Doreen sat at her coffee table, rubbing her temples, feeling half-dead. The coffee machine, surprisingly loud despite operating a lot slower than when she first got it, still didn't outdo the noises coming from next door. Every apartment she'd lived in had their pros and cons, and every previous con felt negligible compared to the paper-thin walls that often felt cosmetic for how little it kept heat insulated and especially how effortlessly sound traveled, as if there was no real barrier between domiciles. 

Nursing what was on its way to becoming a splitting headache, grumpy grumblings aimed themselves at the anti-sound-proof wall, hearing her neighbor in 6G dance as if she was on her way to a club to dance the night away. Eyes darting to the clock reading 10:02 am, she was hoping some other neighbor stayed home from work that day so they could scream what Doreen internally roared - "It's too early for this shit! Shut the fuck up, please!" The rent increase she imagined ponying up for stronger, sound-suppressing insulation was an amount she couldn't afford, but it was a pleasant thought that kept her from really screaming, at least for that moment.

Doreen considered herself a pretty reasonable, agreeable person, the way she most times considered Kristie in 6G to be. About five years younger, Kristie was only a few years out of college, and obviously hadn't totally grown out of the campus party scenes. After a year or two with mostly silence and the occasional sound issue, they came to an unspoken agreement about how quiet Doreen preferred her evenings. It was only when Kristie had company over that the agreement really got tested, and much to Doreen's dismay, company seemed slated to stay for at least a week.

Hearing the occupant head for the door, Doreen decided to let misery have its company and give Kristie an earful, complete with the disheveled look of a sleep-deprived woman from the last few nights or so. Opening the door with a whooshing force for effect, before Kristie could head to the elevator, a yelp got the woman's attention, and Doreen adjusted her eyes to see a totally different woman.

"Y-yes?" the confused woman turned to Doreen, shocked to some degree, but a lot smaller than she expected, which Doreen felt fortunate for. Mad as she was, there was less inclination to give any grief to Kristie's guest.

"I'm...sorry, I thought you were Kristie," words came through the pain.

"You're her neighbor?"

"Yes, Doreen," the hand holding her forehead winced to be away from massaging it for a minute, but still reached out for a handshake.

"I'm Carlita, nice to meet you."

"Likewise, mostly," she admitted, keeping one hand on her forehead, futilely combating the pain with gentle pressure pushing back.

"How bad?" Carlita asked, her expression transitioning from cheerful to understanding effortlessly, as if she knew exactly what was literally going through Doreen's head.

"....I wish I could sugarcoat it, let's say that."

"I'm sorry to hear that; I've been there sometimes, and to say 'it's a pain' is weirdly insulting, the way the real pain feels."

"Heh, damn right," the ailing woman agreed, feeling slightly better in this woman's presence. Sometimes amiable conversations or pretty sights could help ease headaches for her, and the longer Doreen noticed Carlita, the more she realized Kristie's guest fulfilled both. A tan that most likely originated from the equator, brown, shoulder-length curles with a bounce that Doreen envied, cute freckles strewn about her face and close to her cleavage, dressed like a fashion model while having no trace of the arrogance of one, even having the empathy of a nurse or doctor, each detail made the woman increasingly attractive, unconsciously taking attention away from the pain. Doreen wasn't attracted to women, she'd reasoned to herself often, but she could still appreciate beauty where she found it. Doreen could certainly be a looker herself, under better circumstances and the right stylist for her black bangs, but she envied the kind of beauty Carlita possessed. Half-listening to Carlita's words for a while, she almost consciously missed her offer.

"Hey, I'm going to get a latte from the place nearby. I think there was a pharmacy next door to it; want anything from over-the-counter to help?"

She smiled at the offer, then grimaced as she heard her loud coffee machine make an odd, discouraging sound.

"Ugh, I think I'll take a latte too. And thanks for the other offer, but I've already tried some meds, and they're only kind of helping. None of them will get to the root cause, I think."

"What's the root cause?"

"Lack of sleep."

A flicker of something crossed Carlita's face, Doreen noted, something nearly producing a smile. "If that's the case, are you sure you want caffeine, and don't want to try to get a nap or something?"

