Brunch and a Flick (Lani.)

[Lani Hunter]

Lani shook his head still in disbelief. Well, now it was all worse. If Jared could cook therefore in Lani’s mind it meant that he should be able to cook. He didn’t even know what happened that time. Maybe he had left it on too long, or maybe it was the fact that the chapter in his book was really good. Lani flushed and grinned along with Odion, enjoying being able to make Odion laugh. Lani gestured randomly toward Odion. “Well, if you don’t remember the last time you tried to cook, how do you know you’re no good?” He challenged Odion with an interested glint in his eyes. Odion’s memories were important, perhaps not for the same reasons that they had been when he’d first arrived in Vermont. It had been a delay, an excuse for Lani to think and take a moment to examine what was going on in his own life. Now it was different, Lani wanted Odion to have all of the cards and Lani himself wanted to know as well.

Lani cocked his head at the redhead his eyes narrowing with thought. He spun his water glass, never touching it or taking his eyes off of Odion. He hummed slightly as he analyzed the statement. “Sometimes,” he finally agreed, “But if you have to cheat, aren’t you already accepting defeat? Considering that the only way of beating your opponent would be cheating?” He brought his water to his lips finally and raised his brows at Odion. An impish grin came across Lani’s face, Odion knew Lani’d never back down from a challenge, not unless there was something greater than just winning and losing on the table. And even then he’d wasn’t always smart enough to cut his losses when he should.

It might not have been the best initial reaction but Lani frowned when Odion sold himself short. True, Odion was good at charming people, there was no denying that, but to hear himself talk like that was somewhat frustrating. “That’s not the only thing,” he countered. Odion was a lot smarter and more clever than he gave himself credit for. Lani wouldn’t put it pass Odion to calculate and take subtle acts that would quickly have him racing up the ladder. As much as Lani was trying to avoid it he realized he might have accidentally picked another fight. He attempted to amend, “I mean, you’ve got so much more to offer.” Lani just didn’t understand why Odion couldn’t see what he saw. And the next thing out of the redhead’s mouth only confirmed Lani’s opinions. Here Odion was, gladly doing something that wasn’t his favorite thing because he knew Lani was somewhat of a movie nerd. Lani’s smile returned, he couldn’t figure out how he was getting another chance, not a second chance but a third.

“Hot,” he replied as if it wasn’t obvious and he nodded hiding his smile behind his hand. Lani’s hand twitched slightly, as if it wasn’t sure what it was supposed to do. It was like one part of his brain was telling it to move away and the other was telling it to move forward and in the end it didn’t move. As if Lani’s code had gotten stuck in an infinite loop unable to do anything but processing a lot of information that rotated through over and over again. “Do you want to try a piece?” He asked with a smile, they were very good indeed. Still a bit hot, a bit very hot but delicious. Now Lani was in a conflicted moment where he wanted to keep eating but he was thinking it might be better to let his tongue cool or a moment. “Oh, you don’t want me to do that,” he said with a laugh and a sly smile. Odion knew that the only place Lani actually went was that one burger joint. An excited light flashed through Lani’s eyes, despite his expression remaining calm and pleasant. Next time. God, Lani hoped there was a next time. Maybe he could do a little research.

“It is getting warmer, finally,” Lani mentioned casually, “We should see if there’s anything going on in Burlington.” It was the closest major city to them, they had to have concerts of festivals or something. He poked the samosas with his fork and eyed the one he’d attempted eat with suspicion. It was steaming more than the other now that the filling had been exposed to the air. Was it bad that Lani wanted to spend all day with Odion, he’d wanted to do that last night, but someone had decided that it was best they waited. Spending time with Odion was going to be the solution, not the problem. The telekinetic couldn’t figure out his relationship with Odion without Odion being there with him. Lani almost laugh aloud as the thought of going to a magic show dawned on him, he managed to suppress it to a sudden flash of a smile. That might actually be an idea… Not like one of those childish ones but the real ones with danger and risk. Was it bad that Lani wanted to pull a heist with his best friend now the he was back?

[Odion Martins]

Odion laughed again, shaking his head. “That’s exactly why I’m no good,” he said, seeing as if he couldn’t even remember the last time, he wouldn’t know the first think about how to cook. “Well maybe I could, but I wouldn’t be willing to bet that it would be any good. Maybe burnt.” He smirked and gave a shrug. It wasn’t really a big deal. In this world, one didn’t need to know how to cook in order to survive. And if and when this society passed, he could just forage for raw food and sulk. “I’m not really a jack of all trades,” Odion continued, though he didn’t see why he couldn’t provide. He just loved Lani in different ways, and he doubted he’d ever be able to cook anything worthwhile with his own two hands. His hands were skilled and meant for other things and services, most of which Lani knew by now.

Taking a look at the spinning glass, Odion wondered if Lani was controlling just the glass, or the water inside of it as well. Could Lani control water? Odion wasn’t sure, but he did think it was interesting to think about, seeing as Caroline controlled water. Hmmm. Odion smirked at the idea of cheating as being a sign of defeat. “Then I guess life has me defeated by your definition,” he said, a smug look on his face. “By mine I’d say I have it figured out.” For Odion, the ends often justified the means, and that had caused him to make many a stupid decisions in his life. But even though he had scrambled his way to the top, he was still at the top. It didn’t matter that he had cheated, it didn’t matter that he hadn’t taken precautions or had the foresight to see who he had to step on to get there.

