(A/N): The aftermath to the aftermath of the nightmare, and Leo saying he didn't want to die. Plus, we finally find out the state of Jerremyah's footwear... hooray? Minor to mild foreshadowing.
Trigger Warning: Vague references to child neglect- Leo and Nicholai's relationship is mentioned, basically.
Jerremyah
I'd cast the privacy charm before I'd even realised my intention to do so. A heartbeat after the words left his mouth- after they broke through my skull like a battering ram helped along by my own protective instincts- the spell was in place, cutting off any sound that might try to make it out of this room.
I heard Shari, Hercules and Grey's sharp intake of breath at the admission- followed by their groans as they were shut out, once more. Well, Shari groaned; Hercules sighed, and Grey most likely rolled his eyes, since I heard nothing from him but could smell his frustration nonetheless. Grey, more than anyone, knew exactly why I was being so careful with Leo's privacy- maybe even more than I did, if the revelation of his theory was anything to go by.
Lisbet met my eyes over Leo's head, her own wide and frightened, but she seemed to relax some small fraction when she saw the wand in my hand. I gave her a firm nod, and she brushed a kiss to his forehead as he continued to sob into her shirt. He looked so small like this- no, not small. Young. In actuality, he almost looked larger than normal, curled up in her lap, but I suppose that was the contrast between them making it appear that way. "Sweetheart," Was all she said for a while- all she apparently could say, and I dropped my wand on the bed to turn his hand over in mine.
I pressed the palm of my wand hand to the pulse point at his wrist, my fingers wrapping around the fragile bones there in a way I hoped was comforting- or at least grounding. With my other hand, I purposefully spread his fingers out, one by one, and traced each line on his palm in the low light of his sleep-readied bedroom. His fingers flexed, and I heard him shudder in a breath, but I feared he was still a long way from words.
"Sweetheart," Lisbet murmured into his hair, and I allowed myself to think it for the first time. My mate, and my kit. My mate... and my kit. Not just hers, not just an accidental 'ours', but... mine. It felt right- painfully, disgustingly right- and if my heart could beat, I didn't doubt it would've been pounding quite hard right now. "My sweet, sweet boy..." A particularly pitiful sob wracked his body, and idly, I wondered if the sounds were hurting his chest as much as they were mine- and undoubtedly, Lisbet's.
She was looking at me over his head, as if for help, but I didn't know what to do. Leo and I- we weren't that close. We'd hugged a few times, both as part of this little group and on our own; we'd held hands, and I'd even kissed him on the forehead as a distraction technique, but that wasn't- even Lisbet was out of her depth, here. I don't know if she'd ever seen him cry. She must have- his... Nicholai, had died recently, so he must've- she would've seen him cry over that, right? Even so, she looked just as shell-shocked as I felt.
I didn't know what to do- so, I did the probably ill-advised thing, and listened to what my instincts were telling me. I lowered my head, keeping eye contact with Lisbet until the last possible second, and rested my forehead in his palm. His fingers twitch reflexively at the added weight, then fluttered slightly as he seemed to come to the realisation that he was suddenly touching my hair. It didn't take him long to recover- at least on this front- because they immediately twined around my perpetually tousled locks.
He didn't pull at it- I wouldn't have minded if he had; if the pain had helped him in any way, I would have gladly suffered it- but just sort of... held onto it, like the presence was comforting. Then, his fingers slipped out of my hair, down the side of my face. The pads of his first two fingertips pressed gently to my temple for just a bare second longer than the rest, before his hand continued downward and found its way to the scruff on my cheek and jaw, instead.
He dug his nails in, there. It was such a simple gesture; it didn't hurt, and I doubt he knew what it meant, but to me- and to Lisbet, too, I'm sure- it read as a claim. Not a strong one, but just- it was there, and it made my chest ache. I'm sure it would've hurt before our conversation with Grey, too, but now? Now, it was pure fucking agony- and it only got worse, when after a few seconds, his hand continued downward. It was slow, cautious- as if he was giving me time to pull away. When I lifted my head fully for the first time since I'd placed my forehead in his palm, I met Leo's eyes.
