Artemis had figured out a couple of things about working in a group since he was twelve. Initially, the strategy was to come up with everything and trust Butler to do most of the heavy lifting, metaphorical or otherwise. However, as he began to add people to his circle of trust, there was a larger pool of unique talents he could draw upon for any plan. Thus delegation.
However, with Nopal, it was an entirely different experience. Rather than playing to their individual strengths and covering up their weaknesses, Artemis rather felt the pixie was another Artemis running around. Even better, in some ways. For example, any physical exertion whatsoever.
Artemis had picked up Nopal in her room, waiting for the groggy-eyed pixie to freshen up. Afterwards, they grabbed breakfast and headed out to the crashed shuttle on the greenery. There they began preliminary work on repairing and retrofitting the crashed Silver Cupid. Luckily, the hull was mostly intact; the damage mostly came from Opal's lightning bolt frying one of the rear thrusters. Coincidentally, the very person who was behind that was now working to repair it.
Nopal proved more than up to the task.
Holly found the two hard at work out in the manor grounds. She had been sparring with Butler early in the morning, which was certainly a way to get exercise. Even if the man-mountain was reaching it up in the years, in his prime he had dueled a troll and won. And the elf was certainly no troll.
Mopping up some of her sweat with a towel, she thought that the two working geniuses cut quite the unusual sight. For one, Artemis had shed his usual suit for a plain white shirt and some overalls. They did absolutely nothing for his figure, which was a crying shame. The other strangely dressed figure was Nopal, who was sticking out of a shuttle hatch and covered in grease of some kind. She had an odd contraption in her hand that halfway resembled an omni-tool, a blow torch, and an oversized wrench. The pixie hooked the tool onto something, flicked a switch, and heaved. Her muscles strained for a second, before she pried something loose, the metal piece flicking into the air and landing near Artemis.
"Arty, the melted piston's loose," she called, voice echoing from wherever hollow she was stuck in.
"I see it," he replied, picking up a pair of tongs and struggling to lift the hot metal. Holly swaggered over and helped him pick it up, much to his chagrin.
"Don't throw your back out, old man," Holly teased. It was a little heavy, but giving Artemis grief was always the top priority.
Artemis thought about mentioning Holly's age, but that didn't really count. Not to mention that he usually avoided thinking about it. Sure, he was mentally well beyond his years, but the lifespans of the fair-folk and humans were a constant source of dismay for him. Instead of bringing that up, he thanked her instead.
"Your help is ever appreciated, Holly."
He accepted the tongs back gracefully, narrowly averted dropping it, and set it down on the table. He ignored Holly's stifled giggle. Now if he consulted the schematics, then he'd be able to figure out what the part was and what he'd need to replace. If he had schematics, that was. He sighed. He'd probably have to ask Foaly.
Interrupting his thoughts was something cold pressed against his cheek. He turned around, and nearly poked his eye on the can. Thankfully, Holly didn't have his reflexes and pulled the aluminum away at the last second.
"Please, Holly. Retrofitting a damaged shuttle for space travel is difficult enough without being blinded."
"You were the one that turned," she pointed out. "Besides, I can always just heal your eyes back to normal. Already did it once."
"I recall that being a singularly unpleasant experience for you."
"Sure. But that was different. You getting your eye poked out by a lemonade though? Hysterical."
"Hardy-har," he deadpanned, gratefully taking the offered drink. It cracked open with a nice hiss. He was sweating, and it wasn't just the sun. In an effort not to be completely useless outside of planning, he had tried to help Nopal lug some parts around. Emphasis on 'tried.' After the third turbine blade, he had ended up a gasping mess and the pixie had him sit out the rest of the heavy lifting.
"So how's Nopal doing?" Holly asked, stealing a sip from Artemis's can. He was still holding it, and the fairy was making challenging eye-contact while drinking. It was good stuff. Butler canned it himself. Artemis let out a long-suffering sigh before responding.
"She's superb. With her working, and barring any complications, we should be able to send the shuttle into space well within the time limit." He took another sip, during which Holly cast an interested look at his lips. "In all honesty, this is one of the only times where I've been able to work so effectively with another person. It occasionally feels as if Nopal is a copy of myself."
Holly cast a meaningful glance at his noodle-thin arms. Artemis followed her gaze and sighed, resigning himself.
"What?" Holly asked, a smug grin on her face. "I didn't even say anything."
"In any case," Artemis said, not willing to get drawn into that conversation, "as strange a sentiment as it is, I am quite glad that Nopal is around."
"Still worried?"
"It's Opal Koboi."
Holly gave a grunt of acknowledgement. Couldn't really refute that logic.
"That being said," Artemis began, pulling something out of his pocket, "I also was meaning to give her this, but couldn't quite find a time last night."
"What's in the box?"
"Truffles," Artemis said, taking the lid off and showing Holly. She frowned at them.
"Huh. Wasn't the last experience she saw one of those when you had Mulch swap them out for a pair of mining charges?"
"Presumably she enjoyed them before that. In addition, this constitutes a test to see if either any past memories are surfacing or if Opal Koboi's personality is still present."
Holly crossed her arms, leaning against Artemis's work table. She raised a skeptical brow.
"Really, Arty? You're giving her something that'd make her happy but you're also using it to test whether she's still Opal or not?"
Artemis said nothing, setting his jaw slightly.
"Arty," she said gently, "you jabbed her in the neck with a needle. Isn't that enough?"
