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simonsrosebud · 4 years

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the one where someone doesn’t know who kevin day is, pt. 3

part one two four five

kevin has a talk with them the next morning before practice. or more of just him storming into the lounge and going off. the four freshman are there, too, but he doesn’t quite care.

“dalton isn’t fucked up like the rest of us! there’s a reason i didn’t want any of you meeting or even knowing about him and it’s not because i hadn’t fucking come out yet. he’s not a fox, and he’s not even thea. he’s not involved with exy, he doesn’t know about riko and me and the moriyama’s and the rest! there’s a lot of shit he doesn’t know about yet and none of you had the right throwing it all out in the air last night just to have a fucking laugh. tell me, was it funny? was it fucking funny getting him shitfaced just to get some answers and take the piss?!”

dan stands, and kevin holds a hand out. she looks to andrew, but his silence sides him with kevin. “kevin, we were just trying to-“

“you have no excuses, dan. none of you do. you were trying to make a fool of me and my boyfriend for nothing. and now, i have to go cure his curiosity of the things you all said.” and he storms out.

wymack doesn’t stop him. if anything, he looks mad at those left. “the fuck did you do to him to make him skip practice?! you realize that’s never happened so long as he’s lived, right?! we don’t have protocol for the day kevin skips exy.”

meanwhile, dalton doesn’t actually have that many questions. the numbing of alcohol for a face tattoo is understandable, especially knowing that kevin’s sober and therefore must have had a problem. the cracker dust he asks about just because he doesn’t know what it is- he doesn’t like it, but trusts kevin that he’s done with it. he’s seen the scar along kevin’s hand, he already assumed it was from a surgery. the edgar allen thing was too vague for him to be curious about, but he does ask- not about, the father comment, but if he’s okay about it. kevin tells him this much; that he transferred from edgar allen to palmetto because he’d known for a few years that wymack was his father, and that he didn’t have the courage to tell him until last year.

kevin thanks the gods that dalton doesn’t ask about or seem to remember any mention of the yakuza.

they’re at kevin’s suite because he knows they’ll have a few hours by themselves with everyone at the stadium, but only an hour in there’s knocking on the door. dalton has his lips on kevin’s- he’d just said how he likes having access to his “real smile”. “gonna get it?” kevin shakes his head. the knocking starts again.

“come on, kevin! we’re sorry! just open up for a second!”

kevin knows dalton likes when he speaks french, so he sighs and kisses him before whispering, “i hate them all.”

dan is at his door with matt and allison in tow. “what do you want?”

“to apologize.” kevin raises his eyebrows. “look, we take the piss a lot and you never seemed to be visibly affected by it, so we didn’t realize that last night was upsetting you until you left.”

“you said never have i ever seen kevin have a meltdown. why do you think you’ve seen that? because i’m a toddler? you know what i’ve had my reasons.” riko. the moriyamas.

“i know. look, we don’t want to give you excuses. i-i don’t have an explanation. you’ve always kind of let us take the piss without saying anything, and we took it too far, especially last night. andrew looked like he wanted to kill nicky for the yakuza comment, but neil talked to him about it before we went to the stadium this morning,” she whispers the last part because she’s not stupid, and kevin huffs.

matt jumps in. “we wanna make it up to you, man. you’ve obviously hid him from us for a reason and we proved you right.” kevin honestly wants to get back to dalton and he wants it to just be over with. “bring him to the winter banquet, we’ll be nice. if anyone says anything i’ll punch em. neil will chew em out.”

kevin grimaces. the ravens will be at the banquet. it’s in just over a month, the second week of december. he’ll have to tell dalton some things by then. and he might have to say something to the public.

he doesn’t tell him anything. not yet, at least. he still has three weeks until the banquet- he hasn’t even asked dalton yet. he starts to like away games a little more than before, though. he gets dalton a little postcard from every new state they go to. he tapes them all to one of the walls of his room.

he’s on the phone with dalton at an airport general store, even, when he gets interrupted by two girls. he puts on his press smile before he even notices. “hold on, d.”

he doesn’t love fan interactions.

when they leave, dalton asks him with amusement if he’s got fans now, and kevin kind of decides he should probably tell him some more about his life because jesus, does he have fans. he needs to tell him about he and riko. what they were, what they were to fans of exy, what kevin was to fans of exy. what kevin was to riko- without involving the yakuza.

but he doesn’t, because dalton never brings up the topic of “fans” again.

he doesn’t tell him until a week later, when he wakes up from a nightmare.

dalton’s leaning over him, speaking, but all kevin sees is riko riko riko. it takes all of two seconds for dalton to back off.

“hey, hey, it’s me, it’s dalton. you’re safe, you’re in my apartment. no one else is here, i promise.”

kevin’s breathing so hard, dalton flicks the lamp on and he just crumbles. he sits up and presses his hands over his eyes, “i’m sorry.”

“can i touch you?” he nods. dalton’s sitting at his side, cross legged, and gently pulls kevin’s hands off his eyes. “you don’t have to be sorry. i know there’s shit in here,” he lightly lifts his hands to hold kevin’s face and taps his temple with a finger, “i don’t need to know what it is, just know you don’t have to apologize for it, and know you’re safe.”

kevin nods and twists to hug him. and dalton wraps his arms securely around kevin’s back. he presses a kiss to the top of his head and mumbles “c’mere” to prompt kevin into climbing into his lap.

dalton slides his fingers through kevin’s hair and it’s just so soothing, it nearly puts him to sleep. and when dalton lays back down kevin stays wrapped around him with his cheek pressed to his chest.

when kevin wakes up it’s to find they’ve switched positions overnight. dalton’s got his arm lazily draped over kevin’s waist, almost holding him close like a pillow. his ankle is thrown over kevin’s, and his head is pressed into the back of kevin’s neck.

kevin doesn’t want to move. in fact, he stays so still so as to not wake dalton, that when he stirs kevin just shushes him and pulls dalton’s arm back around him. he holds his hand close to his chest.

dalton’s not stupid. he knows kevin’s awake and nuzzles himself closer. “you like being cuddled.”

“you’re the one doing it, not me.” but he definitely tilts further into the pillow to expose his neck when dalton starts kissing up the side.

“you like being the little spoon.” and pushes himself up over kevin. “you like when you’re on the bottom, kev.” he kisses him deep into the mattress despite morning breath, and noses down his neck. “i like it.”

kevin tugs at dalton’s hair. “and what… what about it?”

ahaha. aha. sex.

anyway.

he tells dalton everything afterwards. he leaves out the yakuza part, and the fact of neil’s past, because that’s another monster. but he tells him the rest. who his mother is and why he’s such a big deal in the exy world; why he really left edgar allen and came to the foxes; the tattoo that’s buried under his chess piece and what it meant. what his relationship with riko was really like, and everything about their past and the abuse he endured.

and he fills him in on what triggers him because of that: small pitch black rooms, confined spaces without an easy way out, holding his hand too tight, the mention of riko moriyama, a lot of other things.

and dalton stays.

so kevin asks him to the banquet. when he says yes, he asks wymack for help arranging an interview. there are enough people and press lingering outside the exy banquets, and he’d like to hold his boyfriend’s hand on the way in this year.

it’s scheduled to be live the morning before the banquet. it’s with sophie silletti for espn college exy, and she posts about it as soon as it’s booked.

kevin sits with her. it’s nothing like kathy ferdinand. they talk strictly about exy and eventually, with his pre-approved questions, she brings up thea’s team’s most recent game. “and forgive me if i’m wrong, but you and thea muldani split recently, yes?”

kevin nods. “back in may, i’d say. we’re still friendly, i have the utmost respect towards her. in the end it just didn’t work out.” i haven’t talked to her in months.

sophie nods. “everything happens for a reason, i’d like to think.”

“of course. it wouldn’t have led me elsewhere.”

“is that hinting at something? i feel we don’t normally talk about this, but does kevin day have someone new in his love life?”

kevin palms are sweating. he hopes his face isn’t red with nerves. “i do, actually. i won’t say anything about him for his own privacy” i don’t want the public’s prying eyes “but we’ve been together for a bit, now.”

sophie is grinning, she feigns surprise. “i heard you say him, did i not? anything else to tell us?”

he keeps his smile easy, but he can feel the worry in the back of his head telling himself they can see right through it. “if you’re asking, then sure. i’m a bisexual man, so yes, my partner is also a man. this is the first time i’ve ever announced it to the public, actually.” as if that wasn’t the whole point of today.

“at least your fangirls can keep their hopes up, then, yeah? still got a 50/50 shot! and i’ve got to say, i feel honored you trusted me and my show with a milestone like this. coming out certainly is a big deal, or at least nerve wracking! how do you feel?” she laughs. “is it like a weight lifted from your shoulders?”

“i was never too stressed about it.” lies. “some will hate, sure, but my job is the game. if my fans are true then this won’t change that. speaking of,” and then it’s back to exy.

wymack drives them back to palmetto, and when they’re close enough he says, “i’m proud of you for doing that.”

“thanks.”

“where am i dropping you off?”

kevin knows andrew and neil probably watched the interview, and he doesn’t feel like dealing with whatever they’ve got to say about it. so wymack drops him at dalton’s who hugs him as soon as he opens the door.

“you watched?”

“of course.” he kisses his cheek.

all posts/updates relating to this au can be found in the “OC: dalton miller” tag!

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aftgficrec · 3 years

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Trans Neil? Like the one where he knew Kevin from the nest and Alison was a supportive friend and she called him handsome the first time they met on fox court? Preferably like a canon rewrite (?still don’t know the correct terms so idk if canon compliant works here) but other types would be appreciated too

Hi, anon. The fic you describe may be ‘Remind me I’m not home,’ which has Neil as a former Raven and is below in our previous recs. I’m re-listing ‘Beautiful and Splendid Things,’ which has a fun twist on exy. - A

previous recs:

trans Neil 1 here

trans Neil, Andrew, Kevin here

‘Remind me I’m not home’ here

‘In Flanders Fields,’ ‘In The House of the Rising Sun,’ ‘All or Nothing,’ ‘Josten’s Eight,’ and ‘Beautiful and Splendid Things’ (this one is also recced below) here

‘there's gotta be some butterflies somewhere,’ ‘forgive our sins forged at the pulpit,’ and ‘We All Get A Little Wrecked Sometimes’ here

‘Staring at the Sun’ (jerejean, since updated, background andreil) here

Affection can be shown in so many ways by Theoddgalaxy [Rated T, 5978 Words, Complete, 2021]

Andrew is learning, learning to support, to be supported and it’s terrifying. He’s slowly each day relaxing into normalcy, that is until the nightmares start up again, and Luther contacts Nicky.

Andrew has a nightmare Neil comforts. Nicky gets a call from Luther, and it reminds them all they’ve got a home with the foxes. Andrew also drags Neil to therapy.

tw: nightmares, tw: homophobic slur

Show and Tell by darkbluebox [Rated T, 806 Words, Complete, 2021]

“Show me your scars.”

tw: implied/referenced violence, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: referenced deadnaming, tw: referenced involuntary outing

a different way in the destiny by sheskyripa [Not Rated (we say T), 14853 Words, Complete, 2021]

Neil had bandages on both cheeks. Andrew removed them one by one, as gently as possible so as not to hurt him further. The tattoo was gone, giving way to burned flesh. Two new knife scars arrived in Neil's collection. Other than that, he looked fine. Andrew hated having thought of that. Neil was not okay. He was hurt. He was…

Andrew's eyes dropped to his stomach. Neil noticed, of course. He placed a hand on his stomach before making Andrew look at him. “I'm okay. We're okay.”

or, where neil was pregnant when he was kidnapped.

tw: self harm, tw: blood, tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: transphobia, tw: misgendering, tw: dysphoria, tw: involuntary outing, tw: panic attacks

When it comes to us by trubenblack [Not Rated, 1762 Words, Complete, 2019]

It’s incredibly difficult to pretend to yourself that you haven’t really fucked up when you very clearly have.

Neil gets anxious and doesn't know when to stop pushing himself.

tw: dysphoria, tw: anxiety

Beautiful and Splendid Things by Dhillarearen [Rated T, 37105 Words, Complete 2019, AFTG Reverse Big Bang]

Hobbes hasn’t been taught in a century, but if he were, Neil Josten would agree with his view on humanity. The only good thing about living is Exy, and being a member of a professional Exy hover-racing team means that Neil doesn’t have to think about anything else.

