The sunlight shining through the windows above her bed gently roused Krile from her sleep. For the first time in what felt like years she awoke feeling somewhat well rested. She sat up and yawned, blinking a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes and to remember where exactly she was. Right, she thought, sleepover with my social worker. Looking around her room she saw a large collection of her possessions from her apartment set about the room. A small workstation with her computer against the interior window, a few shelves filled with her modest collection of books, and her altar. She tried to piece together any memories in particular after her bath but failed to do so. She must have been well and truly exhausted, she reasoned, with it being her first day out of the hospital in several days. Acicularis and Hipatia must have moved her stuff in here during her bath, she hoped that she had remembered to thank them before she had passed out.

Krile crawled to the end of the bed and got up, affini beds were so big she was practically drowning in it sleeping alone. She took a second to inspect her clothes, white shirt and pants with an array of crisscrossing geometric patterns of various colors printed on them. They were astoundingly comfortable as well. Her stomach growled and roused her out of her thoughts. Right, she needed to eat. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror next to her door, at some point during the night she had lost her eyepatch. The one the hospital had given her was obviously meant to be temporary but that left her with another thing to do.

The house didn't seem to yet be awake as she reached the living room. Hipatia’s door was closed, which elicited a pang of longing as she remembered the affini. She shook it off, she had only just met her. She couldn't get attached to someone she knew would be out of her life as soon as Acicularis realized she was okay. Acicularis’s door was wide open but the woman was nowhere to be seen. Krile hadn't heard anything on the second floor, so she reasoned that she must be out somewhere. 

She quietly entered the kitchen and stood in front of the thing Acicularis pulled the towel and soap out of last night. Acicularis had called it an atomic compiler. It was what looked like a 3D printing bay embedded into the wall with a touchscreen interface above it. Thankfully it was set to english. Krile quickly found the search function and typed in ‘eyepatch’. A surprisingly vast array of options was presented to her. Not only were there many different styles, but each entry could be printed as a different material and color if she wished. Flipping through the selection she eventually settled on one and hit compile.

The box below lit up with light as she watched her new eyepatch be quickly fabricated out of nothing from the ground up. A ding from the machine signaled that it was done and Krile gingerly reached inside and took it out. She had settled on a soft black patch that had one band going across and around her head and two on the short side that each went above and below her ear that met at an O ring at the back of her head. She stepped into the bathroom and took a look at her reflection. She was still getting used to the new reality of only having half her vision, but having a covering that made her feel cool helped keep her spirits up.

Krile ducked back to the kitchen and swiped through the menus on the compiler until she found some pancakes she could have for breakfast. Another flash of light and the pancakes were there, complete with utensils and syrup that started to drip down the pancakes as soon as it was materialized. She quickly took it to the dining table dug in, luxuriating in the flavors and textures. Before she had eaten mostly as a form of stress relief. It was rare that she would even have a real meal, and anything she did eat tasted like nothing at best.

Before she knew it she had finished and was washing her dish. She didn't see any sort of dishwasher nor a place to put the now wet plate. She settled for placing it on the counter next to the sink and hoping that was okay. Now with nothing to do she flopped onto the affini sized couch and waited for a bit. She didn't know how well sound traveled in this place so she chose not to try the tv, nor did she know when Acicularis was coming home. After a few minutes she got up, deciding to go back to her room and boot up her computer. As she was passing Hipatia’s room to the stairs she noticed a familiar noise. It was imperceptible this far away and behind such a sturdy door, but it had already ingrained itself into Krile’s mind, Hipatia’s biorhythm, her heartbeat. She hadn't realized how much she had missed it, like one of two holes in her heart. She leaned her head against the door, straining to hear it better. Pressing her ear against the wall she was rewarded with not the noise itself, but the feeling of it, its gentle waves that pass through her. It was slower than it was yesterday when she had carried her. She must be sleeping, Krile mused. She closed her eyes and focused on how relaxed it made her feel, how content.

Krile woke up with a start. She was face first against the shaggy carpet of Hipatia’s room. She saw the vines touching the ground in front of her and put together what had happened. She looked up at Hipatia who was worriedly looking down at her.

“I’m so sorry little flower, had I known you would have this much separation anxiety I would have brought you to sleep with me.” Hipatia wrapped her vines around Krile and lifted her up to rest her cheek against the affini’s chest.

“No it's okay I was…” Krile protested as she was picked up, but as soon as she was being held against the affini’s chest her desire to resist was shattered. She couldn't understand why but being held by her made her feel like the safest person in the universe. Hipatia carried her back over to the couch and sprawled onto it, keeping Krile tucked in her arms.

