(A/N): Does it still count as foreshadowing if it's completely blatant? I don't know, let's find out!
Lisbet
Oops.
It had already been clear to me that I'd screwed up by talking about disappointing each other, but when Leo's face changed and became suspiciously, concerningly blank, I knew that I- or more accurately, we, considering that Jerremyah had been the last one to talk- had made more of a mess of things than I had originally thought. I knew that look, and it didn't mean anything good- but Jerremyah had only known Leo a few days, so he probably-
"Oh no, no, no, you're not going anywhere- get back here." I was shocked when Jerremyah's free arm uncrossed his chest, and he used the hand that already had a grip on Leo's arm to pull him in closer. He didn't try to fight it anywhere as hard as I thought he would have- he twisted a little, as if hoping that if he inconvenienced Jerremyah slightly, he would let him go- but Jerremyah wasn't that easily discouraged. Leo also didn't say anything, but his lips did quirk downward- especially as Jerremyah brought both of his hands up, and put his palms on Leo's cheeks. Then, slowly, he started to jiggle them about.
"Meeeep!" I could see the look in Leo's eyes, saw his composure break- and honestly, I wasn't sure if that move would have worked for me in this moment, because I had been working to acclimate Leo to my touch. Jerremyah was new, and had done no such thing- but I suspected that it was more than that, and that Leo was also less practiced when it came to physical contact with people of the male persuasion. Not to mention that this was Jerremyah- and while he was rather tactile with me, and even with Grey, he had never been the most free with touch, at least when he felt like it meant something.
"Leo-" Jerremyah shot me a look and I cut myself off- clearly, he had a plan... and I was stuffing it right up.
"Je sais que je t'ai blessé, mais tu dois savoir que je ne le pensais pas. J'ai dû lui dire. Je suis sûr que vous lui avez dit des choses que j'aimerais qu'elle ne sache pas. C'était le but, n'est-ce pas?" Leo glared at him- the most emotion he had shown since he had gone blank- the most irritation, as well.
"I only said what I had to- what we discussed telling her, and the things that I had to apologise for." Jerremyah blinked, and while his eyebrows didn't furrow, I could tell that they wanted to.
"You have nothing to apologise for." He told Leo, who rolled his eyes at him rather dryly.
"I have a lot to apologise for, it just usually isn't anything to do with you." Well, that was worrying- and clearly, Jerremyah must have thought so too, because he did his best to distract him from the subject.
He leaned in and pressed a big, sloppy kiss to Leo's forehead- and I watched big blue eyes go wide... both sets. Obviously, Jerremyah was just as shocked by this development as Leo was, even if he had been the one to initiate it. He recovered quicker than Leo did, but the only way that I could tell, was because his eyes darted sideways to meet mine.
Leo, however, continued to stay frozen- as if he had short-circuited, much like Jerremyah had earlier- for almost a full minute, and then the awareness came back into his eyes- along with pure panic. The cloyingly sweet scent of anxiety floated over to me, and I knew that if I could smell it, Jerremyah could as well. The problem was, neither of them seemed to know what to do about the issue.
Seeing that they were clearly both stuck in some sort of loop, I stepped up to them and put a hand on a shoulder each to support me as I leaned in, and pressed a kiss to Jerremyah's cheek first, quickly followed by Leo's. "Come back to me, please." This seemed to do the trick, because Jerremyah pulled back from Leo- and then he curled an arm around my waist, and tugged me into his side.
"Hullo." He greeted me rather sweetly, and I felt my lips quirk up even if I didn't particularly want them to.
"Hi." I turned my attention to Leo- who looked half relieved and half disappointed, oddly enough. "You know he didn't do it to hurt you- you know that if he had, I would've been very, very cross with him about it." Jerremyah didn't look even the slightest bit offended- in fact, he looked almost touched that I knew he wouldn't have intended to hurt my kit, even emotionally.
"He didn't mean to hurt you, either, but you're still mad at him." Oof. Jerremyah winced, and I could tell that Leo must have been coming back to himself a bit- calming down, at least a little- because he looked conflicted. Like he wanted to make a point, but didn't necessarily want to hurt him- and already knew that he would regret doing so, later.
"You're allowed to be mad at him," I told Leo, and he blinked. "You're not allowed to disappear. If you have an issue with something- with one of us- you need to talk to us about it." He huffed quietly and crossed his arms over his chest, making mine and Jerremyah's hands bounce on either one of his shoulders.
"...and if I can't?" Now it was my turn to blink in surprise, and my eyes darted sideways to meet Jerremyah's.
"Because you... you can't talk about it, like, physically? Or is it just... difficult to get out?" He took a second, seemingly to consider this, before he shrugged- once again sending our hands a-bouncing.
"Mostly the second one." But only mostly?
