AnimeCon Harem 16: Epilogue pt SMBKE (Patreon)

Pink flames licked up the core of Stephanie’s being as she stretched out her senses in search of the others. Her eyes were closed in concentration and she was leaning forward against her seatbelt in the passenger’s seat of Megan’s car, hands gripping onto her knees. The presence of her lovers was closer now, maybe, but casting out her empathic ability just didn’t seem like something she’d ever be able to do with finesse. The fire within her was less of a skill she could train and more of a hunger.

Or perhaps a desire, Stephanie mused to herself as her eyelashes fluttered open. A CRAVING.

“Anything?” Megan asked. “We’re almost there, so hopefully you’re pickin’ up something.”

“It’s maybe something,” Stephanie let out a weak laugh. “It’s hard to describe?”

It’s ultimately useless at this kind of range, Stephanie decided. But, closer? I think when I’m closer, when I’m in the same room with them, I would be able to point to everyone and determine who is who when blindfolded. Just from being able to FEEL them. Which, um, which isn’t USEFUL, exactly, but it does help me suss out how things work.

“Well, and hey,” Megan remarked. “Thanks again.”

“I barely did anything!” Stephanie beamed.

“Barely did—Steph,” Megan exclaimed. “It’s like I’m driving a brand new frikkin’ car. Look at this. This is super nice.”

The mountains of trash had been bagged and removed, the food cartons, wrappers, empty cups growing mold, crumbs and residue were all gone, courtesy of Stephanie putting on cleaning gloves, tying up her hair beneath a bandanna, and clearing out the interior of Megan’s vehicle this past weekend. She hadn’t known she would need to ask Megan for a ride today all of the sudden, but when she did Megan was more than happy to make a big trip for her.

“I… I barely did anything,” Stephanie said, trying not to wince at the lie.

It had been bad.

She’d had to ask Megan park at the super gas station nearby their university, where she could put quarters into the machine to use the outside vacuum hose. The molded plastic of the console and then the inside of the doors had been scrubbed of soda splatter and grime with a washrag, Stephanie had liberally shampooed the cushions and carpets free of their stains, and now air fresheners hung from both the rear view mirror and from the handles of each of the front doors.

“Turn left onto Third Avenue in one quarter mile,” the automated voice from Megan’s phone spoke up.

“Almost there!” Megan teased. “Almost there! Are you excited?!”

“I’m so excited,” Stephanie admitted with a big smile. “I’m… yeah. Yeah!”

She had her bag with her toiletries and a change of clothes just in case, but what she was wearing now was the outfit for heading out into the woods to where Chloe was. A tan pair of boots that was seldom worn, blue jeans, and a long-sleeved athletic-wear top in gray and blue that would keep insects from eating up her arms. Mostly-pink hair was gathered up this time into a pair of little pigtails that Megan has assured her over and over was cute—Stephanie hoped she didn’t look silly or childish. Throughout the convention she’d kept her shoulder-length hair down and loose, and it gave her a very different look.

What if right away they’re like, ‘Steph change it back,’ Stephanie fretted. It DOES maybe look cute, but maybe it’s not really… me? Maybe it’s too different of a look? I don’t know. Should I put my hair back to how it was before?! We’re almost there, so I need to decide fast!

“Steph, you look fine,” Megan laughed.

“Now you’re a mind reader!” Stephanie couldn’t help but smile.

“You keep reaching up to touch your twintails,” Megan pointed out. “Yes, Steph; they’re still there. They haven’t gone anywhere since the last time you checked.”

“Should I keep them?” Stephanie asked. “Or let them down. They don’t look… silly?”

“You’re absolutely keeping them, you look adorable,” Megan insisted. “Everyone has to see.”

“But… I don’t know,” Stephanie flipped down the sun visor to see them in the mirror there again. “They’re not really long enough to even be called tails. I look silly!”

“Steph, you look like an anime princess!” Megan praised. “You’re cute as a button, you’ve got twintails, and you’ve got the whole pink-and-blonde thing going on there that just looks phenomenal. Like, you’re sitting there in class with everyone, and everyone else is peeking over and thinking—yep, she’s one of the main girls. A classic anime protagonist.”

“I’m definitely not a protagonist,” Stephanie protested with a sheepish look.

“You have magic anime powers, you ARE a protagonist,” Megan was unable to relent. “When do I get some studly prince charming to fall out of the sky and into my lap?! When’s it my turn?!”

“I-I can ask them if, um, if they’d be okay with—” Stephanie began.

“Nope! Nope, nuh-uh,” Megan cut her off. “That with the harem is your happy ending, not mine. I, uh, I mean no offense Steph, I’m super happy for you and I get like, thrilled even thinking about how things worked out for you, but that’s just not for me. I don’t think I’d ever be okay with sharing my guy. No offense!”

