Roads Untraveled(Odion)

[Odion Martins]

Still learning the art of conversation, it wasn’t as easy to say what needed to be said depending on the situation. Sometimes Odi failed the grace it took to let some things go, but he thought some things called for cold, hard, brutal truth, otherwise he wouldn’t say much of anything. Lies were just, but they were hard to keep track of. In his mind, he would never regret telling Declyn the harsh reality that was Cameron Osiris, but he also had to remember not to say I told you so when that fateful day arrived. And just like how one’s sexuality didn’t totally make up a person, Odion would eventually realize neither did one’s actions. It was a little bit of everything that boiled down to choices. So long as Lani held onto him, Odion knew he wouldn’t get any closer to the edge. The darkest place he had been was that night he had been drinking and Lani found him. Suicide had seemed like a good idea at the time, even though it was dark in nature.

At least Odion was strong enough to brace both of them for the fall. He’d gotten the worst of the impact, and Lani landing on him wasn’t helping anything. It was sort of funny, but it also hurt. Maybe if he had been a third person in this situation he would be all laughter. Odion looked up at him, wincing before Lani could even touch him. Smirking and blushing, Odion could only sit there. “I’m not thinking straight,” he said pointedly, looking at Lani like this was really all his fault.

“That’s why you need to expect the unexpected,” Odion said markedly, as though that was going to save him from disgrace. Another comment from nowhere. Accepting Lani’s help, Odi had a dopey smile on his face as the world spun and then went back into focus. Then the pain erupted and Odion blinked away the tears. “Remind me never to do that again.” Without thinking, he snaked his arm around Lani’s waist so he could take a look around, and started walking. He wasn’t really sure if he was headed in the right direction.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani would be unbelievably surprise to hear that Odion didn’t think he was all that good at conversation. Odion was someone who definitely could keep up a conversation and far exceeded Lani’s abilities. Lani couldn’t understand why Odion held him as a model of a good person, it didn’t make any sense. He was a liar and a thief, he was not someone people should want to follow. He had a problem with letting people in and he had an even bigger problem trusting the people he did know well. Hell, he probably had a problem with pain pills. But he wasn’t going to let that come to mind. He tackled it in his mind and smothered it down until it was nothing more than a whisper of what it had been before. His power stirred but not very much but it was obviously unhappy with the thought. It was hard to imagine something like that happen. Lani saw such a thing as a kind of weakness. He wouldn’t let himself get to that point. He was fine.

Lani ignored his own aches to focus on Odion’s bump. He chuckled a little at the time turner. “I didn’t even touch it.” His eyes flickered from Odion’s eyes to the bump and he gently brushed his fingers around the knot. It was definitely risen as much as it looked. He pulled his hand away. “Well, yeah I can imagine, that’s a rather nice goose egg you have there.” He matched Odion’s stare and shook his head. “Well, since you’re not thinking straight I’ll go ahead and tell you that was a terrible idea. What part of startling a running telekinetic sounds like a good idea to you? I mean if you had given it a couple more feet even. But you scared the living daylights out of me. If I hadn’t known it was you you could be a flying at the moment.” He scolded as he looked at the bump holding Odion captive due to his inability to think. Odion hadn’t thought that Lani’s power could have reacted. He was glad and lucky it didn’t. Lani brushed it off assuming that his power had just recognized Odion was not some random person.

Giving Odion a look Lani held back a laugh letting Odion have his pride. Then however Lani patted him on the head. “I’ll remember that the next time someone jumps out of nowhere,” Lani answered dryly. Lani helped Odion to his feet and he grabbed Odion’s arm. Lani felt terrible, he must have knocked Odion harder than he thought. “What? Jumping out in front of people or standing?” He asked clearly not going to let Odion forget his error in judgment anytime soon. “C’mon…” He cut off as Odion’s arm clung to him. He swallowed and put his arm around Odion’s shoulders telling himself that he was just helping Odion stay upright. “How about we go this way?” Lani asked turning Odion in the direction of the house. “C’mon let’s get you some ice.” They were thankfully close and Lani was willing to let their closeness slide due to Odion’s injury.

