TIME WARP: For Your Hand - tags Lani

[Haley Shapiro]

Non-Canon May 2024

Tracking Lani down had been harder than Haley had anticipated. They kept in touch frequently but recently, calling him on his cell had proven to difficult. Especially since he kept using burner phones. But she finally managed to find him with the help of a meta tracker she had befriended a couple of years ago and for a brief moment, Haley was nervous.

Sammy had asked her to marry him. It had been a simple affair, one that Haley hadn't thanked him for yet. But he had actually asked Walter. Of course, the initial way had just been typical Sammy. He had made a joke of it, actually throwing the ringbox to her while she was lying down one day in the park, in their spot. It was sort of cute, now that Haley thought about it. But she won't tell him that. Not yet anyway.

But after talking to Walt, Haley felt that as much as Walter was definitely her dad, no question about it, she wanted Lani to walk her down the aisle. He had been there for her when he didn't need to be. She knew when the day came, she would probably ask Walter to walk with them as well but for now, she had to track Lani down first.

Gathering information of his exact whereabouts had proven harder than she thought, even with that extra help. Even now, with the address in hand, she couldn't be too sure that Lani would actually be there at all. She hoped. She really did. So as she stood with her hand in her pocket, clutching the piece of paper with the address scratchily scrawled across it, her other hand knocked on the door. She pushed down the hood of her jacket and let her dark long hair fall to the front of her shoulders. Briefly, she wondered how Lani would react to this semi-girly version of her that she had slowly grown into.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was balancing easily on a fence as if he were walking on flat ground. He was just exercising today, at least so it seemed. But he was running a very specific, very purposeful route. He was canvassing for their next heist. He was glad he had gotten Odion to teach him parkour for it made his job easier. It was easier to see escape routes when every route seemed possible. Standing for a few moments he kicked himself up onto the roof of his and Odion’s apartment complex. They had never meant for things to get so out of hand but someone good had entered the law enforcement within the last year and their stunts in the States had gotten noticed. Granted no one knew their faces or their names but it was getting close. So they had decided to hit the road for a little while.

It was just like their first summer together. Living on the road, taking jobs here and there and making sure enough time passed for them to be forgotten. Life was good. Life was free. It was all Lani had ever wanted. Granted living on the run wasn’t glamorous, but they weren’t really on the run. They were just making sure to stay a few steps ahead. For now they had split ways to allow them to spread their trail just in case someone was following them. Lani was convinced that someone was. Odion just seemed to go along with Lani’s paranoia. He was commonly scolded for keeping in touch with their old friends but he had to keep in touch with Shapiro. She was like a second little sister.

He slipped in through the window and checked his phone for a moment. Odion was on his way back from causing havoc across town. That would at least lead them off their trail. If they were leaving one. Lani didn’t think they were but he was also prepared for everything. Besides for what they had coming up on this end they needed all of security to be on the opposite side of the city. Having a little time to himself Lani flopped onto the couch and cracked open a book. He was a few pages up when he heard the knock at the door. He set the book aside and his eyes narrowed at the door. It hopefully wasn’t someone in the complex, Lani didn’t speak the language very well and Odion wasn’t here to talk. Or it could be someone from a past life. No one was supposed to know they were here. He had been really cryptic every time someone had asked.

He swallowed and moved like a shadow to the door silent and cautious. He looked out and his jaw dropped. No way. He fumbled with the locks and flung the door open. She was so tall! He hadn’t seen Shapiro in a long time but he would know her face anywhere. Luckily for Lani and probably everyone else, he had stopped growing finally. He was still taller than Shapiro. His face had narrowed and yet he had built muscle, granted it was slender muscle but either way it was muscle. He pulled her into a tight hug. “Shapiro! Oh my god! It’s so good to see you! But…” He pushed her away looking at her from arms length and smiling like a puppy whose favorite person had just come home. “Wait… How are you here? How did you find me?” He asked still smiling unable to find the space around the joy to feel genuine worry. “Come in, come in,” He said brightly opening the door farther for her. She was such a young woman now. He didn’t know what was more mind blowing, that she was here or that she looked like a girl. He opted not to say the latter aloud, he was pretty sure she could still knock him around a bit.

