Sorry Dear (Lani.)

[Odion Martins]

Odion’s hand hovered over Lani’s door, his dark eyes searching the room number. How many times had he been here now? How many of those times had he worn a smile on his face? Oh, well it didn’t matter. Odion lowered his hand once more, his fingers wrapped around a different piece of paper. He was ready to move on from the past woes. That which once had haunted him were in the depths of his mind as he tried to focus on other, more exciting things. He had a fantastic relationship with Lani, he was getting ready to move out of Hammel for good, and, he was pretty damn happy.

Odion decided not to be so formal after all, and darted down the hall. He doubted his surprise appearance would surprise Lani at all, but Lani would just give Odion that impish look had he decided to knock. He would say something stupidly clever, like ‘Oh hey stranger, long time no see,’ when they’d only just seen each other two nights before. It was these little things that Lani did that Odion paid attention to, of course with the intention of keeping Lani on his toes. Nimble feet brought him across the outside of the building, which was much easier to scale now that the weather was turning into Spring. Arriving at Lani’s window, Odi picked at the jammed lock in paused time and opened the window. Lani was good – it was extremely difficult to come in from the outdoors, but time was on Odi’s side.

Time started right on cue, and should Lani miss Odion’s landing in his room, then he would hear the creaking of the closing window. “I want you to teach me,” he said, laying down the rudimentary floor plans for a building he knew by heart next to LaniThe store within was closing down, and there probably wasn’t a lot of value left inside, but it would be a good first step. Odion found purchase on Lani’s computer chair, and curled his legs up underneath him. He wasn’t really sure what he wanted Lani to teach him exactly, and he glanced at his paper trying to think of what he wanted to say.

“I could make a better drawing,” he said, his eyes darting up to Lani’s, “if you like.” There was still so much they didn’t talk about, so much that they were unwilling or had forgotten to share. Lani didn’t know Odion still acted like a heartless wretch to the school’s population, didn’t know what Odion had tried to do to Lani’s ex-boss, and he certainly didn’t know what Odion was scheming now. Affections were quite beyond him when something was on Odion’s mind, but his heart still skipped a beat as he moved the chair closer to Lani. A smile spread across his face at how off guard he could become without a moment’s notice. “I want to know how to break into a big shop.”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was sitting on his bed against the wall a pair of headphones covering his ears and filling it with the sound of rock. He typed away at his laptop looking up one thing after another. First checking his admission status at the community college, it seems they really will let just about anyone in. So long as he got a high school diploma he was golden. Also checking to see if anyone had taken up his offer to be a roommate. He really didn’t want to have to find a new place. It was cheap and well, that was really all that mattered. But he didn’t want to have a two bedroom to himself and they didn’t have anything with a single bedroom. Besides he had always lived with people, he liked having the privacy of an apartment but he wouldn’t mind some company as well. If he could find someone also taking classes that would be a relief. His phone lit up next to him and he checked a quick message from a friend and former coworker. She wanted to talk. He deleted the message after sending a simple ‘OK’ for acknowledgement. She would send a date and time soon.

Something changed in the room and Lani glanced up from his computer and blinks as suddenly there was an Odion in his room. He pulled off the headphones and closed his computer setting it aside on his bed. He gave an impish grin and opened his mouth to make a sly comment but Odion beat him to the punch and Lani’s eyes blanked with an air of cluelessness. “Uh, what?” He asked a smile still on his face. He scooted himself to the edge of the bed and took up the sheet of paper. He looked over the blueprints and glanced up at Odion needing a little more context to understand what was going on. He glanced back as his phone beeped indicating a message and just silenced it with a thought. It could wait. He looked over the page Odion had drown, it wasn’t a place he recognized but he could already see a few problem areas. This also didn’t have the map out of security measures. Lani also didn’t know what kind of place it was, which would probably have a large influence on what kind of security measures someone would take.

Lani shook his head dismissing the prospect of another drawing. Lani leaned over the map and looked up at Odion his eyes narrowed as Odion finally gave him a straight answer. He looked into those beautiful blue eyes trying to read what Odion was thinking. He measured Odion up like anyone he would take with him on a heist. In all honesty Lani had never worked with another person on something big. He wasn’t sure how this would go. But Odion had asked and Odion had done so much for Lani already. “Okay.” He looked back at the blueprints looking over them with a renewed interest. “What do you know about it?” He asked absently glancing up at Odion for a moment gathered a map of his features as well. “The map is good, by the way.” Lani commented. He was never good at drawing, he always ended up with out of proportion boxes in his plan and it was more of a general, this hallway is here somewhere.

