Melanie awoke the next day in her own room, fluttering eyelids trying to bear light into her brain, swimming upwards from the deep sleep she'd had. The night before was beset by rather blurry confusion. Everything felt blurry since she'd rid herself of those pants again, really since she'd lost herself in the story so eloquently illustrated. The drive back was slow and torturous, having denied herself the ability to reach the sexual plateau the story started. Once she arrived back home, she wanted to make sense of everything with her friends, but they were at it again; Melanie didn't feel like disturbing that, and actually wanted to run away from it, knowing they were able to achieve what she still refused for herself. Trying to sleep in her own room with headphones on wasn't any easier, as she blocked noises of pleasure with sounds of nature she sometimes used to promote sleep; unfortunately those sounds always took her to a beach, mountain, or rainforest connected to the jungle where lamia's ruled with iron wills, melting others. Several times she had to awaken to remove her fingers from inspired wetness between her legs. Frustrating sleep led to an unsunny disposition as she got out of bed.
It struck her before she could begin to change clothes that the mysterious pants had already once found their way back into the house before; eyes widened and breath halted as she suddenly hurried to put clothes haphazardly on, search for her friends. Some time after waking up, she thought she'd heard the sounds of them waking up too, but around the time of leaving the bedroom, they were nowhere to be found. Not the kitchen, not the living room, not even their bedroom. As Melanie desperately wanted to know where they were, a strange thought in the back of her mind made her ask if they knew where she was. Running to the front door to look for them outside, the door opened with Sasha standing at the front, smiling.
"Ah, morning Mel," Sasha said softly, cheerfully.
"H-hey Sash. Where's Gerry?"
Putting a finger to her lips, Sasha silently asked Melanie to keep her voice down.
"I don't know right now. We're playing hide and seek," she nearly whispered.
Unconsciously exhaling a deep breath, the redhead leaned against the door frame. "I was wondering where you two were; I was hoping something weird didn't happen again."
"Nothing weird going on with us. What about you, you kind of disappeared on us yesterday."
"I'm sorry, needed to go for a drive, decompress. Ended up picking up some snacks yesterday too."
"We saw that, thanks. A really nice surprise to wake up to, like the dawning sun we almost caught outdoors earlier."
It took a few moments to recognize the similarities between Sasha's just-above-a-whisper tenor and her usual trance voice, with the distraction of the yellow bracelet reflecting the morning sunlight.
"It would've been a great sight, I told Gerry. Sitting outside, wrapped in a warm blanket, letting the sun heat us up and bring us so much joy. It wouldn't matter how cold it was; just like bad thoughts, the warm sun, the warm contact would turn the temperature up and just make everything unwanted go away."
It seemed suddenly weird to have her head stuck craning downwards, staring at that bracelet, but the comforting hand touching her shoulder, and the back of her head didn't seem to mind that at all. Nice as the reflected sunlight and suggestions did help to make nearly everything else go away, where the pants were was the prevailing question that didn't stop being asked in her brain.
"That's right, Mel. Just take another deep breath, listen carefully, and let the s-"
"W-no. N-no Sash. I really....really need to...find...."
"Don't worry, babe. I know exactly what she needs to find."
A new voice made itself known from behind Melanie, a second pair of hands taking advantage of the scientist's disarray. Turned around without much resistance, Melanie was brought to bear Geraldine's spiraling eyes, as powerful as the first night she saw them, pulsing strong colors, highlighting red especially into the bewildered friend.
"And start to feel ssssssooooooo very happy that you've found it now, Mel. See, when Sash was said we were playing hide and seek, we were hiding from you, seeking to get you right where we wanted you."
Rapidly losing thoughts in the colors, she suddenly remembered the ability to close her eyes to block the colorful assault on her senses. With effort, lids were tightly shut, greeted with dual sets of laughter. Geraldine talked as if she expected this setback.
