This Past Year (Open)

[Lani Hunter]

The telekinetic nodded understandingly, achy was better than painful and much better than not being able to move at all. It wasn’t great but it was a good sign. “Better is good,” he agreed with a smile. “I’m sure it’ll be better in no time.” Optimism, it was definitely an easier thing to see as an outside observer. Lani was empathetic, he knew how debilitating to the spirit it could be to not be able to do what he wanted to. If it was an injury or sickness that laid him up, he ended up being a terror and taking out his frustration with his body on anyone near. He was impressed by her ability to hold it together. Granted, he would probably be doing the same thing. Never show weakness, was still the mentality that the thief held onto.

“Ah,” Lani nodded and looked down at his feet wondering if she had a similar problem that he had. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’ll work out.” She was hiding something, Lani saw right through her with his analytical eyes. He hadn’t been a thief for most of his life by being daft and clueless. “How’s it complicated?” He pressed gently, offering her an open and curious expression. He was curious and he was itching to know. Maybe he could help her somehow. If there was anything he could do to help, he would try. It was all very possible that she didn’t want his help, he didn’t have an exactly honorable reputation. He was in fact, what most people would consider ‘evil’. And maybe he was, he enjoyed being a thief and surely that made him wicked.

It was best not to try to understand why Lani did what he did, it was all too likely he wasn’t sure why he did things anymore than anyone else. Lani grinned. “I did that… am doing that,” he said, “Taking classes for curiosity’s sake is what college is all about. No one is telling you that you have to do it anymore, and you can make of it what you will.” Sure there were required classes but well, it wasn’t like there weren’t alternatives. He’d loved every physics and philosophy class he’d taken but he despised the economics class he’d had to take, but well, he’d showed up for tests and gotten through. “There has to be something you’re at least leaning toward, do you prefer science to social studies, say, or philosophy to math?” He shrugged, hoping to put it into perspective. Lani’s big drive was understanding why things worked and thinking about the big questions. But well, he didn’t think he was cut out for research so he was trying something different, who knew where this path might lead. Maybe in his core he really just did want to help people, but didn’t know how.

[Karalie Heise]

"I hope so." She agreed before looking over at the boy. She could see the curiosity in his eyes at what she'd said. Of course he would want to know why it was complicated, but she didn't know how to beat around the bush. A simple "It just is." Certainly wouldn't work on him. Her parents might drop it after she said something like that, but it seemed rude to say to Lani.

"Cause.." She started, looking away as she attempted to figure out how to end that statement. "The type've extra help I need can only be got here." She explained, giving herself away if he was familiar with what was special about Pilot Ridge, Vermont. "So.. it's kinda complicated." She reiterated, because it was. It wasn't as if she could see her trainer down in Mississippi on the weekends or something. She would need to see him there, where he was located, in freaking Vermont.

She listened patiently as he talked about taking classes for curiosity's sake, biting her lower lip and considering it all. She would probably end up doing that. "My daddy thinks I should get intuh Political Science. Dunno if I'm up for all that debatin'." It would be important as a senators wife to know what was going on, a goal she had. "An' I guess there's always fashion." She teased with a laugh, though the idea did seem fun. Designing clothes for a living? Yeah, that could be cool. "I could be th'worlds first political fashion designer."

[Lani Hunter]

Lani waited patiently and nodded at her statement. Things were always worse off in the present than they seemed in the future. Hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow were all well and fine but like wishing… Life wasn’t full of fairy tales, no one could wish for a better tomorrow. Lani clenched his fist, no, wishing never brought anything but wasted hopes. If he wanted something done he had to do it himself. No amount of wishing would have cured his sister, it had been the cold hard cash he’d borrowed from his old boss. Wishing hadn’t made him the top thief in Boston and wishing hadn’t brought him this awesome and terrible power. And, Lani had acknowledged far too late, wishing wouldn’t make it go away.

The expression on Lani’s face didn’t change so much as a hair, but he calculated her answer and he could see her so clearly as if she had just come out and said she was a meta human. He waited for her to finish and the telekinetic finally smiled, now was the time. He was a con artist, someone who lied as easily as breathing, honesty was something he struggled with. What he had never had trouble with was figuring out how to help other people. She was stressed, it was written in the strain of her pleasant eyes, and it wasn’t just from her hurt knee. It was times like this when Lani knew telling someone something would be giving them just a glimpse of his face while obscuring the whole picture. “You know, that’s kinda the reason that I’m still here,” he said looking at her as if he were afraid of her judging him but hope rested on his face, “I need the same kind of… special help that can only be gotten here.”

