It had been three days since Peparia's father spoke to her about the future, and she'd been thinking. She thought about her gravity training, and that she'd increase the gravity to 5 times; twice was tough, 10 times was torture but still doable, so she'd split the difference to help speed things up. Of course, she spoke to her training master to ensure that doing so was safe. It wasn't, but neither was gravity training; it put a lot of strain on her body, more so regular training. But so long as Peparia listened to her body and used the panic button if she needed to, her training master said she'd be fine at 5 times gravity daily and 10 times weekly.

She thought about the idea of the breeding alliance between Dakkon and Chilli. It was a smart plan; make both houses work for the benefit of the other due to them both having stakes in keeping the child of both their blood healthy, safe and successful. It was the perfect way to end 100 years of violence between them.

That, of course, brought her to Lottus. She cared about Lottus, a lot. They weren't just friends, or friends with benefits or anything like that; Lottus mattered to Peparia. And because Lottus mattered to her, it was important for them to discuss how the breeding alliance would affect their relationship.

So as always, Peparia floated outside Lottus' window, waiting for Lottus to see her. It always went the same; Lottus was always doing something, sometimes working on her computer, sometimes watching television, and sometimes, Peparia would catch her getting dressed.

Today, however, Lottus entered the room and saw Peparia outside her window. Lottus rolled her eyes and opened her window.

"You know I hate this," Lottus said, though the slight grin on her fact betrayed her words.

"You know you love it," Peparia said, floating through the window and setting her feet down on the floor.

"So," Lottus said, closing the window behind her. "What do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"The future," Peparia said. "My dad talked to me about breeding and producing an heir one day."

Lottus grinned slightly. "My mom talked to me about the same thing. About how, as the first heir of our family, it was my duty to produce an heir one day," Lottus said, crossing her arms in front of her. "I told her that was fine, but I wasn't going to have sex with a man to do it; it would have to be artificial."

"You're not into guys?" Peparia asked. This was going to make her position more difficult.

"No, men just don't do it for me," Lottus said, leaning against her desk.

Peparia thought carefully about her next words. "Well, I am into guys. I told my dad that I wouldn't be opposed to having sex with a guy for breeding purposes," She grabbed Lottus' hand and continued. "But I don't want to do anything to hurt you, so if you're not comfortable with the idea…"

"Peparia," Lottus said, squeezing Peparia's hand." It's fine. We're nobles, and we have duties to our houses. And since you're bi, I don't begrudge you for doing something you'll enjoy."

"…Are you sure? I mean, you and I have been pretty serious for the last two years…" Peparia said, trailing off.

"Yeah, but it's not like we could ever get married. I mean, House Ayote is not even in the same circles as House Dakkon. There's nothing we could offer you that would make such an alliance beneficial on your end," Lottus said. "We're too new, not influential enough, not rich enough. I mean, my mother's the reason we're nobles, for crying out loud!"

Peparia sighed with relief. This had gone better than she had hoped. "I'm glad you feel this way. I was worried."

Lottus put her hand on Peparia's hip and pulled her close. "I'm just glad we don't have to worry about it for a few years. My mom told me that I'd need to be at least 20 before she'd start working toward finding a mate for me, and I'm sure you dad said something similar."

Peparia grinned, and kissed Lottus, relieved that things went so well. "Yeah, dad wants me to have at least a year of training kids under my belt before I have to worry about breeding alliances. But I do know it'll be a Chilli."

"Yeah, that was pretty much what I was expecting for you guys," Lottus said, rolling her eyes slightly. "But we don't have to think about that right now." She started moving toward her bed and tossed Peparia down on it. "Right now, it's just you and me."

Preparia smiled seductively as her girlfriend stood over her. This day had gone better than she thought it would.