Laying in bed snuggling after a long weekend of play, Erin glimpsed over at her partner and considered how occasions like this always made her feel a bit psychic.

It was a silly notion, she knew. She could describe the dry mechanics of rapport and attunement and mirror neurons- at least according to the most up-to-date psychological theories. She could also recognize how her postcoital endorphins were affecting her, leading her to some pretty romanticized magical thinking.

But still.

Something about the hypnosis- being in and out of each other’s heads and in and out of each other’s bodies all weekend- made her feel like she and Tris had merged in some way. Like there was a new, deeper understanding between them now- a telepathic bond. She had been astonished how Tris had managed to keep predicting what just she wanted from a scene- and, in the same mystical way, how she somehow had all the right instincts on what they needed to hear and feel at any given moment.

There had been negotiations, of course- long, detailed ones in fact. But even then, there was this feeling that parts of them were expressing things unstated by the actual words. Things just felt and understood. Underneath all their planning and hashing out details, there had been this growing sense of connection and flow- like they were talking on a raft above a great ocean while the currents of their unconsciousnesses flowed and mixed together underneath, holding them both afloat. This sense deepened throughout the weekend as they swam through those waters together, exploring all the things that were there to find.

She felt Tris stir besides her. She lightly ran her hand over their arm.

They opened their eyes. “Hey,” they said, blearily.

“Hey yourself,” she replied.

Just as she was thinking how much she wanted to kiss them, Tris anticipated her. They leaned over and kissed her softly. A kiss perfectly in sync.

After the kiss, Erin decided to try something. She looked directly into Tris’s eyes.

Sleep, she thought. You’re hypnotized now.

Tris looked momentarily startled before their eyes slammed closed and body slumped, soft smile still very much in place.

Perfect.

Erin ran her hand up Tris’s arm to bring them back out of trance. She snapped in their ear as a final wakener.

Tris had a momentary look of confusion, then giggled.

Erin laughed back, joyful.

I love you, she thought, looking at Tris. It was still way too soon to say it, she knew, but in this moment it felt unquestionably true and she needed to communicate it in some way.

Based on Tris’s returning smile, Erin could tell that they felt it too.