Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

"The offers a standing one, it's not like I'm rushed out with people demanding lessons, this one's basically a pro already." She gestured at Jay before the two started paddling out, Charlie having identified what she thought looked like a good wave. The ball players looked up at Fia's arrival and nodded. "Don't mind at all." Nat told her. "There's no real ryhme or reason to this game or teams, just hit the ball with whatever appendage you can and pass it on to somebody else." The game was chaotic first, but they quickly settled into a rythmn. The more impressive the move used to hit the ball, the louder the calls and applause, with one person or another occasionally calling out a suggestion.

When Jay and Charlie finished surfing (with a couple of wipe outs on Jay's part) they dragged the boards up onto the beach and joined in with the ball group, who decided to switch to beach football, sticking the surfboards into the soft sand to act as goal posts. "Flying goalies only, running in the shallows is allowed, as long as you don't go in any deeper than your knees, no handball, acrobatics are allowed, but don't accidentally injure somebody, espescially not our resident doctor. Remember your teams and have fun, there's no stakes here." Benji said by way of explain the rules after the teams had been picked. The game started and Fia would quickly learn that it was a game full of jabbing elbows and minor violence to get ahead, with barging very much allowed.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia took note of the offer, deciding that if there was time before they had to go back to Attil that she would indeed get surfing lessons from Charlie. She joined in on the ball game and started to get into the rhythm of it, enjoying herself greatly. She saw what it was like to have fun and just enjoy a normal life and she found it highly addictive to always want. It didn't take her long to start showing off a couple of times when she could. With Charlie and Jay deciding to stop surfing and head onto the beach, she joined the others when everyone went onto the beach for beach football.

She listened to the rules of the game, nodding finding they were all fair enough and easy enough to follow. She went into goal position as it meant she could I deed fly to stop the ball, showing off when she could by using her wings to deflect the ball. Though as she watched how full of contact the game was, she had to admit to herself that it looked so much fun and she wanted part of it. She never turned away from contact and jabbing of each other as she was used to it in combat training. She was enjoying herself so much and felt like a normal teenager truly for the first time in her life. She did wish her parents could see how much joy this was bringing, whether it was their future selves or present selves but she knew they needed to do what they needed to and it wasn't always about her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Nobody objected to Fia using her wings as a defensive mechanism for the goal, instead taking it as an extra challenge for themselves. The 'outsiders' of Jay and Fia for perfectly into the game, Cal had played with the siblings before. Jay quickly found herself relaxing and laughing with others, making use of her various combat skills to side step the others. No one person could claim to be the best player as somebody was always able to one up them. All had mastered the art of being able to weave through the others, sidestepping and dribbling and Nat was surprisingly accurate at heading the ball. After about half an hour the teams swapped sides and goals, moving the boards further up the beach as the tide was slowly creeping up the beach.

The higher stretches of the beach consisted of far more powdery sand which made running and acrobatics harder, as well as working its way into every nook and cranny of exposed skin and clothing. With all being barefoot it meant that their feet were caked in a crust of sand. The adults of the group slowly began to arrive first Cliff's parents, who went on opposing teams, then Chas who had originally intended to watch, but was dragged in by John and Elliott who wouldn't take no for an answer. With more people arriving the teams were revised and the pitch made longer to accommodate everybody. Time flew by and the sun began to slowly sink in the sky, filling it with muted yellows and oranges, sunset took a deceptively long time with this kind of cloud line, so there was no need to light up torches just yet.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was glad that no one objected to using her wings as extra limbs, which they technically were. She noticed how it made it more of a challenge for them, and just like the others, she found herself laughing at a lot of the antics that went on. She was truly letting herself just enjoy herself, even when they went further up the beach as the tide came in and the sides swapped.

