#or when Neil/Kevin/Jean let something slip

[aledethanlast]

How do you think people react, when the ERC tells every exy site to run the headline they're drafting Jean for the US Court, and he says no, because he can't play with Kevin.

Personally I think people go a little bit insane about it. Cause it's not just your usual "Oh these two stars have beef." Kevin and Jean used to be best friends. The perfect court.

Of course, that was before they abandoned Edgar Allen, in moves neither of them ever explained beyond Kevin's single damning insinuation in his sophomore year.

Because that's what really gets everybody riled up. Edgar Allen's downfall is huge. It's monumental. The team with the multi-decade win streak loses the championship match to the bottom of the division, and their captain is dead by morning. Everyone in exy is talking about it. Everyone not in exy is talking about it. Hollywood is salivating at the mouth for biopic rights.

Really, it seems like the only people who can shut up about it are...anyone who actually knows anything.

Tetsuji Moriyama retires before the semester is over and his phone is disconnected two days later. Neil Josten is shockingly refusing to gloat at what is unofficially and unambiguously his win, and Ravens won't talk for love or money.

The Nest is gone by the next semester and Kevin wishes the Ravens all the best in their training. Jean cannot be found for comment.

So years later, when Foxes vs Ravens is but a hall of fame story, and Riko only ever mentioned in "Did you know" memes and YouTube shorts, for Jean, the Raven who became a Trojan, to outright come out and say "Thanks, but I physically can't be in the same room as my former best friend" is...a lot.

[multifandomff]

ALL FOR THE GAME

>100k Words

The Odds Are Never In Our Favor by MalikShah

M / 259k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

“A truly exciting development here in District 12. Let’s see who will be the other brave tribute traveling to the Capitol this year.” She simply grabbed the first slip she encountered and walked back to the podium.

Neil didn’t even have time to wish for his own safety when she read the name.

“Neil Josten.”

A simple The Hunger Games AU because apparently the Foxes haven't suffered enough already.

playing on by wilsherejack

M / 142k / Jeremy Knox/Jean Moreau

"Who knew California Golden Boy Jeremy Knox could play dirty?”

Jeremy grins. “Best kept secret on the west coast. Told you there was a western division striker who could dispossess you.”

“On a practice court, maybe," Jean says. "Try to get it away from me during a game.”

Jeremy leans back, bracing himself on gloved hands. “Luckily, I won't ever have to.”

No Mourners, No Funerals by gluupor

M / 146k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

In Ketterdam’s pleasure district you can find anyone. A wayward son trying to escape his past. A pampered noblewoman who chose a different life. A recovering addict who can’t turn down a bet. A stranded pirate in need of a boat. A deserter who is looking for a place to belong. A Grisha assassin who wants to be a better person. A convict looking to regain her life. A runaway who has become a killer. A survivor who has become something worse.

These fractured isolationists must cooperate and trust each other to achieve their goals. An impossible heist with a big payout. A revenge scheme years in the making. A high stakes con that could start a war if it goes wrong. They probably deserve better, but if they got what they deserved then they wouldn’t be Foxes.

a switchblade is my preferred weapon by badacts

M / 150k / Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten

The Foxes take on an injured Kevin Day, and get a Raven-trained backliner with a point to prove into the bargain.

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Hey Aerie! I'm finally on time for Wipwednesday, so I humbly ask for a little bit of Mafia Front? I may be a little bit obsessed with the drama XD I hope this week is kind to you, sending you love 🧡

WIP Wednesday (9/11) | Mafia Front Restaurant AU (Part 220)

Once Kevin is freshly showered and wearing a pair of Jean's pajama bottoms, he exits the bathroom to find Jean already in bed. Kevin flicks the bathroom light off, then back on. It's a light-on sort of night. Besides, Neil might have to pee and Kevin would rather not hear him trip over something on the way through. Kevin slides into bed but stays on his side, afraid to cross any line he might've drawn between them with his earlier admission.

He lies there on his back, staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes. He's content to fall asleep like this, warmed by Jean's body heat and soothed by the sound of his breathing. But he has to know. "Are you sure you're not mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," Jean says after a moment. "I'm just hurt you felt you had to lie to me."

"You have to understand, Jean. I.." Kevin takes a second to exhale and relaxes when Jean's hand finds his in the sheets. "When I left, I left you both. But you had each other. You were together, without me. I was scared that year apart was too long. Or that you wouldn't need me anymore."

"And, what? You thought we would cut you off just like that? For kissing someone?"

"I didn't know. I mean, a phone call whenever we could manage them and a text message here and there... That was— I already felt like I was losing you. I couldn't give you another reason to dump me." Kevin explains, recalling the fear he had when he arrived at the airport that morning. He'd accidentally confessed to Jean as soon as they were able to let go of each other. But Jean misunderstood. He thought Kevin said Andrew kissed him and Kevin went with it.

"I'll say it again: you're a beautiful idiot." Jean says, shifting onto his side. "There is no universe where I ever break up with you. I thought you knew that. You were my primary reason for keeping myself alive back then. The center of my world. How the hell could I let the sun slip through my fingers?"

"The sun?"

"The sun. My sun. You were the bright spot of my life, you and Neil. You still are. I would rather be dead than be without either of you."

"You're still not allowed to kill yourself. Just so you know." Kevin reminds him, making Jean laugh.

"I remember, I remember.” He pauses for a second. “How about you tell me what really happened now? All of it."

With a nod, Kevin starts to detail the night that led to him kissing Andrew. The bus ride to Evermore, the brutal game they played against the Ravens. How he'd collapsed at the final buzzer, falling to his knees and staring up at the scoreboard like he just couldn't believe it. But he could. He knew he'd whipped the Foxes into shape. He knew Jean and Neil were off the team. The Perfect Court only had one remaining member and, deep down, Kevin knew Riko wouldn't be enough. 

After all these years, Kevin still isn't sure what possessed him. But when Riko glared down at him with that awful sneer on his face, Kevin merely smiled and said, "I didn't let you win this time. Are you happy now?”

"You said that?" Jean gasps, interrupting the story. Kevin nods. 

"I did. And the next thing I knew, he was mid-swing," Kevin shudders. He thought he was dead. He knew he was dead. "I know what a heavy racquet does to a skull, Jean. I saw... When, you-know-what happened in Columbia. It would've killed me. If Riko had hit me, my brains would've been splattered all over the court floor! But I didn't have time to move. There was nowhere to go anyway..."

Jean's arm tightens around him.

"It's funny and it's sad. But when Andrew swooped in, I heard that crack. And Riko's scream... It still echoes in my head sometimes. But looking up at him, seeing that anguish on his face... I wanted to help him! Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was tracing out the path from the court to our old room!" Kevin says, hating himself for caring for the man who crippled him and tried to end his life over a game. "But Andrew grabbed me by the back of my uniform and pulled me away, got me to my feet and off the court before the medics could come on. I don't really remember much after that. It's a blur. I know... We changed clothes and got on the bus. And my father was worried someone would try to break into our hotel. To hurt us. Especially Andrew."

"Since he just mangled their king's arm."

"Yeah. So he drove us straight back to PSU. That's what I remember most. The bus. I sat on the window side and Andrew sat beside me. I was shaking, vibrating with nerves and fear and.... everything. Then Andrew grabbed my hand and held it the whole way back to Palmetto. Once we got there, everyone went down to the basement to drink to our victory. Everyone but me and Andrew. 

“He stayed with me. And I sat on my bed, replaying the game in my mind like I always did. But it was mixed with that crack and Riko's scream. And suddenly it was my screaming and the crack that took my hand. Andrew took me by the face, like this," Kevin says, grabbing Jean's chin with one hand. "And looked into my eyes and asked why I was upset. I told him Riko would try to kill me again as soon as he woke up from surgery. Andrew told me he wouldn't. That Riko wasn't allowed to touch me. That he wouldn't let anyone touch me. That he was standing between me and everyone else."

Kevin pauses for a breath and to remember the way his heart fluttered at Andrew's promise, at the way Andrew's lidded eyes gazed down at him.

"And I kissed him."

[vykio]

flash fic 2024.10.03 jeandreil winter day

The challenge: Write 500 words in an hour. The theme was jeandrew and I stuck to one of the prompts Clarence gave me: soft winter day. Thank you to Clarence and Jane for the challenge hehehe

Jean wouldn’t say he’s the type of person to fall asleep anywhere—not the way Kevin can. The noise of his surroundings usually makes it impossible for Jean to find peace in it enough to doze; he unconsciously keeps track of footsteps, who’s coming and going and how closely they pass by him when they do. Jean’s mind is always busy, but he finds there are a few places where it slows down: Cat and Laila’s California apartment, during quiet times on the court, Andrew’s fancy car, Renee’s room. Jean can easily find himself snoozing in any of those places.

Lots of places belonging to people he cares about, he realizes, though no place is truly peaceful when the menace to society that is Neil can just show up with little to no warning. And Jean should have known better, really, than to let himself fall asleep on Neil’s couch, especially in the dead of winter.

He had plopped himself down when they’d come back from their grocery run, because of course Neil had been ill-prepared to accommodate more than himself for dinner. Neil had shooed him out of the kitchen while he put things away. Andrew had guided him to the living room by the waist and said he’d collect him when he was ready to make dinner while he tasked himself with feeding the cat.

It probably hadn’t taken them that long to settle everything. Jean had meant to turn on the TV and browse the streaming apps for something for them to watch, but he must have closed his eyes for a moment, then promptly fallen asleep.

What wakes him is not Andrew’s muffled voice through Jean’s sleepiness, but the slow creep of Neil’s glacial fingers under his shirt.

Jean jolts awake and shoves at Neil’s shoulder, but he remains steadfast, having expected it. “Stop doing that.”

“My hands are cold,” Neil says matter-of-factly.

“I know,” Jean hisses at him, bunching Neil’s fingers in his shirt to keep them warm—away from his skin—and holding them against his stomach. Neil’s small smile is both irritating and pleasing, but Jean narrows his eyes at him so it doesn’t look like he’s encouraging this behaviour. It doesn’t matter; Neil will do this again.

Jean looks up when Andrew’s footsteps pad into the living room. He stops next to where Neil is kneeling, in front of Jean, putting a hand on a hip and raising an eyebrow. He directs his unimpressed look at Neil, who tips his head back to beam at him. “I woke him up, as instructed,” Neil says.

