(A/N): Leo gives Lisbet and Jerremyah an answer. We don't find out anything more about Lisbet's nickname, but we do find out a little about her chosen middle name- aka, what it is- but, then Leo (so in reality, me) falls into another tangent.

Jerremyah

Leo had asked for a minute, but it was a lot longer than that before he spoke again. It didn't matter to me- I would've gladly waited however long it might take- and I knew Lisbet felt the same way.

"I don't know," He said in the end, which was the same answer he'd given before, but he sounded much more sure of it now. "I just want everyone to be okay, and I don't think it matters who the leader is, because no one can make that promise." That was surprisingly wise- which I was beginning to think was just a particularly well-hidden facet of his personality, since the most surprising thing about it was the fact that I was surprised by it. "We do everything by committee anyway, so it's really more of a... a sentimental thing, I guess." I heard Lisbet huff into his jaw, but I couldn't quite tell whether it was a laugh or a sigh.

"So you're sticking with it, for now?" He shrugged, and she pulled back just enough for both of us to be able to see her face- her grin suggested it'd been a laugh, but I'd been wrong before.

He shrugged loosely, but something about it rang false to me- like a once tight shirt stretched bigger, never fitting quite right even if it was now technically the proper size. "For now." Her mouth tightened slightly, like she was trying to hide the fact that her smile was only growing more amused, even if he was being rather noncommittal about the whole thing.

"Good," She said. "Because this is the Ellwood Clan, and I really didn't want to have to change my last name." He snorted, then followed it up with a quiet scoff.

"Right, because 'Morsol' is so great." Silently, I agreed- Yates had certainly suited her better. By the glance she sent my way, I could tell she'd caught my train of thought- and maybe even agreed with it, if the curl of her lips was anything to go by.

"Morsol's a fine name." She told him, and he shot her a look much drier than I thought the situation merited.

"And so is Ellwood." She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off- and effectively shut her down, with what he followed it up with. "You forget that that isn't my name, either." ...right. That.

Her tone had been light up until this point- playful. That changed, now. "It's your name." She said firmly, and when he tried to shake his head, she held his cheeks in place to prevent him from being able to do so. As if not being able to physically show his displeasure would somehow change the fact that he still disagreed with her. "It's your name. Nicholai gave it to you- and nothing can change that. Nothing." He seemed confused by her intensity, but I understood the deeper meaning. This wasn't about names, it was about family- and even if Nicholai was dead, Lisbet refused to let that change the fact that he had been, and still was, Leo's father.

His face scrunched up slightly, as though he was trying to find a different way to demonstrate his dissatisfaction now that he was hindered by her palms on his cheeks. There was no way that Lisbet was holding him tightly enough for him to not be able to get out of it- no way she would ever use that level of force on him- and yet, he allowed her to keep his head still, even if it inconvenienced him. "I'm not sure that's the way names work." He said, but it didn't sound like he was really arguing- more like he was making a joke in order to avoid the emotions that the conversation was bringing to the surface.

"Is it not?" She asked calmly, as if she didn't really care about the answer- which was just a bold faced lie. "I fear I've been misinformed, then." He cracked a smile, and I saw the satisfaction alight in her eyes.

"Maybe they work differently in your world... why don't you tell me a little more about names, and your relationship with them?" It was a clear segue back to her nickname, and one that she was all too happy to take.

"So, we were drunk," Leo nodded.

"You were drunk." He agreed, which Lisbet seemed to feel conflicted about, even if it amused me to no end. He was just so cheeky, it was rather funny to watch- and especially to see Lisbet struggle not to show how much she secretly enjoyed it.

"We were drunk," She reiterated firmly, and he bit his lip like he was trying to hold in a laugh. "We helped each other pick out middle names-"

"Ezekiel!" He exclaimed quite excitedly, and I really hoped that neither of them would notice the way my cheeks were heating. Not only had he asked about my middle name, not only had he cared to remember it, but he'd felt the need to say it now- like he couldn't help himself from saying it, simply because he knew it.

Lisbet blinked, and the glance she sent my way was full of surprise. By the way the corner of her eyes crinkled, I was guessing she'd noticed the blush. "...yes, Ezekiel. Ezekiel, Layla, Morell." Leo's lips quirked up, then grew into a big goofy grin. I had an idea of the joke he was going to make-

"Greygorry's middle name is Layla?" Yep. Still funny, though. Lisbet rolled her eyes at him as indulgently as it was possible for a person to do so.

"Morell means 'dark one'... I told you he was just as much of a drama queen as Sidonie." He snorted, and rolled his eyes.

"At what point does it turn from 'descriptive', to 'dramatic'?"A good question, to which Lisbet shrugged.

"About when he stood up on a table, wearing a bed sheet like a cape, and declared himself The Dark One." Leo blinked- then immediately burst out laughing.

"Good Lord, how drunk were you?" Lisbet's cheeks turned quite pink at this, another good question- albeit one I knew she couldn't answer, since she wasn't likely to want to explain the fact that we'd not only indulged in more than just alcohol, but also that we'd had the chance to sober up a little, in the time we'd spent indulging in one another's bodies.

