Exactly how long it had been since Serena willingly gave Mirabilis her will, she could not say. At the very least, she knew it had been several days, probably at least a week. She had no deadlines or responsibilities. With her ‘trial run’ over, and her implantation in the past, Serena really had little to mark the passing of days against. There was some degree of structure to her life, in the sense that she would wake up after a night’s sleep, spend a period of time either somewhere along the spectrum of wakefulness—or possibly, napping—then eventually get another night’s sleep. Other than that, though, as before, she had little means to distinguish one day from the other. The fact that she spent most of her time at least a little high didn’t make that any easier. 

Still, none of this was to say Serena had any reason to complain; she was well and truly happy. That night with Mirabilis had finally cemented Serena’s place in her owner’s grasp. When Mirabilis had finished with Serena, two fundamental truths had been lovingly etched into her consciousness. First, that she was Mirabilis’ pet; second, that everything would be okay, always. And, in the wake of that, caring about things like clearly delineating which day was which, or making concrete plans about what she would do when, mattered little to Serena. It had occurred to her on a few occasions that the idea of one day having hardly an ounce of concern for things like scheduling or time management would have sounded absolutely ridiculous, impossible to a Serena from only weeks prior. She had, after all, been in charge of shipping and delivering ‘important’ goods for the rebellion effort. Now though, the thought of her life before, a life full of stress and deadlines, and, most importantly, a life without the everpresent guidance of her Mistress, just made Serena feel a little lost and confused. But Serena didn’t really think much about her old life anymore; not when her new one was so wonderful. It wouldn’t do for a pet to think of such things anyway.

Her days were spent with Kenzie at her side, happy, and often dazed. Like so many affini florets, Serena’s movements were often clumsy, she had a propensity to drift off into a glassy-eyed haze on occasion, and she hung on her owner’s every word, ecstatic from each ounce of affection Mirabilis would happily and constantly shower her with. Of course, Serena did have her more lucid moments. Mira had kept her promise, and was doing what she could to find a way for Serena to fly again. In the meantime, she’d been asked to keep her skills sharp by practicing in virtual reality, something which she had tried while blissed out on xenodrugs exactly once, just to see what would happen. It didn’t go well. She had also taken it upon herself to pick up an instrument, since she had nothing better to do and why not; again, this was another task best suited for a mostly present mind. And, while the guitar which had long sat untouched in her quarters on Petrichor was long gone, there were a myriad of options—including instruments from the countless cultures the affini had brought into the fold—at her disposal. So far, though, she’d had little luck. 

Even when her mind was sharpest, however, Serena never stopped feeling the comfortable bliss that came with the knowledge that she was owned; she belonged to someone who would take good care of her and keep her safe. True to her word, Mirabilis had ensured her pet would never doubt the sincerity of her dedication to Serena and Kenzie’s wellbeing. And even if Serena could doubt her, Mirabilis would never even dream of giving either of her florets a reason to.

Things with Kenzie had only improved, their relationship stronger than ever. The two spent most of their time joined both figuratively at the hip and more literally by their implants. Not a single day went by which Serena didn’t get to feel the everpresent comfort of the woman she adored permeate her mind. The more time they spent together like that, the more control they gained over how deeply their minds would integrate. At times, the overlap would be so insignificant that one would have to make a conscious effort to get so much as a read on the other’s emotional state; at others, their minds would be so entangled that both Serena and Kenzie struggled to determine whose thoughts were whose. 

It was far from uncommon for Mirabilis to ask a question to one floret, only for the other to answer it for her without realizing it. The occurrence had gotten frequent enough that Mirabilis often added to the confusion by accidentally mixing up who she even meant to address at times. Perhaps most befuddling of all, Kenzie and Serena had begun deliberately answering to the wrong names just to tease their owner, only to accidentally answer to their own names. 

