unforgiven ➽ a Halilintar-centric fic

00 | no rest to be had

Gempa didn't need super-hearing to notice the barrage of footsteps storming down the hall, harrowing stomps echoing in the darkness of his and Taufan's shared room. Almost instinctively, his fingers tightened on his pillow, clamping them on his ears in attempt to stifle the disturbance that was about to come.

On the top bunk, Taufan had the same idea, flopping on his stomach and pulling the sheets over his head. He groaned into his pillow, voice hoarse and raspy from sleep.

They awaited their impending awakening with bated breath, biting lips as the footsteps came to an abrupt halt. Their muscles seizing up as urgent knocks pounded on the metal of their door, if not a bit desperate.

"Gempa, Air flooded the toilets again!"

The tenseness in their body bled from their veins, and dreaded resignation took its place, disappointed sighs escaping chapped lips for the fifth time this week.

Taufan's arm hung from the top bunk, shaped into a fist with a jutting thumb towards the door. "I 'elped Daun and Ca'ya yester'ay," Taufan slurred. "You deal wi'h Air."

Gempa's face scrunched up in frustration, wanting nothing more than to turn on his side and ignore both Taufan and Api at the door. However, if he turned a blind eye to this predicament, the station would be overflowing with sewage in an hour. Between people splashing toilet water everywhere and getting his much-needed rest, he had to admit the latter had a larger appeal.

Unfortunately, he'd signed up for this when they agreed to mentor these four. Hazards of the job, they might say, which included being woken up at ungodly hours whenever one of their powers go haywire. The resemblance was much like a mother being shaken awake by her toddler who'd thrown up on their carpet, but that was another can of worms he'd rather not deal with at this hour.

The frequency of the relentless banging increased drastically when Api received no reply. "Gempa? Taufan?" he fretted, sounding just a second from a full-blown meltdown. "Not to alarm anyone, but—aiiyeeeeee! The toilet water's gotten into my socks!"

Looks like said toddler puked up more than he can handle.

"Gem," Taufan groaned, blankets shuffling. "Go. I don't wanna ruin my favorite shoes tomorrow."

He gave up. This wasn't the first time Air lost his control over his powers, and it wouldn't be the last. Not by a long shot.

In a fit of frustration, he threw his blanket off his body and pushed himself upright. Dark spots danced in his vision from vertigo, pressure building up behind his eyes to form the beginnings of a stubborn migraine.

Gempa blinked his nausea away and turned to stand on both feet, muffling a yawn into his palm, hardly reacting to the puddle that had flooded into their room.

Damnit.

Having lived with his powers since he was ten, Gempa had plenty of experience in handling elementals that have gone rogue one way or the other.

He learned the hard way that new elementals struggled to regulate their newfound abilities by themselves, which was why the more experienced elementals were obligated to guide the surge of elemental energy lest they implode on the user and their surroundings.

In less eloquent terms: Gempa was a walking band aid designed specifically for elementals in case any of their powers got a boo-boo.

Gempa faced Air bleary-eyed, blinking rapidly to keep himself awake. "Spider in the bathroom?"

An uncontrolled blue aura danced around Air's body, like waves crashing and bending around his being. It enveloped him in a curtain of oceans and tides, shimmering faintly in the darkened corridors of the dorms. His nervousness didn't do him many favors, as a whirlpool began shaping around his feet.