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percontaion-points · 3 years

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Foxhole Court chapter 14

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Chapter 14

Andrew pointed at Neil's bag and walked off to the salad bar to collect cracker packets.

Okay, wait wait wait. When they first went to the city, Andrew was sick because of the withdraw from his medication. They stopped at a restaurant, where it was said that Andrew went to the salad bar and got a bunch of cracker packets. I kind of assumed that they were just the little packets of saltines, for the soup, because Andrew felt queasy.

BUT NOW ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THERE ARE FUCKING PACKETS OF DRUGS JUST SITTING OUT IN A RESTAURANT WHERE FUCKING ANYBODY COULD JUST GRAB THEM?!

"Too much crazy in this system for dust to make a difference, I guess. We got into dust for Aaron's sake. He needed something safe to get on when he was coming off everything his mother gave him."

WOW, IF ONLY THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT COULD HELP DRUG USERS COME DOWN FROM THEIR HIGH SAFELY. UNDER THE CARE OF MEDICAL DOCTORS. OH GEE, IF ONLY. /sarcasm

"Seth only takes his pills when he and Allison are on the outs," Andrew said. "When they're together she's enough to hold him up. She went with him tonight, so she would have made sure he left his pills at home. She knows he likes chasing them with drinks."

Neil remembered watching her dig through Seth's pockets. "She checked him. I saw her."

"So did I," Andrew said.

"If he didn't have his pills on him, how did he overdose?"

"Not by choice," Andrew said. "My theory says Riko won this round."

Just casually implying that their friend got murdered. Because of sports.

That seems normal. And healthy. /ALL THE GODDAMNED SARCASM

It was frightening and wonderful all at once, and it set his heart racing so fast he thought it'd drum out of his chest. "Welcome home, Neil."

Chapter 14 summary: Neil goes back to the dorm after a while. The others are getting ready for a night in, although they're upset when Andrew implies that he's going to drug Neil and supply him with liquor again. Dan tries to tell Neil not to let Andrew push him around like that... but honestly, she seems even more of a doormat than Neil is. At least Neil has a personality. Dan, like all of the other team members, might as well be a piece of cardboard vaguely in the shape of a person with “Danielle” written on it. The boys then randomly fight in German, about the fact that Neil can speak German. And then they go to the city to party again. Because the first time ended so fucking well.

They go to the restaurant in the city, where they stock up on more drugs. Which are apparently just sitting out in the open, where anybody could grab them if they wanted to. Neil and Nicky go into the bathroom, where Nicky gives Neil some new clothes to wear. Neil argues about not needing any new clothes, and that he has his own money if he wanted to buy new things. Nicky says good, because everybody is tired of him “wearing the same clothes over and over”. Neil then asks about the weird relationship between Aaron, Andrew, and Kevin. Which... Yeah. I don't fucking care. But it basically boils down to the fact that Andrew is randomly obsessed with Neil, and Kevin is interested in Neil simply because the two of them are obsessed with exy. As usual, Aaron has nothing to do with anything, and continues to hold onto his “D-list background character with zero lines of dialogue” role.

They go to the club, although it's with the understanding that North Carolina has outdated liquor laws on the books, and they legally cannot sell anything to anybody on Sundays. But one of them promises that they have liquor at “home”, which is not the dorm. At this point, I'm not even questioning anything. Neil gets a sealed can of soda, following what happened the last time.

As they're going back to the table, Neil talks with Andrew about what Nicky had said earlier: about Kevin only keeping Neil around because he's “interesting”. Neil talks some about being afraid of his father; how he's in prison now on something minor, but it won't last forever. Andrew promises that he'll take care of Neil. And considering how Andrew “takes care” of everything else, that doesn't sound good, but okay.

Since they're racing the clock, the boys work harder to get drunk and high this time. Neil nurses his soda and watches them. Since he's sober this time, he actually remembers leaving the club and going to the hotel. As they're going, coach calls one of them and says that he found Seth having OD'd in the bathroom and now he's dead. Which... okay. Sure. Goodbye random background character who never had any speaking time! Most of them are naturally upset about this, but Kevin can only think about what this means for the team, although he hardly thinks that the loss of Seth would be a great blow to the team.

Neil and Andrew talk about this. Andrew says that Seth only did drugs whenever he and Allison were fighting, but since they were together tonight, he thinks that this was a murder most foul. By Riko. I'm not even going to question any of this anymore, because things are just kind of thrown at us, and it's like “Sure. Might as well murder over sports.”

Andrew randomly gives Neil the key to the house where they're staying. As they go inside, Neil thinks that he'll be murdered soon because of this nonsense he refuses to leave.

And on that cheerful note, the book comes to a close. There was barely a story, but okay.

#All For The Game #Foxhole Court #chapter 14 #Aaron and Andrew Minyard #What Is Happening #Neil Josten #Seth Gordon #Allison Reynolds #Riko Moriyama #WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK #Kevin Day #i'm done goodbye

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thisisnotourlasthunt · 3 years

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I posted 471 times in 2021

60 posts created (13%)

411 posts reblogged (87%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 6.8 posts.

I added 254 tags in 2021

#all for the game - 36 posts

#andrew minyard - 33 posts

#aftg - 33 posts

#neil josten - 32 posts

#the foxhole court - 25 posts

#the kings men - 25 posts

#the raven king - 25 posts

#kevin day - 17 posts

#aaron minyard - 14 posts

#nicky hemmick - 14 posts

Longest Tag: 132 characters

#vaguely inspired by that one post when andreil is cuddling and they are bickering with each other and then neil calls andrew 'aaron'

My Top Posts in 2021

Aaron: You gotta stop spending money on stupid shit

Andrew: ...ok

~ Later that day ~

Aaron, face buried on both his hands: Andrew! We fucking talked about this!

Andrew on a segway with Neil on the back: YOU talked, I just pretended to listen.

Neil: Besides, we didn't BUY it, we STOLE it.

Aaron: THAT'S WORSE!

96 notes • Posted 2021-03-14 13:01:20 GMT

Andrew: Want to know what is the worst thing someone can call me?

Neil: Aaron?

Andrew: ...

Neil: ...

Andrew: Want to know the second worst thing someone can call me?

98 notes • Posted 2021-03-18 18:30:23 GMT

Nicky: Betrayal hurts, but the betrayal made by a family member you took care of hurts more, it feels like my soul has been ripped from my body and shredded into millions of pieces just to be stepped on some more

Neil: Is he okay?

Andrew, reading on the couch: I ate the last ice cream.

Nicky, tearing up: It was MY ice cream

Andrew: Did it have your name?

Nicky, voice cracking: No, but-

Andrew: Then it wasn't yours

Nicky: But-

Neil: He has a point you know

Nicky: Betrayal hurts, but the betrayal made by a family member you took care of and from someone who literally asked you if you were really friends-

139 notes • Posted 2021-03-26 12:01:51 GMT

“My child is completely fine.” Your child hasn’t been able to read another book or watch a series after reading all for the game without thinking “Where is the consent???” after two characters kiss each other without asking for the consent first.

150 notes • Posted 2021-01-11 19:17:55 GMT

Andrew Showing The Foxes His Love Through Actions.

All through “All for the game” we can see how Andrew shows his love through actions. I believe that Andrew does care for his teammates and I know I; m not the only one, so I wrote this. (Also, I will just forget about the choking scene because N*ra did their relationship so badly, like- ugh, that’s for another time)

Tw: Curse words, references to the foxes pasts, punches, vomit, Riko, mentions of scars, mentions of nightmares, mentions of panic attacks, mentions of past self-harm, probably many spelling and grammar mistakes.

Allison.

It happened during a game, the foxes were winning and the other team were getting exasperated because they could not get past the backliners and if they could, Andrew would not let them score.

During the last minutes of the game, a player from the other team made Allison trip on purpose and “accidentally” kicked her.

Everyone else were too far away from them.

Except Andrew.

When the referee called the fault, Andrew was already there, punching the guy resulting in him taking a step back and falling to the ground.

As the referee gave him a yellow card, Andrew extended his arm to help Allison up.

And if he asked Renee how bad the injury was, no one had to know.

Matt.

When Matt was visiting his mom during summer vacations, they decided to go shopping, there he found the most adorable hoodies. It was orange on the outside and the inside had a really soft and warm fabric, which was white and had orange paw prints. But the best part was that the hoodie had fox ears.

Matt obviously bought nine of them.

“Disgusting.” Andrew had said, which Matt had obviously expected, so he thought nothing of it.

Everyone wore them, Aaron had given his to Katelyn, except Andrew.

But when winter came, Matt saw Andrew get out of his dorm room with the hoodie on, pulling it tighter against himself when a cold air blast came.

“Not a word.” Andrew deadpanned, pointing at Matt, when he noticed him, before leaving the tower.

Matt smiled the whole day.

Dan.

During one of their dinner bankets, the foxes were placed into pairs and told to socialize with the other teams. The pairs were meticulously design so that ‘the monsters’ (minus Nicky) interacted. This meant every ‘monster’ was placed with an upperclassmen. Andrew got Dan.

So when they Dan were talking to some players from Penn State, the Ravens decided to join.

They began talking sh¡t about Dan’s time as a stripper.

Andrew didn’t say or do a thing, knowing Dan was capable on fighting her own fights, she is the first female captain on Exy, but he does stand to the side, throwing a death glare to them.

But when one of them decide it’s a good idea to slap her in the butt when she is distracted....Andrew intervienes.

He grabs the Raven’s wrist, twisting it before pushing him into a table.

Dan is surprised, to say the least, but she knows that the Raven will get a worst fate if she leaves Andrew like that.

Calmly, she tells him she is okay and that the Raven didn’t touch her and that he can look and see for himself.

The latter does the trick, Andrew turns his murderous glare at Dan so she turns in place extending her arms showing him that the Raven did nothing to her.

Andrew calms after a while and stands up, glancing at the Raven one more time.

The rest of the night Andrew does not leave Dan’s side until they head back home. Dan attaches herself to that memory forever.

Renee.

Renee and Andrew sparred at least once a week, more whenever Andrew was having a bad day.

Such as that moment, Aaron’s trial was just around the corner and Andrew was not having it.

He went to Bee’s twice but it still wasn’t enough, so him and Renee spared.

But today was a specially not good day, Aaron’s lawyer had said that he’d have to speak about what happened that day.

Renee knew that Andrew was far more on his head than n the present so she wasn’t mad when Andrew threw her down to the mat and her hip bumped onto the floor.

For the first time since they spared that day, Renee saw Andrew actually see her.

His eyes were wide, probably surprised of what happened so she reassured him that she was okay and that it didn't hurt much and that she’d had much worse before.

But he didn’t listen to her and got off the mat.

Renee stood up and went for her water bottle, thinking that Andrew had gone to let out some steam alone.

But then he came back with an ice package in hand and gave it to her.

Renee thank him, placed it on her hip and sat near him while he starred to the distance in moral support.

Nicky.

Nicky wasn’t one to get sick often, but when it happened, he really got sick.

So when one day he wakes up with a headache and all of his bones ache, he knows he’s in trouble.

Not wanting anyone to be worried about him, Nicky tries to stand up, just for a blast of nausea hits him and he has to run to the bathroom before he pukes on their bedroom.

When he is done throwing his guts out, he brushes his teeth and walks out to the kitchen for a glass of water. But when he gets there, a water bottle is out with a bottle of Pepto-bismol beside it.

In the middle of his confusion, Andrew and Aaron appear with a thermometer, a blanket and pills.

“Go lay down,” Andrew says with an uncharacteristically softness in his tone.

Nicky complies and walks towards the couch, Andrew protectively trailing behind him with his phone and a blanket.

“I don’t have any class today, Aaron has two in an hour but then he’ll be back. Tea?” Nicky is perplexed at this attention given by his cousins so he is only able to nod and think who were these people and what did they do with his cousins.

The rest of the day, the twins (mostly Andrew) take his temperature, give him his meds, cook for him and help him out whenever he needs it.

Nicky sleeps with a smile that day.

The next day, he feels much better, but because the sickness messed with his feelings, he has an urge to hug his cousins.

He asks for permission and surprisingly, Andrew says yes.

Nicky keeps the hug fast and makes sure he doesn’t make Andrew feel trapped.

He still cries at the memory.

Aaron.

Out of all the foxes, Aaron is the one with the most difficult things to study. He is in fact studying pre-med.

So during the finals week, he is the most stressed.

There is this one class in which Aaron has been having the most trouble with and if he doesn’t pass the test, he’ll have to repeat the class. So to say that he was stressed was an understatement.

He begins studying for that class a week and a half before the exam is and the day before the exam, he skips gym, morning practice and afternoon practice.

He studies for the exam the whole day and had to be reminded to take breaks for the bathroom and meals constantly.

He is also forced by Andrew to sleep when he woke up at 3 am and Aaron was still awake, studying.

Aaron keeps thinking of the material as he tries to sleep, and isn’t able to until 4 am, he dreams on the material the whole night.

When he opens his eyes, he sees that the sun is much higher than usual, worried, he checks the time on his phone just for his fears to be true, his alarm didn’t sound and he slept through the whole exam.

He doesn’t even care to change and runs to the building. The door to his classroom is closed and the professor is not there.

“Can’t stop thinking about the exam? Me neither.” He hears one of his classmates say behind him.

“I didn’t even do it.” He says through his teeth.

“What do you mean? I saw you there.”

Aaron is confused so he asks more classmates if they saw him, and all of them said that yes, they saw him there.

Hurriedly he got to the tower and confronted Andrew if it was his doing and if he did the exam for him like they did in high school.

“I did.” was Andrew’s only response before walking out.

Aaron got a B⁺ a grade much better than if he had done it by himself.

Kevin.

After Riko died, his and Andrew’s deal could be done, but they had grown close, they had passed so much time together since Kevin escaped Evermore.

Neither of them would say it out loud, but they were each other’s best friend.

So when Kevin learned that his things would be thrown away from the Nest, he went into a spiral.

But when Andrew asked and Kevin couldn’t say why, Andrew made it his mission to know.

Neil had a few assumptions, but when he had been at the Nest, he had been too focused on his injuries that he wasn’t a good resource.

So Andrew contacted someone he never thought he would be speaking to. Jean.

Jean told Andrew of Kevin’s old bedroom and the things Kevin had to hide away from Riko because if he found them, Kevin would be punished. Yet he didn’t know what these secret things were.

Thankfully, Jean knew where the hiding spot was.

The next day, Andrew took the Maserati in the early morning without a word (Neil knew but he had to act as if he didn’t), and made his way to Evermore.

Once there, he had to sneak inside, but given that the Nest was desolated for classes it was easy.

When Andrew got to where Jean had told him where the hiding spot was, he found a small shoe box.

Opening it, he found three things and Andrew immediately understood Kevin’s spiraling.

When he got back to the tower, he directly went to his dorm. Inside were Neil, Nicky and Kevin watching a game.

Andrew signaled Neil and the latter made Nicky follow him out.

“Where were you? You missed morning practice,” Kevin said as soon as they were alone.

Without a word, Andrew took the shoebox out of his bag and carefully gave it to Kevin, who took a shaky breath at the sight of it.

As soon as it was in Kevin’s hands, he opened it and carefully took the three things which were the last things he had from his mother.

A woman’s ring, a record player and a photograph.

Tears immediately sprang from Kevin’s eyes and Andrew decided he would give Kevin his space.

“Thank you,” Kevin said as he opened the door, Andrew just nodded feeling a weird warmness in his chest.

Neil.

Andrew shows Neil his love in so many ways, helping him out during panic attacks, reminding him that he’s safe, holding his hand, kissing him, sharing a cigarette in the roof, stroking his hair when they cuddle and so much more.

But the most important thing Andrew does for Neil is letting the latter see his vulnerability and trust him with it.

It starts with simple things, Andrew letting Neil sleep with him in the same bed, cuddle together, sit on Andrew’s lap (and vice versa), etc.

But it slowly begins to increase, let Neil stay whenever he gets a nightmare and/or a panic attack, let Neil take care of him when he gets sick, let Neil cuddle on top of Andrew, let himself seek comfort in Neil, Andrew letting Neil take his armbands off, see and touch them.

It takes a long time, but Neil doesn’t mind, those little things are more than enough for him and he doesn’t expect more from Andrew, but welcomes this little things and holds onto them with all of him.

Bonus:

Wymack.

