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Till wasn’t at school today.
This wasn’t the rarest of situations, him being absent would be chalked up to him skipping like normal; but Ivan hadn’t seen him in general. He checked everywhere to confirm his theories; behind the bleachers, in the restrooms. He’d stayed after school to check for him in detention! But he just wasn’t there.
So of course, Ivan begins to text their friends.
Mizi is just as lost as him, and Sua lacks a good answer for the first time in forever. Both girls stating that the last time they saw him was the Friday of last week. Mizi then adds that the last time he answered his phone was last Wednesday.
Ivan thanks the two for their input before going his separate way after school, heading towards the train station rather than the diner he, Sua, Mizi, and Till always went to after school.
Ivan gives his mother a call to inform him he’d be getting home late, and the woman chooses not to question her son’s future endeavors and tells him that all of his chores still needed to be done whatever time he got home. This makes Ivan, the ravenet promising her that it will be and there was no need to worry. The two exchange their goodbyes as Ivan steps onto the train, taking his seat to the farthest left before properly hanging up his phone.
He hopes Till won’t mind his sudden intrusion, but if he’s been M.I.A for this long with no form of contact with everyone else, this was the only feasible course of action.
Ivan really hopes that Till won’t mind.
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If this was what hell felt like, Till may be going Catholic sooner than expected.
The shivers were killing him. It was hotter than it had any right to be in November, and here Till was, rotting in his bed with a viscous cold, naked.
All of his sisters had easily ran through their cold medicine all the time they were sick, and Urak (being the completely useless father he was) didn’t care to go buy more. So of course his family’s idiocy was coming back to bite him in the worst way humanly possible.
His head was killing him, it hurt to swallow his spit, and he genuinely thought he was about to pass away or fall out of bed when he got up too fast to blow his nose. There was tension in Till’s neck and shoulders that were anything but willing to go away, and the only thing keeping Till alive and sentient of the space around him was the cat purring next to his head.
Freddie is a sweetheart. As if sensing the eyes on him, Freddie looks up from where he was laying and blinks blue, lazy, eyes at Till. Till wants to laugh and praise his pretty boy; but just the thought of talking sounds as strenuous as running a marathon. So he can only manage a half-hearted smile and the pain of scooting closer to allow the feline to cuddle up in his arms.
Freddie’s fur tickles his chin and nose, making the ashen want to sneeze. He stamps it down however and refocuses onto the ragdoll’s purring, which has only gotten louder with their close contact.
This was the perfect atmosphere to try sleeping. Light rain had only just begun, and Freddie’s purring was calming Till well enough to forget his suffering. But then, that's when he hears it.
Keys slotting into the front door, and the lock clicking out of place. The door open, then it shuts, and no other sounds can be heard past that.
Till shoots up in bed so fast it makes him groan in pain, but he can only keep his eyes trained on the door despite the stabbing pain in his neck and the spots dancing around his vision.
Was Till scared shitless?
Hah. Beyond shitless.
Till swallows his spit with clenched teeth, jaw tightened as he staggers out of bed; slipping back on his pajama pants and scooping Freddie out of bed before leaving his room.
The second floor was so dark past 4, and the added rain certainly wasn’t making it can easier to navigate. He holds Freddie close to his chest as he goes down the stairs, putting all of the effort he can manage into not falling down the stairs.
The downstairs seems relatively untouched. From what the ashen can manage, it looks the same as it did earlier today, painfully standard for a rich family. Okay, now Till was really starting to freak out.
Was he just hearing stuff? Was he just going crazy??? What if he didn’t hear anything in general and brain simulated that noise to coerce him out of bed to finally wash the dishes despite feeling like he was one awful sneeze from seeing god????
Who knows.
God, Till sure as hell didn’t.
What he did know is that he didn’t want to go up the stairs again. So instead, Till chooses to let Freddie down, the little thing walking between his legs to rub at his shins lovingly before taking a spot on the couch.
Till makes his way to the kitchen, flicking on the light and searching the pantry for his favourite snack and coming out victorious; gummies that were probably expired.
Till rips the bag open and dumps the (probably spoiled) delicacies into his mouth, chewing like a toddler before turning back towards the living room- immediately choking on his food when he sees who’s sitting on his couch.
Ivan had always been good at being quiet, despite his stature. Till is painfully aware of this. But did he have to use that special talent to break into his house??
“You were the noise I heard earlier??” Till shrieks, throat straining at the abuse caused by those words. Ivan only offers a light chuckle and a smirk, features highlighted by the quaint kitchen light behind Till before responding.
