Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Fia also knew it wasn't just the impending prank that had John momentarily freaked out, but then she knew more about him than she ever was letting on to everyone, which wasn't entirely surprising considering she was his daughter. It was only natural that she would know things about him that others wouldn't, especially as she was the kid who grew relatively quickly and was always asking questions from the moment she was able to talk coherent sentences pretty much. Yet she also could tell (and partially feel) Kay silently sending John a sense of calm through their bond and her own, which told her that even Kay could tell he needed it.

She let Rinaa tell Moya about her prank idea, more so that if she wasn't in thw apartment at the time, she could be involved in the conversation still. She did like Moya and how happy she made Rinaa, so she didn't want her to feel like she was completely out the loop and the talking. She waited for the translation of what Moya said, and when she got it, she instantly got interested in the fact Moya knew where she get ahold of an airhorn. "awesome! Oh John is not going to know what hit him!" Fia grinned, "okay, so first stop when back at Attill and rested up, get airhorn, then the plan can be put into place!" she chuckled as they walked back to meet up the others . She was enjoying this way too much but she felt she deserved the payback. "and remember, only Cal and Cliff can know about this prank because its their apartment. No one else can know as they were complicit with it all" she smirked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia's enthusiasm was far too contagious and was slowly bringing a smile to Rinaa's face, a very slight one, but a smile none the less. "Like John and Chas always say, all you need to do to find anyone or anything is a bit a' local knowledge. In this case local knowledge comes in the form of Moya." Rinaa remarked, quoting a well worn one that both Chas and John swore by although they had very different opinions about where was the best place to go to get information. John was adamant that it was a shady bar in the run-down area of town, while Chas was cleared biased and insisted that you just needed to go to wherever cabbies and bus drivers hung out as they always knew everything.

"Sounds like a plan, although we both have classes tomorrow and Moya probably has work too?" Rinaa turned to her girlfriend, and switched languages, the winged girl nodding, she did indeed have an evening shift in the bar/restaurant place she worked at. "She does, which means I'll probably be staying out late that night." Rinaa sometimes met up with Moya after her work shift had ended and from there they'd meet up with some of Moya's friends and explore some of Attil's nightlife. "In other words you mightn't actually get your hands on the horn until the day after tomorrow. But I'm sure leaving a day or two without any sign of a prank on John will make it all the better when it does happen."

Before they met the others they made two more stops. The first was at a book shop because Moya saw a copy of a book she'd been looking for for some months now, and once they were in the shop Rinaa and Moya couldn't help but browse around for a little while with Rinaa picking up a book for herself too. The second stop was a sort of pharmacy where Rinaa bought herself a few pairs of nose plugs for the flight, hoping that if her enhanced senses ever did get out of control, the nose plugs would be able to block at least some of the smells. Both girls nodded in agreement. "My mouth is sealed, don't worry. I won't even be there anyway." "I can keep a secret."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia could see that her enthusiasm for pranking John and finally getting her own back on him was proving contagious and making Rinaa smile, even if it was only slightly. She chuckled at what she said back, nodding in agreement having heard that be said by them both several times in her timeline also. "I can agree with that!" she replied happily.

She then listened to Rinaa reply to her next comment about obtaining an airhorn and thought that was utterly fair enough. She also agreed that leaving the prank a day or two would indeed be better as it would leave John hanging for just that bit longer, make him think she had let it drop and not prank him before pelting him with the loud noise as he goes to bed or goes to grab something from the room. "Agree. Make him think that I'm willing to let it slide then hit him full pelt" she smirked deviously but it looked utterly playful on her.

She also followed them into the book storeand pharmacy with the other two before meeting back up with the others looking like they weren't planning anything prank wise at all. Kay saw them meet up with the others and saw the carrier bags, raising an eyebrow. "how much chocolate did you get??" Kay queried, "its not all chocolate" "uh... Huh" "I'll have you know I got a new tshirt and yes, your gross ass chilli chocolate is in here too" Kay just smirked at Fia being defensive in a casual manner. "whatever you say kiddo" kay chuckled lightly.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John just knew that Fia ending up buying a t-shirt in a chocolate store had to down to Rinaa. Once the teenager had she'd started to relax around them and attend her uni classes she'd switched from her single colour shirts to novelty ones (of which she seemed to have an unending supply). "Buying t-shirts in a chocolate shop, since when was that a thing?" He remarked, a note of surprise and interest in his voice. "Where else would you buy a good one?" Rinaa shot back with a slight grin."Ordinary clothes shops have a totally shit choice, designer stores hardly sell t-shirts and when they do they don't fit my lankiness, or have designs that are anyway interesting. Novelty stores on the other hand, not only have novelty shirts, but have them in loads of sizes that aren't 'average height, stupidly skinny bitch female' size" there was something about the way described the size that made everybody have told hold back a snigger. The description sounded like something Trish would say so Chas reached into his pocket, pulled out a small notebook and scribbled it down. "I'm gonna steal that phrase and tell it ta Trish, she'll get a kick out of it" he explained, to which Rinaa nodded and gave a 'go ahead' gesture. "That she will."

