Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't even think about her previous action when she did it. She just got so happy about being given food, her action was done before she thought about it. She listened to the adults talk about the letter and the choice of wording on the label as she focused mostly on her food not saying a single word about what was being spoken about as she ate. She didn't care who thought she would like the choice, she's just glad she did enjoy it.

Kay nodded at Chas' words, glad that she wasn't only one who thinking what she was, thankful that her observation skills hadn't completely diminished since she got away from the risks on Earth. She smirked when John added to the conversation and said what he did about the name goddess, having to agree that if anyone named their child that they needed serious therapy or a reality check. Hells, she didn't even like people who named their kids after countries or foods. She let John text the group to see if they could give them answers before Rinaa eventually replied around ten minutes later and John relayed the reply. "I guess that answers that mystery then" she commented. "I wouldn't have taken Rinaa for the type to use that as a self nickname like that on anything. I guess it's just one more thing to add to the list of surprises that involve her" Fia finally spoke up as she got near the end of her sandwich.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The fact that the name was Rinaa's Twitter handle was surprising in too ways, first of all, and most obviously that she'd describe herself using the word 'goddess', the few times Rinaa had described herself she'd either been downplaying what she was good at, or emphasising just how flawed and scarred a person she was. The second thing that surprised John was the Twitter was still around in her timeline. Surely everybody would have moved on to some new, more exciting form of social media by then. "Yer not the only one who thinks it's weird Fia, I'm thinkin' the same thing meself." "Well I didn't see that one coming." Chas replied, eyebrows raised in surprise. "There's a story in there alright."

John went to reply to the text and probe the story further, but Rinaa beat him to it by calling him. John put the phone on the coffee table, putting it on speaker so the others could hear what she was saying. "What in the universe possessed you to pick that name?" John cut straight to it, the disapproval obvious in his voice. There was a pause and John could just tell the teenager was rolling her eyes in it. "I didn't ACTUALLY pick that name for the account, my mates did. My real Twitter name is far more sensible than that. And yes John, Twitter STILL exists, where else are politicians to have their sophisticated, rational and logical political debates?" The sarcasm was dripping off every word (making it clear that exactly the opposite of what she was saying was going on) as she answered the question she knew was on John's mind. Chas let out a snort of amusement "So what is the story behind it then? And don't tell us there isn't one."

"First off it's a sort of joke referring to my pilot callsign and current alias- Artemis." "The Greek goddess of the hunt." John butted in, a look of understanding on his face. "Exactly, I wasn't exactly a big fan of the name at first, thought it was pretentious and a bit too typical y'know." "Hence the 'reluctant' part." "Hence the reluctant part." Rinaa confirmed. "Anyway it's a long story but the gist of it is I have this friend, and SHE had this toxic friend she wanted to get rid of. The kind who is in love with you to the point of obsession and won't accept that you don't feel the same way about them. So I agreed to be her fake girlfriend in order to get the other person to back the FUCK off. And we ended up making some social media accounts to back this up, make it look like it had been going on for a while, back dating them of course. So that was the Twitter handle they came up with. The scheme worked and the name had kinda grown on me by then, so I used it as one of my dark web aliases."

 

[MzHyde]

With John saying he was thinking the same thing as her, made Fia smile whilst glad to see that once again even years apart (technically) they still managed to think along the same lines as each other. She and Kay both nodded at his and Chas' reactions to the discovery of it being Rinaa's online tagname. Yet Kay found herself wondering how someone in this timeline would know it well enough to know it was Rinaa's and she was here in this time. When John's phone rang and it was Rinaa calling, both girls huddled closer to the table that the phone sat on so they could hear Rinaa better. Fia very much getting off the couch and sitting cross-legged on the floor between the couch and table.

They both listened to the story of how the tagname came about for Twitter, Kay suddenly thinking and wondering how she didn't put the two things together of goddess of the hunt and artemis. Though judging by the tone of John's initial reply, she wasn't the only one who thought the same thing. They continued to listen to the story of how it all came about, nodding in understanding even though Rinaa couldn't see it. "makes sense now. We have to admit we were confused as fuck when dad and Chas first translated it" Fia spoke up. "we'll leave the envelope somewhere safe for you for when you get back either way. But I have to ask, how would someone know your twitter handle in this timeline if it was only set up and used in your timeline?" Kay remarked, whilst wanting answer for the question that was on her mind.

 

[_gallifrog_]

As Chas had suspected there was indeed a story behind how this name had come about. Chas was also kicking himself at not making the connection between Rinaa's alias and the Greek goddess sooner. Artemis was one of the commonly known gods for Christ's sake, not one of the obscure ones John invoked, which made it worse that he's missed such an obvious connection. The idea that Rinaa would pretend to be a fake girlfriend to help a friend out wasn't such a surprise to any of them, least of all Chas. She was incredibly loyal to her friends and the cabbie got the impression that there was no line she wouldn't cross to keep them safe or help them out. And that kind of toxic situation definitely called for help. "Good to hear it worked out for your mate, and good on you for helping them out." "Well that explains that mystery, guessing you don't want us to open it and snoop through whatever is in there?"

