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When Neil first saw Kevin in his PSU practice jersey, he almost threw up. It hit him then that this was about to happen. He was really going to be on the court with Kevin again. It had barely been a full 48 hours since Neil was in Baltimore.
He called Katelyn last night after practice. Their conversation was primarily in Russian. Wymack wasn’t home yet but Neil hadn’t checked the apartment for bugs or cameras. It wouldn’t be difficult for someone to translate their words but Neil put what little faith he had that Wymack wasn’t that resourceful.
Katelyn seemed to be settling in okay. She was staying with a handful of her new teammates until both of them could move into the dormitories. Neil knew they couldn’t possibly share a room but he felt better knowing his sister would be in the same building as him in a few weeks.
Kevin took to the court and speedily set up the drills Neil had practiced yesterday. Neil got bored with the repetitive exercises ten minutes into the practice. He held himself in the practice out of protest and lazily ran the drills with only enough skill to pass as the first year recruit he was supposed to be.. Kevin yelled himself horse and Nicky gave Neil a pitying look.
“So much for not slowing us down” Aaron grumbled as he stood beside Neil.
Only the boy in goal seemed amused by Neil’s lack of effort. Andrew clearly knew it was on purpose.
At the end of the practice, Kevin slid a bucket of practice balls at Neil. “Shoot until you score on Andrew.” Kevin jutted his chin in the direction of the goalie. Andrew was leaning casually on the back of the net with his racket behind his head. Kevin lowered his voice so no one on the court but Neil could make out his words.
“I trained you better than this, Nathaniel. I don’t know what's happened to you in the past year but get it together.” Kevin spat and walked off the course.
Neil threw him a mental middle finger. Kevin was always ruthless and Neil was beginning to think the taller boy truly thought Neil was incompetent. He waited until the doors of the Exy court banged shut behind the three other players before turning to Andrew.
Andrew laughed from his place in goal. He pushed himself forward and dropped his racket off the top of his net. “This will be fun!” Andrew’s medicine was in full swing. Neil hated the pills. He hated any pills but Andrew’s specifically grated on his nerves. With a smile full of fakeness and laughter which sounded nothing more than a physical reaction to emotion, Andrew was more of a slave to his meds than a person. Neil almost felt bad for the goalkeeper.
That all being said, Neil had too much anger built up over practice. He knew Andrew had the skills to really challenge Nathaniel on the court. So, Neil allowed his Neil Josten mask slip as he picked up one of the Exy balls Kevin gave Neil. He looked back at Andrew, whose smile was so wide it could crack glass.
Nathaniel squeezed the ball once and tossed it into the scoop of his racket. He adjusted his stance before firing the ball at Andrew with too much force. Andrew easily batted away the ball but Nathaniel saw how the shorter boy had to properly brace himself for the shot. Nathaniel’s eyes lit with triumphant amusement. He was always good at getting a reaction from people whether that be positive or negative.
Nathaniel didn’t stop to watch his ball rebound off Andrew’s racket. He simply reached into the bucket at his feet and retrieved another ball.
Shot after shot, Andrew deflected every one of Nathaniel's scoring efforts. Both of the boys were sweating with the energy now but Nathaniel felt more alive than he had since his last trip to the Nest. His muscles screamed with exhaustion and his chest heaved with every breath but Nathaniel felt good.
After nearly an hour, Nathaniel felt the familiar protests of his muscles. His arms were sure to give out unless he did something stupid. Nathaniel did a move with his stick that he had only seen Riko Moriyama do. Andrew clearly recognised the move but didn't do a thing to counteract it. The goal lit up red and Nathaniel collapsed right there on the court.
Neil felt pure exhaustion as he stared at the ceiling of the Foxhole court. Nathaniel had retreated further within Neil’s mind as soon as his ball made contact with the net.
Andrew came out of his goal to loom over Neil. His hazel eyes were cold and calculating. “We done here?” Neil wheezed. Andrew said nothing. He walked off the court without a word.
Neil waited five minutes after the court doors shut. When he finished collecting all of the deflected Exy balls, plus the one at the back of the net, Neil placed the bucket and his racket in their respective spots in the gear closet. When Neil went to change out in the locker room, Andrew was already gone.
Neil didn’t see Andrew again until later that night.
Neil hadn’t been able to sleep. Katelyn’s practice ran late and she missed their scheduled phone call. A few days ago the sound of Katelyn’s voicemail would have Neil thinking the worst. Now, he knew Katelyn’s activities because Wymack had complained about the longer practice when he tried and failed to get ahold of the head coach of the Vixens.
Neil opened and shut his burner phone for thirty minutes on the couch at Wymack’s. It was sometime after midnight. Neil couldn’t call his sister now without raising suspicion. Plus, Neil didn’t want to wake her up. That left Neil to his dreams which were particularly unpleasant lately. It must be the change.
Neil swung his legs off the lumpy couch and padded to the front door. Neil’s beat down running shoes were next to Wymack’s less worn shoes he wore at the court. He put on his shoes and left the apartment. He locked the apartment behind him and took off in the direction of the court.
