Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

Chas, Dan and John nodded slowly, taking in the small nuggets of information. Some of the details were far more personal than the siblings would have expected to find out on the first meeting, but they saw it as Bec's way of extending an olive branch and making it clear she wanted to be honest with them in a way her brother wouldn't or couldn't. They'd given some details about themselves in return, Cal explaining that Cliff was her wife (something Bec had already guessed based on what Zan had told her) and Elliott giving a very, very brief outline of how he'd ended up on earth (something Zan hadn't been able to tell her as he himself didn't know any of it).

"You could hear that?" Cal asked, somewhat embarrassedly. "I think the whole bloody hospital could." John smirked. "Well she was telling an anecdote from when she was maybe six or so, and Zan was about sixteen, obviously given the age gap she doesn't have a lot of stories about him, but this one she does remember very clearly. You can legally ride a motorbike at sixteen on Darriluxi, they've got a similar legal code to Attil. Zan had borrowed the dirt bike of a friend and was dared to jump this brick wall on it. It was one of those things you do as a rebellious teenager in that part of the universe, a sort of right of passage, you go right up to the top of this steep hill, absolutely gun the bike, hurtle down the hill at crazy speed, lie yourself up with a ramp and fly over this two metre tall brick wall. Well he timed it wrong and ended up in a tree, along with the bike."

 

[MzHyde]

When Cal questioned their ability to hear their earlier laughter from outside the room, Fia gave the nod and smirk, which only grew into a 'what he said' at John using an over the top way to describe how loud it was. She would have said how it made them all turn their heads and wonder what on Attil would create such a ruckous out of them all in the room, when they were there for such somber reasons, but Elliott went into his explanation before she could, or thought to say anything else as John summed it up pretty perfectly. She listened to the story along with the brief back story to give them all some context to it, before bringing it all up to the climatic end of Zan ending up in a tree with a bike, which made her laugh trying to imagine Zan in such a position. It was difficult enough to imagine Zan as a sixteen year old at times because of how they knew him as an adult. John, Chas, and most of their group she could easily picture as kids or teenagers, being all rebellious or whatever else, but Zan (along with Kay in some ways)she really couldn't. Yet the story nonetheless was greatly amusing, just as it was when they found out Rinaa ended up in a tree testing a jet pack in her timeline with her friends once. It made her think there seemed to be a pattern on that side of the family of them ending up in trees or similar for doing something that could be considered crazy or reckless.

Kay herself also found the story highly amusing and it making her chuckle at the mental imagine of Zan in a tree and with a bike no less. "No wonder you found it funny and laughed as much as you did. I'm sure it would have been quite the sight to have witnessed at the time if the mental image is anything to go by" Kay said with the smile of amusement still evident on her face. "It's quite the mental image that's for sure" Fia agreed, deciding not to bring up Rinaa and the story it reminded her of, just incase it was something wrong to mention, and she upset anyone in their group. She figured it was better to keep her reaction simple and sweet, rather than anything else, especially after she briefly upset Bec with her wrong question earlier. Looking out the window, she started to recognise the area a bit as them nearing the station they needed for getting to Zan's apartment, thinking the time went by quite quickly due to them all chatting about everything they learned about Dexter and Bec and what they learned from Bec about Zan.

 

[_gallifrog_]

When Fia finally asked what it was that had elicited such laughter from Cal and Elliott and the latter began talking John leaned forwards, not wanting to miss a single word. Ever since Zan had been shot (and even during the days of the trial) it had been becoming increasingly hard to get a genuine laugh or smile from Elliott. John couldn't blame Ell for being all doom and gloom, but he didn't mean he had to like it, and for Bec to be able to reduce both siblings to laughter within less than an hour of meeting them, whatever story she told had to be a good one. And it didn't disappoint, the mental image of somebody flying into a tree with a motorbike was utterly hilarious, the fact it was Zan (who they still all thought of as being straight-laced and very much not the rebellious type) only made it better. John couldn't help but laugh at it, while Dan and Chas chuckled. "Please tell me there's bloody proof of this somewhere, it'd make me the happiest man bloody alive for a good few days if there was." "There was at the time, obviously since everybody around was a teenager, they took photos first and laughed at it before helping to get the bike down from the tree. But Bec doesn't have it, she was only six at the time and doesn't know if it's still around. Her family weren't the only one to purge all things related to Zan, a lot of his former friends wanted to cut ties as well."

Reaching the correct stop they disembarked the train and began the relatively short walk to Zan's flat. "So what exactly are we going to be doing in the flat?" Chas asked curiously. "It mainly consists of removing anything incriminating that could link Zan to either a life as a spook or his former life on Darriluxi. There's files hidden there, not just that one he pulled from the bookshop, obviously his laptop and necessary cables, same goes for the phone. There's also stuff under the floorboards, the list doesn't say what, just what the bag it's in looks like. There's mundane things like unplugging all appliances, clearing out all food and drinks that could go off from the fridge and freezer, though if there's anything pre-cooked in Tupperware in the fridge we're to take that to the hospital so they can eat it. She's also told us where the good biscuits and good coffee are, to do what we please with. There's also a weird bit about taking Dexter's prints down from the wall and removing the photos."

 

[MzHyde]

FIa only held off asking for as long as she did because she was convinced for a while that someone else in their group would have asked the question before she did, but seeing as that wasn't happening, she felt it her upmost duty as younger half sibling to ask the question that was burning at her throat and mind, and clearly eating at everyone else also. She also figured it was a nice question to ask as it was about something positive for a change and not something heavy going to digest. John's declaration of seeing evidence of said moment in time would make him the happiest person alive, Fia couldn't help the rolling of her eyes at the statement. She knew her father had the flair for dramatics and exaggerating things, and this was no exception in her eyes as surely there would be other moments in his life to be worthy of that statement, and she was sure there definitely were in the near future, even if he didn't know it. It also wasn't surprising that Cal said that if there were evidence around somewhere, the fact that it happened so long ago and before Zan's family cast him out, chances of said evidence being around today was very very slim. As wrong as wanting any links to someone who was family was, she had to give Zan's family and past friends credit for at least being thorough with wiping him from their past.

