Lila tossed a ball at the wall, lying in her cell while humming softly.

The cement walls rumbled beneath her, the chatter echoing throughout the building all traveling back to her.

Her black hair was against the slab she used as a bed when foot steps echoed the solitary confinement unit.

Lila popped up, her hair flying up with her and she dropped onto the ground to feel it.

Three people. Two were guards, she could feel the jingle of their keys through the ground. The newcomer was between them and they approached her cell.

She waited on bated, hopeful breath before they halted right before her own. Opening up the solitary confinement room besides her. They were separated by thick cement walls.

Scooting closer, Lila pressed her ear to the wall they shared. Her hand was flush against the lower half of the wall as her veins slowly turned black, leading down to her finger tips.

Small holes warped into the cement along the bottom corner of the wall. Allowing her better access to the neighbor.

Once the guards had left she laid besides the small holes. If they were too large, the cameras would catch them.

She could feel the person walking around in the cell before sitting on a bench adjacent to where she was in her own space.

"New here?" she asked quietly while crossing her fingers for a response.

A deep voice rumbled, "What the hell?"

His feet were planted firmly against the cement floor.

"I don't recognize you. You must be new?"

"Recognize me? How the fuck did you see-" She could hear him looking around.

"Not see. Feel. Everyone walks differently, this place is made out of cement you know. Cement has a certain way of carrying vibrations."

He was quiet and she quietly cursed herself, the time spent in solitary did not help her social skills.

"My names Lila Evergreen. I've been here for a little bit, sorry if I came off strong," the girl whispered hesitantly.

"Alex Summers," he grunted back. Alex shuffled and leant his back on the opposite side Lila leaned against.

"You sound young, what're you in here for?"

Lila hummed, "They don't like the way I do things. And I'm 19 I'll have you know." She answered vaguely on purpose.

"And how 'bout yourself Alex Summers?" Lila was trying to imagine his face. Wondering if his deep, soothing voice matched his face. Not that she'd ever find out.

"Turned twenty a couple months ago. Been in the system for a while. I usually go straight to solitary," he toyed with his fingers.

"Happy late birthday," Lila whispered. Alex thumped his head back against the wall, sighing heavily. Rethinking all of the decisions he's ever made ending him up here.

She never asked why he was here. He waited and waited for the question but it never came.

"Would you mind if I talked to you sometimes?" Lila turned her head so her cheek was against the cool wall.

"Knock yourself out," Alex grunted as he stood. Maybe she would keep him from going crazy in this place, he got up to keep moving around.

Lila on the other side was basically in comatose, while she kept fit to stay busy any other time she was lying around. And she couldn't believe she just got a sliver of joy in this god forsaken place.

"So I can just talk? Will you talk back?" Lila wondered aloud.

"If I want to."

"Fair," Lila began to speak about one of the books she's already finished. Giving him the 411 on the plot and how it was very interesting, she hung on the small grunts of acknowledgment he gave her.

~

Sleeping in solitary confinement proved to be difficult for Alex. He'd been here 48 hours with less than an hour of sleep total.

His new neighbor, the girl Lila, would chat to him during the daylight hours but otherwise left him alone during the night.

Lying on the cot, he was given sweet relief in the middle of the night after staring at the ceiling for what felt like ages.

Lila who had been sleeping soundly, was awoken just before the sun began rising.

She gasped awake when she heard Alex making noises in his sleep. Groggily she fell off her bed with a yelp. Crawling to the small holes she'd created in the corner by her bed, she listened.

Feeling the vibrations, it was hard to get the full picture because he was in bed but he seemed to be thrashing in the cot.

"Alex," she whispered. He made choked noises in his sleep, "Alex you're having a nightmare." She called out softly.

After a few failed attempts, she inhaled sharply and reached to press her palms to the cold ground.

Glancing nervously at the old camera in her cell, knowing it didn't have audio, she focused her energy on sending small tremors through his cell.

Alex's was ripped out of his nightmare and sat up quickly. He rubbed his face as he set his feet on the ground.

