Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa was secretly relieved when both Fia and Kay declined, it was a recipe for disaster really. Rinaa was not beyond ruining somebody's hair to get back at them for some grievance or another (she'd never actually done it, but there was a first time for everything). "Yeah fair point, I'm asking to figure out whether I need to get started today or if getting up at a stupidly early hour tomorrow morning will do the trick." Charlie ran a hand through her ponytail, which was full of split ends and quite a bit longer than she liked it to be, as she hadn't been bothered to cut it for quite a while. "Well I'm due a cut of some sort" she admitted. "I keep putting it off, and it is my favourite sister's wedding, so I should make an effort." "Damn right you should, which applies to all of you."

"So, trims for all your siblings then? And before you ask, its really no bother, I can do both genders of hair." "I wouldn't say no to a trim either, but there's no pressure or anything, I can do it myself." Moya replied, having spent the past few minutes carefully considering the offer. Rinaa smiled at the sentinemnet, knowing she would not be turning down that offer. Moya, like Rinaa had thick hair that served as an excellent blank canvas. "Okay, how about this. I'll do all the trims today and tomorrow I'll so the complex styling works for us core three." "Sounds like a plan when do you start." "As soon as I can get my hands on some kit really." "Try the top left cupboard in the kitchen."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay wasn't worried that Rinaa would do a bad job, but Fia on the other hand was VERY worried that Rinaa's wolf side would tempt the girl into botching up her hair just for the sheer hell of it. Which would then make Fia need to use magic to fix such issue, something she wasn't against doing if it came to it. It was a spell she knew and tried once out of curiosity before quickly shaking it out to her normal colour before she got caught..which she almost did.

Kay smirked at the whole favourite sister comment by Charlie toward Cliff, knowing how those chats usually went, to which Cliff confirmed exactly how she thought off would react. With all the chat made up about how Rinaa was going to about doing all the hair, Kay wondered if the others should get out of the way and occupy themselves with something else or not. "Do you need the rest of us out the way?" She asked, figuring she'd check anyway, knowing how some people liked to work without too many distractions going on around them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa disappeared into the kitchen, easily locating the cupboard and pulling out the scissor and razor set. They were a mix of hair equipment, craft equipment and sewing tools, contained in a a leather case that folded out. "I don't mind an audience" she shrugged, having cut hair in a public space before. Generally the only time she cut hair in private was when she styled and dyed her own. "I hadn't given much thought to where, outside of the fact that I'd rather do it on dry land." She added looking around the room, trying to figure out where would be the best place to sit whoever she'd been beautifying. "You're the expert here, whatever works for you."

"I'll set up here then, feel free to fight among yourselves over who goes first." Rinaa decided, chewing on her lip slightly as she made a call. This was Cliff's family home so in her mind it was really up to them where they'd feel comfortable having their floors covered in hair. "Knock yourself out." Cal replied which was all the permission she needed. John had to smirk when he saw how the siblings decided who was going first, their equivilant of rock paper scissors. The elements had different names- stone knife, net- but the idea was the same. Charlie won out and sat down on the coffee table while Rinaa selected a set of scissors. She'd decided to dry cut as it was far easier, but was going to be using hair straighteners on the women's hair to maintain an even cut. "Could somebody keep the dogs out while I'm working please? I don't wnat to stab anybody in the neck with scissors just cos you guys have super friendly dogs." She worked methodically, from right to left, shearing off loose ends, working on instinct, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

 

[MzHyde]

With it decided that they needed to move necessarily out the way, Kay just nodded. Both her and Fia also found it amusing that the siblings decided to use the old game of rock paper scissors, or their equivalent, to decide who would go first, only to see Charlie win and sit on the coffee table, to which Fia moved Kay's book out the way in the process and Kay took it from Fia. The moment Rinaa asked about taking the dogs outside for a very good reason, Fia stood up, "I'll do it if they'll follow" she said, which wasn't much of a surprise to Kay that Fia would volunteer. One because she loved the dogs a lot, that much was clear and two, because she clearly didn't like being around Rinaa too much or at least, when she had sharp objects in her hand.

