we're foxes, something is always going wrong

little moments like how neil’s eyes seek out andrew whenever he enters the room and how andrew always tends to gravitate towards neil no matter the situation

little moments like the reassuring touches on the back of the neck andrew gives neil and the nods neil gives andrew in return to signal everything is ok

little moments like neil sitting next to andrew on the bus and andrew falling asleep next to him, completely vulnerable, but comfortable

little moments like andrew flinching every time neil gets bodychecked a little too hard and neil cheering a little louder than anyone else when andrew deflects a goal

little moments like andrew clearing everyone out the room when he sees neil start to panic and neil doing the same for him in return

little moments like neil stealing food off of andrew’s plate whenever they go out and andrew not batting an eye at it

little moments like andrew escaping to the roof and neil following only after what he thought was a non-suspicious amount of time

little moments like these that aaron and kevin chose to ignore when nicky points them out and continue to deny when they only continue

little moments like these that make matt smile with pride and fill renee with joy knowing andrew is happy

it takes neil around a month to figure out just how messy andrew is. he’s not actually that bad per se, he’s more lazy

meaning he’ll wait until he has literally nothing clean to wear before doing laundry and half the time he doesn’t bother to fold it, instead he just keeps it in the basket until laundry needs to be done again

whenever neil confronts him about it andrew just tells him how it’s not worth his time

neil learns to live w it and eventually, down the line they wear each other’s clothes often enough they don’t know whose is whose, so neil just does all the laundry

that being said, andrew leaves his socks all over the house and it annoys neil to no end

neil is a morning person,, 110%

he likes to get up early to go for runs before it gets too hot out and while he may try his best to not wake andrew, he usually fails

andrew is not a morning person

he’s gotten used to it tho, whether he likes it or not. it’s gotten to the point now where andrew will just get up too, since the cats are usually up as well, and make breakfast while neil’s gone so it’s ready by the time neil gets back

((listen…this boy can Cook but that’s for another time))

sometimes tho, andrew is dead to the world in the morning and nothing can wake him, so neil will leave a cute little note to let him know where he’s gone so andrew won’t panic if he wakes up home alone

andrew keeps all the notes in a box under the bed (which neil finds but doesn’t comment on, he finds it sweet)

andrew usually ends up taking cat naps on the couch (due to waking up early) and whenever neil wakes him up he makes this little scrunched up face that neil finds adorable

on the other hand, neil falls asleep while watching tv in the evening usually and andrew will have to half drag him back to bed since he’s already half asleep

andrew always acts like it’s some big inconvenience, but secretly (or perhaps not-so-secretly) he likes how gentle neil looks when he’s sleepy and how he clings to andrew and tries to give him sleepy neck kisses while they make their way to bed

neil is the worst for leaving his dirty dishes everywhere, andrew is constantly cleaning up after him

andrew never uses the mat when he showers so the bathroom floor is always wet (the first several times it happened it caused neil to slip and fall and he threatened to buy a ‘caution: wet floor’ sign at one point)

neil has to have the tv volume end in either a 5 or 0 when he watches it, he’s got no idea why, same goes for the volume in the car

so by surprise (or maybe not) alvarez and laila are the first same sex couple to be officially out in the exy world

they weren’t actually even planning for it, but after they had gotten more comfortable around each other and took to calling each other pet names

(“babe” and -whether it be sarcastic or not- “sweetheart” are the two most common)

it was only time before one of them slipped up in an interview

when that did happen (alvarez and jeremy were handling the press that night) everyone took it in stride

jeremy announced how their team was there to support them no matter what and turned all the inappropriate questions to instead how well they had played as a team that night

things didn’t change very drastically after that

even if the erc had wanted to do something about it, they wouldn’t have been able to because the trojans have too big of a fanbase and they wouldn’t put up with mistreatment of their players

eventually alvarez and laila do an interview on television about the teams season, and of course questions about them come up, but they’re all polite and the girls answer them with smiles on their faces

not that the camera caught it, but they held hands between their chairs the whole time (and there may have been good luck kisses before going on stage, just saying)

soon enough they start getting letters from girls all over and all ages about how happy they are for them and how finally have someone to look up to and how they’ve finally given them hope

alvarez claims she didn’t cry while reading them, but laila knows that’s a lie

she doesn’t say anything about it though bc she knows her gf has to keep up the Tough™ reputation

ok ok one more thing

they have movies nights like A Lot. and by they i mean the whole team. they all pile into jeremy’s room (let’s say they have dorms like the foxes ok) and then they have a schedule for who picks the movie and who brings the snacks

alvarez and laila usually get the love seat that sits in the corner and they curl up completely content

depending on the movie laila can get pretty worked up, and she’s actually banned from having any popcorn

since last time she threw a whole bowl at the tv and they had to pause it while jeremy made her pick up every single peace while cursing alvarez for not controlling her girlfriend

alvarez replied by saying if she had any popcorn she would have thrown it too

their favourite movies to watch are horror movies, bc of course, it gives them the excuse to cuddle up and hide in each other’s arms

(not that they don’t do that normally, but there’s added dramatics when a horror movie is concerned)

also since the dorms don’t really allow pets they have a red betta fish that they have announced as their son

“…and I swear, bee, that little shit has the biggest attitude problem. he just doesn’t know when to quit.”

“sounds like he’s quite the handful. poor wymack.”

“he’s trouble.”

…

“he’s gonna get himself killed that’s what.”

“that bad?”

“he’s the worst, bee. not a fibre of common sense in his body. ”

“i see. cocoa?”

…

“how’s the season going so far?”

“i’m sure you know.”

