Roads Untraveled(Odion)

[Lani Hunter]

“Sorry,” Lani said not really sure why he was apologizing. It was true, he didn’t need to even consider what he was thinking about. But the idea was that if he kept it too hard then he wouldn’t have to try. As if he needed to figure it out before he did anything. And if it was too complicated to figure out then he wouldn’t have to deal with it. Lani didn’t believe he could relax. If he relaxed his power could slip out and it… well his thoughts just spiraled downward from there. Well if there was one person who would take the time to make sure that the impossible never happened it was going to be Lani. “It’s not as simple as it seems. Mostly human error.” He put his hands on his chest to indicate the biggest problem with flight was the fact that he lost his balance. Which went against logic considering Lani’s balance was spectacular.

It was a good thing that Odion had faith in him because Lani wasn’t so sure that his power would behave. Especially not after their training session. He had hit the ball with the intention of getting it past Odion’s time shield. That had been the single minded goal of the moment when he slipped into his power, or his power slipped into him, he couldn’t be sure which was which. But secretly Lani was worried that if Odion hadn’t been able to stop it if Lani would have taken Odion out with the ball. Well, it was a good thing it wasn’t a hard object. Or if Lani was being sneaky and moving more than one thing at a time would Odion be able to stop both? Needless to say Lani was far from trusting his power. Very far.

Glancing at Odion Lani nodded. Confusing indeed. It was like who he was wasn’t any different but it was a change to what Lani had always thought of himself. The confusion had always been there he supposed but Adrianna had been his first girlfriend. He hadn’t really given sexuality and relationships a lot of thought prior to that. He colored, someone had once told him that when one got their power it was simultaneous with ‘coming of age’. He wondered if they might have been right. It wasn’t like he had hit puberty late, but perhaps just wasn’t awakened to the idea yet. “I wish,” Lani said with a little smile. He hated looking himself in the mental mirror. He never really had before what happened here in Boston. He looked at Odion again and bit his lip. “It doesn’t… but it,” he breathed out air as he thought about an answer to that question and suddenly everything just started to pour out. “What about people who will see that and not me? What if someday I want to and can’t get married? What about the looks and the snap judgments and… what will my parents think?” The worries just flooded out. What will Adrianna think? What if some of his friends didn't accept him? The world was changing but what if it wasn’t changing fast enough for them. It was a civil rights issue, no matter what politicians said. How could one group be told they couldn’t get married or that they could be denied a job? The country stopped being free when the government started to tell people who they could and could not love.

[Odion Martins]

“What do you think meta humans did with themselves before we had things like gravity and whatnot to consider? Of course those things still existed, but I doubt they spent a lot of time thinking about them.” Odion wasn’t sure about that, but he could always threaten to double check. It was probably far simpler than anything Lani could fathom, and he was only worried about the extent to which he could affect others. What if it was just him, all by himself, and he didn’t need to worry about how his power affected others or not? Lani would have to do more exploring, and Odion wasn’t sure he could change the blond’s mindset anymore. He would try, but ultimately it was Lani who was in control of it. Odi just shook his head, if he had thought out everything his power was capable of doing, he wouldn’t ever use it.

Perhaps a repeat of the field scenario could happen. Odion was curious to see if he could stop Lani’s telelkinesis by pausing time and moving away. Could he stop a force coming from a meta human if he could stop said meta human? Odi knew that would take a lot of focus, and it would probably feel like mentally pulling himself away from the grip Lani would have one him, which Odi knew was quite strong and immensely powerful. Maybe Odion was so willing because he knew that Lani could do this, and he knew that he could help. He would just have to keep proving himself, and he wanted to be capable of doing something good. There wasn’t a whole lot that came to mind when he thought of his ‘good deeds’ list.

So Lani didn’t think highly of himself, or at least claimed not to know himself very well. Odion flexed his hands while in thought. If Lani had only recently awakened to a part of who he was, then there was a lot more in store for him. He would have the ability to know himself and thus, know his powers. “Does.” Odion said, finishing Lani’s sentence. It doesn’t matter, but it does. And that’s when Lani voiced his true thoughts. It made Odi wish some things were blurted out more often. “It’s a part of who you are not simply who you are and anyone who can’t see that is simple.” Harsh but true, and Odion wasn’t going to bend for people when he already despised them. “Why does marriage have to legitimize anything? And if it’s really so important, move.” Marriage wasn’t even something Odion had ever considered and he honestly didn’t see the point of it. “What about them? Aren’t you already judged on a daily basis?” And then the inevitable question. Odion would normally say it didn’t matter what parents’ thought, but if it mattered to Lani, it mattered to him. So he took a deep breath, finally relaxing after speaking what was on his mind. “Then you have to choose. Your life and your decisions, or their acceptance after lying to them. If, it really is who you are.” And so far, that hadn’t done Lani any good.

