We're Not Broken Just Bent (Lani.)

[Lani Hunter]

Lani sighed and forced the bad thoughts out of his mind. Wasn’t it some sort of omen to have bad thoughts on Valentine’s Day? Well considering St. Valentine’s Day’s history Lani supposed that bad thought on the outcome of a new relationship were about as small as omens could get. Lani wished that for once in his life things could be easy. But no, it seemed like the universe just liked to keep the hits on coming. Lani shivered a little. It was a little like drowning. Every time he started to get up the waves knocked him back down. He never found his footing and wave after wave crashed and… Lani blinked forcing the thought process to come to a halt. If he kept on like this Odion was going to catch on and he was going to have a panic attack. Neither were things that he wanted to happen today.

It was things that Lani never thought about, like wearing rental skates that seemed to bother Odion the most. Like the fact that there was a mess on the floor or things were disorganized. Odion was a picky person, but at least that meant he was decisive. Odion could rest easy, chances of him getting some foot fungus was very slim. Besides Lani was sure they cleaned them. Lani smirked at Odion. “How do you handle going to the gym?” He asked reading the displeasure on the redhead’s face. People sweat all over the machines and occasionally forgot to clean them off. And what about the weights, Lani doubted they cleaned those every day. Speaking of, they were supposed to start going at some point together. Lani shrugged it off, there had been a lot of things going on, from Jared and planning on how they were going to get him out of trouble, to Lani’s boss rearing his ugly head and things just went downhill from there. But there were some good points as well. Hopefully today would be one as well.

Lani glanced at Odion shooting him a smile. Good words indeed. Lani snorted out a laugh and smothered them giving Odion an insulted look. “I don’t giggle.” He protested as if appalled that anything sounding like a giggle came out of his throat. As if to dispute that a laugh bubbled up out of Lani and he shook his head at himself. “Smile,” he teased the redhead unable to help himself. Odion was adorable. Lani wondered if it was worth it to risk snapping a picture. It was pretty much the same as when Odion tried the burger. A similar facial expression at least. Of course a picture would be on his mind but then he weighed how much he wanted to go searching through a sea of snow to find his phone after Odion threw it and decided that laziness won. Odion was lucky for now.

“Who me?” Lani asked innocently. He gave an expression that mimicked cluelessness and innocence. He wasn’t sure how far it went. “Don’t worry. I’ll bet you’re a natural.” Besides if Odion looked like a fool that gave Lani permission to be one as well. At least Odion was a fool without meaning to. Lani was starting to find that a lot of his foolishness stemmed from his own inability to admit that he was wrong or see what was staring him in the face. Lani rose to his feet carefully and stabilized himself on the skates. It wasn’t quite as he remembered and he subtly waved a hand as he lost balance a little. He at least didn’t eat it on the first try. He pushed himself off and a little ways away from Odion. He turned to look back at Odion and slid himself a little closer. This was coming back rather well. Not quite as easy as riding a bike but at least his feet were a little used to the strange slipping sensation.

Ice skating was also a lot like physics. The center of balance was different than it was on land. “Okay, so we’ve accomplished standing,” Lani said with a nod of his head. Good start. “Nothing to moving now. Just slide, like… like you’re walking across a creaky floor,” he said relating it back to something that they both could understand. When walking on a creaking floor short sliding movements were best to check for areas that would make noise. Skating was similar to the sliding motion, only one got a lot farther with one push of a skate than a food on a floorboard.

[Odion Martins]

There were many times when Odion had wished things had been easier for him, but this simply wasn’t reality. And wishing was a waste of time. Was it so much to ask for a break though? He’d been fighting his whole life, now it only seemed natural to continue looking for something to fight for, even if it was nothing. It was like Odion didn’t know what to do with himself when he wasn’t fighting for basic human needs, and trying to get by. Living at Hammel meant nearly everything was handed to him, there was no fight involved. He couldn’t be a man of action here, so he had to seek it out. Well, ‘fun’ certainly had a way of finding him and drawing him out of his beloved shadows.

After living in filth for most of his life, Odion didn’t see the point in continuing to do so. That was something he didn’t feel the need to fight for. There were plenty of new, clean things, why rent them? It just didn’t make sense to him. Material objects were just that and weren’t meant to have much thought put into them, until they began to smell. These skates were definitely not in peek condition. He glanced over his shoulder at the man putting someone else’s rental skates back, completely ignoring the disinfectant spray and simply putting the skates away. Right, definitely not clean. Odion turned to look back at Lani, a winning smile on his face. “Whatever you’re imagining is probably how,” he said, figuring that Lani was thinking somewhere along the lines of Odion bringing in sanitizer and cleaning everything before he even touched the equipment. But Odion wasn’t that picky, otherwise he wouldn’t do parkour – now those surfaces were bad. No, some hand sanitizer would do the trick.