"I've observed certain behaviors that have raised some suspicions. I can't be certain until I have more data, but there's reasons for concern at least."
Holly nodded slowly, thinking back to last night's flying escapade.
"Okay fine, mud-boy. You might have a point. But I'm handing her the lemonade and the truffles, and if she asks who they're from, it's you."
She looked at the cheerily decorated box and all the ribbons on it.
"You bashful schoolgirl," she added.
"I believe you should call for Nopal," Artemis said, ignoring her jab.
As if summoned, said pixie stuck her head out of the engine like some grease-covered rodent.
"Arty," she called. "I think I unclogged the main turbine. That should be the last of the parts that got knocked loose."
"Good work, Nopal. I'll run an inventory to see if we're missing any parts. Come down and take a break."
The pixie looked quite pleased at getting praised, and quickly scrambled down the side of the shuttle. She bounded over the grass coming over to where Artemis and Holly were standing.
"Hi, Holly," she greeted, glancing inquisitively at the objects in the elf's hands. She pointed at them. "What are those things?"
"Lemonade from me," Holly said, tossing the can to Nopal. The pixie caught it smoothly. "Also a box full of truffles from somebody else. Hint: it's not me."
"...Arty?" she guessed, shyly looking over at him.
Artemis threw up his hands in exasperation, glaring at Holly, who was leaning on the table. She was resting her cheek on her hand, returning Artemis's harsh gaze with unrepentant cheek. He shook his head, returning his attention to Nopal. She was shyly looking at the two gifts in her hands, not quite looking at Artemis. He sighed.
"It's a reward for your hard work. I believe that your help will be invaluable to accomplishing this endeavour in a timely manner."
"And I thought you two nerds were going to be thirsty."
Nopal looked at both of them, staring up and down at her bounty. She had never been given anything before. There was an indescribable feeling welling up in her chest that she couldn't quite place, but it made her want to run over and hug the two of them. But she was also covered in grease, so she got the feeling Arty wouldn't like that. He was always very clean.
"Thank you," she said, voice small and as serious as she could muster. The two couldn't help but smile at that. However, as Nopal made no move to do anything with either the can nor the box, Holly took it upon herself to encourage the pixie. Show her the ropes.
This wasn't just an excuse to snatch Artemis's lemonade, of course. No siree.
The elfin captain then snatched Artemis's lemonade. The victim rolled his eyes.
"Drink the lemonade first," Holly advised, in between sips, "it makes the chocolates taste better than the other way around."
"There's no scientific evidence for that."
"I know what I know, Fowl."
"Give me back my can."
"Come get it."
Nopal ignored their bickering. Lemonade first then? She could do that. The mechanism to open it seemed simple enough. Just pull this lever and it pushes in the indentation. She gently pulled it until the tab popped open, much to her surprise. What a sound. Now, how to go about this? She shrugged. May as well go all out.
The pixie tipped the can and attempted to chug the entire can in one go. Unfortunately for the pixe, it was carbonated. Indeed, the lemon-tang was delightful and refreshing, but there was only so much carbonation one can take at the same time. And for the uninitiated, an entire can is generally too much. Before having drunk half of the lemonade, Nopal became very acquainted with the unpleasant sensation of the carbonated liquid fighting its way out of the body via the nose.
"Ungh," Nopal groaned. The lemonade was aggressive. She put the lemonade can down on the grass, slightly dizzy. Maybe whatever was in the box would help.
She undid the ribbon holding the box closed and took off the lid. Inside, nestled on some comfy looking wax-paper, was a set of high quality dark-chocolate truffles. Just the whiff of the cacao had Nopal salivating. She picked one out, admiring it. And then there was something else.
Nopal looked up suddenly. She wasn't standing on Fowl Manor beside a large crashed shuttle anymore. Beneath her feet was the utilitarian floor of a stealth shuttle. In front of her, at the ship's controls were two twin pixies. The Brill brothers. Why was she here? Nopal was still holding the truffles but was entirely too confused to pop it into her mouth.
She looked out the quartz windshield of the shuttle. There was another shuttle hovering in there. She couldn't see them, but why did she have the feeling that Arty and Holly were in there? Something about mining charges? Bombs to blow a massive hole in the cavern walls and expose Haven to the world above.
Why? She felt… angry? No, not just that. She felt so… alone.
Nopal dropped the truffle. It fell to the grass below, and just like that, she was back. Holly broke from her petty argument with Artemis to notice the pixie's far-off expression. She had also dropped a truffle, so she walked over and picked it up.
"Arty, are these vegan?"
"Yes. What, do you think I go out and buy milk chocolates?"
"As if you do your own shopping," the elf said, rolling her eyes. Holly wiped off the truffle that had fallen on the ground before returning her attention to the other fairy. "Hey, Nopal? You alright?"
This broke her out of her reverie. Nopal blinked several times before seemingly coming back to her senses.
"Ah. Yes."
What was she doing again? Oh yes, trying a truffle out.
The pixie fished out another confectionary and popped it into her mouth. She chewed it delicately, savoring it as the chocolate notes spread across her palette. Oh. That was good. She closed her eyes and her face melted into an expression of pure bliss. Whatever she just remembered at first wasn't nearly as important as savoring these.
Artemis watched Nopal's utter enjoyment. Holly noticed the expression on her face, and found her face softening into a fond grin. She couldn't help it. Neither could Artemis. He didn't know where it was coming from, but it was a simple truth.
There was something truly satisfying that came from feeding Nopal.