Odi not only had the answer, but he had more questions. “What about me?” This wasn’t all about him, and that wasn’t what he was trying to say, but he wanted to be a part of this picture. He wanted to be a part of Lani’s life, and he wasn’t going to be a girl any time soon.

[Lani Hunter]

“What if Newton was a meta?” Lani asked suddenly as if it all made sense. It was a theory but it could have completely disproved Odion’s assumption. Lani turned to Odion and looked him over with a curious look. “Don’t you want to know how it all works? How everything it connected. How you can bend time?” Perhaps it was human to thirst of knowledge and understanding. Perhaps it was just a way to make it seem like they had a purpose for being here. Hell, for all that was known they could no next to nothing about the world. They did know next to nothing about the world. There were many parts of his power that he hadn’t explored. He was afraid and now Odion knew that. But it didn’t seem to stop him from pushing and pushing Lani until he thought he had reached the edge and was about to tumble down. But then his power could catch him if he let it.

He was trying to turn the conversation back on Odion. It worked with other people but he had yet to be successful on Odion. Lani would be willing to try to explore Odion’s strength more. So long as they stayed here with feet safely planted on the ground. Lani was just as interested in it as Odion was. There were boundaries to push, limits to be broken. Limits that someone else put down. Lani wondered if he should tell Odion about his thoughts about training. Odion would probably give him the harsh reality that if he couldn’t control his power how could he teach others. It was at least a little bit of motivation to start. Lani looked at Odion. How had this happened? Why had this happened? He had no answers to those questions. He just knew that at some point Odion had pulled his heart in his direction and like a magnet Lani had been drawn to him.

Watching the waves as he spoke he could almost imagine they were reflecting his turmoil. They flickered the lights and Lani wondered for a moment if he could touch the water with his power. Against his better judgment he tried. No, his power didn’t work that way. He could feel the water but he couldn’t move it, it wasn’t a solid object. He looked back at Odion and nodded. One by one Odion took his fears and broke them. The harshness wasn’t directed at him and Lani watched Odion as he spoke. One by one Odion slew his questions and his power seeped out of the walls to try to touch Odion. He was right on every account. He would be judged first as a liar and a thief. And he was more than willing to take those in stride. But perhaps that was because he could hide that. He couldn’t hide that he was in love with Odion. Well, he could but it wouldn’t do more than add salt to the wounds. He didn’t want to hear that it was his choice. He wanted Odion to tell him to tell them or not. Somewhere Lani realized that Odion didn’t say so because it was Lani’s decision. His alone. His problems had never been so overwhelming. Lani’s throat felt caught and he realized that his eyes were tearing. “What if they don’t accept me?” He asked softly.

The tears needed to be fixed. He pinched the bridge of his nose and rolled his eyes skyward trying to prevent them. His eyes came back to Odion and Lani knew what he needed to say. What he wanted to say. If he couldn’t accept who he was then he couldn’t be with Odion. He reached out and took Odion’s hand. “You are the question, and you are the answer,” he said. He looked down at their joined hand then back into Odion’s eyes. “You asked me if I love you… I do.” Lani’s mind fumbled a little with the organization. Lani wasn’t about to boast that he knew himself or even that he was sure of himself. But he was sure of one thing. “I love you.”

[Odion Martins]

“I’ll ask him the next time I see him,” Odi said sarcastically. Maybe someday he could, but not any time soon. Maybe he would be wrong, but he had a strong suspicion that most people weren’t Newton, and most people who were metas didn’t really care, it was just another thing to adapt to, survival of the fittest. Someone had to actually come up the theories of course, Odion didn’t deny that, but he didn’t think you had to fully understand something in order to appreciate or use it. “No,” Odion said without much thought, “it works for me.” He knew how, he lived with it every day. He wasn’t afraid to dive into things because he knew how to fall.

It would’ve been easy to offer Lani his own opinion on the matter, as he had a few times before, but that hadn’t worked, it hadn’t helped. Odion was no fool, and he wasn’t about to repeat himself hoping for a different result. This was Lani’s battle, and Odion could be right beside him, but he couldn’t take control, and it had taken him a while to realize that.


