(A/N): We continue the conversation.

Jerremyah

She looked on the very edge of tears, and her mouth hung open slightly- as if she didn't trust herself to be able to breathe properly with it closed. It was clear that she wanted to reach for me, but whether it was to grab me and hold me close, or to try to throttle me, I couldn't be entirely sure. Maybe the answer was both, simultaneously.

She blinked up at me, and I couldn't have looked away if I wanted to- it was as if there was a rope around my heart, tethering me to her. I mean, there always had been, but now it was in an entirely different sort of way. Usually it was a kind of sweet connection, but this... this was painful. Raw. All ragged edges, and torn open at the seams. Ripped apart from where we had once been attached- that attachment was still there, but we were... it was... frayed. Much like I suspected the rope would be, if it had a physical form.

"Please don't look at me like that." I didn't mean to say it- I just blurted it. Her face tended to have that effect on me- especially when it looked like that. It didn't help though, she just continued to stare at me, as if she wasn't sure what else to do about it. "You know that I've..." I hesitated. "I've had issues in the past with- well, everything, really." She didn't look like she disagreed, but she did seem a bit pained- not that that was particularly new. "But specifically, with... me. Myself. My sense of self." She nodded stiffly.

Then she slowly uncrossed her arms over her chest, her fingers flexing as she did so- as if she wanted to grab something with them. Maybe me... or maybe her kit? "I know that you..." She rubbed her nose with the side of her hand, as if trying to hide a pained sniff. "You've always been..." She held her breath for a few seconds before she loosed it all out in a rush, and shook her head, clearly changing tactics. "I've always been sure that even if I may not have known who I was at any given time, I would eventually figure it out. I know that you've..." Her eyes met mine, and I nodded- confirming that this was just another instance in which we differed wildly.

"To be fair, I've always tried not to think about who I was as a person." I saw Leo's eyebrows furrow.

"Healthy." He remarked wryly, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Pot. Kettle." The corner of his lips quirked up, and even if I didn't quite have the presence of mind to be particularly careful with him right at this moment, at least I hadn't seemed to offend him. "Anyway, I... these past ten years since you left, I've been... well, I've been lost. I guess, in a way, I've always been a bit lost." She stared at me, and when I met her eyes, I saw the recognition there. Even if she didn't like it, she couldn't deny that it was true- and even she knew it. "When we were together, I could ignore it- I was too focused on you to really look inward. But then..." She nodded.

"I left." Yeah.

"I've been... introspecting, I guess." She nodded again, but she definitely looked distracted. Almost like she had something else on her mind. "Lisabetta?" From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo jolt slightly, like he had suffered a small electric shock or something similar- and she arched a brow at me.

"What?" I hesitated.

"I... you just looked- like you might have questions." She stared at me for a moment, then lifted one shoulder.

"I have a lot of questions- most of them aren't very constructive, I'm afraid." I felt my own eyebrows furrow, and I opened my mouth to say something- but honestly, I was a bit relieved when Leo beat me to it, because I didn't have anything planned... and this probably wasn't the best situation to just wing.

"I have a question." I turned to him, and once he saw that I was paying attention, he dropped the hand that he'd had raised. As if just to make me nervous, he looked almost as though he felt bad for what he was about to say. "How much of this has to do with your relationship with Lisbet ending-" I winced. "-and how much of it has to do with those control issues of yours?" I winced even harder, and Lisbet perked up in a way that I really didn't like the look of.

She patted Leo on the shoulder enthusiastically, and he blinked as if he was surprised by her apparent approval. "A very good question, thank you, Sweetheart." Immediately, his cheeks flushed- it was because she'd called him 'Sweetheart', wasn't it? Well, I couldn't exactly blame him, considering that I had a very similar reaction to her terms of endearment myself. "Jer?" I blinked, and the look on her face was indulgent- even if it did still appear rather apprehensive. "Do you have an answer?" Did I? I shrugged, trying not to be quite as terse as maybe I would have liked to be, because this was my mate that I was talking to, and- Leo.

"It's... well..." I took a much longer second to think about this- this wasn't something that I wanted to screw up. Not that I typically wanted to screw things up, but it wasn't usually quite so important to me. This... this was important. "Our relationship... ending," She and I both winced in sync, which was oddly satisfying for what it was. "Was definitely a catalyst for... for thinking about it. But... I... while I was definitely trying to..." I glanced at Leo, and swallowed thickly- which, fortunately or unfortunately, they both noticed.

"Do you want me to-" I cut him off, shaking my head quickly.

