Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

Kay wasn't the only one who found that Cliff's anecdote was reminding them of that very first bout of morning sickness. Chas' thoughts were also going along similar lines. If he was ever to describe Cliff to somebody the image of her from that morning- dressed in scrubs, vibrant purple hair all over the place after a long shift, yet still willing to jump right into action and put her training and skills to use, having no qualms about telling them all to get the fuck out of the bathroom as they were hardly helping matters- would be the one he'd use. Another thing that stood out for him about that moment was the fact that Cliff had done the whole thing while deaf and only after the situation was under control did she put in the hearing aids. It spoke volumes about her as a person and about her skills as a doctor that she was able to do such a thing.

"You don't really get a break as a doctor do you?" Elliott asked, he'd heard such ideas before, but only as a stereotype and he really was curious as two whether or not it was true. "No, I really don't." Cliff shook her head. "But honestly I wouldn't have it any other way. And yes" she turned slightly to face Kay "they WERE grateful for having somebody who knew what they were doing. They had quite an obscure food allergy, but thankfully they were aware of it and had the appropriate medication on them. They remained surprisingly calm during the whole thing. The person with them on the other hand- who I found out later was somebody they'd met on a dating site- was utterly USELESS. I mean a beached fish that was thrashing around would have been more help to me than they were." Jay smirked at the doctor's fish related description of the other diner, it was something she'd noticed about Cliff- she used a wide variety of fish and marine life comparisons when talking about people that annoyed her. John also smirked, glancing down at his watch, surprised to see just how much time had elapsed and that it was now the next day (very early in the next day, but still).

 

[MzHyde]

Kay couldn't help but think that next to Chas, Cliff truly deserved a proper break, where there was no big event drawing her somewhere off Attil, or work related issue could appear. She did also think Jay deserved it after everything she had experienced, especially since knowing about Rinaa, but there was just something about the way Cliff was always seemingly on the clock even when she wasn't, that made Kay think Cliff deserved it as much as Chas did. Like Chas, she couldn't ever forget how Cliff helped her that morning whilst not even having her hearing aids in, making her truly realise that Cliff was indeed deaf. It was one of those things that they knew the night before, but it only truly sunk in that morning. She also was forever impressed that she could get away with telling everyone to get the hell out of the bathroom the way she did and no one protested it.

As Cliff replied to her going into more detail about the event, she listened to hear how it all went, only to smirk and snigger at the beached fish comparison she made about the person's date. She could only imagine how the rest of that date could have gone and wo deres if it was a deal breaker for that frantic person or if they got over it and they were together. "I wonder if that situation was a deal breaker for that person or not. If it was on Earth it probably would have been because its full of assholes" she mused, noticing that John glanced at his watch but didn't pay too much attention to it. She had no idea what time it was but she was aware of starting to feel slightly lethargic mentally, despite her eyes feeling wide awake. Fia on the other hand by now was starting to feel her eyes droop close whilst she attempted to stay awake, which Kay noticed. "go to bed kiddo, you're clearly tired enough" she said fondly, not wanting it to sound like a stern order. Fia shook her head refusing to move, "don't wanna..." she yawned.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott had to stifle a snort at Cliff's description of the frantic date, he could so easily imagine the person running around flapping their arms uselessly- the fish equivalent of a headless chicken. "Sadly we don't know what happened to those two after that." Cal replied answering Kay's question for her wife. She remembered the night well, one moment she'd been staring into Cliff's eyes, the next her then-fiancé was on the other side, leaning down by somebody on the floor. She still to this day had no idea how Cliff managed to move so fast. "It really could have gone either way. it could have been a thing that bonded them, or maybe they just weren't suitable for each other in the first place, who knows?" Cliff shrugged. Privately she thought it was the latter option, the pair hadn't seemed a good fit from the brief glimpse she got of them (you could tell a lot about people based off how they acted in a crisis situation) but people were wonderfully unpredictable.

When Fia yawned loudly and began slumping to the side quite a few of the others glanced at their own watches and, like John, were shocked by just how much time had passed. John was about to say something about how the fact she was yawning so loudly was just proving Kay's point and she was starting to look dead on her feet, but it was Jay of all people who beat him to the punch. "It's not about whether you want to or not." She told the teenager, fixing her with a stern silver gaze. "You can't just nod off in the court room tomorrow when you inevitably crash. While it's not illegal to sleep in court... YET, it's highly offensive to do so and will make our side in the trial look incredibly bad. Given that we have the upper hand currently, I'd rather it wasn't any of OUR actions that made said upper hand be lost."

