whilst there was evidence of her fondness for the dogs in her tone of voice.

Kay was just as surprised to see Rinaa be so forward and open about her feelings for Moya in front of everyone. Yet she was glad that she felt she could be that open and happy to share how she felt for the other girl, and she had to wonder if spending that time with Fia, letting go of her inhibitions for a while and just generally being herself had anything to do with what they were seeing. She let everyone go through the chatter, whilst Charlie asked Jay about what the earlier end talks was between Jay and Quincenti.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Nat nodded at the compliment from Fia, feeling pleased that he'd managed to teach her well. He didn't consider himself a teacher type of person, dealing with and bossing around big groups of people was a nightmare for him, as was public speaking. But with one-on-one or small groups he did much better. Despite being both an outsider and a completely different species from an utterly different planet light years away Fia as easy for him to be around and talk to. Matteo continued to ruffle the dogs gently, not wanting to undo the great grooming work the others had done. "That just proves it's true if we both said it." "Not really, it could still be a group lie." John shrugged. "Valid, but in this case it is true, Meyer as a puppy had two modes, either chaotic mess or chaotic cuteness." When Matteo said that John had to bite back some comment about how that phrase could also describe baby Fia, as according to their fake backstory he never would have known baby Fia.

Charlie watched Jay carefully as she spoke, she didn't think the assassin would give anything away in her face or body language, but Charlie was a cop and it was instinct to scrutinise anyone and everyone when talking to them. Jay's two theories were equally viable. "Definitely not the first time she'd have done something like that here, she got a great kick out of freaking us out with her precognitive abilities when she first met us." "I know EXACTLY what you mean, finishing somebody else's sentences, catching thing before they fall, answering questions before they are even asked so you think she's a telepath?" Cliff, Charlie and Cal all nodded to confirm the other assassin had done that. "She's done that as long as I've known her to a greater or lesser extent."

With the boat tied up again, Moya and Rinaa disentangled from hugging each other and everybody disembarked, they were able to make their way back towards the house, the dogs zig-zagging between everybody as they walked.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia found the same with Nat as he did with her. He was very easy to talk to and be around, finding that sometimes not having to pretend she was the extroverted bubbly teenager was of some kind comfort. Being around Nat meant she could be her calm and collected self without judgement, showing she wasn't as crazy as she made out to be all the time, but did have a much quieter and softer side. She smirked when Matteo said it must be true if they both spoke of Meyer's crazy puppy years, only to roll her eyes at John's retort.

With Matteo explaining the two modes that Meyer had as a puppy, Kay couldn't help but glance discreetly at John and something told her he was desperately trying not to make some kind of comment about Fia. She just smirked at what Matteo said, "sounds like this one" she replied gesturing at Fia, "when she was younger...though not always as different now come to think of it" she chuckled, knowing that as the 'older sister' in the fake backstory she could say something. "oh ha ha..very funny...not" Fia replied giving her the playful 'I am not impressed' dagger eyes. "there's a reason you and Meyer bonded the most, just saying" Kay smirked shrugging her shoulders.

With the other conversation now out of Kay's mind, she focused solely on the one being had, not hearing anything from the others until they all decided to head bsck to the family house. Fia smiling as the dogs zigzagged their way through all of them, clearly happy that the rest of their own family was back and safe.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The others all smirked and chuckled at Kay's comment about kid Fia and just how much she was like Meyer, John being glad that somebody could say what he was thinking, even if it wasn't him. Jay finished talking about Quincenti and what she'd been like in the past and followed the others up to the house. The dogs bounded into the house, making a beeline for the couches only for Matteo to whistle sharply and yell "OI, you three! Get off! That's where I want to sit!" The dogs obeyed, going instead to their baskets while everybody else plopped themselves down on either the couches, armchairs or kitchen chairs, Benji, Nat and Dan heading to raid the fridge.

It didn't take Cliff more than a few second of properly looking at Rinaa to spot the new bandage. "What happened there?" She asked bluntly, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly, making it clear that she wouldn't be accepting any bullshit answers."And don't say nothing, there's still some flecks of blood on the bandage." Both Rinaa and Moya's eyes flicked down to her bandages only to see that Cliff was right, there were a few tony specks of red. "It was a stupid mistake, I was helping Benji with removing barnacles from the boat in dry dock, and I got distracted and instead of scraping away the barnacles I slit open my own arm. He and Jay helped get it cleaned up and stitched, but I know you'll want to look at it yourself, being the qualified doctor here." Moya could clearly be seen listening carefully to the explanation, Rinaa had explained to her girlfriend by text that she'd injured herself, but it had been a brief message, rinaa saying it would be easier to explain in person.

