Card Tricks (Lani.)

So Caroline was moved in officially and Lani had left her to her own devices with her powers trainer. Now he was back in his room looking forward to some restful reading or a nap. It was a little chilly in his room and the curtains were pulled against the sunlight. He was however in relaxing mode and so he was dressed lazily in dark shorts and a t shirt though his hoodie was laid across his bed. Tucking his feet under it Lani called a book from his shelf. Smiling, he cracked ‘Magic’s Pawn’ open midway through removing the bookmark he had set there. He was very comfortable and just sinking into the pillows he had built up around himself. He sighed contently and for the sake of his good mood he opened the curtains with a thought flooding his messy room with sunlight. He was just getting into the new chapter when there was a knock on the door. Lani sighed and his head thumped back on the wall. Replacing the bookmark and the book on the shelf as he passed he went to the door.

Odion? Now that was unexpected. He didn’t really even have a moment to react before the redhead was already moving into his room. Odion had that look in his eyes. That clever and excited look that always had proved for an interesting even before. “Um… ok… come in,” he said even though Odion had already walked past Lani. Lani shook his head a little his heart was doing better now, much better. Things were starting to make sense again and he no longer felt like his life was over, it had just changed and he was starting to adapt. Now Lani was embarrassed by the state of his room, a little warning to clean would have been nice. At least his closet was closed, Odion might have had a heart attack if he saw that.

Lani lunged and caught a notebook as it slipped off the bed at Odion’s shoving. “It’s not that bad.” He protested. Everything was organized, well mostly. He dropped the notebook on his cluttered desk and his brows raised and his eyes sharpened with interest as Odion flashed the deck of cards. “New cards?” Lani wondered aloud pulling his chair over and setting himself up cross legged on top of it. Lani’s eye twitched and he subtly tucked the pillows over the bear Odion sat near. Well that would be embarrassing. Lani had never slept with stuffed animals but the bear had somehow in the night moved from his desk to his bed so he just left it there. Lani shook his head at Odion and sighed. It was not that messy. Odion was just too used to the immaculate state of his own room. “Alright, let see.” He watched the deck his eyes going over the deck and his fingers dancing over a few before he finally plucked one out and looked at it. Five of Clubs.

Lani watched Odion his mind not on his clothing. Honestly he wasn’t planning on going out of his room very much today and so what use was it in getting dressed up to sit around. Besides Lani didn’t see much wrong with his mix of random things he found in his closet. The shirt was old but it was comfortable and jeans would easily make it a wearable in public shirt. But that wasn’t important to Lani at the moment, he was focused on why Odion was here. Having come in very much like a blowing wind Lani was curious as to what it was that Odion wanted to show him as well as why he had come to his room to show it to him. The lights and the sunlight made his room seem bright and it could be almost said that Odion hair was catching the light and his eyes reflecting it.

Odion was grinning like a loon and Lani was more than happy to oblige him and pick a card. He ignored the comment and watched the cards. “You never said I couldn’t,” Lani retorted with a grin as he replaced the card in the deck. After all what kind of trick would it be if Lani didn’t know the card that he picked. Odion could chose a random card and Lani would never know. But that would hardly be as impressive. Lani’s eyes struggled to rollow the deck as Odion shuffled. He had never been good at ordinary shuffling, this stuff made him look clumsy when he did that as well. He was happy that Odion was here, though he would have liked to have cleaned a little bit beforehand. Lani didn’t take his eyes of the cards and he was more than tempted to touch them with his power to feel them and learn how it worked, but he refrained.

Lani raised a brow at that statement. “Really?” He was honestly surprised Odion hadn’t stolen them before. Lani made a mental note of that if he ever were able to get a gift for Odion for his birthday or something he would have to get a deck of cards. Lani’s eyes followed the cards and the snapped for a moment up to Odion’s eyes. “Uh-huh, don’t tell me you don’t know,” he teased with a smile resting his head in his hand as if bored. Odion didn’t stop grinning, but heaven knew that if Lani learned a new trick he too would be running around showing it off. But Lani had spoke too soon for when he showed him the deck and decided Lani’s card he was spot on. Lani’s jaw dropped and he took the card with a little smile. That was impressive but it wasn’t new but then Odion fanned out the cards again and they were all the same as the one in his hand. He accidentally flicked the card in shock and caught it quickly with his power.

