As the sun cast through the blinds, Luna dug her back into the couch. She was so bored. She’d come all the way back across the country to meet her family and they just sat around all day. Her old friends were nice, but they only went so far, and progress on her art felt glacial at times. She sighed under her breath as her Mom continued cooking breakfast, the aroma of papas con chorizo drifting over to her as she sat. She took a deep breath in through her nose and smiled. That was at least one reason why she stayed - the food was killer. Suddenly, the door to her brother’s bedroom creaked as it opened to them, and she craned her neck to see a sunbeam draped over his frazzled hair and unwashed clothes. “Hey,” she remarked in her typical detached, but cute, tone. As Grant wiped the tiredness from his eyes, he reciprocated her remark, giving a simple “Morning,” with a nod. Nothing more was said, and she looked over to the kitchen to see their mother, Feliciana, hard at work. After their habitual greeting, she went back to her phone, scrolling through Instagram to see her friends’ summer vacations or her idols’ fresh paintings. It was hard not to feel underwhelmed. Her brother walked over to her and slumped next to her, and she caught him catching a glimpse of her side, of the baggy sweatpants around her legs. She tried to dismiss it, but it caught in the back of her mind. She thought of the distance between them, of how they grew up so close and how that all seemed a million miles away now. The fun they had playing outside, the tears they shed together over failed relationships, the time he backed her up when she quit tennis. She had no idea how to fix it, though. Neither of them did. The nostalgia couldn’t last forever, though, and the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach.

“Hey Mom, when do you think breakfast will be ready?” she asked.

“Oh, maybe 20 minutes. I’m sure you can wait, though.”

Grant groaned under his breath, and she agreed. It was so awkward being out there with her family, and now she didn’t have an escape. She saw how her brother crossed his leg over the other and propped his elbow against the armrest, impatiently waiting alongside her. She suddenly felt bad. Disappointed, even. Surely he needed something; there had to be more to his scenario than just suddenly becoming a loner. He looked miserable, she could at least try to be hospitable while they were both here. This thought process continued for a moment. She wasn’t casting the blame on herself, but she wasn’t really that cautious either. Finally, she took a breath and freely asked “Hey Grant, what are you, uh, studying in your room?”

There was a moment of silence as Grant processed, mentally checking that he’d heard what he thought he heard. There was no sarcasm, no bite to her voice, just an earnest question. It had been a while since they’d exchanged those. He blinked once, twice, unsure of how much to spill. Hypnosis: Inductions and Explanations was fascinating, as were the numerous skeevy late-90s websites, but he couldn’t be sure if they were true or just an elaborate lie, or if she’d take any interest in them at all. He thought for a moment, mentally confirming, before responding.

“Oh…uh…for my major…it was just something interesting.” He wasn’t vague intentionally as he looked at her, but the effect was the same. It primed a real conversation. Normally she would have dropped it instantly if he’d given her a real answer, but he didn’t, forcing her hand. She looked pretty bored, after all. 

“What’d you find?” she asked offhand. He stared at her for a few moments as she looked down at her phone, disbelieving and internally debating whether or not to actually broach the subject. At the cost of indifference, or mockery, or awkwardness, he responded honestly, shrugging. “...Have you heard of hypnosis before?” Her response wasn’t one of shock, or even ambivalence, but of mild confusion.  “I mean, yeah.” She took a sip of her water. “I thought that wasn’t real though.” Their mother was listening in absent-mindledly now. The TV wasn’t on, so she didn’t have many options. 

“That’s what most people think…but it’s just curious that there’s so many articles and scholarly studies about it, so many examples of it working on people who claim to be completely genuine. If it were all fake, why would that be the case?” As he was going on his tangent, he raised his head from his hand, turning toward his sister. She was transparently not interested in this weird niche, so instead of trying to continue the conversation further, she attempted to shut it down. “Makes sense.” Grant, not picking up on her dismissive tone, gave a short breath.

“Why? Are you curious about it?” She waited for a moment, mulling it over before responding. 

“It sounds kinda interesting, at least conceptually.”

