Pearl’s eyes trace over her body, as they have been for the last several minutes. Unable to help but be captivated with the modifications Resin had made to her over the past two weeks, her arms and legs both coated in a near porcelain sheen but also having bright white scales carved into them. Both accenting her hair, as well as making her appear not dissimilarly to a humanoid dragon.

This would be her first time going out while fully in a form she enjoys. And to see Nix again, yet she couldn’t help but feel slightly anxious. Not that Nix would hate the changes, but that she’d feel jealous, or be upset that she’d not gotten to have hers done yet. Combining that with the new rules about not talking to Nix about the Cosmic Navy, she’d never been more anxious for a date in her life.

“Mixtress…” Pearl finally manages to pull her eyes away from the vanity to face Resin. Seeing a companion dress in her owners vines, that has bright blue flowers with red and yellow cores running down one side. While it has black and purple flowers running up the other. “I look good right? Nix isn’t going to hate it? We could just switch out my limbs for the more normal ones!”

Resin shakes her head, and pets Pearl. “You look fantastic sweetie, I am sure Nix will love how you look. Besides, she just woke up today, and Nix should know better than anyone about spacing out medical work, which body mods fit into. I think this will make her excited for how she will look, when her own mods are done.” it has her raise her hands, and starts to slip the dress on. 

Pearl nods slightly, wiggling her way into the new dress. Taking a moment to lean up against Resin, starting to take deep breaths. “Yeah, I’m just excited to see her again, and probably just as anxious as Jason was when he met me, after my important memory was removed.”

Resin nods, and quickly starts to brush Pearl’s hair. Pulling it into a ponytail. “You are right to be excited, and anxious, however, I can always give you your class M, either way I am bringing you to Nix as you are.” She playfully brushes a flower against Pearl’s neck. “So sweetie, do you want to walk with mixtress, or be a doll?”

Pearl shudders, her head tilting upwards slightly. Only narrowly resisting the urge to request to be her owner's doll for the entirety of the trip. “I’ll walk! It’ll help Nix to see me, at least I hope so. Miss Celosia told me her memory of our time together will be a little hazy, without the bad parts after all.”

Resin moves the flower away, and pets Pearl. “Good girl, I am very proud of you. I think Nix would love to see you walking up to her.” It checks the time briefly. “I think we have put this off long enough, time to head out. Anthurium and Jason are bringing some stuff for making dinner, and I think we should be there early to help set up and see how Nix is before eating.”

Pearl nods, leaning her head up to let Resin wrap a vine around her collar’s hook. Starting to cling to her owner’s side as they walk out of their hab, still fairly uncomfortable with the thought of this many new people being able to see her new look. “Yeah, I don’t want Nix to think we’re late, because we were goofing off, while she waited for me!”

Resin grins as they walk. “So, how long do you think it will take for Nix to do more than blush, and stare at you? I think at least two minutes, assuming Celosia doesn’t snap her out of it. Sola I think, will be too busy taking pictures to interfere.” It chuckles a little, stopping to briefly let a few affini admire Pearl, before insisting that they have a schedule to stick to.

“I mean, Nix never was the best at words, I bet that she just starts buzzing, or screams Ahhh at me again.” Pearl giggles, nestling into Resin’s side, and waving at a few of the affini who’d stopped to pet her. Trying not to get too worked up over the new attention.

Resin suppresses a new giggle at the thought of Nix. “Ok, you are right, she will probably freeze up briefly, before making noises, and finally rushing in to give you the biggest hug, assuming you don’t go for it first.” She pets Pearl a little bit. “Given the way you watched over her on our visits, I bet you are excited to get your arms around her.”

“And to have her hug back, more than just little whimpers!” Pearl chuckles to herself as they turn down the hall stopping in front of the hab door. “I’m going to do my best to hold off until she moves, but if she freezes up too long I won’t be able to help myself!”

Nix kicks her legs out, nestled in between the plushies of both of her owners. Watching a floret edit of a new cartoon that Sola had recommended to her, doing her best to obey her order of relaxing and looking cute until everyone arrives. But starting to feel a little impatient until the hab rings out, alerting everyone that Resin and Pearl have arrived.

