What Is This? (Lani.)

[Lani Hunter]

Lani cocked his head at his friend and his eyes narrowed as he tried to squint at Odion in the darkness. Thursday. Lani’s heart fell and he shook his head at Odion. What was going on? “It’s Saturday.” Lani corrected, Saturday night at least, if not Sunday morning already. What was going on? How had Odion gotten lost for two days? This had to be a joke, but no one was laughing. In fact Odion looked more panicked than Lani ever was, because at least he could shut down his power completely if something happened. He could shut it down and he could keep it shut down but it didn’t take over his life entirely the way that time would making life vanish and appear randomly. “What’s going on, are you ok?” Stupid question for obviously nothing was ok right now.

Lani dropped his eyes. He had been listening but he just hadn’t heard what Odion wanted him to hear. He shrugged because he couldn’t dispute that. Odion had wanted him to run after him, but Lani had thought Odion wanted nothing more to do with him. And that was Odion’s right. After all Lani was the one that screwed up, it was a miracle that Adrianna stayed with him. She had every right to slap him in the face and walk away forever, but she loved him, and that terrified him because he wasn’t sure he returned the feelings. He wanted to so badly. Lani looked up and shrugged in a little apology, he was the master of stating the obvious but also the master of mixed signals, he was just a mess. “Welcome to the club,” Lani muttered in return. This whole situation was hard and Lani didn’t want to deal with it, but this problem wasn’t his own, it involved other people, people that he cared about.

No warning could have stopped it. Lani wished it had, honestly, he wished he had listened and not fallen. But then it felt like he didn’t have a choice in the end. Lani hadn’t asked for this, if he had had it his way he would have skated through school without any close friends and gone off to live as a hermit in the end, or rather he would go back and work for his boss. For without a reason he probably never would have left, he was miserable but hey, he had a place to go and a family of a strange sort. But no, he had betrayed them too. He chewed on his lip, was this how things were going to be? One betrayal after another? Lani felt the world weight on his shoulders, this wasn’t fair. Not for anyone. Lani swore softly and turned his eyes to the stars, maybe they had the answers. There really was no good solution this time.

Heart sore and crazed is how Odion had left Lani. He had been so grateful to Adrianna who tried to cheer him up, but it hurt all the more that she loved the stranger that Lani had presented her with. Shapiro was a big help because she didn’t try to say it was ok, but rather she hit him and essentially told him to grow balls and get over it. Dr. Neville wanted to understand but Lani didn’t even understand. He didn’t understand anything anymore. Lani couldn’t smile at the fact that Odion missed him, the wounds were shallow but they were still fresh. Odion had left in the first place and Lani hadn’t known he was coming back. It helped that Odion missed him as much as he missed the redhead. How terrible was it that the sound of that name curled Lani’s blood into eddies that made his hands clench into fists? He watched Odion as he spoke and his breath caught. Lani nodded in agreement, “If you would have stayed away perhaps we both would have eventually been ok. But I don’t think I would ever have stopped thinking about you.” It hurt but they were both individually strong, but no Odion had given him too much for it to just be washed away.

Lani shot Odion a pained look at the question. Oh god! What was he doing? What had he done? How could he do this to her? How had this happened? Why couldn’t he just be happy with what he had? Lani covered his eyes as if the shield himself from Odion’s gaze. “Don’t make me answer that,” he pleaded, he didn’t even know. He was so confused, why couldn’t things be easy? Or rather why had both come at the same time? There were too many questions. Too many uncertainties. Lani blinked started by the next thing. Lani hesitated, his power moving already but uncertain about what to do since Lani didn’t know what he wanted to do. A bit of despair leeched into his heart. Perhaps Odion should be free to leave. What kind of person would that make him if he forced him to stay. Lani jumped a little when Odion repeated himself. “Alright, alright,” Lani said trying to calm the desperation. Lani loosened his grip on Odion letting his power slip away from his shirt and his feet freeing him. The power recede like a wave back to him.

