IC contact

[h2no]

Yo! Water you doin', you missed me! Bwhahahahaha! Leave a message and Archie'll get back to you when Archie deems the time to be right!

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text, post-mattpost (the day after)

[burlyboy]

ARE YOU OKAY

DO YOU WANT TO COME OVER TO TALK

OR YOU CAN COME OVER AND NOT TALK

I HAVE DOGS

AND TV

AND BOOZE?

[h2no]

[there's a lot that goes through archie's head when he sees this message. firstly - he figures it must be important if magnus had text him after saying he hates texting. secondly, he kind of wants to tell magnus to just fuck off and mind his own business, which is a testament to his own frustration. he doesn't do this, of course; he'd never, and even feels bad for considering it.

eventually:] i wanted to see jesse and alf anyway
ill come over
if youre sure

[tbh still unused to people giving a shit after they know what he did.]

[burlyboy]

[ so archie is just using him for his dogs ]

IM SURE

THEYLL BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU

godmods magnus answering the door pls dont report me

[h2no]

[AND ALSO BECAUSE HE WANTS TO CRY INTO MANGO'S PECS but he won't admit that.

anyway, archie says nothing else, now that magnus knows he's coming over. he's there not soon later. this time he has crobat, instead of mightyena. he kind of offers magnus an awkward grin when the door opens.]

Sorry. He won't leave me alone when he knows stuff is going on.

[a nod to the giant pink bat sitting behind archie. literally giant. taller than archie himself.]

BANS!!!!

[burlyboy]

[ Archie may not be responding, but Magnus isn't worried - frankly, he's just kind of relieved that he doesn't have to read anymore. He's probably going to have to get better at reading or writing, but he resists any kind of self-improvement of the mind, and it's hard, which immediately means he doesn't want to do it. Instead, he just loiters around until there's a knock on his door. ]

Crobat, m'man! Hey buddy!

[ That's to Crobat. Archie gets a brief, rib-crushing hug ("hey, bro!") before Archie's hurrying them inside, doing his damnedest to ignore the way Alf immediately fucking books it.

She's not a big fan of the bat. ]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[h2no]

[crobat snuffles and grunts at the greeting, nodding at magnus in its own weird crobat way of saying 'hi' back. it follows them, staying behind archie, walking by using its stubby little legs and huge wings to lean forward on. its ears are pitched forward and it watches alf running away with a vaguely disinterested expression.

archie notices, and winces. he holds out a small packet of store-bought treats.]

Thought she might do that... sorry, bro. If I return him he'll just release himself again. Figured it a couple days after he evolved, didn't you? Ya sneaky giant bastard.

[crobat grunts again - it's probably the smartest of archie's team so it gets what's going, and how to reply; it whacks archie with one of its wings and then gives him a big slobbery lick, as if to say yeah, i would, dumbass.]

[burlyboy]

Awww, it's okay. She'll get used to him eventually. She's even getting a little more used to Taylor Swift, these days.

[ At least she hasn't just trapped herself in the bathroom every single time she catches a glimpse of the snake - which is progress! When he had first got her, Magnus would be running after her to make sure she's all right, but now he's a little more experienced and knows that she'll creep out for treats when she's good and ready, and not a moment before. ]

C'mon, take a load off. I got grub in the kitchen if you want it. [ A ludicrous amount of delivery in the fridge, and frozen meals in the freezer, because while Magnus can cook, he's intoxicated by the sheer convenience of this place. Magnus flops down on the couch in the living room, then eyes the squashy armchair sitting across from him. ]

Crobat can take the armchair, if he likes. Might be a little too squishy with all three of us on the couch.

[h2no]

That's... the Ekans, right? No-- snake.

[c'mon, man, she's not even purple.

archie follows, sitting down daintily next to magnus, on the edge of the seat like he's not really sure he should be here. he nods to crobat, who hops up onto the armchair with a small grunt.]

Looks like he agrees.

[burlyboy]

Sure he does.

[ Okay, this won't do. Magnus gets up and heads to the kitchen and returns not with take-out, but with two bottles of beer. He twists the caps off and thumps one in front of Archie before collapsing back into the couch and taking a quick swig, Uncle Jesse at his heels who then charges in and tries to clamber onto Archie's lap like a lapdog. ]

Okay, pal, here's the plan - we're gonna sit and drink until you finally get comfortable, and then we're gonna talk. Not about the shit that's buggin' you! Not necessarily! Just enough so you feel back in fighting shape for at least an evening. Deal?

[h2no]

[archie does not respond, because he is downing that beer bottle in one, then burping loudly and looking a little bewildered. like, what did he expect to happen? evidently not that.]

D--hfff-- Deal!

[that's what he needed. to get blasted out his mind and forget his problems! and also a giant dog in his lap. archie allows this.]

Thanks!

[burlyboy]

...okay, uh, change of liquor plans, I guess.

[ He wasn't expecting Archie to down it in one go! He figured they could nurse the bottle for a while, have a good chat, maybe Archie would start gabbing about what's really on his mind until he's feeling nice and loose, but if he's going to be downing beers like this? ]

Time for shots! But I'm holding the bottle this time, bucko. I'll make sure you don't poison yourself and die, [ he says, and then immediately downs the remainder of his bottle immediately after, because Magnus doesn't like being left in the dust. It's not conducive to being the responsible, sober one for the night, but nobody's ever accused Magnus of being overly forward-thinking. It's a hop, skip and a bounce to the kitchen and back again with a bottle of cheap rum and two shot glasses. He pours some rum in each one, sets the bottle aside, and raises his glass. ]

To dogs and friends!

