The light streaming through the paper screen cast the whole elevator in a deep, rosy haze. Even that light was fading fast as they rose higher and higher.

“It’s okay, Sana.” Miss Charity smiled. The pale majordomo reached up to brush some hair from his eyes. Her own crimson eyes were perfectly framed by twin curly silver locks and seemed to catch the outside light dazzlingly; they gleamed bright red in the gloom of the cage-like lift. Her arm tightened around his waist. “The lift is perfectly safe, I can assure you.”

“I-I know,” he squeaked. The faun felt less panicked by the grinding, grating mechanisms so much as by the fact that he was being held by a beautiful girl in a cute maid outfit.

“But it can get a little noisy.” Her eyes flicked over to the controls, and she pressed another button. “Maybe this will help~?”

He heard a whirring, and several clicks echoed around the lift.

A strange, delicate music began to emanate from above.

The melody started out very soft. It sounded more like the dainty plinking of a child’s music box, and for a moment, Sana couldn’t imagine such a feeble sound would do anything to distract from the elevator’s rumblings.

And then his ears popped. As they did, the grinding and grating seemed to fall away.

Suddenly, the elevator’s delicate lullaby was all he could hear.

“Better~?”

“A-Ah.” Sana felt his heartbeat finally starting to slow. He was still crammed in a narrow space with a pretty girl, but… the music was soothing. It seemed to cover everything else, everything but his voice and hers. He smiled shyly. “Y-Yes, Miss.”


“It’s nice to have something to listen to, isn’t it?” She smiled up at him. “I can tell you’re a very sensitive, very attentive person.”

“Mm. Yes, Miss.” Sana was still very conscious of her arm around his waist, and he could feel the heat of his blushing cheeks. He thanked the stars for the dim lighting.

He supposed the paper screen was probably to help guests like him. Guests prone to vertigo. Combined with the melody, he could almost convince himself the elevator was just rumbling in place, generating a dull, soothing purr. Safe and calm. The music comfortably flowed into any silence, filling it with gentle plinks and chimes.

“S-So, um…” Sana cleared his throat. “Where are we going first, Miss?”

“The changing room.” Miss Charity giggled, fiddling with the end of his scarf. “We’ll need to get you properly fitted, so you’ll be ready for…”

She trailed off. Then her eyes returned to his. “Ah. That’s right. There are some special preparations I think will need to be made first.”

“Oh.” His tail gave a small flick. “Like what?”

“Well, first things first.” Her head tilted to the side. “Those trousers need to come off.”

For a second, Sana thought he’d misheard. Then he was sure he’d misunderstood—she surely meant they would come off in the changing room, or they’d… come off in some sort of…

As Miss Charity continued to smile, he thought it might be some kind of joke.

“W-What?”

“Off, darling.” Her eyes seemed to fill the room with light as her hand caressed the small of his back. His back instinctively arched. “We need those trousers off so I can see what we’re working with, okay, sweetie?”

Sana’s throat tightened. His feet shuffled back, and he ducked his head. “I… I don’t…”

“It’s okay, darling.” She advanced on him, still smiling, swaying slightly to catch his eye. “There’s no need to be afraid! Just be good and undo that belt for me. You want to be good for me, don’t you?”

“A—” Sana’s world seemed to flutter along with those thick lashes of hers as she re-captured his gaze. He took another stumbling step back, but then his back was to the far wall. She was between him and the door. “W-Wait, but… but you can’t mean…?”

“Shhh~” Miss Charity moved in closer, and now he was cornered. “Just look into my eyes, sweetie. It’s rude to duck your head. There’s a good boy.”

“I… but…”

“You know you’re safe here.” Her eyes sparkled. The light almost seemed to be pouring out of them—not shining like lanternlight, but pouring like red mist, seeping out and gathering around him, swirling, spiraling, drawing his gaze in… in… “There’s no need to get flustered, silly.”

“I, but you…” Sana was trying to put assertiveness into his voice, but his throat felt constrained, and his words were barely whimpers. He was desperately flustered.

“This is just how we do things in the city, darling. Look into my eyes.” Her eyes seemed to pulse slightly. “Focus on them.”

“I…”

“A good servant meets the eye when told to.” The fiery glow tugged at him. She was still smiling, and her smile was confident, knowing, as if she’d done this a dozen times before. “It’s polite. You want to be polite, don’t you, darling~?”

“O-Oh, um—” Sana wiggled, tail wagging. “Y-Yes! Of course! But… but…”

The light in her eyes was moving. He couldn’t see the pupils, just the whites and then big, glimmering pools of red. The light rippled with slow concentric circles pouring outward. He stared, lips parting slightly.

“Gooood boy.” She took a step closer. He was practically pinned. “Aw, that’s so much better, isn’t it?”

“Um…”

“It’s so much better.” Charity’s smile widened indulgently as her hand slowly retrieved a little brass bell from her pocket. It dangled from shimmering wine-red ribbon. She grasped it between thumb and forefinger to keep it from ringing. Her eyes seemed to pull him in tighter, binding his gaze to hers. “Such a good servant you’re learning to be!”