Enter Andrew Minyard.

tw: violence

NB: Art prompt by @still-waiting-for-godot

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vonn13 · 3 years

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Elderly Neil Josten being sentimental

Okay bear with me, I'm obsessed with this concept since I started reading 'The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo' today.

(I'll try this bullet point style so it'll be easier to read?)

So Andrew and Neil have grown old together, but were always very private people. I can't imagine them as anything else.

They've both gotten old and wrinkly, their health isn't what it used to be. Their hair has grown grey and nowadays their backs cracks after 20min of just sitting together on the couch reading or watching TV with the cats.

They're old and content, but of course old people pass away. So after many years together Andrew passes away in a peaceful manner surrounded by Neil and their (immortal) cats in his sleep.

Neil takes the loss hard, the first time he cried had been with whymack's death, but this time he doesn't have Andrew to sit with him in silent support. Neil finds support instead from his entire family and most of all Aaron and Nicky.

A few years pass and Neil still misses Andrew so much, but he has gotten better. Imagining Andrew scoff at him for moping too long helped a lot. He took up some hobbies that remind him of Andrew, like keeping up the car and he even decided to read every single worn book on Andrew's bookshelf. (Andrew might be allergic to libraries, but enjoys reading I'm sure of it. He's the type to annotate his books like crazy because it shows its his, a side effect from foster care that need to make a mark in the world.)

It's the annotated books that give him the idea really. Neil also wants to leave a mark on the world about their dedication to each other. So he decided at last to give the media what they wanted all along. An exclusive interview about Olympic exy star Neil Josten and his life with the plans of turning it into somewhat of an autobiography someday.

We all know Neil and his sheer antagonism so he lures some lesser known newbie journalists into his scheme and just talks. Talks about his and Andrew's life together, the way they both grew emotionally to how happy he had been to be the one Andrew chose.

He talks about their up and lows. Births, deaths, weddings, parties, birthdays, the cats and exy of course. But most important of all, the Andrew and Neil no one else ever got to see. The Andrew, Neil was glad to keep close to his heart, but also wanted to show of to the world. The amazing person the world never got to know.

Neil tells the poor journalists on their first meeting "so I have to be real with you guys. I'm just here to bitch about Andrew Minyard mainly." "what/Minyard??" "yeah, asshole died and made me a single mother of two (cats)."

Let's say the journalists needed a well deserved holiday afterwards, but still.

All the remaining Foxes are very supportive and offer a few segments from their perspectives on Neil and Andrew and their shared antagonism. With a lot of glimpses on how far everyone's gotten in life and their perspective on their lives looking back.

The interviews are chaotic as is expected of the foxes, with plenty of inside jokes, sarcasm and plenty of heaviness. The world is learning to see that there is more to the famous generation of foxes that brought down the ravens in their first year than a bunch of troubled teens.

The interview/autobiography is a massive hit and even gets nominated for some awards as it shocks the world. Neil doesn't care for the fame however, in typical Neil fashion.

After the interview Neil casually goes back to his old life, ignoring all the demands for follow up interviews and the like as well as the reaction of the public. (Neil has become an icon for the lgbtqia+ community) he goes on with life in his old town house with two cats and tries to come up with new ways to kill time (like working on weird mathematical theories) as he looks fondly at a picture of Andrew and Neil himself on the roof at Palmetto on his bedside.

Life is good in the end Neil decides as he hangs around together with his family. Matt who makes jokes about their days in college, Dan who quotes Neil's infamous rants, Allison who holds Renee's hands tenderly, Aaron who looks over at Katelyn with their grandkids, Kevin who laughs out loud making his old tattoo look funny and Nicky who smiles softly as he thanks Neil for being the first person to have chosen Andrew.

Yes, life is good and he wishes Andrew could've stuck around a bit longer for it and wasn't too pissed off about him being a sentimental mess.

#andreil #Aftg #aftg headcanon #andrew minyard #neil josten #dan wilds #matt boyd #aaron minyard #kevin day #the foxes #nicky hemmick #allison reynolds #renee walker #Did someone already write a fanfic about this? I feel like someone did #all for the game #andriel #aftg hc

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palmett-hoes · 3 years

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YES. Oh my God you explained perfectly the logic behind Neil getting tattoos. I get that people think tattoos fix Andrew's "aesthetic" more cause he wears all black and all but tattoos nowadays are popular and not really a thing that only alternative people get. Anyway -> if Neil got tattoos, do u have an hcs for what he might?

yea the more i think about it the more i really like the idea of neil getting tattoos. and who knows, maybe if his boyfriend starts to get covered andrew will take an interest too. i mean you're right, it does fit his aes. maybe he gets some matching tattoos with the love of his life

WHAT neil would get tho? oh there’s so many factors to consider

i see him having a similar ideology about it as i do, that his tattoos are to memorialize significant people and events in his life. most importantly though, they’re just,, to make him feel good about himself, so they’re all of happy memories, even if some might be bittersweet

it’s also not about full-coverage. he’s fine if his scars are still visible under the tattoo and probably isn’t going to try to religiously cover every single one. it’s about having something good on his body that he chose to put there to combat but not necessarily blot out the bad things done to him against his will

he tends to collect smaller individual pieces rather than large scale work and he’s not committed to a specific style, so his collection is a bit random and eclectic. but in terms of the style generally drawn to very kinesthetic art with a lot of movement and fluid lines, but also angular and hard-edged. i don’t think he’s color-averse and definitely not a strict black-and-gray guy, but at the same time i can’t see him doing like super super bright color work. he goes for darker, more saturated colors, like jewel and natural tones. also of course i see him as brown skinned so you need to approach color work differently anyway

in terms of what he actually GETS, i don’t really have a lot of opinions on placement or like,, what tattoos should cover which scar, but have some random ideas i think he might get

he has a large piece (like maybe a sleeve or thigh) that’s dedicated to his time on the run, but the good parts. it’s a mix of a lot of images and very chaotic, drawing from like,, the french cafe where his most first bought him a cup of coffee and cottage safehouses in the alps in summer and where they had room to stretch their legs and run and chase each other and hustling three card monty in dubai with his mom and diners in the pacific northwest that sold the best fruit pies

he of course gets a lot of tattoos for the foxes, definitely at least one straight-up fox. tiny pawprints are his go-to filler pattern

he has everyone’s signatures somewhere on him, maybe with a tattoo of the Championship trophy being hoisted up by a group of hands. he also has small individual pieces that memorialize each of them individually

definitely got several exy sticks and various other pieces of gear scattered in various places. dark stadium chairs leading down to a brightly lit exy court

andrew is probably his biggest inspiration. he has the photograph of them together in the airport turned into a silhouette like a victorian cameo. a ring of keys; this one might go on the back of his neck. a tire track skid mark. a skeleton sitting on a roof against a sunrise. andrew’s hand sparking a lighter. the only reason he doesn’t have a full portrait is bc andrew says he’ll leave him if he does it

a rabbit skull overgrown by moss and vines and flowers.

he gets a rook and knight chess pieces tat because kevin says that’s what he and andrew would be

he gets some small cheeky ones too. things like a line of script that says “you should see the other guy” with a gun running under a nasty scar or a skeletal arm broken in half

once he starts to really establish who he is and flesh himself out as a person he gets some that don’t necessarily have a lot of meaning but that he just likes the look of because he has the luxury of having opinions on art now

i don’t necessarily know if i want him to cover his facial scars, but i think that’s mostly because i don’t like facial tattoos very much, especially ones located where neil’s scars are. that’s just a personal preference though. however, i think the idea of a minimalist, abstract take of just like,, adding color to the scars might be nice. something like well-saturated brushstroke work

(addendum: an au or something where all neil’s scars are just covered in abstract brushwork would be so fucking beautiful. like this but full-body holy shit)

(i just don’t think it really fits him in canon to have a full-body tattoo scheme. also those would require so much long-term maintenance you’d have to get them redone like every 5 to 10 years)

he also doesn’t get them all at once, this is something he builds up over years. he also doesn’t want to rush it because he wants to stay open to memorialize things that will come in the future, because he has a future to wait for now

---

also i assume you probably want some reference photos too bc this can be a little hard to understand just as words, so here's some of my reference images under the cut

they’re more of a stylistic reference than a content reference. also - as in all things - this will of course also tell you a lot about my own personal taste in tattooing even though i try not to make it based ENTIRELY on what i like and try to factor in what i think neil would like

these were the tattoos that most inspired me about the tattoo idea for neil’s happiest memories with his mother. for some reason my gut really drew me towards architectural tattoos for it. i like the way the perspective on the left image is curved and confusing and it takes you a second to make sense of what you’re looking at. it reminds me a lot of an MC Escher drawing and that’s sort of the exact seeling of chaos and confusion that i think the tattoo needs. but then i was also really drawn to the soft colors of the right image (although they’d have to be adjusted somewhat for neil’s darker skin), because they’re so comforting, and i think that’s the sort of balance i’m looking for out of a tattoo for mary. so like,, compositionally like the left image but colored more like the right

literally every person who’s ever considered aftg and tattoos together HAS to offer up a fox tattoo it’s law. anyway these are mine. or well, the types i can see neil with. also, not aside from the foxes, these tattoos are really the best examples i can find of the angular, kinesthetic art style that i feel very strongly matches neil

inspo behind the tattoo of andrew’s hand with the lighter. also just a good simple style for smaller tattoos or filler tattoos

victorian cameos. inspiration behind both the silhouette tattoos of andrew and neil in the airport and the skeleton & the sunrise. both would be more than just the bust and the poses would be more fluid and they don’t need the brooch design outline. it’s really more of a starter reference or a jumping off point

neo-traditional tattoos. phenomenal style. strong lines and highly saturated color, super important both for a long-lasting tattoo and for tattooing on darker skin. they also just tend to have a certain composition i really like

this is the style i see the championship trophy tattoo, the chess pieces tattoo, the rabbit skull tattoo, and the ring of keys tattoo all in

---

okay i’m done now

thoughts?

#txt #pic #neil josten #my posts #im talkin #ask #anon #anonymous #tattoo #tattoos #foxes w tats

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girloikawa · 4 years

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kevin and alcohol:

unfortunately, addictions like to be romanticized or sexualized when they’re an everyday struggle for many (and you best believe it happens in aftg with smoking), so this one’s for kevin. cheers mate

after he gets super drunk and changes his tattoo, he has a shift in his mood because he’s no longer letting riko control him, like he’s gotten something back. however, it doesn’t just get better

now, instead of riko plaguing his fears, it’s normal things. is thea mad at me? am i attracted to neil? why haven’t i learned about this niche part of history yet? he has a constant need to be on top of everything, that eventually it becomes to much

so he drinks. and wymack’s coaching techniques and their adventure’s to columbia aren’t really helping. oh and the fact that he is now seen as #1 and that’s even more pressure that he Did Not Need

he’s like the john mulaney quote. kevin, drunk, one night: “i am very tall. and i have no anxiety pills. so you can imagine the kind of stress i am under.”

the foxes notice, of course, but it’s kevin, he’ll be okay! because kevin is an exy-obsessed guy who will chew your ass off if you’re late to practice, of course he’s okay! spoiler alert: he’s not. he may be free, riko may be dead, and he may be pretty damn good at exy, but that does not mean he doesn’t have any problems (nonetheless a healthy way to cope with said problems).

and then kevin gets really drunk before a game. he knew it was stupid, but he couldn’t help it. he got nervous, he exchanged the water in his non-clear water bottle for vodka, and sat in the back of the bus with headphones. he really didn’t know why he did it, he didn’t exactly have a reason besides pre-game nerves, but everything felt like it was getting out fo control and,, well,, it did

wymack instantly smelt the alcohol, cursed him out, benched him, then payed no attention to the game because he was having an in-depth conversation with kev. they went to the locker room and talked it out. riko’s death kinda fucked him up. riko’s life kinda fucked him up. he was fucked up. he told wymack so