He opened the door and helped Odion in after him. The ‘where have you been?’ was cut short as his mother saw Odion. “Dear god what did you do?” She asked taking Odion’s face in her hands and moving his hair out of the way so she could see the bump better. It did look a lot worse in the light. Lani just shook his head as if to indicate that the story was too unbelievable. Lani more or less pulled Odion into the kitchen and into a chair as his mother went for ice packs. Lani just shook his head at Odion again and took a seat across from him.

[Odion Martins]

Just because Odion had more perceived time to contemplate what he said didn’t mean he was any good at it. He was always growing and always learning about different ways to con people into believing whatever he said based on how he reacted to him. Most of the time it was a catch and release game to Odion, because no one was interesting enough to hold a real conversation with and he didn’t trust anyone enough to have one with. Everyone was terribly superficial, everyone except a choice few. All the problems Lani had, so did Odion, and they had even more, different problems that didn’t overlap. Lani was a good person because only a good person could help Odion see the good in himself, it was just that simple.

Smacking Lani’s hand away, Odion wished Lani would just leave the bump alone. But then he smiled broadly. “Perfect.” He couldn’t say he wanted to go flying or that this event was a good one, but him flying would be an accomplishment, sort of. It was then and there that Odi decided to need to start pushing Lani’s various buttons again, surprising him and whatnot. He wasn’t thinking straight so this all seemed very wise in the moment, when his brain wasn’t pulsing in agony. “Ow,” Odi said, pushing Lani’s hand away again. His eyes shut as he was pushed in the right direction, feeling a blind spot coming up just above his left field of vision. That was the first and last time he did something that inconsiderate. He was such an idiot, but only in front of Lani. “Alrigh’,” Odi said, quick to agree, not thinking much of anything as he walked with Lani. He smiled over at Lani, feeling a little better all things considered. “You win.”

Odi looked bashfully up from his spot on the chair he found himself in. “Thank you,” he said, taking the icepack offered to him. But now he had to answer to Mrs. Hunter, her arms folded in front of her demanded an explanation. “I lost track of time,” Odion said, laughing like the idiot he was. “I was walking one second, and the next,” his hand gestured rapidly in one motion from left to right, “I hit a pole.” It didn’t make sense at all, but that was the idea. He closed his eyes and sunk into the chair, losing his good posture in an instant. Lani could take it from here.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was going to have to talk to Odion about his lack of self value. Especially since Lani thought he was the best of people. There wasn’t a single person he trusted half as much as he trusted Odion. It wasn’t because he was a good person. It was because he wasn’t afraid to say that he wasn’t. He couldn’t see what he was worth, but at least he wasn’t one of those people who felt self righteous. He didn’t expect things from people and he treated people no differently than he treated himself. It made Lani wonder what made him different. When they had first met that time in the field he would have been fine letting Odion contemplate his goodness and badness on his own. But Lani knew Odion now and he couldn’t sit back and let the redhead be so hard on himself. It was true when people said that a person’s worst critic was themselves.

Lani shook his head at Odion and moved his hand forward again. He let out a breath of laughter. No Odion wasn’t thinking straight at all. Lani was taking advantage of Odion’s foolishness because the chances of that happening again were slim. Something in his mind told him he shouldn’t tease him so much, it could come back to bite him. But for now he was ignoring it and going on with a smile on his face. “Sorry,” Lani uttered letting Odion push his hand away. Lani suddenly felt terrible. Technically this wasn’t his fault but Odion had a good sized bump the size of this telekinetic’s elbow. He knew it was an accident but this couldn’t look good. Odion was rather loopy from the blow and he winced with Odion as he closed his eyes and he wondered if Odion was really a little jarred by the blow. He smiled a little as Odion just went with it. Lani probably could have taken him anywhere in this state, but his mind was only on getting Odion some ice to get that bump to go down. He shook his head at Odion, now he knew Odion wasn’t thinking straight.