 

[MzHyde]

Like Cliff, Kay assumed it probably was a case of it making the two people simply acquaintances and nothing more, making her nod in agreement at what Cliff said, before Fia made it highly obvious that she did in fact need sleep, whether she wanted it or not. She was half expecting John to say something after Fia refused to go to bed on her command, but was slightly surprised when it wasn't John, but Jay who spoke up and gave Fia a stern stare. She didn't know whether to smirk or be slightly offended that Jay took over the parental lecture to her kid. In the end the smirk won over, "she's got a point Fia, and we all know if you're tired enough you will fall asleep in court, so for everyone's sake including your own, please go get some sleep" she commented softly.

Fia sighed knowing Jay and Kay both had valid points, but she was at that tired point where it made her stubborn. "fine fine...but only because you both got points" Fia sighed, uncurling herself on the couch and standing up. "see you all in the morning then" she said before heading to bed by dragging her feet slowly. As she did so, Kay watched on and rolled her eyes, "no one is gonna carry you Fia if that's what you're after" she called out to her, recognising that tactic all too well when both Sam and herself would do it as kids when either were so tired they couldn't gather the motivation to actually move, so would drag their feet hoping it'd make someone come and carry them. It only worked a handful of times before they realised they couldn't get away with it forever. "as if!" Fia called back, before reaching her room, where she gladly kicked her boots off and half changed before slumping ontop of the bed and pulling the duvet over herself.

"might get some kind of sleep myself, see you all in the morning, or more accurately, later" Kay spoke, pushing herself off the couch.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Seeing the way Jay crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly it was clear that the battle was already over and this wasn't going to end any way other than Fia going to bed. While Fia might be able to talk her way around the others (particularly those whose future selves she was close to in her timeline) there was no talking around Jay when she was like this. Her point was incredibly valid, to fall asleep during the trial would indeed reflect badly on their side, even more so as they were part of Elliott's 'inner circle'. It would also be extremely offensive to the lawyers on their side, a significant portion of whom had been pulling all-nighters in preparation for this landmark trial. Jay being authoritative and uncompromising like that was something that was kind of a turn on for Elliott.

There were nods, 'goodnights' and variations on 'see you both in the morning' when Fia and then Kay decided to get some sleep. "No wonder you outrank us all." Cliff remarked with a slight smirk, "giving orders like that. If you were my type- which you aren't, just to set the record straight on that before anybody" by which she obviously meant Elliott or Cal "starts getting the wrong idea- and I wasn't happily married" she raised her eyebrows suggestively and smirked. Jay smirked back, perfectly happy to take the joke in the teasing way it was intended. "Well I do have experience." "I'm so gonna regret asking this, but experience in the ordering around kids way or the" "fulfilling Elliott's fantasies sort of way?" John smirked, unable to resist butting in. Elliott groaned, covering his face with his hands, he wasn't actually blushing, but he didn't need to see the 'you got owned' faces on the others.

When the chuckling died down Jay gave an answer. "Both actually- and ordering both adults and kids around. I outranked my brother so he HAD to listen to me in certain situations." After some more teasing Cliff decided to make coffee, there was no point in her going to sleep, she knew she wouldn't be able to, so for her coffee was the next logical step. Chas adopted the same strategy and the group stayed in the living room until morning rolled around, breaking out the playing cards after about an hour and launching into a monster game to wile away the time.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay figured that some sleep was better than no sleep for her, knowing she wasn't an insomniac like John could be, and as much as she could stay up all night and had done, she wouldn't be able to forever on this particular night. She could feel herself getting sleepy and she knew she had to think of unborn Fia as well as herself, not to mention the way Jay took the authorative route with Fia, if she was to show any outward signs of being tired, she'd be the next recipient of it. So to save that, she went to bed, changing out of her trial clothes so she could actually sleep, set an alarm for the morning which turned out to give her about four and a half hours sleep before turning in and falling asleep just as quickly as Fia did.

By the time her alarm went off, she woke up and yawned feeling a lot more refreshed, despite the short sleep. Stretching out, she got up and decided to head to the bathroom to take a take a quick shower before heading back to the room she was occupying (sometimes with John nowadays) and getting dressed in her trial outfit before leaving her hair down to dry as she went to wake up Fia. Luckily she found Fia was already awake which actually surprised her. "ah, I don't need to wake you that's good" she smiled as Fia shook her head. "nah, I have a repeated alarm on my phone to always go off during the trial" "I'm impressed" Fia just waved off the remark standing up as she put her boots back on and headed out into the main room with Kay. "morning everyone" Kay greeted, seeing that it was clear that no one actually let themselves get any sleep in the slightest, yet still looked pretty wide awake and refreshed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Most of the others had already showered at some point in the night/morning by the time Kay and Fia walked in, hoping that by showering it would make them look like they hadn't spent the whole night up. (And for the most part it was working, turning the shower on cold was a sure fire way of shocking any part of their brain that had gone to sleep back to wakefulness). Despite it technically being her apartment Cliff was the last to use it, slipping out of the living room just after Kay and Fia arrived in. Most of the others were eating some form of breakfast, Jay looked up from the orange whose skin she was intricately peeling to give a slight smirk in Fia's direction. In her opinion the teenager looked far more awake than she had done a few hours ago. "Told you sleeping was a good idea" she remarked before turning back to her orange. John smirked at that "mornin' and she's most definitely got a point on that."