[Odion Martins]

The blonde’s only reaction was to blink stupidly. Odion smiled slightly. The business wasn’t serious, it was mere play in his mind. Yes the game would be harder than ever before, but in his mind it was actually worth pursuing. His hands were idle as of late. Odion sat back in the chair, wondering if Lani was only playing dumb. Surely he knew that Odion had wanted to learn how to do a B&E eventually. He wasn’t too keen on the idea at first, because it was high risk, but it also had a higher payoff, and Odion was starting to become a little more adventurous, or perhaps dangers was a better word. Lani’s phone went off and Odion’s eyes flicked toward the device, suspicious as always, but deciding to ignore it for the time being.

Lani shook his head no and Odion remained stoic. He knew Lani would want something a little more substantial, but Odion also knew he didn’t have to be perfect from the start. Not with Lani. Odion could sense the suspicions Lani had, and he didn’t really blame his boyfriend. They were both crooks, they both had Aces up their sleeves, and they both had very different ideas on how to get the job done. The blond seemed to be surveying and measuring him, and Odi didn’t break eye contact.

“Everything,” Odion said, “I want to know what you need to know about it in order to get in unnoticed.” He almost added, ‘Hunter Style’, but that would only make Lani laugh at him and Odion wasn’t in the mood.

“Thank you,” said Odion, his lips twitching up slightly. Apparently Lani had been working on his manners. “I’d like you to come with me,” Odion said, a purposeful afterthought as he crossed one leg over the other, his elbow perched just so, so he could partially hide his mouth his a hand. His eyes never left Lani. “What do you think?”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani had been rather busy with his hands of late. He really just couldn’t resist a challenge and now it seemed like they were challenging him with the purpose of getting him to go after gold. Too bad for the clever cops but while they laid the bait for him one place he cleared another lower profile shop of its goods. Idle was something Lani probably should be for a while, but with this new proposal from Odion Lani was quickly off of that idea. The more Lani looked over the floor plans the less he liked it. He hoped that Odion had thought this through as much as he claimed. Even as Lani let his eyes rake over Odion, memorizing and admiring his features, and at the same time seeing Odion’s face if things went wrong. It wouldn’t be Odion’s fault, it would be Lani’s for being a poor teacher. Then there was the possibility of things going badly because they came from such different worlds. A lot of things they both knew but Lani’s fear was that would disagree on a plan. Odion seemed to be fine without a plan and Lani needed four or five back-up plans for his back-up plan.

He locked eyes with Odion and raised a brow setting the map aside and leaned forward. Lani nodded, Odion thought he knew everything. Lani grinned liking the idea of playing teacher for once. Unnoticed had a broad sense of the term. Most people tended to not notice those walking past them, even less people paid attention to people who looked just as normal as everyone else. If one went skulking around they were bound to be noticed. That was of course if Odion wanted to do this in broad daylight. If he wanted to do a real after hours works that was when skulking had to become invisibility. When doing large things it was important to know just what the best way was. Sometimes the best of the best did the best work in broad daylight right under the noses of the cops. He supposed he should be glad that Odion didn’t want to just jump in and rob a museum or anything, not like a younger hotheaded Lani had wanted to do. Starting small, that was smart.

Lani quirked a brow and gave Odion an impish smile before echoing Odion’s answer of “Everything.” Lani traced his finger along the map next to him finally taking his eyes off of Odion. “This place, does it have a lot of windows? Door? Are they easily accessible?” There were a million questions that Lani wanted to know the answer to, hopefully Odion really did know everything. Lani wanted to know how tall it was, how close the surrounding buildings were, if the windows were east facing or west, north or south. He leaned forward and started mercilessly firing questions at his boyfriend. “What does it sell? What kind of security do they use?” Lani added onto his former list of questions. For the time being Odion was a potential partner in crime, being interviewed by the person who had never had a partner before. If Odion knew the answers to all of those questions they were in business.

“I wouldn’t let you go alone,” Lani said with a sly smile. Lani didn’t want to give up what he thought yet. He didn’t have enough details yet. “What’s your plan?” Lani asked, Odion had to know that question was coming. Lani never did anything without a plan, well hardly ever at least. Odion wanted to break into something. He had to have a plan. No matter what kind of philosophical argument they got into over it, a plan was necessary for something of this scale. Besides if Odion knew as much as he claimed he perhaps already had a way in. Lani might be the second opinion.

