#Neil tells him it was just his way of dealing with a nightmare bc the familiarity brings him peace

[inadvisablebutinevitable]

I think Neil is always going to be a nostalgic little shit in the dumbest ways. I think they’re going to be retired in their mid-forties grown ass adults with a house and a mortgage, and one day Andrew wakes up alone and goes outside to see if neil’s gone for a run or something and then a shingle falls right beside him, and he looks up and Neil’s just. On the roof. Smoking a cigarette with his legs dangling over the edge of their little suburban bungalow and Andrew is just like “Jesus fuck junkie” because he’s too goddamn old for this.

[aro-ortega]

18 for vanya and 22 for milo?

thanks for asking !

18 for vanya - what is their greatest fear ?

theres a couple things that contribute to their greatest fear, but it all revolves around the same thing so i think it all counts as one thing. i suppose the absolute worse case is that they fail and that the farm recaptures him. but even if he succeeds and is able to take down the farm like he wants to, he doesnt think that hes accomplishing this without sacrificing himself; he doesnt fear his own death but he fears what is left behind, that ricardo (and now chen) will have to learn to live without him again. but shes dealing with a new nightmare scenario so these fears might be irrelevant now ! but if this is her life now it does mean that her fear of failure has come true, bc theres no way he can accomplish his goals as of the retribution epilogue

22 for milo - how do they feel about their telepathy ? is it a gift ? a curse ?

little of a little of b. i always choose the "i love the break from my telepathy" option when playing as puppet neil in her runs. it can be useful, it gives them an advantage as a villain same as when she was a hero. but. i wonder how necessary her telepathy is to her. like obviously it is, bc it's necessary for the suit to have the rat king so that it can have the nanovaores which means yes telepathy is required they do need it she woukdnt want to be without it. but she does like the break from telepathy w puppet neil which means she is used to interacting with rosie + mortum without telepathy. and reading surface thoughts during a fight isnt useful against argent and she feels guilty about possessing her in the first place so avoids telepathy shenanigans against her and then she (argent) straight up tells them to keep that shit to herself. and ortega is ortega. so it's not like she needs it for her personal life or when acting as neil. so she just needs it as power if she didnt i think she would be pro getting rid her powers. or at least like neutral and willing to give it serious thought off it were a possibility, yanno ?

[danwylds]

Right okay I never actually got myself to write this fic so have my notes for the fic except I haven’t read through them since June when I wrote them and I refuse to edit anything

Right is bakery au but not

Neil either turned down the offer of exy for the foxes or for coach whatever the fuck his name was

He got caught earlier tho which is . Unfortunate

Stuart still comes in

Maybe I’ll have him move back to Britain for a while? To avoid the moriyamas n stuff

He NEVER misses a match of the ravens/foxes tho

Which leads to him seeing the frankly sickening interview of Kevin and riko

Neil is like yo Stuart let me start smth

Stuart is like Neil the only reason you’d go back to the states right now is if you did smth that you could hide and you can’t do that for shit

So Neil is like yk what I’m gonna find a way bc I’m not letting this kid go through this (Andrews quite into this idea when it’s shared)

So he says yo. Stuart. Uncle. Sir. Let me open a bakery or something in the states

Stuart is like no you fucking idiot

And Neil is like but c o n s i d e r

You can get info or smth

Just have another business in the states yk

AND I’d get out of your hair

And Stuart is like hm okay but you’ve gotta live in a complex I choose for you

And Neil is all only if I can choose where it’s gonna be

It’s a deal

He (very obviously) chooses a place near palmetto

Stuart is tired but is like he’ll be under protection n shit so I guess??? And he’s not stupid enough to start something right. Right.

Wrong.

Anyways.

It’s a bakery that starts out kinda slow

But Neil finds he likes baking and Stuart pays for his nephew to have some sort of normal life so it doesn’t matter too much

Renee starts to frequent it

At first it’s to pick up sweets for Andrew

But eventually she starts bringing Allison on dates there bc they have a cute little seating area (figure where Seth fits in? I think he’ll survive?)

Uhhh what’s a timeline

I think this’ll be around the winter holidays (Jewish neil? Look into it)

So thanksgiving will have happened . I think Andrew agreed to go Not bc he particularly wanted to but bc he cares for Nicky and knows he’ll probably go anyways

Yeah so thanksgiving. h

Andrew JUST got off his drugs and he’s so damn protective of his own that he hardly even leaves their sides

Edens is a def no for em

Meanwhile Neil is tentative friends w Renee who has brought all the upperclassmen there a few times

Allison bullies him for his clothing but it’s okay he deserves it

Renee is sweet and stops em from doing anything too drastic which Neil appreciates

Matt,, my baby,, he’s so happy he just asks Neil about random stuff

Dan is sweet too!!