“you’re not...son”—he never really called kevin that—“you’ve been through some fucked up shit, but you are not fucked up. you’re strong, hell, you’re stronger than I would’ve been in your situation. and let’s say, hypothetically, you are fucked up. well, aren’t we all? what you need to focus on now, kevin, is if you’re going to do anything about this,” wymack pointed you kevin’s alcohol stenched clothes, “and try to get out of this dark cloud.”

kevin kept his head between his legs, he had never felt like more of a disappointment. (since he got out of the nest at least.) he was going to fix it. first, once the game was over, he apologized to the foxes. he hasn’t been at his best for awhile and no one noticed because neil’s problems, although bigger than mars, were a lot easier to see than kevin’s and that he was going to work hard to get to a point where he was. no one really said anything until matt got up, clapped him on the shoulder, and said, “we know you try way too hard, man. you got this, and we got you.”

andrew doesn’t acknowledge it until a few days later when he says, “you should’ve told me,” out of nowhere. kevin doesn’t say anything back, he doesn’t really need to. but, directly after he told the foxes, andrew took all the alcohol out of the dorm. kevin assumed it was because the one thing andrew couldn’t protect kevin from was himself, so taking the alcohol away solved some piece of the problem

neil doesn’t really do anything. just doesn’t let kevin be alone at all times, and neither do any of the other foxes. renee will see him around campus and strike up a conversation, a quite random one too. “hey, what do you think is the least intelligent animal” “well, technically—” “no, not technically, like in your opinion” “...uh, I don’t know. do I look like I hang out with animals?” “okay, sassy pants, well, I think lightning bugs are stupid”

matt and dan are the only ones who flat out ask him about it. matt would be like, “you doing okay, bud?” (that was another thing, matt would not stop calling him “bud” or “man” or “sunshine” ((which he found funny because kevin was not a Sunshine)) and kevin hated it.)

kevin goes to alcohols anonymous. it’s weird because people are like “wait is he the one who didn’t go skiing or the one who says the most ludicrous stiff on television?” because they are not well-versed in the subject of exy because they are normal humans. eventually someone asks and kevin says, “uh yeah I didn’t go skiing” and they’re like “ooooooh makes sense I thought you were the taller one”

the people there are supportive and nice. they get on his nerves a bit, but who doesn��t. he gets his one month chip, and the foxes throw him a party. no one really understood why they did that, they were not the partying type, but it was for kevin. their kevin. their big monster kevin.

for three months, kevin says, “can we have an extra long practice” and they’re all like “uuuuuggggggghhhhhhhh” (not neil) but they do it anyway

kevin starts to actually feel better. no more alochol, no more forgetting, no more shitty feeling when he remembers. generally, things get better

he almost—almost—slips up on the anniversary of his hand getting broken. but he doesn’t. he goes to wymack’s house instead (he’s done it a couple times during the journey, but this time it was extra serious), and they talk about it instead of going to the bottle

six months, he has a game that day, so he didn’t get the chip right away, but he has them on a keychain and the brought the ones he had to his lips and smiled. really smiled. neil saw him and felt really proud

aaron doesn’t really care, except he does

nine months, there’s more new foxes and they don’t understand it all, but they quickly learn not to bring alcohol around kevin or andrew will probably cut them. they no longer go to columbia, and if they do, it’s not for long. kevin is slowly becoming better with being around alcohol, but he’d rather not risk it

a year, he’s doing better. he’s happier, his quality of life has improved, he’s learned to communicate his feelings instead of doing drills or drinking.

he thinks that it may not be easy, but he’s going to keep trying, because the journey isn’t over yet. it’s worth it, though

#kevin day #did i really just write all that #i did didnt i #im not sure if anyone has done one on this topic before because im bad at paying attention but if they have! cool!#this is just my take idkdnekskal #andrew minyard #neil josten #andriel #wymack #renee walker #matt boyd #dan wilds #LOOK I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YEAR THEY ARE IN BC I DO NOT HAVE MY COMPUTE TO LOOK AT THE EXTRA CONTENT SO WERE GOING TO PRETEND THEYRE ALL THERE #OKAY? OKAY!#aaron minyard #(me quietly: that bitch)#(in this blog we love aaron in theory and not practice)#nicky hemmick #i didnt mention him butbhe would proabbly make inappropriate joke about it #sorry nicky thats just your personality!#aftg #all for the game #tfc #the foxhole court #kevin x thea #kandriel #riko butthead #tw: alcholism #lightning bugs r stoopid bc they just go into your hand like bro no dont u have a will to live #who are u? neil josten???

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wesninski-hatford · 3 years

Text

The Foxes go out on a vacation for Neil’s graduation party and they want it to be a surprise

Nicky and Allison are the only ones who know where they’re going

Even Andrew and Dan don’t know

So when they pick everyone up and just tell Neil to trust them, he’s like well, okay, fuck it

So yeah, Andrew’s driving with instructions to just follow Allison’s car and they end up driving for a pretty long time

Neil falls asleep, as do a lot of the occupants in the car apart from Andrew and Nicky

But then Neil wakes up and sees where they’re going

As soon as he catches sight of sand and hears the roar of an ocean, he’s bombarded with memories

The strange absence of breathing beside him

A rock-hard abdomen

Blood covering vinyl

Flames destroying the one person he could trust

Bones in a backpack

A disturbed patch of sand where his mother lays

Andrew stops the car right then and there as he hears Neil’s wheezing breaths and remembers what he told him, a truth he had exchanged

Nicky is panicking and it ends up waking Kevin and Aaron

“What’s wrong with him? Is he okay? What’s happening?” Nicky is freaking out

“Shut up.” Andrew resumes driving and as soon as Allison’s car stops, he wrenches open the door and gets Neil out of the car

“Neil.” No response. His eyes are glazed and he’s flinching at every contact and sound

“Your name is Neil Josten. You are twenty-three years old. You are starting striker and captain of the Palmetto State Foxes. You are number ten. You are no longer on the run.”

“‘Drew. An—Andrew.” Neil’s still not quite in the present, but he’s coming back.

Allison and the rest of the upperclassmen have noticed Neil’s situation and are rushing over, Aaron of all people tells them to stay back and give him his space

Andrew makes sure to keep pressure on the spot on Neil’s neck. Without looking back at Allison, he asks where they’re staying

She points at a house that’s only a few yards away

Andrew, without much fanfare, carries Neil there and at random, picks a room

He blocks any and all sight of the beach and faces Neil again

He’s pale and sweating and shaking, but he’s here

“Neil.”

“‘Drew?”

“Can you be here?”

“I’m fi—“ an glare from Andrew “Yes, I just... wasn’t expecting it and was caught off guard. The others, are—“

“They’re fine.”

“Okay. Should we—“

“No, you need to calm down first.” By that, he meant that he needed to make sure he wasn’t going to murder Nicky and Allison

A nod, he heard the unspoken words between them

A couple of hours later, Neil’s stomach was protesting the long drive and they ended up finally getting out of the room

Immediately, they were bombarded by a guilty-looking Nicky, and various looks of panic and concern

“Neil...” Nicky seemed on the verge of tears.

“I’m fine.” Neil ignored Andrew’s look

“What was that?” Allison never had much tact, did she?

“I’ll explain later. After we eat.” Everyone murmured agreements and they went out in search of a restaurant

When they walked across the beach, Neil’s fingers dug into Andrew’s arm as he tried to control his breathing

Thankfully, the restaurant had no view of the beach. They ended up having some seafood and had a pretty good time.

They get back to the beach and Neil just stops walking and sits down, no warning

Matt almost walks over him and only some backliner footwork prevents it

No one knows what to do and Andrew just sits down next to Neil and everyone else just shrugs and they end up sitting in a circle on the sand

The sun is setting and the sky is beautiful, but Neil is staring at his hands, eyes blank

He unprompted says “My mom died on a beach.”

Any quiet conversations that had been going on stop in their tracks. Neil never talks about his past and it’s an even rarer occasion when he talks about the woman who fucked him up his mother

“My father’s men caught up to us and she got hurt. She told me she was fine and yelled at me to just drive, ‘don’t look back, don’t you dare panic, just drive’.

I complied, of course I did. But after a few hours, I heard mom stop breathing. I remember being so, so scared. I drove the car off the road and onto a beach.

When I went to check her pulse, there was nothing there to greet me. Her skin was already cold and I checked her wound. She had lied to me. She wasn’t fine and she didn’t tell me, dammit!

I tried to get her out of the car, but... the sound of her dried blood ripping off the seat, the feel of her cold skin against mine... I couldn’t.

So I took every drop of gasoline I could find, gathered my belongings in my duffle bag, and lit the car on fire. I was lucky no one saw it, I don’t know why I was being so reckless, but then again, I was a seventeen year old who had just lit the car with his mother’s dead body in it on fire.

So I sat there, watching the flames. When the fire stopped and the car had cooled, I took her bones out of the seat. I put them in a backpack and walked a little while over. I buried her bones and without letting myself feel anything, I ran. I ran and I ran and I ran until I came across a motel.

I knew it was where one of the stashes with money and supplies were so I went, cleaned myself up, and collected all I could. I spent the night and hitchhiked until I got to bumfuck nowhere. I took on my twenty-third identity. I became Neil Josten, changed my appearance, and signed up for striker on Millport High’s Exy team.

Then, one day, a man with tattoos, Kevin Day, and a midget blond with a racquet smacked into me. Literally. You guys know the rest of the story.”

When Neil looked up, he was afraid of what he would see.

Nicky was crying

Allison was just struck speechless, grief clear on her face

Dan... Dan was interesting, she appeared angry

“Dan, are you okay?”

“You...” she trailed off and looked up, muttering something that sounded like “Fuck you, Mary Hatford”

Neil decided to ignore that

Matt was clenching his fists and crying, an arm around Dan

Aaron was staring at Neil with a weird sort of... understanding (??) in his eyes

Kevin had an expression on his face that Neil wasn’t sure he wanted to decipher

Renee had her blank mask on, a bit of Natalie was slipping through. But after a few seconds, she went back to Renee and just gave Neil’s hand a squeeze

Andrew. Andrew was staring directly at him, unflinching and solid, as he always was. His anchor, his home. He nodded at Neil, probably seeing everything and more written on his face.

Silence was thick and heavy and ruled with a heavy mist so thick, the air was eaten up. Then, one sharp laugh cut through it. Everyone, bewildered, turned to look at Allison.

“Of course Neil has to have an issue with the one place we chose for a celebratory vacation.”

“One man can only have so many problems,” Andrew agreed.

The tension broke, and even Nicky, soft Nicky started to breathe easier.

Dan looked at Neil as the laughter faded. “You can always come to us about things.”

He smiled at her and nodded. “I know.”

The rest of the trip actually went well, the others went to the beach while Andrew and Neil stayed in. They didn’t mind.

#aftg #all for the game

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wulfrann · 3 years

Text

A wingman winged (Palmetto by the Sea part 1)

All for the game

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationship: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten & Allison Reynolds, Allison Reynolds/Renee Walker (side)

Additional Tags: AU - Modern Setting, AU - No Exy, First Meeting, Eden’s Twilight, Neil ‘Best Wingman’ Josten

[Part 1 of the Palmetto by the Sea series - Chapter 1/1 - 3k words - Published 2020-12-10]

Summary :

It's a Saturday night at Eden's, and Allison needs Neil's help to approach the object of her long-suffering crush - that is to say, she needs him to distract the girl's intimidating friend long enough that she's able to approach in the first place.

(TW: alcohol, sexual harassment (short-lived), brief display of violence, smoking)

[Read on Ao3]

A wingman winged

The music thumps the ground in rhythm, low and deep like a pulse as it throbs through the club and reverberates into the bodies twisting as one on the dance floor. Eden’s Twilight isn’t really Neil’s scene, but the dark aesthetic and ever-shifting neon lighting make it easy to blend in. The shadows bend and stretch over his scars, reducing them to odd tattoos at first glance - and he makes sure he never gets a second. The clothes he’s wearing are nice enough and all black, but neither form-fitting nor revealing. Standing next to Allison’s brand of tastefully flashy clubwear, he’s no more than a foil. Seduction is her domain, and she thrives on it.

Which is what makes the fact that she’s asking him for help absolutely baffling.

