Work Text:
Exy was as familar to Kevin as breathing was. Maybe more so, since he'd spent his fair share of time trying and failing to breath through panic or bruised ribs or Riko's hands on his throat.
Kevin's life had changed a lot, in the last few years. Riko was dead, had been for months, and the Nest was in shambles. These days, Kevin was constantly surrounded by Foxes, ranging from mildly irritating to full-on annoying. He didn't mind them, most of the time, but they couldn't be more different from the Ravens, and sometimes that left Kevin feeling strange, distant.
Things were different, now, but exy was exy. The weight of the racquet in Kevin's hands, the crack of the ball on the plexiglass, the red and green lights of the goal... It felt just like it had all those years in the Nest. Familiar.
Sometimes, maybe a little too familiar.
They were halfway through afternoon practice, everyone hot and sweaty and focused. Kevin shot the ball towards a cone, knocking it over precisely. He picked the cones up, laying them out for the next drill, and just for a moment, the noise of the Foxes went hazy, blurring until they sounded like the Ravens.
"Again!" The coach snapped at Riko, and Kevin's hands tensed on his racquet, feeling the heat of the coach's gaze snap to him. "And what was that performance, Day? Ravens can hit those cones in their sleep!"
"I'm sorry, coach. I'll do better."
"Yes, you will. You'll repeat that drill until I tell you you can stop, understood?"
The ball knocked the cone over, bouncing off and hitting the plexiglass, and Kevin was resetting the cones before he even noticed what he was doing, arms strangely sore.
"Haven't you done that enough?" Neil appeared next to him, halting Kevin's movement. He stared at him, blue eyes dragging him into the present.
"Right. Yes." Kevin's mouth felt dry, and he vaguely realised that he must have done this drill more times than he'd meant to.
Neil frowed, eyes not straying from Kevin's face. "You good?"
"Yes. Get back to... Whatever you were doing."
Exy was familiar, and sometimes that made Kevin remember the Nest. Vividly. It happened sometimes, but it was fine.
Another day, they had a game. The Foxes played well, and for most of the game, Kevin's mind remained where it should be, scoring goals against his opponent.
And then Matt collided their shoulders together, not very hard, in celebration after a goal. Kevin blinked and it was Riko standing there instead, grinning and shaking Kevin's shoulder after two goals in a row.
"Two goals for number two. Not bad."
"I don't know if that holds up. You've already scored three."
"Whoops." Riko shrugged, unapologetic. It was rare to see him like this, how he'd been when they were kids, and Kevin couldn't tear his eyes away-
The game ended, a Fox victory, and Kevin shook himself out of it, following his teammates off of the court.
He still felt a little distant as Wymack dismissed them, following the others to the locker room. As Kevin took his protective gear off, he dug his fingers into his palms, trying to focus on every way in which the Foxes were different. No Raven would've been caught dead messing around like Nicky was, replacing Aaron's things with rubber ducks. They were never this loud after a game, either, between the exhaustion and dread about being corrected for any and every mistake.
The present settled back into Kevin's mind, as it always did, eventually. Exy was like exy always had been, and sometimes that meant the past reasserted itself. That was fine. It was fine.