Confrontation. [Sivvy]

Sivvy was angry. Raw. As she came to the door of his multi-story condo door, she didn’t even pause to knock or ring and wait like a normal person. No, that would give him a chance to escape, and Sivvy was nothing if not direct. While most would shy away from the painful thing, she wanted to look it in the eye, confront it, do something about it. It was uncertain what she actually planned to do, which was unlike Sivvy. She almost always had a meticulous plan, but this time she was operating on her emotions as inefficient as that was. It was unwise but unavoidable. Ever since Thana, she'd been unable to shut off her feelings even though she had no idea how to handle them. Her loss to the warlord threw every aspect of her life out of balance. Everything was in conflict with each other. Things were both real and not real, dream and reality. Was Artemis real and consciously staying away from her, or was this just her drifting, dead consciousness making him stay away because she was finally aware he wasn't real? Never in her life had the clone been so hurt and confused, and since she couldn't find Thana to take it up with her, she'd go for the next biggest thing on her mind.

She wasn’t even certain he was there, but the clone was willing to take that chance. Though her strength had yet to return to her in full, she was still plenty strong enough to kick the door right off the hinges as if it was nothing but cardboard. There was no calling for him or hesitation as she stepped inside and onto his sleek floors. Artemis wasn't down here. She stomped right past the street paintings, the glass and chrome, and the car models. He was upstairs if he was here. Straight to the elevator she went, a woman scorned and on a mission. She'd start in the lounge. As the sliding doors opened and she stepped in, she just had to press the floor she wanted and wait. Usually patient, she found waiting to be the worst part.

She was hurt too. Not just in body, for those had healed enough for her to function, but in mind and soul. In her time of greatest need, in her greatest failure and her first real loss, the one person she wanted to see most to ground her was mysteriously absent. She’d laid in the infirmary and waited, watching her friends come and go, but not him. He wasn’t there. She felt his heartbeat from the bracelet at her wrist, the cheesy little gift that probably meant nothing to him, but everything to her. It was her only comfort. Her only connection. The pulsing she felt had calmed her anxiety so many times, that even though he never came to see her, it was like she had a part of him. But suddenly, it wasn't enough.

How dare he make her promise to never leave him, only for him to leave first. Is that how it was supposed to work? Maybe she'd have bought that before and let it go, but there was too much between them now. He had been her best friend and her first kiss. He'd seemed to want her as she was, but just as she was finally able to give herself to him, he dropped her. It hurt so much! Artemis had said 'Together' like it meant something, but it didn't at all, did it? Was he done with her? Then he could at least release her to her face. Men she had lesser opinions of had at least been able to do that. Dr. Raelin had no problems telling her he was done with her. Sivvy wanted that finality. It was all she'd ever known.

"You made me promise," she said coldly as soon as she stepped out of the elevator into his lounge, perhaps to herself or perhaps just on the strong assumption that he was there. And he was. As soon as she laid eyes on him, she chucked the leather bracelet at him so she'd never be tempted to take comfort in him again. "You made me promise to never leave you. Why?"

[wc: 713 || total: 1333]

Usually, Sivvy would have just done as she was told. She was an obedient clone...or used to be. But now, as she stood staring at him and expecting an explanation, the man before her wasn't giving her one and she wasn't having it. Artemis wouldn't even look at her, and it was making her angrier. Her cold stare was shifting into something similar to disgusted disbelief. "At least look at me when you're getting rid of me. Much worse men than you have been able to look me in the eye when they do it," she snapped, even if her voice was still quiet. For someone as emotionless as she usually was, any emotion registering on her face or in her voice seemed powerful.

Before he could answer, though, she spoke again with eyes starting to gloss. "Actually, before you do that, just explain to me how my failure reflects on you at all, other than the fact that the one time I really needed you, you weren't there?" she asked sharply, crossing her arms over her chest as if trying to keep herself from flying apart. It was clear she'd left Dies Irae in a hurry. Instead of her usual pretty outfits, she had a simple black crop top, a short red skirt on, and seemed to have forgotten her shoes entirely. While her injuries were mostly healed, she did still have places where her skin was darkened with bruises and some fresh, darker scars joined her extensive collection of old ones. Her hair wasn't even pulled into pigtails, instead it was hanging loose and framing her angry face. Her chest heaved slightly beneath her arms, betraying her arms and how upset she really was. It was only getting worse the longer she looked at him, trying to figure out why, despite how furious she was and how deeply he was hurting her, she still wanted to run to him and bury her face in his chest. It didn't make sense. The last thing she should want now was his touch.

