The light was what drove Nell to wakefulness — it wasn’t harsh, but it was insistent, pushing its way in through her eyelids until she stirred, rubbing at them and squinting out at the world. She was on a big, circular cushion, a dull moss-green disc with a soft, almost furry texture. Beyond it, there was only depthless shadow.

Where am I? She was still wearing her thermal underwear and underlayer, but her overlayer and heavy coat were nowhere to be seen. She had been in the bush, hadn’t she? Surrounded by snow, trees, and nothing for miles. She’d been moving cross country toward–

The Affini.

Memory intruded as the light had just moments ago, and just as relentlessly. The Affini had come, leaping out of the sky itself and surrounding her. She’d picked up a grenade and– oh, fuck. Am I dead? She looked around, but the shadows were no less eager to yield than they’d been a moment ago. The world was dead silent, the only sounds her anxious breathing, her heart thudding against her chest. “…hello?”

“Hello, little one,” a voice came back — a frighteningly familiar voice, full of the same confidence and condescension she remembered. She spun around to face it, and finally spied the subtle flash of six eyes staring down at her from the darkness. “You gave us a merry run-around, didn’t you?”

“Stay away!” Nell shouted, trying to skitter away and tripping over the cushion. She came within inches of hitting her head on the dark, featureless ground, but vines snaked out from the nothingness can caught her.

“Careful, pet,” the Captain said. The light broadened, revealing more detail to the shadowy room, and revealing Andoa as well. E stood there, towering over Nell, a fuzzy shape framed by a strange hexagonal lattice that stretched across the entire ceiling. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I’m not your pet!” Nell spat, struggling against the vines. They slackened, and she slipped free. She glanced frantically around, searching for an avenue of escape, but the room’s four walls were all the same, paneled in odd patterns, and no sign of a door.

“That’s not what the paperwork says,” Andoa replied, chuckling. “Of course, you haven’t signed yours, yet, since you were just a bit unconscious, but we’ll get to that, don’t worry.”

“I don’t know how you got me up here,” Nell snarled, rounding on Andoa, “or why I’m even alive, but….don’t you dare get inside my head again!” It was an empty threat, and Nell knew the Captain was perfectly aware of it. Her heat was beating against her ribs even faster than before, and her lungs burned with the anticipated need for more oxygen in a struggle for her life.

“You’re alive because one Vella Ruellia was able to snatch that little explosive away from you and throw it as far away as she could,” Andoa said. “You shouldn’t play with such dangerous things. As for how you got up here, well, a little Class-Z and some delta-v go a long way.” E paused, looking down at Nell. “You’re genuinely frightened of me, aren’t you?” Something about the way Nell said it set her hair on end — it was like the monster was surprised.

“You did things to my fucking brain,” Nell said. “What do you fucking think?”

“I think that if you’re still experiencing that block, you must be even more susceptible to hypnosis than I thought,” Andoa said a wry edge to eir voice. “Let’s find out. Go ahead, flower. Say it.”

“No!” Nell said, her heart leaping into her throat. “I’m not going to go through that again! I’m not going to just give you the excuse!”

“You have my permission, Nell, this one time, to say that awful word. I just want to see if you can — that’s all. I won’t be upset at you for doing it.”

Nell shivered, seized her lip between her teeth for a moment. You can’t show weakness in front of this thing, she thought. You can’t let it think that you can just be rewritten like that! Say it! “….w-wormhead,” she muttered, stammering through a veil of terror and apprehension. Her gut clenched, but she didn’t hear the voice in the back of her head, didn’t feel the catch in her breath. It’s…gone?

“See?” Andoa smiled, which did absolutely nothing to make Nell feel better — it was like some kind of moss-monster had crawled out of her nightmares and was making plans to eat her for breakfast. “No lingering effects beyond, thankfully, a decreased willingness to say something so awful and unkind about florets.” E began to pace in a circle around Nell, taking eir steps slowly, never once looking away from her. “Believe me, Nell, if I wanted to snap your will like a twig, I could do it, but that would be boring. There’s no stakes, no risk. I much prefer my way of doing things.”

