After AnimeCon: On the Road Again

     “Damn, so I guess I’m driving now, huh?” Emily laughed. “Damn. Brian, uh. Did you see that?”

    “I can drive?” Christine offered.

    “Nah, I can drive,” Brian said. “Got that post-nut clarity goin’ on. I am driven. I am focused.”

    “Okay, cool,” Emily said, giving him a second look. “You sure?”

    “What’s that supposed to mean?”

    “No, I just—hahhh,” Emily grinned at him. “I dunno?”

    Brian had to grab the door and the roof of the car to carefully extricate himself out from beneath Kelly, but he managed to climb out without spilling the girl onto the road. The redhead let out a cute grumble and pursed her lips but didn’t open her eyes when he tucked her leg back into the car. She looked blissed out, and occupied most of the rear bench in an untidy sprawl.

    “Wait, first of all,” Brian turned to survey the rest of the situation. “Christine. You okay?”

    “I’m okay,” Christine reported, staring intently down at the worn pavement of the country road rather than meeting his eyes. “I’m okay.”

    “Okay,” Brian eyed her. “Good.”

    “And, I’m grRRRrr—rreat!” Emily pumped a fist towards the sky in her cereal mascot tiger punch. “Like, first of all? That was all awesomesauce. You slapped the shit out of Christine, then it was like, bam, makeout sesh time. Then, Kelly’s all ‘I’m gon’ suck the chrome offa yer trailer hitch, boi, and—”

    “Emily…” Brian sighed, giving her a look.

    “Yes, babe?!” Emily stood upright and tucked her hands behind herself in a show of innocence. “I know, I know. You were there, we all literally just—”

    “Kell dropped the country accent way further back, actually.”

    “Well yeah, but that’s what she meant to say,” Emily insisted. “Anyways. Wow. I, uh. I think I might’ve had my own moment, there. Like a magic thing?!”

    “Yeah?”

    “You did,” Christine confirmed. “I saw it.”

    “You saw it?!” Emily could barely contain her glee. “Ohmigod. I was hoping that wasn’t all in my head, just—yeah. Yeah. It’s go time. Finally happening. S’magic time.”

    “Well, what is it?” Brian asked, interested. “What’d you get? C’mon.”

    “It! Is a secret!” Emily stuck out her tongue. “I’m not tellin’! Not ‘til I can like, get some time to practice and perfect it and figure out how to do it just the way I wanted.”

    “Emily, I know that look. Whatever prank you think you’re—”

    “Oh hey so we should get going!” Emily interrupted. “Man. Look at the time. Rebecca and Stephie are probably already sittin’ there waitin’ for us at Tionetta, all like where are those guys, and all. Damn, we should hurry and catch up?”

    “Fine, then,” Brian sniffed. “Keep your secrets.”

    “Maybe I will!” Emily teased.

    “Do you want me to tell you?” Christine offered, looking towards Brian.

    “Christine,” Emily protested. “Bro. You can’t just—”

    “Nah, s’okay,” Brian shook his head. “She’ll tell us when she’s ready. Or never? Whichever comes first.”

    “Thank you. At least I can trust one of—”

    “Get your skanky ass in the car then, let’s go,” Brian gave Emily’s butt a swat.

    “Eep!” Emily giggled, covering her bottom and fleeing around the car so that she could hop in the passenger’s side. “Geez. Think Bri really got into all that spanking shit. We mighta unlocked something scary deep in his brainmeats? We’ll have to watch out, or our ass’ll be grass. Gonna havta to mind both cheeks whenever I’m—”

    “Christine?” Brian asked. “You okay stayin’ with Kelly in the back, there?”

    “I’m fine,” Christine said. “Thank you.”

    He couldn’t help but eye her long naked legs as she also went back around the vehicle, opening the other door and gathering up the discarded pants to put back on. Brian leaned in and carefully sat Kelly most of the way back up, pulling the seatbelt out for slack and then slipping the strap between her boobs so that he could click it into the buckle. Her shirt was pulled back down over those melons, but with the way the fabric outlined every contour of her areolas and prominent nipples was incredibly distracting. He planted a kiss on her forehead before double-checking that nothing was going to get pinched by the door and gently closing it.

