Dorothy slowly roused from her sleep, she wondered how it was even legal for a bed to be this comfortable. She snuggled back under the blanket, about to drift back into a comfy slumber when she realized that this blanket seemed to be made out of clovers and moss. After convincing herself to open her eyes, she lazily tossed the “blanket” off of her, and saw Azolla right in front of her, cuddled up with her. She had been using them as a blanket while she slept.

“Ah, good morning, little one. You certainly seemed to sleep well last night~” Their form was a bit different, yesterday, they looked fairly androgynous, in the general shape of a human but that was about all. Their form today was more feminine, the affini were effectively shapeshifters, and this one had chosen a form seemingly tailor made to fluster her.

“O-oh, hey uh, hi mistre- er, Azolla. Good morning, Azolla.” The events of last night slowly returned to her, and a tidal wave of embarrassment to match. Had she really done all of that last night? It’s not that she regrets any of it, not at all, but had she really given herself up completely and wholly to this affini?

Some choice words she had said to Azolla last night returned to her as well. She had begged her mistress to break her, to own her, and pleaded to her mistress to be their obedient pet. This was all too much for her, it was the first thing in the morning. She didn’t even have any coffee yet, an injustice. She started to pull the viney covers back over her head, but Azolla retracted their vines back into themself.

“Now now, little sleepyhead, we have a lot planned for today. If you need a little longer to wake up, I’ll be out in the kitchen making breakfast. Don’t be too long, or I’ll just have to carry you out of bed and feed you myself, unless that’s what you want~” They left the room, leaving Dorothy to her thoughts. 

She took a look around the room, it wasn’t her bedroom, not the old one from her apartment, or the one that Azolla had given her. Given how big everything seemed, this must’ve been their room. In one corner sat a desk, a few books sat in a stack on top of it. It almost looked foreign to her, books having largely been phased out in favor of digital mediums. In another corner, there were a few mannequins, two were roughly terran sized, while the other one was the size of an affini. The smaller ones were fitted with floral dresses, lovingly designed, and the skirt portions for both were very wide, in a bell shape. Did Azolla make these, or were they compiled?

She rolled herself out of bed, and walked over to the mannequins. Why would they have these if they could just compile it whenever necessary? Maybe Azolla had an interest in tailoring, she thought. She then wondered if the dresses might actually fit her, they don't seem to be too terribly far off from her size, at least. She didn’t have very many nice outfits, mostly just whatever she needed for her work, and some secondhand clothes. By contrast the dresses here looked absolutely divine.

Realizing that she may have to deal with being carried like a pet again if she dawdled too long, she left the bedroom and met Azolla out in the kitchen. Whatever she was cooking, it smelled really good to her. The stovetop was too high up for her to see what was being made, not that she didn’t try to anyway.

“Careful, darling. I’m almost done making breakfast, you can see what it is then. In the meantime, I made some coffee for you, it’s on the dining table. You can take a seat there and I’ll bring you your food when it’s done.” With a free hand they pulled Dorothy into a light embrace, hugging her against their leg, or, the mass of vines roughly where their legs would be.

She took a seat at the dining table, and grabbed the coffee mug sitting in front of her. She was used to just having straight black coffee on the few occasions she could afford it, it was just simpler and easier that way, so seeing that the coffee had cream and sugar already in it was not what she was expecting.

She took a sip of the coffee, the temperature was perfect, she didn’t have to worry about accidentally burning her tongue as she sometimes would in the past. For being a sweetened drink, it was quite good, but not in the same way that she was used to having it. Azolla spoke up while she pondered her coffee. “I didn’t have anything to brew the coffee myself, so it’s just a compiled cup, you look a bit disappointed with it.”

“H-huh? Oh, no, it’s perfectly fine, I’m just used to it without cream and sugar, this is still nice, though. Thank you, Azolla.” She continued to struggle with maintaining her composure, memories of the previous night still occupying her mind. She quietly stared down at the coffee mug as if it was about to start some conversation to free her from her thoughts. 

Realizing that was a fruitless effort, she decided to speak up. “So, you said we have plans for today? What are we doing?”

“Well, I have your vet appointment scheduled. After you eat, we’ll get you cleaned up and ready to head out for that. Later today I was planning on bringing you to a friend of mine, so you can meet his floret. You met Hesthra briefly while we were walking to your apartment, but I understand if you don’t remember.” The name sounded familiar to her, but so much happened to her yesterday a lot of it blurred together, or were the xenodrugs still in her system? She couldn’t tell.

