Prompt: Neil gets taken to the hospital Aaron works at
Words: 984
CW: Hospitals, a very brief reference to Andrew's past self-harm, and very brief reference to Aaron's drug use.
A/N: This is based on a post I saw about Neil getting hurt when he's a pro exy player, and he goes to the hospital Aaron works at and they start bickering and Aaron's co workers don't understand why he's got beef with this famous Exy player. I thought it was funny so here we are
Ao3 Link 🔗
“You have to be fucking kidding me.”
Neil looked up from his phone, and he immediately frowned. Once he schooled his face into a more neutral expression he said with as much insincerity as possible, “That’s not very good bedside manners, Minyard.”
Aaron rolled his eyes and went over to the cart in the room. “Did they have to bring you to this one?”
“It’s not like I asked.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.”
“Why’d they have to assign you to me?”
“I definitely didn’t ask. Where’s my brother?”
“Why would I know?”
Aaron turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. “Because you play for the same team, asshole.”
Neil smirked. “We definitely do.”
Aaron made a disgusted noise and came over to check something on Neil’s IV. “What did the nurse who gave you this look like?”
“Blonde. Short hair. Kind of mousy. It’s been leaking for like ten minutes,” he said, gesturing to it.
Aaron nodded and fiddled with it before going over to a cabinet of fuck all and Neil stopped paying attention to him fixing the IV because as much as he would pretend he didn’t want Aaron there, he was the only doctor he trusted. At least he wouldn’t have to watch his every move while he worked with him.
While Aaron fixed the IV he said, “Yeah, she’s not great. I usually have to send someone in to clean up after her. I’ve been trying to get them to lay her off but we have a union.”
Neil raised his brow. “If you usually send someone in, why are you fixing my IV?”
“Don’t feel like getting someone.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Try not to look so happy.”
After that everything was fairly quiet aside from Neil’s monitor next to the bed, and the occasional clicking and clunking of Aaron doing things around the room. Neil looked at him.
“Minyard.”
“Jesus, what?”
Neil rolled his eyes. “What are you even in here for?”
“I’m supposed to roll you out the ER doors and into the street so you can be the paramedics problem.”
“Ha-ha.”
Aaron sat at the computer in the room and started asking Neil questions. About half way through, and to Neil’s genuine surprise, they got distracted talking about the very Exy game that had gotten Neil injured. When Neil had relayed how exactly he got his injury to Aaron, the doctor frowned and asked if the player at least got a yellow card and Neil had rolled his eyes and gone off on a tangent that was three minutes longer than it needed to be, but Aaron didn’t seem to actually mind. They spoke about the game for a bit before Aaron started up with questions again, to Neil’s slight disappointment, but the questions were short and they were done soon after.
Neil asked, “Don’t you have other patients to get to?”
“Not that I need to be tending to. I was on a break for once before you came in.”
“Sorry to disturb your rest period.”
He shrugged and checked something on his phone. “How the fuck does he know I know where you are?”
“Who?”
He threw up his hand. “Andrew.” He pressed a button and answered the phone. “What?” He asked in German.
Neil couldn’t hear Andrew, but based on Aaron’s facial expressions he assumed Andrew was stuck in game traffic and asking about Neil. Neil thought that was nice, and also found it funny that Aaron probably found it annoying.
“I have a job, you know.” Andrew gave a short answer. “Well, I wouldn’t if I was busy with other patients but conveniently I’m with him right now.” Andrew gave another response, slightly longer. Probably something about leading with that. With no pretext Aaron said, “I have to go. Bye.”
He hung up and stuck his phone in his pocket, then looked at Neil and said, “You’ve made him annoying.”
“You’re annoying.”
“Very nice.”
“‘Real mature, Josten.’”
He wrinkled his nose. “That’s not what I sound like.”
“It is. You sound like you should be pushing glasses up your nose when you talk.”
“Fuck you,” he said, going back over to the computer to put in information Andrew’s call had interrupted.
When Andrew was finally there to take Neil from the hospital, Aaron walked them out. Neil thought that was also a little nice, but he wasn't going to say that. Andrew helped Neil into the car and he and Aaron spoke by the door for a while. The window was down, but Neil tried to block them out. It’s not like the required privacy, they were standing right by him, but he still felt it was best he stayed out of their conversations unless he was invited into them directly.
