(A/N): Lisbet, Leo and Jerremyah- though mainly Lisbet and Leo- have a conversation (while Jerremyah showers).

Lisbet

Shari had almost attacked Leo. Well, maybe 'almost' was a bit much... no, I don't think it was, actually. Leo would probably object to me calling it that, considering his penchant for minimizing things- particularly threats to his life- but it was kind of hard to call it anything else, when she had been staring at his throat with a hunger that we were all more than familiar with. She had been appropriately horrified, even when Leo had tried to wave it away, and honestly, I couldn't blame her. If it had been me, almost taking a bite out of our youngest member- even if I didn't feel the way that I did about Leo- it would have been quite upsetting, and Shari- well, regardless of what she might feel for Leo, he was still Nicholai's son. I'm sure she would have had trouble with it too, if it was Herc she was drooling over, instead.

As it was, I led Leo and Jerremyah up the stairs, and this time, rather than heading to my bedroom, I took us to the room that Jerremyah now claimed as his own. Once there, I noticed that, despite everything, in the short time that he had been here, he had managed to decorate it to his liking- or, well, as much as Jerremyah ever did decorate. It looked lived in, at least. There was a very familiar dark blue blanket draped across the end of the bed, and near the head of it, among the regular pillows, there was one- rather frilly- throw pillow, that was sloppily embroidered with something that looked like it might be 'Bless This Mess'- and I knew that that was, in fact, what it said, because I had been the one to embroider it.

On the dresser, set up much like mine- maybe exactly like mine, I wasn't sure when he had done this- was an array of photographs in frames. Even from here, I could see my own face staring out at me from more than a handful of them- the most interesting photograph wasn't on the dresser, though, but instead, on the beside table. It was larger than any of the others- much larger- and regardless of the fact that I knew it couldn't possible be true, I almost felt my past self within the photograph glaring at me accusingly.

This Lisbet, in the photo, was still happy- both in general, and in her relationship with Jerremyah- maybe that was why he had picked that particular photograph to keep beside his bed. It felt like she blamed me for ruining that happiness- and when I couldn't handle that judgemental stare any longer, I turned around, and closed the door behind Leo, sealing the three of us in. I cast a silencing charm on the room, and when I turned back around, I saw Leo and Jerremyah both trying to physically shake it off. I chose to focus on the actual living- well, sort of- breathing- one out of two- people in the room, rather than my past, pictorial self.

"First things first, I think we should determine whether- Jerremyah," He perked up. "Are you showering? Now, I mean?" He blinked, and his eyes darted to Leo before they returned to me.

"Is that... wise?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"It's not like we'll have a problem hearing each other through the door." I reminded him, and his eyebrows rose slightly like he was surprised that I had such a good point.

"It would make me feel better." Leo supplied, and when I glanced at him, I got the distinct impression that he knew exactly what he was doing, and was playing to our innate desire to make him happy- which shocked me. Both because he was being rather candid about it, and also because clearly, he must have been at least somewhat aware of the effect he had on Jerremyah- which was still more of an effect than I expected it to have, even knowing, as I did, that Jerremyah knew Leo was my kit.

"Well..." Jerremyah took a second to consider this, while idly ruffling his own hair. "I suppose I could do that. I just figured... maybe this might be better face to face?" I shrugged.

"We can start with the less important- or, well, at least, less emotionally stressful, anyway- and then progress through things that involve you to a minimum, until you finish your shower." He looked a bit hesitant, but after Leo smiled at him like he only expected good things from him, he sort of blinked, and nodded.

"I... I guess that's... okay?" Leo and I worked together to usher him into the attached bathroom, once he had gathered some fresh clothes. He left the door cracked open just a little bit, and we could hear the sound of the shower curtain being dragged open, before the tap turned on.

"Alright, um... god, what's the least..." I took a minute to try to sort through all of the things that we needed to address, as Leo made himself comfortable next to the closed side of the bathroom door, in the armchair he had lugged over from the corner. "Hmm..." He raised an eyebrow at me in the kindest way possible.

