This is a private roleplay between bookwormiam2010 and Ettilai. If you are not one of the people mentioned then please do no post. How ever feel free to read along! Thanks ^.^

Artemis Flynn Ryder
Age: 23
(see left.)

Willow Anne Ryder
Age: 19
(see right.)

Name: Keenan Green
Age:Twenty-two
Appearance: Click here.

Name: Rue Anderson
Age:Twenty-one
Appearance:Thick dark brown almost black hair that falls just past her shoulders,soft amber hued eyes, 5'3 ( a little on the short side). Weight wise, she has no idea how much she weighs and honestly she doesn't want to know. If it were up to her she'd destroy every scale she came across. But anyway she's not skinny but she's not fat either. She's...plump-yea lets go with that shall we. She's plump with more curves than she knows what to do with. So she might not be some tall slim model but she's definitely a girl made for hugging.

Artemis yanked Willow, who was still half asleep, down to the gym. "Practice. Now is not the time to be whining about your petty little back. I'll be back in twenty minutes." He spat, knowing fully well that Willow couldnt hear a word he said. He needed it more than she did anyway. "Ten years of my life... Wasted." He mumbled. It had been him, and only him, who had forced Willow to compete. What's life without a gold medal? That was his motto. Always. But now? Now, Artemis had moved on to bigger and better things. Willow had already reached the peak of her career. That prime time was done, and with it went his career as well. "Oh, and Willow? Don't disappoint me." With that, he shoved open the glass doors, leaving Willow to work on bars. Artemis bolted straight for the coffee counter. "Decaf, please, and make it snappy."

(( I focused mainly on Artemis, since all Willow is doing is flipping ATM. :) Hope that's okay with you.))

(Its fine. ^_^)

’Ugh…coffee..must drink coffee.’ That was the only thought circling through Rue’s head right now. Normally she abhorred the bitter crap but today she didn’t feel like she could even breathe without the help of coffee. She needed a jump start of some sort and it meant drinking that swill that was sure to stunt her growth even more then fine she’d do it. It wasn’t until she’d managed to make it downstairs that Rue’s entire day flipped upside down and right back round. Why? Because someone had thought to leave out a huge pitcher of orange juice on the counter. On the coffee counter. She didn’t know who or why but who ever had done this was definitely getting a big old hug from her later! Oh she’d bet anything it was that Keenan boy who lived across the hall from her. Last she’d heard he worked the coffee counter right about now but he wasn’t here. Huh..odd he’d always seemed like such an early bird. Maybe today was his day off? Oh who cared?!

Humming softly she stepped behind the counter rummaging about for a large cup to put her orange juice in. She’d just managed to do that when she heard someone come up and bark out an order. Blinking bewilderedly for a second she finally gathered he was talking to her and started to move only to stop. Wait a second, first of all she wasn’t his maid, heck she didn’t even work here she was just being nice. Or as nice as she could be at this ungodly hour in the morning. Which is why she did something every employee was warned about in job training. She questioned the customer. “The decaf bit I can handle..I’m just not sure how to make it snappy.” She drawled out a soft yawn escaping before she smothered it. She was being a typical smart butt, then a gain who could blame her. ‘Make it snappy’? What had ever happened to ‘Good morning, could I have a decaf to go please?’ If nothing else she at least wanted a please out of this guy. So she did as he asked she got him a decaf and she made it snappy. She just had to throw in that last little bit of attitude. Grinning impishly she set the steaming cup down on the counter and theatrically snapped her fingers. “Was that snappy enough for you sir?” she asked with a good natured grin. Yup..it was definitely a good thing she didn’t work with the public much. If she did there was no doubt someone would try to strangle her. Especially for attempting to be smart and witty without her orange juice, then again she was trying so she deserved some credit right?

(Hope you don't mind, I'm focusing on Rue for the moment. I'll have Keenan come in to the rescue..as soon as i figure out what to do with him. Hmmm*taps fingers waiting for inspiration to strike*)

Artemis arched an eyebrow, taking the steaming cup. He took a big gulp, staring at the woman, as if challenging her to give him her best. "This doesnt taste like decaf. Try again, hun." He said, making it as sickly sweet as he could before dumping it out by her feet. "And no, it wasnt snappy enough." He mimicked. Artemis was not in the mood to be repremanded (sp?) by some brat he didnt know, especially at this hour. He slid a hand through his hair, making ticking noises that resembled a clock.

Willow, after finishing three sets of triple aerials, stumbled into the lobby. She has just managed to slip into the cafè before she spotted her brother. "Shoot!" She exclaimed, loud enough for everyone to hear. Willow quickly hid behind a shrub, her slender frame and green leotard blending in perfectly with the leaves.

Rue’s full lips formed a soft surprise ‘o’ as he dumped the coffee near feet effortlessly spilling a few drops of the despicable liquid on her bunny slippers. Oh that did it. It was on! True she’d started it, but most normal people wouldn’t offer themselves up to a verbal sparring match at this time in the morning. Then again this jerk wasn’t exactly asking for a verbal match, he was asking for a full out beat down! He’d messed up her slippers. That was a declaration of war on his part.

Rue didn’t bother to hide her glare as she forced her lips to curl upwards into a painful, sickeningly sweet smile. “Yes sir. What ever you insist SIR.” She ground out flinging the prim and proper title at him before she turned away her thick dark tumbling over her shoulder as she flipped it back out of the way. She was still dressed in her pajama’s for pete’s sake. Heck she wasn’t even a morning person and yet she was being nicer than him!

Rue tried to battle down her initial impulse to verbally rip him a new one and she almost gave into that impulse before she heard someone call out before disappearing. Frowning Rue looked in the direction of the shrub seeing a faint human outline melding in with the more plant like one. Ahhh..someone was watching. Goody, she’d give who ever it was a little lesson in standing up for themselves…or better yet a lesson in getting revenge. Smirking faintly Rue tilted her head forward enough to allow her dark brown almost black lock to sweep forward hiding her impish smirk. Mr.Grouchy was in trouble.

