when called in for visitors , archie expects what he always gets — BETTY COOPER , with overwhelming love and a temporary escape from the darker places he’s grown accustomed to . his FATHER , bearing news from home , from sports , and a comfort he’ll never get used to being without . his best friend , JUGHEAD JONES , providing an unspoken support system through jokes and empathy . even with the occasional veronica lodge , cheryl blossom , and reggie mantle , archie still could never have foreseen this happening . especially not on a day like today . ( though — merry christmas to him ? )
he’ll begin to reckon — perhaps that makes him as dumb as everyone thinks he is — perhaps he should have known that , even in JAIL , he couldn’t stay safe from hiram’s wrath . and he’s starting to think that , maybe after all , he never will be . hiram’ll always be there , looming in the audience of those watching the boy crumble , or one step ahead of every move he ever makes . ( PARANOID ? yes ! irrational ? not in the slightest . )
❛❛ dude , seriously ?? ❜❜ eyes will flicker between the man and the pile of food laid in front of him . though it’s TEMPTING ( — he hasn’t had pop’s in months . can you really blame him ? ) , he’s pondered long enough not to fall victim to hiram lodge’s schemes . ❛❛ you come here on CHRISTMAS DAY , telling me you work for hiram lodge’s wife , and you expect me to trust you ? NO WAY . there’s no shot . ❜❜ he’ll shake his head harshly , eyes shut tight at the mere prospect of things .
even if archie WANTED to trust him , THOUGHT he could trust him … it’d blow up in his face , he’s certain . he’ll ALWAYS fall victim to his lack of guile — but having been stuck in a shoddy cell , alone with his thoughts for months on end ? he’s gained a sense of cynicism he’d have shut out otherwise . besides … this has happened before . ❛❛ i’m not an idiot — hiram pulled the same thing last year , hiring someone to pretend to be a private investigator , all to see if i’d stay loyal to him … sorry , sir , but i’m not gonna fall for it . not again . ❜❜ and with that ? he’ll lean back in his chair , arms crossed over his chest , waiting for ambrose to make the next move .
ambrose wasn’t shocked at archie’s initial distrust, as he’s practically been manipulated by the lodge family again and again. he could walk away, giving archie something to think about and leaving him with questions that would cloud his mind to the brink of annoying curiosity. he was in prison after all, and there wasn’t much he could do to escape his thoughts without boredom coming into play.
“what a pity. i really had to go through a lot of hoops to get this food in here and now it’s going to get cold.” ambrose dug into the bag, eating several of the fries. “i can understand the obsession people in this town have with this diner. the food is marvelous - i can’t say the same about the service.” at the end of the day, archie’s trust was important but he wasn’t going to giveaway just how much it mattered. “i don’t actually celebrate christmas. this is nothing but an off-day for me. now why would i come on one of the dew days i have off, archibald?”
his eyes widened at the mention of a private investigator. “you are tellin’ me that you fell for that? you didn’t bother checking credentials?” ambrose was growing quite hungry, and he did conjure up an extra burger to eat that was for archie if he managed to eat everything else. he chuckled, taking a big bite of the burger and leaning over the chair.
ambrose rolled his eyes, glaring at the red haired boy with a humorous look. “you do realize that you’re in prison. im only asking for your trust, archibald, im not asking you to commit any acts. i don’t care about your loyalty because there’s nothing you can do for me in here.” he was honest, but being misleading. there was a certain bit of manipulation going on, but only in the aspect that ambrose really did archie’s trust for the sake of saving many lives of people in this town. archie had a network of people that would help ambrose in the end because his trust meant the trust of a lot of other people.
“you can sit here and act like you have the upper hand when you don’t. i brought you this greasy food and thought we were going to have a simple discussion and believed you’d want to hear the benefits and hoops i’m willing to go through to help you in here.” ambrose took the bag of food, shaking his head. “i was going to offer to bring you anything you wanted in here and tell you ways of knocking certain people in here down a peg. but since you to bite the hand that’s literally feeding you. maybe i should just forget it.”