“Josten.” Neil turned his head to look at Aaron. He and Andrew looked eerily similar at that moment. Not because they were twins, no. Because of how far they’d come. Neil had never really stopped to consider it, but they’d both been so sure they would amount to nothing. Andrew had been so sure he’d amount to nothing he’d tried to take his own life, and Aaron was so sure he’d be like his mother he had replicated her bad habits until Andrew forced him to quit. And now Neil was looking at a professional Exy player and an E.R. doctor, who was considering going back to school to move to a different field anyways. They’d both come so far and Neil hadn’t even realized until now.
Aaron pointed at him. “Stay off that leg for a week, or you’ll be back here and whining about how long you’ve been off court and no one has time for that.”
Neil saluted. “Yes, doctor.”
Aaron rolled his eyes, then elbowed Andrew lightly before walking off. Andrew watched him for a while before finally coming around to the driver’s side to take them home.
Known Alias: 'The Forest of The Dead', 'The Devils Land', 'The Refuge', 'Territory 7'
Known Date of Appearance: 3000 BC.
Species classification: Mass Land Anomaly
Entity 2 was a creation by Entity 1, at a attempt to recreate what she loved so much. Instead of a universe, however, she created a pocket instead. What was once a patch of land in what would become Northern Europe was now encased in its own reality broken from the rest of the world, left drifting on its planet. Almost...alive, even.
When Entity 8 gained it's power around the dark ages, Entity 1 would given this broken land to it, to keep it from gnawing too much at the rest of the world. When Entity 8 became mature, about the 1600's, it began challenging Entity 1. Once the rebellion was put down, Entity 1 would place the recently emerged Entity 10 into the same bubble and force the two to share, as some twisted punishment
Rising tensions continue to wreck the land today.
Since the placement of Entity 10, many creatures have taken shelter in this world, all guided by him. Entity 8 has yet to be seen since the rebellion.
Document written by Jeffery A. Woods. Document proofed By Timothy J. Wright.
The Gem of the South, and the Frozen Furnace beneath the Pale Hilltops
In the Frozen South, there are yet fragments of a metropolis of tall temples, that once touched a clear blue arctic sky, which glistened on snowy hilltops like a brilliant green gem on a lily-white horizon. This city was and is the Emerald of the South, whose lush beauty has decades-faded away, but nonetheless holds as a modern bonfire of desperate survival after The Undoing. One of the oldest and most sacred human-built settlements of Atma’Zae is now merely carved out on the ridge of a slowly melting and cracked glacier. Now drooping off a peak over the Southern Sea, this still-bustling settlement once housed wisemen and oracles who foresaw the undoing of man by his own designs. In these, the Days of Ash, the pillars that once were the pride of the snow have been twisted and cracked away by permanently high arctic winds and toxified sleet.
Once known as Esmer, this settlement was the home of philosophers and religious theocrats. It is the foundational source of the Realm’s only autotheist national divinity, The Order of the Mirror, whose adherents worshipped their own reflection thinking themselves as Gods. Precious gems, predominantly emeralds, but also alexandrite, diamonds and sapphires were mined in the nearby snowcapped mountains to focus magical illusions into distilled magick, a type of magic far more potent and destructive than mere parlor tricks and sleight of hand. The green and lush gardens of Esmer grew rife with arctic moss, tundra roses and diamond leaf willows which stunned weary, cold travellers from afar; distinctly jade among a field of all-white.
Esmer-Alda has since been retitled for modern times, forever changed and pitted-out inside the edge of the Pale Hilltops of the South. After the Nemesis, the survivors of the Undoing were forced to burrow deep its hilltop and build a massive furnace in the coal-rich mantle beneath the now-abandoned rock crystal towers. An estimated 20,000 prisoner-slaves man the burners, the control valves, and the combustion chamber deep beneath this once holy site. The upper city is no longer habitable as acidic blizzards, and sub-zero temperatures permeate under a thick sulphur-dioxide sky. Soon, there will likely be no more Esmer-Alda, as it dithers over the Southern Sea ready to bend and break into the waters below at any moment.
Prompt: After Neil comes back from California in TSC, he can’t stop thinking about Grayson. Which means he can’t stop thinking about Drake. Andrew notices Neil avoiding him.
Words: 5,498
CW: Referenced rape/non-con
A/N: TSC gave me so many one-shot ideas so here we are
Ao3 Link 🔗
After Neil comes back from California, he can’t stop thinking about Grayson. Which means he can’t stop thinking about Drake. Andrew notices Neil avoiding him.