Lani snorted at Odion’s story, he couldn’t help himself it was a good cover story but also a very bad cover story. His mother tossed him a look and he shrugged. “I didn’t think he was actually going to run into it.” Lani said going along with the story and making the explanation for why he didn’t prevent Odion from hitting a pole. His mother made a dramatic show of throwing her hands up in exasperation. He looked over at Odion slumped in a chair. Perhaps they would look back at this and it would be hilarious. Lani already thought it was and was doing his very best not to let everyone else know that he thought so especially since Odion was in so much pain. He had never seen Odion lose his posture even for an instant. He wanted to comfort Odion but kept his distance. “So where were you?” She finally asked. “We just took a walk I wanted to show Odion the city,” Lani said, he was protecting Odion’s integrity in his mothers eyes by not telling him that he was a thief like Lani. “Do you want some Tylenol, honey?” she asked putting a hand on his shoulder.

[Odion Martins]

It wasn’t whether Odion thought he was valuable, in fact he did, he just didn’t think there was hope for him or anyone else in this world. That was what he really and truly thought, and it’s why he needed Lani. He needed Lani like Lani needed the boats before them, or his books, or his family. Odion didn’t have a close family, he had a sibling he was only beginning to know. Maybe Lani would never understand that, but he was Odion’s anchor. Odi had tried to rid himself of the anchor, saw it as only a weight, a burden, but he had misunderstood the meaning and value of the anchor, and he would never take him for granted again. Lani was different for a hundred different reasons, and also, his timing had been just right in the right places, even though often it wasn’t. Where it counted, Lani was there.

“At least I didn’t get abandoned,” Odion said, trying to make Lani look good in the situation. Not that Lani needed help looking good, but... he lost his train of thought. The ginger’s eyes had ‘sorry’ written across them. He really didn’t think they were going to get into trouble and he really didn’t think he wouldn’t be able to use his power to get back into the house unnoticed. Well it was too late to think about that now, especially since his power was officially out of commission when he had a headache. “Uh, yes, Tylenol.” Lani hadn’t exactly lied, had he? Two pills were placed into his hand as Lani’s mum fetched some water. This would have to go under the list of dumbest things he had ever done, right under jumping into a water fountain naked in Madrid...

Taking the pills, Odion sat back in his chair and didn’t say a word. It was better just to feel the dull thumping in the front of his head. He wouldn’t leave until he was excused.

[Lani Hunter]

Everyone was living to die. It was a question of what was left behind. If when Lani slipped into the long sleep people breathed a sigh of relief he would suppose he had done a bad job on earth. Though admittedly there were some people who inevitably would. But so long as one person missed him then his life had been a good one. He didn’t expect Odion or anyone to think of life like that. Lani wasn’t sure he believed in heaven or hell, but if either existed he knew where he was headed. That held no fear for him. Because if there was a God he wouldn’t have force Lani onto this path in the first place. Perhaps the most terrifying thing about death was that it was final. And no one knew what rested on the other side. Everyone could speculate as much they could but no one had ever come back from the dead to say ‘this is what it’s like’.

Lani smiled at Odion and shook his head a little bit. His mother walked over and rested her elbow on his shoulder as she looked at Odion talking nonsense. “He hit his head pretty hard didn’t he?” Lani just nodded and chuckled as she shook her head and went to the cabinet. Lani shook his head at Odion again and his smile faded. It had been funny but the time of humor was over and Odion was hurt. Lani’s worst case scenario mind was telling him that Odion wasn’t going to come back after this. He was going to decide that this wasn’t worth it. This relationship was painful. Literally. So what if it was an accident? Lani’s mind was working a mile and minute and he looked at the pills in Odion’s hand. His head twinged. He didn’t let it show on his face but he turned his eyes away. This didn’t make sense, he didn’t use his power, why was his head hurting again? At least more than the normal steady ache.

He bit his tongue this was weird. He shook away the feeling deciding it was probably just a remnant of what happened earlier, either that or his power was getting into trouble. He shrugged it off and looked back at Odion. It was still early in the night but he wouldn’t blame Odion for just going to bet at this point. “You don’t think you have a concussion do you?” Lani’s father asked leaning in the door framing looking at Odion as if he could see through the ice pack. Lani glanced at his father then back to Odion. Could he have really gotten a concussion from Lani’s elbow? Then he remembered Odion was supposed to have run into a pole. He supposed that could do it.

