Only Memories (Lani.)

[Odion Martins]

”It’s five o’clock in the morning...”

“Mmm, w-what?”

“Conversation got boring.”

“Fuck off Odi.”

“But I snuck up to your bedroom?”

“You’ve been here this whole time.”

“Aw, but I know you love it when I harass you.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Well come here then...”

The bar was loud and noisy, and people were dancing everywhere, but Odion hadn’t come for that. He came for what was served and the aftermath of the drink. He just wanted to forget Rhett already. Nothing he did seemed to make a difference. He couldn’t steal to rid himself of the blues. He tried to focus more on school, but it was only more frustrating when he actually put in an effort. He thought about killing himself a couple times, before realizing he was too much of a coward to take the plunge. So he did the thing he always did when he was too weak to give a damn anymore.

Odion stumbled back into his dorm and turned on the light. His roommate nearly forgot he was there, considering how often he went to visit Rhett in his apartment. After he left, Odion collected a bunch of things together and put them in a cardboard box, which was still waiting patiently by the door. The redhead thought now would be a good time to haul that thing out of the room, now that he was piss drunk. He opened the door and started to pull the box towards the doorframe, and he paused for a moment. “Damn thing’s heavier than I thought,” he said, not paying any mind to the clock which read 5:06 AM. He thought about opening the box again, and something told him not to do it. He regretted it the moment he did.

On top of the pile was the picture of Rhett, holding Trouble and smiling like he always did for Odion. That was the first thing Odi threw at the wall in the hallway. Next was one of Rhett’s sweaters which he stole; it still smelled like him. A small red collar followed, Trouble’s, which landed softly on the sweater in the hallway. Odion was breathing hard, and grasped at the chain around his neck, pulling at it vigorously. The pocket watch he always wore seemed to be choking him now, and he wanted to get rid of that too. A light snap was heard as the chain gave and Odion lifted his hand to throw the pocket watch, but lowered it once more, staring at it. Looking at it now just reminded him of how Rhett had stolen it for him, so that he would never be late to one of their dates again. He had checked it so many times and had worn it ever since. And every time he looked at it, it made him smile. Looking at it now... He couldn’t throw it. Instead, he swayed and fell to the floor, a human clump of misery. He gripped the watch in his hand until his knuckles turned blue and white, feeling the tick seep into his pulse. After a while, he started shaking and said to no one in particular, “Fuck you Rhett.”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani's nights weren't going much better. Worry had grown in him for his not quite friend. The last time he had seen him he looked like death. Lani sighed as he looked out at the night sky. How strange was it that people could be like sides of a coin. One side could be happy and taunting, then there was a flip and the other side was fragile and despairing. He shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Stop tying to be philosophical," he told himself aloud and pushed the window closed cutting off the cold breeze. Turning he caught his eyes in the mirror. "It doesn't suit you." Lani smirked at himself and shook his head again laughing at himself. Wow, he really needed sleep. This was starting to get bad. Talking to yourself was always the first sign of craziness. He opened his minifridge and drummed his fingers on the door. How was it that the only thing he had in there was milk a to-go container and a few beers? He was hardly worried about being caught with that, it certainly wouldn't be the worst thing he had been caught doing.

He closed it again and flopped back on his bed. He drew out his tennis ball from his desk drawer and traded tossing it in the air with his hand for his mind. He bounced it off the ceiling and caught it with his hands and started flip flopping using his power for using his hands. The room was dark but the dim light of the falling moon was making the room seem unbearably bright. His mind was racing in a million different directions and no matter how cozy he was able to get under his blankets some other thought always wiggled out of the depths and demanded his attention. So he had given up. He had tried everything, even read his physics book for an hour to try to fall asleep. Oh, it had worked no doubt, but his dreams were strange and angular and the idea of being a projectile had jerked him awake again and he had to start the process all over again. The rhythmic pounding of the ball on the ceiling occupied his mind and started to get a hypnotic effect on him. It was strange that he wasn't completely upset that Martin had delayed his date with Adrianna. He was sure she was about to give up on him and his dancing failures, but she hadn't. He smiled thinking about her. She made all of his problems disappear.

A sudden crash caught his attention. His heart jumped into his throat for a moment and he sat up rigid. He did a slow inventory of his room and realized the sound was coming from the hallway. He glanced up at the tennis ball quivering at eye level prepared to go launching off at a moment's notice. He cut off his power to it and caught it in his hand before depositing it on his bed. He pulled the first shirt he saw on his floor over his head and crept out of his room. He slipped like a shadow past his roommate's doors. Like a breeze their suite door opened and Lani poked his head out. With bare feet he padded down the hall his footsteps making no more than a whisper. His nocturnal life made this a rather strange thing, he didn't feel tired. He had been annoyed with his lack of sleep but now he was simply curious. He had found he slept best when the sun was shining and he could find a nice warm spot in the sun. He rolled his eyes at the thought. What was he... a cat? Well, curiosity killed the cat.

The cause of the noise surprised him. Martin. He looked even worse than when Lani had last seen him. A complete mess. There was a broken picture frame on the ground across from the sad crumpled mass that was his not quite friend, not quite enemy. A sweater and something else, a collar? Had joined the broken frame on the ground. Lani wasn't sure what to do. Should he sneak back to his room before he was noticed? That would have been preferable, but he couldn't leave someone like this. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms against the cold. He kept his distance a little ways and looked down at the man. "Who's Rhett?" He asked when the name was uttered. He looked down at the redhead and searched desperately for something to say. He was so terrible with this kind of stuff. "Martin," he said softly, "What's going on with you?" He tried to catch the redhead's eye.

[Odion Martins]

To be honest, Odion hadn’t thought about Lani once tonight. Most of the other nights were different, seeing as the alternative to thinking about Lani was, well, exhibit A on the floor, weeping right now. Everyone had their sides, but Odi honestly thought he was bipolar at times. It was hard work, analyzing anyone worth being around. He had wasted a lot of time doing just that, only to watch them disappear into the shadows. Now Rhett, he was a totally different story. He knew him from his childhood, from another continent. They were pickpocketing partners, put on the same team by force. And then he fell in love, followed him all the way to America like a little lost puppy and was never once told ‘thank you’, or ‘I love you’. Friends were singular now; Avi was all he had left, and even she was scarce, worrying about Lucy and that poor girl having cancer. Odion didn’t want to bother her with his pathetic nature, though she’d be the only one he’d confide in. But there never seemed to be a good time for that.

One minute he was standing throwing things, the next he was out of his mind on the floor. Not that he hadn’t been out of his mind before, just that he was rather uncomfortable now. He was a mess to put it lightly. He had dressed up to go out, trying not to draw attention to himself. Jeans that he had spilt his drink on, a shirt that was obviously too large. The only thing he liked about it actually was that it was red, his favorite colour. That was the only good thing about today, how sad. And to make matters worse, there was Lani, right outside his door. How convenient, he thought to himself, wondering if his mind had conjured him up for lack of an imagination. Most people vented in other ways, no, not Odion Martins, he was just too different, too special to handle things properly or normally.

Odion looked at Lani, seeing Rhett for a moment, shaking his head. He gripped the pocketwatch for a second longer, he knew because he felt the moment pass in his palm, and then he hurled it at Lani. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that Lani would simply propel the pocketwatch in front of him. Good for him. “Lucky Lani, thinks he has the world in his palm,” he practically spat. He wasn’t mad at Lani, not really. Lani was just in a very sensitive spot. He was asking about Rhett like they were good friends. If they were, then he would know who Rhett was to begin with. Odion rubbed his temples, then wiped at his face, clearing the tears. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” he said, still sitting on the floor, still pathetic. “He’s Rhett,” he said, pointing to the hallway where the broken picture lay. “He went to school here, had ESP...” Odion wiped at his face again. Why was he telling Lani this? Giving him free information, leverage, and blackmail all wrapped up in a nice package to go. He was simply going to tell Lani to go away, but he hit a nerve unintentionally.

Martin. It’s what Rhett called him before they were lovers, or whatever. It was used to spite him, to belittle him, to remind him that he was the one that followed Rhett and not the other way around. It reminded him of how Rhett didn’t really seem to care for him at all. It was what Rhett called him when they were sort of friends, sort of enemies, but deep down, they liked each other, and Lani was just reminding Rhett of all that and making him more upset. Odion tried to stand, but needed the back of the couch in the living area for support. Henry must’ve been out, or he would’ve come out by now to tell them where to go and how to get there. “Don’t call me that okay? It’s Odion, we both know that.” He sighed, approaching Lani. Odi was menacing when he was mad, and he didn’t take his eyes away from Lani as he approached faster and faster. Only at the last minute did he turn right by him and into the hallway, collecting all that was left of Rhett and putting it back in the box, silently. He didn’t want Lani to go away, not really. But he wasn’t going to be all emotional and sappy because like Lani, he didn’t know how to be. He didn’t even know what he needed, especially what he needed to live for. At least Lani had his sister to look out for, a purpose. He even had the hope of Adrianna. But a good idea didn’t make it reality.

Odion heaved the box into his arms, and promptly teetered into Lani, the box slipping and spilling out the contents for a second time. He wiped at his eyes again, his face going white. “I can’t seem to get rid of this shit...” He said, before rushing back into his dorm room and into the washroom. Usually his Irish heritage protected him from this aftermath.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani had never been good at knowing what to do when someone was upset. His go to solution was to try to make them laugh, it had always worked with Caroline, but he hardly thought that was going to help this. Looking back his heart went out to Martin, Lani had his share of problems but none of them had struck him down so hard as Martin’s was. Lani had always had a solution, or at least a distraction. He couldn’t avert his eyes and his brow came together as it became clear that Martin was weeping. Lani couldn’t think of anything short of death of a loved one that would destroy a person so much. There was a strange agony in his heart that someone he knew was suffering like this and there wasn’t anything he could do. This wasn’t his sister, he wasn’t making him feel better about being sick or about having a surgery. This wasn’t something he had experience in. He had never lost someone close to him. He had almost lost his sister but there had been hope. He had also watched her, took care of her, he knew and was prepared for the end. He considered himself blessed a million times over that she had lived.

Martin looked at him and pocket watch came flying at him. His power stopped it but he still moved to the side not fully trusting his power. It worked well yes but he was not about to put that to the test against projectile watches. His eyes became wide, he had expected an unwelcoming response but not this. He looked sideways at the pocket watch. Martin’s harsh words struck him and his eyes flipped from shocked to a glare. Clearly he wasn’t wanted here. He dropped the object in his palm and looked at it. A pocket watch. He ran his fingers over it absently memorizing its features. He looked back up at Martin and pushed himself off the wall. He turned to leave Martin in his sorrow when the man apologized. He turned back a little shocked. That was probably the first time Martin had ever apologized to him. He nodded a little his lips offering a little smile. “Don’t worry about it,” he muttered in response. He followed the path of Martin’s finger to the picture. Lani started to work things together. Perhaps not a death but a bad breakup. The state of the picture and the swear that Martin had uttered spoke of someone angry and betrayed not someone angered by a death. He wouldn’t be cursing the man if he wasn’t at fault.

Pocketwatch in hand Lani paced over to the picture. He crouched and let his curiosity take over. He looked down at the face in the picture. It wasn’t anyone he knew but he had seen the face around. He looked back at Martin and set the image back face down on the ground and looked back at Martin as he spoke about the person. There was so much more in his voice than he was letting on. "So this guy was your friend," Lani thought aloud as he frowned down at the image and decided not to like this mysterious person. "What happened?" He hazarded asking. He had to admit he hadn’t known that Martin could fall to pieces like this. It was just something that he had assumed that the redhead had no ability to do. When he looked up Lani’s eyes were bright with compassion and they met with the anger in Martin’s without faltering. He rose at the same time Martin did and he chewed his lip moving toward him to help but he got up before Lani had a chance so he backed off. Lani raised a brow as he was given permission to call Martin Odion. His eyes narrowed and he cocked his head at the boy lacking the understanding behind it. “Alright, Odion,” Lani said with a nod. Martin… Odion then approached and Lani had to admit that for a moment he was frightened. He kept his eyes level and watched his approach. When Lani thought he was going to run into him the redhead diverted and went into the hallway.

Curious Lani turned and followed. There was a box full of what looked like a random collection of stuff. Odion grabbed the box and Lani moved to help. The other fell into him and Lani braced himself catching Odion before he fell. The box was less lucky. It fell and dumped its contents onto the floor. “Odion!” Lani called after him as he fled. He sighed his inability to understand was killing him. Lani looked after the redhead and then down at the box. He quickly righted it and piled the random collection back in. As he did so he considered the smell on Odion’s breath. He shook his head, the man was drunk. He looked down at the box and with a quick zip of his power he hid it under the counter where he could get it later. Then he followed Odion into the bathroom, if Odion was drunk he was not going to leave him to his own devices. He stood in the doorway and planted his feet and crossed his arms blocking the exit. He looked at Odion and gave him a firm look. “You’re drunk.” He said his voice slightly scolding. “When is the last time you ate anything?” Maybe Lani couldn’t mend broken hearts but he knew how to take care of bodies and he was going to work with what he knew.