Elliott couldn't help raising an eyebrow at the volume of bags the trio were carrying between them, with Rinaa having the most. "The words 'kid' and 'candy shop' come to mind looking at the bags." Rinaa smirked "That's so wrong on SO many levels." "And they are...?" Jay asked, knowing that Rinaa already had a comeback in mind. But it wouldn't be just smart-alecky or sarcastic, it would also be a well thought through argument. Rinaa could wield words like weapons when she wanted to and Sykes had figured out how to tap into that ability. The ability was something she'd picked up from Jay and Jack, the twins had not so much of a 'good cop bad cop' routine but a 'terrifying assassin and ice cold assassin routine' when they were active.

"Well first off, we're all legal adults and even if we WERE on Attil Moya and I would still be legal. Secondly, if you want to be really picky, it's not a candy store, the approximate translation to English would be 'Emporium of Foodie Delight'. Thirdly, it's not ALL for me, I did actually buy stuff for everybody" she gestured at everybody, including Cliff's siblings who had been the first to arrive at the meeting point. She then shrugged and added"but of course if you DON'T want it I'd be more than happy to eat it myself."

 

[MzHyde]

When John asked about the whole buying tshirts in a candy store Fia had to refrain from putting her head in her hands and shaking her head in dismay. She was about to point out that its very much a thing, even in this time and 'if he didn't know that then he's older than she thought' but Rinaa beat her to it in coming out with a comeback perfectly. She smirked and sniggered like the others, at the super skinny comment even thiugh she could very well be classed as being in that category due to her genes and Kay so being rather slim, bordering on 'skinny' even though she did have curves in all the right places. Fia didn't have the same curves, yet still managed to look healthy. She also wasn't surprised that Chas wanted to note that remark down to tell Trish, as even in her timeline Trish would tease her for her figure but she never once took offence as she knew Trish didn't mean it in the slightest.

Then came Elliott's remark which just made Fia roll her eyes, but that soon turned into another smirk when Rinaa proved she could yet again, come at them with another perfect comeback. Even if it did mostly only defend herself and Moya before the last bit made her snigger. "so in other words, watch what you say next because she will eat it all in front of you and make the biggest scene out of it to show you all what you're missing" Fia grinned back. "and you lot let us go off on our own to a chocolate shop... It could only have ended one way, so you all have yourselves to blame" she added smugly. Kay couldn't help but smile fondly but shake her head at the come backs flying toward them at full pelt. She had to admit, the teenagers did have points and did do good throwing their words back at them. "okay okay... We get your points" she said.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa's arguments made it quite clear to the others that she wasn't somebody you wanted to get into a war of words and logic with, she was the kind of person who could trap you in a cage of your own lies. Elliott liked seeing this side of Rinaa- the side that was so utterly confident in what she was saying, the side that wasn't afraid to stand up for herself and put things straight- as did Jay. It was a change from the Rinaa who would let them assume whatever they wanted about her, whether it was true or not and the Rinaa who didn't bother sticking up for herself and instead retreated back into her metaphorical (and mental) shell. Looking at the way Rinaa was holding herself as she spoke, back straight, head high, arms ever so slightly crossed, green eyes laser focused on the person/people she was talking to, there was a startling amount of Jay visible in her (though Jay saw different, she could recognise herself in the teenager sure, but she was so used to seeing that kind of attitude and posture from her brother that when she saw it in Rinaa she was more likely to attribute it to her brother than to herself.).

After being so thoroughly shut down and listening to Elliott being demolished, John had been intending to shut up and stay quiet, but the third point of what Rinaa said was far too interesting to go unnoticed, especially when Fia confirmed that it was indeed true, that a good chunk of what was in Rinaa's collection of bags wasn't actually for her, but for them. Chas let Rinaa finish translating for Moya first before speaking again. It was a heartwarming thing to watch Rinaa slipping back and forth between languages so that the girl could understand her. There had been plenty of times when she'd been talking to Jay when she'd refuse to fill them in on what was being said.

"Did you really?" His words may have been blunt, thought his tone was anything but. Rinaa nodded "yep, I did. And she's" she indicated with her chin in the direction of Fia "right, I can make one damn good show of eating other people's chocolates, wouldn't be the first time I've done such a thing" "Though it could well be my last" was the unspoken part. "And these people do delivery, so be glad I didn't arrange for a seventy kilogram Toblerone equivalent to be sent to Cal and Cliff's place." "Is that actually a thing?" John asked as the group began making it's way out of the terminal and back to the pad. "Sadly not, but it should be." "Damn right it should be." John agreed, trying to visualise what a seventy kilogram Toblerone would look like in his apartment.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia could see that John was suddenly curious about the very fact that they both confirmed that not everything Rinaa bought was just for herself, Moya or herself but them lot as well. She too let Rinaa fill Moya in on what was being said, before Chas questioned what she did. She wasn't expecting the girl to back her up with what she said, but when Rinaa did confirmed what she said as true, she couldn't help but smile a bit.