“Witchcraft!” He cried with a laugh as the deck went back to normal. He looked at the card in his hand then took a closer look at the deck. Ok, that was really impressive. “How did you pull that one off?” He examined the card in his hand feeling the surface and holding it up to the light but he couldn’t tell anything out of the ordinary. He held out the card to Odion and narrowed his eyes at the redhead. “I don’t suppose I’m going to an answer to that, am I?” He was grinning Odion’s good mood rubbing off on him. It was strange, the telekinetic in him wanted Odion to do the trick again and follow it very closely with his power and the other part of him wanted to let the magic be and just allow the childlike wonder of the trick stay in his mind. It was strange for him to not understand something about the physical world.

“That’s great; I still wish I knew how to do that.” Lani laughed and shook his head at Odion’s second question. “Well, it’s certainly a conversation starter.” Though how many people would actually humor Odion and pick a card. A new deck, new tricks. “How long did it take you to learn?” Lani pried curiosity working on killing the cat. “Like making them all the same card, is that like mirrors or something?” He leaned forward nosily trying to get a better look at the deck.

This was already proving to be a good day. To think just earlier he had been intent on not leaving his room and filling the silence with a good book, but apparently the universe again had different plans. Magic always baffled Lani, he knew there had to be some physical explanation, or at least some meta power to explain it. But Lani was having problems explaining this right here. No matter what angle he put it at it looked like an ordinary card. It was at least a good distraction from reality for a moment. It was a puzzle and though Lani enjoyed observing it with wonder he might just have to find a solution.

Lani sighed coming to no outstanding conclusions Lani was pleasantly surprised when Odion offered an answer. “I had no idea,” Lani said honestly with a shrug, “Are there a lot of different types of decks?” He asked curiosity running away with him. Distracted by the cards Lani’s mind wandered as he went over theories, there had to be some sort of mirroring system but the gloss on them didn’t look any different than an ordinary deck of cards. Really Lani didn’t need much persuasion; he always went in a little skeptical but always got proven wrong, though honesty he was more than impressed. It probably showed in his slack jawed expression as he contemplated how it would have occurred if maybe showed in a different angle. The sly grin reappeared as Lani thought about the trick and how he might be able to figure it out.

“Ah,” Lani said giving Odion a look as if he had just seen past the curtain. He leaned forward as well to see better what Odion was demonstrating. For the briefest of moments Lani forgot all that had happened, all the harsh words and all of the emotional ache, he was faced with a question and his friend had the answer. Lani watched his eyes narrowing his power playing around with the cards now trying to feel something maybe the fingers couldn’t. “Magnets! That’s brilliant!” Lani exclaimed with a shake of his head. He never would have guessed magnets. Powerful little things they were. Most people underestimated the power of magnets but really that was what was keeping everything in the world making sense. It all came down the magnetic of the poles and the even when the poles did switch everything that had been known before would suddenly become flip flopped.

Honestly Lani’s only interaction with cards was to play card games, he didn’t think he had the fancy hand work, he probably could learn. He was fascinated now he stole two cards from the deck and examined them and how the magnets reacted. If he didn’t know that there were magnets he probably wouldn’t have ever known. This was absolutely amazing, he was surprised how much science went into magic. Which by reverse reasoning spelled that science was magic. Lani smiled, he could certainly enjoy that idea. Science was an interesting thing since there was no reason that a mental entity should be able to touch a physical one and move it as telekinesis did. It was beyond amazing. Lani was so caught up in her nerdy moment that he missed the teddy bear falling.

