unforgiven ➽ a Halilintar-centric fic

14 | you've lost the right

At 9pm, they returned to the smell of barbeque beef and noodles.

"Hali!" Taufan chirped, kicking his shoes off. "We're back!"

Only Daun, Api, Cahaya and Air remained in the kitchen, sitting around the table as they chatted amongst each other. Their chatter stopped almost instantaneously when Taufan's voice filtered through the house.

"Huh?" Gempa filtered into the kitchen, looking around. "Where's Halilintar?"

Air jabbed a thumb out the door and towards the stairs. "He never came down," he said. "He called takeout and told us not to scare the delivery guy off with talking plants."

"That sounds like him, alright," Gempa commented dryly.

"He sounds busy at the moment," Taufan added. "Maybe he's lost track of time."

The four stared at him as if he had grown a second head. Daun tilted his head, jutting his ear towards the outside—but he heard nothing. The house was quiet as it'd always been. He turned to the others for an explanation, but they appeared as perplexed as he was; other than Cahaya, of course.

"I don't think he's eaten," Gempa said. "I'll go get him and join you guys later. I haven't had Auntie Yang's buttered sweet corn in ages."

"What a glutton," Taufan muttered as Gempa ascended the stairs, herding the group out the entrance.

"I heard that!"

Halilintar slammed the laptop shut the second he heard the knocks at his door.

"Hali?" Gempa's voice asked. "We're heading out to the pasar malam, can you get changed?"

Oh dear god.

Halilintar stayed silent. Maybe he'll get the message that he does not want to go out anywhere, especially with them. Or he'll think that he's asleep and not bother him in any shape or form. Either way was a favorable outcome.

No such luck. Instead of leaving him alone with his demons, he heard the door unlock, in spite of the key being in his possession and inaccessible to anyone outside. He whirled around to the entrance to see Gempa, his hand on the doorknob coated in a faint sheen of gold.

What an annoying skill to have...

"The lock was there for a reason," Halilintar snapped, unamused.

"You wouldn't have come out otherwise," Gempa reasoned. "All of us are going. You wouldn't want to disappoint Tok, would you?"

Halilintar scowled, knowing full well that this was another poor attempt of manipulation. "I can live with the guilt," he spat bitterly.

"Come on, Hali." The geokinetic's voice tightened. "It'll be just like the old times. Don't you remember how much fun we had?"

"Fun? It's loud, sweaty, greasy, and there's always some stall blasting that obnoxious Chinese New Year song even when it's not the new year's. You may have to reevaluate your definition of fun."

"You love it," Gempa pressed.

"Lov-ed," Halilintar emphasized. And he hated that it was true. In a kinder past, he'd enjoyed those abominations just as much as Gempa and Tauafn, running around the marketplace asking for the shiniest toy they could feast their eyes on.

(Eyes—eyes everywhere. Watching him. They're in the back of everyone's heads, in their shoulders, in their ankles. All fixated on his every move. They're in the ground, in the tents, in the melting ice-cream cone he was holding, staring up at him.