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

Kelsier | Inquisitor Room | strider

Something had gone very wrong, this time. This wasn’t just Nico failing to kill the Inquisitor, which he couldn’t have been blamed for either. This was deeper. This was something else, something he didn’t quite understand.
It had spooked Nico, badly, whatever it was. He glanced at the hole, half tempted to go and see if he could tell where it went. But he resisted. It didn’t matter, as long as Nico hadn’t fallen in.
If he had? Kelsier would have dived in after him without hesitation.
He wished he could help. Wished he could do...something. He was hesitant to Soothe without permission, especially when someone had just gotten in Nico’s head in a much, much worse way.
He caught his breath as the boy explained.
“Took them?” He breathed, searching Nico’s eyes, his own gaze intense. “With Allomancy?”
That meant…
He felt sick. He didn’t want it. He didn’t want that, he wanted...he wanted to cut it out of him. For the first time in his life, he didn’t want Allomancy. He didn’t want it.
He didn’t dare use brass now. Who knew which metal it had been? What if he’d been taking Nico’s powers already, making things worse for him?
“I’m not burning anything,” he managed. “I won’t. Not until we figure it out.”

"Amico," Amico said, patiently waiting for an answer for his question. As if asking for a name was just a transition to that answer. He seemed to be pretty attentive about the whole thing, all things considered. He looked like he really wanted to be able to work out who and what Vincent was.
With the same patience of someone who really wasn't patient, Amico sat down again, but closer to Vincent.
"And your name?" he asked.

Hades glared at Kelsier, the vampire boy all but forgotten. He had been a trifle, something that needed to be taken care of, but that could be saved for a later date. His existence was against the rules of Hades’ Underworld, but if he was from a different world, it was entirely possible he was allowed to exist. That didn’t mean that Hades had to like it. That didn’t mean that Hades wanted his son anywhere near the boy. But it did mean that it was easier to let go of the problem that was Sam than it was to let go of the problem Kelsier was very quickly creating. He bared his teeth, eyes narrowed as he watched the Mistborn. He didn’t know what Kelsier was, but he had the sense that it wasn’t quite human, whatever it was. Still, Hades wasn’t human either. He could probably take the man in a fight, if it came to it, even without the ability to kill him almost instantly.
“He isn’t a child any longer,” Hades responded calmly, the anger burning cold in his words. It was just an aftertaste, a warning of something dangerous coming if Kelsier didn’t back off. It was, in a sense, the rattling of a rattlesnake – one last warning before he would strike. It was kind, in his mind, to give Kelsier the chance to back off. To let this be a reasonable conversation instead of the man’s death wish. From how he was handling himself, Hades had no doubt that Kelsier had a death wish. Or, at least, that he wasn’t at all afraid of dying. One of those people who were absolutely convinced that death would never come for them. Invincibility was an incredible feeling, but all it led to was reckless behavior. Hades enjoyed watching such plans go sour on the people who tried them. The people who boasted that they were above Hades, that they would never see his face.
“The boy is a monster. It’s a shame that someone turned him into one, but whatever was left of the boy he was is gone. Maybe he still thinks he’s something close to human. Maybe he thinks he has control, but eventually the boy will fade away. Eventually the creature will create more of itself, as we are all wont to do. Eventually, there will be an imbalance. It’s a mercy to do away with him now, before he looks back years down the line and sees that he doesn’t even recognize himself. It is a far kinder death than letting the human part of him waste away. Besides, I must protect my son. Stand aside, or I’ll be forced to make you.”
The words were spoken with an almost intense calmness, almost as though Hades were speaking with a child who didn’t understand why they couldn’t bring home a feral raccoon. He glanced down at the dagger and nearly scoffed. Glass couldn’t hurt him. He wasn’t mortal. Kelsier, however, wouldn’t know that… it would be amusing to see his face when he realized that Hades wouldn’t be quite so easy to defeat.

