Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

The answer to that question as to why Elliott and Jay would say such a horrible thing to each other lay in the fact that both were incredibly proficient at pushing the other's buttons and riling them up. It had started when Jay was the uncooperative prisoner of AJ's crew and tormenting Elliott became a pastime. Being the only alien in the group he and he alone understood the alien gestures and insults that she was using. It hadn't taken her very long (even with the trademark golden eyes masked) for her to figure out that he was a Devra and use her knowledge of Attili and Attilian culture to make the insults more cutting. Elliott quickly learned to give back insults of equal severity and to figure out what Jay's tender points were. In Fia's timeline they'd been together for a long time, and did love each other, but like any couple they had their bad days and all it took was one pointed remark to set the other off. Both were incredibly stubborn and abrasive when they wanted to be and it was this abrasiveness that caused their fights to get so heated. Thankfully those days were extremely rare, but Fia seemed to have an uncanny knack of being around when things kicked off.

A similar cocktail of emotions to those Fia was feeling was present in Cal when she saw the mural. Despite being estranged from her brother for almost half of his life, he was still her younger brother and words were beginning to fail her when it came to describing just how amazing it was to see all these people supporting Elliott, compared to the last time when nobody dared speak out for fear of the consequences. "Yep, which is a good thing. Can't help but wonder who did this one, I'd like to think caddies that snuck out in the night, like Cliff and I used to, in order to paint this, but it could just as easily be one of Moya's friends or somebody completely unrelated to anybody we know." "Agreed, it's not exactly illegal to tag these walls, but it's not exactly the done thing either." "This is quite the thing to see alright." Jay agreed putting the phone away as they continued walking."If there isn't a geo-tag forum Deke said he'd make one and help map it, so that anybody whose part of this movement can see how it's spreading."

Their wandering took them into the heart of the town, Cal taking the very scenic route back, which consisted of going down any road or alley that would make their journey longer. At certain places Cal would give a bit of local lore, there was a spot where somebody had been brutally murdered, pointing out places where one could parkour across the roofs with ease, the dodgy manhole that gave access to the old (now unused and closed off) segments of the sewer system that could be used as a place to hide or as a short cut if you were really desperate. Cliff chimed in every so often, adding a more personal history, stories of things she, Cal and their friends had done. Jay found herself relaxing with the easy banter and giving a few of her own stories, the details were minimal and she named no names, but they were happy memories.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia knew the moments of Elliott and Jay arguing were rare, yet she couldn't deny she somehow had the knack of being there when they kicked off sometimes. She remembered one time she wanted to just jump in the middle of them and tell them to stop fighting because she loved them both and hated seeing them argue so viciously at each other. Yet she knew not to do that, so instead she at one time stood at a safe distance and yelled at them to stop. She even recalled throwing her elephant plush at them both as a distraction tactic, with it hitting Elliott square on the side of the head in the process. When it landed on the floor, she recalled both of them looking at each other then down at the plush toy on the floor and at her again, whilst Fia had this conical angry facial expression on at them both. It wasn't long before both her little actions just made made them burst into laughter. Fia was simply 7 years old at the time, so it couldn't be seen as anything other than amusing. That didn't stop her lecturing them both however, with her spouting off how they need to 'stop shouting because it's super mean and you shouldn't say mean things to someone you love and if they didn't stop she would make mummy and daddy ground them'.
Of course it was utterly ridiculous and neither would get grounded as they were adults, but it was what she knew would happen if someone was bad as she had been grounded only a few days before for back chatting Kay.

She nodded at Cal agreeing with her before she also nodded at Cliff and Jay's words, knowing if anyone could figure this out, it'd be Jay and Deke. She walked with them further into town, listening to the stories and tidbits of information given to her by Cal and Cliff. She found so much of it highly interesting and every time a personal story was told by Cliff or a similar story was told by Jay, she chuckled or smirked, whichever became the appropriate reaction to make. She herself didn't have many stories to tell, mostly for fear of ruining the timeline, but she did explain a couple of non important ones, mostly that involved times she was learning how to control her phoenix abilities and nearly fell off a ladder once. Luckily for her, her mother was there in a flash and grabbed her knowing she would have seriously hurt herself if she wasn't saved, but John insisted she should have gotten hurt to learn from it.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The others listened with equal interest at the stories Fia offered up, knowing that she couldn't say as much as she wanted to, in order to try and preserve what was left of the timeline and keep the future a surprise. When Cliff spoke, she didn't just talk with her mouth, she talked with her hands, using her whole body to convey her point. She'd always been like this to an extent before being deafened, but after becoming deaf and making sign language her main language, she began to get more expressive with her body when talking. Jay did a similar thing when talking, gesturing with her hands to emphasise her point. That was why when with people she didn't know, she stood or sat with her arms crossed, forcing her hands to stay still. It also gave her a look of being both defensive and emphasised the well defined muscles in her arms, conveying that she was the kind of person who could easily beat you into next week, while not looking like she gave a shit. Having grown more relaxed around Cal, Cliff and the rest of John's group, she'd slowly started letting her hands become involved in her talking.