Eventually Kay woke up, feeling a lot better for the nap, and when the others spoke of going to watch the lot of them play, she nodded and joined them all going up. Except for her, she got out of actually joining in and sat at a safe distance away from them all and watched. When John and Elliott managed to drag Chas into playing the he, she was for the first time unbelievably glad that she was pregnant and far enough along to have a legitimate reason to not play such a rough contact sport. So she took in great delight watching everyone else play and naturally she enjoyed watching John. As the sun began to set and the colour of the sky changed, she looked up and smiled, finding a strange comfort in seeing the colours, even muted, they gave her a sense of serenity. She put it down to the actual colours that were coming out, as they were part of her whole colour scheme of what she was. She almost forgot everyone was even playing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The game was interrupted by a call from atop the rocks."Room for two more? Or even one? Considering the goalies are uneven and I know exactly how to fix that." There was more than enough light left that it could be clearly seen that the caller was Moya. Her wings were currently folded against her back, but she relished the chance at being able to unfurl them after so long spent travelling. Unlike Kay and Fia they'd couldn't simply retract out of existance, she had to live with them being uncomfortable and getting caught in various things. Her tone didn't betray the fact that she was nervous about the whole thing. She'd only met Fia before, and at that point there had been a language barrier between them and her attention was more focused on the cute girl flirting with her.

"Always room for more, get yourselves down here, the other guys are trashing our asses!" Benji called out, gesturing for the two girls to come forward. Moya took advantage of the situation, spreading her wings and flying over. Her wings were larger than Fia's in all dimensions and potentially larger than Kay's. Unlike theirs which were linked to magic hers firmly obeyed the laws of physics requiring serious shoulder and chest muscles to get her airborne. She landed in front of the goal, wings spread out fully, black feathers glimmering in the light of the dying sun, landing on the balls of her feet as opposed to her heels kicking up only a small cloud of sand with her landing. Rinaa was less of a show off, tugging off her shoes, and tying them around her waist, one on each hip. "Let's do this then." Rinaa smirked, rolling her shoulders before asking a question making an opportunity for everybody to introduce themselves."Who's on what team?" With the teams and names established Moya nodded, gave a thumbs up and the game restarted.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay came out of her own mind when the voice called down from atop the rocks. Seeing the winged girl, she guessed it was this Moya girl who Fia and Rinaa spoke of that time at dinner. She also noticed how much larger her wings were to Fia's and how they were just that bit bigger than her own and instantly had respect for the girl having to have the strength to be able to manoeuvre with them. It got her curious to what race she was, as she knew every winged race had differences in their wing span, though always in keeping with the body they were part of. She also noted if they were any bigger on Moya, there should be no plausible way Moya would be able to fly.

Fia still had her own wings out due to using them for being a goalie, and she really saw the difference properly for the first time. Her wings, though in proportion to her own height and body shape, felt incredibly small to Moya's. She smirked at the show off landing, it reminding her of when herself and Kay landed on the makeshift landing bays. She watched as Rinaa made it down, tying her shows on each hip, whereas ages ago, she had left her sneakers with Kay. "Good to see you again Moya" she briefly greeted, as Rinaa asked who was what team.

 

[_gallifrog_]

When Fia replied in a language Moya could understand, the girl raised an eyebrow, her golden eyes sending a quizzical look at Rinaa, who she was deferring to on information about all the others. "Mage, they've used auditory translation runes to overcome the issue of the language barrier." "Which couldn't be done on Attil because the people in charge are arses when it comes to magic." Moya finished. "Exactly." Rinaa smirked broadly the tips of her fangs visible, as Cal, Cliff and Elliott gave nods and chuckles of agreement. "I like this one already." Cliff signed to her to-be wife who nodded in agreement. "Gotta agree on that." Elliott nodded directing the statement at Moya specifically.

"I lived in a completly different city, well out of the mountains, when the farce of your 'exile' took place and for what it's worth, it was the wrong decision, the wrong execution and a complete perversion of all the ways Attili kids like me were told to behave and treat others." Her words were sincere, her golden eyes unblinking and fixed firmly on Elliott as she spoke, making it clear that she understood the gravity and complexity of Elliott's childhood. "It is worth something, thank you." He replied, surprised by the bluntness Moya possesed. The teenager then fixed her gaze on Fia's wings,clearly impressed."I'm guessing concealing your wings like that is another magic-assisted thing that won't work on mine?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia let Rinaa explain how she could suddenly speak and understand multiple languages, meaning she could talk to Moya finally. She smirked when Moya finished the sentence, truly now seeing why Rinaa liked her straight off the bat. When she spoke to Elliott, even Fia could tell that Moya meant every word she spoke to her big brother, and although for all tense and purposes, she wasn't Elliott's little sister whilst on this planet, the words meant a lot to her as well that so many were behind him. Mostly because as in her timeline, she was that baby sister that was insanely protective of her big brother, so if someone was siding with him, she likes them.

