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

Nico didn’t know that Kelsier wanted to destroy the House. If he had… well, the House had saved his life countless times. It was the only place he had friends, the only place people weren’t scared of him… he didn’t know what the difference was. It wasn’t like he was more friendly in the House than he was in his world, it was just that… well, people hadn’t heard stories about him. They didn’t know who his dad was, couldn’t judge him for that. He didn’t need to stay as separate as he did in his world, because he wasn’t the only one with such a strong connection to death. He wasn’t the only one who had lost a lot. There were people in the House who cared. How could he lose that? How could he go on knowing that the only people he trusted and loved existed in places he could never get to?
“Maybe?” Nico repeated, brows raising. He was admittedly a little bit surprised that was all Kelsier had to say. Maybe he was trying to trick him into falling asleep again. It wouldn’t work… he stifled another yawn.
He couldn’t deny that he hadn’t had any nightmares when he had fallen asleep on Kelsier. Would they stay away if it happened again…?
“Swear to the gods, Kelsier,” he mumbled, forcing his eyes to stay open, “If I fall asleep here I’ll burn to a crisp. Bet you don’t even need sunscreen in Luthadel.”

Kaladin’s calm reaction was more a reflection of who he was than it was a reflection of his world. Things like this didn’t just… happen. But he was a soldier, he had his own team, he needed to stay levelheaded and find his way back to them. He had paid off one of the other squad leaders to make sure he got the kid on his squad. He could protect him that way, make sure he didn’t get killed in the melee. He was going to get back to protect that kid no matter what.
“Who said I believed it’s real?” He responded mildly, though he didn’t actually doubt his senses that much. “Although, I think I would have noticed if I had started going mad before now.”
He turned his gaze back towards the fight. One of the two was certainly more skilled than the other. He couldn’t help the small smirk that appeared when he noticed the one losing was a lighteyes.
“So the House… creates things?” He didn’t know if he had gotten that straight, because it certainly didn’t make sense. It sounded like something that people would tell in the stories of the Knights Radiant.
“Kaladin,” he added after a moment, holding his hand out to shake. He kept his back straight, remaining every bit the soldier. “Pleasure to meet you, Hector,” he added as an aftermath, his father’s voice berating him from the back of his head.

Sherlock | Pit Room | mintedstar/fur

Sherlock stepped to the side, trying to keep some distance between him and Percival as best he could which wasn’t much. He wanted to win, to some extent, but he mostly just didn’t want to look stupid, if he were being completely honest. Which he definitely wasn’t.
He hopped backwards as the vampire went for his legs again, then cried out as the blow connected with his face, his eyes widening a little as he felt his nose.
That hurt.
He coughed a little, then turned, aiming two quick jabs at Percival’s shoulder before trying to shove him away, annoyance growing as he did. He hadn’t even wanted this in the first place...

Kelsier | Beach Room | strider

If Kelsier had known Nico felt so strongly against destroying the House, would he have changed his mind? He didn’t know. He didn’t know how Nico felt, couldn’t know how he wanted the House to stay as it was. He didn’t know what it meant to him, but maybe he should have. Maybe he should have figured it out, because Nico had been here much longer than he had and Nico had been through more even than Kel had. So Kelsier should have thought of it. But he didn’t. And so he couldn’t make that decision.
Yet another thing they needed to talk about.
Truthfully...Kelsier didn’t want to lose this place. He hated it, or he thought he did, but his memories were for from all bad. He’d seen things here. Met people here. Mer Nico here.
Kelsier was, in fact, attempting to make Nico fall asleep again. Or at least giving him the opportunity to do it. He would much rather Nico get some rest in a relatively safe room than no rest at all.
“Sunscreen?” He was distracted from his attempt by the unfamiliar word. He looked down at Nico, questions burning inside of him, but he didn’t ask. Nico seemed tired enough to fall asleep again…
“Maybe this isn’t normal sunlight,” he suggested quietly, smiling. He didn’t tell Nico he planned to carry him into the shade as soon as he was asleep. Moving him now would probably just disturb him….

| Hector | PIT FIGHT | Spectating |

"Fair enough. See what you think on the second blink before you decide on an explanation." Hector answered. "Yes, it makes up rooms like this, and chooses people to be in them. I've been in 'rooms' that just look like you're outside, so it comes up with varied things."

Hector clasped Kaladin's hand, accepting his greeting in a friendly manner, though he didn't shake Kaladin's hand up and down like he might have expected before letting go. He was more relaxed than Kaladin was, not holding his posture tense and formal. Sure, he was a prince, but not here, not now. He just just some guy at a fight ring. In a way it was nice to just be with the other blinkers in a crowd like this.

The sound of a hit connecting drew Hector's gaze back to the fight. The air felt tenser now, as the the fight escalated. He let out an oof of sympathy as Sherlock cried out.

