Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Like Jay, Fia always preferred her scuffed up fake combat boots to anything high heeled, but she was also wasn't the tallest girl (though not considered particularly short either) so every now and then she did like her combat boots that had a chunky heel of around two and half inches or if she did have to do any kind of hunt or 'party crashing' she was able to both fight and look elegant in a pair of four inch high heels that were so tiny there's no way they should be able to carry even her weight, yet they do. Whereas Kay was the complete opposite, only ever wore proper heels when it was really deemed necessary otherwise she wore either sneakers or the boots she's always seen in. Fia couldn't help but look to her father when he made his remark and smirk, "to be honest she comes across on the TV as someone who thinks they're so much better than everyone else and just has to be right all the time. She's got that 'I'm amazing and I know it' vibe going on which if ya ask me, isn't attractive in any sense of the word. Like we get it, she's an amazonian..no one bloody cares"she told him honestly. Sure, she found the fact that she could hold her own against a group primarily made up of men admirable, but she did also think its gone to Wonder Woman's head.

She was aware of Jay and Elliott's phones going off and guessed it was Rinaa indeed staying at Moya's. Kay on the other hand just chuckled at what Fia said, wo sering if some of her opinion on the woman was slightly biased because she loved her dad so much. "is that opinion slightly biased at all?" she asked, but Fia just shook her head, "for once no. Came to that feeling way before I knew dad even knew her" Fia replied casually but seriously, showing that yes she had had that opinion for quite a long time now. She also hated it when she'd hear kids her age on the street gushing over the League like they were all holier than thou from her times sneaking out, it always making her roll her eyes.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John couldn't help but smirk at Fia's thoughts, they echoed his own and he knew that she'd have definitely have heard future John rant (at length) about The League, their flaws, shortcomings, failures and inability to keep their noses out of his life and just let him be. "The League acts at press conferences is completely different to the way they act behind closed doors, it's all a facade. They act like they get along and work together perfectly all the time, but that couldn't be further from the truth, when you put people with so many different powers, mindsets and priorities together... It's a mess. The way they act on the TV, it's just a role, a persona they chose to project, they all need to be seen in a certain way." The publicity that with came with being part of the League was unrelenting and unforgiving. The League couldn't afford to make mistakes. John knew that, he wasn't stupid, he knew it wasn't easy what they did, but he still had problems with the way they did things.

"For Wonder Woman she needs to be this pillar of self assured, self confidence, cool, calm and collected Amazonian. Part of it's being the only woman and only Amazonian in the League. She can't be seen to be a doormat for anybody, can't be seen to be weak because of her gender or race. She has to hold her own at all times, can't afford to make mistakes, can't let anybody see the cracks and uncertainty that lurks beneath. And those are there, that I know for a fact, I mightn't have seen them, except for that one time, but Bobo has, and I trust the chimp on that, he's the best one of the Dark group. Which says a lot. I can't claim to be an expert on what her life was like on Themyscira, but her attitude definitely stems from growing up there and her mother forcing her to go through the warrior trials and putting royal duties on her head from the earliest age possible. The kind of duties you can't fail at, if ya get my drift. And there's the whole thing that at least half of her people hate her and had her all but kicked out of the tribe and the island. She's got just as much as issues as any o' us, she just hides it better. Or denies her problems exist and suppresses them. Hard ta tell which."

The text wasn't from Rinaa it was from Moya, Chas hadn't intended to look at it, but he could see the screen easily from his position on one of the kitchen chairs and couldn't help but read the message and get a look at the accompanying (slight blurry) photo which showed Rinaa, playing Jack's guitar on a makeshift stage, in front of mic, her mouth wide mid-word, her eyes alight with a passion that could be seen even in the low light and slight graininess of the picture. "What word would that be?" Elliott asked. "I asked Moya if she'd be okay with recording Rinaa singing the next they went to an open mic night, saying that I hear so little of her as it is, and it might be the only way I'll hear her before she kicks it. Which is the truth." The last sentence was said quieter, Jay wanting to make sure that Elliott knew she wasn't emotionally blackmailing the other girl, that what Jay really wanted was to see what Rinaa was like at her happiest.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to what John said back after hlshe had her little moment of complaining about Wonder Woman. For her, her opinions weren't just from the press conferences that were broadcast, but also the online videos that people manage to take when the world is going to shit just because they want to say they have proof of the superheroes doing their job. The way she fought was indeed impressive but it also had such an air of arrogance to it in her eyes she couldn't boast to be a fan in the slightest. She didn't doubt that the League members had their own issues going on in their private lives, many people did, she just didn't like the air they all put on. Which when she really thought about it, was slightly ironic and hypocritical considering who she and her dad was.

