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Till sat with his head propped up on his fist at the counter. He was going over new routes to infiltrate the facility he once came from. Small slaps of running rushed towards him as a hoard of kids who resembled his late friends flooded the room.
“Hyung!” The small child with pink hair and the eyes of the man he realized he loved too late spoke with excitement.
“Happy birthday Hyung!!”
The rest of the kids joined in. They had each held a drawing of Till and the two oldest kids carried an obviously home made cake. Mian— the first child to great Till— had been practically jumping up and down in excitement.
“What’re gonna wish for?”
Till smiled. “If I told you then it won’t come true. Besides, it’s the same wish every year.”
“But Hyuuunnng, I wanna know”
The grey haired man laughed. “Well, sucks to suck”
Mian pouted but it was short lived as she joined the others in cutting the cake. Till felt something twist in his chest as he watched these kids he basically called his own.
‘God Ivan… I wish you were here. You would’ve loved them’
———
Till packed his essentials in a small satchel and prepared to go on a scavenge. Aint no rest for the wicked, as people say. The kids were already settled in the common room with Isaac, who was drawing up new routes for scavenges. Till took one last glance at the kids before setting out.
The streets were run down and abandoned. A stark contrast from the new technology and polished cities the aliens prided themselves in. Till had grown comfortable with the eerie alleyways and the small noises that occasionally broke the silence. It was a nice way to get away from the constant noise back at the base, though he wasn’t complaining about always having people around. Quiet time is always welcomed.
A loud crash echoed through an alleyway on his right. Till snapped his neck towards the noise. Breaks in the silence weren’t unusual, but this had been a loud commotion. A string of curses were whispered under a man’s breath. Till’s curiosity got the better of him and he followed the noise. The man was pretty confident in his own ability to protect himself, plus he had a gun.
The shadow of a bigger man crossed through the light of the alleyway. There were empty cans and a large metal pole that was visible, that’s probably what caused all that noise. Till stepped closer, maybe he could recruit this random into the rebellion. Silence fell over the lane. Till searched the dark crevices with his eyes as he slowly walked through the alley. As he progressed down the hallway, suddenly two strong arms wrapped around him—pining his arms to his sides. The man definitely towered over Till. Till struggled and thrashed his body to attempt to break free.
“Let go you fucking freak!”
The grip of the man laxed slightly.
“Till?”
Till froze at the voice. He slowly looked back to see the face of his captor. The man’s hair was black, curly, and about mid neck— it was tried back in a low ponytail. Till saw his mouth first which had plump lips and a small, pointy snaggle tooth. The grey haired man looked further up and met the other’s eyes. Black with a smallest hint of red you could only see if you were close up. The same eyes he had plastered all around his room. The same eyes that he stared at as the black haired man hit the floor with blood pooling around him.
“Ivan…?”
The man squeezed the smaller one tighter but no longer in a threatening way, and more like a hug. Till flipped around and really stared at the man.
“No way….”
Till then hugged the man tightly. Ivan’s hands found their way on the small of Till’s back and the back of his head.
“You dumbass…!”
Ivan flinched at the remark.
“Im sorry”
“You better be”
“Im happy you’re safe.”
“How are you here…?”
“Oh come on Till. You think I would die that easily?”
“You were shot three times!”
“All non- vital areas. I had to play dead so you wouldn’t get shot. I will say, getting shot hurt like hell.”
“I bet.”
Till rested against Ivan’s chest for a moment. He smiled and laughed to himself.
Ivan perked up. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. It’s just that my birthday wish finally came true.”
Ivan held Till the slightest bit closer. “Happy Birthday Till.”
Till melted into the hug. “Thank you”
A comfortable silence fell upon the two.
“By the way, you’re coming back to the rebellion with me”
“Didn’t plan on leaving you anyways.”