Cunning and clever – if Odion attended Hogwarts he would most definitely be placed in Slytherin. The cowardly running away would have had him there as well, but that aspect of his life no longer seemed to be a part of who he was. Gryffindor then? Odi smiled to himself, looking down as Lani flattered him. The thing was, Odion hadn’t taken it as a challenge, and that in and of itself was a step. But Lani only continued and Odion’s face reddened. He wasn’t really as great as Lani thought he was, but the idea Lani had of him gave the ginger hope. He wasn’t just a thief, or a con-artist. He was as complex as any of the human subjects he studied. Only time would tell just what he had to offer, rather than take from this world.

“Clearly,” Odion said, chuckling again. Lani had jumped the gun, but it had been amusing in the end. Besides, it wasn’t a major burn or anything, Odion didn’t feel bad for finding humor in the situation. Lani would do the same if the roles were reversed. Lani wasn’t any less cute for burning his mouth. “Sure,” Odion said, tearing one of his samosas all the way in half, before pushing his plate across the table so Lani could take the half of his choosing. “We’ll trade,” Odion decided, even though he hadn’t tried his yet, he knew they were delicious since he had had them before. “Why not?” Odion asked, a half grin gracing his face. “You must like more than burgers.” Really Odion just wanted to spend more time with Lani in a not so serious way.

Lani spoke of travelling and Odion’s grin faltered only slightly. It was a pain in the ass to be afraid of every transportation system known to man. It wasn’t as though Odion didn’t want to go, but it was moments like these that made him wish he had teleportation rather than time control. Watching Lani poke at his food, Odion only laughed. “It’s not going to bite you,” he said, finally taking a nibble of his own food. The flavour was wonderful as expected, but he didn’t dare shove the entire thing in his mouth. He wasn’t a caveman. The redhead looked up in time to see Lani smiling to himself for no particular reason, his mind somewhere else. “Are you losing yourself, or enjoying yourself?” Odion asked curiously, hoping that Lani wasn’t thinking he would rather be anywhere but here.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani smiled and joined Odion in his laughter. “You’ll never know if you don’t try,” Lani said, he was starting to sound like Odion of all people, he had been the one with pressure for powers training when Lani was convinced they would all die. Well they weren’t dead, that was a good thing. With a shrug Lani let it go, “I think it’d be a good skill to have, but so long as I have a microwave I’m set.” And that was basically where that ended. Lani gave Odion a mock shocked face. “What? No.” He yelped as if Odion not being a jack of all trades was the most shocking news ever. He laughed it off, they both had their strengths and weaknesses and Odion was constantly surprising Lani with his skills which was probably why he had assumed Odion could cook as well. “But you’re good at an awful lot of things that I’m lousy at,” he pointed out, “Maybe I can have cooking.” Lani was still fully confident that he could learn to cook, he was just too distracted if he made sure to pay attention it should be easy, right?

A smirk answered Odion’s smug look and Lani waved a hand, well damn, Odion had him there. “Maybe not in life,” Lani agreed, and was forced to admit, “Cheating can be very satisfying in that regard.” Lani considered Odion, they were both cheaters in the worst definition of the word, and that had both its advantages and disadvantages. He hummed a bit as he thought about it and he realized that Odion was completely right. Though Lani had felt defeated by life quite a few times for certain. “Okay, so narrowing our focus,” he said taking his hands from far apart and bringing them to a small area, “In regards to chess, wouldn’t having to cheat mean that you wouldn’t have been able to beat the other person, in the case me, under normal circumstances? Which would mean that I win by default.” Lani asked quirking a teasing brow, he hadn’t touched a chess board in a few years, he could either have retained a lot of it or he could remember nothing.

It was like slipping back into normalcy, being with Odion and just talking and teasing each other. Lani took advantage of Odion not looking at him to look at the redhead. He smiled at the color that was rising on Odion’s face. Odion had already had so much taken from him in the world, it was about time that the world started giving, Odion was just helping it along. It was another way they were different, Odion had started stealing for survival and Lani had started because he thought that was the only option. Lani would never stop telling Odion how amazing he was, because Odion for one, didn’t seem to believe him and for another Odion deserved to hear those things. Lani’d already decided if they were going to try to make this work that he needed to try harder and say the things he’d held back and work on his communication. Odion couldn’t read his mind and Lani’s mind wasn’t always a pleasant place to be and Odion had always known what to say to pull him back, now Lani needed to learn how to do the same for Odion.

Lani laughed, obviously not very injured by the hot pastry. He couldn’t stop smiling, mostly for the fact that he’d made a fool of himself on a date with Odion. It was a wonder the redhead kept dealing with him. Lani nodded, that seemed fair. He cut open one that he hadn’t touched yet and maneuvering his fork and knife transferred it across to Odion’s plate then took the half Odion had cut and put it on his own. “Thanks,” he replied and slid Odion’s plate back to him. An impish grin formed on Lani’s face, Odion was sealing his own fate now. “Yeah, I mean some other stuff’s okay,” he joked and laughed, “Alright, I’ll come up with something.” Meaning, he was going to ask around. Lani didn’t go out often, not without someone to go out with. Usually it was take out or pizza or something that could be obtained and then be retreated back home or back to school or something. “Or maybe I’ll cook,” Lani said with a laugh, about a quarter of the way serious. He wasn’t that confident in his abilities. He also didn’t want to accidentally poison Odion.

