“The most beautiful thing ever”
(I’m taking a break from trying to post the Cabeswater pics so here)
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Kevin hurried into the room, making Andrew raise an eyebrow and Neil to frown in confusion. It was movie night in the girls’ room, and usually Kevin was indifferent about it. Instead of acknowledging the looks he was getting from the freshmen and a few other Foxes, he made his way over to Allison and showed her something on his phone. Allison grinned and nodded as she watched whatever was on his screen, before taking the phone off of him and swiping a few times.
“We’re watching this before the movies,” she declared as a large rectangle appeared on the TV screen. “Lights!” Neil turned in time to see Dan turn off the lights, then looked back at the screen as Allison swiped over Kevin’s screen again, and a freeze-frame appeared on the TV screen, a “play” arrow in the center of the screen. All Neil could make out we’re a bunch of blurred suits and dresses, in what looked like an Exy court. After a second, he realised it looked like one of the banquets.
“What is it?” he asked. He could hear the grin in Allison’s voice as she answered.
“A clip Jeremy sent Kevin - and it is something we all want to see; Freshies, pay attention - this is why you don’t piss off Neil, and this is also how not to behave at the banquet and antagonise a yakuza family.”
Neil groaned - he had an idea of what the clip was of.
“And the rest of us want to see it because we didn’t get to see it happen at the time - Nicky, you’re welcome.”
With that, Allison pressed “Play” on Kevin’s phone and all eyes went to the TV.
On-screen, it was clear the video was being taken on someone’s - presumably Jeremy’s - phone. It only took Neil two seconds to have his suspicions confirmed; it was a video from last years’ winter banquet.
The noise was distorted, partly from the fact it was taken on a smartphone and partly because of how much noise there was in the video.
Jeremy’s voice was loudest as he and one of the other Trojans - Alvarez, Neil guessed - were talking and laughing, before someone pointed across the room with a “Hey there look!” and the camera zoomed in.
Neil cringed when he saw his old self - brown hair and contacts, not a scratch on his face, standing in a suit next to Kevin at the far side of the room. The other Foxes had disappeared onto the dance floor, but Matt and Dan were still in the shot, standing a little way off from the pair.
“Josten cleans up nice,” someone was saying off-screen, and there were slurred agreements.
A few seconds later, a female voice said “Oh shit,” and the camera whirled around before focusing on another pair, clad all in black, as they made their way towards Neil and Kevin.
“Shit,” Jeremy said as he tried to get closer.
After a few seconds of Riko talking, he gestured and Jean joined Kevin. Neil’s lips moved and Kevin shot a glance at him before letting Jean lead him away, towards Matt and Dan at the other end of the table. All four of them were watching Neil and Riko. Even though the conversation couldn’t be heard on the video, Neil could remember all too easily how it had gone.
Ten seconds later, Neil’s face blurred in confusion before it went slack; less than five seconds later it had shifted into a snarl at the exact same moment Neil’s fist smashed into Riko’s face.
A few of the Foxes gasped, freshmen and originals. Nicky made some sort of cooing screaming noise. Beside Neil, Andrew was still and seemingly bored, but Neil could see the micro expressions on his face easily.
On the screen, Neil had Riko on the floor and was still hitting him. Riko rolled them over so he was on top, but was quickly floored again by Neil. At the time, Neil hadn’t paid attention to who had won or who was winning - but watching it, it looked as if Neil had actually been winning the fight.
At the table, Matt and Dan were grinning in disbelief. Beside them, Kevin and Jean’s faces were utterly blank with shock.
The camera shook and Neil watched as Matt hurried to pull him off of Riko. Matt got him about five steps away before Neil bit his arm and stomped on his foot at the same time as elbowing his ribs with so much force Neil bet there had been a bruise; with that, he was back on Riko, clawing and punching, before Matt and Coach hauled him off and separated the two.
The room was silent, and Neil glared at Riko. “I understand,” he said, and Riko sneered.
The video cut off, and Neil was shocked. He had barely recognised his own face in those last few seconds, - it had been a mask of sheer rage and hatred… he looked like he could have happily killed Riko then and there. In hindsight, he could have. And his voice… it had been more like a snarl or a hiss than words.
The Foxes sat in silence before Nicky erupted with another inhuman noise. Apparently that was a cue, and the other Foxes and freshmen erupted into noise - “Holy shit! - No way no way - my fucking God! - Why didn’t we know about this - That’s the most fucking beautiful thing I’ve ever seen -”
But Neil couldn’t focus on anyone but Andrew. Andrew, who was so still beside him but didn’t seem upset or angry. As Neil watched, he thought he saw a twitch of a smile before Andrew regained his blank mask. But that tiny twitch was enough to make Neil grin.
“Wait - what did Riko say to piss Neil off so much?”
The Foxes fell silent, before Nicky said “Neil, you won’t get stabbed, so you can say.”
Neil shot a glare at Nicky before saying carefully, “He said shit about Andrew.”
The freshmen processed that, before one asked, “Were you two already dating then?”
“No,” Neil replied. Matt groaned and Dan whooped, making Neil assume he had just won Dan some money.
The others went back to talking, and Neil went back to gazing at Andrew. Andrew, who was safe and was his home.