"You're damn right there." Cliff nodded, gesturing for Rinaa to come over to her where the light was better. Examining the wound and stitch job didn't take long, but Cliff still put on a pair of proper gloves and angled the lamp so she had the best light possible. She was nothing but thorough when it came to doing her job. "It's an excellent stitch job that much is obvious, no doubt it will scar in some form, though you already know that." Rinaa nodded to indicate that she did indeed know that. "But I don't see anything that could indicate blood poisoning or any similar infection. Obviously I don't need to give the whole 'keep it dry, keep it clean and don't aggravate it' speech. So I'll leave it at YOU don't do anything stupid and I'LL check it out every few days.""Sounds like a plan to me, thanks doc." Rinaa replied as Cliff carefully bandaged up her arm again. The doctor knew Rinaa was more than capable of doing it herself, but did it anyway.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay could see that John was glad she said what they were both thinking, so she didn't feel in the slightest bit apologetic towards Fia for saying something. She did after all have to keep up the 'older sister' routine and she fully intended to do so at every opportunity, especially if it meant getting chuckles out of everyone who was within earshot.

Walking back into the house with everyone Fia quickly but casually made a point to grab a place on one of the couches so she didn't have to resort to the armrest yet again. She smirked when Matteo stopped the dogs from taking up the couches for themselves as she sat down. Kay took place in her usual spot next to John, seeing how Fia made sure she had more than an arm rest to sit on for a change, as Cliff noticed the extra bandage on Rinaa's arm. As Cliff saw to Rinaa, Fia decided it was even better that she healed up her scraped up face when she did on their walk as no doubt Cliff would have questioned that as well.

Kay had noticed a while ago that Fia had a grazed knee but didn't say anything on it as Fia did openly say she tripped over and knew that if Fia wanted it healed up, she could do just that so it meant she wasn't in the least concerned about her kid. Fia wasn't surprised that Cliff would have wanted to check Rinaa's arm out for herself, just letting them get on with it. She found herself looking down at the rip in her jeans on her knee and pulled at the loose threads, making the hole just that bit bigger. She thought about putting a rip in the other knee to even them out or possibly just cut them into short shorts to get more wear out of them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff had noticed the graze and new rip in Fia's jeans, but saw no need to comment, grazes were a common enough injury on the island, and as this one had no blood it didn't warrant any further checking out. A wounded arm on the other hand did, especially when that wound came so close to one of the major blood vessels in that arm. Knowing that she had gotten her point across she let go of Rinaa's arm and the teenager made her way back to the chair next to Moya, as opposed to sitting beside her parents. Jay and Elliott took no offence at that, just glad to see Rinaa looking so happy and content for once.

"So what's the travel plans for tomorrow then?" Chas asked, directing the question at Cliff moreso than Cal, knowing that the doctor was the main travel planner. "We're all gonna be up pretty early anyway, even Fia, because Ell said the sunrise here is worth seeing before we go." Cliff's siblings nodded approvingly at that idea. "It is utterly worth seeing, it's crazy beautiful." Cal agreed, before Cliff took over. "Agreed, it's something else entirely, we'll join you guys on that if that's okay?" "This is your family island, it should really be you inviting us, but yes, please do come along, the more the merrier." "We'd usually be awake by then, so we'll be there too." Rinaa added with a small smile.

"You'd have had to have been up really early anyway, so it's kinda fortunate you were already going to be up early. The ship we hired, while excellent for landing on water and converting to a boat, it can't take off from water. Sssso we'll have to make our way to one of the launchpads for fuel, flight checks and booster rockets. Doing all that will take a couple of hours. Once we launch it's a flight to the jump gate, where we part ways with Matteo and Nat who are returning to their respective schools. Then through the jump gate, locate the Attil shuttle, take the shuttle back to Attil and arrive some point in the middle of the night." She looked up. "Any questions?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay thought it was a good idea to ask about the travelling plans for tomorrow, knowing they'd have to discuss it at some point. She had to smirk at Chas commenting on how even Fia was going to be getting up stupidly early for the sunrise, and seeing Fia internally groan that she did in fact agree to do it, even though she didn't really have much choice in the manner, but agreed because she up until now thought she could go back to bed for a while. She listened to what Cliff and Cal said about it was definitely worth seeing and asking to join them. Like Elliott said, Kay thought it was quite backwards to ask them to join when it was indeed Cliff's Island. When Cliff explained it'd be an early start anyway, even without getting up for the sunrise, both Kay and Fia looked at her for the information, whilst Fia was thinking 'that's it.. I'm sleeping on the ship' and Kay just figured she'd do the same thing without realising that Fia was thinking the same thing.

