Who: Artemis Young and Andrew Wheeler Where: North of Scarlet Oak, in a clearing in the Woods When: Friday June 26th / 2009 - Afternoon
It had been quite the feat to get Porkchop on the back of her bike. Artemis had managed to fashion a milk crate and some ties to the box so that her dog couldn't get out, nor could he managed to chew through his restraints. It had taken her more then three hours to finally figure out a way to get the young pup to stay still enough for her to be able to ride her bike comfortably with her dog on the back. She loved him so much already, even if he was terrorizing the house and it's current residents. He was fast becoming one of her best friends, and really, the only steady man in her life. She had to love him for that very fact alone. She wasn't going to be riding around crazy like anyway, and she'd have Andrew with her to make sure her baby didn't get loose.
The ride up in to the mountain hadn't felt very long. Sure Artemis did her commute every day to where she worked at the airport, but this was fresh forest air. Much different then what breathed in on their way along the freeway. Much, much better for her lungs. She could feel Air stretching out in to her, protecting her almost. It was going to be a good day.
So once Artemis and Andrew had managed in to an area that looked pretty much empty for a Friday afternoon, they stopped. Artemis let her poor pup loose and the little dog ran off, straight for some bushes, to take a long and well deserved pee break. They'd made sure their bikes were secure and they'd found their way in to the forest after collecting up the things that they wanted. Porkchop was more then happy to be trotting along ahead of them, barking at squirrels that he couldn't chase because Artemis was keeping him on the leash. He'd have long since been gone if she'd let him run free.
"How much farther is this place Andrew? I mean, I know places closer to the city, but they're becoming far too populated for something like this." She said, thinking of her run in with Christian, adjusting her ice skates hanging over her shoulder, her bag with sandwiches and a thermos she'd packed for the two of them to eat over the other arm. Artemis was comfy in her clothes and had made sure to wear clothes she wouldn't freeze in if the ice was just a little too cold.
Andrew hadn’t actually expected her to bring the dog along with all things considered. Then he had to admit he wasn’t sure even he was creative enough to consider the whole idea of using the plastic crate to actually get the bulldog from point A to point B. Though he had already forgotten what exactly the poor pup’s name was. Just that it had something to do with meat. Lamb chop? Beef steak? Fish fillet? It was a little hard to say with Artemis, though he apparently didn’t talk to her in her head at least, so that was one good point. Maybe some masters didn’t mind wandering around with more than one voice in their head, but he was fairly sure he would. This had probably been a very good idea though considering all the weird reports he had been hearing around Scarlet Oak yesterday, and a lot of other places from the news. He had even gone and called up his parents and sister just to make sure that everything was alright with all of them. Though his mother had lost one of her favorite models for an upcoming show, and apparently had deserved it for being one of those "damned supernaturals".
So much for "coming out" next time he saw them. He was rather fond of his trust fund remaining intact, though Water was completely behind him still doing it. They were supposed to be his parents after all and love him regardless, and perhaps he would be able to convince them that they weren’t evil beings. At least most of them weren’t that he had ever come across. He pushed all of that to the back of his mind though and kept up his small bit of a lead to their destination.
"It’s not much farther. And soon we’re going to have to go all of the way up to Northern Canada to get some peace now that every little thunderstorm has the potential to be an elemental. We need to find a good Earth elemental that could just create a barrier between us and the mere mortals who can’t make it rain with a snap of their fingers." The cold didn’t bother him in the least bit, glad to be somewhere just a touch cooler than it usually was even in Michigan. He tossed his ice skates over his shoulder though as they came upon the large clearing that was still lined with enough trees for some cover against the random hikers that could be in the area. "Just about perfect for our purposes, don’t you think?"
"I like Canada. Or at least, it's always looked nice when I flew over it." She said grinning over at Andrew. She'd flown in to Vancouver a few times and over to Victoria when she was doing some of her private flying when she was back at home. She'd been flying a plane before she'd been driving a car. It was pretty awesome after all. "We could have just gone to a body of water and you could have froze it, but then I'd look lazy." She teased him. "I could provide a nice cold breeze at least, I suppose." She said thinking about it as Porkchop attempted to dart after another small animal he could only see. He yanked on his leash and once again was only held back. Stupid dog never learned. "Porkchop! Stop that." She scolded him as he barked, the chipmunk scurrying up the tree.
"He's got no manners." Artemis shook her head and sighed, hefting her bag again and following along the underused path that they were going along until they found the clearing that Andrew had been taking them to. Artemis looked around and smiled. Looked about good. And from the way the land was shaped, it wouldn't have to rain long before it flooded. A flash flood and they'd be good to go. Maybe twenty minutes, tops. She could have it rain while they ate their lunch.
"Looks awesome to me." Artemis said dropping her skates on the ground along with her bag and sitting on a log that had fallen long ago and was rotting away. "We can probably eat up lunch in the time it takes to flood this area. "Could probably use a good watering." She said idly. She never felt bad for using her powers. They had been given to her for a reason. Besides, Air was just as happy to be used as it was to be used in conjunction with a element that was friendly towards it. "Hope you like a good sandwich." She said smiling.
"I've only been around Ontario much. Up around Niagra." Family trips usually involved going to Europe or wherever his parents had been interested in going at the time. The Hamptons had always been a popular spot as well. Those were more fun once he'd hit the point that he could turn water into ice which had led to some fun evenings of getting girls to stay close to him for warmth. "That could also be fun to try sometime. Maybe not freeze the whole thing, but maybe go over to Detroit and walk out to the middle of the lake and just freeze up a section of it. Confuse all the people when they see you just walking on water. People start to look at you very oddly when you do that for the record." He had only tried it a few times, though without making a full ice bridge and just trying to make little areas to step on was hard to do without the ice breaking out from under you. Regardless, Andrew loved his powers.
"You seem to also forget that I can still make you look lazy." The area did need some watering though as he just tried to focus on the ground and the humidity in the air. Pulling any water up when there wasn't much was difficult though the air did want to behave a little better, starting up a small pool of water that could only about pass for a few large puddles. Okay, a slightly pathetic attempt that he could even hear Water laughing. "It's not funny." A light rain shower only took a little more concentration to start. She could work up on that even if he could make it heavier himself. As long as there was not any games of "trying to strike Andrew with lightening" going on, he would be just fine.