Sola opens the door, grinning at Resin, intertwining vines. “How are you both doing? Thank you for coming on such short notice. Also, I love how you dressed Pearl up.”

Resin smiles, and gives Sola a small hug. “We are doing great, you’re welcome, and thank you for inviting us over. Pearl’s dress is a new one I put together for when Nix woke up, so I’m excited to see how she reacts.” Resin looks down at Pearl, letting her vine leash go, and smiling at how still Pearl keeps, her florets eyes locked onto Nix.

Nix hums to herself, pausing her show, and starting to slowly crawl out of her blanket of plush vines. Looking over, her eyes slowly drift down to meet Pearls. “Aaaa…” She closes her mouth, blinking a few times at Pearl’s new appearance, her heart starting to pound in her chest. “Aaaaaah!” She puts her hands over her mouth, starting to kick her legs slightly. Dirt Pearl is so pretty, and she hadn’t at all thought of what to say, so noises just came out. Overwhelming embarrassment consuming every fiber of her being.

Pearl squeaks, unable to hold back from immediately rushing over to Nix, running up the accessibility staircase, pouncing and giving her a hug. “Hey Nix, I’m so happy you are finally awake.” She rests her head in the crook of Nix’s neck. “I missed you so much.” She gives a few light kisses, before pulling back and looking Nix in the eyes. “I don’t know if you are on W’s or not, either way your noises are adorable as always.”

“Oh she’s not on any W’s, it would be criminal to stop her from talking to you, after so long.” Celosia chuckles to herself, standing and continuing to cook their part of tonight's meal in the kitchen.

Nix nods slightly, wrapping her arms around and hugging Pearl as tight as she can manage. Trying to get her brain to calm down for long enough to form a sentence. “I- You- loook!” She wiggles around even more, continuing to kick her legs as a way to stim without accidentally hitting Pearl. “Good! You, look, good- No great! Ah, this is hard!”

Pearl giggles, and kisses Nix quickly on the lips. “Thank you Nix, it means a lot to me to hear you say that.” She leans back into the couch, pulling Nix along with her. “Oh, you are starting up this series? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it!”

“Uh, mhm.” Nix smiles softly, nuzzling Pearl and planting a timed kiss on her cheek. “Mistress Sola put it on for me.” She wiggles her way into Pearl’s lap, pulling the Celosia plushy on top of both of them as a blanket. “I-if you wanna we can watch a bit while waiting for Jason.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.” Pearl squeezes Nix, starting to gently pet the girl. Relieved that instead of the normal squirming, and instinctual resistance, she’d get before the implant, Nix simply melts into it. 

Resin watches the pair start to cuddle, as she walks into the kitchen alongside Sola. “So, your little lizard is finally awake.” She slowly untangles itself, sitting down on one of the chairs. “And even more anxious than she used to be, it appears.”

Celosia nods slightly, finishing up with her cooking. Starting to pour out three bowls of noodles for the florets, alongside putting the different preferences of each on top after that. “Some things simply come naturally to her, and from her perspective she’s woken up in a big scary universe, after years of being asleep, and a few weeks of vague memories. Despite that she’s quick to warm up once she’s gotten our attention, and the same obviously applies to Pearl.”

“That is implying that she ever doesn’t have one of you two’s  attention.” Resin leans on the table, watching as the meals are put in storage, until Anthurium and Jason arrive. “Even before she was officially yours, I’d struggle to find a moment that you both weren’t obsessing over her, in your own ways. Not that I can blame you, she’s absolutely adorable.”

Sola giggles, and nods. “What can I say, Nix is adorable and so precious to us. Now that she is awake, we can start putting in for her body mods. Speaking of, I love how Pearl looks with everything done, I’m glad that she was finally ready to ask to have it done.”

