~ Tнє Pαяα∂σχ Hσυѕє ~ now back to regularly scheduled chaos

"Mmm, I think Samuel is more common in other countries. I-I don't know if it's average, though. It sounds like a Theian name to me." It was usually obvious when a name came from a Semitheian, although it did depend on the species. Nothing could ever get as fancy as dragon names. "How about Myrnin? Is that a common name?" Eises had never heard of it before meeting the blinker. 

So that's what he was. "S-So...even though you exist, some people don't believe in you?" Either Vampires were well hidden, or they weren't as many as a regular species would be. She was quite curious if he had ever felt hungry in the house. How many of those mythical vampire-facts that everyone in Theia knew about were actually true in Myrnin's world? "Hmm...can you eat garlic?" She tilted her head while asking, "W-What about being in water? D-Do you drink only blood?" Unfortunately, or fortunately, Eises becoming comfortable with someone was always followed by her childish curiosity. 

"I...guess I can get hiding your name. I-It's not exactly the same, but sometimes we have to use fake names so people don't recognise us...especially my Paistra, h-he also has secrets longer than anyone's been alive." She then chuckled, but her eyes did not show amusement. "I don't think anyone would believe us if we told them his identity anyway...."

"Humans don't exist in my world, I find them weird." Eises also found the House weird for taking an obvious liking towards them.  Of course, that wasn't the only reason the House was weird. "O-Oh, you were human too?" Her heart skipped a beat for a second, before she told herself that Myrnin probably wouldn't get offended over her calling them weird. "S-So, no one's born a vampire? Or does it depend?" Were those legends of needing to be bit in order to become a vampire true as well? 

Eises hesitated and glanced around for a few seconds, "If you say so..." She closed her eyes for a second, and upon opening them, they were a whitish, light-blue. Her pupils were barely visible, as they blended in with the irises. In just the few seconds that her eyes changed, a wild and harsh wind blew with the temperature plummeting at a dangerous rate. Her eyes quickly turned grey once more, and the wind quickly faded into nothingness. The temperature however, took its time to return to what it previously was. Eises then began to brush off the frost that had started spreading on her clothes, looking to see if Myrnin was covered in it too. "J-Jeez, I thought if I was quick enough it wouldn't do that, I guess I was wrong." She noticed there were a few branches scattered about. The sculptures are fine...right? She gave an exaggerated frown as she fixed her hair, trying not to laugh at what became of Myrnin's. 

The fact that Myrnin's eyes changed with his mood amazed her. "R-Reminds me of those mood rings." Although, she always believed those rings were fake. Myrnin's eyes however, she had no issue believing. "What does gold mean?" 

"Living forever sounds...scary..." Eises lowered her ears for a bit. Wouldn't he get bored after a while? What if he befriended someone who wasn't a vampire? It almost sounded lonely. "I-I don't blame you for not remembering, sometimes I can't remember what I ate for breakfast to tell you the truth..." She laughed nervously. Once again, that childish curiosity flared. "W-What do you mean by special case? Do vampires usually have good memories?" 

Myrnin left her a bit speechless. "I..." She couldn't think of how to respond for several seconds. He wasn't wrong, she did have friends here and at home. She was still alive, others weren't so lucky to experience that. That last bit gave her a bittersweet pang in her chest. "I-I guess life's a bit complicated..." She held back her eyes from getting watery. "I really don't think much of my future, you know. It's not like I have an education, and n-no way in hell would they let me life a normal life." A normal life was all she ever wanted, really. Her kidnappers, however, had other plans for her. It seemed like the Gods in general did. "T-Thinking optimistically is a little hard, you know?" Her ears were flattened and she couldn't seem to return Myrnin's gaze.

She tilted her head at the suggestion before widening her eyes. It took a few seconds for her head to clear, but once it did, she couldn't help but smirk. "You're really sure you're asking the right person?" Her grin became a toothy one as she scooped up some snow. The moment she started compacting it into her palms, an ice sculpture somewhere in front of her smashed a snowball into her face. 

