(A/N): The second chapter I wrote while pet sitting for my sister. Rewatching all of Graystillplays' Sims 4 videos.
Lisbet
Talking to Jerremyah after so long made something deep inside my body sing. It was like our souls resonated on the same frequency, and now that we were together once more, they had synchronized the way they had been for over three hundred years.
I could tell he was feeling it too, but I wasn't going to mention it out loud, because I knew he would readily admit to it, and that would put me in a position I didn't want to be in right now- probably on my back, underneath him. I don't doubt I would enjoy it- Jerremyah always made sure I enjoyed whatever we did- but I couldn't afford to give in, no matter how much I wanted to. But boy, did I want to.
"So... you mentioned a sister?" It didn't surprise me that Jerremyah's first inclination was to ask after the other wayward child that called this house home.
"Mia. Technically, she's his half sister, but he didn't know that until... he came to live with Nicholai." I didn't say, 'until his mother kicked him out, when he was seven'. I wasn't sure whether Leo wanted him to know quite that specific a level of information, but Jerremyah caught my pause anyway. "As you might have guessed, she's Cipicia and her husband's child." I saw his eyes widen a fraction, and pushed forward before he could say anything. "She's safe." He relaxed slightly, but not entirely. "Leo got her out of there, right after..." I trailed off as Jerremyah's eyes widened again.
"Right after...? Right after Nicholai was murdered? He got his sister out of the grips of his mother- who poisoned him- right after he watched his father-" I cut him off, hearing fast paced footsteps heading in the direction of the house.
"Someone's coming back." His lips drew into a tight line, but he nodded.
"They're out of there. They're safe. That's all that matters." He stated, referring to the two Joannis siblings, and I felt that statement down to my bones.
"And we're going to make sure they stay that way." He reached out to me, and everything inside of me ached to go to him, to curl myself into his chest- to return to the place that had always been mine, burrowed into the hollow of his throat. As it was, I reached out in return, and I intertwined my fingers with his.
"As soon as they get through that front door, the respite is over- you know that, right?" Had I wished earlier that the respite wasn't in effect? I regretted that now.
"You never know, maybe I'll flip the script and start riling you up." He smirked, before that smirk turned into a genuine smile. A smile that made my heart flutter, even as my stomach knotted in anticipation.
"You know I've never had any inclination to say no to you." I felt myself flush, and I heard the front door open. Jerremyah's thumb started stroking the back of my hand, and I felt as if my body lit up like a Lite Brite at the sensation of his skin against mine. A sensation I hadn't felt in so long, but simultaneously felt every time I closed my eyes. "And I believe I taught you how to 'rile me up.'" I flushed harder, at the reminder of the early days our relationship- or at least, our sexual relationship. The early days of our relationship in general had been a lot less... sinful.
We had been able to smell that it was Herc and Shari coming back for a while now, and while I was a little surprised by the fact that Shari was doing so under her own steam, I was even more surprised when I heard the floorboard creak in the hallway- the same floorboard that Leo had intentionally creaked to let us know he was approaching before he had left- and Herc appeared in the open doorway.
"I hope I'm..." He seemed caught between two options, probably unsure whether I would want him to interrupt or not. "Am I interrupting?" I offered him a smile that even I knew was likely a little weak.
"Yes, you're interrupting." Jerremyah said before I had the chance to answer, and I rolled my eyes at him before turning my attention back to Herc.
"And it's a good thing that you did." Jerremyah's smirk only grew, and I knew it was because I had admitted that there had been something worth interrupting. Well, I suppose there was no point lying to anyone on that front- I was about as see through as a pane of glass when it came to the effect Jerremyah had on me.
"Uh... Well..." Clearly, we had put Herc off of his rhythm, but he recovered gracefully enough that Jerremyah didn't feel the need to make fun of him for it. Because that's what Jerremyah did, he was a prick to everyone he met- except for me. "I talked to Jo- about what happened this morning? And we did some hunting together." Jerremyah immediately looked like he was a little less likely to poke fun at Herc- probably because he was aware of just how easy it would be for Herc to return the favor.
"Thank you, Herc." He tilted his head at my expression of gratitude, looking a little confused.
"For what?" I glanced at Jerremyah, incapable of not recognising the fact that they were quite the opposites.
Jerremyah had accidentally turned dozens of people over the years, and had abandoned them into the care of other vampires who were willing to take on the role of their surrogate sire, because he couldn't offer them the parts of himself they needed him to. Herc, as a half-vampire, physically couldn't turn someone, and yet he was one of the most prominent 'senior' members of a new growth clan- which basically meant that even if he wasn't quite a surrogate sire to any freshly turned vampires that may happen to join, he did play the part of what was almost the vampire equivalent of a babysitter.
"For taking it upon yourself to help Jo come to terms with everything. No one asked that of you, and you've already helped the clan more than any of us ever expected of you." I was very careful to say, 'the clan' instead of 'our clan'. A vampire having joint residency in more than one clan was rare, and sister clans were even rarer, and although Herc hadn't expressed any interest in being part of our clan, I wasn't going to risk alienating a potential ally, especially one in as strong a position as he was. He did seem a little uncomfortable being thanked, though.
"It's not a problem." I could tell he thought it wasn't a big deal, so I shook my head.
"It means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to Leo." His small smile at that statement made me return the gesture, though mine was a little tighter, considering that Jerremyah had now taken it upon himself to stroke my hand again, in a rather suggestive manner- rubbing his thumb in small circles, just the way he knew I liked.
