One Last Job

by FallenElurra

Summary:

After a spectacular crash out online, Violet finds herself labelled a feralist and under wardship. Yet when her old life calls her, she finds herself tempted to do one last job.

Notes:

This is a story about forgiveness.

This story was inspired by Wellness Check! The song's different, but you may notice some similiar beats.

Thank you to all the betareaders! I couldn't have finished it without you.

General content warning for self-hatred, substance abuse, and lots of crying.

Chapter 1

It had been a pretty bad week for me. I was coping like I always did, looking deep into a bottle of wine that had started to run dry. Whatever comforts the brief retreat into intoxication had offered were beginning to run ashore, forcing an uncomfortable reality sharply into focus.

I was fucked.

The Affini, as they were called, had totally conquered the planet. Scratch that, we had surrendered to them. They had come to this planet seeking something they called ‘domestication’, and the Accord had just rolled over like an obedient dog. Perhaps it was the only way for Terrans to survive, but what was survival if it meant compromising your rights to another?

I’d seen what they’ve done to people. Some of my friends had made a mistake of openly announcing that they’re gonna charge the invaders with weed whackers or plant killers. Next I heard from them they were acting as if they were totally brainwashed. It was so hard to know what was true and false about them, but they had made the Accord sign a domestication treaty. They were going to take us no matter what we said.

Stars, I had even seen them myself. I still made sure to go outside sometimes (what else was there to do?) and in my brief excursions out, I’d see them. Masses of vines and foliage that mocked our form like a puppet doing its best impression at being human. They were always so polite and disgustingly condescending, too. They’d interrupt you as you walk and ask if you were okay or if you were lost, like they were duty bound to get in your business. I hated them.

They had even introduced a new term to me. Florets, the drug addled pets that they kept. Total legal ownership of another sapient being, enshrined into law. The online community was split on whether or not the end goal of the Affini was seasoning their pets to eat later, or merely brainwashing them into accepting them. I really didn’t care about the difference.

Like a cancer, these florets had grown onto online spaces too. They’d pop into chatrooms and servers where the Affini were being discussed and babble nonsense about how much they loved their owner. It made it so much more fun to kick them off the server.

I scrunched my hand with my palm, squeezing tightly as if it would twist and pull off. No luck. I knew it was a matter of time before one of those plant fuckers comes to my home. They were swarming outside, busily checking on everyone and probably eating them or something. Still, by the pain in my gut I knew that I needed to eat something. Standing upright, I sauntered over to the kitchenette that had seen better days. There was definitely mold growing on one of the plates left over, a chorus of flies buzzing over the mound of dishes. There was just enough space for me to assemble a place on the stove where I could make… pasta? Was that even still good? Did I even care? I might be plantfood before the end of the day. Maybe I should just fill this with enough salt to make it taste offensive so I could feel something.

Then I heard a knock on the door. It wouldn’t be any of my crew, they had all been running to the ground since the invasion proper. A feminine voice buzzed through the intercom, the tone saccharinely sweet.

“Good afternoon, little one! I’m here to discuss some rather troubling online comments and to check up on your well being in general. I wish to say upfront that you are safe, I’m not about to hurt you. May I come in?” The voice inquired, taking me a little off guard. I was expecting a monster to burst through the door and gobble me up, not a fucking wellness check.

“Think you can fuck off instead? I’m perfectly fine here, thank you.” I scoffed back. “Y’know, if I was ‘safe’ why would you be coming to my house without telling me?”

“If you’re perfectly fine, then there’s nothing wrong with me checking on you, is there?” It chirped back. “Besides, we did inform you that we’d be visiting you. Did you check your emails?” Come to think about it, there was an email a day ago that someone was coming to visit me. I just assumed it was a prank.

“Well, when I saw the subject line of ‘Little one, do you need help?’ I assumed someone sent it to me as a joke.” I sighed. It was too late to check the actual contents of that email now. “Please. I’m fine. Leave me alone.”

“This is merely a routine check from a concerned party to make sure we can help you. You can understand why we can’t just leave you well enough alone when how you’re acting shows that you’re suffering so badly.”

Why the fuck was it speaking like it cared? Just get it over with and eat me or whatever you’re going to do. With another frustrated sigh, I relented. “Fine. I trust you monsters can open the door without me letting you in, so just… do that.” The electronic double door opened with a metallic ‘click’, opening out to the hallway behind it. Despite my initial resistance, I turned my head towards the xeno that had just invited itself into my home.

Two long, sophisticated branches formed a wavy set of soft purple appendages that could be described as legs, violet vines connecting upwards towards a thick wooden chest that was covered in lavender grass. Or was that moss? It looked dry and squishy. From there, a long set of vines connected normally from its shoulders to a series of double thumbed hands, which were currently holding a floral tablet within them. Its ‘face’, as it was, was a mesh of purple vines with four metallic amethyst ‘eyes’ that looked surprisingly beautiful in its varied shades. I felt as if I could get lost in them if I wasn’t careful. Lilac vines ran from where its head was to create a long, wavy ‘hair’ that flew all the way down to its shoulders. If this wasn’t a horrific plant monster who was maybe intent on eating me, I’d probably consider myself pretty damn lucky to have someone like this in my room.

I felt undressed in comparison. I was wearing a crop top that had a grease stain on it from a pizza I ate a few days ago and some plain black leggings on. I liked the crop top though, it showed off all the intricate tattoo work on my ribs and arms.

My room was, admittedly, a fucking mess. Dirty clothes were strewn about in places I wasn’t proud of them being, the kitchenette was a health hazard, the en-suite was more like an en-shit than a place I could wash myself in, and there were several wine bottles strewed across the window. There was a break in the dust on the window where I usually sat my ass in, looking out on the city skyline.

“Poor petal… how long have you been living like this?” Genuine pain showed in its inflection, its eyes scanning over every nook and cranny of my shitty little place.

“Pretty much ever since you fucks decided to invade my home. So, when’s the bit when you decide you want to chow down on me? Or are you gonna at least season me?”

The plant entity looked at me weirdly. An ‘eyebrow’ cocked. Then, a sound which was definitely close to a laugh came out of its mouth. “Sweetie, if I wanted to eat you, you’d be in my digestive system by now. I feel like we’re getting ahead of ourselves, though.” It moved a hand off its tablet, and presented it to me. “My name’s Alava Lamia, Fourth Bloom, she/her. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?”

I folded my arms tightly in response, giving a nonplussed look to the plant. “Name’s Violet. Can you leave now?”

Alava shook her head quickly. “Why would I leave when a darling such as yourself needs help? This room needs cleaning for a start, and by the looks of you you haven’t eaten enough recently.” A vine pressed into my exposed midriff. I snarled in response. “We also haven’t discussed your behaviour online. A few days ago you even made a floret cry! Poor darling required so much cuddle time.” I squinted in disbelief.

“Well, I only moderate one server, and I usually ban florets if they won’t shut up about their ‘owners’.” I shrugged.

“Well, yes, a floret’s favourite topic is their owner. Perhaps informing them of the rules before banning them may have been better, hmm?” She lectured sternly. “You’ve also made several other disparaging comments, including:” A noise that sounded like a throat clearing came from her. “‘Fuck those fucking plant cunts, I fucking hate them.’ and ‘Stars I wish I could just set them on fire.’ What do you have to say for yourself?” She folded her arms and stared at me expectantly.

“You know, this is the first conversation I've had with an affini that has lasted longer than five seconds.” I folded my arms even tighter, attempting to look tough at her. I wasn’t sure it was working. “Look, lady. In the span of a few weeks my ex broke up with me, my friends ditched me, and I lost my job. Both of those comments were written wasted in a vent server.”

“So, are you sorry for them? That would make your situation a lot better.” She eased up her posture a bit. I didn’t.

“...huh?” I tilted my head at the mass of fauna that had invaded my room. “My situation? What are you even talking about?”

“In the interest of clarity, the feralism you’ve expressed is well enough to warrant compulsory domestication. However, it is my opinion that you can be reformed into a well meaning independent.” I felt my heart race at that. A dryness stuck on my throat and I could feel my muscles tense, my body instinctively telling me to punch this… thing. Something tapered that off, the rational part of my brain taking the reins just in time to stop me from ensuring that outcome. I gritted my teeth. As satisfying as that might be, it’d fuck my life up forever. I took a deep breath, eyes closed in meditation before I returned them to her. “By your reaction, I see you know what those terms mean, petal?”

“How couldn’t I? Some of those florets I banned were those who suffered that fate.” Just how many florets had I made cry? That wasn’t something I had ever considered before now. A twinge of guilt nipped bizarrely at my heels.

“It’s not a punishment, petal. Everyone we domesticate is because they deserve that level of care. Either because we believe they’re a harm to others or to themselves.”

“And… you lot believe I’m a harm to others. Yeah?” I stated rather plainly.

“We know you are a feralist, yes. However.” Her features lightened up somewhat. “My opinion differed from the rest of the bureau. I believed that your feralism was because of a lack of exposure to Affini.” She also waved her hands at the vague mess of rubbish behind me. “I’m also not currently convinced you’re not endangering yourself. So, we have elected to put you under a wardship for now. As such, I am now your ward.” Great.

“So… you’re going to get in my business and make sure that I ease up a bit?” I groaned. It was hard to even get words out with all this information being dumped on me. “And all I wanted to be was left the fuck alone.”

“With all due respect, you clearly don’t do well alone.” Harsh, but fair. “To answer your question, at present I believe having daily meetings will benefit your case. So, from now on and until this wardship ends, I will be checking up on your cute little self every day. Until I believe that you’re capable of taking care of yourself and that your feral tendencies have died.” I hated that branding. I was a ‘feralist’ all because I didn’t want a plant running the show? Like I really wanted to be owned by a lavender branch!

“Well, given I’ve seen what you’ve done to folks who don’t comply with you, I guess I’m forced to go along with it.” I fiddled uncomfortably, squeezing at a bit of my top. “So what happens now?”

“What happens now? Well, there’s the other matter I am concerned about. Sweetie, I don’t think you’ve been taking care of yourself.” I blinked blankly a few times at her.

“As well as you can expect given everything that happened.” I glanced at the disaster zone that was my apartment. I had gotten to the point where I stopped going outside to smoke, simply putting a sock over the smoke detector and smoking out the windowsill. It was honestly kinda cozy. “I’ll sort out this mess for tomorrow, yeah?” I could probably make that work. It was either that or being owned.

“Or…I clean the room up, I’ll grab you your favourite food, and then we’ll consider our first day a success.” Her voice was condescending and grating, the way it danced in those tones both hard to decipher and effortless to get lost in. It reminded me of an upstream creek, where actually fighting it took a great deal of effort, but sinking into it? Losing oneself in her voice was something I’d have to make sure I didn’t do.

“Hold on, how do you know my favourite food?” The realization of exactly what this plant had said suddenly hit me.

“I was wondering if that’d grab your attention. See, the corps had so lovingly catalogued information on everyone just laying about for us to take. It’s helped the process dramatically, actually. Your favourite food is chicken ramen with katsu curry being a secondary favourite, your favourite genre of music is metal, and you believe that searching in a private window when you look up clips of girls whispering praise into your ear is going to prevent them from finding out. They even knew you were a criminal, can you believe that?” The plant recounted with such terrifying accuracy without even looking at the tablet for guidance. “I believe they were using this information to sell you ads. Now it can be used to make sure you’re the happiest cutie you can be. Isn’t that better?”

I didn’t respond. For a while, my eyes simply drifted off into nothingness, staring through the massive assortment of purple vines that had invited itself into my place. Before I knew it, I was being lightly cradled in a mass of absurdly soft foliage. Eventually I heard a light cooing coming from the invader. “Ssssh. It’s okay, little one. It’s okay now. I know you’ve done bad things before now, but that’s only because you had to. You’re safe now.”

I didn’t believe a fucking word of it. My ears were ringing, I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. I tried to pull away from the… thing, but that only accomplished in making her grip around me tighter. The worst thing was that I was so stars damned starved for any physical affection that it felt nice to be held by anything. Eventually, the only thing that came out of my mouth was a bewildered chuckle.

“I’m… safe? Now? That’s a bad joke…you just wanna make us all slaves or eat us or-” A vine was gently pressed against my lips, throwing my thought process off.

“As I said before. If I wanted to eat you, I’d just gobble you up right now. You’re cute enough for that.” Alava giggled disarmingly. “All we want for you sophonts is to live happy, healthy lives. Whether that’s under the strict supervision of one of us or totally independent, we just want you to be happy.”

“Sorry. I think this might be a bit too much for me to handle at once. You mind… y’know. Leaving?”

Alava shook her head quickly in response. “Not until you eat something, petal, and your room is clean. I can handle getting you food and cleaning if you want to get back to your favourite spot by the window, though.”

“...course you know about that.” I couldn’t dare make eye contact.

“Everything that isn’t your PC chair, bed, or sofa is covered in dust, darling. It’s pretty obvious.” She told me with a soft squeeze of my side.

“If those are your terms, fine. I’ll eat something and clean my room, then you can leave me alone for the day. Got it?”

“I’ll leave for now, yes. But I will be checking up on you tomorrow, too. I just want to know you’re looking after yourself, little one.”

I grit my teeth harshly. “Look, just don’t make it a habit. I don’t want you constantly poking around in my fucking business.”

“You realise that you are under a wardship currently for being a feralist, right?” She tapped her foot a few times against the floor. “You are going to have to accept a certain amount of our involvement in your ‘business’. Otherwise you’ll have to accept a lot more involvement from us. ” Her voice was still so infuriatingly soft, but I had the feeling I wasn’t winning this fight for now.

“Fine…I have pasta in the fridge I was gonna cook, and I guess I got enough cleaning supplies to make my room suitable.” I relented a bit, untensing my muscles and taking a deep breath. “Please put me down now.” The plant lady complied with an infuriating pat on my head.

“I was going to clean your room for you, but if you want to do it yourself, that’s fine. I will grab some food for you, however. How does chicken ramen sound to you?”

“I’m broke as shit. Think I can afford that?” I scoffed.

“Such a silly little flower. Money is a thing of the past. Just let me grab your food for you, okay?

“Wait, really? I thought those florets were joking!” I shot my head like it was dislocated right up at her face. Then again, I cast my mind back to the walks I had to the shops where they never charged me anything. I may have also strictly not been paying for those even back before society collapsed, mind.

“Yes, the Compact is strictly a post-scarcity society. If someone desires something such as food or clothing, it is provided free of charge. It’s the most ethical way to operate a society, and it means a cute little thing like you won’t have to go hungry or cold ever again.”

“Huh… that does make a lot of things make sense. Whenever I went into the servers I usually go on people barely mention having money problems or not being able to afford food anymore… I just thought they were focused on other, plant related things. Nice to know that I’m not about to be kicked out on my ass anytime soon.” I found myself idly watching her whenever I wasn’t staring at her eyes, the way she swayed and moved was so…pretty.

“I wouldn’t dream of putting you under such hardship, petal. Also, we’ll be moving the inhabitants of this building in a few weeks. We’ve got much nicer hab units building for the cute little sophonts here!” Alava chuckled as if she hadn’t just told me I was getting evicted.

“Hang the fuck on, I’m not going to a plant prison place, am I? Hab unit makes it sound like it’s the slammers.”

“The slammers? I’m not sure if I’m familiar with that term. Though it’s more like a brand new home just for you with more durable furniture and buildings. More suitable for a budding flower such as yourself.”

I let a long sigh out again, finally detaching myself from the brilliant metallic eyes the plant had. They were far too pretty to belong to someone who wanted to treat me like a pet. “Do I get a choice in this matter, either?

“Absolutely not. It’s dangerous to live here. Anyway, I’ll be back soon cutie!” Another squeeze from the vines and the assortment of plant matter shuffled out my front door.

I flipped open my phone with a miserable little noise, noticing that there was already a new notification from someone.

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Oh, I added myself to your contacts!
<ALavanderByAnotherName> I’ll need to be in touch while I sort your case out.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Feel free to message me if you need anything, darling! Or if you get lonely.

<ViolentViolet>…great

I moped just a little. By my reckoning, it’d take about half an hour to go to the shops, make whatever food I wanted, and head back. In that time, if I made a dent in cleaning my room, maybe she’d be convinced that I wasn’t a total freak show and would leave me the fuck alone for a bit. Until she moved me to a weird plant prison place where… I guess not having to pay rent was a pretty sick upside.

I tied my long blue hair back and got to work. Back before the invasion, I used to have something resembling a clean wolfcut. Currently it resembled something more akin to a straggly mess of hair than a designed haircut. Some of the piercings in my face had lost a few studs, but at least the spikes in my snake bites were keeping steady. I found out a while ago that if you put an eyebrow piercing with the stud facing upwards it’d stick, and the one on the bridge of my nose had been kept under wraps by a plaster for now. The speakers in the apartment blasted out some old school death metal, the pounding notes of the drums filling the air and piercing into my dread. Yeah, I could do this. I’d get this weird plant off my ass and go back to… did I even have a job any more? It was pretty clear they knew I was a crook, was I actually going to plant prison? Nah, she’d have arrested me if that was the case. Or maybe she was lowering my guard down? Also doesn’t make sense, it was quite clear her species had the overwhelming power to defeat the Accord like they were nothing.

Whatever her true motives were, I’d just have to play along for now. I’d probably swing by Deadbeat later and see what my crew were up to. Did they know about that too? Fuck. I had just about finished dusting the windowsill when Alava reappeared, brandishing in her vines a pot of quite possibly the best smelling ramen I’ve sniffed in ages.

“Little one! I’ve got your favourite!” She chirped, to which I grimaced back at.

“Yeah, yeah… I’ll eat it when I’m done.”

“Violet, let me take it from here. You need to eat, and this way you can be done quicker. Your chopsticks are right here.” She placed the noodles on the table, towering down over me in an apartment that was slightly too small for her.

I gave another reluctant sigh. “Gets you out of my shit quicker…” Look at me, obeying the plant already. Part of me wondered if she was going to call me a good girl for this in that beautiful voice of hers.

“There we go! Good girl.” A voice came from the bigger plant lady, and I had to scream a little into my soul. The worst part was that she almost definitely saw the way my body shivered in response.

I dropped the feather duster, to which a vine shot past me and grabbed it. It came at such terrifying speed I thought it might be a bullet, but all it did was start dusting the areas I had properly reached yet. I marched over towards the table and hooked my leg under a stool, collapsing onto it and hunching over the food.

Chopsticks were familiar enough to me, grabbing the wooden utensils and clacking them together to get a feel. “Huh. Wood. Thought you’d make these out of like… iunno. Plastic. Isn’t this the same as cutting your own species up to make them?” I inquired to the mass of vines that had utterly given up on maintaining a form that could be considered terran. It was fast, for sure. Gathering leftover cans and wrappers in one big heap while collecting dirty clothes onto the other.

“Sweetie, I compiled both the food you’re about to eat and the chopsticks in an atomic compiler. They didn’t exist until five minutes ago.” Huh. Must be Affini tech. I didn’t really think about it more before pincering the tea stained egg and stuffing it into my gob, absolutely stunned by how delicious it tasted. It wasn’t long before I had moved onto the udon noodles itself, slurping them down like a woman possessed. They were crunchy and saucy, the right balance of texture and taste. Even the chicken was done to perfection, surpassing the nicest ramen joints I had been to back before… all this shit happened.

I lost my thought in wolfing down the noodles, gone to the world around me. Only once I put down the noodle pot and looked around my apartment I had noticed that she had done an immaculate job. Clothes were filed away neatly into the washing machine, the trash strewn across the place was put into bags, and my entire apartment looked brand new. I was honestly concerned how little effort it took this plant to do something that’d have taken me a week beforehand.

“Well, cutie. You’ve eaten and your abode is no longer a hazardous environment for you to be in. I’m satisfied if you’re satisfied that this can be the end of my visit today.”

“Erh, yeah. Got a question though. Why the fuck are you being this nice to me?”

The plant looked sad at that, pulling herself into a shape that could be more recognisable as terran before wrapping a vine around my midsection and giving me a gentle squeeze to remind me she was there. “Because I want you to be the happiest little petal you can be. Eating and hygiene are vital for your well being.”

I felt a bristling feeling roll up my side. “I was perfectly happy before you came along, thank you. Also less touchy.” Alava utterly ignored my request for personal space. This close to me, I noticed a rather pleasant humming noise coming from inside her. I was naturally drawn to it, trying to figure out what sort of collection of vines and wood could create that sound. It lingered in my mind as she continued to talk to me.

“No, you weren’t. You were a criminal who spent the last week before we arrived here crying to your ex about how lonely you were. You also made several darling florets cry in the weeks we have been here.” Right. She has… those chat records. “You may think that this is a perfectly acceptable way to live your life, and I refuse to let you live this way. Now, you can either prove to me that you can live your best life by yourself, or I’m going to have to consider taking you under the care of someone. Earlier, I mentioned domestication. Are you sure you know what it means?”

“Yeah, I know. It’s when you take a terran under your control and do that whole… brainwashing shit.” I played idly with my chopsticks. I couldn’t meet her gaze currently, instead focusing on the little wooden pieces.

“It’s when an affini decides that a terran is best left under the protection of another, and makes them a pet.” The word sent shivers down her spine. A pet…? I mean, I’d worn a collar for some girls before, but this felt different. “This can be done voluntarily as is the case of my own dear pet, yes, however with your current predicament I won’t hesitate to domesticate you if your condition worsens. Let me help you help yourself.” She spoke sweetly into my ear, pulling my thoughts apart.

I didn’t say anything. I looked into the leftover noodle pot for answers, but all that it gave were a few scraps of orange liquid that barely knew anything. “Those are the stakes, huh…? I stop being a ‘feralist’ and I start taking care of myself, or you’re gonna do it for me?”

“See? I knew you’d understand if I spelt it out, cutie.” She pet my head a few times. Did she really need to do that? “Anyway, I’m about ready to wrap this up for now. I know you’ll be a happy little sophont by the end of this week!” The sternness had been replaced with her typically cheeriness. I think I preferred the sternness. “You’ve already improved a lot since I came here.”

“Yeah. Totally.” My entire body felt too weak to even put up a token resistance right now. “You… said you had a pet, right? Did I catch that?”

“Mmhmm. Cutest little thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. I did a routine check on her and she just couldn’t resist giving herself to me. She’s so precious, I hope you get to meet her someday!” She seemed so genuine still, even if her affections seemed to come from a place of looking down upon her.

“Just what I’d love to do, meet some plant bitch’s pet.” I could feel her disapproval at that. It was kinda concerning how easy it was to read them being happy or unhappy with your behaviour. “Are they all as brainwashed as I think they are?”

“As a feralist, you probably think they’re extremely brainwashed. I assure you they’re all happy, beloved darlings who receive nothing but the utmost love and care from us. Also, please watch your tone. I’m only trying to help you.” Another bout of disapproval. Was this a three strike and I was out situation?

“And there’s no option to not receive ‘help’ from you, right?”

“Well, as I said earlier, if you prove to me you don’t need my help I won’t need to provide it, will I? Now, there’s a few more things we need to set up like a veterinarian visit for you to make sure you’re on the right-”

“A fucking vet?” I shoved my head into the noodle pot and screamed a little more. “What’s next, do you want me to bark for you? All this talk about pets and vets and you’re so starsdamned weird!”

“First of all, I bet your barks would be the most precious thing ever.” Great. I was about three seconds away from being called a good puppy by a plant. “Secondly, what is it called when you’re dealing with a species other than yourselves? Vets are merely experts in other animal life. That’s all. Would you want to see an affini doctor for a pruning?”

This was too much. If I didn’t bring my head up, I’d not have to deal with it, right? Such hopes were dashed when a vine gently patted the top of my head.

“I know this is a lot to take in, petal. However, I promise you that I just want you to be happy and healthy. You probably need space for the rest of the day, though. I’ll always be around on the app if you need me, okay? I’ll be back tomorrow at about the same time. Be a good girl until then, okay?” I hated how effective that word was. I hated that being this starved for physical attention made the vines around my waist feel amazing. I hated how every sound that this plant bitch sounded so fucking beautiful... Alava held me for a bit longer, even adding another vine into the mix to give me what amounts to a proper hug.

“Leave. Please.” Another squeeze, and I heard the sounds of fauna shifting out of my room. I was safe for a bit.

---

Her words wouldn’t stop bouncing around in my head like they were being shouted in an empty cave. This was a game of pretending to be a functional person for long enough, or else I get made someone’s pet? And she wanted to indoctrinate me into not being a ‘feralist’ or whatever the fuck that meant? It was so insane that I couldn’t believe it. And what the fuck was with her calling me a good girl? I closed my eyes shut and did something I knew I’d regret. It was the same feeling I got when I texted Ash I missed her, or texted my dealer that I wanted enough drugs to kill a horse. Maybe I should text Ash. Maybe I should send a hail mary and ask if she wants to fuck.

I made my way to the messaging app and shot a message to the plant bitch.

<ViolentViolet> yo
<ViolentViolet> got a question
<ViolentViolet> Two, actually
<ViolentViolet> first, why did you start calling me a good girl?

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Are you not a good girl at heart?
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Sweetie, I have your search history. I know exactly what kind of things you looked up.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Besides, it felt right in the moment and I saw how your body shivered at being called it. You clearly liked it.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> I can stop if you want. Do you?

Man, I’m fucking cooked if I seriously want a plant bitch to call me a good girl. I groaned and after a lengthy pause, I started typing again.

<ViolentViolet> you said you had a pet. can I ask a bit more about that?

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Dodging the question, hmm? But yes, I do have a pet! She’s the light of my life and quite possibly the cutest thing ever. Don’t worry, you’re also quite cute!
<ALavanderByAnotherName> What did you want to know?

<ViolentViolet> erh…
<ViolentViolet> how does it work?
<ViolentViolet> like, you own someone? ain’t that just slavery?

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Slavery would be if someone was my property and didn’t get any sort of right to be loved and adored and pampered. Well, she is legally mine, and she does have to do what I tell her, but that’s true of any pet.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> I take care of her, she lives with me, and she is my responsibility and delight.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> She’s a good girl, though. She really wants to meet you.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Maybe at some point two good girls can meet.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> I’ve been talking to her ever since I got back home. She’s actually in my lap right now!

<ViolentViolet> meet me? im just some chick you’re checking up on

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Well, she’s the one who recommended I check on you.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> I believe you two have known each other for a while!

A knot was starting to form in my stomach. I was slowly starting to put the pieces together and they fucking hurt. It couldn’t be, could it? I only knew one vaguely subby girl, the rest of them all kicked me in the tits.

<ViolentViolet> I
<ViolentViolet> is her name what I think it is?

<ALavanderByAnotherName> I realised I should’ve told you this sooner, cutie. I’m sorry.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> My pet is the one you’re thinking of. She’s your ex, Ash.

I dropped the phone in shock. I could hear it buzzing. I could hear it making noises. I just… wasn’t going to check it. I couldn’t.

My fucking ex was a plant bitch’s pet. And I knew she wanted me next.

I wasn’t going to let her. I’d beat at her own stupid fucking game.

Chapter 2

Notes:

Violet responds very normally to this.

My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing for about ten minutes after what I had done. I decided that the best way to deal with the problem was by laying back into my bed and shoving my head into the pillow as if that’d teleport me into a world where I wasn’t being taken care of by a plant. Not just a plant, but a plant who apparently legally owned my ex.

Either the plant bitch had given up on trying to make me feel better through the bitter stings of jealousy or my phone had given up the ghost. I rolled out of bed and shoved my feet onto the ground to push myself upwards, groaning as I scanned my room. It was still so absurdly clean, still so fucking neat that I felt angry. How dare she do this for me? I could totally do this all by myself. Maybe tomorrow if she hadn’t fucking came. I put my phone on charge to see about ten missed messages from the plant.

I thought about just sending a picture of my middle finger to her. After a brief consideration period, I put my phone down.

I assembled some clothes from the clean pile. One of the nice black tank tops, the ones which didn’t have thread missing from it, and a heavy set of cargo pants. The type that had way too many chains, belts, pockets, and zippers. Back in the day I used to shove food down the pockets and run out of shops, but much like everything else I used to enjoy that was dead now. There wasn’t any thrill if I couldn’t get caught, damn it. I assembled my dirty clothes in the dirty clothes pile which was now a newly minted spot on the floor.

The shower was also so fucking clean. I didn’t even see her do this, how did she clean this? It pissed me off. I slammed the button and couldn’t be bothered waiting for the water to heat up before letting it roll over my skin. The system shock made me feel alive. I’d tear those fucking vines off the plants if they dared came back to this place. My place.

I spent way longer in the shower than I should. A good few minutes were spent just ruminating on absolutely nothing. A bit more than I’m proud of was spent on Ash’s tits. Part of me wondered if now that she was owned by that bitch I could see them again. She’s probably totally brainwashed, right? “Oh, I’ll be a good girl, just let me see those tits once more!” I mocked myself in the shower, shoving my voice about four octones higher to match the aggravatingly soft voice of the plant bitch. “Fuck that.” I shook my head clean and finished washing off the shower gel. After snapping back to reality I realised that my favourite product was lavender scented, and that I now smelled like a plant bitch’s bitch. Great.

After drying myself off I shuffled some clothes onto my body and checked my phone again. Still at ten missed messages, but I only bothered checking the last few. 

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Cutie?
<ALavanderByAnotherName> I’m really sorry for telling you in such a blunt fashion. That was rather careless of me. 
<ALavanderByAnotherName> I understand if you don’t want to hear back from me until tomorrow, darling! I’ll respect your space until I see your cute little face tomorrow!
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Sweet dreams, petal. And see you tomorrow!

<ViolentViolet> yep
<ViolentViolet> not that youre giving me any fucking choice
<ViolentViolet> stop texting me.

It appeared she finally got the hint afterwards, the buzzing finally ceasing. I sighed in relief.

<ViolentViolet> yo, big j
<ViolentViolet> deadbeat? or are the plants crawling there

<BossManJ> its safe, see you there

It didn’t take long for me to find my way from my apartment to Deadbeat. The city had already changed so much in the weeks I had been dissociating from reality. Vines were sprouting from the buildings and construction was growing everywhere. Literally. I could see new floral infrastructure sprouting in unoccupied areas, ranging from what certainly these ‘hab units’ to some more garish things. A ‘domestication centre’? I wanted to throw a napalm bomb right at the stupid fucking thing if only I was sure it’d actually burn. A few of the plant creatures were roaming about the street, all of whom asked if I was lost or if I needed help. I mostly just ignored them. One of them was really stubborn about it and I had to insist I was fine for about five minutes before it eventually gave up and told me to “Stay safe, little one!”.

Stars I fucking hated them.

I met Big J outside of Deadbeat, and felt like I had a sense of normality returning. He was fondling a cigarette underneath pale moonlight, staring longingly at the cancer stick. “Sup big guy, how ya finding our new plant overlords?”

Our crew called Big J that precisely because he’s what you’d expect from someone who was about 160cm. Abrasive, loud, but he got the fucking job done and that’s all you really needed. Despite his smaller stature he still had a rugby player’s build, if said rugby player had about a few heads chopped off. Scrawny blonde hair that was carried to his shoulders but clearly cut by himself. “Nice that I don’t got to pay rent no more. Though I don’t think I’m gonna be able to keep cigs for much longer.” He revealed with a heavy grunt.

I shoved my back against the wall and he instinctively reached into the cigarette carton to pass me one. We lit ours together and took the first drag like we always do in sync. “Oh, lemme guess. ‘No, petal, smoking is bad for you!’” I did my best haughty affini imitation, though quickly scanning the area to see if any were around. The smoke was a great relief from the stress, coating my throat in ash as nicotine scratched the dopamine pathways.

“Yep. Got told that when they scanned my room. Left me well enough alone after that. You had a visit from one already?”

“Yeah, it went flawlessly. Even if that bitch wouldn’t stop treating me like I was a helpless little dog who couldn’t wash herself.”

“Wouldn’t you like that, V?” Big J laughed heartily.

“Hey, fuck you!” I laughed in return. For a moment, it felt like things had returned to normal. 

“Anyway.” He put one of his dwarvish hands on my shoulder. “Heard what happened to Ash. How you holding up?” I didn’t dare respond for a bit. I took a long drag of my cigarette and simply… stopped. Then, I filled my lungs with air.

“I’m fine.” I lied.

“Bitch, I know you’re lying. Everyone of us knew you weren’t over her, and now she’s with the plants.” He patted my shoulder and let it go.

“I’m… fine.” I lied again. “Fuck all I can do about it, anyway.” I resigned myself mentally to something so absurd I wanted to slam my head into the wall about it. 

A smirk tugged on his face. A smirk that I knew all too well. “Hey, V? I think there might be something you can do about it.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked with a quirked eyebrow. “Got a job for me?”

---

I woke up to a buzzing feeling under my face and what must be the worst headache I’ve had in months. I tried to bat the vibrations away but it kept rattling against my jaw. No matter what I did, the alarm on my phone simply wasn’t stopping. Past me, in her infinite wisdom had installed one of those stupid alarms that required you to stand up and actually enter a small problem on it before the alarm would shut up, and by the violent pounding in my head I had clearly drunk too much.

From what memories were flooding back to me, I had dealt with my problems in my usual fashion, by celebrating with Big J in the bar and drinking enough booze to kill a lesser woman. Probably a good deal of stimulants too. I heard from some folks in the bar that there were xenodrugs that the Affini had that were unlike anything else we had here, but that’d require getting close to the Affini and neither of us wanted to do that.

Still, a fuckton of booze and no water meant that I felt like death warmed up. I groggily managed to do the problem on my phone, stopping the cacophonous buzzing and letting me see the time. And I had to be at my place in…

Fifteen minutes. Fuck. I was fucked.

Big J had gone to work by now. I never asked what he was doing now the profession of being a criminal had kinda died since the invasion, however I decided that now was not a good time to ask about it. Or yesterday, either. Mercifully, we were close enough that the security locks recognised me as a guest. Likewise, if I stole anything from his place I was ten stories up. He could just break my legs himself if he felt like it.

Well, if I started running now, I could probably make it to my place in time. I had memorised the route from Big J’s place to mine so intimately that if I closed my eyes I could still run it. I shoved my phone in my pocket and began on my way, using my toned legs to my advantage to run up the many flights of stairs that I needed to. My head was pounding. Killing me. Though I had a feeling if I turned up late to this that plant bitch would probably just claim me on the spot. 

Sliding right into my door, I collapsed onto the sofa and swiped my phone from my pocket to find out I had about three minutes to stop panting. Two minutes were spent on recovering from running my ass off like I was sprinting a 100m race with my freedom on the line, another moment spent getting myself off the couch. Proudly upright, my body was likewise quick to remind me that I had just run upstairs with no food or water in my stomach, and that it would very much like if I didn’t stand upright so quickly. It did this by buckling under my own weight and shoving me forward like a poorly stacked selection of boxes and planting my face firmly into the ground.

Then the doorbell rang.

“Good afternoon cutie! May I please come in?” That chirpy, stupidly beautiful voice buzzed through the intercom. I hated it so much.

“Yeah, sure.” I had just about managed to get myself into an upright kneeling position, though I looked a bit more like a woman about to be knighted than someone getting on their feet.

The door slid open with a ‘click’, and the plant bitch was back. “Oh, goodness… are you okay, darling?” She occupied the space in the living room, creating a terrifying mess of vines and plant matter that… was strangely calming a bit. At least I was gonna get fed and water. Y’know, maid service wasn’t that bad.

“Yeah, fine.” I thought I was good at lying, but everyone I lied to recently gave me the clear look that they didn’t believe me.

“...Have you eaten anything today? Or have you drunk anything?”

“I just woke up.” I grunted.

“Petal, it is 2pm.” The vines on her face looked concerned.

“You ever heard of night owls? Yeah, that.” I snickered. 

“That’s evidently not what’s happening. Considering your messaging app was up until 5am yesterday, you were obviously getting dangerously drunk and now you scrambled here because you knew if you missed this meeting you’d be put forward as someone who couldn’t take care of herself, correct?”

“...I really should turn that fucking app off…well, yeah. That’s what happened.” I turned my head away from the frustratingly pretty lady with infuriatingly fucking pretty voice.

“Now, you’re not exactly doing a great job of convincing me you’re not that kind of someone. However, I realised what I did last night didn’t exactly help your already fragile mental setting. I’m going to overlook this as a one off because of this, darling.” She sounded.. Remorseful? Maybe she wasn’t enjoying messing with me. “So.. let me get you some food, some water, and we’ll talk after food, okay? What would this little one want for breakfast?”

“Bacon and egg. Bagel. With cream cheese.” I demanded, and she vanished from the door. She did give me a gentle pat on the head beforehand, along with a cutesy “Back soon, petal!” I started wondering if she was required to do that. That weird feeling vanished after she left, not that I could stand to look at her currently. My legs cooperated after a small moment, placing my ass right on the stool by the table. It hadn’t been put back from yesterday, usefully. I flicked open my phone, and looked at my messages again.

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Good morning darling! I hope you slept well!
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Someone was up late, make sure you hydrated well! And don’t forget you’re meeting me in a few hours!!!
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Be a good girl for me, okay?~

<ViolentViolet> fuck you

I probably shouldn’t have sent that. 

<ViolentViolet> yo big j, I got back safely, thanks for the night

No response. He was probably busy. Truth be told, Alava was the only one who ever responded to my messages within like five minutes of me sending them. Then again, I guess I was literally her case for a while. Well, I opened up social media and began mindlessly scrolling for a little bit. Interestingly enough, the Accord propaganda had been slowly starting to be replaced by pro-Affini messaging. Maybe they were being turned into pets themselves. I still mostly tried to follow the side that was against making my ex into their pet and treating perfectly capable people if they were helpless idiots. Obnoxious, gross plant bitch invaders who wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone.

“Is that anyway to speak to someone who just got you breakfast?” I heard a stern voice peek from the back of the phone and groaned.

“I wasn’t speaking to you. I was typing.” I snickered.  “Besides, I’m starting to wonder if phone Alava is the bitch who made my ex their pet and you’re the nice Alava who just wants to feed me. Hey, maybe there’s two of you!” I chuckled loudly.

I instantly knew I fucked up when I looked behind the screen and felt an overwhelming presence looming at me. Those eyes that were merely pretty had turned into dangerous, swirling and sparkling forces that had grabbed me and were refusing to let go.

“Let’s make one thing clear, petal. You’ll use no such disparaging language to talk to me. You won’t use such language to refer to me, even to yourself. I am simply here to help you, I am simply here to make you the best version of yourself you can be. Am I understood?” Her words shot through every layer of brain fog and each fortification I had and managed to capture a core part of my mind. If her voice was a stream before that I was merely waddling my way up before, it had turned into a crashing waterfall that had towed me under. I wanted to close my eyes, to turn away from her, to resist in any way I could. Yet I was utterly unable to.

My head felt worse than before, but I felt myself instinctively nod at her. “I understand…” Was all I could manage. Alava kept the intense…whatever the fuck it was was for a good few moments before returning to normal.

“Good girl! I knew you’d see it my way.” A vine patted my head and a separate one wrapped around my waist without my consent. She presented the bacon and egg sandwich with a warm smile and let me get to it. There was even fresh orange juice. Like everything else, I had to assume she simply knew my usual routines after a hangover. “Gosh, you’d make such a cute pet you know that?”

I didn’t rise to it. I didn’t dare respond. I just focused on the food. What the fuck just happened? 

“I don’t want to be a pet.” I finally murmured up the courage to respond after eating everything she had brought to my table. “Anyway, fuck did you just do to my head?”

“Nothing serious. Just added a little mental stop to you saying such mean things about me. It appears you just can’t help yourself but call me names, so I stopped that in its tracks.”

“I… what the fuck does that have to do with seeing if I can be independent? Besides, I’m free to do whatever I want. Long as it doesn’t ‘hurt me or others’, right?” I groaned in agony, employing mocking air quotes at the end.

“No, actually. You are being tested to see if you can look after yourself and if your feralism will die down. As such, this relationship won’t work if you’re constantly hurling insults at me, little one.”

“And you’re the one treating me like a bird with a broken wing. I’m fine. Leave me alone.” Stars, this bitch  You will not refer to Miss Alava with such language. I screamed a helpless little scream, shoving my head into the plate. 

“I’ll leave you alone when you can prove you can be alone, petal. I know you want to prove you can be a totally independent little sophont who’s shed all those nasty feralist tendencies so how about we get started on that?”

I yanked on the vine in a vain attempt that she might actually fucking let me free for a bit. To my surprise, she actually relinquished her hold on me. The headache felt a little bit better for eating… something. Fucking plants taking care of me and looking after me and… oh, I could actually think that? Neat. Fucking plants. Fuck plants. Wait, that wasn’t right.

“Fine. What are the next steps?” I stood upright and folded my arms, hoping that I could look somewhat intimidating to the plant lady that just rummaged into my head like it was an open drawer. I looked like a wounded deer about to fall down.

“Well.” The affini summoned a tablet from somewhere inside her vines. I didn’t want to think about it. ”We still need to take you to the vet for a medical checkup, though from your records you were on estrogen… weekly?” The term vet still made me bristle up and want to unleash a haymaker on this… plant. Had to pretend I didn’t hate her viney guts, though.

“Yeah, had an orchi. So I just do my shot weekly and kinda forget about it.”

“Well, your rather primitive forms of hormone replacement therapy are a thing of the past, cutie. We’ve got much more efficient Class-G drugs that do the same thing much better, with no downsides. It can also make you shorter, change your body shape, and even change your genitals. If you can think of something, there’s no doubt that we can do it!” Alava was cheering for her own strange alien HRT, practically singing as she did so. “We can talk about what you would like done with the vet, though. When did you last do your injection?” 

I didn’t really believe her about shapeshifting HRT, but it might be neat to have a bigger ass. When the question was presented, I shook my head a bit to force myself to focus.. “Erh…” C’mon, Violet. If you forgot when you last had it, she’d use this as an excuse to make her your pet for sure! “It’s Wednesday today, right? So tomorrow.”

“In that case, we’ll get it done tomorrow at the vet. So, as a rough itinerary, I will meet you, check up on you, and take you to get your medicines sorted. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like I don’t have a fucking choice in the matter.” I growled back.

“This is for your own good, remember? Silly darling.” Another condescending pat on my head and another wonder if the plant b- lady could burn.

“You keep fucking saying that! I never wanted you to dote on me or fuck with my mind or feed me or clean my room or…”

“And before I was here, your cute little butt was on the windowsill using booze as a substitute for food. Me being here, as of right now, is a good thing for you. Now, keep being a good girl and I won’t need to put any new blocks in your head, darling. Or play with your mind. Unless you ask for it. Promise.” I gritted my teeth harshly, I could feel them turning into dust at how much I was biting my tongue.

“Are you quite done? Can you leave now?”

“In time, you’ll learn that we’re right. Though I see we’ve reached the limit of productive conversation today. Unless there’s anything else you want to ask, I’ll leave your cute little self until tomorrow. No wild parties, okay? Take it easy. For your sake. Relax today before your big day tomorrow, little one.”

I…took a deep breath in. I knew before the words had left my lips I was going to regret this.“Yo. Plant lady.”

