After four months, Apprentice was about ready to give up.

"Why does sex have to be part of this job?" he demanded of his master one night, while they were out raiding a less-secure graveyard. "It's one of the five flexible rules - why can't I just be an exception?"

"Ultimately, because I say so," his master replied coolly.

"Why, though?" Apprentice repeated. "I don't get it. I just don't get it! I don't get why people are so obsessed with it; I don't get why it has to be part of this job; I don't get why the hell I should even want to do it! I don't get why anyone wants to do it! It's disgusting!"

His master chuckled. "Kid, I know your father never got to tell you…" Apprentice bristled but didn't interrupt. "…but didn't your mother ever explain things to you?"

"She started to, once," Apprentice replied; "I stopped her. I told her I didn't need to know - I had no intention of ever doing it."

"Oh, the irony," the necromerchant muttered, sounding very much amused.

"Yeah," Apprentice grumbled; "ha, ha." He sighed. "Look, I just don't get it, alright?" he said, exasperated. "Why do people do it? The only point is to produce children, but that has nothing to do with why it would be payment for drugs…"

"Kid," the necromerchant said, in a tone that suggested amused disbelief, "it's fun."

"How so?" Apprentice asked. "What could possibly be fun about…that?"

"You really don't know?" his master asked incredulously.

"Do I sound like I know?" Apprentice retorted.

"It feels good," the necromerchant told him, laughing as though this was the most well-known fact in the world (which it was).

"How so?" Apprentice asked.

His master laughed, shaking his head. "It just does," he said. "Physically, it feels good."

"How so?" Apprentice asked again. "How could that feel good?"

The necromerchant grabbed the shovel in Apprentice's hand, stopping him. Apprentice turned to see his master smiling at him as though he thought he was joking.

"Come on, kid," he said; "you're shitting me right now, right? You can't be serious."

"I am serious," Apprentice said, meeting his master's eyes. "I really don't get it."

The necromerchant blinked, his smile slowly fading as he realized Apprentice was telling the truth. He shook his head slowly. "No wonder it's taking you so long," he said with realization; "you don't have the faintest idea what you're doing! How could…Kid, why the hell didn't you speak up sooner?"

Apprentice looked at his master and mimicked the necromerchant's almost-trademark eyebrow arch.

The necromerchant blinked. "Oh, yeah," he said; "you're afraid of me. Right." He shook his head again. "Kid, you should have said something. I had no idea you…" He shook his head again, chuckling. "Damn it, kid, how the fuck did you do that?"

"Do what?" Apprentice asked.

"You're not slow," his master went on, almost as though Apprentice hadn't spoken; "you just managed to kill your instincts somehow! How…How is that even possible?"

"My instincts?" Apprentice repeated.

His master gave him a long look. "Come on," he said at last, "fill in this hole; we're done for the night. I have to…figure this out. You…" He shook his head again and released his grip on the shovel in Apprentice's hand.

"But we've barely started," Apprentice said; "you haven't even gotten a single vial yet."

"I have a backup stock," his master told him, waving Apprentice's protests aside. "It's not vital to go raiding every night."

"Then why do we?" Apprentice asked, filling in the hole he'd dug.

"To train you, of course," his master replied; "but since this isn't your problem…" He trailed off, sounding very confused, as one might if the moon were to suddenly and inexplicably turn green.

"Are you okay, Master?" Apprentice asked.

"Just…give me a minute," the necromerchant muttered; "I have to figure this out. This is…not a problem I expected it was possible to face…"

Alarmed, Apprentice finished filling the dirt back in, and he and his master walked back into town in silence.

"Master?" Apprentice finally asked apprehensively. "Are you…mad at me?"

His master glanced at him. "Mad?" he repeated. "…No. I'm not mad. Just…bewildered. You…" He chuckled with amazement, shaking his head again. "You really are one-of-a-kind," he said. "I didn't know it was possible to kill your instincts like this."

"'Kill my instincts'…" Apprentice repeated. "You said that before. What do you mean?"

"I mean that sex is instinctive," his master told him, "as is desire for it. It's part of the base animalistic drive of…pretty much every living thing."

"The key word there being 'base'," Apprentice commented.

"I…suppose so," the necromerchant admitted. He stopped, then turned to his apprentice with a sigh. "How were you going about trying to retrain yourself?" he asked.

Apprentice shrugged. "I don't know," he said; "I was trying to understand the point…I guess the only thing I was really doing was working on trying not to be sick at the thought."

"No wonder it's taken you this long," the necromerchant said; "clearly, you didn't have the faintest idea what you were doing - how could you have accomplished anything? Kid…" He sighed again. "There's no…understanding it, per se. I could go into all kinds of explanations about biology and psychology and reward systems, but it's not something words can really explain. It's just that…people fuck for pleasure. I can't describe it to you, because words can't do it justice - it's not something you'll understand until you do it. I…" He shook his head again. "Damn it, kid, everyone has felt aroused at some point or another! You can't tell me you haven't!"

"Not since I first hit puberty," Apprentice said. "I stamped on it before it lasted for long, and I don't remember what it feels like. For that matter, I don't want to. It's just…disgusting."

