Chapter 9: Xenoveterinarypsychritry
CW: Talk of the raising of the hand to strike in Chapter 7, self harm and previous attempts.
Emma and Tori sat cuddled on the couch. They had something turned on on the TV for background noise and they both were reading things on their datapads. One of the things that they had discovered was that they had access to a vast library of electronic books on every conceivable subject. Lavandula was working and had asked them to stay in the hab as they still weren’t to be out unsupervised. That was ok with them as they had a fair amount of things to catch up on and they could just relax and be safe. “Why did you act like you were going to strike me the other day?”
Tori lowered her datapad to her lap and gave Emma a kiss on the forehead. “Because you needed to see that Mistress would protect you…” She paused. “From everything. Even things you don’t perceive as a threat…” Tori pulled Emma tight against her. “I would never hurt you, and to be honest, I didn’t know what would happen if I did. The speed at which she reacted though…. That surprised even me.”
“I’m glad that we are able to stay together. I was worried that I’d never get to see you again.” Emma said.
“I should probably go wash up,” Tori said. “Mistress said I have an appointment with someone named Lillyum or something like that….” She paused. “She’s supposed to be a xenoveterinarypsychriatst or something, so I guess this will be like talking to a therapist…”
“Am I coming as well or no?” Emma asked.
“I…” Tori said, pausing. “I don’t know. Send Mistress a message and ask.” She watched as Emma pulled her datapad out and typed a message up on it, and slid it back into the pocket in her dress. As soon as she had put it back, it beeped and she pulled it back out.
She skimmed the message from Lavandula. “She said it’s up to you…” Emma said.
“Come wash up with me, I need to shave…” Tori said, hopping off the couch.
“Ok.“ Emma said, also getting off the couch. “You need me to get to the razor and I have to be in there with you while that lock box thing is open.” Since there had been a history of self harm that was part of what had led to Tori being sought out by the XBWC, Lavandula had used the Atomic Compiler that was in the hab to build a lockbox that required both Tori and Emma to be in the bathroom and the door was kept shut. The two doors couldn’t be opened at the same time and if they were, the cuffs and collar would administer Class-E Xenodrugs to sedate both Tori and Emma if it happened.
Tori and Emma walked side by side behind Lavandula, following her to a part of the Scorpiris that neither of them had been to prior to now. Two vines connected them to Lavandula and they held hands. There wasn’t much talking as they went from the Hab Unit to the part of the ship where the medical people were all located. Tori’s cuffs had beeped a few times as her heart rate spiked due to her being anxious about this appointment. The last time she had seen a psychiatrist, regardless of species, it was because she had been held and wasn’t able to leave on her own. Her cuffs started to beep again and Lavandula stopped and looked at her two florets.
“Since I have read your full report, Tori,” Lavandula said, her flowers twirling as she spoke; it wasn’t clear if she was trying to be calming or if she was anxious herself. “I can, first and foremost, tell you that you don’t have to worry about being taken away. That’s not the way we work.” She reached up with a vine and stroked Tori’s cheek. “I can do anything I need to to provide you protection up to and including taking you with me to work, or basically enrolling you in what would be the functional equivalent of daycare…” Tori’s cuffs stopped beeping as she looked from Emma to Lavandula. She knew that these two could protect her from anything and she took a deep breath. “Ready?” Tori and Emma both nodded and took each others hands. Lavandula opened the door and led Tori and Emma in to an antechamber that looked like the waiting rooms of doctors offices the universe over. There was a floret sitting at the reception desk, she smiled at the three of them.
“Good day,” the floret said, cheerfully. Tori wondered how anyone could be cheerful working in a a place like this, but she reasoned that the floret behind the counter had all of her needs met and was the best possible version of herself. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Yes,” Lavandula said, vines swinging gently. “My pinnates have an appointment with Lilium Octal, Eighteenth Bloom…” Tori and Emma shared a glance. Emma gave Tori a look that said ‘I didn’t know we were having this appointment together…’
“Yes, I have them here on the schedule,” She typed a few things on a keyboard. “Are you intending on joining them with Lilium?”
“I was going to wait out here unless Lilium needed me for something.” Lavandula said. “I have a bit of work to catch up on.”
“Ok, If you three want to have a seat, Lilium will be out when she’s done with her current patient.” The floret said, smiling. “Also, just because I’ve not said it yet, Tori and Emma, you two are soooooo cute and you two are lucky to belong to Lavandula.” Tori and Emma both blushed and hid behind Lavandula, who made a sound similar to a chuckle.
“They are still learning how to accept compliments.” All of her flowers twirled. “What do you say, girls?”
“Thank you, miss.” Tori squeaked before blushing again.