Odion stood absolutely still. How was he supposed to be encouraging when he didn’t know how to relate to that? Lani was afraid to tell his parents because he wanted to be loved by them. Odion wasn’t afraid to tell people where to go and how to get there because he didn’t give a fuck over what others thought of him. But Lani loved his parents, their opinion mattered to him. Maybe Lani didn’t love him, but Odi secretly hoped that his opinion mattered too. “What if they do? I don’t know what they’ll do Lani, but I promise to be there for you.” He didn’t take promises lightly. Tempting though it was to see the future, Odion knew that wasn’t the solution to Lani’s identity crisis.

It was like music to Odi’s ears, and he felt full. He was happy that his attempt in helping Lani put things into perspective included him, even if Lani hadn’t figured everything out yet. Maybe he never would, but Odi held Lani’s hand steadfastly, begging him to go on. Time stopped as the words were spoken, Odion couldn’t help it, it felt like his heart had exploded. He felt a kind of yearning and fulfillment that didn’t come from stealing something, a kind of excitement that meant he really had fallen in love. He just hoped he would be enough for Lani. Now tears filled Odion’s eyes, and he let out a soft, singular laugh of glee. His doubts vanished and a true smile lit up his facial features. Lani couldn’t look more beautiful than he did in that moment: walls down, vulnerable and exposed in the place that gave him rest. “Knew it,” Odion said, even though he had never been sure until now. He caressed Lani’s thumb with his, not ready for the moment to end.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani laughed brightly obviously not put off by Odion’s sarcasm. That was what curiosity was all about, asking the questions that didn’t have easy answers. He knew that Odion could have the same curiosity when he felt like it. If something was interesting enough to catch Odion’s attention. He wondered why he had caught Odion’s interest? Had it been when Odion chased him down on the rooftops? How different things were now. Lani gave Odion a deflated look. He was never going to get Odion to think about things that weren’t of importance. Honestly Lani was jealous. He wished he had the kind of control that Odion had. He wished he could just say it worked for him. There was that annoying word, sometimes, that he always had to tack on the end. They wouldn’t have these powers if they didn’t have the ability to control them. It was frustrating because it always seemed like it was just out of reach.

Doing things on his own was something that Lani had always done. It was still strange to think that there was a person that he could confide in and lean on if he needed it, but vicious stubbornness didn’t let him. He needed to figure this out on his own. The fact still remained that he didn’t want to ask for help. Even times when he knew he had to it always held a bitter taste on his tongue. There was something different about this though. He was asking Odion’s advice, he was asking for his help. He couldn’t do this on his own. And that was killing him. He wanted to kick himself, get himself with his feet back under him. But to do that now he would be backtracking behind his walls.

Lani didn’t know what he would do if his parents rejected him. Part of his mind was telling him that if they had accepted his thievery then his sexuality should be the last thing on their minds. Still his father’s voice just kept ringing in his head. Despite all of their fighting Lani had only ever wanted his approval. He swallowed that thought. Those were words he would never say. He looked up at Odion and his heart warmed. It didn’t seem so hopeless. Not if he had Odion by his side. “Thank you,” Lani said unable to think of anything else to say. He didn’t realize that he was shaking. Lani was no stranger to inner turmoil but this was different. It involved someone else. Someone who was in his heart. So long he had wandered in winter that he didn’t know how to come in from the cold. Not until Odion had come into his life. But Lani didn’t want to drag Odion back into his many problems.

Lani felt the slight lurch of the world as time stopped around them. Normally his curiosity would have been drawn to see the frozen waves of the still bob of the vessels out in sea. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Odion as if those blue eyes were his anchor to the world. It was a strange feeling saying those words aloud. Lani shivered and it felt like the last piece of icy glass finally melted from his heart. Lani’s own smile was pulled out as he beheld Odion’s true smile. Committing to an idea was hard, and something Lani had never done before, but the smile Odion graced him worth made those thoughts sweep out of his mind as if they were fragile to begin with. Lani squeezed Odion’s hand and he knew that the sun would rise eventually and chase away the shadows. Instead of answering Lani stepped forward and gave Odion a kiss sharing his unspoken sentiment for the moment to last a little while longer.

[Odion Martins]

Maybe this would be a good experience for the both of them in the end. Odion severely lacked in people skills, real people skills, for he could only wear a mask for so long before it began to itch. Maybe now he would be able to have better conversations with his brother, whom he hoped was doing well and enjoying the break as much as he was. This had been the best Christmas Odion had ever had. Odion had many problems of his own to deal with, but he wasn’t about to sit down with Lani and make lists of them all in order to plan some kind of solution. No, that just wasn’t how life worked, and they hadn’t planned any of this and though it had been rocky, it had been interesting and wonderful at the same time.