“O-Oh…” Sana whined softly. He wanted to shake his head, or look away, or speak out, but the music filled the silence, and his voice sounded small and pathetic even to him. And her eyes seemed to fill his mind, and his thoughts felt… felt…

“Easy to stare,” she whispered. “Easy to sink. Easy to serve, and so hard to think~. Such a polite little servant for me.”

“M-Miss…” He blinked drowsily, struggling to process what was happening. This was… he knew he needed this job, but something about her tone, her eyes, her teeth…

The eyes glowed. Flashed. His head spun, and he felt a strange sinking sensation taking hold of his mind. He felt like he was being pulled down. Down. Deep.

“Deep. Nice and deep into my bright, pretty eyes.” Her voice echoed in his mind. “Deeper. Deeper. Gooood~”

“A-Ah…” His head tipped slightly towards her. It felt like the whirlpools were physically drawing him in… he felt slow, stupid, and those eyes were so pretty, and the lights held him so tightly…

He heard her giggling, and blushed hot. “Good silly thing,” Miss Charity cooed. “My, fauns really are docile for pretty, shimmering lights, aren’t they?”

“P-Pretty…?” Now his voice was just a weak little whimper, and a thick heat of humiliation burned through him. A dumb, docile daze was settling in, and her words were pulling him in deeper, because these… were such pretty, shimmering lights, and everyone did know about fauns and lights… he believed it was true, so… so it was…

“That’s right~!” She reached down to cup his ass, her touch casual and careless, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. As she gave it a squeeze, he let out a startled squeak. Her eyes lit up. “Ooh! What an interesting sound.”

“I—um, M-Miss—” He wiggled, trying to dispel her hand, but he couldn’t think, couldn’t look away, his tail flicked rapidly…

Miss Charity’s eyes swirled and pulsed. “Are we, perhaps, sensitive~?”

“A-Ah—yes—” Her fingernails trailed down, and Sana keened helplessly. His body begged him to flinch away, but he felt almost physically bound. Charity’s eyes held him tight. She seemed so pleased with him, so delighted, and he’d never had a pretty girl smile at him like that, and now she had him utterly trapped… “S-Sensitive—”

Her hand shot back to grasp his tail and force it still. He almost squealed. “And look at how your tail wags! So cute~!”

“A-Ah—” Sana swayed and whimpered, feeling totally overwhelmed. He tried to lean away, but he was already backed against the wall. “M-Miss Charity, I’m—I’m, um—!”

She released his tail.

To his embarrassment, it immediately resumed its wagging.

“Humiliated?” she asked sweetly. “Ashamed? Making a complete scene of yourself in front of your new mistress?”

She fluttered her eyelashes. His world flashed and strobed with those flickering lights. He stared hopelessly, lips mouthing uncertain syllables.

Miss Charity licked her lips. She patted his butt fondly. “It’s okay, darling. I know you can’t possibly help it.”

Sana swallowed. Inside, he felt himself scrambling for whatever shreds were left of his dignity. He needed to stand up for himself! Or at least try to! “It’s… look, it’s just that you’re being very—”

“Just like,” she sang, as her hand drifted around to his front, “you can’t help this.”

And his whole body went rigid as Miss Charity’s hand pressed into his lap to find his twitching, leaking hardness.

For a moment, Sana barely even visibly reacted. Pure shock kept him totally rooted in place, kept his lips parted in useless confusion, kept his eyes wide and helplessly captivated.

She… she couldn’t just…

“Oh, I thought so,” Miss Charity purred, and gave a little rub. He whimpered—even through his trousers, even with how… small he was, it was surely impossible for her not to notice how his cock twitched at her touch. “See, darling? Do you see what I mean now?”

The question helped him snap himself out of the paralysis. “H-Hey!” His hand shot to try to pull hers away. “That—you can’t—”

“Hush.” Her eyes flashed. “Deep into my eyes, sweet, silly boy.”

“Wh…” His hand fumbled. He couldn’t seem to find hers, but he felt something, something constraining—he fumbled with it—

“Deep into my eyes. Good boy. Just for a moment.” Her eyes seemed to glow brighter. “Stare into them.”

“B-But I—”

“Stare.” In Sana’s dazed view, Charity’s eyes looked like the shimmering whorls of dawn. She leaned in slightly, and the glow intensified. “Like you’re staring down into a deep well. Like you’re leaned far, far, over the edge, and my eyes are all you can see.”

“I…” He shook his head slowly, squirming as her hand pressed in. He kept fumbling with the thing he’d grabbed—if he could just get his hand free of it and grab her hand, make her stop… “No. No, I’m not going to—”

“Sweetie, you already are.” She was smiling. The red irises of those eyes seemed to widen; he couldn’t see the whites anymore. But it had to be his… imagination… “Already leaned over the edge, staaaring into those endless, endless depths. Watching them… ripple.” Her eyes flashed again, swirls spreading outward, then pulling back in. Pulling him in. “Rippling as if something was dropped inside.”

Rippling. Swirling.

Sana’s head felt heavy as he shook it again, barely noticing how he was shaking his head to follow hers. Charity’s head was bobbing slowly from side to side. It made him think vaguely of a serpent hypnotizing its prey. “No,” he whispered, responding to a question she hadn’t asked. His fingers felt fat and slow and clumsy as he fidgeted uselessly. “I’m not… hypnotized.”

