(A/N): 'Striking A Nerve', other wise known as, 'It's Fine. No Really- It's Fine. I Said It's FINE'.

Leo

Jerremyah slipped from his position leaning against the door frame, and failed to catch himself before the side of his head bounced off of it. Then, he recovered- 'recovered', more like it. His feigned nonchalance was not, at all, convincing.

"I- uh..." He dragged a hand through his hair, clearly very nervous, but trying to pretend like he wasn't. "Is that... so?" I glanced sideways at Lisbet, and saw that she was watching him with much the same dry- but ultimately fondly amused- look that I suspected I was wearing. I turned my eyes back to him.

"...yes?" His head bobbed in a poor approximation of a nod, and as I watched, his eyes darted to Lisbet again, with an almost wild look in them as he did so.

"Absolutely. Yes. That's a thing that's happening. Absolutely- I said that already, didn't I?" Lisbet nodded, even as the corner of her lips twitched as she tried to hide her smile- and Jerremyah briefly dropped his face into his hands.

"Is that... not okay with you?" I asked uncertainly, and for a second, he froze. And then, he must have recovered, because his head popped back up, and this time, he looked vaguely panicked.

"It's fine!" He blurted. "It's more than fine! If it's fine with you, it's fine with me. Fine and dandy. Fine china. Fine dining. Fine fettle. Fine-" I interrupted his rambling, leveling him with as stern a look as I could, considering that I was currently being lifted by Lisbet.

"You don't have to say that it's fine if it isn't- everyone's always getting on my back about 'sacrificing my comfort to please other people', but you're all just as bad as I am. "Jerremyah's mouth dropped open a little and he stared at me for a moment, completely taken aback, before his eyes swung to Lisbet as if for help.

"I'm- I'm not- it's fine." He managed to croak out, and finally, Lisbet did come to his aid.

"It's fine." Okay, maybe 'aid' was a bit strong. "It's- Jerremyah's not exactly... it's a bit more complicated than you could ever know. You've struck a bit of a nerve, and he's not exactly eloquent at the best of times." It was a testament to how desperate he was that he didn't narrow his eyes at Lisbet for that comment. My eyebrows furrowed, and if I had been able to, I would have crossed my arms over my chest.

"So... I struck a nerve... but it's fine?" They both nodded, and I didn't know what to make of that. "That makes absolutely zero sense to me." They shared a slightly sheepish look before unfortunately, Lisbet stopped lifting me, and stepped back.

"I know it doesn't make sense, but it's... a bit of a thing. He's good with it, I promise, he's just... not the best at getting that across." I met Jerremyah's eyes, and stared him down as hard as I could.

"You're really okay with being my kin?" It was as if his brain had short circuited, and after a second Lisbet took a step away from me toward Jerremyah, as if to bridge the gap between us. She reached out and patted him on the chest, which seemed to help a little bit.

"Nerve." She murmured, and I think I understood it- well, sort of. Jerremyah had told me about his mother and father, and the cloth merchant, and how he had felt like his life hadn't had purpose, and then he'd met Nuria. He had convinced her to turn him, and then he'd been alone. Completely alone, until he had met Greygorry. And not long after that- in the grand scheme of things, anyway- he had met Lisbet- and I didn't doubt that Lisbet was as much Jerremyah's home, as he was hers... and what was home, if not family? Clan? Kin?

"...would you prefer if I didn't say it? Even though it's true, do you not want me to address it?" Jerremyah winced, and he put his hand over Lisbet's on his chest as if to hold her back from answering for him, in the most tender way possible.

"...you can...say. I just- might be... like this, if you do." That was fair.

"And you're okay with... being like this?" He blinked, then tilted his head to the side as if considering what to say.

"I can't say I... love it, but I'll... get over it." I cocked an eyebrow at him, and he looked vaguely chagrined.

"What have we said about 'getting over it'?" He grimaced.

"Look, I get it, but... it's not- yes, I'm uncomfortable, but that doesn't mean... I'm uncomfortable because it's emotional, and I don't know how to handle that. It's not necessarily you- I mean, yes, in this situation, it's you, but- it happens in other situations, too. I'll deal with it-" He amended himself. "I'll learn how to deal with it, in a proper, healthy way." That was a bit better, at least.

"...alright." I told him reluctantly, and turned back to Lisbet. "Where were we?" She gave me a look that was slightly concerning, like she knew I wasn't going to like the subject we were going back to- and she was probably right.

