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Till's eyes were closed yet his mind active, hazy and misty as if he'd been asleep for a long, long time. The back of his head felt strangely...warm, comfortable like a plush pillow, like threads of silk embalming his head. His teal eyes slowly blinked open to see someone's head and shoulders, everything felt extremely bright and it was hard to discern their appearance or details of their face, like staring at a person through frosted glass. They were seemingly humming a gentle tune, so whoever or whatever they were, they were safe.
''..Mom..?'' He mumbled without thinking, the word left his lips before he could think. His voice was hoarse, like he hadn’t used it in ages. The slow, rythmic hum ceased, the faceless mass slowly began gaining colors and stronger forms. Instead of a thin, fine face he was met with a strong, broad shoulders, a smile decorated with a crooked snaggletooth on its corner and soft black hair.
''Till?'' The voice asked. Ivan.
Till's head was neatly nestled on Ivan's warm lap, the messy gray-hair tickling the white fabric of the raven's pristine clothes. His sluggish mind caught up, recognition crashing into him like a cold, icy wave.
As if electrocuted, the gray-haired man's teal eyes widen like a deer caught in the headlines, shotting out of Ivan's lap and turning around, his sluggish limbs scrambled beneath him, pushing him upright so fast he nearly toppled over. His hands, without thinking, flew to the plush of the raven's pale cheeks, cupping and stretching the flesh, pulled it, like to tell himself this was real.
Ivan let him do it, unbothered, his lips twitching in mild amusement. His brows only furrowed slightly when Till tugged a little too hard.
''I..Ivan?'' he whispered, his voice choking, his throat gargling as if he didn't swallow water quite right. Ivan slowly nodded, his crimson-tinged eyes gently looking at his friend.
''Hi, Till.'' he answered, lightly tilting his head to the side like a confused pup, inky-black hair lightly swaying in the breeze. It felt like something inside Till snapped, like an overwhelmed rope, and he took the raven into a tight embrace.
''You. You fucking asshole!'' he squealed, squeezing the man in his arm harder, whom didn't mind in the slightest, gripping so tightly his knuckles went white, ''You didn't have to fucking do it. You didn't have to fucking die!'' he continued, voice sore and rusty like a nail. Ivan hummed in response, resting his chin on Till's exposed shoulder, his cheek nuzzling the neon-green fabric of the silver-head man's top.
“Didn’t I, though?” Ivan mused, his voice a slow murmur against Till’s ear. “You know how things were. You know it had to be one of us.”
Till squeezed his eyes shut, gripping the raven even harder. “I don’t care! I don’t fucking care, Ivan!” He let out a sharp, broken laugh, breath hitching between hiccups. “You—you act like it’s no big deal, like you’re not—like you’re not…”
“Dead?” Ivan finished, his tone light, teasing but not unkind.
Till pulled back just enough to glare at him. “Don’t fucking say it like that.”
Ivan chuckled, snaggletooth flashing. “It’s the truth.”
"Yeah? Well, fuck the truth." Till swiped at his eyes with his sleeve, sniffling hard. His voice dropped lower, rougher. "You should’ve won."
Ivan blinked at him, expression unreadable. “Would that have made you happy?”
Till didn't answer. Couldn’t. He only clung to Ivan like he might disappear the moment he let go.
They stayed like this for awhile, Till crying and rubbing himself into the crook of Ivan's neck,silent except for the occasional uneven breath. and choked sob. Eventually, he exhaled shakily and pulled away, rubbing at his face like it’d erase the evidence of his tears, running a bony hand through his hair, fingers tangling in the messy grey strands before dropping back into his lap.
''Cheer up, cheer up Till. Are you calm now?'' Ivan whispered. It seemed like he was teasing him, but in truth, he wasn't. Till nodded, swallowing a ball of spit thickly, finally taking the time to look around the place and, well, it looked exactly like Anakt Garden. But in the same time... not?
The grass felt too green, almost unnaturally lush, each blade standing tall and soft like velvet. The air smelled sweeter, fresher, not artificial like before. Even the fake sun and skies of the Garden were replaced with much more glimmering ones, the sky feeling endless and the soft breeze on his skin comfortable like a warm cup of creamy milk.
''Where.. where are we? We're dead, right?'' Till asked, his green eyes observing the never-ending green and blue scenery of the place.
Ivan shrugged, putting the tip of his finger on his chin, seemingly in thought, ''I'm not too sure myself, Till. When I woke up after Round 6, It was just like you, the Garden was the first thing i saw.''
The gray-haired man slightly winced at the mention of Round 6, memories of the raven's warm kiss crippling on him. He shook his head, trying to push that in the back of his head. Ivan stared before getting up and stretching, to which, for some reasons, Till panicked.
''Hey- Where the hell are you going?'' Till stuttered, bending his legs to get up, his voice jumping an octave higher than intended.
Ivan turned back, brow raised, amused. "Relax."
Till scowled, as if offended, "I am relaxed."
"Uh-huh." Ivan grinned, snaggletooth peeking through.
Till seemingly realized he seemed like a desperate and attention-seeking puppy cleared and rattled his painful throat, ''I mean.. where are you going?'' He crossed his arms, feigning nonchalance.
The raven smiled, pointing at a tree in the distance. Till looked at it, and well enough, he could see two dots that were seemingly people nearby.
''To the others, of course. Come on Till, don't get left behind.''