Either way, both florets took great comfort in the presence of the other inside her head. The whole thing had taken some getting used to, but it hadn’t taken long for them to actually prefer things that way. Their shared consciousness had certainly also gone a long way in both amplifying and prolonging the sense of deep, cathartic satisfaction the pair received whenever their owner gave them the love and praise which they always so eagerly craved. Sex, also, never ceased to amaze the two whenever they had it while bound—which was daily.

The reality was, every day it became more and more impossible to deny—though she never would—that becoming Mirabilis’ floret was far and away the best decision Serena had ever made. 

* * *

Some days, Mirabilis couldn’t believe how lucky she was. There had been moments, when Serena first arrived aboard Baiera, and even moments shortly after Serena had begun her ‘trial run,’ that Mira had doubted things could work out. Even at her most confident, Mira really could never have imagined just how wonderful it would be to own both Kenzie and her lovely girlfriend. Serena was delightful in so many unique and special ways, and having both at the same time only amplified the joys of either as individuals. 

Nine days had passed since Mirabilis had broken Serena’s will, and not a day had gone by that her darling floret didn’t thank her for it. The biggest struggle, honestly, was to simply graciously accept instead of turning right back around and earnestly thanking Serena for agreeing to be domesticated in the first place. She’d done that exactly once, and the entire thing devolved into a spiral of mutual affection that ultimately resulted in neither of them being able to stand for the rest of the day. This wasn't a problem, so to speak, but it wasn’t something they could do every day. Unfortunately, Mirabilis did actually have obligations besides caring for her florets. 

Mirabilis often liked to reflect on how perfectly things were going whenever she made herself ready for one such obligation. It made the sting of leaving her darling florets behind a little more bearable, though, not all her obligations necessitated leaving them behind. As it happened the social call she’d planned with Hesperia and Illex was one such occasion where Kenzie and Serena were more than welcome. The only real issue was the fact that waking her sleeping florets felt like an absolute crime. Still, Mirabilis did manage to steel herself, and gently nudge the pair back into consciousness. Their eyes flickered open, and, after giving them ample time to properly wake up and ready themselves for the day, Mirabilis offered to take them to lunch while she caught up with Hesplex. 

Serena and Kenzie shared a look for a moment, Mirabilis could see in their eyes the two were having one of the silent little exchanges that went on only in their heads. They share a smile, then a giggle, and turned back to Mira. “I think we’ll pass, Mistress,” answered Kenzie. 

“Not that we don’t want to see them,” Serena continued.

“But we’re only just waking up, and want some time to ourselves.”

“Say hi for us though, please?”

“Especially for Serena, she hasn’t stopped thinking about them since her… ‘interrogation.’” At that, Serena shot Kenzie a flustered glare, and both burst into another fit of giggles. 

For her part, Mirabilis just stared in open-mouthed incredulity, before finally mustering a reply. “I cannot believe you two.”

Her florets shared another fit of laughter, before Serena spoke up. “What’s wrong, Mistress?”

“If we’re misbehaving, we’re very sorry, just tell us what the problem is!”

“We’d never want to disobey you,” they concluded simultaneously. 

“Criminals, the both of you! I thought domestication was supposed to sort out such behavior.” Affectionately, she leaned forward to ruffle both of their heads. “If you’re staying behind, though, I should really be going, you two are okay on your own?”

“Yes, Mistress!” They answered together brightly. 

Mirabilis made an exaggerated show of rolling her eyes. “Alright then, I’ll be sure to pass on your regards. Kenzie, make sure Serena doesn’t turn the oven into a bomb while I’m gone, alright?” Laughing, Kenzie nodded as Serena’s face flushed. Giving each of them one last doting stroke, Mirabilis stood, and strode to the door. Just before leaving the room, she turned over her shoulder. “By the way,” she called. “The next time you two try that Hesplex routine with me, I’ll be limiting your speaking privileges. Let’s see you try and torment your poor, loving owner when the only words left in your shared vocabulary are ‘yes, Mistress.’” She watched in delight as a little shiver of submissive desire traveled through each of her pets, before they shared another look, giggled, and turned back to her.

“Yes,”

“Mistress.”

