Chase the Morning (Odion)

[Lani Hunter]

Perhaps Lani’s worries were ungrounded but it was still something he had to worry about. Lani had thought about telling the truth a million times. He had gone through several possibilities in his head. There was certainly one where she left him, another one where she got him arrested. But there was also one where she accepted him as he was with open arms. He tried not to dwell on that last possibility too much. He wondered if Odion thought that there was anything more to it. If Odion knew that he was also being lied to. Lani really hoped not. He didn’t want to lie to Odion. Odion was already so close that really Lani was just being a chicken. He liked to believe that if Odion figured it out he wouldn’t completely hate Lani. Hopefully he would understand. Oh well. Lani looked at Odion wanting to believe him and wanted to be relaxed. “You think so?” He asked out of need. “I almost wish there was a way I didn’t have to tell her.” He mused aloud. Perhaps there was a way. There was always a way. He just needed to get himself out soon and he would be fine.

Thinking like a madman was one of the best things a person could do. No good ideas came from people who weren’t at least a little crazy. People who were able to think outside the box and differently were the kind of people that got far but got laughed at because their ideas were too outrageous. Though that was not to say that every crazy idea was a good idea. Quite far from it actually. But those who were careful about what they thought never allowed themselves the possibility to get a good idea. He was glad that they were able to laugh about it. He really didn’t think Odion would be beyond violence but he was rather glad that it took him a long time to get to that point or else he would probably have a black eye. He had no doubt that if they ever got into a brawl it would be ugly. Flying elbows and biting. Though if they ever fought it would probably have to be over something really huge.

When Odion took his hand Lani smiled. Lani nodded and his eyes flashed. He was tempted to take advantage of the situation now but then Odion would probably be expecting that. So wouldn’t he be expecting Lani not to pull anything now? He gripped Odion’s hand and pulled him off balance and twisted so he could get the redhead in a headlock. “Got you!” He cried. He held him for only a moment before letting him go and taking a few steps back out of range. He snickered unable to stop the laughter coming from chest. “Really? Well I stand corrected,” he said raising his hands in yielding, “So that’s how you could keep up with me on the rooftops.” He said with a grin. Lani huffed and crossed his arms as Odion stubbornly stated that Lani wouldn’t toss him around. Then Odion’s bright laughter filled his ears and Lani gaped at him when he admitted what he was doing. “You…” Lani began jabbing his finger at Odion before he realized that he didn’t have a comeback to that one. He tried and knew he was failing at not becoming more red faced.

Lani nodded glad that again there was a mutual feeling. Lani was pretty sure that with Odion constantly challenging him he wouldn’t be the same person anymore. Already he had changed. He wondered absently if his parents would notice. His sister had. She claimed he was more stubborn now than ever. He really couldn’t protest. After all Odion brought out the best and the worst in him. But through both Odion hadn’t hit him yet so he figured that their friendship was growing. He liked to spend time with Odion and his new friendship was something he was very excited about. They were almost like rivals but at the same time best friends. Always competing with each other but at the end of it all still there for each other when all was said and done. Lani smiled a little bit at Odion and his eyes pierced into Odions. “So you know what I want, but what do you want?” He pointed out. Lani grinned and nodded. “Yes, I think we really will do great things. You know I never thought about having a partner before, I mean training wise it makes sense but it never made sense otherwise. But it would be nice to see where else our powers and partnership could take us.” He said giving Odion a wink saying without saying that he would like to try stealing together.

Odion’s sarcasm was practically dripping and Lani gave him a touched look and touched his heart. Lani grinned and shrugged. “I suppose I can live with that,” he replied with a careless wave. He laughed as Odion teased him and shrugged. “I don’t know, cause I’m also an old dog,” he smiled gave Odion a childish innocent look. Really if he was going to learn new tricks it would probably take a lot of prodding and pushing from Odion. Lani was the old hound dog that spent most of his time lying on the front porch wondering why he wasn’t working anymore. Too tired and too bored to learn anything other than what he had been doing all of his life. Which brought the question of whether he would ever stop stealing. He really didn’t want to. His eyes snapped back to Odion and he shook his head. What was he playing at? His brow came together in feinted confusion but none the less he smiled and shrugged it off as a joke. “Eh, I suppose I can figure that one out.” He said with a little nod. Mostly because he was afraid of what Odion had picked up on. He was just too good. Odion probably wouldn’t let it go if he really knew what Lani was thinking. But he had a girlfriend, he shouldn’t be feeling strange things like this!

“I can still be,” Lani said, “It’s not like time isn’t still a line, you just change the equation.” He looked at Odion curiously. Odion really wasn’t too orderly at all. He was rather chaotic himself. Constantly changing the subject and dancing around questions. Not that Lani didn’t enjoy the games but if there was some way for Odion to gain order he would take it. Perhaps if he could get Odion to realize that things weren’t as chaotic as they seemed he wouldn’t be so against disorder. Lani nodded a little giving that one to Odion. That was very true. Harmony was something rarely seen in the world and balance was something that almost seemed to never exist. “Well that’s good,” Lani said, “If everything was balance there would never be a need for change. No need to innovate and try something new. We should be glad we live in an unbalanced world of chaos.” He gestured a little bit like he was balancing scales. He laughed a little, it was kind of like the two of them. They were never in balance and so things got done. If they were balanced they would probably be boring and sitting around talking about sports.

Lani shook his head and raised his hands putting an end to that topic. He was done with talking about sleeping naked and everything. That was a topic he generally tried to avoid. Lani didn’t even realize what he had given away and probably wouldn’t at least not for a long time. All he knew was that that… no, no. Bad, Lani, he scolded himself and pushed the thought so deeply in his brain it was almost as if he had never had it. At least it would be until he was alone and it crept out again. Lani laughed and gave him a sly look. “You know I have to say you’re just scary enough to make me heed that.” Was what he said but the thought pushed through again and Lani couldn’t push it back down in its entirety again. Lani made a face at Odion for that last comment. “Me?” He asked innocently then wrinkled his nose at Odion. Then he gave Odion an annoyed look and took the opening. “And all of this is coming from the one who sleeps nude.” He pointed out with a sly smile.

Odion didn’t seen as enthusiastic as Lani was about his story. Lani had always been good at story telling. He had spent hours upon hours telling Caroline stories when she was doing chemotherapy. He wanted Odion to share in his humor and since he couldn’t show Odion his memories he had to tell them as best he could. Lani laughed and shrugged. “It’s just too much fun,” he replied, “You should try it. You’re good enough to get away with it.” Odion really had only been here a little while. Wow, Lani considered this, why did it feel like he had known Odion forever? Granted he was still working on getting to know Odion but it felt like he had been there for longer than a few months. That really went to show that Odion had been there through a lot. And visa versa. Lani had known Odion only a little bit before Rhett had left then been there when he had left and they had kept ending up together after that. It was a little too often to be random, but now they were friends and sought each other out. He nodded and smiled. “I met someone the other day who transferred from Kocher. Did you like it there?” He pressed for conversation. He wanted to know Odion more.

Lani shook his hands dismissively and he laughed. With a shrug he shook his hands. “What if I don’t want to explain it,” he countered crossing his arms. “I mean what if I give her your phone number and say ‘hey I don’t know but you can ask him’? And then I’ll encourage her to call once an hour on the hour until you answer.” He grinned evilly. Lani laughed at Odion’s evil laugh. He scratched his chin and looked very thoughtful. “Hmmm, I wonder who could have said that.” He said bobbing his head. He was really being childish but really he knew that if Odion was going to tease him for that it would be what he deserved, besides Odion was a lot funnier than he probably thought. He smiled at Odion, he was definitely a friend, but he wasn’t sure why he felt something more. It was different; he and Adrianna hadn’t been friends before they started dating. “Well you should make some plans,” Lani said ignoring his thoughts, “Plan a day for the beach or something.” After all, Boston was really beautiful in the summer.

Odion’s card tricks! Lani had almost forgotten about it. He set his beer and water aside and leaned across the table toward Odion. “Alright, impress me,” Lani said with a grin. He was excited to see Odion’s card tricks. He had only ever seen then done by magicians at parties and he was really excited that Odion was going to show him this. He held out his hand for the cards. “What are you going to show me?” He asked curious and not very patient. He gave Odion a matching smile and raised a brow. “You know that good and evil is a balance. So if you’re evil that mean I’m good. And I highly doubt that that is the case.” He reached out and touched the deck of cards with one finger wondering just what was it that he would have to do. It was sad but he still wanted to trick the trickster. But who knew, he had a feeling that Odion would prove him wrong. Oh this red head was getting way too much into his head and more terrifying his heart.

Lani stole a glance out the window and quickly averted his eyes as a familiar face passed by. He smiled at Odion his face not changing. He took a sip of his beer and felt a gentle relaxation taking over him. It wasn't anything to make him go out of control but it was a nice relaxer. He turned his attention back to the redhead. "I still can't believe I'm witnessing your first taste of heaven." He snickered a little thinking about the buns comment now. It really would be nice if his mind would go in a straight line. Oh well, that was just how it was.

[Odion Martins]

Odion never would have predicted that at a later date, he would be answering the same question Lani was asking, for Adrianna. She would ask if Lani would hurt or leave her, and he would defend Lani just like he was doing now. It would take him a while to realize that he cared for the blonde so much, that he just wanted to see Lani happy no matter what or who he was with. That was going to be a hard pill to swallow, one that wasn’t in his mouth today.

In the end, whenever Lani decided to tell her, and Odion assumed he would, it didn’t matter how many times he ran through it in his mind. Reality was always different than what the human imagination could come up with. It made life both beautiful and scary. Odion didn’t think he was being lied to to the extent Lani was thinking of. Once Odion realized that bit of truth, things would change. Lani had grown a lot since the two had met, but he was still a coward. Odion nodded once. He meant what he said, every word. But when Lani spoke his next bit of poison, Odion had to wonder how much he really did know about Lani. Like what kind of secrets the blonde was keeping from him. Odion had nothing more to add without giving himself away.

The only thing making Odi mad at this moment, was Lani. Not the angry kind of mad, but the I-feel-like-I’m-going-insane mad. Lani just had that effect on Odion, made him second guess himself and wonder why he was falling for someone who was already taken. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t a good idea to let himself, but putting his masks back on just didn’t seem like an option.

Hesitating a second too long, Odion found himself suddenly trapped under Lani’s arm. When the blonde pulled away, Odi was laughing. That stunt had been pretty adorable. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you yet.” Now Lani would never know when his turn was coming, and he would always be anticipating. Odion planned on being a little more creative with his revenge. Lani, would be worrying all night. “It’s mostly natural talent, the parkour only helps a little.” He wasn’t joking about actually being able to parkour though, he had to stay in shape somehow. That activity was something he had dropped when Rhett disappeared, which probably didn’t help with the rapid weight loss and muscle loss. But he was back at it again, better than ever. Odion was pretty agile himself when he was rockin’ the rooftops. As Lani grappled for a comeback, Odion decided not to be merciful and let Lani get away. “I think that’s four times now, that I’ve been consciously counting anyway.” He smiled triumphantly. Looks like Odi already has Lani.

Odion knew he was different than when he had first met Lani. He wasn’t as much of a coward, and he felt strangely more like himself than he ever had before. He also felt more bound to help helpless creatures, like those kittens. They surely would’ve died without the two teenagers aid. Odion was glad to have someone who was willing to grow with him. It was so much different than any other relationship Odion had come across, in his own life and through observing others. It wasn’t a perfect relationship, but he thought it was one of the better ones. And the thought of being with someone who made him be the best version of himself once again entered Odion’s mind as Lani asked what Odi wanted. Odion flat out smiled, ignoring the question about his own wants and desires. ‘Otherwise’ was code for stealing. Odion caught onto hints quite quickly. “I guess we’ll see,” he said, willing to let the subject drop now. Lani had caught onto Odi answering questions with more questions, so now he was going for the flat out ignore and hope Lani forgets approach. Because Odion’s wants, weren’t on the horizon.