He was taken aback by her answer, but he nodded, thinking on what to respond with. “Yeah, my sentiments are similar…I’m curious to look further into how it works, though. I just don’t know where to get started.” She got up to go to the bathroom, stepping on his honest bearing of emotions and thoughts. As she left, however, she gave some advice.

“You would have to try it on someone, I think.”

She left the room, and his eyes clung to her own as she left, perking up from the advice. It crossed his mind, sure, but he had no idea who to ask. He didn’t have many friends, and none of those were people that would be interested in this kind of thing. So he just sat with his thoughts, which were circular. As she came back, sitting back down on the couch, he finally had a breakthrough. The only people he could think of who wouldn’t laugh him out of the room for something like this were the people that he happened to live with. He looked over to her. “...Well…would you want to try it?” 

The silence broke in half.

Luna looked up from her phone at her brother, having not considered the implications of her own words. Hypnosis still wasn’t something she thought was real, exactly, so him offering to hypnotize her had a similar effect to him asking if he could borrow her time machine. Despite all these emotions, she felt something else. Old habits die hard, and when she thought back to the time she and their mother had helped with a science project about anxiety, where she’d had to fill out a survey and give it to a few of her friends, she realized that she hadn’t done anything for her brother in a long time. She felt guilty. Her words were evident of this as much as anything else. 

“Sure.” Might help her get her mind off stuff, anyway.

His surprise at his sister’s agreement was obvious to her, and he nodded in satisfaction. “Well…after breakfast, then. Would you mind going to my room?”

His sudden agency was off-putting, and while she was guilty, she wasn’t that guilty. “Yeah, not right away, and I’d rather do it out here,” she proposed. “Maybe later today, or maybe tomorrow. I still have art to finish up.” She considered adding more qualifiers, delaying it even further, but she figured that the more vague she was the less chance she would have to spend tons of time in her brother’s room, the implications of which she was only just realizing. He pursed his lips at his sister’s counteroffer, and he let out a breath. Still, he nodded.

“Well, that’s alright. I guess that gives me a chance to study up some more on it before we actually do it,” he stated. Convinced that the conversation was over and suddenly acutely aware of his desire and hurriedness to go further, she went back to her phone, saying nothing further on the subject. Just after, their mother cried “Breakfast’s ready,” and she stood up to get some food, letting him walk behind her. She didn’t realize how cold of an action this was towards her brother once she sat at the bar stool next to the kitchen counter, slowly eating her meal. She was in no rush, which made her very much unlike her brother as he gobbled down his food, frantic at just the idea of hypnotizing her. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

The promise of practicing hypnosis was at the forefront of his mind as Grant dined with his family. Their mother looked over at him, happy to see he was enjoying her food, but sad to see it gone so quickly. He knew that she had a lot to plan for with the new school year; it took a lot of effort to get the library up and running. He noticed his mother’s gaze, and lightly nodded as thanks for the delicious breakfast. He looked back down at his plate, eating the rest. His mother moved around, cleaning up the pans and cutting boards she’d used to prepare breakfast. He eventually stood up, washing his plate and utensils in the sink, unaware of his mother’s interest. This unawareness didn’t last long, however, as his mother decided to propose the question now instead of waiting until her daughter was out. It wasn’t like she’d take any offense to it, and she’d shown some interest too. 

“Do you think you could try hypnosis on me?”

He stopped washing the dishes for a second to look up to his mother, his brows arching as he turned toward her. “Oh, would you like to try? Uh…sure, I guess I can.” Her face didn’t have many tells, so he couldn’t tell where she was at emotionally. 

“I mean, why not? Isn’t it supposed to help people relax?” she offhandedly remarked.

“Well, yes, that’s the idea.” He nodded. His sister was still in the room, so he had reason to talk the subject up. “It’s even used for therapy, so…it’s fairly good for stress.” He saw both of the women’s interests from the corner of his eyes as they processed. “If you’d like to try it, Mom, I’d be happy to try as well. Depends on when you’d want to.”

