diversified | then I grew up and got my imagination. [ psl ]

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then I grew up and got my imagination. [ psl ]

WHO Chris Halliwell (

misconceived), Cole Turner (

devilsinthedetails)
WHAT An alternate ending to the story of a summoner and his summon. Or is this just the beginning?
WHEN During the fall when Chris is almost 20.
WHERE Lord Turner's estate.
WHY The Holy Order of Whitelighters just shouldn't be in charge of anything. Including having kids because Leo's a terrible dad.

There were a lot of things that paladins had to do as part of their duties to king and country. Maintaining the land and watching summoners were some of the most important, but they also needed to make peace with the lords, ladies and people of every corner of the kingdom to ensure their influence was spread wide as possible. One particular lord was extremely adamant about not allowing the Order of Whitelighters into his lands and it was becoming a common and tiring argument for the paladins to make a yearly appeal to allow them entrance.

However, this was Chris's first time being brought along for the useless mission. He had only this past summer been properly knighted after his expedited training ever since his fourteenth birthday, something people blamed on nepotism where Chris honestly blamed it on a guilty conscience pushing him too far in his training. Whatever the case, he was still considered a rookie by all the other full-fledged paladins and was still being stuck with the most menial of tasks while they hazed him for real. As if all those years of bending to their whims as a trainee wasn't enough. There was no room for him to complain, though, and he did the tasks set to him with no genuine bite behind them. This was all he was good for anymore, and he would at least make sure he could do it well enough to make Leo proud of his son in some meager way.

Knocking on the large ornate doors to the sitting room only briefly before allowing himself in, Chris announced himself easily. "Sir Wyatt," he said. "We've received missive from Sir Gideon that Lord Odin has signed himself if you have a moment to excuse yourself."

Without precedence, his attention was struggling to remain on Leo while he delivered the message. He couldn't help but let his eyes be drawn to the aggravated lord seated on the other end of the room. Something about him... something about him was commanding his full focus and it was making his gut crawl. Or were those butterflies? He had no idea what the feeling was, but all of a sudden it was as if the air was stolen from his lungs. What was going on?

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There was something going on with the miscommunication between them and Chris was reluctant to let it drop. However, there were more important things happening and Chris held onto Cole firmly and let himself rest against him. He was more tired than he was willing to let on, the finalization of their connection met with the stress of the day along with the fact that he was now acting as a medium between his summon's spiritual energy and the world around him... it was exhausting, and he knew at least that much was normal. When Wyatt had first contracted his summon, they would find him all over the house curled up with Mordred from overworking himself despite still acclimating.

Still, there were more important things to do considering the company would be leaving at first light for who knew how long and Chris had no way to avoid going with them. At the question, Chris reached his hand up and ran it through the back of Cole's hair, a smile blossoming without thought at the idea of it. The physical affection was natural, although Chris wasn't quite sure what it meant between them with as far as Cole was going. He wasn't too bothered because there was no way they would hurt each other on purpose and Chris couldn't fathom a reason to reject Cole no matter what. "Yes," he answered. "Please, let me take a proper look at it."

There was a soft sigh at the extra contact and he was happy that his summoner had decided to let the subject drop for the moment. He would much rather be showing off and making sure his summoner saw how great his summon was than worry about the details as to what he summon actually was. He moved away from his neck and pressed their foreheads together, Cole reaching up and cupping Chris's face with his hands and looking pleased that he was smiling. He looked wonderful smiling and he hoped to see it happen more as time went on.

Once Chris said yes, Cole moved off of the couch and snapped his fingers, using magic to turn on the gas lamps in the room so that Chris could see better. Then, Cole took off his nightshirt and dropped it to the floor before standing in front of Chris and showing off the sigil that was on his abdomen, looking proud of the fact that he had it and that Chris wanted to see the mark on his summon. Not even for a moment was Cole ashamed or even embarrassed to have taken off his clothes, but instead glad to show Chris what he had to offer physically to his summoner.

Although it wasn't surprising, Chris looked over at the gas lamps with a small grin. That was magic. That was his summon using magic for him, magic that he was sharing with Chris right that very moment. Although he didn't know how to use it just yet, there was going to be a time that he would. Their imminent separation was only going to be temporary and then they would be together, summoner and summon, exactly as they should be. He was not going to accept anything less.

