Time Warp: Feedback (Odion)

[Lani Hunter]

Winter 2018

Lani wasn’t mad. He kept telling himself that. With Odion’s power it wasn’t really the redheads fault. He had to keep that in mind. Lani was only human and two days ago Lani’d made all of the plans, dressed up and gotten reservations and… well when Odion was ‘gone’, Lani couldn’t help but be a little hurt. Okay, he was a lot hurt. But he couldn’t be mad. Because Odion couldn’t help it sometimes, it just happened. The telekinetic kept telling himself that he shouldn’t be upset, that he shouldn’t be hurt, that he shouldn’t be angry, but he was losing that battle. He needed a bit of time to cool down and every morning he’d made a quick exit on a run that lasted longer than usual. He rearranged the books and purposefully disarrayed the living room, in a way he knew would get under the redhead’s skin.

The movement from anger to self-loathing his own selfishness had been subtle and consequently, Lani had deteriorated into a state of constant annoyance. On their anniversary, Lani had called to Odion that they were going to be late and when there had been no answer Lani’d gone to check on him. The redhead was a lump in the bed and when Lani shook him there was no response, at least not immediately, after what seemed like an hour Odion muttered something unintelligible. For Odion time was flying, for Lani it seemed like Odion had regained his ability to become a statue. Nothing he tried would snap the redhead out of it. He finally gave up and made sure that Odion didn’t get himself into trouble and waited it out. Lani wasn’t sure if he was angry, annoyed or just in a mood. It wasn’t Odion’s fault, and Lani knew that, he did, but he didn’t want Odion to act like it was no big deal.

When three days later Odion emerged from their bedroom and asked what day it was, Lani simply told him. It was Tuesday. Odion had made the connections quickly and apologized. Lani’d given forgiveness easily, but there was nagging in him that wouldn’t go away. The time turner had been hard pressed to get more than monosyllables out of him for days. He didn’t even realize how short he was being with the time turner, nor how he was unintentionally avoiding them, which was some sort of feat considering that they’d moved into a small together. Lani couldn’t blame Odion, and he wasn’t, he was feeling selfish that Odion had forgotten about them. So, Lani wasn’t angry.

He was back from a run, showered and he was intent on cracking into the good book he’d gotten for Christmas, from Odion. He plopped down on the couch and almost immediately Zoe and Darshay piled on top of him. Odion wasn’t home and Lani couldn’t lie he was relishing the quiet. He was twenty pages in, and very into the book when he heard the door open. The telekinetic didn’t have to look up to see that it was Odion. “Hello,” Lani said flatly not looking up from the pages. The cats purred contently and gave him an excuse to not move. Especially not since Shadow had taken up residence on his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he caught LJ leap from the back of one of the chairs. He flipped a page and it wasn’t like he was ignoring Odion, he was merely showing more interest in his book than his lover at the moment.

[Odion Martins]

Time would make a fool of him yet, not just an ass. There had never been a time where Odion had purposefully gone out of his way to make others’ lives miserable because he couldn’t keep a proper mental schedule of things. And for certain people who cared more about this than others, the drawbacks of being able to manipulate time were of particular annoyance. But that didn’t pave the way for further bad intentions, like making it look as though a tornado had passed through the living room. Lani couldn’t use his powers as an excuse as much as he once had – Odion didn’t make him so angry that he couldn’t control it. No, these messes were on purpose, and Odion wasn’t sure how creating them helped in any way whatsoever. If only Lani would stop being so childish, maybe Odion wouldn’t be considering moving the both of them to a two bedroom apartment instead.

He hadn’t meant to forget their anniversary. After everything they had been through, he would be damned if he ever lost Lani again. They hadn’t worked so hard to collect all the broken pieces of their relationship for nothing. But it wasn’t his fault that he was lost in his own mind, trapped in between the pieces of memory they had worked so hard to uncover. Ever since he had foiled his own plans of forgetting, his linear state of mind had worsened. Time turners never grew old, they usually let themselves live a short life in the setting and time of their choice, or go mad trying. Being in his mid-twenties, Odion was often reminded that his life was more than halfway over. It wasn’t something he was vocal with to anyone, not even Lani. He just assumed Lani knew these things, that Odion didn’t go about quiet and spacy because he wanted to. Time was all at once for Odion, and everywhere he looked he tried to find those stormy grey eyes that would lead him back to reality.

It was often hard to decipher between what had already happened, and what was yet to occur. Odion did so many time jumps, had tried so many things that no other human could do, that there were bound to be consequences. But hell, if he was going to die young he was going to do it the way he wanted to by leaving no stone unturned, even the one called love. He had been crushed when he realized he had missed their anniversary, but he was determined to fix that in a way that redeemed himself. Odion was working on something to make amends, but Lani didn’t seem interested. It was as though he’d forgotten the silver lining that had put them here in the first place. Odion wasn’t going to apologize again, but he was sure Lani wasn’t going to like his next idea…

Odion had been perched on the windowsill when Lani came home from his run. Home, what a strange place to know. The redhead smiled briefly as Lani tugged out his headphones and made a beeline towards the washroom. His smile faded as Shadow trotted after Lani and Odion went back to looking out the window. If this doesn’t work, I’m going to slap his stupid face… Odion thought to himself, stroking LJ in his lap. Odion got up and went for a run of his own, practicing his parkour over the slippery edges of Pilot Ridge. Lani hadn’t even noticed him there, and Odion couldn’t hide that kind of hurt in the moment. Walking into the house, Odion pursed his lips together in a rage. Lani still wasn’t looking at him. As the redhead ignored Lani, the cats scuttled off to the various safe corners of the apartment – they could sense the kind of mood he was in.

