bragnificent | IC CONTACT ➛ mask or menace.

[ It's been a couple of days since Betty told him and ever since then he's been deep in indecision about whether or not he should do something about this, if he should talk to Reggie or just keep this knowledge for a rainy day. How much of an asshole does he want to be? Then again, being an asshole is partially the reason why he didn't talk to Archie before he disappeared and there's like three of them here that even know Riverdale and although it'd be so easy to avoid Reggie for the rest of eternity, Betty doesn't and that makes the whole thing awkward and-

He types and deletes a dozen times before settling on: ]

Truce.

[ When Reggie sees Jughead's name in his inbox he's not really sure what to expect-- despite their open animosity (or at best, hostile tolerance) toward each other, that was usually reserved just for in-person stand offs, and even then only sometimes. Texting each other? Not so much. But--

At the same time, given the timing, he can maybe guess what this might be about. But if he's right, then the actual contents of the message somehow end up surprising him even more than they might have otherwise. He'd sort of been dreading Jughead finding out, if only because... well, Reggie's not entirely sure why. Because it's awkward? ]

why

[ He's still not sure if this is the best route to take, but the alternative was doing nothing and he's not sure how long he'd be able to keep that up. ]

Because I know. Betty told me.

[ He hesitates on continuing, but maybe it's better to just rip this off like a bandaid and see where it goes. ]

I'm not looking to be friends, but if this thing between us contributed to me not even saying hi to my best friend before he disappeared, then something needs to change.

great. of course she did
cuz whyyyyyy the hell not

[ It is probably for the better this way, though... not that Reggie has to be particularly thrilled about it, even so. ]

but yeah whatever
i guess we could try it
fyi tho the 2 of u are reading waaaay too much into this whole archie thing
like ok so it was crappy timing. yeah. big freakin deal, that happens
so just chill already.

Hey I'm just saying if he hadn't been living with you, I would've made more of an effort.

[ But let's not get into all that just now, or ever. ]

Besides, Betty said you haven't been a total jerk to her.

yeah yeah like, i GET it, but look
u guys will still be best friends again when u go back anyway like always AND u got nancy drew here w/ u so
its rly not that big a deal.

[ Mostly he just doesn't want to keep hearing and/or talking about it. Even if to a certain extent that's kind of unavoidable. ]

lol wait she said what
damn she rly is desperate for us to get along huh

[ Yeeaaah let's leave that for now. He's not too convinced that he and Archie will be besties forever at this particular point in time. All the more reason to not talk about it with Reggie fucking Mantle. ]

Calm down dude, she just mentioned you've been giving her a ride home after therapy. She doesn't even know I'm talking to you right now.

[ Their lives are already hard enough if they have to even be resorting to humoring a truce to begin with. That is dire straights indeed. ]

i am calm
if i wasnt then id probably be gettin mad or sumthing that u guys have been talking about me
which btw still better not become a habit
but im not bcuz i already know how fucking weird it is that hes gone & now im stuck dealing with the 2 of u instead
i mean im probably the one this is weirdest for tbh

Trust me, it was a one time thing. Won't happen again.

Why is it the weirdest for you?

yeah cuz that seems likely

and what like its not obvious?
if archie was still here itd be awkward but at least he could deal w/ the 2 of u
w/out him now im stuck being a 3rd wheel for his best friends who i dont even like bcuz somehow they think us getting along is gonna make any kind of diff

like do u guys think im gonna talk about him to u, is that it?

I don't want to talk about him. [ He does, a lot, because this latest bomb shell has made him doubt whether he even knows Archie or if it's this place that changed things or- ]

And I'm not saying we need to hang out. Specifically: the two of us. You're gonna run into Betty no matter what and it'd be easier for everyone if we weren't at each other's throats if I'm with her when that happens. That's all.

i bet u dont

[ Even Reggie had been surprised to learn that Archie was also capable of liking boys, so he's not sure how much he really believes Jughead. Not that he's going to push the subject, because having that conversation is something it'd take more than a simple truce to accomplish. At the very least he'd want to be drunk first. ]

but yeah its fine whatever
im not gonna make any promises for if u say or do some real out of pocket shit in front of me but otherwise i dont care

[ Yeah, that talk is not happening, or at least not for a long time yet. At least now there's the slimmest possibility, but who knows how long this cease fire will even last. ]

I'll behave if you behave.

[ Maybe the quasi-not!apocalypse will finally help motivate them to reconsider such priorities... but even then it's probably hard to say. Aside from Archie and Riverdale itself, what the two of them have the most in common may just be sheer stubbornness. ]

yeah well u'd better
just cuz i dont have any reason not to agree rn doesnt mean that if im given one im gonna keep making any effort to keep the peace
so fyi

[ Maybe. Actually, if the actual end of the world isn't enough to get them to have a normal, civil conversation about things they both care about, nothing will. ]

I think we just found the first thing we can both agree on.

IC CONTACT ➛ mask or menace.

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