AnimeCon Harem 9: 9 pt 13 (Patreon)

“My purse? Yeah—here,” Kelly called back, grabbing her purse and rising up off the lounger. Keeping her cool always came easy to Kelly, but an excuse—any fucking excuse—to escape these girls and this awkward and meandering conversation came as an enormous relief.

Kelly was thoroughly adapted towards fighting upwards in a social hierarchy, and this different group dynamic was making her feel directionless, amorphous. Uncertain as to just how the fuck to express her own persona in the absence of all the scene clique social pressures that shaped her temperament in the first place. She couldn’t jeopardize things with her usual aggressive antagonism, because things were different. There was no reason to constantly assert her presence in conversation here, and more than once Kelly found herself forcibly reining herself in and lapsing into silence. There was no real need to establish herself as baddest bitch.

It was a strange feeling.

“Everything alright?” Kelly asked, crossing the pool area and letting herself out through the surrounding courtyard gate to meet Stephanie at the door to Brian’s room. “What do you guys need?”

“We, um. I think I… gave you back that condom that you gave me, last night. To use,” Stephanie said in a small voice, her face flushed red. So, I was wondering if you maybe had any other ones…?”

“Oh, shit,” Kelly remembered. “Yeah, sorry—wasn’t even thinking about this when I needed one last night! Here, here.”

Embarrassed herself at her own lapse—she’d been completely desperate for dick in the heat of the moment and simply demanded Stephanie grab her a condom from somewhere—Kelly snapped open her purse and hurriedly rummaged for the familiar packet shapes. There turned out to be two remaining, still connected to each other along one edge. Two rubbers left, and there’s two of us girls here… no, NO. This is Steph’s moment. Gotta let her have this. Especially after Emily and I hogged all the Brian last night.

Stephanie opened the door wider and stepped back, ushering Kelly into the room. Obliging her by following after, Kelly couldn’t help but notice Brian laying on the bed with only a sheet draped over his midsection. The ambiguous scene conjured all sorts of sordid imaginings about what he and Stephanie had been getting up to, and Kelly couldn’t help but give Stephanie another look. Dressed in only that nightshirt from the previous night—the one that Stephanie definitely hadn’t been wearing earlier and had probably been hurriedly shrugged on mere moments ago—Stephanie gave her a shy look in return.

“Take ‘em both,” Kelly pressed the condom packets into Stephanie’s hands. “You guys might need them.”

“Thank you so much,” Stephanie said with a weak smile. “And—sorry again.”

“No, totally my bad,” Kelly fought the urge to nose in and make some suggestive remark or sneak another leering peek over at Brian. She was feeling incredibly antsy, right now. “You guys... doing okay?”

“Yes, it’s been so...” Stephanie paused beside the doorway, quirking her head and searching Kelly’s expression. “Kelly? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Kelly assured her. “Have lots of fun with Brian. Give him some kisses for me, alright?”

“Kelly…” Stephanie frowned. “You’re—anxious?”

“No? Anxious?” Kelly blinked. “I’m not anxiou—wait a minute, you can do your thing from a distance, now?!”

“Kind of?” Stephanie gave her a worried look. “A little bit? Just little hints and traces, it’s like following smoke to a fire. Kelly—what’s wrong?”

“Uhhh—fuck,” Kelly made a face.

She’d never considered how troubling Stephanie’s magical power could turn out to be— Kelly hadn’t realized exactly why she was anxious until Stephanie pointed it out. Once it got pointed out, that made her focus in on exploring the errant feeling, which only made her feel even more tense and uneasy, because she hadn’t had a chance to broach some of these sensitive topics with Stephanie yet.

“Was just—I really wanted to check on you. I guess,” Kelly admitted. “Was getting a little jealous. I mean, I know you wanted to be alone with Brian for this, and it’s totally your turn for some action, but—”

“I know you’re not jealous—I can tell,” Stephanie asked, raising a hand to gently trace Kelly’s brow. “May I?”

