"Oh yes, very clever!" Wren was quick to assure, anxious that Archie not only believe that Wren believed that but also that he understood that he was clever.
Wren tried not to melt so much at the gentle hands in his hair that he slumped into the bath and drowned himself, but it was a close thing. He didn't even stop to wonder if Archie could feel the scar tissue, thin and subtle but there nevertheless under the cover of his hair, perched up above that dodgy eye.
Again, Archie was a champion at taking what Wren said and soothing out all the little worry wrinkles and fault lines in what he thought. "Oh my gosh Archie, all for me?!" He had to query, the generosity unfathomable.
If Archie had asked him for a bite he would be baring his neck before the sentence was finished, well, he would if he knew that was what Archie would want. Hearing that Archie was lonely made Wren whine unhappily for him, but hearing that he didn't really have a lot of friends made no sense. The soapy boy turned around where he sat before Archie rinsed his hair out to give him a soft frown. "I'm your friend now, I'll come over for company anytime you ask." he promised, the sadness in his expression for Archie true and deep.
He turned back around and the way Archie sluiced water down over his hair was so unlike the hard blast from the hoses he was used to that he didn't even realise they were basically the same thing; the difference in motive made all the difference in the experience.
"Oh!" Wren chirped when Archie complimented him, hiding his face in his hands bashfully. He was enjoying the bath so much that he was actually sad that it had to end, a first for him really. The nicest baths he'd had up to that point had been his dips in the lake when the weather was hot and sticky.
He wouldn't overstay his welcome in the bath though, not when Archie was offering warmth and food, and he nodded that he was ready, stepping carefully out of the bath, into the towel and then forward as he thought Archie's outstretched arms had been the offer of a hug. He dripped on his friend a little bit but he let go in time that Archie got away only a little damp. The scars that littered him showed up more starkly on his newly clean skin and he looked somehow smaller, even if he was noticably cleaner. "Thank you Archie."