[Haley Shapiro]

Lani was skinny. That was the first thing Haley noted but she was crushed into a hug before she could say anything. A hug that she happily returned as her feet left the floor.

Once released, she grinned and reached up a little to ruffle his hair. "Finally get to do that after all these years." She chuckled. She went inside before answering his questions, knowing they had a lot of catching up to do.

Shamelessly, she went to find the fridge and grabbed a couple of bottles of beer, tossing one to Lani, carefully popping open the bottle so it doesn't smash in her hand. She took a long gulp of it and hopped up on a chair, crossing her legs as she sat.

"Had help." She answered vaguely to his first question. "I also came into some money so that was helpful." She chuckled, sipping some more of her beer. "Dude, you're skinny though. Do you even eat?" She raised her eyebrows and ran her fingers through her hair.

"You still with the Odiot?" Haley smirked and shook her head with a smile. "Kidding. It's good to see you though." Her smile softened as she beckoned for Lani to come over.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani didn’t really think he was all that skinny. He ate well enough. Money was never short but sometimes he just forgot. He supposed that could be a problem but he shook it off. Lani was ecstatic to see Shapiro, unbelievably so. She was so beautiful. Such a young woman that Lani was having trouble seeing her as the youngster he used to bother. He smiled at the memories. So many good ones together. Some not so good, but others beyond exciting. She had certainly changed in these years. Gotten older, wiser, but she had never changed and that was what Lani loved. He ducked out from under her hand and laughed brightly. “Finally,” he agreed and then ruffled her hair right back, “I’ve missed you.”

He took a brief moment to look out the door in both directions making sure no one was skulking around the place then closed the door locking it again. They had some serious catching up to do. He was glad momentarily that Odion had gone on one of his cleaning surges the other day, the apartment actually looked nice and Lani’s things had not yet oozed back out of their hiding places and onto the floor yet. He laughed lightly to himself, leave it to Shapiro to just make herself as home. Between the two of them they probably were still a rather skillful destructive team. Hopefully Odion wouldn’t have a heart attack when he came home.

Catching the bottle easily he flicked off the cap with his power and sent the metal into the trash. “You’re sure you’re old enough to drink?” Lani teased taking a swing of his drink. He was about to ask her again how she found him but she beat him to the punch. He raised a brow and nodded. Perhaps he should look out for something like that. He looked down at himself and shrugged. “Not really…” He laughed, “Oh I eat, trust me.” He chuckled into his bottle as he took another swing. Even forgetting to eat when Lani did he ate a ton. “What about you? Where did this come from?” He teased gesturing at her in general. For some reason he couldn’t get the little girl image out of his head and he was having trouble wrapping his mind around Shapiro the woman. Of course they kept in touch and Lani knew she had grown a lot but even now it had only been a little while and it seemed like she had grown overnight.

Laughing Lani shook his head at the memory. “We’re gonna try to come back stateside here soon.” He said with a smile. A quick break had been just what they needed but they had work back in the states to do and they could only leave their troublemaker students alone for so long. He paced over to her and punched her lightly in the shoulder. “It’s good to see you too. It’s been too long. But you should have told me you were coming, I could have at least told you where I live.” He laughed a little knowing that he probably wouldn’t he would have talked her out of coming, at least as best he could.

[Haley Shapiro]

She chuckled at his response and gave him a soft smile in return. She would have replied the same thing but she would have probably broken down and blubbered all over the older meta. Haley had been doing a lot of crying these past few years. It was getting on her nerves.

Rolling her eyes at his comment, she let out a burp as an emphasis. Some things definitely never changed. "It's been nine years since my first bottle, Hunter." She said dryly before taking another swig. She was actually getting just a little bit nervous, clearly evident as she rubbed her thumb against the lip of the bottle over and over again.

