Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

John got out of the chair, pulling his legs out from where he'd stretched them out in the table supports. "Night guys." He said, before adjusting the trenchcoat and heading in the direction of The House. The four others nodded in acknowledgement, before turning to each other. The four got on very well and had spent a good chunk of the night before in the one boat, talking and playing cards. "Cards again?" Jay asked as they all shifted seats to sit closer together. "I'm up for a couple of rounds." "Deal me in too." "Always up for a couple of games."Jay pulled a deck from the pocket of the leather jacket she'd slung over the chair. It had quickly become too warm for the jacket, but it was one of her favourite pieces of clothing, old and battered, with patches hand sewn on the back.

The House itself wasn't too far away from the main area, Cliff had chosen well with the field, close enough to walk to, but far enough away from everybody else that they'd still have some sense of privacy. Chas was true to his word, heading straight to bed and falling asleep pretty quickly by his standards. John said goodnight to Fia at the foot of the stairs before following Kay to the room they were sharing, hanging the coat up properly. He left his shirt and tie in their usual heap, he would be changing into fresh things for the wedding anyway (even if it was more of the same). He flopped back down on the bed with a slight sigh of contentment.

 

[MzHyde]

With everyone ready to head back minus the other four, Kay walked with them back to The House, thankful that it wasn't too far away from where they all were. Reaching The House, Fia went up ahead saying goodnight to everyone and headed to her room. Like Chas, it didn't take her long after she changed and getting into bed, did she fall asleep. Kay, once in the room with John, changed herself, her clothes in a pile on 'her side' of the bed and laid down on the bed just as contented as John was.

It didn't take her long before she sort of laid on her side as much as she could and scooted up to John. It has felt like such a long day in so many ways to her but she knew tomorrow would be longer. "feels good to just lay down properly in some silence" she sighed. She just really hoped she wouldn't get anymore crazy weird dreams that would haunt her throughout tomorrow. She really needed a break from all things phoenix just for a day, then she'd deal with anything else that was thrown her way. She also wondered what Fia would be like during the whole thing, knowing this was her first time attending such an event.

 

[_gallifrog_]

As soon as Kay curled up next to John, he put his arm around her. The earlier feelings of guilt and frustration at himself had mostly evaporated, there had been no lasting damage done. John knew he'd gotten off easy he was playing hormone roulette in a way. Just because he'd get away with it today didn't mean that he'd have gotten away with it whne Kay was in a different emotional state. But flirting with danger and standing right on the ragged edge of disaster was John's normal attitude to things, it inevitably backfired on him in the long run, but he wouldn't change for anybody or anything. It'd be the death of him he knew, but John wold rather die as himself than just wither away living a lie.

He nodded at Kay's words. "I gotta agree, this place is a madhouse, what with all the people and personalities. But it's crazy in a good way." It was the comforting sort of crazy, where everything seemed to crackle with energy and the atmosphere was laid back. "Though tomorrow's gonna be crazier, and for once I doubt the speeches will be boring. I'm expecting teasing, bad jokes and in jokes none of us are gonna get, maybe with the exception of Rinaa, who seems to know everything about these guys." John for once was looking forwards to the speeches, had it been anybody else's wedding he'd be asleep during them, or have snuck out for a I'm uncultured. Or not bothered to show up at all. Weddings weren't his scene.

 

[MzHyde]

As John wrapped his arm round her, she got that sense of security that probably only she could find with someone from John. She really didn't feel angry at him for the earlier situation as she did know he was just mucking around, and she did start eating again soon enough. Even in her current state, she knew there was much more bigger things she could be angry about. Though she would be surprised if her pregnancy remained that calm and collected through the whole thing. She also wouldn't want him to change, she didn't get attracted to him because he was this perfect human being that always watched what he said or where he stepped. She got attracted to him because he is who he is. Prophecy and bond or not, her attraction became real way before they knew about everything else.