“I’m going out for girls’ night tonight, but tomorrow afternoon should work. How long should it take?” She asked inquisitively.

She leaned back, suddenly speaking up, both members of her family twisting around to see her. “If Mom’s doing tomorrow than you can try it tonight, if you want.” She tried to act dismissive, but it wasn’t terribly convincing. He nodded, going back and forth between them. He rubbed his arm in thought. “I’m not entirely sure how long it’ll take, but I should have a definitive answer after Luna’s session. Tonight sounds good, right?” He nodded towards his sister, and she did the same. She took a sharp breath out, and while he wasn’t entirely confident in his abilities, he figured he could do something to make sure it wasn’t a waste of both of their time. Finally, she decided. “Sure.”

“Tomorrow sounds good for us too, then,” he said. “So I’ll see you tonight, Luna?” He stepped towards the entranceway to the kitchen, ready to go back to his room. She’d lost most of her interest by then. “Mhm.” At his sister’s flat response, he returned to his room, preparing to study further. He’d have to get it right on the first try.

Once he had been in his room for about a minute, she set her phone down and looked toward her mother. “Hey Mom, do you really think that stuff is even possible?” The question had been bubbling up in her psyche. She took a bit to process, nodding her head once she’d formulated an answer, her short, dark hair moving with her head. “I don’t know. I’m willing to try, though.” She sighed. “Besides, it should help him talk to people.” She’d finished cleaning the pans, so she walked over to the couch, ready to kick back with some artsy prestige show. Luna didn’t tend to feel this kind of high-budget award-winning programming; she loved sitting back with some trash TV and melting her brain. As such, she got up to go back to the guest bedroom, getting in some more time with her painting.

In his room, Grant was blissfully unaware of his family’s comments.

While her mother was talking about stress, Luna was beginning to foster an interest in her brother’s hypnosis - could anybody, but really could her kid brother, do something like that? She’d perked up at first, knowing that she’d been looking for a chance to truly relax while at home. She always felt like there were prying eyes judging her, even though she knew that wasn’t backed up by anything. At the same time, her mother agreed. She felt so much pressure to set a good example, to make sure that her children led happy, fulfilling lives. It’d be nice not to worry about that, at least for a little bit. Finally, she sighed, deciding there was no better time than the present and making her way across the house. She knocked twice on her brother’s door, looking for an outlet. She waited for him to walk over and open it before asking “Hey Grant, do you want to do what you were talking about?” The ambiguity of her request was not lost on him as he realized how much time had passed with him scouring the books and websites about hypnosis he’d saved. “Sure, come in,” he told her.

She entered cautiously, looking around at her brother’s room, which they had once shared. It was cleaner than she expected - he’d taken the time to tidy up without her knowing - but about as dark. She awkwardly remarked “So yeah, if you wanted to, uh, do this in the living room…” Her brother was bemused by her reluctance, but he shrugged. “Sure.” She gave an anxious nod, unsure why she was so nervous to do this. It was her brother, and it probably wasn’t even going to work. “Alright, bring whatever you need to. Do I need to like, relax or anything?” She stepped out into the living room, and he followed. “Yeah, uh…go ahead and have a seat on the couch. Get comfortable.” She did, and soon, he sat down as well, sitting on the short leg of the L-shaped couch.

“Alright,” She said as she ran her hands up and down her sweatpants. She leaned back against the couch, trying to relax and staring at the ceiling. He nodded once she did. “That’s perfect. Go ahead and keep doing that. Pick a spot on the ceiling and get as comfortable as you can…and tell me when you’re ready.” She was slightly unnerved by the amount of control he seemed to have in this moment, not stammering over his words or displaying any hesitance as he told her what to do. She didn’t malinger on that for long, though. She focused her eyes on one spot, right next to the fan. She took a sharp breath, closing her eyes before exhaling slowly.

“I’m ready.” She had a feeling it wouldn’t work unless she followed his instructions.