Nico’s brow furrowed as he looked between Kelsier and Hades, but there was little he could do to stop a fight from breaking out. Right now, his main concern was Sam. He was convinced that Kelsier could hold his own, even against a god. He had killed a Titan once, after all, and even the gods struggled to do that on their own. Nico forced his gaze away, his hand moving to rest gently on Sam’s back.
“I don’t think telling them not to fight is going to work,” Nico whispered, gently pulling Sam away from Kelsier. “Kelsier can handle himself, and… and if he needs any help, I can jump in.” He searched Sam’s gaze, then very gently moved forward to wipe some of the blood red tears from his face. He didn’t mind that the blood ended up on his hands – he wiped them off on his already fairly bloodstained pants.
“You’re not a monster,” he said after a long moment, searching Sam’s eyes to be certain he was heard. “You’re not. Hades’ view is just… really black and white. But what he says doesn’t matter… or… or it shouldn’t matter, okay?”

In theory, Nico thought it sounded nice for Kelsier to stop burning. It sounded like a solid plan to make sure that nothing ever happened to Nico’s own powers. In practice, however, he knew it was less than possible. He knew that Kelsier needed Allomancy in order to do his job in his own world. He knew there were people relying on Kelsier, and there were tasks he had set himself up to accomplish that couldn’t be done without Allomancy.
“You can’t just promise not to burn,” Nico murmured, lifting his chin just enough to get a good look at Kelsier. “It’s not… it’s not realistic. You shouldn’t have to do that just for me…” the most logical next step was for Kelsier to burn every metal now and see which one allowed him access to Nico’s powers. Then he would just need to stop burning that metal, or at least stop burning it around Nico. But Nico didn’t want to go through that again just now. If the House was unkind, as it often was, though… how long would it make Kelsier go without Allomancy? How long would it keep him on edge, not burning for fear that he might appear when Nico was there as well.
“It… it seemed intentional,” Nico added after a long moment, staring at the ground between his feet instead of at Kelsier. “I don’t think it accidentally took my powers away. I think… whatever it was burning, it had to use it a certain way. I don’t… I don’t know that you could do it by accident. But I think it’s likely to have been either iron, bronze, or gold.” That was all the help Nico could give, all the ideas he had. The three metals that could hurt monsters and gods alike. The three metals that passed through mortals but that struck people like Nico just as true as it would any monster.
“My safety isn’t worth much if you’re dead,” he added, the words nearly inaudible.

| Eurydice | Blanket Fort Room |

Eurydice listened to Orpheus' explanation, nodding as he talked out his reasoning and settled on Yes, I'm human. He was interesting, the way he looked at the world, the way he chose humanity. She mused it over for a moment, her gaze sliding from him down to the blanket as she did so. She cut a series of strips, looking down as she focused on finishing up that side with even tassels. She was getting close to the corner now. She'd have to scoot back over to start that line again, where a tied tassel lay next to the start of the untied strip, but it wasn't too far.

"Alright, yeah." She answered Orpheus, aware that she'd let the silence go on for a little too long. She wasn't sure that it was much her place to comment on his thoughts about his own humanity. She'd asked, sure, but beyond that she wasn't sure. She let the conversation lull.

Eurydice had made more progress on her side of the blanket than Orpheus had, it seemed. Perhaps because she had cut all of her strips first and then had come back to tie them. Orpheus had just… been cutting a few at a time and then tying those before cutting the next patch. It seemed, however, that they would meet in the corner at around the same time. The thought brought a tiny smile to Orpheus’ face, and he didn’t bother to try to hide it. He liked Eurydice. He liked talking to her and finding out more about her… he liked sharing little pieces of himself with her, even though he didn’t know how she would react to them.
“I don’t mean any blasphemy by this, but… I’ve always preferred humans to the gods,” he murmured, letting his gaze drift up to meet Eurydice’s. “Our lives are… well, they’re shorter, so we have to make them fuller. And somehow, we do that. Somehow, we create things the gods can’t even imagine, and we think nothing of it. I love that about us. I love that humanity creates, that we build and tell stories… and I love that the gods learn from us as much as we from them.”

Hange | Living room | ®Hawkpath® |

"Yes, well, some people dislike progress," said Hange dismissively, shaking their head. "Can't let that stop you, or we'd never get anywhere."

They blinked at Varian's words, sorting through that line of reasoning. "I suppose so," they agreed after a moment, tapping a finger to their chin. "Well, I can try to bring some of my books with me next time I blink back here."

They stood up and turned in a little circle, stretching. "Well, want to go in a room? Experiments can be done in the living room, but the doors tend to be far more entertaining."

