Author's Note: Here's the next chapter! I think I sent the Holly/Trouble
stuff to everyone who asked. If you want it and I didn't send it, let me
know. As always, thanks for reviewing.
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Artemis pondered the situation, wondering how much of a coincidence it was that he would be separated from Butler. He doubted it. He stole a glance at Holly. She did not seem at all pleased with the situation. Her mood only seemed to worsen as they got closer to the city.
She parked in front of a small house and looked around outside. She'd instructed him to wait until she got the door to the house unlocked before he exited the car. She also mentioned that it'd be wise to hunch over and cover his head with his blazer.
He watched her look around furtively as she typed in a series of digits to unlock the door; digits she carefully shielded from his view. Obviously she didn't trust him. No matter, he was sure he could break in if he wanted to.
She opened the door and growled agitatedly, "Get in."
Artemis got out of the car, ducked under the doorway of the house, and entered. The place was not at all to his liking. It was a mess. There were clothes everywhere. Mostly green jumpsuits or tunics and a few things that resembled bras that females above ground wore. Sturdy, practical looking shoes and boots. Wrappers from Nutri-Bars. Little dust-covered knickknacks on shelves. A few dumbbells. The main room appeared to be a living room with a comfortable looking couch, a television on a cluttered little stand, two windows, a table and chairs, and a kitchen that wasn't really separated from the living room. There were three other doors beside the one he had entered from.
"I wasn't expecting company." She shrugged off her black jacket and dropped it on the floor by the door.
"Obviously. Don't I get the courtesy of a tour?"
"This is what I think you'd call a living room and you can see the kitchen is right there. There's the back door. Try not to make any messes." She went and shut the curtains. There was no need for anyone to be passing by and see the Mud Boy.
Artemis examined one of the doors. "What about this room?" He started to open it and Holly quickly came and slammed it shut, sorry that she didn't catch his fingers in it.
"That's my room. You're not to go in there."
"You've yet to point out a guest room. Where am I supposed to sleep?" He thought it might be the third door and started toward there.
"On the couch. That's a linen closet.
Artemis hated having to ask questions but there was one more that was especially necessary. "Where am I supposed to relieve myself?"
She gave a snort of laughter. "Outside."
Artemis's initial thought was, "Gross! How barbaric can you get?" but he instead said, "And how are you going to explain me to your neighbors? I thought I was public enemy number one."
"I won't. The be slime pool and drainage area for you to relieve yourself at are in the little building in the backyard."
Holly told Artemis to sit on the couch and shut-up while she made dinner. She didn't put any sort of big effort into it. She just brought out some cold carrots, a couple of protein shakes, and a couple of Nutri-Bars. She handed half the food to Artemis and ate the rest for herself, turning on the television.
"What do you want to watch? We've got some Mud Man movies. Wizard of Oz. Newsies. The Jungle Book. Foaly sends me all the new videos he gets. Take your pick. Or there's cable."
Artemis settled on a movie called Willow, which they watched while they ate. The door that Artemis had supposed could be the guestroom earlier, turned out merely to be a storage closet containing a few spare pillows and blankets, a gun or two, nuclear batteries, weights, and boxes of things. She locked the closet back up.
"Stand up," she growled.
Artemis did as she demanded and she sloppily made up the couch with a sheet, two blankets, and two pillows. "G'night." With the Mud Boy here she decided to skip her usual workout. On occasion she went to the gym, but she didn't dare leave Fowl here alone. Normally however she just worked out at home, but she didn't want to workout with him here.
Now that Holly had seen that the Mud Boy was well settled on the sofa for the night, she finally decided it was safe for her to take a dip in her slime pool.
She quietly went outside. Inside the shed-like building she switched on the light, closed the curtain (she lived alone so there was really no need for a proper door or lock, after all the backyard had a fence around it and no one could see in), and peeled off her clothing. She piled it all in a corner and slowly sank into the warm pool. Bliss.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis had redone all his bedding and fluffed his pillows after Holly had gone off to bed. Holly had made some effort to pick up a few of the things around the room after dinner. As soon as he had finished with the couch he turned off the movie and searched for a news station. After the program ended, he tried to fall asleep. The sofa was quite comfortable, even if a little small. But he couldn't sleep. He wondered a little how Butler was managing in a fairy-sized home.
He got up, thinking, I shouldn't have had that second smoothie. He figured Holly was asleep so he went quietly to the backyard to relieve himself. He opened the curtain and heard a shriek. Captain Short had just started to get out of the slime pool when he walked in. She immediately sunk back in deeper than before, now up to her chin. "Mud Boy, what under the earth are you doing here? I thought you were asleep!" She was thankful that the slime was too thick for him to see through.
