(A/N): This chapter has a quick recap of the rest of Boxing Day 1975, because I thought it was high time for that day to end, considering it's sixteen (and a half, if you include the recap in this one) chapters long- 312 to 330 (not including 316 'Poor Boy' because it takes place on Christmas Day). This chapter is when Greygorry shows up, which I planned to be the chapter after 324 'Resonance', but I kept coming up with things to put between them, and I finally decided to just cut it off.
This chapter is a bit bullet point-y, because it's just Leo recounting things at the start, but hopefully you find that that changes after Greygorry shows up. At the end of the chapter I'll explain my issues with google translate and the editor. (Edit: never mind, apparently my issues were caused from copying it over from notepad, and copying it directly from google translate fixed my issue with the special characters disappearing.)
Leo
The rest of Boxing Day 1975 went by smoothly; Lisbet, Herc and I cooked dinner, while Jerremyah and Shari bickered at the dining table, playing a surprisingly contentious game of Go Fish that Jo had been forced to referee after the first plate had been thrown- Shari had received a hefty penalty for that one. Every now and then, Jerremyah would glance over at us with an almost awed expression on his face, and I couldn't figure out why. Maybe Lisbet cooking was a new phenomenon, and he wasn't used to it- but I didn't think that was the case, considering it wasn't just Lisbet he was looking at, but me as well. For whatever reason, he skipped over Herc entirely- which I'm sure Herc was grateful for, seeing as he seemed to want no part in Jerremyah's drama- or drama in general, really.
After dinner, Jerremyah taught Jo and I how to play poker, but even after I got the rules down, I lost consistently. It was only when I had started showing clear signs of being discouraged, that Jerremyah had admitted that- despite outwardly being a good liar- my heartbeat gave me away whenever I bluffed. Which basically meant that they were all cheating, and I made fun of them for it appropriately after I graciously bowed out. I took the opportunity to finish the homework I had been assigned over Christmas break, and now that Charlie had her energy back, I sent her off with my letter to Elaine.
The poker game ended up being mostly Lisbet and Jerremyah going back and forth as to who would win, but occasionally Shari or Herc would win- and Jo wasn't embarrassing herself too badly, despite being the youngest vampire playing by about sixty five years, and I made it abundantly clear to everyone else that I was rooting for her- this way, we were both losing.
After an hour or two, I had started yawning, and Lisbet tried to send me off to bed, to Jerremyah's apparent astonishment. I told her I would only go to sleep if she left to take over from Danniel, because I didn't want to be woken up by her and Jerremyah going at each other against a wall- to which even Jerremyah had the decency to look chagrined. We briefly explained to him that something was going on with Elaine's family that required out attention- I assured him that Lisbet wouldn't be in any considerable danger, which he seemed relieved to hear, but when he offered to join her, I had to shoot him down. I cited not wanting Lisbet to be distracted by him, but even if I hadn't recently been reminded that they could hear my heartbeat, I knew Jerremyah knew I wasn't telling the full truth.
It wasn't exactly a lie- Jerremyah would, inevitably, distract Lisbet, but guarding the Folley's wouldn't require her full attention anyway. In total honesty, Jerremyah's self control issues aside, I wanted to give Lisbet some time away from him- a breather, so to speak.
He let Lisbet leave without any further discussion, and I pulled Jo aside for a second to make sure she wouldn't try to take a swing at him while I was sleeping. She looked a little bit offended that I would even suggested such a thing, but I knew better than to take that at face value. I advised her to stay away from him as much as possible- I gave him a pointed look here, to which he rolled his eyes, never once pausing his shuffling of the deck of cards- or to leave if she had to, as long as she went to join Lisbet, where she would be safe with her fellow clan member.
Danniel got back just as I was about to get into bed, and had the decency to knock on my door before he came to check in with me. I asked him to keep an eye on the Jo and Jerremyah situation- which he seemed a bit wary about, but readily agreed to do anyway. After he left, I fell asleep- my mind sitting contentedly with the fact that I had told Elaine that I was in love with her, and when my alarm went off early the next morning, I got dressed before heading downstairs to make myself breakfast.
