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jtl-fics · 7 months

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Fluent Freshman - Part 42

There are things that change a person.

Moments where after they happen they simply cannot un-happen. Things that a person hears that they cannot un-hear. Promises that a person makes that they can’t, and perhaps even wouldn’t, un-make.

Jeremy’s moment came over winter break the previous year. Jeremy heard things that he could never un-hear in the middle of the night. Jeremy made a promise that he would never break while in the guest room of his parent’s house holding one Jean Moreau tight as he talked about the Nest.

Jeremy was different after that night.

Not wildly different. Not to most.

The only ones who knew had also had a moment, had also heard things, and had also made promises that they intended to keep.

Jeremy is on his way back from the bathroom with a freshly washed handkerchief from the Fox’s most promising Freshman when it all happens.

He watches Richard throw a glass on the ground and go for Caleb’s throat which in all honesty he had been anticipating since he’d seen the seating arrangements. Sitting the Jackals with the Terrapins? After Caleb seduced Alyssa during the Fall Banquet? Who thought that was a good idea?

Jeremy sees FF and sees that he is alone and wonders where Michael had gone off to. He’s glad that FF has stayed put, the guys quiet but he’s not bad company. Jeremy thinks he would have gotten along pretty well with Jean if he hadn’t flubbed the recruitment.

“He just got a restraining order against that step-brother of his.” Aaron Minyard says explaining the awkward air after Jeremy had spoken. “He’s a Fox.” he adds and Jeremy had felt foolish in that moment.

It should have been obvious.

He hears a scream and sees that one of the Terrapins has joined in the brawl and he has one of the steak knives.

What was the point of that when they had pre-sliced tenderloin anyways? He looks over and sees Anita Flores watching the evening start to go down in flames and all he can think is that she’ll probably do better next time. It’s the first banquet she’s run on her own since Claire retired in the fall.

His eyes go to Jean when he hears another scream.

He can see Laila with Jean and Kevin. He can see Alvarez making her way to the two of them. The Trojans know better after last Winter Banquet. They come together and don’t make it obvious that Jean is at the center of their formation.

He sees Melissa get punched when she tries to get between Richard and Caleb. He’s sure she probably just doesn’t like having this kind of violence at her stadium but getting directly between Richard and Caleb wasn’t her smartest move.

Oh Jacob took exception to that. Well Jeremy can hardly blame the guy when his girlfriend and Captain gets punched like that. Caleb’s just lucky that she’s not dating Malcolm any-

Oh Malcolm is getting in on it. I guess he does still have feelings for Melissa. They had been real cute until he cheated on her. He thinks Melissa is better off with Jacob but who knows.

He looks to Jean again and sees that Kevin is leaving the Trojan encirclement and can see the other Foxes start to head for the exit as the fighting grows more intense. He sees Andrew holding Neil’s hand in a vice grip and-

Oh, of course they’d be anxious here. Of course the Foxes were on edge.

He looks and FF is still sat at the table seemingly unbothered by the chaos erupting around him. He watches as the Foxes make their way to the table where FF is sat. Sees them gathering their belongings and sees FF remain seated, eyes on them and then on the chaos.

Ah, the rearguard.

He nods and diverts his attention back to the mess at hand. Honestly Caleb shouldn’t bait Richard and Richard should be glad that he didn’t propose to someone who’d cheat on him. They’d talked about it and it wasn’t like he had customized the ring or anything so he got his full deposit back. He thought Richard was feeling better about the whole thing, had even been dating Erika and-

Ohh yeah there’s Erika with a Terrapin’s jacket over her shoulders and a hickey that he’s pretty sure Richard hadn’t left on her neck.

Man Caleb what the hell, what did Richard even do? Caleb you don’t even like girl-

Ohhhh.

Caleb….bro. There are better ways to handle a crush.

Now fully understanding the situation Jeremy can’t help but think that it’s actually a pretty simple solution. Well, not simple. Richard is pretty straight but like a firm talking to with Caleb will probably-

“Hey, back off!” He hears Alvarez and his head whips around back to Jean where it shouldn’t have left.

Ravens.

Those Ravens.

Jeremy made a promise.

Jeremy had taken lessons over the summer and-

God it felt good to slam his fist into Johnson’s stupid awful ugly chin. The only thing that was even sweeter was sinking his fist into Reacher’s gut.

“Knox what the fuck?!” he heard Jasmine exclaim and they’d been buddies at one point but it was hard to feel anything positive for a girl who watched.

“I warned you guys during the Fall Banquet didn’t I?” Jeremy asks with a smile as he shakes out his hand. He looks to the side and sees that the rest of the team has now fully encircled Jean. Nothing was getting through them to-

It’s too late that Jeremy sees a younger Raven meatball in hand. He tries to stop it but his arms are too short and it nails Jean right in the forehead.

He looks at the marinara roll down Jean’s forehead as he blinks in surprise. Laila lets out a scream and has him cradled in her arms and out of sight before Jean even seems to fully understand what is going on.

“Jean, it’s going to be okay.” Jeremy hears Laila assure.

“Laila, what in the world are you freaking out about?” Jean asks. “I’m French, not Italian. I would not bleed marinara sauce.” Jeremy hears him say out of sight and if Jeremy wasn’t so mad he’d laugh.

“That’s it!” Alvarez exclaims and slugs the sophomore who had lobbed the errant meatball and from there it was an all out brawl between the Trojans and the Ravens. They were all defensive over their frenchmen especially against his old team and Jeremy thinks about the investigation he’s been pushing the ERC towards. Thinks about all the little things he has questioned and put into the heads of all of his friends throughout the Division.

He makes his way to Jean as Ned and Jim have taken on the task of handling Reacher and Johnson.

“God, first the sparse wine selection and now this.” Jean says from where Laila was trying to wipe sauce from his face.

“Here, use this.” he offers FF’s handkerchief and thinks about getting a few himself.

Laila takes the handkerchief, “I thought you said there was a lot of wine.” she says.

“No, I said Kevin was doing a lot of whining.” Jean corrects eyes closed as Laila cleans his face off. Jeremy looks towards the Fox table and wonders how he’ll get the handkerchief back to FF and sees FF rising up from the table and quickly put on his jacket before heading out the door after the rest of the Foxes.

What bothers him is the security guards following them. Everyone should know that security guards + the Foxes + Binghamton = Andrew might start stabbing people.

His concern only grows greater when he sees Michael and a few other Ravens follow.

***

There are things that change a person.

Experiences that you never want to experience again. Words that can never be spoken again. Feelings that can never be carefully locked away not that they’re out in the open and known.

Andrew’s experience happened two years ago. Andrew had heard words that he never wished to hear again in his entire life for the last time in Binghamton. Andrew had felt things staring down at a cell phone that he had never let himself feel before.

He looks at Neil safe and sound on the bus after a different fight, a different riot, in Binghamton and it’s hard to be upset. He hadn’t let his Junkie out of his sight the entire night and the moment that he saw security moving in he had grabbed Neil by the hand. His focus had narrowed down at that moment and no amount of Neil insisting that it was fine would stop Andrew’s determined march out of the stadium.

He only felt like he could breathe when he had ushered Neil into the bus and into a seat. He felt his shoulders ease but he didn’t let go of Neil’s hand, he didn’t know if he would until they were back in Palmetto.

The rest of the team filtered out of the stadium quickly and soon enough Wymack was calling out to make sure that everyone was there. “Smith?” Wymack called.

“He’s right here!” a voice calls out and Andrew thinks it’s one of the other Freshmen.

“Let’s get out of here.” Wymack says.

The team gets on the bus and soon enough they’re putting Binghamton in the rearview.

Andrew exhales.

***

He’d heard Michael call out for him and he’d stopped. With all the distraction and the upcoming loading onto the bus he hadn’t felt the need to be exceptionally low presence.

It’d been a mistake as it usually was.

FF looked at the security guard standing in front of him and out the door to the stadium where the Foxes were loading into the bus.

“Will you meet the Master now?” Michael is asking him and FF doesn’t quite get why he’s asking when it’s obvious that FF doesn’t have a choice.

“No.” he says because Michael did ask which means theoretically he could just be misreading the situation.

“You said you’d meet him if the banquet ended.” Michael says.

FF furrows his brow, “I said I’d get up.” he reminds and Michael looks nervous.

“Please?” Michael asks and FF blinks.

“I need to get on the bus.” FF points and the security guard merely steps into his line of sight as if that erased the fact that the bus was there and he was not on it.

“We’ll get you back to where you belong.” Michael promises.

“I belong on the bus that is going back to my campus where I keep all my stuff.” FF says matter of factly.

Michael looks at him utterly bewildered.

“Enough of this.” The guard says and goes to grab him.

FF moves out of the way.

The guard goes to grab him again and FF backs up and out of the way again.

The guard goes to grab him and FF steps back out of his reach again.

This process continues until they are back into the main stadium where the brawl has taken over all of the teams. FF sidesteps the security guard, and he’s near positive this isn’t a real security guard Binghamton really needs to work on their hiring practices. Only this time he side steps out of the way and the guard crashes like an enranged bull into the punch table.

FF’d feel bad about it but there was no way in the world he was going to meet someone named ‘The Master’ when he has spaghetti pants. Absolutely no chance. Whoever it was probably was important enough to deserve dry clean only pants.

“I need to go.” he says to Michael and heads back for the exit, hopeful that maybe just maybe the bus hadn’t left yet. Nicky was pretty drunk though and he knew that the rest of the team would have a singular focus on Captain Neil.

“No, wait!” Michael pleads and FF stops seeing the other player with tears in his eyes. FF stops and unzips his jacket slightly to reach in and grab the handkerchief he had refolded as his pocket square.

“Sorry, I really can’t stay.” he says and offers the handkerchief to Michael, “You can keep that one or hand it to me the next time we play against one another if you remember.” he says. “Tonight isn’t the night for me to talk with your Master.” he says.

Michael looks at him with wide eyes and accepts the handkerchief.

He walks out back into the exiting hallway and there is an older asian man there. He has a cane and he is standing between FF and the door.

He approaches quickly and the man hits his cane against the ground once, “You will join the Ravens.” he says with authority.

Oh great.

“I'd actually rather not.” Smith responds and makes sure to keep a wide berth from the crazy old guy who’s made his way into the Stadium somehow.

He gets out the stadium doors and-

The bus left.

He sighs thinks about the crazy guy right behind him and lets his presence fade into something only Jeremy Knox could see (APPARENTLY).

It’s pretty cold out as he gets as far away from the entrance to the building as possible and reaches into his pocket for his phone. He dials Nicky.

***

“COACH, YOU FORGOT SMITHY. AGAIN.” A drunken shout from the back of the bus startles Wymack as he lets out a loud string of curses before getting into a lane to make a U-turn.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

#Fluent Freshman AU #Michael is just staring at this handkerchief #And staring at the back of a guy who didn't even break stride passing Tetsuji Moriyama #And contemplating a lot of things at the moment #Laila: “Wait so what would you bleed?”#Jean: “What? Blood? I bleed blood?”#Laila: “But you said you're french not Italian. What would the french bleed?”#Jean: “Laila..”#Alvarez: “No Jean you've decided that Italians bleed Marinara. Finish the thought.”#Jean: “I don't know probably one of the mother sauces? Maybe Béchamel??”#Laila: “Jean we need to know your blood type if you're ever really hurt. Are you sure it's not Hollandaise?”#Jean: “How dare you imply that I would bleed Hollandaise.”#AFTG #Jean Moreau #Andreil #Jeremy Knox #Implied Jerejean #AFTG OC #FF - 42

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otdiaftg · 7 months

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The Raven King - Chapter Seven

Day: Thursday, October 5th Time: 11:00 AM EST

"Andrew hates her, you know. Andrew's not really big on the idea of Aaron's happiness, see? So if Aaron likes Katelyn, Andrew doesn't want him to have her. Andrew might smile awful bright but he is a master of childish spite." "That doesn't make sense," Neil said. "It's complicated," Nicky said, rubbing the back of his neck as he leaned back in his chair. "I didn't really get into the gritty details last time because those aren't really Dan and Matt's business, but you're family, so I can tell you." He looked over his shoulder again. "I told you Aunt Tilda gave Andrew up, right? That's only half of it. Truth is she put both of them in the system at first. One week later she changed her mind."

