Well chapter 7 up and ready! :D

And I'd like to thank my beta Kitskune Miyake for double checking and helping me out with this!

Enjoy!

Warning. Possible OOC behavior ahead. (If you consider big brother Arty OOC.)

Ignoring the throbbing waves of pain that seemed to have invaded his cranium, Artemis sighed and swung his legs to the side of the bed. 'How wonderful... another day of training with Commander Kelp, and I have a headache before I even see him. Not to mention that messed up nightmare...' Wincing as another wave of agony struck, he grabbed the small bedstand to avoid falling off, picking up a note written in Holly's handwriting in the process.

Hey Arty, I hope you aren't aching too bad this morning. I accidentally gave you the wrong bag of lollipops yesterday. The ones you got were actually a pile of loopy pops I got for myself, and they are infused with fairy-safe alcohol. Trouble said you seemed to have gotten a little drunk after eating too many during yesterday's training, and I hope you don't have too bad a hangover.

Sorry again.

Holly.~

P.S. Trouble said you can skip today's training to get better.

Suddenly all the memories of the previous evening fell into place, and Artemis groaned, placing his head into his hands. 'It wasn't a dream...It was real. I let Trouble... display his feelings of affection. And I returned it!' Groaning louder this time, he fell back into bed and pulled the sheets over his head. He probably would've stayed like that all day, but after a while someone knocked on the door.

"Artemis, I brought you your breakfast," a muffled voice called from the other side of the door. "Can I come in?"

"Fine," he sighed, burying himself deeper into the blankets.

The sound of ice water being poured out of a jug soon followed the entry of whoever it was, and then a rough fluffing of his pillow.

"Sit up and drink," the now vaguely familiar voice commanded. "You should know that drinking water is the best way to cure a hangover, what with all the science involved."

'As immature as it may be, I think I'll remain down here' Artemis thought as he recognized the speaker. And so he did.

"Great," Trouble muttered with a sigh, "I guess we do this the hard way." He ripped the sheets off the scarcely clothed Mud Boy, gently scooped him up, and started carrying him away.

In all fairness, Artemis protested and resisted as much as he could in his half-conscious state, but it wasn't until he heard the sound of running water that it dawned on him what was happening.

It was too late. Trouble already let go and dropped him into the running shower, drenching Artemis to the bone in seconds. Looking down at the now thoroughly drenched Fowl in front of him struggling to prop himself up in the running shower, Trouble snorted, resisting the temptation to laugh. But when Artemis actually looked him straight in the eye and hissed, he lost it and burst into hysterical laughter.

"You look like a drowned cat!" he cried, clutching at his sides. "You even sound like one!" Suddenly there was a firm hand on his wrist, and the next thing he knew, he was tangled with Artemis in the shower getting drenched as well.

"At least I don't look like a wet dog," came the snarky reply, followed by a few quiet chuckles.

Artemis was...laughing at him? And in a good way too, not rudely. 'Odd, but a better response than I was expecting.' Even odder was listening to Artemis's friendly teasing, when he was so use to it being filled with venom, but it was a nice odd.

Brushing the wet bangs out of his face, Trouble shot a playful glare at him in response, saying, "Oh and you have plenty of experience with wet dogs don't you?"

Holding a hand above his eyes to block the water, Artemis grinned. "Well, I do have two rambunctious little brothers who love to mess with their elder brother."

"I forgot you had brothers," Trouble said trying to avoid the spray bouncing off Artemis's hand. "Frond, one little brother was bad enough. How do you survive with two?"

"It isn't easy. Anyways at least your brother isn't a prodigy."

"Touche."

Silence settled over the two, a friendly silence for once, until Artemis sighed.

"We should get dried off shouldn't we?"

"Yes, I guess we should. "

A few minutes later, Artemis and Trouble sat on Artemis's bed, trying their best to dry off.

'It's odd' thought Artemis. 'I feel content just sitting here. Not arguing for once.' He thought back to when he had grabbed Trouble and pulled him into the shower as an act of revenge. That was more something I'd do to Becket or Myles.

Suddenly he found himself pulled out of his thoughts by a towel being thrown over his head, with one hand roughly rubbing it against his head, and another pressed firmly against his chest.

"What are you doing?" he growled, trying to move away from the hands. The hands only pressed harder, pushing him against a well-toned chest.

"I'm trying to dry you off," Trouble said, shifting so that he could better get at Artemis's hair. "The last thing we need is for you to get a cold. So would you please stop resisting? I promise I'll do no more than dry you off."

"Fine." Artemis grudgingly agreed. He hesitantly relaxed, and as he did so he could feel Trouble do so as well. His hands loosened and became increasingly gentle on the boy's form until Artemis realized that the hand on his chest had moved to be holding him snugly in a hug and rubbing soft circles on his back. It didn't even bother him. The very fact that it didn't was what was worrying him.

'Could Trouble actually be right?' He resisted the urge to lean into the kind embrace. 'I normally wouldn't even consider it, but it's hard to deny the... evidence... that I have encountered.' The hands moved again, and Artemis could barely contain a gasp as they began drying off his neck, everywhere they trailed over tingling pleasantly. 'It's like magic running beneath my skin...so addictive...'

He blinked, realizing he'd been sinking into a haze of pleasure. 'I just can't believe it... I can't feel for him as he claims he does for me... But I can't deny it either.'

Hahaha Chapter 7! I have completed you! :D

And a bit of a Cliffie!

Read and review for me please! I have no idea how well I'm doing with the whole 'romance' thing. Or with their personalities...

Till next time. ^^