(A/N): Jerremyah's pov, Lisbet and Leo join the party.
So, I have a little treat for you- it was meant to be ready yesterday, as was something else (that definitely isn't anywhere close)- but I just finished it up right now. It's not a chapter- it's a pinterest, entirely devoted to this story. You should be able to find it at (pinterest dot com dot au /IntoTheFireFanfic), or by going to pinterest and typing into the search bar 'IntoTheFireFanfic'. I'm about 98% sure that it is completely spoiler free (up to the current point in the story, so by the time I post the next chapter, if you're not up to date with that, the risk of spoilers could potentially go up), to the point where I've made a few boards private simply because they contain non-plot related spoilers. For example, Sidonie's board is private, because we don't know much about her at this point in the story, so pretty much everything in that board is technically a spoiler- but Zachariah's is public, because he's dead, and we're never going to meet him in the story (or at least, I have no plans to). I did have a few problems with making the pinterest though. There is a function where you can organise your boards into whatever order you want, and decide which pin you want to be the main image for each board- but apparently they only work for me, the person who created the board. I had organised the entire thing based on when characters are first mentioned (not necessarily when they first appear), but instead, you will see whichever board was most recently edited- which means that all that work I did was for nothing.
I'll talk more about what you can expect there, at the end of the chapter.
Jerremyah
We hadn't been out there that long- a little over an hour, maybe- when we started to hear the sound of two people approaching from the direction of the house. Since they were approaching from the house- and we were expecting Lisbet and Leo, eventually- we weren't all that worried about it, but still, I saw Shari reach for the pendant around her neck, just in case. A few seconds later, they got close enough for us to be able to smell them, and we relaxed- for the most part.
It was only when they walked into our view, that we could smell more of them- and while I was already craning my neck to catch sight of them, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shari, Grey and Herc's heads shoot up, as they, like me, were hit with the scent of near-debilitating sorrow, a strong pain that I wasn't sure was physical, and the lingering stench of fear- almost terror.
They stepped out of the trees, and immediately, Leo reached out his hand and snagged Lisbet's- which she looked only slightly surprised by, before a small, watery smile bloomed on her lips. I'm sure the smile would have been bigger, if she wasn't clearly so stressed- but she did tug him closer by their conjoined hands, and I saw Shari's eyebrows rise, as she, like the rest of us, watched him plaster himself to Lisbet's side.
Lisbet met my eyes, and I saw the pain there- it almost dragged a visceral growl out of me, my more animalistic, instinctual side trying to claw its way to the surface, in order to defend and protect its mate. To fix whatever was wrong- but I knew there wasn't much I could do, especially not physically.
Before we had separated I would have raced to her side- cradled her face in my hands, and pulled it into that most vulnerable of places- the place at my throat where my heartbeat could have been seen, if it still did so. Then, I would be obliged to set my teeth against the same place on her- a give and take. What's mine is yours. If you can't handle something- if you need help- I will do my best. I will tackle this, because it's my problem now, too- and because I love you, more than anything else. I would do anything for you- no matter what.
The pain in her eyes made my chest ache- like that other side of me was digging its claws into my heart, deeper and deeper each second that I refused to obey it, and just. Help. Her. She had sad eyes, and I hated it- which was in sharp contrast to how I usually felt about those most beautiful eyes of hers. I couldn't handle it, so instead, I looked to Leo.
Our eyes met immediately- as if he had been waiting for me to join him in a generous serving of eye contact. His eyes were less pained- but only by a little, and the bright blue of them almost made it worse. It felt unnatural- like some sort of heinous crime. I tried to get a better sense of how he was feeling- or had been feeling- by his scent, but as I inhaled, I realised that that was going to be more difficult than I expected, because he and Lisbet's scents were inextricably intertwined. He smelt like her, and she of him, to the point where they were almost indistinguishable- and if it were just about anyone else, at just about any other point in time, it would have made me painfully jealous- but not here and now, and not when it was her kit.
Grey hadn't triggered quite that level of jealousy in the past- ...after the early days, at least- but everyone else did- and there were some that made me more jealous than others. Alright... maybe that was just Wilde, then.
So, Leo's eyes were pained, and a little sad- but what I noticed most in them was... guilt. And that was incredibly worrying- especially when, after he had spent a long few seconds staring deep into my eyes like he was trying to tell me something, his gaze dropped to his shoes- almost as if he were ashamed. Ashamed of what- and why did it feel like he thought that I, of all people, would be ashamed of him? Lisbet cleared her throat, and my eyes swung back to her- and as I did, I saw Shari, Grey and Herc staring at me apprehensively.