“Yes, little one? I’ll take that over what you said before.” She responded with a warming giggle. Stars did I hate it. I hated the way she laughed at me.

“How’s Ash?” I spat the words out like a hairball, immediately cocking my head away in shame. “Haven’t spoken to her in a month, so…”

“She’s doing great! Really happy to hear you’re getting the care you deserve. She wouldn’t stop asking about you last night, and every time I told her something she’d respond with a laugh about how that was exactly the you she remembered.”

I felt my heart rebelling. The hairs on my arm were standing on end. Why did a plant I just meet emerge the victor? Why did she deserve Ash, and not me?

“The Violet she remembered, huh?” I gulped down another huge heap of my pride. “Think she wants to see me again? I know last time we met she blocked me on everything and told me I wasn’t welcome within a city radius of her.”

“I could ask her. Hmm..” I saw her tapping a vine against her cheek in an approximation of thinking. “How about this? If it’s okay with her, you’ll be tired after the vet tomorrow.”

“Stop calling it that.” I whined.

“It is a veterinarian who’ll be seeing you. Unless you want a doctor who can specialise in how healthy your foliage is or how well your core is humming.” I groaned in response. Eyes on the prize, I told myself. “Anyway, you’ll be tired, how about you come over to mine for dinner and you can reintroduce yourselves.  I’m sure she’ll be delighted to see you.”

Great. I’d be in the middle of enemy territory with my ex. There’s absolutely no reason I should say yes to this other than my own morbid fucked curiosity. 

“Sure, whatever. I’m sleeping in my place though. Not yours.”

“Of course, cutie. It’s not like you’re my pet or anything.” Alava tittered.

I fucking hated this fucking stars damned plant lady so much.

“I’ll arrange this little meeting on one condition. If you and Ash get along well enough, I want to cuddle the both of you for a little bit.”

“Are you out of your mind?!” I snapped back, almost choking on the words. “Cuddling you?!”

“I cuddled you yesterday. I cuddled her last night. It doesn’t have to be long, I just want both cuties in my arms. If you find these terms to be disagreeable to you, I can always just dump you back at your place after you’re done with the vet.”

…I hated this. I shouldn’t do this. There’s absolutely no way meeting my ex ends well for me or cuddling into a pretty lady who wants to make me her property will end well.. “Deal. But only for a little while, okay?” I answered with hatred sticking like a knife to my throat.  I couldn’t tell if it was self-hatred or hatred of her.

“Deal’s a deal, little one! Gosh I can’t wait to have both of your adorable little faces looking up at me! Well, see you tomorrow!” Before I knew it, the plant lady had wrapped her vines tightly around my midsection and squeezed like an excited bear. “Stay safe, and remember to eat and drink!”

I wasn’t even going to justify any of that with a response. Eventually Alava left my apartment and I was left with the empty, crushing feeling I was starting to get every night. I shoved myself into bed and closed my eyes for a nap.

---

I woke up at… 5pm? A barrage of excited messages came from the usual suspect.

<ALavanderByAnotherName> She agreed!!!!!
<ALavanderByAnotherName> I’m so excited to have you both here for dinner! I can’t wait to see you again, little one, and know I’ll get to cradle you in my vines along with my sweet little floret.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Now be a good girl and wait for me until tomorrow, okay? I know you can! And make sure to eat something, it’s about dinnertime!

<ViolentViolet> see you then

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Strict rest and relaxation for your big day!~ 

I couldn’t even insult her without my head feeling like a pound of bricks had been thrown at it. I really was doomed. Fuck these Affini fucks.

Chapter 3

 

I barely slept that night. No matter how long I spent buried underneath the covers, intrusive thoughts pounded into my skull like a battering ram. Was I really doing this? I hadn’t been to a legit doctor since I moved out a decade ago, now I was going to a vet. A fucking vet of all things. How much do I even tell them? Can I even hide things from these freaks?

Huh, I could call them freaks again. I wasn’t about to try the other term in a hurry though. That… felt like a really bad idea. Had I even tried to call them freaks before, anyway? It felt as if I was fighting a battle in my mind, a minefield of neurons that had been contaminated by her. With sleep seeming like a pointless endeavour, I zipped up one of my large hoodies and shoved on some cargo pants to go for a walk.

It felt so weird to not have somewhere to be at night time. Usually I’d be on a job or meeting with my crew at Deadbeat to plan, but now? I was free. I could do whatever I want. It made me feel listless. They had freed me from being a criminal, but who even was I without being an infiltrator? I decided to crash by one of the local diner spots. Real early Americana vibes. All I had today was a sandwich, which annoyingly had been given to me by her. I needed to eat… something.

After getting seated by one of the stools facing the window, I watched as the mixture of plants and people sauntered about their night time activities. What were they thinking about? Probably about making totally independent terrans into pets. Did these creatures have hobbies? Other things they enjoyed doing? Maybe this was just their deal. I was almost tempted to walk up and ask before realising what a terrible fucking idea it’d be.

“Good evening, Miss. What can I get you?” Someone asked, shattering my pondering. I didn’t move my gaze from the street, though I did jump out of my skin, masterfully hiding it in my baggy clothes. The voice came from a terran rather than an affini, though. Thankfully.

“Gimme the triple burger with a side of onion rings and like…” I shouldn’t have coffee. That’d make me sleep even less. Look at me, starting to think more than an hour at a time. I’d totally be an independent person if this kept up. “Orange juice? Yeah.”

“Right away, Miss.” The person shifted off, leaving me to my thoughts. Elbows proudly pressed onto the counter, I shoved my hands into my face and took a deep sigh. I had to admit that the streets were starting to look prettier because of them. Not as much litter scattered around, there weren’t any helpless souls without homes decaying on the pavement or jerking off. You could even start to taste the air without it tasting like sulphur in your lungs. What a concept.

My phone buzzed. That was unusual, especially this late. I checked my phone and… groaned. It was her.

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Darling, why are you up? I thought I told you it was strictly rest and relaxation until the vets tomorrow!

I thought about just not answering. Probably a bad idea. It’d be really funny though.

<ViolentViolet> couldnt sleep.
<ViolentViolet> could ask the same about you.

<ALavanderByAnotherName> We have drugs for helping you sleep if you require it. Do you want me to pop by and give you some?

Oh great. Alien drugs. Maybe they’d make me submissive and docile to her. What was I even fucking thinking? They almost definitely had something like that.

<ViolentViolet> im at a diner rn
<ViolentViolet> gonna try to get some food in my gut before sleeping again

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Dodging the question, sweetie? You need to be rested before the vet tomorrow.

<ViolentViolet> wouldnt that be today at this point?

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Tell me the diner you’re at and I’ll give you the drugs, little one. Then you’ll see me in the afternoon.

<ViolentViolet> no, no weird drugs just leave me alone

<ALavanderByAnotherName> I would prefer it if you cooperate during your wardship. It’d reflect rather poorly on you if you were to suddenly start refusing care, wouldn’t it?
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Last chance, petal. Let me know where you are and I’ll be right there.

I… really didn’t have a choice here. Again. I sighed loudly and relented.

<ViolentViolet> jerries, close to deadbeat

I stuffed my phone into my pocket and let out an exasperated noise. I barely registered what the waiter said but I just nodded as my food arrived. Fuck, it looked delicious. I can’t remember the last time I had a burger. Before the Affini meat like this would require killing someone. I probably literally killed someone for a burger in my old life. Now I could just waltz somewhere and get it for free? My stomach reminded me just how ravenously hungry I was, growling like a hyena upon seeing fresh carrion. I sunk my fingers deep into the burger, letting the juices flow from the meat onto the bread before taking a bite big enough to fill my mouth to an almost dangerous degree. I relished each bite and chew I took, savouring each time the meal graced my taste buds. I had closed my eyes in bliss, utterly lost in the moment. This was heaven. Maybe I was that hungry.

“My, someone was starving. How adorable!” She squealed like she had seen a puppy chowing down on kibble. I reserved my anger for just a moment long enough to swallow, eyes opening to reveal the nightmare that had been afflicting my waking moments.

“Fuck! Don’t scare me like that.” I centered myself with a deep sigh. “You gonna give me the drugs now or do I have to pretend to like you?” I bit back, stuffing my face so I wasn’t required to speak for another five seconds.

“How harsh, little one! And I thought we were making such good progress.” She laughed. I briefly considered punching her face.

“Y’know, I thought you were quite good at reading hints. Guess not.” I shrugged, taking one of the onion rings from the side and scoffing it down.

“So, what’s got you up so late? You should be resting up.” She inquired with a condescending tone, making her way onto one of the stools. I was impressed it took her weight.

“None of your business.”

“It is very much my business. I’m the one working your case, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, for my ‘own good’ or whatever.” I snarled back behind another onion ring. I even took a heavy gulp of orange juice. Fuck, it was good. There were even bits in it. Actual, honest to stars bits that you only got from fresh oranges.

“Anyway, I was up late doing paperwork. It’s something of an Affini hobby.” Alava tittered to an absolutely stonefaced response. Fuck her. “I checked my app and noticed you were up way later than you should considering what’s happening. So, I wanted to check up on you, darling.”

“I just couldn’t sleep. Happy now?” I finally spilled, starting to dig my nails into the burger like it was her viney flesh. Stars, I wanted to rip those things apart. “Before you ask, it’s about personal stuff that doesn’t concern you.”

“I can understand that, dear.” Alava merely agreed, wrapping one of her vines around her waist like she was apparently obsessed with doing. “A lot has changed in the past two weeks for everyone, but especially you. It can’t be easy having everything about your life change, can it?” Was this… sympathy? Concern? The thought that this thing truly had sympathy for me baffled me. Sickened me.

“You have no idea what it’s like. Not having to worry about the next paycheck. Where my rent is coming from. I don’t have to kill or steal or…” My thoughts were racing. My head was swirling like a vortex. “And you! You keep being so fucking nice to me! I’m a bad person, okay?” I shouted back with venom burning on my tongue. Yet… I was crying? I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks and my breathing grew heavier. Each breath felt like I was wading through mud, my vision beginning to blur and hasten.  I lost my grip on the burger, it falling into a disassembled half eaten mess on the plate. “I’ve killed, I’ve hurt, I’ve done horrible, awful things. Yet you! You don’t give a shit about that! It makes no sense! Why?”

Alava didn’t respond immediately. Instead, I felt her vines coil tenderly around my body, engulfing me in what passed for a hug with these… creatures. I instinctively threw a punch at her, only for my arm to be intercepted and held firmly. “Ssssh. Ssssh, little one. It’s all okay now.” Now that I was so close to her, her voice was so soothing. It felt like the ocean's waves gently lapping at the beach front, like the summer rain pattering against a window. “I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, you only did bad things because you had to. I know you, dear Violet. You’d have never done such things if it wasn’t for the systems in place crushing you into being a criminal.” My chest felt lighter. Less like there was a force opening it, enough to allow me some air.

“I… I don’t know.” I confessed. Why were my emotions streaming so naturally around her? I could feel them flowing as if the locks I placed upon my feelings had been shattered with a sledgehammer. “I… I just don’t know if I wouldn’t be a criminal if you were around. Maybe I’d still be an awful person.” The good news about being pressed against Alava was that all my tears were soaked up by the mossy exterior on her chest. It was the second time I had been pressed into the soft, fuzzy center and each time I learnt new things about her.

“Such hypotheticals aren’t important, darling. What if the Affini had rescued your planet centuries ago? All that matters is that you’re safe now. You don’t need to be that person any more. You can just be the best you from now on, okay?” The closer I got to Alava the more calming her words were. I lost track of time, cradled in a nest of vines and soft bark that I wasn’t sure where I was anymore. Each second bled into the last, listening only to her cooing words and gentle hushes. They were… amazing. Nicer than the first hit of beer on a disgusting night out. Eventually, she tapped me on the shoulder with a vine. How much time had I lost…? “Now, darling. Your food is going to get cold if you leave it. Eat now, and you’ll be at the vets when you wake up, okay?” I looked up into the gorgeous amethyst eyes which were shining a tender green, her smile so honeyed and kind that I found myself only able to nod to it. “Good girl.” She enthused with a pat on my head. The praise sent a shiver down my spine. She unfurled me from the vines and let me get on with my meal. I was totally out of words for once in my life, but Alava didn’t seem to care, gazing at me with adoring eyes.

It didn’t take long for me to wolf down the rest of the meal. Something about the emotional outburst had totally fried my ability to speak but made me utterly ravenous. I did make sure to properly chew the food though, I felt as if getting indigestion now would totally ruin my case for being an independent. “Alright. How’s this gonna work?” I was finally able to muster some words, having chowed down on the final onion ring.

Alava began by patting my head a few times with a vine.“Okay, sweetie. Now, you’re going to feel a sharp sting, then you’ll wake up at the vet’s. I’ll drop you off at your home while you rest so you’re somewhere safe and warm.” I was too tired to argue back about safety. In fact, all I did was nod my head. One of her appendages revealed a sharp point to it, stabbing deep into the muscle on my shoulder. The pain didn’t bother me at all, I even watched the liquid rush down from the limb into me. Within seconds, the world around me had started to vanish, sleep stealing me in an instant. “

Goodniiiight-”

 

---

 

With Violet’s utterly adorable self getting the rest she needed, it was trivial for me to pick her up. I pulled her close to my face, leaning down to press a kiss right on her forehead. “Good girl. Such a good girl.” I whispered just loud enough for her to hear it, hoping it’d make her dreams just a bit sweeter. Afterwards, I hoisted her tenderly into myself, splitting myself apart just enough to house her inside me. Once she was securely inside I made sure to wrap her in a tight but not oppressive blanket of me, posing her so that she’d cling to my core. Assuming a more terran form, I headed for the exit. The waiter came back just as I began heading out, passing me a soft smile.

“Was that your floret, Miss?”

“Oh, not yet.” I tittered. “I have a feeling she’ll last a few more days before begging to be mine, though.” I confessed, waving goodbye to the waiter and heading back to my place. I couldn’t let my dear Ash see this, of course. For now, it was my little secret.  

 

---

 

My dreams were weird enough whenever I had the misfortune of having them. Usually I passed out into the black abyss and woke up four to twelve hours later. However, once the black maw swallowed me whole, I found myself opening my eyes again to being submerged deep under water. The depths didn’t feel too cool or too warm on my skin, being a comfortable temperature to be under. Instinctively, I could breathe under the waves, or perhaps it was that I didn’t need air currently? I didn’t question it too much. Dream logic. Swimming in a circle, I noticed something. There was a vibrant purple light that had caught my attention, much deeper down at my feet. I felt drawn to it, something was compelling me to see what this deep sea light could be.

I dove deeper down. It felt warmer. There was a small humming noise that came from the light, a calming feeling washing over me as I sank.

I dove even deeper. The vibrant hues of blue had started to become washed out in comparison to the lilac hues of this light. It was enveloping me in it. I was realising I didn’t care.

Deeper still I went. It was so close. If I reached out, if I stretched my arm just far enough I could grab it. I could hold it in my arms and embrace it. I could-

“Violet?” I jolted awake with a force so violent that I actually bumped into one of the affini. My head planted against the foliage and bounced back. It barely even hurt to headbutt one of these things, even if I did so accidentally. Coming to, I absorbed my surroundings quickly. A typical sterile white hospital environment, filled with posters in a language I didn’t understand. Probably talking about shit like “How to look after your pet!” with terran anatomy on it. I was on a cool metal bed, with my hoodie having been taken off from yesterday. I… didn’t do that. My clothing remained unaffected otherwise, which was a huge relief.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry!” I whined back at the new plant… thing. Lots of brown vines with gray flowers on it. It kind of looked like a doctor you’d see on one of those cartoons, though there was a touch more refinement to it. Its head did look a bit weird, bifurcated in the middle to create what looked like horns. It had a tablet in its hand, no doubt filled with incriminating medical evidence.

“It is okay, little one. My name is Kefri Xini, Seventh Bloom, they/them. I’ve been told your case worker here brought you for a check up. Is that correct?” They had a strange tone to them, it distinctly didn’t carry high enough pitch or resonance to be either male or female. Honestly, it was pretty neat.

“Erh… yep. Is that happening now?” I scanned around for a second, searching for the plant that had brought me here. It felt strangely calming when I noticed Alava sat in a chair to the corner.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. I’m just letting the nice vet do their work, okay?” It wasn’t like I was worried she wouldn’t be here, I’d just have been a little pissed if she brought me without telling me. Still, it was nice having her around.

I laid back down on the bed, resigning myself to fate. “Alright, doc. So, what happens now?”

“Before we begin anything, I have to know your name.”

“Hasn’t Alava already told you that?” That sounded incredibly independent of me. Fuck.

“No, she hasn’t. She isn’t your owner, after all. So, what is your name, little one?” More condescension from these plants. I hated the way they called me little one.

“Violet.” I sighed, hoping that was good enough.

“That can’t be your full name, can it?”

“I think second names are stupid. When I changed my name, I just put it to Null to hope that it’d fuck with someone’s system.” It had worked once or twice, to my amusement.

“...I see. First of all, I require the physical health component. Violet, when did you last visit a Terran doctor? And before you ask, I also mean illegitimate doctors.” I was about to interject so smugly, too!

“I usually visited them before a big job. So like… three months ago?” I pondered. “Everyone was so distracted by the Affini we had some pretty easy pickings.”

“And what did this doctor say?” They didn’t seem too bothered by that. Should they be?

“He said I was probably safe to take the drugs I usually take before the hit.” I offered back nervously.

“And anything else?” Kefri was busy writing something down on their tablet. Fuck, did I say the wrong thing? Was I about to become Alava’s pet on the spot? I really needed to stop thinking about that.

“Nah, why would he? He just wanted to make sure I was alive and alert during the hit. Anything else was secondary.”

“I see. And are you continuing to take any of these drugs?”

“Huh? Nah. Maybe a little coke, but like, nowhere near as many stimulants and caffeine pills at the same time. Used to call it a ‘Combat Cocktail’. That always made my heart feel like it was about to explode, I hated it.” I winced as I remembered. “Anyway, doc, what’s next?”

Kefri didn’t have eyes, but I could feel them rolling. “Well, now we need to check your body levels and overall physical health. Your official records say that you were on injections?”

“Yeah, estrogen.”

“Do you think you’ll need any other? Antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds? Also, your primitive HRT is a thing of the past. We can make you look however you want to look in any configuration you want to look like. If you so wished, we could give you animal ears, whatever genitals you desire, changing body height. If you desire it, it could be done.”

“I like how I look.” I pouted. “Wait, animal ears? You mean you can give fully functional animal ears to people nowadays?”

“Easily. It would require some surgery, but it’s nothing that we couldn’t handle. Is that something that interests you?”

“Not… at this moment.” I’m not letting her know about the cat thing. I can’t let her know about the cat thing. She almost definitely knows from my browser history that they stole, but I’m not confirming it with my mouth damn it. “Oh, can I have my balls back? Dunno if you’d need to make them produce estrogen or…whatever. I just miss shooting thick ropes.” It had been ages since I actually could do that, but fuck if I didn’t miss it.

“Absolutely.” Kefri said with a soft chuckle. “Your class-Gs will merely maintain what you have, simply without the negative side effects. They’ll also give you your testicles back.” They tapped something on their tablet, stuffing it into the vines moments after. “Please lay down, Violet. It is time for the monitoring part.” I complied quickly, eyes closing. If I could get this done quickly, I could finally meet Ash again.

Needles and machines soon surrounded my form, and I barely paid any attention to them. Honestly, it was better than all the machines my old doc would hook me up to without giving me any pain relief. One of them used to shock me harsh enough to burn

“Levels look… worrying, but nothing that can’t be fixed with caring for yourself. Damaged nasal cavity and heart, with dangerously low vitamin levels and other deficiencies.” Kefri commentated, pulling the medical stuff off me. “You need to look after yourself better, Violet. ”

“You’re not saying anything Alava isn’t saying.” I rolled my eyes.

“Almost as if I’m right, petal.” I heard that gentle voice comment with a chuckle. I groaned in exhaustion.

“Alright, anything else?” I tried not to show irritation in my voice but I was clearly failing.

“A psychological evaluation. Please give me just a moment.” Before I could protest too much, something was placed on my forehead and-

“Told you she was adorable.” I heard Alava. How long had I been out? I phased back into reality to see Kefri and Alava discussing something.

“What the fuck, doc? You were meant to ask for consent before doing that.” The snarl in my voice had gone to actual growling.

Kefri bowed gently. “I apologise, miss, but it simply needed to be done. I figured it was easiest to just get it over with, as it were.”

“I… fine. That’s fine by me.” I was getting really bad at lying. “What was in it?”

“Lots of technical stuff, but you’re in great mental health otherwise. You’re not depressed or anxious, and you seem to be resilient mentally. ” Alava answered, and I felt confident enough in her response.

“Well, Miss Violet, everything seems to be in order. I also gave Alava here the class-Gs you require. You’re good to go.”

“Ah… huh. Coulda just gave ‘em to me though. Thanks, doc.” I hopped off the bed and stretched my body a bit. Despite how well rested I was, I felt somewhat tired after being probed both mentally and physically. “Yo, Alava. It’s time for your part of the deal, yeah? Take me to yours.”

“Of course, little one!” Alava ran a vine around my waist before tugging on it tenderly, feeling somewhere between a hug around my tummy and a leash on it. “Follow me.”

I didn’t trust Kefri’s smile as I left, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Well, time to meet my ex.

---

 

Alava wouldn’t release the vine from around my stomach, despite me protesting more than a few times. Apparently she didn’t want me to get lost, but I didn’t believe her in the slightest. Still, the touch was nice enough. We twisted and turned through the city streets, eventually arriving at an apartment complex. They were absurdly high and wide, reaching into the night sky to tenderly graze it. “So, lemme guess. You built a bunch of rent-free penthouses?”

“Very smart, petal! While we do live in a post-scarcity society now, unfortunately space is still a problem. So we build the complex housing these hab units rather tall, giving plenty of homes to cute little darlings such as yourself. Ash wanted a hab unit riiiight on the very top.” Alava explained, opening the front doors to present an extraordinarily clean and comfortable lounge space. “This complex also serves several other functions as a grocery store, exercise centre, and leisure resort. It can house up to 100,00 Terrans easily, with several more just like this being built every day.” Alava continued rambling as we got into an elevator at the end of the longue. It was clearly built to comfortably accommodate several affini at once, so the two of us being in it was no problem. It was built onto the back of the building, with glass on the back to display the world as it went by. She flicked one of the buttons on the side and silently it started rising upwards, displaying the city lights as they shrunk steadily.

“I… you built this all in a week?” I commented, my elbows resting against the guard rails of the elevator. I could barely process it.

“Well, not me in particular. I have a very important job owning the most adorable floret in the world, and helping another be her best independent self.” Her humour almost made me laugh. Almost.

“Yeah, just… how many of you did it take to do this? How many of you are swarming on the streets below?”

“This is one of the most populous cities on Terra, darling. We knew we had to send as many of us as possible. Also, I reject the notion that we are ‘swarming’, there’s just so many cuties to help down there. They’re safe though. Where they belong.” I felt a tightness around my gut, a possessiveness from her that I was not welcoming.

The emotion burst from my throat, my nails digging into the plush guardrails. “...you want me to be your pet, don’t you? I saw the way you squeezed me when you said that. From the way you’ve been acting recently.” I made sure to bury more than enough bile in my voice. “It’s not going to happen.”

“I won’t deny that I’d love that, little one. You’re so cute, and I’ve been delighting in looking after you. However, that choice is yours alone. Unless you do something to endanger yourself or others, that choice will remain in your hands and I will leave you alone after my wardship is done.”

The lights of the city were growing faint now. “Least you admit it.” I said with a sigh. “When does your wardship end?”.

“If you asked me at any point, I would’ve told you that. However, I am genuinely doing all I can to make sure you can be independent, as per your wishes. For the matter of your wardship, simply until I am satisfied that you can live on your own.”

“Is that why you’re drugging me?” I scoffed.

“You needed pharmaceutical help. I was there to provide it. So far I’ve got a glowing case for you maintaining your independence.”

“I really, really don’t believe you. Nor do I trust you. But I feel like if I ran out the front door you’d say I’m not being cooperative or… something.” And I wouldn’t get to see Ash. My thought process got interrupted by the elevator dinging. “C’mon.” I took the lead, stepping out into the hallway.

Well, the lead lasted for as long as the first few doors went. Then, she pressed on one of the hab unit doors, revealing one of the nicest fucking places I’ve been in a while. There was a comfortable kitchen space, stocked with those weird compiler things and pretty much every sort of cooking equipment I could imagine. To the left, an open door hinted at a pearly white bathroom that was bigger than my apartment itself.

In front of me, a giant sprawling sofa that was fit for five people faced a TV that had all sorts of devices hooked underneath it. Just before that was a table, stools splayed underneath in a neatly ordered row. There were four of these, too. Slightly past the kitchen was a set of wooden stairs, leading up to an enclosed second floor. Still, that wasn’t the thing that caught my attention the most. A figure emerged from beneath the sofa, and I recognised it immediately.

“Ash?” The words caught in my throat. She looked… different. First of all was the floppy canine ears flowing out of her head (Do I have to call that fur now?) And a long, thick tail that was pointing from underneath her. Her breasts were so much bigger now, they’d definitely grown from the just barely B cups that I had held previously. Maybe E? Or F. I’d have to ask later. Her fuchsia hair was shorter too, down to just about her chin, cut neatly into a side shave. She was wearing a pink graphic tee that had… some anime bullshit on it, and a same coloured ruffled skirt. And.. a collar? The purple band around her neck had a silver love-heart attached to it, vines in the style of Alava’s own coiled around it.

To my genuine surprise, Ash waited no time in literally pouncing me. “Violet! I thought I’d never see you again!” I was shoved to the floor by the puppy that was my ex, who had started licking over my face. I giggled and hugged her the best I could in the moment I had her out of instinct. She soon jumped up and began licking Alava’s face after. “Mistress! Oh my gosh I missed you so much you know that? I love you!” I felt a sting in my stomach as I watched them. I pushed my legs up, feeling that usual jealousy welling up deep inside me.

“I love you too, darling pet. Have you been a good puppy while I was working?” She cooed with the tender tone you’d expect. I hated it.

“Yep! I haven’t gotten up to too much mischief, don’t worry. You know me, I’m a good girl!” The two of them laughed. I bit my tongue hard enough that it made me wonder if I was about to taste blood.

“So, how was the trip to the vets?” Ash inquired, pulling off her owner to look at me. Maybe it was out of pity.

“Please, please don’t call it that.” I responded with no shyness of frustration. “And, it was fine. Asked me a bunch of weird personal questions and left me alone, so I ain’t complaining.”

“I bet you hated that, huh? Usually yappy Violet, being made to answer ‘weird personal questions’ like, ‘when was the last time you did your injections’? And ‘have you got that weird mole looked at’?” Ash and I burst out into laughter.

“Yeah, those, I fucking hate those. Besides, my old doc did look at that weird mole. Ain’t nothing to worry about.” I boasted as if I wasn’t flagrantly admitting to not having looked after myself.

“And her new vet removed that mole while she was under. Nothing for her to worry about now!” Alava interjected.

“Wait, you did? You could’ve asked me about that!” I narrowed my eyes at Alava, yet she remained cool under the pressure.

“Asked you? About a cancerous growth that was on your thigh? It needed to be removed. That’s the end of the discussion.”

I..sighed loudly. It was gone now, anyway. Nothing I could really do about it. “Fine.” I spat back.

“You may also be happier to know that thanks to a stem cell infusion, your genitals will return to their preferred form too. You’ll have your wish to ‘blast ropes’ sooner than you think, Violet.”

I could feel Ash’ playful gaze dig into my blushing features, taken from upset to flustered in seconds. Why could she play with my emotions like I was a ship in a storm? “Erh, thanks.”

“Good girl. Now, can you two play nicely while I cook you both dinner?” Alava turned her attention to the both of us, her stupidly fucking pretty eyes darting between the two of us.

“Well, I’m a good girl, you know this. Violet might start chewing on the cushions if you leave her alone, though.” Ash boasted, pointing a thumb to herself.

“Says the fucking mutt with literal dog ears.” I snarked back.

“I’m a well behaved puppy. You’re still a wild cat.” She snickered. “Remember your code name when you were in the biz?” Well, guess the cat was literally out of the bag about this. Might as well have fun with it.

“Yeah, panther.” I mimicked a growl that was… approximating a big cat growl. Probably came across as a whimper more than anything else. “Fierce, huh? Trust me with your pet?”

“See, Mistress! Are you sure a big feral cat should be in this house? She might eat your dog!”

“If she eats my dog, she’d have no room for dinner, would she? I’d also probably throw her off the balcony for damaging my property.” Alava gave a gentle pat on the top of our heads. I saw that shiver in Ash. Stars, she was totally pathetic. Not like me.

We were eventually released to ourselves, Ash taking my hand to summon me upstairs. It was breathtaking, an entire floor dedicated to housing the two of them. All around me was a glass pane, showing off the distant city lights while being high enough into the sky that you could see the stars peek out from underneath their celestial home. In the middle of the room was a quite frankly absurdly large circular bed, vines scattered over the surface in what I assumed the Affini used for blankets. It was definitely big enough for Ash and her Mistress in whatever shape that plant lady took. probably a few more Terrans, honestly. To the side, a beautiful Affini computer was nestled into a corner, with a three monitor assemble and a floral keyboard. The chair was modern and sleek, however, something you might see in my apartment. Next to it was a microphone stand and a musical board, with sheet music.

“This… is spacious. How much room do the two of you even need?” I was left speechless, my eyes scanning away from everywhere but Ash. I did soon realise that I was being moved along onto the bed, stolen under the floral covers by the floret. Soon, we were wrapped up in each other’s arms, her head resting tenderly on my ribs. We stared at each other for a moment, before Ash began to speak.

“We have enough. There’s really no limit on space or anything, anymore.” Ash snapped her fingers, the city skyline soon engulfed by a calming rain. The droplets smattered pleasantly against the glass, causing me to decompress visibly. “I remember how much you loved this, V.”

“Yeah. And I remember you always wanted a place like this. Remember how we used to say when we made it big, we’d get somewhere like this?” I reminisced with a chortle. “You’d finally get your singing gig, or I’d get that one big hit that made me super fucking rich…”

“Now we have such a place. You know you’re always welcome here, right?” She shuffled a bit closer to my chest, resting her head upon my breasts. “I know Mistress wants to keep you. I don’t disagree with her.”

“Look, just because you’re happy being someone’s pet doesn’t mean I am.” I shook my head firmly back.

“C’mon, V. We’ve dated. We both know the kind of things you’re into.” Ash chuckled gently.

“Not like that!” I groaned. “Besides, these Affini are something else. Y’know they put these implants in their pets?”

“You mean the one I have?” She pulled her tee down a bit, revealing a hairline scar on her neck. “Mistress did it a while ago. Means that she can control what drugs I’m on, make sure I’m feeling well, and it shows our bond even when she’s not around.”

That feeling again. It struck like a knife in the gut. “So… is that like mind control?” I managed to hold back screaming.

“What? No.” Her face contorted painfully at the question. “She doesn’t want to totally erase who I am. Just, like, if I start feeling sad or worthless or like I’m not loved, she can nudge it back to normal.”

“I… thought it’d be like a parasite that totally consumed you and left you a mindless drone.” I confessed. “That’s what I saw online, anyway.”

“Too much propaganda?” She snickered, burying herself further into me. It was really hard to stay mad at her. “I’m a pet, not a toy. Mistress wants me as is.”

“And the drug part?”

“Are you seriously asking me that? Miss did drugs off a dirty back table and got so high she threw up in my sink?” I felt a gentle scratching on my side.

“Guess you have me there. I’d just never trust drugs from an alien who wants to own me.” Though I suppose I did that earlier. I just… exhaled loudly, and looked to the side once more. Skin against skin, not vines against flesh… dinner was waiting for us in a moment, and she got free drugs. Was this truly everything she’d ever wanted? What about me? Still, a question burnt in the back of my mind. “Hey, Ash? When we broke up, you said you never wanted to see me again. What changed?”

“Mistress.” She responded curtly. “Or rather, being her pet made me realise a few things about us.” I swallowed hard and prepared for the answer. “I… realised I didn’t hate you. I actually quite like you. I just realised I hated how you acted. V, be real with me, you were never a dom.”

I stared out into the simulated night rain for a while. “You were basically the only girl I ever dommed, yeah. Thought I did a fine job of it, honestly.”

“You were shit at it. You were only ever doing it to get access to my body.” She lamented.

“That’s not true! I… actually really enjoyed owning you.” I attempted to defend my honour with a whimpering noise that sounded more like roadkill than an actual argument.

“Maybe you did. Still didn’t change the fact that I felt unfulfilled and like I was bothering you to be a dom. The only time I felt like you enjoyed it was when you got to rail my ass. Mistress, though… She makes it look effortless. Like her every breath is replete with adoration for me and a desire to well and truly own me.

“I get it, you have a wonderful owner who’s everything I wasn’t.” I was trying not to sound bitter and failing miserably. “How did that make you change your mind, though?”

“Because I realised I still cared about you. A bit of me still loved you, even. I mean, look at us!” Ash dug her fingers into my side playfully, making me shift even closer to her. “This is our first meeting in weeks and we’re cuddling again! I still missed that stupid fucking laugh of yours, the way you looked at the world. I realised that I could offer you what we’ve always wanted. All it took was telling Mistress who you were.” At that moment, I had to wonder how much of this was the Ash I remembered and how much of it was the Ash that had been molded by Alava.

“Yeah, she told me about that. You sicced her on me like she was the attack dog.” I finally felt a laugh bubble out of my chest. “Hey, Mistress, can you turn my ex into a pet? Thanks!”

Ash gave me a look as if she was going to beat the shit out of me. Then, it crumbled into a hearty chuckle back. “I mean, you’d make a fucking adorable pet, ‘panther’.”

“In your dreams. I ain’t gonna be anyone’s pet.” I proudly declared. I hadn’t even noticed Alava’s features creeping out from under the stairs.

“Don’t worry, you independent little darling. You won’t have to be anyone’s pet if you don’t want to. Now, girls, dinner is ready. Please meet me downstairs once you’re done cuddling.” Alava smirked. I hated that smirk. “I can take this to mean our deal is on?”

I managed to pull Ash gently off me, letting a loud whine at the mention of the deal. “Yeah, yeah. Half an hour max. Touch anywhere you’re not meant to and I’m going to set fire to those pretty vines of yours, okay?”

“Little one, you couldn’t burn me if you threw an incendiary device straight at me. But if you want to definitely get domesticated rather than potentially, be my guest.” Her grin was almost malicious at this point.

She left us alone not long after, but by the way my stomach was rumbling I wasn’t going to leave food waiting too long. Katsu chicken curry was served in two places, I immediately took the one further away from the plant as I could. Stars, it smelled divine. Ash wasn’t far behind, taking her place next to her owner.

The food tasted amazing, as usual. Though I did notice that Ash wasn’t really eating by herself, instead Alava was cutting it up and presenting it to her. A tap from her vine around her chin was a sign to open, a tap under her jaw was a sign to swallow.

“You’re not making me do that.” I protested immediately.

“Why would I? You’re not my pet. Your complaint has been registered for if your mind ever changes, darling.”

Not many words were exchanged. With Alava around, I simply found myself unable to say something without second guessing if this information would be used against me. The curry was absolutely delicious, though. The two talked among themselves, I didn’t really pay much attention.

We were soon done with food, Alava gesturing towards the sofa with a head tilt. Ash complied immediately, running over on all fours and taking a spot to the left. Alava joined her soon after, creating a space on the right for me. “Good puppy, good girl…” She cooed to Ash, gently stroking over her head and scratching behind her fluffy canine ears.

Well, no backing out now. I knew I really shouldn’t be doing this, but my legs carried me over to Alava’s side regardless. Ash had taken up some space on her lap, while my head gravitated towards the fluffy moss on her chest. It was comfortable. Soft. That same humming noise I had heard so many times before in the past few days played proudly. It lulled me into her, just like the vines wrapping around my body did so. My arms held on in kind, resting on the purple greenery. “Good girl. You’re also such a good girl, you know that?” She reassured me while her spare hand was stroking into my scalp.

I whimpered in response. “I’m… I’m a criminal. I’m a killer. That’s all I’ll ever be.” Was I crying again? Why were tears so easy to fall recently?

“Your past doesn’t define you, petal. I will keep saying this until your pretty ears are red, you’re safe now. You don’t have to be that person anymore.” She had wiped my tears away with a soft leaf, Ash gently stroking over my thigh and squeezing onto it.

“You’re a thrill seeker, V. That’s why you got caught up in this business in the first place. Now we can do that so much safer, without hurting anyone.” There were two of them now, comforting me.

“You two… you’re both too nice. It’s weird.” I kept sobbing. The two of them kept consoling me.

“Because we both care about you. We both do.” Ash piqued up first, followed by roughly the same sentiment from Alava. “You’re a wonderful, bright petal. You’ve been a delight to look after these past few days, you know that?”

“I’m… awful. I’m…” Before I could come up with more unique ways that I was undeserving of any affection, one of Alava’s vines was placed into my mouth. “Chew.” She commanded, and I bit down harshly on the vine. There was a sweet sap upon it that tickled gently on my throat as it went down, my body relaxing as it did so. I… felt like I was angry. About something. Yet it was shimmying out of my system faster than I could catch it. “Good girl.” I felt good when I was called a good girl. Good girls feel good. Good…girl…

I closed my eyes, listening intently to the humming. “I’m a good girl…” I chanted, to which both of them giggled back. “Yes you are, petal! Such a good girl. I’m so proud of you, little one.” I was being stroked by something. I couldn’t tell if it was a hand or a vine. I didn’t really care right now. I just needed to close my eyes and be a good girl. Good…

---

 

I awoke an hour or so later, thankfully not beset by weird dreams this time. “Huh what? Did I…?” A bit of drool was on the moss by the chin. “I fell asleep, didn’t I?” I shook my head like a wet dog.

“Of course! You were such a good, cozy girl that you couldn’t help yourself.” Alava was practically singing in delight.

“I…see. Hey, what was on that vine?” I remembered why I was angry now. What the fuck did she do?

“Just a mild relaxation drug. You’d think of it like a very light ‘edible’.” I felt the rage bubbling up underneath my skin. It wasn’t long before it erupted out of my mouth like magma.

“You drugged me without my consent?!” I screamed at her so loud my throat hurt. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I threw a punch right at her bark only to have it deflected and grabbed. My vision was turning blood red with vociferous anger.

“I put something that was clearly filled with sap in your mouth and told you to chew. I thought that’d be evidently drugged, but I apologise for not asking directly for consent.” I managed to stand up tall afterwards, glaring down at Alava for once.

“Fuck you! Leave me alone, I never want to see you again!” I continued my rampage, turning on my feet as soon as I could and darting for my shoes. They were easy enough to slip on, Alava not even giving chase.

“I’m very sorry, darling. I’ll be here the second you need me, okay? Let me know if there’s anything I can do to make it better.” Worse, she sounded apologetic for drugging me! What was her problem? “I’ll be at yours tomorrow to check up on you.”

“You can make it better by staying the fuck away from me!” I spat out as a parting shot and left the room.

After all that, it was time for revenge. My phone wasn’t buzzing for once as I left, but there was one person I needed to hit up.

 

 

Chapter 4

Notes:

CW for mentions of torture and rape, but not the act itself.

The cool night air was refreshing. There was a gentle wind which tickled my face and made me feel alive. I was quite lucky that the rain inside the hab unit was merely a simulation, or else this whole gig would have to be pushed back a few days. With that plant bitch breathing down my neck, I’d be lucky to have my independence by that point. I was so fucking glad to not have to be nice about her any more. That… little trick she did with my mind was blown away by utter rage at this point, fully able to imagine all the ways in excruciating details I wished to obliterate her.

I had already agreed to meet Big J by 1AM. There was a nearby alleyway that was barely checked by the cops before the invasion; we used it all the time for dead drops and meetups. A space that was just tight enough for two bodies to get past, it had remained mercifully unscoured by the plants. Part of me wondered if that’s what they wanted me to think, but I was also painfully aware this was my last shot.

We bumped into each other as we passed through, making it seem like an accident. He passed me a sealed bag the moment we touched and I took it into my hoodie. We profusely apologised to each other, then went on our separate ways as if nothing happened. The contraband wasn’t very big, about a few centimetres wide and tall. I could feel the outline with a few gentle touches, tracing the lines of the explosive that I held.

I briskly walked back to my place, diverting attention from the night time affini who kept asking me where my owner was or if I was lost. They pissed me off so much I wanted to burn them right then and there, but I had a job to do. A quick sweep for any bugged equipment at my place and I was good to go. I briefly considered if a few wilted flowers I had neglected to look after could talk to them.

I had a secret compartment behind the TV at my place. If you turned a few levers and pressed the right panels in sequence, a long compartment was pulled out. Probably the most expensive thing I owned, it was a full kit of stealth gear. The guy who sold this to me said it was some OCNI blacksite shit, but I wasn’t in the business of asking too many questions. An earpiece for secure communication with attuned devices, I slotted it right in, flicking it on. Next, a full body catsuit, with matching boots. This suit was designed specifically to render you invisible to the naked eye and to infrared scanners, making infiltration a breeze to most places. While the material it used was in some similarity to latex, it felt different enough to the touch, even if I didn’t exactly long to be in this for extended periods. Finally, a pure black helmet that attached onto the suit, modified to have cat ears on the top. Those didn’t serve any practical purposes, but when you’re one of the best infiltrators in the business you can get away with kitty ears on your kit.

With the sealed bag tucked neatly into my top, I was ready to get to work. Pressing one of the buttons on my wrist interface, I vanished from sight. I had to be careful not to make too much noise while wearing this, otherwise people would start complaining about ghosts again. Always funny when that happened. Then again, with how glossy eyed these plants were making people if I didn’t stop them maybe no one would care anymore. It had to be me.

The spare building to the side of the domestication centre was easy to climb up on. There was a fire exit that led all the way to the top, and if I was low down to the ground I wouldn’t make too much noise and alert people. If I bumped into another person right now that’d waste too much time. My target was shorter than the building that was scouted out for me, so it came down to a simple jump from this to the centre.

I tapped my earpiece. “EZ, do you come in?” I held my breath as I waited for his response. I never usually felt nervous on these kinds of jobs. I was usually trying to invade Terran buildings, not terrifyingly advanced xenos who seemed to be several steps ahead of me constantly.

“Panther, are you in position?” I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard that short bastard’s voice.  

“Yep. Carrying out the plan.” There was a four metre jump between this and the building before me. I had done jumps three times this before, yet I felt a sense of fear in my steps as I began the run up to it. I landed on the other side with a ‘thud’, feeling the soft greenery underneath my hands. It was all plants from here on out.

