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My Hab AI chimed, so I pulled my vines a bit tighter together and grabbed my communicator. I didn’t have a floret, so I didn’t need to pull myself together or go make breakfast or even get out of bed. Though, with how spread out my vines were, parts of me had already achieved that last one. Good enough. As I opened my communicator I saw a message from a friend, so tapped the icon.
[[FloretPetter14]]: Dacia! I know you haven’t left your Hab in far too long, so let’s change that! I know this great cafe with the cutest wait staff. It’ll be good to see you again.
I sighed and tapped out a response. I know Liotrope means well, and logically I should probably leave my Hab eventually, but knowing and wanting are two different things. Plus, I don’t want to deal with a wellness check if I say no- I’m already on thin ice there.
[[DoItForTheVine]]: Alright, where and when?
————-
Fine, yes, now that I’m out I can recognize that it’s good for me. I don’t mind being out, I mind going out. Pulling myself together into a vaguely coherent shape, ambulating to wherever it is I’ve been invited (usually by Liotrope), trying my best not to get jealous of all of the Affini with florets. I want one, but I know that any potential floret would be happier with another plant, so really it’s for the best. Besides, I’m only a Third Bloom. I have plenty of time to find a floret.
The cafe that I’d been invited to was packed, so I waited for Liotrope on a nearby bench in the park. I let my vines unfurl as I wait- it’s not like I had any reason not to. Until, that is, I heard a voice.
“Um, excuse me, are you busy?”
A Terran had walked up to me. There was no collar around her neck, so I had to tread carefully. I brought my three eyes to the surface, formed something akin to a head, and searched up this adorable Terran on the communicator inside me. Mikayla Prigg, Independent. She/her pronouns.
“Not at the moment. Can I help you?” Ok, good start. Neutral tone, no compliments, hopefully I can get her on her way before she starts to bond. I’d just disappoint her anyways.
“I was hoping I could sit with you and maybe chat a bit? You look a little lonely, and the Compact is all about making everyone happy, so I thought I’d lend a hand! Would you mind putting me next to you? I can’t really get up on my own.”
By the Everbloom, why does she have to be so cute? Don’t worry Dacia, you’ll be ok. She’ll probably get distracted by a better Affini and go make their day brighter instead. I snaked a few vines around her, placed her next to me, and- starsdammit, I gave her a headpat. Hopefully she took a C-inhibitor or something today. For her sake.
She giggled a bit. “Thanks. I’m Mikayla Prigg, Independent. She/her. You?”
“Dacia Minzala, Third Bloom, she/her as well.”
“I like that name! Dacia Minzala. Dacia Minzala. MinzalaMinzalaMinzala. It has a nice mouth feel.”
Is that flirting? Is Mikayla flirting with me? Stars I hope not, she’s so cute and pettable and oh why couldn’t she pick any other Affini to spend time with. Oh, she’s looking at me. I should say something. Right. Speech. Conversations. “Thanks, I picked it myself.” Nailed it.
Mikayla giggled. “Well you have good taste. If you don’t mind, I have another favor to ask. When you picked me up it made me realize that I’m kind of touch starved, would you mind holding me for a bit? I don’t have anything I need to do today, and your vines were very comforting.”
Nonononononononono. “Sure.” I gingerly picked her up and held her closer to my body, making sure to move my core further towards my back. I don’t want her to get any more of my biorhythm than absolutely necessary. She cuddled up into my vines, like she was always meant to be in them, and… fell asleep? Ok, don’t panic, definitely don’t panic. Who’s panicking? I’m not panicking. Definitely not. I started searching for what to do on my communicator at an incredibly normal and reasonable speed. Unfortunately all of the results I found were some variation of “Get the cutie a collar.”
As I tried in vain to refine my search, I didn’t notice Liotrope arrive. She took one look at me and my f- my independent acquaintance and squee’d. “Dacia! You didn’t tell me you found a floret! I’m so happy! When did you meet? Where did you meet? Why haven’t you invited me over to play with her yet? What’s her name? Tell me everything!”
I finally had a chance to speak. “Lio, she’s not my floret. She’s an independent that just happened to ask me to hold her a couple minutes ago and just happened to fall asleep in my vines and oh dirt I have a floret now don’t I.”
Liotrope nodded. “It’s a good thing we’re already out, we have an excuse to celebrate! Come on, let’s get a table. You can tell me everything while this cutie sleeps.” She brought a vine over and stroked Mikayla’s head, who murmured slightly in her sleep.
I got up, making sure not to jostle Mikayla too much, and we made our way to the cafe. “Hopefully she wakes up soon and realizes she has to go, I’m not sure I’m ready for a floret.”
Liotrope and I found a table- the crowd seemed to have dispersed significantly in the past few minutes. “Dacia, I keep telling you that you’ll make a wonderful owner. It’s okay to do things that make you happy, you know. Mikayla certainly seems happy in your vines.”
“But what if I mess up? What if I do something wrong? Shouldn’t she be with someone who can give her the life she deserves? There are so many Affini who have so much more experience with florets. She deserves the best, and I don’t know if I can give that to her.”
