A sharp thud ripped Kira from the deepest sleep she'd experienced in decades. She scrambled back into the plush bed she briefly didn't recognize, dazed by the clash of an adrenaline spike with surroundings that didn't warrant it. Where was the bang? Why wasn't she on her ship? Where was– shit. She was captured. Right. She's in the affini med bay. She– fuck her temple ached today. Where did that thud come from? She scanned every corner of the room and found her copy of the treaty on the flour to her left. She must have dropped it in her sleep, there was certainly enough paper to justify that kind of noise. She leaned far over the bed, reaching stiffly with her splinted arm and still fell pathetically short of it. She was interrupted by a familiar bright green vine snaking into view and gingerly lifting the hunk of paper back onto Kira's lap.

She sat up to the familiar chipper smile of Calluna standing next to her, "Good morning little flower! You have another visitor arriving in a few minutes, would you like me to help you get ready?" She hadn't waited for an answer, a barrage of vines went to work producing a toothbrush, wiping at a fleck of dried drool in the corner of Kira’s mouth and fussing with her hair. Four more vines pressed on the cuffs restraining her limbs and all of them dropped away save for the cuff on her right wrist, which remained attached to her but free of the bed. Kira shook off the shock of the flurry of motion and swiped furiously at the vines fussing over her.

"NO. TOUCHING." The vines pulled away a few feet but remained ready. 

Calluna reigned in her cheer somewhat, "At the very least you may wish to use the bathroom before your visitor, dear." She was getting fucking tired of them being correct about the state of her bodily functions. She grumbled a response, shuffled over the edge of her bed and fell stiffly to the floor. The vines returned to catch her as she stumbled and once again she swiped them away with something between a grunt and a growl. The nurse spoke up again, "Sweetie, if you’re unsteady or your implant is in the way I'm happy to–"

"I am a GROWN. ADULT. I can walk ten feet and I can piss with one hand, thank you very much!” She turned to the only mildly oversized door to the right of her bed and did her best not to hobble on her way over to it. The vines trailed after her but kept just barely out of swatting range. Beyond the door she found a simple, spotless bathroom with a mirror far too large for her taste between her and the toilet and did her best not to look at it as she did her business. She didn't need the disappointment of knowing how ragged she looked. Shit, she caught a glimpse. Had her eyes always looked so profoundly tired?

Her shuffle back to the bed was followed by a vine still extending the toothbrush expectantly. Calluna chided gently, “Little one, oral hygiene is very important. Most of our poor captures haven’t been giving their teeth–”

“Are you my dentist?” Kira hopped awkwardly back onto her bed, swatting away another vine attempting to assist.

“Well, I suppose I’m not, but I am–”

“Then I guess it’s not your problem is it?” It was no one’s problem as far as she was concerned, she didn’t typically associate with the echelons of people who had dentists. Her attention was back to the brick of paper in front of her, thumbing through to find where she’d left off. Knowing one’s enemy was important to Kira and she’d made plenty of mental notes the previous night for subjects to research properly once she had the means; different classes of xenodrugs, some kind of implant… some other things that she was sure she’d remember any moment now.

She heard and felt one of the rustles of warm, humming air through vegetation that she had come to the conclusion was a sigh before the nurse spoke again, “Well then, I suppose I will notify your visitor that you are ready. I do hope your day improves, flower. And I sincerely hope you let someone brush your teeth.” Why would she need someone else to brush her teeth? What the fuck is up with these plants? 

The door slid closed and she was left to flip through her homework for a few long moments before she heard the door again and…smelled something familiar, something that didn’t belong here. Her vision snapped up to find the affini from the night before, Cirsi-something, standing patiently at the foot of her bed with Calluna now relegated to the corner doing something Kira couldn’t focus on. She was too busy focusing on the bowl of food perched in Cirsi’s hands, a mess of assorted vegetables and seafood on a bed of spiced rice covered in a generous helping of overwhelmingly aromatic sweet-savory-spicy sauce that was either red or brown depending on what mood you were in. There was no authority on the matter. A very specific food. Kira gave the bowl the most suspicious glare she could before transferring the glare to Cirsi’s twinkling eyes.

The affini interrupted their staring contest, “Good morning, Kira! I thought something that reminded you of home might be a good way to start your day.” Her arms extended to a length that broke the illusion of humanity to place the bowl on the bed in front of Kira. “And before you worry aloud, no there are no drugs in the food. There would be little purpose and I’d much prefer to see you eat properly than intoxicate you unnecessarily.” 

Kira continued to stare at the food. She hadn’t touched her food the night before and had barely eaten the few days prior, her stomach was practically clawing its way out of her to dive into the bowl. This dish wasn’t supposed to smell or look this incredible, at least not in this way. It was supposed to be enticing in that cheap artificial way food from a greasy stall usually was but this… this looked like food. But how did she know, how did she–ah.”

“Credit transaction reports and intranet search data. That’s how you knew.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. She still stared at the food.

“Correct! You're a sharp little one.”

“And you’re a fucking stalker. Also, bold of you to assume I’d want to be reminded of home.” A pair of chopsticks appeared in front of her in the grasp of a teal vine and she snatched them quickly, stabbing at and mixing up the glorious mess in the bowl.

Calluna visibly perked up at seeing Kira even approach the act of eating, “Might I ask what that is? I know a fair bit about terran cuisine myself but I can’t say I recognize that particular aroma.”

“This–” Kira took her inaugural bite and barely stifled a moan at the familiar overpowering flavor, “–is K-Fry. It’s street food from the Kuipers. The bastardized kind but like, the good bastardized kind. The story I heard was–” Kira was now practically shoveling the food into her mouth and talking through mouthfuls, “–early asteroid workers in New Oceania had better luck growing certain things in their aquaponic rigs to get the most out of them for the least nutrient input. Nutrients cost money. Better to keep them stocked cheaply.” Another mouthful “And back then every pound of weight shipped in from outside was worth a month or more of pay so they found very specific blends of spices and other ingredients that packed a lot of flavor into next to no weight. And because more than half of em were laborers from somewhere in old east asia or the pacific– mmmn fuck this is good— they gravitated toward this kind of stirfry abomination packed with calories and shit so they could go blast rocks apart all day without keeling over.” She caught some food that almost fell back out of her mouth in her rush. “The ‘K’ came from Kuiper because they were lazy I assume. And it was cheap and people liked it so they just kept making it. But fuck, it was never like this.” 

