Clarity (Lani.)

[Odion Martins]

As promised, Odion had Lani’s board in hand on the way to the training fields. It was a beautiful day, and the time turned was hoping that Lani wouldn’t go back on his word. Lani promised to give this levitation escapade another shot, and Odion had been training to keep up with Lani’s powers. He wasn’t sure who would be stronger now, but hopefully they would find out soon enough. Ever since their last, er, trip to Boston, Odion had been training intensely whenever he wasn’t spending time with Lani. Training meant training his power, training his body, and preparing for the unexpected. Everything else had taken a back seat – he missed learning new magic tricks, but that would simply have to wait.

Allowing himself to lie out in the grass, Odion closed his eyes and allowed his mind and time to wander. He would wait here for Lani all day if he had to, and he refused to answer his phone because Lani knew damn right where Odion would be today. His power was much stronger than it had been the last time they trained, it was sharper, more focused, able to do more things. His strange time stoppings and losing track of time altogether had lessened, and this peak in his life was probably due to Lani’s presence. If fueled a fire in Odion that nothing else could.

Odion felt someone familiar approach, a feeling that made everything right, complete if you will. Time had found Lani before Odion had, and Odion was better in tune with Lani now than ever before. Trust, time, and love brought them together like nothing Odion could explain, and he didn’t want to. His eyes snapped open as he glanced over at Lani between the glade of grass. He was goddamn angel with the sun illuminating him like that, and Odion closed his eyes again to rid himself of the image – they were here to train.

Springing to his feet finally, Odion dusted off his loose fitting cargo pants and v-neck t-shirt. Let’s just say he had a few surprises for Lani today. The board stayed on the ground while Odion wrapped his arms around Lani’s waist, tugging him as close as possible. “So,” Odion said, grinning madly, “you showed up.”

[Lani Hunter]

It was tomorrow. Tomorrow had come far too quickly for Lani’s taste. He woke with a stirring of unsettled nerves and a unshakable sense of foreboding. At least he didn’t wake up without a clue as to the source of this paranoia. Odion was going to attempt to stay onboard while Lani’s crazy power tossed him in the air. This was never going to work, but at this point Lani didn’t see many other options. He had been backed into a corner and he was a little annoyed by that. One of two things was going to happen today. A) Lani was going to succeed and no one would die, he would most likely learn something and all would be well; or B) Odion was going to die and Lani would forever live with the guilt of his death on his hands. Lani’s mind was rooting for the first but his paranoia called toward the last.

He dressed with dragging feet. He took his time pulling on his jeans and tshirt. Yet he still got ready too fast. Maybe he should surf the web for a bit? He sighed unable to find anything interesting their either. He looked at his phone and considered for a moment telling Odion he was sick. Lani quickly dismissed that with a shake of his head. Odion would know full well he was lying and probably just to shook that fact home probably come and bother him while he was ‘sick’. Lani sighed, there had to be some way out of this. He was clever this wasn’t supposed to be hard for him. Or maybe he rested too much confidence in his own cleverness, which was more than likely not.

There was always the chance that Odion didn’t show up. That had been Lani’s intention when he jumped that on Odion. Maybe he would either forget or have come to his senses and not brought the board. He sighed heavily and with a breath of a swear he grabbed is keys and trotted down the stairs. While Lani didn’t exactly approach with haste he didn’t lag either. He stuffed his hands in his pockets making sure that ‘displeased’ was a clear enough message. This was his fault, so long as he was in control he could have just kept denying Odion this. But he was cocky and he was kicking himself for handing over the board. Odion should take care of his imagination for Lani was the wolf in sheep’s clothing. His eyes searched for Odion and found him and the board. He suppressed another sigh and closed his eyes, collecting his sanity.

