“…did it work?”

Jake looked back and forth between everyone’s faces. It was hard to glean anything specific from their expressions. But there was definitely an aura of… warmth. Mental images of dancing and a museum swam in his fuzzy memory. But beyond that, the whole hypnosis thing had gone by in a total blur. He had no clue what had been unearthed. But it must have been good, given the way Ophelia was beaming down at him. Sera’s vines were curled into a look of affection, and Cam’s mask was carefully crafted with delight.

For a moment the three of them shared a look, and finally seemed to reach some kind of unspoken agreement. Sera lightly brushed her hand across Jake’s head and smiled. “It did. Do you feel alright talking through some things for a while?”

At the moment, Jake was still feeling rather… floaty. So he was fine with pretty much anything. “Sure.”

“Wonderful!” Sera looked over at Cam and Ophelia with a small nod. “I don’t want to overload him with all three of us asking questions and looking expectantly. Would you be alright if I took this one?”

For a moment, Ophie looked a little bit disappointed. She bent down and without warning pressed a gentle kiss to Jake’s forehead. “You good with that?”

He flushed and pulled his head up out of her lap. “Um, it should be fine. Sera’s great, I know she can help me handle this. Er, whatever it is, I mean.” Jake wasn’t entirely certain what it was they felt was so important it required this kind of caution. Had they found something really messed up? Was he in trouble?

Cam rumbled softly with gentle laughter. “Well then, I suppose we shall leave this in your debatably capable hands.” She stood before helping Ophie down to stand next to her. “Let us know if you need anything.” The two of them made their way upstairs.

Jake quietly adjusted himself, sitting a bit closer to Sera and leaning against her crossed legs, looking up at her curiously.

Sera rubbed his back slowly, her pleased smile tinged with just a hint of worry. “How are you feeling, little one?”

“Hm. I’m a little bit spacey, I guess. But I feel good.”

“I’m glad. I don’t think it comes as a surprise we uncovered a few difficult things, so I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any lingering negativity.”

It seemed as though Sera was tiptoeing around the issue, and Jake felt as though it would be best for her to just rip the band-aid off quickly. “Hey, it’s okay. Whatever it is, we might as well just get into it. Y’know?”

Sera’s smile returned in full and she delivered several more headpats with one of her lovely tremolos. “Oh, wonderful, I adore that attitude! Yes, maybe that’s for the best.” She paused just long enough to collect herself before proceeding. “When you were young, you told your mother that you wished to be pretty like her, to wear a beautiful dress. It’s still a bit unclear exactly what that means for you, what you wanted to become. But you never got the chance to explore that. Your parents shut you down before you could figure it out. So, you’ll have to be doing a bit of catch-up.”

For a moment, Jake sat there letting that revelation sink in. With the nyx victorium in his system, and still coming down from the experience of being hypnotized, the news didn’t hit quite as painfully as it might have otherwise. “We all knew that I was a bit of a mess. I don’t think I realized I was… that kind of mess.” He leaned against Sera a bit more, burying his face against her leg, continuing to run the information through his mind again and again. He could almost picture it, the way his mother’s dress sparkled in the lights of their living room.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re not a mess. I won’t call this simple, but there are plenty of options for what can be done now!” Sera kept right on petting him, which at least kept Jake from completely freaking out.

But still, he didn’t understand how she could be quite so calm about it. This was a massive thing, wasn’t it? It would have to be, for his parents to put so much emphasis on stopping that thought so immediately, to oppress him into silence. And after all, what had he really done? He told his mother she was pretty, that he wanted to be like her when he grew up. That was nothing. Small. Meaningless. Sera and the others were making a big deal out of this. “Does it really need to be solved? I’m not even a— a woman. Look at me!” Jake leaned back from where he’d been hiding his face against her vines and gestured to himself.

Sera just rumbled with light laughter. “Sorry, little one. I don’t mean to make light of this. Affini don’t have the same hang-ups about gender as terrans do. During my second bloom, I was a— Oh, hm, there’s not really an equivalent for terrans. I suppose the closest translation would be… star-gender. It was fun for a lark! Frost, Camilis spends half her time with only a loose association to any gender. But I do quite like the feminine spectrum, personally. It comes in so many delightful flavors, for us and for you darling little terrans. There are flighty, tiny ones. Others are bold and brash, like our dear Ophelia. Some look more like you, all big and buff. It’s not about fitting into some box, it’s about recognizing a part of yourself and… celebrating it! That being said, you’re right, you may not be a woman. You may be a man who simply wants to express a bit differently. You may be another gender entirely! That is why it can be important to properly examine yourself.”

