Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Nice try, stinky.”

Gura’s face scrunches up in irritation at the screen in front of her. “Stupid five frame… it should not have that much range.”

“Oh absolutely.” Amelia agrees cheerfully. “But if it’s there, I’m going to abuse the hell out of it.”

Gura grumbles under her breath and fishes out another coin from her pocket. “Let’s go again. I’m not losing to that bullshit.”

“The last five matches say otherwise.”

“Shut up Watson. I’ve got a plan this time.”

Gura shoves in another coin and chooses her character (same as the last five times) and Amelia prepares to abuse her frame five bullshit for yet another round.

“So, uh…” Gura says, hammering on her buttons. She eats an anti-air and bares her teeth. “Kiara’s rebirthday is in a week.”

“I remember.” Amelia fails to extend her combo and clicks her tongue. At least she’s got Gura into a corner.

“She decided where we’re having the party.” Gura continues.

“Oh?” Amelia frowns as Gura lands a timely counter, getting a nice chunk of damage off the combo, though it uses most of her meter. “Where?”

“Our place.”

“Huh, I thought she’d want somewhere more fancy.”

“Me too.” Gura says. She tries to go in for the kill, but Amelia spaces her out with that stupid five frame poke. “Aww, you bitch .”

“Ah-ha.” Amelia grins. “Waiting for your big plan Gura. Where is it?”

Gura grumbles and tosses out her projectile a few times, backing further and further away as Amelia slowly approaches. “We’re going to be busy all day though. I’m taking her on a morning walk and breakfast at this real nice breakfast place, Calli is doing lunch and a movie, and then Ina found this phoenix-centered museum display over in Egypt that she’s going to portal them over to see.”

Amelia has backed Gura into a corner again, and continues to chip away at Gura’s dwindling health bar.

“They should be back around five. We want the actual party to be ready by then. I’m going to handle most of the set-up once we’ve done our morning walk, and Calli will help after the movie.”

“You? Setting up a party?” Amelia asks incredulously.

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Gura huffs. “I’m not incompetent at everything, Watson.”

“I guess as long as it doesn’t involve math…”

“Hey!”

“Are there going to be decorations? Are you even tall enough to get them up?”

Gura’s tail swats Amelia on the back of the leg, causing Amelia to fumble an input. Gura instantly uses a special and smashes through Amelia’s remaining health bar.

Amelia squints at the atlantean. “Cheater.”

Gura sticks out her tongue. She steps away from the arcade console, making the wise choice of quitting while she’s ahead (‘ahead’ relatively speaking; she lost five to one). “I’ll do fine. It’s mostly just getting all the food sorted after catering arrives and dragging a few extra tables up.”

Amelia raises an eyebrow. “You’re getting catering for a five person party?”

“You’ve seen me eat. Kiara can pack it down too.” Gura chuckles. “Perks of being mythical creatures I guess.”

“Or you’re just gluttons.” Amelia quips.

Gura ignores her. “Besides, Kiara is the best cook, there’s no point in the rest of us cooking anything but the cake. She’d hate to know we’re working on her rebirthday anyways.”

Huh, Amelia would have thought Kiara would be overjoyed at others putting in effort for her. Shows how much she knows. Six months isn’t nearly enough to know Kiara, or any of the girls, fully.

“Are you going to need help dealing with catering?”

“Nah. Ain’t the first time.” Gura says. “Besides, don’t tell me you don’t have any plans for Kiara.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a nice four hour gap between the end of my walk and when she’s meeting up with Calli for lunch.” Gura grins. “Don’t tell me you planned on doing nothing for her.”

“I assumed you guys would take up all her time.” Amelia says bluntly. “I know how much Kiara likes company.”

“You’re company.”

“I guess I am.” She still thinks Kiara would probably prefer the company of the people she’s known for millennia over the random human she met a few months ago, but if she’s going to have free time anyways… “I better think of something then.”

“Yup.”

The hardest part is going to be finding something to do with Kiara on her shoestring budget, and that’s doubly hard because Kiara has rather rich tastes based on what Amelia has seen of her. If Amelia recalls correctly, she owns some sort of restaurant. It was hard enough (and expensive enough) finding a gift for the phoenix, but now she has to manage this.

“If you need help, just ask.”

“What sort of friend would I be if I can’t even find a way to entertain her for a few hours?” Amelia asks with a grin. “I’ll manage.”

She might need to take on some extra cases to pay for it though.

###

“Sorry I’m late.” Amelia says, dropping heavily into the chair across from Ina. “I put in your usual order.”

“I still don’t understand how a time traveler is capable of being late.” Ina chuckles.

“I’m strict about how I use time travel.” Amelia shrugs. “I need some boundaries or things can get messy.”

“Mmm.” Ina nods in understanding. “Did you bring the goods?”

“This is a book exchange, not a drug deal Ina.”

“Knowledge is a drug.”

“Ina, I know for a fact I have a shitty romance novel in my backpack, and half the time you bring books that read like the screenplay of a B-grade horror flick. I refuse to count that as ‘knowledge’.”

“You learn more from failures than successes.”

“Oh, is that your justification now?” Amelia chuckles. She digs her book out of her backpack and slides it across the table. “Well here’s your fix then.”

“Much obliged.” Ina daintily plucks the books off the table, and then returns the favor with a book of her own. It is indeed another bad horror novel.

“Where do you find these things Ina?” Amelia asks in fond exasperation as she reads the back of the book’s cover.

“Indonesia.” Ina smiles serenely. “This time at least.”

“Do you have a spell that lets you detect mediocre horror books?”

“Not quite. Priestess trade secret.” Ina says while tapping the side of her nose with a slim finger. “Need-to-know basis.”

Amelia rolls her eyes and puts the book away. “Sure, sure.”

Their food is delivered not long after, and Ina squints. “Amelia.”

“Hmm?”

“Did you eat already today?”

“No, why?”

“That’s not a meal.”

“What? Don’t like muffins?”

“It’s smaller than a tennis ball.”

“And?”

“You should really eat more.”

Amelia would like too, but she needs to save money. How else is she going to pay to bring Kiara somewhere? “Aww c’mon, can’t a girl diet a little?”

The priestess silently arches an eyebrow.

Amelia smiles back, and Ina’s cool eyes bore into the detective. They have a staring contest for a minute, and Amelia starts sweating when Ina’s expression doesn’t shift in the slightest. It occurs to her that she’s not going to win a test of patience against someone who can and has spent entire years meditating in the past.

“...if I get a second muffin, will that satisfy you?” Amelia ventures.

Ina’s expression flattens, and Amelia cringes.

“Look, it’s really not a big deal, it’s just for a bit.” She says, making a soothing gesture with her hands. “Just a few days.”

“Ame.” Ina’s voice sounds exasperated. “Is this about the party?”

Amelia tries not to flinch. How did Ina figure that out? “What makes you say that?”

“Don’t dance around the question.” Ina says. “Gura got the impression you were tight on money from your last conversation.”

That talk at the arcade happened only an hour ago. Did Gura warn Ina about this specifically? Since when was Gura that sharp? If only she hadn’t said ‘I’ll manage’, Gura probably wouldn’t have thought twice.

“Ame, is that true?”

“Maybe.” Amelia admits reluctantly. “Look, I just need a bit of extra cash, alright? Just a bit. A few dollars. Well, a few dozen. Maybe a hundred.”

“That’s expensive. What are you planning?”

“I have no idea!” Amelia groans. “I don’t know Kiara, not really, and Gura and Calli have taken the obviously good ideas. A walk, a movie… what else is there for me to do? Kiara has rich tastes, and I don’t have money.”

“Mmm, not quite. Kiara is rich, and she has no problem flaunting that money.” Ina murmurs. She waves down a server, gestures to something on the menu and then points at Amelia. The server nods and moves off, and Ina continues speaking. “But as you pointed out, Gura is going on a walk with her, and Calli is taking her to a regular old movie theater. Is that ‘rich’?”

Amelia can already see where this is going. “No.”

“So, don’t worry about it.” Ina murmurs. “Kiara likes spending money on people close to her. Her own tastes are mostly independent of that.”

“Oh.” Amelia blinks, feeling supremely foolish. “Well shit.”

“Don’t worry about it too much.” Ina says gently. “Just do whatever you usually do and Kiara will be happy.”

“Usually Kiara interrupts my work and drags me to some hideously expensive restaurant or show and I spend half the time worried about having to pay for it.”

A tender smile crosses Ina’s face. “That does sound like Kiara.”

“What am I supposed to do then?” Amelia groans.

“Do something funny.” Ina suggests. “The rest of us are doing something ‘serious’, so something strange might work.”

“Hmm.” Amelia scratches her chin. “I… yeah, I can think of something like that.” A grin creeps across her face. “I can definitely think of something.”

“Good.” Ina says. Another plate is brought to their table with a much more substantial meal on it and placed in front of Amelia. “Now please eat properly. I’m paying.”

“But-”

“I insist . ”

One does not simply argue with a priestess, so Amelia ducks her head and eats.

###

“And here, in this shadowed night, in the depths of London’s deepest, darkest, backest alleys, we see The Mori enacting her fated purpose…”

“Dude, you can just say ‘Hi’ like a normal person.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?”

Calli shakes her head, letting out an annoyed sigh- it gives Ame enough of a pause that the smarmy grin on her face fades just a little. 

“A-anyways, thanks for meeting up on such short notice, I just… needed a little advice.”

Rather than respond, Calli just quirked an eyebrow, motioning for Ame to walk with her as they spoke. To be fair, she was being just a little over dramatic- they were just in a side alcove, so the reaper could portal over without worrying about being seen. But what good detective didn’t have a proper sense of drama- how else could you get a good monologue going?

“This about Wawa?”

She’d say something about it being “that obvious”, but it was pretty clear the reaper was already annoyed enough with her antics for today.

“Yeah- I just figured- well, you’ve known her the longest, right?”

Calli slowly nodded at that, relaxing a little and shoving her hands into the pockets of her hoodie as she led Amelia on.

“Yeah, but c’mon Ame, you’re a detective, right? Isn’t intuition part of the whole-” She waved her hand around in Ame’s general direction, “-thing?”

“There’s intuition, and then there’s using the resources at my disposal. Like, say, the person that’s known her for literal centuries.” Ame quips back. “...unless you’re telling me you don’t know what Kiara likes?”

“Yeah, yeah, hardy-har, I get it. Ya gremlin.” Calli rolled her eyes. “But real talk- you just gotta trust your gut here, Watson. Kiara will know if it’s not from the heart. Like you said, I’ve known her for centuries- she’ll smell a plan that’s even got a whiff of ‘That’s what Calli would do’ in it.”

Well, drat. There goes the easy solution, but she should have figured that in the first place. Calli is familiar with Kiara, but that means Kiara is familiar with Calli. Anything suggested by her will be a dead giveaway. Baelz, why was this so hard? She should be able to figure this out on her own, Calli was right-

“Dude, you’re gonna rip off your nail at this rate, it’s not that big a deal!”

“ A big enough deal to have a catered party though. ”

Calli was suddenly in front of her, her usual disinterested frown replaced with concern as she leaned down to look Ame in the eye.

“It’s just a rebirthday, she’s had literally hundreds at the point, just take her someplace you’d want to go. I mean-” Calli paused, frowning a bit as she broke eye contact, struggling just a tad with this whole ‘heart to heart’ kind of talk. “-that’s what she cares about, yeah?”

Amelia wishes she could say that was a helpful suggestion, but ‘someplace she’d want to go’ usually just meant home, or her uncle’s, or the little restaurant where she and Ina share lunch once a week and exchange books. She can’t even do that last one, because the others already have the meal portions of the day planned!

But it was still the most concrete suggestion she’d gotten so far. ‘Take her somewhere’ was something to work with at least.

…Unless… maybe it didn’t have to be some where …

Her hand twitches towards her coat pocket automatically- she did have one thing that the others couldn’t offer.

“ This totally counts as responsible use, right? I can figure out the loop beforehand, make sure nothing happens that’s not supposed to… ”

Better yet, it was free , and she can’t really argue with that. Ame takes a deep breath before finally meeting Calli’s eyes again.

“Calli, you’re a genius.”

The reaper blinks, straightening up as she stammers.

“Uh- well, you’re welcome? I guess?”

“The Mori’s fated purpose… giver of advice for birthday gifts…” Ame intones solemnly.

Calli lets out a groan. “And now we’re back on that.”

Ame responds with a cackle, patting Calli on the shoulder as she finds renewed pep in her step, leaving the reaper in her wake. “Aww, c’mon Calli, live a little. ”

Calli’s eyes narrow. “You got that from Ina, didn’t you?”

“...no.”

Calli continues to glare.

“It was from a movie.”

“I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse.” Calli grumbles. As Ame made to continue forward, Calli put a hand on her shoulder.

“Quid pro quo, Watson.”

Ah… right. Yeah, that was fair. She did sort of drag Calli out for basically nothing-

“It’s like ass o’clock at night, dude.”

…uh-oh.

“I… am working on a case?” She offers weakly.

“Uh-huh.” Calli nods, an obvious note of sarcasm in her voice. “...which is why you stopped working on your case just to call me to talk with you, right?”

Shit.

“I needed a break, that’s all.”

“Hmm…” Calli is clearly unimpressed. “A break, huh. Implying you’ve been out here for multiple hours already?”

She’s just making this worse, isn’t she? The sigh of disappointment from Calli feels somehow worse than actively ticking her off earlier.

“Watson.”

She tries to catch Ame’s gaze again, giving up as Ame refuses to meet her eyes.

“Just… listen, I’ve had to deal with more than enough souls burning out by lighting up both ends of the candle, alright? I’d rather not have you on my list; can’t take Kiara out on some ‘super amazing’ rebirthday date if you kick the bucket, got it?”

“...fine.” She can just jump back to this point of the night after getting some sleep anyways. Calli can’t fault her for that, right?

Chapter Text

Ame nervously bounces on the heels of her feet, waiting near the park Gura was taking Kiara to for her part of today’s rebirthday plans. It’s an honest to Baelz miracle she got the okay for a personal jump so far back.

She’d be suspicious, if her opinions on most of the Council weren’t already deflated by meeting them in-person enough to be on a first name basis with the First Real Thing. The fact that the Warden was rather blasé with her domain was just part and parcel by this point.

(Well, her exact words were: “As long as you don’t mess things up any more than you usually do” but that’s just Kronii being Kronii.)

The park is nice in an objective sort of way, but that does nothing for her nerves. The soft rustle of grass and leaves and the occasional shifting of the light through the branches only makes her jump, constantly expecting every little sound or light to be the rebirthday girl finally arriving. Her senses strain for any sign of Kiara. The telltale laugh, the bright hair, or maybe Gura’s voice accompanying her.

She was at the right park, right? She’d checked the directions on her phone at least eight times- nine, now that she had unlocked the device to read through her text history with Gura again. No, yeah, this was the right spot.

But what if she was at the wrong entrance? Maybe Kiara would miss her? Should she be making rounds? This is the nearest entrance, but what if Kiara takes a roundabout path?

Amelia shakes her head. No. No. She’s overreacting. It’ll be fine. She’s met up with Kiara plenty of times… and it’s not like Kiara doesn’t have a phone. If they miss each other, Kiara will just text, she sounded so excited when she messaged her about meeting up today!

…Which, admittedly, was over a completely silent medium. Easy enough to fake tones- she’d gone through enough text chains for clients hiring her out to find out if their spouses were cheating on them, or if their kids were getting involved with the wrong crowd to know how easy it is to lie in such a way.

Maybe she was right. Maybe it would have been better to just let Kiara hang out with her closer friends-

“AME!!!”

That line of thought was tackled- alongside herself- by a blur of orange and teal. She would have fallen to the ground easily, if not for the fact that Kiara is as strong as she is enthusiastic and is more focused on hugging than a handegg takedown.

Still, it was more than a little disorienting to find herself being spun like a dang Ghibli character; but she couldn’t help but laugh as Kiara squealed in delight.

“Cut it out, I don’t wanna yak on ya on your rebirthday!”

Kiara pouts, hesitant to let her go, but Ame soon finds herself on her own feet, Kiara looping her arm around Ame’s as a compromise. 

In her second miracle managed for today, Ame manages not to blush too much at that. Kiara was just… touchy.

Seconds later, Gura catches up with them, huffing a little from trying to keep up with the energetic phoenix.

“Oh, so you’re on time for Kiara, but you’re ‘fashionably late’ for arcade night, I see how it is stinko.”

Ame sticks her tongue out at Gura, winking, “Can’t keep a pretty lady waiting, now can I?”

Gura scoffs, elbowing her in the side before earning a hair ruffle from Ame, with Kiara laughing at the display.

“Oh, come now- you two can play nice on my rebirthday, right?”

Ame rolls her eyes, and Gura huffs before responding with a “Yes, dear, ” absolutely dripping with sarcasm… and then promptly smacks the back of Ame’s leg with her tail. 

“Of course, Honey. ” Ame adds with equal sarcasm, and responds with a quick kick to the shin that has Gura uttering a muffled curse.

In spite of the continued aggression, something almost seems to sparkle in Kiara’s eye, before she squeezes Ame into a brief, yet tight, hug.

“So, Gooba says you’ve got something planned?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll scram- try to have her back by noon, Ame!” Gura said, ducking away from the pair of them with one of those ‘I’ve got my eye on you’ motions.

“Yes Mom .” Ame calls after her, and Gura gags. “It’s not like I can time travel or anything!”

“NoT liKE I caN tiMe trAveL.” Gura mocks in a high-pitched voice. Despite that, Ame can see the way her tail wags as she walks away.

Kiara leans against Ame. “Sooo, where are we going, then?”

Ame grins, snickering a little as she slips a hand into the pocket of her coat.

“Not where- but when !”