“None taken,” Stephanie quirked a smile at her friend. “I-it’s not like I’m forced to share, exactly! It’s more like… like I have a boyfriend. And a few girlfriends.”

“But, then—so do they,” Megan said. “Since they’re with each other, too.”

“Yes, it’s amazing,” Stephanie agreed with a beaming smile.

“Right turn at Altamonte Apartments, your destination is in four hundred feet,” Megan’s phone reported.

“Althouuugh,” Megan chuckled. “Did I tell you about the time Rebecca felt me up in the shower?!”

“Several times!” Stephanie said, exasperated. “I’m still not quite sure I’ll hear the same story, once I hear her side of it.”

“Yeah, maybe she’s shy,” Megan joked. “But listen—I know what happened.”

“Uh-huh,” Stephanie mumbled.

She was distracted, now, because she recognized several of the buildings passing by on their right—this was Brian’s apartment complex! Just a little bit further and the sign and entrance to the neighborhood would be in sight, and then, and then—Stephanie’s eyes lit up as she felt them in the distance, the weight of Brian’s earth and the red gravity of Kelly’s fallen star, could feel the rushing torrent of blue.

“This is it up here, right?” Megan asked. “Altamonte?”

“Y-yeah,” Stephanie giggled. “I can feel them!”

“Turn right at Altamonte Apartments,” Megan’s phone agreed.

“Still can’t believe you rode all the way out here last time,” Megan grumbled. “This is like, hours away from us.”

“It took me five and a half hours,” Stephanie revealed with a bitter laugh. “Since I couldn’t use the actual highway… and then I took a wrong turn somewhere and stop and recheck where I was and then backtrack a bit. Was faster getting back home! Little under five hours.”

“Well, none o’ that this time, so you can relax with them lots and have a good time,” Megan said, pride in her voice. “Now, I’m just gonna drop you off so that I don’t get in the way of all that romance stuff and feel like a lonely forgotten fifth wheel. Do you—”

“Aww,” Stephanie felt a pang of guilt. “Megan, you—”

“Shh shh shh,” Megan cut her off. “You have your change of clothes? Extra undies? Toothbrush?”

“Yes, yes,” Stephanie chirped. “Yes.”

“You have your phone charger?”

“Yes.”

“Pigtails still attached?”

“Yes!”

“Whole lotta lube and condoms?!”

“Megan!”

“Alright, alright, just want you to play safe,” Megan chortled. “Annnnd, here we are! That’s Brian’s car, right?”

“It is!” Stephanie was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement. “They’re right there—I can feel them! Really feel them!”

It felt like home. Not the austere lines of the apartment complex, the fount of familiarity and sheer love that was here with her boyfriend and girlfriends. There was no place on earth where Stephanie belonged quite as much as she did here with them, and the pink inferno within her burned with blinding heat at the very proximity to her harem. The ferrous fallen metal of Kelly’s star burned in response, steamy mist rose off of Emily’s river at her presence, and Brian—Brian seemed to reach out and embrace her.

It’s like—it’s like finally having my feet on solid ground again, Stephanie identified the relief coursing through her as the car coasted to a stop in front of Brian’s place.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much Megan for driving me!” Stephanie was all at once scrambling for her bag, opening her door, and reaching over to give her friend a half-hug. “Thank you!!”

Just as Stephanie managed to stumble her way out of the car in a fluster, the door to Brian’s apartment opened.

“Brian!” Stephanie called, dropping her bag on the pavement and rushing towards him.

He was okay. Healed from his injuries. More than okay, he was handsome, perfect, a gorgeous masculine specimen ingrained into every edifice of Stephanie’s heart. His big smile at seeing her, the way he lit up too out of sheer happiness to be reunited with her made Stephanie’s internal temperatures spike to dangerous levels of pink. Whatever she could even call these feelings coursing through her, they became a fuel for the magic that was almost too potent, downright combustive, and—

Stephanie threw herself into Brian’s arms at a running start, but rather than tackling him to the ground, he caught her, bearing the weight of her charge without effort—he spun with her like she was a fairytale princess. Her feet didn’t gently touch back down upon the ground until he lowered her, but either way she still felt like she was floating; she loved him. She was so in love with him it felt like she was losing her mind, nuclear shades of pink colored everything around her, burning with such terrible force that all fears and worries were incinerated, the petty trivial anxieties of life evaporated.

They kissed, and the insatiable furnace of Stephanie’s desire devoured every other thought except for how much she wanted to kiss him. The fires stoked within her as her lips and tongue fought against his were not something that could cool, but as seconds melted into minutes heat did finally begin to transfer across across her bonds and into her companions. At some point while she had explored violent new levels of pink, Kelly and Emily had crushed into her and Brian from either side in a crushing embrace, and the hot-pink bled into them until Stephanie’s mind returned to safe levels of coherence.