With the thought of pets and domestication at the forefront of her mind once more, she noticed something. She touched her neck, and realized she was still wearing the collar from last night. She tugged at the collar, and frantically felt around for any way to detach it. “H-hey! Azolla- I mean, mistress- I mean, wait, fuck! The- the collar, I’m still wearing it! Take it off, please! I’m, I’m not-”

“It’s okay, dear. take a deep breath, I’ll remove that if that’s what you want.” There was a hint of disappointment in her voice. They walked over to Dorothy, plate in hand, and removed the collar from her neck. She couldn’t help but feel some hard to pin emotion. Was this some hint of regret she was feeling? Before she could think further on that, the plate Azolla was holding was set down in front of her.

On the plate was a waffle, cut into quarters, and gravy poured over top of it. to the side was a small portion of grilled chicken, and some diced cooked potatoes. This was far from a breakfast she was used to.

“I figured you might want a more substantial meal, it’s fairly late in the morning as it is. I wanted to try something a little different from what you may be used to. I hope it is to your liking”

“Late in the morning? What time is it anyway?” She began eating the food that Azolla had prepared for her, and the room once again responded to her question.

“Hiya cutie! The current local ship time is 10:12 AM, you must’ve been really tired!” She wondered how that could be correct, she knew she had been up for a fair few hours after she had last checked, but that still would’ve meant she slept at least 12 hours.

“I gave you the correct dosage of class-Z xenodrugs so you’d be able to quickly adjust to the new time, but you must’ve been fairly sleep deprived. It’s for the best to get you caught up on that lost sleep anyway.”

That was right, she remembers Azolla mentioning giving her a sleep aid. It was also true that she hadn’t been sleeping very well previously. 6 hours was what she normally expected to get, and her bed wasn’t exactly comfortable either. She refrained from mentioning how much sleep she used to get, assuming that it would only press them to try and keep her as their pet. More than they already were, anyway.

“Fair enough, I guess.” She finished up the rest of her food, and sipped away at her coffee. How was someone who wasn’t even a terran so good at cooking terran food? Did the affini even eat anything? This didn’t make any sense to her. With those questions weighing on her mind, she carried the finished plate and mug to Azolla.

They put the dishes into the decompiler bin, and pet her on the head. “Good girl, Dorothy. Now that you’re finished with your food, how about we get you cleaned up and dressed? I’m certain you want to get out of that old outfit of yours.”

A small smile formed on her face as Azolla petted her, even for as hard as she tried to suppress it. “Yeah, definitely. Wait, I didn’t bring my clothes with me, I kinda left all of that at my apartment.”

The two of them began walking to the bathroom. “Don’t worry about that, I’ll get you some clothes to wear, I think you’ll find them a lot comfier than what you were wearing previously. Hab? Please run a bath for Dorothy here.” It was hard for her to complain about that. She figured she’d just be given something fairly plain but nice. Azolla barely managed to hide an impish smile.

The habitation AI spoke up again. “Sure thing, Azolla!” Dorothy entered the bathroom by herself, Azolla let her have privacy while she got cleaned up. The bathtub was absolutely massive, there was a larger, deeper section the size of a swimming pool, and a smaller sectioned off area that was filling up with water. The deeper area must be for the affini, she assumed.

She got undressed, removed the bandages that Azolla had put on her the day before, and entered the bathtub. The water was warm and relaxing, she almost felt as if she could fall asleep in it, if she hadn’t already slept as long as she did. She carried on with cleaning herself, while taking sufficient time to enjoy splashing around in the water too. At some point she heard the door open, before closing again soon after, Most likely Azolla left her some clean clothes to wear for that day.

As much as she didn’t want to get out of the bath, she knew that she had plans, and if she didn’t get out soon, then Azolla might come in and dress her themself. She stood up from the tub, and grabbed a towel to dry herself off.

“Uh, hab… drain tub?” Azolla had started the bath with a voice command, right? Surely she could drain it the same way.

“Say the magic word~” The AI spoke playfully and cheerfully. She knew it was going to be annoying, she called it! Did Azolla choose for it to be this way, or were all of the habitation AI’s this way?

