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

[[ Xander || kid room || strider ®Hawkpath® Cloverleaf ]]

“Huh?” Xander turned when someone spoke behind him, a white-haired boy he’d apparently ran past. “Oh, that’s alright I can get it.” Seeing how he technically shouldn’t have had the money to begin with, it seemed a bit unfair to accept help cleaning it up. “Thanks though- Oh, you too,” he added with a slight smile as he took the coins from the boy he’d almost run into. He was glad he hadn’t upset anyone, the timing really hadn’t been too good. He was about to start picking up the rest of the coins when he noticed something that caught his attention. The puppy was… partially metal? He’d heard of people experimenting with metal prosthetics, but hadn’t actually seen any before. That couldn’t have anything to do with this place though… could it? “Cool dog,” he told Nico, figuring the puppy was probably his. “I didn’t realize you could bring animals with you when you come here.”

“Gallifrey?” Orpheus asked, eyes widening a little as he leaned forward to hear Theta’s answer. “I’ve never heard of Gallifrey, but I’ve never gone very far beyond Greece. I’ll ask Mr. Hermes about Gallifrey!” He grinned, then tilted his head a little as Theta finally gave his name.
“Nice to meet you, Theta,” he murmured, almost sticking his hand out again before remembering the other boy’s confusion. Right. They didn’t do that in Gallifrey. Which made more sense than how they did it in Greece…
He looked around, frowning a bit at Theta’s question.
“I… don’t know,” he admitted, crossing his arms. “Maybe… we’re supposed to do things with the big fluffy things over there?” he asked, pointing to the beanbags. He didn’t realize there was food – it looked so different from the food where he lived that he didn’t recognize the snack bags for what they were.

Orpheus breathed out, relieved that L hadn’t seemed to be upset about the way he’d explained the House. Then again, maybe he just didn’t seem upset because he was hiding how he felt. With L, that was always a possibility.
L hadn’t given Orpheus an exact percentage the first time he had explained the House. He had said it wasn’t even, but he’d had to think about it first. Orpheus couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he had thought it through and come up with a percentage, or if he was just making it up on the spot. Either way, it was clear that L didn’t want this man going into any rooms – he cared about him enough to try to protect him. If he cared that much… then Orpheus was going to try to do his very best to keep the man out of the rooms. Although… he couldn’t help but wonder if the man would find it suspicious that they were trying so hard to keep him out of a room.
“It’s not constant,” he told Watari carefully, glancing to L to shut him up if he said something wrong. “It would be one thing if we could predict what’s behind each door, but we can’t.”
If the man really wanted to explore, would it be possible to stop him? Orpheus wasn’t good at lying. There was no way to prove that he wasn’t, though, no way to prove that he wasn’t just trying to hide something.
“I’ve been in some dangerous ones,” he added after a few moments, looking at the ground. “I’d rather not imagine anyone else in those situations.”

Ronan | Late To The Soft Boy Party | strider

They’d made it through a room together. And Zuko seemed...he seemed okay. Cool, actually. Ronan was surprised to discover he wouldn’t mind meeting him again, after this.
He didn’t mind. He didn’t mind because this felt like his own past, too. The baby birds he’d once held. The Barns. He wasn’t willing to think about it, much. He understood Zuko’s desire to hold this close to his chest and not mention it. He could relate to the need for privacy, especially about this.
They would probably never speak of this again, and Ronan was okay with that. More than that, he strongly preferred it to the alternative.
Maybe, if they didn’t speak, if they didn’t mess this up, maybe it would be okay. He didn’t believe that. He was no optimist. But...he didn’t need to believe it. It would either happen or or wouldn’t.
He felt peaceful. A rare feeling, nowadays. He didn’t remember feeling this peaceful since…
Didn’t matter. He would become his usual self again soon enough. And so would Zuko. They made a good team, he thought, they seemed to have a natural understanding of how the other worked and the boundaries in place. Maybe, if they met again...well. Maybe Ronan wasn’t opposed to the idea.
He looked a the turtle duckling again, eyes softening. He didn’t want to leave, either. He didn’t want to let this part of him go just yet. He hesitated, then carefully copied Zuko’s movement, covering the small animal in a little cave. He figured the other boy knew what he was doing.
A glance at Zuko. He got the sense they weren’t going to break this, not unless they absolutely had to.