Despite his best efforts to be grumpy when Odion rose he smiled. Lani returned the embrace and hugged Odion like it was the last time he would. “You’re sure there’s no way I can talk you out of this?” He asked in one last desperate attempt to change Odion’s mind. Damn that board. If he hadn’t been riding it when he first almost tried to take of Odion’s head none of this would be happening. Odion wouldn’t even know that was a thing that Lani was trying. He glared at the board over Odion’s shoulder. Lani gave a long sigh of suffering and shook his head at Odion. “You’re crazy, you know?” Another thought came into Lani’s mind. Distraction! He pulled Odion tighter trying to minimize the space between them. It was strange, he really didn’t care who saw, most people knew unofficially anyways. He gave Odion a kiss. Plan Distraction was fully in progress. Odion should be proud, spontaneous planning.

[Odion Martins]

Odion smirked in the sunlight. “This was all your idea to begin with,” he reminded his boyfriend, because Odion just happened to be in the same area. He just wanted to help Lani succeed even though the blond believed that Odion was just trying to annoy him. And before Odion could say another word, Lani’s lips came crashing down on his. Odion’s eyes popped open in surprised, before giving into the moment and closing, both hands reaching up to cup Lani’s face. Apparently Lani didn’t care about displays of affection anymore. Not that they were in the middle of a hallway or anything...

Breaking the kiss, Odion wondered what Lani was trying to do. “I know. And you know, the sooner we get training over and done with, the sooner we can fool around,” he said, because the grin he was wearing certainly was making him feel like a fool. Taking a couple steps backwards, Odion lowered himself to grab the board, his eyes never leaving Lani, just in case someone wanted to run away. Odion didn’t understand what Lani was so nervous about anyways.

“Come on,” Odion said, holding the board lazily at his side, “I know you have a plan for this.”

[Lani Hunter]

“Lies,” Lani retorted unwilling to admit something like that. Yes, it was his idea for him to get on the board and ride on it, he had fallen. No, it was not his idea that Odion get on the board. That was all Odion’s idea and if someone asked Lani would no sooner take credit for this stupidity than he would jump in the lake. With this new plan in the works Lani started to feel a little bit of false bit of hope. This was not going to work. And it didn’t. Lani scoffed a little bit, Odion wasn’t supposed to agree with that. Lani couldn’t help but return with an impish grin. Odion looked like a kid in a candy store, or rather a thief in the midst of riches, that seemed more Odion’s style. “But…” Lani was going to say they could fool around now but Odion moved away and grabbed that accursed board. He would break that thing.

Lani gave Odion a pleading look. He did not want to do this, this was frying his nerves. Seeing Odion with the board made it all too real. His eyes darted looking for an escape and failing. There was nowhere to hide and his legs tensed with the desire to run in the opposite direction. If he did he knew Odion could catch him. If not with speed then power. And one look from Odion, one touch and Lani melted like butter. He whirled on his heels and threw up his hands in defeat. He was half intent on stalking away but he had better just get this over with. Like a dose of bad medicine. He turned just as abruptly back to Odion and crossed his arms. “Fine. Fine. Just give me a minute, okay?” This was crazy. Something terrible was going to happen. He couldn’t lose focus, he couldn’t afford to. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him not to do this, this was a bad idea. But if Odion wanted to try it, Lani knew he would never let it go if Lani turned and walked away. Lani’s eyes closed for a moment and he let down his walls.

He took a long slow breath and just listened. The wind a few birds, his heartbeat. He imagined he could heart Odion’s as well, but that was just wishful thinking. He slowly lowered the gate and let more of his power flow through. It raced across the area giving him a rather good picture of the area around them. He felt the board and he let his power explore it for a moment, testing it, finding weak spots in the wood and discovering it’s balance. He opened his eyes and gave Odion a shake of his head. “Whenever you’re ready.” The words passed his lips and Lani decided in that moment they were both crazy. Well at least they could be locked away together. That being if they survived the day. Why couldn’t it still be yesterday?

[Odion Martins]

Odion shrugged, “You would’ve tried again eventually. Think of this as moving the process along,” he continued, his hands moving in small circles as though his was explanation enough. Lani was just over thinking this again. He’d do well to just let things go and see what happened. Nothing could essentially go wrong, not when Odion was a walking, talking, reset button. More talking, but still fully functional. Even if they did fool around now, Odion wasn’t going to let this go, and then no one would have any fun in the end.

