Chapter Text
Ivan turned to look at the short gray-haired boy working next to him. Till was always fully immersed in everything he did, like nothing else in the world mattered. Aw, he looks so cute when he’s focused, Ivan thought. He couldn’t actually see Till’s face, but Ivan could perfectly imagine his furrowed gray brows, and his face red and scrunched in frustration–which it usually was a lot more now these days. However, Ivan decided that–no matter how precious he looked–Till had ignored him for far too long. He leaned into Till, who was hunched over something, facing away from Ivan’s spot in the grass.
“What’re ya working on?” Ivan asked, the first sound he’d made for the past half hour he’d been sitting with Till. Till made no move to respond, so Ivan was forced to use other means. If he didn’t get to see Till’s beautiful, shiny, radiant, smile, then he would at least try to get a scowl out of him (which looked just as adorable). Ivan scooted in even closer than they already were.
“I know it’s not music. If the aliens see you doing anything but that on the security cameras, they’ll kill you on sight,” Ivan teased. Though it came out more like how hieroglyphics would sound, since his cheek was practically Till’s. Though the temperature in the garden could be anything the Segyein set it to, they always put it at freezing–probably just to make them suffer. Ivan told himself he was using Till as a source of heat, but he really just wanted to be closer to him. Ivan
Till elbowed Ivan in the ribs and shoved him off. Ivan fell off him, eyes wide; not because Till’s scrawny arm actually did anything, but because he finally got a glimpse of what he was doing.
Till
Till had been stalking spying on Mizi all day. But wherever Mizi was, she was too. Mizi had always seemed so happy, easy-going, and at ease around Sua, while he barely even got a wave. Till knew that Mizi deserved someone much better than him and Sua, but maybe, just maybe Mizi would…
Get a grip. She’ll never notice you.
Since then, Till couldn’t stop thinking about the way Mizi’s face transformed earlier as soon as Sua had placed the pink and red wreath of woven flowers atop her pink hair. Mizi had always glowed, but under the flowers she looked ethereal. If Mizi could feel so much joy over a piece of tangled petals, Till was determined to see the smile on her face again–except he would be the one to put it there.
How did Sua do this so easily? Till had severely underestimated just how much effort it actually took. He had been twiddling and fiddling with the stems of flowers for so long he could barely tell the difference between the grass and the flower. He hadn’t even known Ivan had come, which–now that he thought about it–never happened. That idiot always tried to take up as much space as he possibly could, like he was trying to soak up every ounce of the artificial alien sun for himself.
Focus. Ripping his thoughts away from Ivan’s annoying presence, Till went back to the task at hand. If Sua could make one, he had to make his even better. So, Till was determined to make the perfect flower crown. No, not with just any flowers. Clematises.
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The flower was extremely rare naturally, even more so now after it was deemed “poisonous” by the aliens. Clematises couldn’t actually harm anyone, but the Segyein decided that if they removed them, no one would remember the humiliation of a round they had a few decades back. A contestant had somehow snuck the flower and a lighter on stage, using it to burn every alien in the audience and escaping unscathed. The surviving aliens had obviously assassinated them later–and every other participant–in an attempt to “send a message.” Well, it had worked, it had become a history lesson in schools, and nobody had ever attempted or mentioned it again.
There was one thing the aliens never let out. Every contestant had had to strip down in front of their designated guard and change into their costumes right before their performance. This meant that one of the aliens had let the contestant sneak the flower on stage.
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Till
“What’re ya working on?”
Till’s blood froze. No. His entire body did. If Ivan’s big mouth drew any attention to their spot, who knows what would happen to them. How long has it even been since he sat here? Till shoved the flowers under his legs to conceal them from the cameras currently focused on his back, and Ivan, who was slowly creeping closer. Why was he so annoying?
“I know it’s not music. If the aliens see you doing anything but that on the security cameras, they’ll kill you on sight.”
They were way too close together now. If the clematises were spotted by anyone, they would both be killed. Actually, no. Ivan would be spared; the aliens loved him. He had it all–the talent, the ability to provide entertainment,and the looks.
