It was a beautiful day of summer, and Seni Loren was out on a walk, taking in the sun’s rays, listening to music, stimming, and wondering what to do with their day. They were thinking of getting something to eat, or drink – maybe a boba or an iced coffee, those always made their day a bit better – but couldn’t really focus on anything in particular. It felt like being lost in thought, only they couldn’t tell what they were thinking so hard about.

The day had been exceptionally boring, and Seni had no choice but to spend it alone – Anne was busy with her new Mistress, Tanny was out of town, and none of their other friends had been able to find any time for them. Out of pure boredom, they sat down to rest their legs and decided to keep sitting there and people watch for a bit.

This activity had surprisingly changed in the past few years from completely mundane to actually pretty educational. Everything was still so new, after all. The park they were sitting in was only a year old, and all the buildings surrounding it were brand new, save for a few historical human buildings that were being kept as relics of the old world. And then there were the differences in people. Passersby were mostly human, going about their days as usual, though not so much in a hurry as they would be in the past, back when everyone had to work. But every once in a while, they could see the odd Affini. Some of them were walking around alone, looking at various humans and waving at them, as if they were patrolling for something. Others were with their florets.

A small family consisting of an Affini and their two florets sat down at an outside table in a small coffee shop in the park. Seni's eyes turned idly towards them. They could see them clearly from where they sat. The family were approached by a waiter, likely another floret, and the Affini made an order. They were looking down at their florets with what looked like sincere care in their expression. They were a big one - far more than 3 metres tall, their leaves and branches extending far beyond a human shape, but still letting themselves be formed into representations of a head, arms and legs. Their eyes appeared to glow, though Seni didn't want to look into them too much, out of fear of them looking back.

Then there were the florets – perfectly normal humans at first glance, but with all the signs that Seni had learned to identify them as pets by. They were wearing what was known as companion dresses, colourful, frilly and uniquely patterned. One of them was a more traditional dress, while the other was stylized like a more masculine tunic, with a different cut and a clear line between the top and bottom halves. All of that in addition to their extremely thick, shiny white collars, that looked as if they restricted their neck movements almost entirely. It wasn't the usual look for a collar, most were fairly subtle, though it wasn't uncommon for an Affini to want to flaunt their floret's submissive status.

But what stood out to Seni more than the florets' clothes was their faces. They had the blissful, peaceful expressions Seni had come to expect from florets. Completely unbothered, chattering away excitedly about something likely insignificant, like how beautiful the weather is, how nice it is to be outside, how yummy the food is, or some other thing that you would expect a sentient golden retriever to talk about - Seni couldn't hear exactly.

Seni had a way of putting things off to worry about later. They did it just as well with their intrusive thoughts, mental health issues and traumas, as with outside problems and issues they came across in life. Florets had always been one of those problems. Seni just couldn't figure them out. They knew florets were human like them, and yet, they had always found it hard to talk to them, like they didn't expect them to think for themselves, to have opinions and passions. They knew that couldn’t be true either, but they could never find out more. For some reason, seeing a floret would always give them this strange feeling in their chest, one that just felt too heavy to deal with, that just caused them to run and bottle their thoughts away.

The blissful joy Seni saw in the florets in front of them once again twisted something in their chest, and they were just about to turn away and forget this feeling, just like a hundred times before, when suddenly they felt their tension release, as if it was never there. For once, they felt enticed to look even more, even longer, to fantasise about what it would be like if they were one of them, a floret. Would they be happy? Would they enjoy giving everything they ever had away, in return for eternal bliss like this? Was that even what that was? These florets still had their own lives, didn't they? Seni's thoughts got even more messy, overwhelming them, until finally they snapped out of their trance when they heard a giggle.

They turned around quickly and saw that there was someone on the bench with them - another Affini. This one was not as tall, though still much taller than Seni, looking a bit ridiculous crouching over the human-sized bench, and their various vines and branches formed a much more humanoid shape, with only a few leaves and sticks poking out of their arms and legs. Their face carried a soft, yet amused expression, and a turquoise-ish light emanated from their heart out of gaps between their vines.

The Affini finally spoke, with a deep yet distinctly gender neutral voice. "Oh, excuse me, petal! Did I interrupt your little trance? I’m so sorry, you just looked so cute with your little mouth gaping!"

Seni closed their mouth.