[Odion Martins]

Odion didn’t notice the influx of emotions running through Lani’s mind. The careful observer was preoccupied with how much of an idiot he looked like right now. He may as well have come back with Lani completely intoxicated. At least then he wouldn’t feel like an idiot until later. He felt extremely foolish letting the playful side of him out at the wrong time. Maybe Lani wasn’t the only one with bad timing, and even the time turner himself didn’t have his act together. But he wasn’t thinking about leaving, it wasn’t like Lani willed this to happen. Odion thought of a dozen different things: they could’ve just raced back, they could’ve even walked back, they could’ve snuck in, they could’ve just stayed out all night, kissing... He reached a hand to his head, he needed to stop thinking.

The redhead wasn’t used to having so many pairs of eyes looking at him. “I’ve neve’ had one before.” Lie. But he knew this wasn’t a concussion at least. Not a bad one anyways. Odion made to look at the older man but his eyes landed on Caroline in the living room, happily reading as though nothing were going on. Nothing at all. Odi smiled and looked up to find Kevin half glaring at him. What was his problem anyways? Odion made a panged expression, his eyebrows knitting together as he winced.

“You should go rest.” Mrs. Hunter looked at Odion, concerned. She had that same look of worry in her eyes that Lani got. Odi turned to find that Lani was giving him the same look. “Lani can go with you,” she added, this time looking at her husband. “Thank you,” Odion said, standing slowly, his jacket unbunching itself. God it was warm in here. “Sorry.” What was he sorry for? He pointed at the icepack with his free hand. “I’ll keep this.” He glanced away from everyone, deeming that a moronic thing to say, but already his back was to them as he escaped to his temporary room.

What a grand first impression he was making. The one thing, the one thing he didn’t want to do was let Lani down, and he couldn’t even do that.

[Lani Hunter]

If Lani knew how hard Odion was being on himself he would tell him to stop being an idiot. People did stupid things, it happened, one laughed and let it go. It was like when they were at the restaurant. Odion had been so embarrassed but Lani thought it was the funniest thing because he never got a chance to see Odion relaxed or in that case just not as stiff as he normally was. Perhaps it was because Odion was so well put together all the time that it made times when he lost control or composure all the more interesting. Lani pulled off his jacket as he started to get heated and laid it half over the table his eyes watching Odion. Lani didn’t think about Odion being uncomfortable because of everyone looking at him. But everyone was concerned. Even his father, at least a little bit. In his own way.

Lani raised a brow and his father frowned at Odion. It appeared the older man didn’t quite believe Odion. Well Lani wouldn’t be surprised. His father assumed that anyone he brought around was a thief. Chances were that his father thought that Odion was going to steal them blind in the middle of the night. He was foolish enough to think that Lani would bring around someone who would steal from them. No Lani was certainly not going to bring up having a relationship with Odion anytime soon to his parents. Maybe he’d tell Caroline but no he was too afraid of his father and of losing the love of his mother to say anything. Lani made a disapproving tisk sound with his tongue as he saw Odion wince. His eyes were like dagger toward his father and Lani sighed. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Lani insisted.

His mother was an angel. He was sure. He rose to his feet and stretched toward the sky feinting sudden weariness. He shook his head at Odion and his apology. “Keep apologizing and I’ll take you to the hospital,” his mother chided with a smile patting Odion’s shoulder as he passed by. Odion was making a quick retreat and Lani didn’t blame him one bit. He turned and gave his mother a hug and a kiss before whispering his own thanks to her. He turned and bid his father goodnight. Passing Caroline he ruffled her hair and followed Odion up the stairs. He knocked timidly on the door wanting to make sure Odion was alright before he retreated into his own room. He figured Odion would probably want to be alone for a little while. Unwind and sleep. But Lani wanted to make sure he would be alright.