"I've got one." I blinked, then cocked an eyebrow at him in return, in an attempt to encourage him to continue. "Swan?" Excuse me?

"...'swan'?" He gave me a dry look, and I heard Jerremyah's quiet chuckle from in the bathroom, nearly obscured by the sound of his clothes hitting the floor. I resisted the urge to peek through the gap in the door, even though I knew he wouldn't mind- might have even delighted in it, if Leo hadn't been right next to me.

"Your patronus." Oh, right. I guess that made sense, now that I knew what he was talking about, but... how did Leo-? Of course. Of course, Jerremyah must have told him- but why?

"Oh. Uh... yeah?" I said, a little unsure, and he shrugged nonchalantly.

"I wouldn't have expected that from you." My eyebrows furrowed.

"What, you don't think I'm graceful, like a swan?" His face changed until he looked vaguely panicked.

"...the most graceful. A veritable ballerina." I heard Jerremyah laugh again. "Is that what you want to hear?" I frowned, and Jerremyah's laughter stopped.

"It doesn't matter what I want to hear, it matters what you're trying to say." It was his turn to furrow his brows.

"I'm usually trying to say whatever will mitigate damage to my person." From the bathroom, I heard Jerremyah either drop, or simply knock over, a bottle that was presumably the shampoo, and I concurred with that sentiment.

"Leo-" He shook his head.

"I know you won't hurt me- I know that-" Thank God. "That doesn't mean that you won't stop-" He hesitated as if the words were hard to force from his mouth. "...stop loving me." It was practically a whisper, but I didn't doubt that Jerremyah could hear it almost as well as I could. I swept forward and cradled his face in my hands, and he looked up at me like he was somehow both simultaneously shocked, and not at all surprised by this. Like maybe he had expected this reaction, but not the vigor behind it.

"Listen to me." He blinked, but stiffened in a way that made it clear that he was, in fact, listening very intently. "I will never. Ever. Stop loving you." Immediately, his eyes dropped, but I knew him well enough at this point to know that he only did that when he was having trouble handling the emotions around him- whether those were the ones he was feeling, or otherwise. "Mon Petit Garçon... mon doux, doux garçon." He flushed, and I could hear- or rather, was aware of the absence of sound, that was Jerremyah presumably holding his breath in reaction to me calling Leo 'My Little Boy'.

"...Tante." He murmured, as if he was acknowledging what I was saying- but unfortunately, not sounding like he entirely believed me. I wibbled his face around a little bit, and he huffed out a reluctant laugh.

"Not you, too." He blinked at me, but when I jerked my head toward the bathroom, understanding lit his face.

"Sorry." I shook my head and rested my forehead against his.

"Don't apologise- it's not your fault." He looked uncertain about that. "I do love you. There's nothing you can do to change that." He blinked again, then gave me a somewhat wry look.

"You make it sound like I want to change that." I flashed him a skeptical look.

"Maybe not want it to change, but being convinced that it will change. Which it's not, by the way. It's not going to change. I'm not going to leave you- if I can help it." His face changed, and I knew that I had said the wrong thing- well, maybe not the wrong thing, but definitely something that had a different impact than I had expected or planned.

"I'm not... worried about... well, I wasn't worried about- I wasn't that worried about- you... leaving me." This last part was practically a whisper, and I felt my eyebrows furrow.

"So what are you worried about?" Oddly enough, his eyes darted to the bathroom- to Jerremyah more than likely, I suppose.

"...a lot of things." I didn't doubt that that was true, but it wasn't an answer.

"Anything specific, in relation to this subject?" He considered this for a second, but I had the distinct feeling that this was less because he was trying to figure out what to say, and more that he was trying to figure out whether he should say anything at all.

"Would it be cliche to say, 'It's not you, it's me'?" My eyebrows furrowed again, even as my lips quirked up slightly, against my will.

"That depends- are you breaking up with me?" Clearly, he didn't mean to smile either, and it made me feel a little bit better to see that.

"If I got the right impression from Jerremyah, you don't have much experience with that, do you?" ...damn it, Jer! "In fact, I'm pretty sure that I have more experience being broken up with than you do." Well... he wasn't wrong- but Jerremyah's amused snort from the shower was completely uncalled for.

