andrews-nothing:

BOI let’s talk about Neil “rabbit” Josten and Andrew “never lets his guard down” Minyard and how they inexplicably forget the rest of the world is a thing when they’re together???? Like 

• everyone knows better than to interrupt their intense eye contact. They’ll stare at each other for minutes at a time and matt’s just standing there off to the side, waiting for their bizarre silent convo to wind down. Neil’s the first to look away. 
• “Oh, how long have you been there, matt?“ 
• “Just a few seconds don’t worry" 
• even when they’re not staring at each other, they’re both completely useless if one is looking. Neil focuses his entire attention on Andrew when the sun hits him just right and Kevin sighs and closes the notebook of exy plays they’d been discussing. Andrew is not-watching Neil staring at him, Neil is probably mentally composing a sonnet about Andrew’s shoulders or arms or pinky finger, and Kevin starts talking about Quebec, potato salad, and cello music because anything he says Neil will never be able to remember 
• they’re not much for PDA but also when the locker room is empty after a game, they might (always) make out against the lockers and sometimes they don’t remember that one freshman who was getting dressed in the showers and he squeaks in surprise when he walks in on them but they’re too wrapped up in each other to notice (or care) 
• dan is sure she could blow an air horn next to their ears, but if they’re sharing a cigarette, they wouldn’t even flinch. Nearly every day after practice while they wait for Kevin to finish up, Neil and Andrew share a cigarette in the shade provided by the court’s walls. They stand not quite close enough to touch but the space between them is almost nonexistent, and take turns smoking while gazing meaningfully at each other. Or Andrew will smoke and Neil will steal his cigarette and he’ll steal it back and on and on until the thing is burned down to the filter. 
• Nicky swears he caught them shotgunning smoke but his phone was "dead” at the time and without visual evidence he couldn’t cash in the prize money.
•  He’s still bitter about it. 
• one time they halted an entire game for a full minute because some asswipe had growled “Wesninski” at Neil and Neil got tripped up and twisted his ankle.
• the combination of panic from hearing his old name and panic about not being able to play kept him on the court floor and Andrew was at his side in an instant. He ignored the rest of the players, the refs, and Coach in favor of kneeling on the ground and pressing his forehead to Neil’s. They whispered to each other for a full half a minute before the panic left Neil’s eyes and Andrew was content to sit back. 
• Neil at least had the decency to look sheepish when he saw the dozen people crowded around them, staring at him with varying amounts of confusion and annoyance.
• Andrew did not.

nickyklose:

Russian study sessions and integration:

• Neil attaching vocab words onto furniture (bonus points for when he starts doing it at the court too)
• counting off their workout reps in Russian
• accidental introductions of new words via surprised shouts (usually rude ones snarled during heated games or practices) you can’t tell me andrew didn’t learn swears quickly
• Andrew dumping his person onto Neil’s flashcard covered bed with a bored look and quizzing him
• small study sessions at the back of the bus
• some vocab drilling but mostly they talk about the area they’re passing through, or they might play car games–picture I spy
• I like to think that they have more heart-to-hearts like the one in tkm, just Neil passing the time telling Andrew little stories of him and his mom. Or that during Andrew’s 5th year when the team is on the way home from distant away games Neil can’t help but reflect on what’s going to happen with Andrew leaving and he just needs to say something but there are too many foxes in the bus at that point
• during exy games when they’re both on the bench, they take turns narrating the game (well, Neil narrates, and Andrew picks out mistakes the other goal keeper makes)
• covert dirty talk there’s no getting around it
• Andrew wanting to annoy/unnerve the more grating freshman so he picks up the habit of staring at them and talking to Neil about their weekend plans
• kid gets back to his dorm later like, “do u think minyard’s out to get me?” “bro, maybe you shouldn’t be a dick to his cousin” “bro, I didn’t even start that” “…dude”
• having alone time where they’re committed to only speaking with e/o in Russian:
• imagine that they’re just hanging out on the roof: Neil’s head resting against Andrew’s thigh, one of Neil’s hands is holding a burning cigarette while his other is curled up near his face, thumb rubbing circles into Andrew’s knee cap
•  (they’re never deep conversations: Andrew mentioning what Bee is going as for halloween, Neil talking about potential players he and Wymack are scouting, Andrew reporting on his sparing lessons with Robin, getting up to date on their teammate’s bets, Neil filling in Andrew on the upperclassmen’s Real Life adventures)
• It’s comfy and relaxed so they let their sentences lag. depending on the day they might be left unfinished for lack of energy
• save for when they’re left unfinished because Neil can’t quite find the word that he’s looking for
• Neil has a habit of squinting at his smoke trail when he forgets a word, a tail Andrew picks up on, smoothing his hand through Neil’s hair as he tries to fill in the blanks