As they were walking and chatting Jay's phone chimed. Jay had long ago personalised her text tones, with different beeps representing different people. This particular alert was the one she selected for Elliott. She read the message, one eyebrow raising ever so slightly in surprise, before typing a response and shoving the phone away before anybody could look over her shoulder and read the message. "I don't suppose either of you know where I can pick up some guitar picks and a new strap?" She asked, giving no explanation as to what was in the text. "ummm..." Cal thought for a second "actually I do. Why? Has somebody broken a guitar in my apartment?" Jay shook her head with a slight smirk. id it wasn't for the sentimental value the guitar held for both John and Elliott, she wouldn't put it past them. "Nothing so sinister. It's for my brother's guitar. It's about time I gave playing it a go." Jay spoke in an off-hand manner, but both Cal and Cliff knew that this was a pretty damn big step on her part. The past few weeks Jay had slowly been coming to terms with the fact that her twin's death had been because of sabotage and not some fault on Jay's part (the opinion she'd tortured herself with for years).

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was always expressive in every sense of the word when talking about a particularly fond memory or something she was passionate about. She only ever spoke with a more stoic posture if it was truly a serious conversation or she was incredibly upset about something. Yet even then, her hands and arms moved a bit, even if it was just shrug or wave her hands in a 'I'm so done with shit' dismissive manner. She was just an expressive person in general, something she could only put down to being around the people she was growing up, especially Sam as her teacher. It just so happened that through her stories this time, she didn't flail around like she normally would, but did use her arms to help convey her points when she could.

She found herself glancing at Jay when her phone went off, but didn't look over her shoulder or anything. She found the question also curious as to why such a question was being asked, before listening to the answer. She very rarely even in her timeline witnessed Jay play her brother's guitar, so to hear her suddenly explaining she ought to give it a go, Fia got curious. Like Cal and Cliff, she knew what a big step this was for Jay as well. "what changed your mind on wanting to play it?" she couldn't help but ask curiously. "not that it's any of my business. So feel free to tell me to butt out if you don't wanna say" she quickly added before Jay could reply, showing that yes, she was naturally a curious person which by now should be obvious to everyone in their group, but she also respected people's privacy.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay had rarely played guitar, even before her brother had died. She preferred base guitar to acoustic, which worked perfectly with her brother who had been the acoustic guitarist of the two. She could play pretty well, but chose not to, just like how she rarely sang. Jay could sing, pretty damn well in fact. Her voice wasn't anything like Rinaa's which was full of soul-piercing emotional depth and power. Jay's voice was far more husky and considerably deeper than her normal speaking voice, somewhere between a tenor and a bass voice. The kind of voice that was made for traditional signing and angry, rebellious pieces. After her brother's death, she'd stopped signing and it had only been by pure chance that AJ's crew had found out that she could actually sing. They'd come across some alien lyrics translated to English and out of idle curiosity were trying to figure out what they were meant to sound like. Jay had scoffed at all their attempts, from her perch in the corner of the room until Kane challenged her to better. Which she did, not only signing it in tune, but drumming out the backing beat on the floor with her feet.

Ever since she'd retrieved the guitar from her brother's lock-up Jay had been considering playing it. But she hadn't been able to bring herself to do it, she would barely touch it without being overwhelmed by memories of her brother. It didn't help that the pocket in the case was full of random crap, receipts, stupid doodles, some cash, an empty wrapper. Stuff that was so ordinary, yet looking at it sent bolts of sadness and pain through her, thinking about her her twin's life had been cut short. It had been the clips that Moya sent on of Rinaa playing that had been the motivation she needed (up until then she'd never actually heard Rinaa play properly and it reminded her just what a beautiful instrument it was).

