I sighed long-sufferingly. I wanted to fold my arms, but they remained stubbornly at my sides. I could hear the world’s biggest jackass laughing in the near distance. I dearly wished I could turn around and give him the finger, but I couldn’t, because I was staring at the wall.

I was standing in the corner at the back of the living room, gazing sullenly at the plain white wall, and at the seam where it met the next wall. They occupied my field of vision entirely, and I couldn’t turn my head to look away, or even to look at a different part of the wall. I’d been banished to the ‘naughty corner’ like a fucking child, and as usual, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

We’d been arguing about the Marvel film Eternals - I consider it gloriously cinematic and gorgeously romantic, while Richard described it as the dullest experience of his life, because he has no taste. I’d tried to claim greater authority on the topic, as a member of the MCU myself. (Don’t get excited - I’m not secretly Florence Pugh, I’m sorry to say. I had a couple of scenes in one episode of a Marvel TV show as a teenager.) It was at that point that Richard, chuckling wryly at my attempt to ‘pull rank’, put me on a time-out, ordering Danielle to stand in the corner facing the wall. She obeyed him quite happily, unfazed by the boring punishment or my indignance about it.

I mean, it’s not like having a difference of opinion about a movie is some huge infraction! He was clearly looking for an excuse to do this to me, and seized the first one I gave him. The prick must’ve been planning this for ages. Although I could hardly challenge him about it, since he’d also robbed me of the use of my vocal chords. I guess it was karmic, given that I’d recently done the same thing to Jelly - but at least I’d given her relative freedom of movement, and hadn’t faced her towards the wall. And I got her off (while blank, at Richard’s command, admittedly). And, she wasn’t even around to witness my plight - she was at work - so it’s not like he was doing this for her benefit. It really was nothing more than one of his sadistic whims.

The minutes ticked by. I could hear the TV in the background - he was watching Ahsoka, I think (although all these new Star Wars shows really blend into one for me). I stood silently stewing, staring at the wall. Aside from that long vertical joining line, it was utterly featureless, smooth and unblemished (which just goes to show, neither Richard nor I were responsible for painting it - we hadn’t repainted since the last tenants moved out). Not the most stimulating sight.

I chewed my lip. I fidgeted with my fingers. I rolled my shoulders. I made more heavy sighs. That was pretty much all I could do. I tried closing my eyes for a while, figuring that the insides of my eyelids were marginally less dull than the wall simply because they were something else to look at, but found I couldn’t keep them shut for more than a couple of seconds, because I had to stare at the wall. Damn it!

It was so boring!!

I couldn’t even hypnotise myself to escape the tedium. I tried, focusing on a point in front of me and letting myself grow vacant and mindless, but I couldn’t get more than a little spacey. It was always so easy to go into trance just by fixating on anything, even a random spot on a plain wall, but this time I couldn’t lose myself the way I normally could. I couldn’t drop. He must’ve bound my ability to go into trance! The jerk really did think of everything. He didn’t want to give me any possible way out of my ‘punishment’.

I heard him talk to Danielle from time to time, and I heard her reply. (She could still talk, apparently, probably because she didn’t give him any sass.) I sulkily paid them no attention, ignoring the cheerfully deferential words coming from my own mouth. What felt like hours passed. I was close to tears when he finally asked, “How you doing, AJ? Your voice is released, by the way.”

“Bored shitless,” I exclaimed. “Duuude, will you please let me go?! This punishment is so wildly disproportionate! All I did was disagree with you...”

“Exactly,” he sniggered. “You should’ve learned not to do that by now.”

“Fuck you, man,” I snickered.

“Anyone would think you’re not enjoying this,” he teased. “Being stuck in a situation you don’t really want to be in simply because I put you there, unable to resist or even struggle, unable to even protest unless I allow you to...”

I squirmed a little, grateful that he couldn’t see me blushing. “OK, but you could’ve picked anything else. You could’ve had Dani kneel in her spot, or used us as a footrest, or made us put on the maid outfit and start cleaning... Literally anything would be better than this. Why’d you have to pick something so excruciating?!”

“Aw, is it really that bad, love?”

“No, not really. I’m just being a brat! It’s actually really nice and peaceful, just staring at the wall like this and not doing anything else. I could stay here all day. You should put me here more often. In fact, you should put me here any time I say or do anything bratty, so I learn to be a good girl and obey my Master.”

I don’t know if I need to clarify, but I will anyway - I did not fucking say that. My mouth got hijacked by my bitch of a backseat driver, and I had to listen to her spout that bullshit with absolutely no power to stop her.

Richard cackled. “See? I knew you enjoyed it really. Well, if you feel that strongly about it, I’m quite happy to leave you there, AJ...”