"My sleeping is really weird. Naps just don't happen for me, and it's been hard to sleep at night for a bit."

The corners of curling lips stopped holding back a smile that confused Doreen.

"Well, let me get those lattes before you do end up napping. Be right back."

Watching the younger woman walk away, interested confusion raptly kept her attention as her mind tried unraveling certain aspects about the visitor, but delving too deeply, a sharp pain hit her and she retreated to her apartment in order to sit down and nurse her head.

Time easily escaped noticing as it felt like a virtual minute later when there was a knock at the door. Doreen opened her door to a tall latte and compassionate smile greeting her. She took the warm cup, and reciprocated with a warm smile of her own. Before she could even say thank you, Carlita spoke. "You know, I thought about sneaking off to the pharmacy to see what I could find for you anyway, but I might know a simple technique that could help you out. Wanna hear about it?"

It felt easy to open the door to Carlita, caring less if it made Doreen feel desperate about getting help or just having Carlita's balming presence improve her disposition a little longer. She led her guest to her dining table, and they both sat down to enjoy their coffees, the ghost of Carlita's smile still present on her face. 

"I hope it was alright I got you a standard latte; should've asked how you like it."

"It's good as is, thank you for making the effort," she sipped on it slowly, trying to savor something good, admitting to herself that enjoying it with company made a big difference. Even the strange, smiling look Doreen sensed from Carlita seemed to help with distracting from the pain, though it she looked surprised to see she was caught giving it.

"I'm....sorry for the weird look; just something you said earlier got me thinking."

"What did I say?"

"About the trouble sleeping. Part of the weird smile I probably didn't realize I was giving was because I might know a way to help with that, and maybe with the pain too."

"Oh?" Doreen sounded interested, though kept her skepticism to herself, expecting home-made remedies or meditation suggestions to be made. She also had to keep the pain of frustration to herself, knowing trying these mostly-likely failing techniques would make her angry later for not working.

"It might sound hokey coming from someone you just met, or honestly just based off of what I have to say, but I can tell you about it, to see if you think it's even worth trying."

"I'm willing to hear about it, sure." Polite honesty laced her words, letting them hint at some of the present skepticism, but both knowing she was hoping they'd work.

"It's something I learned when I was a lot younger; honestly I think it was all the jumps to different climates that threw my body and head out of whack."

"Where were you traveling?"

"My parents are scientists, worked a lot with the international community, so traveled regularly with me in-tow, to the point of having dual citizenship in Bolivia and the US; so a whole lot of travel. It got really bad in the winters, from tropical heat to a snow storm in New York, my body always felt in flux, and complained loudly, like head-bangingly."

"I can sort of relate to that, with the traveling at least. My family's from Turkey, emigrated to the US when I was young, but parents were engineers, working for the big airplane companies. Don't think I had it as bad as you."

"Did you go into science for school? If so, take it easy on any kids you might have later."

"Heh, no, I went into advertising, though there's a bit of traveling involved there. Hopefully science has treated you well." 

"Different science for me; chose psychology, much to my climatology parents' displeasure," Carlia laughed at the notion with pride lacing her voice. 

"Just to get back at them?" Doreen wondered aloud with a raised eyebrow.

"No, a scientist friend of my parents noticed what I was going through when I was young. He majored in multiple things, including psychology, and took me through some exercises that surprisingly did the trick for me at that age, and have worked since. Definitely the kind of good will I like to see spread in the world, and contributing it when I can."

Doreen had almost forgotten about the fact that she had a headache, conversing with Carlita proved to be very pleasant. She'd learned more about her neighbor's guest in 10 minutes than she'd ever learned about her neighbor, which wasn't surprising as the ailing advertiser had to admit she wasn't the easiest person to open up to, often more reserved than she should've been to foster good relations with neighbors and the few friends she had. The Bolivian-born psychologist just proved to be one of those kinds of people who shined significantly instead of too brightly, who could reasonably draw a person to a state of comfort. Carlita smiled in how Doreen never seemed to notice her true intent, taking her mind off the pain with small, gradual psych techniques. Unthinkingly, Doreen took deeper breaths that matched Carlita's. The hand nursing her forehead now rested under her chin and on the table, eventually matching Carlita's posture of showing interest in whatever her new companion had to say. And most subtly, the friendly tone of her voice constantly shifted from a higher pitch, to a lower, smoother, timbre in the space of several sentences, a timber that could be mistaken for seductive in many cases. Easy smiles from both women reflected one's reaction to the joy of the other woman reacting perfectly to a light, conversational trance.

