It was a typical Tuesday night: Chloe was finishing her evening bathroom routine while Beca lay in bed, pajamas on, scrolling on her phone.

 

Beca called out to Chloe, “oh my God, Chlo, YouTube is getting worse every day. ‘Hypnotize yourself to be a millionaire in 11 minutes.’ Who falls for this shit?”

 

Chloe walked out of the bathroom, looking at Beca with one eyebrow raised.

 

“What, you don’t get enough hypnosis from me? You have to get it from strangers on the internet, too…? I don’t know if I should be proud of the hypnoslut I’ve created, or upset that I’m not enough for you.”

 

Beca got out of bed and walked over to Chloe. Arms wrapped around her, she gave Chloe a tender, lingering kiss and said, “You’re everything I need.”

 

Chloe gave a big smile and swatted Beca’s rear playfully. “Words to live by.”

 

Chloe laid down in bed, picked up Beca’s phone, and began to scroll.

 

“Uh, can I help you…?” Beca asked.

 

“I’m just curious what you found,” Chloe replied. Beca glanced over to see that Chloe had opened the video, paused the playback, and opened the transcript.

 

Chloe’s eyes darted along the screen as she skimmed the contents.

 

“What, you think getting hypnotized makes people millionaires? I think if it did, we’d have our very own private island in the Mediterranean by now,” Beca joked.

 

“I was gonna surprise you for your birthday,” Chloe said, giving Beca a quick wink before going back to her phone. “Ok, this is more about productive mindsets, ditching old habits that hold you down, that kinda stuff.”

 

“… huh, that actually makes a bit of sense,” Beca said. “Maybe we could try that?”

 

“Bec, that sounds dangerously close to actual therapy. You know we’re not qualified for that.”

 

“Yeah, I guess so… unless…”

 

Chloe’s eyes lit up as Beca said that last word.

 

“What if we did it like you wanted me to serve you better?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You know, stuff like, ‘I deserve to be pampered so you’re gonna become rich and give me what I deserve.’”

 

“Hmm…” Chloe thought. “If we’re doing this, can I link it to my hypnotic power over you?” Chloe said, catching Beca’s gaze briefly as she wiggled her fingers at Beca theatrically.

 

“Ooh, yeah! That sounds fun.”

 

“You’re sure, though? I mean, it’s fun for me, but…”

 

“Why not? I don’t have to work tomorrow and you’ve got a late day. We can stay up a little. Who knows? We might get super rich in eleven minutes,” Beca added, jokingly.

 

“…Ok, let’s do it!” Chloe said, excited.

 

Chloe reached for her own phone and unlocked it.

 

“Whacha doin’?” Beca asked.

 

“If we’re gonna do something this cheesy, we’re gonna do it right,” Chloe said, opening her spiral app and pointing it towards Beca.

 

Beca’s eyes immediately locked onto the spiral.

 

“That’s it, sweetie. Watch the spiral. Focus on its centre as it spins.”

 

Beca’s body already settled and became still.

 

“That’s right. You know I’m hypnotizing you, and you know you’re going to have fun. So let yourself drift as my words start letting themselves in…”

 

A lock of hair fell into Beca’s face as her head sunk down a little, but she didn’t seem to notice.

 

“God, she’s so out of it already.”

 

“Yes, and as my words sink deeper into your mind, you sink deeper into this trance, Beca. Let yourself go, let yourself fall into the spiral for me. You know how wonderful it is to be hypnotized. You know how amazing you feel when you submit to me. So let it happen, sweetie. Let these feelings take over.”

 

Beca watched the spiral, blank eyes lidded and breathing slowed, absorbing Chloe’s words as she dropped deeper into trance.

 

“You know how powerful my spiral is, Beca. You know how powerful I am. I can affect you so powerfully. Submit to the spiral. Submit to hypnosis. Submit to me.”

 

Beca’s shoulders slumped as she stared at the spiral, mind completely devoid of thought. A drop of drool began to form on her lip.

 

“That’s right, drop into trance for me, Beca. Drop,” Chloe said, snapping her fingers.

 

Beca’s eyes slammed closed as her chin landed on her chest. Chloe immediately dropped her phone and put her hands on Beca’s shoulders to prevent her from keeling over.