“I’ll never give in,” Nell hissed. “I won’t be some… useless, stupid pet!”

“First, don’t be rude, not even to yourself,” Andoa said smoothly. “Second, my dear, why would I ever want a pet that was anything but exceptional? And you, Nell?” E leaned down, still grinning, until e was face to face with her. She was pinned to the spot by dread. “You are certainly exceptional.”

“Go fuck yourself,” she whispered, her voice refusing to work.

“I have taken three florets in my life,” Andoa said, ignoring her, “and each of them in their turn begged me for it. I think you will too, when the time comes — but we’ll find out together.”

“I’ll never beg you for anything,” Nell said, finding a measure of courage in Andoa’s odd phrasing. The fuck does this thing mean, find out together? “No matter what happens, the revolutionary spirit will prevail!”

“Ah yes, the immortal science of Marxism-Leninism!” Andoa said cheerfully, squatting down, eir grin growing somehow wider. “The natural outgrowth of capitalist development from the feudal economic model, the inescapable boom-bust cycle, and the inevitable rise of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a vanguard party of committed revolutionaries. Wonderful stuff, Nell. You may consider me an enthusiastic comrade in the struggle for the universal liberation of all workers!”

“…what?” Of all the things Nell had expected to come out of the monster’s mouth, that was not on the list.

“I’m still working my way through the subsequent thinkers, of course,” Andoa went on, gesturing vaguely with one hand. “You communists certainly like to write! But that’s fine: I’m well and truly fascinated, and after all, what good owner doesn’t take an interest in their pet’s own interests, hm?”

“I’m not your pet!” Nell insisted. I don’t know what this nonsense is, but I’m not going let the bastard pull a fast one on me.“And if you were a real communist, you wouldn’t want me to be!”

“Ah, see, that’s where we differ. I’m afraid I may have to be a bit of a splitter here. Or perhaps a revisionist? I’m not even done with Trotsky, yet, so you’ll forgive me if I’m retreading any ground here, but it seems to me that keeping you as a pet, Nell, would be the ultimate form of liberation — you would be liberated from any sort of want, concern, or worry. That’s a kind of liberation even independent sophonts don’t get.”

“That’s not– how do you even– fuck!” Nell threw up her hands. “Am I supposed to be confused or just pissed off that you’re getting the theory all wrong? Or are you just trying to, I don’t know, fuck with my head in some novel way?”

“I’m attempting to share an interest with my soon-to-be pet,” Andoa said, a note of confusion in eir voice. “I honestly thought you’d be happier about this.”

“Why would I be happy about you doping me up on a dozen different drugs and brainwashing me?”

“Who said I was going to dope you up on a dozen different drugs?” Andoa replied casually. “And who said I would brainwash you? I could do those things, of course, and I’d ensure that you enjoy the process thoroughly. You would be in very good vines, Nell. Would you prefer that?”

“Of course not!” Nell spat.

“Good,” Andoa said, eir eyes lighting up in a way that carried all the implied threat of an enormous, man-eating shark suddenly breaching up from the inky depths of the pre-collapse ocean, like in the movies. Nell felt as if she’d swallowed a block of ice. “And that’s why we’re going to play a game, little flower,” Andoa said. The lights came up fractionally brighter, further emphasizing the sheer emptiness of the room. There was no way out, and nowhere to hide. “A game with a wager, to make it fun. If you win, you walk out of here a free and independent sophont, and I will vouch for your ability to adapt to life in the Compact without domestication.”

What the fuck is going on? This has to be some kind of trick. “And if I refuse to play this game?” Nell said, glaring. “What then?”

Andoa shrugged and stood up. “If you decline, then I suppose you weren’t right for me to begin with. I’ll pass you off to someone else — Vella perhaps, she certainly liked you — and they’ll break you, and you’ll be a happy little pet. Safe, easy, boring. Or–“ E licked eir lips, or at least, mimed doing so, and Nell shuddered at how uncannily terran the gesture seemed. “Or, you play the game, and have the chance to remain independent.”