“Hipatia?” Kriles' voice was muffled from being face first in the affini. “What happened last night? Why do I feel like this?”

Krile couldn't see but a stricken look of concern and deliberation took over Hipatia’s face. “Well…” She finally spoke “After your bath we cuddled a lot, Cici gave you your medicine, we fed you dinner, after that you were having some trouble falling asleep so we gave you something to help. It's possible the Class-Z we gave you for sleeping messed with your ability to remember the rest of the night.”

Krile looked up in her eyes “Oh? so I just-”

“Fell for me rather quickly? It seems so”

Krile blushed and looked away.

“What?” Hipatia playfully prodded. “Am I not the typical kind of woman you court?”

Krile began fidgeting anxiously “No! Not that, I just- I don’t- I’m never this forward, it took me months to ask Juno out and I met you just yesterday!”

“Darling, darling” Hipatia secured the anxious human in her grasp. “Nothing is wrong, you are safe. I know what might explain why you’re feeling this way”

Hipatia ran her fingers in small circles on Kriles' back, helping her keep herself present and away from her panicky spirals. “Affini have this thing called a biorhythm. It's somewhat analogous to a heartbeat, and can be hypnotic to sophonts who are susceptible to such things. I would be happy to help you disentangle your mind from my biorhythm, but first I would want you to ask yourself an important question. Are these feelings something that you didn't have and don't want to have? Or has this merely hastened the development of what was already there?”

Krile sat there in the affini’s arms silently. It was true that she was having gay thoughts the moment she first saw this woman, and that if she was being honest with herself the pet play stuff sounded pretty fucking hot. It was the sort of thing she fantasized about having with Juno, had circumstances permitted. She stared off, lost in her own thoughts. Was she recoiling from this because she didn't want it? Or because she felt like she didn't deserve it? The thoughts that normally dragged her down during these spirals were noticeably absent. 

Back when she had motivation to do anything she had been the reckless one between her and Juno. Always the one willing to do dumb and dangerous things on a lark or a dare or just for the fun of it. But like with most things in her life the things that made Krile Krile felt like they had rotted away. It felt like most of her personality was cracked and faded from her years long depressive episode, like Juno took most of her with when she left. But now either from the clarity of surviving her suicide attempt or maybe even just the better antidepressants these aliens gave her, she felt like she hadnt had a clear head for months up until yesterday, for the first time in years she felt a tiny bit like herself again. Not wanting to risk losing that she barreled forward, hoping her instincts were right.

“Hipatia, I want to be your pet!” Krile almost yelled at the affini.

The affini looked at her silently for a moment before she suddenly started making a noise like a heavy wind blowing through a forest as she seemed to convulse.

“Hipatia?!” Krile crawled forward to look into the affini’s face. Her worry only subsided when the noises slowly morphed to more resemble human laughter.

Hipatia’s chuckling finally petered out after a few more moments. “Oh I’m sorry for worrying you flower. I was just so bemused by how quickly you were able to come to that conclusion. You’re very self-insightful when you let yourself be.”

She softly caressed the humans face with her vines. “Oh, my very first floret. I’ve been looking forward to this moment ever since I left the core worlds”

Krile almost purred at the touch. “So, um. What happens now?”

They were interrupted by a rustling at the door which slid back to reveal Acicularis carrying several cloth bags in her vines as she stepped inside.

“I’m hoooom- Oh, should I come back later?”

“No need, my new floret and I can finish our conversation later”

Acicularis gasped “Floret? So she-”

Hipatia nodded

Acicularis squealed with delight and took Krile from Hipatia’s embrace. “I’m so happy for you little flower! I thought it would take some convincing. You’re such a brave little thing.”

Kriles face reddened as she looked away. Had she just resigned herself to a life of praise and blushing?

Before she knew it she was back on the ground. She heard Hipatia behind her slithering off, but Acicularis caught her attention again before she could turn to investigate.

“I left early this morning because I thought you might like some handcrafted goods, but now they can be presents for the occasion!” She took out several new dresses and other clothes to show and then handed them to Krile. They all were quite similar in design to the clothes they had already given her, multicolored geometric patterns.

“I like them but, As far as I can remember, these weren’t the fashions before the occupation. Are these affini styles?” She set the stack of clothes onto the coffee table.

“Right you are!” Acicularis ruffled Kriles' hair. “We find humans absolutely adorable in these.”

Before Krile could think of her next question a warm strip of leather was snaked around her neck and tightly secured. Krile touched it and noticed the dangling ring at the front. Oh. One half of her wanted to curse her impulsiveness for agreeing to something so life changing on a whim and the other absolutely melted at the idea of being pulled around by this thing. 