Exiting the train, the two women walked with the rest of their group as Chas asked what it was they needed to exactly do, something that Kay was also curious about. She listened to the list of things that Elliott gave them, thinking it was simple enough of a task. She had it in her head that although she wouldn't be able to go digging around under floorboards, she could easily check the fridge and freezer for what food could be saved and what needed to be thrown out from Zan's kitchen. "I call shotgun on looking after the biscuits!" Fia joked, but there was an essence of truth in it that said 'if I'm left alone with them I will eat them and have no shame in doing so'. Kay had to chuckle at Fia's comment as it seemed like such a typical remark for her kid to make, especially after she had witnessed for herself just how much Fia could put away food wise and seem to not put a single pound on for doing it. "Trust you to always help with your stomach and not your head" Kay teased back, gently nudging Fia in the side as they walked, making Fia chuckle and shrug in an unapologetic manner. "Seriously though, I can pull my weight in helping properly" Fia added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott wasn't particularly surprised that Fia called dibs on looking for the biscuits, her mind did have a tendency to wander towards food during most situations. "No doubt by 'looking after' you mean eating." He replied a light teasing edge to his tone. "But yeah, on a more serious note, it's best we all do something" he pulled out the note from his pocket, so they could all look at the list. Bec and Dexter had been very through, first stating the task and then giving various details, such as the exact locations of concealed files and objects. "Fia's already volunteered to be on food duty, so it makes sense that Kay'does it with her, there needs to be some responsible adult around to make sure she doesn't eat everything." Elliott wasn't going to make any comment on Kay being pregnant and physically unable to rip up floorboards and heft around the various books to get at the files, but at the same time, it had to be taken into account.

"I'd like to do the under the floorboard stuff, there's no description as to what it is, so I am quite curious." "Fair enough, I'd like to it too, could be a two person job." John replied. He had various surprising things stashed under his floorboards back in his flat, and he couldn't help but wonder what kind of things a spook would keep under his. "I'll get together all the cables and tech devices then, and track down those flash drives she was talking about." Jay declared, scanning the note. "We can do the files from the bookshelves" Cliff offered, gesturing between herself and Cal. Zan had a lot of books, and if Bec's notes were to be believed, a significant number of files concealed in the bookshelves. "Dan and I will do whatever it is that needs to doing with the voicemail and the wall prints then." Chas' words were somewhat redundant as it was the only job left, but he felt the need to say it anyway.

Zan's flat looked the same as it did the last time they were there. The leather jacket was thrown in the same spot on the couch and there were some dishes next to the sink (now well and truly drained after being there for more than twenty-four hours). The only difference was that the half eaten food on the table had been replaced with a newspaper open on the page of the cryptic crossword, which was almost completed. "Let's get to work then."

 

[MzHyde]

With Elliott joining in in the teasing about Fia and her chocife of going for the biscuits, she rolled her eyes but also gave him the look of 'shut your cakehole brother dearest' before she nodded her agreement that they needed to all pitch in. The rolling of her eyes only came back as Elliott said about Kay being the responsible adult to help Fia clear out the kitchen and sort through what they could take to the hospital to Bec and Dexter. "Such little faith in my restraint Ell, such little faith" She came back at him with, knowing why he was suggesting it should be Kay but had the feeling that Kay had already chosen to help her out in the kitchen anyway. Which she wasn't wrong in assuming because Kay was indeed thinking it. Kay on the other hand was also smirking at Elliott's teasing of Fia, especially the remark about making sure she didn't eat everything in sight. It felt nice to witness the half siblings feeling that comfortable with each other that they could tease the living hells out of each other and know it was all good natured. It brought her so much hope for the future and how they bond as Fia grows up once she actually comes into the world properly. "I'm fine with that, I had it in my head to do that anyway" Kay commented in a relaxed manner to let Elliott know she wasn't offended or put off the fact he put her on kitchen duty and she was on the same mental wavelength as him over the tasks at hand. They both nodded as everyone assigned themselves or got assigned to certain other tasks, thinking that each task was completely and perfectly matched to everyone in their group.

Reaching the flat and going inside, it all looked utterly familiar to both Fia and Kay, finding that everything pretty much apart from the dirty plates on the table, that were now well and truly drained in the drainer and replaced with an open newspaper on the table, looked the same. They both took their jackets off and laid them on the back of the chair ontop of each other that was at the table where Zan clearly ate or did his crosswords in the newspapers. They figured it was the safest place for the jackets whilst also keeping them well and truly out of the way. "Right" Kay replied, heading to the kitchen, gesturing for Fia to follow her. Kay started by putting away the drained plates so nothing risked falling into them or breaking them, as it also meant it gave her an extra surface to put anything on if she needed it. Fia started in the fridge to look for any food or drinks that were possibly out of date or going off, giving some of them a good sniff to see if anything off, placing some things on the worktop before pulling out the bin, so she could just reach it without walking back and forth constantly. "Fia, hand me any tupperware you find and I'll pile it up to put into a bag" Kay told her, getting a nod in response, with a few seconds later, around four tupperware boxes being handed over to Kay, to which she placed on the worktop nearer her, putting it to one side.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff and Cal headed right for the bookshelves, one starting one side, the other on the other. The files alternated between being stuck to the top of the bookshelf or the back of it. All were covered with some kind of craft paper which were printed to look like wooden planks and had been coating in either glue or varnish to give the file the feel of being wood. Zan had clearly put a hell of a lot of effort into concealing these files, and there was something both impressive and sad about the image of Zan spending his free times disguising his classified documents as pieces of old bookshelf. Aside from Zan's personal files, there was another copy of Mara's autopsy/post mortem report (a quick flip through by Cal revealed that every page contained a post it note with some form of Zan's own notes and theories), a couple of files giving further information on Mara's assassination, one on the implants he was beta-testing and a selection of other files written in a language that neither of them spoke. The first thing Jay did upon entering the apartment was to pull on gloves, they may have had a legitimate reason to be there, but she couldn't take the risk of leaving her prints behind. She busied herself with rounding up the laptop and various cables that went with them, letting out a slight sigh at Zan's system of cable organisation (or more precisely the lack of it).

According to Bec's note the main underfloor hidey-hole was located in the bedroom (there were others in the bathroom and a small on in the living room), so that was where John and Elliott went. John's first thought upon entering was that it was very much the bedroom of a single man, there was little in the way of decoration (and certainly no personal photos). His second thought was that he didn't know whether it was tidy or not. In comparison with the organised chaos that had been John's bedroom in his younger years it was meticulously maintained, but the room bore all the hallmarks of being somewhere for rapid changing and beautification, there were various little plastic droppers designed for administering eye droplets strewn across the bedside table which also had a surprising number of toothpastes stains. "So does this note say which of the many floorboards we're to yank up?" John asked, looking at the boards which were almost as long as the room was wide. "Um... yeah..." Elliott walked forwards, tapping each board with his foot as he counted. It took the two of them to lift the boards, one at each end and some careful maneuvering and coordination to move them out of the way. Both discarded their jackets on the bed, John rolling up his sleeves. At first there didn't appear to be anything in the compartment, only dust and the odd cobweb. Undeterred Elliott lay down on his stomach and stuck his head in the hole to get a better look, then stuck and arm in and began feeling around.