[Odion Martins]

Odion wasn’t an idiot, Lani should know that by now. He knew that this kind of pocketing would require a lot of planning, and less spur of the moment meanderings. Still, he probably hadn’t poured over it as much as Lani would have, and that’s why Odi was here now, instead of appearing in the backseat of a police car after failing miserably. Odion wasn’t trying to be noble here, and Lani should know by now that if Odion had wanted to do this on his own, it would’ve been done. Odion didn’t lack confidence in himself for completing the task before him, but he didn’t want to pick up bad habits before he had even begun.

Odion, instead of answering the question, took the map back from Lani, his eyes scanning over the rudimentary drawing. It was scaled to size, and Odi thought he had labelled everything properly, but alas in his excitement he had jumped the gun. Turning around, Odion plucked a pen from Lani’s desk and set to work drawing more details, a look of concentration befell his face.

There was one main entrance door, two larger back doors for loading things, and three fire exits. Most of the windows were in the main part of the store, where the merchandise was on display to the public, but there were a couple others in the office part of the building. The doors he hadn’t thought about, but could see in his mind’s eye, and mentally walked through the building before tallying them all up – 17, including washrooms.

“They’re a small watch place going out of business, and their security consists of basic burglar alarms.” Odion added a legend as well, to differentiate between the doors, windows, etc. There was also a directional marker in the top right corner.

Odion returned the sly grin and reached for Lani’s hand. “It’s not a high security building,” Odion said reassuringly, playing with Lani’s fingers. “I thought I’d start small and go from there.” While Odion had a fetish for bright and sparkly things, he knew good things came to those who waited, and he wouldn’t have considered robbing a place had he not met Lani. Trying to do this without the blonde was like being given a key to a safe and throwing it away, only to try and claw your way inside.

Smirking, Odion shrugged. “I don’t have a plan,” he lied, “this is why I’m asking you about it. I thought this was your forte.” Odion had thought of a small plan, but he didn’t want to speak it out loud and not have it be good enough. Better just to make one together. Odion cleared his throat and pointed to one of the back entrances. “I’m guessing we’ll get in at the building’s weakest point,” he said, glancing at Lani, wondering if he was doing this correctly.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani leaned a little farther forward craning his neck to see what Odion was scrawling on the map. He really wanted to know what Odion was planning. As much as Lani wanted to snatch it and point out that this was what they were going to do. This was Odion’s first heist, Lani had been in this situation before. He knew he’d have to be hands on, but Odion also wasn’t some child learning the ropes, he knew a fair deal of stealing already. No Lani wanted to take, not the backseat in this one but maybe the passenger seat. This was Odion’s idea and it would stay his idea. Lani sighed, he had a problem. He was a control freak and it was taking all of his power to not just take over. Partners, he reminded himself. They were partners. This was going to be interesting. Lani’s foot tapped impatiently as he waited for Odion to finish. He allowed his eyes to wander from Odion’s face to his feet and back again. He blinked slowly taking it all in. Was this what happiness was supposed to feel like? The bubbles in his stomach and the light feeling in his heart.

That light feeling shouldn’t be there. Not with so much weighing down his soul. He wondered what it would feel like when everything with his boss was over. Would it feel lighter? Or would he feel guilty as he had the last few times he confronted his boss. Leaving his boss was a good decision, Lani knew that, but he had never imagined the hardships that would follow. But… He was jarred out of his thoughts as Odion spoke. He nodded, sounded standard enough. Easy. Probably a silent alarm somewhere and a few cameras. Odion had done his homework, Lani was impressed, but then again he figured he shouldn’t be. Lani nodded to himself and glanced over the map again with its new features. He shot Odion a smile not missing the irony of such a thing. They were in a sense stealing time and who better to steal time than the time lord himself.

Lani unconsciously reached out to take Odion’s hand when his boyfriend reached out. “That sounds like a good plan.” Lani praised still a little jealous that Odion seemed to have more sense than Lani ever had. “You’ll learn quick.” Lani added. “Do you know why they’re going out of business?” His power grabbed the map and hovered it up in front of them so they could look it over without having to crane their necks. He looked at the additions and nodded to himself. He summed up the doors and windows. It wasn’t too bad, it was actually pretty easy. With so many doors and windows there were plenty of ways in and out, but there were also a lot of places they had to watch their backs. Easily avoidable. They wouldn’t likely have security at a place like this, probably just some rent-a-cop that patrolled between a set of shops.

