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It was Till’s birthday. Ivan knew his birthday was coming, but he had no clue what to do to celebrate. Till wouldn’t want to spend time with him anyways, since everyone else was flocking to him. Why would he choose to spend time with Ivan?
Ivan watched Till as he blushed when people gave him gifts, he watched as Till opened a bunch of crappy things he’d probably never use, he watched as Till thanked people so earnestly- something that Ivan couldn’t really relate to.
One of the camera’s in the flowers caught Ivan’s gaze. He vaguely remembered seeing a bunch of the other kids making flower crowns for one another. Till had made him one, but at the time he was concerned about the cameras in it and smashed it, causing Till to lash out at him. He later learned that Till was trying to be kind, maybe even trying to befriend him, but of course Ivan ruined that… like he ruins most things.
Maybe he could make a crown with the stems of the flowers to avoid the cameras?
Ivan didn’t know much about flower crowns- or well, stem crowns?… grass crowns? He’d have to ask Mizi to help him make the damned thing, but he was pretty sure he could count on her to help.
“You want to make a flower crown?” Mizi asked him with enthusiasm and curiosity when Ivan asked her for aforementioned help.
“Yes,” Ivan replied, “I want to make one out of the stems of the flowers.”
“Out of the stems?” She questioned, “Why not use the flowers? They look cuter than the stems.”
He didn’t want to use them because they had cameras in them, but he couldn’t outright say that. “I don’t like them,” Ivan replied nonchalantly. It was true, just not the whole picture.
“Hmm,” Mizi put a hand to her chin, “It’ll be unique, I guess.” There was a pause before she continued, “I think I can help.”
Till was thankfully too busy talking to others all day to pay attention to Ivan, so it gave the boy time to create the stem crown. Mizi tried hard to help him make it look as pretty as possible with just stems, pressing him a little bit throughout to add some flowers (an idea that Ivan continued to decline). It took Ivan quite a few tries to actually create a crown; ripping the stems on accident a few times, but eventually he got it right.
“Who’s the crown for?” Mizi asked, even though Ivan had a feeling she already knew the answer.
Ivan’s gaze shifted over to Till, before looking back at Mizi. She followed his gaze and nodded.
“You two sure are close huh?” Mizi commented.
“Not really,” Ivan replied, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly uncomfortable by the turn of this conversation.
“You two are almost always together-“
“We’re also almost always fighting.”
“Well yes,” Mizi agreed, “It’s obvious that even though you both fight, you still care for one another.”
Till didn’t care for him- or on the off chance he did; he shouldn’t. Ivan didn’t feel like he could be truly loved. Hell, he didn’t even understand love. He just knew he felt something for Till. Something that would never be reciprocated, and Ivan was okay with that fact.
Ivan had never planned on giving the crown to Till while he was awake. He knew if Till was aware the crown had come from him, he wouldn’t like it… He’d see it as something condescending or rude. So Ivan waited until Till was asleep to give him the present.
Ivan walked over to Till as he was sleeping, grass crown in hand. A part of him, the part that yearned for nothing more than Till’s attention, wanted to wake Till up… to pick on him to get a rise out of him. It was Till’s birthday though, so Ivan would let him rest.
He gently placed the grass crown on Till’s head, leaning in close- too close, closer than he normally was allowed to get to Till. “Happy birthday Till,” He whispered, even though Till would never hear, never know he was the one who gifted him the crown.
When Till opened his eyes he felt something brush against his forehead. He grabbed at the object, pulling it off of his head to examine it. It was a flower crown- or something flower crown adjacent. It made him feel butterflies in his stomach and he felt his face heating up.
He wasn’t sure who it was from, but he vaguely remembered seeing Ivan and Mizi making something out of the flowers. If it was Mizi, wouldn’t she have just given him it? …but Mizi only makes flower crowns for Sua. That left one option open: Ivan.
That was even more confusing for Till to unpack. Ivan, who’d rejected his flower crown years ago and stomped on whatever friendship they could’ve had, gave him a crown? Plus, why was it made of stems and not flowers?
Till shook his head, Ivan’s motives were too complicated to dissect. The guy was insufferable, but he orbited Till- clung to him as though Till was his lifeline.
“Till-“ Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Ivan was by his side looking at him with the most infuriating deadpan look. “You slept through most of the day.”
They were simple words, but for some reason the way he said it aggravated Till. “Well it’s my birthday… so I can sleep as much as I want.”
Ivan nodded, looking back and forth between Till and the crown in his hands, “What’s that?”
“I woke up with it on my head,” Till explained. He wasn’t sure whether Ivan was actually asking or if he was pretending to be oblivious. Till put the crown on his head and smiled, “Like it?”
Ivan blinked a couple times, as though he was looking at something a bit too bright. “I think it looks really cool on you,” Ivan responded, a small smile appearing on his face. It reminded Till of a time Ivan called him a loser. It’d made him feel so utterly… mundane- lacking.
“You think so?” Till asked, insecurity getting the better of him.
“I do,” He’d never seen Ivan look so genuine. Till was used to Ivan’s fake smile, his false charisma, but he had to admit, he treasured seeing the real Ivan.
“I wonder who made it,” Till commented, trying to fish for something to prove Ivan had created it.
“I’m not sure,” He mumbled, “I didn’t see anyone making flower crowns.”
“I think I did,” Till pressed further, “… but I could be misremembering.”
“Do you like it?” Ivan’s expression was slightly sheepish.
“Of course I do,” Till responded defensively.
“Good.” Till wasn’t sure whether Ivan had meant to out himself as the crown giver, but his response gave Till the answer he needed.
“Thank you.”