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. 

On a couch along the wall, Octavia lounged with her feet up on Rowan's lap. She wore a sleeveless jumpsuit with vertical pink, purple and blue stripes that accentuated her curves. Rowan was dressed in khaki pants and a red shirt that said: "Are you within 10ft of me?" Probably some geeky in-joke.

"You're uncharacteristically quiet, my dear." Octavia tenderly touched his shoulder.

"I'm just…" His voice was dreamy and thoughtful. "I'm just wondering how I got here, you know? My friends made an appointment with a dominatrix to put me in my place as a gag, and barely two weeks later, I'm sitting here in an actual dungeon. I'm still reeling. What am I doing here?"

"What would you like to do?" She spread her hand to vaguely indicate the other parts of the building. "I invited you here because you showed interest. Jammie over there is going to give a workshop about rope soon, or I could show you the room with the pillory and stocks and things like that… I think some friends of mine are in there. I could introduce you to someone. Or we could sit just here if that sounds too overwhelming."

He was silent for a moment, looking for the words to express these feelings that weighed on him. "I will say this… A part of me is staring around in wonder at this whole new world you've opened up before me and like an excited puppy dog I just want to rush forward and dive in, and then there's this other part… The part of me that's always making sure that I get places on time, you know? The part of me that's conscientious about the needs of human beings, not just mine but others as well, and that part has grabbed the reins and holds me back because, whoah there buddy, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. I don't know if this is wise, I don't know what the risks are, I don't know these people, I don't know anything, and I can't start if I don't do the proper reading first…"

Someone across the dungeon drew Octavia's attention and as she looked over, Rowan gave an awkward laugh. "I apologise, I've been talking your ear off again."

"Not at all." She said as she waved to the person to come over. "I care about how you feel, my dear. But I've also found someone you can practise on. We'll start you off with something easy and low risk."

Raf and Josie approached, the former wearing only black jeans, showing off the green dragon tattoos snaking across his chest, shoulders and arms, the latter dressed in a little green dress with on the front a golden triangle made up of three smaller triangles and an empty triangular space in the middle. She also wore a little green bandanna to match the dress.

"What's up, Octavia? Who's your friend?" Josie skipped up to them and extended her hand to Rowan. "Or would you like a hug?"

Rowan blushed and gently pushed Octavia's feet away to get up. "I love hugs."

Octavia got up and waited for Raf to finish moving a seat closer to the couch, so they could all sit. Then she embraced and kissed the big man. They shared a look and he nodded towards the hug and pleasantries Josie and Rowan were exchanging. "What have you got in mind?" He asked in his deep, rumbly voice.

"No plan." She waved her hand dismissively as she sat back down. "My friend Rowan has been eager to learn to hypnotise people and I must say, I think he's very talented." 

Rowan spread his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Who are these lovely people? Tell me about your friends." 

Raf raised his eyebrows at this deft attempt to divert attention away from the compliment, and extended a huge, calloused hand in greeting. "Call me Raf. I rarely play with others than my Princess and my boyfriend, but I sometimes make an exception for Octavia." He sat down on the other end of the couch and grabbed Josie around the waist to make her sit in the middle. "I'm happy to watch as you hypnotise my Princess, though."

Josie smirked. "Any scenario where I get hypnotised is a good one." Raf leaned back, crossing his arms and relaxing with a vague smile.

With a reassuring nod, Octavia murmured: "We're right here to assist you, my dear. Not that you need it."

As he perched on the edge of the seat, Rowan wiped some sweat off his brow and ran his hand through his red hair. "Right. Octavia seems convinced I can do it. How hard can it be?"

Josie sat up straight and gave him her full attention. "I've helped people practise before. What inductions have you learned?"

"Inductions!" He laughed awkwardly. "Oh fuck, so many, which one to choose… What works well for you, Princess?" His bright eyes quickly examined each of them in turn, looking for reassurance or perhaps approval. Raf gave him a smile and a nod.

"This is why I help people practise." Josie wiggled impatiently in her seat. "Anything works. Take your best shot."

Rowan's eyes widened and he laughed nervously again. Octavia shushed him and reached out to touch his hand. He closed his eyes for a second and nodded, taking a deep breath. "My best shot… Ok." 

