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

“What are you suggesting?” Nico asked, brows raising as he continued to push against the cannon. “There’s gonna be a way out of here some way or another,” he replied, though that was mostly realism speaking, not optimism. There was always a way out. Although… Nico wouldn’t have put it past the House to make the only way out murder. It must have found it amusing, watching Hook kill him. It had happened twice, after all. It didn’t seem like just coincidence.
“Okay well, not every world has sea monsters,” Nico replied stubbornly, though he didn’t actually know that was true. With the large number of worlds there were… well, there had to be one that didn’t have sea monsters. “I mean, I know sea monsters attacked the ship I was on, but that’s cause we were basically a homing beacon.”
Having a bunch of demigods on a ship sounded a lot more dangerous than just having a bunch of random people on a ship. Maybe sea monsters just liked ships, though.
“What was your favorite to fight?” Nico asked, glancing back and giving the cannon one last shove. He knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere on the plank thing. Apparently, those were just fiction. Shame – the image of someone being shoved off a plank was practically synonymous with pirate ships in every media with pirates ever.
Nico didn’t see Hook’s smile, otherwise he likely would have stopped pushing at the cannon. He had no idea it was a setup. Finally, he got it lined up with the port, his breath coming in gasps from the effort. He was stronger than he looked – mostly because he looked like a malnourished kid who had his growth stunted.
“Okay,” he managed, finally looking back up at Hook. “What’s next?”

Kelsier | Living Room 2.0 | strider

Allomantic savants were fairly uncommon for a reason. You had to use them to an extreme amount to become one, and Kelsier had no plans to do that.
He was glad Nico didn’t seem too worried about it. It really wasn’t something he needed to be concerned about, after all.
The thing about this version of Nico was that he wasn’t all that different, really. Okay...maybe he asked more questions, was easier to impress, but really? He thought he knew Nico well enough to know that this small, excited version still existed. And why shouldn’t he?
“They do.” He confirmed, smiling. “I heal faster and better when I burn pewter, which also makes me stronger, faster, and more agile. Sometimes if I get really hurt I’ll burn it while I’m asleep, too.”
If Nico had been Mistborn, what would his specialty have been? Iron and steel, like Kelsier? Or something else? He wasn’t actually sure, and he supposed he’d never find out...not that it mattered. He was more interested in teaching this Nico everyone he could.
His smile deepened as Nico continued, and he nodded. “Okay, you make a good point.” He had to admit. “I look a little scary sometimes.” He couldn’t even tell Nico that was false. He was a terrifying man, sometimes, as Nico...even this Nico...would eventually learn. He didn’t have the scar to prove it yet.
It was only a matter of time.
“So don’t assume everyone is mean, but don’t assume they’re all nice, either.” He added after a moment of thought. “Yeah, just be careful. And thank you, I do try to be nice.” He grinned, taking the compliment, mostly because it somehow felt good to hear Nico say it. Even if he didn’t have context yet.
Kelsier watched the kid for a moment, and he knew that even if he didn’t remember this, he wouldn’t break that promise. He would be stubborn and determined and he would survive, just as Kelsier himself had. What were they? Two people who had been through hell and come out scarred but breathing. Two people who had met as enemies and become friends. A boy Kelsier thought of as a son, for better or for worse. A man who didn’t yet know if Nico wanted to be thought of as someone else’s son.
“None.” He confirmed, shaking his head a little. “I’d never seen a butterfly before I came here, and I only had a picture of a flower to tell me what they might look like. I’ve seen them now, in the House, but they don’t exist in my world, so I’m the only one. And my friend is very nice, yeah. He’s a very kind person who doesn’t quite know how much he matters.”
He met Nico’s eyes, not looking away. “If you have a question, it matters.” He answered simply. “Because you want to know the answer. Just because they’re adults doesn’t mean they should get to be the only ones whose thoughts matter. What you think is just as important as what they think.”

It made him both curious and a bit concerned, but he didn’t say anything, just glanced at Kid to see how he would react. Surprisingly, he didn’t really seem to react at all, as if everything was completely normal. Maybe stuff like that was normal enough here that no one was bothered by it. He couldn’t help but feel a flicker of hope at the idea… which promptly died when Kid answered his question.

Oh. That isn’t good.

Maybe the blinkers from all these other worlds and times wouldn’t mind his not quite human appearance, but if someone from his own world blinked in, he was highly doubtful that it would go well. “I see...” he replied finally. “That’s interesting to know… Thanks.” He meant it. It might not have been what he’d wanted to hear, but it was information that could potentially save his life, maybe even the life of another blinker.

Mordecai was glad when the others shifted the topic to the odd rooms of the House and he followed Kid into the hallway. The shade reached out to brush a gloved hand over the doors as he passed them. Like he’d noticed before, he could sense energy in the walls and doors, but nothing beyond them, as if there wasn’t anything waiting on the other side at all.

