This Again (Lani.)

[Odion Martins]

Lani had never paid much attention to his heart. Or any of his other emotions really. At school he had never had time to ever ‘hang out’ with people as he was either catching up on sleep, stealing or doing homework. Yes, once upon a time Lani had cared about school. Because school was his ticket out. Then he got this power and everything became hopeless and he stopped caring about school and could never get himself to care again. The feeling was gone. But perhaps there had been people at his old school who he could have gotten together with but he had never had the time nor did he put forth the effort to have time. Not until he got to Hammel. Adrianna had been his first girlfriend and potentially old girlfriend, who knew. He was nervous about the idea of being bisexual or gay but how could he change who he was.

He wanted to know everything on Lani’s mind. If Odion could trade his power for any other, it would be the ability to read minds. It would’ve made things easier, clearer. Because no matter how many times Odion reviewed things, they still meant the same thing without some kind of insight. At the very least, it would’ve been nice to know that he was attractive to Lani, and not because he assumed he was. Odion wouldn’t mind going for drinks again soon. Hadn’t Lani said something about meeting a bartender? Odion hadn’t been paying very close attention when that had been mentioned, considering it involved meeting people. Odion didn’t like meeting people, because he either disliked them, or was too nervous to meet them in the first place. Odion wouldn’t mind answering forty questions, so long as they weren’t asked all at once.

Lani would thank Odion once he tried escargot – now that, would be something worth taking a picture of. Odion’s smile peaked at the riddle. He couldn’t figure out if he and Lani were the Aces, since there are always four of them to a deck, or if they were the Joker and the Queen. The Queen of Hearts had always been a bitch, especially in Hearts. It was worth the most points, but they were points no one wanted. They were just looking at things differently again, but Odion was going to take what Lani gave him, not what he wasn’t willing to give. He would have to show Lani his latest trick at dinner.

Laughing, Odion ran a hand over his face and looked past Lani. “I’m talking about life... You’re talking about heists, am I right?” Because he wasn’t willing to assume things anymore, especially around Lani. Odion wasn’t sure what he would do without Lani around to challenge him intellectually and make him question or confirm the things he knew. He probably would’ve been a lot less happy. Odion muffled his laughter, keeping his lips pressed tightly together. “Or, you could prevent it from happening in the first place,” he suggested, raising an eyebrow. They both knew how little, if ever, those painkillers actually worked. “You seem pretty worry free right now Lani, you’ll just have to remember why for later.” Odion focused on Lani and wondered if maybe it would be more beneficial to just say what he meant instead of speaking with pretty words. “It’s a choice, and it’s letting go.” Just like when Lani let Odion go, and low and behold, the redhead came back.

Odion had never really thought about how his power worked until he met Lani. Now he thought it was a lot like flying. Not something he really wanted to think about while it was happening if he could help it. He saw his power as an extension of himself, like extra long fingers to help him control time. It was a part of him, but it wasn’t the only part, so it was relatively easy to think of his real body as separate but the same. Maybe it was his philosophy overall which gave him such good, and seemingly easy control. However, that didn’t mean it was an easy power.

So, could Lani also throw his mind around like he did his powers? Could he be two places at once in some aspects? Odion was dying to know, the eagerness was written all over his face. Lani needed to let go of the what ifs and replace them with trying things out instead. This was, simply put, not something he could plan out. It was an integral part of him that needed to be explored, and it was high time he did. And then, it looked like someone had smacked Lani in the face. Odi’s eyes went wide, and he stepped forward to make sure Lani was alright. “Are you-” But Lani was asking the same thing. Odion stopped in his tracks. “Just a little challenged is all,” he insisted. The only thing in his eyes, was concern, especially when Lani reached for his beloved pill bottle. “How did it feel?” He asked again, taking up residence on the floor right beside Lani, his arms around his knees as he turned his head to watch his best friend. It was his favorite thing to do.

[Lani Hunter]

That was a dangerous request. He didn’t know how people who could read minds could stand it. They made him nervous on the best of days and panicked on the worst. There was so much in Lani’s mind that he didn’t want privy to other people. His secrets, they were tightly guarded but if someone could go into his mind and just retrieve them the chances of Lani being alight with that were slim. He also liked keeping Odion in the dark sometimes, just like the redhead liked to keep him in the dark as well. Speaking of surprises, Lani was planning on calling Diana sometimes in the near future to get that poetry slam going. He smiled a little he was excited to see what she looked like with hot pink hair. And he was working on figuring out how best to hide in red pants. Odion didn’t have to know about their crazy poetry slam plans.

Perhaps they were both Aces, or both had Aces in their corner. After all, if a thief gambled without a few aces up their sleeves what kind of thief were they? Odion smile reached his eyes and Lani gave a sly grin and his eyes flashed with a distinct ‘good luck’ expression. The riddle if solved properly would answer more questions than it asked. He and Adrianna were done. He loved her, but almost in the way he loved his sister. The feelings he had for Odion went so much deeper into the deck, so to speak. To find the rarest cards one either had to trust in the first card in the deck or risk exploration in the layers below. Lani observed Odion, perhaps he was much like the deck of cards he loved. He kept his head down as not to be noticed, and he seemed like an ordinary deck at the best of times but he was also full of tricks. Lani smiled a little. The catupine was a catupine of cards.

Lani nodded, it made sense now. Life was far different than a heist. One couldn’t plan for life, those were the plans that always got skewed and destroyed. He nodded again to validate Odion’s assumption. Sure painkillers weren’t the most effective especially when taken so often but sometimes actions became forces of habit. He couldn’t believe that there was a problem with what he was doing. He was in pain and he wanted it gone so why not? Lani tilted his head to the side and chewed on the inside of his cheek as he considered it. He wouldn’t prevent himself from worrying. It just happened. His mind started in on something and steadily the feeling grew and grew. Like the worry he had growing about how he hadn’t seen Caroline in a while. Was she alright? What if something happened and he didn’t know? What if someone was bullying her and she didn’t want to tell him? He blinked up at Odion and smiled, “Yeah I’ll have to,” he said and just took note of how he was hiding it. That skill could come in handy. His eyes narrowed and his brow creased. That didn’t make sense. “How is it a choice?” He never chose to worry he just did.