My chuckle made Leo's eyes flick to me, I could tell, even if the back of Lisbet's hands blocked my view of them. "To put it one way," I said. "I think 'extremely' is a pretty egregious understatement." He huffed out another laugh, and Lisbet shook her head.

"It doesn't- it doesn't really matter. It's not really relevant, other than to maybe explain the reasoning- or lack thereof- behind some of our decisions." The corner of his lips curved, like he wanted to grin, but felt like he should temper it instead. Which was unfortunate, really.

"Is there much reasoning behind your decisions in general?" He asked as innocently as he possible- which probably wasn't quite as innocent as he might've liked, considering that he hadn't entirely managed to wipe the cheeky little half-smile off of his face. "I can't say I've witnessed an example of this reasoning in the time that I've known you- either of you- but I must admit that I've been wrong before. Not often, but still." Lisbet snorted quietly, pressing her nose into the hollow of his cheek.

"I said they had reasoning behind them, not that they were reasonable." He huffed a laugh into her hair, and I gave in to the urge to try to keep that going.

"No one could ever accuse me of being reasonable- Lisbet, yes; me, no. Never." His grin was near blinding, and he made a quiet noise in the back of his throat that I felt certain was the precursor to a true laugh. "What about you?" He blinked. "Are you reasonable?" He sobered slightly, which was the opposite of what I wanted, but the amusement didn't disappear from his face completely.

"Sometimes." It was... surprisingly honest. Like somehow I could just tell that he hadn't even thought about trying to lie. "I try to be, but- sometimes, things are... things get to be too much, and I'm not able to be... as reasonable as I would've liked to be." ...right. "I tend to lose my temper-" Didn't we all? "No, not exactly." No? "It's not... it's not anger, but just..." He trailed off, going quiet.

I used the hand that was still holding his to bump his thigh, where it'd already been hanging down by his side. "Take your time." I said it as gently as possible, but he still ducked his head- at first, I thought it was because he was embarrassed, but then I noticed the fact that he'd turned slightly, so he was angled toward me more. If he'd been embarrassed, surely he would've turned away from me... right?

He was silent for a minute, then mumbled something so quietly that even I, with my enhanced vampire hearing, almost missed it. "Thank you." I was so perplexed by the fact that he'd felt the need to thank me for giving him time to think, that I barely registered that that time had indeed passed, before he spoke up again. "Have you ever been so overwhelmed that you just feel like screaming? And no matter how hard you try to hold it in, if you're pushed past that point, you shatter like glass? Until you become something sharp and dangerous, if not painful?"

...oh.

(A/N): Greygorry: *wobbles drunkenly to his feet on a table, wearing a bed sheet as a cape- and nothing else*

Greygorry: 'I- I 'm- I am the Dark One!'

Jerremyah: *giggling nonstop*

Lisbet: 'You're a pretentious idiot, that's what you are.'

Greygorry: 'I'm- I'm SO dark. Like, really, really dark. Like... the Darkest. With a capital D.'

Jerremyah: *continuing to giggle*

Lisbet: 'Get off the table, you're gonna- you'll break it!'

Greygorry: 'The table may be weak, but I am strong- for I am the Dark One!'

Lisbet: *rolling her eyes and sipping from her wine glass*

Jerremyah: *falls off the bed from laughing too hard*

Greygorry: 'The Dark One shalleth save you, fair damsel!'

Greygorry: *dives across the room, disappearing over the side of the bed after Jerremyah*

Lisbet: 'Hear that, Jer? Your a damsel now.'

Jerremyah: *has to fight through his continued giggling to get the words out*

Jerremyah: 'S-save- save me, o Dark- Dark One!'

also

Lisbet: *saying she doesn't want to have to change her last name*

Every single person in the room, in their head: 'AGAIN.'

also

Leo: *makes a joke*

Jerremyah: 'Again, again! Do it again!'

So yes, their names are Lisbet Layla Morsol Yates, Jerremyah Ezekiel Yates, and Greygorry Morell Chant. Obviously, Lisbet and Greygorry's correspond to Jerremyah's tattoos of them, LLMY and GMC. Also, I had it in my head that they were high on something like marijuana- because that's what I am the most familiar with, culturally- but I think at the time this took place, it was probably more like opium? Then again, maybe it was the magical equivalent of marijuana? Who knows? Oh my god, what if it's LITERAL 'Pixie Dust'?! Also (and this is probably kind of sad, because it kind of implies depression based substance abuse) but I think Jerremyah is the one that uses drugs most often, because he wants to escape his mind/the way he feels all of the goddamn time, followed by Greygorry (he's sort of like a social smoker but for drugs, so he only does them some of the times that Jerremyah does), then Lisbet who only indulges fairly rarely. This is one occasion where they were all high off their asses, probably because something bad happened in the world at large, and they were trying to distract themselves.

Yes, the chapter name (Shatter Me) is a direct reference to the 'Shatter Me' series by Tahereh Mafi.