[Odion Martins]

But it couldn’t be Saturday. That would mean he’d lost three days worth of memory. Usually when this stuff happened, he would just back track and be fine, but did he really want to know what these last three days entails? Lani wouldn’t like about something like this. Did he want to see how hurt Lani felt from being ignored? Or how stupid he appeared while on auto pilot? This was bad, very very bad. Odion gulped hard. No, this wasn’t okay, not in the least bit. But he didn’t want to start in on that when there were other, more important matters at hand.

Odion shook his head. Where was the Lani that wanted to fight absolutely everything he said? Did that mean Lani really hadn’t been listening? Was such a thing worth repeating then. “I’m afraid that’s a club you’re in all by yourself,” he said, dumbfounded. He couldn’t have been clearer. If Lani wasn’t ready for something bigger, something different, that was fine. But he shouldn’t stay with Adrianna either. It wasn’t fair to her that if he was feeling confused over their friendship, that he remain her boyfriend. Maybe Lani was the one who needed to be single most of all, and figure things out. Actually, Odion felt kind of bad for his friend. This wasn’t easy to begin with, and emotions made things worse.

For the record, Odion’s always enjoyed being with Lani, even if their friendship was borderline enemies territory. Lani just seemed to show up at the right time when Odion needed someone most of all and had been abandoned by all others. Odion had planned on falling for him either, and it was a strange process. First it was like falling for Rhett all over again, but it didn’t take the ginger long to realize how vastly different the two were. Lani had a heart, and maybe it wasn’t made out of gold, but it was still precious. Odion wanted to protect him the moment Lani gave a damn about him. Odi had slowly but surely let the telekinetic into his life, and had Boston never happened, he was going to tell Lani how he felt some other way. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, since he had gotten everything else off of his chest. Lani was the only person he wanted knowing about those things anyways. And yes, Rhett had known that Odion liked Lani a lot, but now it was clear that Odion liked Lani more than he had ever liked Rhett. Lani wasn’t someone who belittled him, but challenged him. Lani expected greatness of him, and no one had ever made Odion rise so high. But he just... he couldn’t say those things, not while Lani’s off with some girl.

“Good,” Odion said simply, not a trace of emotion left on his face, except for the dried up tears, there was nothing much there at all. He was totally and completely falling apart and losing his mind and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Just because he knew what he wanted, didn’t mean he had it all together.

It was alright, Odion knew already. He knew it was more, because if it wasn’t, Lani wouldn’t have missed him so.

Odion moved, approaching Lani carefully, his eyes never leaving the blonde as he came evermore into focus. That was all it took. Just an ounce of trust. Lani wanted Odi to stay, but Odion wanted to stay too. He just wanted to prove that to Lani. What good would it be to stay here only because Lani was holding him back? He had made this mistake before, and he wasn’t willing to make it again. Lani had been honest, and Odion wanted to be as well. That didn’t make him any less afraid, it didn’t make him a better person, it just made him honest.

Capturing Lani in a hug, Odion was quite aware of what he was doing. It was hard because it wasn't a mind game. It was all him. “I didn’t abandon you,” he said softly, before pulling away. Lani would have as much time as he needed to sort things out, Odion would wait. He’d been waiting this long anyways, what was a while more? He smiled a bit at Lani. He just wanted his friend back, and that much at least he knew he had for sure. There was going to be a lot of damage to repair, but better damage to repair than nothing to fix at all.

But still, if he was the cause of so much confusion... “I can turn back time so we never met,” he offered, nothing but sadness in his eyes. It was the last thing he wanted, but maybe if that’s what Lani wanted, Odi could get over it.

[Lani Hunter]

It was Saturday and Lani nodded at the shocked face Odion had on. That couldn’t be good, how could Odion think it was Thursday? Had he lost that much time? Now Lani felt like the ass, Odion hadn’t even been aware of what was going on and he had gone after him viciously. He couldn’t blame Odion for that, not when it wasn’t technically his fault. Lani frowned, he almost would have preferred being ignored because at least then Odion was doing it consciously. Now Lani’s anger had fizzled out and he felt rather silly being in this one sided argument. But worse now Lani’s anger and turned to concern and he needed to know that Odion was alright.