He found a spot on the ground though that looked rather dry, leaning up against one of the trees just a few feet away. It was likely a dangerous thing to do with Porkchop around but he was apparently willing to take a little bit of risk. "If it takes quite that long to do. I can try to keep it from soaking in too much." The grass would likely do a little better after all if he wasn't freezing up the roots so much, right? Plants weren't really his area of expertise and he didn't really want to try and get cell reception up there to try and call his old nanny to see what she thought. "I definitely love a good sandwich. Hopefully not too warm."
"People also look oddly at you when you vanish in to thin air. Or decide to fly to your next destination. Then again the lightening seems to do me well when I'm in a touch of trouble." She said grinning a bit. It was true, she'd threatened lightening before to get out of a situation, and even got to have a small crack come down from the sky above when one man at a bar one night just wouldn't leave her alone. The man's eyes had gone wide and he'd gone running. Artemis hadn't gone back there since. At least, this was in Detroit and not at home. This was, of course, before the Light of May.
The day was warm though and so she wasn't sure how much water Andrew was really going to be able to pull from the air around them he could try though. Then again they could make themselves a lovely storm together if they really wanted to try. Artemis gathered up the clouds in the air quietly as he started a small shower, concentrating as Air spoke to her softly. He was such a guy, liking to bug her when she was busy. Eventually her clouds began to rain more heavily, and she reached in to her bag to pull out a garbage bag that had a few holes poked in to it. She pulled it over her head and slipped her arms through it and looked over at Andrew under the tree. "For a Water Elemental you don't like getting too wet do you?" She asked laughing.
Porkchop made his way over to her bag and nudged at it, smelling the sandwiches. Or the plastic wrap they were wrapped in. One or the other. Artemis got up and headed over to Andrew, pulling out the bags the sandwiches were in and handing him one. "It's not warm and it's a deli trio, I hope that's okay." She said suddenly worrying he had like, gone vegetarian and hadn't told her.
"Yes, from what I've heard of your masterful elemental powers, I am rather jealous." The biggest difference he had found from that level six and seven was the female voice in his head that was usually trying to keep him out of trouble. He was rather fond of trouble though, and so far the ability to change into water had not done him very much good. "Though I have wondered if I couldn't change into a cloud and try travel that way. I'm always afraid to go beyond liquid state and not being able to pull myself back together." The possibilities though were a little interesting to consider but it was all still fairly new and the other stuff hadn't done him all that much good beyond playing to keep his element happy. They were rather easily insulted after all if you were playing too much with the other kids.
Andrew was careful though, manipulating the rain out and away from him like an invisible dome was just sitting there, smirking a little. "I don't mind it so much. Getting dry though is not the easiest thing to do even if you can gather up all of the water into a neat little bundle." Plus who wanted to sit around in squishy mud the whole time and have rain falling down on your food? Certainly not him if he could prevent it that easily. He expanded it more though to make sure all of the stray drops were staying off of both of them while they were trying to eat lunch. The effort any more was barely beyond just being conscious of it at all time. "Unless you prefer I just start stripping," he added. "Don't mind at all being wet and naked."
"Thanks. Perfectly okay though." Something serious was going to have to happen to get him away from meat very easily. It would probably be healthier, but then he was all for animals for food. Maybe they were saving some poor witch from a lifetime of nagging by a pig familiar who had wandered too close to the wrong farm.
Artemis smiled smugly. "So you're not only jealous of my mad skills with being a bike whisperer, but you're also jealous of my Element." She grinned cheekily up at at him and then winked. She liked Andrew for this reason. He was so much fun and Artemis appreciated that about him. She didn't like having friends that were too serious. Serious people were mostly downers for her. She didn't like the idea of not being able to get help when she needed it, but people who took life too personally tended to be the ones that died young from stress and the like. Artemis would usually just take flight and forget her troubles for a bit. It was always helpful as a stress reliever. "I'd be a little sad though if you were stuck as a cloud and got blown away." She said with a more serious tone. She would be sad. "Who would I do wacky things with?" she said with a little bit of a lighter tone.
Artemis wasn't sure if he'd go and accidentally on purpose soak her, thus she'd brought the garbage bag. You never knew with cheeky buggers like Andrew what they'd do. They could have planned for skating and she'd wind up soaking wet and tossed in a lake. Their spontaneous outings were one of Artemis's favorites. "Hey we have something in common, I don't mind being wet and naked too!" She said grinning at him, a completely not innocent look on her face. Of course, Artemis was totally one of those people who thought sexual innuendo's were hilarious. A guy at a biker bar had told her once he wanted to toy with her muffler and she about peed herself laughing.
"Good. I brought water for now, but hot chocolate for later if we decide to make it nice and cold." She said, tugging a bottle of water from her bag for them to share. She sat down at the base of the tree though. She didn't want to stand forever.
"Jealous yes." He could already practically hear the glaring of his own element that he would ever want anything else. Touchy touchy... "Then I have also been trying to figure out what exactly you were able to manage with your awesome powers early on. A couple of breezes and the like? I mean if you figure it out early enough on in your life that you're an elemental, you might be around a three or four by the time you finish high school? I was making ice when I started college. Not "dear God how did the indoor heated pool get frozen solid" amounts, but there was never a warm soda when I was around. Fire if nothing else can hold their hand over a flame without any harm. And earth I don't remember as well, but there was something. So really... Maybe the invisibility and flight is making up for being the geeks of the elemental world and not giving up." He just grinned a little at the end of his little monologue even if it was something he had been thinking about for a while. "Not that I don't doubt your ability to put Michigan into the middle of a category five hurricane if you felt like it now, maybe with a little help. Just curious as to how long it was before you could do things that would amaze others greatly?"