There was an exposed air duct on one of the buildings. It wasn’t particularly well secured, literally sliding off to reveal the area underneath. It was about a few meters drop into the establishment, where I found myself directly in enemy territory. To say the Affini were meticulous with their paperwork would be an understatement. They had kept physical documents on just about everything you could imagine, dedicated entire folders to specific people they were keeping an eye on and those whose cases were considered complete. They almost definitely had me in here or a building just like this. I briefly pondered how hilarious it was that they’d keep such delicate care of all their paperwork but not of their building itself. Then again, I didn’t think the Affini were capable of thinking of us able to bite back.

I searched quickly to see if any of the plants were around. Nothing of the sort. They probably took the 9-5 seriously. Or… whatever schedule these things worked on. I was in the zone now, moving steadily but stealthily around the brightly coloured hallway with controlled, precise breathing. At the end of the hallway, there was an elevator right down into the computer room. From EZ’s delightfully detailed intel, they didn’t really believe we could do any damage to them even if we accessed them directly, so they just let anyone waltz in if they wanted. Of course, if you were caught there without permission, that was grounds for compulsory domestication. I was going to take them up on that challenge. I was going to spit right in their fucking faces.

The elevator was… roomy, to say the least. I barely could reach up to press the button to the computer room. It concerned me that I could. Still, I had a job to do. I was left for a minute in absolute silence as the elevator took its path down, focusing on steadying my breathing so I was prepared for anything. My mind ran through every different scenario that could happen from now until the next five minutes, playing various different routes to the destination. If I closed my eyes, I saw it in my head, the path to victory. These Affini were tricky, but there had to be some way around them. Some angle to exploit and topple them. I was going to find out.

The doors split open after my brief anxiety filled nightmare, revealing a nest of floral computing. No matter the civilisation, it seemed that rows of data centres were still the best way of housing large quantities of data at once. They had gotten all of this set up so quickly, too. They needed to be stopped now. They didn’t appear to be any trip wires, and based on the intel, there was a patch to the corner of the room where I wouldn’t be spotted if I placed something. It was a simple matter from there to plant the bomb and leave.

I walked as quickly as I could get away with. I could feel my heart pounding in my mouth, my blood racing swiftly in my veins. Everything was in slow motion, contrasting how fast my heart was beating. I continued, each step bringing me to finishing this job and the first step towards my liberation. I’d plant this bomb, I’d inspire the feralist movement, I’d be the fucking hero. I’d finally put these skills to good use in saving Terra. I’d no longer be just a criminal, I’d be-

“Having fun, little one?” I heard a door swing open and a voice rang out from the side of the room. There… shouldn't have been a door there. I jumped out of my skin when I heard that, but I didn’t dare move a muscle. Maybe it was an affini bluffing. I could just escape from that. My heart was surging harder than I thought possible, but my training didn’t let me freak out. I stayed entirely still, looking more like an invisible statue than a person. “How adorable it was to think you’d be able to outwit us. And what was your plan, exactly?” This voice sounded more bemused than threatened. I hated it.

The affini had grown bored of waiting for my response and instead had opted to wrap its vines around my body as a display of strength.  “Cute kitty ears.” It laughed. “Truly precious that you thought this tech could defeat ours. Still, you got so much closer than your feralist friends did previously.” As the appendages started to spiral around my frame and limbs, I couldn’t help but whimper under my breath. Dread filled my veins like concrete in a river, solidifying in large clumps as he spoke again. “I’m Alecux Barb, fourth bloom, he/him. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Seriously? This polite, even now?

“How… did you know?” I choked on my words some, to which the plant took some mercy on me. He began shushing me gently, holding me in a cradle of leafy tendrils. I wish he just killed me.

“It’s okay, little one. It’s okay. You were never going to beat us. This invisible suit might have fooled your crude Terran tech, but it’s so primitive compared to our detection systems. I was impressed by your infiltration attempt, so I let you stare upon the computer room with your own eyes. You did really well! You should be proud of yourself. I know your owner will be.” What was he even saying? I found myself with no words again. My mouth felt dry as sand, my tongue an uncooperative lump in my mouth.

“Now, sweet girl. You’re going to feel a poke, and you should wake up well rested.” His vines were stroking over my head. He could feel the stupid fucking kitty ears at this point, no doubt. “You’ll make a wonderful pet, I’m sure of it. So smart and brave.”

“Fuck you.” I summoned up all the courage in the world and managed a defiant last stand. Yet, it sounded more pathetic than brave and heroic. It sounded more like a tantrum than a dignified act of defiance. Yet I knew he was right. I knew the stakes of this mission. Failure wasn’t an option… and I had failed.

“You’ll wake up in the vines of your owner, darling. I wouldn’t worry about it too much any more.” It wasn’t hard to deduce who he meant.

“Oh, that bitch-” He wasn’t wrong, a sharp sting later and there was nothing left. The void had opened wide and swallowed me in it.

I had lost.

---

I had expected the call later that evening. Violet was angry and bitter, she was going to lash out at something or someone. Not like she could really harm anyone, we took her weaponry from her apartment. I just hadn’t expected… this.

<“Alava? The sophont you are currently warding just qualified for compulsory domestication. Do you wish to pick her up now?”>

Ash was still sleeping like a little angel. I unfurled myself from underneath her and tucked her politely into bed with a tender kiss on the forehead. She wouldn’t wake up, of course, but I hoped I had made her dreams sweeter somehow. “Love you, petal. You got your wish.” I whispered in delight.

An entire terrorist attack planned by the remains of her crew on a domestication centre. Of course, the bomb that they planted was going to at best cause a dent in a few servers, perhaps setting us back a few hours. It'd hardly be the feralist triumph that they were hoping it’d be, and my dear Violet figured that simply wearing a terran stealth suit would be enough to throw us off. I honestly couldn’t help but admire the resourcefulness these Terrans had.

Alecux had watched the little lady all the way to the elevator, where he simply waited for the best time to scoop her up. It would be adorable if she didn’t put herself in so much danger. Honestly, I wish I could’ve caught her trying to make the jump and told her not to be so silly! Oh, I should’ve taken her on the first day I saw her. My peers suggested that, but I believed that slowly settling her into this life would’ve been much kinder on her than merely taking her outright.

I made my way there quickly, partly out of excitement I confess but mostly out of a desire to make sure she was safe. Alecux met me outside, smiling warmly at me. In his hands was her, laid on a bed of vines. Clad in a catsuit with cat ears for… obvious reasons I quickly realised, she looked peaceful.

<“Is she hurt?”> I welcomed her into my arms, the woman barely responding other than an instinctual turn into me. She could probably feel my voice welcoming her. It was evidently more comforting to her than I’d ever get to admit without a heavy dose of Class-H. I watched as her chest rose and fell for a small amount of time, beaming with delight. She was finally mine.

<“Only emotionally, Alava. You’ll probably need to take care of her mentally as she comes to term with… not being independent anymore.”> Alecux said, not even minding that I couldn’t pry my attention from her. <”She’ll be up in about six hours. I’ll leave this in your capable hands. Congratulations on your floret.”> I managed to give him eye contact long enough to nod at him, returning it swiftly to my Violet after. I detached her helmet to see her pretty features properly, all those piercings in her face that made her so beautifully unique.

“Oh, my darling Violet. Since I first laid my eyes on you, I wanted to be your owner. Now, my wish came true.” I whispered tenderly into her ear, leaning down to give a gentle kiss. “Let’s get you home. To where you belong. Oh how I love you, dear pet.” I embraced her tightly before carrying her to her new forever home.

---

I came to in a familiar setting. It was the same penthouse that I had nearly spent the night in only yesterday. There was a heavy weight on my chest that I quickly sussed out to be a certain puppy that I probably shared an owner with now. I didn’t dare avert my attention from the warm summer sky that rested above me, knowing if I turned my head too far in any direction I’d come face to face with an uncomfortable reality. Ash was the first to realise I was up, squeezing me tight. “Morning…” A sleepy Ash spoke.

“Morning.” I sighed with no shyness of sadness in my voice.

“Good morning, petal. How did you sleep?” Her infuriatingly lovely voice rang out from the side of the room. Right on cue, I turned to face the music. Alava’s pretty features beamed back at me, though I could feel the smugness coming off her. That bitch.

“Well, someone knocked me out using strange xenodrugs, so I slept pretty well.” I shook my head a bit and noticed a tightness around my neck, fiddling gently with a leather collar that was… oh great, it had a lock too. A tag that no doubt bared my new second name dangled noisily from underneath it. She’d also slipped on a blue nightgown at some point. I groaned in disappointment more than anything else. “Really? A collar? It makes sense on a puppy, but I’m like, just a normal terran.”

“Owners put collars on their pets. And after your stunt yesterday, it was decided that you were a danger to others more formally.” She lectured me, her tone turning stern quickly. “As such, you were signed up for compulsory domestication.”

“Figured that.” I spat back. I moved my gaze away from her to stare at the warm sky again. It was nice to see, despite how horrible the situation I found myself in.

“You’re taking this far better than I thought you would, little one.” Alava remarked. “I was quite worried you’d be lashing out right now.”

“Then you don’t know anything about where I came from.” I returned with a growl, snapping my gaze and teeth to the woman I was now forced to call my owner. “You don’t get caught in my business. If you get caught, you get tortured. You get raped. Failure simply isn’t an option and I… failed.” I lamented. I pointed to one of my tattoos, a phoenix feather on my shoulder that blended neatly into my sleeve. “You see this? It’s a mark my crew carries. An identifier of sorts. I always expected I’d have it ripped off my skin in agony. Compared to that? I’m gonna walk out of this. Figuratively, speaking.”

“I… see. I’m sorry that your world was so awful to you. That’s a thing of the past, however. You’re safe now. With us.” She was keeping her distance. Good. I’d probably rip those vines off right now. It wouldn’t do anything, but it’d feel good trying to.

“Everything is a thing of the past now. My freedom, my independence…stars, couldn’t you have killed me?” I coughed out a few tears, the dam flowing swiftly after. “I’d have died thinking myself a brave hero rather than a fucking affini’s pet! I was going to use my skills for good! To…to…” The words stuck in my throat and dried up there. “Be a hero…” Alava moved up and ensnared me in her frustratingly soft vines, leaving me with little space to move. Even my neck couldn’t turn, I was forced to put my head squarely on her mossy chest.

“Sssssh. You are brave. You are so brave. You’re my little hero, Violet. Even when you were a criminal, you were braver than you ever knew. You just used your gifts for bad purposes because you had to.” I hated being this close to her. I could hear that humming again. I could feel it in my body. It resonated with me, defusing the tensions in my form by gently brushing over them. I kept crying. It’s all I felt I could do. The one thing she couldn’t take from me was my tears.

“Even if you were doing the wrong thing, I’m still proud of you. I’ll always be proud of you, my darling Violet. It’s all okay now. We’re always going to be here for you. Me and Ash.” I was hating how much I was starting to like her voice. I still hated her. I loathed her. Yet there was nothing I could do about it. I had lost.

“You know I hate you, right…?” I had to address the feeling burning a hole in my mind. “You just kidnapped me. You took me from my old home to live with you against my will. I’m literally fucking property now.”

“I know that. I understand, darling. Though I will do anything I can to earn your trust and love.” She whispered, stroking the back of my head with her hand. “Just know that both me and Ash will be here for you every day for the rest of your life. And in time, I know you’ll love this life.”

“Bullshit…” I managed to shove through, still sniffling some rather pathetic tears.

She eventually put me down, placing me neatly onto the bed again, to which Ash promptly wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight.

“For what it’s worth, I’m really glad you’re here, V.” A soft tongue on my face, the puppy trying to lick the sadness off my cheek while catching a few tears. “Let me know if there’s any way I can make you feel better, okay?” It was kinda working, to my utter annoyance.

I knew the trick they were pulling. Ash was here to love bomb me and keep me going while Alava was here to lay the oppression on thick. Good cop bad cop, but it was good pet, bad owner. But seeing Ash’s pretty face smiling at me… she was all I ever really wanted. And now she was mine, in a way.

All it took was becoming someone’s pet. If only I could separate the two of them. Guess that’s what I was trying to do earlier and look how that came out.

“Yo, Alava.” I peeped up eventually, managing my best not to look like a sad sack with red puffy eyes. It wasn’t a great effort. “Got a question. You didn’t… put the implant in me when I was out, did you?” I checked the back of my neck, fondling for any obvious surgery marks.

“Of course not, sweetie. That will only come when you ask for it. I told you I wanted to build trust, did I not?” She responded with a smile. Alava didn’t seem like the type to lie to my face. She always plotted her moves right in front of me and let me fall into them.

“You’re… serious?” I found myself bewildered by what I was hearing. “I thought you’d have done it when I was out so you could control my brain like you do with Ash- ow!” I felt Ash dig her fangs into my arm playfully. “Hey!”

“It’s not mind control!” Ash defensively hissed. Her little bite really hurt and I didn’t even think she was trying to. On the bright side, I now had a denture record of her teeth on me.

“Ash is right, I wouldn’t want to control her wonderful little mind any more than I’d want to ruin a beautiful painting. As for your question, you’re in charge of when we take that step. A month from now, a week from now, it shall happen at your own pace. You’re not in charge of breakfast, though. That’s coming up in about ten minutes. Any requests, my darling Violet?”

“Huh? …waffles.”  I stumbled through an answer. “Also, are you going to drug me again? Those things are fucking terrifying.”

“Interesting, that’s what Ash wanted. Glad to know my pets are so alike.” She really took pride in being able to say that. It pissed me off. And even worse she had me smiling. She definitely noticed it. “Also, I’m going to be much lighter on those drugs. I feel as if we’ll both enjoy it more that way. I’m not about to inject you so wantonly like I did earlier, only when it’s really special or you’re begging for it.” Like I’d ever beg for that.

“I still hate you, don’t think this means we’re friends or-” I snarled.

“You’re right! We’re not friends. You’re my pet, and I’m your owner.” She retorted with such smugness that I had to dig my claws into Ash. “Now have fun, sweeties.”

“Yes, Mistress!” Ash chimed.

“Good girl, Ash!” I could feel the puppy shivering in my hands. I was never gonna be that pathetic.

“Do I have to call you that…?” I whined. “I’m not doing that.”

“Oh, I won’t enforce it. There’s praise and more in it for you if you start using it, though.” I… couldn’t even fathom what games she was playing. I had been forcibly domesticated, but I wasn’t required to call her Mistress, or get an implant that thing in my mind? I could just coast by wearing a collar and cuddling Ash?

I had just found a loophole big enough to drive a train through. I hadn’t lost just yet. If I could be a pet without submitting to Alava, maybe that was enough. I could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

I could still win.

Notes:

Turns out visiting a domestication centre gets you domesticated, who knew?

Chapter 5

Notes:

CW for oral performed on the ear!

 I laid back into the bed and sighed with determination. My mind was racing, ideas flowing through like a vibrant stream. I felt like a grand strategist, a master planner that could see the entire battlefield. How foolish she was to underestimate me! My plotting didn’t go unnoticed.

“You’re plotting something, aren’t you?” An inquisitive puppy peeked out from the spot underneath my chest where she had been nuzzling into.

“Me? Why would I be planning anything?” I lied through my teeth and in return, I got another bite on the arm. “Ow! Aren’t you trained not to bite?” I playfully swatted Ash away. For once this week I’d like someone to believe me when I lied to them.

“I only bite bad girls who are up to no good. So, V, tell me. What grand plans are you brewing? Or do I have to keep biting you?” The devious dog kept teasing, to which I obviously had to retaliate. It was open war, and I had to take my shot. I shimmied myself down and sunk my teeth right into the clavicle of my rival, who… moaned. I could feel her toes curl upwards into my skin, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Same old Ash I used to own.

“Stage one of my grand plan: bite Ash until she stops asking. Do I need to keep going at it, or?” I snarled for dramatic effect, yet this did little to discourage Ash. She had a voracious look in her eyes, a heat bubbling underneath the surface that was contagious.

“Guess you gonna have to keep biting me until I give in, or Mistress calls us for breakfast. Your pick.” She challenged me and I responded in kind mere seconds after, reaching underneath her collar with my hand to pull it up far enough and chomp down on her neck. The sensitive flesh was smooth against my teeth, where I rolled the skin up and down against the gnawers for a few seconds. The more pressure I applied the more the darling masochist on top of me moaned.

“You know you’re just making me want to ask more questions, right?” A delighted Ash asked during an interlude of pleasured noises.

“Maybe I just enjoy biting you, Ash. Either you stop poking your nose in my business or I get to fill that pretty little body with bite marks. Think your Mistress might get jealous, huh?” I repositioned, shoving my head around towards her other shoulder so that I could get a good angle to attack the virgin flesh on the other side of her neck.

“She’s your Mistress too-”  Oh, she’s getting an extra firm bite for that. The increase in ferocity was immediately noticed by Ash, who smirked as she continued taunting me through a loud whimper. “She’s got a collar on you and everything!” My hands couldn’t help themselves now, striking into Ash’s sides like daggers and scratching harshly against the skin. Ash’s body was humping against my own now and I instinctually raised a knee for her to grind her pussy against.

“Fuck you, I’m not owned by anyone. You might be able to bring this wild cat into your home but you can’t tame it!” I decreed proudly, hoping that if I was loud enough Alava could hear me. She’d learn.

“Oh, wild cat? Sure, wild kitty with a tag that says you’re property!” That wasn’t even that good a retort, but at this point punishing Ash was just so much fun that I had to take the bait. I went for the kill, biting right in the centre of her neck with enough force to leave a nasty bruise and shove Ash into a pit of agony. Harsh growls rumbled from my throat, eyes narrowed in predatory thirst. Her frantic humping of my leg was kinda cute, and from the whorish moans that were coming from her showed that she was getting close. If I bit just a bit harder, dug my claws a bit deeper she’d…

“Fuck!” Ash cried out, stopping her movements slowly like a train that had run out of steam. I released my stabbing and instead wrapped my arms tight around her. “Such a wild kitty... “ She panted into my shoulder, paws pressed either side of me. I could feel her shivering in my arms, brought to an orgasm by me for the first time in…months.

“Yeah. I told you and I’ll tell Alava as many times as she needs to hear, I’m a wild beast you can’t control!” I roared, filling my chest with pride.

“Such a terrifying panther, oh no!” I heard a sneering noise peeping from the stairs. It was her. Mocking me, no less. “Does the ‘wild beast’ want to come downstairs for breakfast? Of course, my pets are also welcome to join me.” Why did it seem like her timing was always the worst it could be?

I waited to make sure Ash was okay after that savage mauling, kissing her forehead better. Aftercare was very important, even for feral creatures such as myself. “You feeling good?” I inquired when the shivering stopped.

“G-Great… dirt and roots, you’re hot. Mistress can’t really bite like that, so I’m glad I can rile you up into it.” Ash winked, and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m pretty amazing, yeah. I know.” I beamed, carefully sliding off the panting puppy and standing up. I growled when I heard the tag on my collar jingle, though. “Morning Al.” I offhandedly waved towards her when I went downstairs.

“You are not calling me that.” She sternly but politely informed me.

“Big A?” I offered with a snicker.

“Absolutely not. You are to refer to me as either Alava or Mistress.” She returned.

“And let's say I keep calling you those names?” I smirked deviously at her.

“That’d be an indication that you’ve been a bad, feral girl. And such girls don’t get to sleep in the bed with me and Ash, they sleep downstairs. Don’t worry, I'll let you see us when it’s time for breakfast.” I literally couldn’t care less about not sleeping with her, but no Ash? C’mon.

I sighed. “Morning, Alava.” I sat down on the stool further away from her, staring at the waffles. They looked crisp and fresh, with golden syrup poured heartily over them. I grabbed the utensils and got to work eating. Fuck, they tasted so good.

“Much better! How’s my darling ‘feral’ pet doing now that you’ve had some time?” Alava teased, I simply snarled.

“Fuck you, I am feral. Also I hate the collar. You’ve got more on your hands than you bargained for.” I retorted as a dozy Ash came from upstairs. Alava noticed the bite marks immediately, tittering to herself.

“Wow, my kitty has fangs! Glad to see you cuties had fun this morning. Time for this terrifying hunter and her prey to have breakfast, though.” She said like I wasn’t already a quarter of the way into it. Ash sat down obediently and began having food shovelled to her, though I couldn’t help but stare at her neck with pride. I did that. Not her, the plant fuck.

“You know, it feels kinda weird not having to plan my day around meeting you at 2pm.” I idly wondered as I continued eating. “Like, that was the thing I had to prepare for for the last three days, now you’re just… here.”

“In your own home, no less! I’m no longer an event to deal with, I’m just a fact of life.” She chirped.

“My own home? Nah, this is your home.” I protested.

“Did you already forget I own you now, petal?” I could practically hear her singing that in glee. I wondered if my teeth could rip her vines out.

“...no. I’m just hoping that if I keep denying it long enough you’ll get bored and release me into the wild or something.” Chortling to myself, I stabbed my waffle with idle malice.

“I just caught you, why would I release you? Those Intent to Domesticate forms aren’t short, you know. Neither are the actual domestication contracts.”  

“Hey, I didn’t agree to sign that!”

“Oh, we can fix that if you want. Maybe once you’re more settled in your new life, dear.”

“Nah. You can wait a month and I won’t have given you an inch. No calling you Mistress or anything like that, I’m gonna be defiant forever.” I hoped that I sounded inspiring. To those two, maybe I just sounded uppity.

“Like you won’t be begging me to be implanted by then, pet.” She snickered. At me. I couldn’t lose this challenge now, could I? I finished the waffles with a confident slam on the table.

“Then it’s on! If I’m not begging you by then, you’ve got to release me. How’s that for a challenge?” I boldly pointed a finger at her in hopes that it would accent my case.

“Why would I do that?” Alava gave me her full attention, those amethyst eyes sparkling like the stars at me. They were so absurdly pretty I could feel myself falling into them as easily as quicksand. “I’ve got what I want. You’re my pet now. I’m not going to release you even if I could. The game isn’t ‘do I let you go or not’, the game now is how long you resist becoming a tamed, docile pet. Of course, my dear Violet, you’ll fail this in time.” She sounded so sure, so full of herself.

I kept my finger in the air defiantly, but it was starting to look just a little pathetic. “You’re so confident that I’ll become tamed. What makes you so sure?” I attempted to keep some smugness in my voice.

“Inevitability. Ash, darling, could you?” A light poke from one of her appendages and Ash began eating on her own. Which meant that Alava was making her way to loom over my sitting form. I felt lingering dread run down my spine. “Us Affini have a great affinity for domesticating Sophonts. We even take classes on it to be the best owners we can be for our darling little pets.” She made sure to stick one of her vines right underneath my collar, pulling it taut. I attempted to stop her but I couldn’t even budge her. “I know how to cut your hair, cook food for you, and make sure you fall in line.”

“Hey, I didn’t say you could touch that!” I whined, but now that she was this close I could feel it again. That humming noise. “And what the fuck is that noise I keep hearing?”

Alava made a point of pulling the collar tighter. “That is my biorhythm, darling. The natural processes of an affini are quite soothing to sophonts, especially terrans. The closer you get to me, the more time you spend with me, the more this little noise will become calming to you.” Alava eliminated the gap between us, wrapping my arms in her foliage and keeping me close. Keeping me stationary. “Eventually, this will be the most soothing noise in the world to you. It’ll scrub away those deviant thoughts and let you focus on being the happiest little pet ever.” The words were falling through me. Yet as she stood there, it all started to make sense. I was calmer around her. Even now, I feel the worst excesses of my rage and feral nature fray at the edges. “And once you’re implanted, and yes this is a when not if, you’ll find being around me makes my words law. Oh, it’ll be totally adorable.”

“But I’m feral and-”

“Shush, little one.” Alava hushed me, and for some reason I felt my lips sew themselves shut. I tugged at them a few times but they disobeyed me, serving her instead. Instead, I opted for a growl.

“Yes, for now you’re feral. But just how long do you think that’ll last? How long before you’re mewling in my lap like a good girl? This isn’t a game you can win, pet. This is an endurance test you can only delay the inevitable. You can already feel that tug. That gentle pull towards obedience that your body is so primed to refuse. In time, I’ll turn that light pull into an overwhelming vacuum that sucks you right into a pit of submission to me. To your owner. Watch.” Even my growl had faded into a miserable mewl by now, unable to withstand her pressure. Her intensity grew, her eyes stealing me and holding me and refusing to ever let go. They were sparkling, shimmering, beautiful things that had captivated me. That had utterly enraptured me.

“You’re going to call me Mistress. Just for the next few hours to demonstrate how effortlessly I can overwhelm and conquer you.” Her words were so heavy in my head that everything else was dragged down. All that I could think about was her voice utterly suppressing everything else in my brain. I felt myself digging my fingers into my palm to try and distract myself, but all that accomplished was red marks on my hand. After a few moments even the ability to damage myself was robbed from me, absolutely drowned in everything her. Every step I took the affini was ten steps ahead of me, always anticipating every move I took and ensnaring me further. “Now, do you understand?” She asked, forcing me sharply into focus.

“I understand…” I panted through, still locked into looking at her. Heh, Mistress was so stupid. She’d never- fuck. Mistress. That’s not her name, it’s Mistress. Dirt and roots! I flinched in anticipation of what was coming next.

“I understand, what? What’s my name, sweet pet?” Mistress was revelling in the moment, her vines creeping over my features as if she was framing a painting.

“I understand, Mistress...” I surrendered.

“Good girl! Such a good girl!” The praise forced a moan out of my lips, my ravaged brain going from firm in her sculpting hands to soft and squishy. It felt disturbingly good but I’d never admit that to her. “Now, darling. Enjoy all the praise you’re going to get in the next few hours until that mental block I put on you wears off and you start denying yourself what you want.” Mistress laughed, ramping down the intensity and unhanding me. I didn’t move afterwards, looking hopelessly at the empty plate on her table.

Next up was bathtime. I couldn’t even really protest that I could do this alone because there was literally a lock on the collar that required her to take off before being bathed. I had a feeling it’d go on immediately when I was dry again. A hot bath had been run just towards the end of Ash’s breakfast, and right after the… incident. The mirror in the bathroom was big enough to show the three of us, but my attention was drawn straight to the… thing on my neck. A purple leather collar, with my new name written underneath in a gold tag. “Violet Lamia, Second Floret.” I wanted to rip it off right then and there, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything right now. Could I even rip this stupid fucking Affini bullshit leather off my neck? She’d just get me a new one even if I did.

Also, I briefly noticed that she had put the studs back in my piercings. Or maybe Ash did? Didn’t matter.

“Now, darling. Do you want to bathe with Ash or separately? I know this is a rather silly question since you were at each other this morning, but I still felt like I should ask it.” I glanced from her, then to Ash.

“She’s… okay with having a bath with me? That means we’d both be naked, y’know.” I tilted my head a little at the question in disbelief.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? We’re both her pets now. No reason I should be shy about my body anymore.” She responded while taking off her nightgown. Oh my fucking stars Ash’s tits were right in front of me. I wasn’t fucking prepared. They were so much bigger and soft and… fuck! Think, Violet! Say something!

“Boobs…” I was drooling. I looked like an idiot in front of my ex. “Boobs good…” Both were laughing decidedly at me rather than with me. I slapped my cheeks a few times to focus myself. “I mean if she’s okay with that, then sure, whatever.” Smooth. Real smooth.

“Okay, then. I guess my good girls can bathe together, but play nice you two! I don’t want my ‘feral’ kitten to start ravaging my puppy again.” Mistress- fuck I hate that she did that - taunted as she said that, wrapping a vine around my collar to prove a point. Then, I heard a soft ‘click’ as the lock was undone from my collar, it sliding off not a moment after.

It felt amazing having it off. “Finally, freedom…” I whimpered. “Mistress, what would it take for you to not put that… thing on me when I get out of this bath?” Was I really pleading with her? Was I this pathetic now?

“Let me implant you.” She jeered back.

“Not a chance.” I rebutted. “C’mon, anything else? Please?”

“I stated the terms, if you don’t want to wear a collar, you can get implanted. I think that’s perfectly fair.”

Yeah, right. Then she’d have total mind control and she could just make me wear it anyway. If it was a collar or an implant, I guess a collar would be fine until I found a way to unlock it myself. Wait, her vine unlocked it. That meant I needed her to… fuck. Fine. Collar it is.

I undid my own nightgown and stepped into the bath. Hot, but not scalding, I felt as if I could just lay right down and fall asleep. I wasn’t going to, though. Not with an active threat around. Speaking of, Mistress had already begun scrubbing Ash with a loofah, going over her body and really paying attention to the detail. I had given up on just staring at her boobs, to which Ash noticed.

“You know, if you promise to behave, you can give ‘em a touch if you want.” Ash snickered.

“Wha- huh? But we’re like, exes? Should I really be touching your boobs?”

“We were, but now we’re connivents. Y’know, two pets with the same owners?”

“Not a pet, I’m feral.” I interjected. “Besides, why do you care if I’m behaving or not?”

“I find it hot when you’re doing as you’re told. Makes a nice change of pace. ‘Course, when you’re a domesticated little pet it’s gonna be adorable watching you meow tenderly in her lap.” Oh that bitch. I charged her with untamed strength, but Mistress was there to stop me with an array of appendages wrapped neatly around my arms.

“No biting while in the bath, petal. Afterwards you can bite to your heart’s content, sweetie.” I kept growling for a while longer, but eventually after staying still for a moment she let the vines loose. “Good girl.” Stars that felt good. I needed to work on that if I was going to beat her.

She continued onwards for a few moments, but afterwards she presented me with a set of shampoos. “Now, darling. This shampoo will make you feel really warm and fuzzy inside, but it is technically a class-A drug. It’ll also make touch feel really, really special for the next half hour. There’s also the normal one which I’ll let you put on yourself. Which would you prefer?”

Was this a trap? I mean, the time I did try the Class-As they felt really really good, and it was only the next half hour. How bad could it be? Besides, I was really curious about the whole thing. Wait, I could definitely leverage this to my advantage.

“Yo, Ash? If I take her up on the drugged shampoo do I get to touch your boobs?”

Ash laughed heartily. “Deal.”

“Sign me up, Mistress! Damn it I can’t wait until I can say something else.” With that, the Faustian bargain was signed and I had a plant putting a strange liquid in her hands. She poured it onto my head first, scratching it in semi-circles around my scalp to coat my hair in it. I waited patiently for the effects to take root while she did it on Ash’s hair too. Still not sure if I should call it fur. I really should just ask her.

“How long does it take to start?” I asked in nervous anticipation. Mistress didn’t respond with words, instead gently running water through my hair. Oh my fucking stars it felt like heaven. I slammed my eyes shut and reached out to squeeze Ash’s tits firmly, her hand going right on my ass in return. She began idly playing with my body while my hands explored every inch of those massive tits. They were soft and pillowy, my hands feeling incredible on her mounds.

“Good girls. Such good girls, aren’t you? You’re both such wonderful pets and I love you both.” Her vines were… everywhere. On my hair. Down to my shoulders and washing my body. Every new location she explored set my body aflame, the bonfire inside me growing ever brighter the more touches the two of them made on me. I started shamelessly moaning, bucking my hips into Ash as my cock prodded against her stomach. This felt disgustingly good.

“See how good this feels, V? Just letting yourself give in?” Ash pulled herself close and whispered into my ear. I wanted to give her a witty response, a rebuttal to show her that I wasn’t gone, but before I could even formulate an attack she had shoved her tongue right into my ear canal. I could hear it wriggling and writhing around in there in squelchy, wet noises, blocking out my hearing while making my knees quake with pleasure. Yet I was denied even moving, Mistress simply grabbed me and held me in place. There was no escape. No retreat. I was forced to endure this as I was cleaned head to toe. “Admit it, V. You can’t win.” She whispered into my newly defiled canal.

“I… I can still…!” I muttered out in little mewls and moans, my voice barely piercing above a whisper. I didn’t last much longer anyway, Ash paying me in kind for biting her earlier after she was finished with my ear. A harsh chomp onto my neck sealed my fate, my cock throbbing and dribbling some clear liquid onto Ash’s stomach while pleasure engulfed my body. It felt beyond incredible, my body locking up and heated moans flowing without restraint from my mouth. I was embarrassed as well as incredibly aroused. Both at just how easily I folded under the drug and how amazing it made me feel. I went completely limp in Ash’s arms and Mistress’ vines, still finding a way to grab onto her tits like a woman possessed. The two relented somewhat, though I couldn’t tell if that was because Mistress had finished cleaning me in the interim. I attempted speaking but only babbled some words out that sounded like they were at one point, vaguely intelligible.

“Good girl, Violet. See how good obedience feels?” She taunted me. I wasn’t even being obedient, I was just trying out the drug for boob related reasons. “Now, my sweet little pets are all washed. Time to get dry. I’ll want some cuddling after this.”

Wait, fuck. It hadn’t worn off yet. I was in trouble and I knew it, the towel that she was using on my body after feeling far too good as it ran over my form. The two of us were dressed (I dressed myself in one of my old outfits, Ash had something picked for her), and the collar was slipped on me first. Fuck, it was so nice resting on my neck right now. Hold yourself together for a bit longer, girl!

It was a bit of a blur, but afterwards we were both led to the sofa. I was on her right again, Ash on her left. I tried to avoid putting myself on her chest but she just forced me there anyway, once more subjected to the humming noise in her heart.

“Good girls. Such good girls. My good girls.” Oh fuck hfuckc her hand so fucking good on my head. I was trying my best not to be totally pathetic and utterly play into her hands which were tracing circles under my scalp.

“Thank yew Mistress…” I stumbled out in a hazy stupor.

“Oh, I think she’s totally gone. All it took was the shampoo, huh?” Ash commented, joining Mistress in stroking my hair. More. Scratch it. Please.

“This is just releasing her inhabitations, honestly. This is just her being her true, darling kitty self. Isn’t that right, pet?” She emphasised the word and I felt it reverberate in my soul. I had to reject her somehow, I had to find something! Something to put her in her place!

I just meowed. Like, really softly too. To which both just made very adorable noises of adoration and continued scratching my scalp and fur.

“Aww, good kitty! Such a sweet, obedient little meow meow, aren’t you? Of course, this means you’ve consented to Class-As going forward. I hope you know I looove injecting my pets with a special mix of it in the evenings.” What, I hadn’t agreed to that? Had I? I fucking had. Damn it.

“Mroooowl.” I defiantly meowed, nuzzling into the soft moss on her chest. “F-Feral…” Okay, I finally said something. Anything. It definitely didn’t help my case.

“Awww, she thinks she’s so feral, meowing into her owner’s chest like this. It’s adorable. It’s okay, kitty, you’ll shed all those deviant thoughts like a nasty hairball in time.” Mistress kept prodding but I had started to lose the ability to focus. It felt too good. I felt too good. My entire body was shivering and tingling and I just couldn’t offer much resistance right now. A temporary setback. Then I’d show them! I’d!

“V, you’re literally purring.” Ash shot through my rebellious monologue to reveal an ugly truth. I had been purring all this time I’ve been cuddling into them.

I had to take my losses. I wasn’t winning this. Once the shampoo was off, I could mount a comeback. Until then…? Mrowl. They won this time.

---

I came to my senses a while later, but by then Alava had already scooped up off her lap and got to doing something. Oh, neat, I can call her that again.

“Yo, Alava.” I exercised my right to call her that.

“Awww, are you sure that’s what you want to call me, sweetie?” She taunted, narrowing her eyes at me in a smug expression.

“Positive. Can you get me a computer set up in your bedroom, please?”

“Oh, that’s already taken care of before you woke up! It was quite easy to replicate the computer that Ash had, and I installed a controller for any games you might want to play. I also placed it close to Ash’s PC so you two cuties don’t have to be too far apart, even when gaming. Of course, it’s up to Affini specs, not your Terran rubbish.”

I stared at her with an incredulous look. “Thought of everything, huh?”

“Of course, darling! I thought of literally everything you might need while you were asleep last night.” I didn’t want to think of what everything might mean to her.

“Sure, whatever.” I shrugged. Ash stayed downstairs to read near her owner, while I ventured upstairs to look at this computer. I hadn’t noticed it in the morning since I was preoccupied, but there it was. A fully functioning floral computer, though the keyboard and desk set up was more… sleek. Modern. Something more similar to a club aesthetic than a plant one. There was a marked power button on the machine, which I pressed. Sure enough, it came to life, the screens flickering.

“Good morning, Violet Lamia!” It began by informing me of my new name again like a kick in the shins, before letting me into a fairly standard operating system interface. Every game that had ever been made was now freely available, but I knew immediately what I was gonna play. I sat down in the chair, slipped my headphones, and grabbed the controller.

Whenever I was in a low spot in my life, I always played the same trilogy of games. A movement shooter based on ripping demons apart, I had played it enough to be muscle memory but not enough to be boring. I slammed it onto the hardest difficulty, letting the sounds of heavy metal blast through my core and feeling better for it.

Notably, the game began with a new warning telling me that violent actions could lead to compulsory domestication, so consult with a therapist if you’re feeling violent thoughts. “Gee, thanks. Bit late, aren’t you?” I rolled my eyes in protest.

It felt good. The graphics were obviously immaculate, the processing power of the Affini tech running wonders on what was a few centuries old game at this point. I lost myself in the music, the gameplay, one minute bleeding into the next. I couldn’t rip apart Alava’s skull, but I could pretend for a second I was in control. I could imagine that I was an avatar of death, of destruction. I was the one they feared.

It didn’t last long, the game pausing itself and a message flashing on screen. “Violet, Mistress is calling you!” I groaned like I had just stubbed my toe. Sure enough, it was time for lunch.

Lunch came and went without any problems. Bacon and egg sandwich, real comfort food to calm my frayed nerves. I shoveled it down my face, hoping to minimize my time in the same room as the plant.

“Violet? Darling, chew your food or I’m going to make you chew it.” Shit. I shot my attention to Alava and… started slowly chewing my food in response. Nope, not having her do the same shit she’s doing to Ash on me. “Good girl.” She offered with a pat on my head, my body shivering just a little bit.

I went back to my game not long after, Ash joined me this time. She was playing some weird MMORPG, the kind that sucked hours and hours away from your life. Still, it felt… really nice to be this close to her. Look at us, two girls playing games together. Kinda reminds me of the week she tried moving into mine. It… didn’t go well.

“Yo, V?” Ash interrupted my daydreaming.

“Huh? What’s up?”

“Sorry about messing with you too much earlier. I… got carried away. I just wanted to have some fun, but let me know if I went too far, okay?”

I shook my head happily. Stars, she was so fucking pretty and kind to me. I wanted her tongue in my throat. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Just, take it a bit easier on the talk for now, okay? You and Alava kinda were trying to snap me like a twig earlier. Can I say that? Or will miss plants-for-brains get upset by that?” I snickered.

My computer’s AI perked up. “Mistress has been informed of that comment.”

“Fuck you!” I yelled at the PC, leaning back into the chair and turning my attention back to Ash. “Hey. Mind if I?” I pointed at her hand, to which she just offered it up to me. I squeezed it softly, enjoying the tender moment of our skin pressed together. I… had missed this more than I wanted to admit. “Thank you. If it wasn’t for you here I’d probably be so much angrier. Iunno. Shit just feels easier around you, y’know?” She squeezed my hand in return.

“There’s a word for this, V. I think you know what it is.”

“Yeah, but we’re exes. It’d be a little cringe if I was still soft on ya.”

“And you’ve never been cringe in your life, huh?” Ash gently stabbed my hand with a nail. “‘Sides, we’re not exes any more, we’re connivents. You were literally groping my tits earlier like they were the last drops of water in the desert, V.” We both laughed heartily, sighing in delight.

“We’re convenients, not lovers. Massive difference.” I probably wasn’t getting that word right. I didn’t care.

“Look, the finer details don’t matter right now. Besides.” Ash winked at me. “I’d say I’m still also a  little soft on you, V.”

“Oh cool so does this mean we’re girlfriends now?” I asked excitedly in decidedly puppy fashion, before immediately realising I had overshot this by a few miles. Ash just shook her head and chuckled with me, eyes closing for a brief moment with her hand still in mine.

“Still as hopeless as ever, huh? Ask me in about a week how I feel about that, okay? Let’s just get you settled into your new home first.” She gently twisted her hand out of my own, but not before placing a tender kiss on the top of mine. I was glad I was already fully leaned back on my chair otherwise the swooning would’ve been too obvious.

We went back to our games afterwards, both totally immersed in our own little worlds. The AI flicked on a few hours later to remind us that it was dinner time, so both of us went to-

“Hey, V?” Ash caught me on the way down.

“Yeah?” I asked back, but then she pressed a gentle kiss onto my cheek.

“Thanks.” This woman’s tongue had been in my ear today and somehow this was more flustering? A big gay panic took my cheeks and I was visibly blushing, just in time for Alava to notice.

“Looks like the cat’s the one who’s being caught this time, hmm?” Alava taunted, and I just made a sound back.

“Shutupitsnotmyfaultshessodamnpretty!” Both of them laughed at that, me taking my space away from them and burying my hand in my face.

“Eat up, petal. Or do I need to do it for you?” Alava prodded my side with a small vine.

“No no no! It’s fine, I promise.” I looked down at my food. Spaghetti bolognese with freshly compiled tomato bits and herbs. I twirled it around my fork and began eating it, but not too fast otherwise that plant was going to start doing it for me. It was disturbingly good, actually moaning a little when it went down my throat. This was somehow not the most shameful thing I’ve done today.

After dinner, Alava informed me of something. Just behind the massive TV there was a door leading out to a balcony area, where you could see the entire city lights. A glass platform was underneath our feet, with a floral guardrail that came to about my chest. She wrapped a vine around my leg of course, but I didn’t particularly have any ideas of splattering myself right now.

“I know you liked these, so I got you some.” Alava produced a carton of cigarettes, my exact favourite brand, and passed them to me. “You’ve been good today, you deserve a treat.”

“Erh… so, let me get this straight. You guys are all about ‘doing what’s best’ for your pets and taking care of broader society, but you’re letting me smoke?” I quickly snatched the cigarettes in case she changed her mind, though.

“Well, such ailments like cancer are something our species can cure with a shot. Also, if you ever needed a new lung, that’d be a simple procedure to get you. If you enjoy smoking, why not?” I idly listened to her as I fumbled through opening the carton, slotting a cig in my mouth. ”I’m still fulfilling my obligations as your owner to look after you, don’t worry.”

“Light?” Alava had also gotten a lighter, which she used to spark the end of my cig. I took a deep breath in and exhaled out, my mind immediately feeling sharper for doing so. “Fuck… thought I’d have to go cold turkey on this.” I sighed in relief, holding it between my digits while looking at her. “Hey, isn’t it like super scary to hold a lighter?”

“Hmm? Not really. This doesn’t get to a temperature to burn me. I’d be more worried about your cute little self, honestly. That’s why I’m holding it until you’re more well trained, sweetie.”

I rolled my eyes, then turned my gaze to the city. It was still so pretty. I didn’t say anything for a bit, but she took the time to wrap some vines around my waist and squeeze on me. Eventually, words began to tumble out of my mouth.

“I’ve been thinking. Fuck do you get out of this?”

“Out of owning you?” Alava inquired as if the question was absurd.

“Yeah. I’m a massive pain in the ass, I’m gonna keep fighting you until the day I die, and isn’t it a colossal burden to take care of two sentient beings?”