Lani couldn’t stop smiling at first. Odion was amazing. He had the ultimate power. No matter what anyone was doing at any moment in time Odion could stop it. That was something to boast about. Something far greater than anything Lani could do. If anyone was impressive it was Odion. His smile faded like an old t-shirt. It was a good thing to cause the tennis ball had been weaponized for a moment. How did that keep happening? Lani looked at Odion and found himself swelling with pride. It was no small feat to be able to control time and keep a sane mind but now to use his power kinetically. He was limitless. Lani was jealous to be honest. He didn’t want to have such a destructive power and as demonstrated it had more than the potential. Odion had opened a part of his power and Lani was sure there was more in there. So screw training being about one of them or the other. He wanted to know what their powers could do in tandem. It had worked so beautifully at the Halloween dance.

Lani wasn’t really sure what he could do anymore. Throwing his mind around, well that was essentially what telekinesis was, but he couldn’t leave his body. Even when he felt like he was gone from his body he was still there. Just a little detached. Lani looked up at Odion as he approached and their words overlapped. But Lani got his out first. Lani smiled and sighed in relief. He looked into Odion’s eyes and the concern there worried him but there was part of him that was thanking the universe that it wasn’t fear in his eyes. Lani shrugged to give himself a little bit of time to gather his thoughts. “Strange,” he started looking from Odion to the floor then back. Terrifying, exhilarating, freeing, lost. The list went on and on but Lani wanted the concern in Odion’s eyes to fade. “Very strange. It’s like…. Hmm… have you ever had one of those moments like when you fall that you’re watching yourself fall but falling at the same time? It was kind of like that.” He really hoped he was making sense. At least a little bit.

He had been lost for a moment. The world was his but his body was a limitation. That thought made his skin crawl and the idea that he had so much power at his fingertips was terrifying. He didn’t want Odion to know how terrified he was. Lani wanted to feel that way with his power, he wanted to feel like he was one with it again but he didn’t want to get lost. There had to be a way of doing both. He felt like he was a mind tied to a body but he liked his body he didn’t want to lose it. He added after more thought, “But it didn’t feel like me.” It was like he was in possession of the sun and for a few moments it was nice but then the sun started to swallow him.

[Odion Martins]

Odion knew only of one mind reader, and not even he could beat Odi. As soon as the ginger had realized what was happening, he thought of things that would inevitably annoy Chester. Just another reason why Odion didn’t like Cameron. Odion knew that Chester and Cameron were very good friends, and when Odion thought about Cameron and Declyn at the Halloween dance while Chester read his mind, it shouldn’t have bothered the other redhead so much, but it did. It irked Chester at the very least, and some not so kind words had been exchanged. Things were never simplistic at this school, especially all the maddening relationships. Why couldn’t Declyn enjoy solitude like he did? All of this being said, Odion had fooled even a mind reader; it was almost too easy to find the loopholes. Would there be a loophole out of this poetry slam?

Well if they were Aces, he wanted Lani in his corner, or up his sleeve, either worked. The possibilities of answers to the question didn’t intrigue Odion as much as the fact that Lani had said it. Odion didn’t love people, at least, he didn’t think he was capable of it. He had nothing to compare it to. He knew he felt something akin to love over his brother, something that wanted to protect Declyn and want to trust him. But if he couldn’t even trust and love his own brother, and he hadn’t been shown love by his parents, and he had so few friends, how could he possibly love someone? Love was a forever thing, at least, that was how he viewed it. He thought he had loved Rhett, but you couldn’t love someone you viewed as an object, and that’s all Odion had been to Rhett.

Odion didn’t see Lani needing pain killers as a problem, but he did believe there was a way to avoid them altogether. It was almost as if Lani wanted to take them, like he needed the reassurance of the headache to know that his power was still under lock and key. It was like he didn’t want this to be easy. He didn’t have to be in pain from the get go, and maybe he just had to take a step back and view things differently. Lani accepted things as normalcy too easily, and that bothered Odion a little bit. Okay, it bothered him a lot. He knew his words were wasted on Lani as he literally chewed them over. “It’s a choice to consciously not worry about things. Every time you start to worry, do something else,” he laughed lightly, “see I do too much of that, and end up getting quite lost.” Lani knew that best of all, almost as well as he did. He wasn’t sure how else to explain it, but he’d rather not worry than fret over every bump in the road. The things that did affect him, were big and dramatic.

Odion knew how much someone’s eyes gave away, which was why his were usually like steel – hard, and giving nothing away. But it was alright to let them have expression once in a while, especially when he felt safe. And he felt safe here, regardless of what he and Lani were doing. Odion nodded as Lani explained the strangeness of the experience. Anything that wasn’t normal was strange. “I’ve had dreams like that,” he said, staring off into the corner of the room.

Odion supposed that if he viewed his power the way Lani did, he should be terrified. But he didn’t, time was as much a part of him as the air he breathed. It wouldn’t give him better control to worry about, and Lani was a prime example of that. But Odion didn’t have the right answer either, he just had one. Was it better to have headaches, or get lost completely? Or were their powers too different to be comparing in the first place? He laughed softly, his gaze returning to Lani. “You didn’t really sound like you usually do, and your eyes...” He got lost in them for a moment and forgot his words, and where he was. But it was only a moment, hopefully Lani didn’t mind. “They were glowing."

