Petal Vinia, Fourth Floret, had a problem. In the grand scheme of her life, it wasn't exactly a big problem, but it nevertheless seemed entirely insurmountable. Unfair, even. Her bed was warm, and comfortable, but her Mistress wasn't in it.

"Petal, dearest, it's time for breakfast," called out a musical voice. Her voice. Now Petal really had a problem. Her bed was warm and comfortable, but her Mistress, Delphinium, was calling her, and she still wasn't getting up. It's not like getting up is hard, but try telling that to her body. She should already be up, shouldn't be such a burden on-

It's okay to need help.

No matter how many times it happened, Petal always felt a thrill at hearing that voice in her head. Her own, but better, with a musical cadence that always delightfully reminded her of Delphinium's voice. She reached up to touch the scar at the base of her neck with a faint smile. In a way, her Mistress was with her, Petal mused. The haustoric implant meant that she'd never quite be apart from her beloved Mistress, ever again. Which didn't help with her problem, because now the bed was warm, and comfortable, and had her Mistress in it. Kind of.

"Is everything okay, petal?" Delphinium called out, with only the slightest hint of concern. Was everything okay? Petal felt okay. She felt good, even, safe in her bed, warm, and loved. Why would anything not be okay. She pulled the blanket in tighter as she heard the sounds of a soft conversation from another room. Probably the kitchen. Where her Mistress was waiting for her. She was making her Mistress wait, and-

I should ask for help.

Right. If she can't get out of bed on her own, she should ask for help. "'m stuck," she tried to call back, only half muffled by the pile of soft, fluffy pillows that was only making this harder.

"What was that, dearest?" this time the voice was clearer, as if Mistress was in the room with her. Mistress is in the room with her. Petal finally opened her eyes, and looked up, and then up again, so that she was actually looking at the face of the twelve foot tall Affini, who was smiling down at her.

"She said she's stuck!" Millie Vinia, Third Floret, poked her head out from behind the vines that made up Delphinium's body.

"Is that so, my precious Petal?" Petal nodded, sleepily, "Would you like some help getting out of bed, then?"

Dirt, a question. Worse than that, a decision. Petal had always been bad at making decisions, even before she had an implant to pump her full of whatever cocktail of xenodrugs her Mistress wanted her on. She'd spend hours agonising over the most insignificant of decisions, and the xenodrugs only made that so much harder. But she didn't get as anxious about it, so that was good. It was hard to be anxious when her Mistress took such good care of her. Probably impossible, not that she'd ever want to try. Feeling bad made her Mistress feel bad, so it was Petal's job to make sure her Mistress could always make her happy. Which wasn't exactly hard, everything about Delphinium made her happy. Just looking at Delphinium filled her heart with-

"Well?"

Well? Petal looked back up at her Mistress' question. Delphinium clearly expected her to say... something. Probably something to do with what she was just thinking? That must be it.

"You're... really pretty." Not her most eloquent, but true, nevertheless. Petal couldn't think of anything prettier than her Mistress. Some of the other Affini were really pretty too, and Millie was gorgeous, but nobody could quite compare to her owner.

Delphinium looked puzzled for a moment, and Petal couldn't help but wonder if she'd said the wrong thing, before Delphinium spread a smile across her face of leaves and vines, her eyes flickering in clear amusement. "And did you want my help?"

"Your help?" Definitely the wrong thing, but Delphinium didn't seem to mind, so it's probably fine.

"Getting out of bed?"

Oh, that. She should probably do that, but Mistress was giving her that look, like she was the cutest thing in the galaxy, and she was really bad at doing stuff, even when Mistress wasn't giving her that thought-stopping look of adoration. That was Petal's other job, of course, being cute and adorable. Sometimes she wasn't so sure if she was that good at it, but Delphinium seemed to think she was, and really, that was all that mattered. Even Millie seemed to think that Petal was cute and adorable, but maybe that was just because Mistress told her to? Petal would definitely tell someone they were cute if that was want Delphinium wanted. Petal would believe it, too. She'd already learned to find humans a lot cuter than she used to. Not that she used to think all humans were ugly, or anything, but the constant haze of xenodrugs definitely seemed to make it much harder to find people not cute. Just another thing to thank her Mistress for, she supposed. None of the other humans were as cute as Millie, though, especially since Millie had a part of Mistress in her, too.