Cal meanwhile was engrossed in her phone, giving a brief "morning" before turning her attention back towards whoever she was texting. That was unusual for her, usually it would be Cliff who'd be practically glued to to a device (though the doctor preferred her laptop to a phone). Elliott was curious as to who she was texting, it couldn't be her wife as Cliff was in the shower and the texting had started while Cliff was still in the room. On his way to the kitchen he attempted to read over her shoulder but the way Cal was sitting on the chair meant he couldn't. All was explained however when Cliff walked back in to the room. "Simeon says he's coming to the trial today, just filling him in on what he's missed." "That's great to hear" Cliff smiled honestly, knowing that while Simeon wasn't exactly like a younger brother to Cal, they had a sort-of sibling-like bond. "I take it his other half got the day off?" She asked, sitting down at the kitchen table beside her wife. "Yep, a long overdue day off in Simeon's opinion."

 

[MzHyde]

Both Kay and Fia walked over to get some breakfast when Jay looked at Fia, smirked and had to make the remark she did, which only encouraged John to chime in as well. Fia just rolled her eyes at the remarks as she grabbed her food and sat down, "yeah yeah I know... You get the old 'I told you so' moment" she replied, wasting no time in starting to eat. "have to admit I was surprised and impressed to see her already up, dressed and done when I went to see if she was awake" Kay smirked as she got her breakfast too, before finding a spare chair and managing to sit down, noting how Elliott was clearly trying to see what Cal was doing on her phone. "don't you start, and besides looking like this" Fia waved her hand in front of her face, "takes time to perfect some days. I don't make this much effort for just anyone" she smirked, knowing she was far from self absorbed when it came to her looks, but she wasn't completely modest about it either. She just didn't ever make a point about it unless it was to take the piss out of herself. She presumed she got it from her dad mostly as Kay did it even less often than Fia did., and this time she was half boosting herself up and being self a facing at the same time, whilst being truthful. She didn't always make an effort, but things like this week of trials, she considered was worthy of making an effort as she wanted to give a good impression for the sake of Elliott. Even with the markings that they had started doing, she was still going to make herself look presentable and smart. She also figured just a bit of makeup and her hair being down, his her neck rune of healing.

As Cliff came back in the room looking more refreshed like the rest of them to which Cal declared Simeon was coming along, Kay couldn't help but think how nice it was of him. "guessing his partner has a hectic work life as well then?" she couldn't help but ask, having overheard the last remark. She had to admit she was still curious about Simeon's life, especially since Blue showed up at the forge, creating such a spat between the two of them but she also knew it wasn't her place to truly pry so wasn't going to ask. Unlike some members of their group, she wasn't going to be nosey where she wasn't in the right to be. So she figured that the question she asked was the appropriate medium.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay smirked ever so slightly, finding Fia's response to be exactly what she expected it to be. That kind of 'yeah yeah, yeah, you have you're smug moment' response wasn't just a typical Fia response, it was a response she'd seen many times in younger siblings. "Well get used to it, cos it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere" the assassin replied, cutting away the last piece of peel with a slight flourish of the knife, placing the rind carving on the table before picked up a cloth to clean the juices off the blade. When she'd first come to Earth jay had wanted nothing more than to leave and head right back to planets where she could actually be herself. But the people she'd met along the way (one in particular) had wiled themselves past some of her defences and with each passing moth were making her want to stay.

Elliott leaned forwards in his seat in interest when Cal finally gave an explanation as to who she'd been texting and why. Hearing that Simeon had managed to find the time to come along and support Cal made him smile (Elliott was under no illusions in that regard, he and Simeon barely knew each other so it was obviously for his sister's sake that the blacksmith's apprentice was going along). "That's a really nice thing for him to do" Elliott told his sister with a smile"clearly you're an important person in his life." Kay and Elliott weren't the only ones whose interest was piqued by Simeon's name. None had forgotten the shouting match between the two brothers and neither Cal, Cliff nor Dan had given away anything further about his past.