Lost in the moment and time itself, all of Odion’s focus was on Lani. There was much more in what he wasn’t thinking this time around. His mind was blank and clear, void of any other thought or any other person. It was just him and Lani as the world slipped away and Odi let his power do whatever it pleased, so long as Lani remained with him. They both brought courage and bravery here, and at the same time they were both afraid and vulnerable. They were similar and different, but Odion was glad he didn’t always have to chase Lani, that Lani was willing to chase him too. The clashed and collided like a tornado and a mountain, but there was a grand chemistry between them, and it wasn’t something Lani could study. Sparks flew like fireworks and Odion was excited and calm all at the same time. He hoped they would kiss more often.

Eventually they would stop, but Odion had latched himself onto Lani, their hands together. “If I stop time, do you suppose we could walk on water?” It was a silly question, but Odion wasn’t thinking straight as his mind floated away on him, feeling a kind of bliss he had never experienced before.

[Lani Hunter]

There was still so much they could learn from each other. If there was one thing that was a mystery it was life. It was never the same for everyone. Some people slid through life, others struggled. Others still were in the middle where things went their way sometimes and against them other times. But this time it seemed life had dealt them a hand that favored them. They had plenty of time to learn about each other’s problems and try to help each other fix them. If one were to talk about the plans of life being taken and torn this would fit right into that category. None of this was planned, hell Lani had never even planned on seeing Odion ever again after their first meeting. It was strange how people changed, and how people’s opinions on others could change.

Lani’s power reached out and he just wanted to touch Odion’s face. Feel it in his mind as much as he could feel it with his hand. It swept right through. In his mind’s eye Odion might as well have been a collection of clothing. In many ways this disappointed him but it also meant that Odion was alive, that he was more than just a collection of objects. He was a person and he was wonderful. Lani’s eyes flickered over Odion’s face and he watched it in the lights of the harbor and he wanted to make Odion smile like that forever. The kiss made Lani a little dizzy and he was careful to blink his eyes slowly open to behold Odion again. Yes. He loved Odion. It was strange but it seemed like a piece of the puzzle slid into place and everything that he had been hiding from had vanished. He wasn’t foolish enough to think that he would have an easy time telling his parents. He just knew it couldn’t be now. Not this visit.

The mention of water was like being dunked into cold water below. Lani immediately started running through his mind telling himself not to panic. Keep it cool. “If you stop time does a liquid stop being a liquid?” He asked dodging the question. Time stopped or not there was no way Odion was going to talk him into walking toward the water. His eyes flickered down to the water below now before he turned back to Odion. He really hoped that Odion was joking. He was already feeling terribly vulnerable he did not want to add a panic attack to the list of things that happened this evening. Things were going so well. “Besides it would be awfully cold if you fell in trying.” He said making a joke about it. Not to mention the water was demonic and would pull him ever downward filling his lungs. Lani closed his eyes for a moment and started running through the chant of breathing in his head reassuring himself that he could still breathe. Relax, he told himself, you’re freaking out over what could happen. Hopefully Odion would drop it.

[Odion Martins]

Odion wasn’t sure what else there was to learn, but that’s why he was here. He was a hands-on learner, and he couldn’t wait to see what he and Lani could go through together. He was admittedly more curious about who Lani was or could be, than anything he needed to learn about himself. Hopefully they could both push each other in a good way, and while bending could be good, breaking wasn’t an option. Maybe they couldn’t fix one another, but maybe that wasn’t the point. Odi knew that Lani brought out a different side of him, which he was starting to realize might be who he really was.

In many ways, Odion would never be an object to Lani. It was something he really appreciated and didn’t realize it was an issue until he knew better. In a lot of ways, he had been naive when it came to dating. If Lani wanted to touch him, he would just have to do it the old fashioned way, as Odi was doing now to keep Lani from falling. He’d never felt more understood than he did when he was with Lani, not because Odion knew everything about him, but because he tried so damn hard. This trip, Odion was more than willing to keep Lani all to himself.

Odi shrugged, “I’ve never tried.” All he had ever done with his power was watch, or go back and forward in time itself. He had stolen from people’s pockets, which remained solid, but he had never paid close attention to the way the fabric of someone’s jacket behaved. But the question had been purely random as his heart was singing. He just felt like he could do anything right now, with Lani by his side. Odi wasn’t the best swimmer, but he wasn’t afraid to be in water either, it just wasn’t his favorite thing to do. At this rate, he would never find out Lani’s true feelings about large bodies of water, and it probably wouldn’t matter either way.

