Free fall (Collab with Maple)
I wrote this short story as a collab with Maple (https://twitter.com/Swirl_Squirrel))! We had an idea for a prompt he was working on and built on top of that to come up with this. Hope you guys enjoy it!
It wasn't like Cayenne hadn't warned Xyln beforehand. The tiger had assumed the gryphon was just trying to be nice, and had been nice in return.
“I mean it, you don't need to hold back," the blue-furred feline had said, a wide grin on his face. “I'll let you know if at some point it's too much or if you cross a boundary I haven't mentioned already. Seriously."
“Are you sure?" Cayenne had asked as he scratched the back of his feathered head, a sheepish smile on his face. “I really get into it when I… er, when I do."
“It'll be alright," Xyln had tried to reassure him. He'd smirked at the gryphon and crossed his arms on his chest. “Come on, do your worst."
The tiger hadn't known Cayenne for long, but he had assumed what he would have assumed from any other bashful hypnodom – that they were not used to being too aggressive or dominant in play and that they needed to be encouraged to let that side of them come out in a controlled scenario. It was a matter of confidence, self-control and getting used to it, Xyln thought, just like submitting to someone while managing to keep your boundaries intact.
The blue tiger enjoyed when someone put on that dominant mask in a controlled scenario and pushed him around like a rag doll – it'd be silly to pretend otherwise now. He also enjoyed gentler, softer domination, but that wasn't what he was in the mood for today. When Cayenne had said he had a dominant streak that seldom saw the light, his interest had been immediately drawn to the gryphon.
It wasn't like he hadn't been interested before, given that they were both hypnosis enthusiasts, but again – moods.
“You'll let me know if I get too carried away?" the gryphon asked. “Mind you, it might get difficult very soon."
He might be shy, but he certainly brags, Xyln thought, his smirk widening.
“Yeah, yeah. Don't worry at all. I will—"
The tiger didn't manage to end the sentence before Cayenne closed the distance between them and placed a paw on his chest, pushing him back. Xyln opened his eyes in surprise and was about to say something, but then he tripped and was about to fall backwards. The sudden, weightless feeling in his body made his blood rush as he tried to hold onto anything and he looked straight into Cayenne's eyes, slightly alarmed.
Then he stopped falling. The tiger's back touched the ground, more slowly than it should have. Frantic thoughts spiraled through the feline's mind as he came to the conclusion that it was Cayenne who had both tripped him and caught him before he hurt himself.
And those eyes were swirling.
Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush, how quick everything had been or the fact that his own gaze was pulled towards the center of those pulsing swirls, but Xyln found himself very disoriented all of a sudden.
“W… what…" he mumbled. His tongue felt heavy. His thoughts, sluggish.
Cayenne placed himself on top of him, a knowing grin on his beak.
“Surprised, kitten?" he asked. His tone was different now. Commanding. It easily overlapped with anything that might have been in Xyln's.
And that was becoming less and less by the minute.
“B… but…" the tiger managed to say.
Cayenne covered his mouth. As Xyln's mind swirled away into those eyes, losing any kind of fight he might have put before even starting it, his cheeks grew warm and red.
“Shh," the gryphon shushed him. “You're listening now. Got it?"
Xyln didn't know how he was supposed to answer to that, but Cayenne took care of the problem for him. The paw covering his mouth pushed his head up and down, forcing him to nod. And as he did, the tiger knew he was agreeing to that – not only because he would have agreed anyway, but because Cayenne was making him agree. Soon enough, the difference between those two things would get blurry together with everything else.
The spirals in those eyes filled everything. Xyln let himself drift.
He was listening now.