“Do you have any food in your room?” He asked not letting the question go to rest. Lani looked around the bathroom unconsciously looking for things that could do his not quite friend harm. He glanced down realizing he was still clutching the pocketwatch in his hand. He needed to get Odion calmed down before he tried to dig deeper into the true depths of what was bothering him. Lani wasn’t at all pleased with Odion, drinking was probably the worst thing he could have done. He held the pocketwatch in his palm and locked his eyes with Odion’s. This meant something to Odion, it wasn’t Lani’s place to get rid of it. “What do you want to do with this?” He asked. What can I do? How can I help you? Lani wanted to ask but the words didn’t come up his throat.

[Odion Martins]

Odion didn’t know what to do with this situation anymore. Things had been going so well, he thought, with Rhett. In hindsight, he should have seen this coming. It was exactly like the last time, when they were in meta school in Europe. He should’ve seen those signs that he was going to leave again. He had been distant, he had stopped confiding in Odion, and then, like last time, he was gone for good. This time he didn’t leave a trace. Even Trouble was gone. Fucking Rhett, took the dog but not me... Odion couldn’t believe Rhett would do that to him, especially after he promised never to leave again. He didn’t know how to console himself, so of course he didn’t expect Lani to. Lani of all people, seemed the last person to stick around at a time like this anyways. Perhaps this was what made him so interesting. Odion couldn’t pinpoint him. Especially now that he’s inebriated.

Odion did a fairly good job of hiding his problems and inner turmoil, but this time was a totally different story. Last time he could do something about Rhett leaving. This time, there was nothing to be done but try and forget about him, try and move on from the one person you thought loved you and would always be there for you. Rhett was the only person Odion thought loved him, as everyone who should have, left him as well. Maybe this was his destiny. Maybe that’s why he’s become so reckless. But Odi never gives himself the chance to figure things out, only to figure out about those around him. Nobody died, but to the ginger, Rhett basically had. If he ever came back for whatever reason, he would not speak to Rhett, even if he still loved him. He never really knew what kind of love it was anyways. Brotherly? Had it really been more than that if Rhett could still leave without a trace? Without a goodbye? Odion eyes filled with tears again at that thought.

Judging by how Lani had looked back in surprise, Odion decided he should apologize to people more often when he was being an ass. He just looks so damn much like him... But Odi didn’t want that to be the reason why Lani was so attractive to him. He was different somehow. He watched him fiddle with the pocket watch and prayed to a god he didn’t believe in, that Lani wouldn’t keep the trinket. It belonged in the garbage. “Really,” he looked back to Lani, “I am.” Odion was a good liar, so when the truth came out it was often hard to tell. You had to be a con artist yourself to see where the truth lay. Odion’s vision wobbled a bit as Lani went to fetch the picture, blinking a few times to get his bearings straight. He rubbed at his face for the umpteenth time, then scoffed. “A bloody friend doesn’t just up and leave without a word.” He said, looking at the floor instead of Lani. Odion thought they were more than friends, domestic partners even, but apparently not. He fidgeted slightly when Lani asked what happened, and shook his head. “You don’t want to know.” He said, because he didn’t want to have a breakdown right in front of Lani, when you know, Lani would probably rather be sleeping right now. Odi wasn’t sure why the boy stayed anyways.

On the way to get the box, Odion saw Rhett instead of Lani again, and shook his head. This wasn’t fair to Lani, but he didn’t need to know. Nothing about this whole thing was fair, and that’s when Odi picked up the box and stumbled and went to the bathroom. He gripped the floor beneath him as his body and head cleared up. For once, even he hadn’t known when enough liquor was enough. Odi thought he had figured out why Lani had stayed as he rinsed his mouth with water and wiped his face. He chanced a look in the mirror and cringed. His reflection wasn’t the same person he thought he was. He touched the bags under his eyes, seeing Lani in the mirror. “Thank you Captain Obvious,” he said, putting the towel in the hamper. No one would want to use that one a second time. “You don’t have to stay j-just because I d-didn’t r-r-rat you out,” he said, sure this was the reason why Lani lingered as he tried to articulate his sentence. It sounded a lot better in his head. He shook his head no when asked when the last time he ate had been. Not exactly a time frame, but he didn’t exactly care either, now that he knew why Lani stayed.

“For the record,” Odion said, his dark blue eyes flicking to the real Lani, “you would be drunk too.” He flushed the toilet, feeling a little better than before. At least his stomach did. He glanced at the pocket watch, feeling bitter hatred along with something else. He grinned a bit. “He always said it looked girly, I never really knew if that was a compliment or not... He just didn't want me to be late all the time...” He blinked a couple times, before reaching for the gold pocket watch. He wiped at his face again, looking everywhere but at Lani. He wasn’t sure why he just said that, but blamed it on the alcohol and lack of human contact in general. “There’s food in the mini fridge in my room, help yourself,” he said, trying to leave the washroom. He didn’t feel like eating. No, he was going to take this stupid pocket watch, and shove it right up someone’s ass.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani considered himself lucky to not have to deal with anything like this, at least not yet. He liked Adrianna, but he wasn’t so close to her that he couldn’t break away. In some ways he and Rhett were alike. Lani liked to be able to have the freedom to run and flee when he pleased but unlike Rhett the people Lani cared about dwarfed all of his desires. His sister was the most important thing in the world to him and he would never leave her behind. Having considered disappearing to drop his boss Lani had quickly discarded the idea. It would leave his sister without him and unprotected. But that wasn’t right. Lani couldn’t live without her. He couldn’t even imagine what would happen if she were harmed, what he might do. Everyone knew of Lani’s dislike for death and violence but they wouldn’t doubt that he would tear whoever was responsible for hurting his sister to shreds. He tried to understand and failed, he couldn’t even fathom something so horrible. This was strange. Lani felt so helpless, and if there was anything Lani hated it was being helpless. He didn’t know how to help Odion and so he just shifted awkwardly.

His eyes rested on Odion and his curiosity and compassion mixed. He chewed on his lip a little trying to tell himself again that he should walk away. Let it be. Why did he care? Odion drove him mad and Lani could distinctly remember thinking about throttling the redhead the last time they had met. So why did Lani care? He honestly couldn’t find the answer. It was more than just the inability to leave someone so obviously being destroyed from the inside out. Would he consider Odion a friend? Perhaps not but an ally. A fellow thief in the world. He shook it off unable to discover the answer, great. More questions to keep him up at night. Perhaps he could just leave it that they were friends. But were they? Not like any friends Lani had ever had before but still. His thoughts took a backseat to Odion’s problems as he saw the man’s eyes fill with tears. Odion avoided Lani’s eyes and Lani was able to get a good look at the terrible condition that he had been reduced to. Lani smiled softly and let out a little half-hearted chuckle. “I know,” he replied, “Forget about it.” He hoped he assured Odion he really didn’t care. Lani wasn’t important right now. Odion was.

He looked from the picture to Odion and back again and with a little nod made a decision. Yeah, he hated this Rhett character. What kind of person did you have to be to get up and leave like that? Lani winced inwardly but his expression didn’t change. Hadn’t he thought about that more than once? “Fair enough,” Lani said, “But for whatever it’s worth he doesn’t sound like he’s worth it.” Lani rose to his feet and shook his head. Perhaps being so blunt wasn’t such a good thing but he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t much for eloquent speeches. And being told that everything was going to be alright wasn’t what Odion needed to hear. It wouldn’t. It would get harder before it got easier. It was hard seeing someone he had viewed as strong in such a mess. Would it be more polite to leave and pretend he hadn’t seen anything? No. It was too late to walk away. As he followed after Odion more than a little worried. What use was having a heart of stone if someone could still weasel their way in and make you concerned for them? Especially if this person had done nothing but rub him the wrong way every time their paths had crossed. Dammit, he did not want to feel sorry for Odion, but he couldn’t make his heart agree with him there.

Lani swallowed and averted his eyes, mostly because when he saw other people vomit his stomach started to imagine that it had to rid itself of all its contents as well. Lani was envious of how well Odion handled it, all things considered. That would have been the last straw for Lani. He snorted and shook his head. “You’re welcome Lieutenant Clueless,” he replied with the old retort his sister had come up with for that particular comeback. His eyes widened as the redhead spoke again. That was what Odion thought? Well of course, he thought to himself, for all he knows you’re going to use this to blackmail him so he can’t blackmail you. The epiphany didn’t make Lani feel any better about it. Damn logic. He looked down at his feet and shook his head. He got his thoughts in order and found the courage to look back up at Odion. He rubbed is legs wishing his sweatpants had pockets so he could figure out what to do with his hands. “That’s not why I’m here.” He frowned at Odion when he didn’t answer his question. He didn’t have an explanation though so he neglected to do so. Matching his eyes with Odion’s Lani felt a small smile sneaking onto his face. He wasn’t sure why, there wasn’t anything to smile about, but there was that little spark of the old Odion.

Listening to Odion Lani was completely curious. What had transpired between the two of them? And why had that man in the picture picked up and left? Lani cocked his head at Odion and then looked up at the pocket watch. “So he got this for you? But you can control time can’t you? Why would someone who can control time be late?” He pressed the question and with a little of his curiosity seeping in. When Odion reached for it Lani made a split second decision and with a little toss of his hand his power caught the watch and flung the window open letting the gold object slip through. He looked at the window for a moment shocked at what he had just down. “Oops,” he said with an innocent shrug, “My hand slipped.” He shook his head at the redhead. He tried to leave the room and Lani took advantage of the closeness and grabbed the man’s shoulders and steered him the short distance and pushed him down into the desk chair. “It’s not for me,” he said absently and went to the fridge. After digging around for a moment he decided that for Odion’s stomach the most merciful thing would be bread. He tossed the whole loaf at the redhead and gestured for him to eat. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. Looking down at Odion, Lani used the same stern look that had gotten his sister to crumple and eat when she hadn’t wanted to.

[Odion Martins]

Odion often regretted every second of trusting Rhett. He was the only person Odi hadn’t been calculated around. He had let his guard down and wondered if it would ever be safe to do again. His heart was in two, and those halves had been broken many times before. There was only one other person he ever considered even having that kind of relationship, but honestly it wasn’t worth his time if he had to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. If he had to put on a happy face and act like the world was always amazing. Honestly it wasn’t. All he could think of now is wasted energy on someone who would just leave him anyways, one way or another. All that time he spent thinking of fun dates, things for them to do, places to see. They travelled, had been together for nearly half a year and then poof, all that went down the drain faster than his vomit had. He didn’t know what it felt like to want to die or murder for someone that was close to you. There wasn’t anyone close enough for him to feel that connection. Rhett had become a sort of limb that had been torn off and left him unwhole. This wasn’t something you could just put a band-aid on, or cry over for a few minutes and then be alright. It would take more time than he wanted to admit, and since he couldn’t stop time at the moment, this was going to feel like forever. Maybe it had to do with the two’s strange connection with their powers. Rhett’s ESP had locked on Odion and he knew more about Odi than Odi did. And there was the kicker. Maybe Rhett figured something out about Odi’s past he didn’t like, as though Odion had any control over how people abandoned him to fend for himself as a baby.

If Lani hadn’t been here, he might’ve done something very, very stupid.

He managed to smile at the blonde after he laughed a bit. There was nothing funny about this, but if he wanted to leave already he would have by now. Odion questioned this immensely. What did it mean if Lani stayed? Were they friends now because he was having a meltdown and no one else gave a damn about some redhead throwing things into the hallway? Was it because Odion had barreled through a few walls that Lani had put up around himself? Well if it was any consolation, Lani had done the exact same thing to Odi. It was uncomfortable, it was irritating, but at least it was something to focus on other than his absent boyfriend. He wasn’t sure what Lani thought of him, but he didn’t want to know right now, and he would never directly ask anyways. If he learned anything at all from this mess of a relationship, it was that intimacy only pushed people further away.

Odion rubbed the bottom of his nose. It felt wet but his hand came back dry. He felt a knot in his throat as Lani attempted to console him. It was really too bad all the trouble Odi went through just to be at Hammel right now. “I came from England to go to the same school as him,” he shrugged, trying not to make a big deal about it, “I thought he was worth it.” Not anymore... His shoulders slumped slightly in defeat, wishing his blood-alcohol levels weren’t so high. He could guess that Lani already knew he transferred here from England, but now to know the reason why... He was going to think Odion was crazy. And for some reason, the ginger knew that he was going to have a hard time getting rid of Lani now. Whatever charade that had worked before, it would never work again. Avoiding Lani would be the hardest part, since he seemed to be there right at the worst of times. Maybe Odion didn’t have a heart of stone as much as he pretended to have one. It was just easier to view people as projects and objects. It’s what life had taught him to do and when he tried to give someone the chance to know him, they blew it. So then why did he still feel responsible for Rhett’s absence?