"no questions from me" Kay replied casually, which was echoed by Fia's shaking of her head. "me neither. Just expect me to be napping at any given chance I can get during the trip back" she smirked, knowing that it was a risky move to announce she'd be sleeping when she could around people would could easily abuse that announcement the moment she was asleep. She wouldn't put it passed any of them to steal Kay's art pens at least to draw on her or do stupid shit to her when she was completely unaware of it. Kay didn't say anything to allude to such things but her smirk said it all.

 

[_gallifrog_]

None of the others had any questions, it had been mentioned before that Nat and Matteo would be coming with them to the jump gate so that piece of information didn't really come as a surprise to them. The ship Cliff had hired for the journey had the extra seats (she'd checked) and since everybody seemed to get on well with her two brothers it just made sense to do it that way. John couldn't help but smirk at the expression on Fia's face when she realised that not only would she have to get up early, she wouldn't be able to return to bed again that day. "No sleeping during take off or docking, but any other time is fair game."

"No questions here, sounds like a solid plan." Space travel wasn't his area of expertise by a long shot, but John trusted the two women's judgement on this, as did Chas. "None from me either." "Sounds fine by me, I guess it's just a case of getting fully packed up today." "Exactly." "You said we're going to one of the sea pads, is it the underwater ones that rise upwards or are we being winched up onto the pad? I've done both before, both piloting from and as a passenger from, but I'm curious." Jay asked leaning forwards in her seat slightly. "I'm hoping the former, just to blow the Earth people's minds." Cliff answered with a smirk. Rinaa couldn't help but smirk back. "The rising pads are amazing feats of engineering and design" she had a face on that made it look like she was going to go on a big rant, but Rinaa caught herself and instead added a sort of explanation using pop culture references"but for those who don't worship feats of mechanical engineering like I do, you'll think you're in a Bond movie or on top of the SHIELD helicarrier as it comes out of the water."

"And I'm going to be THAT teenager, but are we eating breakfast here before we leave?" Rinaa asked with a slight smirk and a completely unashamed look on her face."Yep, we are, my parents wouldn't have it any other way." Cliff replied, an answer which was partially true, her parents always insisted they have a meal on the island before leaving, but she wanted to be sure both Rinaa and Kay had enough to eat to last them through the long day of travelling. "Actually" John said"I do have a question after all- the translation runes, I presume they need to be deactivated before we reach the jump gate?" "That would be best, not that the people are anti-magic here, but in case something goes badly wrong. I'd rather something go wrong here than in space." Cal replied.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia shakes her head at the remark from Cal about not sleeping during landing or take off. She didn't plan on making such a mistake like that, remembering when they came to the island the same rule was given to them all during the list of flight rules. She didn't think any of their group would necessarily have questions as it all seemed above board and they all trusted Cal and Cliff, but she did find Jay's question an interesting one to hear, something she didn't even think of. The idea of doing a take off starting from underwater did seem like an incredible fantasy in some ways to Fia, having the mental image of something from Marvel just as Rinaa explained it.

Both Fia and Kay smirked at Rinaa's question about food and whether they were eating before leaving, thinking it was utterly typical of Rinaa to ask considering her hyper metabolism. Though both were relieved deep down at the news that yes, they would be eating before hand, Kay having the feeling that Cliff would have put her doctor mind on and wouldn't have let her leave without eating anyway. Kay also couldn't help but glance at John when he discovered he did have a question after all, and it being something that she didn't even think of. She had gotten so used to just being able to understand everyone she almost forgot she had a translation rune on her arm, which Fee allowed to remain on her arm.

