Power Loss (Open.)

[Odion Martins]

It was snowing outside. Odion decided to use this weekend to train instead of visiting Rhett. The blonde had been emotionally distant and Odi let his powers get the better of him. Time seemed to be slipping through his fingers, and yet, time was all he had. With nothing to care about except Rhett, his life had taken on less meaning. He was starting to realize that one sole person could never fill another person, and finally finding Rhett, had not lead to finding himself. He still didn't care about school, but he did care about his powers.

Just last week, he was trying to nick a ring from a lady's hand, and time had sped up before he had reached her. He had to stop in his tracks, and looking over his shoulder, realized the woman was already two blocks down. He had asked one of his teachers about this (leaving out the part about committing a crime), and was informed that he may be going through a growth spurt. He needed to concentrate on harnessing his powers more if he was to have good control over them like he had weeks before. He was curious to know if having a lover affected a meta's powers, but he chose not to ask about that.

Instead, he was in the middle of a training field, big flakes of snow falling steadily around him. Odion tried slowing down time, and the flakes came to a stand still. He smiled. But as soon as he tried to walked through them while propelling the time pause, the snow began falling again. "For fucks sake!" He swore into the open wind, gritting his teeth. He was supposed to graduate this year, and at this rate, that wasn't going to happen.

He had lost his real parents, his 'family' here at Hammel, it felt like he was losing Rhett, and now, he was losing his powers. He was hanging by a thread named Avi, and he needed to get back his powers at least. The rest, only time would tell if his good luck had ran out.

Finding the courage to try again, Odion tried speeding up time, the flakes paused, them came crashing down around him, piling around his feet. He tried to slow them down again, but it wasn't working. "Shit," he said to himself, trying to brush off the snow as it came at him. He was on fast forward and didn't know how to stop it.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani whistled happily the snow turning his plans into a reality. There wasn’t a lot softer than freshly fallen snow. He grabbed a board he had lifted from a department store, it was a skateboard that he had taken the wheels off of and was about to use it to practice his telekinetic controlled flight. He would have liked to do something dramatic like leap off the roof but he wasn’t that confident in his abilities yet. Especially after what happened last time. His trainer had forbidden it, but then against Lani wasn’t really good at doing what he was told. Another reason today was the day, chances were not a lot of people would be out today and no one looking out their windows would have a clear view. If he could find a way to fly over those walls he would free himself more than anything else would. Hammel’s chains would fall away and it would be easier not only to slip away from Taitum, who had been infuriatingly diligent, but also to do his job.

He looked up into the sky shivering a little and shaking the snow out of his hair. He toss the board out in front of himself and with a reckless jump landed on it and lifted it simultaneously. The change in weight and balance had his flapping arms desperately seeking balance. He breathed a sigh of relief when he was able to stand on the stationary board. Well that was at least a start. He closed his eyes and focused his power feeling the balance and weight of himself and the board as one system. With an explosion his power shot forward before he even had the thought and Lani was dumped into the snow. He hopped to his feet and dusted himself off. This is where his problem came in; his power had a mind of its own. Sometimes his eagerness and emotions triggered it without him meaning to.

The board came back bumping against his leg like a loyal dog. Well he was here for a reason he wasn’t about to give up after one fall. If he had that mind set he wouldn’t be who he was. He wasn’t able to scale a wall and slip into a window like a breeze without making a few crashes and falls first. He stepped up and more calmly sent it off. Staying only a few inches above the snow Lani balanced a smile growing on his face. Now he wanted a little height. He wanted to feel the wind in his face. He kicked it up and let out a little whoop of joy as he gained temporary success at scooting along his balance kept low. It really was no different than skateboarding, save the fact that he had a few more degrees of freedom.

He tipped himself up and his power was too excited and tipped to far making Lani’s feet slip off. He swore and tucked himself and rolled as he hit the snow, glad it was at least a little softer than the ground. Where had the board gotten off to? It was still gaining height with great enthusiasm. He sighed and with a gesture cut off his power and the board rose for a few moments longer before gravity was able to overtake the upward velocity. He started to where it was going to fall and broke into a run seeing a person. “Hey!” He shouted trying to get his attention. “Duck!” The guy was acting strangely and wasn’t moving very quickly. “Dammit.” He hissed and flinging his arm out hit the board with his power deflecting it into a nearby tree. He slowed and stopped as he approached the man, a fellow student. He sighed a little annoyed. “What’s wrong with you, huh? Stop standing around.” He said annoyance lancing through his words. He looked up at the board and shook his head turning back to the man. Something was wrong. “Hey, are you ok?” Lani asked forgetting about how hard it was going to be to get his board untangled.

[Odion Martins]

Odion hadn’t noticed the board through the flurry of snow until it was too late. Usually he simply would have paused time to avoid the fateful blow, but that button was nowhere to be found. He was stuck in this little bubble, and thankfully someone else had saved him the trouble of what it would feel like to be struck by a skateboard to the head.

That sense of relief is what helped Odi return back to normal, Lani questioning him. It took a few more moments for Odion to get his bearings and push back the oncoming headache. “What’s wrong with you? This is a training field, I’m training.” He said, frustrated. Had he not given it some thought, he would have told the guy to get a better hold of his powers and not decapitate his fellow students, but that was just asking for a smart rebuttal.

“I’m fine,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry about your skateboard,” he said, not a hint of remorse in his voice. He was upset, and Lani didn’t have anything on him worth pickpocketing, not that Odion could see anyways. Plus, he decided it was safer to rob random strangers, not classmates.

