Chapter Text
Seeing the first affini broadcasts had lit a fire in Rebecca’s heart. A fire quite unlike that of the other ‘free terrans’ within the Accord. No, Rebecca had seen that first broadcast, heard the giant, incredibly attractive plant woman espousing the goodness of the Affini Compact, and instead had her eyes drawn to the terran in her oversized lap.
The terran wearing a collar. Being pet. By said giant plant lady. And then she had gone on to talk about ‘domestication,’ and becoming a ‘floret,’ and that had sealed the deal for Rebecca. She wanted — no, needed — to become one of these ‘florets.’ She had known she had a petplay kink for years, but she had never found ‘the one.’ The woman who would take her, break her will, reduce her to a weak, submissive pet.
The adoration in the eyes of the terran in that broadcast had showed nothing but bliss; a display of pure ecstasy in submission the likes of which Rebecca had dreamed of one day getting to experience herself.
So, being an absolute genius in the art of understanding social cues, she figured that this would be a common sentiment among her peers. Which was why she was now living behind a dumpster, with a significant collection of bruises and welts across her body. Upon talking to her friends after the broadcast, they had called her a ‘plantfucking whore,’ and decided to take it into their own hands to beat some sense into her. It had just so happened that her landlord didn’t take kindly to ‘plantfuckers’ either, and had joined in on the beat-Rebecca-up train, before summarily tossing her into the street and throwing all her possessions out of her window.
Most of her belongings didn’t survive the quick trip down from the 49th floor. Luckily her communicator and spending card had been wrapped up in a blanket, sparing them from destruction on impact. She’d had about enough adrenaline still in her system to grab that blanket and a small assortment of other clothes, before stumbling into an alleyway and collapsing.
It was certainly an embarrassing affair. Getting beaten so much wasn’t great, and the shock of losing her friends in such a violent manner hurt. She didn’t trust she would remain safe this close to her old apartment, and had intended to get as far away as possible upon waking. Unfortunately her body wasn’t loving the whole ‘moving’ thing right now, so after shambling a whopping fifty metres, she found a rather appealing bit of concrete behind another dumpster and took another nap.
This process continued for a few more days, each time managing to go a bit farther than the last. Now, five days post beat-down, Rebecca was enjoying the last of her flavourless nutrient paste she had purchased with the last of her credits, and resting behind yet another dumpster. Her injuries hadn’t healed well, she could still feel something wrong in her chest, and a few fingers on her left hand weren’t cooperating with her intentions. Not to mention the shooting pain up her spine with every step she took. She had put her trust in the affini the moment she had shared her opinions with her friends.
All things considered, from what she had seen over her comm of other terrans sharing her sentiments, she’d had it relatively easy. She was still breathing, after all. Even if every breath hurt her tender ribs. She had managed to go about five blocks today before the pain had necessitated finding another dumpster to crash behind.
That patch of concrete behind a dumpster, sitting on a torn shirt and cradling her pitiful collection of possessions, was where the emotional weight of the past week’s events finally hit her. Sitting in a damp alley, stained with blood and sweat and filth, Rebecca broke down. Violent sobs racked her body, silent wails of despair interrupted by dry-heaving coughs and knives of pain shooting through her bruised and cracked ribs. Time didn’t really mean anything to her at that point. The passing of seconds, minutes, even hours, were outweighed by a heavy dissociative haze occasionally interrupted by more tears.
It was in one of those more attentive moments, quiet sobs escaping her lips, that she felt that signature thump in her lungs, the sign of a ship’s jump drive violently announcing its arrival somewhere nearby. It was surprising enough to shake Rebecca out of her despair, to make her curious enough to glance skywards and take in the sight of salvation in the upper atmosphere. A sight that was, very rapidly, pushing its way into the lower atmosphere. She had enough sense to remember to cover her ears as the sonic shockwave of the gargantuan affini ship crashed over her, sending a fresh wave of pain through her injuries.
Once the pain had subsided to a manageable level, Rebecca lifted herself up, ditching all the filth-stained clothes but keeping the blanket that had quickly become her only emotional support. Clutching it to her chest, she shakily walked out from behind her dumpster and in the direction of one of the many affini shuttles now jetting towards the planet’s surface.
She lost herself in the act of putting one foot in front of the other, each footfall sending another lick of pain up her chest and eliciting a wince. She just had to hope one of those gorgeous affini would find her before she collapsed into the footpath, indistinguishable from any other pile of garbage lining the buildings around her.
She was dimly aware of activity in the streets. She heard some shouting, saw some feet rush past her own. However her mind was too focused on the ground in front of her. Brace for the pain, step, wince, recover. Brace for the pain, step, wince, recover . If she just kept moving forward, she would find them soon enough. Brace for the pain, step, wince, recover . Well, it seemed more likely they would find her. She was too focused on her footsteps. The affini had mentioned something about their superior healthcare in those broadcasts, they could probably fix her up real quick. She just had to make it to them. Brace for the pain, step, wince, recover .
“Petal?” That voice. That ethereal, otherworldly voice, a multilayer harmony of gentleness, concern, empathy. It met her ears and shattered her attention, pulling her back to reality mid-step and into the eyes of the giant before her. An affini, three metres tall at least, looking down at her with a look of genuine worry. Goddess, she was beautiful. Her body was the picture of magnificence, vines placed just so in an intricate weave to create the image of a stunningly attractive woman. She had flowers of so many vibrant colours decorating the vines making up her hair. More still adorned her chest and arms, flowers Rebecca had never seen before, all arranged in a seemingly random yet eye-catching display.
It was at about that time her legs decided they were done for the day. Before collapsing completely, she let out a whimper. “Hurts…” Her face on a collision course with the concrete, she watched as lightning-quick vines shot towards her and caught her limp frame, before being pulled gently up towards the arms of her affini saviour. She managed to whisper out a quiet “help… please,” as the arms wrapped her in a soft embrace, pulling her in to a warm embrace.
“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay, little one. Quiet now, I’ve got you. Nothing can hurt you anymore, sweetheart. Can you take a nice, deep breath for me now?” Rebecca felt a mask of unbelievably soft petals form in front of her mouth and nose, and sucking in deeply, smelled the rich floral scent of some unknown flower as a thick gas entered her lungs.
“Th…thank y…” was all she could say before a gentle weight settled in her mind, and the thrumming some entrancing rhythm rocked her to sleep with a delicate smile on her face.