"I shall try to keep from turning myself into a lonely little cloud. You'd probably be the one to blow me away on accident and days later there would be reports of me having reformed and fallen to the ground and look like some suicide jumper. It'd be tragic." Andrew just nodded sadly before breaking out into another grin. It was really hard to be serious around Artemis for too long. They could just be crazy and wacky. Besides if he was going to do anything it was probably the prank he was already slowly doing, making a rather intricate design of ice that was freezing her ice skates right to the ground, trying to keep the strings of frozen water thin and overlapping with a few swirls added in. It kept to the outside though considering it wasn't hard to undo and he wouldn't want her feet getting all wet when she finally put them on. "But the question then is, wet and naked in a snow flurry?"
He considered for a moment, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite. "Well the general amount of cold likely depends on exactly how mischievous I'm feeling at the moment. And how likely you are to fall that I might have to try and catch you with the ice itself." He was already considering a little bit of snow just for fun and to go with the general ice skating mood. Nothing too heavy however. "You can always borrow my jacket if it gets too bad for you there."
"Breezes didn't come until a bit later. I could always predict the weather though. I'd put on rain boots and a jacket and bring an umbrella with me when I went out, even if it was sunny in the morning. Mom thought I was crazy until she realized I was accurately predicting the weather. Kids in the neighborhood made fun of me though, not only was I home-schooled I carried around an umbrella on seemingly sunny days." Artemis shook her head. She didn't mind back then though. She was so in her own head most days, and then practicing with Alkira that it didn't matter to her that the other kids teased her. Artemis was just strange and flighty to most people. "It wasn't until about four that I could make winds go which way I wanted them to. Which wasn't like something super interesting. My parents just figured it was by chance. The cool stuff didn't come until six and seven." She said honestly. Lightening, well, that was pretty cool to her.
"I won't blow you away for nothing." She said poking her lip out at him in a pout before tucking it away with a grin and pulling out her own sandwich, pulling down the plastic she'd wrapped around it. She hadn't noticed him toying with her skates and so she took a giant bite of her sandwich, hoping mustard hadn't smushed out on to her face. Even if it had she didn't really care, or mind. Messy sandwiches were messy sometimes. "Hey you water Elementals never get cold so does it make much of a difference?" She asked him, eyebrows raised after she'd swallowed.
"I'm not a horrible ice skater, but nobody's ever once called me graceful if that's what you're saying." She warned him. "I can stand a bit of cold, I get some pretty cold winds coming up sometimes." She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. "True, I didn't bring a jacket today, it was warmer back in town." The forest always seemed to give off that cool vibe. Perhaps she should have warn a jacket. Porkchop whined at her feet and she reached in to her bag and tugged out a treat for him, dropping it towards his waiting and eager mouth. "Be a good boy Porkchop." She warned the dog who was currently ignoring her in favor of the treat.
"Ever consider becoming a weather girl?" Andrew asked a bit more seriously, just looking over at her. Of course she was also a mechanical genius as he had been witness to in the past, but she probably would have been fun to see on TV on a regular basis. Especially if she was actually getting the weather report correct. Then maybe he should just suggest that she send out a daily newsletter with the weather for the day. Then any more he could have fun just messing with that and making it suddenly downpour on a sunny day. Just for the hell of it and she very well knew he would. "Sounds like you'd be good at it even if you could just make some of it the way you wanted. But I'm right then. You get all the super awesome stuff from being geeks so you get all the flight and invisibility and I can turn into a puddle. Not that there is anything wrong with puddles." He would rather not have a pissed off element who stopped talking to him. It wasn't like he wasn't practicing after all, just sitting back with a little bit of a satisfied smile at her now icicled over ice skates.
"How would you know it was me though? I'd just be a little poufy cloud with all the others." That was weird to think about though, just the whole idea that he could go to 100% H2O and yet still maintain his general appearance. Those were the sorts of things you didn't really want to think about because it just made your head hurt after a certain amount of time considering the science of it. There was likely someone somewhere that would be glad to experiment on him just for the fun of it and figure out what exactly made it all work. Sometimes you just had to believe in a little bit of magic. "Oh dip me in liquid nitrogen and I'm sure I would get cold... And probably dead. I'm not going to try it just to find out. But running around in a huge snowstorm in a speedo is no problem. Which doesn't entirely make sense considering you're the one flying up in the freezing cold air." Maybe just a little odd.
He went and picked up the bottle of water, making it just a little above freezing before opening it up and getting a small squirt of water. "I'm just saying I can catch people a lot easier. You slide a little bit and suddenly find yourself in an ice chair rather than all the way on the ground. Not saving you very much, but a little bit of a catch. And I like it up here. Heat does bug me after a certain point. So you can feel free to borrow the jacket." It was nice to be up here where everything was a few degrees cooler when the heat was being almost unbearable. He took a bite of sandwich though and just looked over their slowly filling pond that was being created.
"Weather girls aren't the ones that predict the weather, they're the ones that just read whatever is on the tele-prompter. At least the pretty ones are." She informed him, as if he didn't know. "I know though if I started predicting the weather and it was always right I'd be sucked right in to making sure that I was right, constantly watching the skies, even though my predictions would always be true. I'm strange like that." She said tipping her head to the side. "Turning in to a puddle isn't so bad." She said trying to make him feel better. Though really she wouldn't give up her powers for anything. She liked being able to fly and go invisible. It was handy at times.
"I can usually cushion my landings if I get enough time. Air's pretty forgiving for my clumsy." She said shrugging. "I flew off my bike once when I got in to an accident. I would have likely broken a lot more had I not cushioned my fall. Just two broken ribs though that time." She said remembering the accident. That'd been rough. "No dipping Mister Wheeler in things that will end up in Dead Mister Wheeler. The only thing we'll dip him in is water. Or chocolate if that's handy!" She grinned at him a little bit, she was teasing of course. "I could probably make a fair bit of moola dipping you in chocolate and renting you out." She said sizing him up. Not that she'd really do it. Not really anyway.
Artemis continued to munch on her sandwich while he spoke and explained catching her. It made sense, after all. "Thanks Andrew, you're awesome." She said at the offering of the jacket. Porkchop was continuing to beg and so she started a tiny tornado at their feet, that her dog immediately took a liking to, having played this game with her a few days ago. He tried to catch it as it moved about, thinking that likely, he could eat it.