She listened to his reply as she made her head comfortable on his shoulder. This place was a mad house full of insanely eccentric people, yet she wouldn't wish they were anyone else. She continued to listen, agreeing that the actual wedding was bound to be even crazier, and certainly have it's fair share of entertaining moments. She had to smirk at the remark about Rinaa seeming to know everything. "I agree, it's definitely going to have its highly entertaining moments that I don't think any of us will forget for a very long time." She smiled. Kay could take or leave weddings, she didn't exactly dislike them but wasn't all gushy over them either like a lot of women were who were her age. "Can imagine a lot of people doing a lot of filming on their phones at this one, especially during the speeches" she added. She found herself tracing her fingertip across his collarbone, a soothing action for herself.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The wedding hadn't even happened yet, but John knew there would be no way he'd intentionally forget what was going to happen at it. He only knew of one person giving a speech (which was Dan), but he suspected there'd be more. If he had to put money on who, he'd say Benji (for the simple reason of older brother priveledges), one or both of Cliff's parents, somebody from the Attili crew (presumably Deke as he was the leader and also the oldest) and one of the doctors that worked with Cliff on a regular basis. He agreed with Jay that people would be recording or filming, espescially Cliff's family. It was clear to John (a decidedly non romantic person) that the two women were perfectly suited for each other. It hadn't been that much of a surprise for John that Cliff had been at Cal's apartment that morning, what he found more surprising was the fact that she was deaf and nobody had noticed.

"Oh yeah that a guarantee. And if anybody goes to make an arse of themselves later in the day, I guarantee there'll be at least six videos to be used for friendly blackmail purposes." He found himself relaxing at Kay's touch, feeling less and less wound up with each passing touch. His left collarbone had an uneven scarline across it from one of the many injuries he'd stitched up himself. "It's funny, had Ell not been kicked off the planet, he'd definetly be giving a speech at this shindig. He's kind of dodged a bullet in a roundabout way, though he'd definitely be able to give a good speech."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay knew that Dan was doing a speech, she seemed to remember about him trying to write one the other day, yet she didn't know of anyone else, though she'd be surprised if none of Cliff's family did a speech. Also like John, she could see clear as day that Cal and Cliff were meant for each other and completed each other. It was incredibly endearing to watch the two of them at times, especially as before John she didn't even believe in love, at least ..for herself anyway. She had said as much to John back in his apartment when they were figuring shit out between them.

At his next words she had to chuckle slightly, "oh for sure and what are the chances that the person who'll make an ass out of themselves will be our darling daughter?" She replied with a smirk, having now seen enough of their kid's personality to know that Fia will no doubt be up to all kinds of antics that will either make them laugh or hang their heads in shame and embarrassment that she was in fact theirs, even if it was out of the fake pretence of being her sister. She could feel him relax more and more underneath her because of her touch, she felt the scar on his left collarbone but she said nothing about it. She had of course seen it all before when they slept together, it was just yet another thing that made him...him. the differences between them that Kay just seemed to strangely love. She then listened to him when talking about Elliott getting out of making a speech making her smile knowing he had a valid point. "Yeah, I can imagine he'd make a good speech" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Where as John excelled at spontaneous speeches, usually giving out to members of the League, or shit talking whatever demons and/or Downworlder that had the misfortune to cross his paths, Elliott was better at planned things. He had always had a knack for words and phrases, with pinpoint delivery so long as he was given a suitable amount of time to prepare. John had wondered if this was something Elliott had picked up from his politician father, or if it was from somewhere else. He'd never gotten a proper answer to that line of thinking, nor did it really matter to him. If he had been giving a speech, he'd have done Cal proud, John knew that much.

John laughed quietly at Kay's comment about Fia, the laugetr reverberating through his chest. He hadn't considered that possibility up until now, but now that Kay had mentioned it, he couldn't get it out of his mind. "Oh its totally bound to happen, and it'll be one of our group that'll be holding the camera. I'm not sure what she'll do though. We both know she can actually dance, so unless she gets hammered and loses all coordination, it won't be on the dance floor. And there's also the bet the Cal and Cliff made over which sibling she'd drag onto the dance floor. After meeting them all, who'd you put your money on?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was always bad at speeches and loathed doing them. Sure, she had a sharp tongue when it warranted it and she was good at throwing in the odd film or general pop culture reference when she could, but actual speeches weren't her thing at all. She even hated it when she had to talk through all her exam pieces in university or high school if it was art. As with most things she was so much the polar opposite to Sam, it was a wonder how they even got on at all, yet somehow they did.