    With everyone ready they were back in their seats and on the road again a minute later, and for a good long while they simply drove in silence, admiring the scenery of the forest valley on one side—and appreciating that happy post-sex glow together. Brian wasn’t driving particularly fast, but he never went as slow as Rebecca usually did in the first place so they could expect to catch up to the other vehicle in a while.

    “Sooo, uh. Bri, what do you think?” Emily asked, breaking the silence. “About all of this.”

    “Seems pretty cool,” Brian answered with a perfunctory nod.

    “No, I mean like, seriously,” Emily swatted his arm. “All the magic bullshit. Turning Chloe into Christine. Having a harem. Missin’ out on the whole last freakin’ month ‘cause you were in a magic healing trance coma stasis thing.”

    “I do keep thinking about that,” Brian admitted, tapping his fingers across the wheel. “I missed closing ceremonies. Again.”

    “Closing ceremonies?” Emily turned to him in confusion.

    “Yeah, at AnimeCon,” Brian said. “Every year I’m like, this year I’ll catch closing ceremonies, for sure. And every year, I miss them.”

    “Weren’t you with us for it that one year?” Emily scrunched her features up as she tried to remember. “Know it was me, Mark, Micheal and Tanya sitting there. Will? No, Will wasn’t there. Huh. I guess you weren’t there with us. It was kinda boring anyhow? I mean, I wasn’t even really paying attention. Just a buncha weebs yapping on and on? Fucking weebs.”

    “Was trying to help Will track down some random seller dude in the vendor’s room ‘fore they all packed up and left,” Brian remembered. “Only realized after he bought it that he picked up the wrong DVD, got like a region locked one—”

    “No one cares about Will!” Emily huffed. “I’m talking like, how do you feel about all this crazy shit that’s been going on. Brian, you have magical anime harem.”

    “Oh, that,” Brian teased her. “I guess it’s pretty alright?”

    “It’s pretty alright,” Emily repeated in a deadpan voice. “The fuck do you mean it’s pretty alright?!”

    “What do you want me to say?!” Brian laughed. “It’s pretty alright. I’d uh, I’d be lying if I said it’s like a dream come true or something. I was never too into harems, remember? Pretty sure you knew my gripes about the uhh, the genre tropes and everything. We’ve talked about this before.”

    “So—Mister Douglas, do you feel like your views on that have changed?” Emily prodded him in her interview voice. “Now that it’s for real part of your life. Now that you have a harem.”

    “It’s—I dunno—” Brian tried to gather his thoughts. “It’s technically more of a polycu—”

    “Nah, ‘cause that sounds lame and dumb,” Emily rolled her eyes. “The whole poly thing. ‘Look at us, we’re polycule millenials! Look at us, we have a polycarbonate polycule cloister!’ Lame. Hipster commune garbage.”

    “Polycarbonate? Do you—do you just not like the term because it reminds you of chemistry terms?”

    “Listen. I hated chemistry. Worst course ever. If you’d had—”

    “I did have Larson. Had the same exact teacher you did, just it was a different period. We—”

    “Quit sidetracking me!” Emily cuffed his arm again. “Brian. How do you feel. About the magic. Harem. I swear, getting a proper answer outta ya is like pullin’ teeth! I reckon’ if I was Stephanie you’d have laid it all out an’ spilled yer yarn by nah.”

    “I said it’s pretty alright!” Brian shook his head. “My problem with anime harems was that the guy never committed—he was always horny for all girls, or okay, occasionally had little romantic moments with them but he never decided on one of them. That and the whole ‘nice guy’ thing where they swoon and have hentai hearts in their eyes any and every time he’s a decent human being. I’m—well, ordinarily—I’m more just a hopeless romantic guy who wanted a serious, long-term, monogamous relationship. I guess.”

    “Hey, that bit with havin’ hentai hearts for eyes is actually pretty rad! And like, you don’t have to pick,” Emily pointed out. “You can just have all of us. Isn’t that even better? You’ve got the full babe buffet.”

    “It’s—I don’t know,” Brian admitted. “I don’t know how things will work out for us in the uh, in the bigger view of things. I really do love each of you. I want this to work. But, as to how it’s going to work—I don’t know.”

    “What do you even mean?” Emily frowned. “It’s a harem. You love us, we love you—s’not rocket surgery or mathotology, c’mon. We all love each other, so that basically means the harem’s workin’, right? In the words of God Howard— ‘It just works.’”