They had learned to fight in different ways, and silence could be deafening. Odion knew Lani hadn’t bothered to look at the coffee table, where a card with his name in elegant writing subtly lay. “At least you’ve already showered,” Odion commented dryly before walking towards the shower himself. Lani only needed a few words to get his curiosity going, and Odion hoped the blond would at least find the time to peek inside the card and find that they had reservations at the same place Lani intended on taking them for tonight. They could try again as normal couples would. But just in case, Odion had also written something on the back of the receipt. “Or we could change the date.” After the state he had been in, Odion doubted Lani would be impressed if he went ahead and brought them back through time for a date, but Odion would only be too happy to do so if Lani would let him. At least now time was on his side, and hopefully Lani would take the bait.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani knew it wasn’t Odion’s fault, which was why the telekinetic wasn’t angry. He technically wasn’t ignoring Odion now, after all, he’d said ‘hello’. Lani didn’t know what he wanted, he didn’t know what to do to break himself out of this annoyed state, he knew if Odion got it into his head he knew how to push Lani’s buttons and get him to break silence with a deafening roar. Likewise, Lani knew how to get Odion’s buttons pushed. They’d gotten to a new stage, the silent fighting. If asked, Lani would say they weren’t fighting, but Odion might have a different idea altogether, and vice versa, depending on who had pissed off who and for what. Odion walked in the door and the cats vacated, leaving cold places where their bodies had been working as radiators.

Flipping the page, Lani wasn’t really reading anymore but rather waiting to see if Odion would do anything or say anything. Instead of seeing the words in front of him he was formulating a plan. A plan for defensive and if that didn’t work offensive. It was then that Lani realized this was ridiculous! They were acting like children, seeing as Lani wasn’t at fault this time, but he was doing nothing to end this spat. Lani felt as though he were bracing himself for war, which also seemed ridiculous. Maybe Lani wasn’t quite ready to be okay with Odion’s power missing their anniversary. To be honest, Lani didn’t blame Odion, he blamed Odion’s power and because he couldn’t take his anger out on Odion’s power, poor Odion was caught in his crosshairs.

Lani had tried, he had tried and tried to knock Odion out of his phase and nothing had worked, it almost depressed him more than Odion missing their anniversary. Lani knew that Odion was upset but at the moment Lani was starting to think that while their love was strong it wasn’t strong enough to bring Odion back to him when he needed him. Lani was at least glad that if they did end up fighting that he didn’t have to worry about power outbursts. Ever since he’d taken to using it more frequently and in a more relaxed manner it had cut down extremely on the explosive outbursts. Not that they didn’t ever happen anymore, but at least Lani could contain then now. Lani was lost in thought and humming without realizing when Odion spoke.

He quirked a brow and looked after Odion as he went to shower. The telekinetic huffed in annoyance, Odion did that on purpose. He heard the shower start and the blond was half tempted to mess with the water temperature on Odion. Lani resisted, that would gain him nothing. Dammit, Odion knew exactly how to entice Lani’s interest. Odion knew just how to plant something in Lani’s mind and then it would nag at the telekinetic until he figured it out. Sometimes it was charming and exciting, but Odion knew how to make it infuriating as well and Odion knew exactly how to play the ‘I know something you don’t’ card to drive Lani crazy. Lani sighed and went to set the book down and noticed the card. Had he really missed it? Probably, it wasn’t like he was looking for it. He probably wouldn’t have noticed unless he’d almost put his book on it.

Glancing toward the bathroom door Lani picked up the card and flipped it around in his hand, as if worried it would blow up in his face or something. Odion wasn’t one for pranks, but Lani was occasionally and Odion wasn’t the sort to go without retaliation, but there was nothing to say this was something other than a card. He examined it with his power and finally decided to just open it. He pulled it out and read the note. Oh… Lani felt a sudden chill, well… he felt sheepish. Odion had gotten them new reservation. Lani ducked his head, feeling guilty for letting his anger get away with him. The telekinetic dropped his hand with a sigh and noticed something on the back. Almost immediately after he felt the annoyed voice come back. Odion was trying to make him feel guilty. He heard the shower turn off and as he heard the door open he held up the card without turning. “Do I have to get dressed up?” He asked, doing his best to hide the annoyance in his voice.

[Odion Martins]

Their best intentions were always misinterpreted by one another, and even though they had made a lot of progress in this regard, big, untamed feelings still got in the way and often got the better of them. Pride came before humility and apologies, and mind games were more enjoyable than true togetherness. Odion doubted they would ever be completely functional, at least they couldn’t be until they found their own rhythm. There is no right way of doing something, but they had to figure out what was right for them, and they hadn’t just yet. That was what all the fighting was for, a lot of trial and error. Odion wasn’t going to up and leave in frustration, but he wasn’t going to be pushed around either.