Fia took particular note of what was going to be the answer to that question, having almost forgotten all about the translation rune herself that she had activated on her own forearm. "makes sense to be honest" Fia agreed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott had almost completely forgotten about his own rune, it had been a bit disconcerting at first for him not to have the words he heard matching the shapes Cliff's family were making with their mouths when they talked, but after spending so much time with them, the discord had vanished. Had John not thought of it then, he mightn't have thought of it until the next time he looked in a mirror and saw the rune on his thigh. "Shit yeah, I'd kinda forgotten I had it, good call asking John." John and Chas had similar experiences with their forgetting their runes were there and it was only because he was idly scratching the skin near his rune that John had actually thought of it. "I have my uses y'know, I'm not just a pretty face."

Chas had adapted pretty easily to the spoken communication rune, but he was still being completely thrown by just how the reading rune managed to translated symbols on a page into a language he understood. "Okay so we removed them after breakfast then?" "Sounds like the best time to me mate." Rinaa was the only one of the core group not using a rune as she spoke the language fluently so the question hadn't even crossed her mind. Moya didn't speak the language and had realised pretty quickly that she needed something done about the language barrier, so she asked Rinaa to ask if somebody could get her runed. Elliott obliged willingly. Jay let out a noise of relief when Cal explained when it was best to remove the rune before they left Cliff's homeworld. "Finally! I know none of you have a problem with them, but this thing itches like hell for me. Having subdermal channels is a pain in the ass when it comes to magical runs."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay were glad they weren't the only ones that had forgotten about the runes even being used. Though both girls did roll their eyes when John said he wasn't just a pretty face, Fia more dramatically than Kay did, but it was still very clear on both their faces. "you sure about that? The pretty face I mean" Kay teased smirking before Chas suggested they remove their runes, or in Fia's case just deactivating hers after breakfast. Fia sniggered at Kay's remark knowing for a fact that Kay did think John 'had a pretty face' otherwise she wouldn't be in love with him, but the teasing still made her snigger seeing her parents be like that with each other. She knew it was going to be super strange not being able to understand Nat and Matteo for the last remaining time they'd see each other but she also knew it was the best time to deactivate it.

Fia smirked at Jay's comment about the rune itching greatly for her, understanding where she was coming from as every time she got a new rune on her body for the first week it does become very itchy for her, just as if it was a new healing tattoo. Which for her, her runes basically were. "I get what you mean Jay, any new ones I do have the same affect on me for about a week before it subsides" Fia replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa had a feeling that when it came to saying goodbye to Nat and Matteo, either she or Cliff would be on translation duty relaying back and forth what was being said. She didn't mind having to do that, it certainly wouldn't be her first time acting as an interpreter. If Matteo or Nat had anything they wanted to say in private, then she suspected they would do it either late today or early tomorrow morning when they could drag the person they wanted to talk to aside for a couple of minutes. John didn't bother to remark any response into people questioning whether he was a pretty face or not, just giving a dismissive wave to the whole point, more interested in what Jay was saying about the rune itching and blaming it on the subdermal tracks in her skin. "The area feels like one of those rashes you get after brushing against a poisonous plant."

"It was hard enough to find somewhere clear of both tracks and major blood vessels to actually do it on." Elliott replied, sounding sightly annoyed, but leaving out the fact that it had taken so long to find a suitable place because Jay's back was a mess of scars. In the end the rune had ended up on her thigh. "I know, I'm not exactly prime real estate for tunes" Jay sighed"but the tracks were put in years ago. and in stages The nanoplastic tubes had to be constructed in just under the dermal layer, but not anywhere they could interfere with major blood vessels or muscle tissue. They have to grow with the body in some cases, so it's especially important to get it right. They are warrior markings too, so there are meanings and rules behind how they are applied. You can't just pick any old pattern and layout, though you CAN get them applied anywhere on the body. Even on the soles of feet or across the skull. Head ones look particularly impressive on bald people." "Agreed, I never went for the facial ones myself, but they can be impressive when done right." Rinaa was thinking of the alternate version of herself, the one who'd been raised purely by the Isogrii and the fact that she had facial tracks in a half mask shape. She thought they looked incredibly badass when teamed with the full Isogrii armour. "Though if runes are like that on you, who even knows what they'd do to me. I'd probably explode or something." The last part was delivered with a casual air, though after the time Kay healed her, Rinaa knew all too well that phoenix healing left her in immense agony while her body knitted itself back together, so maybe other magical things making her explode wasn't a complete impossibility.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay just shook her head slightly whilst smiling at John just dismissing her teasing remark, even though she knew deep down that it had to be because of what Jay said. Fia nodded at Jay was saying about Joe it felt for her, as she knew it had to be because of her other adornments so to speak on and under her skin. Both Fia and Kay nodded when Elliott said about it was difficult to even find a place to put the rune on, Fia not finding it at all surprising in the slightest. That being said, both her and Kay did find it incredibly interesting what she had to about the nanoplastic tubes that she had in the dermal layer of her skin.

