"Cirsiiiii you moved again! I'm at an important paaart!"

"Ah, I'm sorry sweet thing! Just lost in thought."

Bee's bright giggle filled the room with sunlight like always. "It's ok, you're forgiven! Waaana talk about it?" The girl dragged her brush through the mess of her palette and studied Cirsi from behind her massive canvas.

"Oh, it's nothing really."

"I bet I know what it iiiiis~." The precious girl's teasing wiggle was nearly enough to send Cirsi into a fit of caressing vines. The restraint she'd demonstrated in being in the same room without petting her for a full hour now was deserving of a certificate of achievement or something. Well…no, that would require being reminded of the time not spent petting Bee, which would inevitably become time spent thinking about…dirt, of course Bee knew. She was so obvious.

Ba-dwing! Cirsi pulled the tablet from her torso and after a quick check of her messenger it was her turn to break into happy wiggling. 

<temp.user_KI00677320M> 

The attached image showed a massive plant embedded in the earth whose central mass was formed from broad fleshy petals of mottled purple and black twisting in a crown around a deep pit at its center. The inner faces of the petals were adorned with wicked black barbs pointing downward into the pool of viscous pink liquid barely visible within. The central maw sat within a ring of terran blood red blooms hiding more barbs below that crawled outward until the other blooms of the gardens demanded space. 

The remainder or the image was taken up by the ever stunning stellar gardens and other spectators of the striking specimen. Although the wonders of Tal Bora did nothing for Cirsi compared to the true highlight of the image, an actual honest to goodness glimpse of Kira's face. She'd tucked herself into the bottom corner throwing a peace sign and drinking some–wait, is that Boba tea? When did Tal Bora get Boba? She couldn't help but chuckle. Leave it to her little love to visit a moon sized labyrinthine paradise of dazzling alien plant life and wind up with some boba along the way.

Inspecting further she could plainly see some changes in Kira's features, subtle ones to be sure but clear as simulated day to her. Softer edges, pristine complexion, every tiny change pointed to her continuing her G dosage. Was she picking it herself or had she remembered her prescription? How was she even getting it past the pharmacists? Hmm, she likely wouldn't share that much if asked. 

However, despite the incremental change Cirsi still saw something troubling in her features; familiar signs of fatigue around her eyes, barely there at all now but after months of the compact’s comforts and pharmaceutical aids they should have been gone entirely. Class Zs were readily available, she had no excuse not to be sleeping properly. So what was it? Why did those faint rings beneath her eyes still mar her complexion?

<(Startographer)> I believe the term is corpse plant. The aroma of that pink nectar draws animals toward the center and those that fall in…well, you can put the pieces together!

<temp.user_KI00677320M> That’s fucking metal

<(Startographer)> I'm so happy you have enjoyed the gardens little one <3. If you'd like another recommendation I have one prepared.

<temp.user_KI00677320M> Sure lay it on me

"IS THAT HER?!" Bee's scrambling form tumbled from behind her canvas and leapt fully onto Cirsi's body, smattering a trail of paint flecks along the way. Cirsi caught her and positioned her to see the tablet better. "Lemme see lemme see! Ooooh, you send her to the best places, Miss C! She looks gooood, think she still takes her meds?"

"I was just wondering the same, little sundrop! Great minds think alike, isn't that what terrans say?"

Bee beamed bashfully up at her, "Y-you think my um… my mind is great?"

Cirsi chuckled and watched the girl melt against the rhythm and heat of the action, a familiar daze creeping into her eyes. “Darling, your sweet little mind is one of my favorites in this universe, so full of creativity and curiosity and bountiful love~.” 

She finally allowed her hands to wander Bee’s form again now that her pose was not being so strictly enforced, stroking fingertips through the pet’s hair and along her scalp while her other hand cradled her cheek. If she thought Bee had been melting before she was positively a puddle now, pressing involuntarily into the vines from every angle and purring with delight. 

When the purrs and coos began giving way to mewling, Bee finally found her voice again, “W-wait, Cirsiiii…before we umm…get distracted, can I um. Can I maybeee send her a picture back?”

Cirsi didn’t think it was possible for her smile to widen further but it found a way. “I think that’s a lovely idea, little sundrop!”

“Yay!” Bee swiped the tablet from Cirsi’s vines and leapt down to the floor, a few vines cushioning her fall at the last moment. She scrambled back behind the canvas and spent an agonizingly cute minute of twisting and turning to find precisely the right angle to capture herself, her painting, and Cirsi in frame. With the picture sent she skipped back over to Cirsi and nearly handed the tablet over before catching herself and placing a hand over the painting in the image. “You’re um…you still can’t see it quite yet if that’s ok…iiis that ok?” Cirsi wasn’t sure what dark science the girl had discovered to make her eyes plead so effectively but she thanked the everbloom for them anyway. 

“Of course, little one! That was the deal after all. Allow me to take care of that.” She sent a vine coiling under the girl’s fingers until it covered the exact portion of the image occupied by the painting, obstructing her view. The tablet chimed again and they both looked to it.

