Bonnie and Kurt strolled to the park in the bright early morning sunshine. Bonnie was feeling amazing after last nights scene with Miss Alathea. Hypnosis with the Affini was even more potent than she had expected. She knew the Affini would have advantages over human hypnotists, but of course Alathea had brought all her years of experience to the scene. Not that she didn't still love each hypno scene she did with her Lady. However the best part of last nights scene is that her Lady was with her in trance. Just sooo much fun. 

As Bonnie mused to herself, Kurt bounced along beside her. The xenodrug that he had now successfully adjusted to had made a huge difference in how Kurt reacted to the world. He was no longer constantly anxious, and could instead be himself all the time, rather than just when he felt safe at home with Bonnie and their Lady. Bonnie ruffled his hair affectionately and he grinned at her. 

They made their way along the path and Bonnie noted the changes that the Affini had started to make to the park in the last few days. Fruit trees and flowering plants and vines were being planted in abundance. The greenery was receiving expert care that showed in the increased lushness of the pre-existing flowers and trees. Bonnie approved of the changes as it turned the very perfectly controlled and tamed nature into somewhere a little wild. It made her feel happy to be surrounded by the managed chaos that seemed to be the Affini gardening style.

Before the changes were made to the park, Bonnie and Kurt's favourite part of the park was a private side path that led to a secluded garden were most people never ventured. It was a little too out of the way for the busy humans, who used to frantically work too much have time for fun, to have been discovered by many. The pair had not been to this part of the park since the Affini had taken control of the whole planet and Bonnie was curious to see what changes had been made to the rather formal rose garden. Stepping through the rose arbor that marked the entrance she had to stifle a gasp, the original rose bushes were still here but around the hedges that bordered the garden climbing roses had been planted and provided framework to climb over. In between the rose bushes, instead of pieces of bark, flowering ground cover plants such as phlox, thyme and myrtle had been planted. The mingled smell of the plants blended beautifully with the perfume of the roses created an incredible scent that strongly reminded Bonnie of Alathea's hypno scene. 

Due to all the changes to the garden it took Bonnie and Kurt to notice the other occupant of the garden. Spread out on the ground in a mass that seemed to be best angled for each vine to bathe in the sunshine was... well Bonnie supposed it was an Affini, although she had never seen one that was in humanoid shape before. Bonnie stared in wonder until she noticed the familiar white flowers, and then the bright pink flowers that grew from the vines.

"Miss...uh Miss... Alathea? Is that you?" Bonnie stuttered in surprise.

The vines writhed and rearranged themselves into the shape that Bonnie was most used to seeing from the Affini. It seemed almost magical the way that the individual vines shaped themselves into a bipedal shape.

"Why hello dears, how lovely to see you. I was enjoying the morning sunshine in this little garden. What are you two cuties up to today?"

"We came to play in the garden." Kurt piped up cheerfully, "This garden doesn't get many Terrans visit it so it's good for puppy play or just general relaxing. Of course that might change once people know how it's changed, the scents of this garden are simply heavenly now!"

"Yes the work Hortulanus has put it is paying off in shovels! They simply love blending plants together to create wonderfully ecologically balanced pieces of paradise that benefit both the Affini and the primary sophont species of the planet the best. All plants that are either native or will thrive on the planet in question of course. They designed the park near my home as well and it is simply one of my favourite places to relax. "

Bonnie didn't pay much attention to this exchange as she had focused in on the shapeshifting that they had watched just minutes earlier. The gardening conversation would register later and she would ask questions about it then but for now she had much more burning questions in mind.

"You shapeshift!" she exclaimed "I didn't know you could do that! What else can you shift into? Can your vines take any shape or do you have limitations? I assume you are restricted by things like the mass of your vines but can you alter your size at all?"

The torrent of questions made Miss Alathea laugh and she attempted to answer each in turn.

"Firstly yes I can change the shape of the form I present by rearranging my vines but I wouldn't exactly term it shapeshifting. The simple fact of the matter is that my "natural" form is just a pile of vines. Vines are very good to reshape to best fit the purpose at hand." Saying this she wrapped a vine around the pretty maid's shoulders and squeezed gently to illustrate her point. "Secondly I can rearrange into a number of different forms, mostly to represent each of the different species shapes that I have interacted with. We Affini find that it makes sophont species more relaxed if we take a form similar to their own. It makes us seem less alien, and of course we want to make our sophonts as happy as possible so working with what is familiar to them is best. We do have limitations when it comes to shifting shapes, it can take us a while to learn how to move in a new shape, and some shapes just don't work well for some of us. Those Affini who do have shape preferences generally choose to live amongst sophonts with similar shapes. With enough practice we can assume most shapes but there isn't always a need to put the effort into learning a new shape. The size change is limited by how much we spread out or compress our vines so there are obvious limits there, although if we really needed to be smaller I suppose we could sacrifice some of our outer foliage"

Bonnie was fascinated and continued her questioning. "What other shapes can you take? Will you show me some of them? Do you mean that you can prune yourself like a gardener would prune a tree? Doesn't that hurt?"

"I can take a number of different shapes. My favourite shapes are bipedal, and something like a... squid I think is the right Terran word, good for aquatic environments." Alathea thought a minute and then continued. "Quadrupedal can also be fun, but it takes me a bit of practice to use as it isn't a shape I have taken as often." Alethea paused to assess the size of the garden, after consideration she added "I can show you a couple of shapes if you would like, and show you how I move in them. We have some room for movement but this garden is not really equipped with any big trees I could use to show off some of the things I can do."