She felt the laughter vibrate through his chest as he thought about Fia making an utter fool out of herself. She listened to his reply and chuckled, knowing it would definitely be one of their group that would be filming it, even if Fia shouldn't be in any kind of video or photos due to the whole time reading situation. Yet it would also look incredibly strange to people if they didn't include Fia at all in such things. They'd just have to delete any of the evidence at later date she decided. She thought about the whole dragging what brother onto the dance floor question and after meeting them all, her mind was still on the youngest, Matteo. "I'm gonna say Matteo. She seems to have really gelled with him over a manner of things so I'm gonna say him first" she said. She also noted how he said about Fia possibly getting hammered, "I'm also gonna say that although she can seriously dance, and at a level that even surpasses myself, I'm gonna guess she'll know how to fake bad dancing if it's just for a load of fun. I'm also guessing you'd be completely fine with her drinking?" She said, finishing it with a question out if curiosity.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was also suspecting that Matteo would be the one dragged on the dance floor with her (if he wasn't there already). Cliff was obviously out of the equation, Charlie wasn't the dancing type in his opinion (and had announced that her plans consisted of chatting with her work partner and eating food for the whole night), Nat was a wild card, he was more reserved, but experience had taught John that it was often the quiet ones you had to watch out for as they tended to be the most surprising, Benji was a likley candidate, but the age gap was a big factor, so Matteo it was. "Yeah, I'm with you on that. They're kinda similar personality and hobby wise, which is probably why they get on so well. Besides the fact that there's only four teenagers at this entire thing anyway."

At the next question John nodded and shrugged at the same time, a gesture that shouldn't have worked, but somehow did. "Put it this way the drinking age is seventeen here, so it's not actually illegal. I asked Cliff a while back in a totally different context. Whether she's drunk alcohol before doesn't really matter, and we both know if we didn't let her, she'd find a way anyway, probably just lie to Matteo and ask him to get it for her. And it would definitely suck, being the only one at the whole thing not drinking alcohol. And this way she knows she's allowed, but to be sensible about it, so if she gets a killer hangover and spends the next week vomiting her guts out, she can't say she wasn't warned or that it was out fault."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay suspected that Fia would attempt to get anyone on the dance floor, it wouldn't matter the age difference yet she also suspected that Fia wouldn't go up to a stranger to do it, only focusing on those she knew. So if she did attempt it with Benji, Kay wouldn't be all that surprised as in so many ways Fia was so much like Sam. "Yeah though I wouldn't be surprised if age didn't even matter to Fia" she smirked before listening to the rest of his answer to her little question. The shrug he made not even bothering her in the slightest, despite it making her head rise slightly through the action.

She never realised that he had asked what the legal drinking age was previously. Knowing that seventeen was the legal age did actually make Kay feel a lot better about the idea of Fia drinking. Though when he said about it sucking being the only one not drinking, she had to smirk slightly as she would be the only one not drinking, so if Fia didn't, she wouldn't technically be alone. She did have to chuckle at the last bit he said though, "considering I can't drink, she wouldn't be the only one sober but I get what you're meaning. I wouldn't put it passed her in the slightest to drink behind our backs if we didn't let her. I am curious if she's like myself that could handle her drink due to the whole phoenix thing, but if it's possibly her first time drinking it'll probably hit her quickly. Something that I don't wanna take the blame for, so like you say, permission means it's all on her and not us." She said back, giving it real thought as she spoke. She realised during this conversation just how much not drinking will totally suck for her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John nodded as Kay spoke about how she'd end up the only sober one due to it being on the banned list of substances for a pregnant pheonix. "Well I can't speak on the whole pheonix thing, I know I have a higher alcohol tolerance than a normal human, though whether that's just a built up thing from years of binge drinking or whether it's to do with the demons blood is another matter. There could be a generic component to it, but I doubt it'd be that noticeable. She's gonna have to learn some way or another what her alcohol tolerance, and there's no way to do it other than burn and learn." The first pun wasn't intentional, but as soon as the words came out he smirked, realising the hidden significance of what he just said.