Kay could also see just how much Rinaa was concentrating and how seriously she took doing such a thing, as she watched the teenager work on Charlie's split ends. After a little while, she just found herself opening up the book again and read a bit more as after a while watching someone just cut hair did prove to a bit boring. If anyone ever thought up something new to do then she'd join in but for now, she decided to mind her own business and read.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It was clear to John that Fia was comfortably setting into her role as official guest dog minder. It had been barely two days and they were equally besotted with one another. His future self was going to have to deal with a massive increase in pleading for a dog, and would no doubt be curisbg his past self. The dogs would miss Fia when she was gone, that much was also clear. They were highly intelligent and had taken a shine to his daughter. As he thought about the dogs he came to the uncomfortable realisation that more likely than not, this particular set of dogs would be dead before teenage Fia would ever get to see them again. It was Benji who directed the dogs to follow Fia outside, using both whistling calls and sign langauge.

"I feel like I should be doing the usual inane hairdresser conversation while doing this." Rinaa smirked, starting on the back of Charlie's neck. "Stuff like 'got any important occasions coming up that merit this increased level of personal hygiene and fretting about appearance'." The cop smirked, imitating a high pitched pish accent with a hint of snooty disdain. Charlie was full aware of how she looked after pulling long cases, gresy hair, drak circles around her eyes, and a cup of coffee glued to her hand. "Or even worse 'got any holidays planned for this year?'." Rinaa snorted. "Honestly unless you go to a place regularly or know the owners, it's not like they actually give a fuck, it's probably so there isn't an incredibly awkward silence and to distract from the fact that if you tilt your head too far up you can see their nose hairs."

The rest of the hair cutting sessions were filled with easy banter and jibing, which Rinaa found herself relaxing to. Cliff's brothers hair was far easier to cut, all they needed was a trim and a shave in harder to reach places. John was surprised when Rinaa revealed that not only did she know how to do a straight razor shave, that roughly the same effect could be achieved with a butterfly knife, though you had to pay far more attention that way. As things were going so well, Rinaa decided that she might as well trim Cal and Cliff, before tackling her own mop. It was at that point that Chas, Jay and Elliott succumbed to peer pressure and decided to get a cut aswell, while John stood his ground and declared that he was going to stay scruffy haired (which Rinaa had expected as it was typical in her timeline). Rinaa had just finished cutting the last head of hair (bar her own) when the sound of rocket engines cut across the relative silence of the island. The first ship was followed by three more, all small plane like crafts, all coming down on the landing area they'd marked out the day before. Fia from outside would have the best view, the craft were about twice the size of a fighter, shaped in a similar streamlined shape with various identifying markings.

 

[MzHyde]

It was also clear to Kay that Fia was setting into her role as guest dog sitter, whilst glancing at John she knew he was thinking the same thing. Oh they were going to be in for one hell of a time of begging for a dog, that much was extremely clear. Unlike John though, she didn't think about the fact that before Fia would be able to see them again, they'd be long gone. She glanced up as Fia took the dogs outside before looking down at her book. As the chat went on, she kept one ear on the conversations, joining in when it warranted it. She smirked when John put his foot down on not having his hair touched by anyone, just knowing that was going to be his stance on the matter. She declined the offer of a trim as well, perfectly capable of doing it herself if it needed it, but she didn't think her hair was all that bad, all things considered.

Fia sat outside with the dogs, giving them all equal amount of fuss consisting of head scratches and strokes as she looked out at the view at nothing in particular. She could hear the conversations going on from inside the house, only smirking every now and then at the banter that was being said. She even heard Elliott and Chas give in to the peer pressure and get trims, shaking her head at them giving in. She knew John wouldn't give in, as he didn't let anyone ever mess with his hair. She sighed as she started zone out whilst chilling with the dogs, when her thoughts were interrupted by the incoming ships. Looking up she watched them come in and went wide eyed at the sheer size of them. She lifted one hand up to above her eyes so she could try and make out any markings, but couldn't quite, so instead she continued to watch.