"Some of them do, or at least the really pretty and smart ones for which you qualify, so there." Though he could also see her wearing blue one night and ending up with Northern Michigan all over her chest suddenly. And she would likely just go on pointing on herself where they would be having a low pressure system coming in off the lake right on her left breast. "Are you telling me you don't help the weather along a little when you want to go flying?" After all, it might not always want to cooperate with her when she wanted to go. He moved his sandwich over to one hand though, focusing on the other between them until he was just pure liquid from the elbow down. It was still retaining it shape though even as he turned it to ice and just flexed his finger a little, not sure if he was actually doing it or manipulating the ice itself until it turned back into flesh, bone and muscle. Show off. Andrew just grinned to himself though. "Still a puddle."
"Good lord, people are going to start wondering if you're a Were if you walk away from accidents with only a few injuries like that. And how much damage did you do to that poor bike thinking it had lost you and might get sold to someone who would not be nearly as loving toward it." It would have sounded almost joking if he hadn't sounded just entirely serious about the whole thing. It could have psychological damage after all. "Now there's an idea though for the puddle thing. Dip me in chocolate and then just leak out of it after it has gone solid. If it would... I'm not sure of the exact science of chocolate hardening." Then if he could turn himself into ice then it would actually cool off. He had never actually just lowered his whole body temperature and wasn't too sure even his water-self didn't run at 98.6 most of the time.
"No problem." Not like he really needed it anyhow, continuing with his sandwich and watching with a bit of curiosity at the mini-tornado that was going on right in front of them. He was still learning some of the ins and outs of this whole Air Mastership. "So has your dog been eating absolutely everything in sight or have you managed to keep a few things safe at least. Or are the room mates figuring out how to poison him without your noticing?"
"Har, har, har." She said shaking her head. She took the compliment though. It was nice somebody thought she was smart. Artemis was smart. She was just too flighty to prove to anybody. She could barely keep her attention unless it was on her Element, and even then sometimes it was a bit of a challenge not to be distracted by the next shiny thing. She definitely had a shiny thing distraction complex, she couldn't deny that at all. "I don't really need the extra air to fly so much. It's not really a factor." She said shaking her head. It was hard to explain about Air Sprites. Nobody really believed her of course, they weren't 'real' to most people, but they were to Artemis. She watched him though as he turned his arm in to a bit of water and then back. "No, impressive!" She said thinking of the possibilities you could have being a puddle. There...weren't all that many she could think of. "So what happens if somebody takes a drink out of you?" She asked curiously.
"Hey, I can't help that I sometimes don't drive the safest. That's why I drive a motorcycle, not a mini van. If I wanted to be safe all the time, I wouldn't be straddling a giant hunk of metal on wheels." She pointed out. "And my bike is fine. I had to give her a good tune up, but we lived through it." She smiled. "I'm not much of a confectioner, so I couldn't tell you to be honest." She tucked her hair behind her ear with one hand, the other still holding the sandwich. "I can cook though. And not just sandwiches." She added.
She looked down at her boy. "He ate a pair of Jimmy Choo's, Andrew." She said her voice, almost a whisper. She had no idea that likely, Andrew would have no idea what those were and the fact that they were Langston's and that she wanted to electrocute him for it! Artemis would show her electricity if she tried it. "You don't just get over that."
He meant it as a compliment. He could be dry when it came down to some things that you weren't entirely sure if he was being serious or not. She was also intelligent though without about putting him to sleep going on about things even if mechanical things were not always something he wanted to listen to. He would though if it was something interesting to her. He looked at her a little confused about the flying for a long moment before shaking his head. "In an airplane, Artemis. I think the weather would have to be a certain way for them to clear you to go up. Otherwise I think you need a cape when you go flying. That could be fun. I wonder if any of the elementals have considered that yet. The new Fantastic Four." He just kind of laughed thinking about it though considering how well they would all get along or end up trying to kill each other. "That's not too bad. As long as I'm not getting all of my clothes soaked. And I've never actually have found out nor want to. I might be able to regenerate it out of other water if I lose anything. I'm not sure how much I want to experiment considering they might drink something vital. I need to find another Water Master who has been doing this a little longer." That or experiment in front of a hospital just to be safe.
Just trying to picture Artemis with a minivan though, and it was just a little difficult at best. She was going to be one of those people who probably finally got a sidecar to put a baby-seat in. That or she was going to have a fun time just carting around her dog around. She was someone he wasn't sure what she was going to end up doing with the rest of her life. Then they could all end up killed by demons when they got back to town. "Still, the two of you should probably be careful just to make sure. I would be very sad if you didn't manage to cushion yourself in time and I had to come see you in the hospital and you were a vegetable." He frowned over at her for effect. It would be rather depressing if something happened to her and there was less perky in the world.
"At least they weren't Manolos?" He replied with the same whisper. Apparently she forgot who she was talking to when he had listened to a girl go on about shoes for three hours straight and that was considered a normal evening in his years growing up. "Jimmy Choo's though. Those don't exactly come cheaply either. Your pup there is apparently a gourmet when it comes to his chew toy selection." Personally it sounded like his kind of dog except he'd rather not have to worry about leaving his shoes laying around.
Artemis looked confused for a second and then it dawned on her. "Oh totally!" She grinned a large grin. "Of course I help the weather along a little when I need to fly in an airplane! It'd be silly of me to let a storm go on when I needed to get there. Then there was that time I didn't want my mom to come down and visit me from Alaska when I was in University so I made it storm so badly here that they couldn't land the plane." She said smiling, remembering how she'd gone crazy creating lightening but wasn't able to control it. She was pretty sure she was responsible for the forest fire that time, but she didn't say anything about it anybody. "I don't know how good a super hero I would be. I think I'd be the clumsy busty one. Then I'm not sure that you couldn't fill that roll." She teased him a bit.
"I'm not going anywhere Andrew, you needn't worry about me." She said, though she was pretty sure he was kidding about the vegetable part. Artemis loved risks. She was an adrenaline junkie at heart, though she didn't tell too many people that. It just worried them. It surely was one of the reasons she owned and drove a bike regularly rather then a car, flew planes and had done things like bungee jumping before. It was all about that rush. The feel of the wind in her hair and the excitement she got doing it all. Maybe that was just her Element though. He seemed to enjoy it every bit she did.
