#hinting kandreil maybe?

[janwixler]

three random aftg hc that might just make sense

Andrew is afraid of spiders:

and neil is not

well, sleeping in makeshift houses for years, being afraid of insects is just a grandeur for him

one time a medium-sized hairy spider was found chilling on the dorm bathroom ceiling and Andrew was the first one to notice

he just froze outside

Neil was passing by and definitely noticed the stiffness lingering on Andrew's shoulder.

'what.' Neil asked, not really a question and was rewarded with death glare/almost teary eyes from Andrew.

Neil looked inside, saw the spider and 'huh, okay.' was all he said.

a few moments later Neil scooted the spider with a piece of paper and safely threw it out of the window.

Andrew was nowhere to be seen in the process.

then he was found in his room, slowly eating a bacquet of ice-cream, listening to music on laptop with his headphones on.

Neil was then given the permanent job of always checking the bathroom before Andrew until his fifth year.

Neil and his (not-so) secret obsession with tea(s):

now that his path is semi-clear by the moriyama's, his uncle tries to keep contact with neil once a month

and once a year, he receives a special gift package from England; best regards, sh (Stuart Hatford)

that one time he sent Neil a package of the best darjeeling tea

Neil isn't a hot-chocolate person, coffee is the okay-est thing to keep him up in night practices and homeworks.

but TEA? Neil was Shook by the flavor.

he started to try all types of them and tried to convince Andrew into trying some.

Andrew liked milk tea with ungodly amount of sugar

but masala tea, Neil's new favourite was a big no from him.

weekend afternoon is the Best time for tea and he likes to believe he invented the image of it.

so very British of him really

He never misses a chance to try out a new flavour and he prefers tea bags over grinded tea leaves

not to mention he is allergic to Nicky's-concept-of-tea

Kevin actually takes his skin-care routine very seriously:

at first it may seem like he was dressing up for the occasion

until the foxes find out it's literally a part of his morning routine.

cleanser and simple clay face mask goes first

clean shave and aftershave liquid comes second

hair? shampooed twice, sometimes thrice a week and gel-ed up all time outside.

his skin is almost flawless, moisturizer doing it's job really well is just a bonus to his handsome model face.

well, you don't know when the paparazzi's might show up, right?

he has a image to preserve and oh, he does it so, so well.

'at least you can start taking care of that mess of a hair. you ARE an important part of the exy media for heaven's sake!', Kevin's word of wisdom to Neil goes off before any press routine

'yeah, whatever.' and Neil just shrugs him off like that, as if his cute/handsome face wasn't going in waste.

Kevin-media-trained-since-diapers does some sports related modeling campaign too

and he secretly enjoys the positive attention (since the end of Riko drama) but he would never admit it actually.

[whatmack]

neil drunk rambling about maths in his british accent :(

this is so adorable and exactly how i am at parties sans the british accent but NEIL WOULD DEFINITELY (I made this slightly kandreil at the end WHOOP)(Now has a Part 2)

Renee’s tiny speakers couldn’t keep up with the bass line ofthe song Allison’s iPod was playing through them, but as Allison’s speakerswere—according to her long and hand-waving rant—broken, they were all they had.Aaron had better speakers back in his dorm room, but he didn’t look inclined toget them. It was enough of a miracle that he was here, Neil figured.

They’d won the game. The freshmen were finally starting topull together, and Andrew had shut down the goal in the second half. Neil wasn’tsure what had made Andrew decide to care tonight, but he was flying high on beingon the Court with him as the last, electric seconds of the game had counteddown and it was clear it would be a Fox victory. He was feeling so good thatwhen the arrived in the girls’ suite, toting bottles of liquor and a carton ofthe cheap local beer, Neil glanced towards the cups.He trusted these people. They were his family. But Andrew wasn’t here yet—he’dstayed behind to have a twisted ankle checked over by Abby. What if Neil said somethinghe shouldn’t?Kevin caught the direction of Neil’s gaze. He put down the UV Blue he wascarrying on Dan’s desk. “I can keep an eye on you if you want to drink.”