Odion watched Lani carefully, an eyebrow raised. “You just watched someone pour their guts out, and you think I’m clueless,” he scoffed in much the same way Lani had, “I knew I was going to get drunk the moment I left this dorm.” He glanced back to the toilet, eyebrows furrowed now. At least he hadn’t eaten anything to make the place stink. It smelt pretty much the same coming up as going down. He looked back to Lani, who was looking down after Odion thought he had figured out why Lani stayed. Get as much information as possible, then leave and remind him of it every chance he got. “That’s not why I’m here.” Odion blinked a couple times. He swore he must be hearing things if that’s really what Lani said. “Really?” Odion asked, but he wasn’t relieved, he was suspicious. “And I suppose you patrol the halls late at night to see who needs company?” He asked. Lani was probably up from a night of raiding museums again. Odion was starting to get back into his old shoes and think more like a thief, like a rebel. Lani was only playing the nice card to trick him. Why was Lani here then, if not to keep tabs on him? He didn’t really want to know, because that made things more complicated than Odi wanted to admit. He had been thinking about Lani, but to know that Lani was possibly returning the favour made Odi want to return to the porcelain bowl.

“He stole it for me, it’s all pretty stupid really...” Odion averted his eyes. “I don’t remember telling you I control time, but yes, I can,” he was saying this with a stiff upper lip. “I’m late because time isn’t something I can feel, if that makes sense,” he sighed, rubbing his temple, “sometimes I don’t know what day of the week it is, or miss tests or rendezvous completely.” He tried to smile but it faltered. He wasn’t in the mood for a powers lesson. At least there was no such thing as an awkward silence for Odion. It might also explain why on a normal day he had a lot of patience for people. You had to in order to figure them out. Odion watched as the watch ‘fell’ out the window, not sure how to feel. He looked back to Lani, wondering what he was playing at. They both knew he could’ve stopped the watch from falling, could pick it up and bring it right now if he wanted to. Odi could also rewind time and have the thing once more. But maybe it belonged somewhere lost and forgotten instead. He didn’t really have time to think about it, but when he sat down in the chair, he could only say one thing as he stared at Lani: “Thanks.” They both knew what he was thanking him for, and whether they liked it or not, it was obvious this whole thing would be described as caring. Maybe Odion wouldn’t damn the human race just yet.

The loaf sort of fell ungracefully onto Odion’s lap, and he looked at it curiously. “Bread in the fridge?” He asked, putting it on the desk next to him. He looked back to Lani. Curioser and curioser. “What’s that look on your face for? Do you have to crap or something?” Odion wondered why Lani still chose to stand instead of sit. He always had the same stance. Always leaning up against walls and crossing his arms. It wasn’t intimidating in the slightest. “I’m not hungry,” he said, wondering why Lani was concerned about his stomach anyways. Why he was concerned at all? At least Lani hadn’t said anything about how he had blathered on about Rhett and that stupid watch. He had been very merciful tonight, and although Odion was doubting him, he would still be thankful to Lani tomorrow. There could be much shinier things to replace the watch with, he would just have to take the time to see them.

[Lani Hunter]

In some ways Lani wished Odion would talk to him. Maybe talking would help. But then again, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Maybe Odion was right. And honestly it wasn’t Lani’s position to ask. If someone pressed him he would either hit them or tell them to fuck off or both. It wasn’t their business. So it wasn’t his business. Rhett got him thinking though. What if he did leave? He’d have to do it soon before he got sucked into getting close to people. He swore silently to himself, how was it that Adrianna had slipped into his life and into his heart? She was so sweet and just the thought of her made him smile. She was wonderful, always smiling. But there was something else. She was someone he could take care of. Maybe that was why Lani couldn’t leave Odion. He had this strange urge to help people, to make up for all the wrong he had done. Adrianna had some skeletons, but Odion, Odion had monsters. Perhaps that was why he was interested. Adrianna he could help with words and with touch, but Odion was a challenge. And at the same time Odion had indeed barreled through his walls. Odion already knew one of Lani’s biggest secrets and he was hardly comfortable with that. Lani ignored the fact that when he took on other people’s problems he ignored his own. Adrianna always made him smile and his problems were gone. He wanted that and thought he needed that. But when the final dam broke and Lani’s secrets came spilling out what would happen. That uncertainty terrified him. So maybe he was more selfish than he thought and seeing people with problems consoled him in his own.

Lani had no idea how much analysis he was under from Odion. If he knew he was like a specimen under a microscope he might be a little more distant. Lately security had taken special notice of him and he was given a little bit of a break to get them off his back. He didn’t have very long. He caught sight of the little smile Odion managed and a little relief snaked through him. Well at least he wasn’t completely gone. Of course he was drunk and Lani wasn’t sure he’d remember this tomorrow… or later today, but either way Lani realized a little uncomfortably that Odion was allowing him a look under his skin. Under his shields. Not too long ago Lani had read a book, the main character had blocked off his heart so much that in his nightmares he was stuck in ice with no one around and he was dying. It had struck Lani hard. He wasn’t sure why, but his heart was starting to feel icy and the few moments it warmed with Adrianna’s presence or heated with a curious anger when he confronted Odion on the rooftop. Lani mentally scolded himself, he should have known better. He was never meant to have a heart of ice, he cared too much.

Odion’s explanation made the situation all the worse, for Lani finally realized the depth of the love he had had for Rhett. A love that apparently hadn’t been returned. Lani’s first assumption wasn’t that Odion and Rhett had been lovers. He didn’t really allow himself to think that way. Besides Odion didn’t seem like the stereotypical homosexual. He shook his head and tisked. “Why would you do that? I mean leave your family everyone you know to follow some joker?” He asked curiously. He had read Odion’s file but hadn’t found anything about a family, but Lani couldn’t image in a world where people didn’t have a close family. Sure he and his father couldn’t stand each other but when push came to shove they were there for each other, and his mother and Caroline. Especially for Caroline. Lani had never been in love so he couldn’t fathom wanted to follow someone to the ends of the earth, unless the ends of the earth had something to do with his sister. He would go to hell and back for her. “A selfish bastard, probably doesn’t even…” he cut himself off before what he said could make Odion feel worse. Instead he settled for a scowled with his teeth bared in disgust.

Lani looked up a little surprised. “What?” He asked initially then a sly smile flashed across his face and he looked at his feet. “Oh, um… sorry, forget I said that, reflex,” he said in vague explanation. He wanted to slap himself in the forehead, why were jokes his go to thing? Now is not the time for jokes Lani! He scolded himself. Lani locked eyes with Odion. “Really,” he answered. Of course he was suspicious. Lani would have been too. Lani shrugged at the question and didn’t take his eyes off of Odions. “I was up and I heard a crash so I came to investigate.” He summed up his thought process with a shrug. He wasn’t planning on giving an explanation, at least beyond that he was worried Odion was going to kill himself if he kept this up. But he was not about to let Odion know that. What Odion would think of him if he knew Lani was worried about him! That would certainly make the redhead laugh. He was thinking like a thief, like Lani would if he were in this position. There had to be an ulterior motive, there always was. “Stop over thinking it.”

Lani’s eyes snapped from side to side in a shifty way as he was called out. Had he really just let that slip? Oops. He must be more tired than he thought. He was good at gaining and selling information so lapses like this were rare and it did freak him out a little. “I heard it from someone,” Lani lied easily; he didn’t want Odion to know that he had gone snooping in his file. He was really glad that Odion didn’t know him well enough to know when he was lying. This could get hairy otherwise. Lani nodded in understanding that would be a terrible existence. He would go mad, his entire life was made out of plans and while there were spontaneous moments splashed in but he had to rely on plans or else he would never get his quotas on time and would never sleep. Lani tucked his hands behind his back and shrugged as Odion looked at him. Well considering Odion wasn’t trying to strangle him it was a pretty good bet that he hadn’t done something too insane. Insanity. That had to be it. He was going mad, besides he was already talking to himself. The first sign they all said. Insanity certainly explained all of this. Why he was trying to console someone he should hate, why the same person was keeping him awake at night, why he had just tossed a pocket watch out of a window… Yes he must be… Lani blinked and his thoughts came back to reality as Odion thanked him. That was when it hit him. Dammit. He cared about the redhead, it wasn't worry or concern for a person clearly going down a hard road. No, he cared because it was Odion. Not insanity, though insanity would have been easier to deal with. His heart softened and he smiled softly at Odion unable to think of anything to say.

Lani rolled his eyes but refused to rise to the bait. He wasn’t here to fight, so no matter how annoying and prickly Odion intended on being he was not going to leave him to his own devices. Lani didn’t notice that his stance tended to be the same a lot, it was habitual. He usually chose to stand rather than sit because it was easier to leap into action that way. The balls of his feet were always bounce ready to bound away at the slightest sign of trouble. As for the crossed arms it made him feel a little distant, like he was protecting his heart. His stance might intimidate his sister but he knew after the jab from Odion that he wasn’t going to be intimidated by a stare. Odion put the bread on his desk and Lani raised a brow. He didn’t know what kind of fight he was in for. “I don’t care,” Lani said harshly and with a gesture knocked the bread back into Odion’s lap. “You look like hell, you need to eat. Besides bread will help settle your stomach. Eat.” Lani sighed wondering if there was a way to get through to Odion. “Look, this guy up and left you, right? Well wouldn’t that just be the best gift to him to show how much it’s killing you?” Lani waved his hand lazily before tapping his chin. “So, what you should do if you really want to get back at him is show him how well you’re doing without him. And that starts with taking care of yourself. You look like you haven’t slept in a week or eaten in much longer. You can see your bones and you look like the walking dead. And now you’re making yourself sick drunk.” Lani’s voice was harsh and sharp and he was merciless with his tongue.

[Odion Martins]

Being with Rhett had sort of been like a dream come true. He was no Adrianna, no, Odion knew his fellow pickpocket was far from innocent. He had taken a chance coming to America. He couldn’t guarantee that Rhett would even give him the time of day once he arrived. Three weeks of school had gone by and Odi still hadn’t found the courage to speak to Rhett, and when it did happen, Rhett basically had to corner him down. That was when he started speaking down to Odion again, as though they weren’t on the same level. That’s when Odion snapped and demanded not to be treated like shit anymore. He guessed Rhett had figured out Odi cared for him, otherwise he wouldn’t have come to Hammel, wouldn’t have missed him so much. And that’s when Rhett kissed him. It was like a dream come true. Everything Odi went through to get here had been worth it. There were no walls between them. Rhett accepted Odion for everything that he was and would become and even though they had their disagreements, they always came out stronger. Rhett had even quit stealing for a while to find a full-time job and look good in the public eyes, but it meant more to Odi when he quit that job to spend more time with him. And then he left. That’s why Odion knew that Lani and Adrianna wouldn’t last. People like him weren’t meant to be with people like her, it was a totally different playing field. Odi had understood Lani almost instantly, and if Lani stayed with Adrianna, he would only become disappointed, bored, and probably infuriated in the end. Nothing about going after Rhett had been easy, Odion had put everything on the line, and now he was paying dearly for it. Maybe Lani was being wise going after Adrianna. But everything had its cost.

Odion was just trying to play safe and stay in the shadows. He was completely unaware of the trouble Lani was in with his mafia like boss, and if he did know, he probably wouldn’t have meddled to begin with. Even for him that was a little too much intrigue. But, he didn’t know those things. All he knew, was that Lani spent extraordinary amounts of time stealing precious, valuable items, and that he had a sister he was very fond of. Admittedly Odion was a little jealous of Lani, for the things mentioned above. He did know that the school had Lani under radar, and he wondered if the blonde was simply used to being a target, that one more set of blue eyes on him wouldn’t faze him in the slightest. Odion always assumed he was being watched if he was dealing with someone like Lani. That’s just what happened when someone was interesting. His whereabouts and happenings were pasted over all kinds of pages, but his motives would lay quiet underneath for now.

Odion shrugged, and then laughed bitterly. “Because, I don’t have anything to lose.” There, now Lani would know he had no family, nothing to hold him back. No one could hold anything over his head, and threats of hurting those he cared about would only make him laugh. It wasn’t that he didn’t want someone in that position, a position to be loved by him, it was just that no one seemed to be there. He laughed again at the bitter irony of the whole thing. In coming here, in seeing Rhett again, he had lost everything. Whatever he thought was meaningful in his past life, was now gone for good. If Lani was having a hard time just imagining a life without close family, just imagine actually living in that life. Odion didn’t say a word, but he agreed. Rhett had been selfish in every sense of the word. He wouldn’t want to, but if Odi knew where Rhett had gone, he would have gone after him again. Odion never thought about himself this way, but he was a loyal person. It was just too bad he had decided to trust someone. It had taken years to trust Rhett, so, how long would it take before he ever trusted anyone again? As much as he trust Rhett anyway. One day he would stop being so cryptic with everyone.

Lani was acting strangely, and Odi was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t the only one who had had a few too many brews tonight. “Reflex, sure,” he said, truly unable to remember what they were talking about anymore. Other than the elephant in the room. Odion nodded a couple times at Lani’s curiosity. It wasn’t everyday that someone threw pictures around in the hallways. Unlike Lani though, Odi wouldn’t have gone to look at all. Unless it was in a wide open space with many getaway points, Odion kept his sneaking around to a minimum. Nothing was worth compromising his safety for, especially if it was a crazy, drunk, teenager in love. Odion stiffened slightly, wondering if Lani could read minds, but the redhead caught on. “I will when you do,” he challenged. The day he stopped over thinking everyone’s actions was the day he became brain dead. If you couldn’t know what others were thinking, you were going to just open at the seams, and that wasn’t an option. Never mind all that just happened a few moments ago. Odi was already over thinking the over thinking comment. Lani was obviously doing the same thing, question his own motives for staying, and that’s when Odion grinned a bit. “I knew you liked me,” he said, almost triumphantly. Of course, he didn’t really know this, but it was written all over Lani’s face, at least that’s what Odi would make him believe.

