(A/N): Do we learn anything more about Lisbet's nickname? No, of course not! Do we get some feel good fun, and a possible plot twist averted? Yes.

Lisbet

His grandmother had given him wine at the age of five- or four, even worse- and that was a fond memory for him? I doubted that he'd actually been five- I didn't want to doubt him, but he hadn't really given me much of a choice with the way he'd reacted to certain things, or the way he'd spoken about it. It didn't really matter though, did it? What had happened, and whether he was lying about when- it didn't matter, because either way, he was here now. He was Leo- and even if he was lying about the details, that didn't change the bare bones of the situation- which was, arguably, the worst part.

Jerremyah was laughing- I didn't blame him for that. If I'd been able to open my mouth without worrying that I would say something I might regret- a whined 'kit', perhaps- I probably would've found myself laughing as well. But as it was, I was more focused on the way that Leo's face lit up; most of the tension draining out of it like he was relieved that the pressure was off of him to deliver a story, at least temporarily.

"What?" Jerremyah started, barely managing to calm his laughter so that he could speak properly. "No spit bucket?" Leo rolled his eyes at him, but luckily he still looked amused- though knowing Leo, that could change on a dime.

"Are you kidding me? Purebloods don't spit- that would be uncouth." Jerremyah's eyes slanted sideways at me, and I saw the joke he couldn't voice out loud written in them- 'They're not the only ones.' Now, it was my turn to roll my eyes at him, even as a smirk grew on Leo's lips. "'course, they don't swallow, either- it's a wine tasting, not-" I cut him off, flapping my hands frantically in an attempt to get him to stop.

"Nope! Nope, no, nuh-uh, hell no-" The resulting grin was near blinding, and this was it- that very real Leo smile, that suddenly made me almost okay with whatever dirty remark he'd been about to speak into existence.

"Nice." I heard Jerremyah congratulate him under his breath, and Leo looked so bloody proud of himself that I legitimately felt something in my chest thawing after what felt like years... maybe even centuries.

"I feel like I should be disappointed that you have such a potty mouth, but I think my choice of companions has tainted my once immaculate sense of decorum." Even as Leo's lips quirked up, Jerremyah frowned, with only mostly feigned hurt on his face. Uh oh... I had a feeling I knew where this was headed- an old argument I thought we'd buried- but apparently, this newfound introspection involved retreading old ground.

"Ah yes, because I was certainly the first- and only- person to enter your life and fill it with filth." Ugh, yep. I saw Leo's eyebrows furrow, even as I rolled my eyes at Jerremyah- again.

"Are we really doing this again? Now? I thought we were past-" Leo butted in, for which I was grateful, since it meant I didn't need to really start in in on Jerremyah's- probably deserved, but still- long, long list of insecurities. His retort hadn't even made sense given the subject matter, but I knew that over the years more than one of our arguments had gotten muddled to the point of no longer quite making sense, because one of us had equated an answer given with a new issue. I was talking about companions, multiple- not even in a way that was related to that same old argument- and Jerremyah had narrowed it to me being ashamed of him, like he always did. It had never really been about him, but just when I'd finally gotten that through his head, I'd ended our relationship- and apparently, hit the reset button on the way out.

"Is this about the nun thing?" I blinked, then flicked my eyes back and forth between them- Leo, looking curious but eager, and Jerremyah, who started out looking almost annoyed, but quickly turned sheepish as I shot him my most accusing of looks. "Was I... not supposed to bring it up?" Leo asked tentatively, and Jerremyah shrugged.

He squeezed Leo's shoulder with one hand, and when I glanced down to check- yep, he was squeezing his hand in the other, as well. "Don't worry about it. Nice distraction, by the way." Leo flushed slightly, and I realised that Jerremyah had figured out the truth before I'd even had the change- of course Leo had only brought up my past vocation as a way to distract me from my frustration with Jerremyah.

"It's not you, Nounours." It was gentle, soft- a contrast to the pointed look I was giving my mate, who looked like the only reason he wasn't crossing his arms over his chest was the fact that both of his arms were currently occupied anchoring himself to Leo. "We'll... talk more about the details of that later- along with my mate's jealousy." The last part was incredibly dry, and his lips drew into a line- which was basically the Jerremyah equivalent of biting his own tongue off in an attempt to hold it.

"Right..." Leo said, then shook his head like he was trying to clear it. "So... nickname?" I nodded, trying to remember where I'd gotten up to- not far, in the grand scheme of things. Or at all, really.

We'd gotten to Sidonie changing her name; to the fact that our poking fun at her for doing so in such a dramatic manner had most likely caused Greygorry to show some restraint- well, as much restraint as could be expected from him, anyway. "As far as I know, Sidonie changed every part of her name, not just her surname. I don't know what it used to be- I don't think even Grey knows that- but to be honest, I really couldn't care less. She changed it for a reason- and even if that reason was just aesthetics, I respect that." He frowned, not like he disagreed necessarily, but more like his mind was somewhere else.

"At what point did she change her name?" I was surprised that he was so interested. Maybe I shouldn't have been, but any possible reason for him to be such was currently evading me.

"I don't know... you'd have to ask Grey if you want to know more, but it was definitely before my time." I saw him relax, and knew that this was the answer he'd been looking for.