Kelsier | Trust Exercise Room | strider

Kelsier glanced around Nico, regretting his choice of words almost instantly. It was probably best not to dwell on the fact that the House could kill them with ease, after all, just like it was probably best not to imagine how it might do it. There were some things you couldn’t prepare for, after all, and that made it a waste of time to try and guess what what coming, when the best option was to just deal with whatever happened. There was a time for plans and a time for winging it, and this was definitely the latter.
Not that that was going to stop him from entering rooms. Maybe that wasn’t smart, maybe it was going to cause trouble, but Kelsier lived on the edge of life and death every day, so what was a little more risk? Plus, if Nico was to be believed, there wasn’t a huge chance of staying dead even if something did happen. He wasn’t safe, but he never was, and he was willing to take his chances to see what happened.
He listened to Nico’s answer, and muscles tensed without him telling them to at the thought of it. Of killing someone because the House messed with your head, or of killing someone to protect the ones you loved. He imagined his crew being brought in, of little Spook being hurt because he wouldn’t do what he was told, Ham fighting to get to him, even Clubs showing how much he cared about the boy. And just like that, Kelsier no longer had mixed feelings about the House. If it was willing to do that, he wanted nothing to do with it, even if that meant he’d never see all the strange things It had to offer or meet all the people it collected. He wanted nothing to do with a…..a thing that was as bad as the nobility, as bad as the people who tortured others for fun. He didn’t know the House’s motives.
He didn’t care. There was nothing it could do to redeem itself in his eyes,
He could see how it haunted Nico. That alone made him feel better about the boy, though honestly he hadn’t really disliked him since their first unfortunate encounter. Where he’d murdered him. So they probably had a long way to go before they made it to anything close to friendship, but Kelsier was willing to wait.
He could apologize, but it wasn’t his fault so he didn’t see what good it would do. And it might sound condescending, anyway. He settled for a simple nod, acknowledging what Nico went through without seeming like he thought Nico was weak for it.
Would Kelsier kill if he were in that situation?
He thought that he probably would. Not right away...he wouldn’t give the House that. But if the House actually blinked someone in, actually starting hurting them and threatening to kill them...if it brought in Mare from before she died, for example….he didn’t know what he’d do. He couldn’t fight the House, though he’d try. He didn’t like thinking about it, and he shook his head, trying to dismiss the horrible image of Mare being tortured.
Nico’s next question was expected, because really Kelsier didn’t know anything yet. He barely really knew Nico, and yet thanks to the House he knew his deepest secrets and fears. It wasn’t fair to start with that and work backwards, back to hellos and how are yous, but that was what they had to do now. If Kelsier thought the House would have felt a good kick, he would have stomped the cliff just to get his point across. It didn’t seem likely that it would though, so he didn’t, and instead tried to focus on Nico. “Maybe it’s just a feeling.” He suggested, not indicating whether or not this was the case. Because it was a feeling, and he was acting on it, and that was rarely a good plan but he often did it anyway. He acted on his feelings because why else were they there? And he trusted his gut, and his gut said to trust Nico, and they didn’t even have a choice in this room anyway. The main thing was that Nico didn’t seem like a bad guy, though.
“I don’t think I’m going to regret giving you a chance, that’s all.” He explained himself. “And if I do, then I do, and we move on unless you manage to kill me. Then only you move on. But you seem alright to me.”
He almost burst out laughing at the next words, because they were so ridiculous. Are them? He chuckled, then realized it might be a sensitive subject for Nico and quickly glanced at his face to check for any sign of tension there. Which, there was a little, but it didn’t seem to be too bad, so Kelsier went ahead and laughed. “I stand corrected.”
It was about time to do this. Kelsier let the boy tug on the rope until he felt a little more secure, then took the rope and planted his feet as firmly as he could. He would have liked better ground for this, of course, but they were do with this what they had to, and it was going to work. It had to work.
Kelsier wasn’t going to let the House win.
He didn’t know what it meant to swear on the River Styx, but he took it to mean Nico would really actually not drop him, which he was grateful for. He wasn’t completely sure Nico didn’t still want revenge in some shape or form, but at least it wouldn’t happen in this room. Probably.
He watched Nico begin to descend, and returned the smile with his own bright, cheerful one, offering as much encouragement in that one expression as he could.
Then Nico was over the edge and Kelsier was straining against the weight, though not straining all that much actually. He almost couldn’t believe Nico was putting his full weight on the rope, but he didn’t see how else the boy could be avoiding gravity like that. He was a lot lighter than the Mistborn had expected, that was all.
“How are you doing?” He called after a minute. Hopefully Nico wasn’t freaking out too much to respond, but he figured his voice might help.

