(A/N): We're back with Leo, Jerremyah, and Lisbet (and Greygorry, and Jo and Danniel, though Jo and Danniel aren't really mentioned and Greygorry is sort of only present in passing). Minor foreshadowing, but it's for things you're already partially aware of, so it's not that big of a deal.

Trigger Warning: Possible trigger warning for Leo sort of getting overwhelmed again. Like, being on the verge of dissociating again? He doesn't, but it's close, and that might bother some people so I thought I'd put a warning for it.

Leo

I remembered the question she was referring to; it was what I had asked Jerremyah, after he'd struggled with the word 'kin'. I'd never thought it would come back and bite me, though. I knew what word she was talking about, there was no pretending that I didn't... but boy, did I not want to answer that question- because to answer that question, I had to think about it, and thinking about it in detail might just kill me. "To quote Jerremyah," I started. "I have iss-"

"If I wanted to hear Jerremyah's answer, I'd ask him... Nounours." I blinked, surprised by her bluntness- which wasn't uncharacteristic, per se, but was uncharacteristic of the way she'd been treating me as of late. "I asked you the question because I wanted to hear from you. If I can." She watched me so intently that I couldn't help but tuck my face into Jerremyah's shoulder, so just my eyes were peeking up over it.

"Is this the kind of thing you need to switch to French for?" Jerremyah asked carefully after I'd been silent for a minute, but I think he must have felt my hesitation, because he continued with, "Or... is this one of those things you can't talk about?"

Knowing what he meant by this, I winced, and immediately lifted my head. "Not- Not for that reason. I can talk about it- I mean, there's no external factors stopping me, but- I can't-" I tucked my head again, and Jerremyah wasn't subtle in the way he pulled me closer... but I did appreciate it.

"So... you can talk, you just don't want to?" Lisbet asked tentatively, and automatically, I shook my head.

"It's not-" I lifted my head so my voice wasn't as muffled, albeit very reluctantly. "It's not a case of not wanting to- although I don't- it's a case of..." I took a second to gather my thoughts. "I'm not sure that's a conversation we can have right now, if- if you want me to remain present. Not even just- I don't think I could even- think-" I cut myself off again, and returned to my safe place... which had, somehow, become Jerremyah's shoulder.

Lisbet sidled over to us under the pretense of readjusting Jerremyah's jumper where it had rucked up when he'd swung me around his body, and I buried my head further, since the threat of making eye contact with her was almost physically painful. "If you can't talk about it, that's fine," She said, then seemed to think better of her phrasing. "It's okay. I promise you, I won't hold it against you. There are things I can't talk about, and I hope you won't hold those against me, either." I felt Jerremyah turn his head to give her a look, which obviously, I couldn't decipher without seeing, but I suspected was slightly reproachful.

When neither of us said anything for a little while, Jerremyah piped up with, "Well, on the upside, she made you stop thinking so much- at least for a few minutes." Lisbet elbowed him in the side, I know she did, but he didn't budge in the slightest. "And she didn't even have to do anything illegal or indecent, this time." She moved to elbow him again, but the blow was rather weak as she became distracted by my unbidden snort of amusement. "There it is," He murmured, and I couldn't help the way my cheeks heated. "I feel that blush- let me see it?" There wasn't much thought behind the way I tilted my head to him, I just wanted to give him what he asked for... I didn't even realise I'd bared my throat to him until I heard Lisbet's sharp intake of breath. "Th-there it is," He said somewhat shakily, and I blushed harder, but resisted the urge to bury my head again if only because I knew what it would say about my trust in him if I did so.

"Ah, yes," Greygorry said quietly from behind Lisbet. "A blushy boy." I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not- or rather, I couldn't tell if he was making fun of me or not. Either way, Lisbet shot him a cautiously approving look.

"A beautiful blushing baby boy," She cooed, and this time I did bury my face... but kept my head tilted the same way, so that if he really wanted, Jerremyah could lower his face into my bared throat, even if it was a little further away now. "Level?"

I didn't understand what she meant for a second, before I remembered our conversation about pet names, and my overwhelment levels. "...six?" Six might have been a smidge high, but I thought it was definitely higher than five and a half, so six was a safe bet. Lisbet leaned in close and brushed a kiss to my hair, at the top of my head.

"Good, good. You tell me if that gets higher, alright, sweet baby boy?" I reached a hand out to her and nudge her shoulder with my knuckles as a way to acknowledge the request. "Light of my life?"

