Sorry Dear (Lani.)

[Odion Martins]

“A few, mostly the Romantic ones,” he said conversationally, assuming Lani would knew which ones those were. His first had been French, then Italian, followed by teaching himself Spanish, Portuguese (which was very similar to Spanish), and also teaching himself English. He had known a bit of Russian once upon a time, but there was nothing sexy about speaking it. They were all basically the same to him grammatically, so they’d been easy to learn, aside from English. “Also very difficult to learn how to write...” He mused – he’d taught himself how to do that as well. Odion hadn’t had any formal schooling until he went to Kocher.

Odion hung his head in shame as they made to leave, and proceeded to apologize again and again. “I think ‘shall’ has been overused today,” Odion said happily, not giving the shop a second look as they walked away – it was his plan after all. Odion swung their hands a little as they headed deeper into town. “Questions, comments, concerns?” He asked, reading Lani’s face carefully.

“Where do you want to eat?” He asked. “I was thinking that burger joint you brought me to a while ago.” A playful smirk danced across his lips.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani nodded, Odion had a skill with languages to have learned as many as he had in the short lifetime he had had. “What was your first language?” Lani pressed out of curiosity. Odion hadn’t told him very much about the time he spent in Europe, not much beyond knowing that he traveled over that continent and had gotten into a small gang of thieves. Speaking of which, didn’t Jared still have that bounty on his head. The thought suddenly struck him. He hadn’t thought much about it over the past few months his and Odion’s time together seeming to dwarf everything else. He needed to wake up and start paying attention to what his boss was doing, or not doing. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious coming for Jared and keeping Adrianna in one piece while she slid farther and farther down into the abyss. He blinked and smiled at Odion. “You do so beautifully.”

“What?” Lani asked giving Odion an interested look. He didn’t even think about the words he used most of the time, he just said things. They came to his mind and he said them. Odion was in a good mood today, Lani noted with a smile. It was more than enough to lift his own spirits into the clouds. Lani hummed for a while and watched his feet as his mind ran through the things he had seen. “Getting in will be easy, doing so without being seen will not. The cameras are fixed which means we can trick them. The alarm is probably silent. How were the windows?” He asked resisting looking back. “I am concerned about the police officer next door.” He contemplated what would happen if he were there and they got caught. He couldn’t get them, that was for sure, but there was a potential to be foiled and Lani hadn’t been foiled in a long time.

Gray eyes darted to Odion’s in surprise. “Y… Sure,” he narrowed his eyes and grinned. Well this would allow them to kill two birds with one stone. “So you admit it then?” Lani asked feeling a certain amount of cockiness, like he knew eventually Odion would come to crave the deliciousness of a grilled slab of meat with a bun. Good old American food. Lani wondered what crazy things he would try over the summer. They didn’t have a plan yet and Lani was trying really hard to not try to make one. He thought he might just satisfy himself by having a mental map in which he just hypothesized their destinations. So many things seemed uncertain about the summer. “How is Jared?” Lani asked out of the blue, he really hoped that alive was a descriptor of the phaser’s state. Lani had done his homework once he’d stop being furious, or rather when he had stop ignoring the fact that he had no reason to be furious.

[Odion Martins]

“French,” Odion said. It was a direct question with a simple answer. It wasn’t something he gave much thought to. He glanced at Lani, watching him think. Oh what he would give to know what was going on in that mind. If there was anything Lani needed, Odion knew that he would do anything he could to help, anything at all. That thought was scary, self-revealing, and everything Odi had wanted to avoid since arriving here. Odion smiled softly. “Thank you,” he said, feeling a rush of feelings that sent tingles throughout his entire body. Now he didn’t know what to do with himself, so he just squeezed Lani’s hand. This was... this was normal.

“I say shall, you say shall three more times,” he paused in their walking just to ruffle Lani’s hair affectionately with his other hand. “Are you becoming my little parrot?” Odion felt like he was on cloud nine. If he was happy, Lani was happy, if Lani was sad, he was sad. But the windows... “They seemed nice,” Odion teased, shooting Lani a flirtatious look. “Security bars come across them at night, they’re also attached to whatever alarm system is used.” At least Lani was asking worthwhile questions. “So we find when the shift switches,” Odion said, because a distraction would only add complications and he worked better with time.

“Admit what?” Odion asked, tilting his head just in the right way so he could see all of Lani’s face. “Isn’t it your favorite?” Lani didn’t think Odion enjoyed that kind of food, did he? He would just have a salad once he got there or something. There had to be more on that dingy menu.