She went to absolute town for a few more moments before realizing the room was silent aside from her shoveling. She looked slowly up to find both affini staring at her. Calluna was practically vibrating her cheerful smile off of her face and rattling leaves off of her body while Cirsi had simply leaned forward to cover Kira with that intent, twinkling stare she swore she could feel on her skin. A ring of pulsating pink had spawned within the usual aquamarine of those eyes and a few of the bulbs in her hair briefly peeked open to reveal packed nests of slender, pointed pink petals.

“Wha’ ah you loo’ing a’?” She mumbled through her current mouthful.

“Cute, cute, CUTE!” Calluna broke first, writhing in time with her words.

Cirsi interjected before the nurse could explode into eager grasping vines, “Petal, what your nurse is trying to say is that it's adorable to see how much you appreciate your food! And it's lovely to hear you speak for more than a sentence without expressing anger at one of us.”

Cute? What did they mean cute? Kira had it on good authority that people didn’t find her cute, particularly not when she was stuffing her face like it was her job, and she was still not entirely convinced the propaganda snippets about how adorable the affini found humans were true. Humans were, in her experience, cruel and repulsive just as often as they weren’t, and the affini must have seen the same by now. Most rebels she’d known were hardly the shining paragons they insisted to be under the pathetic posturing. She scowled at the pair, “Well keep your adoration to yourself, I’m fine without it.” She returned her attention to the K-fry, “And side note, you know this isn’t typically breakfast food right?”

Cirsi’s response was immediate, “It is for you. Over half of your documented consumption of this particular dish occurred within what terrans would consider ‘breakfast time’. There is even video evidence.”

“I will say it again.” Kira pointed at the affini with her chopsticks, “Big stalker energy.”

As she spoke, Calluna brought a stack of assorted files over to Cirsi and the two shared some quiet affini words and intertwined vines before the nurse waved at Kira and left the room. Cirsi's face briefly wrinkled in what Kira could've sworn was nervousness before shifting to an easy smile. She spoke softly, “Well Kira, as of today it is my job to know anything and everything about you for the foreseeable future. You have been placed under my care until the optimal match for your domestication has been ascertained. As of this moment, you are my ward.”

Ward. 

There was no fucking way that ward wasn’t the on-ramp to slave or pet, however they preferred to package it. She didn’t buy that shit for a solitary moment. The only silver lining she could muster was that the comparably tolerable affini would be her jailor now rather than the upsettingly joyous Calluna. Kira dropped her chopsticks and pushed the remainder of the food away from her. She looked back up to find Cirsi now sitting in a large chair next to her bed. Kira only now focused on her long enough to notice a slight change to her appearance. Long strands of flora like those of her hair extended from her waist to form a long skirt with a slit revealing her left leg, weaving upward into her torso in a precisely composed lattice that evoked lace. The full effect was as if she’d donned a dark gown of willow and wisteria, speckled with white petals and lined at the bottom with the new pink blooms. Had she… dressed up for this? And… did her face look different today? Kira could’ve sworn it was partially formed from some sort of bark or vines yesterday but now it was covered entirely in sleek, carefully molded leaves that made an especially convincing simulacrum of a human face. Had she changed her face for today? Or had she always looked this way? Shit, she was pausing too long again. She needed to retort.

“Why?”

That’s not a retort, you fucking IDIOT.

Cirsi's expression turned quizzical, "What do you mean little one?"

Kira found a portion of the wall and attempted to burn a hole with her eyes, "You've clearly done your reading, probably dug the skeletons out of my closet, yeah? Combed whatever civil records you could find, read my naval psych eval, net search history, PMs, the good stuff. So what about any of that made you think 'yep, I'd sure love to take this raving cunt into my home, she definitely won't be a fucking pain'? Stars, you could've handed me off to that fucking nurse, I'm sure she'd leap at the chance to invade my personal space on an official basis. So. why?" Kira still refused to look at the affini. She prepared to hear that familiar tinge of infuriating pity in her voice but it didn’t come. What came was almost silence, but not quite. There was something faint, a melodic whisper she couldn’t be certain she’d heard. Not the rustle of a sigh, something low, rhythmic and elusive. Unbidden curiosity welled within her, she strained to hear it and it grew in volume but… but it didn’t. It wasn’t the hearing that magnified it, it was the listening. The paying of attention. It felt like thinking, but not her thinking. It felt like… curiosity? What was that? A nagging edge of her wanted to look back to the affini to see what infernal trick she was playing–

"I don't see it that way, Kira." Her voice matched that rhythm. Velvety, lower than before, touched with something like vocal fry but not quite. "I found no skeletons in my searching, only a girl who has had a difficult time. A girl who has some gaps in her records that need filling. Someone who could do well with some attentive care." Another of their peculiar pauses stretched between them. "Well, I suppose I did find one skeleton, you had an x-ray five years and 2 months ago. Whoever treated those rib fractures did a tragically underwhelming job of it. And the… bill associated with it is frankly sickening.” The word ‘bill’ dropped from her mouth like lead. Kira was familiar with the x-ray and associated injury but no one had said the word ‘fractures’ to her at the time.

“They weren’t treated.” She finally turned back to Cirsi. “And I don’t recall asking for your attentive care so you can fuck right off with that! I can take care of myself just fine.” She jammed a finger into Cirsi as she spoke and found it sinking an inch into the vine lattice beneath her simulated chest. A teal vine appeared, curling around the offending finger and gently but firmly pulling the terran’s hand back. Kira briefly attempted to pull away but the force was insistent. A finger and thumb gripped her chin and with the same insistent force lifted her head to look directly in the affini’s eyes too quickly for her to have a chance of resisting. The pink ring traced through her eyes again, pulsing and arcing to a meandering tempo. Where it arced, sparks of smoldering silver leapt from facet to brilliant facet, too many for her to catch any one in her focus. What were once placid pools were now maelstroms of metallic light, demanding absolute focus even as they shredded it apart. To place these in the same category as the slick, pale orbs within humans’ skulls would be a grave error.