“What?” He said his eyes snapping up and his face flushing when he saw the bear in Odion’s hand. He froze like a deer in headlights and his eyes slowly moved from the bear in his hands to the redhead’s face. He caught it without thinking and looked down at it in his lap. “Um… yeah,” he cleared his throat. What now? Odion was smiling, Lani didn’t want to look away, but what should he do? Offer to give it back? How much abuse had been given to this poor thing, it had been thrown and grabbed by his power in his sleep. “I couldn’t let it go,” he said softly then raising his voice, “But I don’t know what it’s doing over there it’s supposed to be on the shelf.” Locked away in the closet more likely, but that had obviously failed. He rolled his shoulders and glared at it. Way to give him away, bear. It just looked pleasantly up at him. He smiled and laughed a little bit at himself. Who was he kidding; honestly he liked having it nearby even if he didn’t sleep with it in his arms.

He looked quickly around his bed for any other incriminating evidence that there might be hidden in the folds of his mess of pillows and sheets. “It’s probably the most colorful thing in here,” he said with a smile resting it on his desk so that the colors stood out in dramatic contrast to his dark shorts and the dark sheets. Lani was almost convinced that it glowed a little bit compared to his room. He leaned back in his chair. Taking the two cards still in his hands he twirled them around with his power hopeful to distract Odion. Lani then grinned and grabbed the cards from the air and held them in front of his face hiding his smile. “Do you know any card games?” Lani asked, he was sure Odion knew more than he did.

“What if you’re looking a deck that doesn’t limit your tricks?” Lani countered with a raise of his eyebrows. After all, what use was a trick deck if it limited the user? A trick deck that looked identical to a normal deck and someone skilled at interchanging them would be the best trick. He was sure that Odion would be one of the people able to pull that off, if anyone could. Of course there was an easy way and a hard way to change decks but really it all depended on Odion and how impressive he was trying to be. If only there was magic left in the world. No, Lani wouldn’t look up the trick, but he liked to think that it was laziness, with a touch of something more personal. If he looked it up how would he be able to be amazed every time Odion pulled a trick off. It was also nice to think that there were tricks out there that were made for fun and not just for their less than honorable purposes.

“Amazing,” Lani muttered again. Magnets, one of the world’s most amazing creations, some were weak and others were strong but they all had the ability to wipe a credit card. Useful. He sighed at Odion who obviously didn’t share his amazement of the things. Well he supposed that to some people magnets were just magnets and that history was just the past and that rain was just rain. But some people missed that magnets protected the earth and history had good lessons and that rain could very easily become a flood.

Lani looked down at the incriminating bear. It had hurt a lot that Odion had got with Rhett, mostly because Lani felt like Odion was giving up. But he had been again proven wrong, Odion was stronger than Lani had given him credit for. He looked back up as Odion spoke a strange feeling of hope in his heart making his watch Odion as he spoke. Lani laughed weakly and shook his head. Lani decided to roll with the joke, jokes were easy. “Ah yes, because teddy bear security is tight. I’d like to see someone try to take it now.” Lani liked to think that he had the best security, well at least when he was paying attention. He could feel it when things moved if he gave his power enough freedom, problem was that he didn’t usually give his power enough freedom. Lani was moving a little slowly thought his mind and the situation at hand. It was really strange to think that so much had happened and yet here they were sitting and discussing card tricks and teddy bears. No, Odion had given him an amazing gift, freedom, and Lani hadn’t even asked for it.

Lani snorted and shook his head at Odion. Were they going back to that now? “It’s really not that bad,” Lani protested, “I know where everything is in this room and that’s what matters.” Lani opened his mouth to say something else but he closed it realizing he didn’t have a good counter argument. Really if he had thought Odion would come to his room he would have been amazed. Odion had been in his room only a few times and they were usually brief visits. It was strange to have someone else in his comfort zone, the place he was able to relax completely and could easily turn into a cavern if he so chose. But it didn’t bother him, he liked the company. Lani laughed harder when Odion snatched the cards. He opened his hands in yielding. “What you need is a multipurpose deck,” Lani said with a little nod. Then that wouldn’t be a problem.

With a needle. Best way to pierce anything, also, quick, like a bandage. A needle not only made the work harder but it slowed down the piercing requiring for work. Also the flow between the glass between them would be slow and the more times it was pierced the more would flow out and it was best to start slow if they were to start again. He held Odion’s eyes for a moment wondering what to do now. Odion didn’t realized that he was sitting on top of a treasury, for hidden beneath the bed and beneath the floor was Lani’s stash. Things that he either hadn’t gotten a chance to sell or just didn’t want to sell. There were so many secrets in this room it was starting to make Lani nervous. There was his stash, his identities, and then the burned remains of his old life sealed to the bottom of the trash can.

