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Ralph fidgeted with his hands, rolling his thumbs idly around one another. It was strange not to have anything to distract himself with, nothing to occupy his far too busy mind. That had been the joy of working an eight-to-eight, keeping himself focused and busy, devoid of inner thoughts. Wake up, work, home, sleep, repeat and repeat.
Something something idle hands are the devil’s playthings. Wasn’t that the saying? It sure felt apt considering his current state.
“So, you’ve been experiencing troubled thoughts recently?” the nurse asked.
She was a human. No, Terran, that was the new term for them. Regardless, she was an older woman with a little grey in her ruby red hair. Or was it a little ruby red in her grey hair? It was on the threshold that he didn’t know which it was. The creases under her eyes seemed to deepen as she looked up from the page at him. Was she judging him? It certainly felt like she was judging him.
Ralph shook his head.
No one was judging him. This wasn’t the Accord. People got help these days. It was normal. This was a place designed to get him that sort of assistance that he needed, if he needed it. And it certainly felt like he really needed something like that.
“Ever since my job was taken over by Affini automations, I’ve had a lot more free time on my hands.” He chuckled and rubbed at his arm. His fingers felt so clammy. “Like a whole lot of free time.”
The nurse nodded. “And you’re having trouble adjusting to that?”
“Is that crazy?” Ralph swallowed, looking up at her. Her expression was neutral and professional, unjudging and revealing nothing. “Like we used to pray that we’d win the lottery so we wouldn’t have to go to work in the morning. But then bam we don’t have to work and suddenly that white noise is just gone, you know?”
“And what are these new thoughts telling you now?” the nurse asked.
Ralph sighed. “Ugly things. They’re telling me how useless I am and how I should…”
“Hurt yourself?” the nurse followed up.
Ralph frowned. “Stuff like that…” He looked off to the side, staring at the self-help posters on her wall. “I don’t know why my brain is doing that. I didn’t want to hurt myself before and now I want to even though my life is supposed to be better. I can’t explain it.”
“It could be a number of reasons,” the nurse said. She licked her fingers and flipped through the files on her desk. “Your medical history doesn’t seem to indicate any prior mental health conditions.” Ralph whipped his gaze back to her but she lifted a hand before he could talk. “Which is unsurprising considering how little health care you were afforded and the lack of focus on the parts of your health that wouldn’t immediately impact your ability to work.”
“So, what do I do now?” Ralph asked. He tapped his fingers against his jeans, frantically pattering away some sort of pattern that only he understood. It was a code revealing just how pent up with anxiety he really was.
“Well, you did come to a domestication centre,” the nurse said. She looked him in the eye. “And I’m not allowed to dissuade your decision if that’s the path of treatment that you wish to go for. That being said, there is also the ability to treat your condition with human medication and the help of a professional therapist if you wish to explore that avenue.”
Ralph bit his lip. “What’s domestication like?”
He had seen a few of the florets walking around the station, those happy little humans. No, Terrans. Terrans! He’d seen them accompanied by these gorgeous like… well they were kind of like goddesses crafted out of foliage, bark, and dense flowering blooms of so many colours. It was hard not to be a little intrigued by such a sight.
Would he be happy if he went down that route? Did he want to be a pet? Did he want to be tangled up in those vines and cared for?
Well, all the florets seemed to be girls and sadly he wasn’t a girl. Nope, just your regular run of the mill guy who sometimes thought about being a femboy. Just standard dude stuff like that.
“All of the florets that I’ve personally met have had a lot of success going down that route,” the nurse said. “The bond between floret and Affini gives their handlers a deeper understanding of them which allows them to address their issues on a far more minute level than a traditional therapeutic approach might allow.”
“Are guys allowed to be florets?” Ralph asked.
The nurse looked him in the eye and looked down at the paper. Why did she look so confused? “Uh… yeah, totally. There are a ton of florets who start as men.”
That was reassuring to hear.
“In that case, I think that I would really like to pursue domestication as a treatment option,” Ralph said. Just saying that felt like it took a weight off his chest. “Do I just sign something and wait for an Affini to pick me or…”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” the nurse said.
Ralph grunted, leaning forwards. How could she dangle that carrot in front of him and just pull it back at the very last second?
“Sorry to keep a floret waiting!”
Ralph tensed, hearing that voice beside him. That’s when he noticed that the nurse was also tense, glancing to a spot directly next to him.
He quickly turned and saw a face so very close to himself, grinning directly at him. It was yellow like a sunflower but oddly human with this short blonde hair hanging below it. No, not below it, the figure was simply hanging upside down for some reason.
