Murphey's Law (open)

[Lani Hunter]

Lani sighed with contentment. Today had been a rather good day, if he could say so. He had made it to all of his classes and to the teacher's surprise turned in all of the homework they had assigned in his absence. He grinned a little. The look on their faces was priceless. And here they thought he was an idiot and a troublemaker. Well the latter was true. He had always prided himself on his ability to learn. When he received a reminder email about a test he had read the chapters and he was sure he had passed with flying colors. It had been his last class and his teacher had asked him to stay after. After the teacher scribbled an A on his paper Lani just gave the man a grin. just because he didn't care didn't mean he was stupid. Unfortunately the man sighed and told Lani he just couldn't give him a passing grade for the course. Lani had just shrugged he wasn't going to college so it really didn't matter.

Feeling rather pleased with himself Lani decided to do a little bit of extra powers practice. It was a rather nice day and much warmer than recent days. Almost spring, strange for so deep into winter, but he wasn't complaining. He took out a tennis ball from his room and ventured into the courtyard. He sat down on the bench and absently tossed the tennis ball bouncing it against the nearby tree. He whistled a little tune as he leaned back on the bench. He watched the tennis ball with his eyes watching its patterns as it flew in front of his eyes. A soft smile played on his lips and he decided nothing was going to ruin his good mood. Not even the impending birthday of his next month. That would really decide it all. He wanted to leave when he turned eighteen but he might as well graduate if he could. He really hoped he could at least leave. They didn't have the right to keep him. Right?

He pushed the thought out of his mind and shifted making the boards creak. He looked up into the tree shading the area and peered at a little bird flitting among the branches. He opened his mouth to say something to the bird but it suddenly jumped and took off shaking the branches free of their still dying leaves still soaked from the previous rain shower. Drenched and with a leaf having landed in his mouth Lani couldn't help but laugh. He picked the leaves from his tongue and wrinkled his nose at the earthy taste. He shook his head at himself and looked down at his wet shirt. Wonderful. The tennis ball bounced a few more times and Lani felt a terrible chill run through his body and the ball launched itself into the high branches of the tree. He called it back but it was wedged in tightly. He groaned inwardly. He stood on the bench and then balanced precariously on the arm rest and reached up for the ball his fingers just barely missing it.

[Braxton Carson]

Braxton strolled through Hammel's courtyard to burn time before his mandatory, and according to him "useless", power training session as he licked a very delicious chocolate ice cream. He had to be the only person in Vermont about crazy enough to eat ice cream in winter. Yes, winter had started to sort of fade away, but it was still cold, why eating an ice cream? Well let's just say it involved Jack, a prank, Brax's bed and several amounts of chocolate ice cream, which he decided should not go to waste, even if they didn't help his holidays weight. His stroll, however, was stopped by the sudden sight of some guy trying to... What is he doing?

"Haha, loser." He said rather quietly in between ice-cream licks after seeing the guy be drenched by rain water. He was about to continue his path when said guy stood in the bench as he attempted to reach something in the tree. Now, Braxton was not the most curious of persons, but from time to time curiosity did strike him a little. This was one of those times. "What are you trying to reach, your pussy?" Brax said as soon as he was close enough to the boy to be heard without yelling. He licked again his ice cream and attempted to look to the tree's top to see what the blonde was attempting to reach. "Oh, I think I know." He raised his left hand and forced the tennis ball to drop right to his hand. "This ball, right?" He showed it to the younger boy while he continued his sweet dessert. "Well," He launched the ball upwards back it's original place, making sure with his power that it got there. "good luck trying to get it."

[Lani Hunter]

Lani stretched up his fingers wishing for the millionth time that he was taller. He frowned and then dropped back with a sigh. He glanced at the man coming down the path... eating ice cream? It was warm but not that warm. Lani just shook his head at the man's foolishness. That was just inviting a cold on. At least the temperature was on the rise. What he would have done to have some hot chocolate a few days ago. He looked back at the ball and pushed on it. He didn't want to use more of his power, because knowing himself he would overdo it send the poor ball into thin atmosphere.

