Un-stereotypical love ~Roman & Archie~

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Serpentine

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Heat. Orange flames, bouncing around like evil shadows, taunting the young male with glasses to venture closer. Archie Erling was more than a bit intimidated by the fire engulfing his apartment. Cursing under his breath, he grabbed wet towels and attempted to smother the flames, but it failed abruptly. Groaning, the male ran his hands nervously through his brown hair and looked around frantically for something, anything. It had been his fault for buying a cheap and unstable computer to do his work on. Being the worker he was, Archie had left the computer running continuously at night without giving it a break, leaving him with a fire. A fire that was slowly eating at the apartment that he had worked so hard to gain money for. Giving out a cry of frustration, he failed to see a falling beam from the burned roof that came tumbling upon his head. Archie fell to the ground and attempted to move, but the pain seared against his skull...he was stuck. 'I'm going to die...I'm really going to die!' he thought to himself.

@Ay-Ex
 
"We got a call!" Wesley peeked over to Roman, who was sitting ready in the offices. He just assumed another cat was stuck in a tree. The usual day. But the sirens went off in the garage and Roman reconsidered. He jumped from his seat and into the changing room, pulling on the yellow and navy overalls, covering his white tank top. Once his helmet was on, Roman climbed into the seat and prepared for the worst.

On the road, Roman was informed an apartment had gone up in flames, the worry was that somebody was inside. They all assumed that Roman was going to be the one to go in there as the rest of them mow the flames with water. Roman didn't mind that so much, it meant he was saving people. As they arrived, there was thick black smoke filling the air. Roman's heart was beating quickly as he jumped out the truck, collecting an oxygen mask and signalling to his friends he was going in. Roman pulled down his visor and began to jog into the apartment. There really was no time to collect anything, since the fire was getting higher and higher.

"Hello?!" Roman practically kicked down the door into the flaming room. He had to bend over to see underneath the cloud of black soot. As he squinted, Roman noticed a body under the wood, "Oh shit." He hissed, running over to the man. Roman tipped the wooden beam, which was beginning to flame. It came off the body as Roman used his strength to remove it. As he looked down to see glasses, Roman hoped this man was alive. Just as he began to consider getting paramedics up, something exploded, creating a burst of flames.

Roman dived over the man on the floor, protecting him from the flames. It completely knocked Roman forwards over the man, making his helmet fly off and the side of his head to scrape against the wooden beam. "Fuck!" He shouted. Being too selfless, Roman foolishly took off his oxygen mask and slipped it over the mans mouth, he needed it more. Roman began breathing in thick smoke as he scooped up the man's body quickly, carrying him out of the inferno as quickly as he could.​
 
There was a loud explosion that Archie could hear, but the pain kept his limbs still and rigid, almost as if they had minds of their own. The pressure of someone lying on top of him was overwhelming, and he placed the body to the voice that had entered his apartment, cursing out loud. One thought came to mind as to who the person was: a fireman. As he was taking another breath, Archie expected to take in another breath of soot and dust, but was met with pure oxygen being rushed into his lungs. Immediately, his mind went blank, wondering why the fireman was putting the mas over his face instead of his own. Then, he felt as his body was lifted, almost like he weighed nothing, and was quickly carried out of the apartment.

When they had reached outside, Archie could already tell based on the sunlight hitting his eyelids through his glasses. The sudden intake of nothing but pure oxygen had started to clear his lungs, so he weakly pulled the mask from his face and coughed up the soot, leaning his head away from the fireman to spit. Slowly, he started to open his eyes and felt the burn immediately settle in them, from being in the smoke. Not only that, his head was pounding like someone had slammed his head into a brick wall a few times with brute strength.

"W-What happened?" Archie asked weakly, his usual dark and rich voice was hoarse from the continuous intake of smoke and soot. The male lifted his gaze to the fireman, furrowing his brow slightly as his vision was still slightly blurred.

@Ay-Ex
 
As soon as they reached fresh air, Roman's throat was burning along with his eyes. Since the visor was knocked off his head, Roman knew he had injury. But it didn't occur to him as he heard the man speak. Roman coughed as he carried the man over to the paramedics, "Stretcher!" He shouted. As he shouted, Roman gasped in pain, his throat and lungs were burning. The paramedics quickly ran over to him with the bed, looking concerned as the fire was getting put out. Roman put down the man he just rescued and leaned against the nearest surface, bent over and coughing. Something was burning inside of him after he practically inhaled the gas and toxins.