“Don’t fucking bullshit me!” She leaned forward, fists clenched, as if ready for a fight. “You think I trust you? You’re just another imperialist invader. Nothing you can say will ever make me believe you’ll follow through!”

“Language, petal,” Andoa said. “I can see we’ll have to work on that. And as to whether you can trust me, well…” Andoa shrugged again. “Say no, be a happy pet. Say yes, and maybe be a happy pet, or maybe walk free, if that’s what you really want. Ask yourself this, Nell: what have you got to lose but your chains?” There came that entirely-too-dangerous grin again.

Nell stared up at the Captain. It was so odd — this monster so easily reached into her mind and made it a plaything, and here it was offering her a path to freedom. It has to be some kind of trick. Still, I can’t afford not to take that chance. “Fine,” she said. “But don’t try to fuck me on this — I win, I walk.”

“Indeed, little one,” Andoa purred. Eir entire body seemed to ripple with excitement, beds of moss and delicate fronds shifting around. “I’m very happy you’ve agreed to this. It proves I wasn’t mistaken about you. You’re a fighter, and that’s just what I want.” E lifted the cushion and tapped one of the walls many panels — it opened, sliding out, and e tucked the cushion into the space within with a few of eir vines. “Now then, this is a game of stimulation and self-control. You’re going to endure whatever I do to you, if you can, for a certain period of time. If you can hold out that entire time, you win. If you ask me to stop before that time elapses, I win. Now, pay attention, because this is important: this is a game of many rounds. If I win this first round, there will be others. I have to win each round to keep you here with me, but you only have to win a single round for me to turn you loose.”

“And what are you going to do?” Nell said. It can’t be any worse than what the screws used to do. “Stress positions? Electrostunners? Waterboarding?”

“What? No. I’m going to touch you, of course,” Andoa said, gesturing with eir vines, passing a few of them close enough for Nell to see their gently feathered texture. “I have a great deal of experience in terran sensory modes and the usual responses to them. Tickling, for example — very amusing!”

“…you want to tickle me?” Nell said. What the fuck is going on?

“Tickling will certainly play a role, but there are other kinds of touch. Pleasurable touch, for example — petting, stroking, and so on. And there’s painful touch as well, from rasping to scratching to striking.” Another vine passed by, this one with dangerous-looking thorns peeking out from beneath the fuzzy moss.

There it is. “I get it. You want to beat me into submission. Classic,” Nell growled.

“I have no desire to cause you harm, little one,” Andoa said — e sounded genuinely shocked. “I would certainly never cause you a lasting injury. The goal is sensation. Little scratches, little slaps, that sort of thing. A little bit of gentle marking. Shall we say that if I leave a bruise or draw blood, we count that as a win for you? I can be very delicate, if that’s what you need.”

“You….you understand how skeevy this all sounds, right?,” Nell said. “Are you some kind of, what, alien plant pervert?” This can’t be happening. This is the last weird thoughts I’m having before I die. I blew myself up with a grenade. There’s no way this is real.

E laughed, and it was perhaps the most straightforward and honest sound Nell had ever heard come out of the Captain. “I was wondering how long it would take you to call me that,” e said as eir laughter trailed off. A measure of mirth remained in eir voice. “For some reason, terrans think this is perverted, and I think that’s honestly just the funniest little thing about you.”

“That’s because it is perverted.” I am not discussing this with an alien plant. I am not discussing fucking fetish shit with an alien plant. “Why the fuck would you want to do this, anyway? We’re not even from the same galaxy. This can’t possibly turn you on!”

“What you might consider a perversion or a turn-on is, for me, more in the line of a fascination with the neurochemical responses your species has to certain stimulation. It’s like… oh, I met a terran who enjoyed making models of your cute little starships,” e said, stroking eir chin and thinking. “What did he call that? A hobby, yes, that’s the word!”

“Your hobby is… touching humans,” Nell said, staring up at em. This can’t be real. “That’s perverted.”

