The Antique Goblet (Closed for BlueCollarGirl)

Luke was happy to be home at the end of a pretty boring day. He loved the people that he worked with—some of them were good friends of his—but most of the work itself was just barely complicated enough that he couldn’t zone out, without actually being interesting at all. That’s what I get for going into Accounting, he supposed.

So, he was happy to be home. He opened the car door and carefully unfolded his long legs from under the steering wheel. Someday he needed to clean and organize their garage, so they could actually park in there instead of on the carport outside. For now, he was walking to the front door every day. He opened it and stepped into the small ranch-style rental home.

Luke was tall and thin, a bit on the gangly side, but handsome enough, once his girlfriend Tessa had started managing his wardrobe and making him shave. He didn’t mind—he wanted to look good for her and he didn’t really have fashion opinions anyway. He set his keys and phone on the entryway dresser, picking up a small package with his name on it.

“Hey, honey! What’s this?”

She responded, but it was hard to hear her in the bedroom, so he started opening the package. Inside was a silver goblet with gems embedded in the side. It look over-the-top, like a movie prop. It also looked old, and it was sitting in a velvet-lined box. Luke pulled out an envelope with a note inside.

To my grandnephew Lucas,

I’m sending this to you before the lawyers get involved, but you should know I’m not doin’ well. If you want my advice, you can get Old, but stay away from Damn Old. Anyway, here’s how this thing works: put some water (or whatever you want—doesn’t matter) in it, and anyone who drinks it will be totally susceptible to hypnotic suggestions for the next minute. It wears off after 24 hours, and you’ve got to take it literally—if you want them to forget about the suggestions you gotta tell ‘em to, okay? Anyway, it’s been a blast for me havin’ this, and I don’t know who else to give it to, so there you go. I’ll probably be dead before you could come visit, so don’t bother. They say you shouldn’t pass without telling people how you feel, so here goes: you’re alright, kid. Tell your mom she was my favorite niece. And tell your aunt that she was. Gotta keep ‘em guessing. Adios!

Raymond

Tessa was standing there once he’d finished reading. He was holding the goblet with a stunned expression on his face. “My great-uncle Raymond is dying.” They weren’t close, but Luke had always enjoyed him when they’d seen each other. The man had a great sense of humor, and always indulged his younger relatives. Like handed Tessa the note. He didn’t know what to do about this thing, but he certainly wasn’t going to keep any secrets from his girlfriend.

Tessa, wearing a bemused expression, read the letter that Luke handed her. Clearly Uncle Raymond was something of a jokester, especially with the instructions he sent along with that gaudy goblet. It made her sad that she hadn't met Raymond, but grad school had left her with little time for Luke, let alone anyone else. Still, she made a mental note make more time for both of their families.

With a sad smile for him, she handed him back the note before giving him an affectionate kiss. "I'm sorry to hear that, babe. He sounds like quite a character." Luke offered her the goblet and she took it. Although it wasn't heavy, it was sturdier than she'd expected, and she founds the gems appeared to be real when she held them up to her critical eye.

It was hard for her to gauge Luke's mood, so she tried to keep her scientist brain in check. But if Tessa was honest, she wanted to take it to her lab just to see what it was made of. Instead, she gave her boyfriend a big smile, one that lit up her plain face. "Wanna try it out?"

Luke appreciated his girlfriend’s words of consolation, especially since he could tell her curiosity was going wild with the goblet. Even if, as he assumed, the bit about hypnosis was a joke, the goblet looked old, and expensive. He put a hand on her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze in gratitude. He was a little sad about not seeing great-uncle Raymond again, even if he hadn’t thought about him in years.

He couldn’t help but chuckle when Tessa asked if he wanted to try it out. She had clearly waited as long as she could. “Haha, sure, Tess. Water, right?” Luke filled the goblet and downed it in one gulp.

He meant to teasingly tell her to do her worst, but he had trouble forming the words. Everything seemed to slow down, the small living room vanishing in a haze. The only thing he was aware of Tessa’s breath, every sound she made. When she started talking he hung on every word, but after about a minute he couldn’t remember if she’d said anything at all. Luke looked at her im confusion. “Did it work? I felt weird for a second…”

Tessa's grin grew wider when Luke agreed. He always humored her when she got silly, maybe because she was often so serious these days. She didn't mean to be, but grad school was a grind unlike anything she'd done before. Luke helped keep her spirits up, and she loved him for it.

After he gulped down the goblet of water, she said, "Hmm. I command you to go stand in the corner and touch your finger to your nose every time I say Pink." It was so absurd, but then she noticed how slack his face had gone. "Luke?" He didn't respond and she started getting worried.

Then he blinked and grew animated again. "I...I don't know. You completely blanked out there for a second." She took the goblet and sniffed the inside now that it was damp. There wasn't any whiff of any chemicals that she could tell, and when she ran a finger along the inside taste she didn't feel any residue.

