Chapter 10: Healing
Tori opened her eyes as the Scopriris jumped out of hyperspace. She glanced at Emma who was laying next to her. “Hi…” she said softly.
“Good morning…” Emma said, reaching up to stroke Tori’s hair. “I’m going to go let Mistress know that you’re awake…”
“Morning?” Tori said, confused. “The last thing I remember is typing on my datapad when I was injected and yeah…”
“I think it’s best that Mistress explains what happened…” Emma said, hopping off the bed and leaving the bedroom of the Hab unit. While she was out fetching Mistress, Tori tried to see if she could move and found that she was restrained to the bed, like she had been when she awoke aboard the Scorpiris. Rather than struggle, she just laid there. She was unsure of how much time had passed since Emma had left the room. When Emma and Lavandula came back into the room, Lavandula smiled and reached out with a vine to stroke Tori’s cheek.
“Hi, Little one…” Lavandula said. The stroking on the cheek calmed Tori.
“Hi, Mistress,” Tori said, her voice soft. Emma curled up into Tori and the bed sagged a bit as Lavandula rested some of her bulk on it.
“What is the last thing you remember, little one?” Lavandula asked gently. She was now stoking Emma’s back while still stroking Tori’s cheek.
“The last thing I remember was that I was typing on my datapad and I was kinda freaking out and there was a prick on my neck and now I’m laying in the bed in what appears to be our hab unit...” Tori stopped talking and looked from Lavandula to Emma and back again. “Where is my data pad?”
“It’s on the charger…” Lavandula said, “Where it’s been for the last four days…”
“Four… Four Days?" Tori stammered. “What did Lilium give me?”
“Lilium gave you a mild Class E xenodrug to calm you down…” There was a chime as someone rang the doorbell to the hab. “Emma, would you be a dear and go let Lilium, Muscari, Asterid, Rachel, and Willow in please.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Emma said, rising from the bed, gracefully. The black dress she wore covered in daisies. She left the bedroom and went to let their guests in.
“I’m going to wait on your vets to get in here before we discuss what has happened while you have been out…” Lavandula said.
“Why do we have to wait until my vets are in here?” Tori asked, feeling confused.
“You had a few things happen…” Lavandula said as Emma came back into the bedroom.
“Ma’am, Miss Lilium is asking if they are to come in the bedroom or if we will be joining them in the common room?”
“We will be joining them in the common room as soon as I get Tori dressed.” Lavandula said, using vines to both release Tori from the bed and pull a green dress out of the closet at the same time. “Please make sure our guests have refreshments, Emma…” Another set of vines lifted Tori to a standing position and then pulled her nightgown over her head, replacing it with the dress. Two more vines quickly brushed the girls hair. “We need to get you a shower tonight…”
“Yes, Mistress…” Tori mumbled. She was feeling very much like a child at the way that Lavandula was dressing her and preparing her for their guests. She was more than capable of dressing herself and she briefly thought about saying as such before she felt a sudden calming sensation throughout her body. It was similar to the feeling that she felt whenever someone injected her with a Class E xenodrug, but without the poke.
Lavandula smiled at the girl. “It is going to be OK, the people out there are your vets and their florets. You are going get to know them really well because you’re going to be spending time with them. Are you ready?”
“Yes, Ma’am…” Tori said, a smile spreading across her face. She walked toward the door and caught her reflection in the mirror. That was when she noticed the scar at the back of her neck. Her smile faded as she turned to look at Lavandula. “What is this?” she pointed at her neck.
“That is why all three of your vets are here, to give you a checkup…” Lavandula said. “Lilium recommend immediate implantation after your breakdown. In an effort to provide the best care possible, I had it done while you were already out. it was simpler that way… I have been growing two implants for the pair of you since the contracts were signed.” Tori suddenly jumped into Lavandula’s vines.
“Thank you for taking such good care of us, Lavi…” Tori said, nuzzling her face into Lavandula’s chest. This was not the expected reaction, Lavandula had expected. She had expected a bunch of yelling and Tori being upset when she found out.
“You are welcome, little one.” Lavandula said. “Now let us go greet our guests.” The pair of them walked through the doorway and into the common area. Emma was pouring water into glasses for Rachel and Willow, and the three Affini were all sitting talking quietly. The pairings gave the impression that the adults were talking and the kids were playing. All of the talking in the room stopped as Tori and Lavandula walked toward the couches in the center of the room. Lilium was the first to speak.