 

[_gallifrog_]

At the sound of the ships rockets, everybody inside the house paused, looking skywards (a futile gesture as there was two stories between them and the sky). "Somebody's arrived, four crafts by the sound of it." Cal remarked, jumping out of the chair. "Given that they came in formation, I'd put my bets on it being our Attili crew." Cliff answered, also getting up. "Well they did get clearance to use the military jump gates for the trip." Cal mused. "Or instead of musing you could just do the logical thing and go over to a window and stare out, see what kinds of markings you can see. Or better yet, you could simply go up to the actual landing zone itself." Benji told them with an eye roll, also getting up. "Really?!? I'd never have imagined that that would work." Cliff gasped sarcastically. "That's why I'm the smart one, Clarissa." "Shut your hole, Benjamin." She retorted flipping her brother as she walked out. "You guys don't have to come along, it's just gonna be all hugging reunions and slightly awkward introductions." Nat added, as he headed out the door. None of the others really had anything better, so they decided to go along for the ride, while Jay and Rinaa wanted to scope out the ships.

By the time the others came down the ships had already passed below the treeline and landed, so there was no way for Cliff or Cal to identify them. Fia on the other hand would have been able to see that three of the ships were the same model, while the fourth ship was a different style. The markings were Attili. It took just under seven minutes to reach the landing site with Benji, Cliff and Nat driving as fast as the uneven landscape would let them, without the journey becoming unbearably uncomfortable. By the time they'd reached the landing zone, the final ship was being rolled into position. Three ships were standard Attili military, while the fourth ship was Deke's and had been heavily customised (which included a personalised paint job). There was eleven in the group in total, all dressed in the standard issue grey and blue military issue spacesuits. All but three were Attilians. Cal and Cliff's first instinct was to help out, securing down the ships, checking for any obvious outside damage and starting unloading any necessary baggage. As Nat had predicted their reunion involved hugging, which only reinforced that they were a close group.

 

[MzHyde]

With the ships coming in, Kay put the bookmark in the book and put it down. She rolled her eyes when everyone else looked upwards at the sound of the ships, but a tiny smirk appeared on her lips at the same time. Though if she wasn't reading at the time she probably would have reacted in exactly the same way out of natural instinct. She smirked more when Cliff and Benji sassed each other before Cliff gave Benji the middle finger. She watched as they all started to walk out, and she followed suit but decided instead of tagging along, she'd stay with Fia at the house and with the dogs.

Fia did indeed see the markings on the ships eventually and seemed to recall seeing similar on Attil that one time she did the walk near some of the ships with Rinaa when going to the university labs and such. With that familiarity in her mind, she put it down to the fact that these were Cal's and Cliff's Attili friends and/or colleagues. "You alright kiddo?" She heard from behind her, as Kay carefully sat herself down. "Yeah, I'm guessing everyone is heading to the landing area?" Fia replied in question and assumption. "Yeah, decided they didn't have anything better to do so tagged along." Kay explained, Fia nodding in acknowledgement. "Sounds like the lot of them to be honest" Fia smiled, "you sure you're okay?" Kay asked looking at Fia, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "Yeah I'm fine, honestly. Just too lazy to go with them, and enjoying the company of these three anyway" Fia said back in a way that showed Kay she was telling the truth, whilst stroking Meyer.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa knew Cal and Cliff's crew pretty well from her timeline, they were a feature of her life, when she was on Attil. Jay didn't know any of them, she didn't exiect to, but she'd travelled far and wide as an assassin, so that possibility couldn't be put aside. Rinaa began giving a summary of what she knew, keeping her voice low as her cover story dictated that she really shouldn't know any of this knowledge. John found himself tuning in and out of her commentary, but he got the overall sense that she liked them and they were a balenced group. The majority of the crew were pilots like Cliff and Cal, a couple were Royal guards too, while others were just regular military personnel, each with their assigned position in the ships. Deke was the main mechanic and tech guy, but there were two other mechanics and engineers who prefered to work on ships rather to fly them.

Naturally the focus of attention became Elliott, with one pilot just cutting straight to the point. "So this is the long lost thought-to-be-dead-mage brother?" "Well with cheekbones like that it could hardly be anybody else" somebody else replied, earning a dig in the ribs for their trouble."Don't get too excited, he's taken." Cliff called out. But things got really interesting when Elliott recognised one of the pilots "Bloody Hells, Lock is that You?!?" who promptly wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug while the others watched on with visible surprise written all over their faces. It turned out that man in question had been one of Elliott's closest friends at school and they had a lot of catching up to do. It would be another half hour or so before they returned to the main house, the group talking a mile a minute among themselves, Cal having done the introductions in as a brief a way as possible. Most of the pilots had been to Cliff's home planet before and they knew her family well as well as a basic layout of the island. When they finally reached the main house, it would be clear to Kay and Fia that their group had now doubled since the crew had arrived.

