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Kevin is obsessed.
It's not a surprise. Everyone who knows him is aware of his stubbornness. Who else would purposely become ambidextrous just to play the silly game called exy, after all?
So, determination could be considered his middle name. Kevin Determination Day. It has a ring to it. If Kevin wants something, he'll do anything to get it. Whatever it takes. So when he gets the bright idea of making Neil enjoy eating vegetables, he won’t back down.
Kevin has a plan. He has been plotting it for a long time, considering everything that can go wrong and weighing the consequences of his actions. He doesn't like thinking of the latter, though. After all, it’s not just Neil’s sharp tongue that might hurt him, but also Andrew's knives. He doesn’t think it’ll come to that though. If his plan works, everything should turn out perfectly.
1.
Today is a perfect day for said plan to be put into action.
When Dan informed the lot of them of having planned another lunch together, Kevin was on cloud nine. This would be the perfect excuse. He saw the worried glance Dan gave him when his face lit up like freaking lights on a new year tree, but he pretended that he didn't. Her worries weren’t unfounded, though, as he didn't usually get so excited about team bonding events. Since realizing that his plan can finally come to fruition he has been even more confident, unstoppable really.
At least that’s what Kevin thought, when he volunteered to bring Neil lunch. He was given a suspicious glance from the striker but nothing else. So far everything was going according to plan.
And now Kevin slides into his seat across from Neil's with two trays. He places Neil’s tray in front of him and tries to look inconspicuous. If he doesn’t show any signs that something is happening, surely Neil won’t realize anything? It isn't hard owing to his constant interactions with the press, however the press and the possibility of Neil Josten eating vegetables are absolutely different things.
Kevin fumbles his own vegetables with the fork, being too excited to eat. The foxes are chatting loudly about anything and everything, so Neil shouldn't notice a slight difference in his food. Especially not as he’s discussing something with Matt that’s clearly not exy.
So far the plan to disguise the vegetable salad as fruit salad is going well.
Kevin holds his breath involuntarily, waiting for the striker's reaction. Neil doesn't even look at his tray, poking some vegetables without knowing it. And Kevin can't help internally starting to celebrate his little victory. A silly smile mischievously threatens to stretch on his mouth and he purses his lips into a thin line to suppress it.
Kevin's joy immediately disappears when he catches Andrew staring at him across from the table, and the world freezes. Kevin swears internally, and a cold drop of sweat runs down his spine. One word from Andrew and all his efforts will go down the drain. Andrew considers him, unimpressed, holding his half-closed book with one hand.
Panic hides behind Kevin's widened green eyes. He wordlessly begs Andrew not to tell Neil anything, though Kevin knows Andrew will choose Neil over him pretty much always, but Andrew just stares at him. Kevin's aware he can't stare down Andrew (he wouldn't even try), yet he just can't take his eyes away. He's 110% sure Andrew reads him like an open book.
Andrew's eyes eventually slide to Neil, scanning. After he hasn't found anything suspicious, he gazes at Neil's tray. Kevin can barely breathe. He has already realized that he'll be buried six feet under, when Andrew relaxes and returns to his book.
Kevin's clearly confused but he doesn't complain. Even if Andrew's motives is something he's not meant to understand, so mote it be.
Only now does Kevin notice how fast his heart is beating. Does it mean his plan isn't lost yet? He shrugs, pokes his own vegetables and brings the fork to his mouth. His lips are numb and the food is surprisingly tasteless from his nerves.
Kevin looks up at Neil just to watch him put the fork into his mouth. He's about to react in triumph when Neil winces and stops chewing as he realizes what just happened. Blue eyes shoot up at Kevin, and if looks could kill, it would be the end for Day. Neil demonstratively spits the food onto his plate without breaking eye contact.
The Foxes fall silent to watch the show.
"You had one job Kevin." Neil rants, taking a serviette to wipe his mouth. "Only one. Is it so hard to distinguish fruits from your tasteless overrated légumes ?"
