Multitasking (open)

[Lani Hunter]

These past few weeks had been a hectic mess. When he'd arrived for his training he'd earned himself a heaping lecture and a harsh run through exercises. This trainer didn't take any excuses and no matter that Lani'd been unbalance from emotions he didn't understand, no matter that he'd gotten a call from his imprisoned boss, no matter that he had no idea what he was doing anymore. Since he hadn't been here with his trainer on the agreed upon day he was a slacker. Admittedly Lani had skipped a week or two on purpose before the recent week when he'd missed. Now he was paying for it. His head ached like someone had taken a hammer to it and he was having trouble focusing his line of sight. Worse his trainer had confiscated his pills and wasn't giving them back, no matter how much Lani begged for them.

"Oof," Lani grunted landing on his rump as his trainer physically shoved him back. His trainer was a large woman and she was definitely not one to take any crap, she could easily beat Lani to a pulp if she were so inclined, and Lani wasn't quick enough to stay out of her way. "You're being tested in less than a week and your control is worse than ever! How many times do I have to tell you, you cannot afford to lose control! Not with your power." She lectured on and on looking down at him pitilessly. He growled and lurched to his feet. He'd show her control. In absolute frustration he dropped his shields and felt a strong flash of agony before it faded beyond what his body could feel. His eyes glowed eerily as he became one with the physical world, it was like he didn't even have a body anymore. "Leave me alone!" He roared, his voice sounding very far away to his own ears. He was fury, he was power.

The dragon coiled in his mind and the world pitched around them. The trainer crossed her arms and glared, unimpressed with his show of power. He shoved his power at her and once his power grabbed onto her clothing he launched her back as far as he could into the far wall. The emotional power fed eagerly on his frustration and anger. It took a moment for Lani to realize what was happening and he desperately clawed his power back, snapping his mind shut pulling the power back into himself. His trainer dropped, landing neatly on her feet. Lani, however, absorbed the impact of all of his power and it flung him back. His head cracked against the wooden floor and for a terrifyingly long time all that he understood was pain. When he was able to open his eyes and focus she helped him sit up. But apparently he was not going to get out of a lecture.

"How many times have we had this conversation?" She asked rhetorically. "You keep letting it take you over, I know you, no matter how angry you get if you were in control, you'd never do that. You have to keep sense of yourself when you let your power out, you're taking the easy way out. You can access that power without losing yourself." She cut his protest off with a look. "I know you can, I've seen you do it." She handed over his pills finally and a worried expression crossed her face when he all but dumped the contents down his throat. She rose and left him with a task. His face fell when she explained it to him. As if he wasn't in enough pain already. He was to let all of his shields down and he was to 'clean the mess he'd made'. That wasn't all though. He was to write while he was doing so. How was he supposed to do that? He needed all of his consciousness to keep his power from going out of control as it was and she wanted to introduce this distraction?

She was going to be back in an hour and Lani frustrated took up the notepad and pen she handed him. She had him drop his shields before she left and promised him hell if he cheated. He sensed her leave as he Saw the door open and close. Slowly and methodically things started moving, but when he started to write he lost the focus and things hovered uncertainly in the air. He sighed and tossed the pad aside and laid back. No one was watching, there was no way she'd know. He closed his eyes and silently wondered how long this trainer would last. He was trying now, but he'd already gone through a good four or five trainers in his time since his power had manifested. He was almost counting the days for her to give up on him. The telekinetic took a deep breath and his power hummed around him. Even with his eyes he'd never known the world in this detail. He could clean this up in no time and write a quick few things down before she got back, but right now Lani was going to nap.

[Morgan Paige]

School had always been something Morgan found interest in. It was her philosophy that if she was going to spend time doing something, she may as well do it right and give her best shot. Along with the academic aspects of Hammel though, came the power training. It wasn’t something she struggled with, but she did like to practice more often if there was time. But in order to practice, she needed another person around her. She had to work on activating her power, rather than just watching glimpses of people’s immediate future without any sense of control. Behaviour like that could land her getting into a serious car accident, or so her trainer had said.

Dressed in sweats and a sweater, Morgan made her way from dorm to the training rooms in the school. It was the weekend and she was determined to have her power under control by the time she graduated so that she didn’t have to come back here all the time. It was a lot to ask of a young woman going through such tender years, but she was going to push herself and break until she was unbreakable.

A burly woman met her down the hall from the majority of the training rooms. She was outraged and red in the face, like she had just lost a battle with a raging bull. But it was Morgan who would get the horns, as the older woman was also her trainer, and she wasn’t in the mood for “more failure”, as she had said not so delicately. Morgan, who had been in good spirits, already felt defeated by the demands of her trainer. Why did she have to work with someone who was older than she was? Wasn’t that a lot to ask? And an ‘uncontrollable telekinetic’ too? What was her trainer trying to prove, instant death?