Time could be Odion’s friend, and at the same time his enemy. No one had ever managed to snap him out of his time loops, except for Jared. But Jared had known Odion longer, had seen him through all kinds of shit that Lani hadn’t had the opportunity to participate in. Lord knew it wasn’t something Odion wished Lani had been around for, but Lani couldn’t save everyone. It must’ve killed him to know he couldn’t snap Odion out of his time cage. It had nothing to do with love, it had to do with the way Lani tried to retrieve him, it just didn’t work. It was high time they talk about what Lani should say or do when Odion had his moments, instead of hoping for the best when it happened. For once, Odion would agree that they should have a plan.

The shower did nothing to cool his anger, though he did feel cleaner, so Odion supposed it had served its purpose. Although the door had been closed, Odion could still feel Lani in the living room. Could imagine him finally noticing the card and being suspicious of it. Could sense the way his power was on high alert for no goddamn reason. Having the powers they had brought ‘tension in the air’ to a whole new level. Towel drying his hair, Odion then wrapped the towel around his waist before leaving the bathroom. Lani hardly seemed excited by the prospect of a re-do. Odion stared deadpan at Lani, not unlike the way he looked when time had gotten the better of him. He wasn’t trying to send Lani on a guilt trip, he was trying to apologize and make it right. Maybe that wasn’t good enough for Lani. Maybe he wasn’t good enough for Lani… The redhead gestured towards the card, as though the answer should be obvious. “You tell me.” The restaurant was Lani’s idea after all, and if he was going to be a smartass about it, Odion could be as well.

Odion knew where this night was headed if they continued on like this. Either they wouldn’t go and continue ignoring each other, or they would go and continue being short and miserable with one another. Odion dragged his hands down both sides of his face before they landed on his hips. “I’ve seen you do better acting Lani, you could at least pretend like you’re excited about this…” LJ poked his head around the corner, glancing up at Odion and meowing. Maybe he was going to have to go slap Lani afterall – it wasn’t something the telekinetic could stop via his powers. “Because if your book is more exciting than this, then by all means, return to it.”

[Lani Hunter]

This whole idea of moving in together had been both great and horrible. Lani was a homebody at heart and sometimes their fighting made the telekinetic want to do nothing but be alone with his thoughts. But since moving in there wasn’t a place at ‘home’ where he could be alone, at least not in the same way it was when he could have laid in bed and moped for hours and hours. A time or two Lani wondered if they hadn’t jumped into this too fast. Though the fact that they’d managed a little over a year living together was a good sign. It was getting better, Lani was getting better at gauging Odion’s moods and likewise Odion better at gauging Lani’s. They were getting better at apologizing and forgiving, but things like this still happened. Odion was good to him, he challenged Lani and forced him to face his problems instead of burying them. But, by god sometimes he wished Odion would let him bury them.

In his own way Odion was making Lani be a better person. Lani didn’t turn to look at the time turner but he could feel Odion’s eyes boring holes in his back. If looks could kill Lani could tell he’d be on the way to the grave without even turning around. Lani shrugged and opened his mouth to answer but Odion beat him to the punch. Lani felt wicked as he turned around and gave the time turner an opened mouthed smile and two thumbs up. He was egging on Odion now. He looked back at the note and looked back at Odion. “Oh don’t get upset, I was only joking,” Lani fibbed and gave a smile. He kicked his feet back up on the couch setting the note back on the table. “Besides, it’s not like we have to go tonight or anything, not with your power an all.” He looked at Odion by tipping his head back and watching him upside down gave an innocent shrug.

It was a low blow, and Lani though, of so carefully executed. Belatedly Lani regretted saying that but unable to take it back he let it hang in the air. Well, at least there it was, why he was upset. Odion would probably be upset, after all it wasn’t his fault, Lani knew, and respected but, maybe Odion didn’t understand why Lani was so upset about it either. Lani’d never been able to sit still when someone he loved was hurt, or in Odion’s case indisposed. Lani made a point of snapping the book open and flipped through the pages to get back to where he was. “Why thank you,” Lani said dryly. He hovered the book over his eyes and waiting to see if Odion would do or say anything. Odion had apologized, but Lani wasn’t upset because of their anniversary, or okay, maybe it was a little bit about that, but the meat of it was in that Lani’d failed. Odion had needed him and he’d failed.

When Caroline had been sick, Lani’d felt so helpless he’d made arguably the worst decision of his entire life. He hated to think about it but he worried, what if he couldn’t wake Odion up? What if he failed? What if he lost Odion forever? Lani didn’t make good decisions when he was under pressure or helpless. He reacted and that had never really worked out well for him. If he were thinking straight he’d ask to talk about it, ask Odion what he could do. Lani felt like he was watching Odion drift away from him and watching his speed ahead and he couldn’t do anything but watch. It killed Lani to see Odion like that. So obviously the solution was to seethe and make life miserable to everyone around him.

