An American Bimbo In Paris

Lauren felt a sudden stirring of excitement in her stomach as her plane touched down on the runway of Charles De Gaulle airport, Paris. She was here. She was actually here. Paris. Lauren couldn't believe she'd done something so crazy. In the middle of one of the busiest parts of her PhD programme, she'd taken off and flown all the way from America to France, just to see a friend. It wasn't a complete dereliction of duty, of course - with a laptop and Internet connection, there was nothing she could do back at her college that she couldn't do here. Nonetheless, until a few months ago, she couldn't have imagined anything that would have dragged her away from the quiet of the library college library, where'd she'd already spent so many hours in frenzied, exhausting research. But then she'd met Fleur.

Somehow, Fleur always knew exactly what to say to her. She had done ever since the two of them had met, on an online gaming forum of all places. They'd hit it off immediately, with their shared hobby giving them plenty to bond over. It helped that Lauren didn't have much of a social life beyond video games. She was nerdy, trans, and her intensive studies as a grad student didn't leave her with enough time or energy for things like clubbing and partying. That had only gotten worse in the long weeks of recovery from bottom surgery, but Fleur had made it all bearable. And so, her French friend had insisted that to thank her for it, as well as get a little bit of a break from school, Lauren must come to visit her in Paris, on Fleur's dime.

Lauren had found herself powerless to refuse.

As she made her way off the plane and through the airport terminal, Lauren started to fill with the inevitable anxiety that came with meeting a long-distance friend for the first time. She just hoped she wouldn't be too much of a surprise or a disappointment. She didn't think so, at least. She was gay, and she knew Fleur was too, and so she felt safe in the knowledge that Fleur would appreciate her soft butch style. Lauren had re-buzzed her side shave the night before catching the plane, and she knew that with her dark hair, deep eyes and flattering curves, she could make a striking impression when she really wanted to. And she certainly wanted to with Fleur.

Mercifully, the moment Lauren caught sight of her friend, all her anxiety evaporated. Fleur greeted her with the warmest smile imaginable, and rushed towards her to offer the weary traveler a hug. Lauren returned it gratefully, but she was a little taken aback by Fleur's stature. The two of them had exchanged selfies, of course, but that hadn't prepared her for the fact that Fleur was perhaps four or five inches taller than her. Lauren knew her own height was decidedly modest, and positively tiny by trans girl standards, but she hadn't been expecting Fleur to tower over her to quite that extent. Secretly, she'd been hoping it might be the other way around. Lauren liked it when pretty girls had to look up to her.

"Lauren!" Fleur cried out joyfully, in lightly-accented English. She drew back from the hug just long enough to kiss Lauren's cheeks, making her blush a little. "Oh, chérie, I'm so glad to see you! You must be exhausted after that long flight. Let's get you back to my apartment."

Tired and bowled over by Fleur's enthusiasm, Lauren nodded, taking Fleur's offered hand and letting her friend lead her out towards the city.

***

The taxi ride back to Fleur's place passed quickly and quietly. Lauren and her friend talked a little, but mostly Lauren was still tense and tired from the stress of air travel, and besides, she wanted to stare out the window and enjoy the sights of the city - not that suburban Paris was much to look at. Lauren had been to Europe before, but not for years, and being in a different country again was awakening an awkward mix of feelings in her. On the one hand, she wanted to sit back, relax, and enjoy the vacation for what it was. On the other hand, there was a sagging weight on her shoulders that wouldn't leave, matched by a nagging mental hook reminding her that needed to be studying, or else she might fall behind. All the historic landmarks in the world couldn't fix that.

Her mood improved once they reached Fleur's apartment, and Lauren could finally slump on her friend's couch and take the weight off her feet. Fleur did an admirable job fussing over her, making sure she knew where everything was and that she had everything she needed. Within a few minutes, Lauren had caught her breath, and the two of them were chatting and hanging out just the way they'd always done online. Lauren was beginning to feel the pleasant warmth that came with being in the same room as someone she truly cared about.

"I'm so glad you're finally here!" Fleur told her, just as she'd done many times already. "I've been waiting for this forever. And now it's... wow, it's really you, in the flesh!"

"It's really me." Lauren blushed a little. She couldn't get over the way that Fleur's eyes kept running over her appreciatively. Her friend was checking her out. She decided to flirt back. "And it's really you. Fleur, you're even prettier than you look in your pics."