"I think that means it's your turn, Chico Duro." Herc said, and briefly- very briefly- I wondered how, exactly, he was referring to me. The best I could get was through my experience with Italian, and I didn't think I was getting it quite right. 'Duro' in Italian, meant 'hard', or 'tough'- and that could make sense- but 'Chicco' meant 'grain', which... I didn't think was correct. I didn't even look at him- I was too fixated on Lisbet.
"Yeah." I said, and jumped slightly as Grey dropped his hand down on my shoulder, as if to comfort me- giving me a quick squeeze, before just as quickly releasing me. Lisbet stepped forward- and Leo came with her, lest they be forced to unlink hands- but she didn't come to me, and instead, moved to Shari- who looked just as surprised as I felt.
"I leave this little meddler in your care." She announced, raising Leo's hand in her own, before- rather reluctantly- releasing it in mid air. Leo, for his part, flushed.
"I did apologise for that-" Apologise for what? Lisbet turned her eyes to him, and his words caught in his throat, as he met her gaze. "Right. Well. Anyway." He said, dropping his eyes to his feet again, and I saw Shari's eyebrows furrow, before she stepped forward, and caught his recently released hand in hers.
"And how is my favorite little troublemaker?" She asked, and Leo's blush intensified- in fact, he turned almost shy.
"I- I'm okay?" I saw her squeeze his hand, and he took half a step towards her- before he seemed to realise that his step towards her, was a step away from Lisbet. He looked back at her, and she nodded, giving him a small smile to encourage him forward- but instead, he stepped back towards her. Then, he leaned in, and scented the side of her face. I could see her smile grow over his shoulder, but it was unfortunately still rather dampened by sorrow. He pulled back, and they stared at each other for a second, before she reached up, and laid her hand on his check.
"It's okay. Nous nous reverrous bientôt." Slowly, he nodded, and then, they parted- very, very reluctantly. He turned back to Shari.
"I'm okay." He reiterated, and as Shari shot him a dry look, he huffed out a laugh. "I am!" He glanced at me. "Besides, it's not my turn anymore- maybe you should be trying to reassure Jerremyah, instead." She scoffed- and that was something I liked about Shari: she didn't hold back.
"I think he's 'self-assured' enough as it is." Leo didn't look like he was so sure, which was exceptionally odd. Then, I saw a small smirk start to bloom on his lips, and his head turned slightly, as if he was going to look back at Lisbet, but in the end, he didn't get that far.
"Whatever you're going to say, save it, Mister." That little smirk dropped into a pout, and there was silence for a few seconds, where I watched Lisbet's face slowly grow more exasperated- I suspected more at herself than anything- before she sighed. "Fine- spit it out." His face split into a grin, and he bounced a little from side to side, on the balls of his feet.
"I'm sure Lisbet could be convinced to 'reassure' him." She blinked, as if she had been expecting much worse. "And, er... there's something there about her soothing his aching ego, I dunno- I was still working on it." She rolled her eyes at him, softly.
"Of course you were." She huffed, and Leo's grin only intensified- and I worried for a second that I might be at risk of getting a sunburn from the sunniness of it. She turned her attention to me. "Should we go?" She glanced to Leo, briefly." The sooner we leave, the sooner we can come back- and then leave again." I blinked, and opened my mouth- and then closed it again, as I saw the look in her eye. I swallowed, then nodded.
"Right, of course. Let's- let's be on our way." I stepped towards her, then stopped. "Are we... are we running, or... or apparating?" Her eyes widened, and she looked almost panicked.
"Running!" We all stared at her, bewildered at her exclamations- other than Leo, who only flashed her a sympathetic smile. "Definitely running." She said, quite a bit quieter now, but just as adamant, even as she appeared almost embarrassed.
"...alright." I acquiesced, and once again stepped towards her- but made it as evident as possible that I intended to step past her, rather than to her, just in case that was what had made her react like that.
As I reached Leo, I jumped at the feeling of his hand dropping down on my shoulder, much like Grey had done, earlier, and I stopped, to turn to look at him- surprised to find that that little smirk of his had returned... somewhat.
"I leave Ma Tante in your care." He said, and I felt my lips quirk up as I realised he was mimicking- or maybe just echoing?- Lisbet's earlier proclamation to Shari. He leaned in closer, and despite the fact that we both knew that everyone else could hear it, he whispered, "Good luck." Uh oh. I mean, yes, yay, he cared enough to wish me luck, but uh oh, to the fact that he thought I would need said luck.