“Then I suppose I’m a pervert,” Andoa said equably. “Have you changed your mind about playing the game? Shall I see if Vella still has yet to find a terran to call her own?”

Nell stood there for a long minute. For some strange reason, the sheer ridiculousness of the conversation had sapped a great deal of the dread she’d been feeling. I have to be careful, she told herself. I can’t let this thing lull me into a false sense of security. I’m fighting for my mind, for my freedom, and for the soul of the revolution. “Fine,” Nell said. “I’ll play this perverted game of yours. But don’t expect to get a second round out of it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Andoa said, a dozen or more of eir vines snaking up into the lattice above. “Now, let’s get you ready.”

“What do you mean, rea–“ The vines leapt down from above, coiling around her with frightening speed. Two seized her arms, another two her legs, and the others her body, yanking her suddenly off her feet and into the air. “What the fuck?!”

“Don’t worry, little flower, I’m very practiced at this,” Andoa said, standing up. E walked over, trailing the vines leading to the ceiling behind em, and tapped another panel, a smaller one. A drawer slid out, and from it, e produced a small syringe. “If you feel any discomfort, any at all, even a little tingle like a limb is falling asleep, tell me immediately, understand? That’s not a loss condition for you, just a precaution for your safety.”

“Put me down!” Nell cried, struggling around the vines that held her limbs. She was splayed out in the air, parallel to the ground, her weight carefully balanced between the vines. All her struggling did was set herself gently rocking — the vines were far too strong for her to shift them.

“This is just part of the game,” Andoa explained, standing face-to-face with Nell. “I control all sensation you experience. You don’t get to touch yourself. You don’t get to touch anything else. Only I touch.”

“You didn’t say you were going to… to hang me from the ceiling!”

“If I didn’t, you’d be touching the ground. Is this your limit right now, Nell? Remember: this game only goes as long as you want it to, and there will always be other chances for you. Next time, you can come in knowing about the suspension aspect. We can do that with each and every step of the game, if you like.” E reached up and delicately cupped Nell’s cheek with eir enormous hand. “Or, you can trust me. I will never, ever do anything meant to harm you, and I will always stop when you ask for it.”

And somehow, even though she was hanging ten feet or more in the air, even though she was at the mercy of the monster that had invaded her world and was systematically dismantling the revolutionary state she’d helped to create, even though this very monster had once reached inside her head and fiddled with it over an insult — somehow, she believed the thing. Something about eir voice, the way eir smile fell away as e said it, maybe. She couldn’t place it for certain, but she knew that it wasn’t a lie.

What the fuck is happening to me? she thought. “Okay,” she whispered through gritted teeth. This is for the revolution.

“Good. Good. Now relax. Remember, this is meant to be fun for you too, flower,” Andoa said. “Otherwise, it’s not a game, now is it?”

Nell’s eyes darted to the syringe. “You said no drugs. What’s that?”

“This?” Andoa lifted the syringe close. “This a Class-N xenodrug. It won’t have any overt effects, it’s simply an inhibitor that prevents certain neurochemical cascades. Specifically, orgasm.”

“The fuck?!” Nell’s heart leapt back into her throat. “What the fuck am I going to need that for? You didn’t say shit about sex!”

“Nell, I have done with this a great many terrans,” Andoa said patiently, “and one thing I have learned is that your species is capable of interpreting virtually any sensation as sufficiently pleasurable to trigger your arousal response. Not a lot of sophonts are like that, you know! You’re very special, and for the record I think it’s absolutely adorable. Unfortunately, if you were to orgasm, well…that would just end the game right there, no win for either of us — and please don’t be offended, but I don’t think you could hold out, certainly not the first time. This puts you in charge,” e said, gesturing with the syringe. “The game goes as long as you want it to, and no longer. Do we stop now, or do we continue?”

This is for the revolution, Nell repeated to herself. “Do it,” she whispered. She felt the pinch in her shoulder, and the rumbling noise that Andoa made.

“Good girl,” e purred, removing the syringe and discarding it. “Now, we wait just a moment for it to work its way through your system. How are you feeling? Any discomfort, any tingling?”

