Chapter Seven
Wally watched Artemis write notes in her book during class. She was so annoyingly unaware of him. She hadn't said a word to him during classes, acting like they'd never even met, and he was getting a headache. First, finding out Tigress and Artemis were the same person after that crazy night and then the Clayface fight, getting his ass handed to him. Without any help from Tigress. He'd been pissed about that. She drops a bomb and disappears from his life, the only two-words she'd said since then being just a simple, Fuck you. She even missed some classes. And now she's just taking notes in poetry, not at all affected by the fact that Wally was watching her. To her, he may as well be a fly on the wall.
Fine, whatever. Maybe if she'd apologized, had some sense of humility or guilt, he would've forgiven her. In fact, he'd had some very good thoughts about how she could make it up to him. But that text had wiped all those thoughts away.
Artemis wasn't sorry at all. She had been playing with him all along, he could see that now. And he's just supposed to take it. Ugh, well, he was done with that. If she was going to ignore him, he could ignore her right back.
Professor Ruiz clapped her hands, one of the things she always did to dismiss class, and Wally realized that class was over, and he hadn't heard a word she had said. Great, he thought to himself, shoving his unopened book into his backpack, now Artemis is gonna make me fail poetry class too.
At the cave later, Wally closed and opened the kitchen cabinets. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he knew he wasn't finding it. He opened the fridge and stared at it for a long time before closing it with a sigh.
"Hey, Wally!" a perky voice called to him from above. He turned as Megan floated down. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
He shrugged. "Not really. We don't have any food here."
"I can make you something!" Meg responded brightly. She made to look through the fridge, but Wally stopped her.
"Thanks, Meg, but I think I'll just have an apple." Wally grabbed an apple from the bowl on the kitchen island and headed to the living room. He flipped through the channels mindlessly. What was wrong with him? Meg and food were two of his favorite things and yet right now he wasn't tempted by either. As much as he thought Megan was hot and cool, he found himself less interested in her romantically. Instead of daydreaming of sweetness and freckles, he was thinking of brown skin and sarcasm. He frowned to himself and threw the remote on the couch beside him.
"What's wrong?" A voice behind him suddenly asked.
Wally, startled, threw his apple up in the air and whipped around to find Dick standing there.
"Make a noise, already. Jesus, do you have to be such a creepster?" Wally exclaimed, turning back around to grab the apple before it hit the floor.
"I made noise. You were just too busy pitying yourself to notice." Dick jumped over the couch to sit beside Wally.
"I'm not pitying myself; I'm just bored," Wally grumbled.
"Bored?" Dick brightened. Wally loved that look in his eye. It'd been a long time since they'd had a night out when it was only the two of them.
"What do you want to do? Play a prank on Batman? Draw mustaches on all the Superman statues? Go pick up some girls?"
"I can't pick up girls," Dick reminded him, "Zatanna would turn me into a literal pig. Then probably you too."
"Not like that'd be much different." A voice from the doorway responded.
Dick and Wally whipped their heads around to see Tigress standing in the doorway in her civies, including sunglasses.
Wally glared. He waged a war internally between ignoring her and answering back, so in the end he just replied, "Yeah, you too."
He couldn't see her eyes, but he knew they were rolling. "Nice retort."
"Sorry," he snapped back, slamming his apple onto the coffee table, "But I'm not used to talking to liars."
Okay, that hurt. The last thing that Artemis wanted to be was a liar, but everywhere she looked, she was lying to someone. She thought that maybe she and Wally could go back to their usual banter, but he didn't seem interested in that.
"Since when is having a secret identity lying?" Artemis hissed, taking a step into the living room.
"Oh, this went way beyond a secret identity issue," Wally retorted, standing up.
"What exactly is your problem, Baywatch?" She folded her arms over her chest.
"Don't call me that," he snapped. "And you know what this is about!"
"No, I really don't," Artemis replied. She knew he was mad because she had kept something important from him, but he needed to get over it. Artemis tried to ignore the pang where she felt guilt, but she had to admit it was starting to get to her. She opened her mouth, to say what she wasn't sure, when Wally cut her off.