"They know she gave them both up?" Neil asked. "When Andrew's foster mother called to set up that meet-and-greet, she asked Aunt Tilda how only one of them ended up in the system. Aunt Tilda told her, and Aaron heard it on the upstairs line." Nicky gestured up as if indicating Tilda's bedroom. "I don't know why the hell Andrew's foster family told him, but yeah, he knows. I'm thinking that's why he wouldn't talk to Aaron when Aaron wrote to him. He was—justifiably, I think—pissed off." "But it's not Aaron's fault," Neil said. "It was their mother's decision." "That's Andrew for you: making sense since never." Nicky spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "Finding Andrew again was a turning point for Aaron in all the worst ways. Aunt Tilda moved them cross-country, started drinking more than ever, and got heavy-handed with Aaron. Aaron got into all kinds of trouble in some sort of traumatized rebellion. He took her drugs and got into fights at school and in general grew up to be a bit of an asshole. Mom wrote me about it when I was in Germany because she was worried about him. The only good thing Aaron did in South Carolina was play Exy, and he only picked that up so games would get him out of Aunt Tilda's house. Then Dad found out about Andrew and began this years-long campaign to bring Andrew home. Told you last time, right? He wore Aunt Tilda down until she agreed to take Andrew in, then talked to the courts and Children's Services and Andrew's last foster family. He met Andrew, who apparently wasn't at all interested in a triumphant return with his mother, and introduced Aaron to Andrew. That's when things started moving. Andrew suddenly got motivated. He started behaving and toeing the line and got released on early parole about a year later." "Andrew decided he wanted a brother after all," Neil said. "So what went wrong?" "Aunt Tilda died, and Aaron blames Andrew." "Did Andrew do it?" "The night Aunt Tilda died, she and Aaron got in a fight. That's how Mom and Dad finally found out Aunt Tilda was beating on Aaron. He showed up at their place with fresh bruises and cuts. Dad called Aunt Tilda over to sort things out, but she didn't stick around long. She took Aaron and left. They didn't make it home. She went over the median into oncoming traffic and wasn't wearing her seatbelt.... It wasn't Aaron in the car. Aaron was standing in for Andrew at a study session. That was before Andrew was on his drugs, so it was a pretty easy act for Aaron to pull off. He didn't know why Andrew asked him to do it until the police called. I still don't know what happened, if Aunt Tilda panicked when she realized which son was with her or if they were fighting or if it was intentional, but... It's not like Aaron liked her, but she was his mother, you know? And Aaron never got to fix things with her, never got to understand why she was so messed up or why she messed them up so bad. Aaron can't accept that she's gone. He misses her. He can't forgive Andrew, and Andrew doesn't understand or care about how much it hurt Aaron. Stalemate."

He spoke slowly, giving himself time to think and to bleach the grief from his voice. "Andrew did care. That's what went wrong."

Art used with permission by Aymmidumps. Thank you @aymmidumps!

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humongousgothskeletonfarm · 14 days

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TSC CHAPTER ELEVEN SPOILERS AHEAD

STARTING OFF THE CHAPTER STRONG AS FUCK DISASTER BISEXUAL JEAN MOREAU AWARENESS

picturing jean in a pair of raybans is good for my mental health

“Missed a couple spots. Need a hand?”

jeremy u flirt

do the trojans ever realise that jean is NOT IN FACT deaf and standing right in front of them when they are talking about him?

oh ok so chapter 11 is in fact worse than chapter 10

if anyone reading this has ever believed that they deserved the abuse, trauma/suffering they’ve experienced, i’m here to tell u right now that nobody deserves that and it is not ever ur fault, no matter what others might say or try to convince u. whatever happened to u is unequivocally not ok. please seek help from a professional if u are worried about urself or others in ur life.

if u have ever felt uncomfortable or violated in certain situations just know that no matter how ‘big’ or ‘small’ the situation may seem (i use these terms loosely because i do not believing in ranking peoples traumas), ur feelings are 100% valid and u always always deserve to be respected and heard.

i hope u know that u are not alone and never will be.

sending lots of love to all of u

wtff jenkins is a girl?? did we all know this or have i just read too many fanfics always thought jenkins was a guy?

It was sacrilegious even in the privacy of his head, and Jean hunched his shoulders against a blow that never came.

fuck that’s a good line. traumatic as fuck and makes me wanna cry for all these boys have gone through but god as an ex-catholic raised queer person i can tell u this line struck hard even though i cant relate to the specifics of the scene

Jean didn’t mind cooking, but he didn’t say that. This was the first time his room truly felt safe and right, and he was content to hold onto it for as long as he could. He closed his eyes again, but now his thoughts were snagged on Jeremy. At length he broke the silence to say, “Two beds would fit in here.”

jean moreau u are so loved

“You are not them,” Jean said. “Kevin would not have sent me here if you were.”

THE PARALLELS IN THIS BOOK ARE FUCKING KILLING ME PLS NORA LET ME LIVE IN PEACE THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ME TO HANDLE

ANDREIL EXISTS IN EVERYTHING

Just because he had to meet with this man didn’t mean he had to speak to him.

jean, u diss aaron earlier in the books but really ur just the same as him

betsy dobson to the mother fuckibg rescue someone get this bitch a ‘worlds best therapist’ mug

and jean, dude do u know how fucking similar u and neil are, seriously like u guys should be besties like-

“It was not my choice,” he sent back in warning. “I do not need counseling.” He didn’t trust her at all, but there was no point spelling it out.

CHAPTER TWELVEE

dude wtf is it with me and napping while tryna finish this book, literally just accidentally fell asleep for 2.5 hrs when i could’ve been reading

“Imagine getting changed so we can practice,” Jean said.

king is fed uppp

“It’s not about size, anyway.” “Defensive,” Jean said, tugging his glove straps with his teeth. Jeremy straightened in indignation. “I don’t have anything to be defensive about.” Jean lost his grip and bit his lip, and Jeremy hurried on before either of them could think too much about that double entendre.

OKKKK JEREMY I SEE U

“That’s not—I do care. I want you to play with us, and I want you to have fun again. I want to see what you can do on the court and what you bring to our defense line. I want us to finally win this year after coming so close and failing too many times. But it’s just a game, Jean. Your safety and happiness will always be more important than our season.”

GOOD GOD ITS WHAT U DESERVE JEAN

“Every time you say that you take a year off my life. I’d really like to live to ninety, so please knock it off.”

now the trojans understand how the foxes feel when neil whips out his ‘im fine’ line,, also i’m never gonna stop saying that neil and jean should be besties it’s literally just a fact

“I do not believe you when you are drinking such filth,” Jean said, with a disapproving look toward her drink. Laila stared him down as she sucked a long gulp through the straw,

this book is so devastatingly depressing and explores some of the most horrible traumatic things that could happen to a person but it’s interspersed with some of the funniest scenes that it gives me whiplash

“Pat and Ananya have wanted to fuck Cody’s brains out for almost a year now. I really thought Cody moving in with them this summer was going to finally get that ball moving, but apparently not. It’s getting kind of pitiful.” “Pat and Ananya have been engaged almost as long as Cody has known them,” Laila pointed out as she fit herself against Cat’s side. “You can’t blame Cody for being scared of where they might belong in something like that.”

NORA GIVING US THE POLYAMORY WE DESERVE AFTER CUTTING KANDREIL FROM THE OG BOOKS LETS GO QUEER REP

YK THAT RUNNING JOKE THAT USC IS THE QUEEREST TEAM AND NOBODY HAS AS MANY GAYS AS THEY DO??? IM SO FUCKIBG HAPPY NORA HAS BASICALLY MADE THAT CANNON

CHAPTER 13333

jeremy is so hopelessly crushing on jean and that’s real of him

meanwhile jean:

Threat assessment, he told himself, and it was almost the truth.

sureee buddy

They’d arrived holding hands and dressed in matching cream-and-teal outfits. Even their gold-rimmed sunglasses and teal sneakers were identical.

well that is definitely an outfit!

“Speaking of happy endings, has Laila bought you a sex toy yet?”

EXCUSE ME

this whole scene was so fucking random but jean deserves great friendships

ANOTHER TRANS TROJAN LETS FYCKING GOOOOOO CONGRATS ON UR TOP SURGERY XAVIER

‘i’m sure the ravens wouldn’t have taken neil in if they’d known he was the son of a mob boss!!’

uhhhhh…

i don’t know how to tell u this buddy

dude i just cannot stop think about the whole new world of fanfics we’re gonna get now that tsc has come out like the aftg universe is expanding and becoming more detailed it’s gonna be crazy

chapter 14!!!

Jean eyed him. “For what purpose?” Jeremy looked to the ceiling for patience. “For fun.” Jean sighed as if Jeremy was the one being unreasonable.

oh jean we’ll get there eventually

Jean was a starving dog on a short chain who’d learned years ago not to bite back.

OH MY FUCKING GOD GIVE ME PEACE

MY CHEST IS ACHING AT THIS METAPHOR

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP THE PARALLELS ARE DESTROYING ME I CANT FUCKING TAKE IT ANYMORE

“You are Jean Moreau. Your place is here with me, with us. I’m your captain. You’re my partner. We’re supposed to be doing this together, aren’t we? Stop leaving me behind. Look at me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that he hurt you, I’m sorry that you’re still afraid to talk about it, and I’m sorry that you think I’ll never understand. I’m sorry that he tricked you into thinking you deserved it. But I’m not sorry he’s gone. I can’t be.”

“Neither am I.”

TEAR MY HEART OUT AND STOMP ON IT NORA JESUS CHRIST

everytime one of the trojans says ‘we’re here to listen whenever your ready to talk and open up to us’ and then they go and demand he tell them every secret he’s ever kept

kevin and jeans relationship in this book is so fucking well written, it’s tearing me apart and giving me so much life

they have so much shared trauma and the relationship is so complex but they understand eachother so deeply

He is not used to having a voice, and he has never had power. I cannot promise he will ever talk to you.” “I will wait as long as it takes,”

“Be careful with it,” Kevin said. “Be careful with him.”

“Night practices with Andrew and Neil,” Kevin said. “Obsessed,” Jeremy

exy fiend kevin day representation

also

“No, Jean is fine. As fine as he can be, anyway. Yes, I know.” (kevin when talking to someone ‘offscreen’) i just know he was talking to neil

She crossed the room and leaned over, catching Jean’s head in her hands so she could plant a kiss to the top of his head.

this is the love jean deserves

chapter 15:

“Your fourth line has a smart mouth, Coach,” Jean said. “I was hoping he would bite his tongue off in the fall and save us both some grief in the long run.”

jean i love u

Jean wished he had the common sense to shut up,

he’s so me

“And keep Kevin’s name out of your ignorant mouth,”

THEYRE SO IMPORTANT TO ME UR HONOUR

i keep forgetting that jean only learnt english after he moved into evermore and that kevin probably taught him but i love the subtle little reminders every now and then when he has to clarify a word, like when he has to ask what a ‘floozy’ is and:

due to egregious injuries.” Jean didn’t recognize that word, but since Lucas was already running his mouth, he didn’t get a chance to ask.

it’s such a good detail that just adds so much more depth to his character

“Permission to break his face, Coach?” Jean asked. “Denied,” White said.