Wymack is always threatening his foxes with running marathons and says that their personal stuff is over his pay rate, but oh doesn’t he care for them.

He works hard for them so they can have good things and safe and comfortable area for them, that’s why he had the walls on the showers made.

He loves the foxes, and they love them too.

One morning, he had to organize some piles of paperwork, but he had a stressing week and the night before he hadn’t been able to sleep good, so after a while of organizing paperwork, he decides he deserves a break.

The foxes are supposed to be in class so he doesn’t expect them until the afternoon. He goes to the lounge and lays down on the couch to “rest his eyes”.

He falls asleep almost instantly.

Andrew had forgotten something on the court after their morning practice so he decided to go now, he had finished his classes and knew that Wymack had to organize some paperwork, he was surprised to see the old man asleep.

Andrew could remember his initial fear of the man when he saw him the first time, he was tall, broad and serious, but he didn’t let it show. He had been waiting for the man to do something to him, but instead the man had respected his boundaries and didn’t ask when Andrew broke into his home in the late night and made himself a pot of hot cocoa (which had been bought for this reason).

So quietly, Andrew went to Wymack’s office and organized his paperwork, marking those who were missing one or two things with a post it and leaving right after he was done, not expecting the man to know it was him.

When Wymack woke up and walked back to his office he was surprised to see that his paperwork was organized. He mentally questioned who it was but when he read the post its he immediately knew it was Andrew, he knew all of his children’s handwritings, and made sure he bought Andrew’s favorite chocolate ice cream.

Abby.

Abby was the first one, apart from Bee, to see his scars.

The first time she had tried to say something but she had seen something in his face because he didn’t and let him place the armbands back on.

After that she looked away when he took them off and just glanced at them for a second to make sure there were no track marks before turning around again so he could put the armbands back on.

(She knew there would not be track marks, so she just looked at them so there would be no new ones, he cared for her foxes.)

And during the physical exam, she made sure not to touch him more than necessary.

Abby checks on Bee asking if he’s okay, she never expects an in depth answer, just a confirmation and she feels relief when Bee tells her that he is getting better.

On one of his sessions with Bee, she suggests Andrew that he should tell someone about his scars, preferably someone who has already seen them.

Andrew knows what Bee is trying and Bee knows that Andrew knows and Andrew knows Bee knows that Andrew knows.

In the end, he does tell Abby. He keeps it vague and watches her reaction, waiting for a small expression change, but thankfully Abby just listens, and shows no pity, knowing that Andrew would hate it and does not comment.

When he’s done, she just nods and thanks him for telling her and when Andrew leaves, Abby lets the tears she had retained out.

She keeps the truth guarded with her life, glad Andrew trust her enough to say this.

Bee.

It is not a secret that Andrew sees Bee like his mother figure, out of all the woman in his life she was the only one that he didn’t feel the need to be unlike himself, she loved him just the way he was.

It was scary at first, his mind supplied that it would be just like Cass, he just had to wait for the other shoe to come down.

It never did.

So he found himself driving to her office when he needed to understand something or he was just not in a good mental place.

He would also call her when he didn’t have the energy to move.

She was on one of his sides during Aarons trial, helping him keep his cool when he felt like he needed to punch something.

When it had been his turn to say his testimony, he had looked at her and Neil, remembering that they would be with him and that they would show no pity to him.

So the day before Mother’s day, when him and Neil were shopping for clothes, and he saw a coffee mug in the shape of a bee hive that read “To the Bee-st mom” he had to buy it.

The next day he arrives to her office and leaves the cup before leaving without a word.

It fills Bee’s heart when she reads it but knows best than to comment of it on their next session.

But if she uses it everyday and it becomes her favorite mug, no one has to know.

Look at me posting three days in a row, I’m proud of myself ngl. Anyways, have this, hope you like it, I tried my best and this is honestly the longest “headcanon” I’ve ever written.

239 notes • Posted 2021-02-03 20:07:26 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #ah yes #ofc my everything would express how mentally unstable I am #Only those who have read AFTG will understand #for those that DONT know what AFTG is....#send me a DM if you REALLY want to know #if not #good #:)

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dartmoorsfinest · 3 years

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Josh Widdicombe: ‘I can’t even go to the toilet without taking my phone with me’ (The Telegraph, 27.9.21)

From puppets to politicians’ trousers, the comedian on the good, bad and ugly aspects of his life.

Josh Widdicombe, 38, is a comedian and presenter best known for his appearances on The Last Leg and Mock the Week, as well as his BBC Three sitcom Josh. He won the first series of Taskmaster in 2015 and the show’s first Champion of Champions special in 2017. He is married to Rose Hanson, a television producer. They have two children.

My Best...... joke:

When I was on Taskmaster a few years ago, one of the tasks was to buy Greg Davies a present. I got his name tattooed on my foot. That is not witty or clever, but 90 per cent of what people come up and ask me about is that, rather than all the comedy I’ve written. You don’t need to write jokes, it turns out people just want you to get a tattoo on your foot.

...the best comedian in the world:

Growing up, I was just totally obsessed with Frank Skinner, who I still think has the quickest wit and best comic mind of anyone I’ve met or worked with. Everything he says is on a different level. That’s the best thing about my job, working with childhood heroes like Frank.

...the best day of my career: This has to be when my agent Flo asked to sign me in 2010. It meant I could quit my job as a very low level sub editor on The Guardian website and become a professional comedian. I once got both football scores the wrong way round on the main page of the website; there were fundamental issues with my ability in the job.A friend gave me the brilliant tip that you should go with the agent that has the worst office because they’re the ones who won’t waste your money. And at this time they were based in the basement of the house of the guy who owns the agency. They took me to a greasy spoon café, even though they represented Michael McIntyre and Lee Evans. I thought, these guys are the guys for me.

...the best thing about my wife:

That her mother invented Zippy. I don’t even like my wife. It’s the only reason I’m with her. It’s such a mad thing to have invented because it’s such a cultural touchstone.

...the best thing about being a parent:

Is the day-to-day little things your child will say that are totally normal but totally melt your heart. When your child uses an adult turn of phrase like “of course” instead of “yes”. That’s the best bit for me, for some reason.

...the worst thing about my children:

Is the sleep. I can’t believe how boring I am on the subject of sleep. You can blast through the day but that period at night when you wake up for the third time and it’s 3am and you want it to be morning. I’ve had enough of these awful nights.

...the worst celebrity encounter:

I met Steve Coogan in the gym once and my voice went because I was so star-struck. Luckily it just looked like I was puffed out. That was a bonus.

...my worst habit:

Is that I’m somehow more late now for Zoom meetings than I was for normal meetings. It looks so much worse. It’s because at 9.53am I’ll think I’ll go for a shower now. This new at-home life is really bad for me. I miss going to Pret for lunch; the cheese-and-pickle sandwich in the long sourdough thing. Oh, the thrill I have for the brie-and-cranberry Christmas one.

...my worst TV appearance:

Was This Week in Politics with Andrew Neil. It was so far ahead of every other show disaster I’ve ever had. The producers said: “OK, so you’re going to talk about accents and how they affect people in the workplace.” And I was like: “Well I’ve got nothing on that.” I didn’t say that because I’m really polite. So I did a bit about Michael Portillo going to public school, which he didn’t, and he made that very clear. He destroyed me, and he was well within his rights. I was out of my depth, It was awful. I can’t even watch his trains programmes anymore. Every time I see red trousers the nightmares come flooding back.

...the worst thing about modern life:

Is my addiction to my mobile phone. I can’t even go to the toilet without taking it with me. It’s the first thing I do when I sit down, I take my phone out and mindlessly scroll. I look at the BBC website, Instagram, refresh emails, Whatsapp, and then back to the BBC… it’s mind numbing and it annoys me that I don’t read books as much as I used to.

...the absolute worst:

Has to be Twitter. I don’t think anyone has ever felt better after looking at Twitter than before they started. Something will happen like Simone Biles pulling out of the gymnastics and you see people saying in the media: “This is going to be a big debate on Twitter!” And you think, “God, is this what it’s come to?” Twitter is a really negative, divisive medium. I really should come off it, but apparently according to my agent, people need to know when I’m on tour.

Interview by Boudicca Fox-Leonard [SOURCE / READ]

#Josh Widdicombe #jwnews

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gluupor · 5 years

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No Law in Deadwood

inspired by this artwork by the incredibly talented @requiemofkings

“Fuckin’ finally,” said Kevin as they crested the hill and the ramshackle town came into view. “I’ve a hankering to get to town.”

“No surprises there,” replied Neil, adjusting his hat to keep the sun out of his eyes. “I’d a thought you were gonna shoot them poor sumbitches when the whiskey barrel went dry.”

“What in the hell are you insinuating? That I enjoy a fucking drink? I wasn’t aware that was outlawed.”

“Peace, Kevin, fuck. I’d forgotten what a miserable fucking bastard you are when you ain’t had a drink.” Neil shifted in his saddle and stroked his horse’s neck to soothe her as she tossed her head and stomped in place, as impatient as Kevin was to get going. Riding was second nature to him— he never felt more at home than running his horse at a gallop, leaning forward over her neck with her sides heaving as she let loose— but even he was ready for a rest. Days upon days of staying with the impossibly slow wagon train and listening to Kevin’s complaints was enough to make even the most experienced traveller saddle sore.

Neil spurred his horse down the ridge, passing into the town. It was haphazardly put up and quickly growing: tents were surrounded by partially-built structures. The clang of hammers and the buzz of saws filled the air and the smell of sawdust was pervasive, though it couldn’t cover up the scent of horseshit. The main thoroughfare was made up of sucking mud, made worse by the rain of the last three days.

The biggest building had a painted sign that identified it as the Grand Hotel and had an attached stable. Kevin dismounted and tossed his reigns over to the tall, grinning man that came to greet them.

The man did a double take when he saw Kevin and then goggled at him. “Kevin ‘Bullseye’ Day!” he said when he regained the power of speech. “The most accurate shot in the west!”

“Probably in the east, too,” said Neil affably, dismounting his own horse.

“And you must be his sidekick, Quickdraw Josten!”

Neil felt the familiar urge to run that occurred every time someone recognized him. By all rights he should have shed the name Josten long before, it was far too recognized these days thanks to Kevin’s need to be the centre of attention. “God fucking dammit, I ain’t that son of a bitch’s sidekick,” he griped as Kevin snorted a laugh.

“Don’t say nothin’ against my mother, Josten.”

“I’d never disrespect a woman who can outdraw me.”

The stable hand watched their banter with barely repressed glee. “My old lady might give you a run for your money,” he said. He nodded back at the hotel. “We’re the proprietors of this fine establishment. Matt Boyd, at your service.”

“We’d like a room,” said Kevin.

“Two, if you can manage,” added Neil. “We’re mighty worn out lookin’ at each other.”

“For y’all, I can manage,” said Matt.

“There a blacksmith in town?” asked Neil, giving his horse a final pat. “I want to get my horse reshod before we head out again.”

“Minyard has a smithy; I can point you the way.”

“Leave off ‘til tomorrow, Neil,” said Kevin. “Seeing as we’re gonna be here awhile.”

“What brings you to town?” asked Matt. “Prospecting? There’s gold in them hills.”

“This one got a warrant out for him in Cheyenne,” said Kevin, nodding to Neil. “Felt it safest to come to where there were no laws for him to break.”

“It true that there’s no law at all in Deadwood?” asked Neil.

Matt nodded quickly. “On account of it bein’ Indian land and all.” He looked at Kevin curiously. “I thought you were a marshal up in Montana?”

“Until he came to his fucking senses,” said Neil. “No more law man ambitions for him.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Tell me, is there anywhere in this goddamn shithole where a man can have a drink in peace? Maybe a game of faro?”

“Can have a drink, a game, and some pussy up at the Gem,” said Matt. “Miss Renee who owns it runs a tight ship.”

Neil raised an eyebrow. “A woman owns it?”

Matt nodded. “She used to be one of the whores workin’ there ‘til she got fed up with the way they were treated. Knifed the last owner and took over running the place.”

“Maybe somewhere less excitin’,” said Kevin. “I only need a drink and a game.”

Matt grinned. “You want the No. 10 saloon owned by Jeremy Knox.” He pointed helpfully.

Kevin tipped his hat and turned to leave. He’d taken several strides before he realized Neil wasn’t following. “You coming?”

“Kevin, you are my very best friend in the entire fucking world,” said Neil, “but if I have to spend another goddamn minute with you I’m liable to shoot you in your fucking face.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it none.”

“If I used fancy fucking words you’d mistake it for a compliment,” said Neil. “Get off. I’ll see you later.”

Kevin pouted, not liking being alone, especially in an unfamiliar place, but Neil couldn’t deal with his deep-seated personality flaws right then. His own issues took precedence; he couldn’t sit and watch Kevin drink and lose at cards, he had to survey the town, find all the escape routes and hiding places and get a look at the people in power.

Once he completed his initial circuit of the town, he headed to the Gem. Based on Matt’s description he guessed that the important players would be found there.

It was late afternoon and most of the local prospectors hadn’t returned from their claims, so the Gem was only sparsely populated. There were around ten patrons, five or six whores, and a bartender. Neil catalogued them all while trying to look like he wasn’t looking at any of them. He took a seat at the end of the bar and kept his head down.

“What’ll it be, honey?” asked the bartender, a slim man who likely had some Mexican in him.

“Water,” said Neil.

The bartender snorted in disdain, but poured him a glass of slightly suspect-looking water. “You new in town? You came to the right place. Name’s Nicky and I know everything.”

“Neil,” he replied. “I know nothin’.”

Nicky’s answering grin was almost predatory. “Want some pussy? All our girls are clean; checked by Doc Wymack and everything.”

“No.”

“You want somethin’ rougher? Wait until my break and I can take you out back.”

“Cocksucker,” growled a nearby man. Neil had characterized him as big and mean; he was gratified to see he was correct.

“You askin’?” said Nicky. “You don’t have the credit to afford me.”

“Fuck off,” said Big And Mean, turning red in rage. “You keep that cocksucking bullshit away from me.” He huffed and started to turn away. “Oughta be illegal.”

“Ain’t no law in Deadwood,” said a new voice. It belonged to the blond man at the far end of the bar.

“Ain’t your business, Minyard,” said Big And Mean.

This must be the blacksmith Matt had mentioned. He didn’t look like much, five foot even at most, but his suspenders helped display the fact that he had the arms of a man who pounded metal for a living. Neil could tell the man was feared, based on the nervous glances that skated over him and the way that everyone in the bar was suddenly minding their own affairs as soon as he started to speak.

“Just sayin’,” said Minyard, knocking the ash off his cigarette. “No law means he can suck cock if the fancy strikes him.”

“Andrew…” said Nicky, a fearful note in his tone.

Big And Mean puffed up and stalked toward Minyard. Neil reclassed him as big, mean, and stupid.

“No law means no one’ll object if I burn the faggot alive, either.”

“I may have to lodge a complaint.”

“And what’ll you do about it?” taunted Big And Mean And Stupid.

Minyard flicked his eyes over the man, looking bored. Then, quick as a rattlesnake he struck, extinguishing his cigarette on the man’s cheek. As he howled in pain, Minyard slashed out with a knife that he must have had hidden in one of his black armbands.

Big And Mean And Stupid fell to the floor, gurgling on the blood pouring out of his gasping throat. Neil watched him die dispassionately. The other patrons pretended not to notice the altercation; one of the whores ran from the room, presumably for her mistress.

“Andrew,” said Nicky, sounding censuring now.

Minyard flipped him a coin. “For the mess,” he said, tucking the knife back into his armband and turning back to his drink.

He had lit another cigarette by the time a tall, blonde, glamourous woman swept down the stairs from the upstairs office.

“Minyard, are you fucking murderin’ people in my place again, you goddamn cocksucker?” she demanded.

“It’s Renee’s place, Reynolds,” said Andrew.

“Same fucking difference. God, you’re an insufferable cunt,” Reynolds said.

Minyard nodded to the coin. “I paid for your trouble.”

Reynolds shook her head and rounded the bar, lifting her skirts to ensure the dead man’s blood wouldn’t stain them. Her eyes narrowed on Neil at the end of the bar. “What are you drinking?” she asked.

“Water.”

She raised a delicate eyebrow. “You want some pussy? Play some faro?”

Neil shook his head.