She sighed, and reworded her request. “...Please can you drain the tub?”

“Sure thing!” The water drained from the tub, and Dorothy redirected her attention to the clothes that had been brought to her. On the countertop was the one of the dresses she had been looking at in Azolla’s room, laid out neatly and cleanly. Next to it was a petticoat to be worn underneath the skirt portion of the dress, along with undergarments and tights.

A note was left for her as well. “I noticed you were looking at the dresses I had made, so I figured you might want to wear one of them~ I can tie up the back for you, it should fit you for the most part, but if you need it adjusted I should be able to do that. Hope you enjoy~”

Azolla left their signature at the bottom of the paper, It was beautifully ornate and detailed. She was blushing madly at the thought of wearing the dress, how did they know she was interested in it? She put on the outfit given to her, it was definitely more complex a process than normal, the petticoat alone ensured it would be. She eventually got the full outfit on her, and left the bathroom to get Azolla’s help with tying up the back for it.

“A-Azolla? I, uh, I’m wearing the outfit now, I just need your help with tightening and tying the back?” They were sitting on the couch in the living room, the documents from yesterday still sitting there, now fully organized again.

“Oh you look absolutely adorable. I’ll get that tied up for you, then we can get going~” They motioned Dorothy over, and helped her with her outfit. She looked over herself, the dress looked quite nice on her, and it fit well enough too. The heavy floral design of the dress made her look far more like the pets that she saw the day prior, which prompted more blushing from her when that fact set it.

“S-so, this is what I’m going to wear to the vet today? L-like, outside and stuff?” She knew everyone was going to think she was a pet in that outfit. Some part of her wanted to argue that she should wear something else, but another part of her had started getting comfortable with the idea of being their pet. The embarrassed smile on her face gave away her desires.

Azolla looked at her dress, making sure it all seemed to fit correctly. “That is the plan, yes. Does the dress feel okay? It looks like it might be a bit tight in the ribs.” Dorothy adjusted herself in the dress. It felt generally comfortable, surprisingly so for such an elaborate dress, though Azolla was right about it being a bit tight.

“I can refit it so it’ll work out a lot better for you, it should be fairly easy for me to do, are you fine with it as it is today at least?”

“Yeah, I am, it’s really nice. Uh, thank you, Azolla. Should we get going, then?” She idly swayed back and forth, the skirt portion of the dress lifting slightly as she spun.

Azolla carefully picked her up, and cradled her in their arms. “Certainly, let’s go~” Dorothy opened her mouth to argue against being carried, but decided against it. As they left the habitation unit, She thought about what other clothes Azolla might be able to make for her, if she decided to stay with them.

***

“Dorothy? Come now, my little flower, we’re here.” A vine tapped her on the face, breaking her out of her daydream. She had been thinking about what her future held for the duration of the walk, so much so that she hadn’t even noticed the affini along the way that had fawned and cooed over her while she was being carried.

“H-huh? Oh, right, yeah. Sorry about that.” She rubbed her eyes and looked around. The two of them were in what appeared to be a medical examination room, with an unfamiliar affini standing in front of them. She figured that this was the vet that would be examining her, given where she was.

“Ah, it’s nice to have you in, Dorothy.” The affini looks up to Azolla. “Your pet is very adorable, well behaved too.” The vet pats her head. Did they just call her a pet? They didn’t even bother to ask if she was one and just assumed she was.

“Uh, hold on, wait, I’m not a pet, I’m independent. Azolla just helped take me here.” Still being cradled in their arms, her statement couldn’t have looked any further from the truth.

“I am currently taking care of her under a temporary wardship. We’re here to discuss any xenodrug regimens that she may need to be put on. Class-G and class-E specifically are the ones that I believe she may need.” Dorothy pouted quietly, the vet didn’t seem to believe her, and Azolla was just treating her like a pet anyway.

“Ah, I see. Well then, it's nice to have you in for the first time, Dorothy. My name is Nilotica Ren, he/they. I’ll be your vet for today. So, you were wanting to start on class-G’s, correct?” He spoke warmly, as all the other affini had to her.

“I mean, yeah, I don’t exactly know a whole lot about it, but it’s like my hormone medication I had been taking, right?” All of the pet treatment was worth it to her, if these xenodrugs were as good as Azolla had said, then this was a small price to pay.