Kevin huffs. "My légumes aren't tasteless, and for your information, I care about your health. If you want to join the Court you should eat something other than fruit."
Neil makes a face. "Can you care about my health without replacing my lunch with shit?"
"Firstly, it's not shit, it’s healthy for your gut flora and tastes good, and secondly, it’ll give you a better grip on exy if you eat healthier. But you know what, eat whatever you want, I couldn't care less.” It comes out as a snarl, a wave of annoyance flinching through him, though he tries not to let it show.
"Wonderful, thank you for permission to eat what I want. So generous of you, how did I live without it before?"
"Shut up, both of you," Dan says, interfering, glancing between two of them. "Neil, go and get your actual lunch. Kevin," she sighed, messaging her temples, "just eat yours."
Neil huffs, standing up and carrying his tray to the food waste bin. Kevin only rolls his eyes. Foxes return to their usual chatter. His glance slides over Andrew. Minyard doesn't even bat an eye, but Kevin does notice a twitch of his lips. Not that he has energy to try to decode it.
2.
This evening is colder than the previous. The setting sun has already tinted the sky with maroon and orange shades. The breeze strokes their cheeks, making them slightly reddish, carrying ash and the smoke of a smoldering cigarette in between his fingers away. They're sitting at the top of Fox Tower as so many times before.
Neil narrows his eyes at the way its rays hit his eyes, and turns his gaze to Andrew. They sit almost shoulder to shoulder, leaving little space to be between them. Neil can't help but notice the way the light bounces through the blonde hair, making it shimmer with gold as it is tousled by the gentle breeze. Those hazel eyes he knows so well seem to become a shade warmer.
"Staring," Andrew points out, exhaling a puff of smoke. He doesn't look at Neil but somewhere else, far away from here.
Neil gives him a light smile before he watches the puff traveling further and dissolving in the air. "Maybe I just enjoy the view."
Andrew's eyes slowly slide at Neil, considering his face. Neil doesn't take the look away; he never does. And Andrew hates him for that, along with every inch of him.
"Yes or no?" Andrew asks, putting out the cigarette on the concrete.
A small smile curves Neil's lips again, when he does the same with his own cigarette. "Yes." And it sounds breathy and soft, not in a way his usual voice does. He shoves the thought away to a corner of his mind and blames the freezing weather.
The kiss feels like viscous caramel. It's an unhurried and passionate game of their lips, teeth and tongues, in which losing is impossible. It seems to Neil there's the fire raging inside of him, which makes it hard to breathe, he feels it in every cell of his body, his flushed cheeks treacherously giving him out.
He used to stop breathing when something was spotted on his danger radar and that 'something' stood three feet away from him, when his true identity was under the threat of uncovering, when icy-blue eyes looked at him from the mirror in the bathrooms of dust and moist motels and he saw dark silhouettes in motel's windows in the corner of his eye, when his father's people's cars reflected in the side mirrors and his mother's loud voice rumbled in his ears, every time he lost control of the situation.
But now, kissing Andrew, he doesn't feel the panic when he's dazed by the lack of oxygen in his lungs. Andrew and the Foxes gave him a feeling of safety, a feeling of home, which he has never felt before. They showed him the true meaning of the word family.
Family isn't the people who are related to you by blood, but the people who stand by your side no matter what.
Andrew slightly bites his lower lip, and Neil's hands dig in blonde hair, tugging a little.
They pull away, chests of both rise and fall steeply.
They get down from the roof by the time dinner should be ready. It's Matt's turn to cook it, so a delicious smell draws along the way to the kitchen.
When they reach the destination, most things have been set on the table. But, instead of Matt, it's Kevin who is standing at the stove. Neil frowns, a suspicion creeping in on him, but he doesn't comment.
"Kevin offered to make dinner instead, I couldn't turn such an attractive offer down," says Matt from the loveseat, where he and Dan have settled down comfortably, limbs tangled.