No, dammit, it was supposed to be difficult and scary and wrong. Otherwise, why had he spent so long burying all this so deeply? “N-No… That can’t be right…”

A sigh escaped Sera and her rumbling traveled through his entire body, once again keeping Jake from getting too tense or upset. “It’s okay, darling. Nothing will happen against your wishes. I’m not trying to imply that any of this will be forced on you. I just want you to know that you have options! Breathe, dear.”

“How can I—? What do I—? I have no idea where to even begin.” Sera’s soft words and pets were starting to have diminishing returns. Jake’s chest felt tight and a few tears pricked the corners of his eyes.

There was a sudden pressure in his neck, and an overwhelming sense of calm and warmth flooded his system. He looked up at Sera, trying to figure out what had just happened. He caught sight of a vine and a flower slipping back into her arm, and she looked a bit embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. You were panicking. I just gave you a little something to ease your mind.”

Jake was feeling peaceful enough that he couldn’t even be all that upset. She’d done that to help him. “Mmm, no… don’t apologize… I was freaking out. It just feels like… like I’m not allowed to have that. Like I don’t deserve it. Like it’s something I should… earn.”

“How very terran of you,” Sera said with gentle laughter. “Your Accord had some very naughty concepts about what people were and weren’t allowed to have or do. However, the Compact doesn’t need you to go down some check-list of requirements. You can do anything you like, within reason. Your identity is your own, and nobody can take that away from you, or tell you that you don’t deserve it.” She bent down, gently pressing a kiss to Jake’s forehead. “I also think it is worth wondering why you think femininity is something so important it needs to be earned.”

Jake closed his eyes and sighed softly. He wasn’t quite ready to admit to that last part. But the rest sounded like it was worth considering. Maybe. “So… I can just… try it? What if it turns out I’m wrong?”

“Then you can try something else instead. Still… Hmm…” She gave yet another thoughtful rumble. Between the various xenodrugs running through Jake’s system, he was no longer forcing himself to ignore how pleasant it was whenever she did that. “I did recently read something interesting on the overnet that could help. A little test.”

His eyelids slowly slid open, and he looked up into Sera’s eyes, momentarily getting drawn in. They were quite beautiful. Silver, flecked with all the colors of the rainbow. They were eyes he wanted to trust — needed to, even. “A test?”

Without warning, she once again brushed a hand across the top of his head, slowly trailing a thumb across his cheek. For just a moment, all conscious thought stopped completely as he continued to stare up into her eyes. “Good boy.”

The petting felt nice, as did the light caress. But he got nothing out of those words. But perhaps he simply wasn’t affected by praise. You learned to not get used to praise in the military. You did your job and shut up. If you were waiting for someone to tell you that you were doing good, you would be waiting a long time.

“Hmm, nothing much there.” The light touching continued as her hand dipped down and gave a few scratches under his chin. “Good girl.”

There was another moment of brainless delight while Sera tended to him. And then those words landed on his ear.

…on her ear.

When Sera said it, that tiny voice deep within cried out joyfully. The world seemed bright and beautiful for a moment. There was no oppressive weight. Everything was right.

Sera lit up too, beaming, as her rumbling became almost like proper music. “Ah. There it is. You can fight, you can repress, you can bury it deep down inside. But you cannot hide that beautiful light, darling, not really. Good girl… good girl… good girl…”

---

It was impossible to know for sure how long that went on. It could have gone on forever, for all she cared.

She. That would take some getting used to.

First impressions were hard to shake. You couldn’t say that it felt wrong. Hell, it felt right. There was still that ‘naughty’ terran impulse, a fear that all of this was unearned. So what if she absolutely melted because Sera called her a girl? Big deal. That didn’t mean anything! She hadn’t put in any of the work to change anything about it yet. She’d barely even thought about it until it had been pointed out to her.

She didn’t even have a name yet! And she still looked the same. So why did everything feel completely different now?

“Are you alright, dear?”

She looked up at Sera and smiled softly. “I think so? I feel like… there’s still a lot I need to figure out…”

“Well of course there is! Athens wasn’t built in a day!”

Her smile split into a wide grin and she started to laugh. “Rome, Sera. Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Correcting the affini’s malapropisms had a strangely grounding effect that pulled the woman — she was a woman! — out of her confusion.

“I imagine no city was ever built in a day. Not even the affini have that kind of tech.” Sera emitted another trademark tremolo that started to reverberate through her whole body until it nearly matched the terran’s very soul. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’ll try to remember that one next time.” The pleasant petting resumed as her noises turned more contemplative again. “We can start small, for now. Pick one thing you’d like to focus on.”