“You’re an ass-dog? Wonderful,” Odion wondered just what kind of animals each of them would be at the end of their relationship. Catupine, ass-dog, what a great world. Good thing no one had put them in charge of creating new species. Odion didn’t want to stop stealing either, but he was always up for a little adventure, so long as it was something he thought he could master. Odion raised his head a little, still watching Lani. No, he wasn’t ready for the truth, he was just afraid to start something he wasn’t allowed to start. He didn’t want to hurt Adrianna, and maybe he didn’t want to hurt Odi either. So Odion just looked away again and kept his small grin to himself. Odion was willing to let it go because he cared for Lani, and that was a fact.

Lani hadn’t seen just how chaotic Odion could be. Sure, he got the gist of it, but Odion had never been perpetually late on Lani, something Rhett had had to deal with all the time. He had never been with Odion when the ginger suddenly what day of the week it was. Odion just looked confused. “But time isn’t a line, well, it is, but now how I see it. It’s not the equation so much as the actual presence.” Odion gave it a few seconds to process before speaking again. “Have you ever seen this commercial on TV where the ball bounces along the sentence as it’s being read out loud? I’m that ball. I can go to whichever part of the sentence I want, repeat it, out of order, anything. But that doesn’t change the sentence.” He held Lani’s eyes, wishing he could be more articulate. No one had ever really asked about his power before. Lani was probably asked all the time, because his was a power most people were interested in. Time turning seemed to be pretty low. Odion smirked at Lani, like he had caught the blonde. “But you just finished saying life needs balance. So, then one would have to change to achieve it.” In other words, Odion wasn’t willing to change. Whatever life gave him, he would deal with it as it came, and not try to predict how to attain balance. “That all sounds like a pile of rubbish to me anyways,” Odion said, dismissing the idea of harmony and all that excessive bullshit.

Lani hadn’t said anything in a while about the whole nudity thing. “Don’t think about it too much,” Odion said with an overemphasized wink because this time, he really didn’t want Lani to think about it too much. He was just trying to move onto a different subject that wouldn’t confused Lani into oblivion, a guy who clearly didn’t know what his sexual orientation was. “There’s nothing scary about me! I have the same bits as you,” he claimed. Well, he assumed they had the same body parts. Besides, Odion slept with a bunch of stuffed animals. How intimidating could that be? “So? You’re the one freaking out about it,” Odion said, unwilling to let Lani win this one. No, let the books read that Odion won the nude conversation.

It wasn’t that Odion didn’t appreciate story time, he just didn’t know how to show his appreciation. He was definitely not going to start clapping his hands and giggling in glee. No, an amused smile would spread across his lips and that would be all. “I wouldn’t want to ruin the good thing I have going,” he said, aware that Lani was probably jealous that he couldn’t get out as easily. Odion liked the thrill of stealing and mind games, but not even being able to get out to do them? No, he’d rather stick to his strings-free environment. If Odion had been looking for more than just Rhett, he might’ve known Lani sooner, but that was something he didn’t want to change about his past. What they had now was what really mattered anyways. Besides, it was the circumstances that brought them together, and Odion really doubted he would’ve given Lani a second glance had he not really needed someone. Lani was worth knowing. “Do you like it here?” Damn, Lani was right, he did answer questions with question. “Because that’s what it’s like there. Just a school.” Well that was a decent save.

Odion watched Lani, amused. The blonde was like a puppet on strings, though who was pulling them Odion wasn’t sure. Odi groaned. “Please don’t give her my number, I’ll just end up breaking her heart.” He smirked at Lani. The blonde would never do something like that, Odion was willing to bet on it. “How about we compromise? She gives me her number, then we can go on a double date.” He smiled and then laughed through his nose. Then the waitress would find out the hard way how truly disinterested he was in her, at least romantically. “I don’t know,” Odion replied, taking another sip of his beer, nearly gone, “some twat.” It was okay to like Lani, as long as they didn’t pursue anything. Sometimes love, was friendship set on fire. Odion smiled at Lani, a devious plot in his eye. “I don’t really make plans,” he said, “and I’m not too fond of swimming.” Though that might be due to the fact that Odion had flown over the ocean to get to America, and he absolutely was petrified of flying. Another obstacle to getting to Boston.

“Doesn’t take much to impress you does it, judging by how eager you are,” Odion said with a twinkle in his eye. Of course, he was always excited to show off a card trick. How could he not be? When you took pride in something you didn’t even use your meta powers for, you relished every chance you got to show off. And Odion was pretty swift with his cards. Odion rolled his eyes. “I can’t tell you what the trick’s going to be, that would ruin the whole point of showing you.” Really, sometimes Lani was so dense. Odion was glad that Lani was excited though. Odion shrugged. “Whatever you say.” He wasn’t up for debating just how good and evil either of them were. That was a reality he wasn’t quite ready to face. Odion picked up the deck and fanned it out, adding his own flare to it. “Pick a card, and put it back into the deck. I’ll shuffle it again, and then you repeat the process twice more.” It would take a bit more magic to make Lani believe this trick. One card simply wouldn’t do.

And then Lani was smiling again and Odion received goose bumps over his arms. Just what was it about Lani that was so attractive? Odion laughed softly. “At a price,” he said with a smirk. Oh Lani didn’t know what he had gotten himself into, did he? Odion had done the math, and slipped the correct amount of money into the menu for both of them, along with a nice tip. And yes, he had taken into account the taxes as well. This, therefore, was a date on him. Odion was curious to see how Lani would feel about that once he figured it out.

[Lani Hunter]

It really seemed like the world was going to come down around them even sooner than either had thought. Odion had already proven to be a true friend and soon it would be Lani’s turn. Hopefully by that point though they will have worked together that the truth would come out. Half of what Lani was questioning was how Odion would react if he realized Lani was lying to him as well. Not very well, was his guess. Odion might not completely abandon him but he certainly wouldn’t trust him again. But then could Lani get away with saying that Odion didn’t need to know? Oh course not. That would just be another lie. Perhaps he could say that he was afraid, which was true but then it showed that he really didn’t trust Odion. It was really a mess.

Lani was actually wondering if he should tell her sooner or later. Eventually he would have to tell her, and Odion. He was starting realize that this was going to all come crashing down if he was the only pillar holding it. But really the best thing to do was make them keep their distance until he had gotten himself out. He was going to do it not this time but as soon as summer came around. Because then he could be there to protect his family if there were any reciprocations. They might just reward his loyalty with taking something precious from him. But one thing that Lani knew was that Caroline was safe. It was because of her that he got into this mess, not that he held any malice against her, but if they hurt her they knew all bets were off. Lani would kill them, or else they would have to kill him. And then it was a lose lose situation.

Finding Odion laughing at his action made Lani feel better about it. Now they hadn’t really gotten into it but if they did who would come out on top pinning the other. With powers out the window it really was a toss up. Who had better luck, or better skill. Probably both. Lani wasn’t sure how matched they were but Odion had been able to keep up with his acrobatics on the rooftops so chances were they were around the same level if not on the same one. Lani laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, whatever,” he said with mock cockiness, “Don’t think it will be so easy, Lieutenant.” He gave the man a wink. He had to admit that he was very hesitant to turn his back on the redhead now. After being able to scare him like that Lani wasn’t enthusiastic about having Odion sneak up on him. Especially not after Odion had warned him it would happen again.

“You’ll have to teach me some moves,” Lani said smiling. He had seen people do it a few times and Lani really just had to smile. They really had no idea what they were capable of and Lani had watched and learned a little. But most of what he did was in fact trusting his body to do what he wanted without thinking. Really a different type of training. After all Lani’s failure had jail time attached not just a bruise. Lani’s mind washed away from training as Odion claimed he was counting how many time Lani blushed. “At least I don’t match my hair when I blush,” Lani retorted sourly. He felt the need to have a comeback even if it wasn’t a good one.. Lani was losing again. It was clear by that smile. Really that smile was worth it. It lit Odion’s face like nothing else did, sure it was cocky and just a little proud but Lani couldn’t say he resented him for it.

It certainly wasn’t perfect. How could it be? When it was between two people not only imperfect but who tended to be the first to realize that they had flaws. Now that was not to say that either would admit these flaws to the other, but wasn’t that part of what made it dysfunctional? Lani smiled a little. It really did seem that the best things in life were dysfunctional. He didn’t miss that Odion didn’t answer his question but he filed that fact away for later use. If he could get Odion off guard then he could ask that question and perhaps startle an answer out of him. He found he got most of his answers when he was blunt anyways. Odion was the one that was good with tricking someone into telling their secrets. “We will,” Lani assured him with a smile. It would be nice to have someone to watch his back. And watch their back in return. He really now thinking about all of the people he had known that Odion was really the only one who had gotten close enough to have Lani accept this. Granted Odion had barreled through the gates on a battle steed but the fact that he got past the moat and thick layer of ice was something commendable.

Lani snorted out a laugh. “Wow, that’s an awkward image…” They kept adding creatures to their description. “Although,” Lani commented, “Make it a lion and snake and I can be a chimera.” He laughed again. Well that was certainly interesting. Wasn’t the Chimera female? Also evil. Though chimera could just be a mix right? He forgot what his mother had told him about it. Usually when she went into her Greek myth rant he tended to tune her out. He had heard them a million times he could tell most of them. Lani breathed a slight sigh of relief as Odion decided to not explain himself. Normally the curiosity would have been killing him, but he was pretty sure that he knew this one. But that must mean that Odion knew that as well. Did that freak Odion out? If freaked Lani out, mostly because he had a girlfriend and these feelings just were fair. Besides what would his father say? He hated Lani for being a thief, and admittedly Lani was quite a jerk to his father, but he didn’t know how his father felt about homosexuality. He didn’t want his father to hate him for something he didn’t choose to feel. Well that was a strange thought.

“A presence?” Lani asked curious and just not quite getting it. He scratched his chin a little before he tapped a finger on his lips thoughtfully. Lani blinked a few times. He knew what Odion was talking about. His mind felt a little bit blown. “So time is variable but not in the way I’m thinking. It’s like a loop that is constantly working, but you can go back and rerun a loop where the rest of us can’t?” He asked his voice clearly showing that he wasn’t getting it. Lani looked into Odion’s eyes as if the answer resided there. “Maybe time exists with the mind,” Lani theorized bringing in a whole new mess of troubles. Lani shook his head but the thoughts didn’t go away. Lani beamed as Odion just got it. “Exactly!” He said making a ‘there you go’ motion with his hand. “The world is out of balance and we all want it to be in balance and so we change to try to achieve it.” Lani gave Odion an annoyed look and shook his head. “One day I’m going to make you take a philosophy class with me.” He said with a smirk.

Now Odion was doing it on purpose. Lani huffed a little and countered with, “You’re the one who keeps bringing it up.” Really it was childish but it was all Lani had at the moment. He found himself pressing a hand to his cheek as if that would ward away the blush that was growing. Lani shook his head and grinned. “It’s not the bits I’m worried about!” He cried, “It’s the terror of you throttling me ‘cause I’ll be laughing too hard to stop it.” He laughed as if to emphasize that point. “I am not freaking out about this,” Lani lied.

Lani nodded in understanding, to each his own. He liked getting under their skin where Odion liked to be invisible all together. “You have to admit, proving that you can get out right under their noses is really fun.” Would Lani like to be able to get permission to visit his family? Yes, but the point was that he didn’t want to have to ask. It wasn’t fair. He had taken care of his family for nearly half of his life. He had had freedom, well kind of. And he had had a purpose. Hammel had taken that all away from him and Lani was just making sure they got their reward. Lani shrugged. “But it’s not just a school,” he protested, “I used to hate it here, but not because it was a school. If it was just a school I could go home and forget about everything. If it was just a school we wouldn’t be locked away from people.” Now Lani peered closely into Odion’s eyes. “Do you like it here?” He was curious, and if Odion liked or hated it was it because it was just a school or was it because of the people. Because for Lani it was the people that defined everything.

