(A/N): Leo has a plan to take Jerremyah out to test his control. Lisbet insists on making him lunch.

Leo

The morning after I got Elaine's letter, I made a plan- a plan that Lisbet was extremely apprehensive about. The 'plan' was that Jerremyah and I- just Jerremyah and I- were going to go out to the hunting grounds, and I was going to take stock of him. Or, more accurately, I suspected, we were going to take stock of each other.

Lisbet, knowing Jerremyah the best- and knowing me very well also- wasn't best pleased by my decision- but she seemed to accept that it was, in fact, my decision. Even if she happened to disapprove of that decision.

I could tell that, if she thought she could've gotten away with it, she would've pulled Jerremyah off to the side, and probably sternly told him what was and wasn't considered acceptable conduct. But as it was, knowing that she couldn't cast a silencing charm like she required without me taking issue with it, she just gave him a long, extremely heavy look- like she was letting him know that the full weight of her expectations was resting on his shoulders.

Jerremyah, for his part, seemed to take this very seriously- more seriously than I had ever seen him take anything, probably. Except... except maybe for when she had snapped, that first day, and told him that she should have kept her promise to never speak to him again- and he had offered to leave, in order to let her do so. The two situations weren't similar in any way, other than Jerremyah treating them with a type of care I hadn't seen him exhibit at any other time. He didn't look nervous, exactly, but there was a certain air of unrest about him- like he was unsettled by something. Whether it was the circumstance, or the fact that I was taking away his opportunity to spend time with Lisbet, I didn't know.

I wasn't dumb enough to try to delude myself into thinking that it was me he was unsettled by- at least beyond being worried about how what I told Lisbet about his behavior might affect her receptiveness to him. I had caused Greygorry quite the injury- he was a lot better this morning, but still ever so slightly purple around the center of his face, and complaining nonstop about his neck being stiff- but I had only been able to do that sort of damage to him because I had had the element of surprise- and Jerremyah didn't strike me as the sort of man who was surprised very often.

As if to show her reluctant support of my plan, Lisbet insisted on packing me lunch to take with me- despite the fact that I had just eaten breakfast, and I had repeatedly insisted that I hoped to be back before lunch time anyway.

As she made me my sandwiches- packed much fuller than was strictly advised- I was not the only one keeping a close eye on the process. Greygorry was at least trying to be subtle- watching her from over his Daily Prophet, from his seat in one of the dining table armchairs- but Jerremyah... Jerremyah was not subtle- he wasn't even trying to be.

He was leaning against one of the kitchen cabinets, only just barely outside of her bubble of personal space, only ever taking his eyes off of her to occasionally glance back in my direction- as if he were expecting some sort of reaction from me. I would say I was trying not to give him the satisfaction of reacting, but... I had no clue what I was supposed to be reacting to.

I was standing maybe ten feet from Lisbet- which meant six or seven feet from Jerremyah- and I was watching her openly- but that was fine. That was normal, because we were having a conversation, and she had been asking me about what I wanted on my sandwiches- the number of which steadily kept growing.

One sandwich was a given- without it, lunch couldn't be had. Two sandwiches was expected- I was a teenage boy, after all, I ate more than I used to, because I wasn't a child anymore. Three made sense, because I was a half-vampire, quarter veela hybrid, and supernatural creatures tended to need to eat more, in order to replenish their enhanced strength- at least, those that did eat, needed to. Four was starting to push it, and I told her so.

"Lis." Her head tilted, as if she was trying to show me that she was listening, without taking her attention away from making said sandwiches. "I know I've shown that I have a healthy appetite in the past, but I think four sandwiches will be enough, even for me." She froze for a second, as if she hadn't expected me to object- or, maybe... more likely, I thought she hadn't realised exactly what she was doing- quantity wise, at least. After a second, she returned to her work- but she started closing containers after she took from them, now that she was making her last sandwich.

"Well, y'know. You- You're a growing boy." It sounded awkward, but I let her make her flimsy excuse- in fact, I helped her push past it, by cracking a joke.

"Hopefully I don't have too much growing left to do- my head's already getting way too close to the top of door frames for comfort." She didn't laugh, or even snort like I thought she would- instead, she chose to eye Jerremyah, almost... sadly?

"Yes, well... malnutrition can stunt your growth, so I'm not willing to risk you not having enough food." My eyebrows furrowed- that wasn't the response I had expected.

"If that was going to happen, I think we would know by now, considering everything." Lisbet winced so hard it was almost a flinch, and she again glanced at Jerremyah- who, for whatever reason, looked like he wanted to comfort her, but knew he probably wouldn't be welcome.

Although, knowing Lisbet, if Jerremyah chose to make the effort, she would most likely allow him- and not unhappily.

"Still. It makes me wonder how different you would be- physically, if you had always been given everything you needed." Feeling rather off balance, I shrugged, and once again tried to make a joke to relieve the tension.

"I'd probably be seven feet tall already. Maybe I should be grateful that I didn't get everything I-" The clatter of Lisbet's dropped butter knife hitting the cupboard top reached my ears only just prior to her hands making contact with the sides of my face- without meaning to, I flinched, but from extensive past conditioning, I forced myself not recoil.

"Don't you dare-" She cut herself off, as my flinch registered with her. Immediately, her entire being softened, and she pulled back until she was barely touching me- I'm sure she would have gone even further, but when I covered her hands with mine, she stopped. She watched me for a second with a pained look- a look chock full of concern.

"Go on." I urged her in a murmur, as if I were the one trying not to startle her, instead of the other way around. Rather reluctantly, she did as I asked.

"Don't you dare be grateful for what they made you endure. What they did to you." If I hadn't known it was coming, by the few extra seconds of warning I was provided by her reaction to my flinching, it would have shocked me. As it was, I swallowed thickly- which I knew she could feel, considering the fact that her little fingers couldn't fit on my face with the rest of them, and had thus been relegated to resting gently on the underside of my jaw, instead.

Not knowing how to respond to that- what else I could do- for a brief second, I pushed my cheek into her hand, then removed my hands from over top of hers. And I reached out, put both of my hands on her cheeks, and smushed her face forwards- taking great delight in seeing the undignified result.

"Meep!" I said, and Lisbet spluttered between my hands, even as Jerremyah burst out laughing from behind her. Gently, almost reluctantly, she pulled her face back- but only so far that I was no longer squishing her cheeks. We stood there for a second, both of us with the others face in our hands.

"You're... an odd child." She told me with a- dare I say fond?- sigh, and I grinned at her.

"You say that as if you didn't have a hand in making me that way." Her face changed- because she was upset that I was blaming her for some of my less presentable quirks, or some other reason? Before I could even consider trying to figure it out, Jerremyah spoke up from past her shoulder.

"If we want to be back before dinner, we should get going soon. Lis, you should come finish the sandwiches, while Leo goes and washed the mayo off his face." The what? From where? As Lisbet's hands left my cheeks, I felt the wet, sticky residue, and groaned.

"Ewww, Lis!" I whined. "The next time you want to grab my face, you're going to have to wash your hands first- my face is precious." As I left the room, after a second of silence, I heard Lisbet mutter something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, 'You're precious.'

...Clearly, I must have heard her wrong.

(A/N): Lisbet: 'You're... an odd child.'

Lisbet: 'And I love you for it.'

Leo: 'You say that as if you didn't have a hand in making me that way.'

Lisbet: *touched that Leo admits that she had a hand in shaping him*

Leo: 'Is she upset because I'm blaming her for some of my less presentable quirks?'

Lisbet: 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.'

Alternative names for this chapter were, 'Meep!' and 'Sandwiches'- because let's face it, that's what the chapter was really all about.