"It was a relief to say the least, while Pearl has made a lot of progress, up until recently she'd reached a sort of plateau." Resin shakes her head, before gesturing over to Pearl and Nix cuddling. "That is until we met Nix, I'm so happy she met another terran she trusts, other than Jason. It’s had such a wonderful impact."

Sola looks over at the pair of florets. A clear sense of comprehensive pride ruffling through her form. “I am so glad that Nix opened up to Pearl and Jason in the first place. I think having equal peers who she could confide in, and relate to, did wonders for her in the long run. That and seeing her developing crush on Pearl, and that evolving to a genuine relationship has been the sweetest thing.”

“Without a doubt.” Resin turns away from their florets. “So, have you two had any problems with her? I know all of this is a good bit more extensive than Pearl’s, but I do want to help if you need it.”

“Not really any deep ones, while she’s not openly talking about her gaps in memory, I feel like that’s just her showing signs of being herself.” Celosia peaks over at Nix, watching as she starts to stim on Pearl’s outfit. Not having loosened her death grip in the slightest. “She definitely has a deep fear of being alone now, which is something we can work over these next few weeks. She’s just definitely going to need more attention than either of us initially expected… maybe she always did.” She frowns, shaking her head at the thought. 

Sola pauses, a small frown finding its way onto her face, as she takes a small glance over at Nix. “I feel bad for even thinking about her independence, and her drive to do things on her own. I should have known better, especially after I looked over her files in the first place. Seeing how she acts without those years of abuse in the systems of the accord, it makes me realize how much of herself she buried inside her head, and heart. I know this may change as she develops under our care, but as of right now, I don’t think she should have any time alone.”

“I couldn’t agree more, it makes me happy I was so committed to having Nix a space to rest with me while I’m working.” Celosia leans in, intermingling her form with Sola’s. “And this was a learning experience Sola, one that you’ve very obviously grown from.”

Sola pauses her form loosening as she leans in against Celosia. Her partner’s comforting words, and rhythm, providing the most comforting salve when she’s feeling this insecure. “Thank you, speaking of plateaus like Pearl, I think I was on one from a learning perspective. Between Nix providing me with a very different patient, to you challenging me, I’ve learned more since getting Nix, than I have in my last bloom.”

“And I for one, am proud of the progress you’ve made, and I’m sure Dineae feels the same.” Celosia squeezes Sola lightly, as there’s another chime at the door to the hab. “And it looks like the last of our party has finally arrived.”

Resin nods, electing to let its friends continue to press up against one another. “It’s still surreal to see you two, acting so close with one another.” She walks up to the hab door, opening it up.

Jason stands as confidently as he can manage on the other side, almost impossible to see how he’s dressed due to a massive box that is long enough to go up, and almost cover his face. “Hi Mix Resin! We brought a cake!” 

Resin suppresses a small giggle, before reaching down to lift the box out of Jason’s hands. “Thank you Jason, why don’t you go spend some time with Nix, and Pearl, while we finish up dinner preparations. I know Nix would enjoy seeing more faces after her time asleep.”

Anthurium nods, releasing Jason’s leash. “It will still be a few minutes before everything is ready, so you just have fun petal.” She chuckles walking into the kitchen, with several bags filled with snacks, and treats, for their florets.

“Thank you!” Jason gives a little reverse salute, before running off over to the couch, and starting to climb up next to Pearl. Getting up, only to flop down next to the pair.

Pearl giggles a little at Jason, shaking her head and giving him a little pet. “Welcome you dork, glad to see you being as energetic with us as always.” Pearl’s other hand was currently consistently petting Nix, running her fingers slowly through her hair.

Nix breaks away from her feedback loop of relaxation in order to look up at Jason. Giving him a lazy wave, and reaching out to poke him in the face. Once again struggling to find words to say, getting slightly anxious about that fact, only to have her implant wipe that concern away, by reminding her it’s okay to be bad with words. “Bzzt! I mean, I missed you.”

Jason giggles a little at the pets before giving Nix a poke to her cheek. “I missed you too Nix, though I am glad everything has worked out well so far. How do you feel with your implant now? I remember when I was first able to think about it, it was a little odd, but comforting.”