He glanced at Kid, then at Demon. A fox probably couldn’t open a door anyway so he turned the handle of the door nearest to him, swung it open and looked in. Like the last room he’d entered, it just looked like a very dark doorway. Even he couldn’t see what was past it. “Maybe this one?” He suggested.

Kid | Just a Few More Doors | with Enji Cloverleaf, Arlo --cato phoenix, and Steve Lark

"It is the entire theme of the House," Kid agreed with hesitation. He looked back at the Frenchman, then at Arlo.
"Should we open it?"
It seemed a bit too ... well ... easy.
Then again, what else were they supposed to do. There wasn't like there was a lot of other options once they entered a room. Didn't they usually have to see these through to the end.
"If opening the door is just to leave the room, that seems a bit ... anticlimactic," Kid admitted. 
Even still, he stepped forward, hand on the doorknob. At least if he opened it, if there was a trap on the other side, it was likely going to hit him.
He opened the door.
To reveal a room with another door. The room was a different color and there was now a shelf to Kid's left rather than the side table, but that was the difference.
"That's unfortunate," he mumbled, stepping forward. (He'd yet to notice the second set of words, since they didn't form until he entered the room.)
One more door please.

Though Mordecai had already heard three different blinkers explain the House, he didn’t mind hearing it again. It was interesting to hear how each person viewed it in comparison to his own experience- however short it had been so far. So far most of the ones he’d met had a somewhat positive view of the situation, despite the various issues that came with being there, but it was easy enough to understand that some people would rather stay in their own worlds. He nodded as the other blinker finished. “That’s good to know…” he trailed off, then remembering something he’d thought of earlier added, “So far I haven’t seen anyone more than once, is that unusual?” He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing yet. He was uncomfortable around new people, but he imagined that it would be harder to keep his secrets from blinkers he saw more often.

Mordecai hesitated to answer when Nico asked about going into one of the rooms. It seemed like every time he tried entering one he blinked out shortly after, but maybe his luck would be better this time. “Okay,” he replied. He’d heard that anything was possible in the House, and he’d seen what he’d thought were pretty good examples, but he still hadn’t had much experience there. “I’m…” he started quietly, considering his words, “Alright at fighting, if I need to.”

‘Alright at fighting’ hadn’t exactly been an accurate description, but considering the fact that some of his most dangerous abilities were some of the ones he wanted to keep hidden most, it was still something he hoped he wouldn’t need to do too soon. As for Nico, he had no idea what abilities or skills the boy might have, only that his energy seemed more ra’Seirri than human- though that might be normal with people from other worlds.

The shade glanced at Nico again before walking to the doorway and looking into the hall. “So far I haven’t seen any that looked like actual rooms,” he mentioned. “I’ve seen a door that lead to some ruins, another that went to a building in this… futuristic looking city. There were some sort of papers that gave people powers.” And then that one guy had jumped out the window… hopefully he’d been alright. Mordecai still wasn’t sure what that had been about.

Kelsier | Holiday Baking Room | mintedstar/fur

Kelsier followed, looking at the gingerbread house with a sort of wide-eyed wonder. It was, after all, completely new to him, and he was curious to see how it worked.
“So right now it’s just gingerbread, and we can make a house?” He smiled, coming around the other side to look at it from that angle. “Isn’t that the House asking us to make it in gingerbread form?”
He poked one of the pieces, then looked at Myrnin again, still smiling. He had no idea how this worked, but he was willing to find out.
He rubbed his hands together, then picked up a piece of candy and popped it on his mouth. “Let’s put some of them on.” He decided, and picked up two pieces, a roof piece and a wall, though he didn’t know that. “Okay, first question, do you know how to do this or are we flying blind?” He asked, his tone suggesting he was perfectly fine with either answer.

