I've seen a lot of posts talking about touch starved Neil but we must consider: touch starved Andrew.
Yes touch makes him uncomfortable, but that's because of his previous experience, not because he doesn't want it. Of course he wants friendly touch, loving touch, innocent touch.
I like to think that once he becomes fully comfortable with Neil, when he lets himself believe that what they have is real and it's staying, he likes casual touch just as much as Neil.
Holding hands, brushing shoulders, hugs, forehead kisses, lying huddled together. Casual comfortable touch that makes his heart hurt in a good way, because he just can't believe that he has this precious love, this beautiful boy.
Andreil may never be as showy as other couples, or as publicly affectionate, but I like to think that they eventually become as physically loving as any other couple.
hey so i know you do head canons and i was wondering if you'd write an andreil one about them adopting a kid thanks
i have this issue where i start headcanons and they end up being fics so enjoy
Okay so Neil and Andrew are on thesame professional Exy team
They live in like the small urbanpart of Missouri or something, and they have a lot of free time because it’sthe off season
So Andrew goes to the library everyafternoon like clockwork
He’s studying up on law andentertaining the idea of going to law school after they retire
Neil tags along sometimes and loves browsing the crime/mystery section
The library workers recognize them asthe famous exy-playing assholes, but they’re all older women who have nothingbetter to do than gossip behind the desk
Mary, the senior librarian, runs thechildren’s programs during the summer and makes sure to invite all the kidsfrom the nearby elementary school
It’s raining pretty hard outside whenNeil and Andrew stumble in one afternoon during Mary’s dramatic reading of TheFox and the Hound
Andrew saunters off upstairs whileNeil heads to the bathroom so he can wring out their wet raincoats
(Nicky got them matching raincoatsfor Christmas that year, insisting that he needed to “keep up the theme”)
(Andrew refuses to wear the matchingred rain boots)
Neil hears muffled crying from one ofthe stalls, interrupted every now and then by a small hiccup
He knocks hesitantly on the stalldoor
“I’m in here!” the kid shouts
“Everything okay?”
“Uh.. yeah,” he sniffles, “I think”
Neil isn’t convinced. Not only can hetell when someone’s lying (he’s had enough experience he should be an expert bynow) but there was a small puddle of blood gathering on the tiles of the bathroomfloor
“You’re bleeding” it wasn’t aquestion
“I guess I am”
“I know how to stitch a wound”
“Congratulations”
Neil laughs. This kid was a littletoo similar to Andrew
“I have a kit in my car, I’ll beright back. Don’t move”
“…Okay”
Neil runs for the Maserati but makessure to fast-walk semi-casually past the group of elementary kids gathered infront of Mary
He comes back with a suture kit and some towels
(Neil insisted on making theunconventional first aid kit after Andrew got in a fight outside of Eden’s lastyear. Neither of them liked hospitals and Abby was three states over, so thelogical solution was to hit up the nearest Walgreen’s at three in the morning)
The kid had unlocked the stall doorin his absence, and was waiting patiently with some bloodied toilet paperpressed against his arm
Neil guesses that he’s about the ageof a third grader, but he could also be small for his age. He has light hazeleyes and brown skin, mottled with freckles across the bridge of his nose
“What’s your name?”
“Noah,” not a lie, “what’s yours?”
“Neil. Nice to meet you, Noah”
Noah nods distractedly and Neil getsto work unpacking the kit. He slowly removes the toilet paper, careful not thetouch Noah’s skin the entire time
Noah’s arm had been slit fromshoulder to elbow, deep enough to warrant stitches but not bad enough that Neilworries about blood loss. “Weapon?”
“Jack Daniel’s”
Neil nods, noticing the jaggedness ofthe wound that could only be created by broken glass
Neil works in silence, threading theneedle and cleaning the cut with rubbing alcohol. He doesn’t bother warningNoah before he begins suturing the wound, knowing that pain is pain whetheryou’re prepared for it or not
A quick intake of breath is all hegets from the kid, and Neil knows that reaction is not the best of signs
Halfway through the stitches, Noahlifts his free hand and taps Neil’s right cheek. “Weapon?”
“Dashboard lighter”
“Ouch”
Neil huffs out a laugh, “Yeah”
“Who did that to you?”