Nell shook her head. “Unless you count being tied up by a giant alien plant pervert who’s forcing me to play a ridiculous sex game for my freedom,” she grumbled.

“Oh, no, that definitely doesn’t count,” Andoa said, letting out a soft chuckle. “I think it’s been long enough, so, without any further ado–“ E reached out with a vine and tapped a square section of the wall in front of Nell. Instead of opening, it lit up like a display, showing a set of two softly glowing concentric rings, the outermost of which slowly starting erasing itself running clockwise.

A timer, Nell realized.

“If you can endure that length of time without asking for the game to stop, flower,” Andoa said, eir vines slithering subtly as they held her, “you walk free today.” Another set of vines joined the ones holding her, tracing the lines of her body. She could feel the touch through her underlayer and thermal underwear, gentle and soft.

“How long is the timer?” If this is all this is, I can ride this out easy.

“Don’t worry about that, little one,” Andoa said. “Keep your head in the game.” E hooked a pair of vines beneath Nell’s shirt and thermal top and hiked them up, exposing her belly and back.

“H-hey!” Nell shouted. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you sensation, of course,” Andoa said, tracing delicate figures on Nell’s exposed skin with the furry, feathery tips of eir vines. It wasn’t a tickle per se, but Nell felt each stroke. It was as if someone were painting on her like a canvas, and though she tried to squirm, Andoa’s vines held her fast. “Oh, that’s a nice response,” e said.

“You never said you were going to strip me!” Nell protested.

“Well, how did you think I was going to stimulate you?” Andoa said, grinning. “Poke and prod you through your clothes the entire time? Come now, Nell, you don’t need an advantage that strong, do you? Let’s see that strength of will you’re so proud of — or do we go no further?” The vines withdrew momentarily.

“I didn’t say that!” This is for the revolution. “I’m not giving up!”

“Yes,” Andoa said, all six of eir eyes lighting up as the vines dove back in, expanding their reach, snaking further under Nell’s clothes to tease her along her arms, her thighs, her neck. “That’s what I love to hear!”

“Mmmfuck!” Nell gasped, clamping down with her teeth and only narrowly missing biting her tongue. Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up! Something had changed in the way the vines were playing along her skin — it was still deliberate, precise, but occasionally there now came a force, a vine dragging across her skin, or lashing around a limb and squeezing gently before slipping away with a long, cruel brush. With the renewed attack came a warm, shuddering feeling from within, a gentle and pleasant cramping in her abdomen, and suddenly Nell understood exactly why she’d been given the shot.

Can I do this? she asked herself, staring past Andoa at the timer. She was already gasping for breath, and the bigger circle hadn’t even erased a quarter of itself yet. How long has it been? A minute? Two minutes? She could hold out. She had to hold out, even though this. I can’t believe this fucking plant is actually getting me revved up.

“How are you feeling, little one?” Andoa purred. “You’re a bit red in the face. I think you might be a bit warm, hmm?” E tugged Nell’s top higher up, over her breasts, letting it gather at her shoulders. “Is that better?” Now eir vines played over the newly exposed skin. More than merely reaching past it, they lingered, toyed with it, teased and pinched. One vine traced her collarbone with incredible delicacy. A long, sharp scratch ran down Nell’s back slowly, starting between her shoulder blades and ending just above her tailbone, eliciting a sudden, extended cry of surprise.

“Y-you said no blood!” she stammered, shivering — but not from a chill.

“No blood, I promise,” Andoa said, peering over Nell’s back. “A nice, pretty scratch, but no blood. I told you, I know what I’m doing. Is that your limit, flower? Do we go no further?”

“Don’t you dare stop,” Nell hissed. The outer circle was ticking down. More than halfway done, now — had she lost track of that much time? “Don’t you dare stop! I’m walking out of here!”

“Oh, I chose well, didn’t I?” Andoa said, eir eyes flashing as streaks of gold swam through them. There was something truly beautiful in them, Nell thought, but before she could fall into those pretty depths, a vine wrapped itself around her head, acting as a blindfold. “Ah-ah-ah,” Andoa said in a scolding tone, “none of that. You stay right here with me, in the moment.”