    “Yeah, I do want it to work,” Brian said. “But, also it’s kind of a juvenile fantasy, right? The whole harem thing. How am I going to be able to properly make time for each of you? I either work eight hour days all week, or I work nine hour days, and then have a half day. Hell, that’s probably why things with me and Chloe went to shit—it got to where I wasn’t spending enough time with her. We grew apart, and yeah some of it’s that she was a little crazy, but it takes two people to fail a relationship. If I had—”

    “No, that’s my fault, too,” Christine spoke up. “I was, um. I was intentionally putting money stress on you. When you didn’t need to be working so much. If I’d kept on working counter at Brite RX, paid for my half of things, you wouldn’t have been under so much stress. I was taking money from my dad to cover everything, anyways.”

    “See?” Emily held out her hands. “Maybe this is a sign? Maybe just don’t go back to the packing place. Pick up some other job with less hours somewhere else. Hell, you could go back to Marino’s. Marino’s was easy. Laid back.”

    “I have a forklift certification, why would I go back to Marino’s?” Brian scoffed. “I do kinda get what you’re saying, but also I don’t want to go back to workin’ like, a minimum wage job ever again. Hell, I’m not sure I could go back to working in food service, period.”

    “We’ll think of something,” Emily said. “Worst comes to worse—”

    “Easy for you to say, I’m pretty sure my account must be overdrafting,” Brian said. “I keep a thousand dollar buffer basically, and then I took out half of that to go to AnimeCon—but then I’m knocked out for a month, so that’s two pay periods with probably no deposits? While my bills are still pulling from the account on autopay. I’m not even sure—”

    “You’re fine, you’re fine,” Emily assured him. “Actually did think to go in and check on all that. Your PC was still logged into your email, so I checked everything. You’re not overdrafting yet, and we’ve still got a bit before you do, and Kelly can put in money already. We’re good. We’re good! You don’t have to worry about it yet, for a while.”

    “You snooped through all of my private emails?!” Brian pretended to sound aghast at the invasion of privacy. “I’m shocked. I can’t believe you would—”

    “Yeah, turns out there’s nothin’ interesting in inboxes really these days,” Emily sighed. “Scrollin’ through, it was just all like, spam and password change requests for the same site. You uhh, you get hacked or somethin’, bro?”

    “Ugh, nah,” Brian groaned. “That one account is all anal about password security, wants me to change passwords every three months. Upper lower case, has to have a number and a symbol, all that. Keep trying to change it back to an old pass, like so it’s just two on a rotation I gotta remember? But, nope. Remembers all my old passwords, and says I can’t use ‘em.”

    “Just write it down, idiot,” Emily rolled her eyes. “Baka. Stupid. Bonehead—”

    “I—yeah, well,” Brian sighed. “Should have, just. I dunno, got paranoid about it. Jotting down stuff and leaving it around for, uh. For Chloe to find.”

    “Ah,” Emily twisted in her seat to shoot Christine a look. “I getcha. So uhh, Christine, how right was he to be paranoid?”

    “I put in a keylogger,” Christine admitted. “I was… obsessive about what he might be doing online where I couldn’t see what he was doing. Or what he was saying. What he was saying and to who. Actually um, actually did write down his passwords. Have a little pocket notepad in with my stuff, that’s full of his information and account details.”

    “See?” Brian let out a dry laugh. “Not paranoid.”

    “Not paranoid enough, I guess,” Emily muttered. “Keylogger, damn. So like, if you don’t actually even like the uh—the non-monogamy of all this, does that mean your preference is to just be with one of us? ‘Cause then my odds are like, one in five or less, so—”

    “Nah, it’s like—” Brian sighed. “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s like this. Uhhh. Say you have this goal you were always working towards, of going to this one specific huge mega-theme park over on the coast. Making a big life event of it, a whole trip, the full nine yards. Time off, super nice hotel, crapton of money set aside for it, have your itinerary planned down to the tiniest details, have the VIP pass or whatever to get first in line for rides.

    “Then suddenly, out of the blue—a fully paid all seasons pass drops into your lap. You can go every weekend, it’s all expenses covered, don’t gotta worry about anything. You’d think that’s like a dream come true, but then you realize… I dunno, that you’d spent all that time planning one trip and intended on making that one trip super memorable. Your uh, your life, your plans aren’t really structured for making that big theme park trip of a lifetime instead a regular part of routine? If that makes sense?”

