Archive of Our Own

A large alien gripped Till's arm and dragged him down the halls of Anakt Garden's building. With a stomach full of blood, Till barked profanities as he was pulled against his will. 

The dark bruises that littered his arms and face, from both the experiments and the struggle he put up, stood out against the pure white walls. 

The alien's neck spun 180 degrees sharply, its freakish eyes boring into his. Its grip on his arm tightened enough for Till's bones to creak. A threat for him to obey. 

Till clicked his tongue, glancing away as a terrified shiver crawled down his throat. No— he wasn't scared. He just wanted to return to the garden, where everyone else was. Where Mizi was. 

They continued to walk in silence, but the alien didn't loosen its grip on his arm. 

Till's bare feet burned against the cool floors, and he struggled to continue acting strong. Till realized they must have done something different this time around, since he had never so dizzy after a session. He shook away the black stars which littered his eyesight.

Before he realized it, Till was pushed back into the Garden. The bright artificial sky and pastel green grass made him squint with a wince. Spinning around, Till rubbed his freed arm while glaring at the alien, which seemed to multiply in his dizzy gaze. 

Click.

A collar was placed onto Till's neck. He flinched— when did the alien reach out towards him? He had completely forgotten to put up a fight over the strange shiver which distracted his senses.

Till had smashed his last collar to pieces while fighting back today. 'Just how many spares did these bastards have?'

He continued to glare at the alien as it turned around, exiting the garden without a word. With laboured breaths, Till flipped off the closed door and stomped away. 

Shit, his arm hurt so much. Till licked his thumb and wiped the blood which spilled from the tender flesh on the inside of his elbow. They had stuck a needle and poured something into him while strapping him down onto a table. Oddly enough, that was all they did.

That didn't mean that Till didn't fight back like hell, though.

The blood continued to dribble down his arm anyways, so Till clicked his tongue and let the trail of blood stream to his fingertips. It occasionally splattered onto the grass as he made his way across the garden. 

At some point while walking, he passed Acorn, who raised a brow at his physical state. 

"Did something worse happen today? You look horrible." Acorn commented blankly.

"I'm fine," Till glared, shaking away the boy's concern and continuing to walk. Acorn shrugged— it wasn't his problem if Till decided to make things harder for himself.

Till's hands clenched into fists by his sides. Something was lingering in his veins, causing his body to throb, and he didn't like it. He felt an unusual heat gathering inside. 

"—Till!"

The said boy jumped, spinning on his heel to face Mizi, and Sua who stood behind her. They both looked up at him with concern. 

"Are you okay?" Mizi asked, "We called your name like five times!"

Sua's grey eyes drifted down to his arms, which were bloody and bruised. "...Did you fight the staff again?"

Till's mouth opened and closed a few times as he struggled to decide what to say. His eyes were focused on Mizi's face, which came closer to his. 

Throb.

There it was again. The foreign heat in his gut multiplied. 

"Well, uhm..."

He snapped out of his trance when Mizi pressed a hand to his forehead. Her hands were cold against his flushed skin, grounding him back to reality.

"You're burning!" She yelped, pulling her hand back. "Sua, feel his face! Do you think he's sick?!"

Sua tilted her head, "He does look redder... than usual." 

Till swore under his breath. His whole face probably looked like one big, disgusting bruise. Why did he even try to show his face around Mizi?

His voice stuttered as he attempted to change the topic from his face to his actions. "I— I did break my collar..."

"You what?!" Mizi gasped. 

He scratched his cheek sheepishly. "And punched a few of them..."

Ivan, who suddenly appeared behind Till, laughed. "You never cease to amaze me, Till." 

Till spun around and stepped away from the black-haired boy. 

Ivan held back a giggle as he got a good look at the other boy's face. Till's nose wrinkled as he frowned— his rebellious nature painting his eyes red and complimenting the dark bruises on his cheek. Just watching him made Ivan's chest stir with glee.

"What are you looking at?" Till hissed accusingly, noticing the other's humoured gaze. 

Ivan grinned, an expression that spoke a thousand words of tomfoolery, revealing his childish nature. 

Feeling creeped out, Till turned away from Ivan and spoke only to the two girls in front of him. 