When he opened his eyes to look at her, it was like he put on a different face. His eyes and his smile turned charming and warm, and so did his voice. "Ok. I'm just going to talk, Princess, and you're just going to listen. And then inevitably, you'll go into trance. Sound good?"

She blushed and smiled, already captivated by the way his bright eyes bore down on her. One of her hands rested in Raf's lap, and the other one stopped fidgeting with her hair and slowly relaxed, sinking down to her lap as she listened.

"I tend to talk a lot, I'm aware of that." His tone was smooth and quick, effortlessly stringing the words together into ideas she could easily follow along. "Sometimes I get very wordy and long-winded, sometimes I repeat myself, sometimes I say things I've already mentioned but worded differently, and it's ok if you didn't get all of it. It's ok if you check out because you feel like you know what I'm trying to say. It's ok if you feel yourself drifting off into trance, because that's the point of this exercise, isn't it? Even as I talk and gab and blather at you, you can just let your eyes close if that's what you need, and I'll just keep talking. Ok?"

Josie nodded slowly. Her lips parted and her eyes softened as she listened, completely oblivious to the looks Raf and Octavia exchanged behind her back. Raf raised his eyebrows, surprised and impressed, while Octavia smiled with pride.

Rowan leaned towards Josie, as if his captivating charisma was a beam he projected onto her from his heart. He furtively licked his lips between sentences, a twinkle of delight in his eyes as he observed her reactions. "Now, I've never done this before, Princess. I don't expect your eyes to become droopy immediately. I don't expect you to hang on every word I say as your body becomes more and more relaxed. I don't expect you to drift off into trance as I blather and talk and gab. I mean, I've never done this before."

Her head swayed on her neck and after some heavy blinking, her eyes fluttered and then closed. Raf gently touched her hand lying limply on his leg, a reassuring touch that caused her to sigh.

Rowan looked excited but he kept his voice level in that same soothing tone. "So, I'm just talking, and you're just listening, and it's only fair if you look at me while you listen to my words. It's only polite, you know, to look at someone when they're talking to you. I mean why would you do anything else than look at me right now, while I gab and blather and talk and every word just helps you relax more, right?"

As Josie's eyes drifted open to stare at him in a daze, Octavia gestured a tiny, silent chef's kiss and Raf nodded with approbation.

Bolstered by their reactions, Rowan continued with hypnotic fervour. "I will say this, Princess, I totally understand if you check out while I talk and talk and talk. I totally get it if you drift away, I mean, it's not like I'm saying anything interesting or particularly hypnotic. I may have never done this before, but you, Princess, you've heard it all before, haven't you? All this patter and blather designed to make you trancy, it's so familiar and dull and there you go again…"

Her eyes rolled up into her head and she just sat there, limp arms, sagging shoulders, fluttering eyes and her mouth fell open in an O-shape.

"But I'm talking and you're listening, so you know what's expected of you, Princess. There is nothing else for you to do right now but to look at me, isn't that right?" Rowan grinned.

As her eyes opened again, both seemed to be looking up at the bridge of her own nose. Her head swayed, angling vaguely in Rowan's direction and her mouth remained open.

He took a slow breath, looking at her face in awe. Then he gestured to her as he glanced at Raf and Octavia, as if he needed to point out to them how deeply hypnotised Josie was.

"I told you he's talented." Octavia whispered.

Raf nodded. "I'm impressed."

Rowan gave them a sheepish look and asked: "So… Now what?"

Octavia burst into a gleeful laugh as Raf wrapped his arm around Josie's shoulder and pulled her close. "Thank you, Princess." His voice was a low rumble. "You helped Rowan and you're both so good at this. Well done. As a reward, you just get to drift here for a moment. You can ignore our voices and any other noise and just drift and enjoy this trance. I'll touch you to let you know when we need you to pay attention again."

Josie closed her eyes and lay down on Raf's lap as if she went to sleep. He leaned back on the couch and smiled at Rowan. "Now you have time to think about it."

Rowan blushed and smiled awkwardly. "I feel like… This is not how it's supposed to go, is it?"

Octavia reassuringly patted him on the leg. "Yes and no. Take a moment to breathe. You have done nothing wrong. Let me explain."

Rowan glanced at Josie's blissfully tranced out face and then nodded to Octavia to show that he was listening.