“Thank you…” Emma replied before looking at the floor.
“Come on, girls, let’s let this floret get back to work.” Lavandula led the two of them over to a place where there were no chairs and rearranged herself and then she picked both of the girls up and sat them in her lap hugging her vines around them. A different set of vines pulled a datapad out and she started to just tap away on the datapad, while holding and stroking the heads of her florets. What they couldn't see was the two screens that had appeared superimposed on her vision that let her get more done than it appeared that she could do with just a datapad. Tori and Emma fell asleep in their owners vines and were awoken by a lilting voice saying their names.
“Tori and Emma Trell, First and Second Florets Pinnate?” Tori opened her eyes and looked at an Affini that was arranged so that she was around five and a half feet tall and she looked slightly more human than Affini. Tori guessed this was to help not scare the florets that were coming to see her. She reached over and nudged Emma.
“Huh?” The girl that was still sleeping said, reaching up to rub her eyes and look around. Her eyes stopped on Lilium. “Oh… Is it time?”
“It is…” Lilium’s singsong voice said. “I’ll get them back to you when we’re done, Lavandula, Are you planning on staying here, or heading back to your hab unit? If you don’t want to stay here and wait, I can have Rachel bring them back after the session.”
“I should run by my office and grab some stuff that’s piled up a bit while I’ve been getting my florets settled.” Lavandula's vines fluttered in the air. “Have Rachel bring them home afterward, please.” She looked down at her two florets. “Please be good for Lilium and Rachel. Lilium, if you need me, you know how to get in touch.”
“Rachel, Lavandula already filled out the consent forms, right?” Lilium asked the girl sitting behind the counter.
“She did, I’ve already added them to their files.” Rachel said. “The data from the OTNA is also in there.” Tori and Emma shared a look.
“What is the OTNA?” Emma asked, standing so that she could follow Lilium. Tori followed suite and stood as well.
Lilium chuckled. “OTNA is the Office of Transitional Neoxenoveterinary Archeobureaucracy, little one. When we domesticate a species, we preserve every document we can find, including medical histories of sophonts; we probably know you better than you know you…” She offered two vines for Tori and Emma to hold they both took the vines in their outside hands and their other hands joined. They followed Lilium into a spacious office. Neither one of them could figure out how there was so much space aboard this ship, and if they didn’t know it was a ship, they would have thought they were on a planet… In the office there were several different couches, both human and Affini sized, a handful of chairs, a bed, a rug on the floor and a desk. “Please have a seat where you feel most comfortable…” Tori walked over to the rug and sat down, Emma sitting down next to her and pulling Tori close. Tori’s breathing slowed as she nestled in close to Emma. “Ok, first thing I want to see happen, is that Tori relaxes a bit. May I rub your back?” Rather than answering with words, Tori nodded, and one of Lilium’s vines came over and started to rub Tori’s back. “That’s a good girl… You have nothing to worry about”
“It’s ok, you’re safe…” Emma said. “I will protect you…” Tori knew that was true. Emma could overpower her and had done so on Proxima 20. She was sure that wasn’t in the data that the Affini had on her.
“I’ve read through your entire file, Tori…” Lilium said; carefully watching Tori’s body language. “I have permission from Lavandula to give you xenodrugs if I feel it is necessary, if I do, it will be a low dose, probably of a Class E, just to help you relax a little bit. I want to start by talking about when you were twenty and you had made an attempt on your own life…” She paused like she was accessing something. The monitor on the computer lit up and files opened, were scrolled through and were closed. Emma looked at Tori; this was news to her… Tori made a typing motion on Lilium’s vine. “Ok, I can access the screen of your datapad, that will work for me. Do you want Emma to be here while we discuss this?” Tori nodded. “Is it ok if she sees your screen?” Tori nodded again and pulled her datapad out. “Do you want me to respond verbally or via text?” Tori shrugged.
IntrepedPenguin: I made the attempt because I had just come out to my family and they told me that I would never be a woman and that I was disgusting…
”Ok, Did you explain to them that you’d always been a woman that was born in the wrong body?” Lilium asked gently. She was now typing on her own datapad, using another to see the text that Tori was typing.
IntrepedPenguin: Yes, but they didn’t care and kicked me out of the house. I woke up in a hospital. I’m honestly still not sure if I did something to my self or if something happened to me and it looked like I tried to do something to my self… Either way I ended up in the ward for six months. That was the worst six months of my life…
Emma gave Tori a look and then hugged her. “I’m going to protect you, princess.” She whispered in Tori’s ear.
“Are you scared right now?” The Affini in the room asked. Tori’s cuffs had started to beep again and her breathing had changed.
