Sarah clambered up onto the oversized couch, leaning back as she almost collapsed into the soft fabric. She was soon joined by both Willow and Leamhan who sat at either side of her as Lillian disappeared off into the kitchen. Turning to the Moth girl, Sarah spoke. “So what exactly does Lillian have planned for today?” Her question drew out a little giggle from the Moth before she answered.

“Oh don’t worry, Mistress will explain soon, and I'm sure you’ll have fun no matter what!” 

While the answer was rather unhelpful Sarah found it difficult to get annoyed at the Moth, her earnestness winning a smile from Sarah as she turned to Willow, hoping to find her a bit more enlightening. “Do you have any ideas?”

“It’s hard to say, the last time she did something like this she had booked out an entire Class-J cafe just for us.” 

“Ooooh! I remember that! Or well, I remember some of it, it was fun!” Leamhan chirped, leaning across Sarah to address Willow.

Willow reached out a vine and gave the moth a pat on the head, earning many coos and squeals of delight from the girl before she returned to her seat.

“What’s a Class-J cafe?” Sarah asked, perplexed by the strange sounding name.

“Oooooohh, they’re so fun! It’s like a normal cafe but they have lots of cute class-J pets running around that you can play and snuggle with!”

“And what’s a Class-J pet?” 

“They’re like florets who've been given lots of xenodrugs to make them all snuggly and cute. I don’t know exactly how it works. We should go sometime so I can show you!”

Sarah winced at the mention of xenodrugs, giving a slightly nervous look as she though on how she should answer.

Luckily for her it was then that Lillian returned, distracting the moth with pats before handing Sarah a glass of water and handing Willow a glass of green, slightly viscous looking liquid. “Thank you captain.” Sarah said as she took a sip.

“Not at all dear, Now, as for what I have planned for today. Since you’re new here I thought it might be nice to give you a little tour of the ship! To help you learn your way around and get you familiar with the ship's facilities.”  

That sounded suspiciously reasonable to Sarah’s ears, and certainly didn’t match the almost sinister feeling she got from the captain when she had first made mention of her plan for the day. Cautiously Sarah took another sip of her water, before answering. “Are you sure that’s alright? You must be pretty busy as captain, I wouldn’t want to take up your time.” 

“Not at all dear, my first officer’s filling in for me so I’ve got the day off.”

Sarah glanced at Willow looking for any hint as to what might actually be going on here, but Willow seemed as out of the loop as she was. Turning back to Lillian Sarah gave a little nod. “A tour sounds lovely then.”

“Wonderful!” Lillian's face lit up as she clasped her hands together joyfully. “Although, just before we go I have something for you, think of it as a welcome aboard present.”  

Sarah took the box Lillian handed her and tore off the wrapping paper, Inside she found a long, elegant dress. It was a deep violet colour with intricate floral patterns that weaved their way across the dress, there was also a pair of high heel shoes and an ornate silver necklace inside the box, both of which matched the dress perfectly. Holding the dress in her hands Sarah couldn’t help but marvel at the beautiful garment. She had never been one for dresses and the like, preferring practicality and comfort over style but even she had to admit the thing she held in her hands before her was gorgeous. “I..I don’t know what to say, i..it’s beautiful, Thank you Lillian.” 

“Well I’m glad you like it dear. Now quick, go put it on and we can head out, you can use our bathroom to change if you like.” Lillian said, a few vines nudging Sarah towards the bathroom she pointed out.

“W..wait, you want me to wear it right now?! Are you sure?” Sarah looked down at the dress again, it truly was beautiful, so naturally it would be quite the attention grabber. Maybe if she was going to a wedding or something it would be ok, but wearing something like this for a tour of the ship might be a little overkill. “I’d really rather not stand out too much.”

“Nonsense dear, I’m sure everyone will think it’s as lovely as we do. Now don’t take too long, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today!” Lillian continued nudging Sarah towards the bathroom. Eventually Sarah relented, Lillian seemed pretty keen to see her wear the gift and it would be pretty rude to just tell her no, besides it really was quite pretty.

When Sarah disappeared into the bathroom Willow let out a sigh of relief, her foliage rustling as the tension left her body. What in the stars was Lillian thinking, giving Sarah a companion dress as a gift?!? Well, Willow knew exactly what she was thinking, and it filled her core with a flurry of emotions, so much so that she needed to take a moment to calm herself down. Once she had regained some of her composure she turned to the captain. “It’s not going to work Lillian, just give it up.” 

“Whatever do you mean?” The confusion in hervoice was an obvious act, each of them knew exactly what she was trying to do and WIllow had no intention of playing games with the captain.

“Did you really think giving the girl a companion dress would just, instantly change my mind?” Willow's frustration was showing clearly, each of Lillian's plots had been more brazen than the last and yet no matter how many times she made it clear that she could not take care of a floret, Lillian just would not give up.

“I just wanted to give the girl something nice Willow…….and if you just happened to be so moved by the sight of her that you took her then and there, who would I be to stop you?” 

Willow’s leaves drooped as she let out a sigh, her last hopes that this trip wasn’t just a thinly disguised attempt to push her into taking a floret withering away. She was just going to have to make the best of this, she could still enjoy herself even if she did have to fend off the captain every now and then. “Alright Lillian, just promise me you won’t try to push Sarah into anything she doesn’t want.”

“Willow I would never! What kind of Affini do you take me for?!” 

The feigned shock and hurt in Lillian's voice drew out a little chuckle from Willow as she gently rested a vine on the captain's shoulder. “One that doesn’t know when to give up.” 

