Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 240- Taylor


CuriosityAmusement. "So, what was that about?" Amelia asked, leaning her head against my shoulder. She'd been in a particularly 'cuddly' mood lately, for whatever reason. I wasn't complaining, although given the nature of this gathering, it might have bordered on too much PDA.


"You know how your sister might be clinically insane?" I teased.


"Which one?" Amelia deadpanned. "And what did she do this time?"


"Well, in about fifteen seconds, she managed to threaten to murder Alexandria, and then invited her to a poker game. In that order." She knew I was talking about Victoria, already. Riley, and for that matter the rest of the kids, were spending their time with their own private party. Riley because she had to, Missy because she preferred to spend time with Riley. Which meant Theo, Trevor, Emma and Zach had managed to bow out of the officially adult party.


ExasperationResignation. "Remind me again why I let her join the team?"


"Eye candy?" I suggested. AmusementAnnoyance. She smiled. I had to admit, it felt good to know we were at the point where we could joke about that. "You don't have to worry, though. Alexandria handled it well enough. Thanks for turning off the Yggdrasil's 'eat all bugs' feature."


"Just don't abuse the privilege too much," she warned. "A girl could get insecure knowing her date is paying attention to everyone at the party except her. Now dish on all the juicy conversations."


"Isn't this a violation of privacy?" I asked.


"It's a party," she countered. "Unless they sneak off to the bathroom together, they can't complain if someone overhears their conversation."


"So... leave Dad and Sarah alone, got it."


"First, eww," Amelia smacked my side lightly. "Second, they're over there talking to Crystal. So you can tell me."

'You'll get to try it out soon enough,' Crystal said to her mom. 'The next upgrade will be ready in a month or so. It's so much better than this one. Three times the battery life, better forcefield augmentation, anti-power features.'

'Isn't this your fifth upgrade?' Sarah asked. 'I thought you said the last one was the limit of the tech.'

'It was, then,' Crystal replied. 'Now it's not. You know how Tinkers get.'​

"Crystal's giving your aunt another hand me down top of the line battle suit."


"Again?" she sighed. "See, this is why I'm glad I'm not part of that conversation. Sounds boring. What else have we got."

'Yours, too, huh?' A woman laughed. I didn't recognize. 'Mine was convinced he'd become a hero ever since he was six.'

'With Vicky it was always Alexandria,' Mark agreed. Is he flirting with her? I couldn't tell, but the woman was definitely flirting with him. 'She spent all of middle school with her hair dyed black.'

'Trevor made me get him that one swimsuit calender Legend was in,' the woman, who I was now assuming was Trevor's mother for all the obvious reasons, leaned in a little closer. 'You know, I bought another one just for me.'

'Vicky had that one, too,' Mark laughed. 'My Amy said it was tacky. Guess I know why, now.'

'You can always spot the ones who'll turn out like that early,' the woman replied. 'She's not wrong, though. It was definitely tacky.'​

"Your mom's talking business again," I offered. No way in hell am I telling her about her dad flirting with Trevor's mom.


"Who's her victim this time?"


"Mister Barnes," I informed.


"Well, that's not so bad," she replied. "I'll remember to avoid them like the plague."


I found myself agreeing with her fully. Emma's parents were not on my list of favorite people. I still remembered how her dad functionally blackmailed mine. The asshole still hadn't even offered an apology. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't even realize what he did was wrong. Lucky us, he was a divorce lawyer. Saved me the awkwardness of telling him to go try to shove a stick up Leviathan's ass. Of course, it also cost me the satisfaction of doing that very thing. I'd have to settle for the fact that Emma avoided him almost as much as I did.


My thoughts must have bled into the link, because Amelia gave me an extra tight hug. "Hey, am I going to have to distract you? I can always drag you back to our room until dinner starts. In fact, I might just do that anyway."


I poked her nose. "You do realize I'm under aged, right?"


"Excuses, excuses," she sighed. "I could just drag you over to Avalon. No laws there at all. Or are you going to pull the 'waiting until marriage' line, because at this rate..." she trailed off, not mentioning the elephant in our room. There were now two Endbringers we didn't know how to kill. And at least three more coming that we knew nothing about, but were probably just as hard to kill. Trading their offensive potential for even greater defensive power, the way Barghest and Khonsu had been built.


"Speaking of," I changed the subject. "Lily's postponing hers indefinitely. We have to worry about that."


"Good," Amelia insisted. "I know it might cost us our colony plans, but we can make up for that other ways. Open invitation to all refugees is a start. But forcing her into a marriage she doesn't want. Even if it was her idea. I won't-"

'I was beginning to worry you wouldn't show up,' Lisa spoke to Alexandria.

'Can't allow myself to appear over eager,' the woman answered easily. 'I hope I'm not interrupting your conversation, Miss Alcott.'

'That's quite alright,' the little girl replied. 'We weren't discussing anything of consequence.' 'And I should make my rounds. Networking is an unfortunately necessary part of the job.'​

I still didn't like how adult she felt the need to act. WorryHorrorLoss. My attention snapped back to Amelia. "Oh god, Taylor," she muttered. GuiltFear. "I didn't mean. I know our engagement is. You don't have to if you don't want, you know I'd never expect-"


I put a hand over her mouth. "That's not the problem," I insisted.


"Mmmph mp?" ConfusionHope.


"No," I insisted. "I was just listening in on Dinah talking to Lisa and Alexandria."


"Mmm," ReliefHumiliation. I let my hand off her mouth. "Sorry, there was just this weird combination of nostalgia, regret, and obligation. I thought, given the subject. I am such an idiot sometimes."


"Hey," I turned toward her and rested my forehead on hers. "Listen to me. There are a lot of things I regret. Things I'd do differently if given the opportunity. You are not one of those things. Except the part with the bank. And unless you want to watch me cry, don't mention ending our engagement again, okay?"


ConcernJoyAgreementLove. "Okay," she agreed.


"Now, say hello to Dinah," I instructed her as I broke our impromptu huddle.


"Hi, Dinah," Amelia spoke as she turned away from me and toward Dinah.


"I was about to leave, actually," she spoke up. "I wouldn't want to intrude on a private moment."


"Don't worry about it," Amelia replied, her emotions smoothed and her voice relaxed. "Taylor and I can talk whenever we like."


"We probably should spend more time with our guests," I admitted reluctantly. I still wasn't fond of socializing. "There was a reason we invited all these people, after all. And it wasn't so they could eat all our food."


"Very well," Dinah agreed. "I just wanted to thank you for your help. It's come to my attention that I'm too... aloof... of late, and I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate everything you've done for me. The numbers are looking better every day, lately."


How long have I wanted to hear those words? Amelia squeezed my hand as my emotional surge hit her. I smiled. "Thank you, that means a lot," I insisted.


"I'd also like to thank the girl who made my gryphon," Dinah requested.


ConcernHesitation. "That was..."


"Please don't lie to me," Dinah replied. "By virtue of my interactions with Lisa, I'm aware of a great deal of information, and as often as you call on my power for your needs, I've picked up a few other details. Spare me the literal headache of doing this the hard way."


WorryResignation. "Well, I think she's got us," Amelia admitted.


"I'll take you to them," I offered. "So, how long have you known?" I asked her as I broke my hand hold with Amelia and guided the girl toward the labs.


"Approximately a day and a half before you released me from Coil's custody," she informed me.


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A/N- I decided to use a similar technique to the TV thing for Taylor's 'bug senses'. Lemme know what you think.