Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

John had never met Elliott's father, only caught a glimpse of him from a distance and seen fragments of him in Elliott's memories (he shared many physical features with his son and daughter, the most obvious being the ridiculously high and sharp cheekbones and tall frame).The fact that John hadn't met him in no way stopped him from having a very strong opinion on the man. He was having a hard time trying to figure out why this man who had been so staunchly anti-magic and willing to kill his own son would do a complete u-turn and start fighting on his side. And not just fighting half-heartedly, fighting with such tenacity that it earned him a bullet through the head and through the heart. John couldn't hold these two opposite views of Zan in his mind and for the first time since he'd known he wanted to actually meet Zan and talk to him (though he'd in all likelihood still punch the man first of all). "And the fact that nobody is close enough to him to give any kind of read on Zan, whether he's actually changing or if he's still the same bastard makes matters worse. Rinaa's the only one who can vouch for his character, and he died before she even existed." There was a look of 'and who's to say Rinaa's even a reliable source on any of this? None of us know her tics or how to catch her out in a lie'. on his face as he spoke

Hearing that Fia was willing to help and do what she could to make sure Elliott stayed alive, only confirmed in John's mind just how much she loved her brother. Having discovered that no matter what happened to Elliott she still lived, in theory Fia could just simply have not bothered, happy in the knowledge that her existence was safe. "We're gonna need all the help we can get with this." He replied. "Whatever Rinaa knows, which is probably almost everything, she's not telling us." John was both annoyed and hurt by the fact that Rinaa would keep all this from them, If she shared it, maybe they could help her with whatever it was she was plotting. "And none of us can make her either. None of us actually know her as a person, what makes her tick, what doesn't. Jay and Elliott have only found out the stuff they have by luck, it's obvious. Only somebody from her timeline can get the truth out of her, and who of them would be crazy to go after her?" The question was rhetorical, but it was clear from John's tone that part of the answer was 'none of our alternate selves that's for sure, they don't give the slightest fuck'. "Jay's the only one I could think who would, and she can't, she can't cross her personal timeline like this."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded at his opinions on Zan and in some ways Rinaa, hearing the undertone to his words showing that he wasn't even sure if he could fully trust Rinaa, let alone Zan. She remembered Kay mentioning at one point how they still didn't even know if Rinaa purposely left the shard of iron in her when she was saving them on Earth or not, and the lack of trust all started from there. She was also sure that he'd hear just how much she loved Elliott and she really would do anything to keep him in her life. For her, it didn't matter if she survived or not as long as Elliott did as in her eyes, too much rode on his survival and she didn't want her unborn self to grow up not knowing what it was like to have had the life she did with a sibling. It was one of the few things she was utterly selfless about.

As John continued on talking about Rinaa and what she knew, Fia nodded every now and then, agreeing wholeheartedly. "agreed. Let's face it, our alternate selves certainly wouldn't try and stop her from anything by the sounds of it and what she's told us. Like you say, Jay can't let alone won't. It's just a big ol' mess really. It's weird though, ever since I went to help her with her lock up, it's felt like a big fog in my head. Like, I remember the lock up stuff, obviously because of what I said alternate Jay did and said to me, but there's this fog in my head still. When we got back here, she said I tripped and knocked myself out on the roof or something, but...i dunno. I'm probably just imagining random situations..." she explained, ending it with a shrug and attempt to shake it off.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The fact that Fia had a gap in her memories was worrying, in his experience that kind of memory loss never occurred without some kind of ominous event happening. He doubted it was Fia trying to repress something, with enough pondering on a repressed memory, it could be dredged back to the surface, and he took it from Fia's tone that she had been doing a significant amount of thinking. This sounded more like a blocked memory to him, which was hardly any more reassuring, as it lead to the inevitable question, who had done the blocking? As with so many things in their lives Rinaa was the most obvious suspect, to call her the wildcard of the bunch was an understatement."Well Rinaa was acting very damn out of it when she came back, but that was due to going back and seeing her timeline through a completely different lense- seeing all the horrors she'd just gotten used to according to Cliff."