Her and Kay both listened as John went into more depth about Wonder Woman's case, nodding in understanding as he went on. "wouldn't surprise me if it a mixture of both to be honest. Either way, there's just something about her that irks me and I'll always stand by my opinion of her. It'd take a lot of convincing to change my mind." Fia replied, deciding to stop there before she went on a massive long rant which she could have easily done. She may not have been kicked out of her family like Diana all but was, but she didn't have the easiest life trying to do things whilst pretty much housebound her entire life and having her family act like she didn't exist to certain people. She was this big secret to many people, whilst so many of the downworld knew of her at the same time. It was a complex life and yet she just got on with it, even if it frustrated her to no end.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The hypocritical way in which the League judged him was one of the reason John hated them so much. None of them were perfect, they all had their own problems, stemming from dead dead parents and family in prison, to reckless tendencies, lone wolf tendencies, anger management issues, an unwillingness to follow orders and borderline psychopathic traits, these flaws were easily visible to those who knew how to look for them. They had all the same flaws as John did (to a greater or lesser extent), yet somehow his were worse then theirs, somehow he was the problem one out of all of them (sure John didn't make things easy for them, but he never wanted to be part of it in the first place, he'd only worked with them that first time as a favour to Zatanna). What he didn't know at the time was once you got involved with The League once, you never got away from them, which was why he was so adamant that Elliott, Kay and in the future Fia were to stay as far away from them as possible.

"You're not the one one who thinks that. She should never have gotten into the world of magic in the first place, let alone let herself be given the mark of Hecate." John grumbled, also cutting short the long rant brewing in his head. He would like nothing more than to rant about the events that had resulted in Diana being marked with the symbol of one of the most powerful god-witches ever to exist, granting her access to a fifth of said witches power. The act of accepting the mark had thrust The Justice League Dark into even more shit and trouble than they'd originally been in (which was saying something). "But enough on that, I really don't need to be even thinking about the League in any shape or form right now, there's more important things."

A second message came through a couple of minutes after the first, there was no text, just a video fie, prompting both Jay and Elliott to go looking for earphones, both pulling a tangled ball from their pockets. "I swear earphones are cursed with something that makes them tie themselves up in the most ridiculous knots possible." Elliott grumbled, glaring at his headphones (if looks could vapourise, those headphones would have been destroyed right down their quantum particles by now), before he he began to untangle them. "Agreed, there's a reason I prefer a chunky headset when flying." "Not just because it looks cool?" Elliott asked cheekily. "There's also that.... I spent a lot of time customising my pilot headsets, the main AND the spares."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded, she had heard the Goddess he spoke of and knew she was nothing but a bad one, so to hear Wonder Woman did such a thing just felt like the stupidest thing ever to do. She also agreed that now was the best time to stop before the two of them went on a rant that no one in the room could possibly stop. "Agreed, and to think it all started from talking about her boots" she chuckled slightly. It just showed her that even in this time, they were perfectly capable of flowing from one topic to another seamlessly. That was something she always appreciated about her family, that unless they wanted to not talk and just have a quiet moment, they could just chat and go from one topic to another so perfectly, sometimes they forgot how they even reached said last topic.

Kay glanced over when she heard both Jay and Elliott's phone go off once again with another message before turning her attention back to Fia and John. She was just happy listening to the two of them chat with each other, liking the sight of it, and she was greatly pleased that the talk moved onto a different subject all together, even if it make both the man she loved and their future teenager go on a rant about Wonder Woman. "I have a feeling you two will have plenty of times to rant with each other in the future so it can definitely be put on hold for now" she finally spoke up, her tone having lifted from the previous subject.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John couldn't help but smirk at the direction the conversation had ended up going, an almost throwaway comment from Jay (who wasn't even involved in the conversation any more) had led to this impressive spiral of ranting. "Those kinds of tangents do just tend to kinda happen around me." John replied with a half grin, half smirk, not sure whether it was something to be proud of or not. "Yeah mate, they do." Chas agreed, stretching his arms over his head, before moving to a more comfortable position. "And it's not gonna change either, nor is your tendency to go on never ending rants. Things like this, there's no point in even trying to make you change, you'll just get even more stuck in your ways." "Damn right I will." John agreed. "Damn right."

Seeing a lull in conversation, Cal got up off the couch, declaring "I need a drink, anybody want anything?" as she made her way towards the kitchen. Now that the thought of a drink was in people's head, they realised just how thirsty they were, it had been a long day and aside from grabbing a drink in the spaceport on Cliff's homeworld, most of them hadn't had a drink since breakfast. "Just bring in a selection of whatever we have in the fridge that's in date maybe?" Cliff suggested, before adding. "Nobody's getting dehydrated on my watch." Cal nodded and gave a mock salute. "Aye, aye doc" then vanished into the kitchen.