“I suppose you don’t lie either,” Odion said smugly. He knew the comment was in jest, but everyone giggled, it was a fact of life. Refusing to smile just because Lani encouraged it, Odi let out a huff, the cold air turning it into white swirls. Odion was definitely a dragon in disguise. But if Lani already had a picture of a similar expression, he didn’t really need another one, did he? At some point Odion would have to persuade Lani from stopping that nonsense. Pictures, what a nuisance. At least his temper could save him, just this once.

“Natural my arse...” he muttered to himself, just trying to stay upright was a challenge, never mind actually moving about on these things. It occurred to him that maybe Jared was right. But it didn’t make sense. Odion didn’t like to do anything he was uncomfortable with, but when the situation called for quick thinking, he could do it. How? Why? He wasn’t a planner, no, maybe an avoider, that would be a better adjective. Looking over at Lani, who only wobbled for a second, Odion looked down at himself and didn’t move a muscle. He obviously wasn’t the natural in this situation, especially when Lani seemed to remember how to skate so easily. Odion gave Lani an incredulous look. “That’s how you walk across a creaky floor?” The image in his head soon turned his face into all smiles. “You’re ridiculous,” he said, sighing. Well, they certainly couldn’t stand around all day.

Pretending like he was going to tiptoe forward, Odion put pressure onto the front of his foot. At least he was moving now, but it felt strange. He had taken a small step forward, but immediately wanted to stop, which probably wasn’t the best idea considering he hadn’t moved his other foot yet. It was far easier to balance on two flat things than two things as thin as paper. His arms swung around once as he fell backwards, but he was able to catch himself swiftly. Any wipe outs would look well timed with him. No goofy moments today. “Fucking... bullshit...” he muttered to himself, allowing his legs to give out so he could sit on the ice instead. He glanced up at Lani, “How about you just, drag me around instead?”

[Lani Hunter]

If life were easy they would call it something else. Life was hard. It was a fact. No one had it easy. Even those with riches and those that made it look like they never lifted a finger. No one knew a person or what they went through unless they looked at the world through their eyes. That was why just as much as the rich man shouldn’t judge the thief that gets their meal at his table, the thief shouldn’t judge the man providing the meal. But that was an easy thing to say but much harder in practice. Lani still couldn’t believe that Odion was getting an apartment. Lani knew that he should start looking but really he was probably just going to search for someone looking for a roommate so he didn’t have to try to find a place himself. Lani was honestly worried, he would probably end up living off of freezer meals or starving to death. Perhaps he could just eat when he was at school.

Speaking of, he should probably say something about that. His grades were better this year, and by better they were passing. The community college had been skeptical but really they just wanted his money so they let him in. He wasn’t even sure what he was going in for. He was just floating around at the moment. Sometime this summer he would have a meeting with someone about that. Lani glanced back at Odion and smirked. He was thinking more along the lines of Odion taking a bucket and just dunking things in. Which made Lani start laughing to himself at the image of Odion dunking a weight into a bucket of hand sanitizer and scrubbing it clean before starting his work out. Lani never really went with weights, he just ran and he didn’t really touch anything there so he just cleaned it after he was done and hope the person before him had done the same.

Lani gave Odion an impish smile and nodded, “Exactly.” Of course Lani didn’t lie. He fought back a laugh, that in and of itself was a lie and probably answered the question all in a word. Lani couldn’t help himself Odion was doing a good job of not having fun but Lani was working on resisting not poking the corners of Odion’s mouth upward. Odion had the most beautiful smile Lani had ever seen. He had the one that was a mask, the one that he gave everyone to fake happiness. Then there was that smirk that Odion got when he was sure he had someone on the ropes. But what Lani loved even more than that cocky smirk was the smiles that he got from Odion that made fireworks out of his eyes. Lani drifted a little ways away looking up at the gray clouds before spinning and drifting back toward Odion. He would have to stop trying to show off or he was going to fall.

Chuckling Lani resisted the urge to just start pushing Odion into motion. The time turner was never unsteady on his feet it was interesting to see that completely taken out of the equation. “How do you walk across a creaky floor?” Lani countered, that was how he had been taught and it worked for him so he was keeping it ridiculous or not. Lani gave Odion a look like he was going to protest but instead nodded and with a very serious expression said, “Yes?” As if to ask if Odion was just figuring that out. Lani swayed a little and did a little arm flapping himself as it came dangerously close to toppling. He needed to focus. But he was so unfocused because his focus was on Odion and not on the ice. Lani watched as Odion tried to move he saw it happening and made to reach out but he missed and Odion went down, rather gracefully.

Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, his mind told him harshly but Lani was still holding his hands over his mouth hiding his giggles. Lani shook his head and skated closer and extended his hand to Odion. “Oh come on, you’re gonna give up already? It’s not so bad, keep you center of balance over your front foot and push with your back,” Lani suggested. Ice had no friction and so all one needed was to start and then any propulsion from the back foot would keep the front foot moving and it was all a matter of switching feet after that. At least that was how Lani did it. But he wasn’t going to do anything more complicated than turn. And that was if he could remember how to do that. But first thing first was getting Odion into motion.