"I thought you were asleep," he said stiffly. "I came out to use the facilities."
She glared at him. Was there anything more embarrassing than this? She didn't think so. "Go inside now. Wait on the couch. I think we'd better lay down some ground rules."
Artemis nodded and walked away as quickly as he could.
When Holly came back inside, once more fully dressed, her eyes were still pink with anger and embarrassment. Rule 1: Knock. Always knock. Rule 2: Don't come in my room. Rule 3: Don't snoop. I don't want you trying to break into my closet or listening to my phone conversations." She turned to leave.
"Rule 4: Treat me with some respect," Artemis said, he was unable to meet her eyes and kept his eyes on his shoes.
"If I had my way, Fowl, you'd be spending the night in a cell at the Police Plaza, or better yet above ground where you couldn't bother me. When you've earned it, you can have some respect but not before. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Captain." Holly had been so quietly fierce in her little tirade that his voice came out with the merest touch of meekness.
"Good. G'night."
"Goodnight, Captain," his usual calm and superior attitude had returned. He wondered again how Butler was faring in a fairy home?
Holly went to her room and slammed the door shut. She picked up the phone and called Root's home phone; something no fairy did often. "Julius, we need to talk."
Uh-oh, thought Root, she called me Julius. This can't be good. "What is it, Holly?"
"It's the Mud Boy. How much longer does Fowl have to stay with me? I want him gone tomorrow morning. He's not staying here alone when I go to work. We can put him in one of the isolation cells at the police plaza."
He should have known. "I know it's an awkward situation, Holly, but we've got to make do with what we've got. What's the problem?"
"He walked in on me when I was taking a bath!"
"Oh." Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't take Fowl out of there. He couldn't have another human in his house and there was nowhere else to put him. It was time to break the news to Holly. He'd wrestled with this decision earlier. "Captain Short, you will not be coming into the office tomorrow."
"What? Are you trying to tell me I'm stuck here with Fowl all day tomorrow?"
"Yes. I'm sorry but there's no where else to put him."
"Are you trying to make me kill him? 'Cause I'm this close!"
"I can't do anything for you, Holly. I'm sorry."
She sighed.
Root almost hung up, she sounded so depressed. He got an idea. "I tell you what, I'll send Kelp down to see you tomorrow. Lend you some moral support."
"Thanks, Commander." Big help, she thought sarcastically. "How are you doing with the big guy?"
"We're managing. It's not easy, but . . .we're managing."
That didn't sound like it was going too well. "How much longer do you think we have to detain them?"
"I don't know. That horse is interviewing the repairmen in the morning. They're our only lead."
"But do we really still need Fowl here?"
"I don't know. I'm going to browbeat Foaly into some answers in the morning."
"Okay." She knew he was doing his best.
"I'll have Trouble bring in some contraband from the surface that Fowl can wear so he doesn't stink up your house by wearing the same clothes. I'm sure Mulch has something hidden somewhere."
"Thank you, sir."
"Goodnight, Holly."
"Goodnight, Commander."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis went to Holly's door and could hear her talking, but couldn't quite catch what she was saying. He searched and found what he concluded must be another phone (since it appeared she was having a conversation). He was disappointed to find her whole conversation was in Gnomish and replaced the phone and crawled back under his blankets.
He hoped Holly would not come in here in the night and kill him. With that foreboding thought, he fell asleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Root and Trouble between them (and with some technology from Foaly) had managed to sneak Butler into Root's house. Trouble had gone ahead and greatly enlarged the doorway from the garage to the house with a hammer. It wasn't pretty but it was just barely large enough for him to fit through. Homes were less accommodating than the Police Plaza after all. Root's house was larger than Holly's (though Butler didn't know this). Julius Root had lived here with his wife and daughter, so there was considerably more space.
After dinner, Butler had moved the couch to clear a space on the floor to sleep on. But even if they pushed beds together to accommodate him, the beds would likely collapse. So Butler snuggled himself deeper into the blankets. He couldn't sleep and the problem wasn't the floor he was lying on. He was hoping Holly was treating Artemis all right. Those two couldn't spend more than 5 minutes together without wanting to kill each other.
