Hi again! I'm having fun with this because I'm not putting any pressure on myself to hit a certain length for these chapters. Just writing 'til I'm done. Enjoy!


two

He's forced to see Artemis again much too soon for his liking. Apparently Dudley scheduled her for opening day with Wally, Megan, and Kaldur. The old man must have a lot of faith in her, Wally thinks, to throw her right into things on one of the busiest days of the season. And poor Megan, having to train the newbie while she juggles her own responsibilities. Wally would almost feel smug at Artemis's impending misery, if it didn't mean that his day will also get totally messed up as collateral.

He supposes one of the things that saves them is Dudley's presence. Old Man is adored by tourists and locals alike, so when Artemis undoubtedly messes up he'll be there as a calming presence, shaking his head and apologizing on behalf of the new recruit.

Wally enters the shop through the back, which lands him right behind the counter among the various coolers of hard-serve. He basks in the smell of fresh waffle cones and freezer burn, the sound of customers and workers bustling about. Dudley is the first one to see him, giving him a nod of acknowledgment as he packs a scoop of mint chocolate chip onto French vanilla. "Wally," he says in greeting, "how's it goin'?"

"Just happy to be back," Wally grins. He goes through the motions of checking ice cream and stocking paper goods before settling behind one of the coolers, observing the front counter as Megan walks Artemis through a purchase.

"...and it's really as easy as that!" says the older girl as the register drawer bursts open. Artemis thanks her before turning to the waiting customer and taking the offered cash, counting it swiftly and doling out change just as fast.

"Alright, you're all set. Have a good one!" she says sweetly, and Wally nearly gags. He knows for a fact that is not how she sounds.

To his surprise, however, the customer separates two one-dollar bills from his change and drops them into the tip jar along with his coins. "Keep up the great work, sweetheart. You're doing great."

"Wow, thanks!" says Artemis, and Megan waves farewell.

"You're actually great at this, Artemis!" says Megan once he's gone. "I can't believe you've never worked at an ice cream shop before this!"

"Thanks," says Artemis, and Wally thinks he can see her ears tinge pink. He notices that she has a lot of piercings.

The shop is empty now, so he takes the time to make some conversation. "Hello, Megan!" he says, approaching the two girls and leaning on the counter.

"Hey, Wally!" says Megan. "I was just teaching Artemis how to ring out a guest. She's doing great so far!"

Wally huffs, but shoots Artemis a tight, cocky smile. "Yeah, well. We'll see what happens when the lunch rush comes in."

She rolls her eyes and turns away, heading back toward the coolers and pulling one open. She examines its contents, and he can hear the large cartons shuffling around.

"Ah, sorry," says Wally, "I already checked. No refills necessary." He is not sorry.

When she looks up at him with a raised eyebrow, however, his stomach sinks. "Oh!" she says, her tone heavy with faux sweetness. "You mean this empty carton of birthday cake doesn't need to be replaced?"

From the side, Wally hears Dudley laugh. He feels his face grow red as he fixes her with an indignant glare. How could he have missed that?

Whatever, he justifies. Nobody ever orders birthday cake.


The day, unfortunately, goes on without a hitch. Artemis is good at this job, much to Wally's dismay. She barely needs any help, and she's bringing in enough tips to rival Megan. She manages her time and keeps up with her orders, and the only time he really sees her struggle is when it comes to soft serve.

He thinks she's going to burst a blood vessel when the spiral of chocolate-vanilla twist comes out all lopsided, leaning dangerously to one side. His first thought is to laugh, and he does. But then she whips her head up to glare at him and he thinks she's genuinely considering grabbing one of those pointy sugar cones and stabbing him through the eye with it. So, grudgingly, he makes his way over to the soft serve machine, grabbing a flat cone. He settles in next to her, feels the brush of her t-shirt sleeve against his shoulder. He notices a smudge of melted chocolate ice cream on the back of her hand and gets a whiff of something admittedly pleasant. Her perfume, maybe?

"Here," he says, surprised by how kind his voice sounds. "It's not too tricky once you get the motion down. What I learned to do," he begins, moving to demonstrate, "is to move your forearm more than your wrist. It's a little steadier that way, and keeps the cone from tilting too much, which is what gets you that sort of leaning problem once the ice cream's on it. Oh, and go slow to make sure you've got enough on there."

He finishes up and produces a perfectly-portioned soft serve cone. He offers it to her, and she eyes him suspiciously. Her eyes are gray. Interesting. "Thanks," she says slowly, accepting the cone and stepping around him to bring it to the waiting customer.

"I know, I know," Wally calls out after her. "The Wall-Man is brilliant."

Artemis snorts at that, but doesn't retort, so he takes it as a win.


Six o'clock rolls around and reinforcements appear. Kaldur and Megan are staying for another couple of hours, but Dudley cuts Wally and Artemis at the arrival of Conner and Dick. Wally is surprised Dudley kept Artemis on for as long as he did, but she admittedly held her own, so he supposes it's all good.

They've just made it out onto the street when Artemis speaks up.

"Hey, uh," she begins, and when he looks over at her, her eyes are trained on the ground. "Thanks. For your help earlier."

What comes next is something Wally knows he'll come to regret later.

"Yeah, well," he says dismissively. "Don't get used to it. I was just showing you how to do it so you wouldn't mess the rest of us up."

He sort of wants to kick himself for that, but somewhere in his innate mind, he supposes he has to protect himself. Meaning, his ego. He can't suddenly go soft on her after yesterday. And so of course he'll resort back to petty insults, because those come easy when he feels threatened. He's not even sure what the threat is, but the damage is already done.

Artemis scoffs. "Wow," she snaps. "Real nice, Wall-Man. "

He flounders for a second, torn between apologizing and standing his ground, but Artemis decides for him when she storms down the sidewalk toward wherever her car must be parked.

He stands there for a beat or two and follows her with his eyes as she retreats, long ponytail swaying behind her. It shouldn't matter. It shouldn't bother him. But still, as he watches her turn onto a side street, he can't help the sinking feeling in his gut.


Thanks for reading!