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That's fucked up. Damn, Drei. 

Tee tries typing out a text to Andrei as Ja'Marr's texting him at the same time (drei gone bro). He doesn't know what to say without sounding insincere or pitying. Ja'Marr texts him again (he be aigh tho). He calls Andrei instead, impulsive. Because what if he's not or won't be, Tee so remembers going through his own shit and how the most he could get out a friend was some version of you'll be aigh. It can be nice when there's at least one person feeling sorry for you. 

Andrei picks up on damn near the last ring, sounding surprised. Tee awkwardly apologizes for him being cut and Andrei's laughing it off (I mean, I knew this could happen so…no biggie) in that stoutly earnest way he might talk to the cameras before he gets really quiet in front of his locker. I was literally about to go get something to eat when my agent called though, so. That sucks. 

Tee has no idea what possesses him to say, show me that spot that you was talking about uh—what was it? That spaghetti or somethin'. Andrei's silent for a moment, then stutters, uh, you—right now, like now now? And yes, Tee means right now. 

They meet up at one of the only places that do Andrei's Filipino roots right in Cincinnati. He's already there when Tee pulls up, a shadow backlit by the shop's storefront, swaying from one foot to the other. He's not smiling until Tee rocks up in front of him, flinching into a grin too wide for the occasion. 

Andrei does the heavy lifting to order because Tee is shrugging when he asks what he wants (you know what's best, go ahead), and they're these two tall as fuck guys bickering in the line until Andrei just gets what he hopes Tee might think is good. They get a table in some corner and pointedly don't talk about the elephant. Tee doesn't know how to bring it back up, so he keeps listening to Andrei explain what each food is (He got…so much food. He wanted Tee to have options, okay?). But once that stops and then they're both eating just to eat, and the music is playing overhead, there's nothing else but that to talk about. Andrei's not a huge yapper, not as big as he might seem, but he knows when to fill silence. 

I'll be around for a little bit, he says, eyes flitting up at Tee momentarily, then back down at where he's poking at the last of his food. Figured I'd see out my lease. 

Then what?

Andrei's face really lights up, eyes wrinkling with it. Back to Hawaii, of course. Home. 

Tee has had to re-learn what that means time and again. Home. For Andrei it's been a constant line, if the way he's spoken about it is true. He has that demeanor, someone with their childhood done right. 

I gotta make it out there sometime, see what it's like, Tee says, lighthearted. 

It's late, but Andrei lights up at that, sitting up straighter. Yeah? Just say the word, I'll make the experience really local. 

They clean up and do an awkward dap thing outside the restaurant because Andrei's the type to hug his friends and Tee—isn't. Andrei isn't one of the guys who force him, luckily.

And Andrei isn't there during training and stuff, right, nothing has to change, nothing's changed. But it also has because everyone wants a ring (let's say they either don't get a ring this year or they get one and they want another), so things are more sober. The rookies/second-strings are looking to fill Andrei's spot, Joe's outer-orbit, so there's practice contact where there shouldn't be, the shit talk is feeling more charged, the summer heat brutal. There's no Andrei to turn to for a little comic relief, or to ask if one of the rookies is faking their Italian accent, and to get a laugh out of, even if the joke isn't that funny. 

Tee feels it most when Joe and Ja'Marr are in one of their moods, not speaking to each other so they're not speaking to much of anyone at all. Tee has to try to decode every look from them, the way they can so easily do with each other, but it never quite translates the same for him? Andrei isn't there for him to turn and share a look with, just the burn of the sun, the field a green roll of eternity, and this telepathic silence between two of his boys. 

He texts Andrei after one of those practices, his head thumping in the parking lot as Ja'Marr burns rubber getting out of there and Joe somewhere inside, still throwing. 

what's that coconut thing?

that fuckin shaved ice shit you was talkin about

Andrei hits him back like clockwork: halo halo? 🤨 what you know abt halo halo? 

Long story short, Tee tells him to meet him at the spot (if you free) and Andrei does, of course, but he's wondering why Tee's making time for him all of a sudden. Tee does explain, just a bit (a guy can't want to try some different cuisine?). It's true, yes, but even Tee isn't sure how to put it to words yet. Andrei sort of got it while they were on the team. He was willing to talk jellyfish with Tee on the sidelines, and he knew the capitals of random states, and sometimes he brought a lighter air to those mini huddles (Joe, Ja'Marr, Tee, and him), and the time he got tackled during a no-contact practice he looked like he was going to cry about it, but he didn't. He admitted to it though (I was forreal about to bawl actually) and laughed about it, but Tee wasn't supposed to hear that, that was a conversation between Andrei and Chase.

Anyways, Tee and Andrei start hanging out, like often, and alone. They both never invite other people, although Andrei brings up Charlie or Mike in conversation. Mike and Charlie haven't mentioned anything when Tee sees them, but he swears Charlie starts looking at him weird later on, once Andrei goes back to Hawaii (see below). Ja'Marr would sometimes text him to see where he was at, it would be a Friday night and he's trying to go out. Or see if he wants to like, have a kid's night or something, but Tee just tells him he's doing something else the first couple of times, like Andrei is some dirty secret, until Ja'Marr corners him in the locker room one day and makes him confess with the power of his eyes (now why the fuck you ain't just tell me that? got me thinkin' you got a sneaky sneaky link and it's just Drei, damn). Tee isn't going to unpack that just yet.