Closed Sour and Fluorescent

Lavender goo was the only term Archie could use to describe the mess unfolding in his kitchen sink, scrubbing soap onto what was left of his daughter's play dough and watching as the matter turned to sludge between his fingers. It had seemed logical at first to lick the play dough, a sound decision after an afternoon where Charlotte sat next to him, mimicking his hobby of crafting natural, child safe, lavender bath bombs with her similarly colored lavender play dough and they left for lunch only to return and realize they couldn't discern which was which. Play dough was non toxic, and Archie in his indescribable genius could only think to pick up one of the 'bath bombs' he thought was the play dough and lick it, immediately figuring out he was right in his assumption and moving to separate it from his actual creations. The moment replayed in his head repeatedly as he tried to understand how quickly his day had shifted from calm to chaos afterward.

It hadn't been such a big deal at first for him to lick the play dough, Charlotte had even laughed, found the action hilarious as it was only his fault that his attempts at building an organic bath bombs looked and smelled just like her play dough, but that had all changed when Dash reacted ultimately winding her younger sister up and into a full blown tantrum. Thus, after mitigating the tantrum and fighting back his own stressful tears with promises he would fix the problem, Archie ended up in the kitchen, washing Charlotte's play dough hoping to appease her that it was clean and brand new. It would be easier just to dispose of the play dough he had ruined and buy new jars of it for Charlotte's sake, but in Archie's emotions and promises to fix what had caused his daughter's distress he hadn't put the pieces together yet that this would be an easier solution. Dash was watching Archie on with a smile, amused by the scene, while Charlotte had thankfully since moved on to build block towers in the living room, but even with the tantrum fully subsided Archie couldn't keep himself from feeling embarrassed and a bit out of sorts and overwhelmed, wondering how this all looked and of course how on earth he would explain everything when Asher returned home.​

Asher returning home with food was a momentary reprieve from the purple mess in the kitchen sink, a smile appearing on Archie's features paired with a gentle hum as Asher pulled him into a hug, an act that paired with the promise of his favorite burger and fries for dinner, would have entirely calmed him down if Asher's shock at the play dough didn't just as quickly bring him back to reality. Archie opened his eyes, looking down to his hands covered in soap as he began to try and explain how the afternoon had unfolded to such an odd conclusion. "Oh, well, I licked it, and Charlotte got upset so I said I'd clean it." He said as his brows furrowed gently, leaving out the addition that Charlotte had thought it was hilarious all until Dash began to wind her up. He wished Dash hadn't reacted at all, hadn't gone out of her way to turn Charlotte's laughing into a full blown tantrum, but knew he couldn't change it now, and could only do what he could to keep his daughters calm even if it meant washing play dough with dish soap as if it wouldn't entirely turn into the gooey mess it was in that moment. "I don't think it's working." Archie admitted in defeat as if the comment wasn't already obvious and unsaid. "Maybe it's easier to just get her new play dough, I dunno." He added with a shrug, hoping Ash would agree with him so he could throw the play dough away and forget about all of it, so they could instead focus on having dinner as a family and unwinding from the day.​