TIME WARP:Here(Odion, Adrianna)

[Lani Hunter]

2024

Marriage. Now that was a commitment. Not too many years ago the whole idea would have terrified Lani but now as he spun the simple gold ring he had chosen out of Odion’s collection, after having relented only if Odion had taken one as well. Odion was the one that liked the shiny things. Lani himself was unfamiliar with the feeling of a ring on his finger and could not stop fiddling with it. It was like he was excessively paranoid that it was spontaneously fly off his finger. The ring itself was a good fit and not in any danger of falling off but Lani messed with it nonetheless. It was getting closer and closer. He had since forgiven Caroline for her secret keeping and now found it slightly endearing. Slightly. Then came telling everyone else. It was so wonderful. To think just eleven years ago two men getting married was a stigma. Eleven years ago he’d been a scrawny kid. Now he was taller, fuller, more muscled now that he had started boxing off and on with Odion.

Now it was definitely a better place. There was not so much fear, nor was there so much stereotyping. Lani still wasn’t sure what they were going to tell their troop of young thieves. But the date they set was fast approaching. He could only hope that Adrianna knew what she was doing. She’s asked, or rather, demanded that she plan their wedding. He was supposed to be meeting her and Odion at some diner to talk about the final details. It was a little overwhelming and Lani found he wasn’t too upset to take a back seat though he did feel out of control. It was too late to get cold feet but the true gravity of the situation was starting to hit Lani. He was going to spend the rest of his life with Odion. With this one person he loved more than anything else in the world. It wasn’t like they’d been planning on doing otherwise but this was a whole new level.

He’d called up Shapiro and told her and then immediately got scolded for not telling her in person. He knew she and Odion still didn’t get along very well but he wanted her at his wedding nonetheless. She was perhaps one of his best friends from Hammel. Someone who had taken care of him as much as he had taken care of her. Lani grinned a little bit, he still remembered that sense stick. Looking back Lani wasn’t sure he’d have been able to get through it all without Shapiro there with him. Spying Odion and Adrianna already standing outside Lani checked his watch to check if he was late. He was, damn. Oh well. He snuck up behind Odion and wrapped his arms around the redhead’s waist. The chances of Odion knowing he was coming were very high, but one couldn’t fault the telekinetic for trying.

[Odion Martins]

Eleven years ago, Odion didn’t care what others thought about him, and the same rang true today. It had taken some careful planning and thinking ahead to actually surprise Lani. Over the years the blond had really gotten to know Odion, and most of his tricks were out in the open. He didn’t like keeping things from Lani anyways, not when it was important. But this occasion had called for some old school trickery, and a lot of help from friends and family. And that’s what they were doing now, making their own little family. Odion often glanced at his ring from time to time, but he didn’t fiddle much with it, he was used to wearing jewelry.

Odion was sort of hoping Lani would plan what they were going to tell the brigade of meta thieves that trusted them. He didn’t think any of them would leave, rather, there would probably be a lot of eye rolling, wide eyes, and I told you so’s. They weren’t touchy feely at work, but the knowing glances, the smiles – teenagers weren’t stupid, someone was bound to notice.

“You don’t think he forgot, do you?” He asked Adrianna after checking his watch. He and Adrianna had gotten to know one another over the years, and Odion had to admit she was more than pleasant to be around. And she definitely had opinions on the sort of thing that was about to happen, and Odion was glad, because he didn’t have a hot clue what he was doing beyond the proposal stage. It was a wonder Lani wasn’t protesting every step of the way, being the planner that he was. But it was Odion who liked detail.

Familiar arms wrapped around him and Odion smiled broadly. “Aren’t you the one always giving me hell for being late?” He cooed, turning around to kiss Lani briefly. Everything was peachy so far, and he really hoped it would stay that way. Odion’s hand slipped around Lani’s as he headed into the diner, smiling over his shoulder at Adrianna. This should be fun!

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Party planner Adrianna Carstyn on the job! Her first job that she was actually ecstatic to work on because it was two of her best friends. Well actually her best friend and the other best friend that she only got to be such good friends with because he happened to fall in love with her best friend. Who was also her ex. Complicated, understatement, but she wouldn't have it any other way. They were perfect for each other and to think she had been so hurt when she first found out. Though it wasn't out of jealousy by any means, it was simply because neither of them told her and she found out all on her own. Then again, it wasn't like they hid it from her. But now that she knew and had stuck with them over the years they were together, she couldn't be happier.