Raising a brow at Odion Lani smirked a little bit and hissed laugher out his nose. “You came to the right place,” Lani agreed and looked back at the map. He looked at Odion from the corner of his eye, he had a feeling Odion already had a plan, but Lani would play along. “What’s the target? Are we going for merchandise, money, or just cleaning them out?” Lani hummed and rose to his feet as he looked over the floor plans. Lani never really liked doors, it was more of a personal preference. “We could.” He said absently and traced the outline of the building. “How close is it to the building next to it?” Now Lani was thinking roof access or even window from the roof. It would be tricky but he had no doubt in his ability to do it nor Odion’s. Lani also knew that having been on the news recently he was quickly making a name for himself and a lot of people he used to know are definitely aware that he wasn’t quitting. This was just the kind of thing he needed in order to throw them off his scent.

[Odion Martins]

Odion just smiled. He wasn’t comfortable with all the praise and thanks Lani was giving him. He found it strange, unnecessary even. He knew they were dating now, but Lani didn’t have to be an ass kisser. Odion smiled to himself. Lani had never really been an ass kisser though, so maybe this was genuine. Here they were, snuggling up and pouring over his hand drawn blueprint. It was strange and wonderful, and Odion often thought that he himself couldn’t have picked better strands of time to follow. “People can’t afford expensive watches?” Odion ventured, not really sure why, and one could tell by the tone in his voice that he didn’t really care either.

Odion folded his hands in front of him. “I haven’t really thought about that yet, I just thought it’d be nice if we leant a hand, since they’re closing down anyways.” A smirk splashed across his face as he watched Lani pace. Maybe the blond couldn’t see it in himself, but Odion had always found Lani extremely elegant in his movements – except when he was being silly. If he could scale walls and run like a rocket, he should be able to dance. It was still a puzzle to Odion.

Odion had to think about that answer for a few seconds. “It’s another small business, they sell all natural products and seem to be doing quite well. They have higher security because the owner’s husband is a cop, so he’s in the store quite a bit.” But he wasn’t answering the question, was he? “There’s probably about eight feet worth of space between the two buildings,” Odion said, a satirical smile on his face.

“We could just stop time, open a window, and lift everything into a garbage bag. They’ll never know what hit them.” Odion suggested, teasing Lani as he watched him. Odion was remembering their snogging on his birthday. It had been the best one – so far. The redhead shook his head, leaning forward again and focusing on the mini-heist. Using their powers would be the easiest way, but... “That reminds me, when are we training again?”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani didn’t get that what he was saying was making Odion comfortable. Lani was very selectively clueless. Sometimes it took something like being pulled into a snow mound to realize that something was perhaps the wrong word. Lani was now more or less certain that ‘cute’ was not a satisfactory adjective. A smile crossed Lani’s face as Odion guessed. He nodded absently. It wasn’t usually something Lani liked to do, usually if some place were going out of business it meant that they were losing money. Lani didn’t like to steal from people who were trying and failing. He wasn’t sure how to express that without sounding like the self righteous thief. But the fact of the matter was that the watches were expensive and they would make good money off of it. If someone were selling them that meant they had to be wealthy enough to purchase or make them in the first place. “The economy has been hard on everyone.” Lani commented instead. This honesty thing was really hard. He swallowed and narrowed his eyes at the shop on the page and imagined he knew the owners.

He had stolen from plenty of ‘innocent’ people before, honest people making a living. Well they had their way of eating, Lani had his. That was why he liked the big leagues. No one in the higher level couldn’t afford a little thievery. He shook his head a little bit to dislodge the thought. He was a thief this was what he did. He couldn’t afford to care about the people he stole from. “Merchandise then?” Lani asked in a decisive manner, “If they’re closing down they can’t be doing too well, probably not a lot of money anyways.” He scanned the map and tried to memorize it on paper and imagine it to scale. He wished he knew the area then he would know exactly the approach to take. He felt like he was going in as a blind man, he always liked to scout the area before hand. “When did you want to do this?” Lani asked wondering if he might have time to examine it.

“Hmmm,” Lani hummed before clicking his tongue in displeasure. That was a leap. He doubted they would have many problems with that, and with his power especially not. “We should make sure that he’s not looking out the window. He might notice someone skulking around the door. That would be the easiest way for certain. We’d have to be careful about lighting and anyone who might want to make an alleyway home for the night. But it’d be hard to scale to the roof with a cop hanging around. Maybe a few buildings down?” He asked turning back to Odion. “Although,” Lani held up a finger and looked back at the map, “Because it’s easier we could stick to the shadows and…” Lani paused as Odion pointed out the most obvious answer. Lani closed his open mouth and pointed a finger into the air and waving it a few times at Odion. “Or we could do that.”

