Across Time and Space

5

"I'm not scared of you."

"I know."

"Does that bother you?"

Artemis looked up from his book, silently contemplating Holly. It was late afternoon, and the dying sunlight was passing through the library's stained glass window, throwing fantastic colours and designs onto the smooth wooden floor. Motes of dust floated lazily through the air, ferried along by Artemis and Holly's exhaled breaths towards unknown destinations. Towering bookshelves with thousands of books buffered the noise of the party below, allowing Artemis to forget the family obligations he had been neglecting by hiding up here.

Artemis chuckled softly, sending more dust motes flying and closing his book. "No, should it?"

"You think it would," Holly said, leaning forward on the divan she occupied across the room. For just a moment, the sunlight caught the edge of Holly's hair, highlighting the auburn with golden streaks as she moved into the light's swath.

"Why would you assume such a thing Captain Short?"

"Because you're a control freak, and I'm the only person you can't boss around."

Artemis laughed again, but with false confidence. "On the contrary Holly, I believe that research into our history will show that I have, on many occasions, used and manipulated both you, and your position within the LEP, to obtain what I want."

"But you can't anymore," Holly parried his response almost casually.

"Can't, or won't?"

"Can't," Holly answered. "But that's beside the point."

"Then, please," Artemis said sardonically, "do get to 'the point.'"

"The point is...that you scare everyone into respecting you, into giving you the things you want. You don't actually do anything; you just scare them with your potential, with the possibility of what you could do."

"That's absurd," Artemis said, reclining back on the bay window seat and staring at the tome in his hands.

"No," Holly continued, "I'm right. Foaly, Mulch, Commander Kelp, Minerva, your parents, even Butler. They're all scared of what you'll do next, whether it means the destruction of fairy civilization, or just leaving them forever."

Artemis' ears perked at the last bit. "And you're not scared that I'll leave you forever?"

"Gods, no," she laughed. "You're a human. No point in worrying about the inevitable, eh?"

Artemis stood, and his shadow overtook the room, nearly blocking out the light from the window. "So that's why you're not scared of me? Because I'm a mortal man?" He said the last two words through his teeth, as though they were a forbidden curse.

Holly met Artemis in the middle of the room. "Don't look so hurt Mud Boy. You may be a genius, but the People still have light-years on you."

Artemis glowered down at the diminutive fairy, her hands on her hips, and chin thrust up towards him in an act of defiance. Had Butler been in the room, he might have warned Holly not to test Artemis further, noticing the slight tension in his neck and the clenching of his thin hands. However, the giant man was currently pacing the hallway outside the door, assuring no wandering party guests strayed into the Fowl manor library and interrupted his master's 'studies.'

"You should be scared of me." He said it so quietly, had anyone other than an elf been in the room, they wouldn't have heard it.

"Quit it, Artemis. Villainy doesn't suit you."

Artemis jerked his head, and Holly swore his eyes flashed, blue and hazel, despite the library's lack of light. "It used too."

In one, swift, adrenalin-fuelled motion, Artemis took Holly by the shoulders and threw her back onto the divan. She landed with a surprised, "Ow!" and tried to sit up, already uttering death threats. However, in an equally smooth motion, he was there, crouching over Holly, pinning her down, like a butterfly stuck to a corkboard.

"D'arvit!" Holly cursed and squirmed, trying to free herself, but she couldn't move. Artemis was forcing her torso into the divan, holding her down at the shoulders. To keep her dangerous legs, and feet, away from his more sensitive areas, Artemis pinned her two legs with one of his. His other leg extended off the low divan, propping him up so that he could still tower over the fairy, despite their reclined position.

"Let. Me. Go!" Holly growled, punctuating each word with a twist or squirm and glaring up at the human.

Artemis smiled wickedly and for a second, Holly felt a twinge of fear in her stomach, and though she fought to hide it, the genius caught the slight change in Holly's expression. Leaning down towards the elf, Artemis whispered,

"You've always suspected it. I know you have. That it was all too good to be true. That one day I would see that charity and friendship and humanitarianism were worthless and go back to my old ways. That, once again, you would be powerless to stop me."

