Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Chapter 21

The next day, about eleven, Valkyrie woke, washed again just in case someone would know what she had done at night and went down for breakfast. The others looked tired and were eating soup.

"Only just get in?" She asked, sitting down.

"Yes," Crow said. "But we completed the mission. All that's left is getting the Grotesquery, but we are certain the Hound we found was the only they had a chance of getting to."

"We're good then."

"Exactly," he nodded. "We'll be getting the Grotesquery today while everyone else sleeps. Be ready soon."

"Is Tanith coming?" She asked, pouring herself orange juice.

"Yes, but it won't be a fighting day," he said. "Hopefully."

"I assume you haven't told her that."

"God, no. She wouldn't come. I'm going to change, I'll see you in the car."

Valkyrie finished her breakfast, gave the Idiots a vague and censored story of the previous night and brushed her teeth. Tanith was already in the back seat waiting.

"Hi," Valkyrie said, getting in. "You were quick getting ready."

"Well, I have things to do later."

"Ooh, like what?" Valkyrie grinned at her, shooting texts off at Nadia all the while. "Hot date?"

"Hardly," Tanith scoffed. "I need to talk to you about your hot date."

Valkyrie looked at her suspiciously. "What does that mean? I think I know what that means but that's not fair because you already did that, and I didn't like it at all. You're not allowed."

Tanith grinned at her. "Bull's eye."

"Bull shit. I won't let you. You gave me the talk, you can't do it twice!"

"You don't get a choice. I'll pin you down. So we can do this tonight, hidden away with ice cream, or I can chase you around the house and have Dexter and Erskine sit on you, so I can talk at you. Your choice."

Valkyrie hunched in her seat, trying to text Nadia without seeming like she didn't want to talk – it was hard to talk about talking about sex with Tanith and flirt with her girlfriend at the same time. "I'll think about it. There is so much I left out. The science is not nearly the same, I promise."

Crow got in the car then and they set off, listening to the classical radio and chatting about little things on the way. Mostly Valkyrie went between two messages – one with Nadia where she spoke about a fight she'd had with her mother over a school she wanted to send her to in England, and another between her and the Idiots. It was called the 'Idiot conversation'.

The Idiots, which were Saracen, Dexter and Erskine, generally teased each other and occasionally flirted with her – or each other for laughs – in a purely innocent way or shared gifs and other pictures. It was fun to be a part of as none of them had fallen asleep yet and she knew they were all in their underwear in their beds, lying under their covers on their phones smiling at silly messages. It was just amusing to think of. No matter their size or strength, they needed each other to stay sane and together. Valkyrie loved their silly messages together, even the flirting which was a little strange, she knew, to others. But it worked, and she couldn't bring herself to care what anyone else thought. It wasn't like they'd corner her alone and do it, that might be a bit weird.

They arrived at a facility the Grotesquery, according to China, was being kept. It was an abandoned barn really, but Crow kept calling it a facility, insisting it was just deceptive to keep morals up in Vengeous' men. When they went in, however, it was both bare of modernity and anything that wasn't a barn. It even had chickens.

"I think it may have been hyped up," Valkyrie said. Inside one of the stalls was the Grotesquery – Tanith found it – and all they had to do was put it in the car.

"Skulduggery..." Tanith said. She was glaring.

"Yes, I know, I thought there was going to be a fight," he said, holding his hands up.

"No he didn't."

"No you didn't," Tanith said, high fiving Valkyrie. They stood with arms crossed against Crow.

"No one's on my side," he pointed out. "This isn't a fair fight."

"Well, Valkyrie needs training," Tanith said. Suddenly they joined sides and Valkyrie realised she wasn't going to enjoy this afternoon.

"Come on, I'll drop you off and get rid of this," he said.

Valkyrie huffed but they all got in and went to the gym, dropping her and Tanith off. She already had gym clothes in the boot, always prepared for Tanith to throw her into a training session, and after changing, they met in the gym room.

