#foxesedition

"It's just a cafe." 

Kevin's shoulders draw up farther around his ears, and Andrew pauses and turns to look at him head on. 

Kevin has been jumpy since Andrew picked him up twenty minutes ago. Andrew had asked him while he bundled his scarf in his lap what had him so skittish, and Kevin had just glared at him and gestured wordlessly like that was all the explanation needed. It wasn't, not really, but Andrew is well versed enough in Kevin's nerves that he let it drop, figuring that eventually Kevin would let him know, one way or another. 

"I've heard good things about it," Kevin snips back, but when he turns to catch Andrew watching him, says, "But we can always go somewhere else." Andrew doesn't know if he remembers Kevin ever ceding his choice without a fight, and that alone is enough to make Andrew open his door without a word, Kevin scrambling after him. Kevin beats him to the door and holds it open for him, and, at Andrew's raised eyebrow, rolls his eyes. 

"Fuck off," he mumbles, and Andrew holds up the hand not holding his cane in mock surrender. 

The place is nicer than their usual coffee stop that's stationed exactly between their two apartments, with wide windows letting in the soft winter light and booths that look like they won't be too cramped for the knee he busted last season. 

(Andrew had been... worried, when it took him out of the playing field for good, that that would be the end of it. He should have known better. Kevin doesn't believe in quitting, or giving up on lost causes. He wasn't going to start with Andrew. Andrew still feels some type of way about it almost a year later, and he refuses to label it as relief.)

They wait in line, Kevin telling him about his attempts to befriend the stray dog that lives under his stairwell with minimal input from Andrew, giving him a chance to look around and figure out where they can sit to both people watch and keep an eye on the door.

Kevin's going about it wrong, feeding it when he knows it isn't there, because he thinks that will make it trust him. Andrew tells him this as Kevin is paying. He waved Andrew off when he tried to pay, and then hip checked him when he tried to budge himself in front of the card reader anyway, so Andrew just leans back against the counter and watches him dig carefully through the receipts and business cards that he inexplicably keeps every time he's handed one in search of his card, eyebrows pulled together and shoulders still curiously hunched in. 

They sit down in the booth to wait for their order, both on the same side against the wall, Kevin boxed in so he can turn and lean against the wall with an arm thrown over the back of the booth like he usually does and Andrew on the outside so he can stretch his leg out into the aisle between tables. Andrew turns to flick him on the forehead. 

"Hey!" Kevin says, rubbing at the red mark, scowling at Andrew like he's the one owed an explanation. 

"Why are you being so weird?" 

Kevin shrugs at him, pink dusting across his cheek bones not entirely due to the cold they just escaped. "It's," Kevin pauses to wave a hand. "Different, like this. I don't know, I don't really go on dates." 

Kevin shrugs again, like he didn't just catapult every train of thought Andrew has ever had right off of their tracks with no way of coming back on line. 

Date?

Andrew stares dimly, not taking anything in for a long moment, before Kevin's name is called. 

Kevin taps his shoulder to be let out, but Andrew doesn't budge.

"Andrew, are you–"

"Date?" Andrew cuts him off, slightly strangled, and he thinks he should be commended for the "slight" aspect. 

Kevin's face pinches in confusion before paling. 

"Oh," he says, too loud for how close they're sitting, before scooting backwards into the wall and taking his arm back from where it was propped up over Andrew's shoulder. "Um." 

There's a wide wildness about his eyes, Andrew thinks, as they dart around Andrew's face, that exactly mirrors how Andrew feels. 

"I thought– Well, I said... and you agreed, so I thought... Andrew?" Kevin is saying words, Andrew is fairly sure, but nothing is getting through to Andrew, and he doesn't know if that's because Kevin isn't making sense or because his brain still isn't online. 

"Kevin, what the fuck are you talking about?" Andrew asks, but he suddenly understands. It's a date, Kevin had said, something odd about his tone, but Andrew had just poked him and said, obviously. 