He had just heard Commander Root get off what must have been a telephone. Unfortunately Butler couldn't understand a word of what had been said. Artemis had taught him a little written Gnomish (not much, but some) but even Artemis hadn't yet learned spoken Gnomish. From the tone of his voice, Root wasn't too happy. Butler never heard the words Artemis or Fowl come out of Root's mouth, but he distinctly heard the name Holly and Captain Short.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis pondered the situation, wondering how much of a coincidence it was that he would be separated from Butler. He doubted it. He stole a glance at Holly. She did not seem at all pleased with the situation. Her mood only seemed to worsen as they got closer to the city.
She parked in front of a small house and looked around outside. She'd instructed him to wait until she got the door to the house unlocked before he exited the car. She also mentioned that it'd be wise to hunch over and cover his head with his blazer.
He watched her look around furtively as she typed in a series of digits to unlock the door; digits she carefully shielded from his view. Obviously she didn't trust him. No matter, he was sure he could break in if he wanted to.
She opened the door and growled agitatedly, "Get in."
Artemis got out of the car, ducked under the doorway of the house, and entered. The place was not at all to his liking. It was a mess. There were clothes everywhere. Mostly green jumpsuits or tunics and a few things that resembled bras that females above ground wore. Sturdy, practical looking shoes and boots. Wrappers from Nutri-Bars. Little dust-covered knickknacks on shelves. A few dumbbells. The main room appeared to be a living room with a comfortable looking couch, a television on a cluttered little stand, two windows, a table and chairs, and a kitchen that wasn't really separated from the living room. There were three other doors beside the one he had entered from.
"I wasn't expecting company." She shrugged off her black jacket and dropped it on the floor by the door.
"Obviously. Don't I get the courtesy of a tour?"
"This is what I think you'd call a living room and you can see the kitchen is right there. There's the back door. Try not to make any messes." She went and shut the curtains. There was no need for anyone to be passing by and see the Mud Boy.
Artemis examined one of the doors. "What about this room?" He started to open it and Holly quickly came and slammed it shut, sorry that she didn't catch his fingers in it.
"That's my room. You're not to go in there."
"You've yet to point out a guest room. Where am I supposed to sleep?" He thought it might be the third door and started toward there.
"On the couch. That's a linen closet.
Artemis hated having to ask questions but there was one more that was especially necessary. "Where am I supposed to relieve myself?"
She gave a snort of laughter. "Outside."
Artemis's initial thought was, "Gross! How barbaric can you get?" but he instead said, "And how are you going to explain me to your neighbors? I thought I was public enemy number one."
"I won't. The be slime pool and drainage area for you to relieve yourself at are in the little building in the backyard."
Holly told Artemis to sit on the couch and shut-up while she made dinner. She didn't put any sort of big effort into it. She just brought out some cold carrots, a couple of protein shakes, and a couple of Nutri-Bars. She handed half the food to Artemis and ate the rest for herself, turning on the television.
"What do you want to watch? We've got some Mud Man movies. Wizard of Oz. Newsies. The Jungle Book. Foaly sends me all the new videos he gets. Take your pick. Or there's cable."
Artemis settled on a movie called Willow, which they watched while they ate. The door that Artemis had supposed could be the guestroom earlier, turned out merely to be a storage closet containing a few spare pillows and blankets, a gun or two, nuclear batteries, weights, and boxes of things. She locked the closet back up.
"Stand up," she growled.
Artemis did as she demanded and she sloppily made up the couch with a sheet, two blankets, and two pillows. "G'night." With the Mud Boy here she decided to skip her usual workout. On occasion she went to the gym, but she didn't dare leave Fowl here alone. Normally however she just worked out at home, but she didn't want to workout with him here.
Now that Holly had seen that the Mud Boy was well settled on the sofa for the night, she finally decided it was safe for her to take a dip in her slime pool.
She quietly went outside. Inside the shed-like building she switched on the light, closed the curtain (she lived alone so there was really no need for a proper door or lock, after all the backyard had a fence around it and no one could see in), and peeled off her clothing. She piled it all in a corner and slowly sank into the warm pool. Bliss.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis had redone all his bedding and fluffed his pillows after Holly had gone off to bed. Holly had made some effort to pick up a few of the things around the room after dinner. As soon as he had finished with the couch he turned off the movie and searched for a news station. After the program ended, he tried to fall asleep. The sofa was quite comfortable, even if a little small. But he couldn't sleep. He wondered a little how Butler was managing in a fairy-sized home.
He got up, thinking, I shouldn't have had that second smoothie. He figured Holly was asleep so he went quietly to the backyard to relieve himself. He opened the curtain and heard a shriek. Captain Short had just started to get out of the slime pool when he walked in. She immediately sunk back in deeper than before, now up to her chin. "Mud Boy, what under the earth are you doing here? I thought you were asleep!" She was thankful that the slime was too thick for him to see through.
