✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

33. Final Preparations

Ffrances shook Gabby's shoulder until she woke up, but then snapped her fingers in front of her girlfriend's face and repeated the word "deep" while putting a hand against her forehead to support her as her body relaxed. Then she told her silent girlfriend that they were going to make sure that Tess was at least a little older than her this afternoon. She asked her to imagine that for a few minutes, like a daydream. Seeing the power dynamic between them changing; knowing that her cousin wasn't someone she had any authority over. If she found that she was genuinely uncomfortable with it, she would find it easy to say something before they started playing. And if she was okay with it, it would fade away like any other dream so it could be a complete surprise when it happened.

It only took five minutes to describe, and then Ffrances told Gabby that she could start to imagine it, and once she knew if that was an acceptable scenario, she could start to wake up. Gabby nodded a little, but her eyes were still closed, and she was still smiling about whatever she saw in her mind's eye.

The more she saw of this, the more Tess wanted to know. She was too curious to let a fantasy like this pass her by so easily. So there was no doubt in her mind when Ffrances turned back to her, and withdrew her hands so that Gabby was nodding on her own.

"Easy as that," she said. "Feeling more confident now? You know that you two will always be the same age, so you get to take charge if you want to. But you're still under no obligation to take part. That's entirely up to you."

"I know," Tess nodded. But she was sure now that she would be going along with the plan, making sure that Gabby had the excuses that she needed to be younger again. And perhaps, now that Gabby was going to be a little younger, Tess could have some fun as well. "Lots of important things to talk about this morning. I'll be glad to take a break over lunch."

"Oh? Just now, or did you have big things to discuss this morning as well? Having fun without me, doing anything interesting?"

"No?" Tess answered quickly. She couldn't say what they'd been talking about, or Ffrances might not be comfortable with giving Gabby the fantasies she was too nervous to ask about. "No."

"Nothing interesting," Gabby added; Tess hadn't even noticed when her eyes opened again. "Tess put her laundry on, and we've been talking about actors."

That was true; they had both done a double-take on last night's movie, and had spent a good few minutes this morning debating the uncredited appearance of someone who may or may not have been an uncredited David Hasselhoff in a wig playing a faux-Russian Cerberus Shark. Gabby said that the guy's performance was pretty bad, while Tess was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and said they were just taken aback because they'd so recently watched Samuel L Jackson giving a very different rendition of the same character. But Tess found it a little funny to hear Gabby presenting a few minutes of conversation as the only thing they'd talked about. But perhaps more amazing was the fact that she didn't give any impression of having heard the conversation between Tess and Ffrances over the last hour.

Ffrances hinted that she had a surprise ahead, but didn't say anything else about her plans. It was obvious to Tess that they both had a rough idea what was coming, and were both just as excited about it; but the adults had sworn her to secrecy, so she could just look forward to seeing how much they enjoyed this scene. If she could stop worrying about her own part in the game.

They all worked together to make lunch, and it seemed that it tasted even better because of that. Tess could almost put the previous day's scene behind her. The conversation over lunch touched on different actors again, and which of them looked most like the character in the comic books. Tess didn't have much to add to that conversation, but it was a subject on which Ffrances seemed to have pretty strong opinions.

After a while, Tess was just listening to their chatter with half an ear while she lifted her phone out and sent a message to Spike, apologising again for her cousin's hostility and asking if he was okay. He sent back pictures of the place he was staying now, which looked to be a mini apartment with a garden outside. He had clean clothes as well, thanks to Adam the secretary, so it seemed that the day had turned out well for him in the end.

"I found something interesting yesterday," Ffrances's words got Tess's attention again, and she turned her phone off before leaning over to look at what was on the table. It was the same photograph she'd shown Tess a couple of days before, but now that she knew what it was she could recognise the rebellious streak of colour Gabby had in her hair back then.

"We look so happy there," she said. Gabby agreed, and then Ffrances explained that when she was tidying up the spare room she had found that all the clothes and toys in the photo were still there. She wondered if it might be fun to try recreating the photo, ten years on. Tess had seen people doing similar things online, posting a baby photo next to a group of adults in scaled-up versions of the same outfits, but it was never something she'd personally considered.

Gabby made an attempt to say she was embarrassed, speculating about what her coworkers would think if they saw her do something like that. But it was easy to see how excited she was about the idea, and how much she wanted to do it. Gabby made token objections that you could see she didn't really mean, and each was easier to demolish than the last. She always stopped short of saying 'yes', but there was no mistaking that they were both wanting to give it a try.

"Can we do that together?" Tess mumbled, almost tripping over the words in her nervousness. It was still an embarrassing idea, but if Ffrances was right then she would be able to switch off the embarrassment for an afternoon; make it so that she could be comfortable pretending to be just a couple of years younger. And Ffrances had already promised that despite the ages shown on the photograph, she wouldn't be expected to act any younger than Gabby; so it would be a year or two difference at most. She was sure she could do that, and the idea of trying out hypnosis for real was a big lure now she'd seen how much it apparently affected Gabby. She mumbled a few more words, about how she was interested by the idea, and really wanted to do it. But only if Gabby was doing it too, of course, because otherwise she'd be too worried about the future potential for humiliation with any photos that were taken. It was irrational; but it didn't make any sense, because they probably all knew it was just an excuse. A way for Gabby to join in without losing face.

"I guess I can face a little embarrassment if it's something you'll enjoy," Gabby giggled, unable to hide her grin now. "I'd do anything for my family."

Ffrances sensed that they were both embarrassed, and suggested using hypnosis to overcome those inhibitions. To make sure that they didn't need to think about what convention said they 'should' be feeling at any point. And this time, it was Tess's turn to be genuinely enthusiastic. She wasn't too enthusiastic about being younger again, even by just a year or two, but if she was doing it she was certainly curious about how real Ffrances could make it feel. She'd never really believed in that kind of thing, but now she'd seen Gabby zone out so completely, she had to know how it felt. This morning she'd been imagining herself as a reluctant accomplice, but now she was practically begging to be hypnotised.

They moved to sit around the coffee table, with Ffrances on one side and Gabby and Tess on the other. She reached into her bag and lifted out a gleaming black plastic box with a silver needle on the front. A metronome, she explained. The deco styling was unusual, but it was the one she liked the most. While she set it up, Gabby was asking how they were going to do this; if they were going to be hypnotised one by one or at the same time. It seemed like she had her own answer though, because she didn't wait for Ffrances to say anything before continuing: "I think it's best if I–"

Ffrances's finger darted out to rest between her eyes, and the hypnotist commanded: "Deep now!"

Gabby seemed to be struggling for a second, before her eyes closed and her mouth hung open. It was the second time Tess had seen something like that today, but it still left her speechless to see Gabby switching off, like someone had just flipped a switch.