Lani smirked a little at Odion and moved back toward Odion. He gave Odion an impish grin. “But where’s the fun in that?” He asked. He moved next to Odion and leaned on his shoulder as he surveyed the map some more. A different angle, a different perspective. He was Lani the thief, he also needed to think about the other side of the law. He blinked, that was indeed a good question. He shrugged. “We could always use this as an opportunity. Either way I’m free whenever.” Though Lani’s grades were not great, they were passable and this time around his grades were not going to hold him back from graduation. At this point the only thing standing between Lani and freedom from Hammel was a stamp that said he had control over his power. He had an evaluation coming up that he needed to pass. He figured he could put a little more practice would be useful. In all honesty Lani was worried about not passing that test.

[Odion Martins]

Most people weren’t choosey with their words, and certainly not to the extent Odion used them. There was point to every word spoken, and everything had double meaning unless he was in a playful, teasing mood. But that was the problem – it was difficult to know what kind of mood he was in half the time. Odion raised an eyebrow at Lani. “Do you feel sorry for them?” Them could mean any number of things and Odi was curious to see how Lani would react. It didn’t make any different to Odion whether the business was thriving or not, an object was an object, and he couldn’t make someone any more bankrupt than they already were. If Lani was trying to be honest by making offhanded comments, he might want to look up what honesty meant.

Everyone was technically innocent, but Odion flipped that knowledge on its head to restate that everyone was guilty, so he had pity for no one. Not a lot of people cared about him, so he didn’t care about people, easy come easy go. He was no Robin Hood. “Merchandise then,” Odion agreed with a nod. Something he could really sink his teeth into. “Whenever,” Odion said casually, looking over Lani’s shoulder and back again. “You want to see the building first.” It wasn’t a question.

Poignant, another good word to describe Odion. Lani was trying to make this more complicated than it had to be. Perhaps he was just nervous to be doing this with someone, especially when this particular someone happened to be his boyfriend. Oh well, Odion wasn’t more interested than concerned. He knew Lani would bring up the subject of fun, and Odion only rolled his eyes. Lani was the one making things less ‘fun’, as he so put it.

“Whenever? You realize we’re graduating soon, right?” Odion asked, ducking under Lani’s weight to see if the blond would fall when suddenly, there was no one to lean on. His hands were out though, just in case. The redhead laughed to himself – he hadn’t always been this playful.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani glanced at Odion before looking away again. He shrugged pretty sure he knew which ‘who’ Odion was talking about. Truth be told Lani didn’t know. He did, at least a little bit, someone striving to make a living might be devastated by a thief. They screamed for compassion. But no one showed compassion when Lani’s sister was dying. But they could also be people striving to rip other people off. Thieves like Lani and Odion but with a different face. “I suppose it depends.” Lani replied cryptically. He knew very well how Odion felt about people. Odion did like people. Lani liked people, he just believed that he could be proven wrong. Odion didn’t get to know people long enough or well enough to see that. Even with his pledge to be honest he was still working out lies, thousands of them flew around his mind before he picked the one to say. Sometimes it was the sliver of truth, sometimes it was deceitful. He was working on it though. For most people it was harder to lie than be honest, for Lani it was the opposite.

“We need to find a buyer.” Lani said as follow up to the decision. Of course they could always do it afterwards but that could be hard. Find someone who wanted it before hand and it only had to be in hand for a limited amount of time. Find a buyer afterwards and they could be sitting on a small fortune’s worth of gold watches just waiting for the police to find them red handed. Lani gave Odion an exaggeratedly frustrated look. Maybe he really didn’t have a plan. Or maybe he did and declaring he didn’t even care when they did it was just a ruse to get under Lani’s skin. Lani sighed and gave Odion a smile. “Yes.” He answered the not question anyways. Or perhaps Odion was going to give Lani a chance to take this and run with it. Lani would feel so much better about it after scouting around it.

Lani chuckled a little bit at Odion’s eye rolling. “Hey, this is your first heist, don’t jump to your power.” He held up a finger now explaining himself. “We do this the old fashion way, with no powers. Because if something happens to your power you need to know how to act without it.” There were advantages to their power, but there were also disadvantages. If one relied too heavily on it, it could hinder, if someone used it too much, like with Lani they could get terrible headaches and not be able to focus. Or worst case scenario they get caught by a police officer with power suppression. Besides the challenge was half of the fun. He could say it was him not his power. Lani had a lot of pride and sometimes he did things just to prove he could. And stealing a precious gem without his power did just that.