[Odion Martins]

Another reason why Odion didn’t like being around people, was for the sheer possibility that he might look at like idiot. He didn’t really talk, so why wouldn’t he voice that he was keenly aware of others’ opinions about him. He could claim they didn’t matter, but if he didn’t let people close to him to being with, then he really didn’t have to come to grips with their opinions. But he was starting to let people in, and he was starting to wonder if they had figured him out yet. The desire to lay more traps and mind puzzles to protect himself was strong. People were getting too close to his heart and someone was currently holding it. Was that okay? Could he trust someone else when he couldn’t even trust himself? The concerned looks went over his head, turning them into judging looks. He was done here. He was afraid to have so many people actually care about him.

At least Lani’s father wasn’t an idiot. Odion was a thief, he had every right to be suspicious and that in and of itself meant he cared for Lani. He didn’t want Lani or anyone in his family to be put into jeopardy. But Odion was Lani’s friend, they had to know that Odion didn’t care if Lani was a thief or not, though it did make him more attractive. But at the same time, Kevin not trusting Odion meant he didn’t trust Lani’s judgement. It was really no wonder why Lani and his father were bitter towards one another. They both had some growing up to do.

Poking his head out into the hall, Odion looked after Lani. “Good night,” he said, a sheepish smile on his face. The icepack was held steadfast to his head as he kept his thoughts to himself. He hesitated, then closed the door. He’d be fine, he just needed to go to sleep and forget about being an idiot. He contemplated the bed, before slipping out of his shoes and jacket. Next time they went to see the sights, they should just use the front door.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani didn’t understand why having people care about him bothered Odion. It didn’t make sense to him that the other male would be so put off by people caring about how he had gotten his head knocked into. Odion seemed to forget that while Lani held his heart Odion held Lani’s. If one of them dropped the other the chance of being dropped themselves and cut by the shards were high. Lani’s heart was still healing from his own mistakes. It made his nervous to have someone else’s hands on it but he couldn’t take back what he had said. He realized belatedly that he could have lied, lied yet against to protect himself from getting hurt. But that would have only made this all the harder and it would have come out eventually. Lani didn’t want to be a liar anymore. He wanted the face he saw when he looked in the mirror to change.

“Goodnight,” Lani replied as Odion started to close the door. The ice pack against his head made it look like he had been in a fight. Lani slipped back into his own room where he dropped onto his bed and picked up a book to read. It was an old familiar favorite. He was a few chapters in when his ears told him that the house had gone quiet. At which point he slipped down the stairs slipping a few trinkets into each of the stockings lotion for his mother, a Swiss Army knife for his father, a small compact mirror for Caroline and a deck of cards in a trick box for Odion and sticking the gifts he had gotten his parents and sister under the tree. Was tomorrow really Christmas? How had time flown. He moved like a ghost back into his room and by the time he deemed himself ready for sleep and set the good book aside it was well into the morning.

Lani was not prepared for the jumping on his bed so early in the morning. Of course Caroline was awake. She was still young enough to get excited by Christmas and presents. Lani groaned and looked at the clock. It was seven. Way too early for Lani’s taste. “Are mom and dad up?” he asked rubbing his eyes. “No…” she said brightly. Lani groaned and pulled the blankets over his head. “Then why are you? Go back to bed.” He heard her huff a little and curled himself more snugly into his blankets and slipped back into an easy sleep. Not aware that Caroline was going to see if Odion was awake yet.

[Odion Martins]

His bothered state of mind was caused by a number of things. He was disturbed that anyone could care about him in the first place. It was a kind of weakness, it made those around him pathetic. How could he look up to someone if he didn’t respect them? They didn’t even know him, how could they care for him? So he had another heart to take care of while someone watched over his, which seemed like a fair trade, but he still thought he was getting the better end of the deal. Odion was still wary of Lani, and how he had hurt him once before, but the ‘favour’ had been returned. Odi hoped that with a little perseverance would cause the trust to build between them, and finally admitting they loved one another was a step in that direction.

Tomorrow was Christmas. Odi kept this in mind as he stared at the ceiling, the top part of his head going numb from the icepack. The time turner fell asleep almost instantly, which wasn’t normal but it was welcomed. He really did need rest, and his head would thank him for it in the morning.

