For the Whored: the Future:

Lydia sat on the couch and fiddled with her skirt.

"What's up?"

"Teach me to do anal."

Elunara blinked. "Well, then."

She blushed. "I... liked..."

"Don't have to explain." Elunara shook her head. "I will teach you this on one condition."

"Alright."

"You'll go back to training."

Lydia jolted. "What?" She shook her head. "No! I HATE it! You said that I didn't have to do ANYTHING I hated!"

"That was before you beat the shit out of one of our best trained soldiers. What you did to Bradly was nothing short of amazing. You WILL be going back, because if you can berserker rage like that... Sweetheart, you're going to kill somebody by accident. I want you to go back, and I want you to train under Grogek."

"Bwuah? Grogek?"

"He can train you in my style. When I can't train you, he can. I warn you, he's meaner, tougher, and less forgiving. You can't come and go as you please, either."

Lydia started crying. "But, I don't want to!"

"Lydia, you NEED to."

"No!" She jumped up, and ran out of the door.

Elunara sighed. "Oh, that girl..."

Darguni dragged his hair out of his face. With a sigh, he made his way up to his favorite spot. Lydia was sitting there, arms wrapped around her legs and her forehead on her knees. He flopped down beside her. "Fancy meeting you here."

Lydia stuck her hand out.

He took the small package out of her hand. Opening it, he blinked. "Huh?"

"It's a hair tie." She sniffled. "I got it for you."

"Oh, hey, cool." He tugged his hair back. "I should have brought a hair brush." She stood up and got behind him, brushing his hair. Tugging it high on his head, she adjusted it to her liking. He chuckled and waited until she finished. Shaking his head back and forth he grinned. "Now that is much better."

"I see you fiddle with it a lot." She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward. "I thought this would help."

"It's awesome, thanks." He tugged her forward and covered her face in kisses. "So, tell me what's bugging you."

"Your mother wants me to go back to training."

"Well, with what you did to Bradly..."

"She wants me to train under Grogek."

He froze. "The shit?"

"She says he can train me in her style when she can't."

"Gods, my dad can be a right bastard; I don't think it's advisable. Hell, his training program is fucking wait listed. Only the best get in."

She curled up in his lap. "I don't even want to train under Jordan, why in gods would I want to train under Grogek?"

He cuddled her into his lap. "Don't do it."

"I'm not." She grumbled. "I'll just have to learn the other thing on my own."

"What other thing?"

"Nothing." She blushed.

"What secrets do you hide, my little love?"

"That... well, that "thing" you did last night?"

"Yeah?"

"I... I wanted her to teach me how to do it safely. I know... I know she wrote a guide on it. So, I thought that I could get lessons from her. Like she's done before." Lydia's face was on fire.

"Oh, really?" He grinned. "Liked it that much?"

"Hush, you."

"You know... I've read that book quite extensively..."

"I imagine you would." She muttered.

"I could help."

"But we don't have her tools."

"She'll let us use them. I borrow them all the time. Just follow her rules and everything is peachy."

The next day Darguni stuck his head inside the house. "Momma?"

She stuck her head over the railing. "What's up?"

"Can I borrow some tools?"

"Which ones?"

"The ones in book 64..."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Because you're getting them for Lydia."

He blushed. "Not necessarily."

"I'm not stupid, son. I told her that I wouldn't train her if she didn't go back to regular training. So, no."

"Mother, she's losing her goddamned mind over this. Why are you pushing her, when one of our many rules, is never force someone to do something against their will?"

"Under all other circumstances, I would have told her to quit and focus on what makes her happy... However, what she did to Bradly was no accident and you damned well know it." She disappeared. Once she came back, she had the baby in her arms. "She needs proper training, or she will kill someone by accident. We need to channel and harness it NOW or..." She shook her head.

"I don't like seeing her cry." He said quietly.

Elunara sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. "I don't either."

He blinked at her. "Why are you nursing?"

"Susan is dealing with Tina today. Since I can force my body to do things..."

"Ah." Moving over, he ran a finger on the baby's cheek. "I feel stupidly happy that she has a fang like mine."

She grinned. "Yeah, me too. I'm rather glad that Susan is willing to give Grogek the multiple children he wanted."

Rubbing the infant, he considered. "The hell is wrong with me?" He murmured.

"What's that?"

"Suddenly, I don't think children would be such a bad thing." He whispered.

"So the rumors are true."

"What rumors?"

"That you haven't had sex with anyone else since Lydia..."

He dropped his hand and stared into space. "Dear Gods, I haven't." Flopping down on the couch, he put his hand over his mouth. "I don't even want to." He whispered.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Damn."

"I'm ok with this." He leaned back and crossed his leg up.

"Nice hair tie, by the way."

"You like it?" He grinned. "She gave it to me." Running his hand over the ponytail, he sighed. "She even brushed my hair and put it up for me."

"How adorable." Elunara laughed.

"I know, right?" He grinned. "I love her, Momma."