"Anythin'?" John asked, half tempted to grab the penlight torch he kept in his trenchcoat. "Dust mainly.... no wait..." Elliott reached in further, extending his arm as far as he could. "There's something... a handle or strap." His fingers wrapped around it and gave it a firm yank, only to hear a loud ripping noise. "Geez Ell, retrieve the bloody thing, not break it." John remarked drily to which Elliott rolled his eyes. "You try it then. You're slightly taller than me and Zan's got a good few centimetres on me." Not one to turn down a challenge John pushed his sleeves further up his arms, lay down and stretched out his arm, feeling around in the dark until his fingers brushed fabric. He clenched his fingers around it and slowly retrieved it from the hole. The item in question was a large bag, the kind used by sport players to store sports gear and spare shoes. John then got the torch, and clenched it between his teeth as he stuck his head into the hole they'd made, shining it around the space underneath (which was deceptively large and uninsulated), builders cutting corners he guessed. The torchlight revealed that there was also a briefcase which he pulled out. It was locked with a combination lock, so John turned his attention to the second bag. "Right what's in ya, you bugger."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay looked for a bag to put the tupperware inside as the others all got to their retrospective jobs, putting it in and keeping it on the worktop. She made a quick note on the bag so no one accidentally thought the bag was of rubbish and chucked it. Pushing it to the back of the worktop so it was out of the way, she went beside Fia and helped her sort through the contents of the fridge of what was out of date, pretty much going out of date within a day or what still had a very good shelf life and could go back in the fridge or could be frozen. If it could be frozen, Kay made sure Fia put it in the freezer straight away so it didn't go off by being on the worktop for however long they would take sorting through everything. It didn't take long before they could see the bin getting quite full, making a mental note of how much more they could fit in without the bag risking breaking. Kay also found the coffee and biscuits that were spoken off in the cupboards, deciding not to say anything and instead let Fia discover them herself, so she didn't have a teenager making an excuse to stop for a break and demolish the biscuits instead. Compared to the others, they probably had the least amount of work to do, but it was still enough to keep them busy enough.

Eventually, Fia had found the biscuits and the coffee herself after soughting through the out of date tins and boxes of food in the cupboards that she found in the back, and instantly chucking them in the bin, whilst keeping the in date things in the cupboard and even sorted through them so they were stacked a lot neater than how she found them, as she just couldn't help herself from doing it. Kay grabbed the filled up bin bag, pulled it out of the bin and tied it up, putting it by the table so they could chuck it out when they were done, figuring one of their group would be able to find the communal trash area for rubbish. She went back into the kitchen to make sure Fia wasn't eating anything she shouldn't be but low and behold found her nibbling a single biscuit as she finished up what she was doing. "You just couldn't resist could you?" Kay asked, FIa looking sheepish as she was caught in the act. "I got peckish" Fia replied partially mouth full of mushed up biscuit. "I swear you have a bottomless pit for a stomach" Kay teased back, hoping everyone else was being as successful in their task as the two of them were being. She leaned against the worktop, deciding to take a small break, rubbing her bump in the process and sighing. "you doing alright?" Fia asked, Kay nodding back, "Yeah, just needed to stop for a couple of minutes, that's all" Kay replied, not wanting to say 'your unborn self is kicking the living shit outta me', but she did indeed think it.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John had no qualms with rooting through whatever it was Zan had deemed necessary to hide under his floor, and he could see also by the spark of curiosity in Elliott's eyes, that his adoptive son wasn't going to stop him. John was half expecting the bag to be full of cash, small denominations in various currencies, money for going on the run. But the location was too impractical, Elliott had ripped the handle off this bag in his attempt to get at it, so if Zan did have a running away bag, John guessed it would be in a more practical location- bathroom maybe or living room. The bag was dusty, suggesting it hadn't been touched in a number of months, maybe longer. Unzipping it revealed a set of large plastic crime scene evidence bags, stamped and officially labeled. They had however been opened and were now resealed with a small piece of sticky tape. John pulled out the largest and peeled away the tape, curious as to its contents. From inside he pulled out a brown leather biker jacket, a patch sewn neatly onto the left sleeve. John chucked the jacket towards Elliott who caught it on instinct. "Here, try this on. Looks about your size." "What?" Elliott looked at him, both shocked and confused. "It's crime scene evidence John not the latest high fashion from some poncy designer." Elliott shook out the jacket, baffled. "Correction, it's crime scene evidence that yer man" he sure as hell wasn't going to say 'your father' and 'your Zan' just sounded completely wrong. "Has opened and resealed many times before. It's clearly evidence that's bene removed for some reason or another. An' besides" John smirked "whose gonna know? That lot out there aren't gonna tell."

The first thing Chas had done before getting down to business was to flip the newspaper over so he could see the date. Finding it only a day out of date his eyebrows rose in surprise. For him this implied that Zan had found time between meeting Cal and Elliott and heading to court to not only buy the newspaper, but to do most of the crossword as well. After that he and Dan got down to business, contrary to appearance the prints weren't hung on the wall by hook and string, they were actually fastened to it by some kind of nails. It took them a couple of minutes to realise that the frames could be opened from the top to allow a piece of card containing the photos to be slipped in and out. It was only after they'd removed the prints and flipped them over that they saw the real reason Bec and Dexter had deemed it necessary to remove them. Both men let out gasps of surprise "Ell, John, everybody, you're going to want to see this." Chas called out, gesturing for Kay, Fia, Jay, Cal and Cliff to also come over. Carefully attached to the back of each print was a collage of photos, the personal photos the apartment had been lacking.

 

[MzHyde]

Before Fia could get her hands on the rest of the biscuits, Kay did manage to grab them and put them away from her which did make Fia smirk ever so slightly and roll her eyes at her mother. They both were enjoying the short break when Chas called out from where he was in the living room for them all to see what it was he and Dan had found when grabbing the pictures of Dexter's. They both pushed themselves off the edge of the worktop in the kitchen and walked over, curious to what Chas had found that would mean they all needed to see what it was, espec ially as his voice as the first they heard call out since they all came in and started doing their tasks at hand. Neither had heard John and Elliott in the bedroom the whole time, nor had they ever heard if Cal and Cliff ever spoke amongst each other and likewise with Chas and Dan. "What is it you found Chas?" Kay asked, as she reached where he and Dan were standing, seeing only at first the prints they had taken out of the frames, and not the photographs on the back. She had to admit to herself, she was curious at what everyone had found in their little hunting for 'classified belongings' but there was time to find all that out and deep down she had a feeling that everyone would discuss what they found at some point anyway.