She had practiced that line all morning- and the giggle that got out of Kiara made every second of rehearsal worth it. Yeah, it was corny- and yeah, it was a very obvious line in hindsight for a time traveler- but still, mission accomplished! She got Kiara to laugh.

Amelia doesn’t waste her moment. With a flourish and a wink she clicks the button on her watch and initiates the jump. The cold shock of time travel is slightly offset by the passive heat that radiates off Kiara at all times; though the fact that it can punch through the chill of the timestream is a testament to the phoenix’s power.

“If I ever have to worry about the heating bill during the middle of winter, maybe I’ll just invite the girls over or something.”

Or rather, Ame would like to think something so clever, but the rush of traveling through centuries of time didn’t leave much room for extra thought. Still, it’s her brain; who’s going to say she didn’t have time to think about that, huh? She’s not telling.

The end of the jump, as always, feels like missing a step on the stairs but somehow landing on the next one after. It’s awkward and makes her stomach jump even after all this time, but it’s not horrible once you’re used to it.

She’s more worried about how Kiara will take it. A first time jump, especially over such a long time period, can be… nauseating.

“ Oh Baelz I better not make Kiara throw up on her rebirthday. Gura will never let me live it- ”

There was an awful retching noise to Ame’s left, and she grimaced.

“...Down.”

“Th-That…” Kiara gasps after emptying her stomach. “I hope that wasn’t my present.”

“No, no! Of course not.” Amelia says frantically. She fumbles through her pocket for a tissue or handkerchief or something and comes up with a few wipes she usually uses for taking material samples. Good enough she supposes. Kiara takes them, gratefully, and quickly cleans up around her mouth.

She pauses mid-wipe, blinking as her eyes go wide, taking in the sights of the new scene around them- distant mountains to one side, rocky coasts to the other, and the distinctly Italian architecture of a thriving renaissance era city dotting their view.

Ame, on the other hand, is too busy looking for some drinkable water so Kiara can get the taste out of her mouth. It’s not like she hasn’t seen this before anyhow. Unfortunately, the 1400s aren’t exactly known for their plentiful water fountains to drink out of- or, clean water in general, really. Ame made that mistake enough times at this point- perhaps a tavern with some really weak ale…

“Holy shit, are we in Milan?”

Snapping out of her thoughts, Ame turned to Kiara, who was staring out at the city with delight sparkling in her warm pink eyes, her previous ailment already forgotten. Well, if it was good enough for Kiara, then it should be good enough for her, right? She felt a smile creep its way onto her face- Baelz, when was the last time she actually got excited about time traveling?

“Welcome to the Renaissance, Kiara. I’m sure you’ve probably got some fun stories from around this time, yeah?”

“Not as many as I might wish. I only remember so much.” Kiara says breathlessly. She turns in place, casting her gaze at the dim city lights and the setting sun casting a long, warm, orange glow over the city. “Though if every night looked like this, I certainly want to remember more.”

“Welp.” Ame said, popping the ‘p’ at the end of that, “That just means this is gonna be extra surprising then!”

She turned to Ame, eyebrows shooting up. “You’re telling me there’s more to this than just a day trip to freaking Italy?”

“Plans within plans, wheels within wheels, all the irons in all the fires.” Ame snickers a little, nodding for Kiara to follow. “C’mon, we’re burning daylight! We’re on a schedule here!”

“We are?”

“Oh just come!” Ame grabs her hand and tugs her along. She can’t risk saying more without giving the secret away.

…not that she knew it was a secret until, like, ten seconds ago, but still. She’ll take the opportunities that are presented to her.

It’s not too far of a walk to get to the city proper, but still long enough that Kiara spends most of it wondering at the coastal view. After a few moments, she turns to Ame.

“So… you travel like that all the time?”

The detective nods.

“And I’ve never seen you lose your cookies like that before.”

Ame grimaces. “Can we… not bring that up? Especially in front of Gura, maybe?”

“No, no!” Kiara waves her hands. “It’s not like that- I’m just impressed! You’re pretty tough, Ame!”

“Eh, I’m just used to it.” She may or may not tend to… gloss over certain less flattering elements of her initial forays into time travel.

Kiara grins, sidling up close to her as they walk.

“My tough, strong, dependable detective~! Reminds me of myself, back during the landsknecht days.” Kiara let out a sigh, staring off towards the setting sun “Maybe I should get back into some of that training, I kind of miss it you know.”

“Well, I’m no slouch in a fight, if you ever need a sparring partner.” Ame said, shrugging before Kiara let out a delighted squeal and brought Ame into another hug.

“Well now I have to get back into it, don’t I?” The phoenix says teasingly, staring directly down at the detective. It’s a rather intense look considering their faces are only a few inches apart at the moment.

“Air!” Ame taps at Kiara’s arm, only a little dramatically, before she’s set down again. The mixture of relief and disappointment dancing in her stomach is quickly pushed aside.

They weave through the streets and alleys of the city with relative ease. Their outfits stand out rather starkly, but most people are in too much of a rush to get home (or to the bar) to pay them all that much mind.

“I’ve never worn a… I guess they’re robes? Dresses?” Ame mumbles, nodding her head toward a pair of women walking by them dressed in reddish robe/dress things that go down to their ankles. “Doesn’t fit in that well nowadays. Have you?”

“Robes are for the clergy, liebling.” Kiara teases. “They’re just dresses- or gowns, if you want to get technical. Though…”

She thinks for a moment, humming. “I imagine I must have.” Kiara muses, drumming her fingers on Ame’s arm. “I made a point to try most things at least once, and I remember the terms. Though I think I spent a lot more time during this era earning coin through mercenary work.”

“So… more of an armored bikini gal then, huh?”

Kiara cackles at that, the shaking of her body pulling Ame side to side a little. “You little shit! No, it was like- you know! Poofy landsknecht stuff! With the big hats!” 

“Ah yes.” Ame nods sagely. “Landshits, with big hats.”

Kiara sticks her tongue out at Ame, who returns fire with a pair of birds added into the mix. They pull up around a corner, and Ame stops them.

“Oh damn, we’re here already. It’s almost like someone planned our route or something.” Amelia says, letting a tiny bit of smugness enter her voice.

“You’re as impressive as always.” Kiara says, albeit without the hint of sarcasm that Ame was expecting. The blush that creeps onto her cheeks is entirely unexpected and throws her composure off for a moment- bluh, focus! She’d smack her cheeks a little if she weren’t in front of anyone.

Before them was a building that, at first glance, doesn’t appear much different from most of the other shops and places of residence- clay brick and red tiled roof fitting in with the general aesthetic. Through a few windows, covered over in creeping vines, the inside seemed to house a studio, with paintings drying on easels and a few sculptures in the middle of being carved.

Kiara presses her face to the window, knitting her brows together.

“... Ame, is that ‘The Last Supper’ covered up in the corner there?”

“Who do I look like, Ina?”

Kiara whips around, staring at Ame with an expression halfway between shock and disbelief.

“Ame!” Kiara whisper-shouts at her.

“C’mon, that’s not even the cool part of the tour yet!” Ame whisper-shouts right back, slipping her hand into Kiara’s and dragging them around the side. A trellis overgrown with plantlife stuck out from the side of the building, and Ame slips a foot into one of the holes, beginning to climb.

Kiara is quick to follow. Ame can feel her heart pick up the pace- whether from the impromptu bouldering session, or from the excitement of the trip, she couldn’t be sure. This was the extent of her planning for the trip. From here on out, they’d BOTH get to see what she had planned for the first time (or, well, the first time that Kiara remembered).

Reaching the top, Ame peeks over the edge, just to make sure they were at the right window, before gesturing forth.

“Behold- ‘The Venus of Mil’-”

Ame’s voice squeaks mid-sentence, eyes bugging out a little as the scene before her finally registers. Just as she thought, there was Kiara- Past Kiara, if you will- lounging on a couch as the Renaissance Man himself put brush to page. Ame had looked up the painting beforehand, noting the resemblance to her phoenix friend, and figured that she would have been just as covered as the final product had been.

“Oh wow, my tits look great.”

Ame can’t even speak. Hell, it takes every iota of effort she has to look away (and a LOT of mental screaming at herself), and she was fairly certain her face is just going to be permanently red from now on.

Kiara, after giving a low wolf-whistle at seeing her ‘younger’ self, finally notices Ame’s distress.

“Not impressed?” Kiara teases. Ame manages a glare.

“I didn’t know you’d be in your friggin’ birthday suit, the final picture is more… t-tasteful!”

The grin on Kiara’s face only grows bigger. “I fail to see how that’s an issue! We get to see the original painting! Aren’t detectives all about hidden knowledge?”

Ame would retort if she weren’t busy choking on her own spit. Taking her silence as permission to continue, Kiara leans closer, her voice dropping into a low whisper.

“If you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask, Ame~”

Yep. Yeah, that was it. Ame’s grip on the trellis slackened, and for a split second she felt herself in freefall. The yelp has barely escaped her mouth when she’s jolted to a stop; caught by an iron grip on her shirt.

Kiara, her other hand still on the trellis, holds Ame’s entire weight in her left hand. With careful movements (smooth, with no hint of shaking or weakness) Ame is moved back to the trellis where she fumbles for a few seconds before finding her grip again.

“Trying to flee on my rebirthday? I’m hurt.” Kiara taunts lightly while nudging Ame with her hip. “What would Gura think if she knew you tried to abandon me in Milan?”

Any witty retort Ame could think of died before it could reach her tongue.

“Let’s just- can we drop this too, please?”

Kiara doesn’t directly respond, but her gentle hum is affirmation alone. “Shall we leave then? I’ve gotten quite the eyeful myself. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting any time soon.”

Thank Baelz. Climbing back down is easy enough, and Ame manages to hop off and tuck into a roll. Eat your heart out, Ezio. Kiara’s three-point landing is equally impressive, if only because Ame can’t imagine what that would do to human joints.

They step out of the alley, and Kiara loops her arm around Ame’s

“You know, I think I actually remember a pretty decent tavern near here- and for some reason I feel like I could go for a bite to eat right about now.”

“I can’t spoil you for lunch! Calli will kill me!”

“She’s on hiatus, Ame.”

“Still.” Ame turns out her coat pockets. “Do you have any renaissance era money on you?”

Kiara hums for a moment, before sighing.

“No. Eh, agriculture was kind of shit during this age anyhow. You ever see what tomatoes looked like back then- or, well, right now technically?”

“Once or twice.” Ame shrugged, her flats clicking against the cobbled road. “I can always land us near a cafe or something when we head back to the present, treat you to a coffee or something?”

“Deal, but only if it’s my treat, okay?”

Ame’s eyes narrow at that. Dammit, Gura! A sigh escapes her.

“I’m never being allowed to pay for anything when I hang out with your girls ever again, huh?”

“More or less.”

“Damn, blunt much?” Ame shoves her hands into her pockets, blowing an annoying patch of her bangs out of her face. “I’m not destitute or anything, just haven’t gotten any good cases in a little bit! Detective work comes and goes, I’m fine .”

“I’m sure you are.” Kiara says sweetly. “And when you can pay for things without skimping on lunch, then we’ll see about changing the standard, hmm?”

“...remind me to ask Calli to yeet Gura at some point.”

Chapter Text

Hours-slash-centuries later, after Ame dropped Kiara off to get lunch with Calli, the detective found herself once again with the woman of the hour as she parked out in front of her flat. The sun was low, matching the evening light of Milan earlier in the day.

Ame’s stomach lurched a little at the sight of her ride; objectively, she knows Kiara has money to spare. She’s a CEO, she’s got a whole fast-food chain she runs, corporations feed off the back of their employees, etc. etc.

But the sleek, radiant sports car purring just outside her somewhat run-down apartment block was still a bit of a shocking reminder, and more than a little out of place.

Kiara twirled her keys around her finger, grinning.

“You ready?”

“Uh- yeah. Yep, uhuh.” Ame responded like the well-composed and not at all dumbfounded detective she is. “That car probably cost more money than I’ve ever seen in my life, combined.”

She was almost afraid to get in, lest she accidentally scuff the leather upholstery with her shoes or something. She was only slightly reassured by the sight of a bit of garbage in a cup holder. KFP, of course. At least she didn’t need to worry about the car being kept absolutely spotless .

“You’ve got your license, right?”

Ame’s hand stilled, hovering just by the handle.

“Yeah?”

Kiara tossed her the keys, jumping into the passenger side seat.

“Give her a spin! I’ll pull up the map, so don’t worry about it!”

That… was insane. That was an insane suggestion. Is this a prank? Is there a camera? Is she being punked, or given a test or something here?

She cannot afford to get a scratch on this car’s paint. It’s been too long since she’s actually driven somewhere. Usually she can just walk, or take public transit. She had the bus routes memorized at this point.

Still, it would be rude to turn down the rebirthday girl, so Ame cautiously slips into the driver’s seat, eyeing the fancy control panel between her and Kiara and the various knobs and lights on it. A far cry from ‘this turns on the radio, this adjusts the frequency’ like her uncle’s car.

Kiara grabs the AUX cord- oh so not only is it expensive it’s probably VINTAGE too that’s so reassuring - and connects to her phone. John Denver’s soothing tones filter out of the stereo system.

“Don’t wait for me, you can get going. I’ll have the map up before it’s important.” Kiara says, waving dismissively, like this is very normal and she’s not leaving a multi-million dollar car in the hand of her slightly grubby friend. 

… Okay, less grubby than normal, at least. Obviously she was gonna freshen up for Kiara’s party.

“Go on.”

Centering herself with a breath, Ame turned the key, foot on the brake before easing out of the parking spot onto the city streets.

The unnatural smoothness of the car takes getting used to. Her uncle’s car had noticeable gear shifts, and tended to jerk to a halt when the brake was pressed, but everything about this car is smooth, seamless, and controlled. For a brief moment, she almost understands how some people could get really into driving like this.

That moment is killed by the excruciatingly stressful half hour drive outside the city limits towards their destination. She’s never actually seen Kiara’s place, so she doesn’t know if it’s a house or a barn or what.

The fact that they seem to be heading towards the more conspicuously wealthy part of the suburbs just outside of town was both unsurprising, and yet does little to settle her stomach.

“Okay, so you’re gonna take that next right and that’ll lead us down the driveway.”

A series of hedges border the route, nearly obscuring the turn, but Ame thanks Baelz and every other Aspect out there that she catches it in time. Thick rows of sunlight obscuring trees and a serpentine trail greet her, and after just long enough to get her to wonder exactly how long Kiara’s driveway is… she sees it.

The white marble looks like it stepped right out of the Greco-Roman age, columns holding up a wide, triangular roof that lead to the house- no, house wasn’t the right word. Mansion. This was an actual, honest to Baelz, mansion . How did she not know Kiara had a friggin’ mansion!? She was investigating these people for a not insignificant amount of time before they became friends!

“What the fuck…”

Kiara glances over at her. “Eh? Something wrong?”

“Nothing! Nothing, I’m good!” She slowed the car to a stop, maneuvering around the fountain out front to park parallel to the steps leading up to the entrance.

…There was a pirate flag flapping in the wind, just outside. Just when Ame thought her life couldn’t get any weirder. It wasn’t the only flag, but the flag with the KFP logo on it at least made sense!

“Gura insisted.” Kiara says before Ame can even ask the question. “Calli approved as well, so really what choice was there?”

Yeah, that tracks for them. Ame hates that it makes sense, and yet can’t help but feel just a teensy bit of fondness for those two goofballs’ antics.

Making sure to activate the parking brake, Ame turns off the engine, and steps around to Kiara’s side to open her door.

“So, am I getting paid valet rates or…?”

Kiara cackles, taking Ame’s offered hand and stepping out. “I’ll have you know, KFP offers incredibly competitive pay scaling- we don’t cheap out on paying our employees.”

Something about the glint in Kiara’s eye as she says that makes Ame swallow. She doesn’t push the joke further- it feels too much like stepping on a nerve, and she was already on edge as it was. 

The lights were off, from the lack of any glow behind the curtains as Kiara went to unlock the front door. The hinges didn’t even creak as they stepped inside, darkness obscuring the foyer and-

“SURPRISE!”

Ame hisses a little at the sudden light, the others jumping out of the shadows with party poppers, confetti, and an unfurled banner reading “Happy Rebirthday Kiwawa~!”

Sure, it was probably one of the most obvious ‘surprises’ they could have planned, but Kiara let out a whoop of joy, as she was suddenly swarmed by the rest of their friends into a group hug that Ame was just a few steps behind enough to dodge.

She felt… something. Something uncomfortably ooey-gooey and simultaneously sad in her chest at the sight of them all like that, surrounded on all sides by her oldest friends. Like a reminder that she was still second fiddle to all this- the newcomer to a friendship literally centuries in the making at this point.

“Ugh, snap out of it- it’s a party! Don’t be a party pooper, Kiara doesn’t need you feeling down about it!”

Plastering on a smile, she steps over just as they all start to pull apart from each other. Kiara was saying something, now that she wasn’t muffled from the hugging.

“-surprised at how careful a driver she is, to be honest! Here I am, expecting her to try some cool James Bond shit once we left the city, but no it was smooth sailing.”

“Not surprised.” Ina nods, glancing over at Ame with a smile. “Despite her jokes, she is probably one of the most dependable people in this house.”

“I’m right here, you know.” Ame pipes up for her own… defense? Did it count as a defense if they were saying nice things about her? Whatever, Ina was probably just saying that to get her all flustered at being complimented anyways, the tease. Well, she won’t fall for such easy bait, thank you very much!

“Coulda fooled me, Watton- get in here!” Gura waves at her to initiate another hug, and Ame lets out an exaggerated gag.

“Ugh, too sweet! Too sappy! I have a reputation to uphold here.”

“Boooo!”