(It's okay! Things were what they were!

And sure! Do you want to start? Any preference on who I use?)

mintedstar/fur
(Use whoever you want!)

Ciel appeared in the living room, looking a little annoyed. He had been dealing with some business paperwork before he had blinked in but wouldn't be left alone. At least here he might be able to get some peace and quiet for a little bit.
He made his way over toward the couch and sat down with a sigh. While there were some blinkers in the same room, he knew it probably wouldn't be long until someone he knew appeared or someone came to say hi.

(Sorry for late reply!)


The little dragon seemed very quick to run. At least Sam thought it was a dragon. It was very brightly colored. She seemed interested in him now too, turning around to look at Sam. 
"It isn't my house," he said, waving one hand at the wall. "I'm not actually sure whose house it is." His eyebrows knitted together as if he was trying to think of something, but it didn't really work out. "It's the Paradox House; that's it's title. Probably isn't owned by anyone. It's just magic. So it's a lot different from any houses you've probably run into before."
He stood, though the movement was slow. Maybe it was so he didn't spoke the Guardian hatchling. He was still looking at her with curiosity.
"You're a dragon?" he checked.

mintedstar/fur
(You're fine!)

The Earl stared at the soldier silently, not looking amused at all. He knew it, it wasn't going to be long before he was bothered. He shifted on the couch and rested his head on his hand.
"My name's Ciel Phantomhive," he replied, observing how he was dressed. It looked like the linker had some power in his world, but he could never be certain. "And I must ask you the same. And have you ever been here before?"

broken
(Mal just wants to be condescending now. XD )


Maladict raised an eyebrow. "It's shorter to answer your second question then it is to answer your first question. I have been here before." Clearly the teen had been as well, or he wouldn't be so quick to ask the question. The teen himself seemed well dressed as well, complete with a slight paler that spoke wealth.
Instantly, Maladict was inclined to dislike him.
Speaking as someone who was also noble, he was pretty sure he could hate another noble without consequences.
"My name is Maladict Alec Taja Abner Asher Ephraim Ycrad Octavius ..." Maladict waved his hand vaguely, as if indicating the ellipsis and how much longer his name was. "... de Magpyr."
He blinked once, then gave just a bit of a stiff bow. 

"Not very common," said Myrnin with a shrug. "Some people have similar names - some people are named after me. But my name in particular isn't heard of very often."
He leaned down, scooping up some snow into his hands and packing it together as he thought of how to answer the rest. 
"We're hidden. As best as we can be. I can eat garlic, it doesn't mean I'll like it. It's a personal preference though. And I can be in water, I'm actually a rather good swimmer. My main means of continuing my existence is blood, though I could eat other things."
He paused, the ball of snow in his hands was now a bit large.
"Yes, I was. It was a very long time ago. You always start as a human. It's the only way it works."
He glanced down at the snowball, then up again at Eises' eyes. "Oh, very interesting!" he said, sounding pleased. He was covered in a fine layer of frost, but he didn't seem to notice. The snowball seemed more appropriate. 
He ignored her question about what gold meant. Or he was planning to, only he thought better of it. "It means I'm very old. It's something you can ... lapse into. It means I'm very dangerous and could kill you ... hardly without thinking about it. Like every moment you exist could be based on a coin-flip and I'm the one in control of the coin."
He shuddered.
"Yes, we usually have good memories. I personally do not. Honestly though, if you were curious, I could tell you want you had for breakfast."
He hefted the snowball.
"Education you say? Apart from history, I could teach you just about anything you wanted to know. If the same rules apply in my world as yours. But that's something to think about later."
The snowball was waiting.
He didn't wait any longer to toss it. He tossed it at Eises and at once started running, scrambling in the snow as he did, reaching down to pick up more as he moved.

