(A/N): We're back with Lisbet, Leo and Jerremyah. Do we get the answer to Lisbet's nickname in this chapter? ...no. No, we do not. Instead, I launch us down yet another rabbit hole. Lets go!

Lisbet

Leo defending Jerremyah was painful enough- not because I thought Jerremyah didn't deserve it, but because I was surprised every time he did it... especially considering that that used to be my job- but Leo defending Jerremyah from me, a second after he'd tried to manipulate him to get information out of him? That made me feel- well... kind of proud, but mostly exceptionally icky.

I understood that it was something he'd unwillingly picked up from when he'd lived with his mother- though I doubted that the years he'd spent with Nicholai, despite Nicholai's best intentions, had done anything to help him move past that particular habit. Although... it could sometimes be useful... but as a fifteen year old boy- my fifteen year old boy- it wasn't something Leo should ever feel like he needed to make use of. Something's usefulness wasn't what should be most important or relevant about said thing- and a trait being useful, didn't excuse the fact that it wasn't only unhealthy for Leo, but also for the people around him. And while my concern was mainly for Leo... I was still one of those people- as was my mate. Jerremyah.

Jerremyah, who hadn't seemed all that offended by Leo trying to manipulate him- maybe because he, of all people, understood that instinct more than anyone else... although, from what he'd told me, he'd tended to fall into a more fawning sort of mindset. Which... hm. If that didn't make me question everything that Leo had done the past few days- and beyond- that had seemed to only be fueled by a desire to please those around him- to please me.

"As I said, we were... as you put it- er, drunk. You should know that when we were all born, middle names weren't as common as they are now- or common at all, really. So, one night, while we were drinking and- uh, having fun-" He rolled his eyes at me, but in a clearly amused sort of way- like he thought the handicap I was placing on myself was funny, even if he didn't see the point in it.

I'm glad he was amused that I didn't want to tell him that we'd been in bed together, recuperating from a night- well, actually, I think it was more like the latter half of an afternoon through to a few hours before dawn, if my memory served me correctly- of vigorous sex, boozing, and more than a little recreational drug use, all helped on by some maybe-not-as-careful-as-we-should-have-been spharmus consumption. No, Leo didn't need to know about any of that. 'Drunk' was enough to get the message across that we hadn't been in our right minds. "We decided to... make our own." He nodded.

"I mean, sure. Why not?" I squinted at him slightly.

"It's not like you go by a nickname, or recently started going by your father's last name, or anything." He blinked, and for a split second I worried that I'd made a mistake by bringing it up, but then his lips quirked up, and I knew he just hadn't expected it.

"Don't get me started on changing a last name- I'm saving that for a special occasion." I felt my eyebrows draw together, and he shrugged. "I shouldn't have interrupted you, continue." I couldn't help but frown.

"You can interrupt me anytime you want. What you want to say is important, Nounours." Now it was his turn to furrow his brows.

"Not any more important than what you want to say, Tante." I should have expected that. Should have, but didn't.

"You- I've had more than enough chances to speak, I'd rather hand you the microphone. You can hand it back when you're done with it." The corner of his lips twitched, like he was conflicted as to whether he should smile or frown.

"...still, I- I want to hear the rest of the story. You've barely started," He sounded like he was going to continue, but decided against it after the fact. I decided to indulge him- what else was new?

"It's not uncommon amongst vampires- some just do it to fit in, to adapt as the times change, but others... well, as you're aware, vampires tend to be giant drama queens." His face split into a grin, and I felt my own lips follow suit. "Simply adding a middle name each isn't that extreme- but I suppose us taking the piss out of Sidonie for so many years pushed Grey into showing a little restraint." He blinked, then his eyebrows rose- not to his hairline, but certainly quite high- like he was surprised, but didn't want to show the full extent of it.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

I shrugged, trying to stifle my more than slightly smug smirk. "That depends what you think I'm saying." His expression turned dry, but definitely not disinterested.

