Seni was wearing what was likely the most beautiful, ornamented companion dress Kaltxi had ever given them so far. It was covered entirely in a pattern of flowers in every colour of the rainbow, with lace on the sleeves and ribbons tied around their waist. The collar of the dress was so wide that it exposed Seni's implant scar entirely, which they figured was so on purpose. They had also been given a beautiful yellow headband with a large bow to wear atop their head, and they were wearing light make-up that Kaltxi had picked out and done themself so as not to bother Seni's sensory issues. They were dressed up like a doll, so much so that they felt like a living decoration to accompany Kaltxi.

"My Master?" they started.

"Yes, Seni?" Kaltxi responded, looking up from their tablet, then closed it and hid it in their vines. "Are you ready to go? Our hosts are almost ready for us."

"Yeah, but I wanted to ask, who are we visiting? And why did you dress me up so nicely for them?"

"My Seni, I told you it's a surprise. I promise it will be a pleasant one, though." They lifted up their hand carefully, and noticing a lack of reaction to it from Seni, placed it on their head and lightly ruffled their carefully done hair. "And what's wrong with dressing you up? It's the first time I'll be showing off my brand new floret, so it makes sense that they should look extra nice!" They smiled kindly down at Seni. "Not that you aren't usually adorable."

The floret blushed, but smiled at the compliment and the touch. "Thank you, my Master!" they exclaimed happily.

"Oh, there's a good little pet!" Kaltxi couldn't help but stroke their floret's chin. The sensation and the knowledge of being praised, amplified even more by the drugs in their veins, filled Seni with nothing but pure joy. They involuntarily closed their eyes and opened their mouth in a mindless smile, until the stroking stopped.

"Are you comfortable in this outfit, though? Is there anything you need?" Kaltxi asked.

The dress was made of a material that didn't itch or slide across their skin uncomfortably. It was a little short as usual, but Seni's implant made sure that they weren't worried about embarrassment. The collar around their neck was also just as comfortably tight as always. They were comfortable and happy, and they felt very good looking like this. "No, my Master! Everything is fine."

Kaltxi reached for something laying on a shelf which was too high up for Seni to see. It looked like they had been anticipating this. "Actually, little Seni, there is a slight issue with your outfit. Allow me to fix it." They kneeled down and showed Seni the small object in their hand. It was a shiny golden heart-shaped pendant. The words 'Seni Ngari, first floret' were engraved on the front. "The name on your collar is inaccurate, of course. Let's change that." They reached for the collar and Seni, with a smile on their face, tilted their head back to allow them to do the work. With just a few swift movements, Seni's old name was officially gone.

Kaltxi stood up and squashed the old pendant into a piece of scrap metal, then set it on the counter to recycle later. Seni widened their eyes in amazement at the Affini's strength and crossed their arms in an attempt to hide their arousal. "Now, little Seni. There is a new rule I'd like to set for you. You must never take this collar off, do you understand?"

"Yes, my Master!" they said, nodding vigorously.

"I may take it off to ensure your neck is not injured or dirty, but you must not tamper with it, take it off, or hide it. As far as you're concerned, it is a part of you now," the Affini continued.

Seni was filled with even more excitement and arousal at the thought that their status as a pet was going to be made known and obvious to everyone, just like that. Once again, they nodded, with a silly smile on their face, "Yes, my Master!"

Kaltxi grinned. "Good pet."

The rush of emotions caused by the constant compliments, the gentle touch, and the reminders of Seni's utter helplessness caused them to shake with need. As Kaltxi was turning around to lead them outside, they realised what they were craving.

"My Master!" they almost screamed. Kaltxi stopped. "Before we leave could you... could you please touch me some more?" Seni looked at the Affini's face with a pleading smile. They smiled back.

"Of course, little Seni. Come here." They walked a few steps back and sat down on the floor, waiting for their floret. Seni got close and leaned against their stomach, ready for the embrace of vines. Kaltxi quickly pressed a button on their tablet, and Seni suddenly felt like their owner's touch was the most pleasurable thing in the world again. The vines that formed Kaltxi's body unfolded and started moving, sliding across Seni's skin and gently stimulating them, some even making their way down under their dress or up to their neck, where they were the most sensitive. Seni just kept whimpering as their plea was being answered. They felt like they were melting into Kaltxi, their bodies mixing together. After a while, the vines retracted and the Affini composed themself and stood up, leaving Seni sitting on the floor, breathing heavily. "Was that okay?"

