Lily smiled as her client entered, his loose form seeming flowing in such a way as though he was under water, moss claiming most of the affini’s biomass flowers Lily couldn’t name, riddling the undergrowth. His eyes were a deep fractured red, like a cracked ruby that gave a scary look to his placating. The affini looked first to Lily before looking towards the other sophont in the room before looking back. “Hello little Lily, I was very excited when I was notified that you returned. It’s been quite the worry for a lot of us.”

“Thank you for your concern mister Bryophyta, the last few days have been more than interesting to put it mildly. I’m at least glad to return to my work, I’ve always found it therapeutic and relaxing.” Lily gave a warm smile as she urged the affini to sit down and get comfortable as she opened her datapad to look at the order.

“Ah! I remember this one… mint! A very interesting plant, terra used to use these as a medicinal herb to treat sore throats and colds. Even comes from a fun little tale, or several.” Walking through the necessary solutions and utensils, Lily smiled as she recollected the tale of the greek nymph. “The tale of its name comes from old old Greece, maybe not for you, but for us. Several millenia ago, the queen of the underworld and goddess of spring Persephone, or Kore, or… well, they kinda changed names a lot. Anyway, she notices a certain nymph is trying to seduce her husband, the king of the underworld and god of earthly riches, Hades.” She went into the backroom to find the mint, Mentha x piperita, letting the story get some room to breathe before she returned.

“Persephone, being the queen, and wife, was not happy with Mynthe’s advancements and in a fit of rage, turned her into the mint. Where her fiery coolness could be tasted if you chewed her leaves.” Lily set the plant down smiling at the two affini who looked none too pleased with the tale. Sighing, she looked up at Elowin, who gave the most displeased look. “It’s a wild tale, there’s another term that grew from the Greek culture, Hubris. To believe you can outsmart or trick the gods is a sin, and you deserve what’s coming to you.”

“Your terran tales are strange. On one hand they are interesting relics of the past, but they all seem so… sad, and destructive. I don’t understand why anyone would make a story like this.” Lily smiled somewhat knowingly at that, grabbing the scalpel to make small incisions, as she thought to herself of all of the great tragedies that humans told each other, the sweet, slightly spicy scent of peppermint filling her nostrils as she slowly applied it to the affini. The plant would thrive mostly in the shady parts of the vines, so she decided on making it more of an overhang, where vines either lapped over one another or where there was clear shade from the light.

“It’s cathartic, the stories give a sense of closure. While it’s not a good ending, it’s one that gives a sense of finality that isn’t entirely tragic. Many tales from this era are similar, the boundary between euphoric happy endings and heart wrenching tragic endings creates a strange pleasure that is sometimes sought by terrans.” Elowin’s vines tightened at the story before she looked over to the mint, her hand lightly touching one of the leaves as she wondered.

“Anything else you wanna tell us about mint? Maybe something that isn’t about an act of destructive jealousy?” Lily chuckled lightly at that as she admired her work for a moment, finding the cracks where she could plant was easy. Affini were a cluster of vines that wrapped around eachother to create their form. The issue of where she should, slowly appraising some of the placements she started trimming to make the form of the clusters seem more deliberate. Taking away its naturality to replace it with symmetry.

“Mint creates an interesting hot coolness to the human tongue, almost as if taking in a breath of freezing cold air when you chew at it. Peppermint however is more akin to a warmth that flushes your mouth, a lot of holiday candies and drinks used to use peppermint as flavor around christmas. Though, the real plant was hard to come by, so most companies just used artificial flavors.” Finishing making a few adjustments, she added the final solutions to help the plant grow and meld with the affini’s vines before smiling up at the moss covered giant.

“That should be all for now, though do say if you have any issues with the mint failing to grow or starting to wilt.” Saying his goodbyes he smiled and pet Lily before leaving the room, admiring the pretty little coat of mint that the terran had given her, hopefully his little floret would love the new look and scent.

Lily muttered something under her breath as she looked over the next few solutions needed for the next client. Pacing slightly she replaced different bottles and jars before placing the necessary products on the table for the next client before looking over to the living tree that was looking at her.

“Want anything? Maybe some nutrient mix? This place has a lot of that.” The terran chuckled as she leaned on the table and looked into those deep eyes, finding it harder and harder to look away each day. A part of her mind, hidden behind layers of xenodrugs warned her that it was not good to experience such feelings, that warning was dismissed almost as soon as it came, something about it made her shiver in a way she never had before.

“I would love that dear, but I can get that myself. How about you rest until the next client arrives. I know that your bodies need to take breaks after working, and you’re still recovering. So please, take a seat and I’ll get something to drink and eat.” Elowin smiled and tried to urge the terran to sit down, the little human none too pleased as she looked up at the giant plant lady. Stars, she was beautiful.

“I’m fine, I don-” 

“Sit.” Lily found herself on the chair a moment later, a look of shock on her face as she looked at the disappearing form of Elowin, who soon closed the door behind her. What was that? She barely remembered herself moving to sit down on the chair, her mind having been filled with a strong need to listen and to follow. The action brought a sense of accomplishment as her face reddened into a blushing heat. The word was not a command, it was a statement, a fact to her. She needed to sit, she wasn’t ordered to, she had to. A few minutes later the affini returned, a pitcher of a greenish liquid, a large bottle of water and a few sandwiches that she placed down on the counter before looking at Lily.

“Now then, I asked the next client to give us some time to recuperate, since it’s infinitely important that you take your time to relax.” A vine snacking into the pitcher, the large mass of vines and flowers slowly prowling towards her, a sandwich and bottle in hand as she formed her shape into what seemed like a lush seat. “Please sit here for me dear, your stool doesn’t give you proper support.”

