Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

"False personas are the bane of my existance. There's no point in pretending as everything will just come out in the end. And no matter how much it hurts to show the world what and who you truly are, it will only hurt more to keep it down and hide it away. The truth is always worth it." Part of the reason for disliking false personas came from work. There was no point in pretending that something wasn't wrong when talking to the person who'd been through years of med school to get the qualifications necessary to fix said problem. And part of it stemmed from the stigma around her deafness and the treatment of Elliott, and how that affected Cal.

"Only realised that now meself" He shrugged. And at the same time he realised that he had never quite gotten around to digging out the old tapes from the band. She'd seen the photos of him sure, but neither had quite gotten around to listening to his old music. Elliott's recordings (both solos and with Jay) had been his focus, as Elliott had been willing to share them. That was one of the first signs he'd seen that made him suspect something between the two of them.

 

[MzHyde]

"I completely agree." Kay replied to Cliff. Which she realised was slightly hypocritical of her as she always put on a snarky persona when she would first meet people, yet with her it was self protection so she wouldn't get hurt and could figure people out first. If she hadn't adopted that alter ego, she was damn sure Hell would have her by now and she wouldn't be her anymore. So in a round about manner, she did it for positive reasons.

When John said he only realised that himself, it truly made her sad she didn't have her sketchbooks. She wondered if there was a way she could find out if Sam still have them without dragging her best friend and sister into her shit show of a life. "If i had my books is show you but they're with Sam I think" she told him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal went back to her work, pulling up a chair, and propping her feet up on the anvil. This time she was working on the blade hilt, delicately carving the metals with tools first, before simply using her own summoned flames to manipulate and melt the metal into the shapes and designs she desired. Cliff carefully put the sketch in the laptop bag which had a specific for documents she didn't want to get creased, before turning back to the book she was reading.

John would have liked to have seen more, and was saddened by the fact the sketch books weren't anywhere accessible. Nowhere really was accessible from Attil, but that was besides the point. At some pint they would probabaly end up tracking down this Sam character who had been such an integral part of Kay's life, but it would involve figuring out how not to drag her into either of their shit shows. "Pity, but that's life, eh?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay let Cliff and Cal go back to what they were doing previously and not take up anymore of Cal's time in particular. She nodded when John replied with how it was a pity. It was clear to her he did wish to see more of her work. Maybe they'd figure out a way to meet Sam, she had brought her up enough times which shows how important a person she was in Kay's life. John had sort of met Ethan, but that was when demons had taken him and thus, not met the real him, instead, sending him back to Hell for kidnapping and killing her.

"It sure is. Typical of our lives anyway." She agreed. Kay then had an idea, and it was a silly little idea, but one none the less. They had time to kill and she still had paper left and she was still in the creative mood. She stood up and features for John to sit down, before sitting down on his lap, she still had the pencil in her hand which she put to paper after turning it landscape. "Now comes the real challenge" she vaguely said to keep up the mystery. She used only a standard black graphite pencil this time, instead of putting in colour. Like before, she started rough with lines and no real signs of where she was going, but she knew exactly where she was going with it.

She had learned a technique to do sketching quickly and this would now be a real testiment to her observation skills when it looked like she wasn't paying attention whatsoever. She kept up the ruse by sketching the background but she kept it simple and not highly detailed. When it came to the main focus of her piece, it would soon become evident to John that it was him she was drawing, from when he had a cigarette at the opposite end of the forge. A close up involving head and shoulders. For something that was quick and not as detailed as the one of Cal, it was still pretty detailed and very recognisable as John. She even included the little smoke cloud that left the end of his I'm uncultured. Using shadows behind him to make all the focus on him. It would have taken her a good fifteen minutes for this, as she considered a quick simple sketch..more of a doodle really. If she was drawing him properly she would have taken a good couple of hours.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John watched with interest at what she was drawing. At first he had no idea, and he knew that was the point of her deliberate vagueness. He didn't speak, just watched, trying internally to guess who or what the subject matter would be this time. But he quickly saw where it was going, and who exactly was emerging out of the blur of the background. John knew his own face very well, and he knew exactly what it looked like when sketched. He figured it probabaly wasn't a good time to tell Kay that contrary to what she thought, she wasn't the only woman to have drawn him from memory or without looking at him. There had been Zed and her psychic gift..... but that was not an alley he was willing to go down. Espescially considering how that ended.

