AnimeCon Harem 15: 15 pt K2 (Patreon)

“Kelly?” A hispanic girl in her late teens asked.

“Um,” Kelly paused, looking her over as she approached Brian’s car. “You look kinda young to be Emily’s mother?”

“Looks can be deceiving,” The girl responded with a twinkle in her eye. “‘Goin’ around with a face that’s been on television can be a tad conspicuous, ya know?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Kelly said. “So… what should I call you? Actress?”

“When I’m in this look, I’m Samantha, Sam, or Sammy,” Samantha said with a big smile. “This is my getup for when I’m ‘Emily’s cousin Samantha,’ and we can hang out more as chill teens, s’more comfortable this way.”

“Bit weird,” Kelly couldn’t help but stare. “In a ‘how do you do, fellow kids’ kinda way.”

“Nah, I can totally sell it, trust me,” Samantha brushed off Kelly’s concern with a dismissive wave. “I was just—as a mom, I was gettin’ kinda worried, ya know? Emmie was havin’ a real tough time makin’ friends and gettin’ through puberty and all that.”

“So, you invented a friend?” Kelly arched an eyebrow at her.

“You make it sound all bad,” Samantha shook her head, still maintaining that shameless smile. “I made a role ‘round her age and stepped into it, yeah? Sure, I did that. Our friendship is for real though, I didn’t fake none o’ that. Coulda gone either way, but I dunno—somethin’ just kinda clicked? She’s a l’il weirdo, sure, but that can be cool. My l’il cousin Emily, she’s got a great sense of humor. Got a ton of spunk once you can get her to open up, wants to put her heart in the right place, and all that.”

“Okay,” Kelly sighed. “Still weird?”

“I don’t know what you want from me?” Samantha shrugged. “Life’s pretty fuckin’ weird sometimes, in case you haven’t noticed. But, listen—I don’t break character, I don’t take stuff over from the Sammie side and judge her with that from the mom perspective, or vice-a versa—trust me, got it all worked out, it’s all compart-a-mentalized and shit. Life gave me some pretty out there tools, so I get to use ‘em have my cake and eat it too, you know? Don’t gotta compromise the mom role when Emmie just needs me to be that, can still be Sam when she needs Sam, and all that jazz.”

“You know, not to judge, but all of… that,” Kelly made a vague gesture in Samantha’s direction, “might be why Emily turned out so weird in the first place?”

“Nah, no way,” Samantha grinned. “Now, me? I blame the internet. S’turnin’ all of y’all in your generation into weirdos, for real, there’s some whack shit out there y’all get exposed to. But yo—anyways, I got your boy Brian here in my car, let’s move him over, yeah?”

“Teenagers don’t say ‘whack’ anymore,” Kelly grumbled under her breath as she followed Samantha over to a jeep parked behind Brian’s car.

“Well shit, their loss!” Sammy laughed. “Y’know, Emmie never even noticed that her cuz Sammy doesn’t really age? I’ve been like, nineteen years old for the past decade, almost. Since she was like, thirteen? Emily went and got older than me! I was gonna reroll, have Sammy ‘go away’ for a bit and then just make up a new Sammy, one that’s like, man I dunno, married, or had a kid, or somethin’? But, it’s also kinda like—damn, I wanna see how far I can get away with this, ‘fore she notices?”

“Yeah, you’re definitely why Emily is the way that she is,” Kelly said in a deadpan, too tired to even really process all of this. “So… where’s Brian?”

“Hah, okay—so, watch this,” Samantha opened the back door of her jeep to reveal an empty bench seat, and then waved her hand with a theatrical flourish. “Ta-da!”

Brian appeared out of thin air, laid out across the rear seat in a hospital gown.

“Oh come on, that was cool as shit, right?” Samantha grinned. “C’mon. No? Nothin’?!”

“Is he alright?” Kelly asked, fighting back the urge to lunge into the vehicle and check him over.

“No he’s not alright, you clowns went and got the shit kicked out of him,” Sammy rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Busted ribs are no fuckin’ joke, trust me that just fuckin’ hurts, and for a long fuckin’ time, yeah? Smashed up his one wrist, fucked up his skull, like holy shit, you guys. But yeah, so he’s in like, total stasis, for ‘bout another five hours? Was eight, but didn’t know you were gonna be at work or whatevs. Five hours or so, so y’all can move him around and get him situated to wherever you’re gonna put him. Won’t be able to juice him up with magic mojo ‘til then, sorry.”

“Okay. Thank you,” Kelly finally couldn’t resist and stepped forward past Samantha and put her hand on Brian’s leg.

