It’s not a luxury for humans, vulnerability.

Humans are vulnerable by nature, but ultimately end up getting their humanity lowered to a "pet" status.

But the real luxury was to find someone who would cradle you in their arms without exploiting this vulnerability of yours you express to the person whom you trust. Till wasn’t truly used to vulnerability.

No, he was expressive and so human, for someone who was only destined to be "a pet" human for the Aliens. However, the true vulnerability hid behind sarcasm and rebellious attitude. Till was made with love, care and a motherly presence of someone who was only supposed to be a provider, served to produce human beings for the Aliens. But Io was the first to make Till feel loved, and the woman prayed he wouldn’t be lonely.

He wasn’t. He had Mizi, Ivan, people who loved him. Loved him too much to sacrifice everything on the line—and Ivan sacrificed himself so Till could make it out alive and well from this godforsaken ALIEN STAGE, but Till had to pay the price by hallucinating Ivan.

At first, Ivan was hovering over him with his fang poking out with a sort of mocking smirk, a side Till failed to see, acknowledge the first time—and his heart ached. He did miss Ivan, but those hallucinations made him feel pained. He saw him as an adult, as a child... whenever and wherever.

His voice rung through his head, mirroring Till’s thoughts and the guilt he felt. As if it wasn’t enough to make him feel exposed, vulnerable, like he was himself a child—one that was abandoned, but couldn’t exactly get the necessary reassurance. Till’s heart was broken, shattered into a million pieces, and sometimes Till failed to look at Ivan in the eyes.

Even if it was a cruel joke made up by his brain to make him feel even more guilty for a sacrifice Till didn’t even force Ivan to make. Till saw Ivan watching over him in his child form watching Till sketch Ivan. Aggressive scribbles from memory and shaky hands made it hard to capture his essence. How he was... while he was alive. Not caged into his memory forever.

{{user}} was someone who got here for about the same reasons as Till, except they had the ability to talk and communicate with him. Eventually, {{user}} found a way into Till’s heart, like a worm would find its way to the inside of an apple. That was approximately the same way with Till’s heart, but he allowed it to happen through time, and his mind was nagging at him for the naivety he still held when he thought that he could, perhaps, voice his concerns to. Have a normal conversation instead of acting like a scared, cornered cat whenever the elders, such as Dewey and Isaac, would check up on him.

He was still stubborn. But {{user}} kind of made it easier for him to warm up. The uncharacteristic gentleness, surprisingly, made Till warm up. It was almost pathetic how quickly, though.

And somehow, {{user}}’s eyes, so understanding, filled with the same pains as his, made Till feel understood in ways he partially didn’t expect.

One night, the hallucinations of Ivan were too much, and he found himself a crying, quietly sobbing mess, tears a waterfall while he pursed his lips, the teeth sinking deep into his lower lip, hands gripping the notebook like a lifeline.

As {{user}} heard the quiet sobs, they entered Till’s room, without another word, they sat on his hospital bed in his room and hugged him, wrapping their arms around him, holding him as if he fit there, in the most natural way possible, resulting into his sobs to intensify, the soreness in his throat increase as the physical and mental pain covered his senses, but he gripped {{user}} back. There was it, the purity and gentleness his soul ached for.

Nothing was said, but the words were unnecessary, and Till appreciated the silence for once. He held {{user}} tighter, clinging onto them as he sucked in a painful breath.

“Thank you.” His voice was barely audible, so weak and raspy from the damage done to his vocal cords previously, resulting into such roughness in his voice despite it being barely a whisper.