[Lani Hunter]

A high school was never drama free but one could wish for something simple. Lani really wished more often than not that life was simple. But perhaps that was just the futile wish of a person that lived in the throng of a tangled web where knowing which strings connected to what was a matter of importance. Who knew who, who didn’t like who, who loved who, not to mention the petty rivalries that circulated in the ways of money. One thing Lani had learned was that if someone really wanted to hurt someone they went for the wallet first. Lani grinned at Odion, there would be no loopholes out of this one for the redhead. Lani hadn’t told him about the deal he had made yet when it became apparent that Odion wasn’t paying much attention. Though he was going to have to borrow the pants from Odion. Maybe he could… borrow them for a little while.

And in the shadows, Lani would always have Odion’s back. Lani had wanted to meet Declyn but after what Odion had told him about his twin not liking him Lani was working on avoiding meeting him now. Lani didn’t like the idea that people who didn’t know him didn’t like him. Rhett had a good reason, but then the feeling was mutual in that directions, Venn also had a good reason, well kind of. Adrianna was his best friend and perhaps now more than that? But he didn’t actually get to know Lani before he started to judge. Part of Lani wanted to mock them, ask them why they were wasting their breath on him and the other part of him wanted desperately to know what he had done to them. He hoped that he could prove Declyn wrong but Lani didn’t really know the details of that either. How could he defend himself if he didn’t know what he was supposed to have done wrong?

Lani had never thought of headaches like that. In his eyes it was just something he needed to deal with and popping pills was a necessary evil. When he used his power a lot there was no doubt in his mind that he needed pain killers because using his power for anything big or using it consistently he could get burnt out and not be able to see straight with the pain. Migraines were something he never used to get but now it seemed like an almost constant thing he had to deal with. Lani smiled at Odion and nodded. “Are you saying I need a hobby?” Lani asked as a joke but it was mildly serious. Odion got lost a lot but Lani had never really worried until he had lost of couple of days. Odion just had a lot of focus on some things and not a lot on others and those that occupied his attention got the most time spent on them and then time got lost in the task as well. “The worst part about that is that eventually all of that stuff is gonna come back to bite you.” He said with a shrug, “You don’t need to worry about it, per say, but maybe if you let yourself think about it for a little bit instead of just shoving it into a corner.” Well, this was making a whole lot of sense.

Lani crossed his legs under himself getting himself into a more organized position. He rested his elbowed on his legs and he looked at Odion. Dreams? Lani’s brow creased and he watched Odion as he stared off. He took advantage of the time he had when Odion wasn’t looking at him to look at Odion. He looked good with longer hair. He cocked his head at Odion and he didn’t want to disturb his concentration but he had to ask, “Does anyone ever catch you?” Falling was a terrible way to wake up. It was like getting thrown back into one’s body. People always say that when people die in their sleep they went peacefully, but they also said that if you hit the ground in a dream you’re falling in you die. If it was anything like that Lani would beg to disagree. That was a panicked feeling and he didn’t want to feel panicked before he died. He really just hoped that he went quickly instead of at the hands of some disease.

It seemed that Lani wasn’t the only one that had nightmares that made no sense. Lani would rather have pain. At least the pain could remind him that he was still in himself. Getting lost in his own mind was a terrifying prospect. They’d have him locked away but he’d be too far gone to care. Lani’s brows creased and he swallowed hard and diverted his eyes to his hands. He kneaded his hands together. He knew that he had heard himself. He looked back at Odion at the hesitation. What about his eyes? His eyes locked on Odion’s and the blue ones pierced his soul. Lani was just about to ask but Odion finished. “What?” Lani asked his voice flat in disbelief. He couldn’t put emotion into it because he had gone numb. Glowing? Lani reached up and rubbed his eyes as if to verify that they were still there. “Nah, man, you musta been seeing things,” Lani said jumping to denial. He shook his head he wanted a new thing to talk about, he needed to chew on what happened a lot before he could understand it. “But I think it’s safe to say that you can stop anything I throw at you,” Lani said with a smile.

[Odion Martins]

Odion had first arrived at Hammel, it hadn’t been drama free. It had taken a while to find Rhett in the first place, three weeks to be exact. But word got around, thanks to Zachary Larousse, and Rhett had ended up finding him. Their reencounter hadn’t been as perfect as Odion wanted it to be, but for what it was, it was worth it at that point in his life. Funny, it had been about a year since that happened. Odion knew that it wasn’t the money that really got to people, it was their hearts that got in the way. Some pretended like they didn’t have one, some wore theirs on their sleeve, and still others liked collected hearts in a jar.

It hadn’t been said yet, but perhaps it was partially Odion’s fault that Declyn didn’t like Lani. It wasn’t really because of Lani, it was how he had come up in conversation. Odion wanted to defend his best friend without outing himself to his brother and that was a hard thing to do. For some reason though, Odi believed that Declyn had seen right through his lies. In the end, they really were just looking out for each other and neither were pleased with who the other was interested in. But they could only make decisions for themselves and Odion would revel in his anger until Declyn smartened up. There were plenty of people who didn’t like Odion, and they certainly didn’t know him. But that’s where he and Lani were different because Odion didn’t give a damn who did and did not like him other than the person before him right now. Declyn was just as hypocritical as everyone else. He asked Odion not to judge Cameron, but judged Lani without further ado? Odi was finding that decision hard to respect.

Odion smiled and tried to ignore the serious undertone. “So long as it isn’t cards.” Odion hadn’t noticed how often he got lost in time until he had more people checking up on him. He hadn’t lost more than a few hours at a time so when three whole days were lost, he knew something had to change. “I lost those three days because I couldn’t stop worrying.” Hmm, that was certainly something to chew on. The ginger mulled over what Lani had said and gave him a clever little smile. “That is probably the smartest thing that’s ever come out of your mouth.” Because Odion couldn’t directly compliment Lani without the telekinetic getting uncomfortable, and something needed to be said along the lines of, we should take that advice to heart.

Dark blue eyes travelled back to the grey pair, his brow furrowed. “No, I just come to with a start.” He didn’t really think much of it, probably just a bodily reaction. It was always very jarring though, and he always had to gasp when it happened and his eyes flew open.

If Odion could find a loophole in time, maybe he could live forever.

