Man After Midnight (Open.)

[Lani Hunter]

It was true, Lani had the benefit of seeing Caroline in a different light. The fact that she was growing was bittersweet, she would always be his sweet little sister, but there was also the sense that maybe she was getting to the point where she didn’t need him anymore and would soon tell him to butt out of her business. It was only fair since he’d told her to butt out of his business for far longer. Lani shook his head, so many things were changing at once and he was a creature of habit and a planner. Things were going differently than they should and tossing his plans to the wind. His normalcy had been disrupted right after he had gotten back to a relative sense and he was kind of over life throwing him back in head first. Not all changes were bad, for certain. But changes were something Lani was used to dealing with in a controlled sense. He had no control over Odion being here and he had no control over what was going on in the world around him. It made for very uncertain footing.

At the bar Lani was only half paying attention to the conversation, the rest of his mind was reeling from the too close contact he’d had with Odion. He bit his lip. No matter what he’d told Avinea, he’d never stopped blaming himself, he couldn’t deny that it was his fault Odion had stayed in Europe, which was part of the reason Lani couldn’t understand why Odion was here, if not to torture him. Lani kept waiting for the punch line, some sort of mention that would reveal Odion’s true intentions. He swallowed, it was a painful reality to know that he didn’t trust Odion anymore. Even worse was the reality that Odion probably no longer trusted him either. And why should he? Lani was a first rate liar and he’d gone behind Odion’s back not even thinking about how the redhead would not want to see his parents. “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” he reminded himself in a whisper. The man stopped mid sentence and gave him a questioning look. Lani just laughed and waved a hand claiming he’d gotten distracted.

Lani quirked a brow at Odion as he approached. Lani watched Odion an impish grin forming on his lips. “Really?” Lani asked with mock interest glancing back at the man at the bar and giving him a smile. He knew he was egging on Odion now and he knew he should stop, but with that look Odion was giving bar-conversation guy Lani might assume Odion was jealous. Lani sipped at the drink and gave it a sidelong look before deciding it wasn’t bad. Well, that’s what he got for just picking something without actually knowing how it would taste. Lani’s eyes never left Odion and he bit his lip. To tease Odion further would have been cruel. Jealous Odion wasn’t something Lani was used to. When they’d been dating Odion had virtually no threats. And Lani’d never had a reason to wander, he had everything he could ever want in a person in Odion. Not to mention Odion was eye candy. And if Odion had been jealous at all when he’d been dating Adrianna Lani’d been too thick to catch it.

A bright smile on his face, Lani lifted his drink to Odion and clinked the edge of his glass against Odion’s. “It’s about time. Cheers.” He tipped his own drink back for another sip. When Lani first met Odion, he’d had to look up the redhead’s birthday and then the first birthday they spent together Odion’s heart was on the rocks with the arrival of his birth certificate. It was really about time they celebrated it without any heavy hearts. “Any big plans for this year?” He asked without thinking. He should know better, Odion didn’t make plans, at least not like Lani did. His eyes searched Odion’s features and admired the changing shades of his skin in the flashing lights and the way his eyes seemed to catch every beam of blue. The Odion right now was more of the Odion Lani remembered now than he was a few days ago when they were carefully keeping their distance. His eyes brightened as he smiled into his glass as he remembered far back when this had all started. He found himself laughing as a funny memory crossed his mind. He didn’t even get the full memory, just a offhanded phrase about how more drinks would make Lani fall in love with Odion. How the tides had turned and now Lani was pushing the drinks on Odion.

[Odion Martins]

Odion didn’t know what it meant to be a sibling, so luckily for Caroline, he treated her as he treated Lani. There was no need to push and prod, but Odion did ask questions that made people think about why they did things the way they did. Of course he would be opposed to someone hurting Caroline, but for her to put herself in danger would be of her own doing – Odi just hoped that if she did ever do that, she knew who to call to be by her side.

While Lani’s mind had been telling him they had gotten too close for comfort, Odion’s mind was begging for more. How long had it been since someone he loved had been near him? How long had it been since he had relived a moment or comment that only the other person would understand? It was excruciating to have someone so close and yet so far away. There were both feeling tortured and yet not a lot had been done about those unresolved feelings. But Odion had told himself to be patient. If things weren’t going to work out, he would know soon enough. It was hard to admit, but even when Odion had flinched at Lani’s touch, he knew that he didn’t trust Lani as much as he once had, but he wanted to.

No assumptions had to be made – of course Odion was jealous! It was written all over his face, and he was the jealous type before alcohol was involved. The redhead rolled his eyes as Lani feigned interest, because Odion knew Lani wasn’t that overt, even when he wanted to be. Perhaps Lani wanted Odion to be jealous, or hoped he was. Odion blinked a couple times, wishing that jealousy didn’t also mean sobriety. He cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows at Lani. If the other man was so much more interesting than him, then Lani should just leave now. It would make things a lot easier to decide upon at least.

Smiling half-heartedly, Odion took a sip from his own drink. It seemed that any sorrow could be drowned in liquor. Happy that Lani was happy, Odion idly played with the smooth surface of the glass. His dark eyes seared past the edge of the glass and on to Lani. He knew where this conversation would go if he played along, but Odion wasn`t stupid.

“Not really in the mood for chit chat,” he said, tapping his temple with a finger, “I find your philosophy more interesting.” Odion promised himself he would stay away physically, but that didn’t mean he was not going to probe what he could from Lani’s mind. Besides, that was what was most interesting to Odion in the first place. The heart could be tricked, but the mind could not. It was where the two intertwined that Odion found himself falling hard for Lani. One could be beautiful and be dull, and one could be brilliant and an asshole. Lani was beautiful and brilliant. Odion sighed, his head in his hand as he leaned against the table staring at his drink. One or two more of those and he might find himself on the floor laughing for no reason at all. “I’m not much for planning,” he explained.

Odion wouldn’t have heard his phone going off, but he certainly felt it. He checked it and smiled. A happy birthday message from Caroline, followed by another demanding that he tell her all about it tomorrow. While Lani had been busy getting drinks, Odion had been texting the young woman to let her know where her older brother was – apparently he hadn’t told anybody. Odi simply told her he was safe and let her assume the where and why. Pocketing his phone, Odion was the one to get up this time. “I’m getting us another round,” he stated, a smile on his face. He was proud because the barkeep agreed to letting him have as many drinks as he could handle.

[Lani Hunter]

Caroline was lucky to have two such dedicated protectors. In truth, Caroline’s opinion of Odion meant a lot and he had to give his little sister credit she’d gotten him to apologize and at least be able to spend a little time with Odion. It was making Lani’s heart sore and his head ache because he wanted so badly to be with Odion but when he was all he wanted to do was hide. He just wished there was an easy fix to this. And if wishes were fished they’d walk on the sea. If only he could look at this like an outside party, then he might be able to use logic and leave his heart out. But he knew where that would end, logic was on his mind’s side, his heart was much more forgiving. So he was stuck. He couldn’t deny the fact that when Odion was around he couldn’t think of anyone else, but could they really work past seven months of heartache? Maybe if they could learn to trust and talk to each other again.

They said that love conquered all, but Lani’d never been one to sit back and let fate take over. Though, it seemed the more he fought fate the more it tossed him around like a rag doll. Lani snickered a little as Odion rolled his eyes and took another sip of his drink. He was getting a little silly but when Odion raised his brows Lani mimicked the action and made himself more comfortable where he was. Sure that man might have been attractive but everyone paled in comparison, it was like Odion was the only one in color in a black and white world. In a sense Odion existing in Lani’s plane of reference was like putting blinders on the blond. So long as there was Odion, there could be no one else. His heart wouldn’t accept it. Lani smiled at Odion and gave a little shake of his head, telling the redhead just that in not so many words.

