015. [Video/Text]

[explosivecombat]

[It's been several days since Kimblee spoke to Archer in Olivine City; he had decided the morning after that conversation that it would be for the best that they keep their distance from one another, at least for the time being - the last thing they needed was to be unsure that this was going to work, after all. He needed space.

And he certainly has gotten space! The room he's in when the feed flickers on is rather spacious, all things considered; of course, the actual size of the room is a bit difficult to determine, given that the place is kind of the most retina-searing green imaginable. Like a factory of limes exploded in here, people. That is the level of green we are looking at.

Kimblee is pretty easy to spot, however; he's wearing the usual white, which is incredibly ill-suited (no pun intended) for his current activity, all things considered: namely, he's getting rid of all the green. Clearly, he's decided that he's somewhat unimpressed with the lack of activity lately - he's still working those mutations out of his system, and flooding his system with electricity has left his motor skills...uh, lacking, for want of a better term - and he's decided to remedy this by simply having at the room with a can of paint and a roller brush. Never mind that he grew up incredibly spoiled and has never painted a damn wall to save his life, and the fact that his motor skills are, again, shot to all hell; this can't possibly be that hard to figure out!

...needless to say, there's a huge amount of dark red paint just kind of everywhere on that poor wall. There are several good solid sections that are painted in a perfectly normal, rational manner, of course - and then there are sections where he's really obviously slipped, thick red haphazard streaks all over the place, before he seems to have worked out what he's doing and reset himself on some sort of halfway sane path...somewhere else entirely.

It's fairly clear that he's been at it for a while; this entire room is going to need to be redone by the time he's finished with it, but at least he's trying?

The camera follows the wall for a moment, showing the room in all its...uh, glory, before flicking back to Kimblee, kneeling by the wall and smiling in an incredibly content, if a bit vacant, manner. He's completely alone in there, just amusing himself with a can of paint.]

...still haven't made any progress...

[Kimblee's voice is soft but clear; he sounds as though he's speaking to someone, despite...being...completely alone in the room...]

...they'll probably never find whomever did such a number on the Centers. Such a display...I understand that they will be down for some time now. And they haven't a clue who was responsible for it. For any of it.

[He doesn't sound bothered by this, nor does he sound particularly pleased; he's just making statements. At no one. He pauses for a moment; his hand's slipped again on the brush, drawing another jagged streak against the wall. He looks momentarily displeased at that, linefacing hard, before moving on to pick up where the line stopped.]

Shame that the infection spread to so many, though, especially with the vital cities running so low on medical supplies; I wonder how many were hit by it. My own mutations will fade shortly, I'm sure - it will be unfortunate if this keeps up for much longer. It's incredibly inconvenient...not that I don't miss the power, however. That was lovely, while it lasted.

[He pauses again. Smiles to himself.]

It wasn't quite like alchemy, but it was close enough. Such a beautiful feeling...I wouldn't mind feeling it again. Perhaps someone can assist with that, if they ever work out -

[There's a rather odd, blurred flash of green-and-white across the screen before Kimblee can finish that thought, then the video feed shuts off; it takes a moment, but a bit of text goes out to the Network before too long, also from Kimblee's 'Gear.]

i think my trainer is broken

[...yeah, Kimblee's Gardevoir is getting a bit...concerned about this talking-to-the-walls business.

Kimblee will definitely answer responses as they come in, though; he's not that out of it, though it may take him a few minutes to get on it.]

Comments

[determinator]

Yes. It doesn't sound like a long time and it shouldn't bother me, but it's obvious it has. You remember... my conversation with Descole.

[That isn't a question. Archer hates acknowledging his breakdowns, but that was a particularly bad one. The majority of them have happened around Kimblee - if they weren't directed at Kimblee, he would at least be there to calm Archer down. He wasn't there that time and Archer's agitation was obvious.]

[explosivecombat]

Yes, I remember that well.