Odion frowned. “I’m not entirely sure; he’s been very quiet lately.” The redhead glanced at the ground they walked on. He could only assume he had been replaced by Rhett, since he too was missing in action. Odi smiled in spite of himself, “Though, he’s there when you need him.” Had he really just complimented Bell? Wow, Odion must be in a good mood.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani smiled and he couldn’t resist saying it. “The language of love.” It was so strange to think back now to how they had gotten here. He laughed a little to himself. The world worked in mysterious ways. When it spun it hurtled through space and yet here they strolled without even recognizing a stir in the world around them. The gentle breeze was the only evidence of their rapid travel around the sun. And yet on the vast hurtling world one person who spoke French as a first language had come to meet someone who couldn’t even dream to speak a lick of French successfully. Honestly sometimes Lani thought he were living a dream. Partially the craziness of life kept him sane. Odion’s hand in his, this was real. He smiled a thousand times thankful for that.

Laughing Lani ducked away from Odion’s hand. He gave Odion a sly smile, “I shall do as I am wont to do and I shall do it by saying shall as many times as I see fit.” He laughed, really Lani just wanted to use the word as much as possible now that it had been pointed out. It was Lani’s turn to make a face to palm connection. His shoulders shook as he tried and failed to hold in a laugh. “You know this is precisely the reason I should be Sherlock,” Lani teased right back. But back to business. That could easily be avoided. “So if we go via roof we won’t even have to touch a window. The bars will… shall certainly help conceal us,” He said giving Odion an impish smile, now he wasn’t even sure he was using it right. “Not hard. I take it you want to keep one?” He smiled at Odion, he had seen the look in Odion’s eyes and somehow a time turner without a watch just seemed strange.

“Admit that you secretly deep down love burgers.” Lani said waggling his eyebrows at Odion. He nodded affirming that it was his favorite. It wasn’t just the fact that he knew the cook. The cook knew what he was doing. They did have different tastes, it was only natural. Lani couldn’t imagine why Odion would be repulsed by burgers and Odion probably couldn’t imagine why Lani couldn’t stand tea. A lot of the time it was the differences that made this so exciting. It brought out interesting conversations, and yes arguments. But it meant that they were also both independent enough so stand firm on their own ideals, but also cared enough about each other to listen and debate each other. It was like too forces of nature met, and they couldn’t destroy each other and neither yielded to each other, rather it compromised.

Lani frowned as well. That didn’t sound good. Not at all. It did not do well for people with hits on their head to go missing. Lani smiled encouraged by Odion’s confidence in his friend. “He is a good friend.” Lani smiled to himself. Thinking of people that hadn’t been seen in a while he hadn’t seen Shapiro around. Usually she was pretty loud in announcing her presence. She was probably just busy with school. “Just think about it, in a few weeks we won’t have to be bothered by anyone if we want to do this.” He smiled, after graduation he was going to walk through the doors and dare the guards to stop him. Well, perhaps not, that probably would be listed under the ‘Bad Idea’ category.

[Odion Martins]

Odion smirked, one side of his mouth pulling up as though caught on a fish line. “Ah oui, mon amour.” He gave Lani a wink and leaned over to kiss his jaw where the ear connected. Odion laughed and shook his head at Lani’s antics. Sometimes Odi wanted to smack Lani, this would be one of those times. And he didn’t restrain himself as the back of his hand collided with Lani’s shoulder. “Smartass.” But honestly, Odion wouldn’t trade this for anything else he had ever known. “We’ll see,” he said, lifting his nose into the air a little, a snide grin on his face. “Not everything has to be planned.”

“Weren’t we working on being honest? It would be such a shame to start lying again...” Odion teased. “You mean go on dates?” Odion asked, smiling faintly. Was Lani truly excited about spending more time with him? Or did Lani mean something else entirely. Odion was getting better at simply asking what was on Lani’s mind instead of trying to play mind games. The tables had certainly turned. “What else are you looking forward to?” Odion had never had a conversation like this before. “Do you need any help packing up your luggage?”