Watari | Living room | ®Hawkpath® strider |

Watari stayed silent while the two blinkers went on about the dangers of the House, his eyes moving between them with interest as the first one started with a lie, then threw it out for the other to catch and keep going with a look. They knew each other, then. Quite well, if they could exchange information with such silent ease. Noted.

"I see," he said at last, and although the pleasant expression didn't leave his face, something hardened behind his gray eyes, turning them to steel and creating an expression that anyone who knew him would very likely recognize as Watari digging in his heels on something. And, as anyone who knew him would likely also know, once he dug his heels in on something, it was very much a waste of time to try to convince him otherwise.

"Well, that's understandable, then," he said at last, with a polite nod to the two of them. "In that case, would you gentlemen be kind enough to give me your names before we part ways? In case our paths cross in the future, I would like to know what to call you."

Orpheus watched the man for a moment, then glanced back at L. He wasn’t terribly surprised with the outcome. He hadn’t thought Watari would be too pleased to be told he couldn’t do something, and if he was from the same world as L, things like the House couldn’t be written off as magic as easily as they could be in Orpheus’ own world. Well… they might be the same world, so… time period? He shook the thought away, glancing between L and the stranger to see what was going to happen now. He didn’t feel right leaving the new person to go into a room alone, but if L was accompanying him… wasn’t that safe enough? Did he want Orpheus there? If he didn’t, Orpheus would stay back, but…
He tensed just a little as the man addressed them, trying to shake off the small bit of discomfort that had run through him. It was a bit like an itch – annoying, but ultimately possible to ignore. Hopefully, it hadn’t been noticed. He didn’t really want to draw attention to himself when he was very clearly the outsider here.
Orpheus glanced at L, wondering distantly how he felt about the situation. It wasn’t normally easy to read his face, but there was something tighter about it now than there usually was.
“Orpheus,” he said after a moment, managing a small smile. Should he ask the man’s name in return? L already knew it, obviously, but did he want Orpheus knowing it? He wasn’t used to mind games – he was getting himself tangled up in knots trying to figure it all out.
L offered to join him. Good. They wouldn’t be alone, at least. Still… Orpheus was loathe to stay here if there was something he could do to help. There was a fine line between being of use and being a liability, and Orpheus was never sure which side of the line he’d land on when they entered a room. Thankfully, most of the dangerous ones he’d been in had involved situations he could directly help.
“It can dangerous,” he repeated softly, brow furrowing as he looked into the hall. “I’d… feel terrible letting anyone get hurt if there were something I could do, but I don’t… want to intrude if I’m not…” he trailed off, glancing at L. Welcome. Invited. Wanted. If he said any of that out loud, the man would surely catch on that there was something he didn’t know. Orpheus wasn’t sure if L wanted that, and he wasn’t used to being so limited in what he could say out loud.

Watari | Living room | ®Hawkpath® strider |

"L, Orpheus, it's a pleasure to meet you both," said Watari, his hands folded in front of him as he gave them a polite nod. "You may call me Watari."

Orpheus and L were both names which were unusual enough to make him suspect that they were aliases. Not that this was terribly unusual - even Watari, after all, was an alias - but he was curious to know why the two of them were being at the same time very secretive and very bad at hiding it. They didn't seem prepared for his arrival at all, with the panicked glances and half-spoken attempts to keep him out of the back rooms.

"I assure you that I am quite capable of fending for myself, should one of these rooms present a danger," he said to Orpheus, nodding his head. "Please do not worry, there is no need to put yourself in harm's way if you don't want to go with us." He added the 'us' fairly casually, making a note of L's decision in stride without directly addressing it.