Both waited for Chas to show them the photographs once John and Elliott and Cal and Cliff along with Jay had walked over and they all saw it was the so called missing personal family photographs that they just assumed he didn't want laying around the place. Seeing that Zan had had them stashed behind the framed prints told both Fia and Kay that he did want them around but considering his position as a spook and how he wasn't trusted by many people, he didn't want to risk having anything of his personal life in plain sight to risk any repercussions to come from them. They could only imagine what damage could be done to those who Zan cared about and to Zan emotionally if an enemy got ahold of these and used them as either blackmail or clues on how to truly get to Zan and break him down even more than he already was mentally. "Well that explains why we thought those were missing from the apartment, or lacking for a better word" Fia remarked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas' tone was more than enough to have Cal running over, she may not have been mentioned by name, but the fact that it had been Elliott who the cabbie thought to call first told her that it was something she needed to see too. Her initial reaction was shock, they knew now that Zan really did care. Taking a bullet for Elliott had proved beyond doubt that the man had a heart that was far from stony, but seeing the photos was the blow that drove it well and truly home. She couldn't help but raise a hand to her mouth to stifle the gasp of shock. When Elliott and John came in, the former having bent to the latter's whims and had donned the leather jacket, she simply gesture wordlessly at the three prints, lying photo-collage up on the table.

"Well bugger me sideways, he got more personal photos on display than I have." John remarked drily, while Elliott just cursed softly in Attili, reverting to his native tongue like he always did in times of great shock or stress. "Well he is supposed to be both divorced and firmly estranged from his kids, with no other family to speak of- that's pretty much the opening line on his page on Attil's equivalent of Wikipedia. Having these kinds of photos on display to the entire world, it would completely blow his cover story, both in terms of the political guise and as a spook." Jay remarked, her tone outwardly casual and almost bland, while internally she was gleaning as much information from the photos as possible. "Not to mention leaving him open to all kinds of blackmail, there's a reason why orphans make good agents." The way in which she said her last sentence, like a mantra or motto with the certainty and conviction of saying something you'd heard said a thousand times by others, Elliott just knew it was something she believed to be true about herself. With her brother gone and her feud with Quin obvious knowledge, Jay had no tethers, nobody who could be used against her and was free to reign with as much violence as she saw fit. He wanted to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, like Cliff and Cal did for each other, but stopped himself, uncertain as to how t would be received, instead he reached out for one of the three prints- the one that contained pictures of his and Cal's childhood.

Each print concealed photos from a different point of Zan's life. The print Elliott picked up, and that Cal was peering over his shoulder, at covered Cal and Elliott's childhood, photos which neither of the siblings had seen for over twelve years. They were typical family photos, a mix of formal and candid shots. Very few featured Zan, he'd clearly been the photographer, but all were happy photos, showing the good times before things had gone to shit. The second print exclusively featured combinations of Zan, Dexter and Mara at various points of their lives, including a wedding photo. The final print contained the least photos as it had those from Zan's childhood. Among them were photos of; a group of teenagers on a wall laughing, first day of the new school year (featuring a particularly ugly school uniform), one of a twelve year old Zan hurtling down a ramp on a skateboard, a slightly older Zan draped over a chair looking bored out of his mind at some kind of formal event that required him to wear a suit (which he looked incredibly uncomfortable in), a full family shot of all four kids and their parents, him giving a piggyback to a five-year-old Bec, riding pillion on a dirtbike, arms tight round the waist of another teenage boy, one slightly blurry group selfie in which Zan was wearing the confused expression of somebody who'd been dragged into the frame without warning and most notably one of all, him dressed in the universal clothing of a teenage punk- leather jacket, ripped jeans, dark t-shirt, falling apart combat boots, his hair (which had been loose and shaggy in all other photos) spiked with product, various metal bracelets up his arms and chain necklaces around his neck, flipping the bird at whoever was behind the camera.

 

[MzHyde]

When John made the comment about Zan having more around than he did, Fia had to fight back the temptation to say 'well that ain't exactly hard to accomplish dad' as she didn't want the topic to be focused on him, but rather Elliott and Cal discovering the photos in question and taking a moment to acknowledge that their childhood photos plus the others weren't lost in some kind of void somewhere. She also thought, that although John in her time wasn't massively sentimental enough to have photos around, he did still have a couple which was down to Kay insisting on putting up one or two of the really nice photos of their family that perfectly summed them up, yet it was the one family portrait canvas that Kay painted that was the main thing that stayed up because it was considered art more than a family portrait. That same portrait that was briefly noticable in the one photo she showed Rinaa that one time. With Jay's words, both her and Kay nodded, having come to that same conclusion themselves even without Jay mentioning it. "That's a given really, considering all those that have been after him and stuff" Fia replied, as Elliott grabbed one photo to look at with Cal looking over his shoulder. They both took a glance at the other collages of photos, seeing that the ones of Cal and Elliott's childhoods noticing that it must have been Zan who took the photos as he wasn't in most of them, finding they couldn't help but smile at seeing the siblings looking so incredibly young.