“Similar, yes. However these are far more effective and capable of more than the medications you are currently on. Class-G xenodrugs can be used to create a large variety of changes to one’s body. They can change your height, cause growth or reduction of breast tissue, remove or add body hair, and they can even change your eye color if you so choose. They aren’t all encompassing, but if you still find yourself dissatisfied with your body, we can make more significant changes via other means.”

That was a lot to take in for her. Could they really do all of that? Did she just win the lottery? “W-whoa. Okay, wow. You’re seriously giving me a blank check with all of this, huh?”

“A blank what?” The vet seemed confused by her figure of speech.

“Oh, right, yeah, capitalism. Uh, don’t worry about it, old saying.”

“You adorable little Terrans and your idioms.” Nilotica patted her head, followed by Azolla doing the same. “Anyway, what are you looking for from your class-G regimen? I would also like to run some quick blood work so we can determine what variants would be right for you, are you okay with needles?”

“Yeah, I am. Uh, shit I don’t know. That’s like, way too open ended, too many choices. Can I make changes afterwards if I'm not happy?” She couldn’t even begin to think about what she would have wanted out of this. Just getting to look in the mirror and see a girl was enough for her, but if she could get so much more, then why not?

“But of course, nothing is set in stone, and any changes we make can be adjusted, or even reverted if you find yourself unhappy.” He slipped a few flower needles into her, one in her arm, and the other in her leg.

“Okay, got it. Uh, I guess… Just… me but just a girl, like, totally? I don’t think I’m ready to change much, I just want to look at my body and see a girl, you know? Uh, no body hair, definitely. Is, uh, that good? Open-ended questions aren’t my strong suit.” She looked down, embarrassed that she couldn’t answer such a simple question.

“That is perfectly okay, would you also like these scars on your arm removed?” He gently ran a vine on her left arm, and removed the needles from her.

She looked over her arm, and paused for a moment. “Uh, y-yeah. I think I do. It’ll really be like they never existed?”

Nilotica nodded, and placed a comforting vine on her shoulder. “Absolutely. We want you to be happy in your own body, that’s the whole goal with this. Now then, unless you have any other requests with your class-G’s, let’s move on.” He looked up to speak to Azolla. “You said you also think she may need some variant of class-E, correct?”

“Yes, she struggles with her anxiety and spirals emotionally due to it quite frequently. I think she would be a lot happier on class-E’s.”

He pulled out a plantech tablet, and started tapping away at it. A brief moment later, he turned the device to Azolla. “Well, with what I can tell, it seems that these will be the right variants of class-G and class-E xenodrugs to administer to her. To let you know, this variant of class-E’s does tend to cause a minor reduction in coordination at this dosage. If that is an issue we can find a different variant that may be more suited to her.”

“That should be fine, if it does prove an issue in any way then we can look into switching her over later. Does this sound okay to you, Dorothy?”

The memory of Azolla telling her how cute she would be if she got clumsy on class-E’s shot back into her memory. Was Azolla really just going to be fine with this? There was no way she was just going to let that happen to her. “Yeah, sounds good.”

“Okay, perfect. You should have no trouble producing both of these variants, Azolla. If after your wardship Dorothy decides to live independently, she can stop by here and we’ll be able to fill her prescription for her.” Her mind started to space out, and missed the rest of what the two affini said. She couldn’t believe herself. Did she just accept this without hesitation just because Azolla would think it’s cute? The two affini seemed to wrap up their conversation, and Azolla carried her out.

They walked home, Azolla knew leaving Dorothy to stew in her thoughts for too long wouldn’t be good for her, but she might have needed some time to process stuff as well. They broke the silence. “Dorothy? If you would like, I can give you your medications now. I think they’ll help you out a lot.”

“Okay, sure… I guess, if you think it’ll help…”

They slipped a pair of small flowery needles into her arm. “It’s perfectly okay, my little petal. I promise you that it will be okay, I don’t want any harm to come to you.”

She felt a comforting warmth radiate from where she was injected, different to one she had felt the night before. This warmth was calming, pleasing, it felt nice. She took a deep breath, and snuggled further into Azolla’s arms. For once, things just felt right to her.

“Mmnf… Thank you, Mistress.” She realized what she called them, but didn’t bother to correct herself. She slowly drifted off to sleep in their arms. One last sentence escaped her lips before she passed out.

“I love you.”