Fleur giggled, blushing faintly; exactly the reaction Lauren had been hoping for. Encouraging, she shifted a little closer to Fleur on the couch and put her arm across her friend's shoulder. Without any hint of hesitation, Fleur pressed herself against the butch girl, smiling as the two of them cuddled up together. Lauren was over the moon at the prospect of her friend returning her feelings. Aside from anything else, it had been way too long since she'd topped anyone.

"Chérie, let's stay up all night playing video games," Fleur suggested, purring. "It's the perfect way to relax. We can go out some other night."

"All night?" Lauren checked the clock, her heart sinking as she realized how late it already was. "Actually... I think I might have to turn in pretty soon."

"Too tired?"

Lauren sighed. "It's not that. I just want to be up early enough in the morning tomorrow, so I can study."

"Study?" Fleur sat up, appalled. "Lauren, no! This was meant to be a break for you."

"I know," Lauren said miserably. "But I just... there's just too much going on right now. I promise we'll have plenty of time to hang out together! But no crazy late nights, sorry."

"But you look so exhausted!" Fleur protested, disappointment and concern writ large on her face. "Don't you think you should at least try to-" She cut herself off mid-sentence and just stared at Lauren with her piercing, blue eyes, as if deep in thought. When she spoke again, she seemed to have changed her own mind. "Very well, Lauren. I understand. We don't want you to be stressed about having to catch up when you get back."

Lauren nodded. "That's exactly it."

"However!" Fleur added quickly. "You have to at least let me help you relax my way." She flashed a dazzling smile. "I insist."

Her smile was infectious, and Lauren quickly found herself returning it despite her regret, glad they weren't going to fall to arguing. "That sounds great. God knows I need it." She reflexively rubbed at her back, sore and aching from so many hours spent hunched over a book or a laptop. "So, Fleur, what's your way to relax?"

"Hypnosis."

Lauren was more than a little taken aback. "Hypnosis?"

"That's right." Fleur nodded seriously. "Trust me, it really works. I have a background in psychology. It'll relax you, help you sleep better, and most importantly, get all those books and articles right out of your head."

"That does sound pretty good," Lauren giggled. "As long as you're not going to turn me into a chicken or something."

"Oh, no," Fleur assured her, with an odd, serious smile on her face. "Nothing like that."

"W-well, OK then!" Lauren agreed after an awkward, intense pause. "Since you insist. What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Fleur's voice was very gentle and soothing. "Just sit back and get comfortable. Or, actually... why don't you rest your head in my lap?"

"In your..." Lauren blushed at the thought. "OK."

The two of them arranged themselves on the couch until Lauren was lying on her back, with her head rested on Fleur's soft, warm thighs. Her friend smiled down at her, her face framed by her long, platinum blonde hair, and Lauren had to fight not to squirm. She was used to this being the other way around.

"Now what?" she asked, to break the intimate silence.

"Now you just lie there and let me do all the work." Fleur laughed. Lauren couldn't get over her delicate accent. "Doesn't this sound nice?"

"Yeah, it really does," Lauren sighed. It had been a long time since anyone had said anything like that to her.

"Of course it does." Fleur's voice had become little more than a melodious whisper, and despite how close they were, Lauren found herself focusing all her attention on her friend's words to make sure she could hear her properly. "You poor thing. They've been working you far, far too hard. Look at you. You're still so tense, and you don't even know it."

"I am?" Lauren felt a lot of things, but in that moment, resting in Fleur's lap, 'tense' wasn't one of them.

"You are," Fleur told her confidently. "Perhaps you just need to pay a little more attention?"

"I... guess." Given how sure Fleur sounded, Lauren couldn't help but wonder if she was right. Maybe Fleur could see something she couldn't.

"You know better than me, of course," Fleur continued. But when was the last time you took a few moments to truly focus on your own body? You might notice how weary and sore your spine feels. I know you've told me about this. Or maybe it's your neck, stiff and weary, even now that I'm supporting it for you."

"Y-yeah..." Fleur's voice was incredibly relaxing, but through that, Lauren couldn't help but notice the deep, enduring exhaustion in her joints and bones. Fleur was right, she realized. She was tense. So very tense.

"You see?" Fleur smiled warmly. "You need to relax. That's why we're doing this, no?"

Idly, as if it was unconscious, Fleur's fingers started playing over Lauren's cheek. The touch was intimate enough to make Lauren go still.