 

[MzHyde]

With the others gone, Kay and Fia managed to do some bonding through various conversations. Ranged from silly little things of no real significance to how Fia dealt with being home schooled (still keeping it a secret about Sam), and when she started training to be in the life she had no real choice but to be in. Kay listened to every word her daughter had to say, making sure to truly listen and take on board the different inflections in her voice to know what upset her about her upbringing and what didn't. Yet despite all that, Fia still now told Kay that she didn't hate her for the choices made. That she was starting to understand why both Kay and John took the choices they did.

Kay found herself wrapping one arm over her kid's shoulders, her thumb rubbing her arm in the process. "I promise you Fia... we'll try harder to make things easier for you much earlier" Kay told her, deciding that they had to at least try, even if they fail and do exactly the same things their future selves did. "I know...and...i apologise for all the shit I'll possibly you guys through" Fia leaned into her grip as she replied, making Kay chuckle slightly, "I'm prepared for it. I guessed there might be at some point as I had my fair share when I was really young before mum passed. 'just because you're my flamebird doesn't mean tour tantrums can match the name?' she'd say to me. So think it's a phoenix thing. I havent warned your dad yet though." Kay chuckled, making Fia laugh. "He's gonna hate that" she replied to Kay as the now clearly much larger group arrive back, all chatting. Both girls looked up as they reached the house, Kay's arm removing itself from Fia's shoulders. "And the group extends more" Fia remarked with a small smile. "indeed kiddo" Kay replied back to her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott paid little notice to Kay and Fia outside the house, he was utterly engrossed in talking to his old school friend. John and Chas made their way over to Fia and Kay, deciding it was easier to let the pilots and aliens talk among themselves. Jay and Rinaa were already slotting in comfortably with the group, Rinaa having been dragged (willingly) by Deke to talk with the other mechanics, while Jay was talking high speed ship racing. "See the pilot guy with Elliott, the tall one, talking a mile a minute. Tawny hair cropped military style, missing a finger on his right hand?" He asked, jerking his chin in the direction of Elliott. From their distance the missing finger couldn't be seen, but it was one of the first things Elliott had picked up on and asked about while John was in earshot.

Once they'd confirmed they knew which one he was talking about, John continued talking. "He's called Lochlin, Lock for short and is one of Elliott's childhood friends, they were in the same school class for five years. Thick as thieves if the little Ell has said is anything to go by." "Ell's only ever mentioned him a couple of times to us, so I have no idea if he'd ever have said anything to you Fia?" Chas added. Between them they knew was that Lock and Elliott had bonded by playing plas-ball together, Lock's family had a long history of going into the military (which he'd followed), Elliott was always the oldest and tallest of the two (which was still the case to that day), they spent most afternoons after school at each others houses and a variety of anecdotes about stupid things they'd done together (usually involving one daring the other to do something).

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia both looked up at John and Chas heading their way, and smiled. The conversation they had seeming to just fade away into the back of their minds instantly. As John started talking and gesturing to the guy talking with Elliott, both girls looked over to see that John really wasn't joking when he said talking a mile minute together. They both nodded, "yeah...why?" Kay replied questionably. They listened to the answer that John then gave them, finding it be complete news to Kay as she had never heard Elliott talk about this Lock guy, but it was clear that they used to be close, and clearly all the time apart hasn't altered anything.

Fia then looked at Chas when he directed the next bit at her in particular. "Only vague things that he was a childhood friend. But not much other than that. Never met him in my timeline personally, but Ell didn't particularly talk much about childhood friendships as it was sort of a sore subject for a long time for me, and he respected that." she explained, just matter of factly, deciding not to show much emotions on the answer at all. It just wasn't worth getting into her mind.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Fair enough." John shrugged, he wasn't expecting Elliott to have said very much about his Attili life to Fia. They had no idea how things went on Attil in her timeline or even what kind of relationship Elliott had with people on Attil, Fia had mentioned Cal and Cliff, but since she had never been off world, it was doubtful that she'd have met many if any off-worlders. Fia had also explained that her upbringing meant having no proper friends, and John could understand why Elliott wouldn't want to make his kid sister feel bad or uncomfortable with his memories. Rinaa and Leah however were different matters, espescially since Jay had her own ship secretly tucked away somewhere and knew where to find a space gate for easy jumping around. "To be honest, I'd forgotten that he even existed, what with everything else going on and the fact that Ell rarely talks about his Attili life."