He refrained from saying anything further and set about emptying his glass. He let his smile linger but the happy memories were making him digress to the here and now. How much more of this could they take? Lani knew if he was too stubborn Odion would give up on him, Lani also knew he couldn’t give anything he wasn’t ready to give. It was like someone had strapped them to a rollercoaster and the machine was throwing them into highs and driving them into lows. The drinking amplified the troughs and ridges, one second Lani was smiling at a memory, the next he was mourning it’s loss. If there was one thing Lani knew now it was that lovers or not, he wasn’t going to let Odion go a second time. Even if it was painful, the thought of Odion not being here was enough to give the telekinetic depression.

Chit-chat? Lani raised a brow in askance, “So go dance?” Lani said uncertainly, but Odion soon continued and that made Lani’s brows come back down as he narrowed his eyes at Odion. Lani looked at Odion his head cocked to the side as he surveyed the redhead suspiciously. “I thought you though philosophy was boring,” Lani pointed out tossing his head to the other side as if looking at Odion from a different angle would give him a better answer. It would do well for Odion to tread carefully into the mind of a crazy person. Thoughts bounced off his skull and occasionally Lani found himself verbally refuting or agreeing with them. Perhaps it was partially the telekinesis that made his mind treacherous, one never knew what thought might trigger the dragon Lani had sleeping in his mind. Lani watched Odion over his shoulder and smiled. “Probably for the best,” Lani replied, “Plans have ways of going awry.”

Lani shot Odion an accusing look, smiling to take out a bit of the sting. Odion was the anomaly that Lani had never been able to account for and more of his well laid plans had gone off the mark when Odion’s spontaneous, and admittedly, better ideas came about. Even now Odion was ruining Lani’s plan. His plan was to get over Odion and never let another human being closer than arm’s length. Well, his heart’s walls were not quite so fortified against Odion. “Who’re you texting?” Lani asked with interest trying to steal a peak at the name, but Odion was too quick and Lani needed more time for his eyes to focus on the letters that spelled the name. Lani’s eyes snapped up to Odion’s in shock. “Already? I’m not even… well,” he stopped when he actually examined the glass, it had another swallow left but he wasn’t quite sure rapid fire of whatever these were was a good idea. “You sure? Maybe you should take it easy?” He said his brow creasing in worry, Odion had already been drunk when Lani arrived and Lani had spent plenty of time playing catch up but he was pretty sure he was not quite on Odion’s level.

[Odion Martins]

It was really hard to pay attention to all the little signs Odion might otherwise see while sober. He was a people watcher for a reason, and often people said more with their body language and their eyes than they would ever be willing to admit with their lips. Odion was especially good at recognizing whether someone was lying or not. He was not as apt to telling when people were keeping something from him, especially when he trusted them. After all, lying and withholding the truth were completely different things.

Odion didn't want to give up on Lani - not now not ever. But he wasn't going to force Lani into anything either. So while he would never want to leave Lani, he wanted it to be consensual. But in this moment, Odion thought there was still a certain chemistry between them, and it had simply reverted back to being uncomfortable between them. That didn't mean it couldn't be comfortable once more. Perhaps there was hope. Otherwise, Lani was correct - Odion wasn't going to stick around just to become a stalker. They would forever be a tornado and a volcano, but weather was forever changing which meant there was hope for them yet. Maybe if he could just let Lani know about the memories he was recovering as that happened... Odion let the thought fester along with the rest of his mental wounds.

Smirking, Odion shook his head. "No, not really." He answered, looking up levelly at Lani. If he truly thought philosophy was boring, why was he such a thinker? If he didn't want to hear about Lani's philosophy, why did they argue so much? Lani was interesting, and it wasn't because Odion simply accepted everything the telekinetic had to say. Odion nodded in agreement - they both knew that plans went awry too well. "If you could see all the ways things could turn out..." Odion started, venturing back into how his power worked. Well, when it was working properly and he could use it. But one thing was for certain when it came to Odi's future - Lani was always on the other end of his memories.

It was hard to be a person without memories.

An easy smile crossed Odion's face - too easy. "A friend." It was the same way he had answered Lani when the blond asked how Odion had figured out where he was living. Eventually Lani would find out that his sister and his... Odion, were in cahoots. This secret was being kept for Caroline's sake, and Odion hoped Lani would find out when the timing suited, or that Caroline herself would tell Lani. But if neither Odion nor Caroline had told Lani, it probably meant Lani wasn't ready to handle the truth just yet.

Unsure how to react to Lani's concern over him, Odion simply stared for a moment at Lani. Odion's lips parted but shut just as quickly. He hadn't been sure what he was going to say, but he couldn't be sure it was something nice, because it felt like Lani was playing with his heart strings. Odion turned on the spot and headed towards the bar - he wasn't in the business of taking things easy. The barkeep was smirking at him as he approached and settled his forearms on the bar. "What'll it be this time Red?" Odion laughed, shrugging in a coy manner. "Paralyzer, and one for my best friend too." Odion was happy with the truthful response and zoned out on nothing as he waited for the drinks. Once he had one in each hand, Odion made his way back to Lani. Maybe the blond was munching on ice as he often did.

Odion touched the bottom of his seat before sliding into it, since it would've been embarrassing to try sitting on thin air. It wouldn't be the first time that happened while he was drunk. "There's a reason they call it a Paralyzer," he said, setting the drink down carefully in front of Lani as though it were a prize. There were 6 different kinds of alcohol in the drink and it was delicious. Well, Odion thought it was, if his dead taste buds had any say in the matter. Odion looked at the drink pensively, deciding now that nursing this last drink would be a good idea. Thinking about the pacing of this drink was far easier than thinking about Lani, and whether the blond still cared for him or not.

[Lani Hunter]

So many weeks Lani had been walking around like a zombie. If he hadn’t had the people around him who he had perhaps he too would have lost everything he could make sense of it. It was like he balanced back on the edge of the abyss, he’d crawled out of the very bottom with Odion’s help and as Lani gazed into the blackness at his feet he knew he wouldn’t survive another trip there. He swayed and a part of him wondered if he shouldn’t just jump now and save himself the strain of the external push. It would be so easy, just one step forward and then gravity would take hold. No one was there to catch him this time. He’d frozen his heart and stonewalled everyone around him. This was one of those many moments Lani wished he hadn’t been so curious about the world. All he’d learned was how to by cynical, logical.

The connection between them wasn’t imagined. There was a lot about the world Lani still couldn’t explain and love was one of them. He didn’t know why when he wanted nothing more than to run away his heart demanded he run toward. He supposed it was of the same illogical sense that made people do crazy things. Lani couldn’t explain it, whatever it was, it was emotion and it was dangerous. Reverted, perhaps, perhaps not. It was a different sense of uncomfortable. It was still the wall between them, but it had been built for far different reasons. The parallels were impossible to ignore, but the state they found themselves in was so foreign. Lani’s head was starting to spin pleasantly and it was making nailing down whatever this was as hard as it was threading a needle. Was it too much to ask for things to just make sense again?

Lani raised a brow at Odion and let out a little laugh. Odion had always challenged him and he didn’t let Lani get away with a ‘that’s just the way it is’ explanation. It had made Lani question why he thought certain things and as much as he was annoyed by the constant bickering, Odion’s insight was always fascinating and he had such a different perspective on the world that it allowed Lani to turn and look at the situation from a different angle. Lani frowned at the familiar sentence. “I’d go insane trying.” He replied, it was true, he would spend so much time looking at possibilities that he would never do anything. But Odion could. Lani closed his eyes and attempted to focus his mind. Odion had gotten lost in time, or so he claimed. Lani wanted to believe him, he wanted everything to be better. He opened his eyes and watched Odion. “Is it getting better?” He asked.

