#exi-burrow

[snejkha]

A gnoll custom for  @exi-burrow // Thank you so much//

[mostlymaudlin]

twenty questions

andreil, rated t, 500 words / series: flashes of intimacy

The bus takes forever to warm up, and it’s been too long since Neil has felt the bite of a real winter. Luckily, Andrew is a furnace. 

“Are you going to fall asleep like this?” Andrew asks. It’s a fair question. The ride home is long. The back of the bus is quiet; everyone knows better than to bother them after a game. Neil’s head is pillowed in the crook of Andrew’s neck, his cold hands tucked into the pocket of Andrew’s sweatshirt. Andrew has an arm wrapped around Neil’s shoulder, his other hand resting warmly on the thigh Neil has draped over Andrew’s. Despite this, he’s not necessarily tired. Physically, maybe. But they won. Neil’s too doped up on serotonin to sleep.

“No,” Neil says. “Are you?”

Andrew hums noncommittally. Undecided, then. 

“We could play a game,” Neil suggests. 

“We just finished playing one.”

“No, a car game. Like from my book.” Neil received a coffee-table book of games from Nicky for Christmas, because he apparently lacks crucial childhood experiences. He tries to recall one of the games. “I Spy?”

“I spy something big, orange, and ugly hurtling down a dark highway.” 

“Okay, that one might not be good for the road,” Neil admits. “There was one about license plates. You try to see how many states you can spot.”

“Pennsylvania,” Andrew says, already looking out the window. “Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania. Earlier, I saw Pennsylvania.” 

“Funny,” Neil says dryly. “Fine, maybe I will sleep.” 

Andrew jerks his shoulder a bit, intentionally jostling Neil. 

“Twenty Questions,” he says. 

Neil smiles, thankful his face is pressed into the fabric of Andrew’s hoodie. Andrew must sense it anyway, because he digs his fingernails briefly into Neil’s cheek. 

“Which one is that?”

“I’m thinking of something,” Andrew says. “You have twenty questions to figure out what it is.”

It’s not yellow. It’s not something you can eat. It’s not a solid, a liquid, or a gas. 

“You’re out of questions,” Andrew says.

“Fine,” Neil says, jabbing Andrew lightly in the stomach. “What was it?”

“Your irritating lack of self-preservation instincts.”

“How was I supposed to guess that?”

“By asking better questions. Your turn.”

Andrew guesses that Neil was thinking about an Exy neck guard after nine questions.

“You’re too predictable,” Andrew murmurs, mouth pressed to Neil’s hair. 

Neil yawns. “Maybe you just know me too well.”

“Maybe,” Andrew says, squeezing Neil’s thigh. “But you’re also predictable.”

Neil only sighs in response. He’s so warm, and Andrew’s head is still turned so that Neil can feel the soft puffs of his breath in his hair, timed with the slow rise and fall of his torso under Neil’s hands. The whir and steady motion of the bus pull at Neil’s eyelids and at the corners of his consciousness. 

“I’m thinking of something,” Andrew whispers.

“Is it sleep?”

Andrew snorts. “Yeah.”

Neil burrows impossibly closer, finally letting his eyes fall closed.

“See?” Neil murmurs. “I know you too.”

this series is now on ao3!

[catbatart]

Patreon exclusive sketch commission for @exi-burrow of their HANDSOME character! 

[badtusk]

Commission for @ exi-burrow of their gal as an octopus mermaid ^u^ Commissions are open just about year round on my Patreon <3

[sweetest-honeybee]

Commission for @exi-burrow 💜💜 Absolutely in LOVE with how this came out :D

[1ndieblue]

Commission for @exi-burrow! Thank you for commissioning me!

Kofi | Commissions | Etsy

[taimasart]

Half elf barbarian adopt for @exi-burrow!!

This design is part of my Fantasy Adopt batch which still has some adoptables up for grabs. The design are semi-custom - you pick the character’s color palette after claiming and I color as per your request for a more personal design. :)

[jingerhead]

Please do write more beefy Andrew stuff, it's been a while since I've seen some :(

I have been WAITING dear anon I'm so glad you sent this!

I decided to call this one "My mood matched the weather until I saw you doing fucking pull-ups in the doorway what the hell". Enjoy!