Odi wondered what Lani’s powers were without asking the boy. Perhaps it was levitation, which seemed to make the most sense. So much for being the only one out here while it was snowing, Lani needed the extra cushion, in case he plummeted to the ground. If Odion was nice, and his powers weren’t malfunctioning, he could break Lain’s fall by stopping time and stopping a lot of pain. But he wasn’t nice, and he didn’t care about some snotty guy and his remarks.

“Anything else?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

[Lani Hunter]

The kid’s strange actions started to quicken and it almost seemed like his slow reaction time was something of a joke. That annoyed Lani. If he hadn’t just stood there Lani’s board wouldn’t be in a tree right now. He shook his head and started calculating possible ways to get it out of the branches. One flaw he absolutely hated was he had the strength to send cars flying like they were toys and yet if something was alive his power passed right through it. He couldn’t even move the branches around his best bet with his power would be to tug and pull at the board until it came loose.

Lani’s eyebrows rose at the response he received. He clenched his jaw to avoid the retort that was building up in his throat. Why was it that there were just some people at this school who could bring the fight out of him where others were just as good at making him laugh? He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Me? I’m not the one standing around. You know that when someone yells ‘duck’ you should generally duck right?” He gestured with one hand, his tone inquisitive and only subtly degrading. “Besides if you’re training you should keep an eye out for say… uncontrollable projectiles, for example.” Lani scolded not caring that this man was his age or perhaps a few months older. Being unaware of your surrounding was a terrible thing. Granted Lani hadn’t known there was someone out here but then again he didn’t have the reaction time of a snail either. “Sorry about that, by the way,” he added for good measure.

When the guy said he was fine Lani was relieved, not many people recovered from nearly having a board to the head. It was the guy’s power he was curious about, had it malfunctioned? Was that why he had been standing there? Lani shrugged it off; as much as curiosity killed Lani it wasn’t his place to ask. “Eh, whatever,” Lani said waving a hand dismissively at the less than enthusiastic apology. As long as his board wasn’t broken he wouldn’t be too upset, besides he had accomplished flight! For however brief a time but it had worked! He smiled despite himself, that feeling, that rush! How could anyone ever ask for more?

“Huh?” He turned back to the man when he spoke again. He shrugged and looked up at the branches. He tugged at the board and it shook the tree but it was wedged in between a multitude of tangled branches and gravity was working against him. He also couldn’t see it very well underneath the layers of snow covered branches. He’d have to go up after it. The branches didn’t grow low, probably so the gardeners wouldn’t have to deal with them to mow but it did make getting into the branches harder. He turned back to the guy and gave him a sheepish smile. “Well I could use a boost.” He didn’t actually expect any help but trying to scale an icy tree trunk was never fun and if he could just reach that branch he could pull himself up and be on his way.

[Odion Martins]

Odion was as equally annoyed, if not even more than Lani. He hadn’t been in the way at all in the ginger’s opinion. In fact, if anyone was in the way, it was the other boy. There was a whole damn field to practice in, how hard was it to notice another figure in the white snow? He surely wasn’t that pale. And even if he was, his hair would be a signal of life. He was obviously too self centered to take a simple look around him before pointing fingers at someone who happened to be doing the exact same thing he was. There must’ve been something intrinsically good about the kid though, Odi thought to himself, otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered using his levitation powers to fling it away. Odion might’ve said thank you if Lani hadn’t been such a twat about his standing there. But he probably wouldn’t have said much of anything had Lani ran to him with nothing but apologies. There would probably be a fight ensuing at the end of this.

If he could read minds, he would realize he and Lani were on the same playing field. Odion was more of a verbal fighter, but when those he encountered weren’t intelligent enough for such enlightenment, such as Leon Belenos, fists were always a good bet. Hell, if his powers weren’t acting up on him he would freeze time right now and do the same to Lani what he did to Leon. Freeze time, spit in Lani’s face, punch him where it hurt, and leave before the other even knew what was going on. Maybe he could levitate, but he could never catch up to Oidon.

He watched Lani’s reaction with slight amusement, smiling a bit, hoping to anger Lani a little more. “I can stand around if I please,” he said, his strong British accent seeping through, “and what if I were deaf? Bet you wouldn’t be making such an ass of yourself at the moment.” There were many students at Hammel with all kinds of powers, all kinds of handicaps, all kinds of everything. “I would advise the same to you,” Odion hissed, his fists clenching and unclenching. There would be something being projectile very close to Lani’s face pretty soon. The redhead scoffed, shaking his head. This guy was a real treat, wasn’t he? That apology wasn’t even worth addressing at this point. “Usually people apologize first, don’t know your manners yet?” He asked, standing stoically, never mind that an apology hadn’t been the first thing out of his mouth. Then again, he had been the one who had almost experiences a concussion.

