Tia lay stretched out on the couch in her usual being-lazy-around-home wear. Blue sweat shorts and a baggy shirt. The silver ouroboros charm sat on the couch beside her, the chain partly limp but still around her neck.

The perfect target.

I grinned, watching her doze from the bottom step. She'd had a long week at work and was already half asleep as I came down from my studio. She had been reading, the book still clasped in her hand on top of her hip; I guessed that she was taking a little break. Just resting her eyes.

I sat down on the second step, naked but hardly defenseless. "Tia," I half-whispered.

"Mm?" She opened her eyes a little bit. "Pel? You done painting?"

"For now," I said, keeping my voice soft. "Are you done napping?"

She moved her head in what I guessed was a nod. "Yeah, I'll get up and start on lunch." She put the book on the floor.

"Or, you'll take a deep breath and relax back on the couch."

She took that deep breath. "Pel?"

"I know that you want to relax, Tia. You're tired. You've had a long week. So just breathe, and settle, and let me worry about lunch."

"Sounds nice," she muttered. I couldn't tell if she was accepting my hypnotic suggestions or just thought it would be a good idea to have a nap.

"Good, good," I cooed, standing up. I walked over to the side of the couch and knelt there, running my fingers through her hair. "Being awake is so much trouble, it'd be wonderful to just close your eyes."

Tia smiled. "I like lookin' at you, though," she mumbled. "You glow when you've been painting."

I flushed with pleasure at the compliment. "You can look at me any time you like. You can still see me with your eyes closed, and you can picture my body perfectly, the round face, the chubby cheeks, the piercing green eyes..."

She blinked, then, slow and heavy. I didn't give her a chance to speak. "That's right, you could see the green of my eyes even with your eyes closed, even as you're blinking. You can imagine the warmth of my body curled up naked next to yours in bed, the soft touches and whispered words of love and care, and you can just relax into that perfect nap for me now, right now beautiful. Just breathe... and... down, now."

Not a lot changed, but I could still tell that she had slipped down into a trance. Her eyes closed slowly and she let out a long breath.

My eyes fell on the ouroboros. The Rules said that I wasn't allowed to put it on, but nothing said that I couldn't take it off her. If I got her naked, the charm would put me in a trance, and that might muck up my plans. I tried to remember what suggestion I'd given her when I had the charm last, but nothing came to mind; it must have been something not terribly consequential.

We hypnotized each other several times a day, sometimes the suggestions weren't as important as the act.

I carefully loosened the chain from around her neck and quietly shifted it to the coffee table, talking softly and calmly as I did to keep Tia entranced. At this point, it didn't really matter what I had to say. I could have recited the dictionary. Tia wasn't listening to my words, she was hearing my tone, my cadence. If I'd had something important to say, it would have cut through, but all I wanted was for her to lie there and drift and float, so hypnotic platitudes were more than enough.

"And now that you're nice an entranced, Tia," I said, my voice barely above a breath, "you're ready to start hearing my suggestions, aren't you."

I thought that she might have fallen asleep, but after a moment, I heard her soft confirmation.

I covered my mouth to keep a little laugh from escaping. It was too cute. Which gave me an idea.

"For the rest of today," I said, my mouth an inch from her ear, "anything that makes you feel good will make you feel very good. Any time you would smile, you'll feel a little laugh welling up inside you," I put a finger on her belly, "trickling up from your gut," and my finger ran up between her breasts, "up through your chest," right to her chin, "until it bubbles out of your beautiful mouth."

I gave her a light kiss on her lips. She obliged me with a little breathy chuckle, more a cheerful sigh with a bounce than anything.

I leaned back, using a more conversational tone. "That's right, Tia, the moment you wake, your smiles will turn to laughter, and the more you try to resist those little giggles, the stronger that urge to let them out. And you will let them out, Tia. I know you. You love to laugh. And you love to make me laugh."

"Hmhmm," Tia mumbled. Then she let out another soft chuckle.

"One last thing, sweetie," I said, "then you can wake up, slow and easy, while I go to make lunch." I stroked her dark cheek. "You can believe that you just had a nap, love, no memory of me coming downstairs... and absolutely convinced that you're still wearing the silver charm around your neck. You understand me, Tia? You can feel its weight, feel the cold metal on your chest and neck, and you know what it means."

She gave a hiss that I knew was the end of a 'Yes,' and another sigh.

I rubbed her hair and kissed her again. "Alright, Tia, when you hear me in the kitchen, you can start to come around, waking up from your lovely nap."