[He's quiet for a long moment after that's out there; for a brief moment he considers telling Archer that he's not the only one who's experienced problems during those relatively brief periods of time. That he nearly blew the entire operation with Miss Altava because of it. That the attack against civilians on the routes so many months ago - the incident that started both of them leading anonymous attacks over the network - had come about because he couldn't calm himself down after they had fought in the first place. That he can't stand how directionless and passive he tends to become without orders, especially here; he doesn't remember it being this bad in Amestris. It had never been this bad in Amestris.

He considers telling him, but he doesn't.

It isn't that he doesn't trust Archer; he does. More than anyone. At the same time, he can't admit to it. It's entirely too much at once; his pride won't allow it.]

What do you want to do about this, then?

[determinator]

[The silence doesn't bother Archer - he barely even notices it. He's lost in thought as well. What can they do about this? He's not surprised to hear Kimblee voice that thought.]

...I don't know.

[That's not true. He runs a hand through his hair, expression darkening. He knows exactly what he wants to do, but admitting this is difficult.]

I suppose I... want things to go back to the way they were.

[He hates showing weakness like this. It's the truth though; even if it means he can't be on his own - that he can't act like a normal person without Kimblee around - he would prefer to stay by Kimblee's side. They work well together. Why should they change that just because of some issue he's having?]

I'm not saying we should ignore what happened. That won't do us any good. But I don't want anything to change between us.

[explosivecombat]

...I would like that.

[Kimblee's voice is quiet when he answers, but again, the answer is immediate. Unlike the last time, however, he seems far more relaxed; it's a genuine answer, surprising though that might be.]

[determinator]

You... would?

[It is a surprising answer. Of course Archer suspected that they would eventually reconcile somehow, even if it was just for the duration of a mission or something, but he hadn't expected Kimblee to agree so easily. After all, he's broken Kimblee's trust twice now, why would he give in so easily?]

[But Kimblee has his own issues, and Archer's quite aware of them. Kimblee needs someone to point him in a direction and tell him to go; Archer can only assume he doesn't get that from Isaac if he's so eager to reconcile here.]

...Thank you. That... means a lot to me.

[explosivecombat]

Of course, Archer. Despite the issues we've had, I've genuinely enjoyed our working arrangement, and as for the personal relationship...I've told you in the past that you've been good to me.

I don't see why I wouldn't want things to continue as they had been.

[determinator]

[He's certainly not going to try to argue with you! The smirk finally reappears, though it's a bit closer to a genuine smile than anything else.]

...I appreciate it. I know you wouldn't agree to this if it was detrimental to you.

[And Archer does know that. That makes things much easier to deal with. Kimblee genuinely does believe everything he's said, Archer's sure of it.]

[There's a much longer pause, and then when Archer speaks again, he's back to smirking like a douche.]

Well, I suppose I'll need to examine the place and select my room. Of course I can help you with the rent; it just wouldn't be fair otherwise, now would it?

[....Of course he just invited himself to live with you. Deal with it. c: ]

[explosivecombat]

[.......................WHAT]

I'm...sorry?

[determinator]

You heard me. I take it your rooms are already furnished...?

[You might want to stop him, because he's totally going to go explore the house now!!]

[explosivecombat]

[LETO

TAKE

THE WHEEL]

No, most of the rooms aren't. Archer...

[He will just be jumping up and grabbing your sleeve, if you don't mind!

...the motion is a lot less fluid and coordinated than it normally would have been, especially for something so simple, but he's working with what he has, and "what he has" are nerves that are still a bit shot from the electricity overload, deal with it.]

[determinator]

[That will get him to stop, if only because he wasn't expecting it. Of course he knows about Kimblee's issues with the mutation, but he wasn't expecting Kimblee to grab him.]

What's the matter?

[That's serious though instead of half-joking like his previous comments. He has to wonder if there's something in the house Kimblee doesn't want him to see...]

[explosivecombat]

[There might be, yes. Like the part where exactly one of those rooms is furnished right now, and that will look suspicious as hell given that he's already verified that Isaac is living here.]

We need time to prepare. I just said that very little of this place is actually furnished.

[LET

HIM LEAVE IT

AT THAT, DEAR GOD PLEASE]

[determinator]

Are you hiding something from me, Kimblee?