Odion rolled his eyes. Wow, this guy was just full of intriguing words. ‘Eh’, ‘whatever’, and ‘huh’. It was like talking to a child. The ginger’s dark blue eyes scanned the tree, then over to Lani who was trying to smile. “Can’t levitate yourself to the board yourself?” He challenged, an eyebrow raised. Obviously he couldn’t, otherwise Lani would have already, Odi was just trying to be snarky. This would be great fun, watching someone else struggle to get their possession back. There was no way Lani would get Odion’s help, especially not now. He didn’t budge, not willing to get anywhere near the other boy and the tree. “I was already almost hit with that thing, maybe it’s meant to stay up there,” he said with a shrug. If you wanted something done, you should do it yourself. It was best Lani learn to do that now.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani glared over at the board in the tree. He might just leave it there out of spite, if it hadn’t been so enthusiastic about all this it wouldn’t be in the tree. Well then, that was unfair to the board, it was Lani fault and he knew it. He just didn’t want to have to admit it. Telekinesis made it all too easy to blame the objects rather than yourself. His good mood and the thrill of flight were still with him and he refused to let anyone destroy his mood. He started trying to see things from another light. It was a new thing he was trying and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Taitum had pushed him to think more and Lani had been able to realize how much he was lying to himself. Even now saying it wasn’t his fault, it was the guy’s. If he had moved this wouldn’t be happening. But if Lani hadn’t been trying to fly when his trainer told him not to he wouldn’t have had to make the kid dodge the board. He made a mental not to hit Taitum the next time he saw him. He didn’t like this whole ‘taking responsibility for his actions’ thing.

He reached up and scratched at his neck where the still healing burn was a constant reminder of his mistake of picking a fight he couldn’t win. He was a much better runner than fighter. All this fighting had to come to a stop. He was going to piss off someone he had no business pissing off and he was going to pay for it one of these days. He scowled at his thoughts looking off into the white world around them. He blinked and turned back to the boy when he spoke again. He opened his mouth to retort and shut it again. Hellfires. The man was right. He squared his shoulders showing he was not going to back down but he had a goal at the moment not to fight. Unless the man really asked for it. Then he would be happy to oblige.

He swore softly and ran a hand through his hair. He glared but realized he couldn’t refute that statement. “No, you’re right,” Lani said forcefully his tongue disliking the taste of those words. “I’m sorry.” His eyes snapped up at him when he commented on the projectile. His eyes flashed dangerously and watched his hands. Wow, everyone was so hot tempered here, himself included. He took a deep breath; see he was trying to pick his fights more wisely. Lani raised his hands in defense and shrugged. “We’ll apparently we’re all just uncivilized.” He retorted unaffected by the insult. “What is it with people around here anyways?” Lani challenged rather harshly, “You make one mistake and people expect you to grovel at their feet and beg for forgiveness. Well sorry, Red, that’s all you’re getting. Take it or leave it.” Lani did not beg, he had apologized and yeah it was his fault he had almost hit him but it was people like him who wouldn’t let it go that just frustrated Lani.

Lani raised a brow and considered asking the man what drugs he was on. “Levitate? What the hell are you talking about?” The flaw in his challenge led Lani to miss it as a challenge altogether. Lani looked from the redhead back to the tree and found he was in agreement. “Everyone’s power has a limit,” he said, “I suspect you know that, of course unless your power is become a statue that is. You do standing around very well.” He hadn’t meant to be mocking, it just kind of slipped out. About the board, oh well, he could always come back and get it later. But he did go through a lot of trouble to get it and it had worked rather well until that incident. He glared back at the boy, if he thought he was going to get the benefit of watching Lani struggled for it he was about to be severely disappointed. They didn’t call him the best for nothing. He didn’t want to seem arrogant but a sly confident smile grew on his face making him look rather impish.

[Odion Martins]

Odion had been lucky to have a power that served him so well. He was their lord, their master, he could do anything with time under his control. You could rob someone, stop an enemy in their steps, and do just about anything else with time manipulation. The only drawbacks were the occasional headaches, and apparently the growth spurts. There was nothing special about puberty, except if you were a meta. Luckily for Odion, growth spurts didn’t stop for males until they were in their twenties. His powers were on the fritz, manifesting once more. It was high time he got a hold on speeding up time. He supposed that constantly using his talents to freeze time, wasn’t giving that ‘muscle’ enough of a workout. Now it was coming to bite him in the ass with a vengeance. He had no one to blame but himself, but that didn’t mean he was going to quit. It just meant he was going to be more irritable than ever when training, and he wasn’t going to walk around with a warning sign for the benefit of others. They were in high school, weren’t mood swings a staple ingredient?

Selfishness was in the ginger’s nature. Being an abandoned orphan having to fight for himself in the streets of Europe had toughened him up more than was healthy. Odion liked to tell himself that he didn’t have a heart, that he was untouchable and no one was worth touching in return. Perhaps Odi was more disturbed by the fact that someone had seen him training outside, unsuccessfully, while the other had managed to do exactly what he had set out to. His pride had taken a hit and he didn’t want to be here, at this very moment. He wanted to push past this guy, but to do so would be admitting he was a coward, he would be running away from his problems. It was just an excuse to quit practicing. Lucky for both of the teens, no one would be making that first move today.

Odion pushed an eyebrow up on his face. He wasn’t sure whether to be impressed, or bored. He had never been ‘right’ before, not when he was being such a smart ass to a complete stranger. Odi wasn’t usually so easily annoyed, he just happened to be in a bad mood. If Lani met the ginger’s charming side now it was seem like a facade. He watched the boy carefully. Yes, yes they were all uncivilized here in America, but that wasn’t any different from any other place. “Your sincerity is rare, so, thank you.” Odion said, not breaking eye contact. He meant it. Lani had thrown him through a loop he hadn’t been expecting. “I don’t expect grovelling, but you’ve apologized twice now, I think that will suffice,” he said, grinning madly. He didn’t mind the nickname really. There were no mistakes in life. Ginger, Red, it was all the same to him. Better anonymity than everyone knowing who he was. It was just better that way. He wasn’t sure about the rest of the population, but he could name a lot of people he didn’t like because they were complete morons. Usually Odion saved his charm for the fairer sex, it was just good manners on his part.