With the mention of toblerone, Fia suddenly realised how long it had been since she last had one and suddenly missed that chocolate bar. If there ever such a size, she would do her damnnest to eat the lot. She walked with everyone toward the pad once more, walking between John and Kay this time as her stride just made that occur. "if it did exist I would gladly make the attempt to make my way through the lot... Seriously, I eat way too many during the holidays and stuff." she added in her two cents. "one time every birthday present I received was just toblerone because everyone thought they were the only one giving me a joke present" she added one story knowing that it wouldn't be a big deal to say.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"You wouldn't be the only one" John replied when Fia declared she would try and eat a whole seventy kilo Toblerone. "I think we'd all be makin' a stab at eatin' it." As soon as the Christmas season showed even the vaguest sign of starting John would be on the look out for cut price Toblerone and would begin stockpiling it (there was a hollow space under the floor of the living room of his apartment that became dedicated to the Toblerone and Terry's chocolate orange stash). John's apartment had all kinds of hidey holes under the floor and even one in the ceiling. Some were used for weapons, some to store photo albums and information John wanted kept secret, and there was one space large enough to fit a person that had been used to either A: hide a dead body or B: for John to hide himself/Elliott in when the League came visiting (maybe it was childish for him to hide that way, but it certainly worked).

Elliott and Chas both gave nods of agreement, knowing that if there was seventy kilos of Toblerone lying around, they would definitely be involved in eating the stuff. Fia's story elicited smirks from them all, it sounded exactly like something they'd all do, especially as it seemed that none of them thought it would be a good idea to communicate with the other people buying presents to make sure that there was no overlap. "Totally wouldn't complain if that happened to me." John smirked. "Just make sure they're all dark chocolate."

"I really pity people with nut allergies" Rinaa sighed slightly "could you imagine not being able to eat Toblerone because you'd go into anaphylactic shock?" "Though 'death by Toblerone' would be a pretty damn hilarious grave stone." Both Rinaa and Jay found that particular idea highly funny."Yeah, that must truly suck for them. They really don't know wht they're missing out on" Chas replied in a tone that said he did have sympathy for such people, it wasn't really their fault, just some quirk in their body's system that they couldn't control "but I can think of an allergy even worse than that- cacao allergy- pretty much any chocolate fucks you over." "I'm pretty sure there's a race or two of aliens out there that are highly allergic to chocolate." Elliott mused, before turning to jay and Cliff, their resident experts on alien races and alien medicine respectively. "Is that true or was it just some schoolkid story?"

Both women considered, Jay's mind had clearly been elsewhere during the conversation so it took her a moment or two to get back and refocus her attention. "I'd say you're right, there's bound to be planets where cacao can't and doesn't grow, therefore the people on it would have no experience of it and no idea how to digest it...?" Cliff was clearly thinking out loud. "I think there is, yeah, but I can'y say I've met a whole RACE with the same allergy. People sure, but a whole race, no." Jay said finally.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smirked at John's reply about not being the only who take a stab at the seventy kilo Toblerone. She was pretty damn sure that her obsession with them did indeed come from John more so than Kay, despite the fact her mother did indeed like them as well. She would have replied with 'oh I know' but she felt her smirk told it all for her. She knew of the hidey hole under the floor boards that stashed all the chocolate as she found it at age 8 whilst looking for her Christmas presents, as kids do. She then came across the chocolate hoard and she felt like she hit the jackpot before moments later getting caught with some open wrappers round her and chocolate all over her face. The sight was highly amusing but she did remember that was probably one of the few times she got properly scolded because she ate way too much before dinner and had gone snooping where she shouldn't have.

She also knew of the hiding spot that could fit a person under it as she was told about it to hide her from the League which then soon turned into her hiding spot for a game of hide and seek or if she got scared about anything. With them reacting to her story about the one birthday she smiled always liking when she could make them all smirk. "I never complained over it, I just ended up with a nice stock in my room that last all but a mere two weeks" she smirked. "and like I could forget it would have to be dark chocolate" she added.

Kay just smiled hearing the story, also finding it was something that they'd all do, but wondered why none of them thought to communicate on that particular thing. Or maybe they did and agreed that they'd all get her that and only that. A few thoughts running through her mind on the future situation on how it could have happened, despite it not really warranting that much thought in the slightest. She also agreed that but allergies sucked for those who had them and even smirked and rolled her eyes at John's comment about the gravestone. She remembered when a kid at her old school had a nut allergy, whilst unfortunately being one of the kids getting bullied. One kid decided to spike the other's food with nuts when he wasnt looking and put the whole lunch hall into a panic because the kid with the allergy went into anaphylatic shock and nearly died.

Hearing that there could be whole races that were allergic to cacao didn't fully surprise Fia or Kay, but it was still a slight surprise nonetheless. Both girls thought how it could be easily possible, just like it's possible in animals to be allergic to the food, making it highly danherous for them. Particularly dogs, yet hearing Jay and Cliff say that not even they're certain made it all the more interesting to Kay and Fia.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff suspected that with some research she could find an entire race that were allergic to cacao, or at the very least intolerant to the stuff, but she was hesitant to jump the gun and make a call either way. Through work she'd seen what happened when people made calls too early or with too little evidence and even though there were no lives at stake right now, she'd rather say she didn't know than make a wrong call. Jay had met quite a few people with allergies on her travels, from mundane common things like nuts to super obscure plants hard-to-find plants that grew only in select systems like the Satrax star fruit (which also happened to be her favourite filling in chocolate bars). Jay herself didn't have any allergies, but she always carried an epi-pen somewhere on her person, a fact that none of the people around her knew, not even Rinaa (it had never come up in her timeline, but if it had, Rinaa would have persistently asked why until she got an answer).