“Uhhh. Okay, yeah,” Kelly felt a pang of relief at not having to explain herself. “Please. Go for it.”

After only a moment’s uncertain hesitation, Kelly latched onto that elusive sentiment her future self had dangled in front of her—the sense of fond familiarity, the longing ache of total love she felt for Stephanie. Kelly opened herself up, and Stephanie poured in. It was the blinding pink brilliance daybreak within her mind all of the sudden, and Stephanie’s beaming brightness seemed to light up every dark corner and illuminate every hidden recess of Kelly’s brain. The sensation of pink fire flooding her mindscape and intruding into very private portions of her mind would have had her recoiling in shock at the sheer spectacle of it, but not anymore—this was her Stephanie.

“Kelly!” Stephanie exclaimed with a surprised breath, looking at Kelly in amazement. “Um. Your feelings for me, they’re… um. Your feelings for me are really, really strong. It seems like, anyways. Did... did something happen?”

“I’m... in love with you,” Kelly confessed in terror. Fuck me, I just came out and said it. Blurted it out. After giving them the whole fucking ‘NAH, I DON’T DO LOVE’ spiel like, yesterday. Fuck fuck fuck, FUUUUCK.

“It, um, it has to do with my power,” Kelly quickly added. “Yeah, I have a power too now, sorta. But, it’s not even because of the power, really. I just—Stephanie, I love you. I’m in love with you.”

It didn’t matter that Kelly was able to keep most of her composure, because Stephanie was still connected to her, in under her skin and beneath any facade she could put up. Tapping directly into Kelly’s emotions right from the source. The mortified feeling, the wash of guilt and fear, that spike of terrible anxiousness that threatened to bring her to tears in this moment—Kelly knew that Stephanie was reading them all.

Jesus, and two fucking days ago, SHE was the stammering mess, The absurdity of their reversal of roles really beggared belief, and Kelly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry thinking about it.

No, not a reversal. We equalized, somehow? I was just SO goddamn proud that I knew what was what. Even when that was putting me on a path towards porn where I was for sure gonna wind up back getting trashed every day on whatever substances there were to abuse, and now it’s like… I gave away that excess confidence to Stephanie, and now we’re both… it’s...

“Kelly, it’s okay!” Stephanie rewarded her with a huge smile. “I love you too! I’m—you’re, you’re, you’ve made me so happy with this! I love you!”

“You do?” Kelly asked, feeling dumbfounded. “Really?”

She mentally reeled as her sense of that pink fire expanded again and again and again to fill everything in sight with fiery emotion,almost if Stephanie was resolute on confirming all of those feelings to her. In response, that metallic meteorite in the center of Kelly’s mindscape was practically vibrating, so red-hot with searing joy that the crater walls about her began to glow and liquefy into magma.

I love her. She loves me. I love her and she loves me. We love each other, Kelly’s mind raced with jubilation. This is love.

It felt like more than just a major accomplishment and a personal milestone for them, it felt to Kelly like she was on the cusp of another grand epiphany.

I helped give Steph some of my confidence, Kelly thought as she captured the shorter Stephanie in a crushing hug. But just now, when she gave it BACK to me—it was MORE. Just from her having held it, from having been a part of it. Like, I was always skeptical of the whole ‘two people being more than the sum of their parts’ stuff, but… it’s real, isn’t it? It’s love. I’m totally, hopelessly in love. And maybe not even just with Stephanie...

To his credit, Brian appeared only surprised and concerned by Kelly’s sudden outburst of emotion.

“Sorry, Brian,” Kelly laughed, giving him a guilty glance over Stephanie’s shoulder as she wiped tears with the edge of her hand. “Randomly interrupting like this, when you guys’re tryin’ to... you know. I’m going, I’m going.”

Feeling more flustered and elated and giddy all at once than she remembered ever experiencing, Kelly gave Stephanie one last squeeze and then released her, turning to make her escape. She didn’t get anywhere at all. As Kelly felt herself being tugged to a stop she realized that Stephanie had taken her by both of her wrists and wasn’t letting her go anywhere.