Odion watched Lani more carefully still. “Right, just like how you weren’t shocked about my real name?” He asked, but he wasn’t really in the mood for a challenge. He didn’t really care if Lani was spying on him, Lani must know he was doing the same thing. They were just making sure the other wasn’t going to be a threat. “Or do I come up in conversation quite a bit around here?” Odion knew for a fact that people could care less about him, and that’s how he liked things. Remain in the shadows, don’t get caught. What Odion didn’t understand, was why Lani was always on edge. It would be as simple as grabbing someone’s clothing with his mind, and keeping them there as he ran, or really walked away.

Odion didn’t really want to fight either, but it was just an automatic defense mechanism he was so used to. People usually didn’t stand up to him like Lani did, or they were confused or irritated by him and just walked away. He pondered all this as Lani insulted him again. “Is it the hair that makes me look like hell? Because it’s naturally red you know.” Odion was going to fight this in every way possible. Unless Lani was going to pin him down and make him eat it, which Odi knew very well that he couldn’t, he wasn’t eating this bread. He watched Lani become ever flustered, wondering what his next move would be. Then he started talking about Rhett again and he looked away, just the sight of the bread making him ill. Or was it Lani? “You think he’s in this fucking room watching me?” Odion stood up, taking the bread with him, and promptly threw it out his bedroom window. “It doesn’t make a damn difference what I do.” He wiped at his face again, gritting his teeth. Lani was right, but that didn’t change anything. It wasn’t bringing Rhett back, and it wasn’t getting back at him. He may have been a jealous partner, but he could never be bitter towards Rhett in that regard. Maybe he couldn’t handle his liquor so well because of the weight loss. For someone who kept such a close eye on things, he was really not paying very close attention. Odion was still looking out the window, to the streets.

Pushing out the screen window, Odion silently and expertly lifted himself to the edge. “Come on I want to show you something,” he said, standing and climbing the side of Hammel. He was asking Lani to trust him without actually doing so. If he didn’t come, then at least he would be alone again, but he really didn’t want that to happen. He was feeling that prickle he felt when his powers were just right, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. It was like Rhett had taken them with him when he left. Maybe realizing that Rhett was out of the picture for good and wasn’t coming back, helped in some way to regain some strength. Odion eventually edged his way to the rooftop of the school, and he sat at the edge with his legs hanging over the side. In a flash, it was daylight, and leaves were falling everywhere. Odi’s third week here. The pastime version of himself was walking with Rhett into Pilot Ridge. Fast forward. He and Rhett and a bunch of other boys were being escorted out of the building for harbouring an animal. He and Rhett just smiled at one another. Fast forward. It was winter time and Odion was proudly wearing that pocket watch as he helped Rhett put on the silver bracelet he had stolen for him first. Fast forward, they shared a kiss by a tree. Odion cringed as this happened, gripping the roof of the building with force. He had to stop. The image melted away as he returned himself and hopefully Lani back to the present time. It was just too much work to propel the both of them back in time and no one else, too hard to watch that relationship unfold all over again.

He didn’t know if Lani was here anymore, if this was all too much too handle. Odi really wouldn’t blame him if it was. He didn’t have any words for what he was feeling, for what he was trying not to feel, and how to make it stop. “Sometimes you’re so busy pretending you forget about reality,” he said softly, just staring at the vast expense of city before him. “And with all my powers, I can’t go back, because if this is what he wanted, then he can have it.” Odion didn’t want to let Rhett go, but he was starting to see that as the only possibility. It was that, or find a high place to jump from. He wasn’t sure why he was letting his guard down, other than it felt good and he didn’t want to eat. He kept telling himself that tomorrow he could go back to his old ways, that he and Lani would just forget about this whole mess and pretend to hate each other again. Because when things seemed so complicated that trying to work them out seemed next to impossible, they probably were.

[Lani Hunter]

Maybe Lani was delusional, maybe he was wise. Or maybe he was completely brainless. Lani wasn’t about to let all those maybes, what-ifs rule his mind. Sure they were always flitting around like finches in his mind and hard to ignore. When it came to romance, Lani was so inexperienced he didn’t know where to start half the time. Adrianna was patient and kind. As much as he hated to admit it she reminded him a lot of his sister. Trusting to easily, innocent and always there to offer a good word or support. Now that he thought about it maybe he should have gotten Adrianna, she had to be better at this kind of stuff than he was. Not just because of her past breakups but she was a woman she understood emotions and stuff. Lani was good at reading people’s emotions but once he had the information he was rather inept at knowing what to do with it. When it came to his emotions, forget about it. He won’t let people in that far to give them a chance to analyze his emotions. Even now he knew Odion was analyzing him as much as he was analyzing the redhead. Weren’t they an interesting pair, both too afraid to trust and to wary of the other to admit that they were in a sense cut from the same cloth. Lani’s opportunities just happened to be a little better than Odion’s, though if Odion had been approached by Lani’s boss would he have said yes? Maybe he didn’t have enough riding on it for the man to be able to get under Odion’s skin to get him to fall for his ploy. Lani often reflected on how ignorant he had been when he was young but if he had to do it all over again if it meant life or death for Caroline he would have done it again in a heartbeat.

The challenge of stealing was what drew Lani in now. It had gone from a need to a want. He hated being under watch but he wanted to show them that they didn’t own him. He did what he wanted. Sure it made his life hard but instead of going out night after night he had gotten into the habit of vanishing for a few days here and there. Lani looked up at Odion and for a moment he just stared a curious expression on his face as if he were trying to figure something out. There was something about the redhead that repelled him but there was something that drew in his interest. It was the latter that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Lani spent a lot of time thinking about what other people thought of him. Law enforcement saw him as a demon and he was sure that he wouldn’t get any sympathy in the courts if he were caught, not that they could hold him anyways. But his family saw him as the protector of his sister and most of them thought he was the perfect child. His parents were too afraid of what they would think if they knew the other half of Lani’s life. The more of a thorn he could be in the side of Hammel’s staff the better. They had torn him away from everything and he was just extracting a little bit of revenge. Sometime he imagined if people would sing delight or lamentations at his funeral. He shook his head a little, he was getting distracted.

Lani frowned at Odion’s answer. He found that terribly sad. Lani didn’t want to think of a life without his family. Mostly his sister. Caroline was as much his rock as he was hers. Sometimes more so. Whenever Lani got crazy ideas into his head about leaving or asking his boss to release him her protection always caused him to rethink the idea. For his mother and father he was the stable, strong support. His mother had often turned to him when she couldn’t bear the thought of losing Caroline when his father had drowned his sorrows in alcohol. Maybe that was why he acted like he didn’t have problems, he had to be strong for them, so that they could be motivated to do something. Lani chewed on his lip and his eyes softened. “I’m sorry,” he said. What else could he say? He couldn’t imagine going through life without someone there for him. Someone he could help. A life without Caroline. His heart plummeted at the thought and he made a mental note to call his sister and let her know he was thinking of her. He hadn’t talked to her in a while. She usually called if she was having problems in school. Big Bad Lani could make everything better. He had intimidated a fair amount of bullies. Some of the older students around his age had made fun of her when she was bald going through her treatments and Lani had made sure that they would never think about teasing her again. The fact remained that no one messed with his loved ones. Or anyone really. They could threaten them to get him to do things but that was far different than actually acting on those threats. Poor Rhett wouldn’t know what hit him if Lani ever saw him.

Lani shrugged in response and let the topic drop. Several people had told him that curiosity was going to be the end of him. How many times had he eavesdropped on some powerful official to get information to sell or hung out in an air vent just out of curiosity when a police officer came around one of his heists. Lani’s eyebrows rose and he gave Odion’s challenge a sly grin. If anything he was mostly glad at Odion seemed to be doing better. He had been completely sure that Odion was close to offing himself in a drunken spur of inspiration. It was a really good thing, considering most people committed suicide when they were on the upward slope of recovery. He raised his hands in yielding and bobbed his head. “I suppose that’s fair,” Lani said, “People like us really can’t afford not to.” He agreed, he was a little less caught up in over thinking things as Odion, he didn’t trust people but he didn’t like to over think their actions unless they were someone he knew was trying to get something out of him. He let his arms hang for a moment before tapping out a random rhythm on his leg. His hands couldn’t seem to stay still. If Lani had been shocked by anything Odion had said this night it was completely overshadowed by his assumption. Lani felt for a moment as if he had been slapped by lightning. “What?” He shook his head a little in shock. “I do not like you,” he tried to assured Odion. But they both knew that was a lie. Lani had only hoped it hadn’t been so obvious. He certainly couldn’t say he hated Odion anymore. He did care, but why he couldn’t tell. He was intrigued by Odion, much in the way Adrianna interested him, but that wasn’t… He shook the thought away before it could take hold.

Lani shrugged at the question deciding to ignore it. Admit nothing, that was what had always been drilled into his mind. Admit nothing. Odion was a clever little bugger though, much sharper than anyone who had mock interrogated him. Admittedly, Lani was not surprised. You didn’t get to be successful in this business by being dull. The questions made him nervous and he bit his tongue to scold it for its slippage. He glanced around the room the terror of being caught slowly leaving as he reasoned with himself that Odion was not going to turn him in. Being trapped was the most terrifying thing Lani could think of, imprisoned or chained, it was unbearable. He already had a leash, but his master’s hand was light and his leash long. But lately that had changed and it was making him feel uneasy. Like he was constantly being watched, they were waiting for him to screw up, let slip that he had a power. He was taking great care now to make sure that no one his boss was connected to could send word back to him about Lani being a telekinetic. Now with Adrianna Lani had to look out for her because his boss had already made her a target. Never a moments rest for the worrier.

The urge to throttle Odion arose again. How was it that one moment he was on the floor practically sobbing his eyes out and now he was being more stubborn than ever. Well two could play at this game. Now it was a stubborn redhead against a stubborn blonde and it would be interesting to see who yielded first. Lani was sure it wasn’t going to be him. He rolled his eyes. “Yes Odion, you look like hell because you’re a soulless ginger,” he drawled sarcastically. “That still doesn’t get you off the hook though.” Lani bit his tongue and didn’t react when he launched the bread out the window. He just caught it and calculated him next move. It was like an elaborate chess game, sometime you had to give a little to capture a better piece. He glared. “You said yourself he has ESP, who knows what he knows. But no, you’re right, it doesn’t matter,” he raised his hands as if giving up. “You can’t change it, not even with your power. So yeah, this is exactly the way to deal with it. Let him knock you into the dirt.” Lani’s voice was rising against his best efforts not to let it. “Dammit Odion, you’re stronger than this.” He practically hissed in frustration. It was all irrational, he didn’t understand. Lani’s rage was fast to come and even faster to leave. It was strange because he wasn’t angry with Odion, he was angry with Rhett and with the situation.

Lani straightened and braced himself as Odion stared out the window. He cursed himself for letting his temper slip. Odion was fragile right now and Lani had no right to treat him so harshly, no matter how frustrating the situation became. Odion pushed at the screen and Lani’s heart jumped into his throat and he took a step away from the wall. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as instead of jumping Odion beckoned for him to follow him up. He humored Odion and slipped himself out of the window. The cold night air was like jumping into a cold bath. His toes protest as he shoved them bare into cracks in the bricks. He wished he had had the foresight to bring a coat; it was rather chilly out tonight. He was curious and a little wary about what he was about to see. He pulled himself up on the ledge and he swung himself over the ledge. It was a beautiful night out; there was even a little proof that the sun was going to rise as a slightly brighter blue inched across the eastern horizon. Lani sat just a little ways away from Odion crossing his legs under himself offering his chilled toes a little bit of warmth. The sudden change in light made Lani’s dilated eyes shrink suddenly and he squinted out at the scene Odion had recovered from the past. It took him a while to make his stomach stop flipping from the strange lurch in time, honestly it freaked him out a little. But if Odion was willing to trust Lani enough to show him than Lani was going to suck it up and do his friend that favor. Lani watched it and he realized how wrong he had been about their relationship. They weren’t friends, they were lovers. Wide green eyes looked at Odion for a moment in shock before they softened and became pained. “Odion,” Lani said hesitantly rubbing his eyes with his hands partially to ward off the chance in lighting and partially because he was ashamed of himself, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

Odion spoke again and Lani just stared off at the city still a little unsettled that he had just traveled through time. He didn’t look at Odion but watched the lights of the city. “Yeah,” Lani agreed how true that was. Now Lani looked over at Odion feeling a burning anger for Rhett. “He’s a fool.” Lani said unsure of what he meant by it. It was one thing to be cryptic with someone else but another thing entirely to not even understand his own mind. This worried him because when things got like this his power went completely haywire. Lani slowly got to his feet and balanced on the ledge looking out at the night. “I love the constellations out here,” he said absently partially to distract Odion from the fact that the loaf of bread was sneaking up behind him. “You can’t see stars like this in Boston.” The loaf of bread bumped Odion in the back of the arm like a loyal dog. The wind rushed past them and Lani looked down at Odion and smiled a little. “Do you want to know the truth?” He asked and without waiting for the answer he turned away and scuffed his foot on the ledge, “I’m worried about you, Odion.” Odion was willing to show Lani his relationship, Lani could at least do him a little favor and tell him what he was thinking.