I got to my feet, leaving my love entranced on the couch, and went to the kitchen, deliberately clunking around as I got out the plates. I'd told her to wake up when she heard me, I was going to make sure to be audible.

A moment or two later, I heard her laugh. "Good dream?" I called to the front.

"Musta been," Tia called back sleepily. "When'd you come down?" I could hear her getting to her feet.

"When I finished," I answered as she came to the door. I closed the fridge. She looked at me, smiled, covered her mouth, and a little titter escaped. I raised my eyebrows. "What is it?"

"Sorry, sorry," she said, letting out another laugh. "I'm just so happy to see you, I guess."

I could see her fighting with herself, trying to keep her composure. "You seem to be having a good time."

She put her hand on her upper chest. "Just glad I've got this little toy and not you. I'd be on my knees."

Because I was naked, of course. Tia didn't notice that she was clutching at nothing, instead of the ouroboros. "What would you do with it?"

"Hehe, I just woke up, hah, I'm not all that creative right now." Tia kept trying to hide her laughter behind her hand, causing it to bounce between her collar and her mouth, and the movement dragged my eyes up and down a bit. I couldn't help it, she'd often used little hand movements like that to draw me in and hypnotize me.

I shook my head to clear it, and brought a tray of vegetables to the small table we usually sat at to eat. "Usually I'm the creative one."

Tia chirped endearingly. "Maybe we should see how creative I can be." I heard the soft sound of her shorts hitting the tile.

I turned around, looking down at her pretty pussy, freshly shaved that morning. "Don't need to be creative when you look like that."

She laughed aloud. "You think you have to be?"

"I'm pale, goofy, nerdy, and chubby. I need something to catch your attention." I moved to the cupboard to get us some water.

Tia smirked, tried to cover a laugh, failed, then ran her finger in a circle where the ouroboros would have been if she had been wearing it. "This is plenty eye-catching, I think." Her hands went to the hem of her shirt.

I opened the faucet, feigning annoyance. "Do you want lunch? Or do you want me mindless and groveling at your feet?"

Tia slipped her shirt off and stood there naked. "Who says I can't have both?"

High school drama classes, don't fail me now! I thought to myself, staring at the place on her chest where the silver charm would have been if I'd left it on her.

Tia's laughter was full of joy. "Fill those two glasses with water and come sit at the table with me."

I nodded, doing as she asked. As she sat, so did I, keeping my gaze fixed just below her neck, trying to keep my expression blank. Tia's expectations no doubt filled any mistakes I made.

"A carrot, Pel. Feed me one." Tia snickered, not hiding her face this time.

I picked up a carrot stick, stood up, and held it out to her. She nibbled it, giggling between every bite, until her mouth engulfed my thumb and forefinger and pulled the last bit of carrot from my hand.

"Mmm, hehe, good," she said. "Celery."

I took her meaning, and we continued the very slow process of me feeding her bit by bit, carrot and celery sticks, pieces of broccoli and cauliflower, red peppers and cherry tomatoes, Tia laughing the whole time, getting louder and more excited with each vegetable. At one point, between morsels, she touched my hand, and I realized that she subconsciously thought she was handing me our charm necklace. Not wanting to break her illusion even a little, I mimed placing it on the table as I grabbed the next piece of food.

"Such a good girl for me," Tia said. Getting her words out was a serious challenge at that point, but she managed. And honestly, despite not being in the deep trance she thought I was in, her praise still feel amazing. There had been a certain meditative quality of the feeding process, and I felt more than a little hypnotized just playing the part. Tia took a couple deep, gulping breaths to regain her composure. "Alright, love, you can sit down and eat your own lunch now, and when you're done, wake on up."

I nodded as she got up, giggling the whole time, and headed back to the living room, carrying her glass of water.

I sat down and, believing myself safe, let my false trance slip away. I kept my own chuckles as quiet as I could so I didn't alert her.

Three carrot sticks in, though, I heard Tia's voice.

"Hey Pel?"

I composed myself, and monotoned back, "Yes?"

Tia's appeared in the doorway. "Wanna tell me why I found this on the coffee table?"

She stepped into the kitchen, holding up the ouroboros, and my façade broke. I knew I was in trouble. I buried my head in my hands and had my own fit of giggles.

When I looked back up, the charm was in its rightful place around Tia's neck, and my thoughts stopped to the sound of Tia's beautiful laugh.