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Stockholm Syndrome

Taiga likes to think he knows what love is.

But he had no idea it was such a deep, complicated emotion. He learns something new about it everyday.

Unlike love, he is ashamed to admit he knows little about that kid, Till.

But he is astounded as he watches that boy sit, day by ever-lovin' day by Ivan's door, waiting for the moment he wakes up.

That punk Hyuna told him Luke had knocked Ivan out back at the Stage and that, once he woke up back at the Org., he was violent and they had to sedate him more heavily.

Taiga's heart breaks for Till; he's never seen the boy sadder than he is when he sits, unblinkingly awake, staring off into empty space. His eyes seem hollow and, though he never cries, his eyes are always red and bloodshot when Taiga sees him.

Taiga sighs as he stirs the boiling pot of vegetable stew before him, watching the bubbles expand and deflate, wary of the burning fire. He just feels so helpless— Till had helped him through his own slump and, though his words had been harsh, they had also been true. They'd woken a guilty voice inside Taiga that told him he couldn't just be a depressed lump of shit when Luka wasn't around. He has to at least try to be pleasant.

Facing such a realization, Taiga had excused himself from the millionth useless Higher Up meeting, limbs heavy with conviction, and trudged into the kitchen. He glanced around, a little lost at first. Suddenly, inspiration struck and he began by stoking a fire, preparing the ingredients, and filling a large pot with water from the well.

Vegetable stew is the only thing Leon Taiga knows how to make. He hopes the kid likes it.

When Taiga creeps around the corner, the scene before him is much the same as it always is— Till sits below the one-way window, next to a heavy iron door with his knees hugged to his chest and head buried in his arms. His breathing is irregular, and that's the only way Taiga is able to tell he's asleep.

He thinks about waking him, thinks maybe this time will be different than the last, and the last, and the last. . .

He doesn't wake him up, in the end. Can't bring himself to.

Taiga purses his lips and goes to sit next to the kid, lulling Till's head onto his own shoulder.

The boy's body is tense, every muscle tight like he might bolt out of the room at any moment. But as he rests on Taiga's shoulder, that tension very slowly seeps away until he's melded to Taiga's side like a puddle of slime.

Taiga huffs a laugh and rests his head on Till's.

The kid may not be okay, but that didn't mean he had to be all alone as he walked the worst steps of his life.

Taiga won't allow it.

[Across the blurry line of dreams and reality...]

Till sighs as he lays his head on Ivan's shoulder.

He knows this is a dream, can see it in the way the world is fuzzy around the edges and how he's even allowed this close to Ivan. He's been keeping the tension stored in his muscles all day but now, he lets himself relax into Ivan's side. This is the only way he's able to do so.

"So. . ." Ivan mumbles, laying his head on top of Till's.

"I can't believe you tried to shoot me."

"I already said sorry."

"Wouldn't have even been able to if I was dead."

"But. . . you're not."

"That isn't the point, Ivan."