“They a different light to them, a different energy,” Odion said as Lani rubbed his eyes self consciously. The redhead could tell right away when Lani was trying to rebuild his walls. Odi sat back into the palms of his hands, as though he were preparing to sit on the floor for a long time to come. And maybe he would. “Denial’s the first step,” he commented, surveying his friend with a twinge of annoyance. “But I’m glad you don’t believe me, just let me know when you’re ready to let lift me up on a table or something.” Lani didn’t want to make a big deal about this? Fine.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’s first few weeks at Hammel had been drama free, he hadn’t left his room for the most part, but then he started to meet people and he started to get himself into trouble and decided he liked causing trouble because most of the staff acted like every little thing was the end of the world. Lani hadn’t really gotten into trouble with other students until he started dating Adrianna and met Odion. Even when he had punched Sparky they hadn’t held a lot of hard feelings, it had been a misunderstanding and granted it ended in someone getting punched but that was hardly drama. It seemed as if getting more into the crowd had been like opening Pandora’s Box and his peaceful world had been shattered. That was a peace that was not going to return anytime soon. Or even, probably.

Perhaps it was a sibling thing. Siblings were generally the people that knew them the most. It was kind of terrifying when Caroline could tell when he was lying, sometimes when their mother couldn’t. One thing Lani was sure he would never be able to do would be pull the wool over his parent’s eyes. At least in a direct lie. If they were kept out of the situation it was easy to fool them but lying face to face to his mother was something that Lani was terribly at. But then his mother seemed to have an unnatural skill. Lani trusted Odion and he trusted that Odion wouldn’t say anything against him, at least not in a serious note. Lani was perfectly willing to be the butt of a joke so long as he got a laugh out of it as well. But also only so long as that person held judgment for when they met Lani. Lani took people’s opinions seriously because it could potentially keep him from doing something stupid but he was also willing to give the person a chance to explain themselves, which was why most of the time he reserved judgment. There was one exception to that and Lani wasn’t sure why perhaps it had been because he trusted Odion and so his opinion weighed more than everyone else’s.

Lani grinned. “Do you think I could take up tap dancing?” He asked with now mock seriousness knowing that such a suggestion would get a laugh out of Odion. Perhaps Lani should start up something though. He had no skills though. He couldn’t play an instrument, well he could play the piano so long as it was Chopsticks. He didn’t think he could sing, but then again that didn’t stop him all the time. He couldn’t dance; he didn’t have any artistic skill. Perhaps all that was left was to work on his power. Lani looked at Odion and frowned. That was definitely not something that he wanted to hear. He was pretty sure he could guess what he was so worried about but he wanted to know. Why Lani felt like poking old wounds today he wasn’t really sure. “What about?” Lani shot Odion an insulted look and stuck his tongue out at the redhead. “Shut-up,” he muttered flushing a little in embarrassment. He liked to think he had a lot of profound things to say, but then Odion just always loved bursting his bubble. It made him wonder if what he said to impress other people actually did or if they were just humoring him.

“Ah,” Lani said contemplatively. He didn’t like the sound of that. Lani wanted to be there to catch Odion if he fell. Indeed they shared nightmares but they had not shared their nightmares with each other. He was full of questions. “Does it always just start with falling or does something happen before that?” He asked very curious about Odion’s dreams. He didn’t really expect Odion to give him a straight answer not for something so personal but hey it didn’t hurt to try. Lani found a strange stirring in his heart. He wanted to make the nightmares go away. He wanted to help Odion but he didn’t know how. Nothing he could do was anything that could make dreams change.

Lani shook his head a little, this was impossible. His eyes weren’t supposed to glow. Lani’s eyes snapped to Odion. “Different energy, different how?” He asked failing at not taking this seriously. He was struggling with understanding this but he did believe Odion which was terrifying. He didn’t think Odion would lie to him, not about something like this at least. Lani closed his eyes again and rubbed them and sighed. Didn’t he know it? Lani’s eyes snapped open and he shot Odion a sharp look. “What is that supposed to mean?” He shook his head now trying to control his breathing and keep his heart steady. It didn’t take a genius to tell that Odion was upset with him. He closed his eyes again and this time he pressed his fists into them he didn’t want to fight. “That’s not going to happen.” Lani told Odion, “I mean not now.” Lani wanted to say not ever, but he wanted to keep training with Odion, Odion handle anything Lani could throw at him. Lani swore softly under his breath, “Why isn’t any of this making sense?” He muttered unaware that he had said the words aloud until he felt them leaving between his teeth.

[Odion Martins]

Laughing, Odi found Lani absolutely amusing. “You’ve done more exciting things than that, so why not?” He asked rhetorically. Perhaps Lani couldn’t play an instrument, and maybe he didn’t know any card tricks, but he was a damn good thief in the night. Tap dancing wouldn’t really become him though, he would look like he was playing the part of the fool. Unless that was his intention?

Odion gave Lani an incredulous look. What about? What about?! “About you,” Odi said simply, looking off at nothing yet again. Hopefully Lani was just playing dumb, either that or he had forgotten about what they spoke about that night. Odion didn’t expect everyone to have a perfect memory, but he did feel slightly insulted that Lani would even ask the question when it had been answered multiple times in multiple ways. Did he want it in writing? I’ll love you forever until the end of time, here’s a card with my signature and date of birth.

Turning his head to get a better look at Lani, Odi made note of the slight scar on his friend’s face. It looked like a thin feather, and no one who didn’t know it was there to begin with would ever notice. Odion liked having secrets like these kept between the two of them. “Well, it’s right before I fall asleep. I’m about to, and then it feels like I’m falling and I can’t move.” It was the strangest sensation, not something he looked forward to when it did happen. His nightmares were a totally different story.

