(A/N): Hey, we're back with Lisbet and Jerremyah! Yay!

Lisbet

"-and he attributed that, almost entirely, to Little Miss Elaine."

Oh, she was going to both love, and hate that. She would love it, because Leo had credited her with such a feat, but she would hate it, because Jerremyah had called her that. "For the sake of your health, I feel I should warn you- never say anything like that about her where she might hear it. She's rather sensitive about that sort of thing." He blinked.

"What do you mean?" I winced, and shrugged.

"She's quite an independent young woman, and she doesn't appreciate being treated like a child, or like her sex has some sort of inescapable impact on her abilities." His eyebrows furrowed like he was concentrating- likely trying to commit that to memory- before his expression turned dry.

"Gee, I wonder who that reminds me of?" I rolled my eyes at him, trying to pretend like I wasn't amused- and knowing that I was failing.

"I'm sure it probably has something to do with her father- with Tarea Hugar- but I know she also... there was a thing with Jonothan, when he attacked her- he bragged about it, when we were... when I helped him kidnap Leo. Even while he was unconscious, Jonothan was trying to taunt him." Jerremyah huffed.

"What a wanker." I didn't disagree.

"I don't know how Leo would react to it- the Elaine thing, not Jonothan's taunting- although, I do know that his patience with Jonothan's antics has gone down since... everything over the summer." He nodded. "But I know that Elaine won't react well to being talked about like that- and Leo won't react well to her not reacting well." The corner of his lips quirked up.

"So he's protective of her- I never would have guessed." I rolled my eyes at him again, but after a second, huffed out a laugh.

"See, that sounds like someone I know." The way he looked at me was so tender, it made me want to dig my claws into him, and haul him closer.

"I thought you didn't like the fact that I was protective." I sighed quietly, and in the end, I settled for just tightening my grip on him- and trying not to delight too much in the way that his eyelids shuttered and his body tensed, as he tried to resist urges that I wished he would just give into.

"I don't like it when you're overprotective. I expect some level of protectiveness- after all, I have much the same instincts as you do, so it would be hypocritical of me to deny you that. I just... you know that I want us to be equal. That I need that- I will not play second fiddle in my own relationship- even if it's to your need to protect me." He nodded solemnly.

"I know. I... I lost track of things- with us. I was just so..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "It doesn't matter." I took his hands in mine and brought them up between our chests.

"Yes it does-" He cut me off, as gently as he could.

"I meant- I know it does, I just... do we- do we have time for this? Right now, I mean?" I considered this for a second.

"That depends- how much else do we have to talk about other than that, before we bring Leo in?" He clearly thought this through, and winced- then, he hesitated.

"There are a... few things, we need to get through." I stared at him for a moment, then nodded.

"...alright. Just..." I sighed, just barely. "I don't want to say 'don't tell me if it's upsetting', because I want you to be able to tell me anything, I just... it's been a tough day." He echoed my nod and squeezed my hands in his, ever so gently.

"I know, My Love." I barely managed to suppress a shiver. "If I could soften these blows for you, I would." Or he'd take them himself, I knew- likely across his back, as he had the rest.

"Get it over with." I told him, and he took in a breath, even as he stroked the back of my hands with his thumbs.

"First things first, about something Leo said to me." Uh oh. "We were talking about tattoos-" I blinked. "It's relevant, I promise. I- I was explaining how we can get tattoos, as rapidly healing vampires, and got to the part about spharmus-" I winced.

"Oof, yeah... not the best subject for him..." He nodded.

"As I found out. But, anyway, the past isn't what I wanted to talk about." I frowned. "I..." He pulled one hand out of mine, so he could rub the back of his neck sheepishly. "I may have- we were talking about... theoretically, what might happen if he were to choose to be exposed to spharmus in the future." I narrowed my eyes at him, and he flushed slightly. "Don't give me that look- someone needs to be a little more lenient with him. I know you just want to protect him, but he's a teenager- he's inevitably going to get up to things you don't approve of. When that happens, we don't want him to go through it alone, now do we?" ...spoken like- well, I didn't want to say 'a father figure'- mainly because it made something in my chest ache- but I didn't know how else to describe it.

"I'm not that strict... right?" The corner of his lips quirked up.

"I don't know if 'strict' is the word I would use, but as we've already established, he's worried about the possibility of disappointing you- on the other hand, he already knows that I'm a depraved deviant, and could never be disappointed by something he did." I shot him a dry look.

"You underestimate him- Leo would think he had disappointed the devil himself, simply by choosing the wrong combination of breakfast items." He huffed out a laugh, even as he looked slightly exasperated.

"Of course he would." He shook his head. "Anyway, he... wasn't exactly eager to try spharmus again, so I suggested that- well, if he was worried about someone taking advantage of his compromised state, that you would take care of him, and make sure nothing happened to him." I nodded firmly. "He brushed that off, saying that taking spharmus around the closest thing he had to a legal guardian, didn't sound like fun to him." I sucked in a breath, and he gave me a sympathetic look- or perhaps it was an empathetic one, seeing as he looked to be in almost as much pain as I did.

"He... he doesn't mean it like... he just means-" He shrugged.

"I don't think we can ever truly assume that we know what Leo means when he says something." I hesitated, then nodded.

"...true." He continued.

"I reiterated that you would take care of him, asking him if he knew that, and he said... 'I know my safety is very important to all of my clan members.'" I blinked, then frowned, feeling my eyebrows furrow.

"That's... goddammit, Leo..." He nodded- looking way more distressed than I expected he thought he did.

"Yeah. I... considered trying to talk to him about it- try to get it through his head that you all- that we all care about him, about more than just his safety- but I figured I should leave that to someone a bit more qualified." Who-? Oh. Right. That- that made sense.

"I'm working on it- I've been working on it, for quite a while. Something like that, anyway- but I'll- I'll take that into account." He nodded. "Thank you." He blinked, then sort of froze for a second, before he managed to pull himself back together.

"I- okay." Ah, he was flustered again- but this time, it wasn't because I was teasing him.

"Is that all?" Again, he hesitated.

"I... no. No, it isn't." Well, that didn't sound good. "It's not about Leo." That didn't make me feel all that much better, if I was honest.

"And what is it about?" He grimaced.

"Me. And my... control issues."

...yeah, this really wasn't going to be good, was it?

(A/N): Jerremyah: 'Someone needs to be more lenient with Leo, so that when he makes mistakes, he knows he has someone he can turn to.'

Lisbet: 'Spoken like a father figure- ow, my heart.'

also

Lisbet: 'You underestimate him. Leo would think he had disappointed the devil himself, simply by choosing the wrong combination of breakfast items.'

Leo: 'What about... toast, and sausages?'

The Devil: 'Ugh, no- what are you, an idiot? Waffles and bacon, or bust!'

also

Jerremyah: 'I figured I should leave that to someone a bit more qualified.'

Lisbet: 'Who? Oh, right! By the way, my qualification is written in crayon, on a blank page Leo gave me from his diary.'

also

Jerremyah: 'I thought you didn't like the fact that I was protective.'

Lisbet: 'I LOVE the fact that you're protective- we can be protective idiots together for eternity- I just need you not be OVERprotective.'

Jerremyah: '...I'm working on it, I promise.'