Morgan walked towards the room, towards the young man who was apparently a bull indeed, mostly in stubbornness. This was bullshit, she didn’t feel like being anyone’s babysitter. But apparently it would be good for the both of them to work together, not that he knew anything about it. Trainers were sick people…

Watching all the floating objects as she entered the room, Morgan humbled herself in realizing just how difficult a power like this would be to control. Her dark brown eyes gazed over the man and she bit her lip. How exactly were they going to be a good fit? “He’s unpredictable, it will be a good test of your power to catch his future before he does something stupid, like fling his trainer into the wall again. Safer for everyone.”

Keeper her, their, trainer’s words as she awkwardly stood there, Morgan tried to find something to say. It was already past the point of saying hello, and she didn’t know how to introduce herself without seemingly disrupting him from his own training. Or maybe he was napping, she was too timid to ask.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani moved things slowly at his own leisure. As his mind started to relax and his power became less stressed things hovered more slowly and seemed peaceful to float there in the open air as Lani meandered them where he wanted them. Lani’d gone from hating this place to loathing it. Even though he wasn’t a student he hadn’t officially gotten clearance. He was living off campus and returning for training, mostly because the security head had, with a great deal of glee, explained how they would hunt him down if he decided to take off. Lani didn’t doubt them, meta human security was nothing to sneeze at, even for a powerful meta human like Lani. His power was vast but it had limits and since he couldn’t control it, he was that much more likely to lose. And he had in the past. A telekinetic with less power, but far more control had outlasted Lani in the end.

Eyes closed against the harsh lights, Lani finally felt the medicine taking effect and second by second his skull stopped splitting and reduced itself to a dull roar of pain. He breathed deeply his mind wandering into the expanses of sleep. In his half dream he thought of Odion and how he would laugh when Lani told him he needed to be talked down from murdering his trainer. The telekinetic’s lips twitched into a smile, but you’d go logical on me then, wouldn’t you? Talk me through why she was right and annoy the blazes out of me because she is right. He sigh wistfully, he could dream, but Odion wasn’t one of those people to just let him wallow in his self pity. It was just as well, because if Odion let him he’d probably stay there all day.

Lani didn’t hear the door, rather, he felt the door open. One unexpected benefit of just letting his power be, if something changed around him his power was curious enough that it now held his full attention, however, it was damn annoying when he was trying to nap and ignore everyone. Smile vanishing he felt it close again. The telekinetic didn’t stir. If it had been his trainer he’d already be flying through the air. She was terrifying, but oh so much fun to antagonize. His curious mind poked the newcomer with interest. Not someone he recognized. He didn’t move, didn’t open his eyes but was growing more and more aware of the person just standing there. He wished he had the ability to know what her face was doing, it was so annoying to not know what she was looking at. Though he could See that she was standing there but not doing anything.

His watchdog power was on alert now, pulling him to full wakefulness whether he wanted it to or not. The girl stood a long while without saying anything and Lani grew curious and then he grew annoyed. Could he not just have a moment of rest? Pain made Lani short tempered and as his mind was pulled into wakefulness the pain returned. Not of the same order as before, thankfully, but enough to make it hard for him to be pleasant. As much as he didn’t want to he reasoned with himself while she was silent and he was ‘sleeping’. She probably didn’t mean to walk in on him while he was sleeping. It could be a misunderstanding, maybe she was just confused because he was napping. Finally Lani spoke. “You know,” he said not opening his eyes, “generally when someone is using a training room it isn’t a very good idea to walk in.” Or in not so many words, go away.

He finally peaked open an eye at her and took a quick look before closing it again. There was no way his trainer would send in someone while he was like this. Hell, he’d tossed his trainer into the wall today, if he were his trainer he would be telling people to give him a wide berth for the next few hours. Lani didn’t trust his power right now. His trainer had been annoyingly right. Under normal circumstances he’d have enough control to use his power and think at the same time, he’d just gone ahead and taken the easy way and let pure rage fuel him. She was a tough woman and she had pushed Lani to the edge and then over more than once before but this was the first time the dragon had bitten her back, at least the first time Lani hadn’t stopped it before it actually attacked. As much as he hated it, she was right. He could access that power and hold onto himself, he’d done it once or twice, but he’d scared himself away from it before the control was tested and he’d fallen out with headaches similar to the one he was nursing now.

[Morgan Paige]

It took a long time for him to say anything, and during that time Morgan got a good look at him. He didn’t seem to be anything special, or really all that scary. If things hadn’t been floating around in here, she wouldn’t have given him a second thought. Sure he was attractive enough, but he was too old for Morgan to even think about anything beyond the fact that at the very least, he wasn’t ugly.