Keeping her back to him she redid the order only this time she added a few more ingredients. Sugar, a bit of lemon juice, and a whopping dose of detergent,ahh the perfect recipe for revenge in the morning. Once she’d finished making the concoction she gave it a stir waiting a few moments before the liquid returned to usual murky color-ah her creation was done. Smiling saccharinely she gave him the cup and leaned against the counter. “There you go. Care to give it a try? After all, I have nothing else to do this morning besides serve you.” she murmured with a soft roll of her lovely amber hued eyes.

Keenan had forgotten his apartment key. Thankfully it hadn’t been locked but he’d still had to run upstairs to get his keys and lock his apartment before returning to the Coffee Counter. On his way back though he stopped by the gym watching as one of the other tenants in his apartment doing several sets of flips, he couldn’t help but be somewhat intrigued by her actions. And it had nothing to do with the usual guys piggish reasons. He wasn’t that type of guy, he was the nice, you know the shy sweet guy that girls always befriended in high school and college. Sadly, being such a nice guy did have it downsides. He was also shamelessly teased for supposedly liking guys-which he didn’t! He was completely heterosexual, one hundred percent male, honestly he liked girls.

He snapped out of his thoughts seeing the girl finishing up. Flushing softly he hurriedly bowed his head causing his somewhat shaggy red hair to fall into his face as he hurried back to his job. When he got there his soft sunk kissed skin turned several shade paler as he watched another tenant and his neighbor take over his job for the moment. He didn’t like that look in her eyes, he’d never seen Rue as anything but nice then again that was towards him he hadn’t seen her in action in around other guys. Especially the grouchy one who currently drinking her coffee. This was not going to bode well, he just knew it-hearing someone yell out he started slightly before turning his attention back to the situation. Should he interrupt? Uh..no. he wasn’t getting in Rue’s way. He’d just go and hide behind that shrub over there…Quietly and stealthily he made his way over the shrub and ducked down behind it only to notice the hiding spot was taken. Blushing slightly he offered the girl a sweet smile. “Hi sorry about crowding up your hiding spot, I’d hide somewhere else but I don’t think I could make it across the room without being caught in the line of fire. Rue’s got her war face on.” He explained in a hushed whisper.

"Finally. What's a guy gotta do around here to get a decent cup of coffee?" Artemis sighed as he lifted the cup up to his mouth. It smelled slightly.. putrid.. to him, but he thought nothing of it. Besides, with this chick around, it could have just been her cheap perfume. He took a small sip, savoring the taste. 'What the heck is in this?!' He thought before pursing his lips and spitting the foul substance out onto her shirt. "Are you trying to poison me you old hag?!" He spat. Artemis, finally reaching his breaking point, which is terribly easy to achieve, flew up out of his chair. "All I ask for is a simple decaf. How hard is it to make a freaking decaf?!" He slammed his fist on the table. "I bet you couldn't even figure out how to serve water you oaf!" Artemis starte- correction, he had already lost his temper. Honestly, he felt no pain in yelling at the waitress. He figured he would never see her again anyway. That is, after he sent in a complaint that would end up being her termination.

Willow had been watching the whole feud. Her brother and the girl were at eachothers throats, and she had a feeling that there was going to be one less person in this apartment complex. She tried her best to stay hidden. After all, if Artemis saw her out of the gym, she would never see the light of day. Willow let out a soft squeak when the boy entered her hiding spot. "Gosh! You scared me." She backed away, making some room for him. Besides, she hated being too close to a stranger. "R-rue? What is she going to do to him?" She bit her lip, praying that her brother would be safe.

Oh he really wanted to know the answer to that question? Hmm should she answer that before or after he tried that ill concoction she’d just invented specially for him? Hmm..she’d answer that afterwards. It’d be much more fun that way. Besides she wanted to savor his reaction before the fireworks really started going off. Smirking she crossed her arms over chest and waited…only to be nailed with a perfect spit take. Had she said fireworks? She’d meant dynamite, this wasn’t going to be a colorful explosion of any sort, this was going to be a full out explosion of pure destructive rage! Pinning him with her darkest deadliest glare she rested her hands on the counter where everyone who happened to be watching could see them. She wasn’t going to junk punch him, she wasn’t going to nail him in the shin with a well deserved kick. She was just going to verbally rip him a new a**hole!

“Well its wasn’t my original intention but now that you’ve mentioned it..maybe I should have added some of that roach repellent to your coffee, you despicable grouchy old man!” she snarled leaning forward across that counter so that she was practically in his face. When questioned about how hard it was to make a simple cup of decaf Rue fired a retort right back at him. “Why it’s extremely hard. Although in your case, I guess its harder trying to remove the stick shoved right up you’re a** isn’t it. Hey, here’s a crazy idea, how about we witch sides, I get to be the jerky customer and you get to try and make a simple decaf. If you actually knew how to do it you wouldn’t be demanding some else do it for you, now would you, you big moron!” she hurled leaning forward and smacking him lightly on the top of the head. It wasn’t hard enough to cause any harm but it was definitely enough to get his attention.

Keenan gave the girl another apologetic smile. Oops he had meant to scare her and he hadn’t meant to invade her space. He’d only been looking for somewhere to hide! “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to scare you.” he apologized profusely. He’d just started to answer her next question when he heard Rue’s rising voice. Uh oh….big uh oh. Cringing he ducked down lower and unconsciously crowded closer to Willow. “I have no clue. What ever it is though I don’t imagine it’ll be good for him. I should step in but then again…Rue’s a big girl. She can handle herself.” He murmured before blushing.

Oh crap! He sounded like a pig! “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, I don’t think she’s fat at all. I mean she’s not skinny like you-I mean..” he floundered about his blush steadily growing brighter as he tried to explain just what he’d meant.