Back at the launch pad they joined the crowd of the people from the other ships. The smaller ships had all been put into their protective holster and winched right up to the top of the rocket. Their group were the third to board the rocket, taking a lift all the way up to the top level of the supporting tower. From that high up in the air they got a proper bird's eye view of the surrounding area. Looking one way they could seethe rest of the launch complex spread out behind them and could get a sense of the radial structure of the complex. Looking the other way gave a view of unbroken sea, while looking straight down revealed a dizzying drop onto the pad below. Looking over the edge Moya couldn't help but imagine the thrill she'd get going over the edge, drawing her wings right back and going into one of her ultra-steep dives, whipping open her wings and soaring upwards at the very last moment. It was those kind of dives that made her feel truly alive, the kind where death was only a hair-thin turn in the wrong direction away.

Despite being so high up, the wind force and strength wasn't much different from that felt standing on the pad itself and the tower structure remained rock solid under their feet, no shaking, creaking or other ominous noises (John may or may not have stamped his feet a little harder than normal to test if there was any kind of sway, which there wasn't). Getting into the ship was deceptively easy, all they had to do was climb through the main door and into the ship, the simply float to their seats. The harness didn't just hold the capsules in place during launch, it also created a zero gravity field around the ships, meaning that passengers didn't have to go through awkward upwards climbing in order to sit down. Rinaa made a diversion to the cargo section with Moya in order to properly stow their new purchases (and steal a sneaky kiss or two away from prying eyes). Cliff's family easily manoeuvred around, strapped themselves in and got comfortable for the launch, adopting the proper position, legs side by side (not crossed), back straight, head titled slightly backwards, arms resting on the armrests (Which were also topped with memory foam).

 

[MzHyde]

Kay stood onto the lift and looked out when it was their turn to go up and board. She noticed how John tested the sway of contraption by stomping his foot harder than needed and just let him get on with it. She was surprised that she wasn't as nervous about it as she thought she might have been, but put it down to the fact she was a phoenix and used to heights. Fia was just amazed by the views and kept looking out at everything, even looking down at how high up they had gotten, feeling glad that heights didn't bother her in the slightest.

Getting into the ship surprised both of the girls at how easy it was to board. Fia had given her bag to Rinaa and Moya to stow as she saw they were making detour to it to stow their bags, deciding it was just easier for them to do it than all three of them going. With that done, she floated up to her seat and buckled in, doing exactly what Cliff's family did, so she knew she was doing the right thing. Kay did the same thing, copying everyone else, feeling more secure and better being buckled in, except just before she put both arms on the rest rests, she placed one hand on her stomach, giving her baby a reassuring rub, whilst giving an unspoken words of love. She then put her arms on the rests and sat there waiting for when it was time to launch.

It was always the launch that was Kay's least favourite bit due to the pressure that came with it. It was the most uncomfortable for her for obvious reasons but she just put up with it without a single complaint.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Once again John enjoyed the brief spurt of zero gravity they felt, performing a couple of flips in the cockpit before swooping down into his seat, coat trailing majestically behind him. He was starting to understand why certain hero types wore capes, they really did add a certain something to the flying experience (not that he would EVER say such a thing to those people's faces). Like Kay and Fia, he also copied the posture Cliff's siblings had adopted, on their first flight on the shuttle there had even been a safety demonstration of sorts for how to act during launch and landing. His Attil was good enough that he could understand the gist of what they were saying, and even then, Cliff was perfectly willing to explain why precisely this posture was so safe. Moya's wings fit through specially designed slits in the back of the seat, and she had added sort of protective padding around important joints to ensure there weren't any broken or fractured bones as a result of launch.

It was another fifteen minutes or so before all the other ships were loaded up and pressurised. After that the final housing of the rocket was put in place, putting all six ships firmly in darkness, no light could make it's way through the housing and into the ships, so with a flip of a sequence of switches on the control centre, Cal turned on all the ships internal lights. A launch in complete darkness was utterly terrifying, she knew all too well. You just sat there, in darkness, waiting, listening to all the minute noises of your craft and the monstrous rocket below, wondering if that noise is supposed to be there. In the dark there was nothing to stop you realising that you were strapping yourself to a massive bomb, and with one negative thought came many, the darkness breeding them. Even experienced pilots felt that way during pitch black launches. Their group really didn't need any more negative thoughts.

At the same time as turning on the lights, the comms were turned on, Cliff and Cal listening to the chatter of the tower and the chatter between ships, occasionally joining in the conversation. The zero-gravity field was turned off and it seemed that within one instant all sense of direction had returned, John was now all too aware that he was lying on his back, head looking upwards. Once the countdown hit one minute Cliff called back to the others warning them that launch was imminent. The main engines fired a couple of second before the countdown finished, the rocket straining against it's last restraints as the access arm swung away.