Liotrope set a hand on my shoulder. “Dacia, you’re getting in your own head. It’s all going to be ok. Sure there might be a couple bumps here and there, but there’s nothing the Compact won’t do to help an Affini take care of a floret. We’re here for you. I’m here for you. I’m only ever a message away. Especially if you need a floretsitter.”
I adjusted my seating and forced some air to flow over my core, calming myself. “You’re right. Thanks, Liotrope. Unfortunately there isn’t too much of a story with Mikayla. She asked for help onto the bench, we introduced ourselves, she asked to be held, and she fell asleep. Then you showed up.”
I noticed that I’d been petting her with a vine and stopped. Liotrope gave me a burst of encouragement from her biorhythm, so I continued. Pride soon followed.
We ordered some nutrient waters and continued chatting. I also looked up Mikayla’s compiler history and food preferences, ordering her a hot chocolate in a stasis cup for when she wakes up.
Sure enough, a while later I felt her stir in my vines. “Mmmgood morning, Mistress,” she said as she stremched. I steeled myself, the excitement from Liotrope hard to ignore.
“Good morning, Mikayla. I do feel like I should remind you that you’re independent. I ordered you a hot chocolate if you’re thirsty.”
She looked up at me. Are her eyes supposed to be that wet? “I’m sorry, Mi- Dacia. Did I do something wrong? I promise that I’ll be good! You can touch train me and give me cuddles an-“
I put a vine to her lips, shushing her. Stars, she’s deeper than I thought. “No, Mikayla, you didn’t do anything wrong. I was a little harsh. You…” I reminded myself that I'm allowed to want this, and she certainly does. Refusal would break the poor thing’s lungs. “You can be my floret if you want.” Liotrope looked like she was about to wilt.
“Yaaaay!” She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. “Thank you Mistress! Can I have that hot chocolate please?” She sat up and opened her mouth, but made no move to take it as I brought it near her. It took me a beat too long to realize she was waiting for me to do it for her. Because she’s a floret. The floret for me. The floret that chose especially to be owned by me. My floret.
Liotrope took a photo as Mikayla drank from my vine. “I’ll send that to you, you’re definitely going to want this.” I felt a rumble from my communicator. “Oops, I accidentally sent it in the public ship chat. My vine must have slipped.”
—————
A few days later, Liotrope and I were sitting on my couch and her florets got to know Mikayla in her room. I could hear through the wall how much fun they were having. “Dacia, have you looked through your new floret’s messaging history?”
“I can’t think of a reason to, why?”
“Well, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with her friends and hobbies, for a start. That way you can start to plan some fun activities for her!”
That did make sense. While Mikayla and I were definitely enjoying getting to know each other, a well rounded social life is important. I pulled up my communicator and used it to access her messages. “Thanks for letting me know.” Most of her recent messages were to a group chat with a few independents and several florets. “She started a conversation the night I brought her home with ‘it worked!” I wonder what she was talking about. Her friends are very happy for her, whatever it was.”
“Maybe there’s a direct message or two that could clear things up? Maybe she told someone about a plan the night before.”
“Right. Let’s see, she messaged…” I looked down at the screen. The handle she was messaging didn’t make any sense, but there it was. FloretPetter14.
~FlortMePlommy started a message with FloretPetter14!
[[FlortMePlommy]] Hi, is this Liotrope Gratis, Fourteenth Bloom?
[[FloretPetter14]] It is cutie, what can I help you with?
[[FlortMePlommy]] As you can probably guess by my handle, I’m tired of being independent. I thought about heading down to the Domestication Center, but I realized something- I probably wouldn’t find the kind of owner I’m looking for. I hear you’re the Affini that knows everyplant, so would you happen to know any youngblooms that, by all measures, should have a floret by now, but are too anxious or held up about getting one? I want to set up a meet cute.
[[FloretPetter14]] This is the cutest thing I’ve ever read, I know just the Affini.
I read on as Mikayla laid out her grand plan- take a delayed class-Z, happen upon an Affini that was waiting for Liotrope, chat a bit, and just before the Z kicked in, ask to be held.
I slowly looked up at Liotrope. “You planned all of this?”
“Of course not. She did.”
Just then, our florets made their way to the living room, Mikayla struggling to walk in a straight line. “Miss Gratis, thank you so much for bringing Celia and Alex over, they’re tons of fun.” The Gratis florets gave her a big group hug as she said it.
“Of course, cutie. While you were having your little playdate, I encouraged your Mistress to scroll back through some of your messages.”
“You mean she-“
“Precisely.”
I looked towards my floret. This beautiful bundle of joy that came into my life far less accidentally than I had thought. All I could manage was “Why?”
She shrugged. “Because you’re my owner. You just didn’t realize it yet.” She hugged the lower half of my body.
“…Liotrope, would you mind taking your florets home? I need to give Mikayla the biggest reward I can come up with.”
Liotrope gathered her florets in her vines and the connivents cheered. “I’ll message you some ideas when we get back to our Hab.”
“Take your time, it’s going to last a while.”