"Roach repellent, huh? Yeah, you should have added that! Then, I could have you eat and you would be a mere exoskeleton in forty-eight hours." He grinned peevishly. Art was becoming more and more enraged by the second. When she responded with mentioning the stick up his.. Well, y'know, he growled. "Why yes, I do have a stick up my a**. It's quite handy to pull out when you need to give someone a beating after they retaliate against you. Hmm.. I could probably use it now." He smirked, enjoying every moment of the ongoing battle. As soon as she had smacked him on the head, she had crossed the line. His hand, which was quite a bit larger the hers, wrapped tightly around her wrist. "Listen, lady. I don't know who you think you are, but you need to knock it off. I'm getting this", he showed a representation with his fingers, " close to slapping you upside the head." His eyes glinted with fury. "And we don't want that, do we?"

Willow shuddered slightly when he mentioned what Rue could achieve. Her brother had been in many fights before, but now knowing what the woman could do, this one seemed at a level of it's own. "I have to help him. He's my brother, and he can't go to ja- I mean.. Not again. He can't hurt someone again." She backed further away from the boy when he came closer, and even further when he mentioned Rue's 'thickness'. "You're just like everyone else..." She mumbled before walking quickly toward her brother and pulling him away from the counter. "A-artemis.. Please calm d-down. She didn't hurt you." She tightened her grip on him. "And I can't h-have you leave me again to be in jail. Not again." She added the last part in a hushed tone. Willow gulped, knowing fully well that he would either take it well or hit her. And knowing him, he wouldn't take it well.

Artemis spun around, releasing his grip on the woman behind the counter. "Willow! I told you to stay in the gym. Do you dare disobey me again?!" His anger was slowly rearing the ugly head. "Get your hands off of me now before I break them, you dirty mongrel." Artemis let out an ear-splitting chuckle as his sister kept her hold on him. He took Willow by the shoulders and shoved her backward into a chair, not caring that anyone was watching. Besides, they couldn't do anything to him, could they?

Any normal girl in a situation like Rue’s would have been scared out of her wits by the dreadful person in front of them. Then again when Rue said normal she meant some tiny petite little size zero who lacked the ability to stand up for her self. But Rue wasn’t any of those things. She wasn’t tiny and she had no qualms about standing up for her thoughts and beliefs. Believe it or not that’s what had gotten her in trouble half the time in high school but she wasn’t in high school now and there wasn’t any superintended or some silly principal breathing down her neck to behave. She was free to do as she pleased. And for this particular guy that was a big problem. At the mention of the aforementioned stick stuck up his butt Rue laughed. But it wasn’t the joyful laugh of a girl who was enjoying herself. Oh no this laugh was darker, scarier, more dangerous. Girls were not meant to laugh like this. A girl’s laughter was supposed to be high and sweet and utterly infectious. Rue’s laugh was anything but infectious as she took in his threat with a soft smirk. “Oh? Forgive me but I assumed it was shoved so far up your butt that the chances of you ever removing it were next to impossible. Why even a trained surgeon couldn’t remove that giant pain in your a**!” she fired off visibly fighting the urge to smack him on the head again. She needn’t have worried about fighting the temptation though because a few moments later the stranger laid a hand on her. Bad idea…actually worst idea ever. “Lady? I’ve been called many things but I can’t honestly say I’ve never been called a lady. Nor do I want to be referred to as a prim and proper lady. If I were a lady I wouldn’t be this close,” she paused in her mini rant giving him a visible representation with her fingers as well before continuing,” to cussing like a sailor and I certainly wouldn’t be standing here arguing with an oaf like you.” She yelled. Oh and the most obvious characteristic of a lady: She wouldn’t be making a scene then again it wasn’t like she’d planned to do that….oh well she wasn’t a lady and she didn’t intend to be a lady-not by societies standards anyway.

Keenan sputtered in surprise as Willow mentioned her relationship to the man who was torturing Rue. Then again…maybe Rue was the one torturing him. Anyway it was hard to believe this girl was related to the irate male in anyway. True they looked alike with similar hair coloring and the same slender body type. But that seemed to be as far as the resemblances went. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I mean I don’t think Rue would let it go that far..and if does I don’t think you should worrying about him hurting her. If anything Rue would be the one to cause potential harm.” he admitted.

Hearing her parting comment, Keenan let out a soft yelp as the girl left their hiding spot to go against his words. Wait…he wasn’t like everyone else! He really had nothing against big girls-not that Rue was big. She just wasn’t small either. She was different and different was good! That was what he’d meant. He hadn’t meant to insult Rue or the girl in anyway. Gulping Keenan hunkered down in his spot watching as the girl confronted her brother. She looked so scared and yet…she was still trying. He should do something but what? If he jumped in between the trio he’d just end up causing more trouble but if he went and got the owner of the apartment building then he’d been in even more trouble for leaving his post. Either way someone was going to get in trouble here. Then again trouble with the owner of the place was better than getting in trouble with the law.

Sighing softly, Keenan darted off his hiding spot and ran off in search of the owner. In a lot of the ways the owner was pretty terrifying. Then again considering how angered Rue was and how violent the girls brother was looking he’d take his chances with Jaden Green (I just couldn’t resist XD).

