(A/N): We're back with Lisbet, Leo, Jerremyah, and Greygorry. This chapter used to be chapter 508. A pretty light, fluffy chapter.

So, it was after writing this chapter, but before I started the next one, that I discovered the (kind of big?) plot hole. As in, it's not important to Leo's story line necessarily, but it does pertain to getting a certain side character's birth year kind of, uh... REALLY wrong. Or, maybe it was the date of a couple's relationship ending that was YEARS off... to be determined, really. Either way, there's no easy solution, unlike the other (much more minor) plot hole I discovered recently, and almost immediately solved just by saying that Leo is dumb/willfully ignorant.

Update, a few days after I wrote the first part of this author's note: it's not a problem, other than changing the idea I had for the Valentine's day chapter, as I mentioned in 505. Basically, the only person who could be expected to know what was going on hasn't said anything wrong, just let a few things that are technically incorrect slide by, which means that as long as we all remember that every single one of my characters is unreliable as heck, I think it'll be fine. Multiple people worked off of assumptions based on what they knew, which wasn't the full story, and the fact that the person in question didn't tell people the full story is soon to come back and bite them in the arse, so I think we're all good. I say that like I didn't spend two full days worrying about it...

Trigger Warnings: Brief, vague reference to Leo's plan to end his life if he comes out the other side of the change immortal (literally just: 'Thing will happen after he turns 16- if he stays alive long enough to let it').

Lisbet

I couldn't believe Leo wanted to train. Well, I could believe it, but I hadn't- I hadn't expected that, especially not after the morning he'd had. The nightmare, he'd had. He'd sent Shari and Herc off to the Folley's to check in on and bring Jo or Danniel back, if necessary, and in the time since their departure, those of us remaining at the Ellwood Estate made our way out into the front yard to prepare for a 'training' session. I say that in quotes, because I had planned to go as easy on Leo as I could get away with- but unfortunately, Jerremyah and Greygorry obviously had other plans.

Pretty much the second we all cleared the front steps- the same ones Leo had carried Jerremyah up yesterday- the man in question slung an arm around the teenager's neck and pulled him into what was quite possibly the gentlest, most careful headlock ever executed. The sound that escaped Leo's throat was full of surprise but not exactly unhappy, and even as we all watched closely for any sign of distress- particularly Jerremyah and I- he simply... let it happen? I would've thought it didn't bode well for the training session, but honestly, I wasn't sure Leo would've fought such a thing very hard the last time we'd trained, either- at least not from someone he liked, which wouldn't have been Jerremyah, at that time. It took a second, but in the end, Leo's only response to the headlock was to loop an arm around Jerremyah's waist, and just... hold onto him?

By his face, I could tell Jerremyah was about as taken aback by this as I was- as well as tentatively touched by it- but after neither of us made any attempt at addressing it, Grey took it upon himself to get us back on track, and training. "Right, so," He started, and Leo's head popped up. Two sets of big blue eyes focused on Greygorry, and although I knew he probably didn't want to smile at the sight, the corner of his lips twitched up anyway. "I know you and I have trained together more recently than you've trained with Lisbet- and you've never trained with Jerremyah, to begin with- so maybe we should go over where we're at, training-wise."

Leo's nose scrunched up, and I couldn't tell if it was because he didn't like the thought of this, or because there was something else holding him back. "To be fair," He began, voice soft- and suspiciously unassuming. "My training at home and at school have- had- have?- different purposes. Even if we hadn't taken a break after- It's only about a month of training I've missed, at most, and we were hitting a bit of a wall with the weapons stuff, anyway." Grey's reaction to this was a scrutinising look- not a doubtful one, like he thought Leo was lying, but like he was trying to decide whether Leo himself actually believed it... whether he felt competent, at least on the weapons front.

In the end Grey must have seen what he wanted to, because he shrugged loosely. "Still," He said, his tone surprisingly casual- and judging by the wariness Leo was watching him with, I was guessing it was something he was only now adopting because of Jerremyah and I's relationship with him... or maybe just the gentleness Jerremyah had treated our kit with, since Grey's arrival. "A handful of years of weapon training are nothing compared to-" Leo cut him off, flapping his free hand at him.

"I don't mean- I'm saying I've got the teachings down, I just need practical application training to build muscle memory. But the thing is, with how quickly my body- and abilities- develop, it's almost impossible to do that, at the moment. As soon as I get used to something- limb length, center of gravity, strength and speed- it changes." What he'd said yesterday about everything in his life constantly changing only rang even more true. "We've found that I'm capable of doing it right in an emergency, when I'm relying on instinct rather than trying to anticipate everything-" Like when he'd killed all of the attacking vampires over the summer. "-but as of right now, we're mostly stuck waiting for my body to slow down a bit, and let my brain catch up." Which would probably happen after his sixteenth birthday- if he stayed alive long enough to let it.

