Confidence and Friends

As I came back from washing the dirt off Xander was finishing up the hypnosis session. He was repeating the word confidence. Like, "Be confident in yourself, showing off your body will make you feel confident, confidence is good, compliments, even sexy ones, will bolster your confidence, enjoy Xander's eyes on you."

I was just beginning to think it was a little bit strange when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, "You know you aren't supposed to be listening in. It could mess with your own session."

I felt an instant sense of comfort. Willow's touch felt almost as good as contact with Xander. "The touch of friends brings you comfort," echoed in my mind.

"Sorry, but isn't it a little strange what he is..."

"You've had a long night," Willow said. "We should hold off your session until another day."

"No," I said concerned. Truth is, I didn't feel like the hypnosis sessions were actually doing anything. Like I was the same girl I had always been. Running for Homecoming Queen proved that. I made brownies, smiled for photos, accidentally forgot to wear a bra; stuff I'd always done. However, the sessions felt great. Really relaxed the mind and we were getting on better as a group. "I can do the session."

"Good," Willow said as she gave me a friendly kiss on the lips.

"Hey, sexy girls," Xander said with a funny compliment as he came over to us. "Give me a moment and I'll get ready to start."

I headed over to the Faith and Cordelia. Faith said she'd go out and do a patrol, see if she could track down the remaining Gorch brother or get some info on the person who had set this up.

Then Cordy actually complimented us on how we looked. It looks like some sense might finally be sinking into Cordelia's head.

Willow walked Faith out as Xander came back. My mind drifted as the crystal moved back and forth. We went through the positive reinforcement angle that Willow had taught us. "I like being hypnotized. I looked forward to being hypnotized. It is a relaxing and fun experience to be hypnotized. There is nothing unusual about hypnosis. Everything we do we always wanted to do. I won't tell anyone about the hypnosis who isn't part of it."

Just kind of general stuff. Willow was big on the idea that by talking about we enjoyed it, we'd have a more productive session. My mind had a brief moment to think that the intro seemed to keep getting longer and more intense, but before I could put a thought together my mind blinked off.

The one problem, the only problem, I've had with hypnosis is these crazy dreams I have sometimes. In this one Willow and Xander were talking while they observed us.

"She was listening," Xander said concerned.

"Don't worry about it," Willow said. "Just tell her she didn't hear anything unusual."

"I don't like deviating from the script. Buffy didn't have anything about confidence. I'm talking to her about appreciation."

"Trust me, you're worrying about nothing," Willow replied. "Everything is going according to plan."

"Oh yeah? And what about Holly and Cordelia?"

"You don't like that your girlfriend went down on a hot Asian girl for almost an hour?" Willow asked with a smile. "From what I hear, Holly only had to bring up the possibility of dropping out and Cordelia was ready to eat pussy."

"I'm worried about rumors," Xander replied. "Too many unusual actions could draw attention to us. I suspect Angel and Giles have at least some familiarity with hypnosis."

"No one will suspect us."

"They'll suspect me," Xander argued.

"They'll never suspect me, and I'll cover for you," Willow told him.

They she leaned down and kissed him.

It was moments like that which always convinced me it was just a crazy dream. Because if there was one thing I was certain of, it was that there was no chance of anything going on between Willow and Xander.

I'd heard it repeated enough times in hypnosis, how could it be false?

I heard Xander's voice ending the session. "Your friends. It feels good to make your friends feel good. Your real friends. Keep things with them. It feels good to make your friends feel good. It's just fun. Making your friends feel good makes you feel good. Your friends are..."

I blanked out there again, when I came to I was finishing the end of our mantra, "...I'll immediately let Xander and Willow know if anything is wrong."

I reflexively looked around for Willow, but she was no where to be seen. "Willow took off," Xander told me.

"Wow, way to read my mind," I said with a smile, trying to look my best. Xander was a friend. My best friend. Make him happy.

"Nah, just knew you'd be wondering it," he said as he stifled a yawn. "Well, we should call it a night. Or an early morning."

Early morning? Wow, that party most have gone longer than I thought.

"Oh, before I forget," Xander said as he got up. "Willow wanted to know if you would go shopping with her this weekend."

"Yeah, sure," I said automatically.

"Of course she wants you there, Buff, but I was asking Cordelia if she'd go as well," Xander said.

Cordelia paused, I could tell she was thinking of an excuse, but she shook her head. "Willow's my friend, I would be happy to take her shopping."