Ame sticks out her tongue, before taking in the sight of the foyer itself. Double staircase up to a second floor inner balcony? Check. Big ass chandelier? Check. Surprisingly cheap plastic fold-out tables with what looked like children’s Lightning McQueen birthday party set laid out on them? Surprisingly, check.

“So, was Gura in charge of the decorations?”

Calli barks out a laugh, earning a punch in the side from the shark in question.

“So that’s a ‘yes’ I take it.” Ame says dryly, giving Gura a side-eye. Gura bares her teeth and pretend-bites at her.

“Alright, alright, get a room you two,” Calli speaks up, getting an embarrassed jolt out of both of them, before turning to Kiara.

“Wanna give Ame the ‘grand tour’ while we get the rest of the food set up? Full disclosure, we… might have been goofin’ around a bit, and might not have completely finished setting up.”

Kiara snorts a laugh.

“Looks like Ame’s the only punctual one here, hmm?”

Calli pouts, and Kiara goes over to give the reaper a quick peck on the cheek, earning a little grumbling and blushing. With a wink, she turns to Ame and grabs a hold of her hand.

“Come on! I KNOW you’re going to love the gardens, Ame!” Kiara says with a wide grin. She doesn’t really give Ame much choice in the matter, as within a second of speaking she has a grip on Ame’s hand and is practically dragging her deeper into the mansion. It’s a blur of pristine architecture, old paintings and knick-knacks these girls have collected over the centuries (including an unsurprising number of portraits in all sorts of historical art styles), before Kiara is pushing through a pair of hardwood double-doors out into the evening air once again; the quiet sounds of the forests surrounding the mansion are the only thing Ame can hear aside from their footsteps.

The garden, as promised, grabs ahold of Ame’s attention immediately- she was honestly expecting some regency-era hedge maze type bullshit with some boring flower trellises, but it’s more an eclectic mish-mash of different styles- starting with a central rock garden, with a rake for the sand leaning up against a large, moss covered (!!!) boulder smack dab in the center. 

Outside the wooden borders of the rock garden were hedgerows of all sorts of flowering plants- practical, fruit-bearing ones, if Ame’s remembering her botany correctly. Wide, water-filled trenches cut through the garden- big enough to swim in (Not that Ame would even DREAM of attempting to, that would be rude and weird and so very inappropriate), and flourishing with fish, river grasses, and lily pads.

There are a few arching trellises, with creeping vines sprouting flowers that Ame was pretty sure normally grew on things that definitely weren’t vines- odd, frail lilies and deep red chrysanthemums. Even in the garden, the presence of all four of them was clear. 

“They really are in sync with each other, huh?”

That same gooey feeling churned in Ame’s stomach, so she immediately distracts herself with examining the moss on the boulder and picking out all the takodachis hiding in the flowers and playing on the lily pads.

She pokes one right in the forehead, earning an adorably indignant “Wah!” in return, and a giggle from Kiara. She still doesn’t understand how an eldritch cult is responsible for the existence of the friendliest little horrors from beyond reality you’ll ever meet.

While there might have been a rush to get out here, Kiara doesn’t seem in any hurry to move along. She walks behind Ame at a lazy pace while the detective scans each piece of flora, noting species she’s familiar with as well as some oddities.

Pale flowers with blood-red streaks on the inside, emitting a soft mist. A flower located underwater, bright turquoise, with seaweed-like petals that mostly obscure the bioluminescent center. Multi-stalked, vine-like flowers that look like the landscape of an alien planet shrunken down to miniature size, among which no less than a dozen takos play hide-and-seek or doze in the petals on top. The takos blend in shockingly well and would be almost invisible if it weren’t for their happy squeaks giving away their positions.

It’s only through a concentrated effort of will that Ame pulls herself away from the happy takos to the rest of the garden. This is supposed to be a tour after all.

“Well, Ina’s going to be real happy.” Kiara says, earning a confused “Huh?” from Ame. She laughs again.

“The takos? Takes most of us a bit to get used to the little guys.” As she speaks, one bobs over, face relaxed as it nuzzles against Kiara’s cheek, earning a coo from the phoenix and some gentle scritches.

“Guess that just means I’m already a little nuts.” Ame shoots back, grinning with her tongue stuck out. Can’t go crazy from the horrors if you already are.

She barely holds back a laugh when the tako mimics her, sticking out its own little tongue for a moment.

“I’ll tako your word for it.” Kiara says, and then immediately grimaces in faux pain. “Ina, what have you done to me…?”

Eventually, they loop through the whole garden, and Kiara has to pry off no less than three takos trying to hitch a ride inside- an effort Ame is sure is going to waste, those things definitely know how to work a doorknob. It’s the principle of the matter, she’s sure.

Heading back inside, Kiara leads her down the hallway to the right, the right side being open with more windows to see the garden through, before taking a turn downstairs. 

“Downstairs is more Gura’s part of the house, but I’m sure she won’t mind.”

Oh good, an invasion of privacy. Exactly what Ame needs- a reason to start feeling anxious again. It only takes a single flight of stairs, the lighting changing from normal white to an aquamarine blue, strips lighting up the floor and ceiling both in the short foyer before another set of doors.

(The foyer is actually quite the work of art, with a tall arch for the doors and old greek columns adoring the walls along with an intricate tiled floor creating a mural of Poseidon. A piece of Atlantean architecture, right here in town- now if only Ame would stop panicking long enough to appreciate it.) 

As Kiara pushes past, Ame has to shove a surprised cough back down her throat at the olympic sized swimming pool, taking up what has to be nearly the entirety of what would be every inch of basement space this mansion has.

While there are a few lounge chairs like you’d expect of a normal pool, they’re all concentrated near the entrance rather than spread across the length of it. Ame also spies a cupboard she suspects has towels in it, and maybe toys if those pool noodles leaning against it are any indication.

She has a brief mental image of Kiara throwing a ball into the water and Gura jumping after it like a dog. The thought makes her smirk, though she hides it quickly.

With caution, Ame approaches the edge of the pool. There’s a straight drop-in like a normal pool, but also a gentle ramp to one side. Ame can’t imagine that the accessibility option is necessary given who lives here, but it’s certainly a nice touch and might help with any guests.

Huh- how often do they have guests over anyways?

“We could take a dip, if you’d like?”

Ame’s face flushes red, and she takes a step back.

“No- no, I’m good. There’s a whole party waiting for you and everything.” She’s seen enough of Kiara’s bare skin for today, thank you very much. Kiara lets out a disappointed sound, before flopping against Ame’s back, arms dangling over the detective’s shoulders.

“Fiiiine- I’ll get you in a bathing suit one of these days, detective.”

Ame barely represses a shiver at the idea- thinking back to the cheek kiss she gave Calli earlier. This bird certainly was open with her affection-

“Though… the party could be relocated.” Kiara teases.

“I don’t have my bathing suit.” Ame responds quickly. She does not want the entire party plan being thrown off because of her.

Without going into the water, however, the tour of the pool is rather limited in scope beyond a quick walk-around. Kiara’s disappointment is only brief (though how much it eats at Ame she can’t really quantify)- before she’s pulling her back up the stairs to their next destination.

Or, at least, that’s the plan- before Gura pops out from around a corner.

“Hey! Soup’s on, bozos! You can finish flirting later, get it while it’s hot!”

“Promise?” Kiara calls back, earning another roiling wave of heat across Ame’s face.

“ The tour, surely she means finishing the tour. ”

“Not like we can deny the rebirthday girl.” Gura shrugs, though there’s a bit of predatory grin tugging at her lips. “Now get your butts up here!”

Chapter Text

There’s a whooping cheer from Calli as the three of them enter the main room again, an absolute smorgasbord of junk food, pizza, and what Ame hopes is just normal punch sitting in one of those giant serving bowls- you know, the ones you see in teen movies about prom- set up on the tables. Ina is at her side before she even sees her, handing her a plate with a couple slices of pizza.

“Gluten free~ so you know, don’t worry too much, mm?”

That was… honestly, nice enough for them to remember. She’d had friends- acquaintances, really- who never seemed to remember that sort of thing in the past. It’s not like they were hurting for options that Ame could safely eat already, though- she’d have been fine without pizza, they had a whole fruit bowl. Healthy! They didn’t need to go that far for her.

On the other hand: Pizza. Gura grabbed her own plate, humming a familiar tune that almost had Ame choke on her first bite, but she managed to grin through it anyways. 

Getting a few slices to put in a box for leftovers later would be an excellent idea, at least. No pasta to really send the visual gag home, though. Unfortunate.

“Alright, alright- attention please!” Calli calls out, summoning her scythe briefly just to bang the butt of it on the floor like an improvised gavel, before poofing it away in a puff of smoke, “The rebirthday girl has a few words, and then we can all get back to making terrible life choices that will surely take me out of hiatus!”

“I do?”

That’s what Ame assumes Kiara says- though, with a mouthful of food, it comes out more like “Rrhdrrhr?”

Calli shoots the phoenix a glare, and Kiara quickly swallows her food.

“Ahhh, right right! That thing- okay, one moment!”

Calli cedes the floor to Kiara, who claps her hands together… and then further undermines any seriousness the moment might have had by stepping up onto the table.

“Eh-hem.” Kiara coughs, thoroughly ignoring Calli’s exasperated look, Gura’s smirk, and Ina’s giggle. “We are gathered here today to witness-”

“KIARA.” Calli barks.

“Fiiine.” The phoenix sighs with a smile gracing her lips. “I mean, yes, you are witnessing me, but-”

Calli’s eye twitches. Kiara blows her a kiss.

“Anyhow! I’m so glad everyone could make it this year,-”

“We live here!” Gura interrupts immediately.

“-both returning company and dashing blonde newcomers alike.” Kiara continues with a wink at Ame. “You don’t know how much it means to me to have a day like this to call my own, and share with all those I consider dear to me, even if I can’t remember my true birthday.”

Ame makes a mental note of that. A future birthday gift, maybe. It would be a lot of effort but Kiara would probably like it. She has to wonder what a baby phoenix looks like- gotta be either the single most adorable thing or weird as hell. There isn’t really an in-between with birds.

… Did Kiara just call her “dashing”?

“At any rate,” Kiara seemed to be reaching the end of her speech, while Ame is still blinking over whether she heard her right or not, “We’re all more than happy to have someone new to celebrate these times with; please have fun, Ame! We love you!!!!”

Ame rolls her eyes, tipping her hat down to hide her face as her mouth screws up into an embarrassed grin.

“What’d I say about being so sappy, eh?”

“I think your ‘reputation’ could withstand some sappiness.” Ina says, smiling, as she wraps her arms around Ame and drags the complaining detective into a hug. Soon enough, Kiara is whooping and jumping off the table to join in, Gura and Calli quickly follow behind her. 

Ame’s face is full red at this point, as she struggles to keep a smile off it.

“JEEZE! It’s Kiara’s day, c’mon!” She protests. Kiara crows out another laugh.

“Yes, now let me enjoy my group hug- you little shit!”

“Fine, fine! For the rebirthday girl.” Ame grumbles; latching onto any excuse to justify her embarrassment. 

Amelia suffers through the hug until the others deign it appropriate to release her. Really, she doesn’t see why she’s the focus here. If she didn’t know better she’d think this party wasn’t about Kiara at all.

“Alright, bozos, who wants to see me swan dive into the punch bowl!”

“GURA, do NOT-”

There’s a shriek of laughter as Gura shoots off like a rocket up the stairs, Calli clambering after her. Ame relaxed a little- now those kinds of antics, she could deal with. All this mushy stuff was just- it made her feel funny. 

Bluh.

Fortunately for the punch bowl, Calli manages to catch the little menace and drag her back downstairs. Ame pours herself a cup- just a normal fruit punch, as she hoped. Not that she was expecting it to be spiked or anything, just… you never know with immortals. Sometimes they have weird traditions or ideas of ‘normal’.

Though really, Ame already feels like she could use a drink… maybe the punch being spiked wouldn’t be so bad.

“Got anything stronger lying around, Calli?” Ame asks the reaper as she walks past, depositing one (1) grumpy shark into a folding chair.

“I was gonna save some of that for later- really ready to start partying so early, dude?”

“Eh, a passing curiosity- didn’t expect the party to be totally dry with you guys.”

“It wouldn’t be if Calli let me dive in the punch.” Gura grumbles. Ame snorts- a bad idea, with half a gulp of punch in her mouth.

“I’m not gonna drink the gamer shark bath punch, Gura.”

“Not like thaaaat!” Gura whapped at Ame with the sleeves of her hoodie, earning further teasing giggles from the detective. Calli rolls her eyes.

“Seriously, if you two need a room we have plenty of spares.”

Ame fake-gags, and Gura goes back to her grumbling. Calli smirks.

“Anyways, usually we wait until the back half to bust out the drinks- if Ina gets into her cups too early, then she’s out like a light.”

“You’d think someone who deals with mind-bending creatures from beyond reality on the regular would be more resistant to that sorta thing.” Ame muses, casting her eyes to the priestess.

“Yeah, but y’know.” A slight bit of fondness enters Calli’s expression, looking over at Ina as well, “It’s cute.”

Ina sips her own drink, seemingly unphased… as long as you don’t look at the flaps on her head, which are wiggling happily at the reaper’s words.

“Kawaiiope strikes again,” Gura says, grinning as Calli squawks. Ame snorts a laugh, and takes another sip.

“Maybe you two are the ones who need a room.”

“Pff- later, maybe. If she’s a good girl. ” Calli says, rolling her eyes while Gura manages to sit up ram-rod straight at that.

“In front of the punch bowl?! Really!? Calli!!!”

Calli cackles as she walks off; Gura storms after her demanding recompense. Huh… Ame knew Gura and Calli were close, though she never really saw how they interacted in the comfort of their own home. She mostly dealt with them one-on-one after all.

Seeing Calli of all people being… kind of flirty? That was weird. Maybe she was thinking too hard about it, that kind of teasing wasn’t uncommon for some folks- including certain present company, especially.

“I’m going to get some more food- what do you want, Ame?” Ina asks, standing out of her seat. Her tentacles are already stretching towards the food, holding two plates.

“I can get it myself.” Ame says. She attempts to stand, only to find a tentacle across her lap keeping her down.

“I insist, really it’s no trouble.” Ina says sweetly. Ame blinks, almost feeling a bead of sweat form. Jeeze, was she trying to take care of her or threaten her? It was so hard to tell, sometimes.

“Uhh, another slice of pizza?” Ame says, trying not to sound meek as she speaks.

“You should try the chicken, liebling,” Kiara pipes up, nearly causing Ame to jump if she weren’t trapped underneath a tentacle, “The difference between what we sell in the shop and what I can manage at home is like night and day!”

“Ah, my favorite part of any party- the advertisements.”

Kiara pouts. Ame keeps her composure for all of five seconds, before she relents.

“Alright, alright, I’ll have some of the chicken.”

Kiara smiles, leaning over to press a kiss to Ame’s cheek and drag yet another burning blush out of the detective. Ina sighs, but smiles.

“I think at this rate, Ame’s the one who’s going to catch fire, Kiara.”

“I can’t help it if she’s so cute when she blushes.” Kiara says, earning a laugh from Ina as the detective in question squirms at the attention. This was getting to be a bit much.

Her hand finds the pocket of her coat, clicking her watch twice as everything slows down- just enough to slide down and out of Ina’s grasp, before returning back to normal time. From an outside perspective, it would almost seem like she had teleported.

“B-bathroom.”

“Right is cold water for the shower~!” Kiara calls after her, teasingly. Ame barely catches that, picking a hallway at random and getting as close to running as she dared. The thumping of Kiara’s music choice for the party is muffled by the wooden doors shutting behind her. 

It takes a few hazarding guesses, but she finds a bathroom fairly quickly. She doesn’t get in the shower as Kiara jokingly suggested, but she does splash herself in the face with cold water a few times.

“It’s just a party, Ame. Get a grip!” She tells herself in the mirror. She might have gone overboard with the water. She’s starting to look like a drowned cat. “This is just how Kiara is. You should have expected this.”

Mirror-Ame has no answers for her. After a few seconds of glaring, she slumps.

“Yeah, yeah, you fucking introvert.”

She grabs a towel- fluffy and warm, completely unsurprisingly- and manages to dry her face off best she can. 

Stepping back out into the unlit hallway, she takes a breath- now, which direction was the main room again?

There’s a thump from the room next door- loud enough to catch Ame’s attention as she sees light pour in from the open door. Her detective instincts kick in, shoes quiet on the carpeted hallway floor, sliding up to the side of the opening and peeking inside.

Gura has both hands flat against the wall, and Ame would laugh at the sight of her “trapping” Calli in such a way despite the height difference if she had slightly less self control.

“Pretty bold, saying all that in front of the detective.” Gura says, and though her back is facing her, Ame can hear a little bit of smugness in her voice. Calli’s face is beet red, but her smile seems to ooze control.

“Gonna do something about it, Goomba?”

“Come down here and find out, you lanky jerk!”

Calli snorts, before leaning down, one hand lifting up Gura’s chin and-

Ame quickly slides back away from the door. 

Oh. 

Oh she should not have seen that- she definitely, absolutely, should not have seen that, that was- oh hell, ah fuck. 

She decides to take the long way back to the main room. Anything to buy a few more minutes to process what she just saw and this whole party and-

Ame takes a breath while making a random turn at the end of the hall. This is fine. She is fine. So what if Calli and Gura may or may not be a thing? This doesn’t change anything. Totally fine. Maybe it’s a running joke. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t live here. She hasn’t known them for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Not her place to question it!

“You’d think Kiara would know if the person she keeps trying to get in the pants of the most was making out with someone living under her roof.”

