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

A small boy in what had to be even rattier clothing than the last time he'd blinked in appeared on the hill.
He nearly tumbled down it.
Then he sort of wanted to tumble down it, because that might be cool. Then he got distracted by everyone else on the hill.
Then he seemed to realize he was on a hill in the first place and that was weird.
Huh.
He glanced around, shrugged, and sat himself down. He crossed his legs. Then he flopped backward.
The hill was boring.
"Bah!" he said at the sky. As if this might change something. It did not. The boy continued staring.

Nico thought Hades made a good point about monsters. It was just that… well, he thought it was rather reversed. Sam wasn’t a monster. He was told over and over again that he was, he believed himself to be, at least a little bit… but it was Hades who didn’t believe that he was a monster. It was Hades who painted himself as the victim, who had been the victim once but had never come back to make himself a better person. Hades had been betrayed by his family, so he lived a life in which he assumed everyone else was going to betray him, too. Nico could understand how that felt, but he didn’t take his anger out on other people. He didn’t attack people first. He tried to keep his friends few in number, but the ones he had… he did his best not to push away. He did his best to trust them, and to let them trust him. He tried hard to convince himself that one mistake didn’t define who he was, though he had spent the better part of the last several years trying to make up for the mistake. The people who most believed themselves to be monsters… the people who were trying their damndest not to be… well, Nico was fairly certain that those people weren’t monsters at all.
“Oh,” Nico whispered, tearing his attention away from Sam and Hades. It seemed that Hades was relatively powerless, otherwise Sam would have been dead. Still, Nico could feel the fear and dread leaking off of Hades, poisoning the air around them. It was how Nico must have felt to others, but much, much stronger. Sometimes, Nico wished he didn’t exude those same feelings everywhere he went. He didn’t want to be a literal negative presence in a room. He was working hard to control it, but he had a feeling that Hades had his own aura of death under perfect control. He was just choosing to use it now to make himself seem more intimidating. Nico hated to admit that it was working.
“Sam and I met how most people meet in the House, I think,” Nico murmured with a small shrug of his shoulders. “I mean… I think we were in the living room. And I had my sword, and Sam asked me about it, and I ended up showing him how to swordfight, a little bit.” A tiny smile crossed Nico’s face in spite of the situation. “He was trying really hard not to let me know he was a vampire. I mean… I asked him to try to push me over to show him how to stand properly, and it was… well, it was sort of sweet how he tried to do it. Like he didn’t really know how much strength to use, and he didn’t want to use too much…” he gave a shy smile, then let his gaze drift back over to Hades and Sam. Hades was looking right at them.

“Are you questioning how I’m raising my children?” Hades snapped, eyes narrowing as he increased the power of his aura. He wanted to intimidate Sam. He wanted the kid to be afraid, because he clearly hadn’t gotten the message that this wasn’t a smart conversation to be having. If the kid would just stop talking back, then maybe Hades could have begun to work on finding a way out of here. As it was… maybe he was giving Sam too much of a rough time. Maybe the vampire was actually as nice as he seemed to be, maybe Hades was just being unfair and… the god’s eyes narrowed and he whirled around, desperately trying to figure out where the interference was coming from. He could feel it settling into his mind, and though he didn’t have any way to block against it, he had enough power to be able to stop it.
“Shut up,” he told Sam sharply, deciding there were more pressing things to worry about. Hades let his eyes close, feeling for any signs of life. They were faint, but still definitely there. The god turned, eyes narrowed as he stared right where he believed Nico and the meddler to be.

“Maybe… you should take precautions with how you handle it?” Wylan asked, brow furrowing a little bit as he looked at Wylan. “I mean… you clearly know what you’re doing, but it might stop you from getting stuck in it again if you have like… gloves on when you’re handling it, right? Because then the gloves will get stuck instead of your hands, and you can just pull your hands out to get the thing that gets rid of the sticky stuff.”
A blush spread across Wylan’s cheekbones as he realized he was essentially telling Varian how to do his job. That hadn’t been his intent, and he hoped Varian wasn’t offended… he had just been attempting to be helpful. He didn’t know how helpful he had really managed to be.
“But… yeah, I would like to know what’s in it,” he added, trying to recover from what he was beginning to see as a slip up. “I know how to make things, but I’m not really great at coming up with things that don’t exist yet.”
It took Wylan a few moments to realize what Varian was talking about before he glanced down at the name tag, then nodded. “Oh, yeah. You’re wearing one, too.”

