#he does get up however when kevin's keys jingle at the door and him coming in would wake neil up anyway.

[s4pphoiduser]

no one else is in the dorm, just andrew and neil. they’re in the living room, sitting on the couch. there’s a little coffee table that neil’s doing his maths homework on and andrew has his feet in neil’s lap. he’s watching a sitcom that he doesn’t find funny--he’s just watching it so he can be with neil while doing Something. he’s also eating chips that kevin would freak out over if he knew about them. he’s watching neil more than the sitcom, really. neil’s oblivious, like, criminally so. he’s got his pencil between his teeth while his fingers tap at the problem he can’t solve. (this is kinda a date night-in situation, matt says. neil says that to andrew after matt goes away and andrew gives him a flat stare: shut up.) (andrew wishes for a second that neil would kiss him instead of doing his stupid math equations.)

#one hour later neil puts away his books and stretches and andrew's eyes go to the skin that shows where neil's shirt rose #neil gives andrew A Look and smirks. andrew: don't fucking look at me like that #neil: oh but you like it / andrew: shut up i'll kill you / neil: sure sure / andrew: one hundred and fifteen neil #neil on all fours above andrew: ohhh a whole one hundred and fifteen huh. and then he asks 'yes or no 'drew?' #(bc neil calls him drew sometimes and you can pry that from my cold dead hands) #andrew says 'yes' but they only kiss for a while with neil's hand against the armrest and andrew's hands under neil's shirt #before neil says his back hurts and andrew makes space between his body and the couch oh-so subtlely but of course #mr neil eyes-for-andrew-joseph-minyard notices and squeezes himself into that space. for a while he's stiff until andrew rolls his eyes and #takes his hand and puts it on his torso. neil obviously warms at that and swallows hard and doesn't talk for the rest of the night. #andrew watches him fall asleep and even tho he gets uncomfortable at some point around 8pm he doesnt get up. #he does get up however when kevin's keys jingle at the door and him coming in would wake neil up anyway. #i was going to study but then i had this thought i was like oh i have to share it #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil #andreil just being incredibly soft with each other because both of them deserve some good gentle love in their lives #i think about soft andreil a lot like. an unhealthy amount (it might just be that i want someone to be soft with me) #aftg #all for the game headcannons #joey.com #mine #andreil being soft agenda

[badacts]

Kid Kevin universe is my favourite thing ever. you did such a good job ily bee

ok so i was on the plane for eight hours today and i wrote a lil bit more, here you go ily too

Neil gets in earlier than he expected. He’s feeling good - they just won away from home again, keeping their streak going, and he’s excited to be home after a long week away. He’s still quiet when he comes in the front door, seeing as it’s nap time, which means it’s also the only time that Andrew ever reliably gets any work done. 

That turns out to be a waste of time, because the first thing he hears is the sound of crying. Loud crying.

He goes to the kitchen where the noise is emanating from, and finds Andrew with a flushed and bawling Kevin on his hip, clad only in a diaper. Two pairs of eyes instantly fix on him, one set teary green and the other a calm hazel.

Kevin’s garbled, “Dadadadadada,” merges back into shrieking, and he reaches both arms out to Neil. Neil holds his own out – it’s instinctive, at this point – and Andrew passes Kevin over to him with an unusual level of enthusiasm.

“He’s sick,” Andrew says. “I’m going to shower.”

He turns on his heel and leaves immediately. 

Neil, who still has his duffel bag hanging over his shoulder, breathes out slowly. Then he manoeuvres his way through into the living room and onto the couch.

Kevin is a hot and squalling weight against his chest, clinging so tight about Neil’s neck that he can barely breathe. Also, there’s a court shoe digging into his lower back. Neil tucks his nose against Kevin’s hair, which smells a lot more like vomit than normal, and rocks him a little.

He’s still bawling when Andrew reappears, though maybe a little more quietly. Andrew is wearing an entirely new outfit, his gold hair still damp from the shower. He has dark circles carved into his face and his jaw looks a little tight.

“How long has he been like this?” Neil asks, loud enough to be heard over Kevin.

“Since 3AM,” Andrew replies. “I’m going to go to the drugstore.”

He pauses, watching Neil expectantly. Neil considers and then tells him, “I don’t need anything. Maybe some Gatorade. Or maybe some earplugs.”

“I put on a load of washing,” Andrew says, and then leaves again. Neil hears the jingle of keys, rustling as Andrew shrugs into his jacket, and then the soft clicks of the door opening and then closing.

Kevin’s grip has loosened a little now. Neil rubs his back and says, “Alright, buddy?”

Kevin pauses in crying for a moment, hiccups, and then pukes on Neil’s shirt.