Neil pisses Riko off one too many times and Kevin pays the price. Now, Neil, Kevin, and Jean are playing for the PSU foxes. What could go wrong?
Characters: Neil Josten, Andrew Minyard, Jean Moreau, Kevin Day, Aaron Minyard, Matt Boyd, Dan Wilds, Nicky Hemmick, Renee Walker, Thea Muldani, Riko Moriyama, Allison Reynolds, Seth Gordon, David Wymack, Abby Winfield, Tetsuji Moriyama, Ichirou Moriyama, Katelyn Mackenzie, Betsy Dobson, and others.
Antagonists: Riko Moriyama, Tetsuji Moriyama, Nathan Wesninski and others.
"Back of Book" Summary: Nathaniel Wesninski was given a second shot at being a Raven thanks to Kevin Day (and begrudgingly, Riko Moriyama). After proving himself on court, he joined alongside Jean Moreau as a backliner for the team. Little did Nathaniel know he would find himself in for years worth of torture and brutality at the hands of the Moriyamas, all in an effort to protect Kevin and Jean: His friends, his partners, his family. When he takes things too far with Riko and Kevin's hand ends up shattered, Neil takes up David Wymack on his offer and flees to South Carolina to join the PSU foxes. His past isn't quite done with him, though, and it seems neither are the Moriyamas. How is Neil meant to protect his old family and his new one when he's surrounded by threats on all sides?
Ao3 Link - Feel free to ask questions. Kudos and comments are always appreciated but obviously no pressure 🤍
Playlist - Organized by vibes 😌
Tag/Collection - For finding any posts about Triple Threat 👀
Prompt: They missed the last train/bus and it’s the middle of the night and they’re still 20 km away from the place they live/stay at.
Words: 1,448
CW: Very vague reference to past child abuse.
A/N: This one came sm easier than the one from yesterday 😭 Matt and Neil friendship my beloved <3
Ao3 Link 🔗
Neil didn’t even agree to go on this stupid trip in the first place. Nicky encouraged him to sign up for this field trip for one of his classes, not that he listened very often when Nicky encouraged him to do things, but Kevin had mentioned that wherever they were going had a store with Exy items exclusive to the area and Neil’s curiosity got the better of him.
He didn’t even buy anything. He never really bought things. He didn’t shop. This was stupid. Andrew would call him stupid for this, and he would wholeheartedly agree.
“Exy shop,” he muttered, pulling out his phone and texting Andrew.
Neil: Back
Andrew: Already?
Neil: It was only a day
Andrew: We’re in Columbia.
Andrew: I can come back and get you.
Neil hesitated, his fingers hovering over the keypad. Yes, he would like to be in Columbia with Andrew and the others (mostly Andrew), but he also didn’t want to make him drive all the way back to Palmetto just to get him. He replied that he was tired and he would take a bus down tomorrow. Andrew told him to be careful, and that was that. From anyone else, it would’ve been ominous.
The issue with the bus at that point in time, however, was that there were no more stops, and Neil had fuck all idea where a nearby train station was and he didn’t have internet access to check. Even if he did, he doubted they were open.
He thought to himself that he was only 12 miles from PSU. Roughly. He could run and be back in about two hours, two and a half if he paced himself, which he would have to do unless he wanted his legs to give out and out for practice on Monday.
It did occur to him, however, that after that trip he also didn’t feel like running 12 miles. Especially because he had a backpack with him. He checked the time. Considering the extra weight, it’d be more like three hours, and then he’d be back at P.S.U. by two in the morning, and then he’d be dead tired on his way to Columbia because he’d want to be there early, even though Andrew didn’t care.
He did consider that he had other friends. A particular friend came to mind, one who had a truck and may be willing to pick him up. He felt a little guilty, not wanting to bother Matt so late, but if he wasn’t able to get Neil, that was fine too. He decided there wasn’t any harm in asking.
“You’re stranded at a bus station?!”
“Stranded is a strong word.”
“Whatever. I’m on my way. Send me the street name.”
Neil smiled a bit when he heard Matt fumbling with his keys. “You don’t need to rush.”
“It’s dark!”
“Oh no.”
“Uh-huh.” Neil heard him speak indistinctly to who was presumably Dan before he heard a door shut, and then Matt said, “I’m gonna come get you, and then we’re getting food.”
“Why?”
“Did you eat dinner?” Neil paused too long, and Matt sounded a little too triumphant when he said, “See!”
Neil smiled again. “Fine. I don’t think anything is open, this late though.”
