Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

There was a very slight note of smugness in Rinaa's expression at pulling off her tuck and roll so flawlessly, but that was overshadowed by the smile of happiness on her face. This was far from her first time doing such a manoeuvre from a moving start, Jay could see that in the fluidity of her movements and the way that she didn't even have bother to check herself over for any injuries or dust. It was an impressive move, everybody in the group had a high level of parkour and acrobatic skills and knew a good move when they saw it. This was the first time (aside from John and Kay's initial meeting of her) that she'd made an entrance that could be considered dramatic, usually she snuck in and out of the apartment like some kind of cat. Jay and Elliott were taking it as a sign that she was in a good mood, whatever she'd done with Moya the night before had brought a smile to her face, eyes and voice.

"Yep it is, she gave us a quite frankly ridiculous amounts since you lot are staying as guests." Cliff told her, making up a large sandwich and passing it over to the teenager, who took in willingly with a nod of thanks. "Tell your mother I said thanks, this is amazing, will ya?" Cliff nodded "Will do." Rinaa took a moment to breathe in the aroma of the meat before taking a massive bite, an expression of complete bliss coming over her face. She refrained from letting out a moan of enjoyment, knowing that she'd never live it down if she did. Moya couldn't help but smile to herself at the expression on her girlfriend's face. "Moya, you want one too? There's enough here to feed a small army." The winged girl smiled, and nodded. "If it's not too much bother, then please. I mightn't have the enhanced senses she does, but you really can smell it from the ground."

"Mmmmmm.... this is just as fucking good as always." Rinaa declared, still not opening her eyes. She took another large bite before adding. "Y'know this bacon is one of the two reason I didn't go vegetarian."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was used to seeing such flawless entrances from Rinaa, or more to the point, her timeline version of her as there were times they'd end up on the case for different reasons. She'd see a blur of Leah appearing and internally groan to herself that she had someone else to not get in the way of whilst trying her job, or prayed that it wasn't a case of Leah being sent to watch over her whilst 'not being seen'. Either situation she wouldn't put passed any of her family. She could also note just how happy Rinaa seemed to be this morning, which made her think that hopefully that tone would remain and filter through everyone for the reatt of the day. She just wanted Rinaa to remain in a good mood for the next day or two as she was relying on her and Moya to make her revenge on John come to fruition. Sure, it was selfish but she knew not only would it scare the crap out of everyone but would make everyone laugh at John the most. "what's the other reason? Other than the whole wolf side thing I'd imagine" she couldn't help but ask, hoping her wording wasn't deemed offensive, but she didn't fully know how else to word it.

Kay could hear the ever so light thud of Rinaa arriving on the roof and didn't think much of it. She may not have been up there or in any part of the apartment to know it was Rinaa, but she she could hear the chatter going on and assumed it was, as no one was on fighting alert mode. So she figured she didn't need to be worried about anything, making her relax back in the couch and enjoy the quiet. Eventually she would ask if the rest of them are going to come down and not leave her alone but for now, they were all happy up on the roof so she wasn't going to get in the way of that.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia wasn't the only one taken by surprise by Rinaa's statement about very nearly becoming a vegetarian. The time they'd spent on Cliff's family's island had showed them that Rinaa loved meat. None of them could think of a single instance where she'd opted for a vegetarian option over a meat or fish dish in the time she'd been with them. "Really?" There was surprise in Elliott's voice and in his raised eyebrow, but not a malicious 'going veggie is a stupid idea' surprise. "You were thinking of going veggie?" "I had no idea the bacon was SUCH a corrupting influence." Cliff joked, passing over a sandwich to Moya as she spoke. "This is a story I gotta hear, how'd that idea even get into your head in the first place?" John asked, joining in the questioning. Jay or Cal didn't ask any questions, but Rinaa knew the looks on their faces, the ones that said 'go on, tell us more, we're listening'.

"Actually my psychopathic roommate had nothing to do with it. For once." Rinaa replied, swallowing down the large bite of food."She wasn't actually around at that time." She added by means of explanation, leaning against one of the railings around the roof. "I was a couple of months over sixteen, and had moved back to Earth to start my university course. I fell in with a crowd of activist-protester types. There's a lot of shit worth protesting where I was- meta-human rights and equality, alien rights and equality, LGBTQ+ rights, that's STILL a thing, anti-war protests and anti-conscription protests, there's A LOT of those, for obvious reasons, protests demanding more money be spent in healthcare and education, protests for more investment in STEM research that isn't war related." As she spoke, Rinaa tapped off the various protest areas on her fingers."And some other things. All things that really matter, not just getting angry for no reason, and all things that are personal to ME on some level or another. It seemed like one out of ever three people was veggie and I guess I kinda wanted to fit in in, being roughly two years younger than everybody else in my year group was tough. So I considered going vegetarian, the veggie burger at AJ's is surprisingly good, I'll have you know. But I eventually decided against it. The two reasons being Cliff's family's bacon and those ridiculously tasty Isogrii meatball things Jay makes."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was one of those people who would alternate with her diet. She wasn't fully vegetarian which was clear by her love for the bacon sandwiches Cal had made her, but she did like every now and then just having the odd week where she ate more vegetarian based foods to keep her diet in moderation. It was one thing she did get from future Kay, and that was only because Kay did some incredible dishes that didn't include meat or fake meat and no one ever knew the difference because Kay was a genius when it came to seasoning food. So when John came out with what he did, she had to discreetly smirk to herself but Kay had once or twice even fooled him and said nothing to correct his assumption on what he was eating. Yet when it came to Rinaa, she never would have seen the other girl for the type to even contemplate vegetarian food.

