Work Text:
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Amelia isn’t wary of the future. As a time traveler, she’s pretty much joyriding this whole thing without much care or thought. If she spends too long actually letting it sit in her brain she might crack like an egg. Therefore, anything substantially what if or could be is shoved out of sight and mind. She’d rather not stress about possibilities and timelines. It’s just better for her that way.
That being said, she wishes her future self would be less cryptic.
The note she receives on her desk is printer paper that’s been folded up neatly. She usually doesn’t care to fold edges that nice. She’s immediately on guard. Unfolding it brings her a prickle of dread.
I caught a fever and I need your help with a case. No contact is needed. I left the details on my desk.
-You
“Great,” Amelia mutters. She flips the note over and finds coordinates to the time she needs to be. She frowns at it. Her future self was at least kind enough to give her a time span of how long it'll likely take. A weekend at the most.
“Well,” She sighs, “Let’s get this over with.”
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Her office hasn’t changed much. When Amelia plants her feet into the future she’s taking in her surroundings for any differences. She’s disappointed and a little relieved to find it relatively the same. There are different fish in the fish tank and there are a few new filing cabinets. Different colored fairy lights are hanging around the room.
The desk is a cluttered mess. Amelia rolls her eyes as she takes a seat and starts rifling through the documents in front of her. A lot of it was research notes. She’s scouring for the file she needs on the case she’s supposed to tackle when the door opens.
Amelia glances up. She’s fully expecting her future self to be standing there, a blanket over her shoulders and her cheeks flushed with fever. Instead, it’s Kiara. Her eyes are wide and there’s a giddy smile painted over her face.
Amelia grows wary of that and says cautiously, “Hi Kiara.”
“Hello,” Kiara says, her voice stiff like she’s trying not to unleash a torrent of emotions. “You’re…past Ame right?”
“Yup.” Amelia pops her lips. This felt awkward. “Future me called in a favor.”
“Oh, yes, she told us. Mhm.” Kiara has that grin on her face that she usually reserves for her cats. It’s one filled with adoration and wonder. It makes Amelia’s skin prickly. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Um, we already know each other.”
“Oh, I know that.” Kiara giggles under her breath. She’s gripping the doorknob like it’s the only thing stopping her from flying across the room. “But I’m a different Kiara, aren’t I?”
Amelia hums, “I mean, I guess. You’re still my Kiara, you're just older.”
She doesn’t know what about that makes Kiara happy, but the phoenix is beaming at her. She’s letting go of the door and trotting her way to the desk. She plants her hands on it and leans forward. Amelia didn’t notice until Kiara was practically leering at her. Her shirt was very loose. Amelia glances away, her throat suddenly dry.
“Uh.” She says eloquently.
Kiara’s smile is full of mischief, “Hi Ame.”
“What are you doing?” Amelia asks. Her voice cracks halfway through.
“I’m just saying hi, I feel like I’m meeting an old friend. A very cute one.” She crouches down until she can place her chin on the desk. From her vantage point, she’s now peering up at Amelia with those molten eyes of hers. Amelia feels like she’s being pierced but she doesn’t know what it is.
“I’m,” Amelia clears her throat, “I’m working on a case, Kiara. I’m gonna be busy. I’m sorry I can’t hang out.”
Kiara coos, “Aw. Did I scare you away? You were always kinda shy like that in the beginning.”
Beginning? Amelia thinks hazily, Beginning of what?
“I’ll leave you be.” Kiara waves her hand back and forth. She’s standing up with a stretch, her shirt riding up as she raises her arms. Amelia avoids looking at the exposed skin. Kiara is still smirking at her. “Actually, before I go, I have something for you.”
“Oh?” Amelia says.
She doesn’t have much time to react as Kiara leans over the desk. She’s cupping Amelia’s face and tilting her head and Amelia’s brain flatlines, it goes up in flames, her head is nothing but smoke. Kiara’s lips touch hers for a fleeting moment. She backs away with a toothy smile.
“Good luck on your case, Ame.” The phoenix says. She’s waving over her shoulder as she leaves the office.
What, is all Amelia can think.
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The next instance is just as horrible.
She’s finally arranged the desk into a modicum of organization. The case she found waiting for her involved a series of thefts, but the notes her future self left her made it seem misleading. A cover up? Amelia was getting invested now. It wasn’t some boring heist to apprehend. This looked promising.
Or it would be promising if she could focus on it.
“You uh,” Amelia pins up another note to the whiteboard, “don’t have to sit in here with me, you know?”
From behind her, she hears a little hum. She looks over her shoulder. In one of the armchairs by the desk is Ina. The priestess had made herself comfortable the moment she brought in tea. Amelia couldn’t turn her down when she brought her a cup too. It was a nice treat after dealing with the mess of her future.
“I like watching you,” Ina says kindly. There’s amusement in her eyes as she takes a sip of tea.
Amelia tries not to squirm. She looks back at the board with all the important notes pinned to it. She tries to focus on the facts and gather the information in her head, but the hairs on the back of her neck are standing up.
Focus! Amelia crosses her arms and glares at the board. It’s just Ina, ignore her.
Hands are winding around her waist. Amelia freezes, her breath caught in her lungs as she feels the other girl hug her from behind. Kiara’s kiss is still floating in her head and burning her lips. The lack of space between her and Ina is short-circuiting her brain.
“Hey, wait,” Amelia sputters.
Ina places her chin on her shoulder. She’s looking at the board thoughtfully as if hugging her from behind wasn’t that big of a deal, “Are the warehouse thefts connected?”
“I, uh, I need, um,” Amelia stutters.