Guess what you can even read this on AO3 if you want!

Apparently severe thunderstorms means canceling exy practice, or so it had been explained to Neil.

“Kevin’s still going!” he had tried to complain early that morning, glad to see an email that classes had also been canceled, but not happy that he was currently stuck in the dorm room.

“Kevin can breathe through his nose,” Andrew had argued while offering a mug of tea. Neil had taken it, but he wasn’t happy about it, even if it didn’t taste that bad when he took a sip.

“You’d let Kevin go if he couldn’t breathe,” he pointed out.

Andrew had pointedly said nothing and left the room, leaving Neil alone on the bottom bunk under a pile of blankets to help his chills. He didn’t like being sick: it used to be a hindrance when living with his mother, always worried he wouldn’t be able to run well with congestion or that a stray cough would give away a position. Mary had quickly instilled in him the ‘ignore it until you can’t’ way of treating a cold, and it had worked just fine for him until now. ‘Now’ being waking up on a rainy day unable to breathe through his nose and Andrew immediately noticing.

Seriously, all he had was some congestion and a few chills. He was actually fine.

“I can hear you thinking that you’re fine,” Andrew said as he walked back into the room.

Neil hoped that the convenient strike of lighting made his glare look menacing, but Andrew barely blinked when he saw it, so it would seem that he wouldn’t be allowed out of bed anytime soon. The annoying thing about the congestion was that it was just enough that Neil couldn’t concentrate well on doing homework, so he’d given up on calculus until he could breathe normally again and burrowed under the blankets.

“I am,” Neil argued, dropping his head back down on his pillow and sniffing.

Andrew didn’t say anything, so Neil decided he won that argument, and shifted more towards the wall as Andrew started to climb onto the bunk. He leaned against the headboard and put a binder in his lap, which made Neil realize he was actually doing homework while Neil was stuck unable to concentrate or breathe well and annoyed about it. He pulled the blankets closer to his body to fight some chills and laid his head back down on his pillow, right next to Andrew’s thigh.

“It’ll clear up in an hour,” Neil grumbled. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Hm,” Andrew hummed once, seeming unconcerned. After a second, he moved his free hand away from his homework and began to gently push his fingers through Neil’s hair, which was probably gross because Neil was pretty sure he had a fever if the chills were anything to go by, but Andrew didn’t look up or stop and it felt nice. Too nice. Neil could feel his eyelids drooping more with each passing second.

This is cheating, he thought angrily.

“If you can breathe without coughing or sniffing, I’ll drive you to the court and practice with you,” Andrew said.

“Deal?” Neil asked, suddenly feeling more awake.

“Yes.”

Neil made an attempt, but was barely able to fill his lungs before he had to sit up to cough. Andrew grabbed the box of tissues and held it out to him before leaning back against the bed in a far too satisfied way. It just pissed Neil off more, but he couldn’t do anything except lay back down and start to drift off again when Andrew’s hand went back to his hair.

Eventually he ended up falling asleep, because when Neil woke up again Andrew wasn’t in bed with him and the storm seemed to be louder, somehow. At one point he’d kicked some of the blankets away, now feeling way too hot and sweaty to be comfortable. Slowly, Neil lifted his head and looked around the dorm room, blinking a few times before finally feeling wide awake when he noticed some movement in the doorway. When his eyes finally registered what he was looking at, Neil realized that Andrew was doing pull-ups on the pull-up bar secured there, back facing the dorm room.

It was an interesting sight, to say the least.

Andrew had taken off his hoodie at some point, now in just a black tank-top and shorts. He’d also taken off his arm bands, which meant the dorm had to be empty, and there was just enough sweat on his flushed skin to tell Neil he’d obviously been doing these for a while. Probably because Neil had been asleep and pull-ups weren’t hard for him to do quietly. Andrew barely made any noise as he pulled his body upwards, arms curling to bring his head to the top of the doorframe and then down again, over and over, in easy repetition.

Neil had a ‘bad habit’ of staring at Andrew when he worked out. He couldn’t quite remember if he’d ever seen Andrew do pull-ups before, but he knew he could watch for hours if Andrew could keep doing them. Andrew liked to be strong, which showed in how he took care of his body. He had well sculpted biceps and broad shoulders, easily capable of lifting weight, including his own. Gym days were always ones to look forward to.

