1/2
There was time enough before they were ushered into the office for Archer to slowly turn his head and give Bran a look that said more than any words would have. Fucking 'Robocop' again. Yeah, Fuck you Bran, and fuck your peanut butter cookies twice.
(Not that he was actually trying to scrounge up supplies for baking some sort of cookies. Nope. That wasn't a thing. And it certainly wasn't something he was gonna try now so that maybe he could get it right for his buddy's birthday in a couple of months. Also nope.)
Yet after a second's hesitation, he loosened the tie he'd knotted tight to his neck and undid the collar button of the shirt, breathing a little easier. Because they were in fucking Texas and it was hot as hell. None of that changed the fact that there was still a part of Archer that wished he had a complete dress uniform, not a shirt with sleeves rolled and tie loose. Being in uniform was a gesture of respect. The comment about his cap was similarly disregarded. You wore your lid outside and carried it inside; that was Academy-level knowledge that was just a part of Archer, the same way O'Brien's teasing and wild conjecture was a part of him.
They were, on the surface, so very dissimilar. Many were surprised when shown how alike the two men could be. Archer might be the put-together, squared-away commander... but he didn't expect his dressed-down lieutenant to behave similarly. In the beginning of their partnership, in the thankfully brief period of time when the younger detective attempted to emulate him because he thought that was what the workaholic robot cop wanted, Archer had first been privately amused and then concerned. It was actually one of the things that helped him to put aside their initial prickliness and speak frankly, which got them started on one of the most successful homicide partnerships in their precinct's history, and made for one hell of a friendship. They were both dedicated, hard-working cops with their own methods, complimenting each other's working styles. Archer's stoicism and O'Brien's chatter both hid fairly easygoing personalities beneath. Before the zombies, they'd catch a game now and again, watch movies on TV (often whatever Bran picked), or sat at the bar. Just a way to decompress. These days, options limited, when he wanted to hang out with his best friend Archer usually wandered up to the roof or they'd both sit and read.
He had a feeling he'd need to decompress after this meeting.
That thought had just bubbled up when the two cops were being shown into the opulent office of their mayor. Olinger had the reputation of being a hardworking man, which Archer could appreciate and respect. Lansing, Archer knew a little better, partially because he was Adelaide's husband and partially because the council was a little more… accessible, Archer supposed. It didn’t come as too much of a surprise that Lansing was the one to usher them into the office, Archer preceding O’Brien with a polite nod for Thomas.