The sun has already set, and most of the clientele has left, leaving the coffee shop rather empty. At this point, there's only about half a dozen people still here, including me, and at this point, pretty much nobody is still going to be ordering any sort of coffee, allowing me to take a bit of time for myself. During my breaks and quiet moments like this, I take some time to continue reading a sort of manual on hypnotism, since I'm into it on a sort of recreational level. I'm honestly not sure what caused me to get into hypnotism, but over the last year or so, I've been studying up on various methods and such in my free time, as well as occasionally testing my methods on family and close friends. Now, I'm not great at it, in fact, I'd say I'm not even close to passable, but hey, I had, like, one time where it seemed like it worked a bit, so there was some positive reinforcement to push my studies further. Maybe some day I can genuinely help somebody out with it.

All the while, in keeping an eye on the remaining patrons, I've noticed something a bit odd. One of the regulars, a guy named Aiden that loves to hang out here, typing away at some novel that he hopes will give him the big break, keeps looking at me in a weird way... like he wants to say something but can't get the courage up. Now, I like Aiden. Normally, we're supposed to get people that just hang out for extended amounts of time out of the shop, but I couldn't give less of a shit about that policy, and it's not like the people that make the policy check. I'd much rather have Aiden sipping his simple coffee in here than some influencer ordering some painfully sweet concoction that causes several heart attacks just to post about it on social media. So I figure I might as well chat him up and see what's what, so I head over to his table. "Hey, Aiden, how's it going?" I ask, my tone soft and friendly.

"Um... so, uh... are you into hypnotism? I noticed you were reading something on it..." he eventually manages to spit out, and it's clear he's nervous about asking, like he feels like he's prying or something.

In return, I give him a bit of a non-committal shrug. "Eh, kinda. I dabble, I guess? Why do you ask?"

Again, he hems and haws for a bit before giving me an actual answer. "Well, um... could you maybe come over to my place after the shop closes? Um, only if you have nothing else you're doing, of course..." he kind of mutters, an awkward blush rising to his cheeks. Now, this is surprising. Sure, I've been hit on and invited home by customers before, but this feels... different. Like, he's going to ask me to hypnotize him—there's no way that this isn't about this with that lead-in—but still, where could this possibly be going? And it is that that has me suddenly fascinated by him: the strange desire to simply know the answer to the question of "where are you going with this".

So in the end, I give him a nod. "Yeah, OK, I'm free tonight," I reply, then get back to work. Over the next fifteen minutes or so, the last few customers file out, I close up shop, then meet up with Aiden outside and let him lead me back to his apartment. As I figured for his type of a writer looking for a big break, his apartment is just about as dingy and small as mine, and the two of us take a seat on the couch. "So, did you want to ask me something?" I ask, hoping to give him an easy way into whatever his request is going to turn out to be.

It takes him a moment again, and he takes a big breath before starting to explain. "Um... so, whenever I try to talk to a girl, I just seem to freeze up and act weird. Sometimes I manage to make it to the first date or so, but it quickly falls apart. And whenever I try to think of what I like, y'know... relationship-wise, I just can't think of anything. I... I feel like I've got some sort of mental block. I can write about love, and yet... I just don't get it. And so... I want you to hypnotize me. Try and draw out whatever I've got inside of me. I just feel like I've tried everything else," he tells me, an expression on his face that tells me he means every last word of it.

On the one hand, this is weird. But on the other hand, this might be the opportunity I'd been looking for to try and actually help someone with this hobby of mine. So honestly, why not give it a shot? With a sigh, I reach into my shirt pocket and pull out the little pendulum I have in there just for cases like this. I never actually thought I'd use it. "Alright, let's give it a shot. OK, first, relax. You have to be totally relaxed, so just sink into the couch, really relax all your muscles, no tension at all, OK?" I explain, and Aiden, for his part, is very obedient, practically slumping down, totally relaxed. A big part of this is having buy-in with the one you're trying to hypnotize, so I'm glad that's working out. With that done, I start swinging the pendulum in front of his eyes. "Now, focus on the pendulum and listen to my voice..." I begin before launching into my hypnosis spiel. It's a fairly long, drawn-out process of lulling the subject into a trance and making them more amenable to suggestion.

Eventually, he's got his eyes shut and he seems about as ready as he'll ever be. "So, when I snap my fingers, you're going to wake up. You're going to feel free, uninhibited, and completely open. Your deepest desires are going to become clear as day, and you will be willing and able to formulate what it is that turns you on. You are also going to be totally willing and able to act on these desires," I explain. Then, after a few seconds of silence, I snap my fingers, and he jolts up. "Now... how do you feel?"