Varian | Pyrotechnics Squad

Varian considered this piece of advice, eyes widening a little bit.
“That’s a really great idea!” He exclaimed, genuinely excited. He wasn’t offended. He was usually only offended when people were stupid or didn’t listen to him, and Wylan didn’t match either one. “I usually do wear gloves , but I didn’t think to do it with that. Thanks!”
Now that he wasn’t stuck to the ground, it was easier to look around. He noted the lack of trees, and the grass, and the hills...nope, he had no idea where this was. He didn’t recognize it at all. That wasn’t surprising, seeing as he’d been in a weird living room last time. Maybe this was the backyard?
He focused on the name tag, then looked at his own. “Oh yeah,” he realized, and poked at it. “That’s weird. This place must be able to give us things. Interesting…”
He looked up again. “So...what do you know how to make?”

| Loki | Pyrotechnics Squad |

Loki let out an unkind snicker as Hange fell backwards, a mischievous grin appearing on their face. But when Hange brushed it off and zoomed onto the next thing, Loki blinked a couple times, their expression clearly reading Huh? They were looking for more of a reaction than that. They scowled as Hange's attention was caught by a flare.

They took the moment to run their fingers through their hair, combing back a few raven locks that had become disheveled from Hange's grappling. The other two down the hill, also designated Pyrotechnics Squad from their nametags, were heading towards the set up as well. They adjusted their clothing, noting that they needed to steal back their bracer from Hange, and went over to the platform with boxes of fireworks grouped around it.

"Flares, fireworks." They commented aloud, picking up a package of Roman candles from the box. These looked fun. They looked back up the hill at the collection of blinkers near the blankets. "Signaling them, or just lighting them off for fun. We're not so far away that they can't see us."

Vince - ?? Room
Vincent arched his eyebrow as L ignored his question, making note that he now had permission to be blatantly rude if he wanted to. Not that he needed permission, but now he had the excuse of fairness.
He dipped his head into the room after the detective, taking a few cautious steps as he scanned the small space. The room was fairly dark - lit by only a few warm yellow lights. One hung directly over a round table in the center of the room and a couple were built into what seemed to be a miniature bar cut into the left wall. Two chairs sat across from each other at the table, and parallel to the recessed space for the alcohol was a blank television screen. The entire space was decorated in deep reds, greens, and an expensive looking dark wood. A smokey haze obscured the floor, and the faint scent of cigarette smoke was in the air. Vincent smiled softly, coming up behind the closer chair and looking across the table. Two whiskey glasses sat empty, upside down in front of both chairs - inviting each blinker to make themselves comfortable.

Sam | for Sam Room | ®Hawkpath® strider

Sam couldn't shut up though. It was like his voice was working without input from his brain, which had no affect on the fact that his own legs were trying to give up on him. He couldn't do this. But he continued to do it anyway.
"Yes," he said. "Yes, if you aren't being nice to him. That's the important part. W-what are you looking at?"
He didn't know where Hades was looking. He didn't think there was anything there. But he still said, "You aren't nice and you aren't right."
He wasn't sure what was the point he noticed someone else was there. There was a noise and then suddenly Kelsier was there, the scent of him burning in Sam's throat. Then he was pushed away and Kelsier was in front of him, dagger in hand and looking dangerous. A sob caught in Sam's throat and he leaned forward, pressing his face into the back of Kelsier's mist cloak. He wasn't sure if it was because he needed reassurance or because he needed somehow to hold Kelsier back. Had he blinked in again? Or had he been there all along? Sam didn't know. But he suddenly felt like he liked the Mistborn a lot more than when they had first been introduced.

