Bonnie Kiren 7th Floret had spent the last few days in a sort of dazed wonder. After Lady Danae had recovered from receiving her implant, with nothing but the most delicate of scars to show that it was there, the family had been packed up with amazing efficiency. Affini sure knew how to move when they wanted something done. Most of her clothes, books and anything important to her had been packed up, with the other things in the house left for others who may need them. Bonnie liked the thought that nothing was going to waste, it felt homey in a weird kind of way. Like everyone was one big community. In Terran society even perfectly good items might not be passed onto those who needed it, if it didn't look nice enough that people could make a show of being generous for social clout or public relations. 

Miss Thea had has several Affini friends come and help the family pack up. The way each Affini shifted their shape to fit in the Terran size house had been almost comical, but also fascinating to watch. No two Affini seemed entirely alike. Bonnie supposed that with a universe's supply of plant matter, and the Affini ability to graft anything plant like onto their bodies there was really no need for Affini to be overly similar. The slowest part of the packing had definitely been the Affini need to stop tasks to pet, coo over, and praise each Terran for practically everything and anything. Bonnie was caught between enjoying the adulation, and being highly amused at each of her families reaction to this particular foible. Miss Thea had carefully kept Lady Danae away from the other Affini for the first morning, until she realised how little Danae was affected by them. Her Lady had flirted and sparred with spikey, leafy and flowering beings with a sort of dry wit. The only Affini that seemed to affect her at all was Miss Thea, Bonnie had personally decided this was deliberate on her Lady's behalf. Miss Thea had won her Lady's trust, so she would melt for Miss Thea if she put a little effort into the flirting. 

Noor and Harley had shared the services of a rather spikey Affini named Cactaceae, he was shorter and wider than most of the Affini she had seen. To fit into the house he had simply spread out more until he took up most of the floor space in each room he entered. To give him enough room, the paired florets had climbed onto their bed and had simply had to say yes or no to each item that was held up for them. The spikes were carefully kept away from the Terrans at all times, however when Bonnie had asked Cactaceae he had happily shown the spines to her. The edges were not as sharp as she had expected, rather they were a little flexible and had a slight grip to them. Cactaceae had caught the fascination in her eyes at this discovery.

"Curious cutie, the spines I have are adapted for a particular world I spent a number of years on. Hanax has a large amount of cacti like plants that use their spines to grip onto the slick rock that made up much of the planet. It's a very dry planet but subject to flashfloods. The spines are useful for anchoring yourself into place, or using like grappling hooks to move about. I rather like the look and functionality of them, so I kept them." He had paused then and then looked at her appraisingly, "Now sweet thing can I show you how much fun they can be?"

Before Bonnie could say yes Miss Thea had laughingly picked her up and told him to go find his own floret. Bonnie was her adorable maid and he could buzz off. She was rather adorably protective of them, and seemed to take as much pleasure in showing them off as keeping them away from the other Affini. 

Noor had also been fascinated by the spiky Affini but hadn't ventured to touch him on her own initiative at all. She blushingly took the praise heaped on her head as they worked, and would practically dissolve into a puddle at all the petting and attention. Harley was less keen on the Affini fawning over them, but was highly amused by watching Noor become a puddle of a girl. They had spent more time deflecting praise onto Noor than anything else, and took a keen delight in the result. Bonnie was sure Noor would recover her equilibrium, though possibly not until the family were halfway to their new planet. 

Virgultia had been helping Kurt pack up his room. She was the smallest Affini that Bonnie had seen so far, either on this planet or on the propaganda that had been circulating on the news networks. The sage green Affini was only just taller than Bonnie. She was covered in amethyst flowers that seemed to reflect the light almost like jewels. Virgultia was accompanied by her own pair of florets, tiny furry beings that resembled chow dogs in humanoid form. Kurt was just as distracted from packing as Virgultia. Kurt cuddled and played with Tam and Elna with sheer abandon, and all three had ended up in a giant puppy pile more than once with Virgultia obligingly providing petting and praise. Kurt was mostly helpless against the Affini onslaught of affection, although every so often he would put effort into trying to flummox them. Bonnie had heard Kurt offer heartfelt admiration and cooing praise to the closest Affini. He seemed to do it whenever they were acting the most high handed. Bonnie had yet to ask Kurt if he was doing it for the increased adoration that was heaped on his head, or if he felt the constant insistence of their cuteness and adorability to be slightly comical. The xenodrugs that Kurt were on had revealed a sly sense of humour she had the feeling no one but her Lady had seen before. 

Bonnie herself had greatly enjoyed the time she spent with the Affini who was assisting her. Leith (who had changed her name to make things easier for the Terrans) had jokingly told her she picked the name because it sounded like leaf. She was of average size for an Affini and was covered with a truly spectacular number of leaves of every single shade of green. The occasional flower popped out between the leaves but they largely remained hidden. Leith had been accompanied by her floret, a charming young man named Andy, who wore the frilliest version of a maid outfit that Bonnie had ever seen. Andy laughed when he caught her staring at it, and had then made a point of writing down the clothing style so she could find one for herself. The lace and the frills should have made it completely impractical to move in, but Andy managed everything with ease. Andy also cheerfully told her he was not transgender, he just enjoyed pretty frilly clothes. Being a floret had meant that anything he wanted to wear was fair game, Leith enjoyed making him the prettiest boy ever, and casually referred to him as doll. They were very sweet with each other, but Bonnie also found them a little exhausting too. Leith and Andy were incredibly chatty with each other, they seemed to have no limit on the number of words they can say in a minute. It made her appreciate the quiet time all the more when they were gone, but she wanted to remain in contact with Andy. He was a flirt, and he clearly appreciated the changes the xenodrugs where making to her body. It was lovely to be appreciated. She would talk to her Lady first of course, and Miss Thea, but she didn't think either would object to her flirting back. 

The family would be leaving shortly for the Affini ship that would take them to their new home planet Acacia. They were to be accompanied by all three Affini and the florets that had helped pack them up. Miss Thea had broken the news to her when Bonnie had expressed her gratitude for the help provided with packing. 

"You're such an little adorable maid! So polite! My friends were happy to help. It's a little amusing, honestly we all managed to come to your planet completely separate to each other. I had no idea the other three were here until I put out a request for help. Leith, Virgultia, and Cactaceae all live in hab units near me on Acacia." Miss Thea shook her head and laughed. "Leith had apparently been flirting with Andy for months before the Affini actually arrived here. She came specifically to pick him up once the colony was pacified. She adores her new floret so much, which is only to be expected. He is very cute. Did you know she's using Leith because he said she was so Leafy one day and she misheard him?"

"Virgultia works as a vet, so having her travel to new planets to help with the initial take over just makes sense, now the planet has been pacified she is heading back to look after her usual patients. Cactaceae was bored and just happened to arrive here the day I asked for help." She had smiled slyly at Bonnie. "Keep an eye out for him, and if he does anything without consent from me tell him he shouldn't poach. He's very taken with you, I can tell. I would prefer no other Affini get any proper playtime until everyone in the family has their implants. Flirt with any florets you want though, Andy's very cute isn't he?" The last comment had caused Bonnie to flush red and then scamper back to finish her packing. 

Bonnie took one look around the house on the guise of making sure nothing was missed while the Affini gathered all of their accumulated belongings to take to the ship. The house had been home while on this planet, it so many good memories, but she was gad to leave anyway. A new start, on a new planet, free from any bigotry. The Affini simply didn't allow for such nonsense. Everyone would be free to be themselves. One last look and then she hurried out to join her family on their next big adventure.