SCREAMING

THIS IS SO NEIL AND WYMACK CODED I LOVE IT

JEAN MOREAU ON A MOTHERFUCKING MOTORCYCLE HOLY SHIT

catalina alvarez u wonderful human i love u

jean realising how big the world is and the fact that he’s explored more of california than any other place he’s been before is making me tear up he never should’ve been kept trapped inside he deserves to see the world

So long as she existed as fractured memories, she was safe and small and sheltered.

oh god don’t do this to me

Jean gazed out at the endless horizon, feeling small and infinite from one moment to the next.

beautiful, just beautiful, absolutely immaculate

A cool evening breeze. Rainbows. Open roads.

A COOL EVENING BREEZE. RAINBOWS. OPEN ROADS

SECOND LAST CHAPTER!!! LETS GOOO

“He is not going to hit you. Okay? We don’t do that here. You said you’d try to do better and that’s enough for us.”

starting off strong

You’re one of my kids now.

don’t mind me i’m just sobbing

no no no no no no no no no

holy shit no what the fucking fuck

don’t do this to jean rn oh my fucking god i’m sick to my stomach on the verge of fully crying right now

actually dreading reading on right now

um ok yeah so i read it and to anyone who hasn’t finished the book yet beware there is a graphic violent scene followed by an intense panic attack in chapter 16 that’s is very difficult to read

i did cry and all i can say is thank fuck for lisinski’s timing

Jeremy’s response was low but unhesitating: “I will not look away.” “I do not want you to look.” It frightened him how much it sounded like a lie,

only redeeming part of this chapter is that neil’s back but i’m still in so much shock over what’s just happened that i cant properly appreciate him

chapter 17 the finale:

feeling incredibly somber as i reach the end of the book

please god destroy anyone who has ever hurt jean moreau

nora’s really filling in all the plot holes left from aftg - why did nobody question why neil’s hair was dyed after evermore ????? why did nobody question neil being at evernote in the first place???

i’m laughing at neil’s map print-outs he’s so uncool, also i keep forgetting this is still meant to be 2007

jean-yves moreau oh my fucking god

“says who?” Stuart asked. “The dead kid?

stuart hatford u are so funny, is this where neil inherited is sarcasm from?

stuart hatford says fuck riko and so do i

Neil shrugged. “Do you have anyone who can take on local work?”

NEIL JOSTEN U ARE MY HERO I LOVE U U BADASS MOTHER FUCKER

Neil offered her a disarming smile that would never sit quite right on his face.

devouring these scraps about my boy

YOOOO WTF NORA RLLY JUST WANTED TO GIVE JEAN THE WORST FUCKING DAY HE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE HUH?? JUST DROPPED THE FACT THAT HIS SISTER IS DEAD MY POOR BOY

Neil filled in the finer details with an ease that would have been impressive to listen to any other day

- yes neil is incredibly smart, thank u jean for confirming to us

The only thing left to ask for was something he barely understood: “I want to go home.”

oh the complicated nature of home and one’s sense of belonging that persists throughout these books will never fail to make me feel absolutely everything. nora knows exactly what i want in a book

“I can see the kitchen. There should be a door out to where the dumpsters are. We can make it back to the garage from there.”

to be loved by neil josten is to be offered a way to evade the fbi together

“Tedious,” Neil said. “I’m trying to eat.”

my hero

Neil waited until he was done before deciding he wanted to finish his drink. Neither agent was impressed with their absolute lack of urgency,

i love u neil josten pls give me ur autograph

Neil, being the person he was, pointed at the fire hydrant adjacent to its front bumper and said, “That’s illegal, just so you know.” “Shut up and get in the car.”

i wish neil josten was real

He couldn’t fear a government who was so easily infiltrated and manipulated

FUCK THE GOVERNMENT

Neil flipped his takeout box open and started eating. “I’m allowed to visit people.”

he’s everything to me 🥰

“You’re one to accuse others of intolerable attitudes,” Browning said, and Neil only shrugged indifference.

and—for once—without any of your usual bullshit.”

- browning u love him just like the rest of us don’t lie rn

ngl i’m never getting over the fact that jean and neil are the same age like this is crazy to me nora whyd u have to do this i cant cope

“The more people I hold onto, the less of a threat I am, because I won’t want to endanger them by acting out.”

oh neil look how far uve come, i’m so proud

“Lock your door tonight if it will help, but Grayson will never bother you again.”

THANK U LORD FOR THE BRILLIANT NEIL JOSTEN HES ANSWERED MY PRAYERS U BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL HUMAN IM SO THANKFUL FOR UR PRESENCE

all my favourite bamf! neil fics have him taking out a hit on someone for the benefit of the people he loves and i’m so glad that’s canon

i’m going fucjing crazy i didnt think it was possible to love neil anymore than i already do

best friends ❤️

jean tearing up and throwing away the notebooks and realising he trusts the trojans and the four of them going to eat one of cats new recipes after they waited up last midnight for him

A COOL EVENING BREEZE RAINBOWS OPEN ROADS AND FRIENDS

!!!!!

I CSNT BELIEVE ITS OVERRRRR I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS HOLY FUCK

#aftg #all for the game #tsc #tsc spoilers #the sunshine court #jean moreau #jerejean #jeremy knox #catalina alvarez #laila dermott #neil josten #david wymack #stuart hatford #nora sakavic

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purpleshadow-star · 2 years

Text

Hc that Andrew doesn't talk much once he joins a pro team, and his teammates only really hear him talk on the phone in Russian, so they all eventually just assume that Andrew is actually just Russian. Sure, they all have seen what the internet can provide about Andrew, but they've all successfully gasslighted themselves into believing Andrew is from Russia, and Russian is his first language. Like, he never really did interviews in college, and even though they've heard Aaron speak perfect English, they assume he just learned well and has a really good accent. They assume the same about Andrew since he obviously speaks perfect English whenever he does occasionally speak to the team.

So one day, at the beginning of the next season, when one of them gets curious enough before practice starts, they ask Andrew where he's from. When Andrew looks up from his phone (which he has barely put down this whole time) and says California, they are all momentarily confused. Someone else asks if his parents moved here from Russia and when, and Andrew is beyond confused (not that he let's it show). Andrew calmly states that he isn't Russian and the team explodes with queations.

Before any of them can be answered, though, their coach walks in with their new striker for the season. The coach introduces Neil Josten to everyone, explaining that Neil's flight was delayed, and that's why they're so late, and suddenly, it makes sense why Andrew was on his phone. He must have been texting his college buddy, right?

After introductions, the team goes to the locker rooms to change, and the guys hear Andrew and Neil murmuring in low Russian, and they get ten times more confused than they were before.

Throughout the season, they all try to subtly pry for answers, but they get nowhere. They all resign to just not knowing what is happening with the two of them.

A few months later, they hear him talking on the phone in German. When they ask who it was, Andrew simply says it was his cousin. And then they start wondering: is Andrew actually German?

#yeah aaron speaks german too #yeah they have family in germany. that's where their cousin lives #yeah andrew knew german looong before he knew russian #Andrew's pro team not knowing wth is going on with him is one of my favorite tropes #it's honestly kinda funny #and neil hears about the speculations and just fans the flames #neil has the time of his life #andrew is slightly amused but does nothing to help his poor floundering teammates #aftg #all for the game #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil #the foxhole court #nicky hemmick #aaron minyard

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detectivebambam · 12 days

Note

im bored and ur fun to bother sooo

what do u think both the twins reactions would be to the other one dying?

Especially Andrew if it was Aaron

Especially Aaron if it was Andrew

Omg what if it was Nicky??

-the aaron-obsessed anon

🤭

okay if Andrew died:

Aaron would definitely lose his mind. If Neil was still alive, he'd be angry with him. He'd stick with Katelyn and stay away from anyone else who knew Andrew. He wouldn't talk to Bee about it, he'd rarely talk to Katelyn about it. He'd start drinking, and fight tooth and nail to not fall back to drugs.

Nicky would call Erik, and only stay in the US for Aaron. He would be a lot more devastated than he realized he might be. He'd most definitely quit exy. He'd want to protect Aaron, but after a year of trying to talk to him with no luck, he'd move back to Germany and try to forget it all.

if Aaron died:

Andrew would be.. pissed off? He wouldn't allow himself to feel anything else. Losing people hurts, and it has always hurt, and he can't get over it. He lost his big brother right when they were figuring each other out. Neil wouldn't try to comfort him, just be there for whatever he needs. He'd most likely isolate, though he might talk to Bee. Maybe.

Nicky would lose it. He never got close to Andrew the way he was close to Aaron, despite Aaron's shitty attitude towards him, they were the ones sitting across the dinner table together listening to Andrew scream upstairs the first time he took his medicine. He would feel guilty, no matter what happened. Andrew would tell Nicky he didn't need him, and that he should go to Germany, but Nicky can read him better than that. He can't lose any more family.

if Nicky died?

The twins would get closer. After a while. They would miss his energy, and realize how depressing their group is without him in it. They would realize how he was their main support beam, if only too late. They would start to recognize him as "mom", one they could finally share. But it wouldn't matter, because he was gone, and they felt like little kids again. But they would stick to each other like glue, making sure the other didn't fall apart, and realize how much they need each other.

#ty for the ask <3 #this was so fun to explore #aftg #all for the game #andrew minyard #aaron minyard #nicky hemmick #the twinyards #the monsters #the foxhole court #neil josten #katelyn mackenzie #kevin day

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fallinginvictus · 4 days

Text

WIP WEDNESDAY

I never participate in these things because I always feel selfconscious about my wips. but it looks like everyone always has sk much fun so here's the first COMPLETELY UNEDITED chapter of my new fic.

9ish years post-canon (aaron at the end of his first year of residency)

time loop fic where aaron dies of an overdose and andrew keeps waking up on the morning of his death and tries his best to save him

tw for this specific chapter: character death, mention of drug addiction, mention of relapse, mention of drug overdose, dead body

5K words

CHAPTER ONE

It's Tuesday, 8 May at 15:19 in the afternoon when Andrew's phone rings, the soft voice of a doctor on the other side, the words coming out of her mouth venomous and wrong, lies that Andrew can't comprehend, can't accept.

Stop lying, he wants to tell the counterfeit doctor.

Neil is at an away match on the other side of America. Nicky is an ocean away. Andrew is alone, standing in the middle of his living room with a dislocated shoulder, the now silent phone still clutched in his aching hand, spiders crawling under his skin, making their way into his throat, into his lungs, stopping the air from entering his body, his mind going numb, his brain unable to make sense of the three words circling in his head, bouncing around his skull: Aaron is dead.

“Aaron is not dead,” he says to the empty room, to a God he doesn't believe in, to the orange cat sunbathing on the windowsill.

Andrew was never one for denial, he found the whole concept silly and immature. If something happened, what's the point in lying to yourself and denying the cold hard truth? What's the point in delaying the inevitable?

And yet there he stands, the truth sounding like a lie, reality looking like a cruel and humourless joke, denial grabbing him by the throat and choking him out.

He walks to his room in a trance, throwing clothes and underwear into a black duffle bag without even checking if the clothes are clean, if they are his, he just takes anything that he can get his hands on and throws it in the bag until it's full and then he closes it.

Look after the cats, he texts Jake-the-neighbour as heads to his car.

Andrew had never much cared for the guy but Neil liked him and that was enough for Andrew.

The drive from New York to Boston is only 4 hours, Andrew had driven much longer just to meet Neil when they were in different teams, in different states, and yet none of those drives had ever felt as long as the one that is going to bring him to his brother's cold and lifeless corpse.

Every other car on the interstate seems to be moving in slow motion and Andrew wants to scream at every single one of them. He tightens his hands on the wheel, wondering why he needs to go faster, why he needs to speed. Aaron is already gone, his body already cold. It won't matter at all how long he takes to get there. It won't matter if he gets there in five minutes or five days, the outcome will be the exact same.

As he passes through towns and fields, Andrew wonders when Aaron had relapsed. How long had Aaron been lost to drugs before his death? How many times had he relapsed throughout the years without ever telling Andrew? How many times had he picked himself up on his own, alone in Boston?