Watari. Orpheus blinked a little bit, trying to conceal the surprise that flitted across his face. He didn’t know exactly what role Watari played in L’s life, but he knew he was important. He knew L spoke of him often. Knew he was looking for him now, as soon as it was safe to. But that meant that this version of Watari didn’t know him yet. Okay, so that was… complicated. Orpheus felt a little bit out of place. He was almost definitely the odd one out here, even if Watari didn’t know who L was. He took a deep breath out, trying to appear unconcerned. It wasn’t working.
If Watari had known how terrible Orpheus was at lying, he probably would have believed him. He didn’t know that Watari thought they were lying – he thought L was pretty convincing, and for his part, he was telling the truth.
Relief flickered across his face as L gave him permission to join. He didn’t know if he was actively welcome, but he had a feeling that L would have been a little bit more explicit if he didn’t want him to come along. Orpheus… didn’t do well with subtlety. Surely L had known him long enough now the know that? He shook the thought away, instead looking to Watari to lead the way into the hallway. He had… questions… but he wouldn’t get them answered now. He just had to trust that L was alright and knew what he was doing. And he had to hope that the House gave them a nice room.

Watari | Living room/hallway/room | ®Hawkpath® strider |

Watari watched L with mild amusement as the boy huffed his assent, making it known that although he was going along with the plan he had laid out, he wasn't happy about it. Well, if L had wanted him to give up on going into a room, he should have told a better lie about its contents. His attempt at frightening Watari out of exploring his options had been woefully transparent. Which meant one of two things - either he was quite an amateur at this whole misdirection business, or he was trying to use reverse psychology to push him into opening one of those doors. The two options presented themselves quietly in his mind, and he set them aside, content to let them be until he had more information.

He gave L a polite nod as the other indicated for him to make the first move, and walked deliberately down the hall, taking care to scan his surroundings for any hint as to where he might be. Once he reached the hallway, he paused briefly, taking in the seemingly endless rows of doors and readjusting his initial impression of how large this building was.

Well, the time had come to begin his sweep of the place. Door by door, until either he found something or the others declined to let him go any further and he was, as a result, made to change his strategy. Without waiting any longer, he gripped the handle of the first door firmly in one hand and swung it open.

And the next moment, he was standing in a small room - no, an elevator, with no sign of the door he had just opened. He didn't flinch at the change, and although his mind was moving quite quickly at this point, picking up every scrap of information it could glean from his new surroundings, his expression did not change - not even a twitch in his composure as he shifted his footing on the new surface under his feet.

They were going up.

Orpheus frowned a little bit, unsure quite how to answer Theta’s question. Greece just… was. He didn’t know how to answer where.
“I’m… not really sure. We’re just… there. Where’s Gallifrey?” He tilted his head just a little, wondering if Theta knew how to describe it. Eventually he would ask Mr. Hermes, and Mr. Hermes would be able to tell him, but… he was curious now.
“I don’t know,” he added, glancing back at the beanbag. “They look… like maybe you’re supposed to sit on them? They look soft. I’m… not sure. Maybe… they’re sheep?” They didn’t look like sheep. They didn’t look very alive, but Orpheus didn’t have anything else to compare them to.

Orpheus really wasn’t sure what his role was here. He wanted to help L keep Watari safe, but he wasn’t sure how, exactly, to do that. He wasn’t a good fighter, and he didn’t know Watari. He didn’t know what he was doing, only that he had failed to help convince Watari not to go in a room, and he owed it to his friend to keep the older man alive. He knew L was close to him. He didn’t exactly know how close, but it wasn’t really his business. If Mr. Hermes blinked in, Orpheus knew he would have appreciated L’s help in keeping him safe, even if Hermes was perfectly capable of protecting himself on his own. The House could very easily exploit that.
He gave a soft gasp as the floor began to move, grabbing at one of the metal bars along the side and freezing there.
“Elevator…” he repeated in a shaky voice, his accent coloring the Japanese word. There was no equivalent for it in Greek. Not yet, at least. He was a bit pale as he clung to the bar, but he tried to keep a brave face. To be fair, it was his first experience with more modern technology beyond the electric lights everywhere and the screens in the Hunger Games room. The House had a habit of changing things to make them more dangerous – although L and Watari seemed perfectly calm in the moving box, Orpheus didn’t have the slightest clue how it worked, and he had a feeling the House was going to make it go wrong at any moment.
As though on cue, the elevator ground to a stop, making a loud clanging sound as the lights in the small room went out and the floor jolted upwards.