“Hmmm,” Lani uttered tipping a little when there was suddenly no Odion. He stumbled a bit and his power flew up gripping his shirt to hold him upright. He was almost diagonal to the ground when it did so. He pushed himself back up using it. As bad as the last trip to Boston had been he had learned a few tricks. “Graduation. Yeah… about that.” He sighed and scratched his head. He shrugged and hopped back onto his bed. “I should be fine, so long as they don’t do anything crazy.” He gave Odion a forced smile and shrugged again like it was no big deal. Chances were he’d have to keep coming back for training. In all honesty he was trying harder than he ever had. But he was nearly two years with his power whereas normally someone would have been training with telekinesis since they were twelve or so. Lani was so far behind. And then his denial had put him back even farther. He had really only started to try this year, and only because he had to. He just needed to accept that.

[Odion Martins]

Odion lifted his nose in the air slightly – something about that answer didn’t feel right. Everything depended on something else, variables, but that wasn’t the point, and the answer he was looking for was rather simple: yes or no. Did Lani feel bad to be plotting the clearing out of a business that was already going underground or not? Odi decided to let it go, a disappointed look on his face. If he wasn’t trying to hone Lani’s skills right now, he would’ve pressed the matter further.

“Can’t we find a buyer later? Or not at all?” Odion asked, unable to see the purpose of needing a buyer right away, or if that was even the point of the heist. Most of the time, Odion just did what he did for the sake of doing them. He didn’t need money just yet, most of his needs were covered by the school, and this would stay this way until he moved into his apartment. If the gold was too much trouble to carry, they could just get rid of it. It didn’t really matter to Odion.

Odion smirked a little, a thoughtful hand to his chin. “Great advice,” he said simply, knowing that they both knew if anyone knew how to act on his toes, it was him. Lani was still struggling with his power not being a part of him, but Odion would always take the easy way out if it was available to him – it was a sign of a good thief, and that he had good control of his powers. Odion didn’t protest though, and he hoped that this would signal his agreement to using no powers, but if they needed them, he would use them and that was that. He didn’t feel like going to jail over some watches.

“Not a fan of old fashioned gravity?” Odion teased, sitting further back in the chair with his hands behind his head. Silly Lani, the walking conundrum. Concern passed over Odion’s face. “I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but I do know that I’m here for you whenever you need me.” It was the most he could offer without offering an argument to how stubborn it was to not be training right now. But Odion couldn’t stick with the sentimental note hanging in the air. “Shall we go look at the place then?” He asked, his eyes landing on Lani and waiting there patiently.

[Lani Hunter]

Oblivious Lani missed the reaction Odion had. He really wasn’t sure how he felt about robbing people. He usually didn’t steal from small businesses, save the ones that had precious gems. He remembered when he used to. It wasn’t as exciting as slipping into a big jewelers’ place or a museum and stealing artwork or a precious relic. But it was still a job and Odion had done well to find something that would profit. Watches could be easily pulled apart and sold in parts. It would also help them not be traceable. Stuff like that was easy because it could be melted down into something unrecognizable. Lani always found it endlessly amusing when on the rare occasion someone he sold his spoils to melted down the gold or silver and sold it back to whoever Lani had originally stolen it from. Glancing at Odion Lani just shrugged at his disappointed face. What did Odion want? The whole ‘people caring what he thought and how he felt’ was still a foreign concept.

Lani tilted his head a little as he thought through the next question. “We don’t want to not find one. There’s no way we’d be able to sell it ourselves.” Lani hummed his mind working a mile a minute. “Although, in lieu of a buyer we could use a middle man who would buy them from us and do whatever he wanted and sell them later,” Lani shrugged, “I know a guy, we’d get a fair price.” Lani leaned back on his hands. “Usually I don’t find a buyer, I let a buyer find me. How familiar are you with the Black Market?” Lani asked giving Odion a curious look. Usually Lani just put out word that he was free and the first person to offer the highest price and the most enticing operation was the one he chose to work with. He had gotten rather good at it through watching his boss and others work with them. Lani had a fairly good hand at it himself, after much practice.