"Sir, get in the ambulance - You're ill." A paramedic said. Roman attempted to waft her away before he coughed loudly, feeling like he was going to throw up. He retched and coughed, looking down to see spots of crimson liquid. The paramedic took no time hurrying him into the ambulance, even with his protests.

Roman was sat down next to the man on the stretcher as he ambulance sirens whirled, taking them away from the blaze. Roman's eyes were tinted red, like he had been crying. He continued to cough as he was hurled about. "Is he okay?!" Roman choked out, referencing to the man who he had just saved.​
 
The voice. Archie heard the voice of the fireman as he called out for the stretcher. As they moved him, the brown haired man felt as his muscles ached from the toxic smoke his body took in. He groaned and felt as he was laid onto a stretcher and pulled into the ambulance, hearing the fireman's retching as he was taken from the his view. His mind didn't seem to want to work, only wanting to breath and blink, no thoughts running through his head...almost like he was in a dream of some sort. Then, Archie heard the fireman's voice as the fireman was ushered into the ambulance, not looking too good. Once he heard the man ask if he was alright, Archie slowly turned his head and looked upon his rescuer's face. Some sort of familiarity struck him like a punch to the face, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"I-I'm alright...but I don't think that breathing in all of those fumes was very good for my health. That stupid computer...I knew I shouldn't have bought it off of some cheapskate." Archie growled softly, sending a fit of coughs over him before opening one eye to glance at the other man. He didn't seem like he was in very good shape, by the looks of it. "Sorry if this is kind of random, but you look really familiar. Have we met before?" he asked, wincing from the sharp pain travelling through his skull.

@Ay-Ex
 
As the ambulance hurled them around corners, Roman's mouth stopped being as dry. His vision was improved too. Tears of irritated eyes were staining his cheeks, but Roman pulled off his gloves to wipe them away from his red eyes. His lungs were still burning but it wasn't as bad. There was blood down the side of his face and it was stinging, but Roman was focusing now. The voice was familiar. Roman furrowed his eyebrows as he leaned down onto his knees, "Do I?" He stared at the frames, wracking his brain.

Then it hit him. Archie. Roman huffed out a queasy chuckle, "High school, I'm Roman?" He said, like he was making sure. But the voice and face was familiar. All Roman could picture now was some nerdy kid who did English. That was all that came to mind. Roman was about to remind Archie of who he was but the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. Before he could get out himself, Roman was tugged out along with Archie. He was ushered into the hospital and flung into cubicles. "Jesus - I'm fine!" He said, before going into a coughing fit, feeling more blood come up with his lungs.​
 
Archie's eyes widened a bit as the name came together with the fireman's voice. Roman. That's why he was oddly familiar. The boy who always seemed to do sports in school. They had barely spoken to each other, and if it was, it had to have been about something related to classes. With a groan, Archie slowly attempted to sit up, his body sending painful jolts through his body, telling him to stop. Being the usually stubborn man he was, Archie managed to sit up all the way, his lungs crying out in agony. "Ah, Roman...now I remember." he said simply, getting ready to enter his thoughts when the ambulance doors were yanked open and they were both thrown into cubicles. Archie could hear Roman object, saying that he was fine, before going into a coughing fit.

With a sigh, Archie closed his eyes and pressed his thumb and pointer finger against the bridge of his glasses. "You aren't fine, apparently. You should just sit down and relax a bit before you wreck your body even more than it is." he called over to the fireman in his usual seemingly cold and statistical tone. Afterward, he cringed and pressed a hand against his rib cage, feeling more pain develop as his own lungs began to retaliate to the poisonous gasses that entered them not too long ago.

@Ay-Ex
 
"Yeah well, I have a job to do!" Roman called back before coughing again. He sat down on the bed and coughed loudly, the nurses running around him, forcing him to lie down on his back. As he did so, he felt the pain in his lungs and cringed. Maybe he should let the doctors do their job.

