Mo realized it had been two weeks since they had spoken to Janie while they were in the shower. They were rubbing the back of their head, spreading the conditioner that slicked their fingers and suddenly remembered the way she held their head one night after a date. They’d gone out together for dinner and when they dropped Janie off, she tangled her fingers in their hair as they hugged one another goodbye. Mo’s fingers trembled as their hand fell to their side, water running down and streaming from their fingertips to their ankle, the mint conditioner still gestating in their hair.

Then they thought about Nia instead. Mo gasped and twitched as they pictured themselves with Nia in their ear, her hand firmly wrapped around their shoulder.

“There’s my toy.”

The sultry voice haunted them, the echo made Mo nearly stumble. They tried to recollect their focus by going back to finishing the routine. Rinse, give rest of the body a quick whore’s bath, water off. The cold air stung their skin as they dripped. Just finish getting ready for the day. No point in reminiscing about Janie or Nia. Especially not Nia. Dry off, shave, hum to a hip hop song, get the damn day started. Even though there was nothing to do today. No obligations to fulfill, nowhere to be, no plans made for the day off. Nothing to do except let the mind wander. Mo used to handle days like this better when they were contentedly single. Hang on forums, scroll the more lascivious social media accounts, chat with friends over Discord, watch old comfort YouTube, make the time go by. But it’s only been two weeks since they saw Janie. And Janie haunted every waking moment.

It's not like things went very far. They’d only been dating for a couple of months, but something about Janie was different for them. She was a breath of fresh air after Mo had called things off with Nia. Nia is intense. Controlling. Janie was sweet, charming, unserious. Mo was always the one that had to call the shots, Janie was not one for making many decisions much less plans. Every date they had, Mo had to plan every step of it. If they were hanging out at their apartment it was always Janie’s same comfort show on the tv and a trip into the drawer where she kept her edibles to make a nice evening. But Mo always wanted more intimacy than either of them felt ready for. They wanted to explore what more passion in their relationship would look like. They knew what turned each other on about each other, they’d shared the occasional fantasy, but not much more than groping over the clothes in the throes of a high ever came to be for them.

It's been an hour and Mo has done nothing but think about Janie, even while they scrolled through a lewd feed, lazily stroking themselves. Then there it was. Some random OnlyFans creator they’d seen a couple of times. Tall and curvaceous with a voice like silk. She had everything that Mo craved about Nia. Then, Nia spoke again in their mind. Mo’s knees sank towards the floor in their chair and they slouched and slumped, lost in thought.

“You’ve been so good for me, toy.”

Mo gasped, stroked themselves with a little more intensity, Nia’s smooth rasp echoing in their mind.

They should call Nia. No, just shoot a text. Ask how she’s been. What could go wrong.

Hey! Hope things are going well, sorry that it’s been a while but I wanted to let you know I’m thinking of you.

They typed in a hurry and their finger hovered over the key to send the message. A quick breath. No harm in reaching out, right?

*

Nia was the one who really let Mo practice being a hypnotic subject for the first time. They’d experimenting it in fits and starts over the years, listening to files that didn’t do much to get them in the right headspace. But when they saw Nia at a house party with some local kinksters, Mo was immediately drawn to her. They got to know each other over a drink, exchanged numbers, sent some flirty texts and old nudes back and forth. After a chat about each others’ intentions over a cup of coffee, Mo told Nia they were interested in being hypnotized.

“It’s such an intimate form of control. Being able to be in that headspace, to relinquish some parts of me, it seems like it would be really exciting.” Mo’s voice jittered as they explained. Just talking about a desire as meaningful as this one made them squirm in the garden chair. Nia just smiled, stared them down even as their eyes darted around to the table, a squirrel in a bush, her cup, her fingers.

“I’ve done hypno with some of my partners before.” Mo met Nia’s bright hazel eyes as she spoke. “If that’s something that you like, I would love to try that with you sometime.”

Mo’s heart pounded. They were barely able to admit it, but they were already giving themselves up. “I think I wanna try.”

*

Nia’s couch was easy to sink into. They lay together, Mo’s hands awkwardly resting around their thighs. Nia started with guiding Mo’s breathing. Slowing them down. Deep, thick inhales and exhales. Mo shifted on the couch as they began to feel more relaxed. Being here was nerve wracking. Thinking about how much they wanted this had kept them up the night before, they’d touched themselves to the thought of being able to let go. To give Nia control. To be guided by her. Now on the couch their fingers curled before becoming just as relaxed as Mo’s breathing, sliding down to Nia’s thigh. She sat next to them, her voice in their ear while they stared at the slow ceiling fan.