Andrew slips two fingers in the collar of Neil’s sweater and pulls. Neil lets himself fall on his ass. “‘In the most annoying way possible’ was not part of the instruction.”

“Maybe it should be.”

“It’s implied,” Jean and Andrew say together. Neil snorts a laugh and finally disentangles their hands. When he stands, he dips down to kiss Jean. It’s a leisurely kiss, warm somehow against Jean’s lips, and it works just as intended because it’s enough to distract him from continuing to scold Neil.

Neil’s thumb isn’t nearly as cold as it had been when he presses it against the corner of Jean’s mouth. “Time for me to watch you guys make dinner,” he says, then pivots towards the kitchen. “Right, Andrew?” he throws over his shoulder.

They watch him pull a stool into the kitchen where he will no doubt perch himself. Andrew turns to Jean again. “You can’t keep letting him get away with things.”

Though it isn’t the most egregious thing Neil has done, Jean grunts his agreement. He stands to go do Neil’s bidding but is stopped by Andrew fisting his shirt and pulling him down for a kiss too. Jean can’t help the smile that blooms into it. It’s not jealousy, Jean knows, but an equalizing of care.

“Come,” Andrew mutters, pulling Jean along by the collar for a few steps before releasing him.

[dayurno]

WIP Wednesday🪭

Send an ask telling me to work on one of my WIPs! (and I will post the snippet I'm working on!)

hiiii the ever sweet and talented @stabbyfoxandrew does this little wip game every wednesday so i thought perhaps i might try it today as well to get some of my own wips back into the land of the living :3 anyway here are some wip options! a thousand apologies beforehand for the titles

1. Kevin Milf Au (de-aged 5-year-olds Andreil au counterpart to 'the lovers, the dreamers, and me')

“I don’t work for your father, I fear. I’ve never even met him before.” Neil pales. Perhaps the idea that someone does not know his father seems outlandish when Neil has been raised under his dominion — Kevin is sure it feels that way, for Neil to look so stricken. Often when you are this small and your parents are the overlords of your world, it feels strange to learn that they are not the end-all-be-all of everyone else’s. Like a little tour guide, Andrew steps forward to explain, “I think you might be here because your mom and dad went away and children have to live somewhere.” …Of course, being five years old, his understanding of the situation is about as good as Kevin had expected.

2. Kandreil Thirty Year Old Men Yaoi (here's some context asks!)

"Can I ask you what made you change your mind?" Kevin asks after a moment, tapping the long glass neck of his beer against the edge of the table. "In the Olympics, I mean." Neil hums, resting his chin on his hands. "You were celebrating with Jeremy at the hotel bar. And—" He runs his fingers through his hair, as if conjuring the memory. "You were singing that song. That stupid song. You were laughing, and singing." Tilting his head to the side, Kevin questions, "What song? I don't remember." "That stupid song about— something about 'if you change your mind, I'm the first in line,'" Neil huffs. "I thought… I don't know what I thought. I guess I wanted it to be a sign." "A sign?" "That you were still— that it was still possible. Us. You, me, Andrew." He gulps down a few sips of beer before chuckling, fond, "That stupid song. I'd never seen you sing anything before."

3. Kevseth Seth lives Canon Divergence (with @rabidfox!)

“What is the point of this?” Kevin asks, studying their joined palms. Seth doesn’t even know. “Just wanted to see if mine was bigger,” he bullshits, awkwardly pulling his hand back. “And it is. Hah.” The look Kevin gives him is nothing short of nasty. “We have work to do, and you waste my time with something like this?” He asks, and while Seth might have taken offense before, now he can’t rid his head of thoughts he associates with slipping a pretty girl’s party dress off her shoulders. It is not unlike the times Allison reprimanded him as a way of flirting, and the thought leaves him disoriented. It is best to stir the conversation into milder topics.

4. Nurse Kevin Au (aka the period where jean stays in palmetto post-nest and a very sorry kevin's terrible bedside manners)

Kevin leans back over him, one hand beside Jean’s face and the other inching towards his mouth, careful. Helpless, Jean lets Kevin push the candy past his lips, sweetness bursting on his tongue with a tart strawberry undertone, sticking to his teeth. Kevin’s fingers linger on his mouth, resting on the puffy center of Jean’s lower lip; a salty contrast to the candy that they had just pushed in. “Is it good?” Kevin asks him, studying Jean’s face. “I’ll give you another one. You’ve had a hard day.” It’s really not true at all: how pampered has Jean gotten, that a day where he just lies back and kisses Kevin can be considered ‘hard’? Sure, it’s not nice to be in recovery, but it’s not nearly as cruel as Jean’s life was before Palmetto. Still, he lets Kevin watch him as he chews, and breathes lightly under Kevin’s hand when Kevin touches his throat to make sure he’s swallowed before he feeds him another one.

[a0wz]

The White Fox Stalks in the Blackest of Shadows

Spoilers for the TSC

I mentioned before that I think it would be better if Andrew was sent out to kill Grayson instead of Neil asking his uncle so here's Andrew's POV while Neil went to deal with the FBI.

Content warning : staging suicide, mention of hanging, murder, implied masturbation.

Andrew was already annoyed and Neil of course made things even less bearable. For hours he stared out the window, working over his plan again and again. Ironing out plans C, D, and E incase A or B weren't good enough. For over five hours straight, Andrew had to sit in an aisle seat listening to the ramblings of someone a part of him still believed was a hallucination. Being in a death tube held up by invisible forces across miles and miles of land was worse enough.

It all started with a call from Neil's uncle, Stuart, but quickly fell into the category of 'no one's getting sleep tonight' after Kevin got a frantic call from Captain Sunshine Rainbow Shits. Weirdly enough, Jeremy's call and Stuart's creepy ass message ended up having nothing to do with each other.

Stuart refused to explain until they landed in LAX, but all Andrew cared about was the part that required Neil talking to the feds using more words than 'fuck you'. Jean was involved somehow but Andrew didn't care enough to listen when that part was explained. Something about his family being a loose thread. It wasn't until Kevin texted asking Andrew for a favor that his attention was earned.

Kevin was distraught with guilt after talking to Jeremy. Even with what little the Trojan conveyed in their brief conversation, Kevin was able to put the pieces together the moment he mentioned Grayson's name.

Day: He needs to be gone, tonight. Can you do it?

You: I can make it work if Neil could get someone to cover the mess it'll make.

It was as simple as tapping Neil before he got of the phone with his uncle. The service for print and struggle signs clean up would cost him but Neil agreed to cut a check when they met in person. Stuart also got the Raven's location as a token of Neil and his' blood relation.

"What a saint," Andrew laughed dryly.

"If we only have tonight, might as well not go through the trouble of tracking him down on our own."

"Yeah, yeah. Just pick me up on time." The pair of Foxes went their separate ways after Andrew was dropped off a few blocks from the warehouse Stuart tracked Grayson to. An alert was put out to local units of a mentally unstable individual in need of capture but Neil's uncle got the pigs' radio frequencies distorted and unintelligible for the next hour or so. Thankfully, the FBI and local PD practically hate each other, so it would be a cold day in hell when local PD admit their comms were out for an unacceptable amount of time.

It had been a while since Andrew was able to let loose. Someone deserved to be dead and he didn't even have to deal with the aftermath.

The shadows of the night gave the White Fox more than enough cover to find a broken window and slip through. The familiar sound of a beer bottle crashing on concrete led Andrew to an upstairs office. Graffiti decorated the wall and water damage left the spray paint distorted and bleeding multicolor.

"I'am the perfic cort muthr fuker!" Grayson slurred as he knocked over another Heineken bottle for a full one. The backliner was sitting with his back to the door, slouching and wide-legged. Andrew stepped lightly into the decrepit room. Looking up, there was a support beam perfectly placed across the ceiling in the center of the room. Grayson's head swiveled against the backrest of the beach chair as his arm jerked frantically in his lap, soft wet slapping accompanied his low grunts.

"fuk that pathetic ass 'till i'm dun cuming insid it," Grayson panted, his pace quickening.

He was too drunk and pleasure dazed to struggle well as Andrew wrapped the rope around his neck. He thrashed around the room, wheezing and spitting in frustration. Andrew grounded himself and held the rope tight until the pathetic mass went still and unbreathing. The goalkeeper was surprised that he felt so indifferent to killing again. The first time, he was young and caught up with emotion to protect his twin brother. Now, there was the slight satisfaction that he had accomplished what Kevin asked for.

Next was the hard part of Andrew's night. He didn't have to worry about leaving prints thanks to Stuart, but getting the damn guy in the air and tied up took more energy than guarding against Kevin's endless swings during night practice or keeping pace with Neil during a mid-day jog. Gloves kept him from ripping the skin off his hands but nothing kept his back from aching by the time the body was strung by a noose. He sat in an alley a few blocks away catching his breath while an unmarked van drove up and confirmed they were good to go in and tidy up the scene.

Neil picked him up a while after not bothering to ask how it went, instead gathering that it went smoothly by Andrew's unbothered deminer. Though, since it was only to Neil, Andrew was fine to admit he was quiet from exhaustion. Killing someone was a lot harder when he had to do the work himself. Killing his mom was swift, simply jerking the wheel when she wasn't paying too much attention to the road. He probably wouldn't do it again if the amount of energy it took wasn't worth who he was doing it for. Kevin was more than worth it, even more so if Neil was alright screwing a two-time murderer. The freak might even like it.

Andrew fell asleep before the two Foxes were in the air back to South Carolina, thinking about all the ways he could tease Neil about having the hots for a killer. 