When he finally did speak, it was anything but courteous. She didn’t blame him, working with that bitch would put anyone in a bad mood. “I realize that,” Morgan said shortly, crossing her arms over she chest. Her weight shifted from one foot to the other. At least he hadn’t been sleeping.

What they didn’t know was that their trainer simply though that maybe, just maybe, Lani would be able to keep himself from harming someone who had never done anything wrong, at least in his eyes. The trainer herself wasn’t good enough for that, not when she was asking him to go beyond his limits and antagonizing him. No, there needed to be something different.

Morgan took a deep breath, trying to find her courage. “She said I was supposed to come in here and help you train… Somehow…” The more she spoke, the stupider she felt. He probably thought she was stupid too. How was she supposed to help exactly? She didn’t have a clue. But if they didn’t figured something out, then her ass was on the line too.

“You must’ve really pissed her off, I thought she was going to explode or something” she added further, not stepping any closer towards him, she didn’t want to know what would happen to him next. Morgan couldn’t help but feel slighted by this course of action. She was one of the trainer’s favorites, and so she felt she deserved better than this for working so hard. Now she was asked to do more. Figures…

She looked at the objects floating around. This was going to be a long day if she had to stay here too long. She hadn’t slept at all the night before, her power keeping her up all night by showing her what was going to happen next to everyone around her.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani quirked a brow and opened his eye against to look back at her. Couldn’t everyone just leave him alone for ten seconds for him to nurse his wounds and self pity. Forget that other things were going on in his life, forget about all of it, his power was snapping at anything and anyone who got too close. Lani couldn’t even blame it, it was his fault. But it was not his fault that his trainer knew that and pushed until it finally bit back. And now this girl, she must obviously have a death wish. Lani groaned inwardly and squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden wave of pain that accompanied his stress. He was not in the mood to deal with anyone right now. He sighed and opened his eyes and sat up in a quick motion that made his head swim.

He folded his legs underneath himself and waited a minute for his head to recover before he opened his eyes and before he could stop himself he shot her a glare. Lani blinked and his expression softened but the hardness in his eyes didn’t. “So what? You’ve got this room reserved or something?” He asked as politely as he could manage. She hadn’t done anything to him, it might be an honest mistake but really, why not just say something instead of just standing there annoying him? That was unfair, Lani scolded himself, she wasn’t intentionally annoying him. And if she was, well she was obviously not prepared to walk into someone else’s hell. Lani pulled his power back, he couldn’t hurt her.

Lani rested his head in his hand, rubbing his eyes and head to try to clear it. God, maybe he needed more pills, he ached all over. He stopped cold when she spoke again. ‘She’ could only be one person. Lani slowly moved his hands so they were covering his mouth as he rested his chin in his palms. Slowly, ever so slowly it dawned on Lani what was going on. Lani looked at the young girl numbly processing the whole thing slowly. His mind was fuzzy from the pain and Lani wasn’t sure quite how to react. Finally something like madness broke.

Lani cackled. “Oh, she must really hate you.” He leaned back on his hands grinning like a loon. This couldn’t be real life right now. He’d finally lost it completely and snapped in half, this world wasn’t even real. Not even Lani could possibly be this unlucky. He’d probably actually knocked himself out. No one could possibly be that stupid. “Yeah? Well she deserved it,” Lani snapped defensively, his eyes moving back to the girl. He wished he hadn’t lost control, he really did but how much of it was really his fault. She’d pushed him! He never would have lost it if she hadn’t nagged him. He took up the pen and paper, and wrote a large ‘FUCK YOU’ on it. She hadn’t specified what to write.

“Listen,” Lani said getting to his feet and found himself having to plant his feet and watch the ground until the world stopped moving, “You don’t want to be here and I just want to go home. If you tell her you worked with me I’ll tell her you were very helpful.” Slowly testing his legs, Lani found them still in working order. With a sigh he let his power slowly go. He couldn’t take another backlash like that, it would really be lights out then. The telekinetic winced when he surveyed the damage, some of which was big, big enough that he couldn’t move it without his power. Damn. Damn it all the hell.

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan wasn't that stupid - she could tell he was in a lot more pain than he wanted to admit and was simply not saying so. "No, I don't have the room booked. I was literally just told to come in here. Obviously that wasn't the best thing for me to do…" Maybe she should stop being such a people pleaser. It was just really hard to say no when someone asked her to do something, and it wasn't over text. Especially her trainer.