Neil pauses, “A friend of my fathers”
Noah winces in sympathy, butapparently the questions have stopped for now
“Who did this to you?” Neil asks. Hewasn’t only referring to the wound that was currently getting stitched up. Thekid was covered in yellowing and purpling bruises, the most prominent onessurrounding his wrists and upper arms
Noah immediately tenses up, cradlinghis free arm against his stomach, “Why should I tell you?”
“A truth for a truth”
Noah wrinkles his nose but doesn’toffer an immediate answer. Neil goes back to stitching and then bandages thewound with practiced ease, making sure to keep a light enough hold on Noah’sarm so he could easily break free
“Those will need to be removed in aweek and a half. Do you want to meet me here again or take your chances with apair of tweezers?”
Noah thinks about it for a momentwhile he pulls his shirtsleeves down, “I’ll meet you here. Mary takes us on theschool bus and it picks me up right at my house on Wednesday’s.”
“Then I will see you two Wednesday’sfrom now, Noah.”
The kid nods and gathers his backpackfrom the floor. Neil moves out of the stall and follows behind him afterthrowing the bloodied toilet paper into the toilet
He catches Noah’s eye before heexits, bending down to the kid’s level. “Follow me,” he whispers, opening thedoor and leading the way out into the library foyer. Mary’s group arethankfully absent for the time being. They probably migrated to the puppettheater area of the library after story time
He leads Noah upstairs, windingthrough large bookshelves until they find Andrew’s designated corner of thelibrary, surrounded by a dozen or so law dictionaries
Andrew looks up as they approach, butother than a cursory glance he doesn’t acknowledge Neil’s tagalong
“Sticky note?” Neil asks. Andrew digsin his backpack for a minute and then hands Neil a pack of pink sticky notesand a pencil
Neil scrawls his cell phone number onthe note, peels it off, and then sticks it to the front of Noah’s shirt
He bends down to look Noah in theeyes, “I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night or whatever, if they somuch as raise their voice at you,” he pokes the sticky note with his pointerfinger, “call me.”
Noah worries his bottom lip between histeeth, his eyes beginning to water. He hesitates for a minute, but then wrapshis hand around Neil’s in as firm a grip as a nine-year-old can manage, “Ipromise,” he says, “I promise to call you if my stepdad is bad again”
Neil smiles, “Thank you Noah”
Noah nods and then turns around tojoin his classmates again, wiping his eyes the entire way down the stairs
“First the cats and now a kid?”Andrew says, “You’re getting domestic”
Neil hums, leaning over the back ofAndrew’s chair so his chin rests on Andrew’s shoulder. “I like him. He remindsme of you”
Andrew swats a hand at his face,“That’s not a good thing”
“Maybe in some aspects”
“Think he’ll call?”
Neil searches Andrew’s face, but allhe gets is a blank mask
“If not, want to come with me to thelibrary two Wednesday’s from now?”
“That depends,” Andrew taps a fingeron the binding of a couple of law dictionaries, “do I have to brush up onadoption law before then?”
Neil laughs, “Don’t act like you can’t do that in a night, Andrew”
Hi, I don't know if you have done this before but one about Minyard-Josten rivalry on field and softness of it, please!
Hello! Thanks so much for this, I haven't done it before!
Any time they're playing against each other, Neil will find a way to sneak into Andrew's team's changing room before and go full Kevin on him. Remember to do this. Make sure you actually try please. Did you practice? Have you eaten? Properly???
Andrew excuses it because a) Neil's cute and b) Neil always kisses him before he leaves
Reporters see Neil leaving the opposing team's room all flushed and red and immediately jump to the conclusion that Neil must have run his mouth with Andrew
Which isn't wrong, but unlike what the reporters think, it is not a rage fuelled arguement
So, the actual game
Fans very quickly pick up that both Neil and Andrew tend to play a lot harder when they're playing against each other...
And they notice Neil saying something through his helmet every time Andrew blocks a goal
They can't pick up on what it is and assume it's some sort of curse but it is actually encouragement, Andrew is not impressed and neither is Neil's team
Andrew will always volunteer to do the half time interview and will always talk about Neil and how amazing and talented he is, in his usual sarcastic deadpan voice obviously, and people don't know that that's just how he is so they think he's mocking Neil
Neil will refuse to talk about Andrew. When the subject is brought up he will avoid it. Reporters have commented on the fact that this is very unlike him. Mysterious
Truth is Neil just can't say one bad word about Andrew but theyre not out yet and he doesn't want to give it away
Also, Nicky showed him some very funny "Minyard - Josten rivalry" tweets and Neil wants to spice things up and add to the fire because why not
But he likes staring at Andrew. Frequently. Those MusCLeS!!!!!!!!!
