(A/N): Eyy, 800k! We're back with Lisbet, Leo, and Jerremyah in 1975, following on from when Leo said he was turning into Elaine. Foreshadowing, but don't worry, it is, as per usual, rather blatant. I just got back from the doctor- well, I just finished crying, after getting back from the doctor- so here's... this thing.

Lisbet

At first I was confused as to why that was a bad thing, but in the end, I assumed it had more to do with his uncertainty about who he was than any actual unhappiness about their possible similarities. As it turns out, neither of these factored into his displeased reaction, but it took a minute for him to be able to convey that to us. "I don't understand," Jerremyah said, which wasn't all that surprising, given his track record. "Isn't that a good thing? You speak rather highly of her, so I thought-" Leo winched slightly, then nodded.

"It's not- it's not a bad thing. Well, being like her isn't a bad thing, but... if I were her, then... I wouldn't be able to see her, would I? Wouldn't get to talk to her, or touch her, or just... be in her presence. That's why I'd prefer to be me-" He cut himself off, hesitating, and this time, I knew it was because he didn't know who 'he' was, in order to be him. "I like... being the person she likes- and as much as I know it's bad to measure your worth by other people's opinions of you-" What? Where the hell had that come from? "-she's just so... She has such a strong sense of right and wrong, and I want... I want to make her proud of me. Prouder, of me." I couldn't help but soften at that little addition, because I knew what it meant. Knew Leo would never just assume Elaine was proud of him- which meant at some point, most likely quite recently, she'd told him exactly that.

I pressed a kiss to his temple, mostly just because I could. "We're all proud of you, Leo," I made sure to use his name rather than a term of endearment, in the hope that maybe it might sink in a little better. "And everything you just said about Elaine- it's how we feel about you."

He arched an eyebrow at me in what was clearly only jokingly dubiousness. "I really don't think that's the case." I wanted to argue with him on this- even opened my mouth to do so- before I heard Jerremyah snort, and realised what he was saying. In the end, I rolled my eyes at him.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." The corner of his lips lifted, which was a sight for sore eyes at this point.

"If you want to avoid the subject because it makes you uncomfortable, that's fine, but I, for one, would prefer it if you could tell us outright. It's hard to know, sometimes, whether a joke is just a joke, or a deflection method." Jerremyah said, which... wasn't something I'd considered, before now. I'd assumed Leo just made jokes because he liked making people laugh- but I suppose it made sense that it could, at least partially, be a defense mechanism. After all, if people were laughing at your jokes, they probably weren't going to turn around and try to hurt you.

Leo's face contorted, and after a second, his cheeks turned pink. Then, he growled quietly- almost as if he was frustrated- and buried his face in Jerremyah's neck again, which I think we were both quite pleased about. "I wasn't trying to- I wasn't trying, to." I didn't know what he meant by that, but Jerremyah nodded like it made all the sense in the world.

"Still," He said. "Keep it in mind. If you need to bail out of a conversation, there's nothing wrong with that- we just need you to make it clear that's what you're doing." He wiggled Leo around by the hand he had on the back of his neck. "Deal?" The corner of Leo's lips twitched up again, seemingly against his will, and then I felt him moving- and after another second, Jerremyah froze momentarily. When I took stock of things using my blood sense, I realised that the 'movement' I'd felt was Leo pulling his arm out from between his body and Jerremyah's, and then looping it around his back. Suddenly, I understood why Jerremyah had reacted that way.

"I'll take that deal, if you make me one in return."

It was hard to say whether it was just Jerremyah's soft spot for Leo, or whether his current stunned state was contributing, but his response was an automatic, and enthusiastic, "Whatever you want. Anything." It would've been touching, if it wasn't so dangerous. Okay... it was still a little touching.

Leo, for his part, cocked his head to the side as if even he knew that wasn't the response Jerremyah should've given- which... hm. Even if it hadn't been a good idea in terms of keeping certain things as secret as they should be, at least Jerremyah's instinctual response might help Leo understand that we wanted to provide him every good thing he could handle. "Careful," Leo told him quietly, as if trying to give him the opportunity to reconsider, but even though Jerremyah shot me an apologetic look over Leo's shoulder, he made no attempt to take it back. Typical- I always knew any kit we might have would wrap him around their little finger with ease, but I didn't think it would be quite this easy... Unfortunately, I loved it. "I want," Leo started, and I would've held my breath, if I needed to breathe. Or if I was Jerremyah, it seems. "You to tell me-" Oh, God... "-if I ever hurt your feelings." ...what?

Clearly, I wasn't the only one surprised by this, because Jerremyah's brows creased in a way that I knew meant he was incredibly confused. "But- I told you already, you-" Leo surprised me again by cutting him off.

"You said that if you're hurt by something I say, it's your problem- because people have pasts, and I can't expect myself to be able to navigate those flawlessly in order to avoid hurting people." A good way to put it to try to limit the consequences of Leo's empathy, I suppose. "You also told me that the fact that I don't intend to hurt you was more than enough for you... but it's not enough for me." Of course it wasn't; I don't know why we were so surprised. "If I ever hurt you- make you upset, or sad-" Now, it was Jerremyah's turn to cut Leo off, instead of the other way around.

"Hurt. The deal's for hurt. Those other things... that's a deal for a different day, okay?" Smart. This way, Jerremyah could quantify things as not being hurtful to avoid being forced to reveal them to Leo, if we deemed them harmful- after all, I'm sure it was just as painful for him as it was for me, to have our kit so close and not be able to claim him as such, and we certainly weren't about to clue Leo in on that fact. Was that manipulative? Yes. Was I sure Leo would make a similar decision, given the opportunity? Absolutely. "I'd make that promise in a heartbeat, but I know I'm inevitably going to need that bargaining chip someday, when it comes to you." The last thing I expected was for Leo to smile at this, but there it was. Smaller than I'd like, and still slightly timid, but it was a smile, and I loved it all the same.

"Deal," Leo said, holding his hand out, and Jerremyah took it- but they didn't shake, just sort of... clasped hands? "Can I ask you a question?"

Jerremyah opened his mouth, then flicked his eyes to me, and closed it again before he could reiterate his earlier answer of, 'Anything'. "What- what do you want to know?" By the way the corner of Leo's lips twitched, I knew it was either the lead up to a joke, or something else he found amusing- like when he knew something we didn't, and was about to reveal as much. Thankfully, this time it happened to be the former.

"If you don't have a heartbeat, does that mean it takes more time than usual, or less?"

(A/N): Lisbet: 'Jerremyah's brows creased in a way that I knew meant he was incredibly confused.'

Me: *literally makes a note in my book that says '((bless him!))'*

also

Leo: 'Oh no, I'm turning into Elaine!'

Lisbet: 'What... I thought... but you LIKE Elaine, so what-?'

Leo: 'If I'M Elaine, then Elaine ISN'T Elaine! And I love ELAINE!'

Lisbet: 'Y'know, I don't know why I didn't see this coming.'

Jerremyah: 'If you're turning into Elaine, and you love Elaine, does that mean... you love yourself?'

Leo: '...no...?'

Jerremyah: 'You don't sound so sure about that.'

Leo: 'THAT'S BECAUSE I'M NOT!'

also

Leo: '(...) -and as much as I know it's bad to measure your worth by other people's opinions of you-'

Lisbet: 'Excuse me? What therapist's office did THAT come from?'

Jerremyah: 'And CAN I have their number?'