About 0.65 of a second passed between the light turning on and Cal bursting into a fit of laughter. She stuck her head around the door, and she barely managed to finish her sentence before starting to laugh again. "Cliff, everybody, you've gotta come see this." Cliff was quick to follow, wondering what on Attil could have elicited such a reaction from her wife. Entering the kitchen she found herself face to face with at least seventeen kettles. And they weren't normal ones either, they were in all kinds of crazy colours and patterns, with a couple that seemed to be covered in armoured plating. "Oh my....." Cliff never finished the sentence, bursting out laughing too.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded with a smile at the comment from John, having found those kinds of tangents were common place with him, even in the time she had known him. Fia also knew it was common place and he definitely didn't change in her timeline. "it definitely don't change" Fia confirmed with a smile. When Cal got up and declared about needing a drink, and asking if anyone else wanted one, both Fia and Kay realised like everyone else, just how thirsty they were. So both of them nodded their answers as Cliff told her to just bring out what they had.

What threw them off guard was Cal bursting into laughter seconds after turning on the kitchen light whilst just about managing to get her words out of her mouth at the same time. Fia got curious, as did Kay, so they got up and walked over seeing the collection of kettles that had accumulated since they went away. "oh wow, I know it was joked about about getting a few kettles but this is something else" Kay chuckled. "well, can't complain about not having a working one now!" Fia chimed in whilst sniggering at the varying styles of kettles. It also reminded her of the conversation they all had about John taking one of their broken kettles to give to Elliott as a moving out present. "and if they do break, you got a few spare to save you money for a while" Kay kept chuckling.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott had only been vaguely aware of the conversation going on up until that point, attempting to untangle his earphones with one hand and type in his password with the other hand at the same time was proving quite a feat. He hadn't realised that Rinaa was ambidextrous until he'd seen her perform a similar feat of multi-tasking. When he'd commented on it, she said it wasn't anywhere near as easy as it looked and had take her a good few months and a couple of busted earphones for the actions to become second nature to her. The sound of Cal's laughing did catch his attention and his head turned towards the kitchen wondering what on could possibly have elicited such a reaction from her. When Cliff had the same reaction, he was already up and out of the chair to take a look, Jay following close behind him.

The reaction from the two women suggested to John that there was something truly hilarious behind the kitchen door. He wasn't one bit disappointed by the sight. Not only was there a ridiculous number of kettles, somebody had clearly had far too much fun setting it up.Whoever it was had a sense of humour and a mischievous, creative streak a mile wide. They'd arranged the kettles on the floor in a battle formation as if one group of kettles was waging war against the others. Cal and Cliff's old battered kettles, were lying on their sides, daubed with paint as if they were casualties of the war. "Bloody Hells.... of course they did." John chuckled. He had noticed as suspicious lack of kettles in the wedding gifts, there were a couple of kettle related gag gifts, (the one that made him snort the most being the matching set of hideous knitted jumpers with a kettle pattern on the front), but no actual kettles, the sight in front of them explained why. "That is equal parts hilarious and amazing, who knew there were so many types and designs of kettles?" Chas asked, rhetorically as he took a photo. "Agreed. It's utterly brilliant, and they managed to keep it secret for so long too. I love it." Jay rarely said she loved anything (apart from food in a jokey context, or weapons in a work context), so this was high praise indeed. She was also taking a set of photos and sending them onto Rinaa and Moya with the caption "Unexpected item in the kitchen area."

Elliott's initial reaction was to swear in Attili, which only set Cal and Cliff off snickering again. His next words were back in English. "That is quite something all right. Your friends are totally crazy. And madly creative, somebody had a great time planning this." "This is what comes of letting Deke have the spare key to this place and getting him to general housekeeping when we're off world. He fills the kitchen with bloody kettles having a battle. The mad genius." Cal remarked fondly. "It could have been worse, he could have filled the whole flat with them. If he had the cash I wouldn't put it past him." Cliff chuckled. "How long until they're all broken, d'you think?" John couldn't help but ask with a smirk. "A week?" Elliott suggested, only for Cal to shake her head. "I don't think they'll break them. I think each of these kettles represents a person in out group. It's not just a joke, it's symbolic, well thought out, meaningful joke."

 

[MzHyde]

The whole scene in front of them was utterly ridiculous and genius all at the same time. It was this kind of joke that Kay missed being able to be apart of with the people she once knew. Even if she never truly had proper friends and only had Sam, Sam made up for not knowing many others. She noted how Jay said she actually loved what was done, something that Kay had never heard her really say before this moment, so it did make her take note of it. She wasn't surprised that photos were being taken of the scene in front of them, knowing that Rinaa at least would like to see it before it no doubt got dismantled so th ekitchen could be used as a kitchen once again.