Lani harrumphed at the response and couldn’t help it, he cross his arms and pouted. He didn’t like it when there were things he didn’t know. Especially if this was the same friend who had told Odion his whereabouts. It was going to kill him until he was able to figure it out. It was probably for the best, Lani would probably not take it very well. The wounds were too fresh and would probably breed fury and even more hurt in Lani. And in defense for Caroline’s silence, when said person who might be pushed to fury had a tendency to have an emotionally triggered bout of telekinesis, it was probably best not to court his fury. Lani was half tempted to snag Odion’s phone as he walked away. But there were two things that were stopping his fingers. One was that if he was trying to trust Odion again, stealing from him wasn’t going to work. And secondly, he was drunk and even when they were sober Odion was the better pickpocket and would probably know the instant Lani made the move.

So, Odion walked away and left a worried Lani behind to shrug and hazard that Odion knew his limits. Alone with his thoughts Lani periodically tipped the glass back as though he were searching for every last drop of alcohol. He looked into his glass and was sad to say that soon enough he was chewing on ice. It probably wasn’t the best thing but it gave him something to do. Without Odion’s presence Lani let his mind wander and he escaped back into his mind. How was he supposed to figure out what he was feeling? This wasn’t like the movies, it wasn’t some drastic realization based on some freak incident. No, Lani was very sure of what he was feeling. The problem was if he was willing to risk feeling what he’d felt over the past seven months all over again in the event Odion left again. There was also Odion to consider. Lani wanted to be selfish and think of himself but that was never the kind of thing he and Odion had had. It had been a partnership and they were still learning, and honestly still screwing up.

Lani hadn’t realized Odion had come back until the drink was set down in front of him. He looked at Odion and then at the drink before setting aside his now empty glass. Lani raised a brow and wondered for a moment if Odion was trying to poison him. Well, there were worse ways to go, Lani decided and sampled the drink. “Not bad,” Lani commented and allowed the silence between them to grow. Despite the pounding music the silence was deafening. He spun his glass in his hands and after a few moments his power took it and spun it along the corner within the bounds of his hands. Did he tell Odion he’d gotten better? Say something, his mind pressed him, but he didn’t know what to say.

He opened his mouth to speak but ended up drowning whatever he was going to say in alcohol. He hissed a little as the strong drink burned. Then it all became too much, his mind was spinning and he set the glass down with a little more force than he meant. This wasn’t right! Odion said his birthday was being properly celebrated, but that was a lie. If it was being properly celebrated they would be together and there wouldn’t be this war zone between them. “You asked me for something,” Lani said abruptly, thinking back. He hated this, he was so bad at this ‘talking about his feelings’ thing. It was his problem, but it was only hurting Odion. Besides, it was Odion's birthday, he deserved something. “I want you to stay.” He didn’t care what happened he just didn’t want to live in a world without Odion Martins again. Lani sighed heavily and slumped against the table as though the statement drained him of physical energy. He rested his chin on his arm and lifting his drink so it was at eye level. Lani didn’t want to ask for more time, it seemed that he was always the slow one, the one that needed to be waited on. His mood shifted like the wind. No you don’t, Lani Hunter, you get off this thought train right now, he told himself firmly.

[Odion Martins]

Odion had been through extreme loneliness before, but these last few months had really taken the cake. It seemed that the only thing that stopped him from taking the last cliff dive, was knowing that someone cared about him. If nobody did, then he would’ve ended it all a long time ago, back when Lani had found him in his Hammel dorm room, upset and drunk and mourning. Everything in life seemed so dramatic for him, like he had been given the very best only to have it taken away. He hadn’t lost control of his time back then like he had recently. It seemed the more he gained the more he lost. But unlike Lani, he was ready to lose it all again. Yes Lani had wronged him, but Lani could wrong him again and again and Odion would forever forgive him and want him back. That didn’t make what Lani did right, but Odion was willing to forgive and try again. He had to…

There was a point where Odion stopped trying to explain certain things, as people were an anomaly he simply couldn’t wrap his mind around. Some things were simple, other things were not, and people were the most complex of all things he had encountered. Some things made logical sense through and through, while others never would. Odion was okay with that, it made life more interesting as well as illogical. He wasn’t a linear person or a linear thinker, so he could more easily accept that people and their emotions and choices like love, were going to be complex and he would never completely understand them. Just because one understood emotions themselves, did not mean one could understand the person behind them completely.

When Odion chuckled, his shoulders bobbed. “It can be amusing when you’re bored,” he somewhat explained, taking another sip of his drink. Yes the possibility of time was endless depending on the actions people took thanks to freewill. It didn’t mean he had explored every possibility, since the possibilities were endless, but the ones he had explored had been interesting and had given him some insight. “I could freeze time for a lifetime and see every possibility of one moment, but that’s just one moment…” And he would never know how long it would take for him to give out. “Much better just to live,” he added with a nod. Odion’s eyes gazed easily at Lani. “I have been trying to…” Odion stumbled as the perfect word to describe what he was doing slipped his drunken mind. He cleared his throat – take two. “To look at what happened most recently, and am working my way back.” Now, he was being upfront with Lani.

Lani had been wise not to pickpocket Odion of his cell phone – that possibility it time wasn’t one Lani wanted to take if he wanted to continue seeing the redhead.

Odion only nodded as Lani commented after sampling the drink. It wasn’t a very good drink to start the night off with, since it was so fucking strong. But after a few drinks, the taste of alcohol disappeared. If this drink didn’t get you drunk, nothing would. Odion could feel himself losing more and more control, and it was a pleasant loss indeed. Odion didn’t mind the silence, it was what he had lived with for so long. But he had to admit that his best memories were filled with laughter and conversation. If he picked the right strands of time, there would be much more of that still to come – it was time to make new memories. Odion noticed the spinning glass and blinked a few times, his brow furrowing. “Either you’re getting better at bar tricks, or I’m seriously drunk.” He commented, and then smiled to himself. Or maybe it was both, that could be fun.

The redhead jumped a little at Lani’s sudden actions, and he was looking at Lani with wide eyes of surprise and amusement. “I did?” Odion asked dumbly, having really no idea where this was going. As far as he could remember, he hadn’t asked Lani for anything tonight, expect maybe to dance. Odion did his best to listen to what Lani was saying next and he nodded. Was that all? “Yeah okay, we’ll stay here all night.” He smirked and took another drink, clearly missing what Lani was implying. Odion could only see what was right in front of him at the moment, and even that was very blurry. He watched as Lani slumped and tilted his head to the side. Something wasn’t matching here, between the statement and Lani’s current posture. “What’s wrong?”

[Lani Hunter]

That was something that Lani didn’t understand. They’d hurt each other and Lani’d never really blamed Odion at all, his anger stemmed from the sting of their separation and the feeling that Odion had lied just as much as Lani did. Odion had said that he would never leave Lani and after all they had been through together Lani thought that that meant something, then for Odion to just be gone. It hurt more than the telekinetic could bear. And he wanted to listen, he wanted to believe that Odion would have been there if his power hadn’t acted up. Lani knew even then it wasn’t all Odion’s fault, Odion walked away from their fight just as much as Lani had walked away. He shook his head like a dog, this wasn’t something he wanted to think about right now. It was Odion’s birthday he just wanted to be happy he was back.

