Chapter Text
August 2009
Neil Josten’s Fifth year at Palmetto State University
Making Court was never a dream of Neil Josten’s. Or, at least, never one he allowed himself to have. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t dreamt of the day he would walk onto the Evermore Court with the best Exy players in all of the United States to compete for the chance to be the best players in the World. No matter, nightmares of his father carving into his face when he found him always overshadowed such dreams anyways. Now that his father was gone - dead - those dreams started to surface a little bit more. He always imagined he would be there with Kevin Day, that had never changed, but now he dared to dream of Andrew Minyard joining him there as well. He knew Andrew claimed to have no interest in being Court like the two of them, but Neil still dreamed of it despite himself.
So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him when he heard that Andrew was offered a place on Court and he turned it down. Neil could hardly fathom it as he sat on the phone with Andrew in his dorm room of Fox Tower. It was a Tuesday night early August, his fifth year at Palmetto and he felt a detached anger at the news. Robin looked up at him when he exclaimed.
“You’re joking. You turned them down? Why the hell would you do that?”
Andrew’s voice was apathetic on the other end, “Not all of us are junkies like you, Josten.”
“Andrew-” He wanted to argue with him, but it was too late to change anything. Not to mention he knew there was nothing he could say anyways. Andrew had his reasons, whatever they may be, and Neil wasn't one to try and change his mind. Instead he took a measured breath and felt the corner of his mouth quirk up, “Is Day pissed.”
A puff of air that may have been something like a laugh echoed through the line, “What do you think?”
Neil couldn’t help his smile. Kevin may be what some might call a friend, but his ever patronizing and infuriating personality always had Neil finding a little joy in his irritation. Kevin had just called the other night to ream him about getting the team ready for the upcoming season. The argument was as insufferable as always, but he had to admit it was nice to hear from Kevin. He was currently playing for both the Denver Lions and practicing with the National Court team but he could never quite give up entirely on his Foxes.
“Kevin isn’t used to being told no I’m sure,” Neil said as he leaned back on the beanbag chair, ignoring Robin’s questioning look. He could still feel a prickle under his skin at the thought of Andrew saying no to playing for the National team, but this was the same man who said no to the number one ranked Edgar Allen Ravens in High School just because he could. Neil also had to admit that his frustration was partially stemming from jealousy. He hadn’t heard anything from Court, although they had scouts attend several Foxes games the previous year. Neil still had his entire final year ahead of him, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to not have an offer, but it still got under his skin. Kevin Day trained with Court while he was at Edgar Allen and balanced it with school.
“Telling him no is one of my favorite past times.” Andrew’s answer came after a surprising stretch of silence and Neil yearned to lighten his mood.
Neil felt another mischievous smile and stood from the beanbag chair to head towards his room and out of earshot of Robin and their other roommate Andler. He held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he pushed the door open.
“Good thing you don’t like telling me no that much.”
Andrew was quiet for a moment, most likely deciding if he wanted to play this game right now. He settled on a mild, “I’ve learned that it never stops you from doing stupid things so I’ve stopped trying.”
“You do seem to enjoy telling me yes, though.” Neil pressed on, feeling his cheeks flush. Andrew had moved out to Indianapolis to play for the Stingrays early that summer and Neil still had a hard time flirting over the phone. He missed their easy banter, lazy kisses, and demanding touches. The thought had his ears warming.
Andrew seemed to notice the shift in Neil and his voice took on a new edge. “Ask me a question then.”
Neil hesitated. “How’s Indianapolis?”
“Wrong question. Ask me another.”
So Andrew did want to play this game then, Neil swallowed. “Do you miss me?”
Andrew scoffed, “How can I possibly miss you when I can’t go a day without you bugging me?”
Neil grinned, to anyone else it would seem an incredibly rude thing to say, but from Andrew it was as close to affection as he could really exepct. Neil wouldn’t relent. “I thought this was supposed to be a yes or no question?”
Andrew said nothing so Neil asked again, voice low. “Do you miss me, Andrew?”
The silence stretched before he finally heard an answer.
“I hate you.”
And from Andrew, that was pretty much the same thing.