Ageratu looked out of the viewport of the terran vessel, nothing but void and distant stars as far as one could see. It was quite a precarious situation, but after their inspection of the ship yesterday she was certain it could be resolved. Not without time effort and working with the terrans onboard, the last part was by far the least pleasant. The small and adorable little sophonts could certainly be hardy, but that did not mean that their place was anywhere near this sort of ordeal. That the fragile petals would as before have to work to survive was a crime the universe had committed, a crime the compact worked to amend.

 

The door to the bridge opened and Alyssum and Betula wandered in, they both looked and sounded terrible. The older affini hid it better but his distress was far from hidden. They had some time before the terran pack-leader would arrive,  her companions would need reassurance. <Good morning you two, rested well?> She herself had not gotten much rest in service of collecting minerals; it was only fair as she was the oldest.

 

Betula nodded in a very terran way <I much prefer my bed at home, my vines feel stiff all over…but it's fine I guess.> The young bloom quickly tried to gloss over her complaining with a far more cheerful attitude, it was not very convincing.

 

Alyssum for his case did not answer with words but simply placed three large buckets of water onto the floor <I found these containers in the reactor room, should be serviceable enough, and contained no poisonous residue upon examination.> That was at least something, even if the discord in his biorhythm was painful.  

 

Before she could give reassurance they needed nutrition, or at least what they would have to sustain themselves with for the foreseeable future. <This is what I could find, rust and metallic decay are aplenty on this vessel so I doubt we will run out. The nutritional content is not great, and the taste will probably not be either, but it should be enough for sustainment.> She dropped the pulverized metallic residue into the containers, watching as it slowly blended with the water.

 

It looked wrong, like the product of a compiler error, not something one would consume on purpose. The two other affini were just as hesitant as her <bone apple teeth> Ageratu smiled as she placed her vine into the water.

 

By the Everbloom’s mercy! It was repulsive! Vile! Only through great concentration did she keep her vine there as it began to consume the mineralized water. Alyssum's vines stiffened and he made a low churning noise, Betula’s face twisted far beyond terran capabilities in disgust. Despite the horrendous taste, Ageratu slowly felt her form reinvigorated, at least the water was…fresh was not the right word…water, at least it was actual water.

 

Ageratu consumed her meal as quickly as possible to lessen the time the taste would harass her senses, she then moved her attention over to Betula who was currently staring down into the bucket. The white-barked affini was displaying distress far beyond what the horrible taste could provide <is there something weighing on your mind?>

 

Betula raised her gaze, her eyes a light blue <I just…this entire situation, the death of the three terrans… it's all my fault. If I had moved faster, and thought quicker then maybe the hyperdrive could have been deactivated. These poor xeno’s are fearing for their life, and I am the one responsible.> The guilt in her voice only became more intense as she spoke.

 

Alyssum shook his head <the universe is unpredictable and no matter how much we might want to control its every facet, we have to accept that some events are beyond our control. It is not your fault that this happened.> Ageratu nodded in agreement, it was a painful truth she herself had learned several blooms ago.

 

She intertwined a vine with Betula <it happened and regretting it will not change the future. Our task and focus now must be to ensure these terrans are brought to safety. Domestication programs like this one are seldom without regrettable losses, but it is for the greater good.>

 

The young affini squeezed her vine and nodded, her eyes slowly shifting back to a gentle amber color. Alyssum took up a data pad <my inspection of the relay was not very comforting, it is going to take a good deal of time to repair and retrofit it. The terrans have a few of the parts we need but I do believe that some will have to be made from scratch or scavenged from other ship systems.>  Again the white flower-covered affini was impatient to get back to work.

 

Luckily Betula also seemed motivated now <the reactor should not be that difficult, a few days at most and it should be online. Wha-> The door to the room was opened and the pack leader entered with rapid steps. 

 

He held his gaze low, avoiding eye contact “before we talk I need to set this ship into motion.” The terran walked past and began interacting with several control panels along the lower level of the room. There was a subtle humming sound that quickly faded, Luis made a frustrated noise before pressing another set of buttons. The ship shook for a second or two before the gentle hum recontinued “there we go! Old girl just needed a little push, not done fighting just yet.” Was he talking to the ship? How adorable! These terrans really did pack bond to everything.

 

The ‘captain’ turned to them and for a second their eyes met. Ageratu smiled adoringly at the little sophont and he in return lowered the brim of the hat to interrupt the connection, though she could still spot a bit of a blush in his cheeks. Luis cleared his throat “how does it look, will we be able to get the generator and relay back online?” His voice was unsuitably serious for such a cute little thing.