“Poor, silly boys like you can’t help it.” The silent bell hung at eye level, just beside those shimmering red pools. “You lean over the edge…” Her fingers briefly encircled the tip of his cock, rubbing through the cloth, and he almost whined. Unknown pleasures were buzzing through his body faster than he could process them. He’d never been touched down there before, and it felt so nice, but this was wrong, it was all… it had to be… “… and you feel those depths starting to pull, don’t you?”

“Pull…” He smiled weakly, trying to affect cockiness he didn’t feel. “No. I’m… fine. I f-feel, um… normal!”

“You’re fine,” she cooed, rubbing up and down his shaft. Her hand briefly left his hardness and reached around, sliding under his pants to grope his butt. Sana cried out slightly, trying in vain to wiggle away—her hand was cold!

But her crimson gaze made him feel like he was about to pass out from heatstroke.

“You’re fine,” she repeated, swaying to a slow, sensual rhythm. “Oh, you definitely don’t feel like you’re staring into deep waters, like they’re pulling you down, down into that deep, endless well. Because you feel fine, don’t you, silly boy?”

“Yes,” he managed, swaying. He smiled uncertainly. “F-Fine.”

“You feel… normal.” She bobbed to and fro, leading his movements, eyes swirling, pulsing. Every flash of those twin lights seemed to bathe him in dizzying, dazzling heat… “You’re normal.”

“I’m n-normal,” he babbled, trying to keep up.

“This is normal.”

“This is… normal?”

“This is normal.” The words resonated with that same heat, and Sana trembled. It was like she was pressing the words into him. Pressing hard.

“This… is, um… normal…

“This is normal.” Her eyes blazed, then flashed several times in quick succession. “This. Is. Normal~”

“Thhis iss…” Sana’s lips were parted. His mind felt parted, too. Like every flash of those red eyes was pushing a little farther into his brain, opening the gates a little bit wider, opening his will up for her delicate touch…

… was that… wasn’t that maybe a bad thing?

But… he was fine, wasn’t he? He was… this was…

“This is normal…” he slurred.

And Miss Charity laughed at him. Her hand pulled out from under his trousers and pressed back between his legs, giving several playful rubs. “That’s right! This is normal, my darling dummy boy! Because boys just can’t help themselves~”

“I—n-no, um—” He wet his lips, lost in her eyes. No. That wasn’t right, he wasn’t… they weren’t… he redoubled his efforts to escape, trying to find her hand, but his hand was still fumbling with that weird restraint he’d noticed…

“Boys’ dumb, silly cocks just make them so weak,” Miss Charity murmured, rubbing slowly up and down his twitching, tingling shaft. “So dumb and stupid and brainless. Every little throb makes your brain melt just a little more…” Her fingers teased around the tip. He was leaking right through his trousers. “… and then all these silly thoughts, they’re just gonna leak right away, aren’t they?”

“Um…” Sana tried to blink. His eyes felt… not tired, exactly, because they were bathed in that nice red glow, and that glow made staring feel nice and easy and endless, but… but he felt like he needed to blink for some other important reason. He was having trouble… thinking, maybe? And thinking was important right now. He was pretty sure he needed to think, and that meant he needed a break, needed even a second away from that hot, burning glow, but…

… but Miss Charity’s eyes didn’t want him to blink. Miss Charity didn’t want him to blink. He stared and swayed, breathing heavily, trying to remember why Miss Charity shouldn’t get to decide when boys’ eyes needed to be open and when they needed to be closed…

“Boys always get so cute,” she cooed, grinning, stroking a little faster, “and stupid, and obedient, and manageable once you get ahold of their nice, dumb cocks, you see? Especially—” Her eyes flashed. “—dumb—” *flash* “—little—” *flash* “—boytoys—” *flash* “—like you~”

Her hand gave a little squeeze, and Sana whimpered—and bucked against it.

“Oohh~” Miss Charity leaned in closer. The heat of her eyes grew almost unbearable, and Sana felt his mind melting under that heat. “I thought so. Is someone already getting a little… buckbrained~?”

Sana bucked again, blushing hot. He—no, she was—she was doing… something…

“Gooood boy!” She rubbed faster, her grin widening. “See? See how helpless boys get?”

Sana’s head was spinning. He felt like he was barely standing, and he couldn’t stop thinking about the well. About those depths tugging on him, those rippling crimson lights, the feeling of leaning over to stare into a deep darkness and… sinking… down…

“That’s right.” Out of the corner of his eye, Sana saw Miss Charity licking her lips. Such plump, soft-looking lips. Her eyes flashed. “There’s a good boy. There’s no need to be afraid, my darling pet~”

“Uh… but… but you’re…”

She was still swaying to and fro. Sana’s thoughts sloshed and splashed with every gentle motion.

No need to be afraid.

That was a funny thing to say, actually. Because Sana felt lots of things right now. He felt horribly embarrassed, and desperately shy, and utterly overwhelmed. He felt flustered, and ashamed, and indignant, and so, so horny, and such severe dizziness he thought he might tumble into Miss Charity’s arms at any moment.

But… he didn’t afraid.

