Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 374- Taylor


I woke up alone in bed. Huh, Amelia got up early? That never happens. AmusementAnticipation. Uh oh. Why would? Ah, right. Dammit. Sorry, Amelia, you knew you couldn't keep this from secret from me long enough, anyway. ResignationDisappointment.


I got up and immediately took a shower, wondering when exactly it was that I got used to bathing with the Yggdrasil's water supply. I had to admit, the minor adjustments Clarice had Amelia put together for the water's chemical content did wonders for my hair. And hers, too. Like a conditioner built right into the shower. After drying, I briefly glanced at the underlayer for my armor. These days, I tended to wear that instead of normal clothes. I reached over, then stopped. Eh, screw it, this is a day that calls for something special, even if I'd rather skip it. Normal clothing it is, then.


I stepped out in the main area to where my friends and family were gathered to give me a 'surprise'. "Happy birthday!"


I smiled sheepishly, noting the individuals in the room. Amelia, naturally. Then Dad, Missy, Theo, Zach and Emma. I noted a conspicuous absense of Lisa, or for that matter any member of Amelia's family. "Sorry I ruined the s-"


"SURPRISE!" Everyone shouted at once, including one voice from behind that I did not know was there.


"GAH!!!" I stumbled forward as the weight of a body slammed into to be from behind. Arms and legs wrapped around my torso in an inhumanly tight hug. AmusementSuccess.


"What the hell, Clarice!"


She dropped off and ran into the room. "See, told you it'd work! Now pay up." The girl smiled so broadly I half expected the top of her head to fall off as Theo and Missy each kissed one of her cheeks.


Amelia reached over and ruffled her hair. "Okay, fine, you win. You can stay up an extra hour. But I better not hear anything about you being groggy and messing up your work tomorrow."


I stood there, forcing my heartbeat down to something less than that of a hummingbird. I glared at Amelia, she pretended to look ashamed, even pouting a little. Neither of us meant any of it. I started walking toward the group, slowly beginning to smile. "Okay, you got me. I admit it. But just so it's clear, I will have my revenge. I won't tell you what that revenge is going to be, but chances are high that hornets will be involved."


Amelia hugged me, then let me go so Dad could have his turn. "Happy seventeenth birthday, kiddo."


"Just one more to go before we finally get to see you in a dress!" Zach cheered. "Or are you going to be one of those boring lesbians who wear a suit on the wedding day? Because that is totally lame and you should set a better example for your planet."


Wedding? What- Oh fuck, that's right, The Wedding. ConcernApprehensionHurt. No! Oops. I looked over at Amelia. "I just realized we have made exactly zero plans for that. It's always been 'Endbringer' this and 'founding your own nation planet' that. Not enough time to do all the things we have to do, let alone the ones we want."


ReliefGratitudeLove. Amelia smiled nervously. "Well, now that the Endbringers are dealt with, we'll have some spare time. Weddings can't be that hard to figure out compared to a war every month and interplanetary politics, right?"


Dad put his hand on Amelia's shoulder. He'd never removed the other from mine. "Oh girls, I am so sorry."


ConcernSuspicion. Well, that's ominous. "Dad, don't tease like that. We'll be fine and you know it. We don't even need a big ceremony. Immediate friends and family only. I guess we'll have to worry about some cameras, because people are going to want to watch. Yeah, definitely sticking to a small ceremony. Let everyone see that you can have a proper wedding without spending absurd amounts of money." AgreementSupport.


Amelia leaned into me and hugged my arm. "Yeah, I think I like that idea. Something small, quiet, doesn't take a million years to finish. None of that celebrity guest stuff. Vicky's going to hate every second of it."


I smiled down at her. "That's a benefit I hadn't considered."


"You just want it over so you can get to the honeymoon faster." PleasedCaughtEmbarrassed. "Now are you planning on dress or tux? Inquiring minds want to know. Remember, you can wear a tux any time you want, but your wedding dress is a once in a lifetime thing. Or Amelia will kill you."


AmusedAgreement. Amelia's eyes narrowed a little. "Death do us part, right?"


"Not even that." I kissed her forehead and I could feel her happiness as she pulled close to me. "Okay, I think you've sold me on the dress."


A child's voice cut in. "Plus one hundred and fifty relationship points. Also a spillover of twenty points for everyone who has a significant other in the room."


Theo sighed. "Zach, remind me to find a way to thank you for introducing Clarice to dating sims. No, seriously, I mean that. It's like she comes with an instruction manual."


Missy laughed. "It's true, she's basically a living, breathing window into the female psyche. I'm learning things that I never knew I didn't know." She patted Clarice on the head. "Your quirks make you adorable."


Dad gave me a sidelong glance, as if to ask what was going on with them. I simply shrugged, no sense in trying to explain that situation. Dad was too old to really get it anyway. Especially not when trying to talk through gesturing.


Clarice beamed. "That's only worth five points because you've already used it three times this week."


"See. Mix up the compliments and they work better. I did not know it worked that way. But now that it's been said out loud, it all seems so obvious."