She set the cup on the counter and led Luke to a chair. "Do you feel okay? Do you need another drink? Preferably one from a non-magical item?" Tessa offered him a faint smile, upset that her joke might’ve hurt him.

Luke let his sweet girlfriend lead him to a chair. “I think I feel fine, actually. It’s weird--I just kinda zoned out for a minute, but I think I’m good now.” He chuckled at her joke. “Yeah, maybe some more water would be good.”

He sat there, taking a few deep breaths. It wasn’t like him to just blank like that. Weren’t they doing something with the goblet?

“You were going to try something with that goblet, right?”

He thought about it. That was what they had been doing right before his mind fuzzed out. Maybe he should look at that note again. “Did you tell me anything while I was zonked?”

Surely Tess would tell him. Not only did he trust her implicitly, but her curiosity would make her test it out in detail.

He hummed to himself thoughtfully as his mind tried to grab onto the slippery memory of what had just happened.

"Yes, I told you something." Tessa wavered between concerned and annoyed. It wasn't like Luke to space out like that and it could've been the sign of something really wrong with him. But she was annoyed that this favorite uncle of his might've sent them something laced with something dangerous. Just because she couldn't pin it down without an analysis didn't mean it wasn't there.

The look he was giving her also made her uncomfortable. His handsome face held no tension, no guile, no worry for himself. It was so innocent that she realized he had to be joking with her. That made more sense than some magic mind control goblet. He'd been known to prank her a time or two, clearly a family trait (assuming he had an uncle named Raymond). She usually laughed along with his jokes but right now she was miffed that she actually fell for it.

So she crossed her arms and gave him a flat smirk. "Pink." She knew he'd do it because she was positive he was just pulling her leg.

Luke stood up, confused as to why Tessa had just named a color at him instead of answering the question. He walked across the dining room to stand near the window. “Why did you just say ‘Pink’?” he asked, with his finger on his nose. He put his hand down and turned back to her. “Why won’t you just answer my question? What did you say to me earlier?” He was concerned. She seemed to be messing with him. He decided to get the water himself, so he walked into the kitchen and reached for a glass.

Brown eyes narrowed, Tessa followed Luke into the kitchen. "You know why I said pink." He detoured to the corner and touched his nose before getting a glass out of the cupboard. 'I know you heard what I said or you wouldn't be doing it!"

Her hands found the goblet, lifting it up to her skeptical eyes. "Do you really expect me to believe that you drank from this and you don't even realize that you're doing what I said? That's a little too silly, even for you." She laughed and, after setting down the cup, walked to him. She gave in a big hug. "Although I think it's sweet that you're honoring your great uncle."

Luke hugged her back, enjoying her laughter. So, she thought he was messing with her, huh? What was he doing that she had suggested to him? He sat down, he got some water, she hugged him? What was he missing?

“You don’t believe me? There’s an easy way to find out. Why don’t you drink from it? Then we can see whether it works on you, too?”

He raised his eyebrows at her, challenging her to accept his dare.

With a snort, Tessa squeezed him once more before stepping back. "Is that a dare?" Her eyes sparkled in a challenge as she mock glared at him. "You know better than to challenge Tessa Blair!"

She scooped up the goblet, filled it almost to the brim from the tap, and guzzled it down. "See?" She said as she turned. But by the time she faced Luke, it felt like she was moving through amber. His lips moved in super slo-mo, and his words were so slow she couldn't understand what he was saying. And yet, his voice held her enthralled.

After Luke's lips stopped moving, time returned to normalcy. She quickly set the goblet down and whispered, "what the fuck?"

Like had to think quickly once Tessa drank from the goblet. He had wanted a second to come up with something good, but he should have known she would jump at the chance to complete a dare. He could see the trance happen on her face, her eyes glazing over and her jaw going slack.

“Okay, when I clap my hands, you will spin around once while flapping your elbows like a chicken. Oh, and tomorrow after work you’ll pick up Indian food on the way home.”

Maybe Luke shouldn’t have slipped in a two-for there. It probably wasn’t kind. Especially since Tessa didn’t like Indian food that much. He really wanted to see if she would do it, though. He wanted to know how real this magic goblet was.

He pulled his phone out and started the camera recording while Tessa snapped out of it.

“I know, right? It’s a trip. I have to hand it to you, though, you completed that dare like a champ.” As he finished his praise, he clapped his hands one time.

The first thing Tessa noticed was that Luke had his phone out. What for? And the second thing was that, although she remembered drinking from the goblet, she couldn't remember anything that happened other than feeling weird for a moment. She was sure there had been more to it, though.

When he clapped his hands, Tessa gave him a funny look. "What's with the clap?" she asked as she spun in a slow circle, hands tucked at her armpits as her elbows when up and down. She stopped and frowned as she realized he was recording her. "And why the hell are you recording our conversation?"