Lani and Odion had a great relationship. They complimented each other in ways she never would understand. Even with her own relationship. Eleven years was a long time to be together having started dating their senior year of high school. It was rare, but she wasn't surprised. If anyone could do it, it was these two. Though if Lani ended up late to his own wedding, she was going to hunt him down and have a stern talking to with him. And she didn't think Odion would mind if she did. Standing there waiting for Lani, she tried not to worry. He wasn't one to get cold feet, not when he was actually in love with someone like this.

She gave Odion a smile, "Of course not. He probably just got held up doing something important. Who knows with him?" Adrian laughed. And if Lani did get cold feet, she was going to have to hurt him, or have Declyn do it, he seemed more likely.

Adrianna felt the power before she saw him and couldn't keep from smiling at the sight when Lani wrapped his arm around Odion from behind. They were just so cute! She followed after them, binder of wedding details in hand and a purple, zebra print, fluffy pen clipped to it. As they entered the diner, she took a seat and opened up the binder to the first divider, venues. It was probably one of the most important parts of a wedding. "Shall we start with the planning?" Oh boy were they in for a treat with this one. They were going to have a very spastic, but thorough wedding planner on their hands.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani grinned a little bit before giving Odion an exaggerated sigh. Nonetheless he kissed Odion back. “Okay, so once in ever like hundred times I’m late.” He huffed and smiled knowingly at Odion. Admittedly he had underestimated the time it would take him to get here but he had just escaped from a rather awkward situation. Lani smiled and ducked past Odion for a moment to take Adrianna up in a hug. “Adrianna, how are you?” He lifted her off her feet a little as he squeezed her. They should get together more often, he missed her. Though they had a tendency to move frequently. It had been years since they dated and there was a point when Lani didn’t think they’d ever be even able to stand in the same room but they had surprised each other and here they were now. He glanced at Odion and squeezed his hand. He unconsciously tilted his head a little toward Odion leaning a little toward the redhead.

He had called Adrianna and pretty much as soon as he told her he had gotten pulled into letting her plan his wedding. She really hadn’t given him a choice in the matter and he would have felt terrible telling her no. So here they were and Lani was happy to have help, he didn’t want to get all of the planning out of his hands but he was willing to listen to reason. It also gave him and Odion a chance to actually enjoy each other instead of panicking over the details. He took her in, she looked good, they had all grown up since their time at Hammel and man was he glad for that. Sometimes he wished he could go back and slap his younger self around a little for being so stupid. There were some things that hadn’t changed much, as apparent by Adrianna’s choice in notebook and pen. Lani smiled to himself, yes they had all changed.

Following Odion into the diner and took a seat next to his lover. Lani glanced at Odion and holding onto Odion’s hand he nodded and leaned forward to snoop at her papers. How could he, being here now with Odion, even think about getting cold feet? There was no one in the world he would rather be with. Lani fiddled with his ring using the thumb on the same hand to spin it. Marriage. “Where do we start?” He asked and stole another glance at Odion. What were they going to tell the kids? It was true it was probably pretty obvious to some of them. Their personal lives were not something that was often discussed with the teens and it wasn’t something that any of the teens asked. Lani wasn’t sure what they thought would happen if they did but none of them had ever asked him. He wasn’t sure if anyone had ever asked Odion.

[Odion Martins]

It was probably a combination of stubbornness and love that had carried them through their relationship these past eleven years. But Lani had been right to tell Odion that more people needed to know the redhead, more people should get to know him. Though Odion had been hesitant to start, he was now glad to call Adrianna a close friend, someone he could trust and rely on almost as much as he did with Lani. It was even safe to say he loved her, like he loved Caroline. It was people like Adrianna who had also helped keep this relationship alive for eleven years. Maybe time had known what it was doing all along – didn’t it always? Odion wasn’t afraid of the future anymore, and it was okay to care for some people along the way.

Everyone just seemed happier now.

“If by doing something important you mean he had his head in the clouds, then yes, that’s what he was doing,” he said lightly, smirking at her. By now she was used to his darker sense of humor, and they both enjoyed teasing the snot out of Lani. Really, Lani could be so intuitive some times and so oblivious other times. Or he was trying to avoid this planning – was it too late to elope?