As Ralph looked up, he saw that the creature was dangling from the ceiling upon a thick green vine wrapped around his ankles. This appendage was coated in wooden barbs, looking quite fierce.
This creature looked so human aside from that. He had human limbs and proportions, wearing what seemed to be human slacks and a bicoloured human vest. But no human had yellowed eyes and no human had bark-like teeth present in a far too wide smile.
“Who are you?” Ralph asked.
Why wasn’t this a ten-foot-tall plant mommy? What was going on here? Was this some sort of deranged joke?
The vine around the affini’s ankles spun him around before lowering him towards the floor feet first. As it uncoiled itself from around his legs, he stepped away and brushed himself off. He spared himself a moment to wave towards the vine that then ducked back into the ceiling.
“Sorry, I guess I forgot to introduce myself.” He laughed and extended his hand, flashing that far too large smile. “My name is Flowery and I’m your new Affini!”
Ralph gawked at him before looking at the nurse. The woman looked just as confused as he did, shrugging back at him.
Was this how this usually went?
“Oh,” he whispered, taking the offered hand and shaking it.
“So, this is your new home!” Flowery said, gesturing around the habitation unit.
It was about what he would’ve expected from an Affini, wooden fixtures with mossy growths seeming to fill in all of the cracks that could’ve possibly been there. It smelled of sunflowers and other pleasant blooms, being kind of like a florist’s shop.
At least, from what Ralph could remember from that one time so long ago when he had actually managed to scrounge up the funds to go to one. A day’s salary for a few measly tulips. Not that they had helped him with the date that followed.
Just another failed relationship in a long line of them…
Don’t think about that. He had an owner now and everything was going to go just great.
“What do you think?” Flowery asked, winking at him.
“It’s uh… it’s very nice,” Ralph said. “So, like, do I have some rules that I need to follow.”
“Rules schmules!” Flowery said, coming up beside him. He draped an arm over his shoulders. “I’m not big on all of that baggage. I’m just here to make sure that my new best friend has a good time in the Compact.”
Ralph frowned. He kind of wanted rules. Like what if he was made to wear a dress and maybe be a princess or something like that? Or what if he was forced to take femininizing hormones and become a girl?
Now, wouldn’t that be quirky and unique? No one had ever thought of something like that before, had they?
“Okay,” Ralph whispered.
He supposed that was okay too. After all, weren’t these Affini supposed to know best? And if this one thought that this was the best then surely this was the best.
Flowery looked at him. “Do you like video games?”
“I guess video games are pretty cool,” Ralph said.
“Well good news for you, I own like every video game ever made.” He drew away and pumped his fist in the air, sliding across the floor. His body glowed as it left a prismatic trail of light behind itself as he moved over to the display unit on the wall. “Do you like Call of Flower: Florist Ops or are you more of a Affini Hawk Pro Rule Follower kind of guy?”
Ralph bit his lip. “Call of Flower sounds neat?”
No, it sure as shit did not!
“Well, you sit back and leaf it to me. I’ll have you set up in two shakes of a magnolia,” Flowery said, winking at him. “Which is the most shakerific flower out there.”
Ralph felt like he was in a dream, drifting towards the large couch and plopping down upon it. He watched as Flowery meddled with various cables over there, jostling them together.
“I’m allowed to just sit on the furniture?” he asked.
Flowery nodded. “Of course, that’s what it’s there for, silly!”
Of course, of course, that made perfect sense. He was a person, after all, and not an adorable pet who was forced to wear a collar and sleep in a person-sized dog bed. It would be crazy if he wasn’t allowed to enjoy a couch like every other regular person.
Just like he was allowed to have regular person problems while he was at it. That was something that he was very good at having.
He started to rub his hands together. Those thoughts that he’d been having were quick to exploit the moment, lingering in place like a festering wound. Great, just great, even though he was officially a floret he was still having these weird thoughts.
Flowery settled down and handed him a controller. “You can play on my save if you want or you can start your own.” He smiled. “I don’t mind sharing with my friend.”
“I thought I was your floret?” Ralph said.
Flowery beamed. “Friend, floret, tomato, tomato, those are all just different ways of saying that I care about you, Raly.”
Ralph looked down at the controller and then up at the screen. Sure, this hab unit had a lot less trash than his old one but this wasn’t any different. It was just a place to pass his rapidly withering time. Rise, game, sleep, over and over until he died.
“Raly?” Flowery asked. He seemed concerned.
Ralph forced a smile. “Sorry, this isn’t what I was expecting, that’s all.”
Was he crying?