“T-take it off!”

“No. I control sensation, and sight is a sensation — one I’ve decided not to give you, at least for now,” Andoa whispered in Nell’s ear. Being unable to see em, it was like e had simply appeared there, and Nell jerked in shock and let out an absolutely humiliating whimper. “Unless you do want to stop?”

This is for the revolution. “Fuck you,” Nell hissed. “Keep going!”

And e did. Nell’s skin became a tapestry of sensations, gentle and rough alike. She hadn’t been able to see much of it before, but now that she could see nothing, each touch became that much more shocking, that much more potent. Vines wrapped around her thighs and squeezed; thorns dragged gently over her ribs; feathery fronds teased the sensitive skin. More whimpers slipped through her lips. “I can’t… I can’t see the timer!” she gasped. “How long?!”

“Let’s take a little breather and check in,” Andoa said, and the vine around her eyes slipped away. The outer circle was perilously close to being gone, and Nell’s heart soared — she was so close, so close. She watched the last slivers of the circle tick away, laughing.

I’ve got you, you plant bastard, she thought, as the last of the circle vanished. A small chunk of the inner circle disappeared along with it, and the outer circle sprang back into being, ticking down slowly once more. Nell’s eyes widened, and the pit of her stomach dropped out from under her. No, she thought. No, that’s not– No!

“How are you feeling? Any tingling, any discomfort?” E paused, leaning in close and cupping Nell’s cheek again. “Petal, you’re crying. What’s wrong?”

“Huh?” Nell looked up at Andoa, blurry and indistinct, and realized that tears were streaming from her eyes. “Fuck…”

“Do we need to stop? There will always be another round for you.”

Nell squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I just thought– I thought that the outer circle was all. I thought I was done.”

“Aaah,” Andoa said softly. “No, my dear, that’s just a five minute sweep to make it easier for you to track.”

“Five minutes?!” That was only five minutes?! she thought, despair welling up inside her.

“Five minutes. It’s an easy amount of time to keep track of, but not so short that it doesn’t draw out the anticipation a little. Have we reached your limit, little one?” E stroked Nell’s hair gently. “This game can be very trying for beginners. Do we need to stop?”

Nell took a deep breath, swallowed, and let it out, squeezing down on her fear. I can do this, she told herself. I can walk out of here free today, and that’s what I’m going to do. And once I do, this thing will want me back. Fine. I’m going to make the bastard wager more and more on this stupid game, and I’m going to win then too. I’ll free everyone, make them let us go, make them leave us alone. This thing is the Captain — stupid of it to give me leverage like this! “Keep going,” she breathed.

“…alright,” Andoa said. “But if I see that heartbroken look in your eyes again again, flower, we’re stopping. I’m not going to hurt you, not for any reason. Understood?”

Nell nodded, and glared right at Andoa. “Fuck you. I’m not done yet.”

“Aaaah,” Andoa said, grinning and pinching Nell’s cheek. “There’s that revolutionary spirit!” Every single vine holding onto her body squeezed, and the assault began anew, all the more intense for the brief reprieve Nell had been given. Vines stripped her top, deftly trading places to keep her arms immobilized even as they briefly slipped loose to allow the sodden, sweaty clothes to pass. Something hooked under the straps of her bra and, with a bit of force, seemed to cut clean through them; another vine jerked it away and let her breasts hang free.

Nell had endured what came before, but it hadn’t prepared her for what the Captain would do to her more sensitive parts. It started with vines coiling around them, one of eir thinner vines gently flicking one nipple and tearing a shocked yelp from deep in her throat. Something roughly textured passed slowly over it next, sending a shiver throughout her body. Nell bit down on her lip to try to ride it out, but another vine deftly separated her jaws and gently teased her lip free. “None of that, now, flower,” Andoa said in a throaty whisper. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.” Even the vine on her lip tingled, and she bore down helplessly with her thighs, finding only empty air and the tension of Andoa’s vines between them.