Immediately when she felt that, she stopped using her abilities.

Sitting on her haunches while wiping tiredly at her eyes she piped up. "You were having a nightmare, I'm sorry."

He grunted while gritting his teeth together. "You can go back to sleep," he muttered bitterly.

"Do you... um you can talk about it if you'd like?"

"No." She was barely able to get the question out before he answered.

"O-Okay," she nodded and he heard her shuffling back to the bed.

Feeling the weight of no sleep and lack of freedom eating at him, he also felt guilt at snapping her. She was the only person he had at the moment anyway.

"I... ah I just had it a bit rough growing up. I didn't mean to wake you up," he rubbed his jaw slowly.

"It's okay, its what neighbors are for," she smiled smally.

"Yeah?" he remarked. "What else are they for?"

"I don't know yet," she hummed. "I'm still figuring it out. But I was hoping they'd be good things." A little smile threatened her lips at the thought.

He too found himself grinning, but it quickly fell as he thought back to his nightmare. "Unfortunately, the only thing I'm good for is getting people around me hurt."

Lila felt herself deflate, familiarity striking her.

"You couldn't hurt me, Alex. Trust me," she muttered. "I'm stronger than you'd think."

Alex only hummed, digesting the information.

"Neighbors for now?" she asked hopefully.

"For now."

"Want me to talk until you fall back asleep?"

Alex yawned, "I'd like that."

~

It's been a week since Alex was put in solitary confinement next to Lila.

"Why'd they put you in here anyway Lila girl?"

Alex lied on his back, throwing a ball up in the air.

They hadn't spoken about why they were in here, just continuous random conversations about before all of this.

Lila hummed, rubbing her hands over her thighs. "I've been here for almost a year. When I get upset, people get hurt." She swallowed and Alex heard her shuffle around, "I hurt some police officers. They thought I did something but I didn't... naturally I was upset. Uh... stuff happened."

Alex felt deja vu hit him hard. "What happened?"

She nibbled on her lip, "They were buried alive."

It was barely above a whisper and Alex's eyes widened.

"You- You did that to them?" he asked quietly.

"Not... not intentionally. I wasn't- in control," she admitted reluctantly as she pressed her hand against the wall between them. "You have t-to believe me, I'd nev-never do that on purpose."

Lila stumbled over her words to try and prove to the only person she had at the moment that she wasn't a monster.

"I believe you, Lila- take a deep breath. I believe you," he shuffled closer to the wall.

"It's like you have no control over your body," he muttered almost to himself.

"Yes! I'd never done anything like that before. I kept it a secret because it was small things like rocks or- or a minor earth quake but never-" she choked on her words.

"So... you can what? Move the ground?"

His tone wasn't mocking, it was curious without any judgement.

"I-It's like... um... the natural elements like dirt, rocks, cement... no man made materials like glass or rubber even if it's made from oil that comes from the ground. No metal. I don't mess with sand either- sand and I don't agree," she rambled quietly. Hoping no one could hear her.

"I can feel stuff around me. If it's touching the dirt or the ground that I'm on and I focus I can feel vibrations through it."

Alex nodded at the information, he didn't realize there were others like him. Let alone so close.

He glanced down at the floor, then the walls around them.

"Wait... this entire place is cement."

Lila bit her lip as her head hung.

"You could level this entire building couldn't you?"

Lila hummed in response while running her fingers over the surface.

"And you're just sitting here? Willingly then?"

"I guess so... but I have no where else to go. Even if I left. Besides, I wouldn't have met you, hm?" A week in here translated to months in real time it felt. Since they were stuck together 25/8, with no other company.

Alex chuckled quietly, his stomach turning with foreign emotions this girl bombarded him with.

"I guess so Lila girl. You've got a point."

She laid down besides the wall, "Lay down next to the wall. I can feel you through the ground when you do that."

Alex's breath hitched at the intimacy of the request. He slowly complied and Lila closed her eyes with a smile, feeling his heart beat thudding and echoing through her.

"You have a high frequency vibration," she commented what she noticed since he entered the building.