With Kira’s attention secured, Cirsi spoke with the steadily commanding tone she had only heard at her capture, “We do not always ask for the things we need. But sometimes we are given them anyway. Kira, you will find I am more lenient than many of my kind, but I am your guardian for the time being and I will ensure your wellbeing to my exacting standards. That is not up for discussion. Am I understood?" Silence stretched between them again. Kira was frozen, her thoughts and vision both fuzzing at the edges. Despite the freezing she felt a tingling warmth behind her eyes and blooming in her chest. 

She could barely whisper, "Y-yeees." She shouldn’t be frozen, she should be reacting, what was– what was wrong with her? The brilliance of Cirsi’s eyes abated and her expression softened into– was that worry? She stood from her chair and averted her gaze from the girl, shrinking ever so slightly away. She then seemed to notice that Kira was still watching intently and forced her usual smile back to her mask. "Ah, now… shall we head back to my hab unit and get you moved in?"

Kira shook the fuzz from her brain and mumbled a grumpy, “Fine.” looking anywhere but the affini. Cirsi at least had the decency to not attempt to catch her as she hopped from the bed. As the pair shuffled toward the door, Kira heard a distinctly human voice rapidly approach from the other side. Cirsi perked up again, “Oh! Ah, there is something I forgot to mention about our plans for the morning, I am–”

The door slid open and a blur of warm hues skidded to a stop just short of the pair and continued whatever it had been saying in the hall, “Cirsiiii what’s taking you so looong, I wanna see– Oh! Oooh, she’s a cutiiie~.” The creature in front of Kira was nothing less than a human sunrise. Her rich dark skin made the bright gradient of pink and orange in the mass of curls that burst from her head feel only brighter. And her smile… her smile glowed. Hell, all of her seemed to glow, the air even felt warmer for her presence. Then she noticed it. The glassy sheen over the girl’s grinning eyes and the black band fit snugly against her neck, trimmed with pink floral patterns and adorned with a ring in front. Same as the broadcasts. This one was a pet. 

Cirsi interjected before Kira could stare for too long, “Kira, this is Tetra’s floret, Bee! Tetra is very busy today and Bee was feeling lonely and restless so I offered to watch her for a while. Little flower, this is Kira, the great ‘blue stripe’ your mistress has no doubt told you of.” 

Bee leaned in and gave a languorous look down and up Kira's form, then met her stare with half-lidded eyes. She chirped, “Lovely to meet you, Kira! I like your tattoooos~. Are you a hugger?”

Kira’s tongue was definitely supposed to make words wasn’t it? She stumbled over a few before spitting out, “I– uh, fuuh– thanks? Y-yes, I hug… sometimes. Actually, can’t remember the last time I–” She was engulfed by a wave of sunrise curls accompanied by the smoothest pair of arms she’d ever felt wrapping tightly around her neck. Kira knew she’d had hugs in the past, but in light of the one currently absorbing her she wasn’t sure the rest had truly counted. Bee was soft in a way humans weren’t supposed to be, she was… she was plush, as though built perfectly for this exact embrace. Kira was unsure how to feel about being hugged by someone who was owned by a plant. Was any of this experience genuine? Was she genuine? Kira had only had a few moments of interaction with the girl but she was not unlike the florets she’d seen in affini propaganda, the vacant eyed, slow witted, pliable pseudo humans with any edge sanded down. Bee’s overwhelmingly sunny presentation and disposition could easily be constructs, a synthetic personality installed with drug fueled brainwashing and a body treated as a doll to be dressed up and paraded around, every fear the rebels had fostered in their ranks come to life. So why did she not feel fake in person? She embraced the girl as chastely as she could. The last thing she wanted was to look like some handsy creep, even to a piece of property.

“You can squeeze harder, ya know. I can take it~.” The words were whispered directly into Kira’s ear aaaaa fuck. HOT. Fuck, shut up brain. She thanked the stars above the furious burning in her face was concealed by Bee’s bountiful hair. She hadn’t been this tongue-tied and bashful around a girl since she was a starsdamned teenager, what was her deal? She shouldn’t be so flustered by someone who was essentially property, she should’ve been so much more repulsed. Why did this fucking pet have to be cute? Bee’s completely unfair assault finally ended and Kira looked in every direction not occupied by her after she pulled away. This proved a mistake when she accidentally locked eyes with Cirsi, whose face poured saccharine delight over the two terrans in front of her. Her form was even gently wriggling to that subtle rhythm from before in a way that reeked of satisfaction. Kira flashed her a murderous glare, then averted her gaze again, desperate to hide her burning cheeks.

Cirsi spoke with a joyous lilt, “Well then! I have a feeling you two will get along fishingly! Bee will be accompanying us for part of the day, I doubt that will be an issue.” She sent Kira a wink that she pretended not to see. “Now, let us be off.” 

As the three left, Bee skipped up to Cirsi’s side and tugged on a vine, whispering, “Miss C, It’s actually ‘swimingly’.” Cirsi whispered a thanks in return, along with a scratch under the chin that she eagerly leaned into.

The three made their way down a hallway and through a lobby that were both far too cozy to belong in a hospital. Kira dimly registered Calluna waving at the trio from a desk at the far end of the lobby but refused to acknowledge anything. A large set of double doors slid open to reveal the ship outside. Kira had tangled with more affini ships than almost any other terran simply by virtue of being good at escaping long enough to see another, so she was well acquainted with their goliath proportions and biomechanical hybrid exteriors. None of that prepared her for what was inside. 

The space they entered resembled a wide boulevard curving along the inside of a massive ring, lined with a staggering array of businesses– well, the word 'business' didn't make sense if the affini had been telling the truth about the death knell of capitalism. institutions? Services?– built from all manner of materials reinforced with the plant tech affini so readily lauded. Even without reading any signs she recognized themed restaurants, apparel boutiques, all manner of dazzling entertainment centers, and municipal buildings far too welcoming for their own good woven into paths and terraces teeming with vegetation. Light poured from above that looked and felt nearly indistinguishable from true starlight and cast shadows that suggested late morning. Looking beyond the cavernous crystalline shell that contained them revealed yet more massive rings matching the already unthinkable reality of the one she stood in, at least half a dozen, and farther yet she saw the titanic struts and cradling superstructure enclosing them between the ship’s nose and tail. It was impossible. This wasn’t possible. No space station, no terran city she’d ever seen even approached something like this. This couldn’t be what was inside their warships. This couldn’t be a spaceship, it was a metropolis! This was– How? HOW?