Lani’s lips twitched upward at the comment. Time and the future were the real definition of infinity and the unknown. Infinite unknowns for the single life and even as it wove here and there it collided with the same people. “Especially when it means you can’t know anything,” Lani said in agreement. That didn’t mean that Lani didn’t like to plan, but there were some things that could not be accounted for in a normal situation. The infinite possibilities would only lead to a failure to come to an answer. Odion was right they would grow skeletal and elderly trying. Lani turned and caught Odion’s eyes as he spoke. Lani frowned, he still didn’t understand why Odion would want to go back. What was done was done, why not leave it. He got that it unsettled Odion not to know, but maybe there were things better left to the forgotten realm. So drunken Lani allowed for his tongue to slip, “Why?”

He would have kicked himself if he had the capacity to do so. Why would he just ask ‘why?’? He knew why! Odion wanted to know what had happened, Lani would want the same thing if he had blacked out. He would have never stopped nagging the time turner until he took him back so Lani knew. But what Lani didn’t understand was why he wanted to go all the way back and remember the fight. That was something Lani would give his right hand to forget. He remembered right after he and Odion had broken up he’d asked Adrianna if she knew anyone who could wipe his memory. Luckily, Adrianna had scolded him and made Lani see that that was no way to deal with his problems. It had been a desperate move and the longer from the breakup it got the less he wanted to forget and the more he just wanted to not think about it every waking moment. That was why he didn’t know why Odion wanted to put himself through that.

Strong indeed and a few more sips and Lani was starting to forget why he was feeling a mix of emotions. He remembered Odion was here and he remember that he had been gone. He remembered how hard it had been to breathe when Odion was gone and how it had gotten harder when Odion returned. Lani caught up the glass and gave Odion an impish smile as he raised the glass to his lips. “Well,” he said as he swallowed, “You’re seriously drunk, so now it all depends on whether or not the two are mutually exclusive. And on our ability to know what we think we know.” Well, Lani was drunk, that ship has officially sailed. He swiveled his head to Odion and stared straight into his blues and asked, “Do you know what you think you know?” It was as if that question was weighed with the world. All that they knew and all they didn’t and all that they could know and could never know rested in that question. Or maybe Lani was just a crazy person.

Lani nodded at the redhead, unaware that they were currently having two different conversations. Lani perked up at the initial response his bright eyes looking at Odion for some sort of verification, then ‘here all night’ but what about all the other nights. “Only tonight?” He whispered sadly. His heart fell, so Odion was only hear for tonight. Maybe he was a hallucination. Suddenly it felt like someone had offered him the world then taken it all away. He tried his best to not look so crestfallen, but clearly Odion noticed something. Lani shook his head, either way it was Odion’s birthday. And maybe he was celebrating it with Odion or maybe he was just drinking himself into a stupor, but either way he didn’t want to be sad. He didn’t want to be thinking these sad thoughts, these thoughts of the things he’d done wrong. He shook his head and smiled the mask slipping back on his face. He laughed a bit, “Nuthin’, I just was not prepared for this,” he joked pointing at the glass, which to his surprise was almost empty. He had half a mind to accuse Odion of drinking it, even thought it had not left his hands. Lani definitely didn’t hold his alcohol as well as the Irishman.

[Odion Martins]

Perhaps things hurt so much because they were constantly trying to prove to the other that the other was truly good on the inside. It was hard to live up to such a person. It was hard to be placed on a pedestal. It wasn’t that they expected perfection from the other, but that was why the other was perfect. At least, this was how Odion felt. Odion was doing his best now to understand why these last few months had happened, and he had to do so carefully. It was a good thing he was so patient, otherwise, he could just as easily lapse into another bought of time amnesia.

Odi nodded almost solemnly. “Nothing is for certain.” It was a broad statement, but that’s usually how Odion liked to leave things. It was often better to be vague than specific, so people could assume what they wanted and could make what they willed of what he said. He had only ever been very specific with a few people in his life, and he hoped that he could start doing that again soon. Plus, broad statements were safer when one wasn’t thinking clearly.

Odion pursed his lips, and for once, didn’t spend too much time thinking of a specific answer to a broad question. “Because, I need to know how and why I could be so stupid as to not go after the love of my life...” It hurt to say, but it was true. If they were ever going to work again, the truth was a good place to start. Odion finally glanced down after a long moment of staring at Lani. He had to know so that he wouldn’t ever do it again, so he could fix or maybe control his power better. He had to know because he knew every other painful memory of his life and was still standing. It also hurt because it felt like no time had passed between them, Odion didn’t feel the distance as much as Lani did, so in order to really understand what Lani was going through, Odion had to know what that was like, otherwise, things wouldn’t seem right. A hand went to his forehead as he tried not to think about the last reason why it hurt to admit to – Lani was and would always be the love of his life, and Odion didn’t want to lose him.

Taking a long drink, Odion just wanted to stop feeling for now. Yes he could hold his liquor, but he wished he wasn’t so immune. It was a good thing his power wasn’t tactile intoxication – he could be dead from it by now. Odi giggled to himself and shook his head softly, “Whatever.” There was no chance in hell that he would be keeping up with whatever Lani was saying now. Mutually exclusive? Were they discussing relationships or something? Then he laughed at the next question. Perhaps Lani was viewing things seriously, but Odion was allowing himself some freedom. “I know what I know I know, what I think I know I don’t.” Yes, that sounded brilliant. He would win Lani back on sheer brilliance alone, and the way he could still manage to speak after having many hard drinks. And dancing, dancing had to be an asset.

Frowning, Odion looked around the bar, trying to figure out why Lani seemed to distraught that they would only be here tonight. There wasn’t anything special about it, a bar was a bar was a bar. But, wanting to see Lani happy, Odion turned but to face the blond with a reassuring smile. “We can come back whenever you want to!” It wasn’t really a big deal, Odi could forego all other places if Lani insisted. Odion was having a difficult time seeing Lani so upset, and he was still trying to figure out why Lani was so sad about not staying here forever. “They have to close eventually,” he said, patting Lani’s hands carefully. The redhead smirked at the telekinetic, sitting further back in his chair. “They’re called Paralyzers for a reason,” he said, feeling as though he had said it before. Or maybe that was just something he had thought – it was getting hard to tell.

“Lani?” Odion asked, glad there was still about half of his drink left. Hopefully he wouldn’t say anything too stupid, he had already spilled his heart out and they were both gone with the wind. Odi slipped out of his chair and stood next to Lani, a hand on the blond’s shoulder. “I have to knight you,” he stated, as though this happened on a regular basis. “I have to knight you Sir Captain Obvious.” Alright, so maybe the liquor was hitting him harder now than it was before...

[Lani Hunter]

They really weren’t doing each other any favors by beating themselves up over every little things they did. Though some mistakes were bigger than others, maybe it was the high standards. Lani looked in the mirror and he didn’t see what Odion saw, and he remembered a conversation with Odion about how the redhead saw himself. Lani would just mentally have to add that onto the things that they would eventually have to talk about sober. But, one thing nagged at his skull, through all of their mistakes and all of their flawed attempts to help each other, had they ever told each other that it was alright to fail? Lani couldn’t think straight, but if they hadn’t he would now. It was okay to fail, it was natural, human. It was something that made them who they were. Perfection was a pretty illusion and though Lani’s heart strained for Odion as if he were perfection, Odion was just as perfect for the things that made him imperfect.

Lani nodded again and sighed wistfully. How easy life would be if things were certain. There would be less stress and someone could legitimately relax if they knew for certain what was going to happen. There was only one certainty and that was that the world would do as it would regardless of what people did or what people thought they knew about it. There was always a new surprise. Lani looked up at Odion his eyes going wide as the redhead spoke. Every word struck Lani through the heard and he wanted to take Odion in his arms and just hold him. Lani closed his eyes, that was the alcohol talking, he told himself. So he had the opposite reaction, he stiffened and locked his eyes on his drink clutching it tightly in his hands. It wasn’t fair, that Odion could be here calling Lani ‘the love of his life’. It made it real, it made it something that Lani couldn’t ignore, not when his heart agreed so much.