“Then buy some fucking alcohol or get the hell out of my bar,” she commanded. Turning to Nicky, she continued muttering, “Goddamn fuckers: killing people, not spending any money.” She gave Nicky a piercing glare. “Stop servin’ your bastard cousin if he kills anyone else, you hear me? In the meantime, go fetch the Chinaman and feed the idiot on the floor to his pigs.”

Nicky nodded and left. Neil motioned for a whiskey, not wanting to argue with Reynolds assuming it was an exercise in futility.

Reynolds slammed his glass down in front of him. “And take off your fucking hat. This is a goddamn classy establishment.”

Neil knocked the hat off the back of his head, letting the cord hang it around his neck. When he looked up, he found Minyard’s eyes on him.

“Here to prospect?” Minyard asked.

“No.”

Minyard waited but Neil didn’t expand, sipping his drink slowly and refraining from grimacing at the taste. The smoky flavour reminded him of grievous injuries, gritting his teeth and biting on leather as he was stitched back together.

“Who are you?” Minyard evidently had grown tired of waiting.

“I’m no one.”

“Why are you here?”

“No reason.”

Minyard shook his head. “You’re gonna be trouble, aren’t ya?”

“No, sir,” said Neil, trying to sound innocent. “I’ve never made trouble in my life.”

“I don’t trust you farther than I can throw this building,” said Minyard, draining the rest of his drink and standing. “But I sure do enjoy the way you lie.” He adjusted his hat on his head. “Got my eye on you, Quickdraw.” Which meant that either Minyard recognized him or that gossip travelled even faster than Neil had been anticipating.

Minyard nodded to Reynolds and strolled out the front door, seemingly without a care.

“Ain’t a good thing to have his attention,” said Reynolds, watching him go.

“Figures,” said Neil. “It’s the kinda fuckin’ luck I’ve got.”

He had a sneaking suspicion that his and Kevin’s idea of laying low in Deadwood to escape from their problems might not be quite as straightforward as they’d initially hoped.

#aftg #tfc #andreil #neil josten #andrew minyard #kevin day #my fic #bits #now the warnings:#cw language #cw violence #cw murder #cw homophobia #cw racism #cw sexism #cw prostitution #let me know if I missed anything

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jemej3m · 5 years

Text

walking on broken glass

because im bingeing annie lennox and i cried over this anon prompt

warnings for graphic discussions/flashbacks of non-con and self-harm/suicide. srry :(

prompt: do you think andrew would ever cry?

“Andrew.”

It was stupid-funny how oxygen particles, such irrefutably tiny particles, could tear through his lungs like this. Like shards of shattered window panes, creating slits in his throat and choking him with the metallic stench of his own blood, every inhale tore into him, every exhale numbing the excruciating pain.

Why was there glass in his skin?

“Andrew?”

Oh, yes. He remembered now. He’d put his fist through the bathroom window, one Neil had climbed out of months ago.

The crunch had sounded much the same as Drake’s skull. Fist to glass, stick to head, crunch, crunch, crunch. His laugh grated against his bloodied throat, just like it had when he clutched onto Luther’s headboard. Maybe it hadn’t been the drugs in the end: Maybe they just removed the urge to smother the laughter.

Who even coined the term rape? Who illegalised it? People take and take and take, regardless of whether it’s honour or loyalty or kindness: Rape is just the same. It’s an act of taking.

That’s what people do.

They take. And take. And take. What had they taken from Andrew? Comfort in his own skin. The ability to reminisce on a childhood. A functioning family. They took his ability to express complex emotion: His ability to even conjure emotion at all. They took away sleep, free of nightmares. They took away touches, free of tainted memories.

Instead of all these basic things they gave him thin white scars across whiter skin. Self-hatred that burned out years ago and left an empty void. They gave him bloodied sheets, and the burn between his legs that had shame ricochet within his skull whenever he sat.

Wherever Andrew walked was shards of broken glass. Some were permanently embedded into his skin: Others had callouses grown around them, permanently numbed. Where-ever he walked, he left a bloody trail, tragic and undeniably horrific.

Everyone of us was made to suffer. Everyone of us was made to suffer. Everyone of us was made to suffer.

Seems like Andrew had taken on other people’s shares.

“Andrew.” That wasn’t Neil. “Are you alright.”

Aaron. His blood brother. His blood brother, who’d bloodied his other brother. Drake was his brother. It’s just brotherly affection. You’re just looking for attention, Andrew. It’s just a misunderstanding. Brotherly affection. Brotherly affection. Please, oh for the love of God, please don’t, please stop, please-

The only brotherly affection he’d ever got was someone with hands wrapped around his neck as they fucked him, or someone whacking heads with Exy sticks till they imploded.

“Fine.” He croaked. He felt invalid. It had been Aaron’s trial today, afterall. Who’d stood as witness? Neil, obviously. Kevin. Nicky. Who else”

He did. Right. Yes. Staring at Cass the whole time, he did. Told a jury about the bloodied sheets, the money stolen from Richard’s desk to buy razors when kitchen knives were too serrated. Knowing Cass still refused to acknowledge or even see what her son was doing, he looked at her. How had Drake learned to be like that? How had Drake been anything but the perfect, caring older brother, when he was lucky enough to have Cass as a mother?

Why do the people who get everything they could ever ask for, take what isn’t theirs?

Andrew had walked on a path of broken glass his entire life: It was Drake who knocked him over and pressed his entire body into the splintered shards. Dragged him by his feet, by his hair. Carved into his chest and took out any remnants of a soul, of a heart, of the chance to heal.

The door to the bathroom creaked open slowly, and expanses of tanned skin knelt before him. How could Andrew forget his intangible - his - nothing - something - everything -

He didn’t know what to call Neil.

The man refused to touch him until Andrew had nodded slowly to his whispered yes or no? He went, not for the bloodied fist, but for Andrew’s jaw. A thumb swiped under his eye, and came away wet.

It was so inconceivable that Andrew’s thoughts ground to a halt. The last time he’d cried was at the age seven. Sammy. Samuel. Andrew remembered the noise of a Jack Daniels cap being spun shut, until the bottle lid was tightly screwed. That was always Andrew’s cue, to come take the bottle away. He’d be grabbed by the hair, often hard enough to have chunks of hair come out, and thrown to the nearest surface.

Say please. Say please, Andrew. C’mon Andrew. Say please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please!

Please.

Stop.

He and Neil sat knee to knee as his body convulsed with silent sobs that clawed out of his throat. He shoved them down the best he could. He wanted to punch himself in the gut, cut his wrists open, fling himself off a balcony, careen his car into a wall, choke himself on a rope -

“Andrew.” Neil whispered. “It’s over. You’re safe.”

You’re safe.

He stopped holding his breath, sucking in one last gasp of oxygen, with all its tiny, shard like particles. Neil’s hand was on his cheek, still. It hadn’t moved. As Andrew’s head fell forward until it rested on Neil’s shoulder, heavier than he’d ever known, Neil’s palm gently slid to hold the back of Andrew’s neck. Sweat clung to him like a second skin, and Neil should have had a knife in his gut for trying to comfort Andrew via touch, but his scent was so grounding, the topography of his scarred skin so familiar that it couldn’t be anything but comforting.

Because Neil knew. Neil saw. Neil understood, in a way that is simultaneously terrifying and relief-inspiring.

He supposed Neil had walked on broken glass too.

Carefully, within Neil’s gentle grasp, he began to remove the shards.

is this ooc? dunno. maybe. is it heart-wrenching? everything about andrew is. so. sorry?

also i might continue this with neil and lola. i’ve wanted to do a character study on lola for a while now. i am slowly re-ascending to my throne as angst queen.

#andreil #andrew minyard #crying #suffering #writing motif #tw: rape #tw: self harm #tw: suicide #all for the game #nora sakavic #neil josten #aaron minyard #drake spear #jem writes

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storyalchemist · 6 years

Text

a/n: absolutely no one asked for this, but i’ve had the idea of Andrew and Aaron in matching outfits stuck in my head for like a day and I wanted to write something for it. i promise it wasn’t supposed to be this long.

it was a long play. months, actually.

Nicky had dragged Neil out shopping on a Sunday, and for once Neil went willingly because it was almost Christmas and he needed to buy gifts.

He wasn’t sure if the other foxes would appreciate gifts bought with blood money, but he figured they just wouldn’t find out.

So they’re in Abercrombie and Fitch or something and Neil’s fingering (? I don’t know if that’s the word) a navy long sleeve tee with some abstract art on it. it seems like something Andrew would like, and it was soft and warm enough for the cold January would bring. He took it off the rack in Andrew’s size and went to go meet up with Nicky at the register. To his surprise, Nicky is holding the same exact shirt.

“I thought Aaron would like it. He needs something for the winter.” He says before spotting the item in Neil’s bag. They look at each other and Neil knows they have the same exact thought. Somehow, sometime, Aaron and Andrew will wear matching outfits.

So Nicky and Neil plot and plot, and Nicky is so surprised that even though Neil is still and will most likely always be a dry texter, is palpably invested in the idea. Neil is surprised at this too. He thinks for an afternoon if Andrew would be actually, legitimately bothered by the prank, but he was pretty sure it was just too benign and harmless for Andrew to even care. So he goes along with the plan they’ve set up.

Timeskip to after Christmas and Neil is lounging on Andrew’s bed as Andrew cleans the room. He’s a surprisingly tidy person, and Neil suspects that having control of his environment and how it looks helps him stay grounded, but he never asks. Andrew has moved on from organizing his desk to organizing his closet and there are clothes strewn around the room.

Feigning bored disinterest, Neil picks up one of the shirts closeby. Coincidentally, the very shirt he bought Andrew that day at the mall.

“I gave you this for Christmas. You haven’t worn it yet,” he remarks into the otherwise silent room. Andrew only glances at him before getting back into folding his socks. He doesn’t say anything since Neil didn’t ask a question.

“You should. I think the blue suits you.” Andrew shoots him a bored look and makes a point of rolling his eyes. Neil flops back onto the bed. Phase one is done.

In the week afterward, if the washing machines in the building begin to malfunction just as Andrew’s washing his clothes, well that’s just bad luck and has nothing to do with the screwdriver under Neil’s bed.

Andrew’s freshly purged closet and failed wash day add up to him wearing some stuff he hasn’t worn in a while, including but not limited to; a tank that's a size too small (hot), a sweater that is two sizes too big (cute), and a lime green hoodie Neil had never seen before (weird, but not bad).

Neil gets the confirmation text from Nicky while Andrew is in the shower. He moves quickly and silently, arranging the clothes in Andrew’s drawers just so and tiptoeing out of the room before he’s heard. When Andrew comes out of the bedroom, he’s wearing Neil’s gifted shirt. Neil only offers him a smile before getting up to go to practice. There’s a team meeting and he has to get there early to talk something over with Wymack and Dan, but he somehow convinces Andrew to let him go with Dan, and long story short, he’s there when all the foxes begin drifting in for the meeting.

Andrew and Kevin show up on time, thanks to Kevin’s need to be on the court as soon as possible, if not earlier. Neil strategically stood, which allowed Aaron and Andrew to sit together if the plan went as it should. Nicky precedes Aaron’s entrance, and to Neil’s delight, Aaron is wearing the same exact outfit as Andrew, except for the shoes.

The moment Aaron sees what Andrew is wearing he freezes, eyes narrowing.

The first to notice is Allison, obviously, who does a bad job of turning a laugh into a cough and then starts coughing for real. Matt and Dan are next, with Dan squinting at Nicky, who had bravely taken the seat next to Andrew and was smiling at his shoes. Matt’s mouth is agape, and he’s looking between the twins as if he’s never seen either of them in his life and they just appeared in a puff of smoke. The rest of the team takes notice as well, and before long they’re just silent, staring.

“Alright, we don’t have time to stand around ogling each other. We’ve got finals to win.” grumbled out Wymack, stepping into the area. Aaron’s face is splotchy pink as he moves stiffly to his spot on the couch, next to his twin.

Side by side, with their arms hidden by their long sleeves, they’re nearly identical, except for their posture and expression. While Aaron is tense and staring intensely at the ground, Andrew is bored and has his headphones in, head tipped to the side, staring into space.

Neil is pretty sure most of the seniors snag a photo or two of the pair before the meeting ends and they change out for practice. Aaron rounds on Nicky, Neil, and Andrew, “You planned this, didn’t you?” He said, glancing between the three of them before narrowing even more at Nicky, “I knew my clothes had been moved around. Katelyn helped you, didn’t she?” Neil left them to argue and went to the sinks where Andrew was rubbing at a stain on one of his jerseys. “Are you mad at me?” Andrew kept his gaze focused, “For putting me in a matching outfit with my brother? We were in the same womb. I’m sure there’s nothing worse than that.” He shut off the water from the sink, “You do owe me though.” Neil grinned and stepped into his space, dropping a light kiss onto Andrew’s hair. “Anything. Let’s go, before Kevin tries to physically haul us to the court.”

“As if he could.”

#aftg #all for the game #andrew minyard #aaron minyard #neil josten #nicky hemmick #twinyards #the foxhole court #drabbles #aftg.txt #my writing

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nekojitachan · 6 years

Note

111: “ You have… Superpowers? Andreil?

Warning’s for Neil’s childhood.

*******

Neil’s mother explained it as something that the Hatfords had always been able to do, which wasn’t much of an explanation, really. “We’ve always been special, Abram,” she told him one day in that awful house back in Baltimore. “Your uncle Stuart can tell the history of an object by touching it, your uncle Will can influence the dreams of people.” A smile possessed with the slighest of quivers spread across her lips as she reached out to tuck back a curl falling onto his forehead. “Soon enough we’ll see what you can do, if you can influence emotions like me or something, maybe read thoughts like your gram could.”

It turned out that he could read the thoughts and intentions of a person if he touched them (a bit of Uncle Stuart and Gram Marion), and even force them to tell the truth. Of course his father, Nathan Wesninski, knew about Mary’s gift, and so knew that Neil (Nathaniel) would have one too, and as soon as it manifested (when he was seven years old), put him to work in the ‘family’ business to help winnow out the plants and the traitors.

Mary grabbed Neil (Nathaniel), five million of Nathan Wesninski’s money and ran three years later.

His talent proved useful on the run, helped them to know who to trust and who not to, while Mary’s sowed confusion (and more) in their wake. By the time she’d died (too close a call with his father), he’d honed it well enough that, along with the rest of the stolen money and the skills she’d taught him over the years, he managed to set up the identity of ‘Neil Josten’ and form some sort of life.

It wasn’t much, but it allowed him a small apartment instead of some cheap motel (or homeless shelter or abandoned warehouse or even living in the back of a car), regular meals with fresh fruit, and even a cat he’d taken in from the streets. He’d started out in Millport, Arizona before he’d decided that a larger city might be best and moved to Reno instead; he couldn’t quite make himself return to California (where Mary had died and he’d buried her) but figured he’d remain out west a little longer before he tried Europe or Canada again.

Maybe he’d go to Russia next. At least as long as things were quiet, he had time to learn a new language or two (his Spanish was perfect by then, and his Russian coming along), and working in a coffee shop allowed him to use his gift to ‘keep an eye on things’ as well as help out with the tips. If he was more secure about his identity, he could have tried working in the casinos… but as it was, he supplemented his income now and then by playing the tables once he had a ‘feel’ for certain dealers.

No, it was enough that he could rest for a while after spending half his life on the run, could know the most pressing issue in his day was dealing with the morning rush and if he had enough cat litter for Shadow.

Oh, that and dealing with his coworkers trying to set him up with customers; Neil had never dated anyone, had never felt any desire to do so, especially with his circumstances. There’d been some interest on his part in kissing girls when he’d been younger, in figuring out why people wanted to do it… but between his mother’s reaction to what he’d done and him sensing the girls’ thoughts upon touching them - he hadn’t felt the impulse to do it again.

He certainly didn’t feel like doing it with any of the people who came into the store and smiled at him, who tried to talk to him and let their fingers linger when they handed him their money or cards, or when he handed them their drinks. A good many of them just wanted a body to use (he might not understand why, but he knew that much, especially when he could pick it up in their thoughts), and the rest had some unrealistic fantasy about him in their heads.

A couple had some very disturbing fantasies in their head.

“Come on, how can someone like you not really want to date another person?” Mel asked for what had to be the fiftieth time. “It’s such a shame.”

