unforgiven ➽ a Halilintar-centric fic

16 | you're awake

9/3, Saturday

Something was very wrong with Gempa, was the first thing that came to Api's mind during breakfast.

The second was, Damn, I would kill for this cocoa.

Admittedly, waking up and seeing Gempa and Taufan in the kitchen was a sight to behold, only because Api had never seen the two doing anything remotely that was considered normal, considering their horrible work-life balance. Even the mere sight of the pair dozing off at a dining table was a whiplash by itself.

A burning smell wafted throughout the kitchen. Gempa nudged the wind elemental, who was dozing off by the table. "Tau, the pancakes..."

Taufan snapped awake, drearily blinking as he wiped drool from his chin. "Oh, the pancakes." In a whirlwind and a storm, a flash of blue sped towards the stove, screaming bloody murder as the almighty wind elemental was bested by inanimate pastries.

It was actually quite mystifying how they had so much energy after all that. Maybe it was years of hardened battle that led to their inevitable fits of paranoia-induced energy, or they had finally succumbed to their demons and was in the process of taking out all their stress on their culinary skills.

"You can head back to sleep, you know," Gempa said, sitting down with half a dozen of half-burnt pancakes on his plate. "There's no reason for you to be up this early."

Api shook his head. Years of private schooling had hammered the rigorous schedule into him, and now the early mornings were ingrained in his daily routine. "I'm more of a morning person." He briefly thanked Gempa when the older slid him his share of pancakes. "Besides, there's no way I could sleep with all the noise."

Gempa grimaced. "Surely, it wasn't that bad?" he quizzed, genuinely confused, if not a bit disturbed by the own commotion he was capable of causing.

Api shrugged. He may be overreacting—seeing as the others were still knocked out like a light—but it was no hidden secret that he was a notoriously light sleeper. The fact by itself made a frustrating combination when he's paired with Air for their sleeping arrangements, who slept like the dead.

"We'll try to keep it down," Gempa promised, but Api wouldn't hold his breath. "Do you have anything you want to do for the day?"

The fire elemental thought for a while. "I still need to get a new phone." Life wasn't the same without one in his pocket at all times. In addition to that, he still wanted to score a few punches at that Adu Du guy when they met again for stealing his stuff. "Maybe walk around the island a bit. There's not much to do."

Taufan slid back onto the table, bringing along a fresh batch of steaming pancakes for himself. "I know, right?" He picked up the bottle of maple syrup, then promptly decided to drown his pancakes in them. "It's nice and all, but it's just so boring. The city is better, since they have way more entertainment and shops and all, but nothing could beat the thrill of punching out someone's teeth in when your life depends on it."

"You're supposed to be an field Lance Corporal," Api muttered, unamused. He had respect for Taufan, he really did—but sometimes there were just moments where he couldn't for the life of him fathom how this man even became his superior in the first place. "Now you just sound like an adrenaline junkie."

Taufan hummed, not refuting the fact. "I only joined TAPOPS for the adventure," he confessed, finally capping the half-empty syrup bottle. Api could have sworn on his grandmother's grave that it'd been full a moment ago. "The position was an afterthought. I just happened to be good at the job."

Api narrowed his eyes. "I thought you joined TAPOPS to help people. You even said it in our official Instagram."

Gempa coughed into his palm. "That was me," he piped up, swallowing the food in his mouth. "When I was young, I always wanted to protect people. Then came the alien invasions, then TAPOPS... Well, they gave me a chance, and I took it. Not much to say about it."