[luvbug724]

kevin and renee don’t have many big moments in the books i don’t think but there are some painfully domestic or sweet parts like during andrew’s stay in easthaven when kevin and renee (and nicky) slept together on the floor (which i’ve deluded myself into thinking is kevrenee content). also when she meets jean for the first time she has her arm locked with kevin’s :) and she’s the only fox kevin allows to hug him (or at least the first who tries) :) and her begging for his help when she was going to take jean… this is just off the top of my head but i believe they would be good because renee is very reliable and strong and i think when she lets more edge shine through kevin would be really enamored by her :)!

i know you have a catholic jean streak but i also love for kevin and renee a bonding moment because i believe kayleigh was catholic 🤏 my reasoning for this is that during the kathy interview neil notes kevin audibly praying under his breath (adorable to me). so i think she could also get him to reconnect with faith and the idea of a religious community as a whole…. renee is like if andrew was a better influence and a lot more charming

also hiii its dayurno 🖐️🖐️ SORRY ABOUT THE PREVIOUS ANON i was just like what if they think kevjeanee sucks actually and i should explode and die. but it wasnt the case yay! hello :D

ay dios mio... im slipping i should've remembered those i blame the jean brainrot he's pushing out the og trilogy. UR SO RIGHT. renee and jean meeting for the first time while renee and kevin have their arms linked is literally all the reasoning i need. i'm on board. kevjeanee is a FULL TRIANGLE

i am all for catholic Everyone. ESPECIALLY in the nest theres something delicious to me about them maintaining a belief system that simultaneously tells them that they deserve everything they're going through and it is all for the light at the end of the tunnel. if god is truly benevolent then why must i go through this for my happy ending. Whatever. kevin i think picked up catholicism actually kind of similar to renee vs jean "sunday mass his entire childhood" moreau bc kevin was much much much younger when he went to the nest like he was 6 at that point he wouldn't really remember kayleigh much less catholicism. which now i am thinking about kevin going to mass at psu and meeting renee there by accident. HELLOOOOOO

i've also got to thinking about kevjeanee housekeeping now & i know logically it would make the most sense for the moriyamas to give them a scary mafia accountant to a) make their taxes line up for the IRS and b) make sure jean and kevin aren't skimping the moriyamas any payments but this answers the age old jeanee question: if I'M dyslexic and YOU'RE dyslexic then WHO is doing the taxes!!!

[deeppenguinstudent]

I have no jeandrew prompts however I would love to hear your thoughts because I fear I'm being converted and it's wonderful

Oh my god I've been blessed, I absolutely love ranting about them so much!!

Their dynamics just make so much sense (kinda?) to me. Obviously it'll never happen in canon but scenes and scenarios just plague my mind sometimes.

Post-canon/Pro exy au:

This is the AU I think about the most honestly. Can you just imagine them on the same professional exy team as literally the best defence line the ERC has ever seen? So obviously, they have to go on a lot of press duty since Jean is ex perfect court, and it is slipped that Andrew was offered a position.

They fucking hate the press, Andrew in particular since he can see the hidden innuendos within the questions that are sent Jean's way. So he responds to them with a curt response before asking the interviewer to move along to the next question. So then Andrew starts his shit. He's not sure of what happened to Jean in the Nest, so he proposes a game to keep each other in good grace without breaking out into a brawl every time they speak.

Since by some grace, Jeremy and Neil aren't in the picture (God knows how), they slowly start to attract each other. Andrew has a thing for making standoffish people break under him while Jean gravitates towards him because he enjoys Andrew's decisiveness and steadfast wit. Andrew also especially remembers the small things about Jean. He blames it on his eidetic memory when, in actuality, he patiently listens and retains every small thing that Jean speaks about. Jean falls in love, of course, because no one had cared enough to know anything about him.

Raven Andrew AU:

What if Andrew said yes? Obviously, he knows of Riko's wrath, but he realises Jean's presence as the wimp beside number 1. Riko has the entire perfect court with him (minus Neil, he's still finding a substitute), so naturally, Andrew's and Jean are temporary partners. None of the Ravens disturb Andrew particularly because of his rumours of being put to juvy because of killing a man (it's not true of course, but Andrew entices the rumours mainly because he just thinks yeah I like none of these fuckers better they leave me alone). Jean, on the other hand, had the biggest mouth behind Riko.

Andrew hears of the rumours of Jean being a whore. So he puts it to the test, he slowly indulges in Jean's presence talking to him the post to jibe back at him. Also Andrew completely defies Riko by speaking German behind his back and Jean is privately praying Andrew would stop because he gets the most shit. They have to shower together, do everything together so they get closer obviously.

They learn of their shared love for literature and mainly converse like characters in popular literary books and compare Riko to the facetious and most annoying characters in front of him. Since riko cares for no literature, he thinks they are complimenting him. I feel like Jean would absolutely fall first but he doesn't want a repeat of Kevin to happen so he lets his feelings silently subdue.

Honestly, I feel like the confession would be something along the lines of Andrew claiming he's jealous of Kevin or something. And Jean is like yeah, he's a pretty awesome striker but Andrew scrunches up his nose, looks at Jean and just utters his confession much like he did to Neil and gives him the option to decline but Jean just blurts out You don't want to be with me over and over again and Andrew feels something unsettling occur in the Nest.

So then he starts to actually pay attention the Ravens beside Jean and he gets wind of the rumour of Jean and him sleeping together. He wanted to let bygones be bygones but he heard the Raven utter out something jarring about raping Jean to Jean's face that makes him tense and he just snaps. He takes his goal keeper racket and stalks over to the backliner and hits him across his stomach.

He gets heavily whipped by the master but he doesn't care he just goes to the shared room of his and Jean and demands an answer. It's when Jean finally breaks down and tells him that Andrew decides he's had enough of this stupid nest, riko and Moriyamas.

Jean also stays with Andrew very tightly since of course none of the Ravens try shit with him around.

Foxes Jean AU: (abit NSFW?)

Okay so this was my first draft of the Foxes Jean AU before I decided to change it to Kevjean😭 but I may indulge in this with snippets or maybe a one chapter one-shot.

Basically, after Wymack rescues Jean from the Ravens, Andrew doesn't trust him at all. So obviously, he invites Jean over to Eden's Garden. Jean levels him with a look before saying no and walking off. The cousins are shocked at this because no one other than Dan had the balls to talk to Andrew like that.

Andrew's interested in Jean because he is hot, tall, French, and such a travesty that Andrew yearns to unfold and break. Jean on the other hand wants nothing to do with Kevin and thus avoids Andrew because those two are joined at the hip. So comes Renee that invited both Andrew and Jean to hang out, she doesn't come obviously and she leaves Jean and Andrew to their own devices to talk it out as Wymack had requested.

They do talk it out but instead Andrew asked if Jean has ever fought before to which Jean says you want me to spar with you? You're like half my height, I could win with no experience. Andrew just smiles creepily and they start to train, Andrew's criteria was that if he wins Jean has to answer one singular question and that if he loses, Andrew would leave Kevin in Jean's hands and he was free to take Kevin wherever after.

Jean agreed because he thought he could win but as he felt Andrew on top of him, knife in his hand pinning Jean's arms over his head with a knife and his other hand pushing Jean against the floor. So then Andrew goes close to Jean, his lips almost touching, but he waits. He doesn't move forward, and then he asks, "Yes or No."

Jean's breath hitches before he cranes his neck to kiss lightly. They pull back before Andrew kisses Jean bruisingly into the dead of the night.

This is how they cope with each other. No one knows, of course, except Renee because she's all seeing. But anyways, they're basically having little trysts when the rest of the Foxes are busy.

I'm not going to get into the jeaneil aspect of this (this fic was originally jeandreil), but long story short, Jean realises he's catching feelings for Andrew, obviously but he knows that Andrew doesn't do love at all. So he moves away from Andrew, he gravitates towards Neil and finds him growing more attached to the runaway, and this scares him because what if the Ravens were right? A man shows him a minimal amount of attention, and he grovels at their feet? So what if he is actually a whore?

He doesn't think more because Neil finds out about Jean and Andrew one day. Jean says there's nothing, but Neil can see it in Andrew's eyes because he can read Andrew very well. Normal Andreil take place, but they both secretly yearn for Jean, too.

I think long story short basically they three end up together 😭😭

I'm so lazy for typing out every idea I have but if I have anything else I'll share it with you♡♡

[thespineoftherighteous]

aftg show bloopers like

the scene where Neil throws the glass at Aaron (it's not glass glass, it's that softish, breakable material used in filmmaking that looks like glass) and Aaron's actor ducks too late so it hits him straight in the face. nobody moves for a second (they're still rolling) until Neil's actor moves toward him going "oh my god I'm so sorry" and everyone starts laughing and Aaron's actor is like I'm fine dw

Allison's actress tripping in her heels during what's supposed to be a badass entrance and she drags herself out to redo the take, cursing the shoes

so many bits of the cast just pretending to club each other over the head with their racquets

Coach's actor accidentally switches up a whole bunch of words while shooting one of his inspirational speeches. but he just keeps talking as though he didn't just passionately tell the kids to "get out on that floor and- court- show them how real a Fox floors- plays...after tonight they will- they will not ever discriminate- underestimate you again" and you can hear the Foxes' actors quietly break character one by one in the background

Andrew's actor pulling out a knife to threaten someone but then dropping it and jumping back from it

just. the monsters all piled in the car for a scene and they're all in the zone, waiting for "Action" to be called when something happens and they all crack up in sync

Andrew and Neil's actors on an actual roof, trying to shoot an Andreil Moment but an airplane flies over and they have to wait for it to pass because audio. so in the blooper these two guys are just standing very close to each other, Andrew's hand fisted in Neil's hoodie, staring up at the airplane urging it to get out of the way

in one scene Dan's actress kisses Matt on the cheek as a goodbye before she leaves the room, and right after she does Neil's actor jumps up to kiss his cheek too

they're shooting a night practice scene and Kevin's actor keeps missing the mark and it's just a bunch of two second clips of him on set of the court, groaning and swearing and oof-ing. after he misses the action for like the tenth time he just turns to make direct eye contact with the camera, his face comically blank

(in the background you can hear Neil's actor go "thank goodness for editing and all that magic, eh?")