"But at least this way if something does go sideways, we've got a qualified doctor or six on hand, so it wouldn't be necessary to ruin Cliff's big day with a teenager who can't handle her alcohol."He added with a wry smile and shrug. "Though I'd suspect she'd get herself involved anyway. Its just the kind of person she is. And I fully expect Rinaa to be doing tequila shots, or whatever the equivilant of that is here, at some point during the night, given that she didn't grow up with Elliott and his no alcohol or excessive drinking policy around." Normally Elliott didn't drink, but he made exceptions for special events like weddings or when he needed to stitch himself up and a slug of whiskey would give him an extra kick.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened to what he said, she had slowly at some point stopped tracing her fingertips across his collarbone and just rested her hand there instead. She glanced her eyes upward to look at him this time as he spoke, smirking and chuckling at the accidental pun he had made. She was about to reply when he continued on and so she continued to listen, knowing he had a very valid point on the whole being plenty of doctors around if Fia got herself into trouble. She too didn't want anyone, especially Fia ruining Cliff's big day and having her get involved yet she also knew that Cliff would anyway if it came to it.

She also nodded about Rinaa, finding that anything could be possible with Rinaa at this stage as they still didn't really know her but knew she did start drinking from a young age to get away from her problems and such. "Wouldn't surprise me on any of those points to be honest. At the end of the day, I just want people to have a good time tomorrow, for Cal and Cliff to have the wedding they dreamed of and Fia to finally have a normal teenage day. I know we've sort of given her that chance but tomorrow will truly give her that ya know?" She replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John listened as Kay spoke, not looking at her, to comfortable to move his head to make eye contact with her. He wasn't asleep yet, but he was sort of dozing off, and the tone of Kay's voice as she spoke was surprisingly soothing (not that he'd ever admit to even thinking something like that). "Yeah I do. Those two deserve an amazing day, espescially after having to put up with us and all the drama we've brought with us. Let's face it we'd be kinda lost without them, me rushing to another planet with no plan whatsoever. Those two truly deserve this." John knew that it wasn't for Cliff and Cal, they'd all (bar Jay and Rinaa) be in jail cells, with Cal and Cliff trying to figure out how to break them out, strategise with them and doing all this without getting caught. They'd planned their wedding long before Elliott showed up, so it was only right that they got to have their big day.

"And yeah, Fia needs that kinda thing. Though in this case it seems like we're unintentionally going out of our way to show her the most eye opening and crazy stuff- alien planets, civilisations, space travel, weightlessness and zero gravity, aliens that aren't Elliott and Jay, and so much more. For somebody who hadn't been outsida London before this, it's been massive leap. Let's face it, with us around, she's never gonna have 'normal', or never have a lot of it." John made air quotes gestures with his hands, the one around her shoulder gently rubbing her back. "But at least this way she gets to see some damn cool shit."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay could see how much John was beginning to reach the dozing off stage of their nightly chats, she had no clue that her talking was part of that soothing feeling for him, and considering how he was, she would probably never know unless she figured it out somehow. She listened to him before lowering her head once again, keeping it on his shoulder none the less. The fact that any of them were only being this successful thus far was down to Cal and Cliff never left Kay's mind. She knew it just like everyone else did, and she'd always be in a way grateful to the both of them.

As John replied and agreed with her opinions on Fia she had to smile slightly at it knowing that there was giving Fia a taste of life outside of London and then there this scenario that they had done. She had to chuckle at the last bit knowing it was more true than they probably would want to admit to anyone. "So true. I guess the whole 'go big or go home' phrase really is accurate with us and our weird backwards way of parenting" she laughed. She found him rubbing her back rapidly being soothing to her and helping her to feel the onset of tiredness to take hold of her. "But yeah, she does even if she doesn't remember it when she goes back to her time" she said, a small yawn finally escaping her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"'Go big or go home' describes most of my life really, not just parenting." John smirked in agreement "Along with 'I must be out of me bloody mind to do this', 'bollocks', and 'fuck off and leave me out of your problems' or some combination of all of them at once." He added, idly wondering what one of his phrases other people would chose as his most iconic. "Yeah there is that." John sighed, he had given some thought to what would happen to their memories when the teenagers went back (or in Rinaa's case died as she had no intention of ever going back to her timeline). He didn't know if Fia would retain the memories from this timeline, he suspected that she would, unless they all agreed that it was for the best if Elliott locked them away so nobody could remember any Fia-centric details until after Fia had time travelled. They cross that bridge when they came to it.