Nico tilted his head, considering the question. He didn’t actually know the answer, if only because as far as he was aware, people’s House experiences were so different that no one experience could ever be viewed as ‘normal.’
“I don’t know,” he admitted, shrugging a little bit. “I tend to blink in often with the same couple of people, but sometimes I meet new ones. I know there are a lot of people I’ve been in the same room with but have never actually spoken to.” That answer was likely little to no help at all to Mordecai, but Nico thought he might as well give himself credit for trying. It wasn’t like understanding the House was an easy task.
“There are a few people I’ve only seen once or twice,” he added, hoping that would help. “As you blink more you’ll probably run into people you’ve met before.”
Nico blinked, unsure if Mordecai’s hesitation was because he didn’t want to try a room, or because of something else. Nico didn’t really want to pressure him into anything, especially not a potentially dangerous situation, but he was having a hard time reading the shade.
“Then you’ll be able to handle most of the rooms,” Nico replied, managing a small smile. It was forced, but he hoped Mordecai wouldn’t be able to tell. “And anything you can’t, I’m pretty good at fighting.” There were powers he had that he didn’t really want to talk about either. He didn’t know what Mordecai could do, but he decided to take his word for it – if he was good enough at fighting to consider himself “alright,” then he’d be fine in the House. There were plenty of blinkers who couldn’t fight at all who were fine anyway.
“Yeah… they’re not really like rooms in a house,” Nico shrugged, “Which I guess makes calling this place the ‘House’ a little bit ironic. I’ve never been in either of the rooms you’ve mentioned though.” He frowned a little, stepping into the hallway. “The House doesn’t really like to repeat rooms, though.” He moved forward, tracing a hand against the wall. He had once thought there might be a way of figuring out what doorway went where, but… he’d long since given up that idea. It wasn’t even a matter of luck – just how the House was feeling that day. Hopefully, it wouldn’t make them fight. Nico wasn’t feeling particularly strong. Talking with Mordecai helped him forget what was going on in his world, but he couldn’t pretend away the physical exhaustion of it all.

Kelsier | Living Room 2.0 | strider

Kelsier knew his presence in Nico’s life was fairly recent. He knew Nico had known other people for a lot longer, and that was okay. Kelsier was grateful that there had been people there for him, before he was. Kelsier was grateful Nico had more than one person in his life who cared. If Nico had know to the truth...Kelsier would have been forced to admit that he couldn’t protect Nico, this one or the older one. He couldn’t do anything to fix it, he knew that. But Nico was strong. Nico didn’t need him. Nico was nothing short of incredible and Kelsier wouldn’t ever let himself think the kid needed him.
“Mistborn are pretty great, aren’t they?” He answered, smiling. The temptation to show off with atrium was suddenly strong, but he resisted, because wasting it seemed like a very good way to get himself killed back home, and he may have been foolish and impulsive but he wasn’t stupid.
He wished he knew whether the person Nico spoke of was dangerous or not. Still, his point stood. Being cautious was always a better idea than not.
He was such a hypocrite sometimes.
He kept smiling as he looked back at Nico. Well...the kid wasn’t wrong. He did need to look scary sometimes. Still...he didn’t like the idea of Nico being afraid of him. He was glad that he didn’t seem to be afraid, glad that he seemed to understand. He would learn, with time, how scary Kelsier could be. And somehow he wouldn’t fear him, even then. Maybe because he would have his own powers by then, be able to defend himself. Somehow, Kelsier couldn’t help hoping it was more than that.
“There used to be flowers and probably butterflies, too.” He told Nico, nodding a little. “But there hasn’t been any for a long time now. I have a friend who can remember things from before he was born, so he knows that green plants existed once. He told me about them as much as he could. I imagine my world used to be beautiful, once, as beautiful as yours is. And more than that...I’m going to fix it. I’m going to bring back green plants and flowers and butterflies.”
He looked at Nico, wondering whether the boy would believe him. Whether he would know how impossible Kelsier’s fantasy was.
“I should tell him.” He agreed, nodding a little, his smile returning. “He should know, shouldn’t he?”
He paused, and the smile faded just a little. Seen and not heard? He didn’t like that idea very much.
“What you think matters now.” He told him gently, his tone serious for once. “It matters now and it will matter when you’re older, too. You matter.”

“They are,” Nico replied, obviously enamored. “I wish I could be a Mistborn, but I guess if people from other worlds could be them, they wouldn’t be very special, would they?” He sounded a little disappointed by that. He wanted superpowers. He wanted to be able to do cool things like Kelsier could. He didn’t know about atium, but even without it he was pretty sure that Mistborn were the coolest thing he had heard of, ever. “Mistborn are even cooler than pirates and pilots,” he added, grinning. He didn’t know if Kelsier knew how much he admired both of those professions (though one was definitely a little bit more honorable than the other), but he hoped Kelsier realized what he was saying was genuine. He didn’t think Kelsier had any reason to disbelieve him.
Nico didn’t think he’d ever be afraid of Kelsier. In his mind, anyone who was good didn’t have any reason to be afraid of him. Kelsier was nice, and therefore he’d be nice to anyone who deserved it. He didn’t account for misunderstandings. He didn’t know he would be afraid of others getting too close. He didn’t know the House would push them closer to each other, he didn’t know his response to fear was going to get him killed. He didn’t know he’d end up painting himself as someone Kelsier needed to take down. He didn’t know he’d say the exact wrong thing. What he did know was that he liked Kelsier, and he trusted him more than he trusted most adults.
“How does your friend remember things from before he was born?” Nico asked, eyes going very, very wide. “Does he have superpowers too? I have a really bad memory sometimes, I can’t… remember where I put things, sometimes. Or what I was supposed to be doing when I go into rooms.” He shrugged, then lifted his gaze back up to Kelsier’s. “If he remembers flowers, doesn’t he know how to plant them? Couldn’t he find some seeds somewhere and just put those in the ground? You’d have flowers again if he did that!” He didn’t stop to consider where those seeds would have to come from.
“I believe you can fix it,” Nico whispered, eyes wide. “You have superpowers and you take down bad guys. If anyone… if anyone in your world can save it and bring back butterflies, it would have to be you!”
Nico lived in a world where there could be fairytale endings. In a world where people like Kelsier were born to win. That didn’t make his belief worth any less, though.
“Oh,” Nico replied, blinking a little bit. “I don’t think my teachers would like that idea very much, but…” he trailed off, brow creasing. “I want to believe you,” he decided, a shyer smile spreading across his face, this one more similar to the one he wore when he was older.

