#the Kevin Day effect ™️

[kweenkday]

Listen, if the fact that THREE blorbos in the books are totally obsessed with Kevin Day, claim they hate him but will rip your throats open for him (and then there's Jeremy, too), doesn't make you understand the power of Kevin Day... then there's no hope for you, I fear.

[starsandgutters]

WIP GAME BOO & BOWSER!! 👀

HEHEHE !!

This is also just an outline, but it’s an idea I have had in my head for YEARS, from around the same period as the initial conception of Kinda Love, so I am very soft and fond of this verse even if I’ve never written a word from it.

Kevin and Aaron become close in college after Neil and Andrew get together cause they’re on the sidelines more often. And after Riko especially they get really close, and they think they’re just dudes being bros, but they do have such exchanges as Aaron teasingly referring to Kevin as Paracelsus.

“Why?”

“Because he also always wanted to be right. He actually burned medical textbooks because he was so strongly of the belief his ways were correct and tradition was wrong. And this is 15th and 16th century, books were not easy to come by.”

“Wow. Thanks. I won’t insist I’m right if I’m wrong-”

“That’s not- I just mean he had that much belief in himself. He didn’t want incorrect medical practice happening. He also taught in German instead of Latin. Cause he believed everyone should have access to knowledge, not just the upper classes.”

“…oh.”

“He just reminds me of you.”

And Kevin is all flustered because not only is Aaron being NICE to him but he’s being nice USING HISTORY which is a super effective seduction method for Kevin, and every time Aaron calls him Paracelsus after he remembers that and feels all warm and … wow they must be such good friends right 😃

But then Kevin leaves and being Kevin gets hyper focused in on his new team and training and it’s usually Aaron messaging him, but the replies get sparser and more infrequent, and after a few months Aaron starts to think Kevin only was friendly with him because of close contact / has moved on and now that Aaron isn’t going to be continuing exy he isn’t important to him anymore.

Like Kevin’s just a single minded dumbass but Aaron has attachment issues due to parental abuse so. Y’know. It hurts and it sucks but he has Katelyn and he’s got med school to be working towards and so he tries not to think about Kevin.

(Hard to avoid thoughts of your ex best friend when he’s constantly on TV and you’re still on his dad’s team but whatever)

When Kevin comes back to see Wymack for holidays he acts the same as they always did, but Aaron’s more distant towards him, so then HE thinks Similar Things™️ to Aaron because they’re BOTH emotionally stilted idiots. So the distance between them just grows.

Kevin is separated from Thea at this point because Kevin Day deserves to love himself thanks 😤

They cross paths sometimes over the years (usually from things involving Andrew) but it’s more like cold acquaintances than the way they used to be.

Aaron and Katelyn break up in his last year of med school. Just growing apart, changing as people, but Aaron definitely feels his depression had a big impact in it and it sends him into a bit of a spiral and he has to take some time off from school - which he hates- He shifts to part time studying and splitting his time between that and working at a doctors office but now he’s suddenly faced with the fact that he’s got a void in his life cause, hey! Most of his med school friends were mutual friends with Katelyn and all their hanging out was as a couple and sure he’s got some acquaintances and work acquaintances but like… trust issues mean he doesn’t wanna spend time with people he’s not super close to. Andrew’s busy playing pro, Nicky’s in Germany, so Aaron adopts a dog.

HE’S A ROTTWEILER AND HE CALLS HIM BOWSER AND GETS HIM A SPIKED COLLAR 😌😌😌

(The timeline of this kind of messy but I’ll work it out better if I ever write it hahaha)

Kevin is also a Lonely Boi but he throws himself into playing to distract himself. Except his hand gets worse every winter and no matter how many tapes or supports or massages or pain meds he tries, it’s getting harder to keep up the level of use he has with it.

And then he gets the news he has post traumatic arthritis and he’ll only have so many years left to play before it gets worse. And sure, yeah, he taught himself to play right handed, and that was FINE for the Foxes, but it’s not up to standard with the pros.

Cue mental breakdown.

Cue importing a super expensive pure breed dog as a distraction (she’s a Shiba Inu called Boudicca).

(I considered a Japanese name because it’s JUST LIKE KEVIN to name her ✨authentically✨ and teach her all her commands in Japanese, but also, I think it’s just so tied to Riko and painful memories for him that in the end he wouldn’t, but felt he would find it funny to call her after a queen, and a Celtic warrior queen felt appropriate 😌)

Oh he also drunk called Aaron at some stage despite not having had a full conversation with him in years and Aaron is just like “wat” like why would you not talk to Andrew or Neil about this???

But he can’t.

Because they still get to play.