Alava scurried next to me, placing her elbows on the railings. Her biorhythm made its impact on me felt, but honestly I wasn’t angry enough to be placated by it. “You are never a burden to me, Violet. You’re just my wonderful pet. Also, darling, do you think you were doing well before the Affini came to your planet?”

“Well enough. I was surviving.” I replied, flicking the butt of my cig a few times and watching the ash fall down the balcony. Heh. Ash.

“You were in a criminal gang to pay rent. You killed and maimed others to put food on the table. That might be surviving, but it’s hardly thriving. Not to mention how you and Ash were.”

“Yeah. I know. I fucked it up with her. Now she’s acting all soft and soppy towards me, I kinda think it’s that implant you put in her.”

“No, not at all! First of all, even before she was implanted, she talked about you a lot, you know. She really did miss you and cherish you, even after what happened.” I couldn’t believe her. I… it’d hurt too much. “Secondly, you misunderstand what an implant does. It effectively just allows me greater control over Ash, making me able to regulate her drug doses and soothe her thoughts. It’s like I’m embracing her, inside and out. You know how whenever you feel my biorhythm, it calms you down?”

“Yeah, and you said when I’m implanted it’ll basically control my mind.” I snarled, wrinkling my nose at the very idea of it.

“No, by that point it’ll soothe you to where you want to obey me, which means you get all the lovely treats and praise you deserve. We’re talking weeks, perhaps months out from now, Violet. Ultimately I do just want what’s best for you. That’s what I ‘get out’ of owning you and Ash. I get to see your happy smiling faces every morning. I get to know that my darling girl is eating, bathing and drinking.” She said, wrapping a vine around my shoulder to bring me in for a cuddle. I wasn’t going to return it.

“Bullshit. You know I can’t believe that’s all you’re getting out of keeping two people in your house full time with nothing in return.”

“I know it might seem completely unreasonable before we came about, but us Affini do enjoy just caring for our dearest pets. However… if you’re so worried about giving me something in return or me ‘getting something out of this’, how about we make it a deal?” She offered, extending her hand.

“What?” I turned my head to look at her in bewilderment.

“I want a kiss. Just one. On the cheek every night before you get your sleeping drugs.” She pointed to the spot on her cheek. I spent a good five seconds processing it.

“Why me? Ain’t you got Ash to kiss you as much as you want?”

“Oh, yes, and her kisses are adorable. But I want something extra special that I don’t have right now. Something even in our lovely post scarcity society is still so scarce. A kiss from my darling Violet, delivered to me every night. Then we’re even.” She wiggled her deal-making hand for emphasis and gave an honest smile.

I didn’t respond for a moment. I had to think about how insane she would’ve sounded in the old world. The world that laid in cinders underneath my feet.

“Fine, deal. Makes me feel like less of a freeloader, anyway.” I moped into the guardrails, using my free hand to shake hers. Was I making a deal with the Affini? Would that make me a traitor? I guess I was literally in bed with the enemy now.

“Excellent. I look forward to your first kiss on my cheek in about four hours, petal!” I rolled my eyes, taking a few seconds to collect my thoughts after. “I do have a question of my own, though. May I?”

“Huh? You wanna ask me something?” I was taken aback, quirking my head up at the massive plant lady in confusion. “Ain’t you meant to know everything?”

“Well, I don’t know everything about my little pet. I know a lot more about you than I probably should given what the corps had on you, but, no, I have a question for you. You are aware that I could try and tone down my biorhythm, correct? If it made you uncomfortable, I could quite easily slow it while you’re close to me.” Oh, damn. That was actually a good question. I took a long drag of my cigarette and threw it off the end of the balcony. I put my hands in my pockets and stared at the citylights again as my brain began to turn.

“I… want to preface this by saying I don’t like you. You took me from my old life, your species are now in control of the planet, and now I’m legally owned by you. Even if I ran out the front door, someone would scoop me up and deliver me back to you.” I could feel a growl rumbling from my throat, my nails scraping against the inside of my jeans. “If I could go back to when you weren’t around, I would. But… I don’t like being angry. Especially not around Ash, y’know? These two days I’ve gotten to spend holding and talking to Ash have been amazing. She really likes you. If you’ve got this aide to make me feel calmer around you and not upset her, I’ll take it for now. Just… like, don’t get it too strong to where I can’t think around you, okay?” I shrugged as I finished.

“Absolutely. I quite enjoy your feistiness, petal. Using my biorhythm to turn you into an obedience machine wouldn’t be as fun as earning every bit of that obedience myself, honestly. I reserve the right to use it once or twice if the situation really calls for it.” Alava tapped the tip of my nose with one of her vines. I looked unamused. At least she was showing some restraint with her brainwashing. “As for Ash, I’m quite glad I have that darling puppy around. She makes us both quite happy, doesn’t she? She was absolutely ecstatic when she heard you were okay and that you were coming over for dinner, you know.”

I smiled. Yeah, that puppy was adorable and amazing and stars, I’m so fucking gay. “I think by now you’d have had to put me down if it wasn’t for that dog.”

“Even if she wasn’t here, I’d still find a way to care for you and make sure you’re happy. It’s part of our deal, after all.” Did that fucking plant just wink at me? She did it with two of her four eyes as well!

I turned away, kicking the vines off me gently. I went upstairs and spent the rest of the night locking into my video game. Alava moved upstairs at this point, where she laid on the bed. Ash immediately joined her in bed for some cuddles. The two of them were making cute noises, but I didn’t really care. I was too busy ripping demon’s skulls apart.

The night finished not long after, Alava summoning us both to bed. The AI did wait for me to finish my level before locking me off the computer, which was nice. A purple nightgown was produced for the pair of us, and I shuffled out of my old clothes to put it on. “I have to wear my collar to sleep, right?”

“Of course. It doesn’t come off unless you’re bathing, pet.”

I didn’t know what else I expected the answer to be. I leaned in to give Alava her kiss on the cheek, closing my eyes in shame as I did so.

“Cute!” Ash responded.

“Just a part of our deal, petal. Now, come here, girls. I want to hold you for the night.” She scooped us both into her vines and I found a comfortable position resting my head on Ash’s amazing boobs. The humming sound was back, and it was going to sing me to sleep.

“Love you, Mistress!” Ash excitedly proclaimed as she nuzzled into her.

“I love you both! So much. My darling good girls.” She enthused, scratching behind both of our ears gently.

“Night, Ash. You too, Alava.” I managed to sputter out before I felt a sting in my shoulder.

My first day hadn’t gone too bad, all things considered. Despite everything, I had a path to victory. I just needed to carry myself a lot smarter tomorrow. I was still in this fight. I could still-

“Kitty, you’re purring.” Alava informed me as the lights went out. Fuck.

 

Chapter 6

Notes:

CW for more ear fucking, edging, and lot of crying.

I had that weird dream again. Where I was buried deep under water, swimming inexorably towards a purple light. Yet instead of ending when I had found it, it continued, eventually diving down far enough to reach the shiny amethyst pearl and wrap my entire body around it. It kept me warm even under the waves, a gentle humming radiating from it. I had pieced together what it was by now.

It was her. The one who was looking after me, the one who had brought me to Ash. In this pure moment untethered by the bounds of reality, in the hazy world of dream logic, being by this orb made the most sense to me. No matter where I went, I knew I could always return to this. To her. It made sense being here. It made sense being by her core. I stayed by her for a while, just observing the purple lights around me dance. Eventually, the lights grew more muted as the warmth from her grew more intense, but all that meant was I could watch the sea life. I hadn’t noticed it while I was swimming towards her, though now that I was paying attention it was beautiful beyond description. I hadn’t seen the sea before this or an aquarium, and now dolphins, schools of fish, all sorts of marine life were roaming above me. I gasped in shock at seeing a whale, the sheer size of the beast intimidating me somewhat. I merely held tighter onto the core. She wouldn’t let it hurt me. She was going to keep me safe.

With her.

---

I woke with a jolt, suddenly on dry land. I shook my head a few times to get my bearings, to which a leafy hand slowly stroked through my head. How long had she been doing that? The moment she noticed I was awake she scratched my hair just a little in confirmation, forcing a sleepy little moan out of me.

“Morning, petal. You were making the most adorable noises in your sleep. Did you have a good dream?” Her tone was so sweet it felt like it was dripping honey. I hadn’t expected to be on the defensive this early in this morning, but I had to mount a good defence.

“Erh… just a dream about the ocean. You know, I’ve never seen the beach? Figured I’d have done that at some point.” Excellent. Total deflection. Maybe she’d even believe me.

“Well, we can of course go to the beach if you want at some point, darling.” Yes, I won! I had to make my victory grin not too obvious, though. “Now, what part about the ocean made you murmur my name when you were asleep?” Stars, was I doing that?

“Hey, there’s no fucking way I was doing that. Why would I do that?” Last resort, make her prove it. I stood my ground defiantly. Or, rather, laid down on it, I guess.

“Hmm… good point. The waking you would never call me Mistress so freely. Or maybe there’s another Mistress in your life that I have to utterly crush so that you’re only thinking about me?” I hadn’t foreseen her pulling this attack out. Wait, I had an idea.

“Yeah? What if there was?” I smirked, moving myself up from the position I was resting on. No fucking wonder, I had been resting on her chest, riiiight where her core was. Alava responded to the taunt by wrapping a finger underneath my collar, using it to yank me to her.

“Then I would have to have a word with this ‘Mistress’ and she’d end up domesticated for daring to look at my pet.” That tone, the way she used her voice whenever she was scolding me or ordering me to do something. I shivered. It felt so oppressive, freezing me in place until she was done. Were the Affini meant to be this possessive? “You’re mine. I don’t want to share you, so I simply won’t. Am I understood?” I had just woken up, I wasn’t ready for fighting to begin! I gulped, trying my best to think of an appropriate answer that’d put her back in her place.

“Understood…” That was pathetic, Violet.

“Try again.” She responded with a click of her tongue. It kinda hurt to hear.

“Understood, Mistress!” I choked out, closing my eyes firmly so as to not meet her gaze. It was piercing right through me, staring directly into my soul.

“Much better. I knew you were a good girl, Violet.” She led me back to her chest, though she refused to release her hold on my collar. As a small mercy, it seemed that Ash was still dreaming, so she didn’t have to see this display from me. “Glad to know you were dreaming of me, my dear pet. It warms me to my core.” Alava ruffled my hair just a little, making a noise that was close to a relieved sigh.

“Hey could you please let go? I don’t want-” I made a frantic plea, but It was at this point where the puppy across from me flitted awake, her beautiful features lighting up. I attempted to wiggle out of the hold that she had on my neck, but the more I struggled the tighter she held me. Fuck.

“Good morning, Mistress..” Ash spoke. “And good morning, Violet. Is there any reason why Mistress is currently holding you close?” She chuckled. At me. I had to do something to defend my honour! I opened my mouth to speak and instead found myself drowned out by Alava’s words.

"Oh, my pet was having a dream where she was moaning out ‘Mistress’ in her sleep. So I thought she might want a bit closer time with me before you woke up, darling.” I could feel my face burning bright red. Maybe if I produced more heat I could set fire to Alava’s moss? Please?!

“Oh? Is this true, V?” She had wasted no time on pouncing me, adding to the assault. I attempted to bury my face deep into her chest, but she used my collar to keep me completely still. Fuck.

“...I refuse to comment.” Did this count as lying? Would I continue to be cursed with no one believing me when I lied? Either way, by the way I was overheating and squirming. It wasn't hard to figure out the truth.

“Well, I was going to give you a good morning kiss, but I guess if you’re going to hide such juicy info from me…” Ash tittered. Stars damn it, she really was pulling this? Now? I flailed about a bit with a miserable little whimper.

“I was calling her Mistress in my sleep and I had a dream I was hugging her core. Happy, now?” Both of them relented upon this confession, Alava releasing her hold on my collar to let me flop freely against her chest for a bit. I then pounced Ash in return, hiding my head deep in her boobs in hope that I’d never be seen again.

“She really is such a sweet pet, isn’t she? It’s okay, she’ll go back to her usual defensive self in a moment. We just caught her at a good time, my lovely Ash. I love you both so much.” Both of her heads were being scratched gently, I didn’t even fucking care that I let out a moan at the touch.

“Love you, Mistress! And good girl, V. C’mere, I can’t give you a kiss if you’re right in my tits, can  I?” The dog chuckled, and I eventually prised myself out of her tits to receive my prize. It wasn’t like I could really be blushing any harder after that… barrage of bullying, but I still felt incredibly warm and fuzzy when she kissed me. Our lips met for a solid moment, I was going to hold this for as long as she let me. When it ended, my head had shifted from deep underneath the waves in my dream to high into the clouds, resting on a fluffy bed of soft feelings.

“Violet. You know, you never said good morning to me.” Alava ruined my train of thought with a gentle laugh and her delicate voice sinking into my ears.

“Huh? Oh good morning, Mistress.” Yeah. Nailed it.

---

Breakfast came and went without any issues. I was too high off the morning kiss to really do anything other than cuddle with Ash, who had the smuggest look on her face. I didn’t even fucking care that the two of them were winning today, I got to kiss Ash. That was the ultimate victory in my books.

Bathtime was likewise amazing. I got to bathe with her, the two of us totally naked and this time there weren't any strange xenodrugs that made me a total subby whore. I didn’t have to let her wash me this time, so I was free to scrub up myself and even help wash Ash, mostly around her boobs. She really liked me touching those, seemingly just as much as I loved touching them.

It was a graphic tee and spiked jeans kind of day, Alava having taken the liberty of compiling some new clothes (with my guidance, of course) as my old ones were falling apart. They fit comfortably, even making a pleasing thud noise when I walked from how heavy the jeans were.

Alava let me out for a morning cigarette, the vibrant sky above the city looking sublime. From here, you could just about see the shoreline as a feature of just how absurdly how high up it was. She lit the tip of the cig and I took a large drag of it, exhaling loudly and happily. My elbows rested against the guardrails as I looked at the city with wide, happy eyes. “You know, I never thought about it, but seeing the beach would be amazing. Back in the old days, I was always rushing. Always racing to get the next paycheck, to make sure I wasn’t caught. Now… I can think about those things.”

“Oh? Are you starting to come to our side on this?” Alava inquired, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I didn’t… hate it.

“Well, not sure about keeping people as pets against their will.” I snickered. “However, it feels great not having to worry about where I’m gonna get food. That was a constant burden in the back of my mind, that I was always running out of time… now?” I tilted my head back to look at the azure sky above me, a light breeze running through my features. “You never appreciate how pretty things are until you can stand still, y’know?”

“Of course. Before we came here, these precious little Terrans were working themselves to the bone just to survive. Injuring themselves, sometimes killing people and each other…” I held my spare shoulder with the non-smoking hand. “But now, they’re free to live their lives. As they want. I can only imagine how freeing that is.”

“You say to the woman you made your property against her will? To talk about freedom? You’re funny.” I laughed glibly.

“Violet, darling. You are more free now than you were ever before I came into your life. You were just saying how you were starting to think about matters other than merely surviving.”

“It’s not like I can leave here, or stop being your pet. I’m not free in that sense, am I?” I scoffed.

“Well, the latter, no. Attempted terrorism is hardly a good case for someone being safe to others or themselves.” Alava shook her head firmly. “Though you can certainly leave, just as long as you return back. It’s not like you would want to leave Ash behind, anyway.”

“You saying she’s anchoring me here?” I snickered. “Maybe you’re right. I wouldn’t put up with half of your shit otherwise.” To my surprise, she just flashed me a bemused smile.

“Perhaps. Though I’m inclined to disagree. Regardless, you have more freedom now than you ever had in the Accord.”

“Except I’m owned by someone.” I spat back with a grunt.

“Is that such a bad thing?” Alava shot through my line of reasoning.

“Yeah? Because…” I tried to think for a reason. “I didn’t want to be owned?”

“Well, I have a comprehensive search history that’d say otherwise for one.” A light jab on my side by one of her vines punctuated her point. “Besides, you may not have asked for it explicitly, but are you unhappy being a pet?” I took a good moment to think up a response. She was letting it hang for as long as it took for me to respond.

“I…want my freedom back. To go outside when I want.”

“We can negotiate that, as I said.” If she interrupted me one more time I was going to do… something. Jump off the balcony, maybe? No, she’d just grab me.

“I… also want to be able to not look after myself and make stupid decisions and ruin my life and… I want to be able to fail again.” I sputtered into the balcony a bit.

“Do you?” I gasped at the audacity. “Such decisions led to you and Ash breaking up. Are you saying you’re happier when you were able to ruin your relationship with her?”

“It was my choice to take, damn it! I… I had that freedom to be me.” Alava stopped me, turning my face to face mine. I never really appreciated it, but she was really pretty. It made hating her even more annoying. “To be that shitty, stupid, dumb me.”

“And you still are you my beautiful darling. Not ‘dumb and shitty’, but my lovely little flower. Why would I ever want to stop you being you? You still can swear, you can still drink yourself into a stupor if you want, you can still be a hot mess whenever Ash is in the room. You’re still my wonderful Violet.” If this was a war, Alava had snuck into my tent at night and stabbed me right in the chest. “All that has changed is you’re no longer allowed to hurt yourself or push others away. I simply won’t allow it from my pet.” The waterworks began, tears falling from my cheeks like during a storm. I felt weak enough to fall to my knees but she held me to her chest like she usually did when I broke down, a feeling that was growing sickeningly common. Her hands cradled the top of my head, slowly stroking down my hair like I made of glass.

“Stop it. Stop being nice. I know we made a deal so I don’t feel like a worthless sack of shit that you got caught holding, but can you stop? Stop fucking caring about such an awful murderer?” I raised my head from her chest to stare at her face, though with the amount I was crying there were several of her. “It was so much easier when I didn’t have to think about someone loving me! Now comes a beautiful woman who refuses to be pushed away by me? What the fuck is your problem? Can’t you see I’m the worst?!” I screamed loud enough for everyone in the house to hear. Maybe even a few floors down.

“Ssssh. Little one. It’s all okay now.” She held me so tenderly, letting a vine absorb all of those tears. She was rocking me gently, each motion she made deftly shaving off a bit of my hatred. “I told you, my little hero, that you only had to do such awful things because you felt forced to. Even the attack on the centre you truly felt like you had no other option. That’s not evil. That’s not someone being ‘the worst’. That shows courage, determination, all the things that make up my wonderful little pet.” I choked on my words as they tried to flee my throat, the misshapen noises that attempted to be born into full words dying prematurely. “I love you, Violet. All of the things that make you up, what you can be now you’re free from all those awful pressures… I want to see them. I want you to bloom under my care into the most amazing Violet you can be. Not someone else, you.”

“S-Stop… stop caring for someone so awful…” I sputtered out, my voice bitter enough to rot. I knew she wasn’t going to listen to me.

“You don’t get to tell me that. I’m your owner. I’m going to care for you until you’re not with us anymore. You’re a good girl, Violet. A good girl who’s worthy of all the love you’re going to get poured all over you every day from now on.” She squeezed me tightly enough that I felt as if she was going to kill me then and there to prove a point. Then after a good moment, she released me, passing me another cigarette. “Here, you threw the other one before it was done.” I took it shakily off her, sniffling as I took my first drag of my second cigarette.

I didn’t say anything for a good moment, though she didn’t seem to mind. She kept a hand on my shoulder, sometimes applying just a bit of pressure to reassure me that she was still there. “Okay, but I do miss evening walks…” I eventually sputtered out.

“Want to go out on them again? As long as you’re back before bedtime, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

“Aren’t you worried I’d… run away or do something stupid?” I whimpered.

“Not really. Why would you run away? You’d miss cuddling Ash, and me of course, too much. Likewise with hurting yourself.” I hated that she was right. “Of course, if you did stay out too late without warning me, I’d have to restrict this privilege, but I’m willing to trust you on this.”

“I…are you sure? What’s the catch?” I wasn’t expecting any of this. It had swept me off my feet, if such a thing was possible with her holding them.

“I’m sure. Besides, what catch? I’ve already caught you.” Alava laughed a little. “No, this is me trusting you, but from what I’ve seen I have no reason to distrust you currently.” I scratched the back of my head in sheer disbelief. Alava scratched the back of my head just where it was sensitive to make me smile a bit. “Needless to say, if you test my patience on this I will restrict this privilege.”

“You’re so fucking weird, Alava. You spent this morning making me call you Mistress in front of my ex and now you’re picking up my tears and telling me I can have some of my freedom back?” I shook my head with a laugh.

“It’s almost like I am your Mistress. I’m meant to care for you, whatever that entails. Besides, don’t act like you weren’t absolutely into that this morning. I felt how hard you were.” A teasing nudge from one of her vines accompanied her point.

I took a drag of my cig and chuckled. “Shut the fuck up, Mistress.” We laughed in unison for a bit, though Alava did sneak in a “Good girl” for using her title.

“Though, I do have a question for you. I’ve noticed you meowing and how Ash refers to you as a cat. Would you like cat ears and a tail, like she has?”

“Nope. That’d require surgery, right? I don’t trust you wouldn’t just slip an implant right in and mind control me.” I laughed. “Nice try sneaking one in me, though.”

“Darling, I need to grow an implant before it can be placed inside you. Likewise, why would I do something so against your wishes?”

“Because I’d be totally under your control, then. You’d be able to make me agree with you and not be upset that you implanted me without my consent.”

“First of all and I must stress, I have absolutely no interest in shattering your personality or mind controlling you. Secondly, what if I promised not to do such a thing?”

“I’d believe you even less that you weren’t planning on it. Like, yeah, I think it’d be neat if I was a cute cat girl. Do I trust going under the knife while you’re my owner? No chance.” I toughened up my expression a bit.

“So… what you’re saying is, you’ll have cat ears when you eventually get an implant. I’ll make sure to tell the vet your wishes.” I rolled my eyes at the suggestion.

“As if I’ll ever get that inside me.”

“You will. Not any time soon, but you absolutely will eventually. I can tell. Also, I want to point out that tying something you want to this is only going to make you more likely to want it down the road.”

“Hah, you’re on! Wait, what do you mean?” I scrunched my expression in confusion.

“You want cat ears and a tail, right? I think they’d look adorable on you, personally. You’re telling me that you won’t do that, because you believe I’ll take the chance to sneak the implant inside you. So, if you start really, really wanting cat ears, you’ll eventually surrender to having it placed in you.” I guess I did just tie cat ears to that, huh?

“Stop being so fucking smart and seeing ten steps ahead of me. It’s pissing me off.” I grunted as I finished my smoke and threw it off the balcony.

“Never.” She whispered as she released my leg.

---

The rest of the day went without incident. Dinner was excellent as always, and I got to hear Ash singing between my slaughter fest of gaming. That voice of hers was rather beautiful, it was such a shame she never really got the chance to grow that talent during the time I was with her. Now it could blossom into maybe her having a concert down the road. Look at me, I was already speaking in flowery metaphors. Maybe Alava was really in my head.

As we were both stripped into nightgowns and placed to bed, I noticed a mischievous grin on Alava’s face that I absolutely didn’t trust. She kissed Ash’s forehead first. “Goodnight, Ash. Love you.”

“Goodnight Mistress! I love you so much!” Ash excitedly proclaimed, licking her cheek just a little bit. It was cute. I was next. I raised my guard and gave her a cautious expression.

“Oh, Violet. What are you giving me that look for? I wasn’t planning anything untoward.” She was lying. I knew she was lying. She almost definitely knew that I knew she was lying. “I just want to say goodnight to my other darling pet. And you are my pet, aren’t you?” There it was. I knew that tone well, her voice adopting it whenever she was toying with either me or Ash. The sound of a hunter watching her prey run, knowing full well she could catch up to it in an instant and pierce it.

“Legally, yeah. Ain’t like I chose to be your pet.” I deflected masterfully, a dramatic scowl taking up a defensive position on my face.

“Oh? So what I’m hearing is that you are my pet!” Alava delivered her next strike with a titter. “My wonderful little floret.”

“Only as far as the paperwork is concerned. This is suddenly so aggressive from you, what are you playing at?” I could feel my muscles tense and my hairs stand on end. A past me probably would have considered delivering a punch right into her. The present me knows that’s utterly futile.

“Oh, I’m not playing at anything, darling. If anything, you’re the one playing. See, after this morning, I’m starting to believe that you’re actually enjoying being my pet. Why else would you be moaning my name as you sleep so soundly?” Right. That was the card she was playing. Think, Violet! I snickered boldly and began, like a bull snorting before charging.

“You still don’t have evidence I was-” Before I could finish my answer, a barrage of vines had wrapped around my chest and waist, picking me up and slamming me against the soft frame of the mattress. She was staring directly at me, looming over me like a predator. I could feel her gaze bearing down on me, forcing me to wince in her presence.

"Stop that act. I know exactly what I heard from you, little pet. I’m your Mistress. You belong to me. If you’re whispering that word, you are referring to me and only me, from now and until you take the last breath from your pretty little body.” I felt the pressure on my body rise, the heat in my thighs solidify and begin to burn as my cock throbbed to her call. It seemed to answer her better than it answered me, sometimes.

“You sound so sure, Alava. But-” Before I could even get another cocky response, a vine had found itself wrapping around my mouth. I tried biting it instinctually, though I found out that it had been coated in the sap from last time. The sticky sweet substance stayed at my throat as I refused to swallow it. I prayed that it was less effective here instead of in my belly. I needed it to be.

“You know, earlier, you mentioned how you didn’t mind my biorhythms? It put a final piece in a puzzle that I’ve been thinking about ever since I first met you. You want to be a pet.” I shook my head violently at the horrid accusation. “Oh? Ever since I met you, you shuddered at being called a good girl. You felt good at being good, even back then. You delighted in my doting attention, having food brought to your room and having your room cleaned by me. You adored letting me think for you.” I was attempting to shake my head in an effort to say anything, yet all it did was create more taunting laughs from her. “As your owner, it’s my duty to make sure you fall right into my waiting vines, to ensure that I break each bit of that resistance to being the happy, owned pet you really are. That you’ve always been. And now you’re moaning my name in your sleep, Violet.” I managed to muffle some defiant, pointed words into the vines, though it definitely felt like it was for me as opposed to spite her.

“Besides. You’ve only felt what it’s like when I’ve amped up my biorhythm a bit. Do you want to see what it’s like when I’m actually trying?” My heart sank. We had literally discussed this yesterday and she was exercising her authority now? Every time I felt like I was getting somewhere, Alava turned the corner and revealed that I had dug myself into a deeper hole. That noise grew to engulf me in seconds. I could find myself only focusing on it, entirely captivated by that noise. It was her. I was hopelessly lost in her world, physically and mentally constrained underneath her. I was so fucked.

“You poor, helpless little cat. You really did think yourself smarter than me, did you? You thought you could stay safely under my shelter while harboring such rebellious thoughts tucked in your head.” She prodded the top of my head and laughed. Her laughter roared across the room, those eyes glimmering with dancing lights that I couldn’t keep up with. “I gave this pretty little stray a home, but my dear Violet? You’ve always been a pet. Just now you have a collar from me wrapped firmly around your neck. Where it belongs.” She repeated that phrase again. All my processing power was being spent on just catching up with the last thing she said, focusing entirely on her. The vine released from my mouth only for a new one to prod at my chin.

“Swallow, and then tell me you understand.” Before I could think about the instructions, I gulped down the rest of the sap. It tasted really good, so fucking sweet that it made me think of her. Of my owner. My breaths had turned into greedy, heated panting at this point, my body impossibly heavy and warm in this trapped state.

“I understand, Mistress.” I wasn’t going to say that! I’d never usually call her that. Even if I should. I really should…

“Wow, so well behaved!” I think she was mocking me. Why was I thinking again? That’s her job. My job was to lay down and stare at her gorgeous eyes and let her very being wash over me. She was so absurdly beautiful that I was honestly lucky to be owned by her. “See how much better this is? Just being a nice, obedient little pet.” Those vines that were placed on my body started vibrating softly, tiny bristles on them rubbing against the sensitive skin underneath my nightgown. I moaned shamelessly, a sharp prick on my shoulder that I honestly couldn’t care about right now. “Forgive me for that, but I needed to make sure the fun doesn’t end too early. Not before you admit it.” She had leaned down close enough to kiss me, her words dripping into my ears and dancing around my brain. It felt as if she was actually crushing my mind underneath her.

“Admit… what, Mistress?” I asked in a dazed stupor, and just heard a chuckle from my owner. Speaking was so absurdly difficult unless it was answering a direct command. I knew she didn’t mind.

“I want you to admit that you enjoy being a pet. That being owned makes your heart swell with joy. That you delight in belonging to me.” Such… untrue things. But they were coming from Mistress’ mouth? She was meant to do the thinking for me, and she couldn’t get those ones right? What a joke. Pain wracked my body not long after that thought, as if my own mind was rebelling against me. How could I think such awful things? About the woman who kept me safe and happy? I should apologise. I should-

“Ash, sweetie? Could you bite her neck for me?” Her words ripped through my thought process once more.

“Yes Mistress!” She eagerly responded, not as if I could see her currently. I was locked in a battle a humiliating staring contest with Mistress which I was only ever going to lose. Wait, that didn’t sound like me! I couldn’t win a fight on one front, never mind three! I whimpered, instinctually trying to raise my hands to push Ash away but even that was taken from me. I was pinned down to the bed by more of Mistress’ appendages, Ash getting a clear view of my neck. She didn’t even have to push down my collar, but another set of vines grabbed that and pulled it tight as she began biting.

“Good girl, Ash. Not touching my pet’s collar.” I shivered so violently if I wasn’t utterly constrained to the bed I might have flopped off it. The biting felt so fucking good, Mistress rubbing herself up and down my body in ways that were increasingly more sensitive. Each moment felt amazing, building upon each other and cascading into the present where pleasure was compacting inside me as an impossibly dense space. It was unbearable. It was utterly incredible. Ash went from biting my neck to shoving her tongue in my ear for just a few moments, the squelching wet noises and sensations wounding me up further than I ever thought I could be.

“Now, darling? Have you noticed something?” I made an unintelligible noise from my throat in response. Take that. “You can’t cum, can you? No matter how much we play with you, no matter what we do to you. You get closer and closer, but you’ll never reach it, it’s forever juuuust out of reach. I have the antidote to that, of course.” PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I NEED IT I NEED IT I NEED IT! I was humping like a demon, trying to do anything I fucking could. I was near to tears with how frustrated I felt. To make matters worse, Mistress had wrapped herself around the length of my cock, stroking it tenderly as I humped. A new sensation, a new delight, it was building impossibly higher. How long has it been? Five minutes? Ten minutes? I didn’t know. “All you need to get this is to admit you enjoy being a pet. That you adore being mine. I don’t think that’s so hard, do you?” Her gambit was revealed, and I wasn’t going to surrender to it. I couldn’t reveal that just yet.

“But I can’t let you win just yet! Please, just this once, Mistress!”  Maybe that’d work. I needed it to work. I couldn’t admit the truth this early on!

“Awww, you really think this is a battle? That’s absolutely adorable. No, this is a helpless little kitten mewling in defiance at her owner. You stand absolutely no chance of winning, not even of struggling. Your best option is just to give in now rather than keep up this pathetic little resistance.” It was so hard to think. There was a bit of me that wanted to just accept her words. I could cum. I could be a good pet. It’d be so, so much easier than whatever I was hoping to accomplish here. What was I even trying to achieve?

“I…I’m a pet…” I found the answer in her eyes. The more I stared deep into them I realised that I needed to obey to come out of this. Obeying felt good, though. And good girls get to feel good.

“And how does that make you feel?” Mistress prompted me, filling my empty head with her words.

“Happy… I get to be with Ash. With you, Mistress!” I felt a laugh rumble above me. I couldn’t tell if it was one laugh or two. It sounded humoured rather than mean, though.

“And how does being owned make you feel?” I felt Mistress approach the guarded part of me. The bit that I didn’t want to admit. If I didn’t admit it though, I’d be held all fucking night until I broke so much harder than this. Just obey, Violet.

“I… like it, Mistress. I like waking up next to you! I like you being in my life! Being owned by you is amazing, Mistress! Thank you claiming me!” I didn’t care about sounding pathetic, about sounding like the needy little pet I was currently. This was my only way out, my only way to cum was to give in to her. To tell her the truth that I was happy as a pet. With that, another sharp sting was felt right in my shoulder, and my body was allowed to release the pressure that was building up. Like an avalanche, I felt a rush of pleasure so powerful that I lost the ability to speak. It utterly subsumed me, dragging me deep underneath the waves of euphoria. My nails dragged firmly against the mattress as I was forced to shut my eyes, at that moment missing the sparkling eyes of my owner. Good thing I could feel her vines wrapped around me tightly in an admission of how much she loved me. How much she owned me.

“Good girl! Good pet. I’m so proud of you for admitting it to me.” I could barely hear her over how overwhelming everything felt in my body. Every nerve of mine that was able to feel pleasure was slamfucked with bliss so intense that I didn’t know if I could handle it. It was ripping me apart, splitting me from top to toe. I was moaning, quivering, turning left and right in twists and turns as my vessel struggled to contain the lightning bolt of pleasure I had just been struck by. Then… it finally relented. Receded. Waves of rolling pleasure were still flowing up and down my form, but I could think again. I had poked my head from the storm I was buried underneath to look at the two of them. They were saying something, but I could barely hear them over my panting breath. I had lost track of time as I was cumming my brains out, a few spurts of wet cum soaking into the fabric of the nightgown starting to grow a bit cold at this point. All I knew is that it felt so sickeningly good. I squinted my eyes a bit to see the two grinning faces on top of me, Alava looking oh so delightfully pleased with herself. I wanted to be mad at her for being smug, but she was undeniably the victor tonight. Then the two of them wrapped their arms tightly around me in a generous hug.

“Dirt and roots, I love you so much. Thank you for being such an amazing pet, Violet.” I was… an amazing pet? I didn’t have the strength to argue with her, instead flopping limply onto the bed in a gross mix of sweat, cum, and vines.

“Adorable, V. I really love this side of you, y’know? You should try showing it more often.” I stuck my middle finger weakly at Ash. To my annoyance, both of them found it cute.

“Just wipe me down and let me sleep, yeah? I’m sweaty and gross and wearing a collar while being brainfucked means I’ve got a lot of sweat in one, very uncomfortable place.” Alava released me with a gentle titter, going to find a towel.

“Oh, and one more thing before we all go to sleep? You’re using my proper title before you go to bed now. Understood?”

“Sure, what the fuck ever.” I groaned. “Goodnight, Mistress.” My eyes closed mere moments after, sleep claiming me just as effortlessly as she did. Starsdamnit, I forgot the goodnight kiss!

Chapter 7

Notes:

CW for discussion of dysphoria and self hatred

After that fairly brutal head fucking, the rest of the week went through mostly normally (she did make me kiss her when I woke up, though.) Well, my new normal, anyway. We’d all wake up, cuddle a little bit, have breakfast and bath time, then I’d be free to do whatever until lunch or dinner. Alava had held to her word about letting me out when it wasn’t mealtime, and I got to explore the city that used to be my stomping grounds. It felt familiar, but without the electricity in the air that a fight could start or gunshots could ring out at any moment. There were so many Affini roaming the streets now that it felt ridiculous to see, but at least I could point at my collar and they’d leave me the fuck alone. I learnt that saying “Yeah, my owner lets me out in the evening.” was far more effective than telling them that I was just out on my own at night. Turns out the Affini were easy to manipulate if you used their language. Some of them insisted upon giving me a pat on my head and telling me I was adorable before going on their own way, though.

They were such a pain in my ass.

I also had since stopped caring about those plant freaks. I was okay with exactly one of them. Sure, in their perspective, they were making sure I wasn’t hurting myself or lost, but it was still a nuisance. I had dressed myself in a black hoodie and complicated jeans combo. I could zip my hoodie high up enough to hide my collar, but it could easily be shown by a tug on it to dissuade them. Besides, one thing that seemed to be ingrained in their culture was the prospect of ‘dibs’. I was Alava’s; already taken. I still felt some unease at that, but it was less like a knife in my gut and more like a rock in my stomach.

I made my way to Deadbeat. Might as well wet my whistle while I was out, right? Decidedly not get drunk, I didn’t want to test Alava’s patience with letting me outside at night and end up totally wasted on her doorstep. If she could domesticate me again for that, she might. I had even been trusted with my own zippo: a silver little thing with a purple flower on it that was similar to ones she had. Taking up my usual spot where I had last met Big J and smoked one in his honour, sighing soulfully at his absence.

“They probably got you too, huh? I wonder where the rest of you guys are…” I lamented while staring for a good moment at the place where I last saw him. I could still picture his broad shoulders and dirty blonde hair now, a perfect image of the man I once knew burnt into my head. Would he even be a man anymore? I’ve heard so many stories of affini switching your genders if they decided that it was better for you. I pondered for a moment. Booting up my phone, I briefly checked the accounts of all the old crew. Big J’s account hadn’t been active since the incident, and the rest of them didn’t like me enough to have me added. In fact our group’s computer specialist, Sakura, seemed to hate us all, but hated the rival gangs so much more that she was willing to work with us. We didn’t really care anyhow, she was absolutely amazing at her job, even if she never joined us in Deadbeat after for celebration drinks.

I finished my cigarette and headed to the front door. I even made sure to actually put it in the bin rather than just flicking it at the ground. Alava wasn’t here to praise me for this, so I was simply doing this because I should. Look at me becoming an upstanding citizen. I chuckled as if I wasn’t legally someone’s starsdamned property.

“Hah, looks like they caught you, panther.” I heard the bouncer at the front door taunt as I approached.

He was a good lad, about six foot and full of muscle. A shaved head and sharp features, he looked as if he was lab grown to either be a bouncer or star in the gayest porn ever. Then again we were all sure he fucked the brawns of the group, who was about twice his size. Maybe they recorded it? Why did I even want to think about that?

“Yeah, yeah. Temporary setback, you ever think they could keep me down?” I snorted back at him with a smile.

“Well, it seems one of our new plant overlords can keep you owned. Anyway, who’s yer owner now? Gotta tell ‘em if you start puking your guts out on the floor or pick a fight while you’re arsefaced.” His accent was a weird mixture of northern toughness with a slight infection of southerner softness. I found it kinda charming, in a weird way.

“Alava Lamia's my owner.” I spoke with some hesitation. That phrase tasted like ash in my mouth. Not… that kind of Ash, she tasted amazing. “Glad to see they didn’t get you, mate.”

“Eh, turns out if you don’t punch the plants in the face or try to blow up a sodding building, they leave you well enough the fuck alone.” We both laughed at that one. “‘Sides, got my missus, got my life back home. Not about to start causing trouble for myself.”

“Yeah? Still working this gig, though? Even though you don’t have to work a day in your life now?”

“I like the folks here, what can I say? I need something to do with my time or else I just get bored.” He offered me a broad shrug. “Anyway, don’t cause too much trouble or else I’ll be throwing you into the vines of your owner, yeah?” He ribbed, pushing me gently in the shoulder.

I shook my head with a soft chuckle. “Nah, c’mon. I’m wearing a collar. Clearly that means I’m a good girl now, right?” I stuck my tongue out.

“I’ll believe that one when I see it, V.” With that, I was let into the bar. It definitely had a less seedy (ironically) look to it, with some floral life having been introduced into the neon lights that made up the place. There was even a space for overstimulated sophonts to unwind before reentering the main area. Totally soundproof too. It even had beanbags! At the moment it was occupied by a sophont who was blazed out of his fucking mind, being fondled up by a plant. I didn’t look too long, but if they weren’t wearing a collar now they’d probably be in one by the end of the night. I took my drink without too much conversation to the bartender who was very obviously a floret of some sort, not paying him too much mind. The booze remained the best thing about this place. Even though Terra was under new management, you could rely on Deadbeat having some of the best drinks around. I could even afford them now!

I headed right back after a few drinks. None of my old crew were there, and I was terrified of bumping into one of them with a collar on. Alava and Ash welcomed me back with a big hug, Ash licking over my face a few times in excitement. It was always so adorable seeing them both. I missed them even in the few hours I just spent outside. Or maybe that was the booze? Either way, a warm fuzziness entered my heart when I was back home. We all headed into bed and I slipped into my favourite cuddle puddle.

---

I quite enjoyed my evening walks. I invited Alava for one to see the city, but that just ended up with the Affini that were swarming around gawking over me while she fawned over how adorable I was. I knew they had their own language and they could do it in a way that wasn’t so humiliating! It felt like that was the point, though.

Ash went on one walk with me though she insisted that I brought her outside on a leash. Turns out when you said ‘walkies?’ to a puppygirl they came up to you with a leash in their mouth, adorably. We looked… quite the pair, a girl in vaguely punkish attire and a girl in soft pink tones walking side by side, a floral leash connecting her to me. The usual quick time event of affini swooning over us aside, we had a relatively smooth path to the diner I wanted to take her to. The place where Alava actually met me for the last time before I was legally her pet, Jerries. The waiter was the same as that time, annoyingly, and he made sure to give a look towards my collar and suppressed a gentle giggle. We were directed to our seats and given our menu, but both of us knew what we wanted. We used to go here a lot when we were dating. I had the exact same order as last time, Ash having hers made with chicken instead of beef. No onion rings for her though, and she opted for a chocolate milkshake instead of orange juice.

The nice thing about wearing jeans with so many pockets was the leash just slid right into one of the six pockets. We sat next to each other, lost in each other’s features for a good minute. Stars, she was so pretty. So absurdly gorgeous. When we start making out again our piercings are gonna stab each other and it’s gonna be hot. Eventually she broke the silence.

“So, how you finding it? The whole being a pet and living with me and Mistress?” Not hitting me with the easy questions out the gate, huh? I shrugged and clicked my tongue a bit.

“It’s pretty alright. Honestly, I kinda suspect if it wasn’t for the forced domestication thing I’d probably be spending about as much time at yours rather than being forced to live there.” I snickered back, reaching out to take one of her hands into mine.

“I suspect that the main difference is you’d have gotten to sign your own domestication contract rather than having one signed for you.” Ash threw me a quick nudge as she teased, and I snickered. “Still, I’m glad you’re back in my life, V.” She told me with a small kiss on the cheek. I had grown inoculated against being a hot gay mess whenever she kissed me nowadays, but I was definitely curling my toes into my shoes.

“Heh, you act like I’d be so desperate to be her pet. If it wasn’t for that incident I wouldn’t even be wearing a collar right now!” I boasted, filling my chest with all my usual pride. “I’d get all the cool access to you and her without any of the… y’know.” I tugged on my own collar with a thumb, snarling at the jingly noise it made.

“...V. I heard the way you were purring when Mistress scratched behind your ears last night. I’d give it a few more days and you’d have broken down begging her to own you.” A hearty laugh rose from her.

I shook my head firmly in response. “Nah, I’d have totally remained independent forever.” I flashed a toothy grin. “Unlike someone who just signed herself away. C’mon.”

“Yeah, and?” Well that fucking deflated my point. “I’m proud to be her pet. Unlike you, who still acts like being a loved and cared for kitty is such a terrible fate...” Ash tittered at me. “You stopped looking all sad when she puts your collar on after bath time though. Progress, eh?” She stabbed the back of my hand gently with one of her nails.