And that was funny, because… he felt like he ought to feel afraid. Something about all this felt like the sort of thing he’d be scared of. Wasn’t it? And Sana was so scared of so many things. He should have been terrified.

It was just that… well, the lullaby was still playing. The lullaby had such a nice, soothing delicacy to its plinking melody, like someone was whispering a sweet song right into his ear, like someone was stroking his hair and telling him everything was going to be okay.

Why would he need to be afraid? He could just listen to the music, stare deeper and deeper, dip and sink and fall into those deep wells of red, feel the heat filling his head while Miss Charity rubbed, rubbed, rubbed…

… but… but still, there was…

“… you’re, um…” He smiled dazedly, eyelids briefly drooping, then opening fully again as her eyes flashed. “Hypnotizing me.”

Her eyes flashed. “I’m not hypnotizing you.”

“Oh.” He swayed, bucking against her hand. “Y-You’re… not?”

She giggled. “No, stupid! Boys are just like this!”

“They… are? B-But…”

“Boys are just weak,” she hissed, “and silly, and brainless. All they think about is bouncing breasts… nice, kissable lips…”

“But… but…”

“Aw, that’s right! Butt!” She rubbed faster. “Big tits and bouncing butts just make weak boys’ thoughts ooze away, don’t they?”

He tried to shake his head as he bucked hopelessly against her hand. All the motion just made him feel dizzier. This was getting out of hand. He needed to stop. “Um… no.” He shook his head again, slower this time. “No, that’s…”

Miss Charity released the bell, and as it fell at the end of its ribbon, it released a soft chime.

The chime sounded kind of funny to Sana. He wasn’t sure why.

Maybe it was that even though it was a small bell, its call had a strangely strong, clear reverberation. It poured out like the song of a tuning fork, a bright, resonant ring.

Or maybe the strange thing was that its sound seemed to perfectly fit the music box lullaby playing in the background. It struck at just the right note at just the right time—not matching, but harmonizing, echoing that easy, repetitive melody and briefly imbuing the lullaby with even more power and more presence. Drawing his attention back into the soothing softness of music.

Or maybe it was that when the bell chimed, he swore the light in Miss Charity’s eyes pulsed. As if someone had dropped a stone down into deep wells of fire.

He gazed into her eyes, hips wiggling, bucking faintly against her playful fingers. None of those were exactly it. It was… something about the bell was…

“… so, dummy, of course I’m not hypnotizing you.” Laughter echoed in her voice. “Your nice, dumb, silly, leaking cock is doing all the hypnosis for me.” Rub. Rub. “It’s normal to want to do what a pretty girl says when her hand is near your cock, isn’t it?”

“I—um—”

She gave the bell a little sway, drawing it by that long, burgundy ribbon…

Chime. The sound hit him like a wave, ringing pure and sweet. When the bell rang, the lullaby rose back into his full awareness, her eyes seemed to pulse again, and…

Chime. The song struck him again, and he felt his lips parting—he felt dizzy, confused, he didn’t understand—

“Now, this pretty little bell of mine?” Miss Charity whispered. “You might notice it’s having a silly little effect on you, darling.”

“Wh…” He licked his lips, keening softly as her hand pressed in. Right. He needed to—to unbuckle the restraint, to get her hand away—

“Oh, yes. Because whenever this bell rings…” Chime. “… I think you’re just finding yourself getting a little bit… stupider. Isn’t that right?”

“Wh-What?” He squirmed. “N-No, I—”

Chime. “You just can’t help it. You’re such a dumb, easy, weak-willed boy, and its music is so soothing and soft for your sleepy head, and a pretty girl has you trapped in her pretty eyes, pulling you deep-deep-deep down into that deep, deep well…” Chime. “… and the bell just seems to help everything come together, doesn’t it?”

Chime. Her fingers gave a little squeeze.

And then Sana dimly realized what was so odd about the bell. It wasn’t just that it seemed to match the lullaby, or follow the pulsing of her eyes, or that its music stretched out so long, longer than it was supposed to…

It was that its chimes were matching the rhythm of her strokes.

It was that the bell’s chimes were matching everything. Guiding everything. The sleepy music, the touches, the… pretty eyes…

“It’s pulling you in,” she purred. “Pulling everything together.”

“N-No, I…” Now that he knew, he could… fight it. Resist it. Right?

Chime. “My eyes, drawing you in so very deep. Aren’t they so very pretty?” She was smiling. Her eyes were aglow, they were the only light he could see, and they filled the darkness with such beautiful crimson light…

Chime. “And isn’t your dumb, leaking cock helping you feel so wonderfully stupid? “Making you such a pretty, brainless, helpless little buckbrained plaything for any pretty girl who comes near it?”

“A-Ah…” His fingers felt so clumsy, but he almost had it, he almost had the restraint off… then he could get her hand away, he could… he could… “… a-and the music…”

Miss Charity tilted her head slightly. For a moment, she was silent.

Chime. Her hand gave his cock a little squeeze.

“What music?” she asked sweetly.

He stared blankly. “The—the, um—”

Chime. Squeeze. Rub.

“The…” He blinked. “… the music box music?”

“Hm?” Her eyebrows rose in confusion. “Darling boy, there’s no music playing in here except the bell!” Chime. “The pretty bell.” Chime. “The nice, irresistible bell that makes you so, so stupid.” Chime. “Maybe that’s what you mean?”

