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

“Ha,” Zuko deadpanned, glancing at Ronan for just a moment before shrugging and brushing past Ronan to swing the door open. He wasn’t sure what to expect – the House’s rooms defied expectation. He was on edge, though, waiting for something bad to happen until the room proved it was harmless. That, fortunately or unfortunately, didn’t happen.
Zuko took a few more steps forward, eyes narrowing as they settled on gray walls and floors, the room marking itself as entirely indistinguishable from any other room Zuko had ever entered. It seemed to be made of metal, though, which at least meant he couldn’t set it n fire like he had the living room that one time. A bit of color blossomed on his cheeks at the memory, and he looked away again to make sure Ronan didn’t notice.
“Something’s gonna happen,” he muttered, glancing at Ronan. Best he could tell, the other boy knew how to fight. Good. They would probably need it.
A large creaking noise started up and a section of the room started opening up almost like a garage – not that Zuko had any concept of what a garage was. His swords were out in less than a second, his heart pounding as he held them out in front of him in preparation of a fight. It wasn’t a moment too soon, as a group of 5 people appeared from the now open part of the room. Two of them were armed, the other three merely cracking their knuckles as they approached.
“Think we can take them?” Zuko asked, eyes flashing over to Ronan.

Zuko glanced over, a small smile crossing his features as he noticed Ronan’s stance. Good. At least he’d been in a fight before. He was still alive, which also probably meant he’d won a fight before. This was different from an Agni Kai. This was different from most of the fights that Zuko had been part of. But fights like these – small group against small group, being outnumbered – that was what Zuko needed practice with. It was also a good way to work off some of the pent-up anger he felt about his situation.
Zuko attacked first, not wanting to let their opponents get the jump on him. He ran forward, blades out to the side as he slashed at the legs of two of the attackers. He heard one go down, but the other dodged out of his way. He cursed under his breath, rolling out of the way as the spear the other was holding came his way. It glanced off the side of his armor. Which was… probably why two of their opponents were armed, because Zuko would be easily able to take anyone without a weapon. He turned his head, looking over to see how Ronan was doing. The man he himself had taken down was beginning to get back on his feet again, so Zuko turned his attention back to his own part of the fight.
He yelled as he lunged forward again, blades flashing as he drove them forward. It was clear he had skill with them.

Zuko winced as the person he’d originally knocked down lunged for him, the knife scraping the armor dangerously close to Zuko’s neck. He kicked out, launching himself to his feet and using his momentum to slam into the second attacker. He was breathing hard, but he figured bending probably wouldn’t help the situation. Well… it would, but the fight would be over sooner and that wasn’t exactly what Zuko wanted. He didn’t want to die, of course, and since Ronan was more outnumbered than he was he wanted to be able to help if it came to it, but… he was enjoying the fight, enjoying getting use out of the skills he had spent hours by himself honing. He may not have been as good as Azula, but he worked at least twice as hard. He’d earned these skills through sweat and blood.
He grunted as the person hit the ground, pointing his swords at the man’s neck. He squirmed under him, eyes wide, but Zuko brought his fist down on the man’s head, effectively knocking him out. This was the House, but that didn’t mean he wanted to kill his opponents. They hadn’t technically done anything wrong, other than attack them. Zuko had never killed anyone, and he didn’t plan to any time in the near future.
That just left the second opponent, the one with the knife. The dual swords wouldn’t help him much if the attacker got too close, so Zuko would have to keep him at a distance. He waited for just a moment to see what they would do before he launched his own attack, not expecting the person to duck under and stab at his leg. He cried out, eyes narrowing as he quickly and efficiently slammed the hilt of one of the swords into the man’s gut.