Neil was too busy staring at the way the muscles in Andrew’s shoulders moved every time he pulled his body upwards to count how many reps he did before dropping to the floor with a soft thump and taking a deep breath. He raised one arm and rolled his shoulder backwards, stretching for a second before hopping back up and doing a few more reps. Neil didn’t dare move, not wanting to draw attention to himself and break Andrew’s concentration or startle him.

Very suddenly, tingling spread throughout his nose and he sneezed.

Andrew dropped again and turned around quickly. He didn’t seem tired at all from his short workout or bothered by the interruption, walking to where the tissue box was and holding one out for Neil to take. “What are your symptoms?” he asked.

“Congestion,” Neil reported after blowing his nose. “Hot. Throat’s a little sore.”

The tissue box was left on the bed as Andrew walked out the door, coming back a moment later with a large bottle of water. He stood by the bed until Neil drank most of it, laying his head back down and sniffing again. He wanted to take a shower, but he also really didn’t want to move. Maybe if Andrew started doing pull-ups again, thus blocking the doorway, Neil would have to stay put and have nothing better to do than to watch again.

“Were you working out?” he asked.

“Nothing else to do,” Andrew said as more thunder boomed outside.

“Pull-ups?”

“Strength,” Andrew explained, half turning towards the doorway again. “Want a turn?”

“Ha,” Neil huffed humorlessly, kicking away more sheets. “I think I’ll just watch.”

Andrew rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. “Go shower,” he ordered, jumping up just slightly to grab the bar again.

Neil couldn’t focus for a moment as he watched Andrew start to move again. “I would,” he said once he finally got his feverish mind working, “but someone is blocking the doorway.”

“You know how to duck.”

~*~

Three days later, Neil came back from class and found Andrew sitting on the desk next to the window and smoking. He came to a stop right in front of the desk and pointedly took a deep breath, smirking to himself when Andrew raised an eyebrow.

“I can breathe without coughing or sniffing,” he declared.

“Congratulations,” Andrew mumbled around his cigarette, tone bored.

“We have a deal,” Neil reminded him.

Andrew’s eyes flashed as he clearly remembered said deal. Neil hadn’t asked about what restrictions there were to it for a situation exactly like this, because Andrew doesn’t back out of his deals, which was exactly what Neil wanted.

“It’s a rest day,” Andrew tried.

“Just means nobody else will be on the court,” Neil said, raising his keys. “And today is Kevin’s late day. Just you and me.”

Andrew reached up to hold his cigarette. Neil easily snatched it and decided to take his own drag from it. He knew he won when he saw Andrew’s eyes flash again, quickly untangling his legs to get off the desk, walking towards the door. “Fine, if you want to get your ass beat so badly.”

“Counting on it,” Neil teased, rushing after him.

[paradoxolotl]

Okay, y’all asked for the rest of that Mama Bee scene, so here you go! First part is still attached but now you get the whole thing ~

Bee was late coming home. She was always home by six, because she liked to be home to have dinner together and to be there if Andrew needed help with his homework. He never did, but he had gotten used to her quiet presence in the background, quietly reading or knitting as he did his work. She was always there, and now, it was closer to seven and she still wasn’t home. Andrew didn’t like it when things changed. He didn’t like it when Bee, who had her house and life so very carefully arranged, deviated from the norm.

Frowning at the clock, the second hand a steady marching beat, Andrew dug his fingers into his arms. Something hot and prickly was creeping through his chest, and he didn’t know what it was. Bee kept trying to get him to use the stupid emotion wheel she kept in the living room, telling him it would help in identifying what he was feeling. Andrew didn’t care what he was feeling, he just needed it to stop.

The minute hand ticked over.

Maybe there was more traffic than usual. Maybe she needed to grab something at the store. His fingers dug harder into his skin. They were weak excuses at best, and he knew it. A voice in the back of his mind, growing louder by the minute, said she was at the agency. Telling them to come get him, to take him away.

The feeling spiked.

Lashing out, he knocked a plate of the counter, watching it shatter on the tile floor. Shards skittered towards him, glinting in the sunlight coming in through the window. He stared at them, tiny pinpricks, their edges sharp enough to burrow into his skin. His bare toes curled, his weight shifting.