“No. No, but…”

Chime. Her hand rubbed faster, faster.

Sana whimpered. His world felt like it was being swung around, swung by a ribbon held by those pretty, dainty fingertips. He didn’t understand, she… she had to hear it! Right? He’d been hearing it before the bell, he… she was the one who…?

Chime. Her eyes pulsed with pretty light. Her smile was almost pitying.

He shook his head weakly. It was there, under the bell. He heard it, he did, he heard the lullaby—didn’t she? Was it just—but why would she?…

Chime. Such pretty eyes. Such nice rubbing. His cock was throbbing in his pants…

Was he just… just his…

Chime. “Um…” His lips were parted. “Um…” Chime. He was bucking. “I…” Was it in his imagination? Was he just… Chime. “But I, um…”

Chime.

Chime.

Chime.

He swayed, humping unconsciously against her hand. “I… um… music…”

Miss Charity shook her head sympathetically. “Aww~! Is someone already getting too dumb to think?”

He flushed. “N-No, I just…”

Chime. “It’s okay, darling! This is normal.”

“This is normal.”

Her hand rubbed faster. “The bell always does this to dumb, weak-willed, naturally obedient boytoys.”

Chime.

“Ggh—” His cock throbbed—not at her words, he told himself, but at the rubbing, but it was so hard to tell the difference—the bell was so pretty, her eyes were so pretty, and he was so… Chime. … so hard…

“It’s making you dumber, darling boy.” Her voice continued, endless, unwavering, inescapable. Something felt too perfect about her words. Almost… practiced. Like a recitation. As if she’d said this many times before. As if nobody had ever proven it wrong. “Every time you hear the bell chime…” Chime. “… it’s just going to make you a little stupider. Your intelligence drops just a little bit lower. Every.” Chime. “Single.” Chime. “Time.”

“I—but, um—”

“Not a silly little bimbo, mind you. We don’t need more of those.” She leaned in slightly. “Just… stupid. All those thoughts getting gooey and slow, and all the girls around you starting to seem so much smarter~”

“N-No—I—I won’t…”

Chime. The ring of the bell seemed to draw in his full focus, drew everything together… joining the lullaby to the spirals in her eyes… the spirals in her eyes to her stroking fingers…

She smiled wider. Something about her teeth… but he couldn’t look, because her eyes held him, those deep, spiraling wells pulling him down, down…

“This is normal,” she whispered.

“Th…” He felt his lips continue to move unbidden, sounding out the words he couldn’t quite speak.

“Good boy.” Chime. Pulsing lights, squeezing the tip of his leaking cock, oh, gosh, it all felt so— “Gooood~”

He moaned.

“Pleasure is making you stupid, sweetie!” Her voice wouldn’t cease, he couldn’t shut it out… “It’s slowing down all those silly thoughts, making them sticky, making them heavy, making them useless. Pleasure makes you stupid.”

He blearily shook his head, then noticed he was mouthing the words back.

“Good~” Chime. Her hand sped up again, her eyes flashed and pulsed—so much pleasure, so much reward— “You learn so fast for such a stupid little servant~! Good boy!”

Chime.

“I—” Everything felt so warm, as if he’d spilled right into those wells of red fire, fallen right into a furnace of blushy, melty, sweltering heat. And he was blushing so brightly, and he remembered faintly that she’d liked seeing him blush, and that made him blush even hotter… “I don’t. I-I won’t!”

“Won’t what?” Chime. “Silly boy. If you didn’t want it… surely you’d have pulled my hand away by now.”

Her hand.

Something in her tone felt almost… instructive. Like a reminder.

And it did remind him. He was—he had been—

With newfound focus, his fingers—feeling suddenly freed from some spell of clumsiness—worked the buckle of the restraint, pulled the thing away, and—

He immediately knew. He recognized its feel, its weight, but it felt like a dream, because it didn’t make any sense, because why would he have done this, why would he have…?

It hadn’t been a restraint. Of course it hadn’t.

Instead of pulling her hand away, this whole time, he’d just been trying to…

He stared dumbly into Miss Charity’s big, pretty eyes, and swayed as the bell chimed.

He’d just taken off his own belt.

And Sana watched Miss Charity laugh out loud as his patched old trousers fell right down to his ankles.

“Goooood pet~!” she cooed, with eyes like burning sunbeams. “Such a good stupid servant~! Now, why would you do that?”

“I…” His voice seemed to be getting softer. “I thought it…”

Chime.

Sana stared helplessly, lost to the bell’s song. Lost to the pretty girl’s eyes. Lost.

Miss Charity licked her lips. There was hunger in those pretty eyes; he could see it clearly now. Her thick lashes fluttered, and then started to lower. The whirlpools tugged at every drop of his focus, pulled him into those fires, caught him like webs of sticky magma, so much heat, so much hunger…

Miss Charity’s eyes snapped shut, and the world vanished.

Sana hadn’t realized until then that he’d been waiting this whole time for Miss Charity to blink. He hadn’t even registered that she wasn’t blinking.

