Work Text:
The dorm room was eerily quiet. Save for the sound of the ongoing Exy match between the Trojans and the Ravens. Even the audience of the match and the commentators seems to be shocked into silence. The foxes themselves were frozen in different states of shock. Except, of course, Andrew. Who looked as bored as usual. And Nicky. Who kept poking Matt repeatedly while staring at Kevin.
Neil followed Nicky's gaze and snorted when he looked at Kevin. Poor guy looked like his eyes might pop out of his skull sometime soon. The whiskey bottle forgotten. Then Neil focused his gaze on Andrew. Who simply poured the can of beer all over Kevin while keeping his eyes trained on the screen. Even it wasn't enough to unfreeze the idiot.
"Leave him alone Minyard. His celebrity crush just broke his heart."
Allison said from where she lay on the floor with her head on Renee's lap.
Well she had a point. Despite Kevin's sputtering, any fool with a pair of good eyes could see how Kevin's obsession over a certain sunshine captain was no bloody where near heterosexual. But that wasn't the main point at the moment.
Because all the collage Exy fans around the country were holding their breath out of pure shock. Because, Jeremy Knox, Captain Van Sunshine of USC Trojans, just got his very first yellow card of collage Exy life. And judging from the tension in Trojan's sets of shoulders, they were not in the mood to be the poster team of sportsmanship tonight.
And Kevin, the hopeless simp, was simply shocked out of the reality.
Sara Alvarez, Jersey number five, Backliner of USC Trojans. Also known as the most angry Trojan player in the entire fucking universe at the moment. Alvarez thought while scowling at the Raven striker in front of her. Her gaze slipped pass her mark and landed on the familiar gold jersey with number one printed in red. Well.. Maybe she isn't the most angry Trojan inside of those damned plexiglass walls, but she sure as hell didn't want to antagonize Knox tonight. Unless she want to see what is like to be at the receiving end of the furious blue glare that she was willing to bet to be trained on the Raven backliner number nine.
She saw Jean tightening his grip on the racquet as the Raven striker said something. It was too loud for her to hear clearly. But Alvarez was willing to bet her stereo system that whatever the brat said wasn't friendly.
The Ravens always have been like this. Wild, willing to break both rules and the bones of the opponents to win a match if that's what it takes. And even after Riko's death and all the changings of leaderships and the changes they made, most of the Ravens were still the same. And the Trojans would've let them. To say whatever the fuck they want, to make all the Trojan war centered insults, to trip players and to make illegal body checks. But never to hurt Jean. That's where the Trojans drew the line.
Only a few members and coach Rhemann knew the details about Jean's time in the nest, but the others had something they loved about the gloomy French boy. Maybe it's when he helped Sofya with her defending skills, maybe it's when he caught that freshman Roy when he tripped down the staircase or maybe it's when he taught them the Raven drills.
One by one, breaths hitching every time his past fought against him, Dragging him under the darkness of his past, he taught them what he knew, and screw her pride, Alvarez would be lying if she said Jean Moreau isn't the best backliner she's ever seen. But more than anything, the boy was a sweetheart. Hard to get to know, yes. But if you are willing to go through all the staring downs and snappy remarks, you'd be eventually allowed to know that boy inside the armor. The boy who currently- The fuck?
Alvarez paused her appreciating-Jean-Moreau moment as the Raven striker did another illegal bodycheck and sent Jean stumbling. But not before he sent the ball flying towards Jeremy. And Jeremy –Bless his reflexes – caught it and shoot it towards the goal. It lit up red. Three to one. Trojans favor.
And then Jeremy punched his backliner mark.
The entire court shared a what the fuck moment with a deafening silence.
The referee handed Jeremy a yellow card as the Raven backliner pulled his helmet off to reveal a bloody nose. And scowled at Jeremy.
All the years of knowing Jeremy Knox, Alvarez could name only a handful of moments where Jeremy lost his temper. And she's never seen him angry inside of the plexiglass walls. Never insulted an opponent. And that's how she knew Ravens are screwed. Because if Jeremy risked his first yellow card to punch a backliner, that means he had a reason to do so. And whatever it is, the Trojans are going to make them pay.
“ Still think this captain is better than the last one Moreau? How long do you think it would take him to finally realize that a broken crow is no Raven? Never a Trojan? How long-? ”
If Jeremy can't do anything more than punching one backliner, Alvarez sure as hell gonna do whatever it takes to shut those suckers up. And she aimed at the head of the mouthy striker. And was rewarded with a yellow card. Hopefully, the idiot would think twice before hurting her family.
Family.