Fia found it weird slightly that she was seeing such a young Elliott particularly as she had always known him from this age upwards and not as a kid, but she also found it interesting to see, just like she found interesting seeing the photos of her parents younger years. They then glanced over at the other ones and saw the photos of Zan and Mara's wedding, seeing that Dexter was indeed telling the truth about being Zan's best man, not that they doubted the man, but it was nice to see solid proof of what he spoke earlier. They looked at them all until they clapped eyes on the photo of Zan fully decked out in punk attire and appearance. "well bloody hells...Dexter was telling the truth" Fia gasped, pointing at the photo of punk Zan, then now noticing properly the jacket that Elliott was wearing, and finding herself looking from Elliott to the photo of Zan and back and forth a couple of times. "Seems you got your proper proof right there John" Kay smirked. "He surprisingly pulls it off" she added, her feelings of being impressed evident in her tone.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Seeing pictures of Elliott as a kid was a shock to the system to John, he'd only ever known Elliott as a teenager, and at times he did forget that Elliott had been through all the other stages of life- baby, toddler, little kid, bigger kid. In John's mind it was as if Elliott just came out of the womb a teenager. When Elliott was younger the resemblance between him and Zan was even more striking, Elliott's hair had had a definite brown tinge up until he was about six or so where it had darkened to the black that it was today. Cal looked more like Mara when she was younger, but as both siblings had grown older, they'd become more of a mix of both parents. Looking at the numerous photos of what had evidently been a happy childhood John couldn't keep the pangs of jealousy at bay. The photos may have been hidden, but they were there, they had been taken, been treasured. It was far more than his own father had ever done Thomas Constantine wasn't one for giving any form of a shit about John and certainly not one for taking pictures of the boy, let alone displaying them, so the only photos John had of his childhood years were the ones taken by Chas' family, Cheryl (when she was older and getting her own money) and the people in the hospital when he came in, first with a broken bone and then almost to death. Zan cared more than John's father ever had, and being so used to casting Zan as the villain of the whole thing, John was thrown by this show of sentiment and couldn't help but wish he'd experienced that upbringing instead of the one he got. John was under no illusions about his own stance when it came to displaying personal photos- he wouldn't, given the uprising amount of demons, Downworlders and worst of all, Justice League members, who would break into (or attempt to break into) his flat, he couldn't run the risk of somebody using his sister, niece, adoptive son or Chas' family against him. The birth of Fia would only make things worse, not only was she his biological child, but she wasn't a normal human like the rest of them.

It was Cliff who pulled him out of this cycle of self-depreciating musing, though she didn't do it on purpose reaching over to tap the photo of incredibly bored-looking Zan, "now there's an expression that I know VERY well" she gave a slight smirk "that was Cal's face and posture during ANY history lesson in school." Cal gave an outraged noise, "I wasn't that bad." She protested, to which Dan just shook his head, a fond expression "I'm with Cliff, that's exactly the way you look when bored out of your mind." Seeing that she was beaten Cal gave a mock scowl and grumbled "well it was all war and bloody politics wasn't it? None of the exciting stuff about the buccaneer years or the mythology."

With his attention now on the other photo cards John began scanning them for anything else of interest. He did recognise Dexter, the silver and blonde dye job standing prominently out against Mara's Devra black and Zan's dark black hair (which he suspected was dyed in some form given how much lighter it was the earlier photos). It didn't long for him to find the photo of punk Zan, clapping eyes on it a few seconds before Fia let out her initial gasp. His jaw visibly dropped at the photo, he had his proof alright. There was no doubt about it. That was Zan head to toe in punk attire, looking very much at home it, showing none of the insecurities of those who only dressed up in punk gear on a weekend to fit in. It was a damn good look on him, and John's mind couldn't help but wonder if the politician could still pull it off now, the man certainly didn't look old (the advantages of the longer lifespan of a Devra John supposed). A bit of hair product, dark eye make-up, some tight ripped jeans, a smirk that signalled trouble, a lot of leather and some kick-ass boots.... yeah he could still pull it off John conceded. "He more than pulls it off" John replied, the fact he was both impressed, intrigued and appreciating that look a hell of a lot clearly audible in his tone. "If I'd met him as a teenager and he was in that get-up, I'd definitely have shagged him."

 

[MzHyde]

Neither Fia or Kay could tell that John had pangs of jealousy in him looking at the photos of Elliott as a child, yet if they did know of it neither would blame him for feeling such things, and would have understood why he was feeling it. It was no surprise how badly his own father treated him to either of them, so if they had given it any kind of thought, they would have found that it was only natural he would get pangs of jealousy over it, as to them, anyone would feel those kinds of feelings and emotions over it. It was only natural for anyone to get jealous of someone's childhood being better than their own. FIa herself had moments where she was jealous of Rinaa growing up being able to go to school and have friends and go out and live her life, no matter how shit the other parts of her life was. Kay was jealous that other people didn't go grow being in and out of a mental hospital and being abused by the one professional that should have helped her and believed her, not make her life harder. She was jealous that she wasn't like any other normal person and had so much to her life that she didn't even know, even now. So neither would think any less of John for feeling what he did.

Cliff's comment about Zan's bored out of his skull look being exactly like Cal's made both of them smirk and chuckle a little as Cal protested it, only to get ganged up on with Dan siding with Cliff which could only make Cal conceed to the two of them and give her excuse for looking as bored as she did way back when in her school days. Yet it was their seeing of punk Zan that took their focus away from Cal, Cliff and Dan very damn quickly, making them make the remarks they did toward John, whilst not being entirely shocked or surprised that John would come out with the reply to Kay's comment like he did. Both knew well enough that the way Zan looked was no doubt John's taste when it came to someone, no matter who they were, but Fia did smirk and roll her eyes unable to not think about what it must have sounded like to Elliott hearing his adoptive father talk about his blood related father in such a manner. "Seriously dad? You're gonna talk about Ell's biological father like that in front of him and Cal?" she questioned, but there was a teasing edge to her tone. "Fia, don't question what he comes out with, probably better for your own sanity sometimes" Kay teased back, even though she had similar thoughts herself about Zan as John did, but she had the respect to Elliott and self diginity to not voice them in front of him and Cal. If they weren't around the siblings she probably would have said 'you're not the only one if that was the situation'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott's reaction was to choke and make a face of absolute horror. The mental image that John's words had just produced.... well disturbing didn't even begin to cover it. "Bloody Hell's John! That's not an image I ever needed to have in my brain." He ran his hands up over his face, as if the gesture would somehow remove the horrifying images from his mind. There was no doubt in his mind that John meant what he said, he'd seen the pictures of the kinds of people John had hung around with and shagged in his teenage years, and couldn't deny that in that get-up Zan did fulfil a hell of a lot of the categories of physical appearance that attracted John. "God, I need to bleach my brain...." he groaned, shaking his head, turning away from the group. "I'm never gonna be able to look at that photo again.... I'm scarred for life."

Cal's reaction wasn't as dramatic as Elliott's, she was nowhere near as close to John as Elliott was, and though she saw John as Elliott's father figure, the mage wasn't her father and so she didn't get that same feeling of disgust that her brother did. The thought was still disturbing he couldn't see anybody having sex with her father that wasn't her mother. Chas meanwhile let out a long suffering sigh at John's comment, this was far from the first time he'd such words coming from his best mate, and it wasn't even the first time he'd heard it come from John's mouth in reference to a photo of somebody when they were younger. (That kind of thing happened far too often around John) It was just the way John was, when it came to it, he was utterly shameless. "Of he course he's gonna say it, it's just the way he is." Chas replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose, now somewhat regretting having called John to look at the photos. John merely smirked, just stood there, not caring in the slightest what the others thought of his stance, very much enjoying the other's reactions. In fact the reaction from Fia and Elliott was tempting him to continue in that vein and make some even cruder comments, and had he known Kay's thoughts were going along a similar line he would have either made some comment about a threesome or how she'd have to fight him to get to Zan (as at that time it was much harder for him to find a willing guy and when he did, that guy was his and nobody was gonna get in his way).