Petal realised that she'd started staring in Millie's direction, and with some effort focused her eyes enough to see that her connivant was watching her with an adoring expression of her own. Her gaze followed a vine that Delphinium had draped over Millie's shoulder up to its source, until she found herself looking up at Delphinium's own expression of adoring amusement. With a slow blink, Petal brought her eyes into focus on her Mistress, and noticed the subtle tension across her vines and leaves. Delphinium was running out of self-control. When it was clear that Petal was focused enough for her to see it clearly, Delphinium raised the leaf that she used as an eyebrow in an unspoken question. Her Mistress was asking her a question, and she couldn't quite remember what it was.

...

Aha! That was it. Proud of herself for remembering, Petal even found the energy to sit up in bed before announcing, "You're really pretty!" Millie immediately burst into a fit of giggles, and even Delphinium let out the gentle susurration that Petal had come to recognise as her Mistress' own form of uncontrolled amusement. Maybe that wasn't what the conversation was about, after all, and now they're laughing at me because of how cute I am.

Petal's smile faded for a moment as a look of confusion spread across her face, but Delphinium snaked a long vine across to stroke her cheek, and any trace of worry evaporated from Petal's mind as she leant her cheek against the vine.

"What do you think, Millie?" Delphinium asked, when the giggling finally stopped.

Millie looked a bit confused herself, now, and Petal couldn't help but think how cute she looked like this. "Um... Yes?"

"Yes what, dearest?"

"Uh..." Millie tilted her head to the side while she thought, and then let her head swivel back so that she was looking up at Delphinium. "Yes, Mistress. You're really pretty!"

Whatever self-control Delphinium had managed to hold on to burst like a dam, and her humanoid shape dissolved as she rushed forwards, a wave of vines, leaves, and flowers, pulling Millie along with her onto the bed. A few short seconds later, the two florets were wrapped up in Delphinium's vines, unable to even think as the intense petting of their Mistress brought their already xenodrug addled minds to unimaginable bliss.

Delphinium Vinia, Third Bloom, gently slid her vines out from under her adorable florets, and pulled a blanket over their now gently sleeping forms, once again relieved that she'd started to give herself an extra hour in the mornings to get ready, ever since Petal had finally admitted that she needed to be owned.

Delphinium brought her vines in, reshaping herself into a humanoid form that was already leaning over her precious florets. She gave them each a gentle kiss on the forehead, eliciting a sleepy moan of contentment from Millie and a peaceful smile from Petal, before she made her way back into the kitchen of her hab unit to finish preparing breakfast for her two favourite humans.

The sound of Affini music filled the hab, as Delphinium started to hum, whistle and sing a simplified version of a composition she'd heard recently. She wasn't a particularly talented musician, but she didn't sound too bad, especially if you asked her florets, who always insisted that her music was the best they'd ever heard.

After she finished her impromptu recitation, she gathered the tray of pancakes and maple syrup, and turned to return to her florets in bed, only to find them standing in the door, leaning against each other (so adorably) and looking up at her lovingly (so *cute*).

"Good morning again, Mistress!" Even drugged, Millie seemed to have boundless energy, although she was just as distractible as the next floret. Which given that was her adorable Petal, was saying a lot.

"G'morning," mumbled Petal, who looked barely more awake than she did when she was passed out in Delphinium's vines.

"Good morning, my dearests," Delphinium smiled down at her beloved pets, "I was going to suggest breakfast in bed, but if you're already up..." Half a dozen vines shot out from Delphinium's torso, wrapping themselves around Millie and Petal, before pulling them into the mass of green that was their mistress. "Then I guess I'll just have to be the bed!"