Andrew doesn’t even care about this stupid sport that is Kevin’s whole world and he STILL gets to PLAY and how can Kevin look him in the face and say he’s on limited time and Andrew’s career will outlast him?

And Aaron’s kind of annoyed. But it’s also nice in a sad way that someone seems to be doing worse than him (can you say schadenfreude?) And also he discovers his soft spot for Kevin never left and fuck that.

So they stay in contact a little more frequently. Kevin sends pupdates. Aaron sends advice because as smart as Kevin is he’s also a soft touch and keeps spoiling her before he’s even got her trained and also “you picked one of the most stubborn temperamental dog breeds as your first- No, why am I surprised? You fit perfectly”

More messy time line stuff I haven’t thought about and Kevin having to leave her for the first time to tour and he’s like “S O S I THOUGHT I COULD LEAVE HER AT A KENNEL BUT I DONT TRUST THEM WITH MY BABY WILL YOU PLEASE BABYSIT HER”

“You know im busy I have work and school.”

“She’ll keep Bowser company.”

“Bowser is a grown dog because I didn’t contribute to breeding for profit while good dogs get put down in shelters because they have no homes.”

(5 photos attached of Boudicca)

“Fuck sake fine”

And Kevin’s like she’s kind of moody and it might take her a while to warm up to you and-

Dog whisperer Aaron Minyard crouches down and she immediately is getting belly rubs and giving him kisses. (Aaron Minyard who is good with animals & who animals always take to because they can sense the soft core of him that people don’t see past his spiky exterior you will ALWAYS be real to ME)

Kevin: 👁👄👁

Boo is Aaron’s nickname for Boudicca. Which he calls her all the time even though Kevin protests greatly, because she HAS a name and it is a GREAT name it is a POWERFUL and HISTORICAL name and-

And Aaron’s like hehe let me edit them so it looks like they’re sitting in little Mario Kart racing karts - Bowser and Boo 🤭💖

Kevin has never been a better communicator. Messages Aaron every free minute like hello is my baby the light of my life ok???

Gets flustered when Aaron replies “im fine thanks how are you” wHAT IS THAT ABOUT??? WHAT IS THIS FEELING SO SUDDEN AND NEW—

Aaron and Katelyn have also moved past their break up heartache at this stage and reconnected as friends, so some of the updates Aaron sends Kevin of the dogs out on walks, or him doing stuff with them, Katelyn is in the background of. And Kevin does not like this. It makes him feel all complicated and prickly and uncomfortable. Like, why is she near HIS dog and why is that FUZZY LITTLE TRAITOR sitting on her lap and WHY is she pressed against HIS AARON’S side and- wait, no, not his Aaron, hahaha what a silly thought-

Ends up impulse buying a house in Aaron’s city (idk if Aaron canonically went to Chicago or if that’s just fanon but I’ve absorbed it into my consciousness as a fact) so it’s easier for dog sitting and Aaron doesn’t need to stay crammed in a cheap apartment and Kevin can just travel between that and wherever his team is based. (Aaron is furious because he is not a kept man. He refused Andrew’s help and how dare Kevin think he can just buy a house and-

He does move in anyway though cause his window has had a draft for months that makes chilly Chicago winters a NIGHTMARE and the sink in the bathroom drips constantly and it would be nice to have a garden for Bowser-)

So then- OMG THEY WERE ROOMMATES!

Anyway dog dads falling in love

Kevin manages to make it to the Olympics before he retires and has, essentially, a huge nervous breakdown despite the fact he had years to mentally prepare himself. Aaron helping piece him back together and finding new ways for him to focus his love of the game while also being a kickass doctor because Aaron Minyard? Multitasker pro

Grumpy boys out walking their dogs together in big coats and scarves 😌💖 their little family already pre-made by the time they get their dumbass acts together and realise they want to smooch 😤 Kevin being at home more so that Aaron can put more hours into HIS career now without worrying about the dogs, and Kevin having time to explore and learn about himself and his interests outside of exy. Aaron making sure he takes it easy and helping him with exercises for his arthritis and ways to tend to his chronic pain 🥹 and they just get to be domestic and stupidly in love and happy with their pups!!

(Bonus concept: Bed Spreader Extraordinaire Kevin Day who usually takes up the ENTIRE bed with his STUPID LONG LIMBS is actually the one that sometimes can’t get into bed in this verse, because Aaron sleeps curled up into a little ball, but the dogs sprawl out on either side of him as his protectors. Kevin standing shivering in his briefs like 🥺 Boudicca please move and let me into the bed 🥺 but this is what you get for impulse buying one of the sassiest and most stubborn dog breeds, Kevin-)