 

Betula nodded “we were speaking of it as you arrived, the reactor should be online in a few days, the relay will take longer as predicted.” The shape of the terrans mouth became more concerned.

 

“I would like to spend as little fuel on the backup generator as possible, it is much better spent on the thrusters. if we focus on it first, can you get the main generator online in two days?” He came a bit closer and stifled a yawn with his left hand….awwww.

 

Alyssum frowned “It would be much better to start fixing the relay immediately. Why should we divert fuel to the thrusters? if the base is not real, the engines will not bring us anywhere of consequence.” And starting with the relay would cut down on the time to get a message out.

 

Luis tilted his head back and forth, and a set of crackles came from his neck “fueling the thrusters is not for bringing us somewhere, it is for giving the crew hope. Without that, we are doomed, fixing the generator takes priority.” There was some drowsiness in his voice, maybe 08:30 had been too early.

 

Routine and instinct told her to inspect the terran thoroughly. If he was hungry, had brushed his teeth, gotten enough to drink, was on the right amount of class-J and other xenodrugs. Instead, she could only sit there and worry “did you get enough sleep last night? Or did you have problems as you suspected?” Alyssum had not dispensed a great amount of class-Z for the terran to breathe in, perhaps a larger dose would have been better.

 

The terran stared at her for a few seconds “I have slept remarkably well thank you very much. We would have spared time if I inspected with you but hopefully, it will not be too regrettable a mistake. Now, I have the schedule for the three engineers that you will be working with, they will be working 10 hours per shift, with a 30-minute break after the first five hours. How long will you be able to work per shift?” 10 hours? That was far, far too much.

 

Betula was of the same mind “10 hours of continuous work is unhealthy, what about four instead?” Four was still a bit high in Ageratu’s opinion but with enough rest a manageable amount.

 

A tinge of frustration entered Luis’s voice “four hours? I don’t think you understand the situation. Each hour that we waste will be another hour of hunger for everybody on board, and every hour that we waste now that people are well-fed and relaxed will be the same as four hours a week from now. I can accept 8 hours, any lower that would be a dereliction of my duty to the crew.” There was a grim reality to what he was saying.

 

She shared a look with the others “could you not train more people and lessen the stress on these three?”

 

He shook his head “the rest of the crew will have their own tasks that need to be done, fixing the less complicated systems and so on. I don’t want to waste either your or the engineer's time trying to teach someone stuff they won't have time to put into practice. I know the three ensigns, they can handle 8 hours a day no problem.” There was a new tension, maybe even fear in his voice now.

 

A series of repeating clicks brought her attention to its source, the captain’s right hand. It was spinning around at the wrist. Ageratu knew that terrans could be quite flexible, like when stretched over their owner’s lap while being pet, but this was beyond what should be possible. “Is your hand injured?” Her question got the peculiar response of a slight chuckle.

 

Luis removed the glove, revealing a metal prosthesis, the fingers thin and a half-filled shell emulating a standard hand shape. “Sorry to tell you that it is beyond injury, and so is the rest of the arm.” He did not sound very sorry at all and demonstrated the truth of the later statement by bending the right arm in the wrong direction at the elbow. A deep sadness filled her core, something he must have recognized “don’t worry, this mechanical one works just fine. Actually, it works better, you won’t believe what long exposure to microgravity does to your muscle density.” Playing it off for her benefit was very sweet.

 

Ageratu smiled reassuringly “once we get to a vet we can get you a much better replacement, I promise.” His response was not quite what she had hoped, suspicion taking the place of her intended excitement.

 

“Quite…we should get back on track. The main systems powered by the generator are the life support system, the heating, and….” Ageratu zoned out for a moment as a thought emerged…maybe. No, once she got back to the café she would have several xenos to take care of. Spending all her time on one, no matter how cute, was not her style…

 

>>>>>> 

 

Natalia looked at her plate, the 1,5cm by 3cm cube of gray matter was not appetizing in the slightest. Still, she chewed it down while trying to ignore the revolting cardboard garbage taste. The half cube was enough to quiet her hunger but probably not for all that long. According to what Selma had informed her, three cubes per day was not enough. They held the nutritional requirement for six hours, so if the navy actually cared they would get four servings per day. Now that the amount per day was one and a half cube she would have to be mindful about expending energy.

