Chapter 8: Confirmation and Reunion

Waking to the sensation of her body already down an unfamiliar hallway was jarring, but not enough to break Diagram’s stride. She continued forward, blinking her eyes. Windy walked in front of her, scribbling away on her clipboard.

What even… just happened to me…?

Diagram’s hand moved up to her head. She’d felt exhausted before, but after Windy had said something, something Diagram could no longer remember, and then there was a blank. Somehow the time between being strapped down and walking through the halls was simply…

Gone.

She was clothed again, wearing her jeans, tank top, jacket, shoes… Even her mask was back over her face.

Why give me back the mask when they’ve seen what I look like underneath? They probably already know who I am. That means they’ll know no one will even notice I’m missing. Diagram scowled. After how spaced out I was in school because of whatever Forêt did to me I doubt anyone will be shocked when I suddenly disappear. I’ll just be a space case who found some drug she liked better than school. Just another burnout.

“And here we are.” Windy turned to face Diagram, gesturing to a door to her left. “There’s food, clothing, a bathroom, everything you should need. After I analyze all of your data you’ll be back in my lab.” Reaching up to her face, Windy cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. “Of course, She might want to see you, too. Your contract is on the table. Sign it.”

Diagram winced.

Contract.

The vines weren’t constricting yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Diagram could all too clearly remember Forêt telling her that no matter what terms were set she would need to accept the offer.

Even accepting it under her own power would be too much to escape the floral torment.

No matter what I do here they get what they want. Diagram frowned. No matter how I try to struggle they’ll find a way to enjoy it. This is so much bullshit.

“You’re a horrible person, Windy.” Diagram stared right into her eyes, her frown deepening as Windy simply smirked. “You’re a horrible person, and what is it getting you? You work for someone else who can just take your test subjects for a fuck when you want to do more experiments? You’re not in control here, you’re just another puppet.”

Windy rolled her eyes, and simply adjusted her glasses again. Her smirk remained, unphased. “Are you done, Diagram?”

It was her name, the only name she could still remember, but it hit like a slap in the face. “Am I… are you…” Diagram took a deep breath. Her hands balled into tight fists at her sides, but never once began to lift.

Violence isn’t going to get me anywhere right now, but it would be very satisfying!

“No, Windy,” Diagram began, “I’m not done. I’ve only just gotten started. If you think you can just do whatever you want with me, with whoever you want, and not be forced to—”

“Overgrown Floral Short.”

Diagram whimpered, her chest arching out dramatically before she went limp where she stood. Her lips trembled as her eyes closed, but this time she didn’t even begin mumbling the words. They hit their mark, and she sunk deep into a trance-state.

“—so that should bring you back up.” Windy was standing over Diagram, tugging up her pants. Her clipboard was tucked under one of her arms.

All of Diagram’s clothing was missing.

Again.

“Your contract is on the table. Sign it.” Windy sighed, shaking her head as she held her pen up to her clipboard yet again. “Are you done, or would you like to say anything else?”

“…No.”

“If you change your mind?” Windy walked towards the door. “Think on it before we meet again. I’m sure you can remember at least some of the fun things you’d like to say to me, but I’d suggest leading with whatever feels the most meaningful to you. Just a suggestion.”

Diagram slumped into her seat, staring at Windy as she stepped through the open door but paused before pulling it shut. She can just turn my mind off. Somehow.

“Fuck y—”

“Overgrown floral short.”

When Diagram fluttered her eyes, she was sitting at the table. A thick contract was before her, and a pen directly beside it. She didn’t remember standing. She didn’t remember sitting back down. All she felt was the horrible unsatisfying feeling of knowing she hadn’t even been able to finish a sentence.

“Fuck you, Windy”

No one was there to hear her.

That’s not really satisfying if she isn’t here to hear me. I just feel like a five year old flipping someone off with my hand hidden inside of a bulky winter coat. That’s not the kind of power imbalance I want to lean into. Diagram sighed. But I don’t know what else I can do.

Besides just obey and let them destroy me that much faster, I guess.

As her mind finished waking up, Diagram felt the vines begin to curl around her again. The pen was right there. The contract was right there in front of her.