They both then turned to Rinaa when she spoke as she gave her added agreement on the subject matter. They could imagine how it would look rather impressive on someone, butthey also decided that they were just people who would take their words on it. Initially, with what Rinaa said about runes making her possibly explode, they wanted to smirk and chuckle, but Kay knew how Rinaa reacted to phoenix healing magic so she instantly stopped herself from reacting in such a manner. It just felt too awkward to react to, whereas Fia just thought despite it being part of Rinaa's dark humour, it was still slightly awkward to react even remotely amused by.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John knew that there was some substance to the whole 'it could make me explode' thing. He'd seen the reactions Downworlders had to divine objects and how celestials reacted to Downworld and demonic objects. He had seen demons explode because of holy weapons and while Rinaa didn't fit into the conventional description of a Downworlder, she was far closer to being a Downworlder than she was to being a celestial or something or divine origin like a phoenix. He and Chas had heard the screams Rinaa made when being healed by Kay, to them on the upper deck of the ship it sounded like somebody was being tortured. He refrained from laughing at the gallows humour of the situation, instead just smirking slightly, then nodding seriously. "Don't put runes on you for any reason. Got it." "I have nothing against going out with a bang, just not THAT kind of bang." There was a joking edge to Rinaa's tone, so the others knew it was okay to have a small chuckle at it.

It wasn't long before Cliff was pulling out her laptop to check flight times and lengths, as well as to confirm their launch window for tomorrow. While working she took her hearing aids out and chucked them into a small ceramic bowl on the coffee table. The only reason for the bowl to be there was so Cliff could put her hearing aids into it. There were similar bowls across the house- in the kitchen, on the dining table, in her bedroom, in both bathrooms (they had to be taken out while showering) and in the outbuildings. As the day grew darker the dogs continued snoozing while Benji and his parents cooked up something for himself and his siblings (which Rinaa predictably took a bowl of). Charlie sat herself down to one side, originally just intending to polish up her uniform boots, but ended up doing most of the other shoes while she was at it. Nat was once again carving, finishing off two figurines, a wolf-like one and a bird like one. Moya was showing some of her sketched outfit designs to Rinaa, who in return was showing Moya the sketches and modelling she'd done as blueprints for her bike. Chas and Dan were chatting with anybody willing. Elliott ended up heading down to the boat to get one of his sketchpads and drew the whole family scene, hoping that he could capture the strong sense of homeliness within the pencil lines.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was still ever so slightly haunted at how much pain she put Rinaa through whilst trying to help her. She even remembered being asked what the hell she did to create such screams from the teenager, which at the time made her feel all the more guilty. She never wanted to put a teenager through that much pain again, even if it was to heal them to keep them alive. She had since learned to move on from it, even though the sound was something Kay would never forget. When Rinaa made the gallows humoured last words she did, Kay and Fia did have chuckle at it slightly as it was one hell of a pun.

With everyone falling into their own little activity to do, Kay took the time to chat to whoever would chat to her, whilst making the most of relaxing against John. Fia also chatted to Chas and Dan and whoever else when she found something to reply to, all whilst pulling out her phone and just generally messing about on it which was a fall to activity for her. If she was home on Earth she would have been seeing if there was anything on the Dean guy from her memory or a case that she could look into, but unfortunately she wasn't in the position to do so. She was aware of Elliott having gone to get his sketchbook before coming back and deciding to sketch the scene in front of him, smiling to herself at it.

Kay couldn't help but glance over at what Elliott was doing and smiled to herself also, realising what he was doing, finding it be a nice thing to see him doing again. She didn't say anything on it, knowing that when inspiration struck it was best to just let the artist work. So she remained leaned against John with one hand on her bump.

 

[_gallifrog_]

People had been doing their own thing for about and hour before Charlie suggested they play a game of cards or watch a movie or something because, in her own words, 'If I spend any more time staring at a damned shoe I'm gonna chuck myself out a window'. Which naturally led to a quip from Matteo about how Alex was a corrupting influence on her and it was a good thing they only saw each about once a month. Charlie's retort was to chuck a shoe at his head, which hit him square in the temple, causing him to keel over in the most dramatic way possible and pretend he'd been knocked unconscious.