L | Pit Fight | strider

“Mm.” L mused, considering for a long moment.
“I was mistaken.” He added, sounding a bit surprised by the fact. “I have met a hero before. I didn’t realize it, because there aren’t any monsters I know of in my world. But I definitely have.”
He hadn’t been thinking of what all heroes could be. But he was certain now that Watari counted as one.
“Yes,” he added, nodding thoughtfully. “I imagine it would be difficult for them to switch back and forth quickly, for that reason. I can’t quite picture them being able to jump from one to the other.”
He knew Orpheus wouldn’t start any fights, and he would likely hesitate even to use what he learned here, but it was better to have the information either way, especially since you could teach your body to react for you. If Orpheus ever blocked a punch, even accidentally, L would consider this time well spent. Even if he never had to use it (which would be preferable) this would not be a waste of time for L. Better safe than sorry.
He nodded a little, slightly surprised that Orpheus hadn’t already considered that they might attack him. That was the first thing L thought when he saw someone. He calculated the chances of being killed by someone before he learned their name.
It wasn’t how Orpheus did things, clearly, but it was effective for staying alive.
He straightened a little, not all the way of course but enough that he wasn’t in a fighting stance anymore. He moved forward, considering the stance, which was clearly not something Orpheus had ever tried before.
“Not quite,” he said, and reached forward, giving Orpheus a very gentle push. Not to knock him over, just so he could see how easy it would be for someone else to. “Widen the distance between your feet, you’re unbalanced. Being knocked down is very dangerous in a fight, especially when you’re outnumbered, which you likely would be.

Ronan | Punch your problems away!!! | strider

If Ronan had had time to look, he would have told Zuko that that was a very bad idea, taking the knife out. But he was a little busy trying not to die, so he didn’t see until he heard his name.
He grit his teeth, his immediate thought that Zuko was calling for help, which he couldn’t give very easily at the moment. He looked anyway, just in time to see the knife slide towards him.
If he’d been a little salty about the swords, it was gone now. And he hadn’t, actually. He didn’t know how to sword fight, and he had to admit Zuko looked pretty awesome doing it with two.
He grabbed the knife, turning back to the two attackers, both of whom were now approaching. His style shifted a little now that he was armed with more than his fists, and he narrowed his eyes, looking between the two of them quickly. Two against one wasn’t ideal, but he was pretty sure it was a whole lot better than three against one.
He attacked, slicing at one of their arms and then ducking under a punch from the other and shoving them, kicking at their knees as he went. He dodged and slammed his full weight into the first one to try and knock them down, then turned, fierce eyes widening a little as he saw the punch come at him.
Then Zuko came out of nowhere and slammed into them, and Ronan turned and focused on the one he’d slammed into instead, aiming a hard left hook at their side.
He didn’t have time to think about more than the fight he was in. He weaved, taking a hit to the shoulder so he could get close enough to do a couple punches to the stomach, then dancing backwards again, moving fast. He was going to have a hell of a lot of bruises later, but it was worth it.

Ronan | Local teens bond over chaos | strider

Ronan planned to hold onto the knife, as long as he could. Not that he needed it in his everyday life, and it wouldn’t be there when he was asleep, but he still would rather not lose his only weapon, especially not in the House. This room was evidence enough of that.
He knew nothing about Zuko, but...maybe not nothing, actually. He knew Zuko was a fighter, and a pretty goddamn good one, too. Ronan was impressed, though he wouldn’t just...admit that.
He faced the one attacker he now had to worry about, ignoring the growl he heard from Zuko. It didn’t sound like he was dying! So it was probably fine.
He ducked under a punch and attacked, his opponent dodging to the side and trying to knee him. It connected and Ronan gasped, pain flooding his vision for a split second. He didn’t go down and as they attacked he lunged at him, knocking them both to the ground and punching him in the nose, breaking it.
The person hooked his foot and rolled before Ronan could answer the question and the teenager hit the ground, then hissed as he took a hit to the jaw.
He met the person’s eyes, his blue ones narrowed and fierce.
“It’s going great,” he hissed, and rammed his head forward, making contact with the person’s broken nose.
They howled and let go and Ronan rolled, landing on top and slamming the handle of his knife into the side of their head, knocking them out cold. He got up slowly, blood sprayed across his face, and turned to face Zuko.
And grinned.
“Need a hand?”

Zuko heard the gasp, but he didn’t have time enough to turn around to see if Ronan was alright. He was a pretty good fighter, he’d be able to hold his own. And if he couldn’t, then Zuko would be done soon enough to help him. It was hard to tell if the grunts were from Ronan or the people he was fighting. Zuko had to hope it was the latter. He dodged a strike from the person he had pinned, bringing his fist down hard enough to knock the person out. He was breathing hard as he pulled back.
“No,” he gasped, eyes narrowing as he picked himself back up. The word would have been hard to almost anyone else, but he already had a lot of respect for Ronan. From how Ronan was looking at him, he had a feeling that the impression was mutual. Ronan wasn’t patronizing him. This was just… how he interacted with the world. Zuko could respect that.
He breathed out, testing his weight on his injured leg. He hadn’t let it bother him for the duration of the fight, but it hurt now. Oh well. He grimaced, turning to look at Ronan.
“You have something on your face,” he pointed out, brows raising as he noticed that a door had appeared. He didn’t look at Ronan for more than a moment before he moved towards it, pretending like he wasn’t limping. He should think about bringing bandages with him. Iroh would probably appreciate the preparation, though it wasn’t for the reasons he thought. He opened the door, holding it open just long enough for Ronan to take it from him before it closed.