 

There was an annoying *pling* from her work assignment pad. “Location: generator room, Equipment: standard engineer gear, Task: repair the main generator, Time: 0900-1700, Special: You will work with an affini, stay civil, and don’t start anything.” Her eyes did a double take, working with an affini? She hoped that the captain knew what he was doing and that the affini would leave her alone.

 

At the same time, Natalia could not deny that she was slightly intrigued, working in close proximity could allow her to talk and understand the affini better. As it stood the affini were certainly strange, but not anywhere near what the propaganda had described. Maybe they were not so bad….or maybe whatever the affini did to her was still in effect, she would need to stay on her toes.

 

After taking her vitamin-C supplement and chugging down a glass of water she went to get prepared. The storage room was flushed with people, waiting in line for food or equipment. As soon as she entered a slick voice broke through the murmuring chatter “Please let Natalia through, our skilled engineers need all the time they can get.” The sea parted and she got to the counter without waiting. Verek smiled like he always did while preparing her equipment “our dear captain asked me to give you priority. Good luck!” She returned the smile, still not sure if the man was always earnest or sarcastic.

 

With her equipment collected, she returned to the cabin. Before changing clothes Natalia shaved, always as unpleasant as it was necessary. When she applied the spray of hormones she made sure to only press once. Hopefully, it would not fuck up her transition too much…

 

Getting on the armor, the nickname for the engineering suit, was difficult and heavy. But if she was honest she preferred it to the regular uniform. Not only was the padding far less uncomfortable than the rough texture of the uniform, but it hid any dysphoria-inducing unpleasantry very well. With the helmet on it was practically impossible to identify what was inside by either sound or sight….or at least that was a good excuse for her to not continue her voice training.

 

As Natalia walked to the generator she felt a slight tingle in her stomach, working with an affini…it still felt weird just to think about it. When she entered the massive room, however, it was empty. The large inactive generator was a cluster of metal tubes and cylinders that continued into the darkness below…but no sight of any affini on the platform surrounding the sleeping metal behemoth. The data pad showed the time to be 0902, the affini was probably late.  

 

Natalia began to unpack the equipment and opened the manual, her trusted friend. The manual was not very detailed and skipped a great deal of information. Luckily for everyone onboard, the chief engineer had filled out the missing details, along with plenty of personal notes. Reading the chief engineer’s notes after her death felt at once both sad and hopeful. Do doubt the dorky engineer would have wanted nothing more than her notes to be used to maintain the ship she had worked so long to keep operational.

 

According to the notes, this was not the first time the Viator had a knocked-out generator after a jump. But back then they had been able to get spare parts and use the generator of a battleship to kick it back online.… Even with the notes, Natalia felt fully out of her depth, how the fuck was she supposed to get this to work? And apparently, everyone relied on her to get it done…

 

Simply reading through the two pages in the manual was enough to overwhelm her and give her the impression that it contained far too little information….okay, calm down. One step at a time, and this would be fine…hopefully. The first of said steps would be an examination, finding the ruined parts, and making a list.

 

There was likely no electrical current left, but best to put on the helmet and electrophonic gloves anyway. Natalia made her way carefully down the ladder, into the belly of the beast. Not fully into its depths, only to the second floor out of three. It was where the main reactor core was found, a good place to start.

 

The lights had gone out, Natalia turned on the flashlight and placed it in the shoulder container. There was an eerie clang as her metallic-laden boots hit the walkway, the faint light of the flashlight not helping with the creepiness. the pillars of metal that surrounded her almost looked like massive trees, their branches were dark and smooth pipes that ran in every direction. A few hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, the suit suddenly feeling clammy with cold sweat. Getting power to the lights would have to be a priority.

 

The reactor core stood at the center of a massive pillar, a single command console flashing a ghostly blue light. She knew there was no one around but made a sweep with the flashlight anyway….nothing. Fuck. Why did this have to be so creepy? She would have had no problem making the affini do this first part. Lazy plants….did the affini need a lot of sleep? Did they need to sleep at all? A question for whenever her help decided to arrive.

 

Natalia walked up, and looked around once more, before inspecting the console. At least it was operational, unlike pylon 1, 3, 4, and 7 as well as-“hello there little one.” With a scream muffled by the oversized helmet Natalia turned around way too fast, the weight of the suit continued the turn and she fell over. The ground approached at rapid speed before vines wrapped around her waist and arms. The fall was slowed, halted, and then reversed as she was placed back on her feet. The vines around her body came from the darkness where two golden orbs of light had appeared “I’m sorry, did I scare you?”