    “So, that but with relationships?” Emily let out a thoughtful hum. “I guess I can see it?”

    “Kinda. What I mean is,” Brian sighed. “I always intended to make my girl the happiest I could possibly make her, to be the best boyfriend or husband or whatever to her. Now, I somehow have a whole group of girlfriends, sorta, and I worry that I’m always gonna feel like rather than be the best for one person like I could have been, I’ll be only okay or so-so, because I’m spreading out like, my attention and efforts across multiple people.

    “I’m not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, or be unappreciative of this amazing, impossible situation that sorta just… dropped into my lap outta nowhere. I just… I don’t like the idea of being spread thin on something that’s so important to me. Of feeling like I’m not giving the time and attention to you guys, that I would have if we were in one-on-one relationships. I mean, fuck. I couldn’t even properly manage my one-on-one relationships.”

    “No, that… that wasn’t your fault, though,” Christine argued in a quiet voice. “That was me. That was Chloe.”

    “She deserves plenty of blame, sure,” Brian shook his head. “But, I’m not blameless—a relationship takes two people. No matter what she did, I’m still at least partially responsible.”

    “Guys I can wiggle my toes,” Kelly blurted out. “Look.”

    “‘Eyyy, the slut’s back with us,” Emily cajoled. “How ya feelin’?”

    “Look,” Kelly insisted. “Look at my toes.”

    “Yeah uh, I see ‘em,” Emily laughed. “Nice? Nice toe beans? Good kitty?”

    “You alright, Kell?” Brian glanced in the rear-view mirror only to find that a bare foot was wavering in the air.

    “Baby,” Kelly giggled. “You’re supposed to call me baby. Or babe. And. I feel like I just got fucked.”

    “Even though you didn’t,” Emily pointed out. “You just… guzzled down like six gallons of magic cum. Hogged it all, and then you sat back there high off your tits while ridin’ pretty magic rainbows and shit, I guess? Was there a—”

    “Wasn’t six gallons,” Brian mumbled under his breath. “Probably wasn’t even half a gallon, like, tops it was a quarter—”

    “Mmm, it was amazing,” Kelly managed to stretch her leg until her foot was reaching over the seatback to tickle toes against Brian’s shoulder. “I love you. Just wanted you to know—that. I love you. You mean the world to me.”

    “You can tell she’s sauced up on the cum, ‘cause normally she’s not all cutesy and touchy-feely,” Emily scoffed, swatting Kelly’s foot down off of Brian.

    “Hey!” Kelly pouted, shifting her foot over towards Emily. “Nothing wrong with that. When I’m uh, when I’m loaded up on love it really is easier to be, um. Sentimental, to drop down all my defenses and just… just be sweet.”

    “I…” Emily let out a sigh of aggravation, clapping her hand over Kelly’s foot. “I know. Sorry, yeah. Don’t mean to knock it. When I’m on the sauce it gets so much easier to let out my real feelings and not just put up fronts and joke about everything. That said, were you listening to us talk? About everything?”

    “I heard it all, and I didn’t catch a thing,” Kelly admitted with a smug voice. “The most I got was like, the sound of your voices. Which was weirdly comforting to just listen to? Soothing? But yeah no, I was big-tiddy bimbo there for a bit and wasn’t uh, wasn’t really processing what all you guys were saying. So—what were you saying?”

    “Okay, so uh… how do I summarize this,” Emily pursed her lips. “I guess—”

    “Brian’s worried about spreading himself too thin and not giving everyone enough attention,” Christine provided a succinct rundown. “Which, well. Even just hearing him say it like that makes me really realize how off the mark I was as Chloe. About him. About everything.”

    “Ah,” Kelly said. “Opportunity cost bullshit, huh? I say—fuck all that noise, the whole opportunity cost paradigm was designed to try and make sure no one can ever be happy or satisfied with anything, ever. Fuck that.”

    “Yeah, fuck that,” Emily agreed, giving Kelly’s foot a squeeze. “You know, for such a total airhead, you can really drop the occasional gem?”

