[ 'Penance'. 'Sin'. As far as Archer is concerned, both of them are meaningless concepts. And if he ever did have any sins to his name, surely, he's already paid for them. The repetitive cycle of death and destruction was in itself a punishment so the idea that he needs to 'repent' for it is absurd.

But this is the game, is it not? And for whatever reason, he chose take the fall, in this particular case.

The reason why is complex, and it's unlikely he'll explain it. It's just what it is, and he'll suffer the punishment he essentially signed himself up for with grace.

There's a rustle of fabric, as Archer obediently sinks down on both knees. He seems quite calm about all of this -- but then, a man who has faced literal execution without flinching and countless other terrible things surely cannot find the prospect of being 'punished' by a man he doesn't know to be too far out of the norm.

Still...there is one boundary he will set. ]

We can start and end here if you like... The only thing I ask is we leave asphyxiation off the table. For your sake more than mine.

[ He says it evenly, without much inflection. Even though he doesn't have to breathe, he's not sure how well he'll react to that. Death by hanging isn't really a pleasant way to go, after all, and he doesn't really want to test his tolerance for that sort of thing at the moment. ]