When Cole showed himself off completely, Chris didn't stand with him. He was fascinated by the sigil and reached up to finally press his hand against it, sliding it to the side so that he could see it in every way he wanted to. "Something most people don't realize," he said softly as he began to trace the familiar angles with his index finger, "is that summoners are born with these. They're more like birth marks until they manage to finalize their summon, but it's always there. Part of us. This is me as much as my voice or my face... and now it's yours, too."

Cole just looked down and watched as Chris traced the sigil on his abdomen, letting out a shuddering breath as he did. It felt right to have Chris touching and enjoying his mark, the proof that they were bound together forever. He reached out and started to run his hand through Chris's hair, unable to really reach Chris's sigil without bending down and hiding his own from sight. Cole didn't want to Chris from examining and touching it, so he didn't move.

"It's wonderful. I'm proud to bear this mark of yours," he responded as he took his other hand and rested it over Chris's, not impeding its movement so much as covering it lightly. "And now I'm yours, Chris, just as much as you're my summoner. No matter what happens, this will always be true."

Head tipping back, Chris paused at the hand in his hair. There was a contentment beginning to roll off him that he hadn't felt in so long, a fulfillment that he had never experienced before, simply being here with his summon to do whatever felt right. Understanding each other was at the top of the list, a feeling of belonging overwriting any anxiety Chris had about their upcoming separation. He shifted his hand to hold Cole's, and offered a grin while looking up and visually tracing the lines covering his body.

"Nobody can deny that we're bound together," he said. Try to separate them, maybe, but they were far gone beyond denying what was true. There was no way Cole could have faked this no matter what it meant that had the paladins all worked up over the connection. Sighing, Chris added, "Even if we're leaving tomorrow."

When Chris looked at him, Cole seemed to stand straighter and carried himself proudly, doing his best to show off for Chris without straight up strutting around and turning for him. He wanted to show Chris that he was the best summon for him despite the missteps and the paladins trying to pull them apart. All he wanted was his acceptance and approval, something he never knew he had needed until the connection had awakened his instincts as a summon. Nothing in his life before could compare to what was going on right now with Chris and he was glad to at least have the chance to indulge in this before Chris was torn away.

"Tomorrow? Why am I not surprised? That just means we'll have to take advantage of the time we have," Cole said as he bent down over Chris, one knee resting on the couch next to him to balance himself as he kissed him. This time it was slow and gentle, the hand in his hair moving to the back of his head and holding him there gently. Just because they didn't have much time didn't mean Cole was going to rush this, wanting to show how much he cared for his summoner in the only way he could think of.

The kiss was a surprise. Not as much as the one at the door, but the continued blending of affection emotional and physical had the effect of throwing him off every time it happened. It wasn't unwelcome, but Chris really wasn't used to being the object of anyone's affection ever since the death of his mother. Of course his aunts and Wyatt still loved him and they all still made the effort, but it wasn't soon after that Chris had enlisted in the paladins desperate for the chance to make something of himself. His life hadn't slowed down any ever since and Leo was always just a few steps too distant to really be there for his son in that way. This... this was confusing, but no less welcome for it. They could figure out what it all meant later, if it meant anything other than Cole's brand of showing his attachment.

Humming into the kiss, Chris reached up to place his hands against Cole's chest. They didn't wander, merely held their place while he wished that the moment would last forever. This eternity of finding the one he had been born to meet, only to last a single night? It was cruel and yet his whole life seemed to lead up to it and he couldn't say it was overly shocking. As upset as he was over that, Chris wanted to make sure that the one night they had would be enough to last them. "Yeah," he murmured once the kiss finished, still slightly in a daze. "First light. We've got 'til first light."

"First light," Cole murmured against Chris's lips, taking in the dazed state of his summoner. It was wonderful to see the effect he was having on him just from a simple kiss and he smiled. When they got back together--and it was when, not if--Cole was going to really have to see just how much he could be pushed into that happy daze and how far he could push him. For now, he was going to behave for the most part and just stick with kissing at the most. "That doesn't leave us with a whole lot of time."