When Lani came into Odion’s time sense, it was like a cool breeze after having been out in the sun for too long. Everything felt alright again. He just smirked at Lani as the blond went in to hug Adrianna. He was glad they could tease each other without too much trouble now. It would take a lot more than that to ruffle some feathers.

Odion put his sunglasses on his head as they went inside, happy to be wearing comfortable jeans – who knew how long they might be sitting in here today. Lani’s curiosity didn’t surprise Odion in the slightest, and he passed Adrianna a knowing look. Odion, like Lani, wasn’t having any second thoughts, they had ironed all those things out quite a while ago. Lani saying yes to the proposal was a bet Odion would’ve put his own life on. “Maybe where it’s going to be,” Odion suggested, looking at Lani and smiling brightly, “or when?” He looked at Adrianna hopefully – she probably had way more than that already. “Would you like it outside, inside, summer, winter,” Odion paused, a teasing grin on his face, “or maybe on a boat...”

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrian loved her boys. They really had gotten so close since the beginning. Here it had been this awkward love square turned to a love triangle to finally being the perfect couple plus Adrian and who she chose eventually. It took a while for them to sort everything out and get back into the swing of things (especially around the time her mother died), but for Lani to show up when he heard she was going and having him there when she did pass, Adrian knew they’d always be friends. It just took them time to figure out how to be the right kind of friends without making Odion uncomfortable or worried. And in the process, she grew to love him just as much (if not more sometimes) as Lani. They were a good trio, no longer awkward and uncomfortable in each other’s presence.

“Would that really surprise you? Because it definitely wouldn’t surprise me,” She giggled. Ever since she’d first met him, Lani always had his mind wandering right along with his ability. She never minded it, it was always just funny to watch him drift in and out of reality, more so when his mind wasn’t on the darker parts of his life.

After Lani embraced his now fiance, he went for her and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up, “Lani! I missed you so much!” Gosh it really had been a long time since she spent any time with them at all. Now she was planning their wedding and she would get them all to herself for a while. Greedy, maybe, but they were two of her favorite men in the world! He set her down and she kissed his cheek, “I’ve been great, just setting off in my career endeavors while keeping up this relationship. The twins miss you both terribly.” She said looking between the two of them. Amelia had taken a strong liking to both of them and Kaden had taken a strong liking (surprisingly seeing as how much alike he was to his father) to Lani.

“Odion is right. The venue and the date are two things that must get figured out now because we need to reserve the venue before it gets snatched up. So what are you two thinking? I personally adore summer weddings on the beach, but I’m from Cali so I’m biased.” She looked up from her notepad, glancing between the two boys.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani loved Odion and he loved Adrianna, but sometimes the two teamed up and Lani was usually left sputtering. He was so grateful that things had eventually mended between him and Adrianna and even more grateful that Odion and Adrianna had started to get along. His ears were burning and he had a feeling he knew why as he came upon the laughing pair. “I missed you too,” he said honestly, they spoke on the phone but it was never the same as actually seeing each other. And it had been a while. It had been a while since he’d seen Shapiro too, well since he’d told her to make plans to go wherever he told her once they got the wedding plans done. Wedding plans! Those were daunting plans indeed.

Lani beamed at the mention of the twins. They were too adorable, in his opinion much more like their mother than father. Thank goodness for that. Lani and Venn had never really patched things up. They tolerated each other was more like it. And only because that was how Adrianna wanted it. If Adrianna were gone then all bets were off about what might happen if they were in the same room. “I’m glad to hear it. They’re growing way too fast!” He glanced at Odion thinking of their own horde. They came and went and Lani and Odion acted as teachers, parents, and guides. But sometimes Lani was not fully prepared for what that fully entailed. But above all they were guardians. Odion and Lani had to have a serious conversation about one trouble child in particular and despite Lani’s hopes the kid had proved him wrong and had forced their hand in order to protect the rest of the children.

Stealing a glance at Odion while he was looking over the notebook. Odion had relaxed quite a bit as they had gotten older. He was still very organized, but Lani didn’t mind, he honestly loved antagonizing his lover and making sure he had a healthy dose of chaos around. Glancing from Odion to Adrianna Lani was too turning his eyes to Adrianna looking for the starting point. and then Odion said it. Lani simply gave Odion a expressionless stare. “You’re terrible,” he informed his fiancé, the corner of his lips quirking just a tad. Odion had always wanted to go on a cruise and after much pushing and prodding Lani had agreed. The deal had been that they would go when Lani could swim. Which had actually taken a good while longer as it had taken a full half year for Lani to do more than put his feet in. The fear had never gone away, but when he was on the boat he could at least forget, so long as they weren’t on deck.