He glanced over when the man spoke and with an overemphasized sigh he just shook his head and refused to acknowledge the question. Lani was content to ignore him and wait for him to go away but when the tennis ball bulged and slipped out of the branches he blinked startled and looked at the man. He felt for the tennis ball curious about its movement. It was strange the man was moving it but not in a way that Lani understood. It couldn't be telekinesis, Lani would be able to recognize that. He cocked his head at the man and covered his shocked face quickly. He nodded warily, something in his eyes made Lani uncomfortable.

"Thanks," Lani said dryly as he watched the ball return to its place. He sighed and stepped up on the back of the bench balancing easily as he would on flat ground. He reached up and after a moment he pushed himself upward and used his arms to haul himself into the trees almost bare branches. He punched the tennis ball dislodging it and caught it as gravity tried to take it away again. He sat on the branch and grinned. He dropped the ball and with his power nudged it and it hit the man's hand as he went about licking his ice cream. Lani let the ball go, it wasn't that important to him. "Hey," he called from his lofty perch, "You've got a little something..." He tapped his nose and a smirk grew on his face.

[Braxton Carson]

"You're welcome, buddy." Braxton said with a grin. Having done his evil deed of the day this early made him grin.

Ready to leave, Braxton stayed to watch how the boy went up and grabbed the tennis ball. I should have sent it higher. Shrugging, he started turning around to find some other place to go burn time until his power training session started when he found himself with his nose deep inside his delicious ice cream. As he removed the cone from his nose, what was left of the ice-cream ball fell to the ground much to Brax's dismay. He looked at it while wiping his nose with his fingers and licking them afterwards. He then looked the guilty boy who couldn't stop smirking.

"Oh well, you to have got a little..." Brax pointed at his own nose. "Oh no wait, that's your face!"

Awkward silence. Brax could even hear crickets somewhere in the distance. He didn't consider himself the best one at comebacks, but he knew he was good at them and knew that had been bad. Or that it was missing something. He looked down. Yeah, he definitely was, and so he quickly kicked the chocolate ice-cream ball in the ground next to him and added the right momentum to send it straight to the boy's face. Anything to take that smirk out of his face.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was able to hold back his laughter at the man's shocked expression. He grinned and struggled to give him an innocent look. From his perch in the branches he wasn't able to see where the tennis ball had gone to. The glob fell from the man's face and Lani covered his mouth with a hand and his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. One for one. When Lani was able to get himself under control again he coughed but the smirk wouldn't leave his mouth. He looked down realizing he was being given a death glare. That just made Lani grin more, he couldn't get him up here. The tennis ball was gone, but Lani didn't know the extent of the man's power. Feet gripping the branch he put one hand on the truck to steady himself.

What? Lani blinked unsure how to respond to that come back. His face retained its smirk but it was a less certain expression. That was a comeback he thought was more appropriate in middle school. His lip did curl a little at the insult. There was nothing wrong with his face, he told himself. He and the man stared at each other as if both parties were uncertain of what to do next. Lani saw him shift and against all things that made sense in the world the ice cream came shooting at him. He tried to grab it but it was liquidy and slipped through his power's fingers. Lani yelped and bent back to avoid it. It smacked him square in the forehead and his head jerked backward. He lost his footing and tumbled landing headfirst in a bush. With a flash of anger he grabbed the man's shoes and pulled hauling him upside down, he hoped the man's shoes held. He couldn't actually grab people but he had learned to grab clothing and that was just as fun. He fought his way out of the branches leaves sticking to the ice cream and twigs sticking out of his hair. He picked one out and sighed, what a sight he must me. "Touche," he said and flicked a stick at his upside down captive.

[Braxton Carson]

Braxton's laugh was loud. So loud, it redefined what "unsubtle" meant. He was even pointing at the blonde boy as he fell from the tree. Everyone in a mile could most likely hear Brax's, now quite annoying laugh. The laugh, however, soon shifted into, just as loud, screams as he saw himself weirdly tripping towards the ground while his right foot was raised towards the air. He hit his nose just before he started hovering above the grass. Braxton might not be the smartest guy around, but he knew it had to be the other boy.