Oh shit. That's what is happening then. The protectiveness. The willingness of the Trojans. The way Sofya was pushing herself to block every Striker who dared to come closer to the goal. The way the dealers were making the Raven offense line pull back with all their might. Trojans are tired of being the perfect team. They've had enough of Ravens's rudeness. And they are forgetting everything they learned about sportsmanship and throwing yoga class breathing exercises out of the window. If Ravens wanna play dirty, the Trojans were willing to unleash hell. But they weren't willing to risk a red card. But Alvarez was more than willing.
She knew that Laila knew about it the second she was dragged few steps closer to the goal by a familiar hand around her bicep.
“ You sure?”
Laila shouted at her while her helmet muffled it to the point of inaudibility. And not for the first time, Alvarez was surprised to realize how much Laila knew about her. She nodded and calculated pros and cons. Pros; If she can punch that striker hard enough to take him out, he won't be hurting Jean. Or anyone of the Trojans for that matter. Cons; She'll get a red card, Will miss the death matches, and earn a penalty to the Ravens... Plus disappoint Coach. And that's why she hated logics. She kissed her self preservation good bye and took the swing when the striker was close enough.
Red Card.
The first ever red card in the USC Trojans' history. If it was another team, the fans would been disappointed, the teammates would be furious, coach would be annoyed. But Trojans were different. And that's why when she walked back out of the glass walls, a Raven with a possibly bruised ribcage limping out before her, the team moved to pat her back. To knock her helmet to offer her a determined grin. Even Jeremy moved to clack racquets with her while offering a tight smile.
She walked past coach without pausing to talk and marched straight into the dark showers of the away changing rooms. And momentarily wondered what is like to live in this bat cave of a place.
According to the latest Exy magazines, if you look up the definition of cheerful, a picture of Jeremy Knox is pasted there. But Jeremy himself wasn't feeling that cheerful. Not even after winning a match against Edgar Allen Ravens.
He was thinking about how disappointed coach Rhemann probably is at the moment. Because it was under Jeremy's captaincy the Trojans stepped out of the court that night with their first red card. But apparently, none of his teammates considered it as a sobering reminder. The dark changing area of the guys locker room was currently being used as a chitchat area for the entire team. Laila and Alvarez were passing Vodka and Champagne and Whiskey bottles around the room. Laughing like they just didn't let the Ravens get the best of them.
With a shock Jeremy realized it wasn't his teammates he was angry at. No. He was furious at himself. How stupid he was to convince Jean to play against his old team. How stupid he was to let a backliner make him angry enough to throw a punch. How, this close to his final few college Exy matches, he broke his perfect record of zero cards. How he disappointed coach and all the fans out there. How- oh god how mad Jean possibly is at him to not even walk into the changing room without talking to coach
The French backliner in the question marched through the opened doors of the room. Silver eyes blazing with fury. And apparently, despite her bravery, Alvarez has lost her survival instincts somewhere on the court. Because, as soon as Jean was in her line of sight, she skipped towards him. And opened her mouth to say something.
But Jean literally lifted her up by the hood of her USC hoodie and practically growled at her.
“What the hell were you thinking? HOW MANY TIMES SHOULD I TELL ALL OF YOU TO STAY OUT OF MY PROBLEMS? AND HOW DARE YOU RUIN EVERYTHING BY GETTING A FUCKING RED CARD? HOW-”
Half of the team slowly backed away while Sofya slipped out of the door. Probably to fetch coach. And since Alvarez looked like she might even smack Jean with the bottle in her hand if he won't put her down, Jeremy decided to play the peacemaker.
“Jean. Hey Jean! Put her down okay? It's-”
He didn't even get to finish the sentence before Jean pushed him against the nearest locker. His hands fisted in the front of Jeremy's jacket. Their noses nearly touching and Jean's breath fanning Jeremy's face. From the corner of his eye, Jeremy saw the others slipping out of the room. Dragging a very confused Coach Rhemann with them.
“Don't. Fight. In. My. Wars. Knox. Those are mine to deal with.”
Jean said. And for a fraction of a second Jeremy wondered what would it be like to just lean in a bit. To press his lips against Jean's extremely kissable lips.
“My eyes are up here.”
Jean whispered. Voice soft and silver eyes sparkling. But not from fury. Not this time. And he pressed his lips against Jeremy's as the blonde boy was already blushing and sputtering a feeble excuse.
“ Not to ruin the moment. But, Just because those are your wars, that doesn't mean I want you to fight alone Jean. Let me be at least a knight in your war? Also I'm pretty sure you owe Alvarez a small apology.”
Jeremy gasped out as soon as his lips were free. Earning a small smile from the boy in front of him.
“Sir Knox indeed have a nice ring to it.” Jean said while leaning forward once again to capture Jeremy's lips in his own.
And in the next morning, Alvarez woke up to a big basket full of chocolates in front of her dorm room. And the said basket had a carefully written note in familiar and neat cursive with it.
"Thank you"
That red card definitely was worth it.