[That is teasing, however~]

I don't see what the issue is. I just want to get a look at the rooms - this place looks quite large, I imagine there are a few spare rooms to choose from?

[explosivecombat]

[...ugh. You know what, fine. He can't keep hiding things forever, anyway; Archer is determined to stay here, and Kimblee can't exactly say that he's inclined to make him leave, either. Not when things are actually mending themselves.

He allows his grip to loosen on Archer's sleeve.]

There are, yes.

[...this is going to suck.]

[determinator]

[Archer lifts an eyebrow at that. Kimblee certainly seemed dead-set on stopping him a moment before. Well, whatever! Time to go exploring~!]

[There certainly are quite a few rooms to explore, and Archer takes his time going through each one. Most of them seem to be structured the same; they're single bedrooms with a bathroom attached for the most part which is fine, but surely there's a master bedroom somewhere around here...]

[Ah~ here we are! Unsurprisingly, this room is furnished, and from the looks of it, Kimblee's already prepared it for two people. Huh. But he said he purchased this place without believing he would make up with Archer so...]

[...................]

[Hang on, where's Isaac's room...? Let him just... double check all the other rooms again, okay...]

[...................]

[Well that's certainly strange...]

...Kimblee, is there something you've been keeping from me...?

[..................DEETS]

[explosivecombat]

[Kimblee doesn't say anything while Archer checks the rooms a second time; it's obvious that he's worked it out already.

As Kimblee had known he would. Ah, well...]

In a manner of speaking, yes. It would probably be more accurate to say that it never came up.

[determinator]

...Go on.

[He isn't angry, just curious. ...And of course he needs to hear Kimblee say it because he cannot believe this holy shit.]

[explosivecombat]

We've been together since April.

[And that, quite simply, is that, thank you very much.]

[determinator]

...Since April?

[How did he not find out about this?]

That's quite some time. I take it you never planned on telling me?

[explosivecombat]

We've told very few; it isn't anyone's business but our own. I didn't intend to deny it if it did come up somehow, but I wouldn't mention it if it didn't, no.

[determinator]

Well, congratulations are in order, then.

[..............]

Though I do have to ask - forgive me for being rude - but do you genuinely care about him?

[You just... don't seem to genuinely care about anyone...]

[explosivecombat]

Well, I'm certainly fond of him; after all, I doubt this would have continued for so long if I weren't.

Do I love him? Of course not. But I'm very fond.

[determinator]

[Archer considers that for a moment, tipping his head slightly to one side. Whatever it was that happened on Valentine's Day has been far from his mind for quite some time; he admitted to liking Kimblee, but it was a horribly mistaken affection - somewhere between genuine friendship and feelings for Kimbley - that had caused him to say that. He's not upset by the fact that Kimblee is dating someone else, but it does strike him odd that Kimblee would choose a man.]

Why him? I thought you said you weren't interested in men.

[explosivecombat]

Morbid curiosity, for one thing; I wanted to see how long this lasted until he eventually grew bored with it, or frustrated with the knowledge that I would never love him. I did inform him of that, by the way; he's entirely aware. He claims he doesn't care, and that being with me is enough; perhaps one day it won't be, and we'll go our separate ways. Perhaps that day won't come for a long time, perhaps it'll never come at all; it matters very little to me, in the end.

For another, we knew each other back in Amestris; we served in Ishval together, I believe I told you about that. He was one that I was mentoring back then; it wasn't as though he were a perfect stranger. Had that been the case, I wouldn't have agreed in the first place.

And I'm still not interested in men, really; I never really have been. He's the only one I've been with; that doesn't make me suddenly "interested in men."

[determinator]

[...Okay, out of everything that Kimblee said there, he's pretty sure he should be focusing on something else, like the fact that your boyfriend is dumb enough to enter a loveless relationship, or the fact that you're willing to date him for a "long time" and who knows how long that really means...]

[...But no, he's focused on one other thing.]

...You're dating a man, but that doesn't make you "interested in men."

[KIMBLEE WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON THAT MAKES NO SENSE]