Watching Lani with interest, Odion waited for the telekinetic to return on his own. His head tilted to the side while Lani found his happy place. “There’s nothing we can’t do,” he said, tilting his head to the side. This was small stuff compared to getting out of Boston, the courage to even begin this relationship, and the other moments they had shared. This was manageable, this was possible.

Holding the board securely, Odion felt Lani’s power being let lose. It played in the grass like wind before tugging at the board experimentally. This wasn’t a first encounter. Giving a nod of his own, Odi let the board drop in front of him, stepping onto it like a makeshift skateboard which would soon become a hover board. There were weights in the various pockets of his pants, and his own power was preparing for whiplash. “Straight up to start?” He asked, a careful smile on his face, his feet planted firmly, distributing his weight equally. Lani’s power would have plenty to grab onto, and if something went wrong, Odion had fallen from high heights and survived. Unlike Lani, he liked testing his limits.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani just shrugged and didn’t say anything. He couldn’t tell Odion that he was wrong but he wasn’t going to admit that the redhead was right either. Odion’s power gave him a distinct advantage as to not dying. It was certainly something that should make this easier for Lani to accept but he was too paranoid. It was irrational and he knew it but he wasn’t going to stop it. He felt he had hurt Odion enough over the past few months he didn’t want to add physical abuse to that. Though, technically when he threw him in a closet that could be counted as abuse. Even knowing that Odion’s power could stop his Lani was unsettled. That terrifying emotionless consciousness that descended the time he had last trained with Odion was more than enough to make Lani wary. If Lani had a goal he knew that if he fell into that state that goal would happen and whoever got in his way would be flattened.

Opening his eyes Lani narrowed them at Odion. No, nothing. He sighed, yet again, this time in resignation. He reached out and touched Odion’s hand briefly. “But to work together do we have to work against each other?” Together Lani had no doubts that they could take over the world. But Odion did have a point. In order to work together they had to trust each other. Part of that was trusting that Odion knew what he was getting into and trusting Odion knew his power enough that he would be able to fix any goofs. For Lani it wasn’t Odion he didn’t trust, it was his power. Lani didn’t know why he had this much power, and frankly he didn’t care to ask because he had a feeling he wouldn’t like the answer. But if he could keep it to himself and use it for himself and Odion he would be fine with it.

The board dropped and it took all of Lani’s will power not to whisk it away with a halfhearted ‘oops’. Odion stepped on and Lani’s power tested his balance a little bit. He pushed a little but there and pulled on Odion’s shirt a little bit. He sighed and told it to stop. He needed all of it. He nodded, too afraid of the babble that might emerge from his lips. Lani gathered his power around the board. For this to work successfully he had to not only lift the board but compensate for changes in balance. The power gathered like a doom before the storm. Nothing happened. Lani kept willing it to go, but it was like jumping into a cold pool. One kept convincing themselves to jump in without doing so. Now, Lani told his power and it flinched forward and Lani jerked it back. At this rate all he was going to succeed in was giving himself a headache. His eyes narrowed with concentration and his power continued to grab it but flashes of Odion being flung backward were all that kept coming to mind. Something terrible was going to happen.

The more power that gathered the more the feeling pressed upon him. He took a long slow breath and remembered something an old English teacher had told him once. ‘Words had power’ the man had said, ‘use them.’ Lani wasn’t sure he could and he felt rather ridiculous as he extended his arm letting it rise slowly before letting it hand in the air as if it were holding something. A little ‘shhh’ sound slipped through Lani’s teeth and he watched the board carefully. The need to keep Odion from harm sharpened Lani’s focus and a few beads of sweat broke out on his forehead as he sifted his power through his mind. The power build up behind his eyes like a dam. But just a little stream came through and when Lani, not having realized he had closed them, opened his eyes a crack to see that the board and Odion were hovering about two inches from the Earth’s surface. “Huh!” Lani exclaimed in shock and the board rocketed upward as his focus faltered and the flood burst forth with Odion atop of the board. Lani’s power scrambled tossing the board aside to get to Odion. This was a mess.