“You are the one who wanted freedom,” he mutters, stuck in the 6 pm traffic as he lays his head on the steering wheel. “You are the one who wanted this.”

They hadn't talked much in the past nine years. Aaron hadn't talked with anyone much. He had left Palmetto State and the rest of them with it without ever looking back.

Nicky would always cry about it, about Aaron's lack of contact, about his distance, about his unwillingness to get mixed up with the Foxes after graduation.

“Oh, Mr. Harvard is too good for us now? Can't even show his face for one dinner?” Allison had said once while they were having dinner at Wymack and Abby's housewarming party.

“He's probably just busy,” Nicky had defended him, his eyes tired from the 10-hour flight from Germany that he had taken just to be there for their little reunion, knowing how hard it was for all the Foxes to be free on the same day.

“Yeah well, we are all busy.”

Once, Nicky had called Andrew while he was still crying after he had gotten in a huge fightwith Aaron about his indifference, about his distance.

“He never even texts,” Nicky had said. “Did you know that he and Kate broke up two years ago? Two fucking years Drew. Of course you didn't know either because he never tells us anything at all. It's like we don't exist anymore to him.”

That bastard had done his best to distance himself from them just so that he could have his perfect and normal life just to then go and overdose on some stolen morphine.

What a humiliating way to go.

So much for a perfectly normal life.

The traffic in Boston is a nightmare, red lights that won't turn green, green lights that always turn red, endless cars imperfectly lined one after the other waiting for their turn to finally move past a traffic light just be immediately stopped by another, lawless intersections that Andrew thinks will be the death of him.

Andrew has always hated driving in the city and Aaron knew that. He could've at least overdosed in a farm out of town and spared Andrew the headache. What an asshole.

He stands outside the hospital for a few or a hundred minutes, listening to the ambulances’ sirens as they race behind him, looking at the people who are walking in and out of that imposing white building, the first rays of sun already starting to sink into the horizon, the sky turning dark.

When he finally walks inside, a nurse in yellow scrubs gasps loudly as soon as she sees him, the tablet in her hands slipping to the ground while she looks at him pale-faced and wide-eyed.

“I'm so sorry,” one of her colleagues says while running to her side and pushing the stunned nurse away. “You look just like Dr. Minyard.”

“As twins often do,” he replies without blinking, the nurse's reaction shaking him more than he thought it could.

“Of course. You must be Andrew. I'm Nurse Mary.”

He just stares at her in silence as she stares back at him as if she were looking at a ghost.

Andrew wondered how he will ever be able to look at himself in the mirror again.

“Are you going to bring me to my brother or are you going to stare at me all day?”

“Yes. Of course. I'm so sorry. Here, follow me,” she says as if coming out of a trance before turning towards the other nurse. “Tell Dr. Allen that Dr. Minyard's brother arrived.”

Andrew had been expecting white hallways, white tile floors and white walls illuminated by bright white lights, instead he's met by green and yellow hallway walls, little animals like rabbits and deer and butterflies painted all around, flowers made of paint blooming in every corner.

“This is a children's hospital,” Nurse Mary says as if Andrew had asked.

“I know,” he replies because he might've lost contact with his brother but at least he knows that much.

They walk in silence for the rest of the way, Andrew unwilling to entertain any form of conversation, unable to let words come out of his mouth, incapable of interacting with the world outside of his mind.

He wonders if Aaron had even thought about the consequence of his relapse. If he had thought of his career, of the future that he had worked so restlessly to achieve.

If Aaron was going to throw it all away anyway, he could've at least avoided making Nicky cry.

“He's here,” Mary says while stopping in front of a white door. “We haven't brought him down to the morgue yet. We were waiting for you.”

Andrew just nods.

“We all knew he was-”

“I didn't ask,” he replies. “You can leave”

“Of course. I'm sorry,” Andrew can tell that there is still something stuck on the tip of her tongue that she so badly wants to say, but he doesn't want to hear it. He doesn't want to hear how everyone knew about it, how Aaron hadn't managed to escape from his past, how he hadn't been able to achieve that normal life that he had always yearned for.

He waits until the nurse is gone and then another few more minutes before he finally pushes the door open and walks inside the dim room.

There is a bed on the right, it's empty and white and perfectly made.

There is a bed on the left, white lines pulled over a body, gloomy and silent and perfectly still.

Andrew walks quietly towards the occupied bed and then stops for a second, his cement-stuffed shoes anchoring him to the ground, his metal-filled bones weighing him down. He feels like he's trying to run in a dream, trying to walk on quicksand, Aaron's silhouette so close to him and yet so impossibly distant.

The quiet of the room is deafening, the grains of dust falling and dancing in the air in slow motion suddenly starting to look beautiful and interesting and making his eyes stray from his brother's dead body.

He doesn't want to look at it. To look at him.

He wants to run.

He wants to open that door and never have to look at his traitor of a brother again. He wants to spit in his face and curse his name, curse his short existence and meaningless departure.

He removes the sheet from Aaron's face and gently caresses his cold and icy cheek, his fingers grazing over his once-soft skin, over his long hair.

“You are so stupid,” he says. “I hate you so much.”

He stares at Aaron's motionless face, trying to remember the last time he had seen it flushed red, the last time life had still been cursing through his body, beating in his chest, shining in his eyes.

It had been so long. Too long.

He can't remember the last words he had said to Aaron, can't remember the last conversation they had. He can't remember what Aaron had said or if he had smiled. (Aaron never really smiled.)

It had been spring back then too, Andrew and Neil were in Boston for a match. They had met at a coffee shop. Andrew can't remember what Aaron had ordered. They hadn't talked much, feeling like strangers who had once lived in each other's pockets, two people who knew so much and yet so little about each other.

Aaron had left in a hurry with an I'm sorry, I'll text you.

Andrew had said nothing in reply.

“We didn't even say goodbye,” he whispers as that knowledge slams into him like a fast-moving train. “I hate you.”

His phone vibrates in his pocket but he doesn't even notice, his left hand resting on Aaron's blond hair as his right moves on top of his chest, searching for a beat that he knows he won't find.

“After all we did for you, how can you throw it all away just because you wanted to get high? How could you do this to us? What am I supposed to tell Nicky now? You know how much he loves you,” a moment passes, words that he had never said to Aaron trying to crawl their way up his throat, their sharp claws scratching it raw and leaving a trail of blood behind. “I love you.”

His breath hitches and his hands shake as he tries to take a hold of himself, as he tries to swallow those words back down, the taste of metal invading his mouth.

“I said I love you. So come back now,” he begs the silence and only the silence replies.

Aaron doesn’t move, his eyes remain closed, his chest unmoving.

“What do I tell Nicky?” he whispers to himself as he sits on the wooden chair next to the bed, his left hand softly holding Aaron's ice-covered hand while taking his phone out of his pocket with his right.

From: neighbour

not a problem at all!!!

I hope everything is alright :)

u don't have to worry i am GREAT with kitties

From: 0Neil

where are you? why did you ask jake to look after king and sir?

He wants to call Neil, to ask him to drop everything and meet him in Boston, but he knows it wouldn't be fair to tell anyone before telling Nicky.

If there was someone in the world who had gently and unconditionally loved Aaron, it was him.

If there was someone in the world who would fall apart at the news of Aaron's death, it would be him.

Andrew wishes there was another way to do it. Wishes Nicky didn't have to hear of Aaron's death the same way that Andrew had: from a voice through the phone.

“Andrew, is everything alright?” Nicky answers after letting the phone ring five times.

“Are you home?”

“It's 1 am of course I'm home and also sleeping,” he says on the phone before adding quietly. “It's Andrew.”

“Erik is next to you?” Andrew asks because he needs someone to be there with Nicky. He wouldn't survive the news if he were alone.

“Yeah. What's going on?”

“Turn on the lights and sit on the bed with Erik next to you.”

“Andrew, it's so late and Erik has to get up from work in like, five hours. Can't this wait?”

“Just do as I say, Nicky,” he gritts out as he holds Aaron's hand. “And tell me when you are done.”

He can hear a little commotion on the other side, the rustling of covers as they are being moved, german words he can't understand, someone sighing in annoyance.

“Okay, we are now sitting on our bed with the lights on like two idiots.”

“Hold his hand.”

“Andrew-”

“Just do as I say.”

“You are scaring me.”

“Are you holding his hand?”

“Yessir.”

“Nicky,” is all that comes out of his mouth, the rest of the sentence drowning in his chest before he can get it out.

“Is something wrong with Neil?” Nicky asks and Andrew can hear the worry in his voice, the gentleness in his tone.

“It's Aaron,” he spits, the acid-filled words burning his flesh on their way out.

“Aaron? Is he sick? What's wrong?”

“He's dead,” he says as if those words aren't about to make Nicky's whole world crumble to the ground.

“He's not dead,” Nicky says with a chuckle. “I texted him two months ago and he was fine.”

“Nicky,” Andrew breathes out. “He's dead.”

“He was fine so how can he be dead now? That doesn't make any sense Andrew. Don't be silly.”

“He relapsed. He overdosed early this afternoon.”

“He went to Harvard. He's a doctor in one of the best children's hospitals in the country. He's a doctor, Andrew. He's happy. Why would he relapse?”

“Because he's a drug addict, Nicky. That's what they do.”

“Shut up. Not Aaron. He's clean. He can't be dead. Please. We didn't- I didn't even-” and then all he can hear through the phone are a series of sobs being pulled out of Nicky's chest as he falls apart on the other side of the phone, on the other side of the world.

“I'll take care of him and book the first flight for Boston,” Erik says as Andrew listens to Nicky falling to pieces before the call ends.

He stares at Aaron for a few seconds, his hand still softly holding Aaron's, “You see what you did? You made Nicky cry again. How is he supposed to move on from this now?”

His phone vibrates again as it rests on his legs.

From: 0Neil

reply?

I just need to know that everything is okay

To: 0Neil

I'm in boston

come as soon as you can

aaron's dead

From: 0Neil

I'm coming right now

Andrew looks at Aaron's face one last time, his fingers hovering over his icy cheek for a few seconds before placing a kiss on his forehead, something that he had never dreamt of doing when Aaron's forehead was still warm, and then he covers him with the white hospital sheet.

“Where are his things?” he asks Nurse Mary once he reaches the nurses’ station.

“My God,” another nurse whispers in the background. “They look so similar. He looks like a better and healthier version of Dr Minyard.”

A better version of Aaron.

Andrew snarls at those words.

That's not how their lives were supposed to turn out. Aaron was supposed to be the better twin, the one with his life together, the happy and normal one. How had things turned out like this? Why was Andrew the one with a normal life and Aaron's lifeless body was lying in a hospital bed under a white sheet?

“Here, I'll take you to his locker.”

The staff changing room is closer to the nurses’ station than Aaron's body is and to Andrew's relief, is also empty.

“You can put his things in this bag,” the nurse says as she hands him a plastic bag. “Number 13. It's already opened for you,” she stands there awkwardly for a second. “Goodbye then.”

“Who do I have to invite to the funeral?” he asks her before she can walk out.

“I'm sorry?”

“His close friends. Who was he the closest to? Who must I invite to the funeral?”

“Oh,” Nurse Mary says awkwardly as she fiddles with her hands. “Dr Minyard wasn't really- he didn't really have any friends here. Or anywhere. I'm sorry I don't- He just didn't really talk with anyone and always kept to himself. Dr Allen always says that he's his favourite prodigee, that he will become a great doctor but that he's not really a fun person to be around. He's great with patients just not-” She stops talking, realising how rude her words may sound to a grieving family member. “I'm sorry.”

“So nobody?”

“I'm sorry.”

“Whatever.”

Something breaks in Andrew at those words, a pain that he can't place, that he can't understand.

He had always imagined Aaron living a happy and normal life, laughing with his colleagues while eating lunch at the hospital cafeteria, having a drink after work at a bar near the hospital, spending the holidays around a table full of people while laughing about something that had happened at work the night before.