"That sounds like a blocked memory as opposed to a repressed one, ta me." John commented, feeling as though he could be stating the obvious. "I know MIndWalkers can do those, Ell included, but he actually needs to touch the person and get into their minds in order to do so." It was clear as day of John's face that he was thinking 'of Elliott's going around messing with people's memories then we're in serious trouble'. "And Rinaa didn't inherit anywhere near the level of MindWalking ability Elliott has" John pointed out "he scoped out her mind a bit during one of the MindWalks, apparently one MindWalker can instinctively recognise another by going inside her head. She's most definitely not one, the pushing memories and associated emotions thing is just a gimmick really. Though according to him she has a lot of repressed memories, hardly surprising. So given the lack of anybody else around, we'll have to assume you're making a bigger thing out of it than it actually is."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to John's opinion on what she said, agreeing that yes, Rinaa was acting completely out of it after coming back with her but at the time she just put it down to the fact it was to be expected. She also agreed it sounded like a blocked memory which was something she was hoping wasn't the case, having not remembered that she agreed to have the block on her mind at the time of seeing every single timeline Rinaa/Leah out there. She also remembered how when she did the mind walk to see if she could remember who the mysterious guy was from her dreams/memories, Elliott sensed a block in her mind and made a expression to show as such.

Fia also noted the tone in what John was saying, knowing that yes, they'd all be in trouble if Elliott was messing with people's minds but she wouldn't put him down to doing that to his family without permission. She nodded with a sigh at him saying they'd just have to put it down to assuming it's nothing, "I guess you're right...its just niggling away at me y'know? Because I'm damn sure Ell sensed some kind of block when we mind walked through my mind on Cliff's homeworld." she replied, "but I'll just deal with it, there's more important things than me and my mind at the moment" she added, shrugging. Like with most things in comparison to what else was going on, she didn't think of herself as important in the slightest. It wasn't that she had lack of self confidence, far from it, but she always saw others as more important than herself. "speaking of others, I wonder how mum and chas' walk is going" she mused.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John didn't remember Elliott saying anything about sensing a block in Fia's head, but then again when he was MindWalking he could talk to one person without any of the others being any the wiser to what he was doing. If Elliott could confirm their was a blocked off memory, then they'd know that this was indeed something they should worry about as it implied that Fia had seen something she shouldn't and either somebody had forced their way into her mind to block it off or Fia had agreed to let it be done (which was the more worrying of the two options in a way). "If it gives you peace of mind, you should ask him about it and see whether this really is something sinister or just normal memory loss from blacking out that''s being blown out of proportion by the paranoia we're all feeling." John phrased it so it sounded like a suggestion as opposed to some kind of demand.

At Fia's remark John checked his watch, and found himself surprised by just how much time had elapsed. Well, they did say that time flies when you're having fun and aside from Fia probing at emotions he'd rather have left alone, this had been fun and an enjoyable way to spend a morning. "I'd say they're enjoying been out of the apartment and seeing somewhere that isn't this building or the forge. They'll probably be back soon enough I'd say. Unless they stopped for food somewhere or went on a shopping spree without us that is." Chas had Attili money, just like the rest of them, and although his knowledge of Attili was fairly limited, it would be enough to get him through ordering and paying. "Though now that you've mentioned them, they'll probably come walking in the door." As they'd been talking John had picked up the guitar case and began rooting around to see if there were any spare strings and Rinaa had mentioned earlier that one string needed to be replaced. There were indeed spare strings, and in pulling them out, John caused a strip of photos to go flying from the case (a strip of small photos like those one might get in a photo booth on Earth).

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't even think to ask Elliott to check for her as at the time she noticed from his reaction over it, it wasn't niggling away at her as much so it never occurred to her to ask her brother to check for blocks in her mind and put her worried to rest. "mhm.. Good point, I might do it at some point when Rinaa isn't around" she replied, knowing that if she mentioned it with Rinaa in earshot, it would no doubt create either tension between the two of them or make Rinaa say something to stop it from happening. She had worked hard to get Rinaa to get along with her and she didn't want to ruin that because she yet again, opened her mouth. She knew she was clumsy at times but the idea of knocking herself out just seemed so unlike her, which is why something just didn't sit right for her. Not to mention there were times when Rinaa spoke of her trip back and she hated the fact that parts of it was foggy and unclear. It was like an itch she couldn't quite reach to scratch.

Despite temporarily annoying John with her one of her questions, she too had enjoyed her time with him, seeing that it would only make her relation ship with his future self all that much stronger and make her closer than she already was with him. She knew the moment she did travel back home to her timeline, the first thing she'd end up doing after dumping her belongings would be to hug both her parents and apologise to Kay for giving her so much grief. At John's reply about Chas and Kay, she had to smirk at the shopping spree comment and chuckle a little at it. "wouldn't surprise me if they've done that either to be honest" she replied. "either that mum has stopped every few steps to take a break and they're barely far away from the apartment" she joked, knowing that Kay wasn't that bad but she couldn't resist making a jab anyway.