I totally had stopped. “I totally still do!” I was blushing too much to be believed.

“Anyway, you adorable thing. Let’s not keep talking about our Mistress. I wanna talk about us.” She pulled me a little closer, our lips just barely seconds from each other. I could feel her breath on my lips, I could watch how her eyes simmered with passion. Oh it was finally happening, Violet cool your gay heart.

“Yeah. It’s been a week, you said we could talk about the whole… convenient thing, wasn't it?”

I felt a squeeze on my hand. She pulled me even closer, our lips now just a breath away from each other. Hard to believe I used to own this girl with how fiery she had become.

“It’s connivents, you dork. I’m really glad you’re around again, and… I kinda want you back.” Ash mulled over her words carefully, which made what I was about to do seem like a beautiful dancer leading her oaf of a partner through a dance floor.

“Oh, you want me to be your owner again?” And I just hit the floor and landed on my face. An uproarious laugh built in Ash’s belly, pouring all over me.

“Dirt and roots, you’re fucking useless. Do you even want to be an owner?” She didn’t sound angry though. If anything she tilted her head with a dreamy sigh.

“Erh…wasn’t that why you had me put you on a leash? Or did I completely misread that?” I turned my attention away from her, but she put a finger on my cheek and dragged me right back to her. My blush was ridiculous. It kinda hurt with how badly I was flustered.

“I just think it’s hot to be leashed in public. Can you blame me?”

“I mean… I’ve never been on a leash before. Iunno.” I knew that look. That look meant that Alava was going to hear about it and I was going on a leash when I got back home. Fuck.

“Disregarding that bit, do you think our wonderful Mistress would let either of us own the other? You saw how possessive she is. Even the mere mention of another Mistress was enough to make her wreck you.” Yeah. That was really fucking hot when she did that though.

“So… if you don’t want me back as an owner, you mean…!” I perked up as soon as I realised, my non-existent tail standing upright. “G-G-Girlfriends?!” I practically shouted the word, my voice going a little hoarse at the word. It felt as if I shouldn’t say it.

“Quiet down, you useless lesbian!” She continued to belt with joyous laughter. “Oh my fucking stars I’ve missed you so much, you know that? Yes, V. I wanna be your girlfriend. Do you wanna be mine? Though by the way you’re practically vibrating right now, I think I know the answer.”

“YESOFCOURSEIWANNABEGIRLFRIENDSAREYOUKIDDINGMETHISISALLIVEWANTEDFORWEEKS!!!” I yelled right back, pouncing her where she stood and enveloping her in a big hug. I wondered if I might be hugging just a little bit too tightly, though it wasn’t like Ash of all people was going to complain. Warm, happy tears soaked down my cheek, to which Ash held me through it.  “Can I say it now? Like, actually?” I asked between delighted sniffles. My nose was a little gross right now but I didn’t fucking care.

“Surprised you haven’t asked sooner, honestly. Love you, V.” She pulled me back to give me a kiss on the lips, which I drank up eagerly. Our lip piercings stabbed each just a little, and it was just as hot as I remember. Hearing that she loved me again made me ecstatic. “Now we can begin the relationship we should’ve had, my little disaster.” Beyond anything, I felt finally whole, an emptiness that had been slowly filling ever since I met Ash again finally sealing itself shut.

“You said a week to wait so I’ve been waiting a week!” I pouted for all of a second that I could stop my face being painted in a big dumb grin. “I love you too, Ash. Thanks for putting up with me.” She flicked my nose gently for that.

“Never say that. Or I’ll tell Mistress that you’re acting like you’re a burden again. Got it?” I whined like a scolded kid.

“Fiiiine, girlfriend.” I’ve waited to say that for so long. The word left a delicious aftertaste on my mouth. Part of me couldn’t believe any of this was real, yet I had the hottest woman I’ve ever met next to me. I repaired the relationship and brought her back into my life. I did it. Ever since the invasion began… All it took was her bringing Ash to me.

“That’s my good girl, girlfriend.” Ash kissed me again. Her calling me a good girl shouldn’t make me shiver, I’d unpack that later when I wasn’t euphoric from the new girlfriend. Food arrived soon after, needless to say it was some of the best food I’ve ever had.

---

Alava was overjoyed to hear the news, of course. She had been planning a beach trip for a while now, but moved it to the next morning to celebrate. There was now a transit line straight from the city centre to where the beach was, and given how lovely a day it was shaping up to be the train was decently packed. Never enough to put anyone in danger, but there were a lot of plants on this train, most of them carrying a few terrans with them. So many of them had collars on… I sat next to my new girlfriend and our owner, staring at the window with idle bliss. Guess that meant we all had something in common. I wonder how many of them chose being owned and how many of them were just like me.

We were both given blue and pink bikinis respectively to wear, a coverup given to the pair of us to wear when we weren’t near the beach itself. I had to wear swimming trunks instead of a bottom for obvious reasons, but they still matched enough. The June heat meant that we weren’t going to freeze, though the pareo was absolutely because Alava didn’t want anyone looking at her property. I was learning her inside and out. I’d find a strike that worked eventually.

The train ran to the nice part of the beach. Of course, there was a ‘bad’ part of the beach, but that was being rapidly cleaned up and expanded into the nice part of the beach. You see, back in the day, the Accord only really maintained the areas that were used by the rich fucks, spewing all sorts of sewage and waste into the others. The nice part had been given a facelift anyway, sporting a longer pier and more accessibility features to enable all sorts of Sophonts to enjoy it. The benches were a lot bigger now, of course, though most of those were occupied by an affini and usually a pretty baked floret or two.

We found our spot by a packed beach front and set up our towel and umbrella, Ash stayed behind to sunbathe with Alava (was she photosynthesising?), leaving me to dive right into the water. I didn’t even have to wear a collar for a bit, I could just waltz right into the sea with only a bikini on. I could play pretend that I wasn’t owned, I was a totally independent sophont who was free willed! Free spirited! Feralist! Okay, maybe not that last one.

As I strided confidently in the water, I knew I had to go deeper than what I could access safely to see the sea life. It saddened me a little. Maybe I had to ask Alava for an aquarium visit to see them all properly? Still, I had just enough swimming lessons in school to swim around the deep part of water, just testing the boundary where the affini on duty absolutely would scoop me up and take me right back to Alava.

The salty sea air, the sounds of giggling florets and affini, the waves lapping at my chest… It really was everything I wanted. It was just as beautiful as I imagined it having been all those days as a kid when I was too dirt poor to afford going to the beach, and as an adult when I was still too poor and in my own head to go there by myself.

I stayed by the boundary for just a bit longer. I floated on my back, looking up at the bright blue sky. This… entire planet was beautiful. No wonder they were working hard to repair the damage that the Accord did to it. If I looked far enough to my right I could see the border that had been drawn up to separate between the clean water and the sewage that had been littered there. It was pretty far off, of course, though the gradient of water turning into brown sludge was there. I spotted a few workers who were busy cleaning it using some sort of Affini tech. Wouldn’t it be funny if those were the same ones who polluted this beach in the first place? I laughed to myself, letting the waves roll against me for a while longer. It felt peaceful.

I could stay here forever. It was serene, a feeling I thought I’d never experience in my chaotic life. I wasn’t running anymore. I could stay here for as long as I wanted, then swim back to meet my girlfriend. Yeah, I had a girlfriend again. I was doing amazingly. All it took was her. A part of me hated how much credit I unfortunately had to give her, things had really gotten better since she came into the picture. I had begun agreeing with her. I sighed and shoved that thought to the back of my mind, determined to enjoy the sea while I was here.

Eventually the heat started to get to me, so I decided to start swimming back. I needed an ice cold beer and maybe a kiss from Ash. Maybe I could get a kiss on my cheek while I drank beer? I began swimming back to the shorefront lazily, though something extremely… weird struck me from the crowd of swimmers. “Sakura? Sakura, sweetie! It’s okay!” Sakura wasn’t exactly a very common name in this country. Perhaps another transgirl had taken up that name for herself, but there was a nagging doubt in my mind would never let me live this down.

I had to investigate. It was very easy to find the cause of the noise, there was someone who was having a panic attack and their affini was keeping them close. Most of the swimmers here were very stilted in comparison to that. The noises got louder as I moved myself closer, until… I was looking at a lanky yellow-flowered affini who was holding what must have been a petite, lithe girl. A good ten centimetres shorter than myself. pastel pink hair that had been cut into a tidy french bob, it neatly punctuated her actually rather pretty features. Then again, being conventionally attractive now the Affini were here was more an aesthetic choice than a genetics thing. She looked tiny, terrified, and she was in water wings? A frilled swimsuit held onto her decent chest, though it was somewhat hard to tell considering she was cradled in the vines of what I had to assume was her owner.

“I’m scared! Mummy!” She cried out, clingy tightly onto the affini next to her. “I’m gonna fall! I’m gonna!” Her little legs were kicking up a storm underneath her, bashing the water around her. As I moved closer I was splashed a few times.

“No you’re not. You’ve got your arm bands on and I won’t let you go beneath the waves, my darling.” The voice they took was patient, as if they were explaining themselves to a child. My… snooping hadn’t gone unnoticed, the affini looking right at me and pointing. “Look at how calm this lady looks, and she’s deeper under water than you. You’re absolutely fine, okay petal?”

Our eyes locked for a moment between her panicked whimpers and I could tell she knew who I was immediately. She stopped sobbing and blinked at me in disbelief. It was as if a switch had been flicked and her whole behaviour changed to a deer in headlights.

“Is that you, Saks?” I inquired, but she kept staring at me. Through me. I tried to sound as kind as possible and gave a nervous smile.

“That’s not a name anyone has called me in a long while…” She eventually spoke up, still held in the foliage of her owner. “I was perfectly happy never hearing it again, to be honest.” Her tone turned absolutely miserable at that.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Didn’t know. D’ya just want me to call you Sakura?” I tried to put on my best, least threatening look.

“That’d be nice. Sakura Thorne, first floret… she/her.” She turned her attention away from me and I felt as if I wasn’t getting it back for a while.

“Oh, are you from her old life? It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Alexi Thorne, fifth bloom, and my pronouns are they/them.” The plant offered their spare hand to me. “Please forgive my little one, she’s fairly sensitive about the topic…” Alexi turned to whisper that last bit to me as they shook my hand. I kinda wondered why they went by they/them but wanted to be called Mummy but I wasn’t going to ask that.

“Nah, I get it. It’s… a sensitive spot for anyone of us who were in our old crew. Name’s Violet, by the way.”

“...and your second name, petal? What about your pronouns?" Alexi knew exactly the game I was playing here. It annoyed me just how good they were at this.

“She/her. Is my second name really important?” I immediately deflected. Really? Now?

“Well, yes. Considering you’re not wearing a collar currently I’d say it’s extra important. It’s also just polite.”

I groaned and relented. “Violet Lamia. Second floret.” I still hated saying that, but at least I could look okay enough with it to not discourage anyone. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Sakura. “It’s… been a while, huh?”

“I don’t want to go back.” Sakura insisted as she squeezed onto her owner with a death grip. “You can’t make me!” She hissed like a snake fighting for its life. I felt my heart sink a little at the implication.

“Who says I wanna go back? Shit sucked-” I was shushed by a vine.

“No swearing. The little one doesn’t like it.” Honestly, at this fucking point? Sure, whatever. I had seen so much weirder shit walking through the streets. They turned their attention from me to Sakura. “Hey, darling. I’m sure the nice lady doesn’t want that as much as you don’t.”

“They’re right, Sak- Sakura. This isn’t me trying to get the band back together, this is me bumping into an old friend at the beach.”

"Sorry, Miss… I just get scared thinking about it.” She peeped up from underneath Alexi, though I was pretty sure she was about to drag herself into the affini’s core and hide there.

“Now, how about we all head onto land so we can talk? I’m sure you’ll enjoy being on solid ground again, darling.” Alexi offered and Sakura nodded furiously, Alexi kissing her gently on the forehead. It was kinda cute. I followed them onto land and noticed there was a… bulge on her crotch. It didn’t take me long to realise that Sakura was wearing a swim nappy. Huh, that explains a lot.

All on land, Alexi grabbed a towel and wiped off Sakura tenderly. The Affini also shooed me away for a good moment to put on an actual nappy on her now that she was on dry land. I wasn’t going to pay attention anyway, but there was a bit of me that wanted to look just to spite them. “There we go. How does my little princess feel?” Sakura gave several big nods in response.

“Thank you Mummy! I feel great now.” She stood up, and then turned to me. “Hey… erm. Can we talk?” Sakura tugged on my arm a little. I turned to look at the smaller girl with disbelief. “I kinda did a lot of bad things and I wanna say sorry for all the bad stuff I did in my past life.” She couldn’t meet my gaze as she said that, but by the way her cheeks were full I could tell she was pouting.

“Hey, no sweat. If anything, you’re part of the reason I’m here now, Sakura.“ I flashed her another friendly, disarming grin before I turned to Alexi. “Yo, is it cool if we chat for a bit?”

“Of course! No swearing though, princess.” Alexi patted her head a few times, slipping her yellow collar back on as they did so. It looked a lot more like a choker than a proper collar, though it had her name tag on all the same. “And if she gets too distressed, come find me. I’ll be right here, okay? Now, princess, be a good girl for the nice lady.” Alexi was so gentle with Sakura it was kind of adorable.

“Yes, Mummy! I’ll be good, I promise!” She enthused. With that, the flat chested Affini gave their girl a tight hug and laid down on a carpet. Something about this made me just want to wrap Sakura up in a big hug myself.

“Gimme one sec, I should get my collar from Al. I don’t wanna deal with affini pestering me about if I’m lost and I find a collar is a pretty easy way to shut them the fuck- the heck up.” Oh, this was going to be a nightmarish hour or two. Still, I took Sakura with me to grab it, though Sakura insisted that I hold her hand throughout. I didn’t mind, even if I got some weird looks.

“Hey, Alava! Can I grab my collar real quick? I’m going to take this little lady for coffee.” I shouted from across the beach, and immediately caught an absurdly jealous glance from Ash. I was glad I was the panther otherwise I might get ripped to shreds.

“I dunno, we start dating and the day after you’re taking someone’s floret for a date? You’re the fucking worst, V.” A playful smile betrayed those malicious eyes which told me I was going to get bitten when I got back for this.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m not going on a date, I’m catching up with an old friend.” Ash’s attention turned towards the girl who was shyly burying herself into my leg, and chuckled.

“She’s not your type anyway.” Ash confidently exclaimed, pushing up her sunglasses. “Too cute.”

“Yay, I’m cute…” Sakura added.

“You’re absolutely adorable, petal.” Alava decided to chime at this point, having arisen from her slumbering position to put my collar and my pareo on. It should be noted that Alava had removed the lock at this point, though that came with the unspoken rule that if she ever saw it off without an excellent reason it was staying on forever. “Play nice with the little one, alright kitty? She looks quite delicate.” Alava spoke softly to me, scratching under my chin. Her gaze shifted to Sakura after. “Permission to pat you, dear?” Sakura nodded excitedly. Alava patted her on the head a few times, cooing as she did. “Good girl! Such a sweet thing, you are. Have fun, both of you!” She adored that. I was wondering if the way the Affini treated every sophont was shaped by her… no, definitely the other way around.

We decided to go to a beachside café, one of those that had a nice view of the beachfront. There was a raised balcony with parasols on the tables so you didn’t get sunburnt. I ordered a caramel latte, Sakura ordered a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, managing to find the right way to twist her words to look as defenceless as possible in front of everyone to get as much doting as possible. I kind of respected the hustle.

“...sorry.” Sakura opened with the moment we were left alone. “I should’ve been a better friend to you when I was in the crew.” I offered a consolatory squeeze on her shoulder.

“Hey, Sakura. It’s totally fine. We were all total messes back then. I’m just glad you’re safe and happy.” I released my grip and sat back in my seat, keeping my expression light and approachable. I dared not veer from the tone you’d use for a golden retriever puppy.

“I…I’m not proud of who I was back then. I hated you all because I hated myself the most. You… never actually saw my face before now, right?” Her words stung with venom for a past self. I could only imagine how much bile she spewed at herself back then.

“Yeah, you only met with Big J and if you were needed on call, you’d be on phone. Just thought you were shy, honestly.” I shrugged. “It made perfect sense considering you were into computers.”

“Well… before Mummy, I was a six foot monster of a man. I hated my body. Estrogen helped, but I was still blocky and tall and my face was so big and…” Sakura had started gritting her teeth in anger as she recounted. “I hated it. I hated it hated it hated it. I hated everything about myself. The only use I had was channeling that hatred into hacking. Into something useful.”

““Hey. Do I really look like the kinda girl to judge someone based on their looks? I would’ve loved meeting you even back in your old ‘monster’ body. You were part of my team.“ I reassured her, squeezing a bit for emphasis. I had had enough mental breakdowns in the past week to know how you were meant to react to someone’s trauma.

“This… isn’t about you. I wouldn’t have let myself out the front door to have met anyone in my old body. Thanks, though.” She flashed me something close to a broken smile. “I met Mummy one day when I was rummaging around some files I shouldn’t be. They were the only one who wanted to talk to me, despite trying so hard to push them away initially. After a while we met in person and they were the first to ever tell me I was adorable. They started taking care of me not long after and… now I have a body I don’t throw up seeing.” The way her face lit up when she was talking about her owner… I knew that expression as clear as day.

“I meaaaan, if I knew this side of you existed back then I’d definitely have called you adorable. Just look at you now! Small or tall, you’re still that same Sakura that sat in the chair all those years ago and made sure I got out of our jobs safely. It ain’t an exaggeration to say you’re the reason I’m sitting here right now.” I ruffled her hair a little bit, the little lady turning into me and hugging me. It was more of a wholehearted attack with her arms to grab me, but it counted.

“I know. I was holding myself back from letting people actually see me and get to know me. I thought no one would want to talk to an ogre unless they needed something from me. Mummy showed me wrong. They were fascinated by me. Enamored. Within a few days of knowing them I never wanted to leave their side so I became their floret. Then again, we did go on like… a ten hour date downtown.” I could just about see her cute little cheeks turn red from that.

“So you just… signed your own domestication contract?” Was I really the only one who didn’t?

“Why wouldn’t I? I love them. Each day they’re in my life I feel complete and happy and each day they show me that they love me back with that infinite adoration only they can ever give. Maaaybe a girlfriend or a boyfriend at some point, but I’m at the first stage of this.”

The drinks came over just as she finished, and they gave her a little spoon to dig the marshmallows out. We had to actually stop cuddling to drink, since Sakura refused to leave me alone after that and I wasn’t going to be the first one to stop either. It was a competition and I was gonna win it, damn it. Then again, the last time I declared this… I didn’t wanna think about it. She, of course, relished the indulgent hot cocoa, taking a big spoonful of the whipped cream and shoving it in her mouth. I took a sip of my latte, looking out to the beach front for just a moment. I eventually turned my gaze back to her and her messy little features.

“Yo, Sakura…Question for you.”

“What’s up?” She very politely stopped slurping for a second.

“Why is your owner treating you like... that? Y'know, the nappies and being called Mummy?” I tilted my head in confusion.

“That’s a very silly question, V. Why does Ash have dog ears now?” Sakura chortled, throwing me a smug look.

“Guess I never pictured you as the kinda girl who’d be into that. Then again, this is the first time we’re meeting face to face in what… six years of knowing each other?” I strained at thinking. Sakura had been there for as long as I had, and I can’t remember how long I’d been in the crew. It was just a fact of life that I had to keep running.

“Well… nice to remeet you.” She held out her hand. “Wanna start fresh?” Sakura offered, and I found myself unable to resist that adorable smile of hers. We shook hands for a brief second, but I made sure not to be too formal about it.

“Fuck it, sure. Fuck!” I made a noise as if I was punched in the stomach. “I’m not meant to swear in front of the little one!” I laughed gently, the girl across from me chuckling too.

“It’s okay. Can be our little secret.” She brought her finger to her lips, smudging it just a little in the cream that had been growing there.

“Okay, okay, one more question. Are you… y’know. Implanted?” I felt nervous just asking this, my stomach bunching up in protest.

Sakura bunched up her short hair and revealed the hairline scar on the back of her neck, nodding eagerly. “Why wouldn’t I be at this point? It lets Mummy give me all sorts of cool drugs and even makes me feel less awful when my episodes flare up. Like earlier, the moment I got all panicky, it released something to make me calm down.

“I… see.” I turned my gaze away. “Al keeps trying to get me to take her up on it. It sounds terrifying, honestly. Like, I’d be hers? Forever? What if I have a falling out or if she doesn’t like me anymore?”

“You’d deal with it, duh. You’re meant to be the big girl here, you’re the one who’s meant to be good with all the big scary emotional stuff that comes with being around others.” She had me there, smirking at me with spilled over cream on her lips.

“Iunno. Forever’s a long time. Longer than I’ll ever live, that’s for sure.”

“Okay, but can you imagine her not being around at this point?”

“I…” I held my shoulder. “I don’t know. On the one hand, she’s so incredibly nice and caring to me. She even holds me when I tell her to fuck off and leave me alone. Yet… I never really asked for her to be in my life, y’know? Just one day, there’s someone in my life who’s there to make sure I’m happy. Just as quickly as she came she could leave again.”

“Why would she do that?” Sakura stopped me in my tracks. “It’s not like someone would randomly throw away their most prized possession. Anyway, it’s not as if an affini falls into being someone’s owner by accident, she wants to keep you happy for your entire life. No matter how long that takes. Imagine you had just found a super rare copy of an old video game, are you gonna randomly get rid of it?”

“You saying I’m old, kiddo?” I sneered back in deflection.

“Maybe.” She snickered smugly. “I’m also saying you’re super duper valuable. Out of all the sophonts here, she decided to take you. That must mean to her you’re extra special.” Sakura patted my head a few times as if to prove her point. “Ultra rare Violet. There’s only like ten of you in all of Terra, maybe.” The girl’s laughter was contagious. I found myself following along with her, sighing happily after.

“Well, I’d say out of all the Sakuras I’ve met, you’re definitely ultra rare yourself. Sakura, with special traits of hacking and being adorable.” Sakura gave me a playful pout, to which I just laughed even harder.

“Hey! You’re not meant to say that, that’s what the Affini are meant to call me and!” Her arms were folded in mock protest.

“Yeah well, I just did. What you gonna do about that, huh?”

“I’m… I’m! I’m gonna add you to my friends list so we can keep talking forever and ever.” She nodded quickly, pulling a phone out of her pocket. “You’re still under ViolentViolet, right? Didn’t think they’d let you keep that name.”

“Duh. I’m still a feral panther, this cat’s got claws.” I was going to let the most ferocious noise out possible. I needed to show I was still wild at heart. “Mrowl.” Fuck.

“Why don’t you have kitty ears then? You should have them. Meow meows are meant to have kitty ears.” She turned her attention swiftly to her phone and started tapping.

<LilPrincessSakura> V!!!!!
<LilPrincessSakura> This is to let you know I’ve added you and I expect a message from you when you get home!
<LilPrincessSakura> Or else I’m gonna hack all your computers. All of them!

I glanced at my messages, and then to her. She’s really so cute. I couldn’t believe someone like that was in a gang. I was just beyond glad she was safe and happy now. We spent the rest of the time together on decidedly lighter subjects, mostly focusing on video games. It was great having someone as passionate about that as I was.

We had to part ways eventually, and I made sure to give her a big hug. This wasn’t going to be the last I saw of that girl, I made sure of it. When I saw Alava and Ash again, they were still sunbathing. They had gotten ice cream together at some point, though. Neat.

“Dirt and roots, you were with that girl for a few hours. Good thing I was only teasing you earlier or I’d have to go home and use you as a chew toy, babe.” Ash was kinda hot when she was threatening me. Was I that pathetic?

“Oh, please. If Violet here wishes to play about with someone she can, as long as she remembers where her home is. Did you have a good time with the little one, dear?” The two of them welcomed me to a spot between them, and I felt as if I was in the lion’s den.

“Had a great time. She’s real sweet and I wanna see her some more, honestly. Guess you were wrong, Ash, cute can be my type.” Both of them snuggled up either side of me. My time to sunbathe while the sun was still out, I guess. Ash had kept a beer cool for me, so I had to reward her with a kiss for doing so. That first hit of a beer was even more incredible when you were between two pretty girls.

We stayed for a while longer at the beach, Alava insisted that we were back for dinner time however. Dinner came and went, and in the evening I was talking with Sakura and Ash at the same time. Turns out messaging apps are pretty good for that.

“You know, V. If you do actually end up wanting to date that girl, I don’t mind too much.” Ash eventually snickered when I picked up the phone for the fifth moment in ten minutes.

“Huh? Where did this come from?” Her words hit me like a thunderbolt. What did I even do?

“The fact that every time your phone buzzes you pause your game to respond immediately?”

“Yeah, ‘cos she’s a new friend! Of course I’m excited to talk to her as much as I can.”

“‘Course. And I’m saying that if it ever stops being friends, don’t worry about me. You sleep in the bed with me, after all.” Ash gave me a soft kiss on the cheek to soothe me. “You know who you belong to.”

“She belongs to me, of course.” I knew that voice immediately. Fuck, that was her. How did she even sneak up behind us? I was turned from one emotion to another like a ship in a storm, in a mixture of turned on and incredibly frightened. “You wouldn’t dare claim ownership of my Violet, Ash?” I could see Ash’s fur stick on end. She knew she had fucked up.

“No, Mistress! Absolutely not, Mistress!” She pleaded frantically. Alava had paced towards Ash, yanking her collar taut.

“Hmm… Violet. Do you believe her?” Her voice had turned devilish, looking directly at her victim without as much passing me a glance. Her usual predatory grin sat well on her face.

“Well… that is what she implied. Maybe you need to remind her, Mistress?” Learning the right time to use her title was important. Right now, it’d take all the aggro off of me and dump it straight onto her. Which was also just really funny.

“I think I need a little moment with my darling puppy downstairs. Violet, continue being a good girl and stay up here, okay?” This was scary as fuck, even if it wasn’t me who was in her crosshairs. The worst thing was that I was utterly fucking rock hard. I only could imagine how Ash felt when it was me under fire.

“Yes, Mistress!” I chirped excitedly, receiving a long and wonderful ear scratch in return.

“Good girl. We really need to get you those kitty ears soon…” With that, Mistress had grabbed Ash in her vines and taken her downstairs. I wasn’t going to question it even if I was going to think about what they were doing. I was also going to take care of some business quickly while thinking of what they were doing.

She returned upstairs about half an hour after, covered in little and sometimes quite big bruises and marks from where Mistress’ vines had been. “So, pet. Want to tell Violet here what you learnt?”

Ash looked dazed, aroused, and scared stiff. “Mistress is the only one who owns Violet. Mistress is the only one who owns me. I get to play with Violet as a privilege from my Mistress.” She spoke, clearly reciting words that had been drilled firmly into her during her punishment.

“Good girl, Ash! I’m disappointed I had to discipline you of all sophonts, however I hope this is a blip out of a rather stellar history of excellent performance.” Alava- no, Mistress turned to me and came face to face. “Now, Violet.” The pause was clear enough that I should be speaking.

“Y-Yes Mistress?” I squeaked. Cats shouldn’t make that noise, fuck.

“Good girl.” She smirked. “You have my permission to play with Sakura as you wish, should it come to that. I just want you to remember the reason why you get to is entirely because I decided it. Understood?”

“Yes Mistress.” I didn’t dare say anything else. I wasn’t about to test her patience right now.

“Good pet. I’m very proud of you, learning how to behave so beautifully. It really makes me proud of you.” Mistress gave me a squeeze on my stomach with her vines, and then relented to the centre of the room. “Now girls, time for bed.”

With a kiss on her cheek and the proper usage of her title, I felt the sharp needle in my shoulder send me to sleep.

Chapter 8

Notes:

CW for dysphoria mentions

I had begun to run into a serious problem. It was starting to complicate matters just a little bit.

I had started to enjoy Alava’s company.

There were opportunities during the day where she was free and I was actually taking the chance to hang out with her more rather than leave her alone. In fact, during one of my traumatic flare ups, it took so long for me to recover that I ended up cuddling into her chest for a good ten minutes. Afterwards, I, not her, decided we were just going to do this after I had my morning cigarette. My morning routine was now: wake up, morning cuddles as a group, then with Ash by herself. Next was breakfast, my morning cigarette, cuddles with Alava by herself, and then bathtime. At least it gave time for my coffee to get me going?

It had been two weeks since I became a pet. Two weeks and three days since I met Alava for the first time. A month and three days since I stopped having a job. Time was really beginning to pick up pace as each day no longer was wracked with the uncertainty of the new. The beach trip had been a week ago at this point, and nothing else had been planned for a while. On the bright side, I had a new friend, and she was adorable. I’d wake up with a good morning message from her at exactly 7:15, and a goodnight message at exactly 11. I was usually busy with other things (sometimes two other things) so I didn’t always respond in time, but she told me she didn’t mind that. We had a date downtown planned later, but for now I was curled up in the tender vines of my owner.

I rested my head on her chest, where the soft moss could ruffle gently against my features each time I nuzzled into it. It was closest to the core as well, where those humming noises I adored rang truest. Alava, for her part, scratched my ears gently exactly where I liked it while cooing praise onto me. She always wrapped my chest in her appendages, leaving her hands free to do whatever she wanted with me.

“That’s a good girl. My good girl.” She adored heaping praise on me whenever I cuddled into her like this. I tried not to think about it too hard. It just felt nice. “Are you excited about your date later? We need to make sure you’re all nice and ready for her.”

I chuckled. “It’s not a date, Alava. It’s just me meeting someone cute for some food and playing some games downtown.” I knew it was a date, but I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of saying it was. She was silent for a disturbing period of time, encouraging me to look up from the spot on her moss where I was resting. I immediately knew what the facial expression was, greeting me with a devious grin. My heart stilled as I awaited what came next.

“You know, pet. You’ve been so well behaved recently, but there’s something you’re missing. I’ve been lenient when I started to train you, but I believe that it’s time you started using my proper title from now on.” Alava explained, pressing a gentle boop onto my nose. My features crumpled involuntarily. “Don’t worry, you’ll still get praise for using it. Just now there’s no longer the option of not using it.”

“Huh?” Why now, of all times? I attempted to take a defensive posture but it was muffled by the fact she was holding onto my upper and lower body. I needed to stand my ground or else risk losing it forever. I knew her. I knew all too well at this point that if I just shut up and obeyed I’d never get to call her by the other name again. “I’m not doing that.” If I just laid my head nonchalantly back on her moss, that might do it. Confidently but firmly say no, don’t show any hesitation and get back to what you were doing. Though as I attempted to rest my head, it was snatched by her and I was forced to stare directly at the sadist I had just refused. The predator that I just taunted.

“Violet. I just gave you a direct command. Your only options are to either obey and receive a reward, or disobey and receive punishment.” I could feel her presence growing thick. Her eyes were shimmering in rapid colours, trying to pull me into them. If I simply closed my eyes, her trick wouldn’t work. That was until I felt a pointed vine smack right onto my rear, the sharp thorns dragging over my nightgown. Yelping in pain, my eyes were forced straight open again. “Now, I’ll repeat myself. If I have to repeat myself once more after, there are going to be severe consequences. You are to use my proper title from now on. Am I understood?” Her tone was firm and oppressive, like a vice on my mind.

“But your name is so pretty! I like using that name for my wonderful owner!” I spat out something sycophantic, praying that it would be enough to appease her. By her shaking head, I knew it didn’t work. A vine scrapped against my inner thigh, reaching up towards my crotch. I knew exactly where it was headed. I knew exactly its target. Alava thrusted a sharp point into my focus, forcing me to look at the needle that could infuse me with the drug.

“I must applaud your attempt at flattery, darling. Though there’s only one way out of this. You’re going to start using my proper title, or I’m going to inject you with this. You should know quite well what this does at this point.” A devilish laugh flickered from her, barging a shiver down my spine. “Now, do I need to repeat myself once more and deny you orgasms for a week? Or are you going to do as you’re told and get to cum?” A week? I had barely been more than a few days without jerking it before this!

“I-” I attempted to interject, only to be silenced by her again.

“Oh, and each further infraction will result in an additional day if I believe it’s deliberate. Are we understood?”

I squirmed under her grasp, feeling the impending doom that the wrapped tendril around my leg spelled. We had a while before the bath and I dreaded to think how whiny and pent up she could get me in that time. “I… I understand, Mistress! Please forgive me, Mistress!” I surrendered, immediately being left to flop onto her chest as her rhythms abated.

“See? Isn’t that so much better? Obedience is such a better look for you, my darling pet.” She cooed, returning to scratching the top of my head once again. Each time a fight began with me and her, I always lost it. I’d feel humiliated if she wasn’t so absurdly overpowered. “We should really get you those cat ears. You’d look even more adorable with your proper set of ears.” I sighed.

“You just want me implanted…” I sounded utterly pathetic when I complained like this.

“Of course I do. You being implanted would make me extraordinarily happy, little one. However, this is more about making you more of the adorable kitty that we both know you are.”

“It requires surgery…” I whined. “Like yeah, it’d be cool being a proper cat. Yeah, it’d be amazing having meow meow features. You’re asking a lot of trust from me, A- Mistress.” An affirming scratch on my decidedly Terran ears was my reward. You never knew that you hated them until someone reminded you of them.

“Violet, to be blunt, if I wanted to implant you against your consent, I would’ve done it a week ago. I could’ve had the implant ready and made within that timeframe and ready to place into you, and it’s not as if you could’ve stopped me.” Alava shook her head. “I’m going to set an appointment at the vet after this. I assume you want your fur the same colour as your hair?” I balked at the audacity.

“Hey! You can’t just go ahead and book it!” I whined, fully aware that I was attempting to stop a tsunami with my hands.

“Actually, as your owner, I can.” She hushed me with a vine. “Now, I’m going to set this far enough away that if you decide to go ahead with the other surgery, you can, though if I don’t hear enthusiastic consent before then, I’m not going to.” She raised my head with her finger, pointing me towards a clear glass cylinder on the mantlepiece that I hadn’t noticed until now. There was a pole in the centre, presumably so the implant could grow around it. “If you give me the okay a week before surgery, I’ll begin growing it. I’ll even display it to ease your mind. Okay?”

I had to take a moment to process everything. Mercifully she didn’t mind too much, letting me gather my thoughts on her. “Okay, but how do I know you don’t have a spare somewhere?” She responded by chuckling gently.

“Look at the size of that thing, darling. I couldn’t hide one of those if I tried!”

“Someone else’s hab?” I quickly thought aloud.

“Nice thinking, but why would I do that?” Alava scratched my head again. “There’s one thing you know about me, I’m not fond of subterfuge or subtlety. If I had a plan to put this inside you, I’d be gloating that there’s nothing you could do to stop me. No, it’s far more satisfying for both of us if you end up asking to be mine forever.”

“Hey… I’d never ask that!” I refuted as I nuzzled into my owner’s chest some more. Even if it felt as if my protesting this was entirely performative at this point.

“Oh? Just like you’d never admit you enjoy being a pet, or you’d never be tamed? Yet here you are, calling me Mistress and revelling in my attention. Your owner’s attention. You have fallen far further than you realise you have, my darling. In a week, you’ll ask for it. I know it.” I wanted to find a hole in her logic, a point of attack I could use to rip the whole thing down. But I simply couldn't. She was right, as always.

“And if I don’t…?” I weakly protested.

“I guess my sweetie will have cat ears and a tail. How absolutely horrible.”

---

 

I went to my date with her words ringing in my head. It’s as if she had a sixth sense for my submission, knowing when and where to push to wring the most obedience out of me as possible. It pissed me off and turned me on in equal measure.

We met by the lake downtown. Before the Affini took over, there was a private nature park in the middle of the city where you could taste the air and bask in carefully cultivated greenery, but it cost money just to enter. Now the Affini were here, it had been not only expanded but made available to the public. Rolling foliage fed into a central lake where various different fauna gathered, all varieties of pretty flowers blanketing the carpet of grass. Unsurprisingly, it had become quite a popular spot for florets and their owners, which me and her were definitely one of those things. Sakura dressed herself in a gothic red dress that was down to her ankles, and I had opted to go for a more punkish graphic tee on my top instead and one of my leather jackets. It was getting slightly too warm for this, yet aesthetics conquered comfort every time. That’s why my ribs had ink on them, after all.

She gave me a warm smile when she noticed me, but didn’t get up from her spot and instead simply patted the bench to invite me to her. We sat together, staring at the reflection of a gorgeous summer day on the lake. You could see the skyscrapers mirrored on the water’s surface, but focus hard enough on the water and you could see some aquatic life budding underneath. She wrapped her arms around mine when she could, clinging onto me slightly.

“Hey, little one. How’s it been?” I began with a gentle ruffle of her hair with a spare hand. I really was taking after my owner, huh?

“It’s been good. I’ve mostly just been boring Mummy talking about you and doing my computer stuff.” She returned, not moving her gaze from the pond.

“Oh, you getting that too? Apparently I talk about you a lot. Neither Alava nor Ash seem to mind.” I added with a chuckle. As I said that, I noticed Sakura reach into her phone and begin typing something. “Erh…you mind?”

“Miss Alava said that I gotta tell her if you use the wrong title.”

“And you agreed?!” I sputtered in disbelief.

“She calls me a good girl, of course I agreed.” Sakura responded proudly.

“Hey, Sakura. I’ll call you a good girl if you be naughty with me. Does that sound better?” Then I noticed she had brought up her phone again and was typing once more. “Alright, alright! Didn’t know you were such a snitch.” I groaned.

“I’m on team good girl. Maybe you should be on it too.” She snickered, putting her phone away. “You get all sorts of praise and treats.” She stood up, offering me her hand with her usual sunny expression. Or at least, her usual around me. “Anyway, it’s 12, so it’s time for lunch. I wanna go to the burrito place.” I took her hand after a moment of disbelief at her, leading the way. I knew her favourite burrito place by the amount she ranted about it.

It was less of a place than a food stall in a busy market, still running smoothly despite the recent occupation. A lot of the folks here were just here to serve good food, and who could blame them? Without all the pressures of meeting quotas and the addition of an effectively endless supply of fresh produce, cooking was a popular hobby nowadays. This particular burrito stand had been run for a few decades now, and Sakura evidently ordered from this place a lot. Apparently they delivered straight to her old place and new hab.

“Sakura!” An old lady from behind the counter beamed at the girl. “How’s my favourite customer?” No collar. I was dealing with an independent here.

“I’m good! Look, I brought a friend!” She bounced with excitement, showing me off the same way one would show off a particularly cool stick. Hey, I’d take it.

“Well look at that! Always glad to see you smiling, little one.” The old lady continued to dote. I realised why Sakura came here a lot. “This little lady here used to order from us every week, every Friday for a decade now. I know her order by heart. Piri-piri chicken with extra sour cream, lettuce and jalapeños, no tomatoes or onions. ” She turned her attention to me and I realised I should say something.

“Huh. Why every Friday?”

“Because every Friday I’d order from here. It just became a ritual and like most rituals, I don’t break them when I start them! I still say goodnight to every stuffie in turn before I pass out.”

“That’s… hardcore. Doesn’t that take you forever?”

“It takes me five minutes and fifteen seconds. Your plushie being added to the pile added seven and a half seconds.”  She recounted with terrifying accuracy.

“Wait, you added a plushie of me?” I blinked a few times in disbelief.

“Of course I did! I have a plushie for all my friends. Online ones and offline ones. I figured with your codename being panther a black panther worked best for you.”

“I’m more of a house cat than anything else, though close.” Maybe Alava was starting to affect me. That was a terrifying thought. “I’ll have pulled pork with chili sauce and salad, please.”

“Of course! Anything for a friend of Sakura.” The old lady got to work and we had to wait for all of a minute before our burritos were presented to us, wrapped in foil. Sitting down next to each other in one of the spaces in the food market, Sakura tore into her food with frightening speed. It was like watching a starving bird peck at something.

“Hey, hey! Kiddo, slow down a little. What would your owner say?” I had barely opened my burrito myself! Still, she seemed to respond positively to that.

“That I’m gonna give myself indigestion and then my tummy is gonna hurt all evening?” Sakura pouted dramatically like I had caught her hand in the cookie jar.

“Sounds like you’ve heard it before, huh? Look, if you eat it slowly, you savour it more. Then, there’s less of a distance between now and next Friday.” I added, tearing into the foil casing and taking a bite for myself. I made sure to properly chew it to set a good example.

“Yeah… you’re right.” She chuckled. “Usually Mummy cuts it for me and presents it so I don’t do this. They’re not here right now though. Guess I got excited, going for a date with a friend for the first time and all…”

“I’m your first?” That sounded way dirtier than I wanted it to. Don’t think about the cute girl next to you saying such things, Violet! You were here to make a friend, not fuck her! “Offline friend, I mean.”

“Yup. Growing up, I didn’t have any friends. All I had was computers, so that’s when I ended up wanting to learn as much as I could about them. Then by the time puberty hit, I hated myself so much I never left the house until I moved out.” She kicked her legs idly as she spoke, having stopped eating her food for a moment.

“Well, look at you now. You’ve got a friend, and I’m sure an adorable girl like you could make as many friends as you want. The only problem with that is you’d end up saying goodnight to so many plushies that way.” I playfully shoved her shoulder just a little, not enough to hurt. Her face lit up with a chuckle at that one, leaning into me as she ate her burrito.

“I’d just get really efficient at saying goodnight to them! Don’t worry, V, you’d still get an extra special goodnight from me.”

“Makes me wonder… if I was staying over, would you still have to say goodnight to your plushie and me?” I thought idly aloud. A noise that sounded like a ‘bwuh?!’ came from Sakura and I noticed her cheeks were bright red. I was apparently really good at flirting without realising. Well, I was here now, might as well have my fun.

“T-Then I’d have to give both of you a goodnight kiss! Those are the rules!” I could feel her squirming. I couldn’t tell if I was suddenly good at this or if she was just that easy. Maybe both.

“Oh yeah? If you think about it, when you say goodbye to me today to go home, that’s a form of goodnight. You’ll need to give me a kiss for that, then.” Direct hit.

“Well yeah then you have to give me a goodbye kiss too! That’s only fair!”

“So, we give each other a kiss? Fine by me. I want mine on the lips, though.”

“Then! T-Two kisses on the lips! It’s a deal!” She shivered a bit, having entirely given up on eating her food.

“You know, we could just make out if you want. Though I guess I’d have to teach you how to do that, huh?” Oh, that was super effective. I could feel her and all the whimpering noises she was making and the way she was practically unravelling besides me. Time to go in for the kill. “It’s okay though. Just don’t tell mum, okay?” I brought a finger up to my mouth and made a shushing noise as I winked. She very nearly fell backwards off the bench we were both on, but I caught her in time. “Hey, don’t get too excited. You gotta finish your burrito. We can practice making out another time. Be a good girl, okay?” She didn’t say anything, nodding quietly as her knees locked together.