"I was just worried that- well..." He hesitated and glanced sideways at Jerremyah, who didn't react beyond a tiny crease forming between his brows. "Okay, so, I had a theory for like a minute there, where... so, she changed her name, and she's blonde-" I flicked my eyes to Jerremyah, and I saw a muscle in his cheek jump, as though in reaction to the weight of my gaze on him. I didn't have to make any further guesses as to who might have told Leo that Sidonie was blonde. "-and she made a promise to protect me- I thought... what better reason to want to protect me, than if we were related?"

I blinked- and I could see Jerremyah having much the same reaction. It did make a certain amount of sense, but... hm. I took the time to inspect Leo a bit more closely- to compare his features to how I remembered Sidonie looking- but I don't think there was much point to that, either way. Sidonie was old- much older than Leo. Much older than me, or Grey, or even Jerremyah. Even if they were related, it was so far removed at this point that there was very little chance they would share more than a passing resemblance- and even if they shared a much closer familial bond, I highly doubted Sidonie was the type of person to allow herself to be bound by something like that. No, they didn't look entirely dissimilar, but I suspected that had more to do with their coloring than anything else.

"That's not... the worst theory," I started gingerly, shooting Jerremyah a glance to try to tell him to close his mouth. "Will you allow me to counter it?" He let out a breath, and it took me a second to realise that it was relieved.

"Yes, please." I couldn't help it, the corner of my lips quirked up, just a little.

"So eager." I joked, making his cheeks turn pink- and tuck himself further under Jerremyah's arm like he was suddenly overcome by shyness. "Sidonie's old. Not as old as Nuria, or even CJ, but definitely several hundred years old. If you're related, at this point it would be quite distantly- and I doubt it would matter to Sidonie anyway. No- whoever got Sidonie to promise to protect you, they had something on her. She's not exactly the altruistic sort, and as much as I hate to say it... it isn't exactly in her best interest to want to help you." He shrugged, characteristically unbothered by this.

"I just don't want to be caught off guard. It would be completely on theme for my life, if she and I were secretly related. That theme being, 'anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.'" That was probably fair.

"You're not related- if you were, why would she have to promise someone to protect you? Why you, and not Mia? Or your mother, even?"

He winced, then said, "Because they're human." I knew what he was trying to say, but it still made my eyebrows furrow.

"You're human." His face screwed up and his mouth opened to contradict me, but I pushed onward. "And vampire. And veela." His face softened, even as he looked a bit bemused. "You're all three, not just one of the other. Or the other, other." The corner of his lips quirked up in a way that I was pretty sure was unintentional.

"'Other, other' feels like it describes me pretty well." ...oh, Leo. I stepped right in close- close to Jerremyah, as well, albeit inadvertently- and smoothed my hands over his hair, before cupping his cheeks so I could coax him into maintaining eye contact.

"If you're 'other, other', can I be 'other, other' with you?" He sucked in a quiet breath, and blinked- once in surprise, then repeatedly, like he was trying to hold back tears.

When he answered me, it was almost croaky- and that above anything else was the most touching, because it meant that even though he was clearly affected by the sentiment, he was willing to allow himself to be so, in order to give me the verbal confirmation I was looking for. "If... if you want to?" I curled my hand to stroke his cheek, making sure to 'accidentally' bump Jerremyah's neck in the movement. It wasn't to push him into saying something, only to tell him that if he was thinking of throwing his lot in, he shouldn't hold himself back just because Leo and I were having a moment.

"We can all be 'other, other' together, if you like." Leo blinked again, unable to turn his head with my hands on his cheeks, but his wide eyes darted sideways to Jerremyah nonetheless. "We can be the 'other, other' clan." He bonked his chin against Leo's temple, then dragged it back and forth. It wasn't quite scenting, but I thought it was much more telling than Jerremyah had expected it would be. "What do you say?"

Leo was silent for a second, his eyes falling to my collar- not to hide, but to think this offer through. When he raised them again, he had a smile tugging at his lips. "Being normal is overrated."

(A/N): Jerremyah: *holding his tongue, and not making a joke about blowjobs*

Lisbet: *seeing the joke in his eyes anyway*

Leo: *immediately making a joke about blowjobs*

Lisbet: *horror*

Jerremyah: * :') *

Jerremyah: 'I am so, so proud of you.'

also

Leo: 'Do you think Sidonie and I could be... related?'

Lisbet: 'No, and here's a whole host of reasons why I think that isn't the case.'

Leo: 'Oh, thank God!'

also

Lisbet: *says something*

Jerremyah: *remembers an argument they had like, 150 years ago*

Jerremyah: 'And another thing-'

Lisbet: *remembers an argument they had like, 100 years prior to that*

Lisbet: 'You're sleeping on the couch tonight.'

Jerremyah: 'We don't have to sleep, we're vampires-'

Lisbet: 'That isn't the point!'

Jerremyah: 'Fine! ...so, see you in an hour?'

Lisbet: '...yeah.'

also

Lisbet: 'YOU'RE human. And vampire. And veela. You're all three, not just one or the other. Or the other, other.'

Leo: '...that's not a thing.'

Lisbet: 'I'm making it a thing.'

Lisbet: *elbows Jerremyah*

Jerremyah: 'Um, yeah! Uh huh. That's a- that's a thing. Definitely.'

Leo: *narrows eyes*

Leo: 'They're lying... but somehow that's almost MORE touching.'

Translations (French):

Nounours = Teddy Bear

I wrote three chapters yesterday, and one so far today- I'm quite proud of myself. Also, I started typing this chapter up and I was so confused because I was like, aren't Lisbet's hands on Leo? How is she flapping them-? And then I remembered that I've basically flashed back a few chapters, so she wasn't touching his face yet or anything.