"What were you... a trance? Did you put me in it?" They looked at the Affini accusingly.

They giggled again. "I couldn't help it, dear! You looked like you were about to look away, and I wanted to see what would happen!" They leaned down. "Besides, you're the one staring at strangers in public."

Seni blushed, but before they responded, they made a couple strong, forceful breaths and fanned their nose with their hand, in a futile attempt to remove all the drug from their system so they could think clearly. The Affini laughed.

"Don't worry, little one, I've already turned off the xenodrug. You really didn't need much to put you out of your mind, did you? Are you not used to them?"

"I guess I don't really interact with Affini all that much," Seni idly responded.

"You only like to stare at them from afar?" The Affini giggled again, and Seni's blush turned an even deeper shade of red.

"I wasn't staring! I was just..." Seni stopped for a bit, lost in thought, then added very quietly, "curious." The expression of the Affini changed in response from amusement to one more so kind, though a smug smile remained on it.

"What's your name, cutie pie?" The Affini asked.

Seni hesitated for only a second. "...Seni. I'm called Seni Loren. I use they/them."

"What an adorable name! I am called Kaltxi Ngari. They/he." Kaltxi reached out with a vine from his hand to stroke Seni's chin, but they noticed it and quickly stopped it with their hand. "Not a fan of touch, are you?"

"N-no, not particularly," Seni responded, looking down at their knees.

"Oh, there is nothing to be ashamed of!" Kaltxi exclaimed. Seni knew this, of course, but it still felt nice to be reassured. "Tell me, little Seni, what could you have been so curious about so as to stare at people in a public park? You know that's not polite, don't you, Seni?"

"I know," they responded, in an attempt to avoid the first question. But Kaltxi remained silent, which they recognised as urging them to keep talking. "I was curious about... Well, about Affini, but also about florets. I don't know much about them." They stopped for a second and corrected themselves. "Well, I think I know most of what there is to know about them, but I think I'm curious in a different way?"

A longer silence followed, during which Seni contemplated and Kaltxi remained stubbornly quiet.

"Maybe I'm curious... what it feels like?"

Seni's eyes widened as soon as the words left their mouth as they realised that they said something horrible, and to the worst possible person to say it to, no less. Admitting that they're curious about what it's like to be a floret, to an Affini, just felt like they're sentencing themselves to becoming forcefully turned into one. And at the same time, they were admitting it to themselves. Wait... w e r e they curious? No, that can't be it, they don't need to know that, they're just fine learning about it through words. They just need to do more research about them. Maybe they need a book about florets? Would this Kaltxi know where to find one? Maybe... maybe...

A wave of pleasant calmness unlike what they had felt a few minutes ago, unlike anything they had felt in their whole life, took over them. They breathed all the way out until they noticed they’d forgot to breathe in, and then breathed in until their lungs were full, and so on. It became difficult to think about anything at all. Even the simplest of thoughts were like bubbles that popped as soon as they were formed in their mind. It wasn't until a few seconds later that Seni went back to contact with the outside world.

"Calm down, sweet one," Kaltxi said in an almost ordering tone. Seni noticed they already feel strangely calm. "You were hyperventilating, so I released a little extra xenodrug. I'll turn it off of you promise to say calm."

"I... promise..." Seni babbled, hardly coherently.

"That's a good little sophont," Kaltxi almost reached out to pat them on the head, but then stopped themself. Meanwhile, Seni started coming back to their senses. "Now then, do you know what exactly is making you curious about 'what it feels like'?"

Seni wasn't sure if that was a rhetorical question or not, but they shook their head anyway.

Kaltxi's smile returned. "There are many kind Affini and florets who would be willing to answer your questions, dear," they said calmly. They reached with their hand into the mass of vines that constituted their body, then pulled something out and handed it to Seni, careful not to touch their hand.

Seni took the item and looked at it. It was an old fashioned business card, but it had an animated map that seemed to show their location as well as the place it was pointing to.

"Don't worry, it's just a map, no one can track you with it," Kaltxi said, as if anticipating such a question, though privacy was the last thing on Seni's mind at that moment. "And it points to the Coral City Xenoclinic, not far from here."

"Wait, xenoclinic!?" Seni shouted, nearly throwing the card out of their hand. "It's not like that! I wasn't curious like that!" Adrenaline rushed to their legs and they were ready to run as fast as their feet could carry them, to avoid being captured and turned into a pet.