He always thought Aaron had left them behind because he had built a new life for himself, that he'd left them behind so that he could build himself a perfect life surrounded by normal people.

He doesn't know what to do with the image of an Aaron who had no one in his life, who spent all of his time either at work or at home alone, who never laughed and never smiled. Andrew wonders if he had ever even known his brother at all.

Was it the absence of people in his life that made him relapse, he wonders, or was the fear of relapsing that kept him away from people?

There isn’t much in Aaron's locker, just a yellow stethoscope, a white coat with a yellow sunflower-shaped pin, his house keys, a box of assorted teas, a pair of spare scrubs and a set of cutlery. He picks everything up and throws it in the red plastic bag, a piece of paper falling to the ground as he does so.

He kneels on the ground to pick it up but his hand stops in mid-air as soon as he realised what it is: a picture of the Foxes during Aaron's third year of college, their orange uniforms bright under the sun, smiles painted on almost all of their faces, Wymack and Abby standing by their side.

“What the fuck Aaron,” he asks closing his eyes for a second before picking up the worn-out picture and staring at it for a few seconds, a confused expression on his face, his heart beating loudly in his ears.

He can't stop thinking about that picture the whole drive towards Aaron's apartment, questions swirling inside his brain as he almost blows through a red light.

Aaron's new life, now that Andrew got a glimpse of it, looks a lot different than what he had imagined and he just can't understand it. Nothing makes any sense and there is no one left who can shed light on it because the only person who could make sense of it is now dead.

Aaron is dead.

Andrew wonders how he's supposed to move on with his life with those words always swirling in his brain.

Aaron's house is fifteen minutes away from the hospital, the building modest but well maintained, Aaron's apartment on the sixth floor.

He stands in front of the door for a few minutes delaying the inevitable as if it would change the outcome. He has been doing a lot of that the past few hours.

He used to always dive face-first into any situation, no matter the cost, no matter the consequences.

Aaron's death is something he's unable to face. Doesn't want to face.

Aaron's bed is still unmade when Andrew opens the door to his bedroom, dirty clothes scattered around the room, empty boxes of ramen piled near the full trash can, sheets of paper covering the floor, open books piled on top of more open books on his desk.

Andrew wonders when was the last time Aaron had cleaned up the room as he opens the window.

When they lived together, Aaron was clean and neat, he used to hate when Andrew left clothes lying around and when he didn't wash his dishes. He would clean his room once every other day without ever leaving even a pen out of place. Even when he was so high he could barely remember his own name or understand where he was, he would always take the time to fold his clothes and put his shoes in their right place before going to bed.

Andrew wonders what had changed.

He sits on the bed, on Aaron's bed, his body heavy, his tiredness bone-deep, and closes his eyes for a second, Aaron's freshly washed hoodie next to his head, the scent of honey and lilies invading his senses, Aaron's pale face right behind his eyelid.

------------- ------------ ---------

It's the sound of his own alarm that wakes him up again, a cat jumping on the bed and resting on his chest as the annoying and incessant sound of his alarm clock keeps ringing in his ears.

Andrew's eyes snap open.

He's lying under his light green covers, in his own bed, in his own house, King purring on his chest, waiting for Andrew to pet him like he does every morning, Aaron’s pale face still dancing behind Andrew's eyelids, his lifeless hands and unmoving chest tattooed on Andrew's brain.

He grabs his phone from where it's charging on the nightstand to look at the time but what catches his attention is the date written in big white letters on his phone screen: 7:09 am, Tue, 8 May.

Had it been just a dream? Just a cruel creation of his own imagination? But it had felt too real to be nothing more than a nightmare. Andrew can still recall every second of yesterday, of today, every step he took, every move he made, the way Aaron's cold skin had felt, the way his moonstone-white face had looked. How could it have been nothing more than a figment of his own fucked up imagination? How could it all have been fake when he could still feel the ache in his heart, so real and tangible?

He dials Aaron's number five times before his brother finally answers, his voice like a stab to Andrew's heart.

“What? Is something wrong?” Aaron asks as soon as he picks up the phone, worry clear in his tired voice.

Andrew wants to scream at him, to never speak to him again.

“Are you still clean?”

“What?” Andrew can hear the disdain in Aaron's voice but pointedly ignores it.

“Just answer. Are you still clean?”

“Yes, I am. Almost 10 years.”

“Do you feel like using again?”

“No?”

“Good. Don't,” Andrew says before hanging up the phone, Aaron's voice too painful to hear, the memory of his death too fresh in Andrew's mind even if it had been nothing more than a cruel dream conjured up by his treacherous mind.

Andrew finally feels like he can breathe again.

Eight hours and ten minutes later, Andrew's phone rings again, the soft voice of a doctor on the other side, the words coming out of her mouth venomous and wrong, lies that Andrew can't comprehend, can't accept.

Not again, he wants to tell the counterfeit doctor.

Neil is at an away match on the other side of America. Nicky is an ocean away. Andrew is alone, standing in the middle of his living room with a dislocated shoulder, the now silent phone still clutched in his aching hand, spiders crawling under his skin, making their way into his throat, into his lungs, stopping the air from entering his body, his mind going numb, his brain unable to make sense of the three words circling inside his head, bouncing around his skull: Aaron is dead.

“This can't be happening again,” he says to an empty room, to a God he doesn't believe in, to the orange cat sunbathing on the windowsill.

Andrew was never one for denial, he found the whole concept silly and immature, but how he can he be relieving the worst moment of his life for a second time? Is he lying in Aaron's bed trapped in a nightmare? Has he died and gone to Hell, forced to relive the worst day of his life for the rest of eternity?

Andrew was never one for denial and yet there he stands, the truth sounding like a lie, reality looking like a cruel and humourless joke, denial grabbing him by the throat and choking him out.

Look after the cats, he texts Jake-the-neighbour as heads to his car in a trance, his mind lost in a fog he can't disperse.

The drive from New York to Boston is only 4 hours, Andrew had taken the same exact path yesterday, he had cursed at the same exact people he is currently speeding past.

Andrew can feel his hands tightening on the wheel and he wonders why speeding. He has already seen Aaron's lifeless body lying in that dim hospital room. He has already stood by his bedside and held his cold hand, has already felt Aaron's icy skin under his warm lips. It won't matter if he gets there in five minutes or five days, the outcome would be the exact same.

The traffic in Boston is a nightmare, red lights that won't turn green, green lights that always turn red, endless cars imperfectly lined one after the other just waiting for their turn to finally move past a traffic light just be immediately stopped by another, lawless intersections that Andrew thinks are going to be the death of him.

Andrew has always hated driving in the city and Aaron knew that. How dare he make him drive through it for a second time? What an asshole.

He walks inside the hospital as soon as his car is parked, the sound of the sirens as they race behind him loud as he bumps into the people who are walking in and out of that imposing white building, the first rays of sun already starting to sink into the horizon, the sky turning dark.

When he walks inside, the nurse in yellow scrubs gasps loudly as soon as she sees him like she had the day before, the tablet in her hands slipping to the ground as she looks at him pale-faced and wide-eyed.

“I'm so sorry,” nurse Mary says while running to her side and pushing the stunned nurse away. “You look just-”

“I know,” he says, walking past her and heading towards the room where Aaron is resting.

“Oh- wait,” the nurse says running after him. “I can take-”

“I know where he is.”

“That's okay,” she says, trying to catch up with him but remaining silent as they walk in the right direction.

“You can go,” he says as soon as they reach the white door.

“Well, alright,” Mary says a little flustered. “My condolences.”

Andrew doesn't wait for her to leave before walking inside the dim room and closing the door behind himself.

He ignores the bed on the right, immediately heading towards the one occupied by his brother's body. The quiet inside the room deafening as he removes the sheet from Aaron's face and gently caresses his cold and icy cheek, his fingers grazing over his once-soft skin, over his long hair.

“How can you do this to me twice?” he asks the silent corpse. “That's cruel Aaron. That's just too fucking cruel.”

He looks at his brother for a few more seconds before shaking his head. “Is this some kind of divine punishment?” he asks towards the sky. “This is not fair. It's not fair.”

He covers Aaron's unloving face and walks out of the room and towards the doctors’ changing room as quickly as he can.

He wishes he could bleach his brain and remove the image of Aaron's lifeless body from his memory but he knows it will haunt all of his dreams, all of his waking moments.

“Wow. He looks like a better version of Dr Minyard.”

“Mr Minayrd-” Marys says.

“I know. Locker thirteen,” he interrupts her before entering the changing room and taking only Aaron's house keys and the Foxe’s picture out of the locker before bolting out of the hospital and speeding towards Aaron's apartment.

He doesn't know what he's doing, what he's looking for, what he's hoping to achieve, he just keeps looking all over Aaron's house as if he could find a solution there, an explanation.

“What am I supposed to do?” he asks the empty house and receives no reply, a picture of him, Aaron and Nicky during their graduation staring at him from its silver frame.

He lies on Aaron's carpet, the picture in his arms, staring at the bright light on the ceiling until his vision becomes blurry and there are black spots in his eyes.

It's the sound of his own alarm that wakes him up again, a cat jumping on the bed and resting on his chest as the annoying and incessant sound of his alarm clock keeps ringing in his ears.

Andrew's eyes snap open

#aaron minyard #andrew minyard #twinyards #all for the game #the foxhole court #fanfic #fanfiction #ff #aftg #aftg fanfic #wip wednesday #all for the game fanfic

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foxo-lotl · 9 months

Text

another from twitter, one of my favourites. angst

andreil having a fight on a really bad day for Neil. Andrew telling Neil what the have really is nothing and he doesn't lie.

Neil just saying 'okay' and walking away.

After that, they're both distant, Andrew tries to talk to Neil the next day, but Neil's responses are quiet, almost dead.

It hurts. a lot. going from Neil listening to his every word and throwing himself into conversationa with Andrew with full interest, to him being completely withdrawn and empty, it's almost worse than when Neil arrived at Palmetto. He throws all his energy into practices, and doesn't come back to the monster's dorm. his dorm. his bed. with Andrew. Andrew's grown so used to sleeping beside another body that the heat and weight of it is something he almost thinks he misses. When he gets in the car to drive back from practice, he instinctively waits several seconds to hear the click of the seatbelt beside him, before realising he won't hear it. When they get back to the dorm, he starts on coffee, pulls out both his and Neil's cups, and makes his hot chocolate, he finishes making the drinks, picking them up and walking to the couch, he is just about to mutter a 'junkie' before he realises Neil just isn't there and pours both drinks down the sink. He can't even smoke without it hurting, the smell and taste tainted by Neil the same way it is by Andrew and his mother for Neil. When he goes to sleep at night, he occasionally tries to snuggle into Neil's arms before realising they're not there. in the mornings, he groans, expecting Neil to get up for his run, and prepares himself to grip Neil so he will decide to postpone his run, only to realise there is nobody for him to pull back to bed.

Andrew thought he'd lived through hell, and he had, but this is almost more painful, he'd desensitised himself to physical pain, but this type of pain is something that takes careful management, and he let himself fall too far that he doesn't think he can ever recover from it. It ends when Renee, Aaron, and Matt notice the way the both of them look deader and yet more miserable than they've ever seen before, when they notice the space they leave beside them when they sleep, when Aaron watches Andrew pours a drink from a cup he knows was Neil's down the sink, with an expression he can only describe as hurt on his face, clearly not thinking anyone was nearby.

They lock them both in Matt's dorm (painstakingly, because they're both observant and stubborn) And tell them they'll be back later.

They make it two hours of silence and rare eye contact before Andrew hears tears quietly hit the desk Neil is sitting at. The sound surprises him, he's never heard or seen Neil cry, and knowing he's the one who caused it hurts so so so much worse than he could ever expect.

Neil doesn't sob, doesn't wail, barely sniffles, he's just silent. And it hurts Andrew to remember the things that must've happened for Neil to be able to do that, to feel like he must.