"He's a grown adult, he can handle it, he can sure as Hells deal out that kind of comment." John replied, to which Elliott flipped him off with both hands. Jay meanwhile smirked, highly amused by the whole thing. "It's no doubt a look" she agreed, a smirk that said John (and Kay secretly) weren't the only ones thinking of what they would have done at that age when faced with Zan in that attire. "But unless you intend to misappropriate a time travel device, and try to create one hell of a paradox there'll be no shagging of Zan. But I think we can all agree" with one hand she reached over and grabbed Elliott, pulling him back towards the group. "That the jacket Ell's now wearing is the same as the one in the photo...... Bar the bullet hole of course." One hand slid across his chest, strictly speaking she didn't need to feel him like that to stick a finger through the bullet hole, but she wasn't going to turn down the opportunity.

 

[MzHyde]

Elliott's reaction was one Fia and Kay were both expecting. No adopted kid wanted to hear their adoptive parents talk about shagging their biological parents, if they know who their biological parents were. It didn't however make it any less amusing to see him trying to scrub the mental image from his mind by rubbing his face continously. Fia just felt glad that Zan wasn't her family member like he was for Elliott or she would be a lot more disgusted than she was on behalf of Elliott. It was clear to her that John was revelling in their reactions, even though everyone else was giving them the look of 'here he goes again....'. She rolled her eyes at John's come back about Elliott able to take the remark, as she did know he could dish it out just as well as he got it, but there was just something about the topic or more to the person, the person in question that made it all the more cringe worthy. Kay just smirked at the whole situation unfolding in front of her, as she could tell Chas' reactions were of regret letting John see the images, and Jay's was very much on the same sort of path as her own and John's, whilst Fia was very much on the side of Elliott's.

With Jay's comment about nabbing a time travel device and completely screwing up the timeline by creating one hell of a paradox, Fia placed her head in her right hand. She looked up as quickly as she face palmed, seeing how Jay was pulling Elliott back to the rest of them and completely unashamedly feeling him up to show off the bullet hole in the jacket. "I think we could all figure that one out easily enough" Fia smirked. She was also glad that she didn't manager to reasd between the lines of Kay's earlier statement of how well Zan pulled off the punk attire as she knew John would have made the whole teasing crude comments so much worse if he had also figured it out. If he had, she just knew she would be the next one wanting to bleach her brain as it would then not just involve one of her parents, but both of them. Kay also couldn't help but notice how 1) no one seemed to read between the lines or her tone about her own thoughts of Zan's younger punk self, and 2) how Jay was totally abusing the the opportunity to feel up her boyfriend/partner to show off the bullethole in the jacket that Elliott was now donning, which also suited him incredibly well. "leather jackets suit you Ell, that much is certain too" Kay remarked, her tone a lot more casual than the impressive one she had only moments ago. "I also think before we scar Ell even more than we already have, we should move topics forward. The kitchen is done as much as can be. Tupperware with the food in is in a bag on that table" she explained, changing the subject whilst also gesturing at the table where hers and Fia's jackets were on the chair of, "the trash just needs taking out, but obviously, I not got a clue where to take it" she then finished, gesturing then at the full black bag. "It's just the canned or boxed in date stuff left in the cupboards, and the bicuits and coffee Bec mentioned left on the worktop" Fia added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Any chance of anybody reading through the lines and getting Kay's real thoughts on Zan's attire had been completely smashed once John just went out and said it in the most blunt way possible. As she hadn't been so obviously appreciative as John (and Jay) about the matter, her impressed tone was mistaken for being impressed that he could look so different, not impressed that he could look so damn good.

At the mention of a bullethole, John's initial panicked thought was that somehow Elliott had been shot in front of them without anybody noticing. But the completely calm edge in Jay's tone and one look at the bullethole in question and his mind quickly changed, it was clearly an old hole, the leather was cracked around it. "Huh" he remarked "guess we now know why it was in an evidence bag." Elliott had just succeeded in getting the horrifying metal image of John and Zan shagging out of his head and now Jay was putting even more images in that vein in his mind. The feeling of her hand trailing very deliberately across his chest snapped him out of it however and he couldn't resist poking a finger through the hole as well. The fact that he was wearing the jacket Zan had worn when he was shot the first time didn't creep or freak him out as much as it probably should. The jacket was incredibly comfortable and made of real leather. "Is there an exit hole?" he asked curiously. He and Cal had seen the bullet scar on Zans' chest, but neither had thought to ask whether there was a matching one on the back. The answer came in the form of Jay running a finger down his back and stopping it right in the hole. "Well that answers that" he replied, before giving a nod of thanks at Kay's compliment. "She's right 'bout that, told ya it was a good idea for you to try it on." John couldn't help but use the opportunity to gloat.

Cliff, at the mention of coffee immediately went over to take a look. Like in her own flat, there was two types of coffee, some decent stuff for everyday use and some much smoother, richer and more expensive stuff for when you needed that boost in your day. She approved of his coffee choices, they were brands she liked herself. "I'm taking the coffee, that's for sure..... as for the trash. I'm not certain, but there's probably a communal set of chutes somewhere on this floor, we can find it on the way out If for some unknown reason there isn't one, we'll just put it in a bin out back." "The two of us can remove the photos and then put back the prints in their frames. I guess something probably needs to be done about figuring out how to carry all the files" Chas gestured at the pile of documents Cal and Cliff had extracted from the bookshelf. "Well, some can go in the laptop back, there's a file pocket in it and I'm guessing that since Ell's now taken ownership of this VERY nice jacket" her tone making it quite clear that she was very much in agreement that a) the jacket suited Elliott incredibly well and b) that she was all in favour of him simply commandeering it "there's space in whatever bag it came from to store files in." "Yer, right, there is and there's still the squirrel hole in the bathroom an' in this room that need investigating. They've no doubt got more bags we can use for carrying files." "I dibs the bathroom one then, that's where I'd say the cash and fake documents are." "We'll do the one in here then, which is....." "underneath the couch according to Bec's note."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay both looked at John when he said they found it in the evidence bag, both thinking they should have figured that was where they would have found it if there was the bullethole in it, yet it just didn't occur to them that that was the location of the jacket before Elliott wore it. Part of them just assumed it possibly was hidden away beside anything incriminating and they just came upon it, but now John mentioned the evidence bag, it made a lot more sense that's where it would come from. Both smirked slightly when Elliott too poked his finger through the hole in question, before asking if there was an exit wound, something that neither even thought about until he mentioned it. Fia couldn't resist watching Jay do what she did to find the exit wound hole, smirking once again as Elliot got his answer before Kay complimented him on the fact the jacket suited him so well, which John agreed with. Neither were surprised that it was John's idea for Elliott to try it on in the first place, thinking it could have only been John who would suggest such a thing, despite of where the jacket was found.