"How does it work?" The listless-sounding ending of her interested question nearly made Carlita smirk with satisfaction.

"Thinking about it now, it's a little hard to describe. Would be lying if I didn't say it's the kind of thing you have to feel your way through, or feel your way into if I'm still being honest. And how well it works depends on the person. Like my old roommate, Kristie, your next door neighbor, it even worked on her."

The unspoken look of surprise crossing Doreen's face showed as intended.

"Yeah, and no one was more surprised about that than me. We're still pretty close friends, and I love her, but from one woman to another that's lived in close proximity with her for a while, she can be a little...much. Not that you heard that from me."

Doreen's pale features softening, eyes closing momentarily as she nodded as vigorously as she could without disturbing her barely aware headache.

"Heard what," she joked softly.

"Early on, I learned that growing up privileged and from Cambridge made for quite the lovely, poised, entitled with a hint of snooty kind of lady she is, but none of that compared to the partygirl lurking beneath all that upbringing. I think everyone knew that that part of her was a serious liability, including her family and herself. I assumed they thought it was best to let her get it out of her system before becoming a responsible adult. Living with her myself, Kristie and I both knew better, so with my suggestion, we worked on curbing a lot of that party animal, leashing it, so to speak, playing with suggestions of like gentle music that could calm the savage beast, blanketing her in it, bathing her in it, letting her float and sink into the gentle peace it brought, letting her have long, luxurious deep sleeps in it, until she craved the silence, peace, and deeeeep sleeeeeep, as much as she would enjoy anything else, if not more. Friendships like ours can be built on some pretty unique foundations, and though we're friends for multiple reasons and interests now, I'll admit the strongest was the ability to have her focus on that particular silence, that peace, that deeeeep sleeeeeep, that she admitted was something she didn't know she could love so much. And once she got a taste of it, she was pretty much a changed woman. She still partied and did most of the stuff she always did in moderation, without knowing much that said moderation was thanks greatly in part to that notion in the back of her mind, of silence, peace, and deeeeeep sleeeeeeep. Everyone saw the change in her, became happier with her as she became happier with everything. Her parents thought I was a godsend, she admitted to me around the end of our first year, that she believed I was a blessing. I humbly accepted their praise, but I still feel strange accepting it for myself when it's so few words that truly changed Kristie for the better, that notion of silence, peace, and deeeeeep sleeeeeep. But I guess I have to take a little credit when she reacts to my voice saying the words so immediately, so gratefully, so wonderfully and deeply as me saying 'silence, peace, and deeeeeep sleeeeeep,' brings about nothing but silence, peace, and deeeeeeep sleeeeeeep..."

Throughout Carlita's spellbinding litany, noticing Doreen's eyelids occasionally fluttering, and her vision growing fuzzy, staring at nothing, it was easy to move freely as she spoke. Having her warm, bronze-colored hand replace the warmth from the coffee cup, to feeling her fingers brush up her arms as she gently rose from the table to guide her hostess to the back of her chair, warm hands staying at loose shoulder blades, her head lulling back and resting against the fabric covering Carlita's stomach. Doreen felt like the most calming voice in existence was coming from everywhere, and she was happily receiving it as it all filtered in her ears and rested deep in her brain, occupying the space pain once resided in. Shoring up efforts to keep the pain banished, fingers reached Doreen's temples to massage all the physical cares out of her head while her words occupied the rest.

"That's right, Doreeeeeeen," she whispered in her ear, planning to make the extended vowel in her name as much a trigger as the mantra echoing in her head. "'Silence, peace, and deeeeeep sleeeeeep.' That's all it takes. Just hearing my voice saying 'silence, peace, and deeeeeep sleeeeeeep,' and that's exactly what you get Doreeeeeeen. Sometimes, it will be what you want. Sometimes, it will be what you need. Sometimes, it will be the only thing you know, the only thing you want to know. Just....'silence, peace, and deeeeeep sleeeeeeeep.' And doesn't that feel soooo goooood, Doreeeeeeeen?"