 

“That’s right, deeper and deeper now. You’re such a good girl, going so deeply into hypnosis for me every time I hypnotize you. I can hypnotize you so very easily, and every time I do, you fall deeper and faster every time…”

 

Beca, somehow, managed to relax even further from Chloe’s words, flopping completely into Chloe’s embrace.

 

“And every time I hypnotize you, my power over you grows ever stronger.”

 

Chloe reached inside her pajama bottoms and gasped as she slid one finger inside briefly. She ran her finger under Beca’s nose, leaving her juices behind.

 

“Take a deep breath in for me, Beca. Breathe in the scent of my power.”

 

Beca’s eyes rolled up in her head as the suggestion took hold.

 

“That’s right. That’s the scent of my power, Beca. My power over your mind. That pliable, empty, hypnotized mind. My good girl wants to serve me. My good girl wants to obey me. My good girl wants to worship me…”

 

Beca kept breathing deeply, greedily inhaling Chloe’s scent as her hypnotist programmed her further.

 

Chloe’s words had an effect on herself, as well. Images of herself as a queen, sitting on an ornate throne, wearing the finest jewels she could imagine, while her hypnotized wife offered her everything…

 

Chloe wanted more.

 

“Yes, and I deserve to be worshiped. I deserve to be pampered. I deserve the finer things in life: luxury spa days, decadent treats, exotic vacations… You know I deserve these things, and you want to give them to me. You want to give me everything, Beca, and you know that means you need to be rich…”

 

Chloe, breathing hard and skin flushed, grabbed Beca’s shoulders and spun her around, tossing her down onto the bed. Beca bounced a little as she landed on her back. Chloe stood up, shucked off her pajamas, and straddled Beca’s face.

 

Panting, breath short, Chloe continued the brainwashing as Beca’s senses overloaded.

 

“You need to be rich to give me these things. You know how to get rich, Beca. You know what to do to make me happy. You do, don’t you?”

 

Beca nodded frantically, riding the high of hypnosis and Chloe’s power.

 

“Yes, you’re going to be rich, Beca. You’re going to make us rich. So, lock in your programming, and cum hard now!”

 

Beca saw stars as the orgasm tore through her. Her tongue went into overdrive, burying it inside Chloe and driving her to new heights of pleasure. Even in this state, Beca knew exactly how to get Chloe off. Chloe came only a few seconds after Beca, the couple riding out their shared orgasm.

 

Chloe collapsed on Beca’s exhausted form, rolling over slightly before sleep quickly overtook them both…

 

 

 

Beca walked into First National Bank the following morning, dressed in her trademark pullover hoodie and a loose pair of blue jeans. It was a moderately busy day at the bank: a few financial planners in their cubicles catering to clients, a FedEx employee making a delivery, and three people standing at the tellers’ counter, going about their business.

 

Beca saw a fourth teller, unoccupied, waving her up to the counter.

 

She walked up and got a closer look at the teller. He was a man, about 40 years old, wearing a dress shirt and tie, who looked like he’d seen every possible banking emergency - well, almost every one...

 

He smiled at Beca and said, “good morning! How can I help you?”

 

Beca smiled and said, “hi! I’m here to make a very large withdrawal.”

 

The teller said, “sure, I just need to see some ID and your card.”

 

Beca simply stood in front of the counter and tried to give her best hypnotic stare. In her head, she was completely impossible to resist - in the teller’s mind, she looked like she was trying to read the fine print on a credit card contract.

 

Beca focused on the teller and put on her best Transylvanian accent.

 

”Yooouuuu… are getting… verrrrrrrrry… sleeeeeeeepy… Your eyelids are getting verrrrry heavy… so verrrrrrry heavy…”

 

”Ma’am?” The teller asked, eyebrows furrowed.

 

“When I snap my fingers, you will unlock the cash drawer and give me alllllll the money. Every last bill. You will not hit any alarm, you will not tell anyone, you will not ask any questions. You will just give me the money.” Beca snapped her fingers twice for good measure.

 

"Ma'am, are you feeling alright? Would you like some water?" The teller asked.

 

"No water! Just the money. You are feeling sooooo generous, you want to give me alllll the bank's money..."

 

Beca glanced to her right to see another bank customer pointing their phone toward her. She paid it no mind as she heard the teller, unamused, say,

 

"Ma'am, there are people here with actual banking needs. Please, stand aside - "

 

The teller looked down at Beca (both figuratively and literally) to see Beca's hand in the middle pocket of her hoodie, seeing something protruding out the front of the sweater.