Andrew hasn't cried since he was 10, but he does when Neil finally looks up at Andrew's face. It shocks him, because he'd nearly forgotten the sound of his own cries. Andrew isn't quiet, he focused on not doing it at all, rather than being quiet, they wanted him to cry, he wasn't going to give it to them.

When Neil hears Andrew's sobs, he can't hold himself back. Sliwly, carefully, he moves towards Andrew and holds out his hand.

Andrew latches on like it's the only thing keeping him alive. it is.

Andrew almost begs through his sobs, instead, he apologizes, he was angry and scared, and he was lying, and he needs to hold onto Neil or he might float away.

Neil tells him about that day, how it was already a bad day, how he needed to know Andrew wasn't going to let him go, to make him leave. And what Andrew said had tore him open from the inside out, it felt like he was being killed, left on the side of the road like roadkill. Nothing. Andrew cries more at that. At what he'd done. At how he made Neil hurt so badly, but Neil forgives him, and Andrew promises to never say that again. They end the night cuddled up, clinging to eachother, silent tears making their way out occasionally, vowing to never let the other go again.

#all for the game #aftg #aftg andreil #aftg textpost #andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #palmetto state foxes #the foxhole court #aftg series #aftg neil #aftg andrew

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moondal514 · 8 months

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📓👀

(Aftg?)

Hiii!

So this is an idea I had for a soft-ish high school au where the Foxes are all still traumatized, but have been adopted into stable homelife situations and are finally in a position where they can start to heal.

The families are as follows:

Wymack adopts Dan, Seth, and Nicky.

Abby adopts Kevin.

Betsy adopts Andrew.

Randy gains sole custody of Matt and adopts Aaron.

Stephanie adopts Renee.

Allison lives with her grandpa.

And Neil lives with Stuart.

Wymack adopts Seth 1st when Seth’s mom dies. Seth is ~11 (his dad has already walked out by then) when he is adopted. Unfortunately the rest of Seth’s siblings get divided up by the foster system but Wymack is able to help Seth track them down and arrange visits them when Seth wants to.

Wymack adopts Dan next when Dan is thrown into the foster system instead of the care of her aunt cuz her aunt refuses to take custody of her. Dan is ~9 when this happens.

Nicky comes last, when he gets taken away from Luther by CPS for sending Nicky to conversion camp at 13. He is put into and adopted by Wymack.

Abby adopts Kevin after Kayleigh dies cuz as much as Wymack would love to adopt Kevin, at this point he already has 3 kids and can’t really take anymore. Abby volunteers and since Wymack and Abby are moreorless married, for Kevin it’s basically just like as if he’s living with Wymack.

Instead of the Spears, luck of the draw the foster system puts Andrew with Betsy and it’s all pretty straight forward from there.

When Matt is 8, his dad dies, so Randy gets custody of Matt by default. Some years later, Matt wants a younger brother and Randy wants to foster. Luck of the draw and they adopt Aaron. Tilda dies when Aaron is ~9. Luther and Maria are deemed unfit for children (hence Nicky being taken away and ending up with Wymack) so he gets put into the system. Randy adopts him.

Stephanie and Renee is basically the same as canon except Renee is aged down a bit.

When Allison is ~13 and developing her eating disorder, her grandpa takes her out of her parents custody and helps her out.

Neil is living with Stuart because Stuart decides to make his move against Nathan super early, when Neil was about to be given to the Moriyamas. He kills Nathan, but Mary dies in the process. Stuart takes custody of Neil as a result.

Everyone is in the same city and goes to the same high school.

That was a very long set-up explanation lol. The main story would be just general high school shenanigans. Here are some snippets:

Dan crosses her arms. “What do you want then.”

The boy, Matthew Boyd she thinks his name is, holds up a flower, cheeks red. “I—I wanted to give this to you.”

Andrew definitely doesn’t have strong feelings about Neil Josten’s lips. Not at all. Because Andrew hates Neil Josten.

Andrew pokes Aaron’s cheek. “Stop making my face look weird.”

Aaron scoffs. “Stop being a little bitch then.”

“We are the exact same height.”

“I’m not talking to you unless you take off your shirt or something.”

Kevin shrugs, easily pulling his shirt over his head, abs flexing attractively. Andrew glares at his physically toned perfection. Absolutely disgusting.

“Now will you talk to me?” Kevin puts his hands on his hips like a disapproving mother. It’s awfully reminiscent of Wymack and shirtless Wymack is absolutely not an image Andrew wants in his head.

“No,” Andrew says. “Put your shirt back on. No one wants to see that.”

“You literally just said—“

“Andrew!” Bee calls from the house. Kevin scrambles to put his shirt back on just as Bee steps out onto the porch.

Send me a “📓” emoji and I’ll tell you about a fic idea I have that I’ll never write

#ask tag #paradoxolotl #moonie writes #aftg #fic wip

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inconsequentialliving · 11 months

Text

Andrew doesn’t take as long to come around as one might think. He’s defensive not offensive.

Strangely the first person to come around is Allison. She understands Andrew and Neil’s relationship better than most (having had her fair share of love/hate relationships - she knows exactly what Andrew means when he says he “hates” Neil).

She compliments Andrew when he dresses Neil and Andrew thaws a bit more. Since their positions on the court are close to one another - they start judging the other team together. She starts to appreciate his deadpan humour.

Dan and Matt end up going out with Andrew and Neil a lot (Aaron and Katelyn come too sometimes, and on occasion Allison and Renee). Dan and Andrew start to share “looks” ever so often when their partners start obsessing over one another. They resign themselves to being the parents of the group (often chatting as if it’s members are their children).

“Andrew, Nicky was late to practice this morning - so no clubbing for him.” Which Andrew actually abides.

“Dan, Neil was running all night - so he has to be in bed by 9.” To which Dan ensures.

On the other hand, Andrew starts to rely on Matt when it comes to Neil. When Neil does a runner the first person he goes to is Matt, when Neil needs help Andrew goes to get Matt, when Neil is hyper he goes to find Matt, and when Andrew isn’t there there is an unspoken agreement that Matt will watch over him. It’s not so much for Neil’s sake as it is for Andrew’s.

Renee and Andrew start to include everyone in their “private discussions” which are often about a zombie apocalypse, ninja war, or alien invasion. The debates starts getting so heated that Wymack has had to intervene on a number of occasions (even banning such discussions from practice).

Also, Neil and Aaron.

Neil and Aaron are protective of one another when it comes to anyone outside of the Foxes. But, their personal bond doesn’t really start up until Neil’s second year (and it doesn’t have anything to do with Andrew).

It starts with Neil hanging out with Matt in Matt and Aaron’s room. Matt is trying to teach him how to play video games and Aaron realizes it’s a lost cause. So he steps in to help. Neil looks at Aaron with his “deer in the headlights look,” like he doesn’t understand why Aaron would help him - and okay - Aaron is starting to understand why that look affects the other Foxes so much. It’s not lost on Aaron that Neil probably doesn’t know how to play video games because he’s never been allowed to play video games - but still.

Then the worst thing imaginable happens. They’re in the same class. Neil, the freak, is taking an upper year course in mathematics for fun it appears, and Aaron has to take the same course for pre-med. And of course Aaron is struggling just as much as everyone else in the course - except for Neil. Aaron swallows his pride and starts sitting next to Neil in class, he reviews his notes with him after class, he asks him questions sometimes and - oh no - their hanging out.

They never talk about Andrew. But, that’s ok.

Aside: Kevin and Neil become weirdly inseparable. Everyone thinks it’s cute seeing Kevin obsess over Neil and Neil push Kevin’s buttons. Adorable.

Part 2 complete!

#aftg #tfhc #fhc #the foxhole court #all for the game #andriel #andreil #neil x andrew #neil josten #andrew minyard #kevin day #fic #ao3

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hassedah · 10 months

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hi, you can do the reaction of the boys (and Neil) if they slept with y/n but she is a sleepwalker. thanks in advance

MC is sleepwalker :

Hi! How are you? I hope you are well! ^^

Here are the headcanons you requested. I hope you enjoy them!

Take care of yourself and have a nice day.

Vladimir :

Sleepwalking, Vladimir knows more or less what it is, Young vampires do a lot of this because of the stress of their transformation, and he did a lot himself at the start of his transformation, even though he doesn't remember, Aaron told him. He's already seen Ivan and Ethan do it too, but once again Aaron, and Beliath for Ethan, have dealt with the situation on their own. So he doesn't really know how to react other than in theory.

The first time, he nearly had a heart attack. He's a very light sleeper, so he heard you sitting up in bed, at first he didn't open his eyes and waited for you to lie down again, but when you didn't he opened his eyes. You were sitting up in bed with your head down and your eyes open, but you didn't move an inch. It doesn't sound like much when you put it like that, but when the room is completely plunged into darkness it's a truly terrifying thing.

He actually woke you up. He was far too frightened not to. You were a little confused at first, especially as Vladimir gave you the impression of having seen a ghost. But when you realised, you were amused. You reassured him and he lay back down beside you, asking you not to scare him so much. The next time, he didn't even dare open his eyes for fear of seeing you do that again.

However, he will get up if you try to leave the room. You're on the second floor after all, and he doesn't want to see you fall down the stairs. He also makes sure that most doors stay locked during the day. He also doesn't want you to find yourself walking outside unintentionally.

He doesn't hesitate to wake you up if he thinks it's necessary. He doesn't have a lot of strength and he's always afraid of hurting you trying to get you back to the bedroom, so even if you're a bit disorientated each time, he prefers you to be fully awake before going to bed.

He worries if you sleepwalk regularly. He knows that this may be due to stress and will try to find out from you what might be causing you anxiety.

Béliath :

He knows very well what sleepwalking is. He's never done it himself. But he has often brought Ethan back to the manor after sleepwalking. So he wasn't really worried when you told him you were sleepwalking. He knows how to deal with this sort of thing you can rest easy, he won't let anything happen to you.

The first time it happened, it took him a few seconds to remember what you told him. However, when he saw you heading for the bedroom door, he rushed to stop you getting out. What worries him most are the numerous staircases in the manor house, you'd be on the ground floor, he'd let you wander wherever you wanted by simply following you. But on the first floor, accidents happen quickly and you could slip down the stairs and hurt yourself.

He's managed to steer you slowly back to bed by talking softly to you. As he's quite used to it, it's not complicated for him and he knows pretty well how to do it so as not to wake you up while encouraging you to go back to sleep. Once he's managed to get you back to sleep, he'll lie down beside you and stay awake for a while, waiting to see if you'll get up again. As you didn't seem to, he'll allow himself to go back to sleep.

Most of the time, as long as you don't try to leave the room, he lets you do what you want. On one occasion, he let you empty your bedroom cupboard completely. Of course, he wondered what you could be looking for in there so relentlessly, but he didn't try to stop you. After all, he'd rather let you destroy his meticulous arrangement of clothes than see you fall down the stairs. After taking each item of clothing out one by one, you went back to lying next to him, mumbling incoherently about a drawing you'd lost.

He will only wake you in an emergency. If he's afraid you're going to hurt yourself or if he has the impression you're not feeling well. Otherwise, he'll try to get you back to bed without waking you up. He doesn't really like to wake you up during a sleepwalking attack, you may be confused and worried and he doesn't like to see you in this state.

He's worried if you have frequent sleepwalking episodes. Once in a while, that's nothing to worry about, but when they come back regularly, it's not the same. He's trying to work with you to find out what might be stressing you and he's even changed the mattresses to see if that could have an influence.

Ivan :

He knows he sleepwalked a lot when he first arrived at the manor, but Aaron tells him he hasn't done it for a long time. However, he doesn't know how to deal with them. Finally, Aaron did tell him to put a piece of furniture in front of his window and not to read books or play stressful video games before going to sleep. But he has no idea how to deal with the sleepwalking itself. Does he have the right to wake you up? How can he convince you to get back into bed?

