Keeping A Promise

3, 2, 1, here goes! Holly took a deep breath and knocked on Artemis' bedroom door. It was fairly late, around 2200 hours, and while this was meant to be a surprise, she didn't mean to wake him up. It might be past his bedtime, she smirked internally.

Keeping a promise to Artemis meant determination, because if you forgot or didn't meet expectations, he would always remind you of how stupid you had been. So this was why she came as soon as she could get a shuttle. She'd seen Chix on the way up, and he'd made some ridiculous comment about 'dressing like this more often'. He's incredibly annoying really, but I do love him so. She looked down at her body, checking that she still looked vaguely alright. Instead of her normal LEP uniform, she was wearing a slinky black dress, the material cascading down her tiny frame to around knee height. She was barefooted; her chestnut legs tensing and relaxing as she rocked nervously on the balls of her feet. Putting a hand up to brush her soft, auburn hair out of her face, she remembered that there was nothing to tuck away; she had pulled it all back loosely so it hung at the back of her head in odd ringlets. Around her neck, she wore a diamond necklace, on which the gem - which changed according to mood, but not like those ridiculous mood-rings that teenage humans wear - was glowing green. She'd decided to wear make-up (the first time in around a year), and so had outlined her eyes in colour: her brown eye in black, and Artemis' blue eye in silver. She blinked once or twice, staring at the floor, before returning her gaze to Artemis' bedroom door, waiting for an answer.

"How do I look?" she asked, grinning and twirling, the skirt of her dress lifting slightly. "I promised you that I'd surprise you sometime, didn't I? Well, here I am. And why are you having a go at me for coming so late? You're still dressed. So it doesn't matter really, does it?" She pushed through into his bedroom, not rudely, but with the kind of loose respect of a very old friend. She threw herself onto his bed and stared around. There was nothing really interesting in his room: books, computers, nothing of the usual human teenage sort.

"Yes, I suppose you were, but I'm here now, so deal with it," she replied, grinning and tucking her hands behind her head, staring at the ceiling. "But go on, what do you think? Do you...do you think they'll still think of me as 'one of the lads' down at the LEP?"

"Gee, thanks," she muttered, rolling her eyes and sitting up, curling her legs below her. After a moment she stood up and walked over to him, putting a hand on his arm. She spoke in a softer voice this time. "I'll go and see her, if you want me to."

"If you're sure..." she said, sighing and taking her hand away. A few years ago she probably would have said that a boy like Artemis deserved to have such problems at home, but since she had got to know him better, her opinion had changed. Now she just felt such pity for him. So much pity, in fact, that she couldn't even think of a joke to make about 'Arty's got himself a girlfriend'.

"Ok," she breathed as soon as Artemis left the room. She began to wander around the room, running her finger along a shelf, twisting some wires on a broken circuit board. Thinking about the time before she knew Artemis had started her wondering: if she had never met him, would she be the same? Well, I'd still be stuck in my old job, for starters. I probably wouldn't have the respect I do for Mud Men either. Artemis broke all my prejudices. And I wouldn't have one blue eye, I'd have both of mine still. I'd probably have a lot less scars, too.

Holly smirked and stifled a laugh at the comical contents of his wardrobe. "Nothing, nothing," she said, waving the word away with her hand. "No, I was just...thinking. You know. About stuff." Will he ever know anything that goes on inside my head? He's a man, so probably not.

She shrugged and smiled at him. He could be very amusing sometimes. "No, that wasn't it. I just promised you that I would surprise you like this, so now I have. I am a lady of my word, after all. You didn't believe I could be feminine, so I've proved you wrong. Finally, someone wins against Artemis Fowl II!" Laughing, she went back to his bed, perching awkwardly on the side of it and swinging her legs.