[Odion Martins]

Odion would continue to judge those around him, rich or poor. Being able to make quick judgements was something that had helped get him out of a lot of trouble, and keep himself intact. Indeed most of the things he did in life were for self-preservation reasons. Keeping away from people he felt were threatening was his top priority. And yet, here he was, putting everything on the line. Life had made bitter sense up until now, and the sweet moments made the bitter ones worse. He wasn’t as hard of a person as he thought he was, and he didn’t like feeling this uncomfortable. Odi hadn’t dared to suggest that Lani simply move in with him, the idea seemed treacherous. They simply weren’t at that stage of a relationship and Odion was petrified of getting there, if they ever did. If time could tell, then he would be preparing himself now for that fateful year of mishaps and getting to know one another.

Doing weights along with parkour was probably what kept Odion in the current shape he was in. If they were going to start working together, there were going to be some weights involved. It was just another thing they had yet to talk about and hadn’t yet gotten around it. It was all about pushing things under the rug as far as they could be pushed, even something as simple as getting together to train. Actually, they had a lot of things to train for, but nothing would ever come to fruition at the rate they were going. It might just destroy them in the end. Odion just gave Lani a look. If Lani was a saint, then Odion was a princess.

“Well I certainly don’t skate across them,” Odion said, smirking to himself, imaging Lani elegantly skating across creaky floorboards on a floor high up on a rickety building. Lani could be very elegant, but only when he wasn’t trying to be. He simply couldn’t be elegant and on the spot, especially when it came to dancing. The smirk would be wiped away soon enough.

Odion took Lani’s hand and stuck the ice with the back of his blades before lifting himself off the ice. “I’m not giving up, I simply haven’t figured it out just yet,” he said, glancing at Lani as the blond slipped towards him. Lani was right, there was virtually no friction between them. “I thought it’d be nice to watch you for a while,” Odi teased, breaking into a smile as he attempted to keep this date light. Odion had only given a twitch of movement and already his skates were threatening to let him fall again. Trying to right himself, Odion didn’t take into account that he was still hanging on to Lani as his arms flailed around. This was perhaps the most ungraceful Odion Lani would ever see. Oh well, if one could dance and the other could skate, they would be even.

[Lani Hunter]

There were all sorts of flaws in humanity, flaws that were tragic and flaws that were humorous. But no one was exempt from flaws. Lani had his fair share in the basket and Odion had his. It felt strange to be here on the ice having fun when they had targets on their backs. It seemed almost too normal. Lani was feeling confident in his power since the last terrible time he used it to exhaustion. He was confident that if someone tried to snipe them he would be able to stop it. He was beginning to alternatively wish he hadn’t stop the bullet from splattering his boss’s brains and feeling terribly guilty that he had tried at all. He didn’t tell Odion how much he was struggling with this. Lani was back to doing what he was good at and pretending he didn’t have a care in the world. Which was probably why he was focusing on the problem of finding a home for the next year instead of focusing on surviving the next year.

They should start training for a lot of things. Lani was hesitant to start training his power again, he was more confident than he had been but in the same breath that he could stop a bullet there was the fact that he could easily push the bullet forward. That scared him. This was great. A telekinetic that was afraid of his own shadow. This was a brilliant plan, universe, he thought with an air of annoyance. “What?” Lani asked clueless about the look Odion was giving him. Lani’s thoughts were a million places. They needed to train and they needed to plan but that could wait until tomorrow when it wasn’t Valentine’s Day. There was supposed to be nothing sad or angry on this day. Lani really didn’t know why this day was so special but it came them something to work on. Something to talk about that wasn’t so dark. They still needed to plan for Jared as well.

“You should try it; it’s more fun that way.” Lani said crossing his arms and giving a decisive nod. “I’m curious, did you teach yourself everything?” He asked out of the blue. Lani had had a teacher and had learned everything he knew from his boss and others he worked with. Then he had started to teach himself new tricks. It was the tricks that kept him in step in the dance with his boss instead of being a step behind. He had always been a trickster and he didn’t sell his tricks for free. But from his race with Odion he knew he had to get the redhead to teach him how he just ran over walls like they weren’t there. Lani was good but he wasn’t nearly as quick or graceful as Odion. Maybe it had something to do with dancing.

Lani grinned glad to hear Odion wasn’t calling it quits. “You’ll get there.” He said and narrowed his eyes at Odion as his face burned. He decided not the honor that with a response since the way he was blushing said enough. Lani braced himself and did his best to keep Odion upright. He gripped Odion’s arms and did his best to hold Odion up. Odion wasn’t making it easy with his feet slipping around all over the place and his flailing. Lani couldn’t help himself and he laughed. “Cool your jets, you’re not gonna be an ice skater in five seconds.” He helped Odion steady himself. Odion could steady Lani’s mind Lani could return the favor. “One step at a time.” Lani slipped a little away and held onto Odion’s hands and after a quick check to make sure he wouldn’t run into anything started to skating backward pulling Odion along with him. “Just one foot than the other, don’t actually pick up your feet.” He skated slowly letting Odion get used to the motion of the skates under him. “Right foot,” he said encouraging Odion to try himself, “Left foot.”