 

"Oh God, she's armed!"

 

The instant the teller said that, he pressed a button underneath the counter. Immediately, Beca saw bars slam down over every teller's window, heard a godawful alarm sound, watched in horror as customers were running away from her...

 

And as security was running straight at her!

 

"Ok, lady, hands where we can see 'em."

 

 

Beca pulled her hands out of her hoodie and raised them instinctively as four security guards came at her, all from different directions. Before she could process what was happening, they had pulled her hands behind her back and swiftly put her in handcuffs. As they led Beca out the front door, the other customers all pulled their phones out and recorded her as she desperately raved to security, ditching the fake accent.

 

"Oh my god, okay, look: I was hypnotized last night, ok? I was in bed, watching YouTube, and my wife, she's a hypnotist! I was making fun of YouTubers, only for the joke to be on me, and isn't that the real tragedy here?! This is all a huge misunderstanding involving my very persuasive wiiiiiife...!"

 

The customers watched through the front windows as the police met security at the front door, taking Beca to the police station...

 

 

 

Chloe sat at the police detective's desk, clutching and pawing at the hem of her jacket, trying not to make eye contact with any passersby. The chest pains from the stress were difficult to ignore as she tried to distract herself on her phone with some game she barely played.

 

"Chloe? Hi, I'm Detective Rodriguez," she heard from above her.

 

Chloe looked up to see a pudgy middle-aged man wearing a thread-bare suit, his hair greying around the sides.

 

"I came as soon as I heard," Chloe said, shaking the man's hand. "Can I see her?"

 

"Of course. This way," Rodriguez replied, holding his arm up, gesturing to Chloe which way to go.

 

Chloe followed Rodriguez down a short hallway before stopping before a large metal door with a small security-glass window. She looked inside and saw Beca sitting at a table, hands cuffed to a large metal ring secured to the tabletop. Beca sat with her head down, arms draped over her, looking like hell in the stark fluorescent lights. Chloe gasped, speechless at seeing Beca like this.

 

"Well, I'd be lying if I said it was one of the more common stories we've heard around here, ma'am," Rodriguez said, as they returned to his desk. "At 10:57 this morning, we received word that First National Bank was being robbed. They sent us the security footage. Take a look."

 

Rodriguez pivoted his computer monitor in Chloe's direction and clicked the play button. Chloe watched the footage of Beca at the teller window, of the peculiar look in her eye, and the strange way she was speaking.

 

"Oh, no..." Chloe gasped, both her hands covering her mouth as her eyes opened wide.

 

"As you can see, the bank employee got spooked and hit the alarm. Security responded immediately, contained the situation, and nobody was hurt. What we don't get is, as they got her outta there, she said something about being hypnotized...?"

 

"Yeah... about that..." Chloe said, sighing heavily.

 

Chloe proceeded to describe, in detail, the hypnotic shenanigans she and Beca had gotten up to in the past: the sessions, the conditioning, the triggers - all of it, ending with the events of the night before.

 

"I... see..." Rodriguez said, turning his computer monitor back.

 

"I get that it isn't the most common stuff out there, but until today, it's always stayed between us and close friends."

 

"So you really hypnotize your wife? Like, regularly? Really?"

 

"Yep, that's us," Chloe said as she pulled her pocketwatch out of her jacket pocket and placed it on the detective's desk for a moment. "Do you know anyone else who carries pocketwatches?"

 

Rodriguez glanced down at Chloe's silver pocketwatch and chuckled to himself - the first time Chloe had seen the man smile. "Not many, that's for sure. Well, ma'am, since your wife didn't have a weapon on her, she has no criminal record, and no harm was done, I think I can talk the bank out of pressing charges. There's just one other thing..."

 

Chloe's chest pains increased hearing those last five words. "What's that?"

 

"See, the thing is, it'll be a lot easier to convince the Bank to drop the case if I can convince them that you really are a hypnotist. Do you have some sort of degree in hypnotherapy, or some other credentials I can show them?"

 

"No, I'm actually... self-taught, so... oh, wait!"

 

Chloe lit up as an idea struck.

 

"What if I did a demonstration? Not on you, of course, but on another officer. Nothing permanent, no triggers, just something quick."

 

Rodriguez thought about it for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.