She giggled when he suggested the Manolos. She was pretty sure that was a shoe brand, an expensive one, but she didn't own any. She didn't own any Jimmy Choo's either, but that was besides the point. "Porkchop does like his leather." She said tipping her head as the dog, who had heard his name came running back to them, and the tornado he had been chasing ceased as quickly as it had began. He waggled his way over to Andrew and promptly sat down at his feet, looking up at the tall man, his head cocked. "He's always got that rather stupid expression on his face. I think he thinks it's cute." Artemis laughed, and Porkchop continued to look up at Andrew as if he may have had something profound to say...but had forgot what it was a string of drool making it's way out of his mouth.
"You're a naughty, naughty girl there, Artemis. Whatever are we going to do with you just making up storms to avoid your parents. Though if I could create a blizzard in New York without having to leave here I think I would sometimes." Then upstate got quite enough without his help, and it was highly unlikely he was going to get his family to come out to somewhere like Michigan. They still couldn't believe he lived there. "You missed my very classic "Say No to Kryptonite" shirt yesterday. Then Frosty's just about as bad." He couldn't help getting it though considering what it said and everything else. It was kind of cute in a vaguely creepy sense. Still, he was looking forward to Christmas so winter would be here again. "I don't know though. I always saw myself being something more of a Batman than Iceman. Rich with all the gadgets and such that I could just have people make. Thanks to you I could also have a young teenage sidekick though I would have to actually ask Christian how he feels about being Robin. And you could be Batgirl which still makes you a super hero eventually. Just one with really cool gadgets and a butler."
Andrew just smiled over at her and nodded. At least she was confident that everything was going to be alright with her if she just continued being completely reckless. She was a little more confident than he was about things being okay though he tried to have her optimism. They were supposed to be having fun today after all and just having a good time without any worries. He took another large bite out of his sandwich and looked over the water making the rain let up just a little bit to make sure they didn't start getting flooding over where they were while he was distracted. Just to be sure though there was soon just a crackle moving through the air as the ice was starting to form. It was almost just like magic only so much more awesome.
"Gotten him any chew toys that aren't over $100 so he might leave the shoes alone? Not that I even know if that would work." He just looked down at the dog for a moment and reached over to pet him on the head. "So far you don't seem all that bad to me now. Nooooo. You're really a good boy, aren't you? Yes you aaaare. And you're not stupid either, so mommy needs to stop saying that about her smart boy who knows how to get shoes." He grinned at the dog for a moment before making it snow a little around them. That might entertain the dog for a little bit.
"Hey I told her not to come, it was a bad time. I had a male visitor that weekend." She blushed a touch. She couldn't help that he'd decided that, that was the weekend he wanted to stay with her. Plus she was pretty sure her mother wouldn't agree with the man's neck tattoo. Then again that was also the last time she picked up anybody at a biker bar..."I like that shirt." She declared giving it a small poke with her free hand and then taking one of the last few bites of her sandwich. She chewed and swallowed before grinning. "Isn't he just a doll?" Artemis asked happily. She loved little Christian and really wanted him to do well and advance as much as he could. She was such a sucker for a sweet guy.
"He's got lots of toys, he just likes...shoes." She shrugged. It wasn't so bad. The girls just had to make sure they minded their shoes. "And he's not really eaten a ton else. Maybe a phone book." She said tipping her head. "And that plastic bag. We got him a metal food dish though so he doesn't eat another one of those plastic ones." She said, her voice still bright at the thought of her dog. She loved him, after all. She grinned though when Andrew started to talk to her dog as if he was a baby. "You're talking to my Porkchop like he's a baby. Which sounds stranger then it is." She chuckled. Porkchop, at the sound of being talked to waggled his little bum and butt his head against Andrew's hand. Artemis could tell he was about to flop over for belly rubs when Andrew started to make it snow. "Ohh!" Artemis cried grinning. She missed snow in the summer time. Alaska at least, could always be counted on for that in the winter time. Porkchop, now enthralled by the flakes ran about trying to catch them in his mouth. "He's like a little kid."
It was then she realized the ice was forming and turned to look at it her eyes going wide. She had heard a lot of what Elementals could do but she'd never experienced it for herself, other then her own powers. "So what if you can only turn in to a puddle, you can do that." She pointed as the ice was forming, completely impressed. It was absolutely crazy to her to be able to see that. She really liked it.
"Ah parents. Always there when you need them the least. So you just rained her out to make sure nothing would interfere with your "plans" for the weekend then?" Andrew even had to do the little quote-y fingers for full effect of what plans she might have had. Whoever this particular prince charming happened to be that she didn't want her mom to meet. He apparently wasn't around to go on slightly random picnics. "I'm rather fond of it myself. That and my collection of swim team shirts." Most of which no longer fit, but they made for a nice box to put places where he needed a box. Occasionally a guy did just have places that a box was needed, but then he still had a few that needed to be unpacked from the move and were just sitting around waiting for some lazy Saturday. "He is a nice kid. And very eager to learn which is something I rather appreciate now that my full job description stands just being a teacher-for-hire." He shrugged a little considering Water was far happier that he wasn't being some vampire's juice box. Not that he recalled that actually being in the job description.
Andrew gave her a bit of a look wondering if she had lost it just a little bit that her dog was eating a phone book. "Did that include the yellow pages and was it just the Scarlet Oak one or... How big is the phone book around here anyhow? I don't have one." Thank goodness for the internet that he did not have too much use for one either. "I get the feeling though that he would still try to eat a metal one. Eventually. Sure it's not a little dented at least? He is like a baby though. Or your kid at least in some manner." He smiled a little at the snow though, letting it all fall down and closing in the bit of a dome around them so it would go a little closer to them without falling right on them as it melted as soon as it touched the ground.
He looked over with a little bit of a laugh. "That's some of the easier stuff, well maybe not completely easy, but a little bit simpler." He had to actually consider a bit to figure out what he could do beyond the skates and glanced over at Porkchop. Perfect. It took a little more focus than some things, but there was soon a perfectly sculpted replica of the bulldog sitting on the edge of the ice and wagging it's little tail. He didn't mind showing off a little and practicing his upper level skills. "I think I've got the ears a little off."