"I suggested that Jo discuss things with Leo, and he and Shari showed up not long after that." Maybe I should have been more surprised that the sticking point of the entire thing for Jo had been what Leo had said about not wanting to have to kill her in order to protect Jerremyah- because, by definition, she was supposed to be closer to Danniel; they had been turned at practically the same time- less than three days apart- not to mention the fact that we called them 'The Twins'- but both of them had their own unique bond with the youngest member of the clan.
When describing everyone to Audrey, Leo had said that Danniel was 'like a brother to him'- which Danniel had undoubtedly heard, but had never brought up, at least to my knowledge- and while Leo had told Jo to her face that he would kill her to protect Jerremyah, because the rules of the clan required it, I doubted that that was the choice he would actually make in the heat of the moment.
Hopefully, I would never have to find out who Leo would truly side with, because it would never come to that.
"They approached us together-" Clearly Leo had been the one to convince Shari to get her feet under her, then. "-and Leo had Jo find a deer and Influence it back to us, so that Shari could feed more easily." Leo was always doing things like that- making the Twins stretch their vampiric legs, so to speak. It hadn't felt necessary before Nicholai had died, with the Twins so fresh, and afterwards, there wasn't all that much I could teach them now that I was outnumbered. I had tried my best to ease them into everything that didn't require practical application in order for them to progress, but as it turns out, vampirism is a rather 'hands on' subject.
The fact that he had managed to get her to feed was big- was she just having an upswing, or had their conversation given her the kick in the butt that she needed? If that was the case, I was worried about Leo's mental state- if the conversation had been deep enough to reach Shari in her self-imposed prison cell of grief, I was nervous about having Leo out of my reach, when I knew he didn't handle emotional situations all that well.
Clearly Jerremyah could sense this, because instead of rubbing stimulating little circles into my flesh, he moved half a step closer, so he could plaster our forearms together, and I didn't fail to notice the fact that, in doing so, he pressed the veins at our wrists together- one of my strongest scent points against one of his. It was a comforting gesture, but I don't think even Jerremyah had the audacity to pretend that it was entirely for my benefit.
"He held the deer in his arms while he taunted her to drink from it." I felt Jerremyah tense, and noticed that while Herc had clearly shot for a disapproving expression, he had missed, and landed somewhere near begrudgingly impressed.
It was an unnecessarily dangerous way to do things, but that was kind of how Leo rolled, if I was being completely honest. Jerremyah was clearly put off by this thought- probably because he was imagining what might go wrong if Leo were to try that with him.
'Taunted' probably wasn't the right way to describe it- Leo didn't really taunt, he playfully provoked- the difference was in the tone of voice used, and the intention behind it. Leo didn't have it in him to taunt- not with Shari, not in the state of mind she was in.
"Leo said he should feed as well while they were out, so I left Jo with him, in the hope that they'll take this opportunity to talk about things." Knowing Leo, it was pretty much a coin toss- or at least, it had been before he had come back home for Christmas. Since being home, he had thanked Danniel for everything he had done, he had explained to Audrey that he only wanted to be for them the person he had needed when he was in a similar situation, and he had told her what each of his 'family members' meant to him- not to mention his conversation with Shari that I was not privy to. Even if he didn't talk to Jo now, I was still extremely proud of the progress he had made.
"Alright. Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Herc considered this for a second.
"About tomorrow... Do you know what you might need from me?" Tomorrow, Leo's trainer was coming to discuss joining the clan. He hadn't said much, but I had an idea of who it might be, and if I was right, we wouldn't have any trouble convincing them to join- especially now that Jerremyah was here. If I was wrong... Well, we'd cross that bridge when we got to it.
"I would appreciate it if you did much the same as today- we shouldn't need the back up, but it's better to be safe, than sorry." I could see Jerremyah eyeing me, so I added, "If Leo is happy enough to bring them here, clearly they must get along well enough." Jerremyah's expression became rather dry, knowing that I was poking fun at him, before he seemed to realise what I was avoiding saying, and his eyebrows furrowed.
"Wait- you don't know who's showing up?" I specifically kept my face as blank as possible- it wouldn't help to get Jerremyah's hopes up if I was wrong- and shrugged lightly.
"I have a hunch."
(A/N): Lisbet: 'and that would put me in a position I didn't want to be in right now- probably on my back, underneath him. I don't doubt I would enjoy it- Jerremyah always made sure I enjoyed whatever we did-'
Jerremyah: 'Hell yeah, I do!'
Also, the Lite Brite was apparently first marketed in 1967, so it existed at this point. I don't know if it was popular enough for Lisbet to realistically know about it, but I couldn't think of something else to compare it to.
Joint residency is basically like dual citizenship, but for vampire clans instead of countries. Sister clans basically means two or more clans that are allied, so if one clan is attacked, the other is obligated to help, and vice versa. Both of these things are rare for good reason. Most vampires would typically just... change clans, if they were unfulfilled in the one they were part of, rather than join a second- and it would be a liability to have a member of your clan be a member of a second clan, because if the two clans were to come to blows, it's not certain which clan that member would choose to support. Sister clans are rare for much the same reason- if two clans get along well enough to be willing to come to the others aid on the level that clan membership requires, the only reason they typically wouldn't just become one bigger clan is if there was a leadership issue- like one of the leaders not wanting to give up their position, or share their power.
The Ellwood clan and Herc's clan could become sister clans, but considering the distance between the two, there really wouldn't be much point.
By the way, as of today (24/1/23) I've got up to chapter 331 written up, waiting to be uploaded.