Thanks for everyone who had read the story. Reviews are what make me smile :D.
This chapter is short, Accidental pun. and it is just an intro to Holly's POV, plus a little humor.
- Now, it's a bit longer, thanks for the comments!
Holly Short cursed. Not that it was unusual, indeed if you had only known her for a few minutes, her vocabulary would seemingly consist of D'Arvit and Kowpog. Well, if you were annoying her that is. Many things were irritating Holly that day, first and foremost, how Trouble had punched Artemis two days ago. Holly had to admit that she never had feelings for Trouble, he had been a good friend to her in the past, but he really needed some anger management courses, Holly had no doubt that Argon had already offered them to Trouble, for a price of course.
Artemis hadn't been injured, on the contrary, he had seemed rather like himself over the weekend, writing novels on Holly's computer, and hacking into Foaly's databases. As he had admitted, "Foaly really needs to upgrade his system, it's just not a challenge anymore." Holly disapproved of the continued cyber-battle between her two friends, but Artemis doing some of his old tricks was comforting to Holly, so she was secretly glad, and promised herself that she would mention Artemis' comment to the centaur. Not that the centaur in question would be pleased, oh well, what's life without a challenge?
Holly moved around the kitchen swiftly. Preparing Artemis-grade food on a daily basis was a strenuous activity, Butler really was an astonishing cook. As Holly chopped vegetables for her guest, she reflected on why she was upset. Trouble had punched Artemis, but why had she felt his punch? It was strange, yet her connection with the mudboy had grown ever since they had swapped eyes and gone back in time. Holly had never heard of such anomalies, and gave herself a mental note to ask No1 or Qwan about it when she saw them next.
Artemis walked into the kitchen, banging his head on the suspended light strip, which swung vigorously. Holly couldn't contain her laugh. Artemis glared at her. "Low ceilings. I really feel for Butler right now." Holly turned around and reached up to straighten the now misaligned light fitting.
"You could do with some Butler training at the moment. Lying in a clinic bed for two months doesn't help the fitness level, Artemis." The human groaned,
"Oh please, no exercise. I'd rather eat Spud's Spud Emporium for a week." Holly gave Artemis an evil looking grin as the genius processed what he had just said. She dropped the cooking utensil she had been holding and put away the vegetables.
"You said it." Holly grinned and walked over to her home communicator, so that she could call the takeaway number for Spud's. Artemis could only stare hopelessly at the elf's back. "D'Arvit." He swore.
When someone knocked on the door, Artemis could only sigh and wish that he had considered his words more. A being of his intellect really should think about what he would say, Artemis usually did. But, with Holly it was just natural to needle her and just talk. No counting words, not processing what he should say. It just happened. And Artemis liked it that way, Holly was his best friend, his companion. She had protected him just as much as Butler, and forgiven him when he had stumbled... Pretty massively.
Artemis hoped that this 'takeaway' stunt of Holly's would not last for the rest of his stay. Artemis liked her cooking, and he reminded himself that Butler needed to use raw vegetables more often.
As Holly went to open the door, Artemis went onto her v-computer. the latest of course, thanks to Foaly. He dearly hoped that Foaly would not be able to hack into her computer, Artemis had continued his diary.
Holly sat down at her tiny table. "Arty!" She called, "You don't want to miss this!" Artemis walked over to the table. "I did promise... Although, exercise is looking more and more attractive now." Holly pushed the package over. "Eat!" She called cheerily, as she went over to the kitchen so she could eat her vegetables with Artemis. The mudboy stares at the package, as if it would suddenly turn into a dumb bell. No such luck.
As he opened the greasy paper, he nearly chocked on the smell of oil and other liquids he didn't dare think about. Holly came from the kitchen, "That smells!" She commented with distain, "Eat that quickly so I can deodorise the place."
Artemis lifted out the vegetarian burger, and didn't recognise the ingredients. He closed his eyes and took a bite. It was disgusting, Artemis' only polite thought was, Mulch wouldn't dare eat this. He looked up and Holly had run to the sink. She was retching and magic had coated her throat. As soon as he had swallowed the greasy mouthful, Artemis ran over to Holly, "Are you alright?" He asked with worry, then he smiled, "Thank god I didn't eat those vegetables."
Holly looked up. "It wasn't the vegetables," She muttered with a worried expression, "I could taste that disgusting burger!" Holly threw a glance at the said meal, which was still lying on the table. Artemis looked at his friend in shock. "What?" He gasped.