Personal space,
she wants to say. Ina’s thumb is running soothing circles on her hip. Amelia can’t even remember what warehouses Ina is talking about, “I’m not sure.”
“Hmm.” The flaps on Ina’s head twitch. “Let’s start at the beginning. The first theft happened there at the corner store…”
She keeps talking, a low rumble in Amelia’s ear. All of her words fall on deaf ears. Amelia can’t focus at all. She’s lost in this strange, overwhelming feeling. All she can do is stare at the research notes and try not to glance at the pretty girl mere centimeters from her face.
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Gura is a menace.
Amelia already knows that, but some crazy park rangers must have tranqed her with something that made the shark twice as cocky as she is now. She was recovering from Kiara and not at all recovering from Ina. She was sitting back in her chair with her eyes on the desk and the file there but her mind miles away.
That’s how Gura finds her. She doesn’t greet her like a normal person. No, the shark goes on the prowl by crawling under her desk and folding her arms over her knees. A shark grin is aimed up at her.
“Look at you, working hard,” Gura drawls, “I’m so proud of you.”
Amelia stares at her. With Kiara and Ina’s encounters in her head, she’s half tempted to kick Gura and hide behind her chair. She ventures cautiously, “Hey, Gura.”
The shark tilts her head with a hum. Amelia murmurs, “What’s your relationship with…your Ame.”
“Ohhh.” Gura grins with all teeth. “My relationship? Isn’t that spoilers? Shame on you.”
Amelia huffs. Still a little shit. “Kiara and Ina acted weird around me.” She remembers who she’s talking to and glares at her warily, “...You’re not gonna act weird too, are you?”
“Me?” Gura blinks wide eyes at her, “You’re accusing me?”
“Okay.” Amelia says flatly, “My mistake.”
Gura laughs. Her tail is wagging as she moves to stand. There’s not a lot of space to do that between Amelia’s chair and the desk. Amelia is half expecting her to just sit on the desk and ruin her notes. The shark isn’t doing that. Gura is crawling forward and planting herself in Amelia’s lap.
Amelia squeaks. Her hands fly up in alarm. She doesn’t know what to do with them, not when she can feel Gura’s legs around her hips. It doesn’t help at all that she’s bearing down on the detective, her forehead nearly touching hers. Her eyes sparked a dangerous blue. Amelia imagines its likeness to rough seas and storms.
“My relationship,” Gura rasps, “is all about teeth.”
“Teeth?” Amelia echoes. Her voice is just a whisper. Her heart is pounding in her ears.
Gura smirks, showing off each fang as she says, “Yeah. You like my teeth.”
“Uh,” Amelia fumbles to respond, “Uh, that’s not…”
Gura leans forward. She’s nosing at the crook of Amelia’s neck. Amelia goes rigid. The idea of teeth, the very notion of teeth there, it’s driving her pulse wild. Her head is smoking. Push her off, is a stray thought. Her arms do not cooperate. It takes her a moment to realize she’s tilted her head, baring more of her neck. Her skin burns with embarrassment at the realization.
Gura is leaning back looking every bit like the cat that got the canary. She hadn’t even done anything. With smug grace, she’s hopping off Amelia’s lap and sauntering away.
“Have fun with your notes, Watton.” She calls.
Amelia has no words. She buries her face in her hands and screams.
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Calli is her saving grace.
When the reaper appears in the office she’s holding takeout and smoothies. She doesn’t look bothered at all about Amelia’s presence. Amelia, however, is tempted to grab a chair and use it as a shield. She takes the bag of food offered to her with extreme caution.
Calli raises an eyebrow at her, “Everything okay?”
“Just fine.” Amelia sats waspily. “I’m just fine.”
“Doesn’t look that way.” The reaper is making herself at home in one of the armchairs. She’s distracted with her own bag of takeout. “You don’t need to run yourself ragged, okay? I know our Ame asked you to help out but it’d really suck if you got sick too.”
The thoughtfulness of that was so Calli that Amelia relaxed a little. She poked at her food as she muttered, “What do you mean our Ame?”
“Hm?” Calli glances up at her. She’s chewing on some fries as she says, “Well, she’s our Ame. I mean, you’re our Ame too but that’s confusing.”
Amelia softens at that. She can’t be mad when Calli has that earnest expression, “...Thanks, Calli.”
“You’re welcome?” The reaper smiles helplessly, “Kinda comes with being our girlfriend.”
Amelia nods. She’s taking a sip of her smoothie and thinking yeah, being girlfriends makes sense, that explains everything. She pops her lips and sets the drink down. It’s only then, as she stares at her desk, no, not her desk, her future desk, her future girlfriend, does that settle in.
Amelia squeaks. She physically reels from the idea, her hands flying to her chest and the chair shrieking as she jumps back. Calli looks at her with alarm.
“Woah, you okay? Was the drink that bad?”
“Girlfriends!” Amelia yells. She can feel her face burning. “That makes sense! Yeah!”
Calli stares at her. She mutters, “Wait, shit, you didn’t know-”
“Shut up!” Amelia waves her hand at her in the hope she could just bat the reaper away like a fly, “ Actually, reap my soul. I’ll pay you. I’ll give you my fries.”
“No, I'm good.” Calli eats her own fries with amusement, “Sorry to break the news like that. I guess you have something to look forward to?”
Amelia groans. She’s sinking in her chair and looking up at the ceiling miserably. Every interaction is going through her head and lighting a fire in her chest. Now she can’t stop thinking about it. Now, it’s filled her mind and her heart.
Calli points at her food, “You gonna finish that?”
Amelia buries her face in her hands.
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