Something was beeping. Oh. Her cuff again. Shit, she was breathing too hard again. Shit, someone was talking, shit. “...you hear me Kira? Little one, is something the matter?” a vine wrapped around her shoulder and she pulled away violently, spinning around to find Bee and Cirsi’s concerned stares. Her eyes frantically scanned, trying to take everything in and failing.

“I’m fine! I’m fine.” Her voice cracked “It’s just… it’s a lot. I… I didn’t know it would be so…” she focused her breathing. Longer breaths, Kira, in… out…in…out…the beeping slowed gradually and stopped.

"Soooo what? So beautiful? So stupendous, soooo splendiferous~?" Bee offered.

"... so much." With her breathing steady again she had a second chance to take it all in. It was beautiful, and that pissed her off. The truth was she would've been thrilled at the chance to explore every nook and cranny of the astral city in front of her were it not for the fact that somewhere within it lay her new jail cell and around every bend were herculean walking plants that were determined to keep her in said cell. It was beautiful. And that was bitter. She resolved to keep her eyes on the ground, better to leave the facade of paradise to those who it was actually for. With her distraction gone she was suddenly aware of her body again, her steady breathing, her– her back? Something was stroking up and down her back in perfect sync with her breaths, so delicate she'd somehow failed to notice before. She recoiled again, watching the offending vine retract into Cirsi's form, and hissed, "How long were you fucking doing that?"

The affini gave her a sympathetic smile, "Would knowing really make you feel any better?"

Kira scowled and returned her eyes to the ground, "no, probably not. Let's just go." The affini nodded and started down the boulevard. Kira had seen plenty of the affini's pets, their florets, in propaganda broadcasts, but seeing them in person was a jarring difference. All around them other affini attended their own business and over half seemed to have a floret with them, humans mostly but she could see some rinans here and there and a half dozen other xeno species she didn't recognize. The affini occasionally noticed Kira, who presumably reeked of 'new pet, may bite' and did not take the hint at all. Every so often one would come a little too close to the trio and extend a vine to pet one or both terrans, which Kira invariably swerved away from and ducked behind one of her companions. Cirsi had the decency to interrupt those who got too close with a few whispers of affini, which seemed to deter them amicably enough, but it did nothing to sooth the cold lump of dread sitting in her gut at being treated like a newly adopted stray, barely a person.

The florets were a different story. Not a single one seemed to be free of the drug addled stumbling and blissed out smiles she was afraid she’d find. The only ones whose glassy eyes weren’t affixed firmly to their owners in reverent glee were those curled up asleep in their arms and the occasional bundle of energy at the end of their… their leash. Humans on leashes in broad daylight, lovely. That’s gonna be an adjustment. After a few minutes of sullen silence with occasional whispering between Bee and Cirsi, the other terran slipped back to Kira and broke the silence, "Sooo, the great 'blue stripe'! You're supposedly some kinda rebel hero right?" 

Kira scoffed, “Stars, is that what you heard? Rebel hero?”

“I meeean, people say you made it out of more affini capture raids than pretty much anyone. What was iiit, eleven escapes? Twelve? Most people don’t make it out of one!”

Kira’s scowl softened, flattery by cute girls was always a weakness of hers. “Yeeeah well, you're a little out of date with the 'hero' part. That wore off half a year or so back when some of the rebels started saying I was cursed. I've heard some of them call me 'blue widow' now, the fucks. Whatever, not like any of em were gonna space me anyway, they always needed a good scout." 

Bee tilted her head in confusion, "Wait waaaiit, why would they think you're cursed?"

"I mean, I kept jumping away from ships right as the affini would get em and I'd usually be the only one to get out. The math is there, I'll give em that. But they just couldn't accept the idea that the affini are just a teensy bit invincible, so obviously I had to be the problem."

"Ooor maybe they just couldn't accept that you're just, like, better at rebel stuff than them."

"Meh, Jolene did half the work. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but most of the rebels are either wannabe commandos with empty heads or terrified conscripts who hide wherever the commandos aren’t. Neither group is particularly adept at getting the fuck out of dodge when things go tits up."

Bee gave a lazy smirk, “Aaand which’re you, commando or conscript?”

“I said most. A handful of us are actually good for something. I’m good at the getting the fuck out of dodge part, which is the most impressive thing you can usually do when the plants roll up. Apparently that’s all it takes to be a celebrity now.” Kira was becoming aware of the slight slurring and sloth of Bee's speech. It wasn't as though she couldn't hold coherent conversation, the words just seemed to meander on their way, no less deliberate or earnest for the journey. Her movements had a similar delay to them and her body swayed to an invisible current, it was as though some portion of the air around her was replaced with honey. Her clear intoxication wasn't as off-putting to Kira as it was in many of the other florets, at least not the way Bee wore it. Maybe she’d managed to retain a bit more of her lucidity than most? Maybe there was hope of having another actual person aboard this ship with her? "My skirmish partner Abe wasn't bad either, managed to join me on a few of my escapes with my help. But not enough to be worth the attention I guess.”

Oh shit, Abe. What happened after the skirmish, where’d he go? Should I ask? Cirsi doesn’t seem like too much of an asshole, maybe she’d actually tell me something–

“Who’s Jolene?”

“W-What?” Her thoughts crashed into Bee’s question.

“Is that a friend of yours? Maybeee a special friend??” Bee’s eyebrows danced suggestively.

“Nooo no, nothing like that. Jolene is um… the name of my fighter. She’s an experimental model, smallest jump drive humanity has and an onboard assistant to help run it, agile as a dragonfly, kind of a deathtrap aside from that. But she’s a tough bitch, got me out of some bad situations.” Her trusty fighter had been one of few constants in her life over the last few years. As odd as it felt, talking about the scrappy hunk of old parts wrapped around dangerously cutting edge tech did lift her spirits. She’d been more of a companion than most of the actual humans in the rebellion. And the navy before that really. Fuck, she was not good with people.

Bee’s face beamed with renewed excitement, “Wait, sooo you’re single~?”

One of Cirsi’s chuckles danced back at them and Kira glared a dagger into her back just in case the affini had eyes in the back of her head, which was entirely possible for all she knew. “Really, that's what you got out of all that?"

"Hmmm I don't hear a nooo!" Bee was nearly singing now.

"...yes, technically I am single."

Bee gave her another lingering look up and down and her smile became suddenly bashful. “Good to know~.” she said, just barely too loud to be talking to herself.