Against temple-stroking fingers, Carlita could feel her her subject try to nod carelessly, happily to aid her gently in agreeing. Soft chuckles arose from seeing drool drip from the corners of the suddenly sleepy woman's mouth. "She may think it undignified if she knew, but I'm sure she'd take drool over migraines," the hypnotist noted to herself.

"And hearing me call you Doreeeeeen, feels just as good, exactly as good as when I say to you 'silence, peace, and deeeeeep sleeeeeeeep.' You just find yourself in the exact heaven you're in right now when those words come to you from me. And you love hearing those words, feeling those effects. I truly believe you do. And I believe in time, if you ever say those words to yourself, you will believe you can bring yourself here on you own. I believe that will happen for you, Doreeeeeeen, and you will soon believe it too. Say it with me now, say it, and imagine yourself deeply hypnotized and filled with bliss from your own words."

"Silence, peace and deeeeep sleeeeeeep."

"Ssssiiileeencceee, pppeeaccceee, and deeeeeep sleeeeeeeeeep."

"Very good, Doreeeeeeen. Very good. And before I bring you back up, I want you to slowly start coming back to your awake self, like a slow walk back to being awake, no rush at all to return, taking your time, able to speak clearly and freely, and honestly, holding nothing back from me because there's absolutely no need to. No concerns, because everything  you say is meant to make things better, just like my voice and my words. So feel yourself slowly, slowly coming back, and answering a few of my questions."

".....ookkk....." a smiling Doreen whispered.

"Do you get headaches often, Doreen?"

"Some...times...."

"What causes them most of the time?"

"No sleeeep....annoying..people...."

"Heh, understandably. You'll definitely have aids for that soon, I can promise you."

"..tthhannk-"

"No thanks needed, Doreeeeeen. I'm happy to help." Carlita giggled at the trigger that set her back from wakefulness more than several steps. "Sorry, couldn't help myself. Continue to walk towards waking up slowly again."

She let her take a deep breath again before continuing her questioning.

"Has Kristie been causing you headaches?"

"Kristie....and.....you..."

"And me? W-what have I done?"

"Late night...noises....thin walls.....'oh baby, oh baby..'"

"Oh...baby? Oh baby? Oh b-" Carlita looked around the apartment, seeing the biggest bedroom, most likely Doreen's bedroom. She mentally pictured herself stepping out of Doreen's apartment to enter Kristie's the structure of both apartments, deducing main bedrooms of the apartments were side-by-side.

"Well, that's horrible architecture," Carlita grimaced, not realizing all the hot sex she and Kristie were having was literally mentally scaring the neighbors. She was glad she asked if any kids were nearby beforehand, especially with walls as thin as Doreen claimed. That still didn't explain what Doreen heard.

"'Oh baby..Oh baby...'" she kept repeating, trying to decipher the meaning. Once it hit her, she began to snicker and laugh gently to herself. Doreen felt Carlita's stomach shaking and contracting from laughter, but paid it very little mind in her still-sedated state.

"Oh-oh....okay, okay." She wanted to belly laugh so hard, but she had to contain herself, before any of it could cause her head to hurt.

"Okay, Doreeeeeeen," she openly smirked at the woman being set back again in trance, allowing herself to be petty about someone listening in on her nightly pleasure, even if it certainly wasn't her fault.

"Tell me, how did it feel when you heard that?" a therapist's tone crept into her voice draw out as honest an answer as possible.

"Annoyed....heated.....jealous...."

"Heated? Jealousy? Why?"

"Sounded sexy....I'm...lonely....you're...."

"I'm...what? What am I, Doreen?"

"Hooott...." the words left Doreen's mouth with unbridled passion she couldn't hide.

"Is that so, Doreeeeeeen?"

"Yessssss....." Muscles, limbs and a torso slackened under hypnosis still trembled and stirred enough to tell Carlita how hot.

"Oh my. Had you seen me before today?"

"No....."

"Am I hot only because you know how I look now, or because of how I sounded before?"

"B...b-both."