“i’m afraid I don’t, andrew. you’ll have to fill me in.”

“they’re still just a bunch of fools. neil has somehow convinced them they’re gonna be able to get their shit together in time to win finals. they seem to actually believe him.”

“do you believe him?”

“not with the state of our team right now.”

“has neil himself improved?”

“he’s just as bad as kevin.”

…

“….and neil? i haven’t heard much about him in awhile.”

“no.”

“okay. the weather network said there’s supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight.”

“i don’t care about the weather, bee.”

“there probably won’t be, they’re always wrong. my grandma used to tell me if i wanted to know the weather to just go stand on the back step.”

…

“neil scored the winning goal last night.”

“i know.”

“it was a close game.”

“i know.”

“you must be proud of your teammate.”

“i hate him.”

…

“so neil-”

“shut up, i’m not talking about this with you.”

matt tries multiple occasions to try in the beginning to get neil to open up about their relationship before he realizes he needs to let neil tell him on his own time

“so when did /that/ happen” / “i don’t know what you’re talking about”

“how are you and andrew-” / “i’m going to stop you right there”

“hey, neil-” / “no”

he finally settles it with: “look obviously you don’t want to talk to me about it, but at least let me know you’re ok”

neil assures him he’s fine

matt rolls his eyes at the answer but he believes neil and feels better knowing that it’s reciprocated form his side as well

(not that they kept it subtle once everyone knew, but matt wanted to make sure neil wasn’t being pressured or anything, idk man he’s just so protective))

matts words stick in his head and neil finds himself thinking about them and as much as he tries to pick them apart, he can’t find anything but sincerity from them

of course matt genuinely cares about him, neil knew that, but he’s still getting used to the feeling

but the foxes are his family after all, they stood by his side through everything, they had no reason to bear him any hatred

next time they’re sitting alone (matt watching tv, neil attempting to study) neil speaks up

“we’re good”

it takes a moment for matt to realize just what neil means and he smiles to himself but doesn’t make a comment

neil continues on: “he’s good to me, don’t worry”

matt huffs at the accusation “I wasn’t” 

from then on whenever they’re alone neil tends to make small comments without being prompted on how it’s going with andrew

they equally surprise matt everytime but he loves the feeling of having finally earned neil’s trust and he wants nothing more ((ok nothing more other than dan)) than to know neil is finally getting the happiness he deserves 

then it happens

one night, matt is almost asleep when he hears neil’s faint voice: “i think he might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me”

neil is oblivious to well, pretty much everything. let’s be real that boy has an obscure level of self awareness.

anyways the New Kid™ is honestly just a bit in awe of neil. they know what he’s been through, what he’s survived and how he’s still somehow managed to come out on top. their crush starts w simple attraction and admiration. then they actually get to know him and the crush only goes downhill.

renee picks up on it pretty fast, she’s the observant type after all and she’s good at reading people. a bet starts up on if the New Kid will dare to make a move, most of them actually bet against it.

andrew is actually one of the ones who bets for it tho, claiming it would make things “interesting” and not that he’s going to tell anyone but he wants to see what neil’s reaction would be. 

some of the things the New Kid has tried on neil are: following him around back at the dorms, asking for one-on-one training time, trying to get neil to dance w them when andrew brings them to columbia for the first time, lingering looks and smiles across the room at neil, just generally trying to get as much alone time as they can and lingering touches that neil may or may not shy away from.

pretty much the rest of the foxes can see what’s up and they’re honestly a little surprised neil hasn’t caught on, but they don’t interrupt due to andrew’s wishes. 

then comes the day when the New Kid decides to become more direct and decides to try a pick up line. they wait till after practice before cornering neil (and the rest of the team stays behind to watch what’s about to go down)

“are from tennessee, because you’re the only ten i see”

*silence* “i’m the only ten on the team”

nobody can decide whether neil is trying to make a joke or if he’s just that oblivious. there's a face palm from dan in the background. and nicky almost cries. later that night andrew and the others collect their money from the win.

the New Kid™ only tries once more before andrew steps in. neil is still painfully clueless and andrew just can’t take it anymore.

Neil wished he had something to give them in return for their easy friendship and trust, but nothing about him was safe enough to share. They never pried, but it took him weeks to realize they didn't have to. They didn't ask for secrets; they settled for the breadcrumb truths of day to day life. They knew he hated vegetables but loved fruit, that his favorite color was gray, and that he didn't like movies or loud music. They were things Neil understood only in terms of survival, but his teammates hoarded these insights like gold.

neil h a t e s the press. that’s pretty much common knowledge

even after riko’s death (old habits die hard)

actually especially after riko’s death bc suddenly he’s in the spotlight again. neil and riko’s rivalry wasn’t a secret by an measure, which only made the consequences of his death even worse. a majority of the fans blame neil, he killed their king

the foxes try to shield neil from the press as long as they can, but as andrew brings up: “that just makes the poor thing seem even more suspicious”

so after the next game neil is assigned to press duty w renee, since wymack trusts her judgement of when to step in

most the questions at the beginning are about the game which neil is able to handle and they think it might actually not be too bad. then comes the questions about riko

“how do you feel about riko moriyama’s death”

“what effect do you think riko’s death has had on you and your team”

“how do you feel knowing the king of exy is dead”

and the worst: “i know his death was ruled as a suicide, but do you feel you had anything to do with riko’s death”

neil tries to remain civil, he really does. but before he even manages to get anything out renee thanks them for their time and drags neil away

the most neil manages to get out is a “go fuck yourself, please” before the press disappear from view and it takes him the rest of the night to calm down