Is everyone on this ship such a starsdamned flirt?

A few minutes into their journey a particularly sprawling structure came into view that Cirsi seemed to be diverting them towards. From afar Kira could’ve mistaken for one of the statuesque museums or palatial estates she’d seen in archived images of old terra’s wealthier cities, but as they approached the truth became even more baffling. It was a grocer, grander than any she’d ever witnessed by an insurmountable margin. Even from the outside the overflowing bounty of foods she could’ve only dreamt of during naval service was plainly visible through towering windows. As they approached the large permanently open door at the building’s front, Cirsi spoke, “Alright little ones, I have to pick up a few supplies here to prepare for proper terran meals, I cannot abide all of your food coming from the compiler. Kira, you should be able to find anything and everything you might desire here, is there anything in particular you’d like me to point you to?"

Kira grumbled, “You’re supposed to be the great caretakers, yeah? Masters of our every need? I’m sure you can figure out how to feed one terran without my fucking help.” She shuffled over to one of the doorway's pillars and slumped against it, staring into the middle distance.

Cirsi sagged briefly and fought the twitching needles concealed within her wrists. A little class C and D and an authoritative tone would be all she’d need. The little dear would spill her every desire and beg for her to fulfill them, it would be so simple! No. No, she was a ward, not a floret. Someone would come along for her. And besides, this one needed some delicate unfolding to blossom properly, any affini worth their blooms would see that. As long as this little puzzle was around, she'd pick it apart the right way. She straightened herself again and fixed her sight firmly on Bee, who instinctively returned it, “Little sundrop, why don’t you take Kira along to grab some of your favorites, perhaps she will find some inspiration along the way! I will be right behind you.”

Kira flashed another of her familiar scowls while Bee beamed at the chance to fulfill her substitute mistress’s request, “I’m on it Miss C!” The girl skipped over to lock arms with Kira, who couldn’t resist the combined pull of the excited girl and gentle prodding of a vine against her back. She grumbled but relented, following Bee into the aisles while another discreet vine procured a nearby hovering cart and followed the two. Cirsi herself followed from a vigilant but respectful distance, allowing Bee the chance to soften her ward alone and herself the chance to pick up the items she knew Bee would miss on her culinary field day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<(Startographer)> Hey Mangle, I think I could use your help with something.

<(Mangle~Tangle)> Duh of course u could! Have u forgotten who i am???

<(Mangle~Tangle)> How’s she doin btw?

<(Startographer)> Yes, it’s about Kira. She is doing fine, still a bit skittish. And do not call her that please, she made a valiant effort! It's not her fault terran tech is so flimsy.

<(Mangle~Tangle)> Hey i get the vibe that she digs a sassy nickname! U should try it

<(Startographer)> Really? You got a "vibe" from barely 2 minutes of contact with her?

<(Mangle~Tangle)> 10 seconds would be enough to read that lil lady's sassy ass!

<(Startographer)> You are MORE than well equipped enough in that regard!! And I won’t have you reinforcing any bad habits.

<(Mangle~Tangle)> booo you whore >::(

<(Startographer)> MANGLE

<(Mangle~Tangle)> fiiiine what do u need?

<(Startographer)> I received her medical records from Calluna this morning and did some of my own digging into her past last night in order to care for her properly. Both of us had the same problem, her records begin properly about 8 years ago. All that exists before that are addresses I can find no evidence of her living at, a diploma from a school I can find no record of her attending, and no medical history to speak of. 

<(Mangle~Tangle)> hmmmm sounds falsified. Someone covered it up maybe?

<(Startographer)> That is my suspicion. But I am rusty at digging through personnel records like this, I could not find anything that matches with the missing time.

<(Mangle~Tangle)> Oh I 100% do!

<(Startographer)> Wonderful!

<(Mangle~Tangle)> oh im sorry, i missed the part where u asked nicely

<(Startographer)> SERIOUSLY?!

<(Mangle~Tangle)> how bout “Oh Mangle, great digital sleuth, will you pretty pretty please help me hunt down my little rebel’s whole life with a cherry on top?”

<(Startographer)> Ugh

<(Mangle~Tangle)> Lololol YES of course Ill help you Cirs! im just ruffling your boughs

<(Startographer)> She’s NOT my floret, she’s my ward.

<(Mangle~Tangle)> Suuuure whatever u say bud!

<(Startographer)> …And thank you. I truly appreciate it.

<(Mangle~Tangle)> aint no thang, girl! Next time i need to plan some interstellar sightseeing with my babes i know u got me with the good recs. What r friends for right?

<(Startographer)> She has no idea who you are.

<(Mangle~Tangle)> Perfect! She’ll be confused and it’ll be funny!

<(Startographer)> Ugh fine. But you have to say hi to your darlings for me.

<(Mangle~Tangle)> Peace! ::p

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kira had half expected Bee to have the tastes of an eight year old given what she’d seen of florets so far. She was humbled to find that her ecstatic guide’s palate put her own to shame, though it was hardly surprising after seeing the ceaseless rainbow of food options available at literally the first affini grocer she’d stepped into. Before her navy days, Kira’d had the advantage of living and operating in the kinds of seedy corners of terran space where the food was actually good in the way that came from well-loved holes in the wall, but shit, none of that came close to this. In the first two minutes inside, Bee had scooped a dozen varieties of fruit into their cart that Kira only recognized half of and that was mostly because she’d seen pictures of them somewhere. And that was only one food group. As haunting as the rest of the domestication bullshit remained, Kira had to admit she was no longer concerned about how the affini fed their ‘pets’ at the very least. After what seemed a lifetime of playful prodding from Bee, Kira finally broke down and picked a few items of her own, some that tugged at distant nostalgia and others that just looked really fucking tasty. 

She was loath to admit she’d even begun to enjoy their little shopping trip when Bee finally cut it short, “Oookie dokes, that’s probably good right? Cirsiii whatcha think?” The two turned to where the affini had been tailing them and found her engrossed in her tablet. Bee adopted the energy of a dog who’d been told to ‘stay’ and awaited further orders. Kira was not so patient.

“Yo, stormy limbs!” The affini’s face whipped up, suddenly alert and… startled? Her viney fingers continued tapping for a moment before stowing the tablet within herself again. A ripple ran through the vines of her torso and her usual easy smile returned as she approached their cart.