"Interesting," Grey said, tapping his bottom lip with the tip of his fingers as if thinking hard- or as if he was trying to decipher some complicated puzzle. "Have you considered-" I expected him to offer some sort of suggestion- Leo was watching him with rapt attention also- but I suppose in hindsight, Jerremyah must have known what was coming long before the rest of us, judging by the grin on his lips that only grew as Greygorry tackled them both to the ground.

Immediately, I was concerned- despite the fact that Jerremyah had carefully made sure to put his body between Leo's and the grass in an attempt to cushion the fall, and Grey had done so with only barely more than human speed or strength- but Leo's almost instant delighted laughter quelled any fear I had that he'd been injured. "No," He giggled out, and I felt the corner of my lips tug skyward at the sound. "I had not considered that- thank you for your expert counseling, Greygorry!" It was, I guess, a bit of a reminder that not everything had to be so serious, all the time- a reminder to enjoy his childhood while he still had the opportunity... but even if he felt as though he'd missed out- for a whole host of possible reasons- it was never too late, as evidenced by the two three-hundred-year-old vampires surrounding him. Three, if you counted me- although I was trying to maintain my distance, in an attempt to allow Greygorry and Jerremyah the opportunity to foster their own specific bond with Leo, without me getting in the way. A boy bond, so to speak.

Of course, as always, Leo wasn't keen on letting me mind my own business on the sidelines, and from the pile, a hand reached toward me- a hand with blood pumping through it, courtesy of a beating heart. "Lis," His voice was slightly muffled, likely pushed into Greygorry's chest, and I automatically moved closer- because even if I wouldn't have had any trouble hearing him, I did have the desire to be close to him, and this was the perfect excuse.

"What, Sweetheart? Do you need help getting up?" That outstretched hand flexed as if he was already trying to take hold of me, despite the fact that his other hand fisted in the back of Grey's jacket- which should've tipped me off, but it didn't... and the second I grabbed that reaching hand-

It was a trap. He pulled me down, beside them- thankfully not on top, because even if I knew Leo could undoubtedly handle the weight of both Greygorry and I pressing down on him, I wasn't willing to risk hindering his breathing in any way- and then that same arm wrapped around me, effectively holding my side flush to all three men's. Well... two men, and one boy. "No," Leo said quietly, calmly- and I was shocked to realise that, quite possibly for the first time since Nicholai had been killed, his heartbeat was steady. Almost completely even. What-? "I'm good right here- at least for a little while."

(A/N): Leo: *holding a hand out for Lisbet*

Lisbet: 'What, Sweetheart? Do you need help getting up?'

Leo: 'No, I need YOU to get down here.'

Jerremyah: 'We want YOU for the cuddle pile!'

also

Lisbet: 'Huh, Leo's oddly calm right now. Wonder why that could be?'

Greygorry: 'What's better than ONE vampire acting as a weighted blanket?'

Jerremyah: 'TWO vampires acting as a weighted blanket!'

Lisbet: 'One, two, THREE vampires- ah ah ah!'

also

Greygorry: 'Right, so,'

Leo and Jerremyah: * (O.O) (0_0)*

Greygorry: '...'

Greygorry: * :j *

also

Jerremyah: *puts Leo in a headlock, being very careful not to hurt his neck in any way, because necks are quite delicate*

Leo: 'Oh... okay. That's a thing that seems to be happening now. That's cool, I guess.'

Everyone else: *concerned*

So, when Leo says that he only missed one month of training at most, what I mean is that since Nicholai died on the 14th of August, and they stopped training after that, technically he's only missing the 17 days between then and the start of the school year, since that's when they would've stopped training anyway (for him to go to school), and the first week of Christmas Holidays where they haven't been training, but could've been. Greygorry tries to say that a few years of weapon training is nothing compared to the hundreds of years most vampires will have over him, and Leo stops him because he's undoubtedly heard it thousands of times from Nicholai/the others. He's also probably SAID IT, to Jo and Danniel, which I'm sure he hated at the time, and now.

Also, Greygorry is wearing a jacket purely for the aesthetic of it, he doesn't need to for temperature reasons, he just thinks it lends him a more 'mysterious' air, along with a more 'academic' vibe.