"F-Fleur?"

"Shhh," Fleur insisted softly. "Just listen, chérie. Relax."

Lauren fell silent with a small nod. She had butterflies in her stomach. She wasn't used to following someone else's lead like this.

"There's a very simple way to get rid of all this tension." Fleur's hand kept stroking her cheek. Lauren couldn't stop thinking about it. "Very simple. Effortless. All you have to do is this: take a deep breath, and when you do, imagine you're pulling all this pain up into your lungs. And when you breathe out, imagine you're pushing it all out. But nice, deep breaths, yes? Let me give you the rhythm. Breathe in."

Lauren took a deep breath. She could already feel herself settling into Fleur's lap, more relaxed than she'd been in what felt like a lifetime. She was so tired. She felt like she could go to sleep like that.

"Good. And out."

Lauren exhaled. The moment she did, her body felt different. All of a sudden, it was as light as a feather, and filled with a pleasant, airy warmth. It was incredible. She wanted to say something, but she was too relaxed even to speak.

"Wonderful." Fleur's praise sent warm ripples through her. "And again. In."

Lauren obeyed. She felt like she'd be floating away, if not for Fleur there anchoring her, holding her firm.

"Out."

Lauren practically moaned, but she was too relaxed to feel any embarrassment.

"In."

The rhythm was already becoming second-hand nature; it had the feeling of an old, familiar comfort. Lauren's vision was beginning to blur and fade as her eyes unfocused, finally succumbing to an exhaustion that had been building for years.

"Out."

Once she expelled her pain, Lauren was left with almost nothing. It was so lovely. No thoughts, no worries. Just Fleur's sweet, captivating voice, and that maddeningly pleasant touch on her cheek.

"Wonderful," Fleur repeated. Her voice was angelic, carrying Lauren along like a leaf on the wind. "You're doing so very well. Good girl."

As deep as she already was, that particular term of affection made Lauren blush and stir a little.

"There's just one more thing," Fleur explained, ignoring Lauren's reaction. "And you're so close already. It'll be perfectly natural."

She brought her hand up Lauren's face, using a light touch that raised all the hairs on Lauren's skin. Her fingertip came to rest in the middle of Lauren's forehead.

"Sleep."

She pressed down, and somehow that little touch was enough to make Lauren close her eyes. She saw nothing but blackness, and she quickly fell, fell, fell, until she was deep, deep, deep in trance.

And that was the last thing Lauren remembered.

***

'No crazy late nights'. That's what Lauren had insisted on - and at the time, she'd meant it. But somehow, it didn't trouble her at all when, just six days later, she found herself stumbling back to Fleur's apartment with her friend at 3 am, decidedly tipsy.

"See?" Fleur teased, giggling and clinging to her. "Isn't this fun?"

Fleur was drunk too. The pair of them had headed out for a night on the town, and had wound up drinking and dancing together in a nearby bar. It was the most fun Lauren had had in years.

"Yeah, it really is," Lauren admitted.

It had all been fun. She was so glad she'd come to Paris. It was exactly what she'd needed. Getting away from school made all those pressures and stresses seem more distant, and as such, she was more relaxed now than she could ever remember being - not least thanks to Fleur's hypnosis. At Lauren's request, her friend had taken to hypnotizing her every single night. She'd felt bad about asking, but Fleur seemed incredibly eager to help, and their hypnosis sessions were simply blissful. It was like the most perfect massage imaginable. She wished she could remember more of what Fleur said and did to her once she was under, but her friend assured her that hypnotic amnesia was nothing to worry about.

Nothing to worry about. It was almost miraculous how fast that had become Lauren's motto, so much so that she'd even been neglecting her promised morning study sessions. She kept sleeping through the mornings, for one thing. Somehow, her evenings spent cuddled up on the couch with Fleur alway seemed to pass in a pleasant, comfortable haze, until before she knew it, it was long past midnight. And even on the days she managed to pry herself out of bed early, Lauren found that concentrating on her studies was all but impossible. Her eyes kept glossing over the words of the articles she tried to read, and whenever she tried to write anything, she always ended up lost in enjoyable daydreaming.

Normally, Lauren would have scolded herself viciously for being so ditzy and lazy. But, now that she was together with Fleur, it hardly seemed to matter. It was easy to reason everything away, telling herself that she'd catch up later, or that a few idle days wouldn't make any difference. And somehow, that was all it took to disappear her anxieties. Lauren wished it could always be so easy.