[Odion Martins]

Startled by the question, Odion took Lani in, making an assessment. “Not everything.” He had taught himself a lot of things, but pickpocketing came from watching others doing it first, and then perfecting it to his liking. Parkour had been born out of necessity. Learning how to read and write he had done on his own, determined to make the symbols and corresponding sounds make sense. He was often too stubborn for his own good, but this had been all for his benefit in the end. The card tricks were also his own, along with his interest for studying things for long bouts of time. When the gang in Europe had found him, they taught him everything they knew, and soon, he surpassed them in swindling. He wanted to be the best at something, and if that something was pickpocketing, so be it.

“I could be,” Odion returned smartly, panic still written on his face. It wasn’t fun feeling like you could fall at any given moment, but the worst that could happen would be a few bruises and scrapes, and looking like a total idiot. They had been through worse, and Odion bit his lower lip as he glanced over at Lani, preparing himself to skate backwards. “No! Nononononono,” he said, but Lani was already dragging him forward. So much for remaining calm.

Feeling like a child, Odion just let Lani drag him around, it’s what Odi had wanted in the first place. He didn’t dare lift his feet, nor did he slide them in any way. Odion was a human pole, staring at the ground with a scowl on his face and just waiting for the moment he would hit a break in the ice and gravity would take its course. What good would come of this anyways? Odion went from watching the ice pass over to Lani’s feet, gliding effortlessly, and backwards in a pair of skates. How was he doing this? Gripping Lani’s hands tightly, tighter than he had been thus far, Odion leaned forward a little, pressing his left foot forward and trying to move himself rather than be dragged around. But when it came to moving his right foot, he hadn’t compensated for the gained momentum, and his blade would entangle with that of Lani’s.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani looked at Odion as if waiting for a further explanation. It seemed like he was not going to get it. “What did you teach yourself?” Lani pressed out of curiosity. Curiosity killed the thief, Lani was a dead man anyways. Lani didn’t think he’d be half as good as he was if not for his teacher, and then the fact that he outdid his teacher. Had Odion learned how to pickpocket before he was in the gang or after? That was another thing Lani wanted to know more about. Especially since Jared and Rhett were involved. Lani wasn’t quite sure that he liked Jared or not, but then again his initial impression Jared was not all that great. It wasn’t Jared’s fault either, he had just more or less met Lani on a bad day. He was doing a lot of assuming from that point. And when it boiled down to it Lani just didn’t like the fact that Jared saw him when he was delirious and broken.

Chuckling at Odion, Lani just shook his head. “You can’t be good at everything.” It was taking all of Lani’s self control not to laugh, but he did nod his head. “You can’t just stand in one place. That’s not skating.” He grinned impishly using his power to give himself a visual of what was behind him so he didn’t hit anyone or anything. “See? You’re okay.” Lani said pulling Odion along with him. There now he knew that motion was possible without falling. He just needed to have the confidence and accept that he wouldn’t get it on the first try. It was like anything. Practice made perfect. Lani had skated a lot when he was a child and it was coming back very easily. Now Lani was not one to do anything fancy but he could pick up some speed. But he wanted Odion to learn and have a good time. As Odion stared at the ground Lani stared at Odion. It wasn’t often he got to look at Odion without being watched in return by those blues. The ice was not going to spontaneously break and if there was a bump Lani would hit it first and hopefully he wouldn’t then go down bringing Odion with him.

A smile crossed his face as Odion seemed to take the reins himself. Lani didn’t mind that it felt like his fingers were going to be broken off and he watched Odion’s feet. Lani saw it coming before he could figure out how to stop it. Moving his skate out of the way would cause him to wipe out, moving Odion’s would send Odion to the ice again. There were too many feet. This was why Odion should have listened and moved the feet Lani told him then they wouldn’t have this problem. Before Lani could think of a solution his foot was slipped out from under him. After that it happened so fast. His arms flailed and consequently because Odion was gripping them like iron, so did Odion’s. A second later Lani was falling and bringing Odion down with him. He hit the ice on his rump with a surprised expression on his face.

[Odion Martins]

Odion thought for a moment. “I’ll make you a deal,” he said, because he was getting tired of this skating business already. “We’ll go for hot chocolate after this, and I’ll tell you.” He wasn’t saying he wouldn’t share, just not right now. Besides, then he could sit and not worrying about toppling over at any given moment. Lani would just have to be patient, but hopefully his curiosity wouldn’t nag at him too much for the duration of the date. Well, Odion sort of hoped it would actually, because then it might end a little sooner. Maybe this was selfish of him to do, but at least the question could meddle in the back of his mind for a bit while the forefront was busy trying not to die via slipping on the ice.