Kaltxi's voice turned harsh, like before. "Calm, petal, or I will need to give you more drugs." Seni steadied their breathing. "Clinics are for more than turning people into florets. They are also there to answer questions. No one can-- no one is allowed to domesticate you, unless you ask for it, or are dangerous – and you don't have to go. I simply thought it would be the right place for someone like you to go."

Seni nodded solemnly. "Okay. Th-thank you," then awkwardly stared at the ground and said, "For the card."

"Now then!" Kaltxi exclaimed as they got off the bench, causing Seni to look up. "We have one more thing to do now, don't we?"

Seni looked at Kaltxi, tilting their head confusedly.

"You have to apologize to this nice Affini and her florets for staring at them," he said, a smug smile forming on his face again.

"Wait, no, wait!" Seni hurried to explain. "That's not right! You made me stare! I was just about to look away!" But Kaltxi just laughed under his breath and started walking towards the three, and Seni found themself following, for a reason they couldn't explain.

"Excuse me," Kaltxi said, grabbing the attention of the other Affini and their florets. "This little human would like to say something to you." He turned towards Seni, who was not far behind. "Now then?"

Seni tensed up. They had always been scared of talking to strangers. They began stuttering, but then quickly regained their composure and spoke in a shaky but steady tone. "I was staring at you. I'm sorry. I was just curious about your florets and wanted to see what they were doing."

The florets laughed and the Affini smiled kindly at Seni. "It's alright, my dearie!" She then turned to Kaltxi. "My name is Salama Kkati, fourth bloom, and those little ones are called Seris and Suzy. If you'd like, you could sit down with us and enjoy the day together."

"I am Kaltxi Ngari, first bloom, and this here's Seni."

"Seni!" Salama exclaimed. "What a polite young floret you are!"

Seni blushed and shook their head violently. "NO!" They took another deep breath. "I mean, you've got it wrong, um, ma'am. I am not a floret. My name is Seni Loren. I'm a free human."

"Oh, my apologies. Well, Seni Loren, you're still welcome to join us, if you're so curious!" Salama said the last two words in an almost mocking tone.

Seni didn't know how to respond. They didn't want to create more misunderstandings, but they were overwhelmed and wanted to leave.

"No, thank you," Kaltxi said for them. "They're very tired now and need to go home. Isn't that right?"

Seni nodded. The Affini said their goodbyes and Kaltxi walked off, with Seni following.

"Thank you, um, again," Seni said. "But, um…” They then tensed up again, as if fighting with themself. “You used the drug on me again, didn't you? Please stop doing that."

Kaltxi's eyes widened just a little bit, but then he smiled again. "You were so nervous before you spoke, I just had to!"

Seni took another deep breath, and deliberated on whether to fight back more, but decided that it’s pointless.

"But look at you, calming down all by yourself now. Good job, petal!" Kaltxi said. The compliment made Seni happy, a little more so than made sense to them, but they kept their determined expression, looking up just barely not quite at the Affini's eyes. "But of course. I'm sorry, little Seni. I won't do that again."

"It's okay". Seni smiled half-heartedly and nodded, and that felt like a good enough signal for both of them that they needed the interaction to be over.

"If you ever need to talk to me, little Seni, feel free to message. You can look me up on the Overnet messenger, you do remember my name, don't you?"

"It was, um," Seni looked away in shame as they struggled to remember. "Kaltie? I'm not good with names, I'm sorry."

"Kaltxi Ngari," he smiled. "First bloom."

"Right," Seni nodded, already in the middle of writing it down on their mini-tablet. "Um, see you later, then."

"I hope I'll see you too, little Seni."

As Seni walked home, they quickly checked their pockets. In the left one was their mini-tablet, the notification light pulsing. In the right... There it was. The card. It wasn't anything special, and Seni didn't need it - they could have just looked the name of the place up themself. But they still started down at it. "Coral City Xenoclinic," they read out loud to themself. And based on the little map that came attached, it was pretty close to where they lived.

Seni reached the entrance to their hab and pressed the button on the elevator to go up to their floor. Once there, they promptly headed into their room, and collapsed on the bed. It was not late enough to sleep yet, but they were already so exhausted from the social interaction. They needed a break.

As they fell down into a nap, more and more thoughts about florets and Affini filled their mind. Were they really curious what it felt like? Is there a way to find out?