The soft lighting up against the vaulted ceiling made the dungeon look cosy. Quiet music could be heard whenever the whips and floggers paused or were put down. Someone in the room moaned and gasped. 

Octavia wore her turquoise ballgown and Artemis was dressed in her yellow Hufflepuff dress. Octavia sat down on a sofa in a corner with a sigh. As Artemis settled down next to her and got her crochet project out of her pocket, Octavia murmured: "I've missed these events, but I'm not sure I want to go back to the way it was before…"

Artemis nodded. "This is a good time to consider whether we're putting our time, energy and money into helping events that build the community we want."

Smiling, Octavia kissed her on the forehead and snuggled up to her. "I want to build this community with you."

Two men and a woman came towards the corner where Octavia and Artemis were sitting. One of the men had bleached blond hair and wore a three-piece suit, while the other was a big, heavily tattooed man wearing only a pair of black shorts. The woman was small and wore a unitard reminiscent of Wonder Woman. Octavia got up to hug the tattooed man.

"Raf, it's so good to see you again!" 

Before he let go of her, he asked in a low voice: "Would you like a kiss?"

"Not right now, thanks." Octavia retreated to the sofa. "Have you met my Artemis? Is this Josie?"

The group shook hands, and as the men pulled up two chairs, Josie sat down next to Raf's feet. Raf smiled warmly. "These are my partners, Josie and Tim."

Tim leaned forward on his knees and said: "Raf and I were talking about playing at events like this and he said we should get your opinion on the subject."

Octavia lowered her eyes. "It's a good thing Artemis is here, she knows much more about these things than I. What can we help you with?"

Artemis looked at the two men in turn, but her fingers never stopped crocheting.

Raf cleared his throat. His deep voice sounded a little insecure. "Say for example you, Octavia, and me would like to do a dramatic consensual nonconsent scene here in the dungeon. What are the safety concerns we should think about?"

"What's the worst that could go wrong?" Octavia responded. "That's always the first question you should ask."  

"Besides physical injuries?" Raf looked at Tim for a second and then said: "I guess the worst would be if either of us look back on the scene and feels awful about how it went."

"So that's a risk we could avert by checking in with each other and communicating." Octavia gave Raf a long, smouldering look. "Dramatic CNC with you? Interesting…"

Tim crossed his arms with a thoughtful look. "What if someone here in the dungeon sees your scene and it worries or upsets them?"

Octavia nodded. "I understand your concern. Before we start, we should inform the dungeon monitors that we're going to do a scene where Raf looks like he's in distress and calls for help. It would be ideal if Raf informed them himself. We could also have someone we trust, like Artemis for example, to keep an eye on us so that we don't take up all of the DMs attention."

Raf raised his eyebrows. "Me, in distress and calling for help? Now I'm interested."

"Onlookers might get worried, true." Artemis explained. "But as soon as the DM tells them that yes, this CNC scene is allowed, that's it. If whatever you're doing bothers them, they should take care of their own needs, leave the room, have some food, whatever they need to not be upset anymore."

"What about people who are playing together for the first time? People who don't know each other as well as you do?" Tim asked.

"CNC is inherently risky." Artemis continued. "They should have a serious talk about limits and safewords and checking in. And still inform the DMs of course. This is also why there's a house safeword, so that anyone can call for a DM to help them stop the scene."

Octavia nodded emphatically. "They should be prepared to cancel the whole scene if something doesn't feel right. And they should both come prepared knowing what kind of aftercare they would need."

Artemis gave Tim a curious look. "If you're concerned about predatory Doms who try to do CNC with new submissives, they usually are not interested in people who can state their boundaries and aftercare needs with confidence. They're called predators for a reason. We should help empower submissives to keep them safe. And report predatory behaviour to the Consent Team."

Octavia let out a delighted sigh. "I told you she knows about these things."

Tim frowned. "Isn't it much safer and easier to not allow any CNC play at your event?"