Odion sighed. No, he couldn’t be good at everything, Lani was right. That didn’t mean it made him feel any better about the current situation. And all he wanted to do was stand there! He could stand like he had been practicing the position his entire life. He wasn’t sure why he had agreed to this at all. He honestly thought it wouldn’t be as complicated as it was. Odion resisted the urge to mimic Lani, feeling like that would only solidify how childish he felt in this moment. On the bright side, at least Lani got to be the teacher, and he wasn’t half bad. Odion was just a piss poor skater, end of story.

It was a good thing they only had four feet to deal with in this case. Odion had managed to throw his weight around Lani, so he wouldn’t crush the man, and in doing so, ungracefully belly flopped beside Lani. Odion glanced up at Lani and their eyes connected and he burst out laughing. Turning over, Odion gave a sigh and sat up, glancing at Lani briefly before trying to stand to give it another go. But his skates fell out from under him and he was sitting again, nearly landing on Lani after he had tried so hard not to. Making a frustrated noise, Odion cast Lani a sideways glance and shook his head. “I can’t do this without you,” he said, feeling stupid and helpless, but at least he was having fun. There were a lot of things he couldn't do without Lani, but maybe they could succeed together.

[Lani Hunter]

Odion had certainly caught Lani’s attention with the mention of a deal. Deals were dangerous but they were also terribly tempting. Lani nodded. “Deal,” he agreed with a smile. Chance of them both needing to warm up after this was probably very high. But his curiosity was trained now. If Odion tried to weasel his way out of this Lani was going to sit on him until he fessed up. Lani tried to ignore it; he was going to teach Odion to skate today. Maybe eventually this would be a romantic day. When curiosity and stubbornness meshed in Lani it was never a good thing for another person. One or the other would be enough to drive anyone insane but when they teamed up there was nothing that would stop Lani from knowing what he wanted to know. Why did it seem as if he and Odion were constantly trying to out stubborn each other? Or maybe it only seemed like that because neither wanted to give in to the other.

It was a good thing Odion decided not to mimic Lani or else the telekinetic might have given him a good push with his power and simply gotten out of the way and watched the results. He liked to think that he wasn’t vindictive but it was starting to seem as if he couldn’t even lie to himself about that anymore. He had a problem letting things go. Dwelling and picking things apart until there was nothing left, searching for the best, most fitting revenge for something. Even if it was something as petty as getting someone back for something with a well timed prank. At least this gave Lani a good excuse to hold Odion’s hands. Valentine’s Day, the day of love, and the day of figuring out how much one really felt about another. It was so different, so new. It was terrifying. But it was a good sort of terror. Like the butterflies before getting on a roller coaster and then the joy and excitement on board.

Lani would have to learn how Odion avoided landing on him, since when Lani crash landed he tended to not only take out Odion with him but land on him as well. Lani winced a little for Odion after hearing the sound of him hitting the ice. Lani’s face was still a mixture of shock and trying to figure out if it hurt or not when he met Odion’s gaze. He collapsed into laughter with the redhead holding an arm around his torso as if to hold it together. Lani coughed out some residual laughter as Odion started to stand and braced himself to be hit as Odion fell again. Lani couldn’t help himself he was laughing again. Mostly because Odion’s frustrated expression was so adorable. Lani smiled and shook his head a little at Odion before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and getting himself onto his skates. Somewhere in the back of his mind something was scolding him. Odion is fine asking for help, if it were you, you’d rather slide around on your stomach before asking for help, it told him before adding, Stubborn idiot. Lani reached out a hand and hauled Odion to his feet. “You don’t have to,” he assured Odion instead of answering his own thoughts. Obviously some part of him knew his stubbornness was idiocy since he was telling himself, but he didn’t need to keep hearing in from himself. “Okay, let’s try again, I’m not gonna get in your way this time, I think you had it.” He encouraged.

[Odion Martins]

Don’t give in, it was a mantra both had been practicing for quite some time. Odion had guessed Lani was attracted to him long before he and Adrianna had broken up. It didn’t bother Odion that Lani loved him and not Adrianna, but it wouldn’t have happened the way it did if he had pushed Lani any farther. Odion liked pushing people over the edge, he could’ve done the same thing to Lani, but, he didn’t. Why? Mostly it had been because he owed Lani to begin with, for being there for him when no one else could be bothered, but then it had changed into something else, and Odion had known he loved Lani for quite some time too, he was just too afraid to admit it. Besides, he needed time to make sure it wasn’t something he had seen in a time warp.

Odion had never been on a rollercoaster before; he doubted he would like it very much. Hopefully Lani would never think it was a good idea to bring Odion to a theme park. Then the blond would really see what it would be like to drag Odion around all over creation.

The time turner simultaneously stood and slid into Lani, this time stay on balance as he cast his gaze towards his boyfriend. It was no small feat – he was standing at least. He felt wobbly, but he was standing. Maybe if he could just focus on one thing... He was breathtaking.