They warmed up together – that was probably worse than the training, keeping up with Tanith – then hit the weights. She started with the leg press, her easiest with all the swimming, running and dancing she did growing up, pushing some medium weight Tanith set it to for four sets of twenty reps before standing and being forced to plank for ten odd minutes while Tanith did the same with much more ease, smiling and chatting to her about whatever she wanted since Valkyrie was too busy thinking 'don't fall, don't fall, don't fall' to participate.

They moved to running uphill, racing each other – Valkyrie lost but did better than last time – then squats with weights, and more back and legwork. It was not Valkyrie's favourite type of work out, but it was always the most rewarding.

They went to the sparing hall next and Valkyrie and Tanith took a bamboo training sword each, which looked ridiculous to Valkyrie, and Tanith had her do some training movements, just moving from parry to attack, which was parried by Tanith, and she responded with a jabbing attack that Tanith allowed to hit her for the fun of it, then she had to block a lunge attack and follow it with a riposte, a counterattack that Valkyrie put all her strength into to push Tanith away.

Tanith enjoyed using every type of sword fighting she could as a part of her own style, though, so soon Valkyrie herself was using Japanese, broadsword and all the Haidong Gumdo training moves, moving through them faster and faster, then moving seamlessly into half-sparring. Only half since Tanith mostly told her what to do and almost none of her attacks ever hit, but she herself was often hit so it counted as sparring according to Valkyrie.

Panting, Valkyrie lunged and batted Tanith's training sword away, stepping in and finally, finally, getting a genuine hit in on Tanith's side but was far too slow moving back and was hit so hard she almost fell over but did manage to get herself stable enough to parry the next attack, and the second-attack and do an attempted counter Tanith blocked with a swipe under her legs, which she jumped and she had to duck to avoid being knocked-out.

Standing and panting, she pushed forwards and instead of fighting, kept pushing, just enough that Tanith tensed to stop her and then picked the woman up and threw her to the floor, trying to thrust the sword into her stomach but being blocked and quickly tried attack after attack, on her legs, arms, head and they were all blocked expertly with a smile. It was barely even sword-fighting, Valkyrie was just desperately trying to hit her with anything!

Sweat was rolling down Valkyrie's back now and she held the training sword up and stepped back, indicating for Tanith to get up. She did slowly, holding out the sword and when Valkyrie was certain Tanith didn't think she was going to attack, she attacked. She brought the sword down on Tanith's wrist but she simply moved it out the way and did a feint to Valkyrie's left shoulder and then suddenly brought the sword down, but Valkyrie already knew Tanith liked to do that and had the sword ready to block. It wobbled violently with the strength Tanith had used behind the attack and Valkyrie's wrist hurt blocking, but she swiftly used the opening to kick Tanith in the ribs, which she managed, getting an 'oof' out of her before Tanith grabbed her foot and yanked her to the ground.

Tanith's foot was placed steadily on Valkyrie's sternum. The bamboo sword at her neck.

"Damn," Valkyrie panted. "I did... so much better."

Tanith laughed, happy to hold her down for a while longer. Apparently, her own instructor had done the same to her and she'd hated it, but doing it to Valkyrie was really amusing so she always took the opportunity. It seemed therapeutic.

As for Valkyrie, she was choosing not to fight this battle. She would only lose and make it more fun for Tanith. "Yeah, you did a lot better actually. But still nowhere near good enough."

"I know," she panted, trying to get saliva into her dry throat but struggling between the heavy breathing. "What now?"

"Tut tut, you didn't think I was done with you yet, did you?"

The rest of the afternoon was spent training with a little break for drinks and sitting before more training. They ended the session, both sweating awfully, with a shower and then a stop at a café across the street that did amazing protein shakes with greens and vitamins in them, covered up by lots of chocolate sauce. They were really good. Sometimes they'd get sausage rolls as well.