“My dear Tori,” she said, her vines reaching out to give the girl a hug. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m ok…” Tori said, feeling the warmth of the embrace. “Who did you bring with you? I don’t think I’ve met the two Affini that came with you…”
“Well, you haven’t ‘met’ them while you’ve been awake…” Lilium said, a chuckle escaping her body. “Please allow me to introduce Muscari Parkaral, Twenty-Fourth Bloom;” The affini who Tori assumed was Muscari waved a vine. “And we also have Asterid Onyx, Fourteenth Bloom.” Asterid waved a vine as well. “Muscari, like myself, is a xenovetinarypsychrist, and is helping me with your care. Asterid is the vet that takes care of your general health and well being. Asterid is also responsible for your Class G’s..” Lilium turned to the two florets who Emma was now sitting with. “You already know Rachel, the girl with the brown hair and cat ears sitting next her her is Willow.” Willow smiled and gave a little wave to Tori, and then wiggled the ears much like a cat would, by rotating them. Both of the florets wore matching collars that looked like a thin steel bar that had been wrapped around their necks. The collars were simple and understated, but pretty nonetheless.
“We came by to check on you after your surgery,” Asterid said. “How are you feeling?”
“Well,” Tori said. “If I’d not seen the incision, I would have had no idea that I had already had my implantation done.” She looked around the room. “Is that why I feel so calm?”
“Part of the reason, yes…” Asterid said. “Your implant is providing you with a low dose of Class E’s almost all the time and if your anxiety increases about anything, it will temporarily increase the dose.” She smiled at the three florets curled up on the couch. “Why don’t you go sit with the other little ones while we talk?” The statement was phrased as a question, but her tone indicated that it wasn’t a question.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Tori said, turning to go sit next to Emma who was in conversation with Rachel and Willow. Tori sat next to Emma and looked at Rachel and Willow. “Hi. I’m Tori.”
"Hi,” Willow said, her cheeks turning red. Tori caught some motion and noticed the flick of a tail.
“I like your ears!” Tori said to Willow, causing a deeper blush. “And is that a tail I see?”
“It is!” Willow turned and waved her tail in Rachel’s face. “I’ve always wanted cat ears and a tail and Mistress made it happen.”
“Wait…” Emma said. “We can get body mods like that?”
“You can!” Rachel said. “I’ve not decided what I want to have done yet…” She glanced at Willow and rubbed under the girls chin, causing Willow to purr. “I keep thinking about having my eyes changed to be a purple color, kinda like the color of amethyst…”
“Wait, that’s an option too?” Tori loved the color purple and had always wanted purple hair, but her position within the OCNI had forbade colored hair.
“Yeah!” Rachel said, and pulled out her datapad. “There are a whole lot of bodymods you can do. I sent you both the link to the catalog… Maybe your owner will let you get some bodymods…”
“My datapad is in the bedroom, but I’ll look when I go back in there to get my tablet…” Tori said. She watched as Emma pulled her tablet out and started looking at the site with the body mods that were available.
“Tori,” Lavandula's voice sang. “Can you come here for a second, please?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Tori hopped off the couch and went to the larger couch where her owner and her three vets all sat.
“Would you be opposed to weekly sessions with myself and Muscari?” Lilium asked, her voice lilting. Tori smiled.
“I think that would help me a bit…” The floret replied. “Would I be having sessions with Emma too?”
“I think that you should see us on your own, and we can also do joint sessions, if you both are amenable to that…” Muscari said. “You, little one, have a fair amount of trauma to work through, and we’re going to help you with that.”
“Also, Tori?” Lavandula said quietly. “Do you want to send a message back to anyone letting them know that you’re alive and have been domesticated?”
“About the only person I want to actually tell anything to is my parents, and I want them to think I’m dead…” Tori replied softly. “They did nothing to help me in my old life and for that and all the trauma they caused, they don’t deserve to be in my new life. I probably should let Marissa and Allison know I’m good and to not say anything to my parents…”
“We will arrange that tomorrow.” Lavandula said, “We have all of the contact information for everyone. Do you want to introduce me as your owner?”
“Yes, Miss.” Tori said.
“It’s getting late, I’ve got to get my two little ones ready for bed soon, and they both have shifts in the morning… Rachel is with me, and Willow has a shift at one of the Class J cafes.” Lilium said, rising. “Rachel, Willow, Say goodnight to your new friends, we will be back by or they will come see us and you all can message each other…”
“Yes, Mistress.” Rachel and Willow said in unison. The pair stood and held hands as Lilium’s vines reached out and took a hold of the rings on their collars. The pair turned to Tori and Emma. “Goodnight! It was nice meeting you and maybe we can hang out soon!” The pair of them looked at each other and giggled.
The four of them hugged in a group hug and then they split off and hugged each other. “It was nice meeting you…” Tori said after the hugs had broken up. “I think that hanging out would be good and fun.” After the hugs, Lilium bid farewell to everyone and left the room, her two florets following behind her.
“What’s…” Tori stopped speaking as she climbed the few steps to get up on the couch and sit next to her owner. Lavandula reached out with her vines and picked Tori and Emma up and placed them in her lap, wrapping them lovingly in her vines. “What’s a Class J cafe?”