“Andrew?”

Startling at the voice, Andrew stepped back, a shard digging into his heel. Burying his reaction down deep, he stared at Bee. She was looking at the mess on the floor, brows pinched together. Andrew’s mind was moving too fast, his body feeling too much, and he couldn’t tell if she was angry. She must be, because he broke a plate, and the pieces were blue which meant it was one of her favourites. People usually got angry at Andrew for much less.

She looked up at him, and Andrew felt his shoulders start to creep up. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like standing here, waiting for her to tell him he had to leave. He didn’t like not knowing what she was thinking.

“Andrew-”

“You are late,” he said, cutting her off.

Bee blinked, face smoothing out. “I am, and I am sorry about that.” She looked down at the floor again, and Andrew braced himself. “I’m going to go grab a broom. Stay there? I don’t want you stepping on anything.”

Andrew didn’t care if he stepped on anything else. His heel was burning, and when he shifted, he could feel how the tile beneath his foot was glowing slick. When he didn’t react, Bee stepped back, sending him one last look before disappearing down the hall. Looking down at his feet, at the shattered remains of the plate, Andrew felt something hot trickle down his throat.

He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay here with Bee, where he had a lock on his door and Saturday grocery trips and someone to play cards with and where he felt warm and nice and safe. Rapidly, he ran through the last few months in his mind. There must have been something he did that was the last straw. Something that he could point to and know that that was when he had ruined his chance at a home.

Swallowing, he crouched down. He had always been awful to Bee. It was always his fault. He just wanted to fix this. Picking up the broken pieces, he planned how he would tell her how he would be better. He wouldn’t cause any more problems at school, he would keep the house clean, he would go see a stupid therapist, he would do anything if he could just stay.

The floorboards creaked, and Andrew tightened his grip on the pieces he had gathered, trying to sweep up the rest. His skin stung, tiny points of pain like constellations across his hands. He heard when Bee reached the kitchen doorway, her steps faltering. Looking up, he saw her looking at him with wide eyes, broom clutched tightly in her hands.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to. I’ll clean it up.”

“Andrew,” her voice was tight, and Andrew turned away, picking up another piece. “Andrew, stop.”

His hands were shaking. When he spoke, his voice was strained. “I didn’t mean it. I didn’t-”

“Shh,” she soothed. Her toes came into his vision, and then she was kneeling in front of him. Her hand hovered over his own. “Honey, you’re hurting yourself.”

“I broke a plate.”

“That’s why I went to grab the broom.”

Something was buzzing in his ear. He shook his head rapidly. “It was one of your favourites.”

“It’s just a plate, Andrew. Plates break sometimes. They’re not worth hurting yourself over.”

He shook his head again. She didn’t get it. He needed to fix this. He needed to make it so he was worth keeping.

Bee moved away, and Andrew choked down his words. His hand twitched, and fire ran up his arm. Ruined. He always ruined everything. His chest was tight, and everything felt too hot and too close. Just as he felt as if he was about to snap, Bee reappeared, placing a trashcan beside them. Slowly, she took Andrew’s hands and guided them to the bin.

“Let them go, Andrew,” she said softly. “It’s okay.”

Still unable to meet her eyes, Andrew opened his hands. The pieces fell, creating a small music of their own as they landed. Both of his palms were covered in tiny cuts, dots of red slowly appearing. On his left hand, a jagged piece was stuck in his skin, a stain slowly moving across it. In his peripheral, he saw Bee sweeping the broom across the kitchen, gathering up everything he had missed. He wanted to tell her to stop, that he would do it, but his jaw was locked and the words inside him felt too much like a scream.

Tapping the dustpan into the trash, Bee settled in front of him again. There was the sound of a zipper, as she opened up the first aid kit. Her hands were always soft and warm, and she took Andrew’s gently. He watched silently as she methodically removed all of the slivers in his skin, each one joining the others with a final tiny sound. She dapped each cut with antibiotic cream, not missing a single one. She saved the jagged piece for last, inspecting his hand before finally removing it. Blood pooled immediately, and Bee quickly pressed gauze into his hand.

Closing his fingers around it, he stared down at his hands.

