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

Orpheus could tell that Eurydice was becoming a bit more comfortable, and though he couldn’t exactly tell what caused the shift, he found he was grateful. It meant that he was probably doing something right in this room. Besides, it meant that she was smiling, and there was something about her smile that seemed to brighten her entire face. It was as though her smile was the sun peeking out of the clouds after a heavy rainstorm.
“Yes please,” Orpheus replied, relieved that Eurydice had found something to drink. It wasn’t that he thought the foods were too sweet, it was just… he wasn’t used to the flavors. They were decadent to the point he could imagine enjoying them in small portions, but he couldn’t imagine one person eating more than a few things off the table. If he had grown up in a different time, he felt that may have been different.
“Do you prefer sweet foods or savory foods?” Orpheus asked, suddenly feeling the urge to make conversation - any sort of conversation - with Eurydice. He wanted to know her. More than just the things you could find out from a cursory conversation.

Sal Fisher | Valentine's Room | strider

Sal watched, just a little bit uncertain as Zuko tasted the apple pie. He wasn’t sure what reaction he expected - so far, both fire nation food he’d had the opportunity to taste had been spicy. He didn’t think that meant all fire nation foods were spicy, but…were any of their foods really that sweet?
He relaxed a moment later, grinning at him even though he knew it was invisible. He’d always sort of assumed he would stop smiling eventually, once he got used to no one being able to see his expressions, but he figured if the instinct hadn’t faded by now, it wasn’t going to. Overall…he thought he was alright with that.
“I wouldn’t say fudge is better,” he told him, leaning one hand on the table as he tried to see what else was there. “Definitely sweeter. It’s…pretty much just pure sweetness, actually.”

“I… don’t mean to question the House’s taste in foods… or anyone’s world’s foods, but… these things are sort of only… just sweet. The things that are sweet back home have a lot more flavor. The sweetness is just… a way to accentuate the other flavors.” Orpheus gave a small smile, taking a sip of his water. He had to give it to the House - the water tasted fresher than some of the water he’d had in his own world.
“All that to say… I think you’re right. I prefer sweet, too. I mean… I’ve had really good things that aren’t sweet, of course, but I think things are better when they have a little bit of sweetness to them.” He reached for something else on the table, holding it up to the light to peer through the hole in the middle of the treat.
“This doesn’t look… sickly sweet.”

“Right,” Zuko replied, eyes narrowing a little bit at the fudge. He liked the apple pie a lot, he just wasn’t sure how he felt about something that was even sweeter. He frowned, then glanced back up at Sal. He trusted him, even though he had never tried food from Sal’s world before. He was grateful to the House for giving him the opportunity, even if he was expecting most of it to be fairly flavorless. Perhaps that was… an unfair assumption, but he hadn’t been proven wrong so far.
Zuko glanced at Sal’s face, gaze catching on the tiny crinkle in the skin around Sal’s eyes. He couldn’t see much, but he thought he was beginning to learn how the other boy expressed emotions. He felt a tiny glow of pride, then quickly squashed it back down.
“See, now I have to try it,” he replied, reaching for a piece from the same plate Sal had taken from.

Aesop // Living Room // Dia

A cursed mirror?

That was the only thing that Aesop could assume that this was. Why else would it be saying these things but speaking, well, seemingly about Rowlin.

Aesop looked at the mirror. Then at Rowlin.

They seemed like two different things. Were they? Was the mirror different from Rowlin?

“Living doll,” he confirmed. He wasn’t finding himself as surprised that the mirror had claimed itself a murderer. The question he had was how much did that extend to Rowlin? He had a feeling quite a lot.

“Who might this be then?” he asked, glancing in the direction of Rowlin very briefly. The idea that it might be more than just the mirror was fully a possibility in Aesop’s eyes. He just figured he’d give some benefit of the doubt.

('cracks knuckles' Time to remember how to write. lmao)

The forest sat quiet, it's ceiling of innumerable branches covered in still leaves untouched by any night breeze. Not even the sound of nocturnal animals disturbed the silence. To anyone able to feel even the slightest hint of foreboding, this should have set off the tiny alarm in the back of their mind that said something was off.

That wasn't quite the case for the first individual to arrive however, as sound finally broke the ominous calm. Besides his choice in outfit, everything about him contrasted his new environment. His mane of stark white hair, which he was busy trying to tie up behind his head, made him stand out like a lamp post. He was also softly humming to himself, closed eyes making him oblivious to his surroundings. The song might have sounded like nothing out of the ordinary at first, but on closer listening, there was something... unearthly about it. It was as if the very feeling of standing in the morning sunlight had been transformed into an audible noise.

He sensed her arrival without even laying eyes on her. A sudden flicker of Life, where before, there had been none. This caused the humming to abruptly stop.

"Ah, Hello!" Giving up on trying to make the feathery mass on his head stay put, the white haired blinker let it fall back down and instead moved his focus to addressing Eises. "I was curious how long I would remain the only one here." Though his previous, also the first, visit had been brief, it was long enough to remember the setting they were in, the size of the group and the members comprising it. None of those aspects were the same this time... Fascinating.

Not particularly interested in pursuing that subject further at the moment, A thoughtful gaze came to rest on the current newest arrival, as its owner properly turned to face her, revealing ice blue eyes that sharply contrasted the warmth of his previous humming. The cheerful tone he spoke with, however, along with his laid back demeanor still held the same disposition.