Needless to say, boats and water were not something Lani was planning on repeating for a while. Lani narrowed is eyes at Adrianna. Now he knew the two were in cahoots. “I like the idea of summer, but,” he slowly traced his eyes from Odion to Adrianna. “How about some place inland? And dry?” Beaches were something Lani dealt with when he had to. It was still too close to the water for his liking. After all, no one knew when a giant tsunami was going to wipe them all out. Lani’s mind was still out searching for the worst case scenario. He turned to Odion, “Or we could do a beach. And wear shorts and sandals…” He gave Odion a sly look. They both knew if Lani had it his way they would indeed get married in tee shirts. Which was part of the reason Adrianna was here now.

[Odion Martins]

Odion couldn’t suppress his smile. He couldn’t see how Adrianna’s laughter could ever make anyone upset. He looked up at the sky and then glanced back to her. “I suppose we both like wandering in our own ways,” he said, because Adrianna would know what he meant. How many times had he gotten lost in time during their visits altogether? It was beyond annoying now, and was getting worse. He hadn’t said much about it to Lani for fear of worrying him, but there wasn’t much he could hide from Lani these days.

“We miss them too,” he said, catching Lani’s gaze, although he was glad the twins weren’t brought along today. Those poor things would be bored to death! Odion and Adrianna seemed to be dissuading their partners from staring daggers at one another whenever there were play dates.

Laughing, Odion only shrugged as though agreeing with Lani – yes, he could be pretty terrible, but he was only joking at the moment. “No boats then,” Odion said just to make sure. His nostrils flared a little as he sighed, glancing at Lani with tenderness. God they had come a long way, and their relationship was stronger than ever. Less fighting was always a good thing.

Odion laughed at Lani’s idea. “No boats, and no sandals,” he said, though his mind was already somewhere else. “What about a planetarium, or observatory of some sort? Or maybe a museum?” Something inland, and something Lani would like were key things to consider, and he knew that these types of venues often allowed wedding ceremonies for a cost. The cost didn’t matter, what mattered was what Lani wanted. Odion looked to Adrianna for assurance and other ideas. “At least we can all agree on summer.”

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna nodded in agreement. She did know how Odion was, and she understood a lot more now about him than she had before. Back when they were teenagers she couldn’t figure out anything about him because he had been so closed off to other people. She had been surprised when Lani got through with him. Then again, she supposed she shouldn’t have been seeing as how they were so similar in that aspect.

“They’re going to be eleven, can you believe that? Amelia’s got her first crush! Venny doesn’t know, but I’m not sure if I should tell him since she’s ten and it won’t amount to much.” He was definitely not fair when it came to the twins. Kaden was allowed to like as many girls as he wanted, but when it came to his baby girl, well, all boys better beware. He used the whole Marine thing way too much in her opinion, again, seeing as how they were only ten.

Adri laughed along with the two of them. She had remembered the fear Lani had of water, but on a beach she couldn’t see much danger. It wasn’t like they’d have the ceremony in the water. Anyway, she wasn’t going to say any of that because it was their wedding and they had to come to an agreement. “No boats or sandals, check. I’m fairly sure any of those land options would work for a venue, though it may cost a bit more. Not that it’s much of a problem because I happen to be pretty good at persuading people to go less.” It was all part of the business she ran.

“We’ll also need to figure out attire. Seeing as how you are both very dashing gentlemen, I was thinking one of you in a white suit and the other in black? Though with Lani’s feminine features I’m sure he could pull of a dress,” She said with a wink. No, neither of them struck her as dress-wearing.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was fully aware of Odion’s wandering and it did worry him. He wished that Odion would talk about it, he was afraid of what this might mean, if it were in any way possible for Odion to leave him for good Lani didn’t know what he would do. He didn’t like thinking that it was possible for something like that to happen and it had terrified him before the proposal when he thought that Odion had forgotten their careful plans. He hoped that the plans they made this time would not be forgotten. He smiled at Odion, none of the worries showing on his face. His mind had already very much on the adorable twins that Adrianna had. They were absolutely adorable, despite the fact that their father was an ass.

