[h2][center][color=orange]Archie[/color][/center][/h2][hr]
"I suppose since you told me your secret, it's only fair that I show you mine." 

All things considered, Archie hadn't expected that Nicole would accept his confession as easily as she had. He didn't really know what he expected, honestly. This was all new territory to him, telling someone about his... affliction. He certainly didn't expect her to reveal to him that she had abilities of her own.

"I know it isn't the same, but my power doesn't change who I am when I use it, I never hurt people without meaning to. I cant say I understand how you feel. Still, I hope that knowing there's someone else who isn't completely normal will help you somehow." 

And just like that, Archie felt the weight of the world come off his shoulders, if only for a minute. He still felt slimy, and like a time bomb, but the voice in his head that was telling him he needed to hide himself was uncharacteristically quiet. Someone who, while not identical to him, was similar. And it explains why she was able to repair his otherwise shredded clothing. Perhaps the man upstairs wasn't out to get him after all, because out of all the people in the city, he managed to find the one individual who had the capabilities necessary to help him cope with his own abnormalities. In this moment, that voice had been proven wrong. Archie opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the ding of the store's welcome bell. He shut his mouth quickly, not yet ready to publicly out himself. He cast his glance over to see who the newcomer, and quickly changed his mind about his earlier thought. The man upstairs clearly did hate him, because the person who just entered was the girl who had stumbled into... the other guy a little over an hour ago.

Archie met her eyes and very quickly looked away to focus on his coffee. Nicole stood up and walked away to address the new customer. While neither were looking, with shaky hands he took the flask off his hip and dumped some of the liquid in his coffee. Once he was satisfied he took a long drink from his coffee and winced, then put the cup down. Nicole's sarcasm brought on momentary feeling of jaded mirth to Archie. If only she knew the half of it. He [i]remembered[/i] everything that happened in that other body- she had seen him hurt someone horribly. Despite this, the liquid courage in his system and Nicole's acceptance spurred him to do what was right. This woman, if anything, deserved an explanation. Or an apology. Or both. With a deep sigh, Archie stood up and walked over to the newcomer.

"Hi," He began awkwardly. Just because he had submitted himself to doing this, didn't mean that he had thought what he was going to say through. "I, um-" He continued, trying to find his words. "What happened to your hand?" he finally finished, deciding that [i]'Hi I'm that lizard'[/i] was probably not the best approach. He had realized, just in time too, that he had to be sure that this was the right woman. 

[hr][@Chukklehed][@Silver Carrot]