The first time, he didn't hear you leave the room. But he heard you coming down the stairs to the 1st floor, there's a step that squeaks a lot if you're not careful, he woke up immediately realising what was happening. He also woke Aaron up, he was too afraid you'd get hurt, or hurt you by trying to help you.

They found you in the small living room, simply standing in front of the fireplace. However, Ivan's agitation at finding you woke you up and you were a little panicked to find yourself out of bed without knowing why. Fortunately, Aaron and Ivan were able to reassure you and you were able to go back to bed without any problems. Ivan was very frightened by the situation, however, and talked to you at length about what he should do if it happened again.

Little by little, he gets used to the situation. He often finds you sitting on the stairs, doing nothing, just sitting there. The first time he saw you there, he tried to take you back to the bedroom but you both almost fell down the stairs. Since then, he's just sat next to you waiting for you to decide to go back to bed. The problem is that sometimes you also fall asleep on the stairs and he's not sure if he's allowed to wake you up to take you back to bed. More often than not, he simply ends up falling asleep next to you and the other members of the manor find you both dozing on the stairs when they wake up.

He knows you'll be safe if he wakes you up, but he doesn't want to panic you or scare you.

If you often sleepwalk, he can help you find solutions, especially if they are caused by stress.

Aaron :

He's very familiar with sleepwalking, so he's not at all worried when you tell him that you often sleepwalk. He reassures you that he'll look after you if it happens. And he does.

The first time, he wakes up as soon as he hears you moving around the bed. He observes you pacing around the room and is a little amused to see you finally standing motionless in front of the bed. When he sees that you don't seem to want to go anywhere after several minutes, he gently guides you back into bed so that you can fall asleep again. Once he's sure you've gone back to sleep, he'll go back to sleep.

During a sleepwalking attack, he won't let you leave the room. There are a lot of stairs in the manor and he doesn't want you going outside in the sun, especially as it's the forest all around the manor and you could get lost or hurt.

To compensate, he lets you wander around the room without trying to stop you touching things. He's already put away the things that could hurt you elsewhere. He's sometimes amused to see you sitting at the desk trying to write something down; it's always illegible, but the seriousness with which you do it is amusing to see. He's seen you fall back asleep on the desk too, and every time he does, he carries you back to bed so you don't have a sore back the next day.

He only wakes you up if he really has to. He knows that it's safe to be awake during a sleepwalking episode, but he doesn't want you to be confused or frightened. The vast majority of the time, he doesn't need to wake you up anyway.

If sleepwalking is too common, he starts to worry. Of course, he won't be surprised if you sleepwalk when you first arrive at the manor, let alone after you've told him you're prone to sleepwalking - after all, it can be a very stressful situation. But if the sleepwalking persists, he'll start looking for a solution with you to limit it, in particular by trying to make your nights less stressful.

Raphaël :

He's always let Beliath and Aaron deal with other people's sleepwalking. So he doesn't really know how to help you. But he promises to at least try.

The first time, he had a bit of trouble understanding what was going on. He felt you leave the bed, but you didn't answer him when he asked what you were doing. Because his room is so cluttered, you ended up bumping into a piece of furniture, and Raphaël got up in a hurry, calling your name because he was afraid you'd hurt yourself. All the commotion finally woke you up. You were a little disorientated at not being in your own bed, but you were ultimately more worried by Raphaël's concern.

You must have spent a while reassuring him that you weren't hurt, just a little lost, and he apologised for not being able to help you. Once reassured, you went back to bed and he snuggled up to you in bed.

Once, someone forgot to close the front door, just once, and it was in winter. He searched all the floors for you before he felt a draught. He was really worried, so he went to get Aaron to help him find you. Luckily you weren't far away and they found you sitting in the snow at the end of the garden just outside the gate, luckily the sun had already set. He wouldn't really have known how to react if Aaron hadn't been there, and he was especially worried that you'd get hypothermia. Since then, he's checked several times that the front door is closed properly before going to bed and he does the same with the kitchen French window.

It wakes you up almost every time. He wishes he didn't have to wake you up, because you're always a bit confused when you wake up. But he's too afraid of making you fall as he tries to convince you to go back to bed. What's more, he has a hard time knowing what you're doing or what you want to do, so he doesn't always know if you're in a dangerous situation or not.

He knows that sleepwalking can be caused by stress so he's trying to figure out what might be stressing you out enough for you to start sleepwalking, he's even willing to ask Ethan for solutions if you agree.

Ethan :

He sleepwalks more than he'd like to admit. The other members of the manor try not to forget to lock the front door, mainly because of him. After all, Beliath has already found him in the middle of a forest in heavy rain, and luckily he had nothing more than a few sunburns. When you told him you were sleepwalking, he moved his desk in front of the French window so that you couldn't open it during a seizure (something Beliath had already asked him to do several times), and he also checks that the windows and doors are closed properly before you go to bed.

The first time, he woke up as soon as you got out of bed. He watched you pacing the room for a while. When he gently suggested that you go back to bed, he was amused by your totally off-the-wall response and continued to talk to you, amused by your replies.

After a while, however, he got up to try and convince you to go back to bed. He didn't have much trouble doing so. You continued to mumble things about mirrors, vampires and cats. Ethan tried very hard not to laugh for fear of waking you up and promised to tell you all about it the next day.

Most of the time, he wakes up before you leave the room and stays awake with you until you go back to bed. If you leave the room, he follows you into the manor. On one occasion, you stood in front of the bookcase in his room for several minutes. After standing there for several minutes, you finally took a book out of the bookcase and read it… upside down. Ethan was very sorry he didn't have a camera to show you the next day. He didn't stop you from continuing, though, and let you 'read' your book, laughing silently, when you put him back in the library he came to help you back to bed. The more he sees you do, the more he thinks he must have done some very funny things during his sleepwalking spells that Beliath didn't tell him about.

He almost never wakes you up and most of the time manages to put you back to sleep without waking you up. He knows there's no risk to you if he wakes you up, but he doesn't want to give you a panic attack by doing so.

If the sleepwalking attacks are too frequent, he will work with you to find solutions. He knows that doing relaxation exercises before going to sleep can help to reduce the frequency of sleepwalking attacks, and he will also make sure that you are not too stressed during the night.

Neil :

It's not something that worries him, in the course of his life he's met many people who sleepwalk, and he knows that it's very common among young vampires, whether because of the sudden change in sleep patterns or the stress that the transformation can cause. So he knows how to react so that you're not endangered in any way. He has never sleepwalked himself, however, or doesn't remember doing so.

The first time, he felt you leave the bed immediately. He didn't try to stop you getting out of the bedroom and wandering around the small flat you both lived in, he'd already closed the front door so you couldn't find yourself outside by accident and the kitchen door so you wouldn't hurt yourself with the utensils.

He got out of bed when you started to take a while to come back and was quite amused to see you asleep on the sofa in front of the TV on a white screen. He carried you to bed, taking care not to wake you up.

As he is a very light sleeper, he generally wakes up as soon as you start to move. He rarely stops you from doing what you want and simply makes sure that it's not dangerous for you. Sometimes he's amused by your reactions, like the time you stood in front of the kitchen door, your hand on the knob, looking as upset as can be. Or the time you got up and went to sleep on the floor in the corridor. Or the time you started packing a 'pool bag', putting everything but pool stuff in it. He'll always tell you what you did the next day if you ask him.

If sleepwalking attacks are too common, however, he starts to worry. After all, it doesn't help you sleep well, you're always more tired at night or you've been sleepwalking during the day, and he knows that sleepwalking is often caused by stress. He will work with you to find solutions to limit their occurrence.

Léandra :

She's never seen anyone sleepwalk and she needs an explanation to understand when you tell her that you often sleepwalk. As she doesn't really know what it is, she's not very careful and often forgets to close the front doors at first, despite your requests.

The first time it happened to you, she was rather amused. Seeing you wander around the room while you were completely asleep was a first for her. However, she had no idea how to convince you to come back to bed with her after trying to talk to you. She finally gave up and followed you around your flat to see what you wanted to do. Finally, you sat down on the rocking chair in the living room before going back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

She laughed a little when she saw you do this, but as she didn't want you to have a sore back the next day, she carried you to your bed so that you could go back to sleep together in comfort.

Things got a little more complicated as time went by. Following you around the house, Léandra gradually realised that you don't really know what you're doing during a sleepwalking attack, so she had to stop you falling down the stairs once and she started locking the kitchen door after seeing you trying to cut an apple while you were asleep. She got really worried the one time she had to stop you going out into the street.

She tries not to wake you up, because you've told her you might be distressed and confused if she does. But she still wakes you up sometimes when she feels you might be in danger, apologising if she sees you are frightened by the situation. After that, she spends a lot of time reassuring and pampering you in the hope that you'll go back to sleep quickly and peacefully.

When you explain to her that sleepwalking can be due to stress, she will try to help you relax before going to sleep, whether by trying to find you some relaxing music or by giving you a massage.

Farah :

She knows very well what sleepwalking is, even if she doesn't really know how to react. So her first instinct after asking you what she could do to help was to seek advice from the pack doctor.

At first, she didn't think she would worry so much. But she soon changed her mind. The first time she woke up and left you alone while she did a round around the camp, when she came back you were gone. She was worried sick, so she started looking for you with the rest of the pack. You're not sleeping in a house, but in the middle of the forest and there are plenty of places where you could get hurt or lost. The pack spent more than an hour searching for you in the forest before finding you dozing by a stream. Luckily you were fine and Farah never felt more relieved than when she found you. They woke you up so that you could return with them safely, but you were very panicky when you woke up and Farah spent a long time reassuring you.

Since then, she's been sleeping against you, trying to feel you get up. She'll follow you wherever you go and try to get you back to bed. She won't leave you alone either; if she has to go away while you're asleep, she'll ask another member of the pack to watch over your sleep and not let you wander away from them.

You haven't strayed as far as you did the first time though, everyone in the pack is looking out for you and will gently lead you back to camp when you start to stray.

Farah tries not to wake you up most of the time. She knows that there's no risk to you if she does, but she doesn't want you to panic because seeing the panic on your face was enough for her the first time and she has no desire to do it again.

As she knows that sleepwalking can be caused by stress, she tries to find solutions to help you relax before going to sleep, whether by telling you amusing stories or by letting you listen to music. In fact, she has bought you a MP3 player so that you can listen to relaxing music.

#moonlight lovers #moonlight lovers vladimir #moonlight lovers béliath #moonlight lovers ivan #moonlight lovers aaron #moonlight lovers raphael #moonlight lovers ethan #moonlight lovers neil #moonlight lovers léandra #moonlight lovers farah

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chaoticas-hell · 11 months

Text

MY AFTG pride hc of the Foxes for Pride Month:

Neil: demisexual (canon!) But also demiromantic, this boy had not felt a single romantic feeling towards anyone expect for Andrew (he definitely just says he's andrewsexual until he learns about demi). As for gender, HE IS A TRANS MAN I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS Y'ALL CAN FIGHT ME (it just makes so much sense you can pry trans Neil out of my cold dead hands if you dare)

Andrew: gay (canon) but also greyromantic or demi romantic, I'm torn between the two but he defo didn't experience romantic feelings for anyone but Neil (i.e. the reason he thought Neil was a hallucination bc he had never felt something like that before and hoped it was because of the drugs but hahaha nope!)