Orpheus may not have known who L was talking about, but he found that he was grateful that L had a hero in his world. Perhaps his hero was better than the heroes Orpheus himself knew. Orpheus wasn’t actually sure that the people he knew deserved the term. Sure, they had done great deeds, had slain great monsters, but they weren’t good people. They didn’t care about helping people, didn’t care about anything more than boosting their own reputation and finding the next challenge. Cynically, he thought his heroes didn’t sound all that different from L’s criminals. He kept that thought to himself. ‘Hero’ didn’t seem like a term L would apply to anyone unless they actually deserved it.
He almost fell as L pushed him, though the push hadn’t been very hard. He just… hadn’t been expecting it, and he wasn’t trying very hard to keep his balance. He blushed a little bit as he got back in position, trying to do as L had instructed. Feet further apart, though they were still pointing different directions. He looked up at L, wondering if he was doing it right this time. He at least felt a little bit more stable.
“Wait,” he murmured, very quickly moving out of fight position before L pushed him again. He set his guitar off to the side, making sure it was safe before he turned back to face L. “Sorry,” he added after a moment, “I don’t want to fall on it,” he explained, then got back into position. It still felt awkward and unnatural, but he did his best to stay steady. He looked up at L, giving a tiny smile.
“I’m ready now,” he added, rocking a little bit on his feet. “I… will probably be slightly more difficult to knock over now.” There was a little bit of hesitation in his voice, like he wasn’t quite certain.

Zuko gave a small smirk, raising a hand and letting a small flame burn to life in his palm.
“I’m from the Fire Nation. You didn’t guess?” his brows raised as he said it, but he very obviously didn’t actually mind that Ronan hadn’t expected. Of everyone Zuko had ever met in the House, he was the only firebender. He was used to people not knowing, thinking of what he could do as strange and unusual. He was the best firebender in the House. He was also the only firebender in the House. That suited him just fine, especially since Ronan seemed at least a little bit impressed. That was a small mark of pride.
His expression fell just a little bit as Ronan noticed the blood on the knife. It was fine – the cut wasn’t terribly deep, it was just… painful. He sighed, grateful that Ronan hadn’t made him stop to pay attention to it. He could do that when he got back home.
Ronan seemed a lot more used to swearing than Zuko was. Zuko had grown up somewhere where swearing was punishable. After three years on a ship, however, he’d begun to loosen up. He still didn’t swear much, and certainly not as often as Ronan. At least he wasn’t offended by the vulgar language anymore.
“Oh,” Zuko murmured as they stepped into the other room. It was… nice. And although Ronan was still bruised, at least he wasn’t covered in blood anymore. It seemed his own wound had stopped bleeding, he realized, the stain gone from his pant leg. It still hurt.
There was a small lake a little bit further in, and Zuko’s eyes widened as he recognized something floating on it. Without thinking, he grabbed Ronan’s wrist and pulled him forward towards it.

“My name isn’t Fire,” Zuko replied, crossing his arms, “That would be stupid. Best I could assume about you is you have a girlfriend named Henrietta or something.” He gave a small smile not quite as sharp as Ronan’s, but not particularly gentle, either. He liked Ronan, too. His humor was biting, his smile was sharp, and he was more like Zuko than most other teenagers Zuko had met in his life. He wasn’t as smooth and polished as Azula, not as bubbly as Ty Lee, and not as… well not as depressing as Mai. Not that Zuko knew that many people his age. Still… Ronan seemed like someone he would be able to get along with. They had already started to get along.
Not that he would admit that to him. He didn’t know Ronan very well, they hadn’t spoken for more than a couple minutes. He wasn’t going to just… trust him like they were chums.
He hoped Ronan didn’t mind being dragged to the pond. He hadn’t actually thought before he’d grabbed Ronan’s arm, but he wasn’t going to let it go now.
“Turtle ducklings,” he said after a moment, pointing at the pond. The small creatures were swimming, droplets of water visible on their thick, fluffy feathers. “I haven’t seen one in three years,” he added, his voice almost soft. He let go of Ronan’s hand, crouching down onto the bank of the lake. He watched the ducks as they swam, their little wings flapping underneath their shells. One of them ducked down underneath the water, appearing back at the surface a few moments later and shaking itself free of the water.
“Does your world have these?” He got the sense most worlds didn’t, which was a shame.