"I wonder what it's like to come back after all these years and see people all grown up and actually mature adults. The lats time he'd have seen Lock they'd both have been twelve." Chas mused, he'd never asked Elliott that question directly but it must have crossed Elliott's mind too, Chas believed Elliott must have some sense of how things could have gone so very differently if he hadn't been exiled, he could have had a completly different life. "Yeah, it must be bloody weird. But what I find even more impressive is that Cal managed to keep this on the sly for so long. She obviously knew who Lock was to Ell, yet gave nothing away, letting the reunion be a genuine surprise for him."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay wasn't in the slightest bit shocked to see John respond to what Fia said in the way he did, and it seemed neither was Fia. "Not entirely surprising that you'd forget to be honest. Like you said, he doesn't talk about it so it's only natural to forget about someone's existence" Kay commented. Both girls nodded in curiosity at Chas' thought, thinking it could only be insanely weird. They listened to what John said, finding that they agreed with his opinion. "Weird but in a good way I would have thought. Or more to the point, I'd like to imagine" Kay replied, trying to put herself in Elliott's position with if she ever saw Sam again. Sure, it wouldn't have been nearly as long a separation as Elliott, but she genuinely didn't know what Sam looked like now or what she was doing with her life.

"Cal clearly was doing it for his benefit. I mean...I can imagine what his face was like when he clocked Lock for the first time. Reuniting with someone after not knowing they were coming to see you is much rawer and genuine than knowing and hearing yourself up for it" Fia commented, sounding like she knew what she was on about but in fact didn't. She just remembered what it was like watching Kay see Sam again. She had never seen Kay be like she was that day. It was honestly like seeing a completely different person. "Or so I'd think" Fia added off the cuff. "Well it does make a nice surprise for one sibling to do for another" Kay added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"His face was bloody priceless." John chuckled slightly as he remembered how Elliott had gone from idly scanning the group, to narrowing his eyes in scrutiny, shaking his head in disbelief, scrutinising again, then full on jaw dropped open surprise. "The faces he made wouldn't have looked out of place in a cartoon." "That's an exaggeration..... but it was impressive to see. It was a genuine surprise for Ell, Lock would have known that Ell was back, I'm guessing Cal told him to hold of on the reunion for a while, so it wasn't through prison bars." "Yeah reunions from a cell aren't the greatest, they're usually pretty damn awkward." The comment was barbed, aimed at Chas and referring to the awkward times they'd been through with John in an asylum cell and Chas on the outside. "Well in this case, Cal's just continually proving that she's a great sister."

The Attili crew were the first to arrive, and slowly after that other guest began to show up, some coming by boat, others landing spaceships and shuttles in the designated landing zone. The invitations had given a time frame to arrive between, people were coming from all over the place and allowance had to be made for things like delays, traffic and stuff breaking down. One of the more interesting arrivals was Dan's two brothers. All three standing together were the exact definition of identical triplets, same height, build hair colour and dressed in similar clothing. All three had tattoos, but Dan's were the only ones to have a magical symbolism, he was the only one out of the three to have sigil based magic. As Cliff and Cal had warned earlier, the guest list almost entirely consisted of pilots, doctors, some mechanics and family members (on Cliff's side). By the time the sun began to start setting almost fiftu new people had arrived on the island.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay smiled and chuckled at John describing what Elliott's face was only to have Chas say it wasn't actually as dramatic as John was implying. A perfect example of John exaggerating things for the sake of 'story telling'. They both noticed how John said about what reunions were like from a cell, and could tell he was speaking from experience. "I think that goes without saying at this stage about Cal's reputation of being a sister" Kay remarked with a smile.

They noticed more and more ships turning up for arrival for the big day tomorrow, and they both made note of just how many people there were. It was going to be an interesting time with so many milling around from various job titles. When Dan's brothers turned up, Fia couldn't believe just how spot on the description of identical triplets was between them. It was truly uncanny to see. Kay also thought it was truly something, as usually she found even with identical siblings there was some sign that made them different, but with San and his brothers, apart from the tattoos, she couldn't find anything.