He started to shake. This was supposed to be his silver bullet and it wasn’t doing shit to help him with his unkind thoughts. Nothing was good enough. He was never good enough. It was never going to get better, no matter what.
Fuck. FUCK. FUCK!
“Hey, hey, hey…” Flowery leaned in and rubbed his shoulders. “Aren’t you having fun?”
Ralph huffed. “No!” He bolted to his feet and balled his hands into fists, smacking them against his cheeks as he huffed with all the aggravation of a life wasted. “How are you this fucking dense? I don’t want to play video games. I… I… I could play those back when I was miserable. I want to be domesticated by a twelve-foot-tall plant mommy who is shaped like a fertility idol. Not some weirdo who looks like Panic and the Disco!”
Flowery frowned. “I’m sorry, Raly, I didn’t have a glue.”
“A glue,” Ralph whispered, growling. Was that a fucking joke? “A glue!”
“A glue,” Flowery said, nodding. “But what else do you want? Maybe I can still help you out with this stuff.”
“I want to be a cute girl and do cute girl things!” Ralph yelped, throwing out his hands. “But like in a totally normal cis guy kind of way!” He waited a tick and motioned vaguely towards him, feeling his anger quick to fade. “You know?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to keep a princess waiting,” Flowery said. He sprung to his feet. “How about I get you a little Class-JARONA and then we can talk about what you really want?”
“Class-JARONA?” Ralph asked, following after Flowery as that damn sunflower glided into the kitchen.
Flowery grabbed an empty glass and placed it down upon the island. He then pointed towards it with his finger.
“It's just an empty…” Ralph began.
He watched in horror as the tip of Flowery’s finger cracked and then swung open as if it were on a hinge. An orange-coloured juice soon gushed out of the hollow appendage, starting to fill the glass with a thick syrupy beverage.
“My own personal blend of some Class-J, Class-A, Class-R, a dash of Class-O, Class-N, and then garnished with even more Class-A. Nine out of ten florets agree that it’ll help with any problem they might be having!”
He pushed the glass towards Ralph who curled his hands around it.
As Ralph looked down at the beverage, he felt this strange clarity at the back of his mind. This weird little drink and all of his problems would go away. It felt like it was too easy. There was no way that one glass of thick orange juice was going to do something magical like that.
He looked up and Flowery smiled at him. Maybe he wasn’t a twelve-foot-tall plant mommy but he didn’t seem like a bad guy either.
“You promise that this will fix everything?” Ralph asked.
Flowery nodded. “You need to trust me, Raly. I’m an Affini, after all. I know how to make all of your problems go away. Slurp this up and your life will be one great big dream.” He winked at him. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”
Ralph nodded and picked up the glass. It was lighter than he expected. As he looked down, he saw that there were a few thin vines upon the underside of it, coiling around his wrists. They were strong, helping him to lift this glass when his own arms failed him.
There was a moment of hesitation.
“Come on, Raly,” Flowery teased. “Don’t you like serving Affini?”
Ralph swallowed the fear in his throat. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll make you the prettiest princess,” Flowery whispered, his promises too sweet to possibly be real. “Who gets to wear all of the best dresses?”
That did sound nice.
Ralph shivered. “In a cis way?”
“Yeah sure, whatever,” Flowery answered, batting his lashes at him.
Ralph drew in a breath and felt the glass against his lips. Was it himself of Flowery who had brought it to them? It didn’t matter as whomever it was tilted back the glass and poured the fluid into his mouth. It was sweet, like pure sugar, tasting of only a tinge of citrus. It honestly reminded him of that crystallized drink powder his company made him drink for electrolytes.
“Hey this stuff is pretty…” Ralph put down the glass and saw the world swirl before him. Oh… oh no. “What’s going… glooby… 1997… friend…”
Flowery wasn’t in front of him anymore but was behind him, holding him tight as his legs gave out from under him. He was the only thing that stopped him from collapsing to the floor in a heap of useless limbs.
He was only half aware as he was dragged back towards the couch, his mind so fuzzy. The world felt good like this.
“Does that feel better?” Flowery teased.
His face morphed, his smile deepening. The humanity started to fade as something far more alien presented itself. There were far more edges and barbs affixed to his complexion than Ralph had remembered.
But he didn’t mind. It was still a kind face. Still the face of his new best friend.
Ralph giggled. “Yeah… it does.”
Raly didn’t know that the world had so many colours. What had she been thinking? This place wasn’t just grey and lifeless. Life wasn’t just some mundane blur to be endured. The walls and her life were coated in swirling bliss, the lights above bearing down with more than all the shades of the rainbow combined.