Odion shot up from his slumber, taking in a sharp breath. What was pressing against his ribs? The icepack had travelled into his shirt somehow and it startled him. He sighed, flinging it across the room and looking at the clock. Seven o’clock in the morning. He smiled to himself. Not bad at all. Odion pushed himself into a pair of dark sweatpants, the only pair he owned, and opened the door to his bedroom. There were people talking in Lani’s room and Odi’s bright eyes watched for any motion. He’d never had a proper Christmas morning before. Caroline danced out of Lani’s room and when she saw Odion, smiled brightly.

Usually when people rushed him, Odi was getting ready for a fight. Instead, when Caroline reached him, she was scooped up into a big hug. “Merry Christmas Odion,” she said as he set her down. “Merry Christmas Caroline,” he said, humbled by her presence and where he was. Caroline frowned at him. “What happened to your head?” Odi touched the spot above his eyebrow. It no longer felt like a horn, but he imagined there was a colorful bruise to replace it. “Lani beat me up,” he fibbed, making the younger girl laugh.

Lani definitely wasn’t up yet, and an idea formed in Odi’s mind as he scratched his chest absently. Caroline seemed to have the same idea and together, they tiptoed back to Lani’s room. Odion held up three fingers, then two making a peace sign, and on one, the both of them jumped on Lani’s bed. “Merry Christmas!” Caroline was giggling like mad and Odi went along with it. "This is for beating me up!" And without any warning, Lani was stripped of the cozy blanket surrounding his body.

[Lani Hunter]

It goes to show that when one was surrounded by early risers it was never a good idea to stay up until odd hours of the night. Lani sighed as Caroline left him be and sank back into his warm blankets. He’d like to say that was the last time he stayed up reading but he knew that would be a lie. Oh well, chances were Caroline was the only one up and he could get a few more hours. It was strange that the most restful sleep was in the morning when he was woken up and fell back asleep. He was gone into dreamland before Caroline had even left the room. He was vaguely aware in his dreams of what the day was and where he was and with who but as his mind worked through the things he needed to realize come morning his made them go away and his dreams turned strange.

Perhaps everyone was more motivated to move from the comforts of a warm bed than Lani was. Give Lani a warm bed and he wasn’t likely to be mobile for quite some time. For someone who hardly slept he definitely enjoyed his sleep. He was dreaming again and the dream was a colorful fantastic thing. It was one of those dreams that was sure to be forgotten upon waking because nothing the mind could understand was present in such a dream. All Lani knew of the world was that it was warm and he was comfortable. He was a heavy sleeper when he was comfortable like this. He wasn’t even aware someone else was in the room. The slumbering telekinetic had a strange change in his dream. Somewhere in his dream there were two things that were trying to alert him of a danger. But comfortable Lani was laying in a sunny field and couldn’t see the need to go seeking out danger.

He let out a yelp as he was ambushed in both dream and life. He sat up in bed and took a millisecond to assess that it was just his sister and Odion before he decided it wasn’t worth it. He was warm and he was tired. He grumbled unintelligible complaints as he snapped a glare at the giggling Caroline and her accomplice. Turning his face into his pillow, Lani ducked his head back under the blanket in displeasure intent on ignoring them. Lani flinched as cold air greeted his skin. The sudden breaking of his comfortable existence drove Lani to actually wake up. It was a good thing it wasn’t summer and Lani had sweatpants on instead of just his boxers. That would at least save him a fraction of his embarrassment. He briefly curled himself tighter before unfolding and propping himself up on his elbows. With a sweep of his glaring eyes he swept over Caroline and identified Odion as the blanket thief. “M’kay, sume un’s gonna die.” Lani said his words still sleep slurred as his mind struggled to catch up with the wakefulness of his body.