When John pulled out the spare strings for the guitar and the photos fell out, she out of instinct, put her violin down and reached down to pick them up to put them bsck into the case, but couldn't help but look at them anyway. "hmm..interesting" she commented.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John smirked at Fia's smart arsed comment, the thought also having occurred to him. "Well we can't discard that as possibility." he replied, before sending the photos flying. He had felt all kinds of paper while searching for the strings, and genuinely hadn't meant to send anything flying, but accidents happened. He set the guitar to one side, moving over to take a look at the strip over Fia's shoulder. He knew he probably shouldn't, but Jay wasn't around, and he doubted Fia would tell her. If the assassin had been around, it would have been a very different matter (she'd have snatched them up before anybody else could get a look at them anyway).

The photos were old, worn at the edges and creased in the middle. The photo showed three teenagers, arms around each other, dressed in loose light coloured garments suitable for desert living, goggles hanging around their necks. In the first photo all three were standing calmly side by side, and in every photo after that somebody was making a rude gesture or trying to show somebody else out of frame. The Jay in them couldn't be much older than Fia was now (around sixteen or seventeen). Jay was still recognisable as herself, she was still lithe and silvered eyed with blue hair, though part of her hair was braided back. The other two were easily recognisable, the male with matching silver eyes and blue hair could only be Jack and while the other girl had long red hair tied up in a ponytail, she was still recognisable as Quin (the almost indigo irises were a dead give away). "Well that explains a lot." John remarked with a raised eyebrow, indicating the fourth photo, where Jay was shoving her brother away with one arm while at the same time kissing Quin.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia had to chuckle at John saying it was a possibility that Kay could be struggling to walk anywhere, knowing that they both were probably (and very much so) underestimating Kay greatly. She let him look over her shoulder when she picked up the photos, glancing through them recognising each of the people instantly, but finding it so strange to see Jay so young. She was used to John looking over her shoulder if he was feeling particularly nosey at what she was looking at or doing or she needed his help on something she was studying and he happened to be behind her at the time of asking for help, so the action never bothered her in the slightest.

By the fourth photo, she smirked nodding in agreement with John, finding it did indeed explain everything. "that's an understatement" she said back."must have been a moment when Quin knew she was straight or something. Makes you wonder if this sort of thing had something partly to do with their spat back on Cliff's home world" she remarked whilst guessing if it had anything to do with their current volatile moments that they witnessed. "and I'm not gonna lie in a totally unrelated notion, it's super weird seeing Jay looking so young. But then, it's weird seeing any of our family so young in photos" she chuckled.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"It definitely had something to do with it." John agreed, in his opinion it couldn't not. In the final two photos the two were teaming up on Jack, meaning the kiss must have been brief and it was a sort of luck that the camera caught it. "And spat is an understatement, they looked like they wanted to go full on and tear each other apart." Even after Alex told them to grow up and behave like civilised people they still spent the whole trip trading sharp-edged insults and glares that would vapourise a normal person. It was only at their parting that they acted like normal people, but even then Quin's farewell had been cryptic, indicating that she knew something about Rinaa that Jay didn't. "Though Jay did say that it was both personal and professional stuff that caused then to go from growing up like siblings to straight up enemies. Whatever they had, it has something to do with the way things are now."

He reached from the photo strip and flipped it over to look at the back and as he suspected there was something written on the back in pen. He didn't understand the language (it was Jay's native language and outside of Rinaa none of them could speak or read it, not even Elliott, he and Jay spoke in Attili whenever they spoke in an alien language) but common sense dictated it would be the date and some kind of witty comment. John nodded, agreeing that yes, it was sorta weird to see Jay looking that young. "It depends on the person I think. In this case though she doesn't really look that different to what she does now, a bit taller, face a little narrower maybe and a couple more piercings definitely." He indicated at one of the photos where Jay's cartilage piercings could be seen. "And a different hairstyle, but that's hardly surprising given that she seemed to change her hair all the time like Rinaa does."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to John, thinking back to when they were on Cliff's home world and agreeing that to call what happened between Quin and Jay as a spat was indeed an understatement. She also remember now that John mentioned it that Jay did say it was a professional and personal, making Fia believe that Jack somehow was in the middle of those reasons if she was to base something off the photos they were looking at. "makes me wonder if Jack is one of those catalysts" she commented as she handed John the photos, letting him take them and look on the back.