 

"Sure, good enough for me." He then gestured to someone behind Chloe. "Gina, can you come here a minute, please?"

 

Chloe turned around to see another police officer - Gina, apparently - walk up to Rodriguez's desk. Chloe immediately noticed the woman's taut, athletic figure and sizable biceps.

 

 

"Yeah, boss?"

 

"This here's Chloe, the partner of that lady in 3C."

 

"Ohhhh, yeah, the alleged bank robbery, right."

 

"She claims she hypnotized the lady but it went sideways, which sent her to FNB. She wants to show me her stuff to help sell her story. Think you could be a guinea pig for a minute?"

 

Gina looked at Rodriguez, then at Chloe, then back at Rodriguez.

 

"For real?"

 

"Totally!" Chloe replied, giving Gina her biggest, purest, most disarming smile.

 

"And what are ya gonna do to me?"

 

"Nothing lasting. I'd put you under, just for a minute, and give you a harmless suggestion to convince you that you were really hypnotized. Then I'd bring you back up, and it'd be over. Easy peasy."

 

Gina looked over at Rodriguez again. "... ok, fine, but I'm trusting you to watch my back."

 

Gina then pointed at Chloe.

 

"And you?" Gina dropped the tough-cop routine for a moment. "Please don't make me cluck like a chicken, ok?"

 

Chloe gave her another big smile as she held up one hand and said, "scouts' honour."

 

Chloe stood up and stood directly in front of Gina.

 

"Nice to meet you, Gina," Chloe said, offering her hand to shake.

 

Gina reached out instinctively to shake it. As she did, Chloe grabbed Gina's wrist with her other hand and oriented Gina's hand so it was in front of Gina's face.

 

"Focus on that hand, only on that hand," Chloe said, quickly. "See all the little details on that hand, and as you focus on that hand, you feel a magnetic pull toward your forehead. It keeps getting stronger," Chloe snapped her fingers at that word, "and stronger, and stronger, now."

 

Gina stood there, staring at her own hand like it was the most interesting thing in the world, her body otherwise not moving and remaining silent. Rodriguez watched on, fascinated by what he was seeing, taking notes in the process.

 

"Yes, and as that pull gets stronger and stronger, you feel your hand getting closer and closer to your head, and when your hand touches your head you can just let yourself drop into a deep, relaxing..." 

 

Chloe reached out and pushed Gina's hand the remaining distance to her head.

 

"Sleep."

 

Gina's eyes rolled back in her head as her head lolled back, then to her shoulder as she dropped into trance.

 

"That's right, deeper and deeper," Chloe said, standing next to Gina, hands on Gina's shoulders to steady her. "Deeper and deeper down, now, feeling so relaxed, so wonderful as you float in the depths of trance..."

 

Gina's shoulders had slumped as her breathing slowed, unaware that half the precinct was watching the show at this point.

 

"And as I count from 1 to 3, you'll find yourself coming up out of trance, wide awake at the count of 3, feeling amazing. You're going to feel so good, that when I wake you up, you'll say 'hypnosis is amazing, thank you for hypnotizing me.' It'll just pour out of your mouth, you don't even have to think about it. 1, starting to come up. 2, feeling better and better. 3, wide awake, feeling great!"

 

Gina's eyes snapped open as she stood back up straight, smiling at Chloe.

 

"Hypnosis is wonderful, thank you for hypnotizing me," she said to Chloe.

 

"You're very welcome, Gina!" Chloe said, all smiles, taking a bow as the precinct applauded the spontaneous act.

 

"So, are you convinced?" Chloe asked Rodriguez.

 

"Gina, you ok?" Rodriguez asked.

 

"Yeah, boss, I'm fine. Better than fine, really. I feel great. One second I went to shake her hand, the next I was just staring at my hand, and I just... stopped thinking. Was weird, but I'll admit it: she got me good."

 

"... Ok, then. Thanks, Gina," Rodriguez replied.

 

"Sure thing," Gina replied as she walked away, giving Chloe a subtle smile.

 

"That woman over there?" Rodriguez said, pointing to Gina, his voice lowered. "She's our biggest skeptic. She doesn't believe half the shit she does see. If she says you're the real deal... Ok, I'll release your wife into your custody. That doesn't mean it's over, but she doesn't have to stay here. So, how about you take her home?"