Hipatia flowed around to face her, grinning as much as the affini’s face could allow. “You look so precious my docile little pet”

The word docile sent a warm shiver up Kriles' back. She could get used to being called that.

“Speaking of,” Acicularis added, “We ought to give her a walk to help her get her strength back.”

Krile looked away, she felt a strange mix of euphoria from being spoken about like she wasn't there, but the humiliation of the reminder of her failure to keep her body healthy was there just as strong.

“I’m fine.” Krile said meekly “I uh, don’t need to go for a walk. I’m already walking around a lot more than I used to.”

Hipatia looked down at her, she seemed to be aware of what was giving her anxiety. She gave her a soft smile and stroked her head.

“It's very cute that you think you can make those choices petal, but if I’m not mistaken you just signed those rights away to me.”

Krile silently cursed herself again, like usual her impulsiveness got her into trouble. She was almost ready to ask Hipatia to forget about the whole thing when the affini suddenly picked her up and carried her off to the bathroom.

Krile squeaked in surprise. “Hipatia! Put me-” She was silenced with a vine pressed against her lips.

“We need to get you ready to go out darling.” She paused for one of her trailing vines to pick up an outfit from the new pile before continuing on. “And…no, you’ve lost the right to call me something so impersonal as my name. From now on you may call me, hmm…ah, you can call me Mommy” She grinned “I like the sound of that.”

The demand made Krile almost short circuit, so much so she stopped struggling. She narrowed her eyes up at her affini. “You’re a xenolinguist, I know you know exactly what that means!”

Hipatia sat her down on a stool in front of the bathroom mirror. She grabbed a hairbrush and slid off her new eyepatch to start working on Kriles unkempt hair. “Maybe I do, maybe I know all the sorts of connotations such a title implies.”

Krile was stunned still, staring at Hipatia in the mirror.

The affini paused, tenderly rubbing Krile’s shoulder with a vine. “Sorry darling, am I coming on too strong?”

Krile blinked a few times, letting her brain catch up with what was happening. What Hipatia was doing was terribly embarrassing, but it was the good kind of embarrassing. How had she been able to just guess her kinks spot on like that? Was she really that much of an open book? These aren't the sort of things she could ever bring herself to ask, but thankfully she didn't need to ask.

“No” The last time she agreed to this treatment it was impulsive, but now with some time to think the weight of the choice was hitting her. “No, please keep going.”

Hipatia gently patted her on the head. “Thank you for being honest with me, you’re such a brave girl. It takes a lot to be honest with yourself about your feelings.”

Krile didn't feel very brave, she was beginning to worry that what she had done had been a selfish thing. That Hipatia deserved a partner that was better than her, someone without her baggage and damage. She was feeling the self hate spiral starting up again but before it could continue her conscious mind latched onto Hipatia’s biorhythm again, scattering the thoughts with its soft reliable thrum as the affini worked through the knots in her hair. Was Hipatia doing something to make her mind draw back to her again, or was it her own mind subconsciously directing her to think about something else?

She let herself zone out until she felt Hipatia’s vines run through her now untangled hair. “There we go '' Hipatia cooed as she set the brush down and fastened Krile’s eyepatch back on. “So well behaved, I can tell you’ve been craving this”

Krile mewled in embarrassment but couldn’t bring herself to lie and say she hadn't. Hipatia’s vine reached into a drawer below the sink and pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste. She tapped Kriles cheek with her other vine as she got it ready.

“Open up dear”

Now this was a bridge too far. “Hey let's get one thing clear, I can brush my teeth all by myself okay- agghhghag” Hipatia shoved the toothbrush into Kriles mouth, silencing her protests. The fight was immediately taken out of her, there was something about a dominant brushing her teeth for her that sent her over the edge. She was pretty sure she was moaning by the time Hipatia had her spit.

“Such a good girl!” Hipatia planted a kiss on her cheek and stood her up. “Now, I would love very much to dress you up like my own little dolly. But I know that you might be a bit uncomfortable with that, I can look away while you dress yourself if you wish.”

Krile looked away, she was caught in between several conflicting feelings.At the very center she was very much uncomfortable with her seeing her naked.  But Hipatia wanted her to say yes and she desperately wanted to make her happy, to make Hipatia like her more, to mollify the abiding worry that she's going to be abandoned again. She also knew that she at some point needs to get over this anxiety of hers. She wanted to will herself to say yes but despite herself she just couldn't make herself do it.

“Myself please” She said, barely above a whisper.