Giving him a small kiss on the lips, Cole reached down and pulled up his shirt to expose the sigil before adjusting Chris so he was leaning back more on the couch so that it as easier for him to lean down and kiss the sigil. He explored the whole mark with his mouth, kissing along the symbol that was new to him, but every bit a part of him as it was Cole now. Then once he had kissed along the entirety of it, he started to lick and suck lightly on the skin that made up the sigil, knows that physical contact felt good, so doing this would feel even better to him. "Do you accept me as your summon," he said in pauses of his ministrations. "Do I meet your approval, my summoner?"

Nodding in agreement to the statement, Chris let himself be nudged so that Cole could explore. It only made sense for his summon to want to understand his summoner, the human he would be bound to for the rest of Chris's mortal life. They would need to move past physical and into more esoteric realms at some point, but just this was helping Chris understand what unconditional trust really was, what it meant to have faith in something so inherent that he didn't even realize how deep in he already was. His sigil was an intensely sensitive spot of skin, seeming to have specialized nerves of their own that garnered their own reactions. It was like a line directly to his heart and such gentle movements eased his breathing, his muscles going loose and a soft clarity slowly rising in his mind. It was as if he was feeling more than just the physical, but the intent and emotion even deeper than just through their link. It was heavenly.

"What're you doing?" he murmured curiously. He knew what Cole was doing, but he couldn't contain his interest and befuddlement over the incredibly human, incredibly romantic moves his summon was making. Cole was already something special and Chris knew his love for his summon was pure, but how was it Cole was reacting this way to his summoner? When he asked that question, Chris groaned in wry amusement. He was asking that now? "Of course," he said softly. "Of course I do, my summon. From the moment we connected, I had already."

It was easy to forget with how Cole looked that he was at least partially human and raised that way. Even then, demons were closer to humans in their responses than other spirits were thanks to their meddling in human affairs far more than the majority of their counterparts. So it was truly no surprise that Cole would deepen their connection in a way that was so intimately human and yet no less of a connection. From his position, he could tell Chris liked it and replaced his mouth with his hand, nails scraping lightly over the sigil to add a new type of sensation.

"Giving you something to remember while we're apart," he responded as his other hand pulled Chris's shirt up further to expose his chest, Cole moving to lick and suck and kiss his nipples one after the other, hand now moving down to the front of Chris's pants to grope and rub. The sigil relaxed him, but Cole wanted to excite him, give him memories of every kind of touch on his body that he could before they were separated. "Good," he murmured against his chest softly. "That's what I wanted to hear. You accept me as yours."

Okay, that was completely out of left field and Chris shuddered. The nails on his sigil before the lips on his chest and hand at his pants were all inputs taken with surprise and confused arousal. He gasped and arched just a bit before trying to control himself and winding his fingers in Cole's hair to hold his head there. It took a minute for him to find words, enjoying himself despite the oddness and complete disparity of his summon's actions.

"That's too far," he said, voice low and noncensuring, thumb beginning to rub circles at the back of his summon's head. Cole had been taking denials poorly up to that point, but Chris needed a fraction of distance to figure out what was happening. His worldview meant that he simply couldn't process his summon being sexually attracted to him or even sexually-inclined. "I mean... talk to me. Slow down. Why are you doing this?"

For once, Cole didn't take the denial badly and instead just stopped what he was doing, hands moving to rest on the couch beside Chris and resting his forehead against Chris's chest. He knew that his summoner was enjoying it, but if he did, why did he stop? It was definitely confusing him and frustrated him that he didn't seem to be able to do anything right by his summoner. Part of him figured it was for the best that they were to be separated if Cole couldn't even properly deal with Chris.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" There was obvious confusion in his voice before it faded away into a low rumble that seemed to fill Cole's chest. It was the thumb rubbing circles on the back of his head causing it, the small touch being enough to set of Cole and make him purr like a very large cat. He was partially distracted by the touch, but he brought his attention back on Chris's words after a long moment. "I love you and I want to share my love with you, my wonderful summoner. You accepted me despite my failings. Why would I do anything less but try to make you happy in every way that I can?"

Thankfully, that was a better reaction than Chris had been anticipating. It didn't alleviate any of the confusion they were both feeling, but it gave Chris some space without forcing Cole away, and for that he was graceful. There was a moment of awe when he realized what the rumbling was and his free hand came to rest on Cole's back to feel it even more. His summon purred. That was almost supernaturally unfair for how amazing that was. He closed his eyes and let his head dip back with a sigh.