At Fia's question she shrugged slightly. "Somebody has to play it at some point. And as good as Rinaa is, she's only got a few months at most. He's not coming back, and there's nobody else to pass the guitar onto. If things were different Quin would be the only one who would be worthy, but she can't play, or sing, for shit." Jay put particular emphasis on the word 'shit', which told Cliff that the other assassin's lack of musical talent was something Jay had ragged and annoyed Quin about for years. "It's a beautiful instrument and shouldn't be left untouched in a locker for another four years. And besides, I don't feel like teleporting around trying to remember which lock-up with own guitar is in. Teleportation and timeline sensitives aren't always such a great combination when the tech is rough and ready like Rinaas is." Jay's answer was only a fraction of the real reasons that she had decided to play again. But she suspected that Fia would be curious enough to bug Elliott for answers, at least this way the answer she was giving might stop Fia from doing that.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to the answer Jay gave her, nodding as she spoke to show that she understood where her reasonings were coming from and thinking they were valid enough. If she hadn't given an answer or more to the point, one that would give more questions than answers, Jay was right in suspecting that Fia would indeed bug Elliott for answers, knowing if she couldn't get what she wanted to hear out of Jay, then Elliott would be her go to as she knew exactly what buttons to push whilst using the 'but I'm your younger sister and I'm not an idiot, there's more to this and I want to know' card. If that ever failed she would play the 'elliottttt, ell, ell, Elliott, lott, lott, ell' card and keep going until he cracked. A move she had used ever since she was able to say his name, finding if nothing else worked, that sure as did because he just wanted her to shut up and knew she wouldn't until he spoke to her. It was highly immature but she didn't care, she had to act like a typical annoying younger sister sometimes!

She also got the feeling that Jay wasn't lying in the slightest from the way she put a lot of emphasis on the word 'shit' when talking about Quin. She also didn't doubt her answer to her in the slightest. She knew it was very possible that she could have overstepped her mark when it came to asking about the guitar and why now did Jay feel the need to start playing it. Part of her did feel there was something Jay was keeping back however, but she knew better than to pry or keep nagging Jay for it. She was only just getting used to the fact that she could look at Jay again after meeting her other self, so she definitely didn't want to risk pissing this time's Jay off as well. "makes sense!" she simply replied. "it'll be good to see you play... If you'd let us see that is" she then remarked. It then got her thinking of all the times she had seen members of her family play any kind of instrument, the thought process making her realise for her, it had been so long since she witnessed it from anyone. She missed those days where she sat down on the floor or couch, cross legged, chin in hands and looking at them full of admiration. She could barely even remember the last time she collaborated with her mum, where she played her violin and Kay played the keyboard. It would have been a proper piano but one would only fit in The House and as she got older they were in there living less and less, so it was pointless having one. That, and Kay could never afford one, only ever just about affording a keyboard.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal and Cliff had learned enough about Jay to know that it was best to accept whatever answer she gave an not push person. Jay was a private person when it came to her dead twin and any information she did give was a sign of her trust that they wouldn't press further or use the information against her. What she was saying wasn't anywhere near the whole reason as to why, but it was true none the less. "Honestly?" she replied rhetorically. "I doubt you'll see or hear it." Jay was already making plans that once she had the guitar she would sneak up onto the roof to attempt playing it. Playing it was something best done alone, something she didn't even want Elliott around for.

"So how does the text fit into it then?" Cal asked, not knowing it had been from her brother. "It's a long winded story" Jay told her with a wave of her hand "but basically Rinaa wants to get her own high spec, high speed, enhanced laptop out of storage and use it for delving through forums, modelling and some other 'side project' that I doubt is anywhere CLOSE to legal. She was wondering if she could trust us not to go snooping if she dropped it at a drop box in the town and one of us collected it, brought it back and put in on the roof so the solar panels could charge. Apparently this thing has a self destruct and memory wipe function to deal with unauthorised access and as she's out of time, it can't be rebooted without going back to her own timeline." There was an unmistakable smirk in Jay's voice at the notion that Rinaa had a laptop that could self destruct, it seemed so utterly her.

 

[MzHyde]

When Jay said she doubted Fia would ever hear her play, Fia had to five the typical teenage frown at the answer given. She loved listening to people play, so it always made her slightly sad when she wasn't allowed to hear anyone play. "fair enough, it's a shame, but fair enough" she replied. She then let Cal ask the question that was on her tip of her tongue but was too unsure whether she should ask it or not, which made her choose the latter option instead, but glad that someone in their mini group did ask it.

She let Jay start to answer the question, listening intently to what Jay was saying baout Rinaa and some laptop but nothing was linking to Jay playing her twin brother's guitar, so she was getting all the more confused. She noted the smirk on Jay's face at what she was saying, and had to agree that it was something so typical of Rinaa. "sounds like her... To have such a thing that is. So how does link up with needing to pick up guitar picks and a strap? I mean, I know you said it was long winded, but this seems like a understatement right now" she asked, the curiosity never leaving the tone of her voice or her eyes. She didn't mean the last bit in the slightest bit negatively, she just couldn't help but say what she was thinking.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff couldn't help but make a face that said quite clearly 'why am I not surprised?' at Cal, who smirked. It fit with what they knew of Rinaa, she loved tech and her privacy was incredibly important. Jay was talking about her personal laptop, the one she worked on in her timeline, that had been customised to her own needs, so there was, without a doubt all kinds of stuff on it that she wouldn't want the others to see. "That gives a new meaning to extreme privacy settings." "Indeed it does, can't say I blame her since she works in an R&D lab AND develops stuff for a vigilante network. The stakes certainly sound high enough to warrant blowing up her laptop."