She let out a thoughtful rumble, “Hmmm, let’s see here…” vines picked through the disorganized mass of food and drink, discreetly pulling extra items from nearby isles. “Alright, looks like we have everything we could need. Well done little ones!” Bee’s smile glowed and she was bombarded with affectionate strokes from Cirsi’s vines. Kira braced for the same treatment but found that nothing came. Odd, nearly every other affini she’d encountered had made a concerted effort to invade her personal space. “Now, how about we get on the rail and head home?” She began walking toward the rear end of the grocer with the cart and Bee in tow. 

"Wait, rail? Are you about to tell me there's a fucking train in this ship? And why are we going further in?" The second of her questions was answered as what looked suspiciously like a utopian train stop embedded into the back of the building came into view.

"Ah, yes I forgot to explain that part. Apologies!" Cirsi turned to speak to Kira directly but continued walking. "Most affini ships of any reasonable size are equipped with a mag rail system for easily navigating their hab rings and the Mandragora is no exception. For the public’s convenience, this grocer has its own dedicated station!" The affini stopped at some kind of bagging station just short of the rail stop and began depositing their food in the bags at a dizzying speed with a flurry of vines. "My hab is one ring over, closest one to the ship's fore. This will take us most of the way in no time at all!” The affini effortlessly hefted all of the bags in half a dozen vines and stepped up to the rail stop as a large personnel pod with suspiciously uncanny timing decelerated to a stop in front of the trio. “All aboard! Oh, and Kira, Mangle says hi.”

Kira’s face screwed up in confusion just as he'd promised, “What? The fuck’s a Mangle?”

“Not important.”

The ride was uneventful for two of them. The third alternated between gluing her eyes to the window to watch the ring’s wonders careen past and acting as unimpressed as she could. The other two were unconvinced. While the warning sirens that had long claimed dominion of Kira's mind refused to quiet, the buzzing of her curiosity was becoming stiff competition. Sightseeing did not equate to surrender, there's no reason she couldn't maintain her healthy suspicion of the imperialist conquerors while having a look around right? Besides, if she ever hoped to find an escape vector she'd need to remain alert.

The pod charted a path along the ring’s spokes to the ship’s titanic central axis and passed through some kind of transfer terminal before following an inverse path down to the next ring. Through the trip, Cirsi carefully corralled and restrained Bee to accommodate for the constant shifts in gravitational force, coaxing fits of giggles and squirming from the girl in the process. Kira made a point of keeping herself steady unassisted with the available handholds but with one arm out of commission it was a struggle. During an especially pitched turn her good hand’s grip slipped only to be immediately caught by a vine and unceremoniously returned to its handhold. She turned to give the affini a fresh scowl but found Cirsi wasn’t even paying direct attention to her this time, preferring to gaze out the window just as Kira had been. Odd. She swallowed the scowl and mirrored the affini until their pod came to a stop.

The portion of the new ring they found themselves in appeared much more residential than the previous one. Rows of what Kira assumed were the aforementioned hab units with a similar hexagonal construction were broken up by a glut of gardens and parks. It was all still steeped in the same otherworldly beauty as the rest of the ship, but was distinctly sleepier, almost quaint if you squinted and tilted your head and blocked out the paradigm-shattering space ship containing it all. “Nearly there now dears, little Bee do you remember the rest of the way?” Cirsi turned to the girl, who spun to look down both ends of the avenue and sent her dress twirling.

After a moment of furrowed brows and mumbled words a light bloomed behind her eyes and she pointed excitedly down the avenue, “This way! This way! Right?” The bundle of warmth was bouncing on the balls of her feat expectantly. 

“Correct, very good!” The girl received an enthusiastic head pat. “Would you care to lead the way or are your legs perhaps tiring?” The structure of her statement was a question but her tone oozed suggestion. There was only one right answer.

Bee rolled on her heels in thought before looking bashfully up at the affini, “Cooooould I maybeee… lead from your shoulders?” The girl was whisked into the air by teal vines the instant she finished speaking, leaving a chorus of giggles behind. Once secured on Cirsi’s shoulders she pointed again and shouted in a faux heroic cadence, “Onward!” She could barely finish her little display before an assault of caressing vines collapsed her into a second chorus of giggles and gasps.

Kira’s thoughts about the girl crashed every time she interacted with an affini. Could she not see the condescension laced into their treatment of her? Or how brazenly she leaned into it? And why, why fucking why did she seem so… utterly content? How was she so… fine?

It took Kira a moment to realize the others had started moving and she hustled to keep up. It was only a few minutes before the trio arrived at the door of one of the hexagonal habs. Almost all of the habs had some personal touch to them, some to colorful extremes, but this one bore very little to separate it from the clearly visible base models. That wasn’t to say it was ugly, it still sported the pleasing geometries and charming mix of materials that all affini architecture seemed to. But in comparison to its neighbors it seemed… a little plain. The only exception was the strip of unmaintained garden along the hab's edge, which sported a mass of bushes that looked strikingly like Cirsi's own foliage. Vines of green, teal, and dark slate laden with black briars and beautiful, messy pink blooms twisted and crawled across the ground and onto the side of the hab. The vines were clearly and haphazardly pruned in many places and stains left from their wandering still littered the parts of the hab that it no longer covered. Kira nearly asked about the plant but thought better of it, she was in no mood for conversation. Not that she often was anyway. Cirsi tapped a panel next to the door and it slid open. “Alright, in we go little ones!” The interior was similar to the exterior, pleasant enough but oddly empty, lacking color and personality she expected to find in a hyper advanced being’s abode. The entryway split into three arched doorways leading to what seemed to be a kitchen and dining area on the left and a living room on the right, both excessively spacious and furnished with appliances and furniture sized for affini. If the rest of the unreal starship hadn’t made her feel miniscule enough already, she got the feeling this hab would seal the deal. Her eyes were scanning the rooms when something caught their attention. Through the forward arch was a hallway lined with a few doors that cracked open slightly to reveal piles of books, paper, discarded clothes and other refuse clashing violently with the conspicuous emptiness of the rest of the hab. As she stared in amused confusion Cirsi cut in front of her en route to the kitchen but failed to fully hide several vines firing down the hallway to shove the piles back into their rooms and quickly shut them.

“How about some lunch before the tour? Bee, Kira, any requests?” The affini was absolutely trying to distract from Kira’s prying and it absolutely was not working.