"Excuse me?" Morgan bristled. Maybe if this guy actually listened to what their trainer said, he wouldn't be forced to deal with a younger meta who had better control. The way he laughed was concerning, and Morgan was starting to think her trainer didn't have such good judgement after all if she had paired her with a maniac. "Maybe," Morgan said, wondering what their trainer had done to him exactly to have him in such a bad mood."

Morgan raised her hands in defence. "Fine by me." They both had places to be and this was going nowhere fast.

Turning on her heal to leave, something flashed before her eyes. Morgan blinked a couple times, and looked around the room, lost. Her eyes finally landed on the older boy, and they grew wide in understanding. "Actually, you need to leave too," she said, looking around apprehensively, "now." She knew something he didn't.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani didn’t reply he just gave her a condescending look as if to say ‘oh really?’ and let her take that as she would. Obviously, when someone was working it was not a good idea, and obviously when that person was Lani even less so. It seemed like on one hand everyone was telling him how dangerous he was and yet they seemed perfectly fine just throwing him into these sorts of positions. It didn’t make any sense. Lani wasn’t quite convinced she wasn’t stupid now, not if she was foolish enough to walk in here. Oh well, he couldn’t be held responsible. Or at least that was what he struggled to convince himself of, of course he would be responsible more than that he would be devastated if he hurt her, whether he knew her or not. He didn’t want to hurt people, he didn’t want to be dangerous, but that was what the rules of the universe had decided to make him, a walking time bomb.

“Yes?” Lani smiled slyly, amused by her reaction. He raised a brow and wondered if she ever really thought about it. Or maybe she didn’t, did she even think of questioning their trainer? The problem was that Lani knew that his trainer was no fool, she was a hot headed and stern and sometimes cruel woman but he didn’t think she was stupid, oh no. Which meant this girl might have something that would either push Lani to control his power or his inability to control would push the girl to use her power, he had no idea. He hated not knowing. Whatever this girl’s power, his trainer had confidence either in him or in her to control the situation. Lani raised his chin, well he would be the one in control.

Lani grinned impishly, feeling very much like he’d won something here. “Alright.” He turned away from her and back to his task. It was daunting and his power tracked her in the back of his mind as she turned to leave. He gathered that which he could with his hands first. Slowly he let his power take things in his hands to move them and the pain flashed in his skull. The girl spoke again and Lani dropped the padded medicine ball he had in his control. He growled and turned to glare at her his eyes flashing dangerously. With a deep breath he soothed his power and bottled his emotions. He covered his pain with another amused expression. “And let her beat me to a pulp for not cleaning up, I don’t think so.” He made a condescending shooing motion with his hands. Behind his mask his eyes strained, humorlessly staring at her. He didn’t want to hurt her.

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan was a trusting person, so when her trainer told her to come in here, she trusted that it wouldn’t be such a big deal. It was truly a surprise for the both of them, and Morgan wasn’t any more pleased about it than Lani was. But she didn’t know what he was thinking on the inside, and whether he would actually hurt her or not was not her concern, but rather that he could.

And if she left, it didn’t really matter who had control or not, she didn’t care. He had made it perfectly clear she was not welcome, and if he wasn’t willing to give her a chance, why could she stay.

Morgan was already thinking good riddance before she had turned around to leave. But oh no, her power had to go ahead and change things, as usual. She sighed and let her good nature kick in. Maybe he was sort of a jerk, but he didn’t need to die for it.

But she could feel herself wince as he turned to look at her, like he would love nothing more than to push her away like he had everything else in this room. So why hadn’t he? With that question in mind, Morgan grew more confident in herself. “Look, I don’t know you, but pretty soon nobody will if you don’t listen to me.” She glanced up at the flickering lights. “Your power will fail you, you’re exhausted. You won’t be able to stop it.” She bit her lower lip, knowing it was going to take more than that for him to listen, she could tell by the way he looked at her. “But hey, it’s your life. Like, literally.”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani just wished this girl would leave, he was not in a good place right now, he didn’t want to hurt her, but if she pushed him as his trainer had there was no telling what might happen. He ran a hand through his hair, he’d already thrown his trainer. Why did things like this keep happening to him? Just once he wanted everyone in the world to leave him alone. He didn’t care anymore about what his trainer had said or about this girl’s misguided task. The telekinetic was in pain and he just wanted it all to be over. He didn’t even realize he’d reached for his pills until his fingers closed around the bottle. He drew them out and didn’t even think about how many he’d had, he just took a few more for good measure. Nothing was helping. Why wouldn’t the pain go away?

If he thought he could do so safely he probably would have shoved her right out the door. He shoved his frustration down and his fingers massaged his temples as he tried to keep his calm. He glared at her. Did she ever think that the reason he lost it would be because she didn’t leave him alone? He rose to his full height and let his challenging gaze fall on her. She wasn’t going to intimidate him. He clenched his jaw and shook his head. “My power has never failed me,” he lied, the powerful resolve in his voice making it ring true. She didn’t know his power was barely controlled, she didn’t know that he was close to losing it now. “What the hell are you talking about anyways? You don’t know what I can do.” His eyes flashed dangerously, he was completely unaware of the movement he was causing around them.

