“Fuck! You can’t do this, xeno!”, she struggles against the restraints around her wrists, ankles, and neck, connected to the large bed nearby, holding her within a set distance at all times. “I am a free Terran, and I will not succumb to a stars damned xeno’s machinations!”. The alien sitting in a chair across the room glances at Elvira, an idle smile on her face, before turning back to the terminal she’d been typing at since the captured human had awoken.

Elvira jerks against her restraints, staring daggers at her captor. “Listen to me, dammit! I am your superior!”. At this remark, the alien chuckles, several of her prehensile vines shaking along with her chest. “You think this is funny, Affini?!”, Elvira spat in the Affini’s direction, her breathing increasing in frequency, “When my compatriots find me, they’ll vaporize every centimeter of your disgusting vines!”

The Affini tilts her head slightly, turning towards the Terran woman, easily half her size, her hair soaked with sweat, and her interface suit torn and burnt. “Your.. Compatriots, as you’ve put it, have already found new homes with us, you’ll soo — “. Elvira interrupts with a yell, “Liar! They’re coming for me! I kno —”, before the scared woman can continue, the Affini has brought up several holo-screens, showing each of Elvira’s shipmates, all in similar rooms to the one she’s in, with similar restraints. Her gaze snaps to one of the screens, and her eyes widen as she recognizes the face of the navigator — captured weeks earlier than the rest —, staring dreamily off screen, wearing a standard Affini companion dress.

“Mara, N-no…”, she stutters, slowly pushing herself backwards, away from the now standing Affini. “This is against the treaty! You can’t just..”, she has to prevent herself from saying the now legally accepted term, “..kidnap us, like this!”. “Treaty on the Methods, Limitations, and Procedures for Human Domestication, Section 43. Any humans in unregistered rebel ships are fair game for acquisition and domestication, paraphrased.”, the Affini states nonchalantly. She lowers her left hand, fingers uncurling in sequence. “My name is Akash Nele, Third Bloom; but you will know me as your owner, your protector, your guardian, your mistress.”

Elvira shouts, trying to convince herself more than Akash, “Like fuck I will! I’ll never obey some overgrown weed!”. Akash raises the part of her face that most closely aligns to the Terran idea of an eyebrow, before one of her vines winds its way towards Elvira, gently tapping her nose, before retreating. “You don’t have a choice, pet.”

The furious human cries out, and attempts to lunge at Akash, falling short as her restraints catch. As she picks herself up, moving back into a position where her restraints had more slack. She feels her left wrist’s and right ankle’s cuff tighten slightly, followed by a mild sting. “No no no no no no no this can’t be happening” she mumble-yells, her speech starting to slur already. She shivers, her sense of touch rapidly becoming more and more prevalent. Her sense of time starts to lose cohesion. Desperate, she tries to pry off the left cuff, with no results.

Soon, her arms feel too heavy to keep aloft, let alone attempt to remove her restraints. “Fuck.. No, I can’t.. This can’t be the end.” The final words in her sentence are delivered with a cough as Elvira starts to sob, only avoiding hyperventilating by virtue of the xenodrugs now coursing through her bloodstream. Akash kneels down, running a hand through the hair on the side of Elvira’s head, a kind smile on her face. “It’s not the end, it’s just the beginning”.

The human squirms on the floor, attempting to maintain some semblance of composure. “Shhh, it’s alright darling, just let the xenodrugs do their work, you’ll feel better soon” As Akash finishes that sentence, Elvira summons the last of her strength, pulling herself up shakily, holding onto the frame of the bed. She stares Akash down. “I am a free Terran, I will never be —”. She falls, the xenodrug continuing to subdue her. She reaches towards Akash in vain, her hand curled slightly into a claw-like position. “Aw, you’re very cute, pet”, the plant woman reaches down with a vine, gently wrapping around Elvira’s arm, pushing it down onto the floor.

Elvira relaxes her muscles, accepting her fate, at least in the immediate term, still shivering. Akash recalls her vine, uncoiling from the woman’s arm. “You’re going to be fun”. Elvira coughs slightly louder in protest.

Akash chuckles, her vines moving in turn. “You know, Elvira, I bet that our bed would be a lot more comfortable than the floor”. Despite her best efforts, the most Elvira can muster is a grunt of protest. The Affini kneels down, and rests a hand on Elvira’s head. “I know that this is scary and new to you, but I believe in you!” The tall woman’s voice was softer now, trying to calm her down, Elvira reasons. “It’s time for a nap now, little human”. The human drools on the floor, unable to keep her mouth shut in the drug induced haze.

In one sweeping motion, Elvira finds herself swept up into the affini’s strong arms, several vines providing auxiliary support, though not many are needed on account of the low spin gravity on the vessel they’re aboard. She struggles to keep her eyes open in a vain attempt to stare down Akash. Despite herself, she could feel the affini’s skin against hers where her interface suit had torn open, and it felt wonderful.

As the pilot of a small-medium gunship, she rarely left the interface tank that allowed her to see and feel from the ship’s sensors, and not rely solely on her biological senses. In the past several months it’d been even rarer than before the official end of the war. The strikegroup she’d been a part of refused to accept the terms of humanity’s surrender, and had been on the run since. “Peacekeeper” forces pulled from now collaborating human governments and affini capture fleets had been on their tail for weeks. They wouldn’t have been able to last half as long if it hadn’t been for her navigator, Mara. But now she and Elvira are both trapped.

Before she could notice what was happening, Elvira finds herself lying on the spacious bed, off to one side. Her cuffs and collar disconnect suddenly, being replaced by several quick moving vines, wrapping themselves around her wrists, ankles, and neck. Not tightly enough to restrict blood flow, but noticeably present. Elvira shivers, the sensation of the plantlike vines against her skin electric.

She feels herself starting to fade into sleep as she fights to keep her blurry eyes open. Akash runs a hand through Elvira’s hair, pushing it out of her eyes. “There’s your beautiful face”. The human grits her teeth, breathing heavily. Though tear filled and exhausted eyes she saw movement near her face, and then a leafy feeling on her face. She realizes too late that the flower petals contain an airborne xenodrug, and as she squirms, trying to dislodge the flowery mask, her vision goes completely static, and she falls asleep.