“I dunno, I kinda feel exactly the same as with my spine.” Nix runs her fingers over the scar from the implant, sliding down over the vine that supports her spine, and shivering slightly. “It’s something that helps keep me healthy and happy, even if it means I can’t remember all that much, beyond that single fact about it.”

Jason rubs Nix’s shoulder a little bit. “I see, I suppose everyone has a different reaction to it. What’s important is that you are safe, healthy, and awake. That, and after dinner, if you are feeling up for it, we can give the new game that Mistress and I made a try!”

“I can feel it in my bones, deep within my core.” Nix rolls around, getting herself to slowly sit up, and pulling her Celosia plush against her chest. “You’ve been dying to beat me at another game for weeks now, and aren’t gonna take no for an answer.” She giggles, winking her flower at him.

Jason laughs, and nods along with Nix’s teasing. “What can I say, I like playing against you. Also this one I haven’t been allowed to play any of the test games, so it should be a bit more fair, your bad luck non withstanding.” He stretches, his grin almost splitting his face.

“Oh come on, my luck’s not that bad! Aside from being clumsy, and accidentally getting myself hurt, bad enough to need all of this.” Nix gestures over herself, and her flower eye in particular, before pointing at Sola, and Celosia. “But even that worked out, I got the best two owners, and two amazing friends. Who one I even have the privilege to date!” She pushes herself up against Pearl’s side. “I’d say I have pretty good luck! unless we’re talking dice. Those little rocks hate me.”

Jason bites back a cackle, ending up sounding more like a squeaky giggle. “My little math rocks will always support my capabilities, aiding me to crush my friends in the board of games!” 

Anthurium looks out over the group. “Jason, calm down, I know you are excited to have Nix back, but we don’t want to work her up too much.”

Jason squeaks, and sits back down all the way. “Sorry, I’ve not had too many chances to really enjoy my games recently, and I am really excited to play with you again.”

Pearl giggles, rubbing her nose. “Did… you really just say the board of games, Jason you’re such a massive dork.” She squeezes Nix against her chest. “But I am looking forward to whatever you’ve cooked up for us to play.”

Nix breaks out giggling, covering her mouth as she lets herself flop against Pearl’s chest. Having to take a deep breath to calm herself back down, before talking again. “Well don’t get too ahead of yourself, I’m sure if Miss Anthurium helped make the game. You shouldn’t be able to bank on my hate of dice to win on that alone, and even if you could.” She gestures at Pearl. “I’ve got my girlfriend to roll for me!”

Jason chuckles a little bit, looking over the cuddling pair. “Mistress did help make the game, and yes, I am a massive dork, and I am proud of it!” He playfully poses for the girls. Sticking his tongue out at them, and pointing his finger up into the air.

Anthurium walks in, looking over the trio. “Trust me, it should be perfectly fair and balanced, don’t let Jason’s outbursts make you think otherwise.” They let their vines dip down to pet Jason, helping the boy calm down and relax.

“Thank you, Miss Anthurium. We’re both looking forward to it.” Pearl kisses Nix on the cheek, while she watches Jason melt into the petting. “I’m assuming Jason asked to be on his D’s for today.”

“Indeed, he was fairly anxious about seeing you both again. Given we’ve been busy most of the time that Nix was down, and he missed you both greatly.” Anthurium runs their vines through Jason’s hair. “Even if he wouldn’t normally admit it. Now, how about we get you three over to the kitchen for dinner.”

Nix starts bouncing slightly, looking over at the kitchen. Seeing all of the treats on the table, several of them things that she’d never had before, alongside the oh so mysterious cake. “Bzzt!” She quickly takes Pearl’s hand, starting to climb down the couch using the built in steps.

Pearl giggles, following Nix down, and over to the table. Keeping a tight enough grip on Nix’s hand to have her walk instead of running.

Anthurium picks Jason up, bringing him to her seat, and keeping him nice and secure.

Resin giggles at the pair of florets before leaning down. “Come on Nix, I’ll sit next to one of your mistresses, that way you and Pearl can keep holding hands.”