If there was ever a time she wished she could use her runes to understand another language, it was now. Her curiosity got triggered to wanting to know what was written on the back but knew neither of them could read Jay's native language, so she let it slide and just focused on John's reply to her comment about seeing her family as teenagers in photos. "that's true, she does barely look any different, but it's still weird for me. I mean..its sometimes weird enough seeing you all younger in this time compared to what I'm used to" she commented, refraining from making an 'in my timeline you're all just so....old' smart ass comment.

Back outside, Kay had taken one break in the time that Fia and John were spending playing music together and chatting. But she was now already getting hungry and most importantly thirsty with the time getting on and the morning rapidly turning into the afternoon. "fancy stopping for a drink? My throat feels like it's filled sawdust" she said to Chas, thinking that when it came to it they could possibly bring back food for not just them but Fia and John as well.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The notion that Jay's twin could have had something to do with the schism between the two women hadn't occurred to John, but hearing Fia say he had to admit that it made sense. Out of everybody he knew with a living twin (the list was small, but a list nonetheless) every single pair had had a serious fight (the repercussions lasting more than three months) because something the other had done. "Who knows?" John sighed. "It's certainly possible, but the bloke's dead, so it's not like we can ask him for a straight answer on this topic." John was aware of how hypocritical his words sounded, given that he never gave a straight answer on topics that were personal or that he had emotionally invested in. It was still weird to think that, bar Rinaa, the versions of them that Fia knew were almost seventeen years older and had changed physically, though some had changed more than others (Cal, Cliff and Elliott all had longer lifespans than the humans of their group, and hadn't aged as much). John hadn't gone grey as such but his hair was significantly less bright blond than it use to be, while Chas was sporting a very distinguished salt and pepper look and needed reading glasses. Jay had a whole pile of new scars, including a set of claw lines through her left eyebrow (she sometimes shaved matching lines into her other eyebrow to 'balance it out'). "I'm gonna be an arse and say that's life, get used ta it."

The first stop had been partly Chas' idea, partly Kay's, they both had very different reasons. Kay because she was really starting to feel being pregnant and Chas because he wanted to take photos up ahead. Chas hadn't noticed the day heating up (he hadn't brought a jacket), but as soon as Kay put the notion of being thirsty into his mind he realised that he too was also parched. "Most definitely, and I wouldn't say no to cold food either. Since when did this day become such scorcher?" he gestured up at the sky, earlier it had been kind of cloudy, but now all but the whispyest, highest clouds remained. They'd stuck to the base city, neither feeling the need to trek across to the main town or university campus. "Anything in particular you want?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia couldn't help but think of Jack being a trigger because she quite frankly, had watched too many shows that unfortunately included siblings being the reason for friends having arguments and spats of tensions. She wasn't particularly proud of that fact, but when being home schooled and for the most part (when she wasn't sneaking out) being kept indoors the whole time, she had a lot of free time to kill and binge watching anything and everything on streaming services and TV was the best way to pass the time. She found cliche soap operas both American and British particularly good of she needed sleep and was struggling to actually fall asleep. She'd use them because they were so boring she had no reaction other than falling asleep. "yeah yeah...old man" she smirked.

Kay was glad when Chas didn't mind the first stop so he could snap some photos, as it did make her feel less bad for needing the stop in the first place. She did have moments when she felt like a bit of burden but never voiced them or let those feelings show on her face, instead of fighting passed them mentally, telling herself she was being stupid for thinking such a thing. Unlike Chas, Kay had her hoodie on and she rapidly was regretting the decision to keep it on for the walk, having taken it off and wrapped it round her waist as best she could. "good question, I'm regretting having my hoodie majorly" she chuckled, but loved seeing the clear warm sky high above them. It made her feel so free in a strange way. "as for what I fancy, I wouldn't say no to an ice tea or something. Food wise, as long as its cold I don't mind. I was thinking we could bring the other two back something as well" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John just raised a single eyebrow at Fia's remark with a completely unimpressed look on his face. "Says the technically immortal, you're really in no place to judge on age" he shot back. (John had thought of that remark ages ago and was internally delighted to be able to finally use it). Completely straight faced he took the strip of photos back and folded them in half along the worn centerfold and shoved them right down to the bottom of the case pocket (careful not to further crinkle or cumple them as Jay would definitely notice that). He then began to carefully loosen the offending string. John always took great care with his guitar (it was one of the few things he treated with such care), but now he was taking even more care, kind of out of respect, but mainly because he didn't want a black eye like the shiner Elliott had been sporting. The force to make a bruise last for that long was something he didn't want to be on the receiving end of. He wrapped the string between his two hands and pulled, only for it to snap. "Note to self, guitar strings make shit garrottes."

