Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Fia could see just how amused everyone seemed to be at her attempt to clean off what Elliott insisted on putting on her face and although she gave an almost over the top pout at them being amused by her current state, she was all too used to be the butt of jokes so didn't actually take offence to it all. She did hope though that Kay would find something for her to wipe the dirt off as it was clear her hands were just smearing it more. When Cliff also turned up zilch on tissues she sighed, knowing she was going to have to deal with it or use an anti bacterial wipe. She was just baout to say as such when John mentioned throwing her in the lake to clean up. "oh ha ha! You're soooo funny" she said sarcastically before turning to Cliff, "can I get a wipe to use?" she asked as Cal and Elliott went down memory lane with just a look. She did listen to the story as Elliott decided to actually let them in on said memory after John asked for the explanation and declaring his joke was funny, even though she thought otherwise. The moment Cal joined in in telling the story and called the teacher in question a bitch, she just knew it was going to be a good story of karma being inflicted on said nightmare teacher.

Kay also listened to what they were being told, smirking at it all and by the time Elliott was done telling the story she did chuckle lightly at it. Elliott's desperate attempt to not laugh as he relived the story out loud was just amusing as the story being told. "it is satisfying when nightmare teachers get their karma dished out in an ultimately embarrassing manner like that" she smirked. She could easily imagine hoe seeing the teacher in such a way would have made all pupils there at the time be highly amused and laugh in a loud manner, or at least attempt to not laugh so loud that they would get into trouble. Fia wouldn't know what having a bad teacher was like because she only had her Aunt Sam as her teacher who she loved absolutely dearly and then Jay and John for all non academic subjects like combat and magic. It was far from normal but she liked having her aunt as a teacher, even if it did mean she had no real normal school friends or the like to enjoy a normal life as well. She was just glad that she was at the age where it was the end of her academic learning and she had the gull to sneak out when she could.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John's smirk grew wider as Elliott's story continued, sensing exactly where this story was going. He'd had more than his fair share of nightmare teachers in his time, his school was in one of the poorer, rougher areas and was extremely underfunded. Truancy rates were high, the older kids sold and took drugs, fist fights were common, knife fights were less common (only taking place between the kids who'd aligned themselves with opposing gangs) and bullying wasn't a problem, it was a certainty. There was the rare teacher that did try and educate the kids in the hopes that they'd be able to raise themselves from the gutter and on to better things, but most of the kids (even at that young age) were lost causes destined for juvie, a life of crime or a lifetime of continued poverty. The majority of the teachers couldn't give two shits about the hopeless case students- they were only in the job in the first place for the paid holidays. What resources and energy the school did have were funnelled into the few students that showed potential (Chas and Chery being two such students) to give them every chance to improve their lot in life. Teenaged John made it his business to antagonise the teachers, so it was hardly surprising that they came to hate him.

When the story reached it's natural conclusion he laughed with the others, the pond weed dangling off the teacher's head was the icing on the cake and he had to hold back a snort of laughter. "A kid that had the balls to do that? Bloody legend in my book" he smirked. Cliff gave a nod of agreement "you're not wrong there, we're still telling the story and getting great amusement from it all these years later." She took the packet of disinfectant wipes and tossed them gently over to Fia with a "here you go then." "Even the other teachers were trying not to laugh at the sight." Elliott added, swiping a wipe from the packet Fia was holding.

When his hands were clean he took the art supplies bag back from Jay. "I vote we stay here, I can already see some stuff I want to sketch" he proposed, turning to face the group again. With no objections being raised by the rest of the group John gave a shrug "well in that case I'm gonna slope off somewhere over there" he gestured roughly in the direction of the forest "and smoke. Alone" The last word was aimed more at Kay than anybody else in the group, he knew that Elliott understood (and Fia would have learned from her John) that he preferred to smoke alone. Aside from having a calming effect, it also allowing him to focus and process better, knowing that the only person around to judge him would be himself.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia caught the packet of wipes easily enough when Cliff chucked them to her, "thanks" she replied as Elliott swiped a wipe from her grip that she had just started to remove. The action making her playfully glare at her brother before pulling out another wipe and using it to finally clean her face and hair from the dust and dirt. As she did so, Kay kept a partial eye on her whilst everyone else spoke and continued to the last of the conversation about the teacher swan diving into the lake, just so she could give her daughter the thumbs up that she had finally got clean. With the decision to stay where they were, both Kay and Fia had no problem with it and Kay could easily see things that she too wanted to sketch, and when John commented about going over toward the forest to smoke alone, Kay knew he was aiming it more to her than anyone else but the moment he said about smoking, she had no plans on following him. She gave him a simple little nod to let him know she wasn't going to follow. Fia then stood up and walked over to her dad to take back her own belongings that she had given him before she began the race with Elliott to cheer him up.

"thanks for holding my stuff" she told John, showing that she was grateful for him agreeing to hold it when he was usually so against being the pack mule. She then leaned in and whispered, "and don't worry about mum going with you, she knows not follow when you need a smoke. ". Leaning away from him, she went back to beside Elliott and plonked herself down next to him, crossing her legs. Kay found a little spot in front of Fia beside the lake edge but at a safe enough distance to not fall in and carefully sat herself down on the ground, doing like Fia and sitting cross legged as it was the most comfortable position to be in. She pulled her art bag off her back, bringing it round to in front of her so she could open it and pull out her own sketchpad and some pencils. Placing a pencil between her teeth, she raised her hands up to her hair, twisted it up and used the pencil she had in her teeth to then hold her hair up. As much as she could draw with her hair down, she always found more inspired with her hair up as it stayed out the way and didn't block her view if it fell in front of her face. "this place really does ooze inspiration for art" she remarked looking around for her chosen viewpoint to draw.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John quite happily gave Fia back her things, he had enough baggage (mostly emotional hangovers from the past few days) to carry without her adding physical baggage. He gave a slight scoff, only audible to Fia at the teenager's words. The Kay Fia knew had years of experience, the one with them right now had known him barely a couple of months- nowhere near long enough in his mind for her to have truly picked up on that intricacy. "It's not like you gave me a choice in being the cart 'orse" he replied with a roll of his eyes before setting off, hands deep in pockets, sauntering as leisurely as he could towards the place where the forest met the lakeshore.

Cal and Cliff settled themselves down by a tree, Cal lying on her stomach on a particularly sunny patch of grass, while Cliff stayed in the shade, leaning back against the cool rough bark of the tree. Chas would wander around for a bit before sitting down, using the opportunity to take photos of the lake and the surrounding landscape adding to his collection of photos to show his wife and daughter when they got back. Both loved Elliott and would be incredibly curious to see what his homeworld was like. Dan had acquired a newspaper along the way and was starting to fill in the crossword, every so often calling out a particularly fiendish clue to Jay. The assassin herself was sitting a short distance away from Elliott with her thick book resting against one of her legs.