Seth kinda hates him but Neil hasn’t paid enough attention to return the favor

One day close to the winter banquet the upperclassmen are like yeah Neil we’re gonna go to this thing and it should be really fun!! Oh you know what? Our teammate Nicky needs a date and his cousin doesn’t really like anyone from his class and he’s super fucking crazy abt it so if that doesn’t deter you then you should totally join !

Neil is like oh chance to fuck up Riko? Absolutely I’ll go

ALLISON DRESSES HIM

HE LOOKS SO GOOD

when he and Allison emerge from the girls room Aaron is like Who is that

And Allison is “oh nickys date (:”

Andrew gets twitchy and holds a knife to her throat

Renee is like Andrew I stg get away from my gf and Seth is like manic pixie nightmare fuel I’m gonna beat the shit outta you

And Neil is just like same shit every day I guess

And he’s like so you’re Nicky then? COMPLETELY IGNORING YK. ALL THAT

Andrew is like “he is. Don’t touch him”

And Neil straight up says I don’t think you get to set boundaries for people, actually

And Neil has no idea what the effect is of that on Andrew but it’s enough to make him glare

Which is terrifying to everyone but Neil bc again. Dumbass

Anyways Neil very purposely hooks his arm through nickys and they head off to the bus

Dunno what happens there but I’ll figure it out

RIKOOO ROASTTT **AIRHORNNNNSSS**

It’s glorious

Kevin and riko are like who the FUCK are you

And Neil is all wouldn’t you like to know weather boy

They relocate and they’re all like . Ah. That’s why you and Renee get along

It’s kinda funny ngl

Andrew doesn’t think so but fuck him

I think that they head back to the bus when this shit I’d over and wymack is like excuse me what the fuck

And Aaron in german is like thank god he never joined the team bc I could not handle more of that

And Neil in German is like would you believe me I’d I told you I was almost signed

And Andrew is like I fucking Knew it I hate it here

N e ways things go back to normal for the most part

The upperclassmen still show up

Seth has a bit of grudging respect for him

It’s later that all the foxes are getting drunk from a lose that Renee calls him and is like Neil please can I usher them inside for a bit I think they need a place to chill so we don’t get yelled at for being too loud in the dorms

And Neil is like uhh sure why not

It turns out it was not just the upperclassmen

He gives them all water bottles and whatever and lets them lounge around

Gives em some food which they pay for w the coachs card

Uhhh idk time passes and some of the foxes pass out so neil is like y’all can chill in the break room? They have couches

He stays out there bc the bakery is still open

Andrew comes out like hey fuck you but also can I get more of those pastries

Idk I want them to be in love already

Uhh yeah I think they don’t say anything until

“what happened to your face”

“A truth for a truth?”

“If you must insist”

“Fine, my father tried to kill me”

Andrew raises his eyebrow but neils like bitch you said a truth for a truth it’s your turn now

Neil asks him why he wears arm bands

We get the whole knives and scars

They’re quiet again

I don’t know man let them be in love

Uhhh okay

I think Andrew will tell neil like

“[code]”

“Huh”

“That’s the code for the court, Kevin practices at night.”

Neil is like how would you know I’d enjoy playing exy? And andrew is like dipshit that’s how we met

I’m running out of ideas oh no

Maybe they play a couple of night game things

Exchange a few more truths

OHHH OKAY COOL SO THEN NEIL CAN GO TO EDENS W THEM THE WHOLE “DOESNT MEAN I WOULDNT BLOW YOU” THING CAN STILL HAPPEN

sick okay! They start dating but since Baltimore happened earlier they never actually come out to the rest of the team

I like to think when they play against the ravens again neils like haha babe you can have as many sweets as you want if you shut down the goal

Also Neil says it’s hot which is like a big thing to persuade Andrew but shhhhh

Yeah the foxes win they celebrate by getting drunk and they all show up at neils like hello again (:

Same thing happens but this time andrew and Neil are together and basically are doing nothing but making out

At least the store is closed

Nicky comes out and just YELLS

YALLLLLL COME LOOK @ THIS SHIT

Allison wins SO much money

Yeah idk how to end this but happily ever after :3

If you want me to turn this into a fic I will!

