11. The Student And The Mentor
(Lucy)
"What's on your mind?"
I could tell that Stephanie wasn't entirely here tonight. Lost in her thoughts, maybe. She'd invited me over tonight to plan, as we often did these days, for World Domination. Okay, not really, but some days it felt like it. We'd recently secured the
co-operation
, wink wink, of the second of five people Stephanie needed to sway on the university's Psychology Board of Ethics. And when it rains, it pours.
"Gloria has found an excuse to entertain Professor Cunningham at her house next Saturday," Stephanie announced as we snuggled up together on her couch.
That was huge. One out of five board members under our sway was a foothold. Three out of five was a majority. Soon, Stephanie would have to actually start working on her experimental design.
"Cool!" I sat up eagerly. "You want me to be there?"
"Actually," she said, "I was thinking that I should do it myself."
"Oh, okay, sure!" I said, lying back down on her shoulder. I hadn't really expected that, because she'd been fine sending me out on my own so far, but whatever.
"Good, good," she replied.
There was something odd there, a slight catch in her voice. A sense of saying words just to fill the space, to seem like she wasn't feeling awkward or troubled.
So I asked her, "What's on your mind?"
"Oh, nothing really," she said, a little too casually, "it's silly."
"But it
is
bothering you," I pressed. We were both in completely the wrong profession for trying to dodge the question.
Stephanie sighed, and nodded slightly.
She was silent for a moment, then said, "Lucy, do you ever think about--if such a thing can be measured--which of us is the better hypnotist?"
I blinked. "Well, it's you, obviously," I argued. "I'm pretty much your student in the art of hypnotising people."
"I'm not so sure about that," she mused. "I hypnotise people more often on average, but you have more experience with... how do I say it... spycraft. Infiltration. Hypnosis by covert means. And if this study does have society-wide consequences, yours might be a much more valuable skill set. So I need more practice."
"Okaaay," I said slowly, "but what about Victor, and the guards at Births, Deaths and Marriages? You've had plenty of practice!"
Stephanie was silent again.
"I know that this might make me sound paranoid," she mumbled eventually, "so please know that I trust you implicitly."
"Of course!" I kissed her cheek reassuringly.
"I wonder," she sighed, "if I am creating the conditions for someone else to hypnotise me. By acting as an authority on the subject, hosting a podcast about it, publishing research... it invites a challenge."
"I see," I said, "you think someone might start wondering whether they can knock you off your pedestal, and become the One True Queen of Hypnosis."
"Precisely."
"Oh, well that's easy then," I waved an arm casually, "the whole hypno-kiss thing works based on attraction, right? So just be careful not to fall for any pretty women."
Stephanie turned to stare at me, looking almost... offended?
I stared back at her.
She stared at me.
I stared back at her.
OH.
"Me??" I said incredulously. "Wait, wait, hold on, you're worried
I
might do all that?"
"I'm not worried about it, as such," Stephanie replied, a little defensively. "It's more that I know you could if you wanted to, and I'm not even certain I would try to fight it."
"And you want to practice...
kissing spycraft
, to make sure I'm not, like, definitively better at it than you are?"
"... Yes," said Stephanie, her cheeks uncharacteristically pink. "Look, having a harem is something like a side-effect of my actual goal. I'd prefer to be a scientist studying a phenomenon, than a Queen to be usurped."
"Oh, of course!" I replied in a mock soothing voice. "But if you're gonna test out hypnosis yourself, you've gotta have at least one sex slave, right? And, oops, there goes another, and another, and this one fell into your lap by chance, just begging to serve... it's not
your
fault if other people build you a pedestal just cause you hypnotized them a little bit, right?"
"Okay," Stephanie relented, "you're right, it's a very enjoyable side-effect."
I could tell that the admission was a weight off Stephanie's mind, but as we got ready for bed, I could tell it was still bothering her.
I reached around to undo her bra as a pretext to lean in and kiss her. Or I kissed her as a pretext to undo her bra. Did it matter which?
"Are you worried that I might put you under tonight?" I murmured, part teasingly, part reassuringly. "Is a part of you thinking, 'she's really good at hypnotising unsuspecting people, and I've just invited her into my bed...'"
"I'm still not worried about it," Stephanie insisted firmly as she stepped out of her panties, "I trust you completely."
"Maybe you're not scared of ending up as a sex slave," I objected," but you
are
scared that ending up as a sex slave will get in the way of your research."
"Well," Stephanie paused to think about it, "I trust that your ideas are good, and I don't want to keep you from trying them."
"And I'd never wanna keep you from following your life goals," I parroted back.
"I appreciate that," Stephanie clasped one of my hands in hers, "but the further along I get with this project, the more I feel the need to stay fully in control of myself. Hence... conflicting feelings."
Stephanie's hand was very warm in mine, and I had the urge to bring it to my lips and kiss it. Then, following that train of thought, I had an idea. It was extremely, well,
feudal
, but...
"What if I swear fealty to you?" I said, brightly.
Stephanie stared at me, eyes wide.