As Moya turned to Fia, she nodded, "partly magic, partly down to my genetics. I'm half mage half phoenix. Like my sister though, because we're phoenix's in human bodies, we're able to conceal our wings, through our birth marks on our shoulder blades. But they're only visible when our wings aren't. Think of it like a wing portal." She explained, which was the most explanation that she had ever given about how hers and Kay's wings actually worked. She also didn't think about the fact she had never said before she was only half phoenix, having only ever said to Matteo that she was a phoenix. Kay listened to Fia speak, especially when she said 'my sister' and hoped no one would pick up on the extra information she let slip, but she also knew everyone was highly observant. So she hoped that Fia had a bloody good story to back up her information.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John noticed the discrepancy as did Chas and Elliott. Jay didn't have enough information on Fia's heritage to know that Fia was telling the truth or not and Rinaa's mind was firmly on other things. Moya nodded at Fia's words, taking it all in. She did have personal reasons for asking, her wings were wider than she was tall, they had to be that size in order to generate suitable lift to get her off the ground. But with wings that size it posed some serious problems and short of getting rid of them, there was no proper way to keep them out of the way. "Makes sense, but it's also slightly annoying as I could totally use something like that for mine, they can be the definition of awkward nuisances. But hey it could be worse. Don't suppose my of you have ever seen butterfly winged humanoids?" She asked, prompting various nodding and head shaking from the others.

"They have the most ridiculous wings size wise, can't even fold up in some sembelence of neatness like mine do and are surprisingly fragile. They may look good but it's more trouble than it's worth apparently." As Moya spoke she getwuerd the dimensions of a butterfly person's wing using her hands and her own wings. "One of my doctor colleagues was part of a team performing wing removal surgery on a butterfly humanoid, but that's the only time I've ever head of somebody going to such extremes." Cliff remarked. Shortly after that the conversation died down enough for the gam eto restart, with nobody commenting on Fia's discrepancy. Moya made use of her wings only as a defensive strategy, knowing theat a deliberate hit could easily floor somebody. Her shirt had been custom designed to fit her wings and her over-defined shoulder muscles could be seen moving under the shirt.

 

[MzHyde]

If anyone had brought it up and made her realise what she said, like they did with Rinaa, she would have probably have said something along the lines of 'i find it all fascinating and since being taken in by both Kay and John, I picked up the mage side of things and now just see myself as half and half as at home I use magic a lot more than my phoenix side' yet no one picked her up on it outwardly, so she didn't go into it. She listened to the reply she got from Moya, and she could easily see how annoying if must be to never be able to hide her wings. She was just thankful she and Kay could as it would make for ridiculously awkward times back on Earth.

She shook her head at the question about seeing butterfly humanoids, not even have read about them in her books but didn't doubt that other humanoid beings existed out there. She had seen too many downworlder beings to know that anything could exist. She listened to what Moya said and what Cliff replied with and she couldn't fully imagine being that desperate that they'd go as far as to remove the wings. She just knew what it was like to rebel against her bloodline and try and pretend that she wasn't a phoenix when back home in her timeline, particularly when she was 9 years old and got the truth out of her parents. With the conversation over, she went back to the game and all talk of wings were gone from her mind. She was just back to having fun.

Kay continued to just watch on, taking the odd snapshot on her phone when she felt like it, otherwise she just enjoyed watching her family having fun for a change. There was just something about it that relaxed her. Every now and then she looked up at the sky or out at the horizon to take it all in, as she played with her necklace subconsciously wondering what was in store for her when they got back home.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The game was indeed fun, albeit totally chaotic and at some point it devolved into some strange combination of rugby and soccer, which prompted Chas to go full on rugby player throwing himself across the goal line sliding under Fia's wings with the ball clutched tightly to chest and triumphant yell."All those hours standing on the pitch side freezing your arse of have clearly paid off mate." John smirked, to which Chas threw the ball at his head only for John to use it as a set up for a scissor kick to Elliott. "Sport isn't just absorbed through osmosis y'know." Chas sighed getting up from the ground, rubbing a hand through his hair trying (and failing) to get the sand out. "Well Trish had to get it from somewhere."

