{SB}The Things We Would Do

[Artemis James]

Artemis wasn't stupid. He could see that they were trying to unnerve him, trying to unsettle him and make him question something he frankly wasn't even completely certain of himself. They couldn't know, so they were obviously just trying to push him to see how he reacted; But as so often occurred with Artemis, his fiery streak overrided his common sense. He knew by reacting as he was he was only playing into their hands, giving them the amusement they so craved, but he just couldn't let them keep on talking like they understood. They didn't. They were the last ones on earth right now who could ever understand.
"I know her like the back of my hand," He snapped in response, fighting back the flare of fury which threatened to sweep him again; he took another deep, slow breath, knowing that now was properly the time he should take his leave... Why was he letting them rile him up like this? Perhaps he was just a glutton for punishment.

He snapped his glare from one twin to the other, noting the small movement they made towards him; Were they intending on fighting him? Two of them on one? Well, they never struck the boy to exactly be the ones to play fair. He stood firm, his arm folded over his chest, his stature one who clearly had no intention of backing down. They could beat him up all they liked; He'd fight back. He'd give it his all. The last thing he wanted was for them to think he was weak.
"What makes you think she doesn't?" He replied lowly. "What do you know about her? Nothing-" He stopped mid sentence as Casper went on, Artemis keeping his glare focused on him as he bit his bottom lip. He was spouting about Lucy's heart, about how she'd stopped caring... No. He knew she still did, somewhere deep down, past all the pain and the cold heart there was still something... At least that was the hope he was holding onto with everything he had. He waan't going to give up on her.

Artemis remained silent as the twins continued their verbal onslaught, Artemis biting so hard on his bottom lip now it began to bleed slightly. If he'd seen himself in the mirror perhaps he'd have been unnerved by how much fierce cold he could muster in his eyes, and how much perhaps in such a state they resembled Lucy's far more then he knew.
"I understand myself perfectly fine," He spoke lowly. "Who made you both psychologists? You think you can read me just as you think you can read Lucy? You don't know anything. Any. Thing."

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

"You mean you think you know her like that back of your hand." Casper clarified. He highly doubted this boy knew Lucy as he tried to make it seem. The way the other boy was acting made it clear that he didn't like what they were saying. That he wanted to believe in something more then what was there for the world to see. It was so cute that he thought that the brothers didn't see it and figure out that there was more to it then what he was saying. They watched people for all their lives since they were little.

Learning what body language meant for a person made figuring them out easy, to know if someone was lying to you, planning to hurt you, and a number of other things. Artemis asked what they knew about his sister and Casper was already starting to provide him with just that answer. Of course he had figured out more then what he was saying but he was not going to reveal that. No, there had to be a level of secretes, some mystery. Plus, Casper was the one interested in figuring Lucy out; if her brother wanted to do that than he was going to have to do it on his own.

Casper didn't see the point in explaining something about someone for other people when it was better for them to experience and figure it out on themselves. Artemis was holding his ground, but the brothers could care less if he did or not. They were confident that if it did come to a fight, they would win without their powers. They tried to make sure they didn't use their powers on people when they would fight because that was just asking to land in a lot of trouble. The other boy pointed out that he understood himself perfectly fine. Then there were questions on them being psychologist and about reading him and Lucy.

The brother's just smiled as their response for a moment as they proceed to step closer to the other boy. They still didn't make any moves to touch him, but they were both standing sort of on either side of him, but still directly in front of him. "No one made us anything. We are who we are." The brothers said together. "We are just good at reading people." Casper added right after. "And you are an especially wide open book." Jasper added right after his brother's words.

[Artemis James]

They were trying to get under his skin, and boy, was it working. His heart was thundering a mile a minute against his chest, adrenaline flaring through his body at the anticipation of a fight; Artemis knew he wouldn't stand a chance if they both attacked him, and as angry, anxious and frustrated as he was, he didn't want to get into a fight right now if he could avoid it. he needed to be calm, needed to be collected and think this situation through; The twins were clearly enjoying every moment, playing off each other in quick succession as though they were more a mirrored person then two separate people who just happened to look alike.
They came closer, but Artemis did not move. He remained still, his arms folded, his narrowed, cold, blue eyed stare boring into Casper's own. He was the more dominant of the two... The one who clearly made calculated movements as opposed to impulsive ones commanded by emotion as the other did. They were going on now, trying their best to rile him up further, clearly wanting some sort of physical confrontation. They claimed he was an open book... As much as Artemis wore his heart on his sleeve, and prided himself on being a kind, protective, compassionate person, there was no way either of them could see the potential he held for being exactly like his sister. The steadfast, stubbon nature, and the desire to protect those he cared for had the potential to develop into a far darker drive. Given the same circumstances as Lucy, perhaps he would have even turned out the same. This was something Artemis didn't like to think about.
Right now however, it was more a quick judgement that he needed to calm down and not allow these twins to best him; That and he didn't want to get into a fight unnecessarily... But of course, if either one went for it he would respond accordingly.