[wc: 343 || total: 2254]

"Oh yeah, so much worse," Sivvy huffed, a little bit of sarcasm in play now. She'd never really understood it until this moment. Sometimes it was the better alternative to outright screaming.

"You must be misunderstanding most of the men I've encountered. Dr. Raelin sent me on every job that paid, no matter what it was. He lent me out like a gun. I was nothing more than a tool or a doll. When I wasn't out killing someone that threatened a sweaty rich man, I was in that rich man's bed staring at the ceiling waiting for it to be over, but it was never over," she countered him, tightening her arms, now to keep them still. She'd never enjoyed her work back then, she hadn't been allowed to enjoy anything, but there was a time where she didn't know it should bother her. It bothered her now. "If I did a good enough job, maybe when I went back to the lab I'd be allowed to read in peace for a little bit, but more often than not Dr. Raelin had a new procedure to try and would either cut me open while I was awake. Or, worse, he'd take out his frustrations by doing worse things to me than those rich men. Explain to me how you are worse than them," Sivvy demanded, her scowl deepening. Other than whatever this was right now, Artemis had never hurt her. While she had to admit that this felt worse than anything her abusive creator had done to her, she recognized that these were two completely different types of pain. She'd only felt a little bit of this type of pain before, and that was when she was trying to figure out why the man who, as she'd read, should have been her father treated her so poorly.

Sivvy felt like she was talking more than she ever had in her life, yet the words kept tumbling out, raw but honest. "You've never used my body so entirely as them. You didn't use me as a weapon for personal gain and you always asked before you touched me. You made me think you wanted me to grow, learn what I like, make my own decisions. So yes, I think it's my fault!" Now her voice was rising despite herself. The man she thought she knew was contradicting her view of him, trying to become all those men from before. If he was really like them after all they'd been through, she felt like she'd break. "How could it be anything but? The moment I lost a battle with someone who's a warlord now, you suddenly had this epiphany that you aren't good and just disappeared from my life?! What, were you playing the long game, waiting to take advantage of me only to realize I'm not as strong and useful as you thought? It wouldn't be the first time," she tried to reason, unmoving but her eyes trained on him.

"Look at me, Artemis!"

[wc: 504 || total: 2995]

Most people would have taken his actions much differently, being offended or scared or even more hurt, but the pinkette only flared more intensely. People had laid hands on her much worse than this. This was nothing. She thought him finally looking at her would bring some sort of satisfaction or closure, but it didn't. Artemis could bear down on her, grab her, push her back a little, and though she stupidly reveled in the physical contact, she could only feel her stubborn rage rise. He was being so infuriating! Why was he so insistent on this? What had changed? Sivvy only took a single step back before undoing his attempt to create distance and getting right back in his face.

Locking her intense carmine eyes on his wine-hued ones, she grabbed the front of his shirt and balled it in her fist, yanking him close. "I don't care if you're good!" she shouted back at him, "What even is good?! All I know is that you were kind and I was comfortable with you. I know that you made me want to be with you, only to now tell me to leave." Sivvy was losing her temper. Her fist released his shirt but remained balled and pounded on his chest instead. It was clear she didn't want to hurt him even though she was enraged because she didn't put any strength in it. "My whole life is a tragedy! Who cares! Does it not matter that I chose this? Does it matter that I don't want to leave?" she asked, wanting desperately to understand. Artemis seemed to want her to learn to want things, but as soon as she did, he just gave her whiplash. "I'll only leave once you explain to me why you think you're not good and why you're throwing me away! Explain to me what I'm not understanding here!"

[wc: 314 || total: 3671]

Sivvy simply listened, still expecting more of an explanation than she received. He was calmer, but the things he was saying just...didn't make sense. Did he not know who she was? Perhaps she had an inflated sense of self since becoming a guild master, because though her confidence and ego were certainly bruised and bleeding, she still had no problem taking care of herself before now. "I don't need your protection or your sparing, Artemis," she spat, not as calm as he was. She knelt down near him to be on his level, though she did give him some space. It was also clear she wasn't leaving until she had an answer that satisfied her.