"No, it's just that summons don't act... sexually," he said, obviously hesitant rather than embarrassed. Just because he was inexperienced in those sorts of things didn't make them bad. It just made things even more awkward that his summon was completely atypical. "It's, um, throwing me off."

It was going to take far more than this to stop the confusion and hopefully they'll get the chance to straighten things out so that it stops being so confusing for the two of them. Cole grinned at the fact that Chris seemed pleased by his purring and made him keep going, moving his head up to rest on Chris's shoulder while he closed his eyes and kept purring. Even if everything else was confusing, this at least made sense to Cole.

"Oh," he said, surprise and confusion evident in his voice. Well, it explained why Chris stopped, but it added another question to Cole's mind. One that he was definitely going to ask because curiosity was a powerful motivator. "So, they don't do anything sexual? Do they not have sex drives?"

Deferring to Cole's new position, Chris shifted to let him settle better. The hand on his back began idly flexing against his skin, feeling the vibrations and listening to the sound with fascination. This was definitely a thing unique to Cole and he was looking forward to seeing more of it in action in the future once they returned to each other. It was just novel, and certainly less confusing than everything else right then.

"They don't," answered Chris with much more confidence this time. Spirits just had no interest in carnal desires, although they could understand physical affection. What use did they have with that sort of thing when their entire world was above the necessity? "But... you do?"

Cole moved himself to sit on Chris's lap to make himself more comfortable in his current position. He didn't think about the consequences of this and was instead more focused on the hand on his back that was just taking in his purrs. The flexing made him move slightly and nuzzle Chris's neck, all the while still purring contently at the attention and his summoner's enjoyment of his response.

"I do," he murmured gently against his skin, the rumble more obviously bubbling up in his throat while he was speaking, making him sound very odd. Cole definitely didn't care to stop purring while he spoke. "Must be the human half of me."

With his summon now literally in his lap, it made things a lot more obvious to Chris. Like how much Cole was enjoying their current position or previous activities and he swallowed carefully to keep himself breathing evenly. This was awkward. Livable, but awkward and odd because Chris was still having a time wrapping his head around the whole idea. Just having his summon at all was going to take serious adjustments after six years of beating himself down and being convinced that no summon existed to answer his call. That was hard enough. Now there was this on top of it and it was making a difficult adjustment into a very strange and uncharted one.

"Human half?" he asked, head tilting downward to see part of Cole despite the other's position against him. Chris didn't want to pull him away, just to see more of this rather odd specimen that he found himself calling his own. He tried to ignore the slightly higher pitch of his voice because he had yet to find any kind of equilibrium with an aroused summon on his lap proclaiming to be something different. "You're human?"

There was no acknowledgement of the awkwardness from Cole, who was too busy being content to be snuggled up against his summoner. He didn't need there to be a sexual element in their relationship as summoner and summon, but it would definitely be a nice bonus. Maybe when they were together for real, they would discuss this in detail and see how this would progress.

"Half-human, half-demon," Cole started with a sigh and finally, his purr cut out. Now it was time for more serious things that weren't something that he purred about. "I did say that I was the son of Lord Benjamin Turner and he was human. My mother was the de--spirit."

Necessary or not as it might have been, it didn't negate how they were currently situated and what it meant for Chris's own reactions. This was not what he had been bargaining for and Cole's own nonchalance was making it hard for him to even try acknowledging it, so it was just something sitting in the background that he hoped would fade on its own if ignored for long enough.

Face twisting up a bit at the use of demon again, Chris let it slide for now (there were better things to worry over) and shook his head in confusion. "Spirits can have children? Summons can be human?" His entire world was just completely on its side by now. What kind of things did this imply? Humans didn't sign an ages old contract with the world to be bound to other humans for the sake of peace. Humans had less time to live and a stronger need for independence than spirits did. The binding of a summon and a summoner between two humans... His gut dropped into uncertainty while he turned Cole's head upward to look into his eyes, searching for something. He didn't really know what, but he wasn't exactly sure what to think.

He didn't respond to Chris's questions until his head was turned upward, eyes looking into his while he searched for whatever he was looking for. They were still inhuman, black irises replacing his human blue while in summon and demon forms and he blinked a couple times while Chris stared into them. There was definitely an edge of uncomfortable to Cole's expression as he let him look, almost as if he's afraid of what Chris might find in there.