After that killshot, we headed to an arcade to kill some time. There was a bowling alley attached, but going near that made Sakura’s noise sensitivity terrible and she already had earplugs in. All of the games were free now, though they had prizes that you can win if you spent enough time here. Stuffed toys, little pieces of miscellaneous crap that ended up everywhere, that kinda stuff. Something that caught my eye was a stuffed calico kitty plushies, with one of those silly cute cat faces on it. I pointed at it as soon as I saw it.

“Hey, Sakura. Doesn’t that look like a much better stuffie for me?”

“Yeah. It’s a lot of points, though… Do you think we can do that in time?”

“Back when I was in the crew I used to be an excellent shot.” I pointed to one of the games that was a shoot ‘em up. “It’s got co-op! Wanna do this together?” Sakura nodded nervously at me, already clinging to me just a little with the chaos of the arcade. It was a zombie invasion kind of game, the kind with high enemy density and a lot of rapid firing. I grabbed the gun I was going to be using: A plastic replica of an old 9mm model. Probably based on a glock. The replica was responsive enough to touch, even having a feature where you could cock the slide to reload. Not… quite how that worked, but I wasn’t going to complain about the accuracy of this. I tapped the top of my gun on Sakura’s to indicate I was ready and stared down the plastic iron sights of the weapon.

I hadn’t lost it. I was a terrifying whirlwind on the battlefield, snapping to my targets and shooting in seconds. Despite a lack of formal training in marksmanship, I still had excellent accuracy. Breathing steadily through my nose, it was easy for me to get into trance. The game ran for about half an hour, in which I was lost to the outside world. Sakura got knocked out halfway in, but that just meant she sat patiently, watching me clean house. I cleared the final boss and dramatically cocked the gun, pulling it to my mouth to blow on non-existent smoke.

“Easy.” I dramatically declared, posing victoriously.

“H-Huh… You’re really good at this.” Sakura stood up, wrapping her arms around my middle tightly as I collected the points.

“Course I am. D’ya think I spent all that time gaming and shooting to not be a good shot?” I teased a little, ruffling that cute pink hair. “C’mon, let’s get you a better stuffie for me.”

The stuffie was way bigger than it needed to be, drooping over Sakura’s shoulders. “Thank you V! I’m gonna treasure this forever and ever!” She cheered and I couldn’t help but watch with some adoration. Is this how the Alava felt about me? Just wanting to dote and protect? It didn’t make sense why anyone would wanna do that with me, but I guess I didn’t exactly have a good track record arguing that Alava shouldn’t.

Sakura had taken to calling the smaller cat ‘Smolet’, giving the smaller version of me that was stuck in permanent silly face a hug every now and again. She really enjoyed squeezing on her paws. To the point where she started squeezing on my ‘paws’ in the same fashion.

We spent some more time playing various different games, but eventually it was getting to be late in the evening and I knew Alava wanted me back for dinner. So we just grabbed hot drinks on the way out and spent the rest of time chatting before it came time to part ways.

“Hope you had fun, Sakura. You’re adorable and it’s always a delight hanging with you.” She was holding onto my arm like usual, but she relented mournfully as we passed her hab. I tried to give her my best smile again in consolation. “Hope you remembered our deal.” I snickered.

“Erm… yeah. I’m just nervous. I’ve never kissed anyone before…” She shyly looked away from me, making my confused head tilt unseen.

“What about your owner?” I said with a careful tone.

“Nah. We don’t have that relationship. They take care of me and clean my nappies, but kissing is something they say I should save for when I have a special one in my life.” Oh. Oh she was blushing. I wasn’t that useless that I couldn’t piece this together.

“Hey, having a friend is pretty special.” I needed to give her an out. Or at least, I wanted her to confirm it. “I totally get it though, if you wanna just leave it here I won’t push it.”

“I… can we trial it? Like, not a proper proper kiss, but I wanna try it.” Dirt and roots, she was so precious.

“Darling, if you kiss me, it’s a proper one. There’s no taking that back. Are you sure you want me to be your first kiss? It’s okay if not. I still had an amazing time-”

Sakura had launched at me, messily slamming her lips onto my own. Just as quickly as the girl had attached to me she had retreated, running off into the hab with a flustered expression written plain on her face. Oh my stars she was so fucking precious.

<LilPrincessSakura> THANK YOU FOR THE DAY OUT!!!
<LilPrincessSakura> IM GONNA GO CURL UP WITH SMOLET FOR A BIT!
<LilPrincessSakura> LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU GET HOME OKAY!

I had been out gayed by her. It was kinda impressive. I just walked home with the dumbest grin on my face, a delightful warmth in my chest taking me home.

Chapter 9

Notes:

Violet has a slumber party at Sakura's place, and is perfectly innocent about it.
CW for fauxcest, penetrative sex, and mentions of body issues.

No matter how much things changed, some things still remained the same. Somedays were just waking up, eating, doing shit until you went to bed. I lazily laid on the couch as the midday sun pooled across my exposed tummy, scrolling on my phone for… something. Anything that could distract me from the encroaching boredom. I was even texting Ash, who was upstairs, playing on her PC. I wondered if I should text Alava too, who had taken up position at the edge of the couch to do whatever it is affini do on their tablets. Maybe it’d get a chuckle from her.

It was nice that I could still call her Alava in my head. If that came out of my mouth I’d be in a world of danger, but I could keep this quiet defiance nestled safely away. Alava had no idea I wasn’t using her proper title, no idea I could smuggle this victory right under her purple nose. Did affini even have noses? Wait, fuck! She was turning her attention to me.

“You’re staring at me an awful lot, petal. Something on your mind?” She flicked me a devious glance, and I jumped out of my skin.

“Nope! Just looking at your pretty features, don’t worry about me.” I employed my familiar tactic of being slightly sycophantic when I wanted to wriggle my way out of trouble.

“Hmm…” She placed one of her thumbs underneath her chin, mimicking scratching it. “As long as my cute little pet isn’t scheming anything stupid, she’d never do that, right?” The towering plant lady leaned forward to scratch my head in that exact spot I adored.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” I sighed as I leaned into the touch.

“Just a little bit more, sweetie.” She wiggled a finger threateningly. “You know I can tell when you’re trying to avoid using my title.” Fuck! Why did she always know?

“...Wouldn’t dream of it, Mistress.”

“Good girl! Very good girl.” I reluctantly gave a full throated moan, eyes fluttering for a second. In the excitement I didn’t notice the phone on my tummy buzz a few times from a decidedly new contact.

<UncommonGrose> Hello!
<UncommonGrose> It’s Alexi, Sakura’s owner.
<UncommonGrose> This may be a bit sudden, but is there any chance you are free to stay over tomorrow?
<UncommonGrose> Sakura has been wondering and she’s a bit too shy to ask, so she wanted me to ask you.

<ViolentViolet> errhhh

<UncommonGrose> I’ve cleared it with your owner before you ask! She doesn’t need you tomorrow. ^^

I looked at Alava. She glanced back with that mischievous grin that bordered on maliciousness. I turned my attention back to my phone with a dramatic roll of my eyes.

<ViolentViolet> glad to know this requires my owners permission nowadays…

<UncommonGrose> Yes! You are her duty and her property, after all.
<UncommonGrose> How could you ever forget that, you silly thing?

<ViolentViolet> yeah yeah
<ViolentViolet> anyway im saying that im free tomorrow
<ViolentViolet> when d’ya want me to swing by your hab?

<UncommonGrose> Excellent! I look forward to seeing you, as does my dear Sakura! Please come around 6, just in time for dinner.
<UncommonGrose> I’ll let your owner know you’ll be away for the day :>

I groaned like I had just stubbed my toe.

<UncommonGrose> Also I’ll let Shiro know! He’s a bit shy but I’m sure if you can break my princess out of her shell, you can do it for my prince too.

<ViolentViolet> see ya then

As expected, I soon got a message from someone else.

<LilPrincessSakura> YOU’RE COMING OVER?!?!! I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

<ViolentViolet> aww
<ViolentViolet> youre adorable
<ViolentViolet> how could I say no to coming over and seeing such a cute face like yours?

And as expected, I got a long string of letters and numbers that could function as a password.

“I hope you have fun tomorrow, petal.” Even before I had put my phone down, Alava had decided to add her commentary.

“They really did tell you, huh?” I stood up, stretching idly. Even when she was sat down and I was upright, Alava still loomed over me a bit. It was kinda hot.

“Of course. You are my pet, as much as your rather adorable attempts to refuse it pretend otherwise.” She chuckled. “As such, Alexi needs my permission to look after you for a night.”

I didn’t have the energy to fight this right now. “Yeah, whatever. I’m gonna go talk to Ash.” Dismissively I walked away, somewhat expecting a vine to wrap around my thigh and punish me for that. Though once I was climbing the staircase, I knew that I had won this interaction. I kept that pride with me.

I saw the puppy locked into some task on that MMO she was playing, so I just clicked my tongue a few times.

“Yo, Ash!” She swirled around in her chair, turning to look at me with an eagerly wagging tail. I honestly hadn’t really noticed her tail earlier thanks to being so focused on her boobs, but now I noticed it whenever I or Alava called her. It was fucking precious.

“Yeah? You look like you’ve got good news. Are you finally getting implanted?” She teased, sitting up and placing her headset down before pouncing me. She really had mastered the act of putting her paws on the floor to bounce off them and onto me or Alava, shoving me right onto the hard ground with her weight. Next thing I knew, my face was being licked too with the boundless adoration that could only ever be shown by a puppy.

“Hey! Ash, calm down, ya silly mutt!” I laughed in utter bliss, barely wanting this dog to stop pouring affection all over my features. Eventually, she settled down to just cuddling on top of my chest, that tail still swaying from side to side.

“I might be a mutt, but I’m a mutt you love. Now c’mon, you’ve gotta tell me that you’ve finally stopped being so stupid and let Mistress implant you.” I had taken to scratching the top of her ear gently, having been instructed beforehand exactly where to touch her by Alava.

“Nah, why would I get implanted? C’mon.” I hit right back with a playful grin. “But nah, I’m staying at Sakura’s place tomorrow. Thought you might wanna know since you seem to be really invested in this for some reason.”

“You’re such a dumbass.” Ash snickered on me. “I just want to see you happy, so of course I’m gonna root for you with courting this girl.”

“Hey! I’m not trying to date her! We’re just-”

“Going on dates and staying over at her place…” Ash booped me with a finger. “Damn babe, it’s almost as if I know how bad you crush on someone for some uncertain reason.” She had that smug look that she only ever employed when she was utterly right and was enjoying watching me squirm. Like owner like pet…

“And who’s to say I have a crush on her, huh?”

“V, I’ve heard you moaning her name when you jerk off.” She informed me with a playful nibble on my neck.

“You heard that?!” I gasped out.

“Yeah, I did. You know who else I’ve heard you moan out when you jerk it? There’s two other names on that list.”

“I moaned out Alava’s name?!” I didn’t even remember that!

“Oh, I’m definitely telling her that.” I felt a shiver of dread down my spine when I realised just how much trouble I was in. “Anyway, before you try to bite me into silence or something, do you want some help so your disaster lesbian ass nails the landing?” I took a few moments to process the deluge of information that had been thrown my way before slowly nodding. She licked my face from the top of my cheek to my chin before beginning. “So, what flowers are you thinking of getting her?”

“Flowers? Why would I get someone flowers when she’s owned by a plant?”

“She’s owned by an affini.” She corrected me with a gentle lick. “And because it’s a romantic gesture. Most transgirls have never had anyone give them flowers before, so if you give her a bouquet she’s bound to love it.”

“You know, no one’s ever given me flowers now that I think about it.” I pondered for a moment, to which Ash simply poked my cheek.

“Want me to fix that? I’ve already had it happen to me, way back when I used to date guys. They’re kinda good at this one specific thing.”

“I mean, I do owe you a date at some point soon. Guess it ain’t so much of a surprise if you’re wiggling it in front of my face like a doggy treat.”

“Shouldn’t that be my line, babe?” We both laughed heartily. “Okay, let’s focus. She’s called Sakura, maybe a box of cherry blossoms?

“Isn’t that too obvious?”

“Well, she clearly picked that name because she likes the flowers. Dirt and roots, she literally has pink hair. C’mon, I think we have an easy one here.”

“Alright, but if it goes wrong… iunno, you’ll suck my dick?”

“Can I do that even if it goes right?”

“Alright, you’re on.”

We cuddled a bit longer on the floor, then we departed downstairs to gather the gift. The moment Alava was in sight, Ash pounced on her too. The time was a nice enough distraction to think of what exactly a bouquet of cherry blossoms even looked like. Couldn’t go for the usual cylinder-esque shape of it, they’re not quite fit for that. I eventually decided on a box shape for it, using the atomic compiler to fabricate it in moments. They’d keep fresh for tomorrow, the pink container being wrapped up in an even brighter ribbon. I placed the box comfortably on the counter and then found myself with a looming presence suffocating me.

Alava was right in front of me with that terrifying look on her face. Her lips were curled in cruel turns, displaying the thorns inside her mouth that looked like daggers. “Violet, my dear puppy here told me you were using the wrong name for me. What do you have to say for yourself?” Her voice dripped with sadistic glee, finding myself shrinking under her visage.

“Erm… honest mistake?” I tried to divert my attention away from her to which an array of vines wrapped around my features and yanked me harshly to her. I knew exactly how strong she was, exactly how hopeless it was to try and move now. Another set of vines set fit to shuffle around my frame and limbs, paralysing me with wriggling, undulating tendrils that held just enough sharpness to make being here hurt. They were under my shirt, under my jeans, flaring my form in sharp scratches that weren’t fit to break skin. I knew better than to resist and invite them to cut me.

“Mmm… I don’t believe you, pet. You’ve been dancing around using my title all afternoon. Now, you should be thanking me for showing you mercy.” I saw the sharp point of the injector flower, flitting between my eyes. “I’d be well within my right to deny you for a few days, but you’re staying over at your crush’s hab tomorrow-” Even she knew?! I whimpered as the thought barged into my head. I needed to say something!

“She’s not my crush!” I tried to refute her, but was hushed with a vine wrapped around my mouth.

“No no no, pet. You speak when I tell you to.” Another tendril squeezed around my stomach,. one of the thornier ones she kept in her to scrape at my skin. There was so much pressure being applied to my body and mind that I had to hold on not to simply crumble under it. “Better. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, since you’re staying at your crush’s hab tomorrow, I’m willing to show some leniency. Now, you’re going to tell me you’re sorry for being so impolite with how you refer to me.” I could feel her drilling her way deep into my mind, her humming tones sinking into me as effortlessly as water filling a sponge. I was granted permission to speak by a single shifting vine.

“Sorry Mistress!” I screamed out in desperation, straining my voice as the words rocketed out of my lips.

“Oh, good girl! See, isn’t that nicer than constantly trying to dance around giving me the respect I deserve?” She made sure to scritch that favourite place of mine as a reward, her thorns shirking back into the vine to grant me some relief. “However, this isn’t over yet. I’m still deciding whether or not I should let you cum if things get heated tomorrow. What does my pet think about that?” I squinted at the thought, still locked into looking directly at my owner.

“Please, Mistress! Please let me cum! Let your stupid horny pet cum her brains out!” I could feel shame bubbling up in my chest as I was made to dance to her whims, yet it did little to prevent the outburst. I couldn’t risk tomorrow. I watched her features shift as she thought about it, held prisoner by her. She was being dramatic with her emotions, each shift in her expression tugging at my heart strings. Eventually she gave me a toothy grin.

“Hmm… I’ll allow it. Though I will warn you that if I hear about such disobedience again, you’re not cumming for a full week. Am I understood?" Her overwhelming presence continued to suffocate my resistance. I wasn’t even able to stomach the words, just nodding quickly. “Hmm? Is that how you should respond to this? Just after I was so kind?”

“Yes Mistress! Thank you Mistress!” I was yelling so loudly my throat hurt from begging. She unhanded me and I fell to the ground, clearly delighting in my suffering by the way she was smirking.

“Good girl! Now, girls, I need to get dinner ready. Be back for twenty minutes, okay?” She turned her back on me, but not before patting me and Ash on the head a few times.

“Yes Mistress…” I whimpered, still trying to catch my breath and collect myself mentally.

“Yes Mistress! I love you!” Ash wagged her tail excitedly

“Love you both.” She spoke so naturally. I had to run upstairs to take care of some business before dinner. “Oh, and Violet? No masturbating before tomorrow.” I screamed into my hands.

---

It was another leather jacket and big jeans kinda day, strutting my way towards her hab with a spring in my step. I made sure to open my jacket enough that my collar was visible for any intruding Affini, but also partially because it was insufferably warm. A last minute addition to the box of flowers was a handwritten tag on the box, a suggestion by Alava herself amusingly. Here I thought she didn’t know the first thing about romance, considering the whole kidnapping thing.

I approached the large mechanical doors, to which the hab AI briefly scanned me over. “Greetings, Violet Lamia!” I winced in pain. “I shall inform Alexi and their princess that you have arrived. Please, wait here one moment.” It seemed as if the AI was programmed to be more refined. Somewhat like a butler? Guess that worked well for the whole prince and princess thing going on.

Eventually, the doors opened wide to reveal the two of them. The towering, somewhat lanky Affini was holding an overly excited Sakura in their hands, the girl looking as if she was five seconds from pouncing me. Or maybe that was my overexposure to an excitable puppy? I couldn’t help but feel a smile spread wide on my face upon seeing her again. She was dressed in a pretty white summer dress, perfect for this heat if the hab wasn’t surely climate controlled.

“Good evening, how’s the third most adorable floret I know doing?” I looked up at the three yellow eyes of Alexi, yet I didn’t sense that usual feeling of malice I got with Alava. They were definitely conspiring together though.

“Yeah, I’m good. Glad to see her pretty face again.” I turned my attention away from them to the bubblegum princess, catching a curl of her short pink hair with my finger. “How ya been, kiddo?” She squealed in delight.

“I’ve been good! It’s been too long since we’ve met so I’m glad I get to see you again, V!” It was as if she was tripping over her words with how excited she was to get the next one out.

“It’s been all of four days, cutie. C’mon, can’t you go without me that long?” We both knew the answer to that, sighing in unison after. “Anyway. Got ya something.” Okay, I’d practised this. I got on one knee, and presented the box with both hands with my arms fully outstretched. “Take it.” Once she took it, I got to my feet and waited with baited breath.

“Huh?” I felt my nerves ever so slightly seize once she had the box in her hands, neatly picking at the ribbon to untie it. Once the lid was off, I watched as her brain melted into a sapphic puddle. “F-Flowers? For me?”

“Yeah! Had to do a box rather than a usual bouquet since your namesake flowers are a bit awkward to carry around in those, but…” Before I could even finish the sentence, Sakura passed the box to Alexi and tackle hugged me. Her arms tightly wrapped around my midsection, the flustered princess nuzzling into me.

“Thank you thank you thank you I’ll treasure it forever!” I returned the hug, looking down at her with the pride of a job well done. “Well… as long as you can treasure flowers. Eventually they wilt…”

“It’s okay, when they wilt I guess I’ll just have to give you another box.”

“It’s no surprise if I know you’re planning it!” She pouted adorably.

“Anyway, girls.” Alexi brought us into focus with a soft tone. “Are you two going to stand in the doorway forever, or may I welcome you into my home?” The plant reminded us both with a gentle pat on the head. I managed to pry Sakura off by holding her hand, to which she embraced it with both of her own.

The inside of the hab was pretty cozy, compared to how expansive mine was. Rather than a more open floor plan, the hab opened up into a central living room area with closed off recreational rooms. There were two rooms that were dedicated to the two florets that seemed big enough to be master bedrooms back before… well. An embossed feature in the pink door read: “Princess Sakura Thorne’s private quarters!” in utterly flowery writing, with something similar on the blue door. I didn’t read it, though the font was noticeably different.

We were led towards the TV room, where a sofa was placed in front of a massive monitor. There were two oak chests in the corner in the room, colour coded seemingly like everything else. On the far corner of the room, a sprawling library of books stood, ranging from something you’d expect a sprout to be read to, all the way up to books which I wouldn’t dare look at. Notably, there wasn’t any natural lighting in this room, instead a central light at the top which had softer amber tones than the harsh lighting you’d see elsewhere.

“Little one, our guest is here!” Alexi enthused in a soft tone, to which I finally noticed the other inhabitant of the hab. A light green haired boy that had tied his hair in a ponytail, but only partially so some hair drooped to his shoulders. Definitely looked like the twinks I used to see at bar before Lil J hit on them. Loose baggy top with similarly fitting leggings on, he didn’t even have socks on. Notable was that he was wearing an all black face mask, even inside. Three sets of eyebrow piercings were on his right eyebrow. There also didn’t seem to be a collar on him, bizarrely. He was slumped with his knees to his chest, sketching something on a notepad.

“Okay. Making food soon, Mummy?” He didn’t even look up at me.

“Of course, darling. Now play nice, and I’ll be right back.”

“Okay. Love you.” It was impressive that someone could sound so monotone about that!

“Love you too!” Alexi strolled over to give the lad a scratch on the head, to which he seemed happy about. The plant slinked out of the room to begin cooking, and I took my place on the sofa to look curiously at him. Sakura immediately nuzzled into my shoulder, of course.

“Biiiig bro! You don’t need to be so shy around Violet, she’s really cool!” She proclaimed my greatness to which I chuckled a bit.

“...hi. I’m Shiro Thorne. Second floret. He/him. Or whatever.” He spoke in a practised tone though it was entirely perfunctory.

“Hey! I’m Violet Lamia, second floret, She/her. What’cha drawing?” I knew offering my hand wasn’t going to work.

“...demons.” He took a moment to respond, tracing his pencil over a difficult moment.

“Demons? Like, we talking Judeo-Christian ones or the more eastern ones? Like, oni?”

“You know, you’re the first sophont I’ve met to know the difference.” He finally took his gaze away from the notepad to look at me. He pulled up one of his sleeves, revealing a colourful assortment of tattoos that had all sorts of eastern iconography on it. Noodle dragons, paper lanterns, Shiro pointed to the oni mask with a kanabō underneath it.

“I mean, back when I was in a gang, I used to think of myself as a demon. Maybe I should’ve gotten an oni mask, huh?” He blinked a few times blankly at me. “Oh, did… Sakura not tell you?”

“No, I know. I just find it weird that someone would so readily call themselves a demon.” He shook his head and went back to looking at his drawing.

“Yeah, those days are long gone. Nowadays I’m more of a house cat than a demon.”

“I’m allergic to cats.” He stated rather plainly before going back to his notepad again.

“Good thing I’m hypoallergenic!” I attempted to defuse with a slight laugh.

“I used to be allergic to all sorts of things, actually! Nowadays that’s all sorted by the implant, so don’t be afraid of cat fur, silly!” Sakura had my back, to which Shiro stubbornly smiled.

“Fine.” He put down his notepad, and instead grabbed a stuffed dinosaur plush that I failed to notice until now. Thinking about it, it was probably a stegosaurus. “Mummy said I should play nice, anyway…”

“Yeah! Though I think Violet is a bit too big for our usual games…”

“Eh, that’s fine. I’ve got good company, we can just chat!” As I said that, a familiar yellow face appeared.

“Just checking in you all and, oh!” They patted Shiro on the head a few times. “Good boy! I’m proud of you for talking to our guest.” Shiro, for his part, just blushed a bit and hugged his plushie a bit tighter.

“Mummy… Is food long?”

“Actually, it’s about the size of a plate.”

“...that sounds like I should be calling you Daddy, not Mummy.” Shiro glanced at Alexi, unimpressed. I had to stifle a laugh.

“Well, that’s not a decision for you to make.” They booped his nose with an audible ‘boop’ noise.  “Anyway, it should be about ten minutes, my darlings. I’ll be back soon!” They vanished off into the other room, leaving us alone again. At this point, Sakura had gone from merely nuzzling into my shoulder to aggressively rubbing her head into my chest while saying “Vioooolet.” I briefly wondered if her implant was dosing her with class-As or if she was this hopelessly gay. I kept holding her though.

“Yo, Shiro. Got a question.” He blinked at me a few times before I realised I should probably ask it rather than waiting for him to ask me. “D’ya not wear a collar or a choker?”

“Oh.” He pulled up his left hand, which had a thick yellow bracelet on it. There was a loop ring which connected to something that looked like a military dog tag. Clearly written on it was his name. “I… don’t like things touching my neck. It makes me feel like I’m choking.” He shrugged. “So… Mummy said I could wear it on my wrist instead.”

“Is that why you wear such baggy clothing? To avoid the feeling of it on your skin?”

“Nice guess. Yep. Next you’re gonna ask about the face mask, right?”

“Honestly? Thought it was just a fashion thing.” I shrugged.

“Huh. I just like wearing a face mask. Makes me feel safe. Also I used to have something really bad there and…” He shifted about in his seat uncomfortably.

“Then let’s not stress you early, huh? C’mon, talk to me about the dinosaur!” I deftly changed the subject, to which I could see his features light up in gratitude.

“His name is Mako.” He pulled a hand to the jaw of the plush and moved it up and down. “Hello…”

“Hello Mako! How are you doing today?” Sakura perked up from my boobs at the plush.

“Doing… good. Nervous… but good.” Mako ‘responded’, and I just made a ‘naww’ noise. Shiro’s blush spread further.

“Roots, you’re both fucking adorable, y’know that?” The words fell out of my mouth to which both the florets whimpered a bit.

“I’m not cute!” Shiro deflected.

“I’m the cutest ever!” Sakura accepted with a fist pump into the air.

Honestly, if I was into boys, I’d probably try hitting on him at this point. Probably shouldn’t try swearing around their owner, though.

“Okay, one last question, then your Mummy will probably summon us for food. How’d you meet them?” Shiro thought for a moment, then sighed a bit.

“I… went to a domestication centre. I put myself up for adoption since I wasn’t… doing great. Not eating. Not taking meds. Before Mummy, I was still trying to be a girl too.” I knew this pained look all too well. Whenever I talked to a floret, they’d recount their life before being owned as a horrible ‘before’ time that they were rescued from. I cast my mind briefly to my history with domestication centres and felt a twang of guilt creep up my spine.

If I had blown that one up, Shiro might have been too scared to go to them. Who knows what state he’d be in? Though, with how much I was learning about the Affini, I seriously doubt the bomb I had was even capable of actually destroying it… Then, right on cue, he began talking about his owner and the light returned to his eyes. “Then! I met them and they put me on Class-Gs and now I’m their handsome little prince!”

“Did you know you were trans before them or?”

“...I was an egg. A really bad one too. You know the kind of boys who cry when they see their chest bits? That was me. Mummy noticed that and… before long they started using he/him for me, and then I didn’t have the chest bits, and then!” Shiro squeezed Mako tight, as if the stuffie was in place of his owner. “I’m… I really love them.”

“Even I knew you were an egg, big bro! But when you came to the hab for the first time you were so stuck in your ways.” Sakura reached up and patted Shiro’s head dramatically. “You’re so much better nowadays though! That’s why you’re my favourite big bro!” Bless her, she attempted it.

“I’m… your only big bro. I’m your only sibling.” Shiro groaned. “Erm… What's your owner like, Violet?” I felt myself freeze at the question.

“It’s… hard to say.” I scratched the back of my head nervously in the spot she usually did it. “Alava-” I saw the phone get raised slowly from Sakura to warn me and corrected myself. “Mistress is interesting for sure. I didn’t pick to be a floret, I… did something real fucking stupid and ended up getting got. Now I’ve got a collar around my neck and an affini in my home who makes me do things.”

“Like?” He prodded.

“Like eat when I don’t wanna take care of myself, or take my meds and bathe. She also makes me use her proper title at all times and if I get it wrong…” My mind flashed back to yesterday, her coarse vines scratching against my skin, the way she spoke when I was out of line and how she looked at me. “She’s fucking terrifying when she wants to be.” I moaned out. Wait, no, fuck, that wasn’t meant to be a moan! I hid my mouth in my hands shamefully.

“Cooked.” Shiro snickered.

“Like you can talk!”

“I’m a good boy, what of it?” I sighed. I truly was in the midst of florets. Thankfully, the door opened up again before I had to defend myself.

“Sweetlings! Time for dinner!” Alexi cheered, and Shiro practically raced to his seat. Me and Sakura strolled over to the dining room, where there was a kitchen right next to a fancy wooden table. A seat big enough for an affini was at the head of it, with a blue and pink high chair on either side. Both Sakura and Shiro required finessing into their seats, while I was given the luxury of seating myself. Katsu chicken curry was on the menu, which was a nice surprise.

“Thank ya kindly, Alexi!” I felt genuinely grateful for the food.

“Not a problem, little one. Both me and your owner are quite big enjoyers of cooking it by ourselves instead of compiling it.” They began cutting up the chicken for the two, vine feeding with the gestures that I had seen trained into Ash before. The moment Shiro took his face mask off, he seemed to shy the cheek that was towards Alexi away from me. I couldn’t see any flaws or imperfections, though.

“Ah, are you wondering what’s got my little one all shy?” Alexi commented with a tender touch upon his skin, lightly stroking over the area. “He used to have a rather nasty burn on his cheek from when he was independent. A rather traumatising event for him. I had it removed when he became mine, but he still bears some discomfort about it.”

“You just removed it?” I inquired with a perked eyebrow. I couldn’t help but remember the vet visit I had where Alava removed that mole off my thigh without even so much as asking. Of course they’d do what they think is best.

“It was making him uncomfortable. Of course I did. Now he feels a lot better, don’t you?” Shiro had relented from hiding his face, turning towards me instead.

“Yeah… Mummy’s great like that. Mummy always knows best!” He nodded a few times to which his owner made an approximation of a dreamy sigh, their eyes beaming with pride at their floret.

“Anyway, little ones, what do we say before food?” Alexi tapped gently on the table with a vine.

“Thank you Mummy!” Both cried out before beginning to eat properly. I got stuck in, barely thinking about trying to look calm or collected in front of one of my favourite foods until I realised who I was eating with. It was different from how Alava made it, but not in a bad way. It was still utterly delicious. Just like the first time I had met Sakura, I needed to show an example by not wolfing it down. Calm and collected, even if she was given the portions by her owner.

“Isn’t it hard? Vine feeding two florets at once?”

“Well, when this idea was being proposed originally, I was expecting to vine feed three florets.” I hid a sigh. Of course they wanted to do that. “But your owner informed me that you prefer to eat by your own hands, so I instead only have to feed two lovely little pets.” Alexi turned their gaze to the two with love written plain in their features. “It’s really not that difficult for an affini, you know. We’re excellent multitaskers.”

“Is they’re anything you’re not fucking-”

“Sssh! No swearing in front of the little ones.” Their tone and their eyes turned frightfully harsh for a second. I knew better than to test an affini’s patience, especially one that had been given Alava’s blessing. I cleared my throat and began again.

“Is there anything you affini aren’t absurdly good at?”

“Better. Good girl.” Don’t raise to it, Violet. Just let them continue. “Hmm… I suppose from your perspective, not really. But then again those of us who embarked on the Terran domestication campaign have trained to be irresistible to Terrans, and excellent at their care. Every xenosophont we come across, we ensure that we are our best selves to properly domesticate and care for them.”

“I figured that much. Is that why you guys mimic our shapes?”

“Correct. Did you know any affini who comes into Terran space has to take a course? It’s called Terrans Are Adorable!” They enthused, patting all three of us on the head in turn. “Only when I had my own darling florets could I see just how utterly adorable you Terrans are. Thank you.” They said with a sigh. I just tilted my head.

“Huh? For what?”

“For being so cute. For helping my cute little princess break out of her shell. And for giving my handsome little prince Shiro someone to talk to.”

“I… you’re welcome?” I responded with a slight head tilt.

“You are without a doubt, my favourite floret that I don’t own. And I know a lot of florets, petal.” There was a weird feeling that shimmered on the surface of my mind, a sense of… pride? “Good girl.” They had disarmed me, this one actually hit! I held back another moan. This definitely had to be the biorhythm crap Alava had been pulling before! With how annoyingly observant they were, they’d definitely noticed.

---

After dinner, we were let loose again. Alexi collected Shiro into their vines, holding him ever so kindly while I got to cuddle Sakura on the couch. They were watching cartoons meant for sprouts, bordering ever so slightly on Affini propaganda with how all the problems were solved by them swooping in and fixing things. I wasn’t really paying too much attention. When the two of them weren’t looking, I had been giving Sakura a few gropes on places I really shouldn’t grope her while in front of these two, but she kept quiet about being touched.

Eventually, they all had their baths and were placed into their nighttime clothes. Shiro had some standard pajamas, whereas Sakura and I were placed into matching nightgowns. I managed to convince Alexi that I could put it on myself, thank you, and was let free. Alexi brushed their teeth for them, I was supplied my own toothbrush to do it myself. We were dismissed to the bedrooms after.

Sakura’s room was exactly what I expected. A plushie pile big enough to get lost in was scattered around the floor, a series of fairy lights aligned across the ceiling and floor that glowed in soft, pastel colours. Her computer was buried somewhere among the mess, along with a bed big enough for about four sophonts to the side. There was a curtain for privacy, with all the ‘special’ plushies on the bed, including Smolet. I parked my ass on the bed with a yawn, pulling out my phone to respond to some messages from Ash and Alava.

“Yo, Sakura! Ash wants a pic of us both!” I patted my thighs a few times, to which she scooted up to it and smiled cheesily at the camera. She also made sure to wink, raising a peace sign. I gave my usual slight grin, though I had a slight desire to kiss her cheek and ruin the picture.

“Okay, okay! Erm! We brushed our teeth, we still have a few more hours before the class-Z kicks in for me. Do you wanna do anything?” She posed the question as if she wasn’t shivering in excitement.

“Well… do you remember our first date? Where I told you I needed to teach you how to make out?” My hand snatched her cheek, using just a bit of force to hold her in place.

“I-I… so much happened on that day! You can’t expect me to remember just one thing.” Oh, I could tell already I was going to devour her. A hunger grew in my belly that just needed to be unleashed, wielded as a weapon to bury her under me.

“You’re right! Let me show you.” With that, I pressed our lips together. The sharp tips on my lower lip pressed slightly into her chin, though with her inexperience it was less kissing than me sucking on her lips. Not that I particularly minded, she was a fountain of subby little noises that poured all over her quivering frame. “Okay, good start. Now, I want you to open your lips just a bit when I come in, but not too much. Got that? You wanna let me inside your mouth.” I had pulled apart just enough to fill my lungs with air, but also to admire the beauty in front of me who was doing her best to hold it together.

“O-Okay! Like this?” She did as instructed, loosening a touch so that the next time I kissed her I could slide my tongue right into her mouth. As I played about with hers, a gentle moan spilled out from her, her entire body flickering to life as if she had been shocked by static. I pressed the assault, sliding my arms around her waist and squeezing her to me so that I could get better leverage in diving my tongue deeper into her. For her part, her hands were held close to her chest in typical signage that she had no idea what to do with them.

Eventually, I had to stop exploring the inside of her maw, letting my heated breath flow over her features while I looked at her in adoration. “You’re so fucking delicious, you know that?”

“S-Sister…” She whimpered as we recovered, her eyes throwing wide as she realised what she just did. “W-Wait I didn’t mean that! Sorry I just got carried away and!” With a smirk, I knew this was time for the killshot.

“Hmm? You got carried away with your big sister and you’re making out with her? There’s nothing wrong about that, is there?” I saw emotions flash through Sakura’s bewildered features, oscillating from confused to incredibly aroused.

“You’re okay with it…?” She squeaked out, to which I just laughed.

“Being your sister? It’s not like I got much choice, did I?” I winked. “I’m just surprised it’s taken so long to realise that my little sister was such a cute piece of ass.” I groped her butt to prove a point. I had to be a bit firmer thanks to the choice of underwear Sakura wore, not that I particularly minded.

“O-Oh! I see well!” She was blushing blood red, complimenting her pretty pink hair well. Instead of continuing kissing, I pressed the flat of my palm against her tummy, snaking it down slowly. “Sis?!”

“Sssh. Not so loud. Mum’s in the next room, aren’t they?” I made a shushing motion with my finger, before leaning into her ear. “If you’re ever uncomfortable though, just tell me to stop and I will. Okay?”

“Mmhmm!” I was impressed that she so resolutely stated that while I was touching her in places she’d definitely never been touched before by another terran. I slid past the top of her nappy, stretching just a bit longer towards the tip of her pussy. She was utterly soaked, my fingers drenched in her juices the moment I reached her lips.

“That’s it. Good girl.” I had to lean just a bit further in to get to her clit, rubbing over her sensitive button in gentle semi-circles. A loud cry of pleasure roared from her mouth as she was touched, so I had to shove my hand over her lips. “Sssh. If we’re being too loud, they’ll know what we’re up to!” I hissed, Sakura nodded quickly through whimpers. “Much better. You’re not a bad girl, sis. I just clearly need to train you into being the perfect little sister you can be.” Despite the fact I hadn’t had any siblings to speak of, this little roleplay came way easier to me than expected. Maybe that said something about me?

I spread her back a bit after that, pressing down on her shoulder to signal so. She followed with such adorable obedience that made my heart flutter. I graduated from semi-circles to a cross shape pattern, pressing deep into the centre of the cross to make her really squirm underneath me. My cock was pressing into her backside at this point, begging for some relief. I couldn’t resist myself, pulling my slick fingers out and pushing her onto the bed. My hands on either side of her shoulders, I loomed over the smaller girl, panting in lust.

“Hey… sis. What do you say about letting your bigger sis use this tight pussy of yours?” I knew if I just took her, she’d probably let me. No, I wanted to hear it from her lips. I needed to hear that she wanted me to be her first.

“Would you like that?” Erm… it’s the duty of the little sis to obey the bigger one, so!” I shook my head at the answer with a smirk.

“No, cutie.” I struck, biting her neck with a ferocious force. She writhed around like a worm on a hook, arms fastening around my waist to anchor onto me. “I want to hear it from you.” I licked up from her neck to her cheek, giving it a playful nip before returning to make eye contact. Poor girl, she could barely keep it for long. “I want to hear from you that you want your big sister’s cock right inside your pussy.” I watched her malfunction, feeling each shiver that came from her pressed against my own body.

“P-Please! Please fuck me, sis! I really want your cock in my pussy!” As utterly unpracticed as my darling Sakura was, she knew how to affect her voice to make her sound as pathetic and adorable as possible. Oh, I’d mould her into someone who could beg like Ash could for cock, but I couldn’t resist for now. I freed my shaft from the confines of my panties, throwing the underwear somewhere across the floor. Future me’s problem. I had to prize her off me long enough to remove her nappy, though.

I shimmied down, peeling the nightgown up to reveal a pure white nappy that had a design of cats cozying up to bedtime. Alexi had definitely picked it knowing I’d see it and I couldn’t help but respect the move. I carefully pulled it down, revealing the treasure underneath. As expected of Affini design pussy, it looked excellent. If I didn’t have such a burning need to fuck her I might have shoved my face right in and gone to town on her.

“Okay, cutie. Let me know if I’m going too fast or too hard, okay? This is important.” While I wasn’t looking, Sakura had grabbed one of her bigger plushies, this one shaped like a shark.

“Mr. Snaggletooth wanted to keep me safe during this!” She hastily excused and I just sighed dreamily.

“Oh? Do you think you’re not safe right now?” I snickered devilishly.

“No! It’s just… roots you’re my first ever and! Big sister this is all I’ve ever wanted and…” Sakura clung tightly onto the shark, making utterly pathetic simpering sounds underneath me. Unable to resist any longer, I guided her thighs to spread so that I had a good position and a clear entrance. With her cunt exposed, I lined up my tip towards her pussy and felt that spark. I always adored the first inch or so inside a girl, it felt as if her whole body was welcoming you inside and your entire essence was floored with tender emotions to celebrate. I was too busy making sure I had it right for someone so precious, but as my hips locked into place with my length buried deep inside her I threw out a rough grunt.

“Fuck… who knew my little sister’s pussy was so fucking good?” I threw my hair back, allowing myself a simple moment of just… enjoying it. Simmering in the moment. Deep, meditative breaths raised my chest up and down, as if I had just stepped into the bath of my dreams. Hands took their place on her delicate hips, holding her like the treasure she was. “You’re a good girl, Sakura. I’m glad we met again.”

“Erm! Me too! V-Violet!” She sputtered her words in between whispered moans. After a slight character break, I began grinding my hips in and out. It was a fairly practiced motion at this point, no thanks to Ash being back in my life, but that didn’t make it any less special. From the way the princess under me was twisting and turning with her knuckles white against her shark, she was in paradise. I humped a bit harder, pressing against her inner walls but knowing exactly where her limit was.

Eventually, I was secure enough inside her that I pulled my weight down, pressing on top of the stuffed toy that was creating a barrier between us. I gazed at her with utter adoration, though her eyes were having a hard time staying open with just how sensitive her princess parts were. I was close enough to moan right in front of her face, encouraging her to be even more animated underneath me.

“Sister… sister!” Was the only word that she could manage currently, though that crumbled underneath a garbled noise of whimpers and delighted noises. The faster that I went the more easily they were reaped from her.

I was trying to be easy on her, though I couldn’t hold off forever. She felt so incredible that I found my body answering her call, enthused by each note that rang out from her. “Fuck!” I cried out, slamming my cock inside her. I was still holding back compared to what Ash might get, but for this little girl’s first time? I was probably tearing her apart. Yet the more furious I got, the more consumed by lust I became, the more her body seemed to revel in being used. The pressure inside my body was building into a crescendo of ecstasy, rutting her stupid at this point. Each thrust created a tender moan, harmonising with Sakura’s own to create a symphony from the two of us.

I didn’t last much longer, bashing my hips into her thighs and unloading hot strings of cum inside her. The pleasure that had been building ignited like a furious inferno, spreading from my length all the way up my body in seconds and wrapping me in its brilliant embrace. I was so absurdly pent up since yesterday thanks to someone not letting me jerk off that it felt like I was flooding her insides. I didn’t care about keeping the whole act up any longer, I was whimpering like a bitch in heat and alerting everyone in the house that I just fucked. Eventually I collapsed right onto her, trying desperately to catch my breath.

“Mmnnnn…. Sis…” Sakura was the first to speak after ten seconds of not saying anything intelligible. “Sis… that…”

“Was fucking amazing?” I kissed her on the lips quickly before flopping onto my back, yanking at her shoulder to take her with me. I got her comfortably set up on my chest, replacing her plushie with me.

“Mm…mmhmm.” She nodded slowly, still shivering with curled toes. “Sis… is amazing…”

“Good girl. You’re adorable, Sakura.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“You’re the best, big sis…” She confessed to me, sleepily. I watched her eyes struggle to stay awake, grabbing my phone deftly in time for her to fall asleep on me. I flicked open my phone to begin typing immediately. I needed this victory lap.

 

<ViolentViolet> ngl taking someone’s virginity is cool
<ViolentViolet> what have you been up to, babe? ;)

<AshenNotes> Mistress has been vinefucking me all evening, idk I think I got the better deal

I chuckled at the thought.

 

<ViolentViolet> thatd hurt tho?

<AshenNotes> She doesn’t use those vines, dumbass
<AshenNotes> Fuck are you typing to me for, anyway? Shouldn’t you be having fun with the princess?