Neil shrugged and went back to wiping down the counter. “I’m not interested, okay?”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, just like she always did at his response, and settled her headset better over her braided, bright red hair. “I’m just trying to help you out, you know? You’re too young to be sitting at home all alone.”

“That’s why I have a cat,” Neil insisted.

All Mel did was give a weary sigh while Jorge, busy restocking, chuckled; the two of them huddled together by the drive-thru window shortly after that, probably to talk about Neil. He didn’t mind because he knew they were worried about him and trying to look after him in their own weird way.

One customer who didn’t try to hit on him all the time (or touch him) was Andrew, who appeared to be studying at the local university. He came in almost every day, a quiet presence who unnerved most of the staff with his impassive face and intent gaze. Yet Neil didn’t have a problem with him, not upon recognizing the guarded stance of someone who knew what it was like to be a target, that darkness in someone’s eyes which spoke of a childhood filled with pain and terror.

He didn’t know about Andrew’s past, but he suspected it hadn’t been much better than his own, so he treated the man politely and competently, even though he inwardly sighed and sometimes winced over the sugary concoctions he had to ring up - such as that day’s request for six extra pumps of caramel flavoring.

“Something wrong?” Andrew asked, his deep voice as impassive as ever.

“They’re your kidneys,” Neil replied before he could stop himself.

Yet Andrew always tipped well, despite comments like that (and ‘should I just give you the entire container of flavoring?’ or ‘want me to hold the coffee?’), and Neil was never bothered by the way the man’s hazel eyes stared at him the entire time Andrew was in the shop when if it was anyone else he’d be anxious and finding an excuse to touch them then flee.

He didn’t touch Andrew because… because it was clear that Andrew didn’t want to be touched. Because Andrew always kept a careful space between him and everyone else and set his card down instead of handing it over and motioned for his drink to be set down, too.

He didn’t think anything of the way that Andrew always came when he was working, or when Andrew started asking questions, such as noticing when he had cat hair on his shirt or when Mel finally made him pull his shoulder-length hair back.

Or when Andrew would comment on having been up all night working on a paper, or finished a book he liked. For some reason, Neil enjoyed hearing those little things, in finding things out the normal way.

“What’s going on with you and the short dude?” Mel asked as they prepared the store for opening one morning. “He doesn’t talk to anyone but you.”

“None of you want to wait on him, so of course he doesn’t,” Neil pointed out.

“That’s not an answer.” Mel gazed at him for several seconds before she clicked her tongue. “Of course,” she said, which didn’t explain much, then turned away to get the drive-thru ready.

Neil didn’t know what she meant until a week or so later, when Andrew went to pick up his drink (another sugary monstrosity) and nearly dropped it. Neil tried to help him catch it and… and their fingers brushed together, which prompted an image to appear in his head, an image of him with his back to the wall, all of his clothes gone (all of his scars gone) with Andrew on his knees and-

“You… you want to blow me?” Neil blurted out in shock despite the line of customers waiting behind Andrew (despite there being more to it than just the image).

“Yes,” Andrew said, the words forced out of him by the other part of Neil’s power, his hazel eyes wide with rare surprise. “What- how did-”

Neil didn’t stay to answer; he shouted out to Mel and Rick and Lana that he was taking a break then fled.

Mel tried to scold him for leaving the line like that, but didn’t give him too much grief given how obviously upset he was, that and he worked the rest of the shift without a break to make up for it. He didn’t see Andrew for the rest of the day and assumed that he must have scared the man off for good.

What he did was jinx himself with that thought, because Andrew was waiting for him when he left the store in the afternoon, the scent of cigarettes clinging to him stronger than usual as if he’d been standing outside chainsmoking for the last hour or two.

“You,” Andrew called out as he stepped forward. “We’re talking, now.”

Neil sighed as he ran his fingers through his dyed black hair and wondered if he’d have to leave Reno already, would have to buy a new identity and redye his hair and get new contacts and… he realized how much he’d settled into being Neil Josten, how much it would hurt to leave it behind.

“What’s to say?”

Andrew fell in step beside him and herded him toward an alley between a closed comic book store and a small tax firm. “A good bit, considering what happened earlier.” They stood across from each other in the shadow-filled space for a few seconds, gazes locked on each other and quiet, until Andrew sighed. “How did… do you have super powers?” Then he grimaced, another rare show of emotion. “I mean… how did you do that?”

Neil chewed on his bottom lip as he debated lying (his default for everything), on saying that he’d just guessed, but then Andrew continued speaking.

“Because I know I didn’t say anything.” His deep voice contained a hint of roughness, the only indication of how what he said bothered him. “So the only thing I can think of is you had some way to read my mind when you touched me.”

“That’s crazy.” Neil gave a crooked smile and fiddled with the cuffs of his long-sleeved hoody when he said that.

“Perhaps,” Andrew admitted. “But… but I was used to no one believing me for years, for no one listening to me, and then all it took was this one case worker looking at me and she seemed to know everything.” He rubbed at the black band around his left forearm while he shook his head. “So, are you like her?”

Neil slumped against the brick wall behind him while his mother’s voice raged inside of his head, yelling at him to never tell anyone what he was, about their power. Yet he’d already broken her rules by staying in one place, by daring to cobble together some sort of life.

“Yes,” he admitted in a quiet voice, and saw the tension in Andrew’s shoulders leech away slowly but surely; he knew from the touch earlier that Andrew wanted him (which he still didn’t quite understand) and was someone he could trust.

“What is it? What can you do?”

“It’s… I need to touch someone, but then I know their thoughts, know if they’re a danger to me or not.” Neil held up his bare right hand and waggled his fingers. “I can also make them tell me the truth. It’s not some big flashy thing like super-strength or lasers, sorry.”

Still, Andrew appeared mildly impressed. “It’s powerful enough.” For a moment there was something distant on his face before it became impassive once again. “Can you control it?”

“Eh?” Neil thought about it. “Somewhat, but I’m used to using it all the time.” He had to hold back on why that was so, but suspected that Andrew had realized more than he’d meant to say.

“All right then, we need gloves for you.” Andrew nodded as he slowly reached out to grab onto Neil’s left sleeve. “Come on.”

“Eh, where are going?”

“Dinner.”

Neil blinked in confusion as he was led down the street, toward a parking lot, and felt the urge to use his talent to find out what was going on. But that wouldn’t be right, would it? So he sighed and allowed Andrew to pull him along like a dog on a leash, very confused yet… yet it was Andrew. Huh. He found himself smiling as he went along with the perplexing young man.

*******

In this AU, the caseworker (psychic, obviously), stepped in for Andrew before he went to the Spears and he found a safe home to adopt him. Still means he suffered a lot of terrible homes, but he found a good one at last - so no Spears, no juvie, but no reason for him to go to Columbia. Also, no Exy.

Ah, I hope that was okay, anon?

#nekojitachanfics #200 writing prompts #andreil #neil josten #andrew minyard #psychic neil #andrew is determined here #i sorta got to use the one line

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grxywxrn · 5 years

Text

Alive part 1

Neil Abram Josten was dead. He had never lived, but he was still dead and gone and absent and dead.

Dead, dead, dead.

It was a familiar word, playing like a broken record in Andrew’s head. A broken, dead record in a broken, dead mind.

Andrew imagined his mind like a smashed mirror, fragile and blood stained, unable to give a clear image to those who gazed upon it. This was all because Neil Josten had been fine.

Andrew hates many things, the words family and please, bitter tastes, people, but on that night a whole bunch of things were added to the list. The number zero made Andrew violent, thank you was torture to hear and Exy made him homicidal.

He still played it though, so Kevin wouldn’t die either. He didn’t care if Kevin died, he didn’t care if he himself died. Andrew didn’t care at all. The one thing that had made him feel disappeared like a tea light candle flickering out in the wind.

“Andrew?” Came a cheerful voice. Andrew looked up from his phone to see Nicky Hemmick, his all to happy cousin, smiling at him. “What are you doing in Germany? Especially unannounced?”

Andrew didn’t answer, he saw no reason to.

Nicky, after years of experience, let it slide. Six years ago, he may have pressed on, but Nicky eventually took the hint four years ago that Andrew was now a whole new type of broken.

Nicky played it off like Andrew had replied. “Well, it’s crazy to see you again. Erik and I were just grabbing stuff for dinner. His parents are looking after the girls for the day.”

Andrew has never met his nieces, Nicky and him had silently agreed that it would never happen. As soon as one of them started crying, Andrew would have done something that Nicky would regret.

“Hey, you should join us!” Nicky exclaimed. Andrew started walking away, trying to find his favourite ice cream in the frozen section of the supermarket. “Okay, sorry, bad idea, you’re right.” Nicky was still following him.

“How’s Aaron?” Nicky attempted to make conversation. “Is he getting used to the married life?”

In truth, Andrew didn’t know how his twin was, like everyone, Andrew didn’t care enough to care. Andrew grunted and that made Nicky ecstatic.

“And Kevin?” Nicky asked through the frosted glass door that was opened right in front of his face. Andrew got his ice cream and walked away again. “Fine, I’m guessing, with the recent win.”

Andrew skipped checkout 0 even though it was the shortest line up and headed to number 6 which was significantly longer.

“What about you, are you doing okay after Neil’s-“

Andrew whipped around, his fingers crushing the windpipe in Nicky’s throat.

“You have no right to say his name, Nicolas.” Andrew growled out Nicky’s full name because he knew it reminded him of his parents, or mainly his lack of them.

“Andrew, it would be nice of you to put down my husband.” Andrew cast his eyes lazily over the the man speaking German at him. Erik looked like he was playing it cool, but his fist was tight around the handles of his shopping basket.

Andrew basically threw his cousin at Erik, telling him to drag Nicky away with the most venomous glare ever. As Andrew paid, he heard Nicky saying things like, “It’s my fault, I over stepped my boundaries again.”

Andrew carried on with his plan for the day; get his cash changed from American to German because his was running low on cash, buy a new charger for his phone, went to the key smiths and went to get a haircut.

That’s where is all went wrong. A haircut was usually a bad experience, for both the barber and himself, but this was worse.

His hair was bright purple, messy and curly, his eyes were icy blue and his smile was so wide.

Neil Josten, age nineteen and Exy prodigy goes missing after game

After two years, Neil Josten is presumed Dead by authorities

Hunt for Neil Josten closed, body found in building foundation by demolition team in England

But Neil didn’t look dead at all, in fact, he look more alive than he ever had. There were no bags under his eyes and his complexion was tanned. He had a burn scar on one cheek and three lines down the other.

Andrew blinked, but Neil was still there. He held his eyes shut, rubbing them like Neil would disappear again.

Alive, alive, alive. So damn alive.

“Nathaniel!” Someone scolded of him and Neil turned away from the voice, holding in his laughter as his co-worker pulled funny faces.

Neil noticed Andrew, smiling at him. Neil came out from behind the front desk, ripped jeans paired with a red over-sized hoodie.

“Guten Tag!“ Neil greeted him in German. “Wie geht es dir?“

Andrew knew what Neil had asked him, he knew how to answer, but he just stared.

“Herr?” Neil reached for Andrew but let his hand hover. “Wie geht es dir, Herr?”

“Nicht so gut, Neil.” Andrew stood back, world tilting as he moved.

“Maybe you should sit down.” Neil guided Andrew towards a chair, in the mirror Andrew was ghost white, chalky skinned and eyes wide. “Can I get you something to drink...”

it was too late when Andrew realised he was waiting for a name.

“How are you alive?” Andrew asked in English and Neil looked taken aback.

“I don’t know- Sir are you high or drunk or-“ Neil was taking a few steps back.

“Neil, Neil Josten.” Andrew said, he didn’t know why. He hadn’t said that name in six years, Andrew had almost forgot what it sounded like on his own tongue.

“Alright, would you like me to help you find him?” Neil pulled at his hair.

No, he’s dead. You’re dead. Andrew wanted to grab this Neil by the shoulders, shake him until the nightmare subsided and he woke up in an empty and cold bed.

Andrew shook his head.

“Okay. Okay. Just breathe and I’ll be back in a moment.” Neil returned with a biscuit and a mug of coffee. Andrew didn’t touch the coffee because it looked to bitter but he ate the biscuit. “What is you name?”

Andrew choked.

“Andrew Minyard.” Neil smiled like he knew something Andrew didn’t. Maybe he did. “Can I get a trim and highlights.”

Neil let his face fall slack for a moment before nodding.

When Andrew got home, he could almost see the red marks on his skin from where Neil had touched him.

When Andrew went back to the shops the next week, Neil’s hair was black until his eyes and then snow white.

Andrew observed from a coffee booth, spying from over his mug. Neil was good at doing hair, and he liked to catch with his costumers.

Andrews phone hummed in his hand. Renee was the only person who called him.

It was a simple ‘are you treating yourself good?’ Like every question was around this time of year.

‘Come home soon, Andrew. I don’t want you to be alone.” Renee said, stopping mid-sentence with the sound of sizzling bacon in the background.

“Why?”

“You know why.” Renee didn’t beat around the bush with this. “Andrew, Neil’s-“ Andrew flinched “-anniversary makes you dangerous, not only to yourself but to others.”

“Shut up.”

“I want you to be happy.” Renee pleaded.

“Well I can’t be!” Then he hung up the phone.

The booth lowered beneath Andrew as someone took a seat next to him.

“Is everything okay?” Neil sipped his coffee gently like it would be too hot.

“Give me your phone.” Neil gave it over. Andrew tuned on Sir and said into it, “Neil Josten disappearance.”

Hundreds of articles came up at that search, Andrew found one without a photo of Neil.

“You follow Exy?” Andrew asked.

“Ugh,” Neil growled, “I hate that sport! It’s so stupid.” Andrew couldn’t help but scoff. Neil Josten saying Exy was stupid was just to ironic.

“Well, I play for New York with Kevin Day. Used to play for PSU in collage, for the Foxes.”

“I’ve heard of them, a friend follows it like a religion.” He seemed to loath Exy more than Andrew. “He’s obsessed with Day, and that dwarf bodyguard of his.” Andrew gripped the knife beside his coffee on the table. “Oh, wait. That’s you isn’t it?”

Andrew grunted, Neil laughter brightly. Neil snagged his phone back and read the article that Andrew had found.

“Hey, he went missing seven years ago today! Did you used to play with him?”

“In more ways than one, yeah.” Neil snorted, then laughed loudly. Andrew’s chest aches like hot coals replaced his lungs.

Alive, alive, alive.

“I hated him. Oh, I hated him so much.” Andrew hated that just voice shook on the word hate. He knew that word had a different meaning when it was directed at Neil. Andrew’s fist shook, he wanted to punch something. “I never knew why he was killed, Kevin wouldn’t tell me. But sometimes it feels like he’s still alive.”

It was weird. Andrew was talking to someone, and not just anyone about anything. He was talking to Neil about his own death that he couldn’t seem to remember.

Dead, dead, dead.

Alive, alive, alive.

“Well is that why you’re here? Was he buried here?”

“No, parts of his dismembered body were found in building foundations over in England. He wasn’t buried. I don’t actually know what happened to him.” Neil flinched, smile gone.

“If you want to talk-“

“I have already said to much.” Andrew started to leave but a hand gently wrapped around his wrist.

“Come around to the shop around three, it’s when I get off for the day. We can grab a coffee or something.” Neil smiled and let Andrew go. Andrew’s skin was on fire. “Oh, and my names Nathaniel Wesninski.”

Andrew’s hotel was big. He earned a lot of money playing Exy so he spent it all on stupid things. This hotel had a ball pit. It was three stories and the pinball machine room was where he spent most of his time. Alone.

Andrew walked down the hall on the top floor, passing Kevin in the gym. Andrew wasn’t going leave Kevin in America by himself so he dragged him to Germany with him. They hadn’t talked the whole week they had been in the the country and Andrew liked it that way.

He had a beer in one hand and ice cream in the other. When Kevin saw his unhealthy idea of lunch, he rolled his eyes.

“You can’t actually eat that for lunch.” Kevin commented.

“I can and I will, now shut up.” Andrew was about to walk into the games room.

“I invited Nicky over.” Kevin told him. “He told me about what you did. You’re lucky no press saw you.”

“Don’t care.” Andrew really didn’t. “I’m going out later anyways, so it will just be you two.”

“Where are you going?” Kevin got off the treadmill, bringing his shirt up to whipe the sweat off his face. “Not to do anything dumb or illegal?”