"I like to think I am" Cal agreed with a shy smile. Both her and Cliff then nodded at Kay's assumption. "Yeah he does." Cal confirmed. "It's kind of by choice, kind of not. They'd rather not work as long hours as they do, even though both of them do enjoy their jobs...." she glanced at Cal, seeking approval for what she was about to say next. Her wife gave a tiny nod, so Cliff continued "they need the money." "And the only way to get money is to work long shifts and strange hours and do overtime. Dan pays Simeon more than he'd normally pay an apprentice of his skill so that Simeon can afford to take the time off and be with the family he does have."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia just found herself once again rolling her eyes at Jay's words but she quote frankly wouldn't have it any other way. She did adore Jay in that 'I have a lot of respect for someone who was as skilled as you are and you make my brother extremely happy' way. She practically saw Jay as that sister in law figure, even though this trip had proven there were times when she really did put the fear into her, albeit not this Jay. "you better not go anywhere Jay. You're awesome, I like it when you're around, even if you do tease the living shit outta me sometimes" she smiled between mouthfuls, watching as Jay finished peeling the orange as everyone spoke about Simon.

If there was one thing that was becoming more and more evident, it was that Simon clearly had a lot of respect for Cal and would support her just as she and Dan has supported him. The shy smile on Cal's face from Elliott's words pointing that very fact out didn't go amiss on Kay either, before listening to both Cliff and Cal answer the question she asked. It wasn't entirely a surprising story, knowing all too well that's as a pretty common situation back on Earth for many people. "that's a tough situation to be in and sadly more common on Earth than I think anyone would like to admit, so not that surprising to hear that's a case here too. But it's pretty admirable of Dan to do such a gesture to help Simeon out like that. Not many employers would be that accommodating" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay didn't say anything in response to Fia's word, but the slight smile on her face spoke volumes to those who caught the expression as it flickered across her face. Jay hadn't always been so closed off and unwilling to let people in. As a kid and young teenager she'd been wary of people and quite abrasive, but it was nothing compared to how she was now. As a teenager she was relatively outgoing and her rebellious nature and distrust of many forms of authority meant she gained friends, allies and admirers with relatively ease (the same with enemies, but that was another matter altogether), but a combination of losing her best friend, months in one of the worst prisons there was, being tortured within an inch of her life and losing her brother had changed her into somebody much colder and far more closed off. So it was nice to hear that in the future she thawed somewhat.

"Poor kid, that can't be easy for him, certainly isn't for people in such positions on Earth." Chas remarked, Simeon and his partner's story really tugging at his heart strings. Simeon was so young- midway between Fia and Elliott in age- yet he'd had so many hardships in recent years. It couldn't be easy on Simeon going through all this without the support (financial, emotional or moral) of his blood family. "Yeah" Elliott nodded slowly, agreeing with both Chas' statement and what Kay had to say about Dan. At the same time he was also taking note of the one detail that his sister had let slip, that whoever Simeon's partner was, they were a 'he'. "At least he's not completely on his own, my respect for Dan is going further and further up and it was already damn high." While John didn't say anything he was in agreement with what was being said about the blacksmith. While John himself would never admit it, kids above a certain age were his weakness, some part of him still believing that childhood should be innocent for as long as possible. It was why, time and time again kids were his downfall, Astra was the most noticeable example- the one he couldn't save, but there had been others, others he'd saved somewhat, or at least shoved in the right direction of a better life.

"Most probably wouldn't" Cal agreed, "but It's like I said on numerous occasions, Dan's not your typical employer. He practically adopts his full time staff as his own family, and even the part time hires get that treatment to an extent. He really has a soft spot for kids, particularly those in trouble, both Simeon and I were in a right state when we got taken in by Dan. Maybe Dan's attitude is something to do with the fact his own child died, but either way it's just amazing to have somebody like him in the world."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia did indeed see the smile on Jay's face appear, knowing that was all she needed as an response to her words, knowing Jay well enough that what she said to her would mean something. She always gave Jay the truth knowing that lying to her would be the biggest mistake of her life to do, even though she never saw a reason to lie to the woman. Training with Jay had also taught her not to mess with the woman as she never truly went easy on her, even if on the very first session she swore that she was going easy on Fia, though Fia never truly believed it be aude it was still tough until she got into the swing of things.

Kay listened more, knowing that the Earth group would know exactly what she was saying when it came to those sorts of situations. She also seemed to remember just how young Simon was to have to deal with such a life and how it seemed so unfair for him to endure all of this at such an age. She too noticed the information slip of Simeon's partner being a 'he' but didn't make a big deal out of that information. It wasn't in her eyes anything to truly bring up as a main topic to speak about. She did however continue hearing what Cal had to say about how good Dan really was, finding that the snippet of what was said about him losing his own kid both sad and interesting. It certainly made sense why Dan had a soft spot for kids and was so good with them, let alone taking them in and giving them a second chance at life. In that respect Dan reminded her of John, not that she would say that out loud. "definitely, the world is lucky to have Dan in it. And that's so sad about his own child" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The fact that Dan had lost a child of his own had come up twice at the wedding, once in the speech the blacksmith made as 'adopted father of one bride and sort of uncle figure to the other' and once in passing when Chas had been talking with Dan's brothers where they'd confirmed that it had been the loss of his child that had made him move planets. Not much notice had been taken of that particular titbit of information at the time, the night was about the brides after all and Cliff's siblings and Cal's friends were all too willing to tell all kinds of stories about the two women- from stupid childhood stories, to drunken antics, to work anecdotes (something Elliott had taken great advantage of, and people were all too willing to fill in 'Cal's kid brother' on what he'd missed out on).

