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Andrew shouldn’t be here.
He and Neil had plans that night to go to the Colombia house. Alone. Aaron and Katelyn had plans, and Nicky said he’d hang out with Kevin so they could have the house all to themselves. He’d almost gotten stabbed with the overexaggerated wink he threw them.
But they weren’t in the car heading home.
Andrew got a call at the exact same time Neil did, and where Andrew hung up on Nicky immediately, Neil let Katelyn talk. They had become twin terrors, which was ironic because that’s what Nicky used to calm him and his brother. But they were, with their auburn hair and smart mouths and the mischievous ways they could get their partners to do what they wanted.
That was how Andrew ended up here.
Neil listened, hung up the phone, and smiled at him. “We should go to the court before we leave, there’s cake.”
Why there was cake, Andrew didn’t know nor care, and Neil knew that. He agreed, for the cake.
Not whatever this shit was.
Allison was setting up a tripod in front of the lounge where Wymack normally stood when addressing his team. The rest of the misfits sat spread out in their normal spots on the couches and chairs. Andrew let Neil drag him to their couch and plopped down, their hands still clasped together. That was a new development, and in all honestly, it was helping him keep his cool at the moment. Neil squeezed his hand knowingly.
Andrew sat at one end of their couch, with Neil in the middle and Kevin on his other side. Nicky and Aaron sat in their normal chairs, only his twin’s girlfriend was stretched over his lap like a lounging cat. Matt had Dan in his lap too, sitting next to Renee on their couch with an empty spot for Allison when she was finished setting up whatever this was.
Andrew’s eyes stayed locked on the sheet cake splayed out on the table in the center of their formation. White icing, orange trim, probably vanilla.
“Alright, so,” Allison stated with a single excited clap. “I’ve started the recording and I’ll edit it afterward! Who’s first?”
“What the fuck is going on?” Andrew mumbled into Neil's shoulder.
He received a smirk in return as an answer. Neil then let go of his hand and relaxed both his arms across the back of the couch. Right. Allison was recording and would probably be posting this to her clock app so they couldn’t be obvious with their… affection. Ew. Fuck he hated that word.
Andrew crossed his arms and shuffled down further into the couch, it was already smooshed in so he brought his black sweatpants-clad legs to his chest. His eyes roamed over the room, seeing what everyone else was wearing. He and Neil were dressed down, both in sweats and hoodies since they were supposed to be halfway into a two-hour drive at the moment. Everyone else was wearing jeans or leggings and comfortable tops by the looks of them. Alright, they wouldn’t stand out too much in whatever the fuck this was.
Matt hopped up from their couch with an “I’ll go!” and stepped up to the cake. He kneeled behind it, just in front of the camera phone, and pulled out a piece of paper taped to a toothpick.
“I’m Matt, and hear me out…” Boyd then stuck his thing into the cake and added, “Shira, from Ice Age.”
And that’s what his thing was, a cut-out paper picture of the white sabertooth tiger, attached to a toothpick.
Oh fuck no! He knew what they were doing now and… Oh fuck…
Renee, the bitch, had asked him a question last week after they had finished sparring.
“Andrew, have you ever found a cartoon character or animated being attractive?” At his blank look, she continued, “Like, an animal or humanoid being, or just an animated person. Did you ever find any attractive?”
“Like, sexually?”
“Sure.”
He had asked if it had to be from when he was growing up or could it be a recent thing, and after she answered, he gave her a name or two.
Renee was sitting across the room, legs crossed under her, with pure unfiltered amusement on her face.
That. Bitch.
Matt sat back down but instead of returning to his lap, Dan padded over and kneeled where he just was, pulling out her own cut out.
”Hi, I’m Dan, and hear me out…” She twirled her pick while smiling coyly and stuck her toothpick beside Matts. “Alvin, from Alvin and the Chipmunks.”
And sure as shit, there was a mini Alvin, in his red hoodie, sticking out of this perfectly good cake next to a cartoon tiger.
Renee was next. Andrew wondered briefly what the little Christian girl could possibly pick, but he didn’t have to wonder because she was going to show everyone.
“Hello, I’m Renee, and hear me out… Kida, from Atlantis.”
Oh fucking hell. He didn’t even consider the fact that he had given her male characters. Kida was a solid choice, though, he could admit that. At least he wasn’t the only one to name a same sex interest.
