Beth helps Joseph out.

Joseph's head was swimming. He sat down wearily. Beth rushed to his side and rubbed his upper back, concern etched across her face. "You ok, sweetie?"

He looked up at her with watery eyes. "I don't know! I don't know what to do! First it was like I was some kind of hypnotist, then we took a stranger into my house and made her a moron, and now it's like I've got a superpower to, what make people follow their dreams?" He was starting to hyperventilate. "What the fuck is even happening to me? Why is this happening? Am I-"

She cut him off with a kiss, pulling him tight with one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his chest. After a moment, they broke off and she sighed.

"Joseph, let me explain something to you. This thing you can do - it feels wrong, huh?" He nodded. "I know it does, and I know you hate that. That means I hate that! So I've determined that you don't want to hurt people. You don't want to control people, or make people submit to you, or undermine people's free will."

She paused to let him catch up. His breathing was slowly returning to normal. "You want to be a good person, but you're stuck thinking of this as an inherently evil power. Only I've experienced it firsthand and I know how it feels. Joseph, you're not some comic-book supervillain. You can choose how to use this! I really like being your girlfriend and helping you with this stuff and I think Ellie's going to like going to grad school. Don't you see? This is what you want! To be a good person, to improve people's lives."

Beth took his hand in hers and, to his surprise, kissed it and placed it on her cheek. God, her skin was so soft! She nuzzled into his palm and kissed him again.

"Maybe I was too quick to try to use your power," she said softly. "Why don't we take things a little slower? Let's just enjoy this." She ran a hand through his hair delicately.

They sat in silence for a moment, then she spoke again. "Take off your shirt."

Joseph started to protest, but she cut him off. "Don't worry, it's nothing sexual. Take off your shirt and lie down on your stomach. I wanna help you relax."

He did as she instructed and she climbed on top of him, straddling his lower back. As her hands touched his upper back, he let out a long sigh. She carefully kneaded his shoulders, working outward from the base of his spine. She identified a knot above his right scapula and started to work it strenuously, causing him to grunt in pain.

"Too much?" she asked with concern.

"Not at all, that feels - unh - amazing," he muttered.

She continued to work silently, moving down his spine and across his midsection. She applied just the right combination of heaving kneading and gentle rubbing and soon Joseph's eyes grew heavy. As she worked her way down to his lower back, he felt her weight shift downward. Soon his eyes closed and Joseph drifted off to sleep.