They kept on playing after that, unaware of the sun setting, their eyes growing accustomed to the dark until Cliff looked at the horizon and realised that it they stayed out any longer they wouldn't be able to see a thing. Cal lit her hand alight, the flames casting a large orb of light. "If we keep going any longer, we'll have to light up some form of torches in order to be able to actually see." "I say we call the game for the night." The others nodded in agreement, panting in exhaustion and rubbing various aching muscles. "Any idea who won?" Cliff asked as they began to head towards the houses, Cal leading the way. "Not the foggiest and we didn't even join at the start." "Lost count after twelve points to be honest."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia tried to stop Chas from getting to the goal but with his floor slide, he managed to evade her perfectly. She found herself laughing at the yell he let out in the process whilst John made the comment about watching Trish. She made sure she was out the way when Chas threw the ball to which John kicked to Elliott. Like with the others, she kept playing until it was too dark to play anymore and Cliff decided to call it for the evening.

Kay couldn't say who won either, it got very competitive and chaotic and she quote frankly lost count. "Even from the sidelines I've lost count" she commented, standing up onto her feet and grabbing Fia's sneakers at the same time. "Fia, sneakers!" She said, holding them out to her. "Keep hold of them, I'm not putting sand in them" Fia replied, to which Kay just nodded and kept ahold of them. Fia shrugged her shoulders, and rubbed them as her wings disappeared back into the back tattoo of hers, glad to have them hidden once more. As much as she enjoyed flying and showing off in the game, she still felt less herself in part phoenix form, than when she was just human looking mage her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"It's not vitally important anyway." Benji shrugged, tucking the ball under his arm. "But my team totally won." "My arse they did!" Cliff snorted. "My team totally won." Elliott's face crinkled in confusion as he turned to Jay and Charlie. "I thought they were on the same team?" "And besides, the teams basically disintegrated with the goalies getting so involved, it really seemed like every man, woman and person of indescriminate gender for themselves was just out to get the ball over the line in some form or another." "That's pretty standard for us really when there are so many non family players. And best guess, those two are actually arguing about who was captain of the team."

Chas was walking with John, Kay and Fia, still trying to remove sand from himself, this time focusing on the amount that had managed to lodge itself inside his ear. " I didn't even think you could get bloody sand in ears." " Well clearly you can, just stick your head under a tap in The House, that should get rid of it." "Stellar advice there John." Chas shot back not at all surprised by John's lack of sympathy. It was kind of his own fault for showing off with a spectacular dive over the line. He couldn't match the two winged people with their tactics or the high kicking and flipping acrobatic agility that some of the others had. Moya and Rinaa were ahead of them, the former having folded back her wings so they were as out of the way as possible. Both were grinning from ear and talking animatedly. Even if Moya wasn't her girlfriend she had a dramatic effect on Rinaa's mood.

When it came to the parting of ways, Jay, Elliott, Moya and Rinaa were hesitant to leave the main group uncertain of whether there were any further plans. "Not to just presume, but is this all for the day, or is there some further plans I want around for?" "Nothing more complicated or requiring more set up than food and a movie if people are interested?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia walked with John and Chas, with Chas' comment making Fia chuckle. Fia was still impressed that Chas even went all out and showed off, and she guessed it partly might have been because of her and Moya having the upper hand of being able to take flight. "Talking of water...I so need a shower now, I got sand everywhere" Fia said. "Don't wanna know" Kay remarked back.

Both girls noticed how much happier Rinaa was with Moya being around and it was clear as day just what a powerful and positive impact the girl was having on her. They both listened as Jay asked if there anything else planned and Cliff said about food and a movie. "I'm down for that if others are" Fia spoke up first, always being up for a movie night. "Seems good to me also, just wanna grab my hoodie from The House" Kay added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John rolled his eyes at Fia's comment, he was pretty sure that sand had worked its way into all the obscure cracks posisble in his clothing, but he wasn't complaining about it. Though it was probably a new experience for Fia as London was severely lacking in the beach department. "Sand on beach is hardly anything new, even if we don't have one in London." At the mention of a movie there was enthusiastic nodding. All but Kay and Fia headed into Cliff's family home to get it ready. "I'll save ye a seat." John called over his shoulder, actually meaning it for once.