“Okay…I’d like you to keep your eyes on that spot on the ceiling, and relax. Start with taking nice, deep breaths in…and slow breaths out. Deep breaths in…and slowly out…” His voice was soft, gentle even. She nodded slightly, but affirmatively, and began breathing in and out, deeper each time as his tone progressed further into relaxation. Her mother was out with her friends, and the sun was going down. It was only them. Her brother was watching with bated breath as she continued breathing exactly how he indicated, shifting a little closer to her on the couch, making sure she was following his steps. “That’s it, just like that…breathe in deeply…and let it out…inhale some nice relaxation…and exhale all your stress and worries…keeping your eyes trained on that spot…” Seeing him scoot closer out of the corner of her eye, She became visibly more uncomfortable. She kept breathing slow and steady though, taking in his soft words as she stared next to the fan. He was taking things slow.

“You only need to relax, and keep staring up at that spot on the ceiling…and while you’re taking your deep breaths slowly in, and slowly out…I’d like for you to open your eyes in time. As you inhale, I want you to open your eyes…and as you slowly exhale, close them just as slowly, keeping your eyes trained on that one spot.”

She followed along with the induction, but she was not yet in trance. She opened and closed her eyes as she was told to, becoming more fixated on the ceiling, and her peripheral vision blurring further.

“You don’t have to worry about anything else, Luna…just focus on your breathing…my voice…your eyes…and that spot on the ceiling. It’s okay to let go of your stress, of your troubles and worries right now…you’re here to relax…it all happens so naturally…”

Her vision centered further, the spot on the ceiling seeming to occupy more and more of her thoughts…it wasn’t like she had more thoughts about it, but rather all of her other thoughts were fading away, leaving only that. It happened so automatically. The discomfort she felt around her brother slowly began slipping her mind.

“You don’t have to worry about anything…about your troubles, about me…you just have to focus on what I’ve told you…and on what I’ll say…just let your shoulders relax…all the tiny muscles in your face, your arms…let the relaxation wash over you entirely.”

When he mentioned himself, she frowned a little, reminded that it was her loner brother taking her down into her subconscious. The spot on the ceiling brought her back, however, her muscles going slack as her breaths remained constant and deep.

“Just let that spot pull you in further and further…let all your worries flow out with each breath out…and continue to be led down into this warm relaxation. Everything is okay, and wonderful, Luna. You can relax entirely…deeper and deeper…”

Everything is okay. She felt her worries, her stress, her anxieties slowly flow out of her and absorb into the ceiling with every breath. Her muscles relaxed further.

“Let your focus be pulled in entirely by my voice…your eyes, your breathing, the spot on the ceiling…let all your worries fade away…” She was too focused to even notice him moving in closer still, until he was close enough for physical contact. She felt her attention bounce back and forth between the ceiling, her breathing, her eyes…it was a lot to keep track of, and she was unable to decide on any one point, not deeply invested in anything enough to understand it, to feel it. She was lost in a void. 

“You can focus on all of these things, and it might be overwhelming to you…it might be hard…” It was so hard. “...but it’s okay…” There were so many things, and she wanted to see the ceiling so badly, she wanted to feel her eyes so badly, she wanted to focus on her breathing so badly…but she couldn’t. It was so hard, she felt the pressure building and building, unsure if it would ever stop. “Because now, you can just let everything…” It was so…he crossed in front of her eyes and gently touched a finger to her forehead. “Drop.”

And she dropped.

Her entire body went limp, and she sank into the couch as her head fell to her chest. He took in a quick breath of surprise, watching her carefully, unsure if it had actually worked. He waited for a moment, simply letting her sit there.

She felt more at ease than she had ever been. She was somewhere between asleep and awake, aware and unaware. It felt really, really good. He opened his mouth to speak, moving a little closer.

“...Can you hear me, Luna?”

Feeling her brother’s voice in her subconscious, she nodded, letting out her response under her breath. 

“...yes…”

Grant watched the expression on his sister’s face intently, seeing her taken deeper and deeper into relaxation. It was wonderful. It was exactly what he wanted, and as he touched his finger to her forehead, he was reminded of why he was doing this.