Artemis finally put her crochet needle down and looked at Tim. "Maybe, but how do you define CNC play? How do you define play, for that matter?"

"Ok…" Tim seemed taken aback for a moment. Then he asked: "What if we instate a rule that every scene must have both partners explicitly consent beforehand? That means CNC is still possible, but it also protects people from unwanted actions."

Octavia shook her head. "As a human being and an event organiser, you can't police every scene at your event to check whether consent was given beforehand. With your rule, would I be allowed to give my husband a surprise blowjob? Just to name an example that wouldn't necessarily result in a shocking scene with someone screaming for help, but that's still not a clean-cut situation where consent is given in advance."

"Being surprised by one or more partners is often a large part of the joy of playing in public." Artemis added.

Tim nodded slowly. "I see your point."

"I'm getting curious about how you're planning to make me call for help." Raf chuckled.

"So am I." Josie said as she cuddled his leg.

Tim leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I've never seen Raf bottom in any scene, so I'm curious too."

"Are you in the mood for such a scene with Raf, My Lady?" Artemis put her crochet project away. "I can go signal that DM I know."

With a mysterious smile, Octavia nodded. "I can think of something. But are you both ok with seeing Raf in distress? And maybe helping me make it worse or calm him down?"

"Aftercare would mean that I need to care for him anyway." Tim laid his hand on Raf's shoulder. "If that lady freaks you out, I'm here for you, Sir."

Josie got up from the floor and said to Octavia in a stage whisper: "I'll help you make it worse."

Raf grabbed her by the hair and pulled her in close. "Are we in a bratty mood, Princess?"

"Maybe?" She giggled.

Artemis excused herself and walked away to talk to the DM.

Octavia patted the space next to her. "Come sit with me, Raf. If you want."

"If I dare…" He mumbled as he let go of Josie and got up. She sat down on the chair and he made his way over to the sofa.

Octavia made an open-handed gesture. "If you want to have more explicit negotiation first, you know I'd be happy to do so."

"Surprise me." He sat down next to her and rested his hand on her leg. "Distress me."

She caressed his hand. "Fair warning, my dear, I will cheat."

"I expect nothing less." He grinned.

She looked over at Josie and Tim for a moment. Their presence was reassuring as well as an audience watching her perform. With quiet excitement, she looked across the room where Artemis was talking to someone. Both of them nodded at Octavia.

"I would like that kiss now, Raf."

He leaned in towards her and they kissed, eyes closed, hands caressing each other's arms. Until she pushed his head down into her cleavage, and commanded: "Drop!" 

He slumped against Octavia, and Josie let out a delighted squeal. "Wow, is that a trigger?"

"It feels good to allow me to guide you into a deep trance, doesn't it?" Octavia said in a dreamy voice as she petted Raf's head. "It feels good to allow me to do things to your head, not just because sinking down deeper like this is a feeling you enjoy so much, but also because you want to play, don't you? You want me to make you feel things. You want my words deep inside your mind, changing your reality."

She helped him move from his slumped position to recline on the sofa with his eyes closed and his chin resting on his chest. Tim tensed as he watched, but it was unclear whether it excited him or made him uncomfortable. 

"Let me tell you what I want you to feel, my dear." Octavia continued in a sultry tone. "When you wake up from this trance, the first thing you'll notice is that I've drugged you. I've poisoned you. I wonder what kinds of things you'll feel as it slowly takes effect, but I know you'll feel betrayed by me, taking advantage of you like this. Resorting to something so cowardly to overpower you. I don't know what your anger might make you do, but the drug inhibits your abilities. It makes you progressively weaker and more lightheaded by the minute. Until you fall into this helpless, suggestible and talkative state, like a bad truth serum. That's my real goal, of course, to sit you down here with me and ask you questions and you'll talk and talk, drugged and uninhibited, unable to censor yourself. And when you've had enough of this scene, or when I tell you, the drug will wear off and you'll come to your senses. Did you get all that, my dear?"