Lani mimicked Odion’s head shaking and sighed. So fine he was the one confused but he was not the only one giving mixed signals. Fine. “I don’t know, you keep saying you want me to be honest but as soon as something gets too real you’re running away from it.” He accused, ok so many all of the anger hadn’t fizzled away, but merely dimmed for a moment. That seemed pretty mixed to him. He knew he had no business keeping Adrianna but now that she hadn’t abandoned him he couldn’t let her go. His heart pounded as the confusion took over. What he was admitting to Odion, but what about Adrianna, those feelings were false, they were just as real. He kept telling himself he would grow to love her, perhaps that was true but it wasn’t fair to her if he kept her stringing along. But he couldn’t abandon her, he couldn’t be like all the other men in her life.

Lani felt disillusioned. At least more than he had before. Disillusioned about himself. Terrible things happened and he had to face them. He had to let people help him, he was not as strong as he thought he was. He had thought he had it all figured out. This time last year if one asked him what he was planning he would say he was planning on graduating and vanishing. But now, now there were people here that he really cared about. And not to mention Caroline’s arrival. He wasn’t as independent as he pretended to be, he needed these people. He hated to think that if either Adrianna or Odion had come at different times in his life things might make more sense but then he knew that he wouldn’t have been as motivated to stick around to meet people if he hadn’t met Adrianna. And then he knew that if he hadn’t met Odion when he did then Odion wouldn’t have been there to save his sorry ass from a lifetime of servitude. It was all a mess, but it was life. And he had to live it. Where there times he wished that everything would just stop so he could figure it out? Absolutely, but he really just wanted to keep those he cared about close.

Good? What was good about this? Lani didn’t say anything he just stared at Odion. At least he didn’t say anything more about Adrianna. Through everything she had been there for him. That was something he couldn’t ignore. He cared deeply for her. He cared deeply for Odion. But… he shook his head to physically dispel those thoughts. He could learn to love Adrianna, but would that be best? But his power came back to him. Reacting to the mixture of emotions it swirled around him its confusion added to his confusion he knew he should just shut it down but for once it felt good to let it go. It was only because of his power that the movement of Odion caught his attention. He pulled his internal seeking eyes back to the outside and watched Odion move. The close Odion came the more Lani could see his face and the reflection of the stars in his blue eyes. There were tears and… was that blood under his nose?

Lani jumped as he was caught in Odion’s arm. He was startled out of his statuesque state and before he knew what he was doing he was hugging Odion back. Odion’s words threatened to open the floodgates. He looked into Odion’s eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose and looked up to keep the tears threatening to spill out from doing so. They were tears of relief, which was making it all the harder to keep them in. Lani’s eyes fell and he took a deep breath. He wanted to shout at Odion, tell him that he had abandoned him, if only for a little while. But instead what came out was. “I’ll try to be honest, if you will.” Lani wasn’t going to be the only one. Odion had already shared so much with him but Lani couldn’t help but feel that Odion was keeping things from him, so if Lani was going to try to bear his soul he had to know that Odion would do the same thing.

Lani’s eyes snapped up to Odion and he shook his head so fast that Odion blurred for a moment. “Don’t do that. Please don’t do that.” Lani didn’t want what they had to be erased as confusing as it was. If Odion turned back time Lani probably would be with his boss still and who knows what would have happened to Adrianna. “You know just as well as I do that doing that would change everything. Maybe it’s selfish but I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.” No he would probably have vanished from Hammel after that incident but he would be in chains still, forever and always. And he most certainly would have lost Adrianna, because he would have had to let her go.

[Odion Martins]

Odion was stubbornly aware of his intentions. “I can’t face something with you if you’re not ready for it.” He wasn’t prepared to admit to anything, one way or the other. Yes he ran away, but only because Lani didn’t want to find out about himself. It was right there, just right in front of him, and he refused to see it. He saw it, but he pretended like he didn’t. Like a terrible car accident on the side of the road, people just keep on driving even though they know exactly what’s going on. Lani could be mad about it all he wanted, but Odi hadn’t given mixed signals. He had just stopped himself short, afraid that Lani didn’t return the sentiments and too chicken to just flat out ask the telekinetic, because Odion knew Lani would just lie or cover it up in some way. That’s why had had to use mind games, or tricks. Either Lani got tired and gave some nugget of truth, or he just got mad and that worked just as well.