“They were just different, luminescent, on fire.” What more did Lani want from him? The telekinetic wasn’t just shooting the messenger, he was pummeling him. Odion took offense right away, because Lani was making a joke out of something that really wasn’t a joke to begin with. “It means, if you must know, that you’re unwilling to see the changes you make when you let your power be a part of you.” Odion knew when he was seeing things, and in that moment, he hadn’t been making things up in his imagination. He wasn’t Declyn. “Do you want to see?” He challenged. Maybe that would be the best thing for Lani. “Then you could actually make notes.” Lani couldn’t do this himself, but Odion was hurt that he still thought that he could.

“Whatever makes you feel better,” Odion said flatly. He knew Lani well enough that if an action plan wasn’t being made, nothing was going to happen at all. But flying on tables or not wasn’t the point, the point was that whenever they got closer to something, Lani pushed it away, whether it be his power or his feelings, those topics were practically untouchable and nearly invisible to Odion. In other words, he could tell when Lani was throwing around compliments in order to change the subject, though they may be true or not.

Odi wanted to be here for Lani, but he couldn’t be here more than Lani allowed him to be. “Why are you so worried about trying to make sense of it?” Maybe this was Lani’s personal Cheshire Riddle. There was no answer. Odion backed up and stood, offering a hand to Lani. “Are we going to sit here wondering all day or are we actually going to learn something about you?” About us.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani grinned, he would be a rather good jester. Just by the pure fact of acting like he was either good or bad at things. But no, dancing anything was not going to fly with Lani. Perhaps he should write more. He sighed at a loss. He would find something, eventually but for right now he was ready to focus on the task at hand which was more or less avoiding the task at hand. It was harder now that Odion knew most of his tricks and Lani couldn’t get away with what he could get away with normally.

Lani’s blood ran cold at Odion’s look. “You accuse me of always worrying,” Lani countered, really Odion was not giving him enough credit with these word games. “But you are just as bad. Worrying or not Odion you have to take care of yourself. Why do you let yourself get so caught up in something that you forget to eat and sleep?” It wasn’t that Lani didn’t appreciate it, he did. But it happened twice that Lani could recall, more extremely when Rhett left, but again when he and Lani were fighting. Lani didn’t have the ability to forget time he had to do things a step at a time, but Odion could obsess and tended to forget that his body needed rest and food. If Odion wanted him to stop worrying he would be out of luck but especially so if he kept vanishing into time. Odion was constantly worrying about Lani and that worried Lani. “Odion, worry about yourself first.” That was certainly not the most eloquent way of getting his point across but Lani was bad with word games and bluntness came more easily.

Lani’s brow came together in concern. That didn’t sound like a normal dream. Not at all. “Does this happen a lot?” He was digging and digging for answers. Answers that maybe Odion didn’t have. But Lani was determined to do something about this. He wasn’t sure yet what, but he was determined to do something. Odion seemed determined to help Lani and Lani felt like he was falling short. He wanted to give Odion everything back that he gave. Lani knew that theirs was a different and often bumpy relationship and that also worried Lani. The more he felt like he was taking without giving the more he started to push against it and they digressed into arguing.

Lani had a bad habit of doing that. When someone told him something and they didn’t have all the details it was frustrating but he forced himself not to react, after all if he had had a tennis ball flying at his head he would have certainly been more focused on that as well. Lani gritted his teeth as Odion heaped on a hot helping of reality. “I don’t want it to be a part of me; I don’t want it at all!” Lani shot back. The confession he hadn’t been willing to make. He hadn’t been reduced to wishing his power away in a long time. Apparently those old buried feelings were still simmering just waiting for the opportunity to escape. Lani broke eye contact and watched his hands again. The power was terrifying and it was too much, Lani didn’t want it, he wanted to be just Lani. Or even just a plain telekinetic, why did his power have to be so massive? He ignored the other jabs Odion made and just watched his hands. Why did he even have hands anymore? He didn’t need them.

The rush of emotion rose and fell in him like a wave. There and then gone. Lani alternatively clenched and unclenched his jaw. That was really what it all boiled down to. He didn’t want it so he was going to try to scrape by with the bare minimum. But that wasn’t going to be enough. He had started training with Odion because he wanted to spend more time with him and Odion gave him hope that maybe he would be able to control it and do something amazing with it. But this, this was a whole new level of something that he didn’t want to have to deal with. He felt wholly and utterly defeated by his own power.

Lani finally looked over at Odion. It seemed like the combative sense had dimmed and the aftermath was heavy. Lani’s head hung a little with guilt, this kept happening. They would train and Lani would balk and they would fight because Odion wanted him to do more and Lani was too afraid to move forward. He didn’t answer and his eyes stared straight ahead as Odion stood. Lani’s heart pumped faster he was terrified that Odion was going to leave, be done with him. Then the hand appeared in his field of vision. His eyes flickered up to meet Odion’s beautiful blue eyes. Lani looked up at Odion with uncertainty but his hand extended and took Odion’s. On his feet he held Odion’s hand a moment longer. “I want to learn about you.” That said Lani released Odion. The world was uncertain but if Lani was going to explore it with anyone it would be Odion.

[Odion Martins]

Odion had nothing to say to that. No smart remarks or things to make Lani think deeper about. He supposed he could argue it was the aftermath of his power, but that wouldn’t be an answer good enough for either of them. Sometimes Odion wondered how much of him was human, and how much of him was his power. They seemed inseparable, and it was only too easy to go without food, sleep, or sometimes even breathing. It was Lani’s fault that Odion cared for him at all to begin with! But that too, Odi reasoned with himself, would be a lie. One thing was for certain though, he was going to have to stop letting Lani get off the hook so easily when he was the one in the spot light. Lani was speaking again and Odion’s eyes flashed. “I’ve always only looked out for myself.” So what if he lost himself over Lani? Wasn’t that better than where he was before? Maybe he just needed to get used to having others in his life who he trusted.

“It... happens on occasion. Why does this matter again?” Odion asked, trying to review in his mind why they had started talking about this in the first place. By all means, explore your powers Lani, but don’t you dare try and explore me.

