(A/N): We're back with Lisbet, Jerremyah and Leo in 1975.

Lisbet

Leo was purring. In my arms. He was purring, in my arms. This wasn't the first time, but still, it was only the second- the first being after he had received the letter from Elaine- but this was different. This was because of me, and the fact that I had told him that he was mine. I had called him mine, and he had started purring. And then... and then, he had asked Jerremyah to join us.

Well, 'asked' isn't exactly accurate- demanded, more like. Jerremyah had been reluctant- hesitant, not reluctant- so I had pulled him in by the back of the neck- something that was very, very familiar to me, but I hadn't done nearly enough recently. And it was completely unmistakable, when a few seconds after Jerremyah finally wrapped his arms around the both of us, Leo's purring got louder- more intense.

I pushed my nose against his temple, and met Jerremyah's eyes past him- and clearly he had noticed it as well, because those eyes were wide, and almost endlessly blue- but I didn't think that particular detail was related, considering they were always like that. I pressed a kiss to Leo's hairline, and stroked the back of Jerremyah's neck with my thumb- they were both still for a few seconds, before I felt a shuffling of arms as they clearly tried to divide up the real estate that was my back. I don't think Jerremyah minded very much that his arms had come around me on top of where Leo's rested, and I also didn't think that Leo was bothered by the fact that they had ended up in this position, but he was simply trying to make room for the new member of this now group hug- and it was Leo who initiated the movement.

His left arm had originally been higher on my back, having come around me from just under my arm to rest his fist between my shoulder blades- but now, he slid that arm down my back to join his other, where it banded my waist. Jerremyah took up the place that Leo had vacated, but with his hand flat between my shoulder blades like he was trying to feel for my heartbeat- as though he had inevitably forgotten that I didn't have one, yet again. His other arm looped around the line of my shoulders, and this hand came up to toy with the ends of my hair in a way that was much more soothing than it ought to be.

Leo was sandwiched between our bodies, and I had no doubt that Jerremyah could feel the thrum of his purr just as strongly as I could, through his chest being flush with Leo's back, whereas Leo and I were chest to chest. It was a feeling unlike any other, to have my kit pinned safely between my mate and I, purring- to know that he was clearly happier with Jerremyah as his back, than without. I skimmed the hand I had on the back of Jerremyah's neck a little further up, so I could play with his hair, in return, and he blinked at me, then leaned past Leo- brushing their cheeks together briefly- to scent the opposite side of my face from where Leo was doing the same. I huffed happily- my purr momentarily changing with that action- as I hauled both of them impossibly closer.

"Mes doux- my sweet, sweet boys." I decided halfway through that I wasn't going to try to distance myself from this by saying it in French- and immediately I was rewarded for it, because I had a good view of Jerremyah's face pinking, and Leo lowered his head to dip his nose into the hollow above my collarbone, where I could feel the warmth of his breath against my skin.

"You- you, sweet." Jerremyah stuttered out rather awkwardly, but I couldn't tell whether that was simply because he was still a bit rusty, so to speak, with me using terms of endearment for him, or if it had more to do with the fact that I had lumped him and Leo together as 'my boys'.

"Mine." Leo rumbled, his voice slightly muffled by the way that his lips never left contact with my skin. Then, his hand skimmed up my back again, to nudge his knuckles against the side of Jerremyah's hand, where it rested between my shoulder blades. "Kin." Predictably- at least, it was predictable to me- Jerremyah froze, his body stiffening in a way that even I could feel, being much less connected- at least physically- with him than Leo was.

There was a pause of a few seconds, and then- gingerly, ever so carefully- Jerremyah started moving again. It was only his hand- the one between my shoulder blades, the one that Leo had nudged- and he slowly dragged it downward up over the top of Leo's hand, before I felt that clump of hands move, and then fingertips- followed by knuckles- against my body- and I realised what had happened, when this time, Leo froze instead.

Jerremyah had taken Leo's hand in his, and for the second time today, they were holding hands- it just so happened that this time, they were doing so with said hands intertwined on my back. Leo's turn freezing ended much more quickly than Jerremyah's, and I felt him try to snuggle closer, even as I could tell that he was squeezing Jerremyah's fingers in his own. There was no 'closer' to get, and I allowed him to push me back a bit rather than use my strength to counter his, and possibly risk hurting him.

"K- k-" Jerremyah started to choke out, and knowing what he was trying to say, I felt my eyebrows shoot up. "K- k-" I felt Leo push backward, away from me this time- into Jerremyah's chest, in a move that I didn't doubt was purposeful.

"You don't have to say it, if you don't want to." He told Jerremyah, who even I felt wince.

"'s not that I don't... want..." I felt Leo nod.

"Is it... that particular word, or... the sentiment?" I already knew the answer to this, and secretly, I expected that Leo did as well.

"It's not... I have... issues." Well, that was the understatement of the year.