[Odion Martins]

Odion would honestly never date someone he couldn’t trust completely, and since Rhett had been the only one he had ever trust, it would be hard to trust ever again, should he ever decide to date anyone again. It would be hard to ever do that again to himself. He would be on edge with said person, never one hundred percent relying on them, always doubting them, and every day expecting them to be out of his life. Like Rhett. Adrianna probably deserved better than Lani, but it wasn’t Odion’s business to talk to the girl about Lani’s regular happenings. Instead, he would watch that relationship crumble from the shadows, and feel sad only because he knew what having that kind of relationship meant to Lani. Odion was rather good at reading and portraying every human emotion. He also didn’t like letting people in for the same reason Lani didn’t like to. Tonight would play out differently. The tricky part was though, that if they were both analyzing every move, then there was nothing real about this encounter. If everything was calculated, it wasn’t so much an interaction as human transaction. If Odion knew about Lani’s boss, he would have steered clear, and pretended he couldn’t speak English. He could probably pass as a true outsider anyways, since he could speak four different languages. It was better just getting by, than working for someone who could pull the trigger on you at any given moment. He would have told Lani something similar, about how truly clueless he was for getting mixed up with something like that. It was every man for himself, or small gangs without a boss. There was nothing attractive about working for a superior. It wasn’t like he wanted to buy a plane, he stole just to get by, and maybe get himself a shiny treat once in a while. Or a teddy bear.

Stealing was something Odi both enjoyed and was good at. Even before he had his powers to help him, he was a pickpocket. Nobody owned him, and yet at the same time, nobody knew that. He had no one to prove himself to, other than himself. Odion often stole out of boredom, or to piss someone off. He grinned as he remembered doing this to Lani none two days ago. The best aspect of stealing, was stealing from another thief. Maybe that’s who he was proving himself to now. Lani was equally interesting to Odion, and he thought he knew why, but there was something else gnawing at his insides. For now, he would just accept that his interest lay in Lani’s thieving ways and not the boy himself. Odi too, spent a lot of time thinking about how others saw him, which was easier when people didn’t know him at all. Police didn’t pay him any attention because he was just another kid walking down the street. Nobody thought he was perfect, at least as far as he knew. People that did know him, like Zac, didn’t think highly of him and got their kicks from harassing him. Or Leon, who enjoyed nothing more than to beat Odion to a pulp (but he deserved it in the end). He kept his thief life a secret, because there were too many people who would love to see him take the ultimate fall. Too many people who wouldn’t miss him if someone or something took him away. Odi didn’t think about dying, since he didn’t think about time in general. It was such an abstract concept.

It was terribly sad. What did one do when they had no one or nothing to live for? They drank, that’s what. He never had to rethink any of his actions once he had his heart set on something. In a way, he was just as selfish as Rhett. He never once thought to quit stealing for Rhett, thinking that what he stole was petty and went unmissed. He thought about all the things other people had and he didn’t, and he didn’t feel guilty for how he got back at life. Odion clenched his fists tightly, whatever part of him that liked Lani temporarily left. “Don’t be sorry for something you didn’t cause,” he said stiffly. There was nothing to be sorry for. He had been dealt a shitty hand and he had already learned to deal with it. Being sorry wasn’t going to help. He didn’t say another word for fear of being told more sorry’s. After all, there was nothing more to say about his life. No one would think he could handle himself if they knew his story. Poor Odion, the orphan boy without anyone to love or be loved by. He held Lani’s eyes, hoping there wasn’t a sign of sympathy, but that seemed to be the only thing he could see. He didn’t want people feeling sorry for him. “I can handle myself,” he said to defend himself. Never once had anyone helped him through anything life threw at him.

Odion had considered killing himself, but like he had realized before, he wasn’t brave enough to do so. It was a good thing that Lani came when he did, since he was drunk after all, and not thinking straight. He just figured that if he jumped off of something and changed his mind, he could always go back in time. But what if he didn’t change his mind? And he was afraid of the afterlife, imaging it as some kind of never ending abyss. Maybe it would just be better to off himself when he was happy. At least he would have something good to think about for the rest of eternity. “People like us.” Odion let that settle into his brain. Us, like they were the same type of person. It was good to know that Lani accepted this. For Odion, everyone wanted something from him, that’s why he overanalyzed everyone’s actions. It was just better to be ahead of everyone he ever came across. No one was innocent. Odion shrugged. “I like you,” he said, eager to see how Lani would react to this display of affection. Usually he wouldn’t be so upfront, but he already knew that Lani liked him, so if Lani had any doubts, he wouldn’t now. At least they would have stable ground for this particular question. “You’re here still, most people would’ve left by now,” he said, stating the simple truth. Odion smiled genuinely, “I won’t tell anyone,” he said, understanding why someone wouldn’t want to be associated with him. Of course, Odion didn’t think Lani had a crush on him, but he denied he had one on Lani too. He assumed that Adrianna had told Lani a bit about her past relationships, so it was probably better that if they were going to be friends, Adrianna didn’t know about it. Just another lie and secret to add to the pile, hey Lani?

Lani had seen him broken down, were a few questions really so bad? Regardless of whether Lani had shown up tonight or not, Odion wasn’t going to rat him out. That ship had sailed a long time ago. There was nothing to be gained from being a rat in this instance. But if Lani ever needed help again, Odi would think twice. He still wasn’t sure what the blonde’s motives were when he associated with him. Odion had never thought about what the worst thing that could happen to him would be, but that problem had been solved a couple weeks ago when Rhett went AWOL. In a strange way, Odion and Lani were both treated like dogs. Always following someone around, always listening to someone because it seems impossible not to. Odion knew that following people around wasn’t the best way to show affection. He had been set free from Rhett’s leash so to speak, but maybe he didn’t want to be free. If Odion knew about possibly being leverage for a crime boss, he would abruptly end this possible friendship. He didn’t think being kidnapped would be very glamorous.

“I wouldn’t say soul less exactly,” he said, shrugging. He was reminded of that obscene television episode of South Park about gingers. Fantastic stuff... “Who’s hook am I on exactly?” He asked casually, changing the tone of the conversation completely. He didn’t want Lani to become too comfortable with him just yet. “His ESP only stretches so far.” Lani wouldn’t have to worry about anyone spying on them any time soon. Odion made sure everything was debugged from time to time. The redhead looked all over the floor, as though the answer were somewhere between the carpet stitches. Rhett knew how Odion felt about him, so this reaction seemed quite appropriate to him. In a way he agreed with Lani – he couldn’t change it. He couldn’t make Rhett come back, and he was feeling more helpless than he ever felt before. He didn’t know if he was stronger than this situation, it wasn’t something he had ever dealt with. “Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all,” he wiped at his nose again, “at least that’s how the saying goes.” If he had known it would feel like getting your heart ripped through your open chest, he might have passed the experience up altogether. Maybe it was just better to have never loved and never felt anything to begin with. It was scary. To know someone had that much power over you and didn’t care how they used it. He was still defending Rhett to Lani... It didn’t make any sense. It was infuriating.

Odion didn’t really mind how Lani was treating the situation. Anything was better than nothing at this point, he didn’t care about perfection in this area. It would only serve to make Odi more upset if Lani had all kinds of relationship resolutions. No, at least Odion could figure things out for himself this way, in his own way. And since he and Lani seemed to think alike, well... Odion wouldn’t have jumped from here, it would only serve to break an ankle and put him more into the spotlight. No, if that’s really what he wanted to do, he wouldn’t let anyone watch. Odion didn’t notice the chilly weather as he moved himself upwards. If anything it was making him feel more alive now than he had all night. He hadn’t thought about Lani being unprepared for the outdoors, and actually felt bad to realize he had followed despite being barefoot. He would make that up to him somehow, not that he needed to know.

Odion’s powers were wrapped around his little finger the moment he drew them back through time. Time, what an interesting subject of his. So many ways to place it, be in it, and align yourself with or against it. It made perfect sense to him, like breathing. One breath in, and he and Rhett are leaving the school, so Rhett could show him the town. Breathe out, and the seasons changed and knowing smiles were passing between the two pickpocketing boys. There was always a lot being said without a word being spoken between them, and Odion had never figured out if it was because Rhett had ESP, or they just had a really good connection. It hurt to go through those things again, and he wasn’t gauging Lani’s reaction because he didn’t want to tarnish or influence the memories at all. Odi simply wasn’t one for words, and since he had done this before (gone back to review memories), why not bring Lani with him? It was his choice after all, only a matter of controlling it. He hadn’t been concerned over the side effects, since one, he was drunk and feeling nauseous anyways, and two, he had never brought someone with him before. Lucky Lani. When Lani spoke he grinned softly. “I don’t exactly come off as the type,” he said. The type to what exactly, was very broad. To love, to be gushy or excited about being with someone. To others, Odi was capable of a lot of things, but this didn’t seem to be very high up on the list. He wasn’t sure why Lani was sorry though, that just didn’t make sense, no matter how he spun it. Sorry for judging him wrongly? Sorry it happened to him at all? He didn’t know, and it itched at his brain because he wanted to know.

Odion thought about his tattered deck of playing cards, and how he rarely used the Jokers for games. They were never any good, and annoying to look at really. When Lani said Rhett was a fool, Odi remembered what he said earlier about him being a Joker, and this just made Odion smile a bit. Rhett, never any good, but definitely not annoying to look at. What he was a fool for, didn’t really matter, because he was. He was a fool for leaving again, because Odion was trying hard not to want to fall for him twice. Lani stood again, and Odion just let him without question. It was obviously his comfort zone, so Odi just stayed seated, looking at the stars as they were pointed out. “I don’t know anything about stars,” he said. The only thing he could point out confidently was the big and little dipper, and no one would be impressed by that. He was about to ask what Boston was like, when something nudged him. He looked to his arm and pushed the bread away with the tip of his finger. He looked up at Lani, almost sweetly. “There is no truth?” He ventured, wondering if this was some obscure test. He was a bit surprised to find the truth within what Lani said. Odi looked back to the stars. “You shouldn’t worry about me, it won’t help,” he said, and his voice turned a little softer, “I worried about Rhett leaving every day and then it happened. Worrying didn’t stop it.” And doing this isn’t going to bring him back. He thought to himself, looking back to the places he and Rhett had been just outside of this school. Nothing would take those memories away, they would always be a part of him, but they were no longer reality. It was nice to know someone was worrying about him though.

Odi stood abruptly and brushed himself off. “Well, I think that’s enough trying to find my soul tonight.” He pushed the bread away from him again. “And get this thing away from me,” he frowned at it deeply, as though it might help his cause. He glanced at Lani, glad to feel a little lighter because someone was sharing his burden. Quickly and silently he jumped off the roof, held the gutter on the edge of the school briefly, and swung back into his room. He smiled widely to himself. Forget about being a dog, he always saw himself as more of a feline.

[Lani Hunter]

Trust was an interesting phenomenon. Some people did it easily, for others it was very difficult. It was a very hard thing to build and to gain, again more so for some. Yet, it was more fragile that glass. If physical it would be a strange property. Something that when mature was stronger than fiberglass and yet if the wind of betrayal blew a breeze it would shatter into a million pieces never to be mended. Perhaps that was why Lani was more comfortable on his feet. It was easier to run when you were always on your feet. The trust Lani had for the world had been shattered long ago and though people had caught pieces as they fell and kept his trust it was hard to give it to new people. Even with Adrianna, everything was so easy, so nice. But he still hadn’t been able to even open up about his concerns about failing his classes. His father would never believe it, but yes he cared. It was true that Adrianna deserved better. There was a small part of Lani that knew that but he refused to believe it. It was a way to be normal, a possible way to leave his thieving ways behind. As if he could. He was a bordering kleptomaniac and everyone knew it. He looked at Odion and wondered if he felt that rush of adrenaline when he got away with something. If he ever got that sly feeling of pride if something was reported missing. Lani couldn’t lie he loved to see his cases on the news, they were always the same. No clue, no suspects, in and out like a shadow. His boss saw those and it made Lani valuable. Lani was lucky he was as good as he was or else he wouldn’t be allowed this freedom and any mistake he made was brushed off where any other would be smacked around a bit.

Then Odion had stolen from him. Granted if his mind hadn’t been in the mood to fall asleep in random places that weren’t his bed he liked to believe it couldn’t have happened. The redhead was good and Lani was a little jealous. He could get in and out of a building without leaving a trace but Odion could go up to people and just take stuff. Lani hadn’t felt a thing. He bitterly had to accept that Odion was the better pickpocket even if Lani was better at bigger heists. But even then Lani had been good at that before his power and he could pickpocket with his power if he were very careful. But Odion could stop time and walk right in the front door and take everything and walk back out. No one would ever know, Lani always had to be careful watch for cameras flashing lights and listen for footsteps and the breaths of the authorities. Back in Boston it was almost more entertaining because the cops thought they knew his patterns and sometimes lay in wait in one place and Lani would rob another place altogether. But that was partially because of planted information. His boss certainly had connections. Lani had thought more than once that having someone like Odion around would be very useful but he wasn’t willing to let Odion that close because he might find out about Lani’s boss or worse his boss might find out about Odion. Lani had a feeling that there would be an ongoing competition between the two of them though, trying to prove who was the better thief. But of course it was Lani. Or so the blonde assumed.