Since the others would still be asleep, they got takeaway and a bus home, muttering between themselves about who was hotter, Bear or Wolf, then Snake or Weasel, deciding overall Wolf was hotter conventionally with Bear as second place, just too intimidating to be recognised as such by most people. In personality though, it was between Bear and Panda for Tanith – Valkyrie decided she needed someone with more excitement and would have to pick Wolf because he was less flighty than Weasel but not as settled as the others. Snake would annoy her too much. All hypothetically of course, as she didn't feel any type of sexual or romantic attraction to any male, but she could observe. And tease Tanith about what she wanted.

"You have to choose," she demanded, referring to the Bear versus Panda debate.

"No I don't," Tanith laughed. "Maybe I fancy them both a little."

"Yes, that's fine. That's allowed," Valkyrie conceded. "But you can't date them both, you have to choose and get married and not be awkwardly sitting in opposite corners. I don't like this indecision."

Tanith rolled her eyes. "Some people date multiple people quite happily. Who's to say I won't do that?"

Valkyrie nodded. "That is acceptable. But for the point of the argument, you have to choose."

"Okay."

"Okay. Now, choose."

"No."

"You fancy Panda more."

Tanith didn't say anything.

"I knew it," Valkyrie smirked. "What are you going to do about that?"

"Nothing at all right now." Valkyrie gave her a look and she continued. "I'm still new to the group. If I mess up, I'm disposable. I'm not good enough friends with everyone to be a main part and until I am, there's no guarantee I can recover from a mistake relationship or awkward morning after incident. So we're all staying away from that. Anyway, I prefer them to come to me."

"Aren't you meant to be pro-women, doing what you want?"

"Yeah, but some things are personal," she shrugged. "And I expect them to ask me out rather than the other way around. Except maybe a hint that I am expected to be asked out in the near future. I will ask out women though, it's just the men. I'm horribly sexist, you see."

Valkyrie shrugged. "Fair I suppose. But what will you do if they both like you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if you find out, because you sneak around or ask someone, and find out both of them want to ask you out. Because then you have to choose. I mean, if you find out Panda is madly in love with someone else at the Sanctuary or something, it would be pretty easy at this stage to let go and work on Bear. But what if you aren't sure which and they get into a fight over you and you have to pick one and they both really like you. Then what?"

Tanith laughed. "Val, I really don't see that happening. And even if it does, I'd just say I don't know what I want, and I'll have to think about it for a while until I've decided. If they push, I'll know they aren't the one. End of."

Valkyrie thought that over. "I suppose I'll accept that answer."

They were at their stop and left, running over to the mansion and quietly letting themselves in, grabbing some cutlery, plates and ice cream before racing over to one of the snugs the others didn't go in – mostly because Tanith had put a sign saying, 'Enter at Pain of Horrid Death' on it, and 'Bitches Only'. They picked out a television show and watched quietly, shovelling in food while it was still warm.

When they had finished, Tanith gave her a look and Valkyrie almost shrunk away but then decided she'd rather get it over with quick. She put her phone away and sat better to help her get through the conversation. The Talk.

"Okay," Valkyrie started unwillingly. "How quick can we make this?"

"Less than ten minutes I bet," Tanith said. "Then ice cream."

"Okay, go."

"If you don't feel ready for sex, don't do it," she said quickly, almost twice her usual speed and getting them both to grin immediately. Valkyrie liked the idea of a rapid sex education, it would get it over with quickly. "I don't care when you decide you are ready for it, but when you are, make sure you both get checked out at a gynaecologist first, I don't care if it's both your first times. There are too many horror stories not to do that. Or, use a dental dam until you both get checked."

"A what?"