Odion nodded once, ready to take the offer. Maybe if he just skated around a bit it would appease Lani. Glad he had no one to crash into just yet, Odion made small, skating baby steps forward, and after a few more seconds, pushed himself forward into longer strides. It was kind of like dancing, except he hadn’t figured out what to do with his arms yet so they remained out in front of him for balance. He was ready for anything, sort of.

Now he was heading back towards Lani, a bit better at skating already. Odion was a fast learner. Cautious optimism rose up in Odion’s chest as excitement swelled up inside him. He circled around Lani once and kept going. Maybe he was having a little bit of fun. The second time around wouldn’t be as smooth as Odion had gained more speed than he knew what to do with and was coming up fast on a part of the lake which wasn’t as round as he thought it was supposed to be. Whose bright idea was it to put a mound of snow here anyways?

Needless to say, Odion plopped into it, like he was in slow motion. A sour look came to his face as he adjusted his hat which had temporarily blinded him. “Okay, I’m done,” he was saying as he shook off his mitts, snow flying every which way. He hadn’t even gotten to his pants yet.

[Lani Hunter]

In many ways Odion and Lani were stubborn because they had to be. Life had made them need to have the ability to stand up for themselves and find the ability to push themselves to survive in the world they had found themselves in. Lani couldn’t count the number of times he did things simply to prove that he could and stubbornness kept him going when he wanted to quit. It was as much survival as his nature to question everything and never let anything just go by. It was a wonder that anyone dealt with him and his consistent thick headed stubbornness. It was just as much that he wasn’t about to change his mind about something or accept something in class that got him in trouble. Eventually he stopped asking questions in school because he got too many responses that were ‘that’s just how it is’. Then he came to Hammel and he just didn’t see the point of going and not learning anything anyways.

If Odion was sticking with Lani he was about to learn and experience a whole array of new things. Lani was sure that things would be the same for him. He and Odion might be very similar but they were very different in interests as well. There was so much that they could still learn from each other. Lani was nervous, what if they got to a point where they got sick of each other. He had officially said the ‘L’ word, was he stuck? What if something happened? Lani had made a single commitment in his life and that was to his boss and he had broken that and shit had hit the fan. What if he broke this commitment too? He swallowed his fear, he never thought he had commitment issues until people started throwing that word at him. It wasn’t a problem of being with one person, it was more of the worry of losing his freedom. But he had been with Odion as friends for so long he wasn’t sure that freedom was what he would really lose in a relationship. Was he supposed to lose anything at all?

Lani backed away from Odion giving him space but staying close enough that he could catch him if he needed to. He was already doing much better. Something Lani loved to do was take Odion out of his comfort zone, because then the masks were harder to keep up. He knew masks were still worn from time to time between them, he knew he did so. It was only fair that Lani got to take Odion out of his comfort zone when Odion took Lani’s out of his. Lani struggled not to laugh at Odion but he looked like he was getting the hang of it. Lani swayed back as Odion approached and then went around. “See, not so hard,” Lani said watching Odion circle and he followed after. Odion was picking up speed and Lani wasn’t sure that was a good thing. Cockiness was not a good thing on ice skates.

A hand flew to his mouth to stall the initial guffaw that threatened to burst out but after that he was holding onto his sides as he laughed. He shouldn’t laugh it was bad for karma. “Oh but you were doing so well!” Lani called struggling to quell his laughter. Odion was a snow beast. The snow this time of year was wet and sticky and Odion looked so ruffled. Lani skated over giving Odion a smile. He extended a hand to Odion and when he had Odion more or less on his feet again he held onto Odion’s hand and with his other dusted some snow off of Odion’s shoulder. “You’re terribly cute, red like that,” Lani commented with a sly look then blinked with a little surprise. He hadn’t actually said that out loud had he? He didn’t know if it was the chill of the air or if Odion was embarrassed but either way, he looked good with color on his face.

[Odion Martins]

Odion was still struggling in trying to find his place in this world. His life said one thing while a piece of paper dictated another, better life. He was a bitter person by nature, and without any nature to be had, he was heading down a dark path at a quick rate. It was precisely Lani’s stubborn nature that kept Odion around. Sometimes looking at Lani was like looking in a mirror, and that was the reality check Odion needed most of all. Someone who’s words actually held validity because Lani had been through similar things as Odion. That didn’t mean they’d been through the same things, but most teenagers weren’t thieves. That was similarity enough for Odion.

Not a day went by where Odion didn’t think Lani was going to up and leave. This of course wasn’t the rational part of Odi’s brain, it was the part that expected the past to become the future. The truth was, Odion was insecure when it came to relationships. He didn’t have commitment issues, he had abandonment issues. His relationship with Rhett had lasted nearly a year, so Lani was going to have to keep convincing Odion that he would stay. Seeing Lani almost every day meant that he hadn’t gone anywhere, and continuing to see him in various strands of the future, gave Odion rest. Maybe Lani was a lot more stubborn than Odion had initially thought. He wasn’t sure whether this was a good thing or bad.