When Lani gestured to her, she licked her lips, grinning as she looked away in slight embarrassment. "Puberty." She shot back as she unzipped her jacket and took it off to hang it behind her chair. "I don't even know. One day I was flat as a board and the next, Debra's buying me these clothes. And I couldn't say no, you know? Like...this woman took the time to get me in her house, you know?" She scratched the back of her head lightly.

"Sounds good. Um...how soon though?" She asked, trying to act cool about it. She was still trying to beat around the bush before she could actually reveal the reason behind her visit.

Raising an eyebrow and scoffing at Lani's next statement, Haley looked at him pointedly. "No you wouldn't. You'd either have led me on a goose chase or you'd tell me some crap story about how you'll come and visit soon anyway so it'd be pointless for me to come to you." She kept her eyebrow raised and smirked, challenging him to say otherwise.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani might think that she was an imposter if she started to cry. Shapiro had always been a strong woman and Lani was nearly about to hug the living daylights out of her if she let him. Though he was sure she wouldn’t. He was at least glad that somewhere in the years past she had stopped swatting him when he demanded a hug from her. If she had told him that she had been doing a lot of crying recently Lani would have had to ask who he had to beat up. No one messed with Shapiro and got away with it. Not that she couldn’t take care of herself, certainly not. But occasionally big brother Lani liked to shook the point home. Mess with Shapiro, mess with Lani. And Lani wasn’t going to hit someone in the face, he would much rather hit them where it would hurt, in the wallet.

A laugh pulled out of Lani. “Delinquent,” Lani accused. He knew she had only been legal for a few years. Certainly not nine. Hell, Lani had been of age for barely nine years himself. Oh well, it wasn’t like Lani had discouraged the action. “Geez, stop,” Lani flapped a hand at her, “You’re making me feel old!” No Shapiro hadn’t changed a bit. In appearance maybe but she was the same girl he knew and loved. Lani watched the way she fidgeted and he sat down on the chair across from her leaning toward her with his elbows on his knees and the bottle hanging loosely in his hands. Something was on her mind. Something big. He started to ask about it but the conversation had moved.

Lani grinned, “She’s a nice woman.” He agreed with a nod. “Is that how it happens?” Lani asked with a joking grin. After all how much would Lani know about breasts. It wasn’t like he was gay or anything. Shapiro had probably been the first person he had told, granted she hadn’t been happy that it was Odion, but at least she hadn’t abandoned him. “Well it seems like she did you a bit of good.” He teased giving her a wink as he took another swing. “How are they treating you?” Lani asked, if they weren’t treating her well then Lani might have to do something. He had only actually met them once and they had seemed like pleasant people. They had been good for Shapiro and Shapiro for them he thought.

A raise of his brow told her that he knew she was hiding something. “I dunno, I have to talk to Odion, but soon.” Lani laughed into his bottle at her accusations. “Fair enough,” he chuckled raising his hands in a yielding expression. “Though you have to admit that a wild goose chase would be much more fun.” But now that they were on the topic. “But why are you here Shapiro? It can’t have been to tell me off about not visiting.” He raised a brow, she should know by now that Lani would get to the bottom of it one way or another and she could tell him anything. If she was having trouble all she had to do was say so and he would take care of it. But no, she was a woman, she could take care of herself, but if she needed his help he would be there in a heartbeat. He glanced back at the door, still mildly freaked out that she had found him at all. He would very much like to meet her tracker friend.

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley wouldn't have blamed him for thinking so, had she actually cried. She didn't see crying as a weakness but it just felt so completely unnatural to her, that act. She was so used to bottling up her emotions that when she cried, it came as such a surprise to her.

"That's because you are, old-timer. I'm twenty-five years old and you...you are...ancient." She chuckled, tipping over the liquid in the bottle into her mouth.

"She is." Haley agreed with an affectionate smile before pursing her lips in amusement. "Not that you would care." She looked down her shirt and grinned. "I rather like them, actually." She would have jiggled them just to make things awkward. But she restrained herself, grinning in the process. Lani didn't need to be traumatised by that.