[Odion Martins]

Lani just shrugged and didn’t say anything. Odion only tilted his head slightly upwards in triumph. Just because they weren’t going to discuss how right he had been, didn’t make him any less right. Eventually, Lani’s power would become so great, that nothing could stop him. Maybe he was afraid of that kind of power, what it could do in the wrong hands. But he had to trust that his hands were the only ones he had, right or wrong. And Odion hoped to help Lani reach his true potential, the first self-less thing he had done in a long time. The action had spurred on other good deeds, and Odion couldn’t abandon the endeavour now.

“Sometimes,” Odion said, cupping both of his hands around Lani’s hand as it retreated. “You need a certain kind of darkness in order to see the stars.” If he couldn’t give Lani confidence, something to rely on, no one could. Lani’s power tugged at the board, and then at his shirt. “Well, that could come in handy later...” Odion said offhandedly, though he doubted Lani was listening to the pointless banter.

Lani had closed his eyes, and Odion could only imagine what they looked like now. Odi braced himself, feeling the board begin to hover. He didn’t speak a word, only looked down and took care not to move at all, even slowed down his breathing. He was hovering a couple inches off the ground. Odion hadn’t realized Lani had opened his eyes again. It hadn’t gone too far up and Odi was able to maintain himself afloat, but then something else was tugging at him and the board was gone, tossed aside. Lani’s power had managed to grab onto anything that was on Odion’s body, clothes, jewelry, and yes, the random rocks in his pants.

Watching Lani from midair, Odion pushed the never ending snake charm out of his field of vision as it hovered around him. “You have to stop hating the board so much,” Odi said, not shocked or put off in the slightest. “It’s not going to hurt me, it’s just an extension.” Odion was calm waters in the midst of a storm, and nothing could change how he saw the world. And Lani should take refuge in that fact. “If that was bad, I would’ve stopped time,” Odion added, quick to encourage Lani to try again. “You can put me down now,” he demanded, wondering why Lani was still holding on so tightly. Maybe they didn’t even need a board.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani ignored Odion’s triumphant gesture as his mind lost to oblivion anything but the worry. He honestly was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t really realize that Odion was speaking against until the redhead’s hands enclosed his own. He seemed to start out of his thoughts and his eyes fell on Odion’s. Lani found it in himself to smile at that. “Thanks, Odion.” Even just a little thing like that was able to give Lani just enough to know that things were going to be alright. One way or another he and Odion would get through this. Just like they always had. It almost seemed as if nothing could defeat them. Then there was Boston. And then their powers. In truth their biggest enemies rested in themselves and in each other. But within each other and themselves was also the greatest strength.

It all happened so fast and Lani didn’t even think about it as it grabbed onto Odion. He did really have a hold on everything. Were those rocks? Why the hell did Odion have rocks in his pockets? Lani wondered momentarily. His power found the necklace he had given Odion and it turned in his mental hands. He was fascinated by its shape and touched deeply that Odion kept it with him. His hand went reflexively to his own pocket where the compass rested. It was such a familiar weight to him now. Periodically he wore it like he was supposed to, around his neck, but it seemed to have found a home in his pocket, close at hand. He had been working on wearing it around his neck but it was so unfamiliar when he hadn’t ever worn anything remotely close to jewelry before. He often times forgot to put it around his neck.

He blinked and looked sullenly up at Odion. How was he being so calm about all of this. Lani raised a brow and shrugged. “I don’t hate it,” he lied, “It’s just frustrating.” Lani looked up at Odion and sighed a little bit. “I know, I know,” he claimed but part of him was still worried that Odion would be hurt. Lani was so focused on not letting Odion get hurt that he hadn’t really given holding him in midair a thought, he just did it. “Oh, sorry!” He said and despite his effort his power vanished quickly from Odion dumping him unceremoniously on the ground, thankfully only from a few feet high. “Sorry!” Lani repeated his apology and took a few steps forward to offer Odion his hand. He was pretty sure when Odion wanted to be put down that didn’t mean all at once. He smiled sheepishly. He was perhaps one of the worst telekinetics on record.