It’s an odd sticking point in her mind- because yes, Kiara was flirty with everyone, but it was pretty clear she put more energy into it with Calli. Unless that was a bit, too? It felt like her whole understanding of these girls had just been turned upside down.

She stopped a moment, halfway up a flight of stairs as she took her hat off, covered her face, and let out a very short scream into the fabric. Sometimes she just wished she could turn the detective brain OFF for a second!

Her steps are mostly automatic as her mind is occupied with its own thoughts. Taking a flight of stairs up to the second level isn’t a conscious choice so much as it is extending her ‘detour’ for a few precious extra seconds.

The second floor is just as fancy as the first, though there’s a nice carpet covering the hallway that has Ame feeling guilty about walking on it with her shoes. Not enough to make her turn back, but enough to have her walking lightly and making a conscious effort not to scuff her shoes.

Guessing which rooms are which is an automatic process for her. The small, unremarkable single door tucked away in the corner is probably a closet, the one right near the top of the stairs is another bathroom, and the big double-doors at the end of the hall… well…

Master bedroom maybe? Unless there’s a rooftop outdoor area. Would the master bedroom be Kiara’s maybe? Are these other rooms for the others?

Now she has to know, though how does she go about it without being intrusive? She doesn’t want to be a nosey houseguest and they kinda made a point of giving her a guided tour before, so maybe there are places they don’t want her to see?

That only furthers her resolve. These are her friends, yes, but her commitment to public safety comes first.

(It’s a flimsy justification, but she needs a distraction right now. She’s grasping at straws.)

She marches up to the double-doors, keeping an ear out for any sign of the others coming to find her. The carpet does a wonderful job of muffling her footsteps until she’s standing right before the unnecessarily ornate set of double-doors with their golden handles and intricate detailing on the wood.

All she has to do is just… open it. Just reach her hand out, grasp the handle, and pull.

Why is she so afraid, then?

“It’s just a room, Amelia, stop being a baby, come ON-”

With a burst of willpower, she yanks open the door before she can talk herself out of it. Inside is…

It’s a bedroom, that’s for sure. Bed being the operative word- because it’s fucking huge. Ame isn’t familiar with bed sizes, but she knows this is bigger than any of the standard ones. It’s practically the size of a small room itself! 

Honestly, at this point should she even be surprised that Kiara would order a custom-made mattress, big enough to fit, like, four other people-

Ame blinks. Her eyes dart to the walls, taking in the bookshelves (some of which have books she’s seen Ina read), the poster for one of Calli’s old concerts, a giant shark plush sitting in a chair (that must be Bloop, Gura has mentioned him before), and a very familiar sword and shield mounted on the wall behind the bed itself.

This isn’t just one person’s bedroom. Ame closes her mouth (when did she even open it?), and- with great care- shuts the door once again, with a barely audible click being the only evidence it had been opened in the first place.

“Oh.”

Chapter Text

“Eyy, took you long enough!”

Ame glances at Calli briefly, finally making it back downstairs. She can’t see a hair out of place, like what she saw before was just her imagination.

Maybe it was. Maybe this is one strange fever dream.

(She wishes she could make herself believe that. It would make things so much simpler.)

“A-ah, well- you know me, tummy issues out the wazoo.”

“Gross, Watson,” Calli gags. Phew, crisis avert-

Ame nearly jumps as she realizes Gura- stealthy as a… well, as a shark on the hunt- has sidled up next to her, giving her a raised eyebrow. Baelz, someone needs to put a bell on her.

“Pizza not agreeing with ya Watson?” The shark asks. Her tone is casual as always, but a bit of concern is given away by the way her tail leans towards Ame, trying to curl around her legs.

“U-uuh- probably? Yeah, probably that, the uh-” She almost blames the dough, before she remembers that they specifically got the gluten free kind. Shit, shit, shit, change topic, change topic!

“I mean, y’know. The human body is a mystery sometimes!”

It’s a weak excuse, but SOMETHING was currently taking up a good portion of her processing power, and gee she wonders what that could be.

“Uh-huh.” Gura’s expression goes flat. She knows something is up. Damn Gura and her surprisingly sharp intuition. She reaches a hand up, and Ame freezes- as she runs her hands through Ame’s hair, coming back still slightly damp.

Her next words to Ame are a low whisper.

“You know, it’s okay if you’re getting overwhelmed by the party- you can just tell us, yeah?”

It’s an out- it’s not even a particularly untrue out, either. With a quick swallow, she nods a little.

“I can handle it- I’m a time traveling detective, a little party isn’t going to be the death of me, yeah?”

“Just let me know if you need a breather, I’ve got a spot.”

Ame smiles at Gura, and it’s the most sincere expression she’s given her this whole conversation. “I appreciate it.”

“Now quit poopin’ on the party, party-pooper!” She says, elbowing Ame in the side and rushing off before Ame can retaliate.

Amelia takes that as her cue to sit down again, though that’s also partly to help with a bit of light-headedness. She absentmindedly grabs for her cup before realizing it’s empty, and decides she doesn’t need more punch necessarily. She’ll be fine. She just needs a minute… or five.

(She was apparently too obvious in her actions. A tentacle deposits a new cup of punch in front of her a moment later, accompanied by a serene nod from Ina. Ame tips her head in acknowledgement and slight embarrassment.)

“Alright!” Kiara claps her hands together, and Ame manages to keep a lid on her nerves enough to not jump at the sound, “Who’s ready for cake?”

“I got the booze, too.” Calli says, depositing a pair of bottles onto the table, alongside five extremely fancy looking wine glasses that, again, probably cost more than Ame’s ever had in her bank account. Kiara goes for one of the bottles, pausing and reading one of the labels.

“Cawwi, isn’t this one of your-”

“Hey, it’s a party, right?” Calli shrugs, and she uncorks the other bottle, “Might as well bust out the good shit- you ever have wine from the Underworld, Ame?”

Obviously not.

“Unless it comes in box form?” She jokes, and Calli grins. It’s not often Ame gets to see the reaper smile, but this one sends chills down her spine.

“Oh, you are living good tonight, Watson.”

“It’s safe for her, right?” Ina asks, a slight frown crossing her face as Calli checks the label.

“Yeah, yeah- nothing deadly to humans. It’s literally just made from fruit down near the Tartarus area. Pomegranate flavored and all that.”

“I don’t have to worry about being trapped in the underworld three months a year or anything if I drink this, right?” Ame asks dryly, eyeing the dramatic skull picture on the front of the bottle with vines growing through it.

“Not unless you want to join ya boy on a vacation back home or something.” Calli laughs, like it’s some sort of inside joke only she gets. 

“Anything to get you to take a break.” Gura fires off quickly, wearing a shit-eating grin. “Ain’t being topside supposed to be a vacation to you?”

“Shush.” Calli says with a click of her tongue. “I take breaks. I’m taking a break right now.”

Ina snorts, and then instantly covers her mouth with her hand while looking away as Calli’s eyes snap to her with a light glare.

Ame does her best not to react when Calli turns to her. “If we really want to talk about overworking-”

“Hey, this is about you, not me! I can time-travel back to bed whenever I want!”

“DO you, though?”

“Yes.” Ame lies.

No one looks convinced.

“Shut up, I do!” She lies again.

“Pressing X here, chief.” Gura says, and Ame wraps an arm around her shoulder and digs her knuckles into her scalp. “Ack, help! I’m being silenced!”

“Can’t beat you at the arcade if I’m not at the top of my game, Gurumbo!”

“Say that when you actually start winning!”

“I had you five to one!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Ya-huh!”

Before this can escalate to further violence, Ame finds a tentacle wrapped around her waist, pulling her and Gura apart and setting them both (still tied up like misbehaving kids stuck on a leash) on either side of Ina.

“I believe Kiara had a toast?”

“You’re the best, Inya~” Kiara blows a kiss Ina’s way, and Ame feels her face redden as she remembers why she’s trying extra hard to pretend that she’s not having an episode right now.

Kiara raises a glass, and Ame finds herself with one passed to her by another tentacle.

“Two toasts!” She starts, “First off- to another year of happy memories and happier friends.”

They all raise a glass, quiet cheers all around. Ame finds herself relaxing a little, tilting up her glass with the rest of them. Now that she wasn’t actively trying to shake Gura off her scent, this was fine. 

Then, Kiara looks directly at her, and Ame’s throat suddenly feels dry.

“And- to our newest friend, and the best time-traveling detective I’ve had the pleasure to meet! Our house will always be open to you, Ame- and we hope you stick around for as long as you like. Right, girls?”

There is a chorus of agreement, and Ame feels like she could sink into her chair and disappear at any moment. Why is she being singled out like this? Isn’t this Kiara’s party? Maybe it’s just her imagination?

Nah, once is a coincidence- twice? Now that’s grounds for an investigation.

Ame takes a nice, long swig from her wine glass (and yes, it is possibly the best wine she’s ever had in her life which OBVIOUSLY means it cost Calli more than a few obols to get), hoping to turn off the detective brain long enough to enjoy the party and get home so she can decompress.

She never thought she’d be the one saying this, but she really needs a freaking drink; just not one that costs as much as her limbs and liver combined.

Thankfully, with the (rather embarrassing) toast out of the way, the night proceeds without too much issue. Cake is had (that’s so fucking big there’s only five people what the hell-) karaoke is done (Gura can sing? Fuck, she does it well too!) and some of them (Calli) get a bit too into their cups. Ame, shamefully, might be one of them. Anything for a distraction from what she saw.

But one more curveball is thrown her way before she finally decides to call it quits.

It starts as a note of the late hour. Gura is the instigator, whistling at the hour hand on the fancy grandfather clock against the back wall starting to creep up on the number 2.

Attention is quickly turned to her when that gets brought up. She’s the one who actually has an apartment to get back to, and doesn’t have her own means of transportation.

“I can just walk.” Ame shrugs; pointedly ignoring how the alcohol in her glass sloshes precariously alongside the action.

“Ame, it was a half-hour drive from the city. You’re drunk, and that’s crazy.” Kiara points out.

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Ame argues. “I’ve done worse. Detective things, ya know?”

“Okay, putting a pin in that for later- you know you can just stay the night and sober up, yeah?” Gura says, eyeing Ame critically. 

“I could … or I could walk home.” Ame shrugs. “I mean, I can do it during the ‘day’. Time travel and all, remember? I could call a cab… there’s tons of ways I can get home.”

“It’s not an imposition,” Ina says- she’s been making sure to take it very slow with her drinks, still nursing about two-thirds of her first glass, “Really, it would be more than fine for you to stay over.”

“Oh shit, is Ame staying for the sleepover?” Calli finally clues herself into the conversation, leaning backwards over the couch and on her fourth glass already. With the way her dress is cut…

Ame blinks, hoping the only red on her face right now is from the alcohol. “Uh, I mean, I wasn’t planning on it.”

“And plans change.” Kiara says cheerily. She leans forward on the table; clasping her hands in a fashion that reminds Ame that she is a businesswoman, and a very rich one at that. She can practically imagine the gesture on some lady in a suit with several garish rings adorning her fingers- the type with shoulder pads on her suit jacket pointy enough to cut glass. “ Right Ame?”

This is moving way too fast. She just found out a few hours ago that they’re all probably sleeping together. There’s no way she can stay over. Where would she even sleep? Do they only have the one-

Okay, yep, that’s enough thinking for tonight. She needs to get out- pronto.

It takes a few seconds longer than she’d like to admit before she finally remembers that she does have an emergency exit. Especially since she already brought up the time travel- normally she doesn’t like to USE that particular function unless absolutely necessary, but…

Well, hopefully Kronii wasn’t busy.

“Y’know, I just- I don’t wanna intrude- it’s cool! It’s fine, you all enjoy your sleepover, I got- it’s cool. I got it.”

She’s already grabbing her watch, as several voices call out in unison- but they’re all drowned out by the pinhole screech as she clicks the watch once- everything going blue as she’s ripped out of the present time and thrown into the in-between.

Immediately, she knows this is a bad idea. Stretched out like spaghetti, then popping back into shape as she stumbles onto marble flooring, falling to her knees and nearly doing her best impression of Kiara’s first experience with time travel- yeah. Not her brightest idea.

If she didn’t have… extensive… practice with nausea she would probably have to explain to Kronii where that mess on her floor came from. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen, if barely.

…

She’s going to have to make a second jump to get home. Fuck.

Chapter Text

“Heeey, Ame- just calling to make sure you made it home okay! I still don’t think time-traveling while drunk is the best idea, and hopefully this message doesn’t reach you during like the jurassic era or something. I may be rich, but I can’t imagine the cost of that phone bill. Kidding! This is a joke! Please call back when you can!”

Bweep.

“Yo, Ame- Wawa’s worried after last night. I don’t really remember much after like my third glass, but take care of yourself dude. Remember- lots of water and whatever greasiest diner food you can get. Keep it real.”

Bweep.

“Ame, it’s Ina. I know you’re used to some pretty wild adventures, so I trust you’ll get home in time for this. I’ve gone ahead and ordered some breakfast to show up at your place. Try not to miss it, okay?”

Bweep.

Ame groans, thunking her head against the rim of the bathtub. This… is a disaster. Did she REALLY use an emergency recall just to escape an awkward social situation?

There’s one more voice mail on her phone from Kronii, but she already knows it’s just gonna be her chewing her out for that exact thing she’s already giving herself grief for. If she really wants Ame to know how irresponsible she is, she can tell her in person.

Worse; she didn’t get a message from Gura, and she knows that means Gura is showing up sometime today to check on her.

With a groan, she hauls herself out of the tub and checks herself in the mirror. She doesn’t look nearly as ragged as she feels, having promptly conked out the second she had made it out of the Warden’s domain and back home. Nothing to clean up in the tub or outside it, either.

Huzzah for silver linings. At least two people didn’t get sick on Kiara’s rebirthday.

The light bulb above Ame’s mirror flickers warningly- like it has for the past month. She resolves to ignore it until it makes up its mind- no need to get a replacement until absolutely necessary. 

There are a dozen things she should be doing at this moment. Maybe returning calls, remembering if she had a schedule for today, trying to not look like shit… but Ame doesn’t have the mental energy for that. Ina mentioned breakfast, so that’s her first concern.

Plus, you know, sorting through everything from yesterday, because OH BOY was she not prepared for that. Her friends are possibly probably maybe kinda in a four way relationship of some sort… which she only found out by sneaking around where she wasn’t supposed to during someone’s party that she was very graciously invited and escorted to.

You know, like an asshole.

She lets out a groan, splashing some water on her face and giving her hair a quick comb- her good outfit smelled a little like alcohol and sweat now, and Baelz did she need to change into something that was built more for comfort than fashion right now.

She makes it to her bedroom, struggling only a little with the zipper on the back of her dress before tossing her whole outfit from yesterday in the hamper. Rummaging through her closet, she manages to snag a fairly clean t-shirt and some comfy sweatpants to slip into. Socks can wait until she has somewhere to go, and if she does have anywhere to be today, she can just travel back and do it later.

It’s barely 10 AM and already she’s so done with today.

The knock at the door startles her- though it really shouldn’t, considering Ina did say she ordered food for her. With an internal groan at the idea of having to talk to someone with her current light headache, Amelia plods to the front door (she didn’t lock it. Brilliant Ame) and yanks it open gracelessly.

She does not die on the inside when she realizes the person standing at the door is Gura , but she does mentally curse all the gods she knows of for putting her in this situation (that is definitely her fault).

“Got some brekkie for one Defecto Detecto?” Gura starts, before taking in Ame’s state. The plastic bag of takeout containers rests between her arms in front of her, so she has to lean to the side to see around it.

Cool. Excellent. Fantastic. Exactly what she needed today.

“Damn, hot stuff, now I feel overdressed. Shoulders out and everything?”

Gura waits a second as if expecting something, a return quip maybe, and when Ame doesn’t respond she just shrugs and shoulders past her into the apartment, setting the bag down on the kitchen table.

“Still booting up, huh? Well, Calli promises that this’ll cure whatever ails you, so eat up!”

That, at least, is something she can process: food. Ame flops into a chair while Gura extracts the containers and shoves one in front of her, and Ame pries it open to reveal a variety pack of your standard diner breakfast fare- fatty bacon, fried eggs, sausage, and toast (hopefully, gluten free).

And, it’s artfully arranged into a smiley face. How Gura managed to preserve that all the way here is a mystery.

“You okay over there?” Gura prompts, a strip of bacon poking out of her mouth and Ame has to tamp down the immediate mental response calling that cute. “You know you’re supposed to eat that, not just look at it, yeah?”

“...maybe it’s food for my soul.” Ame mumbles, but does, in fact, pick up some sausage (yes, with her bare hands) and bite down. The juicy meat is just what she needed honestly, and having it sitting warm in her stomach is enough to wake her up a bit. “How was I supposed to know?”

“Oh I dunno, maybe because you’ve had it before? ” Gura says dryly. “Unless you do a lot of staring at food in your free time?”

Hah. Free time. Good one. “You can’t prove I don’t.”

“Yeah yeah, you’re the detective-slash-genius here. If anyone’s gonna be an expert at looking at things, it’s you huh?”

Ame pauses, a second bite of sausage halfway to her mouth. Shit, does she know? Her eyes dart over to look at her- body posture relaxed, still focused on absolutely demolishing her breakfast without much in the way of table manners.

Maybe she doesn’t know. Or maybe she’s better at hiding her tells than Ame thinks. She can’t see Gura’s tail from this position, which makes this whole thing a lot harder. Gura emotes a surprising amount with her tail.

“Yup. That’s me. Expert looker.” Ame says, internally cringing. Did she really just say that? In this state?

Gura snorts a laugh, looking over at her.

“Lucky you’re saying that in front of me instead of Kiara. I know you don’t take compliments well, stinko.”