Andrew's actor forgets his line during the scene where the Foxes meet the Ravens at the banquet. he gets to the "Jean. Jean Valjean" line and then completely blanks, going "Jean Valjean. hello Jean Valjean. I'm supposed to say something to you now Jean Valjean. i do not remember what"

the actors for Aaron, Kevin, Andrew and Nicky all being crammed onto that couch in the lounge the way the monsters actually do and falling asleep on each other in between takes

Neil's actor is British who speaks in an American accent but one time accidentally lets the accent slip during a scene where he uses the phrase "strongest goalkeeper". he cuts himself off and it's silent for a beat and then he softly repeats "goalkeeper" to himself in an exaggeratedly British accent and cracks everyone up. Kevin's actor, who himself naturally has an Irish accent, goes "this is South Carolina, love"

it's a night shoot and it's cold and Aaron's actor steals Andrew's actor's (his brother) scarf going "how come you get a scarf and i don't. Aaron is getting the scarf for this scene"

Kevin and Neil's actors doing a scene where they get all up in each other's faces. and then start leaning in too much and make as though they're going to start kissing

just a solid two minutes of Neil and Andrew's actors fighting bugs away from their faces throughout various rooftop scenes

Nicky's actor being the mf king of improvised one-liners (in true Nicky fashion) and just constantly causing EVERYONE to break cause his quips are so random

not really a blooper but they're behind the camera, waiting for something to be set up, and Renee's actress has an acoustic guitar and she and some of the others make up really bad jingles for all the characters

Dan's actress is most likely to fumble her lines or trip over her tongue and she always does like a weird dance to shake herself out

Aaron's actor looking straight into the camera with a shiner blooming over half his face due to a badly executed "fight" scene: let it be known. here on the set of All for the Game, i do my own stunts

(his brother in the background: you DORK. Aaron's actor: shut up or I'm telling Mom you punched me in the face)

Kevin's actor doing a scene (perhaps that one on the bus in tfc) where he's downing alcohol and he's expecting the director to call cut at a certain point or tell him when he can stop drinking but that doesn't happen so he just kind of confusedly chugs the whole bottle and then the director goes "you didn't need to do all that but we got it thanks" and Kevin's like ?? but Neil's actor, who's in the scene, is stood there with his eyebrows raised, very impressed, going "oh my god that was amazing"

Dan's actress slipping on a line and then banging her head against the chest of Matt's actor in frustration and he just rubs her back, grinning

not a blooper but Neil's actor recites the Riko roast flawlessly and as soon as they call "Cut" on it he gets a little sitting ovation from everyone. even Riko's actor is like yeah okay shutting the fuck up and leaving you alone now

Neil's actor actually struggling to get the seal off the ice cream container in that one scene. he fake-struggles with it for a few moments and then starts actually struggling and looks over to the production people and goes "the bloody thing is actually not coming off"

so many bloopers of various cast members having too much fun hitting others upside the head like they do in the books

Andrew's actor accidentally spilling the tray of drinks at Eden's

Allison's actress being the one who can make others break character without getting caught herself

Matt's actor being the one who makes everyone, including himself, break character but doesn't get in trouble because literally everyone is cracking up

however. when they get into Moods, especially during night shoots, and they have scenes together, Matt and Neil's actors are IMPOSSIBLE. to work together. they just cannot control themselves. everyone hates them

see also: Kevin and Matt's actors. Nicky and Allison's. terrible pairings for long days.

there's a scene with coach and the monsters and after like the fifth time they restart coach turns to look at the camera and pours himself a drink using the prop alcohol while going "parenting....is tough"

anyway. call this an au of an au

[juicegremlin]

Hugs (5+1)

~4~

TW: a bit o’ spice :)

Andrew’s hand is on Neil’s thigh. He’s tracing his thumb along the inner seam of Neil’s jeans, letting the touch taper just before things get to be... too much.

Eden’s isn’t terribly crowded tonight. The lights are bright as ever, music pulsing and familiar. Nicky and Aaron have situated themselves on the dance floor. Kevin disappeared a handful of minutes ago with someone from the bar, and Andrew can’t imagine he’ll be back anytime soon.

Andrew doesn’t mind in the slightest. He’s content to sit here, reveling in Neil’s company and closeness. He’s squeezing the muscles in Neil’s thigh and wondering how he managed to live long enough for his hand to earn a place there.

“More drinks?” Neil asks, close enough to Andrew’s ear to send a shiver racing down his spine.

“No,” Andrew says, and Neil’s lips quirk.

There’s been something weighty about Neil’s gaze all night—something Andrew’s not entirely sure he knows how to confront. He’s used to Neil’s biting sarcasm, his harsh, personal brand of concern. He knows how to handle both.

But Neil has always been less overt with his desire. Andrew can recognize it in bed, when they’re already primed and ready to deal with it, but every once in a while he’ll catch Neil’s eyes lingering on the line of his shoulders at breakfast, the curl of his arms at the gym.

And Andrew is no stranger to attraction, but it’s… different, from Neil. Blink-and-you-miss-it poignant. The intensity is unlike anything Andrew has ever felt before, and it is sweltering. Part of him wishes Neil could tone it down, but the larger, louder part has only one thing to say, and that’s touch me.

Neil’s got his arm slung over Andrew’s shoulders. His fingers are tracing Andrew’s collarbone through the fabric of his shirt, and Andrew wants them on his bare skin.

He won’t lie and say he didn’t put a little extra effort in tonight, just to see what would happen. He forewent his usual combination of rips and buckles for something a little sleeker—more classic. He selected a tight black shirt that’s just long enough to tuck into his waistband, and his best pair of skinny jeans. His boots give him an added bit of height, though Neil is still the proud and smug owner of two more inches.

Andrew doesn’t know if it’s the clothes that did it, or the extra effort at practice. Neither, both—and it’s the not knowing that drives him up the wall. He wants to know how to elicit this side of Neil whenever, wherever. He wants the keys to all Neil’s locks.

The mere press of Neil against his side, however, is enough to remind him that it’s never that simple. No single person comes with an in-depth instruction manual.

He’ll just have to take what he can get.

“You’ve barely had any,” Neil says, and it’s true.

Andrew pinches his thigh. “I am obviously very, very drunk.”

“Oh, sure,” Neil nods in faux-earnest. “How embarrassing.”

“You should probably take me home.”

“So you can continue to embarrass yourself in private?”

“Not necessarily the activity I had in mind.”

Neil’s grin falters in favor of something darker, half-lidded. His fingers slip under the collar of Andrew’s shirt and trace his collarbone again, only this time it’s skin against skin.

“Yeah,” he breathes. “Yeah, let’s go.”

***

After dispatching the buffoons to their respective corners of the house, Andrew locks himself and Neil in the bedroom. He keeps it dark, opens the window to let the light of the streetlamp shine through. When he turns back to the bed, he finds Neil sitting at the edge of it.

“I want to say something,” he says. “I want to touch you while I do it. Yes or no?”

Andrew considers. His body is loose, relaxed. He nods his assent and crosses to Neil, allowing himself to be pulled into the space between Neil’s knees.

“Where?” Neil asks.

“Hips and up.”

“Okay.”

Neil reaches out, lightly splaying a hand below Andrew’s ribs. The other reaches for the hem of Andrew’s shirt, tugging it carefully free from his waistband. He pinches the fabric between two fingers as if assessing the quality.

“I like this shirt,” he says.

Andrew’s throat bobs. “Jealous that I know how to dress myself?”

“Jealous? No,” Neil pulls him closer. “Just lucky I get to look at you.”

The hand pinching Andrew’s shirt moves to slide up under it, Neil meeting Andrew’s gaze in a silent question.

Andrew grips his wrist and pulls it until Neil’s palm makes contact. “I said hips and up.”

“Just checking,” Neil’s hand passes over Andrew’s sternum. “We haven’t really done anything like this before.”

“Like this.”

“Me, talking to you. Talking in general.”

“You talk to me all the time. In fact, you never shut up.”

“Fuck you, you know what I mean,” a pause. “It’s okay, though? You like this?”

“I never told you to stop.”

A sigh parts Neil’s lips. He rucks Andrew’s shirt up above his ribs—slowly, slowly. Andrew feels a bit of his soul leave his body.

“You’re so strong,” Neil says, breath fanning over Andrew’s exposed navel. “I’ve always thought so. Like you could carry me through anything.”

And before Andrew can break in with a shut the fuck up, Neil presses a kiss to his stomach and everything in Andrew short-fucking-circuits.

Distantly, he’s aware that his hands have moved to grip at Neil’s shoulders, that he might have stopped breathing, a little bit. It’s very possible that Neil is the only thing keeping him upright at the moment, and isn’t that ironic?

Neil’s lips trail over every inch of skin he’s been made privy to. He’s saying things—terrible, wonderful things—arms sliding around Andrew’s waist.

“Can I show you?” Neil murmurs. “Can I show you how beautiful you are?”

Andrew could die. He could fucking die, right fucking now.

“Yes,” he whispers, because what a way to go.

-

-

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5 | +1

The beginning of Neil’s journey as the Dirty-Talk King. Thanks for reading!! <33

[imperfectcourt]

37 andreil, go wild ;)

So.... this is INSPIRED by all of these prompts even though it isn’t exact.

20. Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference. 28. One person tracing the other’s lips with a fingertip until they can’t resist any longer, tilting their chin towards them for a kiss. 37. Cleaning the other person’s lips with a lick and a kiss. 48. One person has to bend down in order to kiss their partner, who is standing on their tip-toes to reach their partner’s.

NSFW but not overly explicit.

it’s a metaphor

Neil looked too good to be going to Eden's. He always looked too good when they went because Andrew always dressed him but there was something…. something different about him tonight. Andrew had trouble keeping his eyes on the road, tempted by every passing streetlight to look over and watch his hair flash, his skin light up. Maybe it was because he wasn't wearing his arm bands, offering up miles of taught muscle and touchable skin all the way to the shoulder. Maybe it was the way his fingers kept playing with the artful hole in the thigh of his tight black jeans, slipping under the frayed edge to the knuckle and back out again, circling and tugging on the tear before dipping back in. Maybe it was the hateful way he was splayed across the front seat of the Maserati, slouched low below the head rest, his foot propped up on the door. Andrew only allowed it for the way it pulled the denim dangerously around his thigh, threatening the seams.

"Maybe don't kill us before we get to Eden's," Aaron griped from the back seat when Andrew had to correct their course a bit. Neil looked away from the window to stare at the side of Andrew's face. The fingers buried in the hole of his left leg came up to his mouth, nail catching between his teeth between smirking lips. The fucking villain.

"Neili-oh are you finally gonna dance with us tonight?  You look way too good to sit around with the goon squad all night," Nicky said, leaning in front of an affronted Aaron. Kevin let out a disgruntled "Goon squad?"

"I don't know, Nicky. Maybe if the mood strikes me."