Hange | pyro squad |

"For fun??" Hange tilted their head, looking at the flare in their hand with curiosity. It wasn't that they didn't agree that shooting up flares was fun - it was - but they'd never heard of doing it just for entertainment. That would be quite a waste of fairly difficult to come by resources.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to set them off then," they said, turning back to Loki with a mischievous glint in their eye as they held up one of the flares - a red and white striped rocket shaped one. "Right?"

Asami | watcher crew |

"I am called Tachibana Asami," she answered simply, watching the small human with the same curiosity he was currently directing back at her. "I was struck by an automated vehicle shortly after I came to be. I was damaged, but I am not an irregularity because of my species. How long does a human memory last before you forget that I can split my head apart?"

| Loki | Fireworks Room | Hange, Wylan, Varian |

"Absolutely." Loki grinned, matching the mischievous expression Hange had. The other two kids seemed to be of a similar personality in that they were willing to light off explosives. The one labeled Wylan had agreed with their suggestion of shooting them off for fun. Loki took a moment to read and remember the names the House had labeled them with.

The god of mischief opened their pack of Roman candles. The stick of explosives was certainly tempting. Without bothering to look for matches, they simply ignited a spark from the tip of their fingers and lit the thing, aiming it towards the sky. A moment, as the fuse burned. And then- pop! The first of the fireworks streaked into the air, a glowing red cluster of sparks.

Or Rain's name could destroy it. XD

Sam | Living Room | <Raintalon>

Room. Sam took a second to work that out, then frowned. He didn't actually want to go into a room. Matt was too interesting for that. He trailed after the older blinker, getting closer with each step.
"Wait," he said, sounding curious. "How do you work?"
It was a strange question. Sam looked up at Matt with wide, blue eyes. He then clarified, "Like, how is it that you blink in and don't just ... get confused? All the rooms and also the lack of technology. I'm confused."
He was also eyeing Matt's neck. A lot. There was a hungry look in Sam's eyes that didn't look like he was completely focused on his own question.

Matt | Living room w/sam | mintedstar/fur |

Matt brought his hand almost instinctively up to his neck, rubbing along his jawline and giving Sam an awkward, slightly nervous laugh.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I just don't really mind not getting it," he said, trying to brush off the sudden feeling of unease that was washing over him. "I don't get lots of stuff. World's pretty weird, and everything."

Silence.

"...So, you're not like that, though? You wanna know more?"

| Eurydice | Blanket Fort Room | Orpheus |

Eurydice cut the last few strips at the corner. She looked up as Orpheus started talking, curious as to what he would say next. She wanted to hear what he had to say. She listened, setting down her scissors. Human lives were difficult and full of hunger and cold and struggle. And the gods had everything. They lived in splendor and power. They didn't have to go hungry. They didn't have to hope and pray that next winter would be easier. Humans were humans, and the gods had more.

So why, then, had Orpheus chosen humanity? Eurydice could see the adoration Orpheus held for humanity in his voice, the way that he talked, but she couldn't understand it for herself. Not yet.

"But the gods have... practically anything they could want." Sure, they struggled and fought with each other and went through similar escapades of love and tragedy, but on a much grander scale. And with a steady nourishment of rising smoke offerings.

Wylan hadn’t really expected there to be any Grisha here. His eyes widened just a bit as Loki lit a flame in their fingertips, and he couldn’t help the way he almost shied back. There were plenty of Grisha in Ketterdam, but most of them were dangerous, and even more were refugees. They weren’t people that you should mess with… they were powerful and desperate. Loki didn’t really seem desperate, though, nor did he seem self-important the way Ravkan Grisha did. Wylan decided that he was alright – for now. Still, he found himself drifting just a little bit closer to Varian, preferring his company to the company of someone unpredictable.
Then the firework flew, and Wylan wasn’t thinking anymore. Doubt and suspicion left his head and he stared up, eyes wide as he watched the sparks burst out, flying and then fading as the fire died out.
“Wow,” he whispered, then reached into the bin and grabbed a firework of his own. He didn’t have magic flame, but he did always carry matches. Grinning, he pulled his goggles down, ignited the firework, and stepped back to give it room to fly up towards the sky to join the last of the sparks from Loki’s.