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

"Who are you?" said Arthur, back stiffening as this man just appeared out of nowhere.
The alchemist didn't recognize Vincent. Of course he didn't.
Admittedly the age Arthur had been perceived as in House last time was almost exactly the same age as when Arthur was blinking in now. 
That wasn't to say he was the same person, however. Far from it. This one seemed different. Younger in actions as well as actual years.
"You aren't an alchemist," he said, with a touch of a sneer. "And I wouldn't say you could be much else."
Needless to say, he wasn't very impressed with Vincent.
It was of note that he hadn't asked where he was yet. That would come later.

Sol | Hallway | ®Hawkpath® |

"Woah..."

For a moment, Sol seemed to be nearly speechless as she pondered this.  She knew there hadn't always been infected....she heard older people talk about how things were sometimes.  But it was such a foreign concept to her.

"What's it like?"  she asked, almost desperately curious despite her general distrust of Rue as a stranger.  "I mean.....what do you guys do all day?"

Well, that had been a long, contemplative pause.
Myrnin could guess why. He at least didn't have a hard time in assuming, at any rate.
Anyway.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked. He tapped at his chin for a second. He knew what sort of world she lived in. He just wondered if there was a way to give her an edge. "You know how to fight already, I take it? Do you know other things?"
He was good at teaching. That was his thing.
"Oh, I'm well enough," he said, shrugging. "Just trying to find something in my world. It's being a bit ... tricky."


"Oh, you're a titles sort of person," said Arthur to himself. He felt a bit like he'd been showed up. But that was okay. He hadn't been aiming to make an impression after how he'd appeared here.
"I've been told it's a little of both," Arthur responded with a bit of a twitch of his lips. "I couldn't say I was at my brightest in the morning anyway."
And right now it wasn't exactly a time to be standing here in a slight daze. So Arthur was slowly working himself up to proper wakefulness.
"I haven't been here very often," he finally offered. "Just checking, but what is Hathsin? I don't believe I've heard of it."

Vincent | Living Room | mintedstar/fur 

Vincent eyed the hallway in temptation, glancing sideways at Arthur as the alchemist spoke. His pale eyes were hard to read, but after a moment of silence he turned and faced the man with his chin lifted skeptically. He distinctly remembered meeting this individual once, so he wasn’t exactly sure what game he was playing at by acting stupid.
He didn’t say anything as Arthur went on, his next words causing him to tilt his head slightly. 
He looked down at himself curiously as the other blinker sneered at him - still expressionless but seemingly confused. “Astute,” he commented after a few moments, giving a bored look over of Arthur’s attire after studying his own. He let his weight fall lax on one hip, slightly raised eyebrows and a frown to mask his amusement. “What got shoved up your ass since last time?” He asked dully, pulling a hand through his hair. 

Sol | Hallway | ®Hawkpath® |

Sol was silent for a moment, reading between the lines of her pauses and tone. People said a lot with their voice - she never did understand why everyone thought faces were so important to understanding what people meant. Could they not hear the difference between a smile and a frown?

"Huh," she said finally, looking down at the ground as she thought through this. She was grateful that Rue hadn't been a condescending enough person that she would try to sell her some happy sunshiney version of her world - this felt, at least, familiar. She could work with a person who came from a world like that.

"Cool, so it's pretty much the same, just without a bunch of sick people trying to eat you all the time," she summarized. turning her head back towards Rue. "Figures I guess. I mean, you don't seem very different, for someone who says she's not from like, my Earth. I kinda thought you'd be an alien or something."

Rue | Living Room | mintedstar/fur

Rue glanced up, surprised when he offered to help her. He knew more about her world than almost anyone else did, which was exactly how she had tried to keep it. She didn’t want pity. She could have used any help she could get, but what she wanted was friends, not helpers. Her world was her problem, and she refused to dump it on anyone else.
Somehow, hearing Myrnin offer help almost broke her. She smiled a little, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Like what?” She asked him, quietly. “And I don’t really know how to fight that well. I know how to run and hide because that’s what people taught me to do. It’s just not...gonna work this time, I don’t think.”

