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

Λ was trembling, Orpheus could tell. That was how serious the situation was. Λ, possibly the bravest person Orpheus had ever met (including the crew of the Argo, who claimed to be brave but were really just stuck up and pompous and liked to carry around big weapons), was trembling. Scared, probably. And a dozen other things, though Orpheus wasn’t going to ask him how he felt. It wouldn’t be a welcome question, and Orpheus could read him well enough to at least discern that he wasn’t having a great time.
“But people are after you,” he murmured, and it wasn’t a question. Λ was in danger, and there wasn’t anything Orpheus could do about it other than look at him here and try to be there for him. But what difference could he make if he couldn’t help with the actual threat?
“You know… the last time either of us was shivering… being close helped. I know you’re not cold, but… if being close would help again…” he didn’t know if Λ would take offense to the suggestion, but he offer was out there now. He didn’t yet know that his friend might not actually trust him enough to allow him that close when in his right mind. He wouldn’t mind when he found out, of course, but… he didn’t know yet.
He frowned a little, glancing at the shoes, then the jacket, then the hair…
“Comfort is different for everyone,” he murmured, barely giving his actions a moment’s thought as he untied his bandana. “But this gives me comfort, and it seems like you need as much of that as you can get. Besides… it’ll add to the disguise.” He held it out, offering Λ a small but still genuine smile.
He seemed about to say more, but he hesitated, looking at the way Λ touched his hair. “What… was your theory?”

Orpheus didn’t know what he expected, but he was fairly convinced that Λ wasn’t going to take him up on his offer. They’d been cold and probably close to dying, and huddling together had been the only way either of them could think of to stay warm. They hadn’t really been thinking, after all. They hadn’t really been able to, with the snow and the frostbite, and the overwhelming chill that had settled into their bones. Did Orpheus expect Λ to take him up on the offer of being close? No, he realized, as Λ rested part of his weight on him, he hadn’t expected this. But it wasn’t unwelcome. It was a reminder that – for now – his friend was alive.
Tentatively, he lifted his arm to wrap it around Λ’s shoulders, feeling the slight trembling that ran through his friend’s body. His grip was light enough that Λ could escape easily if he wanted to, but firm enough to hopefully provide some semblance of comfort.
He let his arm drop a few moments later, a half-smile appearing on his face at the sight of Λ wearing the bandana. “It doesn’t look like you at all,” he murmured softly, shaking his head, “And I’m not the person you want to ask about fashion statements, but… it looks nice.” Now you have to stay alive long enough to give it back when you don’t have to be disguised anymore, he thought to himself, but he didn’t dare say it out loud, for fear of either jinxing it or burdening Λ with more pressure than he needed to.
He frowned a little, attention moving back up towards his friend’s hair. He had been avoiding looking at it for the most part, because it just… well, it wasn’t Λ. He supposed that was the point of the disguise, but still. It made the danger his friend was in seem even more real.
“Oh,” he murmured softly, coming a little closer. “Well… I guess, your cognitive abilities might’ve been coming back because you were warming up, but… I can try it again anyway if you want, even with the shorter hair.”

Asami | smol room | ®Hawkpath® strider Cloverleaf |

Asami pulled back as both Will and L reacted strongly to her movement, confused as her lack of hostility failed to have an effect on them.

"I am...." she began, searching for the correct phrasing. "Cu....rious. To learn. There are many things I do not know." She moved her eyestalk forward a little again, cautiously this time as an idea occurred to her. "Trade. There is a concept that is 'trade'. Perhaps it would be effective to 'trade' information?"

Her other eyestalk watched Victoria, fascinated. "I see. You are different from other dogs. You do not feel the need to kill." She lowered herself further, her wide green eye staring into Victoria's brown one as she processed this information.

"We are the same," she said at last, her tone a little quieter now. "My species has a drive to kill. I am an irregularity as well."

