Maaria was lying on a sofa propped up by pillows, Praemorsa had offered a proper bed for her if she wanted to sleep but Maaria had turned it down, preferring trying to use the sofa as a bed, Part of her just wanted to fall asleep and for this whole situation to be a bad dream wishing that she could just go somewhere where she wouldn’t be humiliated. But as she forced her eyes closed she found that survival instincts just wouldn’t let her try to sleep away her plight.

She was alone now, Praemorsa had left a few minutes ago saying that she had some business to attend to but promised to return soon, She’d left her with some Affini TV that Maaria had been ignoring to the best of her ability, She thought about her crew and how they were responding to this, If they were even still alive, Her mind drifted to Felix, He seemed to have had something to do with her kidnapping but Maaria couldn’t think of a reason why, Why would he ever want to be kidnapped by some brainwashing weeds?

Maaria eventually grows bored of simply laying down in her failed attempt to sleep and decides that she might as well explore her new prison. 

Maaria decides to check the door first, It appeared quite strong so breaking it down seemed like an impossibility, She tried to open it and to her great surprise it opened easily as if it had been left unlocked, Maaria quickly looked outside and found the street mostly empty save for a single Affini snugly carrying a Terran pet, Maaria looked on and felt that she could just try to run but she quickly suppressed that thought and closed the door considering it far too reckless besides she could have run earlier if she had really wanted to try her luck but thinking about it she decided that if she is going to escape she needs to know where to go, She remembers the compiler Praemorsa had shown her earlier and decides that it could be helpful.

“Hab, Make me a map of the ship” She orders.

“I think you can ask more politely than that dear” Maaria hears in response.

Being talked down to by an AI of all things made Maaria fume internally deciding that she needed to try to remain calm she took a deep breath and repeated her request.

“Hab, Could you please make me a map of the ship” 

“Good Pet, Of course, I can”

A small one-page map was quickly fabricated and Maaria picked it up, At first glance, it seemed very unhelpful, It seemed to mostly identify what places were run by the most adorable florets but Maaria did eventually glance at what seemed to be an exit for smaller Affini ships, it was difficult to tell the distance but from a rough estimate, Maaria guessed that it would probably take at least an hour to get there.

Maaria decided to explore more walking into a hallway with three doors, She looked at one door and to her surprise, she saw that the door had her name written on it, Opening it she saw that it appeared to be a kind of bedroom, It had a large bed, several desks and several wardrobes, Looking further she found that the wardrobes seemed to contain a plentiful supply of floral designed dresses which all seemed to be her size, Maaria found the whole room odd, Why go to such effort for someone being held captive? 

Maaria sat on the bed and lay down upon it, It was quite comfortable, far better than the sofa she had been resting on, It made her partially regret not taking Praemorsa up on her offer but it still just felt strange to be accepting kind offers from her captor of all people. Part of her just wanted to try and sleep there, the same desire from earlier but when she thought about it she feared that it might send the wrong message to Praemorsa to be making herself at home in her prison and instead decides to explore more hoping to find something that could help her escape.

Maaria rushed out of the room hoping to do something to get her mind off of her conflicting thoughts and almost rushed into the third room opening the door to reveal a beautiful scene, It seemed like it was some kind of internal garden, Maaria walked further into it and even saw a few Terran flowers she could recognise, She spied a blue Balloon Flower and then saw a Passion Flower, It had been such a long time since she’d seen a real flower in person and not through a video, The room just felt so peaceful to stand in and the aroma of the plants created a pleasant smell through the room. 

Suddenly an idea came to Maaria’s mind and she rushed back to the fabricator, “Hab, Please fabricate me a copy of War and Peace” She asked as politely as she could.  

“That’s a good, polite pet, Of course, I can cutie”

Maaria forcefully grabbed the book as soon as it was fabricated and walked back to the garden, She found a corner and sat down in it, She’d never been able to finish War and Peace with the war starting but perhaps now as a captive she could and the garden seemed like a nice environment to do it in, She flipped to page 52 where she’d got to before and began to think that while she might be a Free Terran maybe this captivity could have its benefits. 

Exdela looked out at the park, Mabel was playing with several other cute Florets and seemed like she was having the time of her life and Magnus was napping on her lap of vines adorably with a delightfully content smile on his face, She had been messaging the Owner of Magnus’s sister, Praemorsa Ilium Fourth Bloom, She had been assured that Maaria should be house trained soon enough and that use of Class O’s seemed extremely unlikely in this case, It seemed like good news for her dear Magnus, Not that Maaria wouldn’t enjoy Class O’s, Exdela felt that him finding out his sister had been obliterated into boundless permanent pleasure probably wouldn’t be taken very well, She still wasn’t sure as to how exactly approach the topic with Magnus, He had seemed so very happy and content since submitting himself fully as a Floret and she never wanted him to have to feel anxiety or distress again and feared that broaching the topic would just lead to both of those things, She continues further with Praemorsa.

>>Purple Bloom: Has your cutie been implanted yet?

>>Spring Growth: I’ve already had the core grown for it but I’m going to try and give her some time to adjust first, I’ve left her alone in our Hab while I collect her tablet.

>>Purple Bloom: Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave a Feralist unsupervised?

>>Spring Growth: I don’t think she’ll try to escape, under all that bristly bravado of a Feralist pack leader there is an adorably meek and docile pet just waiting to be freed.

>>Purple Bloom: It might be good for her to meet some formerly Feralist florets. 

>>Spring Growth: I’ll try to organise a playdate with some but I think I’m going to focus on getting her to relax and hopefully convince her to trust me, I think she’ll break when she realises that we don’t mean her any harm. 

>>Spring Growth: I also managed to get her to tell me one of her hobbies, Once she’s more well-trained I’m going to bring her to some Floret chess games.

>>Purple Bloom: She plays Chess?

>>Spring Growth: Isn't she just perfect? I had to feign ignorance at the time but I could barely contain my excitement that she seems to enjoy Chess as much as I do.

>>Purple Bloom: It seems like you really did get lucky taking her as your Floret.

>>Spring Growth: I think it's just a matter of time until I have her tamed and obedient.

Exdela put the tablet down as she felt a tugging on her vines, She saw Mabel wide-eyed looking up at her with adoration in her eyes, Exdela gently caressed her hair and Mabel leaned into her touch, like a pet who loved its Owner.

“Do you want to go home now dearest?” She asked as Mabel pulled some of her vines into a hug and received a rapid nod.

Exdela lovingly picked up Mabel and bundled her up inside her vines next to Magnus as she began to take them both home, She felt Mabel adorably hugging her core as they left and pondered that she’d have to reward her loyal Floret with some Class A’s when they got back.