"A very emotional conversation about me following you to the ends of the earth, if necessary." I flushed, and she looked incredibly pleased with herself for having made me do so. "And you know if I'm following you, Jerremyah could only ever be at most five feet behind." He shot her a look that was half exasperated, half delighted.

"Three and a half." I felt my face split into a grin.

"Two and three quarters." I corrected him, and his lips quirked up as well, flashing us those now familiar dimples.

"I would hope not to have to do so, but I will, if I have to." Oddly enough, Jerremyah nodded at Lisbet's assertion as if it were his own. She brought a hand up to my cheek, and cupped it. "You're my little boy." It almost felt like she was saying it mostly because she liked the sound of it- I did too. As I couldn't help but to blush, her lips lifted in appreciation. "Mine." My eyes dropped- there was nothing I could do about that- but both to make up for it, and simply because I wanted to, I pushed my nose into her jaw. I had to duck a little to do so, but it felt more significant in this moment to aim for that place rather than anywhere higher, like her temple.

"Mmn." I tried to echo her, but found that it was a lot harder than I expected- and that's when I realised I was purring. She pulled me in, into her body, and started pressing kisses all around my hairline- including to my temple. "Mine." It took more work but I managed to get it out, and I was immediately rewarded- by Lisbet's answering purr in my ear, and rumbling through her chest and into mine. It was utterly incredible, and I burrowed myself as deep into her arms as possible in order to savor it- complete with bending at the knees quite heavily to tuck my head under her chin, and pressing my face into her throat to positively revel in that purr.

"My boy. My sweet boy. My sweet, baby boy-" I chuffed happily, and she cut herself off even as she cupped the back of my head, holding me close. "I love you so much... so, so much." I barely managed to hold back tears, at that- at this point, I wasn't sure that I could form words... and not just because of the purring. I pushed myself closer- but maybe I couldn't get any closer, because Lisbet rocked backward a little bit with the force of me pushing against her.

"Mmn- mine." It took a lot of work to get it out, but she seemed to appreciate it. "Fa- family." She sucked in a breath, and Jerremyah wasn't far behind her. Speaking of which... I turned to look at him, and beckoned him to us, which seemed to be quite the shock. "Kin." He edged a little closer, and I flapped my hand on Lisbet's shoulder as if to summon him- it worked.

"What do you want from me?" That was a loaded question, but I narrowed it to the current situation.

"J-join." He blinked, and I felt Lisbet's surprise like a physical force almost as strongly. He was clearly reluctant, but after a second where everything was still and silent- except for our purring- Lisbet must have seen that I was completely set on this, and briefly removed her hand from the back of my head in order to crook a finger at him. Slowly, he obliged her clear order- creeping even closer, until he was just behind me- and then, Lisbet shot out an arm, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and hauled him in.

Jerremyah slammed- well, gently slammed- into my back, and was held there by Lisbet's grip on him. I'm sure he would have pulled back if he had been able to, but with her hold on him he struggled for a brief second before he realised that she wasn't going to let him go, and he resigned himself to his fate. It was hesitant, but a beat later, he brought his arms up and wrapped them around the both of us-

It. Was. Fantastic.

(A/N): Leo: 'What have we said about 'getting over it'?'

Jerremyah: 'It's a bastard of a game?'

Leo: 'Absolutely correct.'

also

Lisbet: 'Mine.'

Leo: *doesn't realise that he's started to purr until he tries to reply*

Leo: 'Mine.'

Lisbet: * :') *

Lisbet: *starts purring, too*

Jerremyah: *awkwardly standing off to one side, not knowing what to do with himself*

Leo: *beckons Jerremyah towards them*

Jerremyah: 'What do you want from me?'

Jerremyah: 'Because I would give you just about anything, if you asked me for it.'

Leo: 'Join.'

Jerremyah: 'I... surely that's not... surely he doesn't mean what I think he means.'

Lisbet: *crooks a finger at him*

Jerremyah: '...okay, I'll... I guess I'll just... I'll get closer, and wait for them to change their minds-'

Lisbet: *reels him in by the back of the neck, and refuses to let him go until he stops trying to get away*

Jerremyah: '...well I... I guess this is... okay...? They haven't realised that this is a bad idea, yet.'

Leo: 'This. Is. FANTASTIC.'