(A/N): The result of Jerremyah telling Leo that Lisbet's patronus is a white swan, and that's why he has that tattooed on his chest. Leo and Jerremyah discuss Jerremyah's other tattoos, and Leo has a question he wants to get to the bottom of, but has to be somewhat sneaky about getting it answered. So I have my Covid, the conjunctivitis I've had for like three and a half months, I'm on my period, and now I have another case of blepharitis... I feel like literal death. I managed to write a chapter, but, well... let's just call it a first draft, shall we?

Leo

It... it was? ...Huh. That- I would have thought-

"I would have thought she was more of a black swan kind of person, but, if you say so." His eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Typically, they're thought to represent different things- you know how symbolism is, sometimes. The only reason we even know that it's white, is because Grey's patronus looks different- and ravens are much more rarely a color other than black." Greygorry's patronus was a raven? ...No, yeah, that made complete sense. He sort of reminded me of one, even.

"What about you?" He raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what your patronus form is?" His face split into a big grin. He released his grip on the neckline of his shirt, and Lisbet's swan was once again covered up. Then, he reached around, and pulled up his right sleeve- underneath it were two tattoos, both maybe the size of the palm of my hand.

The one holding the position front and center was a full body depiction of a crocodile, with the initials NZM nestled snugly beside it. Beneath that, was the head of a buffalo- no, a bison. I blinked- Jerremyah was looking at me like I should know which one was his, even though he had given me next to nothing to go by.

"So... which one?" His face fell, like he was slightly disappointed- in fact, his lips dropped into a small pout.

"You can't tell?" Obviously! "The bison!" Oh. Well, I suppose that was fitting- from what I knew about bison, and Jerremyah. "The croc is for Nuria." Oh, interesting. He paused for a second, then quickly switched to the other arm.

This time, the focal point was a raven- Greygorry- and the initials GMC. Below that was just the head of an elephant, and the initials MDA. M... Minsi?

"Grey and Minsi." Ah, yes, good. He dropped his sleeve again, and dropped his hands to his knees. "I have others- ones that depict events, or other things that have impacted me, that weren't people." I could have guessed, considering the cross that took up prime placement down the side of his neck.

On both sides, stretching along his collarbones, I could see a faint dotted line, that disappeared under his neckline. Where the two dotted lines met, at the hollow of his throat, there was a darker, larger dot, and from that, a vertical line like the one along his collarbones, ran up and down. On the upstroke, there was another one of those darker points on the underside of his jaw, right under his chin, and on the downstroke, it once again hid beneath his shirt.

The shape of it looked vaguely familiar to me- almost like a constellation. At first, I wasn't sure if I should ask about it, but in the end, his obvious excitement around the subject, and the fact that he had been open with me so far, without complaint, made me feel like I could.

"What's that one?" His eyebrows jumped a little- as if he was surprised that I was still interested, but he didn't look unhappy with that fact.

"Which one?"

"The- y'know-" I gestured to my own collarbones, and after a second of apparent puzzlement, his face split into a grin once more.

"Oh!" He said, before his smiled dropped a little bit. "That- that's another one of Lisbet's." It was? Was that why his smile had diminished? It hadn't done that earlier, when he was talking about the swan. "It's Cygnus- the swan constellation." Oh. So... he had two swans, all for Lisbet? "It... it goes across to my shoulders, and down to just about my belly button." He lifted the bottom of his shirt this time, to reveal a toned torso, and much more than just that particular tattoo.

The bottom point of the constellation was maybe an inch above his belly button, but with his shirt hiked up as it was, I could see the point above that too, and it was nestled in between the bottom of his pectorals. Now, with his shirt in this new position, I could see the lower part of the swan tattoo, over his heart, and my eyes stuck on the initials underneath it- LLMY.

L, Lisbet. M, Morsol. The second L must be for her middle name, which was... actually, I don't think I knew Lisbet's middle name. And the Y... I had a suspicion as to what that was for. I drew my eyes away from the sight quickly.

"You know, I've just realised that I don't know much about you." He jolted slightly, and his jaw slackened, clearly surprised by my sudden change of subject.

"I- what?" I shrugged, watching him slowly release the hem of his shirt, in order to cover himself back up.

"Most of what I know about you, comes from your relationship with Lisbet. Other than the conversation we had earlier, which was mostly just about your control issues- which don't define who you are as a person-" He blinked. "-and a very specific period of your life. None of that really tells me who you are." He stared at me for a second, before something in his expression changed. On anyone else, I would have said it was almost tender, but I didn't know what that would look like on Jerremyah.

"And I assume," I continued, since I was a little put off by his lack of response. "That you don't know much about me- personally, at least." He blinked again, and then he brightened up- as if that was somehow a much more exciting concept.

"I'm not that interesting," He said, but before he could go on, I interrupted him.