“Eleven,” Lani echoed in disbelief shaking his head. He still marveled at how fast they were growing, their own horde was growing just as fast but he saw them all the time and it was at least something that he could watch happen. Every time he saw the twins they seemed to have grown a few inches. Lani crossed his arms and huffed, “Venn’s an idiot,” Lani muttered darkly twitching a little bit at the way she called him Venny. It seemed to make the man softer and not at all like the ass he was. “That’s cute though, if you ask me telling Venn is only gonna make him go mindless Marine on everyone. Talk about someone with double standards.” Lani’s day may very well sour if they kept talking at the metal man. Lani saw how he treated the girl and boy and it infuriated him, he honestly didn’t know how Adrianna put up with it.

He still remembered Venn’s triumphant return from the Marines. He couldn’t even bring himself to accept Venn as the honorable, he was just a mindless trigger happy meathead. Lani had wanted nothing better than to wipe that superior smirk off of the man’s face. But they weren’t talking about Venn and Lani was not going to let the metal man ruin his day with Odion and Adrianna. The sound of Odion’s laugh brought Lani back from the brink of rage and he smiled at the redhead and gave him a nod in agreement. No boats and no sandals, fair enough. Lani smiled, he liked the ideas but he also knew that Odion was thinking about things that Lani would want and Lani wanted to do something that Odion wanted, well, so long as it didn’t involve water.

Lani smirked, “I don’t think price will be problem.” He pondered, “We could do summer outside somewhere? A park maybe?” He looked at Odion and gave him a shrug. “Oh, or what about oasis we used to go to when we were in Arizona?” Lani asked, it was a rather pretty place a gem in the desert a place he and Odion had found. Granted it was now a resort but it might be nice. It had pools enough to satisfy Odion’s desire for water and enough desert to provide Lani with the comfort of the desert surrounding them. Lani had never imagined there would be so much to go over. And they had hardly begun! Lani tapped his fingers absently on the table and wondered at Odion. They had struggled so much when they had first gotten together but there was an almost terrifying need for them to be together. There had been so many challenges they had gotten through together.

Squeezing Odion’s hand at the thought of all they had been through together. Lani looked into Odion’s endless blue eyes and his smile warmed. He couldn’t be happier. Adrianna started talking about what they would wear and Lani waved at hand at Odion and was going to let Odion figure that out, he was the one that was good with fashion, Lani was usually just along for the ride. They were lucky if he matched. Lani let out a sound mixed with disbelief and humor. He felt himself redden despite the joke. “You’re killing me!” He declared throwing his head back with laughter. Lani recovered and looked at his redhead. “But I think Odion’ll look better in white.”

[Odion Martins]

It was a little insane to think of how the twins were growing before their eyes. And then he and Lani were speaking at the same time. “You’re better off just telling him,” Odion said, seeing as he had personal experience with how well things went when things were left unsaid, even the silly, trivial things. His eyes went a little wide as he glanced at his lover. “Oh bother...” Odi muttered to himself, smirking slightly as he ran his hands through his hair. No, he was not going to argue about this, not when it was some little girl’s crush.

Odion grinned fondly at Adrianna. “Yes, you always had the art of persuasion on your side.” Mulling over Adrianna’s words, especially the word dashing, Odi found himself nodding along. He did like the image, though he didn’t think either of them would look very good in white. It didn’t suit their hair. At the mention of a dress Odion only continued nodding. “He really doesn’t have the hips for it,” he agreed with Adrianna, almost disappointedly. Right, because Odion was very interested in feminine curves... When Lani said he would look good in white, Odion have a resigned sigh. “We can go suit shopping, see what looks best.” It didn’t matter if they saw each other in their outfits, right? Lani might end up coming in jeans and a t-shirt otherwise.

“You really want an oasis? It’ll be us, in suits, in the dessert,” he smirked and glanced between his two friends, “I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to have a hard enough time trying not to faint, and the heat probably won’t help.” In other words, maybe they could keep it indoors. Odion landed his gaze on Lani, wondering what he thought. “It’s too late to elope isn’t it,” he said, a little hopefully. They had already mentioned it to Lani’s family, to Dec... No, people were going to want to attend.