you're standing in the street at night, outside of a bar to get a breath of fresh air, while your friends are dancing completely wasted inside. you're pretty drunk and the only thing you want right now is a cigarette, you only ever really smoke when you're out with friends drinking so it's like a little treat.
out from the door of the bar comes a woman, she has a soft, comfortable energy to her that you can feel immediately, clearly extroverted but not overbearing, the type of person you'd usually freeze up around since that level of warmth always felt kind of weird even though you've craved it your whole life. you realize you're staring a bit as she turns her head and locks eyes with you, then shifts her gaze towards your cigarette.
"Oh my god I would kill for one of those right now holy shit." she practically scurries over and says "Can I bum one? It would literally mean the world to me. Also wow you are SO pretty oh my god." She was clearly drunk, she had no filter and was just saying whatever her instincts told her to, and that made you blush, because you knew that compliment was real. "o-oh, thank you! yyou're p-pretty too!" you realize once again that you're pretty drunk too, definitely on even ground here. she bats her eyes a bit at you in a pleading gesture, and you yelp in realization that you didn't actually give her a cigarette.
"h-here you go!" you sheepishly hold the box of crumpled menthols out to her and she beams, excitedly plucking one out of the box. "Thank youuu~" you think to hand her your lighter but she strangely brought her own, who brings a lighter but nothing to smoke? "My name's Dawn by the way, what's yours?" god her voice is so pretty, that's a pretty name too, she is so fucking beautiful oh my god i need to be normal right now stop it. "o-oh my name is-"
"WAIT! Don't tell me, I think I might be able to guess it." there was no way she could guess it right? it would be pretty cool if she could though, so you shrug and say "ok go for it, i bet you won't though." a knowing smirk creeps up her face and her eyes relax, she looks at you like she can see behind your eyes. you're not used to this much eye contact, but for some reason her eyes feel... different. they're so soft, the look she has, you actually feel seen by her, this girl you met barely a minute ago.
"Hey, are you ok? You look like you're zoning out a bit hun, are you feeling ok?" she says, in an almost teasing voice, like she's locked in on you, like she knows how you work now. she looks around, sees that no one's looking, and moves in a bit closer. she puts her mouth up to your ear, and you shudder a bit, stun locked by the intimacy, and she whispers "Hey, let's get somewhere a bit more quiet, let's go down that alleyway, ok?" you nod without thinking, your mind going a million miles a minute.
finally, quiet. you're alone with her, and all that you can hear now is the quiet bass rhythm from the club wall. she leans in the wall opposite to you, takes a drag of her cigarette, and says
"So, about your name. Let's talk about that."
you're not entirely sure you understand where she's going with this, but you're too sucked into her eyes that you don't really think to ask. she steps forward, looks you up and down with a curious look, the side of her mouth scrunched a bit in thought.
"Do you really... need one? A name, I mean. You don't really come off as a person who needs, or even wants one of those."
as she gets closer, her voice gets softer, clearer, she's making sure you hear every syllable.
"Well, wait, let's think here, did you even have one in the first place?"
you stop and think, your eyes darting a bit, breaking contact for the first time in a while, and you're not sure. i mean obviously you have a name but... what is it. it might start with an r, or maybe an s?
"You're trying to find it aren't you. I can see your eyes darting hun, I can tell exactly what you're thinking. Tell me, what's your name? I give up, I lost the bet!"
you stutter, but no words come out. what is happening to your head?
she lifts a hand to your face and guides your eyes back to hers, and you start to calm down. what were you even thinking about? did it really matter? as the calming warmth of her eyes fills your chest, her hand starts moving up to the spot behind your ear you like when your girlfriend plays with your hair. she starts to lightly scratch you, and any thoughts that were there before, resisting that strong pull you're feeling, are gone. your face goes flush, your mouth relaxes, and your eyes flutter. this is bad, she's doing something to you and you can't control yourself anymore, and the liquor is not helping.
"Wow, you are soo susceptible sweetheart, seems like I picked a winner. You're already feeling your thoughts slip away, huh? With no guidance but a hand in your hair, and a bit of eye contact."
her voice is filling your head, even if you wanted to fight this you couldn't.
"There's a lilt to my voice, a feeling it brings, right? My eyes too, it's like the longer you look at them, the less you're aware of. It's like you're sinking into them, like they're endless, like you're being pulled in."
can't think.
"I noticed your little choker, with that hanging little piece on it. when I first saw it, I could have sworn it was a collar, it just looked so natural on you, like it fit. I thought maybe you had a name on there, but sadly you don't, are you a stray sweetheart?"
she knows.
"I really like dogs you know! I like them obedient, empty headed, willing to do whatever at my command, and it certainly helps if they're as cute as you."
Speak
*snap*
her voice echos through your head with a jolt, and your body reacts by loudly barking without thinking. in shock that you actually did that, your hand flies up to cover your mouth.
"Good dog! You must be trained, huh? I wonder if you know any other tricks, let's try one!"
she raises her free hand up to your ear
Sink
*snap*
that one was deafening, and it resets your system entirely. your body relaxes, your eyes go dull, and your brain is cleared. the only thing that exists to you is her voice, her eyes, her hand.
"You know why I didn't want to know your name? I wanted to give you one myself. I think you'd be a very cute Daisy, I've always wanted a dog named Daisy."
that's not your name. you know it's not your name, but you can't remember what your real name even is anymore. you search frantically in what little you have left of your conscious thought, and all you can find is
Daisy
Daisy
Daisy
the more you hear it, the more it sounds right. what were you even thinking, this is your name, silly! you've always been Daisy, and you've always been looking in Dawn's pretty eyes, and your name has always been Daisy.
"Come here Daisy, there's a pet store down the way from here, I'll get a pet friendly uber and we can go get you a collar ok? God I'm so glad I found you, you looked so lost, I could tell you were a stray from the moment we made eye contact sweetheart."
Daisy starts to whimper. All that Daisy wants right now is to cry. Daisy doesn't remember why.
"I hope you'll like your new home Daisy, I'm going to take such good care of you."