John made a 'huh' noise when Cal mentioned about Dan losing his own child, with the trial going on and the knowledge of the horrors of Rinaa's timeline hanging over him, John had spent far more time than imagining what he'd do if he were to lose Elliott. He knew deep down that there was no way to stop himself spiralling out of control, nothing or nobody could stop it and those who tried to hard to help would just get hurt. So to hear Dan had gone through such a loss, presumably when his child was at a fairly young age (even if it had been a teenager pregnancy the man had been on Attil when cal and Cliff were kids so said child must have died young he reasoned to himself).

"What happened?" Chas asked unable to stop the question coming out, but as soon as it passed his lips he shook his head, "no actually, don't tell me unless you're certain he'd be okay with us knowing." "You'd have to ask Dan for the full story, it's really not my place to tell it, as you've probably noticed he really doesn't talk about it." Chas had indeed noticed that."But I can say that cause of death was not some kind of underlying medical condition or deliberate murder."

 

[MzHyde]

The fact it had come up before about Dan's own child had ashamedly slipped Kay's mind. She put it down to the fact that so much was spoken about and done at the wedding that it wasn't entirely surprising that she'd forget such a thing that was spoken about in a passing comment and not in depth. She knew if John was in that very position he'd slip down mentally so far that not even she would be able to help, but that wouldn't stop her being there for him when he wanted or needed her. She would be there as a listening ear or someone to rant to, but she knew from everything that Chas had told her about John so far, and learned herself about how he gets when the photos and news about Newcastle and Ravenscar came up, that it was a bad move to force John into anything. She just hoped that that day would never come about, but she knew deep in the back of her mind she would always have to be prepared for if it did happen.

She couldn't begin to try and figure out when Dan lost his own child and how young they must have been, knowing it was a dark pit she did not want to go down as in her own hormonal state of becoming a parent herself. She wasn't expecting anyone to actually ask what happened to the child, so when Chas did but then quickly changed his mind it surprised her. She did however respect Cal for not disclosing the story about it, whilst still giving some vague information. "either way it's a sad thing" she just said to end that conversation. In this time of chatting both Fia and Kay had finished eating and having a drink. "guess we should start heading off soon to the next day of proceedings" Fia guessed, looking at the time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas gave a slow nod when Cal gave the vaguest possible information about what had happened. He really hadn't meant to pry about something so personal, he'd rather ask the man directly and get a refusal than find out behind his back, so he was relieved that Cal gave nothing away, only ruling out two possible reasons for a child to die young. There were noises of agreement when Fia said they should probably get going. Everybody had at some point either changed their clothes or ironed them, knowing it would be blatantly obvious to everybody that they'd stayed up all night if they turned up in court wearing the same clothing as yesterday, just considerably more rumpled. Once again Jay took her bag of disguised burglary tools, having decided that today would be the day she'd do her break-in and see just what exactly there was on the mainframe computer that the opposition might intend to use.

As usual Dan was at the train station before them, but this time he wasn't alone, he was chatting to two guys. One was easily recognisable from a distance as scrubbed-up Simeon (his sandy brown hair stood out amongst all the other darker blacks and browns and he'd replaced his usual blacksmith's outfit with plain jeans and a button-up shirt). The other person was Devra and somebody none of them had seen before and from the group's perspective at the other end of the station, it would look for a brief moment like he had two heads. John did a double take at that, tipping his sideways in confusion- two heads was something they hadn't seen before and he was fairly sure he would have heard it mentioned before. But as he walked closer it became clear that this was actually two people- a twenty-one/twenty-two year old man giving a young (four or five years old) girl a piggyback.

 

[MzHyde]

Like the others, Fia had changed, but it was only her shirt that was different, the rest of her outfit was the same and Kay was just in the same outfit but freshened up as it proved the most comfortable for her to sit around in for so long each time. She noted how Jay had her usual bag of disguised equipment to do her extra digging around as she pulled on her usual jacket and shoved her hands in her pockets, as they all then proceeded to the train station to meet up with Dan before continuing their journey to the court.

Walking up there, Fia also recognised Simeon standing there with Dan but not the third and fourth people. She could only presume they had to be Simeon's partner and someone else, until they reached closer and saw that it was a young kid on the back of his partner. She also found it a bit strange seeing Simeon dressed in anything other than the blacksmith garb that she first saw him in, thinking he knew how scrub up. Seeing the little girl on the other's back, she guessed the age of around 5 years old. She was a cute looking kid in Fia's eyes and guessing by the age she guessed she was adopted by Simeon and his partner and that the kid looked plenty happy enough to be with both of them. She had to give them both her respect for doing such a thing at such a young age, knowing that Simeon wasn't that much older than herself.