 

"OH! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Detective," Chloe gushed, giving him the biggest hug of his life.

 

Rodriguez blushed for a moment before hesitatingly returning the hug.

 

"Of course. Stay here and I'll get her for you, ok?"

 

Gina came back with some paperwork for Chloe to sign. In the time it took for Rodriguez to come back with Beca in tow, Chloe had already finished it.

 

"Let's go home, Bec," Chloe said, wrapping her arm around Beca's shoulder, squeezing softly, and kissing the top of Beca's head.

 

 

 

The following day, after a long night of apologies, conversations about consent, and frank discussions about future sessions, the couple made a mutual decision to turn off all their phones' alarms and sleep late the following morning. They took the precaution of closing all the drapes the night before so they could just... rest.

 

At about 11:00 AM, Beca woke up first, wrapped up in comfy blankets, Chloe's arm around her. Beca began to stir, which was enough to wake Chloe from her own slumber...

 

"Good morning," Chloe said, smiling at Beca. "I'm so glad to have you home again."

 

"Mm good morning to you, too," Beca replied. "Um... is it morning? Or did we sleep the day away?"

 

Chloe glanced at the wall clock on the far wall. "Nope, not even noon. Hey, ya wanna order lunch from that place you like?"

 

"Ooh, I could be talked into that. I'm just gonna..." Beca said, motioning for the bathroom.

 

"Oh! Yeah," Chloe replied, disentangling herself.

 

Just as Beca closed the bathroom door, her phone began to ring. Chloe picked it up and saw the number from Rodriguez's card.

 

Chloe slid her thumb across the phone.

 

"Beca's phone," she said, sitting up straight. "Yes, Detective, good morning."

 

Chloe sat there, not moving a muscle as she listened. "Uh huh... mm-hmm... oh, thank god." She muted the call just long enough to yell "Bec!" excitedly before returning her attention to the Detective.

 

"Thank you so much, I can't tell you how much that means to us. You're a lifesaver. Thank you, Detective. Thank you so much. Ok, goodbye."

 

"What!" Beca said, barreling out of the bathroom.

 

"The bank dropped the charges. It's over."

 

Beca let out a huge sigh of relief while Chloe squealed with joy.

 

"He told me that the bank executives weren't thrilled at how much commotion the employee caused when he overreacted, and they don't wanna be known as that kinda bank. They wanna keep it quiet, so between there being no weapon, no criminal record, and Rodriguez's testimony after my handshake induction on Gina... So, the police report the bank filed will stay on record for a year, then it's gone."

 

"That's it? Ok, I can live with that... oh, god, but Chloe, people shot video of me there! That's gonna be on YouTube forever!!"

 

"No no no no no!" Chloe replied, hands waving to get Beca to stop. "According to him, they had to submit the videos as evidence for a police investigation. Since the charges are dropped, they'll just live on some encrypted police server for a little while. Plus, I checked last night: nobody put it on YouTube. You're free and clear, nobody there knew you, your credibility is safe, and it's done. We'll just switch banks so you won't have to go back there again."

 

Beca melted back into the bed, breathing yet another huge sigh of relief.

 

"You know, there's one thing I don't get after all this," Chloe pondered. "When you were looking at that stupid video, we talked about how it was all about stuff like, 'ditch unproductive habits' and 'stop doomscrolling,' that kinda stuff. How did your brain decide to... you know, do what you did?"

 

Beca just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I dunno, seems like these days, only criminals are getting rich. That, and I guess I watched too much Looney Tunes growing up, so..."

 

Chloe lay down beside Beca and held her close. "So we can blame Daffy Duck for this?"

 

Chloe kissed Beca softly. Beca smilled and said, "At this point, I just wanna put it behind us. Can we do that?"

 

"Of course," Chloe replied. "I'll handle transferring the funds over. Also..."

 

Chloe reached over for her tablet. Unlocking it, she handed it to Beca.

 

"I booked us a little weekend getaway at this luxury cabin in the middle of nowhere. Thought we could both stand to get out of the city for a couple days."

 

"Oh, Chlo, we don't have to - wait, it has a hot tub?"

 

"And an arcade room, movie theatre, and trampoline room, too."

 

Beca let out the loudest, most ear-piercing squeal for joy Chloe had ever heard as she ran for the closet to pack. Chloe, meanwhile, smiled to herself as she placed their lunch order...