"Yup. That's it." She said easily. She didn't really feel all that bad about it, a little guilty, but she'd been upfront with her mother that it had been a bad time. If only her mother had listened. Bru had been fun for the weekend but surely wasn't somebody she was bringing home to meet Porkchop any time soon. Then again she had the nasty habit of going after men that weren't good for her. She just never seemed to attract the right ones. Case in point Ren. She was glad the man had stayed out of her panties. That was just a shot of penicillin waiting to happen. She blinked. "Wait, what? You were like, employed less then a week ago when I emailed you!" She cried frowning. "What happened?"
Artemis looked nonplussed. "It was the yellow pages. He didn't really eat all of it. He just sort of chewed it up and then left little balls of wet yellow paper wherever he went. I'm not sure if they were coming out of his mouth or his butt." She said honestly. Artemis wasn't one to sugar coat things in that sense. She parted her pointer finger and her thumb a certain width. "About that big." She asnwered his question. "I should probably check it. He's been busy with other stuff though. She moved a little closer to him so that their tiny dome could indeed stay tiny.
She wasn't sure what he meant until she saw the sculpture. If there was anybody within a few miles of where they are they likely would have thought she was being happily attacked by a bear she shrieked so loudly and with much glee. "Oh my God that's adorable!" She spilled and turning she gave him a huge grin and then hugged him tightly. "So adorable!" Porkchop seemed to think so too, and he wandered over to investigate this newcomer, being ever the gentleman and sniffing the rear of the 'dog'.
Artemis' business was her own though and none of his unless she decided to take over his swimming pool. Which would be slightly difficult considering he still had a few days before it would be completely done, but by the first of July it was supposed to be done and filled. Or if she decided to tell him and needed someone encased in ice for a few hours then he would be more than glad to help her out. It was one thing he was at least good at, though still not anything he was tossing on his resume no matter how good or bad it might look. In terms of supernaturals though they were relatively normal and could control their powers a bit easier than some. "Vampires can be rather touchy and can and will decide suddenly that they don't need you." He shrugged it off though. There was still plenty of other things that might pop up eventually if he kept an eye open. "I'm not going to starve tomorrow because I don't have a job. It'll be fine."
Andrew started laughing at all of these wet yellow pieces of paper being all over the place in her house. "Hopefully he doesn't decide to eat all of your books next. I would be a little worried that he would be eating something. Then you said he wasn't getting into the chocolate." He was a rather peculiar dog overall. He wasn't really minding him in the least bit though. "Not too bad on the phone book size. Then I already have your phone number so who else do I need in town? You're certainly entertaining to be around, and I have my own personal mechanic to make sure that my bike isn't puttering around and getting abused when I get frustrated trying to get it to run."
And he had probably gone deaf in one ear as he just blinked a few times trying to get the ringing out of his head. It had been impressive though? Andrew put an arm around her though and gave her a small squeeze. "It's not much really? I'm getting a little better with all of it though and being able to completely manipulate the water and ice." It took a little more to get it to move and the sort of focus that he hadn't really needed in a while to try and get the ice dog to move around and wag it's tail, silently barking at Porkchop and turning around trying to chase his own tail before suddenly melting back into the pond. "I'm going to give myself a headache if I'm not careful. We should probably actually test out the ice though unless you just want to sit here for a bit longer?"
"And who knows how a Vampire goes about firing people? Maybe they just eat you when you're of no use to them anymore." She said her eyebrows shooting up. Artemis did, after all, have a rather wild imagination. "And then they'll just toss your body somewhere they know nobody would find you. That'd be horrible." She shook her head. Maybe she was glad that Andrew wasn't working for a Vampire anymore.
"Most of our books are on shelves. Though he seems to be able to get things down when he wants them. I started to wonder if he wasn't a Were, shifting when he wanted something, but then Were's wouldn't eat a plastic bowl willingly." She said tipping her head. She gave him a semi dirty look though. "Har har har. Your own personal court jester and your carriage hand." She shook her head though, smiling, she guess she didn't mind it. It was better then being the town bicycle she supposed.
"It's amazing." She continued when he said it wasn't much. She watched as Andrew did 'tricks' with it and giggled when it melted and Porkchop looked completely confused. The poor boy. "We should skate, it'll be fun. Just a moment though." She said, but first, let go of Andrew, and instead of walking around the ice rink they made to retrieve Porkchop, lifted up about a foot in the air and glided in the air, over the ice, to her dog and picked him up, before he could retreat in to the forrest. His recall skills weren't particularly good and she didn't want to loose him. 'C'mere baby." she said, picking her dog up who, happily enough obliged and she floated back over to Andrew and her bag, finding the leash she'd let off of him and putting it back on and tying him to the nearby log with enough slack that he could wander a bit. "There. Okay, skating now?" She grinned at her friend.
Andrew didn't really want to think about that. Donating blood was one thing and he had done it before (though not for vampires as far as he knew. It had all involved needles, blood bags, and the like), but being sucked pretty much dry was not exactly something he wanted to think about too much. Especially after he had just eaten. "Well hopefully if you didn't hear from me after a few days Air might be able to help you at least come find me or someone would eventually? I would rather not just be some news story about bones being found in a shallow grave somewhere between Scarlet Oak and Ann Arbor. He will be remembered fondly by his friends. Would you at least speak at the memorial service? I think you could come up with something rather nice or I'd trust you to do so better than even my sister. Have some fun with it. I'll be sure to get my will updated though before something does happen." When you actually owned something you didn't want everyone fighting over who got what and he was rather detailed with things. Even when he was little his crayons had all gone to different people based on color. Little Penny who liked kissing him on the cheek got his gold and silver ones.
"Unless he's a very convincing Were." He just looked over at the dog, but then he looked a little old to just be a born Were kid that just liked sticking everything in its mouth. "You're still one of my favorite people, Artemis." He made a little bit of a pouty face at her for good measure. He did kind of adore her and she did have the ability to laugh over the oddest things. "I could always ask you to come be my pool girl? We could find you cute little bikini to wear around all the time," he added teasingly.