Aaron: repressed bisexual, he knew from an early age that boys were cute just like girls but he heard what Luther was saying about gay people and suppressed his own feelings for y e a r s and acted out bc he never processed his sexuality for a decade (also Neil was an asshole and he didn't want his brother to date the guy he hated the most so of course he was against it, also because he realizes that Neil could hurt Andrew (re Baltimore) and that's not gonna happen, not on Aaron's watch no sir)

Kevin: bisexual (this guy is bi, he's so bi like- he's a bi man if I've ever seen one) (so bi he fails completely at trying to pass as straight, his giant crush on Jeremy was a dead give away) but he's definitely on the aro spectrum. He's definitely still figuring it out bc you know, romantic feelings weren't allowed in the Nest so he's figuring it out

Nicky: gay :3 (canon)

Dan: bi sexual but, to her huge dismay, with a preference for men (super satly when she realized this but you know she got Matt out of it so it was okay)

Matt: he's also bi, I mean just look at him. If he wasn't so in love with Dan and was able to, he would probably kiss Neil. He and Dan definitely talk about the cute people they see and point out cute people because they're comfortable in their relationship to do so, no jealousy here

Allison: a bi sexual queen! She doesn't realize it until after Seth passed however. She definitely made out with girls while drunk and just thought it was normal (sure, keep telling yourself that boo)

Renee: a fucking lesbian. Should've been canon (I saw Nora trying to force a Renee Jean thing, I saw that and I reject that)

Bonus

Jeremy: pan, gender doesn't matter at all to him, he loves all

Jean: queer, he can admit he is attracted to multiple genders but he has too much trauma to really look into it. He's also ace for sure

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jtl-fics · 11 months

Text

Fluent Freshman - Part 17

1. You do not talk about the Speakeasy in the basement 2. You DO NOT TALK about the Speakeasy in the basement

Those are two of the three cardinal rules of Eden’s Twilight both as a VIP customer and as an employee. The rest are more suggestions or requests that are fairly malleable depending on the night and the patron.

Andrew himself had broken the latter half of ‘Don’t be a dick or try anything with your dick on the club premises’ multiple times with Roland and then he’d broken it even further and with more vigor with Neil.

Roland had tried to bill them for the furniture in the break room and Andrew had been more than happy to use some of the blackmail he’d been holding onto to make it go away despite Neil’s repeated attempts to try and pay for it. “It’s my fault Andrew, I asked you to lay me there.” And “Allison didn’t warn me that it could stain fabric, she said it transferred really easily onto skin.” Had been waved away as Roland was happy to have those particular bits of blackmail out of play.

That being said Roland had come in despite the clear ‘occupied’ signs on the door and interrupted some of Andrew’s finest work a few weeks ago (His from? Excellent. His pacing? Excellent. His angle? Excellent. The noises Neil had been making? Perfection.)

Roland still couldn’t look at Neil without his eyes wandering where they shouldn’t so Andrew had a guest pass for the speakeasy waiting for him at the bar to make up for that wandering eye.

Which meant that he could take FF down to the speakeasy tonight. He was sure that FF would pass muster and be able to come without a pass after the night, he was just the kind of guy that they liked to have down there.

It would all be so simple if it weren’t for the third cardinal rule of Eden’s Twilight.

3. Nicky Hemmick is not allowed to know about the Speakeasy.

When Nicky had worked at Eden’s he’d been popular but he’d also talked about all sorts of secrets. He spilled tea like Aaron had spilled drinks.

So the club had done what it had to do in order to protect the incredibly select and private feature of their club:

They lied about what was down there and then they committed to that lie.

So the day came and Nicky was looking at the door with a guard next to it, “Where does that go?” He asked.

“It’s an exclusive club for straight swingers to meet and swap.” The lie rolls off of Roland’s tongue like the truth.

Nicky made a disgusted face. “Straight people.” He said shaking his head and then Roland swiftly made some purchases to sell his lie and offered the guard Frank an additional $5 an hour if he was willing to change his uniform.

Nicky Hemmick has never gone near the door since then and it is considered a success for the record books by all of the staff and VIPs in the know.

Which is why Andrew had needed a plan to pry Nicky off of FF for the night.

Nicky and FF had spent the entire time at Sweeties elbowing one another and laughing (well Nicky laughed and FF tolerated all of Nicky’s jokes and implications stoically), Nicky had been sticking with FF like he was one of the various flecks of glitter that stuck to FF after the freshman had slept in Nicky’s bed.

Before he’d gotten FF dressed up Nicky had made a solemn oath, “You and me Smithy, we’ll dance the night away!” Nicky had exclaimed.

“I’m good thanks.” FF said, “You know what will happen if I dance.” He says and Nicky grimaces as if remembering something painful. He wonders if FF just isn’t a good dancer or if the consequences of someone bumping into him were as painful as they were when someone bumped into Andrew on the dance floor.

“Well, then you and me will just have to spend the entire night chatting in the booth Smithy!” Nicky had smiled as if he wasn’t fucking up Andrew’s plans to take FF down to the speakeasy where they could sit without the headache inducing music that Nicky, Aaron, and even Kevin (he claims Stockholm syndrome) claim to love.

So, Andrew had needed to find a way to get Nicky to a state where he would be compelled to dance and leave FF alone for the night.

There are exactly three sure-fire ways to get Nicky Hemmick to become a slave to the dance floor.

1. You have to play his favorite music and Andrew doesn’t know if there’s enough blackmail in the world to get Roland to force a DJ to play nothing but Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass, Gasoline by Daddy Yankee, or Usher’s DJ’s Got Us Fallin’ In Love (his three current obsessions) on a loop for the entire night. (Bust)

2. You are Erik Klose and you want to dance. This option was unlikely due to Erik currently (as far as Andrew knew) being in Germany. (Bust)

3. Nicky has taken some party drugs. (Feasible)

So, Andrew may have been the one that had reminded both his brother and Nicky about Cracker Dust on their way to the car. Neil shoots him a look he ignores because Andrew hasn’t really pushed or mentioned Cracker Dust in almost a year.

It was something that they had all gotten off of for various reasons the year prior.

Neil had never started, Andrew had his deal with Neil, Kevin wanted to cut back on the substances he was abusing and he was not going to be giving up alcohol anytime soon, Aaron had needed a squeaky clean image for the trial, and Nicky had given it up in solidarity.

Aaron had been bemoaning that he had forgotten to get any the last four times they had gone to Eden’s so, really, Andrew was just being a thoughtful brother when he’d reminded his cousin.

So when they park the Maserati and head into the club it is no shock that after the first round of drinks (Neil & FF both had bottled waters) Nicky whips out the sandwich baggy he had gotten from FF and hands Aaron his share.

In a turn of good luck a bass heavy remix of Flo Rida’s Club Can’t Handle Me started playing and the only thing Nicky did was squeal, kiss FF’s cheek, and drag Aaron out onto the dance floor.

And then there were three.

***

FF had NOT been able to figure out where the hell the bathrooms were.

It might be due to the fact that his stomach is trying to stage a revolt against him but he’s pretty sure he’s forgotten how to read English. There are no other languages around for him to see if this illiteracy has spread to other languages.

He wonders it he brought out his katakana flashcards if the lines would blur or if his brain would be so filled with the unrelenting desire to go to the bathroom that his Professor would wonder how he ever got full marks on his midterm.

Maybe clubs didn’t have signs that pointed to the bathroom? Was he supposed to go up and ask that bartender that Andrew kept going to? Was it like a gas station where he had to ask for keys?

Oh god Captain Neil just asked him something.

When the hell did Nicky lea-

Oh Dj’s Got Us Falling In Love is playing. Nicky is definitely on the dance floor. FF has yet to escape Nicky grinding on him whenever this song happens to come on the radio he is sure that someone right now out on the dance floor is suffering the same fate that he has 3-4 times a week.

He wonders if Nicky will call Erik like he usually does when it comes on outside of the club.

At least it’s super hard to hear in this club if Nicky takes a seat next to him and starts gushing to Erik in German.

Oh god Captain Neil just asked him something and he just remembered that this would be the second time Captain Neil has asked him something.

If there was one weakness in FF’s foreign language arsenal it is that he has a hard time processing language when surrounded by loud sounds. If he knows what language they’re talking in he can sometimes get by on reading lips (does that count as another language? Probably not) but Captain Neil speaks like four languages fluently and his Spanish is getting better and better every-

Oh god Captain Neil and Andrew just asked him something and he still hasn’t answered the other two times.

“I can’t hear you!” He calls out and hopes they can at least understand HIM.

Andrew rolls his eyes and bumps Captain Neil’s shoulder with his own. He sees Andrew whisper something to Captain Neil before pointing somewhere in the distance.

They had noticed his obvious plight and were going to show him to the bathroom!

That was nice.

Maybe Nicky had asked them before his songs came on.

Andrew and Captain Neil are out of the booth and Andrew juts his chin off in a certain direction. FF does NOT need to be told twice, he’s more than happy to follow Andrew to the bathroom like some pre-schooler following their mom. These are desperate times.

So Andrew and Captain Neil guide him across the dance floor and…sure enough Nicky is grinding on some other guy who looks like he’s in heaven and he thinks he can see Aaron’s pale arms flying uncoordinatedly all over the place somewhere in the middle distance.

FF finds himself with Captain Neil and Andrew in a hallway. There’s a guard in front of the door with a bizarre pineapple shirt (why are they all upside down?) on but FF hadn’t even dressed himself tonight so he really shouldn’t judge.

“Minyard, Josten, and one guest.” He can hear Andrew say now that they’re away from the loud thrum of the music.

How fancy is this bathroom?

The man looks at Andrew, Captain Neil, and then FF. There is a visible head-to-toe inspection when he hits FF and whatever the man sees must past muster.

“Acceptable. You know the rules.”

Rules?

Wash your hands?

Don’t piss on the floor?

Let staff know if the urinal is low on ice?

FF hoped the rules would be posted in easy to understand pictures because his ability to read the English language was still heavily hampered at the moment.

Why is the handle to the door an upside pineapple too? Did someone install it wrong? Also Eden’s does not give off a very tropical vibe so why would they pick that?

The door opens and-

Oh.

Those are stairs.

Oh.

Andrew’s taking him to the basement.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

Per Your Requests:

@i-have-three-feelings @blep-23 @dreamerking27 @andreilsmyreligion @belodensetdust @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world @obscureshipsandchips @booklover242 @whataboutmyfries @sahturnos @pluto-pepsi @dreamerthinker @passinhosdetartaruga @leftunknownheart @aro-manita-muscaria @hologramsaredead @Chaoticgremlinswishtheycouldbeme @tntwme @tayspots @nick-scar @crazy-fangirl2524 @blue-jos10 @stabbyfoxandrew @splishsplashyouropinionistrash @sammichly @the-broken-pen @bitchesdoweknowu @very-small-flower @ghostlyboiii @its-a-paxycab @bisexual-genderfluid-fan @cheesecookie @theoneandonlylostsock @foxsoulcourt @blueleys @adverbialstarlight @elia-nna @can-i-just-stay-in-the-corner @nikodiangel @foxandcrow-inatrenchcoat @hallucinatedjosten @satanic-foxhole-court @vexingcosmos @chalilodimun @insectsgetcooked @angry-kid-with-no-money @queer-crows @lilyndra @themugglemudperson @readertodeath @apileofpillows @mortalsbowbeforeme @hellomynameismoo @next-level-mess @youreonlylow @interstellarfig @notprocrastinatingatalltoday @percyjacksonfan3 @queenofcrazy27 @bsmr261 @ghostlyscares @spencellio @adinthedarkroom @harpymoth @sufferingjustalilbit @anxietymoss @oddgreyhound @ohno-myhyperfixation-itsbroken @ken22789 @atiredvampire @isoldescorner @not--a--pipedream @azure-wing @bushbees @roonilwazlib-main @crumplelush @foldedaces-paperbirds @thesenseinnonsense

#Fluent Freshman AU #Neil at the booth: Hey Smith how you doing?#FF staring through time and space: ....#Neil to Andrew in Russian: I don't think he's having a lot of fun up here #Andrew to Neil: He said it isn't really his scene #Neil turning back to FF: Hey Smith do you wanna go somewhere quieter?#FF briefly stares at Neil before his gaze returns to the far off future: .....#Andrew: I don't think he can hear you #Neil: Hey Smith! Can you hear me?#FF looking at them again: I Can't Hear You!#Andrew: Told you.#AFTG #AFTG OC #AFTG AU #My Fics #FF - Pt.17

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