In the absolute slightest sense, Mirabilis did feel kind of guilty. Unintentionally, she had stumbled upon what may have been the most opportune moment to accidentally eavesdrop on her floret as possible. Could anyone really blame her for lingering just a bit, and listening in as Kenzie and Serena discussed the possibility of Serena surrendering and becoming a floret? She had to admit though, even if she were innocent on that account, her choice to barge in just before Serena’s answer, only to scoop the pair up, settle down comfortably with them, and then pose the question all over again was maybe a little too mischievously evil. It couldn't be helped, though! The way Serena blushed and squirmed in place the moment she put the pressure back on was just entirely too precious. Still, she didn’t want to press the girl to the point of actual discomfort so, after Serena’s third unsuccessful attempt at formulating a coherent response, Mirabilis relented, giggling a little and relaxing her grip before ruffling the girl’s hair affectionately. “It’s alright if you don’t have an answer yet, dear. By no means do I want to put you on the spot. Well, except to the extent that it makes you all cute and squirmy.”

The way Serena’s cheeks reddened as she looked away and pouted at the comment was everything Mirabilis could have ever hoped for and more, her words prompting another flurry of blushy stammers before Mirabilis rescued her. “I understand your hesitation, little one. There is a lot to consider. First and foremost, I want you to know that whatever happens, I would never compromise yours or Kenzie’s happiness by standing in the way of your relationship.” Hearing that seemed to visibly relax Serena at least a little. “But I would very much like to keep you as my own, and, if you’re on the fence about it, I have a proposition I’d like to run by you.”

Looking down at the girl Mirabilis saw Serena take a few slow breaths to center herself. Tenderly, her Kenzie gave Serena’s hand a light squeeze, which seemed to help ground her. Mirabilis made a note to gush over that later, this was the exact sort of dynamic she’d hoped for in a pair of florets pinnate. Looking up to meet Mirabilis’ gaze, Serena replied, sounding a bit more confident this time. “I am… interested in hearing what you have to say.” This was a game Mirabilis was quite familiar with. Serena was clearly someone who liked to play coy, but Mirabilis knew all too well how to strip that away, and she couldn’t wait to spend time training out every last bit of reservation and hesitance from the little Terran. 

“Whenever an affini takes a new floret, there is a certain amount of preparation and arrangement to make in the days leading up to and immediately following domestication. I would like to start these preparations with you, make arrangements, set the appointments, cross the t’s and dot the i’s, and ultimately, book you to have your haustoric implant done in oh say, ten days?” It was around then, that Mirabilis realized she might have to actually go into detail explaining to Serena that she would be expected to have a symbiotic lump of Mirabilis’ cells implanted into her spine to regulate things like her drugs, hormones and neurotransmitters. She had forgotten that was something the average rebel soldier might not know about. Perhaps it was a conversation for another time, though. 

Looking at the human, she could see that Serena seemed a little perplexed and guarded by all she’d heard, which was at least a little worrying. “Wait, I’m a little confused by this proposition. How is this any different from just taking me as a floret?” 

“Oh!” Mirabilis stiffened for a moment, feeling a little foolish that she’d gotten so caught up on Serena’s possible ignorance of the implant, that she had forgotten to finish her explanation. “Well, we would ostensibly be treating this as a sort of trial run. You would live here with Kenzie and I, under my care while I make whatever arrangements are necessary for your possible domestication, and that way at any point if you decide you'd like to be my floret, you can just say so and we’ll have everything ready to go. I could probably even expedite some of these things if you decide before these ten days are up,” she winked. What Mirabilis left out for the time being, was that Serena’s case was still under consideration due to its rather unique circumstances, and it was quite possible she might wind up forced into domestication anyway. Hopefully, agreeing to this trial run would make either outcome a smoother transition for Serena. 

Serena grew thoughtful, chewing her lip and narrowing knitting her brow in a way Mirabilis found just absolutely adorable. Eventually, she nodded to herself and looked back up at Mirabilis. “What would this ‘trial run’ actually entail?” Thankfully, Serena seemed at least agreeable to considering the possibility, which was certainly leaps and bounds from where she’d started.

“You would live here with Kenzie and I, share a space with us, adapt to our routine. During that time I would treat you as though you were mine, with a few key differences. Firstly, you would not in any legal sense belong under my care the way Kenzie does, meaning I couldn’t force you to do anything you didn’t—” Suddenly, Mirabilis found herself the target of an absolutely withering glare, and she realized the error in her word-choice. But before she could make any hasty excuses or backpedal, Kenzie came to her rescue.

