Luna and Feliciana

Chapter 1

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.