KEEPSAKE

chapter fourteen

14 INDUCED INSOMNIA

      "DO YOU ACTUALLY WANT ME TO STAB YOU WITH MY ARROWS?"

     Artemis was fuming. Just as she fell into a black warm abyss of sleep, Adonis began creeping around the room, making loud noises and effectively waking her up.

     "sorry," he slurred into the dark, stepping quietly on his toes quietly across the room, towards the king bed. He clambered slowly into the bed, laying on top of the white sheets. Folding his arms over his stomach, he stared at the ceiling awkwardly.

"Why are you wet?" She asked, her ankle pressed against his dripping calf. She felt him tip his shoulder up lightly in a shrug.

      "I just got out of the bath.." He replied curtly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

    "Yeah but.." She trailed off, her ankle scraping against his damp skin. Wait. Skin. His skin. She can feel his skin against hers. Her skin. It's warm, she realizes for a flash of a moment, in which she lost all sanity. And..smooth. "Why can I feel your skin!" She asked exasperatedly and sat up on the bed.

     Adonis did roll his eyes this time. "I may be trouser-less." He mumbled under his breath, fast and incoherently.

    "What!" She sincerely asked, hoping-praying she didn't hear him right. The lamp beside her flickered on as she roughly pulled down the dangling wire. A sparkle of light enlightened the small room.

Adonis was still facing the ceiling, watching the fan circle around and around. His eyes conspicuously peaked at Artemis. She was glaring at him. "I sleep in underwear..sorry?" He shrugged carelessly.

Artemis rolled her eyes, pushing his shoulder. "You are..." But before she could finish her sentence, she realized she really didn't have an insult in mind. With a sigh, "just go to bed."

"That was the plan before you went all bizzark." Adonis chuckled.

"What the fuck does bizzark mean?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Reaching over, she turned off the lamp before slumping back into the sheets.

"Like..wild. Crazy. Bizzark." Adonis explained,

"Mm." Artemis mumbled, closing her eyes and turning on her side.

"Artemis.!" Adonis whispered after a few minutes of silence.

Artemis clamped her eyes shut, "What!" she groaned.

"Could I—" He broke off, into a pit of forced coughing.

Artemis rolled over on her other side to watch him with an unamused look.

When he finally finished, he looked up to her. Shock riddling his features when he saw her bored expression, "I'm kinda cold." He laughed dryly.

Artemis sighed, closing her eyes once more, "Fine. You can get under the blankets."

Adonis hissed a hooray before climbing under the blankets. His knee accidentally bumped into her chest. She winced a 'what the fuck', he apologized.