"No cop movies, spies are acceptable, detectives at a push, but not full on cop movies. For the love of my sanity, not cop movies." Charlie declared as soon as they entered the house. "No prison movies either too close for comfort for some of us." "No romance either, we'll be getting enough over the top stuff at the wedding." Matteo declared. "For diplomacy I think no alien horror movies either, as much as some of us love them, it's just not sensible given all the planets of origin here." Cliff added. "Got any ridiculous comedy?" Rinaa asked, knowing that it was one thing that wouldn't get vetoed. Everybody in the group had some genre of film the wouldn't watch (for her it was anything with genetic experimentation resulting in monstrous uncontrollable mutants, it hit too close to home). "We've got stupid comedy, bad comedy, downright awful comedy and comedy so bad and absurd it's good." "Definitely the last one, laughing at utter nonsense sound like a good way to end the evening."

They bickered back and forth over which film was he best, those who had watched it before chipping with their opinion on whether the jokes would transcend cultural barriers or not. By the time the others returned to the house the lights were darkened, the curtains drawn and as many spare chairs and seats drawn up as possible, along with copious amounts of comfort and junk foods.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia then rolled her eyes at John's reply, "remember I don't get out" she retorted back as she started heading to The House to take a quick shower with Kay so she can get her hoodie. As John called over about saving her a seat, she did her signature flick of her hand off her forehead. "Thanks doll!" She called back. The two girls reached the house after the little trek and entered with no problems whatsoever. "Don't take too long okay?" Kay said to Fia in English this time. "I won't I promise" Fia replied, heading to the one bathroom she knew how to get to after taking her sneakers from Kay.

Kay walked upstairs to their bedroom, walking in and grabbing her favourite oversized hoodie which was sadly getting more fitted by the weeks, but luckily remaining baggy on the sleeves that were still a tad too long...just the way she liked them. She waited for a little while in the room for Fia to finish doing what she was. Fia managed to get the sand off of her completely before getting out the shower and heading to her own room, where she shoved on some jogging bottoms and an over the head hoodie. Pulling on her sneakers, she went to Kay and John's room, walking in. "Mum I'm ready" she said, tying up her wet hair. Kay snapped out of her thoughts and stood up, "okay, let's get going" she replied. "Mum...is everything alright?" Fia asked, as they left the bedroom and headed downstairs. "Yeah...yeah I'm fine" Kay replied, nodding and smiling. "Come on...I'm in need of cuddling up to your dad" she smirked, making Fia groan and head out on ahead.

They eventually made it to Cliff's home and walked in to find the place all decked out ready for the film with spare seats set out. Kay walked in and sat next to John leaning into him instantly, whereas Fia sat off to the side. "What's the decision on film?" Kay asked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The others looked briefly up at their arrival, before settling back into their positions. Cal and Cliff were naturally seated together, squished into the same armchair. Cliff's parents were seated more sensibly as were Jay and Elliott, each with arm around the other (this would gradually turn into the two comfortably slumping against each other as the film progressed. Moya and Rinaa were on the large beanbag chair, which didn't offer the greatest view of the television screen (as large as it was) but did allow her to arrange her wings comfortably and in such a way that she wouldn't get pins and needles. The single people were dispersed around the room on various chairs. "Comedy in the 'so shite it's good category'." John replied putting an arm around Kay as the film started up.

The film truly fitted that description, the only thing good about it was the soundtrack (which had been composed by a composer Rinaa really liked) and the cinematography. The rest was atrocious by anybody's standards, the acting was over the top, the plot meandered all over the place growing steadily more and more absurd. There was a plot in there somewhere, but it wasn't sure of where it was going. It didn't take too long to reduce the group to fits of laughter. And the jokes even worked when translated by the runes with only a few exceptions where the language wasn't quite a perfect fit.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked at the reply John gave her about what they chose to watch. As he put his arm around her she naturally stayed leaned into him, one hand lifting up and linking fingers with his as the film started up. She watched the film and could instantly get why it was put in the category it was, yet she also found herself laughing at it just like the others were. It was definitely a new experience to watch a foreign film with the runes working, but she strangely got used to it quickly.