Even though it was rough, it really captured the essence of the 'John Constantine-ness' of him, in his (highly biased) opinion. "Handsome bastard inn'he?" He remarked with a smirk

 

[MzHyde]

She may not have been the first to draw him, but that didn't bother her in the slightest. This was the first time she drew him. She liked that he kept quiet whilst she sketched, though even if he spoke it wouldnt have distracted her as if she was at home, she would have music on or be singing as she doodled. She just enjoyed sharing it with him.

When she was done and he comments with what he did, he left himself open for a sassy remark from her and she was not.going to let that opportunity go amiss. "He ain't bad...whoever he is. Might find out and shack up with him" she retorted with a smirk. It may have been sassy but she did mean it lovingly toward him. She just enjoyed teasing him with her snark, as she knew they each have as good as they got and that's how their relationship worked so well. She turned to face him, whilst staying on his lap, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Maybe I should draw Chas at some point and co...which reminds me. Not done a self portrait in bloody forever" she commented.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John knew exactly how to respond to that. "Hands of! He's mine, I've had my eye on him for quite a while now." John smirked back, knowing (from experience) that he would be twisted enough to shag himself, given half a chance. He also meant his words lovingly, knowing full well that their constant ragging had been the basis of whatever it was they had going on between them. The smirk didn't diminish with Kay's kiss on the cheek either, which he returned in kind.

"Maybe you should" He replied in response to her musing. "He's probably the only one who can stay still or at least around for long enough to get a good gawp at them. Jay'd most likely be doing Heaven only knows what to anybody willing to spar, and Rinaa....is well... Rinaa." There was no other way he could think to describe the teenager. Maybe after meeting Elliott she'd be different, maybe not. She was a strange one alright,and he couldn't help but wonder how much her upbringing had been affected by the lack of Elliott around. The more she expressed herself, the more he could see the similarities between the two, along with some small tics and idiosyncrasies that either he or Chas possesed.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay couldn't help but laugh at his response to her little taunt. She wouldn't put it passed him to fuck himself given half the chance, especially after hearing him talk about his other world self and how handsome he was. She knew his various tones now to know he meant his reply just as lovingly as she did. She also noticed how his smirk didn't diminish when she kissed his cheek, only to receive one in return. She really loved that he was getting better at being more open about their relationship, when people were around.

She listened to his reply and a small chuckle left her lips when he said about Chas being the only one who would stay still long enough. She found it amusing for a couple of reasons, one being that yes, John was no doubt right in that comment. Even she had noticed how Chas was the only one who would stay still the longest out of all of them. But she also found it amusing because he had no idea she was capable of truly drawing people in motion. "I've drawn dancers...movement doesn't put me off" she replied to him. So the idea of drawing Jay sparring felt like a welcoming challenge. "Well, if I'm gonna be mostly on house arrest for our" she glanced down and ran her hand over her stomach, "safety? I'll have plenty of time to sketch everyone. I also feel like it's be a nice thing to compile for Fia" she told him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John smiled at Kay's agreeing laughter that Chas could be the only one of them who could sit still long enough. The idea of drawing Jay sparring was a challenge "Considering how fast she can go, and that she's never gone full speed, full sync in our presence, you'll have a challenge in her." John replied, knowing that Kay would no doubt at least attempt to capture Jay if they ever did witness her going full force. He knew from Elliott that she always held back when sparring to give the sparring partner half a chance and to minimise the risk of accidental injury, although there had been a few.

"Unfortunately that's what it looks like, but at least The House is full of random/ interesting crap, so neither of us will get really bored." Despite finding out the news this morning, he felt that Kay was already lightyears ahead in dealing with the whole I'm. Going to be a parent to a newborn scenario. Even though he knew she was just adapting in her own way to the whole situation. "That sounds like a good idea."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded at John's reply saying she'd have a serious challenge on her hands. "Well you know me...I dont shy away from a challenge easily" she told him, remembering all those training days where they out her through her paces, thinking it'd be too much for her and she'd fail, only for her to prove them all wrong.

She then listened to what he said about The House. It was true, that place was fascinating for her and knowing her she'd go exploring, get lost and have him try to find her. Or she'd find a corner in the library and sit on the floor, despite there being sofas and chairs and read or draw in there. She might have given off the whole 'im adjusting to this whole new life' vibe, but if he had heard her talking to her stomach he'd have had a different opinion. She was still extremely scared of the whole fact of becoming a mother at 31. It just turned out that talking about it in this way was helping her to accept it.

