Chapter 5: Humanities
Leo was akin to a statue as he stood by the end of Cole's bed, potion in hand and its explosive power completely forgotten due to the sight before him in the morning sun. Legs entangled, hand on his chest, licking her lips in her sleep, Paige was lying with Cole, her mouth not even half an inch distance from the demon's. Nah, too embarrassing, he's just gonna orb off somewhere, not home, so he doesn't have to tell the older sisters what he's seen, and come back later when those two are up. He was in the middle of his orb, when a hand held him back.
Paige, woken up by his whitelighter's chinking orbs, had orbed next to him herself. Rather weary of how the sisters could've reacted to her pledge to watch Cole, she wasn't ready to look Piper's husband in the eyes. The fact that the way Leo seen her with Cole could've been considered compromising, didn't occur to her, she was too apprehensive about her standing in the family after her decision. "What's the verdict? They can make my life hard, but they need me for the power of three," she encouraged herself, although she was worried about their powers as one herself, having heard of the power outage that occurs if the sisters fight with each other too much.
"They kinda forgot about the issue whatsoever," Leo winced, "busy making with this," she shoved the greenish, steaming liquid that he held in an open vial in front of her.
"Don't tell me they came up with the vanquishing potion!" She whispered horrified, then scolded herself for it. They wanted Cole gone and Cole wanted to be gone, right? Than what's with the butterflies in her stomach?
Leo shook his head slowly, "what's with him?" He nodded in the demon's direction, who barely stirred at the sound of their voices.
Paige shrugged, "uneasy night. And still too many potions in his system I think. I must've been closer to the right formula than I originally thought." She couldn't take her eyes off the little container Leo was holding. Not a vanquishing potion. Then what was it?
The whitelighter however, didn't give it to her. He set it down on the bedside table and pulled her outside the door into the living room. "Paige, you've always been trying how to be a good witch and doing what's good by you. I can't tell you to give him that potion and I won't." Fazed at first, at this point in time he had no doubts in his mind about how Paige ended up sleeping next to Cole. "It's there for you to decide what you wanna do with it. It's meant to keep Cole pretty much unconscious for another undetermined, but long time. I dunno how they figure that, ask Piper!"
"You don't agree with them," Paige deduced.
"This Cole story, it just goes on and on, way too long. It has clouded Phoebe's judgment and Piper's going along to keep her happy I think. Since they were busy cooking all night, I had not had the chance to talk to her about it, but I believe that I know my wife well enough to figure that she will at least be liable to change her mind. And till then, I don't care if you hold off giving Cole the potion. Is he even likely to take it?"
Paige humphed, "you have no idea. That state he's in..there's no anger. How can he not be angry? Everyone's angry if they get turned down so many times, no matter what. Yet there's nothing in those eyes other than dejection. It feels like he's past misery. He's trying not to feel it, be numb, but he can't do that completely either."
Leo put a hand on her shoulders and leaned in, "the psychoanalysis of a demon?" He squinted a bit sceptically.
Paige smiled, reflecting on her own strengths and weaknesses, "side effect of being a social worker."
Leo nodded, "I'll get to Piper."
"Would be nice if you didn't get sidetracked," Paige reminded him before he chimed out the room.
Tbc