Read More on AO3

[kevindayisafrog]

Part 2 of the post that was supposed to be a one shot inspired by @knandersonart ‘s art on Instagram (I have too many ideas for it to be left as a one shot, babe, I’ve got a whole book planned)

TW - abuse, anxiety and mentions of Dr*ke

Kevin had been at Palmetto for over a year now; alone and in fear. He tried hard to fit in with the upperclassmen but his short temper and constant panic left a huge gap between them that no one had tried to fill. He tried to get close to his father too but he knew that he’d never be able to tell him who he really was to him; he knew that his dad would only turn him away like Riko said. Kevin tried to keep in contact with Neil but their texts and calls had gone from one a day to one every few months. Everything was falling apart and all Kevin could do was watch as he fought like hell to climb back to the top. And the top is where he is now, but this time the podium he’s standing on is for him only, Riko can’t pull him down. Until Kevin’s alone with his thoughts, then he remembers how small he is against Riko’s power and ruthless abuse. Kevin felt himself slip further into the darkness around him when the championships were announced, something to finally concentrate on and a place where he’ll finally be with his Neil again; even if they’ll be against each other.

Kevin stared blankly at the empty bus seat in front of him as he sat at the back of bus alone; distantly listening to the upperclassmen’s idle conversation as the foxes made their way to the banquet. He couldn’t sit still as fear warred with excitement in his tight chest. He placed his AirPods in and called Neil, knowing that he’d see him in less than an hour but couldn’t wait to hear his voice. He grumbled to himself when it went to the voicemail and hung up, choosing to listen to his music instead as he watched the scenery pass by in a colored blur through the window.

Kevin was last off the bus and he stood behind the other foxes as Wymack opened the storage compartment on the coach, passing their outfits to each player. Matt tossed Kevin his dark green suit before turning back and catching his own suit before it hit the ground. “Jesus, Coach, this cost me a lot of money”, Matt smiled despite his words and smoothed down his suit. Wymack retorted dryly but Kevin didn’t hear what was said as he already turned and made his way towards the stadium; his body buzzing with a distant memory of Neil’s body close to his. He pushed his way into the locker room with a sign reading: ‘Palmetto Foxes’ written in black sharpie. He quickly threw on his suit with his back to the others, ignoring Nicky’s wolf whistle as he moved to the mirror to smooth down his forest green blazer. “Where are you going, hot stuff?”, Nicky winked with a laugh as Aaron groaned and turned away from his cousin. “I’ll be on the court”, Kevin muttered as he left the locker room and walked as fast as he could to the court. It pained him to see a perfect court being used as a dance floor and dining area, but he wasn’t here to be disgusted. He opened the court door as he felt a stern hand on his shoulder causing him to flinch and duck down. “Don’t worry, it’s only me”, Wymack pulled Kevin back up and turned him so that they were facing each other, “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay before you walk into the lion’s mouth”. Kevin looked up into his father’s eyes and blushed in embarrassment at the raw worry that he saw. “I’ll be fine as long as we’re not near Riko or Tetsuji”, he wrung his hands together and tapped his foot impatiently. “I’ll keep an eye on you, kid and if you’re worried in any way come straight to me, okay?”, Wymack gave a fierce squeeze of Kevin’s shoulder before pushing him through the door. Kevin turned away and made his way over to where the seating charts were. He ran his finger down the sheet until he found the Foxes’ name and made his way to the back table, freezing as Riko stood from their shared table. “Kevin, welcome home”, Riko announced in Japanese, spreading his arms in a vicious gesture of a hug. Kevin gulped and clenched his hands before taking a deep breath and making his way over to the table. “Riko”, he muttered as he sat down opposite Neil, relaxing as Neil wrapped their ankles together, “the rest of my team are just coming”. Riko barked a shrill laugh as he sat down and leaned towards Kevin, “me and Jean were just talking about how we’re surprised you guys made it into the championships, what with your small number of players”. Jean looked up and sent Kevin a subtle shake of his head, mouthing a small ‘I’m sorry’. Kevin sent a small smile back before turning to Neil, ignoring Riko’s annoyed frown. “Hi”, he whispered, running his ankle up to Neil’s thigh. “I’ve missed you”, Neil replied in French, reaching down and squeezing Kevin’s ankle under the table. “Hmmm, so we’re doing this now? Speaking other languages so I won’t understand”, Riko nodded slowly before laughing and curling a large smile, “your mother would be so disappointed in your disobedience. If you’d shut up we’d all hear her turning in her grave. Even though we’re so far away from her”. Kevin tensed and clenched his jaw, trying not to give Riko the satisfaction by showing his anger.

“Riko, it’s so lovely to meet you, Dan Wilds”, Dan led her team to the table and scraped her chair back, sitting down with her hand extended to Riko. Riko looked at her hand in disgust before shaking it with a fake smile, “I hope you’re looking after my Kevin for me”. Matt sat beside Dan and laughed sarcastically, “he’s not yours anymore, he’s ours”. Riko dropped Dan’s hand onto the table with a thud and turned to Kevin, “weren’t you just telling me how much you hated this team and that they’ll never win the championships?”. Kevin sat up straighter and smiled, “no, I wouldn’t say that and do you know why, Riko? Because although these aren’t the best players, they’re the strongest I’ve ever met. They use their teamwork to push back and fight to win their deserved place at the top. You won’t be smiling so wide when we beat you and win the championships”. Riko’s smile fell and he grabbed Kevin’s left wrist in an iron grip, “don’t fucking push me tonight, remember that you’re my pet. I won’t hesitate to put you down, do you hear me? One wrong move and I’ll bring your whole team down with you, see if you’re so brave then”, he growled in rapid Japanese. Nicky looked between the two before placing his hand over Riko’s and digging his nails in deep, “I’d advise you to take your hands off of him or I’ll break it off”. Kevin turned to Nicky in surprise and was shocked enough to let his long lost genuine smile get plastered across his face. Riko pulled his hand away and glared at Kevin, “you’ve deluded these jokes into thinking that they’re better than they are. You’re getting cocky, Kevin, what will you do when they turn you away like they inevitably will?” Andrew elbowed Neil to get him out of the way and leant on Neil’s hunched back, “now, now, Riko, let’s not throw your toys out of the pram. I told you what I’d do if you messed with my family, do you really want to test my word?”. Riko tensed and slowly turned to face Andrew, “One more word, Andrew and I will get an old friend over to play with you. Drake must miss you”. Andrew flinched at the name and let out a long medicated laugh, “try me” he growled. Neil shouldered Andrew off and stood up, ignoring Riko’s glare, “I’m going to the bathroom, try and fucking stop me”. The foxes watched in silence as Neil left the room without a single glance back to the table. “Your pets aren’t as loyal as you thought, are they?”, Dan asked and she tapped her nails against her glass, “must suck when everyone turns their back on you”. Riko growled in annoyance, hating how he’d lost control of the situation and his words were thrown back at him. Kevin stood up quickly, knocking his chair onto the floor with a loud clatter as he left the table, half running to the bathroom and ignoring Wymack’s shouts of concern.

“Neil?”, Kevin called into the seemingly empty bathroom, pushing open the stool doors slowly. “I really did miss you”, Neil walked around from the corner of the room and stood on his tiptoes to wrap his arms around Kevin’s neck, “I actually missed your irritating shouting and obnoxious presence on the court”. Kevin let out a small huff as he brought their lips together, smiling into the kiss of ‘hello’. “I hate you”, he whispered into the kiss, knotting his fingers in Neil’s orange hair. “Sure you do”, Neil replied, purring as Kevin tugged lightly on his hair. Kevin pulled away first and stared down into the ocean blue eyes before him, the auburn eyelashes fluttering his eyes back open. “Neil”, Kevin started but Neil let go and walked away to the sinks, “please just hear me out”. Neil sighed and turned on the tap, “Kevin, not now, can we just have this moment? Stop trying to ruin everything”. Kevin frowned and followed Neil, leaning his hip beside him at the sink, “I don’t ruin everything”, he muttered. Neil placed his hands under the tap, refusing to look up at his pouting boyfriend, “you know that’s not what I meant”, he sighed and dropped his hands to the bottom of the sink, “I can’t come back with you”. Kevin groaned in annoyance and pushed off of the sink, pacing his way back to the stools, “why not? Why the fuck not, Neil? Nothing is stopping you and even if something was you wouldn’t care anyway”. Neil turned the tap off and slammed his hands against the ceramic, “for fuck’s sake, Kevin, are you being obtuse on purpose? If I could go, I would. Do you think that I enjoy the nest? Do you think I like you being so far away from me? Because I fucking don’t, it’s hell”. Kevin laughed flatly and crossed his arms, half turning away, “you can come with me, you just don’t want to”. Neil pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes and sighed heavily, “why do you always twist things? Listen to me”, he dropped his hands and marched over to Kevin, pulling his arms apart forcibly, causing him to flinch, “listen, I hate not being without you, okay? And I know it makes you cringe when people talk like this, but I can’t live without you and I hate to admit, I really do, but I need you. I’m trying so hard to get out of there so you’re not alone anymore and Andrew’s helping too. We’re so close to getting out, we just need to be patient and wait a little longer before we can be with each other again, okay?”. Kevin dropped his head and Neil stood on his tiptoes so their foreheads could touch. “I hate being alone”, Kevin whispered, “I’ve never been alone before. When my mom found out who Tetsuji really was, who his family were, she exiled us to Ireland and never let me leave her sight. She took me everywhere with her, not even trusting teachers to look after me at school. But she left to go to the shops in the next town whilst I was sleeping and Tetsuji paid people to stage a fatal car accident. After that day I was with Riko and he wouldn’t let me leave his sight either, so I don’t know what to fucking do. I’ve never been alone before”, he sniffed and let out a small whimper. Neil gently placed his hands either side of Kevin’s face and placed a small kiss on the tip of his nose, “you’re not alone, I’ll never let you go”. Kevin lifted his head and turned to look away, “but you are leaving me alone”. Neil shook Kevin’s head and pressed his own head against Kevin’s ribs, “I’m trying, I really am”.