[Lani Hunter]

“So when we go to France, you’re gonna do all the talking,” Lani grinned and the sly look quickly caved to one of true happiness. Sometimes Lani cursed his life, but if his life up to now had led to just this moment it was all worth it. And so long as he could keep hearing that laugher life would be good. Lani flinched away from the blow and couldn’t help the guffaw that exploded from his throat. He rubbed his shoulder beaming his eyes unable to open as he wallowed in his own gaiety. “I try,” Lani commented through the bouts of laughter, doing nothing to mollify Odion’s annoyance. There was actually a vein of pride in Lani’s voice. There were times when Lani had wondered if there would be anything good in the world. While Odion was certainly no angel, searching for the good in him gave Lani more confidence in humanity.

Lani gave a magnified twitch and made a face at Odion. Not planned? Odion realized that Lani was planning it down to what they should wear, right? “Not planned is how you get non-planned visits to the slammer.” Lani pointed out, though not knowing if Odion was going to keep a watch or not probably wouldn’t create a great rift in the plan and cause it all to come crashing down. Lani cocked his head from side to side his mind working through the different angles of the store from what he had seen. He wished he would have gotten a look at the back but that was something that wasn’t going to happen in broad day light.

The worry was short lived as Odion’s good mood brightened Lani’s mind again. He elbowed Odion gently and shook his head. Lani sobered just a little at Odion’s question. He nodded looking into Odion’s blue eyes. “Dates, heists. Whatever. No one telling us what we can cannot do. He rose his hands, taking one of Odion’s with it. “A true breath of freedom.” He said with a smile as his eyes rested on the clouds. Dropping his arms, his smile was not leaving his face. It was like it was implanted there. Lani reflected on the soreness of his muscles, had it really been so long since he had smiled so much? “Adventure, with you.” Lani replied with a smile, as much as an unplanned trip was killing him. He smirked a little bit. “How are we going to travel? Are we going to go with only what we can carry?” Long answer short, yes, Lani was going to need help packing.

[Odion Martins]

Odion raised his brow in surprise. “You trust me to do all the talking when you haven’t a clue as to what I’m saying?” Well well well, perhaps Lani Hunter did trust somebody after all. The ginger smiled to himself, thinking of all the possibilities, everything that they could do this summer – everything he could show Lani. “I can teach you some of the basic phrases, if you like.” Odion offered, a smug grin on his face. He might play a joke or two on Lani.

“Well if we’re stealing it all anyways, what’s the difference?” Odion asked, spreading his hands in order to underline their opportunities. No one was going to ‘get slammed’ from nicking a watch or two. Or three. Unless, they weren’t taking everything? They hadn’t really spoken of that part of the plan yet. Odion sighed, biting the inside of his cheek. This is why he didn’t like these sorts of heists – he couldn’t think on his toes.

Odion smiled slightly. “There’s nothing holding you back now, only someone holding on.” He gave Lani’s hand a small squeeze. He was someone who could be romantic but would never admit to it on their deathbed. Watching Lani smile so much made Odi feel giddy inside. Odion shrugged. “There’s nothing you need to bring that we can’t get elsewhere,” he said, giving Lani a wink. If anything would be learned this summer, it would be how to live without a thing in your arsenal. Lani was a good crook but Odion was a better bum.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani stared off into space. It was indeed a new and rather strange thing. Trust. When he thought about it, it because dubious, but when it flowed from his mind it was sure and strong. He looked at Odion and his tongue became clumsy with its words. Why was it impossible to have coherent thought’s around Odion? “I… I trust you to keep me out of trouble,” Lani managed with a little grin, though they weren’t really a trouble avoiding pair. But hopefully they could keep from getting into any trouble they couldn’t get out of. Lani brightened at the idea. He was terrible at languages but maybe this was a great time to start trying again. “Sure, I would, but I don’t know about that look on your face.” Lani smirked at the redhead and adjusted his grip on Odion’s hand. It seemed he would never stop learning with Odion around. Lani smiled at the thought, he was hardwired against languages but he could mimic as well as anyone.

A shrug was all he had. This was a new and very strange concept. Taking things that he was stealing and keeping them. The thought had honestly never crossed his mind when he was working for his boss. If he wanted something, he took it, but if it was on a job, it was hands off because every dollar was a dollar closer to being done. Lani wished he could have a conversation with his younger self and hit him for being so foolish. He hummed a little tune as it popped into his head as his thoughts worked through the potential of this heist. He couldn’t see anything going extremely wrong. A few slips here and there. The big one would be to keep anything identifiable out. “You still want to know how to disappear?” Lani asked a smile on his face. Was he really just making more excuses to spend time with Odion?