"You-you tried to seduce me," Wally answered accusingly. Artemis stared at him for a moment before bursting out in laughter. Behind Wally, Dick was laughing too. Wally whirled around to glare at Dick before turning back to Artemis. "Don't laugh. You did!"
Artemis was bent over laughing, "No, no, I mean I guess I did," she gasped out.
"You admit it!" Wally sounded triumphant, but then as he watched Artemis wipe tears from her eyes, he seemed to deflate. "So why are you laughing?"
Artemis had finally stopped laughing, but she couldn't stop the grin across her face as she explained. "I was drunk, and I didn't even try very hard. We just danced and then watched Jurassic Park." Artemis couldn't believe that would make him angry. She shook her head."Why are you even mad about that?"
"Because-" Wally flailed at her, and her heart did a little ping as she watched him plop back down on the couch in defeat. "It's the principle of the thing."
"And what principle is that?" Artemis reached over to grab the apple, turning it over in her hands as she sat in the chair across from him.
"You don't just try to seduce a guy-"
Artemis cut in, "Can we please stop using that word?"
Dick nodded in agreement. "You sound like someone's maiden auntie." Artemis snickered.
Wally glared at them both before continuing, "without telling him your secret identity!"
"So could she seduce you now?" Dick asked. Artemis knew he was trolling them both, and she was a little surprised. After their conversation in her living room, neither had even mentioned Wally, but she was pretty sure Dick disapproved. Still, Artemis could never resist a good joke.
"Yeah, could I?" She leaned towards Wally, tracing a finger on the knee of his jeans.
He gulped, "What?"
"Tigress, don't play with your food," another voice joined them. Artemis looked up to see Zatanna standing over them. Artemis laid back in her chair, shrugging. She loved Zatanna, but she had to admit, she was kind of hoping to see where this was going. Still, maybe Zee was right.
Wally turned to glare at Zatanna here. "I hate all of you."
"You can't choose your teammates, buddy," Dick slapped Wally on the back.
"Or your friends," Artemis added.
"You can choose your friends," Wally snapped back.
"Well, luckily, your friends chose me." Artemis smiled. She took a bite of the apple as Megan floated in.
"Hey, guys, Batman's here. We have a mission." She seemed excited, her hands clasped behind her back.
"Good luck, friends," Zatanna called, as they each stood up and stretched.
"You're not coming with?" Artemis asked. This was only the second time Zatanna had been to the cave, that Artemis knew of at least. She hadn't been on any missions yet, but this seemed as good an opportunity as any.
"My dad and Batman don't know I'm here, exactly."
Artemis gaped at her. "How do you get in?"
"I know a guy," she replied smugly, wrapping herself around Dick.
"Okay, okay," Artemis rolled her eyes. "Well, if you're not coming, you'd better make yourself scarce. I'm going to get changed."
Wally was tired. Damn, he was tired. He was tired physically, still not recovered from running in the desert to carrying Artemis and Kaldur, and he was tired mentally. The past two weeks really fucked with his head.
Fine, he'd thought to himself when she had ignored him. If she wanted to play it that way, then fine. Wally certainly didn't need some lying archer messing with his head. But then she came in teasing and touching him as if that could change anything, and he started feeling a little more than confused.
But what topped it off? Losing all his memories and spending the whole day with Artemis, of all people. Suddenly it was like a reset button. Is there such a thing as emotional whiplash? Getting that start over really changed his viewpoint. In the three days since, Wally couldn't shake the good feelings he got in the desert, even as he tried to remind himself that he was mad at her. They'd had training today, and he couldn't help but admire her technique, the way her body jumped and coiled (and looked, his mind nagged at him).
He walked into the locker room to peel off his suit. Much to his chagrin and surprise, Tigress was already there. She never uses the locker room, he thought puzzlingly. But what was even more surprising was that she wasn't wearing her mask. Instead, she was in her civies, sans hat or sunglasses even. He watched in shock as she brushed and pulled her long, wet hair into a ponytail before he stepped forward.