It was hard to imagine that Odion was afraid of transportation considering Europe was famous for having the best. Lani could understanding flying, there were a lot of people who were uncomfortable with flying, and with Lani it was boats, and basically anything that was close to water. No thank you. Lani burst out in laughter at the unexpected joke Odion hit him with. He stuck his tongue out in that way he knew that Odion hated, for once, doing it for the purpose annoying Odion. Lani took a bite of his own after blowing on it for a few moments. It was delicious and on the plus side it didn’t burn on the way down. Lani was chewing and distracted and he looked at Odion when he spoke. “Hmm?” He started and shook his head the smile not vanishing. “I’m having a lot of fun,” he said, “I was just thinking, have you ever been to a real magic show?” Admittedly it was a little bit of a lie, he was losing himself in thought but he was only thinking of more things he could do with Odion.

[Odion Martins]

Odion smirked and gave a curt nod. If Lani was happy with his microwave meal, who was Odion to stop him? Lani was a stubborn man and they had fought over smaller things than what was right or wrong to eat, as everyone’s right and wrong would differ. In the end, Odion was happy with whatever Lani chose to do so long as it didn’t involve burning down the building he inhabited. Odion laughed again as Lani feigned surprise, giving a shake of his head. “Shut up Lani,” he said, falling in step with Lani’s laughter. They could talk about such stupid things with ease, but maybe they weren’t so stupid when they lifted Odi’s heart. “True,” Odion agreed, “like dancing, or spontaneity.” He could’ve added dressing colorfully to the list, but there was no real need for that. Odion stared at Lani momentarily before saying, “You can have anything.” Anyone could, it just took practice.

Lani seemed to know Odion better than anyone. While the redhead listened to Lani specify things, he couldn’t help but think that most people didn’t know they had to do that in order to get a real answer out of him. Lani knew he had to ask exactly or expect some kind of broad answer if he were to get an answer at all and not another question in reply. Only this time, Odion didn’t feel smug in having outwitted Lani, perhaps he just enjoyed showing off in front of the blond. Not everyone had brains and brawn. Odion grinned as his eyes glanced up from the small space Lani had made with his hands to his gaze. “That depends on what you mean by being beat, and whether or not I have a conscience.” Odion leaned forward and put his head in his hand. “If victory simply means winning, then what you have to do to get there doesn’t matter. If I had to cheat to win, I still win, and you wouldn’t know you should’ve won.” They would just be going off of different rules. Odion’s eyes sparkled, “But if you fancy a match without trickery, you have my number.”

Taking his plate back from Lani, Odion noticed the subtle differences between meals, other than the obvious fact that his was vegetarian. Not that he was vegetarian, sometimes he just liked having little to no meat every now and again. Sampling more of his meal, Odion gave a satisfied noise and paused his eating only to reply. “So long as it isn’t a microwave specialty, I promise not to complain too much.” As promising not to complain at all was not possible, not for Odion. Smiling at the thought of Lani cooking for him, Odion finally understood why most people found the gesture of a loved one cooking for them so endearing. It wasn’t something most people enjoyed doing, but it was more personal than going out for dinner.

Rolling his eyes after Lani stuck out his tongue, Odi took the half Lani had traded him for, giving another nod. “It’s rather good,” he said, “but I still like mine better.” Honestly he liked them both equally, but sometimes teasing required white lies, and they didn’t hurt anyone. Slowly but surely Odion was learning the finesse of balancing what was appropriate and what was simply destructive. Organizing the three halves of samosas he had left on his plate into a little triangle, Odion shook his head. “No, I haven’t,” he admitted, wondering if he would find it enjoyable with what he knew about magic. “Why?”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani tried, he genuinely did, but he couldn’t help the laughter that seeped through his teeth and refused then to be contained. He gave Odion an impish smile and shrugged innocently as if he couldn’t figure out why Odion was upset. Lani only laughed and was forced to nod his head in agreement, those were indeed only a couple of things that Odion could best him at. Lani cocked his head at Odion for a moment, the laughter fading away but the smile sticking around as he looked at Odion with interest. He was always saying things like that, cryptic things that had many different meanings and Lani was left puzzling over it trying to figure out if he was thinking as Odion was thinking or if he was way off the mark. He grinned. “Well, there’s not a whole lot of things that can stop me,” he looked at his hands. He could definitely have anything, these hands were skilled and Lani had yet to meet a lock he couldn’t best and now with his power he was unlimited.

Lani had pretty much said it all last night, he found Odion’s challenging and question dodging about as annoying as he found it endearing but he wouldn’t change a thing. If Odion were someone who just agreed, well he wouldn’t be Odion and Lani would probably just barrel him over. Perhaps their biggest strength was also their biggest weakness. When it came to each other they could stand up against the other and sometimes that was good, sometimes that brought about fighting. He leaned forward unconsciously as Odion spoke. Lani looked into Odion’s eyes his smile reaching into his eyes and giving them a wicked gleam as he locked onto Odion. “So you can say that this would be fair in war, a battle against two armies, there is no cheating only victory and defeat. Same with people like us, either you win or you don’t.” And not winning in that case usually meant jail. “But there are small things, like board games, or education. How is cheating on a test going to help if in the real world there is no one to cheat off of and you don’t know if as well as you can pretend you do.” He challenged, unsure of how they had gotten on this topic but not in the least bit upset. “But I might take you up on that offer.” He added.