It had been a dim, unconscious hope. No, a need. A need for release from that endless, unwavering stare. A need to see those eyes falter, to see those pretty lights betray at least some tiny trace of mortal weakness…

But Sana didn’t feel released.

He felt caught deeper than ever. Like instead of slipping free, he’d just been trapped beneath those lids.

Dropped into darkness.

There weren’t any other light sources in the elevator. It had just been her.

He blinked, and even that motion felt tiring. His world had become dim and fuzzy. There was a crackling static steadily encircling his thoughts and drawing in tighter and tighter. The static was as soft and brittle as a snake’s shed skin, but it was… endless. It was all he could feel around him. Trying to process what it was only seemed to draw him deeper in, deeper into the soft, staticky darkness as it slowly squeezed his will between its crackling coils.

His hands twitched at his sides. The shadows concealed everything, even Miss Charity. He was totally adrift.

Sana squirmed. Even the music seemed to have faded away now, and without the chiming of the bell to bring the music to the forefront, Miss Charity’s sly disbelief seemed to fill his mind with fresh certainty. Maybe the music had never been there at all.

Maybe he was just… stupid.

Wait. Was she still in there with him? His heart started to pound. Was he alone in here? Was this darkness all there was now? His eyes struggled to adjust.

They wouldn’t get the chance. A few… some time later, Miss Charity’s eyes shot open once more, and the brilliant crimson glow returned, instantly dragging his gaze back into those depths. Sana’s lips parted in a silent exhale, a whimper smothered under the oppressive silence.

Miss Charity blinked slowly, then smiled at him as he remained transfixed.

Her hand slipped forward to settle around his hard, throbbing, leaking cock.

Sana trembled, but didn’t make a sound. He begged silently for his limbs to obey him, for his voice to return, but he still felt half-entangled in that black, sticky mire, still saw those crackling shadows at the corners of his vision.

Desperate, he pleaded in his mind for Miss Charity to at least break the silence first.

And as if every thought of his was Miss Charity’s to read, Miss Charity giggled and tilted her head to the side. “So, why did you take off your belt, darling?”

Belt?

Right. The belt. “I, um…” He whimpered, licking his lips. He still felt fuzzy, but it was a fuzzy, limp relief now. He bucked into her hand. “I…”

“You can admit you don’t know,” she purred. “I won’t be mad!”

“O-Oh.” That was such a relief. He slowly nodded. “I, um, d-dunno?”

“Good boy.” Her hand slowly pumped up and down, and he moaned aloud, bucking hopelessly. Chime. “Would you like me to tell you?”

“Um…” He blinked dizzily. He didn’t know the answer. Miss Charity probably did. She’d… seen him do it, hadn’t she? Miss Charity seemed really smart. She probably knew. “Uh… yeah.”

Chime. “Good boy.”

Sana’s lips twitched toward an uncertain smile.

Miss Charity’s smile widened. She gave his cock a playful squeeze. “You took off your belt,” she cooed, “because you’re stupid!”

“I… am?” Sana frowned, but it was an unsure, not-finished sort of frown, because… was he? Normally he’d think being stupid was a bad thing, but… Miss Charity said it like it was a good thing. There was so much he didn’t know that Miss Charity seemed to understand. “But…”

Chime. “This is normal.”

“This is normal.” He found himself smiling in excitement, knowing that if he repeated it, Miss Charity would…

She pumped his cock faster. Chime. “Good boy~!”

He moaned, bucking, staring into Miss Charity’s beautiful red eyes. “This is normal!” he babbled eagerly.

She giggled, and gave the bell several little rings. “Good pet~!”

“This is normal!”

“That’s right!” Her fingertips swirled around his tip. “And your bell makes you stupid.”

Chime.

Sana’s tongue lolled. He bucked into her hand. The whole world seemed to be melting into sweet, swirling crimson syrup. “My bell… makes me stupid…?”

Miss Charity beamed. “Good boy.” He moaned and bucked at the praise, cock throbbing. She seemed to ring the bell in time with every twitch. Or his cock twitched and drooled whenever the bell rang. “You see now, don’t you, dummy? You see how stupid and vulnerable that nice, dumb boycock makes you to pretty girls like me?”

“Ahuh…” Sana wasn’t so much agreeing as he was just trying to respond. His tail was wagging slowly, its light smacks against the wall behind him joining the strange melody that Charity said wasn’t real, that fake music box lullaby that kept seemingly looping, always approaching an end that never came…

“Especially…” Her thumb swirled around the tip. “… a cute little cock like this! Aww, I’ll bet it’s just dreadfully sensitive, isn’t it?”

Chime. He whimpered and cried out, tail smacking the wall faster. “U-Uh-huh!”

“Adorable~” Her eyes held him captive. “You’ll be easy prey like this, you see?”

“E-Easy…” His head bobbed lazily. “Yes, um…”

“All weak and horny,” she cooed, “with this adorable, weak, leaking little thing in their reach~”

Her hand squeezed. Chime.

He moaned and blushed hotly. “I-I, um… yes, Miss?”

Miss Charity’s laughter was unmistakeably mocking. Sana’s head swayed uneasily from side to side, searching for a balance he couldn’t seem to find. Everything was still hazy and faint, but as he vaguely registered how he might look to her, deep embarrassment burned through his whole body.

