Thanks to @aftgexchange for hosting this event, and here’s my
gift for @nightquills !-A few years after Neil has graduated from Palmetto
and joined Andrew’s pro exy team, Allison invites them to stay with her in
Vermont for a weekend; the plan is to stay from the 22nd to the 24th
and have a secret gift exchange while they’re there-Neil misses the foxes, and he and Andrew don’t have practice
that weekend, so they agree to go-Shopping for the gift exchange is easy for Andrew (he
just buys something he would buy himself), but Neil tries to put some extra thought
into it; in the end, though, he falls back on his own interests as well as
something he thinks most of the foxes would like (their interests are too
varied for him to be able to get something everyone would enjoy)-When they drive up to the villa, it’s reminiscent of where
they stayed at during their trip Neil’s freshman year, except covered with
snow; lots of snow-Erik has been with Nicky since the start of December
(he saved up his vacation days so he’d have four weeks to visit), so he’s at
the house as well-Over the course of the weekend, the foxes spend lots
of time with each other; they relax, watch movies, go to the gym together at
the community club nearby, and try skiing (Neil is not good at steering himself,
so after he rams himself into a tree, he settles for chilling in the villa with
Andrew)-Andrew is never seen without a cup of hot chocolate
in his hand; sometimes when he’s sitting with Neil, he’ll nudge Neil’s knee
with his own, and Neil will simply roll his eyes and refill Andrew’s cup in the
kitchen; the bag of marshmallows also stays permanently in front of Andrew;
Allison had enough foresight to stock the pantry shelves with bags upon bags of
them, so there’s no danger of running out-On their last night, they do the gift exchange; they
start by picking numbers at random out of someone’s hat; they choose a gift in
order of their numbers; the twist, however, is that they’re allowed to swap
with someone who’s already picked; the order of choice ends up being Allison,
Aaron, Matt, Dan, Kevin, Nicky, Katelyn, Thea, Andrew, Renee, Erik, and Neil-Allison goes first and chooses the gift wrapped in
bright pink, sparkly paper; it’s not huge, but it’s the largest package there; it’s
a white throw pillow that says “oh for fox sake,” with a picture of a fox
instead of the word; there’s also a jar of homemade hot chocolate powder with
marshmallows and chocolate chips; Allison cackles at the pillow and Matt grins
when he admits that it was from him; Neil is low-key eyeing the pillow-Aaron goes next and chooses a small gift wrapped in
green paper with little elves; it’s a watch that definitely exceeded their
price limit, to which everyone looks at Allison with varying degrees of
exasperation (“oh what, like none of you could use a good fashion accessory”);
Aaron shrugs and thanks her, setting it in front of him-Matt closes his eyes and selects at random; it’s in a
non-festive, dark blue paper, and wrapped sloppily; he can’t help but glance
over at where Andrew and Neil are sitting together and chuckle; Neil looks
away, a smile already forming at his lips, and Andrew gives the smallest shrug
(Matt smiles at their reactions, especially since Andrew never would have even acknowledged
him like this in the past); he finally opens it and it’s obviously from Andrew;
it’s a set of nice-looking knives, intended for kitchen use, but knowing Andrew,
he could have meant for them to be used for anything; there is also a recipe
book for desserts, which doesn’t really go with the knife set, but makes sense considering
who it’s coming from; Matt smiles and sends a thanks Andrew’s way, to which he receives
a short nod-Dan opens a neatly-wrapped gift covered in sparkles
containing a white mousepad with only a picture of Nicolas cage’s face on it, a
recipe book for alcoholic drinks called “Tequila Mockingbird,” and a pack of 50
various flavored candy canes (ranging from peppermint and chocolate to wasabi
and bacon); Dan immediately looks at Allison and Allison whines “nononoo,” but
Dan swaps their gifts anyway (Nicky is mildly offended and lets them know; Erik
gives him a small chuckle and a pat on the back, and Nicky slumps against him)-Kevin grabs the one closest to him, which is a tall, but