Kelsier | Living Room | <Raintalon>

Kelsier blinked in, flipping a dagger in his hand, a pensive expression on his features. He looked up as he noticed his blink, and he stood, hesitating just a moment before he put the weapon away. No danger here, and if there was, he could react to it fast enough without holding his dagger,
He paused, expecting someone else to blink in. They usually did. He hadn’t actually ever done a room on his own...he was willing to bet even if he tried, someone would just blink in anyway.
He sighed a little, rubbing his forehead. To wait here or to go check out a room...maybe he’d try the hall. He turned, taking a few steps towards fhe door as he made his decision. He’d never been that patient.

Kelsier | Living Room | <Raintalon>

Kelsier might not have noticed the girl if he hadn’t been trained the way he had. He might have continued to the hall, unaware that he was no longer alone,
The thing about being trained by your mentor randomly trying to kill you was that you were pretty good at knowing when you weren’t alone anymore.
He noticed immediately, but he didn’t turn. Instinct kept him walking forward, eyes fixed on the hall. Maybe he could tell she was a predator. Maybe he could tell she was afraid,
He stopped in front of the door, still not turning. He wasn’t afraid. He was confident in his ability to defend himself. But he didn’t want to startle her.
“Hey,” he said finally, tone gentle. “I’m Kelsier. Mistborn, though I doubt that means anything to you.”

Kelsier | Living Room | <Raintalon>

His instincts had been right. He turned, finally, to face the girl watching him.
And he smiled.
“You’re new,” he noted, tone still gentle as he looked at her. “Sadly, I’m not the one with that power. Not yet, anyway. Someday, when I figure out how it works, I’ll let you know.”
He met her eyes, his hazel ones relaxed and gentle. He was still smiling, not fiercely or coldly but warmly.

“Don’t attack.” He told her. “This is a place called the Paradox House. Not my creation or idea, I assure you.” Had he ever done the speech before? He didn’t think he had. “I can tell you about it, if you want me to. But you should know that you’ll go home eventually, and no time will have passed.”

Kelsier | Living Room | <Raintalon>

Kelsier put his hands out in a pacifying gesture, trying to ease the anger - which was actually fear, he had seen enough to know - in the room. She was desperate, he mused, and probably willing to do anything necessary to escape.
“I would rather you didn’t kill me.” He told her calmly. “But if you must try, I understand.” He tilted his head a little, raising an eyebrow at her as she shifted. He wasn’t surprised by it, not like he would have been before. He was used to inhuman blinkers by now. His best friends here so far were a demigod and a vampire, after all.
“Listen. You’re not in danger here, but if you go into the rooms, you might be.” He didn’t expect her to listen, but he did have to warn her before he let her through. How old was she, anyway? Thirteen?

Kelsier | Living Room | <Raintalon>

Kelsier was hoping he could avoid a fight.
Oh, Dox would have loved that. Kelsier, Survivor of Hathsin, professional pain in the ass, wanted to solve this peacefully. He had come a long way from the man who had stabbed Nico’s throat seconds after meeting him. The man who had left a scar on the kid’s face for nothing.
It was true, though. He didn’t want to fight her, he didn’t want to hurt her. He had seen enough desperate Skaa to know what someone with everything and nothing to lose looked like.
But that wasn’t to be.
He stepped towards her as she crashed to the floor, concern flicking through his eyes then stopped as he heard her words. “What?” He said, shaking his head. “I don’t know what you-“
If he’d been a regular human, those would have been his last words. As it was, he had thrown a coin at the wall and Pushed, throwing himself out of the way just in time, before he even realized what was happening.
His daggers were in his hands, he realized faintly as he landed, light on his feet. He turned, facing her again. “Listen. I’m not a dove, I don’t even know what that is.”