"What about Bradly?"

He sighed. "I think he loves her in his way... but I don't know. He makes her happy in his way; I make her happy in my way. If this is how it works, this is how it works. All I want... is for her to be happy."

"You just keep that in mind, and everything will work out." She kissed his cheek.

Lydia wandered the city with a sigh.

"LYDIAAAAAAAA!"

She winced. "Hello, Gingy."

"I have the best dreeeeeess!" She grabbed Lydia by the arm.

"Well, let's see it."

"Come with me, come with me!" Gingy grabbed her wrist and dragged Lydia down to her apartment. "I found this fabulous shade of blue, and I've been dying to make it into something, and then SUDDENLY inspiration hit me!"

"Oh, really?"

Gingy yanked open the door. "Your WEDDING DRESS!"

"My wha?"

"Well, you and Bradly finally found each other." Gingy gave a romantic sigh. "Oh, a love meant from childhood. It's SO beautiful!" Yanking Lydia's wrist, she continued to babble on. "And I just thought of that concert with you in that beautiful gown with the pretty wings, and I did my best to modify the design."

Lydia began to shake her head as she stepped backwards. Ignoring whatever the hell Gingy was saying, she turned and ran.

After a moment of talking, Gingy looked back and blinked. "Lydia?" Tapping her foot, she frowned. "Perhaps I used too much lace."

Darguni hiked up the hill. Lydia was laying face first in the grass, her arms at her sides. With a grin, he lay down behind her, and propped up on his elbow. He leaned forward and kissed the back of her head. "If this is going to be a regular thing, I might have to find me a new private spot."

"I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Alright then." He rubbed a hand on her back. "It's enough to just spend time with you."

"Gingy made me a wedding dress." She muttered.

He froze. "What?"

She turned over and scooted up close to him. Instinctively he wrapped his arm around her back. "I didn't ask her to, it was just something she did. She was babbling on about me marrying Bradly. It kind of upset me, and I couldn't figure out why." She sighed and rubbed her forehead on his chest. "I can't marry you both, can I?"

Darguni suddenly understood his father's expression of "heart soars". "Well," He croaked. He coughed and started over. "Our mother is married to three men and a woman. I fail to see what's wrong with it."

"I know Bradly has always wanted to marry me, gods, it slips out of his mouth every ten minutes." She muttered. "But, what about you?"

Licking his lips, he chose his words carefully. "To be honest, marriage was never on my table... I was so busy trying to lure all the pretty women to my bed."

"Oh."

He hugged her tightly. "Lydia, I haven't bedded another woman since we started this mess."

Her head jerked up. "What?"

"I didn't think about it until it was pointed out to me, but no... I don't really want them." He ran his hand over his head and across his ponytail. "I keep wondering if eventually I will want them again. Wondering if maybe, once we settled into an old routine, that perhaps I would start looking around. So, I haven't given the conversation a proper thought. I don't want to hurt you Lydia, but I know how much like my mother I am.

Gods, you just mention the word and my heart leaps out of my throat and does a happy dance, but the thought of hurting you..." He shook his head. "I would love to, but I don't want to break your heart, and I don't want to kill a side of me that I felt I haven't explored yet."

"Like Elunara and Grogek." She whispered.

"Yeah." He sighed. "It feels so selfish, when... If you told me to, I would break that part. I would break it and ignore it in favor of making you happy, but Gods I'm scared."

"It's enough that you'd try."

"Huh?"

She scooted up higher and brushed her lips on his. "It's enough that you'd be willing to. I don't want you to be unhappy. If Elunara and Grogek can make it work, then so could we. But, like Elunara... you have to be honest, and tell me when you do."

A little while later, they cuddled in the grass, comfortably naked.

"Did you ever get the stuff from Elunara?" She mumbled.

He winced. "No."

"That's fine." She cuddled under his arm. "I can wait."

"It's... not a matter of waiting."

"Huh?"

He closed his eyes. "She won't even let me borrow them now... she knows you want them, and won't let me take them unless you join training again."

"WHAT?" Lydia jolted up.

"Baby, I kind of agree with her..."

She scrambled up and yanked on her clothes.

"Baby, wait! Please!" He grabbed her wrist. "It's important!"

Yanking free, she bolted.

He put his head in his hands. "Shit."

Lydia sat in the amphitheater, curled up behind the curtain. She certainly didn't feel like singing. She was sort of surprised to not have come across Bryan. She wondered if he was with Bradly. Bradly. She laughed to herself. She was supposed to be HIS girlfriend, and she spent all of her time with Darguni. What was she doing? She buried her face in her knees.

"I'm telling you, it's bullshit."

Lydia's ears perked up.

"Well, it's certainly not fair." The other voice snorted. "I was freaking THERE when he pried the little trollop off and shoved her out the door."

"What does she have on him?"

"Who knows? They've been together since they were little kids. She could have anything against him."

"Something needs to be done about her."

The voices faded away.

Lydia shivered, and it wasn't the cold.