She listened with everyone as they expressed their surprise and Rinaa's explanation about how it came about, finding it interesting that Rinaa would give it a thought because of other people. She never took the girl as the type to change something about herself, even something like her diet to try and fit in with other people. "staying true to you in any shape or form is better if you ask me. If people end up not liking you for what you wanna eat then fuck them" she commented.

 

[_gallifrog_]

To hear that Rinaa had been involved with activists and protesters didn't come as a surprise to anybody. She was that type, the type to actually take some kind of action when there was injustice and fight for her beliefs. Elliott and Jay could just as easily see her in a lab as they could envisage her in a picket line or pride parade. She spoke little of her timeline, but whenever she did it was clear that there were two major issues within it that she hated with a passion. The first was the ongoing war and the brutal bombing campaign, she may have been trained as an assassin and posses a different attitude towards death than a normal person, but she was firmly against the meaningless loss of innocent lives. The second issue was the increasing racism and discrimination towards meta-humans, aliens and anything that wasn't fully human. There was a fire in her eyes when she spoke of treating people with equality regardless of their species. Rinaa hadn't mentioned it to any of the others in the group, but she'd been bullied and had insults slung at her for being an alien throughout her time on Earth,the way her eyes changed colour with her emotions and the streak of her hair that stayed blue no matter what dye she used marked her out as non-human. There was also the fact that one of her friends had died in hospital after being beaten-up stabbed and left to die in an alleyway just because he was a meta-human. Rinaa had arrived too late to say goodbye.

"Nobody's questioning what you protested for and against, pretty sure we all agree with them in some way or another." Jay told her daughter, seeing the look of 'if you try and discredit my beliefs I will end you' in Rinaa's eyes. The others nodded their agreement, listening as Rinaa continued to tell her story. Fia wasn't the only one who didn't think Rinaa as the type to change in order to fit in, the shock was visible in Cal, Elliott, Chas and John's eyes. The only two who didn't look surprised were Jay and Cliff. Rinaa hid her musical talents, her engineering skills and her whip sharp brain from the extended family, both in her own timeline and in this one. Jay saw it for what it was, a self defence mechanism designed to make her less of a target.

Rinaa nodded at Fia's words, pausing to choose her words before she continued. "Yeah...... I know that now" Rinaa sighed "it's good advice, I probably should have listened to it sooner. Planets like Earth, where being an alien or being well..... myself" she gestured at herself as she spoke, but none of them could interpret what she meant by 'myself'. She could have been referring to her appearance and style, her sexual orientation, her gender, being a chimera or any myriad of other things. "Isn't accepted I always took a strategy of conceal and try not to stand out, the advice I was given as a kid growing up with the Isogrii on such planets. It's not as easy as it sounds y'know... being yourself and saying that anybody who has a problem with that can fuck right off I mean. Especially when you hate who and what you are as much as I did. But I guess I got there in the end, meeting the lab crew helped a lot, they're amazing people and despite their problems, some of which are similar to mine, they are actually fully functioning people. We all helped each other through the shit that our families couldn't for whatever reason. Same as the people I shared an apartment block with, they helped to... well except for the two on the fifth floor studying psychology, I think I scarred them for life." She ended with a smirk, despite how dark her little spiel had become, her mood not completely dragged down by the emotional vomit she'd just spewed.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia like the others, listened to what Rinaa was saying, deciding to take the 'myself' remark from Rinaa as meaning everything that she was rather than just one aspect of her life. It was the only way she decided she could decifer Rinaa's comment. She continued to listen in silence, letting Rinaa get it all out of her system as she spoke. By the time she finished talking, the last remark did make her smirk. "well, I think it's cool you found it out eventually and a good group to be yourself with" she replied. She certainly wouldn't question any of what Rinaa said either, knowing she was in no position to question anything as she barely left the apartment or The House and certainly didn't have experience in having friends to hang out with or do protests of one sort or the other.

All she ever had to go on was comparing her to the Leah she knew, and even then it could be considered difficult to do. She didn't have anything else to say other than what she did, so she went silent for a brief moment. "well... I'm gonna go back down and not leave mum on her own any longer" she finally said getting up from the roof floor that she was sat on. With a swift action, she flipped herself up into a hand stand and over and down into the apartment, landing on her feet and walked inside like it was completely the normal way to get off the roof.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The others stayed silent as Rinaa spoke, just listening to what the teenager said, fitting the little snippets of information she was giving them together with the other nuggets of her life she'd revealed to them before. A picture was slowly beginning to emerge, a girl, forced into a life she never wanted, unwanted and left by those who should have been there for her as she grew up. A girl who'd struggled both with other people and with her own mind to become something more than just the sum of her physical parts. She'd defied expectations, thrown convention to the wind and become her own person. Elliott wasn't the only one whose heart bled for the girl Rinaa should have been and the girl she'd become instead, but he felt it more deeply than the others, particularly the way Rinaa so casually mentioned how much she hated herself. It wasn't something anybody should say about themselves, let alone a girl who was barely out of her teens. It was after all, in a way, his fault that she'd become the way she was. It was his death that had sealed her fate. Elliott knew he shouldn't think that way, but he couldn't help it. Though looking at Rinaa now, he couldn't help but think that she was a kid worth being proud of, worth fighting for, even if it wasn't necessarily for all the conventional reasons that came with being a parent. Rinaa was different.

