Chapter Text
Sunday
Sitting in lush grass, at the side of a cliff, Annabeth sighed contently, pulling in some fresh air she learned to cherish. Before the Affini arrived, even breathing was hard due to the pollution. Below her it was really far down the cliff, at least a full 50 meters, easily deadly to any human. But she was sure the Affini had figured out some way to make even this remote place safe from anyone possibly getting hurt. So, despite her sitting on the edge, legs swinging freely, she wasn’t really worried that she’d fall. She’s been here often enough.
Down at the bottom, the landscape was plastered with wildlife, lush trees in purple and dark greens that looked like gigantic mushrooms with huge leaves instead of a cap on top. The entire ecosystem was brimming with life. She could even spot some animals running around in the greenery. One would think the planet was never even touched by any Terrans before.
Sitting in a little clearing on top of the cliff, she reminisced. She was here every Sunday, even back when Nauvis was still a dead hellscape of polluted air and ground, left by the lone engineer crazy enough to build a planet sized factory himself then fuck off to some other planet, if the rumors were to be believed.
Something the Affini undid in no more than a month.
However, the main difference now to back then, aside from there being actual living plants to look at, was that she now sat here alone.
Well, not quite. Sitting in her lap, her little kitsune plush, named Kinu, was reminding her of the old times, when the most important person of her life was still here with her.
She was crude, handmade, but still the prettiest plush Annabeth ever received.
Light orange fur adorned with white stripes, three tails, a red tip on each and extra large ears with a little pink bow on its head as a finish.
“Miss you Ruby” she sighed, squeezing the plush. She was about to head back, until she heard a quiet crack sound behind her outside the clearing. Is someone here? That’s weird, this part of the planet is normally so remote, not even Affini would stumble here by accident.
A few more rustles and cracks later she heard actual footsteps and finally saw what had approached the clearing. An Affini, of course. “Hello Petal! What is a pretty little thing like you doing all the way out here? And alone too.” That last part stung Annabeth a bit, but she managed. Naturally even in this situation an Affini would endlessly flirt.
She rolled her eyes. “Before you ask, yes, I am completely fine and happy,
no depressed seed to pick up here” The Affini frowned a little at that, taking a few seconds to think of an answer.
“I do not want to presume anything of course. But I have seen you walk past my hab almost every week now. Always with either a sad or melancholic expression on your face.” They said while walking closer to her. “May I sit down next to you? ”
Annabeth frowned, she just wanted to leave, and now one of the plants wants to talk to her. She sighed. Fine, if she talks to her now and explains herself she hopefully won’t come here again next week. “Suit yourself” she answered. They then slithered next to Annabeth, their body half becoming a mess of vines before reforming at the cliff in a similar sitting position to hers.
Now that the Affini was closer she could actually take a good look at them. She was huge, but for Affini average, 3 meters. They kept a Terran-esque shape with 2 arms and legs, although there were 2 short antennae on top of their head. Their entire body was adorned with, what she assumed, were some kind of yellow daisies in combination with faint pinkish leaves. Around their chest and upper torso, stretching all the way to their upper arms, were white flowers covering the brushwork underneath, making it look like they were wearing a white blouse. A tight network of vines, leaves and reddish flowers formed fractal patterns around their upper legs like a skirt. Lastly, a light birch-like wooden mask adorned their face with 2 metallic looking orbs as eyes, swirling some kind of orange-blueish color.
They gave her a slight smile, “Villcaria Molineux, 5th Bloom. You may address me with she/her. And who might you be?” Annabeth got eyed like some sort of museum art piece to inspect. She wasn’t sure what to think of that.
“Annabeth Rei, though my friends used to call me Annie. She/her as well.”
She kept staring at Annie, like she was waiting for another introdu—oh “Right, this is Kinu she/her” she added, while pointing at the plush in her lap.
Affini really need to know everything, even your plushie’s backstory. Something she most definitely was not in the mood to go into right now.
“So, Annie. What brings you all the way out here into the wilderness every week?” UGH she did not want to talk about this of all things with a random stranger right now. An Affini no less. She took a long breath in to answer.
“Too long of a story to just ramble off to someone I barely just met. But the short version is I used to be here every week together with my…” , she looked away from Villcaria, down to the greenery below ,“ a very important person to me. Mostly to just take a break from the awful reality of living under the Terran accord. But she isn’t here anymore. Satisfied?” There was a low grumble coming from Villcaria's form. She thought for a moment looking Annie up and down.
“Quite, although I still have one question, Petal. Your little friend Kinu here, was handmade from what I can see. Was she a present from said important person?” Annie frowned and sighed.
“Yes, yes she is. Now please, I’d like to leave. I’m not in the mood for this right now.” She really wasn’t. Some random plant poking around in her affairs is just what she wanted to avoid by coming here in the first place. As she began to leave Villcaria spoke up:
“Dear I am very sorry for interrupting your time here then. May I make it up to you by inviting you for dinner at my hab?” Oh great, just what she needed, eating at an Affini's hab. She groaned in annoyance
“Fiiiiine as long as it gets you off my back.” Villcaria rustled approvingly and they set off.
As they arrived inside of her hab, Kinu in arms, Annie couldn’t help but notice the usual overly fantastical architecture of the Affini. She’s seen plenty of habs by now, but it surprises her anew every time.
As they walked towards the dining room Villcaria spoke up “My floret is currently not home. So we have the hab to ourselves, make yourself comfortable.” Weird, florets away from their owner. She brushed the thought away for later. “I will go ahead and cook now, does chicken Wings sound good?” Annie perked up at the mention.