The only flaw in the challenge, was that Lani was too dense to see it. Odion sneered. “Levitate, that’s your power, no?” He asked, trying to take the sting out of his tone. He was starting to calm down from the onslaught his powers had poured onto him. Surely he had considered using his power to get the board down from the tree. It would make things simpler in the end for the boy, without having to snivel. Odion laughed a bit, a broken sounding thing that was out of place and stood out like a redhead in a snow field. The way Lani described what he looked like was exactly how everyone else looked like to him when he stopped time. He had to admit, it was pretty amusing. He shrugged. “Close enough,” he said, touching his temple where a headache was starting to bloom. He looked from the boy with the stupid grin on his face, to the board in the tree. It was easily replaceable, and would probably go unmissed. This was what he thought it would be, boring.

Another pang to the head, and suddenly Odion was hearing a screeching noise in both ears. He winced and clasped his hands over his ears, closing his eyes. Things slowed down to a halt, Lani included. He was in Odi’s bubble now, and there was no doubt in the ginger’s mind that his new acquaintance would feel the effects of time standing still – his powers weren’t in his grasp well enough to be able to leave Lani unaffected. After a few seconds in real time, the noise in the boy’s head went away, and time returned to normal, and only one thing had changed. Odion approached the tree where the board had been, his head throbbing like crazy now. He picked up the board carefully, looking it over as though it could be precious. But alas, it wasn’t, and was too big to carry away for fun. “I guess it was just stuck momentarily,” he said, he said, looking back to Lani. He extended it to the blonde, blaming his slight kindness on the migraine that was coming on.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani looked up at the sky and sighed wistfully his dreams flying away with the wind. Well he had tried and he had failed. Well kind of, if only his power would stop working with his subconscious and pay more attention to his actually awareness things would get boat loads easier. He wasn’t sure what it was that made his power explode that day but his power was linking very strongly with his emotions. It probably wasn’t helping that he wasn’t going to his training sessions, but then again he was not going to sit around and listen to someone drone on and on about how much of a danger he was. Like he didn’t know. He had always gotten through things on his own. Someone out there must have been the first telekinetic and had to learn it on their own. If they could do it so could he. At least that was his opinion, others not so much. He imagined himself very frustrating to his trainer and that just made him smile, he was good at being a thorn in the side of authority.

If only Lani knew how much so he and this man were cut from the cloth. When people said there was no honor among thieves they meant it but that didn’t always mean they were unkind. Now if someone ran all over his heist and ruined it Lani would have no choice but to retaliate or watch his reputation dwindle. So far he had been so good that no one had tried to interfere in a long time. But then he never made waves and kept a rather low profile around the underground world, at least for most thieves. He shook his head casting the thoughts off. He raised his chin a little when he caught the man’s gaze. There was something behind them that Lani couldn’t name. He wasn’t about to let this man have the satisfaction of winning, he had won an admission of flaw from Lani and that had nearly killed him. He cursed logic and a few other people who had been making waves in his life.

Lani didn’t do more than nod in acceptance of the thanks. He was actually a little insulted but a little quirk of a smile from Lani probably only verified that Lani was rarely sincere. He had never thought about it that way. There was more truth in that simple sentence than Lani was ready to face. He lied as easily as breathing and could fake pretty much anything; sincere was certainly not the first word that came to mind when describing Lani. He caught the meaning in the other man’s words and with a little smile he felt the ruffled feathers of both of them begin to smooth. Their meeting hadn’t been ideal and Lani was trying to mend it and now it seemed like the man was as well. Lani grinned, finding he might be able to get along with this man, if only he could get past that initial exchange of harsh words. “Good,” he said in agreement. He was not about to get on his knees. Not for anyone. A fire ignited in his eyes at the thought. He wanted a hand in his own life.

Lani blinked at him and then after a few moments he let out a low chuckle. He shook his head and gestured behind him indicating the past. “That’s what you thought that was?” He crossed his arms loosely adopting a very relaxed stance. He shook his head and chuckled a little more before he looked back up at the man. “Not quite. My power is telekinesis. I was trying to imitate levitation.” He gestured at the board. “Hence the board is a necessity or else my feet aren’t getting very far off the ground.” His smile widened at the man’s laugh. It seemed rusty as if forced or just not recently used. He raised a brow in askance but the man didn’t elaborate past that simple statement. He shook his head in sympathy, he knew that look well, the pain from a headache that never seemed to go away. He personally never left his room without at least a bottle of pain medication in his pocket. He would offer but he was hoarding for when his power would inevitably try to knock him unconscious, besides he technically wasn’t supposed to have the quantity that he had and he would like to keep that part very much a secret. The last thing he needed was people thinking he had a drug problem and keeping an even closer eye on him than they already were.

A chill ran down Lani’s neck and he took a step forward his brow creasing in concern as the man covered his ears. Something strange happened, time seemed to stretch and Lani’s limbs seemed to take a million years to respond to his thoughts but at the same time it seemed normal. He blinked and it was over. He shook all over and felt the need to flap his arms and legs to make sure they were still working. His motion returned to normal and he felt a chill through his body again. “What did you just do?” Lani asked relieved his voice came through strong, not betraying how freaked out he really was. He watched the man move and blinked in surprise when the board appeared on the ground. He opened his mouth to ask but no words came out. He had tugged at that thing hard. He composed himself with a great effort and just shook his head in disbelief. The board wasn’t anything special, really only a plank of wood. But it was so much more precious in Lani’s eyes for it meant freedom. “Yeah,” Lani said simply, “Thank you.” He took it back and with a careless toss dropped it. He caught it with his power and it hovered around his ankles like a loyal dog. With a knowing smile Lani asked, “Don’t you have anything for those headaches?”