Stay strong, she told herself. You can do this.

Fists clenched (until Andoa’s vines spread her fingers wide), she rode the wave, gasping and whimpering as Andoa teased her. When she thought she might finally be on the verge of her tormented nipple going numb from overstimulation, Andoa switched seamlessly to the other, starting the process all over again. Other vines began to tug at her trousers, but she was too focused on enduring the sharper sensations to struggle against it — not that it would have made a difference. Soon, she felt cool, fresh air on her thighs, and yet more vines began to tickle, to stroke, to scrape, to scratch here and there, never quite giving her a moment of respite between them. Nell’s eyes were fixed on the timer’s slow sweep, almost as hypnotic to her now as Andoa’s eyes — slowly, the circle shaved itself away, until at last it vanished and was reborn again, the inner circle further truncated in a sudden jolt.

One more down, she told herself as she moaned out loud, full-throated and helpless to stop herself. You can do this.

Andoa’s vines rolled her over, settling her into a new position facing the ceiling, her feet pulled back close to her buttocks and her back gently arched. Her arms were pinned back as if she were stretching. The vines still supported her weight evenly — if she wasn’t so stars-damned keyed-up, she could rest comfortably like this. “There we are,” Andoa said, stroking her sides with eir hands. “I thought it might be time for a new position. Can you guess my favorite feature of this one?” E chuckled, and with a gentle thwack one of eir vines slapped Nell’s ass. She gasped, squirmed, and immediately felt the vine running between her thighs. Pressed up against her nethers, whenever she struggled–

Oh no, no, I can’t– She was sweaty, desperately sucking down air, her nerves jangling with deep, almost painful need across her entire body. Nell squeezed her eyes shut. No. You can do this. You can do this! “Is that– is that all you got?” she managed to whimper, taking a short, gasping breath between each word.

“No, my dear sweet Nell,” Andoa purred, running a finger down her breastbone, between her breasts, across her stomach, and– “I’m only just getting started.”

And the worst part was, E was right. What had come before, even though it had driven Nell right to the edge of self-control, was warm-up at best for what happened next. Andoa employed new textures, new techniques, new senations with such alacrity and such finesse that she could never quite grow used to one or the other. One moment, something would be rasping along her back; the next, a delicate, cool little vine would tease her lips. Something prickled, sharp little pokes all in a line, along one ass cheek, and in its wake came a feathery tickle. Vines squeezed her breasts, pinched the delicate skin of her inner thighs, even traced the contours of her ears.

Another sweep down. How many more to go? Somewhere, distantly, she understood why the timer had no numbers — she could read it easily even when she was upside down.

And every time a sensation surprised her, every time something new dug into her or something faded into the background long enough for her to forget about it, she squirmed — and whenever she squirmed, the vine between her thighs ensured it was the worst, most terrible kind of ecstacy. She felt the familiar old pressure building inside her, a flood pounding against the levee, always threatening to overtop it, but held in check by the xenodrugs the Captain had given her. It’s too much, she thought in the space between whimpers. It was growing, and growing, and growing, but it never quite broke free — and it never became old, became stale. Andoa’s vines and fingers were far too cunning, far too deft, far too practiced to ever allow the tension, the building pressure, the need to lapse. She watched another sweep tick down, her gasps and moans merging into a single, sinusoidal sound of exquisite misery.

Hold on. Any thoughts more complicated than that were beyond her now. Hold on. Just hold on. There was no real sense of what Nell was holding on for, why she couldn’t simply beg for it all to stop — she just knew she couldn’t, somehow. That part of her was dwindling, though, as more and more of her attention, her experience, was consumed by sheer sensation. The part of Nell that felt, that needed, that was whimpering helplessly in the vines of an alien, was growing stronger. Hold on! Nell told herself. Not much longer! Her eyes rolled as she tried to find the timer, but she could scarcely separate light from dark.

“Please,” she heard herself whimper. Hold on!

“Yes, pet?” Andoa’s voice was soft, close. Every single vine on her body squeezed, pinched, rasped, scratched, prodded, tickled. Nell let out a loud, seemingly unending moan. “Do you need something?”