Lani had a flashback as Odion scolded him. He felt as if he had just had this kind of conversation with Adrianna. About how they both hated it when people gave them that look. And now he was doing it to Odion. Did that make him a hypocrite? Probably. He blinked and forced himself to swallow his pity and think of how much he would hate it if he had been in Odion’s shoes. When he finally opened his eyes he narrowed them and his eyes gained a calculating light. He looked into Odion’s blue eyes and tried to take a different view. Look at it from a different angle. Odion certainly wasn’t about to get all weepy because of that, if anything Lani was more surprised. If he had been alone like Odion had he wasn’t sure he’d ever come to trust another human being. He wondered if Odion would ever be able to trust again. It only took a tap to break trust and it seemed like Rhett had hit it with a hammer. Lani sighed a little bit and regained his comforting pose. “Sure,” he returned and cocked his head at Odion, “That’s why you’re shit-faced drunk.” He couldn’t resist feeling a little bit of payback with that comment. This was very similar to a conversation they had had earlier about being in control only Lani had been on the other side of that conversation. He liked to think that he could take care of himself and he hadn’t had anything to show he couldn’t but when Odion had oh so gracefully barreled into his life (though it was probably Lani who had done the barreling falling skateboards considered) things had gotten confusing. He wasn’t so sure anymore. Flexibility lead to mistakes and mistakes got thieves caught. But things that night hadn’t gone as planned but the world hadn’t ended. Therefore?

Lani raised a brow. What? That was completely unexpected. That must be the alcohol speaking. Odion would never admit something like that, would he? For some reason Lani felt the need to be stubborn. His gut reaction was to protest. He wasn’t changing his answer. Odion was too infuriating. Now it was Lani’s turn to over think. Why would Odion say that? The only logical explanation had to be that he was drunk. It was a ploy, a ploy to get Lani to drop his guard. Odion’s guard was down at the moment and perhaps he wanted to make it even. Before he could question Odion he explained himself. Fine, so Lani cared. Were they friends? Yes, friends, albeit a strange, wary and untrustworthy pair. He moved from his comfortable pose and pressed his hand against the wall while the other waved randomly in the air. “Whatever, don’t make a big deal out of it,” Lani rubbed his brow instead of hitting himself in the forehead. That was weak. Out of all the things he could have done, the protest he had on his tongue or even a flat denial, but no, he had gone with bored indifference? Really? Good job Lani. A+. Odion’s smile pulled an impish smile out of Lani. He looked sideways at the redhead looking like a sly fox. He found himself chuckling at the promise of secrecy. “What are you embarrassed?” He teased knowing that Adrianna and Odion weren’t the best of friends. Adrianna hadn’t told him too much about that but just from their meeting it was clear, Adrianna hadn’t told him about her past relationships yet and of that he was glad. He really didn’t care if she knew; he just knew that what Adrianna didn’t know wasn’t going to kill her.

If the pair of them were dogs and Odion had been let off his leash then the stray could be a bad influence on Lani. Lani looked into Odion’s eyes trying to gauge if he was upset by Lani’s silence or not. Odion’s blue eyes were sometimes a little too intense for Lani. He didn’t want to break eye contact first but sometimes it felt like they were watching him a little too closely. Did admitting something to someone in this situation really incriminate him? He wasn’t sure but he also didn’t want Odion to become angry with him. Now that he thought about it Odion had probably stolen a peek at his novel of a file. No, that was information Odion was going to have to do without for now. “Right,” Lani said with a grin, “You just devour the souls of the innocent.” The question threw Lani off guard. How was he supposed to answer that? He just wanted the guy to eat a slice of bread was that really so hard? “Um… I’m not sure it’s a who so much as a what.” Lani’s answer came out more like a question. That was thinking a little too deeply for him this early in the morning. Hadn’t Lani already had to stop himself from being philosophical today, he didn’t like to have to do that more than once a day. It was strange how differently it was possible to see things when you were sleep deprived.

He nodded at Odion, that was good to know. He wasn’t sure he would want to be anywhere near someone with ESP. He could know things and Lani wouldn’t want the risk to his secrets. He considered Odion’s talk about love. He couldn’t refute that, nor could he confirm it. “A strange saying,” he said as he tapped his chin. “It’s too bad love isn’t simple. Everything in life is so complicated it would be nice if there was just one thing that was a given. Besides death, I mean.” Most people included taxes in that but then again Lani didn’t really have a job where he had to pay the government. Friends came and went, that was too true and too apparent when his so called friends from his old school hadn’t bothered to see if he was alright. One had been bright enough to text him and ask if he was in jail. It was then that Lani realized his friends were very dull and uninteresting unlike most of the people here at Hammel. He was pretty sure the stupidity of the one sending the text was an isolated incident since they let people use their phones in jail and such. The only thing that was certain in life was family and it was important to keep them close. He bit his tongue, but Odion didn’t even have that.

Lani’s anger had dulled to frustration. Odion was still defending Rhett even after everything that happened. If Lani had been in his shoes he liked to think that he would be finding solace in the fact that the person wasn’t going to cause him to break down and beg them to come back. He liked to think he was stronger than that. But then he had also thought Odion was stronger than that. He didn’t regret following Odion but he found himself bouncing a little to keep the blood flowing to his feet. He curled into himself and used his crossed arms to warm them. If he had thought that going outside was a possibility he would have been more prepared. Oh well, he wasn’t too focused on the cold as time began to warp. He wasn’t too disappointed he didn’t have this particular power, it all seemed a little hazy to him. How it all worked, time was something that wasn’t supposed to change speeds or move backwards. It was the only thing consistent in his crazy life and now that wasn’t even true anymore. He didn’t blame Odion for that; it was almost as random as Lani’s power. Sometimes people said powers fit personalities and Lani was inclined to agree, telekinesis was the power of tricksters. He didn’t know if he knew Odion enough to agree that time manipulation fit his personality unless he went with the idea that Odion waited for no one.

Rhett seemed like a nice guy in the memories, so why had he left so suddenly? That was probably the precise question Odion was asking himself. Lani chewed on his lips and for a moment became very disoriented as he didn’t know what day it was or when it was exactly. This could have been when he was running around being a nuisance or it could have been before Lani had even come to Hammel. The questions bubbled in Lani’s throat: How far back can he go? What if something changed? Could he possibly bring someone back, stop them from leaving, or dying? Or if they went back to change something would it always have happened because in time they were always there? Oh this was making his brain hurt. Time was supposed to be a straight line, a continuous line. Not this fractal. He couldn’t quite wrap him mind around it and for once he was glad that at least telekinesis was relatively simple, if it was overly powerful and hard to control. It was as simple as grab that move it there, of in Lani’s case grab that and toss it over there. Lani laughed a little and bobbed his head in agreement. “Nope, not really,” he agreed. “Thanks for showing me that,” he said feeling strangely touched that Odion would show something so personal to him. It made Lani feel really guilty about not answering his earlier questions. He signed and decided to go against his better decision. “You’re a lot less black and white than your file,” he said his tongue feeling strange in admitting to this crime, “I’m sorry, I might have taken a peek.” He scratched the back of his head and gave Odion an apologetic look.

Lani stood and looked down the building’s side. It wasn’t as high as it looked but being this high always made things look a little farther away. For Lani he was never more comfortable when he was standing at the edge of something high. It made him feel powerful and unlimited. This was part of the reason he was jealous of the fliers, they could just up and fly away whenever they wanted. Lani was envious of their freedom. He glanced down at Odion and gave him a little smile. “That doesn’t mean you can’t admire them.” Lani wasn’t much better with constellations but he knew a fair amount. For Lani stars were so much more than something to look at. They were proof that there was still something beautiful; something good was still out there. Perhaps undiscovered. Lani had always loved the feeling he got when he looked up and felt really small. Lani looked down at Odion and raised a brow at the assumption that he was thinking deeper than he was. Lani cocked his head in thought, it was an interesting thought, because wasn’t truth only what someone believed at one point in time. Lani shook his head at Odion. “Perhaps,” he said and found himself a little surprised by his idea. “You sound like my sister.” Lani commented without any more explanation than that. None was needed, Lani worried about everything, he couldn’t help it. He shrugged to himself, Odion was going to have to deal with Lani worrying about him. It was just what Lani did.

Odion’s decision was abrupt and Lani knew it was final. “You mean if you had a soul to find?” Lani wondered aloud smiling at his own joke. The bread nudged Odion again and just floated in space undeterred by the frown. Lani crossed his arms and in response to his demand did the opposite. The bread rubbed up on Odion as if it had never been so happy to see a human to eat it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said with a sly grin. Lani was glad to share the burden, that was what friends were for. A shared loss is not nearly as heavy as loss held alone. Lani, no longer paranoid that Odion was going to kill himself just watched the redhead swing back into his room. Lani followed swinging himself down so he was hanging then dropping onto the windowsill. The warmth greeted him like a hug and he was very happy to be back where there was heat. He flexed his hands a little and dug his toes into the rug. The bread following him inside and dropped into his hand. “C’mon, just once slice,” Lani pressed wiggling the loaf in his hand. No, Lani was not going to let this go. Unless he knew Odion was going to eat and take care of himself he was not going to let this slide.

[Odion Martins]

Trust was something Odion held onto very tightly. Since money couldn’t buy him, trust was the only thing that could keep Odi’s attention. He didn’t like people that handed out their trust like it was air to breathe. Those were the type of people that had nothing to hide, that he could read like a book, and eventually became boring. If someone didn’t withhold trust, then they didn’t have much to lose, and therefore, not much could be gained on Odion’s part. Odion believed he could trust again, eventually. But he would never trust Rhett again, which only made sense and was the logical thing to do. Odion himself was in a million pieces right now, so Lani wouldn’t have to run from him. The opposite of threatening, just might be pathetic. The only one who had his trust had up and left with it. Odion kept to himself, and he ran away most of the time. Physically, mentally, he knew how to protect himself and held people as far away from him as possible. This instance would be the only exception, because he was vulnerable, and he at least knew Lani’s face. Things would change again tomorrow, they just had to. Having relationships was something he did on his own accord though. There were no parents to meet, no older brother trying to protect him, it was just him. The only influence was his own mind, and that was enough. Normal was boring, and although sometimes Odion wished he was, was often jealous of those who had families and close friendships, he wouldn’t want to be someone other than who he had become. If everyone were meant to be nice, friendly, and easy to get to know, then everyone would eventually go crazy. That was his prerogative anyways. Odion’s cases were never on the news, but what he stole usually ended up being personal, and he relished that more. People might think it was impressive that Lani stole gems from a museum, but it wouldn’t hit them where it hurt, like stealing a wedding band would. It was a psychological game for him really. Of course it was fun to have the possession itself, but the effects of having it gave Odi a high.

Odion had to admit he enjoyed stealing from Lani, since he didn’t have to use his powers at all. It wasn’t his fault he decided to take a cat nap in public now was it? But Lani was good at what he did, and although they were both thieves, they would be hard pressed to compare apples and oranges, even though Odion had been doing so since they met. They both had their strengths and weaknesses, and used either to their advantage. It only made sense. Odion was glad something was making sense. Pickpocketing in Europe had been easy. There were too many bodies to really keep count of who had what, and Odi had been smaller then. He just looked to innocent to do such a thing. That life lesson had taught him never to judge someone by how they look. Lani hadn’t experienced this, but Odi often came off as charming and witty, totally approachable and friendly. But that was just another card to play. Odion believed he could make anyone believe he was anyone. He loved competition between thieves, because it was rare and unusual, and he hadn’t had something like that since Rhett quit pickpocketing, and tried to fit into the world. Odion had never stopped, it was his drug.

No matter how this night ended, Odion didn’t want to care about what Lani thought of him. But he knew that he would care now. When someone looked on you with pity, it was like they were trying to bestow a gift on you. Odi couldn’t shake the feeling as Lani held his gaze, and he wondered what the blonde was thinking. Hopefully he wouldn’t apologize for being sorry. Odion visibly relaxed when Lani went along with him. He didn’t really want to play mind games tonight, but it seemed unavoidable. What would Lani think of him tomorrow? And did it matter? Odion couldn’t help but laugh at the comment. “Yes, that’s why I’m shit-faced drunk.” It was the truth at least, and he couldn’t deny it. That’s how he usually handled himself though. He couldn’t count the number of times he had gotten drunk while at Hammel. he didn’t think it was a problem, and didn’t concern himself with it. “How I handle myself is my choice,” he said, pointing his own finger at his chest. If he wanted to get drunk, he would. If he wanted to fuck, he would. If he wanted to steal, he would. Same shit different pile.