Sana’s trousers were down to his ankles. His lips were parted, his tongue practically lolling. He was trapped against the wall by a girl he should surely be able to overpower, and… and Miss Charity’s hand was on his shaft…

… and even though her hand wasn’t very large, his sensitive little drooling cock slipped easily between her fingertips.

This was humiliating.

This was normal.

And it felt so… nice!

He smiled stupidly, swaying in time with Charity and following her pretty eyes, throbbing at every ring of the pretty bell. Her hand felt nice. Her words felt nice. Her gaze felt nice. And the bell… made him stupid.

“Just a weak, drooling little boytoy,” Miss Charity sang softly, with a pitying simper. “Your cock makes you easy prey, doesn’t it?”

“Uh…” Sana wiggled, wishing he could hide his blushing cheeks, but she was smiling, so maybe it was okay? “Uh-huh?”

This was normal. Wasn’t it?

Miss Charity took a step closer. Her chest pressed against his, and as her skirt brushed his cock, he almost squealed.

“So,” she purred, leaning in closer until her breath brushed his cheek, “we’ll need to keep it nice and safe, won’t we?”

“S-Safe…” He nodded uncertainly, drooling, bucking into her hand. Keep his cock safe. That was a good idea, wasn’t it? Miss Charity was so smart!

“Safe,” she echoed, eyes gleaming with amusement. “So girls can’t get to this cute little boycock—” She stroked faster, faster, faster. “—and make you all weak and stupid~!”

“A-Ah…” He blinked fuzzily. Every blink made him feel a little like he had when her eyes had closed again—that strange trapped feeling, the feeling of being dropped into darkness. It made him feel even dizzier, even dumber, and… gosh, he was already soooo dumb… “Um…”

“Your cock makes you easy prey otherwise,” she whispered. “So you need to let me control your cock. For your own good! Don’t you?”

“Control… my cock…?”

She smirked. “I mean, I clearly already do.” Chime. She pumped a little faster, and he mewled, drooling, humping against her hand. “Don’t I?”

“A-Aah!” Hump, hump, hump. “Y-Yes, Miss—!”

“Thaaat’s right. And what’s really good news is, I know how to make it stick~”

“S-Stick…” He smiled, dumb, dazed. He already felt stuck. Stuck in blushy, sticky pleasure with Miss Charity. She could help him stay like this?

“That’s right! I’m so smart, I know just how to keep you nice and safe.” Her hand left his cock, and then he felt a strange touch on the tip. Her finger, so cold. He almost squeaked, but he was too deep, too dropped…

Her eyes, inches from his own, spiraled and pulsed with radiant red light.

“Relax,” she whispered. “Relax.”

He stared. Relax?

Relaxing felt impossible. Being with Miss Charity felt so nice, and he was… just a dumb boy, so getting all his dizzy thoughts together sounded…

Sana didn’t quite notice his eyelids drooping lower and lower.

He swayed. His world seemed to be getting… mushy. Indistinct. He almost felt like he was falling asleep, but he was still standing, his body was still moving…

He felt his cock going soft.

Sana still felt flustered. He still felt all dizzy and blissy and dumb, still felt so much pleasure every time the bell rang, but now the pleasure seemed to be filling every part of his body except his cock. The chill, meanwhile, seemed to be spreading outward from her fingertip, suffusing his twitching little shaft.

She wanted him to… relax…

And then the chill vanished, Sana felt a sudden tightness around his cock, and he heard a click.

“We’ll keep you safe,” Miss Charity sang, “with a pretty little cage for our pretty little maid~”

The finger left. Immediately Sana felt the arousal returning in full. He whimpered, panic fluttering through his dumb, dizzy brain. “W-Wait, um…”

“Hm?” Charity tilted her head with a quizzical smile. “What’s the matter?”

“You…” He blushed hot. “I, um…!”

She giggled. “I… you…?”

He watched out of the corner of his eye as she retrieved something else from her bag—a pair of white knickers. Those were… ladies’ undergarments, weren’t they?”

“M-Maid?” he squeaked, and giggled back nervously. “Um…”

“Hush.” The eyes glowed brighter. Chime. “Good boys don’t talk back so much to pretty girls~!”

“Hush…” Sana’s head rang with the chime. . “But… but, uh…”

Without hesitation, Miss Charity bent over and pulled his underwear all the way down to his ankles. She smiled up at him and tapped an ankle. “Lift your foot, darling.”

Chime.

“My… oh! S-Sorry!” Sana blushed and complied, obediently helping the Head Maid undress him.

“Good boy~!” Miss Charity’s lips were very close to his caged cock. He could feel her cool breath against it, and almost bucked. “No need to hesitate. No need to think. I think for you now, okay, darling?”

“Think…” Sana’s head bobbed in a wobbling circle. His lips were parted, and he was drooling a little. He lifted his foot again when prompted to help Miss Charity start pulling on the knickers.

He wasn’t actually sure why he was hesitating. Something about this definitely felt unsteady, felt… wrong, but Sana was too dumb and stupid now to even begin to make sense of it. His memories were swirling whorls of lullaby-soaked fog, and the Head Maid catching him with her glowing red eyes, locking his cock in a cage, putting him in ladies’ knickers, saying all those strange things he couldn’t quite recall at the moment… that was wrong, wasn’t it? Something about it was definitely off.