Nix nods slightly, letting go of Pearl for just a moment to allow Resin to pick her up. Right as she’s about to turn around to ask Sola to pick her up, vines wrap around her waist, and scoop her up into a spot between Sola and Celosia’s laps. 

“It seems trying to keep Nix from getting all worked up, was a fools errand.” Celosia gently ruffles Nix’s hair, watching her floret start to use the hand that isn’t exclusively reserved for holding Pearl’s hand, to start stimming on her vines. 

Anthurium nods, sitting down at the incredibly lopsided end of the table that only contains herself and Jason. “Yes, and it’s absolutely precious.” She starts portioning out Jason’s meal, grabbing some garlic bread alongside the spaghetti. 

Sola chuckles, grabbing a drink that had actually been Pearl’s recommendation. A drink that emulated the taste of an old terran energy drink, without any of the negative side effects that would have made her ban the drink outright in the first place. “Indeed, now Nix Pearl did recommend we get this for you as a treat once you wake up. Apparently it’s a type of drink that you’d loved before we adopted you. We won't be having this all the time, but if you like it we’ll have it around for special occasions.”

“O-oh really?” Nix looks over the can, seeing blue and red flowers surrounding a name that is written in affini. Likely done to prevent Nix from just trying to have them compiled herself. “Thank you…” She smiles softly over at her partner.

“Of course, we all wanted to be your first day waking up to feel special.” Pearl leans over as far as she can manage, just to place the smallest kiss on Nix’s cheek. “I’m honestly excited to see how you react to it. Me and Mixtress… went through a few options that were… less than enjoyable, before landing on this one.”

Resin laughs a little bit, before shaking her head. "It was adorable watching Pearl push through each one. The pile of not good ones was rather large, and the okay ones very small, but I made sure the ingredient list on this one she found was good."

“Yeah, it was a good thing that we had time to spread them out.” Pearl giggles, nestling a little deeper into Resin’s lap, and squeezing Nix’s hand lightly.

Sola slowly brings the can to Nix’s lips, tilting it up slightly to give her enough of a sip that she could decide if she likes the drink. 

To everyone except for Pearl’s surprise, Nix once she gets the first sip. Immediately pushes her head forward enough to tilt the can down, allowing her to drink more. Unable to describe the flavor other than a slightly sour blue.

Pearl giggles, and squeezes Nix’s hand. “Well, I was right about blue raspberry, as soon as I had it, I just thought of Nix.”

Sola gently tilt’s Nix’s head, and the can to slow the flow. “I get that you like it petal, but slow and steady, we don’t want you to choke.”

After a few more far more reserved sips, Nix leans back. Not wanting to finish her entire drink, before the meal has even started. “Why did no one ever tell me that there are so many drinks this good!?”

“At first you were healing, and after that you’d almost never asked. Then the one time that you did get some, you drank your way through almost six different ones, in barely fifteen minutes.” Celosia starts to spin the spaghetti around a fork. “Needless to say, that alerted me to the need to have them just be treats, instead of something you could grab whenever you want.”

Sola giggles a little bit, and opens Nix’s mouth for the spaghetti. “Having treats is good, but Celosia is right, only once in a while for you.” As the spaghetti is put in Nix’s mouth, Sola’s vines begin guiding her through chewing the food.

Jason between bites looks over at Nix. Unable to repress a giggle at seeing her basking in the attention, and not even pretending to be slightly independent about her meal at this point.

After a short and mostly quiet meal, the group's owners talking to one another in affini, about something that Nix couldn’t bring herself to care about. Not because she is any less curious, but because whenever she’d start to look up at Sola she’d get a firm pet, and another bite of food. Sending her spiraling back into relaxation.

“So, you’re both heading back to work once your hab’s finished next week, how does that feel?” Anthurium looks over at the marked out space on the far wall in order to have Sola’s physical therapy supplies stored. “Any concerns about how Nix will respond to it?”

