Work Text:
In her hand, Sakiko held a pendant. The gem hanging off the necklace, in her mind, was not especially big, but Sodachi always disagreed. Sakiko rarely wore the pendant, finding it not to her usual style. It had been a gift from some family member or another, someone she didn’t see often. For that reason, she kept it around, despite rarely wearing it. But more recently, it had found a new purpose.
Sodachi was sitting on Sakiko’s bed. While Sakiko was still dressed, Sodachi had stripped down to her underwear, presenting as much of herself as she was comfortable with to Sakiko. She stared at the pendant in Sakiko’s hand with a nervous excitement. She had once thought that nervousness would go away with experience, but even now, it was still as present as ever. She couldn’t help herself from fidgeting. Hoping that Sakiko would start soon so that she could let her nervousness cease.
“Watch this, okay?” Sakiko dropped the pendant until it hung off her fingers. She stepped aside so that she wasn’t in Sodachi’s view, leaving only the pendant. “Watch this and listen to my words. You find yourself slipping away…”
Suddenly, Sakiko clapped a single time. Sodachi jumped as consciousness returned to her. She looked around, dazed, and tried to take stock of what was happening. After all, just a moment ago, Sakiko had been putting her into trance, but here she was, already awake.
But the more she looked, the more she realized that might not be the case.
When Sodachi had gone into trance, the sun had been high in the sky. The room had been flooded with natural light. Now, however, the only light came from lightbulbs. She had no idea how much time had passed, but it had clearly been quite a while.
Sodachi tried to parse her memories. It was hard to remember what happened while she was in a trance, but there were usually fragments. If she had been in a trance for so long, then there should be a lot of fragments. But it might take a little bit for them to percolate in her mind.
“Welcome back. How are you feeling?”
Sakiko had a satisfied grin on her face.
“I think I’m alright.” Sodachi began to stretch. “A little sore… How long was that? It’s evening now?”
“It was several hours, yes. I hope it was enjoyable for you as well.”
Sodachi stood up and found her clothes where they had been left on a chair on the other side of the room. She started redressing before she responded. “I don’t remember much of it. What did you have me do? It must have been a lot, for it to take so much time.”
When Sodachi mentioned that, Sakiko frowned slightly. “You don’t remember much? I suppose you might have been rather deep in your trance, yes, but that’s still rather odd.”
“Do you mind telling me what happened, at least? I’m a little curious. Maybe it will jog my memory.”
They left the bedroom together, heading back downstairs to the living room.
“Perhaps later,” Sakiko murmured.
It was a new experience for Sodachi, not knowing what had happened at all. The fragments she had were vague at best. Simple things like standing, holding hands with Sakiko, or being close. She knew that it couldn’t have gone too far, or else she might have broken out of the trance. Certainly, she couldn’t imagine that they had left the bedroom. At the very most, the apartment. Sakiko seemed happy and Sodachi was happy for her, but in terms of the experience she had, it was more like fitful sleep than anything else. A few shallow moments here and there, but otherwise like hours had suddenly passed without her realizing.
“Is this a sign that I didn’t sleep well enough last night? Was what happened that I simply fell unconscious?”
Sakiko shook her head. “I doubt it. You were able to respond to me verbally when I asked questions. You weren’t talkative, but only because I wasn’t asking you anything.” She thought for a moment. “I guess the trance seemed a little deeper than usual, but I didn’t think anything of it. I always assume that if anything would be an issue, it would break you out of the trance or else I would notice. I was paying close attention to you, after all. Quite close attention.” She thought for a moment. “I apologize, however. I should have done a better job paying attention.”
Sodachi shook her head a little, almost too little to register. “No, it’s fine… However, I’m still wondering… What did you do? Since I can’t remember? What took you so long?”
“This and that. Does it not make it more exciting for you to not know?”
“Well, maybe, but it would also be exciting to know what you did with me while I was out.”
“I suppose it would, wouldn’t it?” Still, Sakiko gave no indication that she was planning to tell Sodachi anything. “Now, I was planning on ordering us dinner. It’s not too late that everything is closed. Is there anything in particular you would like?”
Sodachi sighed. She clearly wasn’t going to get a straight answer about this anytime soon. Maybe she could try again in the morning. Or maybe something would happen to jostle her memory so she could recollect otherwise. One way or another, that wasn’t going to be happening now.
“Can you hand me your phone? I’ll look at the menu.”