RealizationPlayfulness. "Hey, why is it Taylor you're asking about dresses? Maybe I'd like to be the one wearing a tux!"


I squeezed her. "No you don't. Everyone knows it. You're going to need like eighteen people and an antigrav device to help carry your dress."


"Yeah, I know." She nuzzled against my shoulder for a moment, then stepped away to look up at me. "So enough being distracted by stuff that has to wait at least another year." AnticipationHappiness. "Let's talk birthday presents!"


Oh boy, this'll be fun. What are they even going to be able to get me? "Okay, we can do that. What are you getting me?"


She kept smiling. "You get half ownership of a continent."


"How does that count as a present? Don't I already have that."


She scoffed. "It's my eldritch abomination of a weed that made this world habitable. That means I own all of it. You can have half of one continent as a birthday present. I hear good things about Australia. Granted, ours has a significant lack of deadly bugs and spiders, but I'm sure normal Australia will be more than happy to let you take a few species home with you."


"This is going to become a pattern, isn't it? Every year I'm going to get half a continent."


"Pretty much. I have all your birthday presents planned until you're forty four. Isn't that so thoughtful of me? Also, I have something to give you later, but it's not nearly as impressive as half a continent."


"Is it the birthday spankings? Also. That's what he said!"


"Zach, my father is in the room with us."


Dad laughed. "No, that's okay, kiddo. Giving the bosses shit is the hallmark of a healthy work environment, so I'm not allowed to murder him for stupid comments. Unless you start dating him. In which case I'll have to get a few buddies together, tie him up in a burlap sack, and take turns beating him with a tire iron."


"I'll bring the tire iron!" Theo exclaimed.


"Dude, whose side are you on?"


"You mean you can't tell?"


I chuckled. "Uh, eww, Dad. No. Just no. That will never happen." I felt Amelia squeeze me.


Huh, when was it that this became my life? A year ago today I wouldn't have been able to imagine this. Back then, Amelia and I were still just friends, and not even close friends at that. Now we were very much in love. I thought Lisa was the only person that really had my back. Now she wasn't even at my birthday party. We hadn't even fully cemented our political position in Brockton Bay a year ago. And the fact that we had Riley living in the same building as us actually gave me honest to goodness nightmares. As opposed to her jumping on my back to surprise me and it being funny in retrospect.


"I think it's my turn now," Emma offered. Oh, right, and my opinions of Emma a year ago. "I kinda started... well, Zach's ever so subtle questions probably gave it away, but I've designed a wedding dress for you."


SurpriseInterest. I smiled a little. "I think that might be considered Amelia's present more than mine."


"Oh, good, because I drew one up for her, too." Emma pulled up a couple rolled up pieces of poster board. "But you can only look at your own. It's a law."


DisappointmentAnticipation. "I'm pretty sure we make the laws around here." Amelia complained.


Emma tutted like some kind of upper class nanny. "Anticipation and hearts growing fonder. You can get a good look at them later, when they're piled up next to your bed. Uh, sorry about that Mister Hebert."


Dad just put his hand over his face. "It's fine, Emma."


I unfolded the drawing and learned something I didn't know about Emma. She had the same art skills that she did when we were in gradeschool together. From what I could tell, it was supposed to be blue, and backless. And then a train designed like a really long white cape. Maybe. It's also possible I was looking at it upside down and there was supposed to be some kind of parasol. "It's... nice?"


"I promise it'll look amazing by the time I'm done. Honest."


Clarice peaked over Amelia's shoulder. "Umm. I'll help."


Amelia nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, that'd probably be best." She slid her poster back over to Emma and I followed right after.


Emma collected them back. "All of you suck."


Missy spoke up next. "Clarice and I went shopping and found you some nice summer clothes. We made Theo pay for them."


They're all multimillionaires and they still made him... wait, how do they even know my size? Oh, wait. Stupid question. "Thanks, I'm sure they're gorgeous." I opened them up and looked at a few. They were nice, in the darker blues that I had become my default replacement for black. "I might have to stop wearing my underarmor so much."


AnticipationDesire. I glanced over at Amelia. Okay, definitely less armor, more dressup.


Dad lifted up a box, looking more than a little awkward in the process, as if he didn't want to do this. Or at least not in front of everyone. I opened it, to find a series of photographs. Pictures of Mom when she was younger. Mom and Dad together. "After our home was destroyed, I started making some phone calls. Annette and I were both only children, but we had aunts and uncles, some cousins. I got in contact with all of them to find the old family photos and wedding albums. This is everything I can fine. Most of them are copies, you don't have to worry I have a full set of my own. And there's a CD with everything."


I just looked at them silently while he rambled. I'd started to forget what she looked like. The images started to blur, and I realized it was me about to cry. I set down the box and wrapped my arms around my dad. He held on to me. "It's perfect. Thank you so much."


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A/N- Thanks to Research Fail on my part... well, this chapter should have been a few earlier. See, I forgot that Taylor's birthday was in June, not July. So now this is officially a flashback chapter when it wasn't originally planned to be.