And then they were off, shooting upwards into the air, the roar of the massive engine below them drowning out all other sounds, trembles running through their ship and the others on the journey with them. The force of gravity increased pressing them all back into their seats, hard, it almost felt like the seat itself was pushing themselves upwards. Launching on a massive rocket like this one, Rinaa always felt as if the rocket was alive, some kind of roaring animal just behind them, propelling them higher and higher and higher, until they broke out of the planet's atmosphere. There was a momentary lapse of silence, followed by a loud 'thunk' sound as the main engine was cast away, falling back to the planet where it would land on a maintenance pad many, many miles away where it would be re-fitted and tested before being reused for another flight. The roaring returned as the booster rockets were fired, causing the ship to jump gears, pushing faster and faster, until they too cut away. The harness was ejected from the main body and floated away, gently spinning. Now all on board could see Cliff's planet spread out below them, a brilliant blue ball.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia found themselves noticing how John got to his seat, but refraining from saying a single thing, just letting him do it and get it out of his system metaphorically speaking, even if they did think the coat floating behind him gave him an air about him that was majestic in a bizarre manner. They wouldn't ever tell him that however, knowing he didn't need another notch being added to his ego. They just sat there patiently as everyone else went to their seats, got buckled in and waited. When the zero gravity got turned off they both noticed the difference and like John, suddenly became all too aware of the fact they were laying on their back in a seating position.

With the launch happening, Fia found it yet again all both weird and exhilarating to feel, where as Kay just found it highly uncomfortable due to her being pregnant. The pressure felt like it was heightened for her because she felt not only herself being pushed back into her seat, that felt like it was pushing upwards into her back, she felt the ever growing u born version of Fia pressing against her body as the pressure pushing everything back. If she thought the feeling of kicking was uncomfortable, this was on a whole different scale all together. She mentally told herself to just breath through it as he gritted her teeth together slightly to get through it, knowing it was only temporary.

With them eventually cutting away from the rocket, Fia couldn't resist looking out the window and seeing how far away they had made it from Cliff's home planet. It always amazing her every time she saw such a feat. Kay just breathed by quietly exhaling slowly as her body got used to the lack of pressure once again, and when it was safe to do, she placed one hand on her bump, running her thumb over it, "its okay baby girl..." she found herself whispering under her breath without even thinking.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The launch wasn't particularly comfortable for anyone, Rinaa, Jay, Cal, Cliff, Dan, Cliff's siblings and to a certain extent, Elliott, had an advantage in that they had all experienced this kind of travel throughout their lives and knew it was really just a case of gritting your teeth and trying not to think too hard about what exactly you were doing. The first launch was always the worst, the fear of the unknown, the fear of complete and utter failure and having your body exploded into millions of meaty giblets was all too real, and never truly went away, lurking at the back of even the most experienced pilot/flyer's mind. The sensation of launch was one you never really forgot, hearing the rattling and roaring and feeling the vibrations threaten to shake your body apart. There was often a moment during launch where the passengers though 'this is it, this is how I die', and this launch was no exception, Cliff sending out a prayer to deities she didn't really believe in that they'd all get through this alive, particularly Kay and unborn Fia. Flying may be more uncomfortable, but in the long run it was far, far safer for Kay.

Everybody was experiencing a certain amount of uncomfort during launch, particularly Moya with her wings extended back behind her, the seat back pressing uncomfortable against the sensitive base of her feather, causing her to grit her teeth and squeeze her eyes shut all too aware that one wrong move and they'd snap, leaving her in agony. Once the engines died away and the pressure pushing them down in their seats lessened, then vanished everybody visually relaxed, there was a collective, unclenching their jaws, running hands through their hair, various stretches as people eased themselves out of the memory foam chairs and began rubbing various parts of their body before getting comfortable again. For Moya he memory form back of her chair retained the pattern of hre individual feathers for a few moments before deforming away. Everybody was too caught up getting out of their own heads to notice Kay murmuring to her stomach, and even if they had, nobody really would have commented, it was a natural thing to do.

Their attention quickly turned to the windows and the planet appearing and disappearing below them as the tube spun through space, adopting a similar motion to an American football. Rinaa in particular wanted to savour every last glimpse as she knew deep in her heart that she would never see the view again. Cliff's planet was beautiful and she couldn't help remarking on it, to her siblings who firmly agreed, resulting in friendly banter between them, Cal, Dan and Rinaa over which was the best planet to view from space. The undocking manoeuvres from the harness went smoothly, with all ships in constant communication, those who weren't launching keeping an eye out of their windows. Cliff's ship was the third to undock, three consecutive loud clunk noise telling them that the magnetic hold and the gripper arms had retracted from the craft. They floated away from the harness and looking at the craft they were just about able to make out figures of other people waving from the windows. A safe distance away Cal turned the ship, fired the engines and they were off. "This your captains speaking, you may now remove your seat belts. We are now firmly on our way, estimated flight time to the jump gate is one hour and forty minutes, so get comfy you guys." Cal told them in Englsih, swivelling around in her chair so the others could see her sign.

 

[MzHyde]

With her body finally relaxing, Kay looked out the window as well to see Cliff's planet getting rapidly smaller as they got further and further away. When they undocked she noticed the other passengers of the other ships waving goodbye to them all which made her smile, finding it ever so sweet as well as reminding her of the old childhood game of waving to passing cars on the highway to try and get a wave back. She was aware of when Cal turned back on the engines of their ship and they began to fly away back to the jump gate. She help but smile when Cal gave such a typical announcement that wouldn't have felt that far from an Earth commerical flight.