“I’ve seen you wrap more than half this crowd around your little finger like it was nothing. Why can’t you just do the same with her?”

“You don’t understand,” Allison repeats for the third time that night. She has her chin in her hand and is leaning over her drink, swirling the expensive cocktail around with her straw. “I’ve tried everything, and the most I’ve gotten is for her to look at me. She hasn’t even tried to buy me a drink.”

“Have you tried talking to her?”

Allison scoffs. “I don’t set myself up for failure. She’s given me no sign that she’s interested. Besides, that little troll of a man she keeps around would probably bite me if I tried.”

Neil snorts at that. He’s seen the man in question glare people away, from both himself and his friend, all evening - on one occasion, he’s almost certain that the man even pulled out a knife. There’s no mistaking the way that the light glinted off of the blade, not even from across a crowded nightclub. Neil would recognise that brief flash anywhere.

His friend though, she looks friendly enough. White hair dyed rainbow at the tips, a silver cross, a few piercings. She’s wearing a black dress that wouldn’t look out of place in daylight and a soft smile that Neil is tempted to believe is fake just because of how earnest it looks. She’s also got the muscle structure of an athlete, a fact which Allison has reminded him of enough times that he’ll probably never be able to forget.

“Couldn’t you just accept your defeat and move on?” Neil tries, but he’s known Allison long enough that his heart isn’t in it. She’s never been one to give up.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Have you seen the arms on her? I’m getting her in my bed whether her little bodyguard likes it or not.”

“What if she’s straight?”

Allison shakes her head at him in that way that means he’s failed at some kind of social task and starts to count her points off her fingers. “Neil, the woman is ripped, has an undercut, rainbow hair, and armpit hair.”

“How do you know-”

“I have eyes. Besides, that blond troll she always comes here with is definitely gay, and everyone knows queer people travel in group.”

Neil throws a skeptical glance towards the unlikely duo, but doesn’t argue. None of what Allison listed strikes him as particularly telling, but he’s been told that his ‘gaydar’ is ‘absolutely abysmal’ on numerous occasions by about everyone he knows except Kevin, who's just as bad as him if Allison can be trusted.

Neil might as well accept his fate. “What do you want me to do?”

Allison grins at him. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

Locating the two of them isn’t as easy when he’s not sitting on the upper level but standing right here in the crowd, surrounded by people and blinded by the rapidly changing lights. Years of hyper-vigilance end up paying off once he’s gotten his bearings right, however, and he starts making his roundabout way towards the section of wall they’re leaning on. The man is sipping on some kind of drink and staring blankly into the distance while the woman does most of the talking, though she does glance in Allison’s general direction more than once in the amount of time it takes Neil to reach them. He doesn’t blame her - even he has to admit that Allison’s dancing is a thing of beauty.

Neil, on the other hand, only ever pretends to dance. He’s gone out with his friends often enough that he’s picked up a few generic moves and can blend in, but it just - doesn’t appeal to him. Still, what little grasp he has on it is enough to get to his target unnoticed.

One falsely awkward step later and he’s got a glassful of whiskey and coke soaking into the man’s black tank top and dripping down his pants.

The hand wrapped around his arm, steadying him, is an unexpected addition. Neil’s previous drink messed his balance at the last minute and he’s pretty sure he’d have fallen to the floor if he hadn’t been caught. The man’s grip is undeniable strong, but it’s the eyes that really hold Neil down to his spot. He can’t quite tell the color because of the many strobing lights and colored neons flashing around, but he thinks they might be brown.

“Oops,” Neil says, straightening himself up with exaggerated movements. The man’s eyes flicker down his drenched top before sliding back up to Neil’s eyes without so much as a frown. “Sorry for your muscle shirt,” Neil adds as an after-thought, digging the word out of an afternoon spent (unwillingly) shopping with Allison.

The man arcs a single eyebrow. “You’re drunk,” he says, with one of the flattest voices Neil has ever heard.

Neil smiles widely, swaying a little on his feet. He still has the man’s hand wrapped around his bicep. “No,” he retorts, slurring the words a bit, “I’m Neil.”

The eyebrow arcs up even higher. Neil’s smile widens. He’s about to say something else, whatever sentence he can think of that would maintain the man’s attention on him, when someone else’s voice cuts in.

“Andrew, you’re soaked!”

Neil turns towards the woman, spying Allison making her way over from behind her, and raises his now empty glass. “My fault. I wasn’t looking.”

She smiles. From close up, it looks even softer than Neil thought. “That’s okay, it happens,” she says, then glances down where the man’s hands - Andrew’s? - is still holding on to him. “Are you okay? Can you stand?”

“Yeah, I just tripped,” Neil reassures her, then looks over at Andrew, whose eyes haven’t left his face. He’s… staring, with an intensity that catches Neil off-guard. And then he’s not, because Allison is coming over and calling his name. The hand drops from his arm like it was burned.

“Neil! There you are.” She puts a hand on his shoulder, then turns, falsely confused, towards Andrew and his friend. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” the woman says, looking a little stunned.

“Your friend spilled his drink on me,” Andrew states, throwing a look at his own friend.

“I was just going to ask the barman for paper towels,” the object of Allison's scheming adds, already half-turning away.

Allison doesn’t hesitate one second before following suit, offering her help. When the woman starts to protest, she takes hold of her arm and all but drags her to the bar. Neil watches the interaction without holding back his smile.

When he turns back towards Andrew, the man is staring at him with a frown.

“Sorry again for your shirt,” Neil offers, though he forgets to make himself sound like he means it. “You should probably take it off.”

The arched eyebrow comes back, and Neil realizes what he just said with a choked laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that. But it would dry faster,” he adds, feeling stupid. Andrew doesn’t look convinced, though, so he feels compelled to add, “I don’t swing.”

“I don’t watch baseball,” Andrew deadpans.

“I’m not talking about baseball,” Neil says, grimacing in disgust. “It’s not even a real sport.”

The look Andrew gives him is the blankest one yet. Neil looks down into his empty glass, then at Andrew’s tank top.

“You really should rinse it down, at least,” he ends up saying. “Otherwise it’s going to stick.”

Andrew stares at him a little longer, then downs his glass and starts to move in the direction of the bathroom. For some reason, Neil follows.

The bathroom is painted mostly black, like just about everything in Eden’s. Only the large sink is white. Neil leans back against it and watches as Andrew grabs a few paper towels from the dispenser and soaks them with water, then starts to wipe at his shirt. He thinks about helping, but remembers the way Andrew avoided touching anyone on his way to the bathroom and figures that there’s not much he could do, anyway.

“You’re not drunk,” Andrew states after a while.

Neil debates lying as Andrew throws the wet ball of paper away and walks to the dispenser to get more, but decides against it. “No, I’m not. I don’t like it.”

Andrew barely glances at him. “You play drunk well for someone who doesn’t like it.”

“S’not hard,” Neil says, shrugging, then figures he might as well come clean and adds: “Allison needed an excuse to talk to your friend.”

Andrew meets his eyes then, eyebrow arched up. “Did she try buying her a drink?”

“That’s what I said.” Neil smiles, then shrugs again. “Apparently she’s been trying to get your friend’s attention for weeks, but nothing’s worked.”

Andrew lets a sharp breath out of his nose, which Neil guesses is the equivalent of a laugh, if the lack of facial expression he's shown so far is anything to go by. “If that’s what she thinks, then your friend’s blind.”

Neil grins. “I’m glad. I thought I’d caught her staring a few times, but I wasn’t sure.”

“Renee likes to think she’s subtle.”

“Well, at least they’re talking now. I don’t think you’re getting those paper towels though,” Neil adds, watching Andrew wash his hands with a distracted kind of fascination. Somehow, the dark armbands encasing both of Andrew’s forearms make his hands stand out. Broad, and worn, with an odd elegance in the way they move. Neil would bet a lot of money on Andrew having some kind of manual career, at the very least a hobby. Something meticulous.

It’s only after Andrew’s wiped his hands and thrown away one last paper towel that Neil realizes he’s been staring, and he moves his eyes to Andrew’s face instead. He finds him with his head tipped slightly to the side, looking at him with the faintest hint of curiosity on his face.

Neil is about to say something - he's not sure what - when some guy he’d barely registered on his radar suddenly steps into his space.

"Hey there, pretty face,” the guy slurs, exhaling cheap booze right into Neil’s face. “Were you waiting for me?"

Neil looks up at the guy's face and begrudgingly resists the urge to bash an elbow into his nose. "Obviously not," he spits.

Hoping that it's enough for the guy to take his hint and leave, Neil starts to turn back towards Andrew. He is immediately jostled back towards the guy as a large hand grabs his chin and twists. "Hey, I was talking to you, Scarface."

"Wow, I've never heard that one before," Neil retorts, rolling his eyes. "You know, you should really make up your mind, asshole. Either I'm pretty or I'm not. Now get lost," Neil says, and is about to jam his knee into the guy's crotch when something tears the asshole away from him. Neil's balance is shaken by the movement, but he manages to stay upright by gripping the sink.

"You don't touch people without their permission. Hasn't anyone ever told you that?" Andrew says, pressing down upon the hold he has on the guy's arm, which he's twisted behind his back with one hand. He has a knife pressed to the guy's throat with the other. His voice is flat enough to cut. "If I see you again, I'll gut you. Understood?"

The guy nods and Andrew sends him sprawling onto the floor. He scrambles quickly to his feet and promptly runs out the door. Light glints off the small knife’s blade, clutched so tightly Andrew’s knuckles look white.

"Thanks," Neil says in the silence. "But I could have handled it."

"I don't care," Andrew snarls back.

Neil looks at the tension oozing out of Andrew's every cell and decides to keep silent. It's the right decision, judging by the way Andrew closes his eyes and starts packing up the tension, folding it back inside little by little. Neil knows the feeling.

The knife vanishes from his hand (and into one of the sheaths Neil suspects are sewn into the armbands), and Neil follows Andrew out of the bathroom. They stand by the door for a bit while Neil watches Andrew scanning the crowd with a clenched jaw. The tension is still there, even packed up, even pressed down tight under the surface of his skin. It needs more space than that to leave.

"Let's get out of here," Neil offers.

Andrew glances at him, then nods. Neil takes a hold of the hem of Andrew's shirt and leads the way out of the club.

The night's chill is a welcome change of pace after the density of the packed club's air. Neil inhales a gallon of it as soon as they've stepped outside, and hears Andrew do the same. It smells of cigarette butts and wet asphalt. He had no idea it'd rained.

A faint click on his right - Andrew lights a cigarette and offers him another one. Neil takes it and watches the smoke spill out of Andrew’s mouth like magic, grabbing hold of the lighter only as an afterthought. The metal is smooth under his touch and slightly warm over the imprint of Andrew’s hand. Neil brings the cigarette to his lips and takes a drag, closing his eyes to focus on the burning air flow rushing down his windpipe. He blows it out smiling, eyes trailing after the faint grey cloud. Andrew’s eyes are on him.

“Thanks,” he tells him, raising his cigarette in the air.

They smoke in silence. Neil lets the little circle of fire eat away at his cigarette without taking another drag, content just to breathe and to watch as the tension coiled so tight in Andrew’s chest unwinds, seeping out, one exhalation at a time, into the quiet night.

The quiet can’t last forever, however, especially not on a Saturday night at Eden’s doorsteps, and so the peace is brutally broken a few minutes later as a group of inebriated twenty-somethings spill out over the sidewalk laughing loudly and singing songs. Andrew adroitly sidesteps one of them as he staggers to the side before getting dragged back by his friend, brushing shoulders with Neil. They got their stuff back from the cloakroom when they stepped out and Andrew’s wearing a leather jacket over his muscle shirt, black as the rest of his clothes.

Andrew looks at the group staggering its way down the street until they’re far enough they can barely hear them. “Are you hungry?”

Neil shrugs. “Kinda. Why? Are you asking me to dinner?” Neil asks, smile tugging at his lips. “I doubt we’ll find anything open.”

Andrew smothers the butt of his cigarette on the wall and tosses it into the trashcan Eden’s staff left by the door, then gestures at Neil to follow. It goes against about every instinct Neil has cultivated along the years, but he does.