There wasn't much anybody could really say to Rinaa's words (aside from a snort of proud/amused laughter at her quip about the psychology students), this was one of the few times she'd actually expressed her true emotions, and nobody wanted to break the moment. Rinaa rarely spoke this straight, or this honestly with them, apart from the occasional self depreciating jab at the state of her own mental health. But for once Rinaa didn't retreat into herself like she usually did after giving such a stark rundown of her life. There was still an expression of contentment visible on her face as she took her next bite of the sandwich. Today was such a good day for her that bringing up old memories from her timeline wasn't enough to drag her down into the depths of depression. "Yeah the self proclaimed nerd herd mightn't be everybody's group, but for me their awesome." The nickname produced a flurry of questions Rinaa could actually answer without risking fucking the timeline up anymore than it already was.

John couldn't help but give Elliott a look of 'are all teenagers such show offs or is it just our scarily competent ones?' when Fia went into a handstand and flipped off the roof. He recognised the move as being similar to one he used to do when he was younger, but couldn't do anymore as the weight of the trench coat threw him completely off balance. Elliott's reply was a shrug and a look that said 'I honestly don't know'. After demolishing another massive sandwich Rinaa glanced at her watch. "Well I'd best get my stuff then. I won't be back tonight, I actually have plans for the night. You probably won't see me again until tomorrow evening.... but if something disastrous happens text me, yeah?" "Will do." "Will do." Cliff and Jay replied at the same time, while Elliott gave his usual thumbs up. Rinaa then swung herself down onto the balcony and into the kitchen, heading to where her pile of textbooks and notebooks had been stored.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia never did her stylish exits to show off as such, but she did understand that they came across as so. She just liked to constantly switch it up as a way to keep fit and make sure she never lost her touch when it came to such moves. That and for her, it was incredibly fun seeing what unconventional ways she could get herself out of places. She didn't even notice the look John gave Elliott, but if she had, she would have just smirked and no doubt gone one handed so she could give her dad a salute at the same time. Something she had done in her timeline once which gave her mother almost a heart attack because Kay thought her daughter was going to fall and potentially temporarily kill herself.

She walked over and sat next to Kay just before Rinaa made her entrance to grab what she needed before she went to her classes. She propped her feet up on the coffee table, now feeling well and truly full from breakfast and surprisingly highly energised despite being awake all night. She wondered about possibly going for a run round the block to try and get rid of some of the energy she had, but also decided she'd wait and see if there was a plan for the day or not. Kay was so tempted to tell Fia to get her feet off the table but then realised that everyone else does it and knew Fia would only probably come back with something to call her out on it, so Kay kept quiet instead. "I think the others are slowly gonna be making their way down" Fia said to Kay to make small talk. Kay nodded, "okay" she simply replied with, putting her phone down as she did so.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa didn't pay Kay Fia and Kay much notice when she swung down into the apartment, not out of rudeness, but simply because she was more focused on assembling everything she'd need. It was a long day of all theory classes. Most students at the university didn't have as intensive a timetable as she did, but Deke had pulled some strings and the university were more than willing to accommodate her in extra lectures and labs when the learnt that she was terminally ill and trying to complete her degree before she died. Rinaa murmured to herself in Attili as she gathered her stuff together. As she spoke multiple languages, Rinaa didn't really have a default tongue she reverted to (when furious or stressed she produced a rapid stream of swear words from every language she knew), so she generally spoke in whatever language was needed at the time. As her timetable was in Attili, she spoke in Attili.

Elliott swung himself off the roof about half a minute after Rinaa did, saying that he needed to ask the teenager something. Nobody batted an eyelid at that, Cal waving her hand in a gesture that clearly said 'go on then, go'. Hearing that Rinaa was speaking in Attili he also spoke in Attili, pulling over one of the kitchen chairs so he could sit near her. "Hey kiddo." He were the words he opened with, which caused the teenager to look up, surprise in her eyes, still completely unused to hearing Elliott refer to her as his kid."This is gonna sound weird, but any chance you can pick something up for me in the city when you're out?" "I've heard weirder. How illegal is it?" The teenager asked, with a small, but genuine smile. "Not illegal at all, I just need to get something without Cal or Cliff twigging what I'm up to."