[Odion Martins]

It was a goddamn miracle they were still living in the same space. Somehow they had made it work, and had accepted the quirks of the other. It wasn’t as though the quirks were endearing, they just didn’t matter as much as the man behind them. Everyone was odd in their own way, and Odion loved Lani’s oddness. It wasn’t as though they had to live together, it was that they wanted to, and why the hell not? The mental walls had gone down, and the true walls had gone up, walls that housed them in a tiny home that they called their own. And Odion was hoping that sooner rather than later, Lani would be ready to tell his parents that they were indeed more than roommates, although Odion was very sure his mum already suspected so.

Odion could feel his face turning as red as his hair. Did Lani derive some sick pleasure from doing this to him? It wasn’t his fucking fault he was born with his power, and he was going to damn well enjoy it before it got the better of him, he had made peace with that. It wasn’t his fault Lani hadn’t. “Don’t get upset?” He asked mockingly, for there was no going back on that now. Lani and his stupid Joker grin, taunting him as much as he could. They knew how to play each other, but this was far from amusing. “No you’re right, I could just reverse this all and pretend like none of it ever happened,” he threatened. Odion didn’t like playing god, but it was all empty threats. It would’ve been easier to simply go back and have the night they were meant to have and allow Lani that normalcy, but Odion couldn’t do that to Lani.

“That’s what you want isn’t it? Something normal.” Odion finally breached whatever bubble had been guarding Lani, and forcefully pushed the book down so they were face to face. “Some stories are a little more complex than you think, so what do you do? You read on. You don’t ignore the clues and the plot, and you especially don’t ignore the complicated characters.” He grabbed Lani’s shoulders so he wouldn’t be ignored, so he could see what Lani was hiding. “So if I can’t make it up to you, then what’s really wrong?” Odion knew that Lani didn’t peg him as stupid, and the redhead was tired of waiting around all day for Lani to come to him. Odion suspected that Lani somewhat liked being pushed out of his comfort zone, if only because he wouldn’t do it on his own and it was slightly exciting. It would only become even more exciting, because now that Odion was this close, he probably would end up slapping Lani if he received a smartass remark.

[Lani Hunter]

This had been a strange situation from the start. Lani had been hesitant at first but things had worked out alright. They had their ups and down and Lani was finding he didn’t mind the constant bickering, it was their normal. It wasn’t fighting, it was debating, talking and challenging each other to a higher level of thought. Somehow their fights had become vicious and silent things, or at least Lani’s had. Lani was still working on the whole ‘complete honesty’ thing. The events following their breakup had made Lani wary of truth and though the healing had taken time and wounds had been smoothed some had left scars. Somewhere in the back of his mind Lani was still afraid that he’d push Odion away if he started a fight. Then there was Odion who seemed to make it his life’s work to drag the telekinetic’s thoughts out of him whether he want them known or not.

Lani ducked his head, the tone of Odion’s voice didn’t bode well for the rest of this conversation. Well, Lani shouldn’t be surprised he did start it. The threat didn’t fall on deaf ears, nor did it fall on forgetful ears and Lani’s lips were moving before he even knew what he was saying. “Right, don’t try to fix it, just erase it.” Lani clenched his jaw and the words on the page blurred infront of his eyes. He didn’t know what had come over him, he hadn’t wanted to say that, it had just slipped out. Blurted right from his lips before he could stop it. That was Odion’s answer to everything wasn’t it? Something bad happened, oh well, just go back and fix it. Part of Lani was glad for it, for it definitely had come in handy, but another part of him wondered if Odion would ever take responsibility. For someone who claimed to have it all figured out he did seem to hide behind his power of excuses quite a bit.

A laugh came from Lani, but it was lacking in humor. “I gave up normal a long time ago, Odion,” he said. The book was gone from in front of him in an instant and he blinked for a moment, half considering retrieving it, but Odion had his attention now. He looked up at Odion, honestly surprised. “And here I thought you didn’t like reading,” Lani teased. He had gone out and found that book club for them and Lani enjoyed it a great deal. They’d met a lot of people and while they kept their secrets to themselves they had found friends. Odion’s hands on his shoulders couldn’t be ignored, nor could Odion’s face hovering over his. There was frustration in Odion’s voice but something softer as well and Lani bit back a retort. He could tell him nothing was wrong, but then nothing would be fixed and he’d still be furious at the nagging thoughts in his head. He sighed in resignation and grabbed Odion’s wrists. “Fine,” he said and gently pushed Odion’s hands away, but only because he wanted to sit up and when he did he faced Odion his gray eyes holding a tempest in their midst.

He met the blue eyes and reminded himself all that they had been through. Honesty, honesty. Odion wasn’t going to make this easy, Lani knew he was embarking into territory he had no business sticking his nose, but to hell with that Odion stuck his nose into Lani’s telekinesis all the time. “What’s really wrong?” Lani couldn’t help it, the thoughts boiled in his head and he jabbed a finger at Odion. “Stop acting like this is no big deal. It’s pissing me off.” There had been a subtle change over the past few months, slight enough where Lani might think he was imagining it, but after this week something had changed, it seemed as if Odion had given in, like he had resigned himself to something, either with his power or something else he wasn’t telling Lani. Lani was watching him when his power took him away and he watched him upon his return and somewhere it clicked. For someone who had pushed and prodded Lani into his power, Odion seemed to have given up on his own, accepting whatever fate Odion thought the world had written for him. Lani wasn’t okay with that.

