Curate, connect, and discover
For the prompts - 16 and/or 23 and/or 19? (Andreil, of course)
you are in luck my friend because i'm sick of college apps so i'll just write a bit of all three !
16: "kissing knuckles"
23: "a hug that some might consider as ~too long~"
19: "peppering their face in kisses"
~
16.
So it turns out that punching a tree hurts a lot.
Neil would argue that it was worth it. Andrew seemed to disagree.
"Why," Andrew said flatly, inspecting Neil's split knuckles and glaring at him.
Neil considered — not lying, just... obscuring the truth — for a moment, but figured Andrew would see through it right away. "Technically, I did it for you."
"I do not recall ever asking you to punch a tree."
Neil huffed. "Well, you didn't but someone told me to, and I had to do it for you."
Andrew blinked slowly. "What."
Neil ran over the day's events. Honestly, it had started off pretty normal. He was walking back from a class, eager to see Andrew again, when he spotted a ball of white hiding in the arms of a student passing by it.
After staring at it for a few moments, he ran over (to a stranger!) and promptly asked if he could take a picture for his boyfriend.
The girl — Mara, she informed him — said sure, as long as he punched a tree.
Apparently, Neil explained to an increasingly annoyed Andrew, she was a Psych major doing a project on how far people were willing to go in order to act on their natural emotional response to cute animals. And of course, Neil wanted to show the furball to Andrew.
So he punched a tree. Which hurt.
"I'm fine though," Neil concluded. "I mean, it stings a bit and there's scratches everywhere and I can't really bend my fingers, but I'm fine."
Andrew huffed at him. "No."
"Here," Neil said after Andrew didn't explain further, shoving his phone towards him. "Appreciate the cat."
Andrew sighed as he looked at the picture, giving him an exasperated glance. "Junkie," he muttered, bringing Neil's hand up to plant a featherlight kiss on his injured knuckles.
Neil froze and gaped. His face felt unnaturally red. His fingers were tingling, he made a very squeaky voice, and he was probably staring a bit too much at Andrew.
"142%, idiot."
~
23.
Matthew Donovan Boyd was no fool.
Neil, though? The little guy had so little experience in the normal world, he was practically an infant (no short joke intended).
He knows that Andrew (probably) actually cares about Neil, but Matt's buddy sometimes forgets that not everyone outside of the original Foxes knows this.
This is why, as Matt casually walked with some freshman (Brian? Bradley? whatever) back from the store with bags of movie night snacks, he heard the kid's sharp intake of breath.
Matt's mother-hen instinct kicks in.
"What?" he asked frantically, dropping the bags. "Did you step on something? Did you trip? Did you see someone? Did— "
"Holy shit," Benjamin said emphatically. "Are Minyard and Josten... hugging? On the roof?"
Matt squinted at the striker. "That's what you freaked out about?"
"Look!" Bartholomew waved his hand around. "They've been hugging for at least a minute by now. I thought they hated each other?"
Wondering what he had done to deserve this, Matt ran a hand through his spiky hair. He probably shouldn't out Andrew and Neil, right? "Look kid. Toxic masculinity is not a good look."
"No, of course," Brandon bobbled his head. "Toxic masculinity is the worst. So not in style."
"... right," Matt agreed skeptically. "So, you know we all got pretty close last year—"
"Because of the murder stuff."
"Yes, the murder stuff. Anyways, hugging isn't uncommon between friends!"
"True," Benedict said slowly. "But they've been hugging for so long. More than what I would expect between just friends, if you get what I mean."
Matt ignored the weird eyebrow wiggle the freshman gave him and started picking up the dropped bags again. "That's... not really any of our business," he muttered, no matter how far in agreement he was with this young child.
There were a few moments of peaceful silence before Braxton's head jerked up.
"Oh gee. Hopefully they have socks on at least."
"What?"
"That way it's not gay! If they want it to not be gay, at least. Platonic hugs are valid though. Bad toxic masculinity! But gay people are just as valid— "
Matt let out a long-suffering groan. This was going to be a long year.
~
19.
Andrew was sick of Valentine's Day.
PDA-loving couples kissing everywhere, gooey movies playing on every channel, sappy love songs being blared on repeat by Nicky during weights — there seemed to be no positives.
He had already announced to Neil weeks earlier that he had no intention of celebrating this crass holiday, a proclamation that Neil thankfully agreed to. Instead, they took the relaxed evening after practice to be exceptionally productive: Neil went to the store and bought groceries, caught up on his homework, and took notes on two whole exy games.
Andrew took a three hour nap.
By the time Andrew groggily woke up, it was nearly 2 a.m.. Kevin was God-knows-where and he padded out of the room to find Neil staring unblinkingly at a muted TV, eyes glazed.
"Josten," Andrew grumbled and kicked him in the shin. "Get up, idiot."
Neil jerked awake with an uncharacteristic groan but begrudgingly agreed to be manhandled to the bathroom and finally to the bed so they could sleep.
Infuriatingly, Neil pointed out through a yawn that sleeping was all Andrew had done that whole evening. Andrew shut him up with a kiss and promptly flopped himself halfway on Neil's body.
Hours later, Andrew's eyes fluttered open at the light shining in through a window. He blinked a few times before registering a pair of piercing blue eyes gazing at him.
Andrew hated him. "308%, dumbass," he muttered into Neil's shoulder.
"Drama queen," Neil snorted. They lay in that position for a few minutes, Andrew moments from falling asleep again, before Neil tapped him on the arm.
"Drew, yes or no?" he asked. "Just kisses, though."
Andrew hummed a yes and leaned forward with his eyes still mostly shut, expecting to feel a pair of soft lips on his.
Instead, he felt a hand slap over his face and an oddly strong kick to his gut.
"What the fu—"
His sputtering was interrupted as hard pieces of... foil? began raining down on his face. He swatted them away, ignoring Neil's snickering. Finally, Andrew grabbed hold of one and his felt an exasperated frown cross his face.
"These," he said, waving the tiny cones in front of Neil's face. "are chocolates."
"Yup," Neil agreed proudly. "They're Kisses." At Andrew's blank look, Neil explained slowly, "I just covered your face in kisses."
"I got it."
"Great."
"I thought we agreed to not celebrate Valentine's Day."
"It's February 15 now. Not Valentine's Day."
"Neil Abram Josten."
"That's my name."
"Menace. Now give me an actual kiss, junkie."
BONUS:
"So!" Kevin clapped his hands. "You all need a lot of improvement if you want to be even close to presentable for Spring Championships, and we're already behind. We will not look like flailing monkeys in front of Jerem— USC, understood? Any questions?"
Neil raised his hand.
Kevin sighed. "Yes, Neil?"
"Just one quick thing," Neil said, rummaging his hands through his pockets. "Wanna kiss?"
The Foxes whipped their heads between an innocent Neil, a gaping Kevin, and an unconcerned Andrew.
"Is this like... a threesome thing?" Nicky whispered loudly to Matt.
"Wha— Josten, what the fuck?" Kevin's intolerable screeching promptly came to a halt as Neil chucked a silver projectile through the air, squarely hitting Kevin in the nose. "What is this?!"
"A Kiss."
"What— "
"I asked if you wanted a Kiss."
"No, you asked if I want to kiss. Which— no, by the way."
"Stop hitting on Neil, Day."
"Andrew, I literally wasn't— "
"Anyway. Wanna kiss again, Kevin?"
"NEIL!"