Telekinesis tore away from him as he sent it in search of the escaped board. The flimsy wood came floating back to them soon enough and set itself on the ground. Oh, how well behaved it was when it was just on its own. Lani glared at it and then at Odion. Lani knew better than to wish that that was enough for Odion. Odion would want to see results. And Lani was honestly not sure that he would be able to give them. “You don’t have to try again,” Lani said almost hopefully. He knew it was probably more than he should hope for but hey, he could hope. He just needed to not lose focus. Easier said than done. Looking at Odion, Lani wondered what it was about them that brought them together, not only as friends but into this relationship. Perhaps it was because Odion believed in him when no one else did. He didn’t see Lani as a punk or just some kid looking for attention. Odion recognized, but didn’t accept or let Lani wallow in his flaws.

[Odion Martins]

Odion looked only slightly surprised as the ground came up to meet him, landing on his hands and knees. “It’s fine,” he said, taking Lani’s hand, though he didn’t really need it, “I’m not made out of glass.” They were training, and this was to be expected. Odion was light on his feet, despite having to compensate for the extra weight. He was surprised Lani hadn’t said anything about it, but decided that perhaps the telekinetic had already figured it out. Odion tilted his head at Lani’s little smile. “I just hope you’re not doing this to me on purpose.” He didn’t really believe Lani could pretend to be as nervous as he was, but, just in case, this was his fair warning.

Odion smirked. “I’m not trying anything again,” he said, lifting a hand to trail down Lani’s face and neck, “you are.” Perhaps Lani just needed a little more motivation. Truth be told, Odion was already seeing improvement. Lani had lifted him off the ground, and it had been steady. He was a step closer to the initial dream, but his excitement made his get carried away – literally. They were starting small for a reason.

Backing away slightly, Odion put his hands out in preparation. “It’s a board Lani, a board with me on it. I’m not drowning, I’m not on fire, it’s just for fun,” he said nonchalantly, stepping onto the board again. Lani didn’t have to keep trying, but the time turner would sure feel like a dolt for standing on a board in the middle of a field for no damn reason.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani fretted as Odion complained about not being made out of glass. “I know, but…” he started and sighed resigned again. He gave Odion a little annoyed look. “But what’s with the rocks?” He cocked his head to the side giving Odion a questioning look. Was he trying to weight himself down or something? Lani snorted out a laugh at Odion’s accusation. He wasn’t but the idea was tempting. “Oh, you’d know.” Was all Lani said on the matter. “But no, I’d like to keep you around a little longer.” He winked at Odion and bit his tongue between his teeth as it was going to stick out. He remembered belatedly that it annoyed Odion when he stuck his tongue out so he stopped it halfway and probably ended up looking more like a dog caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. Odion really just shouldn’t have given Lani the idea, his lips turned up a little into a sly grin and his eyes drifted as his imagination ticked off all of the potential in this. Maybe he’d learn something, not necessarily what they wanted, but something.

Goosebumps followed Odion’s hands and Lani’s head tilted a little bit as he listened. Then the punch line came and Lani groaned. Why him? It was really a terrible question, one that people shouldn’t ask the universe too often. Lani took Odion’s hand in his as the redhead started to retreat and frowned at him. Odion knew Lani was only doing this because he thought it would make Odion stop talking about it. It wasn’t working. “It’s not working.” Lani told him. His thoughts were dark and he could only see the worst. He held onto Odion’s hand and pulled it to his chest so he could cradle it with both hands. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” He said the question hidden in it was ‘why’. Why did Odion insist on getting tossed around? Did he not realize that it was hard for Lani to concentrate when Odion was in danger. Something clicked and he let go of Odion and allowed him to retreat. Maybe that was it. Odion was putting himself in danger so that Lani would have a reason to focus and concentrate more than he would otherwise.

