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It was the evening after a match. They just played against the Breckenridge Jackals’, a tough game, which they won, not unscathed, though. All the Foxes, sans Andrew, sported some kind of bruise. For Neil, it was the ribs, not broken, but one of the Jackals’ strikers tackled him so hard he went flying. Due to that, the celebration for the win was postponed, until all of them were capable of walking without whining.
In the bus, Andrew and Neil sat together, as always, whispering.
“I’m beat” Neil said, closing his eyes in exhaustion.
“Literally” answered Andrew with his deadpan face.
“Wanna watch a movie tonight?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Dunno, something that doesn’t require much thought”.
When they arrived to Fox Tower, they kicked Kevin out of the room, sending him to spend the night at Wymack’s, so they could use the TV without being interrupted. Andrew sat on one end the couch, with his back completely straight, arms crossed, frown in his face.
“My head in your leg, yes or no?” Neil asked.
Andrew hummed “Yes”.
Neil laid down his entire body along the couch, with his head falling on Andrew’s leg. One of Andrew’s hands hovered above him, looking into his eyes with a silent question.
“Yes, ‘Drew, always yes”.
He then proceeded to massage Neil’s scalp, in a soothing manner, making Neil purr in satisfaction. It was such a vulnerable position, resembling a cat showing its belly, Andrew couldn’t help but wonder what the world would think about seeing Neil Josten act like such a pampered prince. Hell, even the Foxes wouldn’t believe them to be so… soft. However, the two of them were completely alone right now, door locked and Kevin out of the way, so they could indulge in this little moments.
While Andrew was thinking all of that, Neil had picked the remote, and was looking for something for them to watch. He ended up choosing some romcom, where the main characters fell in love in approximately 15 minutes, and then spend the entire movie having the stupidest miscommunication, making it everyone’s problem.
“Any complaints?”
Andrew said nothing, which Neil chose to interpret as approve.
The movie was indeed as stupid as expected, with bad acting, bad storyline, and bad everything. It was nothing Andrew had seen before, but he was bored, and watching a movie with Neil’s head in his lap was not the worst feeling in the world, and he ended up paying attention. Neil was a bit more distracted, what with Andrew’s hand still carding through his hair, and he was slowly falling asleep, cuddled against Andrew’s side.
The sleepy haze in his mind dissipated a bit when Andrew suddenly withdrew his hand. Then, he heard a noise. It was an uncommon sound, something he was not used to hearing. At first he thought he was dreaming it, but the way the leg under his head vibrated indicated otherwise. He lifted his head to see what was happening, only to see Andrew with his hands covering his mouth. Neil was immediately alarmed, his first thought going to Andrew being in distress. However, his brain caught up quickly to what was really happening, and his lips quirked up.
“Andrew Minyard, are you laughing? Are you laughing at a stupid romcom? Neil asked with a smirk, that was quickly turning to a full grin.
“N-no” Andrew tried to say behind his hands.
Then something happened on the screen, to which Neil was not paying attention, and Andrew’s body shook with laughter. It was not a normal laugh, it looked like Andrew was exploding with chuckles, eyes almost closed, mouth wide open as he tried to breathe though it, shoulders shaking. It was such a rare view that Neil just stared, trying to take it all in, and treasure it for the rest of his life.
He didn’t even know what caused it, just knew he wanted to hear this sound for the rest of his life. He didn’t dare to voice that thought out loud, he just smiled at Andrew as he was trying to reign himself in. It took him a while, but loose chuckles were still leaving his lips. When he calmed himself enough, he looked back at Neil.
“Staring” he said.
“Yes, yes I am” Neil answered, mind still focused on the image of Andrew laughing so openly. The thought of being able to watch Andrew being so carefree, of Andrew trusting him enough to see him expressing his emotions, warmed his heart to no end.
“Junkie” Andrew said, trying to sound harsh, imposing, but the effect was lost due to his red ears and blushing cheeks. Neil just grinned at him.
“Shut up”
“I’m going to tell Nicky what just happened, he’s going to be thrilled”
“You wouldn’t dare” Neil wouldn’t, but the chance of making fun of Andrew was too tempting to pass.
“Yes or no, rabbit?”
“Yes”
Andrew grabbed Neil’s jaw with his hand, turning his head to kiss him deeply, making Neil move his body almost into Andrew’s lap. Andrew was moving forward from his lips to his jaw, to his neck. Neil closed his eyes, and without warning, a giant yawn escaped.
Andrew snorted “Sleepy rabbits need their beauty sleep”.
He then let Neil cuddle up to his chest, setting his head under Andrew’s, his back to his chest. Andrew stretched his hand over the couch, to grab a basket full of blankets. He grabbed one, laying it across his and Neil’s figures. He then turned off the TV, hugged Neil close, and prepared to sleep, knowing he had someone to trust and to hold him.