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

Enjolras almost pulled back as Myrnin pulled him into a group hug with Hook, but didn't. The vampire was a mess, shaking and crying. Well, Enjolras could deal with a brief hug if it made him feel better. He gave Myrnin's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

Kelsier didn’t come any closer. He knew better than to try and close that distance right now. Nico needed someone, and he needed someone to stand at the right distance and say the right things, and right now Kel wasn’t sure what that meant. He wasn’t good at this. He wasn’t usually the person who gave comfort or advice, he was the person who ignored other people’s advice in favor of his own ideas and plans.
But right now, his friend was hurting, and so he was going to put all that aside and do what he needed to do to make this right again.
“I think you’re forgetting that you and he are not the same person.” He said quietly. “Whether you would want him to come near you is up for debate, and I won’t argue with you about that now. The question is, what does he want? What does he need?”
He didn’t follow as Nico kept walking, but he did keep talking, his voice still soft but firm and it carried,
“You know him better than I do, but he did kill me to save you.” A reference he knew was fresh in both their minds. “So I think it’s pretty unlikely that he’s going to suddenly decide you’re not worth that anymore because you made one mistake. Give him a little credit.”

Nico froze again, then immediately turned on Kelsier, expression intense but unreadable. "Gods, Kelsier. Did you ever wonder why I don't have friends in my world, huh?" The words flew out of him before he could stop them, but he did mean them. "I don't know how to help him. I don't know what he needs, I just know that I'm the reason he's out there crying, and I'm tired of hurting people every single time I try to help!" He slammed his mouth shut, trying to keep his jaw from wobbling. He stared at Kelsier for a very long moment, chest trembling with the effort of trying to keep his breaths even, as though he weren't upset.
"Go be there for him," he managed softly. "I'm not going to make this about me when he's the one who's hurting."

Kelsier’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t interrupt. He just let Nico fling the words at him, because he knew they weren’t intended for him, not really. They were meant to fly right back at the boy throwing them.
He wasn’t going to back down. He didn’t back down, he didn’t flinch. “I’m not in your world.” He answered finally, not looking away for a moment. “I don’t know what it’s like for you there. But I know damn well what it’s like in the House, so don’t tell me that you don’t have friends. Don’t you dare stand there and tell me that.”
He shook his head. “That’s debatable. I could stand here and argue with you for hours, and I think you’d find I’d make a very good case.” He told him, standing still, not moving forward or back. Then he shook his head slowly.
“He barely knows me.” He pointed out. “I’ll be there for him. I promise you that. But I’m not who he needs right now. You don’t know what he needs? Well, Nico, I have friends in my world, and I think if I were to accidentally hurt them very badly, they would feel very bad if I were to walk away like I didn’t care.”
His eyes softened.
“I know you. I know you’re trying to do the right thing. But walking away right now is a mistake you can’t take back. I won’t stop you, but please...think about it from his perspective first. Because if you’re wrong...”
He didn’t blink. “Myrnin is a good man. Talk to him. Tell him what happened. Then if he still chooses to turn away, he’ll have all the information he needs to do it.”

"I never said I didn't have friends here." Nico replied quietly, looking anywhere but Kelsier. "But I don't know how to keep them." He clenched his teeth, trying to articulate what he meant, trying to explain to Kelsier that he'd done everything he'd known how to do before everyone had died, and he didn't know what to do beyond that. He swallowed, eyes locked on the floor as he took what Kelsier was saying.
"The only thing I can do is make it worse," he murmured, shoulders hunching. Other people knew how to talk to people. Other people knew what to do when their friends were hurting, knew how to apologize. Other people knew the right things to say. Nico just... didn't.
"Don't you dare insinuate I don't care," he added softly but intensely, half turning to walk away again. He didn't want to. If Kelsier was right, and there was even the slightest possibility that Myrnin might want to see him... he didn't want to do that in front of people.
Finally, he met Kelsier's gaze. "Do you really think going back is the right thing? Not... not giving him time or... something else?"

Well, looked like Myrnin wasn't going to answer. He didn't think he'd found his tongue just yet. It was hard to work out two consecutive things at once other than the fact that he wanted - or at least felt like he needed - to cry a bit longer. Why did the House have to do this to him? It didn't seem fair.
Hook's protests were ignored. At least for now. Myrnin seemed more intent on hugging anything nearby, so Hook better start learning magic and conjure up something better, or he was stuck with Myrnin and his problems.

That, or he unhooked an arm from around ... well, Hook ... and shifted his weight again.
Enjolras got a second hug. Apparently it had been deemed that Myrnin wasn't going to wait and see if he could help Myrnin, since this silent looking wasn't getting anywhere.

Steve didn't know he had it in himself to grab Mabel's hand trying to shake it. Before he knew it, the preppy girl was gone in the blink of an eye. What replaced her was a wave of flames that over took the chaotic room, voices too loud and panicked for him to properly understand. It was too much for Steve to handle despite what the last week of his life had been spiraling down into madness as well. Whatever caused everything to hit the fan it was quick and painless.

Sooner or later, Steve's senses came back to him when the teen blinked back into the living room leaning right next to the last, horrid smelling pirate to sail the seven sees. One drink might do him in, he saw the pirate indulging himself to his misery. Misery likes company. "Didn't know you had friends." Steve's words sounded genuine, less panicked when they first met. Facing the pirate would reveal his completely battered face, bruises and scrapes that he couldn't hide behind a glamourous facade. "Today has been full of surprises, huh?"