Fia glanced out the corner of her eye and saw how her parents were which made her smile to herself, even if she still didn't fully believe Kay's earlier words when she found her spaces out, but did her best to mainly focus on the film when it came on. It was indeed terrible and Fia couldn't understand why Cliff's family even had it, but she still found herself laughing at it, and face palming at the really bad bits. Yet as she glanced around yet again briefly, everything felt so perfect to her seeing everyone in good spirits and enjoying themselves. It had been such a good day and she didn't really want it to end.

 

[_gallifrog_]

When the credits finally rolled it took a good five minutes to stop laughing. "Why do we even still have this film?" Cliff asked once everybody had regained their composure. "Becuase it's so stupid, and I think I laughed up one of my kidneys." Benji replied,then saw the look on Cliff's face and added "and don't you dare tell me that's medically impossible Cliff, I know exactly what my body just did back there." "I was actually gonna ask if I could use it as a transplant organ, or if it's in too shit condition just cut it up for dissection." "No dissecting your brothers or your sister." Cliff's father said, which prompted Cliff to open her mouth and protest, but she was cut off with a stern look before slumping back and admitting defeat.

There was nothing that could recall be said to ruin the mood, and for once everybody was happy having bonded over a good (if slightly chaotic game of soccer), a truly shite movie and copious amounts of food. Even Rinaa was happy, for once feeling that she was fitting in and a proper part of the group, giving a tantalising glimpse into what her life could have been like had things been very, very different. It was a picture prefect scene, everybody happy and together and she desperately wished there was a way to take a picture of it as some kind of proof that this was possible. She let herself enjoy it, relaxing back into the warm beanbag. The good mood continued as they headed back to their respective places to sleep, Jay, Elliott, Rinaa and Moya heading down to the harbour while John, Kay, Fia and Chas said their goodbyes and made their way to The House.

 

[MzHyde]

With the banter going on about the state of the film, Kay found it all amusing that she was witnessing her admitting defeat and looking like someone's kid for the first time since knowing her. Just the look alone that was given by her father made Kay remember the times when she was a mere kid and she would get the look every now and then from her adoptive father over something she had done at school or at home. If there was one thing she learned, it was not to press the matter when 'the look' came out.

As they headed back to The House, Fia made sure to have everything she brought over, which she mostly didn't use in the end but she didnt mind. It was a great night, she was completely stuffed from the amount of good consumed and still quite awake. She just knew she'd be up in her room for a while or find her way to the library or something until she fell asleep somewhere. Kay on the other hand was indeed getting tired again. She had her hands in her hoodie pockets as they walked back and found herself every now and then yawning. "I'm so ready for crashing on that bed right now" she said with a slight smirk. "I'm not, I'm still pretty damn awake!", Fia replied. "I can tell, you're practically skipping back" Kay smirked, noting how Fia's feet were slightly hopping off the ground as she walked, and she definitely had the 'dancer's feet' thing going on. Fia looked down and then up again and shrugged, before patting about, going ahead a couple of steps and doing a pirouette, whilst carrying the two books and violin. "Show off" Kay smirked, still not ready to let on in front of Chas that she could indeed dance herself.

 

[_gallifrog_]

After the movie John was feeling more like Fia was. He was buzzed, both from the sugar consumed and the general atmosphere of relaxed happiness during the movie. It really felt that for the first time they were a proper group and unlike previous times there hadn't been tensions between Fia and Rinaa. Whether it was Moya's presence, or the fact that they were off Attil (which was evoking complex emotions in all of them) or the binding power of an utterly shite movie or something else entirely John couldn't tell, but it showed that things could be different. As they walked back John felt wide awake in contrast to Kay who was noticeable yawning and dragging her feet. He really wouldn't be getting to sleep any time soon, his brain was too active.