"I couldn't have asked for better people to raise me up." She admitted, running her fingers through her hair before hopping off the chair and grabbing two new bottles from the fridge. Maybe more beer would loosen her lips a little.

Inevitably, Lani asked why she was here and as she finished half the bottle she had just unscrewed, she laughed and shook her head, still not sure exactly how she was going to say it. That was before her mouth did the job her brain had delayed.

"I'm getting married." She inaudibly blew out a sigh of relief, the weight previously on her shoulder considerably lifted. "Sammy asked and...I said yes." She brought out the finger with the ring, showing it to Lani before slapping it down to her thigh. "I thought it would be better for me to come here to tell you rather than sending a card." She still didn't dare look at Lani. She didn't know what to expect from him but she wasn't sure if she wanted to see him.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani ran a hand through his hair as if very distressed. “Wow.” He said as he thought about it. That’s right. He was turning thirty this year. Oh god! No Lani was not prepared to be this old. “I’m still in my twenties,” He protested. Barely. “But that also means I’m wiser and you should listen to me. But you never seemed to get that picture.” He teased and leaned forward to pinch her cheek. She was still younger which meant he could still mess with her. Older, wiser, Lani would find some way to make this work in his favor. To his pride at least he didn’t have any gray hairs yet. They had both changed so much, Shapiro much more than Lani in appearance but she was still the same punk he knew and loved but she was different somehow. She was stronger, independent but also not as negative about the world, as far as he could tell.

Shapiro’s smile was something he missed. He hadn’t gotten to see her in a long time and it was so good to see her now and as happy as she was. They talked on the phone or via skype but it was never quite the same as a face to face conversation. Lani burst out in laughter and held his hands up to indicate that was too much information. Lani bit his tongue to keep from saying something that would make them both very uncomfortable. “You’re so grown up, I’d almost expected lady like things to come out of your mouth,” he said instead giving her a grin. Oh he couldn’t resist picking on her, but no more than he knew she would resist picking on him. Things never changed between them. She was still his little sister and if anyone picked on her who him they had better watch out. They showed their love in other ways. They really teased because they cared.

Lani smile and nodded. “I’m glad, I think they did a good job.” He winked at her. She went for the fridge again and Lani jumped up taking the second one from her hand. “Woah, slow down there, it’s the middle of the afternoon.” He laughed. He finished off the one he had been working on before opening the second. Lani had gotten better at holding his alcohol but not by much a few more drinks at this rate and he would be giggling on the floor. Belatedly he wondered if he should text Odion the warning that they had a visitor. But Odion was probably busy. Something was definitely on Shapiro’s mind. It didn’t take Sherlock to discover that. She was downing the beer like it was water.

His jaw fell open and he stumbled to take a seat as she came out with the news. Married? Lani couldn’t lie that was blowing his mind. Not because he didn’t think she was someone worth marrying, quite the opposite. He didn’t think anyone was good enough to marry his Shapiro. It took Lani a minute to recover from his shock and he set his beer down and took her hand to examine the ring. Then he rose pulling her to her feet so he could give her a proper hug. “This is great, congratulations!” He squeezed her tightly, “My little Shapiro’s all grown up and getting married!” As he pulled back he gave her a serious stare. “This Sammy, he treats you well?”

[Haley Shapiro]

"Yeah. Okay sure." She nodded with a smirk, inwardly chuckling at Lani's expression. "Oh, is that how it works? Is that why I had to use the sense stick on you?" Haley reminded him of the only day she had ever seen Lani...distraught. And all because of that Odiot. She still couldn't forgive the redhead for that. She probably never will but that was for another day and another time.

As much as Lani thought she seemed stronger and more independent, Haley sometimes thought she was getting a little weaker by the day. Just the other day, Sammy had pointed out that she wasn't gripping things too tightly and she had realised that it hurt if she curled her fingers around something for too long. She knew it was a possibility that her abilities would show an early onset of bone malfunctions but she didn't think it would be this early. But that wasn't something she was going to share with Lani. She seriously didn't want him to worry about her at all. He worried too much as it was.