“….need it,” Nell whimpered. “Please…” I can’t!

“Are we finished, little one? I need you to say it,” Andoa said, running half a dozen feathery vines across her chest. Somewhere in the loud cry that Nell let out was a yes. She instantly felt something prick near her collarbone, and something cool began to spread throughout her. The vines all slackened at once, and she felt a terrifying moment of free-fall before Andoa caught her in eir arms, pulling her close to eir fuzzy, mossy body. “Good girl, Nell,” e purred in her ear. “Now, come for me.”

The flood crested. The dam burst. Everything that had been held back, all the need and desire and frustration and torment exploded in a wave that swept Nell’s thoughts away. Her back arched and her kegels clamped down involuntarily as she shuddered in Andoa’s arms, the soft, almost fluffy green seeming to enfold her. She made a noise that surely the entire ship heard, her fingers scrabbling in Andoa’s fronds and seizing twin fistfuls of them as her entire body jerked in the throes of orgasm. The wave finally, blessedly plateaued, and she rode that high for a long time, moaning and whimpering as relief slowly quenched the conflagration inside her.

And all the while, Andoa was whispering in her ear: “Good girl, Good girl. Oh, I’m so proud of you, Nell, so proud! I’ve never had a terran go that long their first time! What a perfect, amazing, incredible little creature you are!” Dimly, she became aware of a straw being tucked between her lips. “Drink,” Andoa said, and she obeyed without thinking. A sour juice, just sweet enough to be palatable, rushed into her mouth, cool and refreshing as she swallowed it. “Good girl.” Andoa’s fronds and mosses never seemed to stop moving, brushing gently up against Nell’s skin as she came down, setting off little micro-orgasmic aftershocks as her brain struggled to process the input.

And slowly, Nell began to realize what she’d done. She stared up at the frozen timer, eyes finally focusing, saw the half-erased sweep and the heavily truncated inner circle, less than a third of it left. I could have made it, she told herself, but she knew it was a lie, and she began to weep.

“Oh, flower, shhh,” Andoa said, squeezing Nell gently. “Don’t worry, little one, don’t worry. You can try as many times as you need to, remember?” E began to gently stroke Nell’s hair with one hand, gently turning her so e could look down into her eyes. “You will always have another chance, as long as you want it. Though, I might have to extend the timer a little sooner than I usually do,” e added, laughing. “You’re too good at this!’

“Fuck you,” Nell mumbled, burying her red-cheeked face in Andoa’s indescribably soft moss.

“We just got done doing that, pet.” E stood up, still gently stroking Nell. “Let’s get you cleaned up. All that sweat can’t be comfortable, can it?”

Nell realized she was shivering, and not just from the aftereffects of the world-shattering orgasm she’d just experienced — she was drenched with sweat, and her hair was lank and plastered to her skull. “Here?”

“No, silly,” Andoa said, reaching out with a vine and tapping a panel, which sank into the wall and slid to reveal an open doorway. “I’m taking you to the bath. No struggling, alright? I won fair and square.”

“Fuck you,” Nell repeated. “Wanna go again. I’ll win this time.”

“I appreciate the spirit, but you need to recover,” Andoa said as they passed through a common room that was as covered in mossy plants and ferns as Andoa emself was. “This is a big strain on your body, and we can’t just keep doing it, much as I’d love to. We’ll see how you’re feeling in a couple of days, alright?”

“Nnnnnn.” Nell grumped and let her eyes slide shut. She was tired. Exhausted, really. She heard water filling a tub, felt warm steam rising through the air. So you lost round one, she told herself. Fine. You were at a disadvantage. You didn’t know the terrain, you came in malnourished and tired. It was never a fair contest. Save your strength. Recover. Next time, we win. Then, it’s back to the plan — we force the bastard to wager more and more until we’re all free.

She very pointedly shoved to the back of her mind the one inconvenient thought that, Nell thought, might undermine the entire enterprise: No man ever got me off like that.