Throwing her arms in the air in playful melodrama, Mirabilis couldn’t keep herself from laughing along with her florets. “You two are unbelievable, you know that? I clearly let you think way too much,” she flashed them an affectionate grin. “Try to be good, okay? I love both.”

“We love you too, Mistress,” they called after her. 

Strolling through the wide open walkways of the Baiera, Mirabilis couldn’t keep herself from casually chortling at her florets’ antics. She made a point of keeping herself to a leisurely pace as she made it to one of the many trams, hopped aboard, and disembarked a stop later near the lovely little spot Hesplex had suggested. There, waiting for her, was Ilex, lounging by herself at a balcony table overlooking a decorative fountain and shallow reflecting pool—the bottom of which was decorated with a generous sprinkling of now otherwise completely useless Terran coins, in a display of some old Earth custom. It was a pretty sight, perhaps one of the only good things to ever come out of their misguided practice of circulating currency. As Mirabilis approached, she caught Ilex’s eye, and the affini beckoned her over. They entwined their vines in greeting, then sat across from one another. 

“No Hesperia today?” Mira asked as she settled in.

“Oh she’ll be around, Dawn needed a bit of extra time to get going today, so I went on ahead, she had a long day yesterday so we’re leaving her with a friend,” Ilex explained. 

“A shame, your little cotyledon is quite the treasure from the photos I’ve seen.” 

“She very much is, though you’re one to talk, the photos you’ve sent us of those two together have more than made up for all the trouble your little Serena is causing us,” Ilex answered.

“That’s actually part of why I wanted to meet,” Mirabilis replied. “I wanted to offer my assistance with whatever extra work you’re caught up in. I know it’s not my fault, but she’s my responsibility now, I can’t help but feel I should at least offer a hand.” 

Before Ilex could reply, a Terran server came by with three cups of tea. Ilex turned to the server and smiled. “Thank you very much dear, you’re doing such a great job,” she purred, stroking the Terran’s wrist gently, causing the adorable little server to tremble and stammer. They blushed, and hurried away after a quick word of thanks. 

“Floret servers at this one, I take it?” Mira asked amusedly. 

“Oh not at all,” Ilex giggled. “That one is just especially adorable and flusterable. They’re a rebel defector, one of Hesperia and I’s former informant’s actually. I give them a week before someone snatches them up.” Out of the corner of her eye, Mirabilis caught sight of Hesperia entering the cafe, she gave a friendly wave, and scurried over to claim her spot at the table. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Hesperia chirped. “Dawn was a bit needy this morning.”

“No need, I already explained to her,” Ilex answered.

“You should have seen her, Mira.”

“Absolutely adorable, as always.” 

“We simply must take her with us next time.”

“Next time,” Ilex agreed.

Mirabilis sighed, and chuckled to herself. “Here I was impressed Ilex could even hold a conversation without her other half. I guess you two can’t turn it off, though. You’ve already started rubbing off on my florets.” 

“Oh and how are Kenzie and Serena?” Hesperia asked.

“You know, if Serena ever wants to come by for us to ‘interrogate’ her again, she’s more than welcome,” Ilex added, causing both affini to burst into synchronized laughter.

“I’ll pass it along.” Apparently feeling a tad guilty for the trouble she had caused, and also very much hoping to do whatever she could to help save more rebels from themselves, Serena had begged Mirabilis to allow her and Kenzie to divulge whatever rebel information they knew. At the time, Mirabilis had also—correctly—assumed Serena was at least partially motivated by some sense of obligation she’d felt from the misguided belief that Hesplex’s increased interest in her had ever stemmed from a desire to glean some valuable information from her. But if it would make her feel like she was helping, Mira was happy to oblige, there was no harm in it. 