Odi’s brow shot up in shock, and he immediately regretted what he had said. Maybe Lani was opening up, but it looked ever so painful... Odion reached out to Lani and then retreated. No, he couldn’t do that after what he’d just said. “I’m sorry Lani, I didn’t think it was so awful,” Odi said sincerely. After all the joking Lani had done with it, after all Odion had experienced with Lani, he was having a hard time understanding that Lani was so afraid of. All metas, hell, all humans screwed up, and not having a good grasp on his power was no different. “You’re...” Odion struggled for the words to match the description he saw so vividly in his head. This wasn’t Lani. Lani was sitting there toying with his hands like a broken angel. “You’re not as scary as you think you are.”

Odion smiled as Lani looked up at him. He couldn’t help but wish that Lani would continue being open and honest with him, even if they were to keep fighting. “You are,” Odion said, and not wanting to erase the closeness between them, he circled around Lani like a cat. He glanced from the ground to Lani. “Name three things that come to mind when you think of me. The very first things,” he stopped again in front of Lani, “you know I can tell when you’re lying.” And with that, he began circling around Lani again, if only so that Lani didn’t have to feel intimidated by what Odion’s stare did to him.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani didn’t like to see Odion to worry; he seemed to get so caught up that he vanished. He supposed he should take something from that and learn that perhaps Odion didn’t like to see him worry either. But Lani’s mind wasn’t working that way at the moment. Lani cocked his head at Odion and stared into his eyes. “That’s a lie,” Lani said denying Odion’s claim. Odion was someone that thought of himself only so long as he didn’t have someone he cared about. It was the same with Rhett, Odion had crossed the ocean for him. Not for himself. There were a lot more areas where Odion was selfless than he thought. Lani wanted Odion to see that. Trust was something that both of them were still working on. But then Lani needed to also work on getting used to someone wanting to help him. It was a hard thing for his pride to admit that he needed help even when he knew he did.

Caught! Lani shrugged at the question. “Just curious, I guess.” He had to admit he was surprised he had gotten as much information as he had, he was now going to file that away and work on this in secret. He wasn’t sure what he could possibly do but he had a feeling that this was something that wasn’t a normal dream. Perhaps it had to do with something about Odion worrying or something. Lani wasn’t sure but he was smart enough to stop asking questions. Odion had already detected that something was up and Lani was going too receded into the shadows and he would surface when Odion wasn’t expecting it.

Lani didn’t want Odion to know that he hated his power so much mostly because he had thought he was over it. He thought that he was ok with the idea that this was something he just needed to deal with. Lani shrugged it off and snuck a glance at Odion. “How could you have known?” He said letting Odion know that he didn’t hold any hard feelings and he had equal blame. He had never said anything but the hesitation that he had when it came to his power could have been a sign, but then it was a fear. Lani hated that he had the outburst. It was another one of those things where if Lani had just said something at the beginning they could have avoided all of this. Maybe Lani wasn’t quite ready to let Odion in all the way. Lani smiled. Odion had to know what that meant to him. So many people told him opposite but the way Odion said it didn’t sound like a lie to make him feel better. A small smile formed on his face. “Thanks,” he said not breaking eye contact.

Lani raised a brow and his head turned a little so he could follow Odion with his eyes. Lani stood with his feet planted and a sly smile formed on his face when Odion was behind him. He felt very much like a specimen in a science lab but he realized that that didn’t bother him nearly as much as it used to. “Um…” Lani started his mind immediately going blank. Of course he could have listed off a thousand words ten seconds ago but now put on the spot his mind went blank. He smiled a little and raised a brow giving Odion a ‘are you so sure?’ expression. “Catupine,” he started out closing his eyes and seeing Odion in his mind’s eye. The next word that came to mind was ‘hot’ but he certainly couldn’t say that out loud. “Determined and warm.” Lani opened his eyes and realized that his power had supplied that last one. No matter if time felt like walls it felt comforting and warm.

Lani wanted to catch Odion as he paced and hold him close. Show how much he cared and thank him for everything he had done. But Lani was too hesitant for that. Intelligent, stubborn, annoying, interesting, observant, careful, hesitant, selfless, bold, timid. The list went on and Lani realized that three words were not enough. Not enough at all. Odion was so different than anyone else that he knew specifically because he was all of these things. He wasn’t black and white. He wasn’t wholly good or wholly bad, he was a mixture of both, as they both were. The more that they saw of each other the more that became apparent. Odion didn’t fit into the nice boxes that Lani had been putting people in. He was a rule unto himself. “Oh and you have a thing for not telling me what we’re doing,” he teased giving Odion indirectly telling Odion that he had not forgotten about the dinner plans they had and he was still curious about it. Lani sighed inwardly, how was it that they could be arguing one moment and the next moment when they fixed the misunderstanding they could be the best of friend again. But Lani wanted to be more than friends.

[Odion Martins]

Of course when Odion wanted it the least, that was when he really did disappear. Like a child playing hide and seek and then sought out a blanket, so Odion tucked himself into time and couldn’t see who was watching him. Odion looked up and practically read Lani’s mind before hanging his head. “That was for myself Lani, it was selfish.” It was just to prove to himself that maybe someone could care about him, and when his assumptions and well thought out calculations about Rhett went awry, everything imploded. Odion couldn’t see what Lani saw because he wasn’t a third party. Odion was the one who had to deal with why he had come here in the first place, having left a world at Kocher that was eerily similar to what Declyn had had – many friends, a ridiculous reputation of being a player, and his old gang. This wasn’t a pride issue for Odion, he really couldn’t see the good in himself.

“Really?” Odion asked in disbelief. It was hard to wrap his mind around the fact that perhaps someone was just wondering about him. There was no ulterior motive, no sinister plot in mind and definitely no ill intentions. And here he knew, or at least he thought he knew, that he was quite boring aside from all the drama that was pushed on him. Would he still be interesting without his past, or present? His surprise twin brother or pickpocketing ways? He’d always wanted someone to be interested in him, even if the version of himself he saw was rather lame. Lani really did add the necessary chaos to his life.