She gnawed on her lower lip when suddenly her teeth grazed over a bit of facial hair. Ugh, that would have to be dealt with eventually. She started putting together a checklist in her head of all the things she wanted to figure out, and it seemed to be a million miles long. Sera was right. Focus on one single thing.

A name. She needed a name. A name meant an identity. Something that might help her decide all the other stuff that came after. “Well… ‘Jake’ hardly seems right, not now. I need something new. Something that suits me.”

“Oh! Yes, yes, that’s wonderful! A new name for a new you. Well, how about… Luna? Makes everything nice and easy.”

She frowned in concentration. “Luna…” The name of her family. The name of the people who had impressed upon her that she could not divert or change from their plan. She didn’t want that either. No single part of her old name mattered, not if she was going to change so radically. Or… become herself, more radically, as the case may be. “No, not that. Something different, something new.” She reached out and idly started running her fingers along Sera’s coat, brushing them across her leaves and all the technicolor flowers. Her hand stopped as she lightly touched a vibrant, red petal. The flower was almost certainly alien, but it evoked a classic terran bloom. “What about… Rose?”

It happened again. A chill up her spine, a whirlwind of butterflies in her stomach, all her muscles relaxing. Rose… Beautiful, noble, romantic, a little bit dangerous. It was the kind of name that could mean almost anything.

“Okay then. Rose.” Sera’s vines enfolded her, and squeezed her in a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you. You’re going to be amazing.” She pressed another gentle kiss to Rose’s forehead. Where the ‘lips’ met her skin, a pleasant tingling sensation spread out like a wave, washing across her whole body. “So! What should we do next?”

---

“This was a terrible idea… This was so dumb. Why did I choose this?”

It was so wonderfully strange for Sera, finally getting to see this side of her darling little flauxret. There had been glimpses of it here and there. But now it was unveiled, let loose, and it couldn’t be buried anymore. Ohhhh, frost, Rose was adorable! “It’s a great idea, and you’re not dumb! Now let’s get a look at you, gorgeous!”

After a few more moments of silence, the door to the little changing room opened and out stepped Rose. She looked supremely uncomfortable, which only heightened the effect as far as Sera was concerned. She was tall and muscular, with her lovely hair shaved down and the cutest beard just starting to grow in. She curled in on herself a bit, idly clutching at the bottom hem of her long-sleeved shirt. Her fidgeting caused the long skirt she wore to swish around with each tiny movement. Unlike Ophelia, Sera couldn’t quite convince Rose to go with the more traditional, affini-styled companion clothing. So they were instead visiting a clothier that offered outfits more in line with standard terran fashion.

“This is weird. It looks awful, right?” Rose continued to fidget, idly pulling on her sleeves.

“I beg to differ! I think you look absolutely darling…” Sera gently poked her in the nose with a vine, laughing softly.

Rose ducked, and this time it was very different from her usual flinching. She was no longer reacting like a soldier, trying to avoid a perceived attack. Her cheeks went bright red, dodging her head back to try and avoid the tease, forcing herself to not smile. “That’s not funny!”

“Wasn’t being funny, little one. I’m getting to see a very new version of you, and I find it quite refreshing. You’re glowing, a bit.”

Rose huffed and crossed her arms. “That’s called blushing, Sera. Now come on, be honest with me.”

“Rose, I’ve been nothing but honest with you since the day we met. If you truly feel uncomfortable, of course you can go right back in there and change again, and I won’t think any less of you. But as far as I’m concerned, you look marvelous!” A memory was suddenly sparked for her — some videos she had seen during her initial research into terrans — and she snapped two vines together, gasping excitedly. “Ah! Do me one little favor and then we can drop it.”

“And what exactly would that be?”

Rather than say what it was right away, she took one of Rose’s hands in her own and lifted it up above her head, beaming down at her. “Twirl for me, dear.”

She hesitated, but as Sera began to urge her, she eventually relented. Rose spun in a slow circle, guided by Sera’s hand. As she did so, her skirt fluttered up around her, giving her an almost floral appearance for a moment. She looked down, watching it flutter so pleasantly, and actually began to giggle softly. “…okay, that is pretty great…”

Sera joined her in laughing softly, excited to see that it was a successful experiment. “Thank you, sweetie. Go on.”

Rose scampered back into the dressing room, but not fast enough to hide her glowing cheeks. From within the little closet, Sera could hear some rustling, followed by Rose’s soft voice. “So… I sort of got caught up in the… euphoria? Did I get that right? A-Anyway, I’m realizing now, I don’t know what’s going to happen when we start filming. I told Ophelia we shouldn’t have any drugs in our system because it could confuse the narrative we’re trying to create. Doesn’t that apply to this too?”

