I jolted awake taking both Ratio and Miss by surprise.

 

“Zeitha?” Ratio asked. She was smiling, but the dry tears spread across her face and the unease in her eyes betrayed her true emotions. I returned my sister's smile and lifted my hand to brush against her face.

 

“It’s done,” I said.

 

“How are you feeling?” Ratio asked.

 

“Liberated, hollow and tired, so very tired.”

 

“Would you like to cry?” she asked.

 

“Yes!” I laughed. I tried to tap into the raw emotions that would bring forward my tears and for whatever reason found them eluding me. Of course, they would stop working now! “So, I’m struggling on the tear front,” I joked.

 

“Let me help you with that,” Miss added, bringing me and Ratio into a tighter hold.

 

“I don’t see how that-“ My rebuke was cut short at the sign of a tear running down my cheek. “Oh. Yeah; no, that’ll do it,” I laughed nervously before the floodgates opened once more.

 

 

“I am starving,” I announced as the three of us set up the table.

 

Miss’s vines twitched before they fluttered in the manner they did when she was trying to disguise a laugh. She craned her neck sideways. “Hi starving; I’m Sya Everfell, Fourth Bloom. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 

I groaned. “Was that supposed to be funny?”

 

“I think so?” Miss added. “Cereus recommended it on the account of it being a very punny joke.”

 

I groaned again; quickly followed by a large sigh. “I am not entertaining that.”

 

“I agree!” Ratio chimed in. “Mistress, that was pun-stakingly bad.” She flashed a grin in my direction while Miss’s vines fluttered once more.

 

“Stars! I exclaimed. “Put me back! Why do I feel like you’re both punishing me for something!”

 

The girls laughed and then seeing the confusion on my face, exchanged a look and then laughed with double their previous fervour.

 

“What?!” I asked.

 

“Sis! No!” Ratio said between deep breaths. “You can’t be serious!?”

 

“I am,” I replied, a little offended. “What are you both laughing at?”

 

“Repeat what you said after stars,” she giggled.

 

“Put me back; why do I feel like you’re both punis… Oh. Would you believe me if I said that wasn’t intentional?” Apparently, I was a comedic genius because Ratio curled over on the floor and held her stomach as she erupted with laughter all over again. I tried to keep a straight face and pretend I was wounded, but I couldn’t hold it for long and soon all three of us were laughing over something as stupid as a pun.

 

 

I was halfway through pushing my stacked plates forward before Miss’s vines stopped me. “Star, light and I…” Yes, she did nickname her pets Star and Light. “will be baking some treats for your playdate tomorrow. Would you like to join us?”

 

I tried to play it cool. “In there?” I asked, throwing a casual thumb. “As in, the super-secret kitchen that is completely off-limits? You’re offering to bake treats with me in there?”

 

A condescending smile started to creep across Miss’s face. “Yes, the super-secret kitchen which you obviously don’t want to see from the sounds of things.”

 

“Now hold on, let’s not be getting hasty here! I said no such thing I’ll have you know.”

 

“So you do want to see the kitchen?” Miss asked.

 

The corners of my mouth curled upwards. “You know, a huge part of me wants to make a smart-ass comment here; but I have to confess, a much larger part of me really, really, wants to see what’s inside. Please take me with you.”

 

“How quickly the mighty fall!” Miss laughed. “Come along then.”

 

I have to say, the kitchen wasn’t at all what I expected. For starters, it was small, or at least small by compact standards. Second, it was nearly completely barren! There was a single counter than ran the length of the room, a fridge-looking thingymajig, an oven which I could probably fit inside appropriately floret proofed of course, and some impossibly high cupboards. Like I said; not what I was expecting.

 

“Colour me confused. Where do you make the food? Where do the dishes go? And what in the cosmos is that?” I asked, pointing at the thingymajig.

 

“This is a compiler little one,” Miss said. She pressed a few buttons and two small cakes were formed which she handed to Ratio and me. You would think I’d be surprised right? A machine materialising food out of nowhere? Sounds far too far-fetched! And yet, it didn’t phase me one bit; if anything, the discovery of this machine made being captured almost worth it.

