in which Artemis is anything but unmoved
"Inertia?" Wally's eyebrows quirk as he repeats her query. "The greater the mass, the greater the inertia."
"Wow. That really helps."
For the first time, he despairs over her propensity (or rather, lack thereof) to Physics fundamentals.
"Inertia is... unwillingness to be moved. Despite, say, an applied force." To demonstrate, he lightly kicks his chair leg. "See? With my weight, greater mass. Without it..."
Wally gets up and nudges the stool, which topples with a scary creaking, splintering sound. As he bites back obscenities, Artemis watches, deliberately unmoved.
I think I love you, he said.
Only one problem. He couldn't.
Follows up from 'I think I love you' in Chapter 7.
Basically, I didn't want to shamelessly portray an impossibly-always-perfect puppy love. There are problems in any relationship. Agreeable?
Exactly right to unsigned reviews by Pimu and Anon — you have all been part of my little demographic study: number of fellow YJ and XKCD fans.
m.e.