"Artemis," he hissed. "Your mask."
She began to moisturize her face, shrugging and glancing up at him. "Yeah, I know." She sighed and sat down to tie her shoes. "I figure, I gotta start trusting the team sometime. Baiyla showed me that if nothing else." Wally watched the wet spot grow on the back of her white shirt where the thick rope of hair rested.
"Trust, huh?" Wally shifted his feet.
"Yeah, something like that." She stood up and closed her locker. Artemis sighed. "Listen, Wally. I know… I know that finding out about me was a shock, and-" she seemed to struggle for a moment.
"Don't worry about it," Wally spoke automatically, interrupting her before she could apologize.
Her eyes widened, but she persisted, "No, I get why you were mad, and then I didn't even explain or apologize, but-"
"I was mad, but I'm not now. I kinda get it," he shrugged.
"Yeah?" Artemis asked hopefully.
"Yeah," Wally nodded quickly. And he was surprised to find it true. He hadn't been exactly welcoming to Tigress. She must have been freaked out when he showed up in her class.
"Well, thanks." She gave him a small smile before slipping on her hat and grabbed her gym bag.
"So, Arty?" Wally questioned.
"Yeah?"
"If you're trying to be so open, then what's with the hat?" Wally questioned.
"Oh," she smirked. "I just look hot as hell in a hat."
Before Wally could even think about it, as if on instinct, he smirked back and answered flirtatiously, "Yeah, you do." What was that?
Artemis' eyes widened and then narrowed quickly, but there was playfulness in her voice when she replied, "Down, boy."
Wally swiftly walked close to her, so she backed into the locker behind her a little, leaning in to say in a low voice, "Oh, I'm happy to go down anytime, beautiful."
"Not in this universe, Speed Junior."
"That's not what you were saying the other night." He put his hand on the locker behind her, just over her shoulder.
"I was drunk," Artemis rebutted.
"And when you called me your ninja boyfriend?" Wally leaned in a little, enjoying the way she bit her lips a little. Wally wasn't sure if he'd seen her look unsure of herself like this before.
"Amnesia."
"Right." He stared at her lips.
"Right."
"Well, if amnesia ever hits again, you know who to call," Wally murmured, leaning in a little more so their faces were very close now, his forehead almost touching the bill of her cap.
"I don't feel like you know how amnesia works," she replied, but there was no bite in her tone, and she was watching his lips.
"Hey, KF!" A door slammed open from behind him. Wally turned his head and when he looked back, Artemis was gone. She had slipped beneath his arm and was heading toward the door, passing by Nightwing.
"Oh, hey, Tigress." Nightwing seemed just as surprised as Wally had been to see Artemis in the locker room.
"You can call me Artemis," She replied gently. "It's okay. I'm okay with the team knowing who I am." She's really doing this, Wally thought to himself, impressed.
"Oh, okay. Artemis." Nightwing grinned. "Still Nightwing." He pointed to himself. Wally rolled his eyes and zipped over.
"Yeah, yeah old Bat habits die hard." He nudged Nightwing, "What's up?"
"Oh, I was just going to tell you I wasn't going to be home tonight. Don't wait up." Nightwing turned to Artemis, who had started to move back towards the exit. "Uh, Artemis?" he called out. She stopped and turned towards him. Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck, "I might actually see you later. Zee wanted to hang out."
Artemis paused. "Oh. Okay."
"I'm just gonna get changed and head there in a minute if you want to ride together?" Nightwing offered.
"No, thanks. I need to get some homework done. I think I'll just chill at the cave for a while."
Nightwing shrugged and waved at them both before heading out.
"You know, you could always come to my place." Wally offered.
"Yeah, right Kid Pervert. I think I'm okay here."
Wally scoffed. He was really trying to be nice, but okay whatever. "Sure, fine. Do what you want."
Artemis waved at him over her shoulder, and he walked back to the showers, a little less tired.