Whatever the plant was inside of her, some hallucination or some actual plant that Forêt had planted inside of her actual physical brain, it wanted all of the forest sprite’s will carried out.

Immediately.

Now that all she needed to do was lift a pen it was growing impatient.

Insistent.

Need to fight… every step of the way, even if I… even if I know I can’t win! Her whole body shook as she reached for the pen herself instead of yielding control of her body to the feelings of shame, and regret. Her vision began to tunnel, breathing growing more and more difficult. Can’t… can’t just do… be… what they… what they… want… me to be…

Need to deny Her… something… Nnnn… Her, not Her… Not…

“Someone help me!”

Diagram whimpered, but she couldn’t do anything to meaningfully stop what was happening. Moving the pen towards the contract loosened the vines, but didn’t stop them from plunging deeper into her thoughts. Each tendril that squeezed around precious memories, deep desires, or hidden fears made her feel so much more vulnerable.

When she began to flip through the contract with a shaking hand to sign more of the pages, to resist the attempt to make her do nothing even if she couldn’t stop herself from giving them a taste of what she wanted, her defiance became so much more difficult.

I can’t be who I was before they made me Diagram… but I can keep some of her… some of…

Even though she was largely scanning the pages—reading them had no real purpose when she knew she had to sign—enough words caught her eyes. The colors of the paper turned from white, to the blue of her jacket, and then the deep green of Forêt’s eyes.

As she flipped past every page she slumped lower in the chair, and fought the grasp of the vines reaching out from inside of her mind a little less.

Mmmm… Feels… so good to…

Surrender…

Diagram couldn’t remember when she’d stopped struggling, but now the vines were in control. The scent of flowers kissed her lips, her cheeks, her ears, her neck, and all along her legs. Her body quivered, clenching and writhing as her hand moved as the vines willed her. She signed over and over again, yielding more and more of her rights, responsibilities, and freedoms. She was a part of Chronos, but there was more to it than that.

“Mind, body, and soul…”

The final page was blue, such a deep blue. It shined holographically, looking both like her own jacket and The Lady’s eyes. The only words were those four, and while they were very large they only filled a quarter of the page.

At the bottom was a signature line, and the vines were already signing her name the final time before Diagram had time to process what that meant. The pen fell out of her hand, and that same hand moved between her legs. Mmm… wet… felt… good… to sign… felt good to… give Her… more of me… Fingers stroked along her slit, making her whole body shudder more as her desire for more and more rose. Forêt only told me to do this… so until Windy, or The Lady want me again… I’m free…

I can just feel good, feel myself… don’t need to think about—

“Your contract was prepared quite quickly, no? Even before I could come by for a little… rendezvous?” Forêt’s voice tugged Diagram away from her self-pleasure. She tugged her hand quickly out from between her legs, swallowing hard as she did everything she could to look away from the source of that voice. She hadn’t heard the door open, and she didn’t want to see her in that moment especially.

Her French accent was even stronger than before, almost sounding as if she could slip into the language at any moment.

Her voice is so sexy, so exotic, so… Mmm… Diagram whimpered. I want to say something nasty to—no, I want to want to say something nasty to her, to lash out, but if I say anything, acknowledge her, I know I’ll just start fawning over her. I gave myself to her. I trusted her and she betrayed me.

I’m hers, and I’m Hers, and both of them have me at their beck and call.

Please, don’t want anything more from me.

“I’m impressed, as you should be ma fiche èlectrique.” Diagram could hear Forêt moving closer as she spoke. Her voice was louder. The scent of a forest after a recent rain grew stronger. Diagram couldn’t stop herself from breathing it in deep, and it felt so good in her nose. Sighing, she sank into the chair.

If I tried to stand to run away…?

Diagram’s lips rubbed together. Her naked thighs rubbed much the same. Her bare toes curled.

I think I’d just nuzzle into her chest and breathe in as deep as I could.

“Usually it takes the HR team more time than that… maybe they have a new printer? Or perhaps, my Diagram is that precious to someone else, mm?” Forêt laughed as her smooth hands fell onto Diagram’s bare shoulders. Her touch was so gentle, so smooth, feeling along her skin with a slow sensuality that made it impossible for Diagram to tighten up or pull away. “See, it is not all so bad, here in the tower. We have fine accommodations, food, furniture…

“And the company is très magnique.”