He forced himself to look up at Odion. “I know what happened, and I’m still asking myself.” He said, inferring that if Odion did try he might not find the answers he was looking for. He had been able to ignore it, but now that Odion was here and present the question kept hammering in his brain, what if he hadn’t gotten on the plane, what if he had gone after Odion? What if, what if, ‘what if’ is the tune the devil plays on cold nights. He would wake up in the morning, with probably quite a bit of hangover remorse and reason through this. It would be alright. He sighed heavily and shook his head. Would he really be so foolish as to let pride and hurt keep him from going after the love of his life? He was still resisting. He wished he wasn’t. “Whatever,” Lani finally said shaking his head, “Do what you want. But, be careful. Please.” He didn’t want to lose Odion all over again.

“Woah,” Lani said, his mind pretty much blown by Odion’s answer. He opened his mouth and closed it several times as he tried to work through what Odion had said, because he was absolutely sure that Odion had answered the correct answer to the universe and Lani still couldn’t figure it out. Lani pointed at Odion waving the finger for a moment while his finger attempted to point directly at Odion and seemed to keep missing. “You’re a philosopher.” He said in an accusing tone before laughing in excitement. Mostly because Odion could deny it all he wanted but now, now Lani knew. Odion was a philosopher. It made perfect sense, honestly to know things and to think of knowing things were completely different beasts. Lani turned suddenly on Odion and blinked, “But how do you know what you know and not that you just think you know what you know you know?” Lani was even having trouble following his own question now and added, “Unless you don’t?”

Emotions were hard and add alcohol enhanced emotions and Lani might as well have been picking thoughts out of a hat and taking on their associated emotion. Lani smiled in return to the reassuring smile, his hope restored as Odion said they you come back. He was pretty sure his drunken smile was more than a little lopsided as the whole world was tilting, thought that might just be because he was tilting his head to one side. He was going to remember probably very little and if Odion approached him later about going back to the same bar Lani would probably be rather confused. Speaking of confusion, Lani’s brow creased and he tried to focus on Odion, who would just not stand still. “Who’s closing?” He asked before looking back at his hands and Odion’s. He didn’t move them but his fingers twitched without his permission to move toward Odion’s hands. Whether Odion had said it before or not Lani nodded, “For real.” He agreed, he was paralyzed or something.

“Odion.” Lani replied blinking hard at Odion, confused at why they were naming each other. Odion came closer and Lani’s heart rate sped and he looked at Odion and raised a brow at Odion as he started speaking. Lani tried his best to hold onto a straight as long as he could. But his face finally broke and he burst out into laughter. Lani nearly had a spill out of his chair as he was consumed by giggles. He wrapped his arms around himself as he laughed, it probably wasn’t that funny, but Lani hadn’t laughed like this in ages. When he finally recovered his first course of action was to take a sip of his drink. He smiled chuckling a little bit to himself. “God, it’s so good to see you, Odion.” He smiled brightly at the redhead, “I can’t be Captain Obvious without my Lieutenant Clueless.” Lani’s heart warmed at the old joke and the good memories flooded his mind. His heart was sore with the bad memories and his mind brought the good memories up with a touch of bitterness and loss, but his heart welcomed the warmth with open arms. "What a good night," he said and elbowed Odion with a silly grin on his face, "Get it?" He giggled a little bit, waggling his eyebrows so impressed with his own cleverness in the poorly executed pun.

[Odion Martins]

They were, as the saying goes, their own worst critics. While the other was willing to forgive or at least work out the problem, the other thought they were simply too irredeemable to be given another chance. Odion wasn’t sure it had taken him so long to get here, but that didn’t make this statement any less true: he needed Lani because he made Odion a better person. Better in every sense of the word. They lived in worlds where high stakes were always on the line, and adult decisions needed to be made. In all reality, they had faired considerably well for their age and their illegal circumstances. In those instances, failure was not an option. It was hard not to apply that kind of mindset into the rest of one’s life, and failure had never been explicitly accepted, despite just how human they are. And Odion truly cared for Lani, faults and all. If failure wasn’t okay, he wouldn’t be here. Did it really need to be said? Maybe.

While Odion could see all the possible lines of times ahead of each moment if he so chose to look, he would never know which one would get chosen. And there was no way he would be able to remember them all, so looking at them all didn’t really matter. Not to mention that it took away from the fun of thinking on your feet and being a coy little bastard. For instance, Odion may have been able to stop time to see all of the different reactions Lani could have based on what was running through his head and ultimately, what he decided to say and show. But that didn’t happen because number one, Odion was distraught over his own words, two, he was drunk, and three, he had only been using his power carefully – now was not the time to test the limits.

Still unable to look at Lani even while he spoke, Odion only nodded once. If he said too much too soon, things wouldn’t end well. He had already admitted how he felt and Lani wasn’t reciprocating. He hadn’t come here to wear his heart on his sleeve, but that was exactly what was happening. It was almost as if he couldn’t help it so long as Lani was around. Odion wasn’t sure what had kept him away, but he wasn’t trying to be the tough street kid he knew how to act out really well. Odion mulled over Lani’s reaction almost in slow motion, getting lost in time momentarily. How could Lani go through it completely and still not know why or what had kept them apart? What had been so final that they decided to permanently stay away? He could drive himself mad thinking of the possibilities, because time had nothing to do with these emotions. He couldn’t see the possibilities, it was a matter of looking at what happened in real time. “I am.” Odion said, wondering if it had been a good idea to share what he was doing with Lani the worrywart.

All Odion could do was laugh at Lani. “That made sense, yeah?” It was a question but Odion was already answering yes in his head and thinking how brilliant he was. Lani was clearly impressed. Odion was sitting in a rather odd way, one arm on the table while the other was behind him on the back of the chair in an attempt to look ‘casual’. “You already knew that,” he said flippantly. “Odion the Philosopher,” he said, mulling it over as he stared at the ceiling absently, “has a nice ring.” Odion placed a thoughtful finger over his mouth, wondering at the question. “You have to know something for certain if you know it, even if it’s not true. If you’re uncertain, then you think you know you know, but you don’t.” This was going nowhere fast, but the smile on Odion’s face said he was enjoying riding in circles. It was better than their previous conversation, not heart wrenching.

Odion wasn’t going to remember too much of tonight either, but that could just be added to the other list of events he had to go back and visit. He really didn’t want to come back here all the time anyways, he was just trying to be nice. At least Lani was smiling again, and seeing him acting goofy and silly was just what Odion wanted to see. Odi succumbed to another fit of giggles, like he was about to burst with some universe altering secret. “The bar Lani, we can’t stay here forever.” Odion glanced at their hands and then back to Lani, a funny grin on his face. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself, but he was feeling antsy. Even if he didn’t dance, he still needed to get out of this chair. Who knew what he would do next!

Apparently he was knighting Lani. “I don’t have permission from the Queen, so it won’t be official until we go see her.” He wasn’t sure when that would be, but he’d have to schedule an appointment. Odion had a permanent smirk on his face and was waiting for Lani to quit giggling, this was serious business! But Odi was laughing too, and at one point readied himself for Lani to fall out of his chair, and he was glad a hand had remained on the blond’s shoulder. Hopefully there would be no hospital trips. “Alright, but why do you get to be a knight?” Odion asked, wishing he too, could be so gallant. Odion stared blankly at Lani for a few moments before smiling. “Oh! Ha ha, punny,” he said, still standing there awkwardly. What was he doing again? Feeling confused, he looked around until he spotted his drink. Now was a good time to sway to the music and have another sip. Quarter left. Odion looked around again was surprised when he saw Lani. “What are we doing here?” He was getting tired of everyone staring at him.