“Holy shit,” Emily swore, and Stephanie could feel her petite friend trembling. “Was that all like… magic? Transferring? What the actual fuck, Steph?”

“I, uh,” Brian worked his lips as they finally disengaged from her. “Um?”

“Like—what would’ve happened if Kell and I weren’t here?!” Emily sputtered. “Would she have exploded?!”

“We should, uhh, we should get inside,” Kelly suggested, sounding dazed. “Fuck. I think I just came a little?!”

“Uhhh what we all mean to say is—we missed you,” Brian said, giving Stephanie a squeeze. “A lot.”

The pure love and acceptance and happiness in his eyes struck Stephanie speechless, tickled dancing sparks of fire in her tummy, and had her knees go weak—if all of them hadn’t been here holding her up, she would have slid to the ground. She opened her mouth, attempting to speak, but all that came out were more and more kisses, frantic, desperate fluttering kisses that landed wet across his mouth, his cheek, his chin, his neck—

“Shit, now you really have me considering it!” Megan called, startling them all with two honks of her horn. “Get a room, you horndogs! Steph—have lots of fun and remember your rubbers! Great seeing you all again!”

“Yeah, we uh, hi?” Emily yelled back. “Megan, you too. Uhh—lasagna?”

“Yes, hi,” Megan laughed. “Nice to meatball you again. A very spaghetti stromboli day to you, too! Hahaha! Catch you guys later! Pasta la vista! Call me!”

“No, we—” Kelly tried, but Stephanie could already hear the rumble of Megan’s car pulling away and heading back down the row of apartments towards the exit. “Emily, geez. Complete sentences, you goof.”

“Yeah, there’s—” Brian attempted to speak.

Stephanie couldn’t let him, though, and she rose all the way up onto her tiptoes and to kiss him again, and again, and again, and only then did she achieve some tiny modicum of the satisfaction she needed. Her little pigtails bobbed with the movements, but she still didn’t have time to be self-conscious of them—her cheeks almost hurt from how brilliant her beaming smile was, and she flexed her hands, realizing they were around Brian and clutching at his broad back.

“Hi,” Stephanie said in a very small voice.

“Hi,” Brian said back, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Love you.”

“I love you!” Stephanie exclaimed, squeezing him tight and kicking her legs, which were barely even touching the ground. “I love you all! So much. I missed you. I love you. It—it’s so good to see you all again.”

“I love you,” Kelly said in a low voice, putting her lips to Stephanie’s cheek for a rather chaste kiss.

“But for real, what was that?!” Emily demanded. “You coulda like, leveled a city block with that much horny. I feel like, like—like my blue is all pink-tinged still, even. Holy fuck, Steph.”

“Why are—” Stephanie paused to give each of them a quizzical look. “Why are you all so turned on?! I-it all, all of it just hit all at once when I got here. Like I was walking right into a wall of, of—and it was, it’s—it’s just so overwhelming!”

“We’ve been real excited to see you again,” Brian said. “We’ve pretty much just been working ourselves up over it like all day long. Ever since you said you could make it out here today.”

“Really?” Stephanie felt like she was swooning into their arms all over again. “Really?!”

“Yeah!” Emily said. “Let’s get inside. We cleaned! Well, Brian did. You didn’t eat, right? I texted you and said not to eat lunch.”

“I haven’t eaten yet,” Stephanie nodded, still feeling giddy. “Were we—”

“We have lasagna ready!” Kelly proclaimed, sounding genuinely excited. “Garlic bread, too. You’re hungry, right?”

“Yeah!” Stephanie tried to put her feet back on the ground so she could stand, but instead Brian scooped her the rest of the way up into his arms in a bridal carry. “B-Brian!? I’m not too heavy?”

“Muah,” Brian answered her simply by kissing the tip of her nose. “I’ve got you.”

“We’ve got you,” Kelly corrected, putting a possessive hand on Stephanie’s leg. “Hey, Emily—quit grabbin’ at my girlfriend and get Steph’s bag, you little tugboat.”

“She’s my girlfriend too, you know,” Emily stuck her tongue out at her. “Big tiddy bimbo liner.”

“Be nice!” Stephanie cautioned them as Brian carried her through the door and into the apartment. “Kelly—you’re supposed to call Emily kitten, and Emily, Kelly is baby.”

“Fiiine,” Kelly sighed, following them inside. “I—you know what? I’m just… I’m so fucking glad you’re here. It felt like, there was still this little knot that just couldn’t really relax, and then when you’re here it just… untangles itself and everything’s okay again.”

“This coming from Kelly, who used to make fun of how sappy and lovey-dovey we were being,” Brian laughed. “Emily—can you get the door? My hands’re full.”

“Get the door, Emily!” Emily let out a playful huff. “Boil the noodles, Emily! Set the table, Emily! All I do around here is work, work work.”