Mizi was staring at the two boys with worry, while Sua looked up at her. 

"I'll head to bed early," Till said, avoiding Mizi's gaze. For some reason, looking at Mizi made the heat in his abdomen spread like wildfire. 

He felt the flames in his fingertips as her soft voice reached his ears. 

"Sleep well, then. Hopefully you recover quick!"

Till's heart slammed against his ribcage. He could only nod while staring at the ground before running away, as fast as he could. 

'What the fuck?' He cursed, clenching his shirt with his less-wounded hand. Beads of sweat rolled down his temple. His body felt like it was on fire. 'What the hell is wrong with me?'

The bedrooms were bright since it was only the evening in the garden, and Till cursed under his breath, roughly throwing the sheets off. Even as he crawled onto his mattress, his mind refused to settle. Her voice, her lips, her hands. Every detail repeated itself in his mind.

Till gripped the sheets tightly. 

He passed out, he thinks. For a few minutes or hours, his vision went black before he was jolted awake by the bright lights in the bedroom. The mattress became uncomfortably moist from the sweat that seeped through his clothes. Uncontrollable tremors ran through his body like a current, causing him to groan. 

His body was begging for something. Till didn't know what it wanted. 

After the third time of waking up, he felt a strange pressure under his clothes. 

All in all, condition still hadn't improved. Till's heart continued to pound wildly against his ribcage, hot shivers crawling down his spine. His arms and legs flushed with a soreness he's never experienced before.

Till bit his lip when he shifted his legs, feeling the fabric of his pants brush against something he didn't expect to feel sore also.

He lifted the sheets, looking down his abdomen with his brows furrowed.

Why... was it hard?

His dick ached with a need to be touched. Till's brows furrowed and he reached down slowly, giving it a poke through the fabric. 

A shock, like an electric current, tore through Till's body. He choked on his breath, coughing as he sat up with his forearms.

What the fuck was that?

He shut his eyes tightly, feeling the hardness twitch, pleading for more attention. Till considered trying to touch it again through a foggy mind.

The room felt hot and stuffy. It was hard to breathe. 

Till decided he'd sort it out somewhere more private. He didn't want anyone walking in while he was like this.

He tried to move his legs off his bed, but they were numb and only rubbed against the aching erection between them. 

"...You look worse than before."

Though Till's hearing was muffled by the rush of blood in his ears, he heard a familiar voice. Through heavy breaths, he looked up to see Ivan, who was looking down with curiosity. 

Till struggled to come up with a reply. What did Ivan just say, even? He couldn't remember.

The black-haired boy's eyes narrowed when Till didn't shout back like usual. Instead of yelling something about being Ivan being an asshole, or to fuck off, he groaned and gripped the sheets tighter, curling in on himself. 

Ivan saw trails of sweat roll down Till's nape, soaking the hairs which fell along his neck.

Ivan thought back to when Till first returned from outside the garden, more broken than usual. 

‘Why does he not give up?’ Ivan wondered. 

Till's very existence was a representation of rebellion. An existence that howls and bites, one that won't back down or obey without a struggle. A suicide mission, really.

But he was also a paradox Ivan wanted to spend the rest of his life watching.

However, nothing could explain Till's current behaviour. Ivan knew that they must've drugged him after taking him away, but Ivan couldn't put a finger on what it was. He was curious as to what was causing such a reaction, since he himself had never experienced it before. 

Till managed to speak, despite appearing to be in pain. 

"Leave me alone." His voice was breathy, almost like a whine. 

Ivan's eyes squinted into the shape of crescent moons as he spoke. 

"Alone?" It was almost the time where everyone would go to bed. Then, everyone would know about Till's condition. 

Till knew that also, so he shifted so he was sitting up with his feet touching the hard floors. 

Ivan's gaze flickered downwards. Something was bulging through Till's pants. "Where will you be going?"

"Tch. Why would I tell you?" Till's knees wobbled as he leaned onto the wall, barely standing up. 

However, Ivan stood in the way to the exit, his dark brows furrowed. 

"You know what they'll do if they find you acting strangely."