“What?” Lani snapped his eyes flickering for a moment in panic. Why would Odion even put those images into his head? As if Lani didn’t have enough to worry about. What if he flung Odion hard enough that he fell into the lake and drowned. Oh god! He shook his head harshly, that wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t going to let it happen. Fun. Right. So much fun. He sighed and his hands balled into fists and he closed his eye. “Fine. Since you’re so much fun, let’s get this over with.” Lani felt like he had figured it out. Odion wanted to be the one in danger because he knew Lani would be afraid of hurting him. Well, he was right. Without any forewarning this time Lani grasped the board. It rose slightly and Lani’s brow creased with concentration. It was slow going and as Lani watched it’s progress he didn’t allow himself to get excited one way or another. Focus. Focus. He narrowed his eyes and when Odion was about a foot off the ground Lani stopped. He let a little more of his power emerge and it circled Odion touching on his shirt and those rocks gently know they were there. Now he had to keep it steady. Lani’s hands had moved up in front of his face. “Left.” He said and he felt the weight shift on the board as he moved it to the left at a snail’s pace. Why was it working now? Lani felt a flash of a headache coming on but it was light. But the pain was enough to make him forget his goal for the moment and the board as if reacting to his sudden pain it shuddered a little bit and it started to shake.

Oh, no. Odion was going to fall again. The board bucked and suddenly steadied and shot not only upward but forward. Hang on! he wanted to scream at Odion but his voice dropped from his throat and he just watched his power to control it gone and his attempts to grab it only making it more turbulent.

[Odion Martins]

Odion grinned. “Footholds,” he said simply. The more Lani had to grab onto, the better Odion’s fall would be. They weren’t boulders, the largest one spanned the width of his palm. Odion smirked, and then laughed as Lani stuck his tongue out about halfway before drawing it back. “Well that sounds promising...” He said, glad that it had never crossed Lani’s mind to even bother thanking Odion for his time.

Lani’s irritation only made Odion want to try more. Yes they had made some progress, but they had the whole day ahead of them, surely they could try again. Odion found Lani’s caring nature truly very sweet, but Lani wasn’t willing to train his colossal power, and that was perhaps putting those he loved into more danger. That was the point of training, to test your limits, to see what you were made out of. Odion didn’t believe he could get hurt from this.

Odion looked up at Lani sheepishly. “See, this is much better in comparison.” He hadn’t meant to make Lani more on edge. Odion nodded, unwilling to botch things up again. He would hold his tongue if it meant Lani was concentrating on trying again. Odion felt the board lift from under him again, and he didn’t try to stop or force the motion. A look of hard concentration was on Lani’s face, and the ginger watched his boyfriend for any warning signs. About a foot into the air, Odion glanced from the ground, back to Lani, back to the ground, and repeated this action. He was also trying to help Lani track his progress, because even though he was acting like he didn’t care now, he’d probably want more details later.

The board began moving as Lani commanded it, and Odion couldn’t help but smile. Lani was doing it! But then the board started to shake and Odion’s first thought was to look at Lani, and make sure he was okay. He didn’t have much time to feel relief as the board seemed to take on a life of its own. Odion moved forward with it, reaching out to wrap his fingers around the front end. The board turned sideways and continued to zigzag, and for some reason, Odion was smiling. Actually, he was sort of hollering. “It’s working!” He said, even though Lani might think otherwise. Maybe his telekinesis just wanted to play? Odion didn’t seem to mind, it was better than moving slower than molasses. Odion wasn’t afraid of Lani’s power like Lani was – Odion wasn’t afraid of much of anything.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani found himself laughing. Clever Odion. Not only did it give him more weight to stay on but it gave Lani more to grab. And grab Lani did. His mental hands seemed to only work like hands occasionally and had a hard time picking and choosing what to grab when he wasn’t fully concentrating on it. Things that were hard and solid like rocks were easy to grab onto. Clothing was a little more complicated and had to be thought about. It got bad if he just grabbed them because he always ran the risk of crushing someone in their own clothing. It had almost happened to his trainer. That had not been a good day for anyone. Lani was still trying to figure out why they let him keep his power.