"What- you can't- physically?" Jerremyah fought to get out, but we understood what he meant, and Leo's face scrunched up. I could see him trying to fight the urge to go back to being silent, and I squeezed his shoulder for the lack of a better way to comfort him.
"There are things I can't talk about- not because there's some kind of magic or otherwise preventing me from doing so, I just... there are things that I wouldn't like anyone to know. Not like a... it's not an embarrassment thing, it's a protection thing." 'A protection thing'? What was that supposed to mean?
"What are you protecting?" Jerremyah asked- but I knew Leo, and I knew that it was never a 'what'.
"Who are you protecting?" He shrugged tersely.
"Everyone." He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world, but I knew that he was trying to avoid the subject.
"Who, in particular, are you trying to protect- beyond the obvious of your clan, and your friends, and your family- the ones that we like, anyway- and any innocents-" He cut me off.
"The point is that I can't talk about it- in fact, I probably shouldn't have even told you that something was... out of the ordinary." I felt my eyebrows furrow.
"Can you tell me, is it... would it be... expected?" He considered this for a second, but I wasn't entirely sure whether it was because he was trying to determine that, or because he was unsure whether he wanted to answer.
"I don't think it's too much of a detriment to tell you that while it might not be out of character for me- you don't know them." I blinked, and my eyebrows furrowed even further.
"Like... like I didn't know Dahrya, and Jerremyah doesn't know most of your friends or...?" He winced, and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"My father knew of them, but never met them. Other than that, no one knows who they are- who they are to me, anyway. Everyone else that knows is dead." That boggled my mind. There was someone- more than one someone, I suspected, because even if Leo had used the terms 'they' and 'them', which could be singular, I doubted that they were in this case- that was important enough to him to want to protect.
Someone that Nicholai had known of, but had never met... that itched something in the back of my mind, but when I tried to scratch at it for more information on the subject, I got no result. And he'd made a point to say, 'everyone else that knows is dead'- which, if I didn't know better, I would have thought was a threat.
"No one?" Jerremyah asked, clearly bemused by this, and Leo shrugged.
"As far as I know." That bothered me.
"And these people are important enough to you that you don't even want to tell us even the smallest thing about them? How have we never met them- or heard a mention of them, at least?" He narrowed his eyes at me.
"I never said that I was talking about more than one person." But even if I hadn't already suspected that it was the case, his reaction made it quite clear that it was a plural 'them'. "I don't talk about them- I try not to even think about them." What? "I didn't have anything to-" He cut himself off, immediately looking rather pained. Much more pained than I would have expected, even knowing that he was quite fond of these people- whoever they may be. "I can't talk about it." At all?
"At all?" It was all I could think, so that was what I said- and when Leo shook his head, I stared at him for a long minute before I nodded solemnly. "Alright, Nounours. I get it. I trust you to know your limits- and to come to me for help, if you need it. You're my little one- if you can't talk about this because you're worried that something bad will happen, then I support you. Always." He blinked slowly, and then leaned in to bump his forehead against mine.
"Thank you." He murmured, and I skimmed my hand down from his shoulder to rub his back comfortingly. "I love you." Oh, Leo...
"I love you too, Mon Petit Garçon."
(A/N): Leo: *shuts down*
Lisbet: 'Oh no, I know that look, and it never means anything good- but Jerremyah's only known Leo a few days, so he probably doesn't-'
Jerremyah: 'I think I can guess that him going completely blank isn't a GOOD thing!'
also
Jerremyah: *kisses Leo on the forehead to distract him*
Leo: *freezes*
Jerremyah: *freezes*
Leo: 'What... do I... should I...?.?'
Jerremyah: 'I clearly didn't think this through, but now that I'm here I don't know what to do about it.'
Lisbet: *shaking her head fondly*
Lisbet: 'Come back to me, please.'
Jerremyah: 'Oh thank god, permission to disengage.'
Leo: 'Aww, don't leave... but also, please leave.'
also
Leo: 'I don't talk about them- I try not to even THINK about them.'
Leo's Brain: *radio static and out of tune circus music played on a tin whistle*
Leo: 'I try not to think about a lot of things, if I'm honest.'
Translations (French):
Je sais que je t'ai blessé, mais tu dois savoir que je ne le pensais pas. J'ai dû lui dire. Je suis sûr que vous lui avez dit des choses que j'aimerais qu'elle ne sache pas. C'était le but, n'est-ce pas? = I know I hurt you, but you should know I didn't mean it. I had to tell her. I'm sure you told her things I wish she didn't know. That was the point, wasn't it?
Nounours = Teddy Bear
Mon Petit Garçon = My Little Boy.
PS: I have mentioned these people before- not directly, but just... numbers not adding up, answers that Leo has given that don't quite make sense... that sort of thing.