It was then that he realized that Odion was sitting on his bed. Sitting in the place where he slept. That didn’t seem like a big deal but now that it was quiet it seemed louder. He pushed that out of his mind, it wasn’t important. He ran his hand though his hair. He was very glad that his body was finally healing physically. Most of the bruises were gone and he was starting to feel like himself again. “This is going to be such a strange year,” Lani predicted randomly. It was strange having Caroline here, it was strange having himself and Odion being so distant. But the first would end over time and they were both working to fix the latter. “I’m sorry I haven’t brought Caroline over yet,” he said with a small smile that contrasted the worry in his eyes. After Caroline’s burst into tears on her arrival Lani figured it best to give her a little time to adapt before he started dragging her around. Though as soon as possible he was going forcibly show her around and get her comfortable with her new living arrangements.

Lani shook his head unfazed by Odion’s look. So what if he was ignorant in the ways of card tricks. “Yes,” he acknowledged, “But you needed a special deck for that trick.” He pointed out with an absent wave of his hand. So obviously even a normal deck was limited to a point, unless one was an illusionist, of course. Lani sighed a little, most magicians were probably illusionists. People who made people believe things were happening one way when it was really just a power. It was the disillusionment of magic that Lani hated most about being meta. He could see someone lifting something in the air and it was amazing but now he could do that with the blink of his eye and sometimes without even meaning to. Perhaps he should be a magician. He shook his head a little at the thought, he wasn’t nearly theatrical enough.

It was glorious to join Odion in laughter. Lani had missed this more than anything else. “You never know,” he countered with a grin. No, the chances of someone stealing the bear was slim to none but oh well Lani with his imagination given enough time could come up with a scenario, so long as the rationale behind it wasn’t important. It was true that they were the only people who knew about it. Adrianna knew, he had been trying to be honest with her though he could tell it was taking a toll on both of them because sometimes the truth hurt. Lani didn’t like to believe that he had done all he could. He liked to believe that there was more he could do. Some new solution was floating out there to fix this. Even just joking and laughing together things were strained and Lani was at his wits end. He didn’t know how to fix it but he would be damned if he stopped trying.

“Hey now,” Lani said holding up a hand to stall Odion’s logical response. “I said I didn’t know how it got there not that I didn’t know it was there. There is a fundamental difference between misplacing and forgetting.” He held up a finger to shoot his point home. He did know where everything was, it just might take him a minute to remember where that was. Lani did spend a good amount of time staring at the stars but half of the day was spent in sunlight and he had to have some place for solitude. It wasn’t always like this, since he had come to Hammel he had spent a limited amount of time in his room until now when it had became the hub for him to really be able to break down without witnesses and that had been priceless. “And it’s really easy to find things if I do lose them,” he said with a smile on his face and his head cocked to the side as if he were contemplating something internally. Blindfolded Lani could still find anything in this mess. “And harder for other people to find things that aren’t supposed to be here.” He added.

Lani raised a brow as Odion asked about Caroline. “Yeah… my sister… Are you doing alright?” He asked he remembered something like this happening before, that time at the diner right before Odion stormed out. Was it his power? It seemed that every power had an Achilles Heel, for Lani it was headaches and the chance for really damaging his brain if he went too far, for Odion it was spacing out and getting lost in time. It was nice, it kept them from being all powerful. Lani nodded as Odion seemed to come back to life. “Yeah, that’s what I figured.” Lani ran a hand though his hair and made a noise of displeasure and summed it up with a sigh. He had promised. He had promised and he just kept breaking it. Life kept dealing her hard hands. Caroline didn’t deserve to have normalcy ripped away from her. Not after what she had already been through.