“Yes please! Those are great”
As Villcaria got to work, she finally got to take a look around the hab. It was quite cozy, the main dining area was adorned in the gentle evening light from open windows above. There was both a Terran and Affini sized table to accommodate her. There were doors to an office , a guest room and a bedroom. The kitchen , living and dining area were one big area only set apart by the difference in floor tiles.
As her chicken wings were finally set in front of her, she almost got overwhelmed by how heavenly it smelled. She dug right in, suppressing light shudders from the food lighting up her entire tongue and mouth with sensations of mind melting flavor. Villcaria watched her intently, finally breaking the silence.
“I am glad you like it Petal. Since you are feeling a bit better, do you still want to tell me about that plush of yours?”
She groaned. Of course, the plant lured her here just to hear more. But the food really helped her mood… “Okay fine, I’ll tell you after I'm done eating.”
After finishing the food. Annie now was properly full and satisfied. Now for the difficult part. She took a deep breath to center herself.
“To start, the plush was a gift to me from Ruby. Ruby was… well i wanted her to be…” she sighed, she reassured herself that she moved on already and this shouldn’t be hard. “ We were best friends for a long time, a year at least. She was beautiful, fiery red hair, a bit smaller than me and was just so so adorably shy.” She closed her eyes and stirred a bit in her memories of her.
”We met at a bar. I took the lead and took her home for a comfy time. The rest is history. It was the most amazing year of my life, despite life in the accord being shitty. But…” She sighed again, slumping her head into her hands, supported on her elbows and taking a moment. Villcaria now was tantalizingly close, her vines twitched in a way that would suggest she wanted to just sweep her up in an instant.
Villcaria interrupted “Petal, you don’t have to say anything you are uncomfortable with. If this is distressing to you I would be able to help with some xenodr—”
“ No” Annie interrupted
“I don’t want any xenodrugs, that's a hard boundary. Respect that.”
The Affini’s body sagged a bit, their eyes a light blue. She continued “Just give me a minute, i already have well working healthy coping mechanisms for this”
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she started to repeat the procedure to herself in her head “Alright just like usual now. Replay the Memories. Take them matter of factly, no feels”
…..
“Okay, now what could you have done about it? Correct, nothing. You were not a factor in this outcome.”
…..
“Alright, lastly, is there something you can and want to do about it right now that makes logical sense? Nothing, okay good. Well there’s nothing to do about it anymore then, sweep it aside”
She ended her inner monologue with her sweeping said memory in the metaphorical “done and processed” drawer in her mind.
Finally her eyes opened. “Alright done.”
Villcaria had a curious but sad look on her face looking at the sophont infront of her. Annie continued “Alright, so, after that year I wanted to ask her at some point to become my girlfriend. I fell in love with her. But that faithful evening when I prepared to give her a surprise visit to confess, I saw something in the news that made my skin crawl.”
…. She paused for a moment. The silence was agonizing.
“There was a shootout at a bar. The very same bar I got to know her first in. And one she still frequently went to.”
Villcaria’s entire body sagged, her core hurt, she wanted to comfort this poor girl so badly, but she never gave any consent. And it does not look like she will. Just as she was going through things that could possibly help to make her feel better, she spoke up again.
“Not long after, I found out she was among the innocent people caught in the crossfire. The reason I have Kinu here with me at all times is because she gave her to me a week before the event, and I promised her I'd always try and have her nearby.”
After a good bit of silence, Villcaria finally noticed something. Annie wasn’t crying. In fact, her entire body language didn't reveal a hint of sadness. She noticed her staring at her dumbfounded and gave her a slight smile.
“I guess you’re wondering why I'm not sad. Well for one, having Kinu here helps massively. But as I told you, I have stuff that works well, so I don't get sad. I guess it makes me seem a bit emotionally numb, but that's something I can work with.” She finished by tightly squeezing Kinu.
Villcaria shook her head and blew wind out of herself in a similar vein to a sigh.
“Annie, if you thought that would keep me from coming to your little hidden spot you are sorely mistaken.” She said with an air of finality.
“Well dammit.”
After the mood had cleared to be a bit more neutral in the room, Annie finally took to leaving. As she was heading out, she heard Villcaria from behind her “Flower, would you let me give you a hug before you go?” She sighed and nodded, a small smile creeping on her face.
Villcaria immediately went ahead and bound her into a tight hug. It was admittedly kind of nice, she was soft and her hug was firm. She was easily stronger than Annie could ever hope to be, making her cheeks go a little warm.
Out in the corner of her vision she spots a collar on a small table. Probably an alternative one for her floret. “I am sure your floret is probably happy for getting these constantly.” She commented with a slight smirk when they released the hug.
“Well flower, I am honestly not sure If she has not hugged me more than I hugged her at this point.” Annie cocked an eyebrow staring at Villcaria “Well, you will see, she is somewhat of a special case in terms of florets.” Huh… Well She took her word for it and finally said her goodbyes heading home.
She got home and lazily took off her clothes, throwing them in the compiler to get rid of. Her hab, unlike most sophont’s apparently, was quite clean and well taken care of. An achievement she was quite proud… well, less proud, and more relieved to be fair. It can’t be good for a sophonts' independence to have a dirty home after all. And if there’s one thing she was sure of in her life, it was that she could take care of herself.
As she finally slipped into bed she just could not shake one thought.
Why did she even need to use her coping technique? Normally, she could tell this story to anybody without even flinching. Well, usually she also wouldn't get surprised in the middle of her most vulnerable time thinking about her. Maybe that.
Something for future Annie to figure out. At the very least she won’t have to see that plant, never mind her floret again for another week.