"This gives me an idea...I said I haven't done a self portrait in forever right? So, here's a thing for you to do...at some point in any time, or anywhere, take a photo of me when I'm unaware. Send it to me and I'll sketch it" she suggested to him, as she began to spin the pencil between her fingers idly. She was curious to what he'd come up with or what would make him think 'that's the moment'. It also was an idea that meant it'd be something they'd share together.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John knew that they'd both end up getting lost in The House at some point or another. The House was sentient and had a habit of fucking with people out of boredom or malice. The only difference was that as the owner, John was able to somewhat manipulate The House to his will in order to find his way out. He had no favourite room, it really depended on his mood and his state of mind, but the indoor pagoda garden thing was pretty damn awesome (and quite unexpected too).

Kay's idea was unusual, but he liked it, which was evident in the thoughtful half-smile on his face. It would be a challenge, something to keep his brain occupied with, an dto fall back on whne he didn't want to think about the rest of the weirdness in his life. Which was something he needed more than ever. He nodded "Yeah, I can do that. Could turn out shite though, I'm not exactly a photographer.....or an artist outside of drawing runes. But it'll be a challenge." He made a mental note to actually charge his phone, which had probably been flat dead for a few days now.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay only accepted the fact of being under house arrest in The House because she liked the place. She just hoped The House didn't fuck around with her too much, especially after her and John slept together in the kitchen on the counter. She knew she'd probably have to go out of her way to keep The House happy and not do anything that could make it act out of turn.

She noted his reaction to the idea, noticing it wasn't a disgusted or negative reaction, so clearly she made an interesting suggestion for him. She knew it'd occupy his mind when he would need it, and she'd get a portrait of herself doing something that wasn't staring into a mirror to mimick what she saw. She always hated those kinds of self portraits, it never showed the person properly. "It just needs to be whatever you see, I'm not expecting some amazing top notch photograph. From me reading, watching TV, doing my hair, staring out a window... Literally anything. As long as I'm not aware of it." She told him with a smile, showing she trusted him fully with this task.

She wouldn't even complain if she found him stealing her phone if he found the perfect moment.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal was still working, though the forge noises had simply faded into the background for John, he only became aware of it when there was a particularly loud noise, or the metal was quenched in water with a dramatic sizzle. Given that the fire Cal created was mainly channelled through her hands and the large amount of time her hands spent in contact with the blistering hot metal, it was easy to see how, despite have inbuilt fire resistance, her hands were covered in blackened burn callouses. Cliff had no such problems with the noise, in fact she had fallen asleep in the forge on a few occasions.

"Well, that's a relief. I'll think of something...…..eventually." He replied with a nod, knowing that he'd having it praying on his mind for a while, the forget about it, then vaguely remember it at just the right moment. Or at least he hoped it would work that way. But it would keep him occupied, and he was interested to see how it would turn out in general. And now his thoughts were turning to food. It was some weird hour of the afternoon, and there was clearly no schedule whatsoever. So his next question was directed at Cal and Cliff, more so than Kay "Anywhere here that does good food?"

 

[MzHyde]

Like John, she managed to tune out the noise of the forge. She was still very much aware of everything going on, but when she focused on something she loved or John, everything just seemed to tune out as background noise. When the loud noise occurred, she turned towards it and away from John, though she remained on his lap. She watched Cal do what she had to, noting how her hands were now black.

When John replied to her comment, she turned her attention back to him and simply nodded. "Like I said...no rush for it. You'll know the moment when it happens." She replied, reiterating her trust in his judgment. As he then spoke towards Cliff and Cal about food, she realised how long it had been since they ate. Which if either of her mothers were around and knew of her current state, would probably have given her a major bollocking for it. She didn't believe in the whole 'eating for two' thing, but that's not to say she did have to think their unborn child still.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal pushed her hair back, leaving some black smudges in it, before signing at Cliff about what had been just said, and to either pay attention and lip read, or put the hearing aids in. It was second nature for her by now, and even John saw it as a testumnet as to how strong the love between the two of them was. And he never usually noticed that kind of thing. Cliff went for the latter option. "There's plenty of places that do good stuff. It's quite multi-planetary-cultural here, due to the vast diversity among the pilots and others who work at this base, so most kind of food can be found somewhere."

