Disclaimer: I don't own this. You're smart, you know that.

Author's Note: Somewhat short chapter, but I felt like I had to post something and I couldn't think of what they were going to do, but I think this will work.

Alex—I love Fiddler on the Roof. Definitely one of my favorites.

Wi—Hmm. Wi, I think I know where this is going. Wizard right? Hehe. Kiding. Yeah, the Newsies is one of my favorite musicals.

Sam—hehe. Pirates is wonderful! I know the story takes place before it came out (I think) but I don't care. It's a good movie.

Spiketv58—hehe. Watch the Newsies? I love the Newsies! Hehe. But I got the lyrics online.

Slime Frog—I haven't seen "Some Like it Hot". Hehe. Thanks.

Digital Worm—Thanks.

Lady of Masbolle—Yay! You used "normalify", very spiffy word.

Princess Arwen Evenstar 77—Thanks

Elfin Emerald—Vetty good ships! I love those lines. The last one has always been my favorite part. The lovely motto. The world is quiet here.

CHAPTER 17: Day 3: Rise and Shine

            Artemis woke, opening his eyes without moving anything else. He was staring off into an upper corner of the room. Funny. This wasn't his room. This certainly didn't feel like his bed or soft down comforter. He wasn't even lying down. There was a weight on his chest as though something were leaned up against it. He blinked. This was the den. He'd been watching movies the night before with Alyssa. He finally moved, turning his head to look down at the girl leaning on his chest. Her auburn hair was all he could see, and it was sticking out in all directions. He just smiled and stared at her.

            Alyssa woke up and didn't move. Something wasn't right. For one thing, she wasn't lying down, and the blanket she saw on her lap wasn't the one from her guest room. She must have fallen asleep during The Wizard of Oz. Darn it! She'd made a big deal about him having to stay awake through it and then she went and fell asleep. Artemis must have laughed when he saw her there asleep before he went upstairs. Why had she had to shoot her mouth off? Oh, well. It didn't matter. Well, apparently the sofa was moving. It was as though it was breathing. She suddenly became aware that the sofa was breathing. No, furniture doesn't breathe! It had to be him. He must not have gone upstairs either. Now what was she supposed to do? She really didn't want to get up. She was so comfortable right where she was. She debated and Artemis didn't seem to move that she could tell except for his breathing. She decided she'd have to get up anyway. But she'd pretend as though she'd only just woken up and hadn't spent the last ten minutes thinking and debating with herself. She slowly sat up, still somewhat leaning against him. Her head was about at his shoulder now and she'd slowly turned it.

            He was looking at her as she stared into his eyes.

            Then they both blinked and the moment was gone.

            They awkwardly scooted away from each other, simultaneously muttering, "Sorry." They looked up and their eyes met. Again they spoke in unison, "Why are you sorry?"

            Alyssa started rubbing her neck. "Wow, I was at a bad angle last night. My neck's all stiff. I was comfortable but…" She started rolling her head in circles to get the kinks out.

            Artemis stretched out his arms and moved his shoulders, finding he had similar kinks in his back.

            Artemis looked down, suddenly aware of his rumpled shirt. His appearance had always been very important to him and he'd carefully avoided anyone seeing him in a state of disarray. It was what had helped make him so intimidating when he faced businessmen and hardened criminals alike. He looked again at his shirt and found he didn't care. What were a few wrinkles?

            "Did we stay out here all night?"

            "I think so. We'd better go upstairs, you think?"

            "Probably," Artemis said.

            She stood up, prepared to pick up the dishes from their snacks the night before. "Huh, someone must have come in and taken them."

            "Probably Juliet," he said, not thinking that his mother might have come downstairs here.

            They started walking upstairs. "You fell asleep during Wizard of Oz," he teased. "I thought you said that was the biggest movie marathon watching sin."

            "Only if you haven't seen the movie before. If you've seen the movie enough times that you can follow along with all the dialogue like I can, then it's no problem."

            "Oh really?"

            "Yes, really. You think I'd lie?"

            "Well, the Rules are unwritten after all."

            She grinned. "Which was your favorite movie?"

            "Well, there was the one about the beast turned beauty. Then the pirates and predictable love interest. Which of course was followed by boys with poor clothes and New York accents dancing through the streets of the city. The concluding movie was about a girl having some delusional dream that she is in a strange land of Technicolor."

            "So which was your favorite?"

            "The Newsies."

            She grinned.

            "Hello, children," Angeline Fowl said brightly.

            "Hello, Mother."

            "Good morning, Mrs. Fowl."

            "Did you have a nice time watching movies last night? You didn't come back upstairs."

            "We had a great time. I made Artemis watch my favorite films. I'm sorry, we fell asleep down there during Wizard of Oz. We watched 4 movies."

            "Oh, that's okay. I know. I came downstairs and I saw you two still there."

            "Thank you for taking the dishes out for us, Mrs. Fowl. We got hungry during the movies."

            "You know you're welcome to help yourself to whatever's in the kitchen. You might want to go get changed for breakfast."

            "Right, Mrs. Fowl."

            "Yes. Quite right, Mother."

            They were in the middle of breakfast when the phone rang. "I'll get it," said Artemis Senior. "I'm expecting a call from a client this morning."

            He got up and answered it. "Yes. No, not at all. Really, as long as you need. I'll tell her. Good morning." He came back to the table and sat down. "Alyssa, that was your mother. She said that they're having car trouble and won't be able to make it back until tomorrow. You don't mind staying with us another night, do you?"

            "Not at all." She smiled.

            Artemis Junior smiled too. Tonight would be the perfect night for the surprise he'd planned.

            "What are you going to do today, kids?" asked Artemis Senior.

            "I hadn't really planned on anything," said Alyssa.

            "Me neither. We could go…" he tried to think of somewhere they could go or something they could do. "We could go to the mall." He said, "mall" as though it was a foreign word. He detested shopping, but he knew Alyssa didn't.

            "Really?" she asked.

            "Sure," he shrugged.

            Anegline smiled. "Wonderful! Juliet, do you want to go shopping today?"

            "Sure, Mrs. Fowl."

            They got ready for the day's shopping and the five of them (Artemis couldn't go without his faithful bodyguard) departed.

Hope you enjoyed this, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. It's going to be entitled "Torture"