“All you did was laze around and watch us cook!” Kelly complained. “Fuckboat.”

“Kelly!” Stephanie giggled. “Kiss Emily and tell her you’re sorry and that you didn’t mean that.”

“Ugh, fine,” Kelly put on a playful pout. “Sorry, kitten.”

“Oh wow, the lasagna smells amazing!” Stephanie realized.

“I—hey wait wait wait I’m not ready!” Emily put up a futile protest that was quickly drowned out as Kelly swooped in and stole her lips.

“I really missed this,” Brian remarked, gently setting Stephanie down on the apartment’s sofa. “Having everyone here together.”

The ‘table’ was set—the low coffee table had napkins, forks, and plates, and Brian joined Stephanie on the sofa cushions while Kelly dumped a gasping-for-breath Emily into the armchair that faced the coffee table’s side. The apartment was a little tidier than she remembered from her last visit, where the clutter of Kelly’s belongings hadn’t quite integrated into life here yet… but Stephanie barely had more than a glance or two to spare for her surroundings.

Brian looked good. Better than ever, maybe—some subconscious part of her mind had assumed he would be weakened or put out by spending so long in that strange sleep, but the naked facts here spoke otherwise. He looked healthy, hale, hearty—he projected a certain strong presence that seemed to fill the room and anchor her attention on him. He was wearing a collared shirt with two buttons, and each of the buttons was undone, showing off more of those delicious lines along his neck and his chest. It was a nice shirt, and he looked good wearing it, but at the same time she despised it, because she wanted it off of him so she could see him bare, she wanted—

Ohmigod I’m so wet right now, Stephanie felt herself blushing furiously as Brian regarded her with a small smile. I want—I want—I want to—

“Your hair looks super cute that way,” Brian said.

“It does?!” Stephanie stammered out. “I, uh, I—”

“Yeah, and I was just telling Kelly before you got here that she should put her hair up,” Brian said. “Show off her neck a bit more, her throat. There’s just something that’s like, unguarded and sexy about it.”

“Th-there is?” Stephanie stumbled over her words for a moment, twisting to see Kelly behind them in the kitchen area. “There is! I, um, I did notice that—Kelly, you look fantastic!”

“Thank you,” Kelly sounded incredibly pleased. “Your pigtails, though… ugh. Steph, that’s just super fuckin’ cute. Criminal. It’s too much.”

“Too fuckin’ cute,” Emily agreed.

“Yeah?” Stephanie awkwardly shifted her legs as the pink within her flared up again.

“Yeah,” Kelly finally returned, bearing a glass tray of lasagna from the edges with a pair of hand-towels. “But, hey—Emily’s all faint with hunger, so we should eat. Drinks, everybody?”

“I can grab ‘em,” Brian started to get up, but Kelly stopped him, nudging him back with a swing of her hips.

“I’ve got them,” Kelly said, giving them a smile. “We finally have Steph here—makes me want to be all submissive and domestic and shit. Like I should’ve just worn an apron.”

“Honey, you’re home!” Emily teased. “Do you want dinner, or a bath, or maybe… ME?”

“Exactly,” Kelly nodded.

“I was worried that everyone would be feeling down,” Stephanie scooched closer to Brian and slipped her arm through his. “That—that, I don’t know. That the big issue with Chloe would be on everyone’s minds.”

“Fuck,” Brian slapped his thigh. “I knew we were forgetting something.”

“Briiian,” Stephanie grinned up at him.

“Chloe?” Emily sniffed, sliding out of the chair and instead sitting on the floor so she wouldn’t have to hunch over to reach her plate. “Who’d want to waste time worrying about her?”

“We have our priorities right,” Kelly insisted, setting glasses on the kitchen counter and beginning to pour water into them from a purifier pitcher from the fridge. “Steph’s here, the gang’s all back together again, we’re having dinner together—and then, we fuck.”

“Tonight?!” Stephanie blurted out. “I um, I thought—well, I assumed since, since we were planning on driving out to meet Rebecca and Chloe early tomorrow morning, that, um—”

“That what?” Emily laughed. “That it was gonna stop the magic from happening?!”

“Yeah, ‘cause—I’m feeling the magic,” Kelly said. “Aren’t you?”

“I um… I think I kinda am, yes,” Stephanie admitted, nestling in even closer to Brian. “That’s okay?”

“Of course it is,” Brian promised, withdrawing his arm from her grasp so that he could instead slip it around her. “I mean… if you want to, and all.”

“I do!” Stephanie felt giddy with pink again. “I do, I do—I love you. All of you.”

/// Will fix guidepage/count/chapter links soon, I swear. Just been super busy lately with the move and everything, and the kitten's been a handful. The couple that was supposed to come adopt him no-show'd on me, still haven't heard back from them yet. Oh, and we started getting in animations from a new artist for the game project! Will share one of them here with you guys: