Chapter Two: Part One
"I can't believe I agreed to this." Holly muttered as she boarded Artemis' private jet.
"Oh you know that you just couldn't wait to see me again."
"Oh yeah, I was dying to see you. Can't you see me simply pining to see you?" she replied sarcastically.
"Now try to refrain yourself from showing your immense affection for me, I have a reputation to uphold you know." he teased as he stuck his head up high and looked at her snobbishly.
"Why Artemis, you don't seem to have changed at all." Holly replied, smirking as his expression turned to a grimace.
"Aw you know that's not true, Holly. I mean, I've grown at least six inches and I got my hair cut just last week." he joked, ruffling his hair.
"Yeah, yeah. So how much longer 'till we get there?" she asked as she peered out the window.
"Oh, only a couple hours or so." he replied offhandedly as he too gazed out the jet window.
"Great." Holly replied sarcastically.
"So...what do you want to do for the next two hours?" he asked.
"Go fish." Artemis said, trying to hold back a chuckle.
"How the Hell are you so good at this game?" Holly demanded as she angrily grabbed another card from the pile.
"I have younger brothers. Do you know how many times I got stuck playing Go Fish or hide-and-go-seek with them?" he stated.
"Really?" Holly asked, sniggering at the thought of Artemis hiding from his five year-old brothers.
"I have to say that I did manage to gain something out of all of it...I became increasingly good at hiding in tight spaces. In fact, once I managed to hide in the dumb waiter...I believe that I got stuck and we needed to get Butler to pull me out." Artemis added, grimacing at the memory.
"Oh, see I always thought of you to be the type to teach them French or Chinese or something."
"Oh, well I did try to teach them how to call a waiter while in France...but we ended up finger-painting." Artemis recalled, smiling fondly at the memory.
"I can just see it...the great Artemis Fowl finger-painting. Man, I wish I was there to see that." she chuckled as she pictured the scene.
"You'd be surprised at how hard it is to finger-paint while trying not to get your two thousand dollar suit dirty." he remarked.
"Oh, such a feat." she replied sarcastically.
"Prepare for landing in five minutes." a bright voice called from the speakers.
"Well, I guess we'll finish this up later." Artemis said as he collected his cards.
"Yeah, yeah. Either way I'll kick your ass in any other game." Holly said, handing over her cards.
"Prepare for landing." the same cheery voice said as they began their descent.
"Artemis, nice to see you again." Rigsby said, offering his hand.
"You too, Trout." Artemis replied, giving a crooked smile and shaking his hand. They then went into a rather long conversation, updating each-other on what had happened since they had seen each-other last (when they worked together on some science project). It wasn't until the end of their formalities when Rigsby noticed Holly standing further behind Artemis.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." he said, leaning to the left to get a better view of me.
"It's fine, Mr. Trout." I replied, my voice still covered with a thick accent.
"Well, let me formally introduce myself. I'm Rigsby Trout." he said, offering me his hand.
"Lorraine Millieux." I replied, shaking his hand. He smiled but gave Artemis an inquisitive look.
"She's my niece. She's going to go to school here. She's from Paris." Artemis explained.
"Ainsi comment font vous aiment Londres jusqu'ici?" he asked, his accent and pronunciation perfect.
"Ah, il est beau. Je ne peux pas attendre pour voir plus de lui." I replied in my, hopefully unnoticeable, imperfect French.
"Cela semble-t-vous gentil, m'aimez-vous vous montrer autour?" he asked.
"Oui, j'aimerais cela. Est-ce que cela vous dérangerait?" I replied sweetly, biting my lip in 'nervousness' for good measure.
"Ce serait mon plaisir" he replied giving me a crooked smile. I hadn't really seen the guy, since I had been practically hiding behind Artemis and all, but it was then that I took in his appearance. He really is quite attractive, he has foresty-green eyes, a tan complexion, dark brown hair in a short yet messy haircut, and was about four inches taller than my new height (so he's about six foot).
Normal P.O.V
Artemis sighed as he heard them converse in French. He had never taken up the language, surprisingly since he had taken nearly every other language known to man, and felt a bit ticked that he didn't know what they were saying. However before he could think more of it, they had finished taking and Rigsby had suggested that they rest up, because tomorrow would be a long day.
"So what'd you use for an excuse to get us in here?" Holly asked quietly as they were directed to their rooms, the butler a safe enough distance away so he couldn't hear them.
"I'm working on this experiment and I told him that I needed assistance and that he would be the perfect person for the job." Artemis replied as we rounded yet another corner.
"Oh, and I'm guessing that you've done and double-checked the experiment and are just using this to get into his house and to see how smart he is?" Holly guessed, nearly nailing it.
"How could you think that of me, Holly? I must say that I am truly offended I mean really, I could-" Artemis was cut off by an expectant look on Holly's face
"Fine, fine...I might've triple-checked it." he continued, giving her a rueful smile.
"You wouldn't be Artemis Fowl if you didn't." Holly replied.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Speaking of Fowls', how are your brothers?" Holly asked, having only heard of his significantly younger siblings.
"Oh, both doing well. They're both in their senior year back in Ireland; Myles is looking at Oxford but Beckett was thinking about being the humanitarian of the family and going to Africa to see if he could help the situation. I wouldn't be surprised if, by the end of his trip, the Fowls had made generous donations to the local schools and hospitals. You should see them sometime you're here, you'd like them." Artemis suggested.
"Yeah, that'd be nice...well as long as they don't kidnap me and try to hold me for ransom." Holly joked, looking pointedly at Artemis.
"I'm sure that they'd restrain." Artemis said, flashing a brilliant smile.
"I'm not so sure, Fowl. After all they are your brothers." Holly replied.
"Yeah, yeah." Artemis said as he stepped into his room.
"Mr. Trout will be treating both of you to dinner. Be ready in half an hour." a voice boomed over the intercom, that Holly just happened to be standing next to.
"D'Avrit!" Holly cursed as she covered her ears. "Stupid, fucking intercom." she growled.
"Such a little American, already using cuss words. I'm so proud." Artemis said sarcastically, clicking his tongue in disapproval.
"Oh shut it, Fowl. It's not like you've been Little Miss Sunshine either." Holly replied.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Artemis remarked, later having Holly throw a shoe at him.
"Don't make me come over there, Fowl." she warned.
"Okay, okay. I won-" he replied, only to be cut off by a small voice behind him.
"Miss." a voice came from behind Artemis, causing Holly to jump a little.
"Oui?" she asked, remembering to retain her accent.
"Mr. Trout requests that you wear this to dinner." a young woman said, coming from behind Artemis to present a folded dress.
"O-oh. Merci." she said, daintily taking the dress and looking at Artemis confusedly.
"Something for you too, Mr. Fowl." the woman said, producing a dark tux for him to wear.
"Thank you." he said, shrugging his shoulders at Holly and excusing himself to get ready.
A/N: As you may be able to tell, I've been re-editing nearly all of my stories so far and this is simply one of the changes. Don't worry though, I'm still working on the next chapter of this story and for putting up with all my horrible timing and crap I'll seriously try to make it come out within next week!! So sorry for the delay!