Even though Cal said they could take their seat belts off, Kay left hers on just for a few more moments as she still relaxed after the launch. She was content where she was and didn't see the point in moving just yet. Fia on the other hand instantly unbuckled when she could, not seeing the point in wasting time remaining buckled up. She trusted that either Cal or Cliff would have the gravity turned back on, but even if it wasn't it wouldn't bother her. She liked floating around before, but she also enjoyed remaining seated without the buckles. She had a feeling Kay not unbuckling was her subtle way of seeing if the zero gravity was turned off or not, but didn't bring it up.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The gravity was on when Fia unbuckled, the most obvious sign of this was to look at anybody with long hair. In zero-g or micro-g every single hair began to float and move away from one another, forming a sort of cloud, even when tied back in a ponytail, the same thing would happen to the 'tail' of the pony tail. Moya removed her wings from the slit in the back of the chair. "Heads up, I need to stretch this lot out fully" she warned, Rinaa quickly translating into English and sign. The dark haired girl stood and at the same time, spread her wings out to their full width, very nearly clipping the top of Rinaa's head in the process. She then shook them out, her shoulder and wings muscles visibly flexing under her skin and shirt, every individual feather ruffling out, before lying back down neatly. She then sat back down in the chair, sitting sideways, draping her legs over one armrest and resting her lower back against the other. "Wings are such a pain to travel in space with, you two have no idea how lucky you are to just be able to have them vanish into your backs." Understanding that the statement was meant for Kay and Fia, Rinaa translated it, directing her look at the two women.

It wasn't long before an idea entered Rinaa's head and a slight grin ghosted across her face. She was thinking of something she used to do as a kid when on long haul flights with the other Isogrii kids and they were looking for something to liven things up a bit with. (She even did it as a teenager, though she didn't visit the Isogrii as often during that point in her life as she was back living on earth in the later years). It was a cliche of pretty much any astronaut's trip and if this Fia was the kind of person Rinaa though she was, then Fia would be more than up for it, and no doubt Matteo and Benji. Though she suspected that if she played her cards right John would indulge his childish side and join in. "Cliff, d'you think you could turn off the gravity for a while so we could go Pacman for a while." She doubted Cliff would get the reference so she made an eating geture with her hand, hoping that the doctor would be able to fill in the blanks, which she was. "Fine by me, though to be honest, I'm surprised you hadn't suggested it already."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia realised quickly that the zero gravity wasn't on, having not paid attention to everyone's hair to figure it out for herself. She stretched her legs out before placing her hands on the arm rests and lifting herself off the chair ever so slightly, similar to a plank position to stretch her back out before relaxing back into her chair content as Rinaa translated what Moya warned them of. She looked over the back of her chair by flipping over onto her knees as Moya shook out her feathers and stretched her wings out to their full span. With the next comment about being so lucky to completely make their wings disappear, Fia nodded, knowing exactly how lucky she was.

Kay also knew just how lucky they were, she knew if she had to spend her life living with her wings constantly out on show she probably wouldn't even be alive right now, or if she was it wouldn't be a good time living as Earth would no doubt have kept her locked away and experimented on her relentlessly. It was risky enough when they enveloped her in her sleep if she got a night terror or had to keep warm on the streets. "oh we know, trust me" Kay said to Moya, not wanting to get into exactly why she knew but she hoped her tone expressed an inkling of it.

When Rinaa asked Cliff about turning off the gravity to go psc man for a while, both Kay and Fia rose an eyebrow at the question, Fia even more so than Kay as curiousity struck them both in what she could be talking about. "what's that then? I mean, I know pacman but what do you mean 'go pacman for a while?' " Fia asked Rinaa after Cliff mentioned that she was surprised it wasn't requested sooner.

 

[_gallifrog_]

When Fia had no idea what she was suggesting Rinaa raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? You've never looked at a video of any Earth astronaut EVER and seem what they do for fun in zero-g?" She then amended her statement, as there were quite a few things astronauts did. "Besides flips and playing around with water I mean." It was at that point that Chas made an 'ohhhhhh' noise of realisation, and she could tell by the others' expressions that they were either already thinking along the right lines, or very nearly there. "I could explain, but I'd rather demonstrate. I'll be back in a minute." With that Cliff flicked the switches that turned off the gravity and Rinaa floated down to the cargo hold.

There were rustling noises as she rooted through the shopping bags, then she floated back up holding up what was potentially the largest bag of M&M-like chocolates most of them had ever seen in their life. Now floating above all their heads Rinaa carefully slit open the bag with one of her claws (ignoring the pain caused by the claw burst through her skin). Moving forwards once again she held the bag upside down and squeezed, causing the chocolate balls to come out in a long line stretching from the cockpit to the last row of seats. She passed the bag of chocolates to the nearest person (Charlie) to hold, then Rinaa pushed herself off the back wall, glided all the way to the front of the cabin, eating every single chocolate out of mid air before she'd reached the end. "That's what I mean by Pacman, d'you see it now?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia at that point had to just shrug sheepishly as she shook her head. She really didn't watch anything of the sort as she usually had her head in some kin dof book or she was in her room doing whatever else. Unless it was movies or a particular TV series, she didn't really watch TV at all for any reason. She felt like she was being utterly stupid for not knowing what she was implying but when she said she lived a sheltered life, she really wasn't kidding. She looked around and saw a couple of confused faces and felt a tiny bit better she wasn't the only confused at first, until the realisation started to kick in with the others. Then she was back to being in the metaphorical dark all on her own again.

