They were pulling at opposite ends. Chris hunched his shoulders and pulled away just enough to see Leo for himself, suddenly torn between staying with his summon and obeying his father out of pure instinct. This wasn't a good position and Chris wished he could make them get along so their moment would be left in peace, but that wasn't going to happen. "Dad," he said plainly. "Dad, this is it. This is my summon, he's right here."

"Chris," Leo said, jaw clenched as he stopped moving. Being belligerent and physically pulling Chris away could result in hurting his son and that wasn't what he wanted. All of his anger was radiating out toward Cole, and his protective instincts were on full blast for Chris. Knowing summoners as well as he did, Leo couldn't blame Chris at all for being taken in but this was what the paladins were for. Protecting summoners from dangers they couldn't understand. "He's not your summon. You don't have one, remember? Please, just step away and we'll talk about this."

Flinching quietly, Chris huddled into himself. One hand slipped away from Cole's back while the other clenched tighter after a moment of painful hesitation. His summon was with him now, but his father was right, too. Chris didn't have a summon. He couldn't reconcile the thoughts but somehow they were both true in that instance. "We don't need to talk," he said softly.