Perhaps someone who was more accustomed to dancing around truths and sifting through the vague muck would draw conclusions, but the clone was too literal. She might even be a little dense. Nothing he'd said sounded like anything worth severing their bond. Forming bonds was new and hard for her. She'd never lost one before and just didn't know how to let it go without a definitive reason. "I'm a dangerous person, too. What's your point? I killed a lot before I joined Dies Irae, and killing people is my job now. I have a dangerous life with people trying their best to kill me every day. That has nothing to do with you," she reminded him, unsure what he was getting at. He knew how dangerous she was. He'd seen her fight. She'd seen him fight and didn't feel any negative feelings about it. "What happened to you that caused this? Do you need help getting out of it? Please, be clear with me. Either let me help fix it or accept that you're throwing me away."

[wc: 293 || total: 4251]

A year ago, she probably wouldn't have had to think about it. She was sure that she'd have felt nothing by taking his life. She'd taken countless lives from people who didn't deserve to die, and even more from people who did. His whole point about how she'd feel after killing someone she knew would have fallen flat before now because she knew she'd have done so unquestioningly and without remorse as long as she'd been ordered to do so. She never killed on her own otherwise. But, as he yanked her wrist, coiled her hand around his throat, and painted his picture-- one she very much wanted to disagree with-- a lump formed in her own.

"I can't..."

The already glossy carmine eyes started to water, because while she knew she could kill him in theory, in practice it'd be impossible. Her muscles felt like concrete just thinking about it. Sivvy attempted to pull her hand away, but his grip prevented it and she quickly resigned. Whether they were angry tears, sad tears, or a bit of both, they started to break free of her lower lids and streak her cheeks. The thought of losing him-- which she was actively doing right now-- was enough to hurt so deeply that she hardly knew how to deal with it. It was all very overwhelming for someone with the smallest understanding of emotions. The thought of him dying was even worse and caused her anger to falter into something more like despair.

All of this due to the girl before her. She was curious about her since this was the first she'd heard of her, but also this wasn't the time. Maybe Sivvy was too selfish, but she was more concerned about what was happening in the present than what had already happened. "I'm sorry you broke her, Artemis. It seems like she broke you, too. But I'm not her. You can't break me," she hoarsely whispered around the tightness in her throat. "I don't see how pushing me away will fix anything. I don't understand the logic, Artemis." Sivvy shook her head, never feeling so lost in her life. Granted, her general approach to things was very simple. Very black and white. This was very complicated and gray and nonsensical. No book could have ever prepared her for this scenario. It scared her that she couldn't make sense of it. "Even if you did break me, I'd just regenerate. I can fix myself. No one can decommission me except Dr. Raelin. If I could die...Thana would have killed me and I wouldn't be here to argue with you. By your logic, would you have felt better if Thana had killed me just so you weren't the one responsible for it?" she asked, desperately trying to wrap her brain around the point he was making.

[wc: 474 || total: 5029]

The pinkette lightly winced when he spoke again. She couldn't help but feel an extra twinge of pain when Artemis partially agreed that Thana killing her might have been better. Sivvy was a little sensitive about all things Thana anyway, so it hit her funny that it could even be considered a solution to his problem. Crying was such a new thing for her, she couldn't understand how the tears could form and fall faster than they had been just a moment ago. Still, she wouldn't break down into sobs, despite feeling them swelling in her chest. The tears could just silently fall and drip off her chin onto her skirt and she'd continue to ignore them.

Though her anger was finally faltering, she tried to use it to keep her voice strong and her jaw set. "I can't see my life being very decent without you. You were my choice. You were the best part..." she said quietly, her gaze saddening though remaining riddled with frustration. "Everyone keeps insisting that I get to make my own life decisions now, yet when I try... Do you get to decide what happens to me, to us, by yourself? Do I not get any say again?" she asked, feeling so very confused and hopeless. For someone to have so much power, she felt powerless again as if no matter what she wanted or didn't want out of life, she could do nothing about it. Maybe Dr. Raelin was right. Having emotions and desires were just counterproductive. "Who is 'them'? 'Him'? Whatever it is, can't we face it together?" Sivvy wanted to know, her fingers gently brushing against where they were held against his skin.

[wc: 283 || total: 5594]

The concept of family was completely lost on Sivvy, so that issue could wait for later when he could explain it better. "You haven't had me to help you fight before," she reminded him. There was literally nothing he could say about his family, their power, or tactics that would deter her. Siv never backed down, and that only intensified now that this was something she wanted. More pressing, though, was what he said about the demon. "Zaebros?" Sivvy asked with a blink of surprise, this information new to her. She wasn't under the impression that Artemis had lacked control or that he was a problem, but he seemed more like Mars than she realized. "Pictures?" she whispered next, then remembered. Thana had her phone for a little bit. Eyes widening, she took in Artemis's state with the perspective that while he hadn't come to see her, he had seen the shape she was in at its worst. And it upset him so badly that it had caused something terrible.