“Not that she ever had, or ever would do anything to me that expressly went against my wishes, love.” Her hand gently came to rest on Serena’s cheek, cupping it and pulling her girlfriend’s attention toward herself. “We have our own personal rules for how our dynamic works that our outlined in my domestication contract, and even if she didn’t Mirabilis would never deliberately hurt me. The only circumstances she would ever do something I didn’t consent to would be if I either couldn’t consent, or became a danger to myself or others.” Seemingly satisfied by Kenzie’s explanation, Serena relaxed a little, though still appeared a tad grumpy. Mirabilis felt a little torn. On the one hand, she felt bad about her careless word choice, on the other, Serena’s endless protectiveness over Kenzie continued to be an endlessly adorable sight.

“She’s right, Serena. I apologize for my word choice. In practice, this means things like, for example, as long as you didn’t harm anyone, I could not dose you without your permission, while Kenzie and I have explicite outlines for when and how she’s okay with me dosing her without asking first. I would also have no right to do things like set a curfew for you, enforce rules for your personal grooming, dress or speech habits, or impose any other sort of lifestyle rules for you. I would additionally have no expectation for you to address me as your Mistress, in or out of any possible intimacy we may or may not engage in—though, you are certainly welcome to use that title with me at any time, if you would like to.” That at least got Serena blushing again, which Mirabilis continued to find endlessly satisfying. “You could even, if you wished, seek housing elsewhere, though I’m sure that would make our dear Kenzie quite sad. There are plenty of other ways I would be unable to limit your agency, but I already afford my florets a great deal of personal freedom by default—assuming that’s what they want—so I see little need to outline them for you. You’re a smart girl, you can use your imagination I’m sure.” She offered a suggestive wink, and Serena rolled her eyes and huffed, but in the sort of way that conveyed playful incredulousness over actual annoyance. 

Still, when Mirabilis leaned in close and expectantly asked whether Serena was actually interested, that playful exasperation was again replaced by her familiar flustered disposition. Serena pursed her lips, seeming to chew on her own words as she worked out her answer. “I guess,” she began hesitantly, before Kenzie gave her hand another encouraging squeeze. “I guess I would maybe like to see more of what it’s like to um, y’know, be a floret? I should give it a chance at least, for Kenzie’s sake. And, well, I guess she seems to enjoy it a lot and I can’t deny that the drugs you gave me last night felt great. So, I guess I wouldn’t mind.”

Deciding to push her luck a tad, Mirabilis leaned back, exaggerating a thoughtful hum. “Well, if it’s only something you wouldn’t mind, I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing it,” she mused.

“Well, I, I mean. It could be nice. I would regret it if I didn’t try it, at least,” Serena stammered. 

Flashing a smug smile, Mirabilis tickled Serena on the neck, then brushed the girl’s cheek with one of her vines as another curled possessively around her chin. She leaned down, bringing her face close, watching in delight as Serena squirmed from the display. “So, what you’re saying is, you want it?” The moment Serena finally crumbled was worth every bit of trouble she’d caused.

With a quiet whimper, she slumped forward, and nodded. “Yes,” she stammered. 

Immediately, Mirabilis brightened, flashing a wide smile. “Great! That makes me very happy, darling.” A few more of her vines rose to curl around Serena’s waist, then her wrists as Mirabilis idly drew Serena into her mass of eager vines. “First up then, is to get you some proper experience being adored.” Making a deliberate show of effortlessness, Mirabilis lifted Serena into the air, holding her at eye level. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to dose you again, but with something less strong and in a smaller dose. You’ll be a bit dazed, but feel very peaceful and comfortable, kind of like being drunk without the depressant parts. Most importantly, though, my touch will feel very, very good.” Teasingly, she traced a vine along the side of Serena’s face, before flexing a vine to reveal a needle-pointed flower which she held before the Terran’s face enticingly. “And in case you’re worried, it won’t hurt, I promise.”

Unable to look anywhere but into Mirabilis’ steady gaze, Serena squirmed in place, gasping helplessly as she choked out a weak, barely audible, “Yes, please.” 

“Wonderful,” Mirabilis sang. Gently, she plucked Kenzie off of her lap, and sat her down at the end of the couch—being sure to leave her with a few vines to do with as she saw fit for comfort—so as to give her a front row seat to the main event. Taking great care not to startle or alarm Serena, Mirabilis brushed a vine across her arm, where the injection would be, applying a temporary numbing agent to the skin. Then, distracting her with a hungry and lascivious stroke of the cheek, Mirabilis slipped the needle in. Nothing compared to the moment the drugs kicked in, and Serena’s expression changed from nervous apprehension, to distant bliss. Mirabilis made an internal note to capture it on video some other time, if she could. 