Kay was initially confused but AS Rinaa started to explain in a round about manner, like with Chas, she started to get what the girl was implying. She heard the rustling going on before Rinaa was heard and seen coming back, opening the bag of M&Ms and demonstrating what she was meant by pac-man. Then she watched as it all clicked into place in Fia's mind, smiling slightly before just continuing to relax in her seat.

Fia watched on and suddenly realised what Rinaa meant, nodding. "ohhh okay I get it now" she replied smiling, holding onto the back of her seat as she floated up from the zero-g, looking like she was resting against the chair as if she laying down.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Seeing Rinaa demonstrate her pacman manoeuvre, it was quite clear to jay and Elliott that Rinaa had practised it. A lot. Although the motion looked simple, one push off the wall and a glide forwards, this was a case of appearances being very much deceptive, pushing too hard meant going wildly out of control too slow and you wouldn't reach the end. The chocolates also had to be caught directly in the mouth, otherwise they'd just bounce off the person's face, flying every which way. With no sense of what direction was what this game could (and very often was) played by making the trail swing around corners and down levels where the ship was big enough to accommodate such a course.

Charlie was the first to float upwards to join in declaring "Oh hell yes! Count me very much in! I am the bloody champion of this thanks to boring watch shifts and hanging around waiting for orders." Not only could she do it fast and accurately, but she could do it while wearing bulky combat armour (it wasn't the wight that affected her, it was the way the layers of bulletproof material, stab proof vests and communication wires rubbed against uncomfortably her skin and got in the way while gliding around). Cal and Cliff had to fly, but Moya was game, as were Matteo, Benji and Elliott. John and Jay weren't joining in just yet, but Rinaa knew they would, John because it looked far too fun to miss out on, and Jay because she'd want to show off a bit, and maybe get competitive with Charlie if the cop really was as good as she was boasting to be.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia decided after seeing the demonstration from Rinaa, that she very much wanted to give it a go. She was always up for trying new things out and she knew if she didn't try it, she'd only get bored sitting around. "count me in also" she said. She knew she wouldn't be fantastic at the game to begin with but she also knew what a fast learner she was, making it so she wouldn't take forever to get the hang of the game. With a few of them all agreeing to join in, she knew this was going to be highly fun whilst hopefully managing to eat chocolate whilst playing, and doing it right.

Kay didn't want to play the game, deciding she was perfectly content remaining buckled into her seat so she didn't float around and get in the way. She felt relaxed and actually felt like taking a short nap whilst the lot of them played. "you'd play anything if the reward was chocolate kiddo" she smirked at Fia, making Fia roll her eyes before giving her the 'and your point is.... What exactly?' look. With th elool well and truly understood, Kay just closed her eyes for a little bit. She wouldn't have minded what noise was around her as she could sleep or nap through anything, unless it was danger and Fee woke her up so she would be able to get to safety.

(sorry for delay, didn't get the notification you replied at all)

 

[_gallifrog_]

The rules of the 'game' had to be adjusted given the small size of the ship, and the all to real danger of somebody crashing into a seat or wall and doing themselves an injury. The rules agreed on were simple, you had to get from the start of the line of chocolates to the end of the line in one push off a surface (be it a wall of the ceiling), all sweets had to be caught in the mouth and no sabotaging other players. You could have more than one attempt at eating the line. There was no formal points system, it was all completely arbitrary with people gaining points and losing them on the whims of the other players. There wasn't even a winner as such, it was just an opportunity to show off and/or make an arse of yourself with some light competition added in to spice it in. Once a person had attempted their run, it was their job to set up the next line for the next person.

As promised, Charlie was very good, she seemed to shoot across the ship, her body spinning around like a bullet, mouth open, gobbling all the sweets. It wasn't a particularly dignified look, but it was highly effective, she flew across the with reckless abandon, almost crashing into the walls of the ship on every attempt. Their ship was on the very small side, this game worked best on a large ship with straight stretches of corridor, that way somebody could really build up tremendous speed and could be timed to give real stakes and something for everybody else to beat. The one thing ship did have in it's favour was a high cockpit ceiling, meaning the players were, for the most part, floating a decent height above the other passengers. The learning curve wasn't as steep as Fia would be expecting and it wouldn't take her too long to get the hang of it.

While the others were playing, some advising Fia on their preferred tactics, John and Jay were conspiring with each other. They didn't say anything out loud, instead choosing to sign back and forth, the players were too engaged with the game to notice, and the angles of the seats, obscured their hands from the other's view. The first anybody else knew of their plan was when they put it into action. It was Elliott's turn to 'do a line' (as Rinaa was so fond of putting it), he'd just pushed off the back wall when the duo leapt into action (quite literally), rising from their seats, each grabbing one of his legs and yanking hard, sending him completely off course. Elliott had no idea what was going on and let out a particularly undignified shrieking noise, before flipping himself upright, trying to understand what was going on. Seeing the look on John and Jay's faces, he knew it had been them. "Since when did you two start double teaming me?"