They stood in silence as Kevin hesitantly wrapped his arms around Neil’s shoulders. “I know you are, I’m sorry, I’m just scared”, he placed a gentle kiss atop Neil’s head and rocked him side to side slowly. Neil hummed and looked up, taking in his boyfriend’s worry filled eyes, “that color looks good on you”. Kevin frowned and looked down at his suit, “I wanted to wear red but I don’t really suit it”. Neil snorted and pulled away, turning to walk to the bathroom door, “you suit red, Kevin, trust me”. Kevin watched as Neil left the bathroom with a wink and couldn’t help but feel alone once again, a heavy feeling weighing on his chest. “Thank you”, he whispered with a small smile to the space Neil left behind as Riko kicked open the door with two broad shouldered Raven players behind him.

[chuck-the-goon]

So my brother was showing me a few videos where American baseball, on friendly matches when the season’s not in, actually attach microphones and headpieces to a few players during the game? And instantly my head went straight to ‘what if they did that with Exy?’

They ask Andrew, Kevin, and Neil to give it a go first. Wymack making them do it for publicity, but also as a way for Neil to save face after his biting comebacks at post-game interviews. And also to give the foxes a slightly better rep all in. 

They soon realise that they get nothing from Andrew apart from a bit of heavy breathing every now and then. The crowd and commentators put it down to Andrew’s commitment and focus and all the foxes get a good laugh at that when they watch the replay.

Kevin and Neil try not give Andrew away by snorting into their own mics, Kevin tries to hide his own guffaw the first time it happens by coughing violently enough that they ask if he needs to sit out.

Neil doesn’t say much apart from counting his steps in multiple languages, but it’s just a random number here and there. But then when the commentators ask Neil questions, he’s still as sassy as ever.

“Neil, tell us what’s going through your mind!” the second he scores.

“I’m thinking I might take my teammate up on his offer for a therapist because the voices in head are starting to give me dangerous ideas.”

“We’ll...let you play on and come back to you later then.”

But when Neil does start having fun, starts to relax a little, he gives some of the wittiest comments and opinions, and some really snarky tips for all the players. People start tuning into the foxes game’s a lot more for his dry sense of humour.

Kevin though.

Kevin ‘most handsome and well spoken and humble in the public eye’ Day is sweating. And his teammates know it, all having a small twinkle of mischief in their eyes.

Kevin is downright vicious when he’s playing, especially in his commands to other players to pass to him, or watch his back, or defend the goal. His french is downright filthy sometimes too. So this headset thing is a lesson in control for Kevin.

He does well for the most part, but you can’t hold Kevin back when his brain is in competitive mode.

And then when the commentators start asking questions mid match...it doesn’t take long for Kevin to crack.

“Your style of playing has changed so much in the past few years since you left the Ravens, how do your teammates fare in comparison, now that you all seem to be settled.”

“They’re been improving every day and I can proudly say that they are meeting every expectation I have- except Neil! Christ sake! I was right there! même votre mère pouvait voir que je me tenais là et elle est six pieds sous!”

“...Kevin, sorry son, we missed that, could you repeat that but in English?”

Neil, fuming and ready to hurl his racket at Kevin’s head a few hundred times, “Yeah, Kevin, c’mon, tell the whole world what you just said.”

Kevin goes deathly pale and doesn’t really say anything for the rest of the match, but in his post-game interview, it’s his turn to start trying to save face. 

Somewhere, Jean is howling in laughter at Kevin’s expense.

And yet, this slightly unpolished version of Kevin makes him more favourable in the public eye for not being so robotic and inhuman, and that he does slip up every now and then. 

Everyone kind of hates it but they’re also hella relieved.

It does take quite a bit of sucking up to do on Kevin’s part.

They give everyone else a turn on the headset: Aaron is the same as Andrew and doesn’t say much, Nicky won’t stop talking to give the other players a chance to chip in, Dan is professional as always, Matt laughs infectiously even when he stumbles, and get’s everyone’s team spirit up, Allison is flirtatious and just as sassy, Renee is the humble one and comments more on the great skills of the opposing players. 

All in all, it’s an experience for all of them and Wymack regrets his decision to do this before it even finishes. 

Feel free to add anything on to this!! And Kevin says something along the lines of ‘your mother could see I was standing there and she is six feet under’ which is just...harsh dude. Maybe it takes a while for the public to get over that when they translate after all. And maybe a statement or two from Neil for people to forgive and forget...

[stabbyfoxandrew]

omg i forgot it was wednesday!! requesting mafia restaurant this time!! hope you’re doing well aerie

WIP Wednesday (4/3) | Mafia Front Restaurant AU (Part 127)

After fifteen minutes of people watching and reading Tweets over Kevin’s shoulder, Neil’s about to go insane. His restlessness is something he’s never grown out of and he’s starting to feel cooped up. Like a dog tied to a tree. Or left in a car... 

“What’s the matter?” ask Kevin from the front.

Neil looks up at him. “Huh?”

“You keep sighing.” Kevin says. 

“I do not,” Neil argues. Then he looks towards the door to the shop and lets out a breath.

“You just did it again.” Kevin says, turning in his seat. He starts to laugh quietly. “You sound like an old dog.”

“Shut up.” Neil pouts, remembering Jean’s joke about him being a pet. “What is taking him so long?”

“It’s not been that long.” Kevin says, looking back down at his phone. “You’re just antsy all the time.”

Well, he’s got a point. Neil glances out the window to see Jean exiting the shop with quite a few bags in his trolley. Oh, thank God. He’s finally done. When he gets to the car, Jean loads most of the groceries into the trunk. Except for one bag that he brings with him into the front seat.

“Took you long enough. I thought we were going to have to send out a search party.” Neil snides as soon as Jean climbs in. Jean gives him a look in the rearview.

“This is the thanks I get for searching for this for ten minutes?” Jean asks, slipping a magazine out of the bag. Neil’s mouth falls open.

“You do care.” He says with a smile, reaching for the magazine.

“Of course I do, you imbecile.” Jean folds the magazine and slaps Neil in the side of the head with it before dropping it in his lap. The smack rattles Neil’s brain a bit and Kevin snorts. Jean clears his throat. “For your information, they moved the magazine stand to the other side, nearer the bakery section.”

“Thanks,” Neil says, hand coming to his head. “Can we go now?”

“God, you’re never happy. Are you?” Jean asks, starting the car.

“I’m not sure. Thanks for the concussion.” Neil says, then he waves the magazine. “And this, I guess.”

Kevin snorts. “All three of us have had concussions. I think it takes a little more than that.”

Jean and Neil share a look in the rearview mirror again. The two of them know exactly what it takes to get a concussion, courtesy of Riko Moriyama, but they silently agree not to bring it up. Because, while it’s sort of cathartic for the two of them to bitch about Riko, it only serves to make Kevin feel like shit.

[psych0midget]

Bookshop AU

Andrew had thousands of followers.

He wasn’t sure how it had started. He was the owner of a small independent bookstore and he regularly hit the gym. Nothing more, nothing less.

Or at least, that’s what his life mainly consisted of before Moriyamas opened a store right in front of his one. Moriyamas was one of the major book retailers in the USA, wherever it opened a store, the other bookshops of the area closed. Andrew’s own shop didn’t stand a chance. 

That’s where Roland came in. It was just an off-handed comment, nothing anybody sane would ever take into account. But Andrew could not afford to close his shop, he had to pay the tuitio for Aaron’s med school. 

Roland said: you’d definitely sell more books if you showed your abs to your costumers. The fact that Roland had said that while he was feeling Andrew up in the storeroom of Eden’s didn’t matter. 

What Andrew did: he created an Instagram page. It was called ABS (AndrewsBookStore, you pervs). He posted photos of himself. And his books. The fact that he was often shirtless or wearing a skin-tight black t-shirt that showcased his muscles was secondary. 

The descriptions under the photos mainly consisted of his book recs. Short. A bit caustic, but straight to the point. He never forgot to add a discount code. Any customer that walked into the store would get a 20% discount on the book Andrew had promoted if they showed him the ig photo and the code before paying. The fact that the words he used as codes were frequently outrageous just made the whole thing more fun. 

Surprisingly, his ig page took off. Not only did he gain thousands and thousands of followers, but his revenue triplicated.

Nicky became a permanent fixture in the shop. Once an occasional aid during Christmas time, now he efficiently manned the register. Nicky flashed smiles at costumers who showed him Andrew’s photos to get a discount and was patient with those who blushed and stammered when asked to say the code word.

He had also hired Kevin, his roommate. And makeshift photographer who helped Andrew taking photos for Instagram. He’d probably have to hire someone else before November. But that was okay. The shop would not close.

The only price he had to pay was having to wear a tank top at work.

-

Neil was a simple bookshop clerk. At Moriyamas in Palmetto.

He loved books. A lot. Or else he wouldn’t work in a bookstore. And yet he hated the job. Hated the competitive work environment. Hated his boss Riko. Hated how things had changed since Kevin had left.

Pity that he needed the money. 

One of the very few highlights of his days was the costumers. In particular, the costumers who mistook Moriyamas for ABS (they were both on Fox Avenue, but Moriyamas was at number 32 while ABS was at 23) and showed him one of the photos and said the discount code. 

The first time it had happened, Neil had no idea what to do. An old lady had shoved her phone right into his face. On the screen a photo of a good looking blond man reading a book.  He was lying on a bed, his face half covered with a copy of TSOA. The arm that was not holding the book was raised above his head, his well toned bicep on display. Neil knew his face was turning red. Redder than the cover of TSOA the costumer was brandishing.

Neil still had no idea what was going on, especially not when the lady started saying lewd words she claimed were the discount codes.

He called Jean for help. Jean calmly explained to the old lady that she was in the wrong bookshop, ABS was down the road, on the left.

Neil, who barely even knew what Instagram was before Jean told him, went home and downloaded the app. Created a profile and went looking for ABS’s account. 

He found the photo the old lady had showed him that morning, the one with TSOA. Neil was a good liar but he rarely lied to himself. He could admit he noticed that Andrew’s t-shirt had ridden up a bit. He could admit he noticed the slip of exposed skin on his hip. He could admit he stared at it for almost half an hour. (Which was unusual to say the least) 

Another thing Neil enjoyed were the book recs. Andrew Minyard had good taste and he knew what he was doing. He promoted both new books and classics, he put trigger warnings on them, his book recs were short and funny, his dark humour made Neil crack quite a few smiles. 

Neil followed Andrew’s page and went to sleep. 

In the following days Neil got more than one costumer mistaking Moriyamas for ABS. 

