Neil Has Never Managed To Make Popcorn Without Burning It

FBI: *gives strict instructions*

Neil: *removes one earbud* what

they’re even wearing each other’s hoodies🥺😭

andreil cuddling with King Fluffkins and Sir Fat Cat McCatterson 🐱

do not repost | instagram

Here’s a promt. Like Andrew, Aaron has a similar memory and a couple trigger words such as being called “ungrateful”. But unlike Andrew, Aaron shuts down.

Oh.

(cw: past abuse, trauma, trauma responses, apathy, foul language.)

"You're an ungrateful little bitch sometimes, you know that? Fuck, sometimes I really wish I'd given you up."

The first time someone called him ungrateful, Aaron tried to defend himself. It didn't go well for him in the end, but he supposed afterward that he should have learned how to duck from a punch before demanding life be fair.

When it happens now, Aaron knows consciously that nothing was meant by it. It's another matter of Coach being Coach, being a gruff old man with an attitude that Aaron normally admires. He likes that Wymack doesn't take anybody's shit, he likes even more that Wymack won't take his. There's some sort of safety in knowing he could be an asshole to the man and not get in any real trouble for it. (There is safety in knowing he won't be hurt for talking back.)

They're in the lounge when Coach says it. Aaron is perched on the armrest of the couch, with Nicky, Neil, and Andrew all seated on the cushions, and Kevin on the opposite armrest. The team is going over some basic shit for their next game, something Aaron has heard Kevin repeat time and time and time again. He's half-tuned out, but comes back to it when someone says something about dinner.

"You owe us, Coach." It's Nicky. He's whining about it, and Aaron tries not to roll his eyes. "We won last week, I think we deserve a team dinner after this week's game!"

"I owe you squat," Wymack says, his expression flat. "All the shit I do for you assholes?"

"Come on, Coach!" Matt this time, a grin spread wide on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. Aaron looks back at Wymack.

For his part, the man isn't swayed. He gives Matt the same dead look he gave Nicky. "You're all ungrateful little shits," he says.

It takes a surprisingly long time for Aaron to process what's been said. The word doesn't quite hit him right away, and at least four seconds have elapsed by the time he really reacts. Ungrateful.

The world feels less real than it did five seconds ago, Aaron decides. He knows what's happening, it isn't the first time he's gone through this shit, and he knows it sure as hell won't be the last. That doesn't make it any better though, so he just as easily dismisses the past experience in favor of trying to keep up with the conversation instead of being unresponsive.

It doesn't work. Not as well as he wants it to anyway, and definitely not well enough to convince his family that nothing happened. Aaron can feel Andrew's gaze on him, steady and unyielding and oh so suspicious of the man he calls his brother. For a moment, Aaron wonders if he looks the same way Andrew did last week when Kevin said the word "misunderstanding". They both have their words, he knows, and now Andrew knows one of his.

The conversation is still going on, Aaron realizes belatedly. He's trying too hard to get his eyes to focus to really pay attention to it, and when he looks down at his hands they're so fucking blurry he's not even sure if they're his. They must be, though, because who else would they belong to? They can't be anyone else's hands, they wouldn't be in his lap if they were.

"Aaron," Andrew's voice says, and Aaron blinks and looks away from his blurry fingers. There's less noise now, and when Aaron forces his eyes to look around the room, he realizes that the others are gone. When did they leave? How long has he been sitting here? It can't have been that long, he wasn't — he wasn't gone that long.

Andrew is standing in front of him, he realizes — that's his face. That's his, his and Andrew's face. They're the same. That's his brother. Aaron wants to say something, tries to say something, but his voice isn't quite working and he doesn't get why.

"Aaron," Andrew says again, and Aaron returns his wandering eyes to his brother's face. Andrew looks... bored. Bored? Bored. He always looks bored, though. Except when he's angry. Or when he's talking to Neil. Or when... when he's playing Exy. Andrew likes Exy, he does, but he won't ever say it. That's okay, though. Aaron won't tell.

Then Andrew is holding up his hands, and Aaron follows their actions with his eyes. Andrew grabs hold of his hands, or at least that's what it looks like, but Aaron still can't really tell if they're his. He feels it, he thinks, but that could just be his mind playing tricks on him. The connection between visual reception and tactile stimuli fascinates him, but—

"Aaron," Andrew says a third time, and this time Aaron meets his eyes. Andrew breathes slowly, obvious enough that Aaron can slowly start to match it. It helps, he thinks, and his fingers twitch against Andrew's. Andrew squeezes his hands in return, not enough to hurt, but enough that Aaron can feel it. His eyes still aren't entirely focused yet, so he blinks a few more times, startles a bit when he feels tears fall onto his cheeks. When did that happen?

Andrew looks indifferent as ever, Aaron realizes as he takes another slow breath in time. There's nothing in his expression, but Aaron tries to see through that — Andrew stayed for a reason. Andrew's saying his name for a reason. A year ago, Aaron isn't sure he would have.

"Aaron," one more time, and whatever Andrew sees when they lock eyes again must convince him Aaron is okay. And he is, Aaron thinks, he thinks he's okay. Or at least he will be.