Rinaa raised an interested eyebrow, making a face that said 'go on, tell me more'. Elliott explained the idea he had for the art piece he wanted to draw based on the ritual elemental fight sequence Cal and Cliff had performed at the wedding, even showing her the photos on his phone to explain further what he meant. Rinaa nodded attentively, adding a question every so often, her smile getting broader by the minute, enjoying not only being the sole focus of Elliott's attention, but being trusted with something that was so important and meaningful to him. It Elliott a couple of minutes to explain and another couple of minutes to compile a list of what specific art supplies Elliott needed for his venture. In the end Rinaa had to rush out of the apartment as she was running late. But she had just enough time to pull Elliott into a very brief hug (that surprised them both) before rushing out the door an down the stairs to street level.

 

[MzHyde]

Neither Kay or Fia took any offence to Rinaa paying them no mind. Both knew she had classes during this day so both knew instantly what she was trying to do. Their eyes did glance up however when Elliott came down and went over to his kid and spoke with her in Attili, though their eyes soon darted back and not onto either of them as the chat was had. Kay did notice out the corner of her eye the rapid hug Rinaa gave Elliott which did make her smile, even more so because she could tell it took both of them by surprise but they clearly both welcomed it none the less. She just thought it was good the two of them could such moments, no matter how brief they were.

They both saw Rinaa soon leave the apartment quickly, guessing from the way she quickly left that she was running late for her first class. "she's running late I'm guessing" Kay said to Elliott with a smile, trying to make some kind of small talk as he was the next only adult inside the apartment whilst everyone else was still on the roof. Fia, having noticed that Elliott wrote her a lost of things just found herself thinking there was now two of them wanting Rinaa's help in collecting things for them even if they were very very different items and for very different reasons. She even started thinking when to warn Cal and Cliff of her little revenge plan on John, thinking if they didn't approve of it she would have think of something new.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott nodded and ran his hand through his hair, pushing it back, running his fingernails along his scalp a gesture he always made when he was feeling uncertain or thinking hard. In this case it was a mix of both. He hadn't expected to be hugged at all, and he could see by the look on Rinaa's face that her body had acted before her mind caught up. Not that he was complaining, they could both do with a hug. "Yep, she is, and probably made Moya late too." He then smirked slightly "they'll make it in time though, with those bikes they can just cut through some back alleys and avoid the worst of the traffic. I don't think either of those two adrenaline junkies will object to having an excuse to speed like maniacs along the motorway."

Shortly after the rest of the group came down, Cal staying in the kitchen to put everything away (there was still bacon left over which went back into the fridge, though she suspected it wouldn't be gone for long given that almost everybody on the roof either had one massive sandwich, went back for seconds, or both) and starting to was u the mugs, using her pyrokinesis to gently heat up the water. "What time are we supposed to meet Deke at the lab?" Jay asked, leaning against the wall. "An hour and a half-ish?" Cal called out, glancing at the clock in the kitchen. "So there's time for me to got for a run in other words." "Or you could just run to the lab via one of the mountain trails. Deke'd be totally fine with that and since he's the boss, nobody can exactly complain if you show up in running gear."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked at the confirmation that yes, Rinaa was indeed running late for her lectures and in turn making Moya late also. "that I don't doubt for a second" she replied at the comment about them both easily able to still make it if they quite literally put their foot down on the pedal. When the others soon made their way down and back into the apartment, she greeted them all with a simple wave as they walked in. At the mention of going for a run, Fia's ears perked up instantly, "if you go for a run before going to the lab, mind if I join you?" she asked, remembering she was only thinking of doing such a thing minutes ago.

To hear that Fia liked the idea of going for a run didn't fully surprise Kay. The teenager seemed the type to do such a thing for fun, especially from the little she knew of Fia and how seriously she always took any kind of training, which wasn't wrong in any manner as Fia did always take training extremely seriously, whether it waa combat training, staying fit or doing research via the old books and spells. The only difference now was that Fia didn't have her dog to go running with.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay couldn't help but smirk at Cliff's words, she'd spent a bit of time talking to the resident mad scientist at the wedding. She hadn't known what to make of him at their first meeting in his lab. There was no doubt he was a genius and his brain operated on a completely different plane to the other's in the room. Eclectic didn't even begin to describe him and his office was chaos (Deke claimed it had order, but not even he knew fully what it was). But after talking to him for a while she'd come to the decision that he was a solid guy underneath it all and could be trusted, not to mention just how incredible his shape shifting skills were. He'd copied her form flawlessly (Jay had closely scrutinised him for any inconsistencies, but the only ones she could see were in the eyes, which didn't have the same molten quality her own pair did). "Ah yes, the perks of being the boss." She replied.

At Fia's question she shrugged. "Not particularly, just don't expect me to be particularly talkative while running." Jay would willingly trash talk when sparring or practising parkour, could hold a conversation effortlessly while practising acrobatics and all kinds of yoga-like stretches that involved contorting her body into all kinds of shapes (she'd caught Elliott watching a couple of times, and knew that his mind was going to thought of a decidedly more sexual nature). But when it came to running she ran in complete silence, giving an occasional hand signal. She always ran listening to music, preferring to use wired earphones over wireless ones as the wireless ones always fell out of her ears if she decided to do some parkour training while she was at it. For Jay running was a way to clear her mind of thoughts and just be. As had become traditional, Cal and Cliff declared they'd go running too.