"I'm with the kid on this one, I won't be falling asleep anytime soon." John replied as Chas shrugged, being careful to stay out of Fia's way. A wallop to the head with a violin wouldn't be the greatest way to end such a great day. "I'm kinda in between, I'm not dead on my feet, but I'm not as buzzed as you are. Though a bit of reading to calm down the brain should mean I'll be out relatively quick." "If we were at home I'd suggest poker or something, but we'd need at least four for that to work properly." John replied, pushing open the door to The House. "So I'll probabaly just wander around The House for a bit or somethin' like that."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay noticed how buzzed John was, and she began to see that similarity in both John and Fia. Though Kay figured if she wasn't pregnant she would be in a very different mindset. She listened to how Chas was somewhere in between her own status and John's, deciding that she probably would be the first to fall asleep and she had no issues with it at all. She was surprised at how tired she was considering she had that long nap earlier on in the day, but if her body was crying for sleep, then she wasn't going to fight it.

"I was thinking along similar lines. Either go to the library, do a bit of training or dig out my VR system from under my bed." Fia replied, as she effortlessly walked backwards into The House. "You have a VR system?" Kay asked, "yup! Got it one birthday, managed to hook it up so I can train alone with it and game." Fia clarified. Kay nodded, wondering how they ever afforded such a thing, and little did she know that it was something that Sam bought her one birthday. "Impressive" Kay simply said as she started heading to the staircase. "Dad you're welcome to join if you're interested in any of the options" Fia then spoke up.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John raised an eyebrow impresssed at the mention of VR. The tech was only emerging in his time and riddled with various problems, lacking the big technological break that would allow it to become properly immersive. So whatever Fia had was guaranteed to be miles better than what was currently available on the market. Future John had been skeptical of virtual reality at first, bringing back some bad memories of bad drugs trips and hallucinations, along with the time he deliberately let himself be possessed by a demon. But he'd eventually gotten over it and VR gaming fast became one of his favourite things. Chas embraced the technology more freely than John. "And no doubt its miles better than the crud being peddled currently as VR." John smirked.

"Might take you up on that, I'll probably be lurkin' in the library." John replied to Fia as they entered The House. He appreciated being asked to join her, but more than likely wouldn't, not that he didn't want to spend time with her but he was a loner at times choosing to enjoy his own company and this was one of those times where his mind was clear and his thoughts weren't going to be tormenting him all night. When they parted their various ways he headed towards the room he was sharing with Kay in order to say goodnight in private knowing that by the time he returned she'd be fast asleep.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia grinned and nodded, "damn straight it is. Started off as a gaming be system but I tinkered with help and that's how I can now do solo training sometimes in it if I fancy seeing an opponent. But I still game for the laughs on it when I fancy it. I can tell you now when it comes out on family gaming nights it's hysterical" she explained before he said he'd probably be in the library and only might take her up on the offer. "Well...like I said, I'll be in one of two places, my room or library so I won't be hard to find" she replied as he headed upstairs with Kay. She first headed to the kitchen to restock her mini fridge with soft drinks in her room deciding to dig out her vr and do a bit of gaming instead.

Kay went upstairs, glad to hear that Fia was willing to share another side of her to John. She also appreciated that John came in with her, as she pulled off her hoodie and kicked off her boots. She sat on the bed to get changed, taking off her vest and her leggings. Standing up, she pulled the duvet back, ready to get in. "Sorry I'm not up for staying up late" she said.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John shrugged at Kay's words there wasn't anything he or Kay could do to change her current mood. It was to be expected really and thanks to Fia and the bet, they'd both had an early start. And the day hadn't been any less crazy since then. They'd been put to work but there had been time for fun and a proper chat with Elliott. It had been a constructive chat, both having things that needed to be said in private without everybody in their group knowing. Elliott was willing to talk about what happened with his father, even MindWalking John through memories of the conversations to help get his point across. Elliott's father bore a striking resmblenc to both his children, they had the same facial structure high cheekbones and piercing eye shape. Talking helped both of them, their shoulders slumping in relief at being able to get certain things out that had been nagging at them for a while.

"It's fine, don't worry. And besides I don't exactly have a normal sleeping schedule, some nights I just don't need that much sleep, or can't sleep" "mainly due to nightmares, but hats not the important point here" John added internally before continuing "and end up doing whatever, other times I sleep like the dead for what seems like a whole week." He shrugged, the a thought struck him. "If I don't come back I've probably fallen asleep somewhere weird, so don't freak out or anythin' cos that's kinda normal for me."