"No shame in stepping out- we all saw him pull you in when you weren't looking for a fight." Hector called into the ring, wanting to give Sherlock an out before things escalated into truly dangerous blows.

“I’ll do that,” Kaladin replied, a small smile resting on his features. “Although I’m slightly more concerned about how to get back to my world than I am about figuring out whether or not this place is real.” He shrugged a little bit, then turned his full attention over to the fight.
If Kaladin knew he was talking to a prince… well, his demeanor would have changed. He still believed that authority could be honorable, he believed that there were men who deserved the positions of power that they held. If he were to find out that Hector were a prince now, he would have been surprised, but not hostile. Hector would have won his respect, in fact, for not mentioning that he was royalty.
His eyes widened a little in surprise at how informally Hector spoke to the lighteyes. Perhaps things were different here.
“This fighting pit… nobody seems to mind if darkeyes fight,” he commented, a bit uncertain. Dueling was reserved for lighteyes, in his world. It was an honorable profession, one that people like Kaladin could never have. Not that he minded – he’d always wanted to be a soldier. Until he’d wanted to be a surgeon, but… he pressed his lips together again. No use dwelling over what could have been.

“Sunscreen,” Nico repeated, sounding at least a little bit pleased that he’d guessed right that people in Scadrial didn’t need it. “The ash probably makes your sun less dangerous,” he mused softly, closing his eyes as he continued to lean back on Kelsier. “In my world, the sun can burn you, so you put on this… this icky lotion, and it has a bad smell and a bad texture, but it stops you from getting burned. I didn’t need it much when I was in Italy… I was already tan, and people didn’t know the sun could still hurt you even if you tanned instead of burned…” he trailed off, realizing he was rambling. He was definitely sleepy, normally he would have been able to filter himself a little bit better. “I dunno if I’d burn or tan now, but I’m… paler than I’ve ever been.” He didn’t know Kelsier had seen him with his skin a healthy color.
“I’d rather not, though,” he added shifting just a little bit so he could meet Kelsier’s gaze. “If I fall asleep here and I get burned, it’s your fault, you know that?” That didn’t, however, stop him from resting his head back against Kelsier. The sun made it so easy to just… close his eyes and relax, melt into the warmth… it was a good thing he was with Kelsier and not an enemy.
He yawned one more time, his head lolling forward as he started to nod off.
“You better… you better make sure I don’t fall asleep,” he added numbly, though it was, perhaps, a little late for that comment. He was out fully not moments later.

Sherlock | Pit Room | all

Sherlock got to his feet a second later, glaring after Percival.
“Hi, House,” he said, shaking his head to clear it. “Please never blink him in again. Thanks.”
He stalked out of the pit a moment later. At least the pain faded away as he left it....still. He hated that he’d lost. Stupid vampire....

Nico rolled his eyes a little at Kelsier’s complete obliviousness to money’s alternate use. Perhaps that was a side effect of being an Allomancer. Money wasn’t money so much as it was a weapon and a tool. Not for the first time, Nico was a little bit jealous of Allomancy.
He didn’t, however, have much time to comment before Sherlock went down. Good. For multiple reasons. Partially because Sherlock had lost, but mostly because it meant it was finally time for the two of them to fight. As soon as it seemed that Percival had conceded his victory, Nico launched himself into the pit, a wild smile on his face. He didn’t even wait for Sherlock to get all the way out, he just turned, pulled his jacket off, and flung it over by the audience. No use getting blood on it if he didn’t have to. He centered himself, getting balanced and assuming a fighting stance. Most of his fighting wasn’t that disciplined, but… might as well start out with good form.
He waited a few moments, watching Kelsier to make sure he was ready. This was going to be fun.

“I see,” Kaladin responded, sounding somewhat relieved, “But I’m leading my squad into battle in less than ten minutes. I really need to get back there now.” He glanced back at Hector, then frowned a little bit as Sherlock and Percival both left the fighting area.
“Nobody’s in charge?” he asked, surprised. His eyes narrowed just a little bit. “But… lighteyes, even when nobody’s supposed to be in charge… they have a tendency to feel superior.” Judging from Sherlock’s expression, he was just as uptight and self-righteous as every lighteyes Kaladin had met. So far, this place seemed pretty analogous to his world.
The jacket flew, landing at his feet, and he turned his attention back towards the pit.
“That’s a child,” he commented, eyes wide. “That’s a child.” He looked at Hector, then at the others in the room. Was nobody going to do anything? And the man that followed him… Kaladin pursed his lips. He didn’t see any possibility the kid would win. But if nobody was stepping forward… Kaladin decided he’d interfere before the kid got too hurt.

