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

Archie | Paintball Arena | mintedstar/fur

Watching him get a handle on the gun was very amusing, heartwarming even. Moreso when he actually started to test the aiming and firing mechanism, and he grinned when he shot the first paintball. When he shot the second, he realized he really ought not to have been surprised but he still was anyways. The paint ball exploded right across his sternum and he doubled over a bit and wheezed from the impact, then began to chuckle gleefully. "Yup-, you got it," he said, still sounding a bit winded. 
It was almost entirely for the experience- paint balls would barely even tickle him normally. But this was all a fun time, so it seemed right to let it slide. 
Looking up at Adrian again, still grinning, he noticed the expression wasn't even vaguely mirrored on his young blond friends face. It crossed his mind briefly to shoot him back, and perhaps that would lighten the mood but he decided that might not have the best outcome since he was still learning. "Ease up! Its a little tricky at first, but learning is half the fun. Now that you know how to shoot, we can play properly. Maybe better to play something not too complicated at first since... well, I might forget the rules." 
Brushing off his vest, he reequipped his own gun and thought for a moment for a good game to start with, then bounced once he had.
"Okay! Heres what we'll do: It'll be like hide n seek tag. We both try to hide and stay out of sight while looking for each other. If one of us spots the other then we shoot them. First one to get hit five times looses. You're totally allowed to use whatever powers you have, too, since that will be totally exciting. No going totally invisible though, if you can, since thats a little tricky. Mostly. Make sense?" he asked, settling into a cross legged sitting position mid air, floating down so he was about the same height as the dhampire. 

Kelsier | Trust Exercise Room | strider

Kelsier knew he was frightening to Nico, because he was frightening to almost everyone who knew him. He was a terror to the nobility of course, but he was aware that the Skaa feared him as well, feared the change and the struggle and even the hope that he represented. He had thought, once, that he would be leading the charge of an army of prepared Skaa soldiers who were all as committed to the cause as he was, but he knew now that that was far from how things worked. He knew now that he had to fight his own people as much as he did the noblemen, fight to convince them to fight for themselves. Because they didn’t believe they could win. They didn’t believe there was hope.
But there was. Kelsier was living proof of that. And there was no way in hell he was letting the Skaa die believing otherwise. How? He would trust, and give, and fight, and even die if he had to. He knew he wasn’t much of a hero. He knew he was a thief and a liar, he knew Marsh believed he cared only for himself. But he was also a believer, not in the Lord Ruler, but in himself and the Skaa. Kelsier believed in the power of even a smile that couldn’t be taken away from him. That was why he wasn’t going to fail.
He looked at Nico. Knowing someone’s darkest secrets before you even know their favorite color...he wasn’t sure he liked that. In fact, he was pretty sure he didn’t. Of course, Nico knew Kelsier through his deepest, darkest thoughts as well, his best-kept secrets laid bare, and so far they hadn’t destroyed each other with that knowledge. Was it only a matter of time? Was Nico biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to strike?
The thing was, He didn’t think so. He may not have known Nico well yet, and he may have known only the darkest parts of the boy, but even that was enough for him to believe Nico was a good person, deep down. He looked at Nico, and instead of a noble child, like the one he’d seen when he first laid eyes on him, he saw a boy. Neither Skaa nor noble, impossibly outside anything Kelsier had ever known. His world was black and white in his eyes, us against them, and Nico just...didn’t fit.
It was unfamiliar. It was not, however, a bad thing. He would have thought it was, at first, but it was just a fact, neither good nor bad.
Kelsier didn’t know what to do with that sort of fact.
He glanced down at Nico, taking in the boy’s words. “I’d appreciate that.” He said seriously, thought with just the right amount of light in his eyes to offset it. “If I could really fly, I’d have no need for coins, would I? But what I can do is close, sometimes. Who knows? Maybe the House will give us a room where we actually have our powers, and we can see how they work.”
It didn’t seem like much of a long shot, really. The House wanted to watch them, right? Well, surely it would want to see all parts of them, at some point. Surely it would get bored of stripping them of their abilities eventually.
“Also, excuse me, Allomancy is much more impressive than you make it sound.” He added in a slightly huffier tone, though still clearly not serious, from the way his hazel eyes sparked with fun. “Coins like projectiles. Please. I can leap off a building and come out unscathed. I’ve won fights against dozens of men singlehanded. I, am amazing.” He grinned down at Nico. “And I can definitely get close to flying.”
“Skates.” He repeated after a second, looking down at his new footwear again. “Huh. Not easy to walk in, are they? I think I preferred my other shoes.”
He was still fixated on the skates, so he didn’t notice the way Nico stared at his hat. He didn’t notice at all, in fact, until the boy took off his own and stared at it for a minute, and then he looked up, bemused by the expression of alarm on the kid’s face. “What?” He asked, taking off his own hat and looking it over carefully. He frowned, seeing nothing noteworthy about it, and stuck it back on his head, raising a curious eyebrow and tilting his head at Nico, an inquisitive expression on his hawkish features. Nico looked genuinely freaked out about something now, like he wanted to say something but was afraid of the consequences. Which was odd, considering he’d actually been joking a moment ago. Was it the hat that had spooked him? Or something unrelated?
He hesitated, unsure whether he should ask. It seemed like the right thing to do, but then again, maybe Nico didn’t want that much attention drawn to it. Or maybe the Mistborn was overthinking the whole thing and Nico was fine.
“Thanks?” He meant it as a statement, but it came out as more of a question. “You two. Are you alright? You look a little spooked.”
Before he could answer, however, they were both running and then suddenly they weren’t on carpet anymore and he was flying. No, gliding, he was gliding, over ice thicker than any he’d ever seen. It was so smooth and the skates moved over it like it was glass, and he had to throw his arms out to either side to stop himself from crashing down.
As it was, he gently bumped into the wall, and slid to an almost-stop. He was grinning now, without even meaning to, and he looked over his shoulder to see Nico on the ice, grinning right back.
“Nice!” He shouted, laughing lightly. The cold was sharp but he didn’t feel it, whether because of his hat and gloves or because he was having too much fun, it wasn’t clear. He managed to turn, and glided slowly towards Nico, keeping his balance only barely as he stopped closer to the younger blinker.
“You okay?” He managed to ask, still laughing. It hadn’t looked like a bad fall, after all, and Nico actually looked...happy.