Luke stopped the recording, readying it to play. He still didn’t know what she’d told him to do, so he guessed that she didn’t notice her cute little chicken dance, even as she was doing it. He handed her the phone. “I recorded it so I can show you what you just did.” He was smiling, but he had mixed feelings about it. If this thing really worked, then there was potential for abuse, even though he would never do anything to Tessa that she didn’t want to do.

Once she watched it, he raised an eyebrow at her. “See?” He really wanted to know what he’d been doing. “So, now will you tell me what you made me do?”

Tessa's mouth fell open. This literally just happened, and yet she remembered none of it! How was that possible? Even though she was skeptical of post-hypnotic suggestions, at least those she could rationalize how and why they worked. But how could one keep her from being able to remember that she did something?

Eyes wide, she stared at Luke for a long moment. When she found her voice, she said, "Mine was that every time I said the word pink, you would go stand in the corner and touch your nose." Which of course he was doing and not realizing even as she said the words.

She handed him back his phone and stared at the goblet, sitting on the counter, twinkling its mischief under the kitchen lights. "How is it possible, Luke? How?? That's not how the human mind works." Her years of interest and study in brain chemistry told her as much, especially since she had a number of psych classes to go along with her chemistry degree. "I just...I don't understand." And honestly, she couldn't decide if she was excited to know such a thing existed, or terrified.

Luke thought Tessa’s command had been cute, and as he took his finger off his nose he realized he had done it again when she’d said “pink.”

“Hey! I just noticed myself doing it!”

Luke laughed triumphantly. “Okay, we’re figuring this out! Let’s try it with you.” He clapped, watching his girlfriend spin around, dancing like a chicken. She was so cute.

“Tessa, we should also see if you can avoid it when you know it, right?”

He felt bad about his second suggestion, but now maybe he could justify it.

“I gave you a second suggestion, earlier when you drank from the goblet. I told you to pick up Indian food on your way home tomorrow, so I think you should just try not to do that, right?”

She watched the video of herself again, amazed at how clearly she had no idea she was doing it when she was actually doing it. It spurred a number of ideas on the mechanics of how it worked. Luke, however, just seemed pleased by the outcome.

Well, at least he was asking questions, too. That made her happy and she was more than willing to test this out with him. "Indian food? Yeah, that should be easy enough to avoid." She made a face as Luke clapped one more time, spinning her around and flapping her wings. "Also, if you really wanted Indian food, you could've just asked."

She went to where he sat and slid onto his lap. "Better be careful, or I'll start making you do the laundry after a drink."

Luke laughed, resting his hands on his girlfriend’s lap, enjoying the comfortable weight of her thighs on his. “Okay, I deserve that.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry. I was mostly curious about the goblet, but I also enjoy Indian food., and—“

Luke paused, an idea germinating in his brain. “Actually, that’s kind of genius, Tessa!”

He looked into her dark brown eyes after she swivelled to look at him. He smiled, proud of himself for being the one to come up with an idea for once.

“When you told me to touch my nose in the corner, I didn’t even realize I was doing it! So...tell me to do chores, and maybe I won’t even realize I’m doing chores! It would be effortless!”

Tessa laughed. "It's about time you recognized my genius, Luke. I've been telling you about it for years!" She leaned up and pressed her lips against his.

When they break apart finally, she whispered, "We need rules, you know." She wiggled out of his lap and began to pace. "We can each use it once a day, and only once a day." Her fingers snapped as she walked, an old habit resurfacing. "We have to be specific, and we have to be ethical."

Then she stopped and faced him. "What do you think, babe?"

Luke enjoyed Tessa’s kiss just as much as he disliked her leaving his lap, but this wasn’t the time to complain.

She was right about rules, and hers were good. He narrowed his eyes at her with a playful smirk. “I can already tell you’ve got more in mind than just some chores…” He smiled, enjoying watching the gears turn in her cute little head. “And I can’t wait to find out.”

He considered the idea more seriously. “I like your rules. I think they’re important. I just have one I want to add: we always tell each other what our suggestions were after the day’s over, okay?”

That was all he could think of, so he got out a bottle of wine to go with the dinner they hadn’t eaten yet. “And, since you’re already trying not to pick up Indian tomorrow,” He poured her wine into a stemmed wine glass. “and I don’t think our first two should count,” He poured his wine into the magic goblet. “I think you’ve got one more suggestion to make for today. Want to think about it first?”

Glad to have something more normal to drink, Tessa swirled the wine in her glass for a moment. Luke's addition to the rules was a good one, an important one. That way they could keep the trust they'd worked the past few years to built intact. And that was ultimately all she wanted. After all, she loved the cute lug and couldn't imagine him not being in her life.