Everything seemed clear now, why Lani had kept Odi at arm’s length. At least, it did to Odion. The lies and deceit, were all just to protect him from something Lani saw as a threat. But though Odi understood that part, he didn’t understand why Lani didn’t understand why that made him feel betrayed. Odion was a lot stronger than Lani had thought. His ex-boss hadn’t made a move towards Lani, or Hammel, Odi had made the man a visit in the hospital to make sure of that. He shook his head, not wanting to tell Lani that story. Lani was already having a hard time letting Odion do things for him, now was not the time for that. And Lani had apologized a million times, but he had never said thank you.

This time last year, Odion had come to Hammel to try and salvage whatever he thought was left of his and Rhett’s relationship. Life just went bonkers after that. He had come here for one reason, felt he only had one purpose. But now, he knew his purpose was far greater than to be Rhett’s crutch.

Feeling Lani move into him was one of the best feelings in the world. Odion wasn’t a very touchy feely person, so it should be noted that this meant a lot to him, probably more than words, something he used at his disposal every day. Well, all the days he could remember anyways. Lani looked like he was about to explode, and Odion wanted to tell him everything would work out but Lani was speaking again. “I will, if you trust me.” He replied, wiping at his face and under his nose. God, he was such a disgusting mess right now. But he was ready and he was willing and if anyone got to see the inner depths of him it would be Lani, because no one had ever cared to know him before Lani came along. But it wasn’t too late to take it all back...

Relief washed over him. So the road would be hard, but it wouldn’t be impossible. It was interesting to say the least. Very fucking interesting.

Odion crossed his arms in front of him, trying to regain his composure. “I won’t offer it again,” a snide comment considering the feel of the conversation. But he had a feeling Lani had what he wanted for now. He knew Odion still cared a lot about him, knew he had a crush on him, and well, Odion knew more or less the same. He just didn’t know how they would get to know each other better while he was still with Adrianna. That was the part that made absolutely no sense to him. He would call Lani out on it later.

“I need to get to a sink,” he said, “I feel terrible.” Crying and bleeding and losing track of time. Yes, one was bound to feel terrible after that.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani balked at that statement his frown deepening. “I can handle more than you think I can.” He protested. Odion knew him better than he knew and Lani knew just as well as Odion did that he would flee if things got to close to fast or too real. But Lani had to argue about it, because he did for a moment think he could handle it, or at least he could chew on it for a while and think about it before he decided to block it out of go with it. But really blocking it out was not a good enough defense mechanism because those things that one wishes to forget are most often the ones that stay closest to mind. So maybe Odion wasn’t giving mixed signals but the whole back and forth thing they were doing was still driving Lani mad. And insanity was very unbecoming, if Lani was going to go insane he wanted to lose his mind completely in one go, not slowly and agonizingly.

If Lani had thought for a moment that Odion had gone to his boss he probably would have a heart attack. But it was even worse that Lani was starting to miss the grumpy calls from the man telling him to do something, because for every time that his boss had called to ask for something there were just as many times that Lani had called with a problem and they had just vanished. When he was younger the man had been more of a father than his own father, probably partially because the man was manipulating him to think that his father was against him the whole time. But it was a strange sense to miss someone that he hated so much. He still sometimes looked at his phone out of habit to see if there was something there he had missed.

“I trust you,” Lani said with a nod of his head. Maybe it was fragile and limited but he did trsut Odion. After what he had done, it was more than Lani could have ever asked for, and Lani knew it was his duty to trust Odion now, but it was still hard. Old habits die hard in old dogs and learning new tricks are even more difficult. There was so much to be unlearned here as well as new things to learn. Lani peered through the darkness at Odion and his worry only grew, losing time had done more than just mentally affect Odion. Now that he was closer he could see the features stand out in the moonlight. But oh well, this would not be a night he would be going out. Despite his plans, this was more important and he really just needed to think on things for a moment before he went out and tore his focus away from that and to thievery.

