(A/N): Continuing the conversation, with Lisbet and Leo reacting to Jerremyah purring, among other things. I took an eight hour nap and when I woke up, I wrote two chapters.

Lisbet

Jerremyah was purring. I'd told him that we could still be us- that we were still us, if he wanted us to be. Us, meaning that we were- well, we weren't together, but we were still mates. Not that anything could change that, but... it was apparently enough to satisfy him, to know that I still accepted him as such. As if that would ever change.

"Hush," I said softly, my eyes still riveted to Jerremyah, even as I spoke to Leo. I made sure it was clear to Jerremyah that the last thing I wanted was for him to hush- to stop purring- but he seemed to be struggling to try to bring himself back under control anyway. "You'll know when he really answers- not that you're going to be there when he does." Leo continued to grin at me, not taking offense to that assertion in the slightest.

"I'd certainly hope not, considering all the work you've done keeping my ears clean." I slid my hands over said ears, curling my fingertips around the top edge of them, and back into his hair.

"I'm starting to think I'd need more than just soap to clean your ears, Nounours." He beamed at me- it wasn't a grin, now, it was something much more sweet, and somehow, despite the subject matter, innocent.

"You're more than welcome to try, I just... I don't want you to feel the need to put parts of yourself aside, just because you think it's 'good for me'." My eyebrows furrowed, and I used my grip on his head to tug him down a little, so I could press a kiss between his brows. When I set him back to rights, I got to see the unguarded satisfaction in his eyes, even as his cheeks flushed.

"You know that's how I feel when you try to shrink yourself for me, right?" His eyes widened infinitesimally, before his eyebrows dropped- along with his gaze.

"I- it isn't-" He hesitated for a second, and I let him do so, the silence only disrupted by Jerremyah's quiet- and likely reluctant, at this point- purr. "That's not what it means to me," He said softly, and I tilted my head to the side, trying to urge him to continue. "It's not- I'm not meant to-" Apprehension filled me. Leo had all sorts of ideas about what he was meant to do- who he was meant to be- ideas that were put there by awful people, and awful circumstances.

"You're meant to be happy." I told him as softly as I could. "Everything else can go to hell." A small laugh bubbled out from between his lips, before he clearly tried to force himself to sober.

"I know. I know that you-" He sighed. "I know you're not my mother-" Instantly, my chest started to ache- and then Leo winced as well, much harder than I thought the statement warranted, given that he didn't feel for me, what I felt for him. "-you're not her-" The clarification soothed that ache, just a little, and I wondered if it made him feel better, too. I didn't dare hope. "-but I still..." He hesitated again.

"I know it's not an easy thing to get past- to come to terms with- and I'm exceptionally proud of everything you've managed to do so far. I can't wait to see what you can do with more time-" If you allow yourself to have more time. "-with all the resources you could ever want." Something in his face changed, and he wiggled closer to me. "I don't care what you do. Of course, I would prefer it if you were kind, and... no, I think 'kind' about sums it up- but in the end, it... as long as you're happy with who you are, and what you're- how you're spending your life-" Whether it's cut short or not. "-it isn't up to me to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. I don't expect you to act a certain way or to want certain things- I'm just here to love you, and to give you love."

Everything was quiet for a second, and still in a way that spoke volumes to the fact that he was struggling to take all of that in. I thought maybe I'd gone too far- that I'd said too much, and I'd overwhelmed him again- but then, he tightened his arm around my back, and tucked his face into my hair. I suspected he would have preferred my shoulder if he could've had it, but the height difference was just too great.

He stayed quiet for a while longer, but I had a feeling it was because he couldn't speak yet, rather than that he didn't want to. When he did eventually open his mouth, his voice was slightly raspy, like he was physically having trouble getting the words out. "Thank you." It hurt to hear, but I nodded anyway.

"Such a polite young man," I teased, and was rewarded by watching his entire face turn red. Not just his cheeks, not just pink, but his entire face. Red. "Oh, wow..." He flushed harder, if that was possible, and I pressed a kiss to his distinctly rosy cheek. "I'll have to remember that for future use." He rolled his eyes good-naturedly, clearly more than a little flustered.

"Please don't." He said, but it didn't sound serious- like he would've preferred that I forget about it entirely, but in lieu of that, he was asking me not to bring it up too often.

"Oh, it's seared into my brain now, sorry." He huffed into my hair, shaking his head lightly.

"Of course it is..." He didn't speak for a second. "I'm not meant to make myself small." He said, and I felt my eyebrows furrow. "I'm not meant to talk about my feelings, or seek physical contact, or- or- be kind. I was raised to be a strong pureblood heir, nothing more and nothing less- and I'm sure if I'd stayed-" He cut himself off, glancing at Jerremyah- who by this point, had finally managed to stop purring. What was that about? I put it aside for now, to deal with more pressing things first.

"And yet, you're probably the kindest person I know," He flushed again, but for whatever reason, he looked almost... guilty? That wouldn't do. "You're my sweet boy for a reason, Nounours." His flush darkened at the reminder. "You've been trying to make yourself smaller for me- and don't even try to deny the fact that you're pretty much constantly slouching, I know your mother didn't teach you that. "I felt him tense slightly- as though he was trying to decide which he'd hate more: admitting that I was right and straightening up, or having to put some distance between us in order to do so.

"She certainly did not." He said stiffly, darkly- and when I glanced at Jerremyah to see if this was something else that they'd discussed previously, I saw that he was just as confused and concerned by this as I felt.

"We'll get back to that in a minute," I said, making sure to file it away, even as Leo shook his head again. "You're getting better at talking about your feelings, I'm sure all you need is a little practice." He groaned quietly, and I could tell that Jerremyah was squeezing his hand in an attempt to make him feel better. "Like the touching- you said Elaine helped you with that, right?" He blinked.

"I, uh... yeah?" The corner of my lips quirked up.

"Speaking of which... what exactly have you been doing with her that you haven't been doing with anyone else, in order to be able to attribute that to her, and her alone?" He froze, and his cheeks turned redder than I'd ever seen them.

"N- nothing?" Jerremyah barked out a laugh, then turned and buried his head in Leo's shoulder. "I mean..." He hesitated, and eyed me somewhat skittishly- he didn't look scared, exactly, but... nervous? "I just... I like it when she touches me, and I like to touch her, and it makes me feel like... like it can't be that bad to want something like that, if it feels so easy with her." Oh...

"Then again," He said, flushing happily. "Everything feels easier with her."

(A/N): Leo: 'I know you're not my mother-'

Lisbet: 'Ow, my heart.'

Leo: 'Ow, my heart.'

Jerremyah: *still trying to get his purring under control*

Jerremyah: 'Rr, mr rrrrt.'

Leo: '-you're not HER-'

Lisbet: 'The clarification soothed that ache, just a little, and I wondered if it made him feel better, too.'

Leo: 'That- that eases things, a little. I can't... can't use that word, but to discount her like that- I can't do THAT, either.'

also

Lisbet: '(...) what exactly have you been doing with her (Elaine) that you haven't been doing with anyone else (...)'

Leo: *immediately thinking about when she practically BEGGED him to feed from her*

Leo: *thinking about all the times they've snogged*

Leo: *thinking about all the times they've told each other that they loved each other*

Leo: *thinking about the FEW times they've told each other that they were IN LOVE with each other*

Leo: 'N-nothing?'

Leo: 'Wait, why did that feel almost sacrilegious?'

also

Leo: *is overwhelmed, and doesn't know what to say during a deeply emotional conversation*

Leo: 'Thank you.'

Translations (French):

Nounours = Teddy Bear