"That it does" Elliott agreed with a smile and nod as he sat down, unfurling the specially deigned fabric with elastic loops he kept his extensive collection of drawing pencils in and set it to one side. He also adopted a cross-legged position as it was the most comfortable for him to draw in, allowing him to rest the sketchpad across his legs. "I didn't appreciate that part of this place as a kid" he admitted slightly sheepishly. "I wasn't really an artist then, I didn't see the world through that lens, this place was for running about in, playing and exploring above all else." He wasn't facing towards the lake, his back was actually to it. Landscapes weren't really his thing, he could appreciate the beauty of them, but never quite any drawing he did could capture their essence, to him they always felt lifeless. He preferred cityscapes (as could be clearly seen by his sketch of the Attilian skyline- minus the rings and moons- that hung on John's wall). But his true love was sketching people, which was why he'd turned towards the forest, unable to resist the lure of John's retreating figure. Flipping open the sketchbook with his free hand he grabbed a pencil in his left he scribbled out a rough sketch of John walking away from them, his pencil darting across the paper. It was more of an anatomical study than a picture of John, a draft of lines and curves that combined to give the overall shape of a man walking away, hands in pockets, shoulders drawn back slightly.

 

[MzHyde]

At John's scoff Fia had just rolled her eyes, sure he and Kay hadn't known each other long but the woman was pregnant and it wasn't the first time JOhn had stepped away from the group to smoke away from her, so Fia just knew that Kay was observant enough and smart enough to know whilst in her current state, being around a lit cigarette and flowing smoke. Fia's assumption was correct as well as Kay had observed that what with everything going on, John clearly needed time away from the group and he had been wanting to smoke for a while, so she wasn't going to encroach on that and be that stereotypical clingy person. She hated clingyness herself, so there was no way she was going to be that person herself. At John's sauntering off Fia knew she could just occupy herself whilst it was clear both her brother and her mother wanted to do nothing but sketch their surroundings and Jay was clearly wanting to read judging by the book on her lap. So Fia did the first thing that came to her head and pulled out her little notebook that had her unfinished songs in and decided she would attempt to see if anything would come to her to get any of them closer to being finished.

Kay listened to Elliott's reply to her reply as he got comfortable for drawing and she could easily see how as a kid, he wouldn't have appreciated the surroundings. She was certain that no kid truly appreciates any kind of wildlife area, whether it be a park or arboretum like this place, no matter the planet or universe. She certainly never appreciated the more hidden places and parks in Seattle until she was an adult, so why should it have been any different for Elliott and the children of Attil. "Understandable, I think most children are like that to be honest" she replied as she too began to sketch. Unlike Elliott however, Kay was doing a bit of sketch dump, deciding to draw various plantlife she saw in her direct line of vision so she had a bit of a study page of said plantlife, knowing she could no doubt encompass said flowers and plants into future pieces if she so wished, but it did mean she could truly look at the nearly flowers and such and really practice her landscape drawings. As she sketched, she did hope John was okay with his thoughts even though she had no plans on going after him. That didn't mean she didn't worry about him though. Her thoughts were distracted though when every now and then she could hear Fia humming to herself as she worked through her unfinished songs.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John walked about halfway around the lake before stopping and sitting down on one of the large lakeside boulders. From where he was he could just about see the others, Kay and Fia's vibrant hair acting as a convenient marker against the greens, blues and browns of the park. He lit up the first cigarette, wasting no time in taking in a deep drag, drawing as much into his lungs as possible. The surge of nicotine hit him straight away and he let out a sigh of pleasure before taking another drag. When the first cigarette burnt down to a tiny stub, he it up another. Away from the others he let himself stew in the chaos of the past few days, his mind darted from thought to thought, memory to memory, but it always came back to two people, Elliott and Zan, the latter of whom was proving to be far more complex than the clear-cut villain they'd taken him for from the off-set.

If Zan had been a through-and-through villain it would be easy for John to continue to hate him. But the man was a myriad of moral greys and so, John was forced to acknowledge that part of him did feel sorry for the man. It was an uncomfortable realisation that Zan was, in a way, more of a victim than Elliott was. Young Elliott had been messed up (there was no denying that), but he'd come out the other side alive and stronger. There had never been to John's knowledge a point where Elliott had felt suicidal. Zan on the other hand? From the little the man and said and what John had seen... they were his constant companion. John found himself remembering the deadness of the man's eyes as he taunted Jay, trying to goad her into pulling the trigger and ending it all. Thinking back on his own time in Ravenscar, John didn't think he'd ever fallen to a point where he actively encouraged people to kill him. The idea that somebody had managed to fall further than he did? It chilled him to the bone. If Zan came around, John was going to have a serious chat (and maybe even a smoke, now that that particular vice of Zan's had come to light) and drag proper answers out of him. John surprised himself by realising that, in theory, if Zan gave the right answers, he wasn't totally against him being in Elliott's life again.

Elliott's attention jumped from person to person in the park, filling up his pages with rough sketches of bodies and their postures and more detailed pencil sketches of faces. With so many of the people ambling slowly around the arboretum choosing to go past the lake there was no shortage of inspiration for him. When rough sketching like this he liked to find what he considered to be the defining colour or detail of a person's face and add that in with coloured pencil as opposed to normal grey lead. It gave his drawings a flash of colour and for many of these sketches that colour happened to be the gold of Devra eyes. As he drew he sank further into his artistic headspace, the sound of Fia's intermittent humming fading entirely into the background. Flipping to a new page of the sketchpad he started to draw, this time with more measured and precise lines. Slowly a familiar figure began to emerge- that of Jay, sitting with the thick tone leaning against one leg, blue hair falling over half her face.

 

[MzHyde]

Every now and then Kay switched pencils to a colour one, but for the most part she kept to her trusty grey lead pencils as she always was a sucker for black and grey artwork. She did do colour pieces every once in a while but to her there was just something about black and grey pieces that always drew her in. She didn't know why but always wondered if it was possibly because it meant she had to use her imagination to envision what the true colours would be behind it all, or if it somehow deep down reflected how she saw her own life for the longest time. The one thing she was certain of was that she probably would never truly find the true answer for her preferences. That being said, this time there were just certain flowers that demanded their true colour to be used and so she did all she could to replicate the wonderful depth of colour they had onto her pages, even going as far as to make a colour wheel key for each flower or plant she sketched out, so if she ever wanted to encompass them into future pieces when she got back on earth, she could have a visual reminder of what they looked like. Doing 'sketch dumps' was actually some of her favourite things to do as it meant she always had pages she could go back to and re-study or refresh her memory on things whilst also using them as practice pages. Sometimes for her, these sketch dumps also just acted as a more relaxed way of drawing when she didn't want to focus on some big single piece.