"Yes, my Master. That was exactly what I needed," they responded, catching their breath. They stood up and made the motion of dusting off their dress, though the floor was perfectly clean.

"You can have some more in the evening, if you'd like," Kaltxi said and then smiled smugly, adding, "I'd rather not have you look like a quivering mess in front of our hosts."

Seni giggled shyly. Kaltxi gestured by slapping their own thigh and the floret immediately ran up to their side, understanding it's time to go.

After a while of travelling, they found themselves standing in front of a hab door. "It seems like we're here!" Kaltxi exclaimed and then bent down to talk to Seni. "Now Seni, could you stand a bit further from the door? My friends don't know who my floret is yet, and I want to surprise them." Seni nodded happily and ran towards the side of the door, then stuck to the wall so that they wouldn't be seen once it opened. Kaltxi pressed a button next to the door and a brief melody played inside the hab.

"Anne, dear, could you get the door for me, please?" a familiar voice could be heard from inside.

"Yes, Mistress!" another, even more familiar voice responded. Seni stared at their owner in shock, to which they responded with a sly smile. Was that...?

The door opened. "Master Kaltxi! Good morning!" the familiar human voice exclaimed. Seni couldn't see inside, but there was no mistaking who it was. "Mistress said you were bringing your floret along! Where are they?"

"Hello, little Anne! Oh, I'll show them to you in a second. Where is Miss Aluna?" they responded politely.

Seni was freaking out. How did they know each other? What was happening? They stared at Kaltxi, but they didn't look back, instead looking inside the hab. Seni heard large footsteps approaching.

"Good morning, Kaltxi," the Affini's voice echoed. "So, where's that floret you've been talking so much about?"

"My, you're all so hasty!" Kaltxi chuckled. "But of course. You may come out now, Seni."

Seni obediently walked back in front of the door and stood at their owner's side. As they took a look at the people in front of them, all their fears were confirmed. Still, they curtsied politely, despite their confusion, and gave an awkward smile. "Good morning, Miss Latem. Hi, Anne."

"Seni!" Anne practically screamed. "Oh my gosh, Seni!?" She grinned widely and began bouncing with excitement.

Aluna looked just as excited, as she patted Kaltxi on the shoulder. "Oh dear, looks like you've followed my advice! You two are going to be so perfect for each other!"

From deeper inside the hab, Seni felt a third pair of eyes staring at them. They looked and noticed Tanny, Anne's girlfriend, staring at them, laughing, mini-tablet in hand. They wanted to bury their face in their hands to avoid being photographed, but something told them not to. They just accepted in that moment that their entire group chat was going to see them curtsying in a companion dress and collar, right by an Affini's side.

"Oh yeah, Tanny is here too! She was making us some pie," Anne said, noticing Seni staring off into the distance. "Mistress told us that Master Kaltxi was bringing their floret, but I had no idea it was you! How do you even know each other?"

Seni recoiled. "How do I-- How do you know each other?" Anne laughed. Seni felt their entire world-view falling apart, but they didn't know what else to do but laugh as well.

"Please, come in. We're all very excited, but we can talk about it more inside," Aluna said. She headed towards a large table with coffee and treats laying on top. Anne ran after her. Kaltxi and Seni followed them in and the door automatically closed behind them.

The hab was large and full of both typical human and Affini decorations. Parts of the living room were filled with plant life, hexagonal patterns and paintings of illegible, complex symbols, and others were covered in posters for all sorts of fandoms Anne was in, plus a large trans flag in one corner of the room. The table stood at a connection between the main area and the kitchen annex. Tanny was standing on a step stool, cleaning up pie ingredients from the kitchen counter. She waved to Seni again, still grinning. Seni waved back.

The table was definitely Affini-height, but around it were seats of two different types. Two were simply large, wide chairs, big enough to house an Affini comfortably, and three more were much thinner, though they were the same height, and had something like a ladder leading up to the seat in front to help a human climb on. Kaltxi picked Seni up and sat them down on one of the human seats, taking one of the Affini seats right next to them shortly after. Aluna then quickly did the same, placing Anne in front of Seni and sitting down opposite of Kaltxi herself. The two humans started sipping on their coffees.

"I should've figured, really. Mistress made me make you an iced coffee exactly the way you liked it," Anne said, chuckling. Seni chuckled in response.

"So... How do you and my Master know each other?" Seni asked, unsure whether they were talking at Anne or her owner.