[Odion Martins]

Perhaps the two young men had more in common than they knew. As it were, they happened to be brothers on the same rose stem. Still, Odion wasn’t about to ask Lani for a rundown of his powers, how he used or abused them, and what his personality was like. He wouldn’t need to ask for the truth to eventually slip out. No, he could already see that the blonde didn’t run when someone beckoned to him. He was his own person, he followed the beat of his own drum. But they couldn’t be friends, despite the similarities. There was no joy in either’s eyes, and Odion couldn’t even pretend to be someone else for the sake of friendship and keeping him sane (like he was with Avi). No. His powers usually worked well, like thinking something frozen would make it so. It was just that easy. Of course he was a show off with them, who wouldn’t be? Time was everything. Time was all anyone ever had. Mess around with it too much, and you can find yourself older, though never younger. That’s why he didn’t speed up time. He didn’t need to. How could you learn anything about people if you just slipped right by them?

They were so good at what they did that neither would know until they happened to run into each other one day. It was relatively easy staying in the shadows around Hammel, unless someone took an odd interest in him. That was a different story. But in a world where everyone was eager for friendship, where everyone trusted so easily, it was mere icing on the cake to have everything you wanted without lifting more than a finger for it. Odion had been a pickpocket for as long as he could remember, even before he had his powers. When he did finally receive them, it was like they were there all along. How convenient they were, how useful. Now nothing could stand in his way between having a good life without ever being employed. He didn’t have a birth certificate anyways. He had a passport, but that had been a tricky bugger to pin down. But still, being in a public school, you were bound to run into students despite your best, albeit selfish, interests. He came here for one reason, and one person only. The rest was just a nuisance.

Social skills weren’t really a high point for Odion, unless he had time to access the situation, and since well, his powers weren’t giving him that advantage, he had to think on his toes. He resented this. Resented that he would meet someone who wasn’t in his face, smiling, and trying to desperately to be his friend. Between the grins, Odi realized a fight wouldn’t be worth it here. It would be misplaced and directed at the wrong person. There were a lot of people he hated freely, and perhaps one more would tip the scales permanently out of his favour. They were in civilized society, they could play nice. Odion watched the boy carefully. Good indeed.

Odion’s eyes twitched, then turned to slits at the mention of the other’s powers. It wasn’t the boy’s fault that he happened to have the same powers as someone Odi once knew quite well, would almost consider family since they were brought under the same wing. He had been fooled once, and he wouldn’t let it happen again. “That’s what it looked like,” he retorted simply. Everything about the redhead was tense. It was that damn headache that wouldn’t go away, gnawing at the inside of his brain. He glanced at the tree, then back to the other. “I see,” he said, uninterestedly, “you weren’t very successful.” Harsh, but true. Hadn’t the very same board that was now in the tree, almost become lodged into the side of his head? But of course, he was interested. Telekinesis was rare. It was powerful, hard to control. Lani was out here doing the exact same thing Odion was trying to do. Get rid of the high emotionality and learn to control the damn power. Still, Odi was proud of himself. The boy’s power had been revealed without him having to ask.

Glimpsing the blonde from beneath his eyelashes, Odion let his hands fall to his side, before going to the tree. “I didn’t do anything,” he said with his back turned to the boy. It was true, he hadn’t wanted that to happen, to reveal himself and the struggles he was having with a complete stranger, fellow classmate or not. The relapse in power wasn’t his fault, and judging by the look of surprise in Lani’s eyes, Odion didn’t want to scare him further. Huh, he didn’t want to scare him further. He looked down to the snow, and wished he had met an easier person to deal with today. The board dropped, and so did the subject. Dark blue eyes watched the board hover over the ground, not answering the question right away. There were a lot of people at the school who had useless powers, it was always the teens with the fearsome ones who had matching personalities. He looked back up to Lani, a sheepish smile on his face. “Of course,” he held out his empty hands, “but not with me.” It had been a severe oversight on his part. He was going to the field to train his tantrum like powers and hadn’t brought any back up. In any case, they wouldn’t have helped in time to make something more of the day.

Lani’s grey eyes reminded him of another’s, and Odi smiled softly, before his expression turned emotionless once more. He needed a drink. Instead, he crossed some invisible line and prodded the floating board with the tip of his shoe. “Can you mock levitate other people?” He asked, trying to see just how far and how wide Lani’s powers could go. He hadn’t even asked the other boy’s name yet, but it almost seemed too late for introductions. The migraine wasn’t going away, but Odion also didn’t want to leave. He doubted very much he would ever have this kind of encounter again, or meet someone else with Telekinesis, but there was something stimulating about being here.