Like I offered before at Abby’s, was the unspoken reminder in the steadiness ofhis empty hands. Neil catalogued Kevin’s stubborn chin, his offering posture.“Okay,” he said.There was the expected ruckus when Neil gathered himself a knockoff-brand Solocup from beside the array of mixers. Neil bore it with impatient grace and refusedthe invitation to join the convoluted drinking game (there were Uno cards and acheckers board?) the upperclassmen had set up, but he did let Dan mix his drinkfor him.“Technically a dark ‘n stormy should have ginger beer, but ginger ale will have to do,” she said, ruffling Neil’shair. “I can’t wait to see what kind of drunk you are, Vice-Cap.”The tiny kernel of warmth that burned in Neil’s stomach whenever Dan orWymack called him that made him hide his face in the cup. Dan laughed and ruffledhis hair again—she was already past tipsy—and got dragged away by Matt to doshots.Drinking socially was odd. Neil tried to keep tabs on his state of intoxication.He did well until Kevin started talking about the game, and then Neil got soabsorbed he only noticed he’d finished his drink when Dan passed him a new one.He frowned into the cup, considering, and took a sip.“’Atta boy,” Dan cheered, thumping him on the back.Kevin tilted his head. “Neil?”Neil took another sip. “This is fun. I’m having fun.”He was surprised to realize it was true.Sometime later (things were starting to merge into a time-slip puddle), Neilfound himself in a corner with Aaron, who had been keeping to the outskirts.Aaron had partaken in several rounds of Matt’s shots.“No, no no, here’s what I don’t understand,” Aaron said, jabbing his pointerfinger, middle finger, and thumb out in right-angles in an approximation ofthree-space. The thumb axis was crooked. Or maybe that was Neil’s eyes. He kepthaving to blink the fuzzy edges off of everybody. “So you’ve got a vector. That’stwo—that’s two dimensions. But then. In three dimensions, see? It only has two dimensionsstill?” He stuck a finger of his other hand into his graph-paper palm.Neil shook his head. It was a bigger motion than he anticipated, but that wasokay: he was drinking. “No, you’re getting confused. It’s two dimensions becauseyou make your own axis.” He nudged Aaron’s hand over—Aaron looked affronteduntil Neil huffed at him, and then he looked abashed—until his middle-fingeraxis lay alongside his vector-finger. “It’s on a plane still. Two-dee. And thedimensions of a vector are different. Length and direction, not axis. Axes?”Aaron frowned. “But when you integrate it.”

“You’re still thinking about direction as the y-axis,” Neilsaid, holding up his own hands now, one pointing horizontal and one towards theceiling. “Look, look. A vector goes points forever. Wait. No. A vector goespoints a direction, for only some length. An axis goes points forever. But whenyou integrate a line, it’s different. You—” he paused and turned around. Allison was behind him, hiding her phone hurriedly behind her back. She wasgrinning.“No, don’t film me,” Neil whined. “I don’t like it.”“Okay, kid,” Allison said. Her smile turned softer. “You sound like a fancy Oxford professor right now, is all. Tell us some more about how you integrate.”“Integrate,” said Neil. He nodded. Nodding was a good gesture. Simple andto the point. He folded over his y-axis arm—his demonstrating hands hadextended their purpose down to the elbows—so his forearms lay crossed over eachother in front of his chest. “It’s just the opposite of derivativative, no,derivatary, no, derivative, you know? I thought everyone knew but it’simportant to know.” He lifted his top arm so there was space between them. “Integrate.”He pressed his arms together again. “Derive.” Lifted the top one again. “Integrate.Derive. You get it?”Aaron was following along with furious concentration. His glare looked so muchlike Andrew’s that Neil giggled.“We get it,” said Dan. When had she come over? Oh, everyone had come over. Neilwaved. Matt waved back, enthusiastic. Neil cleared his throat and went back tohis important explanation.“So if you want three dimensions to integrate, you have to integrate again,” hesaid. He swung his arm out by the elbow and smacked Kevin in the stomach. “Oh.Not that.”Kevin placed a cup neatly between Neil’s fingers. “Water,” he said. “Drink.”Neil wrinkled his nose and craned his head up, and up, and up. “You’re too tall. Get shorter.”The barest hint of an amused breath raised the hair on the back of Neil’s neck.He spun around, sloshing water, and beamed. “Andrew! You’re okay!”Andrew’s eyebrow twitched. “You’re drunk.”“Yes,” said Neil, because he was. “Kevin’s taking care of me. He gave me water—oh.”The cup was empty. Neil hadn’t even got to drink any of it.Andrew’s eyes flickered to the cup. He hooked two fingers in the collar of Neil’sshirt and tugged. Neil was not too intoxicated to read Andrew’s questions.He considered, because Andrew’s questions were important. It took a while. Thinkingwhile Andrew’s hands were on him was always difficult, and the alcohol was jumblinghis thoughts up worse, until everything tangled up and out of order. Like aball of yarn. Someone had said that once to him. Who was it? He wasn’t him,then. He liked being him, now, so it didn’t matter.Tug. Neil jolted into focus on Andrew’s face. “I’m having fun. But I think Iwant to be soberer?”“We’ve got you,” Kevin said, up above Neil’s ear. He helped Andrew guide Neilto the bathroom, and closed the door behind them. The fluorescent lights werevery bright. Neil squinted. His ears felt like they were reverberating againsthis skull; the muffling effect of the closed door was a balm. Andrew scooped Neil up and placed him on the counter while Kevin filled Neil’scup from the faucet. Water droplets sprayed out to hit Neil’s pants. He wiggled his ass to get away from them and would have toppled over if Andrew hadn’tgrabbed his knee to steady him.