 

Her heart was way up in her throat and every part of her body was in full flight mode, the only thing keeping her still was the vines and the captivating eyes she could not quite look away from. Several seconds of terrified silence later the figure came into the light of her flashlight, the sheet white bark and light green vines in the dim light made the affini look like it was a monster from a fairytale, the ones with monsters luring travelers from the path with their ethereal beauty. “Oh, dear. Are you okay?” The affini sounded concerned now, and a single hand reached out towards her.

 

Natalia took a step back, finding that the vines did not hold her in place. She managed to choke out an affirmative reply and the vines carefully slinked back into the affini’s form.

 

A relieved smile flashed across the affini’s face, a row of needle-sharp teeth revealed in the process “good, should we get the lighting operational? It is hard to work in the dark, and we can’t have you stumbling on something and getting hurt.” With a gesture, the affini indicated it wanted access to the control panel. Natalia stepped aside immediately, keeping her eyes fixed on the xeno, her heart still beating several times faster than it was supposed to.

 

The sound of the powerful industrial lights turning on gave her a second of warning before the flashing light stung her sensitive eyes. When her eyes adjusted she finally saw the affini in its full form…fuck. It was not just an affini, it was the affini. The one that had ambushed her, drugged her, probably also messed with her mind…and the one that was currently staring down at her with adoring, beautiful eyes “is there something wrong?” What? It must have noticed her staring.

 

Fuck, she was blushing, wasn’t she? Like an absolute idiot…wait…the helmet was still on. Natalia mumbled “E...Everything is fine….” The affini continued to stare at her…was she supposed to say something more? Stars damn it, she had to get herself together!

 

“Would it be possible for me to remove the helmet? It sounds like it is muffling your voice.” if it did that then it would see who she was! She had to say no….after several seconds of silence, the affini used a single hand to lift the heavy helmet like it weighed nothing “it is you!” The affini sounded possibly delighted. Natalia for her part made a soft squeaking noise and took another step back. It had recognized her! Fuck, fuck, fuck.

 

The affini crouched down <oh dirt> “there is no reason to be afraid little one, I am not going to hurt you.” They sounded genuine and gave her a reassuring smile “my name is Betula Pendula, 1st bloom, she/her. What’s yours?” The affini reached out a massive hand.

 

Natalia took a deep breath “Nat…alia Bjorke, first-…I mean…she/her.” Her eyes found the ground to be very interesting as she shook the xeno’s hand, it totally eclipsed hers. She had to get it together “a...are you the one helping to repair the generator?”

 

Betula nodded “indeed, and I must say you have a very beautiful name…your face is still rather flushed, are you certain that you are alright?” There was a slight ripple in the affini’s form as she leaned forward.

 

Natalia grabbed the helmet out of the affini’s hand and put it on “Yes…could we start working?” She finally managed to tear her eyes away from looking at the alien and turned towards the reactor core. There was a subtle hum in the air, probably from the lights…focusing on it was remarkably calming.

 

“Of course, your captain has given us a rather strict timetable. Not that you should stress about it, I am certain we will get it done in time.” Betula’s focus shifted to the reactor and Natalia breathed out in relief…she could do this.

 

With reinvigorated mindfulness, she fished out the manual “I don’t know how much you know of our technology, but this should help. I’m not an actual engineer but it seems the power spike during the jump fried several of the fuses on these four pylons. It also knocked the main reactor offline so we will need something to jump-start it…” The affini listened attentively as it flipped through the manual with a vine.

 

Betula closed the book “my understanding of terran technology is only rudimentary so this and your expertise will be of great assistance. From what I know your analysis is likely to be correct. There might still be issues with the other pylons, we can inspect each personally first before we decide on further action.” Thank the stars, testing power fuses was something she had done plenty of. Fixing a several million worth main-reactor that was two decades old was not, best to leave that to one of the others.

 

She nodded and began to walk to the ladders when a vine was placed on her shoulder “you are not intending to use those ladders to get down, are you?” ……what else was she supposed to do? Jump? “…this place breaks more safety regulations than I can count, isn’t railing standard even for terran construction?” The affini sounded positively aghast “no matter, let me carry you down instead, it is far safer.” Hold on, wha-

 

Betula swooped an arm beneath her legs and lifted Natalia up into her arms, small vines entwining around her libs to hold her safely. Then she used another set of vines to grab ahold of some nearby pylons. The affini stepped off the platform and the vines extended, gently lowering them down onto the bottom floor of the reactor room.

