Chapter Text
Neil had seen a lot of weird shit in his life, but watching Dan Wilds slam her head against the library table in frustration was a new one.
“I don’t speak Latin,” she groaned, shoving the crumbling textbook away from her like it had personally offended her. “Who the hell assigns a translation of De Bello Gallico in its original form? This isn’t even modern Latin, it’s ancient Latin. It’s dead. Let it stay dead.”
Matt, sitting beside her, rubbed her back sympathetically. “Babe, you’re gonna give yourself a concussion.”
“Good. Maybe then I’ll get a medical extension.”
Allison, lazily flipping through a fashion magazine, snorted. “Just pay some nerd to do it for you.”
“It’s a graded in-class translation next week,” Dan snapped. “I can’t cheat my way through it.”
Neil, who had cheated his way through most of his education before the Foxes, wisely kept his mouth shut.
Renee, ever the peacekeeper, offered, “I can help you study? I took Latin in high school.”
Dan perked up—before deflating again when Renee added, “But it was ecclesiastical Latin. This looks… different.”
“Because it’s Classical Latin,” came a voice from the other end of the table.
Everyone turned.
Kevin Day, who had been silently annotating his own notes for the past hour, didn’t even look up as he spoke. “Church Latin is medieval. De Bello Gallico is first-century BCE. The grammar’s more complex.”
Silence.
Dan blinked. “…Kevin. Do you know Latin?”
Kevin finally lifted his head, frowning like they were the idiots here. “Yes.”
Another beat of silence.
Then—
“Since when?!” Matt exploded.
Kevin’s frown deepened. “Since always. I minored in Classical Languages.”
Neil’s brain short-circuited.
Andrew, who had been slouched in his chair like he was mentally checked out of the conversation, slowly turned his head toward Kevin. His expression was blank, but his fingers twitched against the table—a tell Neil recognized. Andrew was interested.
Dan, meanwhile, looked like she was about to either cry or strangle Kevin. “You—you—and you didn’t say anything while I’ve been suffering for the past three hours?!”
Kevin had the audacity to look mildly annoyed. “You didn’t ask.”
“I didn’t ask—Kevin, why would I ask?! Nobody just knows Latin!”
Kevin rolled his eyes. “I do. I also know Ancient Greek. And Old English.”
Neil’s mouth went dry.
Andrew’s gaze sharpened.
Kevin, oblivious to the way half the table was staring at him like he’d just grown a second head, added, “I’m a history major. Did you all forget that?”
Yes.
Neil had.
He’d definitely forgotten.
Because Kevin was Kevin—Exy prodigy, stubborn bastard, the man who lived and breathed the sport like it was his only purpose. Neil had never once considered that Kevin had other academic interests. That he might be good at them.
That he might be fluent in dead languages.
Dan, still gaping, finally managed, “You—you like this shit?”
Kevin shrugged. “It’s interesting.”
Allison leaned forward, suddenly invested. “Wait. So you just… read Latin? For fun?”
“Yes.”
“And Greek?”
“Yes.”
“Old English?”
Kevin sighed, like this was a tedious conversation. “Yes. I told you, I minored in Classical Languages. I took AP Old English in high school. And mythology.”
Neil’s pulse kicked up.
Andrew’s fingers twitched again.
Dan, meanwhile, looked like she was about to either kiss Kevin or throw her textbook at him. Instead, she shoved the offending text toward him. “Translate this for me.”
Kevin glanced at it. Then, without missing a beat, he began reciting:
“Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres…”
His voice was steady, confident. The words rolled off his tongue like he’d been speaking them his whole life—and maybe he had.
Neil couldn’t look away.
Andrew wasn’t even pretending to be disinterested anymore.
Kevin finished the passage, then looked up at Dan. “It’s Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War. ‘All Gaul is divided into three parts.’ Basic introductory text.”
Dan’s mouth opened. Closed. Then—
“I hate you.”
Kevin rolled his eyes again. “Do you want me to help you or not?”
---
Andrew had known Kevin for years.
He knew his tells. His fears. His stubbornness, his arrogance, his relentless drive when it came to Exy.
He hadn’t known Kevin spoke Latin.
And that—that was infuriating.
Because Andrew hated not knowing things. Especially things about Kevin.
And now, watching Kevin effortlessly translate a language that had been dead for over a thousand years, Andrew was forced to confront the fact that there were still parts of Kevin he hadn’t uncovered.
Parts that were interesting.
Kevin’s fingers traced the text as he explained the grammar to Dan, his voice low and steady. His brow furrowed slightly in concentration, the way it did when he was analyzing an Exy play.
Andrew wanted to bite him.
Neil, sitting beside him, was no better. His eyes were fixed on Kevin like he was seeing him for the first time.
Andrew didn’t blame him.
Kevin had always been competent—ruthlessly so—but this was different. This wasn’t Exy. This wasn’t something he’d been forced to excel at.
This was something he chose. Something he enjoyed.
And that—
That was dangerous.
Because Andrew had a problem with competence.
And so, apparently, did Neil.
Kevin, oblivious, continued explaining Latin conjugations like it was nothing.
Andrew made a decision.
Later, when they were alone, he was going to make Kevin recite something else in that dead language.
And he wasn’t going to stop until Kevin forgot how to speak at all.