To hear that everybody was confused as fuck was hardly surprising to Rinaa. "Yeah, it's not what you'd expect given what you know of me, it's not what I'd expect given what I know of ME but that's life I guess." There was a smile in her voice at Chas' praise. The mate in question was one of Rinaa's closest, and she hadn't even hesitated to step in and help. "And no, don't even THINK about opening it. I've no idea what's in it, but it can't end well if you do." It was heavily implied in her tone that she was trusting them not to pry, and that she wanted them to understand that if they did, whatever tentative trust she had with them would vanish. At Kay's question she shrugged, before remembering the gesture wouldn't be transmitted over phone. "Well I DID have a dark web profile with such a handle in this time, or more precisely some years ago when I was getting a criminal reputation, but I haven't used it since, dunno if it's even still around in cyberspace. Either that or somebody from my time is here, in which case it's gonna be a shitshow of EPIC proportions."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay just knew deep down that Rinaa wouldn't want any of them opening her mail. She has a feeling that Rinaa was one of those people who would ask someone to open it for them if it was something she wanted to know about straight away, so the fact Rinaa hadn't even hinted at such a thing and it was labelled with her handle name, Kay just felt there was no way Rinaa would let them anywhere near the actual contents of the envelope until she had opened it for herself. So when John openly said his assumption both Kay and Fia just knew that partly he really wanted to snoop which made Fia roll her eyes at his words.

With Rinaa strictly telling them not to open it, they both heard the sharp tone in Rinaa's voice that told them if any of them did open it, they'd be royally fucked. They then listened to the rest of what Rinaa said after Kay spoke, finding that the information of knowing she had used it in this time made it all seem less confusing. However when Rinaa added the possibility of someone from her timeline coming back here with the tone that didn't sound all that positive, she had to think how more complex their lives would get if that the case. "well.. Let's hope its a case of the first thing and not the latter" she commented, not wanting to dismiss Rinaa's friends but she had to think more time travellers was the last thing they needed. "so where do you want us to leave the envelope for you? Living room or kitchen table or something?" Fia asked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Had Rinaa been in the room John would have held up his hands in a surrender gesture, conveying that he wasn't going to anything without her say so when it came to this envelope. But she wasn't there and so he was left hoping that his word would be enough. "Okay then, I won't" he told her, before falling silent to let Rinaa answer Kay's question on how or who it could be. The fact that it wasn't addressed with her real name suggested an air of secretiveness that made him suspect Rinaa mightn't tell then what was in the envelope. The idea of another time traveller showing up to to look for Rinaa was more than worrying. Both Rinaa and Fia had caused all kinds of strife when they arrived, and if Rinaa said a third time traveller could cause a shit show, then he was inclined to believe her.

"Is that even possible, somebody from your time coming here I mean?" John asked. Rinaa shrugged again before letting out a long, slow, sigh. "I'm not sure, time travel is a tricky beast to master technologically and to the best of my knowledge none of my friends have access to such tech. The only one who might be able to is a breacher, but his powers are..... tempermental at the best of times... they're only just developing really, he's having problems travelling through SPACE let alone through time. And besides, those who know where and WHY I'm here have a job to make sure that certain people don't find out. So I doubt it's the case, but I can't rule it out either." Rinaa then ran her hand through her hair before answering Fia's question. "Leaving it next to the other mail on the kitchen table would best. I should be back in three, max four hours." "We'll see you in a few hours then." Chas told her. Rinaa was tempted to end the call with 'over and out' like she would back home, but decided against it, just hanging up with a slightly rushed 'bye'.

 

[MzHyde]

If there was one thing out of everything they had learned about Rinaa, it was to believe her if she said something highly worrying or of great importance. Just like if Fia ever dropped a big bombshell on them, Kay would believe her wholeheartedly as well. Both Fia and Kay were willing to just take Rinaa's word for the two options with no questions asked, but it seemed John was thinking along a slightly different path as he asked her if it was even possible. Seeing as Rinaa was willing to answer the question, they both listened intently to what she had to say, before she answered Fia's question.

With the farewell being extremely quick and rushed, Fia found herself blinking a couple of times to register that Rinaa had actually hung up the phone on them all. "well that's us told I guess" she remarked with a shrug, taking the envelope from John and Chas, standing up and putting it with the rest of the mail on the kitchen table just as Rinaa instructed. She didn't even get tempted to look at it properly or feel the contents, instead just put it down and walked back to her father, mother and godfather/honorary uncle. She quite literally plonked herself down on the couch with a sigh and grabbed her drink in the process, holding the cup by the top of it, her hand curling over the lid with the straw between her index and middle fingers. She curled one foot under her as if she was going to cross her legs but then only did it with one leg, the other remaining hanging off the couch.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The abrupt ending also caught John off guard and he had to look at his phone to confirm that, yes, she indeed just hung up on them. "Well then." He remarked, tucking the phone back into the pocket of his coat. In the background of the call there had been the slightly muffled sounds of others talking, which Chas took to mean that she was in a lecture hall and the lecturer had just walked in. "I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say whatever class she was in was starting hence the ending." "You do that mate." John told him, though his own personal theory was that Rinaa had reached the point of talking with them where she became uncomfortable and wanted and out.