“Maybe I was, I’ll never tell.” Ivan prevaricates, which is confirmation enough that it was undoubtedly him.
“I need to take that spare key from you.” Till mopes, cold fingers coming to rub circles into his temples. Ivan’s smile only grows as he rises to his feet.
“So.., where’ve you been recently?” He asks, leaning against the head of the couch with his arms crossed. His expression was calm, like horribly calm; and for the strangest of reasons it makes Till’s headache worse.
“Take a guess idiot.” Till bites, voice nasally as all hell in a way that makes Ivan quirk a brow. Till couldn’t tell if he was more confused or interested in why that was. Till mentally swears when Ivan steps closer, and he’s beyond embarrassed when Ivan examines him thoroughly; dude was so close their breathing was square dancing (which may or may not be a bad thing considering that Till was literally sick, but who cares if it was Ivan suffering?).
“Are you sick?” Ivan asks after the world’s longest beat of silence, and Till can only scoff and back up as a form of self-preservation.
“ Obviously. How effin’ stupid are you?”
Ivan doesn’t respond to that, instead following Till around the kitchen as the ashen attempts to make himself tea. His mother used to do that for him when he was younger. Though it’s disheartening to realize the tea he was making would lack the squeezed in slice of lemon, a spoonful of sugar, and a kiss on the forehead for being his mama’s brave little soldier; but Till will manage.
“How long have you been sick for?” Ivan asks as if he’s asking how long he’s had a physical object and not an annoying virus that came out of nowhere.
“I dunno. Since like.. last week?” Till answers, refilling the water holder on the coffee machine.
“Is this why you haven’t been texting anyone back?” Ivan continues, dark eyes practically staring holes into the back of Till’s head as he fishes for the small box of tea he’d hid from his father when realized he was coming down with something.
“I mean.. yeah. Kinda really hurts to do stuff Ivan. Especially talking.” A part of him hopes Ivan will take that as a hint to hop off and quit the questionnaire, but of course Ivan doesn’t, the ravenet slithering behind Till like the serpent he is and wrapping his arms around his waist; resting his head on Till’s shoulder.
“I could take care of you for tonight?” Ivan currs close to Till’s ear like it’s the simplest thing in the world, and Till can’t stop the way his body tremors. Must be the heat flashes or .. something.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You still need to go home.” Till deflects, definitely not leaning into the coldness of Ivan’s touch because yes. Ivan is so cold and against the warmth of Till’s skin, and his lips are certainly no exception; the press of them to the back of Till’s ear to the side of his neck making the ashen sigh far too audibly and far too doefully. He’s supposed to be mad at this prick! And yet. .
Till considers his next words carefully, considering the events of this week carefully and if he can plan around it with Ivan in mind. His mother and Urak would be out of Korea for at least two months, seeing as they were surveying university opportunities for Till and his siblings, so there would be no way in hell they’d be back spontaneously tomorrow. .
Till sighs, completely conceding before a debate can even begin.
“Fine. But, just for the night. I want you gone by six.”
Till swears Ivan was gonna click his heels and scream “yippee!” after he squeezed him tighter, and Till can heave a sigh as the coffee machine finishes with tea (ironic, ain’t it?).
After prying his clingy boyfriend off of him, Till deposits the liquid into a mug and takes a seat at the dining room table, Ivan following after him because of course.
“How was your day..” Till mumbles out before hiding behind his mug, perfectly obscuring Ivan’s vision of how smitten he knew he looked after asking that.
“My day was fine, Starlight.” Ivan responds, holding his in his hands as he watches Till, completely enraptured .
“A bit boring because you weren’t there though.”
Till would be the world’s biggest liar to say those words didn’t do something to his tummy. Yes he knows it’s just a few words, and yes he knows that Ivan has, can, and will say sweeter things throughout the rest of the night; he’s just not used to the fondness of which Ivan uses to carry his words straight into Till’s heart.
Even with the mug covering most of Till’s face, he can still see the pretty pink blush the words gave him, despite the miniscule effort he’d put into it. Ivan was beyond enraptured, and the ravenet wanted in no small part, to see more of it.
“How about you, sweetheart?”
Ivan croons that, and Till squeezes his mug a bit tighter to ground himself.
“Tiring. Never felt this bad before.” Till mourns, expression drooping as he sloshes his drink about the glass confines of the mug. “Been really struggling to go up the stairs.. Makes me real tired. ”
Ivan perks up at that, hands falling to the table in a silent noise before intertwining his fingers, smiling to his partner as he speaks.
“You won’t have to worry about that anymore.” Ivan ensures. “I’ll just carry you up and down the stairs for the rest of tonight.”