Sampling Odion’s before he sampled his own again Lani nodded in satisfaction. It wasn’t what he would have chosen but it wasn’t bad, not at all. The flavors all worked very well together. Lani wasn’t as observant as Odion to realize that he had ordered a vegetarian option. “Deal,” Lani said with a smile, now he was going to really have to try not to poison Odion. On accident of course! Lani was determined to actually try this time, not that he hadn’t tried last time but he was cooking for Odion now, this was important! Lani was slowly starting to accept the fact that he was going to have to call his mother for cooking advice. Hopefully she wouldn’t start praying. He wasn’t usually allowed to cook when he was home, seriously it was like he’d burned frozen pizza once and it was all over. He looked up at Odion pausing in his chewing. “What if I cook burgers?” He almost snickered villainously.

Giving Odion a look Lani struggled to hide a grin. “Well, clearly your taste buds are lying to you,” Lani informed him with mock seriousness. Admittedly they were both very good, and both very new, it was hard for Lani to have an opinion one way or another but the lamb was what he had most on his plate and therefore he was on their team. Lani watched as Odion pushed around his plate and organized them. Lani was terribly tempted to move one, just to break the shape, but he probably shouldn’t be an ass right now. He had to finish chewing before he answered, he also shouldn’t be an uncivilized heathen. Lani smiled slightly, something new to show Odion. That would be fun right? Different and interesting? “Just thinking,” he started then quickly amended, “I wonder if they ever do traveling shows and stuff. Like the Broadway stuff.” He was going to have to see if there was actually anything. Chances were there was no such thing out of Las Vegas and honestly after their last long trip Lani wasn’t exactly looking forward to a long trip. If they had something locally it would be fun to see.

[Odion Martins]

Life and chess had many similarities, but there were differences as well, if Lani wanted to argue them. And as usual, it seemed that he did, in fact, he seemed to be looking forward to arguing the topic. Odi could tell by Lani's body language and playful look in his eye that this was something they were going to talk about perhaps the entire time their food was being prepared. So they were agreement, essentially. Sometimes things were clear cut, winning or losing, living or dying. As for the smaller things, Odion grinned and tapped his finger on the table. "Very clever," he said, "unless you know the system. There may be small steps on the way to a goal that can be fudged in order to get to the goal. Not every test is important or applicable to the real world." He wasn't saying Lani was wrong, in fact as a whole he was right. "But I agree, there is only so much pretending one can do before someone figures out that you're full of shit." School was a complicated subject for him at the moment, he still wasn't sure what he was doing, only that he thought he was doing it well.

Odion only smiled to Lani's faux villainy. "What if?" The redhead doubted Lani would go through the work of doing so, though he did recall at some point that Lani had bragged about how he made the best burgers ever and had yet to prove it. "I suppose you would succeed in cooking something." After the visit to Lani's favorite burger place in town, Odion had come to the realization that they weren't as bad as he initially thought. Not his favorite, but not detestable either. "I'll give you an award," Odion added sarcastically, placing another morsel of samosa in his mouth. Odi envisioned giving Lani a gold medal for making the best burger.

Odi just laughed at their banter, focusing on his meal once more. Now if Lani were to make lamb, that would be something worth rewarding. Not that Odion was going to suggest such a thing, it was only a passing thought. Brow furrowing, Odion gave a quick shake of his head. "Broadway? Come here? I seriously doubt it," he said, clearly not seeing where Lani was going with this. "I expect that to be in New York, well, anything worth watching would be there, or somewhere as equally famous."

Popping the last of the samosas into his mouth, Odion took a drink from his water glass as he reached out to the little menu off to the side of the table. "Want any dessert?" He asked, his blue eyes travelling over the menu. "Or do you fancy some goodies at the theatre?" He didn't know if Lani liked that, but if he liked microwave dinners, Odion was willing to bet Lani enjoyed sugary treats as well.

[Lani Hunter]

Perhaps it wasn’t that big of a deal but Lani preened a little bit when Odion called him clever. Well, he probably wasn’t even calling Lani clever but the twist of the point, either way Lani checked off a point under the Lani column. Now it was about ten to about a hundred, Odion. When it came to cleverness Odion was far better at formulating what he was thinking and knocking Lani for a loop. “No, not every test is important,” he agreed, in fact they were hardly blips on the radar if Lani was any testament to them. He had never taken a single test at Hammel seriously but he still made the scores on the preliminary tests to test out of a lot of the lower level math and science classes. “The real world can’t really be nailed down to a few rules,” Lani said thoughtfully, “We have things like Chaos theory, there are things that simply can’t be defined.” Or at least they didn’t have the technology or the brain power to do so. Lani nodded. “And you also have to count on the fact that if your opponent is also cheating, and hope that he won’t fool you.” He added with a sly smile.

Lani shrugged, “I’ll be a surprise.” He smiled, basically he was going to have a backup plan in place. “I would,” he said boastfully, “I make the best burgers, I’ll have you know.” It wasn’t that a lie, he had his dad’s advice on those and he’d made those before but a long time ago and on a grill, that would be pretty much the same as putting them in a skillet right? Lani grinned and laughed as he continued eating. Now if Odion was expecting something fancy like samosas he was going to be disappointed, but if he wanted something rather plain, Lani might be able to accomplish that. But he did know burgers weren’t Odion’s favorite thing so he might do a little bit of research for something that was a little more up Odion’s alley. Maybe some of that stuff his mom made, he couldn’t be that inept, just took some spices and stuff right? No problem, not hard at all. Though if Odion was expecting lamb he was greatly overestimating Lani’s abilities.