The last thing Nico had expected was Kelsier breaking out. If anyone could do it, it would be Kelsier, but this was the House. The House didn’t let people break out of it… that was kind of its whole thing. He flinched away from the breaking glass, doing his best not to get hit by any of the shards. Fortunately, Kelsier breaking through his own glass seemed to have shattered the glass around Nico as well. He took a deep breath, immediately racing to Sam’s side. Kelsier didn’t need his help. Sam… Sam still had red streaks moving down his cheeks, and Nico couldn’t shake the feeling that they were partially his fault. If he had found a way to get out sooner, if he could have stopped Hades…
“Are you okay?” Nico murmured softly, taking Sam’s free hand before he could think better of it. He could understand the reflex to cling to Kelsier. He, too, was half tempted to take hold of one of the tassels of the mistcloak and hold on like Kelsier could protect him from the whole world. He was perfectly capable of protecting himself. Sometimes, though, he wanted someone else to protect him for once. This wasn’t the time or place for that, though.
Nico lifted his dark eyes to meet Hades’, not sure he wanted to be the one to make a move. He could try to talk Hades down, but first he needed to make sure Sam was okay. Everything else could come after.

Hades was fairly certain there was someone hidden from his sight. Two someones, actually, and one of them was his son. He didn’t quite understand why Nico hadn’t just revealed himself, especially if the boy in front of him really was his friend, but this place didn’t make much sense. Sam was right about that, though Hades didn’t believe for a minute that this wasn’t some sort of trap. Especially since the person who was not Nico seemed to have some sort of ability to manipulate his emotions. In spite of his attempt to push the Soothing away, he could still feel it pushing at his anger, trying to quell it. Somehow, that made him even angrier.
If Hades expected to be able to see two people in the far corner of the room, he most certainly did not expect the crash of shattering glass or the appearance of someone as… well, dramatic as Kelsier.
He had been about to dignify Sam with some sort of response (likely a comment about how it didn’t pay to be nice, especially when people were going to hate you regardless of how nice you were) when there was someone much, much more interesting in front of him. Someone who was clearly human, but also something more. Even if Hades hadn’t been able to see his aura, he would have been able to tell. There was something different in the way the man held himself. Something that spoke of power, something that said he wasn’t afraid. Humans had a tendency to be afraid. It was a very rare thing to find one who wasn’t.
If the man wanted to protect the vampire, that was fine with Hades. He had already come to the conclusion that there was little he could do to Sam here, at least in a way that would guarantee him control over the boy’s soul. He didn’t know how he felt about that. This place… he couldn’t feel the Underworld beneath his feet, though there were definitely bodies below the ground and souls haunting the area. There just wasn’t anywhere for them to go. There was no organization here. If Sam were to die here by some way other than separating his soul from his body magically, where would the soul go? Would it lurk here forever? That wasn’t what Hades wanted or needed.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hades growled, eyes narrowing as he turned his full attention towards Kelsier.
Hades could tell the man was trying to be intimidating. There was something intense about his expression, something almost predatory in the way he was walking. Hades knew that stance well – he himself adopted it when he was angry, when he wanted others to feel his wrath. The difference, it seemed, was that Hades’ anger was something cold and chilling, and Kelsier’s seemed to burn, smoldering out of his eyes and launching sparks into the air.
Hades caught sight of Nico, brow raising ever so slightly as the boy ran towards Sam. Behind Kelsier. A snarl pulled at the corner of his lips, and he fixed Kelsier with a glare.
“Step aside.”

