#the reason this took so long is because i've been feeling kind of meh abouty writing

[serenpedac]

Seren!! If you are taking prompts (but no pressure either way!!):

[granite] acting, parting, destined, meet, need for Farah and Gabi maybe, or

[aqua regia] past, stuck, picture, veins, heart for Nate and Yael?

(Or anyone who sparks joy!!! And again no pressure ❤️ )

Wonderful PD <3333 Thank you so much for sending and can you read my mind??? Because I'd been thinking about Gabi and Unit Delta after we got to meet them in the demo, so "granite" is so very fitting. (Not that they play a very large role in this, but still)

Granite

Words: ~1500

Rating: Teen and up

Relationship: Female OC/Farah Hauville

Warnings: None

Farah peaks her head around the door into the Facility’s common room, already knowing the answer, but still asking, "Gabes's not here?" 

Both Nate and Adam look up from some papers on the table before them, heads moving in unison. Farah wonders if they even know they're doing that, adopting mannerisms and phrases from each other. Though that last one could be because they're both old.

"She's probably with Unit Delta," Adam says.

Farah winces, and she tries to hide it, tries to act like her usual self, but Nate still catches it.

"Do you want me to come with you to look for her?"

"No, I got it." She adds some extra peppiness to her voice, both to convince him and herself, but he still scrutinises her, so she adds, "Bet I can find her before you can even get up and out of this room anyway."

He chuckles. "We'll be waiting here for the both of you."

"You'd better be." How rude it would be for them to leave her and Gabi behind while they go back to the warehouse.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise that Gabi had parted from the rest of them today, if Farah is being honest. Ever since the Agency introduced Gabi to Unit Delta, she's been spending a lot of time with the other team. Like, a lot a lot.

'Unit Delta' is such a nice name, according to Gabi. There's all kinds of things in physics and mathematics that use the letter delta, she told Farah. Like the difference. The difference of what, Farah doesn't know. 

When she asked if beta was also some cool thing, Gabi had mentioned something about beta radiation, only for her to look away from Farah and stare into the distance with a worried frown. Whatever it was about this radiation, or the letter beta, it had made her uncomfortable. If there was one thing Farah didn't want, it was to make her uncomfortable, so she'd shut up about it.

She runs into Gabi in one of the hallways leading to the... the research labs, maybe. Probably. Her head is bent towards Axel, their voices hushed. The other three members of Unit Delta walk behind them, not saying a word.

"Hi babe!"

Five pairs of eyes flash towards her to fix her with their stares, her voice bouncing off a stony wall of silence.

"Farah, hi." There’s a brief flash of a smile, but Gabi's face turns serious again as she clasps her hands behind her back.

"I've been looking for you."

"Sorry, I— we got distracted."

Farah fakes a gasp. “You found something more interesting than me?” Both Gabi and Axel smile at that, which she’ll count as a win. Emboldened, she continues, "We're about to leave and you know how Morgan gets when she has to wait for too long." She rolls her eyes, hoping to tease another smile from Gabi.

Gabi hums. "And running around the facility to find me has nothing to do with you getting impatient, right?"

"Not getting impatient, only missing you, Gabes."

A frown creases Gabi's forehead as she looks between Farah and Unit Delta. "I do suppose I should be going."

"Of course." Axel gives her a warm smile, and even the unreadable expressions of the others seem to soften when they say their goodbyes. "Will we see you again soon?"

Gabi nods. "You bet."

*~*~*

They barely talk on their way back to Wayhaven. Adam repeats the points they've already discussed during the meeting, Nate hums his agreement and the rest of them stare out of the windows. Or, in Farah's case, keep casting glimpses at Gabi, trying to gauge what she's thinking. Her arms are crossed, hands tugged underneath as if to hug herself. She feels tense, worried, just as she's been ever since Li-Sar showed up and gave, no, forced these powers on her.

"Mind if I come with you?" Farah asks when they take the turn into Gabi's street. "Just for a bit?"

A pause follows, one that lasts long enough for Farah to worry her bottom lip between her teeth, but she holds Gabi's eyes. She needs to know what Gabi is thinking, how she's doing, and she cannot do that if Gabi keeps avoiding her. Eventually, Gabi is the one to look away.

"Are you sure?"