    “Shut up, nerd. And Brian—don’t overcomplicate all this,” Kelly suggested. “We love you, you love us. We love each other. Love, love, love. Everything’s perfect and peachy. In fact, did I tell you we got a couples therapist? She even—”

    “Oh, God,” Emily groaned. “Don’t even start.”

    “—She even took Emmie and me aside and we had a uh, a gestapo forced therapy session,” Kelly continued. “Which is why—right now, Brian. I want you to ask Emily to suck on my toes.”

    “In your dreams,” Emily scoffed, trying to push Kelly’s offending appendage away. “Yeah, right.”

    “No, seriously,” Kelly laughed. “Dead serious. Brian. Tell Emily, right now, to take my toes, and put them in her mouth. To suck on them, play with her tongue. Stephanie said Emily and I have intimacy issues, but that the trick to working through them is involving you, until we’re more comfortable with each other.

    “And by ‘we’ I mean just Emily, ‘cause I’ve fingered her to completion at least twice now without reciprocation, and I’d have tongue-punched her box, too, if she wasn’t such a pussy about—”

    “I’ve made you cum before!” Emily protested. “I totally have. She’s lying. Zero reciprocation, pssh, bullshit. Listen, I did this thing with her nipples, it was like a purple nurple, with my teeth, but gentle and loving, except yeah without the gentle or loving—”

    “The fuck’s a purple nurple?” Brian laughed. “Nurple? What’s a nurple?”

    “I don’t make the official fuckin’ women’s softball nomenclature!” Emily huffed. “It’s nipple, but they had to make it rhyme with purple. Thus; nurple. Everyone knows that. Since when—”

    “Yeah, what are you, twelve?” Kelly scoffed. “Who calls a titty twister a ‘purple nurple?’ But, seriously Bri—like even right now, she doesn’t want to make out with my feet, even though they’re so lovely. Look how cute my toes are! But, if you’re the one to tell her to suckle my little piggies, not only will she do it, she’ll think it’s hot.”

    “I will not!” Emily denied. “See? Kell is the one tryin’ to act like the magic stuff is brainwashing, but it’s not. I’m not gonna just do a one eighty because he—”

    “Emily,” Brian interrupted. “Put Kelly’s toes in your mouth.”

    “Ugh, fine,” Emily dropped her protest, grabbing Kelly’s foot again. “But, it’s not because I want to, or because I like it, because I totally don’t. I’m just doing it because you guys made me. I’m not into feet, I’m not some weirdo like Mark with a folder full of—”

    “Emily, less fuckin’ talking, more suckling,” Kelly instructed, wiggling her toes. “We want him to ask you to do stuff ‘cause it’s kinky, not just to get you to put a cork in it and shut up. Jesus.”

    “Rude!” Emily jeered at Kelly as she began to kiss Kelly’s big toe. “Rude. I was setting the mood.”

    “What fucking mood needs you jabbering—oh. Oh damn,” Kelly let out a sound of surprise as Emily turned her head and slipped Kelly’s toes into her mouth. “That feels… weird? Kinda nNIice—th-though?! Wow, when she pushes her tongue between my toes, it’s like, it’s like—”

    “MmMmmm—” Emily hummed out a sound as she slurped at Kelly’s toes.

    “Alright, alright,” Brian chuckled. “Cut it out, I’m driving. What are you guys gonna do if I get a boner, and it pushes the steering wheel outta my hands? We’re on a mountain road, c’mon.”

    “Ooh—OOhhhHhh—” Kelly wriggled in her seat and tried to pull her leg back. “Emily—fuck, slow downNn—”

    “I can’t!” Emily released Kelly’s toes with a smack of her lips and gasped for breath. “Brian’s used his evil magic mind control on me, now I’m prisoner to his cruel whims! I know it’s demeaning, and I feel so sexually degraded, but I’m horny and in heat and I literally can’t stop throating your toes—!”

    “You do tsundere better than you do damsel,” Brian remarked, rolling his eyes. “Alright, alright, cut it out. You know what? I’m puttin’ the music back on.”

    “The fuck? I thought we were doing therapy time,” Emily pouted. “We gonna therapize, or what?”

    “Don’t wanna overdo it on day one,” Brian said. “We’ve gotta pace ourselves.”