"What are you talking about?" Holly whispered back fervently, hissing on every consonant. Slowly, she reached her hand down her side, fingers reaching for her Neutrino.

Without taking his eyes from Holly's, one of Artemis' hands shot out of grabbed Holly's wrist, twisting it and holding it up beside her head. He laughed softly to himself and shifted on the divan so that there were only centimetres between their two bodies.

"There's one thing that you seem to forget Holly," he began, his voice silky. "Despite all the fairy technology you and your comrades possess, there is still one advantage that we lowly Mud People hold."

Holly didn't inquire as to the human advantage, her fiery glare never wavering.

Tilting his head to the side, Artemis lowered himself so that his mouth was right beside Holly's neck and ear. Speaking directly into her ear, so that his thin lips occasionally brushed Holly's skin and sent chills racing down her spine, the genius spoke.

"You mustn't forget, little fairy, just how much bigger we are than you."

Holly's eyes shot to the side, staring with confusion at the back of Artemis' head, and was about to make a biting retort, when she caught her breath. Leaning back slightly, Artemis was lightly drawing a finger around Holly's ear, tracing the shape, allowing his finger to dip onto her neck as the lobe returned to her head.

"It would be so easy," he said, still whispering, but his voice had lost the harshness of before. It sounded almost...whimsical, dreamy. His finger continued its journey down, lingering on her exposed jugular before stopping at the collar of her Recon suit, his nimble fingers toying with the zipper pull.

"What, Mud Boy?"

"Taking you," he stated simply. "I am a human, you know. And a man at that. Practically a savage, by your standards. And although you and Commander Kelp have your little jokes about my supposed sexuality issues, trust me Captain...I so want to."

For a moment, Holly's expression seemed to soften as she looked at the human, and she spoke.

"Okay."

Artemis' eyebrows shot up onto his forehead and his voice lost all of its smoothness. "Really?" he squeaked.

"Yeah," Holly said, and this time it was her turn to adopt a seductive tone, although one that was slightly...enhanced. "Why not? We're both adults...well, mostly. And we're alone."

"R-right now?" Artemis stuttered, his mind suddenly fuzzy, though he wrongly blamed hormones for that. His palms were sweaty and he quickly removed one from Holly's shoulder to hastily wipe on his slacks.

"No time like the present," Holly quipped, and, quick as a viper, grabbed Artemis' belt buckle, holding it in her tiny fist. Artemis gulped, his Adam's apple jumping.

Pushing herself up with her other free hand, Holly brushed her nose against Artemis', their matching gazes trained on each other, though the growing gloom made it difficult to continue the connection.

"H-h-holly," Artemis continued to stutter. "I-I don't think I'm..." he blushed on the last word "Ready."

"Well, as you and your gigantic, savage, human buddies say, 'No duh'." Holly said and flipped Artemis off the divan and onto the library floor below where he landed with an, 'Oof.'

Jumping off the divan, Holly stepped over the prone human, and had her hair reached past her ears, would have flipped it over her shoulder dismissively. She was about to sneak out the library door into the hallway, when she turned to look at Artemis, wearing the boy's own vampire smile.

"Oh, and on the contrary Mud Boy, I think that perhaps it is you that should be scared of me, not the other way around. Keep that in mind for next time."

Artemis scrambled to get to his feet, slipping on the smooth wood and wincing at what was sure to be a bruised hip, finally getting to his feet just as Holly's swaying backside disappeared into the hallway. Breathing in deeply and rubbing his temples, he tried to clear his head, the last waves of Mesmer disappearing. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he gasped, speaking to the empty room,

"Wait- what do you mean 'next time'?"

Bahahahahaha. You thought it was going to be fluffy, didn't you?

Okay, so I just watched the interview with Colfer from the Guardian concerning the 8th book (link can be found on AF FanGathering, TAC spoilers) and am pissed. If you watch it, you'll soon know why, and are free to join my army of home-made Neutrino wielding fangirls. Meetings are every Tuesday at 6pm in my basement. Bring snacks. And reviews.