At least that answered some of the questions that Samuel had. He blinked once or twice and tilted his head back, considering.
"Alright," he murmured.
He looked down at the dragon again. "Sounds like you have questions. What are they?"
He seemed curious about what she might ask as well. It seemed likely that it would have something to do with the House, which he didn't have all the answers for, but it still seemed possible that he could offer assistance in her understanding.
Anyway, it might smooth the way for him to be a bit more curious. He didn't think that Sam had really ever gotten a chance to introduce anyone to the House. This would be something new for Sam.
If the small dragon didn't go running away in terror that is.
That was a bit of an important part.

(Sorry for the late reply!)

Hange | Game Room | mintedstar/fur |

FINALLY REPLYING TO THIS)

Hange did, more or less, still think of themself as human.  Whether or not they were aware of their own state of mind was another question - of course, they knew intellectually that they were no longer human, but they still considered themself to be as allied with the human race in general as they had always been.  So if Myrnin had been hunting actual, living, breathing humans, they may have found this very interesting.  But Hange did not consider the House-generated people to be humans, no matter what Myrnin said, so to them, hunting these particular bandits for sport was no more cruel or predatory than target practice with cans of fruit.  So luckily for Myrnin, the entire situation was, for the moment, avoided.

So when Myrnin mouthed hide, they grinned right back, and shuffled away across the floor, keeping away from the windows to avoid being prematurely impaled.  After a cursory glance around the room, they chose to squeeze themself behind the nearest bookshelf, flattened against the wall in a motion that was sharpened by their years as a soldier.  Then, they heard the door open, and their grin widened, their fingers tapping impatiently against the wall as they waited for their target to come nearer.