Lani snickered at Odion’s reaction. Once again Odion had showed that he was changing. When they first met Lani had been brushed aside, mostly because they had met after Lani’s power tried to take off Odion’s head. But that was really beside the point. The point was that Odion was looking out for people. Odion’s compromise wasn’t too bad actually. Lani grinned and gave Odion a skeptical look. He highly doubted that Odion would actually call the girl and he also doubted that Odion would want to be around him and Adrianna in their mushy honeymoon state. Lani found himself laughing as well. “Oh, now that’s not fair. You should at least give her fair warning.” Some twat. Oh yes, he remembered that. It hadn’t been very long since Odion had last called him a twat. But he rolled with it resting his elbow on the table and his head in his hand he winked at Odion. “He sounds like a cool guy.” Yeah, Lani was arrogant. Sometimes he wondered how he fit through doors. Lani cocked his head in his hand at Odion and smiled a little. “Really?” He asked curiously, “Me either.” He admitted. Now he wasn’t admitting that he was afraid of water, just that he didn’t like swimming. Which was true because he couldn’t swim. “Maybe you could rescue me from the dreaded beach trip.” He commented.

“I’m a simple guy with simple tastes,” Lani replied. No it really didn’t take much to impress him, unless it was something that didn’t interest him. Which consequently was a lot of stuff. Oh well. Odion had that light in his eyes. Lani smiled to himself Odion’s eyes really were beautiful, a blue that matched the depths of the ocean. Lani sighed and nodded realizing that the redhead was right. Again Odion was ignoring balance. Oh Lani was really going to trap him somewhere sometime and force him to listen to Lani blather on and on about things that really twisted the mind. Really it was clear why most philosophers were on something. “Alright, do I look at it?” He questioned as he pick one at random. He held it down really unsure whether he should look at it or not. He assumed so and so he looked. Really worst that would happen would Odion would swat him and make him pick another card. So Lani glanced at the Queen of Hearts, the Red Queen. He slipped it back in the deck and waited.

Lani raised a brow at Odion’s comment. At a price. That was a peculiar statement. Lani shrugged, he was pretty sure he could beat Odion to the check, at least unless he stopped time. Really the pickpocket was good. Lani had no idea. “Uh-huh,” Lani drawled and touched his phone in his pocket and really he couldn’t wait until their burgers came and Lani could get it on film. Well, at least on his phone. Unlike Odion Lani was a fan of cameras. At least not the ones in stores. Even those he made sure that his shadow flashed a few times. Never enough to get a shape but just enough to show that someone was there.

[Odion Martins]

Odion wasn’t concerned over who would win in the end. It was more about the process, not actually getting there. Maybe they never had to see the end. Odion really hoped that Lani wouldn’t end up being like everyone else in his life.

“Sure,” he said with a coy smile, “you can chase me down the rooftops instead.” It really would be the best way to learn. Lani could learn through example, and just copy the moves. Odion would never forget how the two of them had met, but he most certainly would never forget the night he knew Lani was a thief like him. It made the blonde a million times more interesting. It was a memory Odion had reviewed a dozen times. He had handled himself quite well, and the look of shock on Lani’s face continued to be priceless. Lani’s face was always swell to study. Odion smirked. “Ooo, getting feisty are we?” He asked. Lani would have to come up with something better than that. If Lani blushed and his cheeks turned blonde that would just be weird. Deep down inside, Odi just knew that Lani loved being harassed by his favorite ginger.

Lani really didn’t want to know what Odion wanted, because the only one who would be startled, would be Lani, at the answer that came from Odi’s mouth. Odion smiled softly, glad to see that Lani was letting the subject go. For now, at least. It was clear from Lani’s answer that all the blonde wanted from him was a friend, and maybe a stealing partner. Nothing more. It was something Odion was willing to live with, so long as he could continue to trust Lani. Odion didn’t know he knew Lani better than anyone, but Lani didn’t know the same was happening to him. Rhett may have known a lot about Odion, but Odion hadn’t shared that information, Rhett had simply taken it. Giving bits and pieces of himself to Lani was the difference.

Shrugging, Odion let the image slide. It didn’t really matter to him anyways. Lani was getting better at the mind games. He was starting to predict what Odion was thinking. He knew the ginger well enough to know that once Odion had the pieces and had put them together, he didn’t show it off, but kept it to himself to study and review later. It didn’t freak Odion out in the slightest, to know that he could be a source of Lani’s happiness. That, plus the flirting and friendship, it was actually pretty obvious that Lani had a small crush on Odion as well. And Odi knew that, but he wasn’t going to use it. It just wasn’t right to force Lani into seeing that. Since when did Odion care about morals? Oh right, since he met Lani. Odion didn’t have anyone to answer to other than himself, so nothing held him back from feeling, and those feelings were never wrong, just feelings. Lani was already making steps towards discovering himself and Odion was just happy to be a part of it. They both knew what Lani’s sexuality was, Lani just didn’t want to explore it.

Odion was being reminded again why he liked Lani so much. Even though Lani didn’t always get things the first time, he never stopped trying. He definitely persevered, a quality Odion admired greatly. “Right, like running a rollercoaster backward or forward, or even off the tracks, depending on how I want to view that point in time. From my point of view, from someone else’s, from third person.” Odi smiled softly, his patient side coming out. “Time affects everything. It’s more like, hmm, it’s more like treading through water.” Odion wasn’t the best teacher, but he was trying. Odion watched Lani. Now he wanted to ask questions. “So what are you learning from me? What have you changed?” Odi was curious to see how Lani would answer, if he would answer at all. “If we go to the same school, then I’ll take a class with you.” Odion smiled at this impossibility. He wasn’t interested in college.

“Only because it doesn’t bother me at all,” Odion countered a little too quickly. It bothered him to think about Lani seeing him naked alright. Hot and bothered. Terror of throttling huh? Odion was reading far too much into this. Lani wasn’t making sense again, his mind must’ve been somewhere else. “Is that why you’re touching your face?” He asked. Why hadn’t Lani picked up on how observant Odion could be. Despite his embarrassment, Odion would remain vigilant.

“I do that almost every night,” Odion said in a bored tone of voice. Getting out was the easy part. There was no need to make it a hassle. He liked to come and go as he pleased without being noticed and without having to answer questions. There were only so many stories Odion could make up, and as Lani knew, Odi wasn’t fond of stories. He liked mind games and getting past by using partial truths, not flat out lies. They were just different brands of thieves. “Besides, the whole team thing won’t work if we do things exactly the same.” That would just be boring. Odion never should’ve started to answer questions, because now Lani wouldn’t stop asking them. “So you used to hate it here because the teachers were hard on you? Homework’s too hard? Powers out of control?” He didn’t really care, because yes, Hammel was just a school, and people were replaceable. Odion held Lani’s eyes, unsure of what to say. Most of the time Odion didn’t like it here, but that had turned around recently. Now he was waiting to see how long it would last. “Sure,” he said, waiting for Lani to step off the subject. Eventually the telekinetic would get bored if Odion wasn’t giving him any bait.

Lani was obviously starting to think too highly of Odion, because the ginger didn’t really care about the waitress, he was just being an ass. Odion raised his eyebrows. Lani really shouldn’t challenge Odion, unless he was willing to bring out his best ammunition. “All’s fair in love and war. I thought you wanted to teach me how to like girls.” Although Odion seriously doubted that Lani even knew how to do that. Odion polished off the beer, watching Lani. He had the very strange urge to touch Lani’s face, but he let that go by without acting on it. He glanced down at the table. “Cool guys don’t call their friend’s soulless.” Let’s see how Lani fit through those doors now. He was pretty cool, adorable... “Hmm?” He asked, clearly he had zoned out, but it wasn’t because of the alcohol. “Lani needs rescuing? I think I can manage that. Besides, the beach is horrid.” He leaned forward on the table, mischief in his eyes to match Lani’s expression.

“You shouldn’t insult yourself,” he said with a grin. Lani was the most complicated person Odion knew, quite opposite from simple. Lani wasn’t bad to look at either. Odi wouldn’t mind if Lani played a good mind trick on him, there was a first for everything. But really Odion enjoyed spending time with Lani so much that they could be doing just about anything. Mind games were just his specialty. Odion laughed. “I swear, I’ve done this trick a hundred times and you’re the only person who’s complicated it.” He sighed, glad Lani got the hint and finally look at the card. Lani was concentrating so hard, he looked like he would crap himself. “Good job Lani, just two more cards,” he said, holding out the pile in a fan for Lani, talking to the blonde like he was a two year old.

Sure, Odion could use his powers, but they had agreed not to. Getting the one up on this would be so much sweeter. Their waitress came with their food as soon as the trick was over. “Anything else I can get for you two?” She asked, looking from Lani to Odion and keeping her eyes on the ginger. Odion just gulped, giving her a sheepish smile. This might not end well. After she left, Odi glanced at Lani, before looking back at his food. To anyone else it would be harmless, delicious even. However, as his eyes hovered over the French fries (that weren’t French at all) and the simple hamburger, Odion wondered if he could do this at all. “You first,” he said, a worried expression on his face. He had to see someone else eat this food before he could.

[Lani Hunter]

Really Lani liked Odion too much to call it quits. And he doubted that he would ever becoming boring. The fun was only beginning as he thought more about whether or not he would tell Adrianna and Odion the real story. Maybe he would leave the mob boss out of the version he told Adrianna. Odion might actually be able to help. After he was done being angry with him that is. Lani grinned enthusiastic about this as much as Odion was. “What if I catch you before I learn any lessons?” He asked with a sly cocky smile on his face. Odion was too cute playing shy like that. Mostly because Lani had a bad habit of assuming that the redhead was planning something. Lani huffed and cross his arms. Odion really wasn’t letting up on this. He fought down the urge to swat Odion for that comment. “Shush you,” he finally was able to get out in an annoyed huff. Odion really wasn’t playing fair anymore, well… not that the redhead ever did.

Lani looked to Odion and stopped himself from asking what he was thinking again. He had gotten burned on that one and he had learned his lesson. He was very childlike in that aspect. He didn’t believe it when someone said the stove was hot, he had to check and make sure. Only this time someone had said he didn’t want to know but he had to make sure he didn’t want to know, but consequently that meant that he now in fact knew what he now realized he didn’t want to know in the first place. Either way Lani had a small clue that from all the flirting that there might be something there but he refused to let himself see it as it really was. And so hearing the truth from Odion would probably freak him out. It really was easier to think about things as theories than as facts. Because theories could be wrong.

But theories were based on fact weren’t they? And laws, came from theories. It really would be easier for Lani if this was all science, or a math problem. Those he could do. These feelings that didn’t even have definitions were scary and so he avoided them. Perhaps he could talk to someone about it. Not his parents though, certainly not his sister or Adrianna. And not Odion either. That left… well very few options. Many of he didn’t want to open that door to a personal relationship with. So Lani was stuck on his own. Maybe he could lump that in with his power meditation. After all, if what Odion had said was true about him being his power perhaps looking at his power would give him the answers. But really he was still having a hard time believing that this strange occupation in his mind wasn’t a separate entity.