“Oooooh yes yes!” Bee hopped in place before running off to the kitchen to assist. Kira took the opportunity to get away from the two, shuffling into the living room. One wall was dominated by a long curving couch that came up to Kira’s shoulders, facing a large screen and entertainment center on the opposite wall. Although neither was quite as enticing as the third wall, covered by a tall arcing window directly into the void itself. Kira stepped up to the window until the rest of the room vanished from her periphery and her world became nothing more than rivers of stellar gas winding among the infinite solar pinpricks. Just the way she liked it. Nothing to urgently worry about. Nothing to ponder beyond the gentle iridescence of nebulae. No one to bother–

“Heeeeyyy whatcha lookin at?” Kira jumped. Lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed Bee sneaking up behind until they were nearly touching. That, or the sunny girl was simply stealthier than she expected.

“Oh, um… nothing in particular. Just, ya know. Admiring space. As one does.” Kira’s hands fidgeted with her hospital gown against her will and her eyes no longer knew where to settle. Why was she so bad at fucking talking? Was one normal non-angry conversation too much to ask for?

Bee’s face bloomed in a sympathetic smile and she placed a slow hand on Kira’s arm, almost too light to feel, but pulled it away again when Kira shrank slightly away. Respecting personal space is a good sign right? The girl spoke barely above a whisper, voice bathed in that honeyed current of hers, “It’s… a lot right? Giant spaceship, giant plant people, giant… well, all of it. I know how overwhelming it all can be. Buuut you’ll get used to it soon, I promise! Everyone here is sooo kind and lovely, there’s really no rush to be ready for it all. Well, I mean I guess that depends on whoever ends up owning you…” 

“Right… whoever owns me…” Kira slumped and turned back to the void. A smear of warm tones popped into her left periphery, gazing out alongside her silently for a long moment.

“Ya know… it’s really not a bad thing. I know it feels like it now aaaand the legal part is… kiiiinda weird to think about at first. Buuut honestly, every moment since breaking for Tetra has been better than every moment before.”

Kira sighed and imagined the hot air drifting to mingle with the nearest nebula, churning into the cradle of a star. A little shred of her submerged in a solar nucleus, lightyears away from here. She wasn’t made for this. She wasn’t property, she wasn’t like Bee, she was… she wasn’t ready. And she sure as shit wasn't a quitter.

“...So. What’d they get you for?”

“Umm, what do you mean?”

Please be fucking lucid with me. “I mean like, were you a rebel, navy, some kind of criminal, what was it? They claim not to force people to be pets unless it’s 'for their own good' or what-the-fuck-ever, so what was it for you?” 

She turned back to Bee to find her head cocked with gears visibly turning before she perked up again, “Oh! Oh no, I wasn’t like a capture or anything. I actually volunteered!”

Fuck. Stars, fuck, I thought I had another normal fucking person and I get THIS?

“...Why?” Kira did nothing to hide the tinge of disgust in her voice. 

Bee shrank back slightly, eyebrows pitching up in worry, “why? Well, ummmm. My mistress was very kind to me and… I wasn’t really happy in my life before and… I meeean I was always kind of a homebody anyway, and Tetra just… she gave me something that I never–”

“How the fuck is that worth signing away your fucking rights? I mean are you shitting me right now?" Familiar fury bubbled up within her gut, seeping red into her vision. What could possibly bring someone to give up their personhood to a bunch of self righteous, condescending, imperialist, fucking- fucking PLANTS?!

"Kira, you… you don't know what it's like to–"

"You didn’t like your life and wanted to stay at home? Move the fuck out then, they made it free for you!" The girl was backing away now on unsteady legs, evoking a kicked dog. "Get your own place and enjoy your new xeno-sponsored work-free life in it, find a fucking girl who treats you nice, I don’t– I don’t fucking UNDERSTAND! Was being a fucking PERSON just too much work for you?!” 

“I–I d-didn’t–”

“I mean really, are you SO WEAK that you couldn’t–”

“KIRA.”

The voice wasn’t a shout, it was simply… everywhere. An auditory tempest summoned by a single word. In Kira’s brief blinding fury she hadn’t noticed Cirsi approach, but that voice banished the red fog from her mind in a sharp instant and devoured her attention. Cirsi towered over and around her, fraying at her edges into a storm of dark tendrils. Strands of gleaming obsidian thorns rattled out of a hundred hidden grooves, the jagged pink blooms opening fully and leaving motes of pink and twinkling silver in a haze. The electric tang of ozone mingled with citral suffused the air, prickling over Kira’s suddenly far too exposed skin in waves. Every part of the affini’s body language screamed ‘sharp’ and every part of her expression screamed ‘kneel’. 

"That is enough."

This was it. The fae aberration finally dropping the facade of diplomacy, the honeyed lie of infinite patience, and it was… she was… ineffable. Undeniable. It was vindication of the most bittersweet variety. The pink ring rippled nearly red in her eyes, pinning Kira in place as well as any iron stake could have. 

“You will be calm.”

“I-I…calm.”

“You will be quiet for me.”

“Quiet…”

“You will be good.”

“...Gooood…”

It was happening again, she couldn’t see the edges clearly, couldn’t pull away, couldn’t form words, everything was so warm, everything… everything was swimming noise and color except for HER. She said to be calm, to be quiet. To be good. 

Be calm. Be quiet. Be good. For Her. Everything is so warmmmm…

With Kira’s stream of consciousness sufficiently dammed, the affini’s form softened over long moments and the petrifying aura retreated with what might have been regret had Kira been capable of detecting it at that moment. The affini turned to Bee, kneeling to cup the girl's face tenderly in her giant hands. She spoke softly to the girl but Kira couldn’t focus on the words. Her limbs shook and her head swam, the world lacked focus save for the pair in front of her and that mirage of music tickling the back of her neck. What had she just been doing? Breathing hard? No… talking. Yelling maybe? At Bee. The pet. But now she needed to be quiet. To be calm… right? Her thoughts crept as molasses back to her and she looked to the girl again, nodding obediently in time with the affini’s words. Bee's hands wrung themselves together and the faintest twinkle of a tear dotted the corner of one eye. As she watched, the girl’s fidgeting ceased and a vine dabbed the tear away, tickling her cheek for good measure. With a final nod and a giggle, Cirsi sent her scampering back to the kitchen, as laden with sunshine as the moment they’d first met.

