Happy Valentine's Day Dru

AUTHOR: Liz Adnitt

FEEDBACK: Ooh, please do!

RATING: PG-13

WARNING: Blood and violence. Not for the squeamish. Hey, it's about vampires.

DISCLAIMER: Story = mine. Characters = Joss Whedon and lots of companies.

SPOILERS: Hmm... 'Fool For Love'? Kinda?

ARCHIVING: Just here, but ask and thou shalt receive.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a little short something I threw together for valentines day set when William in his just-turned but pre-Spike

days. The incident with the gifts in 'Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered' was not the first occurrence like that, only last time it

turned out differently.

William skipped silently down the steps so as not to wake the others. It was still light out and there was little chance of them being awake at this hour.

But he was mistaken. When he entered the kitchen he found all three of them already awake, Angelul and Darla feeding from two young mortals. His stomach churned, but he wasn't sure whether he wanted to ask for a bite or make a run for the privvy.

He stayed put. To run at the sight of blood was something he was not permitted to do. As Angelus so frequently told him, he was a vampire now and was expected to behave as such.

"What's happening?" he asked nervously, his eyes flitting around the room and locating a third human, a young woman no more than twenty, bound and gagged, huddled in a corner. "Who are these people?"

Angelus looked up from the bleeding neck of his meal. "Well, my boy," he explained, "these two lovelies are a couple who were wed only this morning, the morning of St Valentine's Day."

William nodded blankly, feeling a twinge of guilt.

"There's nothing so perfect," Darla purred, licking her lips, "as the taste of young love in a person's veins."

"And that young lady," Angelus added, pointing to the cowering woman in the corner, "is someone Drusilla picked out for herself last night. She said she liked her dress, and as you appeared to not be bothered about getting a gift for me sweet little Dru, then I thought it best that I do the job for you."

William looked up as Drusilla glided in gracefully, an image of loveliness in her red and black velvet dress.

"I'm sorry," William murmured. "I didn't know we celebrated Valentine's Day."

Drusilla pouted at him for a moment, then turned her attentions on Angelus. "What did you get me, Daddy?" she asked, a wicked grin on her face. "Is it something pretty and fun?"

"Aye, me sweet," Angelus replied with a smile. "'Tis the pretty dress you said you fancied, complete with the owner." He grabbed the girl from the corner and flung her into Dru's arms.

Drusilla examined the dress, her eyes sparkling. Then she glanced at the trembling young woman. "No matter," Drusilla announced cheerfully. "I like the pretty wrapping, but half the fun is the present."

She buried her fangs in the girl's neck. "She tastes like roses!" she exclaimed. "And lavender, all sweet and perfumed."

"That's my girl," Angelus proclaimed proudly, watching her feed. He returned to his own gift from Darla, a gift who was now half drained and going limp in his arms. Might as well finish her off.

William stared in morbid fascination at the scene unfolding before his eyes. He had killed, he had bitten into the neck of a mortal and relished the taste of blood on his tongue, but he could never take such malicious glee from the necessary process of feeding as the rest of his family seemed to. The familiar sense of rejection reared its ugly head, but Drusilla's pretty face sent it packing as she looked up from her feeding.

"Will you join me, my love?" she asked him.

William looked at the half-dead young woman Drusilla was clutching. He may not be able to enjoy the 'gift' as much as the others, but he was hungry and it would be impolite to refuse Drusilla's invitation. He stepped up to her, the smell of the blood assailing his nostrils and dragging his demon to the fore. He sunk his fangs into the girl's neck and fed, losing himself in the rich taste of her blood. He felt Drusilla's hand on the back of his neck.

"My William," Drusilla purred, stroking his hair. "My sweet William."