Stepping away from Lani, Odion went for his pockets. In the moment it was easy to forget about the necklace, and he took it out now. “Can I get a hand?” He asked, all but forgetting about the water subject as he turned around to look at it himself. The boats were bobbing freely, but Odi’s mind wasn’t on those. He was on the presence of Lani behind him, and the hope he felt for tomorrow. The dread had been replaced and he never thought it would.

[Lani Hunter]

The pair was in need to doing a heist together. Lani wasn’t sure he could focus on enjoying the moment planned with Odion if he were going to have to baby sit Rhett and the other guy… He had already forgotten his name. But he did not have confidence that they would be able to swallow their egos enough to see that someone standing guard in a team effort was just as important as the people picking the locks. Lani was having the horrifying vision that one of them would just reach into the jewelry case without thinking about all the sensors and alarms. Most places like that had silent alarms. Well either way it would be a learning experience. At least he could rest assured that Odion would be smart about it. But Lani was excited to show Odion just what all of the hard working planning went into creating.

Lani watched Odion and knew that with all of his wishing that he would never be able to feel Odion. The fact that Odion had come here with him tonight spoke volumes. And even louder than that was that Odion had agreed to come to Boston at all and spend time with his family. Even if they had to be secretive about everything. Lani wanted to meet Declyn. No matter what Odion’s twin might think of him. Declyn was a part of Odion’s life now and Lani wanted to be a part of it as well. He was done dodging questions and running from answers. He wished he could promise that he would never hurt Odion. But he had promised that to Adrianna and he had ended up doing so anyways. So long as he held secrets it was always a possibility that he could hurt someone. Lani just saw his secrets as burdens he had to bear on his own shoulders.

A smile crossed his face and he chuckled, “I think you’ve only scratched the surface,” Lani told him. There was so much that Odion had potential to do that he hadn’t because he hadn’t tried or thought about it. In many ways Lani had a lot to learn about control but Odion had a lot to learn about his potential. He doubted his ability to be a good person and Lani was making it a personal goal to change that. Either way Lani was glad that that was the last of the talk of water walking. Lani remembered when they had talked about the beach, Lani wondered how long he would be able to keep the embarrassing fact of his phobia in the shadows. After all why should it ever come up? If they were never put into that situation then it would never matter. As the topic was dropped Lani’s breathing returned to normal easily and he smiled glad that Odion seemed to have missed it. He could hold onto his pride for a little while longer.

Lani initially felt disappointment when Odion stepped away but smiled as he saw what Odion was holding. Nodding Lani took the chain from Odion’s hand and stepped forward. He unclasped it and after taking a moment to check that it would be facing the right direction when it was put on he put his arms briefly around Odion’s neck from behind. Allowing his fingertips to brush Odion’s neck as he clasped the necklace into place. He pulled his hands away realizing that they were lingering. He started speaking without really realizing that he was doing so, “It looks good on you.” Lani said with a smile. Balance and eternity. Give and take, life and death. The nature of life and the nature of the world. Balance of forces and the interconnection of the world. “It means eternity,” Lani continued, “And the balance of opposing forces.” Everything that Odion represented, or at least everything that Odion meant to him. He had control over time and thus eternity, Odion balanced Lani out, he was good at things that Lani was bad at and visa versa.

[Odion Martins]

Odion trusted Lani enough to help with the situation Jared had found himself in. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be in it too much longer, and hopefully there was nothing to distract their attentions along the way, but Odi seriously doubted things would go as planned – when had they ever? Jared would be the type of person to test his luck by testing the alarm system, so hopefully he wouldn’t know about the heist until it was over, the money in his hands and his head off of that platter he kept going on about. Odion was excited to learn what Lani really knew when it came to his specialty. He suspected it would just make Lani all the more attractive, but that was fine by him.

When Lani could feel Odion, the time turner hoped it would be a long ways away. The redhead was excited to be with Lani, who gave him purpose and drive. Odion had never been this bold, and he would find later on that those who thought they knew him best, also agreed. Jared would so eloquently ask when Odi’s balls had dropped, and others wouldn’t know the wiser. But what was important was that he knew he was changing, and he wouldn’t be were it not for Lani. A part of Odion knew that Lani would hurt him at some point in the future, but it was human, and he knew he couldn’t help but take Lani for granted. Maybe one day Lani wouldn’t be afraid to let Odion hold him.