[Odion Martins]

Odion laughed at Lani’s comment. It was light laughter at first, but it was soon followed with maniacal sounds similar to laughter. “Right, exactly what I was thinking,” Odion said, a hard gleam in his eye. You see, Odion had no intentions of doing anything with time changing at the moment, but Lani seemed to have the intent to hurt Odion further than he already was. It wasn’t his fault time betrayed him, and it wasn’t his fault Lani didn’t know how to deal with it. Odion hadn’t forgotten how he had used time to protect himself before, and in doing so had lost Lani for about a year. Now that, that was his own damn fault, but Lani didn’t have to wave it in front of Odion’s face like that. Apparently there was more than just one thing Lani still hadn’t let go.

“Good,” Odion said, his voice far from sounding like an apology. Lani knew what he had signed up for; at least he knew enough to realize that whatever they had would never be normal. The redhead smirked and decided not to comment on how much he loathed the book in Lani’s hand right now. If he had known it would be used to deflect real conversation, he wouldn’t have bothered getting it for Lani in the first place. Books were not a place to go and get so lost that Lani didn’t deal with reality – and that was something Lani could control. “Fine,” Odion said, taking a seat beside Lani and pressing his hands together, always looking at Lani.

Brow furrowed, Odion shook his head and bit his bottom lip. “Unbelievable,” he said, gesturing towards Lani with impatience, “Is that what’s bothering you? Whatever you think I think is ‘no big deal’.” The last bit was said with a mocking tone and he sighed. “If it’s pissing you off, wonderful, then tell me what it is, because I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And as usual, he still couldn’t read Lani’s mind. It seemed that the blond thought he could. Odion asked what was bothering him and Lani couldn’t just give him a straight answer like, “Your hair is too red, I just don’t like it.” Odion didn’t know he was behaving any differently than usual.

But Lani was right, Odion didn’t see the point in trying to change anything about his power, though he was starting to understand it better than ever. How could he tell Lani he was losing his mind to time? What could they do? Odion was afraid Lani would insist on using his powers as little as possible, but that would be like asking him to stop breathing – impossible. It was just who he was, a part of who he was, and he wasn’t going to change that or dissect it. “Just tell me, alright?” Odion said, his voice calming slightly. Lani was saying things out of hurt, but Odion couldn’t say what he was hurt about.

[Lani Hunter]

The evil laughter that was coming from Odion wasn’t going to get Lani to break. He didn’t even glance at Odion, finding ignoring him when he got like that worked best. Though when he finally spoke Lani gritted his teeth. He shot Odion an icy warning glare. Sure Lani had brought it up, and sure Lani had maybe stepped over the line a bit too far but if Odion wanted to continue in this direction he was cruising for the fight of his life. On Lani’s part, he decided not to escalate it and just pretend he hadn’t heard or didn’t care. The tension that rose in the room could only have escalated if the conversation hadn’t taken a turn away from that particular topic. The telekinetic rolled his eyes, and went back to his book. Normal, that was about the farthest thing either of them were and together they were downright exceptional.

Lani raised a brow. “You don’t want to get dressed before we have this conversation?” He asked as nonchalantly as he could. Lani didn’t understand the problem that Odion had with books, he retrieved it with a thought and placed it gently on the coffee table. Lani had thought that Odion enjoyed the book club, at least enough that he didn’t veto it when time came around. Odion was always more of a fan of reality than imagination. Lani was the one that loved movies and books, anything that expanded his world beyond the plane of normal understanding. Lani shifted to allow Odion room on the couch, tilted slightly toward him and not moving when their knees touched.

The telekinetic bristled his shoulder squaring and his gaze narrowing ever so slightly. “Unbelievable?” he practically snarled. Lani’s show Odion unbelievable… His body tensed and he wasn’t going to sit here for Odion to make fun of his worrying. That’s where Lani eventually saw this going. Lani was a worrier, he shouldn’t worry, everything was fine he was over thinking it. Lani crossed his arms, he wasn’t sure he wanted to tell Odion anymore. Not if Odion wanted to make fun of him for it. No, two could play at this game. The telekinetic sighed, he was acting like a child and he knew it. He breathed through his teeth and fixed Odion with a critical gaze. He was a well fortified fortress and if Odion wanted to breach it, annoyed Lani wasn’t going to help. Lani snorted and looked away from Odion turning his body away from the redhead. “It’s no big deal,” He tossed the words back at Odion full of sarcasm, cold shoulder treatment it was.