"So it really depends on what you want to eat, there's Gio's for pizza, that place that does this rib platter that will make you reconsider your existance in the universe, many, many, many curry, noodle, stir-fry places. The list really goes on. So it depends on what ye want." "Well I could eat anything, Kay, what do you feel like?"

 

[MzHyde]

If Kay didn't have John, and she witnessed Cal and Cliff's relationship she would have felt incredibly jealous and yearned for that kind of love. Seeing how they were together despite Cliff's disability was truly something. Sure, her relationship with John was nowhere near like theirs, but she still considers it special in their own way. She looked at Cliff as she put her hearing aids in and replied to John's question about food, before Cal gave a list of the kinds of places.

There was quite the list of places, she almost didn't know what to go for and hoped John would have picked but then he passed the buck to her, which made her internally groan. She wondered what would be best to eat that wouldn't make her throw up after, as that was the last thing she wanted. Yet her earlier craving of spices didn't go amiss either, so she settled for something in the middle, "noodles of stir fry sound good to me" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The reason John had deferred to Kay was he knew there was a distinct possibility that she might throw up if she ate certain foods. Seeing that once in one day was quite enough for him. And noodles/stir-fry/something along those lines did sound good, he looked back at the two women and nodded. "Yeah, I'll go for that." Luckily both Cliff and Cal had the same favourite noodle place, and it wasn't too far away either. "We know a place, 'bout ten, fifteen minutes from here." Cal replied, downing the tools. "I'll just let Dan know what's going on." She heade off into a side way that led to the living space of the building. "The most important rule of this forge says somebody has to be in the forge at all times while the fires are active" Cliff explained.

Cal re-emerged a few minutes later, followed by the blacksmith himself. He was tall, well built, maybe forty or so. His hair was black, with streaks of silver and red. Héis eyebrows were extraordinarily bushy, and he had tattoos of some kind of runic patterns on his forearms. He acknowledged the presence of the others briefly before heading to start his own work. "Let's go then" Cal pulled a lumberjack shirt from the wall hook and pulled it on, before heading out the door.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was glad that he was good with her decision for what she fancied, not even thinking that the reason he deferred to her was because of the morning's vomiting session. She listened to what Cal said about knowing a place, and nodded when she said about letting the blacksmith know before heading off momentarily. Kay then took that moment to get off of John's lap, and stood up whilst she waited for Cal to come back. She looked at Cliff when she explained the forge rules and it honestly made sense. "Makes sense" she simply replied.

When Cal re-emerged with Dan in tow, she took proper note of his appearance, unlike last time when they all first arrived at the forge. She noted the rune tattoos on his arms and acknowledged back, when he noted their presence. As Cal grabbed the lumberjack short, she nodded at the cue to head off. She followed out with the others, actually enjoying the time to stretch her legs and walks despite how comfortable she was just moments ago. She looped her arm through John's for the walk, it now becoming a habit. Not out of being clingy, she was never one for being like that, but just because she preferred it when not in a place she knows. "Hey Cal? There anywhere round here I can get spices for drinks? Weird request I know..." She asked as they walked. It wasn't urgent but she was curious, as she could seriously just mix cinnamon in hot milk and drink it. She was that strange person that could do the cinnamon challenge and not flinch at all.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal considered the request. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know a few places that might have something." She replied after a moment or so of thought, not thinking it was a particularly strange request. There was one thing she also wanted to clear up while she remembered it. "And while I think of it, Dan isn't fulfilling the broody, monosyllabic blacksmith stereotype or being rude by not talking to you guys, he's the opposite of that. He just doesn't speak English."

That made sense to John, he actually found it more surprising that both Cal and Cliff could speak English, and hadn't really given any thought to the rest of the population until now. " Fair enough, so how come you lot can?" "There's seven or so major languages that are spoken all over the areas of the universe we operate in. English just so happens to be one of them, as is Russian, whichh didn't originate on earth by the way. Part of pilot training is that you learn as many of these languages as possible, and English is by far one of the easier ones." Cliff explained "There's also three different dialects of sign language, but they are pretty similar to one another in most regards."

 

[MzHyde]

"Brill" she simply said in reply to Cal's reply. Kay wasn't used to people not finding her requests for just pure cinnamon strange. She was too used to people thinking she was the strange one, which made her wonder if Cal knew anything about her kind and the link between spices and the phoenix. Hell, even Kay found it a strange link but she couldn't deny it was well and truly true for her. She also didn't think much of Dan and the fact he didn't speak to them, she certainly didn't find him rude or anything, as she remembered when he first spoke he only spoke Attili, so she just guessed he didn't speak English.