"Aaaaa get me down, get me down!" He started yelling as he tried to shake his body off of whatever grasp the blonde had on him. "Get me dooooooooown!"

He noticed only one foot was being grabbed, and flailing his arm and loose leg didn't seem to work to free himself, so mentally pushed himself aside, since maybe manipulating his momentum could do something, but all he managed to do was swing from left to right. Adding even more momentum, he saw himself performing a rather amusing one-eighty degrees swing around the the point he was being grabbed by the other boy. He stopped himself in the top by reducing all his momentum to zero, which made him look like he was hovering, while actually he was still locked in position by the other boy's mental grasp.

"Fuck you." He said while crossing his arms, which he thought in combination of being some feet above the ground, made him look intimidating. "Get me down." He said as he sent the boy's feet aside so he would trip as well. It was, however, beyond Braxton's ability to keep himself still in the "hovering" position while making the boy trip, so he saw himself swinging down while he did so, but immediately sent himself right upwards again, doing a 360º spin and returning to the intimidatingly hovering position. "Get me down!!!"

[Lani Hunter]

Lani's face burned at the sound of the laughter. He was not at all pleased. However the tides were quickly turned then Lani finally untangled himself from the bush. Lani guffawed without restraint as the man wiggled like a fish on a hook trying to find someway to free himself. The pain in his scrapes and cuts was forgotten as Lani doubled over holding his stomach. That was the first time he had tried that particular trick. He was half surprised it had worked and it was much more hilarious that he thought. He would have to pull that one more often. Telekinetics certainly had the prankster's advantage. Already he had terrorized a cook by hiding and chasing him around with spoons.

The man's screams started and Lani ignored his demands and watched him wiggle around with one hand hiding his smile and the other wrapped around his chest. His green eyes were alight with humor and mischief. He looked silly there with the reminiscence of ice cream still tipping his nose and hanging upside down glaring at Lani. Not that Lani was much better with ice cream streaking his forehead and hair and leaves and twigs sticking out from his head at odd angles. He locked eyes with him and tried to keep his composure but when he crossed his arms and cursed Lani he couldn't handle it anymore. He snorted out a laugh and shook his head, he should let him down. It was only fair. But then who knows what he might do when he was let down. Lani probably deserved whatever was coming to him but he was having far too much fun.

Lani's laughter faltered when his feet slid out from under him. He pinwheeled his arms but still ended up on his rump. He was finding it hard to be angry when the man apparently because of his own power was now swinging more. Lani's laugh finally subsided and he took a few deep breaths. "Alright, alright," he said holding his hands up as if warding off an attack. He rose to his feet and with a gesture gently lowered the man to the ground. Lani didn't want to hurt anyone and as much as this man was getting on his nerves he didn't want to see him crack his head on the pavement. When most of his body was on the ground Lani let go of the shoe and braced himself.

[Braxton Carson]

The other boy's continuous laughs did nothing but anger Brax even more. He was fine with getting his ice cream wasted (no, not he wasn't, not really), but getting laughed at? Oh, this boy should not get him down. But he did, unfortunately, and as soon as the Carson twin was in the ground, he gained composure, arranged his balance, focused his mind and shot himself towards the blonde.

See, the other boy's telekinesis and Braxton's momentum manipulation were in many instances alike, they both allowed to move things with their minds if they so desired. In the realm of motion, however, the biggest difference was the lack of finesse momentum manipulation allowed Braxton. Unlike with telekinesis, he could only command things to get thrown towards here or there, or to just stop moving at all, anything besides that was particularly hard, and when attempting to apply two very different momentums to two different things, it got even harder. The biggest limit he had, though, was when the things that were to be manipulated were close to his own body's mass, they were more difficult to move, and if they exceeded the boy's weight, it was impossible to. The advantage his power had over the other boy's, however, was that Braxton was also able to add or reduce the density of things, and more than one at a time, which facilitated several feats that would have been more complicated than with just telekinesis, and also raised the maximum mass capacity he could manipulate with his mind. Cheating, he'd call it.