Was it something he said? The kid saw the sturdy material that held up the moat's drawbridge bringing into question how just what kind of stuffing sat inside the pieces of felt. From previous rooms the house created fake copies of people, even blinkers in the past had been fakes! There was no telling if the material inside the pillows and quilts was horrific, grotesque living beings. Regardless with his pondering he found himself detouring on the edge of the group walking on over to a dark velvet pillow within sight. Without looking over his shoulder he plucked it wary of what or how is was made, it was rectangular in shape. Gaining the pillow Dipper tucked it in his jacket for further research, he knew items would blink back but house created objects were different surely. Just moments ago the apprehension towards said pillow was on his mind only for the opportunity to gain more answers won his nerves over. Whether or not the others would bat an eye he didn't know, the majority had been deciding if the sword was one of theirs.
Room after room things didn't changed the house had been up to its old tricks assembling what little it had left to scare them with. Soft and silent as Ononoki's steps were his brown eyes glanced at the seemingly human blinker the boy wandered after her in no discernable rush. Even while walking he noted how his socks hadn't gotten dfirty despite how long the group had been strolling through the room. Absentmindedly his footsteps led him towards the average looking entrance to the pillow castle presumably a lame one at that.
While entering the journal keeper tugged his pillow out to steal another look. Almost on cue a swift motion left him tightening his grip on the soft edges of the plush, his eyes locked onto the spear that was aiming for his chest. In his head he wanted to yell, to scream, to holler so badly at the sight of a weapon that could take him out in a heart beat. Like any sweaty twelve year old he ducked his head letting out a small gasp while he raised the pillow as a shield. In terms of research it was practically torn open, the knight now retracting his spear having missed his target so sloppily. Panic touched his mind clouding his thoughts of reason as he allowed the pillow to be taken, the soft fuzz falling like a feather on the floor yet the cloth impaled at the head of the spear. "We could use that sword right about now!" He warned the rest of the group behind them, his mind blanking on the presence of Ononoki who dealt the attack with grace.
Not desiring to get impaled himself he scurried out of the spears range, eyes scanning the castle for any possible weapons or exits.