"What, you don't like them?" She made sure to thrust her upper body in Lani's direction, just to maximise the discomfort he was probably already feeling. "Screw ladylike. I can't believe you don't know me at all. I told you I was never going to change." She held her hands palm upwards and her lips jutted forward.

Haley had always been grateful that Lani stuck around long enough for her to really get to know him and vice versa and she was glad he still liked her even after knowing about her past. He stayed long enough to break down all her barriers and it was a wonder how he stayed even after knowing all the bullshit she's thrown at him. Sammy had been part of the reason why Haley even let Lani in but Lani did his due dilligence when it came to getting to her core and she very much appreciated that he still stayed.

"It's five o'clock somewhere, am I right?" Haley shrugged and kept from Lani the fact that with her ability came an iron lung. Well, not really. But it did mean she had a painfully high tolerance for alcohol. She still couldn't stand cigarette smoke but that was hardly a consolation.

The hug made Haley's eyes bulge out a little but even she couldn't deny that it made her feel safe. Her hands subconsciously gripped Lani's shirt and she smiled as she tightened the hug. It was most definitely a welcomed action now and she was glad Lani was reacting positively to the news. His question made her chuckle and nod. "The best. I think I introduced you to him awhile back. We were friends since Hammel and we sort of started dating a little after we left." She explained. "He asked Walt, Lani. I mean, he asked me first but he actually went to dad too. Eventhough he didn't have to. I'm just...I can't help these mushy feelings I get because of him." She chuckled and ran her fingers through her hair.

"And...I've talked to Walt about this so you don't have to worry. Um..." she paused and shook her head in amusement. She was actually nervous asking him. "I want you to give me away." She said in one breath. There, it was out now. "You can tease me all you want about it but you've been my big brother even when you didn't have to. And I appreciate that and I thought you walking me down the aisle should let you know just how much that means to me."

[Lani Hunter]

Lani stuck his tongue out at her instead of answering. No it was right of her to bring it up. It was a good solid blow to Lani’s overgrown ego. He knew she blamed Odion and he had tried to explain it several times. It was his fault, but things were good now. It was a good thing she had been well, unconscious when she had passed out. That would have been another time Lani had been completely distraught. Well, Lani could keep some things to himself. Lani liked being his carefree, if a little goofy self. He knew sometimes he drove Odion crazy but admittedly sometimes Odion drove him crazy as well. They got over it because they understood and loved each other. Some things still hadn’t changed since way back. If Lani knew she hadn’t forgiven Odion he would probably be a little hurt.

Everyone started having problems with their powers at some point. Lani had never told Shapiro about the awful problems he had had with his painkillers. Nor the vicious cold turkey quit he had been put through. Occasionally he snuck pills when Odion wasn’t looking. He wasn’t addicted, he was dependent. And sometimes he felt like he couldn’t function past the pain. If he knew she was having problems with her bones he would be all but frantic. Hopefully she still had a lot of life in her. Like she had said she was only twenty five. She was too young to be having problems like that. He would most certainly feel the need to try to help her with that. Lani hadn’t lost any use of his hands or anything mostly because he made sure to use them as much as he used his power.

Lani laughed and gave her a narrow eyed stare. “Now you’re just trying to get me in trouble.” He accused jokingly. He doubted Odion would be very offended but she was his little sister that would just be weird. “Oh trust me I know,” he laughed giving her a cheeky grin. “And good thing too, I wouldn’t have wanted to interrogate an imposter to figure out where they had hidden you.” He held his tongue between his teeth as he tried to not laugh at his own joke. He honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Shapiro swatted him in the near future he was digging a rather deep grave. Oh he had missed her. That was one bad thing about constantly moving around. He never was able to host Shapiro at his home. They had been through a lot together, in discovering things about themselves and each other. Helping each other through rough patches and hailing through good times.