When he was done showering, Wally automatically headed to his favorite place in the whole cave, the kitchen. He heard Megan's chattering voice before he got there and grinned. Definitely some hot food, he thought to himself. His appetite had returned suddenly a few days ago. He didn't hear any voices responding to her, so he figured it was just her and Superboy. When he got there, he was surprised to see Artemis at the kitchen island, her books in front of her. She had a pained look on her face as M'gann talked to her.
"Hey Megalicious!" He greeted his friend. Artemis made a face. Pausing, he wondered how often she made those kinds of faces and he'd never noticed because of the mask. Shaking it off, he turned to the stove.
"Hey Wally," M'gann answered back, pulling some cookies from the oven.
Wally quickly ran over to grab some, but they were too hot. "Oooh, these look good."
"Thanks," she beamed. "They're Artemis' favorite." Wally could hear the pride in her voice when she said Artemis' name.
Ah, I see. Artemis revealed her ID to Megan and now Megan has like some sort of friendship sugar high. No wonder Artemis looks like she wants to pull her hair out. Not exactly her scene. Wally laughed to himself. "Oh yeah? And what are you two ladies up to?"
M'gann clapped her hands together. "Oh, we haven't decided. Maybe movies? Or I have some new nailpolish or—"
"Actually," Artemis interrupted. "I promised Wally we'd get some homework done."
Wally's head whipped to look at Artemis, his eyebrows raised.
"Oh, really?" M'gann sounded disappointed.
"Yeah, but we'll have a girls' night soon." Artemis promised, gathering her books.
"Am I invited to that too?" Wally asked, suggestively. Artemis wrinkled her nose at him, but bit her tongue for once, and Megan seemed to not hear him at all.
Megan hurriedly put some cookies in a ziplock bag for them. "Take these with you, at least. They have lots of nuts, and chocolate."
"Hell yes," Wally grabbed the bag. "And don't worry, Arty," She hissed under her breath. "I'll help you figure out your homework. You won't fail again, I promise." She took a threatening step forward, but Megan stood in her way, beaming.
"That's so sweet of you to help, Wally"
He grinned at her, "Not as sweet as you, babe." Wally and Artemis walked towards the zeta tubes, her back hunched a little. What's wrong now? She seemed to be avoiding eye contact with Wally.
.
As soon as they stepped out of the zeta tubes, Artemis turned to Wally. "Sorry, if I kind of cockblocked you there." He frowned in confusion, but she kept talking, "I love M'gann, but it was just a lot. And I really do need to get some homework done. But I'll just head to the library."
She started to walk out of the broken elevator at Wayne Tech (god, how didn't she put that together), only to feel a warm hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, come on." Wally let go quickly, when she stopped, and Artemis tried to ignore the way her skin still seemed to buzz. "My place is right there."
Artemis hesitated.
"You're reading the book for poetry anyway, right?" He questioned.
"Yeah."
"Well, we can read together." He spread his hands as if solving all their problems.
What was he up to? A suspicion formed in Artemis' head. Her eyes widened. "You don't get it, do you?"
"Get what?" He asked innocently.
"Poetry. Wall-man science-genius can't understand a few lines of verse." Artemis poked him in the chest. She knew he wasn't flirting with her because he liked her- he needed something from her.
He threw his hands up in frustration. "Okay, okay, you got me. Like, just say why you want to say. Why is everything a flower or a stone or ice? Why are there so many horses in poetry?"
"Okay, one," Artemis held up a finger. "Horses are majestic, beautiful beings, and we are lucky to share this earth with them." She held up a second finger. "And two, sometimes it's hard to just say things. Or to find the right way to say things. It's like how sometimes, you want to say something in a different language because the translation loses meaning."
Wally grinned at her. "See, this stuff is totally up your alley. Arty, come on." He pouted at her. "Besides, I have the cookies." Damn, I really want those cookies. Telling M'gann her favorite cookie flavor had almost gotten a bigger reaction than when she told her to call her Artemis. She knew those cookies were jam-packed with nuts and chocolate and were the perfect snack for while she read.
"Okay," Wally beamed at her. "But just for a few hours. And I get half the cookies."
His face fell. "Half?"