“You’d better explain yourself, I’ve no patience for riddles right now,” he snarled. To anyone who knew Lani, that sort of statement would have been a clear sign to not only leave the telekinetic alone but to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Lani. Lani loved riddles. His eyes narrowed as he focused his attention and consequently his power on her. The power moved and crouched growling furious at the girl. Lani took a step back from her, as if the distance would put his power to rest but it did nothing of the sort, in fact Lani might not have even moved for all he was starting to be aware. With the horrifying realization that he was drifting Lani tried to hold onto his power and to his body. The split focus raged in his head and while his power was tired and weak it was angry and if he let his walls down now… heaven help them.

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan wasn't buying whatever words Lani was selling. "Right, which is why you're passed graduation age and still here, training." If his power was oh so reliable, why was he here? "I don't care what you can and can't do right now, I only care that right now we can change the future, so you need to leave or I'll have your death on my shoulders for the rest of my life, and I don't even know you!" Had he known anything about her, he would realize that the fact that she was talking so much was out of the norm. There was a panic in her eyes that betrayed her attempt at a cool resolve. He really wouldn't believe her if she went into hysterics, would he?

"I'm not playing! It's simple math. You plus being in this room equals death." But the man wasn't listening, he wanted to stay for whatever reason, probably to be alone. The only way to get through to him now, was to try to explain what was going on. He didn't seem stupid, just, stubborn. "I can see the future alright? Yours. You go floating off like you are right now and everything just starts flying around!" She was spinning and flailing her hands everywhere and had this not been a dire situation, it might've been comical.

"And it all just rips you apart, shreds of you everywhere. Just float away or something!" What else did she have to do? She batted away some inanimate object trying to attack her. But she wouldn't leave him there, she couldn't... She'd rather die herself than live with that guilt. "Please!"

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the girl. There was a flash behind those eyes that spelled disaster. He didn’t reply but the message was clear. She had better watch herself, if she thought he was so dangerous she shouldn’t be provoking him. It was as foolish as throwing rocks at an already angry bear. Lani shook his head at the girl and immediately regretted the action. “You’ve got some mixed up sense of morals,” he said, and that was saying something. “What do you care? You’ve warned me right.” He air quoted with his fingers at the word ‘warned’. That was all she could do what did she care what happened after wards. Lani winced at a wave of pain. Of course, it was the same reason he would have cared. Dammit, he lifted a hand and massaged his forehead.

Lani didn’t trust this girl and he didn’t trust her power, nor his own. All he knew was that his trainer promised consequences if he were to not finish up. Though to be honest perhaps this girl was right, he could deal with his trainer later. Lani’s brows rose in surprise and he started paying attention. Someone with future sight, it seemed. He hated time. It always gave him a headache. No matter how much Odion tried to explain to him that it wasn’t a straight line he couldn’t understand it. Her words took the comical effect out of her and Lani’s expression was serious as he listened. He crossed his arms and his expression took on a darkly thoughtful look. What if she was telling the truth. It wasn’t like it was unusual for things to go flying all around the place, so maybe she was just being paranoid because she didn’t know that.

“Shreds me? Like physically? I think you’re confused,” he said, if there was one thing he was sure of it was that his power wouldn’t hurt him. It was parasitic and it had worked on its own more than once to protect him. He raised his hands, “But I don’t see what this room has to do with it. So Future Girl, what do you think is going to happen magically when I walk out that door, huh?” His voice had risen and he didn’t even realize it. “At least in here it’s only me, if I go out there I might take someone else with me. But just so you know, I have no intention of dying today. I'm staying here until I can control this.” He inclined his head to her and forced himself to be calm, “Thank you, though, for your warning. I’ll shut it down.” The safest way he knew how to do that for certain was to meditate. He sat heavily and closed his eyes.

The power fought him when he pulled it back. His will had to be greater than it but it fed off of his will. He forced himself into calm and he took deep breaths. It was like wrangling with a dragon. Lani was losing. The more energy he put toward controlling his power the more power it gained. All of the bottled emotions exploded. His anger and pain and confusion directed at Odion, the hurt that came from his sister. The anger at himself for letting this all happen. He didn’t feel his body anymore and the emotions took over. He was power, he was anger. No! He wasn’t. He thought determined and he opened his eyes and they flickered back and forth. His eyes fell on the girl and in a far away voice he called, “Get out of here!” The world around them exploded. The walls shook and the floor pitched like it was on stormy seas. He raged, his trainer was right, if he couldn't control himself now, he couldn't be trusted to control himself out in the real world. He opened his eyes and snarled wordlessly and felt rather than saw that the girl was still standing there. He forced things that were flying to avoid her. He had been able to control his power without emotions, but Odion had reminded him that that was impossible. If he couldn't control it when his emotions were going crazy and he was in pain than this was all for not. His eyes glowed with determination. He would succeed.