Although explosives were far from Nico’s favorite type of weaponry (a good old-fashioned sword would usually do just fine, thank you), it was fascinating to listen to Hook explain how they worked. He couldn’t help but consider the irony of the two of them bonding over weapons when the very cause of any tension between them was… well, weaponry. So long as Hook’s hook could be considered a weapon. Considering it had killed Nico twice, Nico was more than willing to count it as one.
“How do you aim them?” he asked, running a finger along one of the cannons. They were impressive – it was obvious why they needed an entire crew to operate one, though the reckless part of Nico’s mind was practically begging to try one out on his own. There was no way Hook would allow that, though. Normally, Nico would have shrugged off any authority Hook claimed to have, but the fact remained that Nico would have no idea how to do it if he didn’t have both Hook’s blessing to and explicit instructions that were slightly more detailed than what he had just been given.
He looked inside the back of one of the cannons, trying to see what Hook was talking about. There were more steps than he had realized, though he remembered seeing diagrams of cannons when he was younger in the books he read. He had been under the impression that it was as simple as putting the cannon in and lighting things on fire. It made sense that it functioned similarly to guns, however.
“Just like the House to throw us somewhere cool where we can’t actually do anything,” he grumbled, crossing his arms. The cannons were cool. The crow’s nest was cool. The ship in general was cool. But two of them weren’t enough to actually make the ship do anything.
“Wait,” he murmured after a moment, eyes wide. “Do ships like this actually have a plank or is that just in stories?”

Hook - strider
Hook leaned back on his heels with a content smirk, his arms crossed over his chest - somewhat awkwardly to attest for the sharp pokey thing at the end of one of them. “Well that bits’ the bitch of it - simple as it seems. ‘Takes knowing yer ship, yer gun, and the wind to get it right; but, uh, ‘scary end gets pointed out there...in simple terms.” He nodded a bit towards the port the gun was tied down in front of. “Go on, roll it up there,” he prompted afterwards, the challenging grin on his face a clear sign he was setting the demigod up for failure.
He raised his chin a bit every time Nico got close to anything, keeping a careful eye he didn’t manage to find anything explosive in the seemingly clean space. With the number of devastating things that could happen as a result of malfunctions in this deck, he was putting a lot of faith in the maintenance of a crew he’d never seen before. His paranoia ebbed as he scoffed at Nico’s words. “The ship’s impressive enough on her own, I don’t need the house on my [oops] tryin’ to keep us busy. I do this for a living.” He raised his eyebrow at the next question, responding with a prolonged silence. “How do you mean?”

Will was grateful that Victoria seemed to be coming closer. He liked dogs, they were good at protection, and the feeling of plunging his hand into the wolf’s fur was incredibly grounding. As long as she was here, and as long as he stayed in front of L, they were going to be okay. They had to be, even if the monster’s eye stalks kept coming far too close for comfort.
“Trade?” he replied, curiosity seeping into his tone. “Well… if you want to trade, let’s start with a promise that you won’t hurt us.” His words sounded stronger than he felt – was this what bravery actually was? Being scared out of your mind but trying to get out of the situation anyway? All Will was thinking about was protecting the boy behind, and hopefully saving himself, too. “I’ll answer your questions if you don’t hurt us. And if you tell us what you are.” Hopefully that was a decent enough start – though he had no way of knowing that L was trying to plan some sort of escape.

Joey | Lodge - outside | Rain |

Joey chuckled, for obvious reasons and ones that only he would know. He watched as the warm breath formed a cloud of fog around him. Deviating from a snide remark, the young man decides to get off the wall and greet Matt with an indifferent shrug, "Place can't be better than what I've got home but can't say I've seen this lodge." It's been a while, evident by the sheer surprise displayed by the other.
"Right, yeah," He shook his head. "Wouldn't want you to turn into a walking popsicle." A slight tease left him as he approached the decorated entrance of the holiday lodge - a mistletoe dangling above the seasonal wrath.

“I’m not a witch!” Zuko replied, allowing a bit of his annoyance into his tone. “Witches aren’t even real, they’re just kids stories!” He supposed it was possible that the spirit world had witches, but why would they exist here and not in the real, actual world? It didn’t make sense.
He sighed, glancing back at the girl the kid had tried to attack, then forced himself to relax. It didn’t seem like the kid was going to attack anymore, at least. If he did… Zuko would be ready. Probably. Hopefully.
“This is the Spirit World. Best I can tell, at least. There’s nowhere else it could be.” He let his gaze drift over Sasha for a long moment. “Where are you from, anyway?”

