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Thiago's mind had been drifting through an unknown space. Taken by the currents of somebody's voice, it had been floating. And then?

"Stiff as a board."

--it fell back into reality, limbs tensing, muscles hard as wood. Thiago could feel everything happening in a second, as if a spring had been activated and his body was just a responding structure, ready to do as it was supposed to. The tiger's eyes were tightly shut and there was no way he could open them now. They were completely stuck in place, just like his arms, which remained rigid and straight by his sides.

Thiago could feel the Puppeteer tapping on his stomach. It felt like knocking on a door, only Thiago wasn't the one knocking.

He was the door and he was being knocked on.

"And release."

... Floating again.

All tension melting, the idea of rigidity fading from Thiago's mind like it had never been there, replaced by loose, slack bliss. As his mind rose back to that sphere, his body remained down there, stuck in the same position, but left behind like a forgotten memory.

"Let's get you familiarized with both states now, shall we?" had been what the Puppeteer had said right before he had plunged the tiger into a deep trance.

That, too, was a forgotten memory.

The only thing that mattered was floa--

"And again, stiff as a board."

--was remaining there, rigid and motionless like a piece of furniture. It felt better when his body and mind were on the same wavelength, when they were both stuck and stiff and motionless. As good as it felt to float, it was much better to be reminded that somewhere down there his body was practically a living statue. The feeling got much more intense when that happened.

Thiago would have squirmed, had that been a possibility.

"Release."

But Thiago's mind could squirm for his body when it was unable to. Even in that high, distant space, as it floated and drifted and swirled beyond the grasp of his awareness, it could still squirm and feel the pleasure of being completely captive, of being contained in the Puppeteer's firm, unrelenting grip.

"Aaand..."

The prolonged vowel felt like teasing at this point.

"... stiff as a board."

There was a hard drop to Thiago's waiting body as his mind returned to join it.

There. That felt much better.

The Puppeteer approached him and gave him a gentle push. His body swayed back and forth gently like a rocking chair, arms stuck to his sides, eyes fully covered by heavy wooden blinds. His legs were a straight block, impossible to bend.

"And you'll find that, as difficult as it is to lift your eyelids right now, you'll easily open your eyes as soon as I ask you to do so."

It wasn't only difficult - it was impossible. The muscles around the tiger's eyelids were completely neutralized. Trying to apply any kind of pressure to them was unthinkable. In fact, Thiago wasn't even sure they were there any more?

"And open, now."

Easy.

Thiago stared ahead without really seeing. The Puppeteer stood in front of him, like he had probably been doing for a while now.

"Let's try something else. I want you to remember the state you feel in whenever I say 'Release'". The iteration was about to send Thiago flying again. "I want you to think very deeply about it. And as you do so, I want you to also focus on how stiff and rigid your body is - but letting the feeling of 'Release' soak into your joints, so they become limp and slack, nice and relaxed."

The contradiction was about to break Thiago's mind in a million pieces. How could his body remain stiff and slack at the same time? How could he be tense and relaxed simultaneously?

"Think of it as being a puppet. Rigid but flexible. Stiff but able to be moved and placed however I choose."

Those words helped ease the feeling of impossibility, but they didn't erase it completely. Thiago felt himself struggling with the command as his mind tried to force his body to do one thing and the opposite of that thing. It was exhausting.

"Here. Let me help you. Do it now."

The word was accompanied with a loud_snap_ that pierced through Thiago's train of thought like an arrow. Suddenly, whatever his mind had considered to be difficult or impossible was no more. Just like had happened with his eyelids, he carried out the command without even stopping to think whether it made sense or not.

It was completely reasonable to be rigid and flexible, stiff and relaxed. Floating, yet deeply anchored to his own block-like, wooden body.

"I knew that'd make things easier for you," said the Puppeteer.

Thiago's glassy eyes gazed at him without seeing. He was a puppet after all.

"And now, let's get you ready for the show. I promise we're going to have lots of fun..."