He has a home in Sootopolis. A rental, but a home of some sorts. At least, one pretty enough to play dollhouse in like they do. He always leans his arms over the railing and waits for the mist to rise just to taste him- the underneath of his bearded chin. It barely misses his lips; Maxie is jealous of just that much. The door clicks shut as the redhead remains in the quartered part of the room cut by shadow, absent of the sunshine Archie basks in.

“We have to stop meeting like this.” Why does it feel like such a lie? The guilt wracks upon Maxie like bricks one on the other over his shoulders; he’s not supposed to be here. The other man sighs, and his sweet, deep voice is taken into the wind.

“I know,” Archie answers once again. “Just one more day...alright?” His eyes light up the room as he looks over his shoulder, begging, towards Maxie and his hesitant stare at his own feet. To Maxie, he’s utterly luminescent, and too bright right now to see. “We’re already here.”

Magma’s greatest doesn’t move, trying to tell himself he’s too ashamed. To this silence, Archie turns fully around.

“...Do ya need to go home?”

Asshole that Archie is, Maxie’s always surprised at his opposite’s willingness to end this, no questions asked. But it’s always Maxie that keeps coming back, on his knees for more, and today is no different. The hunger in his steely eyes makes Archie’s heart skip every damn time, including now as the only other person in the room shakes his head “no.”

“You’re simply right. We-...might as well.” The last words trail as he rubs his shoulder, pushing back the quandary of indulging in the most dangerous things- in adoring in private your worst enemy, an utter villain obstructing your purest dreams.

Archie sighs, feeling a similar weight pull him down. He discards his chain onto the bed in hopes of this sensation leaving the chest his golden anchor aligns over. “If that’s what you want…”

Is it what he wants?

The buildings of Sootopolis with their carved windows are the only eyes that see Archie hesitate before ignoring everything over his shoulder, his team, and the ancient creatures waiting so close by for him to take what he needs. He doesn’t need Maxie. He can end this as soon as the world does.

Right?

His hand gently grasps around his jaw, feeling the other man’s pulse through his fingertips- the one thing that refuses to lie about how the redhead really feels. His lips part and won’t breathe easy again till the sun sets and he wakes up alone. He pulls the pillow into him, the redhead’s scent still there. The dollhouse is empty, playtime is over again.