“Baby,” Stephanie looked up at her with a sweet smile of adoration. “Kelly baby. Why don’t you… won’t you please stay with us and help? If you want to?”

* * *

“Vwaif a mwinute!” Emily abruptly stood up. “Vwhe twotally—”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Emily,” Rebecca reminded her friend in an absent-minded tone. “Eating etiquette is—”

“Vwhe twoh—” Emily quickly swallowed her mouthful of food, “—she totally went in there with them, and then they closed the door! They’re gonna be in there all banging together, without us!”

“No no no, you stay. Sit!” Rebecca instructed, guiding Emily back to the poolside lounger before the little Latina could attempt to rush over to the hotel room door. “They’re having a thing. A moment? You don’t want to interrupt, it feels like it could be important!”

“They’re just in there having sex without me!” Emily pouted, dropping heavily back down onto her seat. “I want to have sex. I haven’t gotten laid properly in hours!”

“...Hours?” Megan regarded her with wide eyes. “Like, you mean—”

“Don’t be greedy, dearie,” Rebecca teased her, dotingly patting Emily on the head. “There’s this big Kelly and Stephanie commotion in the dreamscape. I think they’re having a thing.”

Rather than immediately return to their discussion after Stephanie interrupted them to call for Kelly, Emily had remembered the food cartons—or rather, Emily’s tummy growling had reminded them of breakfast. The three girls had placed the take-out cartons on the foot of the lounger, distributed wrapped plastic cutlery, and popped open the styrofoam containers so that they could dig in. Kelly had been gone for less than a minute, and Emily thought it’d be funny if after just turning away for that one moment, Kelly would come back to find them all just casually having breakfast without her all the sudden.

“I want to have a thing too, though,” Emily playfully griped, stabbing her fork so that it stood up in her eggs and taking up her coffee again. “I wanna have all the things!”

“What do you mean they’re having a thing?” Megan asked Rebecca, taking a sip of hot cocoa to clear her throat. “What does ‘having a thing’ look like, in your dream thingie?”

“Welllll,” Rebecca mused, making a thoughtful gesture with her fork. “I suppose kind of like they’re making a volcano?”

“A volcano?!” Emily nearly spit out her drink. “They’re making a volcano together, and without me?!”

“It’s very prettiful!” Rebecca nodded cheerfully. “With all the pink and red erupting out together. They’re—oh. Oh. Oh, my.”

“What?!” Emily demanded. “What’s happening?!”

“They’re—oh, oh my goodness,” Rebecca commented, raising a hand to cover up a small grin. “They’re—it’s nothing, Emily. Eat your food.”

“I’m going over there,” Emily decided, standing up again.

“You sit your hiney right back down, young lady!” Rebecca gestured in mock anger with her utensil. “They’re having a moment, and I don’t want you going and wrecking it!”

“I want to have a moment, too!” Emily protested in exasperation, plunking herself down again. “I wasn’t gonna wreck anything…”

“Ummm, what kind of moment are we referring to?!” Megan giggled. “Like, a scene fades to black sorta moment?”

“It’s quite a bit more colorful than that, I’m afraid,” Rebecca said with a sly laugh. “They’re—oh. Oh, goodness!”

“Now you’re just messing with me, aren’t you?!” Emily growled. “Aggh, just you wait. Soon as I figure out whatever the hell my magic charm power is, I’m gonna use it to play pranks on you. See how you like it.”

“You were going to do that anyways,” Rebecca pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but—” Emily paused. “Wait. Wait a minute. Do you think you can help me figure out what the fuck my charm power is?”

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/// What, you really didn't think Brian could handle Stephanie all on his own, did you?

( ? ?? ?) Alright, next post I swear will be the actual Part 9 climax. After that, I'm going to be playing catchup with RE:TT posts for the rest of the month, I imagine.