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan wasn't trying to provoke anybody, she was simply trying to do the right thing. It wasn't her fault Lani ended up being the last person she should ever try to warn due to his temper. Her eyes narrowed as the boy talked about her morals, and she crossed her arms in front of him. No one was perfect, and she didn't pretend to be. She let out a frustrated sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl. "Yeah I've warned you, but what good is that if you're still here?" Her concern spiked once more as the boy winced from being in obvious pain. Morgan was suddenly glad for her power, which didn't seem to be causing her as much trouble as his power caused him.

"Well yeah I'm confused," Morgan said, exasperated. "I've never seen anything like this, most people are just..." What? Boring? Lame? Normal? She didn't know what to say, and apparently what she had been saying wasn't getting through. She could tell he didn't believe her, or if he did, he was very good at hiding it. Maybe he was just being macho and would leave once she did? But that wasn't something she could assume. Morgan closed her eyes and envisioned a very detailed headline: 'Telekinetic Boy - Destroyed Himself'. She wasn't sure how his powers worked, but he was only human - anyone could die from random objects ripping vigorously at their flesh. She shuddered. But Future Girl? Seriously? It sounded like she belonged in 'The Incredibles' or something.

Then something happened that often did when Morgan was under stress and dealing with people that didn't listen to her. The boy was forcing his calm all over the place and everything was fighting back, whatever he was trying to do wasn't going to work today. So, it was just one of those times where she said what she was thinking, and she couldn't take it back. "You're an idiot." It didn't matter that he was meditating or not, couldn't he see it wasn't working? Morgan had a feeling he was the type of person to learn things the hard way - and he was going to drag her down with him.

As the floor buckled, Morgan put her hands out for balance. It felt like a tornado, or a hurricane was passing through, and it had only just begun. Stress was high in the room, and Morgan was suddenly seeing something different, but the same. The same that they were still in this room, different in that it wasn't the present moment, it was what would happen. It was only a split second, but the boy was hurting her. And then things went black. Morgan blinked away frustrated and scared tears, coming to on the floor. "I'm trying to help you!" She cried out, dodging things as they came flying at her. All she ever wanted to do was help people, despite being in harms way. Maybe that quiz she had taken the other day was right - she definitely belonged in Gryffindor. No other idiot would be here right now.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani lifted both hands to his forehead now and massaged his temples. This girl was really starting to grate on his nerves. What part of dangerous didn’t she understand? He was a danger to himself only in here. If he left now, there was not guarantee that his power wouldn’t take ten people down with him. “Yes,” Lani answered wearily, “Because,” he said speaking slowly with a bite in his voice as he reiterated his previous reason, “I can’t hurt anyone in here. I can hurt a lot of people out there.” He pointed to the door. Why him? Why did this keep happening to him? One would think that the fates would eventually get board and pick a new victim. No, he was staying put until he got himself under control. Screw his trainer and her threats.

Raising a brow in surprise at her candor he cocked his head at her. Any other day he would love to debate her analysis of people but right now he just wanted to lay down and wait for his headache to go away. “Look,” he said with forced patience, “My power has never hurt me. It’s like a parasite. The only one in danger right now is you.” He tried to explain, but it was hard to explain just what the destruction would do. The fact of the matter that Lani had come to assume was that his power would rage but it would rage away from him. It had always done so. The only damage other than a headache he’d gotten while using his power was due to other people. Like Odion, who saw it fit to whack him in the head. Patience was wearing thin and Lani was about ten seconds from pushing her out of the room. The only thing stopping him now was that pushing her would likely turn into throwing her.

Lani shot her a venomous look as he settled on the floor. He set to ignore her and closed his eyes becoming part of the world around him. That momentarily terrifying moment when he drifted away from his body. He resisted, feeling strangle like he was straddling a narrow but vast abyss between the world of life and the world of matter. They were all matter, but somehow the fact that things breathed and functioned on their own life blood repelled his power. It was for this reason that he knew the girl was there because there was a person shaped set of clothing. Morbidly he recalled the dead cat. His whole being shuddered and the world around him shuddered with him. His attention turned to her and focused in on her. He wished she hadn’t drawn attention to her. The power gathered around him and he watched as the dragon crouched, surveying the girl as if she were prey to its anger.

