Lost in Thought

Author's Note: This is my first (and maybe only) work of fanfiction. If you're looking for any context on who the characters are, they belong to the artist Tetisuka.

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"Hey Citrus. Is everything okay?"

Citrus' call came just after class, before Cherry had even made it out of the lecture hall. Since Citrus knew her class schedule, she'd probably been waiting for the moment she got out, so it might be something important.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Are you going to be free around six-thirty today?" Citrus asked.

"Uh, yeah, for how long?"

"About an hour, I think. We can get dinner after if you've got the time though." Citrus said.

"What's this actually about though?" Cherry asked.

"I could use your help with a job interview thing." Citrus said.

"Why are you interviewing for a job?" Cherry asked. "You already have your own business."

"I'm the one doing the hiring, obviously." Citrus said. "But it's going to be a whole thing. I'm inviting a bunch of the regulars.

"Oh god, is this supposed to be some kind of-" Cherry cut herself off.

She could only guess at what Citrus had planned here, but whatever she was going to invite a bunch of guests over for at a sex shop, it probably wasn't something Cherry was about to talk about in front of her classmates still lingering behind in the lecture hall.

"It's going to be fun, I promise." Citrus said. "Feel free to bring a friend.

"...Is Blueberry coming?" Cherry asked.

"BB is definitely going to be there." Citrus assured her.

Well, that was the sum total of people Cherry could possibly invite to Citrus' store anyway. She still wanted to ask what she was actually showing up for, but that might not be a conversation she could have in public. Besides, if Citrus was being so coy about it, she was probably dragging out the surprise on purpose.

"Alright, I'll be there then." Cherry said.

Through the last lecture she had left before the end of classes today, she managed to do an adequate job maintaining focus. The complete lack of hints about what she'd been invited to helped guard her from her own imagination. But when she stopped by the library afterwards to put away some of her coursework, curiosity started to set in. Citrus had said it was supposed to be a job interview, but there was no reason to invite everyone over for that.

This wasn't some sort of hazing thing, was it? Subjecting a prospective employee of a sex shop to embarrassment in front of the regular customers... didn't seem like the sort of thing Citrus would do. Probably? Unless she thought it would be fun for everyone involved. And she could get away with it. Could she get away with that? Would Citrus invite her to something like that?

Altogether, it seemed pretty unlikely, but then, she couldn't come up with any other ideas of what was going on, and trying was getting in the way of her assignments. She did her limited best to put it aside, at least to get enough done that she could show up without needling from her conscience.

She stopped by her home before heading over, just long enough to put away her books and change out of the loose, concealing sweater necessitated by her university's aggressive air conditioning and her discomfort under the gaze of her fellow students. In a pair of jeans and a turtleneck, she was still dressed conservatively enough to pass by her mother with a brief wave and an announcement that she was headed to "Citrus' place" without arousing suspicion. The real nature of Citrus' business was still a secret from her parents, and would remain one for the rest of their lives if she could possibly manage it.

As planned, Cherry managed to arrive at her friend's store exactly on time; too early to miss anything or keep anyone waiting, but not so early as to invite awkward conversations with other customers who might be hanging around waiting for whatever Citrus had invited them over for. Not that she wasn't curious about other people's thoughts on what her friend might have in store, but still, apart from Blueberry, all Citrus' other regular customers were basically strangers to her, and that wasn't an easy barrier to breach.

Quite a few faces she'd seen before were already gathered when she arrived, but fortunately, before she was forced to brave any small talk, Blueberry emerged from the door to the basement.

"Cherry! I'm so glad you made it!"

Blueberry waved and hurried over as she spotted her.

"Well, Citrus kind of called me out of the blue, so I figured it was probably a big deal. Do you have any idea what we're actually here for though?" Cherry asked.

"Nope, she's playing that pretty close to the chest." Blueberry said. "But, I just finished helping set up chairs in the basement, so I figure she's got something to show off for us."

"Did she say anything to you about a job interview?"

"She did!" Blueberry answered. "I have no idea what that's about, but it's probably good news for the store."