Things changed drastically when one of the terrified onlookers came out of her hiding spot. Rue couldn’t help but admire the girl. She looked terrified and yet she’d still decided to try and put an end to her feud with the grumpy, grouchy customer.It wasn’t until the grouch turned away from her and started to verbally and physically torment the girl that Rue’s blood ran cold. Her light amber eyes darkened dangerously her usually readable face turning blank as she stepped out form behind the counter her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides as she walked up behind jerk her intentions clear. She was going to rip him limb from limb. Then she was going to brutally dismember him so he could no longer call himself a man. Heck he wasn’t a man! If he was turning around and treating an innocent bystander like that for no reason other than because he was upset with what she’d said then…well that was just wrong! This fight was between them. Not him and this girl. Rue was so mad she could have sworn she was seeing red as she stalked up behind him and hit him upside the head again with considerably more force than the last time. “Yo! A**hole! This is between me and you. Not her, and even then who the blood hell do you think you are to be belittling her? She’s standing up to you even though she’s clearly terrified. That takes serious guts and then you…..you pig! You have the pure unmitigated gall to shove her around and pick on her simply because she’s trying to help you save face and some small smidgen of dignity? You’re worse than any particular swine, you’re scum!” she snarled giving him a violent shove away from the girl. ‘Weakling, coward! You think you’re bid and bad because you can talk down to a girl? What a joke!” she snarled giving him another violent push her features contorted into a look of absolute outrage.

Willow slid herself between the two, holding Artemis protectively behind her. The boy was right, she could do some damage. "P-please ma'am. Don't hurt him." She looked up at the woman, tears filling her eyes. "He's the only person left in our family, and my only coach." Willow wrapped her arms around her brothers stomach and clung to him tightly. "Please. No matter how much of an a** he is. Don't hurt him."

Honestly, Artemis had never even felt the pushes or slaps. Other than letting out a small breath of air, he was emotionless. When Willow had wrapped her arms so tenderly around him, Artemis smiled. She had never protected him before, and as strange as it was, he felt like they were a family once again. But of course, being the grouchy person he is, that warm feeling only lasted for a split second. "Get off! I can fight my own battles." Artemis ripped her arms away and turned back to the woman. "You DARE insult me? Me?" He let out a chuckle before returning an insult. "Honey, you'll never get a man to fall for you with that attitude. And if you ever lay a hand on me again, I'll be sure to let no man have that chance. " His eyes filled with rage, slathered with a heaping load of enjoyment. To him, messing with someone was no big deal, especially messing with a woman.

Hearing her brothers last words, Willow steadily grew angrier. "Hey! Don't say that to her! She's beautiful and could have anyone she wanted to fall inlove with her. You're just a.. a.. pig!" She responded, mimicking Rue. That was the last straw. She was on Rues side now. Of course, she still loved her brother with as much heart as she could, but he had gone too far this time. Willow threw a weak, yet firm punch into her brothers arm and strutted over to Rue, her head held high.

(( Yaaaay Willow! :) ))

Rue had every intention of making he rviolent actions even more destructive and violent. He was so confident and arrogant…he was infuriating! And the smug look on his face and the grouchiness, needless to say all of these things made it very hard for her to feel any sympathy for what she was about to do him. He’d started it. She’d tried to bring a little humor to his day and instead he’d ridiculed her from the start. And then he’d gone and turned his anger onto someone else. Someone who’d had nothing to do with their discussion.

Actually it wasn’t the fact that he’d turned on someone else that bothered her. The girl she was family and yet he’d turned on her so easily. Call her a traditionalist but that didn’t match up with her mental image of family. Her own family wasn’t perfect by any means but no matter what she could always count on them to protect her and love her despite her mistakes and flaws they’d always been there. And yet this jerk…he wasn’t doing any of those things. He didn’t even treat the girl with a smidge of respect.

When she’d first heard the girl’s pleas she’d felt kind of guilty, after all he was her only family and she’d seemed so sweet unlike her family member. Still she was a sucker for politeness. As a matter of fact if the butthole had just said a simple please and thank you things probably wouldn’t have escalated the way they had.

However what ever guilt she’d felt for stirring up this mini feud disappeared completely when he mentioned her getting a man. Of all the things he’d said this one particular comment had struck a chord in her. She didn’t have a boyfriend. Honestly she’d went through high school with several close guy friends and she’d crushed on a few guys but things had never moved beyond that. Why? Well it was like he’d said. With an attitude like hers no guy would even bother taking the time to try and get to know her. She was too high maintenance by some standards and too big by others. There’s was just winning it seemed….them again she didn’t care! She didn’t need a guy to make her feel special or loved. Any girl that would depend on a guy to make her feel that way was silly and it was preposterous to give a guy that much credit! Despite the chord his words had struck Rue didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing that. Instead she laughed in his face. If she made him think she thought it was funny then he wouldn’t gain any joy from attempting to upset her. Smirking she tossed her hair over her shoulder and shrugged softly. “In the immortal words of Shania Twain: Honey, that don’t impress me much.” She taunted stepping forward until she up in his business again practically nose to nose with him. “I don’t see how you think you have any say over that particular matter, if I were you I’d be worried about some shallow brainless woman ever wanting look your way again after I get through with you. Actually I wouldn’t be worried about women looking your way. From the looks of things I bet that you’re one of those pathetic wimpy little pretty boys that relies on his looks to get by in life so maybe we should look at the bigger picture don’t you think ‘honey’?” she asked tossing the sarcastic endearment back at him as she lightly slapped him on the cheek.

Hearing the girl that had earlier been protecting him toss back her taunts she let out a soft laugh. Awww…now if that wasn’t cute. She’d managed to teach a lesson to at least one member of the party. Now she definitely felt all fuzzy and warm inside….ok that was stretching it a bit but she did feel a bit better. “That’s right kiddo. You tell him.” She coaxed a warm smile gracing her feature for a moment as she encouraged the previously timid girl to speak her mind before turning her attention back to male member of the pair. “Isn’t it nice to hear someone in agreement with me? Unfortunately I can’t say I hear anyone disagreeing. What a shame.” she taunted softly. She was just itching for him to throw that first official hit. She’d been egging him on so far. True she could throw the first hit but she wanted to make this look like self defense so that way when she finally cut loose and kicked his sorry ass she could say it was for protection of herself and the innocent bystander. Although..she would try not to hurt him too badly for the girls sake. Just to be nice. Lucky for him.

