𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐆𝐎 𝐅𝐀𝐑, Renee Walker

𝟭𝟰. 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲

"𝙄𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩?
𝙄𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙?
'𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚
(𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚)"
-Taylor Swift

HIS PHONE RINGING NONSTOP WAS WHAT woke Bastien up on Sunday morning. The team had arrived to Palmetto quite late the night previous, so the french man wasn't too surprised to catch a glimpse of the sun already up and shining as he groggily sat up, answering the call.

"Hello?" His attempt at sounding awake was deemed futile at once, the rasp in his voice betraying his previous state. 

"We need to talk." Kevin's voice replied on the other side of the call, way too early in the day for Bastien's liking.

"Oh, it's you." Bastien didn't even try hiding the disappointment in his words. He sighed before getting up and heading towards the kitchen to make himself some coffee. "What do you want, Day?"

"As I said, we need to talk, about yesterday," The younger man's distress was more clear in his voice this time. "Neil is meeting with Andrew and I at the stadium soon. Do you need a ride?"

"No," Bastien downed a glass of water to help his dry throat before he responded. "I'll meet you there in half an hour."

Bastien hung up before Kevin started to question him through the phone, which was definitely what would come next, knowing his impatience.

He looked down at himself, a grimace settling in his face once he noticed he'd fallen asleep with his dress pants on the night previous, too tired to take off anything else than his shirt. 

Realizing he had only twenty minutes to get ready, he settled for taking his coffee to go, and hurried to get ready.

 After stepping out of the shower, he towel-dried his hair for a bit, threw on a light grey t-shirt with some jeans and put on his shoes. He still had seven minutes before he had to leave, so he made himself a jam sandwich and brushed his teeth as he waited for the electric kettle to boil the water for his coffee.

He stepped out of his dorm, keys and coffee in his hands, with his phone in his front pocket and the wired headphones covering his ears connected to it. It was late enough in the day that, despite it being Sunday, a day when most of the student-athletes in the area stayed in their dorms until the afternoon, Bastien still encountered half a dozen on his way to the parking lot.

The ride to the stadium was about six minutes and it took Bastien another four to get through to the inner court. Neil had already arrived, but not too long ago it seemed, since Kevin still appeared freshly disturbed by whatever idiocy Neil had just told him.

Bastien left his coffee in one of the benches near the door to the court — wouldn't want the temptation to throw it at either of them to be there while they spoke — and went in, not paying Andrew, who was running the steps further up in the stands, a single glance.

The duo sat in the center of the court, on top of the Fox paw painted in the ground, were too absorbed in their conversation to notice him until he appeared next to them.

"Your father was Lord Kengo's right-hand man, the most trusted weapon in Lord Kengo's arsenal. The territory he held—," Kevin was cut off by Bastien's voice as he sat next to them.

"Did I get here in time for story time? Nice," Bastien sarcastically commented. "No, don't mind me, keep going." He said when Kevin just stared at him.

"Did you know?" Kevin asked instead, an underlying stiffness in his words.