"Anyone know what the plan is for this evening? Or is everyone doing their own thing because of the sheer number of people?" Fia asked, just to strike up a conversation, as she didn't know if any talk had gone on about what was planned for the evening after more guests has arrived or not. Keeping out the way truly proved to have its disadvantages in instances like this.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The three triplets were quite something, and had deliberately ensured their hair was in the same style just to really fuck with people. As kids they'd completly abused their identical appearances, screwing around with almost every adult they met. As they grew older the identical appearance became an annoyance more than anything else and they began to dress and style differently, Cal explained when Chas managed to grab a hold of her and ask, even having a photo of all three as teenagers. Dan got tattoos, one grew his hair out to shoulder length, braiding it in what could be only described as native American Indian style, complete with beading and feathers while the third dyed his hair and got piercings. As adults they'd mellowed to the concept of looking alike and restarted the practice of dressing similarly.

At Fia's question John just shrugged, having no idea at all. "Not a clue kiddo, by the looks of it things seem to be working on a 'everybody does their own thing' policy." He looked around, and seeing the Chas was talking to Benji called over "You, eldest sibling, is there actually a plan for what happens next?!" Benji smirked at the phrasing if the question, taking no offense at its blunt nature or the way John chose in which to refer to him. "No plan, its really just everybody getting themselves set up to sleep on ships, some form of eating later on when it gets dark. It's really just socialising or hiding in a corner and staying away from people time." "Cheers." John called over befir etruning back to Fia."Well that answers your question."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia looked at John when he told her that he didn't have a clue either for what was going on. It wasn't the most helpful answer but at least she wasn't alone in not knowing. When John then called over to Benji, she rolled her eyes in the manner he did so. She saw how Benji just smirked at the weird name calling for addressing him before he gave his reply and her an answer that was actually a proper answer. As John turned back to her to say that's her answer given, she just smirked and rolled her eyes once more. "So it seems" she simply replied back at John.

Kay by this point was finding she was getting a bit numb from sitting down for so long on a hard surface, so she pulled herself up in a awkward fashion just so she could stretch her legs out a bit. "You coulda asked for help ya know" Fia snickered, "and where is the fun in that?" Kay joked back with her signature smirk. ""And anyway, think you're a bit tied up with Meyer and co there anyway" she added, seeing how they just seemed to be a pile all together. Fia looked down and had to admit that Kay had a point. "I might be but I'm not the only one here am I?" Fia then smirked back at her, meaning she could have asked for help from John.

 

[_gallifrog_]

When Kay drew attention to the fact that Fia and the dogs were forming one symbiotic pile (they'd originally been running around like crazy things, investigating everybody, but as the sun began to lower, they'd come back and curled up by Fia) John's first instinct was to make a comment along the lines of "and here was me thinkin' that Rinaa was the one who was supposed to be the one who was part canine'. He didn't say that however, knowing that comparing one teenager to the other, even in jest wouldn't go down well. Espescially since Rinaa's wolf side (there was no other word for it wolf Rinaa was a completly different entity to chimera Rinaa) was a touchy subject for both teenagers. The wolf side very clearly despised Fia, and Rinaa chose to suppress her wolf side, an indication that she didn't like it either.

John made no comment to Fia's insinuation that he could have been helping Kay up. A figure moving in the corner of his eye caught his. They were dressed in a mix of old combat fatigues and lightweight torso armour, a pretty standard attire given the company they were in. It was their tread and body langauge, silent and fluid that told John something was off, a fact only reinforced by the pistol that was whipped out and held a few inches from the side of Jay's head. The assassin responded instantly, grabbing the barrel of the gun with one hand, slamming her elbow back into the attacker's stomach. The next move had her hook a foot around their leg, felling them to the ground while Jay spun around, tucking their gun into her waistband and with her free hand pulling out her own pistol. Her moves were precise and automatic and within a few seconds the odds were completly reversed, Jay's foot was on their chest and she was pointing her own pistol straight at them. The crowd fell silent, just watching. A smile flickered over Kay's face when she saw who was below her. "Too slow Conrad."