Aluna chimed in. "Oh, me and Kaltxi, we go way back!" Seni stared at her in surprise. "We lived on the same ship, and even shared a hab unit when we first arrived on Earth! I've known him for, well, his entire life, really."

Kaltxi chuckled and nodded. "It's true. As you may know, I'm still pretty young for an Affini, and Aluna personally witnessed my creation. She's been one of my closest friends ever since."

"Back when I was a measly little second-bloomer myself!" she added.

Anne took a look at Seni's face and started laughing. They looked like they were stunned in surprise. "Sorry, Seni! Master Kaltxi used to come over all the time to chat. Until about a week ago, when he started saying he was busy with a floret. It never crossed my mind that it could've been you! I also had no idea you knew him!"

"We only did meet about two weeks ago," Kaltxi explained.

Anne coughed. "Two weeks? And you've already become a floret! Remember when you were telling me that I was rushing into it after I 'only' knew Mistress for four or five weeks?" She was laughing loudly between her words.

"I didn't know what it's like!" Seni whined, flustered. "I only spent a few days with my Master, and then it just clicked, and I-- I couldn't imagine life without him!"

The whole table looked at Seni with endearment after their confession.

Tanny finally came over to the table, holding up a pie as high as she could, but she still struggled to put it on the table safely. She handed it to Aluna, who thanked her and put it down before the others. Tanny then proceeded to walk over to the empty human-sized chair and use one of the little ladders to climb up on top of it.

"So," Seni changed the subject, "does Tanny live with you now? I don't think she belongs to you now too, right?" they asked, thinking back to Seris and Suzy, the two married florets they had met before.

"Nope," Tanny said heavily.

Anne chuckled apologetically. "She still does NOT want to be a floret. But I love her, and Mistress likes her too, so she stays with us pretty much all the time now."

"Sorry," said Seni. "I didn't think it was such a heavy topic. But I think I understand now." They reached out for a slice of the pie. It was raspberry, the one kind that didn't flare up their sensory problems as much as the others. They internally agreed that Anne really should've figured out they had been the floret. They took a bite. "Oh, it's delicious!" they exclaimed.

"So, Seni, why don't you tell us how you met Kaltxi now, huh?" Aluna said, winking at the other Affini.

Seni swallowed another bite of the pie. "Oh, it was, um... He just approached me one day and said I looked like I wanted to become a floret. Though I guess he was right..." they explained and laughed. "Then he messaged me, and eventually we went out on a- a date, I guess? Aand then it all kinda went downhill from there," they giggled.

Aluna laughed loudly, so vigorously that it surprised Seni. "So it was just that easy, huh?" she said to Kaltxi. "Just like I told you, this little human was just begging for it."

Seni stopped laughing. "What?" They stared at Aluna, then at Kaltxi, in utter confusion. "What?" Aluna giggled some more, and Anne and Tanny looked at her, just as confused. Kaltxi looked incredibly flustered.

"Oh, but of course, Seni, I..." they paused. "I may not have told you the whole truth. I hope it will not upset you." They took a breath and looked around to find an encouraging smile from Aluna. "Aluna here told me about you, as she heard about you from many of Anne's stories. She told me you'd be perfect for me," he explained. "Of course, it wasn't enough for me to decide upon trying to domesticate you, but when I finally met you and got to know you, well, she was right. You were exactly the floret for me." He finished talking and froze, trying to gauge Seni's reaction, worried that they would be hurt by the news.

Seni took a second to process this information. They didn't know if they should be mad at their owner for basically stalking them out. Still, the part that caught their attention more was that they had apparently been hand-picked just for him.

"I was perfect for you? How?" they asked. Aluna looked expectantly at Anne, who just jumped in her seat.

"Oh yeah, I guess you were! It was way before we actually talked about it, but I told Mistress that you seemed a little... too curious about florets, but you kept denying it." She laughed. Seni just felt embarrassed, not having known it was really that obvious to everyone but themself. "And Master Kaltxi, they only recently started thinking about getting one... a floret, I mean. So you fit together great! I wouldn't have thought of it myself, though!" she said, amazed.

"I wanted to keep it a secret from you too, petal. Just to surprise you, in case it did work out." Aluna patted Anne on the head and she closed her eyes comfortably in response. "But yes. A shy, inexperienced, far-too-curious floret for an equally inexperienced first-time owner. A match made in heaven, if I do say so myself."

