my sheltered little boss [Amerie]

Aran and her new boss/overloridian, Amerie Lux, were currently in the middle of their first training session. Aran had learned a little bit about her boss over the last few days. One was that she insisted on being called "Amerie" instead of "Miss Lux." That was okay with Aran, because it was sort of weird calling someone younger than her "Miss So and So", even if that someone was one of the highest authorities in the land. In fact, it was weird that someone younger than her was one of the highest authorities in the land. But oh well, that was life. Some people become overloridians and are set for life, others dig their dinner out of a dumpster every night. Whatever.

Another was that Amerie was definitely NOT what you thought of when you thought of an overloridian. She put up a little bit of a show, but Aran was pretty sure she didn't know what she was doing. She was also really unsure of herself, which wasn't really a leader-y trait.

Aran had decided they'd do three days a week of eilemaiden stuff, three days of physical fighting, and one day of rest. Once Amerie had gotten the hang of them separately, they'd combine the two. Today was an eilemaiden day.

Aran had learned the details of their eilemaiden from some old Solas textbook someone had been dumb enough to throw out. "So, every eilemaiden needs a source, right? Like, you can't make something out of nothing," she explained. "Even Solas. Our source is our bodies."

As she talked, she held her hands up and brought her two pointer fingers together. Once they were about two inches apart a little electric current could be seen between them. The closer they got to each other, the stronger the current became.

"So once you can feel the current in your body, you can control it," she said. She reached out and poked Amerie's arm, sending the current through her to demonstrate. She knew it wouldn't hurt since they were both Solas, but Amerie should still be able to feel the pulse.

This was the basic stuff. It was easy to control a current. The hard part was doing it quick, especially in a fight. It took a lot of concentration.

So far, all Amerie had been able to do was create a little bit of light while she was hiding in a closet somewhere. Considering overloridians were supposed to be the strongest clio in each eilemaiden, she figured she wasn't doing something right. That's why it had been so exciting when Aran had offered to train her! If she could learn her powers from a bodyguard, that meant she would probably get really good, just like she was supposed to. Amerie was totally ready to not feel useless.

She listened to Aran as she showed her the electric current that flowed from her fingers. Amerie tried, and a few sparks flew from her finger tips. "Like this?" she asked, looking from her hands to her trainer.

It was weak, but Amerie felt happy with even this little bit of progress.

"It's a start," Aran replied. She tried to think back to when she had been trained a few years ago, wondering how she had been when she first started. There had to have been a time where sparks were all she could do. It had only been a few years ago, but it felt like a different life. "You made the current a little stronger, but now you have to control it. Make it go where you want it to go."

She held out her arm towards Amerie. She made a stronger, visible pulse of electricity travel up and down it. Then, without warning, she shot it out her fingertips at her.

"See?" she said, grinning at Amerie's presumable surprise.

Amerie screamed as the current was shot towards her, but all did did was give her a tickling sensation.

"Aran! You can't do that!" she said, her voice a little shaky. She had forgotten momentarily that electricity couldn't do her any harm. Plus, Aran something shooting at her while she wasn't expecting it wasn't the greatest thing either.

But after a second her heart rate went back down to normal. Maybe she was a little nervous about this training. That said, she knew she needed to learn.

Amerie flexed her fingers, and then tried again. This time, a more steady current flowed between them. She smiled. The current started weaving around her fingers. "Look!" she squealed, "Look!"

Amerie wrote:"Aran! You can't do that!"

Aran just laughed. Amerie screaming like that was the funniest shit she's seen all day. She seemed to get over it, anyways, as the next thing Aran knew, she was weaving a current throughout her fingers pretty nicely.

"Yeah! Just like that!" Aran exclaimed. "Now shoot it at me."

Controlling the current once it had left the body was harder than when it was still in it. With good control, it would go straight where you wanted it to. Poor control and it would either fizzle out or blow up in your face.

Amerie wasn't sure she was ready for that, but she was gonna try it anyway. She got this really intense, focused look on her face because she was getting really intense and focused. Her eyes squinted and

nothin'.

"Hmm..." she said, squinting her eyes even further. Nah, that wasn't gonna work, she could barely see now. She let out a sigh. "I don't know if I can do this."

Aran valiantly managed to not laugh at Amerie's "serious face", because she didn't want to discourage the easily discouraged overloridian. "Sure ya can," she replied. She held up her left hand in the shape of a gun, and pointed it at her right palm. "Just move the current to your fingertips--" she demonstrated this as she spoke-"And once it gets there, just give it some force, and concentrate on moving it towards the target." A jolt of electricity traveled from her left hand to her right. "It might be easier if you got closer."

Amerie watched as Aran so effortlessly manipulated the current. It looked so EASY when Aran did it.

Sighing, Amerie stepped closer to her trainer, hoping that she was right and that proximity was her only problem. She rubbed her hands together, hoping to cheat a little bit and cause some static first.

Then she lifted her hands, palms faced outwards towards Aran. She breathed deep, closing and then unclosing her eyes before she pushed out.