“No, not Broadway Broadway,” Lani said shaking his head as if Odion didn’t understand the idea of a traveling show. “I mean like the off Broadway stuff, they might come to Burlington, Burlington isn’t that small, though New York’s not that far either,” he thought aloud and his fork hovered in the air a square of samosa steaming on the end as Lani pondered the thought. He hummed slightly contemplating the idea before he finally nodded his head and took the bite. It was completely doable, especially since New York was about as far as Boston, if just a tad bit more. He’d have to do some research. He was already making mental notes. “Oh well, we’ll see.” He finalized vaguely. He was a planner and he would figure this out to the very last detail before he brought it up to Odion, and knowing the redhead Lani would have several backup plans because Odion just loved to take his plans and introduce a little chaos to them. It was funny, Lani was disorganized but he was the planner, Odion was borderline OCD, but doing things spontaneously were his forte.

Lani laughed and shook his head. “Only if you do,” he answered, noncommittal either way. Lani shrugged at the follow up question. “We could always split some popcorn.” He suggested and fiddled with his hands under the table, he wasn’t sure what to do not, did he pick up the tab or let Odion, or did they each pay for themselves. And then there was the movie, he couldn’t let Odion pay for lunch and a movie, that wasn’t right. Or were they going to get their own tickets? It was all very uncertain, he’d just have to go for the check when it came, that was the only logical thing to do. Lani also wasn’t sure why this was suddenly a big deal, it wasn’t as if either of them made legitimate money. “Do you have any idea what time the movie is?” He asked, wondering if Odion in all of his time bending ways actually bothered with timing of things. If it were Lani he knew he wouldn’t. He nursed his water and grinned at Odion. It still didn’t feel real. It was almost like a dream that he was expecting to wake up from. A nightmare turned blissful and the turn to nightmare rested around every turn. His heart pounded quickly and excitedly despite wanting to stay behind its walls and the question begged at Lani’s core. Could he let Odion back in or was the risk too great? He guessed this date was a start and it allowed his mind to gather data that his heart wanted to ignore.

[Odion Martins]

Odion smiled as Lani boasted, a challenging look on his face. “ ‘Best’ is subjective, I would have to like burgers to begin with,” he said, unwilling to argue the point. He would be willing to sample said famous burgers, if and when Lani decided to make them. Honestly, Odion wasn’t sure if Lani was bullshitting right now, since the blond claimed he didn’t cook well, and at the same time was claiming that he made the best burgers. Either both were true, or both were false and he was just playing the redhead. Odion supposed he would have to find out the truth, either way. Odion wasn’t interested in cooking anything, only in eating and critiquing it, for the latter was half the fun of eating.

“Oh,” Odion said, listening to what Lani actually meant when he was talking about Broadway. He smirked, “You could’ve said off Broadway to begin with,” he said, defending himself. Lani had to remember that English wasn’t Odion’s first language, and sometimes he got caught in the exactness of the language. Odion watched Lani curiously. “I’ve always wanted to go there, New York I mean,” Burlington didn’t seem like something worth drooling over, “admittedly, I am somewhat of a Sinatra fan.” Not that that’s where the artist was from, but it is where he got big. Nodding, Odion agreed with Lani – they would have to see what happened after today. There was the issue of getting to New York, and the even bigger issue of where they two of them would be, if their relationship could ever again amount to more. Odion sincerely hoped it would. As opposite as they were to one another, they could still learn from each other. Careless and careful; spontaneous and planned.

“Let’s wait until we get to the movie then,” Odion said, putting the menu back in its place. Taking out his cell phone, Odi was happy to note there was still time to get to the theatre without having to rush, which meant they could walk. “2:30.” Odion said simply, reaching for his wallet as he slipped his cell away. A date was noncommittal, and Lani didn’t owe Odion a damn thing. Besides, their money wasn’t really theirs, Odion believed it wasn’t anyone’s in the end. Taking out a couple bills to cover the tab and the tip, the already paid for movie tickets brushing against his fingers. Odion shot Lani what he hoped was a charming smile. “Shall we carry on then? Walk and talk?” If Lani wasn’t a sight for sore eyes, Odion was sure he wouldn’t get away with half of the stuff he got away with.

[Lani Hunter]

“You’ll like these,” Lani said with mock confidence, “Or else.” He added for dramatic effect. He laughed to emphasize that he was joking. It wasn’t like Lani couldn’t take constructive criticism, if that were the case he’d have knocked Odion out way before now. It was nice, just being in the moment, Lani’d locked away the dark thoughts and the doubts and he was enjoying being with Odion. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d done something like this. Not dinner and a movie, but just talked for the sake of talking. Lani would talk up his burger making abilities, but he wasn’t going to make them, not when he knew it wasn’t something that Odion liked. Lani might think that Odion was out of his mind for not liking burgers, but that wasn’t his place to say, Odion probably thought the same for all of the obscure things that Lani couldn’t stand, like tea. He would actually look forward to Odion’s comments, that was how learning was done, it might be hard to hear but if his recipe was going to make someone sick he’d want to know.

