Find This Awkward {Odion}

[Odion Martins]

Odion grinned, “Yes, I’ve heard of Colarado,” he said, his eyes twinkling a little, there was so much more of America that he wanted to see besides Pilot Ridge, “which part are you actually from then?” He asked, since Izzy was no mountain man, although the image did cause Odi’s smile to broaden. This relationship could prove interesting after all.

The ginger held his smile as Izzy spoke of his large family, something within him clenching. His shrivelled heart perhaps? It seemed that once the blonde had something to talk about, he could talk for a while. “So five altogether,” he restated, looking at Izzy. Did the bloke know just how lucky he was? Odion would give anything to have a real family, anything, but that wasn’t what this was about right now. In fact, no one knew that about Odi, and no one ever would. Not even Rhett knew.

How was he supposed to answer the next question though, really? He would have to lie. He couldn’t say he was an orphan, and then proceed to explain how he has survived this world thus far, and then have to explain that Rhett was the only family he knew, really. It was pretty serious, pretty intense stuff to talk about. “My family is somewhere in Ireland,” he said a little whimsically, rather than cheerfully like he had intended, but he doubted Izzy would note the difference. Odion chose to say this because one, he wasn’t lying, and two, it was better than explaining anything at all. He didn’t know a damn thing about his family, and he didn’t want to talk about it.

“So where have you and your family been then?” He asked curiously, eager to keep the spotlight on Izzy.

[Izzy James]

Izzy nodded. Most people had heard of Colorado; it was one of those states. If everyone made a short list of the states they wanted to visit, chances were the Colorado would show up in the top ten or so, probably even higher than that. Didn't make it any less "home" to Izzy though.

"Right, five kids. Though one of my brothers already has a wife, and it won't be longer till another's married off too," said Izzy. He was fully aware of how very, very fast his family was growing, and it, too, didn't bother him in the slightest. Too much good there, most likely.

Which was probably why Izzy was hanging on Odion's words, nodding and doing the "polite" thing. Well, that and Odion's story was a lot more interesting than anything Izzy had to say. Ireland, France, Europe in general, it all sounded so much cooler than anything Izzy had done. Plus, he was definitely getting that whole "older and wiser" vibe from Odion. Izzy being Izzy, he was already wondering if there wasn't a song in there somewhere.

Izzy was just about to ask, when he realized that Odion was doing the asking instead. "Uh, lots of places. We head to the mountains a lot, since, you know, it's not that far from where we are already. Been to the major spots too. You'd be surprised how cheap it can be to get a group into Disneyland, if you're willing to sit through a lot of presenations."

Their entire family had gotten very good at that. The James children learned at a young age how to entertain themselves with next to nothing.

"Nothing as cool as Europe though. That's really far out, man. The stuff you must've seen," Izzy shook his head. "But, uh, if you don't want to talk about it or something, that's okay. I guess."

He shrugged. Wasn't his job to pry, not really. Still, he wasn't about to pretend he wasn't interested in Europe either.

[Odion Martins]

"I've seen a lot," Odion said, smiling slightly still. He wasn't trying to appear wiser at all, he was jealous and didn't want to snap on Izzy for something that neither of them could control. Life had dealt him no family, while the blonde had a big one. It did seem that it was every teenager's dream to travel Europe, so Odion decided to speak his mind. "Why don't you just go then? Save up some money, check it out for yourself," he said, as though it wasn't a big deal, because to him, it wasn't.

And suddenly the conversation was over. Odion didn't feel obliged to offer his navigation skills to Izzy, he wouldn't be accompanying him anywhere other than the training room. The blonde could visit the place the Beatles were from, that would be awesome right? The redhead sighed, why couldn't life just be fun every once in a while? Things were always serious, he was always on his toes.

"I've never been to Disney Land..." He said, unsure if he would ever want to go. Maybe, if he had a family and believed in all the bullshit Walt Disney taught. Wouldn't it just be fake and plastic? Wouldn't it be dreadful to go and realize it was worse than what your imagination had come up with? Odion didn't know, and he wasn't sure why he cared.

[Izzy James]

Seen a lot, no kidding. Again, Izzy felt that quick pang of jealousy, and again, he tried to shove it down. Just because Odion came from the far off, mystical land of Europe was no reason to get excited. Odion probably thought Europe was as boring as Colorado was to Izzy.

"I could, I guess," said Izzy. Something like that had occurred to him. "I mean, I do make some money, sometimes. I play though, and uh, that takes up a lot of my time."

That and homework and practicing his power and stuff. And girls. Really, between all those, Izzy didn't have much time to think about saving up money or anything like that. Most of what he made went right back into keeping the guitar in working condition. Thus perpetuating the cycle. Or something.

Disneyland; "It's pretty cool," said Izzy, jerking out of his thoughts and looking back to Odion. "It's got all the characters and stuff wandering around. I was, like, twelve or so when we went," Izzy's brow crinkled as he tried to remember. Lynsey had been the one to really want to go, and the rest of the family had been game. "It's, uh, one of those family, coupley places. Maybe you and Rhett could go sometime or, you know, something. If you're into that."

Izzy shrugged. He wasn't sure what to make of Rhett and Odion, but he figured that those kind of people went to Disneyland just like he did. Wasn't that how it worked?

[Odion Martins]

He played, what the hell was that supposed to mean? “What do you play?” Odion asked curiously, wondering what Izzy was being so cryptic about. The ginger made a sour face, before it turned into a smile, but his eyebrows were still furrowed, slightly confused but mostly amused. “Right, I’ll suggest we go there this summer,” he said with a grin. If Odi knew his partner as much as he thought he did, Rhett would probably laugh in his face if he ever suggested they go somewhere like Disney Land. Odion would probably off himself before that happened.

“Well, you have my number right? I won’t keep you from your homework,” he said, going to the record player and turning it up a little bit, because one of his favorites was playing. Odion offered a small smile, and just for the hell of it, stopped time and began to walk through it, looking at Izzy through a new perspective. He wondered how the younger boy would feel when someone used his own power against him.

By the time he allowed time to return to normal, he was at the door, which was opened, and he grinned. “See you at training.” And he left, simply just left.

[Izzy James]

"Guitar," said Izzy. He blinked. How was it that Rhett hadn't mentioned that? Or how hadn't Odion noticed? Izzy was rarely far from his instrument, unless he was in class. True, it wasn't exactly sitting next to him now, but... still.

Then again, Izzy hadn't known that his roommate was from Europe. Go figure.

Have the number, call later; Izzy nodded. He even patted where the phone was. "I totally will too, promise,' said Izzy. It sounded like he meant it too. Or, more accurately, it sounded like Izzy wouldn't know how to say it like he didn't mean it, or how to turn down something like that. Not unless he knew it was going to be horribly awkward; he had mastered the art of avoiding people.

Suddenly, things felt a little different. Izzy's skippy brain was working against him, and only seemed vaguely aware that something was happening against him. Yet he saw Odion blur for a few seconds, and could more or less guess what had happened. At first, having time altered without being the alterer bugged Izzy, but that quickly faded away, replaced with a very strong "this is so trippy."

"Yeah, see you then," agreed Izzy. He waved at Odion, then turned back to his homework. Somehow, with the Beatles playing louder than ever, that seemed even less appealing. Where had he put his guitar anyway?