"either way it's brought a lot of amusement to not just you two-" she said, meaning Cal and Cliff, "but to us lot as well" she finished saying with an amused smile still firmly upon her face as she leaned against the wall slightly. Fia was looking over the shoulders of Kay and John the whole time, amused by the sight, "now you got the choice between weaving around them all or destroying the murder scene in front of you by cleaning it all up" she smirked, trying to word it in such a way that would make it sound like they would be cleaning up a murder scene and making themselves accessories to kettle murder.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott also took note of Jay's choice of words, knowing how rare non-existent that kind of praise was from her, raising a questioning eyebrow in the direction of the assassin, who just shrugged "It's really cool, you can't deny it." Rinaa and Moya's reply to the photos was prompt, which Elliott took to mean that neither of them were on stage anymore. Moya knew the context to the kettle joke, Rinaa had filled her in when Cal began declaring her love for the fact that Cliff's family actually had a working kettle, while giving dagger eyes at Deke one afternoon. Rinaa herself was completely unaware that the kitchen had also been filled with a kettle battle, even though that joke had happened in her timeline, she'd somehow missed out on hearing about it from Cal and Cliff. So it was just as much a surprise to her as it was to the others when she saw the photo.

As soon as Cal made her observation about how every kettle represented a person she or Cliff was close to on Attil, the others could also see that she was right. Each kettle was different, one looked bore the distinctive look of something that had been made in a forge (and when Cal flipped it to look at the base, Dan's blacksmith signature was clear as day), while another turned all kinds of colours as the water heated (which they took guessed represented Deke and his shape shifting, body colour changing abilities). "As much as I'd love to keep them intact I would actually like to be able to go to fridge in the middle of the night without having to go through an obstacle course." Cliff said in response to Fia's question. "True, though it's a pity to ruin such a creative arrangement." Cal agreed only for Elliott to say "What you should really do is, take all the kettles to somewhere else in the apartment, set up a different scene with them, then send photos of it to your friends as retaliation."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia couldn't help but smirk and chuckle at Cliff's words, having known that that could really be the only answer to come from either Cliff or Cal. She knew it wasn't in the slightest bit practical to keep the arrangement on the kitchen floor for all time. She did think Elliott's idea was a good one, but she also thought it would end up becoming a running joke and every time Cal and Cliff's friends came over, she was certain that the possibility of those kettles being in a different place and arrangement every time they were around. "good idea, it'll probably start a long standing joke and there is the whole taking a few photos to remember it in its original glory" she added.

With the topic of the kettles pretty much coming to an end, Kay pushed herself off the wall and went back to sit down. She didn't doubt that Fia quite possibly was right with her comment either. She would have stayed standing there with everyone else but she didn't see the point and if Cal and Cliff wanted to tidy up the kettles, they'd need the space to do so and not have everyone in their group getting in the way.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal smirked her approval at her brothers's suggestion. Shew knew that Fia's words would become a self fulfilling prophecy, but if she was being honest, she didn't really care. She was still smiling, thinking of the planning that must have gone in to pulling this stunt off. No doubt there had been hours spent trawling the internet and arranging a place to store all the kettles so that Cal and Cliff wouldn't find them. And the fact that Dan had somehow managed to hide his creation from her. Cal liked to think she knew the forge inside out and back to front, that she had discovered all the cubby holes, hiding spots and even the false wall panels. But once again, Dan was able to outwit her on that. She had loved the kettle surprise, and Cliff had too, not only did it make them laugh riotously and grin crazily, it had brought a similar sense of joy to their guests.

"That I don't doubt, one-upping each other can get really competitive and bizarre sometimes. But I honestly wouldn't have it any other way." Cal replied. With all the kettles suitably photographed from all possible angles, including from above (which involved Jay jumping right over the battle arrangement and onto the counter in one, smooth, almost cat-like leap that she executed with a flawless elegance), Cal and Cliff carefully dismantled the arrangement, putting as many kettles as possible in the cupboards, before putting the rest in storage boxes (a temporary resting place until they figured out where was the best place for them to live permanently.

Cal brought in the drinks selection to the rest of the group who were all seated back on the couches again, while Cliff texted their friends, thanking them for the lovely surprise, saying that it had gone down brilliantly and threatening anybody who damaged their new kettle 'children' with murder. Or worse.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia liked to think from her timeline that she knew Cal well enough to know that what she said was very much true. She also knew if it was reversed and happened to her family, they'd have thought of it the same way. It was probably why she herself got away with so much when she probably shouldn't have, which made her very thankful that her family were who they were. "that I don't doubt" she said back before they tidied up all the kettles so Cal could get the drinks that she originally went into the kitchen for. She had found her place back on the chair she was previously on, just before Cal came back with the drinks, to which she helped herself to one.

