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

Sal Fisher | Valentine’s Room | strider

Sal glanced at the others, blinking a little as that sunk in. The idea that no one else was actually dating either hadn’t really occurred to him, but…he guessed it made sense. Did rooms usually have the same goal for everyone in them? Or were their different things for different people to accomplish in them, like some sort of giant multiplayer game with different storylines?
He’d have to ask around, if he ever blinked into a busier room again. Or even here, though…he had a feeling this wouldn’t be the best room for it.
“Ash banana bread sounds…” Sal narrowed his eyes a little, leaning forward to see if there was a picture. “Ashy. But most of that exists in my world, too. Just maybe not that specific kind. We have banana bread and cakes and all that, but I think maybe your flavors are different. Do you think the House would make a whole room that only one person would have the context for? Because that seems…unfair somehow.”

Joey | valentines day room | the vibe train has arrived |

Matt was strikingly aware of what was what, atuned to what he was going through. At this moment, Joey was growing interested more than he had been before.

"Then I guess I'm-" Joey fumbled with the words, rocking his whole world. "Bi? Bisexual, I guess? Sorta similar to those friends of yours. That's cool." He eased into the idea as he spoke. It was nice not to wander so blindly into this but he didn't want to give Matt that impression. He could do this without too much hand holding.

"So is the paradox house filled with people like us? We'll be okay?" He asks sincerely, eyes looking oddly hopeful that the answer was 'yes'. None of his friends would give him a rough time but he needed to be sure he hadn't painted a neon target on his back.

"Yeah? Me too. I think that one's from my- our world." She amended. She thought it was interesting that when Orpheus choose a sweet, he chose one from home. She picked up a piece and ate it, the crisp layers mixing with the honeyed sweetness. "Yep. You could tell me the House picked this up from a bakery in Thrace this morning and I'd believe you."

Hook - Valentines Day Room - @/shade

Hook blinked in sitting at one of the tables, staring blankly at the ceiling while whistling quietly to himself. The melody trailed to a half hearted end as he noticed his blink.

Sitting upright, he stared at the table he was at, taking note of the empty plates, fancy flowers, and bottle of some expensive looking liquor. Without much pause, he took the bottle and uncorked it with his teeth - ignoring the slight overflow as he glanced around at the others and the weird decorations. He didn’t let his gaze linger on anyone long, but he was quick to notice the fact everyone was in pairs - and that there was an empty chair across from him.

With a small hum, he poured a bit of the champagne into one of the glasses on the table (probably more than what an average person would want), then sat back squinting at the chair as he drank straight from the bottle.

Hook - Valentines Room - @/shade

Hook raised his eyebrows as someone appeared in front of him, a triumphant grin spreading across his face when he saw it was who he was hoping for.

“Better now,” he answered her smugly, taking a drink from the bottle through his smile. Not the taste he was used to, but the sweetness was enjoyable. He leaned over the table slightly, watching her with a thrilled grin. “The House is getting predictable, but f[oops], I won’t complain. Has your world been as much as a shit show as mine recently?”

“Also, the hell is goin’ on with this room?” He said in a more hushed voice with a stifled grin as he glanced at the others.

Hook - Valentines Room - @/shade

“Of course it is,” the captain replied confidently, then gave a more sincere nod to her next comment, although he was still smirking. “Aye, you as well. I’m scarcely better off here though, shit,” he muttered with a dry chuckle - sounding a bit too cocky that so many people wanted him dead everywhere he went.

“Obviously not,” he answered in drawn out voice, side eyeing the cheesy decor before looking back at her with a grin. He hovered over the table as she explained the room, giddy like a teenager to hear her talk about her goofy world traditions. He always liked when Shade explained the concepts behind rooms to him; he knew she made them sound more arduous than they actually were, which he found deeply amusing. “No shit,” he hummed in amusement, glancing around. “How generous for the House to blink us in together then - pity that the chocolate and booze in the House is too f[oops]’ sweet,” he said, taking another swing.

The pirate glanced around the room with her, his expression slack as he noticed Touka and Rex together. The realization took him a few seconds - looking back and forth between the pair of them and Shade - before he gestured to them loosely with the top of the bottle. “Wait,” he said slowly, a smile starting to cross over his face How long have those two been f[oops]’? He mouthed to Shade, before immediately starting to laugh cruelly. “No f[oops]’ way,”

“I think so, too,” Orpheus replied, taking another small bite of the baklava. It was sweet, like all of the other desserts, but it wasn’t overly so. He couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the world had gotten a little bit over-excited when it came to how much sugar was in things.
“It’s good, though,” he added, letting out a soft sigh. “It would have been easy for the House to recreate some that weren’t very good, but it seemed to have chosen a good recipe.”
At the sound of a new voice, Orpheus turned, eyes narrowed as he realized who it was who had joined them. He didn’t like Hook very much, and he didn’t want him ruining this room too.

“Oh,” Zuko replied, tilting his head a little bit. “I mean… we don’t have bananas other than ash bananas, at least that I know of? I don’t know, I’ve only ever had ash bananas.” He didn’t know what that meant, though he thought it had something to do with the fact that he knew other worlds had turtles and ducks, but didn’t have turtle ducks, just like his world didn’t have just turtles or just ducks. He pushed the thought away, instead focusing on Sal and the dessert table they were both heading towards.
“I think there’s probably a little bit of something from every world,” he replied after a moment, glancing at the table and trying to see if he could recognize any of the sweets on sight.
“I’d like to try some of the sweets from your world,” he said after a moment, then sheepishly tried to take Sal’s hand. He didn’t know if that was something they could try, but… if they were together together, it was something they should be comfortable with, right? If they were giving this a try? He glanced at Sal, hoping he would be able to tell if the other boy was comfortable with it.