A good example of this, and a good example of how good he was, and how useless his power training sessions were now, Braxton attempted four quick successive meta-moves:
1) He increased his own overall-density, making himself heavier even though it didn't look like. What for? It not only would not only let him hit stronger, but it would also make it easier to apply his power unto the other boy.
2) He decreased the other boy's body's density as much as he could. The general rule of the thumb was that he couldn't lower the anything's density beyond half the original, but with organic material other than his own, this lower limit was seemed to be higher, around three quarters perhaps. Just about enough for the other boy's to notice something had changed if he was aware enough of his own body.
3) He shot himself forwards towards the boy, pushing him with his hands open. It probably felt like a strong push, but he wasn't meaning to hurt him, he was meaning for it to be intimidating and for of them to crash into the tree the boy had climbed before.
4) He reduced the other boy's hands, feet and overall momentum to zero, effectively freezing him in the place where they had crashed into the tree.

"Thanks." Brax said staring directly at the other boy's eyes. He then took a step back and placed his hands in his pocket. "Now your turn, but you have to beg."

ooc: ok, maybe braxton may had gone a little godmoddy-ish here. if you want me to edit something out, i'm definitely up for it

[Lani Hunter]

((haha nope, you're good (: ))

In retrospect it probably wasn't Lani's brightest move to let him go. At least not while he was still in the vicinity. He couldn't bring himself to be intimidated. He was powerful, a god. Lani felt he would always have the advantage. But then, if he lost control he couldn't even tell if the man would survive. There weren't a lot of things to grab out here but what he could grab he could use. There was always something. Right now as he extended his mental hands he could feel the bench, the ball, his clothing and the man's. There were also rocks along the path, a loose brick here and there. He drew himself back to focus on letting him down easy. He braced himself and prepared to meet his rush. Maybe he should have let him smash his head... He hadn't exactly figured out what this guy's power was but he wasn't worried.

Something strange happened as he braced his legs to meet the charge. His whole body felt strange, like the pressure around him suddenly became less. It was an incredibly strange sensation. He couldn't exactly say what was wrong but it made him antsy. When the man hit him his legs didn't hold, he didn't even slow him. They went crashing into the tree and Lani's back slammed against the bark. He winced not so much out of pain but out of the shock of the impact and closed his eyes against what he thought would be an incoming assault of punches or something. He opened his eyes and looked at the man his glare piercing into the man's. He made to duck and roll out of the way but his body wouldn't obey him. With a strangled cry of surprise he started to struggle. His body quivered and jerked occasionally but no matter how much he told his body to move it couldn't.

"What the hell!?" Lani demanded. Yep, not his best decision in the world. He knew he had something to do with it. He was not a happy camper anymore. His good mood vanished with a snap and his bright green eyes became dark pools of anger. "You're such a bastard," Lani retorted when he told Lani to beg. Lani was a prideful person. He didn't bow and he certainly didn't beg. With a sneer on his face he laughed. "You're saying that like you didn't." Lani pitched his voice mimicking a girlish impression of the man's screams, "Get me dooooown!" He laughed in a way that could only be described as a cackle. "Now, let's be serious, you let me go or I'll hang you by your toes again." Lani grinned arrogantly and raised a brow at the man daring him to think Lani was bluffing.

[Braxton Carson]

"Oh I am." Braxton patted the boy's chest as he took a step back.

The blonde was far from the first person that ever called Braxton a bastard, or, as a matter of fact, any other derogatory English word. Even several Spanish ones. If the younger boy thought Braxton was to admit he begged, he was very wrong. To him, it was an order, one which the boy followed. If he had listened to his English class, he could actually go ahead and back his opinion with the fact that "get me down" is an imperative sentence, plus it didn't include the word "beg" anywhere. Too bad he was far busier concentrating in said class' teacher's skirt.