Pulling at his legs to uncurl them, Sivvy crawled into his lap so she could be directly facing him. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice tense. Reaching up to wrap her fingers around the hand he had pressed to his face, she tried to pull it down while her other hand cupped his jaw. "It's okay, Artemis..." she whispered, looking him over and trying to be comforting. It wasn't her forte. "Did he hurt you?" she asked, feeling a different, more protective type of anger. She wasn't sure how to fight a demon inside of someone, but she'd figure it out. Sivvy would fight the world for Artemis if she had to. He was her one choice.

[wc: 287 || total: 6189]

So Zaebros hadn't hurt him, but rather someone else. That was the only conclusion, but while Sivvy should have been more concerned given her position, she didn't care. Artemis wasn't hurt, not physically. Emotionally...well, even she could see that he was suffering. She could relate to that now, if only just in the last week. Being able to be empathetic, no matter how new and unfamiliar, twisted her insides. Feeling for someone else on top of her own turmoil... it was a lot. But she was strong. She was strong and he seemed to be backing down from trying to get rid of her. Sivvy wasn't sure if she'd won and they could stay together, but she'd take this. They could comfort each other right now.

A small smile appeared on her lips at his comment, sighing as his hands finally came at her with gentleness instead of pain and anger. She pressed her cheek into the top of his head. "At some point after meeting you," she answered, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him even closer. As much as she was holding him for his sake, it was a little selfish as well. This was what she'd wanted. She'd needed this. The relief flooded her, whether it was warranted or not, and only fueled the tears already falling. "I don't break promises. Ever," she spoke, voice warm. She wanted more of him. Her hands twisted in the fabric of his shoulders, pressing her fingers into his skin as if it would make them as close as she craved. Even though they'd just been arguing, the heat of her anger remained just as heat, transforming into the desire that started this complicated relationship to start with. "I'm not leaving, Artemis. I want you too much."

[wc: 298 || total: 6820]

His words made her smile some more and she wished he'd kept them in mind before this whole mess happened. Fortunately, Sivvy wasn't one to keep grudges or play the 'coulda, shoulda, woulda' game. It was what it was. There were things that still needed to be worked out, but her mind had already moved on simply because of how he'd gripped her hips. "I know," she shamelessly said, though her voice more airy than before. Her gaze was locked with his, truly appreciating their depth for the first time. "Mine," Sivvy mouthed, toying with the word and the sentiment it held. He was hers. She was possessive.

Artemis had made no mystery of his immediate attraction to her. Sivvy had made no mystery of being aware of it. What she wasn't aware of was exactly when she started to feel the same way about him. Was it when she kissed him at the fake wedding? It didn't matter. Those feelings were just drops in a dry bucket compared to the tidal wave crashing into her right now. She'd read about sexual tension and passion, but it had never experienced it. For a moment she wanted to analyze it to try make sense of it, but then her brain just shut it down. "I've never felt this before," the clone admitted, honest as ever. Their noses bumping sent a shiver through her. She kept shifting her hips on his lap. Heat was rising to her cheeks, not from embarrassment, but from something else. Her heart rate increased, and with each breath, she caught his scent that was so very close. It was like severe hunger pains, but not for food. For him. So strong that she could hardly keep still.

Unlike Artemis, Sivvy wasn't used to or keen to practice restraint. "I can't hold back," she warned only a split second before her body leaned in and she closed the small distance between their faces. Like before, her kiss was firm. Decisive. Unlike before, it was needy. Fervent. Surprisingly hot-blooded for someone normally so cold and calculated, and even a little clumsy as it lingered due to inexperience. The other physical things she found herself wanting for the first time-- things she was normally repulsed by due to their transactional obligation-- were at least familiar. She had skill in those areas. Artemis was the only one to ever kiss her, though. Pulling away after a few seconds, a little afraid of not knowing if she was doing it right, she fixed her fiery gaze on him once more. If he wanted her to kiss him a certain way, he'd have to teach her. And if he wanted to escape, he'd missed his chance.

Sliding her hands slowly from his shoulders down his chest, she lingered close to his lips but didn't connect it again. Instead, she spoke, voice sultry, "You can have me. Make me yours, Artemis."

[wc: 487 || total: 7585]