(Sorry for focusing solely on Rue for a moment. i figured I'd let her have a sort of bonding moment with Rue. I'll bring Jaden and Keenan into the next post. Also what's the 300/2000 thing at the bottom of your post? Oh and thatta girl Willow! You tell him girl. XD)

Artemis rolled his eyes and let out a small scoff. Did she really just do that? HIS sister? The girl that knew exactly how hard he would push her in the gym, had the nerve to hit him and walk away? Imbecile. She was going to get it later. He would make sure of it.

"Listen. If you would have just made me my f***ing decaf, we wouldn't of had that problem." He stood up, brushing off the nonexistent dust on his shoulders. "You... Crossed..... The line." He stepped closer, his body nearing hers more and more with every step. "Y'know, I really hate hitting women. Oh, wait, my bad. What are you again?" He asked brightly before throwing a punch. It took him a few tries before actually making a solid impact. Y'know, he never had a decent aim. But as soon as his fist collided with her chest (is that appropriate? o.o), he felt a surge of adrenaline. Artemis let out a stone cold, wicked laugh, him suddenly feeling invincible. "WHO'S THE SUCKER NOW?!" He taunted, still laughing uncontrollably. There, it was done. He had officially made the first move. But did he care? Heck no. Artemis felt powerful. Which we all know is an addicting drug for most men. He stared down at Rue, licking his upper lip slightly. "You want more, b****?!" Artemis let out a kick into her knee, then another, then another. Nothing could stop him. Nothing. Nothing, except one blood-curdling scream that made his throat run dry. He looked over to see Willow with her hands cupped over her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. "HELP! H-HELP!" She screamed, not knowing if Rue was going to be okay. She had high hopes for the spunky girl, but when it comes to violence, one little thing could easily spiral into a disaster.

(Please let me know if I'm power-playing. I can fix the post right up. :) )

( No you did fine. You didn’t powerplay at all. ^^ Awww poor Willow. I feel so bad for her. Artemis on the other hand…he deserves what ever he’s got coming.)

“If I recall correctly I did make your coffee. I just added a little extra to it.” she mused with a dark smile. When he started moving closer to her and invading her space Rue’s heart sped up and her body tensed automatically in preparation for the first post. It wouldn’t be long now. “Haha very funny, so would that make you the women instead? After all only a true sissy resorts to lame come backs like that. You would know all about that wouldn’t you?” she taunted softly her gaze watching him warily as she waited for him to throw the first punch. It wasn’t long before he threw a small litany of punches but none of them made solid contact.

When he finally managed to land a decent punch Rue fell forward with a soft ‘oomph’ as all the air left her chest with that one simple action. For several long minutes all she could do was wheeze uselessly as she clutched at her chest. One part of her brain was clouded over with pain. How could it not be? He’d just punched her in her chest for pete’s sake! A strange guy had just harmed her and molested her with one single punch. But that wasn’t enough for him, he’d went ahead and started kicking her while she was done. She didn’t think she was seeing red now, she was positive the whoel room had turned a bright taunting crimson red as she looked up at him from behind her thick hair waiting to regain her breath. He was a dead man when she got up. She was going to drop kick him in his man business and then she was going to find a big old knife and take away his manliness, not that he had any it seemed. He wasn’t a man and he wasn’t a mouth. And he certainly wasn’t a pig. Call her crazy but stinky smelly muddy pigs were more appealing than him!

Gasping she managed to get in a full lungful of fresh air as she slowly straightened ignoring the dull throb of pain in her knee as she towards him her intentions clear as she forward only to stop completely as she heard her new companions shrill screams for help. Hearing those scream it suddenly hit rue…she should be scared. This guy he was serious about hurting her. Her words did nothing more than provoke him and while that was the effect she wanted maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to push him that much. There was a difference between teaching a lesson and out and out recklessness. And she’d crossed that line. Knowing this she did the one thing uncalled for in a fight. The most dangerous thing: she turned her back to her opponent. “Shhh…stop screaming. I’m fine. If you keep screaming you’re going to get the authorities called and then we’ll all be in big trouble.” She rasped her voice sounding breathless as she tried to soothe the girl.

Keenan was on his way back with the owner of the building when he heard someones screams. He’d been nervous when he’d left but hearing those screams, his heart almost jumped out of his chest. Oh no! What if something had happened to Rue? Or worse what if she’d seriously hurt that guy? ! “Would you quit lollygagging and get your lazy a** in gear?” he demanded his panic taking away his usual shy mannerisms as he spoke to the owner before running ahead pausing to grab a weapon of some sort. Although as far as weapons went it was a very weak one. His weapon : a basic every day room. Heyhe was worried about someone getting hurt. He didn’t care how ridiculous he looked as he wedged his slender figure between the furiously fighting couple and gaze them his fiercest glare. “Oi! Cut it out. Now!” he ordered giving the male in question a sharp jab in the chest with his broom handle. Why he’d chosen to jab the male he didn’t know all he knew was that Rue looked pale and a bit washed out and she was holding her chest. It was almost like the spunky girl had deflated someone how as she spoke in hushed tones trying to soothe the girl he’d been hiding with earlier.

(I’ll bring Jaden in with my next post. For now I’d like to let Keenan have his knight in shining armor moment. XD)

"Sissy retorts?" He mocked her, smirking slightly. "Who's the sissy now?" Artemis let out a boisterous laugh as she curled over in pain. But, oddly enough, he had a strange feeling developing in his stomach. Was that.. regret? No, no, it couldn't be. After all, he hated this woman, right? It was probably just the extra ingredients she had added that was now being digested. Or maybe just a bit of bad gas. Yeah, that was it. Nothing more than a puff of odor wanting to release it self.