Klaus | Living Room

After what had been a long while for the House but only a few short hours for the boy, Klaus Baudelaire appeared, staring up at something that had disappeared along with his world.
"-nothing," were the words that escaped his lips, though he quickly shut his mouth upon noticing his sudden change in location. He swallowed back whatever thoughts had been filling his head and took the chance to look around. His hand automatically moved up to his neck, feeling where Myrnin had bitten him, a wound that had healed instantly upon blinking home. That might have been the last time he had blinked in alone like this. The boy took a few steps towards the bookshelves, wondering perhaps if this time it would be different. If they would be actual books instead of just blank pages like they had been previously.
The living room felt too small, honestly. He needed fresh air, he needed not to be confined inside when it felt like his chest was about to burst. Even the feeling of a soft leather book in his hands gave him little comfort, especially when he flipped it open to reveal… nothing. Again.

Klaus sighed, putting the book back on the shelf, feeling more defeated than he probably should have. He scarcely had time to process his disappointment, however, when he heard a shout behind him and turned to see a knife whizzing towards him. His body reacted before his mind did, his knees bending and his arms going up to protect his face from the projectile. It embedded in the wood about a foot away from where he now crouched, right where the base of his throat had been only moments earlier. Eying the knife somewhat nervously, Klaus straightened up and adjusted the bottom of his sport jacket before looking up to meet Rue’s gaze.
“I take it that wasn’t intentional?” he asked, a hand going up to adjust his glasses. The way he said it was amiable, a smile hesitating at the base of his mouth as he waited to see if Rue was friendly. While the words could have been an accusation, it was clear from the way he was looking at her that they weren’t – or at least, he hadn’t intended them that way. “I appreciate the warning, by the way,” he added quickly in case the first words he’d said had been rude.

Klaus’ smile spread once he received confirmation that Rue had truly not intended to hurt him. He still struggled with the idea that there would be anyone who wanted to hurt him with no reason for doing so, but he’d already seen first-hand that sometimes injuries that happened in the House were intentional. He hadn’t wanted to believe this one was, and he was glad to know for certain that his initial assumption had been correct.
“An astute observation,” he laughed softly, no malice present in the words. It almost seemed as though he was cracking a joke.
“And I’m alright. You don’t have to worry about me, I’m just relieved you said something when you noticed you blinked,” he added, his expression growing a little bit more serious as he glanced back at the knife. He was willing to bet it probably would have hit its target if it had been allowed to stay in Rue’s world when she blinked here. Then again, would it even blink back with her if it remained embedded in the wall? Would someone notice it disappear? That thought in mind – although it was a theory he would have liked to explore more – Klaus looked behind him and, though it was deeply embedded, managed to yank the knife out of the wall.
“Here,” he murmured, bridging the gap between them. “I’ve a feeling you might be needing that when you go home.”

Klaus looked up at Rue, breathing in another sigh of relief once he realized that really was friendly. That his joke had landed and that they were on their way towards a friendly, not incredibly tense conversation. Of course he didn’t start most friendships off by having a knife thrown at him, but he supposed there was a first time for everything, and he couldn’t blame the girl for the unfortunate timing of her blink.
“Thanks,” he murmured, still giving that soft smile. “It comes from years of hearing footsteps coming down the hall and diving under the covers so Mother couldn’t tell I was still reading as late as midnight.” Years later he might have said something more concerning. ‘It comes from avoiding Count Olaf’s many schemes and the vast number of times he tried to kill me.’ His life hadn’t reached that point yet – he was still dwelling on the happy times even as the burnt remains of them spread all around him in his world. It was hard not to keep seeing his home, burnt to ashes and ruin, every time he closed his eyes. It was all gone.
“It was an impressive throw,” he added. “The trajectory was almost perfect and, best I could tell, you didn’t apply too much torque.” He assumed that still applied to knife throwing – it applied to other sorts of throwing, so surely it couldn’t be that much different.
He frowned at the addition of the word ‘now’ to Rue’s response. If she was going to be in trouble soon… there wasn’t anything Klaus could do to help, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to.
“I suppose you’ll still want it if there’s a chance danger might arise sooner than you expect.” He met her gaze, trying not to seem too worried. Surely she could take care of herself and she would resent the insinuation that she couldn’t. “Oh! My name’s Klaus, by the way.” He stuck his hand out for a handshake, looking every bit the unkempt professor except maybe ten to fifteen years younger.