Nico began to circle as well, staying light on his feet. He had learned most of his fighting from Minos, but he’d had to adapt over the years as he applied it to real situations. And he’d been chosen to teach sword fighting at Camp Half-Blood – he wasn’t really allowed to use his powers when fighting new campers. Or any campers, for that matter. They gave him a definite edge. Circling without weapons, though… that felt strange. He remembered learning once that you shouldn’t keep your thumb tucked when you threw a punch. Right.
Attacking Kelsier straight out didn’t seem like a good idea. Kelsier would be balanced, and the best way to win against a bigger opponent was to use their momentum against them.
“What,” Nico replied, his face set and determined, “do you want me to kick your ass? Cause I will if you go easy on me.” He feinted left then moved right, a small smile on his face as he felt his speed kick up a little bit of a breeze. He swung a leg out as he passed Kelsier, aiming to kick his knee and force him to the ground. Mostly, he was testing how Kelsier would react.

| Hector | PIT FIGHT | Spectating |

Hector recognized the boy who eagerly bounded into the ring as the demigod he'd spoken with before. He wasn't surprised, honestly. The kid had been fighting his whole life, it seemed. Of course he was familiar with sparring. He wondered who Nico was planning on fighting- was he going to just offer a general challenge? Ah, someone else was following him in- the man he'd been chatting with before. It seemed that Sherlock's unfortunate fight was to be sandwiched between two friendly spars.

"It won't..." Hector paused, trying to think of how to phrase it. He ran a hand over his bearded jaw. "It won't matter. When you blink out, it'll be the same moment as when you blinked in. People won't have time to notice you were gone."

"I'm sure you'll run into someone who thinks they're in charge at some point. But I've been with different groups of people nearly every time I've been here. There's not enough consistency to form much hierarchy. Although the blinkers who have been here more times than others usually take the lead in rooms- like now, for instance. I don't mind explaining all this- someone else had to explain it to me when I first started blinking." He offered a friendly smile to Kaladin- from first impressions, he seemed like someone Hector would be friends with.

"That child can hold his own. You'll see." Hector answered, though he shared Kaladin's thoughts that he really was too young to have to be fighting. "Although, he shouldn't have to be fighting this young. But between him and the other guy? My money's on Nico."

“That’s… useful,” Kaladin commented, brow furrowing. It didn’t make very much sense to him, but he supposed that was the reason he probably should have been acting more surprised than he was. This House didn’t follow any natural rules that Kaladin knew, but perhaps that was a good thing. If it gave people the opportunity to exist outside of a hierarchy… he didn’t know that other people didn’t follow the same hierarchy the people of Roshar did. Of course… the Shin didn’t seem to differentiate between lighteyes and darkeyes, but the Shin were weird, so he didn’t actually pay much heed to what they thought. It was what the Alethi thought that mattered.
“Good to hear,” he added after a long moment, matching Hector’s smile, “and thank you for taking the time to explain it. Am I right to believe you’ve been coming here a while, then?” He didn’t yet know that the House was dangerous. He would find out soon enough. For now he was just enjoying this room. The freedom it gave people to fight whoever they wanted.
“There are plenty of children in my world who are too young to be fighting,” he replied after a moment, jaw clenching. “It still seems wrong to encourage him.” The kid couldn’t have been older than Tien. Kaladin’s eyes closed for a long moment as a hard look crossed his face. He opened them again a few moments later, one brow quirking. “You really think he can win?” He seemed surprised. Still… “I’d like to see that.” A darkeyed child against a lighteyed adult… how could he not root for the kid?

Kelsier | Beach Room | strider

“Huh. Interesting,” Kelsier considered the sun for a long moment, squinting at it as best he could before looking back at Nico. It did seem a lot stronger here...the warmth was enough to say that much. He listened to Nico talk, expression shifting to peaceful as he realized the kid was definitely about to fall asleep again. Good. If the House elected to wake him up, Kelsier really would find a way to end it for good.
He remembered meeting Nico’s smaller version, the version that had been significantly more tanned. That made sense...he wished it didn’t, but it did. Nico had been healthier back then. Naturally he hadn’t been as pale.
He met Nico’s eyes, still smiling innocently. He was pretty sure Nico was losing his battle to stay awake, now, and the Mistborn didn’t even have to do anything to help him along.
He didn’t answer. He was pretty sure Nico would try to respond if he did, and he wanted the kid to get some much-needed sleep, not get into an argument over how needed that sleep was.
“Yep,” he agreed as the boy went still, breathing evening out. “I better do that.”
He waited another long few minutes, looking at the water and making sure the boy was completely out. Then he shifted a little, leveraging his arms under Nico and lifting him so his head was resting on Kel’s chest.
He turned, looking for Zuko. Probably best to keep an eye on him. He didn’t immediately see him, though, and he didn’t know how fast Nico would burn, so he headed for shade instead keeping his movements as soft and non-jarring as he could.