unforgiven ➽ a Halilintar-centric fic

03 | talking potato stew

The door was already unlocked when he returned.

Halilintar cracked his neck, yawning into his palm as he opened the door. "Tok, I'm home," he called, entering the house and making his presence known. "We have guests – Gem and Tau's kids!"

"Oh?" Tok's voice mused from the kitchen. "It's high time they gave me great-grandchildren."

Halilintar bent down to unlace his shoes. "Not funny, Tok." He kicked off his beaten-up sneakers, the fabric of the shoes fraying and riddled with dirt and holes.

He turned to the four gaggling elementals, hands on hips as his eyes trailed questionably to their preferred footwear, never mind their eccentric combat gear. He never understood alien fashion before, and he doubted he will now.

"Leave your shoes here," he instructed them. "I'll show you to the guest room after."

He led them through the living room and up the stairs, keeping an eye on their individual reactions as they ventured deeper in the house. The ones in green and white seemed the most out of place, postures stiff and awkward as if they didn't know how to act in a natural setting. The other two had more reasonable reactions, appearing to be nervous of intruding in a stranger's home than anything else.

For some reason, the former two set off all the wrong alarm bells in Halilintar's mind. But since Taufan and Gempa trusted them well enough to be here, he'll play along.

They came to a stop when they reached the second floor, where a total of five rooms laid out down the hallway. One at the very end, and two on each side.

The mahogany floors creaked when Halilintar reached for a series of keys hanging on the wall by the stairs, each labelled a different letter. But for five rooms there were only three keys, and he plucked the ones with the letters A and T off the hangar.

"Alright, choose a roomie," he announced to the standing four, who, in the unlit darkness of the second floor, looked like a collection of artificial ice pops with their colorful outfits. "I'm going to give you a basic rundown.

"You are to travel in pairs at all times. In the case where someone breaks a fuse, have your partner find me. If you are able to, run outside the house and don't cause any property damage.

"If you want to leave the house, you're not to leave my line of vision. If you need anything, don't disturb Tok downstairs and instead contact me. I'll give you my number afterwards and only call when it's an emergency.

"Don't go into the kitchen or try to cook anything. You can use the TV and entertain yourself with the games under the sofa but not the ones beside the TV. These rules can be changed as I see fit, but the general rule of thumb is: do not bother Tok.

"Now, have you decided who's rooming with who?"

They nodded along like bobbleheads, postures tense and spines straightened. Halilintar feared that if he gave a command, they'd start saluting and start doing pushups right here and then.

Reluctantly, he handed them the keys.

"The two rooms to my right are Gempa and Taufan's rooms," Halilintar continued, leading them further in. "The other rooms are completely off-limits. You have around an hour to settle in before dinner – does anyone have any allergies?"

The group turned to each other, uncertain whether to say anything, whispering to themselves in a flurry of panic before the one in green raised a meek hand, barely higher than his ears.

"I... uh, Taufan said I... um." The kid's face exploded in a rush of red, voice trailing off when Halilintar crossed his arms.

"He has 'Lack Toast And Toll Her Punts'," the kid in red finished for him, and the others groaned in sync. What did Halilintar just hear?