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Till
Mizi was alive. Mizi was alive. She had to be. The newspaper had said "missing" meaning that she couldn't be dead. Could she? Of course not.
Till couldn't think properly; it felt as though his brain had short-circuited after Round 5. He had chased after Mizi for so goddamn long, only for her to be taken out in the blink of an eye? God was playing a cruel game on him when he decided to pair Mizi with the one and only Luka. But when was life not cruel? He and the other kids were brought up in this hellhole and had to suffer abuse all their lives, to be treated like animals by aliens who were so much more superior to them in terms of strength that it was almost laughable. Almost.
He had stopped believing in god long ago.
*Cough*
Till winced. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to sing. His lifeless eyes scanned the room for the first time since he was brought to the bar. The dim red spotlights highlighted the aliens'- no, monsters'- figures into harsh outlines as they sat in their seats sipping alcohol lazily. Their expectant faces made Till sick. These were the faces that found enjoyment in the slaughter of innocent kids when all they ever wanted was a life without fear.
The mic in front of Till silently beckoned him to perform, but he couldn't. It was all their fault for enjoying this cruel game. Their fault that he lost Mizi. Ever since Mizi was gone, Till's voice was too.
He faltered into the mic. A wrong move, he realised dully when he observed his segyein getting up from its table and approaching him from the corner of his eye. It wasn't like he cared anymore. Nothing mattered to him. He had already begged his segyein to kill him before.
Only if they were so kind to kill him.
No, they had other plans.
The flabby alien grabbed his face harshly and before Till could even comprehend what was happening, slammed his face into the table. He could break the impact with his hands just in time, but what greeted him on the table made him lose his mind. It was a newspaper cutting of Mizi, with "MISSING" written on the top with bold letters. That was Till's final straw. He instinctively grabbed a wine bottle and slammed it onto the alien's head. What happened next was a blur.
Till was held against the table and he couldn't move, couldn't see, hell he couldn't even breathe-Someone forced open his jaw and slipped a pill in, clasping his mouth which compelled him to swallow.
Till fought with what little will he had left, but he knew that he had lost. Throughout the years, Till's resolve was stripped off him little by little, and after that day, the only thing left of him was an empty shell.
Ivan
Ivan stared at the door. He knew Till was in there. Ivan wasn't supposed to be in the bar to begin with, but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was Till. He had heard the crashing of wine bottles from beyond the door before, the screams. Till's screams.
He slowly turned the handle and opened the door. It was surprisingly dark and empty, like the aftermath of a party. Ivan's eyes darkened as they landed on Till. He was sleeping on the floor, his head leaned against the arms of a sofa. His hair was tousled and beads of sweat fell down his cheek as he rested. A white metal band was covering his mouth.
That wretched collar again.
Ivan crouched in front of Till and gently pressed his collar; it recognised his fingerprint and came open easily. The benefits from being a loyal pet went far, he thought grimly. If only Till wasn't such a rebel, he wouldn't have to get hurt so much.
Not wanting to wake Till up, Ivan cupped his cheek gently and made Till face him. He looked so beautiful even in sleep, although Ivan could almost see the nightmares lurking behind his closed lids. He brought his face closer until his forehead touched and nuzzled his face against Till's sweaty one.
One day, you will be the death of me.
Ivan knew Till would never love him back. His heart belonged to Mizi and nothing could change that. For Ivan though, it was okay. He would keep on loving Till until maybe, one day Till would notice Ivan. Maybe one day, he would finally see eye to eye. Ivan could wait until then.
Ivan brought his face down onto Till's neck, breathing in his sweat. He hugged him tighter, which made Till whine. Ivan knew he was probably disturbing Till's precious sleep, but frankly speaking, he didn't really care anymore. It was Till's fault for making him so loveable.
Ivan stayed in that position- with his head on Till's shoulder, lips pressed against his neck- for a while longer until Till's eyes fluttered open. Noticing him, the grey-haired attempted to shove him away. "What the hell- Ivan what are you doing?!"
Despite Till trying to push away, Ivan didn't let go of him until he gave up. Till winced and stopped resisting as pain stabbed him. The drug hadn't left Till's body and his limbs were aching in pain. The memories of what had happened hours earlier were slowly flooding back into Till, making him choke up. He felt so disgusted and sick, it was beyond words. Like his throat had closed up on him and he couldn't breathe again.
Ivan knew about what the aliens had done to Till. But he also knew that if he mentioned it, Till would feel worse. So, he decided to simply ignore it.
"Your dark circles are getting worse. You should sleep." Ivan mumbled into Till's shoulder.
"Shut up." Till rasped, but didn't shove Ivan away. Although he didn't want to admit it, Ivan's warm body pressed against him gave him...comfort.
Comfort against the harsh waves that were crashing onto Till, making him choke and drown. Till held pride in his dedication to rebel, but even he had to admit that the torture and punishments were too much for him to bear sometimes, especially now that Mizi- his only reason, wasn't here anymore.
All Till could do was hug Ivan back and quietly weep all of his sorrows onto his shoulder. Oh dear Ivan, his shadow.