In what felt like slow motion he struck. Terror crossed Lani’s expression and he tried to wrangle his power back. In the end he was forced to redirect. The power threatened to crush her and Lani pushed it away but not before a flying medicine ball struck her. He felt her fall and strike the ground. His power recoiled with his own fear and it was like something broke within him. He remembered screaming for help, holding his head in his hands as it threatened to explode. My fault! My fault! Absurdly, his memory called the terrified face of his sister. So, what are you going to do about it? His mind voice taunted. ‘Didn’t you say that you’d protect me?’ A different voice drifted through his mind. I tried! Lani tried to say but no words came. Eyes surrounded him, looking at him with malice and hatred. ‘Is that how you’d help me?’ He saw her then as if from afar, laying there. Something grabbed onto him and pulled him down. The power was going to swallow him, he would be nothing more! She was right! Oh god! Odion! “No!” He surged out of the vision taking a breath as though he’d burst from water. His power flared around him and he wrestled with it. He gritted his teeth and surged to his feet. Planting them and diving his power deep into the ground he struck his center.

Something locked into place and abruptly he didn’t feel like he was straddling an abyss, but that he was standing on solid ground, a bridge between the two worlds. It was as if what everyone had been telling him all along snapped into place with it. Imagining a wall between the two he found that the dragon could not… would not pass it. He pulled his power, it resisted but it couldn’t knock him off his foundation now that he’d found it. He opened his eyes and he could still feel everything, but he flexed his hands and was surprised that he was just as aware of that sensation. Experimentally he lowered the walls and the power filled him, raging in his veins. His emotions of horror and fear and anger were there and strong. They fed his power but he still moved and when he commanded it to stop with a booming voice it did. Despite his emotions overwhelming him and giving his power strength when he called it back it answered. The power died down in the storm and it still knocked him off his feet when he pulled it all back.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat on the ground his eyes clenched against the pain before he could open them. The reaction headache was the worst thing he had ever experienced and he wiped his nose, not all that surprised to see his hand bloody. It slowly dawned on him that this was what his trainer had wanted all along. For him to find that center and lock in. He’d found it before but never held it. Now that he had, it was like something had changed, and he knew he would never lose that feeling of stability. Not unless he wanted to. He moved with a groan. As he lifted his head he caught sight of the girl. His heart stopped but the small amount of power he left free couldn’t feel her and he breathed a sigh of relief. He tried to stand and fell, so he crawled over to her and gently touched her shoulder, giving it a little shake. “Hey… hey,” he felt for breathing felt panic rising in him. The shame came just as hard but his power stayed behind the walls he’d set in place. Something had changed within him, but he hoped and prayed that it wasn’t at her expense. He could never live with himself. “Please wake up,” he pleaded with her.

The door opened and Lani turned to find his trainer and another in the doorway. Her face looked stricken and the new trainer looked horrified. It was then Lani realized what had happened. This wasn’t on him. He knew and his trainer knew he wasn’t in control. She’d put the girl in this position, forced Lani into an impossible situation. It was like throwing this girl in with a rabid dog and expecting her not to get bitten. Lani staggered to his feet, the effort to get himself upright making him feel less than impressive. “You…” He accused viciously his voice icy, “You did this! This is on you! You forced this upon me! If… if…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it and without a word their trainer left and the other trainer called for assistance. Lani wearily fell back to his knees next to the girl. He drove his fists into his eyes but he couldn’t stop the tears that fell. It had worked, what his trainer had intended. He’d learned what no one had been able to teach him, he could call on the entirety of his power and not lose himself. But the price of it was too high and it was Lani that had paid it.

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan could feel a scream rising in her chest, but she was good at supressing her emotions around other people, had been doing it for years. So even though his life was in danger, she didn’t yell at Lani. But oh, did she want to. “I don’t care about the people out there, they’re fine! It’s you I’m worried about. It’s you I saw blown to smithereens!” Why was that so hard to understand? Why was he so worried about other people, when he wasn’t going to be around much longer to worry about them? No, her feet were planted and she wasn’t going anywhere, even if that meant she went down with him – she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t give this her everything.

He tried to warn her, didn’t he?

Things around her began to shift, the floorboards moaning and the lights shaking violently. It was in that moment that she decided she never, ever wanted to be a trainer. And although she couldn’t feel his power coming directly at her, she knew it would. She had been fairly warned and this was the price for her stubbornness. And it didn’t help Morgan had never been good at sports. The medicine ball struck it’s mark, and she was out cold before another thought could begin.