"Oh?" Instead of doing something sensible, like maybe trying to find out more about their current situation, how to leave, or even so much as introducing himself, the white haired blinker's sight simply wondered up to stare with curious awe at something on top of Eises' head. Her furry ears. "Those ears are genuine, yes? In that case, you must be one of those..." He paused, squinting his eyes shut and reaching up to rub his chin in thought. "Werewolves, I believe current day mythology calls them? Am I correct?"

The stranger seemed oblivious that his choice of blunt conversation starter could been seen as... Well, awkward. He did shake his head apologetically when he learned his guess about the other blinker's species was incorrect though.

"Ah, sorry about that." He apologized with a frown and disappointed sigh. "Here I'd thought my knowledge of sublunary life was improving."

Going by her description as part wolf... Was she a demigod of somesort perhaps? Any more pondering of what she was, if only to avoid making the same mistake again, was immediately put on hold as the conversation steered back to the one who started it.

The white haired stranger was, for the quickest 'blink and you'd miss it' moment, caught off guard. His blue eyes widened with apprehension, before his features were again sunny and he let out a quick chuckle. "Me? I am nothing of any import." Came his own candid answer. "I'm simply a wanderer who goes wherever the wind takes me."

It was then he finally realized he had never properly introduced himself, resulting in him giving himself a silent scolding for once again coming across as rude. "As for who I am... Hmm." He paused, like he was pondering what to say. "How about we go with 'Az'? Care to tell me what name you go by?"

test

With a loud yell, Eises flew into the living room as she blinked into the house and crashed right into the hooded shade. She attempted to roll a few feet away, and simply laid on the ground for several moments, dazed from having hit her head onto....someone.

She heaved herself into a sitting position and rubbed the side of her head with her hand. Who the hell just stands there knowing that I'm right- Her thoughts came to a stop when she opened an eye and saw her surroundings had completely changed. Without moving her head, her wide eyes slowly landed on the poor figure she had landed on. "O-oops..."

Eises gave the other blinker a sheepish smile, her ears hot with embarrassment. She was relieved that Mordecai didn't seem upset at her - at least judging by his voice. They were both lucky she wasn't in the middle of attacking, she was simply in the middle of having a sparring match with a certain grumpy snake.

"Hiya." She quickly jumped - quite literally - to her feet and offered her hand to the fallen Mordecai. "I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?" She asked half-jokingly. She didn't seem to notice that Mordecai got her name half-wrong, seeing that it was pronounced the same way as the shortened version of her nickname, 'Eis.'

Eises gently helped the other blinker get onto his feet. She looked him up and down, making sure he wasn't lying when he said he wasn't hurt. "Say, you make a good landing pad." He felt much lighter than she originally anticipated, much to her surprise. She fought back the urge to poke him sharply in his ribs.

She tilted her head, a bit confused at what he meant. "L-Like...ever?" Her eyes widened in wonder and curiosity. "What kinda life do you live?" There was no sarcasm or malice in her voice.

"Much better than the floor! I'm sure it was gettin' tired of me." Eises had become quite acquainted with the ground over the past several months of her job. Her tensed shoulders were beginning to relax as the two continued to chat.

"I get it." Eises felt a familiar pang stir in her chest as Mordecai spoke. "I was the same when I was younger....sorta." In Eises' case, she was homeless and travelling from place to place in search of temporary shelter and food. The only other familiar face she had been with was her son, who always stuck by her side, even to this day. "Do you plan on movin' someplace else?"

Despite the faint pain in her eyes, Eises gave Mordecai a toothy grin while pointing at her self with her thumb, "Let's hope the House is nice enough to keep blinkin' us together then."

"'Course it is!" With Eises' aerobatic fighting style, the ground had practically become her best friend. "I could use you in my world when I go out on a mission - it'd be nice to have someone catchin' me from the ground!" Eises smiled as she continued to joke.

"Ha, yeah. Those years were pretty long." Eises didn't meet Mordecai's eyes as she remembered her younger years. She then looked back at the other blinker. "I get it, moving can be risky, though it's all I've ever known. What kinda place is Kirro?" The last time Eises had stayed in a single spot was when her mother was still alive. She wasn't sure if the Echo's headquarters counted, as she was always travelling for missions. "What - you shy?" She lifted her eyebrows in a half-teasing manner.

Eises hummed as she gathered her thoughts. "Most of the time I'm an assassin, but sometimes I do escort stuff and bodyguard stuff too." Her Istra has grown quite fond of her after seeing Eises' quick motions and lack of hesitance. She felt warm in her chest at the fact that she was one of the best fighters the Echo had to offer. "I like doing the exploring missions too."

Her ears lowered for a few moments. "Yeah...it sorta does." Everyday during those years felt the same to her - being on the move, looking for food, finding a place for shelter, rinse and repeat. Even after she had met her current owner...She pushed the thought away. Another part of time blurring together was due to how little she wanted to remember those years.

"Your country's been to war?...Is it still at war?" Eises frowned, remembering her history lessons of the recent war Elisia was involved in. "They deserted the city then?"

Eises tilted her head in curiosity, wanting to learn more. "People here tend to be nicer, I guess." She was much more willing to approach strangers here at the House than back in her world.