Fia's humming and scribbling in her notepad didn't become a bother to Kay either, like Elliott, it seemed to fade into the background after a while as a background noise that she really didn't mind. Fia was glad that none of the group were seeming to get fed up with her humming and just letting her get on with what she wanted to do. It took her a little while but she eventually pulled her violin out deciding that simply humming what she was writing down and felt could only be the end, just wasn't cutting it. She glanced at who Elliott was drawing for a brief moment as she lifted her bow out of the bag also and smiled to herself, before placing her violin in the crook of her neck and under her chin, lifting the bow up to the violin and began playing softly what she had already written down. Unlike when she usually usually played, she kept her eyes open so she could really get a look and feel of what she was composing, felt right. It didn't take long before it started to actually fall into place and a small smile to appear on her lips. It was a balance of a fast paced melody to then a slower melody, a real mixture of emotions or unspoken story oozed from the notes and she couldn't have been happier. As the music kept playing, Kay couldn't help but actually pause what she was sketching to just listen to her future daughter's talent, rapidly hearing the broad scale of what she was able to play on the string instrument. She could almost in her head hear a drumbeat to compliment what Fia was playing.

Spoiler: Fia's song

 

[_gallifrog_]

John smoked for well over an hour and a half, each time letting the cigarette burn down to the tiniest stub before dropping it to the ground and lighting up a new one. Smoking cigarettes one after the other in this kind of chain-smoking fashion wasn't something John did often, usually one (or part of one) cigarette was enough to calm his nerves. John knew that he was going to stink like an ashtray for the rest of the day, but it was worth it. The smoking had the desired effect- slowly down his brain enough that he could finally process everything. As he smoked he raked the other hand through his hair, tugging hard at the strands before rubbing at the stubble on his face. Every so often he'd roll his shoulders while massaging the painful crick in his neck. By the time his smoking session was over he'd managed to knead out the worst of the knot. Shoving the lighter back into his pocket he began to make his way back to the others, taking the long way around the lake.

Cliff had taken her hearing aids out to read and would have missed out on Fia's violin piece had it not been for Cal leaning over and prodding her in the side with a foot to get Cliff's attention. Looking up at her wife Cliff set the book to one side "what is it?" she signed. "Put your ears on darling, you're gonna want to hear this" Cal signed in reply then jerked a thumb in the direction of Fia. Cliff gave a nod, reaching over to the side and slotting her hearing aids back on. As always she winced slightly after turning them on. The sudden surge of sound after the blissful silence was a jarring transition and one she would never quite get used to. But it was worth it, Fia's playing was phenomenal, even though this was just a piece being drafted her talent shone right through. The violin was a part of her, she was at one with it in the same way that Cal and Dan were at one with the tools of the forge when they worked.

When Fia finished she would be greeting with a smattering of applause (and the odd whoop) from some of the other walkers in the park who'd stopped to listen. A small crowd of maybe fifteen or so people had gathered on the paths, including a two familiar figures, a young twenty-something Devra with a young girl by his side, the kid alternating between clapping and waving madly at Fia. The crowd was visibly impressed by her talent and not afraid to show it. Music was a universal language and their applause said more then their words ever could.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay noticed Cal nudged Cliff to actually listen to Fia's playing which made her smile to herself almost out of pride for Fia, especially after Cal and Cliff witnessed Fia perform at their wedding, so the fact that if they were wanting to listen to Fia every single time really give her a sense of pride for the teenager. She barely noticed just how long John had stayed away from the rest of them, but she couldn't help but feel like John really was missing out on hearing a spectacular piece for himself. She couldn't stop listening to every single note her daughter played and knew that once this was absolutely perfected in Fia's timeline, it would be something she could be proud of herself for. She was so used to hearing the odd piece from Fia, but no other piece she had been blessed to hear was anything like this piece. It was only about half way through that she suddenly noticed what a small crowd Fia had caused to grow, just to hear her. It almost threatened to make her get damp eyes, but she managed to not actually cry which she considered a small miracle considering her current state.

Fia like always, was in her own little world as she played but there was just something about this piece that although not perfected (she rarely thought of her pieced truly perfected, due to her being a perfectionist with music) she was feeling proud of what she had come up with. She adored coming up with these ore complex pieces that had tempo changes as it meant she was always learning and never feeling like she had nothing else to better. It was only when she came to its natural end and her fingers felt the familiar welcomed slight warm burn from the fast parts, did she suddenly become aware she had aquired a bit of an audience which made her smile sheepishly and tuck some of her hair behind her ear. She hadn't realised her playing was loud enough for anyone outside of their group to hear, but it seemed it was. She gave a nod of her head in thanks to those who she caught the eyes of before noticing the two figures she recognised that made her grin and wave enthuastically back towards, placing her violin and bow down she clambered up onto her feet and jogged over, still trying to get used to the applause she was getting. "Hey!" she greeted them. "Didn't think i'd gain an audience" she chuckled sheepishly.

Kay couldn't help but watch as Fia eagerly clambered onto her feet and run over to the people she clearly recognised, wondering if these people were people she met when she went out to the club with Rinaa one time or not, having not ever noticed her particualrly make friends with anyone whilst here, but did recall her texting someone after the night out. Though she had to admit, it was more than possible she just hadn't been aware of other encounters.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The crowd weren't the only one applauding Fia's performance, the others in the group were applauding too, having set down novels, newspapers and sketchpads so they could give their full undivided attention to Fia's performance. It seemed like every time the girl pulled out the violin she completely blew them away with the sheer beauty of the music she was able to create. And the fact that this piece was composed by Fia herself made it all the more impressive. Composition was never easy, visualising the flow of already-made music in your mind was hard, designing that flow from scratch was a rare and incredibly impressive ability. It just highlighted what they all knew- Fia and the violin were made for each other.

The cheering increased when Fia set down the violin and made her way towards the crowd (or more specifically towards Tai and Lee) a good few of them going as far as to shout out compliments in Attili, in the hoeps that despite the fact Fia clearly wasn't Devra, she had some understanding of their language. When Fia came close Lee ran out to hug her, though, due to the difference in their heights the little girl just ended up clinging onto Fia's leg instead. "Playing that well and that beautifully in a public place? It was bound to happen." Tai replied in Attili with a smile, his earlier impressed expression being replaced with one of fondness as he watched his daughter hug Fia like a limpet. "You might be Lee's favourite person in the world right now, she's old enough to know what kind music she likes and appreciates it with everything she's got."

Seeing Simeon's partner and their daughter Dan couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Oh I feel so shit about making Simeon run the forge these past few days. He really should be spending that time with his partner and kid." "But there's nobody else who can do it." Cal argued back. "And besides, Tai understands why. Family comes first and Sim would be more annoyed if you were running the forge while distracted."