As she continuously doted on and fawned over Serena, Mirabilis withdrew her tablet, tapped a few buttons on it, and watched with glee as Kenzie’s haustoric implant kicked in, dosing her adorable treasure just enough to keep her thoughts hazy and her will smothered. Unlike Serena, who seemed plagued with apprehension and second thoughts ‘til the moment the drugs took over, Kenzie gleefully fell into her Mistress’ control, smiling contentedly the moment she felt them tickle her mind. “Such good girls, both of you,” Mirabilis cooed. “Though you could stand to learn a few things from your girlfriend, Serena.” Keeping her comfortably suspended, Mirabilis turned Serena to gaze down upon the scattered pieces of her girlfriend’s will. “Look how happy she is, how eager for her owner’s affection,” Mirabilis whispered, reaching a hand to gently caress Kenzie’s cheek. Delightfully, Kenzie leaned into the touch, but remained in place. “So well trained, don’t you think? You can see it in her big pretty eyes just how desperately she wants more, but she knows if she’s a good, patient little pet, she’ll get all the love and affection she could ever want. So she sits still, silently begging.” Another hand reached behind Kenzie, and began to stroke her hair, causing her eye’s to roll back into her head. “My precious pet.”

“Missstresss,” Kenzie slurred, her eyes slowly returning to Mirabilis, now glassy and unfocused. “I love you,” she whimpered. 

“I love you too, my Kenzie.” Wordlessly, she brought Serena closer to Kenzie. “Now you say it, dear. Tell your girlfriend, your floret pinnate, how much you love her.” The series of gasping moans which followed were probably an attempt to do as Mirabilis asked, but Serena seemed incapable of enunciating her words properly in the face of all she was feeling. Either way, Kenzie seemed to appreciate it, leaning forward to press a small kiss on Serena’s lips. And, undoubtedly, Serena really appreciated that. Again, Serena seemed to be by far the less lucid of the pair, but perhaps that was mainly due to being completely encased in teasing and stroking vines, the amount of pleasure she was doubtlessly feeling would make doing much of anything besides moaning and writhing quite difficult. “I suppose that’s close enough,” Mirabilis giggled, returning Serena to her vantage point gazing downward upon Kenzie. “Now then,” Mirabilis continued. “I think, my dear Kenzie, I have something that belongs to you.” As she spoke, Mirabilis began to rummage around inside her tightly wound vines.

At first, Kenzie didn’t seem to follow, but Mirabilis knew her floret was as clever a pet as she was adorable, and, almost on cue, her eyes focused a little as understanding bloomed on her face. She gave an eager nod, clearly barely able to sit still from the excitement, but remained still, earning another gentle stroke along her neck as a reward for her patience. 

Not wanting to keep her pet waiting too much longer, Mirabilis wrapped her vine around Kenzie’s prize, and brought it before her. The way Kenzie’s eyes focused on and followed her soft, pretty collar was enough to set a fire in Mirabilis. Tenderly, she brought a vine under her pet’s chin, tapping it gently. “Present your neck for me, my love,” she purred. Kenzie obeyed almost too eagerly, straightening out her back and looking up to the ceiling, exposing herself. “We decided it would be best if we kept her collar off for your initial meeting, so as to not alarm you, but the poor thing has clearly missed it dearly, don’t you think?” Mirabilis asked, looking to the squirming terran currently already ensnared in her mercilessly adoring grasp. “And of course, I have one for you, too, if you want it darling. Just like hers is a pretty green to match her pretty eyes, yours is a pretty purple to match yours. I’ll wait til you’re lucid before broaching the subject with you again. In the meantime, this will have to do.” As she spoke, a vine rose to wrap snugly around Serena’s throat. With that matter taken care of, Mirabilis redirected her attention to her floret. “I won’t keep you waiting any longer, my dear,” she crooned, leaning forward to lovingly secure the soft, flowery material around Kenzie’s eager, trembling flesh.

The moment her collar finally fit around Kenzie’s neck, she slumped forward, melting into a happy little puddle as Mirabilis scooped her up and set her back down on her lap. With both her playthings accounted for, she secured Kenzie in a swarm of tangling and doting vines, stood, and carried them off toward the bedroom to give the pair the affection they properly deserved.