Diagram laughed bitterly, at least at first. The longer it continued, the more that Forêt continued to touch her, the more she began to laugh genuinely, and then melted limply back into the chair.

“Why do you laugh so? I find myself so deeply wounded.” Forêt drew Diagram’s dark brown hair away from her ear, kissing the very tip and slowly along the curve until her teeth nibbled and tugged the skin that hung below. Diagram whined, shaking as her legs tried both to rub tighter together, and melt further apart. “Have I not made you feel so very lovely, ma fiche èlectrique? Have I not kept my promise and returned to you, to grant you yet more… intimacy…?”

“Y-you…” Diagram whimpered. It was so hard to hold on to the fire in her chest, the deep burning need to scream, to yell. It was harder when Forêt’s hands closed around her bare breasts, and began to knead with the beat of Diagram’s dramatically fluttering heart. “Ohhhh… Y-you… betrayed… you… brought me here… p-put vines in me… used them to… c-control… I… went away, it felt like… like… I was dying…”

Forêt sighed, kissing the top of Diagram’s head as she used her grasp on her chest to tug the heroine closer. “My poor, poor chérie…” Lips sucked just below her ear, and Diagram quivered like one of the wet leaves she smelled in the air all around her. “Allow me to make it up to you. Allow me to welcome you to your new life.”

“W-welcome… m-e… o-ohhh… I don’t… trust… you…” Diagram whimpered as Forêt squeezed her chest one last time, before seemingly pulling away. “You’ll… use it to hurt me… to control me… said I needed to be… obeying you… That we couldn’t… any other… way…?”

Forêt lowered down into Diagram’s lap. Any clothing she’d worn into the heroine’s room was discarded. Pale, peach skin arched up to rub against the deep, earthy tones of Forêt’s skin.

“And I was not lying. The only way for you is to obey me, and I will control you. This does not need to be so painful, ma fiche èlectrique.” Forêt’s hands rose to cup either side of Diagram’s face, her nose rubbing along the heroine’s so slowly. “I can teach you to… open up. To trust. To trust me. I have not lied to you, and this is how things needed to be for us to be together. Do you trust me?”

Diagram whimpered.

Her head was swimming in a fuzzy haze of lust, but there was something else there, too. There was a feeling that made her heart beat harder and faster. There was a feeling that made her want to sink into the other woman’s deep green eyes even as her own hooded lower. There was a feeling that made it so hard to see any malice or wrongdoing in anything that the other woman did.

“I… shouldn’t… but I…” Diagram whined, her bottom lip trembling. “You’re… so warm, I… don’t want to be alone…”

“Then trust me, chérie.” Forêt’s thumbs slowly caressed along Diagram’s cheeks, moving back to stroke along the rim of her ears. “Obey me. Give in to me. If you do not fight me, I can make your time here, your time with me unforgettable. You will be safe from the more…” Forêt paused, her lips brushing Diagram’s just long enough for Diagram to try kissing her as she pulled back. “The more dangerous women here.

“Of course, I cannot control what She makes you do or how She wishes to use you.” The regret, the apology in Forêt’s voice felt genuine. It felt like the truth—or what Diagram wanted to be the truth so much as her eyes filled with tears. “But I can make those… easier, too.”

Diagram nodded, her mouth hanging open as she stared so deeply into Forêt’s eyes and deeply inhaled the beautiful scent of her forest. “I should say no…”

Forêt pressed a single finger to Diagram’s quivering pink lips. “Why? Why should you refuse what you wish, what you long for, what you desire, what you so crave? For nobility?” Her finger slid from Diagram’s lips, trailing down along her neck. “For dignity?” Her finger slid lower, the very tip of her nail teasing around the base of Diagram’s nipple. “No one here possesses either of those traits for long. She does not allow it.”

Whimpering, Diagram’s eyes fell shut and arched into Forêt’s touch as her nipple stiffened more and more by the moment. Her breath came in quick, desperate rasps as she tried and failed to steady it.