"I thought you were asleep," he said stiffly. "I came out to use the facilities."
She glared at him. Was there anything more embarrassing than this? She didn't think so. "Go inside now. Wait on the couch. I think we'd better lay down some ground rules."
Artemis nodded and walked away as quickly as he could.
When Holly came back inside, once more fully dressed, her eyes were still pink with anger and embarrassment. Rule 1: Knock. Always knock. Rule 2: Don't come in my room. Rule 3: Don't snoop. I don't want you trying to break into my closet or listening to my phone conversations." She turned to leave.
"Rule 4: Treat me with some respect," Artemis said, he was unable to meet her eyes and kept his eyes on his shoes.
"If I had my way, Fowl, you'd be spending the night in a cell at the Police Plaza, or better yet above ground where you couldn't bother me. When you've earned it, you can have some respect but not before. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Captain." Holly had been so quietly fierce in her little tirade that his voice came out with the merest touch of meekness.
"Good. G'night."
"Goodnight, Captain," his usual calm and superior attitude had returned. He wondered again how Butler was faring in a fairy home?
Holly went to her room and slammed the door shut. She picked up the phone and called Root's home phone; something no fairy did often. "Julius, we need to talk."
Uh-oh, thought Root, she called me Julius. This can't be good. "What is it, Holly?"
"It's the Mud Boy. How much longer does Fowl have to stay with me? I want him gone tomorrow morning. He's not staying here alone when I go to work. We can put him in one of the isolation cells at the police plaza."
He should have known. "I know it's an awkward situation, Holly, but we've got to make do with what we've got. What's the problem?"
"He walked in on me when I was taking a bath!"
"Oh." Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't take Fowl out of there. He couldn't have another human in his house and there was nowhere else to put him. It was time to break the news to Holly. He'd wrestled with this decision earlier. "Captain Short, you will not be coming into the office tomorrow."
"What? Are you trying to tell me I'm stuck here with Fowl all day tomorrow?"
"Yes. I'm sorry but there's no where else to put him."
"Are you trying to make me kill him? 'Cause I'm this close!"
"I can't do anything for you, Holly. I'm sorry."
She sighed.
Root almost hung up, she sounded so depressed. He got an idea. "I tell you what, I'll send Kelp down to see you tomorrow. Lend you some moral support."
"Thanks, Commander." Big help, she thought sarcastically. "How are you doing with the big guy?"
"We're managing. It's not easy, but . . .we're managing."
That didn't sound like it was going too well. "How much longer do you think we have to detain them?"
"I don't know. That horse is interviewing the repairmen in the morning. They're our only lead."
"But do we really still need Fowl here?"
"I don't know. I'm going to browbeat Foaly into some answers in the morning."
"Okay." She knew he was doing his best.
"I'll have Trouble bring in some contraband from the surface that Fowl can wear so he doesn't stink up your house by wearing the same clothes. I'm sure Mulch has something hidden somewhere."
"Thank you, sir."
"Goodnight, Holly."
"Goodnight, Commander."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis went to Holly's door and could hear her talking, but couldn't quite catch what she was saying. He searched and found what he concluded must be another phone (since it appeared she was having a conversation). He was disappointed to find her whole conversation was in Gnomish and replaced the phone and crawled back under his blankets.
He hoped Holly would not come in here in the night and kill him. With that foreboding thought, he fell asleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Root and Trouble between them (and with some technology from Foaly) had managed to sneak Butler into Root's house. Trouble had gone ahead and greatly enlarged the doorway from the garage to the house with a hammer. It wasn't pretty but it was just barely large enough for him to fit through. Homes were less accommodating than the Police Plaza after all. Root's house was larger than Holly's (though Butler didn't know this). Julius Root had lived here with his wife and daughter, so there was considerably more space.
After dinner, Butler had moved the couch to clear a space on the floor to sleep on. But even if they pushed beds together to accommodate him, the beds would likely collapse. So Butler snuggled himself deeper into the blankets. He couldn't sleep and the problem wasn't the floor he was lying on. He was hoping Holly was treating Artemis all right. Those two couldn't spend more than 5 minutes together without wanting to kill each other.
He had just heard Commander Root get off what must have been a telephone. Unfortunately Butler couldn't understand a word of what had been said. Artemis had taught him a little written Gnomish (not much, but some) but even Artemis hadn't yet learned spoken Gnomish. From the tone of his voice, Root wasn't too happy. Butler never heard the words Artemis or Fowl come out of Root's mouth, but he distinctly heard the name Holly and Captain Short.