And apparently what Myrnin needed he couldn't quite explain and Enjolras couldn't guess. He froze as Myrnin went in for a second hug, but gave him another pat. The vampire always seemed a bit... haughty, or overpowered in a way that Enjolras shied away from. But seeing mere darkness put him into this shaking, weeping state gave Enjolras another perspective on the mad genius. "Auh- do you know the other blinker in the hallway-" Enjolras attempted, hoping Myrnin knew Kelsier enough to perhaps hand the vampire off to him. Or Nico knew him as well, but the boy was touchy, and almost certainly not a hugger.

"And that's why he doesn't have friends." Enjolras couldn't help but throw in a comment as Steve and Hook had an exchange. Though Enjolras did appreciate the fact that Hook didn't seem to be going after Myrnin at all, and honestly, was being almost nice to him.

Well, since there was someone else within arms reach and it arms were long enough ...
Not letting go of anyone, but more of leaning further in the direction of Hook, Myrnin rested his head on Steve's shoulder, shaking a touch less, but not so much that it was very noticeably. He was still trembling like a leaf. But now he'd also likely squished Enjolras, Hook, and Steve together by dragging the former two closer to one another.
Also Steve's shoulder might get blood on it from Myrnin's crying.
Whoops.

Kelsier listened, nodding. It felt important to note that, and he understood why Nico had made the distinction. So...whatever had happened, it had been a reaction on Myrnin’s part, not the shadows themselves.
He didn’t know the other blond man at all, and he knew Hook only well enough the point very strongly dislike him. Neither were probably good to have around for this. Besides, whatever Nico thought of them, this wasn’t really about them. It wasn’t about Kelsier, either.
He was just trying to help anyway.
He nodded once. He didn’t need to say he understood what a promise meant to Nico, they both knew that already. Instead he turned and headed back for the others on the couch, preparing himself to do...well. Whatever he needed to do.
“Myrnin.” He said, pausing near the group. They were...hugging. Sort of. They didn’t seem very happy about it. He got the distinct impression they didn’t know the vampire very well.
Neither did he, actually.
Well enough, though.
“Alright, come on.” He said, and reached out a hand to the other blinker. “Trust me. Okay? We’re going to go see Nico. That’s what you need, right? To talk to him?”
He hoped he was right. He really, really hoped he was on the right track here. If he’d known Myrnin a little better, maybe he would have been more confident, but all he had right now was a split second decision and the hope that it was the right one.

It was clearly not very hard to peel the emotional vampire away from the tired teen, the drunk pirate, or the Frenchman. This might have been good for them, but was slightly debatable for Kelsier, since this basically meant transferring the shaking vampire to hug Kelsier instead.
Apparently better than the other three was good enough for Myrnin. He nodded, though it was debatable or not if Kelsier saw. He did need to talk to Nico. He hadn't mean ... he hadn't meant to act like this.
Dying scared him. The dark scared him. The two feelings twined together over a frankly stressful last couple of weeks and this was the result. He ... needed to know he wasn't alone. That the darkness behind his eyes - the darkness behind life - wasn't what was here and now.
And if hugging Kelsier would help, he was going to hug Kelsier for a second and hope his ... new friend? ... wouldn't find that weird.
(Hook, Steve, and Enjolras didn't get that consideration, because Myrnin wasn't friends with them and thus usually weirdness was what he aimed for. Controlled (or at least slightly more predictable) weirdness around friends.)

Nico had gone far enough down the hallway that he felt they couldn't be overheard. Not that he thought Enjolras or Hook particularly cared about whatever it was he was going to talk to Myrnin about, but it still felt better to do this in private, where he could mess it up without anyone judging him for it. Except Kelsier. And Myrnin himself. He pressed his forehead against his knees, hidden well in the shadows until he noticed the movement of shadows - shadows he didn't control - along the wall. That would be Kelsier, then, coming back with Myrnin. Nico pushed himself to his feet, stepping awkwardly into the light and staring at his feet. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what he was supposed to say, because he had apologized, and apologies became cheap if you used them too many times, especially when the first one hadn't been accepted yet... he squeezed his eyes shut against the thought before he looked up and met Myrnin's bloodshot eyes.

Kelsier backed off a bit as Myrnin let go of him, and he offered Nico an encouraging smile before he turned and moved towards the entrance to the hall.
And then he waited. He was more blocking people from going in that he was waiting for the other two to come out. He couldn’t hear what they were saying anymore, though he could have if he’d been burning tin.
But he wasn’t. Because as much as he wanted this to go well, as long as Nico wasn’t in any danger (and Kel didn’t believe he was) this wasn’t about him. So he was just going to sit there and hope it went well, at the same time prepared himself for the possibility that it might not.
From what he knew of Myrnin, it would.
He hoped it would.

Steve waited for the shoe to drop, perhaps the smell of alcohol mixed with sea salt. No direct punch came about instead the gentle touch touch an emotional stranger. That made two of them. The vampire's face leaked a strange substance of one he'd never seen before. He stared longer than he should have feeling the wet feeling of tears sink into his already bloodied, green sweater. Steve let the sad excuse of a hug happen. The peculiar interaction lasted shortly, the blood did not register in his mind and the strangeness of it all caught him off guard. He didn't shove Myrnin away no matter if it was pretty weird. A rare moment of unity between the group that would haventorn itself to pieces. He attempted to gave Myrnin a pat befofe he was peeled off like sloth.

Then he blinked out.