 

[MzHyde]

With what Jay said in reply, Fia wasn't phased by her answer in the slightest. She knew Jay never spoke whilst running, and unless something was really worthy of being told, nor did Fia. Fia was the same as Jay in the sense she loved listening to music whilst running and even had her own playlist on her phone that was just for running. She went for a run to remain fit, not for socialising but if she could run with others, she always enjoyed it. The only times she truly ran alone (which if she was honest was nearly all the time) was when she took Max for a run. "fine by me, I prefer listening to music anyway whilst running" she replied.

With Cal and Cliff deciding they'd join in on the group run, Fia have a simple one firm nod before heading to where her bag was. "just gonna change into some leggings and sneakers. Be right back" she declared, not wanting to be left behind but didn't want to run in her stiff jeans and combat boots either. With that she went to the room she had taken up and quickly got changed into her athletic wear, and tying up her hair into a simple high ponytail. She pulled on her sneakers and set up her phone and wired earphones for her running playlist, where she then slipped her phone into her leggings pocket. She came out about two minutes later, "I'm good to go when everyone else is" she said. "You seriously came prepared huh?" Kay couldn't help but notice the sheer amount of clothing Fia packed, with a shrug Fia just replied with "well sometimes I prefer to just wear this sort of thing for comfort so always have something spare in my bag".

Spoiler: The general idea for her running gear

Minus the plaid shirt

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia wasn't the only one feeling the need to change into something more suitable for running. While comfortable for travelling long distances neither Jay, Cliff nor Cal's clothes were suitable for running in. Jay's preferred running gear was a plain black t-shirt and a pair of running shorts that barely came halfway down her thighs. Like many runners she opted for two pairs of shorts (a skin hugging pair underneath a looser outer pair). Had it not been for the extensive scarring on her back Jay would have gone for just a sports bra and let the sun soak into her skin. She was self conscious of the ruined mess of whip-mark scar tissue that was her back and if a random member of the public went so far as to gawk at them Jay would probably punch them out of annoyance. Cal had gone for a racerback top which revealed that she had a small tattoo on her left shoulder blade, a stylised flame emblem with some curling Attili script (the ancient script as opposed to the modern one) below it that represented her pyrokinetic skills (something she'd been required to get when joining the Royal Guards, Cliff had a similar tattoo but hers was just below her rib cage). Cliff had gone for an old sports jersey with a peeling logo that Elliott recognised as that of the one of Attil's plas-ball teams.

John wasn't surprised that Fia had plenty of spare clothes for all situations, she seemed the prepared typed. Elliott however was more interested in the tattoo on cal's shoulder rising an eyebrow, having not seen it before. "You are not the only one of us with tattoos Qui." Cal smirked, knowing exactly what her brother was thinking. "Fair enough." Elliott shrugged, cal had never passed judgement on his tattoos since finding out about them, so why should he do that to her? "The quote is very fitting. Ilyaris' Epic is it?" "Yup, one of the classical writers they didn't bore us to death with in school. Took me ages trawling through the old manuscipts to find something suitable. Took me bloody weeks I'll have you know. Cliff knew her quote within two seconds, part of the doctors oath from her home planet." "It seemed fitting and in my native tongue its almost like poetry." Cliff explained."It doesn't translate particularly well but it would be something like....'never be cruel, never be cowardly. Hate is always foolish, love is always wise and above all never fail to be kind' in English and something like '....' in Attili."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia noticed the tattoo on Cal shoulder and found it simple but cool to see. By this point, none of her tattoos would be considered surprising as she always wore a vest of one type or another so her tattoo runes and wings birth mark rune on her back was always seen. She always wondered about getting something for just non magical reasons but knew there wasn't many places she had left to get anything, so never went about lying about her age to get anything. She just smirked at the conversation and explanation of when Cal got hers done and how much quicker Cliff came to choosing her scripture in comparison.

"that's actually a nice saying" Kay commented, liking how the oath was read compared to Earth's medical oath. "agreed, it translates nicely in my opinion." Fia added as she did one or two stretches so she wouldn't get a cramp on the run. Even if Cliff was a doctor and could probably help with such a thing, she didn't want Cliff feeling she had to do any doctor work if she could just avoid it by doing warm up stretches. "I'm ready if you three are" she then said standing up straight. She was obviously eager to go for said run as she felt it had been a while since she was able to do such a thing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas agreed with Kay that the oath sounded far less clinical than the Hippocratic oath the doctors of Earth took. If that was only an extract from the full thing, he couldn't help but wonder what the rest of it sounded like. "That's genuinely good advice not just for doctors, a really good choice." Chas told her with a smile. Elliott meanwhile couldn't help but think that it said something about the kind of doctor Cliff was that she took her vows seriously enough to have them permanently put on her body. "I agree, it's an excellent choice, both of yours I mean" Cliff scrunched up her nose, the disagreement evident on her face at Fia's statement. "Yeah, it does sound really nice. But I still maintain that it loses a lot of it's nuance when translated."

