✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

32. Secret Meeting

By the time they had finished talking about what Ffrances's surprise might be, Tess was already starting to worry that she'd said too much. It was hard to remember which parts were the hints Ffrances had given her the night before, and which were Gabby's guesses about what was going to happen. And she didn't want to spoil the surprise for her cousin, not after knowing that it really was something she wanted to try.

After that, she didn't want to have any more serious conversations, or talk about anything important. For a moment she understood what Gabby had meant about not wanting to have so much responsibility; if she could stop caring about being seen as an adult, it seemed like kids had a lot more freedom to do what they wanted. But now, she just wanted a little time to relax, and to make up her mind about whether or not she would go through with pretending to be a younger teen for a day.

She glanced at the clock, and realised they had been talking for more than an hour. The washing machine was already on its final spin cycle, if the noise resonating through the kitchen was any clue. She wasn't sure what to do for the rest of the morning, because she was sure that decision would be circling around and around in her mind now, until Ffrances got back and she found out whether acting like a child for a couple of hours was really something she could cope with. They talked a little longer, mostly about their thoughts on the last movie they had watched. But that only lasted a few minutes more, before Ffrances walked in with a cheery wave and greeted them both.

"Hi!" she grinned, but reached out a hand to interrupt Gabby's response.

"I thought you'd be longer."

"I was mostly just checking on your friend. I've told him he can stay again tonight, or go home if he prefers. I've not said anything to Gabby yet, I figured she doesn't need to know that I'm going behind her back. She'll come around sooner or later. But I wanted to talk to you in private before I ask her about the treat I've got in mind. I need to make sure you're okay with it as well, and while this is a new thing to you..."

"Umm..." Tess mumbled, and pointed at where Gabby was sitting on the other side of the table. Ffrances was holding one finger out, as if asking Gabby to wait a second before responding, but Tess found it a little strange to mention Spike's situation in front of Gabby if she still didn't know where he was.

"Oh, I'm not sure if I mentioned it properly. I think she already said something to you about hypnosis, right? It's something I've studied for work, but there are more fun applications as well. Just silly games, you understand, but in the circumstances I thought it might serve a practical purpose. She can't hear us. Is that okay?" She waited for Tess to nod, and then turned her attention back to her girlfriend:

"Okay, Gabby, I need to talk to Tess for a while, so you can just sleep. You know how much you're looking forward to our little game, even if I haven't shared all the details, and you know how much you're going to enjoy it. So let yourself sink into a pleasant daydream, thinking about all the things you hope that I might do. Let your imagination run wild, and imagine all the best outcomes. And when I touch you again, you won't need to remember anything you might have heard since I got home. Understand? Good. Now, until I wake you, just sleep and dream."

When Ffrances pulled her hand away, Tess realised that she had actually had one finger on the bridge of Gabby's nose while she spoke. And as soon as that pressure was removed, Gabby's head nodded forward, quickly coming to rest on her folded arms. Tess considered that if she'd had any doubts about hypnosis being real, this was a very effective demonstration.

"For real?"

"That's how it works. I've got some things in mind, things I'd like to surprise her with. We've done things like this before, and she's given me a great deal of freedom to make decisions for her. So I only need to give her a rough outline of what I've got in mind, and she'll say yes or no. But you would probably be involved in the ideas I'm thinking about now, directly or indirectly. So I think before I surprise her, I need to run the details past you. This particular idea isn't one I could leave until you're out of the house. I don't want our fun to disturb you, and I don't want to tell Gabby I've got an idea, only to let her down because it bothers you. Or have you feeling like you have to join in for her sake."