She gave them all a wave hello and even said hi in Attili to them all, knowing that Dan and Simeon would have probably remembered her learning the language in the forge the other day. She also knew neither really spoke English so she figured it was just polite to greet them in their language. Kay just gave her usual nod of a hello and brief wave to them all when they got to them, for reason not realising that Simeon's partner would be there as well, just assuming from earlier that they'd be at home with the kid whilst Simeon came along with Dan.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Looks like you were right about there being a kid involved" John murmured quietly to Fia, he also having connected the dots that this dark haired kid on Simeon's partner's back was the 'she' that had been spoken of yelled about by Simeon and Blue, the 'she' who the latter had wanted to see and Simeon refused to let Blue near. At the sight and sound of the others all four waved, even the little girl, who was staring at the arriving group with the wide eyed interest that was so common among young kids. Her eyes were grey like Simeon's, but there was no brown in them as she hadn't inherited her father's heterochromia. Both Dan and Simeon were pleasantly surprised to be greeted in Attili and returned the greeting with smiles and nods, before the apprentice turned to his partner and gave a brief rundown of who was who.

When he was finished Cal couldn't resist giving a 'you clean up well' quip, she'd seen Simeon in more casual clothing before, but this was a level of formality she hadn't seen from him yet. The apprentice rolled his eyes "oh hah, hah, hah, you think you're soooo funny" he grumbled, but in a good natured way. "Just do what I do, ignore her." Elliott advised with a slight smirk. "I think I might just do that, we're not in the forge so she isn't the boss of me." "We all know that outside the forge Lee is the boss" Cal shot back with a grin "isn't that right?" she asked, aiming the question at the kid who nodded vigorously, replying in Attili. After a few more minutes of bantering, (Cliff taking the opportunity to talk to the partner about how the kid was doing) the group boarded the train and began the now familiar journey to the court room. "Any of you see Zan when we're heading it, can you let us know? We've got quite a few questions." Elliott told the group, speaking for both himself and Cal.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia discreetly nodded at John's quiet murmur to her, feeling glad that her observation skills of what was said, body language and so forth from that previous argument between Simeon and Blue hadn't let her down. "seems not" she quietly murmured back. She noticed the similarity in the girl's eyes and Simeon's and wondered the story behind it, despite it no doubt not being any of her business. She smiled when both Dan and Simeon clearly got taken aback slightly at her greeting them in Attili and clearly appreciated it. She also noticed how the childookes at them all with wide eyed fascination and curiosity as they came up, which made her smile wondering if she was ever like that when meeting new people at that age or if she was the opposite.

When the banter went on, Fia got some of it, enough to understand what was going on and smirked, before chuckling at the child whom she now knew as Lee got involved and became the boss of Simeon out of work. On the train, she sat down between Elliott and John, having called shotgun on that seating placement. Sure it was nice sitting next to her mother, but she did that in the court and for once she wanted to be with her dad and brother. She also figured doing something slightly childish may make Lee laugh. She didn't know why that thought came into her head to do, but it did and she was going to go along with it. At the question asked by Elliott she gladly nodded, knowing she would do pretty much anything that Elliott asked of her. "you got it" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Simeon's partner and the child Lee joined the group on the train. it was confirmed early on that neither were heading to the courtroom with them (bringing such a young child to a courtroom was just tempting fate and asking for a scene to be made and it would be incredibly boring for somebody so young). Instead the two were going to be making a sort of day trip out of it, heading into the main town to see the sights, get something to eat and maybe do some shopping. Simeon was only going to be with the for the morning part of the trial, the afternoon part of the day he'd be spending with his. It was rare for him and his partner to have whole days off together as they worked alternate days so that one of them could be at home with Lee when she wasn't in her playschool class. Lee spent the train ride alternating between looking out of the window and looking with fascination at the vibrant red hair of both Kay and Fia, barely blinking as she unashamedly stared. Cal explained why, translating a slightly sheepish Simeon's words; this was the kid's first time seeing such red hair and she was too young to being in any way discreet about her curiosity.

"I'll keep an eye out" Jay replied. "Same here" John nodded, tempted to add 'he does kinda stand out from all the others, even more so now that we know he's not actually fully Devra'. The group didn't split until they reached the tunnel entrance, Simeon bending down to give Lee a proper hug before giving his partner a brief kiss then following the others down into the tunnels. There was the usual selection of legal people lingering in the tunnels and slowly making their way back up to the courtroom. Cal, Cliff and Elliott stopped briefly to chat with a few of them, and it was clear from their body language and tone that they were praising them on the good work done so far (Fia would be able to pick out some of the words of praise from the lists words she'd been taught). It was Cliff who spotted Zan first, emerging from a different tunnel door to the one they came through, a large reusable coffee mug in one hand. She gently nudged Cal in the side with her elbow, indicating discreetly with her head in Zan's direction. "You guys can go in ahead if you want." Elliott told them, before following Cal to the other side of the entrance lobby.