Ivan's tone had become more serious. They. The aliens took away the sick from time to time, if they were in significantly poor condition. Sometimes those people came back. Sometimes they didn't. 

"Do you even know where to hide?"

It wasn't a threat, but the truth. 

Till considered his options with grit teeth. The shame and embarrassment weighed heavy on his shoulders, and a childish part of him wanted to sort it out on his own. Cameras were everywhere, sure, but he could find a place to hide if he tried, right?

Till's heart suddenly skipped a beat. His knees buckled in response, and he was fully prepared to cash down onto the floor. 

However, he was caught by Ivan's arms, which grabbed around his waist. Instinctively, the silver-haired boy gripped Ivan's shoulders.

Till could feel Ivan's cold hands through the fabric of his shirt. He sucked in a breath, feeling sparks where their bodies met. 

Till cursed under his breath. Something in the way Ivan held him made the heat pool into his gut again. He wanted more— the fabric acted as a barrier to what his skin desired. Till bit the inside of his cheek to not whimper embarrassingly at the touch. 

Ivan's dark eyes blinked, his black hair acting as a cage as he gazed upon Till. His grip around Till's waist tightened. 

"Damn it..!" Till hissed, closing his eyes once again. A shudder coursed through his body. "Just take me wherever. You— you know a spot, right?"

If Till had to suffer, he preferred it be done by Ivan. It was better than the aliens. Anyone was better than the aliens. 

Ivan's eyes twinkled. This was the first time Till had acted so cooperatively. "Of course."

He helped Till up, putting one of Till's arms around his shoulders. With one last glance, Ivan guided Till out the room through the unpopulated halls, taking routes which had the most blind spots to the cameras. 

He noticed Till moan and grunt from time to time, but Ivan didn't mention it. 

Ivan observed Till's expression from the corner of his eye, which was furrowed and red, feeling as though he had seen something like it before. But where?

Eventually, they arrived at a doorway. Till struggled to keep his thoughts in line while Ivan opened the door, revealing a room with multiple boxes, but otherwise empty. 

"Where...?"

"Storage," Ivan answered, then added on, "It's abandoned. See? The camera's light is off. So it's not running."

Till blinked, amazement welling in his chest, distracting him for a moment from the heat. Ivan really knew his was around the Anakt Garden. 

He looked up at Ivan, about to say something, maybe praise, before noticing the black-haired boys gaze. He was looking down...

Heat rushed up into Till's face when he noticed the fabric which stretched from his hardened dick. 

He shoved Ivan away, causing him to crash into the boxes. Till held onto the nearby wall as a quiver ran through his legs. "The fuck are you looking at?!"

Shame welled in Till's gut. At least, he thought it was shame.

Before he could continue to curse, a painful throb coursed in his mind. 

"Ngh...!" He gripped his head, staggering against the wall. He must have hit his head against the wall as he fell to his knees, since he could see blurry patches of red stain the floor.

The world was spinning, so Till leaned back against the cold wall. 

On the other hand, Ivan stood, feeling pissed as the dust on the boxes made his nose itch. He was about to return the favour by punching Till when he noticed him crouched over himself.

Ivan finally realized why Till's expression looked so familiar. Flushed and naked. 

Ivan blinked. "Oh. That's it."

Till didn't hear him, since he was desperately trying not to give in to his aching dick. Fuck, why was it behaving like this? 

Ivan crouched down in front of Till, staring at his scrunched expression with curiosity. A pang echoed in Ivan's own abdomen, and he felt a blush rise to his cheeks. Was this excitement, or something entirely new?

Ivan had seen humans copulate a few times. It was a stifling scene that sent a strange shiver down his spine. They appeared to be in pain, yet clung to each other so desperately. He had wondered if he would ever experience it. 

With clammy hands, Ivan reached for Till, pushing the bangs which were soaked in sweat out of his shut eyes. 

An unfamiliar greed clung to Ivan's chest. It was lust.

With every passing second, Ivan found himself wanting more and more of Till. First, it was his gaze. Then, his hands, his collarbones, his jugular.

Ivan's hand snuck up Till's wide-collar shirt, tracing the exposed collarbones. The boy shivered in response, a shaky whimper escaping his lips. 

