Monkey Wrench drabble, with my oc Merl and @houseofscribbles oc, Cerise.
First time I've shared writing that's Merl related, need to write with her more.
Their name was Tambrine. A sea horse being called the Ryuudran. The Ryuudran was a species that for the most part liked to keep to themselves. Not very many of them even left their home planet.
Tambrine herself had heard that being off planet was dangerous. So the bright blue Ryuudran had never left it until recently. Finding herself in a dimly lit room, strapped to a chair was a very rude way to be introduced to being off world. And she very much was not alone. Now she was searching her memory on what species was standing before her now. She could not remember.
The being was a oil slick purple, a feature face save for the single, large, bright green eye in the middle of her face. In the middle of that eye, a spiral shaped pupil. They were dressed in white clothing, plain looking clothing that reminded Tambrine of hospital scrubs.
She was just taking this all in when the being approached Tambrine, each step filled with purpose. That purpose being to unnerve. It was working.
"What's going on? Who are you!?"" Tambrine cried.
No answer from the being. They were silent, looking Tambrine over. The silence made Tambrine's stomach churn even more then it already was.
Then a sound, a clink of ceramic on metal table top. Said sound has originated from further behind Merl. Tambrine looked over Merl's shoulder.
There, seated at the table was a sheepion. A small size of a being, as woolly looking as the species tended to be. The top section of the wool that piled on top of their head tinged somewhat red. Tambrine had a flash thought of blood in the water. There was something off about the sheepion. Besides the very fact they were there, sitting there and just casually enjoying a cozy, hot drink. Tambrine couldn't put a finger on it though.
"You really do like to tease the poor things, don't you Merl?" the sheepion asked.
Her voice had been so soft, gentle.
So why did it sound so hungry to Tambrine?
Merl tilted her head slightly as she looked back at the Sheepion
"Of course I do, Cerise." Merl said. "It's part of the fun."
Merl looked back to Tambrine.
"Now, let's have a little talk, lost one." she said, a humor to her tone that Tambrine did not like at all.
"I'm not lost!" Tambrine shouted.
"Oh? You meant to come here?" Merl asked, that tilt of the head back, this time feeling so smug.
Tambrine blinked at the question.
"What? No!" she cried. "I.. you.. you kidnapped me!"
Merl said nothing to that. She only started closer to Tambrine. Cerise kept watching.
"Don't you come near me!" Tambrine cried, green eyes wide. "If you-"
Merl's voice was softer now. No where as soft as Cerise's had sounded but still, lower, unassuming. It did nothing to help the rapid fear beating of Tambrine's heart.
Merl kept on moving until she was standing right in front of Tambrine. Tambrine's struggles with the chair straps continued.
"Poor thing. Left out all alone with no place to return to." Merl said.
That felt confusing to Tambrine.
"That's... that's not what happened.." Tambrine said, though their voice quavered.
Merl would had been grinning wide if she had a mouth.
Tambrine's gaze slid back to Cerise. Notes. Cerise was taking notes. Tambrine felt a pit in her stomach. They were both so casual about everything. Even though what was happening was dark and horrible. Tambrine decided that this was the most terrifying aspect about all of this.
Her attention was diverted from Cerise to back to Merl when Merl gripped the sides of Tambrine's face, forcing her to look Merl in the eye.
"No no, focus on me. Only me." she told Tambrine.
As Merl spoke, the spiral pupil in her eye started to swirl. The sudden movement made Tambrine gasp. As surprising as it was, Tambrine found that she could not move away. Could not tear her gaze from that eye.
"You're alone." Merl said, as if this was matter of fact.
"No! No that's not the case." Tambrine whined, still unable to pull her gaze away no matter how much she tried.
"All alone. No one to go back to."
"No! I have sisters! Many of them who will miss me if-"
None of Tambrine's protests mattered to Merl. She continued to speak and the pupil continued to swirl. It didn't matter how untrue Merl's words were. She would keep saying them until they were truth.
"It's okay to admit it, you know. That you're all alone."
Tambrine spoke again, this time the words coming out slow and unsure.
"I..I am alone." she said.
Tambrine's eyes took on a slightly glazed over look. The light of awareness was not quite gone yet. But it was dimming, wavering. Merl leaned in a bit closer.
"Yes. That's right. Don't you worry though." Merl continue. "I'll help you find your place."
"Will you?" Tambrine asked in a tone that was almost heart breaking.
The tone spoke of a loneliness that had not existed moments ago. It was a created gash in Tambrine's mental armor. And Merl, was all too happy to use that gash to tear things apart.
By time Merl was done, a hour had passed. Tambrine was still seated in her chair and in front of Tambrine, a large screen was set up. On that screen was a spiral, ever swirling. Like Merl's pupil. All Tambrine did was stare at the screen in front of her.
It allowed Merl to take a break from her work. She was taking that break sitting at the small table , across from Cerise.
"I jotted down a good number of interesting notes." Cerise said. "Would you tell me more about the use of the screen?"
"It serves as both a extra way of adding to the effects of my hypnotism and a way to make sure that my earlier work doesn't start to wear off between sessions." Merl explained.
Cerise nodded in understanding, writing down more notes.
"I see! Very interesting. Also a wise idea." she noted.
"I thought it was." Merl said.
"How many sessions do you find it takes for your work to fully take effect?" Cerise asked.
"A good question. It really does depend on the subject of course. But most of the time I would say at least a dozen sessions of so."
More writing from Cerise.
"Normally I have more then one subject to work with at a time. Helping out some new owners who need help with unruly pets. They can't all be endlings or rare after all. If they were, then they wouldn't be rare would they?" Merl pointed out.
"Very true." Cerise said "Oh! Permit me to make a suggestion?"
Merl leaned back in her chair.
"Suggest away." she said.
Cerise sat up a bit more in her own seat, picking up the mug in front of her. She took a sip of her drink before going on with her thoughts.
"I think there are possibilities in adding in some hypnotic suggestions into the screens. Tailored made to the subject of course."
There was a light to Cerise's eyes as she spoke of things that to anyone else would be horrifying. Merl could tell that Cerise's mind was churning with more ideas.
Merl was only too happy to hear them.
"That is a excellent idea!" Merl said. "I love it!"
Cerise grinned even wider. Wolfish was the word that came to mind.
The two talked more for hours.