Both Cal and Cliff grabbed their keys before they left, Cliff wore hers on a string around her neck while Cal's were stored in a slim pocket on the same running armband that she kept her phone in. All three chose to tie their hair back, jay and Cal's long enough to make proper ponytails while Cliff's short bob was only just long enough to produce a stubby ponytail. Ciff was the only one who hadn't brought music, being deaf she couldn't listen to music while running. Instead she'd left her hearing aids back at the flat so she could run in as complete silence as possible. The running route took them out of the apartment complex, out through one of the gates of the military complex and up into the mountain slopes that surrounded it. The trails were a mix of smooth, well maintained tarmac and more overgrown, grassy trails with roots and rocks jutting out. The three women quickly fell into stride with each other, this was going to be an endurance run as opposed to sprints.

With Cal, Cliff, Jay and Fia gone Elliott took the opportunity to stretch himself out as much as possible on the couch. He'd uploaded his reference photos to one of the laptops earlier that morning and with his sister and her wife gone, now seemed like the perfect opportunity to do some trial sketches and get a feel for just what exactly he was going to do to make this piece both as lifelike and as beautiful as possible. He pulled out his sketchpad from the bag, carefully unpeeling the tape from the pencils he'd stuck on the front of it (to prevent them getting lost or damaged in his bag during their flights). John had other plans. "I'm gonna take a shower" he declared getting up from the couch.

 

[MzHyde]

"we'll take your word for it Cliff" Kay replied back after everyone had said their opinions and Cliff expressed her disagreement in a facial expression and with words. She paid attention slightly to the four of them finishing getting ready, grabbing what they needed before saying 'see you later' to the lot of them as they headed out for a morning run. She made room for Elliott on the couch as her stretched out and set up his laptop, seeing what he was preparing to do where she remembered about his surprise for his sister and sister in law. With John declaring that he was going for a shower, she just nodded and pulled out her book to read, deciding that she would go for a shower after him, feeling the need to freshen up greatly.

Out of the apartment Fia easily managed to keep up with the other three, falling into a matching speed and rhythm as her earphones were now in securely and her playlist was turned on. Even with her music on, she did still pay attention to the surroundings and the other three to make sure she didn't stray from the route or if anything changed for whatever reason, she was alert enough to respond to it. As they ran, Fia felt rapidly better for it even after a short amount of time, feeling like she was doing something that was normal for her and part of her normal routine that she did back in her timeline. She was also glad that the few weeks without going for a run didn't affect her ability to control her breathing as she did so or anything else.

 

[_gallifrog_]

A shower turned was exactly what John had been needing, somehow, after all the travelling, there was still stubborn bits of sand grains clinging to his hair and between his toes. He also took the opportunity to have a proper shave, his stubble was threatening to morph into a beard (John had told both his sister and Chas that if he ever grew a beard he was having a mid-life crisis and they were to make as many Gandalf jokes a necessary until he got rid of it). He re-emerged into the main living room about ten minutes later, clean shaven, his hair still damp and took a look at what Elliott had drawn in that short space of time. It was the roughest of rough sketches, line drawings to determine the pose and proportions of the two women (who were recognisable as women, but that was it as far as identifying features went), with very faint outline to suggest where the armour would go and another set of light strokes to represent the ice and fire they had been blasting at each other. He didn't say anything, Elliott had earphones in and he knew better than to break his adoptive son's flow. He flopped himself down onto the couch and picked up the discarded newspaper, idly flipping through it, having no real interest in what was going on, but at the same time curious.

The running trail climbed gradually higher up into the mountains. On the first leg of the journey the ground was deceptively flat-looking, the angle of the slope was so small that it didn't register on the runners, but it gradually became steeper, all three women feeling the burn in their calves and quads that signified that they needed to change their stride in order to beat the slope. The running trail was lightly forested, the canopy of trees dappling the ground with spots of shadow and light. Despite it being early in the day the temperature difference was already noticeable between the sun and the shade. When John and co had left earth the Northern hemisphere had been heading into autumn, but the cycle of seasons on Attil was out of sync with those on Earth. On Attil it was the end of a warm spring and the start of what was shaping up to be a scorching summer.

The track took them right up into the mountains, curving around the city. The treeline gradually fell away, replaced with a secure fence to stop people getting too close to the mountain edge. Looking to her left Fia would be able to see the military complex below them in all it's glory. The city had been well planned, but did not have the boring bloky layout of many major cities in the US, it had a more natural look to it. Cal could easily point out where Dan's forge and her apartment was if asked. The whole military complex was surrounded by a perimeter wall. They were heading towards the landing zone for military craft, a massive area of mountain that had been chopped away and was encased in a giant force field made of hexagonal panels that shimmered in the light. Deke's lab and various other engineering and mechanical workshops were art of the university in the next city, but had been located at the base instead. It was more practical that way as mechanics and engineers had easy access to the latest tech, equipment and spare parts, while students were just a short walk away from the vehicles they were studying and were often mentored to a team of mechanics for the work experience portion of their course.

 

[MzHyde]

In the time that John took in the bathroom to freshen up, Kay managed to finish the chapter she as a half way through reading. Every now and then she did glance at what Elliott was doing and how he was setting everything up with the base positioning lines. She could see how when doing a proper piece, he took a very similar path in his method to what she did. She closed her book when John reappeared looking a lot cleaner and less scruffy, putting it on the table as she made a note of the chapter number she had reached. "I'll be in the bathroom if I'm needed which I doubt" she told John, knowing he was the only one who she was able to tell. She then stood up with a very a small groan, starting to feel the weight of being pregnant properly now it came to getting up from a sitting position. Up and on her two feet, she headed to the bathroom herself, still feeling the steam from when John used the shower. It didn't take her too long to get undressed and stepping into the shower, letting the water flow over her, soaking her hair and making her sigh happily. Not long after she began freshening up, did she start humming to herself.