Even the calmness in Odion’s voice didn’t crack him. Lani narrowed his eyes and cursed Odion’s plan. Lani couldn’t tell anything about the time turner besides the fact that he was sitting and even then that was only because of the towel. Lani was calculating even now, he’d obviously annoyed Odion enough for him to ask about what was wrong, maybe he’d been torturing the time turner long enough. On the other hand… nah. Lani examined his hand and shrugged, after a sufficient enough pause the telekinetic dared a glance over his shoulder. His resolve didn’t break and he occupied his power with his tennis ball. He didn’t move more than a blink when it moved, rolling from under the couch to throw itself against the wall. A dull rhythmic thump started and all the while Lani didn’t move. Shadow spotted the ball moving and chirped, leaping on the arm rest and wriggling his tail as he watched. The black cat watched the ball oblivious to the growing tension in the room.

“You know what this is about,” Lani accused. Without warning LJ leapt from out of sight and stole the tennis ball before Shadow had even made his move. The collision startled Lani enough that he dropped the ball. The ball shot off down the hall with LJ and Shadow streaking off after it. Fine. He narrowed his eyes at the wall and turned back to Odion. “You know what’s the most annoying thing?” Lani asked, now that he was talking he wasn’t going to be able to stop. “You’re OCD about everything in this apartment and yet when it comes to your power, you know something that actually matters, it’s ‘no big deal’.” Lani shrugged his shoulder in a clownish version of someone without a care in the world.

[Odion Martins]

“No I’m alright thanks,” Odion said, making no move to change. “Unless it bothers you,” Odion added, his head in his hand as he glanced at Lani interestedly. He smirked to himself - there was no way he was getting dressed, whether it bothered Lani or not. He was in a towel and that was how he was going to stay unless Lani volunteered to help him get dressed. Odion didn’t have a problem with books, and he did like them, but he didn’t like them at the moment. Not when they were offering Lani a way to escape the reality they both lived in so he could continue to ignore or at least stifle the true issues at hand here.

The redhead’s mood considerably softened. Lani had a tendency to make his walls ten times thicker before he let them down and actually say what was wrong. It was hard to overcome, and Odion wasn’t in the mood to play that game today, not when he had done something nice to Lani and the blond was being cruel on purpose. Odion knew Lani was better than this and he wasn’t going to lash out anymore if he could help it. Lani had already said the worst, meanest thing he could’ve said and they were still here. Well, if Lani was going to continue this, Odion would just go to bed until Lani was ready to talk. If it wasn’t a big deal, why were they talking at all?

But Lani wasn’t opening up as easily as he normally would. It was almost like he wanted to stay mad this time, and Odion wasn’t sure who Lani was mad at. The telekinetic never felt good enough for anyone, and Odion was having a hell of a go trying to prove Lani how wrong he was. But not today. Today, Odion just wanted to have dinner with his man and apologize properly, but it seemed too much to ask. Lani was in a fighting mood. Odion waited patiently for Lani to continue, even when he started up with the tennis ball. It annoyed Odion, the constant dull bounce, but he wasn’t going to throw Lani over the edge.

Odion sighed, “I thought I knew what this was about,” he corrected, his fingers crossed and his hands resting on their knees. Honestly, he thought this was about a missed dinner and hurt feelings. But it was plainly obvious now that Lani was a bit more preoccupied with something else. The redhead saw what the cats were doing from the corner of his eye, but he didn’t care. There were more pressing matters at hand. Odion laughed and shook his head. “That’s the most annoying thing?” He sighed, running a hand through his still damp hair. “I guess I could’ve done worse.” Admittedly it wasn’t the high heated response Lani was looking for, but Odion knew he was anal about keeping the apartment clean. “I can’t be OCD about everything,” Odion explained, “my power does matter to me, but I’m not sure why it needs to be a big deal. It just… is there.” Odion didn’t see what needed to be discussed here, and he was willing to bet Lani was thinking Odion was just trying to annoy him on purpose.

“Do you want to just hit me or something, get it over with?” Odion asked, his eyebrows raised. He had gotten bulkier since they first met, but Lani was a lot quicker, though Odi was a close second. “Because I’m pretty close to knocking some sense into you myself.”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’s eyebrow twitched as he looked toward Odion. He wasn’t going to raise to that bait, no matter how alluring that smirk was making Odion. Lani shrugged and leaned back against the couch. “You do you, Odion,” Lani said as impassively as he could, quirking a brow at the ginger. He shrugged and let his eyes drift away from Odion, shaking his head. It didn’t bother him, not at all. Lani seethed silently, realizing slowly that he could keep getting annoyed but nothing would change unless he said something. Either that or he’d keep going like this and then when Odion least expected it Lani might throw a fit over something small, like how something had been moved, or cleaned up.

Reaching a hand up, Lani pinched the bridge of his nose, it was like Odion was completely ignoring everything he’d just said. It was a big deal, it was and now Odion was doing what he always did which was to make light of it. Admittedly, that was probably very akin to something that Lani did when he didn’t want to fight. Lani took a deep breath and felt Odion’s hand on his knee, just resting there. He continued with the tennis ball, wondering if he was going to get Odion to snap soon, but then the cat came around and stole it, now Lani would never know. Lani snorted. Okay so maybe that had been what this had started about, and really it was the central issue to the whole mess, but somewhere between the missed dinner and now Lani’s mind had branched.