[shadowcodexx]

What if— Billy Hargrove

(Edited/added on)

As soon as his body died, the real billy wakes up in the upside down, connected like will had been. The mind flayer made contingencies this time and billy was his most prized puppet.

Hopper had jumped through the portal in the underground lab in hopes of having some chance of getting back to Joyce and El someday. He didn’t expect to find a scared billy Hargrove trying to hide from the monsters.

They bond and hopper tries to help this traumatized kid deal with all of this. They share hoppers remains pack of cigarettes and he realizes this kid has gone through much more than being possessed by an evil entity. His dad is beating him. He only knows this because billy jolts awake from a nightmare and makes a comment. Hopper pieces it together.

“Your dad again?” “He’s not my dad.”

Then they start to see the Demogorgons getting attracted to something. It’s a new portal. They take their chances. They get through the portal and they’re in a Russian base in Siberia. Better than that place.

Somehow, they get out and they’re both scarred. The Russians had figured out that the creatures reacted to Billy’s presence and experimented on him. They put him in fighting rings and whatever was left in him from the mind flayer gave him extra strength. They tested that too. Made him take on some Demogorgons themselves. He had won. Every time.

They find themselves back in Hawkins for whatever reason—idk how they get there—but it’s Christmas and yknow snow. When max sees billy stumbling up their driveway she runs and hugs him. She’s wearing his leather jacket. El runs out a moment later with his denim jacket on like they had been reminiscing. The sleeves are all rolled up. Then she sees hopper. She starts crying and he has just enough strength to hug her. Joyce, will and Jonathan has come up so they could celebrate Christmas and see some of their old friend. They ended up getting one of the best Christmas presents yet.

The people that had been in change of Hawkins lab come back when there’s news of the chief of police and a young man presumed dead, are found. They’re so worn out from the journey and strain they’re passed out for days.

When hopper wakes, mostly everyone is around his bed. Steve has been up from college, so he decided to visit. They all did. He hugged and greeted all of them and they told him of everything that had happened and so forth.

When billy woke up, max was asleep next to him. No one else was there. Hopper made the nurses move him into Billy’s room with him. Billy quietly appreciated that. Steve patted him on the shoulder and el sat on his other side and he educated her on the vending machine snacks.

“What’s....a powerbar?” Billy raise and eyebrow. He looks over at hopper who’s smoking a cig even thought he’s not supposed to—“you have not done this kid justice.” He grabs the bar and opens it while saying, “it’s quick meal—“ Steve walks in saying, “no it’s not Hargrove.” He glares halfheartedly and responds looking at el, “yes, it is.”

Billy father barges in with Susan one afternoon and stands silent and angry. Susan asks how he’s doing and tries to grab his hand, but Neil won’t let her. Then he goes on, very menacingly, how Billy’s a no good son who just decided to up and leave—“with a whore no doubt”—and that all this Russian business is a coverup mean to put him in a good spotlight so he’ll get sympathy etc and hopper just, yeets the curtain separating them away and in his ‘hopper’ voice goes “you ever talk like that again to him, I’m going to have an officer remove you indefinitely from this room.” And Neil leaves in a fit dragging Susan, and trying to force max. But of course she doesn’t budge. He raises his hand and sees hopper in the background. He turns it into a pointing-in-her-face gesture and leaves.

After they get to leave from the special wing of the hospital, billy had to move back in with his dad and Susan. Hopper and Joyce are going steady. She rents back their old place and they all live there for the time being. By then Billy’s missed half the school year, and goes to Nancy’s (who won’t ask questions because she knows) and gets help with tutoring.

Mrs wheeler opens the door and has a look of shock on her face. He gives her a half smirk and says, “this time, I’m looking for Nancy.” She has him wait in the kitchen, asking how he’s doing, she heard they found him and hopper in he woods and that everyone who knew them were overjoyed. But she notices Billy’s not quite himself. He’s not giving her innuendos and his shirt isn’t as unbuttoned. He looks like he just got a haircut. His mullet is shorter now. He’s got a quiet sort of contemplation like he’s grown up too fast. Nancy comes in and is surprised to see him. She agrees to help him.

Christmas Day, billy is beat up again by his father. He hadn’t even said anything. He had just grabbed the remote and Neil slammed him into the wall. And it had to be the worst possible time, too. The doorbell rang. Neil opened it and sees the re-appointed sherif Jim Hopper and his daughter, El. He says they brought a gift for billy and max. Neil tried to take them but el says she wants to give it to them. Max comes out and hugs eleven and whispers one word— “help.”