Joey | Valentines room | vibetown! |

Joey waited for what was like an eternity for an answer. His previous reply mist have done a number on Matt. "World's not the nicest, neither is highschool. Middle school was so brutal, I don't know how any of us made are supposed to make it through senior year. I dunno how things work here or your world- I really don't." He admits, watching at the corner of his eye everyone else flock to the buffet. Either they would be minding their own business or they would start listening in. Well, better make it a good show worth hearing. "I was worried someone here found out - someone killed me inside. Made a big show out of it for some sick kicks. Inside of wherever this place is and I can't forget it. I can't..." Joey frowned, at a loss how he was supposed to gloss over that.

"There's like zilch out there for me to know, and everytime I see news, it goes down badly. Been relying on my gut to get through everything when comes to not being found out. Ever since my dad d-" He hesitates for the first time in the conversation. It takes a moment to redirect as Matt leans. A reluctant smile creeps onto his face, under his mask. "Holy sh#t. I would have never guessed!"

A total whiplash. His neck had been snapped once, it felt like it was happening all over again. "I just-you're a real clown, you know that? Rainbow wig and all." He gave in, chuckling and giving a playful punch to Matt's shoulder.

Shade | Valentines Room | @/des, @/ice @/rain

Shade smirked at his dry remark and shrugged. "You do have that lovely charm about you, just making friends everywhere you go," she said with a quiet laugh. It really did seem to be a talent he had, she had to wonder how on earth she was lucky enough to be one of the few to get his enjoyable company.

It was amusing watching his face as he processed her whole Valentines spiel, and she nodded slowly. "Generous indeed. It'd be terribly unfortunate to be a..." she glanced around the room, trying to count everyone... and gave up. "...An extra wheel. Although-" she turned to look at him again, "I'm sure you'd manage just fine however." Her grin stuck around, then widened when she followed his gaze to look at Rex and Touka, both of whom it darned on her she actually recognized. Her eyebrows went up again and she chuckled. "Oh, dear, I don't know shit."

The grin on her face turned friendlier and she gave a small wave to Rex, and Touka, "Hello there! Fancy seeing you two here. How have you been, Rex?" she inquired, dragging her seat into a new position so she could see more of the room and half lean on the table.

“We could try an ash banana tart and see if it tastes the same?” Zuko asked, still moving towards the dessert table. There was tension growing between some of the people there, but he didn’t think it would be that big a deal… hopefully they wouldn’t be too bothered by two people coming forward just to grab some sweets. He didn’t like Hook very much, but it had been years since he had seen him, so it was entirely possible the pirate wouldn’t even recognize him.
“I want to try whatever you want me to try. Whatever you like,” he added, searching the table and blatantly ignoring the tension growing at one end. If they were in front of some of the things Zuko wanted to try that would be a problem, but there were still things they could eat without getting in the middle of it.
“Oh,” Zuko replied, looking up to see Sal’s amazement. “Yeah. That’s Hook, he’s kind of… an ass? I guess. I’ve never met anyone who actually likes him.”
He may have been the one to have taken Sal’s hand, but he was blatantly trying to ignore everything it was making him feel. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, right? It was just holding hands.

“Oh,” Orpheus replied, eyes widening as he considered it. He had never thought that the House might not be able to make things. He couldn’t help but wonder if the blanket they had made together had ever appeared in another room, where other blinkers could use it without knowing which hands had worked to make it. Would they just assumed the House had done it?
“I think it would be sad to not be able to make anything.” He was trying to ignore Hook. If he didn’t acknowledge the pirate, maybe he would leave him and Eurydice alone. He seemed mostly preoccupied with the other blinkers anyway. Hopefully it would stay that way.
After a moment Orpheus edged away anyway, moving towards a giant structure that seemed to be made entirely of edible things.
“This one seems… interesting.” It looked a little bit like a house, but with chalk-like hearts stuck to the ‘doorway’ and making up the roofline as well.

| Eurydice | Valentine's Day Room | Orpheus |

How much of what they saw was created by unseen hands? Who had whisked the eggs for the cakes they were free to leisurely taste? Who had placed the tablecloths over the tables? Perhaps the House did it all, Eurydice thought. But another part of her worried that it didn't. "I think it would be too. If you didn't have something, you'd have to do without. Or hope that somebody helped you."

Eurydice watched the interaction between the pair that had been at the dessert table near them and the couple that was seated. There was history there, of what kind she wasn't sure, but it was there. She was curious about it- she thought that surely there was lots of history that existed in a place like this, even if it wasn't recorded or known outside of it, only existing in people's memories.

"Self-portrait, maybe." Eurydice said, looking at the gingerbread house. "After all, it's called the House."

| Eurydice | Valentine's Day Room | Orpheus |

"Hmm." Eurydice hummed in agreement. It made sense, that each blinker slowly added things to the House. 

But maybe the House could create, if it made the gingerbread house of itself. Or maybe someone else made it, like Orpheus had mentioned people doing. But it was cheerful and covered in hearts, like whoever had made it was a friend. But that didn't make sense because she'd heard Orpheus talk about how dangerous the rooms could be. Or sad. Unsure of how to voice what she was thinking, she merely plucked one of the hearts off the roof and said, "Do you think it's lonely?"

She popped the candy heart into her mouth not realizing she ought to read the sentiment on it, then furrowed her brow. Weird texture. Sickly sweet, chalky taste. Ick. She quickly crunched it up and finished it so she wouldn't have to taste it any longer. "Those ones are weird."