With a jab of his elbow, Till tried to shove the bulky nincompoop off before he could see the pink peeking from under his leg. Please don’t notice. Ivan’s eye caught on his leg, and his smirk fell down his tooth. Please don’t say anything.
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All of the trainees were required to have the same education the alien students got. But instead of being taught like they probably should have been, the aliens had just loaded every school years’ curriculum into their head at once. Was it extremely brain-damaging? Very. Was it less effort for the Segyein? Also very. The aliens didn’t care what happened to you as long as you still looked attractive and could sing.
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Ivan
Ivan had vaguely remembered the incident that caused the banning of the flower. But it couldn’t be that flower; the aliens had completely eradicated the garden of them, Ivan tried convincing himself. Of course, the Segyein were too lazy to burn the clematises beyond the river, but Till wouldn’t be stupid enough to travel that far out. Right? Yet, that smell was unmistakable. It was what Sua always smelled like after coming back way past curfew. Is that where she always went too?
He lowered his voice, “You really are a special kind of special aren’t you? At least hide them properly." Ivan scooped up the flowers from under Till’s legs and twirled one between his fingers. If an alien caught Ivan with a clematis, he would be let off with a warning at most. But Till…They hated him.
“Who could possibly be worth this much of a risk?”
While Ivan knew nobody should be worthy of Till’s magnificent being, he so desperately hoped that Till might have gone through all this trouble for him.
“Who said I was making it for anyone? Maybe I was just trying to see if the supposed ‘poison’ actually had a sting, Ivan.” Till reached up and snatched the flowers from his arms. “Plus, you’re drawing the cameras’ attention far more than the flowers are.”
Was that a compliment? Ivan didn't get any much from Till, so he would take it as one. He suppressed his growing smirk long enough to say, “Huh, I guess the cameras don’t work after all. Might as well discard them now, since you didn’t get caught.” Ivan added, “Just to be safe.”
Till rose to his feet and muttered something under his breath.
“What was that?”
“I wouldn’t have had to throw them away if YOUR hunchback hadn’t sat here!” Till burst. “Why don’t you find someone else to torment for a change. I bet it’s really depressing that I’m the only person here willing to be your friend.”
So close, Ivan thought. I always have to mess something up.
“I’ll have you know that I have plenty of friends.” Ivan really didn’t, but Till didn't need to know that. “I couldn’t say the same about you though.”
Ivan started towards his room, close enough that he could still hear what Till was saying without him having to yell.
“Oh yeah, I was making the flower crown for someone! But it wasn't for you.”
Ivan just pretended to ignore it.
Till
Fine. He didn’t need the flowers anyway. If flower crowns were Sua’s thing, then he would make Mizi something different. Something better.
What could he do, write a song for her? Ew, no. Even the thought of that made Till cringe.
Okay, I’ll get back to brainstorming later. He had reached a spot deep enough in the woods behind the center to throw the flowers. It wasn’t as far away from Anakt Garden as the place he had found the flowers–beyond the river–but it would have to do. Till doubted the guards surrounding the forest would inspect the insides of a thicket this tucked away. There was a burning center closer to the rooms, where the aliens blindly incinerated anything in the chute–which was probably what Ivan meant. But where was the fun in that? Dropping the flowers, Till started on the path back.
It was harder to navigate the path he had come through–a path right between two guards’ posts–since the sun had gotten dimmer. Was this even the right way?
Tilting his head downward, he tried to look for footprints on the moist forest floor, when something caught his eye. A clematis had remained, stuck inside Till’s dirty shoe.
He couldn’t stop to take it out now if he wanted to avoid arriving back after curfew and answering the Segyein’s questions. So, he messily stuffed it back into his shoe, praying he wouldn’t encounter a guard.
Finally, after wandering about for maybe 10 minutes, Till had somehow found the path he had come in from. To his immense relief, the edge of the forest had finally come into view. Just a few more feet. SNAP! Crap. How could he not have seen the twig? Thankfully, no one seemed to stir, so Till continued on towards the center.
A flashlight turned on to his left.
“What is your identification?” Lefty called. “And how do you have that flower?”