Lani grinned at Odion and shrugged, making an “Eh,” sound. He could have, but he didn’t. Lani was someone who thought in spaghetti strands and sometimes just talked out his thought process, which made things hard for everyone to understand. That was something that Lani frequently forgot actually, at least until Odion said or did something that reminded him. “No way,” Lani exclaimed in shock. Odion, as a Sinatra fan made a whole lot of sense in retrospect, but it also shocked Lani that Odion was familiar with anything musical. Lani had immense respect for Sinatra as a music icon, but he honestly wasn’t a huge fan of that kind of tone. Give him anything like Queen or Green Day and everything in between and he was set. The only music he absolutely vetoed was country. “I can see it,” he said sitting back and surveying Odion. Odion always seemed to have a timeless and straight-laced attitude that was pretty much what Lani thought about when he thought about Sinatra.

Odion had never been to New York, Lani was hesitant to offer to take him, he’d been with his family several times and even more on jobs. New York was a fun town, especially for their sort of back alley people. “It’s definitely some place to see,” he said cryptically, neither implying that he didn’t want to go or that he did want to go with Odion. He did want to go with Odion, but the thought of going there with Odion and possibly having a repeat of what happened in Europe was still a very real fear for Lani. Perhaps a little bit irrational. “Okay,” Lani agreed with a nod and sipped at his water. Again nodding his head Lani indicated that he heard and filed away the information. He took out his own phone to check the time and noted the same thing Odion had. “Let me get the tip,” Lani protested, adding a few bills before Odion could stop him and sliding a few back toward Odion. Unless he wanted to leave the waiter a large tip, which wouldn’t be unreasonable.

The corner of Lani’s mouth quirked up in response to Odion’s smile, charming and sly all at the same time. What was he getting himself into? He wondered as he rose to his feet. “Did you ever end up watching the rest of those Back to the Future movies?” Lani asked conversationally as he opened the door and held it for Odion. On the street Lani struggled a moment with what to do with his hands. Reaching for Odion’s hand crossed his mind momentarily and he frightened himself away from the thought and ended up stuffing his hands into his pockets and settling into a calm stroll, though his mind was nothing but calm.

[Odion Martins]

Odion laughed and shook his head. "So now we're on to threatening, hm? Well alright then, no need for harm. If you ever do make me these prophetic burgers, I will eat one. Well, at least half of one." Again, burgers really weren't that bad, but they weren't as amazing as everyone seemed to think they were. They were overdone, in Odion's opinion, and since he had to live with himself, it was the only opinion that mattered in the end. Besides, Odion seriously doubted that Lani would have the gall to force feed him a burger. Odion would just eat it so the telekinetic would shut up. The redhead grinned at his own thoughts - this date was going fascinatingly well.

Odion nodded, deciding that Lani probably didn't care what kind of music he liked one way or another. The blond didn't seem surprised by Odion's musical choice, though he didn't listen to music all that often. The redhead preferred a quiet space, and he also liked being wary of his surroundings. You never know who could sneak up on you while you're distracted by some favorite band playing or whatnot. Odion smirked as Lani surveyed him. "He had good taste," Odi said, not about to also admit that the singer was his inspiration for most of the hats he owned and wore on occasion. Odion would always be fascinated by the man, and he thought he may visit him some day, when his power fully recovered.

As for New York, Odion wanted to pay that place a visit as well. Only time would tell if and when that would happen, and he wasn't going to push anything either way. "Sounds fair," Odion said, taking back the bills Lani pushed his way. Lani had always been hesitant to accept any kind of gift, though Odion didn't blame him, he was the same way, and he supposed all thieves were the same way. They didn't deserve gifts, and if anyone did give them something, it was meant to be seen as suspicious.

Walking through the door, Odion shook his head. "No sorry, I didn't. They wouldn't have been the same without you." He hesitated with the end of the sentence, unsure of himself though he was telling the truth. He supposed it wasn't the fact that he was unsure of, but how it might be taken by Lani, or if he appeared stupid in the way he had warned Lani about earlier. He smiled thoughtfully at Lani. "I can see your mind working you know," he said, reaching out to touch the crease in Lani's brow. "Here," and he touched the faint crows lines beside one of Lani's eyes, "and here." Odion just hoped everything was alright. If this was too much for Lani, all he had to do was say so.

[Lani Hunter]

“Yep.” Lani confirmed his smile broad. He laughed, well if he thought it was that easy to get Odion to eat burgers he would have done so a long time ago. Odion was definitely better as far as good food went. Lani was of the opinion that he had to try everything at least once, and Odion had taken him quite on an adventure as they crossed Europe. He pushed the memories away from his head. And focused back in on Odion in the here and now. To see Odion smiling like that reminded Lani what it used to be like and it was hard to imagine it being like that again after all that had happened, they were working on Odion’s memories, and eventually everything would resurface. Lani was content to let that be and deal with it whenever that time came, for now he just wanted to be.

Lani nodded, unable to disagree. People like Sinatra set a different stage. Lani considered Odion, a smile on his face, it definitely fit Odion’s personality. It was surprising what knowing a little detail like that could tell about someone. Lani wondered what had gotten him into Sinatra, Odion wasn’t exactly up on music and movies, he didn’t seem to be the kind of person who paid a lot of attention to music. “What got you into Sinatra?” He asked curiously, he knew so very little about Odion’s past. He smiled, glad that Odion at least didn’t fight that and Lani laid a few bills on the table and rose. He wasn’t one to like gifts, this way it felt more like he was helping instead of taking. It felt strange and familiar all at once and Lani wasn’t exactly sure what to think anymore. His heart was patched together and being with Odion like this was both healing and confusing.