"Let's do this again," Fleur suggested eagerly, as the two of them started climbing the steps to her apartment building. "A few more times, before you have to leave."

Lauren found herself nodding in agreement. So far, Fleur had been right about everything, about how she needed to cut loose and relax a little.

"By the way," Fleur added, with a strange, knowing smirk. "Your French is getting much better."

"Oh!" Lauren giggled. "Merci. All thanks to you, I'm sure."

Fleur giggled too. Lauren had taken some French classes in high school, but she'd never been much good at it. Now that she was in Paris, though, it was all coming back to her. She kept accidentally slipping into the occasional French word when talking to Fleur, something that amused and pleased her friend greatly.

"I'm exhausted," Fleur sighed as the two of them stumbled into her apartment. "Maybe we should head to bed soon. But not before your hypnosis, no?"

The mention of hypnosis sent a chill of anticipation down Lauren's spine. "First, let me pay you back for those drinks," she replied, and started hunting around for her handbag.

"Oh, there's really no need," Fleur said quickly. "I can cover it all."

"No, no," Lauren insisted. "You've already been so kind, Fleur. At least let me do this."

Despite Fleur's protestations, Lauren kept searching around the apartment for her handbag, gradually sobering up as she began to grow alarmed at how long it was taking. Finally, she arrived at a horrible realization.

Her handbag was gone.

"Lauren, chérie, calm down," Fleur pleaded, as Lauren tore through her apartment in a frenzied search. "It will all be OK."

"But it won't!" Lauren was almost in tears. All of her stress was flooding back. It was like a nightmare. "Everything's in there - my wallet, my passport, my ID, my plane tickets! What am I going to do?"

"You still have your laptop, no? So you can still study?"

"That's not the point!"

"But if you can study," Fleur pointed out soothingly. "Then it's OK for you to stay a little longer, no? What does it matter if you have to miss your flight? I'm sure your bag will turn up."

"No, you don't understand!" Lauren protested shrilly. "I'm already behind! I haven't been studying. And if I don't get back then... my course, my PhD, my-"

"Shh," Fleur interrupted suddenly. "Lauren. Remember? Breathe. In."

Lauren froze. It was like her body was being smothered. All she could do was breathe in, in that special, deep way Fleur had taught her.

"Yes, good." Fleur's voice was quiet and melodic, just the way it always was when she put Lauren in trance. "Now, out."

It didn't feel right, but Lauren did exactly as Fleur told her. She let all the air flow out of her body, taking her stress and tension along with it. She was left floaty and weak, and confused.

"N-not now," she pleaded. "I need to find my... Fleur, what-"

"In," Fleur repeated. Lauren obeyed, filling her lungs with air. "Out."

Lauren's legs were turning to jelly. She sank down onto the couch, and Fleur swiftly sat next to her, still hypnotizing her.

"In."

Lauren inhaled.

"Out."

Lauren exhaled.

"There, chérie." Fleur pulled Lauren close to her, until they were cuddled up together. "Isn't that better?"

Lauren whimpered. It was better. It felt amazing. But she couldn't quite banish the nagging sense of wrongness that was haunting her. She shouldn't be this relaxed, should she? She'd lost something very important, and she needed to find it. So why was she just sitting on the couch, letting herself get hypnotized? Why was Fleur so eager to hypnotize her? Why couldn't she resist? It was all so confusing.

"You really do think too much," Fleur chided. "It's so very difficult, is it not? Much better to let your head be a little more empty, for a change."

"N... nng..." Lauren moaned weakly. Her head was full of fog, her eyes losing focus and turning into vacant, glassy orbs. What was Fleur doing to her? What had she been doing all those nights?

"I'm sorry, darling," Fleur told her sweetly. "You weren't supposed to notice right away. But you've been making such progress. I can't let all of that slip away."

Her words would have set off all kinds of alarm bells in Lauren's head, if only she'd been conscious enough to comprehend them.

"Sleep."

Lauren obeyed, and remembered nothing.

***

"Three... two... one... wake up."

Lauren opened her bleary eyes, feeling herself slowly coaxed back to consciousness by Fleur's words. As always, she looked up at her friend's warm, smiling face, and couldn't resist the urge to pull closer to her, curling up in Fleur's welcoming lap.