Ah, that was a good point. While she contemplated the answer, Sera emitted an especially high pitched hum. “You’re right, this does complicate things. I was hoping we might be able to start some class-Gs for you sooner rather than later. Dealing with that nasty dysphoria will hopefully save you from feeling depressed.”

“Class-Gs?”

“Xenodrugs specifically for helping cuties get the bodies they want. I think the common terran approach was called hormone replacement therapy. However, class-G’s are far more extensive and thorough. And if it’s not quite enough, we can also perform some very wonderful body modifications. But as you’ve pointed out, drastic changes will make our propaganda much harder.”

Rose emerged from the dressing room once again, now wearing a pair of heavy-duty pants, a tight sleeveless shirt, and a cropped jacket. The style was completely different, and yet she looked just as adorable! Frost, terrans were just so cute! And Rose was looking much more comfortable with this combination, perhaps because it was similar to the kinds of clothing she had been wearing up until now. “Well… That does still sound pretty nice. So maybe…” She worried away at her lower lip with her teeth and crossed her arms. “We can still pick up those class-Gs, and wait a while before we use them?”

That was sensible, but it didn’t sound ideal. They had all seen the state she ended up in when her issues were going unaddressed. The goal was to convince humanity that domestication could be chosen without being plied. For Ophelia, that had meant not being obviously blissed out on more euphoria carnatia, or really anything similar. In Rose’s case, presenting her in a feminine way could accidentally give the impression that the affini wanted to drastically alter sophonts, maybe even against their wishes.

Still, Sera had to remind herself, just because Rose wasn’t being given Class-G’s didn’t mean her dysphoria was going unaddressed. She had a new name, new pronouns, new clothes. They were small steps, but they were very obviously positive ones. “You’re right about one thing, we may as well go ahead and pick some up. But I’m still not certain if waiting is the right option either. Icy chill, I’m afraid we might have to make a difficult decision in the near future…”

To her surprise, Rose reached out and rested a hand against her arm, with a shockingly confident smile. “Hey. We’ll be recording our first session soon, and then we’ll have a full week before we need to decide. That’s plenty of time. Besides, Cam and Ophie might have some advice too. Together, remember?”

Oh goodness. She felt so proud. Rose really was strong — not because she was some powerful warrior, but because she had come through the other side of this intact. Sera reached down and pet her affectionately on the head. And she didn’t flinch, or shy away! She accepted it, and leaned into it, and sighed happily.

Suddenly, Ophie’s words from the other day came back to her.

“I didn’t put it together! Ahh!”

“‘Ohh, she’s unsettling, the room gets hot and my chest is all tight’ and I thought it was just a crush. But no! I think it’s that— that thing you just said!”

Biorhythmic harmony. Or was it jazz?

As she continued to pet Rose’s head, she watched as the woman’s eyes went slightly distant. She nuzzled up into Sera’s hand, and let out a little hum of delight. It wasn’t a moan or anything, but it was something.

Sera’s optimism rocketed up higher than it ever had before. She hadn’t realized just how desperately she needed to believe that just maybe she really could have this adorable terran properly domesticated someday. “Okay then. Let’s get you some drugs, cutie.”

---

Sera stepped out of the xenodrug nursery, flexing her arms and inspecting all her new grafted flowers. They were quite pretty — then again, she thought everything was pretty.

Along with the necessary class-G flowers she had picked up, Sera also decided to grab a handful of other blooms. Those were another part of her foolish optimism. She had subtly grabbed up a few that she hoped she might some day get to use on her darling little Rose.

Rose carefully pulled off the face mask and set it down to be cleaned. She then looked up at Sera as she stretched her arms up over her head. This pulled the hem of her shirt up just slightly, revealing the toned muscles beneath. “So, should we head back now?” Stars, this was such a change already. It wasn’t stark or obvious, necessarily. But Rose was brighter now. She spoke with more animation and life, her gait was less like a march and more like a dance. And this was just the beginning. What would she be like in a few weeks?

Sera’s vines curled up into a smile. “There was actually something else I was planning on inviting you to. Y’know, before our day took a bit of an unexpected turn.”

“Wait, really? What’d you have in mind?” Rose canted her head to the side slightly and looked up curiously.

“I thought I would leave it as a surprise. Come on!” With a tug, Sera pulled Rose down the main road by her false collar. “I read about this on the local cluster of the internet. I think you’ll really enjoy it!”

What might have been met with hesitation and anxiety just a day before now elicited a look of intrigue and curiosity. “Hm, don’t I at least get a hint?”

