Maaria sat with Praemorsa slowly looking over the cookie-filled tray on the table in front of her, They all looked amazing, not a single burnt or misformed, She reached out to grab one when a vine suddenly stopped her.

 

“Careful dear, I’ll be feeding you from now on” Praemorsa announced.

 

Maaria was shocked for a second and unsure of how to respond, Before sighing, Of course, her captor wanted to feed her with everything else they seemed to do.

 

“I can feed myself… Owner” Maaria argued.

 

“I’m sure you can dear but plenty of Florets are fed by their Owners and I think you might enjoy it if you give it a go… I know I’ll certainly relish it little one”

 

“Fine” Maaria eventually said, It still sounded horrible to her but her self-declared Owner had been mostly nice to her so far and she’d probably keep pushing for it if she refused so it seemed better to get it over with.

 

“Good pet, Let’s start your gesture training then.”

 

Maaria was about to ask what gesture training meant as her worries began to grow when a vine suddenly tapped her cheek distracting her.

 

“When you feel my vine tap here I want you to open your mouth dear” Praemorsa gently explained and Maaria quickly felt the vine tap her cheek again, Reluctantly she decided to just barely open her mouth.

 

Praemorsa grabbed one of the cookies with a vine and moved it between her teeth, Maaria quickly tried to bite down only for a firm vine to stop her “Not just yet dear, You chew it when I tap again” Praemorsa explained, Maaria silently pouted but decided to obey when the vine was removed and let Praemorsa simply hold the cookie between her teeth, clearly teasing her until eventually, thankfully she felt her tap again on her cheek and she almost instantly clamped her teeth down and began to chew “Good pet” Preamorsa cooed as her vines rubbed lightly against Maaria’s throat as she swallowed and then grabbed another cookie.

 

They quickly got into a routine of vine taps and chewing and whilst Maaria did find it humiliating she also felt that the cookies more than made up for it, They certainly tasted better than the synthecubes rations did. Maaria's eyes felt almost involuntarily drawn to the collar on the table, She tried her best to force her eyes away from it but there was just something about it that kept pulling her back until her Owner, No Praemorsa’s voice drew her attention. 

 

“I’m glad you enjoyed that pet, We’ll have to bake more often” Praemorsa proposed, “You can go back to reading now if you’d like.”

 

“I’ll just go to bed” Maaria responded hoping that she’d be able to sleep properly this time.

 

“Of course dear, We do have some xenodrugs that could help you sleep if you’d like” Praemorsa offered her vines uncurling to reveal what Maaria assumed must have been an injector of sorts.

 

“No” Maaria replied firmly “I don’t want any Affini drugs”

 

“Good night then dearest pet”

 

Maaria quickly walked over to the room she’d entered before, What appeared to be a bedroom for her and walked inside, She quickly found a light switch and turned the light off before climbing into the bed and laying still as the idea of an escape plan slowly began to form.

Maaria had laid on the bed for what she felt must have been several hours thinking through several ideas for escape and listening for movement in the hab, She’d heard the irregular movement of vines in the main living space of the hab for a while before she heard them move to outside of her room and into what she presumed was the room opposite to hers, Where her captor must be sleeping she speculated.

 

Maaria concluded her thoughts with one idea, She hoped that her captor had just left or ignored the map from earlier and hoped to be able to grab it and hopefully direct herself to an exit, If Praemorsa is asleep then she should be able to leave the hab without being stopped she speculated further before beginning to hope that it was nighttime on the ship and that the streets would be abandoned, It would hopefully avoid anyone questioning her.

 

She quietly got out of her bed and as silently as possible, A prepared explanation on her lips if Praemorsa caught her, She opened the door and found the main room empty, carefully walking further in Maaria tried to prevent herself from making the slightest sound and swiftly found her map completely undisturbed quickly grabbing it she moved to the door and opened it with ease, Looking outside it seemed as if her hopes had been fulfilled, not an alien in sight. With a strong intake of air, anxiety all throughout her body and part of her feeling guilty Maaria left the Hab and slowly closed the door behind her so as to not make a sound and began walking.

 

Each step was almost painfully anxiety-inducing as Maaria walked, It felt strange to be walking around an alien ship alone, Maaria made efforts to direct herself but despite the map she still didn’t even feel certain that she was even walking in the correct direction yet despite her hesitations she kept walking figuring that it was too late to go back at this point, She shuddered to think how she’d be treated by Praemorsa now, She supposed that the kind and gentle treatment she’d been getting would be gone, Part of her felt regretful for giving it up yet It also made her ever more determined to make this the last day that she’d spend on the ship.

 

Eventually Maaria arrived at what seemed like a park, Maaria wondered for a second if the Affini had parks on whatever planet they came from or if they’d built them here specifically for Terrans, She decided to sit down there after spying a Terran-sized bench.

 

Maaria relaxed on the bench for a few minutes before a voice suddenly shocked her into alertness “Are you lost little one? Do you need me to help find your Owner?” 

 

“N… No, I’m fine” Maaria nervously explained turning around to see a scary-looking grey Affini mere inches behind her.

 

“Are you sure cute thing? Would you mind telling me your name?” They asked.

 

Maaria gulped at the question, She hadn’t expected that and she didn’t know how to respond, If she gave a false name they might be able to tell that she was lying but if she gave her real name they might uncover her escape attempt.

 

“My name… is… Maaria” She eventually replied hoping that the truth might dissuade them from investigating any further.

 

“That’s a very pretty name dear,” The Affini said as it seemed to almost slither closer.

 

“Does your Owner know that your alone out here little one?” The Affini asked as it moved ever closer and began to lay a vine upon Maaria’s arm just below the cuff on her arm.

 

Maaria again felt uncertainty as she worriedly considered how to respond “I… I don’t have an Owner”

 

“Is that so dear?” They replied sounding unconvinced, Maaria suddenly feeling a vine forcefully wrap around her arm “It was my understanding that only Feralists would wear this” Punctuating the point they strongly tapped the cuff with a vine. 

 

“I… But…–” Maaria attempted to come up with some kind of explanation but her mind went blank from anxiety and she quickly found a vine over her lips shushing her “You don’t need to speak, You can just let me handle everything cute little Feralist”

 

Maaria found vines rushing all over her body picking her up until she was almost completely surrounded and cocooned by vines, She struggled against them to no effect finding herself completely bound by rough grey vines.

 

“Oh, I wonder if your Owner would consider giving you to me, It seems like you need a stricter Mistress anyway”

 

“Mmmf” Maaria tried to speak out, to say anything at all but the vines covering her muffled all sound.

 

The Affini laughed “Such a feisty feralist you are, You know I’ve always found that Class B’s are most helpful for making feralists the most adorable pets, I could relieve you of your nasty rebel memories and maybe some of your earlier ones too”

 

The idea of having her memories erased alarmed Maaria into a strong panic attempting to shake her way out of the Affini’s grip with no success “You can take a nap for me now little one, I’ll fix everything” 

 

Maaria felt a prick on her neck and began to feel herself fall into a deep sleep almost immediately, As she lost consciousness her thoughts beamed to Praemorsa and how much Maaria longed for her gentleness back.