Chas had never really understood the concept of iced tea, both his daughter and his wife teasingly called him a 'tea snob' and there had been one or two occasions where Chas had used that label to describe himself. Coffee was good for long shifts and staying awake, but tea was something he always associated with the camaraderie with the other cabbies (and occasional bus driver) or relaxing at home with a good book. Just in case iced tea was some kind of craving Chas made no comment on how abhorrent he found the idea, just nodded. After a bit of musing and sign translating (with the help of the Attilian equivalent of google translate which Rinaa had shown him) Chas managed to find a place that suited both his and Kay's tastes. As the order would take a little while to get together, it was decided that they should snag a table outside and avail of the sunlight.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia rolled her eyes at John's comeback whilst refraining from saying anything else as she could see plain as day that he was stupidly proud of himself for what he said. She could have said something along the lines of how technically she was more mortal than Kay was and than he thought because of being half human/mage, but she wasn't disclose all the information about herself before they have her other self come into the world. She didn't want to cause anymore complications in the timeline than she probably already had with what she's let him know, just like she refused to retell the story of her birth and pre warn them of how it goes down, knowing it was too an important moment in time to say anything. She also had a feeling Fee would soon be able to let them know anything of that importance when the time came to it. "whatever you say daddy dearest" she replied with instead, putting a sarcastic smart tone especially on the last word. When John started to change the string on the guitar, she watched with how carefully he worked, knowing if he screwed it up or got a single scratch on the guitar, he'd be in deep shit with Jay. She chuckled when he snapped the offending string, shaking her head at him. "same for violin strings" she smirked.

For a long time Kay didn't understand iced tea, but she soon grew to like it when she found the sweetened ones. It was also proving to be a bit of a craving for her, just like the mint chocolate milkshake was the other week on her walk with John who ended up wanting mint chocolate ice cream. From his lack of comment, she did wonder if he hated the very beverage but said nothing on the subject. She was glad that he knew enough Atilli and with the help of the translator app, they managed to order what they wanted at the one place they decided upon. With the suggestion they sought a table to wait at, she walked over and sat down, a sigh of relief to be off her feet escaping her lips. "it's funny...as much as I hate the idea of housebound when we're done in this place, the idea of being barely on my feet during that time is highly welcoming" she chuckled. "will be interesting to see how much I can make John do for me and for how long" she added, still amused by the idea.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Johns response to any remark Fia made about her mortality would be another arched eyebrow, pointed look and remark along the lines of 'well compared to me, you are immortal, there's no second chances really when I snuff it'. And John knew what he was talking about, he could only dodge Hell so many times and he was well and truly marked for it. Nothing he'd done (or ever would do) would be enough to remove the stain from his soul. And in a way he'd made his peace with that, even if Fia and Kay had the potential to live forever, he didn't want that. He'd lost too many people in his life and did not want to live an endless cycle of loving and losing. Those he'd lost already had been bad enough. And he'd get sick of the human race (and whatever race followed them) making the same mistakes over and over again. The reality was, that if somebody offered John the chance to be immortal he'd tell them to 'bugger the fuck off and let me be' and if they made him immortal he'd damn well find a way to die because for him, life was a shitshow that only needed to be lived once

John smirked when Fia confirmed it was the same with violin strings, which told him that somebody in their family had tried it. "Guess there's a reason you use either piano wire or harp strings as a garrotte." He shrugged, having actually used the latter once. At the time he'd been scrambling for anything that would work as a weapon, and just grabbed for the harp. He found out pretty damn quickly that the traditional style harps had thick, strong, brass strings (hence why old harp players need such long fingernails). Restringing the guitar was easy, it wasn't something one just forgot. Tuning the new string on the other hand was a pain in the ass, and it was ten minutes before John was happy with the note produced.