Kelsier | for Sam Room | strider mintedstar/fur

Kelsier knew he’d called attention to himself, now. He knew he’d probably just made the god much, much angrier. He could have been more subtle, he could have stayed back and tried to reason with Hades, tried to calm him and work the situation out...but he wasn’t interested in talking him down. He wasn’t interested in quietly convincing him to play nice. Any kind of inclination he’d had to be friendly, any sort of attempt he might have had at talking their way out of this...it was long gone. He didn’t care whether they had a peaceful resolution. All he cared about now was keeping Sam and Nico safe from this man, and maybe speaking his mind.
He met Hades’ eyes, his expression scorching, and his entire body stiff and completely still. His muscles were tense, but there was a sort of calm about the action, as though he were preparing for a race or a robbery and he had done them both a million times before.
He felt Sam press against him, and stayed very still, not looking at the child, though he wanted to. Then he heard Nico folllow, heard the boy go to Sam. Good. He couldn’t help the kid and stop Hades at the same time, and though he wasn’t at all convinced that Hades wasn’t perfect willing to hurt his own son, he thought he probably would at least hesitate first. Then again...he knew plenty of nobles wouldn't.
He lifted his chin, standing still between Hades and Nico and Sam, his dagger held firmly in his hand. He would have liked to be burning pewter for intimidation purposes - if Nico could see his golden aura, Hades probably could too - but he needed to save it. He couldn’t afford to run out, and he’d already used a lot breaking out. He extinguished his metals, even brass. He didn’t care if Hades was calm, anymore.
“No?” He replied almost casually, though there was something terrifying underneath his words. “Tell me, then. What exactly is it that evades me? What part do I not understand? Would that be the part where you have any excuse to hurt a child? Or, perhaps, where you know what you’re talking about? Where your words are anything other than bluster and the selfish, bitter sense of power you get from inflicting harm.”
He wasn’t going to back down. He wasn’t going to let this man walk away unscathed. He wasn’t angry in the sort of way that spoke of lost tempers and words spoken that no one meant. He was angry in the sort of way where he was willing to speak his mind, and he knew exactly what he intended. He hadn’t lost control of himself. He meant every action, every word.
He raised an eyebrow at the command, and a small, intense smile curled his lips like a snarl, matching his eyes like a dagger matched blood.
“No,” he replied, voice fierce and hard as metal. “I will not step aside.”

Percival | living room w/ Shadepelt15

It had been a while since Percival had appeared in the House and that was the way he liked it. For starters because he'd only been here twice and he still didn't know what this place was.
Other than a nightmare, which seemed like a good description all in all.
Faced with a strange living room, however, Percival grumbled under his breath and simply took the two steps backwards to sit on the couch. Unknowingly the one that Archie was under. He started to get a hint of a smell - of someone, though he couldn't say it was human - and he frowned. It was like it was coming from all around him ...

Percival | living room w/ Shadepelt15

Percival moved so quickly that a bit of stuffing flew up in response. What he did was punch Archie. What he hit was the couch cushion. Whether that was intentional or not was totally up for debate, but from the sudden deadly look in the vampire's eyes, it was very likely that Archie might get skinned alive at any second.
"Couch demons!" Percival exclaimed. "Are you bleeding serious? I'll wring this places neck." If it had a neck. He looked like Archie's skinny twig body might be a good substitute.
Props to him for still being seated on the couch though, despite his improbable neighbor.
"Can I interest you in getting the hell away from me?" Percival said, grimacing through gritted teeth.

Percival | living room w / Shadepelt15

Percival glared at Archie and frowned. "What are you then?" he asked, decently satisfied that 'couch demon' still seemed the most accurate description of what he was witnessing.
This didn't stop him from standing up and crossing his arms. Though this didn't end up helping much. Archie was still a full foot taller than him.
There was an eyebrow arch from the vampire.
"Well? And that's a what are you, not a who are you. Though feel free to respond to both if you'd like." He seemed suspicious. And why shouldn't he be? He'd just gotten a scare and it couldn't be said that he liked the look of this situation very much.

The blanket was nearly forgotten as Orpheus brightened, the familiar names of his gods causing a wide grin to spread across his face. He knew it was still possible that they were from different versions of the world, but the fact that they worshipped the same deities meant something. First, it was something they had in common. Second, it meant that there might actually be someone in the House he could see in his own world, if they were from the same time. He thought he would like to meet Eurydice outside of the House. He would have liked to be able to spend time with her and see her favorite parts of their shared world and show her some of his own. But, as he was quickly learning aboard the Argo, Greece was vast. It was possible they weren’t from the same year, or that they were from very different parts of Greece. He pushed aside his thought, not wanting to voice it yet in case it wasn’t the possibility.
“There’s a lot to smile about,” he said after a moment, deciding that was easier to respond to than the first part. How did you tell someone you were from the same world as them? Orpheus ascribed a lot of weight to the statement, but it was possible Eurydice would see nothing of it.
He didn’t comment on her blush, but he noticed it. He had a feeling that she didn’t receive compliments very often, which was silly. She was easily one of the most beautiful people he had ever seen.
“You know… I worship the same gods,” he said after a moment, glancing back down at the strip he had dropped in his excitement. “I was raised by Mr. Hermes, more or less.”