“Here,” said Kevin, passing Neil the full cup. Neil drankobediently, and found himself gulping. Water was great. Oh wow. When he was finished he examined Kevin and Andrewover the rim of the cup. They had their arms crossed, watching him, the exactsame way. Neil giggled.“More?” Kevin asked. Neil held out the cup and Kevin refilled it. Andrewplucked it away to hand it to Neil, leaning over Neil’s legs as he did. Thewarmth of him was good. Neil pursed his lips when Andrew pulled back.“Drink,” said Andrew, unimpressed. Neil pouted deeper and drank. Oh wow, water.“You haven’t had anything all night?” Andrew was saying to Kevin.Kevin lifted a shoulder in half a shrug and gestured to Neil. “More importantthings to do.”“Hm,” said Andrew. His fingers tapped against his bicep: tap, tap tap. Neilliked Andrew’s fingers. And his biceps. And his whole everything. “Neil?”“Yes!” said Neil, straightening his spine. He was Neil.“Later, when you’re sober, do you want Kevin to kiss you?”Kevin choked and bent forward, clutching the front of his shirt. Weird. Neil bitthe edge of the cup and thought about it. Andrew’s eyes were clear. It wasn’t ajoke, so Neil could answer in real words.“I don’t know,” Neil said. “I didn’t know I wanted to kiss you until you didit. And then I did. We could try?”“Yes or no, Neil.”“Oh. Sorry. Yes.”Andrew hummed deep in his throat. It was nice, when Neil could do something thatAndrew approved of. He stretched his feet out in front of him and drank more water. Kevin was stillwheezing.“Kevin,” said Andrew. “Yes or no?”“Jesus Christ,” said Kevin. “What the fuck.”“Kevin.” Andrew’s tone was patient, but only barely.“Yeah, I guess,” said Kevin, glancing at Neil. Neil tried to smile at him. Thecup was in the way; water dribbled down his chin. The corner of Kevin’s mouthturned up. “Yes. But I mean. Not entirely my decision, isn’t that how it goes?”Andrew’s eyebrows shot down into a scowl, and then he was kissing Kevin on themouth. His fingers were very pale against Kevin’s dark hair. Kevin’s handsjerked up, hovering on either side of Andrew’s torso but not touching. Watchingthem was fascinating. Neil had never paid this much attention to other peoplekissing. “What,” said Kevin in a ragged voice when Andrew released him.Andrew was breathing heavily.Neil brightened. “Does this mean we can go to night practice now?”“Junkie,” said Andrew automatically. He snorted. Rolled his shoulders back.Neil stared, and got caught for a moment in Kevin’s eyes doing the same thing. “WhenNeil can stand you both can come to the roof. If you want.”He touched the ceramic lip of the sink nextto Neil’s thigh and was gone. Neil leaned away from the blast of noise as thebathroom door opened.“Water,” said Kevin, snapping into action. He reached for Neil’s cup. He reallyhad such nice hands. Even the leftone; especially the left one. That was the hand he had refused to let breakhim. Neil accepted the full cup and drank.“You. We. Roof? When you,” said Kevin, watching Neil swallow. The tip ofhis tongue darted out and got trapped between his teeth. Neil watched that.

“Mm-hm,” said Neil. Parties were loud. The roof would benice. And. He held out his empty cup. “More water?”

[nickireadstfc]

The Raven King, Chapter 5 – Call Me, Beep Me

In which Neil is introduced to the wonders of modern technology, the battle against heteronormativity continues, Andreil have An Interaction™ and Nicky finally reclaims his status as best person alive.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The Raven King.

We start this chapter off with Neil recapping how he’s super broke, which is already the most fucking relatable thing.

“Broke” here meaning “I am in possession of half a million dollars, however I’ll need it for my entire sad runaway life so I can’t spend it on anything fancy”, not “I’m a poor intern who’s getting paid below minimum wage”, obviously.

The reason we’re evaluating Neil’s financial status is because some unexpected expenses have come up in his life that he is ruthlessly and cruelly forced to :

He’s going shopping with Nicky.