“...right.” Ame doesn’t bother keeping the disbelief out of her tone. She stuffs some toast in her mouth to try and distract from Gura’s curious eyes probing her face. “Dif if gootan fee, ight?”

“No, it’s poison.” Gura drawls. “This is an assassination attempt.”

Ame snorts- not a good idea with a mouthful of food- and has to spend a minute recovering and coughing as some of it goes down the wrong pipe. Gura jumps out of her seat immediately.

“Holy shit, it was a JOKE- it was a joke, Ame! Don’t die on me!”

Ame coughs up a few crumbs as Gura puts a hand on her back, alternating between patting and rubbing small circles. Ame looks up at her face-

“Too close, way too close-!”

-and nearly sends herself into another choking fit as she practically jumps out of her skin. She can’t move away or Gura might get the wrong impression, so instead she concentrates on forcing down her current mouthful to end this situation as soon as possible.

She will not be the one to stare deeply into the eyes of someone already in a relationship . She’s already made enough of a mess of Kiara’s rebirthday, she doesn’t need to be making a mess of her love life too.

Even if they are rather pretty eyes.

“ No- no! Bad Ame! Bad! That is the opposite of what you need to be thinking! ”

Stupid loud brain that latches onto minor details! Why couldn’t she have just lived a normal life as a… a… some other job that deals with the things she’s actually interested in, but without the need to investigate?!

“Earth to Watson, hellooo?” Gura says loudly, directly in Ame’s face. She taps Ame on the forehead. “Maybe the bread was poisoned…?”

“I’m here, I’m here.” Amelia says, kicking her mind back to the present moment. “Just… hungover, I think?”

“Never had a hangover before?”

Not one where she had to deal with company early the next day. “Sure.”

Gura’s expression flattens. “Watton, that’s one of your ‘I don’t wanna say’ answers.”

“Well, maybe I can’t think straight with your shark breath right in my face.” She fires back.

“You’ve never thought straight a single day in your life, don’t lie to me!”

“What? Would you prefer I say your stupid is contagious? One, two, five?” Ame says, grabbing for the first response she can.

Gura simply blows a raspberry at her, but eventually relents and gives her some personal space. Thank Baelz, she feels like she can breathe again.

(Gura is still watching her. She’s not even being particularly subtle about it. Her tail- which Ame can see now- slowly brushes the floor as it sways from side to side. Patiently. She has to remind herself that Gura is, in fact, an apex predator after all, though Ame isn’t sure about being put in the position of ‘prey’.)

“...so you gonna spill?” Gura prompts after a few seconds of silence. “Or is this gonna turn into a classic ‘I’m an edgy detective who’s got secrets ’ sorta thing again that will eventually blow up in your face?”

“What do you mean again ?” Ame protests. “And I am not edgy!”

“Right, so that whole fiasco with the Watson Concoction-”

“I had it under control!”

“Suuure Watson. If you say so.”

Ame rolls her eyes. “It’s no worse than anything I’ve had to deal with in my line of work before- besides, like I said before. I was just getting a little… overwhelmed at the party. That, plus alcohol, means bad time-travel decisions. It’s not a big deal- unless you’re Kronii’s carpets or something.”

“Hmm.” Gura’s tail continues to swish slowly. The tip flicks a bit in what Ame knows is irritation. Gura isn’t buying her story at all. “If ya don’t wanna say, just tell me, yeah?”

“Fine- I don’t want to say.”

“Kay.”

She feels immediately a little bad, with that little biting edge of snappiness in her voice. Even if Gura seems unbothered, Ame knows- with great shame- that it’s only because she’s all too used to the detective being a moody little shit sometimes.

“... Thanks for the food.”

“No skin off my back.” Gura says, waving a hand nonchalantly, “We care about ya, dumb-dumb.”

True to her word, Gura does not push for details. She almost instantly turns them to a neutral topic (video games in this case) and Ame allows herself to relax just a fraction. This is all still a giant mess and she has no idea what she ‘should’ be doing, but at least Gura will let it lie long enough for her to think about it. She’s not sure the others would have the same restraint.

“Anyways, the girls have some errands later today. Did you wanna come over later and… I dunno, play smash or something?” Gura offers, as soon as they’ve both finished their respective breakfasts.

Alone with Gura. At her mansion. In her room (probably).

“I need to double check and see if I’ve got any urgent casework today, I’ve been pushing stuff off lately.” Ame lies, smooth and almost practiced. Gura’s tail droops slightly, and she shrugs.

“Okay. Some other time?”

“Yeah- ‘sides, mi casa, su casa and all that. You can always come over here, too.”

“Well, if it really is ‘mi casa’ as well…” Gura starts, leaning back in her chair to peer down the hallway, “You gonna let me change that old lightbulb in your bathroom?”

Ame resists the urge to spin in her seat. She must have left the door open. Of course she did. Mistakes upon mistakes. “Nah, I’ve got it. A recent issue, really. Just last week.”

“Well, if you get tired of showering in the dark, we’ve got light bulbs out the wazoo back home.” Gura offers, before making a face. “Okay, I don’t know what I was trying to say with that, but you get it, right?”

“Yeah yeah, I just have to say the word and you’ll pull an Ina and start fussing.” Ame quips. “I’ll remember.”

“Good.”

###

Ame knows something is up the moment she sees Ina waiting outside the cafe rather than at their usual seats, and that’s before she accounts for the extra effort put into Ina’s outfit today complete with a new pin in her hat; that being a little magnifying glass nestled among three she already had (a bright orange feather, a little trident shape, and a skull).

She slows down as she approaches, glancing through the window of the cafe.

“Uhhh- what, our usual seats taken or something?” She asks, despite being able to see them unoccupied through the window.

“Afternoon to you too.” Ina says, a slight smile to her face and a teasing tone in her voice. Right- just because she was a little on edge doesn’t mean she had the right to be rude to her friends, Ame.

“Afternoon.” She replies, trying not to mumble. Her eyes flick to the window again, then back to Ina. “...sooo?”

“I had another idea for today, if you’re up for it.” Ina answers. Her gaze is searching, which has Ame straightening her back on instinct. She wishes she could see Ina’s flaps. Just like Gura’s tail, they’re helpful for judging Ina’s feelings, but they’re hidden under the hat. “A nice little cafe I found that I wish to try out. It will only take a minute to get there.”

This is new. They’ve been going to this spot for months. Why the sudden change? Is it a coincidence this is happening just after Kiara’s rebirthday? An apology maybe? She hopes to Baelz it’s not. 

“I don’t know how adventurous I’m feeling today, still kinda tired from the whole… everything , y’know?” It’s as feeble an excuse as it is vague, but it’s all Ame can come up with on the spot.

She doesn’t need to see Ina’s flaps with how her expression droops. Ina glances down towards the concrete, one shoe scuffing at it before she looks up at her with those sad, greyish-purpley eyes of hers.

“Are you sure?”

Oh that’s not fair. She has to know she’s playing dirty, here! That expression, on top of the breakfast and the worried texts and- uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh…

“Okay, okay, fiiine- just for today, alright?” Ame says.

“Of course!” Ina says, perking up instantly. Manipulative little tako. She makes a grand sweeping gesture and extends a hand. “If you’d come with me, my lady…?”

Ame obliges with a roll of her eyes. So today is one of Ina’s dramatic days, huh? Ina happily twines her fingers into Ame’s and leads her to a nearby alley (Ame knows there’s nothing down there, what is Ina doing?).

As soon as they turn the corner, Ame knows what has happened. They’re stepping out into completely different surroundings, a different city, maybe a different country . She used teleportation. No wonder Ina said it would ‘only take a minute’. Cheater.

Okay. Take stock here. There are obvious canals that the streets and walkways seem to be lining, and a lot of old, renaissance architecture much like when she had jumped to Milan not long ago. She presses her mouth into a thin line as the obvious clues set in- Baelz damn it, Ina!

“Ina, Venice is not just a quick jog around the corner from our usual spot.”

“I said it would only take a minute, I spoke nothing of distance.” Ina says cheerfully. “Besides, your date with Kiara in Milan gave me ideas.”

Ame’s brain almost conjures up an image. Thankfully, she is faster than her thoughts, banishing them before her face can even get red. The moment she sees an art easel, however, she’s bolting.

“How much about that did she, uh, talk about?”

“Enough.” Well that’s not ominous at all. “I’m a little jealous that she got to see Da Vinci working the craft, but it sounded like a fun date. I don’t exactly have your time traveling abilities, but…”

They round a bend in the road, and Ina gestures up to a sign hanging above a door.

“I’ve been looking for a quieter spot to do some drawing at, and this place has given me some inspiration.”

Again, definitely not ominous. Also, that is a high-quality sign… and windows… she’s worried what the inside is going to look like.

Those fears prove very founded a moment later when Ina opens the door for her and Ame can see the inside of a clean, almost glossy, room with nice old-fashioned wooden furniture and cushions, tea sets on every table, a bar at the back with someone dressed in a goddamn tuxedo , and art displayed on every open inch of the wall accompanied by quiet classical music and a hint of orange to the lighting to give it a firelit feel.

“Ina…” Amelia says nervously while stepping inside. “Aren’t I a little under-dressed for this?”

“I do not think the establishment will care, but if you feel the need I could conjure you a little something?” Ina offers; twisting a few shadows around her fingers.

Better than looking like a slob in this place and making Ina look bad by proxy, right? “Sure.”

It barely even takes a moment. One second, Ame is standing there in her usual button up and plaid skirt- then Ina’s making a gesture and her mind slips for a second-

“I hope this is to your style?”

Ame blinks. She didn’t even really see Ina cast the spell or anything- which, y’know, is fairly normal for her spellcasting, since a lot of the flashier stuff from AO-chan tends to rend minds at the mere sight of it- but now she’s standing here, in a quiet cafe in the middle of Venice, in what is now probably the second most expensive outfit she now owns. Three piece, Italian cut suit, in white and creamy beige. 

Even has a little red bow-tie. She’d appreciate the cute gesture, if it weren’t for the fact that she absolutely, definitely owes Ina for this- magic or no.

Ina’s leading her to the corner booth, darker and farther away from everyone else, and she barely has the presence of mind to note that while still figuring out how she’s going to pay Ina back for this. Baelz, is she just going to have to bring everyone on a field trip to meet Da Vinci? Calli would probably be interested in meeting the Renaissance Man himself, and of course if Calli goes, she can’t leave Gura out-

She should have refused. This is exactly why she told herself she needed to not get in the way here- what person could look at this situation and not assume that something romantic is going on?! She had to do everything in her power to not make Ina uncomfortable here- treat it like an anomaly mission, Watson. 

Utmost. Importance.

Of course, it’s easy to tell herself to act normal and not make Ina uncomfortable, and another thing to actually pull that off, especially when she feels like she wants to crawl out of her skin.

“If this is too much, we can just go back.”

Ame straightens up in her seat- yeah, that’s the only thing worse than potentially giving Ina the wrong idea here- disappointing her. Come on, Ame- you’re a top tier detective, you’ve dealt with dangerous situations that require a cool head. So get that head in the game!

“I’m fine- I promise, I’m fine, just… not used to going to Italy for a day trip. Kind of a crazy thing to just be able to do, you know?”

“You do remember you’re talking to someone who takes regular trips to other continents for the purposes of a weekly book club?” Ina says teasingly. “I was not joking about getting that last book from Indonesia.”

“Yeah- and that’s kinda nuts! I haven’t even been time-traveling long enough to really get used to some of the stuff I see- it’s like everything in my life has taken a left turn into Crazy-ville since I got that thing.”

“Do you regret it?”

That gives Ame pause- more out of surprise at the question than anything else. Does she? Sure, the anomaly missions are dangerous, and eat into the energy she has for her day job (and thus her paycheck), but…

But she never really would have gotten the chance to meet the first group of close friends she’s ever had then, if she never picked up that watch. She just needs to make sure she doesn’t fuck up and lose them.

“... Not even for a second.” Amelia says. The watch weighs heavy in the breast pocket of her suit, both reassuring and burdensome at the same time. “My life would be a lot duller without it, and I can’t really argue with the company it’s brought me.”

She accents this line with a wink, just to lighten the mood, and it seems to work. Ina visibly relaxes, and her hands rest on the table rather than the half-steepled position they were occupying just a moment ago.

“Well, I’m glad I could make good company.”

Ina reaches a hand out, gently grasping one of Ame’s- and she can feel the redness heating up her cheeks again. Baelz, she’s almost as bad as Kiara- except Ame doubts Ina even realizes exactly how this looks.

After about a second, Ame pulls her hand back, and looks over to the menu board set up over the cafe’s counter- before realizing that it’s, of course, in Italian.

“... This was all a ploy so you could order something for me without me being able to argue about the price, isn’t it?”

“See? You’re learning!” Ina says. “And while that wasn’t the intent, I will happily take advantage!”

This damn tako… bear with it Ame. Don’t make the situation awkward by making a fuss. This almost feels like a ploy to get her further into Ina’s debt.

She can get a quick glance at the bill when it’s all said and done, anyhow. Then she can start budgeting on how she’s gonna pay Ina back- figuring out euros to pounds shouldn’t be too hard for a detective.

Ina stands, with an “I’ll go order, be right back.” and leaving Ame at the table. She strains her ears to hear what Ina orders, trying to pick out anything that sounds like numbers by the time she finishes. She folds up the receipt and pockets it (dang it!), before picking her way back to the table, and taking up the seat right next to Ame at the booth, instead of across like before. Hmmm… Ame has never tried pick-pocketing before, but maybe there’s a first time for everything…

(She shakes her head at the thought. That’s a bit drastic.)

Ina then scoots a little closer, tossing any thoughts about that out of Ame’s head as she flinches when their thighs touch. She resists the urge to shuffle away immediately- can’t make a scene about it. With a very calculated yawn, she stretches and adjusts so there’s still a good couple inches of space between them- and gets in an actually pretty decent back-crack for her efforts.

She makes an effort not to look at Ina for a moment, just to make sure her expression is properly schooled. When she does look up, something about Ina’s easy smile looks… strained? No, nervous? Anxious? Maybe she’s overthinking this- or projecting for that matter.

Yeah. Yeah, she’s definitely projecting. 

“Sooo, am I allowed to know what fancy-shmancy Italian drink I’m getting before it gets here?” She ventures, needing to fill the air with something to talk about before she can get too absorbed into her own thoughts. 

“Now where would be the fun in that?” Ina responds. She’s steepled her hands again. A tell? Her overthinking again? She’s starting to doubt her own knowledge here. This is why being personally involved in a case is always messy.

Thankfully, she doesn’t have to think too long about a response, as one of the serving staff arrives with their drinks. A perfect excuse to focus on anything but Ina for a moment.

It’s warm, which comes to no surprise- the mugs are both well cared for and ceramic white. The creamy brown of the coffee gives way to foamy latte art- a pattern that could either be one of those classic leaves one might see, or maybe it’s a heart? Ame makes a face, more just from the schmaltz of the situation than anything else.

“Do I really look like the kind of girl who gets cutesy cafe drinks, huh?”

“I think it’s fitting.” Ina replies, taking a sip of her own, “A cute drink for a cute girl, hmm?”

“Sure, and who's the one with the adorable little artist’s hat again?” Amelia shoots back. “ You’re the cafe girl here Ina.”

“Flatterer.” She responds with a full smile, showing off the little fang she has. Ame’s not sure exactly who’s won this particular conversational duel, but she at least she’s not being called cute again.

Plus, the coffee is pretty tasty.

Chapter Text

The first time Kiara calls her after the party (not including the message she left the morning after) , Ame honestly doesn’t know if she wants to answer.

Politeness wins out over caution.

“Hello?” Ame says. She’s putting so much effort into keeping her voice neutral . Nothing is wrong. Everything is normal. This happens all the time. “That you Kiara?”

“Ameee~!” Kiara’s excited voice blasts through the speaker just a bit too loudly- so, normal for her- and crackles a bit as her shitty apartment landline struggles to handle it. It was a bit strange that Kiara was using the line for her office rather than her personal number (if it weren’t for the fact that she may be leaving her cellphone on read most of the time the last few days.) “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you!”

“Something about my car’s extended warranty?” The joke is calculated- see? She can be casual! She’s SO casual! Just a normal conversation between FRIENDS.

Kiara laughs, and Ame has to push down the bubbling feeling in her tummy at the sound of it.

“I mean, if you want to borrow one that doesn’t take thirty tries to turn over-”

“I’ll take a raincheck on that.” She’s a little too quick on that response, dial it back Ame.

“Right, right- anyways, Ame! Check your dang text messages! There’s something important I want you to see!”

Okaaay- she frowns a bit, before pulling out her cellphone and checking her notifications. There’s a picture from Kiara, showing off some sort of invitation to-

“Kiara I have no idea what the Pavolian Gala is, but… congratulations?”

“Thanks! But that’s not why I’m calling- do you want to be my plus one? They’re hosting it in the Maldives this year, and oh my GOD Ame you will not believe how beautiful it is this time of year!”

Uh oh. Ame nearly chokes on the air at the question, coughing a little in surprise. “Th-The Maldives!? That’s…” She checks the globe (an actual, physical one that used to be in her uncle’s office, it was fun and quirky!) , spinning it briefly as her eyes nearly bug out of her skull, “-That’s like half a continent away! I do have a job to keep up with you know.”

“I can compensate you.” Kiara says immediately, as if she was expecting that answer. “And you don’t have to worry about an outfit, we can get you one no problem. It’s on me. Not even a problem really!”

There is no way she’s agreeing to this. If all the others were going, maybe (and that’s a very tentative maybe) , but as Kiara’s ‘plus one’? So it’d just be her and Kiara for most of the trip? She can’t handle that. That’s a recipe for disaster if she’s ever seen one.