[Lani Hunter]

There were a lot of things that had to be said. Perhaps that was their biggest problem, there were so many things that they just didn’t say. Lani wasn’t good at expressing his emotions well and he had yet to accomplish just coming out and saying that he was angry or upset or something. He usually just turned passive aggressive, or really aggressive, or just shut himself away. None of which were productive ways of dealing with emotions. It was true that communication could make or break a relationship and when everything had hit the boiling point with them in Europe things spilled off their tongues that had been long tucked away and the whole thing had been terribly painful. They had to be as Odion was, upfront with each other, but that was still a terrifying thing. Odion knew Lani better than anyone and Lani felt like he was still trying to hide from that, especially now.

Lani didn’t want to admit that he was still in love with Odion. It had been an easy fact to ignore when the redhead was away, it was something he could move past, but now it was like a roadblock. The only solutions to the problem were to keep running, but Lani was tired of running and honestly he knew what a cold person he had become in Odion’s absence and he didn’t want to be that person. He also didn’t want Odion to become that person. He was more than a little worried that once Odion went back and saw it all again he’d realize that it wasn’t at all worth it. But there was nothing Lani could do or say to stop him, so the telekinetic just nodded, accepting what Odion would give him as far as being careful. At least now Lani had something to worry about that wasn’t the state of their relationship.

Nodding, Lani took another sip. “Often times things that make the most sense make the least of it.” Yes, if they were to get their brains together at this moment in time and write a paper they would probably far impress Lani’s philosophy professor. Lani was already pretty sure that the mug his professor had had something other than coffee in it sometimes. Lani chucked, it did have a nice ring to it. Lani was excited, it felt like pieces were just falling back together and he nodded along, glad that Odion was humoring his thoughts. Lani hummed along to the tune as he rolled the thoughts around in his head. “What if there is no basis for you to know what you’re certain you know? How can you know anything at all? Can we really trust what we see and hear?” He asked cocking his head to the side. He really wanted to think that he knew he wasn’t hallucinating.

Odion’s laughter brought out an embarrassed blush in Lani’s face. He pursed his lips and his brow creased in confusion before he connected his palm with his forehead. What were they even talking about now? “What? Of course it does, Odion,” Lani said with a shake of his head. He couldn’t figure out why Odion was telling him that the bar was closing and what that had to do with anything. In addition to the stationary motion Odion was in when the redhead started to actually move Lani’s eyes were having to narrow and widen to try to focus on him. Well, this was a night of interesting and strange movements. He and Odion had been drunk together before but they’d never been broken up drunk together, part of Lani’s mind acknowledged that there were many ways that this could go very badly.

Odion started talking about the Queen and Lani had already lost focus as his mind had moved onto other, what he deemed more pressing matters. Like who the hell was drinking his drink because he didn’t remember drinking it but it was empty now. He was very off balance and very glad that Odion was holding onto him because four legs were more steady than two. Seriously, whoever thought walking on two legs was a good idea? It only made falling over easier. He turned back to Odion and gave him a confused glance. “Being a knight is overrated,” he said, “They’re always the ass-hats that get themselves eaten by the dragon.” He said in complete seriousness because that was always what happened with novels. So many knights went up against it and got eaten, then there was one guy who was extra special for no other reason than he was the main character and he accomplished the feat no one else could. Lani grinned like an imp and nodded, he was brilliant.

Confused again Lani looked up as he thought of an answer. He was assuming that Odion was having some sort of existential crisis. “Waiting for Godot,” he replied without pause and giggled to himself, because he was so clever. He didn’t think it was a serious question so he smiled and waved his hands about, “I can’t be for certain what I think I know, but I think I know that we’re here and drinking.” He said pointing at the empty glass now sitting on the table. Son of a— when did his drink become empty? Someone was being very sneaky. Poor Lani wasn’t even realizing that he was too drunk to realize that he was forgetting he was drinking. “Oh well, no matter,” he himself popped out of his chair as there was nothing in his glass anymore and therefore nothing of interest for him at the table. “Here is boring, let’s go elsewhere.” Lani turned back to Odion and grabbed the redhead by the shoulders. “Odion.” He said as if that were the answer, "It's your birthday, let's do something. What do you want to do?" Lani was bored suddenly and honestly Odion had better make up his mind fast or Lani would change his mind about being bored too.

[Odion Martins]

When Odion had decided to show Lani just what his power was capable of, it was because he knew that showing was easier than saying. While Odion was a man of words and could be very romantic, it was much more effective for him to simply show what was on his heart, and point out the important parts of their journey along the way. Every moment before the fight with Lani was forever singed into Odion’s mind, only momentarily forgotten when he was under some kind of influence, whether that be time or drugs. It would’ve been easier to show and tell before everything had reached their limit, and Odion knew that now. He was definitely a hands on person, and if he couldn’t learn from his mistakes or someone else’s mistakes, he would never learn at all.

Of course Odion was still in love with Lani, it was the only thing that made sense in his life. If he didn’t have that, then he didn’t have much. Everything would become a lie, and everything wouldn’t matter anymore. Maybe that was a lot riding on one relationship, but it was better than having no hope. Odion knew he would be far worse if it weren’t for Lani. He knew who he could be, but that didn’t seem to matter if he didn’t have that side of himself to share with someone else. Odion needed to go through the whole thing, because Lani wasn’t supposed to have been alone in the first place. Someone snapped, something he couldn’t undo without causing other kinds of damage. And honestly, trust was more important than pretending like nothing was wrong. Odion would deal with the pain if he knew Lani would be there in the end, and when Lani had left Europe, left him, there was nothing to look forward to.

Philosophy was one of Odion’s favorite subjects, but Lani was by far his personal favorite. “I think it’s the same thing with simple things. Not all simple things mind you, but things get complicated before they make sense.” He wasn’t really sure what they were talking about anymore, or if they were even on the same page. They could write an essay, but only a madman would be able to understand their points, especially when they themselves could not. “No, we can’t,” Odion said, musing over the thoughts, “but if you don’t, then there’s nothing else to go off of and that only leaves insanity to entertain.” And that was something Odion did not ever want to indulge. Maybe reality was skewed, or maybe it wasn’t real at all, but that was something no one could control.

Odion could only think of the good that could come of this night – he didn’t want to stay without a reason. “Well... Never mind,” Odion said, waving his hand. Maybe Lani had been talking about something else, he wasn’t even sure anymore. It was really too bad he had missed the gist of that conversation, or maybe it wasn’t. If he had understood it properly, he would be acting far more daring at the moment, and that might lead Lani into thinking they were moving too quickly.

Odion just stared at Lani with his mouth slightly open. “Are you serious? Being a knight is an honor,” he insisted, “you obviously don’t know your medieval literature.” Not that now was the time to discuss such things, but knights were noble indeed, just like Lani. Saviours, redeemer, gallant, handsome... A crooked grin crossed Odi’s lips as he thought these things about Lani. “You shouldn’t say things like that about yourself,” Odion said, pointing to his head. “You aren’t an ass-hat.”

Odion had stopped trying to make sense of what Lani was trying to say. Even if it had been making sense, it wouldn’t mean a lot to someone as drunk as he was. He was about to comment on Godot, but Lani kept talking and it was simply too easy to get distracted into thinking about other topics around the blond. “That’s not knowing about knowing Lani, that’s knowing about doing. You’re cheating!” Odion accused brightly, like he was greeting a long lost friend and was happy to see them. Lani was grabbing him by the shoulders and Odion blinked a few times.