Well, technically the rest of the monsters are there too, but let’s be real, Nicky is the driving force of Operation Let’s Get Neil Into Some Decent Nice Clothes, And Hopefully Also Laid.

The reason they’re venturing into the scary, hostile territory of an American mall is, of course, the fast approach of one particular banquet.

           “I could just not go,”  Neil said.

           “Shut up. You’re going,” Kevin said, like he wasn’t dreading this himself. All fourteen southern Class I teams would be in attendance, and that included Edgar Allan’s Ravens.

Oh, yes. Fun times with That Fucker™ himself. Have I mentioned I’m really, really looking forward to this thing?

           It was a short list of names and numbers in bubbly blue print. Nicky leaned over and made a dismissive noise. “Seriously, Aaron?”

           “Dan asked me to get a list from Katelyn,” Aaron said.

           “Who are these people?” Neil asked.

           “They’re the single Vixens.”

           “They’re all women,” Nicky said. “That doesn’t help us.”

Nicky saying ‘Fuck you’ to heteronormativity will always be my favourite thing <3

Although, as funny as it is, Neil has repeatedly told him he’s not gay. And while I totally understand the frustration of someone insisting they’re not queer while your gaydar shouts otherwise, can Nicky be a little less pushy about it, maybe?

Just a thought.

           “Stop being a bad influence,” Kevin told Nicky. “I am going to make him Court. It’ll be easier if he remains heterosexual. You know more than any of us how prejudiced people can be.”

Guys, he is literally right there.

Neil thinks so too:

           “We aren’t really having this conversation,” Neil said.

           Nicky clapped his hands to either side of Neil’s head as if trying to shield Neil from their argument. It didn’t really work, as he missed Neil’s ears completely.

Bahahaha. I actually had to laugh out at that mental image.

           “Come on, Kevin. Even you have to admit this is really weird.”

           Andrew threw his hands up. “Newsflash, Nicky: Neil isn’t normal!”

           “This is beyond abnormal.”

           “I am standing right here,” Neil said, “and I can hear you.”

You tell ‘em, Neil.

Nicky, has someone explained the concept of demi/asexuality to you? Like, ever?

Deep sigh. Will I have to do it, or does someone enlighten this boy before the series is over?

(Don’t tell me. I want to continue giving sarcastic running commentary to his running commentary on Neil’s sexuality.)

On a more serious note: The subject of Allison is brought up once again.

           “I won’t bring her,” Kevin said, because someone had to break the quiet. “You might have brought Riko’s wrath down on the striker line, but I’m the reason he’s in the south in the first place. Neither of us has the right to speak to Allison now.”

Is that……. Kevin being….. human…….. with a basic scrap of…….. compassion………?

AMAZING. WONDERFUL. WOW.

           “I know Riko was behind this. I know what people like him are like. Be glad you’ll never understand the way they think.”

           Any other time, Neil would be relieved to hear such words from Kevin. It meant Andrew hadn’t told Kevin the truth about Neil’s past and that Kevin had yet to recognize him.

Yeah, and I’m still unsure on whether I’m buying that whole ‘Kevin doesn’t recognize Neil’ act.

Like. It still doesn’t make sense to me that you could play hours and hours of little league, not to mention watch a guy get legit murdered with this kid, and be fooled with a bit of hair dye and some contacts? Unless puberty did Neil Josten really, really well, I’m calling bullshit.

On the other hand, that comment did sound genuine and y’know, it would support that even the mighty Kevin Day’s brain makes a mistake or two sometimes.

On the other other hand, the mighty Kevin Day is an excellent actor, trained by years in front of cameras, who could drop comments like these and sound like he’s being entirely 100% genuine.

On the other other other hand, why pretend to not know Neil? Maybe not in front of the rest of the team, alright, but if it’s just the two alone? Why ignore their important shared history?

My brain hurts. I need to stop going in circles over this. All in due time, Nicki.

This is for real one of the questions I’m most excited to have answered by the end of this series.

           Neil looked at the massive bundle of clothes in Nicky’s arms. (…)

           “I have good taste in clothes, right? If you want to try them on you can, but you don’t have to. I know they’ll fit.”

           “Why would I want to try them on?”

           “Oh, because these are yours.”

Can I have my own personal Nicky who takes me to the nearest Topshop and picks out bomb ass outfits for me??? Please and thank you.

Neil, however, is an ungrateful fashion grouch, not thanking Nicky with one word as he obviously does not understand what a service to everyone’s eyeballs Nicky has probably just done.