 

[MzHyde]

If John had made such a comment, not only would Fia would have glared at him but Kay would have called him out on it. She was so done with seeing her daughter get upset by things revolving around Rinaa even though she knew there was always the possibility that it could easily happen again if no one was careful. Both girls looked across when they too saw someone coming for Jay, both going completely and utterly quiet, especially when a gun came out. Neither knew that they were a comrade of Jay's, so just knew it could go one of two ways.

They watched it all unfold from the safe distance that they were at, seeing how effortlessly Jay managed to disarm the figure and pin them to the ground. It was only when they saw Jay smile that they both remembered to breathe again and sighed with relief that wasn't an actual attack, but the equivalent of a surprise spar. "Well....that was something" Kay remarked, Fia nodding in agreement as she thought how she shouldn't have been surprised considering she likes sparring with Jay as she put her through her paces and helped her master new weapons when she could. It didn't happen often, but it happened enough for her to know to never underestimate Jay. "In my timeline, I've been on the end of that leg swipe....hurts like hell" Fia tried remembering that particular day when she went flying down onto the floor on her back. She only needed that happening once to learn from it.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was seriously impressed by Jay's movements. It was like a switch had flicked in her brain and she went from normal person standing around chatting to a trained killer. Her movements were deliberate and executed with pinpoint precision. For the first few moves she wasn't even able to see and her 'attacker' and was relying on pure instinct to get by. John once again reminded himself not to get on her wrong side. The crowd took it surprisingly well, no hysterics or screaming, just watching on. "Well that was fucking impressive." "Bloody Hells, remind me to never get on her wrong side." Chas muttered. "Consider it done." John replied. When Fia remarked on how the leg swipe hurt like hell, John wasn't very surprised, she was a trained killer after all. It didn't surprise him too much that Jay had helped train Fia either, Jay was professionally trained in so much that it just made sense to have her input. "Certainly looks like it does, especially in those boots." John gestured at the thick, military style boots with nails driven into the sole that Jay was wearing.

John was wondering who'd be stupid enough to take her on at a crowded public function when the smile flickered across Jay's face and recognition dawned in her eyes. The figure on the ground, Conrad, smirked slightly as they replied. "Jamie Tziyen, once again showing us all how it's done whole showing me up in the process." "That's should hardly come as a surprise. What are you doing here? Besides pointing a gun with the safety on at my head." "I'm a plus one of a friend of the brides. You?" "I'm with the guy over there trying to decide whether to be jealous, surprised or giving a round of applause, he's THE brother of the bride." Jay replied, pulling out the second gun and casually gesturing at Elliott with it, before removing her foot from Conrad's chest and passing them back the gun.

She didn't offer a hand up, not that Conrad would have accepted, it was a one way trip to being thrown over Jay's shoulder. The person had an androgynous sort of face and a build that was neither particularly male or female. Their hair was cut into a short quiff style for practicality. "I heard about your brother, I know it was years ago, but my condolences anyway." Jay nodded her thanks. "Appreciated, even if it was sabotage that meant his ship was blown to atoms, it doesn't change the fact that he's gone." "Okay, before é this derails, I'm using my executive powers of being the bride and asking how you two know each other." "Nothing like that before you ask. She simply pretended to be the instructor for my military sharpshooting sniper course."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay felt she didn't need to say anything to also express that she never wanted to get on Jay's bad side, unlike her other timeline self that clearly did. It was obvious in her reaction to seeing how Jay dealt with the 'attacker' that she didn't intent to ever piss Jay off. Fia looked at what John was pointing at, and nodded, "luckily, not dealt with those boots and I don't intend to either. Being winded is enough to make me learn to avoid that move once. She winded me for like ten minutes straight after swiping her leg from under me" Fia replied, she was most definitely glad that most training days didn't involve the big heavy boots, that wasn't to say though she didn't experience the power of any of Jay's other boots. There was also a slight tone of admiration towards Jay, and the fact she could do such a thing to her.

