Chapter Text
The moment Gempa stepped out of the shuttle, he was nearly washed away by a tidal wave of nostalgia.
The air of Pulau Rintis was exactly how he remembered it. Salty, with the barest hint of ozone and fish. Afternoon sun scorched the grounds below, effectively vacating the premises. The stretch of land was completely empty when they docked, their arrival quiet and unnoticed.
He had to say it was a welcome change; they were here as Gempa and Taufan, residents of Pulau Rintis – not Gempa and Taufan, members of TAPOPS. As a matter of fact, their return home was so anticlimactic that it hardly felt real.
“Woah,” Taufan spoke for both of them, pulling his TAPOPS-issued suitcase down the shuttle’s ramp. He brushed a handful of windswept caramel hair over his head, messy locks falling between his fingers. “It’s like a different place out here.”
Gempa’s gold eyes twinkled as he felt a tug in the corners of his lips. “Yeah,” he agreed, eyes raking across the playground they used to spend all evening in. Just him, Taufan, Halilintar and their imagination, until Adu Du came knocking on their front door and demanded all their cocoa. “Has that slide always been there?”
“Who cares about a slide?” Taufan waved him off, grinning. “Come on! Let’s go surprise Hali. We can pretend we’re customers and order a cocoa drink with no cocoa!”
“He’ll dump the cocoa on you instead,” Gempa pointed out. “I bet he’s already sensed us before we entered the stratosphere, remember?”
“Duh, it’s the thought that counts.”
Gempa shoved him, sighing. He turned to the shuttle, entered a sequence on the keypad, scanned his thumbprint, eyes and ID card then stepped backwards. They watched as its metal panels slid over each other and clicked into place, and by the end it resembled an unassuming neon pink BMW (or as unassuming as neon pink can be).
After leaving the car into a suitable parking spot, they took off in the direction of not the house but their second home, Kokotiam. They had helped Tok with his stall for as long as they could remember, often doing homework and hosting friends over, spending more time there than they did in their actual home. Even as they left for TAPOPS, Halilintar had continued with the business, promising them he’d take over until they could come back during their holidays.
“It’ll be harder, but it’s nothing abang can’t handle,” he’d said, stoic even as they revealed they’d be living in outer space and can’t see him as often anymore. “Tok did this all himself before us, remember? We can manage. Go, you don’t need to worry about us.”
Thinking of his brother had him bouncing on his heels, eager to reunite with Halilintar after years of separation. There was so much they had to fill him in—the planets they saw, the people they met. Maybe they could bring him to TAPOPS as well, show him what it’s been like for the past decade. They had too much to catch up on and nearly not enough time.
In his excitement, he didn’t even notice he was jogging until Taufan stumbled up to him, luggage clutched to his chest and caught his arm joking, “Slow down!” But he too, was grinning like a loon. “We’re not catching a speeder, are we?”
“Technically?”
“Him? We’re never catching him. I’d sooner deadlift 300 kilograms as prep.”
They knew Halilintar’s lightning well; how he was so fast he could practically be in two places at once. That was when they were children – they all grew so much. He was dying to see just how much Halilintar improved in his absence.
Did he still use his swords? Use himself as a charger when his phone battery ran low? They had so much tips to share and notes to compare. What were the chances they could convince Tok and Halilintar to close early?
They all but sprinted across the final stretch of land, threading dirt and grass. The view of a stall’s silhouette came into view from afar, and Taufan was aloft, feet planted firmly on his hoverboard. Gempa yelped and grabbed its edge just before he took off, his own suitcase falling in the mud.
“Hali!” The winds carried Taufan’s singsong voice. “We’re baaaaack!”
He swept in from the sky, performing flamboyant and completely unnecessary flips for dramatics all the while Gempa’s clinging on for dear life, then came to a complete stop at the front of the Kokotiam. Gempa let go of Taufan’s hoverboard just before he dismissed it, landing softly on the tiled floor below.
The figure moved to the front of the stall.
Gempa’s expression brightened. “Hey, bang, it’s been—”
He froze.