“I don’t know. I’ll figure it out in the car.” Andrew replied. He wasn’t going to tell Kevin about Neil being alive. If Kevin knew he’d tell Neil everything and try to get him back into Exy.

“Andrew,” Kevin sighed, “look, I know you don’t care or feel anything about anything, but don’t do anything to ruin your life. Neil wouldn’t want-“

“Neil is dead, Kevin!” Andrew threw his beer bottle at Kevin’s head, missing by a millimetre. But Neil wasn’t dead. “He’s been dead for years and he can’t want anything!”

“Andrew, it’s okay to feel pain.” Kevin told him. He stepped forward, hands raised like he was approaching a deadly animal. “We all lost N-him that day, but you deserve to feel sad or grief because you lost someone you love!”

Andrew slammed the door shut behind him. He threw his bowl of ice cream then smashed the glass on one of the pinball tables. Then it was time to leave.

When he got to the barbershop, Neil was putting foils into a mans hair. He was smiling and saying something about loving the shade of red the man choose to dye his hair.

Andrew pushes past a girl asking if he wanted to make an appointment and walked to the back of the shop where Neil was. His hair was now green at the ends and not white.

“Andrew!” Neil exclaimed when he noticed the tiny blond approaching him. “Have a seat, I’ll get you a drink. Extra sugar.”

Andrew sit next to the man who watched him in awe.

“Can I help you?” Andrew arched an eyebrow.

“Oh, it’s just,” the man beamed up at Andrew, “you’re Andrew Minyard!”

Neil had returned with a grin, placing the sugary milk down in front of Andrew.

“No, I am his twin.” Andrew said. The man just laughed, clearly not aware that there was two Minyards. “Aaron.”

“I knew an Aaron.” Neil began, eyebrows furrowing. “Have no idea where from or how, though. Funny thing is, I’m pretty sure he had a twin brother.” Neil laughed. Andrew wanted to bottle that sound.

“Small world.” Andrew muttered. His phone rang so he fished it out of his back pocket. “What do you want, Day?” He grunted into the phone and the man squealed. Andrew realised that this was the freind Neil had been talking about earlier.

Kevin slurred something into the speaker and Nicky screamed in the background somewhere. They were drunk as frat boys at three o’clock in the afternoon.

“You know, Drew,” Kevin slurred, “the way you spoke to me earlier was...was mean!” Andrew didn’t care. “I was just trying to help. Neil was...was my...friend tooooooo!”

Nicky started crying in the background, saying something like, “sweet Neil!”

“Kevin. You are drunk. Leave me alone and drink water and try not to fall off the balcony.” Then Andrew hung up the phone, heart aching. Why did it feel like Neil was everywhere, every time Andrew turned around he saw him. Some days he wished he had never met Neil at all.

Neil brought him back to reality when he leant over the back of the chair Andrew was sitting in to whisper, “I put some scotch in the coffee.” Then he went back to putting foils in his friends originally blond hair. Andrew drunk the coffee in one breathe and Neil giggled.

“I’m not supposed to give that to costumers but your tecically not buying anything.” Neil shrugged. It didn’t taste to good, it was just sweet milk and scotch but it was greatly appreciated.

In the time Andrew was sat in the shop he had four more of those drinks, learnt that the friend was called Nico and sighed a piece of paper for Nico to get tattooed.

Nico payed, spent ten minutes talking to Neil about Laura’s birthday present with a smirk and the kissed Neil goodbye.

Andrew almost took the scissors off the bench to stab Nico with.

Neil laughed, though, rubbing his cheek with a fake disgusted face.

“Sorry about him,” Neil turned to Andrew. “Nico’s a bit...special is the word I’d use. We are just friends though, he’s got a girl, Laura.” He pronounced Laura as Low-ra when he talked. “Still insists on kissing me goodbye every time though, say just because I’m ace doesn’t mean I don’t deserve some love.”

Neil shook his head, hair floating like a merman’s underwater. He was smiling quietly as they both fell into step beside each other, walking to seemingly no where.

“You’re ace?” Andrew asked after a moment of silently contemplating it. When Neil had first come to the Foxes he had said the same thing, I don’t swing, and all that. Kevin later said he was probably demi and hadn’t had a chance to figure out what he wanted.

“Yeah, is there a problem, Andrew?” Neil didn’t ask out of irritation, but genuine concern.

“No, the guy I used to date was demi.” Andrew made a point about say ‘guy’. Neil nodded. They didn’t look at each other, but they walked until they reached a coffee shop. Tooth Café.

They were about to sit down when Andrew spotted a camera pointed his way. Damn the press.

“Put your head down and walk to the nearest exit.” Andrew murmured. Neil didn’t ask why, he did what he was asked. Andrew put a hand on Neil’s back, fingers gripping the printed button up that Neil wore as he guided him away from the press.

The press chased after them, just behind them now and asking questions. Andrew suddenly pulled Neil around a corner. He grabbed the back of Neil’s neck to face him.

“Black car, number plate 157 RRT, floor two, seconction G. Run.” And Neil was off, running with the speed of the striker Andrew had once known.

The press had caught him, sticking a mic in his face.

“Andrew, Andrew. Who was that man?”

“You don’t need to know.” Andrew walked the opposite way to where Neil had ran.

“A lover?”

“Does Day know you’re here?”

“Who was the man?”

“Andrew, any comment on the rumours regarding your sexuality?”

“Since you played for the Foxes, how do you feel about Neil Josten’s death?”

“Who’s death?” Andrew retorted. The reporter gasped.

“Your old teammate-“ said someone at the same time somebody said “your late lover!”

“How would Neil feel knowing that you are moving on?” A reporter said next to his left ear. Andrew lashed out, punching the man in the throat.

The press launched back, some ran away. On lookers gapped as Andrew walked away.

Andrew found Neil sitting on the hood of his black Mercedes, scrolling through his phone.

They got in before anyone could see them together.

“Someone posted a video.” Neil whispered.

“Kevin’s gonna scold me.” Andrew pulled out of the car park and on to the open road.

“The reporter deserved that though, for what he said.” Neil was testing the waters of this conversation, now that he knew how angry Andrew could get. “He had no right.”

Andrew was silent.

“I watched one of your games, well two actually.” Neil started a new conversation. “Neil’s last game and yours, Andrew.”

Neil’s last game.

Thank you, you were amazing

He had ran around that stadium so many times, he didn’t find anything except the bag.

Andrew swiveled the car back onto the road when he started to go into the next lane. Someone cussed at him from a different car.

“Andrew, the way you shut down the goal is incredible. Maybe you could teach me a bit before you left?” With that, Andrew changed direction towards his hotel. When he arrived, he told Neil to stay while he ran upstairs.

Upstairs in one of the living rooms, Kevin was passed out drunk while Nicky was certainly on the way. Andrew grabbed two sets of gear that Kevin had made him bring with them and stuffed it in a bag. He raced down to the car with a pint of ice cream and two spoons.

“Every time I do anything remotely Exy-ish, i eat a whole one of these. Kevin hates it.”

Andrew had to wait for Neil to figure out how to put on the gear, because it wasn’t like Andrew was going to help Neil dress.

Neil looked like Neil in his armour. A green haired Neil.

“Alright, just try and take a shot in on me.” Andrew said. When Neil took the shot, the ball fell a few feet in front of Andrew.

Andrew got the ball in his racket and threw it down the court to where Neil would have been waiting for him seven years ago.

This present day Neil gapped in shock.

“Woah!” He exclaimed. “You are amazing!”

“You’re not allowed to say that.” Andrew glared Neil down.

They tried again and this time Andrew caught it. Then they tried again and Andrew reached for it. The next time Andrew was too distracted by the muscles moving in Neil’s thighs to block his shot.

“OMG!” Neil cheered. “I won!” He struggled to take off his helmet. “I got a goal in on Andrew Minyard because he was checking me out!”

“Was not.” Andrew argued but it was ignored by Neil screaming into a phone.

“Nico!” He started telling him all about what just happened. When Nico didn’t believe him, Neil switched the FaceTime camera to Andrew. “Told you!”

Andrew let them talk and eventually Neil calmed down. Andrew just watched him talk into the camera from goal.

He missed Neil.

He hated Neil.

Andrew launched a ball down caught, it seemed to pass Neil on flames. That ball carried only a small part of his anger. So he threw another and another. Neil ducked away, ending the call.

Andrew threw the whole bag of balls across court, still seething. When he was done, Andrew was shaking. Neil looked up at him from the floor to which he dove to when balls seemed to be aiming themselves at his head.

“Andrew-“

“Shut up!” He slammed his racket into the wall, snapping it in half. “God, just shut up! Stop looking at me and shut up!”

“Andrew- look at me-“ Andrew couldn’t. He couldn’t look at Neil without breaking. He had gone seven years without breaking, it couldn’t be now. “Shout at me. Tell me everything you want to tell him.”

Andrew grabbed him by the hair.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything? You knew they were coming for you, why didn’t you let me protect you?” Andrew screamed at Neil who look just about ready to cry. “You knew they were coming for you and you still played, you still made me feel something about you! You knew it wasn’t nothing so why did you let me fall knowing you were going die?”

“Andrew,” Neil gasped.

“What!”

“I don’t think I am ace after all.”

Pink. Baby pink.

Renee was going to be so happy.

Andrew wasn’t sure how Neil had managed to get Andrew’s hair that shade of pink, but the media loved it. The first time they had seen it was when Andrew was leaving the New York airport with Kevin Day at his side.

@TheJeanKnoxMor

@AJminyard not bad, Jeremy did call you a baby though

@offcialJeremyKnoxM

@AJminyard @TheJeanKnoxMor did not! Please don’t kill me, Andrew!

That was the most liked response. Some fans speculated why he would have dyed his hair such an unAndrew colour.

One fan said something along the lines of mental breakdown and Andrew wasn’t sure that was wrong.

Renee had liked it, she had called him cute. Aaron said it made him look gay, Andrew had kissed Kevin in reply. Thea had laughed at that.

Nicky kept texting him, even after there was no reply.

One morning Andrew woke alone, like every morning or sometimes afternoons.

The first notefication was; @NathanielWes04 is following you

Neil had sent him a dm over Instagram.

Heyyyy, Andrew! I looked up what time it is over in NY and I am sorry if this wakes you up!

Andrew almost smiled. Almost. Andrew called him, too tied to type a text. Neil picked up after the fourth ring.

“Drew,” he mumbled gently. Andrew had woke him, but he didn’t care. Because Neil wasn’t around, Andrew allowed himself to feel something.

“Hello.” Andrew said back. It was all silence.

“Why don’t you ever say my name, Andrew?” Neil slurred sleepy at Andrew.

Because it hurts.

“Your name is stupid.” Neil laughed at that.

“I share it with my dad.” Neil smile was evident in his voice. “Or at least I think I do. I don’t remember.”

“Don’t remember?” Andrew prodded.

“I was found in a dich somewhere between Cornwall and London, I think that where it was. Anyways, around five years ago a jogger found me minutes from death. I don’t remember anything from my birth to a week after I was found.”

Minutes from death? They had tried to kill him, but stupid Neil Josten survived. Of course he did.

“What colour is your hair?” Andrew asked when his chest felt too tight.

“Ash.”

They were silently listening to each other breathe and Andrew was reminded how alive Neil was.

Andrew imagined Neil lying in his bed in Berlin, on the left side of the mattress like he always used to. He saw his messy ash hair splaid out on the pillow and eyes hooded with sleep.

“Come to America.” Andrew shocked himself when he said. “New York, I’ll pay airfares.” Neil didn’t say anything, softly breathing instead. Actually, he was asleep again. “I hate you, Neil Josten.”

“I know.” He mumbled in his sleep. Andrew hung up and threw his phone at the wall. It shatter but Andrew didn’t care.

This meant some part of Neil knew who he was, right?

Andrew thought about kissing Neil again, it made his muscles ache so he blocked out the thought and got ready for breakfast with Renee.

“Andrew, that is amazing! Oh, my goodness, when does he come back to the US?” Renee was taking the news perfectly, at least in her mind.

“Never.” Andrew Said when he finished his bite of pancake. “Neil doesn’t know who he is and I intend on keeping it that way.”

“Why?”

“Because, it’s not Neil.” Andrew complained. “He’s a hairdresser with a new colour every week, let’s his friends kiss him goodbye and wears cropped shirts and short-shorts to the gym.”

Renee laughed softly like she always does.

Andrew wasn’t complaining about the later. Following Neil on Instagram was torture when he was trying to forget his lust. Andrew let his mind see a photo of Neil squatting with one leg stuck out, then pushed it away when Renee’s mouth started moving again.

“Andrew, this could be your chance for a happy life, take what you deserve.” Renee sipped her tea. Her hair was in need of a touch up at the roots. “Besides, he’s going the find out eventually.”

“Whatever.” Andrew finished his pancakes and coffee in silence. Renne didnt say anything for the rest of breakfast and Andrew almost thanked her.

Kevin was texting him, asking where he was because he was late for practice. They had come back to America a few weeks ago and Kevin basically slept at the court. In the month they had been in Berlin they hadn’t practiced together and that made Kevin even more enthusiastic.

Renee said goodbye to him out the front of the coffee shop and they went their separate ways.

Andrew headed to the court, hating every second of it. When he got there, Jean and Jeremy with talking with Kevin in the middle of the court.

“You didn’t say the newlyweds were going to be here.” Andrew said over the loud speaker. Kevin jumped a bit, but found Andrew scowling at him from the commentators box. “And Kevin, Jeremy is married now so back off.”

Andrew caught Jeremy snicker but Jean didn’t look to pleased. Kevin flipped Andrew off with an embarrassed look towards the couple.

Andrew loved to make fun of Kevin celebrity crush on Jeremy.

Andrew came down to the court, the only one not dressed in armour and he intended to keep it that way.

“We are going to be training with Jean and Jeremy.” Kevin told Andrew. “They were in town for the weekend so-“

“You thought, ‘let’s practice instead of hanging out like normal people!’” Andrew quirked a brow up at Kevin. He didn’t reply so Andrew started to leave.

“Andrew, wait.” Jeremy called after him. “We need someone to guard the goal.”

“Cool, call Sean.” Andrew replied. Sean was the other goalie on the team. He wasn’t as good as Andrew and couldn’t shut down the goal as good as Andrew, but he was alright.

“Andrew, it would be greatly appreciate if you would help us.” Jean asked. “I mean what else were you going to do?”

“Get drunk.” Andrew replied.

“It’s nine in the morning!” Kevin exclaimed.

“You’re right.” Andrew said. “I’ll hit someone up to drink with, never drink alone.”

Part two

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renegon-paragade · 6 years

Text

Based on this prompt from @exyprompts

This got way longer than I meant it to be, and I probably did way more research than neccessary. Google probably thinks that I own a pregnant cat now.

In this au Neil is in witness protection after all the shit went down with his father

Also, Andrew and Neil are neighbors

They haven't officially met yet

Andrew absolutely does not wake up early to watch the cute boy on his jog. Nope. Not at all. He just happens to be sitting on the balcony at the same time

And since their balconies are next to each other, and they both tend to smoke late at night when they wake up from nightmares, they sometimes smoke silently together

Sir is Andrew's cat and King is Neil's.

And Andrew is perfectly fine dealing silently with his crush annoyance with his neighbor

Except there's a slight issue

You see, Neil has never owned a cat before. He found King while on a run and decided to take her in. While he did a bunch of research on toys to get her and what to feed her, he didn't know about getting her spayed

Andrew hasn't had the chance to neuter Sir. Nicky convinced him to get the damn thing when a coworker's cat had kittens because he thought Andrew was lonely. Andrew agreed just to get him to shut up. He knows he needs to get Sir neutered, but the vet closest to him doesn't care about the animals at all (He's the type who puts down healthy animals because of divorce and tries to sell owners a bunch of medicines they don't actually need) so he's waiting until he has the time to go to the one a few towns over that Renee swears by. It shouldn't really be an problem. He has an appointment booked and everything.