"You wouldn't be the first hypnotist to ask yourself this question. Now what? I've certainly been there. You, Raf?" Raf nodded and Octavia continued: "Much like rope, when we first learn to top another human being, there are so many things to remember, how to do it, how to monitor your partner, all the different steps you shouldn't forget, little checks to make sure… I'm glad you're focusing on getting it right. That's a sign of a conscientious kinkster."

"Now normally…" She stared at Josie as she gathered her thoughts. "Normally, you and the Princess would negotiate about what you want to do together. The induction is just the part that's needed to get her into trance and then you can plant suggestions that can have various effects. You talk about the suggestions together during the negotiation, and after the induction, you plant the suggestions, then you wake her up and then you check if it works and you're both happy with the results. Sounds very clinical, I know."

"No no, it makes perfect sense." Rowan said.

"In this case, you negotiated with Josie that you would just practise an induction and then wake her up again." Octavia saw Rowan's confused look and continued. "It was very implicit and went too quickly perhaps. But sometimes, that's how negotiation goes. It's just a conversation about what you want to do together. And remember, once you have hypnotised them, it's very easy to bring them back into trance. So you could just wake her up to talk to her, and then continue, if that's what you decide to do."

Rowan frowned. "If I wake her up now, her ability to consent is compromised, right? Because she's woozy from being in trance."

"In theory, you're correct." Raf grumbled. "In reality, how compromised your partner is, depends on the context. An experienced hypnokinkster like Josie can manage her own headspace much better than you might be able to as a beginner. And while it would be unfair and creepy to wake her up now and ask her to consent to a more sexy and intense scene, it's within reason to wake her up to ask her to remind you what she agreed to do with you. Or to ask her if she wants to continue or whether she wants to stop."

"Thank you. I think I get it." Rowan perched on the edge of his seat, looking at Josie. "I'm ready to wake her up now."

Raf gently held Josie by the shoulders to make her sit upright. "Listen to Rowan, Princess."

She swayed slightly in his grip and her eyes were still closed. She looked like she was asleep.

"Waking up is one of the easiest things in the world, isn't it?" Rowan turned that charming smile back on as if it was nothing. His voice was pleasant, and just a little slower and clearer than before. "We do it every morning when we get out of bed, and really all it takes is attention. You start to pay attention to the position of your body, the things that are touching you, and all your feelings. You can hear things in the room and that tells you where you are and who is with you here. And of course that makes you want to open your eyes to see everything too. And you know that you're awake when you remember everything we've been doing together. There you are. Hi, Josie."

She blinked and as she sat up straight again, she grinned impishly. "Wow, man! I don't believe for a second that you've never done this before. That was delicious! I wanna go again."

Raf chuckled. "My little thirsty thirsty hypno slut."

Rowan bashfully lowered his eyes. "I'd feel a little weird if you'd go again. I'd like you to give me some feedback instead, ok?"

"Ok, yes! Feedback!" She stretched and rubbed her eyes for a moment. "I am a responsible adult, me. Alright." She gave him a thoughtful look and then started to talk. "This was a lovely confusion overload induction. You really have the patter down, the speed and the repetition were perfect to make my brain go: 'nope, I can't do this, I'm checking out'. And then the fractionation bit! It was brilliant. You never asked me to wake up, so I just opened my eyes remaining at the depth where I already was, and then you sent me deeper with more of that wonderful patter. I'm telling you, I don't believe this was your first time."

"I'll tell you a secret." Rowan said as he leaned towards Josie, as if Raf and Octavia wouldn't be able to hear him with his hand covering his mouth. "I just pretend I'm Octavia."

She leaned back on the couch with a hearty chuckle. "You give me far more credit than I deserve, my dear. This was all you."

Josie laughed too. "Hey, we can go again, and then I pretend to be Raf and it'll be so fucking sexy." She pulled up her shoulders in an attempt to look bigger and crossed her arms. In a low voice, she said: "I'd be honoured to surrender to your sweet voice again."

Raf patted her gently on the shoulder and said: "He doesn't want to go again. Don't be pushy."

Rowan lowered his eyes bashfully. "Thank you for the opportunity to practise. I need to process all this information for a while."

Josie jumped up from the couch and grabbed Raf by the hand to drag him away. "It was my pleasure. We'll be off to the dressing room."

Raf waved and smiled as she pulled him along.

Octavia patted Rowan on the arm. "I told you so."