Notes - Done for 15pairings. Set post-AJ by several months. I'm not actually into this pairing, it's not that I dislike it, it just doesn't interest me, but when this popped into my head for the theme it just wasn't going to go away.

There were many changes to Vera's sheltered life after the case concerning her father's murder was settled.

The foremost of these being that she was no longer restricted to the house she'd grown up in, now free to walk wherever she wanted to. Though if she was completely honest with herself, she still didn't like to leave the house much. If it hadn't been for the persistence of Trucy she'd probably still spend most of her time inside, but the other girl seemed eager for her to break her habits.

After a while she got used to the basic needs of living on her own and talking to other people, leaving part of her curious about other things she'd had no experience of while being cut off from life.

Trips to the supermarket had resulted in magazines. Trucy had directed her to several that showed glamorised images of women who were presumably famous with large pink text sprawled across the cover, they generally didn't cost much to buy. When this happened, Trucy's friend Apollo, the lawyer who had helped Vera, muttered something and hastily disappeared. Trucy told her that boys just didn't understand these things.

The magazine had little in it that interested Vera when it came down to it, but all this talk about scandalous relationships and who'd been caught with who drew to Vera's attention something that had been lacking from her existence – girls' relationships with boys.

She knew nothing of dating or kissing or… anything that led further than that. At the moment she'd have been happy just knowing about kissing. Not that she could really ask Trucy about this sort of thing, the other girl was quite young and Vera found herself becoming embarrassed at the thought of talking about the subject.

So she read books, watched TV, searched the Internet and came to the conclusion that kissing was something that no one really understood and was covered in Hollywood gloss. She didn't want to know about celebrities kissing, she just wanted to know about somewhat regular people kissing. Her sources didn't seem very helpful on that subject.

It was during one of her fruitless online searches that she heard the door go and went to answer it. Apollo was waiting there with that generally 'I don't know how to deal with anything that isn't law related' shuffle that he had.

"Hey, Trucy wanted me to give you these while she was at school," he said, holding out some tickets to see a magic show performing that the coliseum. Vera was very interested in magic and since Trucy was a magician she often brought her to see shows.

Taking the tickets, Vera held the door open for Apollo to come in. She still wasn't very good at talking to people, but both of her new companions had learned to fill the gap by talking more themselves.

As Apollo walked through the room he glanced at the open laptop a little disapprovingly.

"You know, you won't learn everything about the world from that thing," he said, "It's good for some things, and I know you don't like leaving the house, but the best way to find out about people is to…"

He froze up, looking at the picture on the screen of the latest hot news couple kissing. Rushing over, Vera shut the lid of the laptop quickly.

"I can't believe Trucy's got you into that junk," he laughed, "If you want anyone famous I'm sure Prosecutor Gavin would come over anytime."

"It's not the celebrities I'm concerned about…" she whispered, embarrassment covering her face.

Raising an eyebrow, Apollo questioned, "Then what were you doing looking at one of those gossip sites?"

Reaching for her sketchpad, Vera quickly scribbled a picture of two faces kissing then turned the book to show Apollo.

It took him a moment to comprehend; "You… want to know about… um, kissing?" he asked, awkwardly.

She nodded.

"Well why don't you just… ah, ask Trucy or something," Apollo muttered, "That is, I don't know if she's done any kissing, and if she has her dad would want to know about it, but I'm sure she'd be able to give you some tips."

Mumbling, Vera replied, "What good are tips when you don't know anyone…"

"That's not true, you know Trucy and myself," said Apollo, then he caught what he said.

Both of them looked across at each other, faces flushed.

Then it hit Vera. Apollo was a normal guy, exactly the type she'd wanted to find out about, and he would be able to tell her all about it.

Since he didn't seem eager to end the silence he'd created, Vera said, "Do you know anything about kissing, Apollo?"

"I… well, I…" he stammered.

Not really hearing him, Vera went on, "What was your first kiss like? The books say it's supposed to be a magical moment but I'm not sure that's really true. Please tell me all about it so that when I find out for myself I can be prepared."

This was the most Apollo had ever heard her say in one go and he wasn't really prepared for it. He'd backed off without thinking.

"This is sort of awkward," he said, rubbing the back of his head, "You see… I haven't really kissed anyone before and- …court case! That was it; I have a court case that I really need to get to this afternoon!"

He had managed to back himself to the door.

Quickly, he said, "I don't really want to just leave you like this, but court is important and Trucy will probably come over after school anyway. So, I'll see you later!"

She stared in confusion as he left. Why had kissing prompted such a big reaction out of him? He'd never seemed so scared to talk about anything before.

When she told Trucy these things later, the younger girl had laughed.

"Don't take it personal Vera, boys are just like that. You can't talk to them about stuff like kissing because they just don't understand," she said.

Vera replied, "But if you don't talk to them about it then how does it happen?"

"Hmm, you've got me there," Trucy said, "I guess it just happens differently depending on the people. Polly's so clueless that he'd never bring up something like that on his own. Still I can't believe he's never been kissed before!" That was said in a tone that suggested everyone she knew who knew Apollo was going to find out about it soon.

Looking disheartened, Vera answered, "But I've never been kissed either…"

"Yes, but you've been cooped up here your whole life," Trucy said instantly, "He's got no excuse."

She nodded, finding herself cheered up a little.

"Look, next time you plan on kissing a guy, come straight to me. I'll tell you what you need to know," Trucy said, with considerable confidence, "And I'd recommend not trying Apollo again, he's not good with girls."

Trying him? Vera had no idea that she'd even been doing that. Had Apollo got nervous and headed off because he thought they were going to kiss?

Boys really were complicated. For all Trucy said they didn't understand this subject Vera didn't think she understood either.

But one way or another, Vera had learned about kissing – she knew it wasn't something she would bring up around Apollo in the near future. Unlike with celebrities, normal people need to use considerable tact with the subject.

This was a lesson well learned.