Neil groans, having already guessed how this dinner will end. He glares at Kevin who seems too cheerful. Day is literally shining. Neil gets more and more sure in his assumptions with every second that passes.
Neil narrows his eyes at the plate of mashed potatoes. No vegetables are clearly visible on the table, which is even more strange than if they had been there. While he doesn't care for them himself, he knows that his teammates do. But there's nothing there except for the mashed potatoes. He looks at the plates of his teammates, and they all have their own normal food.
The foxes chatter loudly like always. He takes a fork and pokes at the substance that doesn't seem quite edible. Taking off the upper layer of the substance, dark green heads of broccoli poke from under it.
Neil's face remains unimpressed. He looks at Kevin, an eyebrow raised. The foxes (except for the Minyard twins) are obviously trying to hold back laughter, their shoulders shaking and lips twitching.
"Seriously, Kevin?" He points to the plate with his fork. "Hiding broccoli in mashed potatoes? I'm not a freaking toddler." He thinks to himself that he could’ve at least used cauliflower and mashed that too, if he really wanted to hide them well, but he doesn’t say it out loud, not wanting to give Kevin any ideas.
Kevin sighs and rolls his eyes. "You’re right, you’re not a toddler, because even toddlers are more cooperative than you are.”
Neil only grunts and takes his plate to the trash can. He has given up on ‘real food’ for today, and decides to instead eat some of the fruits that have Kevin’s panties in such a twist, and then spends the evening kissing Andrew for dessert.
3.
Their silent war has been going on for a few weeks, and Kevin is running out of ideas. No matter what he does, he just can’t get Neil to eat any vegetables except potatoes and carrots. And he ate those before he started at the college. Even though he yelled that he couldn’t care less, he just really wants to show Neil that there’s a world of interesting food to eat. At the sports students cafe where he had yelled it, he had meant it with his entire being, but right now he just wanted Neil to eat some vegetables so he could stay healthy.
At least with the amount of fruits he ate he wouldn’t get scurvy or too little potassium, but still, he needs the proteins and fibers that vegetables bring to a diet. He’s an athlete for fucks sake, yet he eats like a toddler with no parental supervision. It makes Kevin’s blood boil, but also fills him with worry.
The Foxes have no shortage of jokes. He has heard them all, their favorite and the most frequent is him ‘jerking off to vegetables’ though. It’s annoying, yet whenever a meme about it pops up in the group chat, he can’t refrain from rolling his eyes. Even if they should be concentrating on Exy.
He can agree that the vegetables from the canteen had been awful. Even Kevin could understand that Neil hadn’t enjoyed those. However , the rest of the time, when Kevin cooked them, slaving away at the stove for hours, they really weren’t bad. If he can toot his own horn for a second, they are downright delicious actually. The fact that Neil refuses to eat them every time just drives him crazy.
He has tried to roast them with olive oil, cook them in golden butter, boil them, broil them and even made a bland vegetable soup. He has tried steaming, blanching, and even grilled some on one of the grills that were set up outside the athlete dorms. But nothing, absolutely nothing has worked. It just seems whether Neil refuses to eat them on principle or his British ass is just picky as fuck.
That is why he decides to try something extraordinary, creative. Subsequently, it costs him three hours tinkering with a blender.
His third attempt to make this last ditch effort stick, happens after a late night training session. Everyone is tired and sweaty after new intense footwork drills Kevin and Neil came up with. And just as Kevin has planned it, Neil reaches for his water bottle, takes a sip and immediately chokes on it. His entire body winces. "Kevin!" Neil booms. Apparently Neil Josten is not a fan of smoothies with small bits of vegetables either. “You fucking asshole, keep your stupid vegetables away from my drinks!”
Kevin leans his forehead against the plexiglass and groans. It feels like Neil's stubbornness knows no bounds. Maybe it's true, maybe… wait, if Neil refuses to listen to him, then maybe he will listen to Andrew? Does this 'just asking' thing work vice versa?