After a while, Roman had relaxed into the bed, he closed his eyes and let the doctors do their various tests. He was still annoyed that he was injured, it meant getting back onto work was going to be hard. Not to mention the fact his boss was going to get mad over the health and safety stuff. Roman sighed, opening his eyes momentarily to throw up. He felt disgusting as he emptied his stomach into the brown bowl held by a nurse. He could see blood.

"You have damage to your lungs. And to your eyes. Your head had been stitched up-" The doctor droned as Roman sat up, groaning as he did so, "But you're going to need to use daily eye-drops and these-" She handed him various pills and droppers, "Everyday. We're monitoring you over night." The doctor blabbed before Roman looked around for Archie, "The guy I brought in.. Archie, how is he doing?" He asked, taking the pills and not taking in what the doctor was talking about.​
 
Archie groaned at Roman's retort, but stopped when he coughed, feeling his lungs trying to protest against the stuff in his lungs. "God, this is worse than I thought." he wheezed, gripping his shirt as he clenched his eyes shut. Next thing he knew, there was a doctor standing above him. "Archie...Archie?" Archie opened one of his eyes and groaned a response. The doctor looked over his clipboard and started reading off of it.

"Your lungs are in pretty bad shape. You'll need to sit here over night and let us clean them out. That can be helped with clear air, pills-" the doctor stopped when Archie cut him off.

"Um, sorry but I don't do pills. Is there any other way to clean out my lungs?" he asked, raising an eyebrow lazily, using the same tone with the doctor that he used with Roman. The doctor nodded and proceeded to plug in tubes into his nose, leading to his lungs. Almost immediately, Archie could feel the impact the air had on his lungs. It sent him into a coughing fit and he grabbed the trash can next to his bed, spitting up black grime and soot that had been collected within them. When he was finally able to calm himself down, Archie turned to the doctor and took in a deep breath.

"Hey, is that fireman guy okay? Roman? He looked pretty bad last time I saw him." he asked in a matter-of-fact tone. Other people would usually place the tone as uncaring and cold, but it was Archie's usual way of speaking. At the moment, he was actually curious about the other man. The doctor nodded and sighed a bit.

"If you want, we can put both of your beds next to each other." he offered. Archie furrowed his brow and hesitated. Was it really necessary? Well, he should probably thank the man anyway for saving his life. The doctor nodded and went to go ask Roman, leaving Archie to his thoughts.

@Ay-Ex
 
The doctor rushed away and Roman tried to shift about, groaning in pain as he did so. He sat up straight and rubbed his head, hopefully this wouldn't be affecting his career. How was he supposed to do his job with damaged lungs and eyes? Hopefully it wouldn't be long lasting. He looked down at the time before sighing, resting his head against the wall as he prepared to get up.

Before he could get anywhere, a doctor walked into the his room. "If you would like, we can move you over to Archie's room - For the night." The doctor spoke. Roman frowned for a second before shrugging, the company would be nice. Plus, dark hospitals gave Roman the creeps... "Sure - I guess I could use the company.." Roman nodded. The doctor called over a porter and Roman realized they were going to wheel him over. "No, no. I can walk." Roman grunted as he quickly got out of bed.

The doctor led him to Archie's room and Roman gave him a weak smile. The doctor sighed as he wheeled in the bed behind him. "How're you holdin' up?" Roman said, his voice low and croaky. As the doctors left, Roman sat down on the end of his bed and coughed a bit.​
 
The sound of squeaking wheels and footsteps tore Archie from his thoughts. The man sat up in his bed, pausing a bit as pain rolled through his head. Then, the fireman slowly walked into the room, a weak smile on his face. Archie furrowed his brow slightly and watched as the doctor wheeled his bed in. So, he had accepted the offer. When he heard the other male ask how he was holding up, Archie tried to scoff, but it only came out as a weak huff.

"I should be the one asking you that. You looked terrible earlier...talk about a coincidental high school reunion, huh?" Archie said, sarcasm smudging his tone ever so slightly, as usual. He sighed and cringed a bit, pain rolling through his head like a locomotive had hit it. Once more, he opened his eyes and found them trained onto Roman, who was coughing on the edge of his bed. Archie felt something come up his throat, so he turned to the side and spit into the trash bin. More soot. He groaned and pressed a hand against his bandaged head, feeling feverish all over. "So, why did you do something so stupid? You should have kept your oxygen mask for yourself. You know, stunts like that can get you killed." Archie pointed out, his usual cold and statistical tone taking over as he pushed the bridge of his glasses higher onto his face. Not that he cared how people took what he said...nobody had liked him before, so why should he bother 'making buddies' now? After all, it was the truth.