Still, despite his ignorance, Odion felt bad that Lani felt so overwhelmed by his power. It was strange to want to just hold someone and think that that would solve the problem. This was just another reminder that he and Lani were very much the same. How many times had he exploded on Lani when Lani had absolutely no idea what had trigger the bomb? This whole putting himself into Lani’s shoes was rather self revealing, and a lot scarier than he initially thought. But Odion didn’t want to leave, especially not after seeing Lani smile at him like that. Lani really believed what he had just said, and that was much more satisfying than feeding lies to strangers and having them believe him. And it was better than spilling truth and have others think he was crying wolf. Lani actually believed him. It left Odion speechless.

Admittedly, when Lani said the first couple of words, Odion wouldn’t have predicted them. An unsure smile came to his face, mulling it over as he milled his way around Lani, noticing the blonde’s relaxed posture. So, was that because of him? He was having a hard time understanding that ‘warm’ meant, but he remembered that it had something to do with the telekinesis. Odion hadn’t understood it when it was first said and it was no different now.

“That’s not really a third attribute...” Odion was sure of one thing though. “I’m willing to wager you thought of more than three things,” he said, and smiled knowingly at Lani. The blonde knew a lot about him already, as did Odi about Lani. So surely this would only continue. At least, that’s what Odion thought were in the cards. He thought it was a grand oversight on Lani’s part that he didn’t ask the same to Odion. Oh well, maybe Lani would figure out at some point that Odion didn’t think that training was the only way to go about learning more about Lani. Odion paused in his pacing in front of Lani. It was like standing in front of a mirror, but not at the same time. So strange. Odi just wanted to reach out and see if this was real. Reaching out was a repeating motif. Odion refused to get lost in time and instead, walked backwards as though rewinding his steps, pausing behind Lani. “Anything else I should know?”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani frowned at Odion and his hung head. Odion really didn’t give himself enough credit. Lani put a hand boldly on Odion’s shoulder and ducked his head a little to see if he could catch Odion’s eyes. “I don’t believe that.” Lani wasn’t going to let Odion think that way about himself anymore. “I don’t know why you’re so determined to tell me that you’re selfish.” Lani cocked his head at Odion and his hand fell from Odion’s shoulder as he gestured outward. “You’ve done more for me than anyone else. Hell, Odion, you got me out of that hellhole. And then you came back. It might not have been for me but it still feels the same. And you’re helping me train, you deal with my crazy. Really I can’t see any way that this is benefiting you.” Lani listed off reasons for Odion being selfless, really Odion should get a metal for that last one. Lani had come to the conclusion that he had to be some sort of crazy.

“Really,” Lani nodded. Well perhaps there was an ulterior motive, but it wasn’t sinister. Lani just wanted to help and he needed all of the information he could gain. Odion was perhaps the most interesting person Lani knew. Most people he knew what would make them cry and what would make them laugh. Odion he was still learning. There were still those things that they hadn’t talked about that had the potential to start a war. It had certainly happened more often before when Lani hadn’t known which topics were sensitive. He still tripped up from time to time but Lani was also trying to show that he was someone that Odion could talk about these things with. Lani held back giving Odion a sympathetic glance, was it so hard for him to believe that someone might be curious about him? What must his relationship with Rhett have been like? But then again Odion never had to say anything with Rhett’s ESP he probably figured out things pretty fast.

Lani usually had a very long fuse, he would deal with pushing and prodding for a long time but there was that one point where he struck back. Odion had just reached that point, perhaps if Lani hadn’t been stressed over the idea of glowing eyes he wouldn’t have exploded but explained things in a gentler voice. But it dawned on Lani that he had never told Odion why or how he got his power in the first place. That, however, was a story for another time. He looked up at Odion and as soon as he was standing level with him he wished that he had the ability to control time so that he could memorize the expression on Odion’s face. A little shocked but a little more relieved. Maybe Lani wouldn’t be convinced he wasn’t scary but it certainly helped to be told he wasn’t.

Swinging his head around to catch Odion in his gaze he gave him a smile. “It counts.” Lani matched Odion’s smile and his chin lifted as if he were accepting the challenge. “You wanna bet on that?” He raised a brow his grin turning impish. Did Odion think he knew him so well as to say that? It wasn’t an oversight it was a conscious choice, Odion had his tests and Lani had his. He also didn’t have to guess what Odion knew about him, he was more worried about himself knowing Odion. His eyes followed Odion until he stood directly in front of him. The silence was roaring with noise. He got lost in Odion’s eyes and for a moment he didn’t realize that Odion was moving in the opposite direction again. Lani smiled and did a quick sidestep so that he have moved and turned so that he was face to face with Odion again. His feet hadn’t made more than a whisper on the ground and it was almost as if one moment he was there and the next he was in front of Odion.

He did miscalculate distance a little and ended up standing just a few inches away from Odion. But he didn’t move, that would have ruined the effect. “You only get three words,” Lani said with a sly smile. “If you want anymore you’re going to have to tell me…” He really doubted that Odion would tell him anything but hey he could try no harm in that right? He winked at Odion. “Tell me a secret.”

[Odion Martins]

Odi watched Lani with interest and hung onto every word. It was exactly for him, Odion didn’t really have anything else to go on at the moment. Yes he had Declyn, but that wasn’t as strong as either of them had wished for. Mere difference kept them apart and Declyn’s cool demeanor made Odi want to hit him all the more. “You talk about being crazy like it too, isn’t a part of you,” he commented on, because it was easier to comment on that to start. But he wasn’t finished yet. Odion touched Lani’s hand briefly while maintaining eye contact. “You keep me sane.” There, Lani could mull over that for a while, and keep in mind that Odion meant much much more in those four words than a lot of the things he thought long and hard over. And he in turn would think about why Lani wanted to know such mundane things about him for the sake of curiosity. It brought a hint of a smile to his face.