While Neil marches to the nearest sink to pour the smoothie out the hell, Kevin reaches Andrew who is going to follow Neil. Minyard takes a step in the direction of the exit, when Kevin calls him, "Andrew, wait!"
Andrew stops but doesn't turn to Kevin.
"I wanted to ask–" starts Kevin but he is immediately interrupted by Andrew's answer.
"No."
"But I didn't even ask–"
"I know what you're going to ask, and my answer is no," states Andrew before continuing his way to Neil. And nobody would ever know whether he refused because it was Kevin, because he shared Neil’s opinion of vegetables or because he simply wanted this feud to end. Preferably with Kevin’s downfall too. Sure the man had promised him something to keep going for, but this wasn’t it. Well, maybe it was a combination of facts.
Either way, Kevin just huffs in response and dejectedly follows Andrew back to the changing room.
After they all take a shower, Kevin decides to try the last option he has: to ask Neil himself about his preferences in cooked vegetables. He finds Neil talking to Andrew in a low voice, so nobody ever knew the discussed subject. "Neil," he tries and sees the striker sighs and turn to him with a swift movement.
"What, Kevin?" Neil's obviously tired of their weeks of fighting and wants to just live his life peacefully (well, in Neil Josten's understanding of the word peacefully).
"Can you do me a favor and tell me what kind of vegetables you prefer? Maybe I can make them in a way that you will like?"
Neil rolls his eyes. He swears one day he will make the sweetest ice-cream smoothie in the world and secretly replace it with Kevin's usual protein shake. He almost grins at the mere thought. He supposed he has something to talk to Andrew about later. This would be a great way to get back at him after literal weeks of Kevin's attempts to poison Neil with broccoli.
" None of them. Do me a favor and shove your vegetables up your queen ass," Neil groans. Kevin huffs, rolls eyes, spins on heels and strides away, not even planning to get a lift back to the dorms. The corners of Andrew's mouth twitch, and Neil intends to tell Andrew his plan in detail on the way home.
+ 1.
The revenge happens the next bonding night. This time Neil and Andrew are in charge of buying food and drinks which is quite a happy coincidence. That's how an extra ice-cream cocktail in a cheap paper cup appears on their grocery list and then in the basket. (According to Andrew – the team’s sweet tooth number 1 – it's their best option).
When they get back, Kevin thinks nothing of it, doesn’t even notice that it has been opened, and just takes a large gulp of what he expects to be his protein shake. Neil exchanges a sly glance with Andrew. Andrew's face expresses nothing to most people, but Neil doesn't miss the twitch of his mouth and left eyebrow. It's enough for Neil.
They both watch Kevin spit the drink out at almost the speed of light. Kevin’s eyes flick to Neil's innocent expression and then to Andrew's apathetic one. He's 110% sure Neil's behind it. Andrew is too dispassioned to do something like that. He pours the cocktail out with irritation and purposefully heads for two of them, screaming halfway, "Neil!"
Neil turns to him with a performative surprise. "What is it, Kevin?"
"I know it was you!" His voice is almost as irate as whenever Neil isn’t listening when Kevin tries to talk Exy to him.
"What are you talking about, Kevin? I don't understand," Neil crosses his arms on his chest and sends him a serious look.
"Oh, I'm sure you don’t." Kevin almost chokes on his rage, his face flushed. "Because who else would replace my protein shake with this carbohydrate concoction?!"
"Dunno. I personally suspect Aaron," Neil waves his hand in the direction of Aaron who was peacefully minding his own business.
"Shut the fuck up, Josten! I can hear you," snarls Aaron across from the room. Neil just shrugs. Kevin angrily glares at him once more before he starts striding away.
"Kevin," calls him Neil and Kevin stops, irritated even more, "I forgot to ask what kind of ice-cream cocktails you prefer?"