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”