Nico | Trust Exercise Room | ®Hawkpath®
Nico looked up as though he could see Kelsier over the top of the mountain. He was already a ways down, and even if Kelsier were standing on the very edge of the mountain, he doubted he would be able to see him now. Nico took in a steadying breath, listening to Kelsier’s voice as he kept finding footholds and handholds. There were a few times he had to stop and remind himself that he was alright, he was fine, nothing bad was going to happen to him. He was curious what Kelsier’s response to his fatal flaw would be, and though the howling of the wind as he made his way further downwards made it harder to hear Kelsier, he could still make out a little bit of his response. He didn’t want to hold a grudge against Kelsier, not when Kelsier had done everything in his power to make Nico feel comfortable since the moment he had killed him. That was a level of kindness and humanity that Nico hadn’t seen in anyone else in a long time. Of course, when he was on a quest with people it was all they could do to keep from just stepping on each other’s toes, but still. Maybe it was that he’d been forced to be so much more vulnerable in front of Kelsier than he’d ever been forced to be in front of people from his world. Somehow, though, he didn’t think they’d be as understanding if he were to be so vulnerable with them.
Something about Kelsier’s laugh helped to keep Nico grounded. He let his eyes close as he clung too tightly to the rocks in front of him, afraid that if he made even the slightest sudden movement he would go plummeting to his death. Would Kelsier be prepared to hold on if he slipped? Right now Kelsier’s job wasn’t exactly easy but it wasn’t like he was carrying his full weight.
“I let it slide a while ago,” Nico grunted, just loud enough for Kelsier to hear. He couldn’t look down. He couldn’t look down and he couldn’t see Kelsier when he looked up, and he had to admit that even if they were going to let bygones be bygones, he didn’t trust Kelsier fully. That was more or a reflection on Nico than it was on Kelsier, though.
He was almost envious of Kelsier’s comfort with heights. This was clearly a room that was meant to challenge both of them to trust each other, but Nico more than Kelsier. Perhaps Kelsier was used to trusting people more in his world than Nico was. The bar was pretty low. It was just that he couldn’t stand his own life or the lives of people he loved being out of his control. He hated the knowledge that it would take one second for someone to stop paying attention, and someone could get hurt, or die. If it happened when Nico was in charge, then that was on him and he could beat himself up for it, but he could figure out what went wrong and fix it for the next time. It wasn’t that he didn’t think others would do that, but he didn’t like the feeling he got when other people were responsible for him or the people he cared about getting hurt. But maybe he really didn’t trust other people to take as great care as Nico would have. Maybe that was why he tried to take all of the risks himself, tried to be the one to do everything dangerous, made promises that would kill him but that he would gladly die before breaking. Better him hurt than anyone else.
Another deep breath, another half a foot, another few moments of rest. For a few terrifying moments his foot slid off a particularly steep foothold and it was like he couldn’t breathe in the moments it took to find handholds and hold tight, praying that the sudden jerk on the rope didn’t catch Kelsier by surprise. Kelsier wouldn’t let him fall, and he wouldn’t let Kelsier fall. He’d already let Percy and Annabeth fall from a very, very different cliff. One he wasn’t sure they were going to survive through. If anyone could, though, it would be them. Maybe that knowledge, that tiny bit of faith he held onto… maybe that was trust. Nico didn’t know for sure.
Nico didn’t hear Kelsier’s words, but it didn’t mean he didn’t feel them in the way the rope didn’t descend too quickly. In the way it felt steady overhead, like if he needed to rely solely on it to bring himself down, he could. Kelsier’s response was there in the way Nico convinced himself to just breathe and keep moving, even when Kelsier was out of earshot. He reached a hand down to double check that the rope was secured for when Kelsier made his descent, and it was. Nico may have only been halfway down the mountain, but he wanted to make sure he could get Kelsier all the way down safely so he could thank him for real. So he could look him in the eye and, in his own way, admit that he hadn’t given his death another thought. Nico may have been terrified by the idea of letting Kelsier into his life, of Kelsier knowing him better than he already did, but… Kelsier didn’t deserve to believe that Nico hated him. Especially when it wasn’t true.
“Just a little further,” Nico murmured to himself, and he let his eyes close again. This was just the climbing wall at Camp Half-Blood. Nico had done that thousands of times, hadn’t he? He hadn’t gotten burned by it in years, he could do this. Breath in. Breath out. Go.
“You can give me slack a little faster!” Nico called up, forcing himself to forget the danger and get down the mountain as quickly as he could get down the climbing wall. This was much safer than that… at least here he had a rope. This was exactly the sort of thing he had trained for, and there was no way he was going to be bested by a massive lump of rock.

Matt | Living Room | strider |

"-cat, I've got flowers and - "

Matt blinked in, singing quietly to himself, holding a feather duster in one hand and an enormous pride flag in the other. He stumbled a little, losing his balance as the floor shifted from the ragged carpet of his apartment to the even more ragged carpet of the House, and broke off his song abruptly, more out of surprise than embarrassment. He glanced around, thinking for a disappointing moment that he'd blinked in alone, and then he noticed Noah, upside down on the couch.

Immediately, he threw the feather duster over his shoulder, dropped the flag, and flopped onto the couch next to the boy, his long legs crossed and propped against the wall so his head was level with Noah's. He turned so he was looking him in the eye, and grinned, eyes flashing through his goggles. "Hey."