"It's a sheet condom–"

"No, Tanith, no, God no, I know what it is, we've been over this," Valkyrie said, getting that flush of embarrassment - worse than a blush, it made her feel like she was fainting. "I mean, 'what, I can't believe you'd suggest that.' It's really weird and you know it–"

"You shouldn't dismiss–"

"There's not a chance in hell I would ever–"

"Alright, alright! But at least hear out the other thing I was going to say," she said, holding up a hand. When Valkyrie let a few moments go by, she continued. "Use some gloves instead. No, listen! I can get you some gloves and I'll tell you why. You have horrid nails and you are likely at risk of scratching anyone you dare touch at the moment. Look at them. Do it." Valkyrie did, and she kind of saw Tanith's point. Though short, they were all jagged and unkempt. They were always being broken and chipped into sharp edges no matter how hard she tried to keep them nice so she'd given up trying. It didn't help she bit the skin around them and had little cuts around her nails from that too.

"Also, until you get checked since that is still the other must, you can't do any sharing of hands from one to another so if you can just take the glove off, you're all ready. Convenience." Valkyrie could see she'd been thinking this speech over. She'd been worrying. "And lastly, you get small cuts and grazes on your hands from fighting all the time that aren't worth going to Kenspeckle to soak, so you can't be touching anyone with those open wounds. It'll hurt you and her with whatever's in the cut and whatever goes into your hand from her. You will get an infection. Everyone will laugh at you. And yes, we will absolutely know what caused the infection so don't think you can get out of it. Unless you want to start taking better care of your hands, and you literally cannot all the time, gloves are a must."

Valkyrie slouched. That was a good argument. The last one, anyway. It still felt so awkward to imagine actually having sex let alone using weird gloves. Then again, that heat of the moment when Nadia would kiss her was overpowering.

On one hand, she was rational and took what Tanith told her to heart. Tanith had been with women before and wasn't stupid. If she said it was better to be safe than sorry she didn't want to ignore her. Plus, she didn't think Tanith would suggest protection unless she thought it was needed. If she thought about it and was at least honest with herself, she knew Tanith was right about the dental dam and the gloves. She was just self-conscious and thought that it might be weird. And she didn't know how Nadia would feel about it and if she suggested something like gloves and Nadia was all, like, 'no that's weird,' Valkyrie would be embarrassed.

"Fine. I'll accept the gloves," Valkyrie muttered to the sofa after a moment to think. "And I'll do the gynaecologist thing too, but it has to be far away and I'm never doing it again. And I don't want to do it yet."

Tanith rolled her eyes. "Deal. Now, something else I wanted to say is, you need to speak with her about sex, touching, absolutely anything, before you do it. You both need to know what's okay and when the time comes, you and Nadia won't feel pressured or unsure of anything. It'll be totally normalised between you. Most people date lots of people so by the time you're my age, talking about sex with someone is so normal its not even a taboo thing. I know it's still strange to you right now, but one day you'll just come out with it without thinking and it won't even matter. Okay?"

Valkyrie nodded once. It kind of felt wrong to hear Nadia's name in the conversation. Too personal. "Anything else?"

"Only that consent is the key to sex," she grinned teasingly. "But you already know that."

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously. You said it about twenty times the first go around. It was ringing in my ears when I went to sleep."

"Good, I'm pleased to hear that," she laughed, passing Valkyrie a tub of ice cream.

"It was still really embarrassing, though. You can't do it again."

"Yeah, I can. I think you're starting to enjoy it. And you know, after the first time having sex people are usually way less uptight about it. You'll probably come to me after and we'll talk all about it like it's nothing and have more talks and I'll help you learn more."

"Are we going to watch a movie now?" Valkyrie asked.

"Yeah. Pick one, quick, before I eat all this."

The dreaded talk... horrible! But it had to be added. All I got was the science part when I was eight - apparently, anything more wasn't necessary to my talk experience. I mean, I didn't want to talk to my mum about that anyway but still! Tanith's good at worrying for and looking after Valkyrie :) We'll be allowed to get to more drama business instead of the teen problems from now! Well, maybe a little more embarrassment for our girl... :D