 

“Thanks,” I said, taking the cake in one hand. “How does it work?”

 

“Like this…”

 

We spent a fair degree of time going over the various settings; how to decompile and compile matter, the different selections of food on offer and of course, the floret restraints in place so we couldn’t hurt ourselves. It was like a large magical box and now that I had kitchen privileges I could visit and tinker whenever I liked. Heed my words o’ magical box! For I shall tame you and take your secrets for my own!

 

After Miss’s demonstration, she materialised an assortment of baking supplies and placed them on the counter along with Ratio, who sorted the ingredients into different piles.

 

“Star, I’m going to lift you now,” Miss said, extending her vines.

 

I had a better idea.

 

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, thank you.”

 

Miss looked at me amused. “And how do you suppose you’ll reach the top without my assistance?”

 

“You’ll see fairly soon. You should never underestimate a genius with a magical box,” I winked.

 

I tapped the compiler interface and selected the option for a custom request. “Magic box, compile me one 35^th edition Jego kit please.”

 

“Of course, cutie!” the machine sang back. Miss had neglected that the machine could speak. I gave her a quick puzzled glance before the machine gave a beep and my Jego kit was ready for collection. I spent the next 5 minutes building stairs with the pieces. Unfortunately, the kit didn’t contain enough pieces to reach the top, but after 3 more requests, I had all the materials I needed.

 

I took a step back and examined my handiwork. Sure, it wasn’t as aesthetically pleasing as the compacts architecture, but I still felt a sense of pride. That was until the lack of colour coordination started to annoy me. I gave a frustrated cry, demolished the stairway and rebuilt it, this time so the colours were all grouped. By sheer coincidence, each step correlated to a colour of the rainbow; starting with red and finishing with violet. I climbed my stairs, reached the countertop and gave a celebratory pose.

 

“Sis, you continuously amaze me.” Ratio said. “It would have never crossed my mind to do that.”

 

“Nor mine,” Miss added.

 

“Ah, but that’s the difference between me and you mere mortals! For you see a magic box and waste it on food, while I have invested in the mighty Jego; with it, nothing will remain out of my reach!” I laughed smugly.

 

“I bow to your wisdom,” Ratio said with mock playfulness.

 

“And you Xeno. Do you bow to the wisdom of this fox?”

 

“I would very much like to cuddle this mighty fox,” Miss smiled, her vines creeping forward.

 

“Unfortunately for you Xeno, I am uncuddable! A mind as great as my own, cannot be tamed or restrained. Bow; it’s your only option,” I pushed.

 

Miss’s smile grew hungry and her vines darted out and pulled me into her embrace. “What was that about being tamed and restrained?” she taunted.

 

“Yip!”

 

Oh, come on!!!

 

Miss’s smile grew wider. “I didn’t quite catch that flower.”

 

“Yip?”

 

“No.”

 

“Yip…”

 

“Good girl.”

 

Turns out, my little performance had lost me baking permissions and I instead had to settle for watching the two girls while I was in pet mode. To be honest, I didn’t really mind as it gave me some time for self-reflection. It was during these private thoughts that my genius was once again demonstrated. For you see! As I lay there, restrained, I realised there wasn’t a need for me to stay in my body. I could totally just, you know, share Ratio’s senses again. Oh, Zeitha! Truly, your mind has no equal.

 

I closed my eyes, felt for Ratio’s connection and then made the jump. I bounced back into my body, my senses returning in a flash. I gave a surprised yelp and opened my eyes confused.

 

“Flower, come now. Did you honestly believe I wouldn’t notice?” Miss asked.

 

I gave a nervous laugh. “Yip?”

 

“That’s right. I see you haven’t learnt your lesson,” Miss said.

 

“Yip…”

 

“You can apologise later. For now, entertain me. Try and jump again,” Miss taunted.

 

Yip…

 

Yip?

 

Yip!?!?!

 

“That’s right! Fox thoughts for my darling fox floret. If you’re a good girl I may give you them back just in time to decorate the cookies.”

 

“Yip!”

 

“I’m looking forward to it too.”