“Your foot is bleeding.”

Shuffling around to sit cross legged on the floor, Andrew accepted the tweezers from her. She knew he didn’t like his feet being touched. Carefully, he eased out the last piece from his body, dropping it into the trash. Cleaning away the blood that had gathered, he kept his eyes on what he was doing, until he pressed a bandage over it. When he had nothing else to keep busy with, he focused on the trash, where Bee was dumping all of the used medical supplies.

“I didn’t mean to cause you any stress,” Bee said as she packed away the kit. “I was late, and I should have called you.”

“Where were you?” Andrew risked a glance up at her face, a pit opening in his stomach at the pinched expression he found. He knew the answer before she even opened her mouth. “The agency.”

She blinked at him before nodding slowly. “Yes, I was.”

“Why.” Why wasn’t he good enough? Why didn’t she want him anymore? Rage and hurt and panic rushed through him, and he curled his hands into fists to hide their shaking.

“I got a call today from a friend of mine. To offer me a job with a colligate Exy team they’re starting. I think their goal is honourable, and I would like to be a part of it.” Andrew blinked at her. That didn’t explain why she had to go to the agency. Her face was calm when she said, “It’s in South Carolina.”

He sucked in a sharp breath. It wouldn’t have mattered then, even if he had been perfect. Bee was leaving, and he couldn’t follow. No matter what he did, he couldn’t keep her.

“Okay,” he said quietly, pulling his knees up to his chest. He didn’t know why it hurt so much. He should have been used to this by now. “When are they coming to get me?”

Bee blinked rapidly before her face fell, “Andrew, honey, no. No one is coming to get you!”

“You’re moving,” he said, panic slowly clawing its way up his body.

“I might be moving, yes. But only if that’s okay with you. I don’t want to uproot your whole life for a job if you don’t want to.”

He stared at her, trying desperately to grapple with confusion and fear and what might have been hope. “It doesn’t matter what I want.”

“Of course it matters,” Bee said firmly.

He shook his head. If he told her that he didn’t want her to go, that he wanted her to stay with him, she would always resent him. She already said she wanted this job. He wouldn’t get in the way of that.

Something broke across her face, and then she was cupping his cheeks, cradling his face. “Andrew Joseph,” she said. “You don’t honestly think I would move without you, do you? If I take this job, you would be coming with me.”

Something in his chest snagged and tangled. “You were at the agency.”

“I needed some information,” she said, brushing his bangs off of his forehead. “I had been looking into this for a while, and with this job offer it feels a bit like things are lining up. If you don’t want it, I understand and won’t say anything else about it again. I’ll do whatever will make you happy, Andrew.”

“I don’t understand,” he said.

Bee’s hands fell into her lap, fingers clasped tight together. “I was thinking, if you would like,” she swallowed and took a deep breath before saying very carefully, “that I could adopt you. I’ve been looking into it for a while, and of course, the decision is up to you. I spoke to the agency, and it is possible to move us without adoption, if you’d prefer that, or we don’t have to move at all-”

She was rambling now, but Andrew couldn’t focus on what she was saying. He was stuck, frozen in time. A small tendril of warmth curled around him, and he held onto it tightly. “You want to keep me?”

Bee finally stopped, her shoulders falling. A smile was on her face, a little wobbly around the edges. “I really do. You’re my family, Andrew. With or without the papers. You can take time to think it over; it’s a big decision.” He could hear the hope threading through her voice, something she was trying to hold back for his sake.

“I don’t need to think about it,” he said, and she stilled, emotions crossing in her eyes too quickly for Andrew to place. Moving along the floor, he stopped beside her and wrapped his arms around her middle, his head falling on her shoulder. She smelled like lavender and sugar, and it filled him with a warmth that he had never truly felt before. Andrew blinked, but failed to keep back the tears gathering. They rolled down to fall onto the soft cotton of Bee’s shirt. He squeezed a little tighter, and her arms came up to hold him close. “Does this mean I get to call you mom now?”

Bee hiccupped a laugh, and she pressed a kiss to his hair. They stayed on the floor, holding each other close, neither willing to let go. When Bee’s fingers tucked his hair behind his ear, her own tears falling, Andrew felt a smile break across his face. For the first time in his life, Andrew had a home.

