This was good. She wasn't talking. Archer was good when people weren't talking. On days like this, he surprised even himself with his capacity to experience emotion. Most people thought that he was incapable of it, and oftentimes he believed them. But as Isobel gave him a glass smile before pulling him into a hug, he experienced the strange sensation of his heart beating heavily in his chest and a gentle dizziness in his head. There was nothing to do but return the embrace.
His arms wrapped around her small body and pulled her close, bony fingers pressing gently against her back. Her head fit just beneath his chin, and he rested there, eyes drifting closed. It was almost upsetting how tightly she held him, and it made him feel bad. Though he couldn't help the confusing feeling of irrational jealousy over her reaction to Trenton's imprisonment, he simultaneously pitied her because he seemed to be the only one left she could call up for a hug. It wasn't right, a pretty young woman like that doing such things with a man like him.