Ivan took note of this reaction and continued to brush his fingers down until he reached Till's chest, feeling the heartbeat rushing under the pale skin. Ivan observed the other through his dark lashes. Till's heartbeat drummed teasingly from under flesh and bone. 

The subsequent second passed, and Ivan wanted Till's heart. 

"Don't touch me," Till weakly swatted Ivan's hand away, but it lingered in the air. Till hated how his body responded so happily to the touch. Ivan's touch, of all things.

"Mmph..." A part of him regretted pushing Ivan away, since another shiver wracked his body in retaliation. He felt so hot, and Ivan's hands were the only remedy. 

Till ached for more, but couldn't speak of it without sounding like he was begging. So he chose not to say anything at all. 

Unconsciously, Till hand reach out to grip Ivan's wrist which he just slapped away. The black-haired boy blinked, taking Till's hand in his own and intertwined their fingers.

His other hand reached instinctively to the hem of Till's shirt, slipping up the fabric to touch the other's waist. 

Till held back a cry. He's never felt so sensitive before. He involuntarily leaned into the touch, he wanted Ivan's hands to go lower. Wait— what?

Ivan failed to notice Till's dilemma.

In the heat of their skins burning against each other, Ivan thought. He had heard stories of a grand star which brought warmth to the planet humans used to live upon, from an unfathomable distance. It was called, "sun". 

Was Till the sun? Ivan's body felt like it was burning from the inside out. His tongue melted against the top of his mouth.

Ivan spoke before he knew what he was saying. "Why don't you let me help you?"

Something inside Till snapped, giving him a moment of clarity. He raised his free hand to punch Ivan, but the black-haired boy easily caught the wavering fist. 

"You—!"

Till released his other hand to pull at Ivan's hair, but it didn't elicit the reaction he wanted. 

Ivan smiled dumbly, from ear to ear. He had never felt a pain so pleasurable. 

"Don't you want to know?" Ivan said, his head forced to tilt back. "I can tell you what you're feeling." 

Till's reeling mind hesitated. Through laboured breaths that made his shoulders shake, Till asked. "...What is it?"

Ivan's canines shone as he snickered. "They mellowed you out by making you want to have sex instead."

"S— sex?" Till stumbled over his words, eyes wide. What... the everliving fuck was sex? 

Ivan took the moment of shock to remove Till's hold on his hair, pressing the hand against his face instead. 

He liked Till's hands. Rough and calloused from fighting and playing guitar, yet tender on the wrist, revealing the delicate pulse.

Ivan preferred Till's pulse over any other rhythm. The pumping of blood under his flesh, the proof of mortality; that was the greatest melody he could imagine.

Till's lips were set apart as he stared at Ivan's actions. What was wrong with this bastard? Till wanted to push Ivan away once more, but his body ached so much. 

Till swore his heart would leap out of his throat, and the need to be touched doubled with each moment. Each time the greed was satisfied, a trail of pleasure lingered in his mind. 

Pleasure. Till could only laugh with disbelief. Why was he feeling pleasure from Ivan's touch, of all things? 

Ivan frowned as Till continued to be lost in his thoughts. The flushed boy hadn't responded to his question yet. Ivan wanted a definite answer.

He pressed his lips against Till's knuckles, which were bloody and open. The familiar taste of iron coated his senses, but it was different. It scorched the tip of his tongue. 

"Give in," Ivan said breathlessly. Till's eyes shook when Ivan reached up to cup his hand against the boy's face. Ivan smiled when Till shut his eyes tightly, leaning towards the palm of his hand so desperately. "And see how gentle I can be."

Till's eyes fluttered, his thoughts barely coherent through the overstimulation. His mind seemed to scream no, but his body had different plans. Heat pooled into his gut, his skin littered in goosebumps wherever Ivan touched. Fuck, he wished Ivan would just grab his aching dick already. 

He just wanted this to be over with. 

"Fuck it." Till said, glaring up at Ivan. "Are you saying you know how to fix me?"

Ivan's smile didn't waver. He didn't respond either.

Till averted his gaze. "Do whatever." 

It was so funny, Ivan could almost laugh. Till, who refused to listen to anyone, including the aliens who own him, gave in to Ivan's words. The words of a human. 