“You underestimate southern fast food chains.”
“I’m familiar.”
“You can tell me about whatever that means in the car,” he said, then he hung up.
When he pulled up in front of the bus stop, Neil was slouched on the bench there, chewing on his nail and screwing on his phone. He glanced up where Matt rolled down the passenger window and stretched to lean out of it, grinning. “Want some candy?”
“Very funny,” Neil said, hopping up and slinging his backpack over his shoulders before depositing it under the dashboard and climbing inside. He slammed the door shut, and rolled the window back up, thankful for the air conditioning. “Where are we going?”
“To get the best food in town.”
Neil raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”
“Domino’s pizza, obviously.”
Neil nodded, familiar. He watched Matt turn up the radio, and he started asking Neil about his trip. When he heard the unfortunate news that it was both boring and stressful, he asked what he was doing tomorrow. Neil said he was going down to Columbia to meet up with the rest of his dorm plus Aaron. Matt nodded, then asked if he’d ever consider spending a weekend with him and the girls; just on occasion. Neil was a little surprised, although he shouldn’t have been. He knew the upperclassmen liked him, and really, when it came down to it, Matt might’ve been his first real friend he ever had as Neil Josten.
Nathaniel Wesninski didn’t have friends, he had at most acquaintances and people he liked to talk to at school. God forbid his mom catch him chatting with someone too long. The “only sharing homework” excuse only worked so many times after he got somewhere new and started bonding. Really, he supposed, he’d always craved some connection. He’d lacked it under his father’s thumb and his mother’s fist. So, Matt being so welcoming when he got to Palmetto, sharing a living space with another person and it feeling oddly comfortable, oddly safe; he supposed that yeah, maybe Matt was one of his closest friends. He’d never really stopped to consider it.
“Neil?”
He blinked. “What? Sorry. I didn’t hear you.”
He looked a little concerned. “You weren’t at that stop too long were you? You zoned out for a second.”
He smiled to himself. “Just thinking.”
He nodded and pulled in the Domino’s parking lot. He looked at Neil and repeated, “I was just asking if you wanted to spend the weekends with me and the girls sometimes. Or just a Friday or Sunday. We’d be happy to have you. No pressure, I just feel like I never see you aside from practice since we don’t share a dorm anymore.”
Neil shrugged. “No, we don’t. And I know it’s sort of awkward for you guys to come to Eden’s with us.”
He laughed and undid his seatbelt, pulling the key out the ignition afterwards. “It’s not that bad. We’re just not used to the nine of us ‘hanging out’.”
Neil tilted his head. “Maybe we could do it more often. At the dorms. I mean, Nicky and Kevin are technically upperclassmen too. I appreciate that Kevin is a prick, but he’s also a good guy.”
“Yeah, I know. Nicky is too.” He sighed. “I think Renee would be happy to do it. Dan would probably see it as an opportunity for team bonding, or whatever we would call it.”
“She and Kevin can bond over team bonding.”
Matt barked a laugh as he climbed out of the car. “Yeah right!”
They went into the restaurant and took a seat after ordering their food and waiting for their number to be called. There was only one other group of people inside, so Neil assumed it wouldn’t take long. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. “I’ll text Andrew,” he said, and only realized it was a tad random when Matt looked at him oddly.
“About what?”
“About this weekend. I’ll stay with you guys. It’ll be fun.”
Matt beamed and Neil wasn’t quite used to it out of anyone but Nicky. He was used to Matt much more laid back, and his excitement made Neil a little excited, and it was a nice feeling. “Sweet! I’ll tell Dan.” He pulled his phone out to text the girls that they’d have an additional friend for their movie night tomorrow, and Neil took the time to tell Andrew he wouldn’t be making it to Columbia. It was a little weird. He was so used to going. He was a little worried what Andrew would think, but after assuring him he was not injured or anything else, he was just spending time with the upperclassmen, Andrew told him to “tell Renee hello” for him, and that was all.
Matt pointed at him with his phone as he began to slide out of his booth to get his phone. “Hey, you’ll have your dorm to yourself. That’s nice, right?”
“Don’t you have yours to yourself with Aaron gone?”
Matt pursed his lips and looked up, “Well, usually Dan stays over… so,” he drew it out as he walked away, and Neil shook his head as he checked and ignored a drunk text from Kevin. He looked out the window at Matt’s truck. An additional perk to spending that weekend at Palmetto was he’d actually get to spend some time with his friend, and wasn’t that kind of nice?