With one his hand he reached for his own food with one hand the tv remote with the other. Rinaa had hooked up the USB containing all kinds of films, as the Attili market for English dramas was fairly small and the subtitling quite dodgy, so John figured now was as good a time as any to see if there was anything there. Most of it was in English (thankfully), but there was a significant portion in alien languages (which didn't have subtitles in English). There was also a folder called 'foreign language recommendations' which seemed to consist of tv shows in various languages that Rinaa didn't speak (subtitles in English) that had been recommended by her friends. There was stuff in German, Spanish, Russian and Welsh, as well as a selection of Icelandic/Danish/Swedish murder shows (John couldn't place the nationality, those nordic countries all looked fairly similar to him) with serial killers. "Anybody recognise any of the foreign language stuff?" John made a point of rarely watching anything in a language he didn't understand without somebody else being able to say if it was good, or shit, He found a lot of the nuances were lost with subtitled dramas so he was sceptical.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay could both tell that John wasn't buying Chas' idea of it being a class about to start even though both girls thought it was a very credible reason to quickly hang up. Though they wouldn't put it passed Rinaa to just abruptly hang up because she was done talking and didn't want to disclose anything else about her friends or herself from her timeline. Both of them though didn't particularly care what the reason was, deciding that Rinaa would just continue doing whatever she wanted and they'd have to just deal with it. The main thing was that they got the answer to the addressee on the envelope and knew not to open it.

They both looked over at the TV when John turned it on and flicked through all the categories on the USB that Rinaa left for them to entertain themselves with. Kay didn't know much about the foreign ones at all, as she had said previously knowing different languages wasn't entirely her thing. Fia looked at all the titles in front of them as John asked if any of them knew any, and for a while she was thought she'd have to shake her head with a solid no, but then one stood out to her that she recognised. "I recognise this one-" she spoke up, leaning forward and pointing to 'the valhalla murders'. "in English it's called the Valhalla Murders. Only seen the first episode personally in my time but heard its completely binge worthy and hella dark for something based on a real murder from the 1940s. The first episode has promise, I just never got round to continuing it myself because of studies" she explained. "shall we go for that then?" Kay asked, getting comfortable on the couch.

Spoiler: Synopsis of mention show

 

[_gallifrog_]

John nodded in both interest and approval at Fia's description. While foreign shows weren't really his cup of tea, he did love a dark and gritty thriller, especially one with murder in it. He'd always been drawn to the darker genres of film, TV, novels etc, a reflection of how he himself had always been drawn to the darker side of life. Sometimes with roguish characters such as himself they were actually drawn to really unlikely shows like "The Great British Sewing Bee" or "Home sunder the Hammer" or even "Strictly Come Dancing" (John was very much anti-strictly, seeing it as completely ridiculous, a waste of money and filled with contestants who were as fake and plastic as the stuff used in the judges' botox and/or plastic surgery). But in John's case the shows he liked often had stark parallels to his life. That's probably why he was SUCH a horror fan.

"Sounds interesting, Chas you up for giving it a go? " The cabbie nodded. "I'm up for it alright, Icelandic dramas have been getting better and better these days, espescially the one with far darker themes." With that decided they hit into the first episode, everybody settling down in their respective chaisrs/sofas to get the best view. John found himself gripped fairly quickly, he'd never been to Iclenad, but he knew a hell of a lot about their vast, rich and downright wacky mythology. Upon seeing detective Arnar for the first time in the second episode John couldn't help but snort. "He looks like he's carved from bloody ice! Bet he's the kind of bloke who doesn't Ever smile, and when he does, it's one of those really creepy, serial killer ones."

They were nearing the end of the third episode when the sound of a key turning in the lock could be heard,followed by Rinaa entering the apartment, dropping her keys in the in the usual place, and dropping her bulky backpack by the kitchen table, giving abreuf wave at the others. She reached over, took the envelope and slit it open, a claw sliding out from between her fingers, wolverine style. She wasn't sure why her DNA was making her claws grow like that, but Rina a kinda likes how badass they looked. A manila file, a typed note and a USB style drive fell out into her other hand. Her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of it, not quite sure what to make of it.

(Funny thing, it's just started airing over here in Ireland, and me and my family are watching it, at first out of curiosity and to see if we recognised anywhere in Reykjavík, but it was really gripping so we kept watching. Even though only the first 2 episodes have come out, but I'm enjoying it so far, and John's reaction is a slightly exaggerated version of my own reaction to Arnen)

 

[MzHyde]

With it decided that they'd give the show a chance going by Fia's explanation and little knowledge she had on the show, Kay settled back into the couch to get comfortable as did Fia, deciding that for once, like before, she was going to sit with Chas and not John. She was secretly favouring Chas as he brought her food, even though it was technically both him and Kay that brought it to her. It was a childish notion but she didn't care in the slightest, in her time Chas wasn't always around due to having his own family so she liked being around him when he was around. Like John, Kay and Fia were gripped quickly, Kay intrigued to see what was in store for them and Fia was happy to refresh her memory of the first episode. At John's comment in the second episode, Kay smirked and Fia chuckled, not being able to entirely disagree. "he's certainly very....stoic" Kay agreed, finding the word she felt suited the character well.

By near the end of the third episode, upon hearing the door open, Fia looked up to see it was Rinaa, giving her short signature hand flick wave back before turning back to the TV. Neither Fia or Kay interrupted Rinaa as she went to the envelope that they left untouched for her, guessing she would let them in on it if she wanted them to know, firmly planting their feet metaphorically in the 'let Rinaa bring you in and not force her to bring you into the loop' hole. All Kay did say when speaking up was simply, "everything all okay?" letting Rinaa know if she needed to talk about whatever was in the envelope then they'd all be open ears, but it was entirely in her ball court.

(lol that's crazy. I just googled foreign shows and randomly picked that one as it felt the most interesting lol)

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas couldn't help but chuckle at John's description. He did have a point, as did Kay. And as the episode progressed it became clear that it John's description also applied to the detective's personality (as for the smile, they hadn't seen one in any of the three episodes). He was a cold person, as well as being closed off and not one for chit-chat, but he was clearly very good at his job. He also seemed to have some kind of dark backstory involving childhood neglect and self harm. And by the end of the second episode it was clear that this boy's home was one of those homes that deserved air quotes, that the titular Valhalla was more like a hell. John didn't find watching it triggering, he rarely, if ever did and was already finding himself sucked in by the brutality of the murders and the symbolism of each victim having their eyes scratched out.