    “Yeah Emily, and like, ‘throating?’ You wish,” Kelly scoffed. “Like, we all know you’ve got a huge mouth, but you’re not a fuckin’ frog. You’re not gonna deep-throat a whole entire fucking foot Emily, that’s just weird. You had to take somethin’ that was gettin’ kinda sexy and then make it weird, didn’t you?”

    “Huh… I guess you’re right,” Emily wiped her mouth with the back of her hand but couldn’t contain her grin. “That was the wrong way to say it. I really—”

    “Don’t even—”

    “Really put my foot in my mouth that time!”

    “Ugghhh,” Brian groaned, tapping the phone on the dash and sliding the volume all the way up. “Why do I even like you?”

    “It, um, it does prove that Stephanie’s advice works, though,” Christine spoke up. “Emily was reluctant to do that, until Brian asked. When he did, she was fine with it. So. I think a lot of the personal problems that we might have, can maybe just be worked out by following what Stephanie says? She’s the one who, uh. Who said I should ask for a spanking.”

    “And, the spanking really helped?” Brian asked, touching the music back down a notch. “Our uh. Punishment play.”

    “It… did,” Christine confirmed with a furious blush. “It really did. It helped a lot. I thought that just, um, that just punishment, or maybe humiliation would help alleviate some of the guilt I feel, but. It’s more than that. The magic connected. I feel less… broken and lost. Even just afterwards listening to you both talk, it—it’s different, I feel like us doing that opened me up, more. I hear more of what you’re saying, or I understand it different, better, or—I don’t know how to explain it. I feel a lot… closer, to all of you.”

    * * *

    “Do you need more wet wipes?” Rebecca teased. “There’s more in the glove compartment!”

    “I’m sorry!” Stephanie hid her face in her hands, feeling so embarrassed that she could just die. “I—I would say that I don’t know what came over me to uh, to um, to make me do that but. But, I know exactly what came over me. All of them did!”

    “Ooh, erotic!” Rebecca giggled. “They came all over you?”

    “Rebeccaaaa!” Stephanie groaned in protest. No… that was night before last. Night before last is when I had Kelly’s… FLUIDS all over my face, and then Brian was just shooting his stuff all over me. Into me. It was flying everywhere!

    “Okay, okay, sorry, hah,” Rebecca relented as she tried to contain her good humor. “I’m, well. I’m so used to poking fun at those things with Emily! I um, I guess I don’t really know how open you all are about… that kind of stuff?”

    “Very!” Stephanie admitted with a small laugh, wiping away tears. “Sometimes, I think we’re all too open, maybe? Hahhh… it’s just. It’s just so frustrating.”

    “The empathy thing?” Rebecca guessed.

    “Yes,” Stephanie sighed. “Not being able to control my own mood, starting to feel jerked around by everyone. It’s… it’s stressful! I love it, an-and, it’s the perfect power for me and the one I needed. But. It’s just so much to deal with, sometimes.”

    “Mmm, I bet,” Rebecca nodded as she pulled the wheel in a gentle turn to follow the winding of the road. “Especially when emotions are really running high like they have been.”

    “Yes,” Stephanie sighed again. “Yes. Yes.”

    “I would always see, that to some lesser extent, on the campouts,” Rebecca mused. “It’s probably the reason I don’t have many friends? Sometimes the nicest girls just wake up cranky and, I don’t know, upset with the inconveniences of camping, and they let that sort of sour mood take over. That pissy vibe is contagious too, and suddenly it’s several girls who are all like that, and then they’re bitching at each other, and everyone else, and—well. Before you know it, you have unhappy campers, the kind who, I don’t know, look for things to complain about, when if they would just really open their eyes they’d realize that, you know. It’s a beautiful day out, we’re all with our friends! Doing what we love. Hahhh.”

    “You just said bitching,” Stephanie giggled. “Rebecca! That’s a bad word!”

    “I know—I know!” Rebecca let out a dramatic breath. “Don’t tell Emily I use bad language, sometimes. I’ve been trying to set a good example for her!”

    “Your secret is safe with me!” Stephanie promised. “They give me a hard time about swearing, too! As if—I don’t know, as if I’m just the sweet innocent shy Stephanie, who would never say those kinds of things. It’s so frustrating! Especially when. Well, you know. We, w-we all get together. I-it’s not like I’m not a part of when they do, well, all of the crazy sexy things! Why do they have to, to typecast me as the ‘innocent’ one?!”