@Ay-Ex
 
"Tell me about it." Roman chuckled as he finished coughing, stretching back to lean on his hands behind him to get some air. Before all of this, Archie hadn't popped into his mind since high school, it was odd seeing him now. Neither of them seemed to be in a good state. Archie was coughing up something and Roman was heaving slightly. But he felt much better than he did before, his lungs weren't stinging and his head injury wasn't a sharp pain anymore. He laughed, Archie seemed to be the sharp pain right now.

"Yeah - I totally regret giving you your voice back." Roman laughed, not taking Archie's sarcasm seriously. He had his way of just assuming the good of people. And to him, Archie looked more sympathetic than sarcastic. "It's my job to be an idiot for the lives of others. It's what us firemen do." He smiled genuinely as he shuffled back on the bed. Roman crossed his legs, making him look like an over-sized man child. "So..." He decided to move on from the whole incident, "Whatcha' been up to after school? I haven't really caught up with anybody since it ended." Roman shrugged, sighing as he looked over to Archie with a warm smile.​
 
Archie shook his head at Roman's laughter, obviously not taking his sarcasm seriously. He remembered that laugh, as he heard it frequently during classes in high school when the jock-like boy would hang out with his friends. He looked up at the man now, listening as he asked what he had been up to. Archie gave a humorless chuckle and lifted his head to gaze at the ceiling.

"What have I been up to? Well, I'm an author now...I write for a living. It doesn't really pay as much, but I was willing to get as much money as I could to get away from home..." he said softly, memories of his tormented senior year of high school swirling in his mind, causing a stony look to cross the young author's face. He had often wished to go back in time and prevent himself from being born, but he just chose to live with himself after a while. Now, all that was left, was his bitterness toward his family for their horrible treatment cast at him all because he was...different. With a sigh, Archie turned his icy eyes back to Roman and glanced over him.

"Now that I'm looking at you, you sure haven't changed very much. That's to be expected, I guess...not everybody really changes during their last year of high school..." he sighed and tucked his hands behind his head, closing his eyes for a moment. 'At least, everybody but me never changes...' he thought bitterly to himself, remembering his mother and father's faces as he revealed the truth to them. Contorted with spite and disgust...Archie shuddered at the memory.

@Ay-Ex
 
"An author? Well, I can't say I'm surprised..." Vague memories of teenage Archie drifted across his mind, Roman did remember him taking English. Sometimes Roman had a sort of passion like writing or something. Archie seemed to. But heck, Roman would say his job was his passion. Saving lives was something to be passionate about.

"I can't say I have. I've grown, even more." Roman snorted. He had always been a weirdly large guy, in muscle and height. It explained why he was always picked first in gym class. "Now I just kind of do what I did when I finished high-school." He turned to look over to the young man, "Being an idiot, saving lives... The usual." He laughed. Archie's eyes were cold compared to the rest of his looks. He sort of looked, soft and nerdy. His eyes were a sharp contrast. Roman narrowed his before turning back to face the door far in front of him. Roman's eyes were warm and soft, which weirdly contrasted his brutish looks and large height.

"Whatcha write about? Anything fun or?" Roman kept trying to make conversation. Just because he looked tough, didn't meant he was. Roman actually loved the company of others and liked to get along with them. He looked over to the icy eyes and gave him a warm smile.​
 
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At Roman's comment about not being surprised at Archie's choice of being an author, Archie's eyes slightly widened for a fraction of a second before returning them to their normal shape. He turned his gray eyes from the ceiling and looked at Roman, listening as he spoke. What he said was true...the jock-like man sure had grown a bit more since he had last seen him in high school. Taller, more muscle...as if he wasn't strongly built enough in high school. Archie sighed and glanced down at his skinnier frame, scrunching his nose ever so slightly before lifting his gaze back to Roman.

