"Doing alright?"

It took Liam a few seconds to process what he was hearing. The gentle male voice asking him questions was distant, and his eyes were unfocused. His gaze slowly came to rest on the tall boy in front of him.

"That's better. Come on now, wide awake. I wanted to give you a little break before you go back under; I know it can be pretty overwhelming."

The stranger was pretty; he had curly auburn hair, freckles, and a comforting, disarming grin. Something about him just put Liam at ease. He nodded slowly before his mind registered what the boy actually said, eager to satisfy.

"...yy..yeahh, I'm... I'm doing okay," mumbled Liam hazily. He had no real idea what the stranger was going on about, but the boy's sparkling brown eyes and gentle smile reassured him everything was just fine. His body felt heavy, and his mind felt pleasantly scrambled.

"Heh... the machine really did a number on you, huh? Take all the time you need to come back up." The stranger's hand on Liam's shoulder made him blush. His mouth hung open slightly as he puzzled over the other boy's words. Machine... what machine?

For the first time, his gaze gradually drifted from the pretty stranger to his surroundings. He was strapped to a chair; elevated like a dentist's chair but much more comfortable. Hanging from the ceiling was a bulky headset with a VR visor inside. He felt... oddly enamored with the thing. Yes, the machine. He remembered now... sort of...

His recent memory was a haze of dazzling lights and captivating colors, and commands that'd hit his mind like a truck. A curt feminine voice was seared into his mind, telling him to be docile and compliant and do as he was told. Remembering it made his cheeks flush.

"I-I was..."

"Hypnotized," The pretty boy smirked, leaning in much too close for a stranger, but Liam allowed him to without protest. "Looks like we're right on schedule. At this rate, you'll be fully brainwashed an hour early and I can take the rest of the day off."

"B-brainwashed??" He stammered in conflicted protest. "I-I don't want to be... brainwashed...?"

He wasn't very confident in that statement as it left his mouth. Being brainwashed sounded lovely. He was supposed to find it terrifying, but he was itching to go back into the machine, and it showed. He blinked slowly, trying to reassure himself that being brainwashed was... bad, probably. Somehow.

"You don't sound so sure," his captor laughed playfully. "Here, drink some water. You've been in here a few hours."

A few hours... he whimpered a little as his captor pet him, holding his head to make sure he drank from the water bottle held to his lips. His heart fluttered at the stranger's touch.

"We're usually a lot more subtle about this, but someone paid for a rush job this time. Lucky you~" He ran his fingertips through Liam's hair, sending shivers through his body. "...maybe you're docile enough to undo the restraints for a bit... want to stretch your legs? The chair's comfy as it gets, but you can only sit like that for so long before you gotta get up."

He stared blankly at the stranger for a moment, his freshly fried brain unsure how to make a decision for himself. He did feel cramped, now that he thought about it...

"I-if that's... allowed..."

"If that's allowed, sir. Address me properly."

"Y-yessir-" he blurted without thinking, suddenly embarrassed; partially at being made to act so submissively, partially at his mistake of not being submissive enough. Conflicted desires swirled around in his head, but he continued, "I... I-I'd like to stretch my legs a bit... if that's allowed, s-sir."

"Much better. Good response, very eager. Sal was right, you're a fantastic subject; I bet you'll make your new handlers very happy." Liam wasn't sure how to feel about the stranger's casual tone as his restraints were undone; like he'd done this hundreds of times, and Liam was just another product to ship out by the end of the day. He felt squeamishly giddy about how much he liked that thought...

He stumbled slightly, tumbling into the stranger's arms as he fell out of the chair. Immediately his face turned beet-red, and his voice caught in his throat as he could barely stammer out two words without his sentence falling apart. "Ah- s-sorry sir! I-I-I... I didn't- um, g-gosh, I-"

His host laughed and helped steady him. "Wow, hehe... are you just touch-starved, or were there a few aphrodasiac suggestions in there?"

"I-I..." He looked away, meek and unsure how to answer. "S-sorry, I-I'm just- I'll stand on my own, s-sir..."

"Hey, don't worry about it," the boy reassured him, picking up a clipboard from the desk and flipping through it. "Ooh, yup. Looks like your soon-to-be owner has a bit of a crush. Cute."

Liam stared at him, confused and a little concerned, but the stranger's soft touch stroking the back of his head lulled him back into sheepishly nodding along.

"Oh, right. I just got here; Sal was in charge of your brainwashing for the first bit, but her shift's over. I don't know the details yet." He held up the clipboard, and Liam felt a sense of frightened curiosity wondering what was on it... what would be done to him...

"You feeling hungry, or is just the water fine?"