thick package, and unwraps a giant handle of vodka; everyone immediately
protests the picking of your own gift but Kevin argues that no one said you
couldn’t at the start, so the rest of the foxes grumble and let it be (Thea
elbows him, but he tightens his hold on the bottle and secures it in his lap)-Nicky receives a simple mug with an exy stick on it,
an autographed mini-poster of Jeremy Knox, and an autographed mini-poster of
Thea; he says, “sorry Neil,” as he swipes Kevin’s vodka (Kevin protests at
first, but looking closer at the photos, decides he might not mind; Thea laughs
and remarks that she definitely didn’t sign that, but that it is a good picture
of her anyway)-Katelyn unwraps two black, homemade infinity sweaters;
one with foxes and exy sticks littering the fabric, another with little hearts
in different colors; she gushes over how cute they are and asks who made them,
to which Renee happily holds up her hand (“glad you like them!”)-Thea also opens her own gift; Kevin elbows her back
and she laughs; Nicky mutters, “they’re definitely meant for each other”; it’s hand
cream that smells of pine and a pair of nice gray, winter gloves (with the
receipt in case it didn’t fit whoever got them)-Andrew picks Aaron’s
gift, which only confirms everyone’s suspicions of twin-telepathy; it’s a
how-to book on making homemade remedies for common aches & pains (damn
doctors (-in-training)), but also a certificate for a spa day at a very
well-known place that’s usually booked up for months at a time (which was
obviously suggested by Katelyn); everyone gapes, but their jaws drop even
further when Andrew holds it out to Allison; Allison: “you seriously don’t want
that?”; Andrew slowly starts to pull his hand away; “wait wait wait I’ll take
it!!”; they exchange gifts and Allison beams (“you can have the medicine book
though if you want”; Aaron: “Hey!”; “kidding, kidding”); Andrew proceeds to
pull out one of the chocolate candy canes and stick it in his mouth-With only a few gifts
left, Renee picks the one covered in ornaments; there’s a package of
wine-infused coffee and a box of fancy chocolates; Renee “ooh”s and Erik holds
a hand to his chest, breathing out a sigh of relief (“I had no idea what you
all would like!”; Renee smiles, “It’s lovely, thank you”)-Erik gratefully accepts Dan’s gift of three different
bath bombs and a coffee thermos covered in snowflakes-And finally, it’s Neil’s turn; being last, he
basically has the choice of anyone else’s gift; he knows what he wants before
even opening the last gift, though; “Dan,” he calls out, and she groans; “I
knew it! I could feel your eyes lusting for my pillow!”; they laugh and Neil
gets the pillow and hot chocolate mix; Matt gives Neil a high-five-Dan then gets to open Katelyn’s gift; it’s a set of
six, hand-knitted coasters in varying colors and designs, as well as a mason
jar decorated in orange and black swirls, and filled with little bite-sized
candies; Dan’s mouth opens in surprise; “Did you make all these?”; Katelyn
smiles and leans in a bit, “Yeah, I wasn’t sure what to get, so…”; Dan gives
one of the coasters a light tap and grins; “these are cute, thanks Katelyn”-After all the gifts have been exchanged and the paper
wrapping thrown away, the group settles down to decide on a movie for their
last night together-Allison opens one of the cabinet doors on the side of
the coffee table and pulls out a few blankets, tossing them every which way-Neil catches a large one and spreads it out over him
and Andrew, settling in against Andrew’s side, head against shoulder-Andrew’s hand gravitates to the other side of Neil’s
waist under the blanket and just rests there-“This was fun,” Neil says softly, leaning up to talk
into Andrew’s ear, “thanks for coming”-Neil gives Andrew a quick, yet lingering kiss on the
side of Andrew’s neck-Andrew responds simply by pulling Neil closer and
settling into the couch-The foxes definitely saw and are definitely surprised
by this public display of affection, but Neil and Andrew are too comfortable to
care, surrounded by friends and family and each other, feeling as warm and safe
as they ever have
Published
Nothing but My Aching Soul 