Kay also grabbed a drink, opening it and sipping it gladly, realising now just how thirsty she actually was. It took all her will power to not just down it in one go so she wouldn't end up feeling like she needed more. A small yawn escaped her even though she felt awake, and just kept drinking, savouring every mouthful she could, though in some ways she wasn't surprised that her body was getting ready to needing rest as she did only sleep on the first flight to tthe jump gate and that she considered more of a long nap than actual proper sleep.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Kay's yawn, even though it was relatively small proved highly contagious, quickly spreading around all the others in the room. John was the first to get it (as he was closest to Kay) and he tried to resist it, but failed. From there it spread to Cal, Cliff Chas, Elliott and finally Jay. Her yawn was the most well hidden, disguising by stretching out her arms to loosed er shoulder muscles. Most of them were tired in some shape or form, it had been an early start, a long day of travel and a complete change in time zones. Yet they were wired enough that if they tried to actually get to sleep they wouldn't be able to, their heads too filled with all kinds of thoughts to let sleep come. Even Cal and Elliott were yawning, travelling across star systems wrecked havoc with their internal body clock.

"If anybody's thinking of sleeping, my professional opinion is to go now." Cliff commented, seeing the yawning state of everybody, pouring two glasses, and passing the second one to Cal. Had it just been herself and her new wife they would have made coffee, the caffeine being stimulus enough to keep them awake. But with Kay around that wasn't possible, so the plan B was a sort of juice like drink that naturally contained caffeine. "Any later and you'll end up with a completely fucked sleep cycle and a horrid case of jet-lag." Cliff was of the opinion that napping really didn't work when it came to jet-lag. It balanced the systems out slightly, but the real trick that had always worked for her, Cal and the people they worked with, was to stay awake until the next night (by which point you'd be so wrecked tired that sleep would come easy, thus resetting the circadian rhythm).

 

[MzHyde]

When everyone else starting yawning due to her little yawn, Kay couldn't help but smirk slightly as she always did when one person yawning set off everyone else. It was a completely stupid and borderline childish reaction, and yet it never went away from her childhood. It made her smirk more seeing those who tried to resist the yawn but losing the internal battle anyway. Like the others, she was rather awake, despite her yawning, her eyes still very much alert. She glanced across at Cliff as she spoke, noting what she was saying but decided if no one else was going to bed, then she wasn't going to, for the sole reason that she'd only be sitting in bed on her own still far too awake to sleep.

"I'm too awake to sleep, so I'm not going to bed" Fia declared, pulling her feet up close to her on the chair she was sitting on. "that's because you slept the entire flight back with your head squished on the window" Kay countered with a smirk. Fia just rolled her eyes at the remark, knowing she couldn't really come back with anything over it because quite frankly, Kay was telling the truth. "I'm personally too awake as well to go just yet, my stance is if I fall asleep where I sit then it happens, but otherwise I'm not moving" Kay then added, perfectly comfortable where she sat. It's not exactly the first time she did an all nighter for one reason or another when she had nowhere to live.

 

[_gallifrog_]

There was no way Fia could deny having slept through the flight, her face had been pressed against the window hard enough that the pressure had left a noticeable red patch on her face when she woke up (it faded away after a few minutes, but by then everybody in their group had seen it and come to the correct conclusion). Nobody was judging her for sleeping on the flight. The memory foam seats of the shuttle were far more comfortable than a typical airline seat and practically invited the passenger to get comfortable and sleep in it.

"I'm stayin' up, there;s no way I'll get ta anywhere even vaguely near sleep tonight." John said, he rarely got jet-lag, but when it did it was closer to permanent insomnia. It wasn't that he'd be feeling sleepy and tired at strange times in a new timezone, it was that he wouldn't feel tired full stop and wouldn't be able to sleep without either being knocked unconscious or being drugged up (neither of which were appealing options at the moment, even if Cliff did have some kind of sleeping drug in the apartment, being dosed up on such drugs only brought back memories of Ravenscar and the mental and physical torture he went through there). "My strategy is the same as Kay's, if I fall asleep here, so be it, leave me alone." The last part was aimed at John, who had been the cause of Chas loosing sleep for years.

