Artemis plucked irritably at the lint on his coat sleeves. This was getting unreasonable. He had sent two messages! That was unheard of, really. And still no news. Artemis turned towards the intercom.

"Butler, old friend, could you come in for a moment? I wish to speak with you."

His burly bodyguard knocked on the door in a matter of seconds.

"Come in."

"Is there something you need, Artemis?"

Artemis frowned. He tapped the tips of his fingers together rapidly. Then he jumped up and began pacing distractedly about the room. Once in a while, he paused and made as though to speak to Butler; but each time, he closed his mouth and continued his pacing. Butler knew better than to question the boy genius when he was in such a mood, and waited.

"Butler. Do you think that it's normal to receive two messages from someone you – get along with – and not respond?" Artemis finally fired off quickly.

Butler was mildly amused. So this was the big question.

"Might I ask, Artemis, if your question is driven by interactions with females – that to say, girl troubles?"

Artemis darted a look at his bodyguard. "No, Butler – the issue is quite divorced from "girl troubles", I can assure you. It was something that I was researching," drawled Artemis, imitating cool collectedness perfectly. But Butler hadn't learnt nothing about Artemis from the years spent protecting him. He knew his charge well – more than the young man probably liked to admit. And what Butler knew was that matters of the heart disturbed Artemis more than anything else, primarily because it annoyed him that he could be so affected.

"Alright."

Pause.

"Well, Butler?"

Butler looked upon Artemis mildly before commenting, "I would venture to say that the situation you describe is normal and forgivable, particularly if the person in question is likely to have been extremely busy in the period of time. A month isn't a particularly long period of non-correspondence, Artemis."

Artemis made a motion that was as close to a start as was possible for him.

How does Butler know I'm talking about her so quickly? I am losing my touch.

"Thank you, Butler, you may go."

Butler took his leave. Artemis sank down into his chair once more. He hadn't heard from Captain Holly Short in a month – well, less than a month to be exact – it had been exactly 27 days, 10 hours and 4 minutes since she had kissed him on the cheek and taken off into the sky. Which wasn't an abysmally long duration; Artemis Fowl had many demands on his time. What disturbed him was that while he had aided The People in their search for Opal Koboi, researching, keeping a close tab on suspected hide-outs through a small configuration of key satellite systems and the like, even allowing the manor to be swiped due to Opal's brief stay there, the Captain had never once been part of the teams sent in. At first Artemis had dismissed it as a temporary matter of more active duty. After all, he could not see why else the elf would be kept from dropping by Fowl Manor. But from his secret surveillance, it emerged that on one of the days when it had been long-arranged that he would handle a tedious business matter several cities away, Holly had dropped in to oversee operations for a few hours. She clearly wasn't that busy then. Surely she had the tiniest time to spare. She hadn't bothered to message him, hell, she had even kept out of the surveyed parts of the house (unsuccessfully, because he bugged practically everything). And she had not replied his messages, which was particularly exasperating because it generally wounded his pride a lot to make first moves that didn't benefit him.

His first message.

Operations proceeding according to schedule. Lieutenant Bors informs me that internal security has been tightened Underground. A.

His second one, decidedly more desperate.

Have been thinking about a closer sweep of the Asian continent. But after closer consideration have decided against it because it is unlikely K will settle in an area so far from her objectives. If any further thoughts on the issue, share. A.

The senselessness of the second message annoyed Artemis. Her non-response annoyed him further. Artemis Fowl, boy genius, now suspected that Captain Holly Short just might be evading him.

***

Holly hovered in the breeze for a bit before dipping down and winging herself homeward.

Understandably, she was worn out by the time she reached her dwelling. It had been a tough day, even by her insane standards. Grimacing at the way her body creaked and ached as she shuffled her way about, she resolved to whip herself back into shape. All this gallivanting about after Koboi had tired her out entirely.

She filled her toilet pond with hot water and stripped off her suit and one-piece before stepping in with a happy sigh. She let herself drift for a few seconds before grabbing the cleanser and beginning to scrub herself vigorously. It would be so much easier if The People got used to doing their baths up once in a while like the Mud Men. All their lazy, automated procedures.

