[sub][h3][center]Archie[/center][/h3][/sub][hr]"I dunno, man, kinda all over."

Archie hummed, it's vague, sure. But it had reminded of her [i]here and there[/i] comment. Archie decided not to push further. She didn't want to talk and he wasn't going to make her. The continued on, the comfortable silence returning- Archie being content to enjoy his walk. His curfew would call him back to his quarters in a few hours now. His little room was not very homey and he always found himself having little to do.

They had been walking for ten or fifteen minutes when Natalie and Amelia came into sight. Archie felt something in his chest at being surrounded by people whom he had attacked. It wasn't the heat that warned of an accident- rather it was normal anxiety. Both were fairly unwelcome feelings. Lynn walked ahead of him to greet the two women and Archie was reminded of how quiet class had been over the past several days. Well, quiet wasn't quite the right word. Lonely was better. People gave him a wide berth and there were always nervous undertones to the people that spoke to him. At least, the new ones. The people who had been here for years had been nice and even understanding. They spoke about how it usually happened to everyone at some point. Some were worse than others of course and while his incident had been on the worse side it was far from the worst story to ever come from the school in the stars.

Natalie was looking at him expectantly now that he had caught up. He feels guilty now, since he didn't have flowers on him to give her. He had been able to plan for Lynn's apology and not for Natalie's, and while she had no way of knowing this he felt like that somehow made it less earnest. They had both played equal roles in stopping him from really hurting people. He owed them equal in that sense.

"Hey," He began. Archie looked between Natalie, Amelia, and Lynn and remembered the he owned Amelia an apology for ruining her jacket. Just one more thing on the to-do list, he supposed. He would get to her after he spoke with Lynn. Archie sighed, and squared his shoulders. [i]Real men take responsibility for their actions.[/i]

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked Natalie, who nodded wordlessly. He gulped and led her off to the side, only a few feet away from the other two but enough distance away that they'd have some small degree of privacy. Natalie waited- so Archie took that as his cue to start. "I wanted to say thank you, and I'm sorry." he said, somewhat more articulate this time than he was before when he was talking to Lynn. Practice makes perfect, after all. "I have ah..." He trailed off, trying to find the words. "A condition. It had been a while since I had an accident and being hurt like that had set me off." he explained further. He was rambling now, and he didn't want to waste her time. It crossed his mind that he should probably follow the woman's advice again- perhaps his meaning get across better. He reached forward slowly and took her hands in his own. "I'm sorry for hurting you. Thank you for stopping me from hurting anyone else."
[hr][@He Who Walks Behind][@Silver Carrot][@levinfist]