With a slam of the door and an exasperated huff, Emily kicked off her shoes and tossed herself couchward, her scream of frustration muffled by the cushions she'd buried her face into. Veronica followed, sitting delicately next to her girlfriend and calmly, soothingly pulling Emily's head into her lap.
"I'm sorry they're like that, babe." Despite the relaxing calm of her girlfriend's voice, Emily could hear the rage at her parents buried underneath. Closing her eyes and breathing slowly, Emily buried her face into Veronica's belly relishing in the soothing touch of Veronica's fingernails lightly running along her scalp. "Just a couple more years, you'll be done with school and you won't have to rely on those assholes for financial support anymore. We can never see them again." Veronica's soothing tone made Emily shudder as she nuzzled herself against the soft belly-flesh before her, and for the thousandth time, she found herself thanking any and every higher power for the blessing that was her lover.
"I just wish my parents weren't such judgmental assholes. Every other word out of their mouths is some passive-aggressive bullshit. I swear they only even bother maintaining our relationship to lord their power over me and make vague disapproving noises about my 'lifestyle choices.'"' Emily whined, fighting back frustrated tears. As relieved as she was for it all to be over, her anger at the constant gaslighting and judgment, compounded with the knowledge that her parents would drag her and Veronica out for another uncomfortable dinner within the next few months had Emily nearly in tears.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, will you let me make you feel better?" Veronica asked.
"What did you have in mind?"
"It's not about what's in my mind my dear, it's about what's in yours. Or rather, what isn't." A hungry, seductive smile spread across Veronica's face as she winked flirtatiously.
"That was really corny babe. But also, I'm listening." Emily replied with a giggle.
"I was thinking I'd treat my sweet little girlfriend to a night of pampering and mindlessness." At mention of Veronica's plan, Emily shuddered in anticipation.
"I -- uh. I t-think we can work something out."
"That's my girl. Last time I played with your head I planted some triggers that I never told you about. We don't have to use them. Would you like to try them? I can leave them a mystery, or if it would make you feel better I can tell you what they are before we get started." Something about that, about Veronica holding the keys to her mind like that, with Emily not even sure of what and where the locks were, sounded so deliciously enticing. The idea alone was enough to make her groan in anticipation.
"I -- nggg I," Emily moaned
"What's the matter sweetheart? We haven't even gotten started yet."
"I want."
"What do you want?" Veronica asked, leaning forward to enticingly stroke Emily's cheek.
"N-new triggers. Don't tell me. I'd -- I w-want the mystery. I trust you."
Veronica's smile grew wider. "That makes me very happy sweetheart. Now I want to go slow with you tonight, really build you up. But remember, at any point you can stop it. Even if you're deep under, the moment you feel unsafe you'll be able to snap yourself out, okay?"
"Y-yes, Veronica." Emily stammered.
"Good girl. Now, let's get started with a nice, relaxing drink ." Veronica slid off the couch, gently scratching Emily behind the ears in a gesture that was both condescending and incredibly comforting. Emily couldn't stop herself from leaning into the gentle scritches, then pouted as her girlfriend slid off the couch and headed toward the kitchen. "Sit back and relax, my love. Watch tv if you like, or read or I dunno, whatever it is you want. I'm not putting any rules on you tonight. This is all about relaxing you. So do it, if you can hmm? For me?" She clapped her hands together and blew a kiss from across the room, then turned to leave.
Watching from her position on the couch, Emily couldn't help but blink. Was that the trigger? It was certainly an odd gesture, but at the same time it didn't seem to do anything. Maybe it was subtle and would build a little more each time it was used? Or maybe it was time-sensitive and she'd slowly start slipping? Or was Veronica just fucking with her? Despite the frustrating, confusing nature of her girlfriend's behavior, Emily couldn't help but relax. She had given up control, and she knew there was no sense worrying about how and when her induction would come. It was inevitable, and she trusted Veronica more than anyone in the world. Such play wouldn't work otherwise.
With that in mind, Emily flicked on the TV and allowed herself to slip into a confused, but carefree contemplation. She allowed herself a quick mental checkup while performing one of the many calming breathing exercises Veronica had shown her. She'd developed the technique during one of the many longer sessions she and her girlfriend had taken part in, a way to gauge whether Veronica had started fucking with her head.
It started with cognitive ability, under her breath Emily whispered the first ten letters of the alphabet backward "J I H G F E D C B A." She murmured under her breath. Satisfied, Emily asked herself her own name, her girlfriend's name, what her relationship to Veronica was, everything seemed normal, no slip-ups there. Mental clarity and sense of self seemed good. Lastly, she checked on her mood. Overall she felt nice, less tense than before, comfortable, content, but not to any extreme degree. She felt like someone with a kind, caring girlfriend who helped her feel better, not an empty-headed hypnotized pet.
Convinced her mind was still her own, Emily returned to doing basically nothing at all. She honestly wasn't much of a fan of TV, but having it on was a nice bit of background noise while she lounged on the couch and tried to keep thoughts of her shitheel parents out of her head. Not long after, Emily felt nails running through her hair. Veronica's nails massaged her scalp with delicious, tingling, comfortingly possessive motions that caused Emily to shiver in delight as her eyes rolled back into her head while eyelids fluttered closed in pleasure.
She felt so blissfully submissive under Veronica's touch, and couldn't keep a soft coo from escaping her lips. Once again, Emily couldn't help but wonder if such pleasure stemmed from that mysterious trigger. Was Veronica wiping away her thoughts with each stroke of her hand? Erasing them 'til she was just a blank canvass? No, definitely not, Veronica stroked her hair just like that all the time, nearly daily, so it couldn't be a trigger, right? Before Emily could examine the thought any further she was interrupted by Veronica sitting on the couch once more and setting a glass on the coffee table, though Emily didn't bother opening her eyes to check what had been prepared.
Somewhere above her, Veronica shifted. There was the sound of her exhaling breath into the liquid held in the glass, then she leaned down toward Emily. "Will you sit up and drink a bit for me, sweetie?" She asked in a honeyed voice.
"Am I not allowed to drink on my own now?" Emily put on an air of petulant mockery. What fun was surrendering to Veronica if she didn't make her work for it first?
"Not tonight, I'm indulging you every step of the way. Open." Veronica snapped her fingers at the exact moment the command left her mouth, and suddenly Emily felt doubt and confusion cloud her mind. That had to be a trigger, right? It was a command mixed with an external stimuli, Veronica snapped her fucking fingers, that was the triggeryest trigger that ever triggered and yet she didn't feel any less present, did she? She was confused, definitely confused, really confused but when she ran through her exercises everything seemed fine. She could do the alphabet backward thing, her name was Emily, Veronica was her girlfriend, she was Veronica's girlfriend and occasional hypnotic submissive. It all checked out, nothing seemed out of place, and yet -- warm, thick liquid slipped between Emily's lips, pulling her away from her self-interrogation. It was sweet, with a strong, dizzying, flowery, spicy smell, and no shortage of alcohol.