#killslay

It is the morning after the lonely night. A slaughter will happen this morning.... Brutal.. And Ruthless... And Calculated Slaughter! At the moment, the two men who stalk the snarling leopard think they will commit the kill. They will spear the animal hide at the throat, careful not to ruin the pelt... and then they will take turns bashing in its skull until it ceases to fight! They are alone with the morning and their brutality, and secure in that knowledge until a foreign sound rips away their security! And they look upon the faces of their executioners! There will be a slaughter this morning—but they will be victims!

I am Madam Slay and I killed those killers! And you need not ask... I’m going to kill you, also! But you knew someone very close... to me. You haven’t forgotten Erik, have you? I called him Erik. He was fond of that name. And he was fond of me as I was fond of him! But that’s all over now, isn’t it? It’s past... because you caused his death! Don’t bother denying it. I haven’t been lonely. Mute here is more suitable company than most. Erik told me Mute had something called Aphonia... But that’s of no real consequence either. It’s enough to say.. Mute’s name fits him—adequately. You might wonder why I wear these pelts. I do not want that misunderstood. Those beautiful animals were slain by members of your righteous people! I wear these hides as tribute... to Erk... and to the superb cats that were butchered in their prime! The closeness of these pelts remind me of their grace and warmth when they were alive—but more—it keeps the memory of Erik close to me!

ahh thank you so, so much, bud!!!! ok i haven’t written andreil in literal months so i’m really rusty so pls be nice asdkjfahdsk spoilers for And We’ll Be Running obviously. so don’t read if you haven’t read that!!!

i hope you like it <3

*

Neil presses send on the tweet right before they takeoff, expecting the majority of the Monsters and Upperclassmen to already haveturned their phones to airplane mode – and delaying their inevitable freak outfor at least twelve hours. What he doesn’t expect is for Andrew’s phone to buzzand light up where it’s sitting in his lap.

Neil glances down at the sound, raising an eyebrow atthe sight of his own tweet appearing on the screen.

“Do you have my notifications turned on?” he asks,trying and failing to keep the delight out of his voice.

Andrew slants a glance at him, managing to lookunimpressed even while his right hand is still holding Neil’s in a death grip.

“How else am I supposed to keep track of all thedumbass things you say to hold over you later?”

Neil grins, nodding to the phone in Andrew’s lap. “Youcan hold this one over me if you want.”

Andrew narrows his eyes, picking up the phone withhis free hand and examining the screen for a few seconds before giving Neilbored expression. “You’re getting sentimental, Josten.”

“Maybe I was just telling them the name of my newsong,” Neil quips, idly wondering if the lyrics on Andrew’s palm havetransferred to his own with how long they’ve been holding hands.

Andrew rolls his eyes. “Maybe you should stop beingso obvious.”

“Maybe you should stop holding my hand then.”

That makes Andrew pause and Neil watches the way hisgaze flits from Neil’s face to their joined hands on the armrest. “You held myhand first,” he responds finally, looking away from Neil to stare out thewindow and effectively ending the conversation.

Neil just smiles to himself, brushing his thumb overthe back of Andrew’s hand.

He doesn’t let go.

Andrew doesn’t either.

*

Later, when he and Andrew are on a hotel roof inPortugal and Neil finally remembers to turn his phone off airplane mode he can’tsay he’s all that surprised by the string of notifications that appear on hislockscreen.

@NickyOffical: yoU TWO ARE SO IN LOVE OH MY G ODASDKJFHSAKJFHASKJFH

@aaron_minyard: this is gross

@WildDan: get your boy, Josten ;)

@AllisonReynolds: nice aesthetic, 9/10. You’relearning

@mattboydofficial: that’s so fucking cute oh mygoddddd

@Renee_Walker: oh neil, this is so lovely!!!! <3

@RealKevinDay: shouldn’t you be rehearsing?

“Are they done being invested in our relationship?”Andrew asks disinterestedly beside him, flicking away the end of his cigarettewhen Neil turns to look at him.

“You just called this a relationship,” Neil replies,and he sounds dumbstruck and he knows it. He doesn’t really care though. He’smostly trying to stop himself from smiling so wide.

“I’ll be calling you something else in a minute,”Andrew retorts.

“You like me,” Neil says with a smirk and Andrewsighs.

“I would’ve thought that much would be obvious bynow.”

And yes, he supposed it is. That doesn’t stop it fromnearly bowling Neil over every time Andrew even tacitly admits it out loudthough.

Andrew huffs when Neil doesn’t respond, fingerscatching in Neil’s t-shirt and dragging him in for a firm kiss. He lets go whenhe pulls back but it’s only to slide his hand into Neil’s instead.

Neil ducks his head to hide his smile and accepts acigarette when Andrew offers it to him.

*

i accept your sacrifice. thank you

oh, babe, thank you for unleashing the beast- let’s get started!

we’ll begin with what everyone automatically sorts my guy into: slytherinnow, a slytherin values resourcefulness, cunning, ambition, determination, self preservation, fraternity. AMBITION? SELF PRESERVATION? FRATERNITY? sis I don’t think so, andrew minyard has 0 ambition, 0 self preservation, 0 feelings of fraternity with the rest of the foxes, like just no. (i SCREAM when people make him a slytherin by default)

moving on to: gryffindorso, a gryffindor values bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry. while an argument can be made for some these things, gryffindor also are heroic to a point of fault and they strive and try to be better. that’s pretty much what they’re known for. my guy minyard doesn’t give a rats ass about the greater good or being a hero, moving on

next up we’ve got: ravenclaw a ravenclaw values intelligence, wit, wisdom, creativity, individuality, acceptance. now andrew is extremely smart. boys got an eidetic memory like he knows (know what? you may ask. knows everything. he just Knows) while he has a sharp wit and is very smart, he never shows this or flaunts it. neil had to figure it out just based on close observation. he’s never competitive in academics (a very common ravenclaw trait) and some of those others can only loosely apply to him. in my humble opinion, ravenclaw would be the next best fit for him BUT FEAR NOT, bc we are now exactly where we need to be

we are at: hufflepuff values dedication, hard work, fair play, patience, kindness, unafraid of toil, loyalty. look @ that again 👀. aj minyard is loyal af. boy is loyal to a fault. there’s nothing (and i mean nothing) he hates more than when people break promises/trust/loyalty. (dedication gets stuck in their with loyalty) fair play! andrew always gives people a warning so that they’ll know the consequences of their actions (this probably stems from his childhood with drake but that’s for another analysis) unafraid of toil? check, a thousand times check. and- ok if you met andrew minyard i’m sure your first thoughts wouldn’t be “wow he was so kind” or “he was such a nice fella” but. but to the people that matter to him. to his family, andrew is kind and soft. need a reference? helping out renee, buying little gifts for bee, helping neil after he returned from baltimore, need i go on? (kindness may not be his dominant hufflepuff trait but it’s there, ok anyways)