"do you usually do well with dental procedures? you don't have any phobias or anything, do you?"

"i'm fine with them."

"that's good. i could help you through it if you did have any anxiety about it, of course."

there was something familiar about them, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. he didn't think they had met before.

"i should be alright."

"then just open up for me. that's right..."

they were definitely familiar. it was their voice. maybe they just happened to sound like some voice actor, or-

"just relax for me..."

his body immediately released all of its tension, and in that exact moment, he knew. it was a voice he had heard countless times, a voice that had never failed to slow his thoughts and send chills down his spine. a voice that had told him to do all sorts of things that he did not particularly want to think about right now.

he knew them from their hypno files.

they looked as though they were suppressing a laugh. "exactly like that. you weren't lying when you said you do well with this sort of thing, were you?"

he couldn't respond with his mouth held open, a fact he was thankful for, because he probably wouldn't have been able to say anything regardless, so it was nice to have an excuse for his silence.

if only he had an excuse for his red face, too.

"just hold still," they murmured.

it was an awkward experience. they had carried on as they would with anyone else - this was their job, after all - only speaking occasionally when they needed him to do something, and remaining calm and professional even when he was sure they must have noticed how quickly he reacted every single time. he thought he might have visibly shivered once or twice, too, but if they had seen or felt it, they didn't show it on their face.

he experienced almost no pain from the dental work. sometimes there was a slight discomfort, but it would vanish almost as if by magic every time they spoke.

a part of him wished that it hadn't, because his recognition of their voice and the way he was conditioned to respond to it had already made the experience feel much better than it should have. it felt sort of perverse and inappropriate for him to enjoy this. but, removing the pain from the equation, all you were left with was a hypnotist that he liked telling him what to do and sticking their fingers in his mouth, while cooing at him and soothing him.

"you can close your eyes, if you need to. i know the lights in here are bright."

he was taken aback by the suggestion, which was not necessarily something he had expected to hear in this context. it was a mistake to try and fight it, though, because he had realized that his attempts to keep his eyes open were probably very noticeable. if he had closed them immediately, it might have seemed like he was just choosing to do so. but the way his eyelids had started twitching and fluttering, as soon as they said that, might as well have been a giant, flashing sign saying that he was being affected by this hypnotically. had they slipped that innocent suggestion in on purpose, just to test him?

he could no longer look at their face for any hints at what they were thinking, and they hadn't said anything about it.

at the very least, his worries and awkwardness were steadily melting away, at this point. all he really needed to do was sit there and listen until it was over. nothing else really mattered. he could just let them do their job.

"that's right, we're almost done... you're doing very well."

it felt nice to just let them do their job.

"alright, you can open your eyes now."

he blinked rapidly. how long had he had his eyes closed?

"how are you feeling? does anything hurt?"

when he thought about it, his jaw felt a bit sore, but that was it. "not really."

"that's good."

there was a pause. he wondered if they were both thinking the same thing.

"may i ask you a personal question?"

"go ahead..."

"have you ever been hypnotized before?"

there was no way they didn't already know the answer. "i have," he said.

"i have actually done hypnosis for dental work before. but i have never seen someone have that sort of response when i wasn't doing an actual induction."

his heart was racing again. "i'd heard your voice before."

they simply smiled. "i'd wondered if that might have been the case. this is the first time someone has recognized me. what are the odds?"

if they had been taking on their other persona, maybe they would have said things like, "you must have listened to me quite a lot to recognize my voice so quickly. i wonder how many of my files you've heard?" or, "you're very well trained, aren't you?" or even, "i could have told you to do anything i wanted, and you would have done it without question, wouldn't you?"

and yet, somehow, their casual, friendly, professional sort of reaction was all the more embarrassing.