Ivan moved on instinct, pushing the hand under Till's shirt higher. 

Till slapped the hand which was on Ivan's cheek hand over his own mouth to stop himself from crying out. He saw stars as Ivan put a hand over the bulge in his pants. 

"I— Ivan—" His tongue tripped over the vowels of the name messily. Till could barely peek an eye open when Ivan stroked his hands down his abdomen, the cold fingertips brushing along the blue veins which resided under thin layers of skin and flesh.

Ivan's body shuddered with greed. 

Till's gaze was kindled with a similar hunger, a gaze that mirrored Ivan's. 

Till's skin, Till's heat. Ivan wanted to feel it all. 

Till let out another muffled moan as Ivan leaned forwards, pressing his lips onto Till's jaw. His fingers pulled at the waistband of Till's pants.

"Can I?" Ivan asked, his voice humming against Till's sensitive shoulders. 

He could feel them tremble as Till said, "Fuck— j-just, get on with it already. Asshole." To further express his annoyance, Till held Ivan's forearm tightly. 

Ivan nodded, pretending to be unbothered by the throbbing heat. He was fine with being melted to ruin, so long as Till continued to hold him close. 

"Shit," Till swore at blood trickled down his forehead, stinging his eye. He must have hit his head hard against the wall, but he couldn't feel the pain over the pleasure which overtook any common sense. 

Till tried wiping the blood away with the back of his hand, but it continued to pour. 

Noticing the distraction, Ivan lifted his head to lick the blood. 

"Ew, the hell?!" Till turned his head away, pushing a hand against Ivan's mouth. His face flushed further when he felt the boy's lips against the heel of his palm. Something about the action felt taboo, but he didn't understand why. The feeling seemed to be engraved in his instinct. 

Any other profanity died in his throat, and Till was left gaping at the scene.

Like a teething dog, Ivan's canines were begging to bite down onto the calloused flesh presented on his lips. Experimentally, Ivan nipped at the heel of Till's hand.

Snapping out of his trance, Till tried to pull his hand away, but Ivan held it in place. He licked the pale, thin fingers and held them gently between his teeth. The tips of Till's fingers pressed down on his tongue.

Another wave of heat rushed under Till's skin. The sight was so vulgar, but he found himself bristling with expectation. 

"Get on with it already," Till felt dizzy with unrequited pleasure. He swore that he would explode if he didn't reach some sort of climax, fast. 

Ivan let go of Till's hand, which pulled away from his mouth, and instead cupped Till's cheek. Ivan's thumb brushed over his lips.

Something in Ivan hoped for Till to bite him also, to leave proof of the other's existence onto his skin forever. He wanted it bloody. He wanted to be branded by the scars. That way, Till could be a part of him until he turned into stardust.

Till didn't bite him.

Ivan pulled his fingers down Till's pants, pulling out the erection. Till groaned, his hands finding their way to Ivan's shoulders. 

'He likes it when it's touched,' Ivan concluded. Despite acting all confident, Ivan had no idea what to do. From what he'd seen, mating was usually done with a man and a woman. 

Ivan took hold of Till's erection, his thumb wiping over the whitish liquid that spilled from the top.

Till's hips bucked upwards as he gasped. "Sh— shit!" 

Ivan froze when Till held him closer, burrowing his head into the crook of Ivan's neck. Till's hands trembled as his nails dug into Ivan's skin through the fabric of his shirt. 

"N- no," Till said, his hips shifting awkwardly. "Keep going." When Ivan didn't move, he added quietly. "Please."

That got Ivan's hand moving.

He gave the dick a pump, eliciting another lewd noise from Till. Ivan liked the sound, so he continued to rub his hand against the hardened member, tightening his grip.

"Ah— ngh," Till's breaths became shallower as Ivan continued. Something was creeping up on him, leaving goosebumps on his skin. His hips fell into a rhythm with Ivan's hand as the black-haired boy stroked the back of his head. 

Till didn't know why his body was reacting this way. He just knew that he needed more— faster, harder. 

Till leaned back against the walk behind him, his legs spread apart while Ivan sat between them. Ivan took the opportunity to put his forearm beside Till's head, leaning forwards and bumping his forehead against Till's while his other hand continued to work. 