"Anyway..." she nodded towards the other customers, "I'm supposed to tell everyone that everything's set up in the basement now, so we should be able to find out for ourselves in just a bit."

As she descended the stairs ahead of the other guests, Cherry could feel her heartbeat quicken a bit. She still had no idea what Citrus had invited them for, but setting things up in the basement was probably setting the tone for whatever she had in store. Cherry had been in the basement of Citrus's store before, and the aesthetic was a bit... dungeon-ish. Even without the mood lighting Citrus broke out on special occasions, her surroundings were already cast in a deep, sensual red. And while ordinary chairs now occupied the center of the floor, the furniture they'd displaced and left lining the corners of the room was clearly designed for purposes other than comfort.

Being the first one down, Cherry was left in the awkward position of picking a seat when absolutely none were occupied. She chose one near the middle, close enough to get a good view of whatever they were here for, but unlikely to end up the focus of attention for whoever was going to be up in front. Customers from upstairs quickly filtered in behind her, filling up most of the available seats, with Blueberry coming down last, sidling into the seat to Cherry's left.

Finally, Citrus herself emerged from a side door. Cherry had no idea what was inside that one; for all she knew, Citrus had been waiting in a closet this entire time to make an appropriate entrance.

"Ladies and deviants!" Citrus announced, "I want to thank everyone for coming here today! It means a lot to me that you'd all turn up in my basement on no notice without any idea what you're all here for. You guys are all great, seriously. And it tells me I must be doing something right with this place."

Citrus looked over her audience. "In fact, things have been going well enough for a while now that it's been getting outside my ability to handle all by myself. So, I've been making plans to finally expand our staff. But as I'm sure you all know, I have very exacting standards, and I can't bear to leave you in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to show you a good time."

"And so-" Citrus gestured towards the stairs, where a young woman in an eye-grabbing outfit, a white waistcoat and dress pants reminiscent of a classic magician's getup, was now making her entrance, "I'd like to welcome Olive, our new prospective employee! She's here to put on a show which I'm sure is going to wow you all. Say hello to Olive, everyone!"

A chorus of greetings rang out as Olive walked up to the front of the audience with Citrus, waving as she passed. Cherry couldn't quite bring herself to say anything, but she at least returned a wave. Seeing her more closely, Olive looked just about her age. Lightly freckled, with dark, curly hair to her shoulders, and a cheerful smile which Cherry absolutely could not have held while the center of an audience's attention like this.

"Hey everyone! I'm so glad to be here!" Olive's voice rang out, seemingly completely at-home in front of a crowd. "I know some of you have seen me here before. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to work at a store I wouldn't shop at myself. So, I'd better be able to put on a proper performance for you all, otherwise it's going to be awfully hard to show my face here again!"

For all she was showing it, it didn't seem like Olive was worried about that at all. She looked like she'd been through this countless times before, although Cherry thought she could see a faint blush on her cheeks. Perhaps she'd never had a performing environment quite like the basement of Citrus' store before.

"So," Olive continued, "when Citrus asked me about what skills I have which might lend themselves to working in a sex shop, there was one thing I brought up which she thought was especially interesting."

"So interesting I decided to make her employment contingent on it." Citrus chimed in.

Olive looked Citrus' way and smiled. "No pressure then."

She turned back to the audience. "The skill she wanted me to demonstrate is erotic hypnosis. Of course, her original request was for me to demonstrate it on her. But not everyone makes an equally suitable subject for erotic hypnosis, and unfortunately the results I got with her were pretty unimpressive. But she has very graciously given me the opportunity to try again, and thankfully, with a crowd of this size, I think we're pretty sure to have some suitable subjects here today."

Olive looked over the audience, her eyes stopping in a few places. For a moment, Cherry thought her gaze lingered specifically on her.

"So," Olive said, "I'm usually pretty good at picking out who it'll work on, and I think we've got some good candidates."

Cherry felt a pang of wistfulness at that. While the idea sounded enticing, she was pretty sure she could see where this was headed. Even if it was sexual in nature, this was probably just a stage show, like a magician's performance. Some of the members of the audience were probably collaborators who were already in on the performance, whose job it was to make the show work.