The necromerchant sighed and shook his head again, putting a gloved hand over his face. "Kid, you are…impossible," he said. "You're just…impossible. No one can be as pure as you. It's just not possible."

"Well, here I am," Apprentice said with a shrug.

"And I have to be the one to corrupt you," his master muttered. He smiled humorlessly. "Good thing my soul was already damned anyway, huh?" he said.

Apprentice said nothing to this.

The necromerchant sighed again. "Look, kid, I can't explain the pleasures of sex to you - words just don't work for it. It's…incredible beyond description. What's more, it's something everyone desires - that's how Rotti was able to control everyone with the concept. Every brain is hard-wired to want it, so I know you have it in you. If you don't, you're not human. It's that simple."

Apprentice would never admit it out loud, but there was something intriguing about what his master was saying. "Incredible beyond description"…that's quite a statement, he thought. Is it really that much fun? How can that be?

…What could it possibly feel like?

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he knew there was no going back - he was tempted, if only by curiosity.

The necromerchant smiled wickedly, as though he could see the change taking place in Apprentice's mind. "I know you have it in you, kid," he said again. "Next time a bitch gives me alternative payment, don't try to understand it - just see what you can feel. It's a feeling, not a thought."

"I'll…keep that in mind," Apprentice said slowly.

His master laughed nastily. "Come on, kid," he said; "let's find a dumpster to spend the night in. We'll both get some extra sleep tonight."

"Yes, Master," Apprentice said, and he followed his master through the streets, lost in thoughts of sin and temptation.

o~X~o

Okay, quick disclaimer: I KNOW there are asexual people in the world. For explanation of the stuff said here, I'm going to go with, our future Graverobber's mentor had never encountered any reason to think that such people exist, combined with a bottleneck effect from the epidemic that ravaged the planet (hey, it's not like I made this story up or anything lol).

Anyway, even though I've released this PART of this chapter, I'm still not going to publish the actual SEX SCENE I wrote, simply because I do not have enough self-confidence, and also partly to preserve a bit of Graverobber's dignity. :P I won't leave everyone guessing at the content I'm censoring, though - I'll give a quick summary:

Basically, our future Graverobber (remarkably quickly) breaks the lock he managed to put on his sex drive. About a week after that, he finally makes himself accept "alternative payment" from a junkie in place of his master. Now, junkies are gross, and he does not - never has, and never will - feel ANY desire for ANY of them; however, in spite of (or perhaps, BECAUSE of) the fact that he used to so completely suppress his sex drive, he's able to fuck by focusing on WHAT he's doing and avoiding thinking about WHO.

…Until Amber, of course, but that's more than ten years from now. XD

Anyway, here's the tail end of this chapter, too - it should make the start of the next chapter a little easier to understand:

o~X~o

His master walked up behind him. "Well done, kid," he said.

Apprentice buckled his belt…and then, suddenly, it hit him.

Oh, dear Lord…

He sagged against the wall of the alley. "What have I done?" he groaned miserably.

His master chuckled. "I think the better question is 'who'?" he commented.

"Shut up!" Apprentice snapped, squeezing his eyes shut. He groaned again, this time with self-disgust, feeling his gorge rise. "I think I'm gonna be sick," he muttered.

"Oh, come on, kid," his master teased; "you enjoyed it. You know you enjoyed it."

"Which is exactly why I may be sick," Apprentice growled.

His master chuckled again. Apprentice said nothing. It was over.

"Come on, kid," the necromerchant finally said; "we can't stay here all day."

"Can I?" Apprentice asked softly. "Please?"

"You really feel that bad?" his master asked.

"Yes," Apprentice whispered.

"Hmm…Well, that's too bad," his master said; "I had something that might make you feel better, once the Z gathering's over tonight, but if you can't deal with this, then maybe you aren't ready…"

"What?" Apprentice asked, looking up at his master.

His master smiled wickedly. "Does this mean you can come to terms with this?" he asked.

"I will," Apprentice said; "I'll need a little time, but…I will."

"Well, then," the necromerchant said, "once tonight's Z gathering is over with, I think it's time for the next stage in your training."

Apprentice's eyes widened. "You don't mean…?" he breathed, hardly daring to believe it.

"I do," his master said, smiling an almost genuine-looking smile; "it's time you learned to harvest Zydrate."

"Yes!" Apprentice cried triumphantly, leaping to his feet, his damnation momentarily forgotten.

"After the Z gathering," his master added sternly, but he smiled. "Now let's go."

"Yes, Master!" Apprentice said enthusiastically, and he followed his master through the street to the next daytime dealing spot, a spring in his step.

Halfway there, it dawned on him.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed at his master. "You were waiting for this, weren't you? You were never going to teach me to harvest Zydrate until I'd fucked someone!"

His master smiled at him mischievously. "Of course I wasn't," he replied; "how else could I be sure you would ever get that part of your training out of the way?"

Apprentice shook his head. "Damn you," he said, but he smiled.

I guess it's true, he thought; it's always darkest just before the dawn.