Lani’s lips twitched up into a grin. “I wouldn’t ask you to,” he replied. He really didn’t want to lose anything, memories the good and the bad were what made him himself. And without someone to call him on his bullshit he would be the same person he had been before he had met Odion. And who knew if that would even work, they always ended up showing up at the same time when each other needed them most. His smile faded as Adrianna came to mind, what was he doing? This wasn’t technically cheating was it? He had promised her that he wouldn’t and he wouldn’t. He chewed on his lip and contemplated just what to do. Maybe he just needed to be alone for a while to figure it all out. He hated himself for even thinking about that, after all Adrianna loved him even when he shouldn’t be loved.

A sink? Odion needed more than a sink. Lani frowned at Odion and shook his head. “You need more than a sink,” he said voicing his thoughts aloud; “You need to go to the infirmary and tell someone about your power.” Lani crossed his arms; he was going to make sure that Odion made it there too. He wondered if Odion would need help beyond making sure that he got to the nurse, he had been walking just fine but he did look awful. “How is your head?” He asked his eyes narrowing at the blood dripping from his nose. That couldn’t be good. Couldn’t be good at all. “Well, come on,” he said motioning for Odion to follow and he stared off going slow in case Odion did need help.

[Odion Martins]

Odion just shook his head. Lani really couldn’t handle this situation. Maybe he could handle other things, but not this. Of that, Odion was sure, otherwise, why would they even be having this conversation right now? Lani couldn’t handle this, not at all. And Odion couldn’t handle it without him, so, he decided to let it go. If Lani wanted answers, they would have to be saved for another day. Odion needed him to be alright with who he was and what he wanted first, but he was patient enough to wait. Odi just hoped he would drive Lani mad enough for the blonde to do something about it before he went insane.

But Odi could handle more than Lani thought too. Said story about the crime boss would have to wait ‘til later. Odion didn’t know how much later it could wait though, considering the nightmares and everything he was keeping bottled up inside. This was such a mess. Odion had done a lot of dirty work for Lani. A lot.

Odion smiled. Trust, that was all he ever wanted. From the get go, he knew Lani was an equal. Not an enemy, not a rival, not even a friend to start, but someone worth respecting. After everyone calling him every name under the sun, bastard, asshole, it was a good feeling to know at least one person trusted him. But in the end, that one person’s trust was the only one’s who really mattered. And neither of them would change a thing. It was so good to know that. A lot of Odi’s pain subsided, but there was still a lot to deal with. One step at a time he supposed. Odion wasn’t thinking about Lani’s relationship with Adrianna, so this was probably safe. Odion loved Lani in his own way, he just didn’t feel safe showing it more than he had to. And tonight, Lani really had made him didn’t he?

“What?” Odion asked, his eyes wide. No, he was not going to tell anyone about this unless he was on the brink of death, and even then... The ginger touched his nose self-consciously. This was why he needed a sink. He glanced back to Lani, already leaving. It was nice, that someone cared enough to try and get him to the infirmary.

“So uh, why were you spying on me?” He asked, a hint of a smile on his face. Odion followed Lani, but he wasn’t going back to the school to go see the nurse. He’d figure out a way to slip away if he had to.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani crossed his arms at Odion not willing to let him win, but luckily Odion didn’t say anything more on the matter because Lani really would have been lost for an explanation. Well they could deal with that later, they had gone through so much just tonight. It didn’t seem like they had spent much time on it but Lani felt emotionally drained at the moment, and for once it was a relief that he didn’t have any crazy emotions to deal with. Lani’s determined eyes locked on Odion and he knew he was determined to handle anything Odion could throw at him. Well, sometimes the best way to handle things was to run away, after all there was a reason that Lani was better at flight. That far outweighed the fight instinct. And who was to say that given time he couldn’t handle it? Well, Lani thought dryly, I think that’s what he’s trying to say…. Lani frowned and told himself to shut-up.

Admittedly Lani had thought of Odion as an asshole at first. He hadn’t like Odion that was for sure, the redhead had been so annoying that one time in the snow… and also admittedly Lani had almost decapitated him with his flight experiments. So really he hadn’t blamed Odion for that reaction but beyond that Lani had never thought that he would ever see that boy again until he showed up on the roof chasing after him. Then Lani had been the one who was pissed. And it seemed that neither would be able to deal with the other without one or the other getting annoyed and snapping. But then Lani had run into Odion and his personal crisis about Rhett and that had all changed. He had stormed through the walls and Odion had charged through his and he had started to see underneath the hard exterior and he liked what he saw. And thus Odion had started to become a friend, and an enemy. Someone who would challenge him but also knock him down when his pride got in the way.