Lani’s face cracked into a smile as he realized he was at least on the right track. “That’s an unsettling thought,” he replied thinking of a roller coaster flying on the tracks and going every which way erratically. “You can see things from other perspectives? Like from how I would see you right now?” He asked making a connection. “Are you ever just a viewer or if you did that would you be physically here? Two Odions?” Lani was more than interested because this was something he really couldn’t understand. Odion was the expert here, it wasn’t like he could find a book for stuff like this. Lani nodded a little his thoughts still whirring. “But it’s a physical property right? But it’s not physical. It affects things but no one can go find time and kill it. So how is it you are able to touch it to change it?” He asked his brain pushing himself a little further than he was probably able to comprehend. “I don’t know,” Lani said, “But I’m sure I’ve changed for the better.” He smiled a little absently; he really couldn’t describe the changes in himself. “Have you learned anything from me?” He asked wondering if Odion was going to avoid this question to. Lani simply smile, Odion didn’t know that Lani would hold him to that.

Odion defended himself rather quickly on that one and Lani caught up on it. “Oh really? Is that so?” Lani blinked and looked down at his hand and removed it quickly and stuck it behind his back where it clasped with his other hand. “I’m not touching my face,” he answered feinting ignorance. He smiled a little knowing that was really only a joke but hopefully Odion would ignore it. Lani laughed a little. “But is it really the same if every time they realize you’re gone they don’t swear because they didn’t stop them. It’s really the least I can do, for all they’ve done for me,” he drawled sarcastically.

Lani laughed. “Well good, because I highly doubt we do the same thing.” It really was too true. Where Odion was bold Lani was hesitant and where Lani was planning Odion was risky. If they had two hesitant planners then the really would never get anywhere. Lani considered his answer the decided on, “No, no, and yes.” He didn’t give anymore explanation than that. He really didn’t want to go into how Hammel had taken him away from everything he had ever known. Everyone he loved, his family. Caroline. Caroline had now had to go to the doctor without him. She had called him crying the first few times, but now he just got updates. Even she was growing up without him. Lani crossed his arms with a huff. Odion was being very evasive today. “That’s not much of an answer,” Lani informed him, “It’s like someone asking if you like the color blue or green and you say ‘eh whatever’.” Lani had made his point and now he was waiting for Odion to either answer or counter him.

Odion had a point there. Honestly Lani didn’t think there was much hope for Odion liking girls. “Well you really seem to be right at home here. All you need is to be attracted to women and you’ll have a girlfriend in minutes.” Odion was really good. There was a reason he was Prince Charming and not Lani. Lani swallowed some more alcohol and felt the rush through his blood and set it down. He realized he was drinking more slowly than Odion was but it really didn’t matter. Lani frowned his eyes going soft and he shrugged it off wondering if he really had upset Odion. Lani took another sip and waved his bottle at Odion. “Hey, think of it this way, at least you don’t have to worry about someone stealing it.” He was testing the waters, that was neither a complement not a jab but kind of in the middle. He didn’t think he dodged the bullet yet though. A smile raced across his face as Odion said his name. It was a strange phrase to hear though. Usually it was ‘is’ not ‘needs’. But he nodded truly grateful. “That would be much obliged. Yeah I really don’t get it. It’s hot and sandy and just not pleasant.”

Lani shrugged. “I’m glad you think so,” he said with a sly smile. He realized that this might be a point where Odion would get his revenge. But not here in the restaurant. Oh dear… what had he done. Odion had probably been planning on Lani worrying about this all day. “What?” Lani cried indignantly. Odion did the trick a million times but no one ever told Lani how to do it. “I just figured that I shouldn’t be so simple.” He gave him a sideways look and finished off his beer. Lani gave Odion an annoyed look, he really knew just how to get under his skin. He held the Queen of Hearts for a moment and then using two fingers he tossed it at Odion his power catching it and keeping it invisible but making sure it hit Odion in the chest and came back to Lani’s hand like a boomerang. So Lani finally put the Queen back and pulled two more, the Four of Diamonds and the Ten of Clubs. He replaced them at random and sat back. “Alright, let’s see this.”

The food soon arrived and Lani had little time to be impressed with the trick because now his eyes were twinkling because it was his turn to be the trickster. Lani thanked the woman and she went away with a little huff of disappointment that she didn’t get more attention from Odion. Lani laughed behind his hand at Odion’s face. It was like someone had placed down rat poison in front of him. “Smile,” he said while Odion was looking down and there was a flash right after he said it and he quickly pulled his phone back. It wasn’t like he was going to post it online or anything Lani just wanted to cherish the memories. Lani was already chewing on a fry when Odion declared him first. “Relax and take a few risks,” Lani said picking up his burger and taking a bite. It was hot and juicy. Delicious and just the right mix of everything. Good old Hugo. He pulled away chewing and grinning like loon. He swallowed and downed some water wiping his mouth with a napkin. “See, still alive.”

[Odion Martins]

Telling Odion the whole story might not be as fun as Lani thought it would be. Depending on what mood Odi was in, it could go either way. Things could’ve been different had Lani let Odion in a little sooner. Odion didn’t want to call a quits, but he would if he needed to. Odion smirked. “I’m the one who caught up to you, remember?” He asked. “I can replay the memory if you’d like.” Odion loved seeing Lani annoyed, knowing that he was the cause for the disturbance. And truthfully, Odi never played fair. If he had the right cards he would play them, and what was fair for him wouldn’t always be fair for others. “It’s adorable, really,” he nodded his affirmation. His lips twitched into a smile that wasn’t leaving any time soon.

Did Lani have to check and make sure the stove was hot every time? He shouldn’t ask questions if he didn’t want the answers. Lani was a knowledge junkie, so why was he avoiding himself? It frustrated Odion, because it felt like he was losing out on something big, something that he wanted. But it wasn’t completely selfish, because it seemed like Lani was interested as well. The only thing stopping Odion, was that he respected Lani. Time would tell how long that would hold Odion back. Maybe he should sneak a peek into the future.

Math was definitely not a strong suit for Odion. He based everything on experience and instinct, and though feelings could be dangerous, they were rarely wrong. Lani was just afraid of them.

“Yes. I could even do that,” he said, wondering if Lani was starting to get it. Odion could easily put himself in the blonde’s shoes when he reviewed the memory. And he often did. “I’m just a viewer, I don’t want to know what would happen if I met myself in the past. But that’s a different, uh, field, if you will. There’s the viewing field,” Odion put his hands to the left, “and there’s the manipulating field,” his hands went to the right, “where I can intervene if I want to, I just don’t know if that’s a good idea in a the long run.” Like when Rhett had left, Odion had gone back in time to see if something had gone wrong that he could have prevented. “But messing with one thing causes other things not to happen, or happen differently, and then it’s a mess.” And Odion didn’t ever want to be responsible. For anything, ever. “When I’m travelling, I’m not in present.” At least that was a simple answer. He had never spoken this much before in one sitting. Odion shrugged. “Hell if I know, I just use it to my advantage.” He was being honest here. He had no idea how his power worked, nor did he care. Maybe that’s why it just worked for him. He didn’t second guess himself. He smiled brightly at Lani. That was the last thing he expected to hear, that he had been a good influence. Of course Lani had taught Odion about caring, and bravery, but Odi wasn’t ready to share that. “Maybe,” he said, a sheepish smile crossing his face. No, he refused to have a moment with Lani.

It was really too bad that neither could see just how childish they were acting. Odion would find the whole exchange rather amusing later on. “Yes you were!” He said incredulously. “Me being naked bothers you.” He stated, putting the spotlight back on Lani. He was leeching himself onto the blonde and not letting go.

No further explanation was needed. Their circumstances were completely opposite. Odion had willing come here while Lani was forced to attend. Odion hadn’t been aware of that. He knew that Lani’s family was in Boston, but lots of kids did that. He had no idea that it bothered Lani that much. But something had hit a nerve, and Odion could tell that much at least. Especially with the short answers Lani was giving. If it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about, why bring it up? To see how Odion felt? It really couldn’t be that simple. Odion shrugged. “You just don’t like that I’m not challenging you like I usually do,” he said, seeing if Lani would catch onto his tricks again. Odion was trying to segue into something else to discuss.

Odion scoffed, and then chuckled. “Never really wanted a girlfriend before,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “and probably never will.” At least Lani didn’t have to worry about Odion trying to steal Adrianna or anything. No, Lani had bigger problems. Odion really was a charmer. He had even charmed his way into Alice Halifax’s little family. They had big dreams about taking over the world, and Odion had been curious to see where it went, though he had zero faith in the project. It was nice to have a makeshift family again, but it had fallen apart just like everything else in his life. Odion wasn’t much of a team player anyways. He smirked at Lani, “And just who’d be interested in taking my soul?” Odion didn’t miss that smile. He was curious now. Was Lani trying to plan something? And was he inviting Odi? So Lani didn’t like the beach because of the sand and the weather? Hmm. “And the water. Not really a fan.” Odion wasn’t lying, he was just indifferent about swimming, not terrified.

Lani loved every moment that Odion took to get under his skin, because even Lani knew that Odion wouldn’t waste his time trying to bother someone that wasn’t worth his time. Odion didn’t flinch as the card whipped at his chest, but he did smirk, his big blue eyes almost doe like. Once Lani was done being a child, Odion collected all the cards and shuffled them. He split the deck in half and shuffled them on the table in a normal fashion. And then he cut the deck again and flicked the card pile from one hand to the other, one card at a time. “And to think I can do this without powers,” he said, and Lani would’ve known if Odion stopped time now. Odion fanned the cards out on the table face down, except for three cards that remained face up in the middle of the fan. Queen of Hearts, Four of Diamonds, and Ten of Clubs. “Ta da,” he said, just a bit of singsong in his voice. Okay, he was pretty excited about the trick. He didn’t think it would work with more than one card... Of course, he was assuming these were the cards Lani chose.

Odion looked from his food and up at Lani just in time. Forever in a photograph would be Odion, sitting in a shitty restaurant, with his hands on a dirty table, and on that table was a plate full of so called food. He wasn’t smiling a lot, just a little. A little worried smile. Great, that’s exactly how he wanted Lani to see him. If he had known Lani was going to be an ass, he would’ve quickly put one of his masks on. “I hate you,” he said, giving Lani a good, swift kick under the table. Odion could care less if the picture went online, it was who had it at this very moment that bothered him. And he wasn’t sure why. There really weren’t a lot of picture of Odion in the world. Maybe Odion simply didn’t want to think this was special, instead of just normal. He scowled at the blonde. “Take your own advice,” he grumbled, picking up the burger like Lani had. He took a very hesitant, very girly bite. “It’s not bad,” he admitted, but that’s all it was. “I still don’t understand what all the fuss is about,” he said, putting the hunk of meat back down on his plate. It just, didn’t appeal to him.

The waitress came back with a receipt, not a bill, and put it on the table face down. Her name and number were written on the back and Odion smiled devilishly, a single eyebrow raised at Lani. The waitress clearly took this the wrong way as she headed back to the kitchen with a silly grin on her face. She wasn’t being bet on, she was the butt of a joke. But the real joke was on Lani. Odion didn’t even pretend to reach for his wallet. Instead, he nibbled on a fry, finding it mushy and distasteful. Odi was watching Lani like a hawk, just waiting.

[Lani Hunter]

Well that bridge would be crossed when they came to it. And unfortunately bridges also had the possibility of being burned. Good thing he was a telekinetic and didn’t need the bridge. Well at least with Odion’s help hopefully he wouldn’t. “No, no,” Lani laughed, “I remember.” It really was funny how things had changed between them. After he had first met Odion and then had the misfortune of running into him on the rooftops he had been paranoid and jumpy expecting him not to keep his promise. But then he had. And Lani found him in the hallway that faithful night and well Lani wasn’t really sure how they had gone from rivals to friends but it had happened and he was glad for it. Lani’s eyebrows jumped and he threw his arms in the air in exasperation with a “Bah!” Odion couldn’t know that Adrianna also called him adorable. All the time. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it; it just wasn’t the word he would use for himself. But then again he was bias of his own self image.