The siblings agreed to a game of cards, and it wasn't long before Jay and Rinaa were wanting to join in as they knew the game. Cal had been doing the washing up, using her pyrokinetic powers to heat the water and left everything to drain when an open invitation was issued. Elliott didn't play, even though he did know the game from his childhood, saying that he'd prefer to sketch the players. There was no limit on the players, for each two extra people that joined another deck of cards was added to the giant pile in the middle. The game was a classic kids game (the adult version had alcohol and resulted in people getting hilariously smashed drunk, the family didn't usually play the alcohol based version, but definitely weren't going to as Cliff and Cal had to fly the next day). It was a combination between an uno-like game and some version of truth or dare. Though the word 'truth' was used loosely in this context, it seemed to consist of more of making up ridiculous yet stories and seeing who would believe it if somebody else had told it to them.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia looked up when Charlie suggested they do something else so she didn't go insane. With Matteo's quip, she just knew that wasn't going to be left unretaliated so when Charlie hit him square in the face with a shoe and he made his reaction over dramatic, she laughed at him. "and people say I'm dramatic..." she remarked laughing at him, sensing he wasn't really unconscious and just playing at it for the sake of it. Kay just smirked at how Fia reacted to Matteo being hit by a shoe, always liking seeing her kid just light up when she laughed. "we say it because you are dramatic. You're a redhead and a Hale, it's in your blood to be dramatic" Kay pointed out in a manner that showed she wasn't denying that went for her also, even though every part of her wanted to say 'you're a Constantine and a Hale' she refrained from doing so.

With it decided that they would play a game of cards, Kay decided to opt out of it, not knowing the game but instead she enjoyed watching it play out. She figured if it looked like fun and she was gathering what the rules were, then she could ask to join in later on. Fia was intrigued however and wanted in on the game after seeing it for a short while how it was played. "can I join in?" she asked, putting her phone down finally. "let her, it'll get her off her phone" Kay quipped, earning her to receive the middle finger from Fia.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Had Matteo actually been unconscious Cliff would have known and gone to his side as fast as possible to check for anything else that might be wrong. But she didn't go and check on him knowing that she'd only lobbed the shoe gently (if she'd thrown it with proper speed it would have done some serious damage, but right then there wasn't even a boot print on his face) and could see by his slump downwards that he was faking it. Cliff's complete lack of reaction was what clued the others into the fact that he was only playing possum.

The card players looked up at Fia's question. Rinaa had been wondering how long it would be before Fia wanted to get involved, she'd lasted a surprisingly long time, John and Chas had joined in only a round before she did. She was guessing from Fia's face of concentration that the other teenager had been listening in and watching, while pretending she was engaged in her phon. She might hav been engaged in it at the start, but by the end, it was quite clear the phone was just something to be holding in her hands to keep busy. "Sure you can join." Benji told her with a smile "the more players there are, the better.... or the crazier it gets." "Just pull up a chair or a box to sit on, we'll shuffle around a bit to make some room." Charlie added, gesturing to where there was a space for her to fit in.

Matteo explained the rules, everybody started out with a set number of cards and the goal was to get rid of your cards first. One person put down a card, then the next person had to either put down a card of the same suit or the same numerical/face value as that one. If they couldn't put down a card they had to take another form the 'draw' pile. When put down certain cards had certain roles, some cards were normal and did nothing, other cards reversed the order of play, some cards meant you had to skip the next person while one card meant everybody had to stay silent until the next card was played. there were wildcards that could be any value or suit. Playing wrong or out of turn meant picking up more cards. But the best cards were the 'story teller cards', when somebody put one of those down they had to elect somebody else to tell an anecdote (real or fake) based on a particular theme. If the story wasn't good enough, or was called out as a bluff, there was a forfeit, which in this case was a heaped spoonful of foul tasting fish sauce. Jay couldn't help but making sure that Fia knew it came from fermented fishguts, while Rinaa added that this was a game you learned by making a shit ton of mistakes and an ass of yourself in the process.