“Political Science?” Lani wrinkled his nose, and people criticized him, at least he was only stealing and conning people and business who were already well off. It wasn’t like he was one of those ‘legal’ thieves that stole from the entire country, intent of running the whole thing into the ground before they back down and admit that they were wrong. “You’re too nice to get mixed up in that crowd,” Lani said with a charming smile. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders. That was indeed an idea. “Why not? Someone has to tell them how to dress, right?” The more he thought about it the more he reasoned it might actually be a good idea. “Actually, that would probably be a very important job for foreign policy makers, when visiting a country, it is best to be respectful of the culture. So maybe it’s not as crazy as you think.”

[Karalie Heise]

She gazed up into his eyes, feeling her cheeks warm slightly as he confessed he was there for "special help" too.  She considered him a long moment, not sure what to make of the information.  It was almost comforting, really.  Most of the people she knew had some sort of controls over what they did, but she just couldn't do it.  Calculus? Sure, bring it on, but controlling her hands? Stopping them from absorbing random memories?  That was what she struggled with.  The knowledge he struggled too made her sort of warm to him, and though she didn't know what he needed help with exactly, she liked that he needed it at all.  It was nice not being alone.

They continued talking about careers and Karalie dropped the "help" conversation.  She was curious, but wasn't sure if she could ask, or if she even should.  She wanted to, but was that even socially acceptable?  She didn't take kindly to people just asking her what she could do, as if it were there business why she landed in this frozen wasteland.  Though even as she thought it, she knew it really wasn't.  Pilot Ridge, for all intents and purposes, was really very lovely.  It was beautiful and the people were nice even if there seemed to be very few like minded individuals.


"You've only just met me, how would'ja know how nice I am?" She asked back wrinkling her nose.  "Just 'cause I look sweet an' innocent doesn' mean I am."  At least one of her roommates would agree, most likely. "An' you make uh solid point.. Who dresses th'president? I guess he would have uh stylist, right? Presidential stylist? I like it.  Think that's uh major over at UVM?"  She questioned, raising a playfully curious brow.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani didn’t break his gazed at her with understanding and empathy. Not sympathy, he knew what it felt like to feel like he was behind, to regret not giving it his all from the very beginning. Did Lani think that they had the same path to the same ends? No, but somehow their paths had crossed on this crisp and cold morning. Lani didn’t believe in fate, he’d spent his whole life fighting against whatever power in the universe tried to use him as a pawn in this greater game. He didn’t give the Moirai any credit for anything that happened in his life. Life was a collection of random events. Lani turned his eyes away, he couldn’t really believe that. After all, there was Odion. Defying all odds they’d found each other yet again, or rather Odion had found Lani again.

The telekinetic gave her a sly grin and chuckled briefly. “True,” he relented, but added a shrug. “But so far, you’ve been kind, to a stranger. I can only base my assessments against what data I have.” He gave her a charming grin, wondering if she thought he was nice? Oh what a poor fool she would be. Did she have to be? A voice nagged in his mind. Did he have to be what society told him to be. By his definition, he was wicked and sly. Honestly, Lani didn’t claim he wasn’t, in fact he was indeed sly and probably a little wicked in his tricks, but he didn’t think himself cruel. Then again, the villain never does seen themselves as the ‘bad guy’. No one was the villain of their own story. Lani was the antagonist in a lot of stories, even in some of his own thoughts, but he’d decided self-loathing didn’t suit him, he couldn’t lay down and mope, not anymore. He was a person that needed to act, to try, to change.

Which he did, to varying degrees of success. He smiled at her and shrugged. She was sweet, he didn’t think she had a mean bone in her body. In many ways she reminded him of Adrianna. Adrianna the way she used to be… before Lani lied and tore her to pieces. There were certain things in life that Lani would never forgive himself for and that was high on the list. The conversation moved on and he nodded, raising a brow as if she nailed the heart of the matter. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “There are stranger things to major in. If not, there’s no one to say you can’t double major in fashion and political science.” He had a feeling she would do something so strange and raise her chin proudly and speak of how wonderful being different was. This conversation was making Lani wonder. What was he going to do with his life? It was a question he’d been avoiding for a long time. He couldn’t be a thief his whole life, no matter how much the life appealed to him.