[Lani Hunter]

The telekinetic was not about to pass judgment without knowing more about a person. He was careful not to trust easily but he was also careful not to judge. This man could potentially have a harder life than he did, which might account for the general prickliness of the guy. He was curious about the man’s power. Lani was having difficulty with that particular desire. He was just like other people and his mind was making snap judgments. He got that sly look in his eyes that just spoke volumes about his nature. That look that made it seem like he was planning something. Problem was that was not always the case. Lani got that look anytime his thoughts took him away from reality and yes, usually when that happened he was imagining how he would rob someone or enter into a building that night. He honestly couldn’t image that he would have something in common like that with this kid. Lani’s secrets were held close to his heart and it would take far more than coaxing and bothering to get him to spill his secrets. His boss had trained him well and he could lie as smoothly as breathing. He could hide his tell and tell a lie detector that his hair was blue.

Lani would probably react without thinking if he ever ran into this guy during a heist. His secret would be out, but so would the man’s. It would call them more to each other’s attention, he could blackmail this guy but then this guy could also blackmail him. He had already had the misfortune of being put in the spotlight. He hated people watching him but he had brought it upon himself. His mistakes in assuming security was light had caused this. He felt smothered and he was desperate for that taste of rebellion and freedom. He wasn’t one to do well in captivity and it was showing. Contrary to popular belief that he was lazy and in fact rather slow, Lani was sharp and could assess situations in moments and find a new path. Thinking on his toes was his job, his main problem was that his powers now were also part of this quick split second decision making and often times reacted instead of waiting for his mind to make it fully around back to the logical side of the argument. He really didn’t want to get into another fight, that would just be too much for him at the moment. Frankly, Lani needed more friends around here, or rather, more allies. Allies were a powerful thing; you didn’t have to be friends to be allies.

A little grin formed on his face at the retort. He supposed that was fair enough and shrugged and shook his head indicating he wasn’t going to comment on that. He cocked his head to the side taking on a curious expression, such a reaction to the power he had. That was interesting. He didn’t press the subject and instead let him imagination run wild. The other guy couldn’t be a telekinetic, he thought he might be able to tell, there was almost a mental presence, or recognition, to telekinetics and when they used their mental hands there was a kind of feel to them. Curiosity was eating him. What could this guy's power be? Apparently Lani wasn't going to find out the easy way.

The next sentence was a like a blow and Lani’s ego took it hard. For a moment his mask broke and a crestfallen expression temporarily crossed his face. A slow smile and a shake of his head followed that. “Ouch,” he commented with a mock wince, “But yeah, I can’t say success is what I would call it either.” He delivered a glare at the board and tugged at it again with his power. It was frustrating, if he wasn’t so limited and yet unlimited, things would be easier. He was unlimited in that he had more power than the average telekinetic, part of that might have been how he was blasted into the power. It was parasitic sometimes and Lani had to force it to shut down. But then his power had severe checks on itself. He couldn’t grab anything alive, so tree branches and animals and people were off limits. He could grab peoples clothing but that hardly gave him any control, and if someone was desperate enough that was an easily remedied problem. Also if someone could goad him into a strong emotion his mind and power went haywire and it would unleash all of its power punishing Lani with a reaction headache and accomplishing nothing because there was no focus just a mess of anything he could grab launching itself into the air and into walls and people.

Lani’s eyes narrowed, that wasn’t the truth. He was the only other person out here and Lani had never felt that strange before. The reaction that coincided with the lagging of Lani’s actions and mind lead him to put two and two together and hazard a guess that this guy was responsible for whatever it was that came over him. He frowned, that could be bad. What if this guy’s power was to make others ill or slow? That was cause to be wary; he’d have to step lightly and keep his wits about him around this guy. He let the boy think he had gotten away with the lie and didn’t press any further. After all Lani was already formulating a plan to get into the records room. It wasn’t the first time he had done that, it was easy, especially since all of the records were still kept in paper form as well as electronic, after all you had to have a back up if a technopath decided to fry your system. A little lift in one side of his lips spelled trouble, that side that knew he had something someone else wanted. He glanced around in the falling snow to make sure no one was around who could call him out for having way more medication that he was supposed to. He had considered pretending he didn’t have anything either but then again something this guy had done had gotten his board back. A kindness repaid with a kindness. He dug in his pocket and tossed a little vial of pills to the boy. “I have some extra,” he said offering a smile, “I’m Lani, by the way.”

His eyes followed the man’s face and his eyes glanced down as he sensed the board move a little. He crossed his arms and scratched his chin thoughtfully. Could he? He didn’t know. He also didn’t know if he wanted to find out. He was silent for a while more so wondering how he was going to answer without giving away that he couldn’t move living things. Finally he shrugged and decided to give the truth. “I’ve actually never tried,” his voice was level but there was a touch of concern behind it. He raised a brow wondering where the guy was going with this. “Before you ask, the answer is no.” Lani said firmly, he wouldn’t risk it. It was too dangerous. He was constantly almost hurting people and to try to lift someone else would only be harder than lifting himself. At least when he lifted himself he knew when his power was acting up at least to expect something to the effect of falling on his head. But with other people, they didn’t know, they couldn’t predict what he was about to do so they couldn’t adjust to it or prepare for it. No, it was too dangerous, he wouldn’t even think about it.

[Odion Martins]

Judging came as easily as breathing for Odion, because when you had to live on the street, a judgement meant the difference between life and death. He didn’t care about the state of Lani’s life, rather the here and now and what the blonde would make of it. Maybe this was a personality trait of Odi’s, maybe it had something to do with the ginger’s powers, but he didn’t want to know himself too well. It would be a scary place to find himself. Withholding information was Odi’s specialty, as was making people squirm in front of him. It wasn’t a power trip, it was just a way of feeling he was ahead of everyone else. Lani, no matter had happened between the two of them, seemed like a trapped animal. He looked nervous at times, confident in others, but trapped none the less, despite the open air. Maybe the only threat was Odion himself, since the ginger thought the same about the blonde. Unknown people made for unknown landmines. Odion would be proud to say he didn’t have a boss, and he stole only what he thought necessary, or pretty. Shiny things had always been a weakness of his. He hoards jewelry, especially pocket watches.