She let Cliff explain how the others could speak English when John asked. The question not even going through her mind, but it wasn't surprising that it went through John's. What did fascinate her though was that Russian didn't originate on earth. "Interesting" she said sincerely in response.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Now that is mind bending. So how did Russian get to Earth?" "Some crew or another crash landed there back in very, very early history, set up a colony, assimilated the shape of the dominant organisms, which were the humans at that time. The aliens eventually died out, but the language stayed." Cal explained, relating the story. "Language history, not as boring as it sounds, though not exactly the most fascinating subject to study. Most only did it as an elective option to get easy points."

The two led the way into the social heart of the city. It wasn't mobbed, but there were a good number around. Some eating, chatting, drinking, others working and running from one unknown destination to another. There was an underlying buzz of life and energy. The buildings were a mix of metal, stone and glass, in various styles, most two or three stories in height. There was a surpsring amount of plant life growing up and around corners, staircase poles and other vertical pillars.

 

[MzHyde]

As John asked how russian didn't originate on earth, Kay listened intently to the answer. Cliff may think it wasn't the most fascinating topic out there, but Kay found it fascinating enough to want to listen. She may not be fluent in many different languages but she still found it amazing to learn about how a language came to fruition. Kay was one of those many people who knew a little bit of basic stuff in a couple of languages, just so she could get by if she ever needed it, but it was nothing like how John knew Latin and enochian and such.

Continuing the walk to the heart of where the food places were situated, she looked around and saw how different it was compared to where they were, population wise. It certainly felt more busy to her, but it wasn't so bad that she got anxious. She was actually getting better at the whole crowd issues, she just wasn't fully aware she was getting better at dealing with it. The place certainly had character in her mind.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The two turned left, heading up a wide rock stairway to a different level. As the main base was built on the flat section of the mountain, the side industries had grown up around it, in steps and terraces on the remaining mountain face. After some more walking and idle chatter about nothing much in particular they reached the noodle place of choice. It was a plain building with a sign that presumably said 'noodle place' (or something to that effect in Attili.

Cliff entered first pushing the door open with her shoulder. The staff person on till clearly recognised them, and threw over a couple of menus with Cal caught with ease and passed to the others. Thankfully they were twitn in multiple languages. John could speak Attili, but he wasn't great at reading it, probably something to work on. The decor was a mishmash of furniture, colours and styles, as if somebody had gone through junk rooms and pulled out whetever they felt like, with no rhyme or rythmn. Dominating one wall was a pinboard of posters and notices for bands, concerts, karaoke night, league tournament fixtures, betting odds, things for sale.

 

[MzHyde]

Following up the stairway, she paused when they got to place in question and Cliff walked in first. She watched as Cal had no trouble in catching the menus and noting how the two of them were clearly recognised. She put it down to Cal and Cliff possibly being regulars as they recommended the place to her and John. She took one of the menus from Cal and was thankful that it was written in multiple languages, as otherwise she'd look like a right idiot having to ask for it to be translated for her.

The décor was...interesting to say the least in Kay's opinion. It didn't seem to have any kind of standard set colour palette or theme. The notice board of posters was one thing she noticed. As she looked around, Kay followed along as a table was spotted and chosen. When one was chosen, she sat down, letting Cliff and Cal obviously sit together and so forth, before glancing through the menu, making sure to read only the English translations of each dish available.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff and Cal both knew what they were having, put performed the typical ritual of looking through the entirety of the menu to see if there was anything else new or outside if their usual tastes that took their fancy. There wasn't. The favoured table for today was beside one of the windows, near the back. Their usual table was either the giant one upstairs for when there was a massive group, or for when they were alone together one of the smaller tables in the corner.

John sat, noting how Kay made sure that the two women were together, and the two of them were together
It made sense. Hemade his decision quickly, even though there was a wide variety of things available. The place specialised in noodle dishes, as it had originally been purely noodles for sale. Later they also branched out into curries, stir fry and hot pot dishes. The meat ranged from the regular beef, chicken, pork to the more exotic meats (at least for John) of animals native to Attil and other worlds in the system. The same applied with the accompanying veg.