Unfortunately Lani was a tough learner. He had learned the stove pretty quickly, but there were lots of other dangerous things to test. Though the one thing he had not learned well was when not to ask questions. His mother had had quite the time with him and it was just because of that that she waited so long to have Caroline. They were too busy making sure that Lani survived his curiosity. His mother afterwards would describe him as the most stubborn three year old ever. But he had as he had gotten older backed away from looking inward and focused on others to keep his curiosity satisfied. Odion would probably laugh at some of the stories his mother could tell about him. No, Lani had not been a normal child. These thoughts had Lani smiling but he didn’t want to bring them up, because Odion couldn’t share in his joy. It was starting to seem that at any talk of family Odion closed up. He knew that if Odion had the chance to visit him Lani’s family would welcome him into their embrace without a thought. Well at least his mother and sister, his father was a little iffy but hey he hadn’t kicked Lani out yet so there was still a part of him that loved his son. So maybe he wouldn’t be opposed to his friend.

Lani nodded a little trying to wrap his brain around what was being fed to it. Lani started to ask another question but Odion was still explaining himself, best to wait and see if his questions were answered. Fields, he could think of them as fields. Lani chewed the inside of his lip as he considered this. He hummed as he thought and scratched his chin. That really could be bad, if things turned out extremely different. Really for all he knew going back and changing something could completely alter the future. “Have you ever seen Back to the Future?” Lani asked suddenly because that old movie was really all he could think of to compare that too. He held up a hand, “So wait, you can view things, ghost like, or you can be physically there. Can you change halfway through or do you have to decide when you begin? What about the people you bring with you? Are they in the same field as you or are they stuck in one or the other?” Yes, Lani was playing twenty questions. He smiled at Odion, clearly Lani was going to have to work if he wanted Odion to think philosophically. Although, part of him thought that might be creating a monster. A philosophical Odion that was good at mind games might be a little too much for him to handle. Lani smiled knowingly at Odion, he had learned something from him and that was enough knowledge for him to let the evasive answer slide.

Unable to admit that he was bothered by the thought of Odion naked Lani ignored the truth of the matter and retorted with, “No I wasn’t.” Childish, he knew, but he was going with that before he admitted to being bothered. Lani’s eyes flashed as Odion tossed the spotlight back to him. Well two could play at this game. With his face growing hot he tossed the spotlight back. “I think it bothers you to think that I’m bothered by you being naked.” Lani countered. It was really all the defense he had now. After all it was clear to see Lani was bothered by it but if he could make it uncomfortable for Odion perhaps the redhead would stop talking about it.

Apparently Odion was not going to answer him. Well that was fine, he couldn’t force the redhead into answering him. As much as he wanted to force him, he could tie Odion up and tickle his feet until he answered but he could never make his lips move in an answer. Lani raised a brow and shifted a little defensively. “I just don’t see why it’s such a hard question,” he countered ignoring the real meat of the statement. So maybe he didn’t like that Odion was giving up so easily but he wanted to learn more about the redhead and he couldn’t do it by spying so he needed to ask questions. The point could be that Odion was really indifferent about being here. But then he might be like Lani, hating it here, but loving the people he had met.

Lani shared in his laughter, Odion probably had given woman a chance at least once, if he was sure that he would never want a girlfriend. Lani was honestly jealous, he wished things were that clear cut for him. He wished he could think of Odion only as a friend while he thought of Adrianna as his girlfriend, or visa versa. But both, that didn’t even seem fair. He smiled at Odion and looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before answering. “Oh plenty of people,” he said, “Demons, lawyers, other redheads.” He gestured randomly with his hand as he listed them off. Lani nodded a little at the comment about the water but he was careful his expression didn’t give anything away. He really didn’t know he hadn’t gone into the water in years. “Yeah, who knows what’s living in there.” Lani’s smile was careful but not guarded. It made sense that things in the water would scare someone, but that didn’t explain why Lani didn’t go to the pool, but for his purposes at the moment it could be left at that.

Lani couldn’t help leaning forward and watching the trick as Odion performed it. He watched those hands shuffle the deck trying to keep an eye on where his cards would be. He was tempted to feel them with his power to see how the trick worked but he refrained. Odion was smiling, he was so happy it was clear that he loved showing off his card tricks. Lani should have asked to see them earlier. Lani’s jaw dropped open as his three cards appeared. He really couldn’t believe it when he saw it so of course he asked, “How did you do that?!” He poked the cards as if they were some sort of illusion. “Wow, that is impressive,” he said not hiding his enthusiasm very well. The only way he could do that would be if he used his power.

The picture was the greatest Lani wanted to keep it forever. Candid photos were the best of pictures. He had just enough of a smile to show that he had no idea Lani was taking the picture and the distrust for the food in front of him was written all over his face. “Ow!” Lani exclaimed his body pitching forward as his shin smarted from the kick. He couldn’t stop laughing though. “But it’s such a cute picture!” Lani told him through his giggles. “Look,” he said flashing it at Odion for a moment before pulling his phone back toward his chest and safely out of arms reach of the redhead. Lani was in too good of a mood right now to be bothered by the comment. It was true he should probably take his own advice but at the moment Odion was about to take his first bite ever of a burger and Lani was watching carefully making sure he actually took a bite. He munched on his fried as he waited dipping them in ketchup. Though Lani stopped moving momentarily to watch Odion as if any sudden movements would stop the redhead from eating it. Lani chuckled at the bite he had taken. It looked like a mouse nibbled on it. Lani let out a little ‘ha’ of triumph. That was enough of a victory for him. “Really? That’s too bad,” he said with a frown, “But then again you haven’t tried my burgers yet,” he pointed out.

He had gotten about halfway through his burger when the waitress came with a receipt. At first Lani set the burger aside to laugh at Odion because her number was on the back but then his brain caught up with him and like a viper he snatched it from the table. He quickly scanned it making his way to the bottom where he found the print out of the amount paid and the tip and the tax and then the amount of change coming out to zero. Lani froze really unable to think of what he should do. But finally he looked up at Odion his eyes sharp. “Odion… you didn’t…” He looked back down at it. Who else? He had to admit he was flattered but at the same time a little unsettled. It was strange to have someone pay for his meal. He really couldn’t figure out how to feet. “Thank you,” he finally said looking back down at the paper in his hand. “But you didn’t have to do that.” He looked back up at Odion confusion written all over his face then it changed to determination and he reached for his wallet. “Let me pay you back.” He said handing over a wad of cash that equaled half of the bill.

[Odion Martins]

If Odion knew what Lani was thinking behind that smile, he would’ve fought to meet Lani’s family. Not that he didn’t want to, he was just afraid of the aftermath. It was something he couldn’t face and would run from. Odion laughed at Lani’s reaction to being called adorable. Lani would know more about himself the more he got to know Odion. It was a two way street or nothing at all.

“Back to the Future?” No, clearly Odion had not seen that. He was about to say so when Lani held up his hand. “I can change it,” he said, his mind going back to Rhett once more. He had been quite close to doing just that. It was why he was so impulsive in the present, because in the past, he had to think about what was a good idea, and what wasn’t. He had never brought anyone else with him before until he met Lani. “I don’t know, you’re the first person I’ve brought with me.” There, now Lani knew just how clueless Odion was. He assumed that if he went back with the intention of viewing only, then the person he brought with him couldn’t change anything. But if he was the one with the powers, could the second party change anything? “Why are you so interested in knowing?” He asked with skepticism. Was he meant to be flattered? Is this what friends did? Or was Lani wasn’t going to come back and use this against Odion, was he? Odi gulped at the thought.

“Shall we go back in time? Hmm? Because you did.” Oh, Odion was pushing buttons now. You just never knew what someone was willing to do to prove a point. Even if that point was trivial and probably very stupid. At this point in time, it seemed very important to the ginger. “And I think that you being bothered by my being bothered by you being bothered mean you like me.” Odion’s face broke into a grin, before he laughed a little and stared at the ceiling. Spotlight back on Lani. You like him, just admit it, he thought to himself. Though admitting that to Lani wasn’t in the cards right now.

Odion’s jaw stiffened as Lani continued to poke at the question. “I came here to be with someone Lani, and in case you haven’t noticed, they’re gone.” Lani could be really dense sometimes. “So to answer your question, which I don’t understand why you want to know so badly, is no, I don’t like it here.” Odion had snapped just a wee bit, but Lani would shut up now because he got his precious information instead of letting Odion carry his own burdens. But Lani already knew about Rhett. Did he know that was the only reason why Odion was here to begin with? That’s what made it a hard question. When one’s life didn’t have a lot of meaning, you sought out what you did know. Or at least, what you thought you did. What he loved about being here, had up and left with his heart. Happy now? Odion’s glare softened. He hadn’t freaked out on Lani in a while.

There had been a couple girls at Kocher who were interested in him, but he just didn’t connect with them romantically. He hadn’t kissed a girl in his life. He didn’t want to indulge something that would be a waste of time, for if he were to kiss a girl, it would be like kissing a wall. Odion smiled and laughed softly through his nose, the smile sticking. “What about redheaded lawyers inhabited by demons?” They both really knew how to go off on tangents. The topic about beaches died and Odi was a little disappointed, but tried not to show it. What had Lani been getting at?

“I’m not telling you,” Odion said, glad that Lani actually sounded impressed. And then he said he was impressed and Odi practically beamed. This was the one thing he had going for him that wasn’t power related and he liked to have some skills that were born into him. He knew a lot of cards tricks, could make them into castles, and was pretty damn good at poker, if he could be so humble. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said, collecting the cards and pocketing them as the waitress brought out their food and the fun began.

He didn’t care how endearing Lani was when he laughed, it wasn’t worth keeping such a stupid picture of himself. Odi glared at Lani. “I look mental!” Odion would have to nab Lani’s phone somehow. “I’m glad you think mental is cute...” he grumbled, still unhappy. Why did Lani have to tease him? And with pictures no less. Odion hated pictures. Now he was contemplating making a trip to Europe even more now. “I am not eating anything you make Lani, you’d probably try to poison me for good measure.” And the thought of Lani cooking for him, well, Lani probably wasn’t thinking about it the same way he was.

Snatching the receipt out of Lani’s hands, Odion tried not to smile too much at Lani’s reaction. It was priceless. He was glad to have that in his memory bank. “I told you I’d get you back,” he said, his eyes running over the girl’s number. Maybe he’d ask her out for drinks or something, tell it to her straight. That he wasn’t, well, straight. Odi looked back to Lani, who was only making this moment sweeter. Odion pushed away Lani’s outstretched hand with one of his, still munching on the fry with the other like he hadn’t a care in the world. Lani wasn’t taking this very well and it amused Odion a lot. “The thank you will suffice,” he said, going back to his food, intent on finishing his burger. He leaned forward a bit, smirking. “Told you I’d get her number,” he said, before taking another bite. If anyone, it’d be Odion who could teach Lani a thing or two. "This gets better as you go I think..." He said, still unimpressed, but not completely disgusted.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was getting excited about Odion possibly coming to rescue him from the annual Hunter family beach vacation. Just the possibility that he might meet his family was wonderful. Inevitable his mother would try to guilt him into going but he was sure that the verification that Odion didn’t like the beach either would keep her at bay long enough to give them an escape. Adrianna would hopefully also join him in Boston sometime. He hadn’t breached the subject with her yet because he knew it would be expensive to fly from California to Boston and besides with her mother’s illness chances were she’d want to spend as much time as she could with her mother.