Shaking his head to show he was disappointed was all he did to her drinking habits. As honorary older brother it was both his job to get her drunk out of her mind whenever they were together as well as protect her from anything that might happen while she was far gone. “I just don’t want to have to pick you up off of the floor again.” He teased reminding her oh so subtly of the first part they had gotten really drunk at. It must have been when she graduated and she had passed out. He also had stopped trying to keep up with her at this point, he would probably be dead if he drank as much as she did in order to get to the point where she passed out. No, he would most certainly be dead. Also his power did strange things when he was drunk. Last time he had turned all of their furniture upside down and stuck them to the roof. Lani thought it was hysterical.

Lani smiled relieved at the verification that he was a good person. “Yeah, I remember,” Lani said with a nod, “But that was a long time ago.” He stalled what he was going to say to listen to her. He couldn’t stop smiling this was great news. “Oh, that’s adorable,” Lani cooed not trying to be condescending but he liked the idea. He had occasionally tossed around the idea of marriage but he knew it didn’t matter much to Odion and honestly so long as they were together it didn’t matter to Lani either. Lani’s face broke into a beaming smile as she described the mushy feelings. His hard as a rock Shapiro was feeling mushy. It took all of Lani’s self control not to start teasing her relentlessly for that. And he failed. “Aw, my Shapiro’s feeling all mushy,” he teased making as if he were wiping tears away from his face. He amended with, “I’m so happy for you. So when is the date? I’ll be there for sure.” Nothing could keep him away. Not from Shapiro’s happiest day. Lani couldn’t stop smiling; oh he was definitely going to have words with Sammy beforehand.

Shapiro was still talking and he pulled himself out of his inner thoughts to listen. Lani stepped away from her in shock unable to believe that those words had just come out of her mouth. He stared at her like she had grown a second head and just listened shock written all over his face. “Shapiro….” He said softly before smiling softly one of his real smiles. Then he realized that he would be stepping on the toes of Walt. He took her hand, “I would be honored. But are you sure that’s what you want? I mean Walt would probably want to walk you down the aisle.” He was trying to be logical about this now because it made his heart swell with love and pride that Shapiro had grown into such a wonderful beautiful young woman.

[Haley Shapiro]

It was hard for Haley to like people, even with proper evidence. It was mostly ego. But half of that was probably because she felt that she didn't have any obligation to like people. Tolerate, probably. But still...even then, she will probably not make the effort to be nice to those people. She of course couldn't tell Lani that. Poor guy had problems of his own.

Good thing Lani never told Haley about his dependencies. She would have lectured him to hell and back about it. Which would consequently make her a hypocrite. But still...getting angry with Lani took work. And that was something she couldn't be bothered to do. She would still show her disdain, obviously.

With her disabilities though, she couldn't find a cure for it. Even temporary ones. All she could do were limb exercises, which hurt more than it did good. But it was not much worst than what Sammy was going through. They were helping each other out and lately, it's all they've done.

"Ew, gross no." She leaned forward and punched Lani gently on the arm. "Man, you'd be a sucker if you couldn't tell me from an imposter." She shook her head before sipping from her bottle.

The reminder of the one time she passed out from heavy alcohol consumption made Haley laugh. "Only because it took you half an hour just to lift up my arm over your head. And the rest of the night was basically you grunting around trying to get me home." She made a face at Lani and chuckled a little.

When she saw Lani struggling to be 'nice', Haley couldn't help the grin on her face. She knew she had set herself up for ridicule, which made it hard for her to be angry when Lani started to actually tease her. She nudged his knee with the toe of her boot and narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't make me remind you what happened when you and the Odiot were going through your rough patch, Hunter." She hissed before her smile softened.

"In a few more months, actually. Um...we decided mid-August. But we haven't really penned down the date. Deb's doing a lot of the planning and I can't touch anything until the day itself." She chuckled.

"I know Walt would wanna give me away. But I want you there too. I mean...nobody's going to say no to me on my wedding day right? So I might very well just bring you and Walt with me down the aisle." She shrugged, running her fingers through her hair. "You're a big part of my life. I don't want you forgetting." She grinned.