"Shush, you." I grumbled, banging the door frame with a closed fist before returning it to cradling Leo's face. "Well, if you ever feel like talking to someone about it more in-depth, I'm sure Jerremyah would be more than happy to commiserate with you over your respective breakups." Jerremyah dropped another bottle, and Leo grinned- evidently grasping that I was teasing Jerremyah, and not him.

"Oh, I'll be sure to do that. We'll share a pint and cry into it." I narrowed my eyes at him, and he shrugged cheekily.

"I would say, 'That had better be a pint of blood, mister', but I think sharing a pint of blood with Jerremyah might just be worse for your health than a pint of beer." He shrugged again.

"Alcohol has very little effect on me, anyway." It was as if he could see the, 'and how do you know that?' forming in my eyes, because he pushed forward rather hastily. "Anyway, we were talking about something else- anything else." I narrowed my eyes at him again, and he looked chagrined, but sort of quirked an eyebrow at me, like he was daring me to force him to continue with that line of questioning- which, fortunately or unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to do.

"...fine." He wiggled slightly, as if he was pleased that I had given in and let him get away with it- which made it all worth it, if I was honest. "So you said 'it's not you, it's me'?" He blinked, then immediately his face fell- as if he had forgotten the previous subject that he had insisted we go back to- which was incredibly disappointing, but not unexpected.

"I thought we were planning to go for the least emotionally stressful things, first." He reminded me, and I winced.

"If you can think of something less emotionally stressful to talk about, I'd love to hear it." He tilted his head to the side.

"...so, are you going to the market tomorrow?" I speared him with a dry look, and thankfully, he was once again exhibiting that same cheekiness from earlier- like he knew that even if he had annoyed me, it wouldn't affect the way I felt about him in the long run.

"I said less emotionally stressful, not 'completely mundane'." His face split into a grin, and then, a second later, he sobered.

"It's not so much about people leaving me... the only person that has 'left' me is my father- and that doesn't count. Death doesn't count, because it's not their choice." He gave me a pointed look, and I knew that it was because I had specified that I wouldn't leave him by choice. I just hadn't wanted him to feel betrayed by me promising to stick by him, if I happened to die before- before fulfilling that promise. Before... before he wasn't alive to feel betrayed. "I'm worried about... me, leaving." I blinked.

"That's your choice though, isn't it?" He gave me a look, and I understood what he was getting at. "Again, that's your choice- but even if that is... what you choose to do, I- that won't make me... love you any less." He lowered his eyes, and it was at that point that I heard the shower shut off, and Jerremyah spoke up from the bathroom.

"Reconsider." Excuse me? ...was that directed at me, or Leo? I felt my eyebrows furrow.

"What is that supposed to-" Then I saw the look on Leo's face, and realised that I must have missed the mark- but how Jerremyah had known that, from a different room, I wasn't sure. "Leo?" He glanced up at me, looking like those eyes could drop again at any moment. "If you felt like being uncharacteristically forthright, now would be a good time." He swallowed nervously.

"Heartbeat." Jerremyah said from the bathroom, among the rustle of fabric- was that a towel, or was he getting dressed already? Leo's face contorted with outrage.

"Hey!" He turned to exclaim at the door, and I took a second to hone in on his heartbeat. It was raised, but that was reasonably normal for Leo- and before I could notice anything further, Leo clicked his fingers in my face. "Hey, no! Stop that! You can't just- God, this feels like trying to convince Charlie to behave, and not maul my socks." That felt vaguely insulting, but I guess that was fair play, considering that I was 'eavesdropping on his heart'.

"Alright, fine, I'll stop- now stop clicking your fingers at me, young man." He grimaced- presumably at me calling me 'young man'- but he did stop like I asked. "Would you like to be honest with me?" I dipped my head a little to meet his eyes, even though I really didn't have to, and he hesitated.

"I... hmm." He sounded somewhat frustrated. "It's just... well... I've been... unwillingly forced to leave, before." What? Oh. Oh.