"I think you're interesting." This seemed to shock him more than my earlier subject change. "I think you're one of the most interesting people I've ever met- and I'm not just saying that because you're Lisbet's mate." He looked oddly touched by that. He took a second to absorb that, before the corner of his lips quirked up.

"Are you sure? I've personally always considered the fact that I'm Lisbet's mate to be the most interesting thing about me." I didn't smile, because I knew he probably wasn't joking like he wanted me to think. "That, or the fact that I'm one of the very few people who have the pleasure of calling Nuria their sire." I stared him down, and his smirk dropped slightly, as he noticed that I wasn't amused.

"Jerremyah." I said firmly, and it was almost like he came to attention at the sound of his name, said in such a tone. "You are not your relationships." He flinched, and then, his face immediately started fulling with rage, but I forced myself to stand my ground. And then... he paused, and took a minute to compose himself. Once again, this wasn't something I expected from him.

"I have a distinct feeling," He said slowly, deliberately. "That I should warn you about not throwing stones, in your little glass house." I- there wasn't much I could say to that.

"I'll make you a deal-" He looked intrigued. "I'll face my issues with my sense of self when you do." His eyebrows furrowed for a second, before he got this determined look on his face. Then, it was clear that he made a conscious effort to wipe it from his face.

"Deal." It sounded casual, but I had a feeling it wasn't. "So, what did you have in mind?" I considered this for a second- I was, genuinely, curious about him, but... as of right now, I had one big question on my mind, and I was trying to figure out how to get my answer as quickly as possible- without him just telling me to ask Lisbet.

"Why don't we start with our names- I'll go first. My full name is Leonides Judas Joannis- well, that's my legal name. After- after my dad died, I started going by Ellwood more." His eyebrows furrowed, and his lips quirked downwards.

"Your middle name is Judas?" I rolled my eyes at him, and huffed out a little, exasperated laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, yak it up-" He cut me off with a partially stifled smile, and held up a hand as if to placate me.

"I'm not judging- my name's Jerremyah Ezekiel, so I guess you're in good company." It certainly felt like it. I played a bit dumb here, so as not to raise any suspicion.

"Your last name is Ezekiel?" He shook his head, but the corner of his lips quirked up- not like he was amused, but like he was trying to soften the blow that he was telling me I was wrong, which I thought was nice of him.

"Ezekiel is my middle name. I picked it because, like Jeremiah, Ezekiel is a biblical prophet." Wait, what?

"You picked it?" He shrugged.

"Middle names weren't a big thing when we were born, and we figured... well, a lot of vampires change their names- or at least part of them- after they turn, so... why couldn't we just pick some for ourselves? We sat down one night-" He winced, and hesitated. "We may have been a little sloshed, if I'm completely honest-" I felt my face split into a grin, and upon seeing it, his lips quirked up to echo it. "-and helped each other pick middle names. It... it was fun." I bet. I couldn't imagine what those three would be like sozzled- and completely uninhibited by how they thought they should act around me.

"Time spent with friends is always fun." His smile intensified slightly, and he nodded rather more enthusiastically than I thought he would. "So if your middle name is Ezekiel, then what's your last name?" I was trying to be subtle, but I didn't know how well it was working. Hopefully, my stupid, traitorous heart wasn't giving me away. Jerremyah shrugged one shoulder.

"Yates. Jerremyah, Ezekiel, Yates." Yates- Y.

Huh. I guess Lisbet and Jerremyah had gotten married at some point throughout the centuries.

(A/N: Leo: 'On anyone else, I would have said it was almost tender, but I didn't know what that would look like on Jerremyah.'

Jerremyah: *wearing THE MOST tender expression ever*

Jerremyah: 'Yeah, no, me neither. I've never been tender in my life.'

also

Leo: 'I'll face my issues when you do.'

Jerremyah: '...' *rolls up sleeves* 'Well, I guess I have work ahead of me!'

also

Leo: *shows interest in Jerremyah's tattoos*

Jerremyah: *surprised, but pleased*

Leo: *shows MORE interest in Jerremyah's tattoos*

Jerremyah: * 0.0 *

Jerremyah: 'My... my boy!'

also

Leo: *finds out that Lisbet and Jerremyah are married*

Leo: 'Great, now I have something else to make fun of her about!'

Information:

Sloshed - Inebriated/drunk/intoxicated

Sozzled - Inebriated/drunk/intoxicated

While middle names began appearing in the late Medieval times, they were reserved only for nobility in England with an old law making them illegal for the rest of the population. Middle names began to find favor among wealthy extended families in the late 1700s, and the practice began to catch on with the middle class after the turn of the 19th century. By 1900, nearly every child born had a middle name. Jerremyah, Lisbet and Greygorry were all born prior to that, and none of them were from wealthy families, so, they were born without middle names. Don't worry, we will learn their middle names in just a few chapters.