He stared at Odion for a few moments his eyes going to the bump and now bruised combination. It wasn’t a goose egg anymore bit it still looked rather painful. It was really all that was keeping the grumpy telekinetic from shoving him off the bed. He rubbed his eyes with one hand as he struggled out of his sleep haze. “Merry Christmas,” he finally replied before he attempted to snatch the blankets back from Odion knowing that if he could at least not go back to sleep he could at least be warm. And once he was warm chances of him falling back asleep were rather high. “This was your idea wasn’t it?” He asked of Caroline giving her an annoyed look. Caroline giggled and gave an innocent look and he grabbed her tickling her sides making her let out shrieks of laughter. She eventually tumbled off the bed taking Lani with her. Both siblings were laughing now, Caroline in mirth and Lani sure he was going to have the last laugh. Odion wouldn’t be hurt if Lani tickled him. In a quick motion Lani was on his feet and tackled Odion into the cushion of the bed and trapped him with his stolen blanket before trying to tickle the time turner.

[Odion Martins]

All the times he had seen others celebrating, or buying things for those they loved, Odion got the chance to participate. He couldn’t ask for more, and it felt a little ridiculous, but he knew this was somewhere he belonged: anywhere with Lani.

Odion was laughing lightly, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he folded up the blanket in his arms. He let the blond have his blanket back, and glanced at Caroline. This was good fun, he should definitely start doing this in the dorm on other days when it wasn’t a holiday. They could reminisce about their first Christmas together. He had to admit there was a bit of disappointment in his mind from having Lani simply in his sweatpants, but Caroline was probably thankful. Odion didn’t try defending Caroline from Lani’s tickling hands, for it was all in good fun. She seemed to be sputtering something about how it wasn’t all her fault, but peals of laughter interrupted her plea. Odi wasn’t a good sport to begin with, so he simply watched the siblings squirm from her perch on the bed. This was definitely his idea, but Caroline could take credit for it.

A bemused expression overtook Odi’s face when Lani stood. He crossed his arms in front of him the instant before Lani came at him. Lani’s hands were on his torso and he only twitched slightly, before not moving at all, becoming used to the action. Caroline was standing now, watching them, and Odion caught Lani’s wrists under the blanket with his hands. “You ought to know I’m not ticklish,” he said, not a single bluff to be found. “Get him!” He said loudly, and Caroline was happy to oblige, jumping back onto the bed with renewed vigour, her tiny fingers finding just the right spots on her brother. Odion had always wondered if Lani was ticklish. With the amount of noise they were all making, the rest of the household was soon to be up and getting ready for Christmas.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani would not be very pleasant company if Odion made a habit out of this. Lani wasn’t quite awake enough to realize that this was their first Christmas together. At least he got his blanket back but he needed to dish out some revenge. Lani knew exactly where his sister’s ticklish spots were and kept her breathless as she squirmed away. Lani grinned ignoring her pleas for mercy. It had been a long time since he had roughhoused with his sister. She was big enough now that he didn’t worry much about falling on her, he was still bigger but he was careful out of habit. When they took their tumble Lani was glad they missed any pieces of furniture. It was funny how he could team up with Odion and he could team up with Caroline but when the three were all together it seemed like Odion and Caroline teamed up against him. It was all in good fun and he was rather glad that his sister and Odion got along so well.

He was quick and Lani didn’t even think for a moment that his plan to get Odion back would backfire. Lani realized his error around the time Odion stopped moving. The twitch was all he got and he really didn’t like the look Odion was getting on his face. Lani’s smile was still on as he looked at Odion waiting to see if he would react at all. Lani was about to give up but Odion grabbed onto him. Lani’s face flashed with color before seeming to pale again as he realized Odion’s plan. Lani had lied and told the redhead he wasn’t ticklish. He was about to be proven wrong. “No!” He cried as Caroline jumped him. He folded in on himself trying to tug his hands away from Odion as he twitched with laughter. There was a vague note that Odion was stronger because Lani was finding it difficult to pull away from him. But Lani was twisting this way and that as Caroline knew his ticklish spots just like he knew hers and hit them like an expert. “Le’go!” Lani cried between laughs his eyes squeezed shut as tiny amounts of tears snuck out of his eyelids.