Morgan couldn’t remember where she was when she did come to. A boy with worried eyes was there, on the gym floor with her. What? She blinked a few times, her vision fuzzing and her head buzzing. “You’re bleeding,” was what came out after a few moments. And then the boy was gone, yelling at someone, but she couldn’t really hear him. Morgan cringed, her head lolling to the side to try and see who he was shouting at. Her, and she suddenly remembered, their trainer, leaving them, hurt and without and explanation. The boy crumpled beside her again, and she didn’t have to be able to see clearly to intuitively know he was crying. “Don’t cry,” she said, a small hand on his knee, “you did it.” It was a small price to pay, going along with their trainer knowing what the man was capable of. But Morgan would put anything on the line when she believed in someone else, even someone she didn’t know. And her vision had been true, she just knew it.

This headache on the other hand, well, she had probably lost at least a hundred brain cells. Two other trainers had burst back into the gym and began fussing over both of them. “Looks like a concussion,” one of them was saying, as Morgan was unable to follow the little light they flashed in her eyes. They fussed over Lani too, and they left the two momentarily, deciding it was a good idea to get Morgan onto a stretcher and into the sick wing for observation. She wasn’t complaining about that, seeing as the gym floor was very uncomfortable. “It’d be nice to know your name now,” she said, her eyes remaining shut as the gym lights were unbearable to look at. If she was going to play hero, it’d be nice to at least know who she helped, so she could tell a complete story later on.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani reached a hand up and rubbed his temples, he was going to explode, his head felt like it was cracking under the pressure and every pulse of blood sent another wave of agony through him. This did little to improve his mood. The fact that she was being endlessly annoying didn’t help either, it was almost as if she were picking at his scabs for him just waiting for him to turn and bite. Lani ground his teeth, he didn’t care. And that was the truth of it. It he blew, well that would be it. Lights out for Lani. But if he killed someone he’d never be able to live with himself. But the stability found him and he locked into place. It was as if fog had lifted, it was something he knew he had felt for brief moments before, but now it had finally lifted for good.

The stable foundation didn’t leave him and he didn’t ever want it to leave again. It did however, do nothing to save him from the raging headache that attacked him. Only once or twice had his power raged at him with angrily. The world was spinning and the more he tried to focus the less clear it became. All he was aware of pain and the girl laying on the floor. He didn’t even register that she had spoken, so filled with rage. He would have liked to lose control, lose control with her as his target. She was a coward! Putting a little girl into the line of fire because she knew Lani wouldn’t shoot. That didn’t mean a stray bullet wouldn’t make contact. The hand on his knee brought with it relief and joy. As much joy can be had from not having killed someone, that is. He scrubbed at his eyes but they wouldn’t stop, she didn’t realize how manipulated, and terrified Lani felt.

His mind was moving slow and it took him a moment to comprehend what she said. He drew back, hard anger in his eyes. “You knew?” He snarled, and clenched his fists, “You knew.” The accusation in his voice audible through his voice. He felt betrayed by this person he just met and violated again by his trainer. The clarity, was it worth it? It would have come along eventually, he knew, maybe after years of training, but it would have come. Yet, like the explosion that occurred when he got his power, situational circumstances had forced his hand and the thought made Lani very much want to hit something. Lani watched the girl, more hurt than angry, now that the energy was going out of him. Tricked, he had been tricked. Lani’s eyes softened momentarily, his anger was misdirected. The trainer was the one to hate, this poor girl was just stuck in the crossfire.

Lani allowed himself to be examined, pleading for his pills until they gave him something. Something strong. His head was swimming as the pain drifted away, then without warning, as it always came, Lani sneezed. He barely got his hand up to block it in time, which was good because the poor trainers might have very well been sprayed with blood. He sagged wearily and rearranged himself to sit with his arms hooked around his knees. Lani watched them examine the girl and winced at the sound of a concussion, but at least she would live. He reached out and touched her hand. “Lani.” He looked down at her for a moment and wincedat how young she was, when she had been standing up to him, he must have overlooked it. But now, she seemed so fragile. She could have easily been Caroline. “I’m sorry,” he whispered and the feeling of lightheadedness was pleasantly overtaking him. The pain dulled to a calm roar and he wondered if he could get Odion to steal a car a pick him up… wait, Odion couldn’t drive. Scratch that.

“Why did you do it?” He asked his emotions going haywire and threatening to call his power again. The two trainers returned with a stretcher and another pair of people that looked to be doctors or nurses, Lani couldn’t tell, but he also didn’t care. the larger or the two doctors came to offer Lani his hand and helped him get him to his feet. Lani was shaky and dizzy, and he wondered if they did that on purpose so he couldn’t help the girl onto the stretcher. By the time he could see straight the girl was already settled. They moved her and Lani started after, the doctor started to protest until Lani practically growled at him. “I’m going with her,” he said firmly. He would see she was alright. And if he could, he might lift some of these amazing pain killers.