He must've turned at some point, I don't know when, but a second after our eyes locked- mine, as open and trusting as I could make them, and his... full of cautious curiosity- his hand finished its journey, and he braced the tip of his claws against my pulse point. And they were claws, now, not nails. He wasn't in Sensory Alert, he was just- he'd done this on purpose. More on purpose than when he'd punctured Lisbet's shirt with them, earlier, and the thought made something tighten in my chest.
It was an incredibly vulnerable position, for both of us. Me- well, I had razor sharp claws at my pulse point, and even though that didn't scare me, I now knew just how strong Leo really was. Him- it said a lot, that this was where his mind- his instincts- had driven him, in this moment. I'd put my head in his hands- well, hand- and he'd gone for the throat... I bared it to him.
I heard Lisbet suck in a breath, but thankfully, he didn't seem to notice. If I hadn't been so focused on keeping direct eye contact with him, I would've shot her a look begging her to stay quiet, but I wasn't willing to risk it. Not because I thought he'd hurt me, but because- today had been full of moments where he was infinitely more vulnerable with me than he had to be- the past few days, in fact- but this... this was my opportunity to be vulnerable back, in a very tangible way. This was my way of saying, 'I'd do anything for you- even if it means you sinking your claws into my throat'.
He didn't sink them in, but I did feel the slightest prick of them against my flesh, as if he'd tightened his hand minutely- like he was testing whether he could. Whether I'd let him. When I didn't move, he withdrew them in one quick movement- I didn't flinch, because I didn't care if he broke skin, as long as it was mine- before he grabbed the back of my neck with the same hand.
"'myah," He murmured, his voice still thick with tears, and I jolted at the accidental use of what was quite possibly the favorite of my nicknames. "C'mere." I obeyed without a thought. So little thought, in fact, that I was forced to stop halfway through, to backtrack to the edge of the bed. I saw Leo's look of disappointment, tinged with embarrassment at this perceived rejection, but when I immediately crawled across the bed toward them once I'd dropped my house slippers off over the side of the mattress, his lips twitched upward into what could almost be considered a smile. His first, since he'd woken up.
"Sorry," I told him, as I pulled Lisbet- and subsequently him- into my lap, wrapping my arms around them both and pressing him between us. "No shoes on the bed, those are the rules- and this dog's house trained." Lisbet snorted, and Leo made a quiet noise in the back of his throat that could have been amusement or consideration, but I honestly couldn't tell which.
He made a small humming noise, and buried his face into the junction where my shoulder met Lisbet's. "I don't mind," He sighed, and I wondered if he was still talking about my shoes. "These sheets are going to need to be washed, anyway." Lisbet ran her fingers through his hair, not so subtly endeavoring to untangle some of the knots there.
"It can wait until morning. Unless- do you think you'll be able to fall back asleep?" He shook his head quickly, but his eyebrows furrowed as if his answer wasn't quite so simple.
"No way in hell," She didn't so much as blink at his language, or his adamance. "But- when I was younger- after I came here, but before-" He flushed slightly, and buried his face further, but even now that they were muffled, the words kept coming. "Before we met. Whenever I had a nightmare, I- well, at first I had to, but then it became a thing- after I learned how to properly wash things by hand, I preferred to-" He took a second to settle himself. "I wash my own bedding, by hand, after every bad dream."
Lisbet frowned, and I couldn't say I blamed her. "That's... a lot of work, for one little boy. Are you... I know you said you prefer to do it yourself, but are you sure you wouldn't... like some help?" He was quiet for a second, and I wasn't sure if he was hesitating, or just thinking.