"Hey, same!" Leo exclaimed quietly, sounding much more excited than I thought the subject merited, but I suspected that he was only doing so to make Jerremyah feel better about the whole thing. Not that Leo didn't have issues- big ones, even- but he seemed to be specifically acting as casual as possible, in order to put Jerremyah at ease. It worked- at least a little bit.

"I've not... y'know when you take up a new hobby, and even after you learn the basics, you still don't feel entirely confident in your ability to pull something off, quite the way you want it?" Even as I wondered where he was going with this, Leo nodded like this was the most understandable concept in the world.

"Right..." He said in an encouraging sort of way, and I genuinely couldn't tell whether he was just humoring Jerremyah, or I was simply the only one that didn't understand what he was talking about.

"Well, currently I feel like some unknown force has thrown me on stage in front of a bunch of people expecting me to present a masterclass on a hobby I've never even heard of, let alone learned." I blinked- well, this analogy had gone off the rails.

"...and am I the force throwing you on stage, or the audience?" Leo asked, and once again, I felt like I was somehow the only one left out of the loop. Jerremyah grimaced, and then I both felt- and saw- one of his shoulders lift and then fall again, in a tense half shrug.

"...both?" Leo nodded. "But also neither." Now he frowned, looking slightly troubled.

"I... can you maybe elaborate on that, just a little bit?" Jerremyah let out a long breath- not in a way that suggested he was frustrated, but more like he had been holding his breath, but now couldn't continue doing so because he had to speak.

"It's... I understand why you're asking. I understand why you feel the need to ask. I don't blame you for that," I expected Leo's eyes to widen as Jerremyah unintentionally put that thought into his head, but either it was already there, and he was simply hiding it concerningly well, or we had gotten lucky, and he had missed it completely. "And I would like to..." He hesitated. "I would like to feel comfortable enough to be able to say that sort of thing- out loud, to you- but recently I've..." His eyes landed on mine over Leo's shoulder, before they immediately darted away again, like a puppy that thought had earned itself a telling off. "I think it's safe to say that I've taken a few steps back, in terms of my personal, emotional progress." Ah. Right. That.

"Because..." Leo sounded extremely hesitant, and he smelt... again, not nervous exactly, but... it was oddly similar to how he smelt during training sometimes- like maybe he was worried that he might injure someone? "Because of the... parting of ways?" Oh. Well, it wasn't quite an injury- at least not a physical one- but he was definitely at risk of hurting Jerremyah. Even as he winced though, I had a feeling that Jerremyah was less hurt, and more just plain uncomfortable- probably because Leo had done his best to soften the blow.

"Mostly because of that, yes." Jerremyah acknowledged, and I was a little surprised by his honesty- not because he wasn't typically honest by nature, but because for whatever reason, I hadn't expected him to be so candid with Leo in particular- but maybe I should have learned that lesson by now. "But also because... it brought up some issues, about who I was- who I thought I was, and how I portrayed myself to others, and I realised that... I didn't really want to be that person, anymore." I frowned, feeling a sense of dread clawing at my stomach, and only resisted the urge to dig my claws into the back of his neck because I feared that I would accidentally lay my claws on Leo, with the other hand.

"You don't want to be the man I fell in love with?" I tried to make it sound light, but even so, it came out as a demand- and as Jerremyah lowered his head to look me in the eye, he had very little choice but to rest his chin on Leo's shoulder. Very little, but not none.

"I'm already not that man anymore." I wanted to argue with him on that fact, but given that I had cited that upon breaking up with him, I really couldn't. "So what I want, is to be the man you fall in love with next." ...oh. "And if that doesn't work out for us either, the man after that, as well. All the way until the end of time- I'll keep trying until I'm the last man you fall in love with."

For the first time ever, I wished that Leo wasn't between us, because I would have very much liked to have kissed my mate then and there- but there was no way I would do something like that with my kit between us. Especially not when I knew it would never end at just a kiss, when it came to Jerremyah and I.

I suppose I would just have to wait until later- and I would be sure to make up for lost time, when I did.

(A/N): Jerremyah: *long, complicated analogy*

Lisbet: 'What the hell is he...?.?'

Leo: 'Right, got it, go on.'

Jerremyah: *continues the complicated analogy, making it even more convoluted*

Lisbet: 'This has really gone off the rails, now. None of this makes even the slightest bit of sense.'

Leo: 'Oh absolutely, that makes perfect sense.'

Lisbet: * 0.o *

also

Jerremyah: 'I don't blame you for that.'

Leo: 'That's completely understandable-'

Lisbet: *elbowing Jerremyah in the side*

Lisbet: *hissing* 'What are you DOING?! Why would you put that into his head?!'

Leo: *opens a tiny window in the side of his head, and it's just a carousel of insecurities and blame*

Leo: 'Oh, I wouldn't worry about it- they're having fun.'

also

Jerremyah: 'I have issues.'

Lisbet: 'Well THAT'S the understatement of the year.'

Leo: 'Samesies!'

Lisbet: 'Nope, wait- there it is.'

Translations (French):

Mes doux- = My sweet (plural 'my')