Ursula was up much earlier than she was used to; long nights of decadent domination kept the average hypno-dominant like her awake until the wee hours, sleeping into the afternoon if she was lucky. She expected the same of Dazzling, her recent savior-turned-mentor, but apparently the reputable mercenary kept a tight regimen for herself, including early morning workouts, often a lot of late-morning time dedicated to independent study (mostly studying target details and logistics), plus a daily visit to her favorite cafe, which Ursula was invited to for the first time.
"So, what made you want to be a full-time hypnotist, let alone an underground one?" Dazzling inquired as the pair walked along the sparsely-populated dawn-lit sidewalk, engaging in more of their daily quid pro quo, learning more about one another to test their compatibility, enjoying the results thus far.
"This old hypnotist that did a demonstration at my university in Edinburgh. I was a junior then, and was already well-versed in guys that just wanted to fuck. Goatee, white ponytail, and carried himself well, but barely bothered hiding his interest in the...student body, shall we say. His routines worked on everyone, including me. But knowing what he wanted before and especially after the show put me in a disposition that left me less suggestible than he wanted."
"What'd you do after, kick the shit out of him?"
"Yeah, the way that hurt his pride the most. Used the body he wanted to induce trance, gave him a sexy strip tease, let his hard-on stay extended and excited. I actually sling-shotted my wet panties in his face, and held them there gently as I mimicked what he did on-stage to get them deep fast."
"Nice!"
"Oh yeah, he was a great pussy-licker. And that's what equated to sex by the time I was done speaking to him."
"My kind of table-turning," Dazzling approved.
"Makes me feel more than a little fraudulent that Master Harry got a hold of me," she grimaced at the memory. "AND almost roping you into that bullshit."
"I might have to resort to suggesting you stop apologizing for that; as I've said many times, it happens to even the best of us," Dazzling chided.
"It's never happened to you."
"That you know of," was the older hypnotist's smirk as they approached their destination. It was a small, tucked away place called the "Summer Jewel Cafe." It looked like the employee inside was just getting the place set up, the open sign lit up ten feet before they reached the door to enter.
"Good morning," the barista behind the counter with her back turned, as if knowing exactly who had entered her store.
"Good morning to you, August. How goes the day?"
Turning to face them, the cafe's first customers of the day saw a lightly-tanned brunette greet them with a friendly smile. August's short brown hair was in a ponytail, and Ursula could see from her forearms toned muscles, indicating along with the rest of her that the barista did a lot of heavy lifting on the job, or often got a good workout in. With a calm expression that didn't seem to know she was facing a few potent mental manipulators, the younger hypnotist got the impression of "athletic Mona Lisa" from August, complete with knowing smile.
"Just like any other day, birds chirping, sun smiling, bodies begging for caffeine," she laughed, handing Dazzling a cup that already seemed ready-made for her.
"You must be psychic," Dazzling took the cup, savored the first sip of her special blend.
"And what can I get your friend here?"
"I recommend the 'Jade pending' blend," Dazzling said.
Ursula's eyes scanned the board above the bar, searching for the recommendation. "Sorry I don't see the...wait, jade pendant?" A lone piece of jewelry, a small jade orb, hung from around August's neck in a simple chain.
"No no, 'Jade pending,'" Dazzling corrected, pointing towards August that suddenly looked spaced-out.
"Ah, I see. That does sound special," Ursula chuckled. "But I did have my eye on that peppermint mocha."
"Good choice. August, one peppermint mocha for my friend here. And please, make it snappy," Dazzling snapped her fingers in the barista's direction, setting off a chain reaction that Ursula interpreted as a euphoric wave coming over the woman, followed by a bit of spunk, ready to eager serve her early clientele. It was less than a minute before Ursula was enjoying her drink almost as much as Dazzling was enjoying hers.
"Mmmmmmm. Almost nothing tastes better than 'free.' Though I guess that is a bit of misnomer," Dazzling admitted, savoring a slow sip of her coffee.
"How do you mean?"
"Well, small businesses like these are always financially unpredictable, and locals like me supporting small business. And so does the rich mogul or two that heeds the advice of a...'financial consultant' every once in a while to make angel investing part of their charitable givings."
"Ah, one of your more endowed pets?"
"Or just another loyal customer of this fine establishment," Dazzling took longer sips, allowing her tongue to savor each intake more than the last.
"Wow, you're really a connoisseur of that coffee."
"Yeah, it's my...usual order," Dazzling's face registered a flash of something for a second, perplexing both hypnotists as she said it.
"What does it taste like?"
"It's like...it's like sitting in one of those chic outdoor cafe's, enjoying the outside, but there's nothing else around for miles besides color, fragrant gardens, filled with cherry blossoms and...mmmmmm everything else sweet."
"That's...descriptive," Ursula found herself focusing on Dazzling more than ever, never expecting to find ironically un-subjective submissive indicators written all over her face.
"Mmmmmhmmmmm....the kind of place that makes you want to thank my barmaiden...and step deep into that garden....just with your coffee and..thoughts...and just follow...." Dazzling's tone made the sentence sound incomplete.
"Follow what?"
"Follow....orders."
"Whose orders?"
"She means mine."
Ursula turned to the sound of someone else's voice, finding August Jade finishing blinking herself awake, smiling.
"How...what the..." she eyed the way Dazzling slowly finished the last of her cup before standing upright, dreamily, lost in the garden blooming in her head. Looking down to the cup in her hand, she set it down and backed away from it, looking accusedly at the barista.
"To explain, there's nothing in your cup that's going to inspire that. What Cass and I have is a bit of give and take."
"Experimenting with special blends for years working in places like this, I kind of stumbled upon one or two brews that made some...influenced, more on the suggestible side. You'd be surprised how many bad, sometimes rowdy customers get a taste to this, and come out mellow to the point of...well, better for society."
"So you just make those 'murderous without coffee in the morning memes' a reality?" Ursula asked skeptically.
Shrugging her shoulders, but laughing after a brief moment of thought. "Yeah, actually. I may have saved a life or two this way. But anyway, I thought I was some big, secretive hypnotist having real influence over people, until she walked into my establishment one day," August gestured towards Dazzling.
"Before her, I would've thought all the tropey hypno shit out there was sooo fake; after enjoying my coffee and a conversation I don't fully remember, she got to me before I could even remember what happened. All I really remember is her using my name to trance me, with a sweet taste in my mouth like as if I drank my own hypnotic coffee, which I know I'd consciously never do during business hours. And once I let my secret slip and she realized I could do something similar with coffee, she had to try it, which after a few samples, left her open to me."
Ursula felt like laughing at the story that sounded too plausible to be real, yet probably was.
"And now it's a bit of a thing where she does to me, and I do to her every other day. I would stop her doing me on my end, if she didn't make it feel so great. And at least I know how my influenced should feel. And if you're a hypno-friend of hers, hopefully I wasn't wrong in laying all these details out for you."
"...and what if I hypnotize you in retaliation?"
"As long as you're going to be nice about it, I don't think I'll mind."
"Will she remember this happening?"
"Since she wants to remember, yeah. 'Order up,'" August triggered, and Dazzling woke from her trance, chuckling at August from over the counter who beamed back.
"Hope that didn't freak you out, Urs."
"A little bit, yeah."
"Well, let that be a reminder all hypnotists should keep in-mind, even hypnotists can be gotten to by others. Sometimes it's even easier for us as we already know how fantastic slipping to that other end of consciousness feels."
"Very true," August agreed. "Still hate how you tied mine to my name of all things."
"No you don't, you love it," Dazzling reached over to hold the jade ball, gripping her gift to the barista, gently pulling her forward a step.