El looks at Neil and shoves her way past with max leading the way. Hopper notices the blood on his knuckles. He follows. He walks in slowly, surveying the area. Max leads el Into the kitchen, where billy sits, his face bleeding. El grabs his face and makes him look at her. Max grabs some ice and he accepts it. Hopper comes in a few seconds later. “What happened?” Neil answers. “He got in a fight with a kid a few hours ago. Disgraceful to do it on Christmas Day if you ask me.” “I didn’t.” Hopper walls closer. The bruises are fresh. Billy just looks at him.

“See the funny thing about that mr. Hagrove is that your knuckles are bleeding.” Hopper steps closer to Neil, towering over him. “Billy if I take him in will you testify?” Billy looks at him. “Yes.” Neil trues to lunge at him, cursing him out but hopper catches him. He calls it in and shoves Neil into his car.

It turns into a news story and Billy’s at the station a lot. Susan won’t testify, of course. She’s too nervous. Neil tries to use all of Billy’s mistakes against him like his poor school conduct and the speeding tickets. Hopper knows better. He’s stuck with that kid for half a year and he knows him better than anyone. Reminds him of himself in some ways. They tell billy they have to call his mother bc he needs a legal guardian to finish high school. He argues he doesn’t but a little part of him wants to see her. Hopper says he’s sorry, he knows it’s soft spot but it’s good to mend old wounds. Susan tries to take max with her but max refuses. She wants to stay with billy, el and hopper. They have an argument and max throws out, “Your not stupid mom your just a push over! You’ve watched him get beat up every week and didn’t do a thing. I’m staying with him until all this blows over. If you need me I’ll be staying with Hopper and Joyce.”

Billy also lives with hopper and Joyce for the time being. School starts up and he dreads it. Hopper tells him his mother was contacted and she’s coming up from California to see him. Billy starts to lash out because he doesn’t know what else to do and Joyce calms him down. They have a cigarette out on the porch and she talks to him and he starts to break down and she just holds him. And he can’t remember the last time a mother held him like this.

He often gets up in the middle of the night because of nightmares and he finds will in the kitchen. They talk about it and eventually talk about their crappy dads and billy tells him he likes wills mother and that he’s got a good mom. Will mentions he saw some bands that billy had on vinyl and tape and says he likes them. They talk about music until will falls asleep on Billy’s shoulder. Joyce listened to the whole thing from the living room and couldn’t help but smile.

Billy find that his life is much more peaceful in the hopper-Byers household. In the morning, Joyce makes them all breakfast. Max and el share a room so they’re usually the last ones to the table. Billy and hopper both drink black coffee. Billy and Jonathan have a silent respect for each other after Lonny tried to visit one day out of the blue. Billy helped Jonathan get him to leave. Will sits next to billy because there’s always something on his plate he doesn’t eat that billy silently takes after he’s done. The two Hargrove kids have practically moved in. Hopper got two extra beds and max eventually brought everything she owns to the house via the window to her room. Billy moved everything out weeks ago. Jonathan and will share a room and el and max share one. Billy is the only one who doesn’t share a room.

The first day of school, billy takes el and max to school. By now everyone heard of billy Hargrove, the kid who came back to life. Or was captured by the Russians. The facts were a little fuzzy. His cronies and fake friends hound him pretending they were affected by his disappearance. Billy’s tired of high school. He understands why Steve stopped being king. It didn’t really matter anymore. Life has hit him straight in the face and it was time to grow up. And now he had some people who were gonna be there for him. By the end of the day he had so much makeup work, he had to find Nancy. By then, they were easy acquaintances. Not friends per se, just bonded experiences. Tommy started making fun of him, acting as if he were trying to get in Nancy’s pants but he ends up slamming him into a locker.

Tommy and carol and all the other jerks hang around billy as usual, but there’s an air of wariness like they’re waiting for him to do something. And honestly, if it weren’t for max or el, he would have. El understands what makes him, him and she can tell when he’s about to snap. Max is like a similar version of him. Not quite the same, and less corrupted. The middle schoolers have a field trip, or something that causes the high schools to have the same lunch as them. When they come running in, everyone gives a collective grumble. Most of the gang sit with Nancy and Jonathan + Robin. El taps billy on the shoulder and his friends sneer at her. But el asks one question. “What’s a Hershey?” Carol starts laughing but billy silenced her with a look. He looks over at max, a little ways behind and smiles. He jumps up and pulls out a few cents. They follow him to the vending machine and he buys one. This leads to many days of el quietly sitting down and whispering s question in his ear. Billy would then answer.

