snowblindrpg | [network] @hotstud_xxx, Late Night 190, audio [open]

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[network] @hotstud_xxx, Late Night 190, audio [open]

[It's almost midnight when House's message goes out. He sounds honestly terrified. His hands are shaking too much to type, and he's too frantic to think of voice-to-text. There's also the music. He can hear it. He can't tell where it's coming from, but it's there and it's fading in and out with the static and a whisper that he can just make out.

It would probably be better to see to his wounds first, but that's secondary at the moment.]

The music. Who's hearing the music and the static? Have anyone's eyes changed? Who can hear it?

[He sings the first few lines.]

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green...

It's Andromeda's song for Winter. It's the song in the apartment with the knives. The Jedi heard it, too. His eyes or his hand set it off.

Who can hear it?

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It's superficial. Head wounds bleed too much. I've blockaded the door. Told you I'm not leaving until they're gone.

Do you need me to walk you through calming down?

No.

[Maybe.]

Give me a puzzle. A riddle. Anything.

[Give him something he can actually solve.]

Edited 2016-12-22 02:50 (UTC)

[Hope you like old Russian riddles, House.]

A peasant bought four scythes for a sovereign. What will each come to?

Edited 2016-12-22 02:56 (UTC)

[He quickly discards 'sovereign' in the currency sense. She's Russian, not British. If it had been four peasants, he might have a morbid 'a swift end' for an answer as to the fate of the peasants. But this is talking about the fate of the scythes. What is the purpose of a scythe beyond death imagery? Field work. Clearing.

All of that reasoning takes about five seconds.]

The ground. Give me something more complex.

[She's not going to be able to remember anything horrifically complex off the top of her head, but she'll try.]

Prove that seven is half of twelve.

[Math isn't a great direction to go to challenge him on riddles.]

Base 12. 12 equals 14. Half of 14 is 7. I said complex.

[At least he's getting some of his snark back, so that's something.]

Good, but not the answer I was looking for. Try again.

[House's eyes narrow. Multiple answers, okay. He runs through a few different base systems in his head, then does a little more mental math before settling on another answer after about half a minute of silence.]

Roman numerals. X is ten, V is five, I is one. Twelve is X-I-I, seven is V-I-I, half of twelve.

Correct.

[She's silent for a moment as she remembers another and then tries to decide how to translate it.]

You want to show someone something that neither of you have seen before and, after you see it, no one else will ever see again. What is it and how do you do it?

Edited 2016-12-22 04:11 (UTC)

[House is momentarily stymied on that one. A secret is the first thing to come to mind, just with the general way that riddle is set up, but it doesn't fit. You can't see a secret. Virginity is off the table for the same reason. It's also a bit more risque than any of the others and probably not on Natasha's mind for the moment.

Something never seen before and no one will ever see again. his mind turns to boxes. Pandora's box? There's something special to do with how you open it, though. A locked door? But that's too simple and it doesn't solve the problem of no one seeing it again.

Something that breaks when you open it? Or stops being what it was. Clams? Pearls? But they'll make another one. Something like that. A mussel? Food.]

Can you eat it?

Turning this into twenty questions might be cheating, but yes.

Mussels. Or anything you have to crack into. Nuts or an eggs.

Correct. Should I keep going?

[There's a pause.]

No. Later, maybe.

[He's going to look like a freaking idiot if nothing comes from any of this. House is aware he should have waited on this for the morning. Now, anyway.]

Thank you.

You're welcome. Are you sure you don't want to tell me what happened?

Why do you want to know?

[Paranoia strikes deep...]

That whole annoying Avengers business, remember? I want to know if you need help.

You can't help me. It's personal. It's not going to change.

Personal, hm? If you decide you want help, let me know.

I won't. Later.

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