Well, it wouldn't be a problem so long as he didn't knock up another cat

Both Neil and Andrew allow their cats out on their balconies as they please. It's fine, they don't roam much except to visit each other (Andrew assumes King is a male cat and thus doesn't think twice about Sir not being neutered)

Eventually, Neil starts to notice that King keeps throwing up, and her stomach is getting bigger

Neil panics and rushes her to the vet (the one a few towns over, thankfully, because he's heard bad things about the local one from Dan and Matt) where he finds out that King is fine

Except, you know, she's pregnant

Neil, overbearing cat dad that he is, starts making a queening box and buying specialty food, supplies for the kittens, books about how to care for kittens, etc

What I'm getting at here is that he's carrying a lot of things that announce to the world that his cat is both a girl and pregnant

And, of course, because Neil's life is the cosmic equivilant to shattering 20,000 mirrors, his bag rips and drops all of it right as he's walking into the lobby of his appartment

Directly in front of Andrew

And Andrew is not normally the kind of person to help out of the kindness of his heart, but the completely overwhelmed look on cute runner boy's face as all of his purchased goods fall to the floor makes him reconsider that

And if it just so happens that this works as the perfect opportunity to introduce himself and maybe flirt, well, no one needs to know

So Andrew helps Neil pick up the stuff and bring it to his appartment, while Neil rambles on about King and the pregnancy and how out of his depth he is

And Andrew thinks that this is the perfect way to get closer to his crush that Neil is such a mess of a human being that he has to help him out, for the poor animal's sake

(And, in the back of his mind, Andrew knows that Sir is probably the father. Andrew decides to keep this thought to himself for now)

So Andrew starts visiting a bit, taking care of King while Neil is out and helping Neil get everything ready. He makes sure that Neil has his number and keeps his phone charged so that if he isn't home when King goes into labor Neil can call him and maybe so Andrew could text the idiot

So of course at 7 am on a fucking Saturday, Andrew wakes to Neil pounding on his door and rushes over

Of course, cat labor doesn't actually require human input

Andrew knows this

He's not really there for King

He's there to stop Neil from being a hoverparent and stressing King out

He does this by sitting Neil down in the same room as King so they can keep an eye on her while they watch an Exy game, much to Andrew's disgust

It was the only thing that distracted Neil from worrying, so whatever, Andrew will watch stupid stickball

After a couple of hours, King is finally done with labor, having given birth to 3 adorable kittens

Two match King's black and cream tortoiseshell markings

But the last one is ginger and fluffy

Just like Sir

Andrew snorts. "Guess we know who the father is"

Andrew doesn't do guilt or regret. They're pointless

That doesn't mean that he doesn't acknowledge that if he had gotten Sir neutered earlier, Neil wouldn't be forced to take on the emotional and financial burden of kittens

And he knows it doesn't make sense, but maybe he feels something bad when he realizes that if he hadn't been there for the birth, his cat would be a deadbeat dad who abandoned his kids

Just like Andrew's father

So Andrew decides to help out where he can

He buys nursing mother food and drops the bag on Neil's balcony with a paper taped to it saying "child support"

Neil's laugh when he sees it absolutely does not make him blush

Andrew and Neil take turns watching over the cats to make sure they are okay

King, like the spoiled brat she is, adores the attention

Meanwhile Sir is getting antsy

His friend (girlfriend?) just disappeared out of the blue? Why won't she come out to play?

He sits on the balcony watching Neil's apartment, waiting for King to show up

Neil is the one who suggests a visit, to let Sir meet his kittens and to see how he reacts to them

He almost takes it back when he learns that sometimes male cats will attack kittens - he knows too well what it's like to fear your father - but ultimately, he decides to give Sir one chance, so long as he's supervised

So when the kittens are about 12 days old, Andrew brings Sir over to visit (with more "child support")

Both Andrew and Neil are ready to grab him if anything goes wrong

But Sir doesn't attack the kittens at all

At first he just watches King as she washes the nursing kittens, keeping his distance and observing

After a minute or so, he moves closer, coming up and sniffing at King, who watches him but doesn't move to react

Slowly, he begins to wash her head, purring softly

King steadily relaxes, accepting that Sir won't hurt their kittens, which makes Neil and Andrew relax as well

They spend the rest of the day together while the cats do their thing. Andrew makes Neil dinner because he has quickly learned that Neil can't cook more than basic meals

Andrew also forces Neil to watch something on tv other than exy games

"Seriously Josten, what the fuck is with you and stickball"

They end up binge watching "My Cat From Hell" until 3am, when they finally decide to call it a day

This quickly becomes routine for them. Andrew and Sir come over for dinner and to catch Neil up on pop culture

Neil thinks "Mythbusters" is interesting, but finds "Finding Bigfoot" stupid. He loves "Planet Earth," since he gets to learn things that he missed in school. His favorite is still "My Cat From Hell," though Andrew doesn't know why he expected otherwise from a man who channels the same energy as a 85-year-old crazy cat lady

(He eventually stops complaining that they're missing the game)

(Eventually)

Time passes quickly and soon the kittens are three months old and ready to find a new home

Neil wants to keep them, but acknowledges that he doesn't have the room or the money for 4 maybe 5 cats

Dan and Matt say they can take in one, Aaron and Kaitlyn ask for another, but Andrew and Neil are still looking for a home for the third

They don't want to give any of the kittens to someone they don't trust to take care of them, but neither of them are exactly social butterflies and none of their remaining friends or family can take in the last kitten

Andrew mentions it during one of his weekly meetings with Bee. She promises to look around and get back to him if she finds a suitable home

A few days later, she texts him and says that if the kitten is still available, she would love to adopt it.

Thirteen weeks after King gave birth, the kittens all go to loving homes

Dan and Matt adopt the oldest, Princess Lazyfluff, aka Princess, who takes after her mother's royal grace and her father's depleated energy levels

Aaron and Kaitlin get second-born Marquis Sweetums McCatterson, aka Mark ("No Nicky I am not calling her that ridiculous name"), a quirky kitten who only sits still when she wants to be pet

Bee gets the youngest, Dutchess Flooftail of Caterbury, aka Dutchess, who's curious but quiet nature makes her the perfect companion for Bee

(Eventually, Bee gets Dutchess trained as an emotional support animal to help patients who are in need)

Andrew and Neil are sad to see them go, but calmed in knowing that they will still see the kittens often and that their new families will take care of them properly

(And also in knowing that all of them, including King and Sir, are now spayed or neutered, since they are responsible cat dads and don't want any more suprises)

Neil is kind of worried that things will go back to how they used to be, with Andrew not talking to him, not coming over to visit every night. He does not like how that prospect makes him feel

But that night, like clockwork, Andrew shows up with Sir

"King is probably going to miss the kittens and I don't want her yowling to keep me up all night"

Of course, Andrew keeps coming after that night too

The only time Neil asks him why, Andrew claimed that he was doing his civic duty in making sure Neil eats real food and catching him up with the rest of the world

This goes on for another month, during which they also start to cautiously trade truths, revealing the parts of themselves they hid from everyone else.

Neil goes to visit Dan, Matt, and Princess. At some point Matt references Harry Potter and Neil snorts. The others are shocked that Neil actually understood what they were talking about, so Neil explains about his evenings hanging out with Andrew and Sir

Dan and Matt, confused, ask if they are dating. Neil is quick to say they aren't, they're just friends, but the idea is planted in his head

That night, as he and Andrew are eating dinner, Andrew notices how distracted he is and asks what's wrong

"Are we dating?"

Neil didn't really mean to blurt it out, and kind of regrets it when Andrew tenses up

"Do you want us to be?" Andrew asks cautiously

And Neil thinks about the quiet companionship. He thinks of Andrew's presence calming him after nightmares and during King's labor. He thinks about the worry in his gut when he thought Andrew was going to go back to ignoring him. He thinks about how his kitchen is arranged how Andrew likes it, how his couch is covered in Andrew's blankets and pillows, how King and Sir are never seen apart anymore, how seamlessly their broken edges fit together. How Andrew learned his truths without flinching

Neil nods, uncertain of how to proceed

Andrew leans in, eyes moving to pointedly look at Neil's mouth then back to his eyes

"Yes or no?"

"Yes," Neil answers, the first of many, many more

#andreil #aftg #all for the game #andrew minyard #neil josten #aftg fic #aftg fanfic #paragade interrupts #i cant remember my writing tag so #also i literally hit the limit on the amount of bullet points you can use #this is a psa to spray or neuter your cat #if the read more doesnt work im so sorry but im on mobile and cant check #long post

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jsteneil · 6 years

Text

white sleeves

read on ao3

It was Nicky who forced them all in the car on an apparently random Saturday, with empty threats, a good deal of supplication, and endless streaks of “Neil. Neil. Neil. Neil.” which got on everyone nerves, even his own.

Neil managed to outlast Nicky the fifth time he did it by turning on the shower, choosing to wash his hair for the second time in as many days just so the water would flow over his ears.

“What the fuck are you doing?” was the first thing he heard when he stepped out of the stall, almost relaxed. The voices were right outside the bathroom door but Neil pretended he was alone in the world as he dried and dressed as slowly as possible.

“Neil—I’m ensuring you have a good Christmas, Aaron Joseph Minyard, and if you had one sentimental bone in your body you’d be right there with me—Neil—”

“I’m going to Katelyn’s for Christmas,” Aaron answered. “That’s really not your doing.”

“Aw, you are sentimental!”

“Fuck off.”

Neil bit on his tongue and tugged on his armbands under his shirt just as Nicky called, “Wait, help me convince him, please!”

“Alright,” he said, opening the door right in Nicky’s face. “What do you want?”

“I’ve literally talked about nothing else in the past two days,” Nicky said. “there’s a Christmas market in town.”

“You’re going back to Germany in two days.”

“So?”

“So, the Christmas markets are way better over there than in the middle of South Carolina, everyone knows that,” Aaron said from the nearby kitchen, voicing Neil’s thoughts.

“Oh, come on,” Nicky said. “If I don’t force you to do your Christmas shopping now no one of you will have presents for the Secret Santa when we get back. Don’t roll your eyes, you know I’m right.” Nicky gestured to the living room, where they could hear the sounds of an old exy rerun. “Even Kevin drew a name, and he’ll spend his break with Abby and Coach, when will he have time to shop?”

“You do know that Amazon exists, don’t you,” Aaron said.

For once, Neil was glad for Aaron and his dislike of any activities that forced him to spend too much time sober and out of the court with the rest of the Foxes. He didn’t even have to prepare counter-arguments for Nicky’s ridiculous propositions.

“Oh, come on,” Nicky said, with a frustrated gesture. “I want to go, I think it could be fun, and I don’t wanna spend the first day of my vacation holed up in the house. Why can’t we decide to consider it instead of fighting my ideas all the time?”

Aaron didn’t say anything. Kevin’s head disappeared back into the living room. Neil looked at Nicky and weighted pros and cons, then threw logic out of the window.

“I’ve never been to a Christmas market when I was in Germany,” he said.

Nicky beamed.

Once Neil was on board, the others were too: Aaron because he didn’t want to stay alone with Andrew, and Kevin because he claimed he had nothing else to do. Neil glanced at the TV when he passed into the den: it was an old rerun of UPenn being slaughtered by the Ravens. He wondered how Kevin had held twenty-three minutes before bursting, then he grudgingly upped Dobson one step on his mental esteem scale. Kevin had still been struggling with Riko’s death and the fall of the Ravens at the beginning of the semester: but the therapist Dobson had recommended and Kevin forced himself to see seemed to be doing her job.

Neil went upstairs to let Andrew know they were going while the others looked around for their coats and money. He knocked on the bedroom’s closed door but knew he would come bearing old news: noise from downstairs floated clearly into Andrew’s room, even with a closed door.

“We’re going,” Neil said anyway, stepping up to the bed where Andrew laid, eyes on his phone. “I don’t suppose I can ask you to accompany us?”

Andrew leveled him with a flat look but scooted up the bed when Neil sat down, giving him some room.

“What are you doing?” Neil asked, forgetting for a moment that the others were waiting downstairs. He never saw Andrew on his phone: he was almost the only person Andrew ever messaged, and his calls were always brief and to the point.

“Playing,” Andrew said, and held up the phone. There was a sound almost immediately and the screen flashed with the usual message: “Game over! Click to try again.”

Andrew pressed a button, then sat up on his elbow and inclined the phone so Neil could see the screen. A little line started moving across the screen, turning left or right with Andrew’s command. He recognized the game as a mind-numbing pastime he’d played for a short time as a child, before his mother beat the message into him that phones were for emergencies only. He watched as Andrew narrowly avoided colliding the two extremities of the snake that had progressively grown longer. The other Foxes would have a fit if they saw it: they moaned about Neil’s old dinosaur phone enough.

Andrew held out the phone to Neil when he lost, almost a full minute later. Neil clicked as per the instructions on the screen, but he lasted almost no time at all. He blinked at the screen, watching his snake eat its own tail with surprising disappointment.

“Do you think it’s on my phone too?” he asked, because he’d been working on processing through his most mundane thoughts and desires.

“Yes,” Andrew said. He took back the phone but didn’t load another game, placing it closed on the bed next to him.

Neil realized Andrew was still half-sitting up, looking up at Neil with that slow, intense look he got sometimes. Because he wanted to, Neil leaned down and stopped a hair-width away from Andrew’s mouth, waiting for him to close the distance. Andrew’s lips were slightly chapped but soft against Neil’s mouth. He leaned away when he heard Aaron trudging up the stairs and pass their door on the way to his room.

“You should drink more water,” he said, looking at the empty chocolate mug on the bedside table.

“You should leave before Nicky bursts in and I have to kill him,” Andrew said, settling back against his pillow. He snagged Neil’s and used it to prop his own with a pointed look.

“He wouldn’t dare,” Neil said. “I’ll bring you back something to eat.”

“Donuts.”

Neil hummed. “Glazing?”

“Powdered sugar.”

Nicky didn’t comment on Neil’s lateness as he stepped outside well after the others and took his time adjusting the driver’s seat, but he was back to chatting a mile a minute as soon as they drove out of their neighborhood. He directed Neil with imprecise indications and once forced Neil to brake so hard he almost hit his nose on Kevin’s headrest.

“You might want to park in a side street,” Nicky said as they approached the square the market was held in.

There was bumper-to-bumper traffic and barriers to create a car-free space in the streets around it, with traffic agents in reflective vests. The sight of them made Neil scowl from habit and he slipped into a side street as soon as he could, snatching up a parking spot from a family van.

“Meet back here at six?” Neil suggested as they stepped under the white wooden arch covered in fake-snow that marked the entrance.

Nicky rolled his eyes. “Neil, we all have phones here. Can yours even call?”

“It’s the only thing it can do,” Aaron said. He’d gotten the latest phone from a classmate a few weeks earlier and been insufferable about it since then. Neil had only grown more possessive of his old sturdy phone. He’d chucked it across the room or swiped it down from Andrew’s top bunk enough time to be glad the screen was small and hidden, unlike his classmates’.

“Ooh, here’s a German bakery stand,” Nicky said. “C’mon, we’ll find something for the Millers. Go shop you two!”

He left half-dragging Aaron behind him and shooing away Kevin and Neil towards the other stalls. Neil looked around. There was a decent crowd milling around, but considerably less children than he’d seen at the mall these past weeks, and the open air and small wooden kiosks gave it a more welcoming air.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” he said; Kevin threw him an almost pitying look and left towards the first stand.

Neil followed. Since he was there, he had better do what Nicky suggested and buy presents for Christmas. The problem was, Neil had never celebrated Christmas or any occasion that could have provided him with useful gift-giving skills, and he had no idea where to start.

Since the team had grown, the Foxes had opted for Secret Santa this year, and gathered money for presents for Wymack and Abby. That reduced the number of gifts Neil actually had to put thought into, but the downside of it was that he had no idea what to get Dan.

He strolled the alleys leisurely, looking at the objects displayed with curiosity spurred by boredom. He discarded the slipper stall without approaching it, stayed behind to look at the wood-carving one, and spotted the diverse food-related booths to be sure to stop by before they left.

At some point he grew cold and bought a too-sweet hot chocolate from a talkative man who tried to sell him half of his stack of chocolate. Neil refused first, then took a sip of his chocolate, almost gagging on it. He took out a twenty and left with a bulging bag of chocolate in all its state: bars, candies, irregular little rocks with nuts in them, and a can of powder for cocoa mixes.

Presents were easy, in the end, Neil thought as he continued strolling.

He saw Aaron stopped at a jewelry stand, looking at rings, and he slipped away before he could be seen, only to bump into Nicky at the honey stall.

“Neil, you’ve bought something!” he said. He already had three bags looped around his arm. “Can I see? Unless it’s for me.”