Ever since he was young, he had had a crush on his sister. It started as a kind of puppy love, but over the course of the years he’d spent with her, it morphed into a deep, sexual, attraction. It made sense. Her body was built incredibly well, even if she dressed around it, and her soft, long hair running down to the center of her back had been the subject of his fantasies for longer than he could remember. Her soft, hazel eyes, her trusting way of talking, her soft, down-to-earth way of speaking…it was all more than he could handle. Having her back with him had only made it worse, having to see someone that attractive across the living room, someone who could never possibly be attracted to him, it was horrible. He needed an outlet, and her pictures weren’t working anymore. He needed to have her, and there was only one way he could do that. He heard about hypnosis after it was the focus of one of his Psychotherapy classes, and the thought wouldn’t escape his mind. To take someone that trusting, that honest and sweet, and make her his…he felt horrible at first, but over time he realized it was his only option. His only possible way to have his sister. And so he proceeded, adjusting the erection in his pants as she responded to him, her usual deep voice soft and pliable. He was incredibly excited, but hesitant. He had to be careful. He took a deep breath of his own, along with her.

“...Lift your head back up and open your eyes, but remain deep in this nice trance…”

Luna tensed her muscles at his words, preparing to move after being lost to the abyss of relaxation, of trance. She slowly lifted her head up, like a puppet loosely tugged by strings, and opened her eyes, revealing a blank, glazed expression. She was in, and there was no doubt about it. She could hear nothing but her brother’s voice.

“...How do you feel?”

It was written on Her face that she didn’t take long to process his words, as if it skipped the process of ears understanding it entirely and went straight to her brain. What did take a moment was the answer, having her think about how to express how she felt in the fewest possible words. After a moment, she settled on “...good…relaxed…”

He shifted himself closer, but she didn’t mind very much. She wasn’t sure of the last time they’d ever been this close. “That’s right…you feel so good and relaxed…you like this feeling, don’t you, Luna?” She let out a positive sounding hum, slow and breathy, as if it took effort to get it out.

“That’s right…you really like this feeling…in fact, you want to feel this way again, right?”

At the onset, she seemed unconvinced, at least as unconvinced as a blank, empty stare could be. Still, she couldn’t deny it. “...yes…” Her ample chest rose and fell with every breath she took.

“You know that…being hypnotized makes you feel this way…feeling so fantastic…so warm…and so relaxed…”

Her finger twitched just a little bit, but enough to be noticeable. She did feel warm, and relaxed, and maybe fantastic, but…her face started to contort. He noticed.

“It’s all okay, Luna…just taking nice, deep breaths in…and slow breaths out…you feel so nice right now…”

With the return of the deep breaths, she stopped twitching, the air surrounding her seeming to calm down. “...nnnhh…” Her tongue lazily lolled to the back of her mouth. Nice.

“Do you know why you feel so nice and relaxed right now, Luna?”

“...hmm…?” She seemed unable to answer. She trusted a lighter, easier one would come soon, and sure enough, he rephrased the question.

“You’re in trance right now, Luna…does that make sense?”

She relaxed a bit, understanding the physical truth more than the conceptual, or the emotional, truth. This was what was happening to her. She didn’t have to think about anything else. “...trance…”

“Yes…you’ve started feeling this way when I put you into hypnosis, right?”

She stopped to process for a second, but the chain of logic checked out. She gave a light nod. He smiled in satisfaction, even if her dulled eyes couldn’t see it.

“And do you like feeling this way, Luna?”

Relaxation wasn’t a constant in Luna’s life. It was barely an occasional feature. It was so hard to always, always be on top of things. She had to watch her body, watch her friends, watch her brother, watch her art, do everything and make it all look effortless. Maybe that’s why she was curious about the hypnosis, why the question to her Mom was tinged with slight jealousy - she wanted the drop, but she couldn’t ask for it. To ask for it would be a failure. She really liked it, and he could tell without her saying anything. Maybe it was the creep of a smile from the corners of her lips. He nodded.

“Yes…so following that, since you like this feeling…you would like being hypnotized, yes?”