“Yes? What is it?” Odion nodded and then shook his head. “Wait, I thought you wanted to stay here...” Now he was confused. Odi smirked and laughed and shook his head again. He didn’t want everyone staring at him anyways, the sooner they got out of here the better. “Never mind.” The redhead removed Lani’s hands from him and gave him a hug. “I’m glad we’re here,” he said above the noise in his mind, pulling away so he could actually look at Lani. “Nothing too crazy okay?” He asked, or rather told Lani, pulling him away from the table and towards the exit. “There’s much to celebrate, I’m twenty, you’re a knight,” he looked behind him with a silly grin. Maybe the night air would do them some good, so long as it was Lani he was dragging behind him.

[Lani Hunter]

The hardest thing was that with Odion Lani couldn’t hide anymore. Odion said it was all in his eyes and Lani cursed the damn things for breaking his masks. There were a lot of things that could be passed between the two of them without saying a single word. From the moment that their powers had touched on the metaphysical plane and Lani’s found Odion’s timeless nature warm and comforting to his mind, the time turner had been unforgettable to Lani. He’d done a good job distracting himself these past several months and it terrified him as much as thrilled him that Odion was here, because what was he going to do when he’d pledged against love altogether. Did that include Odion?

Drunk Lani found himself acting as he wanted and ignoring that little voice in his head that demanded he stay away from Odion. Odion was pain, it kept telling him. Remember, remember. Well, Lani remembered, and now for a few hours he was choosing to forget. In the morning when Lani woke hungover and heartsick he would remember and he would be more confused than he was drunk. In his drunken state he was afraid but he was bold. He would deal with the hangover when it came. For now he just wanted to be with Odion. Not fighting, not pressing each other to be better than they were before. Lani just wanted to be. The distance between them before when they’d engaged in small talk just felt wrong. Whatever this was now, this felt better, but the rift between them still stood strong.

As Lani mused about distances and footprints in the snow he lolled his head to the side to look at Odion again as he spoke. The smile flickered softly across his lips. “There is no such thing as a simple thing. Even the simplest problem is not all it appears.” He nodded to himself, the more he learned the more he was starting to realize that humanity didn’t know a damn thing. Mathematics and physics could pretend to know a lot but it often came at the expense of approximations and assumptions that may or may not be valid. It was a rather infuriating thing. Lani smiled when Odion agreed with him but then like Odion was wont to do, he added a counter argument. “So… who cares how we know what we think we know? I can believe you’re here because I can see you and hear you and feel you.” He said it before he actually paused to see if it would make any sort of logical sense. “Or perhaps we’re both already insane.”

“What?” Lani asked anyways, he was so confused and he was looking at Odion with a blank expression. “Never mind is a strange phrase,” he mused instead already forgetting why he was confused. Never was also a fickle word, it could be a promise or it could be a condemnation. Lani trusted ‘never’ almost as much as he trusted ‘always’. He narrowed his eyes as he thought. Promises were broken and the ‘always’ and ‘never’ became lies by their pure being. Never had lied when Lani had said he’d never hurt Odion. Always had lied when Odion said he would always be here. Wherever here was in a relative sense. Lani nodded to himself decisively and turned his attention back to Odion and blinked in surprise at the look he was being given.

Lani snickered and shrugged innocently, “Honor yes… wait. No, Odion you are not accusing me of not knowing medieval literature.” He narrowed his eyes in a mock challenge. If Odion hadn’t wanted to discuss such things he shouldn’t have brought it up because Lani was going to tell Odion about it whether or not he was listening. “A great honor, but knights are also supposed to fight for god knows what petty thing people are fighting over.” He waved a hand dismissively, “And there are at least…” Lani tried to do a quick calculation and failed miserably and continued instead with, “several knights who get eaten before the one guy wins.” Lani was very much a fan of keeping himself in one piece, there would be no dragon fighting for him. Knight were brave and honestly lately Lani wasn’t feeling very brave. He was a coward, hiding from the world and from Odion. Lani opened his mouth to protest and ended up in giggles again. He only laughed harder when he remembered that there was in fact a time when Odion had called him an ass. Justifiably, if Lani remembered correctly.

Waving a hand dismissively Lani rolled his eyes. “It’s the same difference,” Lani retorted and stuck his tongue out at the accusing redhead. It had been a crazy couple of weeks, the first day Lani had been terrified and angry, the next apologetic and now he was having drinks with his… ex? There would be time later to think through that, currently Lani was just admiring the redhead and smiling stupidly in his happiness. His hands on Odion’s shoulders made Lani smile as it was further proof that Odion was real. His smile widened and he never wanted to be sober again, because being sober would mean he would have to question what he was doing.

Lani returned the confused look and laughed. “Here is relative?” He had meant it as a statement then halfway through wasn’t sure and turned the inflection into a question. When Odion laughed as well Lani found himself smiling. He liked the sound of Odion’s laughter. There was the never mind again, Lani opened his mind to point this out, because somehow it seemed important but then Odion broke the unspoken plane and hugged him. Many things raced through Lani’s head, thoughts running too fast for him to actually catch one and make sense of anything. He stiffened in shock, unsure of how to react. His heart surged, this, this felt better, this felt right. The feelings bombarded Lani’s heart and the thawing of the wounded organ made them all the more confusing. They weren’t just bouncing off the hard surface anymore they were making it in and if they were making it in then his heart could be hurt again. Lani was paralyzed by his thoughts and fears and didn’t have a chance to agree before Odion pulled away. Lani’s mind caught up with him and he nodded in return. He was happy.

Lani found himself laughing and allowing himself to be pulled away from the table, “Define ‘too crazy’.” By here Lani had meant the close proximity to the table but he followed nonetheless and snickered to himself at the thoughts rushing through his head. The night air hit him like a wall and it threatened his intoxication, but only minimally. He gaped at Odion for a moment. “Holy shit. You’re twenty. You’re old,” Lani snickered at the redhead, obviously forgetting that Odion was only a few months older than him and Lani would soon be twenty as well. For a moment, Lani forgot himself and in an action that felt natural even after so much time apart the telekinetic moved to link hands with Odion. Midway through the action Lani’s fingers brusted Odion’s and Lani remembered. In a sudden panic he aborted and swung his arms forward and crossed them over his chest as if to ward off the cold.

[Odion Martins]

Lani had beautiful eyes, the prettiest Odion had ever seen. It was perhaps because of who they belonged to, and not just the eyes themselves. Lani hadn’t been someone who was instantly attractive to Odion, and that was due more to the headspace Odion had been in when they first met. Once he was able to move past his own selfishness, he was able to see Lani for the gem he was – that too had taken a lot of work. The more Odion got to know Lani, the more attractive he became, and the easier it was to tell when masks were on, and when they were off. There was something special between them, especially their powers. Odion had forgotten that connection because his power had gone awry.

The funny thing about drinking was that you never wanted to do it again the day after, and yet for most the same thing would ensue some weekends just after the statement was made. Being as confused as he was, Odion didn’t care if he had to go through more turmoil. At least he could be free tonight; at least he could be closer to Lani. It wasn’t like it once was, something was definitely different, but it was better than what it had been, which was in an extreme state of disrepair. Anything was better than nothing, and Odion wished with all his heart that things would only go up from here. Small talk, he would no longer be willing to endure.