There was that smirk that Lani knew and loved. So Odion thought he was being ridiculous. Oh well, Lani was going to keep them from getting caught. “I’m full of great advice.” He claimed boldly a sly smile on his face wondering if that would just make Odion laugh or if it might cause the redhead to swat him. Of course immediately following an arrogant boast Lani would fall over. He gave Odion a narrow-eyed look. The smile was ruining his attempt at glaring. “Gravity is only a theory.” Lani snipped back. For all Lani was cocky, it was an act. He did have a rather large ego, but his pride had been wounded and dragged through the mud too much in this past year for it to be anything but an act. In a circular thinking he thought if he acted like he was fine then eventually it would become so. He smiled on the outside but inwardly he was wondering if Odion was having doubts. He probably didn’t sign up to be in a relationship with someone so two faced and carrying so much baggage.

Lani’s smile faltered and vanished as Odion started speaking again. He needed to stop being so shocked when Odion said things like that. A small smile crossed over his face, a shy genuine glimpse at Lani’s inner thoughts. Honesty. Lani’s mind was working through how he could downplay what he said and make it sound like everything was fine. Having someone say that and mean it meant more to Lani than he could say. Be honest, he told himself. “It’ll depend on whether they deem me to have enough control to not hurt someone,” Lani admitted, “They already told me I’ll probably have to keep coming back for training.” He gave a forced smile now trying to play it off as no big deal. Lani chewed on his lip and wasn’t sure what to say next, he wanted to thank Odion for being here and he wanted to say so many things but none of them seemed quite right. Luckily Odion saved him from having to. “Yeah,” Lani sprang off the bed and stuffed his feet into shoes. He laced up his shoes and dove into his favorite sweatshirt. He turned back and caught Odion in a hug. “Thanks, Odion.” He whispered before pulling away and heading toward the door.

[Odion Martins]

Odion was still trying to remember that Lani couldn’t read minds, even though his own mind was still powerful. If he wanted Lani to know the point of something, the redhead was better off just spelling it out. It wasn’t something he was very good at. Odion thought about everything Lani was saying. “I have a few friends there,” he said, using the term loosely, “haven’t been around lately, so we could just go with your… guy…” Odion said, still getting used to the American terminology. Odion hadn’t been hired out by anyone for any kind of job, and he never wanted to be in that position, he simply wasn’t interested.

Odion chuckled, “Oh yes, I know.” Lani was a regular sage. The redhead only pointed at Lani like he was pointing at a mistake. “An old fashioned theory,” he said, not wanting to let the topic drop for the simple sake of argument. Odion was totally at ease, he didn’t have doubts about Lani, even though there were a lot of unknowns between them. The year had been hell for the both of them, and it was about time Odi didn’t feel on edge every second of the day, although that last trip to Boston gave him a good reason to be watching his back. He didn’t want a normal relationship anyways, and like Odion was always saying – he could handle Lani.

Lani’s reaction made Odion feel like a deer in the headlights. He was used to people glaring at him for the things he said, for hating him because he cut to the core with his words. He certainly wasn’t used to the look Lani was giving him now, and that smile… Odion looked fairly relieved at the explanation. “Well that doesn’t sound so bad, you wanted to stay in the area anyways.” They both knew he wasn’t leaving Caroline any time soon. A hand crept over to squeeze Lani’s. “You worry too much you know.” Of course he knew, everyone knew. Odion smiled despite whatever was going through Lani’s head, thoughts of not being good enough. ”We haven’t let the world define us thus far, we ought not to start now.” Their stealing, their relationship, so what if Lani needed extra time?

Getting ready with Lani, the hug caught Odion off guard and he returned it belatedly. The redhead smiled softly and went to follow after his boyfriend. They hadn’t really defined that either, not technically, but Odion loved getting off on technicalities. “It’s about four blocks away from the mall, in the shopping district.” The sun was gorgeous outside, and it was like Odion was noticing it for the first time in his life. He turned back to Lani. “Are we walking?”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani nodded. Any good thief with any credibility had a few friends in dark places. “I think you’ll get along. He’s very misanthropic.” Lani said with a teasing smile. Lani was pretty sure he could count on one hand the number of people Odion liked. Sometimes Lani wondered about people. People were all good and all bad. They had a mix more often than not. Someone who wouldn’t hurt a fly sometimes had no qualms killing a man. And when a thief took advantage of someone innocent people fell prey to the law all the time. Lani didn’t think of himself or Odion as evil. Some people might disagree. But there were people who saw themselves as good and there were people who disagreed. There were always people who didn’t like others. It was the fact of humanity, one didn’t have to like everyone. It was good to be cordial to everyone but to like everyone. That was exhausting.