Odion held his grin as Lani remained speechless. “People must not like you very often, hey?” He asked, again, to get a reaction. Since Lani hadn’t come back with something witty to say as quickly as he usually would, the comment must’ve affected him. Therefore, it meant something to him that Odion like him. Therefore, he must like Odion too. Checkmate. He watched Lani’s hand wave around, shaking his head again so he wouldn’t pass out. Probably not the best idea to get dizzy at this point in time. Odion genuinely laughed, wiping at his eyes again. It was rather adorable that Lani was reacting this way. Odion put that idea somewhere very far in the back of his mind. They were smiling at each other now and Odi held his grin, because he liked the feeling. He wasn’t sure if said feeling was because he liked making Lani uncomfortable, or because he liked smiling with his new so called friend. “I’m not embarrassed,” Odion asserted, nodding his head towards Lani, “it’s you who should be.” So maybe Adrianna hadn’t told Lani what Rhett had done? It wasn’t anything Odi had done himself, but since Adrianna was well, a girl, she would probably make assumptions and think too much into the situation. She would assume the same thing was going to happen again. Well if it was any consolation, they both had been hurt by Rhett, and Odion was not Rhett.

If eyes are truly the gateway to the soul, Odion’s seem to pierce right through that supernatural boundary. He had had many compliments on them, and he used them to his advantage. “The innocent?” Odion asked, contemplating this comment in a mock serious way. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” He held Lani’s eyes with his and grinned devilishly. I don’t think you fall into that category Lani. His smiled quickly faded. “I’m drunk, but you’re the one not making any sense,” Odion said with a flick of his wrist. Lani would have to be better than that if they wanted to play the same game.

“Strange indeed, I think someone was just trying to convince themselves not to commit suicide,” he said, followed by a nonchalant shrug. Odion’s breath caught as Lani spoke of death. Hmm, so they were on the same page, playing the same game, thinking almost identically. It was creeping him out, so Odion sat up a little straighter, pretending to be interested instead of freaked out. “Nothing in life is a given,” he said, deciding it was safer to talk about life, than love. He wasn’t even sure he knew what he was talking about anymore when it came to love. He knew about life though.

Odion hadn’t tried bringing someone back from time, to the present. He didn’t think it would be a good idea, and he wasn’t even sure if he was capable. When he delved into the past, it was solely for review, and he made sure to really stay in the shadows – more than usual. There was no one he wanted to retrieve anyways, not even Rhett. Usually he just used his powers to pause time, steal something, and then get the hell out. Once in a while he fast forwarded himself (especially when he was drunk, so he could skip the whole hung-over thing, but this time he hadn’t thought to do so, Lani had distracted him). What Lani knew about his powers now, no one else knew, not even Rhett. Odion blinked at that realization. Lani didn’t need to know about that. His eyes snapped back to Lani, smiling slightly. This was the most he had smiled in a long time. “Your file is a much bigger pain in the ass to read than mine.” There, they were even. Both had been curious about the other and it was the easiest way to see what they were up too. Odion won in hiding his personality better than Lani did. Then again, Odi wasn’t trying to steal things that were on public display and of immensely high value. Those things didn’t come up in Lani’s file though. Things like antisocial however, did. It made Odion question why Lani had said a word when they first met. Odion’s powers had been completely off that day, quite different from today. It felt weird to think about, but maybe, somehow, Lani had given that back to him. Lani didn’t need to know about that either.

The stars were such a trivial thing to talk about. “I do, all the time.” He said, before realizing it had been a ploy to get him to eat the bread again. Why was Lani trying so damn hard? If there was anything good still out there, then it was Lani at this very moment. And that was the truth. Odion grinned as Lani said he was like his sister. “She probably doesn’t want you to worry about her either,” he said, the words coming out softer than he anticipated. It was meant to be insulting, but if Lani was comparing him to his sister... That was a high regard Odion couldn’t ignore. “She has a point though, you can’t worry about people you have no control over,” he said, because they both knew Lani’s powers couldn’t cover that. And even if they could, Odi liked to believe Lani wouldn’t control people that way.

Before jumping off, Odion glanced back at Lani. “Your stage name should be Captain Obvious, C.O. for short,” he said with a wink. Lani was just a regular comedian, why not encourage him a little? The bread joke was getting old though. Odion grabbed the fleece blanket hanging over his desk chair before tossing it to Lani. It had been cold and he neglected to notice that Lani hadn’t been prepared for that. He tried not to think too much about the kind gesture. Odion watched Lani hesitantly, his stomach lurching again. “Fine, one slice, and then you lay off the bread topic.” He said, snatching the bag and unravelling it. It looked lifeless and unappealing, but he took a slice and bit off a mouthful and swallowed it dry. “This is horrible,” he said, looking unimpressed. It hurt to eat, probably because he hadn’t been doing much of that lately. Plus, it was bread, and it didn’t taste very good. He tossed the loaf back onto the desk counter and looked at Lani, before getting up and opening the fridge again. “You’re free to leave, I promise I won’t try to kill myself or anyone else,” he said with a smirk, trying to make light of things. Of course, he was partly serious, but he didn’t want to scare off possibly the only friend he had in the world right now. The glow of the fridge lit up his freckled face, as he thought it might be best to have water now than the tempting can of beer he had in there also. “Have you ever travelled through time before?” He asked, not trying to be a smartass, but rather, genuinely interested. He knew Lani couldn’t do that on his own, but maybe he knew someone other than Odi who could. Plus, he didn’t really want Lani to leave just yet, knowing that tomorrow would hold something different for the two of them. But he didn't want to ask, 'Hey, I'm starting to like you, why don't you just stay until you get tired of me?' That wasn't going to happen, no matter how drunk he was.

[Lani Hunter]

As much as Odion kept people away Lani brought them close. He didn’t mean to but he found it easier to hide his true self when people only saw his mask. They would think they knew the real Lani and the illusion would be stuck. In many ways he held people at a distance but only in his eyes. He would end up knowing everything about them and yet he himself would let slip very little. It had happened that way with Adrianna, he felt like he knew her very well, though all of her secrets were not his knowledge. Lani however had given away very little, that his sister had cancer and that he liked her. Beyond that Lani was still a mystery. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that had Odion’s position not been so fragile Lani would still be just as much in the dark about the redhead’s thoughts as he was that night on the roof. It would be easier to just push people away but Lani always found a reason to care. He was like that with children especially. For the most part he was very good with them but he didn’t have to get into deep discussions with children. Others he saw like his sister. Now Adrianna, she was so much like his sister. He felt the need to protect her. Maybe that was why he was here with Odion. He felt a need to protect people and he couldn’t be there for his sister so he was desperately trying to make up for it. Perhaps that was where Odion was better off than Lani. He didn’t let people get close enough to care about them. Lani just couldn’t let them pass him by. Perhaps that was why he was keeping Adrianna close, he knew that his boss had targeted her and he knew the best way to keep her safe was to keep a close eye on her. Odion, he could at least count on to be able to take care of himself. That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t keep an eye on Odion either. He couldn’t guarantee the safety of anyone around him, which just killed him and if anything happened the Odion or Adrianna or Caroline he’d never forgive himself. And in Caroline’s case he’d probably never be sane again.

Imagining Odion as being approachable and friendly would probably cause Lani to think he was in an alternate universe. Lani unlike Odion hated competition. He had so much at stake he couldn’t afford to risk someone coming in and taking his treasure. That was why when a competitor appeared it was the Boston rule that it was first come first serve and anyone disobeyed that they were shut down. In more extreme cases permanently. So Lani wasn’t a fan of competition. He knew there was more among pickpockets but when what a thief was doing was running the risk of heavy prison time there was a common understanding that alliances were temporary and brief and that was where friendship among cons ended. There were a few friends that Lani risked having in Boston and they were all outside his boss’s circle. They could keep an eye on them and on his family for him. But he had done them favors or worked with them and their systems had been similar. But most of the time when his boss assigned him a partner it was a partnership filled with bitterness and conflicting egos. Some people did have partners but Lani had never risked getting that close to someone. Though most of the thieves under his boss were collectively brothers in their hatred for the man.

Lani gave Odion a knowing smile when he relaxed. His lapse in judgment hadn’t completely put Odion off. He had to keep reminding himself that Odion was drunk, he was a surprisingly well articulated and thoughtful drunk. When Lani was drunk he liked to imagine that he could sing… that never went very well. Lani joined him in laughter, it was good to hear him laugh again. That wasn’t strange, was it? He wondered absently before he let the thought slip away. “Well then, as long as we’re on the same page.” He gave Odion a shrug and raised a brow his eyes flashing with a touch of jealousy reading more into that than he should have. So Odion was working solo, he assumed, it was nice to know that he didn’t have anyone to answer to but then again Lani couldn’t stand the fact that he was a failure in letting himself get caught in that trap. “That doesn’t always mean those are good choices,” he said, “Though I have to say I’m enjoying the drunk Odion, he’s very friendly.” Lani wasn’t sure what he was trying to get at with that, whether it was to tease the redhead or goad him into a fight he wasn’t sure. He smiled though to take away any sting that might have been in that statement unintentionally.

“Ha ha,” Lani rolled his eyes in mock humor. He shook his head recovering from the shock. Lani could have lied and said he was just keeping his enemies close, but that ship had sailed. Lani huffed and crossed his arms giving Odion a sullen look as he laughed. He tripped over himself as he tried to figure out how to turn this around. He was glad Odion was smiling and laughing again, though he would have liked it not to have been at his expense. “For the record,” he pointed out shaking his head, “People love me.” He decided to build on that, “You see, I knew it was only a matter of time.” Now he was just desperate to turn this away from himself. Lani cocked his head at Odion a little confused when his joke turned on him. He shifted his brow coming together. He didn’t understand. Why should he be embarrassed? “Wait, what?” He shook his head smiling thinking he was walking into some elaborate joke. “You’re not making any sense.” Either way, Adrianna didn’t own him, generally the first time someone tried to control him and who he hung around that was the first moment he pushed them away.

Lani’s eyes locked on Odion’s and he realized with a grin that Odion was very good at hiding his emotions. It was either that or Lani was actually helping him to feel well enough to smile and joke and laugh. A few moments ago Odion had been launching things across the hall and in a sad heap on the floor and now it was like he was a new person. Perhaps this was his mask and he had gotten it back into place after it had slipped. Lani’s grin didn’t vanish with Odion’s instead he pointed at Odion. “I’m making perfect sense, you just can’t see it,” he insisted more sure of himself now. He held up a finger trying to get Odion to hear him out. “You see it wouldn’t be anyone’s hook you’re on because like you said you handle yourself, but… but if you think about it… if I can’t get you to eat anything then you’re obviously not on my hook, but that still begs the question of who’s hook you’re on. So either it’s a what or you’re stuck on your own line.” Lani paused his eyes wide as he waited for Odion to have some sort of epiphany. The silence grew and Lani thought back over his convoluted explanation. He laughed at himself and this time did smack himself in the forehead. “Wow, you’re right, that doesn’t make any sense.”

Lani nodded not as unaffected by the comment as Odion was. Death always freaked him out a little. Especially since his sister had been knocking at its door for so long. Lani had no clue that their thoughts were going parallel and that he was getting Odion to think that telekinetics also had some sort of mind-reading abilities. That was laughable; Lani couldn’t even keep his own thoughts straight. He had read about a telekinetic in that book he had lifted from the library who had had telekinesis and telepathy, he was apparently the greatest thief of his time. This man had never been named precisely because he had never been caught. The only way they knew about him was because one of his students was caught and spilled some secrets. Lani nodded absently and closed and flexed his hands. They were itching for something to do. “Of course not,” Lani agreed, “No one ever said it was gonna be easy.” He scuffed his feet tapping them on the edge of the ledge. Oh if only life were simple. He envied people who had less complicated lives. Not simple, just less complicated. Oh well. In his own selfish way Lani was glad he had seen this side of Odion, the side that could be hurt. It comforted Lani to know he wasn’t the only one with a sensitive spot.

Lani wondered if it was the alcohol that had made Odion want to show him his past. He didn’t like that thought, he didn’t want this to be because of Odion’s drunkenness. Odion didn’t even seem very drunk anymore. No just as he wouldn’t like his secrets known he usually didn’t try to make people give him theirs. It meant so much more when it was of their free will. That was where trust came in. Most of Lani’s problem was that he didn’t trust people not to use the information against him. He figured Odion was very much the same. He glanced down at the redhead and gave him a knowing smile. Well now he didn’t feel so bad about it after all. Lani chuckled and raised his head a little bit in pride. He had to admit he liked the recognition. “Don’t be jealous,” he chided teasingly. At least they were even. He was always curious about his own file but he usually just flipped though it every few weeks to make sure they weren’t putting anything together. Once he had found a new article of a robbery he had done in his file. There was a question mark on it and a circled date. Nothing had ever come of it, but mostly because Lani had thrown that and the documentation of him going missing that day out. No one ever knew. He usually didn’t pay much mind to the teacher reviews, they were all the same. Slacker, never comes to class, smart but lacks motivation, that kind of thing. Nothing important. Odion’s had been rather void of information. He really tried to stay in the background. The only thing Lani had gotten was his power and that he had average grades. The one thing that had made him laugh was that someone had noted ‘does not work well with others’. That was a given really. As much as his friend was starting to open up to him Lani had when he first met Odion never wanted to see him again.