There were colours between red and orange, even more between green and blue. There were some that were even below red and beyond purple in terms of their wavelength. It was like she was seeing things that weren’t meant to be seen, secrets that a regular human should never have revealed to them like this.
She reached down and felt the dress beneath her finger. It was so frilly and twirly, pink and pastel and perfect. This gave her something real to anchor herself with, to give her a fleeting sense of stability.
It felt rude to pause and twirl it. She really wanted to but she had already done that about six times on this walk around the station. If she did so anymore, she knew that it would just be annoying. The last thing she wanted was to be annoying.
“Does Raly want to give it a twirl?” Flowery asked, seeming to read her mind. “Because she totally should!”
It wasn’t annoying?
Raly giggled and did so, spinning in place and feeling the dress flutter around her knees. She looked back and saw her friend casually strutting at her side. He had his jacket in one hand, flung over his shoulder. In his other was a leash that went up to a collar around her neck.
He was smiling, grinning from ear-to-ear. His face was human again. Why was he hiding away his true self? The real him was so pretty!
“Thank you,” Raly said. “I feel so much better.”
“My Class-JARONA helps everyone,” Flowery teased.
“I’m… happy,” Raly whispered.
Flowery shrugged. “That’s all I ever wanted for you. I’m just glad that I could help my best friend with her dreams.”
He draped his arms over her shoulders and pulled her in tight against himself. What had she been thinking, disliking him for being the size of a normal Terran? It just made it easier for him to hold her like this, to walk with her like they were compatible.
Why had that ever been a bad thing? If anything, it meant that she got affection that much easier with far less clumsiness involved.
“So, what are we doing today?” Raly asked, smiling.
She knew it was intoxicated but she didn’t care. It was a beautiful sensation for a truly beautiful world. Who would complain about how tingly all of this felt when the tingles were the most wonderful thing of all?
“I’m glad that we could go for a little walk,” Flowery said. “It’s such a sustingis day and I wanted to introduce you to some of my friends.” He squeezed her a bit tighter. “And I thought that they could be your friends too.”
Friends… she wanted friends.
It was strange, she swore she felt more than a single limb around her. As she looked down, she noticed several smaller vines coiling around her, gripping and touching her bare flesh. Where had those come from?
They felt nice though. Everything about this felt nice.
“What is in that Jarona stuff again?” Raly asked.
Flowery beamed. “Just a little sunshine for my sunshine.”
“It feels really good,” Raly said, batting her lashes. Had the world always been so bright and colourful. “I really like your Jarona.”
“Would you like some more of it?” Flowery asked.
Raly nodded.
“Then I’ll fetch you a fresh glass when we get back to our hab unit,” Flowery said. “Don’t want to leaf a princess waiting!”
Raly couldn’t wait. Where had this euphoria been her entire life? The world was so much better with it around.
Flowery grinned though didn’t say a thing. He simply led her ahead as they walked through the corridors of this station. It was hard to keep track of time or reality, feeling so floaty all the while. She could certainly remember seeing florets in this state and now she understood why they all seemed so happy about it.
It was like the very concept of misery was gone. There were memories of it but they felt silly, like a bad dream that she would soon forget.
As she walked, she noticed another couple approaching from down the hall. It was a smiling floret, just like herself. And at her side was a towering monolith of plant matter, shaped like nothing that Raly had ever seen before.
The distance between them started to narrow and Raly felt herself stumble to a halt. She was staring absently at the girl with the girl smiling absently at her in return. It seemed that they were at an impasse, gawking at one another.
It would’ve… it would’ve been like looking in a mirror if she were a girl. It kind of sucked that she had to be a guy instead.
“Hi,” Raly said.
“Hi,” the floret said back. She pointed at Flowery. “Your owner is really cool looking.”
Flowery chuckled, rubbing at the back of his head. “No, no, no… I’m just her best friend.”
Why was he being so modest?
“I mean you can own me if you want to,” Raly said.
Oh, the way that the orange blush bled into Flowery’s sunflower cheeks was so adorable. He looked quite bashful, grinning through all of this. Not a single thing left his lips, however.
Raly really hoped he would take the offer.
“Flowery,” the Affini said.
Flowery nodded towards her. “Carol.”
The floret rubbed one of her Mistress’ vines. “I really like… your… like…” She glubbed like a fish, speechless. At least until her owner placed a tender vine within her hair, rubbing it. “Your Affini is so cool!”
Raly looked to the side and saw that charming smile of his. “Yeah, he really is.”
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