However, all that fashion banter pales against what happens next – which is where the chapter gets really good.

           “What is that dinosaur?” Nicky asked, dismayed. “No one put money on a flip phone, Andrew. You just ruined a really good pot.”

           Neil idly wondered if there was anything his teammates wouldn’t bet on.

Oh my GOD. You bet on what sort of phone Andrew had? I love this team so, so much.

Wait. Shouldn’t they know his phone? Why are they betting on that.

Wait. It’s not his, is it.

           “You couldn’t even have found him a qwerty?”

           “What for?” Andrew finished what he was doing, snapped the phone shut, and tossed it at Neil. (…) “Who is Neil going to text?” (…)

           “What.” Neil couldn’t even make it a question.

They got him a PHONE, you guys. A PHONE. THAT THEY CAN CALL. AND TEXT. FOR KEEPING IN TOUCH. FOR INCLUDING NEIL IN GROUP SOCIALIZING.

I am loving the FUCK out of this.

Neil, however, is not.

           He didn’t think a small thing like this could hurt so much, but the grief that punched through him left him in pieces. (…) Every time they moved they got new cell phones, prepaid burners they could ditch at the first hint of trouble. He’d wanted to keep hers. (…) He’d thrown them into the waves before leaving the beach.

Whoops.

Today’s Casually Mentioned, Yet Heartbreakingly Sad Neil Fact is: This.

           He’d never gotten a new one for himself. He’d never seen a point; Neil had no one in the world he could call.

Excuse me while I quickly drown in my own tears.

And although Nicky tries to calmly and gently reason with him (“That’s our just-in-case. You’ll make us all feel better if we know we can find you”, brb crying), Neil refuses to accept the damn phone.

That is, until, of course, until #bestboy Andrew shows up with it at their Late Night Kandreil Training Sesh™.

           Andrew took his phone out of his pocket and set it down beside Neil’s. His was black but otherwise seemed to be the same model.

Do I get emotional over the fact that they have matching phones? Maybe.

Is it totally ridiculous as Andrew probably just bought him what he knew worked? Probably.

Will that stop me? Absolutely fucking not.

           He flicked both open and pressed a couple buttons. A few seconds later Andrew’s phone started to ring. Neil expected a generic ringtone, but a man started singing. It didn’t sound like something Andrew would assign to his phone until Neil listened to the lyrics. It was a song about runaways.

Andrew, you wonderful little shit. <3

Also, that song either Run Boy Run by Woodkid or Ghost Towns by Radical Face and no other headcanons shall be accepted.

(I’m totally kidding. PLEASE do send in any other ideas you have, my TFC playlist still needs filling.)

Andrew bugs him about the phone thing (needing to watch his boy’s back and what have you <3), Neil dishes out some BS about how he used to keep the phone his dead parents gave him in hopes they would miraculously call again, bla bla.

Andrew is not taking that bullshit and supplies us with some sassy times instead.

           “Who am I supposed to call?” [Neil said.]

           “Nicky, Coach, the suicide hotline, I don’t care.”

           “I’m remembering why I don’t like you.”

           “I’m surprised you even forgot in the first place.”

           “Maybe I didn’t.”

What a comeback, bro. This is weak af coming from a guy who tore down Riko on national TV, just sayin.

           “There has to be a better way.”

           “You could occasionally grow a spine,” Andrew suggested. “I know it’s a difficult concept for someone whose kneejerk reaction is to run away at the first sign of trouble, but try it sometime. You might actually like it.”

           “What I’d like is to put this phone through your teeth.”

           “See, that’s more interesting.”

           “I’m not here for you entertainment,” Neil said.

           “But, as expected, you are talented enough to multitask.”

I’m loving this so, so damn much. Andrew is destroying your ass with these comebacks, Neil, and I’m on the back waving a styrofoam finger, hollering at everything he says.

I would like to also add that Andrew is entirely sober for these interactions. This is pure, undiluted Minyard sass.

And as always – never a one-on-one Andreil Interaction™ without some feels at the end:

           “I don’t care if you use this phone tomorrow. I don’t care if you never use it again. But you are going to keep it on you because one day you might need it..” Andrew put a finger to the underside of Neil’s chin and forced Neil’s head up until they were looking at each other.

Hombre…………………….….. das v gay.

           “One day you’re not going to run. You’re going to think about what I promised you and you’re going to make the call. Tell me you understand.”

           Neil’s voice had left him, but he managed a nod.

:’)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) I’m fine I’m fine leave me here to fucking p e r i s h.