At Fia's question jay nodded, knowing that her first explanation made no sense. "Rinaa has the guitar at the moment, and she won't be returning to the apartment until tomorrow night most likely, she seems to have plans made already for a night out with Moya and her friends tonight, and I'm hardly going to stop her. She might as well live some kind of normal teenage life while she can. The longer the guitar is away, the more chance there is that I'll talk myself out of playing it again. So it's killing two birds with one stone. When Rinaa drops of the laptop at the drop off later today, she'll ALSO drop off the guitar. I get to play the guitar, she gets the laptop back to Cal and Cliff's apartment with my vow that nobody will attempt to access it. Does it make any more sense now?" What Jay wasn't saying was that along with the laptop and guitar Rinaa would be dropping off Elliott's art supplies. Elliott had made the arrangements with Rinaa by text, knowing that he himself couldn't collect anything, Jay was designated picker-upper as he trusted her to be able to smuggle in the supplies and hide them in John's room (John having offered up his room when Elliott explained why he was texting Rinaa). Jay was merely taking advantage of the plan to get what she wanted too.

 

[MzHyde]

At Cal's privacy comment, Fia had to smirk whilst agreeing it did give a whole new meaning to the saying, though like Jay said, she really couldn't blame Rinaa for having such hitech security on something that held valuable information from her timeline on. If she had brought along such a thing herself, she would have no doubt put as much security on it herself, and hoped no one in the crazy family that as hers, would go snooping round on it trying to access anything they shouldn't be. "I'd do the same thing if I was her to be honest" she chimed up before giving her question that she gladly let Jay answer.

Listening to the answer it now made a lot more sense as to why Jay started mentioning about the laptop before gettibg to the guitar part. Sure, it was a long winded way round to saying 'Rinaa is leaving it at a pick up spot with her laptop, so I need to pick up both for her' but she took it anyway. She nodded at what Jay said, "yeah it does" she replied, not blaming Rinaa for wanting to make the most out of being with Moya whilst she still could. It was always moments like this that made her slightly jealous of Rinaa, wishing that she could have people or a special someone to just go out with on a sour of the moment thing. It was in this moment that she decided she would divulge her plan of 'revenge on dad' to Cal and Cliff when Jay got what she needed and would no doubt be out of earshot.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay was aware that her explanation was a bit long-winded, but wanted to ensure that Cliff and Cal knew what she was doing and that they had no suspicions that she was up to anything else besides getting the guitar and laptop. She was hoping that any caginess in her plan could be brushed off as being nervous anticipation and the emotional cocktail associated with playing her brothers guitar for the first time in years. And the two women swallowed it, nodding in understanding. "Bit of a long way to explain it, but we get it." Cliff smiled. "Sounds like a good plan, those drop boxes are ridiculously convenient." Jay and Cliff nodded in agreement.

"So will you be leaving us now or...?" Cal asked Jay, trailing off at the end of the sentence, knowing the assassin would understand. "Well the stuff hasn't actually been dropped yet. But my plan is to head back to the apartment, change out of the sweaty clothes, grab some money and a bag, then head into the main town and go get the stuff, maybe grabbing some food while I'm at it. I saw a place the last time I was there Ypaxy cuisine, which I haven't eaten in YEARS, as it's not available anywhere remotely NEAR Earth, so I couldn't even arrange to have it smuggled in. So I'm gonna make the most of eating it."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't think anything of Jay's plan just like Cal and Cliff didn't. She knew it would be a big difficult step to take for Jay when it came to deciding to play her brother's guitar, and that would no doubt bring up a barrage of mixed emotions. She just took Cal's word for the drop boxes being ridiculously convenient, it wasn't anything that she would have any experience in knowing so she kept her mouth truly shut. She did look between the women though when Cal asked Jay if she would leaving them now or later, listening to the answer given and smirking at the mention of food.

"sounds like a good enough plan to have." she commented back to Jay, "we gonna head back to the apartment too or you two got any other ideas?" she then asked Cal and Cliff, not fully knowing what they were doing other than walking through the area they currently were. The idea of having a shower to freshen up after the earlier run did sound like a good idea to her, that much she had to admit to herself, no matter how much she was enjoying seeing the place properly.