Riko was getting tired of it. Instead of wiping out the competition, the Moriyamas shop of Palmetto struggled. And they struggled against a “stupid decrepit bookshop owned by a psychotic midget on steroids”. These were Riko’s words. 

Neil had no idea how he ended up filming videos where he recced books while exercising. And wearing shorts. Oh and uploading them on Instagram. 

Actually, he knew how he ended up doing that. It had something to do with Riko threatening to lay him off.

Moriyamas was copying ABS’s strategy and Neil was the unwilling accomplice.

Unsurprisingly, Neil quickly gained many followers. With the money Riko had invested in sponsoring his account, well, it was inevitable. 

Neil was waiting for the day Riko would tell him to start wearing shorts at work (it took exactly 11 days and “Neil’s Legs” trending on twitter after he uploaded one of his videos) 

Surprisingly, people followed him also for his book recs. He received hundreds of messages from people thanking him for the awesome books they read because of him. And in return they gave him other book recs. After all, Neil was happy with his Instagram.

Even more surprisingly, ABS (Andrew fucking Minyard) followed him.

-

Andrew was not sure why he followed Neil Josten.

Rationally, he knew he needed to keep an eye on the Moriyamas. He needed to do it for his own bookshop and for Kevin’s sanity. And that’s why he followed Josten.

His treacherous mind said it was also because Josten’s book recs were awesome. And so were Josten’s thighs. He’d be happy to be choked by them and suc- Wait, no. No. No. Let’s not get there. 

Let’s start over again. His treacherous mind said it was also because Neil’s book recs were awesome. Damn him. Andrew had read some of the books Josten suggested just for the sake of it. He hoped they’d be shit, but fuck, Josten knew what he was doing. 

Nevertheless, not much changed. Josten’s blog, or rather, the Moriyamas’ wasn’t a problem for Andrew. ABS was still doing great. Admittedly, Moriyamas’ discounts were higher than ABS’, but Andrew now had a number of loyal regular customers. His account was still doing great. 

One night Nicky made him rewatch Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly for the umpteenth time. The following day Andrew also reread book and decided to promote it. Who said he only had to talk about new releases on his account? 

In the photo Pride and Prejudice was artfully placed (or so Kevin said) on his bicep. In the description box he said that P&J was the Classic par excellence, the Classic TM and that he hoped Jane Austen could forgive him for the photo.

Two days later Andrew was casually scrolling through instagram when he saw it. In the new video Josten was promoting Wuthering Heights.  Because “people who say Pride and Prejudice is the best classic really have no taste”. The video featured Josten and a punch bag. It was gloriously rich in close ups of Neil’s butt.

This is how the cold war between ABS and Moriyamas began. 

Andrew replied with Fight Club. The description said “Recommended for jocks who like throwing punches for no reason at all. The favourite book of white men TM who think they are Brad Pitt, but actually have the emotional depth of a spoon. Read at your own risk”. 

Neil replied with The Catcher in the Rye. In the video he was doing squats. And panting into the microphone. Andrew might be wrong because he was too busy looking at Neil’s stupid face, but he was pretty sure Josten said something like “perfect if you’re looking for a book where the protagonist is a self-absorbed entitled brat” and “the true favourite book of white men TM”. 

The video ended with “psa, if you ever meet someone who says that this is their favourite book, run.” And then Josten winked. He winked. 

Fans quickly started noticing what Andrew and Neil were doing. Some talked about rivalry between bookshops, others inevitably started shipping them. 

And yet Neil and Andrew kept their videos going on. They argued which book of Neil Gaiman was the best and which vampire saga the worst. It was a photo of Andrew lifting stacks of books. And then it was a video of Neil doing squats balancing a pile of books on each hand.  It was Josten saying Aristotle & Dante was his favourite lgbtq+ book and Andrew answering that he’d never read it, but it couldn’t possibly be better than TSOA.

Andrew would never say it out loud but it was fun. He was having fun.

Andrew still suspected Josten kept on replying to his recs just to promote Moriyamas. Nothing more, nothing less. It was probably Riko who told him what to rec. Josten was a puppet.

Andrew should’ve known. But when Neil started reccing shitty books, Andrew was still a bit disappointed.

Week after week, the quality of Josten’s recs lowered. He was promoting mainstream books (but not the good mainstream books) and influencers’ rubbish biographies. 

He was about to unfollow his blog when Josten slipped into his DMs.

What the message said: I cannot accept the fact that you haven’t read Aristotle & Dante yet. When’s your next shift at the shop? 

What Andrew did: sent him his work schedule. Like an idiot who’d never had a mum telling him not to divulge personal info to strangers on the internet. Oh no wait- Andrew hadn’t.

What Neil did: walked into Andrew’s shops with a copy of A&D and a cup of coffee. Placed them on the counter in front of Andrew, smiled and left. 

Andrew could’ve complained that the coffee was too bitter and- who even gifts books to someone who owns a bookshop? He could’ve complained, but he was too busy staring at the post-it on the book. 

“Hire me before Riko makes me rec Fifty Shades of Gray xx” 

That that afternoon Andrew walked into Moriyamas with a copy of a random book in his hands. The post-it on its front cover said “You start tomorrow at 9. Don’t be late.” 

With Neil’s videos and Andrew’s photos, ABS’ account (unsurprisingly) became one of Instagram’s most popular book accounts. Andrew’s bookshop became so popular he managed to buy the Palmetto Moriyamas shop after their sales plummeted and they were forced to close the store. 

As concerns Neil and Andrew. Well. Their relationship would still be secret if Kevin -who still managed the ig account- didn’t accidentally post the wrong video. 

It was supposed to be a video of Andrew doing squats with Neil sitting on his shoulders and reading a book. 

The video that got posted to ABS’ 3 million followers instead featured Neil sitting on Andrew’s shoulders and laughing so much he lost his balance. He was about to fall to the ground when Andrew caught him in his arms and Neil, who hadn’t stopped laughing for a second, kissed him on the tip of his nose.

[abraxos-is-toothless]

healing and feeling

My @aftgexchange gift for @bayta-darell !!! I’m so sorry that this is late, I went to post at the beginning of the posting week but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’ve spent the week doing a rewrite. There was more of it (Kevin and Neil having a discussion) but I just wanted you to get something rather than nothing. I really hope you like it. A general foxes type fic where they do some healing.  Canon warnings apply- mentioned not detailed.

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Twenty minutes. Twenty whole minutes it took of the foxes remaining silent for Betsy Dobson to realise she’d have to make the first move if she wanted to make any progress at all here today.

“David first suggested this for you all once before and you refused, which I respected. I will not force anyone to talk until they are ready. But you’re all here today and I feel I should ask the nine of you, why now?”

Aaron watched as everyone not-so-subtly shifted their eyes to look at Josten who opened his mouth as if to speak before closing it again. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them from where he sat on the floor by Andrew’s chair. There was a space next to Boyd on the plush yellow couch but well...

“This is the second time this week Neil has almost stabbed one of us.” Ah, Reynolds. Always making sure she got straight to the point. Matt glared at her, muscled arms crossed over his chest.

“I said it was fine, I startled him-”

“It damn well isn’t fine, Matt! Were you not a boxer with some good reflexes, he could have done some serious damage.”

Aaron watched them argue back and forth until Betsy politely cleared her throat, her calm, soothing smile never once leaving her face.  He admired the woman, he truly did; he couldn’t imagine dealing with people’s shit all day and managing to still look sane and collected. His own mind was enough of an asshole as it was. “I’m glad that we’ve gotten to why you’re all here, but I’d like for us to remain civil in these sessions. Talking about such things can be straining and I want you to remember you’re a team, that you’re friends.” Matt nodded and threw Neil a small smile and Allison simply flicked her hand, bright red nails catching in the sunlight streaming through the window. Aaron caught Neil bringing a hand up to rub at the scarring on his face but then Andrew’s hand came down to hold the back of his neck, thumb rubbing back and forth carefully and the tension Neil was holding in his shoulders eased up. His twin met his stare without faltering and simply raised a pale brow at him, as if daring him to comment. Aaron kept his mouth shut and turned back to Betsy. “Now Neil, would you be able to tell us what might have brought on these outbursts of violence?”

“I’ve always been this way, thanks to my mother.” Aaron saw Andrew’s jaw clench at the mention of Mary Wesninski; he knew well enough how his brother felt about abusive mothers. “But this is different. We lost our most recent game. We’re falling behind a little and if we don’t win the next game, we don’t get to progress any further.” Aaron couldn’t stop his mouth from moving, even if he had tried to.

“You’re telling me that Boyd almost got stabbed because we lost a game? Are you serious right now? It’s not the end of the fucking world!”

“It is for me!” He stopped and said nothing more, turning his face away from them all, ignoring their looks of confusion. He knew Josten loved Exy as much as Kevin, but he didn’t think such a thing was enough to stab someone over. Kevin sighed, eyes closing before he put his head in his hands. Neil’s jaw clenched and he stood abruptly, walking towards the door, Andrew following just a few seconds after. Betsy, bless her heart, she tried to reason with two of the most stubborn beings on the planet.

“Neil, maybe you’re not quite ready to talk, but we’ve only just-”

“I apologise, Dr. Dobson, but I can’t talk with you in the room. Anything regarding that part of my life cannot be discussed outside of the people who already know. I do not wish to implicate you.” The woman wrote a few things down; the scratch of the pen was loud to Aaron’s ears.

“Very well, then. Let David know when you’re all ready to come back, and we’ll schedule something between classes and practice.” Neil and Andrew disappeared out of the door and Aaron and the rest were quick to follow, but not before Renee, ever the peacekeeper, gave the woman a gentle smile and told her they’d see her next week. As if she alone could wrangle them all into another session. He made his way over to the mas with Nicky and Kevin, where Neil and Andrew waited, sharing a cigarette between them, and the upperclassmen left ahead of them in Matt’s truck. No one spoke until they were all in the car and on the move, and of course, it was Kevin.

“This isn’t a good idea.” Nicky leaned across the seats and over Aaron to bat at Kevin with one hand, all the while texting Erik on his phone in the other.

“Shut up. You don’t think that anything is ever a good idea unless it’s one of your ideas.”