Again, it was hard to argue, especially in her influenced state. “...mmm…”

“Then you can admit it, Luna. You like being hypnotized…that’s the truth.”

A slight hand twitch came at his sudden assertiveness, but nothing more, besides another positive-sounding hum. Luckily for her, he eased off a bit.

“Would you say it, Luna? You like to be hypnotized.”

She spoke before she thought. “...I…” Suddenly, a wave of hesitance came over her. He cleared his throat lightly.

“I’m here to help you relax, Luna…” His tone was soft, leading.

“Relax…” It was so nice.

“Lying stresses you out, isn’t that right?”

Her forehead creased. “Not…lying…” She seemed offended.

He sighed. “I’m not saying you’re lying. I’m just stating facts…I’m not wrong, am I?”

A pause came over the conversation, both parties unsure of what to say. After a too-long moment, her mouth opened, no sound coming out. He blinked, tilting his head a little bit.

“Luna?”

“...you’re…not…wrong…” She was exerting a lot of energy just to say this, exhausted in her mental frame.

“Yes…keeping the truth from another would be stressful, right?”

She eased back, her muscles relaxing more than they had before. “...yes…” She sounded weak.

“And I’m here to help you relax, so if keeping the truth inside is stressful…then naturally, you’d want to simply let it out, yes?” 

She nodded, but she was conflicted.

“Will you keep the truth from me, Luna?” Another pause.

Silence came over the space for a brief moment again, before she grunted, not giving away her response. She wasn’t sure, but she wanted to be.

“You want to relax, don’t you?”

Luna loved to relax. That was her favorite part. She graciously let out “Yes…”

“Answering honestly would help you relax, wouldn’t it?”

This logic was considerably less sound, but the conversation on relaxation had addled her brain enough to follow it anyway. “Yes…”

“So to relax fully, will you answer me honestly, Luna?”

“...yes.”

He smiled when she agreed. “Then, Luna…do you like to be hypnotized?...Give me a full answer, please…”

She took her first deep, loud breath in a while. “...I like to…relax…”

“Yes…and being hypnotized?”

“...It’s nice…”

“You like it, don’t you?” He was more confrontational than he’d been. Her brow furrowed, but she answered nonetheless.

“...yes.”

“You want to feel this nice relaxation again, isn’t that right?”

Her forehead tensed again, and she hesitated to answer. Her mouth was open, though. 

He tried to prod her. “Yes?” He was so close.

The space between Luna and her brother became tense. “...yes.” She sounded even less sure.

“You like this relaxation…is there any reason why you wouldn’t want to feel this again?”

She sighed under her breath. “...you’re my…brother…” Her eyes narrowed a bit.

He sighed as well. “Why is that a reason?”

Her subconscious thought back on her past, on the time they’d spent together. She couldn’t articulate it, especially not in her current state of affairs, but something had changed. She seemed sadder than before.

“...Luna?”

She looked for the words, words that were direct but not exactly mean. She settled on “...It’s so…personal…so vulnerable…”

He tilted his head in confusion. “...Is that wrong?” He asked curiously. 

She hadn’t considered that. “I don’t…” Nothing followed, and he gave a sharp breath at his sister’s incomplete answer.

“If you don’t know something, you’d defer to someone who did know, right?”

Back into the concrete, much more her speed. “Yes.”

“So if I told you that I knew the answer to that, then you’d defer to me, yes?”

Back to her brother, much less her speed. “...maybe.”

He squinted a little. “Why just maybe?”

“I…don’t know if I’d…believe you…”

He tensed. She couldn’t see. “Why not?”

“You don’t know…all the things…about me.” A soft breath.

“Sure, but there’s a chance I’d know things that could be related. Like if being personal with someone is wrong or not…”

She dwelled on that thought for a moment before replying. He was training to be a psychologist, after all. “...I guess…”

“Then with most things, if you didn’t know something, would you defer to me if I knew?”

The wheels spun longer this time. “...most things.”

He nodded lightly. “Would this count, then? On whether being personal with me is wrong or not?”