<(Startographer)> 

<temp.user_KI00677320M> Lol hi Bee

Cirsi and Bee both perked up only to deflate as they watched the last message be unsent a second later.

<temp.user_KI00677320M> Lol hi Bee

<temp.user_KI00677320M> Ill take that rec if u have it. If not i gotta go

The tinge of sadness in Bee’s face was smothered immediately by giant fingertips tracing soothing circles along her back. As disappointing as the rescinding may have been for Bee, Cirsi saw something in the exchange that she didn’t. The facade was cracking.

<(Startographer)> Of course. I checked your local celestial calendar and the comet Korr will pass through the Rokkouum system in a few terran weeks. The ensuing meteor shower is breathtaking from the right spots on either of the populated planets there, I was able to see it myself in my last bloom. The rest of the system makes for a delightful stay in the meantime. Enjoy yourself Kira.

Cirsi passed the time waiting for a final message by doting on the now fully cuddle-blind Bee, but after a few minutes she resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be getting one this time. She sighed and picked Bee up by her armpits, raising the pet in front of her for inspection. The girl had managed to cover herself in splotches of paint as always, no smock would ever keep her safe from her own liberal application of color. “Well now, someone’s made a mess of themselves~. Your mistress is not due home for another half hour at least, hmmm…perhaps she would allow me to do the honor of bathing you in the meantime?”

Bee giggled that bright giggle of hers and squirmed in her hands, “Cirsiii you don’t have to play coy about it. You know mistress likes when you bathe meee! I mean she encourages it!”

Cirsi felt suddenly bashful and did her best to conceal it. “I…I simply do not like to presume, you know me. But you are right of course. Maybe if we are quick enough there will be time for some cuddles before I have to go.”

A disappointed frown spread over Bee and she slumped in Cirsi’s hands. Cirsi couldn’t have that. “What is it, sundrop? Not in the mood for cuddles tonight? I admit I would be surprised, it would be a first. But, if that is what you need…” The thought of leaving for the evening without a proper goodbye tore at her.

Bee fidgeted nervously with her fingers, “Sorry, it’s just, um…you know you don’t have to leave…”

Cirsi’s vines tensed. She had an inkling where this conversation led and she’d been too conflicted to initiate it herself. The fact that Bee was about to beat her to the punch spurred shame in her. It would be easy enough to deflect. “You know I have work to do, Bee. And I have already taken enough of your time and space these last few days, I cannot continue to impose.”

Bee’s disappointment gave way to a determination Cirsi could see bloom in her eyes, a determination that belonged to Tetra but that the girl had learned to summon to startling effect. She reached her arms out and wriggled until she was pulled onto Cirsi’s chest and placed a soft hand on one of the affini’s cheeks. 

Her voice came with the weight and earnestness of her and her mistress intertwined, “Cirsi, your guest office here is more complete than your own at your hab, I’ve seen it. And you never take up too much time or space, both of us are overjoyed to have you around! You know that!” 

She brought her other hand to the affini’s other cheek and locked their eyes. “Cirsi. Move in with us already. Please? I don’t wanna just take a quick bath with you so we can squeeze cuddle time in before you have to leave. I want you to take your time with me the way you know you want to so that mistress has the chance to join us in the tub and bask in the sudsy love of her favorite people. And I want you to have dinner with us afterward and cuddle until we all get sleepy and climb into bed with us and, and– and just stop pretending that you’re like any of Tetra's other friends! You know you’re not, you know you’re different!” 

The fire began draining from the pet’s eyes in favor of their usual gentle warmth and she looked bashfully away. “S-sorry…that was a lot. You don’t have to–”

Cirsi gripped her chin and pulled her eyes back up. “There is nothing to apologize for, sweet one. I…I am sorry if I have been pretending to be less than I am, that was never my intent. I promise I will consider it. And yes, I will stay for tonight.”

The angelic joy Bee wore so well overcame her again and she wrapped her arms tightly around Cirsi’s neck, nestling herself against the affini as closely as possible. Between the happy giggling and cooing a single “Yay!” could be heard.

Cirsi couldn’t hold her vines back any longer and they slithered across her form to grip her tight. Perhaps the floret was right, perhaps she’d been lying to herself for too long. It wouldn’t be the first time. As much as she yearned for her little love’s return, Bee had come closer to filling that void in the past months than she could’ve imagined. Not a replacement, never that. The notion of replacing what was lost gripped her core with frigid dread, nearly enough to make her sick. But she could not deny she cared deeply for the girl. Time spent with her was nothing like time spent with her friends’ other florets, there was no pretending anymore. She had some serious considerations ahead of her. But first…

“Alright little sundrop. Bath time!”