"Yeah...." Rinaa replied distractedly, her words trailing off in thought, already pulling out her sticker covered laptop from it's heavy duty laptop bag and starting to boot it up. She was sufficiently deep in her thoughts that she didn't interpret Kay's query as an offer of 'if you want to talk about it you can, with us all'. "This still doesn't tell me who sent it though." She continued, swinging herself into one of the kitchen chairs, sitting so that the laptop screen was facing away from everybody else. She plugged her headphones in one port, inserting the drive into the other, as the note told her she should watch the message on the drive first. As soon as Rinaa hit play she gasped in shock at whatever it was that had appeared on the screen, whatever it was had caught her off guard in a way none of them had seen her like in the time they'd known in her timeline.

The facial gymnastics didn't stop there, as the video progressed Rinaa's face contorted into all kinds of expressions, if John was the poetic sort he'd say her eyebrow were dancing across her face. But he wasn't so, to him it looked more like they were having some kind of convulsions. It was predominantly shock, but there was also intrigue, excitement and wonder as well as something that looked like relief and right at the very end, passionate hope. The video lasted only three minutes or so, but it felt like far longer. Rinaa pulled off the headphones, and leaned back in the chair, tipping her head towards the ceiling, laughing in a mixture of disbelief an exhilaration. "Bloody Hells, that's so insane it might work." She said to nobody in particular, scrubbing her hands up over her face and through her hair, muffling her next comment so that the only words of it that were close to understandable were 'mad bastard'.

(Really? Wow, that's mad, that's the only foreign language show not in German that I watch. Serendipity's a strange thing. Though if you'd come up with '23 cases' (or in German 23 Morde) through that search I probably would have lost my SHIT as I really love that show.)

 

[MzHyde]

What the show was consisting of wasn't particularly triggering to Kay, but as an expecting mother it did make feel even more maternal and sorry for the young boy that was going through so much at such an young age. She figured watching something of this caliber may not have been the wisest of decisions when pregnant but she wasn't going to change her mind now, especially as she was utterly gripped. Fia also found what Johan and Kay commented on amusing and valid, and she too was utterly gripped that she could happily now just binge the entire show in one hit, only breaking for food and drink.

Kay noticed the way Rinaa was replying to her, and just left her to continue whatever it was that she had to do revolving the envelope. She got the feeling that Rinaa didn't get the cue in what she said to but didn't particularly mind. Kay went back to the programme before she heard Rinaa gasp from behind her, making her turn round and soon see the many many expressions that came across Rinaa's face. When her facial gymnastics was over, her headphones off her head to show she was done watching whatever it was on her laptop, Kay then spoke up. "what might work?" she asked curiously and out of habit. She didn't even think whatever she watched, might not be anything the teenager wanted them to know. "or is it a case of classified and we can't know?" Fia added in question.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It that few moments as she watched that video John would willingly bet that they had seen more emotions and more nuances of expression pass over Rinaa's face than they'd ever seen her display up to this point. She was incredibly expressive when she wanted to be and John doubted she even knew she putting on such a show for the others (if she did know, he reasoned, she'd mask it better). As she leaned back in the chair, scrubbing her hands over her face, her whole posture seemed to slump and relax. All the tension that usually resided in her shoulders and crossed arms had gone, replaced by the kind of relief that left one boneless and at the same time buoyant with euphoric glee. "Good news I take it?" Chas asked, at the same time as Fia and Kay voiced their questions. "Whose a mad bastard?" John asked, being completely typically himself and focusing on that one particular point.

"Good news is an understatement, it's some of the best fucking news I ever got in my entire LIFE." Her tone was gleeful as she swung the chair back down onto all four legs, letting the broad grin of happiness on her face been seen, as she continued. "A plan so bloody dangerous, so far beyond the box that it's in a whole other dimension of crazy and yet so utterly BRILLIANT that NOBODY will see it coming." Her eyes were alight with a fiery passion and hope. "And yes, it's all kinds of classified, involving not just one, but two spooks, one of whom has had rumours of their death greatly exaggerated, consensual identity theft, a heist and committing more than one count of treason." Rinaa sounded far more delighted about the idea of committing treasonous than a normal person should. "As for the mad bastards?" Rinaa placed extra emphasis on the 's'. "Classified like you wouldn't believe."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia, the latter by this point having turned round and onto her knees so she was fully facing Rinaa, listened to the reply that Rinaa began explaining to them all as they all asked their own versions of the same queries from what they had just witnessed. Kay couldn't quite compute still that they had just witnessed so much emotion eminate from Rinaa, more than they had ever seen in all this time they had known she existed. For Rinaa to say that it was possibly the best news of her life, with emphasis on the word 'life' felt like a massive statement and one that Rinaa wouldn't say lightly.