Andrew lets go of his hands and steps back, giving him another silent once-over before nodding to himself and walking out. The room feels empty without Andrew there, but it's enough of a motivator for Aaron to stand up and follow him.

lots of fanfic makes nicky out to be completely clueless and hyper but in the books, neil says he thinks that nicky has to act more outgoing to make up for the twinyards antisocial tendencies, and he’s actually pretty perceptive - normally realizes as soon as he makes someone uncomfortable, could tell when neil was anxious near the end of the kings men leading up to raven game, just genuinely tries to help others and be a good person but he has to put up an act all the time

do you think neil josten likes garlic bread

Apparently this is a Broadway play, but all I can think of is Katelyn 😂

aftg hc of the day: neil is completely horrified by root beer floats. milk and soda should not come in contact under any circumstances. this is completely unknown to andrew until a night at the columbia house. andrew loves them, would eat them any time of any day, and happened to make a stop at the store on the way. of course neil is in the kitchen with him, distractedly messing with things here and there, until andrew starts pouring root beer into a glass. with ice cream. andrew of course notices the pure horror on neils face. neil manages something along the lines of 'are you possessed' which starts the absolute shenanigans of andrew trying to get neil to drink one. the next time the two of them are out, andrew gets one. problem being neil is gone before he's done ordering. the entire time they walk together neil is at least five feet away from him until he throws it in the trash. the next time they're out for dinner, and neil literally waits in the bathroom until andrews done with it. next time it's at their shared apartment, later on with the cats, and andrew has the fucking audacity to bring that cursed thing that came straight from the depths of hell into their home. andrew gets up to go to the bathroom and neil tosses it in the trash, glass included. the last time is in a costco. andrew foolishly thinks neil will keep some composure, only to find neil and the cart missing. it takes him ten minutes to find him again, busily loading cat food into the cart. they make eye contact mid sip, and andrew very simply says 'youre being dramatic.' but instead of a usual smart-ass response, neil replies 'im sorry, do i know you?' unfortunately, andrew makes the mistake of thinking neils making a quick joke. he's not. which leads to andrew literally following neil around for 30 minutes like something out of a horror movie while neil avoids and runs away from him at every bit eye contact. when andrew finally finishes the drink neil just asks 'oh where have you been?' the very final time is planned very strategically (white board and cats included). neil is busy while andrew orders his root beer float, making sure it's in a completely opaque cup. he tells neil it's iced coffee. neil literally acts like he's been shot. he's never been betrayed like that before, and has taken a drink of anything andrew has offered him since (unless it's in a clear cup and/or thoroughly inspected)

(dedicated [and credited] to @archiveofourfoxes ) (also the scenarios just for laughs because i had way too much fun talking about this)

back on my bullshit

n e ways

do you want have headcannon for the foxes cursing habits/how they curse/ everyone’s fave curse word (this totally includes abbie and dadmack too btw)

ilysm, thank you for another ask!

ooo this is fun! (it got very long very fast hahah sorryyy). here’s what i’ve got for you:

(coarse language ahead, obviously)

dan mostly swears at people. by this, i mean she doesn’t usually swear if she stubs her toe or is running late, only if someone pisses her off

her favourite ones are asshole and motherfucker, but she’s also fond of dick

kevin isn’t picky with his swear words - he’ll use whatever gets the point across

however, he loves swearing in french, and his fave french curse is “putain à la merde”, which loosely translates to fucking shit

andrew opts for fuck and fuck you most of the time. in english, because he usually wants everyone to understand him if he swears

that said, he doesn’t often have to swear - his stare says it well enough

matt curses not only when he’s mad, but also when he gets excited (so basically, he swears a lot)

his faves are holy hell/fucking hell and frick frack crack-a-lack (bc of the looks the foxes give him when he says it)

aaron’s favourite english swear words are bullshit and moron, but he especially enjoys the casual german curse word “scheiße” and uses it very often

seth goes right for the throat. he’s not afraid to use the f slur or c*nt, especially around the foxes (two swear words that i’m nervous to even type out LMAO) 

in more public settings, he opts for jesus christ and shit

allison loves saying bitch/son of a bitch (bc people call her a bitch all the time so she just turns it around)

worth noting that she swears at inanimate objects more than at people - her curling iron when it burns her, her phone when she drops it, anything she bumps into, etc

nicky, like aaron, is fond of german curse words. his are generally more colourful though, since he learned more german slang and bc swear words are the first thing he got erik to teach him

in english, nicky likes kiss my ass and damn. he also enjoys making up random insults sometimes, like calling someone an untied shoelace or a stale piece of bread. medicated andrew found this very entertaining

renee doesn’t swear - she destroys people with condescension and passive-agressiveness

before she was born-again, she was fond of using fuck (twinning w andrew xoxo)

neil will use literally anything, in any language. typically he morphs his curses to fit whatever culture he’s currently immersed in. some examples:

america: fuck/fucker

britain: wanker and prick

france: merde, salope, and va te faire enculé (shit, bitch, and go fuck yourself)

germany: flachwischer and du fickfehler (~fuckiwit/motherfucker and you mistake*)

wymack always mixes it up. flying fuck, pain in my ass, what the absolute shit, goddamnit, etc. he doesn’t have a favourite; he likes them all

abby’s pretty tame, usually. her most frequently used are crap, what the hell, and christ. if she stubs her toe, she normally says frick. wymack thinks it’s adorable

*i don’t actually speak german, besides very basic beginner duolingo stuff, so those translations are just what i found on random websites

i absolutely ADORE when people say stuff like “head canon that neil and andrew dance to christmas music when no one is watching🥺” because like they absolutely do not but i love the enthusiasm

Dude no shit, he literally says “fuck you, cripple” and books it out of the room before Kevin can beat his ass. And in the first book too, like oh damn you guys don’t even know about his “attitude problem” yet

I’m surprised this quote is in the third book considering, you know ... everything