He doesn’t know why. Andrew’s back is broad and he walks at a steady pace, with an assurance that doesn’t look learned and yet still probably is. Neil remembers the way Andrew looked when he bent the asshole’s arm behind his back, like what he really wanted was to break it in half but knew that he had to hold back. His voice hadn’t faltered then, either. Neil wonders if it ever does.

They stop in front of a motor bike parked some way off of the club, street lights glinting off of the metal and black bodywork. Andrew gets a helmet from some kind of locked compartment and hands it over to Neil, who takes it by reflex.

“Where are we going?” he asks, turning the helmet around in his hands. He’s starting to wonder whether Andrew’s even aware that there are other colors outside of black.

Andrew grabs a pair of gloves out of the compartment and slips them on. “A kebab joint,” he says without looking at Neil. “It’s open until 3.”

Neil considers the bike, then the helmet in his hands. “I’ve never ridden on a bike before.”

“Don’t get on before I tell you to. Don’t make me lose my balance. When the bike leans into turns, lean with it,” he drones out. “If you do that and hold on, you’ll be fine.”

Neil considers Andrew. The solid stance of him. Once he climbs on the bike, he’ll have no control until they stop.

“Okay.”

There’s a buzzing beneath his kin.

The kebab joint is a tiny square of neon light squeezed in-between two higher-end shops, and the only open place to sell food for miles around. There are no tables and no interior, just a counter with a window display that reminds Neil of ice-cream shops, filled with meat fillings, some kind of fried rolls, and a handful of sad-looking pastries. The items are listed above and to the sides - hamburgers, kebabs, paninis, all with various meats and side dishes and an array of sauces Neil’s never heard of before. He has no idea where to start, and so asks for the same thing Andrew ordered.

They pack the smell of cheap food and fat in plastic bags and leave the shop front to sit by the pier. The kebab is greasy and would have made Kevin scream, but the meat is tasty and the sauce is good, and it’s somehow the perfect thing to eat right now.

Through the cloud of their food wafts the sharp smell of iodine. They claimed a spot of the pier to sit, legs dangling through the railing, and the wood too smells of salt, is so ingrained with it that it sticks slightly to the skin and leaves imprints of tiny crystals on their clothes.

They eat in silence; the wash and backwash of the sea beneath the pier is a rolling whisper, swishing quietly past the piles and back again, a dark rippling sky in movement. There is no agitation around them, yet still it seems as though the sea swallows all sounds, pillows the silence with its mass, shaping a quietude with depth. It’s a quality of peace Neil has never felt before.

He’s just about finished with his food when his phone buzzes.

[From: Allison] where r u??

Neil snorts. Andrew raises a quizzical eyebrow at him, but he just shakes his head.

[To: Allison] I left 30 minutes ago, but thank you for noticing.

[From: Allison] was busy :-*

[From: Allison] u haven’t been kidnapped right? did u go home?

[To: Allison] No and no. I’m at the pier with Andrew.

[From: Allison] ?????

[From: Allison] was that a joke???

Neil huffs out a laugh, enjoying the confusion, and puts his phone on silent as more texts keep coming in. Andrew’s phone buzzes once, but he doesn’t check it - just grabs a cigarette and his lighter, replacing the smell of their meal with another. The smoke drifts up and disperses, yielding to the handful of stars valiantly fighting against the electrical constellations of city lights. The moon is gibbous amongst them and fractal upon the sea; Neil distractedly notices that it’s waning, as the curve makes a d and Jean’s trick somehow never left his mind, despite his lack of interest in the conversation at the time.

It makes Andrew look even paler, this lighting. His hair is made of silver and the volumes of his face either stand out or cave, stark and almost unreal.

Andrew’s eyes flick to his.

“Staring.”

Neil smiles. He takes the cigarette from Andrew’s hand and takes a drag, blowing memories up, up, up until they’re gone.

“What do you do?” he asks when he hands the cigarette back. “For a living, I mean.”

Andrew doesn't answer. He just looks at Neil and pulls on his cigarette. A bit of wind blows the smoke sideways, across his cheek and back to land.

"If you won't tell me, I'll guess," Neil says when it's clear he's not getting an answer, and pretends to study Andrew's appearance for clues. "You could be an artist. You look like one." He grins at the unimpressed look on Andrew's face. "Bit of a cursed poet vibe, with the piercings and all that black. Strong aesthetic. I guess you could be a musician, too."

The corner of Andrew's mouth twitches. "Shallow."

Neil shrugs. Appearances tell a lot more than people think, but he's pretty sure he got it wrong. He doesn't actually know how artists are supposed to look like - that's not really the kind of things he learned to watch out for - but it's as good a guess as anything. "It's either that or undertaker."

Andrew blows smoke out through his nose. "Sorry to disappoint, but I just serve drinks."

Neil hums. "Full time?"

"No. I also cook."

"You're a chef, and you still eat food like this?" Neil asks, waving at the plastic bag sitting between them.

"Aide," Andrew corrects. "Anas' is the only decent place still open. I don't see you complaining."

"It was pretty good," Neil grants, then adds, because it's only fair: "I'm a student."

"Late calling?"

Neil smiles. "Something like it."

An eyebrow shaped like a question. Neil ignores it in favor of the sea, but the weight of Andrew's gaze stays fixed on him like an anchor. He wonders if Andrew's trying to guess what something like it may hide; wonders how far away from reality he's wandering, trying to find something reasonable; wonders, even, how he'd react if Neil told him the truth. Whether he'd balk at the scars that prove it or stare at them the same way he's staring at the ones across his face now, blank and unwavering, on the upside of bored.

Riding on Andrew's bike the second time is just as exhilarating as the first. The city flies by in a blur - the docks, the bars, the empty streets, they blend together and melt together until there's nothing really left but them, passing. Alone. A figment caught between two worlds.

When Andrew drops him off, the ground still moves beneath his feet. Neil shoves his hand into his pockets and grins, feeling absurdly carefree.

"Thank you. For the ride and for the food - it was amazing."

He means it. Andrew is looking at him like he's trying to figure out if he does. He holds out his hand, and Neil frowns.

He looks to the sky and sighs. "Your phone."

"Oh," Neil says. He puts his phone in Andrew's palm.

Andrew takes one glove off and puts his number in quickly. He tosses his phone back to Neil and brings two fingers up to his temple in salute.

The bike roars to life, the noise filling the street until it's gone. Neil looks down at the brand new contact in his phone, carefully prodding at the little bit of warmth beneath his sternum.

Matt, Dan, Wymack, Allison, Abby, Kevin, his therapist, his dentist and his doctor. Andrew's number brings the staggering total amount of contacts into his phone to a very satisfying 10.

#andreil #tfc #aftg #neil josten #andrew minyard #all for the game #the foxhole court #allison reynolds #renee walker #renison #modern au #palmetto by the sea #a wingman winged #no exy au #fanfiction #wulfrann writes #this has been sitting in my wips for 9 months rip

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nekojitachan · 4 years

Note

Ummm more about Mr. Neil Minyard on campus please

Ah, thank you so much for the ask! 😘

Let’s see, especially since tumblr atewhat I’d already written for this. ☹

As they’d planned out when they got engaged,Neil and Andrew didn’t tell anyone but the Monsters (+ Robin and Katelyn), theoriginal Foxes, Wymack, Abby, Bee and Stuart, that they were married.

Oh, and Ichirou, of course, who agreedthat they shouldn’t tell anyone else until Neil’s final Exy season started(Andrew’s pro team also thought this was wisest). However, he was pleased thatNeil had basically signed already with a more than adequate pro team and sowould soon have a ‘decent’ salary from which to send him that owed percentage,and even gifted Neil with a rather extravagant wedding gift.

Neil, Nicky andAaron had to talk Andrew out of smashing said gift to pieces after its arrival.

Neil and Andrew spent the summer in Boston,eventually settling on the perfect apartment (meaning they both agreed uponit - with only some minor freakout from Neil), which they decorated as their future home together; Neil even brought someof his belongings from PSU and Columbia since he hoped to spend as much freetime there as possible before he graduated.

Once training season started, Neilreturned to PSU, where he roomed with Robin and threw himself into preparingthe new Foxes. He both wanted to ensure that the Foxes did well that year aswell as fill the time until he was able to talk to or visit Andrew.

Neil had gotten better (not much, but a little)at telling when someone was interested in him, but he was distracted, okay? Forthe first time in several years, he was alone without Andrew or even Nicky orAaron at his side, it was a huge adjustment for him. Robin helped a lot, butshe wasn’t Andrew.

And oh was Robin by his side! She’d beentemporarily assigned by Andrew as the guardian of Neil’s… erm… uhm… ‘virtue’,and she took said job very seriously.

Especially since theathletes (and eventually the rest of the students) had returned to campus, some ofthem excited about the fact that for the first time in over four years, oneNeil Josten was alone without one very scary Andrew Minyard in sight. An AndrewMinyard who’d graduated and moved up north, so that meant Neil was single, right?

(NO, NOT AT ALL.)

Robin would be amused by the patheticattempts to pick up Neil if they weren’t attempts to pick up Neil.Though she almost, almost, felt sorry for the morons (again, theywere attempting to pick up NEIL JOSTEN.)

Like the guy who thought it was abrilliant idea to walk up to Neil, smile and tell him how ‘hot’ his tattooswere, and then ask if the ‘A’ on his cheek stood for ‘angel’ because surelyNeil had just fallen from heaven. Robin was hard-pressed not to laugh when Neilsomehow managed to spill his bottle of sports drink over the guy’s head.

Or the girl who told Neil that she had a‘thing’ for linguists because they ‘knew’ how to use their tongues, only forhim to give her a blank look and say in Russian that he only spoke Englishbefore he gathered his books and stalked out of the library (with Robingiggling in tow, their Russian study session clearly put on hold for the timebeing).

The Foxes knew that Neil was stillinvolved with Andrew (just not how involved), and found the whole situationhilarious, of course (well, not Jack and Sheena). Of course they started abetting pool on how many times Neil would be hit on each week and how; Cammie madea killing when the one transfer soccer player had the ‘brilliant’ idea ofserenading Neil one night from the Fox Tower’s courtyard with an alteredversion of ‘Foxy Boy’.

Robin had to prevent Neil from going outto gut the moron, and then Andrew from flying (flying!) back to PSU onthe next plane to track down said moron to do much the same.

(Nicky nearly passed out from laughingso much when she told him about the whole thing.)

It was decided that Andrew would makethe announcement after his first professional game, something they both eagerlylooked forward to happening (and Wymack, since he was tired of the drama,betting pool and lovesick idiots interrupting his practice).

The Sunday after the Foxes’ first gameof the season (which they won), the Colonials played the Nighthawks and won(Neil, Robin and several Foxes held a viewing party at Abby’s for the game). Andrewnearly shut down the goal when he was out on court, and had the commentatorsraving about such an exciting start to his career and predicting that it wouldn’tbe long before there was an offer to join Court.

Of course he was dragged out for apost-game interview, where he clearly suffered through a few questions which hereplied to with coached answers (‘happy’ to be with the Colonials, Boston wasn’t‘too bad’, he liked the food, etc.). However, after five minutes, he clickedhis tongue and loudly announced that he was done with the questions as he hadto go call his husband.

That declaration was met with silencefor several seconds, until an intrepid reporter raised his hand and asked ifAndrew had said the word ‘husband’. Andrew verified that yes, he had, and that saidhusband was one Neil Josten now Neil Minyard so he needed to make sure thetrouble-prone idiot hadn’t gotten into some sort of new mess he had to takecare of, so he was done for the night.

Neil sat on the couch with a huge grinon his face while Robin nudged him in the ribs; it took a minute or two beforeCammie, Jordan and the others regained their senses and could (cautiously) pileon him in congratulations.

Word spread quickly about Neil’s new statusas a married man; he gave an interview the next day, started wearing his ringson his finger instead of on a chain hung around his neck, and let the schoolknow about his name change.

Most people respected Neil’s marriedstatus, but there were a few who seemed to think that him being in a long-termrelationship meant he was open to ‘fooling around’ (of course it didn’t). Bythat point, Robin had perfected her own version of the creepy smile/stare andmanaged to circumvent almost all of them before they got close to Neil.