He was peering in before Neil could say no and let out a small laugh.

“Oh, Neil, you big sap,” Nicky said. He ruffled his hair and disappeared back into the crowd.

“Alright,” Neil muttered under his breath. He checked the time only to see he had a little under an hour before going back. He didn’t have a present for Dan and he was growing tired of the crowd, even though it had thinned since night had fallen. He sat down on a bench to finish his chocolate, leaving the dregs of powder at the bottom, and chucked the paper cup into the nearest bin.

Neil saw the exy racquets stuck above the kiosk’s slanted roof first, then Kevin’s coat. Neil blinked once: it wasn’t the kind of booth he’d expected to see at a Christmas market, but he guessed it made sense, since Columbia had its own collegiate and pro teams. Still, seeing Kevin engrossed with the woman at the till was just too familiar a sight that Neil wondered for a brief moment if Kevin’s presence had conjured the stall into existence. He huffed and joined Kevin at the glove shelf.

“Unless you drew my name, that’s not where you’ll find a Christmas gift.”

Kevin didn’t even jump, although he was absorbed in a big tag sewn onto one of the gloves. Neil didn’t fault him for seeking familiarity: he’d had almost as few occasions for holidays celebrations as Neil in his life.

“I got Allison,” he said.

“Then you really need to find another booth.”

“I’ve already got a present for her,” Kevin snapped. “Did you think I was there all this time?”

“Yes.”

Kevin didn’t roll his eyes, but it looked like a near-thing.

“I’m looking for Thea.”

Neil glanced around at the gear spread in display. It wasn’t particularly impressive, but there was quality brands and original designs, which Neil supposed could appeal to some people.

“It’s not very romantic,” he said after a while, because he thought that it was something Allison and her relationship advice would say. Or maybe not. He wasn’t very good at this.

“What did you get Andrew?”

“His weight in chocolate,” Neil answered, holding up the bag though he knew Kevin would disapprove. Sure enough, the frown on Kevin’s forehead deepened. “He likes chocolate.”

“Thea likes exy.”

There was no arguing with that kind of logic, so Neil admired a pile of exy-shaped stress balls in leather, noting the irregularities and the little tag that said they were handmade. He’d turned on keyrings when Kevin finally brought a pair of gloves to the till, taking in the astronomical price without blinking.

The gloves weren’t functional, not fitting any of the ERC’s regulations on color and design, but Neil thought maybe that wasn’t the point. Kevin was very gentle when he slid the wrapped present into a bag, smoothing down the awkward bulk of it.

“Find me a donut stand,” Neil told Kevin as they slipped back into the market’s crowd.

Kevin sighed but did as he was told, using his height to point Neil into the right direction, and didn’t say anything as they watched the donut deep fry before them.

“So who did you draw?” Kevin asked. It was only a quarter to six, so they loitered close to the entrance.

“Dan,” Neil said. “And no, I’m not buying her something exy-related.”

“I was going to say Foxes, not exy,” Kevin protested.

“She’s always taking pictures,” Neil thought out loud. “Maybe a camera?”

He looked around, hoping to conjure an electronics stand the same way he’d thought Kevin had done with the exy stall, but the market mostly sold hand-crafted pieces.

“That’s above budget,” Kevin said. “But I can tell you where to look.”

Neil was surprised for the second it took him to remember Kevin’s old room at Evermore, the postcards and the labelled pictures on the shelves above his bed. He hadn’t seen a camera there, but it could have been hidden, or destroyed. Why hadn’t Kevin still gotten a new one? He’d replaced most of the history books he’d left. But PSU wasn’t an ideal photographic destination; Kevin had mostly taken photos of his travels with Riko and his different teams, historical landmarks. Neil remembered Greek ruins and the bitter thought that their experience of Greece must have been a very different one.

“You should get a new camera,” he said.

Kevin glanced at him. His surprise was obvious, but misplaced.

“After,” he said. It sounded repeated, like a mantra or a promise.

He was scanning the crowd for Nicky or Aaron when he saw a woman with her daughter, stopped a few paces away from Kevin and Neil so the mother could check her phone. Neil waited until she looked up, then approached her.

“Excuse me,” he said, watching her watch him. He repressed the urge to turn away and hide from the stares; his burns looked old by now, but the scars were still unsettling for most people. Then, because he knew what he looked like and understood a mother’s protectiveness, he added: “Did you buy those slippers here?”

The woman was taken aback, but she pointed him towards the slippers stall he had dismissed earlier and left as soon as Neil turned away.

“You managed the gear orders with Coach last year,” Neil said to Kevin as soon as he was within earshot. “What shoe size is Dan?”

“Seven.” Then, satisfied, “and I told you to go for foxes.”

Neil batted a hand at him and hurried to the stall. It was blessedly empty, and Neil wasted no time in spotting the pair of padded fox-shaped slippers he’d seen in the little girl’s bags. Dan had been complaining about their cold dorms since November: apparently heat was more or less broken in the girls’ dorm. He bought the pair in the right size, checked that it was in good condition, and jogged back the entrance arch, where he could see Aaron’s blonde hair and Nicky’s yellow scarf glow under the streetlights.

“There you are!” Nicky said as he joined them. He had three more bags in his hand. Neil was pretty sure Erik’s family wasn’t that big and wondered if he would have to go back and get Nicky a gift, too. “And you’ve got new bags, too! Honestly, I thought you’d be the first one to be done with this.”

“I was,” Neil said, but Nicky was already chattering away, opening his bags to show him what he’d bought Erik’s family.

Neil was impressed despite himself: he’d seen each stall three times, but he hadn’t realized how many random little objects they held until Nicky was fishing them out of his bag one by one. Where Neil had seen mugs and keyrings, Nicky found unique pieces and explained in great detail why it would make the perfect gift. Neil began to rethink his previous belief that the warm coat Nicky had given him last year had been a coincidence with the fact he hadn’t had anything warmer than a hoodie in his wardrobe.

Aaron had to physically lead Nicky out of the way of a pole at one point, but they made their way to the car without major incident and all of Nicky’s purchases safely inside his overflowing bags. They stashed their bags in the trunk of the car and quickly got in, relishing the gradually warmer air blowing from the vents. Perhaps Nicky had gotten Neil gloves this year: he hadn’t thought of buying any and he’d gotten used to South Carolina’s mellow winters.

Neil took out his phone when he felt it vibrate in his pocket, unsurprised when he saw it was from Andrew. There were only two words, but Neil smiled when he read them: I’m hungry.

Back in ten, he sent back, and checked to make sure Kevin was holding the donut bag so it didn’t open and roll around the car; he’d promised Andrew, after all.

#aftg #all for the game #tfc #the foxhole court #neil josten #kevin day #andreil #honestly idk what this is #just take it away from me #my writing

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wematch · 6 years

Text

Only You

In their second year a deal is made. Andrew wants to explore his boundaries and there’s really just one person he trusts around himself.

Set in a universe where everything is the same except that Andrew never kissed Neil on the rooftop that night. Instead, they just got closer and more comfortable around each other.

Read from the start if you haven’t yet! [Part 1]

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a huge thank you to @velvetnoodle for being an amazing beta <3<3

Part 6

Neil follows Andrew to their usual spot at the end of the bus and sits down in front of him. Kevin had tried to go over what everyone had done wrong during the game as soon as the engine started running but Wymack had told him to shut up. So now, the bus was quiet as everyone settled down to rest during the journey back.

Neil has his forehead resting against the window to watch the blurry landscape as they travel but he finds himself keep coming back to stare at Andrew instead. He keeps thinking about the game they just lost against the Trojans — they’re a fierce team and the Foxes gave it their best against them but tonight it just wasn’t enough. Maybe they’ll play again against them at the finals; if there’s a team Neil would like most to face in the finals, it’s the Trojans.

Halfway into the journey back, Andrew slowly opens his eyes to look at Neil. “Staring,” he comments.

Neil averts his eyes again and takes a deep breath. He can feel the exhaustion setting in after the game but he’s too uncomfortable to try to properly rest the way he is. A few minutes later, Andrew nudges him with his feet so Neil looks curiously at him. To anyone else, Andrew would seem to be only staring back but Neil sees the unspoken question in Andrew’s face about what’s going on in his head.

“I was thinking about the Trojans,” Neil tells him, “and that I want to meet them in the finals this year.” Andrew rolls his eyes at that and Neil can almost hear him in his head calling him a junkie. But then after a moment, Neil continues almost in a whisper, “Jean seemed well with the team.”

Andrew visibly tenses at the mention of Jean and doesn’t say anything about it. “Try to rest,” he tells him instead.

“I can’t; not like this,” Neil explains, understanding that talking about Jean brings back too many memories from last year. He didn’t manage to talk to Jean after the game but in reality, he wouldn’t even know what to say to him after everything they’ve been through. Neil’s just glad that he found a good team to stay with after the Ravens.

Neil looks at Andrew and studies him for a moment. He has a foot resting between Neil and the window, and the other lazily stretched on the floor, looking as comfortable as he can be on the bus. After a moment, Neil decides to stand and sit next to Andrew to stretch his legs on the bench he was previously sitting on.

He tries to find a comfortable position to be in but doesn’t quite manage. He feels annoyed at himself; two years ago he would’ve fallen asleep anywhere he wanted, but now after getting used to sleeping in a decent bed every day that doesn’t happen anymore. He keeps moving around to get a into better position until Andrew speaks again.

“Stop moving,” Andrew tells him with his eyes closed. “Either that or move away.”

Their legs are touching so Neil tries to stay still to let Andrew rest but after a few minutes, he can no longer manage to do it. He shifts slightly again to find a better position to relax.

“Neil,” Andrew says it like a warning and opens his eyes to stare at Neil.

Nei looks sideways at Andrew, and notices the comfortable hoodie that he has on and begins to wonder if Andrew would allow him to lean against him. “Andrew, yes or no?” Neil asks tentatively motioning with his hand towards Andrew’s shoulder.

Andrew turns to stare outside through the window for so long that Neil thinks he’s not going to get an answer. “It’s a yes, as long as you stay still,” Andrew quietly replies.

For a moment Neil doesn’t move, too surprised that Andrew had just agreed to it. He blinks three times before he slowly moves to rest his head on Andrew’s shoulder to try to close his eyes for a few minutes. However, it doesn’t take long for his neck to start to ache from being bent in a weird angle.

Andrew, sensing his discomfort, sighs and shifts to put his arm that was resting on his lap around Neil, pulling him closer to his chest in the process. The hoodie feels soft against Neil’s face and there’s a faint smell of smoke on it from the cigarette Andrew had before they climbed onto the bus. The warmth from Andrew’s body reaches him making his body relax. Neil closes his eyes and grins, feeling safe where he is.

“One hundred and twenty-eight,” Andrew says as he squeezes his side in a warning. Neil tries and fails to stop the grin on his face. “Going on one hundred and twenty-nine.”

***

An hour later, Wymack parks the bus in their parking lot and rushes everyone to get out. Neil quietly exits the bus followed by Andrew, and they make a beeline for the Maserati to make the short drive back to the Fox Tower.

As soon as they park the car in the dorms and exit the vehicle, Kevin storms away into the building without waiting for them and Neil watches Aaron stop in front of Andrew with Nicky trailing behind him. He notices how Nicky is looking at his feet so Neil decides to start walking inside to give them some space to talk as a family. However, he almost curses when he finds himself walking behind Mike and Renee. He doesn’t want to be included in their conversation, so he slows down his pace to create some distance between them.

He’s about to enter the building when he hears Nicky call his name so he looks to the side and sees Nicky jogging to catch up with him.

“Hey,” Nicky says once he stops in front of Neil, “Andrew is asking for you.”

Neil nods slightly confused and wonders what they said to Andrew that made him call Neil back instead of meeting back in their dorm room. He walks back to the end of the parking lot where Andrew always parks and passes Aaron on the way. They glance at each other but neither one says a word. When Neil reaches the Maserati, Andrew is already inside with the engine on.

Andrew spares him a glance when Neil pauses near his open window. “Get in the car," he tells him.

“What about the others?” Neil asks, feeling even more confused after he steps into the car. Neil thought they were all going to Columbia like every other weekend, except Kevin, who had already told them before the game that he wanted to stay with Wymack in order to spend some time with his father. When his question is ignored he insists, “What about Aaron and Nicky?”

“Aaron wants to stay," Andrew explains, “so Nicky is going to stay too. The upperclassmen already invited him to go out.”

Neil stays quiet until they enter the highway as he tries to process this. It was going to be just the two of them going to Columbia this weekend. He didn't mind the idea; between practices, and classes, and sharing the dorm with Kevin they could never spend a lot of time together. The few moments they had alone were mostly on the rooftop.

“Are we going to Eden’s?” Neil asks once they reach their highway exit.

“No, let’s just stay in the house tonight,” Andrew answers him. Neil hums in acknowledgment and glances at Andrew; he feels exhausted and the idea of just going back to the house and not to the packed club sounds pretty good.

Once they're at the house, Neil is about to go to the bathroom after Andrew to get ready for the night when he remembers that he never went upstairs to get his travel bag. “Andrew?”

Andrew sees him hesitating near the bathroom door and comes to stop near his side and glance into the bathroom. When he doesn't see anything wrong he simply stares at Neil, waiting for him to continue.

“Is just that I didn’t go upstairs to get my bag and— ”

“There are some spare toothbrushes in the cabinet,” Andrew tells him and starts to walk towards his bedroom.

Neil nods; he can always go to the mall tomorrow and get a fresh pair of clothes for the weekend. Nicky would be happy to see him in new clothes as he keeps complaining about his old ones, but Neil grimaces at the waste of money that would be. He has a few new clothes already that Allison made him buy; there’s no point in buying more. It’s not like he’s just going to throw away all his old ones; those are still good to go to the gym.

When he steps outside the bathroom, Andrew points to his left at the top of the couch where a small pile of clothes is sitting and doesn’t bother explaining it.

Neil grabs the clothes and glances at Andrew. “Thanks,” he tells him, Andrew doesn’t acknowledge it other than glancing in his direction and returning to look at the TV screen, so Neil returns to the bathroom to put on the clothes. Both the sweatpants and the sweater are black. The sweater feels comfortable and loose on him since Andrew has broader shoulders and the clothes look very similar to the ones Andrew has dressed just now. Once Neil’s done changing he sits on the couch right next to Andrew.

They begin to watch an old movie but Neil is not really focusing on it. He feels exhausted from the day so not even halfway through the movie he makes himself more comfortable on the couch to try to rest by sliding down on the cushions.

Andrew turns his head to the side to study Neil. After a few moments, his hand comes to rest on Neil’s neck, guiding Neil’s head to his lap. Neil gets the idea and follows along, stretching his legs on the couch. Then he feels Andrew’s hand resting on his hair, and one of his fingers starts to make slow patterns on Neil’s scalp, making his eyes feel heavy.

Neil closes his eyes feeling content where he is. He starts to wonder what it would like to sleep next to Andrew. He's expecting Andrew to get up to go to his bedroom at any moment but when it doesn't happen Neil eventually turns his head to look up and finds Andrew with his eyes barely open.

“Are you going to sleep here?” Neil asks quietly. They’ve slept near each other before but not this close, not when they were close enough to be touching.

“No,” Andrew says. “It's not a good idea, you know how I can wake up.”

“I know, and it doesn't matter.”

“Don't be stupid,” Andrew tells him.

“I'm not. All I'm saying is that I don't care.” When Andrew doesn't say anything else Neil continues, “If you lash out you'll stop as soon as you understand what's happening.”

Neil gives Andrew some time to think about it and when the hand in his head starts moving again, he presses on insistently,“ Yes or no?”

Andrew lets out a frustrated breath. “Yes, but not here. I'm not going to sleep on this damn couch,” Andrew finally tells him and removes his hand. “Now, move.”

Neil sits up on the couch and watches Andrew get up and start to walk in the direction of his bedroom. Neil blinks twice, wondering if he had heard right, that Andrew had just agreed to this. “Come on,” Andrew says to Neil once he opens the door and notices that Neil hasn’t moved from his spot on the couch.

When Neil enters the bedroom, Andrew is already on the bed with his back to the wall. “Are you going to just keep staring?” Andrew asks him when Neil doesn’t move from the door.

“No,” Neil answers, closing the door before walking to the bed. He climbs in and leaves as much space as he can between them. ”Tell me if you need me to leave, okay?”