~~

Here’s a scene from after the move

And the original post, introducing the twinyards

[stoll-mydam-heart]

Casual Touch ~ Andreil

because im literally trash when it comes to them😭

Andrew has trouble with contact

it’s no surprise given his history, but aside from certain things he knows he has control over, its not something he’s comfortable with

with Neil, like with most things, it’s different

he lets Neil touch him

he feels safe knowing Neil would never try and take something Andrew wasn't willing to give

but usually, this didn't extend beyond sex

aside from it, they didn't really make too much contact except Andrew shoving Neil’s face away when Neil gets that dopey look like Andrew means something and his heart starts to flutter

the longer their relationship goes on though, things start to shift a little

when Andrew has bad days, Neil feels helpless because he can't do anything about it

one day, though, when Neil says he’s going to leave Andrew alone for a little while to let him have his space, Andrew croaks out a single “Stay”

it surprises Neil because he knows how much Andrew likes and needs his space on days like these, but he closes the door and sits on Kevin’s bed across the room 

Andrew doesn't say anything else, but he gives Neil a look that tells him to start talking, so he does

Neil rambles about the upperclassmen, and the little pain in the ass freshman

he talks about his courses and upcoming assignments and drones about how awful his teachers are the homework assignments due at the end of the week

it goes like that from then on

if Andrew has a bad day, Neil will say “Stay? Yes or no?” Andrew will shake his head or nod and Neil will shut the door and lay on Kevin’s bed, talking about anything, nothing, and everything in-between

one day a little while later, Andrew has a nightmare and startles awake 

he doesn't make a sound but Neil senses it anyway (he always does) and looks up at him

Andrews stares back and for a few minutes, neither of them move, but then Andrew whispers “come”

Neil doesn’t ask, but there’s a tell-tale furrow to his brow as he climbs up, careful to keep his distance at the other side of the bed

for some reason, it isn’t enough though

Andrew wants to have the luxury of being able to have someone close, to know that the nightmare was no longer his reality and that Neil was his reality now but he can’t and he hates it because just the thought of having a body touching his makes him want to vomit

but a thought hits him and he looks at Neil and places his palm against the bed

yes or no?

yes

Neil places his hand down next to Andrew’s, careful not to touch, never assuming (which Andrew is grateful for even though he’d never say it)

Andrew raises his hand and links their pinkies together

he tenses, waiting for himself to feel the disgust rolling off like it usually does when someone touches him but it doesn't come, and it actually feels a little grounding

His shoulders relax and he refuses to meet Neil’s eye because he knows exactly what he’s going to see and he doesn't think he can handle it right now

instead, all Andrew says is talk, and Neil does, useless ramblings whispered and lost in the dark of the room and it helps Andrew

his thoughts from the nightmare are still there, but they aren’t as overwhelming and the more Neil talks the more they burrow away and all the while he keeps their pinkies linked 

when Andrew finally tells him to get off, Neil squeezes their pinkies together and climbs back down and doesn't say anything

from then on, when Andrew has nightmares and bad days, he pats the side of the bed and links their pinkies and Neil talks and Andrew gets a little better day by day

then one day on the couch, they’re sitting while Neil watches old exy tapes for the team they’re playing next week

his hand is resting between them 

yes or no?

yes

Andrew snags his pinkie and closes his eyes, resting his head against the back of the couch

he can practically feel Neil’s expression, a small curve to his lip, eyes sparkling

staring

Andrew opens one eye and Neil is in fact staring

using his other hand he pushes his face forward

watch your stupid exy games, junkie

when Kevin comes in later, they still don't let go 

(and if Kevin notices, that’s no one else’s business)

it just becomes a thing, they they’re sitting together they’ll take each other’s pinkies and just lightly squeeze whenever they need to get up

the other foxes start to take notice and think it’s absolutely adorable

when the upperclassmen walk in for the first time and see, Neil and Andrew can hear grumbling and money crinkling as a bet ends

then one day, Andrew takes Neil’s whole hand

it’s not a tight grip, easy to slide out of but Neil tightens his grip and they sit there

when Neil has to leave for his next class, he squeezes like usual but also brings it up to press a gentle kiss to the the back of his hand