“You what? Elo, I- that won’t be necessary. I can drink water while I’m working, and I’m not that hungry right now.” Her look of shock grew into a strange horror as she looked at the flowery seat before her, her mouth moving wordlessly for a moment as she tried to find a response that would fit the scenario. “Elowin, I’m fine. There’s no need for any of this, I promise. I can sit here and eat a sandwich if you want, but I don’t wanna delay a client who’s already delayed due to unfortunate circumstances.”

Elowin didn’t respond, instead giving the terran a questioning look, faux-eyebrow raised as if she was urging Lily to go on as vines wrapped around and picked her up into the seat. Squeaks of indignation escaping the small squishy human as she was lowered and pet, water bottle swinging around to reach her mouth as she grabbed it before the affini did something she’d regret. Taking a few deep swigs she shuffled to get comfier, there was really no point in fighting and she feared that if she did, Elowin would just do the same trick as before.

“What was it you did before? When you ordered me to sit, it felt different from most other times.” The sandwich came next, this one Lily couldn’t grab as she was forced to open her mouth as the bready delight entered her mouth, chicken and spinach with dill and some pickles, aioli giving some delightful savoriness as the affini gave a birdsong of a chuckle.

“A trick that we affini have in our arsenal, we put more emphasis on our rhythm, it causes adorable sophonts like you to listen more deeply. Obey? No… more like follow, you’re lead to take the words to heart and it becomes almost a fact in your mind.” Another bite, Lily opened her mouth before biting down on air. “Hold on, let me try something.”

A vine moved to Lily’s cheek, brushing down, she knew what this was. Her face turned a bright shade of red, stammering to try and fight back, to yell, to reprimand. Instead, as she opened her mouth, her mouth was filled with the delicious treat, she sat there in shocked stillness before the vine flicked up. Mouth closed around a bite as she chewed, her flustered expression causing a high pitched squeal from the affini before the vine moved to her neck. One gulping swallow later, Lily found her voice once more. “D-don’t do that again…”

“I’m sorry dear, I don’t know what came over me. I just wanted to try it out on you, you can eat the rest of the sandwich on your own now, no tricks~” Lily fumbled with her hands as she grabbed the sandwich, contents almost crashing onto her lap as her face went from bright to deep red. Before the affini could comment, the terran quickly ate the rest of the sandwich, taking little time to chew as she felt that familiar pressure of eating all too quickly. “Continue eating like that, and I might make my little experiment permanent.”

Lily didn’t respond as she took some time to calm herself, the pressure subsiding after a while before she hopped off the viney throne and looked back at the affini. “I think it’s time to continue, like you said. No more tricks. I’m gonna be working, and finishing these last two clients before you continue with your pamperings of me. I wanna work, not be coddled.”

Vines lowered as the affini gave a sheepish look and nodded. A few of her flowers that were blooming quickly closed up as she gave a guilty smile and started to stand. The terran somewhat hurriedly moved to welcome the next client into the room. Tall for affini standards she was lanky with long vines stretching across her body. Her arms moving down to where the knees would be on a terran as she gave a delighted squeak. “I’m glad you’re back Lily, I hope you’re not overexerting yourself. Health is important you know~”

“That won’t be necessary Miss, I’ve got some good rest and nutrition, and I’d much rather graft than sit around right now, my hands are itching for work.” Smiling, the terran urged the affini to sit down, the affini lowering herself so her leafy hair was at chest height for her. Lily pulled out her datapad. “Clematis, right? A pretty climbing vine, very much fitting someone like you.” Standing up, the terran moved to find a pot with a small ladder like post, vines climbing up it, beautiful, deep purple flowers staring at the terran as she picked it up and moved back to her seat.

“Clematis is a fascinating plant, it requires a lot of attention and care to grow properly, however it was one of the more popular flowering vines that the rich would buy to look nice. In pre-spacetravel terra it was said to cure a myriad of diseases, all from headaches to syphilis, though sources are unsure if it was actually useful or just placebo.” Lily made small incisions on the “scalp” of the affini, vines that carried the leaves gave a soft sap as Lily carefully cut and inserted the plants, solution moving to help heal and bond the two vines together. She imagined a stripey look, slowly and carefully adding small strands of the flowery vine down, carefully making the flowers fold in between the myriad of leaves.

Conversation between the affini soon picked up as Lily happily listened in, it was a fun perk to understand what they were saying. Though sometimes they’d grow a little too excited and talk too quickly for her to pick up, the sounds were like polyphonic melodies, one following the other's emotion in rhythm as their discussion turned from joy to excitement, remorse to understanding. It was unearthly, ethereal, music that could possibly never be composed by any terran. A piece that would never be heard once more.

Slowly finishing up, Lily smiled as she viewed her work, strands of deep purple mixing with the natural greens of the affini coat. Nodding in approval at her work she pulled out her vines. Vines? She looked down, green spreading across her arms, the tips of her finger seeming almost too well formed as she open and closed them. Focus, now is not the time to start to hallucinate.

“I’m so glad your floret has found someone like that! It’s always adorable and blooming to see such cute little things find their pinnate. Have you talked to their owner about a potential shared hab?” Elowin’s vines were loosening at the news as she looked at the work that Lily had done, the work meticulous and beautiful as ever, an art that no affini would imagine as the terran put her own twist on what would seem beautiful on the plant species. “It looks wonderful Lily, I’m sure Mi- is everything alright?”

Elowin looked on as the terran stared at her hands, before their eyes met, concern and fear filling the terran's eyes.