Before she… she’s why I’m here… but I… did… is she… did The Lady… can I trust… anyone here…? Diagram quietly sobbed, a single shudder down her spine as Forêt’s finger moved across her chest to tease around her other nipple. Does she just want to fuck me… use me… or is she as much a victim here as I am…? If I have to be a slave…

I don’t want to be alone…!

Diagram surged forward, her lips pressing passionately into Forêt’s. Her hands rose, feeling over the woman’s thighs, stroking higher and higher with a delicate reverence. Both women moaned in the kiss, their bodies grinding closer and closer until they were flush.

Hips moved in sync, grinding together as one, and then drawing back to press closer again. Stiff nipples pressed into pillowing breasts, and nails felt over thighs and sides and arms and backs, lost in whatever skin they could find. Within Diagram’s mind, flowers bloomed and the sensation of lust and seeking out connection became easier to feel as her despair and sorrow were masked by the floral scent.

Forêt… you smell so… taste so…

I want to love you… Even if I never even knew I liked women… Could anyone not love you, not find you the most beautiful entity in the whole world?

Diagram’s head swam. When Forêt parted her lips, Diagram’s tongue yielded to Forêt’s the moment it entered her mouth. She yielded just as her skin did to Forêt’s nails. There was no regret, no concern, no worry.

Only their bodies, their sweat, their lust, and their desire mattered.

Their kiss broke, and Forêt purred against Diagram’s lips. “Allow me to fill you and draw out all of that pleasure inside of you, ma fiche èlectrique…” Fingers found their way past the lips of Diagram’s sex one after the other, curling inside of her. Vines rose up from deep in her body or her mind, supplementing Forêt’s touch until Diagram felt she couldn’t take any more.

“F-Forêt…!” Diagram moaned, trying to kiss at Forêt with shuddering lips. “P-promise you’ll love me, too… you won’t… hurt me…”

“Not more than I already have, Diagram. I promise…” Their lips met, and Forêt’s fingers moved the slightest bit in perfect timing with the vines inside of Diagram. Lust stained the chair under them as both women cried out together.

When her shuddering ended, Diagram slumped back against the chair with vacant eyes. They were empty of deep, complicated thoughts, but they were overflowing with feelings of warmth.

“I cannot take you from this place, but I can offer you a paradise, an escape from the reality of your fate.” Forêt smiled sadly, stroking her slick fingers along Diagram’s thigh as she nuzzled her cheek. “There is no value in stubbornly clinging to a sorrow you cannot escape. Hedonism, pleasure, love? If we can find those here, then we need not suffer at all.”

“Not… suffer… Need not… suffer…” Diagram smiled, sounding and looking almost drunk as her eyes struggled to stay open at the same time. “I… okay. I trust you… love you, Forêt…”

Forêt smiled, nodding. Her lips kissed the tip of Diagram’s nose, and the brown haired woman quietly mewled. “I am very glad, Diagram.”

Diagram whimpered, clutching her lover closer. “Do you… love me too…?”

Forêt laughed, her eyes hooding lower. “Of course I love you, ma fiche èlectrique. And I will always love you, so long as you continue to obey.”

“Then I’ll… obey…” Diagram sighed, and nuzzled into Forêt’s shoulder. “I’ll… always obey.”

Fingers slid through Diagram’s hair, and she nuzzled more against her lover’s neck as nails teased her scalp. “Good girl. Things will be much simpler for you like this. I cannot give you much else, but I can always give you this. Rest for now, Diagram. Rest, and when you awaken… I will try to be here, if I can.”

It wasn’t long before Diagram fell asleep in Forêt’s arms.

Don’t want to give in… but I can’t be… alone anymore… I can’t… suffer for no reason… anymore…

Diagram’s last thoughts faded away as she sunk back into sleep. She’d spent so much time in one or another state of consciousness that didn’t allow independent action or thought. Sleep was a place where that was easier to not mind, and she welcomed the feelings of peace it brought.

Forêt stayed in Diagram’s lap, stroking her hair as she whispered sweet nothings in her native French right into her lover’s sleeping ear.