some kevin/riko quotes from the EC that stood out to me:
- “They loved each other until they died, and they hated each other from the moment they met.”
- “He clung to Riko the way a weaker power clings to a stronger, needing some sort of support and stability to rebuild his broken life around, and although he feared Riko’s cruelty he didn’t understand at the time how wrong and unfair it was. It was just life, as he knew it, as he’d know it for the next many years.”
- “To say Riko & Kevin were friends seems a lie, but to say they weren’t is a worse one.”
- “Riko & Kevin were the end-all be-all of each other’s existence. It was what saved Kevin from the majority of Riko’s cruelty”
- “They needed each other, because the only thing in the world they wanted was to be the best and the only way to be the best was by plunging into life side-by-side. They were obsessed with each other’s potential because they knew what they could be together.”
- “Riko saw Kevin as a footstool, and Kevin saw Riko as a collar.”
- “Riko and Kevin got [what they wanted], whether it was private lessons or access to notes and old games ((or Lydia Shetfield, when Riko decided he and Kevin ought to lose their virginity like all the other Ravens had)).”
- “Kevin could survive two monsters only if one of them was dormant or otherwise entertained, so he bowed his head and did what he needed to do, and eventually he forgot he’d ever existed outside of Riko’s circle. He stayed close enough that his leash wouldn’t choke him and followed Riko to the top.”
- “But by then Kevin had forgotten how to fight back, so he cowered and hid and licked his wounds in private. This was his place. This was who they were. This was what Riko needed, and Exy needed Riko, and Kevin needed Riko. This was part of the deal.”