John would fall asleep only a couple of minutes after Kay did, gradually slipping into blackness. His sleep wasn't perfectly peaceful, nor was it disturbed enough that he'd be turning and thrashing in his sleep. Predictably a lot of he saw was related to what Rinaa had told and shown them earlier. The Attili grave featured prominently, long enough for John to read and understand all three inscriptions, his subconscious brain somehow knowing how to translate the one that Jay wrote (which had been carved at a later date, by another hand, John suspected her own. Rinaa had told them that Jay disappeared within a couple of nights of Elliott's death, preferring to grieve alone).

Rinaa's sleep wasn't great, despite how she may have spoken about it off handedly earlier, it had been getting worse, the recurring dream of her slitting her wrists in John's apartment while everybody was out. Over time this dream had evolved from her more simpler suicidal contemplations of which method was be best to die by into this elaborate, detailed dream which included the reactions of the extended family- shock, disgust, horror, guilt, disbelief and sadness. Jay's reaction was the worst, draining of anything that could consider her human, to the hardened shell of the assassin, her eyes snapping to a cold emotionless shark grey colour. Her words delivered with so much venom it was a miracle the recipients simply didn't drop dead from hearing it 'well you never wanted her to exist anyway. Looks like you got your wish. And the last laugh. Now excuse me while I call her friends, the people who actually cared.' It was rare that Rinaa would get back to sleep quickly after a dream like that. So she did what she always did, got up, put on some music, worked and planned, anything to distract her from the train wreck of her thoughts. By the time morning had rolled around an idea had lodged in her mind, but to execute she'd need some help.

The text would come through to Fia's phone from an unknown number shortly before seven.

Fia, we want to run an idea past you. Attic of the main house, bring your violin
- Matteo​

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had to smirk at his list of phrases that were highly accurate to him before chuckling slightly at them. He wasn't exactly wrong on that subject, get she also found some of those were not just exclusively accurate to him, but to most of the group. The whole memory thing with Fia was a confusing thought process in Kay's mind and didn't know how to compute it all if she was truly honest with herself. Yet now wasn't the time to be dwelling on it all, she needed her sleep as she was struggling to keep her eyes open by this point. She rapidly fell into a deep sleep and the only dreams she had were very parental ones, a first for her since becoming pregnant. She dreamt of going into labor and giving birth, before the time seemed to flash forward a little bit to her holding baby Fia in her arms in Fia's room.

Fia on the other hand was completely dead to the world with no dreams whatsoever. She just slept through the entire night hugging the corner of her duvet and one leg sticking out of the edge of the bed in the process. Her hair was sprayed out all over the place, meaning by the time she got up she'd have some epic bed hair yet again. As the morning came round, she groaned hearing her phone go off with a text, to which she blearily looked at it to see it was Matteo. Reading it, she instantly became awake, and replied 'give me a few minutes to finish waking up and get dressed and I'll be there in 15.' clicking send, she got out of bed and instantly out a brush through her hair and shoving on anything casual just to see what they wanted. Grabbing her violin, she quickly headed out if The House, not checking if anyone was awake and hurried to Cliff's and up to the attic as instructed.

Kay eventually woke up well and truly cuddled into John, seeming having not moved an inch during the night for once, unlike how she usually did. She rubbed a hand down her face to try and wake up a bit more but refused to move other than that, she even hugged him with her arm round him just that bit more securely.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"We're holding you to that. It's straight up the main stairs keep heading up until you get to the landing, the ladder is already down, I'm sure you can figure it out from there. Don't let Cal and Cliff see you, if anybody asks, we're showing you embarrassing childhood photos" came the reply shortly afterwards. Fia would meet nobody on her way up, the dogs were already out being walked. The first floor contained five rooms (three bedrooms, one bathroom and a sort of study) while the second floor contained another two bedrooms and bathroom, along with a guest room and box room. As promised the attic ladder was already down, leading through a trapdoor into the eaves of the house.