“Neil I really don’t-”

“Enough, Kevin. I’m telling them and that’s final. I should have told them all anyway.” Kevin sat back with a huff and Aaron rolled his eyes at the idiot’s dramatics, staring out the window for the rest of the unusually quiet drive back to fox tower, except for the clicking of Nicky’s phone and the quiet giggles he would let out at whatever he and his fiancé were talking about. When they got there, Andrew found the closest parking spot to the building that he could, because his brother preferred not to do any more exercise than being an Exy player forced him to. The others hadn’t waited for them, not that Aaron thought they would have, but he thought at least Allison would have been standing at the doors so Neil couldn’t slip away and get out of telling them anything. 

They hadn’t, however, stopped themselves from taking over Aaron’s old dorm room he shared with the rest of the ‘monsters’ before he moved to Matt’s. Dan and Matt were sitting together on the couch, the former tucked into the latter’s side, Allison was lounging in a beanbag while she inspected her nails and Renee was sitting on the floor in front of the small and worn table, sorting Nicky’s nail polishes into some sort of order. “Now that you’re here,” Allison said without even bothering to glance in their direction, “let’s get to this secret you’ve been keeping from us, shall we?” Aaron watched Andrew move over to the window to sit on the sill, lighting up another cigarette. He knew there was no need to worry about the smoke alarm because Andrew had taken it out from the first day they moved into the room. It was clear he wasn’t bothered by any of this, at least Aaron didn’t think he was, which means either he knew what Neil was going to tell them all, or he had guessed early on and hadn’t pushed for a definite answer just yet. 

Kevin sat down in the other bean bag, although with how tall he was, he seemed to dwarf the bag. The sight was odd, considering that caused him to slouch more than a chair or the couch would have, something he would moan at the rest of them for when they did it. Nicky sat himself next to Renee, gushing over how she’d organised all of his colours, nodding so enthusiastically that his messy brown curls bobbed with the movement. Aaron went to lean against the wall closest to Andrew, who didn’t acknowledge him other than glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. They were better than they were before, Aaron actually managed to have whole conversations with his brother now and he was no longer hostile towards Katelyn, letting her come along sometimes when they went to Sweeties and Eden’s. He knew it would take time to have some sort of a stable relationship with Andrew but they were trying, and that was okay for now. 

Neil stood in front of them all, hands in the PSU foxes hoodie he wore, barely any emotion on his face, as he always was. No wonder he and Andrew worked so well together, Aaron thought, internally rolling his eyes. He got straight to it. “After Nathan was killed, all his debts with the Moriyamas fell onto me. The money my mother took when she decided that we should run belonged to them. In Ichirou’s eyes, they still own Kevin and Jean too.”

“What does this have to do with you turning into a murderous little rage machine?” Matt rolled his eyes at Allison. 

“I made a deal with Ichirou.” Dan dropped her head into her hands while Nicky made a choked off sound. Aaron was tired of Josten making dumb decisions and not telling them. This is what happened when the fucking idiot ended up at Baltimore. “I wanted something and to get him to give in to that, I said he could have the majority of our earnings when we went pro.”

“Wait.” Neil turned his head towards Kevin, who was outwardly confused now. “You said he wanted a take of what we earned, that I knew. But you didn’t say it was in exchange for something, what did he give you?”

“I wanted Riko dealt with and he was.” Aaron’s eyes widened at that, as did the others in the room. Kevin went deathly pale and he stood slowly, looking at Neil as if he didn’t even know him. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he gave up and disappeared to his room without a word. Aaron had a feeling there was a bottle of vodka waiting for him to drown his sorrows in. Allison looked mildly impressed. 

“We all knew the suicide story was suspicious, but I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“I wanted him to pay for what he did. I walked out of that room and I laughed. But that’s why the nightmares have kicked in and I’ve picked up old habits, like sleeping with a weapon under my pillow. If Ichirou notices any slack, he will kill me.” Aaron looked to Andrew again, and his brother was staring back at Neil, as if waiting for him to fall apart. Dan stood, determination on her face and a fire in her eyes. 

“Then we help you stay on top of the game. We’ll fit in an extra practice a week and on the free period you share with Matt, he can discuss drills with you.” Aaron saw Matt smile and nod, receiving a dip of Neil’s head in return. “We’ll tell Coach that we’ll have an evening a week at the court, watching old games and seeing what we can take from them. No one gets to ruin this for you, they don’t get to take anything else.”

Nicky whooped and got up to hug Neil quickly, after he got the consent for one. Aaron wasn’t too happy about all this extra work for a sport he wasn’t even that bothered by, but he supposed he owed Neil this. After all, he was the one, no matter how stupidly he went about it, that finally managed their rag tag group work as a team and to become friends. He brought them together, and so Aaron would do this

So that they could stay together. 

~~~~~

They did get better over the weeks, and they won their next game, letting them progress further into this season. 

The session with Betsy continued, though progress on that front was slow going to begin with. Neil’s confession had broken the ice, and each of them would discuss assignments they were struggling with or the odd everyday problems life gave you. Betsy never pushed them, allowing them to get used to talking first before she tried diving for issues hidden deeper down. 

After a few weeks, Allison discussed her parents when she had gotten a phone call from her mother out of the blue. Apparently, they had started to notice how the foxes were on the up and up, and how much more media attention they were getting. Allison’s mother wanted to use her daughter for her own gain, to get their businesses promoted through the foxes and for Allison to start building their incomes through Exy. Aaron didn’t understand a lot of it, other than that his teammate’s parents were some of the most self centred assholes on the planet. After all this time, they hadn’t gotten in contact with Allison to see how she was or to ask about working on their own family issues, but just to see how they could make life better for them. The blonde had said in the one session that she finally told them where they could stick it, and if they wanted to cut her off from the money they could. If they didn’t want to love her as parents should, then she wanted nothing to do with them. 

When Allison ended her rant with the words ‘fuck them’, the foxes repeated them- even Andrew, to everyone’s surprise -loud and clear. Betsy tried to be reprimanding, but Aaron could see she was proud and trying valiantly to not smile with them. 

~~~~~

Some months or so after that, Aaron was attending one of his sessions where it was just him and Andrew. It was coming up to a year now since they’d first started these double sessions with Betsy, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit he liked coming to them. Yes, sometimes it was bad and they’d end then arguing heatedly, or sometimes, it would leave them exhausted but content that they were managing to get on to the same page with each other. And other times, well, those times managed to bring their walls crashing down. 

Today was one of those times. 

“Aaron, you don't look as if you’re well. Is everything alright? If you’re unable to sit through this one, you may go back and rest if you like.” He knew he must look like shit, after the night he’d had with his mind torturing him, but he felt as if this is why he’d been so plagued by nightmares the last few nights. Like Andrew had to know about them. 

“Nightmares.” His throat felt raw and scratchy, but he supposed that was normal when you wake yourself up by screaming yourself hoarse. 

“Are you able to tell us what they were or about?” He nodded, turning on the couch so he was angled to the left, making it easier for him to look directly at Andrew. His brother seemed unfazed as he usually did, but Aaron thought there was something different about him today, though he didn’t quite know exactly what was different. Maybe he felt like today was going to be better for them, too. 

“I thought I was already awake, because I was walking around the house in Columbia. It was too quiet, and the house was dark, and it was almost as if I could feel the shadows closing in around my shoulders.” He breathing became ragged and clenched a fist where his hand rested on his thigh. “I thought I heard glass smash and the sound of a thud, like something had hit the hardwood floor. It was muffled, coming from upstairs so I followed the sounds.” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard; it was like he was back in the nightmare and he couldn’t get out. 

“Aaron? Aaron, you can stop if you want to.” He shook his head, feeling part of his hair fall onto his forehead. 

“The noise was louder up there, coming from your room.” He opened his eyes again, catching his brother’s gaze, hazel eyes that matched his own. And they knew, they knew where Aaron’s nightmare was leading them, yet he didn’t flinch away. “I opened the door and it was back to that day, and Drake…” Andrew did not outwardly show any reaction to the name of his abuser, though Aaron saw his fingers stray to the edge of his armband. As if it soothed him to know he had a way to keep himself safe. “When I tried to get in there, it was like there was an invisible barrier in front of me. No matter how hard I kept hitting it, it never went away. I kept screaming at you, to look at me, so you’d know I was right there but there was nothing.” His cheeks felt wet and brought a hand up to find that those were tears running down his cheeks. 

Andrew’s eyes had widened, and the hand that was holding his armband started to drift towards Aaron, but stopped just shy of making contact. He took a few deep breaths before he felt like he could go on. “I closed my eyes after a while but I didn’t stop trying to get to you. Then all of a sudden I could hear laughing, and when I opened my eyes, I was back in that shitty apartment, before you came and Tilda had locked me in the closet. She had her Junkie friends over doing all sorts of shit, music on as high as possible.” He felt like he could breathe, as though someone kept on piling invisible weights on his chest, one after the other. “I had one toy, a couple of granola bars and a bottle of Gatorade, of all things. No matter how loud I shouted for her, she never came to let me out. I woke up screaming after that, scared Katelyn half to death.”  He’d kept his gaze on the floor when talking about his mother, knowing she was a touchy subject between them. 

There was a quick tap to his knee and, a bit reluctantly, he lifted his head to look at Andrew again. His brother was breathing a little heavier, and Aaron could see the way his chest moved. There was more emotion on his face than he’d ever seen. When he was on the meds it was different, it was just a constant sort of forced excitement. This was real and this was Andrew. His twin. “I’m going to hug you, yes or no?” Aaron almost choked on air at the words. Words he’d never expected to leave Andrew’s mouth. He saw Betsy falter just a little out of the corner of his eye, her own stalling from where she was writing things down. 

“Yes.” Then slowly, carefully, Andrew shifted forward so he could pull Aaron into him. His arms went around Aaron’s back, and he hesitated just a little before doing the same. Their cheeks rested against each other and when Andrew spoke next, Aaron could feel the words against his ear. 

“We’re okay, you hear me? Both of us. We’re a little bit broken, but we’re doing okay.” Aaron nodded, taking a stuttered breath. And if the two of them, the same yet not the same, held onto each other for just a little longer then that was just fine. 

They were just okay.

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Again, I’m sorry about the lateness! Hope you liked it:)) I’m also sorry it’s not as long as it was, but trying to remember everything to rewrite was so difficult.