By the end of the week he was sitting with Nancy and returning student, Jonathan because he was so tired of all the bull. One day he was walking into the middle school to check max and el out early , (because he wanted Mexican and he knew el didn’t know what that was, and he figured he could give her some world experience) he saw max beating up some kid. He shoves in and pulls her off. The kid had called will and el a freak and other slurs she wouldn’t repeat. Susan has to be called in, and it was a mess. She blamed billy but max said the truth and she didn’t seem to want to accept that. Neil had already been put in jail for 20 years so Susan was considerably panicking. Joyce came by after being called and calmed her down. The rest of the gang had been involved bc they wouldn’t stand by either so all of the mothers were called. The ended up supporting Susan and helping her find a place for her and max and finding her a good job she liked and all that.

Billy’s tired of sleeping around. Part of him did it to show that he could and prove he was top dog. But now all the girls except Nancy and robin annoyed him. They always tried to fix him, get him to meet their parents, etc. now it was oh poor billy and pity pity pity. he didn’t get as drunk at parties. He didn’t like not being aware of everything around him anymore. If he were wasted he wouldn’t be as alert. Can’t stand the sound of fireworks anymore.

The next day billy gets called out of class. He’s told his mom is here to pick him up. He kind of freezes up and numbly asks if it’s Joyce and the secretary says no. He refuses to go up and instead leaves and goes to the sheriffs station and barges into hoppers office. “She’s here.”

Hopper calms him down and offers to be there with him. Billy says no he can do this. He walks out and she’s sitting in the waiting room. He hurriedly looks away and sits down near her. She nervously looks at him and asks what he’s here for. He says something about seeing hopper. She says the same thing. She’s looking for her son who moved here with his dad. She says she’s here to see her little boy again. He looks at her and says, “that little boy is gone. He died when you left.” She’s shocked and follows him out and begs him to listen. He turns around and yells “you left me with him!” Tears are streaming down both of their faces. She hugs him and he buries his face in her blond hair.

She rents a place in town and gets to watch him graduate high school. He passed with good grades thanks to Nancy. After the graduation ceremony he picks up Nancy and spins her around, thanking her for the help. He pats Jonathan on the back and messes with wills hair. He and Steve do a fist bump handshake thing. Dustin can be hheard muttering, “not as cool as ours.”

He goes to Cali and brings max and el with him. He teaches them how to surf. Hopper and Joyce come, because, reasons and the entire gang ends up coming. On a completely random chance, their buying snow cones on the pier and he hears his name. It’s his mom. He awkwardly hugs her and she invites them to dinner. She’s married. He’s not too happy about it. The guys nice though and he can’t blame her. He’s just wished she’d taken him with her. Then maybe he’d have had a better father figure, like John. (The guy)

On the beach, he crashed into a girl carrying an icebox. (Courtesy of max) he helps her pick up the spilled drinks and the breath is stolen from his lungs. She’s a knockout. He smooth talks her and she see through the bull. His charm—king billy Hargrove’s charm turned off a girl. He’s internally yelling at himself. She picks up her board and walks to her friends. He asks if she surfs—“duh” and holds up her board. Max is quietly laughing behind him. He asks is they wanna catch some waves. She gives him a long look and says sure.

Her name is Avaline, or ava. She mentions her and her friends are road tripping and she mentions their route. Their going through Hawkins. He tells her they live there and that she should visit. She gives him a brilliant smile and agrees. Max and el love her.

Joyce and hopper ended up buying a house together and Susan got a house coincidentally, near them. It was a street or two over from will and Lucas and a straight shot to Dustin’s. The entire club was back together.

Aveline visits at the most inopportune time. She knocks on the house at the address billy gave her. No response. A crashing sound echoes through the house and she jumps. She tucks her beach blond hair behind her ear and leans in to listen. A beat of silence. She gets thrown backwards with the door. A Demogorgon has flown through the door due to elevens telekinesis.

They all rush out fighting a pack of demodogs. Aveline groans as she touches the blood running down her head. Billy calls her name and hits a demo dog with Steve nail bat. He throws it back to him and Nancy throws him a shotgun. He loads it and shoots one coming behind her. He helps her up and she asks if their being invaded by aliens. Robin comments that she likes how this girl thinks.