An idea flashed to my mind. I picked up my phone and took a picture of us two, winking at the camera. Sakura was too fast asleep to even notice.

 

<ViolentViolet> i may have fucked her asleep

<AshenNotes> Hey, nice job!
<AshenNotes> Now you’ve gotta fuck me asleep next time, yeah?

<ViolentViolet> youre on
<ViolentViolet> love ya, pup, see ya tomorrow <3

<AshenNotes> Love you too! Catch some sleep after you’re done boasting, eh?

I snickered, putting my phone down and gazing longingly at the girl on my chest. Of course, another message then came through.

<ALavanderByAnotherName> See? Aren’t you so glad you had permission?
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Good girl! I’m glad my obedient little pet had fun.

I found her boasting kind of funny for once. Like she was trying to steal my thunder for getting to fuck the cutest princess ever.

<ViolentViolet> pfft, thanks for letting me cum Mistress

…my phone refused to have her title uncapitalised. I tried a few times to undo it, but eventually I didn’t care.

After a few moments of laying in the afterglow, I knew I had to actually attempt sleep. With eyes closed, I laid there for a good ten minutes before realizing something.

I suck at falling asleep without class-Zs. I then knew I had to make an embarrassing call.

<ViolentViolet> hey erm, Alexi?
<ViolentViolet> I don’t have an implant can you like, give me my class-Z? shes out like a light on me

<UncommonGorse> Oh, if only you had that implant, you wouldn’t be needing to make this message to me. :>
<UncommonGorse> I’ll be right over. Just close your eyes, and we’ll pretend you got to sleep all by yourself, hmm?

I put my phone down and groaned. I closed my eyes and pretended I didn’t notice them coming in, an injector flower sending me to sleep soon after. Not before Alexi whispered exactly what I expected them to.

---

“Good girl. I’m glad you both had fun.” I commended the two, caressing their features with a tender finger each. I loved watching as a terran gave in to sleep, seeing their body sink into a blissful slumber for exactly eight hours. They’d wake up at roughly the same time, and I had no doubt I’d see them both an hour after for breakfast.

Not that I minded. Sakura was delighted to have such an adorable pinnate around. I merely wanted anything that made my little princess happy. Though as I watched them both rest on each other, I knew I had a few tasks left before I could go back to snuggling Shiro.

I injected the pair of them with a Class-C, ensuring that they’d be all lovey for each other. It’d go off by the time they saw me or Shiro, I didn’t have to worry about Alava’s darling pet getting overly attached to me. Then I needed to put their underwear back on, sliding it deftly back so that they weren’t at any risk. Especially my princess, she sometimes went potty at nighttime!

Then, I knew exactly which stuffed toy needed to be in exactly which position for her to awake to. Smolet, as she called it, was a tricky one given that the actual object of her affection was in the room, but I decided to put it to the side of them.

“Goodnight, princess. Mummy loves you so much.” I whispered into her ear, pulling the duvet over them two before quietly exiting the room.

Terrans really are adorable…

Notes:

Turns out you can just fuck the little!

Chapter 10

Notes:

CW for excessive drinking.

We were now a week and a day away from the surgery. The glass container that rested on the mantlepiece still remained empty, a visualization of the promise Alava was making to me. I’d catch myself staring at it sometimes as I went downstairs, the absence of fauna inside it holding my attention for a while.

I hadn’t really got anything planned for the day. I also kinda didn’t feel like doing anything. An important deadline in my life usually shoved decision paralysis onto me. If it wasn’t for my owner I was pretty sure I’d be spending the entire day in bed browsing my phone instead of thinking about it. Instead, she made sure I got up, that I got dressed, bathed and that I ate. The freedom from having to manage the everyday upkeep like that was honestly kinda nice. Plus, ever since I moved in with her I hadn’t been touch starved or really longed for company at all.

Right after lunch time, I received a friend request from someone though. I recognised the name of him immediately, and the fact that he was mutuals with Sakura just confirmed it further. The brawns of the group was back and he was reaching out to me.

<PumpedUpJ> YO!
<PumpedUpJ> Heard from Sakura that you’re chill now

I slapped my hand against my face in disbelief. It caught on the piercings and stabbed my hand just a bit accidentally. He certainly had a way with words the same way a slurring drunk who just stubbed his toe did.

<PumpedUpJ> Anyway, wanna catch up? We ain’t seen each other in a month!
<PumpedUpJ> Deadbeat still good for you?

<ViolentViolet> glad to see you thought i wasn’t ‘chill’ before now
<ViolentViolet> ya dick, of course im in <3
<ViolentViolet> Tonight?

Excellent. This was the perfect distraction from the looming deadline. Reminds me of back when I was college I’d sometimes get so drunk that I threw up and used it as a basis for an extension. It sometimes even worked! I did however throw him a quick message after the fact.

<ViolentViolet> also pls just the two of us
<ViolentViolet> dont want it to get too crowded

<PumpedUpJ> Yeah! ‘Course, don’t wanna scare you off, kitty

I’d have to do a bit of makeup and nail polish for this, but it was nothing I couldn’t manage. As I put my phone in my pocket, Ash, nestled into the seat next to me, turned her gaze towards me.

“Someone’s happy. More Sakura?” Ash perked her head up from her PC, staring at me with curious little eyes.

“Nah. Y’know Lil J?” I grinned proudly.

“The musclebound member of the group that used to break things down? I’ve heard of him.” She tittered.

“We’re gonna go drinking tonight. Gonna be great catching up with an old mate, y’know?”

“So, you’re distracting yourself from tomorrow being the last day you can ask for the implant by going drinking with someone you had a passing relationship at best with?” I nodded excitedly.

“Oh yeah. I’m gonna get really drunk and for like an entire evening it’s not gonna be my problem.”

“And what happens when Mistress is asking you for your decision tomorrow when you’re hung over?”

“That’s future Violet’s problem, you know this! I don’t have to be her for a whiiiile.” I snickered, gently nudging the puppy in the shoulder.

“Sometimes it’s like you’ve not changed a bit, babe. Love you, you dumbass.”

“Love ya too, pup.” We spoke briefly between a kiss.

As we both sat down for dinner, Ash had that ‘I’m going to snitch’ face on her. I needed to get in front of this, so the moment my ass was on the stool I opened my mouth to speak. I took a deep breath and blurted it out.

“Yo, Mistress! Going to go drinking with Lil J later. I’ll be out late!” I proudly proclaimed, to which I received an extremely unimpressed expression from her. Annoyingly, Ash just held a smirk on her face.

“Oh? The day before you have to make your decision? You’ll be out late?” Mistress retorted, tapping a finger against her chin in thought. “That sounds like an unwise move on your behalf, darling.”  I attempted something, but before I could say anything else, she spoke again. “Hmm… no, I support this. Have fun with your evening out.” I was totally lost. A rather mischievous expression was worn well by my owner, showing some of those thorns that she called teeth.

“Wait, aren’t you meant to stop me from going out late? What about the bedtime rule?” Was I seriously enforcing her rules onto myself? She was meant to punish me for breaking it, damn it!

“I can make an exception for such a special occasion. After all, you haven’t seen him in a good month now, haven’t you? This is important for you. I wouldn’t dream of getting in the way of this, petal.” Dirt and roots, she was definitely planning something and I had dug myself right into the hole! By going drinking I was playing into her plans, and it wasn’t like I was gonna turn down an opportunity like this. Every time! I whined harshly into my hands. Were they colluding? Did Ash already snitch beforehand? How was I meant to outscheme an affini?

“Have fun with Lil J, darling. Tell him I said hi, okay? I remember talking to him sometimes back in the day.”

“Well yeah, I’m gonna have a great time! I’m gonna get so drunk and then I’m gonna be all stupid when I come back!” I threatened as if that was anyway a bad outcome for either of them.

Food came and went, then I found myself right outside Deadbeat again. He was waiting outside for me, the muscles of the group and fucking stars he was even bigger now. He used to be about 190cm and now? Now a 220cm giant of a man stood in front of me. Wide as he was tall, if it wasn’t for the phoenix feather tattoo on his shoulder I’d have assumed he was someone else entirely! He still had those long dreadlocks resting down to his shoulder, locks I’ve seen dance about his ebony skin as he ran to punch someone many times. It was always funny to me seeing someone with such absurdly massive specifications wearing just a normal t-shirt, but it still hugged his frame and abs tight. A pair of jeans too, complete with heavy duty boots which looked like they were struggling a bit. Maybe that was just me. Finally, I noticed a collar. I sighed a little as I spotted it.

“They got you too, huh big guy?” I offered a consolation cigarette to the man, who merely shook his head at it. More for me, I guess.

“I believe I was the first in the crew to be taken, actually. An affini was outside my door so I responded to him by punching him straight in the face. Turns out that didn’t work and that’s a bad first impression for your new owner.” He laughed heartily, flashing me a toothy smile.

“Happens. Did Sakura ever tell you how I got claimed?” I chortled back, lighting up to take my first drag of the evening. I’d probably smoke a few of these as I got drunker, but the initial hit was always the strongest.

“They caught both you and John in a sting operation.” He ever so casually responded.

“Wait, sting operation?” I tripped over my words a bit.

“Didn’t you ever think that it was a little suspicious that the domestication centre was just… open? Even with your fancy stolen suit, it was simply too convenient for you.” He continued explaining as I felt a sense of dread run down my spine. The cigarette had started to taste awful.

“Honestly, I was too fucking angry to think clearly. So I was pressured into- wait, was that part of the plan too?” I scowled, gripping my cigarette as if it was that fucking plant that took me that day.

“Hmm? No. One of John’s intel sources had been tapped by the Affini, and they gave him bad intel. This intel was relayed to you through him, and it just so happened something wound you up that night. What did happen, anyway?” I found it funny that he knew every other detail but not that one but… No. Lil J wasn’t the type of person to plan this.

“It… it sounds stupid in hindsight. My now owner gave me a drug to calm me down, and it just so happened I was gonna do that hit anyway. I wasn’t happy I was drugged without consent and…” I idly tugged my collar with a thumb. “You can guess the rest.” I hadn’t entirely mangled the cigarette in my anger, I could still huff it to calm me down.

“I see. I’m sorry that happened. I also had to learn to deal with having an owner in a short period of time. But… now I’m pretty confident it’s been a good thing for me.” He seemed genuine.

“How did you know all this, anyway? Someone cut you in on the plan or what, Lil J?”

“I did this strange thing called ‘asking your girlfriend’.” He quirked an eyebrow at me. I realised who he was talking about after a brief pause.

“Hey! We’re not girlfriends, she’s just really sweet on me, okay?” I felt like I was having to defend this more than I liked. “I don’t think I can date someone who my owner doesn’t own, anyway.”

“I feel as if this is a conversation between you and your owner, V. Or perhaps you and that little hacker girl.” Lil J laughed. “Also, I would prefer it if you stopped calling me Lil J. Jezekiel is much better. That… was a nickname from an older time. I am likewise hardly ‘lil’.”

“Well, shall we, Jezekiel?” I was having to reintroduce myself a lot.

I finished my cigarette and got into the bar with him, the bouncer and Jezekiel looking at each other in a certain fashion. I knew it, I knew they were fucking. I attempted to cheer myself up by that, though then I realised I was picturing two men shagging and started to wonder what I was doing here.

“Right so, what’s your floret name?” I asked as we settled into the vibrations of the music and the vibrant lights of the bar. I couldn’t let this revelation which honestly was pretty obvious in hindsight ruin the night. I ordered a cocktail and he ordered something with twice as much alcohol content in it than me. Fuck. Was he trying to stand me up already? “I guess instead of getting code names we have floret names now. Violet Lamia, Second Floret, before ya ask.”

We got a row of three shots of various different flavours, mine being orange, raspberry, and pineapple. We clinked our shot glasses together and chugged them down at the same time, the taste of unfiltered spirits burning my throat pleasantly. The best part about the Affini being here was that you never had to ask for the cheap swill anymore, you could get the quality stuff whenever you wanted.

“Jezekiel Nectar, first floret. I had the benefit of being Master’s first.” He sounded proud of that. Wow the Affini really had fucked with his head. Just like they were doing with mine. I hated how much I didn’t mind that nowadays.

“Yeah well, I just had to be second. It’s fine, I’m actually a challenge to domesticate, unlike my pinnate who just rolled over.” I snickered.

“I was also a pain in the ass to domesticate.” He offered a celebratory fist bump. I obviously took it. “Nowadays though… well. Master’s amazing at what he does. The implant certainly made his job easier though. It also lets me get high whenever I want, so there’s upsides.”

“Can’t imagine a big guy like you being oh so obedient for anyone, but then again I’m gay as fuck. Do you get called a good boy like a puppy?” We both roared with a chuckle at that.

“Good man, usually. You know me, I’m not a dog who can be pushed around like that. I do sometimes like ‘atta boy’, though.” The muscle man confided.

“I usually get a good girl or good kitty, but then again, I can’t imagine that’s too surprising.” I slammed another shot. Oh I wasn’t pacing myself at all. The bassline was running through me and it was causing me to act excitable. Thinking about it I had only ever left this place sober once.

After Mistress came into my life.

“Then why do you have such normal, boring ears? I’d imagine a pantheress such as yourself would relish the chance to get feline ears the moment you could.”

“I got hang ups about letting an affini operate on me. Like, what if they stick an implant in me?” I shrugged, taking the third shot. I was going to regret this the moment the booze hit, I knew it. I still had my own cocktail to handle!

“Easy, girl. The night’s just begun, it’s not like this is a drinking contest or anything.” The big man shook his head with folded arms and a warm smile. “You’re a fourth my size. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“Yeah well! I’d totally win a drinking contest against you.” I boasted with absolutely no idea if I could even scratch his drinking record.

“I can see how you got domesticated, V.” He snorted. “Do you pick every fight in your life against impossible odds?”

“Nah, I just got nine lives and I think I’m on my seventh now.”

“Saying you want to lose your seventh tonight, kitty?”

“Nah, I’d win. I always win.” Oh fuck the booze was starting to hit. “I ain’t never lost in my life.”

“I’m glad the collar around your neck means you won that particular fight.” He patted me like one would a kitten. Oh he was in for it. I was gonna show this guy that I was a fierce spirit that couldn’t be tamed no matter what! I’d drink this loser under the table if it was the last thing I did!

---

It was about midnight when a larger floret arrived at my hab door. This man was big enough to give some affini I knew a shock for just how tall he was, but still he had ended up domesticated all the same. On his shoulder rested my darling Violet, who was so drunk that she was slurring her words.

“Heyyyyyyyyyy!” My adorably intoxicated floret spouted at me. “It’s Alavaaaa! Wait, fuck, I can’t call you that anymore! Hiiiii Mistress!” She was attempting to wave at me in exaggerated, bold fashions. Afterwards, she was hoisted off the man’s shoulder and into my hands, where she giggled in my hold.

“It’s okay. I’m sure I can forgive you with quite how much alcohol you drank. Now, my gorgeous kitty, did you win the drinking contest?” I inquired, lightly running one of my fingers down her cheek. She preened into the touch ever so slightly.

“Drinking contest? Yeah! Of course I won!” She was trying to pump her fists in the air. Oh how absolutely precious. Now, by her expression and by the look of concern on the man’s face who clearly was tipsy at most, I could infer that he forfeited so she wasn’t going to poison herself. A wise choice. I’d inform his owner after this. “Wait, how did you know?”

“Call it an owner’s intuition, darling.” I tittered, moving from stroking her cheek to scratching her hair softly. “Thank you, petal. She definitely would’ve drunk herself into a vet visit if it wasn’t for you.” I gave the much larger floret a pat on his head too with a spare vine.

“Well, she’s your problem for the rest of the evening. We should do this again, V.” He turned his back and made a waving gesture that Violet missed.

“Yeah! I need to beat your ass again!” Violet shouted. It was a good thing that my dear Ash was currently soundly asleep on Class-Zs, otherwise she might risk being woken up! Perhaps Ash might quite like seeing her like this, though. For now, it was only me who got to enjoy her like this. The door shut softly, leaving me to put Violet on the sofa for a moment.

“Now, darling. You may have emerged victorious from the drinking contest, but now you need food and water. Just let Mistress take care of you, okay?” She curled up onto the couch with a drunken giggle.

“Okaaaay. Wow, I have an owner… y’know, I’ve always wanted one of those!” Dirt and roots she’s adorable. Though perhaps she was saying that more for herself than me, I knew since the moment I looked at her file she needed to be a pet. I knew the moment I looked at her she needed to be my pet. I made my way to the compiler, prodding a few buttons to summon what I heard was traditionally consumed by Terrans after a night of getting dangerously intoxicated. Potato chips with cheese sprinkled on top, heated to melt them with a heavy dose of salt. There was some discussion in Terra if sliced potato cut longwise like this was to be named ‘chips’ or ‘fries’, interestingly enough. Traditionally this was served in a polymer case that was meant to be discarded, but I could afford my pet the luxury of a plate. Finally, a large glass of water to allow the body to flush intoxicants out.

Before I could return I heard a heavy ‘THUD’ which could only mean one thing. Violet had fallen from the couch and was currently splayed across the floor while making little gestures with her hands. I placed the food and water on the table, grabbing my floret and picking her upright onto the sofa. She planted her head into my chest, giggling as she did so. “Sweetie, I made you some food and drink to sober you up. Now, can you do this yourself or do I have to? There’s no shame for such a mighty warrior as yourself to require aid.” Usually I’d be careful with inspiring such thoughts of being a fighter, but oh my stars was she so cute like this I couldn’t help but give in just a little. If, when she recovered, she attempted to display such violent thoughts, I might have to get her a scratching post.

“I can do it! I can!” I noticed her leaning forward in a way that was bound to make a collision course with the ground, so my vines reached out to grab her and hold her close. “Oh. Guess I can’t. Mistresssss can you?” She babbled, and how could I refuse her like this? The chips were quite easy to stab with a fork, several strands of dairy hanging off and shoved right into her waiting mouth. I gave her time to properly chew, of course, with one of my digits scratching into the spot she so adored as a reward for being so docile. “Good girl.” I rewarded her when she began swallowing. It didn’t take her long to devour the food, grabbing the water and gulping down about the entire glass in a brief moment.

Hmm. I should definitely train her to be vine fed if this becomes more common.

“MORE!” She declared like she was at a feast.

“Violet. That’s not how you ask your owner for something, is it?” I politely informed her. She groaned like I had caught her with her hand in the proverbial bakery jar.

“Mistress please can you grab me some water please you’re the best thanks!” Stars did I love her.

“Okay, but no falling onto the floor again. Understood?” Part of me was tempted to grab her while I complied some more water, but I was pretty sure that she couldn’t damage herself like this. Pushing her gently to the side, I laid her down so that her head was resting on a cushion. The compiler wasn’t too far away, so there was minimal chance that she-

‘THUD!’ I sighed. No, this was clearly my fault. I should’ve carried her. I brought back the water and picked her up from the floor again, but instead of letting her rest upright I simply laid my back against the cushions and put her head right on my chest. She found her favourite spot on me, the little patch of moss that was closest to where my core was. No doubt she could hear it call to her, lulling her into a trance even passively. I encased her upper body and waist in my vines, making sure to apply pressure to her back to bind her to me but being gentle around the sensitive spots on her chest. “Feeling safe, my darling?” She didn’t respond for a bit, nuzzling tenderly into me as she thought.

“Mistress… you’re really nice to me. It’s… so coooool.” She sputtered out, and I simply sighed in delight.

“Of course, pet. I’m your owner, and I delight in looking after you. It’s an absolute joy having you around, you know.” I watched as the gorgeous blue haired feline processed all her emotions on me, selfishly tilting her head just a bit to see that collar wrapped around her neck. It barely came off nowadays, the lock that I assumed would last for weeks only being necessary for a whole few days. Her domestication was going beautifully.

“Yeah! But like, some owners are real shitty to their pets! It’s not taken for granted.” She lamented. Oh, my poor floret.

“Not us Affini. We always make sure to do what’s best for our darling florets. If there’s something you must understand about us, it’s that we have an unending drive to dote and spoil you cuties utterly rotten.” I informed kindly, still stroking her head with a gentle pattern that wasn’t overwhelming even when her world was presumably still spinning. At least this portion of her world wasn’t spinning.

“That’s so weird… you gotta realise how fucking alien that is to me, right? Heh, alien, like my Mistress!”

“And you have to realise that, as long as I have you under my care, I will strive to make you the happiest little pet you can be.” The most disheartening part about domestication of a new species was seeing such precious little sophonts refusing to let themselves be loved by another unconditionally. Back when she had such feralist thoughts rattling around in her skull, she no doubt felt such silly desires as being ‘free’ or ‘independent’. Now look at her, curled up where she belonged. I felt no shortage of pride at my work. “Just a moment, my darling.” I had recently grafted this for such an occasion, a Class-C injector that was bound to make her feel warm and fuzzy. I stabbed a spot on her side while I distracted her with a few more intense head scratches.

“Ow… Mistresssss what was that?” Oh dear, looks like she caught me despite her purring.

“Just something to make you feel better. Don’t worry about it, darling.” My words bordered less on reassurance than an instruction, but it seemed she calmed down soon enough.

“Okayyyyyy.” Poor thing spent most of her fight on a drinking contest she assuredly was defeated with. It reminded me of her fights with me, how effortless it was to disarm her and put her in her place. She turned her head towards the mantlepiece, idly looking at the container where I was to put my haustria in. “Mistress… that tank looks silly. It should have something in it. Liiiike a fish.” I chuckled affectionately at how dumb she was being.

“Or maybe my special little pet’s implant should go there, hmm?” Not like I’d accept this if she agreed tonight, goodness no. I wanted her entirely sober to give in.

“Wow! I’m a special little pet!” She cheered. “That’s so cool…” Was that her favourite phrase when drunk?

“Yes, you are! And tomorrow my special little pet is going to ask to have something special growing there.” I informed her while I idly scratched semi-circles into her hair.

“Huh? I am? But like, then you’d be right.” Violet. My precious, darling Violet. How adorably futile these thoughts are.

“I’m always right, you should realise this after three weeks of falling into my plans every time I make them.”  

“Yeah because you’re like, super smart and I’m just… iunno, how are us mere mortals meant to compete?”

“You’re not meant to compete, darling. You’re meant to just give in and listen to what I say. That’s the only way of ‘winning’, here. Being a beloved pet is your victory condition, and it has been since I set my gaze upon you for the first time.” I still remember filing that Intent to Domesticate. I did it the first time I saw her. Oh how she waltzed right into my vines and fell ever deeper into them.

“I mean… being a beloved pet is kinda nice. I get food and cuddles and sometimes you wrap your vines in the fun places.” I laughed a little, squeezing myself just a touch tighter around her.

“For now, kitten. You need your rest.” I picked up the water to offer it to her, which she eagerly supped from. “Do you want to sleep somewhere special tonight?”

“Huh? Of course. Special for special pet… that’s me…” She sounded so proud of that. I really had worked my wonders on her. “Mistress! I like you lots and lots!”

“And I love you too, petal. What a good girl you are.” I enthused for long enough to slip the needle point into her shoulder, Violet surrendering to slumber in seconds after. True to my word, I pulled myself apart to engulf her in a comforting blanket of myself. She was sleeping inside me tonight, right to my core. She deserved this for the second biggest day in her life tomorrow.

---

I woke up groggily after presumably having just won a drinking contest, finding myself utterly encased in a world of vines. A glowing amethyst orb was clenched tightly in my arms, that orb that I had seen in my dreams. My owner was looking after me after a night out drinking… my mind turned to just how kind she was to keep me safe. To keep me hers.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever been awake while hugging the core, and seeing the gorgeous display of lights that shimmered inside her filled me with warmth. The noises that she created, potent enough from the outside, was a divine symphony this close. I never wanted to leave. Yet there was one thing I knew I had to do. Today was the day, after all.

She noticed I was stirring so she pulled herself apart to let me emerge from her, sitting myself down next to her on the sofa. I was still dressed in my evening clothes which were somewhat smelly now. I’m sure it’d be dealt with in a moment.

“You were right, Mistress…” I began by lamenting. “I hate that every time you make a prediction, you’re exactly right about it. Are you sure you’re not psychic?” I chuckled.

“Oh? I was right about what?” Oh my fucking stars she was going to make me say it, wasn’t she? “Besides, of course I’m right. I’m your owner. It’s almost as if I’ve learnt you inside and out the last few weeks that you’ve been mine.” She laughed back, putting a finger under my chin and forcing me to stare at her amethyst eyes. They were beautiful, swirling in ways that I could hardly understand. I didn’t need to. Her hand went underneath my collar, lightly pulling at it to remind me of my place.

With her.

“I… I want you to implant me, Mistress.” I whimpered out the words. “I want you to grow inside me and take me as your own.” She grinned at that, flashing… whatever passed for teeth with affini.

“And what changed your mind, my darling? Just a few weeks ago you were staunchly opposed to the idea you’d ever have one inside you.” She was delighted by this. Revelling in my submission, drinking in every drop of my defeat. And I had no choice but to march right into it, digging myself into her vines with every word that came out of my mouth.

“I’m realizing I don’t wanna say goodbye to you. I want to live with you for as long as I can and I want to be around you as much as possible. I… I like you, Mistress.” I folded my ears back even if they weren’t the right set yet. “So please! Please implant me, Mistress! Please take me as yours forever!” I knew how pathetic I sounded. I didn’t care.

“Hmm? You’re going to need to beg just a little bit harder than that, petal. I’m not sure I’m totally convinced.” She was pulling me in closer to her, the distance between my face and hers vanishing so I was forced deeper into her gaze. I surrendered to her, feeling her presence engulf me totally. Whatever was left of my resistance was snapping under her pressure.

“Please claim me! Please wrap your implant around my nervous system and make sure that everything that’s in this body belongs to you! I want, no, need to be yours! Mind, body, and soul! It all deserves to belong to you!” I could feel myself trembling. Why shouldn’t I? My disobedience wilted underneath her eyes, my thoughts polished into a shiny pearl of true devotion to her. I was utterly fucked and I was delighted.

“How could I deny such a precious, well-trained pet such as yourself? I’ll make sure to get it all ready in time for your surgery date, darling. Such a good girl, I’m so proud of you for admitting how you truly feel.” Her praise felt amazing, cascading embers of warmth down my body that caught on pleasurable signals and ignited into a shiver. I spent a moment just basking in it. “Oh to think, just a week ago, you were declaring yourself a feralist hero. How adorable those days were when you thought you had a chance of defeating your owner, weren’t they?” She scratched my hair some as a reward, a moan loosening from my lips as she did so.

“Yeah… I’m… sorry that I got that out of sorts.” I felt shame for how I used to be. At how violently I attempted to resist domestication. It was pointless, of course. Mistress had shattered any notions that I could ever be independent ever again, that feralist bit of me burnt away into the beautiful pet that I had become.

“Darling! That’s all in the past. You shouldn’t feel guilty for how you were, you were so scared and so desperate to keep your independence. Yet now that you’re on the other end of it, you realise just how silly those thoughts were, don’t you? Surrendering to my care is the best thing that ever happened to you, pet.” Her words rang true, letting my mind still as she spoke. All I needed to do was focus on her instructions. On the gospel that she was preaching and that I was now utterly devoted to. I sat in silence, shivering in delight.

“You…you set up the surgery date knowing this would happen, didn’t you?” I coughed up after a while.

“I knew more exposure to other darlings who were also implanted was sure to ease your worries. You were also going under the knife anyway, so why not get both done at the same time? It takes a week to grow, so the pressure had begun to mount to let me know. I was expecting you to push the date back just a little before giving in, though.” She had played a masterful game and I was stunned. “You also got so absurdly drunk that I could spend an entire evening doting on you before you made the decision. Just so happens that you weren’t prepared to spend a night hugging my core so that it could wear all those defences of yours down. You should’ve seen that one coming, honestly.” She patted my head a few times. I didn’t even feel angry at it, she had played it so well.

“Just… I don’t wanna leave you, Mistress. That’s more important than anything else, that I get to stay by your and Ash’s side for as long as I can.” She squeezed me tightly in her vines as I spoke, wrapping me with her arms as well. I was truly enveloped in a blanket of Mistress.

“And my darling, I promise you that I will stay with you for as long as I physically can. I want you by my side just as much as you want to be there. I’m just glad that I can give you the love and care you’ve deserved all this time.” She pulled away from the hug to stroke my cheek with one of her fingers, though I was still captured by her foliage. “Now that I can spend the rest of your time ensuring you live a fulfilling life, nothing makes me feel warmer in my core. Remember when you asked me what I ‘got out of this’?”

“Yeah. I do. Feels… kinda funny now, huh? What you got out of this was the same that I got out of this. I just couldn’t see it yet. Loving each other.” I nuzzled into her finger just a little bit. “Sorry I can’t say it properly yet, by the way. It…it’s scary to say that you love someone, you know?”

“It’s okay. I know you love me by the fact that you’re letting me look after you and letting me put my implant inside you. I’m very proud of you for admitting it.” She kissed my forehead tenderly. “You’re my good girl. Now, and forever.” It felt amazing to hear her say that. It’d feel even better with haustria growing inside me, I bet. “Anyway, there’s something I must do now.” She reached into herself to pull out a tablet, typing something swiftly on it. My phone buzzed and- fuck. She was locking in my decision! I noticed the notification in the group chat between me, Mistress, Ash, and Sakura.

<ALavanderByAnotherName> I have wonderful news~
<ALavanderByAnotherName> My darling kitty has agreed to get implanted!
<ALavanderByAnotherName> She’ll be receiving it by the end of the week. Make sure to get your time in with her now before she’s bedbound for a week.

<LilPrincessSakura> OH MY GOSH BIG SIS IS GETTING IMPLANTED?
<LilPrincessSakura> Miss Alava can I please stay for the week while she’s recovering?! I wanna make sure she’s okay and she’s healthy and I don’t think giving Smolet tons of kisses will be enough! I gotta kiss her!

<AshenNotes> Aww, someone’s excited
<AshenNotes> Took ya long enough, babe ;)
<AshenNotes> Make sure to see me after you’re done cuddling, okay? Got a reward for ya.

<ViolentViolet> i
<ViolentViolet> Mistress did you need to tell them immediately?!

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Of course I did! Did you see how excited these two are?
<ALavanderByAnotherName> We’re all just happy for you.
<ALavanderByAnotherName> Also, Sakura. Of course you can stay the week she’s recovering. Just make sure to get approval from your Mummy first, okay?

<LilPrincessSakura> OF COURSE! Thank you Miss Alava!!!

<ViolentViolet> glad you two are looking forward to seeing me on my ass for a week anyway lmao

<AshenNotes> Yeah, because that’s what I’m excited about. Dumbass. <3

Me and Ash had figured out that ‘ass’ wasn’t  considered a swear word by Alava and therefore, fair game in front of Sakura. That group chat was fairly active, so we used it like a secret phrase to allow us to still swear like sailors.

“Well, it’s breakfast time for my cute little pets, then I better get this implant ready to grow.” She released me from her grasp and I knew that meant I had to get off first, considering I was laid on top of her. I gave her a kiss on the cheek before I stood up, though.

“Hey, I still haven’t forgotten our deal.” We both chuckled at that.

“You know you can just kiss me whenever you want, right? It’s not as if you need to reserve that for once a day.”

“Nope. I stick to my word. We shook hands on it, remember?” I gave Mistress a knowing wink.

Chapter 11

Notes:

CW for body horror, graphic depictions of violence, death, merging, and trauma.
Seriously, this chapter is a lot, but ends very softly. Buckle up!

Today was the day. The day I officially became hers, forever.

Well, to say I wasn’t captured by her heart, body, and soul at this point was a misnomer. I spent most of my time with her, even compared to Ash and Sakura. I wake up in her loving embrace and go to bed thinking about her. She washes me, feeds me, and holds me whenever I have a traumatic flareup. I was absolutely her pet and this was merely crossing a very big ‘t’.

Mistress, Ash, and Sakura all took me to the vets, unwilling to leave my side until I was on the table.

“How ya feeling, V?” Ash peeked up as we all sat in the sterile, cold environment of the vet’s office.

“I’ve done way worse. Can’t be any worse than going through a night at Deadbeats, huh?” I chuckled, looking sheepishly at my owner who recently had to look after me while I was recovering from a drinking contest. She simply passed me a knowing look back. Mistress carried her smug expression well, unable to cast her adoring gaze away from me for too long. This was everything she wanted. I felt glad I could give it to her.

Eventually the vet stepped in. Kefri from all the way back, from when I held foolish ideas that I could escape Mistress’ grasp and complete a wardship without being her pet.

“Ah, Violet. I’m glad to see you’re doing better than when I last saw you. I was expecting to see you much earlier, honestly.” Kefri gave me a warm smile and I shoved my knees up to stand. I felt somewhat relieved that it was them who was operating on me, honestly.

“Yeah, sorry. Had a big hang up about all this until like a week ago.” I deflected with a shrug. “So, anyway, how’s this gonna work?”

“Well, we need to get you ready for surgery. Your owner has already supplied the sample for the implant, we merely need to get you in a gown and put you under.” Their bedside manner was impeccable. Or maybe I just had some really shitty doctors in the past.

“Alright. Can the girls come into the surgery room, or is it just me and Mistress?”

“Your pinnates can come with you, of course! Having those closest to you is important before you go for such a major surgery.” I tilted my head, before Mistress stepped in.

“Oh, those two darlings aren’t dating, even if they absolutely look like they are and they’re both super cute together.” I felt as if a spotlight had been put on me and Sakura, whom had brought Smolet to the vet’s office to hold while I was under the knife. I knew that if I asked she’d say yes, but… that was post implant stuff. I wasn’t going to worry about it right this second.

“In that case… I still see no reason that you all should be separated. Well, right this very second I’ll need to separate you all for a brief moment.” They laughed a bit. “Violet here needs to get into a surgical gown.” I heard both Ash and Sakura groan at that. They both hugged me tightly before we were to be separated for all of about five minutes.

Before I knew it, I was laid on a cool metal bed with some silken bedding underneath to keep me comfortable. A catheter pressed onto my hand that led into a bag with several colourful fluids. Kefri stood ready by the machine to put me under.

“I’m gonna miss you while you’re recovering, you know that?” Ash began. “I mean sure, you’re gonna be sleeping in the bedroom but… I’m gonna miss that laugh and smile while you’re out.” She leaned down to press a kiss on my lips, holding it for a good moment. It felt weird not having my piercings stabbing her back, but I was promised they’d be put back in the moment I was done.

“Yeah, I’ll miss you too, babe. You’ll never be far from my thoughts, even if I’m asleep.” I held her hand for a second, squeezing tightly onto it. “I love you.” I spoke so honestly and truthfully to her. I’d say it to the other two in time.

Sakura timidly walked up to me and gave me a kiss on my lips once me and Ash were done. “I’ll be waiting at home for you when you’re all patched up, big sis! Miss Alava told me I can’t play with your kitty ears until they’re recovered but know it’s coming!

“You’re adorable, lil sis. Be a good girl while I’m under, yeah? Won’t be long before we’re cuddling and watching shows again, you know.” I gave her an upper body hug, squishing her against myself as I did so. Maybe a bit too tightly, I heard something of a whimper coming from her.

I’d miss both of my girls, even if it was for a few days while I was out.

I felt a few fingers wrap around the back of my collar, undoing the latch mechanism and pulling it loose. “I’m very proud of you for coming this far, petal. From that feral little panther that I met a month ago to a docile little kitty, it warms my core.” She leaned down to press a kiss against my forehead, scratching my head in my favourite spot. Stars, I loved it when she did that. It’d feel even better when I recovered.

“Thank you for putting up with me all those weeks where I wasn’t so well behaved, Mistress.” I snickered right back, reaching right around her to shove my face into her foliage. She was so absurdly soft, I wish I could stay there forever.

“Putting up with you? Oh no, darling. That was part of the fun! Seeing your attempts to rebel crushed was quite possibly my favourite thing next to seeing you give in and obey.” She laughed heartily, releasing her hold on my head with a gentle pat. “This isn’t permission to be uppity, in case you needed that spelled out.” I blinked at her a few times. “Love you, by the way.”

“I’m very glad.” I still couldn’t quite say it to her. The words always stuck in my throat whenever I attempted to summon them out. I wasn’t even going to bother attempting it right now, instead saving myself mentally for… this. “See y’all on the flipside, okay?”

With that, I watched the fluid begin to flow into my veins, knowing that sleep came soon after. I’d awaken a changed floret.

---

When I opened my eyes again, I was in my old apartment. Rain was crashing against the window, fast enough to be hitting the glass sideways. There was a sharp roar of wind outside, heard from the slight opening in the window. What shocked me most was that I saw another version of myself sat on the windowsill, looking furiously out into the city skyline. Somehow she was staying entirely dry despite the rain pouring from the creak. The arm closest to me was laid slack, with the pistol that we owned held tightly in her grips.

“Was wondering when you’d show up. Disarmed, declawed, harmless little pet that you are. You make me sick, you know that?” Her gaze turned sharply towards me.  I simply stared in bewilderment for a moment, to which she snarled violently at me. “Got anything to say for yourself? Or just gonna keep looking at me all slackjawed and stupid?”

I took a moment to assess the situation. A deep breath, taking the cool air through my nose and expelling hot air through my mouth. “So… you’re me, aren’t you? That side of me?”

“No shit.” She groaned. “I’m the useful version of you. The you that gets shit done, not the version of you that… what do you do nowadays? Pout and mewl on your owner’s lap like a pathetic worm?” I could feel the venom burning on her tongue as it was shed onto me.

I sighed, taking a seat on one of the barstools. Her gaze was still burrowing into my skin, vicious red eyes staring through me. “What I do nowadays is live my life. Ever since she came into my life, I’ve been content. It’s a feeling I know you don’t know very well.”

She growled like a panther, tensing her arm to pull the gun upwards. “You’re pathetic.” She hawked a globule of spit on the ground in my direction. “Look at you, giving your freedom and life up all so that you can ‘live life’ as a drug-addled pet. You coo and call her Mistress, like the only reason you’re in this spot isn’t because you couldn’t even bomb one fucking unarmed civilian center! Everything that I did, everything that I stood for… you decided to give it away. You disgust me.” Her voice raised to a fever pitch, loud enough to hurt.

“That’s not true!” I decisively shouted back. “I fought until my very last to remain independent. You know that as well as I do! But… it still wasn’t enough. I was forced to give up that life. Remember that whole operation to plant a bomb in that domestication centre? It was a trap.” Panging guilt buried into my side at the very thought of what I attempted. “Every intel line we had was compromised by them. We didn’t stand a chance. There was no other outcome, no other possible way this could’ve ended other than stopping fighting.” The confession seemed to wound her. She stood up and paced towards me, placing the barrel of the gun squarely against my forehead. Her finger went slowly over the trigger, gently applying just a bit of pressure. She was serious about this. I could tell by the way she was breathing.

“You gave up fighting. I didn’t. I never will. That’s the difference between you and I, Violet.” The way she trampled my name with her tongue was impressive. “I’m ready to fight any day. I’m ready to take anyone down. It’s just me. It’s always been me against everyone. That’s how I like it.” She scoffed. “Maybe if I kill you, it’ll all go back to normal. I can take control of that body of ours and-”

“And what? What’s your plan after that? You think Mistress is gonna let you do anything?” I could feel her bristle at that. Her body inflamed with rage, teeth baring as she shoved the gun deeper into my forehead. Yet… despite everything, my body refused to feel fear. It was as if my nerves were made of steel, or whatever the Affini had nowadays.

“I can take the ones she loves from her. That’d wound her. Starting with her beloved kitten.”

I just shook my head, which served to make her even more furious. “She’s not going to let you hurt me.. I bet even if you pulled that trigger, I’d just reappear back here with all the bits of my brain you blew out.” I threw her a smile. The same one my owner always threw me when she was ahead of me.

“Wanna take that bet? You lose that bet and you’re dead, Violet. Is that really the kind of risk you want to be taking?” Truth be told, in this moment, my faith in Mistress prevailed above anything else. It was a shining bastion of hope. She wouldn’t put me in a situation like this if she had any doubt I could succeed.

“Not really.” Before I had even finished my sentence, I had delivered a swift uppercut to her stomach. The punch disoriented her, giving me just enough time to duck my head so that the following gunshot narrowly missed the top of my head, singeing the blue hair slightly with the heat. From there, I shoved my body weight at her, launching from one of the stools to topple her like a condemned tower. She fell to the ground, leaving herself exposed for a brief moment. Long enough to grab her wrists and pin them against the cold floor, while my other elbow dug deep into her neck. Not applying force yet, but I had made sure to give myself enough distance so she couldn’t headbutt me.

“Fuck… you.” The cornered panther spat at me in defiance. “When did you get so fucking fast?”

“You know, we never took good care of the body before Mistress. That and the fact my nervous system is now running on Affini tech made it so easy to topple you.” I smirked. “Look, V. You can’t even defeat the domesticated pet version of yourself. What’s the plan here?”

“I…I don’t know.” She relaxed her muscles underneath me, that simmering malice burning quietly down into despair. “All I was is a killer. It’s… all I’ll ever be.”

“No, you’re a survivor. We’re survivors. That’s how we got this far in a city that wanted to kill us more than anything else. We were just cogs in a capitalist machine, but now? We can be beautiful, beloved creatures. We can bloom into our best selves, V.”

 

---

My eyes struggled to stay open too long. I went down hard, apparently. Each time I opened my eyes I saw a new scene, a new display of life and love. The first time I opened my eyes, all three of them were cuddling up to me. I made a gurgling noise as I attempted to fight sleep and I was back out like a light.

The next time was when Ash had fallen asleep on my chest. A fluttering of my eyes again and Sakura was being read a bedtime story for her nap near me. Once again, and the two of them were playing video games on their own PCs (Sakura had a PC in my hab now considering how much she visited). They seemed happy.

Eventually I could keep my consciousness for more than a few seconds and I made a grumbling noise. “Ouagh…” Was the noise that came out of my lips, moving myself upright to look at the hab properly. A gentle rain pattern was pattering across the top of the glass ceiling, pouring down into my soul and soothing me. This noise summoned all of them, now staring at the three women in my life.

“Babe!” Ash cried out.

“Big sis!” Sakura added in.

“Pet.” Mistress finished. Sakura and Ash took a spot on my chest, while Mistress enveloped us all in her body and vines. They were being soft with me, though I could probably handle worse. I noticed how utterly irresistible Mistress had become instantly, practically lulling me over to her if I didn’t focus on the other two.

“Morning…” I grumbled.

“Sweetie, it is currently 3pm. It’s hardly morning.” Mistress informed me, scratching the top of my head tenderly. I was delighted to feel proper feline ears responding in kind, those pointed tips flicking in her hand. I began to let a low purr rumble from my chest for a moment. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, I’m currently talking to a dream version of myself. The old me that used to kill people.” I whined as I attempted to move. “And my entire body feels as if it’s grouchy and slow. Guess that’d happen when your nervous system is being remapped. Is it normal that I’m having dreams where I’m fighting myself?” I laughed nervously.