 

[MzHyde]

When the small crowd shouted out their compliments, Fia expressed her thanks back to them in Attili to show that she did hear them and appreciated all the overwhelmingly kind words. She never played to get compliments, she played because she genuinely enjoyed it, it was an escape from the other parts of her life and it was something that as solely hers. Sure, she had a very musical family but the violin was hers and hers alone. The moment she saw Lee run over to her she chuckled and hugged the girl back before kneeling down and giving her a proper hug, then picked her up to hold her on her hip as Tai replied back to her comment. "well she's certainly one of my favourite people!" she beamed happily. "I guess I should have expected it but I don't normally have an audience. As for Lee here, she's always welcome to listen to me play whilst I'm around. She's seen nothing yet, that was just me practicing a new piece I'm working on. My other pieces there's full dance routines as I play" she chuckled, finding it nice that Lee was starting to know what kind of music she liked and appreciate the beauty of music. With music being in the little one's life, Fia had full faith that she could live a full life of culture as she grew up and heard more genres. "so how are you both?" she asked.

The moment Kay finally saw Lee properly as the kid ran straight to Fia, Kay realised who it was who was waving so enthuastically to Fia. Due to her angle of where she was sitting she couldn't quite make it out properly as other bystanders were just slightly in the way. She couldn't help but smile at how naturally good with kids Fia was, though she was still more than adamant that she was not going to get a sibling at all. Yet she could see how she would be a great babysitter if it ever was needed. She heard what Cal and Dan were saying and she could understand why Dan would feel bad but she did also think Cal had a valid counter point even if she didn't know Simon nearly as well as they did. "I'm sure neither of them will ever hold it against you Dan, and besides, I think Lee doesn't mind when she seemed to pick up a new best friend in Fia" Kay replied with a smile.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"You both make valid points" Dan conceded with a nod. "But it still doesn't sit entirely right with me." He looked over towards where the three were standing on the footpath. The rest of the crowd were slowly dispersing now that it became apparent there wouldn't be any more music. "Though I do agree that Lee looks utterly delighted to see Fia." "She's such a ray of sunshine that kid. She's not yet lost the ability to find almost all new things amazing and wonderful. Tai and Sim are really doing right by her." Cliff added with a smile. "Agreed." Cal nodded along with Dan. There was clearly some kind of unspoken second message passing between them, which prompted Elliott to comment "you never did tell me what their story was- why things got so heated in the forge when the brother showed up." "Not my story to tell Qui, you'd have to ask Tai or Simeon."

Tai couldn't help but smile broadly upon hearing that his daughter was one of Fia's favourite people, it gave him reassurance that he and his partner were doing something right bringing up their girl. Lee was also grinning broadly, the kind of face-splitting Cheshire cat grin that seemed to be ubiquitous among toddlers and very young kids, no matter what planet they were on. She squealed with delight when Fia picked her up and slung her onto her hip. The little girl was like a monkey, surprisingly agile for a four year old and wasted no time in wriggling an arm around Fia's neck and manoeuvring her legs so they wrapped around Fia's waist, giving the teenager no choice but to give Lee a piggy back. Lee let out a gasp at the mention of dancing, which caused Tai's grin to widen. "I think you've just blown her mind wide open. The idea of playing that well and dancing at the same time?" he tailed off with a chuckle "she's not going to want to leave without seeing that."

"Lee is happy, she'll be starting proper school soon... so a big milestone for all of us. She's incredibly excited while Sim and I are going back and forth between looking forwards to it and wondering where the time has gone. It seems like it was only yesterday that she was learning to walk" it really did feel that way to him, he was just into his twenties and there were many times where he swore his daughter was somehow growing older faster than he was. "Apart from that? Well" Tai lowered his tone and began to walk towards the main group, heading away from prying ears "we've both- Sim and I, not Lee and I obviously- have been following what we can of the trial. The media are as usual, running on speculation and next to no facts since the reporters can't get in and the lawyers are tight lipped. Qui seems like a good man from what I saw of him the last time, and we're both hoping it goes in your favour. How are you holding up?" The last part was spoken slightly louder, addressed at the group as a whole not just Fia.

 

[MzHyde]

When Cliff said what she did about Lee, it was clear to Kay that it was very much true. She may have only met Simeon's partner and Lee once properly before, but it was evident that the child still very much had that sense of wonder and imagination that wasn't tsitned by the harsh reality of the world, no matter the planet. It made her hope that when her Fia was born that she would be able to keep that alive for her as well and not destroy it early on, like her alternate self may have done if what Fia had ever said before was anything to go by. She wanted her kid to be happy and grow up to hate the world or her early on, a fear of hers that never gone away when she found out Fia's relationship with her version of Kay was indeed rocky to say the least. Hearing Elliott ask again about what the deal with Simeon and his brother was wasn't a complete surprise as she knew it had struck everyone's curiosity back in that day, but it also wasn't a shock to hear Cal refuse to explain it. She was right after all, it wasn't Cal's story to tell and she found it admirable that Cal wouldn't ever speak it unless Simon ever gave permission for it to be told or wanted to tell it himself. She glanced back to Fia, Tai and Lucy and couldn't help but chuckle as she watched Lee climb round Fia like a damn monkey and make Fia give her a piggy back which she gladly did, holding her securely under her legs so she wouldn't fall.

The piggy back made Fia remember back to when she would do the exact same thing with Elliott after she quickly learned unless absolutely necessary, John just wouldn't give her said piggy backs no matter how much she wanted them from her dad. So Elliott was the next best person to climb on when she was really young and she loved every single minute of it. Some of her fondest childhood memories were of Elliott running around with her on his back as she clung on for dear life whilst laughing hysterically. At tai's reply to her little tibbit of information about what she can do whilst playing, she chuckled, "well I guess I'll just have to oblige her won't I?" she smirked before listening to him explain how it was almost time for starting school for Lee and she wished she could understand exactly how Tai and Simeon felt but she couldn't. Being home schooled she didn't have all the dramatics that went with parents not wanting their kid to go off to school, getting their first uniform and everything else. The closest she got was Kay not believing she had to buy school supplies so she at least had something for each subject that Sam was teaching her. Even then, Sam got her a lot of it as she considered it the aunt duty. "kids always seem to grow up too fast" she remarked, keepjng her reply just that bit more generic than shhe would if it was their group discussing it all.