Seni paused eating to think. Whether because of the fondness they had grown towards them, or the implant controlling their feelings, or most likely a mix of those, they just couldn't get themself to be mad. Kaltxi was indeed a great fit for them, even if their inexperience led to Seni getting hurt a couple of times. Their view of their Master changed a bit, though they realised they liked them even more now. But the idea that everyone in this room had already known each other, and somehow neither Seni nor Anne ever found out, was still just shocking to them.

Seni smiled politely, noticing the anticipation on their owner’s face. "I’m not upset! I think it’s nice that all of you thought about me so much! Well, it’s not like I have much of a choice now, but I don't think it would've changed anything, even if I’d known that before."

Aluna spoke in a reassuring tone, "Of course, you weren't forced into anything. From what Kaltxi has told me, they never rushed 'their floret' into any decision," she said, and Kaltxi nodded in response. "You were just so desperate, I could tell even when I met you at the clinic. A poor, helpless sophont who was just dying to be owned but would never admit it!" She laughed. "I would've taken you myself right then and there if I didn't have my hands busy with my Anne!"

Seni shuffled in their chair and moved to lean against Kaltxi, who was sitting next to them. The Affini, still a bit stunned, wrapped their arm around them for comfort. "I'm glad I found my Master. Or that they found me."

Kaltxi smiled and leaned back a bit in Seni's direction as well. "Thank you, my Seni. Your trust means everything to me."

"Aww!!" Anne exclaimed. Seni looked around. Aluna was covering her mouth with her hand, looking down in a mixture of amusement and endearment. Anne's eyes were sparkling and she was leaning against her own Mistress. Tanny was cackling and secretly taking another pic of Seni.

Seni was sitting at the table alone, stuck thinking. They weren't sad or upset, but everyone else was already getting busy with something and they needed just a few minutes of a social break. They mainly thought about how much has changed recently, how weird but weirdly good the implant made them feel, and the shock of finding out their and Anne's owners were friends.

Their thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Tanny's voice, whispering. "Look at the GC," she said, smiling mysteriously. She then walked off somewhere.

"Huh? Okay," they responded and reached into the pocket of their dress for a mini-tablet. They opened the Overnet messenger and pressed the first conversation.

The first thing they saw was a chain of messages posting compliments and encouragement. They became confused. They scrolled up a bit and quickly saw it – the pictures Tanny had taken! The first showed them, in the colourful companion dress, head tilted down, and arms by their sides, in a curtsy. Kaltxi's face was out of frame, covered by Aluna's much larger body, though they could still see parts of their arms and legs. Even though the visibility was not great, upon a closer look at the picture it became obvious that Seni was definitely a floret in it.

Then they looked at the second. Here, there was not a shadow of a doubt. Right in the centre was Seni, with both of their eyes closed, in the comfortable embrace of their Affini's vines and branches. The picture had a clear view of their dress, their collar, and their face, along with the face of their owner.

They looked at the third picture. It was a close-up of the same frame as the second one, but centred on their neck. They zoomed in a bit. Through the wonders of Affini plant technology, you could see the tiny engraving on their collar in full detail. Seni Ngari, first floret. Their brand new name. Unless someone assumed this was some kind of elaborate cosplay, there was not a sliver of a possibility that anyone who saw those wouldn't know they were a pet now. They zoomed out and looked at the responses again.

A chain of people, which Seni knew with varying degrees of familiarity, all commenting positively on Seni's decision.

- "Hey, good for them!"

- "Tanny, did you have permission to take these?"

- "No lol"

- ">:(. Anyway, congrats Seni!"

- "OMG @everyone"

- "Holy crap they actually did it. The madperson."

- "Good job and good luck Seni!"

Seni felt surprised at such a positive reaction. They had expected humiliation, with maybe a few people defending their decision, and the others making fun of it, of them, for not being able to take care of themself. They smiled, thinking that maybe they had had the wrong idea about florets the whole time. The way they'd been brought up, in the old Accord, it felt like independence was everything, and the lack of it was deplorable. It took far less time for everyone else to get used to the new reality for everyone else than it did for them, they thought.

They saved the second picture – they actually thought the pose and the framing looked really nice – and opened up a different app. They decided to repost that picture on the Overnet proper, in a place where everyone would see. Friends, former co-workers and classmates, far acquaintances, and most crucially, their parents.