"It's... it's my responsibility." And he was ours- our responsibility. "Besides, I- worst comes to worst, there's a washing machine in the mud room I can use, if it comes to that." Lisbet blinked. "I convinced dad to get it, after- well, let's just say, the hand washing instructions on the back of the 'Soothe' laundry detergent are utter-" He paused, briefly. "-ly wrong." She huffed a laugh into his hair, at his preemptive censoring.
"I wondered why that was in there, considering Nicholai could just use magic to clean everything." Leo shrugged, against both of our bodies. "Leo... remember what we said earlier, about delegating?" I felt him flush, because his cheek was pressed to my shoulder through my shirt, and because I could sense the blood flowing through him.
He hesitated for a second, then rubbed said cheek against my chest in a gesture that was almost shy- like he was seeking my approval... or at the very least, comfort. "It's- it helps. The routine. But it's... if I need the help, I'll ask. I promise." She smiled slightly, and brushed another kiss to his hair, bumping my jaw with her temple as she did so, in a way I knew was far more intentional than she was making it out to be.
"Okay, Sweetheart. I trust you." I felt him flush again, and when he pressed his face further into my chest, I felt his smile, too. "But," He stiffened slightly. "Is there anything else we can do to help? Any other 'routines' we can... I want to help. We, want to help." She amended, before I had the chance to open my mouth.
He was quiet for a minute, before he lifted his head enough to hook his chin over her shoulder. "I... I used to- I was told, that... writing things down, could help." Told by who, exactly? I met Lisbet's eyes, and saw the careful curiosity there- clearly, she'd picked up on that, too. It didn't seem like an accident; I think Leo had let that slip on purpose. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like now was the time to dig into that- and extra unfortunately, I think that was exactly why he'd said it.
"Do you want to- now?" Lisbet asked, and Leo seemed to consider this, his eyes drifting to the bookshelf behind her.
After a few seconds he shook his head, and buried his face between us again. "Not yet, no." He sighed, and his breath warmed my skin through the weave of my jumper. "I want to stay like this a little longer- with you. With both of you."
(A/N): Jerremyah, last chapter: *finally admits (even to himself) that he thinks of Leo as his kit, too*
Jerremyah, this chapter: 'I would let you rip my throat out, if it would make you stop crying for even a second.'
So, I wanted to name this chapter 'seize the throat', after the fact that Leo literally puts his claws on Jerremyah's throat, and Lisbet made the joke a few chapters back that Leo really 'seizes the day seriously'. I wanted to do like a Latin version, like Carpe Diem, but with throat, and then I found out that Terry Pratchett has a Discworld book about vampires that is called 'Carpe Jugulum', aka 'Seize the throat', or 'go for the throat'. I thought it fit well, and I love referencing other series, so... yeah. If you think it's a reference, it almost certainly is.
Also, I imagine that magical folk do their washing with magic, but also that they likely have charms on all of their clothes to keep them from getting dirty easily. Like magical scotch-guard. Leo probably cleaned a few things by hand while still living with Cipicia (because let's face it, he'd probably get a beating if she found out he wet the bed or some other 'childish failing' like that) so he probably at least attempted to clean his sheets or clothing (and Mia's, too) before the house elves or maids could get to them, rather than let his parents find out. Unfortunately, a seven year old isn't going to know much about cleaning if they're not explicitly taught about it, so he probably didn't do a good enough job and got caught anyway. He was taught a bit at a later point, but mostly had to learn on his own.
Also, also, yes- Jerremyah is wearing house slippers. I don't know if he put them on straight after the shower (I don't think so, since they were just hanging out in his room), or if he only put them on when they all went down for dinner (my bet), and didn't take them off until he was halfway onto Leo's bed and realised he shouldn't put his shoes on the bed. Feel free to tell me what sort of slippers you think Jerremyah wears- my instincts are either navy blue loafer type things with an overabundance of shearling, or something really dumb, like some sort of plush animal. Maybe he's got buffalo slippers, to match his patronus. Ooh, or swans, for Lisbet's!