Carlita let herself blush at Doreen's mindless admission; as many compliments as she'd received, hearing it sans critical thinking always felt a degree more flattering to the hypnotist.

"And how does this state, or hearing me speak to you in this state feel?"

"Peace..ful....sleepy....really...hooottt," Doreen's explanation could've been mistaken for moaning by the time she finished, solidifying a choice the darker woman let herself make.

None of this was in Carlita's original plan, the heat and sexy admissions her friend's neighbor made. All she really wanted was to help an ailing woman out of her disposition, even if it had to be done subversively for her sake; experience taught her consent for hypnotic relaxation often clashed with headache irritablility and irrationality. But now it felt like a genie emerged from an uncorked bottle, and new untapped wishes were at her disposal. She was normally very careful to remain neutrally helpful and avoid taking advantage, aiming for things an aware consciousness and subconsciousness would reasonably both want. But hearing Doreen's feelings about Carlita's occasional and abnormal activities, knowing the hypnotized woman found it as appealing, Carlita's own wishes began transforming in her own head. Looking at the raven-haired, drowsy woman more fondly, she imagined fingers traveling down from temples, to cupping her face, stroking her neck, to teasing and cupping full breasts, and stroking nipples she could see had grown rock hard from Doreen's recollection and honesty.

Carlita nearly got lost in the moment herself, as Doreen's deep breaths soon turned to gentle moans with her thoughts filled with hot sex she could only hear about.

"I'm happy to hear that, Doreeeeeen," she'd abandoned letting the paler-skinned woman return to a light trance easily anymore, but hadn't abandoned the overall intent with Doreen. Considering the wants of three women, including herself, Carlita contemplated a solution for all, and didn't speak again until she found one.

"And I'm happy to have you hear a solution to what keeps you up at night. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yessssss...."

"Excellent, Doreeeeeeen," the heat of the whisper in Doreen's ears set her back dozens of figurative steps away from wakefulness, until she was arguably deeper than where she'd started.

"This may sound a little silly, but I assure you this will work whenever you need it too - if there is ever a specific noise that's keeping you up, I want you to imitate the sound with your own voice. A constant creaking noise you can't stop, you can softly say 'creak' over and over again, until the sound loses relevance and all that follows is sleep. A constant dripping noise you can't stop, you can softly say 'drip' over and over again, until the sound loses relevance, and all that follows is sleep. And if you hear...'oh baby, oh baby,' the hot noise you can't stop, you can softly say it over and over again, until the sound loses, or gains relevance for you, and all that follows silence, peace, and deeeeeep sleeeeeeep."

She felt Doreen's soft head lean more into the cushioning of her body, wishing she'd moved both of them to the couch earlier, but focused on her method of aid.

"Let's practice it now for good measure. Say it with me. Oh baby.

"Oh baby."

"Ohh baby."

"Ohh baby."

"Ohhh baby."

"Ohhh baby."

"Ohhh ba...by."

"Ohhh ba...by."

"Ohhh ba.......by."

"Ohhh ba.......by."

"Ohhh ba.......by."

"Ohhh ba.......by."

"Ohhh ba................"

"Ohhh ba................"

Carlita paused for effect, before grinning lustily in Doreen's ear. "..........meeee."

".......me?"

"Yes, Doreeeeeeen. Obey me."

"Oooooh...bey me."

"Obey me."

"Obey me."

"Obey me."

"Obey me."

"Obey............"

"Obey............"

"..........meeeee."

Doreen suddenly blinked herself awake, as she found herself in bed. Noticing the light of the day had totally gone away, she stretched and yawned, forgetting for a moment that she'd spent so much of her morning and the night before in pain. Her eyes opened to realize the pain was gone, that she'd practically slept the day away, yet felt fed, clean, and better than she had ever felt after a headache. It felt like a miracle had come upon her, until she heard her noisy neighbor going at it again, making her huff, but not grimace like usual. A thought conveniently popped up in her head, something Carlita, her neighbor's guest helpfully supplied her with for getting over night noises, probably not realizing she was causing them.

Plopping her head back onto her pillow, listening to passion she dare not admit she would've liked to indulge in, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and started repeating to herself the simple words fit for a porn set.

"Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby," she mouthed and whispered mockingly. 

"Oh baby, oooh baby, oooh baby," she mocked with a giggle, till the thought of Carlita's face, imagining how beautiful her body could be on the other side of that wall, body and sexy curls bouncing up and down, entered her head.

"Ooohhh baby, oooh baby, oooohhhhhbaby," she lost herself in the words a little bit, listening more to the way Carlita was saying it, moaning it.

"Ooohhhhhhh b-ooooohhhh," Doreen gasped as pangs of pleasure moved into her body, encouraged by the touches of her hands she was oblivious to, responding primally to what her subconscious desired.

"Ooh baby, ooh baby, oohbaby," she tried to do as Carlita suggested, and keep up with the words, forgetting it was supposed to make her sleepy, just reveling in how hot it sounded.

"Ohhh baby, ohhh baby, ooooh baby," she moaned silently at first, until losing herself in pleasure meant caring less about being quiet about it. With a hand cupping her breast, playing with the nipples, and the other stroking the walls that made the rest of her shudder, she started listening with her ears and her mind. A thoughtless gasp marked the mental threshold she'd happily crossed, oblivious to the her own words changing, still speaking in-tandem with Carlita.

"Obey me."

"Must obey."

"Obey me."

"Mussst ob-bey..."

"Obey me-mmmm"

"Must obey...."

"O-fuck-Obey me."

"Must obey...."

On the other side of the thin wall, Carlita shook Kristie's bed hard, riding Kristie's face, pressing her ear to the wall to hear Doreen masturbating, speaking the same words Kristie tried to speak against her old roommate's clit. It proved to be the hottest night for Carlita's visit, knowing she was hypnotizing two minds with one mind-blowing fuck. In managing her burgeoning dominant side, it felt good to give Doreen a pleasure that would last and help her sleep as deeply as she did earlier, all through the night, and nearly as good as it was fucking her old frenemy into hypnotic slavery again.

Carlita's slight embellishment of her and Kristie's college "friendship" omitted lots of instances that left the two women at odds, that would be jarring enough to wake Doreen from the conversational trance if mentioned. Unsubtle, unfunny pranks, being the contemptuous pain when sober, and all of that plus loud when drunk (and often drunk), among other things, Carlita was glad her deep dive into her interest with hypnosis began long before she majored it in college. And forcefully, meticulously transforming the woman into someone who could still pass for herself to other acquaintances, but treated Carlita with respect bordering reverence for the sleepy condition she craved like a drug, was the guiltiest, and most satisfying experience she'd ever had with hypnosis. It was one she kept to herself and Kristie, one she would've given up on long ago if it didn't have a positive impact on the formerly unbearable bitch, if it wasn't something Kristie continued to beg Carlita for, and if both of them didn't admit to each other how hot a hypnotic and dominant Carlita was. 

Hearing Doreen on the other side felt like a wonderful extension of what she had with Kristie, someone pulled in by accident, but eager to participate and enjoy all the benefits. She still planned to check up on Doreen consciously, and gauge how she felt unconsciously. Unlike Kristie, she didn't want to force anything particularlly strong onto Doreen, and if anything further were to happen, she wanted Doreen's consent for any and all of it. If nothing else, she'd leave the neighbor with a little parting gift that could reign in an unneighborly Kristie whenever she wanted. A simple knock or a phone call, and Kristieeeeeeeee would calm down just as Doreeeeeeeeen would. 

Carlita tried to keep these thoughts together amidst her nth orgasm peaking inside her, but hearing her mention Doreen's new name gave her shivers, still hearing Doreen get closer and closer to finishing herself off. She dismounted Kristie's face as she fingered herself like she imagined next door would be, speaking to the wall in a tone that could've set it aflame.

"Obey me, Doreeeeeeeen."

Carlita finally came again as she heard both lust-bound women respond with climatic "obey"s.

"Good girls," she muttered, hearing Doreen begin to snore softly on her end, and seeing Kristie's eyes still filled with obedient arousal. 

Carlita wondered if she wanted one more orgasm before bed; it didn't take her long before she commanded her slave's mouth for one more ride, grinning and satisfied no one else would be unduly disturbed that night.