Neil takes this brief honesty hour to try and get back on that weird call from the Oakland PD Andrew got at the start of the book, however that ends honesty hour because Andrew just brushes him off:

           “Children’s Services is opening an investigation into one of my foster fathers. Pig Higgins knew I lived with them, so he called me for testimony. (…) Richard Spear is an uninteresting but relatively harmless human being. They won’t find anything to pin on him.”

Bull-fucking-shit. No way. That was much too shocked a reaction for a little thing like that.

Whatever. All in due time, all in due time.

Onto better and funnier subjects: This is the wonderful, wonderful point where our favourite hobo is finally introduced to the wonders of modern technology.

           By the time Neil made it to the athletes’ dining hall for lunch he had twenty messages. Most of them were from Nicky, idle comments about nothing in particular.

Nicky <33333

Also twenty messages, that is hilarious if you consider that Neil jumps out of his skin like an anxious baby rabbit with an orange bandana every time his phone goes off.

           Neil didn’t know what to make of it. The Foxes spent seven hours together at practices every day and roomed with each other at Fox Tower. How they had anything left to say to each other was beyond him.

It’s called having friends, dude, you should try it some time.

           He wanted to turn the messaging off somehow or tell them this wasn’t why he had a phone. Phones were for emergencies, not running commentary on a teacher’s boring lecture.

Nicky continues to spam him with texts the next few days, which, honestly, big mood.

If I like you, especially if our friendship is just being newly established, I will fucking blow up your phone with wholesome memes and weird 3am thoughts. Watch me.

This tactic has made some good ass friendships though, so no regrets.

However, for Nicky it’s not just all fun and friendship-making:

           Halfway through [Nicky’s] rant about a current class project Neil’s phone hummed. Neil answered without thinking. It was a smiley face from Nicky. Neil looked up at Nicky, not understanding.

           “See?” Nicky sounded pleased. “That’s much better. That’s how a normal human being looks when they check their phone, Neil.”

Dude. Did you just………….. blow up his phone all week………… just to make sure he’s comfortable using it…………………. I CRY???????

           “Question,” Nicky said. “If I hadn’t been bothering you would you have touched that phone at all this week?” (…)

           “Question again: Do you honestly think you’d have used it if you had an emergency?”

NICKY WHEN DID YOU BECOME SUCH A GOOD PERSON AGAIN I’M SORRY I BRIEFLY UNSTANNED YOU LET ME FUCKING L O V E Y O U

           “Anyway, you’re welcome. I just saved you at least two hundred dollars in intensive therapy.”

MY DUDE <33333333333

Nicky is a wonderful person, Neil knows what an emoji is, all is good in the world again.

Next chapter: Fun banquet times! Sass! Shade! Fashion! And from all I know, possibly murder yet again! Stay tuned!

---

If you like what I do here and you want to help me continue writing, please consider buying me a coffee! Thank you so much <3

[nickireadstfc]

The Foxhole Court, Chapter 6 – Now That We’re All Here, What The Fuck Is Going On

In which we give out awards to characters we barely know, I have questions about demisexuality, Neil turns up the Gay Angst™ and the gang finally gets together although some of them could have fucking stayed home.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The Foxhole Court.

           Neil left reality behind when he stepped into Dan’s room. Spending a month with Andrew’s cracked lot and a volatile Wymack had almost irreparably damaged his image of the Foxes. Now he was sipping a glass of sweet iced tea and eating cookies Renee had brought with her from home.

I’m…….. so…………. What did we do to deserve those angels……………….

           [Dan] seemed friendly enough now that Andrew was out of sight, but Neil had already noted her spine. She was made of sterner stuff, his mother might have said. Neil guessed she had to be to captain a ragtag team like this.

Don’t think I forgot the vow I made a few chapters ago:

Well deserved, we honour you and your general badassery with this award today. May your spirit inspire us, guide us, and get our asses back in line when we try being Extra™.

Am I prematurely praising this character? Probably.

Do I care? Absolutely fucking not.

           Her roommate Renee was a mystery. (…) Nicky had called her the sweetheart of the team. Neil understood why as he listened to her talk. He had no idea how she qualified for the Foxes’ halfway-house team.

Murderous snowflake, I’m calling it. She probably has the darkest backstory of ‘em all. I’m so beyond intrigued by this character, she has instantly risen to the ranks of my favourites as well.

But all fun girly hangout times must end, and so they drive to the Fox Tower to finally get all the gang together.

Speaking of gangs! Neil’s favourite people, Andrew and the Murder Monster Squad, are back!

           “It’s not like we’re going to kill him,” [Nicky said.]

           “Kevin already tried,” Matt pointed out.

           “Nah, that was just a love tap.”

