I felt inspired after watching the fnaf movie

suck-up

julian devorak x reader

a/n: another old fic of mine, but for pirate bf this time. beware of old writing style 💀

warnings: sfw, domestic fluff, rat poison, shenanigans. words: 0.9k+

You hum contentedly to yourself in no particular tune as you drag the wooden spoon through the cauldron upon the stove, the utensil continuing to stir the mixture even as you step away from it to grab a jar of herbs out of the cupboard to your right. You recapture the spoon’s handle once you’ve returned to the pot, the almost sandy-looking texture of the liquid turning bright red as you add the herb before it dissolves into a calmly flickering violet.

You sense Julian’s approach before you hear it, so you’re not surprised when you feel two slim arms coil around your waist from behind and pull you into an all too familiar chest. The faint scent of latex and sea salt surrounds you just as comfortably as his embrace does.

“Hello, Julian.” You chuckled softly as he bent down to rest his chin atop your shoulder, his auburn curls ticking the side of your neck and jaw.

“Hello indeed, darling.” The doctor practically purrs into your ear, you swear for a moment you can almost feel the subtle vibrations that proved your lover was more cat-like than you’d thought. His uncovered eye shifts down to the cauldron as you continue to sift through the grainy mixture, adding a few things to it here and there. “What are you concocting now, magician?”

“Poison.” You can’t help but tip your head back and laugh when the plague doctor goes rigid behind you, no doubt a guffawed look gracing those handsomely angular features of his.

“I beg your pa- w-why would you need- ?” You hear him stutter over your shoulder, amused by the gulp you feel against your shoulder blade.

“Rat poison, my love.” You playfully re-assure, and he sags against you, expression going from mortified to mild contempt, eyes rolling and arms tugging you closer if possible.

“Oh.” 

You send him a sideways grin over your shoulder, stealing a brief kiss that he melts into, lips chasing yours for a moment as you pull away. Whatever irritation he’d been feeling before dissolves as his blush darkens. He’s always been so easy to fluster, even with the tiniest of affectionate grazes.

“Getting into the pantry again?” He asks knowingly, if not a bit dreamily as you huff and nod. Your eye twitches in agitation as you think back to the giant, furry creature you’d found munching on your packaged pumpkin bread this morning.

Not the best way to start your day, to put it lightly.

Adorably, Julian had come running half-dressed at your shriek, before ruining the cuteness by laughing at you as you chased the fat rat around with a broom.

You hadn’t a clue where they are even coming from! But what you do know is that you want them gone, and since the rat traps were only working half of the time, you resorted to a more... natural deterrent. mixing up a quick, fast-acting poison was easy enough, and would no doubt make them reconsider their current real estate. 

That and Julian kept stress-eating all the marshmallows you used for the traps, he’s seriously got a real problem with those.

Well... it’s admittedly kind of cute, watching him stuff his cheeks full of them while sobbing over a mood swing... but the rats. And it’s not like he’s been any real help against your furry intruders. Julian’s warded off ghosts, evil goats, angry drunks, and vampiric eels, but he and you quote: “don’t mess with the likes of rat-kind, no thank you.”

So the rodent issue inevitably fell into your own hands, which is where the need for this brew came in. Nobody fucks with your pumpkin bread, damnit!

Your stirring gets the slightest bit more aggressive at the thought. Your rather hostile inner monologue over the rats is interrupted by your lover’s voice.

“Have I told you how gorgeous you look today?” Julian sighed into your ear, nose nudging your cheek affectionately. You turned your head, eyes wary as you caught the doctor’s sultry stare. You raise an eyebrow at the sudden compliment but decide to play along, for now.

“Yes, about five or six times today, Jules.” You huff, eyeing the doctor’s reaction as you say so. 

He’s nervous about something. You can tell in the way his cheeks fill with color and he starts to sweat ever so slightly, good eye breaking contact with yours for just a moment.

“O-oh, did I? No harm in reiterating my adoration, right?” He laughs, though it sounds a bit strained. He’s never been good at hiding his feelings, especially from you.

“You’re acting quite strangely tonight…” You accuse, eyes narrowing suspiciously as the red-haired man behind you flashed you a charming smile—not innocent at all in its entirety—only cementing your suspicion that he was being too abruptly flirty and praising, even for Julian.

“What? Am I not allowed to show my undying love and appreciation for my spouse?” He defends with a grin that only confirms that he’s lying through his dumb, blindingly-white teeth. What a sniveling little suck-up!

“Alright, what did you break?” You chuckled, and the look on Julian’s face screams caught when you do.