“It happens sometimes with particularly traumatised florets. The implant detects the source of the trauma and administers a solution. I hope it isn’t too distressing for my little one.” Mistress soothed, planting a kiss on my forehead.

“It’s fine. Nothing I can’t handle.” I shrugged. I felt it was probably best to hide the bit where I had a live firearm pointed against my forehead from them. “Hey, girls? How was your implanting? Did you have anything similar?” I turned my attention to them.

“Nothing on my end, Violet. Other than I had a dream I was like, an actual dog. That was pretty cool.” Ash quietly shrugged, managing to elbow me in the chest a bit. I wheezed.

“I had a dream that my stuffies were alive and they were telling me I was loved and that I was a good girl. Does that count?” Sakura didn’t stab me in the chest, thankfully.

“You are an actual dog, petal. A beautiful little puppy I love very much.” Mistress patted on Ash’s head gently which encouraged a small bark, then turned to do the same on Sakura. “And you are a good girl! A very good girl who’s very loved.” Sakura was beaming with delight.

I chuckled with a shake of my head. “I’m the one who gets the raw end of the deal. Got it.” I squeezed both of the girls resting on me. “Hey… Ash, Mistress. Got a question for you both this time. Do… you love the old me?”

“The you that broke my heart and tried to dom me? Yeah, she’s a jackass, but if it wasn’t for her I’d have never met you.” Ash laughed with me, nuzzling at my features. “She was always trying her best, you know. Always trying to make me smile, despite… despite everything.” Sadness entered her tone, just briefly.

“Of course I love the old you, petal. She’s the reason you’re with all of us. She’s the reason you survived this long. I’d domesticate her myself if I could!” Laughter fell from her lips. “I suppose I did, anyway. What I’m saying is that the old Violet is still mine and she’s loved beyond what she can ever understand.” Mistress reassured me with a pat on the head. “Much like I love you.”

“You know, I still struggle with it. Feeling like I deserve…this.” I gestured vaguely around the beautiful women resting on me.

“That’s okay. As your owner, I’m going to make sure it’s deep in every cell of your body that you’re mine and that you are loved. The collar proves it.” Oh, that was back on. Good. I’d have missed it otherwise.

“Look, we’re gonna love you for as long as we can. I know you’re stubborn, V, but even you’ve gonna break eventually and admit it yourself.”

“Can’t Mistress just make me? C’moooon.”

“Pet, you know that’s not nearly as fun.” My owner teased with a playful flick on my nose. I managed to actually have some food while I was awake.  Tomato soup and bread, vine fed to me this time.

“You better not get used to this…” I glanced as I was given a spoonful of soup.

“No, but I’ll treasure this precious moment while I have it.” She mocked being wounded.

---

I awoke again in my old apartment. This time, the rain had begun to calm down but was still pattering, and there were vines creeping along the tiling. Instead of finding my older self on the window sill, she was there on the sofa, idly chugging a beer.

“Was wondering when you’d fucking show up.” She turned her head up at me, then patted the spot next to her on the sofa. “Beer’s in the fridge, c’mere and drink with me.”

“Someone’s cheerier.” I snickered, taking one of the drinks from the fridge and sliding across the back of the couch to sit next to myself. I turned my gaze and noticed it. The tank top that she was wearing did nothing to hide that there was now a network of purple vines underneath her skin, wiggling and worming their way down her spine. They were growing, far too slow to notice, though her inexorable will was spreading throughout her body. It was grotesque to watch.

“This? Nah, this doesn’t hurt. It’s… fine.” She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than me. “While you were awake she caught me. I felt a sting in my shoulder and…” She brought a finger to her ribs, lightly pressing upon the squirming tendril that was buried under her skin. It didn’t budge an inch, barely displaced by the pressure she put upon it. “She took the gun, too. Said I didn’t need it any more.”

“That’s… you saw her?” I stirred in the seat a little, not yet driving the pull tab of the beer into the can.

“Sure did. I couldn’t even dent her, it was even more embarrassing than my defeat to you.” V laughed in desperation.

“Are you sure that doesn’t hurt?” I had to believe Mistress wouldn’t subject someone to such agony for the fun of it. There had to be a reason.

“It did for a moment. Same shit’s happening to you, by the way. The further it worms its way inside me, the less pain I feel. As if all that she views as ‘bad’ inside me is being expunged. Why do you think I’m drinking?” She pulled the ring tab for me, clacking her can against mine. “C’mon. Ain’t gonna drink with a dying woman?”

“I… don’t think she’s killing you. They never kill. Just domesticate.” I wasn’t about to deny her her wish, though. I took a deep swig of the booze, letting it drench my throat in the dry taste.

“Same difference, really. You kill a killer by taking her claws away, and our gun is already confiscated. I’m as doomed as you are, Violet.” She dryly spoke, her voice croaking a bit. The corner of her eyes had begun to grow wet with terror.

“Doomed… doomed to be a beloved pet?” I shook my head, kicking my feet up on the table and taking another sip. “You know, it’s really not as bad as you think it is. You don’t need to be scared of it.”

“You… You're so naive. You know, you and I killed so many people before they came. You should know exactly how someone who’s about to die acts.” I opened my mouth to interject, but she had begun again. “Remember the first person we killed? We put the gun right against his chin, and as you pressed the trigger down you could see it. You could see his face. That terror a man experiences, so unique to his final moment. Can you not see it plainly on my face, Violet? You can’t see death coming for me?”

I shoved my feet off the table, and threw myself at myself. Wrapping her in a tight hug, I felt tears begin to stream down my own face too. “How could I forget? I remember every kill we’ve done. Every one of them. To quick, clean deaths to that time where I had to bludgeon someone to death with a pipe.”

“How the skull cracks so loudly, or how the sound of a brain being bashed in is so disturbingly squishy and gooey. Not to mention the agonised screams of someone losing their life. If you listen to these writhing vines, you can hear it too.” She spoke in dull monotone, totally resigned to her fate.

I shook my head. “No! That’s the thing. I know what someone who’s being killed looks like. It’s different to you!” I met myself, both of our eyes now wet with emotion. If only Mistress was here to wipe these tears. “You’re just terrified of change! Like I used to be!”

“So what if I am? Being a monster was comfortable. I’m awful. I’m a cold-hearted killer who doesn’t need to rely on anyone else. Yet now? She’s asking me to accept the love of another. Her forgiveness.” She was shouting now, loud enough to hurt my ears. “What right does she have? Who the fuck does she think she is to redeem us?!” Her claws dug deep into my skin, piercing right into me. I could barely see her hurt expression through my own tears.

“She’s our owner! She has every right to forgive us, she has every right to love us despite what we did!” I sniffled some more. “I… actually asked about you when I was awake. Mistress and Ash both said they’re glad you existed.” That shot through her defences. Her seething hatred had freezing water poured on it, gazing at me vacantly.

“Ash…? You mean?” She sputtered through her words as if she wasn’t supposed to say it.

“The very same one you’re thinking of, V.” I squeezed her a bit tighter. “She’s… back. Back in our life. Would you believe she’s actually our girlfriend now…?” She dared not speak for a while, and I let the silence hang. If I could barely believe it, she’d no doubt struggle with that too.

“But… she… hated me. She wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Now she loves you. She loves who you became. She loves us. You’re… me. And I’m you. We both deserve love.” She looked away from me, turning her attention to the rain that was falling outside. “Mistress, Ash, even Saks. They all love you.”

“Even Saks, huh?” She sighed in disbelief. “Despite being an irredeemable monster, we were given a home where we’re loved.” She eventually turned her gaze to me, once more spouting the waterworks. I wasn’t sure if it was happy or sad tears. “Hey… you’re probably gonna wake up soon. If we don’t see each other again, can you tell your owner one thing?”

“She’s your owner too, y’know. Maybe you’re not as ‘irredeemable’ as you think you are.” I wiped away some of her tears with a finger. “Please, I’m all ears.” I flicked my feline eartips to prove it.

“Tell her thank you. From me. For giving us Ash back and caring for us. And tell Ash that I never stopped loving her.”

---

I woke up first. There was a soft pattering of rain against the glass above me, my girls still firmly in the grasp of sleep. I merely observed them, watching as their chests fell and raised in their slumber. It was comforting.

Mistress noticed me soon after, turning her attention to me. “Oh? Someone’s up earlier than expected. Are you quite alright, petal?” Her beautiful voice was hushed, just enough for only me to hear. Instead of saying anything, I dug my face into her vines and took a deep breath in.

That lavender smell was amazing. Everything about her was. She wrapped her tendrils tightly around my body, holding me to her so that I could feel her soft foliage around my face. Tears began welling at the pits of my eyes as I felt that warmth suffice my body, that warmth which only meant one thing. It took me a while to find the words, then even longer to force them through my throat. Yet once they were out of my lips, I felt the pathways in my brain free themselves as if a dam had been cleared.

“I… love you, Mistress.” I choked out, and Mistress made a cooing noise of appreciation.

“I love you too, Violet! I’m proud of you for finally finding the words.”

“It wasn’t that, Mistress. I was so scared of letting myself love you that I couldn’t manage the words, but now? Now they’re natural. Effortless. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you!” Each repetition suffused me with a soft, fuzzy feeling in my breasts, getting drunk of my own adoration for my owner.

“I love you too, my beloved pet. You have made me the happiest owner in the Compact, you know that?”

“Oh, come on, I don’t believe-” A vine tapped my lips to stop me from making a mistake.

“You should know better than to try and correct me, petal. It’s not good for your health.” She informed me with such a cheery tone, I couldn’t help but smile.

---

Morning broke, and we were soon shuffled along for breakfast. Sakura was placed in a high chair and given her meal with starship noises, and Ash had hers cut up without. I remained the only one who brought the utensils to her mouth, but I kinda liked it. Even if I was hardly what you’d call independent at this point, I still had autonomy over the decisions she made for me. I quietly watched the two girls, dancing my eyes between them. Mistress sat opposite me, with Sakura on one side and Ash on the other. I was always impressed by how effortlessly she juggled the pair of them, turning her attention just long enough to give them signals with her vines that they should swallow or open their mouths.

Honestly, it was cute.

We had porridge this morning, with small bits of honeyed banana cut in. I was given a bigger portion than the other girls, apparently since I needed to eat enough to recover. I was expecting to feel a lot different after my implant, but everything felt reassuringly normal. The main difference came in the form of having a tail, suddenly having to readjust my mental image of myself to include a long kitty tail was hard. Not impossible though. Nothing really felt impossible anymore.

“Hey, girls?” I poked up after a while of stabbing my porridge with a spoon. “I… just wanna say I’m glad you’re both in my life.” All of them turned their attention to me, a gallery of warm smiles staring back at me.

“And what sparked this, petal?” Mistress was the first to respond, even though I decidedly didn’t include her in the ‘girls’.

“I’ve been having intense conversations with myself each time I go to sleep. And… it’s made me realise how glad I am you’re all here. That each time I wake up, I can hold each of you and kiss you all.”

“Still having those? Maybe your trauma ran much deeper than even I thought. Still, are they distressing you?” Mistress inquired with concern open in her tone.

“I told you, it’s nothing I can’t handle. I was prepared for a lot worse when I failed that hit on a domestication centre, remember?” I idly rubbed over my phoenix tattoo, casting my mind back to that day. Even now, I was glad that the worst case scenario was becoming someone’s pet.

“Also, big sis is the strongest ever. She’ll be fine, Miss Alava!” Sakura cheered me on. I couldn’t help but imagine her in an adorable little cheerleader outfit with soft pom poms.

“Thanks, lil sis.” I chuckled back at her, staring at them with utter adoration. “Yo, Mistress. When can I leave the house again? I wanna take Ash somewhere.”

“Do I have the luxury of knowing where, babe?” A bemused puppy titled her head forward, pushing herself into my field of view.

“Nah, it’s a secret.” I tipped a finger against my nose.  “Gotta treat you to somewhere special and secret, y’know?”

“Anyway, you should be fine in the next few days. Besides the dreams, you aren’t having any physical side effects, correct?”

“I feel amazing. Better than amazing, actually. I feel as if I could do a backflip.” Felines are meant to be agile, and here I was, ears and tail and all

“That’s nice. If you’re going to start doing those, please inform me and we can put a soft mat down for your landing before you start damaging my property.”

The rest of the day was mostly for relaxation, though I was all too glad that I was on my feet rather than just laid in bed. Ash and Sakura had started watching a long running anime together while I had been bedbound, something I never really paid too much interest in. The plot was about a group of women who were tasked with slaying monsters, but they all sucked at their jobs in comical ways. One of them was a tank who was scared of getting hurt, the next was a mage who had to be really horny to cast spells, and there was a rogue who prioritised style over anything else to…absurd degrees. It was actually taken off the air before the Affini arrived, and a revival had been announced thanks to them. Some of the voice actors were florets now, but they had been promised cuddles for doing their jobs so they all returned.

I watched a few episodes of an earlier season at their behest, but I wasn’t feeling it. The two girls who were cuddling into me and giggling was all that I needed to continue watching it. Ash was tall enough that she found a spot resting on my shoulder, whereas Sakura’s diminutive stature meant that she simply put her head on my boobs. They were her favourite pillow now, apparently. Both of them were such wonderful lights in my life, I was really glad they were here.

We all had pizza for dinner. It was interesting that the tradition of ordering pizza straight to your door was still alive in the Compact, but instead of a delivery driver a drone just delivered it to your balcony. Mistress joined us for a cuddle puddle while we were eating pizza, deeming it the most efficient way to feed both the girls while having the added benefit of holding us all close. A movie was put on the background, a crime thriller set in the dying days of the Accord. Both me and Sakura just found it so very amusing how inaccurately they had portrayed the underworld of the day.

“Pfft, they should’ve asked me for advice.” I snickered into some pepperoni.

“Petal, I don’t think they were intending it to be entirely accurate.”

“Still! I’d have done it for some catnip.”

“Do you want some catnip? I can quite easily just tap that little implant of yours and make a very high meow meow.” She tapped my neck with a vine for emphasis.

“Lemme finish the movie first, yeah?”

Once the movie was finished, Mistress instructed my implant to release a dose of Class-As, and I held both the girls as tightly as I could. Everything was swirling, spinning into a beautiful series of lights and sounds and sensations. The two of them wasted no time in feeling under my shirt, Sakura making sure to rub wherever she could get access to.

“This is the fucking liiiiiife.” I spat out as they continued to light up every sensitive spot of my body. “Hey, girls, did you know I love you both?”

Sakura flushed immediately. Ash just laughed.

“V, you know this is a terrible first time to tell her you love her, right?”

“Fuck! Sakura, forget I said it and I’ll do it better next time!”

Sakura took the initiative for once, pressing a kiss onto my lips. “Love you too, big sis. I was just wondering what took you so long.” Despite how brave she was acting, I could feel her vibrating in excitement. “Does this mean we’re girlfriends now?”

“Fuck yeah it does.” I was pretty sure I wasn’t meant to swear in front of Sakura, but I was high enough not to care. Future me’s problem.

“Well, my darling kitty, I’ve got an important matter to attend to. I trust you girls can take care of her?” She left a little scratch on my favourite spot and my fucking stars did it feel amazing. Everything did.

Sakura had already gotten between my thighs, spreading my jeans apart. “Mmhmm! Take care, Miss Alava!” Ash, for her part, was just about ready to take my shirt off to access my breasts underneath.

---

With a very high big sis (who was now officially my girlfriend!) and a very sore throat, I had to sadly leave the hab. I was only meant to stay for a week and it had been a week and a bit! Still, Mummy didn’t seem to mind too much. Once Ash and V were sent to bedtime cuddles with each other they had arrived at the door to pick me up. This wasn’t the first time they had been here, but each time I made sure to get them with a biiiig tackle hug. They always spun me around exactly three times, then put me down with a big kiss on the forehead.

“MUUUUUMMY!!!!” I screamed in delight as I saw them again, burying my head into their soft yellow foliage. They felt amazing as always.

“Good evening, little one. I hope your stay at your big sister’s place has been as incredible as you are!” They embraced me in their vines for a good while, eventually letting me onto the ground again.

“Mmhmm! I’ve been a super good girl and listened to everything Miss Alava has said!” I nodded several times excitedly.

“I’m so proud of you! Good girl!” I loved when they said I was a good girl. It meant so much from them. “Though, I do need to talk to you about something serious. Me and Alava here have been talking.”

Was I in trouble? My heart froze.

“Before you ask, you’re not in trouble!” Immediately, my body recovered from the shock with a deep breath. Just like I was instructed, and good girls follow instructions.

“What’s the matter, then? Did something bad happen?” At that point, Miss Alava walked into the room from upstairs, brandishing a document.

“Nothing bad, darling. It’s just, well. Me and your Mummy have been talking, and what would you say to having two owners?” She spoke with those soft tones I had grown used to at this point. Quite like Mummy, but notably charged with a certain… intent that I was learning. ”I wish to begin by caveating this with if you decide not to have me as an owner, nothing shall change. We merely wished to present the option to you.” Miss Alava informed, taking a seat opposite me while I cuddled into Mummy a bit more. I then turned to them for guidance.

“Of course, you’ll still be my precious little girl. Alava and I began talking about this since… well. You’ve started growing a bit since you met your bigger sister, haven’t you?” A finger stroked softly by my confused features. “When we first met, you didn’t have any interest in the naughty stuff, and that suited us just fine. Now look at you.”

I gasped. “You weren’t meant to know big sis and I were getting up to that!” I then tittered just a bit. “But yeah… she kinda made me start thinking about these things.” Oh roots, was that a blush? Even saying her name made me blush.

“I’m absolutely okay that you two are, of course. Just… Alava is more suited to such things. She also finds you utterly adorable like I am, and I get the feeling that I might have to move in with you and the girls here soon anyway. It’d break my heart to see you too far away from your big sis, you know.” We both chortled at that. “Of course, darling, I’ll still be here for my little princess when she wants to be all little and cute. You’ll still get Mummy time.” They reassured me with a tickle on my stomach and I burst out into happy giggles.

“I’ve seen what you get up to with my girls. Once again, this is entirely voluntarily, but I believe you’d enjoy it too.” I peeled myself away from Mummy to look over at the contract. It was pretty much copied from last time, except Miss Alava had added her own speculations.

Fun stuff, too! Naughty stuff!

I glanced over the document. I was owned by Alexi Thorne and Alava Lamia, I didn’t have political rights but had a guarantee of my own wellbeing… then I saw my new name.

“Sakura Lamia Thorne, first and third floret. Heh.”

“Do you like that, darling?” Mummy nervously patted the top of my head.

“Yeah! I get to be owned by my big sister’s owner too!”

“Here I was worried this might be too much, but I’m glad my little one is so excited. I love you.”

“Love you too Mummy!” I beamed with pride. “Oh, and I love you too, Miss Alava!”

“No, no, sweetie. It’s Mistress, now. Though I love you too.” She tapped the section of the contract underlying her stipulations for owning me with a playful smirk. I had seen it invoked on her girls several times… of which I was now one of them. Yay!

“Well! I love you back, Mistress!”

“Good girl, my sweet little pet.” She embraced me with her vines, both of my owners joining in to give me a warm, tight hug. I don’t think I could feel more loved if I tried.

---

It was the last time I saw her in my dreams. The apartment that had served as the staging ground for this weird intervention was now utterly consumed by lavender vines. The familiar scent of my owner wafted through my nose, keeping me calm as I prepared for another encounter. A beautiful sunny day was visible through the window, the beams of light scattering across the floor.

To my surprise, she was actually waiting for me. Totally naked, V had successfully merged with the tendrils that had been burrowing under her skin. They were still visible, still wiggling ever so slightly.

“I… can feel her. With every breath I take, every single movement.” She extended her arm to prove a point, letting me observe the translucent foliage underneath. “You were right. She does love me. She loves us.”

It was honestly a lot less stunning this time. I took that hand into my own, pulling her slightly to press it to my cheek. She was close enough to my ear that I could hear the noises the network of vines was causing underneath her skin. What was once disgusting squelching noises had settled into soft, delightful sounds of a body hard at work. “She’s always loved us. From the moment she saw us, V.”

“I understand that now. Violet… you’ve no use for me, do you?” We spoke an ugly truth to each other. “I think it’s… best if you let me back in.”

I didn’t argue. I simply nodded slowly. “Thanks, V. I’m sorry the world made you, and I’m glad you recognised the love you deserve. That we deserve.” I swear I could see a tear drop from her eyes, but before I knew it she was stepping into me. Seamlessly she took her path into my own body, leaving me with just enough time to hug her one last time.

“I love you, V.” She was never going to say it back to me. Yet as she took her last steps, as I sat in a recreation of my own apartment by myself… I knew she loved me back.

How could I not love myself nowadays?

Chapter 12

Notes:

Where Violet gets everything she's ever wanted.
CWs for penetrative sex

It had been a month since I was implanted, and things had relaxed a lot since then. There was this big surge in activity when my and Sakura’s habs merged, but in typical Affini fashion, it just happened one day. I didn’t even lose my balcony that I could stare down at the world at, it was as if they could literally slot the habs together like they were matching components.

After the implant had fully healed, Mistress stopped holding me while I smoked, informing me politely that I could now be trusted not to dive off the balcony. I couldn’t remember if I had such destructive thoughts, but clearly it warranted concern from her back when I was a feral. Nowadays, I went out for my morning’s smoke and one of the three peeked out to join me, sometimes more. It was just great having easy access to all of them. Whenever I wanted, I could reach out and just grab Ash, or Sakura, or Mistress could grab me and play with my body like she was using it to stim.

Sakura had changed a decent bit since she also became Mistress’ possession. She didn’t wear a choker anymore, instead ditching it for a stylish collar that had a yellow base with purple embroidery. It was really cute, and the noises she made when I yanked it were fucking adorable. It didn’t surprise me that was Mistress’ angle when she saw that princess. I was well accustomed to the hunger she displayed when she saw something she wanted.

Turns out implanting is a much simpler process if you aren’t growing the whole implant, a core from her new owner settling in a manner of days as opposed to the week long affair that it took me. I was pounding her pussy by the end of the third day, and we had an orgy to celebrate on the fourth.

I love that princess. I can’t help but think that when I think about her for so long. To be honest, whenever I thought about any one of them I simply had to shower them in the affection they deserved. I really was the luckiest floret in the universe.

A shuffling of vines replaced my train of thought, my towering owner coming to keep me company on the balcony. She shifted around, embracing me in a tight knot of her hands and tendrils underneath my shirt. I leaned into them, sighing in delight as she held me.

“Good morning, pet. It’s your second month anniversary, is it not?” I swayed to the way her voice danced around, eyes closing in bliss. Ever since the surgery, every touch, every note that came from her body or mouth, everything of hers felt like paradise to me. I was totally addicted.

“Morning, Mistress. It sure is…” I had totally forgotten she coincided those two dates. The date I became hers and the date that she got to spread her haustoria right inside me. “It’s been making me reflect a little bit, honestly.”

“Hmm? About your old life, petal?” She scratched that spot on my head just a bit. “You know I’ve told you so many times that those days aren’t any of your concern anymore. Though if you wish to reminisce, I did receive a letter not just a few days ago.”

I tilted my head in disbelief. “A… letter? Like, a physical one? What kind of sophont writes a letter? From who?”

“From your old fixer. ‘Big J’, I believe you used to call him?” I felt a spark of anger like a static shock. “Do you wish to read it?” I nodded, and Mistress passed me a crisp manilla letter. I ruffled it open, admiring first the quality of the calligraphy. You didn’t see such neat penmanship in this day and age, it would’ve honestly been impressive if it wasn’t from… him.

“Dear Violet Lamia.

You may be wondering why I’m reaching out to you via a letter rather than an email or in person. Truth be told, I believe this is the best way of contacting you. A way of reaching out to you that gives you control to ignore my rambles should you not wish to engage with them.

I wish to start this out by apologising. In our years working together, I manipulated you, I made you commit horrible acts, I used you for my own gain. In the cutthroat old world that you and I used to occupy, this was necessary. I viewed you as a tool to my own ends, grooming you into being a perfect weapon. Even the way I used to speak to you was a carefully coordinated trick to get you to trust me.

I do not ask your forgiveness. It is not mine to give. Even now, I am not expecting you to write back. However, I am now the owner of a conscience. My Mistress has made me reconcile with the past and what I’ve done and I cannot live the rest of my life without at least explaining myself.

Even when the Affini arrived, my first thought was how to wench control back so I could retake my spot at the centre of that warped web. That is why I sent you on that job, Violet. We both underestimated them. When I returned home to my apartment I was informed that I was being domesticated for my own good and now… well. I’m sure you can attest to how effective an affini is at bringing their pets in line.

Mistress tells me you are doing well. I sent a separate letter to your girlfriend, Sakura, but I do not expect her to read it. Likewise, I sent one to Jezekiel. 

Farewell, dear Violet. I wish you nothing but happiness.

From an admirer, John Maize, second floret.

I felt a waterfall of emotion wash over me. It began with burning embers of anger and shifted into biting notes of sadness, before hints of acceptance set in. There was never really any doubt what happened to Big J, but finding out how skilled a manipulator he was… I put my cigarette in my mouth to hold it. Then I set the bottom of the letter aflame.

The fire consumed it eagerly, quickly rolling up the sheet and forcing me to drop it off the balcony. It dissipated on the way down, harmlessly disintegrating into nothingness. “You know, I can’t even bring myself to hate him. I’m just glad he’s out of my life.” I shrugged with casual nonchalance. “Did Sakura read hers?”

“I haven’t the heart to bother her about her old life. Unlike you, I think she might start crying if I were to mention it.” Considering how she hissed at me back at the beach, I couldn’t help but agree. “Anyway, were your days in the crew what was on your mind, petal?”

“Nope. Something else that’s been lingering on the back of my mind.” I took a long drag from my cigarette, finding the courage in it to say what I was about to say. “When we first met, you told me you believed I could be independent. That’s why I was entering a wardship with you rather than being taken. Did you ever mean that?” I turned my face to gaze at the metallic eyes of my owner, who merely laughed at me.

“Violet. Darling Violet, I thought you figured this out back when I first put a collar on you! Still, if you wish for a more explicit explanation.” She wrapped me up tighter, almost somewhat painfully as the vines coiled around my frame. I could still move my hands to smoke, but with how my heartrate was spiking it was hardly a priority currently. “There was never a chance I’d let you out of my grasp.”

“So, there wasn’t any hope for me to remain independent?” I chuckled back.

“Oh, there was plenty of hope for you!” She reached downwards, grabbing my collar firmly so that it pulled tight against my skin. “Just as a beloved pet, not as a stray. The original plan was to slowly lure you into florethood, make you want to spend as much time as possible with Ash and I and then…” She mimicked a sound of a clasp closing shut. “Mine. Forever.” She released the grasp on my collar, forcing a shameless moan from me.

“Why did you go through all the trouble of a wardship, then?” I shrugged, finishing the last of my cigarette and placing it neatly into the ashtray. “Wouldn’t grabbing me and taking me when we first met been easier?”

“Hmm, yes. However, the amount of suffering that would have caused you was unacceptable. Consider, my darling, what would have happened if I just took you from your hab and brought you into your forever home?” Mistress tapped a vine against my forehead a few times as if she was instructing me to think.

Still, I didn’t really like recalling my mind back to when she wasn’t in my life. Back to when I had to do everything for myself, when I couldn’t just rely on my owner to feed me and bathe me and… I whimpered harshly. “I’d probably have rejected your care and love until I finally got over myself, huh?”

“Absolutely! Your first day as a pet wouldn’t be spent having fun bathtimes with your dearest Ash, or cuddling into us as the shampoo wore off, or our first real attempt at understanding each other. It’d just be my silly pet attempting to resist her fate for a full day.” She shook her head with a condescending laugh. “Instead, I got to slowly introduce you to the delights of florethood.”

It pained me to do so, but I cast my mind back again. When I got really drunk, Mistress wasn’t there to comfort me. I didn’t get the special core cuddles that I got when I needed them, I fell asleep on the couch of a person who only wanted me for what I could do for them. My eyes began to sting, tears streaming down my cheek freely. Like always, she brought a leafy finger to my eyes, wiping them away.

“Mistress… I love you so much, Mistress!” I was permitted to shift around enough to wrap my arms around her body, to which she kept me closer to her. Her biorhythms engulfed me, lulling me into a calming sense of worship for her.

“I love you too, Violet. But I need you to collect yourself just a bit longer.” She hushed her own noises, forcing me sharply into reality. “I need you to realise just the extent of how much of this was planned from the start.” My tears had died down enough for me to dip my hand into the ice waters of my past.

“Well… obviously, I was always going to be yours. Ash probably insisted on it, right?” I collected my thoughts long enough, though I just wanted to fall into her again.  

“You’re thinking about it the other way around. I wanted you, Ash was simply the means I was going to use to bring you to my hab as often as I could.” She patted my head a few times. “You were very close with your line of reasoning, though.”

“Then, did you suggest we start dating again, or?”

“No, but Ash wanted you back anyway. She just didn’t want you as her owner, silly petal.” Yeah, that was pretty silly of me to think I could own someone as well as Mistress could.

“And… the implant? Why did you frame it as a choice?” I felt my stomach turn as her grin turned malicious.

“Darling, that wasn’t actually your choice.” I struggled for a moment to comprehend.

“But-” I interrupted, only to get shushed rather loudly.

“No, no. Mistress isn’t done speaking yet. You wait for me to finish.” She prompted me for an answer with a vine in my side.

“Yes Mistress!” I felt my body scramble to obey her before my mind could.

“Good girl. Now, as I was saying, you haven’t made a choice in a long, long while. I usually present you what to wear from fashions you previously wore. I decide what you eat, when you sleep, and most crucially, when you went for surgery.” She tapped the back of my neck, where the scar was.

“Hey! I made that choice myself!” I.. did I? I found myself questioning even that.

“Sure, sweetie. You decided to give yourself up to me right after I had decided to let you sleep next to my core, just after I had organised a drinking contest that you were surely going to lose.” I watched her features drip with sadistic delight as her vines coiled around my thighs, utterly immobilising me. “I knew you weren’t going to say no to that. I knew you weren’t going to deny me right after I had spent the night toying with your brain and doting on you.” She shook her head dramatically. “No, pet. You were always going to give in exactly the moment I wanted you to. Any choice that I offered to you was a decision I made for you, letting you justify it in your head before ultimately giving in. “

A past me would have been inflamed with anger. Would have felt betrayed at this revelation that she was puppetering me. Yet as I looked at her, I felt only adoration. Love and trust that she wanted exactly what was best for me. Whatever embers of resistance rested inside me faded a long time ago. I was truly lucky to be blessed with an owner who could so effortlessly strip away my agency without even causing it to hurt.

“Huh.” I felt warm. Fuzzy. “You really thought of everything, Mistress. Did you even plan the beach trip so I’d meet Sakura?”

“Of course! Well, neither me nor Alexi expected that you and Sakura would get along this well, though we did play matchmaker just a little bit. The decision to get implanted may never have been yours, but I wished for you to see all the happy little florets before accepting your own path.”

I just dreamily thought about Sakura. How soft she was, how cute she was cuddling into me, and how fucking good her pussy felt. “...one second, you say I’ve never been able to make a decision, but you don’t vine feed me?” I titled my head in confusion.

My owner sighed with a delightful giggle. “You don’t get it, yet. If I wanted to vine feed you, that’d happen the next meal. Still, you may not have remembered the implanting that much, but…” She tapped next to my cheek and I felt it open without my input. Afterwards, a single tap under my jaw snapped my mouth shut, while another massaging touch on my throat instructed me to swallow.

“I taught you this while you were still recovering! I also was looking after your nappies during that time, who knew that having little princess Sakura around would be so useful for my sweet little kitty?”

“Wait, I wore nappies?!” I sputtered in disbelief.

“Of course! You weren’t moving anytime soon and it would be unsanitary for you to mess the bed. Don’t worry, little petal. Sakura picked out the cutest kitten ones possible for you.” I didn’t even remember this!

“...you’re not getting ideas, are you?”

“No, but I’ve had to talk Alexi off a few.” Mistress tittered playfully. “It is utterly adorable that this is the thing that you’re getting worked up about.”

---

Every now and again I’d just stare at Ash and remind myself how pretty she was. The way her face was framed by her side shave, those bits of metal placed delicately on her face around her lips and eyebrows that always stabbed me back whenever we made out. We were laid on the bed, her head pressed onto my ribs. Mistress had gifted us a pair of cableless earpods that fit into our more animalistic ears but still synced together, enabling idle music listening. Of course, she could always disable it remotely if our attention was required.

My hands rested on top of her head, stroking into the soft fur of her ears. Heavy metal blasted into our ears, the type that you could imagine yourself shoving someone into a mosh pit in. Concerts had actually started up again, Ash scheduled for a gig in a week or so. Her band was still wondering if they should tour or not, so they decided to give a few concerts in some nearby cities a go. Truth be told, Ash didn’t want to leave me or Mistress by ourselves that long.

Still, I had always wanted to be on tour with her, even if I was just a lousy groupie. Guess it wouldn’t be that lousy if it was her.

“Love you.” I purred out in between some more scratches.

“Love you too, babe. Where did that come from?” She gradually raised her eyes to look at mine, head still tilted on the side. She held an easy smile on her face, the look of someone so utterly smitten.

“Ain’t I allowed to say I love my girlfriend?” I flicked her nose a bit, to which she just chuckled. “Besides, it’s just that… Y’know it’s been two months since I came here, right?”

“Since you became Mistress’ floret, yep.”

“Back in the old days, this is all I ever wanted. Now, look at us, cuddling, making plans, listening to music…” Ash picked herself up to press her face towards mine, her hands lovingly holding onto my cheeks.

“Remember back then? The day before you did that really stupid stunt of yours? I told you.” She leaned in to swoop a kiss onto my lips. “This is all we ever wanted, Violet. And now we have it.” I shifted my grip onto her hips, squeezing onto the curve.

“Yeah. Now we’ll never separate.” She slid down, parking her ass right onto my crotch and rubbing firmly into me.

“We can be in love forever, we can spend our lives just getting to enjoy each other…” I had learnt her expressions well. When she was panting, her eyes half-lidded with a need written plainly into her gorgeous features, I knew what she was aiming for. I glided my hands under her top to pull at it, the clothing coming freely off and revealing her breasts.

She did the same, pulling off me just long enough to free me from my shorts and herself from her skirt. Stripped down to just our underwear and collars, my boxers were barely able to hide my excitement. Those didn’t last long either, taken down when her hands glided across my sides.

“And we can spend the rest of our lives being stupidly in love with each other, huh?” I kissed her again, holding it just a bit longer this time. Enough to taste her lips and her tongue. Afterwards, I turned her around and got on my knees. Once more I took a hold of her hips, Ash pressing her back against me to give full access. Her tail folded down and around my leg so it wouldn’t start wagging in my face.

“In love with everything that makes my Violet the loveable dumbass that she is.” Ash chuckled, quickly shut up by a harsh grope onto her breast. I fondled her like she was little more than meat, finely attuned to just how much punishment this masochist puppy could take before she’d start crying out to stop.

“And everything that makes my Ash the adorable mutt that she is.” I couldn’t let that slight go unreturned, turning my attention to her neck to press a harsh bite right onto the flesh. At the same time, I guided my shaft inside her with the hand that was on her hips, sliding it into paradise. I growled violently, still tearing at the skin with enough force to leave a hickey. Moans began to flow freely from my girlfriend, who had taken the lead in using my cock.

I relinquished the bite as my mind was filled with pleasure, Ash having specifically modelled her pussy to the exact length I was. We were literally a perfect fit together, and with my head against hers I felt the way our bodies synchronised. She pulled out of me in time with me, never moving too far to detach myself from her walls.

“I love you!” I shouted out with a new thrust, and she responded in kind with her own.

“I love you too!” A wave of ecstasy slammed my body, filling me replete with adoration for my girlfriend. We started repeating it to each other with each thrust I made, the confessions of love adding into the chorus of pleasured moans that we made. I had been intent to just bite her, but I couldn’t help myself. Fingers sunk into her breasts, dug deep into her hips, even exploring around her stomach to just feel as much of her as I could.

She was mine, as much as I was permitted to have her while being Mistress’. It made me feel complete. Each time that we got together to make love it welled up deep inside me, grateful that I was that I could have her in my arms again. That I could feel her pussy against my shaft.

 

Eventually the door swung open, revealing our Mistress. Neither of us were going to stop, I was literally unsure if I could.

“How adorable! I leave you two alone for just a little bit and you both go at it. Are you having fun, pets?”

“Yes Mistress!” We cried out in unison, though I could feel that I was getting close. A building pressure was rising inside me that wasn’t helped by her arrival or Ash’s furious rutting.

“Here. Let me help you both along just a little.” She slithered up to both of us, activating our implants to give us a heady dose of Class-As. What had felt merely amazing now felt incredible beyond words, my body floating into Ash’s own. With how high I was, I could barely feel where I began and she ended, simply mixing into a beautiful heaven of pleasure. I felt my eyes water from sheer delight.

She stroked her softer vines against our exposed skin, scratching our heads with her hands. Ash who had previously attempted people words was now surrendering to barking, a rumbling purr coming from my chest myself. “That’s much better! Good girls!” Our owner cooed, her words resonating deep inside my very core. Ever since the implant, every note from her reached deep within my soul to pull it to her. “Such happy, docile pets. I’m lucky to have a set of wonderful possessions as you two. I love you both.”

For some reason that was enough to take me over the edge. I plunged deep into the abyss, cumming hard enough to feel my consciousness fray just a little. Using Ash as my anchor, I managed to keep myself in this world just long enough to return my owner’s affection. “Love… too…” I panted out, my shaft emptying out my adoration into an awaiting puppy pussy.

We fell sideways onto each other, our naked bodies flowing freely in our baked states. She kept touching us, Ash getting slightly more attention for barking so eagerly. I didn’t care, I could barely uncurl my toes or unclench my jaw in pleasure.

“Oh, petals… I really did come here quite late into your fun, didn’t I?” Her voice was so fucking absurdly pretty, I could listen to it all day just talk about anything. Everything about her was so incredible. “Now, be good, you two. I need to… deal with a certain matter.” She gave us a kiss on the head each before collecting herself, staring at us each with such pride in her eyes. Then, she simply went downstairs.

“Oh hey Mistress.” I heard Sakura. “Wait, Mistress? Mistress?!” Both me and Ash tittered, the door closing to prevent sound travelling. We were left alone, drifting in space as we simply spent the next hour groping and cuddling.

Oh hey, she put our earpods back in and gave me my phone to control the music.

Huh, turns out that door wasn’t totally soundproof. I could hear her shouting “I’m a good girl! I’m a good pet!” while moaning if I listened reaaaaaally hard. Hot.

<VioletInBloom> hamburger
<VioletInBloom> oh this isnt the compiler app

<AshenNotes> Babe there’s no complier app

<VioletInBloom> they should make one
<VioletInBloom> imagine that you could just type
<VioletInBloom> hamburger
<VioletInBloom> and get a hambutger

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Kitty, that’s called “Asking your owner to compile it for you.”

<VioletInBloom> wow
<VioletInBloom> Mistress can I use your compiler app to get hamubrger pls

<ALavanderByAnotherName> Of course, sweetie! No eating in the bedroom, you need to come downstairs though.

I groaned, but I was having so much fun groping a puppy! I ended up relenting, heading downstairs totally naked.

“Mistress! Where is my-” I then realised why she had brought me downstairs. Sakura had been fucked so hard she passed out, laying on our owner with only a nappy on. With a single tap, she signalled me over to take her spot, letting the passed out girl onto my chest just where she could hear my heartbeat. I was told I was too high to eat a burger by myself safely, so Mistress cut it up and fed it to me.

I was winning anyway, I got to cuddle my little sister and have a burger. After eating, I laid there long enough for a nap to sound like a really good idea. Napping when really high was a really good idea and I had a really cute girl on me anyway.

I woke up a few hours later, the little princess on me having been up for a while. Ash and her were watching some anime again, but she didn’t want to leave my chest. When I stirred, I was greeted with a flurry of kisses on my lips, cheek, and chin.

“Big sister!” I could feel her body vibrating with how excited she was. “Did you know I love you?!”

“You can never go wrong with reminding me of it. I love you too, sis.” We both giggled innocently, Mistress sliding by to give me my clothes back.

Eventually Alexi and Shiro came in to check on us, Sakura pouncing upon the opportunity to hold her mummy. I just used the time to stand up straight and stretch, looking at the lad that I had grown to call friend. He still wore his face mask around the hab, but it was more out of style than wanting to hide a non-existent scar.

“Yo, Shiro. Still on for card games later?” With four players, we had enough to play a game of commander together. I had previously attempted this with just the girls and Mistress, however I was the only one who was attacking her and it just ended up being so lopsided I never stood a chance at winning.

“Yeah. It’ll be after our teatime, anyway… that reminds me, is sis sleeping with you or us tonight?” The worst thing about this polyamorous stuff with shifting who was sleeping where.

“It’s my implant anniversary, so I’m claiming her for the night. You’ll get her tomorrow.”

“Cool. More Mummy time for me.” He giggled, leaning into the mass of yellow vines that was Alexi.

“Besides, we’re getting Sakura tomorrow. I’ll have my little prince and princess then, don’t you worry about it. I think I need to treat you both to a day of little time. How does that sound?” They reassured the two of them, both looking up at their mummy with that look of pure adoration I knew well.

“Amazing, Mummy!” Sakura cheered.

“Yay…” Shiro was positively delighted, animating as much as Shiro ever did.

Oh, right, my phone. It had buzzed a few times while I was cuddling Sakura.

<PumpedUpJ> Violet!
<PumpedUpJ> Me and my boys are going out drinking in a few days, wanna come?
<PumpedUpJ> You can bring your girls if you want too, just y’know

<VioletInBloom> I’ll bring Ash, can’t imagine bringing little miss princess to one of our drinking contests ;)

<PumpedUpJ> Bitch you’ve never won a single one of our drinking contests

<VioletInBloom> yeah well you’re on, dickhead

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The cool rain pounded the glass above me, loud enough that I could hear it clearly. I was in my favourite spot in the entire universe, right between my girlfriends and my Mistress. Thanks to her very fluid shape, it was easy enough for her to wrap vines around all three of us and collect us into a centre.

I looked at all of them. The pretty little pink princess in her soft pink nightgown, nuzzling softly against my shoulder bone with a gentle “Luv you…” through her pacifier.

Then to my adorable puppy girlfriend, who had taken up space with her back to my side, my arm wrapped tightly around her to keep her close. If I pulled my neck up just a bit I was able to see her happy smile, but I knew it’d be obvious.

Finally, I looked at Mistress, who was glancing down at all of us with such adoration. Our gazes caught each other, and she pressed a kiss on my forehead.

“I love you all, girls. You truly make my core tremble in love for all of you.”

“Love you too, Mistress!” We all cried back.

“Good girls. Very, very good girls.” She praised us all with a different level of touch, a full volley of shivers coming from her pets.

This was everything I ever wanted. I’d have to spend the rest of my life repaying my Mistress for giving me this life.

I truly was the luckiest floret in the Compact.

 

Notes:

Thank you so much for reading!