Chapter Text
Kevin was alone in the dorm bedroom, studying the folder of the team they were due to play next, when Jean called him.
“It’s almost my birthday.” With Jean there was never any preamble. Kevin couldn’t remember the last time they’d started one of their conversations with an ‘hello’. Instead, each time they spoke it was like no time had passed between them at all.
“I know. Three weeks, right?”
In Kevin’s calendar the days of their games were marked with red, exams with green, and birthdays with blue. On the day of purchase, the 2nd of May had been the first date he marked. Just the act of writing Jean’s name on something that was going to hang in the middle of their kitchen, for everyone to see, felt strange and exciting.
“You don’t need to get me a gift,” Jean said.
In the Nest they had exchanged gifts once. Jean had given Kevin a book on Alexander the Great, acquired with great discretion. For two days it stood, unnoticed, in Kevin’s bookshelf. Then he placed it on his desk, because he wasn’t being cautious enough, and Riko found it. Even though the greeting on the inside of the cover wasn’t signed, the fact that it was in French made it easy to trace its origin. The next day, Jean had shown up with fresh bruises before practice even started.
Now, Riko was dead, and there was no one there to punish them.
“I want to give you something,” Kevin said.
Ever since Jean pierced his ear last fall Kevin had looked for a suitable piece of jewelry to gift him. With each selfie Jean sent, the earrings grew bigger and bolder, elongating the curve of his neck when he pulled back his hair. In the last picture, the tip of the feather dangling from his ear almost touched his shoulder.
So when Kevin had seen an ear cuff in the style of a wreath like the ones worn by Roman emperors, designed to climb along the ear with golden leaves sprouting from its stalk, he had bought it in a heartbeat. Now it was sitting in a small box with dark green wrapping and a golden ribbon at the bottom of his dresser, just waiting for May to arrive.
“Well,” Jean spun the word, seeming to know exactly how to rope Kevin into just about anything. “You could visit me, since it’s a Saturday.”
“It’s in the middle of Championships,” Kevin said, more to remind Jean than himself. Ever since the Christmas Banquet, when they had spent hours outside just talking, he had been looking forward to seeing Jean again.
“What if I tell you all of our tactics?” Jean’s voice had a playful tone. It was the same one he would fall into when they were alone in the Nest and dared to be excited about something. “Or you can poison our captain, that might be even more effective.”
Kevin tried to swallow the fondness that swelled in his chest, but only managed to make himself sound half as serious as he attempted. “Or you can practice with me,” he said, “so we don’t fall behind when I’m there.”
“Are you asking me to play Exy on my birthday?” Kevin could imagine Jean shaking his head in disappointment, just to commit to the act. “Fine. Visit me, and I will make you cry on the Court just like old times.”
After they hung up, Kevin barely managed to open the bedroom door before Nicky’s voice called out to him.
“Hey, Kevin!” His head was sticking out over the couch backrest. “When’s your birthday?”
“It’s th-”
“Don’t tell him.” Andrew wasn’t visible from where Kevin was standing, and at first he thought he had imagined the interjection. Then he realised it probably came from one of the beanbags, hidden behind the couch. Nicky just rolled his eyes and mouthed tell me .
“22nd of February.” It made Nicky laugh, but when Kevin didn’t say anything else, his face fell.
“Wow, really? I mean, okay.” He brought his hands up so Kevin could see the book he was flicking through. A large, red thing with a stylized zodiac wheel on the cover. “Oh, so you’re a Pisces, then. Known for being… gentle and compassionate. Uh, are you sure that’s your actual birthday and not just some bad joke?”
Before Kevin could protest, Andrew stood up, revealing a blank expression as he spoke.
“Don’t tell me you’re actually shocked by astrology being inaccurate.”
“It’s a legitimate science.” Nicky waved the book at Andrew. “But I’m not going to waste my time trying to explain that to a Scorpio.”
Kevin caught Andrew’s eyes and raised his brow. “You told him yours?” he asked, and caught the slightest twitch of annoyance in the corner of Andrew’s mouth.
“He refused, but Aaron told me straight away.” Nicky’s smile was almost wider than his face.
This was a waste of their time. The next game was less than two weeks away, and Astrology wasn’t going to change the sorry state of their backline.
“It isn’t real. Focus on the game instead,” Kevin said and turned on the spot. As he went back into the bedroom to return to studying the folder, Nicky groaned behind him.
♓︎
Friday’s practice was messy, so Neil stayed behind to discuss the coming game with Dan. Because Dan refused to let Kevin listen in on their meetings, he waited with Andrew and Nicky in the lobby.