Vincent - Acid Parkour - Shadepelt15

Vincent remained patient as Ravohyr finished saying whatever he was saying, though his gaze subtly moved towards the first couple obstacles on the course as he grew bored with the elf. His eyes flicked back towards him briefly as he corrected his ‘one of us’ comment, offering a slight smirk as he turned to act on his words. Watching Ravohyr brave the first step over the acid was extremely interesting, but when the rope didn’t break on contact, his faith was entirely restored. 
He stopped paying attention to his company and began to act on bettering his own odds on the journey. Tying up his hair and pulling off his jacket could at least help him better keep track of his mobility, as well as rolling up the sleeves of his undershirt. He patted down his pockets, insuring they were empty. Most of his supplies left him when he arrived in the house, all except the switch blade he started carrying with him soon after first blinking in. His hand paused on it, tapping his index finger against its surface for a moment as he stared at Ravohyr’s back, then pulled his hand away as he decided to leave it be. The discovery of his own weapon drew his attention toward the dark elf’s, which he approached silently. He nudged the axe with his toe, then nudged it with a little more force when it didn’t react to his first touch. The thought of him using such a tool was entirely comical, and he stepped back with a genuine hint of a smile as Ravohyr turned back to face him.
”Should we give it try then?” He asked, smirking. 

Vincent - Statue Room - anyone
(short I apologize)

Vincent watched the divided reaction to the plan, glancing over his shoulder carefully a strayed further from the others. His pale eyes scanned over the few marble effigies that had taken interest in him, continuing his slow retreat backwards as they stalked after him at a mirrored pace. He could find a place to hide if he could these few eyes off him, but their emotionless eyes were tracked on him even as he pulled his path to the side. He could throw something and maybe crack some of the detail off their pretty carved faces, but it ultimately wouldn’t do him any good. He needed someone to make a distraction for him...maybe someone nearby he could divert their attention to...

Ravohyr | Acid Parkour | ~∂єѕтιиу

After swinging about on the rope for a moment or two, he hopped back onto the first platform with a quiet huff and a not too graceful landing, leaving him kneeling. Unknowing of Vincent's weird double-crossing innuendos, he went to scoop up his axe and slot it into the holster on his back again, only to pause and consider. His armor, regardless of how light and generally flexible, would be a hindrance. Sighing heavily, he pulled the holster off of his back and set it at his feet, then pulled off his chest plate and pauldrons. Well, there went fifty gold down the drain... And another fifty, when he removed the armor protecting his thighs, leaving him in trousers, shin guards, forearm guards, and his ivory undershirt. Which, of course to ensure flexibility, he pulled half of the way off and tied the sleeves around his torso. With all that done, he returned the holster to his back and secured the axe in its hold. This baby was enchanted to hell and back, he wasn't gonna loose it. 
He piled his armor neatly towards the middle of the platform, hoping that perhaps by some bizarre method it might follow him one way another. 
Looking back to Vincent, he noticed his tied up hair and made to do the same, looping it a few times and finishing it in a messy but sturdy bun. "Onward and outward," he agreed, striding ahead again to continue on in front and ensure his company's safety. 
The first series of ropes wasn't particularly difficult besides the jump at the end, requiring a bit of built up momentum to really make it. After that, a trail of odd, frightfully wobbly platforms that genuinely made Ravohyr question his own sanity. "Do you do this sort of thing often?" he asked, blatantly trying to make small talk, then following it up with a genuine question; "How're you faring?"