Standing there, emerged from the shadows of the stall, was a teenage boy with dyed blue hair and a lollipop between his lips. He looked unamused and maybe even ticked off by their show.
“Good afternoon,” Not Halilintar greeted, unabashed, “may I take your order, gentlemen?”
Taufan blinked, recovering infinitely quicker than Gempa could ever hope to, who was still catching flies in his mouth.
“Who in this star system are you?” he demanded. “Where’s Halilintar and Tok Aba?”
The teen opened his mouth to answer only to close it right after. Gempa could practically see the question marks floating over his head.
His cluelessness should have been the first warning sign.
Gempa gave the stall a onceover, slowly realizing bit by bit that everything was different. The stall hadn’t just gotten a simple upgrade or a paint job; the machines were all new, he didn’t recognize half the items on the menu, and unless Halilintar had developed earth powers overnight, the architecture looked too fresh and modern for it to resemble anything like the Kokotiam. At least the Kokotiam they knew.
The other warning sign took form in a literal sign. The signboard hung up above the stall, once faded and familiar with a doodle of Tok’s face, was replaced by a disgustingly sleek, gray design of the same thing. A soulless caricature of the original, reworked for modern audiences that lacked warmth and meaning.
He’d seen it happening across galaxies and their franchises. He just didn’t think it would happen to them.
And—was that takeaway? Kokotiam didn’t do takeaway; it was too much single-use plastics, Tok had said, so the Kokotiam only served cocoa with ceramic cups on traditional patterned saucers. Most of their customers were residents, and with such a small village, it was only natural that everybody knew each other and hung around for chitchat anyways, so there was no use for plastic cups for them to take home.
“Sugar levels?” Taufan read aloud, squinting at the menu. “Can I get a Cocoa Frappuccino with 200% sugar?”
The boy didn’t blink. “No.”
“Aww...”
Gempa’s ears perked at the whir of an engine.
He craned his head towards the road, just in time to see a motorcycle parking on the side of the road. His first thought when his eyes landed on the bike was, That looks far too expensive for Rintis. Its coat was full matte black, with red streaks that looked just like lightning.
It looked disgustingly expensive and a nightmare to maintain, but it was also undeniably cool, even for their standards. He’d boarded and helped repair any aircrafts in his time in space, but nothing could triumph his appreciation for Earth’s vehicles, even if they were less advanced and efficient in comparison.
The biker, dressed entirely in black in spite of the burning weather, put the sports bike in rest. Once he balanced the vehicle, he removed the key from the ignition and slotted it back into the breast pocket of his leather jacket. For a second, with his stature and sharp mannerisms, he reminded Gempa of Captain Kaizo. There was no effort wasted in his actions, every movement calculated and precise.
He removed his helmet. And Gempa’s chest fluttered with excitement.
The years had been kind to him. Halilintar had completely grown out of his baby fat, his features just as sharp as his conduct. He was taller, more confident and assured in his own movements, unlike the awkward lanky phase in his teenage years. Even his aesthetic had evolved- shifting from dark and broody to a dark and mysterious biker.
Halilintar’s hair was damp, skin glistening from the heat. That’s what you get for dressing like a funeral home, Gempa almost said in a teasing tone. You didn’t trip in the clearance section of a bike store, did you?
Taufan threw himself at Halilintar without hesitation, arms spread wide and wrapping around his torso. Halilintar tensed, going rigid.
“We’re back!” Taufan cheered, unbothered by the leather jacket digging into his cheek. “Did you miss us? Did you? I know you did!”
Gempa smiled. This was where Halilintar would relax, smile, then return Taufan’s hug. He’d join them and Halilintar would wrap his arms around the both of them like he was holding his entire world.
Instead Halilintar pushed Taufan away, brows furrowed and lips pressed tight in confusion. His demeanor changed, turning cautious and guarded.
Gempa’s face fell. Taufan froze, arms still open but not quite knowing what to do with them.
“Hali?” Gempa asked, dread creeping up his spine. “What’s wrong?”
Halilintar almost looked baffled by his question.
“Sorry, I—”
He shook his head, sighing.
“Do I know you?”