"No," said Myrnin. There was a hint of mischief in his eyes. "But what would you do if I did so anyway, huh?"
He had no intention of ever changing Vincent, but he made no impression of that. Instead, it seemed like an actual question, with the possibility of an actual ... threat? ... promise? hypothetical probability? 
Myrnin might admit that this might just be because of his worry surrounding other things which had already happened within the House. He hadn't taken new vampires before in centuries - for good reason - and to have two in the space of just a year or less? It was unusual for him. He didn't like how ... clingy ... he was getting with his friends in the Paradox House. Like he was scared he'd lose them.
Or lose himself.
"It wouldn't be hard, now would it," he said dismissively. "Everyone's blinked out. Could very easily."

Myrnin - ~∂єѕтιиу

L | Living Room | strider

Hiding the injury didn’t make it go away, and L had seen enough to know it must hurt.
“There are more nerves located in your hands and fingers than in most other places of the body,” he informed Orpheus, his tone worried. “That means you’re in pain. Don’t hide that from me.” He meant it. Even though he was still trembling, even though he dreaded the moment he blinked back, he didn’t want Orpheus hiding his own problems. If he didn’t want to admit even to this small pain, then what if something large happened? What if he found himself in a similar position to what L was in now, and he was alone because he hadn’t mentioned it? This worry...L wasn’t used to it. He was often worried about people, naturally, and he cared who lived and who died on his cases of course, but he wasn’t used to being this concerned about one person specifically. It was an uncomfortable feeling. He decided he didn’t like it.
He did of course see through Orpheus’ lie. He frowned, fixing his friend with a stare through narrowed eyes, but he didn’t actually call him out on it. He would, if Orpheus continued to say things similar to that, but for now he let it go.
Instead, he watched Orpheus open the jar, and a small, pleased smile touched his features, the rest of the panic fading from his eyes. He wasn’t safe, not by a long shot, but he was in the House and for now, at least, he had time to breathe. To think. To plan his next move, or, as the case may be, to just breathe.
“I will.” He told him. “Whenever I see him again. It may be a while. I can’t communicate with him at the moment, without drawing unwanted attention. I need to find a way to do that, as soon as I find somewhere safe to stay.
He still didn’t want to risk going to anyone. He couldn’t trust them….he couldn’t trust anyone, really. Especially now.
He could feel how gentle Orpheus was being with his hair, and he stayed still, almost closing his eyes before he thought better of that idea. “Yes.” He confirmed, and some of his happiness at the discovery leaked into his voice. “There aren’t many things that do, but this does. I can tell, even with the shorter hair.”
He hated it too. But it was still a lot better than being dead.

“It hurts,” Orpheus admitted quietly, meeting Λ’s gaze. “I’ve been lucky enough to avoid pain for most of my life, with the exceptions of the skinned knees of childhood. I’m not used to pushing myself like this.” The truth. His tone, however, lacked much of the malice others would have held in the same situation. Orpheus didn’t blame the people he was with for his situation, he just blamed the circumstances. If they didn’t need to keep time, they wouldn’t need him to keep playing. Perhaps it was unfortunate that he could think in circles trying to think the best of people. He and Λ were very different in that way. Orpheus did everything in his power to think the best of people, while the only reason Λ had survived for as long as he had was because he thought the worst. In a way, they were both wrong. There was a middle ground. There were very few people who acted solely on malicious intent, and probably even fewer who were benevolent all the time. Orpheus was more likely to fall into a trap, but Λ was more likely to miss out on someone being kind for the sake of being kind. Neither seemed a great way to live.
“Understood,” Orpheus murmured, still looking at his fingertips. They still hurt a little bit, but whatever it was Λ had given him, it had decreased the pain by a considerable amount. Orpheus couldn’t help but hope it blinked back with him. He knew he wouldn’t need to play quite so much as soon as they hit smooth waters, but for now… he was going to need as much relief as he could get.
Orpheus could tell that Λ had relaxed at least a little bit. It was a relief to hear something like happiness in his voice, even if Orpheus didn’t quite understand the cause of it. If playing with his hair could turn Λ from a panicked, shaking mess into someone who actually sounded happy… Orpheus was willing to do it whenever Λ asked for it. And perhaps sometimes when his friend hadn’t yet thought to ask for it, but probably needed it anyway.
He wanted to ask how it worked that something could increase Λ’s cognitive, abilities, but he figured either he wouldn’t understand the answer, or Λ wouldn’t have a particularly clear one. Instead he kept playing with his friend’s hair, always keeping an eye on his expression.
“I hate to ask it,” he murmured after a long moment, “but does that mean this could help you, even marginally, to come up with a plan for what you do when you blink back?”

