(A/N): We're back with Jerremyah, Leo, Lisbet, Grey, Jo, and Danniel (though mostly Jerremyah, Leo, and Lisbet). The start of this chapter is mostly a recap of the last Ellwood Clan chapter from Jerremyah's pov, but hopefully offers a little more context to certain things. The rest is some dialogue that I had fun writing, so sue me.
Jerremyah
It didn't escape my notice that each time Leo's self-assessed comfort level jumped significantly, Lisbet had said or done something beyond the bounds of usual parental guardian relationship duties right beforehand. He'd been at a five after our conversation about pet names, and then... well, we'd discussed his inability to talk about why, exactly, he'd reacted the way he had to being called 'cub'- if that had, indeed, been the cause- I'd made him laugh, and he'd unintentionally bared his throat to me. Grey had even chimed in with a little bit of praise- well, sort of- which had made him bury his head in my shoulder again, but leave his throat still bared to me, the... To take a page out of Lisbet's book: The sweet, sweet boy. She'd asked his level again, and he'd said six- only to have that number increase dramatically very soon after.
After she'd pressed a kiss to the top of his head and called him 'sweet baby boy' and 'light of my life', Leo had raised that six to a seven and a half, and we'd all frozen for a second, in a panic to try to assess things. The first thing I did was inhale deeply, trying to figure out whether there might be some sort of scent that could help us identify and quantify this newfound complication, but all I was getting from him was the almost overwhelming scent of contentment- happiness, even. Lisbet had cupped the back of his neck in a ghost of a claim and very gently said, 'big jump'- which, in itself, was not all that groundbreaking. Clearly though, it must've done something for Leo, because he updated us with a 'seven and three quarters' that was more worrying in the fact that we weren't entirely sure what had caused it, than anything else.
Lisbet had asked him if there was anything she could do to make things easier on him, and Leo had told her not to talk to him- that he thought the reason behind it all might be his inexperience with people being nice to him. He'd excused his friends immediately- Elaine, especially- but cited the fact that his relationship with Lisbet was 'unique' as what made all the difference. He'd refused to define it- honestly, I doubted he could've even if he'd wanted to- and Lisbet asked if he'd had enough, to which Leo answered that 'enough' was never enough, and that the terms of endearment were fine as long as they weren't too personal. 'Too personal', in the same way Lisbet had been 'too involved', I suspected. He'd labelled them 'earth-shatteringly personal', which I thought was quite fitting, but Lisbet had gone and almost ruined our hard work by telling him that all of her little pet names were personal, because they all meant the same thing: That she loved him. If that wasn't as clear a declaration as one can make without coming out and just saying 'you're our kit', I don't know what is. Leo, apparently having sensed the gravity of this statement, bumped his number up to a nine- I thought he could've gone higher, honestly.
"Alright, alright, we're backing off," I said quietly but not particularly calmly or gently, lest it accidentally trigger some unintended consequences. "Lizzy, back to training." She shot me a slightly odd look, as though she couldn't fathom abandoning Leo when he was like this, but I gave her as firm a look as I could manage- which was on par with a marshmallow, or perhaps a particularly pathetic throw pillow. "Didn't you say you wanted to show the young ones how to use their claws properly? Just their claws, outside of Sensory Alert?" She hadn't- in fact, she hadn't mentioned their training to me at all- but it was a fairly low level skill that I felt confident enough assuming they hadn't been taught yet, and by the look on her face, I knew I was right. "Go, I've got him." I did my best to keep as much weight out of my voice as possible when I said that, in case it set Leo off to know that we all cared enough to want to protect him.
She eyed him one last time, more trying to memorise his form than anything that suggested she might not trust me to handle this- handle him- and removed her hand from the back of his neck. Immediately, I felt him relax minutely, which was sign enough to me to prove her ghost of a claim had registered with him. Normally, I'd think that was a good thing- now we knew that whenever we did something like that, he was aware of the sentiment, if not always the meaning- but right now, it just made me kind of sad. Had Nicholai never done that sort of thing? Was that why Leo was so... unaccustomed to everything?