Sera rumbled with laughter and gave Rose a pat on the head. “Where’s the fun in that? Don’t worry, I promise. You’ll love this.”

They reached a break in the neighborhood that opened up onto a wide park. As they passed between the trees, the path circled its way around a massive, shallow pool. Suddenly, Rose let out a loud gasp and stepped up to the edge of it. All around, people of various species were lounging with feet, roots, and other appendages in the shimmering silvery water. “This—! It’s the Reflecting Pool…”

Well, it was certainly a pool, and the liquid inside had a very reflective quality to it. But the way she said it, Sera got the impression that this held a greater significance than she understood. She could practically hear the capitalized letters.

“I didn’t even realize where we were with all the trees!” She turned to look out toward the west. “Okay, so according to the maps… That should be where Lincoln is… was? Are any of the memorials still around?” She looked back at Sera, her face bright with wonder in a way she hadn’t seen since their animated conversation about terran jazz. Just as rapidly, she spun again, this time looking vaguely out toward the east. “What about those museums? Gah, the Accord probably let them fall into ruin…”

Well, now Sera had plenty of other ideas for other adventures the two of them might go on. In truth, she had no clue if any other classic landmarks were still standing. But she did hope at least some part of their museums had been protected or restored. Knowledge was so important! “Ooh, we’re definitely going to have to investigate that sometime soon. For now, though, we’re on a bit of a tight schedule.”

Poor Rose looked a little disappointed by that, and Sera desperately hoped that her current plan would make up for it.

It took a little while to walk around the large pool and through the wooded area before they entered another affini neighborhood, only half-constructed thus far. Retrieving her tablet, Sera took a few moments to find their current location and their destination on the map. “Ah!” She motioned down the street a ways and rumbled excitedly. “Just over there!” She picked up the pace and pulled Rose along with her at a slightly faster gait. Rose had to jog to keep up, but luckily she didn’t seem to mind a bit of activity.

The building they were heading toward looked to be a repurposed from an old terran construction, an almost-but-not-quite perfect cube. Every wall was a deep charcoal gray, with a sign above the door in faux-aged bronze.

Rose looked it over curiously. “Hm. The Stately Oak. Very nice. Um, so, what is it?”

“This is a classic terran-style bar, run by an affini and her enterprising little floret. They have drinks and xenodrugs available. However, far more important, they are also musicians!”

Rose gasped — stars, Sera loved seeing her get so excited. “Wait, are they—?”

“They are. Let’s get in there, they’ll be starting soon.” Before she even had a chance to walk in, Rose was already rushing through the door. Sera giggled softly to herself as she hurried to catch up.

The interior was cozy, all dark wooden paneling on the walls and lights set into brass fixtures. One wall was entirely taken up by the heavy wooden bar, with a stage set into the far end of the room. While Rose was busy looking around at everything, Sera settled herself into one of the larger chairs before hauling the woman up into her lap. To her surprise, Rose didn’t even put up any resistance, and in fact nestled in to make herself more comfortable.

Frost. Ice. Fuck. She’s so cute.

Thankfully, she was distracted from any further adoration by the lights dimming overhead. A pair of spotlights hit the stage as an affini stepped into place, followed by an older male terran. She wore a dress of sleek black palm fronds, and her floret was decked out in companion attire styled to look like a suit, but with the trademark fractal patterns. He even had on a darling little brimmed hat!

Unlike most florets, there was almost no sign of any xenodrugs in his system — though the look he shared with his affini was still full of slightly dopey affection. He picked up a brass instrument from nearby, some kind of curly horn thing with three little buttons. His owner counted him in, and soon the room was filled with an easy melody. Sera wriggled a bit as she heard the sound of familiar music built on the affini scale instead of the 12-tone that terrans used. Affini music, like its architecture and clothing, was fractal in nature, built on a much more complicated microtonal scale. The fact that the floret could play it so skillfully spoke to the kind of intense training his owner must have provided.

After a few moments, she began to sing along in the affini language. It sounded like an original composition, at least as far as Sera knew. Some sad song about an ancient affini recounting each of their lost florets. The longer the song went on, the more it morphed from the familiar tonic into the style that Rose had played for her the other night. It was… seamless, and beautiful. During the shift, the lyrics also turned more celebratory as the singer proclaimed her joy at having found a new floret, a terran.

This was most certainly a new song, Sera finally realized, because it sounded autobiographical. As she sang, the affini looked at her human with love and adoration.

Sera’s grip on Rose tightened as she felt her own hope soar. She wanted that. Desperately. Painfully. And with the music reverberating through her, she allowed herself to imagine that Rose would be the one to fulfill that desire.