Her smile faded into a serious one as she saw and heard the tone change in Tai as he explained how he had been they had following the trial and keeping an eye on the reports in the media, not at all surprised that there were false bits of information being printed because they weren't allowed into the courts during it. "not entirely surprising. Hoping for that is all we can do really. Stress is getting to some of us, but all things considered I think we're holding up alright" she said back as she carried Lee back toward the group with Tai, looking at the others as if to say 'or am I wrong?'. Kay thought Fia's assumption on how they were holding up was pretty close, the stress was getting to them, some more than others, (if John's long smoking session was anything to go by, and Elliott's moments of zoning out) but considering how they could be handling everything, they were handling it pretty well, or so she thought. She would have said herself 'we're holding up' but she didn't know Attili, or picked it up as well as Fia had mostly because she didn't pay too much attention when Elliott was teaching Fia at the forge.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott gave a nod of understanding, Cal's reason for not telling made perfect sense. He hadn't really expected his sister to spill the beans (and in fact with the chaos of the past few days the fight in the forge had completely slipped his memory). He did however suspect that, whatever the story was, the little girl Lee was right at the centre of it. "Fair enough, it's not really my business anyway, I won't pry" he replied before looking over at Lee. There was something about way she was grinning broadly over Fia's shoulder not a care in the world, that highlighted her childish innocence. She was completely oblivious to the conversation between him and Cal. As Fia came closer and he could actually hear what Tai was saying it became abundantly clear that Lee had lost interest in the words a long time ago and was more interested in running her hands through Fia's vibrant hair.

"These past few days..... it's been .... well rough doesn't begin to cover it" Elliott replied honestly "things came up at the trial that I'd never even considered before and they did throw me. But with the trial on hold and chance to properly process" he gave a shrug "I'm doing all right actually." "What my brother said certainly covers how I felt... some old wounds have been opened, but that was inevitable." Cal gave a smile tinged with sadness and Elliott knew she was, in that moment thinking of Zan. "Its the waiting around that is the worst part, even moreso than the trial itself. I thought the legal side of things would be boring, but it's been quite fascinating- the legal team is phenomenal, as are the experts. They're really well-prepped and well-versed, especially given that most of them have never worked together before." "We were all stressed through the roof and barely-functional emotional wrecks at points, so being able to finally relax, process and let go... it's done wonders for us all," Cliff added as Chas and Jay nodded in agreement.

After giving his own piece, which was really just a further re-iteration of what the others had said Dan asked the question that had been on his mind the whole time. "How are you two coping now that I'm having Sim do all those extra hours in the forge?" "If you're beating yourself up about leaving Sim in charge Dan, don't." Tai replied in a surprisingly firm voice. "Sure we both miss having him around in the evenings, but Sim's doing this because he wants to. If he really was put out about all this, you would damn well know. You and Cal are like family to him, and to me. So just think of this as him paying you back for all those hours you spent looking after Lee and being there for Sim when I was hospitalised after the birth, not to mention all those times you looked after her at short notice." Dan went to protest, but Simeon cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Don't even try to argue with me, I'm right and you know it." Dan gave a shake of his head. "Okay, okay I accept it all." A pause, then softer "I needed to hear that, so thank you."

 

[MzHyde]

As the conversation continued and Lee lost all interest in it, deciding to focus her attention on Fia's hair, Fia let her as she knew Lee found her hair colour fascinating and if it kept the girl happy then she saw no problem with it, as she held her on her back. She couldn't help but smile to herself as Lee played with her hair, feeling her tiny hands in her hair which was soothing in a way. She also listened as Elliott and Cal gave their own reply to Tai's question, leading it for Cliff and Dan to also talk about how they were coping with the whole situation. It didn't surprise her entirely that Dan would ask about how Tai and Simeon were, having overheard the worries of what Dan, Cal and Kay were talking about earlier before she started playing what she had composed onto paper to see if it did as sound as she was hearing it in her head. She listened to Tai's reply to Dan, hearing him say very similar lines to what Cal and Kay said earlier whilst also elaborating more. Hearing him say he was hospitalised after the birth was a surprise to her but she didn't let it show on her face so not to be rude. She just assumed it was an adoption situation when she was theorising with John about things, after they saw the argument in the forge and hadn't met Tai or Lee.

It now made her feel so close minded that she just assumed such a thing and not opening her mind more. Kay also was surprised to hear the words that Tai said, but also like Fia, she didn't try and make it show on her face as she just smiled instead at Dan finally accepting the words from Tai that herself and Cal had tried to say to him earlier. Though the idea of being hospitalised after childbirth was a silent worry of her own, and she couldn't imagine how worried all parties involved would have been in that time. It did bring home the very firm fact that not even she knew how her own labor was going to go, especially with what she was, and in many ways was glad that John didn't hear that incase he wondered the same thing. She just hoped that no matter what happened, she didn't end up burning The House down or something equally traumatic. She also smiled at Lee playing with Fia's hair and Fia letting her do so. What did concern her however was how attached Lee could get to Fia and how that would impact the young girl when Fia would have to leave for her own timeline again. It was also clear to her that Fia was rather smitten with Lee and if given the chance and was from this time and world, she wouldn't hesitate to be babysitter and be a good one.

"you wanna see my violin Lee?" Fia asked her, as she adjusted ever so slightly her hands and arms under the girl so she didn't risk dropping her, deciding she would continue to entertain the kid as the adults talked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Lee let out a delighted 'yes!' at Fia's question, practically shouting the word into Fia's ear. Fia wouldn't need to see her to know that the little girl was grinning like a mad thing. That was followed by a pause and Lee shifting herself against Fia's back so she could turn and face her father. "Dad, dad! She say she'll let me look at the violin, can I? Can I?" she asked in an excited tone, so enthusiastic that her words practically ran together into one long word. Tai understood her perfectly and gave a fond grin, reaching over to ruffle her dark hair. "Of course you can darling, be careful with it though." "I will! I will!" Lee replied.

Tai's comment about Lee's birth did take Chas by surprise and like Kay and Fia he desperately tried not to let it show, not wanting to cause any offence or come across as somehow homophobic. Tai didn't seem to notice the reactions of the Earth-borns, he was too focused on reassuring Dan that his decision to let Simeon run the forge had been the right one. With the blacksmith relaxing and Lee suitably occupied Tai sat himself down beside Dan, tucking one foot under his leg. "You've got questions" he remarked, his words aimed not at Kay, Chas or Fia, but at Elliott who had an expression of slight bafflement on his face. "Don't worry, it's really not the question you think..." he reassured Tai "it's just I thought Lee's eyes were grey? They're gold now." Cue subtle and not-so-subtle glances in Lee's direction to confirm that indeed the little girl's eyes were Devra gold. "They probably were grey last time" Tai replied with a slight smile, visibly relieved he wasn't going to be quizzed about why exactly he'd had to stay in hospital after giving birth. "For the same reason that your eyes were blue the first time we met and that Cal's sometimes go brown. You three are only half Devra."

There was a slightly stunned silence, particularly from Cal. "How... do you know that?" she asked. "You didn't know?" Tai asked in a softer tone, with an expression of 'I've really put my foot in the shit now haven't I?' "We only found out a few days ago." "Your mother?" "Father actually." Elliott admitted, a revelation which made Tai's jaw drop slightly. "What, really?" "Yeah... we were shocked when we found out. He's actually from Darriliux and uses a lot of hair dye and gold-tinted contact lenses." "Huh.... anyway, my original point was that you can tell if somebody's half Devra by their eyes. A half-Devra can always change their eye colour- usually between Devra gold and one other colour, but some can do multiple colours and very in very rare cases the whole spectrum. Control comes with age- sometimes consciously like you, or unconsciously like Cal."

