till's first reaction to a wilting flower is to cheer it on, to keep it living. he feels so deeply for little things such as artificial flowers that he actively defends them when they are being crushed or mistreated, and kneels down to whisper encouragement as one nears the end of its life.
how often would ivan revisit that memory? the way till valued the life of these inorganic flowers, the way a single wilted bloom captures his attention and brings him to his knees in order to tend to it. when the time came, he might have hoped till would do it for him, too.
ivan and that flower were no different. beings bereft of emotion given feeling by the same sensitive boy, one who animated anything within his attention, unknowingly breathing life into blank vessels.
cheer up, till said, and suddenly the flower was brought to life, was personified by his encouragement. appealing to the emotions of a mere flower, assigning it a heart and a soul capable enough of receiving his words, believing it human enough to listen. through this display ivan was brought to life, too. mimicking till's words, thoughtful repetition, parsing through the layers and trying to understand the purpose, the meaning. cheer up, stay strong. this is must be what it's like to feel. heart seeping into actions, taking responsibility for the suffering of another.
ivan and that flower were no different. bodies weak and bent, blood-red. till over them, the same boy who brought them life watching as it trickles out. till kneels for the flower, but is motionless for ivan.
I saw a funny self defence meme video, immediately thought ”THEM!!!” and went for a sketching rampage for a few days. I hope this is somewhat readable here, oof. Enjoy : D
👉Mildly spicy continuation and ref video in my twitter thread