"At least half. They're my cookies!" She exclaimed. He hesitated. "Are you kidding, Wally? It's half or I'm going to the library ,and you have to figure out poetry on your own." Artemis stuck out her hand.
Wally nodded, reaching forward to shake her hand. At the last minute, he pulled her close. "Are you sure you only want to shake on it?" What is he doing? I know he likes M'gann. Is he just trolling me because of the other night? Artemis pushed him away.
"Let's just go." She replied shakily, glad that her hat covered her eyes.
An hour later, they sat on the couch. Well, Artemis sat. Wally was laying upside down reading his poetry book.
"Who made the world/ Who made the swan and the black bear?" He read out loud in a flat voice. "Sheesh, lady it's all about atoms. I mean, this is what I'm saying. Why are poets asking questions that are already answered?!"
"Wow, poets, philosophers, magicians, priests, does anyone have a job worth keeping besides scientists?" Artemis asked dryly.
Wally looked at her over the top of his book. "Chefs."
Artemis threw a couch pillow at him, but she was also smiling. "Listen, nerd. There's more to life than what you can see in a microscope. Besides, you're not reading it right. You have to read the whole thing and like… pause and think and stuff. Listen to the sounds and images and ideas all at once."
Wally sat up. "Well, you read it then."
Artemis hesitated, but cleared her throat.
The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
As Artemis read, the room fell silent and when she was done, she realized it was because for once, Wally wasn't rustling pages, or tapping his foot or scrounging for crumbs in the empty ziplock bag. He was still, absolutely still. The air felt electric, and Artemis finally looked up from the page. Wally was staring at her, a look in his eyes she couldn't define. She stared back for a moment, before clearing her throat. He shook his head a little and a blush came over his cheeks as he looked back at the page. What was that about?
She turned back to her own book. "Hmm… yeah, so the poem is about making the most of life, and how that's kind of whatever you want it to be because life is kind of pointless."
"Uh yeah, I kinda get it now." He paused. "But like not pointless, too, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean she says we all die too soon. But she also calls life 'wild' and 'precious.'"
Aretmis looked over the last line again, reading it to herself. "I guess that's true."
"So, maybe she's saying we die too soon and that is the point, to make it what you want."
Artemis grinned. "Wow, Wall-man, getting kind of deep there, huh?"
He didn't take the bait, just turning the page. "You know, maybe this poetry stuff isn't so bad after all."
Artemis examined him, the way his hair was mussed, like a small tornado, his angular jaw. He looked up and caught her staring, and Artemis blushed.
Luckily, he didn't seem to notice. "What's up?"
She shifted in her seat. "I was just getting hungry. Since, you know, you ate more than your half of the cookies."
"You weren't eating them!"
"I was saving them for later."
"Why eat tomorrow what you can eat today, I always say."
Artemis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but since the deal was that I got half, I think you owe me a pizza."
They both looked outside, where it had started raining. "Order in?" Wally suggested. Artemis nodded.
Well, this day had been a turnaround.
Wally was no longer tired. He was energized. When Artemis read that poem, he could just hear it differently. Her voice went over the words like rivers over stones, ebbing and flowing. He felt like he knew what she meant when she said, "wild and precious." Wally could see Artemis standing in the desert or talking animatedly in class when she said those words. Fuck, he thought to himself. This is a messed-up week.
They ordered pizza, and until it got there, just made small talk, answering the questions from the poetry assignment. Wally felt awkward and uncomfortable, but she seemed not to notice. By the time the pizzas arrived, they were packing away their stuff. Wally went to get the plates while Artemis flipped around on the TV.
"What do you want to watch?" He asked.
"Mmm... I don't know. We never finished Jurassic Park."
"What! No. No, we watch what I want in my house, and that does not include pseudo-science." Wally tried to grab the remote.
Artemis held it away from him. "I'm the guest! I should get to choose, Kid Manners." They wrestled for a moment before Wally realized how they were angled, with his body pressing against hers.
He grinned. "Arty, if this was all a ploy to touch me, you can just ask."