"Yeah... about that.."

After twenty minutes he'd somewhat managed to explain his own powers. Lila was shocked into silence, taking in the information.

"That's insane..." she stared up at the ceiling.

"Yeah," he trailed off.

"You're amazing, Alex Summers," Lila's voice was full of admiration.

"Hardly," he scoffed.

Lila hummed in disagreement, "You know you could level this place too."

"Not nearly as quickly as you."

Suddenly Lila sat up, pressing her back to the wall.

"Can I try something?" Lila asked shyly. Alex narrowed his eyes in confusion but relented.

He did as she instructed and pressed his back against the wall, they were aligned with each other through the wall.

"Put your hand behind your back. Just so the camera can't see."

"Lila if you're fucking with me-"

"Shush, just do it."

When she felt him do it, she took a deep breath. Concentrating on only the cement she touched, her fingers pushed through the material with a little resistance.

Her fingers were muddied with the remnants of the wall she was molding her hand through before Alex flinched at the feel of her cold fingers against his own.

Without hesitation, he threaded their fingers together. Palm to palm, they held hands through the wall.

"I'm really glad to have you here," Lila admitted quietly as she faced away from the barrier.

"Yeah... me too," he smiled down at the ground.

"I don't think I would be sane without you here. Don't know how you did this alone for so long," he sighed.

"I definitely didn't go crazy or anything," she scoffed sarcastically. They both laughed to themselves.

"Alex," she sighed as she rolled her head back and forth.

He hummed in response.

"Will you tell me something about before? Like before all of this."

Alex thought back to his childhood, thinking about his brother and promptly telling her about their childhood adventures.

~
A month had passed of their routine.

"Where would we be right now?" Alex tapped a tune against the wall separating the pair as he asked. They laid side by side, separated by the wall.

But, blocked by their bodies, Lila had created a small gap at the base of the wall. Their fingers were locked together through it. Lila's brown skin contrasted against Alex's pale skin.

They'd developed a game, what would they do right now if they weren't in prison?

"I'd take you for ice cream," Lila smirked.

"You'd take me? No way, doll. That'd be ungentlemanly of me, hm?"

He finished in his poor british accent that always made her giggle.

"You'd just have to suck it up, huh? And to make it up to you I'd let you pick what we did after."

"How about a scary movie? Drive in movie on a nice summer night, where we've got a bunch of blankets to ourselves."

Alex imagined it, even if he'd never seen Lila's face. And he knew he would have a good time.

"That sounds nice," Lila grinned as her cheeks heated up at the thought.

"We'd have to have chocolate bars," he added.

"Oh, of course," she spoke as if it was obvious. Her favorite candies.

"And for ice cream we'd get you a double scoop of mint chocolate chip," his favorite ice cream.

"Absolutely."

"Hey Alex?"

He squeezed her hand once before letting go. She quickly closed up the gap she'd made.

Alex grunted as he rolled over to begin push-ups.

"Yes Lila girl?"

"What do you imagine I look like?"

Alex faltered and face planted, she felt the thump and stifled her chuckles.

He imagined her as the prettiest girl he's ever seen. And he didn't know what that meant or looked like.

"Pretty," he blurted.

She gasped and was dumb founded for a moment.

"What if I'm not?"

Lila frowned suddenly, she didn't have pale skin, blonde hair, or light eyes.

"I already know you are."

He quickly rebuttled before she could question him again. "What do you think I look like?"

"I can kind of see when I focus on your vibrations. They outline your form. You're about 5'10, broad shouldered, you have a very symmetrical face by the way."

He jaw fell open a little, "... thank you?"

"You're welcome."

She took a deep breath, "But actually I imagine you like... someone out of a magazine. Like perfect looking."

His face heated up at her depiction of him.

"I hate to disappoint doll," he rumbled as he began to continue his push ups.

"And you have nice muscles."

Once again he fell out of his push ups, this time groaning. She laughed breathily before relenting and leaving him alone for a little.

~

i can't believe i'm actually posting this lmao

this is unedited!!