“This is exactly what this is about,” Lani retorted, not caring about the fact that that probably made no sense. Nodding and finally turning back to face Odion the telekinetic watched him with calculating eyes. Odion wasn’t rising to Lani’s bait and well, it looked like that meant he finally had to talk about this. “How can you not see why it needs to be a big deal?” Lani sputtered his head shaking and his extended outward as if he were trying to catch some understanding from thin air. “Alright, fine Odion, it’s just there. Don’t worry about it taking you away for a few days, it just happens.” The last word was thick with annoyance. Really he could have shaken Odion, he didn’t see how Odion didn’t get it! “Don’t try to, you know, fix it or anything, just let it happen.” He continued barreling forward like a train over the edge of the cliff.

Lani just stared at Odion for a moment in disbelief. “Is that your answer to everything? So tell me this Odion, how come whenever you’re upset it’s totally justified, but when I’m upset I’m in a ‘mood’ and just need to blow off steam, huh?” Lani challenged his hands gesturing in random directions, striking the air with emotion, not purpose. “And why the hell do you think I need sense knocked into me, anyways?” He didn’t know why Odion had even suggested that. Sure Lani had swatted Odion a few times, teasing and light jabs. The only time he’d ever actually taken a real blow at Odion had been near four years ago, and he had been in a very dark place. Odion was lucky Lani wasn’t inclined to throw him out the window. Or maybe he was smart sitting in that towel.

[Odion Martins]

Odion truly wasn’t sure what this was all about. He thought it was about hurt feelings, he had no idea that Lani was so over thinking this, though he shouldn’t be surprised that the blond had gone and done just that. Perhaps they weren’t as normal as most other couples, but they still fought like normal couples did. It wasn’t a fun situation to be in, but at least for a moment, Odion could feel just like everybody else.

Confused, Odion raised an eyebrow. This was about… what? Confusion? Fighting? Waiting for an answer, Odion listened with patience while Lani’s hands flailed about. It was almost comical, but Odion held his thoughts at bay. “Lani,” Odion said, leaning forward towards his boyfriend. “There’s really no point in me worrying about it, and there’s no point in you worrying about it either. I’m sorry it took me away, leaving you alone, but I didn’t choose for that. You know that, don’t you?” He was sorry, he just didn’t know what he was supposed to do either. “I can’t fix it, it’s like someone being in a coma – you don’t just expect them to fix it, you just hope they snap out of it.” Odion’s brow furrowed, realizing that what he just said would probably serve to only worry Lani further. Now he was a coma victim waiting to happen at any moment.

Odion just smirked. “You are in a mood, and physically blowing off steam seems to help,” he said, thinking of that little tennis ball Lani had been so preoccupied with. Taking a breath, Odion tried to think of a way that would get them out of the state they were currently in. “Look, this time coma, it’s probably going to happen again, it always does. That much we know at least… And it happens when I’m highly stressed, so you can see that the more stressed out about it I am, the more it happens and that’s not helping. Worrying or thinking about something doesn’t change the nature of it, so I’m all for not caring about it.”

Taking Lani’s hands in his, Odion felt like he was practically begging at this point. “But I do care about you, and you have to know that I don’t have a plan for getting myself out of those warps. It’s just, when I’m in them, I’m stuck in the future, or a singular moment, and something has to bring me back. I don’t know how it works really, it’s hard to explain…” He pursed his lips together, wondering if he was making any sense. He shook his head, the tension leaving his face. “See, it doesn’t help to think about…” Both could be stubborn.

[Lani Hunter]

It was about hurt feelings, it was also about powers and time. The wall had cracked and Lani was currently very deeply in the hand waving phase of his anger. Huffing and puffing as much as he wanted they both knew his bark was often worse than his bite. At least Odion had the sense to let Lani rant and didn’t ignite his annoyance any worse than it already. The telekinetic probably would have kept going to if Odion hadn’t said his name. Lani dropped his hands with a sigh, not really sure what this was going to entail, nevertheless he listened. For once Lani was going to being back down on this one. Lani rolled his eyes and shook his head. No point in worrying? No point!? Did Odion even realize who he was talking to?

Lani bounced his leg in an agitated manner, really he was such a child sometimes when he was sulking. “Yeah, I know that,” he relented. Lani raised a brow, really was Odion trying to be reassuring? He was doing a pretty poor job. “Can’t or won’t?” Lani sniped. He didn’t believe Odion, it was only something he couldn’t control because it was something he hadn’t tried to. Really what did he expect Lani to do? Expect at any moment Odion might just drop off the face of the metaphorical world and just wait for him to pop up again? In what world did Odion expect that to be okay with Lani? Odion may have expected it but Lani wasn’t going to go down without a fight, not to anyone, not even Odion’s power. In Lani’s eyes it was simple, Odion’s power was something that was a part of Odion but it was also something that sometimes took Odion away from him and Lani wasn’t going to let that slide. “You’re really okay with that, just waiting around for the next one to take you?”