And the ones she didn’t? Well, theydeserved what they got, she figured.

#nekojitachanfics #mumbling into the void #wdwgfic #wdwg fic #prompt #andreil #neil josten #andrew minyard #aftg #aftg au #married life #robin cross #robin is enjoying herself way too much #nicky is calling all the time for updates #aaron is glad he's halfway across the country #allison wants in on the betting pool #poor andrew's stress levels #Anonymous

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percontaion-points · 3 years

Text

King’s Men chapter 4

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions.

Chapter 4

"If we knew what Andrew had against us, we could try to fight it," Dan said.

JFC, I don't think that three books is enough to cover all of Andrew's psychological issues in the depth that Dan is asking about.

And I say this as a casual psychology hobbyist.

"Feels like we're right back where we started in August," Matt agreed.

"If we knew what Andrew had against us, we could try to fight it," Dan said.

[…]

"I can try. But," he continued, with a glance between them, "someone needs to work on Aaron. Nicky wants to be your friend and Kevin knows the team is stronger as a whole, but Aaron's almost as dead-set against us as Andrew is.”

It's like the second book literally never happened. What was the goddamned point of it even if the second everybody comes back following the winter break, and everybody hit the “character reset” button?

That was one of the things reporters had liked harping about most when Kevin became a permanent fixture at Andrew's side: Kevin was raised at Evermore, surrounded by the best and practically born with a racquet in his hand, whereas Andrew learned Exy while he was locked up in juvie. Neil had a page-long article about it in his notebook. It was crassly titled "The Prince and the Pauper", and its focus was on how doomed their friendship was. The writer thought their attitudes toward Exy too incompatible and their backgrounds too different for them to stay together long.

Imagine getting the assignment of writing about the bromance between two college sports players.

Like looking down at what you'd just finished writing and going “Haha, I got a journalism degree.”

"I'm not a striker by choice, either," he said. "I was a backliner in little leagues. Riko remembers because I scrimmaged with him and Kevin.”

I think the weirdest thing about Neil's personality is just that... it was already established that he played literally one game of exy when he was little, on orders of the mob boss to see if he couldn't turn Neil into an exy puppet, like Kevin and Riko. And then his mom took him and they went on the run.

Like literally one game. But Neil decided to turn this singular game into a goddamned personality trait.

"Exy is the shiny object of your sad little world. You know you're being hunted and you know the hounds are closing in, but you won't let go to save yourself. You once told me you don't understand why a person would actively try to die, but here you are. I guess that was another lie."

I think that the worst goddamned part of this stupid series is how AWARE that it is.

Yet, it makes lines like this constant, about how sports isn't a personality, etc etc... BUT IT DOES NOTHING TO ACTUALLY FIX THE PROBLEMS THAT IT'S HIGHLIGHTING.

At the end of the day, the only thing that this line will be will be a throw-away line. Not a moment for self-reflection, not a reason to want to change, not a warning to the reader not to turn a hobby into your sole personality.

Nope. Just a dumb moment of being too self-aware yet not aware enough to do anything about the problem being highlighted.

“Aaron cut a deal with Andrew at juvie: if Andrew stuck with him until graduation, Aaron would stick with Andrew. No friends, no girlfriends, nothing. Aaron couldn't even socialize with his teammates."

Part of me gets it.

But most of me is just sitting there being “wow. Do you see how shitty and abusive that this is? If he was a boyfriend, we'd all be screaming for the one to get away from such a toxic situation. Why the hell is this somehow different?”

"You were right. They made a promise. Aaron and Andrew, I mean. That's what Aaron told Katelyn, anyway. Aaron cut a deal with Andrew at juvie: if Andrew stuck with him until graduation, Aaron would stick with Andrew. No friends, no girlfriends, nothing. Aaron couldn't even socialize with his teammates."

Neil combed his fingers through his hair and tested the bandage on his cheek. "Aaron would have meant high school graduation. They renewed it when they signed a contract to play here."

"Now Katelyn's in the picture, but Aaron won't fight for her."

Okay... So is Aaron just going to continue to put his life on hold for Andrew's mental illness forever? Literally none of this is remotely healthy.

"This is a joke," Dan said, grabbing Neil's chin. "Neil?"

"He told me to transfer to the Ravens," Neil said. "He said I could finish this year with the Foxes but that I'd move to Edgar Allan this fall. They inked me in preparation and I couldn't stop them. I wanted you to know in case Riko says something about it. I'm still a Fox no matter what he says. I wouldn't sign his papers."

WHY THE FUCK DID THEY NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS. THEY LITERALLY PUT MAKE-UP ON HIM EVERY DAY TO COVER HIS BRUISES.

"You never had any plans to go home for Christmas, did you? That whole mess about your uncle flying to Arizona—you made that up so we wouldn't ask too many questions or wonder why you weren't going to New York with Kevin."

Nothing quite like being a day late and a dollar short.

"Nightmares," Neil echoed. It wasn't the turn he'd thought this conversation would take but he could guess what was tearing Aaron apart. "About November, you mean."

"He doesn't want it to bother him," Katelyn said.

My usual sentiment of “THERAPY?! LOL WHAT'S THAT?!” is way too on the nose with this. Please refer back to the previous chapter commentary for my full opinion on this matter.

He got up and left, and she didn't call after him.

Chapter 4 summary: Some time passes, and Neil is given the approval to continue playing again. After practice, he talks with some of the others over how the team had been together towards the end of the fall semester, but now it's like that never happened.

Back at the dorm, Neil randomly thinks about how Andrew hates exy so much. He thinks about some of Andrew's background, of how he'd been introduced to exy while he was in juvie. Kind of the opposite of Kevin, in Neil's opinion. Andrew and Neil then have a long-ish conversation about what exy means to them, but again, the two of them are kind of polar opposites about the entire thing. Andrew keeps telling Neil not to make the game his singular personality trait, but Neil... doesn't listen. What else is new. Immediately following this, Neil leaves to return to his usual nighly practices with Kevin. Who promptly reminds both Neil as well as the reader that Kevin has exactly one personality trait, and it's exy. (Granted, there is a history of Kevin's abuse, but the book literally never goes into that. Oh no, the only one we gotta talk about is Andrew.)

The next morning, Matt tells Neil that the twins made an agreement when they were in high school to stick together. However, when they signed at the university, they basically renewed their promise. And the short of it is that Andrew is holding Aaron emotionally hostage, as well as the idea of Aaron's future (ie a wife and kids). They're positive that if Andrew found out about Aaron's secret relationship with Katelyn, Andrew would hurt her. Neil decides to play dirty and get them into the same room together to talk it out with Betsy, and Katelyn would be the leverage against Aaron.

Later, the girls randomly find out about Neil's tattoo, despite them being up close and personal with his face because of make-up. They then piece together what Neil actually did over his break, which... again... a day late and a dollar short.

Neil later meets up with Katelyn in the library to rope her in on getting Aaron the help he needs, and to get him out from under the manipulative thumb of his brother. He convinces her to stop being the victim caught in between the Aaron/Andrew situation, but she doesn't exactly give an actual answer right away.

#All For The Game #The King's Men #chapter 04 #Aaron and Andrew Minyard #Danielle Wilds #can we not #Neil Josten #okay but why #UGH JUST UGH #Kevin Day #playing sports is not a personality trait #self-aware novels #toxic relationship #shitty family is shitty #i'm done goodbye #HEADDESKING #go to therapy

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kazzyboy · 3 years

Text

It is time.. for more monster head canons

- If anyone asks Aaron to do something small (will you open this? Can you get that for me?) He’ll say “no” and then go do it

- Nicky stumbles over his words a lot because he talks so fast, and Neil and Aaron team up to roast him endlessly for it. (Nicky accidentally says noticed instead of notified and the terrible two go around asking if senpai has noticed him for a week.)

- Bee collects the glass figurines in her office because her late sister thought they were pretty (I don’t remember if Nora explained this in her extra content, but this is what I like to think.)

- Katelyn really likes keychains and any time Aaron sees one he thinks she would like, he buys it for her

- Sometimes Neil latches on to people when he’s really tired, because that’s what he’d do to his mother so she didn’t loose him when he was too tired to think straight. You cannot and will not get him off.

- Renee loves decorating knives with flowers(I know she gave her knives to Andrew, but she keeps one for emergencies.) It makes her feel better about her past.

- “Oh, but Nora said Andrew and Neil don’t get married!” Hush, yes they do. It’s not like Aaron and Katelyn’s wedding, but Andrew has been kicked out of Neil’s hospital room one too many times and he’s sick of it. They get legally married and don’t have a ceremony (despite when the Foxes find out and make them all get together to celebrate), but they get “yes” (it’s a yes for marriage, not everything else) tattooed on their ring fingers, and wear their rings on necklaces next to their old keys.

- Andrew smiled at his brother’s wedding and you couldn’t pry this from my cold, dead hands

- I think the “eventually they trust each other enough to stop asking” is cute, but I don’t imagine it that way. I think they always ask it, because 1. Verbal consent is always important and 2. That’s what their love is built on. Trust. Trust that your partner loves and trusts you enough not force themself to do something they don’t want to.

- Aaron and Andrew both like Nirvana, but their favorite songs are different, so it turns into a dorm war where they just keep trying to play their music louder than the other (the other athletes eventually just get Wymack to get them to shut the hell up)

- Andrew likes playing connect the dots with Neil’s freckles. He likes making constellations the most

- Neil loves giving Andrew tiny kisses. On his forehead? Yes, of course. His nose? Yes. His ear? Yes. His bruised knuckles, after a spar with Renee? Yes. His sore, bruised shoulders after a game? Double yes.

- Aaron and Neil argue about anatomy sometimes because Neil should be the eighth wonder of the world with all the wack shit he has and hasn’t broken

- Kevin and Aaron both are really interested in the Victorian era and sometimes they go on tangents mid practice to the point the Kevin has a mental breakdown because Exy or History? EXY OR HISTORY THIS IS NOT A JOKE?!

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sadboyayeron · 4 years

Text

Tapping at my Chamber Door Chapter 2 (AFTG Fic)

<Chapter 1

Niko was used to being woken up in the morning by yelling. Whether it was from outside or by his foster siblings in the other room. His foster mother never bothered to get him up in the morning for school before or anything in general, that was on him. She did remind him to take his medication though.

“Wake up boy your social worker is here.” She yanked his thin blanket from his body. What? Why would his social worker be here, he didn't have to see her until the end of the month. She grabbed his arm harshly pulling him out of the bed. She told him to get his cloths on and to “Cover up.” He dressed in a black long sleeved and his slightly baggy jeans that had wrips at the knees. He pulled on some socks and went to brush his teeth and wash his face quickly. Once he was done his foster mother Kris was holding out a pill and his only pair of shoes at her side in the other hand. He scrunched up his nose in distase but nun the less he took the pill avoiding a potential back hand from Kris.

“Alright he is this way.” She put her hand on his shoulder moving him to the front even though he was perfectly capable of walking there on his own. Wait, He? Definitely was a he. There was a tall man with black glasses and a suit lookin’ like he came right out of men in black.

“Nikoshi Doe,” I shook my head. He gestured for me to follow him out the door and Kris handed mw my shoes and all but shoved me towards him. “Your moving homes, your foster mother already put your things in a bag.” It was a trash bag to be more specific and it was sitting just outside. He grabbed it after putting on his shoes and continued to follow the man to the shiny black car. The supposed social worker opened up the back seat door and told him to get in.

“Your not my Social worker.” Niko said going right in the car.

“There off today.” The man said then shut the door after Niko got his trash bag fully into the car. The man rounded the other side and started the engine. Niko knew exactly were he was going once he notice the familiar road they got on. Children's Aid wasn't far from were he was living before.

“Get out.” The man opened his door once he had parked. When they were outside he was taken to the Foster care service building. He liked the people there, they were always nice to him and would play with him. Their the ones who got him on a soccer team from South bronx United. He didn’t really like soccer because he never really made friends while playing. He was always the new kid and stayed to himself most of the time. He knew he was good though, being fast helped a lot. The man took him down a hallway towards an area that was only slightly familiar. He told Niko to sit in the chair that was in front of the door. Apparently he was waiting for his new guardian to come pick him up, but first they had to talk to some people.