Allison was next, but Renee made a detour towards Andrews' couch before returning to her own. She slid one of the things between his folded arms, toothpick sticking up so as to not stick him by accident. Oh, now she cared.
Allison kneeled with a too big smile on her face when Andrew focused once more. He didn’t even look down, he knew what Renee had given him.
“Hey, I’m Allison, and… Okay, but hear me out… Milo James Thatch, from Atlantis.”
Again, solid choice, but he would never admit that to her. Katelyn and Dan both made ‘Oohhhhhh’ sounds, signaling they agreed as well. Nicky hopped up next with a giddy expression before he dropped to his knees behind the cake.
”Hey, Hi! I’m Nicky, and hear me out…” and this mother fucker said “Ferb.”
The whole lounge lost in, Andrew even hid a snort in his elbow while he peeked at his pick. Aaron sputtered a ‘What the fuck, Nicky, gross,’ but Nicky paid no mind. He was still smiling and laughing along with them when he skipped back to his seat.
Katelyn went next, kneeling down eloquently. “Hi, I’m Kate, and hear me out… Jack Frost from Rise of The Guardians.”
”Oh, they have the same hair!” Allison screeched from across the room. Andrew knew he and Aaron had pale blonde hair but it wasn’t white, geez. Neil snickered quietly beside him.
It was at that moment his mind came to a halt. Neil. Neil didn’t even find people people attractive, how… Did he know about this? Andrew didn't see him holding toothpick thingy’s. Was he going to be the only one left out, would he be embarrassed? Oh, Andrew didn’t like this to begin with but now…
Aaron stood while Katelyn sat in their chair. His twin didn’t kneel, just squatted down quickly and said, “Aaron, and hear me out…” and then he blushed. God, Andrew hoped he didn’t look like that when he blushed. He knew he did, but, no. “Lola, from Shark Tale.”
Matt whistled low in approval and Allison and Renee both nodded along. Lola was a bitch what were these people on? It was time for their couch to go, and it was up in the air who would go first. Of course, and he shouldn’t have been surprised, honestly, what was he thinking, of course he knew about this, Neil stood.
Neil stood, dusted his hands together like they were dirty, and walked up to Katelyn and held out a hand. She smirked and… Ugh, they had teamed up. His cocky little fucker then squatted down easily with a smirk behind the cake, twirling his choice…
”Hey, I’m Neil, and hear me out…” Oh, that voice. Low and husky and- “The Grim Reaper, from Puss in Boots.”
-and what the actually fuck.
“He’s like 6’4,” Nicky squealed.
“And a fucking wolf, Nicky,” Aaron added as if in insult, like he didn’t put down a god damn fish.
“It’s the knives…” Allison announced cockily, eyebrow raised and smirking. “And the attitude.”
Neil smirked and winked at the camera before he stood with grace. Fuck.
You know, Andrew also should have worked this out. He was smart, right? Allison must have been right in mentioning the knives, because suddenly he could see a slight resemblance between the characters his teammates chose and their partners. And Andrew had, subconsciously, done the same.
It was his turn next, because he wasn’t going last. He stood and walked over slowly, not kneeling or squatting down. He bent over slightly, stuck his toothpick in the cake, then scooped some of the orange trim icing up with his finger. He stuck that finger in his mouth, licked off the icing then straightened to walk away.
He stopped, thought about it, then said, “Nick Wilds from Zootopia.”
The lounge filled with ‘ohhs’ and ‘awwws’ and Andrew wanted to punch everyone. Everyone except Neil, who was smiling up at him from the couch as Andrew approached, looking all cute and innocent like he wasn’t in on this from the start. The others were still muttering about Andrew's choice, and he wasn’t the least bit surprised that they all agreed with him. Neil was their Nick, their quick witted smart mouth fox who everyone adores.
That left Kevin.
Kevin, who looked absolutely scandalized as he looked down at the cut out in his hand.
Kevin, who walked over silently, kneeled down, and placed his choice in the middle of the cake. The cake that was now beyond ruined to Andrew. He still planned on eating it before, despite the fish and chipmunk and tiger and wolf and fox on it. Andrew could not eat the cake now. He refused.
Because Kevin knelt there, fingers steepled under his chin as he looked directly into the camera and said:
”I’m Kevin, and hear me out… An Exy Racquet.”