 

[_gallifrog_]

By that point they'd reached the music shop in question. Cal didn't play any instrument (or sing), Elliott had gotten the musical talent out of the two of them, which she was totally okay with. She had snuck John's guitar in and out of the cell back when Elliott was in still in prison (as something to help him stave off the boredom and because Elliott didn't want to risk losing John's guitar to the bureaucratic filing system) and Elliott had willingly played for her, a mix of English and Attili pieces. Cliff on the other hand couldn't play any instrument, as she was deaf and relied on hearing aids, playing an instrument would be hassle than fun. At Fia's question Cal and Cliff shrugged, glanced at each other. After checking that Jay had money (she did, having tucked a couple of note into her phone case before she left the apartment, just in case) the women decided to wait outside while she shopped.

At Fia's question they shrugged then looked at each other, a whole conversation taking place in a few seconds through their various facial expressions. They'd know each other for so long that they could almost tell what the other was thinking. There were texts that said in a strong enough driadic bond, the two could have a full blown telepathic link, but Cal and Cliff never had any proof one way or another. Cliff spoke for the both of them. "There's no real plan, so as the guest you get to pick which is more urgent, getting a shower and clean clothes or getting food?" They clearly hadn't missed how Fia's face lit up at the mention of food

 

[MzHyde]

Fia decided to wait outside with Cal and Cliff as Jay went inside the music shop. There was nothing she needed for her violin and she didn't have any money, so she didn't see the point in going inside with Jay. She knew neither Cal or Cliff could play or sing as the conversation had cropped up before back on Cliff's home planet. With her question asked, she watched on as Cal and Cliff seemed to have this telepathic chat between themselves as if she just asked the most complicated question known to the universe as she waited for one of them to give her an answer. She had also seen that same kind of unspoken conversation between her parents in her timeline, so it brought an essence of familiarity to her without them even know it.

With Cliff finally answering her question, she reposed she should have realised that would be the kind of answer that would have come out from either of them. With the answer given, it was obvious to her that they noticed how she perked up at the me tion of food. "there's one thing you'll quickly learn, if food is offered to me, I will always pick that offer over everything" she smirked in a typical teenage manner. "as desperate for a shower as I am, I could totally eat, but then I could always eat so that's not really new." she quickly added. "also, as a totally change of subject, I kiiiiiiind of need both your permission to let my revenge on dad come to reality as it kinda requires doing it in your apartment and an airhorn" she just casually threw in, putting that tone on the 'kinda' by elongating the word whilst looking as perfectly innocent as possible. Shhe even waved her hands side to side as she said it, like someone who would usually do that gesture when they're talking 'maybes' or 'possibly's'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal and Cliff both smirked at Fia's declaration of how food was always going to be a yes from her. "Yeah we figured. That hungry, food-loving teenager stereotype isn't just on Earth, we have it here on Attil too." Cliff explained with a smile, having suspected from Fia's earlier reaction that she would pick it over a shower. "And when somebody else is paying, you can hardly say no." Cal added with a grin, the look on her face conveying that she too was already thinking about where would be a good place to eat. Fia had already tried the takeaway from their two local places, as well as actually eating at the restaurant she and Elliott used to eat family dinners at as kids.

At the next part, Cal and Cliff raised their eyes, both in interest and 'do tell us more' kind of way. They knew Fia would have been planning some sort of revenge, John's actions with the dogs couldn't go without retaliation. What they hadn't expected was Fia to tell them her plans. Cal couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the idea, knowing that such a noise would scare the crap out of anybody. Cliff's thoughts went to their neighbours and whether such a noise could screw up her hearing aids. "I'd be fine with it, but judging by Cliff's face, she's the one you'd have to ask." "You should be okay to do it" Cliff replied after mulling it over for a minute or so putting emphasis on the 'should' part"but our neighbours work nights often, so I'd need to check in with them, see what times their shifts are. Being woken up by an airhorn would suck after a long, hard shift. But once I sort that, then I see no problems."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia couldn't help but grin at Cliff saying it was a typical trope everywhere and how they both knew she'd pick food over a shower. She chuckled at Cal's extra comment about never saying no to when someone else is paying for food, which she had to nod in agreement with. Though considering her age, and the fact she barely got out, nearly all the time she had her food bought for her technically. "precisely! It's a fact good tastes better when you didn't pay for it or make it" she grinned, adding to Cal's remark.