He looked back at Odion and forced his smile on. “I’ll get her to come over sometimes soon, she needs to start getting out.” Life stopped for no one, Odion had said it himself. Lani felt small as he contemplated the rotation of the earth and how time went on. Time was the one constant, no matter what happened time would still tick away. It had been going long before the first humans opened their eyes and it would go on far after the last human closed their eyes. Odion controlled time, that was power over the only constant in the universe. The other variables were always changing but time… how could time be changed? Well, the show must go on and even Odion couldn’t divert time enough to stop the inevitable continuum.

Lani opened his mouth to protest and stopped himself when he realized he didn’t have a good comeback to that. Instead he gave an exaggerated sigh for Odion’s benefit and shook his head at the redhead. Really if Odion hadn’t told him he would have been just as fooled as anyone else and it really could become multifunctional in that way. No Lani would be a terrible magician. He was more than happy to let Odion take over that hobby. Lani would just be the spectator. He liked it better that way, he never was one to enjoy the attention of the masses anyways. He would let Odion be the charming and wonderful frontrunner and Lani would be the one dipping his hands into pockets while they were distracted. A light bulb snapped on in Lani’s head. That wasn’t a bad idea actually. They could make a killing that way, split the profits and they would both be sitting comfortably. “You know… that gives me an idea…” Lani trailed off seeing if Odion would take the bait.

Lani felt his heart sink as he saw that expression on Odion’s face. He knew where this was going… he really needed to watch his tongue. Lani flushed and shook his head sputtering out, “Not true!” For one, Lani didn’t cuddle… ok so he did… but Odion didn’t need to know that. Lani felt his face burning and hated how it was giving him away. Lani huffed a little and he didn’t even have a moment to reflect on how easy it was to slip back into this strange argument that they had always had. “No, no, no, no this is organized chaos,” he gestured around at his room, “I always know where it is, but I guess my power… but…” He sighed giving Odion a glare, he hated it when Odion was flawlessly right. He didn’t have any smooth response to that so it was best for him to stop talking before he really stumbled. Lani knew exactly what Odion was implying, his power was himself, so therefore Lani wanted the bear there unconsciously. Oh, Odion fought dirty. Lani glanced back at it. He locked eyes with Odion and shook his head a grin forming on his lips. “What? Some things are easier to find than others.”

Lani raised a skeptical brow but let the explanation slide. Really, he was focusing on the same goal he had when he had first tried to cheer up Odion. Getting the redhead to laugh had kind of become a pastime for Lani and so he was more than ready to jump back into that. He liked Odion’s laugh and he missed it. He shrugged it off and made sure to try to catch on when Odion started too drifted so he could knock him back into the present. If that were possible. If Odion wasn’t careful Lani might get creative. Lani took a quick look at Odion, at least he looked physically well, and the brightness of his smile when he showed off his trick boded well as well.

Lani’s eyes snapped to Odion sharp and accusing, as if he had just cursed Caroline to be like Lani. Lani bristled but luckily for Odion his conclusion came before Lani could snap at him. His eyes softened as understanding dawned on him, and he shook his head. God he hoped that Caroline wasn’t like him. He smiled a little appreciating where Odion was going with this but not believing a lick of it. Lani had a shattered self image at the moment and the idea of Caroline being anything like him made him sick to his stomach. “Yeah, I hope so.” Was all he ended up saying on the matter and he looked down at his callused hands opening and closing them examining their rough state and this history that those marks spelled out. Feeling Odion’s hand on his shoulder he looked up. His heart warmed and looking into Odion’s eyes and simply smiled. Frail hope returned, he really wanted to believe that Odion was right.

“Odion, I’m sure she will.” He smiled, he was trusting Odion with his sister because Odion had proven to Lani that he could be trusted and he had gone beyond what Lani would ever have asked of him. Honestly, Lani was hard pressed to find someone that Caroline didn’t like, at least outwardly. She was such a stronger person but she was so naïve it worried Lani. And it was for that reason that he kind of wanted to shadow her wherever she went on campus. At that thought he glanced at the clock and wondered when she would be done with her trainer. She would probably hope to go back to her room. But it looked like she still had a while of training. She was doing everything right, Lani was making sure of that, she was going to training session and because of that so was Lani, and she was going to her classes, Lani wasn’t being such a good role model on that front, but eh, some things didn’t change. “How was your night out with Declyn?” Lani wondered.

