[sub][h3][center]Archie[/center][/h3][/sub][hr]
[i]"You - are you okay, Archie? Shit. Fuck. I'm sorry, I didn't... Here - you need...you need to run water over that. I..."
[/i]
Archie flinched away from her reach, taking a half step away from her as she advanced on instinct. He kept his hand close to him protectively and his eyes kept flashing to her own hands, as if she was going to burn him again. With shaking fingers, he collected himself, taking another half step away from Lynn as he did so. Archie shoved his injured hand into his pocket.

"I- yeah." he said, his face straight but his voice cracked some as he spoke. He really [i]was[/i] mostly okay. Physically at least. He had taken worse burns. He opened his mouth as if to say something more, but seemed to decide against it. Lynn was leaving and there was nothing he could do to stop it. All he could do was deal with it, like when mom up and left. She could hurt him again if he tried to stop her. Lynn seemed concerned now but when she had turned around she had been ready to swing. Her eyes and face were contorted with anger and in that moment Archie was brought back to when he was just a boy. His shoulders lift as he inhales a shaky breath; lips pursing into a thin line and jaw setting into something determined and knowing. His remaining hand clenched into a fist and then released.

He's not sure if it's his to say, but he says it anyways. Out of habit, because things like this were his fault in some way or another. "I'm sorry." It's so quiet he can't even be sure that he said it at all, but it's the only two words running through his mind. "I'm... gonna go back. To the table." he says, trying to sounds as casual as he could. He turned, walking away as quickly as he could without running from her without so much as a goodbye. That would just make things worse. Mr. Hyde stirred in him, never liking when Archie was hurt or upset, and he squeezed his burnt hand as if to prove that the pain was not from a direct threat.

Archie didn't go to the bathroom, or run water over his hand. He went straight back to the group, stuffing his other hand into his pocket so that he didn't attract any extra suspicion. He could hear Mr. Black and Mr. White speaking to the group in carefully worded sentences and hushed tones. Archie positioned himself next to Natalie without thinking, she looked upset. She looked as upset as he felt. Despite his earlier thoughts and what had just happened with Lynn, Archie found himself placing his hand on her upper arm. It was a small contact, but he found himself drawn to her body heat and noticing how her muscles felt like stone under her hoodie. Like Lynn, he was reminded very quickly of just how different parahumans were from normal humans. How capable she was of hurting him if she wanted to. He didn't want to believe Natalie would, but the throbbing heat of his pocketed hand served as a powerful reminder.

He pulled his hand away, and put it back in his pocket. He frowned some, to himself and his thoughts, and decided to focus more on the group again. Cara was named Caroline Fuller, they had sat in on the interviews, and there was a party that was concerned for them and the future as a whole. They had circled around Freaky-D now, who was displaying a recording of his skirmish with a woman that seemed oddly familiar. He wracked his brain for why this might be, and found himself thinking back to that first day, when he took his first step onto The Promise.

[i]"One hell of a ride, huh? Nothing quite like it. The first steps are a special thing. It's tradition to take them on your own."[/i]

Her short brown hair, the angular features, the piercing hazel eyes that made him feel like she was staring straight through him even through the recording. The accent, too. It was all coming together.

[i]"What's your name?"[/i] he had questioned.

[i]"Arianna."[/i]

"I know her." Archie announced to the group, suddenly. Suddenly he felt like all eyes were on him, and he scrambled to recover, bringing both hands up as if in surrender, exposing his burnt hand. "First day, she helped me out of the shuttle. She said her named was Arianna." he explained, putting his hand back into his pocket. "She was... odd. I guess this explains why."