The Kevin in front of him looks miserable. "Forget I said anything," he says, not meeting Andrew's eyes, "We can just– let's just go home, it's fine." 

"Shut up," Andrew spits, and Kevin deflates. 

"Okay," he says quietly, still not looking at him and picking at his hands. 

"No, just–" Andrew cuts himself off to reach forward and grab Kevin by the nape of his neck to get him to finally look at him. "I'm going to kiss you," he states, still strangled, and shakes Kevin's head slightly, and Kevin nods, eyes still wide but no longer wild. 

So Andrew does. 

They're still sitting in a cafe in the middle of the midafternoon weekend crowd, so it's not much more than a brush of lips, but Kevin sighs into it anyway, and Andrew's stomach does somersaults in response, and it doesn't stop even as he pulls away, even as Kevin follows his lips for a split second and takes a moment to open his eyes. 

Andrew's throat dries at the sight, and his tongue darts out to his lips to try to keep the lingering taste of him, and Kevin catches the action if the way his eyes flick down to his mouth is anything to go by. Andrew leans back forward again to recapture his lips, letting their tongues meet and his hands slide through Kevin's hair, letting Kevin grip his biceps like it's the only thing that's keeping him grounded, and Andrew can't believe they haven't done this already. 

Andrew pulls back abruptly, shuffling out of the booth and standing with a hand braced on the table before leaning back into Kevin's space. "We're not leaving our first date early to go fuck in the backseat of my car," he says, not quite sure who he's trying to convince, but the face that Kevin makes to the words is not helping his own resolve. Even so, Andrew follows the line of his neck with his eyes as he forces down a rough swallow.  "But I don't have any rules against taking you home after." Kevin doesn't quite cough at that. 

Andrew jerks his head towards the counter. "Now go get my hot chocolate." 

Kevin nods, then nods again, shaking himself a bit. The pink high on his cheeks has darkened to a scarlet, and Andrew wants to touch it to see if it feels as warm as it looks. "Am I asking for sprinkles?" he asks, and Andrew knows he's making fun of him. 

PROMPTS [ [#] xmas - general - au || dialogue ]

[01] hot chocolate - pillow fights - bookstore au || "what did i do to deserve you?"

[02] winter dates - fighting back to back - spies au || "you have a choice."

[03] kissing when the ball drops - silencing someone with a kiss - magical world au || "let's go home."

[04] getting well known traditions wrong speeding down the lane - adopted [character] au || "hey, do you have time?"

[05] their first christmas together - new hobbies - transgender au || "no one can resist those [ ] of yours."

[06] shivering - smoking - fix-it au || "still very pretty."

[07] christmas dinner - uncharacteristic behavior - no exy au || "remind me why i put up with you again?"

[08] first christmas together - can't keep their mouth shut - bodyguard au || "so, truth or dare?"

[09] playing in the snow - only one bed - rivals au || "take me instead."

[10] baking - building pillow forts - soul bond au || "how did you do it, then?"

[11] christmas tree - post canon - hackers au || "you're blushing!"

[12] matching sweaters - watching the snow melt away - royalty au || "are you alright?"

[13] special traditions - relaxing next to the fireplace - actors au || "don't blame me."

[14] mistletoe adoption - barista au || "tell me."

[15] ice hockey - wishing on a star - time travel au || "wait, don't-"

[16] watching as it snows outside - coffee shops - band au || "thank you for being there for me."

[17] snow angel - matching tattoo's - the perfect court au || "i want the best for you."

[18] exchanging gifts - canon compliant - tattoo shop au || "you came." "you called."

[19] teeth clattering from the cold - ruffling the other's hair - historical fiction au || "relax, i'm here."

[20] secret santa - hot chocolate dates - ballet au || "make me."

[21] christmas decoration - cloud gazing together - boarding school au || "don't ask for the truth when you know that you can't handle it."

[22] frozen - never have i ever - lawyers au || "i want you."

[23] skiing - pet names - high school au || "how much did you hear?"