“I was just barely getting by the surface,” Odion said, his words turning to poetry. Ironically, he didn’t have time to try these sorts of things, even though he was a trickster. It was one thing to be in a meta school, another thing entirely to be surviving each day at a time. He didn’t know if he would be able to steal enough for his part, so he stole more. And even then, he wouldn’t know. Lani had a beautiful mind, was able to think of different things Odi would never consider, and he was glad to have him in his life now. Things were interesting indeed, and Lani could be prideful about his water phobia, even though Odi might deem it unfair that Lani knew a lot more of his weakness than Odi knew about Lani’s. His need to cry incessantly, his fear of flying. Odion knew Lani was afraid of himself, but so was he, so... Wasn’t that fair? Was this about being fair?

Lani’s touch made gooseflesh appear on Odi’s neck. It was already cold outside, so Lani’s rough fingertips only served to make Odion chillier. He looked down at the small object which meant so much more. Thinking to himself, Odion let the pieces fall where they may. “I like that,” he said simply, his hands at his sides as he thought of Lani’s hand on him. It was the most meaningful thing he had. Now he had to wonder how all those people he had ever stolen something like this from felt when it had gone missing. Those actions had been done by his own hands, and the love he felt now, made him feel guilty. Had he really been that heartless? Would he stop stealing things just because he knew how someone might feel about having an item stolen now? Odion didn’t think he was so bold as to say yes, he would stop.

“Can we go back now?” He asked, side stepping Lani and searching the city he knew a little better now. Odion couldn’t stay here, he had to leave what he had just thought of behind.

[Lani Hunter]

He couldn’t figure out why his power had that limitation, unless it was to check the power he already had. It at least allowed him to know and enjoy the fact that he couldn’t completely control someone. It was a strange to think back to just a year ago. He had been with Adrianna and he had been doing a spectacular job of lying. He found no pride in thinking that he had fooled even Odion into thinking that nothing was wrong. Lani swallowed in the darkness. He had recovered in his usual way of pushing those thoughts aside. And he was still keeping secrets. Certainly nothing as big as hiding his boss, but there was a little bit of a fear that Odion would be just as furious about him keeping his fear a secret as he had when he found out that Lani had lied about Boston. The lies were constantly building and Odion was clever, he was going to figure them out one way or another.

Lani’s lips tipped up in a smile. Odion was poetic. But it also made Lani looked at Odion with an extent of curiosity. Did Odion in his own way just agree with Lani? “What lies beneath is much greater.” He replied after a few moments. Lani didn’t think about things in the way of fairness. The world wasn’t fair. It was a dark and vile place. But occasionally it was a beautiful and marvelous place. It was all in the perspective. Someone might look at an untouched forest and see the dollars floating above the trees. Others might just sit in wonder at the ancientness of the forest and wonder what stories it could tell. Others still might see it as a new home, a place to escape from the world and all of its wrongness. Odion was caught up on fairness. Lani was caught up on wondering if the world was ever created to be fair in the first place. It was a balance of good and evil. For one could never hope to exist without the other.

Then there was the matter of definition. He and Odion had had this discussion a while ago. Lani pressing that morality could not be defined in such a way that everyone had the same moral standards. It was something that they had been unable to come to a conclusion on. Fair or unfair. Who was to say? Lani looked at the back of Odion’s head as his thoughts called him away for a few moments. He smiled hearing Odion speak. “I’m glad,” he whispered back. The intertwined creatures were in many ways fair and unfair. Nothing was fair in life and death, who was to live and who was to die. And yet everything was fair when day turned to night and night to day, each having an equal part of the year. Fair. Besides, didn’t they always say that all was fair in love and war?

He blinked coming back and watched Odion as he passed and wondered if he had said something wrong. “Sure, they’re probably wondering where we’ve gone.” Caroline was probably being fussy about Lani stealing Odion away. He smiled to himself, she really liked Odion. That was a comforting thought. And hopefully by now his mother had talked his father off of the edge. He frowned slightly, he should apologize to his father. He glanced back at Odion and gave a smile in attempt to apologize for whatever got him ruffled. “I’ll race you back,” Lani offered up the challenge a light of determination in his eyes. No sooner had he then he sprang off jumping without a fear off the building and catching himself on a nearby rooftop before he took his long way around the docks. If Odion thought it was a good idea to cut through the boats and the piers Lani didn’t stand a chance in beating him. But the wood was probably icy, hopefully Odion followed after him.

[Odion Martins]

Odion didn’t want to follow anyone blindly, and he had learned from his mistakes. But he trusted Lani, and if something big was afoot, he hoped that Lani would have the gall to say so. Odion hadn’t brought up any sour pasts, and that was all he had hidden from Lani. Well, there were a few other things he hadn’t mentioned, like getting drunk with Rhett and Jared on New Years’ Eve, but that technically hadn’t even happened yet. He wasn’t sure what kind of greatness there was to be had below whatever surface he had scratched, but he was willing to take the adventure. He simply failed to see how or why he would use his power for anything other than the obvious. He hadn’t thought of testing the elements before Lani came around.