Joyce nurses her wound and and they all explain. Ava knew billy was some kind of trouble but she didn’t know he was trouble with a capital T. They load up and try to lead the creatures away from Hawkins. Joyce has to hurriedly call all the kids parents saying their staying with will for a sleepover and she’s sorry about the inconvenience.

“I knew it.” Aveline says holding the ice pack up to her head. “Knew what?” Billy asks, while Duran Duran plays, his hand tapping along to the beat. “You’ve slept with every girl at you high school, haven’t you?” He huffs a laugh and looks at her. “Not all.” She shakes her head. “You can let me out.” “What?” She repeats. She tells him she’s not about to get in a relationship with a guy who has a rep. He says he’s not the person he was when he came to Hawkins. They’re out of the car at this point yelling and arguing and he kisses her. She melts. She hits his chest and jolts back. “Sorry” he says breathless. She pulls him back and hugs him. “You’re frustrating.” He huffs. “That’s a first.”

Of course the Russians weaponized the Demogorgons and all that jazzy stuff and they go on this big adventure and cue a scene where they all end up at s gas station to restock and get a game plan. the cashier just looks at hopper and all the teenagers behind him and raises and eyebrow. Him and Joyce look at each other and Joyce says “our kids” gesturing weakly begins her. He shrugs because he’s not paid enough for this and checks out the tons of stuff they buy.

Steve and billy bond over trying to babysit insane children and Steve is trying to keep them from doing dumb stuff and billy is yelling at them not get killed. Much betting is involved. Robin and billy actually become buddies and it freaks Steve out. Aveline just watches it all.

And after all the fiasco stuff is over, everyone is royally freaks out when Steve Harrington shows up to bring lunch to all these kids and then sits with billy freaking Hagrove and they start chatting like their old buddies.

Billy gets a job at the sheriffs station because he actually has a good head for telling people what not to do and just generally bossing people around. Hopper takes him under his wing and they patrol and keep the weirdness of the town under control. He regularly takes el and max to eat at different restaurants because he’s determined to give el some ‘worldly knowledge’

His relationship with ava is one of his longest they’re going steady. She moves in with him and they go back to Cali every summer to see her parents and his mom. They get married on the beach. Lucas makes a comment on how they’re going to have kids and when el asks billy how they have kids it’s the one question he won’t answer. Hopper was standing next to him when she asked and he gave her the Look. Billy re-evaluated his answer.

The kids think billy is kinda cool now and he keeps them in line while Harrington is off getting a degree. Billy finally has some peace when Harrington gets back and takes them off his hands.

And most importantly billy is happy.

[bramlouisgreenfeld]

Love, Rosie!Au . Tfc ??

i have not watched this and the plot seems. surprisingly specific so i’ve adopted Various Little Parts of the plot for andreil bc i love aus where they’re friends as kids. even if i could have chosen another pairing. i don’t care. i know what i’m doing. anyway this is really long OOPS

they’ve known each other forever. neil doesn’t know a world without andrew in it, and andrew doesn’t know what the world is without someone who can find immediately the most dangerous situation and make it worse. neil is oblivious to everything, but andrew is his only constant and he’s sure he likes that. andrew knows why he’s by neil’s side. it doesn’t change anything.

and then it kind of does. neil drinks, for once, and then he’s hanging on andrew’s side because andrew’s safe and he can only drink if he feels that kind of safe. and there’s talking, and laughing, and andrew’s even almost smiling, and neil’s happy. and then there’s a dare or a bet and they’re not there anymore. they’re on the roof and andrew smells like smoke and home and-

then neil doesn’t remember.

he just knows something’s changed, because there’s something different between him and andrew, but he doesn’t know what he did. he’s uncertain, which he has never been about andrew, and that kind of fucking sucks

their senior year, andrew and neil experiment with spending time apart, which is all kinds of weird. they both have other friends, kind of, but they’ve always been a package deal, so it’s only now the other friends become anything kind of significant.

and maybe neil tries to see what it’s like to actually have a relationship with someone, because he’d always figured the reason he’d never tried before was that andrew scared them off and he didn’t want to choose anyone over andrew, but now he has time and-

they’re nothing, really. it’s nothing. but having his arm around a girl is some kind of pale imitation of andrew by his side, so he tries it for a while.