“Now, I want you to focus on your feet. The way they’re planted on the floor. And I want you to imagine a warm blanket being draped over your legs. This blanket, it’ll keep you safe. It’ll keep you grounded. It’s warm, and heavy, and as you feel it being draped over your legs, find that heaviness keeping you still.”

Mo was a twitchy person. They barely sat still. But feeling Nia’s palm on their thigh didn’t cause a single muscle to move. Nia gave their thigh a slow, light squeeze.

“Feel that sensation, that warm heaviness, start to make its way further up your body. Follow my hand as I drag that warm blanket further and further, giving you more of this pleasant, warm heaviness.”

Her hand was trailing up Mo’s chest. And the warmth spread too. They felt themselves becoming not just comfortable, but comforted by the sensation Nia was creating for them.

“This heaviness that you’re feeling is dragging you down. Dragging you into trance, little by little. And when my hand touches your shoulder, when this blanket fully covers your body, you will drop into trance for me, Mo.”

Mo idly nodded, taking a quick breath, but otherwise maintaining the state of complete relaxation and stillness. It was happening. It was going to happen to them. Nia was going to

*

Mo had to get out of the house today. Finding the will to do that, however, was difficult. They sat in the kitchen, packing a bowl and drowning out the silence with a playlist in their earbuds. Mo had never been into dance music before Janie. As they sifted the grains of the weed through their sticky fingers, they felt weak in the knees.

They were dancing at one of the gay clubs in the city, a pretty boring spot most of the time, but not with Janie’s DJ friend on the boards that night. Mo ordered them both a drink, and in a dark corner Janie drew a small bag from her jean pocket. Mo had only ever tried shrooms once, but this was the area that Janie outdid them in terms of adventurousness.

They were listening to a song the DJ had played that night. Something about these particular loops, this specific combination of serene vocals (I’ve got a song that nobody knows… I put it on when nobody’s home…). The chill of the wind against the warm sunlight made the balcony tempestuous. But Mo could focus through it. The bass bumping in their ears (I wanna fuck… my computer… cause no one in the world knows me better…). Mo was not good with a bowl. But they knew a guy who brought good flower and it was a whole lot easier than joints. God, Janie rolled good joints. They flicked at the lighter and took their first puff just as the drop came.

They felt a buzz in their pocket. Nia?

Hey there. It’s really great to hear from you! We should plan some time to catch up.

They nearly dropped the bowl.

*

Mo opened their eyes, their knees popping as they moved for what felt like the first time in hours. Nia’s fingers curled around Mo’s arm. “How do you feel?”

They blinked a few times and rolled their shoulders and their ankles, trying to get back in touch with a body that felt like it hadn’t been theirs for some time. They leaned into Nia, resting their head on her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around them, pulling them close. “It was… good. Really good.”

“I’m glad, Mo. You went pretty deep. You sure this was your first time being hypnotized?”

Mo just nodded. Nothing had ever worked like this before. Her touch felt warmer against their skin as she rested her hand on their arm, keeping them enraptured. They closed their eyes again, sighing as a weight lifted from them. When it began they felt so nervous, like they were going to do something wrong, that Nia would reject them, or that they wouldn’t be able to follow her instructions. This was the first time they had felt like someone else understood a deep part of them begging to be understood. Nia had seen through the walls Mo had intentionally or unintentionally built and effortlessly melted a hole in the shape of her into them all.

“We’ll talk more in a bit. You seem like you could use some time to just be.” She soothed. Mo simply nodded, their face rubbing against her warm, sweet skin.

*

Need to focus. They blew what was left of the bowl out for later and came back inside. Their eyes darted around the room aimlessly as they read the words over and over again. This was real. They had a chance. They could see Nia again. I’d love to! How about

No.

We should! What’s your week look like?

No. Come on, Mo.

You busy today? I’ve got nothing to do.

Too desperate.

Why don’t we plan a day this week for a coffee and catch up?

That would do.

Right?

They sent the message anyway, then turned the music up. Their mind raced with thoughts about what they would say, what they would talk about, what they would wear. Agonizing minutes passed. They tried to kick back with a video game but Mo wanted to do was look at their phone and stare at the chat window, that little window that had just been creaked open to lead them into something that could actually get them over Janie. Every few minutes they’d find themselves grabbing at their pocket, thinking they’d felt that buzz when the phone wasn’t even in their pocket. An hour passed with nothing, Mo’s mind tricking them every few minutes with another phantom notification.

Then it came.

*

Mo opened their eyes and looked up at the gorgeous vision that was Nia. Those gorgeous Hazel eyes, deep canyons that they loved getting lost in. Her plump lips, a delicacy they craved. The dark curls that framed her face so well. And that smile. That loving, devious smile.

“Wanna talk about how your session went?”

