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[ukan]

This is Lark Tennant, leave a message.

[Or a note, or a drop-by]

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[anti_altruisms]

That's good. I take it no one has lashed out further at him or you for his initial introduction?

[ It was no skin off his nose, personally, but he knows others didn't feel that way. Archer flaps a hand. ]

Oh, just fine, I'd say. Progress with Xigbar is slow, but that's just how it's going to be for him, I think. The kitchen takes up a good bit of my time, but that's nothing new.

[ He stirs in a little cream and sugar, takes a sip of his coffee, and softly adds: ]

I am also glad to say things are going very well with Godric.

[ukan]

[Inmates take time, he wants to say, but since Archer wasn't here when Lark was one it wouldn't land like the joke that it is. Besides, he's very serious when he says he doesn't want any inmate to last as long as he did, so he'd rather place faith in Xigbar's ability to adapt.

He glances up, smiles a bit.]

Yeah? I'm glad. You seem a little more relaxed since things started going well with him. How is Godric, anyway?

[anti_altruisms]

[ Archer looks a little surprised — and maybe even a bit sheepish — at the comment about his own demeanor. He clears his throat briefly. ]

Really? I hadn’t noticed.

[ As for Godric, well... He lets out a small sigh. ]

He’s all right... My only concern with him is he stretches himself too thin sometimes.

[ukan]

I've noticed that. [Thinking of the absent way Godric had about him when they spoke in the chapel.] On the one hand I'm sure he's used to spinning several plates at once. On the other...this isn't the place for any one person to take everything onto their shoulders alone.

[anti_altruisms]

[ Archer sighs again. ]

I agree with that. [ He's not always the best at keeping that in perspective himself, but...he tries. ] We have...similar tendencies in that respect, but holding each other accountable seems to be working so far.

[ He eyes Lark curiously for a moment. ]

Have you been talking to him?

[ukan]

[Careful lawyer mode. For no reason he can identify, except it's habit and it's also somewhat playful.]

Did he say we have been?

[anti_altruisms]

[ Oh, Lark, please. He wasn't born yesterday.

Archer snorts softly and sips at his coffee. ]

No, but I didn't ask him. I'm asking you.

[ukan]

I'm curious what made you think to ask. [Grinning a bit into his own coffee] But yeah, I spoke to him a few nights ago.

[anti_altruisms]

I expressed a concern about him, and you said you noticed the same thing.

[ You can't notice something like that if you're not around somebody. ]

The two of you have been playing nice, I hope.

[ Teasing, of course. ]

[ukan]

[Archer. This is one thing he appreciates about you: you're really fucking observant.]

I think we've buried the hatchet, yeah. I realized my attitude wasn't helpful, we discussed some goals we both share and want to work towards.

Obviously if you two split in the same ugly way I'm used to seeing at home with rich divorcees, I'm in your camp, but until then I think I could start to like him.

[anti_altruisms]

[ 'Rich divorcees'? Archer bursts out laughing. ]

Lark - in what way do either of us resemble the couples you knew back home?

[ukan]

You're his arm candy, clearly! [Completely teasing.

But more seriously:] Everyone has a honeymoon phase. I'm more paranoid about other people's than I was about mine; I can't help it. I'm that sort of hypocrite.

[anti_altruisms]

[ Wow, Lark, this comparison keeps getting better. ]

'Arm candy'? Really?

[ He has never thought of himself this way, literally ever. He can't help a chuckle, though. ]

I think we're a few thousands years too old for a 'honeymoon phase', but I appreciate the thought all the same.

[ukan]

[Lark might only be fifty but you aren't fooling him.] You're never too old for that. It's a key part of romantic bonding.

[anti_altruisms]

[ Archer just smiles and sips on his coffee. ]

Well, I won't say I'm an expert at 'romantic bonding'.

[ Quite the opposite, frankly. ]

Age does make a difference, though.

[ukan]

That I wouldn't know much about. I didn't fall in love for the first time until I was nearly forty. I hear you're supposed to get the painful ones out of the way in your youth.

[anti_altruisms]

Honestly, it’s just as well you didn’t. Romance in the teenage years was...ridiculous and painful. At least for me.

[ He gets embarrassed just thinking about it. ]

This has been decidedly less so.

[ukan]

[It was plenty painful loving Lisbeth or the girl whose name he still can't say out loud. Those are marks deeper than any of the bad decisions he made leading up to them. But he nods because yeah, it's different when it's better.]

Well, after so many years you two are probably too old and tired to throw drinks at each other's faces in a fight. If no one would make a reality show about you back home, you're doing something right.

[anti_altruisms]

[ Archer laughs quietly at that. ]

‘Old and tired’ is a fair description, honestly.

What we do most of the time isn’t particularly interesting, either, so I can’t imagine it’d be camera-worthy.

[ukan]

[A wry smile] It's the same for me, honestly. And Alec is too young to have the same excuses I do. [Speaking of arm candy and old men!] There's a lot to be said for just sharing the same space.

...Have you thought about what you'll do when Xigbar does graduate?

[anti_altruisms]

It sounds like Alec’s experiences could have contributed to that, no?

[ Archer knows firsthand how living through certain things at a young age can change you. As for the question, he leans back for a moment and just seems...thoughtful. ]

I think about it periodically, but at this point, I think I’ll just stay. Perhaps long enough to give away a deal or two until I’m certain where — and when — I want to end up.

[ukan]

Partly that. He's more adventurous than I am, though. [but it often butts up against the fact that if Alec stood out as a soldier, he'd be killed and carved up for parts.]

I'm glad you'll stick around. Not that I'm biased, of course.

[anti_altruisms]

[ Archer smiles wryly at that. ]

Ah. Youth.

[ He takes a sip of coffee. ]

You are biased. [ He says it matter-of-factly. ] What about you? Do you think you'll ever retire from this?

[ukan]

"Yeah. I'm trying to get done everything I came here for, but I think once Pagan is graduated Alec is going to insist we go home." A faint sigh.

"If I don't have someone to get me out I'll never leave. Just between us, I don't know if I remember how to be at home anymore without working twice as hard as I did before the barge."

[anti_altruisms]

Archer considers this news quietly. It takes a moment for him to parse how he feels about it too, since he hasn’t had a friend he could actually miss in a very long time. He doesn’t think he likes it, either - the imminent sense of loss.

It doesn’t show on his face, of course - or at least, he tries not to let it. For some reason, he assumed Lark would always be here, but that is simply silliness on his part. He puffs out a soft breath.

“You’ve been here quite a while. You deserve to live your life.” If anyone’s earned it, Lark has. “Are things so much less interesting back home that you want to work that much?”