As they rose their eyebrows in a interested manner at her non related comment, she had to smirk in that typical cheeky devious way she always did when she had something mischievous on her mind before explaining that she wanted an air horn. She knew it'd be because of Cliff more so that she'd want their permission for such a prank, as she really didn't want to ruin her hearing aids. She let Cliff mull it over before giving her permission on the one point that she let Cliff run it by their neighbours. "anything you need to do. I don't wanna piss off anyone that's not dad" she grinned. "well.. I don't wanna piss him off, he's scary as fuck when truly angry, but I do wanna scare the crap outta him in the most simple but glorious way. I'm thinking, taping it behind the door and waiting for him to open the door, causing him to set it off!" she explained, the mischief clear in her tone. "but no snitching! To anyone. Rinaa and Moya know but that's it" she added with her pointing her finger at them both.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal nodded in agreement with Cliff's decision. She'd seen how ratty her wife had gotten in the past when her sleep was disturbed after a particularly one and gruelling day. It wasn't noises that woke her up as Cliff generally took out her hearing aids before going to sleep. But there had been one noticeable occasion where she hadn't and it had been just her luck that the fire alarms in the apartment block went off blaring at full volume. Had there actually been a fire Cliff might have been okay with it, but it had been a technical glitch, and an incredibly stupid one at that, very easily preventable. "Yeah, you really don't want to piss off somebody like that. I'm still not over the fire alarm incident." Cliff winced slightly at that remark. "Yeah, I really did lose it in style that time." "Yeah, you did." Cal replied with a fond smile as Cliff pulled out her phone and sent a text to her neighbours, three friends who shared a flat together as it was cheaper than them all living separately.

"Don't worry, we won't say a thing." Cal told her, genuinely meaning it. despite only just hearing about the pranks he couldn't wait to see how it panned out. It was a simple premise, but had great potential. "I won't say anything either, I can keep a secret." Fia hadn't been around at the time, but the group already had proof that both women could keep secrets. When they first me her Cliff had given no indication that she knew Cal, or had any connection to Elliott outside of guarding him. Cal on the other hand had said nothing about her upcoming wedding or the fact that she shared the apartment with her deaf fiance who was a doctor to either John's group or her brother. Neither commented on Moya and Rinaa being involved, but the three had clearly bonded on the journey back, and it made sense that Rinaa or Moya could procure such supplies under the radar of everybody else.

Jay emerged from the shops a few minutes later, having found a suitable strap and a selection of picks. "You guys made a plan?" "Yeah, we're feeding the teenager... and ourselves." "I'll let the others at the apartment know, shall I?" "If it's not too much bother." Jay waved a hand dismissively. "They'll ask me either way, wanting to make sure I haven't gone dark and elegantly murdered ye in an alleyway somewhere."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia knew she could trust Cal and Cliff not to say anything and keep a secret about the prank. She may not have been around during the first lot of secrets being kept until it all came out in the open, but she knew them both enough from her timeline to know they were trust worthy. She was just one of those teenagers who after disclosing a secret plan, had to tell the people told not to snitch, to her it was a rule that must never be broken, that and she would just prank the two of them back if they ruined the prank. "I could imagine, that sounds horrible" she replied to them after the fire alarm comment, "and I know, I trust you both" she smiled genuinely this time and not looking like she was full of mischief.

She quickly stopped the conversation as she saw Jay come out looking like she had indeed succeeded in getting what she needed from the shop. When Cliff answered the question in the way she did Fia just nodded and smiled, not caring that she was the first one to be mentioned in getting food. She also knew that the others would ask where they were if Jay came back without them, so she knew Jay sayi g as such was indeed true. She didn't those still at the apartment would genuinely think Jay went on a murder spree out of nowhere but then, this was her family and they were capable of thinking anything. "seeing as it is who it is left in the apartment, they'd think anything" she smirked. She also knew on a more serious note however, that they knew she was perfectly safe with Cal and Cliff around.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The fact that Jay chose to use the phrase 'elegant murder' as opposed to 'brutal murder' didn't go amiss on Cliff. There was no denying that when fighting Jay possessed a grace, elegance and fluidity to her movements that was utterly lethal. She knew that, even in the heat of battle, jay killed with style and finesse, not a random killing machine as such. She could only imagine (based on the meticulous planning she'd seen Jay do before when it came to organising a rota and times for getting haircuts from Rinaa) that when it came to a contract job, Jay would take all kinds of efforts to assure that her kill was a statement and a thing or morbid beauty. "They'll probably just be annoyed and jealous that they weren't included in eating food." Cliff added with a smirk. "Just bring some back as takeaway." Jay replied, following it up with a gesture that translated to 'and they'll be fine with it'.