 

[MzHyde]

The excitable squeal of 'yes' that came from Lee at the offer to look at her violin made Fia chuckle, glad that she could make the girl so happy with such a simple thing. To her it was no big deal showing the child the violin, but it clearly was going to be mean a lot to Lee. Her excitable long ramble that was clearly a case of asking her father for permission made Fia chuckle all the more, a refreshing thing to hear when they've all been so stressed out and quiet over the case and consequential side effects of said case. With the permissin given, Fia carried Lee over to where she was sitting next to Elliott and carefully knealed down to put Lee down onto the ground before picking up her violin and showing Lee the instrument. An instrument that now meant so much more to her than ever before as Rinaa helped her construct the thing and build it. "Here it is" she smiled.

Kay smiled at how good Fia was being with Lee once again before turning her attention back to the rest of the adults in the group and how Tai seemed to just know that Elliott had at least one question on his mind. She listened as she was convinced Elliott was going to ask about what took her, Fia and Chas by surprised (though she was unaware those two were also surprised by that snippet of information), instead asking about Lee's eyes which made her glance back at the child as she thought back to that meal out with them all and realised that yes, Elliott was right. Lee's eyes were grey the last time they met, which got her curious all the more once again and instantly looked back at Tai to hear the answer that Tai could give them. Hearing that Lee was only half Devra like Elliott and Cal were was a surprise, she didn't think anyone outside of their group knew that the siblings were half Devra but it seemed they were very much wrong about that assumption.

With Elliott correcting Tai's assumption of who wasn't the Devra, she looked at Tai as he practically let his jaw drop on the ground out of shock, clearly never having realised that Zan wasn't Devra. She had to admit, it wasn't all surprising he reacted that way as they were all surprised to find out that he wasn't Devra. Being in such a position of work as Zan was, and by his looks, she certainly never would have put him as anything but Devra, especially as he was good at hiding his eyes under the contact lenses. "Fascinating" Kay couldn't help but comment in reaction, though she was half aware that she too could change her eye colour, but only if Fee ever took over her body. So although it was similar, it was also so different in her mind, not only that she found eyes to be generally fascinating to some degree, especially now as she knew what she was.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Lee half-slid, half-rolled off Fia's back and onto the ground- an action that was entirely graceless, yet strangely endearing. She was already an adventurous kid and the hard jolt of her landing didn't bother her or make her burst into tears like it would have a few years ago. When Fia took out the violin the little girl's eyes visibly widened at the sight. First it was surprise, and then it was curiosity that crossed her face. Before today she'd never seen a violin outside of a picture and Fia's violin- being a custom piece- looked nothing like the one she'd seen in her books. Lee stretched out her hands towards the instrument so she could feel it. Her fingers still contained some remnants of baby fat, but it would be clear to Fia that when the girl grew up she'd have so-called 'pianist's fingers'- long and slim. As Lee trailed her fingers over the violin's smooth surface an expression of intense concentration came over her face (or as intense a look as a four-and-a-bit year old could make), like she was trying to figure out how it worked or how it was put together. She then went to touch the strings, thought better of it, her eyes flicked towards Tai for a brief second before returning to Fia as she looked up and asked, somewhat shyly "can I touch them?" pointing one finger at the strings.

In any other situation the gobsmacked look of shock on Tai's face when Elliott clarified that it was his and Cal's father, not their mother that had been an off-worlder would have been hilarious to Cal and Dan and enough to set them off sniggering (which would in turn have set Cliff, and probably Elliott off as well) but the mere mention of Zan had both their minds going onto a far more serious track. Now wasn't the time for laughing and Cal was relieved that Elliott was the one to continue talking. She could see in Tai's eyes that the young man was seriously impressed by the effectiveness of Zan's disguise (her father had played the role to perfection Cal couldn't deny that as she too had been completely fooled by it) but was consciously choosing not to say anything on the matter.

"What's fascinatin'?" John asked in Attili, walking up to the group. By now now he'd completed his smoking and leisurely circuit of the lake (though unbeknownst to himself he'd missed all of Fia's performance as the wind blew in the other direction), but the fact that Tai and Lee had joined the group hadn't escaped his notice. He leaned a shoulder against the same tree Cliff was sitting under. John looked considerably better than he had that morning. There were still bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep, but the life had returned to his icy-blue eyes, replacing the almost haunted look that had been in them the day before. He wasn't turning cartwheels round the park, but there was a sort of lightness to his step that hadn't been there earlier.

"My eyes." Elliott replied and seeing the tell tale smirk on John's face indicating that he was about to make some smart-alec quip (a sure sign he was feeling better) Elliott hastily added. "Or more precisely, my eyes, Cal's eyes and Lee's eyes. It turns out- according to Tai- that all half-Devras can change their eye colour between the natural gold and a secondary colour, sometimes more than one." On the last four words he glanced briefly at Jay, who nodded, indicating that she too was thinking of Rinaa. The teenager could, and had, changed her eye colour and pattern at will. "Huh..." John nodded slowly. "I'd just assumed that was something to do with your magic. I know my eyes change colour with some kindsa spellcastin' and with the serious warding they've got 'round this planet." John gave a shrug, letting the sentence trail off. "But yeah... now that you say that, it makes more sense. Your blue eyes are proper eyes where as using magic or Mindwalking or even boosting it's..... more of a glow."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smiled as Lee slid from en onto the ground and didn't seem phased at all by the hard thud she made when she landed. She watched Lee's face and eyes go incredibly wide as she saw the violin come into her view and how it looked nothing like a traditional violin. She held it in a manner that would protect Lee from the crossbow under segment, knowing the rest of it would be safe for Lee to touch. She did indeed see how Lee's fingers would be pianist fingers as she grew up whilst also noting the way Lee's look was becoming more and more one of curiosity and intrigue in how it was constructed. The way Lee was looking Fia could just tell that Lee would have an incredible future ahead of her if she kept up this fascination on how things worked. Almost like Rinaa in a way, she thought. As the girl got to the strings, Fia smiled again and nodded, "of course you can, it's safe to do so" she replied, showing Lee how to touch the strings without hurting her fingertips by running her fingers lightly up and down the length of the strings, rather than across them as if strumming them. "just do it this way and you'll be okay" she told her.