Lani scoffed. “Of course it’s brilliant,” he said and leaned forward a little bit, “People are very fascinated by magic, right? So if you go flaunting your card tricks in people noses and while they are utterly engrossed…” Lani hesitated for a moment wondering if it was alright for him to include himself in this… oh Hell, he shook his head, it was his idea anyways and Odion could take of it what he chose. “Someone,” he said placing a hand on his chest, “Will come up from behind and clean them out. It’d be so easy.” His explanation was brief but it was thorough if Odion felt like running with it he could, or he could tell Lani he was an idiot. Oh well, Lani liked the idea and for kicks he might just try it out without a magician’s consent without Odion and then he could come back with his spoils and prove to Odion it was a good idea.

Odion laughing only made Lani’s face grow hotter and he was sorely tempted to throw something at the redhead. “I’m not… you know what… why are you counting?” He sighed heavily and settled on leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. He stuck his tongue out at Odion, because he was oh so mature about this. Part of him liked that Odion could make him blush but the other part was afraid of what that might mean. He shook it off quickly, he was with Adrianna, she had been there for him when Odion hadn’t. He wanted to tell her he loved her, tell her how deeply he cared but it terrified him. Maybe he was better off alone, but he couldn’t abandon Adrianna. He just couldn’t. He could be like all the other men in her life. Lani raised a brow at Odion. “And the reason for the search,” Lani added, it was all too easy just to move things if people came looking. Lani hummed a little as he narrowed his eyes at Odion staring him in the eye. Odion certainly was a puzzle, but Lani still felt like he was missing significant pieces.

Lani was glad he came off proud, it wouldn’t do for people to know how damaged he was. And honestly some habits were just too hard to break, Lani had never been one to let others put him down, and he was also arrogant as any peacock. But no, he knew who he was now, or at least he was going in the right track. And he was having a hard time separating himself from the same people who were still working for his boss, the difference, he was lucky. Lucky enough to have friends like Odion willing to shoot powerful people in the foot. No Lani would never be someone meek and he had tried wallowing in his self-pity and look how that worked out. No life had to go on and sometimes one had to lie to themselves to get out of bed.

Lani’s mind drifted back to Adrianna, she had such a high image of him and it was hard for him now to think that he could fulfill that. The examination, he still shied away from that L-word. That was a terrifying word. Partially because he had fallen for Adrianna, and fallen hard and fast. Perhaps too fast. That flare was still very much there and every time she kissed him his heart skipped a beat but it killed him that he couldn’t be sure that he loved her. It was all so confusing. He knew Adrianna deserved so much better than what he could give her. For now facing reality he was a deadbeat high school failure. With a future limited to stealing and or spending a significant chunk of his life in prison.

Listening to Odion’s description of Declyn Lani couldn’t help but smile. There was love growing there for his brother, Lani could tell, even if it might be strained. But knowing that Odion had family out there, that he had someone who could be there for him, it made Lani’s heart hum, it was having a hard time singing but it could hum and he loved that there would be that family for Odion. That someone who could be there no matter what. Lani laughed and looked down at himself and compared himself quickly to Odion. Odion was dressed nicely, and colorfully. Lani did have clothing similar but it was just gray or some other dark color. But right now, yeah this had been the day he had intended to spend all day reading in order to recover from the painful but enlightening training room wreckage. So he was not dressed for going out anywhere really. But now that Odion had said something… “What? There’s nothing wrong with this.” He huffed and gave Odion a smirk, “At least nothing wrong with it until company arrived.” He raised a brow pointing out that Odion visiting had been a surprise.

Lani smiled. “She’s doing well,” he ran a hand through his hair, “And honestly, she’s an angel.” He looked at Odion and bit his tongue to keep himself from saying something accusing about how she had been there and Odion had left. But he didn’t want to open the healing wounds. He closed his eyes remembering how she had been there when he had broken down in the hallway. The role reversal still got Lani sometimes, and so he strove to be better than he was before to her. Could he tell Odion that he thought he might love Adrianna? No, better to leave that for when he knew for sure.