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.