Kay rose an eyebrow at what Fia told them, and she wasn't so sure she liked the idea of her daughter getting THAT involved and possibly injured during a training session, but she also knew her kid was a teenager and would have done it anyway. It made her wonder what kinds of states Fia would come home to if training elsewhere or just show up in general in. She then watched on as the acquaintance of Jay stood up after being given back his firearm as it then continued on with general chat before Cliff asked how they knew each other.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John picked up the admiration his daughter had for Jay in Fia's tone. There was no doubt that Jay was impressive at everything they'd seen her put her mind to and that she'd be the kind of teacher who'd never make it easy, potentially with a bit of a sadistic streak, evident in the fact that Jay would be willing to floor her for ten minutes straight, and probably not even break a sweat while doing it. John knew that if Jay was to train their version of Fia, she'd be in good hands (maybe not morally good or one hundred percent safe hands, but Fia would come out the other end well trained). Jay wouldn't be the kind of personwhpd give any allowances for what race a person was, and made a point of always sparring with Fia while wearing the magical armour that would protect her frompheonix fire citing 'I may not be fire proof, but there are a hundreds of races out there that are, so you'd better get used to not having the upper hand in that regard' as her excuse.

John chuckledto himself slightly at the description Jay gave of Elliott. He had a feeling that Elliott had been on the receiving end of various pindowns by Jay, which involved getting much more up and close than this particular one. When Conrad explained how they knew Jay John could only remark with "of course she did. Why would it be anything normal?" "This is a story I gotta hear." Chas agreed, his words loud enough to be heard by Jay. "It was a job, take out this corrupt asshole who called himself a brigadeer. I needed a suitable cover story and a reason to be carrying so many weapons, so instructor it was. And all militaries need a snipers, so I figured why not commit some identity theft while I was at it. Con just so happened to be amongst the group of squaddies. I had to hang around for a couple of weeks to maintain cover, so I got to know some people pretty well. Then our paths crossed again a couple of years later at a space port, I was working for a mutual friend, Con was still military but doing some smuggling on the side. And that's it really. Haven't seen Con since before I went to prison."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia enjoyed the training from everyone who who was willing to teach her, but it was Jay who always put her through her paces so much, there were times she'd thought she'd never get the hang of something, but she was too stubborn to ever give up. There were times when she'd show up scuffed up and bruised before she could truly activate her phoenix healing. It was the last power of her to awaken, so she used her healing rune on her neck to always heal. Yet she would always come back in a state for the sheer hell of it and to purposely scare the living crap out of Kay out if her rebellion against her phoenix heritage, which she succeeded in numerous times. Future Kay freaked out so spectacularly some times, she went through a phase when she refused to let Jay train with her and made someone else train her for a while.

Kay and Fia listened to the talking going on between Cliff, Jay and Conrad. They both then listened to the story of how the two of them met, finding it sounded like such a typical Jay story and way of meeting new people. They both smiled as they listened, finding it all interesting and never tiring of the stories that Jay had to tell, Fia particularly found them all interesting, even more so than Kay did.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Totally normal way to meet new people." Cliff remarked with a slightly raised eyebrow, she'd known Jay had interesting stories from her dark, chequered past and Conrad's appareance was just proof of that. Ever since they'd time travelled together, the two had fallen into a mutual respect for each others skills and abilities. "Oh yeah, totally" Jay smirked, tucking her own firearm back into the holster on her back. "I rarely meet people the conventional way, first time I met Chas I'd fallen off a bridge and was more dead than alive, first time Ell and I crossed paths, I tried to kill him, damn near succeeded too. And tthe first time I met that group" she gestured at John, Jay and Fia "it was because Scott was bleeding out on the table and it was an 'all hands on deck to save his life' kinda situation." Jay listed out the strange meetings flippantly, as if it was normal (which for her it was).

"Brother, you never told me that was how you met." Cal smirked, appearing at Cliff's shoulder. The gleam in her eyes made it quite clear that this was a story she very much wanted to know and once she did know, she was never going forget it. "Well it's not like you asked how we met, and besides it's not that interesting of a story." Elliott replied, his body language a mix of defensive and embarrassed kid. "Oh no, you aren't keeping us in the dark anytime longer, spit it out." John came up, determined to finally extract the story from him. "If you don't tell, I'm gona strat guessing and take the most ridiculous and make that cannon for us. So out with it." "Not happening." Elliott shook his head detreminedly, refusing to budge. The story was embarrassing for him more than it was for Jay, but there were bits that the crew and Jay had agreed were never to be discussed.