Petal’s feet had continued to be uncomfortable as they made their way back through the Old City, although Millie had been more than happy to top her up on xenodrugs whenever she seemed to be struggling.

Still, it’s good to be back to the root, where the few buildings that remained from the Old City had been, for lack of a better word, domesticated to fit affini standards. Petal breathes a sigh of relief as the pair step out onto one of the wide boulevards, looking almost desperately at one of the many benches the Affini provide for anyone who might wish to rest their weary legs.

Millie notices where Petal’s attention has shifted, and guides her to sit down on the nearest bench. Petal starts to stammer out an objection, but is quickly shushed by a kiss from Millie. If it wasn’t so wonderful to feel Millie’s lips against her own, Petal would probably be starting to get annoyed at that trick. And how it never seemed to stop working.

“We can rest for a bit here, and if we’re still here by the time that Mistress is done at the clinic, she can come pick us up from here.” Millie’s smile is practically daring Petal to object, but she just nods, instead.

“Yeah. That works.” Millie wraps an arm around Petal’s shoulders, and Petal gratefully leans into her. “How’d you get to be such a badass, anyway?”

“Huh?”

“You know, with the knife, and everything. And you said something about, uh… a sword?” Stars, Millie would look so hot holding a sword. Petal could just imagine how hot it would be to have Millie hold a sword against her neck, but also her imaginations had never managed to live up to just how much hotter Millie was in person.

“Oh, you like the thought of me with a sword, do you~?”

Was it that obvious? The blush on her cheeks told Petal that it probably was. “Maybe?” Petal managed to squeak out.

“Well then, I’ll just have to show you some time!”

“Yeah, uh… yeah.” Petal’s blush just keeps growing, and Millie’s grin just keeps growing. “Um…” Maybe she could change the subject? “So, uh…” Right, the whole ‘badass’ thing. “How did you get to be such a badass?”

“Oh, uh… I don’t remember!” Why did Millie say that as if it were something exciting?

“You… you don’t remember?”

“Nope! Mistress took all that stuff away, so I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“All… all what stuff? Your memories?”

“Yeah! Like, all the stuff from before I met her. It was… bad for me.”

“So what, she just… erased who you are?” Okay, this was actually starting to sound a bit bad.

“No, no, she just took it away, so I don’t need to worry about it. It’s still, like, in there somewhere. I just… don’t need to remember any of it, anymore. It’s in my contract, and everything!”

“Huh?”

“That I don’t have to remember anything from before I met Mistress, unless she decides it’s important. I guess my body still remembers though. Oh, and my implant can get at it all, it doesn’t need to worry about remembering.”

"Don’t you ever get curious about your past, though?”

“Um… not really? Everything since I met Mistress has been so good. And when I do remember bits of it… I don’t think I was happy, then. But Mistress usually helps me forget it pretty quickly, so it’s not too bad.”

That’s… huh. How is Petal even supposed to respond to that? I’m sorry your life sucked? It sucks that you don’t get to remember who you used to be?

“I’m glad that you’re happy now.” Yeah, that sounds about right.

“Yeah, me too! Especially since I’ve got a really cute girlfriend now, too~.”

“I- um…” How does Millie always just find the best worst things to say at a moment’s notice.

“Sorry, sorry, you’re just too cute when you get flustered~.”

“… Okay, okay, let’s… let’s just get going, before my cheeks melt off my face, or something.”

“That would be pretty bad, even if it would be utterly adorable.”

Petal stands up, wincing slightly as her feet adjust to the feeling of supporting her weight again. It would be nice to be carried. To be held gently wrapped in an affini’s vines, blissfully unaware of the world around her as she’s carried to wherever she needs to go. Maybe even to be wrapped up with Millie. The two of them cocooned in vines, unable to do anything but cuddle and get lost in each other’s eyes, and… Millie is staring at her, with a big grin.

“Watcha thinkin’ about?” Millie sounds too innocent, like she actually has a very good idea of what Petal was thinking about.

“I- well, um…”

“Go on…”

“I was maybe thinking about what it would be like to be carried around by an affini, and then I was thinking about what it would be like to be carried around by an affini with you there too, and we’d both be all wrapped up in vines and we wouldn’t be able to do anything but get lost in each others eyes, and um… yeah.”