There was no mistaking the fire passion and hope in the teenager's eyes when she let her chair balance on all four legs as she continued explaining and confirming that yes, it was indeed classified what she had been told. Fia had a feeling Rinaa wouldn't clue them in on the information she had had just been told but it didn't make it any less frustrating that yet again, they were clueless about something. "and if it's that classified I'm guessing the only person you'd even remotely consider clueing in on it is Jay?" Fia commented with a slight raised eyebrow. She knew it'd be pointless to try and get any clues out of Rinaa but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try to anyway, in that respect she was just like her dad and certainly had his level of nosey behaviour. "just tell us...is it hope for Elliott's situation, yes or no?" Kay queried, trying to find a reasonable middle ground, whilst glancing at Fia with a look of 'don't push it nosey boots'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Something like that, yeah." Rinaa replied in response to Fia's question. She may have looked outwardly honest when she said it, but the truth of the matter was that outside of telling Jay the very basic details, she would be keeping the people who she'd be working with secret from her mother. This was both for the sake of the timeline and because, more selfishly, she didn't want to be held accountable for an action she hadn't even committed yet or even explain the depths and nuances associated with her true purpose of being here. There were some things that this jay just couldn't be allowed to know. Rinaa's shock at finding out that she'd be working with somebody whose life her future self had saved was more than just shock. This action would well and truly send the timeline careering along a different path.

John knew they weren't going to get any more out of Rinaa than that, no matter how hard they tried. Once again they were left in the position of having to trust this teenager who seemed to spend most of their time either lying, keeping secrets or playing her own angle. Hardly a trustworthy character reference (though it didn't go amiss on John that Rinaa was doing exactly what he himself did). Given her penchant for darker humour and flair for drama, he could have taken 'the best news of my LIFE' as an exaggeration. But there was something in the way her eyes were alight with hope and determination, an the way herframe had sagged in relief that told him she wasn't lying. This was big, incredibly big. And kay's question he felt, hit the matter on the head far better than Fia's did. At the end of the day, that's what they really needed to know, if Rinaa was going to these lengths to help her father, then they could accept it.

Rinaa nodded once at Kay's question, pulling the drive from the computer as she did so. She could see that the question both Chas and John wanted to ask was the one that Kay had just asked. She didn't break eye contact with the four of them when she spoke the next three words. "Yes, it is." She told them solemnly, placing utter conviction in each word. She jammed the drive deep into her pocket and picking up the file. "And if I was back in my timeline, I'd be going to get completely and UTTERLY off my head smashed drunk in celebration."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia just found herself nodding at the reply Rinaa gave to her question, knowing deep down she shouldn't have expected anything more from Rinaa. Yet, like per usual, she couldn't help to see what she could get out of Rinaa to try and figure out what the other teenager was hiding. Like the others and her earlier talk with John, she was convinced there was an alternative motive for coming back here and it wasn't just Elliott. Yet it seemed there was nothing that could help her solve the puzzle in this moment in time.

When Rinaa answered Kay's question with just as much detail than her own, Fia listened despite its shortness, as well as seeing that it was clearly the question that was on both her dad's and godfather's minds. Both Fia and Kay however found that despite just being a three word answer, it told them so much and for both of them, it was enough for them to not ask any further questions. "how come you wouldn't go and get wasted here? I mean..whats stopping you?" Fia asked curiously, finding it odd that she would only do such a thing if she was in her own timeline. "Fia what's with all the questions today?" Kay couldn't help but question her future daughter. If she was back in her timeline, Fia would have retorted with 'what's with you asking about me asking questions?' and not long ago it would have been said with a slight bit of venom to her tone due to being used to always being questioned about everything she did or said by her over protective mother, but she was in the here and now and with the different version of Kay that she grew up with, so she kept quiet and shrugged in response before finding a reply, "just woke up with a curious mind I guess".

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas could swore the air almost vibrated with the sheer conviction Rinaa's conviction put into those three words. It was absolute conviction she was showing, absolute faith in this plan and the two spooks who were part of it, putting her mind, soul and fibre of what was left of her body behind it. It was the kind of complete conviction he'd seen before in both Elliott and John. It was rare to see it in John, but it was the kind of conviction that had made Chas follow him to the ends of the earth (literally). Even though it was only three words it she'd put her everything into making sure they believed her. John was caught between raising an eyebrow and questioning why she couldn't do it (one of them were gonna stop her, that's for sure) or smirking at Rinaa's desire to get hammered (he wouldn't mind doing the same himself). At Cal and Cliff's wedding she'd drunk moderately, but John just knew that given her frankly horrific childhood and teenage experiences, she'd have used alcohol as some kind of coping method/agent to numb the physical and mental pain.

"Well none of us are gonna stop you doing just that y'know" John told her"nor are we gonna go sneakin' in that file while you're out." Rinaa made a gesture that was half shrug, half sigh. "I don't drink alone" she told them firmly "point of principle." That had been Jay's influence, once she realised her daughter was just as capable of her as drowning her sorrows in drink as she herself was and for fear that they'd let alcohol destroy the lives they'd built for themselves, they'd made a vow never ever to drink alone. The only time she ever had drunk alone was before her suicide attempt. "Moya's got a family thing, and all the friends I'd WANT to go on a madcap bender with are either foetuses, babies or not even born yet." She the smirked. "You've clearly never seen me smashed either." The comment wasn't meant in a malicious way towards Fia, Rinaa was merely assuming that her alternate self wouldn't have reason to go on such full on nights drinking as Rinaa herself had. "I don't do things by halves either, and while I'm not exactly a lightweight, I'm not even close to Jay's alcohol tolerance so when I get drunk, I get drunk in SPECTACULAR style. I lose pretty much any inhibitions I had and KILL it at drunken karaoke. Apparently I'm even better when drunk." Rinaa sounded almost fond as she talked about drunken karaoke, clearly thinking of some specific times, even if she didn't quite believe that alcohol made her better.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to the reasons that Rinaa gave after half shrugging and half sighing and John told her none of them were going to stop her. The drinking alone statement felt pretty fair enough to her, thinking that she probably wouldn't want to go out and drink alone either. She continued to hear out Rinaa's other reasons which included that there was no one who she'd want to go out drinking with anyway. She gave a simple 'fair enough' shrug to her at those first reasons, thinking that was all Rinaa was going to say. Granted, Fia had never seen Rinaa or her Leah utterly smashed before but to her, that wasn't what she was talking about. She did however understand that Rinaa didn't mean any maliciousness toward her in that statement. "true enough, I haven't" she just replied.