“Don’t apologize,” Lani said with a shake of his head. He looked at Odion for a moment surprised but also very touched by the ending statement. He smiled softly and a little shyly. “We’ll have to fix that.” He wasn’t sure when or in what kind of context but if it meant spending more time with Odion Lani was down. Now Lani wasn’t sure that was the best idea, the best idea might be cutting out Odion altogether, but that was also the hardest and most painful choice. Well, not the most painful, the most painful was being made a fool of again. It wasn’t stupid to Lani, Lani knew there were certain things he did with his family that wouldn’t be the same without them. It was easy to understand and it touched Lani. He turned startled by the statement. Lani’s hands in his pockets clenched and unclenched uncertainly as Odion reached out.

Lani froze and reflexively closed his eyes when Odion’s hand and there was a small tingling sensation between his eyes when Odion touched him and Lani opened his eyes to look at Odion. Lani smiled, “I suppose that’s a good thing, though I hope that doesn’t mean I’m getting wrinkles?” He joked, he was never good at taking things seriously when he should. He smiled at Odion, hoping it was reassuring him that Lani was alright. He was just going to have to work through things, this was helping, this was fun. That very strong and real emotion of love was forever in his heart for Odion, and being with him here was like living in a blissful dream and he wished he didn’t have the nagging at the back of his mind. He extracted a hand from his pocket and reached up to take Odion’s hand that was hovering by his eyes. “C’mon,” he said holding onto Odion’s hand as he started walking.

[Odion Martins]

Odion grinned at the memory of when he started to listen to Sinatra. “Well, before I ever came to the United States, I started listening to him when I practiced parkour.” It may have seemed an odd explanation, but one had to venture over the various skylines of Europe to truly appreciate just how magnificent rooftop jumping could be with a little classical music on the side. “Relaxing, hopeful, a couple things you need to be when flying over rooftops, don’t you think?” Odion smiled charmingly and followed Lani out of the restaurant, ‘Come Fly With Me’ now in his head.

The redhead smiled a bit to himself when Lani told him to keep his apologies to himself. But really, why would he rehash that memory when he had been trying so hard to stay away from anything to do with Lani? It didn’t seem fair to enjoy something he had enjoyed with someone who was no longer there. Well, now he was. “So long as I don’t end up a couch potato,” Odion said, finding Lani’s shy smile endearing. With the blanks in his memory, it still felt like no time had passed. Yes Odion knew that time was missing, but it didn’t feel like it, and for now ignorance was bliss.

Lani was one of the few people Odion ever reached out to and didn’t regret doing so. Odion laughed, the action of Lani taking his hand only making sense. “You’ll grow old with grace. You have more laugh lines than anything else,” Odion stated, though he didn’t dare try and touch those, for both their sakes. One step at a time.

“There are snacks and such at the movie theatres, correct?” Odion asked, wondering if Lani would like anything of the sort. Odi himself had a sweet tooth and was looking forward to some soda and maybe a chocolate bar or something. They would arrive soon enough and Odion couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani looked sidelong at Odion for a moment. “Really?” He asked skeptically, “You did parkour to Sinatra?” He couldn’t help but chuckle a bit, sure that Odion was being sarcastic. He couldn’t even imagine. Classical music in any way while working out would be so… boring, in Lani’s opinion. He needed something fast passed and loud. He waved a hand laughing. “Woah, woah, hold up. You mean to tell me that you,” he pointed at Odion for emphasis, “Of all of the people you could listen to, I mean you had the Beatles, The Who and you pick Sinatra?” Not that Lani was judging. Maybe a little. He laughed, clearly just giving Odion a hard time, it was amazing, they were still learning things about each other, he didn’t think he’d ever have actually pegged Odion as someone who listened to music at all.

It wasn’t hard to be envious of Odion’s missing memory. If he could forget the past several months and move on with his life and maybe with Odion, well, he would be more than happy to do so. Lani laughed out loud. “You’d have to sit still for that to happen,” he said pleasantly. Odion was the last person Lani could see turning into a couch potato. Lani, on the other hand, was at risk. Granted he could hardly sit still but he had his moments where he just never wanted to move from the couch. When he moved with Odion it still felt natural, but something about that feeling felt strange. All of Lani wanted to fall back into the habit and return to what had been as if nothing had happened. But that also struck like a thorn in his heart. Like a splinter it irritated just beneath the surface always reminding him that it was there when things felt better.

Odion’s hand in his was reassuring, like fitting together two puzzle pieces that had been lost in the mix until the very end. Lani chuckled and shrugged. “Do you guess or do you know?” He asked unable to stop himself. He gave a smile to take away any sting that lingered in that question. Lani paced along with Odion, it was such a pleasant feeling holding onto Odion and feeling the roughness of his hand. “Mhmm,” he nodded, “Do you like popcorn?” He asked as they walked. They were coming up upon the theatre and Lani looked up at the sign for a moment until his eyes came back and glanced at Odion from the corner of his eyes. He smiled at the redhead. “Thank you for lunch,” he couldn’t remember if he’d said that.