If the camera cuts to Neil, it's almost guaranteed he will be looking at Andrew.
Now both the teams are actually on very good terms so when they finish the game, regardless of who won, they all hug each other/shake hands before they go off the court
And obviously, Neil doesn't do this with Andrew because he respects his boundaries, and he can't ask yes or no in public like this, and so it's a no
And the Josten fans find this hilarious because it's typical Neil, being petty and aggressive,
What they obviously don't notice is that the night after a game, before the two teams fly home, Andrew and Neil share a hotel room. They're very careful about being discreet and making sure sneaky fans don't take any pictures, because while they're comfortable with the relationship, they don't want questions
It's only 3 years later, when Andrew and Neil have both made court, and they move into an apartment together, that people finally realise
Even then, its only because they both post pictures of Sir and King and people notice that they're in fact the same cats.
I feel like this is really rambly and it doesn't have any substance so sorry to disappoint, running low on ideas atm. I might make a part 2 if something else comes to me.
Ok but like imagine being the grocery cashier and having this group of guys come in and getting a shit ton of ice cream and kale and everything in between and just watching Kevin Bitch about diets while Nicky tries to add chocolate Then learning from the news what some of their histories are and being like huh?? Those guys? The one that gets icecream almost murdered four guys? The one with the soft smile at his friends banter and the horrible face scars having been the son of a killer
Yes I love this!!!! And the cashier knows which brand of cigarettes they ask for every time so it's like a thing and she always takes forever in getting them whenever Allison is there bc she wants to flirt with Allison bc she's in love with Allison bc who isn't??? Six inch rainbow heels?? A bicon (bisexual icon)!!!!
And Kevin will be talking some shit about diet and nutrition and the cashier's like? Actually I don't think that's true?? The death stare she gets from that never again
But then she's on her break and is watching some random news thing on her phone and it's about Aaron killing Dr*ke, and she slowly starts to learn about them, and she always low-key suspects andreil are a thing so she gets crazy excited when it comes out that they are
And next thing you know she's a crazy ext fan who has posters of the foxes and the Trojans in her room and screams whenever Kevin does anything iconic which is everything basically
Neil big spooning Andrew but half way through the night Andrew turns so he's facing Neil and he has his face buried in the crook of Neil's neck so when he wakes up early he decides to wake Neil up with neck kisses
We've all read those fics where Neil does things that Andrew likes on purpose bc he knows it turns him on/ makes him feel/he likes it, but consider this: Andrew doing things he knows drive Neil crazy. On purpose.
Andrew kissing the scars on Neil's hands because he knows it makes him feel loved. Andrew shutting down the goal because it turns Neil on. Andrew making Neil breakfast because it shows him he is cared for. Andrew showering with Neil in the locker room because it shows him that he is beautiful, scars or no. Andrew holding hands with Neil because it makes him feel safe.
Andreil slowly growing affectionate around the foxes part 4
Andrew falls asleep with his head on Neil's shoulder on the coach on the teams way back from a game bc he locked down the goal and that is exhausting
Neil goes on a trip with matt and when they're out he sees something be knows Andrew will love so he buys it for him
Both Neil and Andrew get new, updated phones but they still literally never reply bc their phones are on silent. One day when hanging out with the girls Neil's phone goes off and they realise he has his notifications on for Andrew only
Andrew's lock screen is black bc he has a reputation come on but when Nicky looks over his shoulder one day he sees that Andrew's home screen is a picture of Neil
Andrew fixes the door to the roof and gets two keys made: one for him and one for Neil. Everyone is wondering what the extra key on Neil's keychain is for
Every Sunday morning no matter how early everyone else wakes up, neil and Andrew are both gone. They come back around lunch and no matter how many times the team ask where they went Neil just smiles and says it was a date
When they go to Edens Neil and Andrew always sit next to each other and one time Dan drops something so she bends down to pick it up and sees that Andrew and Neil are holding hands under the table
The foxes commit to buying Neil an entire new wardrobe and throw out ALL of his old stuff. They go shopping and when Neil goes to try the clothes on, Andrew goes in with him. If they take longer than necessary to try on clothes and look a little dishevelled and flushed when they come out of the stall, no one comments
Andrew got into the shower with Neil with clothes on. That shit was wet. It was sticking to him. He had to physically peel that shit off his skin while it was cold and gross. If that isn't love idk what is