"I'd like to take a volunteer who I think has good odds, so I'm going to point out a few people from the crowd I get good vibes from. We've got a fair number here, so hopefully we'll get someone who feels good about coming up."

Olive stepped forward towards the front row of the audience, and pointed out a woman sitting close to the center. Then, after a moment, she pointed towards another, off to the left, then another, on the far right of the row. That was interesting- if she pointed out a lot of candidates, it'd be hard to make sure nobody who wasn't in on the show volunteered. Olive moved on to the next row, pointing out a couple candidates, then onto the next. First, a woman off to the right side of the row, but then, unmistakably, at Cherry herself. Their eyes met for a couple drawn-out seconds, before Olive pointed next to Blueberry sitting beside her.

Cherry didn't pay any attention to who came after that. No matter who else here might be in on the show, she definitely wasn't. For that matter, she found it hard to believe that Blueberry had been lying to her when she said she had no idea what this whole event was about. And yet, they'd both been pointed out as likely candidates for the hypnosis performance.

She couldn't help feeling a bit... indignant. The whole performance was probably a farce, but being singled out as a candidate, she felt like her own credibility was being forcibly volunteered for the cause. She could admit that on some level, she wanted it be real. And it wasn't as if she'd never heard of erotic hypnosis being a thing before. But she'd first looked into the whole idea of hypnosis years back, and nearly everything she'd read had been frankly disappointing. Anything dramatic enough to make a show out of for an audience like this was probably fake.

"So, any takers?" Olive asked.

She scanned the crowd, and her eyes met Cherry's again.

"Oh? Is that a volunteer, or a question?" Olive asked.

In spite of herself, Cherry's hand was raised. Perhaps Olive had read the expression of discontent on her face.

"I guess it's a question first." Cherry said.

First, but not instead of. One way or another, she couldn't help herself. If Olive was going to accept her as a volunteer, she had to see what was going to happen. But would she really take an uncooperative audience member? She paused, composing her words.

"How exactly is this supposed to work? I've heard that hypnosis can't make you do anything you wouldn't do of your own free will, and everything I've read about it sounds like it really just comes down to social pressure."

That had come out more confrontational than she'd intended, but Olive smiled at her in response.

"Good question!" she said. "You're right that hypnosis can't make you do anything which goes against your own nature, but you can't underestimate social pressure! That's how we built the pyramids, after all."

That sounded kind of like a dodge to Cherry, but Olive still got some laughs on her delivery, and she paused a moment before continuing.

"The way I think of it is, sometimes, it takes other people to unlock the potential of our minds. Think about watching a funny movie. You're way more likely to laugh watching it together with people in a theater than you are watching it on your own. Are you just laughing because it feels awkward not to? No, you laugh because it feels funny. Having other people there makes it a different experience than if you were on your own. Sometimes, it takes help from other people to access feelings which are hard to draw up on your own, whether that's laughter, anger... or a really good orgasm."

Cherry blushed at that. That was something she could definitely relate to; despite her experimentation with the wares of Citrus's store, her best sexual experiences by far had always been in company.

"So that's what's supposed to happen?" Cherry asked. "You hypnotize me in front of everyone and talk me into having an orgasm? Without touching me or anything?"

Olive gave her a wry smile.

"It's been known to happen." she said. "It's not always that dramatic, but I don't want to undersell it either. When I pick a good subject, people are usually impressed. So, do you want to give it a shot?"

In spite of herself, Cherry had backed herself into a spot where it was impossible to avoid being the center of attention. If she went up in front of everyone and Olive tried to hypnotize her and failed, it'd be awkward for both of them. But if she backed out now, it'd be even more embarrassing. And if Olive's efforts actually worked... well, the thought was exciting, but maybe better not to dwell on that too much.

"I guess it can't hurt to try." Cherry said.

"Fantastic! Let's get your chair up front so we can get started."

Cherry folded up her chair as she stood. Blueberry stood up next to her, making space for her to pass by, and she whispered into Cherry's ear as she moved down the row.