If Odion voiced his opinion he’d probably get a nasty look from Lani. He couldn’t count the number of times someone had said that to him. If he didn’t train it he would be used by it and end of hurting someone anyways. No one seemed to care that he didn’t want it. He had only just resigned himself to having it and even in this short time he had found he liked it more than he didn’t. Most of the time. When he could use it for stealing it was great. But when he had to use it for something like this it was not so enjoyable. He was still in a hard love-hate relationship with it. But if Odion’s theory was correct then that meant he was in a love-hate relationship with himself. This was so strange.

Lani sighed with a great amount of effort. How many times had he done that today? This was an exasperated day and he couldn’t help it. “For now.” He pointed out. If Odion ended up tangled in a tree he might have different ideas. But Lani didn’t want to think about that. He shook his head and his hands. “Let’s just stop talking about all the ways we can kill you, okay?” He sighed, yet again, just to get his point across. Then it was back to work. Under other circumstances Lani would have found Odion’s double-taking rather humorous. But now he worried over the action. Was he afraid? Was he excited? Was he just plain shocked? Lani could only hope that Odion would give him a warning sign if he got frightened flying or if he felt like anything was going wrong. As with Murphy’s laws it is wont to do.

And go wrong it did. Odion seemed to not want another trip to the ground and Lani was glad because with his center of balance lower it made balancing easier and Lani’s control of the board was limited. Odion’s shout made Lani both excited and paranoid. This was bad, he shouldn’t get excited when they weren’t sure it was actually working. The more Lani fought it the more his head started to hurt and the more the board got jostled threatening to throw Odion off. “Dammit.” Lani muttered to himself and took a risk. He opened the floodgates. His power seemed to coat the area and Lani closed his eyes. He knew the ground in such detail it was like he had run a finger over every millimeter in the radius his power spread. It was farther than he expected. Odion and the board appeared like a highlight in his power and a strange joy and excitement passed over his as his power merged with the power controlling the board. “Right,” he heard himself call out his voice sounding strange to his ears. His heart dropped he was losing himself again! But it felt different this time. He opened his eyes and Odion had come swinging around and was flying back toward him. Flying!

Lani sidestepped a little to make room for Odion. He felt himself smile and then he was so caught up in the joy that he almost felt like nothing could go wrong. Were these the emotions he ignored? The ones he suppressed in favor of a more reserved attitude? The ones he kept himself from feeling because of fear they’d never return. As he thought this he also had a strange feeling that his power was swallowing him. He found falsehood in this pure glee. So he pushed himself out of it. When he opened his eyes again he saw the world for what it was. A place that was bright with wonder and dark with terror. A balance of forces. Happiness, sadness. Hurt and pleasure. Mental and physical. Power and master. Lani had a strange sense of vertigo and his power snapped back to reality. The force at which his power returned knocked him off his feet and his head felt like it had been bashed over. It wasn’t a reaction headache, nor had he called it back with that force. In fact his head hardly hurt at all, save the normal throb. But the fact remained, if Lani’s power had snapped back, what was holding up Odion now?

[Odion Martins]

“Alright, we’ll discuss it over dinner later,” he decided. All the ways Lani could kill Odion – it sounded like a book title. But after today, (and what would shortly happen between Lani, Odi, and Avi), Odion was sure Lani could think of a few fun ways he’d like to dispose of the redhead. Odion smirked at the thought before focusing on the task at hand. Lani distracted him immensely, but he knew how to focus when it mattered.

Odion watched Lani for that brief moment as he passed. Like before, it was like Lani’s eyes were aglow, and it made Odi smile, it made him feel confident and like anything was possible like he knew it was when he was with Lani. It was like nothing Odion had ever felt before, this flying or hovering business. He wasn’t exactly in control, but he could take the reins if something suddenly went wrong. But for now, he was just enjoying himself, and watching Lani from over the board.