The affini turned back to Kira and she thrust her head down and backed several steps away on instinct. When Cirsi spoke again the tempest was gone and the usual melody returned with new authority, “We are going to have lunch, little one. Your breakfast was late so I do not expect you to eat much but you will have something. Afterward I will continue showing you your home for the time being and we will speak about what just happened. Understood?”

Kira mumbled a shaky “Fine.” without looking up and the quiet rustle of foliage vanished in the direction of the kitchen. The terran shuffled slowly after it to find Bee seated in Cirsi’s lap at the dining table, chewing on what looked like a PB&J sandwich with half-lidded eyes. She eyed the chair farthest from them, then eyed her splinted arm. Normally she was confident she could hop into any of the affini furniture unassisted but with one arm out of commission she predicted any success would be accompanied by some truly undignified scrambling. She was right. A good twenty seconds of hopping, clawing, and hauling her body finally relented when a vine gave the gentle push from behind necessary to clamber fully into the gargantuan seat. She prepared to find amused faces and meet them with scowls but found only a girl entirely absorbed by her food and the gentle touches of an affini. Bee relaxed eagerly in Cirsi's grasp until her eating markedly slowed and a vine took the sandwich from her grip and began feeding her directly. A tap on the jaw and her mouth would open, another on the chin and it would close, establishing a rhythm that seemed to lull the girl further. Kira tried to be disgusted at the display but a numbness was settling over her. Her destiny was laid bare in front of her. Thoughtless obedience. Enforced reliance. Weakness. Placidity. Every unconscionable quality she'd ever damned to keep herself alive and safe, etched into her by cosmic demigods until she was barely human. 

And yet…

Bee was…ecstatic about it all, delightful even, at least before Kira learned the full truth of her. She could never be like that even if she wanted to, she would fight tooth and nail until they tired of her fighting and when they finally pulled out the big guns…well, she would survive. She always did. Even if it meant letting her identity, her self shrivel and rot beneath their treatment, she would survive. Hello again dread. I wonder if they would let me keep you. I doubt it.

A plate bearing some assorted fruit and a single half of PB&J was placed in front of her and she picked silently at it for the remainder of their meal. When Bee had finally finished, the now drowsy terran was placed on the sprawling couch with a tablet of some kind and a small mountain of pillows and blankets that she eagerly burrowed into. 

"Are you ready for the tour little one? If you are to be staying here it will be important." Cirsi interrupted Kira's listless dread with a gesture down the hallway from her earlier prying. She mumbled another "fine" And was led to a few doors and shown the rooms within. A study lined with hastily filled shelves of texts and monitors covered in indecipherable affini script and star maps. In which to sign away my rights. A combination guest and recreation room complete with cozy pillow nooks and haphazard stacks of books and art supplies. A nice comfortable jail cell. 

The mess from before was marginally less visible now but it was clear Cirsi hadn't been fully prepared to host guests. Winding stairs meandered up to a second floor populated by a palatial master bedroom and bathroom with accompanying balcony, all perfectly unassumingly pleasant and all receiving the bare minimum of Kira's attention. Five minutes of silent nodding and unfocused eyes from Kira finally piqued Cirsi's worry enough to intervene, "Something is affecting you, little one. Would you kindly enlighten me?"

"Doesn't matter." The words were monotone and her demeanor matched.

Cirsi's vines tensed and constricted in concern. She leaned down and into the terran’s field of view, “It does matter. Kira, you are far from the first terran I’ve interacted with. I’ve been on capture duty since before I even met lovely Bee, I have seen the turmoil of your people in all of its hues. You viscerally distrust every being aboard this ship, even when they offer aid on explicit terms. You experienced the beginning of a panic attack earlier upon seeing the Mandragora’s interior and denied it. You became volatile toward Bee when she conveyed her willing domestication. You freeze beneath my stare in a way sophonts rarely do. And now you succumb to a despondency you are either unwilling or unable to articulate. You are struggling. I do not blame you for any of these things little one, your situation would challenge even the most stalwart terran. But please, at least consider speaking to me about your troubles. Despite what you believe, I am here to care for all of your needs, including emotional ones.

“I’m fine.” The terran turned away from her again.

She is not fine. But she will be.

A pleasant chime interrupted the two followed by an aggressively chipper voice from an unclear source, “You have a visitor miss Asteri! Would you like to let them in?”

Cirsi glanced at the clock on her tablet, “That will be Tetra, I assume. Thank you hab, you may let her in!” 

“You’ve got it miss!!” It was even more chipper the second time, impossible as it seemed.

From downstairs Kira could hear the resonant voice of Tetra call, “Where’s my precious little sundrop?!~~” followed immediately by the frantic pattering of feet and cloying calls of “mistress mistress mistress” before a cascade of joyous laughter and cooing reached them from all the way across the hab. Cirsi smiled broadly and began to move toward the stairs before stopping and turning back to the terran.

“Ah, on the subject of Bee… you frightened her earlier Kira. Not gravely, but nevertheless she is a guest in my home and one I am very fond of. I expect her to be treated with kindness and understanding. I am capable of correcting your behavior in any number of ways but I would prefer you have the chance to correct it yourself first. Am I understood?”

Her only answer was a stiff nod, still without looking. Cirsi placed a single finger beneath Kira’s chin and with firm, undeniable force directed the human to look into her eyes.

“I would like to hear it in words, Kira.”

“Yes. Sorry. Got carried away earlier…” Kira’s eyes searched frantically for anywhere else to focus on, any meager escape from the affini’s gaze. 

Cirsi suddenly became aware of her demeanor, the domineering edge unwittingly affixed to her voice, the intensity of her stare. She’d done it again. Dirt. Roots. She shrank away and moved to the stairs again, “It is not me you should apologize to, Kira. You need not do so today if you lack the energy, but I trust you will soon.” With that she disappeared down the stairs and left Kira blessedly, dreadfully alone. She slumped against a wall and waited for the lively voices below to die down. She lacked the stomach to face Tetra, whether Cirsi had informed her of her actions or not. Which obviously she will. Only when the conversation had finally ended and the visitors presumably left did she summon the will to shuffle down the stairs and inspect her cell. And as unthinkable as it would be to admit, it was pretty comfortable as far as jail cells went.