Kay looked up when she heard the familiar accent of John making it back to the group after missing quite a bit of chatter and Fia's impromptu audience to her practice. It made her all the more glad that she took a video of Fia's playing to show him later and the crowd she created. Though something told her from the way Lee was being around the violin, Fia wouldn't hesitate to either play again for Lee or give an impromptu little lesson. She let Elliott do the explaining of what caused her to say something was fascinating. She looked around at everyone as Elliott spoke and then John replying, finding it interesting that John's reply echoed her own thoughts that she didn't openly express, due to his return before she could go further into her reply. "I was thinking the same sort of thing." she replied. "even I've noticed the difference between Ell's actual eye colour change and when it's more of a glow. Similar to both of us, as you say" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

With permission granted Lee watched curiously as Fia took back the violin and demonstrated on it the best way to touch the strings, her eyes tracking the teenager's fingers as they moved up and down. She copied Fia's motions as best she could, the first brush of her fingers along the string was tentative, she clearly did not wanting to break the strings. But she quickly realised that despite their delicate outer appearance the strings were made of tough stuff and her touches grew more confident. Lee's expression of deep concentration returned as she began to run different fingers down different strings. She was clearly a tactile learner, understanding best when she could hold the object in her hands and examine it for herself.

John gave a nod of understanding at Kay's words, but said nothing, still mulling a little over what had just been said. At the time he'd never questioned Elliott's ability to change his eye colour too deeply- not wanting to jinx whatever twist of good fate meant that Elliott wouldn't be marked out as a non-human by his eyes. Xenophobic Hostility towards meta-humans was growing slowly, and mainly concentrated in the States, but there were groups in the UK (some with a propensity for violence and murder). There was similar hatred directed at aliens, but that was less common as most could disguise themselves well enough to pass as humans. Metas were often at a disadvantage, their bodies physically mutating in ways that could not be easily disguised.

"So my eyes really do go brown? That's not just some trick of the light?" Cal asked, both sceptical and confused, turning to Cliff and Dan for answers. Both nodded slowly. "I never thought much of it to be honest, it was only small flashes- like you said easily passed off as some kind of trick of the light." Cliff replied with a slight shrug, reaching out a hand and linking her fingers with Cal's. "And the flames and sparks of the forge do all kinds of weird things to the light." Dan added. "It's certainly not something they teach at med-school." Cliff smirked, earning a slight chuckle from Cal. "It's not something people generally know- I only noticed it after becoming a parent." Tai added in a reassuring tone. He knew Cal enough to tell that this new discovery about her heritage was a sensitive topic and one she felt self-conscious about. If he'd figured out and said nothing then how many other people had known before she did?

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smiled watching Lee be so tentative and careful with the strings before realising that they wouldn't break at the slightest touch and began to feel them a bit more confidently. She could see how tactile of a learner Lee was, even at this young age and the girl honestly did remind FIa of a mixture of both herself and Rinaa. Just thinking about Rinaa reminded her of how she last saw her which made her have a moment of internal sadness before she forced herself to snap those thoughts out of her mind and focus on Lee fully again. She saw the bow part of the violin ontop of her bag and nodded her head toward it, "See that there? That's the bow for it. You can pick it up if you want" she told her, more than happy to keep teaching the girl about the violin and let her learn for as long as she wanted to learn about it. She wouldn't be surprised if after this Lee ended up asking her fathers for an instrument to learn, as Lee's curiosity and fascination really did remind her of herself at her age. It made her remember seeing her brother and father play the guitar and at age 4 she would just sit in front of them, cross legged, chin in the palm of her hands and this wide amazed look of wonder on her face. She couldn't figure out initially how strumming strings could make such a noise that was pleasant to hear and was determined to know more. It was then that music became everything to her and she began her journey of what instrument was for her.

Kay could tell that John was mulling over the words spoken by them all, and it didn't take much to figure out what he was really thinking about. She could only imagine what a relief it must have been for John to bring up Elliott on Earth in a way that hid Elliott's Attili background. She too knew what prejudices there were against metas and alien races in the world, even if it was rarer in the UK than the States. It was about the only reason that she could be thankful for her own mother hiding what she was from her and what their heritage was. She hated that it was hidden from her all her life, but she also knew deep down that the dangers could easily be one of her mother's many reasons. So the ideas of John being worried sick about Elliott if his alien heritage was more obvious during his upbringing on Earth wasn't that difficult to comprehend. She could easily imagine how he'd be constantly on edge of a young Elliott going out alone with his bright golden eyes on show, revealing he wasn't entirely human and if it would cause a fight or hate thrown his way. It was a concern that she knew she would no doubt grow to have when it came to Fia as she grew up. Especially as it seems by what Fia had been telling them, they were still very much hunted and wanted in her timeline/her teenage years. Her thoughts making her not really hear what was being said between Cal, Cliff and Tai at all.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia was right in thinking that Lee was beginning to harbour desires for a musical instrument of her own. Her favourite instrument changed with her mood and was usually whatever instrument she'd heard most recently. At this moment in time it was the violin, but by the end of the day it could easily be the harp or the saxophone Neither of her fathers could play one, or sing particularly well, but both could appreciate good music and talented musicians and had decided to teach Lee these values from a young age. So far it had worked, she was enthralled by music, particularly pieces overflowing with emotion. It was why she'd responded with so much joy at Fia's pieces, she could not just feel the emotion, but see it too.

At Fia's suggestion Lee set down the violin and eagerly reached over to pick up the bow (which was almost the same length as her entire arm). She first ran her fingers over the smooth main body of the bow before moving on to the strings. She let out a small gasp of surprise as her fingers touched the string. To her untrained eye the violin strings and bow strings had appeared to be made of the same material and she was shocked to find that was not the case. To confirm this she reached out with her left hand to stroke the violin strings once again then giggled slightly, eyes sparkling with delight.

While Fia entertained Lee the topic of conversation among the adults drifted towards more light-hearted matters. Tai's work anecdote about weird room service requests was interrupted by the ringing of Cal's phone. She looked at the ID, eyebrows scrunching together in annoyance before declining the call with an almost violent swipe of her finger. "Journalist- no doubt trying their luck to get some clue about what happened at the trial and why it's stopped" she scoffed disapprovingly. "Not that I'd answer their call on a normal day- and to be on the safe side" she fiddled around with her phone for a moment before sliding it back into her pocket "I've put it on do not disturb, the only people that will get through is our friends, Owain, Dexter and Bec. I'm not having a lovely day ruined."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia chuckled softly as Lee discovered that the bow string fibres were not made of the same material as the violin strings, and even had to go as far as to touch the violin strings again and at the same time just to make sure. It was so sweet to see this kind of childish wonder, and she couldn't help but wonder if her parents had the same kind of feelings and smiles on their faces when she found the instrument of her choice to learn and stick with, or if what she saw on Lee's face was what John and Kay saw on her own face all those years ago (for her). She also found it utterly adorable that the bow was almost the same length as Lee's arm, making her wonder if this is what she looked like at that age or a little older when she decided to pick up her violin bow for the first time. It made her make a mental note to ask her parents in her timeline when she goes back for any photos of her first learning days with her first violin, so she could see for herself. She gestured for Lee to come in front of her as she decided she would let her play a chord so she could feel the note under her fingers. Which she did gladly when Lee scooted over. She showed and helped lee hold the bow properly, placing it on the violin, tucking it under Lee's chin and with help, she placed lee's fingers on a basic easy to place chord and moved lee's hand holding the bow back and forth so she could hear and feel the note she taught her.

