(A/N): We're back with Jerremyah, Leo, Lisbet, Grey, Jo, and Danniel (though by far mostly Jerremyah, Leo, and Lisbet). This is the chapter I was writing both when I found out we would have to put my dog down, and when we did.

Trigger Warnings: Continued discussion of Leo's sort of dissociation.

Jerremyah

"Did I do something wrong?" It was a heartbreaking thing to hear come out of Leo's mouth, let alone in the aftermath of something like this. So heartbreaking, in fact, that I had no hope of fighting my instinctual reaction- which meant that I was pressing a kiss to the side of his head before I even had time to try to think about it. Thankfully, neither of us froze or got stuck this time, and to my surprise, after a second, he pushed his head further against my mouth.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I told him. "No part of what just happened was your fault, let alone wrong in any way,"

He tilted his head on my shoulder so he could shoot me a look. "I appreciate that, 'myah... I wasn't talking to you, though." His candidness made something in my chest glow, even as I snorted in amusement. "I mean... I'd like to hear it from Ma Tante, if I could." I rolled my eyes at him as fondly as I possibly could.

"That's not what you meant. It's fine- Good. I like it when you're honest, even if you're a bit 'rude' in the process." He flushed slightly, and dug his chin into the top of my shoulder as if he was barely fighting off the urge to hide his face again. "You know I don't care about politeness and 'etiquette'- but if you want Lisbet, ask for her."

It was pretty clear when he locked eyes with her, because he sort of shrunk a little- as if he wanted to hide but knew she wouldn't accept that. "...Tante?" I could practically feel her desire to give in and reassure him after this minimal effort, but it seems I'd gotten my message across, because she waited to say anything substantial until he used his words.

"Yes, Leo?" His eyebrows twitched downward, and I understood what the problem was. What he was really feeling insecure about. I'd have to wait and see whether he would admit such a thing before bringing it to Lisbet's attention, though- I had to give him a chance to be upfront about it, after all.

"...I," He said, then paused to swallow thickly. The scent of his nerves assaulted my nose, and I pulled him closer under the pretense of adjusting his weight in my arms- as if, even if I didn't have a vampiric level of strength, the weight of our kit could have ever been a burden to me. "You-" He faltered again, seemingly thinking better of whatever he'd been about to say. "I woke up, and you were different- treating me differently. Did- Did something happen?" He didn't say 'did I do something wrong?' again, likely because of how I'd responded to it. Uh... oops?

I saw Lisbet soften impossibly further at that, little crinkles forming at the corner of her eyes as she watched him carefully. "No, nothing happened... What do you mean, I'm 'different'? I... I made one decision about changing my behavior- temporarily, mind you- but... I want to hear it from you. What you think." 'Out of the mouths of babes', so to speak.

Leo was obviously hesitant, but after a second where he seemed to be steeling himself, he murmured, "You called me Leo." Yes, I had hit the nail on the head- and he'd had the courage to explain it. Or, at least to mention it, since he hadn't really explained it. Nevertheless, Lisbet clearly knew what he meant.

"I thought," She began slowly, trying to be careful, but I think we could all tell that the atypical evenness of her tone was unnerving to him, so she changed tacks. "Well, it only happened after I was particularly liberal with the terms of endearment, so I thought that might have contributed. I worried that if I went right back to it, we might have an immediate repeat... Which isn't a bad thing- I mean, obviously I'd prefer to have you here and present, but it's not... It's normal." Because we both knew how Leo could obsess over what he was or wasn't 'supposed' to do, and she wanted to head that concern off at the pass. Smart.

He dipped his head slightly, to the point where his mouth was pressed to the front of my shoulder through the jumper I was wearing- as if he wanted to hide his face, but wasn't willing to take his eyes off Lisbet in order to do so. When he finally lifted his head to return his chin to the top of my shoulder, he said, "It wasn't the names." No? Really? I could have sworn- "Or... it wasn't just the names." I guess that made more sense. "I must've gotten... overwhelmed?" It came out like a question, which wasn't all that surprising to me.