"I'm fine to stay up" Jay declared, which was."I've spent years travelling from place to place and travel-lag doesn't bother me or even effect me that much. And besides, by staying up I can do a bit of preliminary snooping around those forums to see what turns up before I plug myself in." She'd closed the artificial skin membrane back over the bio-ports, but hand't bothered to roll back down her sleeves. "I can help with that if you want" Elliott offered "not like there's much else I can do given that we've probably started some kind of diplomatic incident or declared war by springing me from prison." Elliott gave a rueful grin. Cal sighed "Don't remind me, I was trying not think about work until at least midday, there's a whole pile of messages I've been ignoring the past week. If anybody asks the communications net was down on Cliff's family's island."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked ever so slightly and very briefly when Chas had the same strategy as herself. She had a feeling that it wouldn't be surprising to anyone if anyone would fall asleep on the couches where they were, it would be both herself and Chas. In her head if she fell asleep and it looked like an awkward position, she would just be moved to the bedroom, just like she was when she fell asleep on the balcony that one time. She also wasn't surprised that John had no plans on actually getting to sleep at all during the rest of these early hours.

It was also of no surprise that Jay would use this time to get a head start on all the links and clues to what's going on around Elliott and the seeming revolution. She did have to smirk when Cal said about purposely ignoring all work related things until at least midday. She just nodded at Cal's request to say that Cliff's network coverage was down if they were asked, which she doubted anyone would ask them lot anyway. She sipped more of her drink before putting the bottle down on the table and pulling her own legs up and behind her, making her naturally lean into John in the process. Her hands lightly holding onto her calves to keep them in place.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John couldn't help but smirk when Cal declared her unwillingness to do anything work related until midday, after spending almost a week with her new in-laws, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to work. Staying on the island had been an escape from reality for all of them, a week of not quite total peace, but instead definite relaxation, banter that flowed easily, phenomenal food, some booze, great company amazing scenery, and in the case of Cal and Cliff, quite a lot of sex. All of which made for a great holiday, though they all knew sooner or later that real life would come knocking (no doubt bringing a massive shit storm with it). "Right got it, that certainly explains a lot." John replied, playing along with the joke, an expression of faux relaxation on his face as if Cal's lie explained something that had been bugging him for ages. John found that he didn't mind Kay leaning against him, the first few times back at his place he'd been taken by surprise, usually the only people who ever leaned against him for emotional and/or physical comfort were Elliott, his sister, his niece, maybe Trish and Chas that one time (though that was something they had never since mentioned), so for a veritable stranger to do it, it made no sense. But having Kay like this around him was something he could (and probably already was) getting used to.

Like Kay, Jay doubted anybody would ask them, but she could appreciate the sentiment behind it, it would be best that they were all on the same page when it came to making up an alibi. She nodded, while Elliott replied with the classic denial of "What comms network? I don't know anything about any comms network?" completely dead face serious. Cliff on the other hand let out a groan at the thought of work, as much as she loved her job, she wouldn't have complained about sending another week (or two, or six) with her family. "I'd actually managed to forget that work is a thing. For once" she groaned, leaning comfortably against Cal. "I know for a fact they'll be calling me back, not today, but tomorrow cos they'll know I've rested up and do need money to continue living, can't just survive of newly wedded bliss alone apparently." "Sadly not" Cal smiled in agreement, running one hand through Cliff's hair. "You gonna dye this again? Or stick with the natural blond for a bit longer?"

 

[MzHyde]

When Kay first did it at his apartment, it was a risk she took but she found it happened before she could even second guess her actions. Luckily he didn't push her off of him and let her just do it which made things not feel as awkward as it could have been, despite being still a little awkward. Though she had to admit having the night terror memory and almost burning down his apartment felt much more awkward an situation than anything else. Now it felt like the normal thing to do between them, especially as she was having his child. In her eyes they had gone too far along to feel awkward about leaning against each other around people or not. The only difference this time was that it was down to her position change on the couch than a purposely done action to lean against him.

Fia rolled her eyes when Elliott came out with the cliché retort that was so typical of a sibling reply. She could see a lot of her retorts came from him, especially in the manner of how they were delivered. She noticed how not only Kay leaned I to John, but how Cliff leaned into Cal and Cal questioned Cliff about her hair. She had almost gotten used to seeing Cliff with her natural blonde hair in this last week that she almost forgot Cliff had it dyed when she first travelled back in time. She enjoyed seeing her family together in this way and hoped that nothing would happen in the future near or far would happen that would change this. She wouldn't say anything out loud however, but her thoughts were firmly in her mind.

