Jade smiles at her- and she doesn't understand, she doesn't get it- the joke that her sister is so gleefully in on, the one that Artemis just isn't seeing. Like grains of sand through her useless stupid hands, her sisters moods and thoughts and feelings escape her every time.
Because the cement floor is disturbingly cold, and her blood is painted on it, bright berry red against cracking rough stone- and her arm burns, like thousands of tiny little wasps, crawling inside her, thrashing and stinging, confused as to why their new nest is so squishy. Her sister cut her.
A pinch or a jab was a warning, and a punch was a lesson- kicks were mean spirited but usually deserved- but Jade actually brought her blade to their spar, and mockingly, tauntingly, ran its jagged edge across her sisters upper arm- slicing through the bits of baby fat Artemis hadn't yet had starved out of her.
This isn't fucking funny- and yet
Jade-Chersire chuckles, cocking her head to the side, cold dark dead fish eyes flickering up and down Artemis's trembling frame.
"That's it? One little paper cut and you're done? You're crying like I killed your dog and shit on its grave." Jade smirks, hand idly swinging her knife back and forth, rhythmic motions dispelling small droplets of red onto her sister's ratty shirt. Artemis brings up her other hand to her face, surprised and horrified to find that her fingers come back wet. She crushes her palm to her eyes violently, pushing her knuckles harshly against her cheeks- no,no,no stupid stupid shitty little babyno,nono fucking stop crocks don't cry, and Lawrence no nodoesn't like weaknessno noand jades gonna slit your throat no no no
She looks up frantically again, barely alerted to her sisters rapid approach by the sound of bare feet hitting against the pavement before she is dragged upward. She yelps, reaching to try to scrabble out of her sisters cruel grip, sharp nails biting into her neck as the black haired girl holds her up by the throat.
And now she can see it- the tightening of her sisters jaw, teeth mashing, eyes narrowed and deadly, nose furled in an animalistic snarl-a trait passed down to both of them by their mother. And it occurs to her that her sister is angry- unbelievably, incredibly angry. Like lava boiling under skin, like a tree snapping under the weight of a storm, like the final crack of a wolves fangs into a deer's messily chewed open throat. She wants to ask her why. What did she do. What did she do to possibly make her sister despise her so fucking much. Because Jade is revolted. Disgusted. Mouth pulled back into a bitter grimace like she smelled something awful. Like the stench is making her want to physically gag. Artemis wants to hit her- wants to smash her chapped knuckles into her sisters ugly monster face, wants to bury her bitten fingernails into her sisters eyes until they pop, wants to cry and beg and plead- wants to tell her that she'd do anything, anything to make Jade love her- that she's so goddamn sorry for whatever the fuck she did-
Her sister throws her, heaves her small body harshly into their dusty brick wall. Artemis loses her breath, the pain overwhelming her senses for a moment- the hit stealing her air and rattling the bones inside her chest.
"You. You are so fucking pathetic." Jade snarls, her voice raw and imperfect and filled with a rough hatred. She glared down at Artemis, with such livid rage that for a moment she worries that her sister is going to put that blade in her stomach and watch her guts steam out- little wasps presumably escaping their shitty little nest.
But she just walks away.
They don't really talk about important things, these little dinner dates of theirs of purely for show. They mark progress in their relationship for sure, but Jade's not meant for love and Artemis is the flaw in every well thought out plan, so she doesn't expect things to last.
She's usually only distantly aware her sister is beautiful, but only because other people make such a point in gawking at her. Artemis personally thinks she's creepy- dark ruffled fur like hair, bristling with anger or shining like a glossy coat, when she sees the back of her head she just thinks 'bear'. Her eyes are blacker than the blackest night, sucking the light out of every room, so good at keeping secrets that they often come off as hollow and vacant. The lights are off and somebodies home.
A wobbling young male voice calls drunkenly out from across the street- remarking on her sister's ass, a lewd comment that immediately pisses Artemis off. She turns, hackles raised, fist clenched at her sides, the bursting angry furnace part of her cheering at the sight of the next victim of her fists. Black Canary was the team's den mother tonight; if this somehow got back to her she wouldn't do a damn thing about it- one of the rare perks of being a female super.
She fucking hates men- hates that her first instinct is to run, mashed and beaten in by Lawrence, before being cemented into her personality by the thousands of leering hostile men that had marred her childhood. She doesn't mind as much that her second instinct is to kill.
Jade props her elbow onto Artemis's shoulder, stopping her mid step.
"Janes closes at nine, I'd let you kill him, but roping him up for authorities- that'd take longer than I'm willing to wait. He's just a man." Jade rolled her eyes, deeply unimpressed. Artemis wonders if Jade is really so perfect and cold that she never fears these type of encounters- or if she's just so much better at lying to herself about it than Artemis is.
"ugh, fine. Who knew you were getting so soft." Artemis croaks, gruffly laughing. She starting to actually like her voice these days, it has a unique sort of quality to it that she honestly doesn't hear in people her age. Must have been all that second hand smoke she inhaled as a kid. Jade grins, and it's a smirk, but it's not plastic and sharp- it doesn't trigger any warning bells in her head- so its genuine, and not a 'I'm about to kick my little sister until she throws up' sort of smirk.
"That's me- fluffy as a teddy bear."
Jade sticks out her tongue, a rare expression of human distaste crossing her face.
"oh god- how in the world can you drink that? My teeth hurt just looking at it, and your chugging it like it's a shot." Jade cringed, physically having to look away. Artemis laughed, amused greatly by her sisters intense distaste of sugary foods. Admittedly, her drink was little more than whip cream, expresso and sugar at this point- but it was fun, and it had sprinkles!
"You're just bitter that you're a sad lonely adult who drinks boring ass coffee." Artemis crowed, pleased by her sisters instantly offended look.
"It's got…caramel. Artemis, tell me that caramel is not fun." Jade intoned seriously, her jest only slightly off put by the fact that she showed no physical signs of joking. Artemis looked Jade straight into her blacker than black eyes, iris's possessing an affectionate warmth that was equally unfamiliar and nostalgic.
"Jade, the fact that you think caramel is fun-" Artemis doesn't even get to finish her sentence before her sister interrupts her with laughter. Maybe, she thinks, progress is good enough.