Nicky knows about the choking kink, you guys.

In an attempt to get the Kandreil ship sailing again make them all settle their differences, Andrew invites Neil to join them on a fun party trip in Columbia next weekend. There is absolutely no way this can go wrong, I’m sure of it.

           “Maybe [Allison and Seth] will get in a crash and won’t make it,” Nicky said hopefully.

           “Really, Nicky,” Renee said. “That’s a little inappropriate, don’t you think?”

           She said it gently, with a hint of a smile on her face, but Neil still felt the rebuke. It was subtler but somehow deadlier than the dirty looks Matt and Dan were sending Nicky, maybe because she was so sweetly disappointed in Nicky’s attitude. Nicky dropped his gaze from hers and gave an uncomfortable shrug.

Honestly, who is this Renee and why does she have such magical powers.

The way I see it, there are two ways this could go: 1) She actually has no deadly backstory (a sad, tragic one at best) and she owns the team’s hearts through sheer niceness, or 2) she is the murderous snowflake I appointed her earlier and has killed like a dozen men in her life, could slit your throat while simultaneously baking sweet cookies for her team, and is generally deadlier than all of them combined.

I’m hoping for the latter.

New character arrivals! The last ones for a longer time, I suppose, so let’s cherish them.

           Seth Gordon was the first into the room and he brought an attitude problem with him. He didn’t look happy to see any of them after only a month apart and he barely grunted at the staff in greeting. He took a second to scowl fiercely at Neil, but that was it.

Chill the fuck out, my dude. I’m taking it back, I don’t cherish him. He may be the only character I don’t instantly like, or at least find somewhat interesting.

Seriously, if you only come here to instantly non-verbally shit on everyone I’ve taken into my heart so far, you can fuck off right again.

           Allison Reynolds was only a few seconds behind him. (…) Everyone else was in jeans and rumpled from moving in. Allison looked ready for a photo shoot with perfect platinum curls, spiked heels, and a skintight dress.

Okay but. Is it intentional that she has the same name as the basket case from The Breakfast Club???? Because that just makes her overdressed outfit even more hilarious.

Also, glad to see the Extra™ represented on the female side as well.

           [Neil’s] skin stung with the memory of his mother’ heavy blows. Life on the run meant no time for friends or relationships, but that didn’t stop Neil from checking out girls as he grew older. His mother’s watchful eye noticed his lingering looks and increasing distraction. Afraid he’d spill their secrets over a childish crush, she beat him like she could kill his hormones with her bare hands. A few years of this violence and Neil finally got the hint: girls were too dangerous to consort with.

Are you telling me that his mom physically abused him for being attracted to girls. That is beyond shitty. That is so, so fucked up. Mom Josten is losing so many previously gained sympathy points right now.

Real talk time, though: How does that tie in with his demisexuality? Because evidently, he did have sexual attraction to complete strangers when he was younger. Is this suggesting that his mother’s abuse made him demisexual? Because that is problematic on so many levels, most of all because it invalidates demi people as it is suggesting you can be beaten into a sexual orientation.

The logical assumption – for me right now at this point of reading – would be that he is actually bi/pan, however his childhood abuse represses that and makes him uncomfortable in his sexual attraction to women as a Pavlovian response, similar to gay kids beaten by their homophobic parents.

Or is there just something else entirely that I’m not getting? There must be, as Nora Sakavic herself said that Neil is demisexual (or so I’ve been told).

Or am I just reading too much into this altogether?

This is v v interesting. If anyone has anything to add to this, do shoot me an ask, but please – please! – keep it spoiler-free.

(If you’re in doubt over whether something counts as a spoiler or not: Don’t send it. I’m serious.)

Back to the matter at hand: Now that all the Foxes have huddled into the Foxy Hol(e)y Court, it’s time for some real talk from Wymack.

           “Questions, comments, concerns? Anyone?”

           Seth pointed at Neil and said angrily, “I’m fucking concerned–“

           Neil guessed Wymack had heard this argument before, because he spoke over Seth like he didn’t hear him. “All right, then. Moving on…”

Ohhh, the shade. Get fucked, Seth.

#dicksoutforwymack

           “The death threats [they received last season] were creative, though,” Nicky said. “Maybe this time they’ll follow through and actually kill one of us. Let’s vote. I nominate Seth.”

Me too, buddy.

           “Fuck you, faggot,” Seth said.

           “I don’t like that word,” Andrew said. “Don’t use it.”

My MAN. <333

           “I would say ‘fuck you, freak’, but then you wouldn’t know which one of you I was talking to.”