It wasn't as spectacular as when Aran did it, but Amerie watched as a small jolt flew from her palms and connected with Aran's body. Instantly, her face lit up. "I did it!" she cried, jumping up and down. The current immediately stopped flowing, but Amerie didn't care.

"I did it! I did it!"

"See? I told you you could," Aran said, smiling at Amerie's over-excitement. It was kind of adorable, actually. "So, um, I guess we'll keep working on that, start having you do it further away, and see if you can make it stronger. And then faster. And then we'll move on."

Tomorrow they'd be working on physical fighting. To be honest, Aran was a little nervous about that. It wasn't like eilemaiden training where they could zap each other back and forth. Aran was positive she could easily take a hit from Amerie, but the same was definitely not true the other way around. Oh well, she'd figure something out.

While Amerie practiced, Aran decided to get to know her boss a little better. She realized she had never seen Amerie hang out with anyone besides her parents, her servants and herself. "So...you got any friends you hang out with? Or a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?"

Amerie nodded enthusiastically. This was incredible! She felt so energized. Maybe she wasn't a lost cause after all! She wondered if her parents would be excited when she showed them. She hoped they would be proud of her.

While Amerie kept manipulating currents, letting them dance along her fingers, and trying to shoot them as far away from her body as possible, Aran started conversation. Even though her bodyguard turned trainer had been living with Amerie for a few weeks now, they hadn't gotten to talk much.

When Aran asked about any relationships she had, Amerie just shook her head. "My parents always told me I never had time for any of that," she said. "I was home schooled, so I didn't really meet anybody to actually be my friend, either. I had to focus on my studies. I guess it just comes with the responsibility," she told her.

It had been really sad for Amerie, at first. But over time she had gotten used to it. She had Caviar, and that was about it. It was probably why her social skills were so awful.

Amerie wrote: I guess it just comes with the responsibility.

"Hm. That doesn't sound right," Aran said candidly. Now, it was true that she knew nothing of the life of an overloridian, or even the life of a typical wealthy or successful person. But she knew enough about Amerie to know that she didn't know anything about being an overloridian. So if Amerie had sacrificed having friends in order to train to be the overloridian, why wasn't she better at it? Aran knew she shouldn't, but she had to ask: "I mean...no offense, but...have your studies really helped you that much?"

Gamma, who up till now had been laying on the ground bored, sat up and began paying attention to the conversation.

Amerie kept moving her hands, enjoying the feeling of the electricity. "I'm not actually sure," she told Aran. "I mean, I feel like I know nothing. But my mom says it's because I'm young and don't pay attention." After she admitted that, her ears started to burn.

She sighed and stopped. "Maybe I really just am not cut out for this," she said sadly. "My mom told me I should have been at natural at Solas. They were so disappointed when I couldn't do anything after I settled. And I'm not any better at the actual overloridian part, either," she admitted. "My parents won't let me make any decisions because I keep screwing up."

She was pretty much a failure. She'd been trying really hard to keep up with everything, but the way her parents wanted her to do stuff was just making her run in circles. It seemed like there should be an easier way of doing things, but her parents insisted. And they were her parents. They knew everything.

"Sounds like they're the ones who screwed up," Aran said, crossing her arms. She had met Amerie's parents and to be honest, she didn't like them. At all. They were pretty much the definition of rich snobs. And they barely hid their dislike of her, either, so she felt pretty justified. "I mean, if they're the ones who tell you what to do, and what you do doesn't work, then they're wrong, right? Maybe you should start trusting your own instincts."

She wondered what other Solas people would think if they knew that they weren't being led by the overloridian, but by the overloridian's parents.

Amerie supposed Aran was right, but she didn't know what to do about it. "It's not like I can tell them no, though," she told her. "And what if I end up doing way worse once I'm on my own?"

Her parents would probably never forgive her. She had never really gone against her parents wishes before, and she was afraid what would happen if she did.

"Although," Amerie remembered, "I did hire you without their permission. And you're helping me a lot. I guess that was a good decision I made on my own!"

And you set up trade in Earalas! Caviar reminded her.

"I just don't want them to be angry with me. And I don't want to let all the clio of Solas down, either. Amerie wanted to be the best overloridian she could be, which was why she went along with whatever her parents said. Even though neither of them had grown up in Solas, not were they settled as it.

I think Aran has a point, Amerie, Caviar said. Why should clio who knew nothing about Solas be running it?

Amerie wrote:"It's not like I can tell them no, though,"

What is she, an idiot? Gamma asked. Aran almost had to agree. Amerie just said it so matter-of-factly, like not saying no to her stupid parents was some kind undeniable truth she couldn't do anything about. Aran almost wanted to shake her.

Amerie wrote:"I just don't want them to be angry with me. And I don't want to let all the clio of Solas down, either.

The second one was understandable, but the first? Come on. "Who the hell cares if they're angry at you?" Aran asked bluntly. "If they tell you to do something dumb, tell them to fuck off."