To run into Lani would make Odion freeze. Would he be kin, or foe? Either way, they would owe each other, have to keep each other’s secret, and in that way be connected. It would bring something to light he didn’t want to know but probably wouldn’t stop thinking about and wanting to know more about, which would lead to a messy operation of spying and taking mental notes. Trust definitely wasn’t an option. Stealing wasn’t just fun, it was who he was and he could never stop. Odion wouldn’t describe the boy in front of him as slow, far from it. If others did, he obviously had put on a good act. Yet this was a moment of being caught off guard for the both of them, and perhaps it would do them some good. Or, it would just be another day. Friendships must be avoided at all cost, they were risky and Odion thought he had too many of them as it was. It was dangerous. But most of his friends didn’t know about the stealing, in fact, only a couple did. He was okay with them thinking he was just some European boy who could get fancy with a deck of cards and drank for fun.

Lani, like few others around here, was interesting, and not because of his powers, though they did remind him of ESP. That power also had everything to do with the mind, but did telekinesis include mind reading, of faux mindreading? He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t care to ask. He didn’t want to look foolish, and frankly if Lani could read minds, Odion seriously doubted he would still be here. Odion looked to the side, focusing on a pile of uninteresting snow as he became the object of the other’s scrutiny. No, he wasn’t a mind reader, or he’d be making a smart remark right now, right? The redhead hid his nervousness, he believed, successfully, before finding the courage to look at the blonde again. He would keep asking himself why other people found him so interesting. To let people see him made him a normality, or so he thought. He wanted to be normal so he could be forgotten, but that wasn’t happening.

Small glimpses. That’s all Odion needed to piece together the puzzle of this boy before him. Someone he would try and continue to figure out long past this meeting. The ginger scratched the back of his head. “We’re here to practice, it only makes sense that you’re not perfect,” he said, thinking himself very clever for such a line. He was far from perfect as well, and the sentence could mean any number of things, and that was the beauty of words. You could insult someone without their ever knowing, and Odi liked to think that was another gift he possessed. Languages were fun. As for time control, he didn’t even want to begin to understand the ins and outs of it. There were times where he so lost track of time, he was weeks behind. Another reason he didn’t like school. Graduation was just around the corner, and he doubted he would be leaving Hammel this year. His powers were a mess now, and maybe that was due to his lack of knowledge about his powers. Why couldn’t he just use them and be done with it? Or better yet, leave the school? He wasn’t sure why he was here, he had managed to harness his powers just fine on his own, until now. He doubted most people could relate – all those people who made such fantastic progress throughout the year, and his amounted to nearly nothing. He continued to look at Lani, with some jealousness. Was lightning mightier than thunder?

Okay, so it wasn’t that he hadn’t done anything, it was that he hadn’t tried to. If Odion was going to make people feel uncomfortable, he wanted to do so consciously. Lani’s basic suspicions were right. The ginger could make people slow, or make them think they were. Let the blonde think he was a threat. Odion was all about playing the right cards and keeping up bluffs. Lani would buy what Odi was selling, regardless if he believed in the ginger or not. Funny thing about files. They were easily misplaced. Lost, forgotten. He was uninterested in others, but that didn’t mean others wouldn’t want to know more about him. Odion caught the pills using both hands, cupping them gently. “Thank you,” he said, popping the cap open and dry swallowing a couple pills. An eye for an eye. Lani wasn’t someone who felt good being indebted. There was no way the boy could plan running into someone simply to poison them though. The pills were safe, and if not, Odion had swallowed some pretty questionable things in his life before. “Martin,” he said, blinking a couple times, “pleasure to meet you, Lani.” Odion enunciated the boy’s name with utmost care, almost tasting it. He wouldn’t forget the name for the face he beheld.

Odion watched Lani carefully as he considered Odi’s half proposal. Lucky for the blonde, Odion didn’t think about the time that passed between two people during conversation that most would consider awkward. The beauty of holding time in the palm of your hand, made certain things in life more bearable, gave him a bit more patience in certain areas. Odion raised both eyebrows in defeat, letting the board, and Lani, be. “Sometimes you have to push the limits,” he offered, studying the board still. He wasn’t offering to be a test subject, but he did find the whole power quite intriguing, though he was sure Lani didn’t like being made spectacle of. A fresh perspective made people think about using their powers in different ways that they may never have seen. “I was only wondering,” he said, shrugging. Odion could understand that others liked to keep their powers under control.

Boredom was seeping in, leaving Odion to wonder what was left to be done with Lani. He had a name, a power, a bit of character, a lot of attitude, and surprisingly, Odion liked him. It must’ve been the familiar and yet strange eyes. “Good luck with this,” he said, but his tone was anything but hopeful as he took a last glance at the board. Lani could keep practicing; Odion was going to take a nap. There was nothing to do but begin to walk away. He took a step towards the school, and then changed his mind to head towards town. He would pick up a pack of some kind of alcohol before going to visit Rhett.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’s eyes drifted skyward again and he let out a little sigh. It was so close but so far away. Unlimited. He would be unlimited if he could just fly. No one could catch him, no one could stop him. He would fly with the wind and never have to answer to another person that wasn’t himself. Yet that dream he held so close was being threatened. The people he had met here… he was starting to get attached. Adrianna was the biggest reason to stay. Cassie had vanished, he missed her dearly but her parents were doing what was best for her. The further away from him the better. She couldn’t be used against him anymore. Adrianna was the one who could be used. She could be used and Lani knew in his heart he shouldn’t let himself put her at that risk but there was a strange new desire to be beside her. He wanted to be free, but if he was tied down to someone, even if he might love them, he might lash out.