“Not a problem little flower” Hipatia gave her one last pet and turned towards the door to provide some privacy.

Krile grabbed the new clothes and shuffled over to the far side of the bathroom, quickly undressing. Taking a look at her new clothes she had to stop and admire the handiwork. She hadn't owned anything handmade in, she wasn't quite sure how long, Maybe never. The fabric was transcendently soft, just like the other affini made clothes. But she could see the stitching down the side of the sundress whereas her previous outfit was its own uniform shape. She donned her new clothes, A sundress covered in pastel colors complete with a straw hat that Krile swore must have been real straw by the way it smelled.

She finished dressing as walked back out with her affini to the living room where Acicularis was waiting for them. Seeing Krile she squealed in delight.

“You’ve dressed her up wonderfully. Absolutely adorable!”

“Isn't she? And now I get to show her off to all our neighbors too.”

“Oh, thank you for reminding me. I have one more thing for you Krile.” Acicularis rustled through the last bag she was holding and produced a black collapsible cane, setting it into Kriles hands.

Before she had a chance to feel ashamed at the offering Acicularis continued “It’ll help you walk a lot farther before you need a break. Not to mention how cute you look with it.”

“You say anything I do is cute.”

“Because it is!” Acicularis fluttered the petals on her body as if in exclamation.

Hipatia leaned down to eye level with Krile. “If it helps, I would love for you to use it.”

Krile looked back down at the cane. It wasn't a choice she could ever make for herself. Her shame would never allow it. But reframing it as an order from her caretakers, it was a bit easier that way. Not to mention that she's already learned that these affini always got what they wanted in the end anyways. She expanded the cane and gripped its silver functional handle, tapping it on the floor once to get a feel for it.

“Alright” Krile said, a bit quiet. “Can we go now?”

Though Krile would be loath to admit it, the cane helped quite a bit. Though she ignored their requests for her to let them know when she started to be in pain, they got all the way to the park before she started to show the pain. It also helped that the constant presence of one of  Hipatia’s vines on her collar kept her cheeks red and not as focused on her pain. Acicularis spread out a blanket for Krile while the two affini got comfortable on the ground. Scattered throughout the park were others relaxing or playing, a sizable amount were affini and human couples. The affini really don't waste any time do they, Krile mused. She also noticed the plants growing out of some humans that she had noticed yesterday. 

She looked up to Hipatia who almost looked like a piece of the landscape with herself rooted into the ground beside her. “Hipatia, what's with the flowers growing out of people?”

Hipatia turned her head and hummed. “I would be happy to answer that question petal, but unless I’m mistaken that's not what you’re allowed to refer to me as.”

Krile looked toward Acicularis for help but she was equally unhelpful, making an expression as if she were biting her tongue to keep from laughing. She shook her head no.

Krile sighed. Who was she kidding? Any semblance of her pride left her body when she gave herself up to the affini.

“Mommy, why are there flowers growing out of humans?” Her spine shivered in excitement from saying the word in public.

“And I didnt even have to have you restate the question” She scratched her human behind the ear. “I’m so proud of you for knowing you needed an owner, see how easy it is when you give in?”

Krile reveled in the attention. She opted for an “Mhm” so as not to move the vine scritching her from its position.

“But to answer your question, for independent sophonts and pets before they receive their haustoric implant they might need or want to receive frequent xenodrugs but not want to take painful injections so often. So instead they get a bulb implanted in a very quick, almost outpatient surgery. Now whenever they take injections they can just inject into the flower's receptacle or peduncle for a painless intake. Though for others it can also be a purely aesthetic choice. Does that make sense?”

Krile took a moment to ingest the information and then nodded. “Makes sense I suppose. '' She shifted to rest her head against Hipatia’s foliage. “Though, you said ‘pets before they receive their implant’ What kind of implant?”

“Haustoric implant. It's a little device made out of my biomaterial that gets implanted right here” She slid the tip of a vine against the back of Krile’s neck. “After you get that no more need for injections, it synthesizes most things you might want to take. And since its made in part of me it will enhance the reactions you have to my biorhythm.”

Krile’s brow furrowed in thought and worry. “And I…signed up for this when I asked to be your pet?”

“In a sense, yes.” She pet Krile’s head. “Are you having second thoughts?”

Krile thought on the question. The worry of having agreed to something she didn't have the full picture of was there, alongside a bit of anger for not having been told what she was getting into. For once she was able to grapple with the emotions, they were more instinctual than anything. An animalistic aversion to giving away control. Hipatia was right, it felt good to give in. If being a pet was just more of this, well then she could get used to that.

“No, I don’t think I am.”