The attic had four slanted windows allowing relatively easy access to the roof. It also allowing in a large amount of light. The wooden roof beams were exposed and has been carved with various drawings and words over the years. It was filled with various boxes and bags (incluidng a large amount of festive decorations). In the far corners of the room things were covered in a thick layer of dust, evidently they hadn't been disturbed for years. There was also dustsheet covering other items, presumably furniture. Perched on various boxes were Moya, Rinaa, Charlie and Matteo. Charlie's hands and trousers were dusty as if she'd been digging through the boxes for something long forgotten. "Morning, thanks for coming." Matteo called over as Rinaa pulled up the ladder and closed the hatch.

John ended up sleeping on a good bit longer after Kay woke up, completly dead to the world. He looked more peaceful asleep (as almost all people did), but he wasn't entirely at peace, there was always something in his mind. He stretched as he woke, before scrubbing his hand through his hair, running his fingers over the scar ridges that lurked underneath his hair. It was a sad fact that more of his head scars had come from his abusive childhood as opposed to the general mage life. "Mornin'."

 

[MzHyde]

Before Fia headed off to the main house, she made sure to make a mental note of the instructions Matteo sent her so she didn't forget. Just as she promised it was around fifteen minutes when she turned up and climbed up the attic ladder after noting how stairs she was climbing through the house, whilst noticing the digs were already on their morning walk and no one was around. Reaching inside the attic, she saw Moya, Rinaa, Matteo and Charlie all sitting on various boxes. With the greeting she nodded in response, "Morning. So what's the secrecy and requirement of my violin for?" She asked, making sure to stay out of the way as Rinaa pulled the ladder up and closed the attic hatch.

Kay left John to sleep longer than herself, knowing if he hadn't woken up at the same time or before her then he needed it. Just like he had never once woken her up purposely if she remained asleep when he woke up. Unless of course she had those nightmares that created dangerous moments in the room like flames sparking in her hand. She just enjoyed having a relaxing morning like a normal partner would. As he did wake up she smiled hearing him greet her, making her alter her head position to look up at him. "Morning" she said back to him, for once looking not to anti morning like she usually does.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Matteo was the designated spokesperson for the group. It wasn't his idea, but they'd used his phone to send the text and signed it with his name. There had also been a general consensus that out of all of them, Fia was on the best term with Matteo. "We've got this plan for a surprise for the brides, something to make the wedding really special and maybe show off what we can do just a little bit. But this idea only came into existance this morning, so it's a bit of a scramble to get it together. We're also trying to not get found out by Cal and Cliff, my sister has a nose for knowing whne people are hiding things. Hence the various alibis we've come up with, and hiding up here in the attic, which is one of the more private places in this house." Charlie took out her phone, and earphones, selected the track and passed them over to Fia. "This is a string piece we think is perfect to be played for the first dance. Take a listen."

John noticed that Kay looked far more awake and alert that she usually did in a morning. Usually she refused to relinquish her position under the sheets for anything. But today was different. Maybe it was the impending wedding or maybe it was something else entirely. So long as the day didn't involve a regurgitation of the amazing food from last night it would be a good morning in his books. John reached for his watch on the side table to verify that yes today was the day. "So today's the day of the weddin' huh?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to what Matteo was saying and the moment he said this was to be a surprise for the bride's, she was instantly curious and interested in what was being thought up so last minute. She watched on out the corner of her eye as Charlie grabbed the headphones and seemingly a track on the phone whilst giving Matteo her full attention. It suddenly made full sense as to why she was told not to be seen coming up and if she was, to make up a lie as to why she was there so early. Grabbing the earphones and putting one in as she took the phone, she listened to what Charlie said, smiled and pressed play. She listened to the track whilst putting the other earphone in and made sure to fully listen to every single part of the track carefully and intently. It was obvious now why they asked her to bring her violin. The track was indeed perfect for the first dance, and the composition of it seemed to be easy enough to learn in such a short amount of time.
With the track finished, she took out the earphones, handed them back to Charlie and smiled."I'm assuming with the request of my violin to be here, you want to collaborate by playing this track live?" She summarised.