As she continued, Fia had to smirk at the comments about the drunken karaoke, thinking that if anyone could miraculously somehow be better at drunk karaoke, it'd be Rinaa. Then a radical idea hit her mind, one that she was certain none of them would expect her to say, including Rinaa. "well.... I know I'm not your most favourite person coz of bitchface, but....how about we go out together for a few drinks? If you don't want to, that's cool but thought it'd give you some company and a chance for us both to let go and just have some fun?" she offered casually. Fia had never had the chance to go out and do such a thing, the only chance she ever had was at Cal and Cliff's wedding, but to have a normal teenage night out was well known by everybody was non existent to her. She honestly liked the idea of getting drunk and doing karaoke, experiencing the fun things that Rinaa had experienced.

When Fia suggested what she did Kay was shocked to say the least. She didn't expect to hear such a suggestion come from Fia's mouth to Rinaa at all but she didn't think it was entirely a bad idea. She knew that Fia had never done such a thing and she could tell Rinaa if she had someone to go with, would love nothing more than to go out and she was pretty sure she didnt need the adults around her to 'cramp her style' either. "it's not an awful idea since you both are getting along and your eboth up for it. I don't have a problem you being out Fia if it's what you both want." she spoke up.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was surprised to hear that Rinaa hadn't inherited Jay's ridiculously high alcohol tolerance. He'd heard about it from Elliott and seen it to an extent at the wedding, Jay's race processed alcohol completely differently to humans or Devra, it wasn't actually poisonous to them so Jay could drink anybody under the table and Elliott was of the firm belief that she could outdrink John (a terrifying thought as John had an extremely high tolerance and metabolism for a human). The idea that being drunk would make Rinaa a better singer made a sort of sense to him, (she'd downed a set of shots before getting up to sing at the wedding and had even made a drink related wisecrack in her speech), if it allowed to sing in front of family at such an event then it made sense that it would propel her talent into the stratosphere when surrounded by friends and strangers.

Had Rinaa still been swinging on her chair when Fia suggested that they go drinking together, Rinaa would have fallen off and been physically floored. But the chair was on all four legs so she was just mentally floored. The offer stunned her, she'd never even considered it, having never even considered Fia a viable drinking partner (not that she thought of Fia as a square, she just had never even bothered to imagine Fia in the kind of places Rinaa frequented). The war-like state of Earth in her timeline meant that there were millions of teenagers all over the world sick and tired of all the shit going on, who just wanted to go out, meet as many people as possible and flip the largest bird to authority possible. Hence why pop-up rave style parties in abandoned buildings were so common. It was being at those kinds of raves with loud, live (always live) music, strobe lighting, cheap booze and a swarm of other hot and bothered teenagers that had made Rinaa feel alive, hence why, after she'd got over the non-stop crying stage of being diagnosed as terminally ill, her first port of call had been one such rave. Her initial reaction was a completely stunned looked accompanied with a sort of 'uuhhhh' noise as her brain struggled to come up with a more coherent thought, not even able to remark on what Fia referred to alternate Fia as.

John and Chas' reactions were similar states of shock, neither of them having seen this coming. They knew that Fia wanted the 'normal' teenage experiences and also, like the rest of them, find out more about the true Rinaa/Leah/Artemis/whatever other name she called herself by. But neither could deny that it was a good idea, Attil's club scene was probably safer than London's, Fia's powers could interpreted as either being pyrokinetic (totally accepted) or being part animal (also accepted by everyone). Both clearly needed to vent- Fia after a) being cooped up for so long, unable to use her powers and b) denied an experience like this before and Rinaa, because, well if anybody needed some kind of break, it was her. "It'd do ye both some good, even in Fia's case it's that she finally spend the next two days nursing a hangover."

"You know if she drinks even a quarter of what I intend to, she'll be so pissed she'll be blasted into another DIMENSION? Hangover will be an understatement of epic proportions." Rinaa added, with a raised eyebrow, her brain having finally got into gear and decided that yes, she actually would quite like to go drinking with Fia, even if it turned out to be a complete shambles, she'd still get the alcohol and celebration she wanted. The comment was directed at John and Kay, wanting to know just what they were letting Fia into. Rinaa planned to go all out, it was in all likelihood going to be her last chance to get stupidly drunk and at the same time let her hair down in such spectacular fashion. She'd always enjoyed letting go, drinking, dancing and singing her problems away and. It wasn't like alcohol poisoning was going to kill her, she was already fucked (if Rinaa did have such spectacularly bad luck that it did, well at least she'd be going on with some damn fucking style). "I'm not an alcoholic, I just have to compensate for my new-found hyper-metabolism."