"It's fine, we can stay here aaaaall day." Lies. Braxton had a pretty fine control over his powers and side-effects, but constantly maintaining zero-momentum in five different parts of the other boy (torso, both hands and both feet) was going to quickly tire him. Five minutes tops until he'd start losing feelings in his fingers and toes, and ten until muscular pain invaded his limbs, after which it was going to be completely impossible to keep the boy in place.

If anything, he had to relax right now, or otherwise he'd have to lose this ego battle, so he cleaned his shirt a bit and took a seat in the nearby bench. Taking a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and a lighter from the other, he quickly pulled one out with his lips and lit it with his right hand in one quick movement.

"Want one?" He offered the blonde the pack. "Oh how silly of me, here, let me help you." He walked up to him in the tree and then placed and lit one cigarette in his mouth. He smiled honestly. "There you go."

[Lani Hunter]

There was no rise of anger in him when Lani insulted him. His calm was almost discerning. Lani tried again in vain to move his body. There were some things that Lani could analyze and keep his cool about but at the moment he was stuck to a tree. His rational brain flew out the window. He glared at him and he sighed heavily slamming his head back against the tree. Well this was a fine predicament he'd gotten himself into. He knew his joke was weak and really had no grounds. He just wanted to say something, anything to get that cocky look off of that man's face. He hated feeling submissive to anyone. He could and did when it mattered but he wasn't going to beg for anything from this guy.

Lani growled in annoyance. "All day?" He echoed. This guy must be powerful if he could hold Lani here all day. This was going to be a long day. He might just have to hold up his side of the bargain. His head was starting to throb and he really didn't want to have to haul the man up by his shoes again. Lani rolled his head so he could watch the man when he moved. He held his chin up a little not wanting it to seem like he was giving up.

He watched him got to the bench and sit. Apparently he wasn't bluffing. He turned his head to look straight ahead and closed his eyes. He was going to flip him off of that bench. He extended his power and grabbed the legs ready to dump him off. He started to pull it out of the ground, a hard feat than he expected. He blinked when the man spoke. He let go of the bench and looked over at the man who had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He hated cigarettes, the smoke irritated his nose. He gave a fake laugh and shook his head looking at the man like he was an idiot. Here he was. Stuck to the tree!

The man stood and Lani felt a little twinge of fear. He flinched away as much as he could. He did not want a cigarette burn to the face. But apparently Lani's wost case scenario vision was false. Before Lani could protest one of those disguising things was in his mouth and burning. "Look at you," Lani said around the cigarette, "Corrupting the youth." He took a breath in and the smoke filled his mouth and throat and Lani coughed spitting the vile instrument of tobacco from his mouth.

[Braxton Carson]

"I've done far worse." Braxton cocked his head a bit. "Hey! Don't drop it... Braxton picked the paper cylinder from the ground, figuring it was probably hard to smoke with no hands. "I'm not picking it up two times for you."

He placed the cigarette back in the guy's mouth. He could always use his telekinetic power to hold it the same way he held Braxton a few minutes ago. He could have said that out loud, but it wasn't on Brax's intents to give the man ideas.

"My trainer would be so proud." He sat back in the bench, crossed his legs and continued smoking. "Focus your anger, Ms. Sokolov always says." He let the smoke out of his mouth slowly. "And here I am smoking a cigarette and holding you still instead of punching you in the face." He placed his vice back in his mouth. "You should be happy. Last time I rage-punched something, it was a wall and I left a hole in it."

Brax looked at his right hand while the smoke floated out of his nose. His knuckles had taken such a long time to heal, but they were perfectly fine this time. He then looked at the boy in the tree and then back at his hand. Beating him would be a stroll in the park, he didn't quite know why he was abstaining himself from going angry-mode this time. Maybe I should just punch him, right? He closed his fist. Nah. The cigarette had calmed him down now. He opened his fist again and looked at the tip of his fingers, touching them with his thumb. Numb. He had miscalculated how much strain holding the blonde to the tree was putting into his body. It was probably just another two or three minutes, give or take, before he couldn't do it anymore.