Shari looked a bit worse for wear this morning, but still better than she typically looked ever since my father had died, so I wasn't too worried about it. Soon after I started cooking, the others emerged from the depths of the house, as if they had been summoned by the smell, even though none of them had to eat to survive. Maybe it was a hold-back from being human, or maybe food just smelled good, I would never know for sure.
"Anyone want anything?" Everyone but Jerremyah declined my offer, and he watched me curiously.
"...Do you have any honey?" I thought about it for a second, using that time to flip the food as needed.
"I think so, hang on." I used vampire speed to fetch the mostly full jar of honey from the pantry, and placed it it on the table within Jerremyah's reach before returning to tending my food. I turned around a few seconds later, expecting him to be making toast, or even slathering it on regular, un-toasted bread- but instead, he was eating it out of the jar with a spoon, like a fucking heathen.
"Dude!" His head popped up, and I flailed a hand at him. "Were you raised in a barn? Other people eat that!" He smirked at me, cocking a single eyebrow before he licked the spoon clean, and immediately- and deliberately- stuck it back in the jar, just to spite me.
"Actually, I was raised in the household service of a rather affluent cloth merchant, who, coincidentally, whipped me bloody for stealing my first taste of honey from his larder." Well, I guess that explained why he was so eager for the sweet golden substance. "And don't lie to me, no one's touched this jar in months." It was true- I think my father had put a spoonful in his tea when he occasionally had a cup, and I'd never seen anyone else reach for it since- but still, the principle was there!
I sighed as heavily as I physically could, and left Jerremyah to enjoy his spoils while I finished cooking breakfast. Almost as soon as I sat down to eat, Lisbet got home, and the second she saw Jerremyah with the jar of honey, she got a look on her face that was almost reminiscent- I guessed that this wasn't the first time she had seen him do this. She turned her gaze to me, and I jerked my head in Jerremyah's direction, shaking my head to try to convey my pure disgust- but clearly I had missed, because she grinned in return.
"Poor Leo, you have to put up with so much." I only tolerated her obvious teasing because she ruffled my hair with her hand as she said it, and I think she knew it, because she kept it up for a few seconds longer than I would typically have expected her to.
"You joke, but you have no idea how maddening you lot all are. Honestly, you're lucky I have the patience of a saint." She gave Jerremyah a decidedly fond, knowing look, and I leaned into her hand as she scratched my scalp lightly.
"What time is he coming?" Even distracted, I didn't miss the fact that she had said, 'he'- at least that was a point in Greygorry's favor. I checked my watch, and said,
"Ten minutes." She removed her hand from my hair, and I mourned it's loss immensely.
"Finish your breakfast, bud. Jer, finish the honey and wash your damn face- you don't need to be sticky for this." His eyebrows furrowed, like he was slightly offended by her order, but I thought it was easier to just do what she said sometimes, at least in situations like these. It was only because we were all listening intently that we heard the crack of someone apparating to the border of the grounds of the estate a few minutes later, closely followed by running footsteps. I knew when Lisbet caught Greygorry's scent, because her face lit up like I had never seen it, and she hissed out, "Yes."
Jerremyah barely had time to look confused before he also clearly caught the scent, and his face echoed Lisbet's- looking like a kid on Christmas morning, knowing he'd gotten everything he asked for.
"Is that-?" The front door opened, and a second later, Greygorry appeared in the open archway leading into the kitchen- and his expression wasn't quite as bright as either Lisbet or Jerremyah's, but it was still the most jovial I had ever seen him. "Grey!" Jerremyah exclaimed, and I didn't even have time to blink before he was up and across the room, throwing himself into Greygorry's already outstretched arms- I guess it really was a good thing that Jerremyah had cleaned his face like Lisbet had instructed, or he would have been smearing his honey-sticky face all over Greygorry's shirt.
Greygorry buried one hand in the back of Jerremyah's short golden brown hair, and tucked Jerremyah's head under his chin- an impressive feat, considering that he was at least three or four inches shorter than Jerremyah. He was rubbing his chin back and forth across the top of Jerremyah's head- he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was scenting him- and Lisbet was still grinning ear to ear. Clearly, it had been Greygorry she was expecting.
"Salut, Mon Petit Dragueur." I had never heard Greygorry speak any language other than English before, but I suppose it made sense, given how he pronounced his name, that he was at least fluent in French, if not native. 'My little flirt' was a fitting term of endearment for Jerremyah if I'd ever heard one, and said man surprised me by replying in kind.