"Don't fu-hhhg. Don't... hug? Don't hug with me. Don't- Ugh, you know what I'm saying, I know that you don't like the word I used, acknowledge the sentiment and we'll move past this whole thing." I was touched that he'd bothered to try to censor himself, even if maybe he didn't fully appreciate the way that I was trying to protect him from crude language. The whole thing was a bit of a roller-coaster of emotions- my eyebrows raising, then dropping as I realised what he had been about to say, then rising again as he clearly struggled to find a different word for what he'd been trying to convey. And then, it just changed to pure amusement.

"But I thought you liked, 'hugging with me'." He blinked, then his lips twitched up- even as he rolled his eyes at me.

"You know that I do- now, in your own words, stop being cute." I flashed him the toothiest grin I could muster- and I don't think he would have wanted me to see it, but I definitely did. I saw that split second of hesitation, before he returned it- albeit with a smaller, more controlled smile.

"That's impossible, and you know it." His smile got a bit less controlled- like he had lost his grip on whatever apparatus he was using to maintain his more perfectly polished smile. It wasn't quite that pristine pureblood- almost politician- smile, but it definitely wasn't his real smile- that slightly lopsided, blinding beam that didn't just reach his eyes, but practically shone out of them.

"Ah, I see how it is." Jerremyah said, tightening his arm around Leo's shoulders, in order to wiggle him a bit- as if to show him that he was joking, even if that was pretty readily evident. "You're both just dirty line stealers, that's what you are." Leo shrugged, only hindered very minimally by the fact that Jerremyah's arm was weighing his down.

"There's no such thing as an original thought, bud." Jerremyah blinked- and he wasn't the only one.

"Hey, that one's mine!" It was barely a complaint- more a reminder, if anything- and Leo seemed to know that, considering that he chose that moment to wink at me.

"I guess that's another thing I picked up from you." He said softly, and I had to swallow in order to be able to get past it. Then swallow again, because it never really worked quite as well as I thought it would.

"So, yes. Yes, you're right, Sidonie, changed her name. I mean, to be fair, she wasn't exactly subtle, with the last name 'Du Sang'." Leo's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, I know, 'Of Blood' is a bit-"

"Du Sang? As in Vieux Du Sang Vignoble?" Uh... oh.

(A/N): Lisbet: *flashing Leo the toothiest grin she can muster*

Leo's Brain: 'PREDATOR!.!.!'

Leo: 'No, not predator- well, I mean yes, kind of predator, but also- Lis.'

also

Lisbet: 'Jerremyah didn't seem to mind Leo trying to manipulate him, probably because he could relate to that instinct more than most- although, from what he told me, he tended to fall into a more fawning mindset.'

Lisbet: *has a flashback to Leo tucking himself under her chin despite being much taller than her, or trying to show his respect by lowering his head or eyes*

Lisbet: 'Well. Who do I have to pray to, to make those two things not related? Because I'll do it. By God, I'll do it.'

also

Lisbet: 'We decided to make our own (middle names).'

Leo: 'I mean, sure. Why not?'

Lisbet: 'It's not like you go by a nickname, or recently started going by your father's last name, or anything.'

Leo: 'Don't get me started on changing a last name- I'm saving that for a special occasion.'

Leo: 'I can't wait to see both of your faces when I reveal that I've known that you two were/...are? Married, this whole time.'

also

Lisbet: '...well, as you're aware, vampires tend to be GIANT drama queens.'

Jerremyah: 'Present company very much NOT excluded.'

also

Character A: *mentions something that's meant to come as a shock*

Character B: 'Oh you mean that thing? That thing I have information about that I probably shouldn't? THAT thing?'

Translations (French):

Nounours = Teddy Bear

Tante = Aunt

Vieux Du Sang Vignoble = Old Du Sang Vineyard (technically 'Old Of Blood Vineyard', but since it's a last name, Du Sang stays in French. Also, I couldn't get it to translate properly with Du Sang still part of it so I had to remove it, and then add it back in later, or it translated as 'former blood vineyard'. So I don't know if it's entirely grammatically correct, but the words are what they're meant to be- aka, 'Old' and 'Vineyard'.)