Placing the order hadn't been as hard as Chas had been expecting, the staff were well used to catering to military personnel from all over the star systems, many having only the barest knowledge of the language and even with his limited understanding, they managed to put him at ease. It was a relief to sit down and just watch the comings and goings of the city. Many others were having similar ideas about drinks and with the way the day was heating up he couldn't blame them. There were a significant number of what could only be described as 'lizard people' with scaly bodies, tails and slitted eyes, who were carefully pouring water over their exposed scales as a way to cool it down. The idea of John fetching and carrying wa samusing, and Chas knew it would happen, but not to the extent Kay was thinking of. "He won't be doing as much as you're imagining. The whole flat has to have the protective wards redone and strengthened and the same with The House, not to mention properly sealing all the artefacts in both, as well as moving some of the less powerful stuff somewhere safer. That'll take the bones of a week at least. Not to mention babyproofing, that coffee table is a death trap." Kay had little experience of the coffee table in John's, but it had collapsed and been reassembled multiple times. "Basically, don't take the piss asking him to do stuff for you, he already has plenty and it'll probably piss him off."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smirked when John said what he did, nodding at his words, knowing the story of when he used a harp for its strings as a weapon, having grown up asking for many a story from him about his various jobs that were particularly interesting to hear about. As for her comment, she was indeed speaking from experience, as it was herself that tried to use a violin string as a garrotte. She found herself in an altercation on her way home from one day sneaking out and she had her violin on her at the time. It was one rare day when she didn't have her blades on her, and so she had no choice but to sacrifice her violin temporarily to get a string off of it quickly. She tried to use it but it just snapped, making her curse the bad timing for such a thing to happen before she just used melee attacks and spell work to deal with it and get away. She didn't dare to admit what happened knowing Kay in particular would have complained about her sneaking out and was worried for bring moaned at for not at least taking her blades by John. So she spent the next few days at the time restoring her violin in secret.

Kay couldn't resist people watching discreetly seeing how various people were keeping themselves cool in the hot weather, as she enjoyed the sun on her face whilst listening to what Chas was saying. "oh I don't doubt it and I won't take the piss with him. I fully intend to help where I can to baby proof everything and not be completely lazy. Last thing I wanna do is piss John off. He means too much to me to do such a thing and it's not in my nature anyway, even if I did give him a hard time when we all first met" she told Chas honestly, the end of her reply making her smirk slightly. If she knew there was something she could do to help make the two places they'd clearly be alternating between to bring Fia up in, then she would do it with no question. She didn't want to be that person who would expect everyone to do everything for her, she had never been that type of person and she certainly wasn't going to start now. She was pretty sure deep down that she'd have to be practically forced to stop doing something and made to rest up if she got going on some chore or another.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas nodded in relief when Kay told him she wouldn't take it too far. It wouldn't end well, for either of them. Only one person could completely, utterly and unashamedly take advantage of John like that while pregnant, and that was his sister. Even then it had been abnormal circumstances, Gemma's father had just walked out, leaving Cheryl pregnant and jobless and soon to be homeless. As soon as John heard he dropped everything and bolted to Wales to help. In those few months the siblings had grown closer than ever before, and it was common for them to be found next to each other passed out. They hadn't slept that physically close since John was nine. He didn't think she was the kind who would, but when it came to pregnancy hormones and stress, a severe personality change wasn't off the cards.

It was then that the food and drinks arrived, delivered to the table by an Devra student. Cal and Cliff had told them that many of the students, regardless of whether they were doing a course with a military connection found work in the many restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and other retail outlets of the military base town. The pay was good, and as Cliff put it 'if you like people in uniform then you're in for a great time'. Cliff hadn't actually worked in the base town as a student, but she had covered a few shifts for a friend when they caught a horrendous vomiting bug. Along with their food was the items they thought John and Fia would like.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay could tell that Chas was relieved to hear that she wouldn't take the utter piss when it came to the odd asking for help from John. She was a stubborn woman and very rarely accepted help or requested it at the best of times. The attack in the alleyway was proof of that, as she really didn't want John's help at the time but when it took a turn for the worst she was more than grateful for it. Knowing her, not only would anyone probably have to force her to take a break, they'd probably have to force her to accept help as well. "I think John will have harder time making me accept help than me begging for it to be honest" she smiled, as their order came up to them by a student.

When their order including the food for Fia and John was put down on their table, she gave a pretty standard universal gesture for thanks so not to look rude, even though she couldn't speak Atilli and could barely remember the Atilli word for 'thank you' so instead of risking showing herself up, she decided to give a sign of thanks instead. When the student walked away she grabbed her sweet iced tea, took a sip through the straw and sighed with happiness. "oh that's good" she mused to herself. "you wanna eat here and now then bring back the terrible two's their food or bring it all back and we all eat together?" she asked Chas, not minding either way.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas refrained from making a face of disgust. Iced tea was a heinous crime in his opinion, and he was kind of miffed off that it existed on Attil. When it came to a lot of things (equality, governments listening to the people, wages, unions and solutions for social problems for example) Attil was far superior to Earth, so to find out that such a civilisation had come up with this horrible idea was quite down heartening. But he said nothing, concentrating on his own drink and food. "I vote for sitting and enjoying it, the others can wait." The other part of his sentence was left unspoken 'it's not like they're gonna go anywhere far in the meanwhile'. "And besides Cal and Cliff have a perfectly working fridge with food if they get peckish."