"You don't have to analyse what happened, if you don't want," Lisbet told him, which... I wasn't sure I agreed with. If Leo was willing to talk- which he currently seemed to be, even if he was uncertain- I didn't think it was the best idea for us to supply him with an excuse to bail so readily. There was a difference between making sure he knew there was no pressure, and enabling his tendency to try to squirm his way out of an uncomfortable conversation... but whether I was the right person to make that kind of distinction and try to regulate it, I had no clue. "It's not... vital. It could be a one time thing, we don't know- It's just your brain trying to protect you from stressors, and getting a bit stuck because our time management skills are... lacking." Leo frowned.

"How- how long was I-?" He asked- well, sort of- and Lisbet's brow creased ever so slightly.

She took a few steps closer, but when she saw the way that Leo was watching her approach almost warily, she paused a few feet away. "Not long." He narrowed his eyes at her, and the corner of her lips quirked up. "About ten or twenty minutes- by my best estimate, which as we've already established is just as off as yours is, if not more." He relaxed a little bit at that, even if his frown grew.

"Are you- How are you feeling, now?" I asked cautiously, not wanting to butt in- a first for me, but I suppose it was fitting that it was in service of my mate and kit- and Leo shrugged in my arms.

"Fine." I shot him a look, and he flushed. "I mean- some other word that indicates a neutral emotional state." I saw Grey smothering a smile from behind Lisbet, likely appreciating the vague subtlety of such a statement. "No, but really. I'm- I'd say my level of overwhelment is maybe at a... four? Five? High four, final answer." Hm... higher than we would've liked, but lower than I would've expected. "It's not... I wasn't... overwhelmed in a bad way. Just- overwhelmed."

Lisbet nodded, eyeing him as though she would quite like to come closer and either cup his cheek or press a kiss to his forehead. "That's perfectly understandable... Nounours." His reaction to her finally using the pet name was almost tangible; his relief filled my nostrils like a breath of fresh air, blowing away the lingering scent of his earlier nerves. "What's the level now, sweet boy?" He tilted his head to the side as he considered this.

"Hmm... the same? If it was a high four, before, then it's maybe a five now, at most." Oh. "The classics seem to be fine. Good." He shook his head, lips curving into a small grin. "Great, even. I quite enjoy them, even if they do make me a bit flustered, sometimes." That was more honesty than I expected of him, at least right now. Did that mean it was that specific term of endearment that'd caused him to max out his scale?

"Well... that's good, at least. Sweetheart." He shot her a look at her obvious effort to insert as many 'approved' pet names as possible, even as his cheeks turned pink. "Can I ask...?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Ask what? Wait... First, are we going to have to switch to French?" I saw Jo try to share a frustrated glance with Danniel, only for him to completely miss it, distracted as he was by his endeavor to try to balance a coin on his nose. Lisbet thought this over, then tentatively shook her head.

"My question, no. Your answer, maybe. My explanation for my question, if you don't understand it- also maybe."

He shrugged. "Alright," He said. "Fire away, I guess. Ask your question." She pursed her lips momentarily.

"Technically, it's your question, just... repurposed?" He blinked, but when he said nothing else she continued with, "Is it that particular word, or... the sentiment?"

(A/N): Danniel may be balancing a coin on his nose, but he's actually paying EXTREMELY close attention.

After the FF dot net shutdown over the past couple of days, I've finally started rewriting the first 100 chapters on this story so I feel more comfortable uploading it to AO3 (which I've been planning to do for ages, but have been too lazy/didn't want to reread that much of my writing), so that's in the works, now. I haven't made any changes to the version here just yet, I'll probably do that when I've finished all the rewrites. It's not going to be anything plot changing, but I already know I've made some slight personality tweaks (particularly of Nicholai) in the first two chapters, to fit more with how we know him to be slightly later in the story, rather than the character I imagined him to be when I first started writing the story. It's impossible to remove ALL the cringe, but hopefully I will be removing some of it- like Leo describing what he looks like, which I already edited when I made the edits for the synopses. I'll keep you updated as to how that's going, but whether you want to swap over to AO3 or stay here, I will be uploading to both (when the time comes), at least as long as FF dot net still exists (which I think a lot of people have doubts about). Don't get me wrong, I love FF dot net, but they've been struggling for a few years now,a and I don't want to lose this story/my few readers just because they didn't pay the electricity bill.