Till seemed to like it when he stroked the tip, so Ivan did that. Till let out a slightly louder noise when he twisted his hand, so Ivan did that. 

Ivan shakily exhaled with a smile. Till's expression was beyond anything he had ever imagined. It was something so painfully vulnerable, sweating and trembling, and all under his influence. 

Ivan was the one who unmade Till. 

Each shiver that coursed under Till's skin was caused by his touch, calculated and desperate in its own way. 

"Ivan. Ivan—" Till spoke while panting, "I'm almost—"

"You're almost finished, aren't you?" Ivan said. "I'll get you there."

Two more pumps. 

That's all it took for the white liquid to spill out of Till's hard member, coating Ivan's hand.

Till had pushed his face into Ivans chest as he came, so his voice resonated through Ivan's body, the vibrations spreading across like wildfire. Ivan's eyes lit up with something he'd never knew was possible.

This must be the definition of living. For their outer shells torn open, revealing the humiliatingly raw insides to the other.

Ivan had never felt so alive.

Unfortunately, distracted by the sight, Ivan forgot to stop his hand. 

"No, stop," Till cried, pushing Ivan away. "Stop, stop, stop."

Ivan's hand stilled. Did he make a mistake? He observed Till's expression carefully while pulling away.

Through laboured breaths, Till wanted to shout at Ivan to leave him alone. Now that he's reached an end, he was hit with realization. Why was he doing this weird shit with Ivan? Why did he make all those embarrassing sounds? 

His body shook with exhaustion. He looked up at Ivan in order to shout something, but the words died in his throat. 

Ivan's usually calm and collected face was flushed red, his eyes wide. Beads of sweat rolled down his temple and Till could feel his hot breath mixing with his own. 

Till pulled at his own hair instead, the heels of his palms digging into his eyes. "Fuck, I don't know! I don't know anything!" His dick was still hard from the damn drugs, and he was a confused, sweating mess. 

It was the first time Ivan had seen Till look so openly vulnerable. For a while, all he could do was watch in shock. 

"I'm so confused..." Till said, feeling tears burn in his eyes. He held them back with sheer willpower— he didn't want to cry in front of Ivan, of all people.

Wordlessly, Ivan pulled Till into an embrace. He didn't know why he did it, as his body moved on its own. It just felt right in the moment. 

Till's fingers loosened from his scalp, then lowered to his sides. 

Till felt something firm press against his thigh as Ivan pulled away from the hug.

Till's eyes widened. "Ivan. You're also..."

Ivan blinked, glancing down at his own erection. Oh. He had completely disregarded his body's needs, too enchanted by Till's. 

Till could recognize that Ivan was going through the same sensations he was. Till must have gone insane, since he reached out a hand to give the erection a soft touch, observing how Ivan shivered. 

"What does it feel like?" Till asked, his voice wavering. To him, it was painful, yet so shamefully good. He felt like something took control of his body, disrupting any line of common sense. Was it just him? Now that he's affected Ivan, does he feel it also?

"It feel like I'm burning," Ivan responded after a moment, shutting his eyes. 

There must be a word that humans used long ago for this feeling, but Ivan did not know what it is. It just felt right in his vocabulary, so he repeated,

"Burning up."

Till only watched as Ivan leaned forwards again, placing his hands over Till's hips for a sense of grounding.

Ivan tilted his head. Their eyes met. "Can you smell the smoke?" 

There was a moment where the two boys could only stare into each others' eyes.

Till reached over, albeit hesitantly, pressing his palm against Ivan's erection. 

Ivan's heart beat wildly in his chest, slamming hard against his lungs— he swore that Till could hear it in the way his breaths shook. 

Till took the whole thing in his hand, giving it a slight squeeze. Fire coursed under Ivan's skin, and sweat that poured out Ivan's body felt like burning wax. He groaned, holding only Till tighter.

The sparks took root in Ivan's soul, and he felt like he discovered something he doesn't even have a name for. Is this what Till felt? 

"Keep going," He said hushedly when Till let go. His hips grinded against Till's, rubbing their erections together and making them both gasp.  