I gritted my teeth. “That. Wasn’t. Me. And I suspect you know it. Danielle, how are you not bored out of your mind?! You’re looking at the same wall as me. You’re just as stuck as I am. I know you’ll do whatever the fuck he tells you without complaint, but you’ve gotta be fed up with this by now...”

Dani giggled. “Should we tell her, Master?”

“Yeah, I think we probably should at this point,” he chuckled. “You can do the honours, love.”

“Tell me what?” I groaned.

“Why I’m not as bored as you, staring at the wall,” she answered, smiling giddily. “Because I’m not.”

I did a double take. “Not what?”

“Not staring at the wall. I’m not even in the corner. I’m on the couch, watching Ahsoka with Master.”

My eyes went wide. “Whuh - but - that, that doesn’t make sense... You - Dani, we share a body, you literally can’t be on the couch!”

“Sure about that?” she giggled. “I mean, yeah, we share a body. But how d’you know I’m the one who’s wrong about where we are?”

“Because you’re an idiot!” I said, but my voice lacked conviction. I was dimly aware that in my confusion, I was making a really stupid face. I now didn’t even have the luxury of being relieved that Richard couldn’t see it - not if what Dani was saying was true...

“No,” I blurted. “No. This can’t be true. I know I’m in the corner. I know I am - we are.”

“We were. I wasn’t there for very long, I don’t think...”

“You weren’t,” Richard said helpfully. “Only about ten minutes - long enough for AJ to really get the image of the wall in her head, to get used to being there and not being able to move...”

He trailed off, and Dani realised he was letting her continue. “Yes, so, then he told me to come back and sit with him again, but to not let you realise. So I went back to him, and left you in the corner. And we’ve watched a whole episode of Ahsoka since then, and you’re still there. Neat, huh?”

I was lost for words for a good minute, staring in horror at the wall - or whatever was really in front of me. How the fuck was this working?! I mean, it wasn’t like they hadn’t gotten away with doing things without me being aware of it before. They do it almost constantly. Even without Richard telling her to, Danielle does sneaky shit whenever she can get away with it. Like, drooling all over my top or groping my tits, or sticking my hand down the front of my pants. Or sneaking submissive phrases into my writing, and not letting me realise it until I proofread the chapter.

But this? I felt myself standing, my legs straight, my feet glued to the carpet. I saw the wall, the plain white wall, the seam where it joined the other plain white wall, and I couldn’t look away from it. How could that all be in my head? Dani was supposedly sitting down, probably with her legs folded beneath her, able to move however she liked, happily watching TV. I couldn’t perceive any of that. How could my perception of reality be so far from the truth?! If Richard and Danielle could make me see and hear and feel things so drastically different from reality, how would I ever have any chance of knowing what was real, ever again?! My hypnotised brain had gone way past the point of no return...

“No,” I whimpered. “But... no! This is... noooooo!”

“Yesss,” she tittered. “I guess that means we can really tell you whatever we want, and you’ll just believe it, and see it and feel it. Who’s the idiot now, huh?”

My face turned vermillion. “I - that - you - but -”

“Do you want some of my crisps, Dani?” Richard asked, interrupting my humiliated stammering.

“Oh, yes please, Master!”

I didn’t feel her take the chips from him. I didn’t feel her put them in her mouth. I heard them crunch between her teeth, but it sounded far away, on the other side of the room. I couldn’t taste them.

“And I think we’ll keep you on time out for a little bit longer, AJ,” Richard said, his voice still coming from behind me even though I now knew he must be sitting to my left or my right. “Don’t you agree, Dani? She could use a little more quiet time in the corner, to squash all the brattiness out of her, wouldn’t you say?”

Swallowing her mouthful, she gleefully agreed, “Yes, Master.”

I was on the verge of melting into a little puddle, the hopelessness of my situation dawning on me. I really was completely controlled, overwhelmed and subjugated, trapped in a prison within my own mind...

“Why do I like this?!” I shrieked, just before he took my voice away again. And there he left me in my mental cage, sulking silently.

OK, this is just stupid, I berated myself. I’m not in the corner. I’m not staring at the wall. Just... just see the world as it is. Just see the TV. Just feel the couch. Just do it... C’mon, AJ, just snap the hell out of it...!

But no matter how hard I tried to perceive the true reality, I still saw the blank white wall. I still felt myself standing upright in the corner.

My fucking brain is broken, I admitted to myself with a flustered, defeated grin, letting go of my defiance and sinking into a state of placid submission, utterly conquered by my mind-manipulating Master. After he finally released me from my imaginary incarceration, I remained in that humbled mindset, meekly accepting his commands and wishes without complaint or snark.

(For a couple of hours, anyway. You can’t keep a good brat down forever, no matter how thoroughly you crush her!)