“Can’t you just drop us off at the dorms and come back for him?” Nicky was almost completely sunken into one of the armchairs, fiddling with his phone. “I want to change before we get there anyway. And I’m sure Kevin agrees that the sacred First Friday Shot is way overdue.” He turned his phone to them to point at the clock at the top of the screen, showing that it was quarter past six. His lock screen was a picture of him and Erik, kissing in front of the Brandenburger Tor.
Kevin nodded, but Andrew did not even look up from his book.
“Whatever,” Nicky finally said. “Hey, Kevin, do you want me to look up if we should date?”
“Spare us.” Andrew shifted in the chair, so he was turned away from Nicky.
“Shut up, only singles get a say in this.” Kevin almost corrected him. It had been months since his breakup with Thea, but so little had changed that he found himself forgetting about it. In a way their relationship had ended the moment left the Nest, it had just been a matter of saying the words out loud.
Before he could stop himself, his mind wandered to his friendship with Jean, and the fear that the same thing applied to them. For Kevin, it didn’t. It was actually the opposite, that since he left the Nest he thought about Jean even more than when they were always side by side. But maybe, for Jean, their friendship was the remains of something better left in the past.
“Shit.” Nicky’s voice brought Kevin back to the present. “It says we’re doomed to fail. Gemini is too emotionally detached for Pisces . It says here you might be better off with another water sign, like a Scorpio.” Nicky immediately looked at Andrew, eyes large and mouth hanging open.
“Are you proud?” Andrew said without missing a beat.
“Yes? I mean, why?”
“Since you have just succeeded where thousands of others have failed. You have proven that there is not a single grain of truth to horoscopes.”
Nicky shifted in the armchair as he kept tapping the screen of his phone.
“Fine, whatever. Other than that, hm, maybe an earth sign? It says that Pisces and Tauruses have a magical emotional connection .” He looked up at the ceiling, resting the phone against his chin in a pensive pose. “Do we know anyone who’s a Taurus? They’d have to be born between the… 19th of April and May 20th, that’s right. So basically now. Hey, that means Jean is one, right? Didn’t you say that’s why you’re going to Cali? Because it’s his birthday?”
Kevin swallowed. They were alone in the lobby, but he felt as exposed as if they had been discussing this for the entire team to hear. Nicky didn’t seem to notice, far too excited about what he was reading.
“So, does this sound like him?” he said. “Reliable, devoted and practical. Ooh, but also possessive and stubborn; that’s kinda hot, isn’t it?”
Andrew made a sound that sounded like a mix between a cough and a short laugh. Kevin’s lips were dry. His heartbeat was picking up, probably from how bizarre the situation was.
“I told you, it isn’t real,” he said, but Nicky didn’t seem to care.
“Right, right, but what if it was? It says they like material things, so you better have gotten him an expensive gift. You know, I could totally see it. He even taught you the Language of Love; maybe you’re soulmates without even knowing.”
In that moment the door to the locker room opened and Neil appeared, hair ruffled and wet. As they walked to the car, Nicky nudged Kevin’s side, but he didn’t say anything else.
♓︎
By Monday night, Kevin was already packing. It was going to be a short trip, just Friday to Sunday with Andrew driving him to and from the airport. Still, his bag was quickly becoming so full that he struggled to zip it shut.
There were so many what if’s. What if it rained? Better bring a jacket. What if, to celebrate, they went out to eat? Better bring a suit. What if Jean wanted to go swimming? He reached for the trunks, but froze in the middle of the motion when his phone buzzed.
In the moments it took to get it out of his pocket, he was able to imagine ten different scenarios in which Jean cancelled on him. The causes ranged from sickness to having realised that their friendship was hindering his recovery.
When he unlocked the phone, and Nicky’s name was at the top of the message, relief showered over him.
[Nicky 18:56] good thing u dont believe in this stuff. id be worried if this was me :PP
There was a link attached, leading to a website whose headline said WEEKLY HOROSCOPES in blue and gold. The header was a starry sky, with lines drawn between the stars to mark the constellations.
Pisces
Brace yourself for disappointment.
Don’t make any unnecessary journeys or big changes this week.
Take time to show the people you love how much you appreciate them; they can’t read your mind.
Lucky Flower: Bay Leaf.
Kevin read the horoscope twice. It did nothing to make it any less horrifying. Why was it so easy for him to discount astrology as a fake science when it wasn’t so menacing?
It was like how wearing a lucky jersey did nothing to change his performance on the court. But if he didn’t move the racquet from his right hand to his left, and then back to the right again before the game started, he would blame himself if they lost.
The only comfort was that he wasn’t planning on making any big changes. It was quite the opposite, since the entire purpose of the trip was to maintain the status quo. If he had even entertained the thought of changing the nature of their relationship, which he hadn’t, it would have to remain just another what if .
His phone buzzed again, and a new message from Nicky appeared below the last one.
[Nicky 19:04] btww here is a link to that love thing again just in case ;))