“Well, we are getting a guest room added on to keep my patients that need much more attention close, without stepping too much into Nix’s space. Though I believe Nix could end up enjoying cheering others up.”

Celosia rubs Sola’s back. “Then I am going to have some added space to have Nix with me while I am working. At least to start off, Nix is not going to be alone at all. If for some reason we are both going to need to be busy without her, we will be planning on scheduling playdates to take up that time.”

“We are, of course, more than open to having her hang out with Jason whenever you need.” Anthurium nods to herself, glancing down at Nix.

“And I’m sure Pearl will, as always, be dying to have her over.” Resin nods, leaning Pearl more into Nix’s side. So the pair can cuddle with one another during this conversation. “I’m only curious about how she’s going to respond to seeing Alistor. I know how poor of a first impression he’d made for himself, is she going to remember him at all?”

“She may have a lingering feeling about him, but I have spent her time asleep working with him about his attitude towards rescued sophonts, especially those who have had it hard like her. I would like her to at least be comfortable enough around him to be relaxed, even if I will accept her not liking him.” Celosia looks down at Nix with a smile.

“I’m sure Nix will warm up around him, honestly for as grumpy as Alistor can be. He actually reminds me a lot of how she acted before.” Anthurium nods, reaching over and grabbing the massive cake box. Starting to unfold it at the top and sides. “But what do you say we show Nix her ‘Birthday cake’, Jason says it’s something terrans use to celebrate the day they are born. Because with her memories all muddled, she might not remember her old one, he insisted it should be today. It’s a pretty silly terran tradition, but he seems to think she’ll like it.”

Sola gasps upon viewing the cake. "Oh my, I think Nix will love it! I'll make a note for future celebrations if this is a tradition, that way we can plan future parties." Once the dinner is done, Sola tilts Nix's head to see the cake. "Jason and Anthurium have a surprise for you."

Anthurium slowly pulls away the box, revealing a two layered cake with baseline blue icing. Alongside green vines of chocolate running up the entire cake, leading to a single flower at the top that's a perfect replica of Nix’s original eye flower. 

Nix looks over the entire cake. Pausing for a moment, and almost reaching out to touch the flower on top. Starting to cry, simply due to the overwhelming relief that she can remember what her old flower looked like again. "Thank you so much…"

Jason smiles, and gives a thumbs up as his arm is freed. “You’re welcome Nix! I had to borrow your old flower, so I could practice my impression of it. We worked on the base cake together, Mistress handled the rest of the frosting, but I really wanted to get that perfect for you myself.”

Nix starts giggling, rubbing her eyes to try and push the tears back. Having to take a minute nestling herself deeper into Sola’s vines, while Celosia starts carefully cutting the cake for the group.

“Now we weren’t sure what type of cake you’d like. So we elected to make the top half chocolate, and the bottom vanilla, given we knew Pearl at the very least enjoys it.” Anthurium squeezes Jason lightly, grabbing another box off of the counter, and opening it up. To show off cookies that are shaped like Sola and Celosia’s flowers. “And we made some cookies if you don’t end up liking either.”

Pearl can’t help but beam at seeing Nix this happy. Giving a little round of applause. “Thank you Jason, thank you Miss Anthurium, I am positive that Nix will enjoy at least one half of the cake.”

Sola rubs Nix’s back, and smiles at the look on her face. “So Nix, what part would you like to start with? If you don’t know, I’ll get a little of both parts of the cake for you.”

Nix points up at the top half of the cake, tapping on Sola’s vines in morse code at the same time. ‘Chocolate please.’

Celosia pauses seeing Nix still using morse code, surprised that it’s something that Nix can still remember how to do. Genuinely curious about who, and when, she had been taught that given it wasn’t anywhere in her file. 

Sola grins, and gets Nix the chocolate cake that she wants, making sure that the piece is a decent size, without being too big. “This should be enough after that dinner, then we can have leftovers of this beautiful cake.”

Resin happily takes some vanilla cake for Pearl, petting her floret and smiling up at Anthurium, who herself is grabbing a little of both flavors for Jason.