 

For a moment they stared at each other, the vines around her tightening slightly. Once again Natalia reacted to the direct attention of the affini with a weak squeak. Betula’s form rippled again, and she was quickly placed down on the ground. The affini almost sounded a bit flustered “ah yes, work…let us see here. The panel for this pylon should be…here it is!” Before Natalia could even ask the affini to retrieve the toolbox she had unscrewed the panel with her vines.

 

The stench of brunt wires filled the air, the smoke briefly illuminated by the industrial lights that streamed through the gaps of pylons and metal tubes. Luckily she still had her flashlight, the sight it illuminated was not the most inspiriting; on at least seven different points cables had fused together into a black hard goo.

 

Focusing on work would be a good way to stop herself from stealing glances at the affini who she swore was stealing glances at her. “I can write a list and send it to Verek, our quartermaster. Hopefully, he has replacement parts, if not we will have to scavenge from other parts of the ship.” That was at least something she had a bit more experience with, most of her ‘engineering’ had been fixing old systems with the parts of other equally old systems.

 

Betula nodded enthusiastically “good g…idea, if you begin that I can go and take pictures of the other pylons….if you are okay with me leaving for a bit.” Why wouldn't she be okay with that?

 

Oh right, they were supposed to be enemies at war “it's alright, I trust you. Just come down if I shout…and perhaps you could get my toolbox from the top floor?” climbing all the way up and then down again was far from a tempting prospect.

 

A vine tapped her on the top of her helmet “your trust means a lot to me little one, you shall have your toolbox right away.” Without another word Betula used her vines in the same manner as when they had gotten down to grapple her way upwards, looking spectacularly magnificent in the process.

 

Natalia rubbed the top part of her helmet, why had the affini touched her there? There was nothing on her glove, so the helmet was fine…maybe it was some cultural practice the affini had? Back to work, every moment spent thinking about the affini only promised to think about her more.

 

She continued to inspect the fuses, and a moment later the toolbox was placed on the ground next to her by a vine. Betula’s voice came from above “tell me if you want me to come down, all reasons are acceptable.” When people said that last part they were more than not lying, they did not actually mean ‘any’ reason….for some reason Natalia found herself believing the affini wholeheartedly.

 

Not that she would call the affini down unless absolutely necessary, she was too distracting by being….scary, yes that was it. With her tools, it became a lot easier to pry away the melted protection around the wires and get a better look. It wasn’t too terrible, but not great either…replacing melted cables could be a real pain.

 

The next couple of hours went by surprisingly quickly. She would either be inspecting one of the pylons or a picture Betula had taken on her fancy-looking data pad. The affini displayed a genuine curiosity about what she had to say which was refreshing, to say the least. They had just started to finish cataloging the parts they needed for the pylons when Betula looked at her data pad and shook “you must forgive me, we have gone way over time. Let me lift you up so you can get a well-deserved rest.

 

Natalia was a bit more prepared this time but there was still something incredibly strange about being lifted up like she weighed nothing at all, and the feeling of weightlessness as the affini propelled them up. It usually took her 10 minutes to get up to the top floor from the bottom, this time it only took 10 seconds. She was placed on her feet and suddenly began to feel the hunger that focus had allowed her to ignore.

 

“I’ll go and get food…do you want anything?” Did the affini eat? It struck her that every moment spent with the huge plant revealed how little she knew about them.

 

Betula shook her head “you should spend your break resting, I will go and get food.” Natalia did not even have the time to argue before the affini moved out of the room….well if she insisted. The slight gnawing of hunger was annoying but ignorable. She found a good place to sit down and removed the helmet and gloves that at this point had gotten quite sweaty. One downside of the armor was how warm it was, at least the generator was not on, then the suit was practically an oven.

 

The affini returned with a confused look on her face “I asked for your food but all I got was this…is this organic refuse?” it looked like a totally normal half synthcube to her. Betula handed it to her hesitantly.

 

After unwrapping and taking a bite she responded, “normal as can be, do you eat something different on your ships?”

 

The affini looked shocked “You mean to say that you eat this regularly? There is no way that tiny…whatever it is, is enough to fulfill your nutritional needs.” Natalia felt a bit bashful, it was obvious now that the affini were accustomed to another level of comfort on their ships.

 

“Well, this is half ration since we are…you know, rationing. Sure, it might not contain all the stuff we need when we get full rations either, but it is more economical that way or something. This is the navy, not a cruise ship.” Would she usually be defending that the navy and accord at large gave no shits about any of their lives? Absolutely not but saying that to the affini felt very wrong.