Taking a seat back down on the couch WIllow grabbed hold of her glass, sticking a vine into the nutrient slurry as she slowly began to drink. It was then that the door to the bathroom slid open. The glass slipped from Willows vines, clattering to the floor and spilling the remnants of her nutrient slurry. Pink blossoms bloomed unrestrained across her entire body as her core fluttered with a breathtaking mixture of panic, awe and wonder. The dress complemented Sarah's figure perfectly, revealing just enough to be enticing without being distasteful. Of the few thoughts that WIllow could piece together at this moment, one of them was a reminder to get the name of whatever wizard designed this garment and order at least a hundred more. Sarah was always pretty attractive but seeing her like this was simply stunning. 

Eventually Willow was broken out of her stunned stupor by Lillian’s mocking chuckle as she felt a vine tapping her shoulder. The fluttering in her core was quickly overwhelmed by embarrassment as her eyes flicked between Sarah and Lillian, who had what must have been the galaxy's most smug, most annoying smile plastered all over her face. Willow didn’t have time to worry about Lillian right now, she had a much bigger problem to deal with, mainly that Sarah was making her way over and she had completely lost any sense of composure when she had first seen her.

As the clacking of Sarah's heels warned of her impending approach, Willow's mind launched  into a flurry, thoughts flying around in her head, chaotic and uncontrolled. What should she do? Should she compliment her? How? Should she tell her she’s pretty or would that be too forward? She didn’t want to make Sarah uncomfortable. But if she didn’t say anything surely that would hurt the girl's feelings? 

The moment of truth had arrived as Sarah rejoined the group. “H..How do I look?” She asked with a slightly sheepish look on her face. Willow tried to give her answer, but the words simply refused to come out, leaving her standing there in silence. 

Fortunately Lillian was there to rescue Willow, speaking up just as the silence was beginning to get awkward. “You look absolutely stunning dear! Doesn’t she Willow?”

That brief respite was seemingly enough for WIllow to regain some of her composure as she managed to force out a few words. “Y..Yes, You look very nice Sarah.” 

Willow noticed the slight blush crossed Sarah's face and felt a wave of relief as she gave a slight smile and said. “T..Thanks, it’s not my usual style but I really like it.”

“Well, now that we’re all ready, why don’t we get things moving? We've got a lot of ship to cover today!” Both Sarah and Willow gave Lillian a nod and with that, the four of them left the hab, beginning Sarah’s grand tour of the ship.

“I think a good place to begin the tour would be with the market district.” Lillian stretched out her arms, gesturing to the countless shops and stalls that lined the city like streets of the ship. Sarah still couldn’t quite get over just how colossal this ship really was. This place rivalled even the biggest space stations of the Accord, and from what she had gleaned, this was not the biggest ship in the Affini fleet. “This is the centre of social life on the ship, clubs, restaurants, cafes, Artisans, anything you’re looking for can probably be found here. There is also an adjacent park for you to relax and enjoy yourself.”

At the mention of the park, Leamhan pushed aside some of Lillian's vines, poking her head out from inside her in a way that was only vaguely unsettling for Sarah to watch. “The park’s the best! There’s lots of big trees to climb and they have loads of fun games to play!” A look of gleeful shock came over the moth's face, as if she had just had the best idea of her life. “We should totally go to the park together! That would be so so awesome!” 

Sarah couldn’t help but let out a little giggle, Leamhan’s enthusiasm must have rubbed off on her, as she quickly found herself agreeing with the proposal. “Sounds like fun, maybe we can stop off there after the tour, if we have time.” 

Leamhan let out a series of happy sounding chirps and squeaks, wriggling out from Lillian's vines so she could walk beside Sarah, clinging to her arm as they went. She even began to quietly sing to herself. “Going to the park!~ Going to the park!~ We’re gonna go to the park!~ 

For some reason, Sarah was getting the impression that this moth was quite fond of the park. Soon enough Lillian chimed back in. “As I was saying, this is the heart of the ship, and you can pretty much get anywhere else on the ship from here. Back the way we came is the habitation section, You’ve more or less seen all there is to see there. If you take the elevator up after a few levels you’ll reach the hydroponics bays and medical wings, further up and you’ll eventually reach a series of observation decks. If you take the elevator down you’ll reach the main body of the ship, where all the essential systems are housed and where this one here.” She taps Willow on the side of her head. “Spends far too much of her time.” 

Willow gave a rather indignant look in response before replying. “It’s almost like it’s my job.”

“A job you take far too seriously, maybe if you took some time off once in a while you wouldn’t be so stressed out all the time.” 

“And maybe if you didn’t push the ship's systems so hard I would be able to take some time off.” 

Unsure as to whether she should intervene, or what she would say if she did Sarah stood there, nervously glancing between the two Affini as their playful spat quickly grew a little heated. Thankfully Leamhan came to the rescue, Moving over to Lillian and tugging on her vines. “Mistress, I’m hungry, can we go eat something now?” 

Instantly the two Affini seemed to regain their lost composure as Lillian picked up the moth, cradling her in her vines. “Of course dear, I already have a place in mind.” She then turned her attention to Sarah. “What do you say we continue the tour after some lunch?” 

Sarah had to admit she was getting a little hungry herself, so lunch sounded like a pretty good idea. “Sure, sounds good. Can I ask where we’re going?” 

“Oh you’ll love it, It’s a delightful little restaurant Leamhan and I visit quite often. She tells me their food is quite delicious and they have the most wonderful nutrient slurries.” 

Sarah wondered how good a ‘nutrient slurry’ could really be, though she wasn’t a plant so she supposed it wasn’t really designed with her tastes in mind. “Well, if you two both say it’s good I’m sure it will be. Please, lead the way.” 

With that the group set off, heading towards what they hoped would be a delicious meal.