Nico glanced at Kelsier, wishing he could know what the man was thinking. A hell of a thing to know the sorts of things one hid about themselves and very often took to their graves, but not yet know how to decipher their expressions. The frustrating thing about Kelsier was he always seemed to be smiling, no matter what was happening. The difference was how dangerous that smile happened to be, and who it was directed at. It didn’t give any insight into what he was actually thinking, just into whether he was likely to kill someone soon. Fortunately, Nico had only been on the receiving end of Kelsier’s frightening smile once. It would be simpler if it had stayed that way, a voice in his head hissed, and he pushed it away. No friends was a rule for his world, and it was one he had broken in the House enough times that it should have been fine. Kelsier shouldn’t have scared him this much.
Did Kelsier feel the same spike of uncertainty whenever they looked at each other? Nico didn’t want someone to help carry his pain, didn’t want someone else burdened down with his secrets. There was a reason he could count the friends he had on one hand. The secrets Kelsier held were enough to drive away most people. Perhaps Kelsier really would leave, maybe he would stop trying once he saw what Nico’s powers really could do.
Another glance at Kelsier, and he wished he could ask him outright where they went from here. Helping each other down a mountain was one thing – an unexpected thing – but could they trust each other? The very thought sent Nico’s stomach turning. Trust was a nasty word. It blew up in your face far too often.
“One day, perhaps,” he replied, meeting Kelsier’s gaze. “One day we might actually blink into the living room and have the good sense to stay there to show off rather than rushing headfirst into a room.” They hadn’t chosen this one, and they hadn’t chosen the first one, but they had been rather reckless the time before. Based on the eagerness with which Kelsier had almost jumped off the mountain to his death, Nico had a feeling the man was used to being reckless. Nico tried to be more cautious, but even he had to admit that when he saw a way to help others that directly endangered his own life, he rarely thought twice.
“Humble, are we?” Nico teased lightly, raising his brows slightly. “Talk to me when you’ve raised armies of the dead, won an impossible war, or travelled halfway around the world in seconds.” The latter had been an accident, but still. It counted. And it had been a long time since he’d ever bragged about anything to anyone, so… maybe being around Kelsier was doing him a bit of good. It was hard not to try and seem confident around someone as arrogant as Kelsier was. Deep down, though, Nico could believe that Kelsier was amazing. He couldn’t believe the same about himself.
“The point is sort of that they aren’t super easy to walk in,” Nico replied, glancing at his own skates for a moment. They suddenly became very interesting as Kelsier took off his hat to look at it again, as though Nico hadn’t been quite as subtle as he had planned on being. That was a conversation for… not now. Maybe over hot chocolate, if they could still tolerate each other by then. It was just a pretty combination of colors, nothing more. It was Nico who was reading too much into things, assuming Kelsier’s reaction when there was no reaction necessary. It wasn’t 1940 anymore. Nico had to just keep on telling himself that. Still… bigotry existed even now. Nico had a feeling it wasn’t ever going to go away, and really, he had no idea what Kelsier’s world was like in those terms.
He was grateful they had taken off before he had to answer Kelsier’s question. It would come back up, he knew, when they took off their hats to have hot chocolate, but hopefully they could avoid it until then.
His smile faltered a little bit as Kelsier came nearer but returned when he managed to stop a safe distance away. Stopping was a skill that Nico would probably have to learn before the day was out. He hadn’t smiled this wide for this long in… well, it felt like forever. The realization brought a little bit more seriousness to the boy’s expression, rendering him once more a child who had been forced to grow up too fast rather than any normal thirteen-year-old boy.
“Fine,” he replied honestly, a ghost of a smile still trying to pull at his expression. He placed a hand on the cold ice, pushing himself to his feet. His normally pale cheeks were stained pink by the bite of the wind, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t really feel cold, not the way other people did. It took him a moment to get his bearing again, but once he did he took a few hesitant steps forward, wobbling a bit as he did so. Steps weren’t going to work. Frowning, he pushed off on his back foot, letting his front stay on the ground. Much better. He held his hands out front of him for balance and chanced a look back at Kelsier, managing to turn enough to loop back around nearer to him.
“How did you manage to stop?” he asked, letting friction slow him down. “This way seems a little tedious.” Even so, he was enjoying it. There had been an ice rink at the Lotus Hotel, but Nico had always been afraid of being trampled by people much older and bigger than him, and besides… he would rather play Mythomagic anyway, if he had a choice. Now, though, he wished he had taken that chance when he was younger. He wished he could go back and tell his younger self not to take the little things for granted.