It was an enormous relief just being able to see him again, to confirm that he was right here in her reach again and not lost in the swirling nebulous future circumstances and possibilities. All of those were things she knew from a send, but they didn’t feel real, not like being able to just be here and have him here with her. He still wasn’t okay, obviously, but it was progress in the right direction, it was incredibly comforting, and Kelly finally relaxed her shoulders a bit.

“Hey—no offense girl, but you okay?” Samantha asked. “I get that you’ve had a crazy weekend an’ all that, yeah, but this here with him? Gettin’ hurt? S’a super minor setback, okay? You may not really understand it all yet, but you’ve gotta know you basically like, won the lottery, here. With real-life supernatural fuckin’ magic powers, true love and happy endings, all that shit. You just won. Let yourself be a bit thrilled?”

“Actress—Sam—whoever you are, I just worked a seven hour shift,” Kelly said, covering her forehead with her hands and then slowly dragging fingers down her face. “After an entire weekend of no fuckin’ sleep. I work again Wednesday. And Thursday. Friday.”

“Yeah, but—” Samantha tried to interject.

“Had to separate from the girl who was like, the only thing helping keep it together, watch her bawling her eyes out as she left. Because—because I’m the one who did this to Brian, basically, it’s my fuckin’ fault. And—and—I think I’m in love with him. Both of them. All of them. Which sounds stupid and impossible, but, yeah, I went and caught feels, for everyone, and I’m the last fuckin’ person who should ever be catching feelings because all of this happens, and everyone gets hurt.

“I don’t give a shit about magic, all of the magic I’ve seen is bullshit stupid random nonsense and I kinda hate it, okay? My magic fucking power is getting future fuckup me to pop in on the random and say I told you so, even when they’re all just as fucking messed up as I am and have zero ground to fuckin’ judge me on. I don’t get to, to fuckin’... wave my hands and do magic tricks and make people appear or fucking disappear or pull rabbits out of fucking hats, okay? When you—”

“Okay, okay, goddamn,” Samantha blew out a breath, putting her hands on her hips. “Fine, sheesh. Was just tryin’ to—”

“One of the timelines just before us had a bad run-in with the Masters, okay?” Kelly glared. “To where they took one of us, and, and—defiled her. Changed her into someone else. I’ve had that hanging over my head as a possibility, and, and—now Brian’s psycho ex-girlfriend is maybe turning into a bloodsucking revenant of death. S’on us to fix her, or save her, survive her, I don’t even fucking know, anymore. I didn’t sign up for all this!

“I want Brian,” Kelly stabbed a finger to point towards the unconscious guy in the backseat. “I want my Stephanie. I’m taking your daughter, too. We’re all gonna be fucking happy together. All the rest, all the magic powers and supernatural bullshit, can go fuck itself, because I’m so done with all of that.”

“Alright, alright, chill,” Samantha sighed. “Damn. Shoulda just done this as Emily’s mom— you need a fuckin’ hug.”

“I need a fucking break,” Kelly growled. “Sorry. Sorry. I do really appreciate you saving Brian. Just. Yeah. Sorry.”

“Hey, no sweat,” Samantha rested one elbow against the jeep. “Trust me, been there and done that. We had all sorts of crazy adventures you literally would not believe, back in the day. Plenty of times I had it and just wanted out, ya know? I get it. Still wouldn’t change a thing though, still say it was all worth it.”

“Yeah, well,” Kelly turned away from her so she could examine Brian. “So, does he need like, a cast, or a wrist brace, or…?”

“Nah, magic bullshit takes care of that,” Samantha said. “What’s the point of having magic bullshit if it’s not at least pullin’ some of its weight, right? He’ll be alright. Just, trust me, I know s’gonna be tempting as hell, but don’t wake him up. Not ‘til the spell frame bullshit takes care of everything, alright? Or, he’s gonna be in a lot of pain, and havin’ a super shitty time.”

“Alright,” Kelly closed her eyes in frustration. “I get it. Just, it’s weird. I barely even know him yet, and I do miss him. Just want to talk with him, see him see me, to—to have him be here. I need him.”

“Trust me, I know,” Samantha nodded. “Hell, Jack got cut in half once, and we hadta pull what was left of him out of this huge fuckin’ fire. Craziest shit you ever saw. This one time, we—”

“Actress?” Kelly interrupted. “Can we just—so, what, do we just grab under Brian’s shoulders, you grab his feet, and we move him over into his car?”

“Yeah, sure, yeah,” Samantha said. “S’unlocked, you can go ‘round the other side and get that end. He’s good to move an’ all that. Five hours.”

/// Can't go expecting Actress to break character.