"Well maybe I have a future in making ice sculptures in the future. I'm just not sure how much business I would get in a place like this. It would have been a little bit better if I was living somewhere a little more high end. Maybe just as a hobby." Andrew watched her while she went went flying off over his large sheet of ice and grumbled something about her being a show-off. Not that he had much room to actually talk considering his ice dog that had been there just a moment before, but then she was just flying around. He could have just gone out and walked out there like it was cement and never slide in the least bit. It was kind of funny to him every time someone yelled for him to slow down because he was going to slip and fall on his ass on the icy steps somewhere. He went and grabbed for his skates though, tugging off his boots to change over into his ice skates. "If you think you can get your skates on?" He just kept a straight face though, focusing on tying his laces.
"No Bikini's!" Artemis cried as she made her way back over the water with her baby boy in her arms. "I don't do bikini's." She informed Andrew. And it was true. Artemis didn't think she had the figure for one. Not that she didn't mind her figure. Actually, she kind of liked it. But she wasn't one to go prancing around in any two piece swim suits any time soon. Unless of course it was a hat and a one piece. That'd work.
She knew that he was jealous of her wee bit of flying there, most were after all, but she had fun doing it anyway. She still thought his ice dogs were pretty darn cool. Plus the turning in to water thing was something out of a comic book, one she'd likely have enjoyed. Wind set her down a little hard at that and she made a silent apology in her head to him. Touchy touchy. Artemis skipped over to where she'd put down her skates, removing the garbage bag she was wearing for the rain. She blinked at them. "Andrew!" She cried, making a face over at the man, and then laughing. She bent so she could see what he'd done to them.
Andrew just grinned over at her though and started to laugh, shaking his head. "Not even an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny yellow polka-dotted one? Maybe a tasteful one piece then? Or even one of those short tank dresses? Then I'd hire you on as pool girl and you'd wear your coveralls just to spite me." He made a little bit of a sad face over in her direction before letting his face relax back into a smile. Sometimes there was a certain fun in having to guess at what was being covered up rather than knowing. Still, if some of those housewives could have pool boys in speedos, he should certainly be allowed a pool girl in a bikini without everyone thinking he was some sort of chauvinist for it. Besides he was still sure she would look cute in one. Yellow polka dots or not.
He had to work a little harder to keep a perfectly innocent look as he looked back over at her when she cried his name. "My my, however did that happen?" They were a little bit frozen to the ground at the moment though, the lacy strings of ice just molded perfectly still though the ground had gained the very light blanket of snow as it started to cool a little on the ground and stick to a few of the grasses. "Very fancy artwork you've got there on your skates. Would you like me to go ahead and get them defrosted off the ground at least?" He grinned and tightened up his laces while making the ice come up to meet them so there wouldn't be any wandering down to the ice and messing up the blades on their skates, getting up and keeping to the side so he didn't go sliding off slowly.
Artemis didn't answer his question about the tiny bikini. No way was she ever going to wear one of those. She left it alone though, but it was fun to be teased by Andrew. Being able to have a friend where you just joked around with them, was a good thing in Artemis's mind. She wasn't one to be too serious with the people in her life. At least Andrew didn't think she was weird for how she acted.
"I have no idea how it happened." She said giving him another look, as if to say 'I don't believe yoooou.'. She peered at them, reaching out to touch the design he'd put on them. It was pretty, but hardly practical. She grinned and sat down on the log she'd set them by crossing her legs. "Yes, I think you should, plus I think you should come over here and put them on me!" If he was going to make it difficult, she was going to make him work for her company out there on the ice.
He just shrugged it off when she didn't answer. Ah well, he'd probably just have to keep it clean himself considering he had wanted it in the first place. She would still be invited over to go for a swim when it was finished and could feel free to bring her housemates along. Or about anyone else that she might want to bring along. Maybe he could just make a whole pool party out of it considering the summer was only likely to get hotter.
"Huh... snow around here must just be crazy freezing rain and all." She obviously knew that he was the one behind it after all, so why bother actually admitting to it if he didn't actually have to? He knew it, she knew it. The only one who might not was Porkchop and he was likely too busy with other things to care. "I could always just make you ice skates. Though I'm not sure they wouldn't get a bit dull actually made out of ice." Besides the constant focus it would take to keep them sharp was a bit much for him. He did melt the ice on the blades though to pick them up and moved over to her. "Alright then. Boots off and be glad I can't tie your laces together quite as easily?"
She grinned at him when he basically bent to her whim of having him put on the boots for her. Settling herself on her log, because she hadn't been sure he was actually going to do it, she made sure she wasn't about to fall off now. She unbuckled her boots easily and then toed one off for him to be able to put on one of the skates for her. She leaned over so that it was easier for him to manage.
"No tying together my laces. I'll fall on my ass all by myself thank you." She teased and when he was done putting on the other skate, she removed her other boot and let him do the next one. "Now this is how it should always be. I want somebody putting my clothing and boots on all the time." She laughed, and when he looked up from what he was doing, pressed a kiss to his cheek gently. "Thanks Andrew!" She said brightly, and then held out her hands to be pulled off her butt.
Andrew was generally a good guy though. True, there was at least one prior offense for public indecency, but he still argued that it was the middle of winter, his terrace, and she had been watching him with no complains until his girlfriend had shown up. That didn't exactly make him a bad guy though. "Shouldn't have tried to do this without the skates on." He could maintain his balance fairly well, but still trying to push to get her skates on sent him going backwards just a bit. IT didn't take very long to get them on just right though.
"I have now turned into your personal slave?" Wait, how had that happened? He smiled at her though over the kiss to the cheek. He was careful to position his feet to just grab her by the hands and right up to her feet. "You're very welcome though." He let go of her as soon as she was up on her feet steadily, only about needing one good push before gravity took effect and sliding down into the flooded meadow area/pond/ice skating rink. Water for the moment at least seemed rather content with him today.
"Not my personal slave. Just a super awesome friend!" She corrected grinning and getting up easy enough when he pulled her up. She was okay for just then, but it was likely she was going to end up on her butt more then once during all of this. Artemis knew that Air wouldn't be incredibly impressed with her over the fact she was spending the afternoon on ice. She reminded Air in her mind she'd called upon him to make all that rain come on along, and when he wasn't satisfied she made a cool breeze blow over the ice and come up over them. It felt good over her warm skin.