Up until recently Aran had been censoring herself a bit around Amerie, but as they grew more comfortable with each other that pretense was beginning to wear off. Amerie was so sheltered, she needed to have this stuff told to her bluntly. She needed to stop letting her parents control her, or she'd never be the overloridian she wanted to be.

Amerie stated blankly at Aran for a few seconds. Though she was getting used to Aran's ways, it still surprised her sometimes. She had never met another clio like her, that was for sure.

"I can't say that to them," Amerie told her. "They're my parents." She stressed the parents part, but Sam was too lazy to type in all the italics stuff on her phone.

Amerie wondered if Aran talked to HER parents like that.

"Who cares if they're your parents?" Aran asked. She honestly did not understand what the problem was here. Parents say do the thing, Amerie says no, parents get mad, Amerie says "fuck you" or whatever she wants to say, and then Amerie does what she wants. Simple. "It's not like they can kick you out. You can say whatever you want to them."

Amerie didn't understand what Arandidnt get, but this wa getting them nowhere. "I actually got some advice from Hadley, the overloridian from Earalas,"Amerie told Aran. "Maybe I should do what he said, instead."

Caviar hadn't agreed with him, but he WAS an overloridian. And Earalas seemed fine. He must know what he's doing.

"I actually wish my parents weren't so strict, but I hate upsetting them. It matters to me when they're disappointed with me."

Ugh, she didn't know what to do!

Amerie didn't understand what Arandidnt get, but this wa getting them nowhere. "I actually got some advice from Hadley, the overloridian from Earalas,"Amerie told Aran. "Maybe I should do what he said, instead."

"Maybe," Aran replied. Another overloridian would definitely know better than Mr. and Mrs. Control Freak. "But don't ignore your own instincts, either." Aran genuinely thought that if Amerie just thought about it and came up with her own ideas and solutions, she might just be a good overloridian on her own. She was thoughtful and kind and seemed to care about the Solas people.

"I actually wish my parents weren't so strict, but I hate upsetting them. It matters to me when they're disappointed with me."

"Sounds to me like they're disappointed no matter what you do," Aran said with a shrug.

Didn't Aran see? That was why Amerie had to try so hard. More than anything she just wanted her parents to be proud of her. She'd worked her whole life to make them happy, and she knew one day she would do it. Especially now that she had Aran's help with her eilemaiden.

"My instincts aren't usually the best," she admitted to Aran, looking slightly embarrassed. "When I was being homeschooled I learned that. My tutors always got mad when I didn't follow the plans exactly."

/But that's what Aran is trying to say,/ Caviar told her. /Maybe the tutors were wrong./

"Do you really think I could make better decisions on my own?" She asked Aran. "Or are you just saying that?"

"Uh, yeah, I mean it," Aran said in a "duh" kind of voice. "I never say anything I don't mean. Stop following other peoples' plans and do what you think is right."

When Aran had imagined being the overloridian's bodyguard and trainer, she never imagined she'd be giving her words of wisdom.

Despite Aran's tone, that was actually one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to Amerie.

"I don't think anyone has ever believed in me," she told her, honestly. "I don't think anyone has ever said that to me. That I could do something on my own."

It kinda made Amerie a little sad, but it also made her feel all warm inside. If Aran thought she could do it, maybe she honestly, really could.

Amerie looked back down at her hands and clenched her fists. Spurts of electricity shot out from all around her hands.

I've always believed in you, Caviar told her. And he was so proud, watching the sparks fly. Even if he was a little hurt by her comments.

You know it's different, Amerie said, brushing him aside. He had to believe in her. He was her.

"You shouldn't need someone else to tell you whether or not you can do somethin'," Aran said, shaking her head. Giving these kinds of weird pep talks was not supposed to be part of her job description. She'd need to work on getting Amerie more independent from here on out. "Just do it."

"See?" she said, watching the sparks fly from Amerie's hands. "Just a little bit ago you thought you couldn't even do anything your eilemaiden, and now you can."

Amerie felt strong and happy as she watched her sparks. She could do it, just like Aran said. And she would. She'd get stronger, and prove to her parents that she was a capable overloridian.

"Thank you," she said, looking back up at Aran. "You've already taught me a lot. You're a great trainer."

What would she be doing right now if Aran hadn't come knocking on her door?

Still sitting in the coat closet, probably, Caviar teased.

"Ah, well," Aran said, somewhat taken aback by the sudden compliment. "You know. That's my job."

She looked at Amerie who, for the first time since Aran had met her, was brimming with confidence and happiness. It was like looking at a completely different girl. For one thing she was actually smiling. A real smile, not a fake 'I think I'm supposed to be smiling right now' smile, or a scared smile. Aran had to admit, confidence looked good on Amerie. Really good.

Hey, hey, hey, Gamma interjected in her head. Don't get any funny ideas AJ, you know nothing good can come from falling for a straight girl.

What? Aran asked. I never--It's just nice to see her feel good about herself, you know? I don't--she's my fucking boss, Gamma. And we don't know she's straight. And she's not even close to my type.