After everything he had gone through, Odion felt he had the right to take what he needed in order to survive, no matter what that cost meant to others. He hadn’t been concerned with how someone else might feel about it and it had turned him into a psychopath. He couldn’t right those wrongs, but he wasn’t sure he could refrain from duping the system when it was oh so tempting and easy to do so. Life wasn’t fair, but did he need to keep proving that to everyone? And where had this conscience come from? Could he just make it go away? Was this one of those moments he ought to be sharing with Lani? He didn’t know, so he tried to let it slip away like time itself.

It wasn’t difficult to set Odion off, his temper and thought process was simply part of who he was. The walls came down briefly and immediately went back up. It wasn’t anything Lani had said or done, it was just Odion’s heart trying to grow when he thought it had died a long time ago.

But it was exactly what Odion decided to do. No sooner had Lani started to run, did Odion look over the best way to get to Lani’s house, surprised that Lani went around the docks. In his mind’s eye, he knew exactly where it was. Lani, always putting new life into him. He finally moved towards the boats. It seemed strange to him that they had avoided the boats altogether, and Odion thought as he ran that maybe it had something to do with Lani’s want to keep them sacred, or something like that. But Odion didn’t see the problem in charging through them, and he had no fear of water, frozen or otherwise. When he did slip, he tumbled gracefully into it as though he meant to fall, shooting back up and flying over the water in between the boats. It was a lot like dancing to him, but he knew his talents were wasted because Lani probably couldn't see him in between the cargo.

His feet connected to hard ground and Odion kept his shouts of glee on the inside, not really wanting to draw attention to himself, so he simply smiled. He passed a familiar building, the one before the one before they hit the docks, and Odi looked up from his spot in the shadows. Lani wasn’t too far behind, but damn, that meant he could run terribly fast! Hiding, Odion saw that the buildings eventually ran out and Lani would have to run right around... here. Down that building and past this fence. Odion stood quite still beside it, and listened carefully. Lani was light on his feet, and Odi couldn’t hear him at all so he had to rely on that strange, other power of Lani’s presence. If it weren’t for that, Lani would have ran right past him. Instead, Odi literally jumped right in front of Lani, much like an attacking bear would. “Got you!”

[Lani Hunter]

Secrets were a hard thing. He was sure he trusted Odion but there were things that one kept from their closest friends even. Looking at Odion Lani realized that Odion wasn’t a close friend, he was so much more. He swallowed, not now. Sometime in the future he would say something about it. But not now. And that was the same trap he always fell into. There was always a better time to say something. The moment was never right. There was always another adventure to be had, a new thing to be discovered. Lani wondered what else Odion could do. He had so much potential and now that he had said something about it Lani was curious it Odion really could stop time and walk on water. Of course Lani was not going to volunteer for the experiment unless they were going to experiment on puddles.

It would be Lani’s opinion to disagree. He didn’t think Odion was anywhere close to a psychopath. He did care, in his own way and for people. A psychopath wouldn’t be trying to understand him emotions and try to care for people. Lani hoped that Odion would tell him about his past more eventually. Lani was no different, when he saw an opportunity he took it. He had a problem with sticky fingers. He was just focused on bigger fish. He knew where the money was and he also knew that anyone that he stole from in the upper ring wouldn’t miss anything that he would have taken. The people always the most upset were the people who could afford to lose it. The police only tried so hard when it got to lower income people. And messing with the police was half the fun. What would Odion think when Lani factored in messing with the cops on the way?

Lani took a glance back, Odion must have gone across the docks. He pushed himself faster moving like a shadow over the buildings. He couldn’t catch sight of Odion on the docks but he only hoped that Odion wouldn’t slip and him not know it. Lani picked up speed on flat roofs and used his momentum to swing himself onto this roof or jump to another. In Lani’s own way he did something similar to Odion, he just didn’t have a name for it and it probably wasn’t as fast or artful. He kept his ears alert for anything that would sound like a splash or something else that would tell him that Odion had fallen in. Lani didn’t even know what he would do if that happened. He probably wouldn’t have been able to go in after him. Not mentally or physically. Lani had of course never learned to swim and if he tried to go in after Odion chances were they’d be worse off then they started. He looked forward and saw a flash ahead of him. Well at least he knew he had made it through but Lani had a lot of ground to cover.