She sat in silence for a bit. She couldn’t see him as he looked right in her eyes, her vision too vague and half-formed to make anything but colors and shapes. He gulped quietly as he waited for a response; the anticipation was palpable.

“...yes.”

He smiled. “It’s not wrong, Luna. Being personal with someone is how you get close with them.”

She was more amicable than ever. She hadn’t been close with her brother in so long. “...close…” That was an attractive point with her. He gave a nod to her repetition. 

“That’s right…and being close with someone isn’t wrong, is it?”

It couldn’t be wrong, it had felt so right so long ago. “No…”

“So being personal with me like this isn’t wrong, is it, Luna?”
    A is to B as B is to C, therefore A is to C. She was pretty good at math. “No…”

“Good. That’s exactly right.”

Grant talked to his sister softly before checking on the time. He figured he still had a ways to go before she’d get suspicious. He nodded, even as it felt like he was pulling an anchor stuck in the sand to do anything at this pace. Still, this was incredible. Fantasizing about it was one thing, but actually getting to the point of this feeling…he wasn’t sure about it. It didn’t feel right, and yet, he wanted to feel it all the same. She sat as he looked around, getting used to the unprodding silence. This state was great without the questions. Even with them, it was still pretty amazing.

“Since hypnosis feels personal, then there’s no way being hypnotized by me is wrong, is there?”

“...no…” He suspected that she had let most of the chain of logic slip from her memory, and now she was going directly off of emotions. This was where he wanted her to be. This was where she was the most malleable to his will.

“Then you agree…nothing’s wrong with being hypnotized by me?” He asked her, hoping for the answer he wanted.

"No...nothing's wrong with being....hypnotized by you..." She took a deep breath for the first time in a while.

“So, Luna…you want to feel this relaxation again after this, right?”

Silence. If she was feeling anything, it didn’t show on her face. He blinked when she remained quiet.

“Luna?”

“...yes?” She perked up a little at her name, her eyes opening wider.

He was confused. “You want to feel this relaxation again, right?”

The silence came back, fiercer than ever. He was getting kind of annoyed.

“There’s nothing wrong with being hypnotized by me,” he reminded her softly.

She nodded, letting out “...nothing wrong…”

“And you enjoy this relaxation, yes?”

“...yes…” Her tone got more excited. That was clearly her favorite topic.

“Then there’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel it again, right?”

“...no…there is something wrong…”

He gave a harsh breath, his brows furrowed. “What’s that?”

She didn’t seem to acknowledge his frustration. “...this is…a one-time thing…”

He stared at her. “Who said it was a one-time thing?”

“...it’s…weird…”
    “But it isn’t bad, is it? It isn’t wrong…”

“...not…wrong…” She was more hesitant than she was before.

He nodded when she said that, staring back into her vacant gaze. “Hypnosis is personal… which means it would help you get close to me…” 

It actually would. That was a good point. “...yes…”

“You want to be close with me, don’t you, Luna?”

The confrontational vibe visibly unsettled her, her fingers twitching some more. She started to let out a response, but he interrupted her as he noticed. She didn’t complain.

“It would be nice to be close to me again, wouldn’t it?” He eased off, asking her slowly and softly.

That would as well. “...yes…”

“Being close to me would be something you’d want, right, Luna?”
    “...I guess so…”

That piqued his curiosity. “Is there any reason it wouldn’t be?”

She sat in silence for a moment. “...no.” That meant the small portion of her that could still think couldn’t think of one, which was very encouraging.

“If there’s no reason to not want to be close to me, then you must want to be, yes?”

She took a deep breath, her words getting slower. “...yes…I want to be…close to you…”

“That’s right…so if hypnosis is a way to get close to me, would you not want to keep doing it?” He asked softly.

His softer voice was more soothing, and as a result more convincing. She visibly relaxed from earlier. “...Yes. I would want to...keep doing it…”

He watched her excitedly before she finally answered in the positive, and he nodded happily. “You want to keep being hypnotized, then?” He kept his tone soft, just to be safe.

