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Neil fucking hated Jack. Objectively he wasn’t a horrible player, but he was a worse teammate. It didn’t help that he was constantly insisting on making Neil’s life a living hell. Something, something, I looked you up and the FBI thinks you're a criminal so I’m better than you.
Like that was all Neil was. He was a better player than Jack for one.
Dan thought that drinking games would help everyone start feeling more comfortable with each other. Neil thought that was a long shot. Jack wasn’t like Andrew. Jack was just an ass.
Still, with Andrew’s bulk at his back, Neil was significantly more comfortable getting drunk than he’d usually be.
“Okay, okay, okay,” Nicky laughed, toppling sideways into Kevin who gave him a disgusted look. “Never… have I ever… kissed a girl!”
Aaron rolled his eyes and took a shot.
Matt held Dan’s hand as they both tossed back their shots. Matt took Dan’s face in his hands and kissed her, seeking the taste of her drink, clearly trying to prove the point.
Alison took her shot and flipped everyone off. Renee, sitting next to her, quietly sipped her own shot down. Nicky leered at them and Alison flipped him off specifically.
Kevin sighed mournfully and downed his own shot. Something, something, Thea broke up with me last week and I’m still moping about it or something.
Robin hesitantly downed her own shot. She wasn’t as drunk as the rest of the Foxes and had been somewhat hesitant about drinking in the first place. Dan had offered her a non-alcoholic alternative, which seemed to be what pushed her to do it.
Neil bit his lip, glanced back at Andrew, and downed his drink. It burned on the way down.
There were suddenly a lot of people making surprised chattering noises at him.
“I thought you didn’t swing!” Nicky accused loudly.
Neil shrugged. “Not like I knew that when I was thirteen. My mom beat the crap out of me for that.”
“What was her name?” Alison demanded, swaying slightly.
Neil shook his head. “Dunno. Never asked.”
Nicky gaped at him and Alison began giggling incoherently.
Dan reached over so she could ruffle his hair and Neil was cognizant of the fact that the only reason she wasn’t being swatted by Andrew was because he leaned into her touch.
Kevin blinked, swiveling to stare at Jack. “You didn’t drink.”
“I’m fucking gay, asshole. Closest I came was a guy in drag.”
“But-- but you hate Neil and Andrew?” Alison spluttered.
He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah. So do you. Just because I don’t think Andrew should be wasting his time on some--”
“Careful,” Andrew rumbled, one arm snaking protectively across Neil’s chest.
Neil was fully capable of telling Jack to shut the fuck up on his own, but it was pleasant to hear Andrew do it.
He didn’t acknowledge Jack often, half per Neil’s request and half per his own disinterest, but he had never liked it when Jack used him to put Neil down.
Neil stuck his tongue out at Jack.
“Okay!” Dan cut in, before things could devolve into a full blown fight. “Who’s next?”
Kevin sighed, refilling his shot glass. “I am. Never have I ever… smoked a cigarette, I guess?”
Neil cackled. “Willing to destroy your liver but not your lungs?”
Kevin scowled and flipped him off.
Andrew and Aaron knocked their glasses together and downed them.
Matt sighed, knocking his own back with a wince.
Dan smiled sheepishly as she took her own shot. If asked, the answer would probably be ‘high-school’ which was code for her time as a dancer.
Sheena and Jack grinned at each other and drunk down their glasses. Neil rolled his eyes. He’d seen them going outside to smoke together from the roof more than once.
“Take your shot, Neil,” Aaron chided.
Neil snuggled closer to Andrew. “I’ve never put a cigarette to my lips,” he told the other man smugly.
“Bullshit,” Aaron snapped.
Neil laughed, shaking his head. “No, no. For real.”
“You’re always burning them,” Alison pointed out, before taking her own shot.
Neil shrugged. “I don’t do that to smoke them.”
“Why then?” Jack challenged.
“None of your business, Jackass.”
“Who’s next?” Renee asked, very kindly, mostly for Dan’s sake.
Jack smirked. “That’s me.” He considered the group, then he zeroed in on Neil. “Never have I ever tried to kill someone.”
“Does succeeding count?” Neil asked. He’d never tried and failed.
Alison laughed as she reached for the bottle to refill her glass just so she could down it again. “It definitely does.”
Jack stared at her in horror.
Alison smirked at him. “Oh don’t worry, I didn’t succeed. Daddy dearest still has a beating heart. That was the final straw though.”
“If succeeding counts,” Renee mused as she tossed back her shot.
Aaron was staring at Andrew when he took his shot. Andrew was staring at Nicky when he followed his brother’s lead.
Neil shrugged and downed his drink. He was pretty sure he had two kills solely to his name and about six more shared between him and his mother.
Dan hummed secretively as she took another shot. At Alison’s curious look she shrugged nonchalantly. “Bouncer dragged the creep out before I could drive my heel into his eye. I wasn’t planning on stopping.”
Kevin grimaced as he drunk his own shot down.
Jack had gone pale as he stared at Kevin. Kevin, for his part, grimaced. “I was a Raven.” And then resolutely shut his mouth.
Robin bit her lip and then took her shot. Andrew held out a fist wordlessly and she bumped it.
Neil grinned at Jack with a shark toothed smile. “I’m sure I’ve gotten a bit rusty. I could use some practice.”
Andrew hummed. “My offer stands.”
Neil snorted. “If I kill Jack, I’m not hiding his body somewhere you’d know to look. Don’t worry, I can handle his shit.” He thumbed the knife he’d taken to carrying in the armbands Andrew had gifted him on the one-year anniversary of their meeting.
“It’s not an apology,” he’d told Neil blandly before walking off.
Neil wore them daily.
“Neil,” Dan said, a little desperately, “This is a team bonding night. Team bonding does not include threatening to kill your teammates.”
Neil gave her an innocent look. “When did I say I had plans to kill Jack?” He swiveled to look at Jack. “Did I ever say I was going to kill you.”
Jack gulped. Suddenly a lot less brazen. “I-- uh. I… I mean… you said ‘if.”
Neil’s smile widened. “That’s right, I said ‘if,’ didn’t I. Don’t worry, Dan, I’m not threatening to kill anyone.”
“Yes or no?” Andrew murmured in his ear.
Neil’s smile shifted into something softer, “Yes.”
Andrew gripped his chin, tilting his head back so he was looking back and up at the blonde’s face.
It wasn’t a sweet kiss. It was the kind of kiss Andrew gave Neil as a reward for ‘being a little shit.’
“Andrew,” Dan whined, wise to his tactics.
Matt laughed amiably. “I think we should call it a night anyways, I’m ready to sleep this off.”
“I wanted to go,” Sheena pouted, next in their little circle.
Andrew released Neil and he tilted his head forward so he could stare at Sheena. Then he winked. “I’m done for the night.”
Getting to his feet, Neil dragged Andrew behind him, giggling a little dopily.
Neil knew there were assumptions about what they were doing. But in reality, they tumbled into bed and Andrew tucked one arm under Neil’s head and tangled their legs together and Neil drifted off to sleep feeling warm and safe.
There was nothing like it.