#brought to me and now you by the expired cough medicine i drank for breakfast

[falafels]

single father kevin reconnecting with thea in their 30s-40s. both had time to learn who they are and what they like and how to be outside of exy. i don’t believe that thea muldani, ruthless and brilliant thea muldani who nominated herself for both ravens captain and vice captain knowing full well she would be her only vote, would leave exy to have a baby (sorry EC). i don’t know whether kevin’s daughter’s mother died or if it just didn’t work out (i’m inclined to say died because kevin is nothing if not a living breathing tragedy - however i do also think they probably both knew it wasn’t a relationship that would have lasted anyway), but he’s been learning and raising his daughter with constant help babysitting from jean and jeremy (jeremy is very enthusiastic but ultimately useless, jean knows what he’s doing for elodie-shaped reasons that make me cry).

They’re both court, and they’re friends if nothing else. Old friends with a shared history and more time for each other’s brutal criticism, perfectionism, and weird little quirks than most people have for either of them. They’ve started watching people their age retire from the game and both fiercely refuse to let go of it until their bodies force them to (neither of them wants acknowledge that this might be sooner rather than later due to raven regimens). They chat after practice, they start running together. It’s easy, and both of them have struggled with easy for a very very long time. It’s nice to know, it’s nice to be known.

One day Kevin comes to practice looking nothing short of haggard, having come straight from his now-11-year-old daughter’s biggest tantrum to date over the fact Kevin can’t pick her up from her friend’s party next week because he has a (moriyama-mandated) interview (with jeremy and jean). Thea offers to pick her up, but Kevin is hesitant because the two haven’t met. So Thea comes over after practice the next day and Kevin braces for a blowup that doesn’t come. Kevin’s daughter has seen Thea bodyslam men twice her size down the court before and thinks it’s the single coolest thing in the world (and Kevin is trying so hard not to flip his shit because she HATES talking to him about exy but BRINGS IT UP UNPROMPTED TO THEA??)

But yeah. older kevthea. wiser kevthea. your 20s are for ruining your life over and over and fixing it and ruining it and working out who you are and what you want kevthea. coming out the other side of it a real person kevthea.