Lani smiled but didn’t take his eyes off the stars. “Makes you feel small sometimes, doesn’t it?” He wondered aloud. When one was standing on a high place or on the edge of something truly majestic it only made sense to feel small. It wasn’t often that a person liked this feeling. Lani had never traveled and he had always wanted to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon or watch the Northern Lights. Any place wild and majestic. That was part of his terror of going to prison. He would never see these things, his freedom would be gone. “Hmmm,” Lani hummed in agreement. His sister hated it when he worried about her but he really couldn’t help it. It was strange that the normally so abrasive Odion was speaking so softly. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he looked out over the trees. “That doesn’t stop me.” He commented and grabbed a pebble from the roof behind it and dropped it into his palm. He bounced it a few times but at Odion’s next observation he pulled back his arm and tossed the pebble off into the darkness. He didn’t want to answer that. It was too close to his heart, too right. Even with all of this power he had he couldn’t stop his cancer if it ever came back. It made him feel helpless and if there was anything he hated it was feeling helpless, useless.

He followed Odion off the roof and grinned at him. “But you know, C.O. can also stand for Commanding Officer, and I’m not sure you want me around that much power,” he smirked a little liking that Odion was joking around just as much as he was. Lani sometimes it seemed hid behind his jokes and lacked the ability to be serious. But there were some things he just didn’t joke about. Lani caught the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders gratefully. “Thank you.” He raised his hands in yielding. “Alright, deal.” He grinned as Odion snatched it and set to making sure Lani knew how displeased he was about it. While Odion set to downing the slice Lani curled his legs underneath himself and snuggled into the blanket. He leaned against the bed and tucked his legs under himself and wrapped the blanket around his legs and torso. Once he had himself wrapped in a rather nice lump up to his ears in the blanket he looked back up at Odion. For as tall and lanky as he was he was remarkably compactable. He was very grateful Odion had tossed it over he was about to think he’d never feel his toes again. It wasn’t too cold, to be honest, but when the temperature dropped into the low forties overnight and you were out in a t-shirt and barefoot it tended to give a nice deep chill. He grinned up at Odion and gave him an amused look. What did he think that Lani was just here and would leave soon after, not quite. He had just settled in and gotten comfortable, he wasn’t about to leave yet. Lani looked up at Odion and gave him a wide eyed and innocent look. “But I thought you liked me,” he teased and made a decisive motion of snuggling into the blanket. He shook his head. “Nope, it’s certainly…” he paused looking for the right word, “an interesting experience,” he decided on, “Do you ever try to change things?” He asked curiously.

[Odion Martins]

Odion didn’t like how Lani was bringing him out of the shadows. He had plenty of people he stayed in contact with, and every one of them had received a different mask from him. That didn’t make him any more comfortable around other people, didn’t make him any less suspicious of them. He used masks for the same reason Lani did. Nobody knew the real him, except Rhett, and now Lani was starting to peel back those layers as well. Odion didn’t know much about people other than the assumptions he made. Since he held them at arms length, he could never embrace them and get them to trust him, even while he was wearing the masks. Everything he put out to others was fake, and he was too busy playing mind games to just make up one fake personality for everyone in order for them to trust him. That’s what everyone did, and he wanted to do things differently. Odion didn’t know very much about Lani’s family, other than he had one, and that his sister was very precious to him. Beyond that Lani was still a mystery. And now, Odion wasn’t anymore. Just because he bore his thoughts, didn’t mean Lani was going to. For Odi, it was easier to push people away. This wasn’t easy, letting Lani in. He wasn’t used to it and he wasn’t sure he even wanted to be letting him in. Odion didn’t have the desire to protect anyone, and maybe that made Lani more of a hero than a villain. Odion didn’t know where to draw the line sometimes, didn’t always know how to help someone or what the implications of his actions were. And maybe that made him more of a villain. Odion hadn’t a hot clue about Adrianna being under watch and keep of Lani’s boss. He still didn’t know Lani had a boss. Odion might’ve been quick as a whip, but it would take some kind of miracle to pull that conclusion from his ass. The irony was, if Odion had known, he would have tried to help get Lani out. It was the least he could do after tonight. And no one needed someone breathing down their neck every few seconds. Odion was good and free; free from a boss, family, friends. He was free and lonely. He convinced himself that that was how things were supposed to be and he liked them that way.

Luckily for Lani, Odion wasn’t interested in the same treasures, or possessions so to speak. He had no idea how to sell rare gems, and he wondered how Lani managed to get through the black market without being scammed. Due to the high price of the items, Odion wondered if Lani’s sister had something seriously wrong with her, some kind of treatment that wasn’t cheap. It was a possibility just like everything else was a possibility. Odion hadn’t run into anyone from Hammel on the streets, until he ran into Lani that is. He wouldn’t have known the blonde from a hole in the wall had they not met at school to begin with though. Odion honestly thought Lani was a bit high strung when he caught him stealing. Clearly if Odion had been meaning to steal from him, or tattle on him, he wouldn’t have made himself so obvious, nor would he have made light of the situation. They both seemed to play by different rules. Lani’s was first come first serve. Odion’s was the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Odion didn’t see it so much as friendship between thieves as alliances. Odion never expected more than that anyways. But whenever pickpocketing was involved, so had outside relationships. He knew the people inside the job and out. He would go back and sleep in the same building as them, get to know them. That’s what had happened with Rhett. Now history seemed to be repeating itself and he hoped this time it would turn out a little better. Odion had worked in a larger group because it was work with them, or die. The choice had seemed obvious. Now that he knew the tricks of the trade, he didn’t need anyone. But that didn’t mean a fellow thief didn’t need help once in a while. Why couldn’t Lani just accept that? It didn’t have to be a forever thing. Perhaps what irked Lani the most about that fateful night, was that he was obligated to get to know Odion now, as it was in the blonde’s personality. Not that Odion knew that.

Odion had been drunk enough times to know what kind of drunk he was. Sometimes he became very angry, and still other times he was flirtatious and cracking jokes. Mostly he was philosophical when under the influence, and most people didn’t care to hear his ideas or ponderings. Except Lani now. Odion liked to hold every thought captive, and that’s why when he was thinking something, he liked to let that thought run free. If he didn’t want to think about something, he wouldn’t start thinking about it to begin with. Lani had a nice laugh, it was something Odi could get used to. Maybe even enjoy at some point. Not tonight though, tonight the laughter would be short lived. Odion was about to defend himself, until Lani said he was enjoying his drunken company. At least he wasn’t judging him. Odion smiled in spite of himself. “I can be friendly when I’m not drunk,” he said, “you just...” Odion stopped himself, biting his bottom lip. He was not going to say Lani was interesting, or anything similar to that effect. He wasn't that drunk. No, he just blinked a little cluelessly and looked around the room, hoping Lani wouldn’t question the slip up. Let him assume what he wanted from the statement, it was safer that way.

There was happiness in Odion’s eyes as he laughed. If Lani couldn’t laugh at himself, then Odion would gladly do it for him. As Lani explained the undying love people had for him, Odion crossed his legs, putting a thoughtful fist to his mouth to cover his grin. “I have all the time in the world,” Odion said, nodding in Lani’s direction, “go on.” But then he was wondering why he should be embarrassed, and Odi’s grin faded. Apparently Lani didn’t know very much about Talen, Rhett, or the whole shebang. He wasn’t joking, and it wasn’t fair to go along with the grinning Lani and pretend that it was. “Lani,” he started. Odion didn’t want to be the one to tell him this, not because it was breaking news, but because it should be Adrianna telling him. He struggled, trying to put it together properly. “Lani,” he started over, “Adrianna might not like that you’re friends with me. Talen, her ex, kissed Rhett while they were still dating. She might be afraid...” But he let that slide too. He was still being careful around Lani. Adrianna might be afraid that her history would repeat itself also. Again, just because Odion dated Rhett, didn’t mean he was like Rhett. It didn’t necessarily mean Odion liked Lani that way at all, for the record. Odion pressed his fist further into his mouth, biting his knuckles. This was getting more and more complicated.

Odion believed Lani wasn’t making sense, and that’s what he would continue to believe, no matter what Lani said. But he was listening anyways, instead of telling Lani to leave again. So he wasn’t on his own hook, he wasn’t on Lani’s hook, but was he on his own hook at all? Odion groaned, rubbing at his head. “I hate fishing,” he said, unwilling to think about this topic anymore. Odion just wasn’t seeing the epiphany, like Lani had said before. If the blonde were to simply say that Odion was holding himself back from getting over things, that would’ve made more sense between his ears. The redhead smiled wearily, his head pounding all around him as he tried to get a drip on reality. From now on, he would have to keep things simple. That didn’t mean saying the first thing that came to mind. He couldn’t do that around Lani.

Odion didn’t think it was Lani’s powers that made the two of them similar. He thought it was because they were similar thinkers, a very different situation. Odion made do with the powers bestowed upon him and with some luck and agility, he would never be caught either. He didn’t read very often. Lani spoke again and Odi felt once more like he was reading his mind. No, nothing was easy. “Did anyone ever tell you it would be hard?” He asked. No one had told him he would be an orphan, never know who his family was, and never know who he was meant to be. It made his head hurt even more. Odion just wanted to be off of this ledge, he was done looking at the stars and thinking about what ifs and what the world meant when things didn’t work out smoothly. It would’ve been nice if Odion also knew about Lani’s emotional sensitive spot. He knew about his sister, and he knew that Lani cared for her (and maybe Odion too), but he didn’t know how deep that care went.

Odion would never admit to letting his guard down and would blame this whole night and everything said on the alcohol. Tomorrow, he would pick and chose what he remembered of this evening and convince Lani of the same. Unless Lani was willing to repeat everything that was said, something Odi didn't think he would do, then Odion had pretty much covered all of his bases. Odion grinned as Lani bragged about his file. “Mate, I’m not jealous. Who’s going to blend in better? The bloke with the file an inch thick, or the one whose file is paper thin?” He challenged, an eyebrow raised. Odion didn’t keep track of his file, because he didn’t have to. It was just another thing he didn’t have to think about. The reaction Lani had to Odion was the one Odi wanted to instill in everyone he met. This kid is annoying and not worth my time. This redhead is crazy and doesn’t make any sense, just leave him alone. It was amazing just how much perfect sense he made. Odion didn’t want to regret showing Lani what he had tonight, deep down inside he liked to believe he wouldn’t. So long as he didn’t go around telling everyone in school how deep and emotional Odi was. If that ever happened, Lani would have more than his boss to worry about.

Odi chanced another look at the stars. He didn’t say anything about feeling small. He was trying to think about what his life meant in terms of the cosmos, and he knew that no one would miss him when he was gone. Not that anyone really missed him now. All he knew, was that he felt very small indeed at this moment, but it wasn’t because of the stars. Odion had been all over Europe and had seen many things there, but not in America. Still, it was interesting to think that everyone, no matter where you were in the world, was looking at the same sky. It was the one thing all of humanity had in common. But wasn’t Lani’s freedom already gone if he was working for a boss? Odion smiled softly at Lani, “I guess no one can stop you from worrying,” he said. It didn’t make sense to Odion to worry. Things always worked themselves out, and worrying about things didn’t add a second to your life. That's what Odi was talking about the other time they met, about living on the fly. For someone who intentionally tried to hit nerves, Odion hadn’t expected Lani to become so silent. “Worrying doesn’t help anyone though, you can’t stop life from happening,” he said, trying to be consoling over whatever it was he had said to wrong Lani, “you can’t stop it any more than I can.”

Odion matched Lani's grin on the roof. “We both know what it actually stands for.” It was nice to be talking about meaningless stuff. Oh god, were they already making inside jokes? This friendship was happening a little too fast for Odion’s comfort. So far, this had been the only point in time Odion had joked around with Lani, and just like how the blonde would feel like he would be in a parallel universe if Odi were friendly, Odi would feel the same to find Lani constantly joking around. Odion didn’t say 'you’re welcome' for the blanket, since he thought eating the bread was payment enough. He wasn’t eating it for himself, but to appease Lani. Now why was that exactly? Odion ate the bread because he didn’t want Lani to worry about him. That had too many implications.

Odion watched Lani wrap himself up in his blanket, and a smirk spread across the ginger's face. Damn it, he was thinking about Lani and adorable in the same sentence again. And his little grin. “I forgot I’m the only one not in their pajamas right now,” he said, his way of apologizing. If Lani stayed for selfish reasons, Odi wouldn’t really mind. Before Odion could think of Lani as being innocent all snuggled in his blanket, he tried to remember that Lani was a thief, and that he might just be playing a card at the right time to win the hand. He was no less adorable though. Odion cracked open the water bottle and made to sit at the desk chair again, so he could keep a careful eye on Lani. “I wouldn’t want you to overextend your visit,” he said with a grin. He neither confirmed or denied liking Lani as that had already been established. Odion took a long drink from the bottle, taking that time to think about what he was being asked. “If I did, tonight wouldn’t have happened, would it?” A snarky reply for an innocent question. He just didn’t want to see Lani as innocent. In a way, Lani was opening up to Odion without revealing much of anything. This was Odion’s specialty, reading between the lines. Lani was letting his guard down. “Let me try that again,” he held Lani’s pretty grey eyes, “no, I haven’t changed anything. Meeting my past self would probably not end well.” He offered a smile then. He had just wanted to show Lani his memories and hadn’t thought about the consequences to Lani. “You’re feeling alright though?” He asked, concerned. Honestly he didn’t feel the side effects of time travel. He threw up his first time, but everything had been hunky dory after that.