[Lani Hunter]

Life was going well for now. Things were good between him and Odion, going very well actually. Lani had never been happier. He wasn’t under his parent’s eye anymore and Caroline was doing very well in her studies. Lani teased her relentlessly about going to law school, but she always told him that someone would have to keep him out of prison. Lani figured if he hadn’t been caught yet he wouldn’t. But that wasn’t to say that there wouldn’t be some new blood on the force that would prove to be a bit much for them to handle. He wasn’t naïve enough not to be careful though. He was still the master planner and made sure that all of the plans went as they were planned. His problems were his own, it wasn’t his place to put his problems on her, but he would take hers as his own. He still had this little problem of pride.

Lani would make himself sick trying to find a solution to her problem. He used to know a healer who could do everything but heal himself. He had healed Lani when he had been badly hurt one night and told him about it. The healer had ended up with a disease and last Lani heard was enjoying his last few months on an island in the Pacific. Powers had nasty ways of working. In so many ways it made them stronger than normal and in so many ways it made them more fragile. Lani silently wondered if his side effects were still to be discovered but they had been with him all along. The agony of the mind the inability to rest the thoughts for one moment lest his power do something. Odion too was starting to get lost in time more often.

Laughing Lani rubbed his arm. It didn’t hurt, not really he was doing it more so out of the memories such actions called. He raised his hand. “Okay, okay, I deserved that,” he could at least admit when he deserved to be punched. “Are you kidding? I’d ask you if I were an imposter at that point.” He chuckled. He would definitely be out of luck if he mistook someone else for Shapiro. He took another drink. Lani knew he shouldn’t be trying to keep up with her but it was something he couldn’t help. Two drinks in this short amount of time was sending a rather good buzz into his mind. This would have to be his last one. He needed to slow down as well. He set his bottle down on the table his power calling a coaster as he did so. Odion had done a rather good job housetraining Lani.

“It did not,” Lani protested, “Like five minutes max.” Time never made sense when he was drunk he could swear something took a few minutes and everyone else claimed it was a half hour. Admittedly Lani had been giggly and stumbling himself that it had probably taken him a while to maneuver Shapiro. At least he had enough sense to pick her up. He laughed, now that he remembered, “You were not making it easy,” He laughed, “How did we get home?” He didn’t remember. He remembered having one hell of a hangover the next day but he didn’t remember how he went from supporting Shapiro to being in bed.

Lani raised a brow at her and gave her a hurt face. “No there will be no need for that.” He flushed a little bit at the memory. No he had that memory branded in his mind. So many harsh words and so much heartache. All caused from their stubbornness and pride. He had leaned on Shapiro then, it wasn’t as bad as the time Odion had left because that time everything he knew had been torn through a shredder. But at least Shapiro hadn’t taken out the sense stick. He smiled back at her and wrinkled his nose at her in faint displeasure. “No, I don’t think that I was ever that mushy.” He shook his head unable to believe it. He probably was. But the most that he would ever admit to was equal not more. Lani was stubborn enough to make it seem like he didn’t believe it.

Lani’s brows rose. So soon. “Wow, that’s coming up quick.” He chuckled, “Is she going to at least pick out your own dress?” He grinned at her trying to remember the last time he had seen Shapiro in a dress. He was sure she’d be gorgeous it would just be weird seeing her in a dress. Different. Lani bit his tongue as tears started to arise in his eyes. His little punk, all dressed in white was going to get married. He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose to make sure that didn’t happen. But he was so unbelievably proud of her he could hardly contain his emotions.

A laugh came from Lani, “I suppose not, not that you would take no for an answer on any other day,” he winked. He smiled warmly at her and squeezed her hand. “I would be more than honored Shapiro. You too, I wouldn’t be here without you.” When it all boiled down, when everything had gotten out of hand had Shapiro not knocked sense into him he would probably not be here. He rose to his feet. “Now how are we going to celebrate?” He asked his eyes bright with excitement. “I know of a few good bars and restaurants around here that you’d like.”