Rex | Lodge | Touka, Myrnin

Rex's heart plummeted as she vanished. A thousand emotions crashed over him in a suffocating wave, pulling him down.

Anger.

Despair.

Guilt.

There was nothing he could have done and yet- He stared at the empty space she had been, unable to move. He could still feel the phantom sensation of her in his arms. If he had just held tighter... if more people had just cared. Tears seared his eyes as Rex turned on Myrnin. He shouldn't have been the only one comforting Touka. She deserved better than that. She deserved to face this with her friends by her side. And Myrnin had abandoned her.

The fury Rex had been trying to quell suddenly surged viciously within his chest. People around him died all the time. They died alone. They were all forgotten faces that got left behind because nobody cared.

Touka had people who cared. She didn't have to go alone. But Myrnin had made her.

The world vanished into a red haze and suddenly Rex was beside Myrnin, seizing the vampire's shirt and dragging him up, shoving him roughly against the wall. He couldn't breathe. His chest seized every time he tried to take a breath. For a moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity, Rex glared blindly at Myrnin, unable to speak. "You pathetic f[oops]ing [oops]," he finally snarled brokenly. "How could you be so f[oops]ing selfish? How could you make her go alone?"

Ononoki - pillow fort room - everyone

Her green eyes swiveled toward Hook when the pirate entered after the rest of the group. Ononoki shook her head with eyes trained; first on Hook, then taking one moment in each of the three new directions. The corridors ahead of the blinkers were long and dark, and there was no way to know what was at the end of them. Even in their cushioned state, they contained no windows and seemed rather narrow. It would be difficult to fit even two people side by side and have them walk comfortably down the hall the enemy had charged through.
That particular hallway is where the doll girl pointed in response to the question, which had been directed toward Dipper. It was Hook's responsibility to see her gesture, as she did not speak up.
Even well aware her skills would get her through this perilous task completely unscathed, Ononoki stayed silent, which meant someone else would have to offer to go first. She found herself staring at Eliyen, who had been so enthusiastic about protecting herself with the knife. Perhaps that preparedness to fight would come in handy now.
"There are more," she warned suddenly, as if hearing the faintest of sounds from afar. Within moments those footsteps were audible to anyone, but there was no way of knowing which direction they were coming from, or just how many were approaching.

~Hunger Games Room~

The ground shifting under Czeslaw's feet made his heart jump into his throat, and his knees bent automatically to steady himself. His sudden panic flowed into a controlled breath when he realized he had merely blinked into the Paradox House. There was something booming over a monitor that apparently didn't threaten him at all. On the contrary, his main objective at the moment was not to drop his ice cream. It had been a very rude thing to interrupt him on a lunch date with Ennis.
Darkness gave way to a blinding light and the boy shut his eyes before blinking them open and scanning his surroundings. Familiar faces. It would seem they were all in this together, no matter that the house was trying to pit them all against each other.
And so there was the boy with ice cream in one hand, and the other shielding his face from the sunlight. He had never seen anything quite like this; an expression of curiosity--yet near boredom--crossed his squinting face rather than one of fear. The thing in the center reminded him of a sea faring ship, but was clearly something belonging to the other blinkers' time periods. Oh- While he was thinking about how he should get off the platform to ask the person nearest about that, a countdown had begun.
How ominous. He wondered what the countdown could mean. Whatever it was, he had better prepare for it.
Czeslaw tossed his ice cream cone aside onto the dusty ground beneath the platform, but before it could meet with the earth it exploded into a thousand tiny fragments, leaving a puff of smoke that dissipated into the surrounding atmosphere.
"That's new," he said to himself and awaited the rest of the countdown.