Zuko tensed just a little bit, though he should have expected his own joke to be turned on him. He let a smile slip onto his features, trying to hide the fact that he was a little bit rattled. Yep. A girlfriend. Definitely. That was… something he wanted. Yep. He, Prince Zuko, wanting to date a girl. Have a girlfriend.
“I already told you fire would be a stupid name,” he retorted, rolling his own eyes. He turned his face away just enough to hide the blush that was creeping up his cheeks.
In Zuko’s world’s defense, they didn’t have turtles or ducks. Turtle duck was, in comparison, a creative name. Zuko wasn’t looking at Ronan. He had eased himself into a crouch, very gently holding a hand out over the water. A particularly brave turtle duckling swam closer, its shell brushing up against his fingers. His expression softened, any hint of the angry, harsh boy he’d been just moments before.
“Hi,” he whispered to the turtle duck, which had started to try to climb out of the water onto his hand. Its feathers tickled a little bit, but he stayed still, determined to not scare it off. He remembered all too well what it had felt like to feed them like Azula did. Shame burned in his chest, but he did his best to push it away.
“We don’t have turtles or ducks,” Zuko informed Ronan after a long moment, very gently lifting the small animal out of the water. He hadn’t looked back at Ronan, instead focusing on the surprised but seemingly not displeased turtle duckling. It shook itself out, tilting its head as it looked at both Ronan and Zuko.

“Your words, not mine.” After that, Zuko decided to let the subject drop. It was uncomfortable, though he didn’t know that was the case for both of them. He assumed it was just him. Either way, it seemed that Ronan was just as ready to drop it as Zuko was. No more talking about girls.
Zuko didn’t notice Ronan’s discomfort. He didn’t notice the way his features softened, didn’t notice the great change that had come over the other boy. He knew he was letting his walls down, knew that Ronan would see him like this, but the truth was… he couldn’t bring himself to care. Ronan had seen how well he fought, he likely knew that if he wanted to question Zuko about this, he’d get dual swords to the face.
Very carefully, he raised his other hand up, very gently stroking the feathers at the side of the creature’s face. It made a small, frightened sound and backed up a step, shrinking just a bit into its shell. It quickly overcame its fear as Zuko made no move to hurt it, and came back towards Zuko’s finger, letting him pet it.
“What does the rest of a turtle look like?” he asked quietly, gaze finally flitting up to meet Ronan’s. “And what do ducks do when they get scared?” He wasn’t sure he understood the animals in Ronan’s world, though he had heard of ducks and turtles as separate things before. They’d just… never been described to him.
“You can touch it, if you want,” he added after a moment, very gently moving his hand towards Ronan. “Just… be careful.” He didn’t know why, but he got the sense that Ronan wasn’t going to hurt it.

Matt | living room aka HE'S BACK BABEYYYYY | ®Hawkpath® Lark strider |

"Okay, and I'm telling you that if I call him back and tell him that, he's just gonna tell me to call you back, and my Legend of Zelda stream is gonna start in like 20 minutes, so we gotta come up with something better than that."

Matt was pacing, one hand held out from his body as he listened to whoever he'd had on speaker moments before. He stopped after a moment, staring at his hand as he slowly opened and closed his fist, registering that there was now not a phone in it.

He looked up, his whole face lighting up as he realized where he was. Happily, he flopped down on the couch and spread out his arms, enjoying the familiar sounds and smells of the place he hadn't visited in several months.

"Nice save, House," he said, giving the walls a thumbs up as he settled into the soft couch.

Matt | Living room | ®Hawkpath® Lark strider |

"Hi," said Matt, drawing his knees up on the couch and draping his arms over them as he leaned forward a little, considering her. How old was she, like twelve? He hadn't seen her before, which wasn't surprising, considering his extended vacation from this place. There were probably a ton of new blinkers.

"Whatcha trying to do?" he asked casually, still watching her. "Cause it looks like you're trying to take a nap, and you can totally still do that here. These couches are great."