“I-” She swallows a lump in her throat, but she has to put her foot down here, “No, I can’t- that’s just… I really don’t have the time to do something that big, Kiara. I appreciate you thinking of me, but…”

Honestly, it’s a miracle Kiara decided to ask over the phone, because Ame might have buckled if she were asking in person. It’s always hard to deny Kiara, and doubly so face-to-face.

“Ahh, that’s a shame!” Kiara says. “But I understand! I’m no stranger to a busy schedule. Work doesn’t wait for anyone, sadly.”

“Yeah.” Ame, the time traveler with all the time in the world, says- relieved she doesn’t have to explain further. “Sorry. I’m sure one of the others would love to go with you though. Not like Gura’s job can’t be moved or put on hold or whatever. Shouldn’t be that hard to move some streaming equipment and a computer.”

“Maybe, maybe.” Kiara hums. “But she can be like- well like you sometimes. Getting her all dressed up and all- though it’s a worthwhile challenge, you both look incredible when you dress up!”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Seriously! That outfit Ina had you in was-” there’s a sound garbled from the speaker, that Ame can only assume is Kiara doing one of those chef’s kisses, “ Wunderbar! You look so nice! She’s got good taste, Ame!”

“You say that, so you clearly haven’t read some of her book choices.” Ame replies dryly. “I didn’t know a B grade horror flick could be made into a novel, but damn if she hasn’t found every single one of them .”

“Oh, I’ve given up on getting her into better books years ago,” Ame can practically hear the dismissive hand-flap in that sentence, “But taste in literature and taste in girls are two different things! And I can say from experience, she’s- ach, what’s the term… min-maxed there?”

“If you say so.” Ame says. She’s trying not to be dismissive, but doesn’t want to encourage this line of conversation. It’s dangerous for her mission. If she weren’t trying to keep this conversation under control she’d agree with Kiara, because really, look at the girls Ina lives with! Impeccable taste indeed.

“Oh? Are you questioning my taste now, hmm?” Oh Baelz damn it, she was NOT letting this go- “I’ll have you know, back during the Byzantine era I was quite the connoisseur of women! A whole squad of badasses fighting off the Holy Roman Empire!”

“Alright, Xena.” Ame fires off, because of course Kiara would be some sort of sapphic warlord in the Byzantine era. Hell, she was pretty sure she had gotten some proof of her conquests in her current research into figuring out when the phoenix might have actually been born. 

“You know, Ame, usually that gets some spit-takes with the other Myth girls.” Kiara prods, and Ame actually raises an eyebrow in confusion.

“What, like they’re not expecting it? Haven’t they known you for like… centuries?”

“Some of them.” Kiara admits, “Gura and Ina are a little fresher. Then there’s you, obviously. But really? Not even one of those cute embarrassed little chokes you do?”

“Good night Kiara.”

“It’s barely noo-”

And that’s the end of that. Hopefully- at least, until her phone buzzes with a bank notification, and then a text.

“Speaking of compensation- just reminded me! Thanks for driving me home on my rebirthday, I love you~!”

She swipes away the text notification, and then her eyes nearly bug out of her skull at the number of zeros at the end of that deposit.

How?! Why!? Where did she even get her direct deposit information!? She feels faint, tossing her cellphone away like a hot potato, face down onto the couch.

If she doesn’t look at it, she can pretend it doesn’t exist. She won’t fall for this bait- and she is NOT keeping that money. She’ll need to figure out a sneaky way to give it back.

She picks it up again for the first time a few days later, when it buzzes while she’s going over some chemical tests for the precinct.

“Watson here.”

“Ameeee, are you busy? And don’t sass me, I know you have very important detective and time traveler stuff, but I mean in like… a few hours.”

Well… she looks at the clock. Those tests are gonna need some time to actually finish compiling. Something strikes at her suspicions, however, so she answers a little cagily.

“... Depends, I might need to be on-call. What’s going on?”

“Dinner.”

Ah. Well that’s… not necessarily bad? She could probably handle a dinner with Kiara and the others. She handled lunch with just Ina alright.

“Been a bit since we’ve all hung out.” Ame murmurs, before Kiara interrupts her train of thought.

“Actually, most of the others are weirdly busy- hope you don’t mind hanging out with just little old Kiwawa, do you?”

Oh no. Nope, that was a red flag.

“Just you?” She parrots back, blinking as her mind races to come up with an excuse, “That’s, uh-”

She coughs a bit, pulling the phone away, before turning towards the empty hallway of her apartment.

“Huh? What’s that, chief? That’s- I mean, I might have- dang, that important, huh? How many hours?”

She feels absurd even trying this. This is the sort of trick you’d see on television, or a comic strip, but it’s all she can think of in the panic of the moment. This is barely a step above “I’m going through a tunnel, you’re breaking up” type of shenanigans.

“The… chief, huh?” Kiara questions through the speaker of her cellphone, and Ame suppresses her nervous need to swallow.

“Like I said- on call and all that.”

“Right… okay, well. Be safe, at least?”

Now if that doesn’t just break her heart in half.

“Yeah. Of course.” Ame says. Her throat feels tight, and something ugly curls in her stomach. “You too. I mean, not that you’re getting into danger or- sorry, busy, bye!”

She thumbs over the “end call” button, and groans as she thumps her head against the desk. This… is getting ridiculous. It’s just Kiara! She shouldn’t be so nervous to hang out solo with her friend!

Except for the fact that the last time she did so, she got a full view of Kiara’s entire ass. An image that was not going away any time soon, like some sort of grim reminder. This is for the best, no matter how bad it feels. She owes this to them- she’s the interloper here, what is she even thinking, mucking around with their dynamic?

There’s a whining from under her desk, and she pushes her chair back enough to see Bubba pawing at her shoes.

“What do I do, Bubba?” She asks, reaching down to ruffle his fur, as the dog in question simply pants happily at the attention. “I’m in too deep, here.”

Bubba shuffles forward, and gives her an exceptionally sloppy lick on the face, earning a squawk of surprise from his owner.

“Bubba!”

###

The knock on her apartment door catches her by surprise. It’s six in the afternoon, well past Gura’s usual time for dropping by. Besides, it’s the wrong day for Gura to be visiting. Their usual arcade time isn’t for another two days.

She approaches the door with a hint of wariness. She wouldn’t put it past Kiara to drop by unannounced, and she really doesn’t want to have to turn her down again.

Maybe she can just pretend she isn’t home, if worse comes to worse. Kiara can’t prove she isn’t- not without breaking into the apartment anyways.

… Baelz she is really losing it now, isn’t she? This is ridiculous- even if it IS Kiara behind that door, she shouldn’t have to just cower at the idea of social interaction! Come on, Watson, you’re better than that!

With a burst of determination fueled by her own annoyance with herself, she pops the door open.

Calli waves at her, tank-top strap hanging off her shoulder and jacket tied around her waist.

“Yo, dude.”

Ame was so prepared for it to be Kiara that she actually blinks a little in surprise, before shaking her head back to reality.

“Hey- what’s up, did we have plans I forgot about?”

“Nah- I mean, I’m hoping to make plans right now, if that’s cool though?”

“Uh- yeah, no yeah sure. Um- come in?”

Calli shoots her a grin as she steps in- before pausing halfway through the threshold to take in the yellowed wallpaper and the pile of paperwork on Ame’s dining area table (Not dining room , since it’s connected directly to the kitchen, more of a suggestion of a space than its own thing).

“Huh.”

Ame immediately cringes. She was so caught off guard she forgot why she never invites anyone to her apartment anymore. It’s because of exactly this sort of reaction- hell, out of the rest of them, Gura was the only one that actually knew what her apartment looked like. Which was exactly how she liked it.

Thankfully, rather than make any sort of offer to “fix up” the place, Calli simply dumps herself onto the couch.

“So, they’re doing all you can eat wings at this bar I know tonight.”

“Straight to the point, huh?” Ame settles down on the opposite end, leaving enough room for Bubba to clamber up and spread out across both of their laps. Ame gives him some scritches behind the ear, just like he likes it, while his wagging tail smacks Calli in the face a few times before she adjusts out of the way.

“Yep. You interested?” Calli asks with the raising of an eyebrow. “Your boy’s going either way, just to be clear. They always break out their best booze on wing night.”

Hmm… well, It would be nice to have something different in the fridge for leftovers for the next few days… “I suppose I could tag along, if you don’t mind company. I can pay for my own stuff.”

“Company’s payment enough, Watson.” She then proceeds to give Ame an exaggerated wink that has the detective chuckling for once. At least she knew Calli was just goofing off here.

It takes less than a minute to throw on her coat and grab her wallet (just in case Calli changes her mind!) before they’re on their way. Calli could probably just shadowstep them there, but just like the others she usually opts out of using her powers when they’re not strictly necessary.

Ame’s never asked, but she assumes it’s for the same reason she doesn’t use her time travel to solve everything outside her job. The semblance of normality is necessary.

When they actually get to the bar, Ame pauses for a second- she’s never really been bar hopping with Calli before. Usually, the only times she finds herself at bars is when she’s pursuing a lead.

So, it gets a little chuckle out of her when she realizes wing night is happening at one such bar connected to her ongoing investigation with the police department to bust some organized crime.

“What? It’s a nice enough place.” Calli says, giving Ame a look at the sound of her chuckling. Ame waves her off.

“No, yeah, it’s fine- sorry, just… remembered an old joke, basically.”

“Gotcha.”

The bar’s exactly as she remembered it from casing it a few days ago- nice enough, not as dingy as some she’s found herself in. The bartender’s got a vest and tie, rows of bottles lining the wall behind him and a nice hardwood bar counter in front of him. The seating up front is fairly standard, and then in the back there’s a bit of a dip leading to some booths, tables, and the kitchen/employee area in the back. Simple hanging lights cast their glow on the patrons below, and Ame can smell the spice of whiskey, bourbon, and gin in the air.

Exactly the sort of casual-classy joint you’d go to in order to avoid suspicion. The definition of “normal”.

Calli slides onto a stool at the bar, and Ame hops up to join her. The bartender gives her one of those greeting nod things that guys do, and Calli makes a single wave before tapping the counter twice. The bartender nods again, plucking out a bottle from the rack and filling two glasses, while punching something into the POS system.

“Damn, don’t even need to talk to the bartender, huh?”

Calli turns to Ame, sitting up a little straighter as a light blush dusts her cheeks.

“Well- yeah, I mean I guess I come here often enough?”

“Or maybe you’re telepathic and just haven’t mentioned it, hmm?” Ame says, raising an eyebrow at her teasingly.

“Thank gods I’m not- Ina might be, though? Pretty sure she can command takos without saying anything. Dunno if it extends to people.” Calli muses.

Ame shudders. She thinks she might die if Ina ever read her mind. Just right on the spot, deceased.

A plate of boneless wings gets dropped off in front of them- piled high and half-and-half in regards to flavor. Bright orange buffalo drenched chicken on one side, and a less spicy, lemon pepper dry-rub on the other. Two little ramekins of blue cheese and ranch follow, and Calli immediately snags one of the buffalo wings.

The spice of the buffalo sauce hits Ame’s nose, and immediately she knows that she’s going to be boxing up the lemon pepper wings for her leftovers. She’s not exactly a baby in regards to spice, but… well, the reaper in front of her seems barely affected, while her nose hairs feel like they’re curling in on themselves.

“Sho.” Calli swallows her first wing with a tiny “guh” , “You’ve been holing yourself up lately. Everything good?”

“Hmm? Yeah, uh, just busy you know?” Amelia says, biting into her own wing to stall for time. She takes a solid minute to savor the flavor (and think, frantically) , before swallowing and saying “Got some leads and all that.”

“Yeah- Wawa seemed pretty bummed about your work keeping you from hanging out.”

Well, that was certainly blunt. And from the way Calli is sitting casually, munching on a second wing and not exactly looking Ame in the face- this is the worst attempt at casual questioning Ame has ever seen.

Well, she supposes she is the detective here, not Calli. For all her dramatic appearance and the big scary scythe she can summon, Calli isn’t exactly known for her composure or subtlety.

At least, you know, when she wasn’t doing her job.

“I’m not-” Ame stops for a second, feeling the bald faced lie die in her throat. She… was avoiding her, was the thing. And she was really starting to get tired of pretending otherwise- and forcing herself to do so out of some… what? Some misguided attempt to not rock the boat?

Kiara is her friend. Calli, Ina, Gura- they all are. And she’s being an idiot right now.

“It’s… not exactly like that. I want to hang out- I really do! And I’ve been a little busy, but it’s just… it’s complicated.”

She’s got Calli’s full attention now, and as much as she feels uncomfortable underneath that red gaze, she supposes she deserves it.

“Lay it out, Watson. What’s the deal? What’s-”

Calli pauses, leaning back on her stool a little and squinting- before her gaze goes wide and Ame picks up a muttered “Oh, for gods sake-”

“CAWWI!”

Oh no. Speak of the devil.

A certain phoenix comes bounding into the bar with her usual subtlety- which is to say, none at all. Following behind her, tail dragging limply on the ground and what Ame would normally associate with indigestion on her face, is Gura- who takes one look at Ame and grimaces.

“… Yeah. Me too, Gura.”

Kiara flops onto Calli’s shoulders, peppering her cheek with kisses that the reaper squawks indignantly at. At least she’s not alone with Kiara here- she can deal with that. But just like that, any explanation as to the why is locked away. Kiara was just… a very open, very loving person. Saying THAT was the reason Ame had been pulling away would probably hurt more than the distance did.

“You taste spicy today, Cawwi. Is that buffalo sauce?” Kiara questions as soon as her assault has ended in victory.

“Scoping out the competition? Trying to figure out the next KFP gimmick?” Ame says, pasting on the veneer of humor like it’s nothing. A mask easily slipped on, as much as she hates to use it for anything but work.

“Always.” Kiara responds easily, with a wink. She sits- much to Ame’s worry, on Ame’s other side rather than next to Calli like she was expecting. Gura, with a slight roll of her eyes, drags herself up on the stool behind Kiara.

“How’s your tummy, stinko?”

Doing flips.

“It’s fine, shark-breath.”

“Better be if you’re having wings with Calli.” Gura says, waving the bartender down for her own plate. He raises an eyebrow at her, and Gura grumbles as she has to pull out her ID for simply being in here.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Calli squints at the shark.

“‘Your boy’ doesn't exactly get light sauces.” Gura snorts, nabbing one of the dry wings. Dang it, she’s gonna get stuck with taking home a bunch of buffalo wings, isn’t she?

“Ame’s a big girl, she can handle some spice.”

“Ame’s also right here, and can speak for herself.” She pipes up, raising an eyebrow as Calli gives a sheepish apology.

“I dunno about her being a ‘big girl’. Last I checked we all got a few hundred years on her…” Gura says with a slightly mocking grin.

“Last I checked, I got a few hundred millimeters on you, fish breath.” Ame shoots back.

“You already called me shark breath, find a different insult!”

“I think the fact that that’s the thing that offends you more makes it better.”

“Can’t take you two anywhere.” Calli grumbles, before tossing back her drink, before glancing over at Kiara with a bit of a stink eye. Kiara, for her part, smiles innocently.

“So, what were you two talking about~?”

Ame immediately stuffs another wing into her mouth and avoids looking at the phoenix. Calli exhales through her nose in faint exasperation before answering. “Just askin’ ‘bout Ame’s new case is all. Was curious.”

“Always work with you two!” Kiara tuts, before grabbing a buffalo wing. She takes a bite- breathing around the spice as she fans herself a little. Now that’s almost funny.

While Calli and Kiara squabble a bit, arguing over Calli’s workaholic tendencies, Ame casts her gaze around the room, desperate for… she doesn’t know what. An excuse to leave? A distraction?

“Gonna use the loo real quick.” She says, patting Calli on the shoulder. She’s so deep in her defense, she barely acknowledges Ame- Gura shoots her a questioning look, and Ame simply gives her a thumb’s up that doesn’t even convince herself. The shark’s eyes follow her until she’s fully out of sight.

There’s a short hallway through a set of double swinging doors- bathrooms on the left, kitchen and employee lounge on the right. Even back here, it’s fairly nice- lighting in the hallway is a little dim, but the deep red of the wallpaper gives it a bit of class. 

She beelines to the sink, washing dry rub off her hands before she rubs her eyes at the encroaching migraine of navigating this social rollercoaster ride.

Well, the universe certainly seems to be sending her a sign right now- “Just keep your feelings right inside, and then die some day.” It… fucking SUCKS that she can’t even find a moment to be honest with one of the only two of them she feels would be able to understand her worries here.

A growl rumbles in her throat, and she takes the paper towel she was drying her hands with and chucks it at the garbage- bouncing off the wall and missing the trash can. With a sigh, she walks over, bending down to pick it up-

“-Francisco’s waiting in the back. You got the stuff?”

Ame stiffens, instincts kicking into high gear. She slowly straightens up, keeping as quiet as possible, and presses her ear to the door.

“Yeah- broad at the public records building was fuckin’ easy. Floor plans are in the briefcase.”

Her eyes narrow. This stinks of a heist- holy shit, this was her big break, yapping away just outside the doors. Hell, the crooks were basically handing themselves over on a silver platter!

“Good work- aight, let’s move it. I got a whole plate of wings back there, nothin’ worse than cold wings.”

Francisco- that has to be Francisco Delrose, one of the top enforcers of the Delrose operation she’s been trying to crack for months now, right? That guy had been giving the precinct the slip for weeks- and here he was the entire time, just hiding out in some bar she’s already cased once.

“Must have been keeping on the move- they’ve got to have multiple fronts they’re working through, right?”

Her hand thumbs over the casing of her watch- always on her person- and she’s starting to regret not even bringing a knife or anything. Hell, she doesn’t even have any concoction- this is gonna suck, lightly.