Flailing about was about as much as Lani could do and he couldn’t think in a straight long enough to do anything about this with his power. He twisted and tugged at his hands his need to escape kicking in. Finally he twisted himself free and wrapping his arms protectively around his torso he leapt from the bed going for the door and slamming into his father as he made for the stairs. They grabbed onto each other struggling to keep from falling. Lani was still laughing like a lunatic and grabbed onto his father before ducking behind him using his father as a wall. “Merry Christmas,” the older man said glance from Lani to his sister. “Merry Christmas,” Lani replied with a smile giving his father a hug his sister returning the sentiment soon after. His mother emerged from her bedroom and gave Lani a weary look before yawning. “What’re y’all doin’ up?” She said her sweet Carolina accent coming out in her weariness. Lani just pointed in Odion and Caroline’s direction.

[Odion Martins]

Once Lani woke up a little bit, Odion would be sure to steal him away at some point for a Christmas kiss. Was that even something? It didn’t really matter, Odi was going to make this happen. Granted he already knew Lani wasn’t a morning person, he simply wasn’t going to sit and wait around for Lani to get up. His book really could’ve waited. Odion would rather not be singled out by the siblings, and hopefully it would never happen. He tended to forget he was playing at all and turned immediately defensive, someone who could give a beating but couldn’t handle one themselves. Nobody needed to see that side of him, not today.

Lani’s first mistake was assuming Odion was ticklish, which lead to the second mistake of tipping Odion off. Never before would the redhead think to actually tickle Lani, though he was suspicious the blond was early on in their relationship. Now that the barrier was broken between them, Odi had no problem getting into Lani’s personal space bubble, and apparently Lani was willing to risk getting into Odion’s in return. His dark blue eyes had ‘got you’ all over them – and now Lani was going to pay for... a false beating, right, that’s what this was all about.

Today would mark the day that Odion found out just how ticklish Lani was. Very. Very ticklish indeed. Watching Lani squirm about only made Odion smile wider. This was both hilarious, and adorable. The look on Caroline’s face as she extracted revenge on her brother, and Lani’s crazy frock of hair while he laughed so hard he cried, it was a memory which naturally drew itself out. Odion didn’t need to slow time down to really enjoy it, to see it for what it truly was. Maybe life wasn’t filled with goodness, but it certainly had these moments. Lani finally freed himself and Odion only watched, laughing to himself as Caroline trailed after Lani.

The good could only last so long, and as the little family unit embraced one another, Odion watched like the stranger he was. Something in his heart broke and his smile faltered, the feeling of acid tore at his stomach and finally he looked down at the messy bed. Everything that ran through his mind last only for a moment as he realized the attention was now on him. “I couldn’t sleep anymore,” he said sheepishly, a different sort of smile returning to his face. The older generation seemed content with this answer, looking at their children again. Caroline was practically jumping out of her skin in excitement, and Odi took the time to pass a look to Lani. Being here was something else entirely.

“Guess I’ll make breakfast,” Lani’s mum was saying, and Odion practically jumped off the bed to approach. “May I help?” He asked, receiving some surprised looks. He could tell that Lani’s mum was going to protest at first, probably since he was a guest here, but she must’ve caught on to the pleading look in his eyes. All he wanted was to be a part of this day. “You should learn a lesson from Odion,” she directed this at Lani, an impish grin on her face, “just let me wash up dear.” She patted Odion’s shoulder and went back to her room, Kevin following after her. Caroline was smiling happily and bounded off to her room, probably to get ready as well now that it seemed that no one was getting any second thoughts about sleep.

The moment everyone was out of sight, Odion jabbed his fingers into Lani’s side, glad to know another of Lani’s, lighter secrets. He laughed to himself, breaking their closeness and heading back to his room, walking backwards so he could keep an eye on Lani. ‘Merry Christmas’ he mouthed, giving the blond a wink.

Thanks to his powers, Odi would be the first one in the kitchen, wearing a nice pair of light blue jeans and a plain black, long sleeved shirt. There was no need to wear more than that, since he wanted his new necklace to stand out. The card he made for the entire family rested on the kitchen table, lest he hold it and give away his nerves from shaking hands. Stealing he could do, cooking with Lani's family on Christmas morning... He banished the thought before he could change his mind. His pacing stopped as he reached the farthest corner from the stairs, waiting for anyone else to come down them.