A/N: Little creative license here. I always liked VV and Heather, among others. I wondered how they'd react if they met.

Knock knock.

Who could that be?

Heather was on her feet in a second, while I reached for the Mossberg. People wanting me dead(er) was getting old.

"Who's there?"

"A woman, master. She has red hair and a trenchcoat. I don't like her."

"Stop calling me that, dammit," I grumbled as I gently pushed her out of the way. VV stared back at me from the other side of the peephole. She smiled coyly. It was sad, in a way. I handed Heather the shotgun. She frowned, and headed off to put it back beside the fridge. I undid the six locks, opened the door.

"Hello there, my very favourite Kindred," she purred at me. I smiled a bit, tongue tied.

"Velvet."

"Going to leave me standing here, cold and lonely?"

I stammered, and she stepped past me, shedding her coat into Heather's arms with one fluid motion. She was wearing a strapless red satin dress beneath her long coat. It was much less provocative than usual, but just as sexy. Heather frowned, and I could just about hear her hackles raise.

"I thought after everything we've been through, you might enjoy a nice, private dinner at home."

Like I normally have with my ghoul? I decided to play along.

"What's on the menu, then? Steak, lobster tails, enchiladas?"

She laughed, a low, rich sound. One manicured hand reached into her purse, and withdrew a blood bag.

"Vandal's very finest. I hear this vintage is from a professor of philosophy."

I chuckled a bit. Heather was still frowning and watching. She'd grown up a bit since out first breakfast. She actually damn near ran the apartment, the finances, everything. She also flirted with me constantly, but that I tried to work on. Tried to get her back to college, too, but...yeah. Ever since she brought that wannabe-rapist home, it's better she laid low. So I turned to her.

"Hey, Heather. Mind going out and grabbing some beer for me?"

"Beer?"

"Well, beer for you. Here's a fifty. Here's another, actually. I want you to get a dinner for yourself that didn't come in a brown paper bag."

"But..."

"I know. I want you to get out, maybe have a nice meal," I told her. She was staring at me, tears in her eyes, damn near. So I dug deep and played dirty.

"Darlin', you know that you mean a lot to me. I just want to treat you while I talk some business."

"You're not gonna..."

"Um. Not really."

She just about sighed in relief. Smiling, she stood on tippy-toes and gave me a peck on the cheek. Giving one more glare at VV, she almost danced out the door. There's only so far Popeyes and Burger King will get you, and honestly that's about all I could afford. I tried to get her back to school, but...yeah. She refused. At any rate, VV sat across from me at the big living room table once my ghoul was out the door. She had already poured us each a wineglass full of the sweet red stuff. I raised a glass to her. She smiled like the cat who had eaten the canary, and did likewise. I took a healthy gulp of the blood, and starting buzzing almost immediately.

"Christ on a cross, what is this stuff?"

She giggled, a low purr.

"I told you. Philosophy professor."

"What in the hell did I do warrant something this good?"

She looked at he table briefly.

"I made a few...inquiries about your past. I hope I wasn't prying. I thought we had something special, together...I just wanted to show how much I appreciated everything you did for me."

I shrugged impassively.

"Chastity wasn't a big deal, Velvet."

"I wasn't talking about that."

Oh. I must have blanched or something.

"Ripping up that script must have taken a lot out of you."

Yeah, it had, but I wasn't going to admit it.

"It wasn't easy, but it was less hard than a lot of things I've had to do for LaCroix."

She sighed.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I read your script- it wasn't half bad. A friend of mine was looking seriously at picking it up."

Something inside me ripped. Anger flared.

"I really don't want to talk about this, Susan."

She gasped a little, averted her gaze.

"That girl is dead. She died a long time ago, and I would appreciate it if you didn't bring her up again."

I didn't say anything for a few minutes, sulking to myself. VV refused to look at me, tears running down her face. I felt bad- real bad. I hadn't wanted to hurt her.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I came to terms with my life a long time ago. What about you?"

I grumbled, took another swig of blood.

"I'm not doing so hot with that. I worry constantly about my ghoul. I get shipped all over the place to shoot up monsters. You know, before this, I had handled a gun about five times?"

She laughed, and the richness of her voice filled my apartment.

"I'm not surprised, somehow. You are the overwhelming compassionate type."

My eyebrow must have gone up or something, because she leant towards me, displaying gratuitous cleavage.

"Look at what you did for Venus, for me. Mercurio sings your praises to my girls every time he hears your name."

I shrugged helplessly.

"Am I supposed to let them twist in the wind, Velvet?"

"You have the option. But that's why you turn me into a sad-eyed teenager every time I see you. You're my very own white knight, in shining armor."

"But I'm not!"

"You are, dearest. I have to get back to work though. Promise me you'll have me by another time."

I smiled a bit. As she stood, she drained her glass. I walked her to the door, and she kissed me on the cheek. Holding my hand, she leaned back and stared at me.

"Not a lot of Kindred would have been trusting enough to let me that close to their necks."

I shrugged and I guess I blushed, because that laugh came back out.

"Don't ever change, I don't think my poor heart could take it."

And then she was gone. Heather was there, though. She had a bag of Jack in the Box in one hand, a crumpled up wad of bills in the other. She was crying.

"What's the matter?"

"You're....you're..." she was sobbing and trying to gasp at the same time. So I hugged her, took the bag out of her hands.

"I ain't nothin', Heather. Let's get you a proper meal," I whispered to her as her makeup started to run into my semi-clean shirt. I pulled out my cell phone.

"Hey Larry, you said somethin' about Kobe? Yeah, dog. Me and my woman..."