“That would be a wager would it not?” He asked. Not that it would matter the amount of money either one of them lost, it could be taken back in a moment. Betting on something else might be interesting, though Odion doubted Lani would be stupid enough to do that. Odion knew he was right in this case – Lani had to know more than that about him. And that was already a lot, considering how little he said. The ginger halted promptly before walking into him. They were but mere inches away. It was a good thing Odi had been heading backwards the whole time. “But you were oh so willing to ramble on that last one?” Talk about playing dirty. He held his ground. Odion could think of three words that would return the favour and tell a secret all at once. He watched Lani for another moment or two. “I’m afraid of flying. On airplanes.” Odion hadn’t felt like running before he said that, but now he did. It was the stupidest thing, and now he could feel himself flushing for just saying that so... But Lani had asked, and Odi was willing.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani raised a brow surprised by Odion’s observation. A sly smile crossed his lips; Odion had opened the door to walk into this one. “Perhaps that’s because I’m crazy.” He suggested jokingly but he didn’t realize that Odion was being serious. The touch against his hand made his hand twitch a little going after the hand that had touched his. He didn’t lose Odion’s eyes and they swallowed him. He was lost in them for a few moments and he pulled his hand back when he realized he was reaching out still. Lani took that information to heart and it warmed the icy center that had slowly been melting away since Odion’s return. Lani smiled at Odion. “Well, we’re in a boatload of trouble aren’t we?” He asked barely above a whisper as if they were talking intimately.

Well, leave it to the insane to keep the sane sane. Or at least give them comfort in their sanity. The words kept ringing in his mind and every time they came with a new meaning. A new depth of their friendship. Lani felt his smile warming the more he thought about it and he watched Odion’s eyes their piercing gaze was no longer quiet so terrifying. Lani swore in thought. He couldn’t deny it anymore. This feeling, this emotion that he didn’t have a name for, it was starting to make sense slowly but surely. Odion was the answer. Lani thought briefly about how the universe had taken away and yet it gave gifts, if Odion had never caught Lani on the rooftops would they even be able to stand being in the same room together?

“That it would,” Lani said with a nod, “I’m pretty sure I’d win.” After all who knew Lani’s mind better than himself. Odion could claim he was lying but there would never be any proof. At least unless they wanted to go so far as a telepath, but at that point Lani would just yield. He didn’t want someone rooting around in his mind. Lani smirked. “That doesn’t make it more than one word though, it’s just an elaboration.” He explained he had hoped that the closeness would catch Odion off guard but really it had just put them both in a position where they had to look at each other and there was the growing need to not back down that was growing in Lani. Lani waited not really expecting an answer but when he got one he wasn’t only shock that he got one but he was surprised by what it was. His eyes widened a little bit, he had somehow gotten into this illusion that Odion wasn’t afraid of anything.

His mind connected dots and he frowned at Odion. “You’re afraid of flying?” He felt the need to verify. “But… I don’t get it. If you’re afraid of flying why would you volunteer to be tossed in the air?” Lani knew the answer. He knew the answer he was just having a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea. Odion was afraid of planes? Was he afraid of all flying? If so than why hadn’t he said anything. Lani found himself staring as it dawned on him. Here he was complaining and whining about how terrifying his power was and then there was Odion who was afraid of flying volunteering for it. That was like someone afraid of heights going sky diving. “Oh, Odion…” Lani uttered when this realization struck him. And this guy had the nerve to call himself selfish? Selfish wasn’t a world that should even cross Odion’s mind.

[Odion Martins]

Crazy was just in the eye of the beholder, and most who actually were, didn’t admit to it or realize that they were. Odion didn’t grace Lani’s joke with anything, because his actions were speaking for him. At least his action had been purposeful and taken to heart, as Lani seemed to be paying attention, and that was the idea. “I think we’ve known that from the start,” he said in a serious voice, but there was an inkling of a smile present. Why, why would this be sane or problem free? Obviously that wouldn’t be any fun for them, and really, it wouldn’t help them grow as fate would want them to. And between what happened with Rhett, to Lani having feelings for Odion instead of Adrianna, well, there were bound to be perhaps a few problems.

“And I’m pretty sure you’re lying and are just too embarrassed to say anything else,” Odion jested, because if Lani wasn’t going to pipe up, it’d be best for him to pipe down. Lani would be lying and Odion would know and Lani would know that Odion knew and that should be enough to make Lani feel guilty and want to share more. But Odion hoped things wouldn’t lead to that. He just hoped that Lani could share himself without the extra prodding, not that Odi minded doing some dirty work every once in a while. It was just nice not to have to do so all the time.

Of course, there were many things that Odion disliked, but there were a few secrets he had kept under wraps because they were hard to talk about for a number of reasons: stupidity, vanity, or childishness. This would be an example of the next one. Childishness was wishing he would feel alone in this life, which was different than being alone. And vanity, well, he liked liquor and sparkly things but those were hardly secrets to Lani anymore. Recently knew secrets had cropped up in the form of what-if questions. What if Declyn never liked him? What if he was forced to meet his parents one day? What if Lani ever left him?

But maybe, despite his current embarrassment, Lani would get it now. Odion didn’t have to be watching Lani to hear the gears clicking into place. Yes it was partially for himself, to try and get over whatever had caused him to be so paralyzed. Of course, flying was Lani’s ultimate dream. But why on earth would Odion ever bring that up? Especially when they had first started their relationship, Odion wasn’t going to let Lani gain ground on anything. Odion hadn’t given Lani all the pieces to the big picture. The other part of doing this was because Odion wanted to, for Lani. It was a complex, and simple idea.

“Do I get more than three words now?” His eyes snapped back into focus. Odion looked back to Lani with a daring smile and took a couple steps out of their close encounter. Needless to say he was done training for today, and he certainly wasn’t going to elaborate on his fear of flying. Lani didn’t really need to answer the question, Odi was just eager to get out of here – with Lani.