I pulled back, and he nodded- a firm thing, like he was trying to show his respect- and, stunned, I returned the gesture- which he seemed to appreciate, so I guess I had done the right thing. He stepped away- not as if he wanted to leave my presence as quickly as possible, but like he knew I was a bit lost as to what I was supposed to do, and was trying to help direct me, in his own way.
I continued onward on my path, towards Lisbet- towards whatever this conversation, and the future, may hold.
(A/N): Leo: *trying to apologise to Jerremyah with his eyes*
Jerremyah: '...Je ne comprends pas whatever the hell you're trying to say.'
also
Jerremyah: 'Are we... are we running, or... or apparating (home)?'
Lisbet: 'If I have to hold onto him to apparate, I'm going to breakdown in his arms in front of everyone.'
Lisbet: 'Running! Definitely running!'
also
Lisbet, to Shari: 'I leave this little meddler in your care.'
Leo: *slightly offended*
Leo: 'Hey, I said I was sorry!'
Lisbet: *gives him a look that says that she wasn't even talking about that*
Leo: '...Right. Well. Anyway.'
Shari: 'And how IS my favorite little troublemaker?'
Leo: *flattered blushing*
also
Shari: 'And how IS my favorite little troublemaker?'
Leo: 'I'm okay.'
Shari: *skeptical look*
Leo: 'I am!'
Leo: 'I wasn't before we got here, and I won't be when they get back, but for right now, I'm okay. It's not a lie, so they can't call me out on it.'
also
Everyone Else: *normal*
Jerremyah: 'My vampire side is trying to rip me apart from the inside out because I'm (barely) resisting the urge to comfort Lisbet.'
Translations:
Chico Duro = Tough Guy. (Spanish. Chico is more like 'boy', but not necessarily boy as in a male child, but like... 'the boys'. As far as I know it can basically mean any young person [under about 25-30 years old]. Google translate and a few others sites I checked said that 'tough guy' translates to 'Chico Duro' or maybe 'Tipo Duro', but when I reverse translated that one it changed to something else, so I used 'Chico Duro'. Please let me know if you know otherwise. Duro means 'tough' or 'hard', much like Jerremyah said. I had to do some research on how similar Spanish and Italian are as languages, to figure out how much of Herc's Spanish Jerremyah could understand, and the answer is... some of it? Yes, Jerremyah can speak Italian.)
Duro = Tough or Hard. (Italian)
Chicco = Grain/bean/grape. (Italian)
Nous nous reverrons bientôt. = We'll meet again soon. (French)
Ma Tante = My Aunt (French)
Je ne comprends pas = I don't understand. (French)
~.~
So, the pinterest.
There aren't just boards for characters (not EVERY character, but MOST of them), but for locations (such as the Ellwood Estate), groups of people (Vampires, Hunters, Witches and Wizards, or the Ellwood Clan) and relationships between characters (such as Eleo, Lismyah/Jerrebet, or like, Leo and Nicholai). I just figured it might be nice for you guys to be able to see the faceclaims I picked for everyone, plus some other things- like what that character might wear (mostly just vibes, but there are a few 'as close as possible' representations of clothing items or outfits that have appeared throughout the story, indicated by the board section titled 'Wardrobe'), or things they might say (indicated by the board section titled 'Character Says' [AKA, Leo Says, etc]), and what others might say about that character, or just something that describes them (as indicated by the board section titled 'About Character' [AKA, About Leo, etc]). Some characters will also have a section called 'Art That Looks Like Character' (for example, 'Art That Looks Like Lisbet'), or if they are a canon character, it will be a slight variation- 'Art That Looks Like (or is) Character' (for example, 'Art That Looks Like [or is] Lily'). There are currently I think 66 public boards- certain subjects have more sections in their board than others (though not always the ones you would expect)- obviously, Leo has the most, with 15 sections and over 500 pins, but there is, on average, about 61 pins per board.
I really recommend you checking it out if you want to get a good look at what I think a character would look like, or would wear- but please note, if you imagine a character differently in your head (especially one from canon) you can absolutely continue to imagine them that way, I am completely fine with that. If it is something about one of my OC's, and it isn't something that is (for whatever reason) important to the plot or to their personal story/personality, it really doesn't matter to me if the way we imagine them differs. In fact, if any of you would like to talk to me about these differences, either here or through pinterest, it may even become 'canon' (to this story, at least). Most things about these characters are not set in stone, and are as flexible as you want them to be- for the most part.
Have a good day, whether you check out the pinterest or not. :P