"Salut, Mon Ange." 'My Angel'? If Jerremyah was referring to Greygorry as his angel, either I had greatly miscalculated his relationship with Lisbet, or things were much more complicated that I had originally thought.
Speaking of Lisbet, she moved closer to the two men, and when Greygorry looked up to meet her gaze, he looked curious- and maybe a little concerned.
"Salut, Ma chérie Sœur." 'My dear sister'? Lisbet and Greygorry weren't... related, were they? They were born in roughly the same time period, I thought, and they certainly looked like they could be related- clearly Jerremyah had a type, and it was exceptionally pale people with long dark hair, and difficult personalities. Their last names were different, Morsol and Chant respectively, but that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things- I went by a different last name than Mia, or Herc, and we were still related. Names could be changed, especially if you were a multiple centuries old vampire.
"Salut, Beauté." Hmm. Lisbet choosing to greet him with 'hello, handsome' didn't help clear things up as much as I wanted it to. I was leaning towards them not being related- I was less accepting of the idea that Lisbet had secretly been French the whole time than I was of Greygorry, but then, again, I was a different nationality to both Mia and Herc, not to mention Nicholai's other children that I hadn't had the chance to meet.
"Quand est-ce arrivé et, surtout, pourquoi?" Despite him not giving any context, Lisbet knew what he was asking- 'When did you two get back together?'
"La nuit dernière. Ce n'est pas... comme ça." 'It's not like that', she was telling him they were still on uncertain terms, and Greygorry looked skeptical- fond, but skeptical.
"Bien sûr, je te crois." Lisbet sighed exasperatedly, and Greygorry grinned. "Je parie que tu vas encore baiser en un rien de temps- ton anniversarie approche, n'est ce pas?" What?
"Your anniversary's coming up?" The trio jolted, as if just now realising there were people around them, and Lisbet turned to stare at me in abject horror.
"You can understand us?" I furrowed my eyebrows, and shrugged.
"Bien sur je peux vous comprendre, je suis ne Bordeaux, le Francais est ma première langue."
(A/N):Everyone: *playing poker*
Leo: *heart starts beating harder than normal*
Everyone Else: *calls his bluff*
Leo: 'Huh, why am I losing so badly?'
Everyone Else: *sweats nervously*
Jerremyah, taking pity on him: 'You're human, dummy.'
Leo: ... 'So you're all cheating. You're cheaters!'
also
Jerremyah: *eating honey straight from the jar*
Leo: 'DISGUSTING!'
Translations:
Salut = a friendly, more casual way of saying 'hello' than bonjour.
Dragueur = Flirt (both the verb and the noun version)
Mon Petit Dragueur = My Little Flirt
Mon Ange = My Angel
Ma chérie Sœur. = My dear Sister (both meanings of Sister)
Beauté = Handsome
Quand est-ce arrivé et, surtout, pourquoi? = When did this happen and, most importantly, why?
La nuit dernière. Ce n'est pas... comme ça = Last night. It's not... like that.
Bien sûr, je te crois. = Of course, I believe you.
Je parie que tu vas encore baiser en un rien de temps- ton anniversarie approche, n'est ce pas? = I bet you'll be shagging (fucking) again in no time- Your anniversary is coming up, isn't it? (anniversarie can also be translated as birthday, but since I figure Leo probably knows when Lisbet's birthday is - June 17th, by the way- he deduced that Greygorry probably meant the anniversary of their relationship)
Bien sûr, je peux vous comprendre - je suis né à Bordeaux, le français est ma première langue. = Of course I can understand you, I was born in Bordeaux, French is my first language.
Also, in case anyone is wondering, I have most peoples birthdays (and thus their zodiac signs) and heights worked out. Greygorry is 5'10 1/2", Jerremyah is 6'2", and Lisbet is 5'8 1/4".
This chapter has hand minor edits made to it on 24/03/23 - Changed 'Mon chéri Sœur' to 'Ma chérie Sœur', as Mon Cheri is apparently the masculine form, and Ma Cherie the feminine. So, basically, if Greygorry wanted to call Jerremyah 'My Dear', he would say 'Mon Cheri'. I also made 'Mon Petit Dragueur' capitalized, as it should be.