Jay split away from the group, heading back towards the apartment. While she didn't have any keys she knew that none of the others would have left the apartment so there'd be somebody to let her in. Jay had made a promise not to pick the locks or bust in through the windows, unless it was a dire emergency of the highest degree. A rule she couldn't complain about really, given how lax Cal and Cliff had been about anything else they could do. She'd arrive back at the apartment in about fifteen minutes, now having a pretty good mental map of the city. As Jay left Cal turned to the other two women. "So what d'you fancy to eat then, there's pretty much everything here if you know where to look."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia knew that Jay could equally make a show and everlasting image on someone out of a killing just as she could no doubt make a murder happen and the victim never be found. She didn't go through years of training with her future self not to learn important things such as that. Shhe knew that wherever they went for food, if they brought back some food for the others, they would be perfectly okay with not being brought along. She waved with a flick of her hand from her forehead (much like Kay would sometimes do) to say goodbye to Jay before turning her attention to Cal and Cliff. "as much as this defeats of the point of the run earlier, I'm wanting junk food of any kind. And I trust both your judgements on where to go" she replied to Cal.


Kay eventually heard a knock on the door when Jay arrived, deciding she would be the one to get up and go to the front door to let her in. She saw it was only Jay, and out of natural instinct checked for Cal, Cliff and Fia before closing rhe door behind Jay. "where are the others?" she asked curiously, walking back to where she was on the couch, sitting back down again, finding she was getting closer and closer to needing to steady herself by placing her hand on her back and one on the arm rest which was something that was starting to get to her, as it was making her just wanting to give birth already and be done with the pregnancy.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"I would say you're on holidays and such just experience it all and fuck healthy eating and all that stuff. It would be cancelled out by the run run earlier anyway, leaving you at zero. BUT I married a doctor who'll want to contradict me on all this." Cal finished with a cheeky grin aimed at her wife, moreso than at Fia. Although she was speaking to Fia, Cal was looking and talking directly at Cliff, making sure her wife knew exactly what she was saying. Cliff waved a hand. "I'm off duty until this evening remember? Also I could murder a multilayered cake or one of those triple burgers at Pars 7."

Elliott's eyes flicked up at the sound of the knocking on the door, immediately recognising the three almost lazy knocks that were Jay's signature knock. Not knowing if she was alone, Elliott flicked to a completely different page in his sketchbook, one that contained a half finished sketch of somebody reading a newspaper on a bench, leather messenger bag resting by their feet. The source photo was clipped to the top of the page and showed a good looking boy with dark skin and brown hair just long enough to be curly, dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans (the left cuff was completely ragged). When he'd first started drawing, Elliott had quickly mastered John and Chas' forms and took to people watching from the roof or the fire escape of the building in source of inspiration. The habit continued to this day, if he was out about and saw a particularly good figure he'd snap a quick photo (unknowingly improving his photography skills). He set the photo on the table and looked up as Jay. He relaxed seeing that it was only Jay, had his sister and Cal been there there was a chance they might want to look through his sketchbook, which could totally ruin the surprise.

"Hi Jay, you missed nothing much here, if you were wondering." Chas told her, while Elliott gave a sort of wave, removing the two pencils he'd been holding in his teeth from his mouth. "I'm tempted to say dead in an alleyway, but that's a joke in pretty damn awful taste given Rinaa. And there's an all too real danger that you'd believe me and I'd have to flee your combined wrath. It's nothing nefarious, the others went for food, and Fia, being a bottomless pit of hunger said she'd tag along." "I'm not at all surprised by that." John remarked from his position on the couch. "They'd better bring back take-away for us." Elliott added with a smile. "Don't worry, they will."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia knew why Cal was looking at Cliff as she spoke to her, she was doing the same thing with only her eyes flickering between both women as she spoke as she never wanted Cliff to feel like she was being left out of the conversation just because of her disability. She had to smirk at the last remark about Cliff's doctor brain no doubting to contradicting what Cal said, only to have Cliff actually agree with Cal in some way whilst agreeing she could go for junk food from one particular place. "then Pars 7 it is!" she smiled. She had to admit the idea of eating a multilayered burger and cake did sound utterly amazing to her, and was definitely now planning on devouring whatever she could. If it wasn't for her mother's baking skills, she wouldn't have had developed such a sweet tooth. Of course future Kay would try and deny that, even if it never was believed.