 

[MzHyde]

On the train, Fia was all too aware (as was Kay) of Lee staring with great fascination of their hair, they were used to it from the days they had gone outside in general, having noticed the many sideways looks given to them because of this very defining feature of theirs. Neither were annoyed or put off at the staring, thinking it had to be only natural for the young girl to be curious. At Cal translating what Simeon said, both girls smiled and shook their head saying it was no problem, as Fia got up from her seat and squatted in front of Lee, pulling her hair gently forward so Lee could get a better look at it. Luckily, she knew enough Attili words to talk to a child, "you can touch it, I don't mind." she told the girl with a friendly smile and soft tone. Her accent may not have been perfect, but she knew she was getting it right. She figured why not entertain the child and make her know it was alright to stare whilst on the train. Kay watched on somewhat surprised but amazed at how Fia just seemed to take it in her stride and know how to talk to such a young child. She just hoped this didn't spur any 'I want a baby sibling' stuff to their older selves in Fia's time because she and John made it perfectly clear in their agreement that there was no way that as going to happen.

At the train stop for the court, she waved goodbye to Lee and Simeon's partner before heading to the tunnels with everyone else, where the route was rapidly becoming all too familiar to her and that she could almost walk it blindfolded. It was only when Cliff discreetly pointed out Zan that she even noticed him, before nodding at Elliott's comment about going in ahead. She quickly gave him a split second hug of luck, which she also said quietly before heading to their usual spot in the courtroom with everyone else. "hope it all goes okay for Ell and Cal" Kay quietly commented to their group as they sat down.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia's pronunciation was indeed good enough that lee understood what she was saying and wasted no time in running a hand through it. Lee had long ago lost the excess fat that gave babies ridiculously chubby fingers and her fingers were now long and robust (not quite delicate enough to be called 'pianists's fingers' but slender enough to be good hands for doing intricate work). Lee clearly had a curious mind even at a young age and the thought process she was gong through while liberally feeling Fia's hair, then her own (which was a dark brown) was easy to read. She was clearly comparing the two, verifying in the only way she could that Fia's hair was in fact actual hair and not some kind of wig or whatever. John upon seeing how Fia was engaging with Lee was also having similar thoughts of 'there's no way in hell she's getting a younger sibling'. He'd never particularly wanted a child of his own, yet the universe seemed insistent upon throwing children at him. There was no way the universe could make him have another biological child. If it came down to using magic to preventing this from happening then so be it, he;d be willing to go that far.

John watched for a brief moment as Elliott and Cliff wove through the room towards their birth father. After that initial explanation of what they'd learned, Cal and Cliff had elaborated slightly on certain bits during the night, mainly when they were thinking up of clarification questions they wanted to ask. Zan was proving to be a far more complex figure than any of them thought, the initial degree course he'd done on his home world had actually been a psychology degree, not the political sciences course he took on Attil, which suggested to both siblings that politics wasn't actually what he'd really wanted to do with his life. "They're tough. Both of them, whatever they find out, they'll get through it." Cliff replied, taking her usual seat in their row, before she and Dan began to fill in Simeon on what he'd missed and who the key players on either side were.

It would be another fifteen minutes before Cal and Elliott rejoined the group in the courtroom and another five minutes after that before Zan entered the court room, still brandishing his mug of what Cal and Cliff could confirm was indeed coffee. Neither looked completely shattered like they did last time, but John knew Elliott well enough (and by the same token Cliff and Dan knew Cal well enough) to see the siblings were in the process of digesting another big chunk of information they hadn't expected to hear. When Jay raised a single eyebrow and gave Elliott a look, Elliott understood what she was actually saying was a combination of 'are you all right and did you get answers'. His reply to both questions was a single nod.

 

[MzHyde]

If magic came into the equation to stop any younger siblings from happening then she wouldn't stop John. She was glad that Fia wasn't annoyed at a child being curious about her and she was impressed at her natural ability to know how to talk with her, but that was as far as she wanted it go. She was certain that their older selves wouldnt have regretted Fia in the slightest as she was an incredible teenager, but she didn't want to go through all this pregnancy scenario all over again. She was bored of it already, especially because of the back pain, swollen feet and everything else that came with it. Fia did indeed understand what Lee was doing when she compared their hair, smiling the entire time, whilst enjoying showing Lee that hair really did come in all kinds of colours.