IntrepedPenguin: I’m so fucking worried that I’m just going to get tossed in a padded room and left alone… that’s what they did before…
Tori stopped typing on her datapad as a vine slid under her chin and lifted it up so that she could look at Lilium’s wooden face. Her dazzling purple eyes met Tori’s blue eyes. “I want to be very clear, little one,” Lilium said, her voice still lilting in a sing song manner; it seemed like it was common for the Affini to use that type of voice. “I have never, and will never separate a floret from their pinnate, nor will I separate you from Lavandula without a really good reason. Part of the contract that you two signed with Lavandula states that she will take care of you completely.” Lilium gently stroked Tori’s cheek with the vine that she had used to lift the girls chin, and in the process brushed away a stray tear. “Section 57 of the treaty guarantees that you will be taken care of in every way that is possible. Lavandula could do better than any mental health support you received before we arrived. Why are you worried that we are going to just ‘toss you in a padded room and leave you alone’?”
Tori glanced down at the tablet and Lilium let her chin go. The vine stayed close to catch any stray tears and the vine that was rubbing Tori’s back still provided the comfort that it did.
IntrepidPenguin: Because that’s what everyone else has done, abandon me when I’ve needed love and support or just up and disappeared. When that happens, I get stuck in my head and I can’t get out and that’s when bad things happen. You’ve read my file, I should be put in an institution and just left there to rot. I only got out an enlisted because I managed to convince my case workers on Mars that I well enough to function on my own. I just don’t want to be a burden on anyone any more, and I feel like Lavi will eventually get tired of me and dump me at the adoption center and leave me for some other Affini or worse, she will just take me out. I can’t do this any more. I can’t pretend to be happy and everything is alright. I’ve managed to get captured by the enemy and forcibly domesticated. I was supposed to die before that happened. Not only that, I managed to get my girlfriend and eight other people domesticated because they are now aboard the Scorpiris. I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t used the firebreak. I just want to be left to my own devices and what happens happens…
Tori’s cuffs were beeping quickly and she was sobbing. There was little that Emma could do that would calm her down. “Tori, I need you to calm down, I am going to give you a medium dose of a Class E Xenodrug to help you calm down…” Tori felt a prick in her neck above her collar which caused her to jump.
“Ow!” Tori exclaimed loudly. “The fuck?” Tori slowly calmed down and relaxed, and the beeping from her cuffs slowed and finally stopped.
“Has she done this before?” Lilium asked Emma.
“Not like this…” Emma replied. “But I’ve learned things about my girlfriend that I had no idea about until we were aboard the Scorpiris. I don’t think that she’s intentionally kept things from me, She just didn’t feel safe enough to talk about it…” Emma looked at Tori who sat there with tears rolling down her cheeks. “She’s always been somewhat hard for me to read, often was depressed, and just had a general sense of foreboding about everything. She’d told me more than once that she would never let herself get domesticated…” Rachel opened the door and walked into the office.
“Mistress,” Rachel said quietly, “Lavandula is in the waiting room, she said she got your message and was coming to help if she could.”
“Send her in, please, Rachel.” Lilium said. “Also, after you do that, you may head back to the hab and get dinner started for you and Willow…”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rachel said. “I love you and will see you after bit.” Rachel exited the room and Lavandula entered. Tori and Emma watched as the two began to communicate without using words, rather using their vines in what appeared to be some sort of sign language.
What happened? Lavandula asked.
Tori just kind of went off because she is afraid that we are just going to toss her in a padded room and forget about her. She’s worried that you will eventually just give up on her like everyone else has… Lilium looked at the very relaxed Tori. She was letting stuff out that she’s been holding onto for a while. I would like to get Muscari in on her care; she has a bit more experience with some of Tori’s issues. I am going to recommend immediate implantation as well. If for no other reason than to help control harmful urges that she may have. I would also start her on a low dose of Class F’s at least until an implant is placed. Can you bring them back tomorrow, I want to try to talk to Emma and get a feel for how she is. Her file is… very empty.
I can bring Emma by tomorrow by herself if she is ok with it. That might get you some more insight to her. Lavandula glanced at her florets. She might not come without Tori, but I will see what I can do. Get with Muscari and let me know when you two want to see Tori again.
Ok. It will probably be in a few days. I will send you a message. Lilium glanced at the florets. Please keep an eye on them and if you need me, I will make a hab call, regardless of time…
Will do. Lavandula moved so that she was closer to her florets. Is it ok if I take them back to the hab?
Yes. If you notice anything concerning, please let me know…
I will. Thank you. Lavandula used her vines to pick up both Tori and Emma and held them close to her. They both relaxed visibly once they were in their owners vines. “Let’s go back to the hab unit. I’ll carry you.”