Fia was absolutely loving the run, always finding that like when she used her wings to fly, running made her feel alive. The endorphins and adrenaline always kicking in when she ran. She didn't notice the incline at first but then started to feel the burn at the time the others did, mirroring them and changing her stride to reach the top. Seeing the viewpoint to her left she thought it was something else. If she was alone she would have paused and taken a photo but this was a group run and she had no plans to stop now that she was in a good momentum and speed. She knew running back in London would never ever feel the same again after this. She also decided that if they ever wanted to go for a run again, she definitely would like to join them all. "the view is amazing" she said to Cal mostly, finding she was breathing just heavy enough to be working up a sweat but not so hard that she couldn't talk.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott quickly found himself absorbed in his planning. There were about nine shots in particular that he liked from the ritual fight and he was leaning towards two of them in particular. One had captured the meeting of fire and ice beautifully with all kinds of bright colours glimmering and tendrils of vapour as the two annihilated each other. The other not only showed the faces of Cal and Cliff fully, but had caught the expressions on their faces perfectly, both had leapt from the ground while they took their shot. He would be spending the next hour or so deciding on how far apart the two figures should be and what the best proportion of person to fire-and-ice background was. Every so often he'd jot some notes about what he could potentially do for colour or technique drawing an arrow connecting his notes to the relevant part of the sketch. He'd asked Rinaa to pick up a selection of colouring pencils, fine-line markers and some oil pastels. Elliott preferred to work in pencil and pen, but there were some times when he'd use oil pastels for texture and depth. This art piece was still very much in the early stages of formation and planning, so he'd rather try all options before making a call.

"That it is" Cal agreed with a nod of her head. "Another thing my people have managed to get right, it might be a military complex, but that doesn't mean that it can't be situated somewhere beautiful and look impressive in the process." The views never got old for Cal, somebody who'd been walking, running and biking these trails and paths ever since she was able to. The vast military complex and the military town that accompanied it should have looked extremely out of place surrounded by the beautiful mountain and forest landscape. The running trail had markers roughly every half kilometre, and Cliff made a habit of keeping track of them as she ran, which was how she knew they were approaching the halfway point. "We're about half way there, which means you can either come with us and visit our resident mad scientist or one of can turn back with you and go back to the apartment Fia." Cliff knew that neither John or Kay would let Fia run back to the apartment on her own, and she agreed with that decision. Fia didn't speak the language and if she did happen to get lost that could lead to all kinds of problems. She figured it was best to let Fia herself chose, it was the same length of run no matter which option was picked.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay spent about fifteen minutes in the shower, taking her time to really get clean and freshen up. Eventually she stepped out of the shower, turning the water off and borrowing a towel that she was closest to to dry off enough to get back dressed and reappear into the living room brushing her hands through her hair to dry it with her abilities. She saw Elliott still taking his time with his art piece and knew that if he was being this meticulous, she knew it was going to be an amazing piece. Early stages or not, she knew Elliott would do Cal and Cliff proud with it when it came to it. She walked back to the couch, sitting down and grabbing her book again. She was about a half way through it already as she used any opportunity she could get just that but more read, as it wasn't her book but Fia's.

Fia nodded at Cal's words, finding that her people really did get it right with their scenery and construction. She knew if this sort of layout was on Earth it wouldn't work or look in the slightest bit right, yet here on Attil it did work. She wouldn't never tire of seeing it all, and would miss it when she back to her timeline. When Cliff spoke up about them all being at the half way point and this was when she needed to make the decision of have one of them run back with her or her go with them to see Deke. She was perfectly happy to run back on her own, she had made a point to memorise the route they took, but just from the options Cliff gave, she knew that wasn't even an option. She also knew John and Kay wouldn't be happy having her run back alone. "I wouldn't feel right having one of you run back with me, so I'll come with you guys. It's not like I'd have anything to do back at the apartment anyway" she said, making sure that Cliff could read her lips as she spoke.

 

[_gallifrog_]

As the apartment was so empty John had taken the opportunity to nab one of the couches, claiming it entirely for himself, extending his legs right across the seat and leaning his back against the armrest, making it quite clear that nobody else was welcome to sit on this couch with him. This desire to have his own space was due to Kay's earlier clinginess and the uncomfort he'd felt when she rubbed up against the scar on his neck, though if he was asked why he was hogging the couch he'd merely shrug and say something along the lines of 'there's four of us, two armchairs and two couches, might as well make the most and spread out.' He'd flipped the collar back down after his shower had been flipped back down. By the time Kay came back in he was engrossed in the newspaper, having found the sports section surprisingly more interesting than he'd been expecting.