He nodded, “Yeah, it’s an old movie about a guy that time travels,” he said and then smiled, “Well he does it with a Delorean, but I think you would like it.” Lani nodded a little his eyes focused on Odion as he spoke. Lani’s brow raised and he was slightly flattered. So he was the first Odion had taken with him, for some reason it made him strangely glad it was him and not Rhett. “Really?” He couldn’t think of anything else to say to that. Lani shrugged and shook his head. “Just curious,” he said, “After all, the more I know about your power and the more you know about mine the easier it will be for us to work together.” He actually wasn’t sure what knowing about the power would do for him but if Odion needed a reason for Lani’s questions he had one. Would it really matter if Lani knew how Odion’s power worked? Probably not. But curious Lani couldn’t let it go. He liked to believe if Odion asked questions about his power that he would answer them as best he could. It really was only fair. His power could send Odion flying. Though the fact that it hadn’t yet was a very, very good sign.

Lani’s stomach twisted at the thought of time travel and he gave Odion a sour look. “No thank you,” he said, “I know what I was doing and I was not touching my face. Besides how do you know if I bit my cheek or had an itch or something?” He countered having finally found a relatively logical counterargument. Lani had to admit that he had a hard time following that and couldn’t duck so easily out of the spotlight as Odion tossed it back. “But if I’m being bothered by you being bothered by me being bothered about you being naked then the fact that we’re arguing about this means that it bothers you that I’m bothered and therefore if I like you than you must like me too,” he countered in one breath almost losing track of his circular reasoning there. Check. Spotlight swings to Odion.

Odion’s snap surprised Lani. He hadn’t been trying to dig that up, he wanted to know if he or anyone else here made it less miserable. Lani’s gaze fell when he realized he had crossed the line. He had pushed and pushed and Odion had snapped back at him. Lani’s lips became thin lines when he read between the lines. So Odion hadn’t gotten over Rhett, that was clear. Lani hadn’t expected that. But he had wanted Odion to have at least let the blond go if only a little. No Odion was still clinging to Rhett, his reason for happiness was gone. Lani wasn’t foolish enough to think that that was all there was too it. Surely he wasn’t just hanging out with Lani because he needed to fill the void. Lani finally risked a look up at Odion and met his glare with an expression of apology. He hadn’t meant to bring it up, well maybe he had. Odion had left everything to follow Rhett, that wasn’t something someone just let go of. If they did well, they weren’t human. Lani wanted to know how much of a hold Rhett still had. It was a large one.



Glad the conversation moved on Lani laughed. “Oh yes, especially those,” he agreed. He really didn’t know where the whole story of soulless redheads came from but he was glad he could use it. Lani was certain of one thing though, despite the jokes and the jabs Odion wasn’t soulless, not even close. No one without a soul would have taken those kittens in and then not murdered the busy blond who had failed in his promise to help out. He was going to need to step up his game. He could take the kittens this week, give then back Friday and take them against the week after and the weekend after that. He had a good deal in mind but he was pretty sure that Odion was going to flay him for asking him to take another weekend.

Lani pouted when he was denied information. He wasn’t going to let this go, the next time Odion did the trick he was going to feel it with his power and examine it closely with his eyes. Lani was blown away by the proud smile on Odion’s face. It wasn’t the one that he got when he beat someone at something but rather a smile that he had accomplished something and that was all the more beautiful. “Please,” Lani tried again giving Odion his puppy dog eyes. He was pretty sure that it wouldn’t work on this instance. But if he could pay Odion back for getting him bothered about nudity then that would be worth it.

Lani admired the picture again and giggled. “You do not look mental,” he protested and a sly smile formed on his face, “Maybe a little paranoid that it’s gonna move but not mental.” He had to admit that Odion was cute like that. Odion was scary when he was really angry but he was just adorable when he had to get out that snide comment under his breath. But Lani shouldn’t be thinking things like that. He shook his head and simply laughed. Lani teased him because Odion teased the blond. Simple as that. Lani had gotten control of himself again when Odion talked about him poisoning him. That set him off all over again. His eyes went shifty and his impish smile swallowed his face making him look altogether untrustworthy. “Who me?” he asked innocently, “Besides why would I want to poison you? You’re far too much fun.” He bit into a fry as if he were making his point.

Odion had gotten him back that was for sure. In a way completely unexpected and Lani could only stare as his jaw dropped. He was stunned silent for a moment and it took him a while to recover. “Y-you cheated,” he accused in disbelief. He sat there for a minute slowly shaking his head and holding an invisible receipt. “But,” he protested as his hand was pushed away. He pushed it back at Odion. “Take the money, Odion.” He apparently wasn’t going to make headway and he was resolved that if Odion didn’t take it now he would find it later. He rolled his eyes and snorted a laugh. “Such a ladies’ man,” he teased. Then his smile grew, “You see? Who was right?” He asked gesturing at himself.

Well now he needed to talk to Odion about the cats but they had been having such a good day he didn’t want to start an argument. Maybe he could leave it off for a little longer. But no, he really should do it now while Odion was with him and maybe he could see that Lani was really sorry about this. “Hey,” he began whipping his hands on his jeans, “So I have a huge favor to ask and please don’t be mad at me.” He was putting that out there at the start. He waited watching Odion to see if he would ready himself to be angry for that or if he would brace himself to just be disappointed. Yeah Lani really was falling short on his side of the deal. Well hopefully after this summer things would be better.

[Odion Martins]

Odion looked at Lani with surprise. Did the telekinetic really think Odi was that dimwitted? He could guess from the title what the movie was about, and even if the title had no clue as to what the movie was about, Odi could assume it was about what they were talking about. “Alright,” Odion said, feeling offended for no particular reason. He would find the movie online sometime, if he felt like it. “Yes really, why would I lie about that?” He asked gruffly. Odion usually didn’t make himself look like a fool on purpose unless it was to his advantage, but clearly Lani had the advantage here. But why was Lani so surprised by this? Odion wasn’t going to bring just anyone with him. Maybe it was because Lani had been so unsure of how Odi would react to his powers, and Odi hadn’t even questioned sharing his with Lani. Or maybe, and Odion wasn’t completely sure on this one, Lani was surprised to be Odi’s first time travelling companion. Odion blushed a bit at the thought. Why hadn’t he thought about that before he said what he did? “Okay,” Odion said, feeling tongue tied at the moment. Why did Lani do that to him so well and so often? Odion decided that Lani questioned his own powers a lot. They could learn from each other. Odion could teach Lani how to trust his power and Lani could help Odion see all the possibilities. It was a win-win situation that made Odi smile.

“Because,” Odion practically spat, his accent strong and heavy, “it’s written all over your eyes Lani.” He was embarrassed, he was fidgety. There was something between them and it was pissing Odion off that he couldn’t embrace it and see what it was. The only reason he pushed those thoughts away, was because Lani did. Lani could play masks with Odion all day and Odi could tell which was which and what was really behind them, because no matter what, Lani’s eyes, those beautiful grey pools, gave him away. And it wasn’t helping Lani to let Odion in without thinking about masks because Odi was getting better and telling lies from truth, and he could tell Lani was bluffing. Who knew that such a silly lie would get them into so much trouble. “Well I don’t sleep naked, so you don’t have to worry about it,” he said with a huff, instead of saying what he really wanted to say. The spotlight faded into the nothingness that was Odion’s heart. But one thing had been realized. Lani, in a lot of words and twists and turns, had admitted he liked Odion. Checkmate.

Odion looked away. He really hadn’t meant to snap, the soft look in his eyes said so. Maybe he was just as bad as Rhett... That thought made him angry and sad all at once. If Lani had simply asked Odion, ‘hey, do I make your life here a little better?’ Odion would have said a thousand times yes. But Odi just hadn’t realized that until it was too late, until he saw how torn up Lani was over his outburst. Lani just didn’t understand, and that was Odion’s fault for not explaining totally. And if there was one thing Odion wanted more than Rhett not having left, it was the desire to be better than Rhett. “I just...” He looked back up at Lani, clearly kicking himself for being so on edge. “He was the only reason I came here to begin with.” It was hard to find something to be happy about now. He had overcome a lot of his own self doubt, his fear of flying, to be with someone that didn’t give a damn about him. Odion blinked hard. “I flew over the goddamn ocean for him...” Odion added softly. Odion was committed, loyal, and maybe too resilient for his own good. He was a cockroach, a leech, and he resented every day spent here, not because of what he had now, but for why he came here to begin with.

“Don’t give me that face,” Odion warned, pointing at Lani like the puppy dog he was pretending to be. Lani sure was precious when he made that face, and those eyes... No, Odi was not going to fall for that. “I’m not telling you and that’s that.” He said, but he was grinning from ear to ear. Maybe he’d show Lani how to do the trick some day, but the cat wasn’t out of the bag just yet.

Why was Lani looking at the picture so much? Odion started to feel a little self-conscious and fidgeted in his seat. Odion rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. “You are not keeping that picture. Mark my words.” If Lani was going to keep it, he had better make a lot of copies of it and put them in different places, and even then, they still wouldn’t be safe from Odion’s prying eyes. Lani had to remember that Odion could see everything that Lani would do with that picture better than any video surveillance camera. “Shuddup already Lawni,” Odion drawled, although a tiny smirk of his own found purchase on his face. It was like he automatically smiled whenever Lani laughed, and Odion was telling him to stop that. “Oh, so I’m cute and fun am I?” He smirked at Lani’s devilish smile, ready to wipe it clean off his pretty little face. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were hitting on me.” Hopefully that would do the trick.

Odion gave a pretend unimpressed look to Lani. “No I didn’t, you’re just mad I thought outside of the box,” he said, finishing the fry. Yes, it took him that long to finish one fry. “I’m a good enough sneak without my powers,” he added for good measure. They agreed on not cheating, and Odi was a man of his word. Hadn’t he proven that to Lani yet? Odion’s eyes grew a little darker. “No, shove it up your arse.” He said, pushing Lani’s hand away for a second time, hoping the comment would distract Lani enough that the blonde would give up trying to pay Odi back; it just wasn’t going to happen. He glanced at the burger, not even halfway done. Odion was about ready to give up on the bloody thing. “Well it’s not you, because the way you described these things before, I should be on cloud nine right now.” He smiled a bit. But going out in the first place wasn’t about the burgers, not really.

Odion watched Lani carefully. “Well that’s not a good way to start asking for a favour.” Really, Lani was quite terrible at asking people for favors. Although what he wanted from Odi was beyond the redhead’s mind reading capability. It would be kind of fun trying to guess what Lani wanted that Odi could give him. So, just because he felt like it, Odi froze time and looked at Lani carefully. Hmm, let’s see, it couldn’t be money, and it couldn’t be something too personal. It had to be something they both had a connection with that Lani couldn’t do on his own, and Odion knew that Lani knew that asking for his help with powers again certainly wouldn’t upset Odion. It must’ve been the cats. Lani was hinting so much at Boston before. Now Odi felt stupid. There he was, thinking that maybe Lani wanted him to visit when really he was just trying to tell him he couldn’t watch the cats, and was probably hoping Odi would read between the lines. Odion let himself be disappointed before returning time back to normal. His demeanour was exactly the same as before, and unless Lani had picked up on it, he wouldn’t be able to tell time had stopped at all. Odion picked at his food, eyes downcast, waiting to hear the bad news. Why was he always the fallback and never the first choice?

[Lani Hunter]

Lani smiled. That was a good movie, he really thought Odion would like it. He nodded a little, glad that Odion was willing to give it a chance. Lani couldn’t help but laugh when he asked Lani why he would lie. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he said around his chuckles. He had merely said it as an exclamation of his surprise. Odion was getting testy with him and that was probably partially because Lani was terrible at knowing when people followed his thought pattern and when he left them in the dust. “I just was surprised,” he explained. Lani liked it when Odion let things slip. Because he didn’t do it very often. Or at least not as often as Lani thought. Lani suppressed a sigh of relief glad that Odion didn’t challenge him on that. He had never gotten out of the habit of asking questions. He really was like a five year old who had to know everything about how everything worked all the time. But really it wasn’t all a lie, if he knew how Odion’s power worked maybe he could figure out how to fit his power in without it going on the defensive.