 

Her words had only driven the shook of the affini to new levels “that is unacceptable. Long-term malnutrition can have a severe impact on your health you know. Once we get you to safety I shall make sure you eat plenty of wonderful and tasty meals, that is a promise.” ……hold on…

 

Her eyes, despite her mind’s protest, had begun to wander over the affini’s form once more. There was just something so captivating about how the bark bent and moved. How the vines underneath were visible in a few places and created a fine, impenetrable mesh of green. The long light green hair that flowed from all the way up the affini’s head and almost down to the ground. The face itself was such a careful creation of bark, moss, and subtle details…and the eyes, she could stare into them for hours…they held such a magnificent complexity in every single one of the slightly different dents and…the color shifting ever so slightly, small traces of blue blending with the regular yellow color…

 

“Little one?” Fuck! Natalia snapped back to awareness and averted her gaze. Betula sounded…amused? “Do you find my eyes fascinating?” A slightly playful tone to her voice…that beautiful musical voice…

 

What was she supposed to answer? Maybe the question that had been burning inside her this whole time? No, she couldn’t ask if she had done something to her….what if it hadn’t?! Then she might as well throw herself into the reactor “mmmmm….if you had captured the ship, what would you have done with us?” It was not like she had not wanted to ask that question.

 

Betula sat down, and looked around while playing with a strand of her ‘hair’ “I am perhaps not the best one to explain it, have you seen some of our information broadcasts? …no, well then how to put it….We affini want to make sure that everyone has all their physical and emotional needs met. Unlike your society, we have no money or currency, the abundance created by our technology is given to all. Your society was destructive and harmful, that is the reason why we have come to set things right.” So far no word of human fertilizer or slaves working in the mines…

 

But Betula had not really answered her question either “okay, and what about me and the rest of the crew? What would have happened to us if you captured us?” She had a feeling that prisoners of war were not treated that nicely…if anything the affini said could be trusted.

 

Betula sounded even more nervous “this might sound strange, but bear with me…there is a high chance that you and your fellow crewmates would be domesticated.” Like goats and sheep? “a domesticated individual or florets as we call them, gets an affini to take care of all their needs and decisions. I have heard the most analogous relationship to what you terrans know is an owner and their pet.” Owner?! So, they were going to be enslaved after all?

 

That wasn’t fair “none of the people here wanted to fight you. Hell, I bet this ship hasn’t seen combat until yesterday. You can’t enslave us for being sent against you when we had no choice!” For a split naïve moment, she had actually believed that the affini might not be that bad, that was far too good to be true.

 

The affini looked supremely uncomfortable “no, please don’t misunderstand…being a floret is not a punishment and no affini would ever mistreat their pet. Florets are the most treasured part of compact society, nothing is more important to us than the welfare of our florets.” She sounded so genuine, but this still made no sense.

 

“So why are POW made into florets? If it is not a punishment, why enforce it upon us?”

 

Betula straightened herself upright “I was getting to that. All xenos who either need or want domestication becomes florets. It is not exclusively for those that resist us…but for those that do, domestication rates are far higher. There are plenty of reasons, higher risk of being a danger to others or oneself, trauma, general need…I am not saying that you will become a floret unless you want to of course, but for some of your crew mates it might be for the best.” There was one last problem, one logical break.

 

No one did anything without any selfish reason “what do you affini get out of it?”

 

Betula’s eyes turned a golden shade of amber, a few of her vines splitting on their end to reveal needles “oh…that. Well…It is our duty as the custodians of the universe to make sure that everyone is safe and cared for…in addition, we love nothing more than to dote and treasure cute xeno’s like you.” her mind had followed carefully along up until that last part

 

“You think I’m cute?” She blurted it out in flustered disbelief.

 

An alien hunger entered Betula’s eyes “you my dear, are absolutely adorable.” Natalia felt the blush on her face redden as she continued to stare into the affini’s beautiful eyes. She couldn’t look away…it was like her mind was stuck in honey, slowing down and being more focused on the eyes for each moment that passed.

 

*beep….beep…beep*

 

The sound of her work shift alarm broke her out of the trance “ah! The break is over…we should get back to work.” Natalia wolfed down the meager remaining ration, still not fully satisfied, and stood up. As She walked towards the ladder she could feel the affini watching her, if she looked back…those eyes would trap her once more.

 

Once she reached the ladder she looked down…maybe “could you carry me down?” A vine touched her shoulder.

 

On instinct, Natalia looked back and her eyes found the affini’s smiling face once more “I would like for nothing better, little flower.” She felt her heart do a small summersault…maybe she was feeling more than just fear…