She patiently waits until the conversation ends and she can hear footsteps moving off, and only then does she crack open the door and catch the sight of two men slipping out through the side door probably meant for deliveries.

Well, no time like the present. She can always use her watch to jump back. The others won’t even know she was working. Her shoes are soft against the carpeted hallway, and she shimmies up to the door, stopping it from closing fully with the toe of her shoe before pressing her ear up to the crack.

“Franky! Jeeze, lookit you- hiding out ain’t doing you any good, man!”

“And you look like you’ve been tucking into your mother’s cooking extra hard, Renaldo.”

Baelz, could they be more stereotypical? At least Ame recognizes the new voice- she’s heard it from various recordings she’s gone over with the police. That’s definitely the same Francisco.

Okay. How does she want to play this? At least three suspects, probably armed, definitely dangerous, and sensitive public records information. It’s gonna be tight quarters, plus there’s the public out front- if someone fires, there’s a chance that someone innocent could get hit.

If there’s only three, she can go double-time and just Quicksilver their asses, easily. She’ll be a bit jittery afterwards, but they’d be out like lights. If there was more, though… 

Well, she can always jump back if something goes wrong. It would suck, doing all that in quick succession, but it’s a risk she’s gotta take. Work waits for nobody- or, more specifically, criminals don’t.

She double-presses the button on the watch, and the world blue-shifts as time slows down by half. A single kick sends the door cracking in half, and she barrels through the splinters- shoulder checking one of the pieces and sending it spinning in slow-motion towards-

Oh. Oh that’s a lot more than three people. That is so much more than three people. She’s really starting to miss her concoction right about now.

Her hesitation is costing her precious seconds, so she rushes the nearest guy, elbowing him in the face and quickly going through his jacket- come on, you two-bit mafia parody, where’s your gun?

Nothing. Shit- she’s got seconds left before stretching out time like this would rubber-band too hard back onto her. She turns on her heel, dashing towards the man that could only be Francisco- hunched over the makeshift table made from some crates, floor plans spread out and halfway through looking up at the commotion. For someone who can’t manipulate the flow of time, there’s only so fast they can react to a time traveler.

She slides between his legs, twisting and locking her arm around his neck, yanking back just as everything speeds back up to normal, and a pounding headache sets into her, vision going black around the edges like she’d just pull some serious G-forces. 

Which… was kind of how that works.

Francisco gags as Ame tightens her forearm against his windpipe. A dozen clicks of steel point at her, with the exception of two groaning bodies- one under half a broken door, the other doubled over as he gripped his broken nose. 

“You know there are more secure ways of discussing your super illegal plans than saying them out loud in a public hallway, right?” Amelia quips.

“Damn it, Renaldo!” The guy with the broken nose growls.

“So, in case you didn’t get the script, this is the part where you all put down your weapons.” Amelia continues. “Unless you all want broken noses, in which case I can oblige but, like, not the most comfortable thing. Wouldn’t recommend it, really. Probably better to save your energy for explaining to the police how exactly you got these papers here, yeah?”

There’s a tense silence, and Ame can hear one of them mutter “Where the hell did she even come from? Who moves that fast!?”

She can’t help but put on a cocky little grin at that. It’s good to have the leg up the watch gave her, even if she could barely stop her free hand from shivering in the aftershocks of time manipulation.

“Clock’s ticking, gentlemen.” Ame says, watching as they exchange looks, trying to decide what their move is. She really needs this to be over sooner than later.

Francisco’s the first to speak, but he doesn’t address her.

“Leo. You remember movie night, before the tower job?”

“Kind of a bad time to get sentimental, Franky.” One of the uninjured men- presumably Leo- speaks up, pistol trained on Ame and her little hostage here. 

“And here I thought you’d never shut up about Bruce Willis, after that.”

… Ah hell, that’s definitely code for something. And Ame only realizes this as understanding starts to dawn on Leo’s face- adjusting his aim- he was going to shoot through his own boss to get to-!

Gunfire cracks, and Ame shuts her eyes.

…

… There was a whole lot of “not getting shot” happening right now that definitely didn’t make sense, considering the circumstances. There’s no way Leo had blanks loaded, right?

“That’s enough from you.” A deep, echoing voice rolls over the scene. Amelia cracks an eye open to see there’s some dark fabric being held in front of her and her hostage, and a bullet casing lying on the ground. She flicks her eyes to the side, just a bit, and can see a familiar sleeve and pale hand holding the cloak out defensively.

“...hey Calli, uh-”

“Not the time.”

“Right.”

There’s a whirl of shadow, the glint of metal, and before Ame can even blink she starts hearing bodies drop. The supernatural smoke of Calli’s reaper form clears shortly after, and in moments she’s staring out across the back alley, dimly lit at the edge by a street light that halos Calli’s silhouette as she’s got her scythe raised towards Francisco’s throat.

The mobsters don’t look dead, but they certainly aren’t moving.

“You’re going to cooperate, aren’t you?” Calli asks, though it sounds more like an order. Her cold red eyes bore into the man, who nods frantically. “Good.”

With a twirl of her scythe, the wooden butt of it cracks against his skull, and he’s out like a light, slumping out of Ame’s grip and onto the ground.

Yeah, if she were facing Death Herself like that, she’d want to be unconscious, too. Which, considering the unreadable look Calli is giving her…

“Holy fuck!?”

The remaining half of the door creaks open, Gura and Kiara standing on the other side.

“...look, you can say whatever in a moment, I do have to call this in.” Amelia says sheepishly, raising her hand holding her phone.

Calli sighs deeply, but doesn’t stop her. Gura, however, has no such compunctions- waving her arms wildly at the scene.

“What the HELL, Watson! Are those fucking gangsters!? We heard a gunshot-”

“Mobsters.” Ame idly corrects as she punches in the number for her contact at the police department, “Been trying to pin these guys for a bit, actually.”

“ This is what you’ve been so busy with?” Kiara asks shrilly, a bit pale as she glances from body to unconscious body, the glint of irons shining in the street light.

“Y-yeah? I’m- I’m a detective, what did you think I did?” Ame asks, thumb hovering over the green call button. Kiara runs a hand through her hair.

“I don’t know- finding lost kittens?” Kiara’s voice sounds a bit desperate, like if she says it then it will become true.

“If only that would pay the bills.” Ame mutters. Kiara looks like she’s going to say more, but Calli stops her and gestures for Ame to actually make her call.

 Ame is under no illusion this is some gesture of sympathy. Calli just understands the job. It’s a quick call- address, case file, description of the perp. She’s told a cruiser would be by in minutes to pick them up.

“You put yourself in this kind of danger often?” Kiara speaks up again, once Ame hangs up the phone. Her tone is more than a little accusatory.

Is this a bad time to mention the death cult? It’s probably a bad time to mention the death cult. Or the time anomalies. Or the alternate-reality fascist zeppelin that one time.

“... Define “this” kind of danger?”

“Oh sweet Neptune it’s worse.” Gura mutters, still mostly in shock compared to Calli’s stone-faced facade and Kiara’s worried anger.

“Usually I have my gun and my concoction!” Amelia says defensively. “It’s not that bad!”

“Not that bad, she says!” Kiara throws her hands up, “My god- Ame, you’re mortal -”

“I KNOW that!”

“You were on my list, man.”

Calli’s voice is quiet, and Ame turns to her with a blink of confusion.

“It was only for a second, but…” Calli swallows, and her scythe fades away into mist as she sends it away, “But you don’t come back like Kiara does. I’ve never been more scared in my life.”

…Shit. Yeah, she’s definitely not mentioning the death cult.

“Ame, you-” Kiara takes a breath, trying to calm down as she steps towards her and puts her hands on Ame’s shoulders- ignoring the brief flinch Ame has at the contact. “I’m just… you close off from us so easily, and we want to be able to keep you safe. We care about you- we love you, Ame!”

She can hear Gura suck in a breath and every single one of Ame’s worries scream to the front of her brain at once, but Kiara keeps barrelling forward.

“-And I can’t help but feel like I did something wrong. I just want to be able to help you, but you won’t even talk to me! What did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything, it’s- it’s me, okay?” She lets her shoulders slump.

“Oh yeah, like that line’s ever a good sign.” Gura says in a low voice. Ame pulls away from Kiara’s grip, shaking out her hands to get the last of the time jitters out. The “bwoop” of a police siren barks out, flashing red and blue lights now illuminating the alleyway.

“...look, Ame has to deal with all this.” Calli mutters, gesturing to the bodies on the floor- yeah, that was gonna be a lot of paperwork. She casts a critical side-eye at the detective. “We can- we will talk about this later with clearer heads. Either you’re coming to us tomorrow Watson, or we’re coming to you, got it?”

Amelia shrinks in on herself. “Y-Yeah, fine.”

“Good.” Calli nods. “I’ll pay for the food. If you’re not knocking on the door by noon tomorrow, we’re coming over.”

Calli doesn’t say anything more before sweeping her cloak over herself and moving back inside. Kiara follows reluctantly, still giving Ame big concerned eyes.

Gura brings up the rear. Her expression is… troubled. Not in the way Kiara’s was, but something a bit more quiet. The fact that she gives Ame a nod before ducking inside stabs her in the heart in a way she was not expecting.

It’s not the best state to be dealing with the police in, but she only has herself to blame.

… She’s going to need way longer than just tomorrow to figure out what to say.

Chapter Text

Calling it a meeting made it seem a lot more formal than it was. It was more instinctive, a need to talk, than some organized forum around a table where politicians sat stroking their beards and tapping their swords or something.

…look, the last time Kiara was in politics was in the medieval era, alright? Maybe her mental image is a bit outdated. 

Ina is there first, because she didn’t have any part in Kiara’s cockamamie scheme. Sitting cross-legged, sketch pad in her lap as the rest of them pile through the door to their home. Kiara flops her head next to Ina’s thighs, and the smug little tako scritches her scalp.

“Didn’t work?”

“A little more dire than that.” Calli says, not exactly grumbling but voice still low as the shock still seeped into her bones. That got Ina to straighten up a bit.

“What happened?”

“Watson’s a secret agent or somethin’.” Gura says bluntly, dropping onto the couch and staring up at the ceiling. “Like, ‘fist fight twenty guys with guns in a back alley’ sorta secret agent. It’s nuts.”

“She nearly died while we were just eating wings.” Kiara says faintly. “I was wondering if I should ask for dipping sauce while she was trying not to get shot .”

Ina sucks in a breath at that. Oh. That. That was… 

That was a potential series of events she did not want to dwell on, with how it made her heart suddenly weigh as much as a brick in her chest.

“It was kinda cool.” Gura continues. “But, like, in a ‘I never want to see this again’ way, you know? Like surviving a tsunami.”

“She was on my list.” Calli manages after a second. “For just a second- if I hadn’t reacted, she would have-”

“But she didn’t.”

Ina puts a hand on Calli’s arm, as the reaper in question paces in front of the couch they’re all cramming onto.

“You were fast enough- she’s safe now, right?”

Calli takes a deep breath, and nods, slipping down until she’s sitting against the foot of the couch, lower than everyone else. Ina now has her hands full head-patting two stressed-out immortal beings. “She went with the police down to the station. Right now she’s safe, at least.”

“I’ve got half a mind to grab my old sword and shield and start hunting.” Kiara mutters, her tone a little worrying. Only Calli had really known her back during her stint as a warlord, but from some of the stories she’s told…

“She’d hate that.”

Kiara cranes her neck, looking at Gura upside-down. The shark glances over at her from the corner of her eye.

“Come on. I’ve been telling you guys- doing things on her own, her independence- that’s one of the most important things to her. If she found out any of you were going off and declawing her cases before she could even get started on them? She’d hate it. She’s like… a stray cat, or something.”

“That, and we’re just about the opposite of subtle.” Calli adds after a moment, though her tone doesn’t exactly imply she’s happy with what she’s saying. “Which is kinda needed for that sort of work, I imagine.”

“And yet she still doesn’t get it! ” Kiara grumbles, before flipping over so her face is now planted firmly on Ina’s thigh, letting out a groan, “I told her “we love you” and everything, and I could TELL she still thought it was probably platonic or some shit!”

“Stupidest smart girl in the world.” Gura says under her breath. “Pokes around the whole house, even gets in the bedroom, but still can’t figure out that this ain’t an exclusive club or whatever.”

“I don’t think she’s that dense.” Ina offers. “More like… I don’t know. She has been acting oddly distant from us, she had to have come to SOME conclusion to start changing her behavior like that, right?”

“What, like she’s afraid that she’s going to throw a wrench into our relationship or something?”

The pause that hangs over them has the weight of the world. Kiara hisses out a breath.

“Oh Baelz.”

“She WOULD think that, wouldn’t she?”

“I told you.” Gura grumbles. “Go slow, or spell it out, cuz exactly this was gonna happen.”

“You were just complaining about her being stupid.” Calli retorts.

“Yeah, and? Like you don’t ever complain about Ame calling you at ass o’clock at night, or me eating all the snacks.” Gura snorts. “Gotta work around everyone’s stupid points- like how she won’t even let me get her a pack of light bulbs for her shitty apartment’s dumb bathroom! I know she wants to be able to take care of things herself, and it makes her reliable so I let it go, but- UUUGH!!!”

“She what ?” Kiara asks, head rising off Ina’s lap to stare at Gura. “What’s this about a shitty apartment? You’re not telling me-”

“Studio apartment, third floor, buzzer has been broken for months, wallpaper in the hallway peeling like crazy.” Gura replies flatly. “And yeah, I didn’t tell you, because I know that wouldn’t end well.”

Kiara clicks her tongue and lies back down. “Scheize, if you had told me… no wonder she didn’t accept that party invitation. I should have made it more clear she didn’t have to pay for anything .”

“That wouldn’t help.” Gura says immediately. “Kiara, Ame is terrified of owing people stuff, or like, being… useless I guess? Even if it’s stupid and irrational, even if she’s being treated . Self worth thing I think. Hadn’t got the chance to push too deep.”

“Working herself to the bone.” Calli adds, a far off look to her eye. A tale that was far too familiar to her- and far too recent, considering exactly how little time Calli had been on her forced vacation by Death Sensei. Kiara reaches down and puts a hand on her shoulder.

“Reminds me of someone.”

Calli rolls her eyes, groaning as she knows exactly what Kiara’s doing. “Let me mope in peace, kusatori.”

“Nope.”

“Can we get back to the whole ‘told her I love you’ thing?” Ina asks, eyes flicking between the three of them. “How exactly are we going to be more clear than that?”

A sigh passes between the three of them, with Gura putting her head in her hands.

“Well, these two sort of forced her into agreeing to come over so we can air out the whole “scared for her life” bit, so… at the very least we can explain the polycule when she comes over tomorrow.”

“If she actually does it.” Kiara huffs, but Gura shakes her head.

“No, she’ll come. She promised.”

###

Time screeches to a halt as Ame falls out of the flow of it, flopping unceremoniously onto the marble flooring of Kronii’s office. Her coat has a few singe marks on it- plasma fire. Future timelines were both incredibly cool, but also some of the worst to do jobs in. Solving cases and getting into fights with outdated tech is not exactly optimal.

“Okay.” She manages to groan, pushing herself to her feet as she holds up the anomaly in question- a broken gear, from some far off corner of Kronii’s domain, having fallen into a timeline and causing temporal havoc. “Anomaly fixed- what’s next?”

Kronii, for her part, stares at Ame with an utterly unreadable expression- which wasn’t unusual for her. Ame may know most of Council pretty well, but that didn’t change the fact that they simply weren’t human- didn’t operate in the same way. Kronii was especially inscrutable, but honestly?

It was kind of a relief. A brick wall her detective mind just couldn’t break past, so she didn’t have to try.

“... Are you good?” Kronii asks. “Like- I know I said you owed me for reckless endangerment of the timeline, but… you know I was just blowing it out of proportion, right? To get through that thick skull of yours?”

“Yep, I’m good. Better than good. Good- er , you might say.” Amelia rambles, holding out the gear for Kronii to take. “Give me another chief!”

“Okay, here’s a mission- go to bed?”

“I got like, six hours in at Wattropolis before the last one, it’s basically noon for me!”

“And when was the last time you slept at your home, Amelia?”

“I dunno, you tell me O warden of time. Maybe it’s fifty years in the future from when I left!”

“...I know that watch isn’t broken, Watson. You can return exactly when you left.” Kronii says flatly. “You’re usually better at bullshitting than that.”

“Well-”

“Look.” Kronii cuts her off, letting out the single most tired groan Ame’s heard from the woman. “I don’t know what your deal is. I probably don’t want to know honestly- I don’t care if you’ve had some argument with your girlfriends-” It takes everything Ame has not to choke on air, “Or your uncle is sick, or whatever other reason you’re avoiding the progression of me in its natural course, but I’m not babysitting you forever Watson. Go home.”

“... Bae already told me you aren’t literally time.”

“Not the point!” Kronii palms her face, before muttering something about “always the most difficult Ames” . Hey- she resembled that remark, thank you very much! “You’re not performing your best when you’re distracted. Not gonna have you get eaten by some time-monster because you’re lost in your head. Go home, resolve… whatever this is, then come back if you really want more to do.”

Amelia really wants to protest, but if there’s anything more powerful than Kronii’s stubbornness, it’s her exhaustion. She’s not winning this- but she’s still not ready. She just can’t be ready.

“Maybe if you spent this time actually considering the situation, instead of throwing yourself into mission after mission to AVOID thinking about it, you’d at least be a little prepared.”

Damn it.

It’s 9 AM when she gets back to her apartment. The one light bulb in the bathroom fizzles out in a pop of electricity on her return, and she groans.

Double damn it. She skips changing out of her clothes, and just collapses onto the couch, forearm covering her face as she groans again.