Seeing Cliff head straight to where Kay put the coffee and biscuits to one side, she couldn't help but find it amusing that it was Cliff who wasted no time in going for the coffee, or claiming it for herself. She and Fia both listened as everyone else spoke up for what was next to be done. She could see there wasn't much else for her or Fia to actually do, or at least herself. Fia could easily help with anything else, even if it was going on a communal trash chute hunt, but Cliff already said they would look for one on the way out. "I can find some more bags in the kitchen, I'm sure I saw some in a cupboard" Fia commented, figuring they may as well pull out a couple just incase they did need any. "Or I can help one of you lot with something" She added, knowing that if Kay needed to rest just after doing the kitchen, then she probably wouldn't be much use of doing anything else, other putting some things into bags if they were handed to her, "oh and Cliff confiscate the biscuits from Fia whilst you take the coffee, and if any of you need things in bags, I can put them into bags at the table" Kay spoke up, starting her suggestion with a dig at Fia in a light hearted manner, but keeping the rest as a serious suggestion.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff gave a smirk at Kay's 'keep the biscuits away from the bottomless pit that is Fia' comment, she was going to just put them in her own backpack with the coffee, but after looking at what kind of biscuits they were, decided she might as well eat one of two. "You can't blame her too much, they're good biscuits" the doctor replied with a shrug, before tossing the packet to her wife and turning to the groceries Fia and Kay had assembled. There was a surprising number of things the two women ended up taking for themselves. "As for helping, it seems to mainly be packing away these files." Cal added, before cramming a whole biscuit in her mouth and heading over to help her wife. While Jay reach over the instructions Bec had given for locating the bathroom hidey-hole John had brought the sports back and the locked briefcase into the main room. As Jay had suspected with the leather jacket now gone, there was plenty of space to hide the paper copies of files. Rooting through the other contents of the bag revealed two more evidence bags, one containing a pair of blood-stained shoes, socks and a wristwatch (long stopped) the other some jeans and a t-shirt.

Jay's triumphant cry of "knew it!" from the bathroom confirmed that the compartment held the 'in case of emergencies' bag. After resealing the hole she brought it back into teh main living room to begin examining the contents. There was money, fake ID (of various types), some long lasting cereal bar type things, a change of clothes, two different wigs, some coloured contact lenses and a quick acting chemical that could be used to bleach hair. The hidey-hole under the floor of the main room was the easiest of the two to get into, all one had to do was roll back the rug and lift up a pre-cut panel of floorboards. This was evidently the one Zan opened most frequently, and it became clear why as soon as Elliott pulled out the contents. It contained a another laptop, same make, model and colour as the one Bec had been using in the hospital, the one she called 'untraceable'. With it was a charging cable, some data transfer cables, a pair of burglar gloves designed to mask fingerprints, a gun (with ammunition clips) and a series of blades, including one recognisable as the one he'd used against Jay. "If I had to guess I'd say the gun is standard issue, as are these blades here. The rest I'd guess are his own."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked at Cliff's retort back to her, half defending Fia for wanting to devour every biscuit in the packet. She couldn't help but find it amusing that she threw the packet at Cal, whilst Fia pouted at being banned from them when she only had one biscuit. "but I only had one biscuit, it's not like I ate half the packet and Cliff is right, they are really nice biscuits" she defended herself. "and you're like a bottomless pit for food, which means if given the chance you will eat half the packet" Kay smirked back before looking at Cal as she said about hoe to help more to her and Fia. With a nod, Kay sat down at the table and whatever was around that needed to be put in a bag, she took it from people and put them away for them, as they gathered anything else they still needed to get.

Fia couldn't help but dart her head up and back toward the bathroom area when she heard Jay exclaim her joy at being right of where something could be and what it would be if it was hidden in the bathroom. She couldn't resist being nosey when Jay came back and take a gander at all the contents as well, seeing exactly what he had hidden, finding that most seemed pretty standard for someone who was a spook or wanting to go off the grid for whatever reason. She saw the cereal bars and wondered how long they'd be sat in there and how they could even be okay to consume still, but didn't pay too much other attention to them after that. She found the chemicals for bleaching hair and the lenses interesting, thinking how Zan really did think of everything to change his identity if he really had to. She then glanced over to see what John was finding under the floorboards in the living room, only to find it was another laptop similar to Bec's in the hospital. Seeing the weapons, she wondered just how many Zan truly had in total as it felt like they were always coming into contact with them. "would make sense I guess" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott couldn't help but pick up one of the blades and turn it over in his hand. It was nothing like the ceremonial sword that had scarred him, it was light and compact, with no visible decoration. The other blades were in the same style. He set it back down on the table, feeling somewhat confused. If this was Zan's preferred style of weapon (it couldn't be guns given the trauma that still lingered), then why the hell had he had the heavily decorated, full sized ceremonial sword commissioned? Had the design been somebody else's idea? Or had it just been some weird fantasy object his father had always wanted to own? Elliott gave a sigh, set the blade carefully down and pulled out his phone. "I'm gonna text Bec, she if she knows which ones he has legitimate permits for and whether we should take the others with us or not." "Good plan, I'm guessing the hospital wouldn't take kindly to us trying to bring this lot in."

