(A/N): This was the chapter I managed to write when I was in the depths of Covid.
Leo
I finished off the last remaining sandwich in silence, letting Jerremyah have the chance to contemplate everything. Did I think that he should change himself into a different person, just to make himself more appealing to Lisbet? No. Did I think that Lisbet would be upset that Jerremyah thought he had to change himself in order to be good enough for her? Yes. Was I going to tell her? ...maybe.
I crumpled the can of pop when I was done with it, which seemed to catch his attention. I slipped it into the paper bag, along with the wrapping from the sandwiches, and met his eyes.
"I think it's been long enough. I don't think we're going to see anything happening, anytime soon." He blinked, then shrugged.
"...probably true." I watched him carefully for a minute.
"Do you have anything else you'd like to talk to me about? Something that can't wait, or you'd like to keep private, between us?" His eyebrows furrowed, and he considered this.
"I don't... think so? I'll be honest, I'm a little bit distracted right now." I nodded.
"I get that. Look, if anything comes up, we'll do this again- sans dead deer." He looked slightly surprised- like he hadn't expected me to say that, or be willing to repeat this little expedition. "I do think that the less time we spend out here, the less time Lisbet spends worried about us." Us. Both of us. Jerremyah perked up.
"Shit, right, yeah- we should- are you ready to-?" I shrugged.
"I'm ready if you are." I said, and he brushed his hands off on his jeans, before moving to stand up. Halfway there, he held a hand out to me- and it took me a second to realise that he was offering to help me up. Normally, I probably would have been more reluctant to accept the help- both because I wanted to be independent, and because I was worried about knocking the person offering, off balance. I doubted I would have to worry about that with Jerremyah, though- and it was partially his earlier reaction, to me giving him the sandwich, and partially what Danniel had said about asking for help, in order to make myself comfortable, that persuaded me to accept it.
I took his hand, and he jolted slightly- as if he hadn't actually expected me to take it, but he looked pleasantly surprised by this turn of events. He hoisted me to my feet alongside him, and even as he was reasonably gentle with this, I could feel the restrained strength of him- how much he was holding back. He was, certainly, a lot stronger than Greygorry- stronger than he should have been, even for his age, I thought. Well- good. That only cemented in my mind that he was a good asset for the clan.
We stood there for a second, my hand clasped in his, before he reluctantly started to let me go. Seeing that he seemed reluctant, I thought that maybe Jerremyah, like me, was a tactile person, and maybe he wasn't getting all of the physical touch that he required. It was because of this- and only because of this, I swear- that I gripped his hand tighter- stopping him from pulling away- and stepped up to his side, so that our shoulders, and our upper arms, were flush together.
I turned my head to look at him, now that we were side by side, and he was a bit frozen.
"Should we go?" He blinked, and opened his mouth- then, closed it again, and just nodded. Then, after a second, he turned on his heel, and we disapparated.
Lisbet
I heard the crack of apparition, and had to force myself to say calm- or, some semblance of calm, at least. I took a deep breath in, through my nose, and caught their scents- just their scents- and that helped me relax a little bit.
I looked up, out of the window I had sat myself beside, and caught sight of them- were they... were they holding hands? I nudged Grey, to draw his attention away from his book, and he cocked an eyebrow at the pane of glass, before he very determinedly made eye contact with me, and shrugged. I rolled my eyes at him, and got up, starting to make my way to meet up with my boys. My boys.
The second I stepped outside, I saw Jerremyah staring at the side of Leo's face, as Leo was still distracted by the sensation of apparating, and by the time either of them noticed me, it was Leo who had recovered first, rather than Jerremyah. His head lifted, and as his eyes landed on me, his face lit up- and I felt my own, follow suit. As I watched, Jerremyah's lips quirked up at the sight, and he released Leo's hand- and Leo, immediately, seemed sort of unhappy about this. So, clearly, it had been Leo's doing, in the first place- not that I had really thought otherwise. No, I hadn't expected Leo to have wanted to hold Jerremyah's hand- but I expected it even less of Jerremyah.
Jerremyah turned his head, away from Leo, and when our eyes met, he smiled- flashing me those dimples I loved so dearly- before his expression sobered slightly, like he was trying to tell me something, but I wasn't sure what. Then, I glanced back to Leo, and he gave me a disturbingly similar look. Uh oh, that couldn't be good.
"What-?" I asked, knowing they could hear me, even from this distance, and Leo shook his head slightly- a move that Jerremyah echoed, unwittingly, a second behind. This was especially not good, because, to me, it signaled 'later'- and 'later', was almost never good. I noticed the lunch bag in Leo's other hand, and frowned- which he saw, and as they made their way towards me, he held it up, as if to show it off- and at first, I was a little confused, before I realised that he was doing so because it was empty. He had eaten it all- what a good- ugh. That probably wasn't- 'what a good boy', probably wasn't the best way to express that thought. "Good job!" He beamed at me.
"I had some help." He gestured to Jerremyah, who shot him a vaguely betrayed look. Jerremyah-? Why would he-?
"He- he gave it to me! I tried to give it back, and he wouldn't take it-" Leo rolled his eyes at him, almost fondly. If it was directed at anyone else, I would have said that it was fond, but considering that it was aimed at Jerremyah, I hesitated to call it that- lest my wishful thinking get the best of me.
"Yes, I strong-armed Jerremyah into eating a sandwich- which he greatly enjoyed, and he expressed a desire to eat more of your cooking." Jerremyah blinked, and I felt my lips quirk up, amused, but slightly perplexed by this line of conversation.
"What...?" Jerremyah asked, and Leo waved a hand at him.
"Shh, I'm trying to hook you up, here!" Jerremyah continued to look just as confused as I felt, but also like he was a little touched by the sentiment. I gave Leo a tender smile.
"If Jerremyah needs a home cooked meal that desperately, he can used his words, and ask for it." Leo sobered slightly- which was never good, and not just because I loved to see him smile.
"Speaking of using our words..." Uh oh. "We need to talk." I struggled not to wince, and shrugged as lightly as I could.
"Okay, well, let's-" He cut me off.
"You and I need to talk- in private- and then, you and Jerremyah, need to talk, in private." This time, I did wince.
"...alright. Let's... let's get this over with... shall we?"
(A/N): Jerremyah: *offers Leo his hand, to help him up*
Leo: *...takes his hand*
Jerremyah: *surprised pikachu face*
Jerremyah: *helps Leo up* *reluctantly goes to let go of Leo*
Leo: '...maybe Jerremyah is a tactile person, like me, and isn't getting enough physical touch. I'm doing this for HIS benefit, and HIS benefit ONLY, I swear.'
Leo: *continues to hold Jerremyah's hand*
Jerremyah: * 0.o *
Lisbet: '...is... are Leo and Jerremyah... holding hands?'
Greygorry: *looks up from book* 'Seems that way, yep.' *goes back to book*
also
Jerremyah, trying to tell Lisbet with his eyes: 'You've got a hard conversation ahead of you.'
Leo, trying to tell Lisbet with his eyes: 'You've got a hard conversation ahead of you.'
Lisbet: 'Uh oh.' 'What-?'
Leo: 'Later.'
Jerremyah: 'Later.'
Lisbet: 'Oh god, no- not 'later', I HATE 'later'!'