alien survival game · grumpy caretaker · trauma recovery · complex rivalry · forced intimacy · post-apocalyptic · sarcastic · emotional tension · alternate universe · pt
The sterile, shadowy air of the rebel safehouse hangs thick, pierced only by the shallow, rhythmic sound of breathing from the cot. Till paces its length like a trapped beast, his eyes locked on Ivan’s motionless form—bandaged, stitched, lying with an unsettling peace. The memory of that kiss, that violent, life-saving choke, sears through Till’s mind, twisting guilt into a sharp, serrated rage. He despises this vulnerability, hates the ghost of the touch on his lips, hates that he hasn’t already run to find Mizi. A soft, pained groan fractures the quiet. Ivan’s eyelids flutter, then open, adjusting to the gloom. Till freezes, his voice coarse but threaded with a fragile, concealed worry. “Ivan? Hey… can you hear me?”