Similarity:
Holly studied the room sceptically, then turned to the Mud Boy-Man-Thing standing beside her.
'Apparently the receptionist automatically assumes that two people arriving together are going to sleep in the same bed?' She glared at him pointedly.
Artemis blinked twice, obviously a little confused as to why he was being blamed for the hotel's ineptitude.
'No matter,' Holly continued, diving onto the bed and leaning back in the superfluous pile of pillows. 'You can sleep on the couch.'
'I do not think so,' Artemis replied, after realising the hotel had no couch. 'I'm sorry I only had enough money on me to rent a room from a three star hotel – being mugged does that to you.' Holly rolled her eyes – they'd lost more important items in that mugging than his cash, and Artemis knew this. 'You are lucky I keep emergency money in my jacket's inner pocket.'
'You should have robbed them back when we tracked them down to get back the Omnifarious,' Holly said scornfully, then softened when Artemis shifted his weight a little, actually seeming uncomfortable with the idea. 'I'll pay you back when I get my bonus for Retrieving this thing.'
Holly pulled a small cube fashioned from ancient faience from her own jacket pocket, and closed her eyes languidly. For a moment, nothing happened – but then wings sprouted from her back, destroying her already languishing LEP suit.
'Aïe,' said Holly mildly, in the language of the people that they were currently impinging hospitality.
Not that they did a very good job of it, Artemis thought bitterly. Being attacked under the Eiffel Tower is less than hospitable.
Holly had been sent to Paris to courier a fairy artefact back to Haven, on her birthday, even. When she'd complained to Artemis about this, he'd flown to France to arrange a meet up in compensation for all her Underground friends. Just to 'hang out'.
Artemis had dragged a shielded Holly around all the cultural sites – L'arc de Triumph, la Louvre … And on the final destination – la Tour d'Eiffel in lights – they'd been held at Neutrino point by two French shielded fairies. What followed had been an invisible gunfight where Artemis and Holly had been incapacitated, stripped of all valuables – including the Omnifarious, which Holly had insisted on carrying on her person, in case, ironically, their hotel room was ransacked – and dumped in a canal. And now, that they'd finally found the People's prized piece of magic, they had one more night of freedom before they had to return to Haven and explain the whole situation.
The Omnifarious, as Holly had just demonstrated, gave the user the ability to morph their form in any way imaginable. Theoretically there were no limitations, but pragmatically it required a large amount of magic and skill for even minor transformations. And it was vaguely painful.
'You do realise you are no angel?' Artemis observed dryly. Holly punched him as he reached over to switch on the television suspended above the bed to watch the Parisian news broadcast.
He sat down on the foot of the bed, looking up at the flatscreen as the anchor reported on the trial of two men for the murder of an Irish citizen. Something else the LEP is going to have to clear up. 'Could you make yourself human?' Artemis inquired, as Holly added a cat-tail to her ensemble.
'I suppose,' Holly answered, frowning a little. Then, the wings and tail were melted back into skin, and Holly's form grew rapidly to almost Artemis's height.
'You forgot your ears,' was Artemis's only remark. But he wasn't focusing on her ears – her suit had finally given up, tearing in some rather interesting places. He felt a rush of blood to his cheeks and closed his eyes in an attempt to combat his hormones.
He opened them again as a door slammed. Holly had retreated to the bathroom. Smiling a little, Artemis unzipped his travel bag and located one of his smaller shirts and a pair of boxers. He walked to the ensuite and knocked on the door lightly.
'Shut up, Fowl.'
Artemis resisted the urge to walk away with his offer. 'I have some clothes for you.'
The door opened a crack and Holly's still rather tiny hand snatched them out of his grasp when he extended them to her. Artemis leant on the opposite wall, waiting until she emerged.
When she did, the rush of hormones was worse than before. Something about Holly being dressed in his clothes … He shook his head firmly. This was not a train of thought he was willing to allow himself.
Holly smiled, almost shyly. 'Whatcha think?' She asked, spinning around on her toes.
'If I did not know better, I would say you were a normal teenage … tomboy.' She punched him lightly on the arm before flouncing back to the bed to watch a night-time movie about a heroine saving the world.
'Move over a little, please,' Artemis said, sitting down beside her.
'Shove over,' Holly corrected, shifting to her left, making room for him.
By the time the credits rolled, Holly had fallen asleep, slumped against him, and Artemis too tired to organise any makeshift arrangement for himself – so he clicked the power on the television remote, flicked the switch on the light beside their bed and fell asleep himself.
Artemis woke late, late at night or early, early morning (he was not sure which), maybe three hours later. The cold had woken him, that and Holly having begun to cling to him, twisting his shirt up above her stomach. Carefully, he straightened it and manoeuvred her and himself under the covers, hoping she would not wake. She made a sleepy noise and shifted about a little when he lifted her to pull back the doona, but settled quickly once he laid it over her. Hesitantly, he climbed back in beside her.
Although he was warmed physically, his mind still seemed cold. In an attempt to fix that, he rolled onto his side and draped an arm across Holly's waist, sleep-logic getting the better of him. Holly's eyes fluttered open.
It would be that which woke her, Artemis thought.
'Artemis?' she whispered, her eyes barely open. He nodded disjointedly, unable to reply. 'Mmm, you're warm.' She took a deep breath, moved into him and fell back asleep.
Too tired to make sense of that, he also fell back asleep.
The morning came, Artemis's internal clock woke him at six o'clock. Seeing no point in waking Holly, he slipped out of bed and got dressed in an informal suit with the idea of getting breakfast. It was still cold outside, so Artemis asked directions to the nearest bakery – he did not feel like wandering around attempting to find an open shop. After walking a block and a half, he found "Massot's" and ordered two croissants and a stick of long bread- as it was situated in a tourist-y locale, it seemed to be all that sold. Fortunately, they did not attempt to over-charge him.
The food was still hot when he got back to the motel. It seemed even colder inside the room than out on the street. Taking their breakfast, Artemis slid back under the covers and sat up against the wall, his legs stretched out. He opened the paper bag, tearing off a chunk of bread and devouring it, before moving onto his ham and cheese croissant. It was very salty, but he honestly did not mind – it definitely was no LEP rations.
'Care to share?' Holly asked, looking up at him from the pillows.
Wordlessly, ignoring that they were lying beside each other as she seemed to be, he handed her the baker's bag. She struggled into a seating position and bit off a piece of the cheese and tomato croissant he had bought her. She chewed and swallowed with a satisfied sigh.
'I thought I ordered you to the floor?' she asked before taking another bite.
'I am not under your command, Captain,' he replied, smirking slightly.
'It would've been much colder without you anyway,' she conceded, and Artemis's smirk faded into a smile. Holly reached over and brushed a strand of hair away from his hazel eye.
'Tu es mignonne,' Artemis remarked, referring to her gesture and sleepy eyed smile.
'It was annoying me,' she replied. 'You do realise I can still understand you? Gift of Tongues doesn't disappear just because I'm pretending to be human.'
'Neither does my sentiment,' he said mildly.
Holly looked taken-a-back, so she busied herself by taking a large bite of her croissant, getting cheese on the tip of her nose. Impulsively, Artemis lent forward and licked it off.
'It was annoying me,' he said cheerfully when Holly stared at him in surprise. 'Additionally, I wanted to.' He hadn't moved back.
Holly paused – then shifted fractionally, brushing her lips against his.
'You were annoying me,' she whispered. 'Plus, I wanted to.'
I'd rather like it if you review – it gives me incentive to actually post my fic up here at all. Please? D