ic contact;

[psycholawgy]

You've reached Athena Cykes. I'm currently unavailable, but leave a message and I'll get back to you pronto. Danke! (voice/call → text → video → action)

Comments

[psycholawgy]

Are you mad?

[cardboard_journalism]

Kinda. Friends don't lie to their friends, Athena.

[...pause]

--Okay, they totally do. But, they come clean about it, eventually.

[psycholawgy]

I did it to protect you, because you wouldn't stop talking smack about Archer.

[ they might be friends now, but athena knows what myriam is like... especially after what she did to junie. ]

He wasn't the one who was going to put you into trouble. It was somebody else.

[cardboard_journalism]

So, the ends justify the means, eh?

[huffs!]

...yeah, I got that. Does this mystery person have a name?

[psycholawgy]

Do you think I would tell you? I know you'd write something about h- [ a pause. ] them right away.

[cardboard_journalism]

Oh, so I'm not trustworthy, am I!? Is that how it is??

Maybe there's more newsworthy things to write about than someone who apparently would care about a teenage girl venting her frustration towards a grown man... spirit... guy... because he made her cry!

...kahk kahk kahk.

I don't even care about being mad at Archer anymore, I just want to know how much was lie and how much was truth!

[psycholawgy]

The only thing that was a lie was me being threatened by somebody!

[ she's not going to comment on the first half of what myriam said... for now, anyway. ]

[cardboard_journalism]

...

So, you weren't being threatened, I was being threatened. By an unnamed third person.

[it was probably fourth or fifth person by now, actually]

...And how did you learn about this?

[psycholawgy]

Archer told me.

[cardboard_journalism]

... Did he? --I thought you said Archer didn't tell you to come to me back then.

[psycholawgy]

Yeah, he did.

[cardboard_journalism]

[sighs...]

[psycholawgy]

What do you plan on doing now? Now that you know this, I mean.

[cardboard_journalism]

What are you talking about? I'm doing it!

...that is, y'know, confronting you. Kahk kahk kahk...

[psycholawgy]

I mean, aside from that.

[cardboard_journalism]

...what, you think I'm going to pester Archer about it?

It's not on my list of things I want to do.

[psycholawgy]

[ athena lets out a sigh of relief. ]

Good to hear. And I'm sorry for lying.

[cardboard_journalism]

...are you really, though? I mean... I'm pretty dumb.

...probably deserved it...

...right?

[psycholawgy]

Don't say you're dumb! It's not right!

[cardboard_journalism]

[deep breaths... she might be on the verge of crying]

Then why did you lie to me...?

[psycholawgy]

What, you think I would've let someone hurt you? I'll pass on that, thanks!

[cardboard_journalism]

And so your only choice was to lie to me about your life being in danger?!

[psycholawgy]

You wouldn't have stopped otherwise!

[cardboard_journalism]

How do you know?! Kahk kahk kahk!

Go ahead and say it, then! Tell me the truth: you don't think of me as a friend, you think I'm just some idiot box girl who needs to be lied to or else she'll mess everything up!

I never lied to you! I thought we were supposed to be beyond that!

[psycholawgy]

Don't put words in my mouth!

[ ughghgh she's so ready to hang up because she doesn't want to deal with this Right Now, and apollo isn't even here to be the straight man and tell her she's in the wrong. ]

I know you hate Archer, and that's why you kept writing about him in your newspaper! And you'll keep doing that about every single person who makes you cross!