"It's not like you didn't want to be here either. We certainly felt your excitement that first night, and every other time you sank so deep into our control. But that first night was so very magical, wasn't it?" Melanie felt her leg being coiled up, softly stroked, kept in-place.
"Yes, not weird at all, but totally natural. You could say, supernatural, or extremely bound to happen," Sasha contributed her own hypnotic words, leaning close to her sinking friend's ear. "The only thing that was undecided about all this was who would get to wear the pants to help the inevitable process along. Unfortunately, I lost that chance in a duel."
"Mmmmm, yessssssss, she put up a noble effort, just like you, Mel. Fair person that I am, I even let my Sasha have the first shot in bringing you completely under, and how proud I am that she almost succeeded."
"B-b-but, how? I got r-rid of the p-pants. How?"
"Once you've gotten a taste of such power, Mel, there's literally nothing you wouldn't do, or nowhere you wouldn't go for more."
"Nor anything you wouldn't say to share that power with others you care deeply, and even deeper, about. Words that might express mutual love. For example, 'green.'"
Melanie gasped as her mind felt a surge of pleasure, envision the yellow of Sasha's bracelet and the blue of her nail polish, swirling together to create a green she could see deep in Sasha's eyes, the longer she looked. It nearly escaped her diminished thinking how her eyes popped open and head turned just to find Sasha's eyes without thinking.
"That's a very sexy color, but how would it do against...I don't know....'purple?' She was freed from Sasha's waiting gaze, only to be brought back to Geraldine's seeing spiraling colors again, but her mind filled with a meshing purple from blue nail polish and red highlights.
"Let's try 'green' again, for simple comparison," Sasha laughed. Mentally being ping-ponged back-and-forth by fixating triggers thrusted her thinking all over the place, losing the ability to think each time. The only one Melanie could hold onto, gripped tighter than any other, barely made it out of her mouth.
"Oo-oooooh-O-Or-range!" Struggling successfully to utter the other secondary color, her eyes closed while the assaulters found themselves compelled to stare into one another's eyes. Fire and resistance pushed Melanie to grasp Geraldine's waist, miraculously finding the invisible hem of the lamia pants. With faltering whispers, she coaxed the couple to stare long and hard at each other while removing the pants and accompanying powers. They fought to speak one of the colors to bring her back, fighting the silencing suggestions commanded. "Orange, orange ORANGE!" was yelled to them in the middle of removing the pants, running at the fastest speed weakened legs could manage to a storage room in the back that she could lock herself in.
She'd locked herself in the food storage closet, taking a moment to right herself, followed by immediately cursing herself for doing the dumbest move possible: voluntarily cornering herself so the only means of escape was through the persuaders that wouldn't take "no" for an answer the next time. After a few minutes, wondering if it was worth the risk of exiting the closet and sneaking out to the car, she heard noises of her friends awake and searching. She didn't trust her sub-par athleticism, or her vulnerable mind to get her to safety. She knew she was in trouble hearing the doorknob being turned over and over, and soft crooning urging her to open it, using everything the could to convince her why it was the best idea in the world. Melanie could only cover her ears to keep the bad temptations out, wondering how long she'd last.
"Quite the knack you have for getting into predicaments,"
sympathetic words were not blocked by hands covering ears at all; spirited words sounded like they came directly from inside her head.
"Serpentina!"
"Oh, Tina is fine as well, as close as we all have been getting the last few days."
"I tossed you over a fucking cliff! How are you back here? How did they find you?"
"Who said anything about them finding me?"
Analytically trying to parse the meaning of the insinuation, Melanie feared the worst.
"Remember what I keep asking you? 'Are you willing to let go?'"
The pair of lamia pants rested in her lap, the overhead lighting shining on them as she thought back to every time that question was asked.
"Every time I asked, you plainly, definitively answered 'no.' When your fearful self was posed the question, your desire responded, strengthening your grip on me, always bringing me back to the house to further someone's desires."
"How.....why did you do that to me?"