She made a full circle of the pond and caught up to Andrew, where she latched on to his arm. "So wanna place a bet on how many times I'm going to fall on my bum?" She asked him laughing. "I'm taking bets. I'm going to say more then five, less then ten. Want to put money on it?" She grinned widely at him and continued to hold on to his arm.
"Still, having your own personal slave might be kind of super awesome too though." Hell, that was basically what his job was suppose to be with the Vampiress, or it seemed like personal assistant was basically the same thing under a nicer term. At least the worst thing he thought Artemis would do to him might involve flying up into the air suddenly if she could manage such. Heights didn't exactly frighten him and he could just as easily slip out of her grip as well. "I prefer just being a friend though over slave."
He went around once just going around backwards for the sake of it. Out of the usual water activities he preferred swimming, but this was also fun, especially when she could make it all the more winteresque with the cool breezes blowing by. Shortly after turning around though he found himself being held onto, smiling over at Artemis. "Would this be generally assuming that I don't cheat to make sure that I win?" Andrew tried to make his point as the ice moved under the pair to make a downward slope and speed them up just the slightest. He still kept a hold of her though.
She pretended to mock pout at him. "You'd make me fall?!" She wasn't pleased by that idea, not at all. "Fall genuinely! Of my own klutzy doing." She said pointedly, and holding on to his arm a little more for good measure. If she was gonna fall she would take the tall skinny boy with her damnit. And good thing she held on to his arm more as suddenly they were going downhill and speeding up. "Ahhh!" She cried, dramatically. Partially joking, partly worried she was going to fall right then and there. "Mean Andrew." She said mock pouting at him again.
"Keep that up and I may just have to go and let Air carry me around to make sure I don't fall." She said shaking her head and laughing. It was fun to go skating, though she knew she wouldn't be doing it on a regular basis. "This is fun isn't it? Christmas in the middle of summer sort of." She commented, making the air blow a little more off the ice, making it even more chilly. At this rate she was actually going to start getting cold. She let go of Andrew's arm a little though, but kept her arm around it, just to be sure.
"Or I can keep you from falling, even of your own klutzy doing there. You'll just find yourself with the ice coming to keep you upright suddenly." Or freeze her blades right to the area to make sure she didn't completely fall. He would get creative, grinning over at her all the more when she was pouting back at him. "So I'm going with five or less times that I might not be able to manage to keep you up. Would you rather end up with me trying to get you to the hospital because you've broken your nose from falling flat on the ice?" He was sure she would try to stop herself though before that happened. No need to end their rather nice time with a trip to the emergency room.
"He might like that though. Though letting you just hang out on Earth all of the time, how ever do you keep Air from being jealous?" Sometimes he wondered if it wouldn't have been nicer to have an element that was at least the same sex. You started talking about them and they sounded like some sort of easily jealous girl/boyfriend that didn't want you to go and be friends with others. "I'm rather enjoying it. The heat waves usually have me just wanting to stay inside all the time. It's not the most comfortable out there." Summer was not a favorite season in the least bit. "When it gets to be late autumn though we should try seeing if we can't practically shut the town down with snow drifts. Especially if neither of us wants to get out that day." He had never actually created his own snow day before.
Artemis laughed. The fact that they were doing this at all was kind of hilarious. Artemis couldn't help her klutzy self. Though it was more of a 'ouch that looked like it really hurt' rather then 'oops wasn't that cute?' sort of Klutzy. Artemis didn't really do cute well, nor did she strive for it. She never wanted to be taken as one of those blondes who were typically idiots. She wasn't an idiot, she was actually quite brilliant when it came to certain things. She'd never, ever play dumb to get attention either. No thank you. "I think I like my nose as it is, don't you?" She asked scrunching it up a bit looking up at him and then snorting a laugh. She'd broken bones in her body before, it hadn't be fun. "No worse though then flying off one's bike."
"Air is a male, he's always jealous. It's so very typical of you men." Artemis quipped lightly. "And I can't live always floating, so he's got to come to some sort of compromise. If I could live in the sky though, that'd be about amazing." She said tipping her head thinking about it. "Flying, be it in a plane or just me by myself has me at my very happiest. No matter what happened during my day, so long as I can get up in to the air, everything is all right." She sighed happily. When he brought up the fact that they should make a huge blizzard Artemis got excited again. "We SHOULD. Shake this town up nice and good." She grinned brightly. "That would be so much fun. Scarlet Oak is horribly boring you know." She laughed, teasing a bit. Very clearly it wasn't boring, but...well Artemis often felt it wasn't like there was much for them to do in the sleepy little town.
Andrew would never try to mistake Artemis for any sort of dumb blonde, but then he was hoping she did the same for him. Maybe they could break the stereotype that they didn't have a brain in their heads and flighty. Artemis wasn't exactly the sort of person who would go running to hide in a potato sack and instead of pretending to be an animal hiding in there would go "potato potato". Or at least he was sure that was a joke he had heard somewhere. He was also quite sure that she wasn't and would never been one of those kinds of girls that blamed things on her hair color. "I think I prefer all of your parts just staying exactly where and how they are right now actually. At least with the flying off the bike you have a bit of a start to just go flying in general and possibly land on your feet while everyone stands there in awe. You could have your own bike show even," he added, just nodding seriously at this idea.
"Excuse me, but you don't see me getting all jealous of your neighbors living close to three girls who might wander around in their underwear with the curtains open now, do you?" There might have been a little bit of jealousy about that actually, but then their neighbors might also have that much harder a time actually getting in. "I think Water misses Detroit though. And Evanston. And Providence. Someday I'm going to be demanded to move to a small island though hopefully not alone where I'd have to fend for myself and all." He was not exactly the most woodsy, outdoors man. "Freeze everyone's door shut good and tight. We could practically make a party out of it and just have dinner on the roof of the high school in the meantime. Personally though I haven't found it all that boring lately. Kind of nice not having your neighbor's kid screaming on the other side of the wall in those apartments." He might even get used to the whole idea of staying for a long time.