Watching Rue turn her back to him, he rolled his eyes and let out a huff. "Too weak now, Hun? Guess you can't live up to your words." His eyes darted to the door, watching a young man barge through. He was carrying a broom and was headed straight for him. Wait, a broom? Was he a maid? His answer was given to him- sharply. Artemis flinched slightly as the end of the broom was jabbed into his chest. "What was that for?! Is this lady a friend of yours or something?" He grabbed the end of the broom and twisted it backwards into the boys hand. "You can have her. I'm done with her." He waved his hand toward Rue, smugly turning his back and grabbing his sister by the wrist. "Come, Willow. You have work to do."

Willow had seized screaming the moment Rue had told her to. There was no way anyone was going to jail over a stupid fight. No way. "A-are sure your okay? You don't look okay.." She wiped her tears and set a hand on Rues shoulder, comforting her. "I'm so sorry. He.. He's not very n-nice when it comes to people. Or, well, anything in general. Can you move?" She lowered down to Rues current level. "Do you need a glass of water? Anything?" Willows head shot up when she heard Keenans voice. It was oddly familiar, yet she couldn't place a finger on it. "What the heck is he thinking? He's going to get hurt!" She mumbled in a tone that was barely audible. Not like she cared whether he did or not. After all, he had almost insulted Rue. She let out a small squeek as her brrother tugged at her wrist, but thought nothing of it. "O-okay." She turned to Rue, who still seemed a bit pale. "Ill be back to check on you as fast as possible, okay? Be safe." She bowed her head and followed Artemis, heading for the door.

(( Yay for Keenan the knight! :D ))

Rue didn’t even bother giving the pig a reply. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, oh there weren’t enough words to describe just how badly she wanted to cuss his sorry tail out. Really. She’d grown up with two parents that hadn’t hesitated to cuss like sailors. That and she could be rather creative with swearing when ticked off. Honestly. She’d make his ears bleed with some of the profanities she wanted to let loose right now. But she didn’t. She was trying to be the bigge rperson here. Not that she really had to try. She had the little twerp beaten in the weight department although that hadn’t done her much good when he’d decked her in the boobs-yes she was bigger but she wasn’t some muscled fighter. She was a girl with a big mouth and far too much spunk but he needn’t know any of that. A part of having a decent fight was being able to scare and intimidate the other person. And for a while there she’d definitely had him flabbergasted with her retorts. She was a smart aleck she could keep the smart remarks rolling anytime and anyplace but trying to successfully block and fight back while exchanging banter? Yea that was kind of hard but she’d tried which was all that counted.

Exhaling slowly she gave Willow a dark glare as she apologized for the jerk and violently shok her head as she forced her to attempt and straighten. “Don’t apologize for him. You didn’t do anything. If anyone should be over groveling on his knees it should be him. I didn’t know it was going to be a dirty fight. If I had I think I would have struck below the belt…” she muttered darkly tossing her enemy a glare that clearly said ‘you will die a slow, painful, and very humiliating death’ before she looked back at Willow giving the other girl a wan smile as she continued to fuss over her. “I’m fine really. I just need to catch my breath. Once I do I’ll be good to go.” She explained. At the sound of Keenan’s voice she looked up a soft chuckle escaping as she watched the slighter usually timid male try and defend their honor. Awww..how cute! But her new friend did have a point. “Yea…that’s what I’m afraid of. Keenan’s what you call a love and not a fighter. He’s a real sweetie. I should probably go and help him-“she started only to cut off as the jerk marched towards them and took a hold of Willow’s wrist. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she shook her head opening her mouth to lash out at the male member of pair yet again before she heard Keenan speak up.

Keenan was usually a nice guy. Sweet and a little shy…or very shy. That’s how Rue had described him and she’d been right on the money with her personal assessment . But right now he didn’t feel timir or shy. He felt…well he didn’t feel just one simple e motion. He felt a whole dizzying variation of them. He felt annoyed and embarrassed and just out right ticked off with how this jerk was handling Rue and the other girl. Just who did he think he was grabbing onto the other girl and leading her away way like that? And Rue, how could he treat Rue like that?! True Rue might have started the whole disagreement but he very much doubted she’d intended it to turn violent. If anything he’d bet she’d done something in an attempt to brighten this guy day and he’d completely misunderstood Rue’s snarky sense of humor. But even so that was no reason to treat girls like they were just items to possessed!

“That was for being a complete and utter ass to these girls. Apologize. Now! “he demanded with surprising bravado. He was a good couple of inches shorter than the other male but what he lacked in height he seemed to making up for in attitude right now. When the other male reached out and attempted to twist the broom back into his hands Keenan braced himself and pushed back keeping the broom away. “Yes she’s a friend of mine. And considering the fact that she and your companion are both ladies you’d think you’d have a little respect and treat them as such.” he pointed out with an annoyed look. Despite his vehement words and his demands that the stranger apologize to the girls Keenan’s words didn’t seem to be having any affect on the other male. What ever moment of confidence he’d had was fading now and he was looking somewhat panicky casting nervous glances back at Rue before looking ahead and watching as the other girl was lead away. It wasn’t working? What was he supposed to do?! Jaden was taking his sweet time and now the insensitive jerk was getting away and he didn’t know what to do.

Jaden Smith wasn’t far behind Keenan. The younger and smaller boy had been babbling on about a misunderstanding of some sort occurring in front of the coffee bar. Apparently this disagreement warranted some of his attention. Although why he didn’t understand…until Keenan mentioned there were girls involved. That alone was enough to his attention. Girls? Beautiful girls in distress?! Count him in! After hearing that interesting little piece of information Jaden had been following Keenan an energetic bounce to his steps as he rounded the corner. Only rather than jumping into the fray he hung back a steps his expression turning cool as he took in the scene.