Neil looks up at Andrew while he does it to make sure its okay and Andrew is bright red and spends a solid five minutes on the couch forcing his heart rate to slow after Neil leaves

Aaron happens to walk in right as Neil leaves to see Andrew tomato red and Aaron immediately turns around mumbling “I don't even want to know”

slowly it builds and they rest their feet in each others laps while reading or studying

forehead and nose kisses when they’re alone and just wandering around

head scratches while laying together in bed

when either leaves, they link pinkies together, like a silent promise the other will come back before pressing a kiss to the other’s knuckles

on bad days Andrew still cant handle contact but more often than not, they’ll link pinkies 

the touch is welcomed and it’s only associated with Neil and he knows knows he’s safe

just maybe, things might work out alright

[squeaky-arts]

I drew this for a story/art trade with a friend and I'm pretty proud of it :3

(Character belongs to @exi-burrow)

[catbatart]

Design-a-character commission for @exi-burrow of their Bugbear Rogue with Many Knives. Had SO much fun designing a more dexxy-looking bugbear! Tons of fun!

[bloody-wonder]

Every time I read that scene about Neil having to resist the urge to rub his face in his racquet or something like that, I just picture Neil burrowing his face into Andrew’s chest. Like a “oh I love this thing, must rub it with my face” kind of primal instinct

neil, lying in bed, one arm around andrew, the other one around his brand new fragrant exy racquet: :)

andrew: either this thing goes away or i will

neil: :(

[luna-moon-26-20]

Andrew: burrow me. (😐)

Neil: what? (🤔)

Andrew: burrow my ownership like you wanted me to burrow your exy dream. Be mine until you learn how to belong to yourself again.

Neil: I— I... (😳)

Andrew: yes or no, Neil? (🙄)

Neil: yes. Yes, Andrew. Yes. (🥺♥️)

An excerpt from This might be a little out of hand in Ao3 and honestly my favorite part so far 😍... also, how I imagine their expressions to be during the conversation, lol.

[1ndieblue]

Commission for @exi-burrow! Thank you for commissioning me!

Kofi | Commissions | Etsy

[scribbleb-red]

Honey, I’m home - A Morning AU

When Neil and Andrew buy their first house together, it’s a bit of a shitshow. 

They both manage to come down to the house for a long weekend, and they unload the boxes and shelves without too much trouble - not like either carry much with them, even now.

They sleep on a mattress in their soon-to-be bedroom and laugh and laugh (or Neil laughs and Andrew’s face twitches, which is basically a laugh for him) as they cheers to being together and watch the cats sniff around their new home.

But Andrew has to go back to Denver on the Monday morning - he rolls over and pulls Neil tight and kisses the space between his shoulder blades, quietly wishing he didn’t have to go, even briefly.

He’ll be back, it’s only three weeks. 

His asshole coach just won’t let him out of his contract early despite the end to their playing season.

Neil is soft and rumpled in the morning light - hair lightened by the sun, freckles clear against his warm, gold skin. 

Andrew would keep him close as long as possible. Neil doesn’t stir for a few minutes, waking with a cattish yawn and stretch before burrowing closer to Andrew.

The sound is all Neil and it makes Andrew’s chest feel warm and tight and he’s beyond hate for this feeling.

He despises leaving even more. 

His head is full of warm smiles. His skin remembers warm hands and warmer kisses. His throat will wear the marks on it until he next sees Neil. It’s not enough. 

But it’ll have to do for now.

*

Neil - of course - should not be allowed to manage a house on his own. 

Free of the exy season, he’s determined to make the house a home by the time Andrew comes back. 

It does not end well.

Day 1, he forgets to shut the catflap and the cats escape into the garden, with Neil spending hours panicking over them. 

Day 2, the sofa arrives. Neil mismeasured the doorway and it doesn’t fit. Day 3, the wall Neil’s painting is too tall for him, even standing on a chair.

Matt and Dan come to the rescue the first weekend. 

Neil is frazzled and apparently refuses to call Andrew because he knows he’ll hear the panic in his voice and that’ll make things harder for Andrew being away and that’s not fair to either of them because it’s already shit and—

Matt gives Neil the biggest hug and paints the sodding wall that Neil can’t reach - and then the other walls that need touch ups too. 