Staying about six feet off the ground, Odion continued to speed around a little more, Lani’s telekinesis strong on the board, keeping Odion close to it by pushing the rocks together as far as they could go. Then suddenly, it was gone, all of it. The forces keeping Odion suspended and moving, dropped. Bracing himself as gravity took over, Odion made the split second decision to just let himself hit the ground. It was so high that he couldn’t catch himself, and he’d rather save his power reserves for an occasion that actually called for it. The board hit the ground, and Odi immediately let go, propelling himself into a spin as he collided with the grass, turning over and over again until he reached a stop staring at the sky. He let out another breath of laughter, before his eyebrows furrowed. Glancing over at Lani, who was also on the ground, Odion rolled himself over onto his stomach. “What happened?” He asked, his hair in crazy disarray. Odion was fine – the board was cracked in two.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani snorted a little finding a tad of humor in the morbid thought. “Wonderful,” he commented dryly. Why did Odion love making Lani uncomfortable? Lani supposed it probably had something to do with their mutual desire to ruffle each other’s feathers. The mutually distracted each other and it was only the intense focus on not hurting Odion that kept him from losing focus. Lani didn’t know exactly what Odion found about his imminent demise so hilarious. Or perhaps it was Lani’s perception of Odion’s demise that the redhead found so humorous. Either way it annoyed Lani and an annoyed Lani was not a good thing when Odion was relying on him to lift him into the air. Lani shook his head as if he were literally shaking thoughts of a dead Odion out of his skull. How ironic, he reflected, if Odion had survived two incidents with Lani’s boss in Boston and would meet his end by the person who worked hardest, and probably failed the hardest to protect him.

Lani couldn’t honestly say what happened. One moment it was working and the next it wasn’t even like he was a living being. The next he was slammed back into his body and on the ground. Odion had told him about his eyes once before but Lani had always thought of it as a metaphor. For what he wasn’t sure but he was looking up at the sky wondering exactly how he had ended up there. He remembered the feeling of it more than anything else. A strange almost out of body experience. But he had been aware of it at the same time. His brow creased and before he had a chance to wonder too far into it his mind reminded him about Odion. Shit! He sat up a little too quickly and the first thing he saw was Odion on the ground. For a heartbreaking moment Lani thought he had actually killed Odion then much to the blond’s relief the redhead moved making a little sound of… laughter? He sighed with relief and leaned back on his hands allowing his heart to take a moment to continue beating.

Getting to his feet Lani wobbled a little but he was surprised how his head wasn’t trying to down him. The blood did rush to his head blurring his vision a little bit but he only had to walk a short distance to where Odion had fallen. “Are you okay?” Lani asked dropping to his knees as he neared Odion. He settled back against his heels and rested his hands on his knees. “I’m sorry,” Lani said before answering. What had happened? He narrowed his eyes at Odion for a moment and his mind worked through the past couple of minutes. “A very strange thing,” he answered giving himself a few more moments to process it himself. Twisting himself around so his legs were comfortably stretched out. After a moment on contemplation he folded his legs and reached a hand out to Odion. “Have I ever told you how I first got my power?” For some reason Lani felt this was somehow important to understand. The blasted feeling when he had first gotten his power. It felt like this strange newness had something to do with it. For when he had been in the middle he had been centered. Most in control he had ever been, but also the most out of control. He had a moment of clarity. He figured it probably had something to do with Odion’s theory. He himself was out of balance so when he centered he was between himself and his mind. This was already a step in the right direction, he’d never felt more sure of anything than he was in his love for Odion. Maybe that could was his center.

[Odion Martins]

“I’m fine,” Odion said. He wasn’t perfect, the rocks had collided into his body at unnatural angles and would probably leave bruises, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins at the moment made the injuries unnoticeable.

Odion watched noiselessly as Lani made himself comfortable, propping himself up by crossing his legs. The redhead was still on his stomach, but one could tell by the way he was looking up at Lani that he was paying close attention. Odion held Lani’s hand gently. To think, the thief could actually be gentle with those he cared about. Odion shook his head. He had a feeling Lani believed that, and what had just happened, were related. Perhaps Odion could come up with some kind of insight for his best friend.

Odion didn’t want to say anything more for fear of ruining the moment between them. So instead, while waiting for Lani’s reply, Odion stretched a hand out, his fingertips barely touching Lani’s temple, making Odi move closer. “Your head’s alright?” Odion was expecting at least some kind of whiplash, for Lani to reach for his precious pills. He didn’t think story time would happen.