 

[MzHyde]

Seeing the shock on everyone's faces both amused and made Fia look at them all with a 'what?!' facial expression that somehow showed just how amused she also was. It was clear that no one saw the idea coming, Hells, up until she said it she couldn't have seen her suggesting such a thing. Hearing that Kay was okay with it surprised her the most as like with most things she was too used to having her Kay telling her no at every request to go out and explore the popular hangouts. The only times she was allowed out in a bar or venue was if Elliott or John took her to a gig because she was desperate to hear some live music, yet it wasn't the same as going it alone. So when John also expressed his cool with letting her go with Rinaa, her smile turned into a broad grin, especially when Rinaa gave her warning of how wasted she could get.

"warning noted but I know even wasted, whilst here I can trust you both not to let anything happen to each other and if trouble arises you'll have each other's backs" Kay replied to Rinaa in a manner than also conveyed 'I'm trusting you both not to murder each other and I will not hold back if something happens to Fia, so don't piss off a pregnant woman'. "we got this, I promise! Rinaa knows the language if we get into issues, I'll have her back and I trust her to have mine. I'll know when I've had enough, I won't be stupid, I just wanna have some fun and not from inside these four walls so to speak" Fia reassured Kay and in a way John and Chas. "we'll have our phones if either of us need any of you too." she added. "okay okay, you don't need to keep proving your case. I said I'm cool with it if John is, and he seems to be, so you can go" "yes! When did you wanna go because I'll need to go grab my jacket and boots before we go" Fia smiled before aiming the next part of her comments to Rinaa.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa smirked at John's comment, she had also been getting the 'I want to give myself a raging hangover just because it's part of the 'normal' teenage experience' vibe from Fia. Rinaa had some killer hangovers in her time, hence why she learned to keep a bottle of Jay's legendary hangover cure in her flat, but there had been times when she'd been caught out and just had to deal with both the hangover and the teasing from her friends who had also been out drinking but were not suffering the side effects as severely as she was. "You've never even SEEN me wasted, either of you." Rinaa protested, though, more weakly than before. She knew the decision had already been made and that she and Fia were going out drinking. There was no backing out from here. In an ideal world she'd have said something like 'if it goes to shit, don't blame me, I did warn ye', but she knew if something did go wrong, it wouldn't just be everybody blaming her for getting the golden girl of the family in such a mess, she'd also be blaming herself for giving in and relaxing instead of focusing on the mission at hand.

"Well I need to change first" Rinaa declared, gesturing at the old sports jersey and lightly oil-stained cargo trousers she was wearing (she'd had a practical class today up close and personal with various engines and fuel cables and was dressed for practicality). She wasn't particularly vain about her appearance, but there was a particular look she went for when out drinking or visiting clubs with mates. "So soonish I guess." She also needed to find somewhere to stow the file, but she wasn't going to say that aloud.

As she didn't have an actual bedroom, Rinaa had taken over the small utility room as a place for keeping her clothes, and various bags. It was also a reasonably quiet place to work in the early hours of the morning when Chas, Elliott and Jay were asleep. She stowed the file behind one of the cupboards, and awkward place to access and somewhere where it couldn't be seen without the aid of a torch. Getting ready took longer than the others would have thought, given how casual Rinaa normally was with her appearance. The outfit itself was simple, raggedy converse style shoes (covered in splatters of red spray paint with some metal studs added on), dark jeans with heavily frayed ends that clung to her like a second skin and a skin-tight black t-shirt with claw slashes across the side. Rinaa had activated the subdermals on her left arm, filling the swirling tribal lines with black ink so they looked just like a regular tattoo. Around her other arm was an extensive collection of spiked metal and leather bracelets. Her nails were painted black to match. She'd gelled her hair up into a series of rakish spikes and whatever product she'd used to do so must also have contained some form of glitter particles, as her hair seemed to shimmer slightly under the lights of Cal and Cliff's apartment. The teenager even gone as far as to put on make-up, but only around her eyes, doing something similar to a cat's eyes, but larger and more dramatic. The outfit emphasised that she was indeed good looking, in a dark and dangerous way and the message of her outfit was clear 'I'm bad, mess with me and I will fuck you up'. Exiting the room she slung her studded leather jacket over one shoulder, grabbing the phone with her other hand.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't care that she had never seen Rinaa utterly wasted, and at this moment in time all she truly cared about was that there was a version of her mother out there actually allowing her to have a life outside of a home's walls. She never saw herself as the golden girl of the family, but because of what she knew from Rinaa's timeline, she could understand why Rinaa would think of her as such if the nickname was said out loud. She nodded at what Rinaa was saying about needing to change herself and so she got herself up off the couch. She then went into her room and went to grab just her boots when she decided after catching her reflection in a mirror, that if she was going to do this experience properly, she would change also. She was sure she had something in her bag she could wear that she grabbed from her room at The House and rummaged through her bag before finding what she wanted.

She had no idea just how much effort Rinaa was putting in at this stage as she changed herself, deciding that if Rinaa was going to change then she'd wear something better than her scrappy black jeans and vest that she always wears. She pulled out her zip up faux leather vest out of her bag, changing out of her current t-shirt vest and into the faux leather one, zipping it only partially the way up before changing out of her scrappy jeans and into high waisted stretchy but tight forming jeggings, to which she shoved her usual chunky heeled boots on afterwards. She darkened her eye makeup to a grey smokey eye but kept her lips neutral and quickly let her hair down fluffing it a bit so it created natural waves. She grabbed her usual biker jacket and slung it over her shoulder, holding it by the collar and met Rinaa out in the living room. If Rinaa was anyone else, she would have openly said the word 'woah' not expecting that Rinaa would go all out in such a manner. "looking good!" she just said with her usual smile.