"Don't call me that," she insisted pushing him off her. "Ugh, here, take the remote."
Wally quickly examined her. Her hat had fallen off in the scuffle and her already short crop top had ridden up, showing even more of her smooth tan skin. He turned quickly back to the TV before she could notice him staring.
After a few minutes of flipping through channels, he turned to her.
"Hey, have you ever seen The Amazing Race?"
Artemis shook her head. "I don't watch a lot of reality TV."
"No, no, it's so much more than that." Wally explained how it was a competition all over the world. When he was done, Artemis shrugged.
"Sure, sounds good. Put on the latest episode."
"You can't just put on the latest episode." Wally was horrified. "You have to start at the beginning."
"Fine, dork, let's start at the beginning, but hurry. The pizza is getting cold." Artemis rolled her eyes.
He turned on the first episode and quickly stood up and turned off all the lights. When he sat beside her on the floor, using the couch behind them for support and the coffee table as a dining table, he maybe sat a little closer than normal, his knee almost touching hers. Again, she seemed to not even notice.
They watched in silence at first, just chewing, but once the challenges started, Artemis started to get into it.
"I could totally win this show. I mean, mountain climbing? Jumping off things? This is my bag."
"Uh, I don't think that's exactly fair to the other contestants." Wally pointed out.
"Why not?" Artemis demanded. "I'm not a meta-human. I would partner with Nightwing, and we would crush this thing."
"Hey, why Nightwing instead of me?"
"Well, I haven't seen a challenge yet that involves flirting your way to the pit stop."
He grimaced. "Yeah, well, sometimes you have to eat gross things."
"Hmmm…" Artemis glanced at the screen and then back at him. "I guess you could come in handy sometimes. If we didn't kill each other."
Wally nodded, satisfied, and they both turned their attention back to the screen. A few minutes later, Artemis spoke up.
"Okay, see this one is not cool. Deep water diving? Yeah, I'm not trying to drown on reality TV." She gestured towards the screen.
Wally moved a little closer, knocking his knee against hers. "Oh, don't worry. I'd be happy to give you mouth-to-mouth anytime, beautiful."
Artemis turned to him, frowning.
"Don't-don't call me that," she finally sputtered.
He reached up and touched the hair that had escaped her ponytail and was framing her face. "Why not? You like it too much, beautiful?"
She snorted, "In your dreams, West." But she didn't move out of his touch.
"Oh, definitely in many, many of my dreams."
A beat, and Wally thought he had finally been able to gain the upperhand in this, whatever it was (he refused to think the word relationship), when suddenly he felt her lips against his.
The kiss was so sudden that his head jerked back. Artemis pressed his shoulders back and straddled his hips, agonizingly molding her mouth to his. She nipped at his bottom lip, and he opened his mouth in surprise and pleasure. She swept her tongue across his once, twice, and just when he thought to push back with his own tongue, moving his hands from her hips (When did I put them there?) to her waist, it was over.
Mouth-to-mouth? Really, so he could think about M'gann giving him mouth-to-mouth again? Artemis couldn't figure out what he was doing. He has to be messing with me about the other night. She tried to rebuff him, but when that didn't work, she figured, Oh yeah? Two can play at that game.
Wally's body had gone rigid under hers, and Artemis could imagine his look of shock. I knew that would shut him up. What she hadn't thought of was how good he would feel. His hands were firm on her hips, and his lips tasted like salt and oregano. She held his shoulders for support, marveling at the strength beneath them. Just as he started to respond, Artemis tore herself away from him.
"Dream about that, Wall-man." She said silkily, standing up to leave. This would have been much cooler if she wasn't so breathy, but from the fact that Wally hadn't moved, she felt she had proved her point.
Artemis grabbed her bag and opened the door to leave, but before it was all the way open, Wally's hand appeared slamming it shut. Artemis gave a cry of surprise and dropped her bag, as she turned to face Wally.
"What the hell, West?" she spit.