“Maybe we try to make things simple for our own sanity,” Odion suggested, seeing as most people were content with accepting norms and things just as they were without question. Odion had seen past the norms a long time ago, especially when he hadn’t a choice. There was no reason to participate in what society believed if he didn’t benefit from it. He could play the part and act along, but why would someone work when they could just steal? Society assumed that people had morals and values – Odion couldn’t afford such luxuries. The redhead smiled in a sickly way and shook his head, “This isn’t insanity.” He said it in such a way the spoke from experience – this was the most together he had been in months. “I think we care because we want to know and have hope.” And there was nothing wrong with that. Once upon a time, Odion thought those were foolish notions to entertain, but they were the only things that had brought him back from his shell of a life.

“Fine, try this phrase,” Odion said, leaning in closer, “why don’t you make a tree and fuck off.” The redhead sat back with a silly grin on his face, obviously proud of himself. It was better to leave things on a high note in terms of conversation. “Not every knight was so pinheaded.” Odion continued to smile and only felt himself falling more for the blond – another thing they had in common! “Well there can only be one hero,” Odion insisted, looking at Lani with steady eyes. The ginger suddenly had a grumpy face and he crossed his arms defiantly. “Well if you don’t want to be a knight, I won’t knight you.” He scowled and glanced at the ground. “Fun wrecker...” He just wanted Lani to know that he was a knight in Odion’s eyes, even if he was also an ass.

“Is not,” Odion insisted through the slits of his eyes. There were a lot of things that weren’t fighting for, and this was one of them. But since this wasn’t Odion in his normal, sober state of mind, this was a battle he didn’t want to choose to leave behind – a mule would always be stubborn.

Odion’s face twisted in confusion. “I don’t understand your telekinetic ways of thinking.” It was just a general statement. Here was relative? That didn’t make any sense in Odi’s stupid-brain right now, so all he could do was admit defeat. Odion hadn’t noticed the shock or tenseness in Lani, because the hug seemed like the most normal thing in a world that hardly ever made sense. Everything felt like Jell-O right now anyways, even the floor. Odion wouldn’t be able to distinguish one feeling from the next. Odion was on a mission now anyways, and the thought of the hug was already far behind him. They were off to new and better things for tonight.

“Too crazy,” Odion repeated, looking over his shoulder. “As in, more than a drunk person could handle.” Last time they left a bar in this state, cars had been wrecked and Odion was under the impression that Lani had fallen into a manhole. Happy that spring had arrived, Odion didn’t think too much about his abandoned jacket in the bar. He could go back and get it, or there would always be a shiny new one on a rack somewhere in a store. Odion rolled his eyes and bumped Lani with his elbow fondly, “Fuck off Lani.” It really was like déjà vu, and Odion blinked a few times, trying to remind himself of the present he was currently living, even if he was drunk.

Odion barely felt anything, but it was almost like his body knew something was missing. There was no anchor anymore, he felt like he was freefalling and no one was holding on. He glanced up and smiled despite the sudden pain in his heart. He remembered he liked the stars. Even when he had been lost in Europe, there had been something comforting about looking at them. Odi pointed up and stood still, going to sit on the curb. He suddenly felt very heavy. Unsure of what to do with himself, Odion just looked up at the sky. It was spinning here and there, but nothing too crazy, just the way he wanted tonight to be. For the time being, he forgot Lani was even there with him. It was just too painful to concentrate on what he couldn’t have anymore.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’d lost track of how many times he’d said never again to drinking, but it always seemed to become a good idea again. Lani smiled a little bit, there were those two annoying words again. Lost in his own thoughts Lani was smiling as his mind mulled over the good memories. They could have happened yesterday. They never quite crashed close enough to the break up to give Lani a heart attack but he worried that there would be a dearth of good memories between them because of what happened. Seven months was a long time to build up guilt and rage and it wasn’t going to go away easily. Lani liked to think that his solution was working, he wasn’t broken, he was adapting. Freezing his heart was a survival mechanism. Adrianna was the only person he’d actually told that he refused to love again. She’d even told him it was a bad idea. Maybe, maybe she was right.

Tilting his head Lani considered sanity. Sanity wasn’t clear cut. It was fluid, people regularly drifted into sanity and insanity on what for some people might be a daily occurrence. Make things simple. Well, Odion asking Lani to simplify things was like asking him to stop thinking. Every complex minute detail that could be thought of should be thought off. Well seeing as where Lani was now he couldn’t help but agree. He nodded as he pondered but couldn’t form anything coherent enough to further the argument. Lani watched Odion, if he’d been less intoxicated he would have realized there was more in that statement than what it was. So Lani blundered ahead and grinned like the clever imp he thought he was. “That’s—” He started his punchline but the conversation had already moved. Cocking his head Lani surveyed Odion with narrowed eyes. “Hope that we exist and hope that this is real. Eh, who cares really? If this is reality I’m cool with it.” He smiled. At least the current reality, not the reality that would arise when he was sober again.

Lani looked at Odion bemused and shook his head chuckling lightly. “No, Odion, that’s not even close to right.” Lani hid his giggles with his hand, he wasn’t sure but he thought that Odion had just managed to call him a pinhead. Odion was always the most creative when it came to insults. Lani really shouldn’t laugh but Odion’s grumpy face was making it terribly hard to hold onto a straight face. “Awe, Odion, why don’t you be the knight then?” If he wanted someone to be knighted so badly why not himself. After all Odion had always been the one coming to rescue Lani out of the messes he’d gotten himself into. If anyone was a knight in shining armor it was Odion. Lani ignored the comment and blundered on. “Sir Odion the Philosopher.”

A smile grew on his lips and gave a careless shrug. In his mind the fact that he’d gotten Odion to digress to the ‘is not’ argument meant that he’d won and there was nothing more to be said. Besides, they had moved onto more pressing topics. Like where they were and where they were going. He again shrugged. “It’s very much the way we can say time is relative. Like my here, might be different than you’re here and it’s certainly different than someone else’s here.” In a sense ‘here’ could be this point value where he stood, or it would be the entire bar, or Pilot Ridge, etc. Depending on what he was referencing and to whom he was speaking. Hell, eventually he may have to start referring to here as Earth, though the chances of that within his life time were slim.

“Ah,” Lani acknowledged with a nod of his head. Well, there were a lot of things that seemed like good ideas now but probably wouldn’t be much later on. His mind started working away at those things that were too much for a drunk person to handle. He was having trouble being creative and the random thought crossed his mind about what they could do and the telekinetic nearly stopped walking from the shock at his own thoughts. There was too much danger in getting so close, Lani shook his head heat rising to his face. No, they were going to do something else. He chuckled, unfazed by the curse. Otherwise, he went back to thinking about what they could do.

The telekinetic was caught up in his own mind as his thoughts were spinning around him like e whirlwind and threatening to blow away any shred of coherent thought he still had. So caught up was Lani that he walked a full five steps before he realized that Odion had stopped. Lani’s eyes followed the pointing hand to the stars and he sighed. Things felt wrong again. The stars blurred and danced in his vision. Memories of Odion were called to the front lines of his mind and they barraged him, bringing thoughts with claws and teeth. Lani’d always longed for the sky and it just dawned on him that Odion would have had to fly here. Odion hated flying, Lani remembered how it had been on their flight to Europe. Guilt with a mixture of longing pressed the telekinetic past his mental block. Lani dropped his eyes back to Odion, looking at him in a new light as the time turner looked up at the sky.

Lani paced back to Odion and gave the redhead a smile, stepping off the curb he wobbled his way in front of Odion and offered his hands. “C’mon, Odion, I know where we’re going next.” Lani knew he’d really fucked up this time, and tonight he was committed to making it up to the redhead. He wanted to show Odion that, thought this was hard, Lani was willing to try.