Work Text:
Oh my Clematis
Hope bloomed from the abyss
The stage is bright, the crowd is silent. Till spaces out, the song reverberating through his vocal chords without much thought. As he looks through the audience, he thinks of the new song he’s working on, the drawing of Mizi he’s making for her birthday.
Oh my Clematis
Always be by my side
Ivan’s soft voice cuts deep, and the crowd, already quiet, falls completely silent, enthralled. Till doesn’t notice. Ivan keeps his focus on the crowd, intensity and sincerity engraved into his every word.
You bloomed from
the huge black wall
Still absentminded, Till sings. His voice is no less melodious to the audience.
The galactic starlight
in your eyes spread out
Ivan closes his eyes, remembering the day Till had looked him in the eyes, and he had seen the universe in them, the meteor rain blazing bright streaks across the panicked pupils.
In the endless darkness
I find you with your scent
And much before that, when he had no direction, his future a dark unknown, standing in the fields of Anakt Garden, Till had ran past him and shown him how a life was meant to be lived.
Even if I sleep in infinity
don't leave my universe
Till sings almost devoid of feeling, Ivan notices. He must be thinking about a new song, or a new sketch. He watches him sing, and hopes Till will never leave his universe even after what he’s going to do.
Oh my Clematis
Hope bloomed from the abyss
A harmonious melody, a joining of a voice expressing his deepest intentions, to another voice drifting away into the thoughts that lay anywhere but on the stage.
Oh my Clematis
Always be by my side
Silently, Ivan steels himself. He’s prepared.
Till feels so far away right now, even with only the distance of three steps between them.
Do you believe in God? Ivan begins his final monologue.
Till notices. “No! Stop talking.” Till snapped, glaring at him to not go off-track.
Once upon a time, mankind believed in God and had religion. The words fell from his mouth, ramblings of many a thought mulled over before.
A sigh echoed throughout the stadium, Till glaring still.
They believe that things that cannot be solved by human strength are the will of God.
Believed that the entire universe revolved around the Earth.
Thought that the place connected with the sky, which they could not dare to reach, was the place where the Gods lived. The aliens were silent, listening with rapt attention, not to the words they could not understand, but the gentleness, the pure emotion in how he said them.
“That’s just ridiculous.” Till rolled his eyes, but his throat went dry at how soft Ivan’s voice was as he spoke.
From the moment humanity left the universe, we all forgot God.
But, if belief in God is human
If all i can do as a human is to believe... Ivan breathed, finally looking up to meet Till’s glare, but it was so intense the grey-haired man felt his breath stutter.
“Why are you staring at me?” Till asked, harsh.
My God, Ivan chanted, and Till felt his heart drop.
“Hey, hey wait-!” Ivan approached him, quick. Panicking, Till steps back, but his confusion slows him down.
My Universe, Ivan says into Till’s mic, reverent, as he looks at him and takes Till’s stunned face into his hands.
“Ah, go away!!” Till jumps at the touch, pushing at Ivan roughly, but Ivan’s too quick, too fast, too determined, as he pushes forward and onto Till’s lips.
Till’s eyes widen, pushing constantly at Ivan, but the black-haired man moves to hold his shoulders tight as he forcefully kisses Till with all his might, intense and definitely desperate.
Everything Ivan has felt, everything that’s surged through him since the first time he laid eyes on the young Till in Anakt Garden so long ago, he pours into the kiss. Till resists, and he keeps going, a guilt bleeding into his other feelings, but he can’t stop. Till has to win. He'll be alright without Ivan, but Ivan won't be without Till.
Then as quick as it had started, it ends, and Ivan moves.
“Iva-” Till chokes off as hands wrap around his neck instead and gently squeeze. Not enough to hurt, but enough to cut off his airways for a brief moment.
Till tries to breathe but somehow he can’t find his airways as he looks Ivan in the eyes and sees the endless abyss of swirling emotion, of something that Till thinks he’s seen in the mirror before. When he was thinking of Mizi.
Ivan glances up, hands still at Till’s neck, still not painful but holding him in place. Diverting his attention away from the horror across Till’s face, watching as his own score falls and Till’s stays, 27 points higher than Ivan’s. Mission accomplished.
Hands tug at Ivan, forcefully pulling him away, and he releases, but not before one last thing.
Gently, this time, he pecks Till on the lips. A goodbye, but he doesn’t know it yet.
Till looks back, bewildered. Why did that feel like an apology?
Ivan’s eyes shine with satisfaction.
What the fuck?
Ivan allows himself to be directed back at his microphone and painfully nicked in the back, invisible to the audience, as a warning to not deviate once more.
Till stares and stares, dazed, until a jolt in his collar reminds him to keep going.
He swallows, hard, his throat dry, frustrated and confused. He doesn’t move.
Across him, Ivan glances at him, asking him to continue the song. He shakes his head in response, silently asking him what the fuck he thought he was doing.
Instead of answering, Ivan is the one to sigh this time, turning to the microphone.
My Clematis…
Ivan finishes the song. Till, caught off-guard by the abrupt completion, whirls around and finally approaches him, grabbing him by the shoulder and opening his mouth.
The roar of the crowd jolts him into realization as he glances up to the scoreboard.
87 and 70.
Till looks back to Ivan, panicked, but Ivan only smiles at him serenely.
“Ivan…” he trails off.
He grips the taller’s arms tightly. “Ivan! What’s going on?! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“Well,” Ivan starts.
BANG!
Oh my Clematis
Hope withered in the abyss
Oh my Clematis
Please stay by my side
Even as the crowd filters out, as the power turns off, Till doesn’t move from his place, frozen in front of Ivan’s dead body sprawled on the ground.