Fortuitously, the last few months have given Neil a sense of humour about bodily fluids that he never really expected to attain. Also, he’s more patient now than he ever, ever would have been without Kevin in his life.

“I’ll take that as a no, then,” he mutters mostly to himself in a soothing tone under the renewed crying, resigning himself to smelling like baby vomit for however long it takes for Andrew to come back. 

It’s a 50-50 shot that Andrew will drive around for a while rather than rush back to the apartment. Parenthood throws him for more of a loop than either of them ever thought it would with his usual unshakeable calm, just like Neil has been calmer about it all than anyone – including himself – would have imagined. Neil doesn’t begrudge him the opportunity to escape for a while, especially considering the amount of sleep he likely didn’t get last night.

Okay, it might be more like a 30-70 chance. Andrew is pretty devoted.

Neil stands, shedding his bag as he does so, and heads into the little utility room. Once he gets there he finds what Andrew means about the washing – there’s an enormous pile of dirty cloths and clothes, mostly child-sized, next to the spinning machine.

“Shit,” Neil mutters, because their nod to child-friendly language is mostly saying cursewords quietly rather than loudly. They’ve found it generally pays not to make unattainable goals, and their key focus is keeping Kevin alive rather than Neil trying to remember that ‘fuck’ isn’t an appropriate word to come out of a toddler’s mouth.

He finds a washcloth and optimistically wipes his shirt off a little. Then he throws a towel over his shoulder and swaps Kevin to that side, in an equally optimistic attempt to protect himself.

“Alright,” he says to Kevin, who scrunches his miserable flushed face into Neil’s neck. He’s crying quieter now, like he’s getting tired, and Neil feels a pinch at how hard he’s clinging. He’s always been a reasonably stoic kid, though soft-hearted – he cries when he has a fall, or when he gets a fright, but temper tantrums are few and far between.

He’s also, thus far, been very healthy. Neil feels another pinch, this one more uncomfortable, over the fact that he’s sick and so unhappy.

Usually Kevin is delighted to see Neil when he comes home from being on the road. He’s toddling more capably now and speaking better and better, though he still babbles in a way that Neil and Andrew can understand well but most normal adults would hear as gibberish. If he’s not in bed he’ll appear at the sound of the opening door and light up when he sees Neil, demanding to be picked up and regaling Neil with a rush of words about completely innocuous topics.

Neil doesn’t have a favourite, so as a form of greeting it’s right up there equal with Andrew’s brisk kisses and dry comments.

“You’re okay,” Neil tells Kevin, taking him back through to the living room. He’s whimpering, but he settles into Neil. He’s exhausted. Neil twists the towel to wrap it around his little body and holds on.

By the time Andrew comes back, laden with the reusable shopping bag that lives in the trunk of the car and that Neil had nothing to do with, Kevin is screaming again.

Andrew goes into the kitchen, and then comes through to the living room with a bottle of Gatorade and a medicine bottle. The Gatorade goes onto the coffee table by Neil’s feet, and Andrew pours a dose of the medicine onto a spoon.Neil obligingly turns Kevin to give Andrew access to his mouth. Crying aside, Kevin takes the spoon easily, though he shrieks and pats at his mouth because of the taste. That done, Andrew passes the Gatorade to Neil.

“I don’t suppose you did pick up some earplugs,” Neil asks dryly, and then, “It’s okay, I’ve got him.”

Andrew was about to pick Kevin up from Neil, but he pauses at that, raising an eyebrow.

“Go take a nap if you want,” Neil tells him. 

Andrew shakes his head, but there’s a certain looseness to his body when he drops onto the couch beside Neil that implies relaxation. Or maybe exhaustion. Neil certainly feels more relaxed now they’re together again, and he only spent forty minutes alone with Kevin, not hours and hours.

“You could have called,” Neil prods gently. “Family leave.”

“You were coming back anyway,” Andrew replies. His eyes are closed. 

“Still,” Neil says. 

Andrew hushes him. Neil will charitably say it’s because Kevin is quieting again, rather than just because Andrew wants him to stop talking. After a little while, Andrew tilts sideways, putting his head on the arm of the couch and tucking his feet under Neil’s thigh.

Kevin’s whimpering is fading to soft snores. He feels a little less overheated, like his temperature might be going down. Neil knows he needs fluids, but he’s reluctant to disturb him just yet. He’s also reluctant to disturb Andrew, who is breathing deeper and slower now, one arm curled over his face.

Neil holds Kevin close, closes his eyes for a moment, and doesn’t sleep. Someone needs to be awake right now, and it feels right that it’s him.

#the foxhole court #andreil #kid kevin verse #my fic #Anonymous