Kelsier | Living Room | Mintyyyyyyyyyyyy

“I’m not a titles sort of person.” Kelsier protested immediately. That sounded like a nobleman sort of thing to be, which he was definitely not. “I’m the opposite of that.” Ignoring the fact that he had just introduced himself with a title was apparently just what he was going to do today.
He didn’t want to let that go, but he did let Arthur continue, mentally filing it away for later. “Early bird gets the worm.” He said cheerfully. “The key is to never go to bed in the first place. Then you’re the earliest bird.”
He nodded. “Ah, a newbie.” He said, considering Arthur. “The Pits of Hathsin is a terrible, terrible place in my world. I’m the only one to ever escape, in fact. But you shouldn’t have to worry about that., since you’re not from my world.”

Myrnin | Hallway | <Raintalon>

Myrnin leaned against the wall, avoiding leaning against a door on the off chance it would open under his touch. He didn't need to visit a room just yet.
"Oh yes, very biased I'm sure. I believe I've met a token straight or two here, but for the most part that had been all." He waved a hand around as he illustrated that point. 
"As for the questions, Bob is a spider. Vampires eat people." He held up the container of flies. "These are for Bob to eat."
He paused after shaking the container to consider Matt's question.
"I'm not a homicide detective. I'm the third in command of Morganville. It's sort of my business if someone is killing children. Why? Do you know any homicide detectives?"

Matt | Hallway | mintedstar/fur |

"Most of my friends are homicide detectives," answered Matt, unenthusiastic.  "Definitely would not recommend.  They all think they're supergeniuses - ok, to be fair, most of them are supergeniuses, but some of them really let it go to their head."

His eyes widened in excitement as Myrnin mentioned Bob, and he peered closer at the jar of flies.  "Oh dude no way, you have a spider?  That's so cool - I have a cockroach.  They don't eat bugs, though.  Where did you even find all these flies?"

When Orpheus blinked in, he didn’t realize it had happened. That wasn’t so unusual for him – he was used to playing and when he looked up, there he was in the House. A shame he so often played with his eyes closed. It was the feeling of carpet against his bare feet rather than cold grass that tipped him off. His eyes opened and he looked around, unsure what he was expecting to see. He was hoping it might be the girl from last time – Eurydice – but it was a different girl. The one he’d never gotten the name of.
He looked up at her and raised a hand in greeting – he’d never gotten to hear if the music had helped her, but he hoped it had. It was always nice to know he had made some sort of difference. She looked… better now. It hadn’t even been a day for Orpheus, but she looked happier, almost. Or… if not happier, at least not half-dead. He hoped that wherever she was from, things were looking up for her.

Orpheus watched her expression, trying to read the thoughts that flickered across it. He wasn’t great at reading people he didn’t know, but he was good at trying, at least. He didn’t think she would remember him. After all, he figured most blinkers had met a great many others in their time in the House – even he had met more people in the House than he was used to meeting in his world – well, his new job being the exception.
“Yes,” he murmured, as she officially recognized him. He was oddly pleased. Perhaps because he wasn’t used to seeing people more than once. The only repeat blinkers he’d seen were L and Kelsier… and now this girl, who he still didn’t have a name for. “Oh… it’s alright.” He gave her a reassuring smile, unsure whether or not to offer his hand. “I’m Orpheus. I… don’t believe you gave me yours last time.” It was a comment more than it was a request. If she still wanted to keep it to herself… well, he wasn’t going to press.

"You just met me, so you've met me," Arthur pointed out, rather obviously.
He did arch an eyebrow at Eurydice's comment and huumed under his breath. "Rather depends. Do I often get the experience of getting taken out of my home at random points in the day and get no explanation?"
He wasn't necessarily always that agreeable on first meetings anyway. He warmed up to people and had different first meetings depending on who it was he was meeting at all.
He listened a bit to what Eurydice said, but none of it actually made much sense to him. He too glanced in the direction of the hallway that Eurydice was edging toward.
"Are you planning to bolt?" he asked.