He glowered, but didn't answer her, only stepping closer. His hand was still just above her head holding the door closed as he backed her into it. Oh fuck, he's hot when he's angry, Artemis thought in surprise. There was this tense, smoldering thing that definitely hit Artemis right in the gut, and the intensity of his eyes made her lick her lips, unconsciously. His eyes went her lips swiftly when she did that then back to her eyes. But she wasn't going to back down. Is he angry about a joke kiss after all his lines?
"Listen, West—" She started, but with his free hand he suddenly grabbed her by the chin.
"No, you listen." He answered intensely before pulling his face to hers. And where the last kiss was heat and pressure, this was long and slow. This boy knows how to kiss, Artemis thought briefly. He moved his hand from holding her chin to cupping her face and slid his tongue across her lips, asking for permission. She gladly opened for him, and he entered. There was that taste again, but this time, he was exploring her mouth too. They kissed each other with a hunger, with pent up tension pushing at each other. He moved his hands to pick her up by her ass, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he pressed her into the door.
She gasped as Wally moved to kiss her neck, arching against him. Running her fingers through his hair, as Wally sucked on her pulse point, Artemis could feel his growing hardness through his sweats, and she gripped him by her legs, pulling him impossibly closer. She moved her hands to his shoulders and used him as leverage to grind her center into his.
"Fuck," he moaned, throwing his head back. She smiled smugly for a moment until suddenly, he snapped his hips into hers, pounding her into the door, and it was her turn to arch and moan. He squeezed her ass, and ground into her again, but this time it was a slow roll of his hips against hers. She wrapped her arms tight around his neck and tried to meet his speed. Then with a whoosh, she found herself lying on her back on the couch.
"What the hell," she asked dizzyingly.
He moved his hands to her waist again. "I want to touch you." Wally said it desperately, and he took her mouth again, as he rubbed his fingers where her shirt met her stomach, leaving goosebumps in his wake.
Artemis squirmed under him, seeking satisfaction, but he just rubbed her skin gently, trailing kisses on her neck.
"Wally," she whined into his ear. He pulled back, a wild look on his face, and kissed her hard, pushing her knees open. She eagerly welcomed him between her legs and shuddered a little as he thrust hard against her. They found their rhythm again quickly, but this time they seemed to be chasing something.
"Artemis, I'm so close." He warned her.
"Me too, oh, god, Wally," His hands were holding her hips, moving her against him. She had his shirt crumpled in her hands, as she held onto him. He started moving faster, in sweeping rolls that hit her in just the right spot, and she came in waves, calling his name, with him coming almost immediately after.
They just lay there for a moment, catching their breath.
Then Wally grinned and, moving quickly, sat up, pulling Artemis into his lap.
"You know, I've gotten a lot of shit about being named Wally, but I don't think it'll bother me anymore." He nuzzled her neck, and then went to whisper in her ear. "I'll just think of the way it sounded coming off your lips."
Artemis was starting to come down, the realization of what had just happened washing over her. She rolled her eyes and climbed off him. "Yeah, okay, well, don't get used to it."
Wally narrowed his eyes, "What does that mean?"
"It means, I was horny, you were horny, as always. Let's not make it more than it was." She didn't face him as she straightened her clothes. Walking back to the door, Artemis leaned down and picked up her bag before quickly exiting, waving over her shoulder, not bothering to look at him.
On the walk back to her apartment, she turned the music up loud in her headphones to avoid her own thought process. It wasn't until she was safely in her own room that she leaned her head back against the door behind her.. Oh god, what have I done?
Wally waited until the door closed behind Artemis before standing up and punching the air. He wasn't worried about what Artemis had said about it not happening again. Part of what made it fun was her stubborn attitude. And he remembered the way she'd moaned under his lips. He'd been trying to take it slow, to take it all in, to make it last, but man, when she said his name in that raspy whine, he had just lost it. He grinned, ruffling his hair. Whew, that girl unwinds me.
As Wally walked towards the shower, he kicked something on the floor by the couch. There lay her hat, lost to her earlier in the evening during their fight over the remote, and evidently forgotten. He swiped it up, and whispered to himself, "Sweet, souvenir."