A small itch started on his neck and he scratched at the newest scar in his collection. The main reason he was trying to use his head more than his actions. The burn had hurt but the scar reminded him of his mistake. He was very much like his power where he would react without thinking. Pick fights he couldn’t win. He was glad he had met this man while he was of sound mind and not out looking for a fight. He had been so angry recently; it made him want to scream. He needed to get out, feel the freedom and the rush of pulling off something spectacular. Something that would be in the news. As much as Lani liked his secrets he had a lot of pride and when he was in Boston was making the news every now and again. They couldn’t catch him, that was what was so wonderful. Now it was even better, they couldn’t touch him. Not even close. His telekinesis could get him out of anything, or almost anything. That was the problem he ran into here, there were people with other powers, he didn’t fare so well against an older telekinetic a few weeks ago but that only heightened his resolve and need to be the best.

It was interesting. He seemed almost nervous and wouldn’t meet Lani’s gaze as he gave him a curious look. Why would this guy be nervous? It wasn’t like Lani was going to hurt him. Lani wasn’t a genius at reading people, he had trained himself a little but there were still some times when he came off completely clueless. A sly grin grew on his face as he was faced with a challenge. He wasn’t going to give him any answers; well there were other ways of finding out about people. Lani prided himself on his skill. He could come and go like a breath of wind and not even realize it. His sister was often startled when she realized he was in a room and demanded that he made noise when he came in next time. But then there were times when Lani was just like any other person and clumsy as they get. He had fallen down the stairs at home far too many times to give himself the illusion that he could always be quiet. An elephant would be a more accurate description when he tripped over something and crashed into something else.

He leaned back a little crossing his arms over his chest in thought. Lani nodded in agreement, how very true that was. “Far from it in most cases,” Lani added. He hid his dismay with a wrinkle of his nose. He and the man were again in very much the same boat. Lani had let himself slip so far behind in classes that even if he had his power under control they wouldn’t let him graduate, but at least if his power wasn’t haywire he would be able to leave. An interesting tidbit of information had come to his attention recently, they could get a court order to keep him here, which meant if he ran away not only would Hammel be annoyed and wait for him to come back but they could legally send the police out after him. The thought made him rather grumpy. If they would employ such an extreme method Lani wasn’t sure but once he was eighteen and able to leave on his own it would probably be the only way to make him stay. He narrowed his eyes as his thoughts reminded him of why he was here. He was dangerous; he was a danger to others, and probably himself if he wasn’t careful. And it seemed like the people around here just didn’t get enough of saying that.

Lani lifted his chin in an unspoken challenge. He wasn’t going to get an answer out of him that was obvious. The unknown was the scariest thing for most people, uncertainty. Lani was no exception, he hated uncertainty. He liked to know who people were, and if they posed a threat or if they played off bluffs. It was a hard game of life they were playing. A life where bluffs were the norm, and lies so deep they seemed like the truth sometimes. Lani was better at lying and being invisibly than giving bluffs. He wouldn’t hurt people willingly, he’d seen too much of that and if he was going to hurt people he had better be provoked. It was well known in the underground of Boston that Lani was good at what he did but he wouldn’t hurt anyone. Certainly he was adept at finding other ways to strike at people. Having a boss was a bad thing because he had been conned into this life, but then his boss often acted as a protector too. If someone was threatening Lani they’d never see it coming.

He nodded in acknowledgement of the thanks. “You too, Martin.” He cocked his head and grinned as the other carefully pronounced Lani. He didn’t find it very difficult but the amount of strange things he’d run into in his life, Loonie, Lan-I, or his personal favorite Laney. He smiled at a memory of having to enunciate ‘Lah-nee’. The redhead was certainly an interesting person, a friend, Lani wouldn’t say so, but they weren’t enemies at least, so that was a plus. If he ran into Martin again he was going to have to be friendlier. Lani crossed his arms stubbornly, he was not going to be swayed on this. “Sometimes you have to know your limits,” he countered his eyes narrowing. Too dangerous. Lani shook his head unwilling to let Martin get off the hook that easily. “Could you imagine how bad of an idea that would be?” He had fallen on his head the first time he had tried this and been dumped into the snow now. Surely Martin didn’t want to trust Lani with this.

Lani snorted, “Thanks.” He shook his head and smiled, “You too, try not to be a statue too often, Red.” He said in good humor laughing to make it a teasing statement instead of a harsh one. He watched Martin turn to leave and realized with a start that he still had Lani’s pills. He rolled his eyes at his own forgetfulness. He dug around, he always had extra. He’d have to make sure Martin didn’t do anything to get Lani into any trouble, after all those weren’t prescribed to him, rather he had lifted them from the infirmary. He shook his head, who would believe Martin if he said anything anyways? It wasn’t like Lani was addicted to pain medication or something. He laughed a little and was glad for the space to practice, though he missed the company, no matter how much of a porcupine Red had been trying to channel. He kicked up the board and hoped on, this was going to be a long and bruised filled day…