[sub][h3][center]Archie[/center][/h3][/sub][hr]

[color=Silver]"It's Natalie, hi, Archie."[/color]

Archie didn't verbally reply, instead he gave Natalie an earnest smile and nodded. Her jump earlier twisted his heart some. Perhaps it was the southern hospitality in him, or the fact that he recognized the look of grief when he saw it, but it was an emotionally painful thing to see in someone. The more curious side of Archie urged him to press on the issue, but the more tactful part of him won out. He didn't skip a beat, or even recognize that she had reacted negatively lest he embarrass her further.

Natalie sounded like she hadn't spoken in a while. Or at least, didn't speak often. She struck Archie as a person who wasn't confident in her own skin. He, on the other hand was a pretty easygoing person. Sure, he had been dealt a pretty shitty hand in the grand scheme of things but he [i]tried[/i] his hardest to suppress that part of him. He had grown up afforded his own space, the means to entertain himself, and warm food every day. That was not to be ignored. Sometimes people leave, and that sometimes is unexpectedly. He had also learned manly life lessons along the way, like how the best fishing rod is a shotgun, and a wench can be one of two things.

"Lynn, where are you from?"

Now, both of these girls looked like they had it rough. Rougher than him for sure, but they all seemed to take different approaches. While he did his best to bottle things up, and Natalie retreated into herself, Lynn here seemed to be a bit more hardened by the world she had grown up in. Lots of little scars here and there, a few tattoos- the most visible of which was a skull on her forearm and the edges of [i]something[/i] on her collarbone. He had a lot of scars, too. But his were usually pretty small and relatively shallow. A mishandled fishhook here, a slip of hot metal there. Hers were jagged and looked like they had been deep. He only knew the difference because his adopted dad had a nasty scar from shooting himself in the foot when he was Archie's age and it had gone all the way through.

These scars weren't quite like that, but they were bigger badges than his. He opened his mouth to ask if she had ever broken any bones, but decided not to in favor of not ending up with any himself. Either way, she looked like one tough cookie. She definitely acted the part. He had dated a girl like that in high school, now that he thought about it. "Always liked a girl who was a real spitfire." he mumbled, holding his chin in his hands and spacing out while looking at his food. Evidently not realizing that he said it out loud. If Archie even realized this, he didn't miss a beat and immediately responded to Lynn's eyes and hair as they changed color. "Dude, that's so cool! You're like the lava lamp I had at home!" Oh, she had asked a question. His mind changed gears almost instantly, displaying conversational adeptness that was surprising for someone as unaware as himself. "Colington Island. Little place off the coast of North Carolina." he answered honestly. "Spent my whole life there. Mostly working on boats with my old man."

He didn't really think to, or care to specify that his 'old man' wasn't really his biological father. Being himself, he had forgotten that he was not speaking to people he had known his whole life. "Yourself?"

Another person joined their little table. She had the same 'Fuck your and your whole ass entourage' vibe to her person than Lynn, but had much less of the 'chained attack dog' part of Lynn's personality. Not that either really put Archie off. He was a people person, and no amount of rough edge was going to stop him from at least [i]trying[/i]. He had grown up around people like this. His brother particularly was an odd mish-mash of all these people and getting along with him had not been a challenge once Archie figured him out. As long as he didn't touch his stuff and gave him a wide berth when he was in one of his moods, things were okay. Pleasant even. Of course, Archie had no idea what his brother was like now. The last time he had seen him was two years ago when his brother had been arrested and promptly sent to prison for armed robbery and resisting arrest. He furrowed his eyebrows at Amelia's comment of them not being 'with the program'. "We're up here? What do you mean we aren't with the-" he trailed off, quickly loosing his train of thought as she gave her name. 

Amelia, she generously announced herself. He broke out in a smile and extended a hand excitedly for her to shake. "Archie, nice to meet you!" 
[hr][@levinfist][@He Who Walks Behind][@Silver Carrot]