“Yeah, or I can just push you off the bed,” Andrew points out. Neil rolls his eyes and watches curiously as Andrew moves closer to him, holding himself up with his arm. “Yes or no?” Andrew asks him, staring at his lips.

Neil licks his own lips subconsciously. “Yes,” he answers right away; he’s been waiting the whole damn day for this. They kiss until Neil feels his mouth sore and he’s too sleepy to move at all. And eventually, they fall asleep.

[Part 7]

#andreil #aftg #tfc #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil fic #aftg fic #myandreilfic #part 7 coming soon #only two more parts whoa

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thehistoridian · 3 years

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The Seminole Wars: America's Largest Conflict with Indigenous Peoples

In the 245 years the United States has been a country, 225 of those years have been spent at war, roughly 92% of its history. Many of these conflicts are lost to time. For example, The Korean war is unknown to the point it is often called the “Forgotten War”. If you clicked on the post and read the title, you can probably see where I am going with this. The Seminole Wars were fought in and around Florida, and cost the lives of thousands of people. But this is never taught in detail to students. Especially students in Florida, who live in the very places named after participants in the conflict. Students should learn more about this hidden conflict because it is a story of injustice, defiance, and the erasure of history.

Background

A brief history of the Seminoles is necessary. To start, the Seminole people are a combination of tribes and distinct language groups of Indigenous peoples. Their ancestors inhabit various reservations in modern-day Oklahoma and Florida and Their origin can be traced back to Alabama and Georgia. Like the Pilgrims that came to America, The Seminoles were also Immigrants. According to the Orange county library system, Florida history page 1 “Seminole history begins with bands of Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama who migrated to Florida in the 1700s. Conflicts with Europeans and other tribes caused them to seek new lands to live in peace. Groups of Lower Creeks moved to Florida to get away from the dominance of Upper Creeks. Some Creeks were searching for rich, new fields to plant corn, beans, and other crops. For a while, Spain even encouraged these migrations to help provide a buffer between Florida and the British colonies. The 1770s is when Florida Indians collectively became known as Seminole, a name meaning ‘wild people’ or ‘runaway."

The Seminoles saw the fledgling United States as a threat to their way of life, and despised them for urging them out of the norther states. During the war of 1812, the Seminoles fought alongside the British and enacted raids and attacks on Georgian towns and farms. When the war ended, and the English did not end up winning, the Seminoles were now all alone and had made enemies with America. The Seminoles were in the way of total U.S domination in North America, they accepted run away slaves from southern plantations, and were hostile to any encroachment further south. Resentment for the Seminoles would continue growing and would eventually boil over into an armed conflict.

Conflict

The first Seminole war -- of course it was not called that at the time -- began when the future president Andrew Jackson led an army into Florida to raze the Seminoles into the ground. 2“The American forces opposing the Seminoles were placed under the command of General Andrew Jackson. He organized about 3,000 men, more than half of which were creek Indians led by the half-breed chieftain, Macintosh. Jackson attacked the Seminoles, burning most of their towns, seizing thousands of bushels of corn, taking great numbers of horses and hogs, driving off several thousand head of cattle, and killing or capturing all who stood in his path. After subduing the Seminoles, he also attacked Spanish settlements in the State,” writes Neil Wilfred The Seminoles did not just turn over, instead, they mounted a guerilla war and ambushed and attacked vulnerable groups of soldiers wherever they could.

During the conflict, Florida was officially sold to the United States from Spain, as they saw no use in the territory anymore. Fighting did not end until the treaty of Payne’s landing in 1832 which would move the Seminoles into new land in Oklahoma. This land was barren and was in no way familiar to the Seminoles. It was so unfavorable that many Seminoles decided to stay in Florida and risk fighting the federal army.

The Second Seminole war began on the terms of the Seminoles. In 1835 a column of American soldiers intending to enforce Payne’s treaty was ambushed and all but one American soldier was killed. This attack showed the skill and dedication the Seminoles had and was a clear indicator of the violence to come in the war. The Seminoles were outnumbered ten to one with nearly 30,000 federal troops sweeping through the Peninsula. Although outnumbered, the Seminoles’ hit and run tactics, and knowledge of the land, gave them an edge through out the campaign.

As the war ramped up and the body count rose, desperate measures were taken. One of the fiercest and well-known leaders of the Seminoles, Osceola, was sent an invitation to peace talks. Once he showed up at the location, he was captured, imprisoned, and was kept there until his death. Osceola became a Martyr and his name still lives on in the Seminoles of today. This is backstabbing is just one of many examples that the Federal Government used against native populations. Federal Generals believed his death would finally break the Seminoles resolve, but it only strengthened it, and the fighting continued.

“You have guns and so have we. You have powder and lead, and so have we. You have men and so have we. Your men will fight and so will ours, till the last drop of the Seminole’s blood has moistened the dust of his hunting ground.”

—Osceola, February 2, 1834, statement to Brigadier General Duncan L. Clinch

It would only die down in 1842, but by this time the Seminole population had been mainly removed to Oklahoma or had simply been killed. White “Cracker” the settlers pushed deeper into Florida and came into conflict more often with the Seminole settlements. This led to a third war, but this time most of the fight in the Seminoles had been drained and it was only in spirit of the last conflict. The final fighting officially ended in 1858.

Aftermath

The Wars combined ended up being the costliest, in terms of deaths and money, in all of the conflicts against indigenous peoples in American history. In the end, the Government won, and drove out successfully and or limited the remaining population in Florida to the point of irrelevancy.

It is not to be understated how hard the Seminoles fought, they fought longer than any other tribe or peoples in America, and successfully lived on after the wars (Although in small numbers). It is a real testament to the Seminoles as a whole. Which is why it is such a shame it is not taught enough to students. The Curriculum that is taught in American schools is broad, and mainly focuses on Tribes that are not even native to Florida. I can attest to this, as I attended public schools for my entire schooling career. Only recently have classes begun teaching about Native History at all. For the longest time in America, people believed that it was manifest destiny and if the Indigenous peoples wanted their land they would have fought harder to keep it.

In Florida alone there are dozens of locations named after or by Seminole Peoples: Withlacooche River, Osceola County, Seminole County, Aripeka, Bithlo, Chattahooche, and Homosassas. This naming of towns and counties feels empty when there is no attempt to educate people about the origins in the first place. It falls empty. However, some organizations do it right, for example the FSU “Seminoles” chose their name because it was an honor to have the Seminoles represent them. The FSU public affairs site states 3“Florida State does not have a mascot. Instead, we have the honor of calling ourselves “Seminoles” in admiration of the only Native American tribe never to be conquered by the U.S Government. FSU students, alumni, faculty and staff know what an honor it is to be selected student to portray ‘Osceola,’ a great Seminole warrior, who rides the Appaloosa horse ‘Renegade’ during football games. To be chosen, the student must maintain excellent grades and be of good character. The clothing he wears depicting Osceola is sewn by the women of the Seminole Tribe. Tribal members also travel to Tallahassee each year to crown the Homecoming chief and princess with authentic Seminole regalia.”

The reason this works and something like simply naming a town after Seminoles does not, is because FSU is respecting the Seminoles and learning about their history in the process. The Washington Redskins fails because “Redskin” was a slur used against Indigenous Americans for hundreds of years. If FSU had chosen the name, but chose not to educate students about the Seminoles, or made their mascot a caricature of Osceola it would simply have been racist. There is a right and wrong way to learn about indigenous culture, so to make it more mainstream, students should learn by repeat exposure in classrooms.

The Seminoles have become some of the most successful Indigenous Americans in modern history. They were the first to buy a major global corporation; Hard Rock international. They funded college educations for All Seminoles born today, and provide financial aid to those in their communities. There is also the fact that they withstood the full might of the Federal Government, and lived to tell the tale. These facts alone should be reason enough to learn about them in Schools. When students learn about the American dream, and how hard work pays off, there should be a picture of the Seminoles right there for all to see. If for nothing else, we should learn about the Seminoles to keep their rich and inspiring History alive.

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palmettofoxden · 7 years

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It’s time for a continuation of the post where Andrew keeps giving reporters different conflicting answers to their questions about why he and his ex-teammate turned rival Neil wear matching armbands.

So, get ready for Neil’s responses to reporters reading Andrew’s latest responses plus Andrew and Neil getting asked about them together after their teams play each other.

Andrew gives a different answer every interview and interviewers hope that Neil will give them a more helpful answer but instead, Neil just enthusiastically agrees with and adds details to Andrew’s story of the week.

A reporter quotes Andrew’s “Kevin’s marking his new exclusive court team with the armbands. So far we’re the only ones picked.”

Neil responds “That’s true. We’ve all been planning on playing court together since my first year with the Foxes.”

A reporter quotes “It only took a few months of knowing him to know he was going to be my mortal enemy, so I marked him with the armbands so everyone would know.”

Neil responds “He already knew I was his enemy before the armbands, but they marked the point when I became his absolute worst enemy. I have been ever since.”

A reporter quotes “Neil Josten is a copycat piece of shit with no sense of personal style.”

Neil responds “Anyone who was on the Fox team my first year can confirm this. They kept aggressively insisting that they needed to take me clothes shopping and then they’d never let me pick clothes out at the store. They kept giving me outfits to wear when they had to be seen in public with me and now I don’t know how to dress myself anymore, so I just copy Andrew.”

A reporter quotes “We’ve been together since university. We secretly live together. We own cats. It’s disgusting.”

Neil responds “We rescued them. Their full names are Sir Fat Cat McCatterson and King Fluffkins, but we usually just call them Sir and King. Andrew still hates the names, but Nicky was pretty insistent on that being Sir’s name.”

A reporter quotes “The armbands are how Wymack marked the worst troublemakers on his team. Neil was so awful no one managed to rank after him.”

Neil responds “I can’t believe Wymack didn’t just retire mid-season from how much trouble I caused that first year. I think I aged Kevin five years from things I said in interviews alone. No one seemed worthy of ranking for armbands in comparison afterwards.”

A reporter quotes “Neil lost a bet and has to wear those armbands for ten years.”

Neil responds “I didn’t think he’d actually hold me to the ten years, but Andrew takes his word very seriously. I haven’t seen my own forearms in years.”

A reporter quotes “They’re to hide our matching sleeve tattoos from a drunken night his freshman year.”

Neil responds “We don’t want matching sleeve tattoos, but we both like how ours look so we’ve been waiting years to see who will budge and get theirs removed first. I’m not budging any time soon.”

A reporter quotes “I forgot about his birthday and had an extra pair lying around so I used them as a shitty present. He’s been wearing them for years. Pathetic.”

Neil responds “Weeks after my birthday he shoved them into my chest and stormed off. He didn’t even wrap them.”

A reporter quotes “What armbands? I have never seen him wear armbands.”

Neil responds “He wears armbands. I wear long-sleeved shirts under the rest of my clothing. It’s totally different. I don’t know why people keep saying we’re wearing matching armbands.”

A report quotes “Wymack marked his best players with them. What a shame his own son didn’t earn any. Kevin cried the day Neil got his.”

Neil responds “Kevin trained and he trained and he pushed himself past his limits and no one ever gave him any armbands. I’m pretty sure he’s still jealous of mine. Maybe, he’s still trying to earn some.”

A reporter quotes “Which one’s Neil again? Is he that really tall dealer? No? Then who am I thinking of?”

Neil responds “No, I think he’s right. Isn’t there a dealer named Neil on one of the other teams? No? What’s his name then? I know the one he means. He’s really tall. Taller than Matt. Are you sure his name isn’t Neil? It’s something that starts with an N.”

A reporter quotes “Nicky gave us the same gifts every year because apparently ‘we are impossible to shop for’.”

Neil responds “Nicky spent hours shopping and still had no idea what to get either of us the first Christmas I knew him, so he got us matching jackets. He’s been using it as an excuse to get us matching presents every year since.”

A reporter quotes “Wymack marked the players that smoke with armbands ‘as black as our lungs are going to turn’ to try to shame us into quitting.”

Neil responds “Clearly, his strategy didn’t work. Did you know these are actually great for carrying cigarettes in?”

A reporter quotes “They used to be friendship bracelets, but now they mark my burning hatred for him.”

Neil responds “He invited me into his group my freshmen year and then realized how much he hates me. He’s been telling me for years all about his hatred for me. He hates every inch of me every second of every day. Sometimes he wakes me up in the middle of the night just to tell me how much he hates me.”

A reporter quotes “Neil Josten changes his appearance so suddenly and extremely, we had to mark him so we would recognize him when he showed up to practice. I guess he got used to wearing them.”

Neil responds “My appearance drastically changed every few weeks that first year. Kevin hated how distracted the team got. After a while, he got an extra pair of armbands from Andrew and made me wear them so everyone could tell who I was when I came to practice so I would be less distracting. I’d been wearing them for years already by the time I graduated, so I got used to them.”

A reporter quotes “Neil’s so pale if his arms see direct sunlight, he gets third degree burns. No one knows why. It’s just his arms. Doctors are stumped.”

Neil responds “Doctors have never seen anything like it. I have to be super careful. If I expose my forearms to direct sunlight, I could end up with burns so bad I have to sit out games.”

A reporter quotes “He stole them from me years ago and wears them at all times to taunt me. And so that I can’t steal them back.”

Neil responds “He broke into my dorm room and went through all my stuff, so I broke into his and took his armbands. He’s been pissed about it for years.”

A reporter quotes “He hides knives in them. He’s a real danger to himself and everyone around him. I can’t believe no one’s stopped him yet.”

Neil responds “It truly is astounding that anyone can get away with carrying knives onto the court, no matter how hidden they are. Although, with the gear overtop the knives are more dangerous against my skin than they are for anyone else. Can you believe I’m stupid enough to play with knives strapped to my skin?”

There is still no clear answer and the fans are still questioning if Andrew and Neil are friends or hate each other when their teams play each other. After the game, they both take press duty and an interviewer takes the chance to ask them both about the armbands. They continue to answer in the same fashion and the reporter can’t get a word in as they just go back and forth listing off more origins for Neil’s armbands.

Neil answers first with "I have cold arms."

Andrew corrects "He's had bad rashes on both arms for years. It’s disgusting."

Neil says "I just wear them because I like them."

Andrew says "It's so we can tell him apart from his secret twin."

Neil says "One time I tried on a shirt that was too small and I couldn't get it back off, so I had to be cut out of it. The sleeves are still stuck."

Andrew says "He's a stubborn piece of shit, so we've had a bet going for years on who will take theirs off first."

Neil says "Allison bet twenty bucks I wouldn't wear them and it was about time she lost a bet. I wear them as a reminder that it is possible to win against her."

Andrew says "Neil has the memory of a goldfish. He writes everything he needs to remember on his wrists and covers the lists with armbands."

Neil says "Andrew superglued them to my arms and, at this point, I'm too embarrassed to try to figure out how to get them off."

Andrew says “They’re compression sleeves. Our wrists are fucked. Neil fucked his up from the way he landed after he tripped over his own shoelace and fell down the stairs.”

Neil says "I decided when I grow up, I want to be just like Andrew. I’ve been wearing them since and trying to become just like him."

Andrew says "He only wears them because he knows I hate it and hate him."

Neil says "Andrew begged me to wear them. He's trying to start a new trend."

Andrew says "I'm sponsored by the company that makes them. Every time I trick Neil into wearing them, I make extra money."

Neil says "He got them buy one, get one free, gave me a pair as a gift, and then made me pay half the regular price."

Andrew says "He has a skin condition where his wrists are rotting. It's why he smells so bad."

Neil gets distracted and argues “Fuck off. I do not smell.”

Andrew says “You reek. I'm getting sick standing next to you.”

Neil insists “That's because we just played a game. You stink too.”

Andrew shrugs and then looks into the camera as he says “At least I don't always smell like this. Neil Josten doesn't know how to use deodorant. Sitting in a car with him is torture.”

Neil says “Shut up. I use deodorant. I do not stink.”

Andrew says “Liar. You smell worse than King right now.”

There is still no clear fan and media consensus on whether Andrew and Neil actually live together and own cats or if that was just them lying even more. Fans are still arguing over which answers about the armbands might be true or if they are all lies.

#All For the Game #The Foxhole Court #Andrew Minyard #Neil Josten #Andreil #Personal #I love my idiot sons #Queue #Neil's armbands

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