After a while, he doesn't really know when he started to zone out, three people were walking towards him. Two of them were pretty short, he was almost as tall as the blond one. The tall guy had dark glasses on like the social worker. They looked oddly familiar he just couldn't think of a reason why. He made eye contact with the slightly taller red head with the hood and quickly looked away, he didn’t want to get caught grilling people. A lady came out of the door he was sitting in front of and look towards the people walking towards them and then at Niko. She smiled at him.

“How are you Nikoshi.” The men stopped walking, he could feel them looking at him. He paused not really knowing how to answer that question. The medication kicked in little while ago so he was feeling Kinda out of it with nothing to focus on. He hated how the meds made him feel.

“Fine,” he answered because he know thats what she wanted to hear even if she looked disappointed by his vague answer. He heard one of the men snort and then her attention was back on them. She ushered them into her office and then looked back at Niko.

“Once we are finished talking you will be able to leave.” She smiled again squinting her eyes and then closing the door. He huffed and went back to focusing on his hands.

Kevin didn't realize how long he was staring at the image on his phone. Comparing it to his dead friend Teamate that he still had night terrors about and searching for anything that was different. He stared so long he felt the phone leave his hand but instead of hearing it drop towards to the floor it was lifted up towards Andrews face.

“Who's the kid.” He said. He needs to tell them. He can't do this on his own. Even if he stared at that face for who knows how long he wouldn’t be able to face the kid on his own in person. He let out a long slow breath. He heard Neil walking towards them holding two coffee mugs in his hand. Kevin still left his untouched from were he sat it after being the first to wake up that morning. Neil leaned into Andrews space, close enough but still not touching to look at the picture. Neil's eyes pinched together, the kid looks familiar. When Neil saw the caller ID he looked at Kevin wide eyed.

“I don’t know the kid personally but I got a phone call last night from the Lor-Ichirou.” Andrew lowered the phone and gave Kevin a face that said, ‘explain’. He did. Told them who the kid was. About the mother who should of been an Olympic athlete in track and field that died giving birth. How the father was the same man that caused them so much trauma. The kid is in the system. He lives in the Bronx, New York. He's was going to turn 11 years old in May next year. He needs to foster the kid and will now only be giving 70% of his earnings. He already has the times for the plane from Chicago to an Airport in Queens where he will be given a rental car to where he will be talking to someone about Nikoshi.

“Thats his name?” Neil asked. He seemed to be thinking about it, it sounded Japanese but Riko never knew the kid, right?

“Yeah, Nikoshi Doe.” He look towards Andrew. “I need help.” Andrew nodded, he knew Kevin didn’t have a choice in whether he wanted Nikoshi or not but he would be damned if he just left the kid in the system either way. And Kevin well he's Kevin he's bound to fuck up.

They finished there coffees and Kevin left for his condo that wasn’t to far. They all ended up on the same team. Neil and Andrew were on different teams before Neil Transferred to the Chicago closer to Andrew but then Andrew also moved to Chicago. Not only to be with Neil but to his brother who had went to school near by, now working as a doctor in the hospital right by there stadium. After they all played court together Kevin thought it would be best if they played on the same team in general. They were retiring in couple years anyways.

When he changed he went down to the first floor where Neil and Andrew pulled up in the Maserati. They drove to the airport, paid to leave the car and then moved there way through security.

The plane ride wasn't to long but it was agony for Andrew, no mater how many planes he's been on because of Exy he will never be used to the anxiety it brought. Kevin wasn’t doing any better but for a different reason. When they landed in Queens Kevin placed his shades on, big enough to cover up the tattoo on his cheek bone. Neil stuck to putting his hood over his head while Andrew could care less, his glare was enough to be left alone.

They got into the rental, Kevin driving with Andrew next to him and Neil in the back seat. They discussed this arrangement on the plane. Kevin kept his focused on the road once he got the directions in place, Andrew was playing with the unfamiliar stations and Neil kept his gaze towards the window. Nobody said a word but Kevin prayed in his head, to a god he never believed in that he won’t have a breakdown because of a child.

The traffic wasn’t that bad surprisingly and they were right on time with the schedule. Kevin found a parking spot. When parked clench the starring wheel still trying to breathe as slowly as he could.

“Kevin.” It was Neil. He breathed out and let go, opening the door. They all went inside the building and where they were led to to a hallway and told to walk straight. It was empty with chairs along the side and a door on the either. They noticed the trash bag first and as they got closer a kids head poked out. As quickly has he noticed them he looked back down. Nikoshi. The door then opened revealing a women with brunette hair pulled up into a bun. She looked at them before she looked towards the kid. A smile formed on her face before she asked.

“How are you Nikoshi.” They all stoped and stared as the kid looked up at the lady before answering with, “fine.” Andrew snorted at that, Neil glanced at him with a look that said, ‘Shut up.’

The women looked back at them and they followed her gesture to enter the office they guessed. She stayed out to say something to Nikoshi before closing to door behind her.

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nightquills · 4 years

Text

happy birthday, neil

once the upperclassmen + nicky begin to comprehend the degree to which neil’s childhood absolutely Sucked, they band together to give him a lot of the stereotypical birthday parties that he missed out on growing up

and let’s be real, none of the other foxes had particularly easy childhoods either. it’s a chance for them all to do the things that they wish they could have when they were younger too

there’s some debate over whether to celebrate on neil’s real birthday, or the one that he chose when he first became neil josten

on one hand, they want to respect the truth that he’s given them about who he really is, and maybe celebrating in january would show their appreciation for that?

but they also know that his real birthday doesn’t have the best associations for neil, and they wonder if it would be better to pick the newer date that doesn’t have those shadows hanging over it

(and when dan asked neil about it in TKM, he said that they could do something for march 31st)

maybe enough time has passed since last year’s bullshit with riko and neil’s father, though?

ultimately they decide fuck it—january 19th and march 31st are far enough away that they can justify celebrating both to themselves

bowling party!!!

it should come as no surprise that neil gets super competitive over it and promptly decides he is in it to win it. despite the fact that he has never bowled in his life before

give the boy an A for effort, but every other ball goes in the gutter

cue the teasing asking if he wants one of those ramp things for children to help him line it up, to which neil pouts very extensively

renee comes out on top every single game

when asked how she does it, she says that she used to chaperone a lot of the activities for the kids at her church, and bowling was a pretty common one

allison complains about how gross and outdated the bowling shoes are. and honestly? she’s right

andrew tries to subtly flex on everyone by picking one of the heaviest bowling balls, and neil laughs when he notices

there’s something about bowling alley pizza that always slaps, so of course they order pizzas to split between them all

kevin has worn himself out trying to convince everyone to eat more healthy food, so he just orders a pizza with literally every available vegetable on it. he’s the only one that eats any of it, bless his heart

of course the foxes get into the famed debate over whether pineapple is an appropriate pizza topping. it gets very loud

arcade party!!!

they originally wanted to do chuck-e-cheese but they realize that the complete lack of children in their group rules that out

aaron and andrew do not appreciate the suggestion that they might be short enough to pass for children, thanks, go fuck yourself

they do find another arcade though

there’s a laser tag room in this one, but they quickly realize that that’s probably not the best idea for a person who has literally been shot at multiple times in the past. so they skip that

neil and kevin get in a skee ball competition

kevin tries to lecture neil about proper technique. “you have got to be fucking kidding me,” neil says

matt teaches neil how to do dance dance revolution

matt is very good. neil almost falls on his face because he’s not using the railings at first

allison loves venting her rage via whack-a-mole

dan is the queen of pac-man

andrew and aaron team up against nicky and renee for air hockey

the whole group tries to test their athlete reflexes on that one game where you have to slam the button to stop it as close to the jackpot as possible

andrew actually does hit the jackpot, and everyone is freaking out as he just stands there and stoically stares at the machine spewing out the tickets

they pool all the tickets they’ve won together at the end so that neil can pick a prize for himself

he gets a lava lamp, and he has just enough left over to get a little alien keychain that he promptly moves all of keys over to

build-a-bear party!!!

to the surprise of literally no one, neil chooses the fox

he’s given a hard time when he goes to choose the clothes for it. “neil, you better not dress him as badly as you do yourself” says allison, to widespread agreement from everyone else

andrew picks a rabbit, to which neil pointedly raises his eyebrow

andrew deadpan says “aesthetic” as he grabs a little leather jacket to dress it

kevin complains about the lack of exy paraphernalia to dress up for his tiger

dan says that maybe he could stop by the school store on campus and get one of the school pride baby t-shirts they sell there

kevin pouts but eventually settles for a pirate look instead

aaron makes a koala in a cheer outfit to give to katelyn

dan gets a t-rex and dresses it up like a rockstar

matt gets a bernese mountain dog and a boxing outfit

renee gets a frog and puts it in a pastel skirt and shirt combo

allison gets a hippo and a sequin dress with the matching headband

nicky dresses his bear in a pink rainbow heart hoodie, surprising absolutely no one

imagine all the foxes looking at each other and trying not to crack up as they do the little stuffing/heart ceremony

god bless the poor employee that has to deal with their shit, honestly

karaoke party!!!

nicky is the most excited to do it, but he also takes forever to decide what song to do because there are so many he wants to sing

eventually he decides that you can’t go wrong with queen or bi-con freddie mercury, so he does “don’t stop me now”

the girls all decide to sing a song together—allison convinces them to do “how to be a heartbreaker”

matt is literally the personification of the heart eyes emoji as he watches dan sing

matt gets neil to do a duet with him, and they end up doing a very overblown rendition of “don’t go breaking my heart”

dan makes a joke about feeling jealous, so matt serenades her with “treasure”

she won’t admit it over her laughter, but she’s actually very touched

renee does a lovely rendition of “rhiannon”

aaron sings “time to pretend”

everyone makes fun of kevin’s taste in music when he sings “other side”

he is dubbed “kevin ‘dad rock’ day” from that point on

andrew flatly refuses to sing and no one is really willing to try and convince him on that one

though he may not show it, he actually is very much enjoying seeing his teammates make fools of themselves

nicky make little party bags to pass around, including the stereotypical party bag favors

little temporary tattoos

cue everyone teaming up to make fun of kevin by putting the gaudiest, sparkliest ones on their cheeks to make fun of his chess piece

little containers of bubbles with animals on the lids

imagine andrew getting annoyed with someone and blowing bubbles in their face with the most unimpressed fucking expression on his face until they shut up

friendship bracelets

they laugh when they see them, but don’t let that fool you—almost everyone puts them on right away

glow stick necklaces

bouncy balls, which are inevitably taken to the next team practice and used to wreak havoc. poor wymack, honestly

annoying party blowers

neil makes it his mission to sneak up on matt and blow it right in his ear, because matt jumps literally every single time

a fuckton of candy

andrew would never say it, but he likes the goodie bags just for this fact alone

neil not so sneakily sneaks all of his candy into andrew’s bag

wacky sunglasses, which they promptly use to take a number of increasingly ridiculous group photos

they decide to do cupcakes instead of a real cake so that everyone can get the kind that they want

since neil isn’t a big sweets fan, they always get him one of those little fruit tarts instead

when neil blows out the candles, his wish is that he’ll have the chance to make more happy memories with his family just like this

neil’s favorite part isn’t actually doing any of the things at his birthday parties; his favorite part is really that his friends were all together and laughing, and he saves every single picture taken

>ao3<

#all for the game #aftg #the foxhole court #neil josten #my writing #i am for once on time with my writing!!!#i can already tell that tumblr has messed up the formatting on this so pls click through to the ao3 if it's appearing totally fucked up haha #ognqs

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jemej3m · 5 years

Text

What Now? (p1)

where andrew and neil are single dads and their kids hate each other.

Neil hated the administrators. They sat at the front desk and looked up at him with enormous eyes, eyelashes fluttering as they asked: “What’cha lookin’ for, hon?” She smiled, almost beseechingly, as she stood. “Tour? I can show you around.”

“Actually,” He cleared his throat, pulling his sleeves down. “I’m here for Robin.”

The woman’s face turned sour, though she did her best to remain neutral “Right. You said you would be here a half hour ago, Mr Josten. The others have been waiting. Take a seat, I’ll let Headmaster Boyd know.”