"coming back to reality after a great week off always feels so much tougher to do. Almost like you need twice the amount of motivation to get back into work mode" Kay commented remembering the times when they'd have breaks from university then would have to dive straight back into work when they went back. It felt like agony to get back into the mindset of coursework.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff nodded in response to Kay's words, knowing Kay's words to be one hundred percent true when it came to being a doctor. "Ugggh, I know. Don't remind me. It feels like five times the effort when it comes to medicine. They always put the people back from holidays on the double or triple shifts figuring that we're recharged enough to do such long hours without stopping. You probably won't see me for two days after I go back. Yaaaay life" She groaned sarcastically. "Not to mention the paperwork that's probably swamping my desk. You'd be surprised how much paperwork I have to do." She sighed before adding "I'll get over it though, I'm just fulfilling the doctor stereotype."

She ran a hand through her own hair at Cal's question, raking her hand up and through her bob, as she considered the question. Her hair was even more of a scruffy bob than usual after such a long day of travelling. If she was travelling for work purposes or piloting a smaller ship, she'd have tied her hair back in a stubby ponytail (if it was long enough) or kept it back with the help of various hair pins, but today there was no need for such hair styling, so she didn't bother. Dying her hair such a dramatic shade of purple had originally been a spur of the moment decision as a teenager (purple was her favourite colour, and her hearing aids had been purple long before her hair was purple). It had quickly become her trademark look and the first time Cal had seen the new look she'd stared for a good three minutes straight before realising it was actually Cliff and not some other random purple haired girl who was actually kind of hot now that she looked properly. Now years later, Cal loved both hair colours equally. It wasn't the hair colour that mattered, but the amazing person underneath. Even if Cliff had no hair, she'd still love her.

"I honestly don't know." Cliff replied, swinging her legs up and over the side of the couch, draping them on the armrest, making herself even more comfortable in Cal's arms. There was no doubt that the two really loved each other, and Elliott couldn't help but smile at the sight, thinking not for the first time, that they made such a great pair (in all aspects of life). "It is sort of my thing after all, it's practically how my colleagues recognise me at work, since we all look the same in scrubs." She gave a grin, smirking at her own humour before continuing. "And I do like it, it suits me. But I quite frankly can't be arsed to bother. So I'll be blond for a few more days before I go on the quest to find the right shade of dye. Or maybe a slightly different shade." Over the years Cliff had been through various shades of purple, bright, light, dark and various shades in between. A bright medium purple suited her best according to everybody she asked, but there were so many shades out there that fit that description.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded at Cliff's words, only guessing just how much worse it must be for someone in her profession. She didn't envy Cliff in the slightest for what she could be finding herself going back to. She did however have to smirk at the last line of fulfilling the doctor stereotype, and moaning about it all. "I can only imagine, it was bad enough with university work during the time I was actually there."she added before the conversation changed to Cliff's hair and what she was going to do with it. Like Elliott, she could see just how perfect the two women were together as Cliff got more comfortable in her wife's arms, feeling like their relationship was quite frankly, ultimate goals.

All the talk about hair colouring and dying made Fia think about that appearance spell and rune she had, where she only purposely learned it on her own time to change her hair colour which she barely used but knew at some point she'd have to to go out so she wasn't recognisable by her distinguishable hair, just like Kay was with hers. She remembered one day to try it out she gave herself a dark bob with bangs, unknowingly like the time Kay wore a wig of the same style in her school days. She had also given herself dark red wavy hair with bangs then shook her hair to bring it back to her normal hair before she was caught doing it.

Spoiler: The hair changing spell

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff had perfected the ranting doctor stereotype over the years. It didn't take too much to set her off as John and co had quickly learned, it was almost a form of self depreciating humour. She'd moan about her job and the trial, tribulations and annoyances that came with it before adding 'though, I wouldn't have any other way' and even while on holidays and completely relaxed with her family, she found an opportunity to rant. There had been one morning on the island when Chas had entered the kitchen early in the morning only to find Charlie and Cliff ranting about their respective professions, backing each other up on how awful certain things were and saying they understood the other's pain. Benji's theory was that it was a form of cathartic relief, talking it out helped them to find the motivation to keep going.

"Agreed" Cal replied, nodding at Kay's work, she and Cliff were the only ones who could really sympathise. John didn't go to university, he just hung around on campus, using his good looks and charms to blag his way into parties, bars and bedrooms. Jay was put in prison before she knew she'd been accepted, and thus never had the chance to attend. Elliott didn't go to university, perfectly content to either work at AJ's or do the occasional commission art piece. Elliott also had a reputation among circles of mages and Downworlders as a person he knew things (finding out things both from John's network of contacts and his own network). The only university courses Chas attended were night ones, daytime for him was spent driving the cab to earn money, so he missed out on the 'true' university experience.