Grumbling, Odion resisted the urge to smack Lani. Skating was easy, in essence. Just like parkour, or pickpocketing. All those activities took practice and skill, so of course they wouldn’t be difficult over time. But Lani had spoken too soon and Odion felt like too much of an idiot to continue. His pride was hurt. Maybe if he could come and practice by himself, he’d be more willing to skate with Lani now. Odion had tried, and was still trying, but he needed a break now. Lani’s laughter certainly wasn’t helping anything.

Balancing was difficult, it felt like the ice was playing tricks on him. Odion stared at it, wondering if he’d go through it with the intensity of his gaze – would holes burn through? Odi looked to Lani, feeling ridiculous like he had predicted. No, today was not the day he’d share the birth certificate news. Lani spoke and Odion’s eyes narrowed at him. Something about being cute didn’t strike Odion as appealing, and he wasn’t about to have it. In one quick motion, Odion sent himself backwards and into the snow again, his iron grip pulling Lani with him. Odion looked over at Lani, a bit of a smile returning to his face. “I refuse to be cute by myself.” He glanced up at the cloudless sky, “And if you think compliments will convince me to skate, think again.”

[Lani Hunter]

So long as Lani was around he was not going to let Odion continue down that path. Little by little Lani was trying to show Odion that not all people were bad. He wasn’t even realizing that he was doing so, but what he was conscious of was trying to get Odion to give people a chance. He could be surprised. The way they had surprised each other. Lani wondered if Odion hadn’t caught him stealing if would have ever gotten here. He didn’t think so. Odion probably would have told him to leave when he was hurting over Rhett and Lani, having no more experience with Odion than their confrontation in the snow would have been just fine leaving. Even as Lani thought about that he realized it was a lie. He wouldn’t have been able to leave someone hurting like that. Even if he was a pain in the ass back then. But then Odion probably would hate him for it.

They were quite a pair. Eventually they would have to talk about their problems to find a solution. Lani loved Odion and loved being with Odion but Adrianna had had abandonment problems too. Lani was afraid of getting too comfortable and not being able to leave and Odion was afraid that he would leave. Lani had a problem being sure about these things and he wasn’t sure of the future and where they would be in the future. That reminded him, he hadn’t spoken to Adrianna in a while. He hoped she was okay. He hadn’t heard anything about her mother recently so he was just hoping that no news was good news. He knew it would come eventually and he would mourn with Adrianna and be there for her to catch her when she fell. He wanted to keep his promise and still be there for her. Lani looked at Odion, he hoped the redhead wasn’t the jealous type. He knew Lani loved him but he had made Adrianna a promise and he wanted to be there for her as well.

Lani grinned brightly at Odion completely aware that he was taking a shovel and digging his grave nice and deep. It was worth it. Now Lani wasn’t about to do tricks on skates but he was at least staying on his feet. Odion was good at so many things and even now he was trying and Lani counted that high on the list. He should probably stop laughing but someone pinwheeling their arms and falling into a snow pile was enough to make anyone crack a smile and chuckle. Helping Odion to his feet was his atonement. “We’re measured by the strength we have to keep getting up when life knocks us down.” Lani said with a smile in response to Odion’s grumbling. Oh he was digging his hole very very deep. Lani just had a terrible habit of getting himself into trouble. He seemed addicted to it. He was either an unlucky or a magnet of bad fortune. Odion had said he was lucky, but he had never specified if that was good luck or bad.

“Hey!” Lani yelped as the snow mound rose up to meet him. He popped out of the snow and gave Odion a narrow eyed look before sighing to himself and smiling. Okay, he deserved that. Lani laughed a little at the thought. “Jerk,” Lani said with a laugh and took some snow and shoved it into Odion’s face. He laughed hoping that snow in his face would at least distract him from any redness on Lani’s face. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Lani said answering the latter comment. “But I’m not carrying you back to our shoes. You’re gonna have to get there somehow,” Lani pointed out.

[Odion Martins]

Most people were bad, so no, not all people were bad, but every person had badness in them as well as good. Odion wasn’t sure why he liked drawing that bad out of everyone, but he did, like he was proving some kind of unknown point. But if there was someone like him in the world, there was someone equally depraved, proving that everyone was good. Odion had yet to tell Lani about the Drama teacher at Hammel, who had pegged Odion’s personality and struggles in less than twenty minutes. The man intrigued Odion, but he hadn’t given it much thought. Whatever happened between them, it should be known that Lani cared first, and had Odion been in Lani’s shoes at that point in time where Lani had found him broken and hurting over Rhett, he would’ve walked away. Lani was the better man, because Odion would’ve had no problem leaving someone in that kind of desperate state. And then the cats had come along...