What ever excitement and joy he’d felt moments ago were gone now. It wasn’t that the girls weren’t cute or anything. They were. They just weren’t his type. They were too young…and they lived in his apartment building. Call him crazy but he had a strict rule about dating/flirting with his residents. It saved a lot of trouble in the end. Shaking his head he lifted a slender slightly scarred hand to brush his multicolored hair out of his face as he watched Keenan doing his best to handle the situation. Yeesh…the kid had to go and grab a broom? What type of guy was he?! Guys fought with their fists, not a broom! Goodness the kid had a lot to learn about being a man. Maybe he should take him under his wings-Jaden was jolted out of his thoughts as he took another look at the girls. Whoa one of them looked like she’d had the wind knocked out of her and the other one was in tears.

Alright that did it. Time for him to step in. Bristling he stepped into the fray and roughly grabbed the slighter male (Artemis) arm’s and whirled him around to face Rue and forcefully pried his grip off the other girl. “You heard my assistant. Apologize now.” He growled threateningly. Unlike Keenan he didn’t need a broom handle to frighten people. His voice was usually pretty boisterous but right now there were nothing loud or good humored about it. If anything it was laced with dark potentially dangerous undertones. “For your sake I hope you manage to sound convincing. Unlike Keenan over there I’m not afraid to smack you around a little. And here’s the best thing….I’m not a girl. That means me and you will be on equal terms pal. Then again equal might be the wrong word. Looks like the inured lady there wouldn’t mind extracting her revenge. That’s two again one right? A little unfair but all things considered I’d say you do better when things are uneven right?” he demanded giving the slighter male a rough shake.

Oh there was going to be som severe punishment because of this. Although most of it would be aimed at the silver haired male. Why? Well that was an easy question to answer. Jaden had grown up in a house with a very shall we say rough father figure. Only problem was his father hadn’t just taken hi anger out on Jaden. The male figure in his life had always turned on his mom and his sister. Yea yea it sounded like a sob story but it wasn’t. Besides that wasn’t the point, in short Jaden had seen his share of an abusive relationship and he’d be damned if he stood here and let this kid (he looked younger than twenty which made him a kid in Jaden’s eyes) morph into what his father had been. And he wouldn’t let any girl in his apartment under his care have to handle that crap. Just like he wouldn’t let any guy living in his apartment so much as consider raising a hand towards a lady. It just wasn’t going to happen.

"Apologize? Fat chance." Artemis replied with a small snarl. He was taken aback as the smaller male pushed away the broom with surprising strength. "You pretty tough, kid. But there ain't no way I'm apologizing to these 'women'. I don't give a crap about them." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. He was just about to slip another remark when he felt someone grab him into a tight grip and pry his hands of Willow.

"The hell?!" He wriggled, trying to break free of the much larger man. Artemis spun his head around, finally catching a glimpse of the man. "What are you, a peacock?" He chuckled darkly, a smile escaping his lips at the sight of the males Multi-colored hair. Sure enough, when Jaden gave him a rough shaking, it dawned on him. Artemis finally understood what his actions had caused. It was like a fog had been lifted and he could now see his mistakes. Man, there were a lot. Artemis gaze shifted over to Rue, who was still looking quite helpless. "Hey lady? I'm sorry. I dunno what happened there. You must have gotten a little too rough with your words. You can hit me now if you'd like." He let out a soft chuckle, the usual sarcasm in his voice hidden. Sure, Artemis was sorry, and maybe a bit ashamed, but he didn't fully regret what he did. After all, Rue HAD deserved some of it.

"Now, will you let me go? You're starting to smell." He pushed the male off of him, careful not to hurt him. He didn't want to cause any more pain. For now, anyway. Artemis brushed his shoulders off and cleared his throat. "I never got that coffee I ordered. Where's the drink guy when ya need him?" He huffed, his usual self returning.

"Thank you, sir." Willow said as she gave a beaming grin. She was going to give the manager a hug, but seeing as he was busy at the moment, she decided against it. As soon as Jaden spoke of Rue, she immediately spun around and raced over to her. "H-hey.. Y'know, it wouldn't be bad if you had half a mind to kick him below the belt. He deserves it." A soft giggle escaped her lips as she stuck a hand out to Rue, waiting to see if she needed help standing back up. Willows eyes drifted back over to Keenan. She flashed him a warm smile and pointed to Rue. "Thank you. For helping her out.. It was very brave of you." Okay, the last part she had only added on to make him feel good about himself. He wasn't really a hero, seeing as Jaden had done most of the work, but he did deserve some credit. "Oh, right. I'm.. uh, Willow. Nice to meet you..." She paused, waiting for him to introduce himself.

Oh what a snappy comeback! Not!”What are you? A comedian? “ he fired back. He did not look like a peacock, he might not look like Mr.Pretty Boy here but he definitely didn’t look like some demented bird. He gave the boy another firm shaking to prompt him to make him apologize. He was about to do it one more time when the little twerp finally apologized. It wasn’t the best apology but it wasn’t the worst. It was a start, he wasn’t the kid parent or baby sitter so it wasn’t like he could make him do anything he didn’t want to do.

He rolled his eyes at boys last parting remark. Seriously? Smell? What the hell was the kid doing smelling him? Although to be honest he could use a shower, he’d put more than enough time into his usual work out. When Keenan had come to find him he’d just finished his usual work out and had been about reward himself. That reward: a much needed and deserved shower. Only this turn of events had prevented that. Go figure. He was brought of his thoughts by the girls thanks. He smiled and nodded, however the moment he saw the girl start towards him to give him a hug he hurriedly backed up. Under normal circumstances he would have loved a nice little hug but he wasn’t so he smelled too good right now and he definitely didn’t want to offend the little ladies delicate senses. He stood there a few more moments to make sure he wasn’t needed anymore before he quietly slipped away. He’d done his job now it was time for that shower! Hey he might be a guy and despite what girls seemed to think about guys he enjoyed being clean as much as the next person did.