"Seni Ngari, First Floret • Today 14:36 • Public

Well, many of you already know this, many of you probably have been expecting this, others may have never guessed, but either way, here it is. Yesterday, I signed my domestication contract. From now on, I'm going to be a floret. I just want all of you to know I'm happy, I'm comfortable, and most importantly, I'm still the same Seni you guys know. I also want to say I wasn't forced into this, it was entirely my own decision. I hope some of you will support it. I don't regret it. I want to thank all of you who were there for me and helped me make this choice.

Also I don't know how or when, but it looks like they've already changed my name on here lol. So this is what I go by now. First floret. :)"

Underneath, they attached the photo.

"[Post]"

They quickly turned off notifications on their tablet, as something of a reflex that came every time they posted or sent something risky. This time though, they simply thought it might be more fun to read all the comments at once in the evening than to keep taking out their tablet every few minutes as one appears.

It was already past 14, the entire day having passed on talking, eating pie and having fun together with their Master and friends. They looked around the hab. Kaltxi was chatting away with Aluna like good old friends in an Affini language. They thought to leave them to it and approached their human friends instead. Thankfully, the entire hab was small enough that they could go anywhere within their limit of 15 steps away of their owner.

Tanny and Anne were playing a video game together in front of a television screen. Seeing Seni approach, Anne moved aside on the couch to make room for Seni, who sat down next to them happily.

The rest of the day together passed on playing video games, eating, and having fun together. Along with Anne, they were getting completely dominated by Tanny in every game they played, due to her advantage in not having a constant supply of thought-slowing xenodrug going into their blood. Still, both of them had fun and did not get upset, even though they kept losing. They eventually just settled on laying on the bed together, watching some movie that none of them really paid attention to, talking about pretty much anything. Seni found that none of it felt different from what they usually liked to do, and they didn't feel forced or controlled, simply more relaxed than ever before. They briefly thought that if that was the floret experience all along, they kind of regretted not having immidiately jumped at the opportunity the same day the Affini arrived on Earth.

Once it was time to go, their owner simply called their name and they immidiately ran to their side, something that felt like an unconditional reflex at that point. They politely bowed before their friends and went home to rest, looking up at their owner with passion and trust for the entire trip back.

At home, Seni finally laid down on their own little bed and closed their eyes. It wasn't that late yet, but they needed a bit of rest after everything, and their implant made sure they could not deny themself anything they needed. They ended up napping for just an hour.

Once they woke up, they finally remembered about their Overnet post. They opened their tablet and saw that they had dozens of new notifications. They opened them one by one, and all of them were likes or comments on their post.

- "[Jean Waesk, Second Floret commented on your post.]

Let's gooooooo"

- "[Seris Kkati, Second Floret commented on your post.]

Nice!!! I kinda knew it :>

[Suzy Kkati, First Floret likes this.]"

- "[Salama Kkati, Fourth Bloom commented on your post.]

Yup, happy to see you've faced your fears, Seni!"

- "[Anne Latem, First Floret commented on your post.]

Nice"

- "[Tanny Wheats commented on your post.]

to no one's surprise"

- "[Aluna Latem, Third Bloom commented on your post.]

It must have taken a lot of courage to post this. Good job, Seni!"

- "[Kaltxi Ngari, First Bloom commented on your post.]

What a lovely picture! I think I'll be saving it :^)"

Reading through these comments, Seni felt tears welling up in their eyes again. They felt incredibly grateful for having amassed a support system so large and so kind, all simply by exploring their curiosity and allowing it to lead them forward all the way up to this point.

Seni leaned back and closed their eyes. They looked inside themself and noticed that they were free of the burden of anxiety that had always haunted them no matter what they did. They found themself entirely at peace, safe and happy, just in this moment, comforted by their Master's watchful presence. Their tablet chimed again.

- "[Macie Loren commented on your post.]"

The anxiety came back immediately, though it was more like a slight hint of worry, that Seni had no issue finding the strength to overcome. They took a deep breath, smiled as if to cheer themself up, and pressed on the notification.

- "I'm sorry for my words before, Seni. We support you, though we may not understand it. You're still our child, floret or not. Please, give us a call sometime."

Seni sighed. They thought it was a good sign that their parents wanted to support them, but they still didn't know what to make of it. They wanted to make that call right then, but the implant quickly reminded them that they've already had enough emotions for the day. They decided to call later and hid their mini-tablet under their pillow. For now, all they wanted to do was spend time with their Master.