"No they most definitely would not, my boss and his bosses may turn a blind eye to some things, but smuggling in weapons is not one of them." Cliff confirmed, sitting herself down on the edge of the table. While the files, food and photos were being sorted John and Chas heaved the floorboards in Zan's bedroom back into place, sealing up the floor and ensuring there were no signs left that the boards had recently been raised. It didn't take long for a reply to come back, which he read aloud. "They've all got legitimate permits, but best to stow them in the proper safe instead of whatever hole my brothers stashed them in." Elliott paused, "she's sent on the passcode for it, it's in the lower storage section of the desk." He held the phone out so Jay could see (and memorise) the code. "And I also asked about the photo, do not make me regret this John" he gave a narrow-eyed look at John who attempted to do a 'who me?' expression of innocence, only to give up after less than five seconds, there was no point in playing the innocent there. "And she says, to the best of her memory he only dressed in the full gear when sneaking out at nights and weekends, their parents were I quote 'allergic to letting their kids do anything fun', the rest of the time his style fluctuated between punk and more casual beach style as they lived not too far from the coast."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay both watched on as Elliott picked up one of the blades and scrutinised it deeply before setting it down. Neither could blame him for wanting to hold it and check it out, noting the differences between them and the sword that scarred him. Fia always had a fasciantion with blades anyway, despite the need for her violin to have been turned into a crossbow, blades were her first choice for fighting as she preferred the thrill it gave her fighting one on one (or sometimes more against her) and seeing her opponent up close, rather than fighting from a far and making carefully calculated ranged attacks. Though she always appreciated a good ranged attack if she was the one making it and it was needed. FIa could also see the confusion in his face, but not able to tell what exactly was causing the confusion. Neither her or Kay could ever imagine how a hospital would take kindly to people smuggling in weapons as it just meant too many risks were being taken and it just wasn't worth causing the drama by doing it themselves. They were after all, trying to keep as low a profile and their noses out of trouble as they could whilst the trial was going on and they could hopefully bring Elliott home.

Whilst John and Chas did the brunt work of putting the floorboards all back the way they were before they disturbed them all, Kay remained at the table on the chair, where Cliff was leaning on said table. Putting her focus on hoping the unborn version of Fia would finally settle down and stop kicking like a mad baby. As the text back from Bec came back with her reply to Elliott, she listened to the response as he read it out loud for them all to hear, thinking the option of stashing them in their proper home was a much better idea. She smirked as the talk continued on about the photo of Zan, making John try, fail and give up trying to act innocent. Something he would never accomplish in her mind. "Interesting" she quietly remarked on the information about the photo. "Makes sense someone would dress more casually if they lived near the coast" Fia commented.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John's initial reaction was to pull a face at Zan and Bec's parents being 'allergic to letting their kids do anything fun', he could sympathies with that, and could fully understand why somebody would turn to the punk scene as an act of rebellion or escape. The thill of sneaking out at night just added to the fun of it in his opinion. "Guess that explains the hair in the other other photos then." John remarked in response to Elliott's thing. It was a phenomenon he recognised from Earth- in general the closer one was was to the sea, the more likely they were to have long and/or shaggy hair. Cliff's siblings had proved that, Benji had a massive mop of shaggy blond hair, as did Nat whose university of the choice was located on the coast. Cliff, Charlie and Matteo who all lived off world far from an ocean didn't have this style.

Jay found no surprises in the safe, there was a selection of weapon permits all up to date and authentic as far as she could see- one for each of the blades they'd found in the flat as well as for the gun. There was also a passport, a card on a lanyard giving him access to government buildings and military facilities (his clearance level was impressive, Dakkon and co had more than succeeding in having an agent climb high up the political pile) as well a couple of sets of keys which she left in there. She carefully laid in the weapons, then shut the safe again. Cal looked at the table and all the stuff they'd pulled either to take with them or to bin. She didn't quite feel up to another long trek back to the hospital, or at least not without having something decent to eat first. "I don't know about anybody, but I could do with something to eat. My appetites returned and I know that the food in the hospital is far from gourmet." "That I can confirm, it does the job, but most of us bring our own. What are you suggesting?" "Either we could order take-away and pay with some of this cash Zan had stashed away or one of us could cook something with the perishable goods so we don't have to just throw them out as food waste unused."

 

[MzHyde]

Like John, Kay could totally understand the whole young Zan wanting to sneak out and rebel against the parents in any way possible. Despite having a good upbringing with her adoptive parents, because she went through that dark place of losing her real parents in one way or another, being abused in hospital, and being bullied at school because of being an out patient in hospital, she closed herself off from her adoptive parents for a long time and rebelled in any possible to try and feel something. She also agreed that the living near the coast did explain the hair to some extent, only really thinking about it when John mentioned it. She hadn't made the connection until he mentioned it, making her think back to the other photos where Zan's hair was drastically different and she was sure if he hadn't made the remark he did, she wouldn't have thought about it at all.

Neither Kay or Fia really made any effort to see what Jay was finding in the safe as she put the weapons and other things she deemed necessary for the safe inside. It wasn't exactly going to affect them in any way, so it was pointless watching such a mundane task. At the sound of Cal's voice speaking up, both of them looked up and at the very mention of food Fia instantly started to get a small smile on her face. "now that's what I deem a good idea!" she said, Kay smirking and rolling her eyes at Fia's reaction to the word 'food'. With both options laid out, Kay was happy either way depending on what everyone else wanted, but if she really had to pick she would only go with one option, and one option only, "I'd personally say one of us cook what's left so food doesn't go to waste, but if others want take out then pick that." she commented. Ever since her homeless days, she learned to truly never let food go to waste if it could be helped as back then it was so scarse, so whatever was obtainable, she had to make it last as best as possible without letting it go to waste. Through that it made her not take food for granted.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Kay wasn't the only one who had a mindset that wouldn't let them see good food go to waste. Cliff had spent her childhood years growing up somewhere where food either had to be caught by hand (be it by fishing or by hunting) or shipped long distances from off world. She'd spent many evenings in miserable conditions fighting to pull in catches of fish, and just as many hours washing, gutting and preparing meat, both for her family to eat and to be sold on. Cal knew that her wife had this mindset and suspected that while she had laid it out as there being two options, there really was only one. "I say we cook whatever there is, there's so many of us, some of whom have such massive appetites" a number of eyes flickered in Fia's direction , before focusing back on Cal"that we can use up most of whatever cooking stuff is perishable."

"I'm up for cooking something" Elliott smiled, despite having been on Attil such a long time, he hadn't actually gotten around to properly cooking something (he'd made breakfast a few days, but in his mind that didn't actually count as proper cooking). From the little he'd seen of it, Zan's kitchen was well equipped and going off a) the lack of take-away packages in the general trash bags and b) the fact that he knew for certain Zan had always enjoyed cooking, he inferred that Zan cooked when he could, probably making enough for two or three days if he had a busy work schedule. Chas, Jay and Dan all raised their willingness to go along with the plan of cooking, before John gave a shrug "I don't mind either way, but I'm definitely takin' some of this cash an I suggest that you two" he gestured at Cal and Cliff "should take whatever we owe ya out of this stuff. Doubt Zan'll miss it, was probably given to him by Dakkon with the intent of it being untraceable, these notes are old and worn, so probably supposed to be decomissioned or whatever the technical term is."