Her thoughts did however move forward when they got to the courtroom, her mind going into serious mode and not child entertainment mode. She did though hope she could see Lee again later, but wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. She thought the same way as Cliff when the short comment about Elliott and Cal came up from Kay, the antics on the train soon going to the back of her mind. When they did eventually make it back, she too took in their body language to see if they were indeed okay after their next conversation with their father. At Elliott's silent nod to Jay's silent questions, she felt satisfied that things went okay. She also wondered how long this day would be in the trial, if they'd be here for the whole day or less this time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

That day's session mainly consisted of the defence side calling on all their various witnesses and experts, though Zan wasn't among them this time. Cal had managed to get her hands on a preliminary timetable for how the week was supposed to go from the lawyer friend she'd met a few days ago (who had managed to source it from one of their friends). She passed it over to all the others so they could get a look. According to the rough time table, there had been plans to call up Zan again, not as a witness, but as an expert, with his background in political studies and years of experience in policy making, he was a viable expert, particularly on the local variations on the law present in this particular region of Attil. But after he'd utterly derailed the process yesterday it seemed like the defence weren't trusting him not to throw another spanner in the works if he was put in the witness box again today. John had to refrain from smirking at that realisation, it was the kind of thing he himself would do, but he still didn't trust Zan or have the foggiest clue as to what his motives were. For all they knew this could be a deliberate away of avoiding getting involved with the trial proceedings.

After four long hours of presentation and cross examinations a break was finally called and there was a audible sigh of relief from all sides of the court. This trial was proving to be just as much of a mammoth as they'd suspected and it was getting to the point where even the native Attili speakers were utterly baffled by what was being talked about, unable to grasp the jargon and nor the depth of technical terms used. As planned Jay slipped away from the group when they left the courtroom to head out for lunch (and more importantly to get fresh air). Her parting words were to text her the address of wherever they'd be eating and she'd join them later, and that somebody could order for her if they felt they knew her tastes well enough. The challenge and the teasing edge in her tone was blatantly obvious. the assassin then turned away and slipped into the crowd, her back hair quickly becoming lost amongst all the other back and dark brown haired people.

 

[MzHyde]

As the four hours went by, and after looking through the itinerary of proceedings that was passed down their group, neither Kay or Fia trusted Zan fully either. They found it curious that he wasn't back despite being on the list to come back and give his professional opinions on things. In some ways it wasn't surprising but it was indeed curious. Yet when it came to having a break, both women were glad for it as it meant they got to stretch their legs for a bit and eat. Seeing Jay split from the group to do whatever she needed to do also wasn't surprising as they were expecting her to do such a thing at some point during this trial.

So with the others, they went off back through the tunnels to the outside world so they could all go for some lunch and drinks, and Simeon could reunite with his daughter and partner if they needed to go their own way or join them for lunch. Neither of them particularly said anything as they left the courtroom and building, not really knowing what to say as it was hefty information and jargon that was revealed during this day's trial so far that neither could make heads or tails of any of it. "feels good to have some fresh air" was all Kay commented, her mind partially on what Jay was doing and wondering what she'll find. She wasn't worried for Jay as she knew Jay knew exactly what she was doing and hoe to not get caught.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Simeon's questioning look at the sight of Jay splitting off from the group was answered by Cal "she's got some business of her own to deal with, not exactly legal, if you get my drift." The apprentice nodded in understanding, and as soon as he exited the building he ran his hands through his hair and over his face, grateful to be back in the fresh air again. Despite working in a forge all day, it was actually the vast open court room that he found airless (though a lot of that was down to the stoic, serious atmosphere hanging over proceedings). "Geez, were the other days that boring and full on?" he asked. "Unfortunately yes." Cliff replied at the same times as Cal gave her own responses. "Yep, yesterday had a bit of excitement and the first lot of non-disclosure agreements, but apart from that it's all just jargon, legalese and some very impressive verbal battles." "And there's another between four and six hours of that after lunch" Elliott added, chuckling sightly at the look of 'oh god, really?' on Simeon's face.

"There wasn't a lot of posturing, I was expecting a real battle of egos" Simeon remarked. "You were only expecting that because you watch far too many trashy law shows which are nothing like real life." Cal teased. Simeon gave a yelp of mock outrage and retorted with "you can't just judge my guilty pleasure shows like that Cal!" "What my wife should actually be saying" Cliff interjected, taking Cal's hand in hers as they walked "is that these guys in there are serious professionals, for many of them this trial will make of break their career. Posturing and showing off would only make them look bad" "and like complete arseholes" John couldn't resist adding. "That too" Cliff nodded. "At the end of the day that would reflect badly on their side, which could cause them to lose." The apprentice nodded in understanding. After some persuading by Cal and Dan (with the latter being successful) Simeon ended up joining the group for lunch, texting the location to his partner who arrived about ten minutes later with Lee in tow.