    “Hear, hear!” Rebecca bumped her fist on the steering wheel. “It’s all blatant flanderization! Always treating me like I’m the fussy reserved goodie-two-shoes type!”

    “Exactly!” Stephanie nodded with enthusiasm. “I-I can be sexy, or, or devious, or stuff like that. I can cuss and say bad words!”

    “Just because I often try to mind my manners doesn’t mean I’m some sorta pushover prude!” Rebecca griped. “Right?!”

    “Right! Exactly!”

    “But, it’s okay,” Rebecca laughed. “I like to think that for those that know me, they just rib me about it in good humor. Yeah? I mean, I can rough it out in the woods way past when even the stoic survivalist guys I know start fretting over their modern conveniences again. I’ve beaten guys up! A few times. Like in semi-sorta-serious kinds of situations. Seriously!”

    “You have!” Stephanie sat upright. “I, I know you have—Rebecca, you saved my life when those two creep guys were trying to pull me away in that alleyway!”

    “Oh! Well, that time wasn’t really what I meant, hah,” Rebecca waved off her praise. “That time I just postured a bit and then ran off, because there wasn’t anything to be gained by staying there and fighting them. But, there have been times!”

    “No. No!” Stephanie insisted. “You saved me.”

    “I just helped a little bit,” Rebecca remained humble. “And, I wasn’t alone—Emily was there, too!”

    “You guys both saved me, and I’ll never ever forget it,” Stephanie promised. “I’ll owe you for that forever.”

    “Oh, stop,” Rebecca laughed. “We became friends, so that’s already enough! That and, now I’m involved in all sorts of stuff with real magic! Couldn’t ask for more.”

    “Ooh, right,” Stephanie shifted in her seat so that she could put her knees up. “You were, um, zapped in for a little bit. With us. We felt you! You were that snug shoelaces feeling. It was very nice.”

    “Snug shoelaces?” Rebecca asked. “What’s that all about?”

    “I don’t know!” Stephanie admitted. “It’s just the feeling we got. From um, from like when you’ve been walking around all day and your shoes are still tied, but not like, tight, and so you get down and you tie them up tighter? It’s that kind of feeling.”

    “Huh,” Rebecca pondered. “So it’s like—pressure? Constriction? Protection, maybe?”

    “It’s… comforting?” Stephanie tried to explain. “Like a really good hug. It was a good feeling. Like things were super snug. Like, um—like a weighted blanket?”

    “Ooh, okay,” Rebecca said. “Huh. Well, my thing was trees, apparently. I guess. Trees, and then my color was brown. Which, yeah. Not as exciting or pretty, but I guess that does kind of fit me?”

    “You’re so pretty, though!” Stephanie said. “I’m serious. And—trees, that’s awesome. Really. I think trees, growth, life, that’s way less intimidating and scary than fire.”

    “Is your fire scary to deal with?” Rebecca asked.

    “It—” Stephanie paused. “Not exactly. It’s… complicated? But, I mean like, normally fire is more scary and dangerous. Right? I think in terms of the dreamscape, it’s just… it’s that it’s uncontrollable? Just like my power. It burns where and however it wills, and I’m just along for the ride...”

    “Fire can be controlled, though!” Rebecca said. “That’s basic fire safety. You saw how we treated the campfire. I guess if Brian’s earth, and Emily’s water, then we already have the um, the magic aspects needed to help you control your fire?”

    “Hahhh,” Stephanie shook her head with a wistful smile. “If only! I guess it doesn’t work that way. Brian always just makes me burn brighter. Emily is, when she’s connecting in it’s like throwing fuel on the fire! And, then Kelly is… a fallen star? A falling star? She’s starmetal, and she’s burning. That one’s kind of weird, isn’t it? It’s not like a normal classic element.”

    “Yeah, that one and then Christine with mirrors,” Rebecca said. “Weird. I wonder what it means?”

    “It’s really weird,” Stephanie agreed. “But then, on the other hand, it also seems like it really fits. For both of them. That’s weird too, right?”

    “Well, that’s magic for you,” Rebecca laughed. “Us two, though, we should get along great. Right? Trees are made of wood, and wood feeds fire. We’re perfect.”

