Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis, but I really wish I did. I don't own Butler or Holly or the other characters either, but I don't wish I own them as much as I wish I owned Artemis. 3

Artemis

Artemis clattered away on his laptop, the electronic glow and a table lamp the only light in the room. Butler had long since gone to bed, and the castle was silent. He wasn't planning on going to sleep yet. He hadn't even changed into his sleepwear.

His mother had sent on a few suitcases of clothing, deciding that getting away from the manor and keeping Reece company would be character building for him. He scowled at the memory of her all-too-cheerful voice over the telephone informing him of his forced vacation. At least he had his laptop and Holly's fairy communicator. That had proven useful to have. Holly had communicated with him at about 9:00pm, asking a favor. One of her clients had a golden sapphire stolen from her. The sapphire in question was supposed to be of incomparable size, the second largest of its kind.

So here he was, staying up late running searches through jewelry stores and private sellers, looking for any company or individual who had recently come into possession of a golden sapphire.

Artemis paused to run a few exercises on his hands to keep them in good working order. He didn't want to cramp later on. He shook his dark hair out of his eyes and turned his attention back to his plasma screen, continuing his search.

Reece

Reece stretched and got up, her body and mind protesting. She swung her legs out of bed and rubbed her eyes as she walked to the door. She ran a hand through her sleep-tousled hair. Her eyes were glazed as she slowly woke up. She looked at a hall clock. It was just past midnight. She had woken up with severe food cravings. She tried to go back to sleep, to no avail. Her stomach was stubborn.

So here she was, padding down the hall, headed for the kitchen in bare feet and white and blue striped flannel pajamas. The kind that have a top that buttons up and looks like a man's oxford shirt and normal drawstring bottoms.

Her head cleared as she walked, and she soon passed Artemis's room. She saw a light under the door and paused. She wondered why he was still up. Her stomach could wait. She wanted to investigate.

She knocked softly and, without waiting for a reply, opened the door. Artemis was sitting at the desk, typing away on his laptop. He soon stopped and looked up. His mouth turned down slightly, and he looked her up and down, seeing her in only pajamas. Reece noticed that he was still in his day clothes, minus his suit jacket. He smirked at her lack of proper dress and she rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing up?" She asked, taking a few steps into the room.

"Just some extra-curricular work," he replied. "And, what, pray, are you doing up? Isn't it customary for one to hire security guards to run checks of the grounds, rather than do it yourself?" He raised a brow fractionally.

"I," she said cooly, "was on my way to the kitchen. I'm hungry." She paused, turning over a thought in her mind. She scratched at the floor with her foot, embaressed. She had to really force herself to meet his eyes. This was so embaressing. "Would you like to join me?"

Flashback: Reece

Kelvin planted himself in front of Reece's bedroom door, blocking his charge's path. He crossed his arms and stared down at her.

"Reece."

"What?"

"How you treated Artemis Fowl and Butler was, for lack of a softer word, rude. Try to get on with them. Artemis, at the very least. You are the hostess, so act like it." He let go of his crossed arms and let them hang, his tone turning softer. "Reece, you are going to be stuck with Artemis, for better or worse, and it'll be much more enjoyable if you can be friends with each other. I'm not asking you to have sex with him," He said, cutting off Reece's words as she opened her mouth to reply. "I'm just saying, be civil with each other. Alright?"

"Kelvin-"

"Alright, Reece?"

"Fine!" She threw up her hands and stalked over to her laptop, logging on. There she sulked. Weren't bodyguards supposed to listen to and obey their employers? Not the other way around?

End Flashback

Reece saw a strange look take over Artemis's features. Or rather, lack of a look. It was as though his expression didn't know how to arrange itself. He blinked, and a long moment stretched longer. Reece fidgeted. She knew she was supposed to be polite and such, but this was getting more awkward by the second.

"Well?" She prompted, exasperated.

Now Artemis's features knew how to settle themselves. He shrugged, playing the 'Oh if I really must…' "I accept." He shut his laptop and stood. At the same time, she turned and walked out of the room, not waiting for him.

She opened the cabinets and took out two mugs. Artemis lounged against the island countertop behind her. They had settled on tea and rolls. She poured filtered hot water into each mug and dropped in the tea bags. Earl Grey for Artemis, and Raspberry for Reece. She brought the mugs to the island and gave Artemis his, putting hers on the counter to cool a bit.

"Alright, now for the rolls…" She paused, blinking. How do you make rolls?