and college. andrew follows kevin, which is strange but not unexpected, because kevin needs him more. neil follows a sports scholarship to a different state. they don’t call. they don’t email. the world without andrew is a strange place. he learns how to fight his own battles - the way he always could but never had to - and then learns that maybe he doesn’t have to.

neil’s so-called friends aren’t very friendly, it turns out. the only thing they have in common is their team, and their other interests are violent and drug-related. they don’t care about each other that much, and it shows when they leave neil alone in the middle of town, drunk.

neil doesn’t remember calling andrew. he remembers the way he chokes when he hears andrew’s voice, though.

andrew can’t help in person, but neil can get home. he doesn’t tell andrew that he’s the only reason he made it. andrew knows anyway.

they talk a little over the years, even though neil isn’t very good at answering the phone and neither of them think of the town they grew up in as a home to return to. but they find their way to the same town after graduation, because it feels somehow natural to be with each other again. it’s always been natural to be together. they’ve never been very good at talking. but they spend their lives together. neil realises the only family he cares about is andrew, and it grows to include kevin and the other people he meets in this new town. 

andrew doesn’t talk about his dreams. neil knows he used to have nightmares a lot, because he’d mutter and he’d kick and he’d startle awake at odd hours, and it was only the familiarity of neil’s breath and heart rate that could calm him down again. he doesn’t have nightmares anymore.

they share what they’ve missed, slowly, truths mingling with smoke in cold air. they ask questions and offer stories and try to recreate the easy feeling of home they used to have. it’s never quite the same, but different isn’t bad

but neil has to ask what andrew dreams of now, because no question is off limits, and andrew was being surly and trying to annoy neil, and neil wanted to hit him back - nightmares seemed a good target

but they’re not nightmares, andrew tells him. he lets a long breath of smoke out into the air before he tells neil anything else. “i dream about you,” andrew says, as casually as he can, in as blank of a tone as he always does.

neil laughs, a little bit shakily, and says that andrew’s nightmares must have changed a lot over the years

“they’re not nightmares,” andrew says, simply. which is a nightmare in itself, he doesn’t say.

neil isn’t sure what that means. “okay,” he says.

he doesn’t know what it means that andrew is and has always been his home. but andrew by his side feels right in a way that no one else ever has.

there’s a change that doesn’t feel strange, this time. it’s a change in how he looks at andrew. it’s a change in the way andrew presses himself to neil’s side. it’s a change in the way they don’t live around each other anymore, they’re finally kind of living together.

and then andrew kisses him.

and that change isn’t awkward at all. it’s actually kind of great.

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

[ravenvsfox]

can u do kevineil and renison plslllsls ily

sure buddy sorry it took me a sec (I’ll do kevineil here and renison in a separate post :))

SEND ME A SHIP AND I’LL TELL YOU…

who is more likely to hurt the other?

dude this is a toss up because they’re both such BITCHES

like neil is a button presser and he pushes kevin to push himself and he doesn’t realize kev’s limits emotionally BUT kevin doesn’t get neil’s limits physically, and he def works him too hard?? they both canonically cycle through hurting and helping tbh

who is emotionally stronger?

I think Neil has the upper hand bc of his iron fucking will, while kevin’s still a little shaky on standing up for himself when it matters (neil! does not have this problem!). So I think they both have huge fractures in their emotional stability but Neil comes back swinging and Kevin breaks

who is physically stronger?

you best believe they fight about this once a week but it’s kevin 

he’s got killer strength in both arms and he’s been intensively training for that little bit longer, aware of what exy could make or break for that little bit longer so he’s jacked

neil is strong but small and lightweight mostly and kevin could beat him in an arm wrestle even if neil used both his arms :/

who is more likely to break a bone? 

this is maybe the funniest shit i’ve ever heard ‘who’s more likely to break a bone, the butcher’s son or kevin ‘i’ve never been skiing’ day’

who knows best what to say to upset the other? 

when they argue cities are wiped out pal like two men enter one man leaves it’s brutal but tbh it’s always gonna be neil? like it just is. kevin can spit whatever hateful ‘motivation’ he has shoved up his sleeves but neil knows just where kev lives and he’ll go for the kill shot every time

who is most likely to apologize first after an argument? 

it’s neil I think?? they’re both stubborn as fuck but I think neil gets so harsh that he scares himself, and he also knows how terrified kevin can be when he’s threatened so like. he’ll feel real bad real quick. In canon he was so pissed at kevin for being a coward, but the longer they’re together the more he realizes that kevin’s just surviving like neil has been his whole life, it just looks different. (after that he starts apologizing by climbing into kevin’s bed or sliding him a shot of vodka or grabbing his gear and kevin’s hand and going to the court)

who treats who’s wounds more often? 