His heart surged at her words and he wanted nothing but to make her happy. He should get her a gift, but something different from the traditional vampire gifts of humans or body parts.

~~~~~~~~~~

Holding the bag to his chest, William knocked on the door to Drusilla's room. He got no reply - he never did - but he knew she was in there and it seemed only polite to knock before entering a lady's bedchamber.

He opened the door, calling softly to her. "Drusilla? It's me, I have something for you."

Drusilla was sitting on her bed, playing with her dolls. "Miss Edith doesn't like Valentine's Day," she murmured. "She's got no-one to share it with." She cuddled Miss Edith, keening softly at the doll's lack of a partner. She looked up at William, not saying a word but her eyes lighting up when she saw him.

He sat down beside her. "Perhaps I should escort Miss Edith to a party tonight," he suggested, "so she would not be lonely."

Drusilla pouted at the idea as William picked Miss Edith up, cradling her like a real baby.

"But then I would spend Valentine's Night all alone," she sulked.

William smiled at her childish display of temper. She was so adorable. "Oh, Drusilla," he sighed, placing Miss Edith back in her arms and taking her hand. "You know there is no-one else I would rather spend this special night with but you."

Drusilla cheered up slightly, looking at him hopefully, a slight smile playing around the corner of her perfect rose-red lips. She dumped Miss Edith beside her on the bed. "Really?" she asked sweetly. "No-one but me?"

"Not even Miss Edith," William replied, pressing a kiss to his Princess's cheek.

"No," Drusilla agreed, shooting a jealous look at Miss Edith. "Definitely not Miss Edith, because she's just a doll and that would be very naughty and dirty of you."

William laughed out loud, grateful that vampires couldn't blush. He picked up the paper bag he had with him, tied with a red bow. Drusilla looked at it, smiling in wonder like a child on Christmas day.

"A surprise?" she asked.

William nodded and placed the bag in her lap. Carefully, she untied the bow. "Pretty wrapping," she purred, running the silky ribbon through delicate fingers. She looked at William, offering him the bow. "Will you wrap me up, make me all pretty too?"

He grinned and took the bow from her, carefully tying her hair back with it. She brushed back his golden-brown fringe and pressed a kiss to his forehead, leaving a red lipstick mark on his pale skin.

She reached into the bag, and found a small packet of luxury truffles from the expensive chocolate shop on the corner of the street. "Ooh, yummy sweets!" she exclaimed. "I like chocolate. It's like silk."

"There's more," William informed her, nervous and unsure whether she would like all the gifts.

She rustled around in the bag again, this time bringing out a small box, obviously containing jewelry. William held his breath as she opened it, revealing the ring he had 'acquired'. It had a large opal surrounded by diamonds, set in pure silver. She squealed with delight and slipped in onto her finger.

"Oh William, it's lovely!" she breathed, admiring her hand. "So shiny. Like the moon surrounded by all the stars. Did you fly to catch them for me?"

"Well I had to run like the wind to get away from the jewelers' before anyone saw me," William informed her. She stared at him blankly. "Yes, I flew," he agreed, deciding it was better to play along.

She giggled and began searching through the bag again, retrieving the final gift: a small champagne bottle and a cut crystal glass. The bottle was already open and she pulled the cork out. She let out a gasp of surprise and delight when she poured the contents into the glass, finding the champagne tinged dark pink with blood. She took a sip, smiling at the taste and licking her lips. Then her eyes widened and she took another sip to make sure. She looked at William.

He raised his right hand to reveal the gash he had made along his wrist.

She leaned forward and kissed him passionately. "That's such a thoughtful gift," she murmured, running her hand along his sharply angular cheek. "So giving, such a sacrifice. You're a gentleman, my love."

"He's a sentimental fool," Angelus spat from the doorway.

William cringed when he saw him, knowing that Angelus would not approve of his behavior.

Angelus looked at the chocolates on the bed and the ring adorning Drusilla's dainty finger. "Sickeningly traditional gifts you've given her, William," Angelus scolded, his voice harsh. "I honestly thought you would have given her something a little more exciting. You are a vampire, after all."

Scowling, Angelus stalked off, leaving Drusilla and William alone.

William looked at the gifts, suddenly melancholy. Perhaps he should have gone and found a mortal to offer Drusilla. For all he knew she could be pretending to be happy with the presents to avoid hurting his feelings.

But another kiss from Dru assured him otherwise.

"Don't listen to Daddy," she told him. "He's tetchy. This was all absolutely charming of you. Here."

She tilted the glass to his lips and he took a sip, tasting champagne and his own blood.

"Why yours?" Drusilla asked him, gazing at the pink liquid. "Your blood is precious, why should you offer it to me?"

William took her hand, brushing the ring on her finger and watching as she drank from her glass. "I could never give you a person as the others do," he confessed. She looked at him questioningly. "Valentine's Day is a celebration of love," he told her softly, "not death. I love you, and I wouldn't wish to separate other people from their loved ones on this special occasion. The only life I would offer to you is my own, so I offer you my blood and no-one else's."

Drusilla wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, my darling!" she exclaimed, kissing him. "You're such a dear, with your sweet words and kind heart, and pretty blue eyes like the daytime sky."

She drained her glass and placed it on the bedside table so she could embrace him more easily, holding him tenderly.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Dru," he told her.

She kissed him gently on the lips. "Happy Valentine's Day, my dear sweet William."

-The End-

Background and designs from Opulant Designs.

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