Fia and John could do with the time alone together, just as Elliott and Cal needed it (arguably more so as they had been apart for pretty much half of Elliott's life and they'd both missed a lot in each other's lives). Usually he would have gone over to chat with the blacksmith (it was refreshing to be around somebody level headed with similar views and attitudes to himself), but today he was steering clear and giving the siblings their time together. He didn't speak much as they ate, letting the silence be comfortable as he watched the people coming and going, taking some moments to appreciate both the alieness and familiarity of it all. With both of them finished eating he turned to look at Kay. "Back to the apartment then?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay didn't care that Chas really detested the idea of iced tea, she actually found it refreshing that she found something she liked that someone else in their group didn't like. They had so much in common it was nice to find these little differences once in a while in her mind. If he had said anything openly about his disgust she probably would have made a childish action like poking her tongue out at him or waving her hand to brush off his comments. To her, the iced tea was perfectly sweet whilst still not being too much or tasting like she was drinking pure sugar. To find a good iced tea was hard to find, so she was pleased that her craving for the drink didn't disappoint her. "eating here it is then" she smiled, grabbing her salad that she chose to try and eat healthily after she had eaten so much junk food the last week or so. She didn't want Cliff moaning at her because she keeps choosing the 'bad' choices and not the 'good' ones.

She also had to agree that if the other two got peckish (more than likely Fia the most), then there was a perfectly stocked kitchen for the both of them. The food was, as per usual, really amazing and Kay couldn't enough of how good the food quality was on Attil. She was certain she would never get over the food here, no matter how long they stay. Eating in comfortable silence she wondered how John and Fia was getting on together as well as Cal and Elliott, hoping everything was going well for the two groups. With the food soon finished, she scrunched up her napkin after using it, placed it in the salad bowl and nodded at his suggestion. "yeah, it'll be a slow walk no doubt from me anyway so may as well start heading back" she agreed with a smile.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas had nothing against walking slowly back, he'd eaten a fair bit himself, probably more than he should have, but like Kay was taking advantage of how amazing Attil's food was. He was going to miss this when he got back to Earth, so as this was technically a sort of overdue holiday, he might as well enjoy it. It would be a number of years before they came back after all. "There's worse things in life, and it's a really nice day, might as well make the most of it." He replied, stretching as he got out of the chair, taking up the bag of take away food as they did so.

By now Chas had a decent knowledge of how the city was laid out, and the cafe they'd chosen to eat at was deceptively close to the apartment block where Cal and Cliff lived. It only took them about twelve minutes to get back, even at their ambling pace. The two women had given Chas and Rinaa a key and permission to bring up any post in their pigeonhole, knowing that he was the most responsible in the group and trusting that she had done it many times before. Chas told Kay to make a start on the stairs while he went to get any mail that was there. There was a bill and a selection of what he guessed were belated wedding cards, as well as a thick padded envelope with no return address on it addressed in Attili, but not to Cal or Cliff. Chas' brows furrowed in confusion and bemusion surely it was just a translation error on his part, his Attili wasn't that good after all. He waved the envelope at John upon entering the flat. "Mate, your Attili is better than mine, want to give a stab at translating the name on this, I've only come up with nonsense so far."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay agreed there were much worse things in life than walking slowly back to the apartment in this gorgeous weather. Standing up when Chas did, she walked back with him, noting how close they were to the apartment they actually turned out to be judging by the time it took them to get back. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she nodded her okay to Chas' suggestion and started to make her way up the stairs, making sure for once to actually be close enough to the arm rail just incase she needed to stop for a seconds for a breather or if she started to feel unbalanced for whatever reason. Luckily she only paused twice and it was truly for a few seconds before continuing and entering the apsrtment when Chas unlocked the front door.