[h2no]

Mrrgh.

[he half-heartedly holds his glass up.]

Thanks.

[archie feels awful. magnus is being so good and sweet but he's just... emotionally dead?]

[burlyboy]

Mmrghrghgh is right. Now drink.

[ Magnus takes the shot himself, and watches Archie presumably do the same, hoping he'll loosen up, at least a little. ]

Archie, buddy, I love you, you know that. But if you're not gonna talk about it, you gotta tell me what you need. [ Does he need to punch something? Magnus is here. He's very punchable.

He'll punch back but, you know, the first punch will be satisfying. Somehow, he doesn't think that'll fly with Archie. ] You want TV, or what?

[ Distractions are fine, getting drunk is fine, he just needs to snap out of this. ]

magnus doesn't deserve this gay drama

[h2no]

[he does do a shot, but it loosens him up in the worst way possible. archie shifts and leans against magnus, putting his head on the Large Burly Shoulder.]

Magnus...

[he sighs, EVEN MORE MISERABLY. somehow.]

I don't think he loves me anymore.

wrong, his nosy ass deserves every second of it

[burlyboy]

Aw, buddy.

[ Okay. This, he can handle. So he doesn't like seeing Archie miserable, but it's better than getting nothing out of him. If he knows what the problem is, he can fix it. If he can't fix it, then, uh... well, he can talk about it? Talking's good for you! Opens up them tear ducts and gets things flowing! Step one to getting over this.

And this appears to be a break-up, which is not territory that Magnus is even remotely familiar with, but whatever, he's gonna wing it. Gonna wing it so good. ]

I didn't know you guys were together like that, but... this is the first time you've seen him after your whole thing, right?

[h2no]

[he nods, silently and miserably.

mumbled:] I don't wanna let go, though...

[burlyboy]

I'm not saying that's what's gonna happen! Just that, like... man, I don't know what the guy's thinking, or feeling, but I have a feeling that he needs time to figure shit out. You've had time here. He hasn't.

[ Magnus sighs, and wraps one arm comfortably around Archie's shoulders, so he doesn't have to talk directly into his shoulder anymore. ]

Did he say he didn't want to see you anymore? Because love - you don't fall out of love that quickly.

[h2no]

No...

[he pulls his legs up to his chest, making a sad lil bean shape.]

But maybe you do after the shit we did. He deserves better than me, anyway.

[burlyboy]

I dunno about that. I think you're pretty great.

[ Magnus can say that easily and without reservation, but then again, he has the luxury of knowing Archie only after he feels remorse over the horrible thing he'd done. It's so much easier to learn affection for someone who's struggling to get better than someone who's still entrenched in their own delusions. ]

But what I think doesn't really matter. What has he said about it?

[h2no]

[...which is one of his major worries. if he ever backslides enough to be like that again, he has no doubts he'll lose the friends he has. archie still sometimes thinks how he is now is a fake persona, well and truly unsure of his real personality.]

He doesn't like talking about it and avoids me.

[burlyboy]

Okay. Okay, so... here's where I'm at. If he really didn't love you anymore, he'd say so. It'd be the kind thing to do. It'd be the right thing to do, even - nobody deserves being left in the dark like that.

[ And, Magnus privately considers, it would be the easiest thing to do. To tell someone I don't love you anymore, don't contact me again is hard in the moment, but it's a nice, clean break you can move on from. He doubts that anyone Archie's fell in with is the kind of person to leave someone else hanging like this when they could end things with a word. ]

If he's not saying so, then it's gotta be more complicated than that.

[h2no]

Maybe I deserve it.

[sorry magnus we're in self hate town now.]

[burlyboy]

[ Oh, man. Oh, man, he is not ready to have this talk. He had a whole thing ready about just talking to Matt, but instead they're down to what Magnus suspects is the real problem, and what's always the real problem: Archie kinda hates himself.

Which sucks. It sucks when somebody you think is great hates themselves, because there's honestly no way of talking them out of it - or at least very few ways that Magnus can think of, which is why he's just going to try it anyway. ]

No, no no no, none of that. Nobody deserves it, [ Magnus says, taking both hands and gripping onto Archie's shoulders, firm as ever. ] Not even you. Especially not you. You're doing better, Arch, you're doin' - you're doing so much better! You've been helping people! Animals! You deserve a second chance, and I'm willing to bet if I knocked down that guy's door right now, he'd agree with me.

[ He's not going to do that. And maybe Matt wouldn't agree! But if he did do that, he would just make faces in the background until Matt hopefully agreed, because that's what rational adults do. ]

[h2no]

[he doesn't resist when magnus takes his shoulders, but he does look away, like he's pointedly avoiding magnus's gaze (because he is).]

I'm not doin' anything special, I'm just not trying to end the fucking world again.

[burlyboy]

So, one, you're doing a hell of a lot more than that, pal. And two...

[ Magnus shrugs. ]

What's so bad about just living your life?

[ To be normal is all that anyone owes anyone, Magnus figures. He favours the life of a hero and certainly chases after it with reckless abandon, but that's because he doesn't have his normal life anymore. All of the people who fought beside him wanted the same thing - just to live their lives without having to hurt anyone else.

If all Archie does with the rest of his life is live peacefully without hurting anyone else around him, he's doing a damn sight better than most of the world. ]