I’m sorry, Neil wanted to snap. That some stupid kid has managed to aggravate Robin and that I’m a full-time working single father. Jesus Christ, people were shallow.

He dropped into a plastic chair, straightening his shirt again. His hair was still a little damp after his 30-second shower: Convincing his coach to leave practise early was never easy, but he was one of the few teammates with a kid. And the only one of that small group who parented alone. He probably had a few more concessions than the rest, but he couldn’t afford to spend them on shit like this.

Opposite him was a broad-shouldered man, staring at him. Unimpressed. Did he recognise Neil? He hoped not. He wasn’t in the mood for a facade. The staring continued. Neil elected to ignore him in favour of looking at the ceiling.

When Robin was shuffled out by her classroom teacher, Danielle Wilds, she gave Neil a sheepish look. He stood up and offered his hand, which she let rest on her head. Touch was still incredibly unfamiliar to both of them. “What’s this all about, Robin?”

She pointed to the bruise on her jaw. “I pushed him after he called me bad things. Then he punched me back!”

Neil glowered. It didn’t explain why his adoptive daughter was getting in trouble. She could sense that he knew she was omitting details of the story, and hid behind his hip as they followed Danielle Wilds down the hall.

Behind them, the blond man stood. He was shorter than Neil - a feat in itself, really - but it was as though Neil could feel needles stabbing into the back of his skull. He took Robin by the hand as he lead her into the headmaster’s office, and immediately observed his surroundings: The enormous glass window looking out over the school’s courtyard, where kids were dressed for phys-ed and playing with skipping ropes, the mahogany desk, the shelves of books, the trophies and certificates of achievement on the walls. Boyd had a picture of a young girl with wild, curly hair by his computer. The man in question was sitting relaxedly in his chair, tattoos visible through the white button-down, his cuffs loose and rolled to mid-forearm. His hair was spiked with gel, and

There was a young boy, sitting opposite him. He had black hair and green eyes, looking nothing like the blond man who sat next to him. The son was probably getting close to his father’s height. Both of them wore distasteful sneers. Like father like son, Neil supposed.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Neil asked, when there had been too many moments of frigid silence. “Robin? Anyone? I’d like to know exactly why I’m here.”

“I’m sorry, Mr Josten --”

“Neil.”

“Neil.” Boyd cleared his throat. “Robin and Kevin have been having some serious disagreements over the past few weeks. Neither seem willing to compromise, or come to an impasse. We usually like to guide students to conflict resolution, but this is getting out of hand. Isn’t it, Kevin?” He looked at the boy. “Robin?” Neil’s daughter withered under his look of disappointment.

They both pointed at each other. “They started it!”

“Kevin always tells me that I’m dumb and get all the answers wrong.” Robin wailed. “And he hides my pencils!”

“Robin scribbled in my maths scrapbook.” Kevin huffed. “Then she hid my completed spelling homework --”

“Wasn’t me!”

“And then she put grapes in the bottom of my bag, and they’re all squishy!”

“Are you sure that your own grapes didn’t spill, Kevin?” His father implored.

“You’re very good at losing pencils, Robin.” Neil shook his head. “Maybe you’ve lost them?”

“No!” Both of them cried.

Momentarily, Neil looked to the other father, and recognised the look of pure frustration furrowing the man’s brows.

Boyd rested his elbows on his desk, clasping his fingers beneath his chin. “But is that why we’re here today?”

Both of the children quietened.

“What the supervising teacher told me was that she saw Robin push Kevin, who hit her on the face.” He gestured to the bruise on Robin’s chin. “The other children said that Kevin was calling her names. I would like to reiterate that there is a strict, no-violence policy at this school, and would like you both to go home and think about the way you have behaved. Neil, Andrew: You should help them reflect and compose apology letters to one another. I’ll see you all tomorrow morning.”

Andrew glared daggers, standing abruptly and ushering his son out the door. Neil grabbed Robin by the shoulder and dragged her out.

When they caught up to the other pair, Neil sniped: “Really appreciated being dragged in here, thanks.”

“Maybe butchering is a hereditary thing, hm?” Andrew examined his car-keys. They were sleek, an expensive model that Neil couldn’t possibly name. “Such a shame.”

Neil fumed. Sensing Neil’s irritation, Andrew turned a blank look on him; Neil wondered how someone with such a void-like gaze could be a parent.

“Let’s go home.” He murmured. Robin tucked herself into Neil’s side and they hurried out of the administration building together.

Here’s how it goes:

Neil was almost 24, and coached Exy teams in Couth Carolina’s little league. He’d got out of his family’s criminal history through his Exy scholarship, but never taken it further. He hadn’t even really liked kids, but it was something to do.

Then, because Neil’s tragic existence seemed to be catastrophic for those around him, a car t-boned into a van outside his apartment. Neil, always running in the early hours of the morning, immediately rushed over. The sedan’s driver was a crumpled heap, blood splattered across the windscreen -- he most likely dead, so Neil ignored him. But there were screams coming from the back of the van, so he yanked the damaged door open.

Bruised and bleeding, curled into the corner of the van, was Robin. She was thrown into the foster system as an infant, and was then kidnapped at the age of three. No one cared about a foster kid going missing. Her missing person’s file was practically non-existent, especially after 2 years. Robin had clambered into his arms as he pulled her out of the back of that van, and he hasn’t had a full night’s sleep since.

Four years later, he’d set up a scholarship program in the little league, his daughter was making enemies at her new school, and Neil still didn’t regret a thing.

Andrew sat in the car and thought about the best way to approach this. For Kevin’s sake, he would be a role-model. But every inch of that Josten had him wanting to clench his fists. Of course he knew of him: Exy had gotten him through college. The Josten scandal was everywhere: Leaving the Ravens for the Trojans, Jean Moreau quickly following suit, the Butcher of Baltimore, the Moriyamas, the FBI; Then, settling down to coach kids. That drama had to be almost a decade ago, though. Didn’t matter. Exy had never mattered to Andrew. His degree had also been second thought: His occupation was satisfying, but never thrilling.

Having a kid, though. Jesus.

Kevin was a handful and a half. He was brimming with energy and emotion, repressed anger and competitiveness creating a volatile reaction to most situations. Andrew had taken Kevin in after his mother’s death, his old exy coach, Wymack, being the father but being unable to, you know. Father.

Andrew didn’t understand how the fuck he was meant to be any better.

“I’m sorry, Andrew.” Kevin didn’t look that apologetic. “She’s just super annoying! And she wouldn’t shut up about how her dad’s team is the best, and she loves her dad, and he’s the best, and how she’s going to play Exy too. Exy, exy, exy. All the time! It drives me insane! She talks so loudly, too. And so much. She never shuts up.”

Andrew could read his son. “Usually people aren’t this successful at getting under your skin, Kevin.”

“I hate her!” He frowned, his lips puckering. It was stupidly adorable. Andrew hated the word adorable. “I really do, you know. She’s always teasing me about liking history and reading my books. She can’t even do maths!”

“Remember what I tell you, Kevin.” Andrew switched on the ignition and swerved out of his car-parking space. He searched for the flash of an expensive sportscar, of which would be presumedly Neil’s, but he couldn’t find one.

“Be the better person so you can shove their own failures up their asses, I know.” Kevin drew his feet onto the dashboard but Andrew swatted them down.

“No feet on the dashboard.” He pointed at Kevin but the brat pushed his hand away, promptly sticking out his tongue.

God, why did he decide to have kids?

Oh yeah. He didn’t. Right.

(Still didn’t believe in regret, though.)

i hope this made sense!

i just think itd be hilarious lmao imagine seeing a parent in the lobby and be like damn and then figure out that their kid and your kid hate each other

#andreil #super cute #this is just silly #dad!neil #dad!andrew #single parent au #child!robin #child!kevin #andrew minyard #neil josten #children #child au #adoption #this is cuuute #all for the game #the foxhole court #kevin day #fluffy #jem writes

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palmett-hoes · 3 years

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which of the foxes do you think get tattoos in the future?? and like what tattoos??? ive been thinking abt andrew possibly getting tattoos but then idk if it would fit him??? idk lol

hmm i'm of mixed mind on this one tbh. on the one hand, i’m a Huge Slut for tattoos and body mods. ik yall have never seen me bc ive never posted a selfie but i have a bunch of piercings and a couple tattoos myself. on the other hand im sorta iffy at best on if i think andrew would get them

piercings are definitely a hard no for him. as someone who plays a contact sport (with a helmet!) and gets into fistfights, he’d basically have to be a goddamn moron to have peircings, which he isn’t. though actually i do hc that he has a split lobe because when he was in high school he pierced his own ear, then had it torn out in a fight later and almost took half his ear with it. no more after that

in terms of tattoos... i can basically only think of reasons why he wouldn’t get them, in all honesty. they require having a stranger touch you for an extended period of time, often times having to remove clothes to do it, which is a big ol’ no-no for him

more than that tho, tattoos are... personal. they say something about you, about who you are, what you value. even the most meaningless tattoo conveys a message about you, even if it’s just your sense of humor or an art style you like. i tend to be a little cagey about really going in depth about what my tattoos mean, because they represent things that are very personal and also very vulnerable to say out loud, and of course i’m not obligated to explain them to anyone, but they are,,, exterior. other people can see them. people can ask me about them

andrew is an intensely private person. he’s rarely been able to keep things that are meaningful in his life, most of them get taken away from him, and a lot of them have been used against him. he’s learned to be very guarded about what information about himself he shares, down to the littlest details. for this reason, especially because i’m familiar with the vulnerable feeling of having something personal on my skin for other people to see,even if they don’t know what it means, i,,,,, have a very hard time seeing andrew with tattoos, from the standpoint of character analysis

that probably isn’t what you wanted to hear, sorry

i can definitely see it being different for other foxes, though

neil for instance i can see getting tattoos for basically the same but opposite reason of why i can’t see andrew getting them

like,,, even just about their scars and the possibility of them getting covered by tattoos. i can see neil wanting to get it done but i can’t see andrew wanting it

for andrew, his scars serve a purpose to him. he did them to himself and he choose to do it in order to exert control on himself to psychologically survive a time when he didn’t have control over anything else. they’re honestly a mark of strength for him. he covers them not because he’s ashamed of them but because they’re something personal to him, and he doesn’t think that strangers should be able to have access to that information about him so easily

with neil, yes his scars are also a sign of strength and survival, but neil himself doesn’t really view them that way. he hides them not only because they’re identifiable, but because they honestly trigger him. they’re more of a reminder of other people hurting him and hunting him and making him powerless than they are a reminder of him resisting and triumphing

i think if he covered them with tattoos it would function as a reclamation of his body. it’s not an attempt to erase his history, because the scars would still be there, but he could cover them with something that reminds him of being strong rather than something that reminds him of being weak

not to mention, neil - unlike andrew - does have a desire to be seen, he just also has a fear of being understood. neil’s main motivation throughout the books, why he makes so many choices that knowingly put himself at risk, is his desire to be seen, to be known. he wants to be remembered, he wants to matter. he wants to be famous. he wants people to know his name. he loves exy but part of what he loves is the crowd, is being watched

but he also knows that this is dangerous. his mother beat into him how forbidden this was, so he’s also afraid of presenting his authentic self just as much as he desires it

(not to be an andreil stan again but this is also why he and andrew just,, work. because andrew is simultaneously so persistent to uncover neil’s truths yet so respectful of his boundaries at the same time. neil wants andrew to see him, and at the same time he doesn’t, so when andrew first tries to pry neil runs away, and andrew backs off just enough for neil to settle down. then andrew tries again, pries into neil just until he starts to retreat, and then stops. he breaks through that shell of hesitency and fear that neil’s life enforced on him and invites him to come out and be seen, and neil WANTS to be seen, wants to step out and be known. it’s just,, such a precarious relationship, but at the same time such a perfect one)

which is why tattoos covering his scars seems perfect. that feeling i described of someone seeing your tattoos, that’s a feeling neil craves, that perfect balance between being seen and not known, of having yourself be on display and at the same time being hidden and undecipherable

#txt #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil #my posts #im talkin #anon #anonymous #ask #cw self harm #self harm mention #tattoo #tattoos #foxes w tats

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