Walking in, she found Fia in the kitchen getting drinks for both her and John as Chas waved the mysterious envelope at John asking him if he could translate it better than he could. "Fia we brought you both some food for lunch if you're hungry" she told her future daughter. "oh you beauties yes! I was just thinking of finding something in Cal and Cliff's fridge actually but if you two brought take out, even better" she replied, walking back and handing John his cold drink as she replied to Kay. Kay noticed the instruments that were out seeing that they did indeed bond over music for a while which made Kay happy to know. Fia then walked over to Chas to peer at the bag of food before giving him the look and the gesture of 'gimme food!' in a playful tone.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Well hello to you too mate" John smirked at Chas' unusual greeting, appreciating the irony of the situation, usually it would be him bypassing normal pleasantries in favour of getting straight to the point. "Give us a look then" he continued, not rising from the sofa, instead stretching his arm over the back of the sofa so that Chas could put the envelope right into his hand. The cabbie then passed the take away bag to Fia "don't say we don't think of you, and if you don't like it, somebody else will eat it." The somebody else in question was either Rinaa or John, John could and would eat anything, while Rinaa didn't really have a choice in the matter, she had to eat whatever food was one offer, regardless of whether she liked it or not. The alternative of passing out and crippling pains and headaches wasn't exactly appealing.

John took the envelope and put it beside him on the couch before taking the food and drink offered to him by Fia. Chas meanwhile put the letters in what Cal and Cliff had explained was the usual place- beside the pile of paper they used to make notes on. "Cheers on the food." John added, albeit slightly belatedly, before turning his attention the envelope. The envelope wasn't particularly heavy, but there was a smallish rectangular lump that he could feel through the padding of the envelope. "If I'm understanding it right, it's addressed to..." John paused, his face taking on a similar look of confusion to the one Chas had had earlier. "The reluctant goddess of the hunt?" "I got something similar" the cabbie was relieved that he hadn't been completely wrong about it. "It must be some kind of mythology reference or something. If it was for Cal and Cliff, it'd be addressed to them, but it isn't so..." he left the sentence hanging, the last part was evident.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay just shook her head at Fia being like a typical child to Chas when it came to the takeout food bag. Looking at it, she figured that Fia was like this a lot with Chas if she knew he was bringing things over for her in her timeline, making her think it'd bring some amusing moments in their future. As Fia took the bag, she grinned at Chas' words, happy to have some food and out of her excitement she leaned up and kissed his cheek, "thanks!" she said before handing John his food and drink. With her food left in the bag, she sat on the couch opposite John like she was before, crossed her legs and rummaged through the bag to pull out her food, giving it a sniff and making a hum of happiness. It smelled devine to her and as she unwrapped the sandwich she took a big bite out of it, closing her eyes as she refrained from making a groan of delight.

Kay sat on the couch next to John just finding Fia utterly amusing seeing her eat before her curiosity over the envelope got to her and she had to peek over at both Chas and John as they discussed the translation. Raising an eyebrow she tried to figure out who it was meant for with that translation, "reluctant goddess of the hunt? That's... Random" she commented. She could only think of two people who that title could remotely be put to and that was Rinaa or Jay but she wouldn't consider either reluctant when it came to a hunt. "I'm not sure I'd consider really any of our group as reluctant...or is that just me? Not to mention the choice of word Goddess...of all the words to be chosen to name someone, that was the decided word?" she added, feeling puzzled.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas was slightly taken aback by the kiss on the cheek by Fia, it was something his own daughter did, but Fia had never done it to him before now, so he'd never even assumed that it was a thing that was done. "It's not just you, I really wouldn't consider anybody in our group reluctant in the context of a hunt." Chas agreed with Kay, sitting down on the other side of the couch John was sitting on. "Other things in life... yes, that could be applied to us in some aspect or another" Chas didn't give examples, he felt it wasn't necessary, that everybody in the room had a fairly decent idea of what they were reluctant to do in life "but for a hunt... just no, it doesn't fit."

"And the label's printed, so that doesn't help us. Only thing it does tell us is that it's addressed to a female. And I agree, anybody who calls themselves a goddess without actually being from mythology has an ego that needs some serious knocking down. And anybody who names their child that should be shot for cruelty to children." John declared before getting out his phone and taking a photo of the envelope on the coffee table, sending it on to Cal, Cliff, Rinaa and Elliott. There was no point in sending it to Jay as she'd left her phone with Rinaa. "We'll see if the others have any input on it then." While he waited for a reply, John followed Fia's lead and tucked into the meal, which he knew had been chosen for him by Chas (unless Kay was somehow reading his memories and knew he was fond of this kind of crazy curry-crossed with soup thing). About ten minutes later a reply came through from Rinaa. John read it aloud. "That's for me I'd say, unless somebody else had that ridiculous name as a Twitter handle."