"What is it?" Artemis asked.

"Uhm. How do you make rolls?"

"You don't know how to make them?" Artemis frowned at her. "What kind of a girl are you, to not know how to make something as simple as rolls?"

She whirled, glaring at him, hands on her hips. "Shut up! The fact is, I don't know how to make them. Kelvin knows how to make them, and chefs know how to make them, so I didn't need to learn how! You make them." She stepped aside.

"…"

"…"

She reeled. "Don't tell me! Aretmis Fowl doesn't know how to make something 'as simple as' rolls!"

Artemis glared at her. "The circumstances were the same for me as well. I never had the need to learn how."

"Well, then what are we going to do?" She said, raising her voice, frustrated.

"Look it up in a cookbook," Artemis suggested, sipping his tea.

"A cookbook? They won't have something 'as simple as rolls' in a cookbook."

"Will you let that go already?" Artemis scowled at the shorter blonde.

"Maybe. But, how are we going to get rolls, if no one can make them?"

She stared at Artemis.

Artemis stared back.

Artemis

"You know, I've actually never had this before," Artemis commented as he cut his hot pocket.

"Actually, me neither." Reece replied, already lifting a piece to her mouth with a fork. She chewed carefully, swallowed, and said, "Think we're supposed to eat these with our hands?" She looked at the box they came in, where a man was eating one with his hands.

"Oh well," Artemis waved the comment away. He was not going to use his hands, no matter what a box said.

"I wonder how they make these."

"Most likely they pre-cook the food and add in salt, so it lasts longer. Then they just freeze it. The real question is, why they make these."

"Yes. Most people have the facilities to cook their own food, why have pre-cooked food?"

"Exactly. My guess is that they were originally made for astronauts and somehow became popular down on the Earth's surface."

"That makes sense." The blonde head nodded and returned to eating her hot pocket with knife and fork.

It was a good thing they had found these Hot Pockets in the freezer. They were instant food, something Artemis had not tried before. They were surprisingly good. They didn't go that well with Earl Grey tea, though… Damn. Artemis suspected he could get addicted to these things. Hot pockets.

"You know-"

Artemis looked up to see Reece pointing a fork at him thoughtfully. "We should take cooking classes. I don't know about you, but I don't like feeling so helpless. That if Kelvin or a chef wasn't around, I wouldn't be able to survive because I can't cook."

"It's a humbling thought, yes," Artemis agreed. "But my name suggests femininity enough that I don't need cooking to add to it," he finished.

"So you're going to reject a survival skill at the risk of being effeminate? I thought you were supposed to be a genius, Fowl! Stop being so sexist. Since when do you care what other's think, anyways?" She took another bite of pizza-style hot pocket and a sip of tea.

Artemis felt chastised and couldn't find a response to that. He continued to eat his hot pocket.

"I'm not telling you to turn into Martha Stewart-"

"I'll do it," he interrupted.

"Huh- What-?"

Artemis merely shrugged. "Set up the cooking class. But, I'm not planning on turning into a master chef. Just a simple lesson. Making soup and bread and such. Nothing spectacular."

Reece beamed. "Deal. But, there's definitley going to be a lesson on desserts. You don't have to participate if you don't want to."

"I'll watch. Maybe."

"Fair enough." Reece smiled at him and sipped her tea. She then looked around. "What time is it?"

Artemis wasn't familiar with the locations of the clocks at Castle Stuart. Luckily, Reece answered her own question.

"It's 12:27. I have to go to bed, even though I'm not tired. If I don't, I'm be hell to be within ten feet of tomorrow." She got up out of the chair she was in and stretched.

Artemis couldn't help but wince inwardly. If she had been acting polite that day, he didn't want to find out how she acted when she was at her worst.

He watched her put her dining items in the sink and walk to the door. He bit back a laugh, noticing for the second time that she was only in her pajamas, and that they dwarfed her figure anyways. At the door she turned, covering a yawn with a hand. She gave a careless wave. "Night Artemis." And she was gone.

Artemis stayed in the kitchen a bit longer, pondering while finishing his Earl Grey. When he was finished, he put his items in the sink, and went to bed. He wanted to finish his jewelry search, but didn't know if Reece wouldn't be up for a second time at odd hours. She perplexed him in more ways than one.

Author's hype:

Lots of Reece POV in this chapter. I had meant it to be mainly Artemis, but I'm starting to see the benefits of switching back and forth.