"You've got the being an idiot one right...but I never thought you'd get a job saving lives. I kind of expected you to join the sports career. You know, football or something." Archie said with a slight meaningless shrug. As the young author looked over Roman, he noticed how soft and gentle his eyes looked...they certainly didn't match his build, that much was for sure. The contrast between the two of them was so visible that even a three-year-old could point it out. Archie, being the cold loner author he is, was sure to clash with a compassionate jock-like fireman. Archie was so deep in thought that he almost missed what the fireman asked next. Fortunately, he was able to catch the important part of the question.

"Um...well, I write a variety. Mainly fiction books of the sort. I really can't stand non-fiction stuff, bores me out of my mind." he said with another small shrug and a matter-of-fact tone to his voice. What he failed to reveal, was that he was a softy on the inside for fiction romance novels. Not just the romance novels with two different genders, but novels about homosexuals. What could he say? He was, in fact, like that...so what was the harm in reading them? Was he about to tell the other man that? Of course not. Archie was afraid of losing his cold appearance if he did, so the author kept that little fact to himself, enjoying the privacy of keeping it hidden. The male looked back at Roman and furrowed his brow slightly. "Have you ever...gotten bored of your job? Or come to a point when you wish you could quit?" he asked suddenly, shifting in the bed before pausing and pressing a hand to his rib cage, cringing slightly. Soon, he recovered and managed to sit even more upright before turning his attention to the fireman in the bed next to his.

@Ay-Ex
 
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Roman chuckled at the idea of a sports career. Even though he was good at most of them, he'd never found one to be passionate about. Plus, he knew he didn't try hard enough in school to go that far. "Oh cool." Roman nodded. He didn't want to point out that he read books next to never. Movies were his main thing. Roman was sure he had watched every single Romcom out there. And probably cried over them all too.

"You should show me sometime, I'm interested to see." He smiled, wondering what specifically he wrote. Childrens? Crime? Romance? Roman studied the man with his eyes, he looked like he'd probably write murder novels with those eyes of his. "Bored of my job? Theres not really much to get bored of. Lots of the time its like, an adrenaline shot every time you're called out... Not when cats are stuck up trees. But the life-saving, fighting through fires, doing the most dangerous things. I can't get bored of it.." Roman spoke, mumbling the last bit. "But I guess I'm used to it." Roman shrugged. "What about you? Ever want to scrap writing and peruse something else?" Roman tilted his head.​
 
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At the thought of showing Roman his writing, Archie blinked and turned his icy eyes away from the other male, crossing his arms across his chest and refusing to respond. Then, hearing the male speak again, answering his question, the young author turned his eyes back to the fireman and never broke his gaze. Being a writer, he thought it was very important to pay attention to a speaker, no matter what the situation. After hearing Roman's thought about his job, Archie slowly nodded and coughed a bit. The man seemed to really enjoy his job, like he didn't have anything to worry about. When the question was then turned on him, the young author furrowed his brow a bit before thinking about it.

"Writing...it's a love-hate relationship to me, metaphorically speaking. I enjoy it with a passion, but at the same time, it brings up some unwanted memories that I'd rather yank from my brain than have sticking around. Writing puts me into a whole different world that I can involve myself in, but it also emotionally tortures me. I don't know how to explain it well enough for you to understand it the way I feel it, but there are just some things you can't express into words. Sometimes I want to quit, but I can never bring myself to do it...it's almost as if writing is my way out as well as my captor. Strange, isn't it?" Archie spoke in a nonchalant tone, sighing a bit as he finished, as if what he said hadn't really affected him very much. Of course, it did...he just wasn't the type to express his emotions so openly. After all, he didn't really care what the other male thought of him...all he needed was peace and a computer, that's all he needed. But, sometimes, he felt as if he really needed more than just those two things. Somebody to care and understand, somebody to accept instead of criticize him for how he was. At those thoughts, Archie's eyes dimmed a bit with slight sorrow as a frown appeared on his face.

@Ay-Ex
 
"Unwanted memories?" Roman turned to face Archie, he didn't remember anything bad happen to him. But then again, he didn't know him. Roman definitely had many unwanted memories and wouldn't want people prying into his life. When he watched the man dim down, Roman realized that was probably, definitely way too invasive, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry. Ignore me." Roman let out a laugh which then turned into a cough. He leaned forward to cough before huffing, laying back down.