"Oh I know." Brax continued his cigarette. "I should paint a big letter in your chest like in that superman series." Even though he didn't watch anything different than The Girls Next Door reruns and its spinoffs in TV, Braxton was aware of some popular scenes from some other TV shows. "But you know, an H instead of an S because this is Hammel." He checked his pockets and twisted his lips. "Have a pen or marker or some shit on you?"

[Lani Hunter]

Lani glared at the guy and then rolled his eyes. He watched as the older man picked it up and held it back out to him. Lani grinned a little at his challenge cigarettes were nasty, but they were expensive. An idea formed in the back of Lani's mind. He let him place it in his mouth again. He let the smoke trail up into his eyes and glared past the veil and listened with a little bit of interest. So whoever this guy was he was still here for power training, but they let him off campus. That was promising. He pulled the offending object out of his mouth with his power and let it drop onto the pavement. He shrugged and gave him an innocent look.

He listened to him blow hot air about his self control. Lani cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, you know maybe you won't have to rage punch something if you weren't an asshole to start out with," Lani said giving him a mocking pleasant smile. Lani was trying to distract him. His thieving fingers had trained his power and now he was grabbing the pack of cigarettes out of the man's pocket.

All the while his uncaring smile was innocent and his eyes were locked on the man. He didn't need to see what he was doing for this. He had too much experience, too much skill. Even plastered to a tree with his power he could rid anyone of a wallet without their notice. It was a careful process but Lani wasn't called the best for nothing. As moved the pack he pressed gently against the pocket of the man's pants to make it seem like the pack was still there. It was something he had found in a stolen book. He could move clothing just enough to keep people from noticing anything was amiss until Lani was long gone. But of course he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon so why not let this guy be his guinea pig. He wondered absently if he should take his wallet, he pushed away the thought. One thing at a time.

His brow raised when he started talking about painting stuff on his chest. He already had ice cream and leaves in his hair he was not about to let himself be further humiliated. "Or you could just let me go," Lani suggested as he freed the pack. He floated it away from the man slowly and then rose it high above his head. If Lani had a clue about his power now that he was immobilized it was that he could change something's movement. So Lani was going to fight him for this one. He was not about to make it easy for him to get his pack back.

Lani laughed. "Are you serious? Why do you think I would tell you that?" He raised a brow and his grin became mischievous. "You know smoking is so bad for you." He pulled the cigarette out of the man's lips and sent it to join his in the dirt. Only then did Lani look up and call his attention to the cigarette pack floating a good three feet out of reach. He braced himself against the battle for moving the pack he knew was coming. "Lets see now. You let me go or you're gonna go fishing." He grinned feeling he finally had the upper hand.

[Braxton Carson]

This is what you get for being friendly. Brax, in a very friendly act, gives this kid one of his cigarettes and he throws him to the ground again. If anything, it was people like this who made Brax who he was, he told himself.

"Maybe I didn't have to rage-punch something if YOU weren't an asshole." He said as he continued his cigarette from the bench. "I was very happily having my ice-cream and minding my own business and you ruined it." Yeah, he could feel that little flame burning up inside him. "And then I give you a cigarette because you seem like a nice guy, and it turns our you're not and throw the thing." Yeah, Braxton lives in a rather twisted version of the real world. "And now you're calling me an asshole?" He stood up. "Maybe I should punch you."

[/i]

Braxton's rather big effort to not go physical against the younger guy was going far under-appreciated and this didn't make things better inside the brunette's head. Apparently all he wanted was Brax for lose control on him, which was just affirmed when his cigarette flew out of his mouth, very obviously due to the other boy's powers. That was it, if he wanted a fight, a fight he would have. Braxton started taking the first step towards the tree when the younger guy pointed with his eyes at Brax's cigarette pack floating above him.

"Fine." He said. "You asked for it." He walked towards the tree and stopped in front of him, kneeling and taking the boy's dropped cigarette with one hand. Pointing the still softly burning side towards the boy, he placed the nicotine cylinder very close to the kid's neck. "You know, my dad once taught me one of the most valuable lessons in life, which I will now make you learn: shut the fuck up."