“Floran?” Zuko asked, tasting the unfamiliar word. It seemed that there were a lot of differences between his world and Scarlet’s. Almost everything that he thought of as commonplace seemed not to exist in her world, and vice versa. He would have liked to visit, to learn about Floran and fennixes and the sort of plants that they used to make healing salves. It seemed that Scarlet’s world was a lot bigger than Zuko’s. His was just one planet (as far as he knew) and hers had entire worlds that she could explore. Then again… he probably shouldn’t have been jealous. The Fire Nation was the greatest place in any world, and what he wanted more than anything was the ability to go home. To regain his honor and make his father proud and… and just see the Fire Nation again. He shook the thought away. He was going home one way or another. He was going to capture the Avatar.
It was just that he didn’t want to think about it right now. And thanks to Scarlet… he didn’t have to. Maybe one day he would tell her. Maybe if they met each other again and became friends. Zuko had never really had friends, but he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Scarlet could be one. They had basically just met now, but if they ever met again…? He couldn’t help but think it was possible.
“I don’t really get why my uncle likes tea so much,” he admitted, then allowed himself a small smile. “Sometimes the ones he makes taste good, though. I trust his taste in teas more than I trust my own. More often than not they all taste the same to me.” Still… Iroh seemed to know exactly when Zuko needed a cup of tea, even when he got angry and said that tea couldn’t fix his problems. It couldn’t. But Iroh’s kind words and company could at least start to patch things up a little bit.
Scarlet had asked uncomfortable questions, but Zuko couldn’t manage to hold it against her. She hadn’t pried when she’d found out that he didn’t want to talk about it, and she hadn’t judged him for the answers he had given. Yes, if he were going to find a friend, he considered that she might be a good candidate. He hoped that they would be able to see each other again, that his experience of only running into people once and never again didn’t hold true.
“Maybe…” Zuko murmured, looking at least a little bit uncomfortable, “Maybe I can find something interesting in my world to tell you about, so that there’s still something you can learn about.” He wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to say. Wasn’t really familiar with how being nice to people worked, beyond what his mother had taught him.
“Dragons are probably gonna end up as mythology now, I guess.” He shrugged, trying to seem like he didn’t care. He thought it was sad that the dragons were gone. His father would have called him weak for that. “And my uncle is cool,” he added, brightening up a bit.

L | Zombie Room | strider <Raintalon>

L looked up as the elevator stopped, tensing a little. Ah. Naturally, this was not an elevator that could be trusted.
Not that L liked elevators much anyway. But this being the House, it was even worse than usual.
He shook his head a little, then remembered that it was dark and therefore shaking his head did absolutely nothing as far as communicating went.
“No, I don’t, and neither does Orpheus.” He answered simply, glancing around. “It’s safe to assume you don’t either, then.”
He started at the banging. Ah...that kind of room. He really hated being in the dark like this. He could barely see and he felt like something was going to sneak up behind him at any second.
What actually scared him was Watari’s tone. He shouldn’t have been surprised by it, but that was his we might be about to die unless you listen to me tone.
“I’m highly trained in capoeira martial arts.” He said it very quietly, shifting a little to stand closer to Watari. Then glanced at his friend. “Please stay behind us.”

Nico gave a soft laugh, gently pulling the chip bag back over Tori’s head.
“There you go,” he murmured, gently brushing a couple of stray crumbs off her fur. “Maybe I should just take the chips out of the bag to give to you,” he suggested, smoothing down the fur on her nose. He shook his head just a little, glancing inside the chip bag. It wasn’t empty, but he had a feeling nobody would want to eat out of it now that Victoria had gotten her head stuck in it. He had a feeling there might be wolf fur trapped inside among the chips.