[sub][h3][center]Archie[/center][/h3][/sub][hr]
[i]"“Look, Archie. You’re never going to know if she likes you unless you tell her how you feel. Be yourself around her. And be confident too. Girls like guys that are sure about how they feel. You just need to show her. Get her alone, somewhere peaceful, tell her that you feel something towards her, and ask her out.” "[/i]

Archie nodded instinctually at being told to do something, even if it didn't entirely compute. He didn't have time to explain his situation to her. At least, not entirely. He appreciated her words of wisdom, he really did. He agreed with it, even. Dating here and there in high school had been easy because it was just like talking to a friend in a way. He had never felt the need to really impress, not that he had the means to do so anyways. He had subscribed to the idea that love for lovers while different, had the same responsibilities as love between friends. When you didn't care, it was so much easier to just be yourself. Be yourself? [i]Be yourself?![/i] Never mind the logical absurdity of it, it was an incredibly anxiety provoking thing to hear. Did Eli know what 'himself' was right now?

Scared as shit, lonely, anxious to the point on insomnia... being himself wasn't an option right now. He didn't have the tools to deal with those parts! Did she have the rest of the instructions anywhere? What the hell was the he that he was supposed to be being? Okay, okay. In fairness to her he had a pretty good idea of what version of himself he was supposed to paste onto his face, but it still felt like he was in a burning building and being told to relax. That and he didn't entirely know how he felt yet. About Natalie, and Natalie and him. She was a vision in her own right, small and pale but with superhuman power coiling under her skin that gave her the strength of twenty men. She could flick him, and it would be like a gunshot.

What Eli said about getting Natalie alone and talking to her, though? That made sense. There was no fighting that part of her argument because it [i]was[/i] irrefutably the truth of how to solve his problems. He wasn't scared of her, because he knew that she wouldn't hurt him. She was good, and he had found that the people that one had to worry about didn't express concern like Natalie did. He wasn't scared of rejection, because at the end of the day Natalie was just a girl and he was just a guy. If she didn't feel the same way, he could deal with that. Honest. It might not be done in the most healthy way and he'd probably bottle it up and lock it away deep down in his chest until it burnt so bad that his skin burnt away to armor and muscle and teeth of his own. But he'd deal with it. What scared him, mostly, was the feelings that he was developing that he hadn't dealt with before. Sitting around and letting it fester would do nothing but bog his mind down further and bother him more. 

Thankfully, Natalie didn't pay him [i]too[/i] much attention. This was both a good thing and a bad thing in his mind. Yes, it meant he had more time to not do what Eli instructed but at the same time when she didn't recognize him outright it bothered him more than it should and ugh, see what he means? It's so confusing. Fortunately, Keaton and Lynn had arrived as well. It was very quickly becoming a full house, but that didn't bother Archie much. He was an extrovert by nature and if anything having more people around to divide his attention meant that he wouldn't focus on himself and his confusing feelings. What did bother him was the sudden materialization of two men whom he had never seen before, dressed like black and white crayons and fittingly referring to themselves as Mr. Black and Mr. White. Radvi's surprised shout caught his attention, and the sudden arrival of the two just about made him jump out of his skin. He turned so quickly in his chair that he almost threw himself over. Then Freaky-D fell from the sky, and Archie's heart raced, his arms coming up as if expecting to be attacked again. While Freaky-D had done his best to smooth the waters in the hospital bathroom of all places, Archie was still somewhat apprehensive of the mysterious figure. The boot to the face had [i]hurt[/i].

His shoes felt tight, and he momentarily peeked down at his feet. He was growing again, ever so slightly. His heart was racing, too. He hadn't noticed it because [i]Natalie[/i] was sitting right across from him, but he was growing some from all the activity. He placed one of his hands on his chest, where his heart was as if attempting to steady himself. Archie breathed deeply and suddenly, his mouth somewhat like a fishes above water, trying to force himself to calm down. He forced himself steady again, squashing down the reds that were leaking into the edges of his vision, and relaxed. He wasn't in danger.

The two men spoke about impending disaster, and how they had needed to speak to them all at once. Archie's stomach churned at this. Disaster? They were core components? His eyebrows quirked at the phrasing, curiosity peaking in his mind. He wasn't sure who was asking when he opened his mouth- himself or the lizard, whom was ever vigilant and ever protective in his mind. "What kind of disaster are we talking about here?"