"...oh, Leo..." I pressed a handful of kisses to his hairline, and I could feel his discomfort- but I was about ninety-nine percent sure that it was because of the subject, and not my actions. "That's not going to happen again." He didn't exactly smell nervous, but there was certainly something there... apprehension, maybe?

"...didn't expect it to happen the first time." Oh, my sweet baby boy... oh, shit- not the best thing to think, right now. I didn't know what to say to that- how to reassure him. And since Jerremyah was currently preoccupied, I was free to do so.

"It won't happen again- but if it does, I promise you," I stared deep into his eyes, as he barely managed to maintain eye contact. "I will find you. I will come after you. You are my little boy-" It felt different to say it in English, rather than French... more meaningful- or at the very least, more emotionally significant. "-I will not stop until you're back in my arms- my open arms." As he lowered his eyes again, I saw the tears threatening to fall from them.

"Lis..." He sounded like he was on the edge of tears too, which damn near broke my heart. "Ma Tante..." He paused as if to consider what he wanted to say. "My Home." ...Oh. Oh, Leo... I pulled him to my chest, and hefted him in my arms. His feet weren't quite hanging off of the floor, but only because he was so much taller than me. He made a choked noise, so I loosened my grip on him- worried that I was squeezing him too tightly- but then he burrowed further into my arms, so I figured that maybe that hadn't been the case.

"You're part of my home, too, Nounours." He scented the side of my face, then pulled back, and jerked his head toward the bathroom- where I didn't doubt that Jerremyah was well and truly done by now, and was staying as quiet as possible to let us have our moment.

"I can take a guess at where most of your home is, right now." I felt my lips quirk up.

"Chickening out of this conversation, it seems." I heard an offended squawk from the bathroom, and a second later, the door swung open- and when I looked up over Leo's shoulder, Jerremyah was leaning against the door frame... wearing that damned cream, knit jumper that I loved so much. That he knew I loved- God, he'd done that on purpose, hadn't he?

"I was letting you have some privacy- or the illusion of privacy, anyway." He objected, and unfortunately, he looked absolutely delectable- which wasn't the best thought to be having with my kit in my arms. Speaking of which, Leo wiggled in my grip- not to get free, but to be able to turn to look at Jerremyah.

"It was a nice thought, but not entirely necessary. You're fine." Jerremyah shrugged loosely, and pinned me with a look that told me that he knew exactly what I was thinking, before he seemed to decide to shelve that, and turned his attention back to Leo.

"That, and I'm- not the best at the... emotional stuff." Leo looked like he related to that quite strongly. "Not to mention that this doesn't really... involve me." Leo's face scrunched up.

"I mean... it kind of does." Jerremyah's eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you mean?" Leo shrugged.

"Well, you are one of my clan members- and my clan is kin."

(A/N): Lisbet's Photo: *glares judgmentally*

Lisbet: 'Hey, don't blame me- it's not my fault!'

Lisbet's Photo: *continues to glare*

Lisbet: 'I'm working on it, I promise!'

Lisbet's Photo: *flips her off*

Lisbet: *flips her own photographic self off*

also

Lisbet's Photo: 'I'll see you in hell!'

Lisbet: 'You tell them who sent you!'

also

Lisbet: '(Jerremyah's) Chickening his way out of this conversation, it seems.'

Jerremyah: *offended, chicken-like squawk*

also

Lisbet: *struggling to embroider a throw pillow*

Lisbet: 'Try embroidery, they said. It's therapeutic, they said. You get to stab things, they said- the only thing I'm stabbing is my own GODDAMN fingers!'

also

Jerremyah: *puts a photograph of Lisbet on his bedside table*

Lisbet: 'It's a photo from happier times- he chose that one on purpose, to prove a point.'

Jerremyah: *only picked that particular photo because it was the one that displayed her smile the best*

Translations (French):

Mon Petit Garçon = My Little Boy

Mon doux, doux garçon = My sweet, sweet boy

Tante = Aunt

Ma Tante = My Aunt

Nounours = Teddy Bear