I did my best not to move all that much, not wanting to accidentally set him off, but surprisingly, a few seconds after Lisbet stepped away completely, Leo wrapped his arms around my shoulders and back and sunk further into mine. He had an ear pressed to my upper chest as if he was desperately trying to hear my nonexistent heartbeat, and in that moment, I would've done just about anything to have one to provide him. "Is talking off the table, or can I run my mouth like a marathon, as per usual?" Judging by his muffled half-snort, I was guessing I was free to do as I pleased- at least when it came to deciding whether to talk or not. "D'you like cricket?" I felt him shift in my arms as if he wanted to give me a skeptical look but was, unfortunately, still quite incapable of making eye contact. "I'll take that as a 'no'. Football?" He shook his head into my shoulder, which was more direct of a response than I thought I was going to get any time soon. "Ah, let me guess- you're a water polo man, then?"
His snort was so loud and sudden that it threw me off slightly- though maybe that was partially because I was distracted by the way Lisbet's hair fanned out as her head whipped 'round to watch us carefully. He made a muffled noise into my shoulder that was so quiet and half-formed that even with vampire hearing I couldn't quite make it out, but it sounded like a semi-incredulous, 'water polo?!'
"Truly the sport of kings, water polo; 'course, maybe that's why I never got into it- not inbred enough." There was another small noise, one I had no hope of interpreting, this time. "I suppose you like Quidditch, but if we're talking muggle stuff, do you have a favorite sport? Or... something you've always wanted to learn? Personally, I've always wanted to try bonsai grooming, but as you already know, gardening isn't exactly-" He made another noise, this time one that sounded suspiciously like- I glanced at the others, but given their lack of reaction, I was pretty sure they either hadn't heard him, or hadn't understood. My galleons were on the latter, since even if he'd been quiet, he was nowhere near silent, and they all had vampire hearing the same as I did. "I... really? That's- interesting. Actually, I'm not sure I heard you correctly, so I'm going to stop commenting until I know for-"
"Ballet," He said quietly, which was the first real thing he'd said since, 'nine', and the others all froze, particularly Lisbet, who was doing her best not to openly stare at us with wide eyes. "I had a friend that was into it when I was younger, and she always made it seem so... majestic. I had a go at it once or twice back then and I was utter bobbins, but... that was before the 'graceful vampire' genes had kicked in, so..."
Right, yeah. I met Lisbet's eyes, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was: How old had Leo been when he'd tried this, that he hadn't developed into his vampiric abilities yet? Or at least, hadn't felt like he had, anyway? And... who was this 'friend'? Someone we- well, Lisbet- knew, or...? "You said your mother made you take dance lessons, though, right? Surely some of that transferred over?"
Leo lifted his head, and I briefly received a flash of blue, blue eyes before he retreated back to the safety of my jumper. "A waltz doesn't have much in common with an arabesque, 'myah... though, if you're having this much trouble with types of dances, I can't imagine you know your positions." I couldn't help my loud snort of amusement at this blatant innuendo, even as I saw Lisbet sending me a weakly warning look as she fought her conflicting urges to protect Leo's ears, and snap him out of this funk.
"Oh, trust me- I know my positions... Doggy, cowgirl, reverse cowgirl, missionary, nun-" Lisbet squawked angrily, which was softened considerably by Leo bursting out laughing, and me following soon after.
"You two! Ugh, such awful- potty mouths!" It didn't have much of an effect on us, unfortunately, especially when Leo peered over my shoulder and caught sight of Lisbet's unwanted half-smile.
Jo wore a look of quiet contemplation before she surprised me- and Leo, too, I think- by piping up with, "Wait, so... Leo not being a virgin isn't a secret, anymore?" There was silence for a long second where Danniel watched on in stunned bemusement and Grey seemed far too amused for his own good- or ours- before Lisbet spun on her, evidently outraged.
"You knew?!"
(A/N): Jerremyah tells Lisbet to go show the Twins how to use their claws properly, outside of Sensory Alert, which he says he thinks is a fairly low level skill that he's reasonably confident they haven't already been taught- this is quite telling, since he's already seen Leo do it twice, once accidentally and once on purpose. He stuck his claws through Lisbet's shirt (accidental), and put his claws to Jerremyah's throat after the nightmare, and while I don't think it was explicitly mentioned that he wasn't in Sensory Alert the first time, it WAS explained the second time that he wasn't. So, even if he doesn't say it outright, Jerremyah is basically convinced that the Twins are less advanced than Leo is- not because he thinks they're behind, in terms of vampire skills, but because he thinks so highly of Leo and his abilities.