"I-I'm... not hungry, sir," He was still surprised at how automatically he was answering Sir's questions... and thinking of him with that title, too. He'd never felt so obedient before. "C-can I... um... w-what's going to happen to me?? After it's... after it's done... and for how long?"

He gave Liam an unhelpful shrug, then pulled up the clipboard with a smirk. "Wanna find out?"

"I-is that... okay?"

"Well, uh... we're usually pretty careful not to tie the brainwashing to your new owner before you meet 'em. We don't want a situation where the deal falls through and you're stuck worshipping one specific person who doesn't want you for whatever reason. Easier to make you obedient first and just let you get swapped around if it needs to happen. So... I guess you probably shouldn't read this stuff."

The thought of that made Liam wilt slightly. Being so devoted and eager but unwanted... he shuddered. It shook him out of his submissive haze a little, his hair standing up on end. That was the moment it started to sink in what was going to happen to him, and he started to worry more deeply...

...as well as look forward to it even more. He just couldn't help himself. He was glancing over at the open door of the room he was in; should he run for it? Would he regret if he did?

"...y'know, if you're thinking of escaping, you could probably be more subtle about it," Sir said casually, "not that I can blame you when your brain's just been fried. Probably not feeling super sharp right now, heh."

Liam froze, petrified. "I-I-I was just- um-" ...even as he spoke, the words caught in his throat. Could... could he lie to sir? It felt like the most heinous betrayal in the world, even though they'd just met. He couldn't do that... could he?

"Shhhh... it's alright." Sir gently rubbed Liam's shoulder, smiling down at him without a hint of stress. Like he did this every day. Liam instantly relaxed, nodding quietly, unable to stop himself from complying. It felt so nice to just listen and nod and not really think about things...

"If you really, really want... I mean, door's open. You could walk right out, probably talk your way past any of my co-workers, and find a ride home."

Liam furrowed his brow, perplexed. "Wh... why would you-"

"Because you won't."

Sir's demeanor had changed ever so slightly. His voice was just a little lower, a little more confident, and there was a hungry look in his eyes... one that made Liam shrink down a little. A moment ago, Sir had been talking to him like an equal, but that wasn't the case anymore.

"You'd make it maybe halfway to the exit before turning right back around and asking me to put you back in this chair. Second-guessing yourself the whole time. Because you really, really want to be hypnotized."

It wasn't a suggestion, or a request, it was simply the truth. He couldn't deny it. When Sir spoke like that, Liam couldn't help but agree.

"I've talked to people who found their way out. I saw how they talk, how they think, how they react to this stuff. And you? There's no way you'd let yourself throw away the opportunity to be a good brainwashed boy after just a little taste of what that feels like."

"I-I... I bet I could-"

"Go ahead and give me a coffee break," He smirked, standing up and making his way towards the exit. "I'm gonna come back in fifteen minutes and you'll be right there, in the chair, patiently waiting for your nice gentle handler to come back and turn the machine on so you can be hypnotized again."

Liam felt so so very small, and meek, and his stammering protests were so quiet and weak he could barely pretend he believed them. "...b-but.. I-I- I won't-"

"Sure you won't. See you after the break, Liam."

And he disappeared around the corner, without a care in the world.

Just leaving Liam alone in the room.

Quentin flipped through Liam's file on the way back to the conditioning chamber. The woman who'd paid for his abduction was a classmate from the subject's university; some rich girl with connections. The specifications for his brainwashing were incredibly affectionate, and detailed - right down to particular pet-names she wanted him to answer to. He'd have to try a few of those to see if any'd been instilled in Liam yet.

It was a bit of a shame he likely wouldn't see Liam much after the brainwashing was complete; he already had a soft spot for their client's new pet. Taking advantage of subjects for personal use was strictly forbidden by company policy, of course, unless the client didn't end up going through with the deal. But he had a job to do, and wasn't about to let his feelings for the subject get in the way.

He couldn't help but feel a little smug, though, as he walked back into the conditioning chamber to find Liam back in his chair like a good little subject, face in his hands with his cheeks burning bright red.

"Happened like I said?"

"Y..yes, sir," Liam mumbled sheepishly. "I just- I c-couldn't help myself..."

Quentin gently ran his hand down the back of the boy's neck, giving him a reassuring smile. "Of course you couldn't. It's perfectly natural. And I'm proud of you."

"Proud...?" Liam perked up, giving his captor a wide-eyed, hopeful look. He liked that Sir was proud of him.

"That's right. You were such a good boy, coming right back here where you belong."

He lovingly massaged Liam's shoulders, rewarding him for his good behaviour. He couldn't help but find himself enjoying the blissed-out look on the subject's face as he did, and the swooning sigh he made as well... God, I wanna keep this one, he thought.

"Thank you, Sir..." said Liam, eager to please. "W-when do I go back into the machine?"