His eyes twitched and his lips moved until he finally managed to form one word: "Yes…"

"Good, now take a deep breath for me." She inhaled deeply along with him. "And let that breath energise you, as if you're breathing in consciousness, as if it helps you rise up from trance and all the way up back to the dungeon and the sofa. Hello, Raf."

As soon as he sat up straight and opened his eyes, he turned to Josie and said: "It's not a trigger. So don't you try anything. Octavia is just that good a hypnotist that she can…" He shivered and frowned, losing track of what he was saying. 

"I can what?" Octavia grinned as she sat back on the sofa, looking at him.

Josie and Tim watched him with bated breath.

Raf shuddered and clutched his face as he squeezed his eyes shut. "What?" He muttered under his breath.

"Is something the matter, my dear?" She asked, feigning innocence.

He glared at her, but his eyes were unable to focus and his hand was shaking as he pointed at her. "What did you do to me?" His voice was hoarse.

She chuckled. "You know exactly what I did."

Josie hunched in her chair, covering her head with her arms, she knew that glare.

"For fuck's sake, Octavia!" He raised his hand as if to hit her, but a strange feeling made him jolt and he rubbed his face again instead. "I should 've… You fucking… This is just so…"

He turned away from her, the anger on his face broken up by heavy blinking and other twitches. He huffed, taking a deep breath and then pushed himself up from the sofa, rising unsteadily to his feet. He swayed and clutched his head as he walked away.

Tim immediately got up and grabbed Raf by the shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"Away from her…" He weakly pushed Tim away and continued staggering forward with one hand on the wall to steady himself. Then, he shuddered again and his knees gave out. He stumbled to the ground and Tim was barely in time to grab his arm and pull him up from the floor again.

"Come, it'll be much better if you sit here." And he guided Raf back to the sofa and helped him sit down.

"Thank you." Octavia said. "I should have thought of that."

Raf sat on the sofa like a rag doll, his legs wide and his arms lying beside him on the pillows. "Much better…" He mumbled as his eyes stared blankly ahead.

Tim sat back down next to Josie and crossed his legs. Josie laid her hand on his knee, muttering "I've never seen him like this… It's hawt!" as she stared at Raf.

Octavia turned her complete attention to Raf sitting next to her on the sofa. She picked up his wrist and lifted his limp arm up from the pillows. As she played with his arm, she asked: "So, has the drug taken full effect yet?"

"I don't know." Raf replied casually as he turned his eyes vaguely in her direction. "You tell me."

Smiling, she let go of his arm and watched it flop down into his lap. "You're a big, strong guy. Usually. Do you lift? How much, approximately?"

His shoulders moved in a weak shrug. "Around 130 kg I guess? I'm not really into lifting. Pilates is more fun." He smiled as his eyes stared off into the distance.

She glanced at Tim and Josie for a moment. "So, tell me about your partners. Josie seems like a fun brat."

"She is!" Raf sighed. "She is my Princess and I just want to take good care of her and make her happy because she's so sweet and she works so hard and she deserves to be loved, you know?"

Josie blushed and made whimpery noises.

"What about Tim?" Octavia asked. "He looks like such a handsome gentleman."

"Yesss…" Raf had this dreamy look in his eyes as he rambled about his partners. "He looks so good in a suit. They are both so sophisticated and well-mannered and fucking beautiful and I just want to rumple up their fancy clothes and ravage them! And the best thing is that they love it when I ravage them too. I'm so blessed, Octavia…"

Tim relaxed in his chair, staring at Raf with a fond look and a warm smile.

Raf frowned for a moment, and then took a deep breath and sat up straight, reaching up to clutch his face.

Octavia leaned in towards him and asked: "It wore off?"

He nodded. "Thanks. You're a brilliant hypnotist."

"Your head does all the work, my dear." She patted him on the shoulder. "And it didn't turn out quite as dramatic and distressing as you hoped for."

Raf chuckled. "That's because you and I are both such hopeless romantics."