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A slap hit Kevin's face. Hard.
"Riko! Riko, please forgive me!"
Another hit, this time softer, with more remorse than the last. If Kevin could explain his way out of this he would, but this was The Nest no amount of talking could save him from the cruelty of it.
"The Master didn't mean it." Riko stopped. His words hanging in the air like a veil.
He was just pitting them against each other. Right?
"Ri-Riko" God, Kevin was so miserable. Begging for mercy he knew he wouldn't get.
A warm callused hand grabbed his chin and forced him to look up "Kevin day, you're the most pathetic person I know. I don't know how you're the quote-on-quote best exy player ever!"
Kevin woke up in a sweat. The hot and choking air of Texas suffocating him.
he stood up. the feeling of being slapped still fresh on his cheek, it felt strange walking around, the weight feeling uneven on his legs
He wanted to kill himself, throw himself out a window, or maybe drink himself half to death again.
But instead he decided to do something stupid, and impulsive
He pulled his phone from the kitchen counter. Looking for a contact that he hadn't texted in 2? maybe three years? and had blocked long before.
Seeing his old drunken texts made him cringe, most of them being along the lines of "please come back" or "I miss you"
Kevin stopped and thought for a second, which considering his past actions was shocking.
Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea.
One time Bee told him he should stop being so impulsive, to which he said "I'm not impulsive" which to be truthful, was a lie.
"I guess I should stop my bad habits" he muttered to himself as he sat down on his crappy couch and put on an Exy game
It was The LA Suns vs The Baltimore Wildcats, they had an okay rivalry with each other, which made the games fun to watch
also Jeremy Knox was on The Suns, which was an added plus
After some brief watching and the sight that was The Suns losing 5-1, he decided to get a drink, some expensive Grey Goose that Wymack got him for his birthday.
It was sharp, smooth, and numbing to his senses, so in his eyes absolutely divine
He sat back down on his couch, and thought about stuff, about how he wanted to sleep, but wanted to see The Wildcats get their asses handed to them, how he wanted Riko to kiss him- Woah, should he call him?
He held his phone, sliver and slightly heavy in his hands, considering something he hadn't thought of in a while
The thought of him and Riko talking hadn't been brought up in at least a year and a half
It was strange considering Riko used to be a constant in his life, now he was simply someone that he saw for the media, and even then their appearances were few and far in between
Riko was his only thought, and suddenly his hands were pressing buttons and he saw a pop-up "Unblock Riko M?"
"Yes or No" a question that wrecked his consciousness for a good five seconds until he decided, Yes
Kevin decided right there and then that alcohol was truly liquid courage
He quickly sent a text, anxiety and adrenaline making his hands shake
"Hey, are you awake?"
Not knowing what to do when he didn't immediately respond Kevin went back to watching the Exy game
The Suns shockingly got to a tie by halftime, and they switched to some of their better players, including Jeremy, which made them not suck
"Ding!"
Kevin scrambled for his phone, almost dropping it in the process
It was from Riko which wasn't shocking considering that no one texted him
"Maybe"
It was short, simple, and left too much to be desired
Another text came in from Riko, slightly longer than the last
"I am if you are"
Kevin didn't exactly know how to respond to that, so he came up with whatever he thought was an okay response
"Well, I am??"
Shit, that was wrong, why did he text Riko in the first place, if he didn't already hate him then he definitely did now
"Then I am"
Riko thankfully didn't completely hate Kevin
He decided to start with basic questions, because how do you talk to someone you barely see, but know everything about
"How are you?"
It was a simple question to ask, but it didn't feel right to ask
"I'm okay, you?"
How was he? Good, bad, he didn't know, but for the sake of keeping the conversation going, he said he was fine
"I'm fine"
Maybe he was hanging around Neil too much
Riko typed and then he stopped and started again
The dots stopping and starting had Kevin buzzing with anxiety, but maybe that was just the alcohol speaking
"Stop lying, you know I don't like liars"
That answer reminded him of Andrew, and Andrew so very was complicated to Kevin
In Kevin's head Andrew was all sharp metal, but so was Riko
In Kevin's mind Andrew was all soft moments and broken promises, but so was Riko
Andrew and Riko, Riko and Andrew
Both constants in his life, both cruel and soft and everything in between
Both of them had his heart at one point or the other, and both played with it like he was a toy
But he was never in charge of his life, was he
From the nest all the way to the pros, he was nothing but a puppet, a persona for the people
Kevin's life had been planned since the moment he was born
So who did he think he was to change it
*Ding*
Shit, he'd been thinking so long that Riko had texted again
"Respond to me"
"Kevin"
"Please"
Kevin didn't like where the conversation was going
He didn't like when Riko begged, it reminded him of when they were both at Tetsuji's mercy, simply playthings
So, he decided to end it
"Call Riko M?" His phone questioned, but the answer to the question was obviously a yes
Because no matter what they went through together it was always going to be a yes with him
"Kevi?" Riko's soft accented voice echoing through his phone's speakers
" 'm okay"
"Why are you slurring your words?" Riko was so forceful with his voice, it almost reminded him of Tetsuji
"I'm drunk" The answer was so obvious, it made Riko look stupid
"Kevin, one of these days you're going to drink yourself into an early death" He sounded too happy saying that, but there was a falter in his voice when he said death
And then Kevin was practically crying, this night reminded him of one night when they were 10
One night when they were 10 they cuddled in Kevin's bed when the mas-Tetsuji was gone and things were good for once, but then he came back, and things were bad again
"Imissyou" the words left Kevin's mouth so fast he wasn't able to catch them, and twist them into something else
And then he was actually crying, the hot tears leaving his eyes too quickly, it was humiliating
The last he truly cried was when his wrist was broken, and before that the first night he was in Tetsuji's care
"Riko" Kevin was breathless, and then suddenly the words were spilling out "I miss you so much it hurts, please"
"Kevin, who do you think we are, if we were normal, maybe it'd be different" a pause, a falter in Riko's confession "I love you, it's just that we'll never be something"
"What if I just want you?" Kevin could hear Riko's breath hitch "We could be nothing if you want nothing" Kevin was begging
Kevin could tell that Riko was close to his phone because he could hear his shaky breathing, it was labored and soft
Riko barely whimpered out his next sentence "Why are you telling me this? We could've gone our entire career without choosing to do anything, so why now?"
Kevin took a second to process his words, but his response was still littered with the tone of past tears "I spent so long thinking this love was unrequited that I knew you wouldn't want me"
"Kevin, I hate you" Kevin knew that tone, that inflection
It was a voice that Riko often donned in the nest cocky, cruel, and sharp
But it was a lie he never meant his words when he said that
It was a lie
Just like most things in the nest
"You know you don't" Kevin's voice creaked out of his throat
"I don't" Riko said with a sigh "I love you, Kevi"
And the King's word was final
That night Kevin slept peacefully for the first time in 20 years
With no threat of Tetsuji he was calm
With no threat of the foxes bickering life was quiet
And knowing that his King loved him he was happy