Kay, if given the chance would gladly stay in bed like she was for a lot longer, despite being a lot more awake than she usually was. She could only put it down to having had a good solid sleep with no frustrating dreams that upset or confused her. Sure she dreamt, but it wasn't a bad one for a change, so she could only imagine it was down to the quality of sleep she had or the fact that this day was to be a good day and her mood in general had lifted greatly. She also for once didn't feel nauseous so far, so she was in a good mood because of that also. She glanced over when he reached over for his watch before speaking, "yeah, it is indeed" she replied. "Which reminds me, I could have sworn I heard Fia run out of here this morning for some reason." she remarked, not sure if she just imagined it or if their kid really did manage a second day of getting up early.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Charlie nodded at Fia's assumption, taking the phone and earphones back and putting them back on the other box. "That's the basic idea yeah. I've played this piece years ago, kinda forgotten about it to be honest, but it's a beautiful composition and I still have the sheet music." She reached behind the box she was sitting on, pulling outher old music folder. "It's also really perfect for the first dance. It was written as a duet, and therefore rewriting it as a solo would take far too long, as would finding another string player here. You've clearly got the skill level to play this and it's not too hard to learn. There's also a drum part, but we got that covered." She gestured at Moya who nodded. "There's two small problems, one, I haven't played in years, so I'm gonna have to spend a good chunk of the day practicing this and just tuning the instrument." Charlie tapped the hard case beside her. It wasn't visible to anybody entering the attic, you had to be right up beside Charlie to see it. The hard case was dusty having been left, unused, in the attic for many years. "And the other is there's nowhere soundproof for us to practice in this house. If Cliff even sees a glimpse of the cello case we're busted."

At Kay's comment John shrugged he couldn't confirm or denying it either way. "Well if this happens, I was asleep. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it." He have a wry grin before shrugging and continuing. "More than likely she just forget she was supposed to be dog walkin' with Matteo and broke a Guniess World Record for the least amount of time needed to get up, dressed and out of The House. If it was one thing urgent or life threatening we'd know about it....... Or at least I hope we would."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to the explanation given by Charlie, nodding in acknowledgement o we the fact that Charlie said she knew it but hadn't played in years. Fia was a fast learner luckily, so it wouldn't take her absolutely forever to learn it. She was thankful though that Charlie had the sheet music for the track, which would naturally make things a lot easier and quicker for her. Not to mention she was actually grateful that they even thought to ask her, sure she was pretty certain she was the only bother string player nearby, but it still meant a lot to her. Listening to the problems, she thought the first one would be easy enough to solve, even if it did take most of the day, the second took a bit of thinking u til she came up with an idea. "I'm pretty sure I can magic up us some soundproofing in here by altering my soundless rune. I'd have to go back to The House to make sure I get it right briefly though. It's either that or I text John to send me the rune in a picture message. But it should be easy enough to draw on the walls and soundproof the place" she explained. She had done it once before, but a few years ago and she'd want to make sure she got the rune exactly right before using it in this attic.

Kay just chuckled and smiled softly at his John's reply about Fia running out of The House earlier on in the morning. She listened to the rest of his theory, figuring that must have been it as she did love those dogs a lot and it was clear to see if she got told to go walk them, she'd do anything to make sure she was there to do so. "Probably and I reckon we'd be told. She doesn't seem the kind of kid to really keep things from us, you more so." She replied to him, it had never gone unnoticed their kid picked favourites and she hadn't forgotten the fact that she openly said she was closer to John than Kay.