"You... really want this?" Till's brows creased, eyes narrowed and unsure. With all the noises he made, it probably sounded like a painful experience.

"I want," Ivan's voice hitched in his throat, but Till didn't notice. He assumed that the black-haired man was hesitating. "Everything. Go on, rip me open, use only what you need. What, are you scared of going too far?" Ivan’s lips curled upwards.

Till was afraid of going too far. He believed that, if they continued, they would get to a state of no return. That their bodies would melt together and somehow, Ivan would become a part of him.

Some sick, fervid part of him wanted that to happen.

Till took both their erections in one hand, his eyes shutting tightly as he could feel them rub against each other. Ivan's pulse seemed to beat in sync with his own, hurried and pleading for more. 

Till heard Ivan swear for the first time. 

"Fuck," Ivan cursed through grit teeth. He held Till roughly, his fingers digging into tender flesh. A part of him hoped to bruise Till; a selfish desire to engrave himself into the other's body. "Ruin me."

Something in Till's gut twisted at Ivan's words. He quickened the pace of his hand, rapidly approaching the imposing climax he had before.

Through tangled heat and longing, Ivan peeked an eye open, gazing at Till's flushed face. The boy's eyes were shut tightly, too far gone in the stimulus. Till bit his own lip, blood dying his teeth red.

Ivan tried to speak but the words wouldn't make it past his throat. Instead, he lifted a shaky hand to cradle Till's face again. Ah, Ivan couldn't ever get tired of him. 

Suddenly, Till cracked an eye open. The action caught Ivan off guard for a moment. 

Till angled his head so Ivan's thumb lingered between his lips, coated in his hot breath, then bit down on the digit. 

Ivan's heart skipped a beat, or two. He didn't count, nor did he care. All the could do was stare wide-eyed at Till, who continued to move his hand against their dicks roughly. 

Till didn't notice Ivan's mental state since he shut his eyes once again. Fuck, the noises he made were so embarrassing. He felt himself coming closer and closer and closer—

Till climaxed for a second time, his skin bristling with heat. His cry was muffled over Ivan's hand. 

He heard Ivan groan also, the boy's hips bucking into Till's hand and releasing a similar white substance. Till opened his hand which was coated in cum experimentally, watching how it slid down his wrist. 

Till was exhausted, but his dick returned to normal, at least. Somewhat. It was no longer hard, but it was damn sore.

Through lidded eyes, he peeked at Ivan's expression, and nearly jumped in surprise. 

Ivan smiled widely, staring at his own thumb which pressed against Till's teeth. He pushed the hand back, bringing Till's sweaty bangs out of his face. 

Till didn't know how to react through his foggy mind, so he didn't resist when Ivan pulled forwards and pressed his lips against Till's forehead, which was red and flushed. 

Till, through a cloudy gaze, pushed at Ivan's shoulders. "What the hell is that?" He didn't understand why Ivan felt the need to put his mouth everywhere. 

A word echoed in Till's mind.

Kiss.

It was an action that was trending in the Garden, once. Something about lips and affection.

Affection..? No, Till shook his head. 

No way Ivan did that knowing it was reserved for affection. Ivan just happened to help him when he was affected by some weird ass drug, that's all. 

Refusing to take a moment without the others touch, Ivan held Till close in an embrace instead. Till huffed under his breath, rubbing Ivans back. 

After going through that together, Till felt like there was a link between them. Different than friendship. More like two sides of an unstitched wound.

He clicked his tongue, staring at the ceiling ahead. Till felt that he owed Ivan, so he let the embrace continue for a little longer. Plus, he didn't feel like walking back to the bedrooms yet. 

In contrary, Ivan shut his eyes, relishing in Till's touch. He felt warm, and somehow familiar in the embrace.

Ivan had never experienced love, nor did he understand it, but he believed it must feel like this. It must feel like Till.

Ivan shifted so his lips pressed into the crook of Till's neck, just under the cold metal collar. The pale skin burned his lips.

Don't stars live forever? Then, surely, Till has a chance of survival— he shines the brightest out of them all. 

Ivan doesn't mind being temporary if he can spend the rest of his time beside Till. Just like this.