(A/N): Moving on. Well, moving on from that. This one conversation is probably going to take at least another ten chapters- you know how it is.

Leo

I didn't feel the best about everything I had divulged. Don't get me wrong, I trusted Lisbet- and even Jerremyah, to an almost alarming degree- but this was... different. This was bigger than anything I'd ever had to keep secret before- and a lot of things that I'd kept secret had come into being long after I'd decided that I had to keep this secret- bigger, even, than the fact that I was a half-vampire. Or at the very least, the fact that I was a half-vampire being revealed only put me at risk, but this... the price wasn't one I was willing to pay.

"Should we- are we willing to move on from this?" Jerremyah inquired cautiously, and as if in sync, Lisbet and I turned to look at him. "Because not to be that bloke, but... the sun is going down, and you did say you wanted to be in bed at a reasonable time." I frowned slightly.

"I mean... it's mostly so my sleep schedule doesn't go to hell, and I don't have an awful grumpy sleepy time when I go back to school." Jerremyah blinked, and then his face split into a sort of dopey smile.

"You know, I'd completely forgotten that sleep schedules were a thing. It's funny how things like that tend to slip your mind." Lisbet and I shared a look- clearly, we both agreed that this was mostly a Jerremyah thing.

"...right." I said, pulling away from Lisbet gently so I could cross my arms over my chest. "What are we-? Do we... have a course of action?" Lisbet's lips quirked up, and then she shrugged.

"There are plenty of things to talk about- at least, plenty of things that I feel like we need to talk about. Whether we're all okay with those- and whether either of you have things you want to talk about, I don't know." She seemed like she would have liked to cross her arms as well, but didn't want to take her hand away from my shoulder- and with the other, she reached for Jerremyah again.

As if by instinct- maybe it was some sort of mate thing, how was I supposed to know?- he took the hand she extended toward him without even looking at it. To be fair, she hadn't looked at him either- like it was a given that he would take it. Which he had.

"I think before anything else, we should clear the air a bit. Leo, I've already earned myself your ire- now's your chance to tell me anything you divulged to Lisbet that I may not like, and get away with it." I winced, and considered whether there was more than just the obvious- in the end, I couldn't think of anything, so I just said,

"I told her that you think you're bad for her." He blinked, and his face went blank for a second before he nodded, as if he had to accept this fact in a very physical manner. Lisbet bit her lip, looking endlessly concerned.

"I believe," He started slowly, carefully, as if he was trying to make use of Lisbet's earlier advice to be gentle with me. "What I actually said, was that she was 'better off without me'." She seemed to recover from her concern based distraction, and the fury that I had honestly been expecting from her this whole time came bubbling to the surface.

"Which is absolute fucking bullshite!" She was so incensed that she didn't even remember that she was trying to keep my ears clean, and Jerremyah's lips twitched downward, but other than that, he didn't really give her the satisfaction of a response.

"Mm." It was so noncommittal that I was almost surprised that it was a sound that Jerremyah had made, rather than Herc. "If you say so, dear." I could feel the rage practically rolling off of her- and then, she took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm herself down so she didn't do something she would regret.

"I know what you're doing- you're trying to make me irrationally angry so I forget my very rational anger. You're not subtle, dear." He shrugged.

"Hm, that doesn't sound healthy, does it? Not the best to have around, am I?" I saw Lisbet grit her teeth so hard that I genuinely worried they might turn to dust in her mouth, so I opened mine- oh, and also, I felt the need to argue with him on that point now that I knew Lisbet couldn't do it for the both of us.

"I think you're great craic, if I'm honest." He blinked- then turned to stare at me as if I had just done a backflip, or something similarly superfluous but intensely interesting. "You're a good bloke, at least from what I've seen. Can't speak for how you are as a significant other or a soulmate of course, but if Lisbet is fighting this hard for it, I assume you can't be that bad." He looked conflicted- like he was pleased that I had a good opinion of him, but he wasn't sure he deserved it... especially when it came to Lisbet.

"I would argue every one of those points, but I've been told that I shouldn't." I flashed him the cheekiest grin I could manage, and shrugged lightly.

"And I will take that advantage and ride it 'til the end of time, thanks for that." He looked like he would have liked to have given me a feigned disapproving frown, but he was too amused to even try to fake it and instead just flashed me those dimples of his.

"You're a real menace, I love it." I felt my cheeks flush, and I dropped my eyes to his feet- it was just a consolation that they hadn't dropped to the floor, instead.

