When Mitchell woke up, he sat up and looked around confused. Where was he? It took him a few seconds to remember what happened yesterday. Right, he had gone to a domestication centre and talked with, what was the Affini’s name again, Daisy? It, ehh, ae had offered him a place to sleep and… Had he fallen asleep while being carried to aer hab? He looked down and found he was wearing pyjamas. Oh shit, had Daisy changed him into them while he was already sleeping? He felt his face flush red.

“Good morning cutie! Did you sleep well? How about I make you some delicious breakfast?”

“I did! Good morning Daisy!” Mitchell almost shouted, as excited as he was. “You don’t have to cook me breakfast though. I can just have something compiled. I compile food all the time at home.”

“Nonsense! You deserve a freshly cooked meal and that’s exactly what I’m going to make for you. I read your file last night and I figured I should make you waffles with ice cream. Does that sound good?”

Mitchell lost his words again, thinking this was all too much, even though he knew what Affini were like. So, instead of answering, he just sat there, staring at Daisy. Then he slowly nodded.

After getting dressed, Mitchell walked into the kitchen. “I noticed you washed my clothes. You didn’t need to do that, you know.”

“It was either this or compiling you some new clothes, little one. I opted to wash them so as not to distract you too much today. We are going to have an important talk today, aren’t we?”

“Uhm… yeah, right. I suppose that does make sense. Breakfast smells good by the way!”

“I’m happy to hear that, petal. It’s just about finished. Are you ready to eat breakfast?”

Mitchell nodded excitedly. Then he looked up at the table and realised there was no way he was going to get up there by himself. “Could you, uhm… could you please lift me up and sit me down in one of the chairs please?”

“Of course, little one!” Before Daisy even finished aer sentence, ae scooped Mitchell up, eliciting a surprised yelp. “Enjoy your breakfast,” ae said, placing the plate in front of him.

Mitchell looked at the meal in astonishment before slowly starting to eat. The food tasted so good, that he moaned before he even realised it, which in turn made Daisy’s core vibrate with delight. He quickly decided that the food was far too good to be embarrassed about it. Could it really be that Affini cooked food tasted better than compiled food? Whatever, the food was too good to care. Then a thought occurred to him. “Daisy, is it true that Affini feed their florets?”

Daisy smiled. It was hardly a surprise that he would ask this right now. “Yes petal, why do you ask?” ae replied, looking forward to answering his follow-up question.

Mitchell thought for a moment. Surely asking ae to feed him would be too much. If not for Daisy, then at least for him it was. “Uhm.. could you… How does that work?”

“It’s pretty easy actually. Florets are gesture trained, meaning that they will react in a specific way following a gesture from an Affini.” Ae pretended to think for a moment, just to build anticipation. “You know what? Rather than just explaining, I suppose I could offer you to experience it for yourself. If you’d like to, that is.” Daisy’s core sung in delight as ae watched Mitchell’s face flush bright red.

“Meoww!” was the only sound he managed to produce, as he looked up at Daisy in anticipation.

“What’s that Mitchell? Is that a yes or a no?” Of course ae had noticed now his breathing had come completely in sync with aer rhythm during this interaction and ae expected nothing other than a yes. However, it would be a crime not to allow the little terran to enjoy this to the fullest.

Mitchell wanted nothing more than to hide his face in his hands, but somehow failed to turn his eyes away from Daisy’s beautiful eyes. Eventually he answered, “please feed me Daisy.” Before he could even finish his sentence, Daisy wrapped aer vines around him and picked up the fork and knife.

“So, when I tap here,” ae tapped the front of his chin, “that means you open your mouth.” Mitchell opened his mouth obediently. Ae cut a piece of the waffle and held it just in front of him. “In a moment, I’ll tap again and only then are you allowed to close your mouth. Is that clear?” Mitchell nodded. Daisy then slid the food in his mouth and waited a few seconds before tapping under his chin to gauge his reaction. “Very good!” Using two vines, Daisy started to massage his cheeks and noticed Mitchell had already started chewing as was to be expected from a floret. “Quick little learner you are petal! Very soon, you'll be making some Affini very happy. This final motion signals you to swallow,” Daisy finished while gently massaging his throat.

When Mitchell had swallowed the last bite of his breakfast, Daisy picked him up and carried him along as ae cleared the table. Then ae walked over to the sofa and sat down, turning Mitchell to face aer.

“I promised you I’d answer your questions now, so let me start with your first question: how would you go through with your wish to be domesticated? You actually already answered that with the next questions you asked.

“Next one: how would you find an Affini to be your eventual owner? There’s several ways and basically comes down to what works best for you. For example, you might visit a domestication centre and happen to meet your future owner there,” ae said smiling. As ae finished aer sentence, Mitchell was writhing in aer vines.

“Third question: who would decide on additional clauses to be added to the contract? And for simplicity's sake, I’ll also answer your fourth question too: how would those be decided on? Your owner-to-be decides on additional clauses based on your needs and, in case of volunteer florets like you, the floret can request clauses to be added as well. How you decide on those is up to you.

“Then your final question: would I be able to keep you safe from your family? Yes petal, of course I’m able to.”

As Daisy answered all of his questions and, more importantly, as ae took away his fears, he had initially been squirming, but had soon started to relax as if some kind of distant music lulled him into a feeling of security and contentment. “Thank you for answering all my questions Daisy.”

“Of course petal, it’s my pleasure. Now, do you have any more questions, or should we start filing the paperwork?”

Mitchell thought for a minute. “I actually do have one more question. What’s the purpose of florets in the compact?”

“Hmm… they are many and differ from Affini to Affini and from floret to floret. You know what, I’ll add it as a clause in your domestication contract.” Daisy reached with a vine for a stack of paper and a pen and in elegant letters wrote:

Your purpose, Mitchell Osteospermum, Second Floret, as your Mxtress's pet, is to pursue your dreams and become happy and fulfilled.