"Yes, spirits can have children. They have them with humans so they can have someone to bypass a spirit's inability to stay in this world for any extended period of time. Half-spirits like myself are considered something like a summoner, someone with the ability to be of both worlds, but we aren't here to maintain the balance between our worlds," he explained gently, hoping that his answer would be sufficient to quell anything from that question. "I've...never heard of a half-spirit being a summon before. We're so rare that the likelihood of it happening is almost none to begin with. To answer that, you'd have to ask one of the older spirits. I'm only a little over a hundred years old, so I'm not an expert on the subject."

"One hundred years," Chris murmured. His gaze slipped, reflecting inward as he tried to absorb this new mountain of knowledge. It didn't go against everything he knew, but it was certainly too much to process all at once. Nothing he had ever heard hinted toward existences like that and they hinted toward another system that he never could have imagined. The world that he thought he knew and understood suddenly had a wedge chipping its way inside to try and fit somewhere that it currently had no place. All of it was enough to make a lesser man physically ill from the shock of it.

As it was, Chris merely took a large breath and tried to settle himself before he carefully began wading through each point as Cole had presented them. "You're human," he reiterated. "Part human, enough to matter. You're my summon, but... doesn't this bother you at all? Getting bound to someone you don't even know?" For Chris, for summoners, freedom was a very large sticking point. They were bound to be civil servants and carry out certain duties, but that aside they were very protective of their rights to pursue anything else they wished in between those. Summons bound to them had a bit more control over becoming candidates for a binding from what Chris understood, but apparently those with human heritage didn't have that luck.

"I don't look too bad for my age, do I?" He had to chuckle lightly at his own comment. This was a lot for Chris to take in, so Cole was trying to deflect at least some of it in his own way. Which just happened to be his brand of terrible, not at all funny humor. Well, Chris was going to have to learn about it at some point. Why not learn about it in the middle of everything else that was actually important.

"You don't know me very well yet, so let me tell you something about myself," Cole started, moving to rest his head back on Chris's shoulder. He wanted to get comfortable again after Chris started into his eyes and unnerved him a bit. "When I was a child, I didn't interact much with anyone my own age due to my social status and my heritage as a half-spirit, for my own safety. My parents would tell me stories about summoners, how they were like me and were grounded in both worlds, so for a while I wanted to be a summoner. If my sigil showed up then maybe, just maybe, I would get a summon and finally have a friend."

Edited 2015-02-19 06:29 (UTC)

Chris huffed lightly at Cole's comment. Now that his summon had settled again, he let his head dip and rested his chin on the crown of Cole's head and held him close despite any lingering awkwardness. There was nothing he wanted less than for this to drive them apart, but it wasn't something he could let settle without trying to sort through it while they had the chance. His emotions mirrored the thoughts, wry and self-depreciating amusement obvious with an apologetic but adoring pulse throughout.

"You wanted to be a summoner?" That was actually... really adorable, and sad, but the idea that Cole had looked up to the idea of summoners with awe enough to want to be like them... It helped. "Same thing as if you were on the other side? No regrets?"

Now that they were back to cuddling, Cole let out a soft sigh of contentment before starting to purr once again. The emotions seem to settle him even more and he sent back to Chris a wave of contentment and love with the smallest hint of desire threaded throughout. Everything seemed to be working out better now that they had some sort of discussion about things and he was glad for it. Things might actually work out between them after all.

"Mmhm, I did. Then I grew up and realized that it would never happen to me." There was a slight hint of disappointment in his voice for a moment before it vanished into the purr rumbling through his chest. One hand reached up to pet Chris's hair fondly as he smiled. "Yeah, same thing for this side of things. I don't regret being a summon because I got to meet you."

Things weren't exactly settled, but the brief conversation did help in getting Chris more comfortable with whatever was going on. There was more logic to it, even if the logic didn't fit inside of his head. He would need time to figure it out... and, well, if he was going to have anything in the upcoming weeks, it was time. The purring helped a lot, a foreign but comforting action. It might have been weird to anyone else, but when it was his summon purring just for him, Chris felt extremely lucky.

In lieu of being able to purr back, Chris gave a small hum of contentment for the hand threading through his hair. "Like I said, you would've known. I guess summons just don't have the same forewarning that summoners do," he said in a thoughtful tone. "If only I could have found you sooner."

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then I grew up and got my imagination. [ psl ]

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