Lani’s eyes snapped away as his face grew red again. He was suddenly self conscious about what his eyes were saying about him. His eyes danced around the room determined to fall on anything but Odion but at the moment the redhead seemed to almost be occupying his vision. He shifted onto one foot taking on his deceptively relaxed stance though his muscles vibrated with nerves. He crossed his arms as if to defend himself from the truth and finally his eyes snapped back at Odion giving him a sullen glare. “Huh,” Lani grunted in response and Lani knew he had lost this battle. His king had been trapped and fallen and now he was backed into a corner. What was worse, was that he hadn’t had to say all that much. Odion had just known it. Was he really so obvious. But also, why was Odion so frustrated with him for fighting him with that. So what if Lani didn’t want to accept that wasn’t straight. That wasn’t Odion’s battle. And there Lani went again, decreeing his problems his own. They were things he could fix on his own, but how wrong was and how wrong he was continuing to be.

Odion’s soft blue eyes connected with Lani’s and Lani blew a breath of relief. It was really strange how that look alone meant more than words bout have at the moment. For someone who was really blunt a lot of the time when he was trying to get someone to answer a question without having to answer it things really could get hairy because Lani was asking one thing but saying another. So Odion had answered the question he had heard and Lani had heard the answer to the question he was thinking. Not the same thing. So there was blame to be shared here. Lani’s brow raised as Odion’s eyes now took on a regretful look. Now Lani was confused, Odion shouldn’t be the one regretting his answer; it should be Lani for asking what he did. Lani’s eyes softened and he gave Odion an open look. One that showed his true face, if only for a moment. His mask closed over his face a moment later and he said something that he wasn’t sure would be received well or not. “They say that everything happens for a reason,” he said not willing to be completely honest and show his face fully, “Without Rhett leaving, you wouldn’t be here now. I would never have met you.” He said logically his expression guarded but the honesty slipping through though he willed it not to. “But that’s selfish,” he acknowledged, “I wish you never had to go through that.” So honesty was rewarded by honesty.

Lani’s expression dropped as he was scolded for it. He didn’t feel cowed, rather he was laughing. He mock huffed, “What, do you never reveal your secrets Mr. Magic Man?” Odion would keep his secrets from Lani if he willed and there was nothing Lani could do about it. Because really he wasn’t heartbroken about it and he figured if he got annoying enough Odion would eventually give in to shut him up.

Lani liked the picture so much because it was a memory and now he could relive it over and over again. Lani finally pocketed his phone and gave Odion a charming smile. “Oh, yes I am. And I wish you the best of luck with that,” he said raising his water in toast. Yeah he was baiting the redhead, but it really was hard not to when he was getting so flustered about a silly picture. What did Odion think he was going to do with the picture anyways? It wasn’t like he was going to hang it on his wall, it was probably just something he would keep to remind himself of the moment. In case his mental image of Odion’s expression at that moment in time got hazy. Lani guffawed in surprise and he grinned at Odion his eyebrows reaching toward his hairline. “Lawni? That’s a new one,” he teased. But Odion was again a step ahead. His smile ran away from his face and was replaced by a shocked speechless expression as he frantically tried to think of a way to talk his way out of this one. He cleared his throat. “Correction, poison sounds rather nice right now.” He nodded to himself unable to keep a chuckle down.

Again Lani was stuck speechless because of how right Odion was. He felt rather sheepish and he shook his head in disbelief at Odion. He crossed his arms and gave Odion a mock glare. “Oh really?” Lani heard himself saying as he was reminded of the challenge. Oh this would be fun. Lani loved using his hands for things. And poor Odion wasn’t prepared for what he had coming, for Lani’s hands had not grown idle while his power worked. He huffed and pulled his hand back. He pocketed the bills and his mind began to work the way only a thief’s could. The only real challenge here was that the was working against a fellow thief, who was no doubt better at hand work. “I’m right and you know it,” Lani protested unwilling to lose twice in a row, not so close together at least. “You will be, you see after this time you’ll start craving them. And once you try one of mine you’ll be on cloud nine and then some.” He nodded to himself and fought the desire to add that Odion should lie for the sake of Lani’s ego if it was his food.

Odion was right and Lani winced. “I know, I know, just hear me out.” The time pause was not noted, Lani hardly noticed a change in the dust. Had Lani known time had stopped he would have been far too in tune with time, and with the world actually. Telekinesis didn’t work like that. Odion could freeze time and go to the bathroom and come back and as long as he had not moved Lani would never know that the redhead had left at all. “I know it’s my turn to take the cats but I need you to take them for the weekend,” he said then hurriedly added, “Just this weekend. After that I should be free for the rest of the school year, I can make up for all the time I’ve skipped out on.” He promised intending to keep that promise though knowing it probably wouldn’t work out that way. He considered Odion for a moment. “You know if you’re going to come to Boston to rescue me this summer we’re going to have to figure out what to do with the cats.” He commented thoughtfully. He really did want Odion to come to Boston. To meet his family.

[Odion Martins]

He didn’t mean it like that, so then what did Lani mean by it? And why was Lani laughing? Odion gave a frown that was borderline pouting and decided to take Lani on his word. Odion was the first person to raise doubt and cast suspicious glances. It never occurred to him that maybe Lani was just a little caught off guard by Odi’s honesty, something he wasn’t very blunt with or open about. And there it was. Odion relaxed a little as Lani admitted to being surprised, and that was all. He smiled sheepishly, his head tilting to the side as though he were about to shrug and then decided against it. Now Odion wanted to know what that surprise had turned into. Was Lani weirded out at being the only person Odion had taken with him? And should Odion really be thinking about it so much?

It would be better for all of them if Lani kept his guard up. Or would it? At least when Lani wore his masks, he had Odion second guessing himself. Now they had stumbled into this state of being comfortable, Odi had to admit that maybe there were too comfortable. They were both thieves after all, and big shot liars. Would there ever be a moment of actual trust? Of truth without masks? Odion wasn’t sure, but he knew that deep down inside he was sticking around to find out if such a thing could be true. Odion knew Lani was just itching to get away from his gaze, but Odi wasn’t granting him that mercy. These two were never going to stop fighting. Odion’s eyes flicked all over Lani’s body, apparently relaxed, but once he landed back on his eyes, Lani was a goner. Lani’s sexuality may not have been Odion’s battle, but he had a bad habit of falling for the right person at the wrong time. He automatically made Lani’s problems, his problems, because it was the least he could do, and despite all that was running through his mind, they were still friends. Odion raised his head a little, surveying Lani. Nothing fruitful would come from this, other than Odi finally knowing how Lani felt. Could Lani trust Odi with that?

Odion hated being vulnerable like this, but it was the best way he could think of to say sorry. Why did everything Lani wanted to know about Odi have to be a loaded question? Even someone just asking Odi what his parents were like would have the ginger on a rampage. Just another reason to ignore people and stick to his hermit ways. Odion didn’t want to be mat at Lani, didn’t want to overreact like he just had. All of the bad things that had happened to Odi, none of them were Lani’s fault, and that’s why he felt bad for taking it out on his friend. People really did take those closest to them for granted. Odion did his best not to miss a moment of what Lani’s beautiful eyes were saying now, because they were so breathtakingly honest. Something flickered for a moment that made Odion feel totally at ease, a feeling he had never felt before. Odi could get used to that. Odion looked down, a small smile overcoming his features. Nothing could replace what Lani just said. Odion was definitely hearing Lani out: I’m glad you’re here, I’m glad I met you, and though I wish those bad things hadn’t happened, I’m thankful they did. Odi looked back up, a little hesitant to speak, but he did so anyways. It was strange, just talking without thinking, and still being sober. “I’m glad I’m here.”

“I’ve been told I am pretty magical,” he said, unable to resist the comeback, emphasis placed on the ‘pretty’. It had nothing to do with revealing magic tricks, but that didn’t seem to matter to Odi.

And that was the problem, Odion didn’t want Lani to relive this moment over and over again. He really was a hypocrite wasn’t he? Odi rolled his eyes, pointing to his head, where inlaid his brain. “I don’t need luck,” he said, staring at Lani with ‘I’m watching you’ eyes. Lani would be hard pressed to get away with this; Odion had a few more tricks up his sleeve than Lani was giving him credit for. The picture itself bothered Odi as it was, but what bothered him more was that Lani had a picture of him. Why did he want a picture of him anyway? It was all so suspicious. Odion decided not to say anything about his accent giving under the weight of Lani’s name. Odion laughed a little, shaking his head. Why was the thought of liking Odi so offensive to Lani? He didn’t have anything smart to say, though he did keep his eyes trained on the blonde.

“Really,” he said, nodding towards Lani as though he were presenting quite the argument. Odion knew that Lani liked being kept on his toes as much as Odi enjoyed watching him walk the tight rope. Odi was always changing the game. If either of them had come to rely solely on their powers for stealing, well, they probably wouldn’t respect each other as much as they did. Odion didn’t doubt Lani’s equal capabilities in this area. Odion was glad to see Lani finally cave. So the tornado did eventually let up. Odi shrugged, not trying to win or lose anything, he really just didn’t like the burger. “We have different tastes, that’s all.” Not everything was a battle meant to be won. “Oh, so you put drugs in them too?” Taking ‘cloud nine and then some’ to the extreme. Odion rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Poison and drugs, sounds like fun. I’m sure I’d like them then.” He was only teasing of course.

Odion was much better with his power than either he or Lani gave him credit for. The pause was totally flawless, and yet, to tell Lani that would only put the blonde on edge. That’s where the whole having trust thing would come in handy. Odi was more than capable of handling his own. In response to Lani’s words, Odion’s eyebrow twitched upwards. He was right. “Whatever,” he said, seeing where this whole thing with the cats was going. It was alright, Odion would try again to put his faith in Lani. It’s not like he had anything better to do than watch cats, right? Odion looked a little lost as Lani spoke again, his eyebrow furrowing in confusion. “You’re serious? Me?” Odi laughed a little, though from excitement or nerves he wasn’t sure. “Go to Boston?” He shook his head, pushing his plate off to the side and reaching for his water. “I don’t believe you.” Surely Lani was only teasing him. And if anyone should be going to Boston with him it should be Adrianna. Besides, Odi didn’t really want to visit Lani did he? Yes, he really did, he was just sort of hoping to surprise Lani with it. Now that he had an invitation, assuming it wasn’t false, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.

[Lani Hunter]

Odion over thought things so much. Sometimes a simple word was all it meant. Not some super secret ploy or trick. Sometimes words just mean what they were meant to mean. So maybe people like Lani and people like Odion didn’t always use words the way they were meant but then who did. Lani’s smile widened as Odion’s expression changed to one of someone a little embarrassed. It was really interesting that Odion had never taken Rhett before. So why Lani? Why trust someone he hardly knew with a trip to the past? Now perhaps it wouldn’t be so strange, but then when they had first traveled Lani had been an enemy very recently turned friend. Why trust him? After all he knew that Lani was lying to Adrianna and he had no way of knowing that anything Lani was saying was true. Now granted Lani wasn’t that great of a liar, but Odion didn’t know that, at least not right away.

Every time Lani’s eyes risked a glance up to see if Odion’s gaze had fallen but every time he was caught by those blue eyes and had to tear himself away. No Odion knew just how to get to Lani and how to get him to fidget. Lani wanted to keep his thoughts about Odion and his own sexuality to himself. There really wasn’t anyone he would talk to about this. Certainly not his parents and not Odion. Absolutely not Adrianna, she had already have one guy leave her after deciding he wasn’t straight. Maybe that was it, Lani wasn’t straight but he wasn’t completely not straight, right? Maybe he was a little of both? But how could someone be both straight and not. It was a contradiction.