Orpheus saw his treatment on board very differently than Λ did. He didn’t think what they were doing was malicious, just… well, self-serving was a good word for it. If Orpheus kept playing, it was easier for all of the men to keep time. That was, after all, the reason most people sung sea shanties. Orpheus just happened to be much better at rhythm than anyone else on board. It was the obvious choice for him to set the rowing rhythm, and to keep it so none of the men got off beat. He understood the task they asked him to complete. That didn’t, however, mean he enjoyed it. Quietly, he pocketed the salve.
“Thank you,” he murmured softly, unsure whether he’d said it directly to Λ yet. He gave a tiny smile. “You really didn’t have to think of me when you had your own problems to worry about. You’re… you’re a really good friend, Λ.” Not that Orpheus had much of a frame of reference, but he believed the words with his entire being. Λ was, as far as friends went, the best Orpheus could imagine. He had been kind enough to take notice of Orpheus’ pain and do something about it when there was absolutely nothing compelling him to do so.
Orpheus would learn, as time went on, how much Λ seemed to place others over himself. It was subtle, but he was already starting to catch onto it. Λ had been worried about others instead of himself when he’d been the one to die in that one room Orpheus had been forced to watch. Λ had immediately noticed that Orpheus had taken his shirt off to help warm his friend’s feet when all that really should have been at the forefront of either of their minds was getting warm. Λ had taken the time to grab something to ease Orpheus’ pain when he could have spent those extra two seconds running. It wasn’t a lot of time, but Orpheus knew that any time at all was important in a chase. Not that he’d personally experienced it, but he was learning quickly onboard the Argo.
“Is there a way for you to find that out without exposing yourself?” Orpheus asked, lightly detangling a small strand of Λ’s hair. He wasn’t a detective. He didn’t know how to find out things like that. But the least he could do was offer questions and suggestions in the hopes that maybe, at some point, he mention something Λ hadn’t thought about that might help. If that didn’t work… well, as long as playing with Λ’s hair helped, Orpheus was satisfied. It was something small, but it was something he could do. Much better than sitting around and waiting to see if his friend even survived the night.

Julius ~ In the Lodge ~ strider

“They’re hot and f---ing humid as hell,” Julius said casually. Putting on clothes after a bath was a bigger and more annoying battle than avoiding the murderous apes that lived in the trees. Despite his complaints, it was home to Julius and he was quite content living in the forests for the most part. He wasn’t near the mountains, so he never had to worry about frost or snow. "The least the House can do is give us a bloody jacket."

Julius snorted, the closest to sailing he had ever been was riding a cruise ship. The constant movement of the ship had made him nauseous and staring at the waves had bored him. “Out sailing? I can’t imagine enjoying that.” It was definitely not for him. He’d rather be lost in the forest than lost at sea.

“That could be something to look for if we ever find a bloody way back.” How would one even access the outside of the living room? The only door was to the hallway, and that was clearly endless. Maybe it wasn’t so endless, but he wasn’t sure if he would be willing to walk several hours in the hallway. He assumed there wouldn’t be a hidden door under the couch or behind the shelves, surely another blinker would have checked by now. “Unless it simply chooses to blink us outside like right now, apparently.”

He tensed his shoulders as he followed Orpheus into the lodge. He half expected to see a run-down seemingly abandoned interior with a group of others waiting to attack him. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the lodge looked quite the opposite. Still, Julius kept his guard up in case the nice interior was part of the trap.

“I see you weren’t lying about the warmth.” He quickly rubbed his hands together while his tail unwrapped itself from his torso and stretched out. “...What's with the decorations? Did the House do that on its own?” He lifted his brow slightly, “...reminds me of Nadividad.” The similarities freaked him out a little. The similar colours and a tree being decorated with lights and ornaments were the most notable. The fact that the lodge looked nice compared to the usual living room was the most jarring.