She still doesn’t want to have this conversation. She just wants everything to go back to normal, back to how it was, why did she have to stick her nose in business that wasn’t her own- oh wait duh it’s because she’s been a nosy little shit for all her life , isn’t that right Detective?

She tosses one of the couch cushions against the wall, watching it flop uselessly to the floor. She did the best she could, and she still was gonna end up making it weird for the girls. All because she couldn’t help but meddle, all because she thought for a second that maybe she was on the same level as-

There’s a knock on her door. 

“Triple fucking damn stupid-”

She steels her nerves with a breath- it’s barely 9:30, and she’d be annoyed at their assumption that she wouldn’t actually show up on time if they weren’t basically fucking right.

Should she pretend to still be asleep? No, if Calli was there then something as simple as a door wasn’t going to keep them out. Time to face the-

She opens the door, and she’s not greeted by the entire Spanish Inquisition- instead, Gura looks up at her, a pair of tupperware containers balanced in her grasp, and her Switch case hanging by its strap off her shoulder.

“I brought soup.”

Amelia blinks once, twice. Her eyes flick over Gura’s shoulder, half expecting to see a hint of a scythe through the doorway or a tentacle trying to slip inside, but no, it’s just Gura. “...what kind?”

“Butternut squash- go ahead, get the deez joke out of your system.”

“Well if you predict it, it isn’t funny.” Ame couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile at that, stepping aside to let Gura through. She sets the tupperwares on the coffee table, already going to hook up her Switch. Ame grabs a couple clean spoons from her silverware drawer, popping the top off one the containers and letting the scent of fresh, warm soup waft over.

“Isn’t this more of a cool autumn day type soup?”

“Lookit you, you are cultured after all.” Gura shoots a grin her way, clicking the power button on the TV and plopping down next to Ame on the couch. She doesn’t bother with a spoon- slurping it straight from the container like the gremlin she is.

“One of us has to be.” Ame says, quickly followed by, “And don’t get soup on my floor! I gotta clean that!”

“If I make a mess, then I’ll clean it up, daijobu ya big baby.”

It’s… normal. Basically the same as any of their other chill hangout days. Even when she was trying her best to distance herself after the party, hanging out with Gura is just… easy.

Gura manages to clinch a win, sticking her tongue out as Ame rolls her eyes, before setting her controller down to face her for a bit.

“So… your coat’s a little singed.”

Never mind. Abort. Not normal. Help.

“Just figure you might wanna change that out before the ‘big talk’, the rest of them are already kinda worried about you enough, yeah?” Once again, Gura doesn’t pry- even on the eve of this she still doesn’t pry, and…

“You’re not gonna ask?”

Gura shrugs.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about you, it’s that you like your privacy- and yeah, I wanna get to know you better, we all do, because we-” Gura pauses a second, swallowing, “We care about you and all that mushy junk. But I don’t wanna push so hard that we push you away. Even if some of us seemed to learn that lesson a little too late.”

“Push me- Gura, none of you were pushing me away, I was just- if anything it was the other way around, okay? Not your fault.”

“Not anyone’s ‘fault’, Stinky.” Gura huffs. “This is a mess and we all know it.”

Despite herself, that gets a snort of amusement out of Amelia. Leave it to Gura to say it as it is. She sinks into the couch, letting some of the stress ebb away before she speaks again.

“Sorry if I made things awkward between you and your girlfriends.”

“ Fucking called it. ” Gura sighs under her breath. “I’m gonna take that hat and coat and switch careers, I swear to Neptune.”

“Wh- huh?” Ame sits back up, looking over at Gura, flabbergasted, “Called it? Called what?”

“You being a dumbass.” Gura says bluntly. “You didn’t make things awkward , we were TRYING to seduce you, dummy! All of us!”

The detective blinks.

“... No?”

“Uhhh, actually- and consider for a moment- yes?”

“But-” She gestures to herself, “What, me? ”

“Hey, can you read minds?” Gura asks accusingly, poking her in the nose. “Gonna tell me my own thoughts are wrong bub? If I say yes then it’s yes. You’re a hot commodity, deal with it.”

Ame closes her mouth. She doesn’t have a good response for that.

“Also, finish your damn soup before it gets cold. I don’t wanna tell Kiara you drank cold soup when I was over.” Gura huffs.

Ame looks down at the soup, re-contextualizing… well, everything.

“So, the soup is you saying that you…?”

“The soup is me saying that if I looked in your fridge, I would find a block of Kraft singles and half a loaf of bread if I’m lucky.” Gura snarks, before looking back over at Ame for a second as red flushes her cheeks.

“But… yeah. Also… also that.”

Oh, she’s not letting Gura off the hook that easily- not after THIS whole production, not after realizing she could have just been having this the whole time if she had just figured it all out. “Also what, Gura~?”

“Oh come on, don’t make me say it! It’s obvious at this point, figure it out, Detective!”

“I dunno, I mean- apparently I AM the world’s worst detective, you might have to spell it out for me? What was that earlier- stealing my hat and coat?”

“Keep your crummy hat, you know what maybe I should just-”

Gura growls, letting the sentence drop before her hands find Ame’s cheeks, and suddenly she’s being pulled closer, and… 

Ame sees stars.

###

Ame never gave much thought as to how Gura got around. She’s sure she must have seen it at some point, but just like Ina it seemed like she was always waiting at their meeting spot before she got there, or in Gura’s case just knocked on her door with no transport in sight because they were inside an apartment building.

Still, an Uber wasn’t exactly what she was expecting.

There’s a temptation to make a joke, but none come to mind. Not like she can say anything. She’d consider it a gift to be able to afford regular Uber rides, so instead Ame stays mostly silent. The nerves are still strong; even if Gura has mostly cleared up the misunderstanding she still has to confront Calli, Ina, and Kiara .

Gura doesn’t seem bothered. She sits in happy silence the entire trip, her tail tapping out a beat on her seat while she hums along with the radio.

The half hour it takes to get to their home passes in the blink of an eye. All too soon Amelia is standing at the end of the driveway, staring up at the mansion looming in front of her, a cold sweat breaking out on her skin.

“Come on, I just saw you fight like twenty dudes with guns, is this really scarier?”

“Yes.” Ame replies, earning an incredulous stare from Gura.

“Wow. You’ve got issues, Watson.”

“Yeah, and one of them is standing next to me.” Ame shoots back. Gura pouts.

“You can’t stay mad at me, I’m too cute.”

“Well, you got me there.”

Gura lets out a barking laugh, before starting up the steps to the front door, Ame trailing after her.

The shark shoves open the door unceremoniously, like the hardwood piece isn’t worth more than Ame’s kidney and heart combined. Gura waves her to follow, meandering to one of the doorways to the left. Ame doesn’t remember if she ever got to see what was there, but at least it means they won’t be talking this out in the reception hall or dining room. They’re too… big. Too imposing. They don’t leave anywhere to hide.

(Not that she can realistically hide from any of them, but that’s aside from the point. It’s got the wrong vibes , as Calli would probably say.)

The room Gura leads her to is a lot cozier. Bookshelves line one wall, and paintings (Ame assumes they’re Ina’s based on the style) take up the opposite side. A single bay window overlooks the garden out back, and all three of the other girls are piled up on a loveseat clearly built for two. Warm noonday light filters in, catching on tiny motes of library dust hanging in the air, and Gura flops into an armchair opposite the others.

That just leaves Ame standing awkwardly in the doorway, trying to decide what the least problematic place to sit would be.

Gura pats her lap, and Ame elects to just lean against the door frame in response, arms crossed.

“I’d crush you, bozo.”

“I’m a deep sea monster, I can lift you with my pinky, stinky.”

“That was almost poetry.”

Gura sweeps out a hand in as close to a bow she can get from her seated position.

“Sooo.” Ina interrupts, glancing between the two. “How much do we have to, ah…”

“Did you guys know Watson actually wears cherry chap stick?” Gura says, and Amelia finally fails to avoid choking on air.

“Gura!” She hisses, face already flushing again.

“What? That’s literally the sorta thing we’re here to discuss.” Gura huffs. “Everyone here keeps dancing around the issue, it’s like I’m the only one here capable of being normal about romance! Sheesh!”

She points towards Calli and Kiara. “Still boggles my mind that you two were actually together before me and Ina found you.”

Kiara shrugs. “I had a few thousand years to work on her.”

“Was she an easier or tougher nut to crack?” Ina asks, getting a non-committal hand waggle from Kiara.

“Different issues, though at least Calli knew I was trying to get in her pants, apparently.”

Ame’s throat makes a strangled noise that even she can’t identify. Gura rolls her eyes to the heavens.

“Watson, come on, you’ve known Kiara for long enough to expect that. Stop actin’ like a Victorian lady who just saw some ankle.”

“It hits different when I know she’s serious, okay? Get off my dick!”

“We haven’t even GOTTEN that far yet!”

“Fuck you!”

“Do it yourself!”

“Actually, should we just give them, like, an hour or something?” Calli says, and this time both Gura and Ame flush at the implication. Kiara crows out a laugh.

“I would rather there be something left for the rest of us.” Ina says, folding her hands calmly. Ame chokes again, and Kiara bursts out in a proper cackling fit. Unable and unwilling to support her own weight anymore, Ame finally stumbles through the door, and flops across Gura’s lap.

“You guys suck .”

“If you ask nicely-”

“Okay, stop, stop! Serious time! Jeeze!” Ame levels a biteless glare over at the trio on the love seat, who all manage to straighten up a bit, before she sighs.

“So… Gura has, uh… explained the situation.”

She can feel Gura’s tail, trapped underneath the both of them, attempting to wag proudly.

“And- now that I’m working with the actual FACTS of this case, I can, uh, well- I’d say that I am not… opposed.”

She adjusts herself, managing to sit in a more upright position as she looks over at the three of them.

“But… I do have one question.”

“Go for it.” Calli says, waving a hand. Ame takes a breath.

“Why… me?”

The rest of them glance at each other, and Gura is the first to speak up.

“I mean… beyond being incredibly pretty?”

Ame rolls her eyes.

“I’m sure you say that to all the detectives.”

“It’s true, though!” Gura waves her arms indignantly, before grabbing Ame by the cheeks again- it’s a bit awkward from their positioning, and Ame has to twist around a bit to not have her back wrench out of place, but Gura manages to still force eye contact, “You are so damn pretty, Ame! Your eyes are like the friggin’ dawn over the ocean, how could you NOT think you’re pretty?”

Usually people just call Ame’s eyes weird- like, who has pink in their eyes like that? It’s weird- but she wasn’t going to just- if she let herself turn into a blushing, stuttering mess over every girl who broke out fucking poetry over her looks-

Well, she would only have the one nickel so far, but it’s the principle of the matter! “Eyes like the dawn over the ocean” , she thinks she’s hot shit with that-

“I- well, I’d hope it’s more than that! If you just wanted pretty you have plenty of that here!” Ame huffs, sweeping her arm at Calli, Kiara and Ina.

“Just saying, you seem to be under the assumption that you’re not much to look at, and well…” Kiara leans a little, biting her lip and earning a middle finger from the detective as she stared pretty blatantly at her ass.

“Yeah yeah, fine.” Ame says, pushing past that despite the redness adorning her face. “That can’t be it though. Right? I don’t see any supermodels in here, if all you cared about was eye candy.”

“I mean, it helps that you’re also one of the coolest people we know.” Calli offered, and Gura nodded along.

“Okay, now I know you’re making fun of me.”

“Ame, if what I was told about last night is true,” Ina started, “Then you took on a group of armed and dangerous criminals with only your fists.”

“A-and my watch!”

“Yes, but who else can use that as well as you can?” Ina pushes back, walking over before leaning in front of her, fingers underneath Ame’s chin.

“I- uh- bwuh- Kronii probably?” Ame stammers.

“Oh no, the immortal aspect of time can potentially use the watch as well as a mortal who’s been using it for only a few years.” Gura says dryly. “Face it, Ame- you’re just as badass as any reaper or immortal phoenix or whatever.”

“Probably more, have you seen how much of a dork Calli can be?” Kiara pipes up, earning a pillow to the face from the reaper in question.

“You’ve been nothing but helpful, considerate, and absolutely charming since day one when you ambushed Gura on the beach with twigs in your hair.” Ina’s gaze locks with Ame’s, and the detective can feel her pulse jump up a few beats. “Even to your own detriment, sometimes.”

“You do have a little bit of a martyr complex, dawg. Happiness isn’t some finite resource, you know you’re allowed to take up space, yeah?” Calli adds, and Ame can’t help but squirm a bit uncomfortably at the attention.

What can she even say to that? Words certainly aren’t coming to her, and all she can manage is to cover her face with her hands and let out a low whine.

“I think you broke her, Cawwi.”

“Of course it would be the ‘we care about you’ bit that breaks her.” Gura sighs. “Watsooon…”

“I know, I just-” Her hands slowly slide down her face, as if she could try to just rub the embarrassment off her face.

“I just… I feel like I gotta prove myself, alright? I’ve always had to scrap and scrape to make it to the next day, and I’m just not used to…” She waves a hand around, as if to gesture to “all this” . 

“And avoiding it isn’t gonna help.” Calli points out. “Speaking from experience here, Watson. Takes time to get used to, quote, ‘all this’ just like it takes time to get used to fighting. And if you push it too far, you just…”

“Burn out?” Kiara finishes, earning a nod from the reaper.

“And that’s one of the reasons why we keep offering to help you with expenses and such.” Ame can’t help but avoid looking at Ina at that.

“I don’t want to-”

“Watson, I swear to every deity-like being out there, if the next words out of your mouth are “owe you guys” or “be a burden” or something, I’m going to go to your landlord and buy out your entire apartment complex JUST so I can replace your stupid light bulb!” Gura says, before finally squirming enough to extricate herself from under Ame, wiggling her way into the detective’s lap to look her in the eye again.

“Your apartment sucks and you deserve so much better! I swear, every time I go over there I want to rip off the peeling wallpaper with my teeth!”

“It’s- It’s not THAT bad!”

“WITH MY TEETH!”

“It’s not like we’re at risk of losing all our accumulated wealth, and what else are we gonna do with it?” Kiara says, shrugging. “We’re not dragons, I don’t have a use for a hoard. If I want to spoil a pretty girl, then I should be able to do so!”

“It’s good for the economy.” Ina nods.

“And again- you deserve nice things, bozo!”

Ame is mute. She doesn’t have a response to any of this. What could she say? What should she say? ‘Okay’ feels inadequate, she’s always been more a woman of actions anyhow.

Well, if she’s gonna go down, she might as well go down with quiet dignity and grace. Her shoulders slump with the weight of self-imposed asceticism removed, wrapping her arms around Gura, who hugs her in turn. “Yeah, alright. You guys finally win.”

Another set of arms wrap around the two of them- and soon enough, Ame finds herself in the center of another big group hug. She can’t contribute much to it, and she knows the others would say she doesn’t have to.

It takes effort, more than it should probably, but Ame- finally- allows herself to relax and shed the responsibility of… well… everything. For once, she just lets herself be.

“So, does this mean we can finally make out?” Kiara says, her voice a lot closer to Ame’s ear than she expects, and the attempt to flail has the rest of the girls laughing.

“I- uh- sure?” Ame sputters, laughing a bit herself. “I don’t know, can you?”

“Uh-oooh, that sounds like a challenge~!” Gura says, and the glint in Kiara’s eye reminds Ame of that look she made scarcely a week and change ago at her rebirthday party.

“I-It wasn’t?” Ame says weakly.

“Nuh-uh, no backing down now.” Gura taunts. Amelia can see the grin on Gura’s face as she wiggles herself out of Ame’s lap, only for Kiara to take her place. “Get her Wawa.”

Her thighs have Ame’s legs pinned, the warmth of them tangible on either side of her, and without much warning Kiara is diving forward and trapping her lips with her own. She’s passionate- Gura was too, but this was different. While Gura’s kiss was a hunger born of teasing coming to a boil, Kiara’s is a roaring fire, eager to share her warmth. It leaves Ame gasping as she pulls away, and Kiara licks her lips.

“Gura was right, you girls gotta get in on this!”

“H-hey, wait!”

“Been doing that for months already Watson.” Calli huffs and leans forward as Kiara reluctantly relinquishes her spot. “Tough it out. I’m sure you’ll survive.”

Ame isn’t so sure about that, but she can’t really argue before Calli is softly pressing against her, a hand ghosting against the side of her neck and lips tasting of something fruity as well. She doesn’t slip in any tongue (like Kiara did), but she feels just as breathless from it.

It might have to do with the way Calli’s gaze bores into her the whole time, soft and firm in equal measure, adding a sort of weight to the interaction that Ame can’t describe.

A tentacle taps Calli on the shoulder, and Ina quirks a single eyebrow, as if to ask ‘My turn?’ . Calli shoots Ame a wink, before gliding off and letting the priestess take a seat on the armchair’s arm, looming over Ame a little.

“As patient as I’ve learned to be, Calli does have a point.” Ina starts, placing a hand on Ame’s cheek as she leans forward. “I have been waiting to do this since our first coffee book-swap.”

Ina is a little hungrier than Calli. A little greedier, hands running across Ame’s shoulders as her fang tugs at Ame’s lip a little. Gura lets out a whistle, and Ame can’t find it in herself to give a shit about the teasing anymore. Love-drunk and beyond the point of embarrassment.

Ina finally pulls away, and Ame sinks bonelessly into the chair. Gura waves a hand in front of her face.

“Daijobu?”

“Fuck yeah.”

Gura smirks. “You think this is good, just wait until-”

A tentacle slaps itself over the shark’s mouth. “Perhaps we don’t do everything to the Detective at once, hmm?” Ina suggests gently. “Let some things be a surprise, yes?”

Amelia can’t even begin to imagine what that could mean, but if it involves these four, she can say for certain she’s looking forward to it.