Even if Miss Charity was acting like it was perfectly normal.

Even if he’d been trained his whole life to follow the instructions of confident older women.

Even if it felt… so nice…

But Sana did try. He focused on that uncertainty and tried to unravel it, pushed himself into the fog and probed clumsily for the answers. He didn’t like being nervous around Miss Charity. Good boys weren’t supposed to hesitate, were they? So if he could just remember what was bothering him…

He sank into his own swirling, misty thoughts as Miss Charity’s hands left his knickers and went to his neck, delicately unspooling his long, weighty scarf. The mists pressed in deeper, and deeper… Miss Charity was talking, was repeating things, but he couldn’t process them, he’d already sunk so, so deep…

But Sana did find it. And when he did, his heart leaped with excitement, and the dull wrongness suddenly felt clear and urgent. There was something wrong! Miss Charity was hypnotizing him, she was taking advantage, this was wrong, she was… he needed to…

But pulling himself out of the fog to process what he’d found turned out to be a lot harder than pushing himself in. He had to find something to pull himself back with. Something to anchor him.

Something like those eyes. Those shining lighthouse eyes, gripping him tightly, helping to pull him up, up, up… up…

“We’ll want to keep this covered, won’t we?” Miss Charity’s beautiful voice snapped Sana partially out of the daze, and he jumped. He saw a finger go to those plump, pretty lips. “Our little secret~”

“Um…” Sana blinked. There was a sluggish, sticky rhythm ticking through his brain, like a wind-up toy that had been dropped into berry jam. He’d remembered something. He’d remembered that she… she was… “Secret?”

The elevator came to a halt.

Sana blinked. The faun hadn’t even registered it was still in motion. Maybe it hadn’t been. Or maybe they’d been climbing forever, climbing to the highest floor in the whole castle, up into the clouds, the thick, swirling clouds…

Time had sort of lost its relevance while Miss Charity had been talking.

All he knew was the elevator had stopped, and so had the music.

The lift was totally silent, perfectly still. Everything around them was dark except for Miss Charity’s lovely face, illuminated by those wondrous eyes. Sana swayed, licking his lips, searching in the depths of those crimson seas for the clarity he’d seemingly lost all over again.

Miss Charity batted her eyelashes, and the spell was broken. Sana felt it break, and only as he was flung back into a full, crisp, cold reality did he realize how deep under he’d sunk.

Sana reeled, stumbling in place. His limbs suddenly felt under his own control again, but it was like he’d forgotten how they all connected to one another. His world rocked and spun like a ship in a storm. He stared, cheeks burning, lips quivering in search of words.

Miss Charity stood up straight, bringing her own lips close to his ear.

“Our little secret,” she cooed. “Because if the girls see that cage, they’ll know instantly what you are. And if they find out you’re a boy…” She pinched his butt, eliciting a startled squeak. “… they will never let up.”

“The… girls?”

Beside them, the curtain rose, and the cage doors slid open with a loud rattling. Sana turned, still dazed, to stare into the hall just as the blinding light poured in.

As his eyes instinctively shut against the glare, he felt Miss Charity grab his tail. “Eep!” She seemed to be tying something around it. He tried to push away, but her other hand slipped around his waist, holding him captive as she drew the knot tight. “H-Hey! What—”

“See you soon,” she whispered in his ear, and shoved him forward.

Sana stumbled out of the lift, hooves clattering unevenly on what seemed to be wood flooring. He squinted against the lamps’ harsh glare—he’d been in the pitch black for too long. Still, he instantly sensed he was not alone in this hallway.

And to confirm his fear, around him erupted a chorus of unfamiliar giggles.

“Girls,” he heard Charity coo, “why don’t you help our adorable new maid get herself dressed~?”

He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the spots from his vision and see the girls surrounding him. “H-Her—?”

“Of course, Miss Charity~!” chimed several bright, feminine voices in perfectly trained unison. Sana spun about, struggling to make out more than vague silhouettes. He could see four shapes. Four girls.

Four girls who’d just seen him stumble out of that elevator half-naked, wearing nothing but a shirt and a pair of cute ladies’ knickers.

The faun’s tail started to flick.

As it did, a familiar jingle reached his ears. Sana froze. He blinked slowly, heart thudding in his chest. The jingling, that was…

His mind suddenly felt slightly staticky. The bell. It was from the bell. He recognized that bell, that was… something about it, or the way it affected him… what was the…?

Miss Charity! He twirled around again frantically, searching for the source. Had Miss Charity followed him? Where was she? It sounded like it was always just right behind him no matter how quickly he turned, and that strange static seemed to get worse the more he spun about—dizzy, he was probably getting dizzy, but where was that—that—

The obvious realization took longer than it should have to hit him. It hit just as one of the girls apparently also noticed, judging by her sudden squeal of glee.

Sana went still, though his head continued to spin for a few moments longer. He lowered his head and blinked down dumbly at the source of the jingles.

Miss Charity had tied the ribbon of the little brass bell around his wagging tail.

She’d even taken the time to tie it into a cute little bow.

TO BE CONTINUED.