Cliff appreciated that Fia was speaking slower than normal and angling her head to make her lips as easy as possible to read. Not everybody was so considerate when it came to her disability. She nodded once to indicate that she she understood. Fia did have a point, there really wasn't very much to do in the apartment and while Fia may not have the same interest that Rinaa did in engineering and mechanics, there was always something interesting to see in Deke's workshop, and since Fia had never been off world before the chances she'd ever seen Deke's workshop, or properly talked to the guy before were slim to none. "Fair enough, and the next half of the trail is just as beautiful as the first, we'll be crossing over the river twice and the view from the bridges is quite something, you'll probably be able to hear it in the next few minutes or so."

Fia and the others would indeed hear the river as they rounded the next corner. The bridges in question were more like aqueducts, consisting of tall arches (twenty or so metres high) made of stone bricks which supported a wide regular channel on top. The river ran through a steep sided, flat bottomed valley, so this type of bridge made more sense than a suspension bridge. After crossing the first bridge the trail began to slope steadily downwards and by the time they had passed over the second bridge they had almost reached ground level. The running trail re-emerged close to a set of buildings that served as the quarters for pilots who were stopping over for only a very short while and didn't have time to head into the main base. It was a place to get some sleep, good food, coffee, a shower and some good company (not necessarily in that order). Reaching the end of the trail Cal, Cliff and Jay all slowed back down to a walking pace, using the ten minutes it took to reach the labs as a cool down period.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay didn't think anything of it when John claimed the other couch for himself. Having been asleep and no one telling her of her sleeping antics, she didn't know she had been the cause of making John so uncomfortable. If she had, she would have felt incredibly bad for it and apologised, and telling him if it happened again to wake her and move her. She only sat on the other couch where Elliott was because that's where her book was and she was before her shower, whilst keeping to her own little corner, pulling her feet up and getting into her favourite position to read, whilst deciding to not interrupt either John or Elliott, having the thought that she would only really speak to either of them if they spoke to her or if she got up to get a drink, which she would ask them if they wanted one whilst she was up. For now, it wasn't necessary so she cosied up into the corner, opened her book, slid the bookmark to the back of the book and began reading.

Fia wouldn't have spoken to Cliff in any other way when she didn't have her hearing aids in, thinking it was just common courtesy to be more accommodating to her. If she knew a lot more sign she would have signed her reply, but she only knew the odd word after studying the group over the course of this last week. She nodded at Cliff's reply, looking forward to seeing what the rest of the route had in store for them as they continued to run as they reached the aquaducts. She took in the sights before her, keeping pace the other three as she did so before it came to slowing down and using the last ten minutes as the cool down by walking it. She had to admit she felt so much better for the run as she focused on her breathing to get it back to a normal pace, finding she was now very much in need of water. "I so needed that run, it's been a while since my last good run so thanks for letting me join you guys" she said to them honestly, before pulling her phone out, pausing her music and sending a text to Kay.

'went to the labs with Cal, Cliff and Jay to save any of them turning back. Be back later. Fia.'​

Kay heard her phone go off with an alert, pausing what she was reading to pick up her phone from the table, reading the text. "seems Fia is deciding to stay with the girls" she told John.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John looked up from the newspaper at Kay's words. "Hardly surprising that she'd make the most of any excuse to be out of the apartment." He had seen an increasing amount of cabin fever building up in Fia while they were on Attil and he could hardly blame her. After travelling through time and space to be there and she wasn't allowed out on her own had to suck, especially with Rinaa coming and going as she pleased, rarely consulting anybody or asking for permission (even though she was part wolf, those particular aspects of her attitude reminded John of a cat). For once it wasn't her age or the fact that she was a mage preventing him from allowing her to wander around the city unchaperoned. It was the fact that she couldn't speak a word of the language. Going to an unknown city with no knowledge of the language was just asking for trouble, and since trouble was something that followed him wherever he went, the odds were that Fia would get into some kind of pickle.

"Meh" Cal shrugged "no problem, you fit right in with us and kept good pace." "We would have invited you all the other days, but we're usually done running before you're even awake." Cliff added, with a teasing smirk as they made their way into the building. As neither she nor Cal had brought along their official ID badges, Cliff swiped them into the building using the ID chip embedded in her phone case. "Here's hoping the overlords don't take this as a sign that I'm coming into work early." Cliff smirked, which made Cal chuckle and Jay smile slightly. The doctor gestured at the building next door to give Fia context "that's the hospital I work in if you didn't know."

The same as the last time Cal and Cliff grabbed a set of guest passes and a pair of safety goggles for everybody in the group, re-iterating the 'goggles stay on at all times when in any of the labs unless told otherwise' rule. Cal lead the way to the large spaceship hanger that served as Deke's workshop. As usual there were mechanics working on various projects and right in the centre of the room, suspended in the air by jacks from below and cranes from above was a gleaming red fighter ship mid-way through having it's heat shield replaced. Deke's office was to the left and was a mess of half finished projects, papers, monitors, textbooks and drawing implements. Deke was in the middle of it, reading what looked to Cliff like the biggest organic textbook she'd seen in her life (and she'd seen quite a few). Open beside him on the desk was a leather-bound notebook that would be extremely familiar to Fia as it was the same notebook she'd seen Rinaa with, and was identical to the one she'd found under the floorboards of The House which contained theories on how to time travel.