"Heading back to uni after holidays always sucked for me. Summers for me were spent either working in the forge, which was fun or going on a sort of road trip slash camping holiday with my friends." She smiled at the memories of those days, as did Cliff, and Elliott just knew that there was a whole mine of stories there. "With some mandatory guard training courses and drills thrown in here and there, the boss people wanting to make sure we all didn't get blobby and unfit in the months off." "Or just to annoy us and screw with any plans we may have had by suddenly announcing there was a training thing, or a mandatory residential stay at one of the other bases. They totally did it deliberately." Cliff griped good-naturedly.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay knew from past conversations that none of her new family had ever truly attended university or higher education at any stage in their lives. Granted, Kay had attended much later in life than most people but that didn't bother her or Sam. They did it because of their passion for the arts and decided at the time they had to stop dilly dallying about what to do with their lives and decided to study art at university. It gave them the excuse to come back to London at the time and be where their friendship began. Sam also had it in her head that it would help Kay accept the past part of her life that occurred in London, rather than just pretend she wasn't actually British.

She smiled at what Cal said, sensing there was many stories behind what she was saying before smirking at Cliff's additional remark. "for me it was coming back to the tons of coursework that I either put off or the lecturer decided we had to get a head start on from day one of returnibg from the holidays. Didn't seem to matter how much I did in the dorm room over said holiday, it always piled up" she replied. "despite all that I still never actually got to graduate either" she then rolled her eyes at how her own life turned out. It started to make her wonder if Sam had any of her old work or belongings she left behind when she made a run for it that night, or if Sam had it destroyed for whatever reason. It was only moments this kind of reminiscing did Kay ever miss being a student and living in the basic dorm room. She missed that crappy bedroom of hers that she dorned the walls with her own work or let Sam put up Polaroids of them both together in a classic chick flick reference by having them round her mirror.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff's theory that the people in charge of training the military recruits were deliberately choosing to put on training courses at inconvenient times sounded very credible to Jay. Aside from being an Isogrii warrior she had spent a significant portion of her life in various militarys (in the air and space forces as a pilot as opposed to infantry and other ground support). So not only was she fully qualified as a military pilot, she had advanced a couple of ranks beyond just a simple cadet, enough to be put in charge of a small squad of soldiers. In terms of military rankings, she was higher than her brother, and took great pleasure in bossing him around.

"Gotta agree there, if my experience of military training was anything like what I've heard about the guard and Royal guard stuff you went through then I can say with one hundred percent certainty that they do that. ESPECIALLY for the ones where they drag you out of the bed at arse o'clock at night, bung you in a van and dump you in the middle of nowhere to make you do an obstacle course." Cal and Cliff groaned their agreement, they'd been on the receiving end of such rude awakenings a few times as art of their guard training. "Those are the WORST, though you learn pretty quick to always sleep with boots on, otherwise you get your feet all torn up." "Those sucked BALLS, ESPECIALLY since they used all the injured people on the course as training for us medics. We technically got two courses in one." Cal murmured something that sounded suspiciously like "it's not a competition love" to her wife, before falling quiet to listen to what Kay had to say.

They both nodded sympathetically at her words, having experienced lecturers like that in their time. Cliff more so than Cal. When it came to medical school it felt to her like every single teacher was trying to jump the gun and expected them to have the entire textbook covered within the first week. "It's EXACTLY the same in med school, except it's pretty much every teacher and lecturer. It's like right of passage when doing a medical course to work yourself so hard that you pass out from sheer exhaustion and lack of food at least once every term. If you don't then you're not a real doctor and don't deserve the title." It was clear from her tone that Cliff wasn't exaggerating. "It's pretty scary to see, one time I walked in, found this one sprawled on the floor, books and papers everywhere, laptop blinking, demanding to be plugged in, mug smashed and coffee all over the floor. I did think for a minute that she'd died."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to everything that Jay was saying, feeling like it sounded exactly like something from a film and couldn't believe for a split second that actually happened like that, until she came to her senses seconds later that if Jay said it was like that, then it most certainly was true. It felt even more true when Cal agreed with what was said by Jay, and Cliff adding to said scenario with her own little tidbit. She did have to smirk when Cal murmered to Cliff, as did Kay, whom both could have sworn they heard Cal say about it not being competition.

Kay had a feeling if anyone could know what she was on about, it would be Cliff, knowing that even on Earth the studying and amount of work that went into becoming any kind of medical worker was intense. Her study of choice might not have been anything like that of medical school like Cliff, but she still knew from word of mouth just how much it took out of students who did choose that path in life, that Cliff wasn't over exaggerating. She looked more at Cal when Cal spoke up about how she found Cliff one time, this time it being her turn to nod in sympathy. "that doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Just normal school did that to me when it came to studying for exams" she replied honestly. "I lived off so much red bull energy drinks it was considered greatly unhealthy" she added with a smirk.