    “Doesn’t that mean the opposite?!” Stephanie giggled. “It has you disadvantaged? I, I don’t want to like, burn you up!”

    “Oh, man!” Rebecca smiled. “It actually felt like that, for a little bit. Back at the convention, when I was still plugged in to your guys’ magic stuff. When you were um, when you were kind of beside yourself. When you were so upset. Everyone was running around trying to figure out how to help. I could definitely feel your… anger.”

    “Really?” Stephanie’s eyes went wide.

    “Yes,” Rebecca nodded. “Definitely. It’s okay, though. I really completely understand! Given the circumstances, and all.”

    “So, so I can maybe… broadcast?” Stephanie found herself thinking out loud. “Instead of just, well. Soaking up everything everyone else feels, and burning off of that. Consuming. W-we were able to figure out this one thing, where I can connect individually with someone, when we press our foreheads together? Well, it’s not just the contact, I also have to… to. To go in. It’s hard to describe?!”

    “Uggh I want to play with all the magic stuff so bad!” Rebecca moaned in frustration. “But, I said I wouldn’t. Want to prove to Brian that I uh, that I can jump his bones just fine without any magical assistance.”

    “Ooooh,” Stephanie said. “I, I think that’ll be really good for him.”

    “I know!” Rebecca said. “But then, at the same time…”

    “Yeah. I get it!” Stephanie bobbed her head in a nod. “For me, though. I’m not sure I would have been able to… be with him, or with Kelly, if not for the magic helping.”

    “No?” Rebecca gave her a look.

    “I mean, I would have wanted to!” Stephanie hurried to clarify. “Just, there’s no way. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. Without anxiety locking me up or having me freeze up or, um, shut down. I wouldn’t have had the courage, not without… without feeling their feelings, like I did. Knowing. That even though Brian’s such a cute guy and I should be crazy stupid nervous, and even though Kelly was a little scary and um, and rough around the edges, that… that they’re actually both just so wonderful. Emily is, too. And you, of course!”

    “I think I understand,” Rebecca assured her. “Connecting with people can be super scary. I try my best and I know a lot of people, but very, very few of them are actual friends, and only Emily and I are very close friends. People are hard to trust, especially once a few of them have… lost your trust. Then it gets harder and harder.”

    “Exactly!” Stephanie sagged in her seat. “Normally it is just so scary. I mean, even with normal people it still is! That hasn’t um, that hasn’t changed a whole lot. Me with other people. I’m a bit more brave now because I have more confidence, but it’s only a bit. A little bit. I can’t act like I do around you guys, I can’t know them and trust them and everything.”

    “Well. I’m super touched that you include me in that!” Rebecca gushed. “And, oh hey. We’re already coming up on Tionetta! That was the sign that just went by. This whole drive went by super fast with someone nice to talk to! The past couple trips I made all alone, and then before that I had Christine, but she was maybe turning into an unstoppable bloodsucking revenant of death and she kept saying things that made me really really nervous! I had to drive all fast and out of my comfort zone.”

    “I-I bet,” Stephanie let out a nervous laugh. “This, this has been nice, though! I like talking with you.”

    “Yeah!” Rebecca smiled. “It wasn’t even all that weird when you just started playing with yourself and making little tiny noises for like, fifteen whole minutes—”

    “Rebecca!” Stephanie exclaimed. “We’re! We’re not talking about that ever!”

    “I thought you guys were super open about everything!” Rebecca giggled. “Are you, or aren’t you?!”

    “We are! Sort of!” Stephanie hid her face in her hands again. “It’s, it’s—embarrassing, though!”

    “Well, not for me,” Rebecca hummed to herself. “For me it wasn’t even that awkward! It would have been kind of funny, but then also I do feel kind of bad that the feeling comes and goes whether you want it to or not.”

    “It’s—” Stephanie stammered out. “It’s, yeah. It just. The mood came over me, all of the sudden, and it was like I was mentally there with them, doing whatever they were doing! Even though I was here. With you. In your car. Oh my God…”

    “Yeah, what were they doing?!” Rebecca giggled as they pulled into the town of Tionetta and the row of buildings came into view. “Goodness Gyratos.”

    “I don’t know!” Stephanie made grasping motions at the air. “I don’t even know for sure what they were doing, and that’s the worst part!”

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