Speaking of Mud Men. Holly's mind unwillingly drifted to the boy Artemis Fowl. She sighed. She missed her unlikely friend. They had been through hellfire together, swapped eyes, got into the worst of trouble. He was so intelligent and so sure of it that it was infuriating sometimes. And, wonder of wonders, he had even begun being vaguely humane. Holly had grown to enjoy his company a lot over the years.

But it was getting hard, too. Ever since her stupid temporary adolescence acquired from the timestream and that kiss she had given him, and him revealing how he had lied to her, she had been feeling very confused about this Mud Boy. Who was fast becoming a man. Which also confused her, in a slightly different way. Generally, everything Artemis-related these days caused her a great deal of confusion, which she absolutely detested. Hence she was furious. And hence she tried her best to avoid the source of that confusion.

Which isn't exactly fair, is it? That voice in her head told her. He might be a lying goblin but he has been a great friend to you.

Well, Holly, that isn't exactly the point.

Then what is?

You know.

What?

"The point is that without being aware till recently, I think I've become too fond of him. And it upsets me, because he lied to me, and I don't appreciate losing my self-control. He's not right for me. We're different species, he's younger, it's inappropriate. And to top it all he can be quite a troll. Holly you are losing the self-control you value so much, so pull yourself together!" With that, Holly tried her best to snap herself out of it. She was becoming comical. Fancying a teenage Mud Man. Holly rolled her eyes. That was something to brag about indeed.

And to add to the humour in the whole situation, his two messages to her had been completely hilarious. He had been talking total dwarf waste in that second one! Holly allowed herself to laugh out loud for about two seconds before stifling it. She didn't feel comfortable getting too jolly over him.

Beep! Beep!

Holly swore loudly and almost slid underwater. She had almost dozed off in the past 5 minutes. Water dripping down her lashes and obscuring her vision, she reached for her communicator. She was dismayed to see that it was flashing red. The caller had labeled it a very-urgent call. Without a further thought, she whipped it open.

And found herself staring into a pale, dark-haired boy's hazel and blue eyes.

***

Artemis was not happy. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table and noted the time with interest. If his calculations were right, Holly should have reached her dwelling by this time, provided she had been on conventional duty timing. Pushing aside the reservations that were already starting to cry out in his rational mind, Artemis picked up his phone and called Holly.

And then he stared at the screen and waited. A few moments later, she picked up.

He felt slightly strange when her familiar face zoomed into view. Her high cheekbones, short auburn crop, slightly flared eyebrows.

She was staring at him, incredulous.

Artemis suddenly noticed, turning impossibly red, that her hair and face were wet and droplets were running down her neck. Neck? I haven't really seen Holly's neck before. Interesting. And shoulders. He glimpsed the tops of her slim brown shoulders before the view suddenly jiggled dangerously. He heard a muffled "D'Arvit!" before the screen steadied itself again.

"Artemis! What in the world do you think you are doing, setting your call to emergency level?" Holly practically screamed.

Artemis felt a tremendous urge to wince but he controlled himself.

"Who says it isn't an emergency, Captain Short?" he said, smirking.

Holly glared at him suspiciously. Then she sighed and her voice softened slightly.

"Well, is it an emergency?"

"I thought you might want to take my call. It doesn't appear that The People's message communication system works too well anymore."

Silence. Holly didn't meet his eyes for a while.

"This isn't a very good time to call, Artemis. I am in the bath."

Artemis smiled slightly. I don't need you to remind me, Holly.

"I've noticed that, Captain. I might be untrustworthy, but I would never dream of deliberately making you pick up the communicator when you are undressed." The moment he said that, Artemis realized that it sounded highly inappropriate. It was full of innuendo. What was happening to him? Why were his words not well chosen? He was beginning to act like a boy his age. That was alarming.

If Holly had realized, she betrayed nothing but a slight reddening along her cheeks.

"Alright, Artemis. Do you mind telling me why you called me, exactly? I don't feel too enlightened here."

Artemis looked into her face keenly for a while, seeming to search her, and Holly wondered slightly uncomfortably what he was looking for.

"I would like you to drop by my house within the next two days. I hope that's alright with you."

Holly felt a little doubtful. She had told herself not to get too close to Artemis again. But surely a casual visit would do no harm. She had been a little unfair to him, after all.

"Alright."

"Thank you, Holly." Click.

Holly hoped to goodness that her sanity wouldn't fail her anytime soon.