Squeezing Odion’s hand Lani’s smile grew. This was nice, it was a strange sort of normal thing that normal couples did and Lani found himself with a wide smile and he couldn’t stop the chuckle that pulled from his throat. He was feeling strangely giddy on a date with Odion. It was exciting, and Lani was glad he’d gotten crazy tired and called Odion. Lani couldn’t keep his heart rate at the same level and he looked over at Odion automatically heading toward the ticket counter.

[Odion Martins]

Rather than take offense, Odion only laughed. He could tell Lani thought he was just being an asshole, so he'd rather just explain himself. Not everything had to be Rock and Roll in order to get the adrenaline going. It was almost the same effect as playing happy music during a horror movie - calming in a strange way, although you can't help but think that something bad may happen, so you're on guard. Feeling himself flush, Odi could only a give a shrug. "Is that what you listen to then? The Who?" It was only fair that he found out what Lani liked listening to now.

"Well that's good to hear," Odion said, feigning relief. Unless he suddenly lost muscle function in his legs, he also doubted he would ever become a couch potato. The thought of it... Well, it was just too disgusting for Odion to bear.

Odion gave Lani's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I guess I know," he teased right back. He, on the other hand, might end up with a permanent scowl at the rate he was going. More often than not he either had no expression on his face, or a sour one. It would be a shame to look like that forever. But alas, his mouth always hurt from smiling, if and when he ever did.

"Can't say I do," Odion said, not enjoying the texturing of popcorn was one part of the reason, the other part was that he didn't like his mouth feeling so dry. "But that just means more for you," he added, not wanting to dampen the mood. Walking through the front entrance, Odion's mouth flicked up into a little smile. "You're welcome." He couldn't remember if they had discussed this either.

Digging into his pocket, Odion had to let go of Lani temporarily. He could hear all of Lani's happy sounds and it made him happy. He didn't need to analyze why this was, it just... was. It made sense. And for once, he just wanted to let that be and enjoy the moment, instead of thinking to moments ahead of time. Finally finding the tickets, Odion laced his hand around Lani's elbow and tugged gently. "No need to go that way," he said, flashing the tickets for Lani to see, "straight to the snacks for us."

And concession food was far different than microwaved or frozen food. "What'll it be?" He asked, glancing at Lani. And if the blond really wanted to pay for something, it was at this point that Odion would be happy to accept. This could still be a date, who paid for what wasn't the point. Odion's dark eyes trailed over the little bags of chocolate at the front of the glass counter. Hopefully he wasn't drooling on the spot.

[Lani Hunter]

Hearing Odion’s laugh always brought a smile to Lani’s face and today was no exception, in this case it was much easier. It was a pleasant day and a pleasant date. Lani was skeptical of using anything but rock or punk to get adrenaline going. Horror movies were not Lani’s forte, he’d gone to one with Adrianna and he’d been the one on her lap the entire time. He was not a strong and brave person when it came to ghosts and ghouls. Despite his love of Halloween he was not very good at horror. It was a good thing that Odion hadn’t chosen a scary movie today. “Among other things,” he said scratching his chin, “rock or punk or something.” He said with a sly grin. “What do you listen to besides Sinatra?” Odion was very precise and Lani was starting to get a sense of old school in him as well.

Lani laughed, he’d missed Odion more than he’d been willing to admit, it was like passing through the twister into Oz and the colorful wonder that existed there. Lani blinked in surprise at Odion’s response and questions burned through mind but he couldn’t voice any of them without breaking all of the rules of the future, besides how many times had Odion told him how variable the future was. Lani narrowed his eyes at Odion, “Wait, that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna get old early?” He asked, as if he was extremely concerned. He smiled to show he was joking, he honestly wouldn’t care, or at least he would have said that when Odion wasn’t here. He’d honestly never really tried but if he was going to have to start worrying about wrinkles he was going to have a problem, he just really hoped that he’d never have to worry about anything.

“I’m okay with that,” Lani replied with a smile. It was so strange that simple things like this were things they didn’t know about each other. Lani couldn’t help but wonder if that had been their initial problem, they spent so much time diving in deep and learning about each other’s inner workings that they’d never stopped to talk about things like music or food preferences, besides Odion’s disapproval of burgers. This felt low pressure and it was fun, Lani didn’t want this to ever end. Maybe that had been the problem the first time around, maybe they could both be better. Lani had made just as many mistakes as Odion that had lead to their breakup and in the end Lani gave himself no illusions about his own innocence in the matter.

He smiled in response and stopped watching Odion for a moment curious about what he was digging for. He was still headed in the direction of the ticket counter when Odion caught his arm. He flashed Odion an annoyed look. Leave it to Odion to plan for everything. “But…” He started with a huff, and stopped himself. He wanted to pay for something, it made Lani extremely uncomfortable to be treated, he liked treating other people, he felt a responsibility to take care of people, being taken care of was definitely taking him out of his comfort zone, which it seemed Odion still loved to do. “No, no, no, I’ve got this one. What would you like?” He countered not taking ‘no’ for an answer.

Lani was in the process of getting popcorn when he noticed Odion eyeing the candies. Lani elbowed Odion to get his attention off of the chocolate. “What do you want?” He watched Odion smiling softly, he always enjoyed watching Odion when Odion’s attention was elsewhere. The redhead had so many quirks and little habits that Lani found so endearing, like how his eyes narrowed a bit when he was thinking or how he wiped his hands over his face. It was so hard to get caught up in Odion’s beautiful blues. Lani blinked and flushed when he realized he was staring.