“Bath time bath time bath time!!” The girl’s unrepentant joy was the finest salve she could’ve hoped for. She deserved an extra thorough grooming this evening…

The pair made their way through Tetra’s hab fully intertwined before entering the truly regal master bathroom. A tap on each shoulder and the girl’s smock was off in a flash and discarded. As Cirsi tapped the switch to begin filling the tub with warm water, a playful thought tickled at her core. “Little Bee, how do you think your mistress would feel about me…dosing you?”

Bee’s freckled cheeks flushed the most perfect shade of crimson Cirsi could imagine. “I-I think you already know the answer to that, miss C!”

Cirsi grinned hungrily down at the pet as she lowered her into the water on her back, held aloft by the barest touch of her vines. The clipped gasps and shudders that wracked her as the heat rose over her little form were criminally enticing. Cirsi pulled a few bottles of cleaning products from nearby but she had a feeling it would be some time before they were actually used. 

“Well then, I suppose I’ll do just as she would. Do you want me to touch you, sweet thing~?” Motes of sweet pink drifted from her blooms as she loomed over the delicate, precious morsel in the tub. Bee’s eager nodding sent ripples through the water. The poor thing’s panting dragged wisps of effervescent pollen into her lungs, flushing her with need and sending her reaching for vines that would come no closer. Yet. 

“Then you know what you need to do, don’t you?” The pleased thrum that echoed from her core sent turbulence through the bath and summoned the girl’s eyes to her own.

“~Beg~.”

Tetra had taught Bee a great many things in their relatively brief time together and she certainly hadn’t skimped when it came to begging. “Please miss, pleeease I want to feel you! I want you to dose me, to melt my little brain, to make me moan and squirm and take me pleeeease! Please miss C, I need it. I need you! I need your vines, your touch, your love, your– you, I n-need– p-pleeeease–” The girl’s desperate squirming was interrupted by a needle in her thigh before magnifying tenfold. Her hands resumed their grasping, reaching for any relief, but her only reward was the vines that held her coiling tightly at her wrists and ankles, pulling her body brutally taught. 

“~Ah-ah, no taking what you are not allowed, understood~?”

Bee’s breathless nod fought through her drugged haze. Her limbs went obediently slack but the gyration of her hips more than made up for the sacrificed tension. Bee’s more carnal displays were always delightful but it was rare that Cirsi had the opportunity to experience them alone. The way her hips twisted and bucked, there was something in it that captured her attention even more than normal, something…Ah. Tetra. Even in the base motions of Bee’s most primal need, the driving rhythm of her mistress was there. 

Exquisite. 

The tip of a single vine barely graced the back of Bee’s neck, just along her scar, and the pet gasped and shuddered as intensely as if she’d been touched below. 

Cirsi crooned, “~Mmmm, you’re doing so wonderfully for me, sweet thing. Now, struggle~.”

The strain in the girl’s limbs returned with a fervor and a fresh chorus of pleading moans erupted from her. Fractions of words were cut off by her panting and never quite became the “please”s and “more”s she intended them to be. Cirsi drew the vine tip slowly down the girl’s spine, its touch stuttering over her skin, each time sending her back arching before it bent back into the teasing contact. Halfway through its descent she allowed a barb to make the contact instead and revelled in the shocked convulsing it added to the motion and the squeaks it drew from the poor thing’s mouth. 

The barbs of her other vines itched to join but leaving marks on Tetra’s property without express permission was a step beyond her comfort. A second vine raised from the water between the girl’s legs, a particularly dexterous and textured thing for special occasions, and hovered just centimeters beyond what she knew the woman could reach. A low thrum called the pet’s attention and her blissed out eyes dutifully snapped to Cirsi before wandering down to the waiting appendage. She froze and stared, allowing the sweat and drool to drip from her heaving body for a moment. 

Bee’s voice was strained, barely a whisper, “Aaah, mmmmn, m-misss…p-pleeaaaah.”

“Go on. Make an attempt~~.”

Her hips bucked with animalistic ferocity, pulling with the full force of her tiny form against all of her restraints, moans and whines and pleas flowing freely from her. Just as Cirsi knew to be true, the poor dear just barely couldn’t reach. The fervor of her attempt certainly was wondrous though, she could taste it in the steam wafting off of her.

“Now use your words, little thing. Speak~.”

“Pleeease, I need–neeed it pleeeease miss mmmm I neeeed– I–I–Mmmmmmpleeeeaassse–” Her moans were a symphony of desperate delight, echoing through the vaulted ceiling of the bath. She could’ve sat for hours in this moment, no one would’ve stopped her. Bee certainly wouldn’t have complained. 

Just when it seemed Bee couldn’t possibly wait another moment, when her panting was on the verge of cruelty, when the fire of want would immolate her cloying form, she took the girl’s face between her fingers and slowly brought her own within an inch of it. The hot breath of her core washed over them in time with the pet’s own exhale. The thin remainder of the girl’s irises quivered around dilated pupils, heady scents wafted off of her sweat slicked skin, drool dropped from her needy, lolling little tongue. What painting could ever hope to compare?

“Good girl~.”