           “Don’t talk to us at all,” Aaron said. “You never have anything useful to say.”

Get fuckin rekt, pissbaby.

You come into my house, you insult my newly adopted characters, you can fuck the fuck off.

Sadly, Wymack breaks up what had been shaping up to be the diss battle of the decade by dropping the Edgar Allan bombshell on them. The entire team freaks out (obvs), but no one more than Andrew – however, it’s weirdly not the Ravens’ transfer he’s mad about, it’s simply the fact that Kevin didn’t tell him.

           “When were you going to tell me?”

           “I told him not to,” Wymack said.

           “You picked Coach over me?” Andrew asked, and laughed. “Ohhhh my. Favoritism, deception, betrayal, how familiar. After everything I’ve done for you.”

What, what have you done for him, I need to know.

           “It’ll be fine,” Andrew said. “I promised, didn’t I? Don’t you believe me?”

           It took a while, but at last Kevin visibly relaxed. The dead edge melted out of his eyes as he absorbed every ounce of strength Andrew could give him. The unwavering trust Kevin had in Andrew was amazing. How Kevin thought one psychotic midget could protect him against a family as twisted as the Moriyamas, Neil didn’t know.

Honestly, I can’t stress enough how interesting I find their dynamic. They switched from mortal enemies to BFFs within a season, and now they switch from viciously aggressive to almost tender within seconds. I need to know all their backstory and I need to know it now.

(Also, where’s the fanfiction at.)

           “Why does Kevin trust Andrew?”

           Renee smiled. “Because he knows he can.”

           “With so much at stake,” Neil pressed, as if she didn’t understand what was going on as well as he did. Maybe she didn’t. (…) She wasn’t like them. She was normal, or as normal as the Foxes could hope to be.

No, she fucking isn’t, don’t ask me how I know this I just know okay I know my murderous snowflake.

After this, Neil goes back to his roots in reminding us that he is, in fact, the Overlord of Angst™ in this book.

I joke about this, but those passages are always really well-written and super immersive, that is some bomb ass writing right there. Case in point:

           Kevin’s fear cut him wide open because Neil knew that feeling. Every day Neil woke up and relearned how to breathe. He gave himself two minutes every morning to calculate his chances of getting caught, weigh the benefits of staying wherever he was, and talk himself through his fear.

          Did Kevin do the same? The dead look Kevin turned on Andrew today was the same one Neil saw in his reflection.

Also ayy, back at it again with the Kevin/Neil parallels.

Following that is a lengthy description of Neil’s anxiety that I cannot quote simply because it’s too long. The key elements are this: Kevin, in all his fucked-up misery, still has Andrew to lean onto, while Neil is absolutely alone; Neil is deeply jealous of Kevin’s life, specifically of Kevin and Andrew’s trusting relationship; yet even though he hates him Neil still desperately wants to stick around to see Kevin succeed, and I fucking cry in a corner because that is too much for my poor shipping heart.

Give a girl a break.

           Finally [Seth] threw his hands up in disgust und turned on Neil. “And to make it all worse, I get stuck with a fucking amateur as a sub!”

Did I want a break? There it is. Assbrain McFuckface has graced us with his presence once again.

           Seth glared at Neil. (…) “We were supposed to make it this year. I trusted [Kevin] to pick our sub because he said he could get us past the championship death match. But this is repulsive.”

Your face is repulsive, Jesus Christ. Take a fucking chill pill, Gordon. You know this guy ten minutes and you’ve never even seen him play at all. Maybe try thinking outside of your tiny monkey brain and consider judging his game before you shit all over him.

(If anyone of you really likes Seth: I’m really sorry. But also: Why tf would you.)

Matt to the rescue!

           “At least give Neil a chance,” Matt said.

           “Day’s fucking with us,” Seth said. “It isn’t right.”

           “This attitude isn’t right,” Matt said, pointing at him.

You go, tall Billie Joe Armstrong. You’re good people.

The chapter’s almost done, save for one peculiar thing that happens towards the very end: Nicky loses Andrew – bad enough – and for some reason, turns to Renee to find him.

           Neil knew someone picked up by the way Renee smiles, but he didn’t know how Renee could smile so warmly when she was speaking to Andrew.

           “Did I wake you?” she asked in lieu of hello. “I was hoping to talk to you tonight, but Nicky says you’ve wandered off. Oh? All right, then. I’ll try again tomorrow. Lunch, perhaps? Okay. Good night.”

They go on LUNCH DATES??? I’m so fucking invested in this Brotp. Goalie bffs 4 lyfe.

But seriously, who is Renee and why is she so magical.

Find out next time, I guess.