"... Am I?" Artemis spoke lowly, lowering his arms now so that they were by his sides; He didn't clench his fists however, instead giving it all he had to present an aura of calm. Lucy knew exactly how to be cruel, how to hurt, and once she had she knew exactly how to twist the knife. For Artemis... Being cruel and vindictive felt unnatural. That didn't mean he didn't have it in him, something he could muster, the same cold attitude Lucy encompassed. It was something to draw upon when he needed to calm down, when an aggressive situation required a different tactic; Although it didn't stop him quivering slightly still with anger. He slowly smiled. "Well, read me all you like boys, I couldn't care less. This is simply how it's going to go... Mess with my sister, I'll come at you harder then you can imagine. But then again, I guess you already knew that and know exactly what I'll do." He then shrugged. "If you know me so well. So you have nothing to worry about, and in which case we're done here, don't you think?"

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

The brothers were pleased at seeing Artemis hold his ground and glare at them, or more so now Casper. It seemed that he had figured out that Casper was the dominate of the twins, and he was also in fact the older sibling as well. They were having fun, that was why they messed with people in the first place. Most of their fun was just done by making a person just think about what they said or how they acted. It was so easy to make people doubt their actions and thoughts if you knew the right things to say and do.

That was what they were doing here and it was working out great at the start, but then things changed. Artemis was acting more like he was calm now, even showing it in his body langue. Oh joy, there fun was coming to an end. By joy, that was sarcasm. They didn't say anything at his first question. The brothers just feel complete silent and even their faces were no longer smiling or smirking over the matter. They only did what they did for the fun of it and if they were getting a good reaction out of it. So if they were not going to get that, then there was nothing left for them to do. "Heh, now that just means we have to do something for you to come at us. Always cute to be threated by someone we could easily shove down into the dirt. Or in this case, the deck." Jasper said as he chuckled a little.

He now had basically dug his own grave for them to be up to doing something to Lucy in order to piss him off. If he kept acting like it was not a big deal and didn't make the threat, then he and Lucy probably would have been fine. Mainly him, because again Lucy was her own woman and the brother had both agreed there was no point in messing with her with how she behaved. "Yeah, we are done." Casper said. With that he and his brother turned around and then started to walk off. There was no point in them hanging out if they were done dealing with the boy, and now they were. They only cared about doing something to his sister now to get at him, that would get the reaction out of him that they desired.

[Artemis James]

Artemis was desperate for this situation to be over and done with; Back in his old school, confrontations generally were easy to navigate through... The other person usually just wanted a fist fight, and that was it. These twins were something different entirely, and although he knew a fight was well within their capability, it struck Artemis as not what they wanted in their end game. No... They wanted to get a reaction out of others, rile them up and see how far they could push people. They relied on their abilities to read others... at least, that's what it seemed to Artemis, from the manner in which they'd insisted they could read him like an open book. He wasn't used to this kind of confrontation, especially from two people at once, but now that he'd worked out that Casper was the dominant of the two, he knew where his actions needed to be directed to.

Artemis's tactic shift however seemed to work, as the pair's smirks fell away and they seemed to be becoming disinterested in him. So their attentions were only focused on those who they gained a reaction they found amusing from; So Artemis kept at it,
remaining calm and as collected as he could be, keeping a small smile on his lips as he blinked at the both of them. He flinched slightly at being referred to as cute again, especially since it was followed up by an indication of violence, but he stayed silent.
He fought back breathing out a sigh of relief when Casper agreed that their talk was done, remaining steadfast in his resolve as they turned and walked away.
He allowed a small breath to escape his lips of relief once they were far enough away, his stance relaxing as though he'd been carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders throughout the entire confrontation. He quickly wiped his bottom lip with the back of his hand, having been aware it had begun to bleed from the force he'd been biting down on it with, glaring fiercely at the back of the twins as though he could physically bore a hole into their skin from his gaze alone. As much as he hoped it was all mouth, he couldn't help but worry that was wouldn't be their last little chat.