This Conspiracy

Chapter 16

Author stuff: Archie is dumb. He is so, so dumb. Remember a couple chapters back when I said that was the start of it? It continues on.

Really, all these boys are.

Chapter 16

In Which Flossy Is Holding Out For A Hero

"Where's the Girlie going?" Dave said, peering out over the Glade. He shaded his eyes with his hands, still squinting to watch the goings on.

"Stop watching her and get back to work," Gally said, his face not moving away from the plank he was removing. Although, Archie swore he saw his eyes flick over in her direction a few times in the past few seconds.

"She's going to the Med-hut."

"It probably has something to do with a couple of days ago. She's fine."

"How would you know?"

"She told me herself."

"When did you have time to talk with her?" Archie said. He'd rarely had the opportunity to do so himself since they started their jobs officially. Their conversations were strictly only during meals.

"He guards the showers when she's in there," Hank said. Archie and Dave both looked at him in surprise. He'd wondered how she'd been bathing safely. He'd never wanted to ask, for fear of breaching her privacy. "What, you guys haven't noticed?"

"Not really, no," Dave said. He looked at Gally, wagging his eyebrows and smirking. "What are you, some kind of knight? You kind of need armor for that."

Gally spluttered, gaping at the Builder. He tried several times to say something, but he failed each time.

"Just... just get back to work, you shanks," Gally said. Archie watched as Gally's skin took a dark pink tinge to it, as if he rapidly burned in the sun. But that was impossible.

Gally was blushing. The kind of blushing that insinuated that the person had a... a crush on another person.

Oh!

Dave and Hank snickered, but they did as they were told and helped with the roof. It took Archie a moment before he did the same.

For some reason, none of it sat quite right with him. Flossy had become something of a sister figure to him. And Gally's blushing was... He wasn't quite sure of what to think of that. Not that he felt like he couldn't trust him with her – actually, he was one of the few he felt that he could – it was... something else.

Something that he couldn't put his finger on.

Not jealousy, per say, but more along the lines of worry.

But what was there to worry about? It was just Gally.

Archie hoped he never had to find out.

. . .

He made a point of stopping by the Med-hut after they'd finished for the day. Gally had gone by earlier during their lunch break, but he hadn't shared anything with any of them. Instead, he'd gone straight to Zart and the two of them hashed something out. Zart hadn't looked happy, but he hadn't been angry either. His expression read... He wasn't sure what it read. He was terrible at reading people.

He knocked on the door. He hadn't really been there since their tryouts, which was a good thing when one considered it.

Jeff answered it, a confused expression on his face.

"Oh, hey, Greenie," he said.

"Greenie?" he heard Flossy say from somewhere inside. "Archie? Archie! Please, help me. Clint and Jeff are holding me prisoner."