"Agreed," she said. "And okay, I have one more I can make." They clinked glasses together, but Tessa took just a small sip to see if drinking something other than water affected him differently. She couldn't see anything different, just the same slack face that made him seem stoned.

"Tomorrow morning, you will clean out Simon's litter box before you leave for work." It was her most hated chore, and if Luke was willing to take a chore from her for free, she was definitely giving him this one.

Just as Luke seemed to come back to himself, Simon - the fuzzy little terrorist that he was - made an appearance, jumping up on the counter beside her. Tessa scratched his ears as she studied her boyfriend. "Still feel okay?"

Luke drank half the wine in one go, not sure if sipping it would have a different effect. He had the expected missing time, not remembering setting the goblet down or Simon jumping on the counter.

“Just like last time, but pretty curious what you said.”

The rest of the evening was uneventful, except for the energy that seemed to spark between them with the excitement of their new toy. Luke spent the evening on the couch, one arm around Tessa and his other hand scratching behind Simon’s ears. They went to bed early, since Luke had work in the morning and Tessa had TA duties before lab.

The next day, Luke cut it close, getting out of the house. He knew all he had to do was put on his shoes, so he went over to the litter box, scooped out Simon’s little treasures, cleaned the litter, washed his hands, and laced up his brown dress shoes. He was out the door with minutes to spare.

The day was uneventful, and he was distracted the whole time, wondering what he and Tessa would do that night, and what they would be having for dinner. His curiosity reached a peak after he parked in their driveway that evening, walking to the door.

Tessa was in the shower when Luke left. After she finished dressing and leaving her bland brown hair to air dry, she hopped on down the stairs to check Simon's box. Sure enough, the litter was clean and didn't stink. That made her smile - scooping poop was hands down her least favorite chore.

But in the light of morning, after a good night's sleep and some time to think clearly, doubt began to creep in. It was equally possible that Luke finally realized how much she hated cleaning the litter box. And last night...well, the power of suggestion could be pretty powerful. It didn't mean there had been any actual power in that gaudy old goblet.

After her first two classes assisting Dr. Liston, Tessa went to her lab. She was hoping to leverage her degree into forensics, so her project was on better detection methods of heavy metals in the human body. She fell into her work with a relieved ease, happy to be dealing with the measurable and reproducible world of science.

It was late by the time she finished up, pleased with her progress. She grabbed up her backpack and rushed to the car, wanting to get home and relax a little before grading some undergrad papers. It was such a familiar routine that she felt into autopilot. It wasn't until she smelled something that she even realized she had made a stop.

Sitting in the seat beside her was a white plastic bag, the scent of spices emanating from it, that she realized she had done it. She had picked up Indian food for dinner.

What. The. Hell.

Luke smelled his mutton curry and cumin rice as soon as he walked in the door. “Didn’t work, huh?” he called out to Tessa, smiling in amusement. But, then he saw his girlfriend’s face and he stopped. She looked anxious. Had it scared her to get the Indian food when she’d been trying not to?

“Oh, Tessa, are you okay?” He rushed over, wrapping the sweet woman up in his arms. “If you’re worried about the goblet, we can get rid of it.” He was frowning in concern. “It’s not worth causing you any anxiety.”

Enfolded in Luke's arms, the edge wore off of Tessa's nerves. "No, no, I don't want to get rid of it. Your uncle sent it to you, and I wouldn't feel right about giving it away." She pulled back, though, and looked him in the eye. "It's just...it didn't feel dangerous at the time, but I was driving and interacting with people and I don't even remember it. I might as well have been drunk driving."

Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it didn't change the guilt she felt about it. What if someone had gotten hurt. "Maybe just a new rule: no suggestions that involve leaving the house?" It sounded silly when she said it out loud, but everything about this situation was completely unreal.

She forced a smile and added, "And thank you for cleaning out Simon's box this morning. Gonna do it again tomorrow, or will I have to drink you into it?"

“I didn’t cl—“ The goblet! “Ah! Oh, you’re welcome. I did do that, didn’t I? It’s so funny. It really does make it less unpleasant, but I wouldn’t want you to waste my drink on a repeat. I’ll clean it out tomorrow.” He smiled at her, glad she was recovering a bit from her freak out. He chuckled, realizing that now that she’d mentioned it he vaguely remembered cleaning out the litter box before he left for work, but at the time it had been just this big blank spot in his mind.

What she said about drunk driving actually kind of made sense. Luke hadn’t considered any dangers like that. “And of course, No Drinks That Take Us Outside The House, got it.” It was another good rule. “Although,” he teased, “I was half-expecting you to have me run around the neighborhood naked at some point, troublemaker.”

He squeezed Tessa’s shoulders, eager to sit down to a delicious meal. Now that Tessa seemed to have re-accepted their goblet-play, Luke was back to enjoying the novelty of it. “Do you know what you’re going to have me drink to tonight?”