[Karalie Heise]

She sniffed in amusement at his findings. She hadn't exactly been kind. Karalie had decided to race this guy she didn't know and then went ahead and fell, sort of forcing him to stop and help her back to school. She wasn't sure kind was the word to describe her in that instance. Maybe pathetic, a little sweet perhaps.. she supposed kind worked in a sense too. Either way, she felt his assumption of her was generous at best. "If ya'll say so." She mused with a sly shrug. "But if anyone's bein' kind tuh strangers, I'd say it was you." She noted, looking away from him so as not to blush at complimenting him to his face. "Ya'll coulda just left me back there, but'cha didn'." She noted as if he needed to know in what way he'd been kind to her.

His suggestion of majoring in both fashion and political science made her laugh a little.  "That'd be somethin'." She mused, shaking her head.  What on earth would her father say? She supposed he would simply shake his head, expecting something like that out of Karalie.  She'd explain it was a backup in case one didn't pan out.  She supposed it wasn't even that terrible of an idea.  Maybe she would like both of them, and who knew, maybe it really would put her in the right direction to be a famous stylist. Who knew.

"Well, like ya'll said b'fore, I got time tuh figure it out."  They were practically back to campus now and she looked up at the other boy.  "Unlike you.  Ya'll better get thinkin' on what yer gon' do."  Her smile was mischievous.  "But anyway.. I do appreciate ya'll helpin' me back tuh campus. Really, Id've been uh right mess if yah really left me back there."

[Lani Hunter]

Lani may have spent too much time around thieves and the scourge of the world, Karalie might not think of herself as a good person, but so far she hadn’t threatened him and she hadn’t asked anything of him that he hadn’t given. That made her kind. It was all a manner of prospective. She could compare herself to people who she knew and people she found kind, but Lani had seen the darkest of the world, was part of the army that hides in the shadows. Lani blinked in surprise and caught her turning from him. While she was looking away he smiled knowingly. Here he was the poisonous flower, alluring and unthreatening, but deadly if ingested. “Yeah, I could’ve,” he agreed with a shrug and decided to leave it at that. As if he had considered it and was weighing all of his options. Which wasn’t to say he wasn’t.

“You could go far with that,” he chuckled. What an interesting idea. Honestly, Lani ranked politicians with his lot. It wasn’t immediately clear what was worse, thieves or idiots. Lani wouldn’t want the job, just like he wouldn’t have wanted to follow in his Boss’s footsteps the way he’d wanted. He wasn’t an anarchist, and he certainly wasn’t far right. He preferred to do his own thing and live his own life. Politics were not something Lani was keen too, but if it interested her, more power to her. At least she had enough sense to be creative. The world was full of people who thought they knew what they were talking about, but there was an attack on the learned that was terrifying. How many times had a none-educated person spoken on behalf of a field and made outrageous claims. Was it worse to admit that they didn’t understand, or admit that there was a problem that needed to be fixed. But if it touched the wallets of the elite, forget about it.

Lani was in the process of nodding when she surprised him. His eyes widened slightly and he blinked at her stunned, his mouth hanging open a little bit. He found himself laughing, especially when he saw that smile. He returned it with his own impish grin. “I’ve got plans,” he said cryptically as she moved away from him. Hammel rose in front of them and Lani knew this conversation was nearing its end. And even as he thought it she thanked him and he backed up a step or two. He gave her a two finger salute. “Don’t mention it. Maybe I’ll catch you later, Karalie, we still have a race to do,” He said and held up his hand in farewell. He made no comment about the school building rising in the distance. He turned on his heel but after a second thought he turned back to her and said in a conspiratorial voice, “If you see Trainer Jones, tell him I said ‘hi’.” He winked and turned offering her no more explanation as he walked away. Jones was his first trainer, in a long string of trainers. There was nothing between the two of them except for pure hatred, it would be entertaining, Lani wished he could see the man’s face if she did see him.

[Karalie Heise]

Plans.  She smiled at the almost impish look on his face, turning her head slightly to the side and raising a brow at him.  Did he have "plans"? "I betchu do." She taunted with a gentle chuckle, folding her arms low over her torso as she eyed him up.  "An ya'll will definitely catch me later.  Soon as this leg's all healed up, I plan on takin' you up on the rematch.  Ya'll better take this time tuh practice." They both knew he didn't need to practice, but she had to pretend to be macho at least.

Lani was backing up, and though Karalie was still upset that she was sore, cold and wet, she was in a strangley good mood.  Having cute, sweet company could do that.  "I will." She shot back suspiciously, under the assumption that would mean something.  She held her hand up in a wave as he retreated, turning and doing the same.  First thing's first; head to the infirmary and get this leg looked at.  Then, she supposed, a nice hot shower would do.