Lani nodded unsympathetically at Odion a little smile forming on his face. “Yup.” It was with that that he knew he was going to have to fight to get Odion to admit anything, and hell if he had to identify the problem he would. It was like if Lani overused his power and it recoiled on him and he was bleeding from his nose he knew that he would run to the doctor. Every telekinetic knew that a bleeding nose meant a bleeding brain. And though he wasn’t sure that it was the same thing he was going to insist that Odion take the proper precautions. He had read of more than one telekinetic being damaged from something like that. As Lani turned away he kept his eyes glancing after Odion making sure he was following.

Good luck, Lani was all over Odion with his power and his eyes and would make sure that he got where Lani intended him to go. Lani snorted. “I was not spying on you,” he protested, “I was about to go out,” he gestured at his garb, “And just so happened to come upon you.” He gave Odion a sly look but didn’t say anything more. He had been stargazing, not spying. So it was again an act of fate that he happened upon Odion. Lani shook his head, “It was luck.” He said aloud. Not fate. He was done with fate. And he was done with letting it lead him. This was his life and he was going to fight tooth and nail against what the universe wanted him to be. Screw the universe and it's plans, Lani was just one man. It could find itself another telekinetic to manipulate.

[Odion Martins]

Odion too, had found Lani annoying to start, but fate decided he needed to see Lani in action to really appreciate the blonde. He was thankful every day for that night, if only because he got to see Lani’s true colors. What if he had never seen him stealing things at the museum, what would have happened? Odion had been tempted to change that if Lani wanted him to, but now he didn’t have to. He smiled slightly at everything that had been said from then up until now. There had been a lot of fights, but there had also been a lot of growing. Over all, Odi was quite proud of Lani for who he was becoming.

But it wasn’t just Lani who was growing. No, Odion didn’t have to approach him that night, he didn’t have to be so idiotic in the way he approached him either. He didn’t have to keep his secrets, and he didn’t have to fall for him. But all of the above happened, and he knew he was a better man for it. He also knew, that if Lani knew what Odi was doing around the school lately, mostly hurting a lot of girl’s feelings, he would be disappointed. Odion wanted to be better, but not for them, for people he actually cared about. Lani was worth respecting because he was a fellow thief, everyone else was a right off. It’s what made Lani that much more special.

And fate also couldn’t leave Odion with the upper hand. Lani had been thrust into Odi’s personal life, the one no one else knew about. He had taken Lani through time with him when he hadn’t taken anyone else. And maybe Lani couldn’t see, but all those things meant quite a lot to Odion. Between their fighting, flirting, and letting Lani in, Odion had fallen for him. It was causing emotional distress when there hadn’t been any before because Odi thought he had his life plan figured out. He didn’t think his powers were emotionally invested, but then again, he hadn’t been put through the grinder like he had this year. And maybe, time was finally catching up to him.

Lani was someone who had seen the softer side of him, and Odion hadn’t liked that at first. He felt exposed, but Lani had proved nothing but worthy, and as Odi stated before, exceeding his expectations. And then the whole Boston trip had to happen. It had to, otherwise, Odion knew he never would have found out. And he was starting to understand why it would’ve turned out that way. But really, it was for the best that Lani wasn’t involved with that anymore. It was better to be a one man show for this kind of lifestyle. Otherwise, you have too many people breathing down your neck.

Odion laughed, “Sounds familiar,” he said, his eyes sparkling a bit. Of course, Lani would find him tonight. Of course... It didn’t make any sense at all, so it made sense. Odion would trick fate yet, at least, he thought he was starting to figure it out. “Good or bad do you think?” Odion teased, reaching out to ruffled Lani’s hair. He still looked like such a box.

“I’m sorry I ruined your plans,” he added, knowing full well that Lani would know what he was talking about, without alerting anyone as they entered the school. Odion could feel the telekinetic grip over him like something warm. “You’re really making me go, aren’t you?” He asked, his face ashen. Odi was afraid to go, he was so used to doing things on his own. He stared at Lani, hoping he would change his mind. A sink would suit him just fine.