Whatever answer Farah had been expecting, it was not this. Of course she's sure, but it seems Gabi is the one who isn't. 

"Very sure. A hundred percent, even if you keep saying there is always some uncertainty." She nudges Gabi's shoulder with her own.

"Alright."

Once inside, Farah gestures for Gabi to sit down, while she gets her a glass of water. She rummages through the cupboards for cookies, which she finds in one of the upper cabinets.

"Need a hand?" Gabi is already at her side, reaching over Farah to get them without even having to stand on her tiptoes.

With the pack of cookies in one hand and the glass of water in the other, Gabi walks back to the living room area to sit down in the one arm chair. It’s Farah’s favourite part of the room, the ochre yellow one of the only pops of colour between the whites and greys and black of the rest of the interior. The best thing is that it’s large enough to sit in with two people. Or at least it is if Farah sits sideways on Gabi’s lap, her legs dangling over the armrest. Right now, however, Gabi pulls up her feet underneath her, making it impossible for Farah to join, so instead, she takes place on the corner of the sofa closest to her.

"So—"

"How was—"

They both fall quiet as they look at the other to continue. 

It shouldn’t be this awkward. It never is this awkward between them.

Farah twists one of her braids around her finger. She’s tried being patient, not pushing it, and it hasn’t gotten her anywhere. So she blurts out, "Gabes, what is wrong?" Light brown eyes go wide, but she still doesn’t say a thing, so Farah continues, "You’ve been avoiding me ever since the whole Li-Sar thing and I don’t know what to do. I want to help and be there for you, but I can’t do that if you don’t let me."

Gabi presses her lips together, turning a cookie around and around. It’s chocolate chip, one of her favourites, but she hasn’t even taken a bite.

The silence stretches on long, longer than Farah would have liked, but it’s not a bad kind of silence, Farah doesn’t think. She holds very still, listening to the sound of her own heartbeat twined together with Gabi’s.

When Gabi does speak, it’s in a quiet voice, not looking at her. "I just don’t want to hurt you. Again."

It wasn’t your fault, lies at the tip of her tongue, but she’s said that already. It hasn’t helped much. "So that’s why you’ve been hanging out with Unit Delta."

"Yes. At least they aren’t weakened simply because of me being around."

"You know that hanging out with you more than makes up for any effect your powers have, right?" Farah tries for a smile, but it falls at the sight of Gabi’s eyebrows drawn together in a helpless expression.

"You can’t say that. Who knows what might happen next time?"

"I trust you, babe."

"Maybe you do, but I don’t." Gabi’s hands are balled into fists, electricity sparking around them. "I do not control these powers, Farah. They control me and at some point, they will— It feels like I’m destined to hurt you, one way or another."

“You don’t know that.” Farah rolls her lips together, the hairs on her arms standing up because of the static crackling in the air. "Or— Do you? Why— What did Li-Sar tell you when you met?"

Gabi doesn’t look away, holding Farah’s gaze as if it’s she's afraid of what will happen once she lets go. She swallows, the says in a whisper, "She said these powers would kill me."

Fear spikes through Farah. It makes her heart beat a frantic rhythm against the ribs, her own fear and Gabi’s indistinguishable. It’s telling her to grab Gabi’s hand and run, run, run, don’t look back. Except she can’t take those hands. They can't run from this.

“Gabes…” She jumps up to cross the space between them. "I will not let that happen. No," she shakes her head, "we won’t let that happen. You will be alright, I know you will be." She wills the words to be true, because they have to be.

She lets her fingertips drift along the contours of Gabi’s face, pushing aside the hair from her forehead and eventually coming to a rest on either side of her face.

Gabi searches her face, then sighs. "I can’t ask you to stay with me, not when I’m like this."

"You don’t need to ask anything. You’re a part of our team, Gabi, and— and I love you." It isn’t what she’d meant to say, but it’s not what she hadn’t meant to say either. The words just… come out like that. 

For a long few seconds, they stare at each other, then Gabi leans in to let her head rest against Farah’s stomach. "I think I love you too," she mumbles into Farah’s shirt, her breath filtering warm through the fabric.

Carding her fingers through Gabi’s hair, Farah clings to those words. They love each other, and there’s nothing that love cannot overcome, isn’t that right?