Kevin was on the court when Neil entered it. The raven haired boy was running some Raven drills that Neil had practiced everyday back in Baltimore. Neil was so busy studying Kevin’s every move that he missed Andrew, who was sitting in the stands.
“Won’t you play with him?” Neil asked loud enough that the blonde could hear him.
Andrew didn’t say anything. Neil turned around so he could see Kevin and Andrew at the same time.
Andrew was staring at Neil in a way which made his skin crawl. Neil felt as if his entire life story was printed on his body. He refrained from reaching up to pull up the high collar of his shirt in case one of his scars was showing.
When Andrew didn’t answer Neil’s question he pushed on. “I think he’d benefit more if you did” Neil shrugged, focusing more on Kevin’s pathetic form as he set up the same drill he had been doing since Neil entered.
“No”
The evident tiredness in Andrew’s voice was jolting. It had been a few hours since Neil saw Andrew sober. Every single time it was a relief but an annoyance at the same time. If the ERC caught Andrew off his medication, they would surely send Andrew back to juvie and potentially suspend the Foxes.
Just as Neil was about to say something about Andrew’s state, he remembered the time. Andrew had probably come off his meds to sleep for the night. Yet, Andrew used his precious period of sobriety to babysit Kevin on the court. Neil knew something had to be going on between the two. Kevin hovered around Andrew the same way Jean had followed Neil around when he was in the Nest. They were partners- Kevin and Andrew.
Neil brought his fingers up to his mouth in an attempt to claw off the mirthful smile which was growing on his face. Andrew Minyard, despite refusing to sign with the Ravens, still fell victim to the Nest’s partner system. Kevin was pathetically using Andrew as a crutch the same way he relied on Riko.
That thought killed Neil’s smile where it grew. He swallowed back bile.
Neil tracked the exy balls Kevin rebounded off the same spot of the wall.
“Why do you hate this game so much? You have real potential" Neil argued, recalling how Andrew watched Neil and Kevin play back in Baltimore.
Andrew crossed his arms over his chest. “Someone two years ago asked me the same question. You want to know what I told them?” He raised a brow.
Neil didn’t need the explanation. He had been there when that person asked Andrew that question. Riko was dazzled by Andrew’s talent but even more fascinated by his apparent resentment of the sport. When Numbers 1 and 2 went to Andrew’s old high school, Riko’s curiosity was sated.
Andrew simply didn’t care for Exy. “It’s marginally better than waiting around for death” The high schooler had said. Then, he turned down Riko’s offer and lit up a cigarette.
“You could really be something if you tried,” Neil pressed on.
Andrew tilted his head, studying Neil. “You be something.” Andrew glanced at the boy on the court. “Kevin said you’ll be a champion”
Neil refrained from rolling his eyes to the moon and back. “I don’t need Kevin’s validation”
Andrew blinked at Neil. “You want it though”
Neil did scoff at that. “I want nothing to do with Day”
Andrew’s eyes widened with interest. He unfolded his legs from where they were crossed in front of him. Neil’s body braced for an attack even though Andrew was more than a dozen feet away.
Neil waited with baited breath for Andrew to launch himself at Neil. Instead, he scanned Neil’s face and the corner of his mouth twitched. That genuine show of raw emotion hit Neil like a body check on the court.
“What a curious lie” Andrew said slowly.
Minutes passed in silence. Kevin ran seven more drills.
“You want to be Court” Andrew shrugged, leaning back. It was as if the goalkeeper had just snapped out of a trance.
Neil gritted his teeth. “Not gonna happen.” The words tasted like bile.
Andrew squinted. “Curious how someone who could ‘be something’ could refuse to do something about that.”
Neil shrugged and looked away pointedly. “Yeah well, you do the same thing”
“Touché” Andrew smiled. A genuine smile. It almost knocked Neil over.
Kevin chose that moment to intervene. Andrew's expression shifted so his annoyance was hidden behind a heavy mask of apathy.
The tallest boy jutted his chin towards Neil to address the short striker. “What are you doing here?” Kevin narrowed his eyes.
Neil suppressed an eye roll. “Couldn’t sleep. Wanted to practice”
“As if it’ll help you any” Kevin said almost sheepishly.
Neil actually scoffed and snagged a spare exy ball from the bucket beside him. I hurled the ball at Kevin's abdominal halfheartedly. Kevin easily deflected the ball with the flick of his wrist and slight movement of his racket.
Kevin turned to Andrew, refusing to engage with Neil any further. “Andrew?”
Neil was silently grateful for the subject change. He was putting on a facade like he got used to at Baltimore High. That facade would never engage in a fight- verbal or elsewise. Yet, Kevin’s presence was throwing Neil off his game because the taller striker knew his harmless facade was all a lie.
Neil gritted his teeth.
“Ready already” Andrew jumped off the bleachers. He sent Neil a two-finger salute.
Then, Kevin and Andrew headed for the locker room, predictably to change out. Neil waited approximately ten minutes to make sure the other two boys were definitely gone. Once he had cased the place, mapping out all escape routes and potential hazards, Neil switched into his practice gear and ran some familiar exy drills.
As his practice went on, the drills got progressively more intense. Neil was dripping sweat by the second hour. He usually opted for longer training sessions because exy gave him an escape from his life. All his problems fade away.