"Seven and a half."

There was silence for a second, before Lisbet cupped the back of my neck in a way that was simultaneously grounding and... very much not. "Big jump," She said quietly, soothingly- which had the exact opposite result.

"Seven and three quarters."

Silence again. "Okay. Alright. Are you... is there anything I can do? Other than cutting down on the terms of endearment, I mean?" I couldn't do much thinking about it, but with what I did know...

"Just don't talk to me for a bit. I think... maybe... I'm not exactly used to people being so kind to me, especially not like... Elaine and my friends are nice, but I don't have the relationship with them that I do with you. You're... unique-" It wasn't a lie, not really, but there was more to that statement than I had the time or emotional energy to unpack, let alone deal with. "You're... It's hard to define, I'm sure you agree." She nodded, albeit after a split second of hesitation that I suspected was caused by an attempt to figure out what I meant, instead of anything to do with her own issues trying to categorise our relationship.

"So you think you've reached your limit for a little while?" She asked. "You've had enough for now?"

I frowned, and I felt Jerremyah pat my flank reassuringly, like I was some sort of dog- or maybe a horse. It was oddly comforting. "As I said, 'enough' is never enough- and it's not... the terms of endearment are fine, as long as they're... Not impersonal, but just like- Not- Not earth-shatteringly personal, if you know what I mean."

Lisbet echoes my frown. "No," She said quietly. "No, I don't know what you mean. They're all personal to me- They all mean the same thing: that I love you." It took everything inside of me not to slip back into that blank, protective place again.

"N-n-nine."

(A/N): A few things in this chapter will be explained in the next chapter of this arc (AKA, the next Ellwood Clan based chapter), but I'll talk super briefly about some of them here just so you don't have to wait a month for context. Speaking of, that next chapter is one of my absolute favorites (the Jerremyah ones always are) and has some fairly important plot stuff, at least compared to the other chapters recently, which have been pretty much exclusively relationship building. Don't get me wrong, that chapter builds relationships too- particularly Jerremyah and Leo's relationship- but there's some minor info about Leo's elusive past, as well as a minor 'reveal'... or really, a reveal of a reveal. A character reveals that they knew about something that other characters didn't previously but now do, and we do, but other characters didn't know that they knew, and one character didn't know the thing at all, and- Well, I'll let you wait and see.

There's a big jump when Lisbet says 'light of my life', and a further increase when she's super gentle with him when she mentions it afterward (including her cupping the back of his neck, which as Jerremyah says in the next chapter is 'a ghost of a claim'). The jump to nine isn't exactly because Lisbet told Leo she loved him, but because as Jerremyah says in the next chapter, it's about as clear of a declaration as one can make without coming right out and saying, 'you're our kit.' Leo is more affected by things like 'light of my life' because it's something incredibly personal and clearly not like... a platitude? Like, Leo feels as though someone might call him 'baby boy' casually, but 'light of my life' is far more personal and sincere, and I suspect Lisbet was putting out some pretty major 'maternal vampire' vibes/energy, which he still isn't used to dealing with.

Jerremyah's shoulder is Leo's 'safe place' partially because Leo likes/feels the need to bury his face a lot when overwhelmed, and recently he's been doing that into Jerremyah's shoulder, but also because Jerremyah makes him feel really safe in general (hmm, I wonder what that could possibly mean...?) and I don't doubt Jerremyah was putting out some pretty strong 'paternal vampire' vibes/energy, which Leo still isn't used to dealing with (lol). I do feel like Leo can sense both Lisbet and Jerremyah's 'vibes/energy', so to speak, but he sort of recognises Lisbet's on a somewhat conscious level at this point, whereas Jerremyah is (currently) flying under the radar (partially through Jerremyah trying to stifle it a little bit, and partially through Leo being willfully oblivious at this point as he tries to push away that sort of notion as pertaining to Jerremyah, since he feels it's far too soon).

Also, Greygorry is trying to be supportive, he just has resting... sarcastic rat bastard face? Is that a thing? (it is now)

Also also, Leo being like, 'I buried my face but kept my head tilted the same way, so that if he really wanted, Jerremyah could lower his face into my bared throat, even if it was a little further away now' as if that's something he's doing out of the selfless kindness of his heart and not something he actively wants is just... *throws hands up*