Arthur | Living Room | ~∂єѕтιиу

Arthur's eyes narrowed even further.
Last time?
"You seem to be a bit peeved," he noted. "Is there reason for that or are you just going to make vague comments about my current situation?"
He assumed that there had to be alchemical design here.
He turned away from Vincent and started stalking toward the hallway. He didn't think that this place was normal. There were no windows, to start with. But investigating seemed to be the direction he was supposed to go.
"Are you intending to come?" he asked over his shoulder.

L | Job Swap Room | strider

Yes, if that was all that was needed, that would have been ideal. L would have preferred that to what he suspected was coming, obviously, since he what he suspected was a trap. This was the House, after all. Of course it was a trap. Wasn’t it always?
He looked at Orpheus, seeing the exact moment the other man realized something was wrong. He wasn’t scared, he rarely got truly frightened, but he was deeply wary of this room now. It was too perfect, the way the words had coincided, and the House didn’t tend to do things for no reason, contrary to popular opinion. There was always a motivation behind it.
The chill didn’t surprise L, of course. It was exactly what he had expected from the House. The words coinciding had not been a coincidence, of course, and not a warning either, but just...a hint, perhaps. Or just theatrics. That was always a possibility. He glanced at Orpheus, wondering what he made of this, but he didn’t ask just yet. He didn’t speak, his head turning, then tilting so he was looking up, waiting for the snow to fall, as he strongly suspected it was about to. Unless something else was coming…?
He looked at Orpheus, nodding as the other blinker understood the room, too. “I suppose so.” He agreed quietly, his tone still tense, wary of the House’s antics after having blinked in as many times as he had. He knew this could simply be a gentle reward for having done their tasks, but he didn’t trust that for a moment. He didn’t trust the House.
He looked up sharply as it started to snow.
The look of awe on Orpheus’ face almost made up for the uncertainty of the room. He watched as Orpheus raised his hand, and his dark eyes softened just a little at the expression in his eyes. He really hadn’t ever seen snow before, had he?
“Yes.” He said, his tone quiet. “Some people love it. Children often dress up in clothes made specifically for snow. Then, they go out and play in it. They build people out of it and make structures and throw balls of it at each other, they’re typically quite loud while they do it. That’s my experience, anyway.”
He looked up sharply, distracted from his thoughts by the wind. It was picking up fast, roaring past him and tearing his loose shirt backwards. The icy cold cut through him like a knife, deep into his body,
He heard Orpheus say something, but he didn’t know what. White blocked out his vision, and cold bit him, forcing him to wrap his arms around his body to try and keep what warmth he could. He didn’t notice Orpheus move, and then he looked around and the other blinker was just...gone.
“Orpheus!” He shouted over the wind, and this time he was scared, because the House was perfectly capable of blinking Orpheus out and leaving him to freeze to death just for fun. Even after it had happened so many times, L was still afraid of dying, it seemed. He took a few steps forward, then stopped again, unsure of where he was going. Besides that, as a child he had always been told not to move if he got lost, so he would be easier to find. He supposed the same logic applied here.
Assuming Orpheus was even still there.
No. No, he couldn’t afford to wait for someone to rescue him. He took a few steps forward again, his bare feet growing numb in the cold already, his whole body beginning to shiver. “Orpheus!” He shouted again, just in case he was close enough to be heard.

Touka | Living room | mintedstar/fur and strider |

"Orpheus," she repeated, in an unremembered echo of the last time they'd met. She remembered now that he'd said it. Orpheus was an unusual name, she'd thought at the time. She hesitated when he asked again for her name, biting her tongue.

It's your name. You shouldn't let them ruin it for you.

What do you know, old geezer?

"Touka," she said at last, with a little nod. "My name's Touka. And uh...I liked your song before. You're pretty good at - "

As the new blinker's pottery fell to the floor with a loud CRASH, she flinched and threw her hands up to shield her face, then slowly lowered them again, eyes widening as she saw a familiar face staring back at her, just as shocked.

"Myrnin..."

The word left her mouth in a whisper. Her chest and throat felt suddenly tight - and suddenly, she felt the overwhelming urge to cry.

"I'm...." She hesitated, a million things racing to the front of her mind. "I...yeah. I'm okay," she said at last. "Are you...how are you?"