Millie giggles, adorably, and gives Petal a quick kiss on the nose. “You know, I’m really liking this ‘being completely yourself’ Petal. Although I’m kinda confused how you thought it was ever supposed to ruin a date~.”

“I- that wasn’t what I meant by being myself!”

“Well, it does seem to be what happened, so… maybe you being yourself isn’t as bad to be around as you thought.”

“I… maybe? I don’t know.”

“You know who does?”

“You?”

“Yes! And Mistress. And while I can only use my words to convince you, Mistress might even slip a little part of herself into you so that you’ll have to agree with her~.”

Petal stumbles, only to be caught by Millie, who is grinning as hard as ever at the blush that only ever seems to be growing.

“Millie!”

“You’re right, you’re right. It’s not really looking like a ‘might’ at this point. More like a ‘will’.”

“I- I still haven’t agreed to anything like that.”

Millie gives Petal a kiss that sends her mind reeling. “You will~.”

Fuck. Fucking fuckity fuck fuck. Fuck.

Petal just walks beside Millie in silence, staring at the ground to avoid having to see how happy Millie is at Petal’s impending domestication. To avoid having to think about how happy she is about her own impending domestication. She doesn’t even notice the affini standing in her way until it stops her from walking into it with a pair of vines. How odd. Usually the Affini stayed out of people’s ways, except, perhaps, to pet them. But as much as Petal is coming around to the idea of this affini petting her, it doesn’t seem to be here for that.

Petal looks up, and around, and notices that another affini is standing behind her and Millie, although this one does seem to be giving Millie some petting, which Petal is very definitely Not Envious of. It even seems to be drawing Millie away from Petal, which Millie seems happy enough to go along with. It’s not like the affini are going to hurt either of them.

Petal can’t help but notice that she does seem to be a bit trapped here, between these two affini. There’s nothing to either side of her, but she’s pretty sure that if she tried to run, one or both of these two would have her in their vines before her first foot left the ground. The one in front of Petal speaks in a slow, calming voice. The kind of voice you’d use if you were afraid of scaring somebody off. “Excuse me, little terran, would you mind if I had a look in your bag?”

Her bag? “Uh… why?”

The affini continues in that calm tone, “Oh, I just want to make sure that there isn’t anything dangerous in there, my dear.” It’s not like an affini is going to mug her, or anything. Even if it was, it could have just done that already.

“Oh, okay. Uh… sure?” Petal slides her bag off her shoulder, and hands it over to the affini, who takes it in the palm of their hand, vines coming out from their wrist to open the bag and start going through its contents.

It’s not like Petal had much in there, just her tablet, oh, and her bracelet, she took that off before, too. But there wasn’t anything bad in there, like- oh, right. A knife, and anti-affini propaganda.

“Uh… I can explain?”

“Yes, my dear, I think that might be best. Why don’t you come with us, and you can explain everything.”

“Uh… Millie?” Petal can’t help but sound a bit worried. The affini aren’t going to hurt her. The absolute worst they’re going to do is have her domesticated. Which she’s pretty sure she wants anyway.

“Yeah, Petal?” Millie’s voice is as utterly unconcerned as ever.

“Uh… I think I have to go with, uh… these two, now?” Petal shouldn’t be scared, she knows she shouldn’t be scared, she hasn’t done anything wrong, she has a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything, and the affini don’t want to hurt her, but it still feels like she’s getting arrested.

“Oh, okay. Should I come too?”

“Uh…” Petal looks up at the affini towering over her. Just because they can snap her in half like a twig doesn’t mean they’re going to hurt her, or anything. But equally, just because they weren’t going to hurt her, didn’t change the fact that two giant plant people Petal had never met before were going to take her somewhere, and that that was at least a little bit scary.

“That would be just fine, little flower.” The affini from behind says, his voice calm and grumbling. Probably his voice. It sounds masculine, and affini do get to choose what their voices sound like.

“Um…” Petal hates herself for asking, but it’s one thing to keep walking on aching feet somewhere that you’re expecting to be safe and relaxed, but rather another when you don’t even know where you’re going, or how far it is. “Could I… I mean, could you… maybe… carry me?”

“Oooh, ooh, me too, me too!” Millie’s excitement just makes Petal blush, but right now, it’s a welcome distraction.

The affini behind them picks Millie up and puts her on his shoulder. The affini in front of them scoops Petal up in its vines, and seemingly can’t resist giving her hair a ruffle as it holds her against its chest.