Dan remeasures the door and helps Neil find a sofa. It’ll be delivered ‘soon’, which apparently means three to eight weeks.

“It can’t come for when Andrew’s back?” 

“Sorry sweetie,” Dan strokes his hair that night, after they’ve eaten takeout on the living room floor with paper plates. “But it won’t be long.”

They help him with the dining room, this at least isn’t too hard. 

Andrew had found an antique table and some white painted chairs - the whole thing looks okay. 

One room is okay, Neil thinks. That’s good.

The kitchen, Neil really doesn’t get. He enlists Nicky over the phone and ends up with multicoloured dishes from anthropology and a myriad of utensils that he’s fairly certain started life as torture devices. 

Nicky does let Erik guide him through pots and pans and such. “You’ve seriously only got a wok? Really?” 

Neil shrugs. It cooks everything he knows how to cook - which is basically dahl or stirfry. He doesn’t get why this is such a big deal.

Job ticked, he asks Allison about decor and she just howls. 

“Don’t even try, babe,” she says, “Wait for Andrew - he at least has style, if nothing else.”  

But she sees his dejected expression over FaceTime and sighs. 

“Fine, I’ll be there Saturday.”

So Saturday happens and Allison does things to Neil’s living room that should be illegal - but at least it looks, kinda nice? 

“Kinda? It looks modern af, and your boyfriend will love it.” 

It’s minimal and bright and she’s overexposed one wall where she’s hung a dozen photos.

“It’s a feature wall,” she says. “Don’t fuck it up.”

Neil tries not to take it to heart - but this house isn’t for him right now, it’s for Andrew and he wants to make sure it’s okay for *them*, together. 

“Does it feel like us?” He asks the cats when Allison is gone. 

King offers a slow blink. Sir licks her bits and walks away.

*

End of week two, Neil speaks to Andrew, falls asleep on the phone to him after sending every photo of every room to him. 

Before he drifts off, Andrew says he likes it. Maybe they can colour code the bookcase when he’s back. 

Neil likes the idea of doing something together.

*

Still - no bed frame, no sofa - things feel cosmetic. 

Neil manages to get a frame but can’t put it together. He stares hopelessly after a few hours, ikea DIY beyond him. 

The cats escape again. This time, no sign of King for a whole day, but she comes home for dinner.

The plumbing goes a bit weird - pressure doing weird things so he bleeds the radiators, which sprays water all over his new walls. 

Then the boiler goes. Something to do with the flue.

It’s cold and Neil hates the cold - reminds him too much of being alone and on the run and homeless (and there’s a reason he ended up in Millport where it was too hot most of the time).

He calls Andrew and tries not to sound too awful but Andrew hears the stress there. 

“Don’t run, rabbit. I’m nearly home.” 

“I know, I know, I’m not thinking of running. I just...” miss you, he doesn’t say.

Andrew still hears him. “Me too,” he says. 

And they breathe together.

Kevin, weirdly, is the one who comes to fix Neil’s boiler. Apparently he had a similar problem and he brings Jeremy Knox with him. 

“Dad was a plumber,” Knox explains. “Well, was before he started his own company and grew it - but he made sure we all knew how to fix a boiler.”

So the boiler is fixed and Kevin helps Neil with the bed - and Jean oversees with a scornful little tip of his chin. 

At lunchtime, Jean makes a veritable French feast - all cheeses and meats and colourful treats. 

Neil feels looked after and strangely fond of the thruple.

“Don’t ruin it by being grateful,” Jean warns him. “Kevin will bring it up for years if you say thank you.” 

So Neil smiles and eats and stays quiet.

Jeremy warns him that the fix isn’t permanent - they’ll need a new boiler sooner rather than later but this should tide them over. Neil doesn’t care - at least Andrew can come home and have a hot shower. At least *he* can have a hot shower tonight.

*

Andrew comes home a day early - he told his coach he was going and was gone. 

He walks in to find Neil curled up on the worst chaise he’s ever seen - clearly a donation to help them get from now to sofa. 

But Neil is beautiful.

The cats are curled close to him. The afternoon sun pale and bright. 

He wakes Neil with a kiss to his forehead, another to his nose. 

“Honey,” he says with a stupid twitch of his lips, “I’m home.”

The End