"go on, jim. put them on."

it was a relatively normal looking pair of headphones. victor hadn't captured or trapped jim yet today - the headphones were obviously the trap.

it seemed obvious they were meant to brainwash him. maybe with certain sounds, maybe with someone's voice playing in his ears. but would it be victor's voice, or adrianus'? adrianus did express interest in him, and they had cameras around to watch. then again, he wasn't sure that victor's pride would allow him to let jim be controlled by anyone else. still, victor was under adrianus' thumb already, so even that could potentially be changed...

"still hesitating?" victor taunted. "i've never seen you this apprehensive about something. are you scared?"

scared definitely wasn't the word.

"i know your weakness now, jim. so, are you going to put it on, or will i have to put it on for you?"

the attempt at being threatening annoyed him enough to shake him out of his paralysis. he grabbed the headphones, slipping them over his ears. they had a comfortable enough design, at least. he was sure he would end up wearing them for a while, so that was considerate.

he braced himself. nothing was playing yet. victor might have had some sort of remote or button that he was going to press... or maybe adrianus did. if that was the case, he wouldn't even be able to see when-

he jumped. his whole body shuddered before he could even process it. there was no audio playing. the sound in his ears was the sound of something slimy, crawling and pushing inside of them.

before he knew it, he was on the ground, squirming, grasping at the headphones, even knowing that there was no way he could pull them off.

victor was laughing, but the muffled sound barely even registered to him. the intrusion inside of his ears took up all of his attention. it might have been the most sensitive part of his body, and the things writhing inside of it (tentacles?) didn't particularly seem to care about that fact. he knew that their only goal was to go deeper. to reach his brain.

it was so unnecessary, though. he could have been hypnotized just imagining something like this. he could have been rendered fairly helpless with just the right words. this was overkill. it wasn't even about the final result, was it? it wasn't even about controlling him. it was about this moment. it was about him shivering on the ground at victor's feet.

he felt it, when they started pushing into his brain. tingles spread down his spine, along his limbs, through his entire body. they went in waves, each one feeling warmer, more relaxing. as much as he tried to resist, he moved less and less each time, his muscles gradually going limp. he couldn't do anything more than twitch them.

his thoughts and awareness seemed mostly unaffected so far, at least as far as he could tell. he was pretty sure the tingly, fuzzy feelings in his head were more hypnotic in nature, a natural result of him being in this sort of situation as someone with a weakness to it. a result of him knowing what was going to happen, and comparing that uncontrollable relaxation to experiences he'd had in the past being hypnotized.

he had to admit that it felt good, even if the situation wasn't ideal. if he were just alone in his room doing this, he would be feeling nothing but pure pleasure. it was only the knowledge that victor was in front of them, that victor considered himself responsible for this, that inspired any attempt at resistance.

though that attempt at resistance might have been part of what made it feel so intense. this was different from being hypnotized. it was impossible to fight. the more he tried, the more he understood that this was a very real, deep, physical kind of control being exerted over him. any hypnotic response from him only made that worse.

because he knew just the knowledge that it was impossible to resist was enough to make him give in a little more quickly. just the expectation was enough to make him respond, before the tentacles even forced it. he had no way of knowing how much of it was them. he felt dizzy, the blood pumping through his body, the heat rushing through him. every movement in his brain, every push, every touch, every moment of them worming their way deeper, sent another shock through his spine. the physical sensation alone was enough to fry his brain.

"you look so good like that, jim," victor said, still looming over him, looking down at him. "that's where you belong, isn't it? this is how you should be."

it still made him bristle, even as he was being overwhelmed with sensation. "i don't..." it was difficult to talk. his voice was strained, and he wasn't even sure if it was audible to victor. he could barely hear it himself, through the headphones and the tentacles. "you've... you've probably..."

he was trying to say that victor himself had probably been in this exact same position with adrianus, but it didn't feel worth the effort to speak. every movement of his body was like trudging through a thick sludge.

"it's impressive that you can muster up any resistance now," victor said. "well, i wouldn't expect anything less from you. you're stubborn, aren't you? i'll be glad when every last bit of that stubbornness is completely wiped from your mind."

there was nothing more shameful than shuddering at victor's words, but he understood, in that moment, that there was a chance it really would be wiped from his mind.

the tentacles were massaging something now. he felt something changing inside of him, softening. it was like that stubbornness and annoyance was a knot, being methodically rubbed out and untangled.

he trembled and twitched again, at the wrongness of it. trying to hold on to the feeling that they were melting and dissolving from the inside. it slipped away from him, bit by bit, and every bit of erosion gave him an indescribable sense of relief, even as another part of him was only becoming more uncomfortable with the feeling, with the idea of what was happening to him.

"stop," he said reflexively, as if the tentacles would listen to him. "stop..."

still, even as he said that, he was already reaching the point where he couldn't make himself care anymore. the sole feeling that motivated his resistance was disappearing. he could feel himself starting to settle again.

"you can't do a thing about it, can you?"

even as victor taunted him, the annoyance wasn't coming to him.

the massaging didn't feel intrusive anymore, either. it just felt good. even the knowledge that he was being controlled, that a part of him was melting away, felt good.

"are you finally giving in?"

the question felt good. he found enough strength to nod. the tentacles' control over his muscles seemed to be loosening up, at least a little bit.

"oh, very good. that didn't take very long."

it was strange, although it took him a moment to realize why, his mind lost in the familiar haze of trance. but it was strange that the only thing it had done so far was melt away his stubbornness. that was enough?

it was enough. of course it was enough. pleasure trickled through his body at the thought, and he wondered if that was also the tentacles, rewarding him for his acceptance.

"you understand now, don't you?" victor said. "you understand your place."

he had the faintest awareness that he hadn't appreciated the idea just minutes ago, but it didn't matter. it felt good now. he wasn't even sure if he would say it felt right, exactly - but that wasn't particularly important. certainly, this was the place he was in at the moment, at least, and he was enjoying it.

"i understand," he said in a quiet, sleepy monotone.

victor laughed again, and the sound didn't inspire any feelings in him in particular. "i can't believe how easy this was. you're putty in my hands now, aren't you? i could do whatever i liked with you."

"you could," he said simply.

"and the best part," victor continued, crouching down to get closer, "is that i know it's still you. that your mind hardly had to be altered or controlled at all. that you'll remember everything. and you'll have to accept it all as your own actions. because you are still in there, aren't you?"

"i'm in trance, but... i am," he replied. "mostly..."

"perfect. that's exactly how i want you."