"As to the pruning, well if I want to trim vines or leaves, I simply cut off circulation to the piece I wish to sever. Once the area loses sensation it can be removed without any pain or worry. I use a similar technique when grafting new flowers on to my vines."

"Please Miss Alathea, please can you show us another shape." Bonnie's eyes were bright with curiosity as she implored the Affini. 

Laughing at her enthusiasm, Alathea responded. "Of course little cutie, I'm happy to, but now we know each other better now why don't you call me Thea? You too Kurt!" Smiling cheerfully she added "So far four out of the five of you have shortened my name this way during or after playtime. I'm rather fond of the abbreviated form of my name now."

"Yes Miss Thea!" Kurt and Bonnie chorused.

Alathea's vines began to shift and reshape themselves until it appeared she was supported by a giant column similar to a trunk except for the trailing vines that she then used to move around the garden in slow circles. The movements didn't seem to be very efficient when looked at closely, until you realised that each push of a vine moved the Affini much further than she would have expected. After several minutes of that Alathea changed again until her vines resembled a four legged creature. Bonnie though it resembled a mythical creature she had heard stories about her whole life called a horse. Humans used to live with horses and even ride of their backs. It sounded terrifying to her because of how deadly the creatures were supposed to be? I mean how did they stop the horses from biting off their limbs? Alathea continued to move in circles around the garden but used the four limbs in a trot.

******

After showing off her ability to alter her shape, Alathea gathered the adorably curious Terrans up and cuddled with them in the middle of the grass. 

"Now tell me, how is everything going for the family?"

"Honestly really good for the most part, not having to work for money means the Noor and Harely are spending most of their time in their home workshop, making things and experimenting. I've never seen them happier. Our Lady has had a lot of free time now she doesn't have her job any more and that means we're getting more attention and affection but..." Bonnie trailed off as if unsure how to continue.

"But what pretty girl? Is there a problem I can help with?" Alathea was sure that once the problem was explained it could be easily solved. 

"Well.... Lady Danae always worked to support us yes, but for her the most important thing was having a job that challenged her.... she likes problem solving. She likes challenging her brain and she genuinely loves working hard on something. Lady Danae always said the best part of her job was the satisfaction of conquering something difficult. So... now thanks to Affini management she doesn't have anything difficult to do. She's bored in essence and this has led to... well..."

"What Miss Bonnie isn't saying is that our Lady is currently in the process of reorganizing the house. No one's room or possessions are safe. Which is fine honestly, she won't get rid of anything we love, we just don't know what she's going to do once there is no more organizing to do. Given her nature there wasn't much to organize to start with, as that is one of the ways she deals with stress."

"I see." Alathea was proud these adorable darlings were entrusting her with this problem. It must have been hard for  them to say something our their Lady, and to ask her for help. She thought for a moment then smiled, she knew just how she was going to fix this for the family.

"Well that I think I have a solution for, if Danae chooses to accept my solution. I will bring it up with her the next time I see her."

Both Terrans smiled and relaxed at hearing this. Root and vine they were just so cute! Alathea turned her head to examine Kurt as she checked in with him.

"Tell me Kurt, how are the xenodrugs going? Do you need any adjustments made?"

"They are working really well Miss Thea, I feel like I am finally able to relax but at the same time I don't feel cloudy, or with a foggy head. Other people can't tell I am on any kind of drug either. I still have a full normal range of thinking and feeling. I have to say that I never thought I could feel this way, your Affini xenodrugs are a wonder.

Alathea smiled proudly, she was thrilled her little experiment with combining different classes of drugs to synthesize the perfect drug for Kurt had worked so well. 

"I have to confess my dear that this was not a single xenodrug, it is rather a compound I designed just for you. Drugs are my... specialization. I design many of the drugs which other Affini use for their florets and sophonts. I had heard of Terrans, and had been asked to alter several drugs to best fit your physiology long before I was tempted into meeting your family. I am one of the xenobiologists that solve many of the tricky drug related issues that comes with encountering new species. We after all want to keep you happy and well, and if the drug dosage is wrong you get all kinds of horrible reactions. Nothing but misery down that pathway."

"At any rate as I have come to know you I have altered each dose slightly until I found one that seems to be working the best for you. If that changes please do let me know and I will reformulate it for you."

"You design drugs, Miss Thea?" Bonnie asked hesitantly, "You don't just produce them?"

"That's right dear."

Bonnie blushed and stuttered a bit before she managed to say "Could.... ah... could you... come up with something for me? To help me show my... gender better? The human drugs are ok but... If the Affini ones are better I... I... want them." Saying this she hid her blushing face in Alathea's vines.

Bonnie was adorably flustered and Alathea could help but cuddle her closer in her vines, and stroke her head to try and comfort her.

"Well as it so happens dear one, I have been working on a little something."

As Bonnie peeked up Alathea slid a vine holding a small fruit that looked like a Terran grape in front of her.

"Try taking one of these a day and leave off the human ones, we shall see how you go with these. I am absolutely positive this will prove to be superior in every way!"

Bonnie quickly stuffed the fruit into her mouth, only to make a tiny moan a second later.

"This, this is delicious!"

"Well why not make the necessary as pleasant as possible right? What's the Terran phrase.... A spoonful of chocolate makes the medicine go down."

The Terrans broke into laughter at this and Alathea decided even if the phrase wasn't quite right she had got her point across.