Everyone had their problems and strong suits, Odion simply didn’t like talking about his. They weren’t anyone’s business and he was already driving himself crazy with his thoughts, there was no need to add that to the mix. Odi often thought about the few friends he had made here at Hammel, who up and disappeared half the time and the other half pretended like he didn’t exist. Granted some had graduate, like Logan, but no contact had been made sense then. It was just another reason why Odion didn’t take the time to get to know people, for it would turn into time wasted. No, he’d much rather observe than participate, things were better that way. If Lani wanted friends that was his prerogative, Odion just sincerely hoped that he wouldn’t put someone else in danger, especially someone who couldn’t save themselves. Adrianna was a weak creature, and Odion didn’t hate her, he just didn’t feel sorry for her either.

“Do you carry a pocketbook of quotes?” Odion asked, asking his head in mock disappointment. One of these days he would present Lani with a hand-made book of all the stupid things he’d said over time. It would just be to harass him of course. Odion didn’t mind terrible habits, so long as he could make a mockery of them. And it wasn’t that he had stopped loving at this moment in time, he just didn’t like him. Honestly, when Lani found an itch he scratched until it bled. That was usually about the time where Odion had had enough, and if it was a reaction Lani wanted, it was a reaction he would receive.

“You’re the jerk,” Odion mumbled, sloughing off yet more snow from his body. When he got sick, Lani better be the first person to volunteer to take care of him. Odion was still in a playful mood, but it was going sour rather quickly. He didn’t want to ruin the day but he didn’t want his failures being rubbed in either. It was a careful balance he wasn’t quite sure how to handle, especially with Lani the fox around.

Odion rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you just bring them over here,” he rolled out of the snow pile and back onto the ice. The next time Lani mentioned ice skating would be too soon. “Captain Obvious...” Odion muttered under his breath, glancing back at Lani. If he wanted to make things difficult, Odion would crawl back to his shoes at this point. He secretly wondered to himself how easy it would be to walk on normal ground once they were out of these blasted rental skates. Now Odion had had enough time to think about the different germs percolating in his skates, and he cringed. He just had to be bad at this didn’t he? Did Lani had some kind of ulterior motive? Did he enjoy watching Odion fail at various tasks? Was this some kind of lesson about dancing? Or maybe fishing? Odion wasn’t sure, but he wanted to know.

[Lani Hunter]

They were constantly competing and constantly challenging each other. They did it when they trained their powers, they did it in conversation, really it would be surprising if they ever calmed down enough to have a normal conversation. Though Lani was of the opinion that their conversations were normal, just their kind of normal not anyone else’s. A lot of things were dependent on perspective. Normal being one of them. Lani was finding himself in a strange place. He wanted to be with Odion and be with him all the time. But that would be considered clingy wouldn’t it? And at the same time Lani still wanted to have his privacy and moments to himself where he could just read and write. Oh, there was another thing he had yet to tell Odion. He would get around to it. There the crux. Get around to it, eventually. Lani was a planner and putting things off was his specialty. He would spend hours planning just for the purpose of procrastinating.

Lani knew what Odion was good at, at least as much as he had seen. What he didn’t know was what Odion was bad at. It worked the other way. Odion knew Lani was a bad dancer, but did he know that Lani failed epically when it came to blatant memorization of facts. He loved history and he knew things but get into the details and specifics and Lani didn’t have a prayer. Lani was bad at doing things that scared him. Like using his power with Odion around or being around water. The only thing that made him here was the fact that ice was thick and sure beneath them. He was good at getting to know people but he was bad at letting people know him. That they shared at least. Lani knew Odion was bad at letting people in and now he knew that Odion was bad at ice skating. But chances were if Odion really put his mind to it he would be better than Lani in a no time. That was partially the reason Lani didn’t want him to give up. He knew that Odion could do it. But it didn’t seem like Odion believed it but Lani did.

Chuckling Lani shrugged, “I guess it depends, they’re stuck up here.” He tapped his skull and shrugged again. “More or less.” Lani liked to think that Odion found his quoting endearing. It was just something that happened. He found a word or a quote he liked and he never forgot it. Lani also had a terrible habit of grabbing onto something and dwelling on it. But Odion probably already realized that. He was cold in the snow and shifted to get himself out of it. He was on his feet for about ten seconds before he was on the ice again. He found himself laughing at himself. Okay so karma was definitely getting back at him for this one. He definitely deserved that one. He got to his feet again, more carefully this time. Steady now, he glanced at Odion and gave him a smile. “Sorry,” he said honestly.

“You think that’ll be easier?” Lani asked skeptical but he was being annoying and so he looked toward their shoes and grabbed the pair that weren’t his and floated them in front of Odion a moment later. Odion was annoyed and for some reason Lani was having trouble whipping his smile off of his face. Odion was reading too far into it. Lani had thought skating could be fun and it had been for a while. Odion had even gotten the hang of it for a little while. Lani didn’t expect Odion to be an amazing skater as soon as he put the skates on. “Why don’t we get that hot cocoa?” Lani offered with an apologetic look. So his idea had been a flop, maybe hot cocoa would be better.