She waited. About a minute passed, neither of them breaking the silence, before she finally, truly acknowledged it. “...yes…” She let it out softly, but no less officially.

He smiled. “You want to keep being hypnotized.”

She was slightly more confident now. “...I want to keep being hypnotized.”

He sat back on the couch, basking in his hard-fought victory. It took him nearly an hour, but now he was sure that he’d be able to keep doing this. “You’d like for me to keep hypnotizing you, right?”

“...I’d like for you to keep hypnotizing me.”Her voice was monotone and firm.

“Would you come to me and ask me to hypnotize you again?” He asked curiously.

“No.” Equally firm.

He sighed. He’d have to do something about her resistance. “Why not?”

She paused for a bit. “...it’d look…desperate…”

He sat back in thought for a bit. “Why would that be bad?”

“...I’m not…desperate…” A hint of editorializing tone crept into her voice, a hint of ‘obviously, how did you not consider this.’ He was peeved at her opposition, shaking his head. “Then…would you agree if I came to you and asked if I could hypnotize you again?”

“Yes.”

He nodded lightly at his sister’s approval, catching the time out of the corner of his eye. It was time to wake her up. “Okay…well…” He wondered if a trigger might help make this faster next time, give him more to work with. “...Luna…whenever I touch your forehead, and say the word ‘Drop’...you will come right back down to this nice, relaxing trance…do you understand?”

She let out a small sigh. He knew she wasn’t going to turn down more relaxation. “...Yes…I understand…”

He nodded when she answered affirmatively, giving a long breath and thinking over what he planned to do next time before getting to it. “Then…on the count of three, you’ll come out of trance…feeling nice and refreshed…one…two…and three,” he counted, before snapping his fingers.

Luna blinked for a second, unmoving, when suddenly it felt like all the feeling had returned to her entire body at once. It was incredibly disorienting. She took a moment to process where she was and what had just happened before moving her arms around the back of her head and looking her brother in the face. “So, uh,” she offered, visibly thrown off.

“How do you feel?” She was dizzy.

She looked at her brother’s analysis of her, his gaze like how one would analyze a curious specimen under a petri dish, but she was too out of it to muster any kind of backlash. “I feel…weird…but good. Yeah, I feel good.”

He nodded. He shifted himself back against the couch. “Did it feel nice?”

She took a breath before answering. “Yeah. Yeah, it was really relaxing.”

He smiled when she said that. “That’s good to hear.” 

She nodded, her shoulders visibly less tense than when they’d started. Standing up, she headed to the kitchen, getting some water before facing back towards her brother. “Thanks for that. It was nice.”

At his sister’s reaction, he smiled. “Oh, it was no trouble at all. It helped me as well.”

Something seemed to dawn on her, as she recalled that this was originally to help him practice with hypnosis. "Right, right. Glad I could help."

His brows arched when she said that, and he chuckled a little. “Well, would you like to do this again, sometime?”

She tried mightily to hide her excitement. “Yeah, sure. That’d be fine. When were you thinking?” His brows arched.

“Well…tomorrow I’ll be doing it with Mom, so…when would be the soonest you could do it?”

“Oh, um…” She thought about how great hypnosis had felt, how bored she was before he had helped her out. It didn’t take long for her to decide. “Does the day after tomorrow work?”

He nodded at the fairly soon date. “Uh, sure, that works.”

She looked up, happy, but putting on a facade of disinterest. He could tell both levels of her interaction, smiling at her front. “Cool.”

“Well, thanks again. I’m going to go read up some more in my room.”

She noticed how things were returning to their natural state: her hanging out in the living room and her brother in his room all day. “Alright, have a good time.” She sighed as his door, the door they shared for most of their lives, closed, sitting down on the couch again and pulling out her phone. She went to bed a few hours later, a bit before her mother came home, slightly tipsy. Their mother kissed him on the forehead, wishing him good night. Hewished her a good night too, hiding his arousal as she left his room. His sister clearly couldn’t remember a thing from her trance, and he had plenty of tools at his disposal to shape her mind, to shape his mother’s. He couldn’t wait.