Lani’s eyes were warm and he was glad to see that Odion was opening up. It was kind of nice to see the softer side of Odion. Odion was so often a strong person who was extremely independent but it was the moments when this softer side came out. It was strange how both had had their fair share of outburst but unlike normal times when Lani would have concluded with a list of sharp words and storming off something made him want to stay and explain himself or wait until Odion explained himself. Where they getting too close? Perhaps. It was dangerous. They were thieves both carrying baggage enough for two. There was no guarantee that they could help each other with their burdens but they were certainly going to try. Lani licked his lips as he waited for Odion to say something. He was praying for a gentle response but bracing himself for a tongue lashing. It was a terrible truth but what was done was done. Lani’s eyes brightened and his smile grew. He felt strangely like he had swallowed the sun. Like he was suddenly filled with too much energy. But he merely nodded in acknowledgement for there was nothing to say.

“Really?” Lani asked as if surprised, “And do people also tell you you’re pretty modest?” He gave Odion a sarcastic look. He was definitely not going to get the trick explained today but maybe if he just kept at it one day after another he would get his answer. He could even try to figure it out himself, though he was pretty sure that would be a sad way for him to spend his summer vacation. Lani raised his head making himself appear taller and took Odion’s look and matching him sending back a cocky, “Bring it on.” His expression showed clearly that he was setting out to be the better thief. He spread his hands inviting Odion to take his best shot. He was sure it would goad Odion into a quick offensive and that would be his downfall. But then again he was failing to thing that Odion wasn’t like normal people. Either way Odion was not going to get this picture. No way. Not while Lani was guarding it. Oh sure it would be easy for him to wait a little while and stop time but then they had agreed against powers.

Lani snorted like Odion didn’t know what he was talking about, but really Lani had no come back in the moment. Give him a few minutes, he’ll think of something. Lani was already testing scenarios in his head, getting the money into his pocket might be a problem, a real challenge. Odion will be expecting that. No it had to be something unexpected. A shoe maybe? No, that would take time and acrobatics that would give him away. There had to be something… Ah… Lani’s expression didn’t change but inside he counted his triumph as he figured out his plan. Yes, tornadoes had a tendency to let up and get rain wrapped but they were always lurking waiting for just the right moment. He shrugged, “True, I’m not sure I’d like some of that stuff you have other there.” Lani smiled and shook his head. “My cooking doesn’t need drugs to make it good,” he smirked. He really wasn’t as good as he was boasting. Sure he had a few skilled learned from his mother and father but he was no gourmet chef. Lani shook his head and a laugh drew from his lips. “You’ll like them.” He told Odion leaving no room for other opinions.

Lani knew that Odion wasn’t going to be happy that Lani was leaving him with the kittens again. But he would have then this week and the next after. Lani’s face stretched into a smile at Odion’s surprised expression. Obviously he had not been expecting that. But Lani had been dead serious about being rescued from the beach. After all he was going to be eighteen soon and he was done being dragged to that hell hole people strangely enjoyed. He couldn’t help laughing a little bit as he nodded. “Yes, I’m serious,” he told the redhead, “Why would I lie about that?” He tossed Odion’s words back at him, taking secret pleasure in the ability to do so for the first time. “I wasn’t kidding. Really it’s up to you,” he said with a shrug. He wasn’t going to drag Odion if he really didn’t want to come but he really didn’t want to go to the beach. Who knows if they would think to plan before Lani left for the great city. A lot of things could be said but actions would show through the most.

[Odion Martins]

Why Lani indeed.

Odion thought that Lani was too caught up trying not to hurt Adrianna, that he wasn’t learning about himself. If the fear of hurting her the same way she had been hurt before wasn’t an issue, would Lani still be as conflicted? Odi knew he could go back in time, intercept things in his favour, and let the cards fall into place, but doing something like that would also make him sick. This wasn’t his battle, and as much as he wanted to help, truly and honestly help and not manipulate in his favour, he knew the conversation was over before it even started. Lani didn’t trust him. Odion buried that hurt along with every other hurt where his heart was. Just another tick on the wall of his prison cell. Odion knew it was Lani’s personal battle, but Odi was still trying to interfere and therefore, took it personally as well.

Admittedly, Odion wasn’t good at explaining himself. He usually didn’t, because one, he didn’t trust people, and two, those he had come to trust just hurt him even more. It was either push people away and never be understood, or have people get close to you and end up being hurt. Everything about this was dangerous. Even just admitting to something small, like he was happy they had met, was enough ammunition to cause a lot of damage. They were getting really close, a risk Odion was taking one step at a time. He wanted more of that unbridled honesty, but knew that it came with having to do the same. And maybe, he was willing to take off his masks just for Lani. Odion knew he was hard to be around, he did it on purpose. Having others walking on eggshells made him a wild card. He wondered what being around him would be like if he were to let his guard down, because without his masks and mind games, he was pretty boring. Odion held onto Lani’s smile, and he would continue doing so for some time.

Odion shrugged in the restaurant. “It’s not my fault people give me ego boosts,” he smirked. Something about Lani’s sarcasm was so cute. Odion was more resilient than Lani thought. Odi’s tricks were his tricks. Odion was baffled by himself sometimes: he could take Lani back in time but couldn’t show him a simple card trick? There was something terribly wrong with him, and Odi had to smile at himself. “Oh I will,” he said confidently. Lani may have taken the picture, but Odion was going to take it right back. Why did Lani want to keep this picture so much anyways? Whatever the reason, Odion would have his day, he was sure of it. Odi wasn’t one to bring out the big guns, just sneak around and be gone before his target even knew what hit him. Odion would be sure to remind Lani who had paid for the bill without his knowing. Odion was a man of finesse, though also a man of many other things. Still, finesse was a better way to go about things. Odion had stolen Lani’s pills without powers, he could steal his phone as well. Odion smiled devilishly, planning out his next scheme on Lani.

Odion’s mind wasn’t on stealing anymore, he wasn’t planning on Lani getting back at him any time soon. After all, Odi paid only because Lani had him in a headlock after power training. This was Odi’s payback, Lani couldn’t payback a payback. Odion watched Lani in contemplation. And if Lani did get him back for a payback, this would turn into a never ending one up game. He really wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what it turned into. Now Odion was thinking about this, even though he decided he hadn’t wanted to before. He was excited to see what Lani could come up with, and at the same time, what he could do for Lani in return. So kind this thief is. Odion was off in his own little world as Lani talked about burgers and food in general. For the first time, Odi was having a space out, lose track of time moment right in front of Lani. Oh wonderful. His eyes were locked on Lani’s, and he blinked, looking completely lost. It took him one second to remember that it was lunch time, and he had bought Lani lunch.

No, Odion was not expecting that at all. Never would Odi anticipate being invited to go to Boston with Lani. He was planning on surprising Lani, yes, because he was a thief and a sneak. But this? This wasn’t normal for Odi. Lani was talking and Odion still wasn’t sure what to do with himself. And Lani was even using his own words against him – fast learner. Odion’s sip of water was taking far too long. He broke away from it and glanced at Lani, waiting for the blonde’s telltale smirk, the one that showed he was just doing this for show and not being serious. But he wasn’t kidding, and Odion fidgeted. “I uh...” he coughed, turning red in the face. He was really terrible at this. He just felt sort of pathetic. No one had ever invited him to do anything. Not like this. “I’ll go, since you need rescuing and all,” he said. He was trying to hide the smile that just wouldn’t quit, so instead of just smiling, Odion was sort of frowning, sort of grimacing, like his facial muscles didn’t know what to do.

“I’m going back to the school,” he said suddenly, on his feet rather quickly and heading out the door. First Lani wanted him to watch the cats, then go to Boston with him? It wasn’t that Odion didn’t want to go, he just felt like history was repeating itself. And he didn’t want to think of Lani as Rhett. It was insulting. Odi just hadn’t decided if Lani was worth his heart.

[Lani Hunter]

It wasn’t easy when there were two people who caught Lani’s heart. In different ways. Yes he was constantly thinking about how Adrianna was always being abandoned. He knew he couldn’t do that to her. Especially not while he had feelings for her. What made it complicated was that he was now ignoring feelings toward Odion. This really was a mess and Lani really couldn’t imagine it getting worse, poor Lani has no idea just how much of a mess it was going to be. But now that Odion knew that Lani was terrified and he reined in his masks and desperately sifted through them trying to find the right one. The one that was settled on was indifference. But, Lani worried about how much it helped. If his eyes gave it away. Odion was observant he probably had caught onto this long before Lani even knew himself. Well not that he hadn’t known but that he hadn’t allowed himself to think about it. Honesty was still lacking between the two but Lani was sure that he wasn’t ready to give all of that to Odion, and he assumed Odion felt the same.

Odion was a porcupine, but he could be soft if he let people get close enough without making them run away. Between normal people such things as admitting that they liked each other and that they were glad to have met one another would not have been an issue of trust. But that was what it always came back to for these two. Lani kept trying to tell himself that if Odion had wanted to he had enough bullets to ruin Lani. So the first question of why not was answered simply. That he cared. But the question of why he was taking the risk was unanswered. Odion had given him a lot already and he knew that if he had wanted to he could take Odion down. But he didn’t. Because he cared, but then again, why give him the chance. If Odion ever gave something over easily Lani would probably start to wonder what was wrong. Odion was never boring and hardly ever straightforward, unless of course he was trying to catch Lani off guard.

Lani raised a brow and shook his head smiling. “Careful you still have to fit through doors,” he teased. Not that Lani was any better. He had a huge ego and he knew that Odion just loved to pop his bubble. The little bubble he made his world. No Odion had to bring in logic and make Lani face himself. Lani raised a brow and smiled at him. “Alright, whatever you say,” he drawled obviously not believing Odion. He really had no doubt that if Odion wanted to he could take his phone and have it back in his pocket without him noticing. But Lani was keeping an eye on it now. It wouldn’t be so easy. Lani had to admit that he was excited about this new game they had started. It hadn’t meant to go this far but now that it had Lani couldn’t not continue on with it. And now it was war. Lani was ready for whatever Odion threw at him, though if he kept thinking outside of the box like with the check Lani didn’t stand a chance.

The telekinetic spoke as if he was the greatest chef in the world and he didn’t note how Odion’s eyes were starting to glaze over. It was only when he was finished speaking that he realized he had lost Odion altogether. He stopped and cocked his head at the redhead. Lani leaned forward a little hoping that some motion would knock Odion out of this. His brows came together with worry. Odion had never lost focus like this before. Was he sick, or getting sick? Lani’s mind started listing a million different reasons be they logical or completely irrational. Lani tried to lock his eyes onto those blue pools but they were unfocused. He blinked and his eyes came back and Lani held his breath waiting for Odion to say something. Anything. But he didn’t. He looked lost and Lani’s eyes searched Odion’s. His brow creased in worry and he reached out stopping his hand before it could get across the table to Odion. “Odion?” He asked hesitantly, “Are you alright?”

Lani wasn’t sure if Odion’s sudden silence was because of the moment he zoned out or because of his words. His brows rose and he shifted in his seat like he was balancing on a point. Odion turned red but Lani’s worry that he had said the wrong thing was strong enough to keep him from making a snide comment about it. He did like it when Odion blushed though. He didn’t let relief show on his face as he spoke. But it kind of seemed halfhearted followed by the grumpy look Odion was giving him. Lani backed up leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. He needed protection. “I mean, if you don’t want to come, you don’t have to,” he offered softly. He figured that would be the end of that. Way to make it awkward Lani. And then there it was. That abrupt exit. He blinked a few times looking after the redhead unaware of what had just happened. Without thinking about it Lani’s power grabbed Odion’s shoe as he exited sticking it to the ground to prevent forward motion.

“Wait,” Lani called and rushed after him. Lani was willing to chase after the people he cared about and follow them but by God when he could he would make them wait for him.