Artemis looked at me a moment after I answered this. I had seen his eyes widen for about a fraction of a second, then go back to their normal size.
"And…" He placed the notebook and the pencil down and neatly folded his fingers. "Why would you believe this?"
I shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I just do."
"There's no proof they exist." He pointed out.
"There's no proof that they don't exist." I countered.
He thought a moment. "Well, if you go by that logic, I could very well say that there's no proof that there isn't any proof they do not exist. By your logic, that is."
"Well, could you give me proof they do not exist?" I challenged. Honestly, this guy was getting on my nerves.
"One word, Miss Stuart: Science." He held up his index finger.
"What the Hell does science have to do with anything?" I snapped. This was a pretty stupid topic, anyway; couldn't he have asked me which soccer team I liked, or something?
"Traditionally, fairies were supposed to help explain nature. How the seasons change, how the leaves change color, et cetera. If there is a logical explanation for all these things, then fairies are no doubt out of the picture. Care to counter?"
"Yes, I would love to counter." I glared, and then held up an index finger of my own. "One: you say that fairies are totally out of the picture because of modern science. Two: You are wrong, because, if faeries were real, how do we know what they do? For all we know, they could be the reason behind why our toilets get clogged up from time to time!" I placed a hand on my hip and continued. "Three: I say that fairies may exist because there isn't any proof that they don't! And Four: I am right, because there is no way to counter my point that I myself wouldn't be able to counter." I placed both hands on my hips and awaited a response.
Artemis stared at me with an amused look in his face. "You used the Four Steps of Effective Rebuttal right now." He said, incredulously.
"Yeah, so?"
"I did not think you knew how to debate. It wasn't on your…"he trailed off, looking a tad bit uncomfortable.
"It wasn't on my what?" I asked, looking hard at him.
"…On your flier. It was not on your flier that you could debate. I am somewhat surprised."
"Well, why the Hell would I put that on a flier? What am I gonna do, debate with the kids? Honestly." I snapped, a bit nastily, I admit. But hey, I think that I am totally entitled to a bit of nastiness, considering what this guy is putting me through.
"I suppose you wouldn't." He said after a few moments. "Put it on the flier, that is. And I suppose you have proved your point. To an extent." He smirked, and I had a feeling he couldn't help but add that last part out of cheek. He began to scribble something else down on the notepad.
I scowled for a nanosecond, and then calmed down. I grinned wryly. "So, Master Fowl. Do you believe in faeries?"
His writing froze for about half a second (which is a lot longer than a nanosecond, I will tell you that.) and then his expression returned to normal. "I believe I will not answer that question, Miss Stuart." He said, coldly looking up at me.
"Ah. So you do believe in faeries. Lovely." I said, leaning back in my chair, satisfied. I glanced at Butler, who had seemed to be watching our conversation with great interest, no matter how uninterested a face he may try to pull.
"I never said that, Miss Stuart." Artemis said, simply.
"Exactly. But you didn't say no, either." I grinned.
"I'm sure I do not know what you mean."
"Come on, it doesn't take a doctorate in Psychology to figure this out. It was the simple fact that you didn't say yes or no that proves that you do believe in faeries."
"Explain."
"Well, if a man is accused of murder, and when they ask him 'Did you murder this person?', and if he didn't, why in God's name would he answer, 'I'm not going to answer that question.' when he could just say 'No.' and have it all done with? Give me one good reason."
When he didn't answer, I continued. "Now, if the man is guilty, but cannot lie, then he could answer 'I am not going to answer that question.' and not technically confess. But if he does that, unless the lawyers are all dense, then anyone would be able to tell he is guilty. So, Master Fowl," I stood up and leaned across the table. "I hereby pronounce you guilty of believing in faeries!" I grinned.
He looked at me a moment, then slowly stood up. He looked at me in the eye.
Square in the eye.
We stood there staring for a while, me grinning coyly and him giving me a studious gaze. My eyes looking into his. His eyes looking into mine. Our faces five inches away from each other.
I had to admit. This guy had a good poker face.
Well. So did I.
A moment later, he closed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something when the door to the library swung open.