An impish smile crossed Lani’s lips, he was in an extraordinarily good mood today. His jaw dropped open a little bit and he shook his head. “A theory can be disproven. Who cares if it’s lasted so long.” Lani shrugged like he had all the answers. Lani could play along. “Theories are being disproven all the time. Now that’s not to say it’s wrong. But that’s to say that we should question everything ‘old fashion’.” Lani pointed out. If Odion wanted to argue tradition Lani had a fair amount of ammunition in his corner. In many ways Lani thrived on these little arguments. It kept him on his toes and as much as he hated to be proven wrong it was definitely a thoughtful endeavor. And he could sneak his philosophy in there and invalidate Odion’s arguments with ridiculousness enough to the point where Odion would give up. Lani knew the game and he thought he had it all figured out. Lani was stubborn and he didn’t like to lose. Sometimes that was a terrible combination.

A shrug was all Lani gave. Odion didn’t know much about Lani’s old plans. His plans to soar over the walls and take the world by storm. From Alaska to Florida. He was going to taste freedom and he was going to fly on the wings of eagles and even higher. Sometimes Lani missed those dreams but looking around at what kept him grounded made him joyful and afraid. He was afraid of clipped wings, chains and cages. He blinked out of his thoughts when he felt Odion’s hand. He smiled back. “It’s a curse.” He replied, with Odion he never felt more free. It was a strange airy joy and he couldn’t quite tell why or what was causing it. “Now that’s good advice,” Lani said closing the distance between them and giving Odion a light kiss. “You know, I’m thinking about taking classes at the community college,” Lani blurted out. Honesty it seemed, came in two modes with Lani. Blurting it out, or not at all. He was a little bit behind, considering he had already signed up for classes. He was curious about what Odion would say.

A mental map popped into Lani’s head. Four blocks wasn’t bad at all and after all it was a nice day. “Unless you’re driving,” Lani said pointedly. He opened the door for Odion to follow him out. It blew Lani’s mind a little bit that Odion didn’t know how to drive. That should be something everyone knew. Even if Odion never drove it was a good thing to know. It was much better to drive from place to place rather than to rely on a bus, in Lani’s opinion. He paused for a moment and opened his hand. His phone flew into his hand and he took a quick look at the message he had missed. It had a place and time. He just sent back a blank message to show that he received it. He still wasn’t sure he would go or not. He locked the door with a thought and followed Odion into the hallway. “I wonder if Hammel has Driver’s Ed.” He pondered aloud.

[Odion Martins]

Odion cocked his head to the side. “Why would we have to get along?” This seemed beside the point. They weren’t planning a date with the man, they were wondering if he might be a potential buyer. The last time they went on a date with someone else, it hadn’t gone well. Rhett hadn’t been around the school much – Odion wondered absently if he had moved out again. The redhead certainly didn’t care, it was a passing thought and nothing more.

Odion seemed to perk up a bit, ready to pounce on the opportunity. “Agreed,” Odion said flippantly, as though the words were his own. “Haven’t you been trying to disprove the theory since we first met?” Odi leaned in as close to Lani as he dared without touching him, face to face. “You haven’t gotten rid of that old board, have you?” As per usual, Odi steered the conversation in a completely new direction, determined to stay on top of things, because he knew Lani couldn’t resist the temptation to talk about the next thing mentioned. It was why Odion could keep spinning the conversation and Lani couldn’t – he always had something more to say.

If Lani wanted to do more than stay in Pilot Ridge, he really should just say so. Odion was assuming things based off of what he knew, not what he didn’t. Besides, they were planning on exploring this summer, and that was bound to be a wonderful trip. Blushing slightly, Odion was amazed at the power of his words. They usually didn’t bring him such nice rewards. He crept closer for another kiss, but Lani was talking again. Odion smirked softly, leaning back and relaxing as though he had all the time in the world. “I’m not surprised.” Lani was an intellect, and that wouldn’t stop once high school was over. “What were you thinking of taking?”

Odion rolled his eyes as he stepped through the doorway, “Ha ha, hilarious Mr. Hunter.” Two could play at this game, and if Lani wanted to remind him that he couldn’t drive, Odion could remind Lani who his father was. Not that they hated each other, but it was borderline hate. The tension in the room during Christmas could be cut through like a knife. Odion shrugged, uninterested in anything Hammel offered. He had tucked the hand drawn map into the back pocket of his jeans, and was currently putting on his red sunglasses that matched his Converse. They could walk and talk. “Have you found a place to stay then?” He asked, wondering if they would get past the guards around the school, or if they even cared that they were leaving the grounds during the day. “After graduation?”