And so, a few days after properly recovering, Mirabilis had arranged a meeting. Mira had elected to stay behind and handle some lingering paperwork for Serena, but later immensely regretted her choice. Apparently, much to Serena’s embarrassment, and Kenzie’s delight, Hesperia and Ilex had shown barely any interest at all in their intel, and instead spent most of their time teasing and fawning over what a cute pair of florets pinnate they were. It was, Mirabilis later came to realize, a sort of final nail in the coffin of Serena’s belief that the affini had ever wanted anything at all from her, save to give her a happy life as a well-trained pet.

“So, Mira, is there anything we can do for you?” Hesperia asked. 

“Actually, I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you. You mentioned over text a few days ago that because of Serena’s little stunt you had your work cut out for you?” Mirabilis asked. 

“Right, we were about to talk about that before we were so adorably interrupted,” Ilex commented. 

“There is a mountain of paperwork we need to do, calls we need to make and the like,” Hesperia elaborated. 

The pair hummed simultaneously, and in tandem, crossed opposite legs across their knees and scratched one another’s chins thoughtfully. “We appreciate the offer, Mira, but we’re already leading an entire team of experts on this,” Ilex mused.

“There probably isn’t much you can do to help at this point.”

“Besides, we would hate for Serena to learn she’s actually caused anyone any trouble.”

“The poor thing would feel so guilty.”

“Though, really, we should be thanking her for bringing this to our attention.”

“What’s the actual issue here?” Mira asked. 

“Ovens, Mirabilis.” Ilex spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Thousands of ovens.” Hesperia’s tone rose in urgency.

“Millions of ovens,” Ilex emphasized. 

“Maybe more.” 

“Imagine.” 

Hesperia shook her head gravely. “And all of them are a potential threat to some adorable little sophont’s life.”

Nodding sagely, Ilex continued. “It’s simply too great a risk to install those incredibly dangerous Terran ovens within any hab unit in the Affini Accord, be it aboard ship, a station, or on a planet.”

“We don’t know who even decided it would be a good idea to trust such technology. But they were clearly too short-sighted,” Hesperia chided, as though whoever it was could somehow hear her.

“Replacing them is the easy part, we could have an engineer whip up a safer oven with similar look and functionality in an afternoon,” Ilex added matter-of-factly. 

“The real issue is tracking them down and getting the word out to everywhere they are installed.”

Perplexed, Mirabilis cocked her head. “Did Serena not tell you that the ovens are actually perfectly safe and the whole bomb threat was a hoax?”

Hesperia nodded. “She did, and after looking into it, we believe her. But the risk is simply too great.” 

“An affini explosives expert took one apart and, after a few hours and a lot of finagling with affini tech, was able to build a bomb from it.”

“No terran is ever likely to accomplish that,” Hesperia admitted. “But even if there’s even a millionth of a percent chance, we simply can’t risk it.”

At the first lull in the conversation, Miabilis seized her chance to get a word in. “Well, in that case I tell you what, I’ll take the liberty myself of replacing the one in my hab, save you the trouble.”

“Excellent,” Ilex and Hesperia answered. 

The rest of their lunch passed relatively uneventfully, consisting mostly of pleasant idle chatter between bouts of Hesplex making eyes at their extremely submissive and domesticatable server. When it came time to part ways, Mirabilis was again forced to promise that she would continue to send updates and photos on her florets. She gave a parting wave, and, rather exhausted by the sheer… Hesplexness of Hesplex, endearing as they may be, Mirabilis headed home. 

Upon arriving home, Mirabilis strode past her empty living room, and found that her florets had yet to set foot outside of bed. Instead, Kenzie and Serena were lying naked in one another’s arms. Glassy green eyes stared vacantly into equally glassy purple ones. Two pretty pairs of lips hung partially open, trickling little dribbles of drool out of each mouth. The sound of their Mistress entering the room did nothing to rouse them from their state, as they were doubtlessly completely lost in the deep, blissful ocean of their shared headspace. Mirabilis paused for a moment to appreciate the sight. Smiling to herself, she snapped a quick photo for later, and undressed herself before climbing into bed next to them. She gave each of her darling pets a loving stroke across the cheek, wrapped them both in her arms, and settled in for a day of relaxation with her treasured florets pinnate.