"Do you feel ready? Anything else you want to get out of the way first?"

Liam paused, thinking it over, then glanced back at the door to the room, and the hallway behind it that led to freedom.

Quentin watched conflicting emotions dance across his captive's face. He wondered how long it would take before

"I-I'm ready..." mumbled Liam quietly. There was a look of guilty pleasure on his face, the kind you get reassuring yourself just this one little indulgence won't hurt, when you cheat on your diet or steal something small. Liam was so, so tempted, and watching him give in made Quentin feel hot inside. That was... what, seven seconds?

"You look so excited. I'm almost jealous," he grinned as he strapped Liam back into the machine. "Well, you looked conflicted for a second there... but I don't think you'll feel that way after this."

His heart raced a little at his last glimpse of Liam's expression before the headset was lowered back down. "S-Sir..."

"Yes?"

"...um... I-I... I'm ready. You can turn it on... um, and... th-thank you."

That's adorable... He chuckled softly as he threw the switch, the machine whirring to life and flashing colors flooding Liam's vision, only faint rays of light visible to Quentin on the other side of the spiraling visor. His body language immediately mellowed, all of the tension leaving Liam's body as he was pulled back into trance, the machine softening his mind up so it would be receptive to any suggestion.

"Have fun~"

Though only a few hours long, Liam's reconditioning felt like days... or maybe just minutes? He couldn't tell. Everything was a blissful blur.

Serve. Admire. Praise. Various commands swirled through his melted mind, and he found them utterly irresistible. He vaguely remembered more complex and longer commands; though they were firmly stamped into his subconscious, his head was filled with such a haze that he could barely recall more details than the most simple commands.

Worship. Kiss. Melt. He was in love. He didn't know with who yet, but it would take the moment he was told who to direct his obedience towards. And it was pure pleasure agreeing to every command that entered his eyes and ears. 

Adore. Obey. Obsess. The colors were so captivating, the voice in his head so soothing. He could stay here forever...

He might've, if the machine hadn't begun to give his mind a suddenly different command. To let the fog lift from his mind, let his thoughts stir. He became vaguely aware that the voice was counting upwards. 5... 6... 7...

When he was finally awakened from trance, the headset lifting off of his body, he felt everything was as it should be. The different desires tugging at his mind only hours before had been silenced; no thought of escape or resistance crossed his mind. His sole desire was to do as he was asked.

And Sir was right there to welcome him. Liam swooned as the gorgeous, effortlessly commanding captor loosened his restraints and greeted him with the sweetest of smiles.

"Wow... I... th-that was incredible, Sir..." he whimpered, forming full sentences still a bit of a struggle.

"I bet... you look ecstatic," Sir giggled a little, pulling Liam from the machine. Liam's body was limp, barely able to stand, but Sir was helping him up so kindly. "Kneel. Now."

The suddenness of the command caught Liam off guard, almost falling out of Sir's grasp and finding himself quickly on his knees despite how weak he felt. He realized the words "Yes, Sir!" had come out of his mouth the moment he was given the command.

And he felt so, so good.

His captor laughed warmly. "Well, that was quicker than I expected. You really are just such a good little servant, isn't that right?"

"Th-thank you Sir!" he stammered giddily, the praise making his whole body feel warm. He loved being praised. He loved being a good little servant for Sir. And that pleasure only grew as Sir rewarded him with his gentle touch, his fingertips stroking beneath Liam's chin, then across his scalp, through his hair. He sighed happily, absolutely infatuated.

"Adorable... and I've got good news~"

Liam perked up, giving his handler an excited smile.

"Unfortunately, it looks like the one who ordered you... got cold feet. They backed out."

"W..what..?" Liam's mix of confusion, worry and disappointment were quickly interrupted, Sir's finger to their lips, shushing them. They immediately complied, awaiting his next words.

"...and. Don't worry, I said good news."

Liam nodded, agreeing without question. Of course it was good news. Sir said so. It was suddenly clear as day.

"There's a few options when something like this happens... option one, we stick you back in your normal life and you'll think this was all a weird dream." The dismay on Liam's face at that idea told Sir all he needed to know.

"Option two, we keep you around until someone else decides they want you." Liam thought about that. He wouldn't mind staying here... he might even get to see Sir some more before he was claimed.

"And option three... I get to do whatever I want with you." He smirked, watching Liam's eyes widen.

"Y-yessir! That one, please!" He was overjoyed. He loved Sir so very much. He was already breathing heavy, a bright red blush on his cheeks.

And Sir's hands on his body were so... so gentle. So loving. The look in Sir's eyes as he admired his new plaything made Liam feel so so precious and adored and absolutely enamored.

And when he pulled Liam into a kiss, his thoughts completely stopped.