"and you just played your first note on a violin!" she smiled. "Now, I seem to remember to have promised you that I would show you how I can play and dance" she smiled soon after and as promised she did show her by playing something fun which meant she could really show Lee what could be done if hard work and persistence was put into learning. As per usual, it took her next to no time to start moving to what she was playing, doing all kinds of fun little moves, spins, leg lifts that practically saw her foot go above her head, shimmies and 90degree back bends just to name a few moves whilst never missing a single note on her violin. Seeing Lee watching only made her smile all the more. This time she also was fully expecting people to stop and watch as she was more active and fully aware of being more impressive than when she just played sitting down next to her brother and fully concentrating on what she was doing. By the time she was done, she gave a sweet little curtsy chuckling.

Spoiler: song of choice for Fia/dance

As like before, Kay had stopped her sketching and talking with the others, to watch Fia entertain Lee and once again truly being blown away just how athletic her future daughter was whilst playing an incredibly intricate instrument. Pride for Fia bubbled through her heart once again as she couldn't take her eyes off of her, the look of 'that's my girl' clear in her blue eyes, unable to even look at the rest of the group to see if they had remotely the similar gaze onto Fia. By the time FIa had finished, Kay couldn't resist applauding her and giving the odd little whoop. "That's our girl" she muttered through her smile, this time meaning 'our' as in their whole group. If the present unborn Fia grew up to be an ounce of what the Fia stood in front of them was then she knew her and John could have nothing but pride for her and what she can accomplish in life, despite how much of a screw they both thought of themselves to be.

-----

As the day went on Fia hadn't played any more songs after that and Kay had managed to get the beginnings of a piece of art drawn out after doing many sketch dumps of the various plantlife around her. By the time a good few hours had passed, she was getting nibbly and peckish, "anyone else wanting food of any kind? Or is it just me?" she asked, not believing that it was her asking this question and not Fia. Though she was aware Fia had made use of some of the snacks that Cliff had brought with them during the afternoon. All that being said, being outside for the length of time they had been proved well worth it in Kay's eyes. The fresh air had done her the world of good, and presumed it did for the others as well if the talking and laughs and smiles were anything to go by.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Holding the violin was an awkward task for Lee, it was far too big and heavy for her to be comfortable with (a quarter sized violin would have much more suitable for her). Lee had to really stretch out her arms to properly grip it in the places Fia indicated. She gave a broad, grateful smile when Fia wrapped her arms around and helped support the weight of the violin. The chin rest felt strange and uncomfortable against her skin, but she was soon distracted by the sounds and vibrations produced as Fia helped her draw the bow across the strings. Lee let out a squeal of delight and amazement at the note she'd just produced.

There was a slight flicker of disappointment across the young girl's face when Fia took away the violin, but it was quickly replaced by delight when Fia declared her intent to play and dance at the same time. Just as Tai had joked earlier the sight of Fia dancing and playing made Lee's mind practically short circuit, her eyes were so wide they nearly popped out of her head and her jaw was hanging open in shock as she watched the spectacle that was Fia's dancing. She'd truly never seen anything like it before and her mind was blown. When she finished Lee's claps and cheers were the loudest and most enthusiastic, almost drowning out the small group of spectators who'd stopped to watch Fia. After the curtsey she rushed forwards and gave Fia another hug, babbling delightedly. She was praising Fia in Attili, but her excitement made al the words run together into one incoherent syllable soup (though the slight and awe shining in her eyes said it all).

---------------------------------------------------

As the day stretched on Elliott added the final details to his sketch of Jay reading, carefully shading in her hair with a selection of blue pencils. He wasn't entirely happy with how it turned out, he felt that the colour combination he'd chosen for her hair didn't quite do Jay justice, that his sketch somehow lacked the vibrancy and complexity of colour of the real deal. He flipped over his sketchbook to a new page and began another drawing, this time of John and Chas, who'd spent most of the last few hours sitting together and talking shit about old friends (and enemies). Elliott had drawn the two men countless times throughout his teenaged (and now adult) years, yet he never tired of doing so. Each time Elliott drew them he tried to make their contrasting personalities shine through in his drawings. When he was younger, he had little success and his drawings usually ended up as a crumpled ball in the bin, but now with years of practice and experience behind them, adding in the emotions was like second nature.

"Well I'm bloody starvin'." John declared. Being out of the apartment had done him the world of good and now as he lay sprawled on his side across the grass he could feel the quiet rumblings of his stomach that told him his appetite had returned in full force. "Can't speak for the rest of these fucks though" he added with a smirk, gesturing at the rest of the group. "I could eat too" Elliott agreed with a nod as he looked up from his sketchbook. "Me too." Chas added as the rest of the group nodded. "Well we've got some food with us here" Cliff tapped one of the carrier bags with her foot "if that takes your interest?"

 

[MzHyde]

With John and everyone else agreeing that they were actually hungry as well made Kay not feel too bad about being hungry herself. Yet she was more pleased to hear that John was as hungry as he seemed to state so as it did show that his apettite was back after the stresses of the last few days. His choice of wording about the others did make her smirk and shake her head lightly, even though it did mean the others openly agreed they were hungry as well. "I could always eat" Fia spoke up, still on a bit of a high that she managed to make Lee so incredibly happy and excited over the course of the day. "Don't we know it!" Kay quipped back with a smirk still on her face, making Fia throw a wrapper from her earlier snack at the woman which just made Kay laugh as it was such a typical teenage reaction to do. "I'm happy with eating something from what we got in the bag, I don't mind what it is" Kay then said to Cliff. She didn't know if anyone else was in need of something more, and although she could eat something more, she also didn't want Cliff and Cal dragging a lot of the weight from the food all the way back home again, after bringing it out.

Fia let the others continue talking and decide on what they wanna do about the food situation as she decided to pack away her violin and bow into the bag case she brought it in. She stretched her legs out after having been back to sitting cross legged for quite a while and felt the relief her muscles and joitns felt as she did so. She leaned back on her hands deciding that the others could get first dibs on the food they had already as she had nibbled on a few of the smaller snacks during the day already, so to her it was only fair that the others got first dibs this time round, especially her mother in her current state. As it was discussed who wanted what to eat and who wanted anything out of the bag Cliff had, Fia found herself thinking back over the day and what had been done and how much happier everyone seemed to be in the outdoor air. She even had glanced during the day of what Elliott and Kay had been drawing and enjoyed seeing the two artists having so much inspiration and being engrossed in their talent. "I've really liked today, glad I suggested this" she thought out loud.