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Kevin Day had very uncomplicated expectations of how someone should be, especially how the Foxes should be, or any Exy player for that matter. Exy should matter more than breathing, everything was about the game; new drills, new freshmen, new strategies and most of all, new wins. All he ever asked for was effort and work and training. Most days, that seemed too hard a task for all of them. As one of the sons on Exy he'd been forced to devote his life to the sport and he'd discovered that his devotion wasn't just obligation anymore. It was a lifestyle. Somehow, the rest of the Foxes didn't seem to understand this and Neil most of all, despite how he played, he was prone to distractions.
Kevin woke up on a muggy April morning to Nicky still snoring away cheerily (cause fuck, that kid was cheery even in his sleep) and kitchen noises of two people banging around making breakfast passive aggressively. But even Kevin Day, Queen of Exy, liked to lie in bed for the few extra minutes before his alarm sounded, where he allowed himself to clear Exy from his head in whatever time remained. He listened to Nicky and (presumably) the twins and tried to hear rain or wind, but everything outside this dorm was silent and he enjoyed the clarity of defined noises against the lack of static. Like a rock in a pond, his alarm sounded and his whole body jerked as he reached to smack the screaming device into silence. He untangled himself from his messy sheets, a reminder of his fitful sleep and the reason why he was not particularly content this morning anyway - even five minutes of peace couldn't shake sleep deprivation. He kicked Nicky's mattress on his way out, hoping that might somewhat stir the still-sleeping bastard from the dream he was probably having about Erik.
Neither of the twins acknowledged his entrance as he manoeuvred between them to make his pre-practice smoothie. It wasn't a characteristic of either to make friendly conversation and Kevin didn't know how to do anything but talk about Exy, so the atmosphere remained silent as Aaron cleaned up and Andrew made toast. Kevin threw miscellaneous fruit and some yoghurt into the blender, he liked to pre-cut his fruit for maximum movement at six in the morning. He turned the power straight to the highest number and waited one, two, three, four seconds before twisting it back. While Kevin emptied the blender's content into a glass, Aaron hurried into the bedroom to be with the only one of them he could really stand. Andrew leaned against the kitchen counter, chewing his toast while Kevin watched his profile. Kevin downed the smoothie quickly.
'Where’s Neil this morning?' Kevin asked; sometimes Neil liked to turn up for breakfast with Andrew. There was nothing more sickening than waking up just to walk in on your roommate and his boyfriend aggressively making-out against the kitchen counter, right in front of the blender you needed to make your smoothie. This first time it happened, Kevin threw up (though he had been hungover).
Andrew shrugged, turning to watch Kevin with his constant, neutral gaze, 'Pissing off Riko, probably', he said without any sign of worry. Kevin knew that Andrew felt the opposite, he'd let himself lose his composure once and that was enough.
But Kevin still flinched at the mention of the Raven's captain, his old best friend. 'Better not be', Kevin added hurriedly, as he turned away to rinse his glass in the sink.
'It's okay, you'll die of alcohol poisoning after our first game with the Ravens anyway', Andrew deadpanned.
Kevin flinched again. While he was accustomed to Andrew's detached manner (especially now he was sober), his blatant approach to realism still caused Kevin emotional grief. Andrew was aware of Kevin's heavy silences after the comments in question, but his personality refused to acknowledge them and Andrew never apologised for anything he did either.
'You coming with me to practice?' Kevin asked instead, turning his attention back to Andrew.
Andrew's sharp eyes flicked towards the door for a moment and back to Kevin's face. He nodded.
Kevin disappeared into the bedroom where Nicky was waking up, Aaron chattering away as he packed his bag for practice. The conversation suddenly halted on Aaron's end, but Nicky filled in the gaps as he was so adept at doing.
'God, Monday mornings just hurt and it's going to be even worse in a few hours. I can't believe the season is starting already. Where's Neil this morning?' He looked at Andrew, who shrugged and continued to pack his bag.
Kevin and Andrew had advanced enough at this point to appreciate each other's company in silence and they remained that way as they left Aaron and Nicky behind in Fox Tower. There was a light fog hanging over the campus and Kevin was feeling anticipation for the warm Spring day ahead (because even an Exy star needed to dabble in little luxuries like this). But it cleared as he and Andrew kept in stride with each other and they could see the Vixen's practicing on the oval adjacent to the stadium. Laughter and shouting filling the air between themselves and the Vixens.
It took Kevin a few seconds to realise that Andrew had stopped several feet behind him and was staring at the Vixen's with something of mingled confusion and amusement warring with anger on his usually neutral face.
'What the fuck', he said in what sounded like a disbelief far removed from his usual behaviour, he seemed to momentarily forget about Kevin as he took a few tentative paces forward before striding directly towards the cheer team.
'Andrew, what the hell are you doing we have to go to practice!' Kevin yelled at Andrew's retreating form.
'Are you seeing this?' Andrew shouted back, his eyes looking at Kevin's with anticipation and his finger pointing at the Vixen's as they threw someone into the air. Kevin watched the person fall back into the arms of the team and then be thrown again several seconds later. Kevin followed its ascent. A small, yet surprisingly buff form with jorts and ̶
Kevin felt that surely he'd misjudged what cheerleaders actually looked like, but none of the other cheerleaders looked like his starting striker… He marched forward until he was close enough to confirm that it was in fact his own, Neil Josten, being thrown into the air, looking like he was having the time of his life as his evident skill shined through. Despite that, Kevin could feel his frustration building. Many of the Vixen's had noticed he and Andrew staring by now and broke into even more ferocious laughter, some of them had to break away to accommodate the laughing and this distracted Neil enough that he asked to be let down.
A grin spread across his face as he approached Andrew and met his bored expression, his eyes flicking from each of the Vixen's to Neil's face. He had at least composed himself now.
'Your time on the court looks like it's been wasted next to that', Andrew stated.
Neil grinned at Andrew and ducked his head a little to level their eyes. 'Like what you see?' He asked.
Andrew huffed, 'I don't ever like what I see', he sniped back.
Neil continued to grin and finally turned his attention to Kevin. 'Hey', he said, his cheeks flushed.
'What in the… How are…', Kevin couldn't find the words, 'you promised me your game, Josten'.
Neil shrugged, 'You've still got my game'.
Kevin shook his head, the anger rising again, 'What if you'd gotten injured? You wouldn't be able to play and I wouldn't have your game'. He shook his head again and huffed when Neil rolled his eyes.
'Come on, Kevin, I did cheer for like five years', he replied, somehow smiling even more. Apparently he got higher of endorphins and adrenalin than everyone else.
Kevin would be late for practice at this rate; he turned on his heel and walked away from Neil's laughter. He didn't have time for idiots like Neil, who risked their necks being flung around like circus freaks instead of playing Exy. All he wanted was effort and training, why was that so hard to understand?