like definitely kevin treats neil’s because neil is a gd disaster and kevin wants him FIXED and WHOLE forEVER but also consider Neil grabbing kevin’s bad hand and working the tension out of it?? Checking on him after games bc kevin goes too hard and kevin calls him a hypocrite and then they probably fuck

who is in constant need of comfort? 

in a truly shocking turn of events it’s both of them, and the overlap in their nightmares is something that binds them together. Remember kevin’s awkward little offer for help after riko?? and how touched neil was??? Like that’s how it goes a lot of times. They talk out their common ground and tear each others nightmares apart. They have a lot of convergent shit that only they can fully understand about each other, bc they were raised in the same horror show and they helped each other escape 

who gets more jealous? 

mmmmm I’m gonna say kevin bc neil is very pretty and very unaware of it, and neil is still the least observant man on earth

kevin just feels a lot all the time tbh and he’s so painfully reliant on neil that he doesn’t now how to deal with his place being threatened™️️

who’s most likely to walk out on the other? 

okay see: above where I said kevin’s reliant on neil like hi in what world would he walk out on his prized striker and also neil still has his kevin binder and he looks at it when he’s sad don’t tell me either of them could make it one full minute apart

who will propose? 

do either of them know what marriage is honestly neither of them would even consider it?? Until -- you guessed it -- kevin gets injured and neil’s like cool hi im here and the hospital is like nah u gotta be married and neil’s like married?? we must be this

who has the most difficult parents?

idk babes what do u think dead murdering abusers or David Wymack?? I’ll give you time to think

who initiates hand-holding when they’re out in public? 

kevin holds neil’s hand like it’s a leash i’m gonna be real with you

I feel like a lot of these answers are the same as andreil bc they’re.... all........ together

who comes up for the other all the time? 

idk who do you think is more obsessed with the other let’s ask neil’s binder full of kevin

who hogs the blankets? 

it’s kevin he hogs the spotlight and the ball and the blankets what can I say

who gets more sad? 

a BAD question with a VERY BAD answer sorry but they both do pal. buddy. dude. they had terrible childhood’s and a brutal time cutting themselves free and they’ll never be all the way better (but like they get really really close. together.)

who is better at cheering the other up? 

depends on ur definition of cheering up bc neither of them are particularly cheerful lads

if Neil’s in a rut kevin will just nudge him and suggest Exy and if that doesn’t work he’ll drag neil out drinking or driving (not both lmao) and neil kind of hates it but at least he’s not empty

(when neil asks kev to play exy it’s always yes)

who’s the one that playfully slaps the other all the time after they make silly jokes?

this....... doesn’t happen........... kevin & neil doen’t know what a joke is........ u know that ‘it went over your head’ ‘nothing goes over my head, i would catch it’ meme from gotg.. yeah... that was written about them

who is more streetwise?

uhhh definitely neil? like their origin story is literally that kevin was put on this hyper sheltered restricted path and Neil was plucked off of that same path and put on the run

Kevin was swaddled in fear and routine so he couldn’t move. Neil was set loose into a war zone, and he knows his way around that war zone now

who is more wise?

depends on what ur asking mate. History trivia kevin’s your guy. math problem, get Neil. Exy, they can fight to the death tbh

like they’re both pretty dense about a lot of obvious things but intensely intelligent in specific fields so pick your poison

who’s the shyest? 

I think kevin participates in a sort of forced shyness? like he has his public face and he has his obnoxious callout asst. coach mode, but his actual true, scared, caring core?? we almost never see it. Neil’s bitchiness is an echo of his actual frustration and passion and kevin’s is more definitely a front

who boasts about the other more? 

guys holy shit remember when neil wiped riko across the floor at that first talk show reunion situation?? Neil’s constantly like ‘HI kevin’s king of the castle and ur a dirty rascal, eat my ass’ like he might fight him in private but he thinks kevin created the world, like he physically can’t imagine Exy without Kevin in it

who sits on who’s lap? 

im laughing picture kevin trying to sit in neil’s lap the height difference would be. something

but also kevin likes to be protected so catch him lying down w his head in Neil’s neck and his feet dangling off the bed

(also neil sits in kevin’s lap and kevin looks up at him like he’s GOD)