Kay saw the two girls come out, not expecting that Fia would have decided to change as well but low and behold her kid did and looked way older than seventeen all of a sudden. Part of her wanted desperately to tell Fia to zip her vest up more but she tried to refrain from saying as such, not wanting to ruin Fia's excitement of going out, even if she did think it was a tad too low, no matter how much Fia was pulling off the look. Rinaa was the biggest surprise however, not for a moment thinking that there was this amazing young woman underneath the usual oil and grime that they were so used to seeing. "have fun you two and try and stay safe please?" Kay couldn't stop herself from saying, thinking how the two of them together looked like they were two women not to be messed with at all.

Spoiler: Fia's clothing

 

[_gallifrog_]

There were only two types of occasions where Rinaa ever willingly dressed up. Weddings and funerals didn't count as for all off-world she could wear armour and for the funerals on Earth she'd attended (unfortunately she had lost a number of friends on Earth) she could just wear normal plain black clothes. Both of the occasions where she did put a real effort into her appearance and coordinating a proper outfit, makeup and accessories involved music- going out to clubs and raves with her friends was one, and the other was playing at gigs with her band. So she was well aware of how her putting this much effort into her appearance was an anomaly for everyone in the living room. They probably thought she didn't even know how to use makeup (outside of war paint) let alone own it. Well she did and the little she had done was testament to the fact that she could use her steady mechanic's hands for something other than making things.

She couldn't help but smirk and bask in satisfaction at the expressions of shock and awe on everybody's face. She'd heard Cal and Elliott arrive back from the forge, so their presence didn't startle her (she trusted that the others would have informed them as to what was going on). Unlike Fia she didn't have that obvious feminine beauty (even in more tomboyish and edgy clothes, Fia's beauty was most definitely feminine). Rinaa and Leah's beauty had always been distinctly masculine, she'd been all dark hair, sharp lines, angles and long, lanky limbs from day one. 'Pretty' or 'cute' or even 'beautiful' were never words that could be applied to them, but 'handsome' was most definitely applicable.

As impressive as Fia looked both John and Elliott found themselves drawn more to Rinaa than they were to Fia. They knew Fia could indeed glam up and look like a mature and beautiful woman older than seventeen, they'd seen that at the wedding. But Rinaa had up until now either been a stoic, trained warrior or a highly smart, very nerdy teenager who prefered practical slightly baggy t-shirts and cargo trousers. John could easily recognise the punk influence in the current outfit while Elliott was stunned at how this outfit changed her, there was a brashness and a confidence and a definite edge of 'well here I am, in all my glory. if you don't like me, then you can fuck right off.' "Very punk, I approve." John smirked. "Not that you need John's approval for your outfit, or anybody else's. But the whole effect is incredible. The nails are great by the way." Rinaa grinned at the praise. "There's a story behind them, remind me to tell you guys later." "Noted, have fun, both of you."

"Well obviously I do." Rinaa replied as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet(s), not even blinking at the outfit Fia was wearing, she was all too used the Fia in her timeline wearing such attire (quite featuring some kind of ridiculously skin tight leather pants) and she'd just stopped registering how effortlessly good Fia looked in these outfits. It was one bit of jealousy she'd managed to get over, the fact that her 'cousin' seemed to look stunning and completely at ease in anything she wore where as Rinaa didn't have that skill. Had it been on another girl though, she'd have been trying not to gawp. "They'll be fine." Cal replied in response to Kay's request. "Attil's club scene is surprisingly regulated, it's not complete unregulated craziness." "What she said." Rinaa agreed.

 

[MzHyde]

When Cal and Elliott came in, Kay did give a slight wave to acknowledge their return whilst the whole gawking at the teenager's choices of attire was done by the whole group. She smirked and lightly and discreetly shook her head at John approving of Rinaa's attire, noting how he and everyone (including herself) was making more of a point to compute that Rinaa was indeed wearing such an outfit and wearing makeup that wasn't warpaint. She got the feeling that Rinaa was used to seeing the other Fia in such clothing as Fia's outfit didn't bring out the same reaction from Rinaa as Rinaa's did to Fia. She looked up when Cal reassured her that Attil's club scene was a lot safer than Earth's, without Cal even knowing what Earth's club scene was like. She just nodded at the words and let the teenagers leave with no more words from her.

Fia the whole time, just let everyone gawk over Rinaa which was totally understandable due to how rare it was to see the other girl in such a style. That however didn't stop the tiniest bit of jealousy appear in her heart as no one spoke of her, but she dealt with it. Rinaa (and as far as she was concerned possibly others) may see her as the perfect token kid of their crazy family, but she still had 'faults' just like everyone else - jealousy was one of those. In her timeline, she was too used to being told to cover up or change something because it wasn't practical for either a hunt, training or just seeing other family like Chas' for whatever reason, or going to Elliott's and Jay's for dinner. As they got told to be just be safe, she rolled her eyes and nodded, letting Cal and Rinaa do the replying.

"we'll be fiiine! Stop worrying." Fia commented, knowing this Kay was only being like it because of her pregnancy, but because of what she was used to hearing in her timeline, it was like listening to a broken record. "soooo you lot behave whilst we're gone, we'll see you in the morning" she said, throwing Kay's words back at the group in jest, whilst pointing out how annoying it was to hear in her own way. She then headed to the front door, opening it. "let's go Rii before they change their minds on letting me off the leash!" she smirked.