"I- thanks." There wasn't much else I could say beyond that- but I didn't have to, because Jerremyah slapped a hand down on my shoulder and squeezed it, before wiggling me back and forth with that grip.

"Trust me, Lisbet deserves it- Lord knows she's given me enough trouble over the years." The corner of his lips quirked up, as if he knew exactly how much this would irritate her- and he probably did, considering that he had known he for so long. She was glaring at him as if to say, 'Yeah, I'm the troublemaker here- sure, Buddy', and he continued, his grin only growing. "She needs at least one mischievous punk within reach at all times, or she goes spare." She crossed her arms over her chest, and looked exasperatedly- and begrudgingly- amused.

"Ah, so that's how you see it- I'm filling a position, am I?" I could see the look on his face, saw the euphemism forming on his head- something about putting her in a position and filling her, or the like- before he clearly thought better of voicing it.

"He'll fill your 'position'." I said it for him, and was doubly rewarded- once with Lisbet's scowl, and again with Jerremyah's absolutely blinding grin as his brain seemed to catch up, and he realised that I really did mean what he thought I meant.

"Leo!" She scolded, but when I gave her the most innocent look that I could manage, her face softened more than a little.

"Leo!" Jerremyah echoed in a very different way- sounding absolutely delighted. "Bloody brilliant!" He leaned over and held a hand up to me- in a rather uncool way, it took me a second to realise that he was trying to high-five me.

"Oh, right, sorry." I high-fived him, and he snapped his fingers in a satisfied manner once we parted. "Anyway," I said, glancing back at Lisbet, who still looked exasperated but definitely much more fond than before. "We both agree that we like Jerremyah, and that he's a good person, even if he doesn't always make the best decisions or do the best things- by choice or otherwise." He blinked.

"I- what?" I shrugged.

"We both like you, and think you're a good person." He looked both shocked and touched- and still skeptical, unfortunately.

"That's- I'm not- good-" Lisbet stepped up to his side and slipped her arm into his, looking up at him rather sweetly- much sweeter than I would have previously thought she was capable of.

"You're the goodest, my love." He flushed- hard. "Even when you're trouble, you're my trouble." She dropped her voice to a whisper again, so I shouldn't have been able to hear the next part but I could- fortunately or unfortunately. "He likes you. I don't know why- I don't know why he likes any of us, really, but... he does. So soak it in- that's what I do."

(A/N): Jerremyah: *being considerate, and reminding Leo that he said he wanted to go to bed on time*

Leo: 'Well, I just don't want to be a giant grump when I go back to school, and my sleep schedule is all out of whack.'

Jerremyah: *no thoughts, head empty*

Jerremyah: *blinks*

Jerremyah: 'Oh, right! Sleep schedules! Those are definitely a thing- a thing which I certainly didn't forget about.'

Lisbet and Leo: *sharing a look*

Leo: 'He's completely clueless, isn't he?'

Lisbet: 'Almost always.'

also

Lisbet: *swearing her head off*

Jerremyah: *pissing her off more, on purpose*

Leo: *enjoying this to no end*

also

Lisbet: 'Which is absolute fucking bullshite!'

Jerremyah: 'Mm.'

Leo: 'It was so noncommittal that I was almost surprised that it was a sound that Jerremyah had made, rather than Herc.'

Herc, downstairs in the kitchen: 'Are anyone else's ears burning?'

Shari: 'No, but I can smell something being roasted.'

also

Jerremyah: *tries to high-five Leo*

Leo: *stares at him blankly*

Jerremyah: *awkwardly starts to lower his hand, thinking that Leo doesn't want to high-five him*

Leo: *realises that Jerremyah was trying to high-five him*

Leo: *almost smacks Jerremyah in the face in his rush to make things right and high-five him*

Jerremyah: 'I- er- well, at least I know he wasn't TRYING to leave me hanging.'

Lisbet: 'Ah, yes. My favorite awkward dorks.'

Slang/Idioms:

Craic/Crack = Prominent Irish slang that was apparently borrowed from the Scottish and English term 'Crack', which was then borrowed back into English as 'craic'. It's most common in Ireland and Northern England, but is pretty widespread in other places in the UK. Craic/Crack is used to mean a great many different things, but Leo is basically saying 'they're great craic', which means 'they're great fun and great company'.

Goes Spare/Going Spare = To become very angry or upset. One person said that they understood it to be cockney rhyming slang for 'mad as a march hare'.