"So uh.." He sighed, trying to diffuse the awkwardness, "What caused the fire? I'm sure my men are trying to work out if it was malicious or just an accident... I hope not, it looked like it took down your building pretty badly.." Roman stared up at the ceiling. He hoped somebody would be able to look after Archie. He seemed nice enough and it totally wasn't fair if he had no place to go. Because he couldn't go back, if the fire was that bad then pretty much all of his stuff would of been annihilated. "You're probably not going back to that place for a while, especially if it was deliberate." Roman looked at Archie sympathetically, feeling genuinely bad for the writer.​
 
Archie listened as Roman apologized, making him frown even more. Everyone he talked to about the way he thought about writing had either apologized or felt pity for him. The young author shook his head slowly before he gazed at the fireman, his eyes slightly warmer than they had been before, his frown slowly disappearing as his usual expression took it's place. "You don't have to apologize...I wouldn't have told you if I thought it was too personal. Don't worry about it." he said with a small sigh, his shoulders lifting as he took in the air, causing him to slightly cringe. The awkwardness in the room was thick, that much Archie knew. It was always like that though, when others bothered to make conversation with him. But, just when he thought that Roman was going to stay quiet, the fireman broke the silence, dispersing the awkwardness like it was nothing. At the question about how the fire started, Archie turned his gaze ahead of him and narrowed his eyes, taking on a glare, directed at nobody in general.

"The fire started because I trusted a stupid cheapskate. I swear...I knew he was up to something. Why would somebody sell a computer for so cheap? A nice one at that! I swear, some humans are just so ignorant and stupid, prancing around like they're better than everybody else and taking advantage of them. If I were allowed to go back into time, back to when I saw that guy, I would slug his face in and throw his faulty computer on the curb. It just further proves to me how amazingly cold some people can be." Archie ranted for a good while, his lips turned to a snarl as his voice came out harsh, unaware that he was being a bit hypocritical about the last thing he said. The author took in a few breaths and closed his eyes before opening them again, turning his attention back to Roman. At the fireman's next comment, the young man nodded slowly and pressed a few fingers against his chin. "Yeah, I don't see myself going back anytime soon. Maybe...maybe if I can--no, that's definitely not gonna work. Not in a million years. How about...? That might be a good idea...I can probably ask to stay in the hospital until I can gather as much money as I can for a new apartment." Archie sat and pondered his thoughts out loud, his brow furrowing as each idea he could possibly have went down the drain. "Ugh...I spent all of my money on the last apartment, and that was with the help of money in my saving's account. God, this is gonna take longer than I thought." the young author groaned slightly in defeat as he pressed his hand against his head, closing his eyes. For a few moments he had forgotten that Roman was still in the room before lifting his head and glancing over. "Oh...sorry, don't mind me. Just thinking out loud." He said, rubbing the back of his neck as a slight, barely noticeable red tint took hold of his face.

@Ay-Ex
 
Awkwardly, Roman sat in silence as he listened to the author rant. Roman had felt the same way before, but angry nearly never bubbled for long in him. In most cases, privately Roman preferred to cry in frustration rather than rage in anger. It didn't exactly look right, a 6ft5 hunk of muscle crying like a baby. When Roman looked over to the ranting man, that didn't look fitting either. The timid looking fellow was talking violently. As he began to think out loud, Roman began to feel bad for him.

Was he really that broke? Roman shook his head, the hospital wouldn't hold him in for that long. Plus, he had no way of writing it seemed and therefore no income. No home, nothing. Roman furrowed his eyebrows in worry as he looked at Archie. "It's okay..." He sat in silence for a bit. If that was him, how would he feel? Roman had dedicated his life on helping others, he may as well do it off duty too. After another short moment of silence, Roman sighed heavily. "You know, I have a spare room in my apartment. I mean, it's not much, but it's probably better than a hospital bed or a burnt one." Roman let out an airy laugh before quickly realizing that was a bit mean, "I wouldn't expect any sort of rent but... If you don't have anywhere to stay, my spare room has your name on it." Roman looked over to him with a wide, sympathetic but hopeful smile. He guessed the company of Archie would be nice. Even if it was the company of an angsty writer.
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