Lani pushed himself harder and faster. He only heard the sound of the wind in his ears and the faint panting of his own breath. It was probably all illusion he was otherwise silent. His feet made no more sound than a cat as he leapt from here to there. He finally came to the last building. He grabbed the gutter line and slid down the corner and swung himself over the fence where he was sure he could catch Odion on flat ground. And that was what Lani did. He sprinted picking up speed with every stride. He was passing the fence their boards blurring together, when someone jumped out. He let out a gasp that was just a few volumes shy of a shriek and tried to change direction and stop in the same step. Someone miscalculated! It was not easy to stop going as fast as he was and he slammed into Odion despite his efforts. Well this seemed familiar…

[Odion Martins]

There wasn’t much thought given to what might be considered a secret and what ought to be told. There wasn’t anything wrong with unintentionally withholding something, but when it crossed one’s conscience as ‘oh, perhaps I should mention that’, you probably should. There was nothing wrong with what they had, and Odion wouldn’t change it for all the stars in the universe, or all the restarts and redo’s that could’ve made his life ‘better’. But the more they put off what they could have said, the longer it would take to realize that they felt the same way.

Perhaps if Lani would’ve seen all that Odion had done and what the ginger thought he was destined to do, he would change his mind. There was a point of no return, where whatever light someone had went out completely and they stopped caring how they affected others, and did whatever they wanted to do. Wasn’t that who thoughtless murderers were? Odion knew he was just a petty thief, he stole nice things from people who could obviously afford it, or just to spite him, and he was self righteous about the whole thing. Messing with the cops was highly amusing, and if Odion knew about that tidbit, he’d be all the more excited. Law enforcement was something to scoff at.

Hopefully, they would have plenty of time to practice parkour, and tonight was just the start. It was always glorious to watch Lani doing what he was best at, running and concentration. Odion enjoyed the moment and kept it to himself before going under cover. Upon making his oh so subtle appearance, Odion felt something smack against his head. There was no time to react, only enough to fall over and scrape up both his forearms as he tried to brace himself while falling backwards. This was embarrassing, he could fly over boats, but he couldn’t hold his ground, granted Lani had been going very fast. Odi groaned and sat up slowly, his legs out in front of him. “Shit fuck...” Odion muttered, his grubby hand covering his eyebrow, feeling a lump forming already. “What, were you going forty miles an hour?” He sort of laughed, sort of groaned, and then just let himself lie down on the cold hard pavement. That was a terrible idea, and Lani was never going to let him forget it.

[Lani Hunter]

One would think a conscience would say that but then there was the middle of the road path that was silence. It did tend to lean on the other side but sometimes it was better than saying something that was true but hurtful. They all had flaws and they couldn’t fix each other but they could try to make themselves and each other better. Odion would never convince Lani that he was a bad person. Perhaps he had done bad things but that didn’t make the person. A puzzle of infinite pieces, of course there are going to be nasty pieces, harsh pieces and dark pieces. But for every one of those there were tenfold more that were good and pleasant. Lani did think that there was a point of no return but Odoin hadn’t reached that point in Lani’s eyes and Lani wouldn’t let him slip any deeper.

Lani had been startled and so he had flailed his arms to stop and he thinks Odion might have gotten an elbow to the face. He tumbled over Odion his arms covering his head as he rolled a little ways away. Oh that hurt. Lani could almost feel the bruises forming. Not to mention his heart was about to beat out of his chest still not recovered from someone popping out of nowhere. He lay there getting inventory and then without and explanation he just started laughing. There was nothing else he could think to do. It just started coming out and couldn’t stop. He lifted his head and shook it at Odion. “What the hell, man?” He laughed before it turned into a groan. Odion hadn’t been the first person Lani had run over but the last person he had run down had screamed at him for a solid ten minutes. And this time it wasn’t his fault.

He sat himself up on his knees and looked at his scratched up hands. It had been a while since he had taken a fall but the pain was minimal. He put his hands on his knees as he tried to get his brain to work again. He shook it to clear it and he looked at Odion shaking his head at the redhead. Lani rose to his feet and knelt next to Odion. “I’m sorry, let me see,” He said pulling Odion’s hand away from his forehead. “So…” He drawled as he examined the lump, “At what point did that stop being a good idea?” He chuckled lightly. All things considered it was never the runner that ended up injured the most. Lani’s body was sore from where he had landed and his hands and arms were a little scrapped up but Odion had gotten hit by someone running at full speed. Lani may be light on his feet and of slender build but that didn’t mean he didn’t pack a punch when he was moving as fast as he did. Lani tried to help Odion up to examine his brow more closely. That did look painful. They should probably get ice on that. Well this would be an interesting story for his parents to hear.