[Haley Shapiro]

"Yeah you do." Haley chuckled with a small sip of her beer. His statement made her grin a little. She knew they were both very aware of who they were to each other. It was obvious that they cared for and loved each other. It went without saying.

"Sure, whatever makes you sleep at night." She cocked her eyebrow in his direction, rubbing her hands down her lap. She noticed the coaster but said nothing. She knew Lani never used to do that, which meant Odion was the one who persuaded the blonde to do it. Which made her realise she'd also changed a bit because of Sammy. A little smile appeared on her face at the thought. His question made her laugh, failing to recall that night. "I have a feeling we sort of passed out in a back alley somewhere. Because I woke up smelling like a bum." She snorted.

Haley pursed her lips and leaned forward to pat him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry. Not really. But that apology made you feel better, didn't it?" She grinned before quickly ruffling his hair and retracting her hand.

"We've been together for five years. I didn't see the sense behind waiting. Neither did Sammy." She laughed at his question before nodding. "Yeah. But, I mean I won't even know what the hell I would be wearing." She shook her head in amusement before noticing how Lani was about to tear up. She wanted to mercilessly torment him about it but to be perfectly honest, she felt like crying too.

"Damn straight. You better remember that." She squeezed his hand back before smiling. This was getting a little mushy and she had to stop it before they both started crying. Thankfully, Lani thought it up first and she jumped at the idea. "I wanna say bar first. But food sounds good right about now. I haven't eaten since this morning and I am starving."

She grabbed her jacket and shrugged it on before taking both her empty bottles and located the trashcan, dumping the bottles in and turning to Lani. Before she could change her mind, she ran to him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you." She whispered into his shoulder and grinned. "Don't get a big head but I couldn't have asked for a better big brother."

[OOC: Shall we wrap this up?]

[Lani Hunter]

“I sleep rather well at night,” he protested with a smile. Rather, the days. He slept away the mornings. Lani always had the blackout curtains pulled to prevent the vicious sun from invading his eyelids before he was ready. He laughed and nodded. “Geez, I think that was the first time I actually blacked out. And the last time I tried to keep up.” He admitted. He had a vague recollection of an angry redhead when he finally did get home but he didn’t remember sleeping in an alley. He put a hand to his head as if remembering the headache. That had been the worst day. “I never thought my hangover was gonna go away.”

So much had changed. Had it really been ten? Eleven years since he had graduated? It seemed like so many years ago. Lifetimes ago. Who he was back then… Lani wished he could go back in time and shake his younger self and tell him to stop complaining so much. To take life as it came. To not feel like he was worthless and a terrible person. There were so many things he had seen in himself now looking back that he hated. Sure some of those things hadn’t changed, Lani still never missed a chance to complain and had problems taking life as it came. Lani laughed and swatted her hand away. “You always were the worst at apologies.” He shook his head and ducked his head before fixing his hair with a run through of his hands. “Shrink again, will you? You’re not allowed to be tall enough to do that.” He said despite their being sitting down. He gave her a mock grumpy expression.

“Has it been that long?” Lani shook his head in wonder. That meant that he had Odion had been together… Oh wow. He was not going to think about it. It was making his feel old. “Either way I’m sure you’ll look amazing.” He nodded and rose getting a jacket before heading toward the door. Dinner and bar. As an afterthought he pulled out his phone and texted Odion that he would be out with Shapiro if he wanted to join. He wasn’t sure the answer he would get back would be sarcastic or not but perhaps Odion would be just as stunned as he was. He turned back to see what was taking Shapiro so long as she threw away her bottles and he smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Me a big head? Never.” He lied and squeezed her. “I’m so proud of you.” He couldn’t return the sentiment because of his blood sister but she was just as much his sister as Caroline. “I love you,” he said before tugging the door open, “Now let’s go get drunk! You’re getting married!” He picked her up in his arms and swung her around a few times unable to contain the sudden excitement.