Rue didn’t say anything as the guy gave out his oh so sincere apology. She didn’t even nod. She wasn’t dumb, she knew this wasn’t the end. To be honest, she wasn’t going to let it end. She wanted payback! And could you blame her? He’d socked her and fondled her at the same time. It was painful and humiliating. It deserved a severe butt kicking! And he knew it, he expected her to hit him back now? Wrong. If she was going to get payback she’d do it without Jaden watching over her shoulder. “Oh no..your verbal apology works wonders.” She quipped pasting a sickeningly sweet smile on her face an evil glint in her eyes. Payback really was a witch.

She was brought out of her vengeful thoughts by the sweet girl racing over to her. A soft bark of laughter escaped Rue as she took the girls hand and pulled herself up. She hadn’t really needed the help but she just looked so sweet and eager to help, she couldn’t deny her. Her eyes widened in delighted surprise at the girls idea of pay back and Rue almost fell on her butt again as she laughed out loud some color returning to her cheeks as she shook her head. “I won’t argue with you about that. It’s a tempting idea, but he expects it right now. When I get back at him I want to have the element of surprise. From the sounds of things you obviously want a little revenge as well. We could team up and get him good,…” she offered with an impish grin. That grin morphed into something warmer and friendlier as she watched Willow thank Keenan. “And thank you for helping out my new friend Willow. I didn’t know you had it in you boy! I can’t believe you pulled the broom on him! You lost cool points for doing that.” She chided softly as she slipped past Willow and wrapped her arms around Keenan Giving him a big friendly hug. “Thank you..Again. I kind of walked right into that one.” She admitted with a delicate shrug of her shoulders. Hey she didn’t have any problem with admitting she’d done wrong, but that was it. That was where the high road ended. From here on out she was taking the road much more traveled.

The moment Jaden stepped in, things took a turn for the better. Or so Keenan though. At least Jaden had shaken an apology from the other boy and he’d managed to show he wasn’t too big a scaredy cat. Hey he might not have verbally walked all over the boy or threatened to kick his butt, then again he had stood up to him. So he did deserve some credit. Apparently Rue agreed with that other wise he wouldn’t have been getting hugged, or thanked so profusely by Rue or her friend. When Rue finally let go of him he couldn’t hide his blush. He smiled and bowed his head forward his hair falling forward to hide his bashfulness. ”You’re welcome, you’re both welcome.” he murmured softly. Once Willow finished introducing herself he opened his mouth to introduce himself before he heard her companion/relative’s voice demanding where the drink guy was. “Excuse me..Seems I’m being paged. It was nice to meet you Ms.Willow and I’m sorry for what ever wrong impressions I might have made earlier.” he murmured with an apologetic smile before he stepped behind the counter to do his job, his expression becoming noticeably less friendly as he waited for Rue’s tormentor to tell give out his demands.

Rue chuckled softly as Keenan left without introducing himself. “Silly boy, he forget to tell you his name. Guess I’ll do it for him. That’s Keenan, residential shy sweetheart, and he lives across the hall from me. Its nice to meet you Willow. I’m Rue, residential…pain in the butt. Lets go with that shall we? The big guy that just came and shook some sense into Mr.Grumpy over there was Jaden our oh so loveable landlord. And..I think I got everyone. Did I miss anything?” she asked with a soft frown as she tried to think of who else to introduce Willow to. Other than Mr.Grumpy himself she hadn’t missed anyone.

*
(( I'm so incredibly sorry for being gone. I hope the PM sent makes up somewhat for my absence. My great- grandmother went psychotic after my great-grandfather died, and I've been with her. We had to travel out to see her, and I didn't have Internet there. She's better now, but still a bit loony. Hopefully you can forgive me, and want to continue this role-play...))

Artemis shot Jaden a look before he slipped away. "Yes, you are a low-life peacock who enjoys pecking at other birds sh**!" He huffed angrily at Rue, who had now flung herself toward her 'savior'. Honestly, that fella couldn't do anything, let alone save her. But, on the other hand, maybe he could whip up a decent decaf.

*Artemis shrugged. "And honestly, Ms. Ignorant, you didn't even deserve that apology. But let's just simmer down, shall we?" He smirked and turned to the now server, who had dropped his trusty broom. "Oh, so you're the employee here? Ha! As if." Sure, the kid had spunk, which you could tell from his red locks, but really? "Well, let's just see how you do. I'd like two decafs. Extra cream, and a sprinkle of lowfat milk. Oh, and a bottled water for my sister. No lemon, thanks. She needs to lose a few pounds before the next meet." He laughed and shot Rue a smirk, vaguely hinting that she could lose a few too. He tapped the wood counter, adding that it shouldn't take long. His eyes shifted warily toward Rue as he held out a hand, symbolizing a truce. For now, that is.*

Willow smoothed down her hair, a light flush coming to her cheeks as she heard Rue speak of revenge. "O-oh, no, no.. no thanks. That wouldn't be such a good idea. He's scary." She exclaimed just as Keenan had left for the counter. "Oh, nice to meet you Rue. You have a beautiful name." She beamed. "and you don't seem like such a pain in the butt. Mine isn't hurting at the moment." She giggled. Willow fished through her leotard pocket and found a few dollars. She set it on the counter near Artemis, not bothering to look up at Keenan. "This is for the drinks you wanted." She shoved the money toward Artemis and sighed as he, once again, told her to go practice. She frowned and turned toward Rue. "I have to go practice. It was nice meeting you. If you'd like, you could meet up with us for lunch or something. I'll be at the gym, or apartment A3 if you want to talk sometime." Willow smiled brightly at Rue before she turned to the door, her grin quickly vanishing as she spotted Keenan out of the corner of her eye. She walked out of the room, frowning. Obviously, she was still angry at him for what he had said about Rue earlier. A simple apology just wasn't going to do it. She entered the gym, chalking up her hands before starting her floor routine.