“I am not in a mood,” Lani huffed, leaning back on the couch. Realizing he was pouting, Lani just sank deeper into the couch and radiated displeasure. “Do you have to call it a coma?” Lani groaned with a shake of his head. “You…” Lani started and ended up waving his hands in the air as he tried to organize his thoughts into coherent sentences, he ended up finishing with: “…are infuriating!” Lani was shaking his hands as if he were imagining shaking some sense into Odion. “How can you not care about it? See this is exactly what I’m talking about, this isn’t a small deal, Odion! Have you ever even tried?” He narrowed his eyes in an accusing manner, letting Odion take from it what he would.

Lani’s hand flapping was called to an end when Odion took hold of his hands. Lani might not be in a listening mood, he might even be in a ‘mood’ as Odion called it but he couldn’t ignore Odion when he was right next to him. “I think you’re avoiding thinking about it,” Lani said his glare gone but his eyes still piercing into those blue eyes. “Why don’t you have a plan? You know they happen and you’re sure they’ll happen again, but you don’t do anything about it?” Lani was frustrated and he was trying to figure out why this was a road block for Odion. Lani’s power affected other people, he was dangerous if he was out of control. He had no choice, he had to be controlled. Did Odion think just because his time warps only trapped him that it didn’t matter if he controlled them of not. Was Odion the master of time or was time the master of Odion?

[Odion Martins]

Odion wasn’t really the most qualified in matters of offering comfort. The amount of times he had had to do so were very few, so where would he have gotten the practice from? People often counted on Lani, so he would probably know what to say. Probably. Odion’s brow furrowed in annoyance. “Can’t. I have tried, give me some credit.” This was ludicrous – was Lani about to lecture Odion on powers? If Lani wasn’t okay with this, then Odion didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to leave, but if Lani’s wellbeing was at stake… “I don’t have a choice at the moment, I haven’t figured out a sure fire way of getting myself back.” It was a work in progress, Lani had to be okay with that.

One eyebrow cocked, Odion’s mouth twitched at the corner, containing a laugh at Lani’s pouting face. That really wasn’t helping his cause of not being in a mood. Scratching the back of his head Odion continued searching for a better word. “Well no, but it does seem serious enough to be called that…” Whatever it was called didn’t change what it was, so Odion left the naming for Lani to decide if he so chose. Odion’s eyes went wide with shock. “Me? What did I do? I’ve been nothing but civil about this whole thing and I’ve been trying to make it up to you! Of course I’ve bloody well tried! If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them!” He was yelling now. Yelling wasn’t going to help… He took a deep breath and backed off again. What a mess…

“I don’t know how to make a plan for this, it’s different every time it happens. Half the time I don’t even realize right away that what I’m experiencing isn’t the present.” Odion looked down at their hands, trying not to feel stupid. “If I think about it too much, I start to wonder if this isn’t real.” He looked up at Lani once more, wishing that he could just do some thought transfers and be done with this whole ordeal. If he was going to worry about it, he was to become paranoid, and Odion didn’t want that, but then again he only had himself to brainstorm with, and those two options seemed to be the only ones available.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani rolled his eyes, finding it hard to believe that Odion’s hadn’t actually tried, well okay he’d gone into this guns blazing without all of the facts. If Odion said anything about leaving for Lani’s ‘wellbeing’ the telekinetic was going to slug him. Normally Lani would be tempted to just hang him upside down but Odion wasn’t really giving him a lot of grab-able material. “Okay then let’s figure something out,” said determination in his voice, Odion didn’t make himself Lani’s personal telekinetic crash test dummy for Lani to shy away from time warping because it made him a little sick. Lani wasn’t okay with the idea of his boyfriend casually dropping into a ‘time coma’ from time to time. Odion couldn’t just do that and come back like nothing had happened.

“At least you admit it,” Lani declared gesturing toward Odion in a triumphant way. Lani nodded and held his ground as Odion’s voice rose. Lani simply shrugged, accepting Odion’s implied accusation of being an ass. That was fair, Lani would admit that he was being an ass. As soon as Odion paused for breath Lani lunged in. “You’ve tried before, are you still trying? Are you okay with living like this? Is that it?” He challenged refusing to back down, he wasn’t going to leave Odion but he sure as hell wasn’t going to watch Odion vanish from right in front of him. Lani didn’t understanding it, he didn’t understand time and he didn’t understand how to bend it. All he knew was that it was part of control. Lani had no choice, he couldn’t slip, not even for a second or else something might happen. It had gotten better and Lani wasn’t holding his power under lock and key anymore but he was always aware of it and what it was doing.

Lani just stared at Odion for a moment, thinking. This wasn’t right. He pulled one of his hands back and poked Odion in the forehead giving it a gentle push. “Real enough for you?” Lani asked his seriousness fading in favor of an impish grin, “Or do you need more evidence?” Lani shifted, his smile turning soft as he put an arm around Odion’s shoulders. “Avoiding thinking about it isn’t going to make it go away,” Lani said gently. They’d figured a lot of problems out using their combined intellect. Odion had helped Lani master his power, Lani would help Odion in return. Time for Lani had a distinct feel, something always felt a little strange when they were moving through it at a different rate than the normal movement of the linear path. Maybe it was that Odion didn’t feel the difference anymore.