Lani gave Odion a peculiar look and shook his head. “Us. Together we’re unlimited.” Lani stopped suddenly and turned to face Odion. He looked into those deep blue eyes and almost forgot what he was saying. “I mean it. Together. A team, like we talked about. Dreams the way we plan them. No one else.” Lani hoped that this was conveying his message. He wanted nothing more than to make Odion happy. For that it couldn’t be Lani with Odion hanging on, nor Odion with Lani hanging on. A flash of panic raced through Lani’s mind. God, what was he doing? We, us. And he had said it without thinking. Together. This feeling was so strong. So terrifying. What if it doesn’t work out? A panicked voice asked in his mind. What if this scares him away? He was actually really glad Odion changed the subject and he smiled and gave a little groan. “We’re really doing this? No plans?”

[Odion Martins]

Odion smirked. “I promise we won’t get into much trouble.” Maybe just a bit. Odi knew that Lani trusted him and he wasn’t going to do anything extremely reckless, but it wouldn’t be a trip to Europe if they didn’t do a few daring things. “You’ll just have to trust me,” he said, knowing full well that Lani could look up the phrases he’d been taught before they go. Perhaps the trick would be that he had wasted his time looking them up when they were exactly what Odion said they had been. Would Lani fall for the double crossing?

Lani continued to him a tune Odion didn’t know the words to, but felt entranced by nonetheless. Did Lani know he did this quite often? Odion nodded. “I suppose so,” he said, not really sure what Lani meant or for what purpose.

Odi’s breath caught in his throat from the piercing look Lani was giving him. Odion gulped hard. Lani was serious, he meant every word he said, recalling past memories to prove himself. A jolt of electricity swept through his body, igniting a passion he thought had died a long time ago. It was the very essence of life, to live, love, and be. No one else. Odion leaned in then, the surprised look on his face fading away the moment he closed his eyes and kissed Lani deeply.

“That’s right,” Odion said, giving Lani a love struck look. “It’ll be an adventure, like you said.”

[Lani Hunter]

“Uh-huh,” Lani replied unconvinced. He almost doubted there was a way they could make it through more than a few days without causing some manner of trouble. If Lani were a believer in such things he would say that he and Odion didn’t just get into trouble but rather attracted it. Amplified it for each other. Alone they were perfectly capable of creating their fair share of trouble, together they were like a monsoon of trouble. Lani smiled to himself as he imagined the endless torrent of rain come about simply by the fact that he and Odion were in the same place. Lani resisted the urge to sigh and instead smiled back at Odion nodding. So, he didn’t have unwavering confidence in Odion but he was working on it. That wasn’t to say he was going to not check on what Odion told him, just in case.

Lani nodded and gave a sly smile. “Good, because those cameras are gonna make for good practice with that.” Lani wasn’t going to let Odion get away with helping him train without learning a few tricks himself. That wasn’t to say Lani would give him everything yet. Oh no, Lani needed to keep a few of his tricks to himself. For now at least. Perhaps that might distract him a little bit from the suicide flying mission that Odion was hell bent on. Part of Lani knew that was a futile effort but he could never let himself by without trying. “Besides, when we steal the Mona Lisa we’re gonna need it.” He joked, now that was something even Lani wasn’t crazy enough to do.

Doubts vanished in light of the look that Odion was giving him. He always jumped the gun and then panicked thinking he had done wrong. But it was that look that made Lani realized he didn’t say stuff like this often enough. He didn’t have a chance to say anything more as Odion stole his lips, and his heart, and his mind while he was at it. Lani hadn’t realized is eyelids had dropped to slits and left him in a daze until Odion broke the kiss. Staring into Odion’s eyes from only inches away made them grow and deepen. Lani almost felt as if he could fall into them and never find the bottom. Odion’s ocean eyes were perhaps the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He had never even seen a sapphire that could compare. Lani couldn’t resist giving a little wince at the idea of not having a plan, but his mind was far away from the conversation at the moment. Lani couldn’t stop himself, he tipped forward and connected their lips again.

Lani moved away just slightly and nodded his face breaking out into a beaming smile. “An adventure,” he agreed. The world kept on turning even when everything seemed hopeless, and Lani was extremely glad that it did. Because if it had ended when he wanted it to none of this would have happened. Occasionally he recognized the dramatic magnification of things that happened when the world seemed to be ending. Well, this end was not quite an end but a pause, a bump in his road forward. He gave Odion a quick peck and shifted away. “C’mon, I’m hungry and I know you’re just dying for a burger.” Lani gave the redhead a wink and his grin went impishly from ear to ear.