(It's fine, happens to us all with this site sometimes)

 

[MzHyde]

Fia watched on as the game started after listening to the chosen rules or more to the point, guidelines to accommodate the small size of the ship. She hoped that due to its size she wouldn't have another clumsy moment and hit her head on anything, but the thought of that possibly happening didn't stop her wanting to try it. She watched as Charlie used one tactic and sniggering at how undignified she looked doing it, but she could see why that was her chosen method. When it was her turn, she pushed herself off the wall near the ceiling but not quite on it and floated forward eating the sweets as she went, opening and closing her mouth as she did so, feeling like a fish of some kind gobbling up the chocolate before managing to stop herself before she hit something.

When Jay and John put their plan into action during Elliott's turn she started laughing at Elliott's very undignified yelp. She was used to seeing the two of them double teaming against Elliott in her timeline, but knew it'd be a new thing in this moment of time and to Rinaa for that matter. "nice shriek Ell! Any louder and I think any dog in the next system will hear you!" she laughed. Surprisingly, Elliott's shriek didn't wake Kay, as she remained napping in her chair quite happily, her head tilted to one side ever so slightly, her hands tucked inside her jacket sleeves. Fia glanced over and saw how peaceful her mother looked, unable to stop the small smile on her lips from appearing. It reminded her of the times Kay would have fallen asleep on the couch in the apartment with a mug of tea still in her hands or a book on her chest.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa couldn't help but snigger at the utter look of shock on Elliott's face, the ridiculous yelp he let out and the confusion written clear as day on his face as he tried to figure out what had happened. She had never seen such a thing in her timeline and would have laughe, no matter who it had happened to, but seeing it happen to Elliott, the father she'd never known, made the moment all the more special. And for her to see John and Jay conspiring together on something like this (and looking far too pleased with themselves about the results) warmed her heart, setting alight a sort of fuzzy happiness deep within her, while, at the same time, a genuine smile spreading across her face (it wasn't massive, but it was bigger than the usual flickers that graced her face).

In her timeline John and Jay had a complex relationship, they were united by their grief over losing Elliott, a deep seated, intense hurt that never went away, no matter how many cigarettes they smoked or glasses of booze they attempted to drown it with (Jay had taken up smoking after Elliott died as a sort of coping mechanism, she'd tried to quit it many times, but it had been a fruitless endeavour. The only real success she'd had was thanks to the influence of her new girlfriend, though Rinaa suspected her Jay might have fallen off the wagon again with worry about her daughter's time travelling antics). In her timeline John and Jay did work together occasionally, there were times Jay needed a mage at her side for a job, and times where John needed a cold blooded killer who wouldn't ask too many questions and could make a body disappear permanently. But it was the behaviour of Kay and Fia that divided them. Future John really did love both of them, and suffered slightly from the classic parental fallacy of 'my child is better than any other child ever'. He tended to come down far too often (and often wrongly) on the side of Kay and Fia. They weren't perfect, but the fear of losing one of the few good things in his life was clouding his judgement. jay on the other hand would come down on Rinaa's side every single time. Rinaa suspected that things were so complex between them because the two were far more alike than they cared to acknowledge.

John smirked at Elliott's reply. "You'd better get used to it" he advised. "So long as this one" he indicated in the direction of Jay "stays around, it's gonna keep happening'." "Jooooooy." Elliott drawled sarcastically, before shaking his head at Fia's statement. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever... heard it all before." He hadn't actually, but it was the best response he could think of, and how was Fia to know it wasn't true? She'd already made it clear that the Elliott in her timeline rarely went into details about his childhood on Attil (and still didn't talk about his birth parents and what had happened to them). It didn't escape John's notice that Kay had somehow managed to stay asleep during the whole event, looking utterly serene. If it had been him asleep, he'd have been awake in a shot wondering who was being murdered and whether he would need to join in with the killing or prevent it.

 

[MzHyde]

The smile on Rinaa's face didn't go amiss on Fia at all. She was happy that Rinaa got to witness what she did in her timeline, but here and now. Seeing the silly behaviour of her mother, grandfather and father all in one hit was something to see, even for her who had seen it happen before. To Fia it just brought forward in her mind that they were all family and like a normal family, had their moments of being utterly stupid and freaking each other out. She also thought this was becoming a trend in pranking everyone in their group, considering that it started with her and now Elliott was the next victim. She smirked when John told him it was going to happen more if Jay was around, knowing that it does indeed keep happening, and only get worse when she became old enough to start pranking about.

She just smirked and rolled her eyes at Elliott's unoriginal comeback to her little dig. "original... Not" she replied with a cheeky smile. She didn't know that he hadn't ever heard it before, but that didn't matter to her, she just like being able to exchange banter with her half brother. She loved him too much to not being a cheeky little madam to him. She was pretty sure that in her timeline if she didn't make digs at him, her family would wonder what the hell was wrong with her. Kay could literally sleep through anything if she went into a deep enough sleep, as she knew she could sleep at ease with the knowledge that if she was ever put in serious danger Fee would just wake her up or now that she had others around her, someone would shake her awake.