 

[_gallifrog_]

When Fia mentioned about there being a suitable rune for the job, the four looked at each other with knowing looks. They'd clearly considered the possibility of their being such a rune out there, which was the unofficial second reason for asking Fia to help them out. None of them had any magical abilities, any genetic affinity for magic in Rinaa's DNA had been swamped out by the other parts of her chimera makeup. "Well that's a relief, a rune would work perfectly and one of you two." Charlie gestured between Rinaa and Matteo"can keep an eye out for people coming up here, which I doubt they will, or at least they won't for quite a while." "It would make most sense if you wnet back, even though this is a surprise for the brides, we might as well shock the rest if them while we're at it, by proving that this group of people who've only just met can pull off such an amazing thing." Matteo added, to which Rinaa nodded. "It'll be better than that, it'll blow their bloody minds out, I'm telling you."

Like Kay, John was more than aware that Fia prefered him to Kay in her timeline. It had been one of the first things she'd mentioned, and it only became more and more obvious as the trip had gone on. But it was also obvious that Fia's attitude towards Kay was changing as she discovered more of what life had been like before she was around. It was good to see that at least one of the teenagers was changing from their set ways and mindsets. It also offered him and Kay a chance to do things differently in the future. It would be naive to say that they'd do everything the same now that they had foreknowledge about Fia's timeline. "I'd say she'd have a pretty damn good reason for not saying anything. But more than likely we're just over thinking it. An' besides she's warming up to you."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia watched as the four of them all looked at each other after she mentioned about being able to sound proofing the attic for their needs. She started to assume it wasn't just her violin skills that they asked her up here for, not that she minded as she loved using her mage abilities and it was in the long run for Cal and Cliff. She had to agree that not getting John involved even vaguely was preferred, and it certainly would blow all of their minds to see all of them coming together like this. "Okay, I'll leave my violin here and head back, double check the rune in my book and come straight back. If you're all okay with it, it'll have to go on each wall, but I can remove it after so if you got anything, even if it's chalk to draw it on, get it ready. I'll text Matteo when I'm coming back" she explained.

Kay was pretty certain that everyone could see Fia was closer to John than herself, especially at the beginning even more so but she was working her way through that fact and doing all she could to help Fia see her in a different way. Like John, she was also glad that at least one of the teenagers was capable of change and growth mentally towards others, not to mention capable of any sort of forgiveness toward her for whatever was done on her word. The very idea and realisation that this also gave them the chance to do things differently when Fia's unborn present self arrived in the world was a great weight lifted off her shoulders. She nodded at his next words and thinking he was probably right that they were just over thinking everything, "yeah you're right and I know..it's taking its time but I'm getting there with her" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"So long as it doesn't blow the roof off and won't leave any lasting damage then we're good with it. I know we want to raise the roof, but doing it literally is a one way trip to some kind of eternal scorn by Cliff and Cal, so I'd rather not be on the receiving end." Matteo replied before adding."We should be able to nick some kind of chalk off Nat, he's the most likely to have it." Charlie nodded in agreement at that plan as Rinaa put down the ladder again and Matteo slid down it. Once Fia was out of earshot, Charlie turned to the two other girls. "Well done Artemis, looks like your idea is coming to something amazing after all. Though I didn't get why you had to get Matteo to do all the talking." "Fia and I have issues.... or more precisely I have issues with her. It's complex, like most other things in my life. It's just easier if I don't take credit for it." Rinaa shrugged."I think that sounds like shit, but whatever, I'm really not qualified to talk about it. Anyway, the drum kit is under that old tarp over there. I'd recommend setting it up to your preferences now, while I make a start at tuning, shining and dust removing this cello."

"It's clear to all of us that the two of you are getting better and closer. Proves she's not as stuck in her ways and resistant to change as some other people." John was talking more about himself than he was Rinaa, but the statement applied to both. Changing wasn't his thing, he'd accepted his flaws a long time ago, but that didn't mean he had to like them. He'd once heard himself described as somebody who had to be dragged kicking and screaming towards any form of character development or personal growth and he'd agreed with that person so much he'd bought them a pint. Albeit it was a pint at the pub they worked at, but a pint nonetheless. John refused to be what others wanted him to be. Rinaa was refusing to change for different reasons. It was self preservation in her timeline. She'd been hurt too many times to give second chances and would rather stay closed off than run the risk of being broken all over again.