Kay noticed Elliott play safe and quickly change his sketchbook page to hide his surprise piece for Cal and Cliff, whilst also noticing the sketch in progress he flipped it to. She listened to the reply Jay gave them all to her question, knowing that yes, it was in poor taste because of Rinaa and she would most definitely get very annoyed if she thought for a millisecond that Jay was telling the truth. Especially as a dead teenage Fia would no doubt have consequences on the unborn Fia she was carrying. Hearing that Fia's bottomless pit of a stomach decided she wanted to go with Cal and Cliff really wasn't a surprise to her. "not surprised in the slightest either. I really gotta wonder how that girl stays as slim as she does sometimes" she smirked. "I swear I wasn't like she was when I was her age" she added, picking up her book once more.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal grinned at Cliff's suggestion. "Now that sounds like a plan!" She declared as they started walking again. It only took about five minutes to reach the cafe-diner which was located midway between the town centre and the landing pads. From the outside it didn't even look like a cafe of any sort. The sign reading 'Pars 7' was secured on a wrought-metal gate, the kind of gate that looked like it led to nothing more than a back alley where restaurant rubbish was stored. Cal pushed it open (it was unlocked) and led the way down a narrow corridor between two other buildings. The corridor opened out into a vast part-courtyard part-garden space that looked as if took up all the area behind the other buildings in the block. Among the trees were the blue ones that had fascinated John when he saw them in the main city. There were a variety of tables spread out across the space, and the other customers there seemed to be mainly pilots, along with a few sweaty looking cadets. From the street no smells of cooking could be detected, but here the air was filled with the smells of burgers, cake and the natural fragrance of the trees.

"That could be from me, I was always starving as a teenager." John remarked from his spot. "Chas can vouch for that." He added, gesturing at the cabbie who nodded. "John was, and he'd eat pretty much anything offered. Or out of a trash can on numerous occasions" he added with a smirk, to which John just rolled his eyes, but made no effort to deny it, or flip Chas off. "Though for a more serious answer it's a combination of the fact that teenagers have a faster metabolism than adults and more brown fat which burns food more efficiently" Chas added, before giving a wry smirk "... or so I've been told by my own teenager when she's trying to justify that her eating an entire triple chocolate cake in one sitting is a good idea." "And in my case my teenage hunger was more due to the fact that there was never really any food in the flat, 'specially after Cher left for uni." John was tempted to make some remark about those being the 'good old days', but they really weren't. They were awful and still had a hold over him as an adult.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia walked with the two women to the cafe in question, finding that she started mentally questioning if they took her to the right place at first glance of the large gates whilst seeing that they were metal and not iron which was of some relief to her. She didn't think for an instant that Cal and Cliff would take her anywhere purposely that had iron around, but knowing she had a clumsy streak she didn't want to accidentally graze against the gate and end up burning her skin. It was a habit that she had to learn quickly from a young age back on Earth as a lot of London gates were iron which made things very awkward for herself and Kay. Walking through, she looked around and saw the blue trees that John had seen before and found them highly curious as the smell of the food hit her. "this place seems really cool" she chimed up happily. Seeing what food people already had on their tables, she could see why it would be popular.

Kay smirked at John saying it could be from him, rather than her whilst listening to Chas confirm that yes, John was always a starving teenager. If she hadn't lived off the streets she would have grimaced at the added comment about eating out of trash cans numerous occasions, but living the way she did for those two years, she hated to admit it, but did in fact have to do exactly that sometimes. She chuckled at Chas' more serious answer before John gave the more sad answer for his childhood. "okay, so her infinite hunger we can firmly blame you for. I'm gonna say she gets her figure from me, and everything else is a mixture of both of us" she smirked, deciding to skip over the more somber answer to her original light hearted comment. "the only time I was ever constantly hungry was on the streets so I'm gonna say it don't count when it comes to Fia as I was an adult during those times" she then added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"That it is." Cliff agreed with a smile, glad to see that Fia approved of the place and was looking at the trees with the childish delight that Cliff had when she'd first seen them. "It's a literal oasis in the middle of this active military town." Cal lead the way to their favourite table, which happened to be free. It was located near to one of the corners of the square and the tree nearby cast half the table in the shade (Cliff sat in the shade during the hot summer months and Cal sat in the shelter of the tree in the winter months). The menus were in Attili only, but Cal translated willingly, giving her own opinions on all the dishes, which ones were good, which ones would blow Fia's mind, and explaining the occasional foodstuff that didn't exist on earth.

"Well I hardly have a feminine shape, so that part could only have come from you." John remarked, gesturing at himself, once again going for a smart-arsed remark instead of commenting on Kay's time living on the streets. He'd lived rough and done some squatting when he was younger, but nothing to the extent of the years Kay had spent on the streets. By now Jay had made her way over to Elliott to peer at his sketchbook, picking up the photo of the guy from the table and scrutinising it. "Should I know who this is?" She asked, to which Elliott shook his head. "I'd be more surprised if you did, he's just somebody I saw one day and thought would make a good sketch." "Well in that case he's a party planner with a mortgage, two cats and an addiction to novelty flavours of Kit-Kat." Jay replied with a teasing smirk, though it was clear as day to Elliott that she didn't actually know the guy and was just spouting off the first nonsense that came into her head. Elliott chuckled slightly before flipping the pages of the book to reveal the sketches he was working on. "Which d'you think is better, the horizontal or the landscape one?" He asked, indicating the two designs he was torn between.