"Good luck!" she said. "Just relax and enjoy yourself."

Cherry carried her seat over to the front of the audience and sat down again, her gaze fixed firmly on the front row's feet. Everyone was watching her now, probably, but she definitely wasn't going to watch them watching her. Olive solicited an unneeded round of applause for her from the audience, then reached a hand into a front pocket of her waistcoat.

"Do you use a pocketwatch or something for this?" Cherry asked.

"I do have a pocketwatch for hypnosis!" Olive said. "A lot of people appreciate the traditional approach. But I left it at home. For what we're doing today, I prefer this."

From her pocket, she drew out the chain of a necklace. Rose-gold, with a heart-shaped pendant set with a single diamond glittering in the center.

"You can go ahead and relax and focus your eyes on that." Olive said. Her voice was calmer now, reassuring, but no longer bright and energetic. Cherry focused her vision on the pendant as it swung back and forth, relieved for the excuse not to meet the eyes of the audience.

"Watch the heart drift," Olive said, "and follow its movements as you breathe slowly."

The chain of the necklace was long, and the pendant traced slow arcs back and forth in her vision, the diamond in the center flickering softly red with the color of their surroundings.

"Are you comfortable?" Olive asked.

Sitting there, listening without looking at her face, it was clear to Cherry that there was such a thing as a hypnotic voice. She didn't feel the slightest need to think before answering.

"Yes." she said.

"As you watch the heart," Olive said, "You might find your eyelids becoming heavy. Just let your eyes follow it back and forth. It's fine if you blink."

Cherry did. So far, at least, this was extremely undemanding.

"As you watch the heart swing, just focus on letting yourself relax. With every swing, and every passing moment, you can relax a little bit more. Just a little bit, swing by swing."

Cherry wondered if the pendant might have been made especially for this. At least, it was certainly easy to focus on, in a way that made it surprisingly practical to put everything else out of her mind.

"As you watch, you might find yourself feeling just a little bit warmer. Comfortably warm. It's perfectly natural to feel that way as you relax and let your eyes drift."

Cherry did feel a bit warmer, in fact. Maybe due to the power of suggestion, or maybe because Citrus would surely be happy to pitch in with a finger on the thermostat.

"And as you relax, it's alright if you let your eyes close. You can let them rest, and focus on the sound of my voice."

Cherry did. Of course, this was the logical next step in a hypnosis performance, but it was after all extremely easy, and there was no reason not to be accommodating.

"As you focus on the sound of my voice, and listen to my words, you might start to feel that the rest of the room is very quiet. There's nothing else in this room that you need to worry about, just the sound of my voice and the words that I say."

That wasn't quite the direction Cherry had been expecting, but it was easy to think that way. With just the sound of Olive's voice to focus on, she really didn't feel like she was in front of an audience at all.

"And now, as you focus on the sound of my voice and the feeling of warmth on your skin, you might find yourself starting to feel more sensitive. On the back of your neck. Your ears. Your chest. Just breathe in and out, and enjoy the feeling."

Cherry did. It was nothing dramatic, but still, the sensation was definitely noticeable, and quite pleasurable.

"You might feel a tingling feeling spreading through your skin, growing warmer and stronger as you breathe. In and out, feeling better and better. But no matter how good it feels, you won't touch yourself. Just relax, and enjoy the feeling."

Well, that was a reasonable thing to ask. As easy as it was to forget about them now, Cherry was still technically in front of an audience.

"Just relax, and feel the warmth spreading across your skin. Feel the sensation growing as you breathe...in, and let the feeling grow... Out, and let it spread across your body. In, and let it grow... Out, and let it spread. In... and out."

Cherry felt at this point like the sound of Olive's voice was really only incidental in the process. Even without hearing her, she would still feel that tingling feeling spreading across her body.

"As you feel that sensation spreading across your body, feeling better and better," Olive said, "You might want a space to enjoy it. Somewhere you can be as free as you want, and experience it to the fullest. Somewhere where you don't have to worry about anything else. That space is right ahead of you. As I count down, I want you to enter that space, and close out everything else."