(Sorry I wasn't able to reply yesterday, my family and I ended up watching a couple of movies together til late)

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded smiling at Benji's reply allowing her to join in, now that she had figured out the rules of the game by observing the lot of them. She sat down where Charlie gestured, pulling up a box to sit on in the process and let the other deal her in. The phone had gone from entertaining her as she always had a game or two on it to something that just was there to be held and used casually whilst her main focus was on the card game. She did appreciate the going over of the rules for her, even though she was certain she had figured out most of them herself from observing, but with the explaining of some of the cards was appreciated none the less. With the explanation of the fish sauce forfeit, she grimaced and hoped she wouldn't have to taste any of it, but knowing her luck she would at least once during the game.

Kay didn't play the game, instead was still very much content with watching it, especially when Jay explained what the fish sauce was made out of. With her deposition, there was no way she was risking putting that anywhere near her mouth or even nose to sniff it. So she had no sympathy for Fia, John and Chas who willingly put themselves into the game to risk having to take a spoonful of the stuff. Every now and then she snapped the odd picture of them all playing, but other than that she didn't do too much. She was also too happy watching Elliott sketch them all every other glance, whilst being perfectly comfortable on the couch.

(it's okay!)

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott had taken up a position sitting cross legged on one of the armchairs, using his crossed legs as a surface to rest the sketchpad against. Like Kay he took a couple of photos of the scene, to serve both as keepsakes and as reference photos if he felt like touching up the sketches in the future. But so far he was thrilled with how the sketches were coming out, he'd sketched John, Chas, Cal and Cliff multiple times before, along with Jay on a couple of occasions (mainly quick scribbled ones when she wasn't looking, which were in the small pocket sketchbook he'd gifted to Rinaa), Kay once and Moya and Rinaa together (because those two being such a couple together was just too good an opportunity to miss). He hadn't had the opportunity to do sketch Cliff's siblings yet )though he had taken some photos of them for future reference) or their parents. But here and now he felt that not only were his sketches doing their physical appearances justice, he was also capturing some aspect of their personality with his lines. There was an expression of concentration on his face as he drew, but there was also a small contented smile.

As Fia had predicted, she did end up having to down the fish sauce quite a few times. It was utterly disgusting, bitter in taste with rancid notes and a truly awful smell (that you only noticed when it was right in your face).The taste also lingered on your tongue, and there was a rule that you couldn't wash your mouth out between rounds. The taste didn't get any less bad with each successive downing. Benji explained that although they made the sauce and sold it, it wasn't their people who ate it, it was a delicacy to a particular type of insectoids that lived on one of the moons of a neighbouring planet. The sauce was traded for various spices mined on that moon. Being the most inexperienced, it was easy for the others to catch her out, using all kinds of tactics they'd developed over the years. Matteo in particular ended up having a go at Fia quite a few times, but it was Nat who proved to be a shrewd and sly player (Jay suspected he was doing some form of card counting, but didn't say anything as she was doing the exact same thing).

It quickly became obvious that the two people getting most competitive with each other were Jay and Rinaa, both had years of experience playing under their belts, both could lie like pros, both had all kinds of crazy stories (both about things they did ad things that others did) and their backstories meant that the fact that there were gaping holes in their knowledge about each other made sense. They were relentless at targeting each other and extremely entertaining as they did so, their stories and competitive attitudes causing the table to burst into peals of laughter. Both ended up downing the sauce a quit a few times, Rinaa dampening down her senses so as not to have a sensory overload and pass out.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay didn't really know that Elliott drew her once, and she probably ever know unless it was made obvious to her or shown to her. She was so used to being the one who did the drawing of people or draw herself to keep her portrait skills up and practice with new equipment if she ever got it, that she didn't ever think anyone else would want to draw her. She could see the concentration on his face and recognised it all too well from one artist to another. She Co tinjed to watch the scene in front of her unfold as the game went on, laughing when Fia had to taste the fish sauce as her facial expressions each and every time got more and more expressive and animated as she did it.

Fia was convinced that Matteo and Nat were making her do it on purpose as she seemed to notice she had to do it way more than anyone else, which was just spurring her on mentally to get her own back on the two of them before she left. "you lot are arseholes" she complained at one point after one mouthful of it, as her whole body practically shuddered from the taste, her face completely scrunching up in disgust as it just felt like it was getting worse as the taste lingered. "just you wait... Pay back will be happening" she warned them. "Fia if you're gonna get payback, don't warn people. Revenge is best served cold and unexpected" Kay pointed out from her place on the couch where she had been the entire time. "you don't get a word in this Kay, you're lucky you're pregnant or I'd be shoving this shit down your throat" Fia retorted with a devious smirk.