“Sure.”

She squeezed their shoulder. “Good. Aftercare is extremely important, especially with hypnosis.” But her touch left them. She pulled her arm away and shifted on the couch so she could sit up and face them directly. Mo silently pouted. All they could think about right now was her touch.

“Did you like the relaxation induction?”

“Yeah. It ended up being perfect for what I needed to drop, I think. You know I have a hard time focusing, and I fidget, so I think getting me to work on my body was really effective.”

That answer earned her sweet smile.

“And were you okay with everything that happened while you were under?”

That question gave them pause. What exactly happened while Mo was in trance, they couldn’t quite put together. It really did seem like they just closed their eyes, and opened them again.

Nia continued. “I know I gave you the chance to use our safeword, and you gave me a green to continue. But I want to check in more now that you’re fully awake and alert.”

Mo shifted awkwardly on the couch. Now at least that moment was coming back to them. They recalled saying “green” as Nia asked: “Now I want you to use our stoplight system we talked about. Tell me green if you want to continue, but if you’re feeling yellow or red, I’ll bring you back up.”

They instantly replied: “Green.” Mo remembered that bit now. But still, nothing else of the time they spent in trance came to memory easily. But they felt fine. They didn’t feel uncomfortable or uncertain about what they were doing by trusting in Nia like this. “Yeah, everything was great.”

Nia frowned this time. “What about when you sucked my fingers?”

Mo’s jaw went slack. But then Nia just laughed. “You don’t remember much of the trance, do you?”

They could only shake their head.

“It’s really alright, Mo. That happens sometimes. All I did was give you some simple reinforcements of the relaxation that I led you into trance with. I always keep it simple the first time, I don’t want to demand too much out of a subject’s first time.”

The explanation soothed some of Mo’s worries. Of course they could trust Nia, even if they weren’t sure how they would react to what Nia would do. They’d talked about her style of hypnosis before, what she prioritized, what she preferred to do with subjects, how she kept them safe, everything. They’d spent a whole date over coffee talking about it.

Nia shifted forward. Mo watched her hand as it came to cup their cheek. They immediately craned their neck to lean into that warm palm as her fingers dug into them.

“You did so well, Mo.” She cooed. All Mo wanted to do was stare into her eyes, to fall into them.

“Thank you.” They lazily mumbled.

Then they felt it. Her thumb slowly dragging its way towards Mo’s lips. She peered into them as her thumb slid along their upper lip. Mo’s lips parted ever so slightly, their teeth still clenched. But as the tip of her finger came to the center of Mo’s mouth, their jaw gave way. Their mouth fell open, just enough for Nia to give Mo a taste. It was all they could think about as they stared into her eyes, their hands pressing into their thighs as their body tensed with need.

“There you are.” She smirked, her gaze narrow, focused. “How eager.”

Mo said nothing. It is not their place to talk.

“You open up for me. You heard me say that so many times while you were under.” She kept her finger tantalizingly short from Mo’s taste, but they wouldn’t dare move to reach it. “You open your mind for me. You open your mouth for me.”

Mo gasped as Nia pulled her finger away, moving her hand to rest on Mo’s thigh. “Well, that definitely worked.” Nia smirked.

Mo shuddered, leaning into the cushion of the couch again. They felt uncertain. How could they be this enraptured by her? After a single session? Sure, they were attracted to her, but she’s never had this kind of allure. At least, not before now. “What was that?”

“You’re fixated on me, Mo.” Nia’s tone changed. She curled her fingers into their thigh.

Mo had asked the question thinking Nia would provide some sort of coherent explanation of the new sense of attraction. Maybe it was something they couldn’t piece together from fragmented memories of the time under trance. Maybe Nia did this on purpose. Maybe Mo liked it that way. They didn’t have time to think before Nia interrupted their process.

“You open up for me.”

Mo’s mouth hang agape, even as that sweet, warm finger was nowhere near their mouth.

“And I open up for you. I show you my control, because you are eager to be under it.”

That, Mo understood. Their connection was deeper now. Nia had unlocked something in them. Something that they would never be able to fully divorce from this experience, here, today. They could do nothing but stare.

“Now, offen.”

Mo dropped again.

*

I’m not busy today. Why don’t we meet at Sawyer’s later?

Sawyer’s. Where they’d had their first coffee date. Where they’d talked about hypnosis together for the first time, planned things out. It was perfect. And God, it meant Nia wanted them, right? She wouldn’t just ask to meet there for no reason. She wanted them back. It was obvious.

Mo wanted her too. Mo cupped their crotch over their pants as they thought about how badly they wanted it. All Janie had done was keep Mo at a distance, walking on eggshells. But Nia let them open up.

Nia let Mo open up.