Just as he finished talking, however, and just before he actually on purpose burnt the boy with the cigarette, Braxton felt that rather annoying pain in his arms which signified that he had stretched the limits of his powers. This only meant, of course, that the boy was now to fall to the ground free of Brax's movement impairment. Of course, unless he reacted fast enough, it also meant that he'd burn his ear with the cigarette Braxton was holding close to his neck.

If anything came after this, it was going to be an unfair fight. Braxton favorite kind of fights, except that this was going to be unfair for him.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’s brow raised and he listened somewhat perplexed by the man’s delusions. He couldn’t keep a bark of a laugh from coming out. “Really? Is that how it happened?” He asked with sarcastic interest. “I seem to recall minding my own business when you got my ball stuck worst than it had been before!” He shook his head at him. “You must be insane! I don’t smoke, I hate it.” He snarled back. Lani raised a brow at the threat. He didn’t know this guy, he had already been caught off guard. He did think the guy was bluffing but then on the other hand, he really didn’t want to get punched. However his tongue was waggling before his mind could stop it. “Damn right I’m calling you an asshole! Who do you think you are going around ruining someone’s day?” In fact Lani had been perfectly content minding his own business. “Oh wait,” Lani said with a mocking smile, “I see, you’re one of those people that can dish it out but can’t take it, huh?”

Yeah, Lani could act tough. Be threatening and intimidating, but in truth he was not that large. He could certainly pack a punch, but his advantage was really in his speed and his ability to escape. Lani was actually very glad he had taken the cigarette pack for once he rose from the bench and started to come toward him, Lani’s heart started to thump with fear. He smiled a little thinking he might actually have the advantage. And then Lani learned a life lesson. When plastered to a tree never think you have the advantage, ever. He came forward and Lani raised his chin and gritted his teeth his stubbornness still not letting him bend. Then he stopped and stooped and Lani’s eyes narrowed as he grabbed the still smoking cigarette. Lani started struggling in vain again. This was no happening!

Lani moved away as much as he could. He tried to pull away and his muscles tensed but he could not achieve movement. He shifted his head moving it away as the man’s hand brought the burning cigarette close to his neck. He froze afraid that the tiniest shift would burn him. “You don’t want to do that,” Lani said softly afraid to speak louder than a whisper. “Please,” Lani forced out, “Don’t do this.” The begging killed Lani from the inside out. The man continued his speech and Lani lost all hope. Under normal circumstance Lani would have felt sorry for him, he didn’t get along with his father either but then again his father had never hurt him, at least not physically. His power forgotten he squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself. He gritted his teeth in anticipation of the pain. He stopped speaking and Lani felt the smoke tickle his ear and the heat bearing down on his skin.

Several things happened at once. Motion suddenly returned to Lani’s limbs. Eyes closed he didn’t realize what was happening until he was already falling. His arms flew out and he caught himself on the man’s shoulders. His eyes bulged and he let out a bellow of pain as he fell into the burning cigarette. It struck his neck and he jerked away allowing it to drag along to his ear. Desperate to get away from the pain he flailed striking out with hand and foot until he was able to roll away. He sat on his knees for a few moments batting away the ashes he was sure were still on his skin. He gasped as his hand brushed the burn. Pain dominated his mind and his power acted on its own accord. Parasitic, it burst out seeking to protect its host.

He grabbed the man by the belt and his power launched him back against another tree. Lani’s eyes were blazing with anger and pain. He covered the long burn with his hand. He felt it touching it gingerly. It was already raised angry and blistering. It wasn’t as long as he thought, more like a slip from the place on his neck to his earlobe. The ear itself didn’t hurt which led Lani to believe it had escaped unscathed. “All day, huh?” Lani called lifting the man by his shoes. “How weak!” Lani was livid and the pain wasn’t helping. He nearly growled as he stalked forward. He pulled back his arm to deliver a punch. “Next time make sure you can handle what you catch!” And he let it go, he was going to enjoy his fist connecting with that arrogant face.