Till blinks once. Then twice. Then thrice.
“What..”
Ivan is, (unshockingly), unmoved as ever by Till’s obliviousness. A once aggravating trait that the ravenet now finds endearing.
“I won’t mind carrying you up the stairs.” Ivan says again.
It would be nice to not have to go up and down them every time he was hungry, but then again it wasn’t even that bad. Sure, Till always swore he was dying once he got up, and then he always had to focus everything on not falling down on them like someone’s grandma..
But who’s to say Ivan won’t take this as a chance to be all handsy with Till while he has him like that? Not that Till would really mind, but y’know.
Till returns to his drink, considering Ivan’s proposition as he sips his now lukewarm herbal tea.
Whatever. It wouldn’t hurt to be a bit helpless over your boyfriend every now and then.
“Sure.. But don’t complain about how heavy I am when you struggle up the first step.”
Ivan is really getting everything he’s wished for in life and more, isn’t he today? Not only does he get to care for his sick husb- boyfriend. He also gets to carry him up the stairs like a couple in wedlock. It’s embarrassing how giddy Ivan feels over this.
The light dusting of scarlet creeping onto Ivan’s face can only make Till huff in indignation.
“Whatever your thinkin’ of, cut it out sicko. It’s just one night.”
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Till gets full from the last remaining sips of his tip, and Ivan is more than delighted to usurp the drink from him and down it all in one go; much to Till’s mortification and reminder that he was still sick (Ivan doesn’t care).
Now their current scene was this.
Ivan and Till are standing at the bottom of the stairwell. Ivan is standing in contemplative thought, while Till watches him consider the best way to hold him.
‘ Should I do a baby care..? Or a princess carry..? ‘
A part of Till felt as though he should be nervous about why his helpless ahh boyfriend was in inner turmoil about this, but he chooses to digress. Anything relating to physical contact was important to Ivan, Till knew this very well. So who was he to judge?
After another minute or so, Ivan finally comes up with something, and he’s up close and personal with Till in a matter of seconds.
“Stay still, won’t you? I’d hate to make you fall.”
Before Till can even respond, Ivan’s cold hands at the back of Till’s thighs nearly makes the ashen yelp, and he scrambles for purchase when Ivan has him fully off the ground.
“ -The fuck??”
Ivan’s hands hold Till by his bottom, and Till finds himself panicking as he’s toted up his stairs and brought to his bedroom. Ivan carries Till like he’s the lightest thing in the world, and debatably he is. Till doesn’t even know why he finds this as such an astronomical shock, Mizi & Sua both can carry him for crying out loud!
The only struggle Ivan has is opening the bedroom door, but it seems more or less like him not wanting to let go of Till’s posterior. Once in, Ivan is as careful as ever with placing Till in bed, but Till can’t help but notice that he was placed on the left; against the wall. Not on the right, where he normally slept.
Till can’t even bother to question Ivan’s intentions when they’re so painfully obvious. Instead, he snuggles beneath his comforter and watches as the ravenet sheds off his suit-jacket and folds it neatly, placing it on Till’s desk chair.
“Are you planning on sleeping with me?” Till asks stupidly. Ivan doesn’t even bother to turn to him, kicking off his shoes and bringing them to Till’s shoe-rack before taking place back on the bed (before grabbing his phone from his pocket).
“Ofcourse.”
Ivan never fails to confuse Till.
“Dude, I can get you like. Sick.” Till warns, obscuring his face beneath the blanket as Ivan does something on his phone (texting his parents to say he won’t be coming home tonight). He crawls into place next to Till in no time, hands coming to cradle Till’s waist and press kisses into Till’s trapezius and neck.
“So pretty.”
Ivan is far too gentle for Till. The press of his lips against his neck making Till melt far more than he had any right too as he shutters in his hold.
“You’re gorgeous, y’know that.” Till just huffs, shifting in Ivan’s embrace to face him proper.
“If you're gonna compliment me, at least do it to my face. ” Till says, voice soft as satin as Ivan holds him tighter. Ivan’s nails scratch ever so gently against Till’s back, tracing his back in a way that gives him tremors in his thighs and shortness of breath.
“Can I kiss you? Please” Ivan pleads, and it makes Till laugh indefinitely; despite the strain it puts on his throat.
“I can get you sick, Ivan.” Till says for probably the umphteenth time, but Ivan was everything relating to insistent.
“I don’t mind. Then we can be sick together.”
Till scoffs, rolling his eyes with an unimpressed, yet endeared expression at Ivan’s wishful thinking.
“Don’t blame me when you feel like crap. “