[Lani Hunter]

Odion was right to think that Lani would be disappointed. If Lani knew he would probably suggest that Odion apologize, despite not knowing the whole story between the girls and Odion. Most because he knew that Odion was better than that. Lani was sympathetic to most people’s woes and really if he ran into someone who was in distress about something Odion had said or done he would have to say something. That was just how he was, he couldn’t let stuff like that go. He was under no illusion that everyone liked either of them, but if there was something to be amended to fixed he would seek it out. Lani would make sure that Odion knew he was being boorish if he had to. It had been the same when Rhett had torn apart Odion, he hadn’t been able to just sit there. If Rhett had been anywhere to be found Lani would have sought him out all those months ago. And he would defend his best friend who had saved his life.

Lani had felt caged and Odion had opened that cage. His boss hadn’t even realized it but he had treated Lani like a songbird when really he had had an eagle under his control the whole time. Now he was free and Lani was stretching his wings and seeing just how high he could soar. Before he had been afraid to leave the cage at all, living in his depression and struggling to accept all that had happened. Then he had taken flight into a supercell and as he struggled against the updrafts and downbursts of his own emotions he was learning how to fly. The telekinetic ran a hand through his hair and hummed a little as his thought’s metaphor started to make sense. He wasn’t out of the storm yet but he knew as soon as he struck through the anvil he would be in the sun again so he would keep on pumping his wings.

Joining Odion in laughter he nodded. Familiar indeed. When against all odds they would find each other when they needed to, they did find each other. It was like the lack of sleep that had kept Lani awake to hear Odion throwing pictures. The same time Odion had happened to be walking down the street and see Lani slip into the museum window. “Hey!” Lani yelped in surprise as Odion ruffled his hair and tore him from his thoughts. He gave Odion a look of displeasure as he ducked out from beneath it. He simply smiled and gave Odion a wink and decided not to answer. Of course it was good luck.

Lani waved it off. “It’s not a big deal, nothing that can’t be done another time.” He nodded to himself. Perhaps? “It could probably use an extra pair of hands, anyways.” He rolled his eyes suggestively letting them rest of Odion for a moment until he was sure the redhead got the implication. In reality Lani had all the hands he needed, but hey he and Odion had been talking about stealing together since forever it seemed and now was as good a time to start as any. Lani looked at Odion carefully for a moment. His eyes were sympathetic and for a moment he looked as if he might relent. But no such luck for Odion. “Absolutely,” Lani said giving Odion a bright smile and a nod. He put an arm over Odion’s shoulders. “Oh come on, it won’t be that bad.” Odion looked like he was going to the firing squad. Maybe a sink would suit Odion just fine, but Lani had other plans and for once Odion was going to listen to him.

[Odion Martins]

Odion didn’t think he was better than what he was doing, and maybe that’s why he needed Lani. Without Lani, Odi wasn’t any good. In fact, he was pretty sure he was on the road to pure evil until Lani came along. Part of him knew that he didn’t want to change, he didn’t owe anybody anything. He didn’t have anyone relying on him or looking up to him. This same part knew that if he just continued being a total asshole to everyone, things had remained the same. Plus, if he was so harsh that he hit people right where it hurt, then they wouldn’t bother trying to see the good in him. The only person who had, was Lani, and maybe the telekinetic could teach Odion.

“I could fit that into my schedule,” Odion said with a grin. It might be good to steal again, maybe without his powers. Might very well have to, with his powers acting up and everything. Odion sighed. As if it wasn’t enough to feel Lani’s power around him. “I’m only going because you’re making me,” he said, just so that everyone knew exactly where he stood. He knew that Lani was doing this because he cared about him. No one else had forced him to do anything before, even if it was for his own good. Odion was starting to think he didn’t know what was good for him, aside from what was right in front of him. The arm around him had two effects, one: it made his heart race, and two: it was strangely comforting. Maybe having a nurse look over him wouldn’t be so bad as long as Lani stayed with him. Well, he was about to find out.

End.