"No, it's-" I specifically didn't look at Lisbet. "This is good for me. I have to- this helps. If I'm worried about talking to you, I'm not worried about talking to Lisbet- and typically, I certainly would be worried about that, in this case." They both frowned in an eerily similar fashion.

"Am I making you anxious?" He asked, and Lisbet closed her mouth, glancing sideways at him as if she'd been about to ask much the same thing.

"To be completely fair, the conversation is making me anxious, not the people I'm talking to." I cracked a grin. "The company's great." Leo's lips quirked up in a way I could tell was most likely unintentional, even as Lisbet pinned me with an almost reproachful look.

"Don't be cute with us." I cocked an eyebrow at her, and crossed my arms over my chest with the cheekiest smile I could manage.

"That's impossible, and you know it." I threw Leo a look, and gestured to my own face. "You've seen this mug- adorable." He gave a snort of laughter, then quickly slapped a hand over his mouth as if in hope of hiding it. I wasn't offended, though- in fact, if I was being completely honest, this had been the goal.

"Don't push your luck." She said rather sternly, even if there was a fond glint in her eyes- was that for me, or for Leo's laughing form? Or for me, making Leo laugh?

Shrugging loosely, I said, "I've got to get my workout in somehow." I weighed my options- did I mildly annoy Lisbet to amuse Leo and I, and hope that Leo's smile blinded her to my 'inappropriate language', or did I hold my tongue and not annoy her, but have no one else ever know that I'd made that sacrifice? In the end, I decided that even if Leo's smile didn't sway Lisbet, it would do wonders to make me feel better- so I went for it. "And as much as you and I like to work up a sweat together, I don't think that's the best idea for our relationship right now." She blinked, then narrowed her eyes at me- but when Leo snorted again and a brilliant smile lit his face, I saw her glance at him- saw her expression soften.

"You-" He interrupted her- or actually, I think they started speaking at the same time, but Lisbet had noticed first, and had gone silent to allow him to say what he wanted to.

"I don't know, that might be exactly what you two need." She gaped at him- looking like she might regret letting him have the run of the floor.

"Leo!" She sounded almost scandalised, which he seemed to find endlessly amusing, even if he did try- and fail- to hide it.

"Lisbet!" He echoed, wearing a huge grin, and she was clearly incredibly conflicted, but in the end, she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Having-" She cut herself off, apparently remembering that she wasn't supposed to say that sort of thing around him. "Being... intimate, isn't what we need right now." He tilted his head at her, shooting her a look that was both skeptical and almost darkly amused.

"I am aware that sex is a thing-" She winced as he said 'sex'. "-you know that, right? I'm fifteen, not-" It was at that point that I think he realised he probably didn't want to reveal what age he'd been when he'd learned about the birds and the bees- or the pixies and the puffskeins, for that matter. "Anyway. You're both adults, and what you do behind closed doors- and under a silencing charm, please and thank you- is between the two of you. And whatever or whoever else you choose to include." Lisbet turned a shade of deep crimson that I wasn't sure I had ever seen on her before, and she started to stutter a bit.

"What are you- I don't know what you're-" He rolled his eyes at her, still looking almost unbearably amused by her flustered reaction.

"Oh please, even if Jerremyah hadn't confirmed certain things for me- and outright told me a few other things- I am aware that vampires are extremely sexual beings." She blinked- then she whirled on me.

"What- exactly- did you tell him?!"

Uh oh.

(A/N): Jerremyah: *calls Lisbet 'Lisabetta'*

Leo: 'Oh God... is her name not- not actually LISBET?.?.?'

also

Jerremyah: '(Lisbet) do you have any questions?'

Leo: *raising his hand like he's trying to get the professor's attention*

Leo: 'Hi, yes, I have a question.'

Jerremyah: 'Yes, Leo?'

Leo: 'Is this more to do with your tragic breakup, or your tendency to accidentally murder people?'

Jerremyah: *winces hard enough to crack marble*

Lisbet: 'Very good question, Sweetheart! So proud of you!'

also

Lisbet: 'Don't push your luck.'

Jerremyah: 'Just call me Sisyphus, baybee!'

also

Jerremyah: 'I'm trying to be introspective.'

Leo: 'In-HER-spective.'

also

Leo: 'I AM aware that vampires are extremely sexual beings.'

Lisbet: 'What?! No! What?! No! What-?!'

Leo: 'You do realise that I happen to be a vampire MYSELF... right?'

Lisbet: '...'

Lisbet: 'What?!'