“You’ll find out.” He laughs heartily, nuzzling his face into your neck guiltily with a sheepish grin as you click your tongue and resume working. He had, in fact, managed to knock a whole shelf of mysterious elixirs onto the floor just moments ago. He’d feverishly cleaned up the broken glass—because he’d feel awful if you got hurt—but the mixture of concoctions had already melted through the floorboards before he could salvage any of it…

It was best you don’t know that little detail yet.

Wed 2 June ‘21

Louis sent a message to a fan looking for a hello after a major surgery-- “Get well soon mate. Sending you loads of love x”- and added that he hopes ALL of us are doing alright; I never doubted it Louis! Niall got a little more specific with his really lovely message today- “HAPPY PRIDE MONTH, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. It’s your life, LOVE who you want to LOVE,” he tweeted! THANKS GUYS.

Liam though, Liam was all over today! He checked in on his way to play golf, on his way back from playing golf (with videographer Conor!), posted comments on discord, joined a new chat platform (Telegram; 5 minutes into Telegram and chill Liam was like OKAY it looks like we may need some moderators for this app lol YOU THINK?), he did a whole 25 min live, AND checked in even later to say he’d just had a shower and was about to play a new video game! New news of the day-- he is going to host a Veeps show showcasing new artists in July!! NEAT! His post about how his team forgot to turn off notifications on the phone they set it all up on for him on is really funny, YIKES; “this used to be an iphone now it’s just a bell” he joked, with video of the phone frantically chiming nonstop (“the power of you guys still blows my mind to this day”.) Also he said that he was very busy getting ready for June 15. Why, you ask, what is on June 15? UH? IDK?? He has so many things coming up? But that’s the NFT I think, which I KNOW a lot of people are mostly not that excited about but I will say that while I don’t care about the technology, I am excited to see Liam’s artwork he’s working on for it (which hopefully the purchaser will share with us), and Liam is truly so excited about the platform, he’s really trying to talk us into it. More on that in a sec...

But let’s get to the other parts of Liam’s live first. He has that new song coming, about which he said “it’s one that I’ve written the most on so far actually, as a single, I’m excited to say my own stuff for once a little”, love that. He’s still coughing but says he’s tested repeatedly and it isn’t COVID, and that he’s gone vegetarian recently, and he says the chat channels were inspired by seeing people using the veeps chat rooms even after the show ended, not wanting to leave. And he talks about 1D- about the notifs mishap he said “back in the band we used to wait for people we didn’t like to leave their notifications on and then we would like- oh make sure you follow this person on twitter! And then their phone would break for days- if someone did something that annoyed you.” HAHAHA where’s my masterpost of people who annoyed them 1D told us to follow, PLEASE? And also “it’s hard sometimes you’re watching people stories from afar that you used to know so well and that can be difficult… we’ve all felt this at different times me and the boys… it’s almost like missing a very dear friend a lot of the time but everyone’s so busy… I’d love to get us all in a room somewhere sometime” aww. But also he said he talked to Harry recently, “really a lovely call, he has a sixth sense for if I'm struggling or if one of us is in trouble, I spoke to him and it was a really lovely catch up. I have a lot of love for the man, he's really, really great"; well I wish Liam wasn’t stuggling but that’s lovely. And Louis too! "I spoke to Louis, I wanna say yesterday. We speak a lot, there's just a lot of laughing about random crap," he said, plus some Louis memories- “I can just hear his laugh in the back of my mind. We once broke into one of the stadiums in America and got chased by a woman… on one of those cop type things, a mall cop thing, and that was quite crazy. He also left me on my own while I was being arrested nearly by a French policemen that I had to push over… which that still scares me to this day. [laughing] That’s what friends are for! I helped him over the fence to get in somewhere, he left me with the policeman, who didn’t have a clue who I was and tried to arrest me even though I was just trying to go into my hotel.” UMM sorry I can’t hear anything past LIAM PUSHED OVER A COP?? Go ahead, make a list of ‘1D members most likely to fight a cop’ and if Liam isn’t DEAD LAST you’re just wrong and yet HERE WE ARE!! WHAT A DAY.

But alas rather than fighting cops now Liam is partnering with an entrepreneur (which I have had to type so many times in the last two days thanks to Liam that I guess I know how to spell it now they just keep SAYING it SO MUCH). Steve Bartlett said “the secret” is out, he recorded a podcast with Liam yesterday-- I’d call secret a bit strong, we had actually got that mate, but okay; he called Liam an entrepreneur and said “yesterday I recorded one of the most powerful, honest, REAL conversations on my podcast to date” and “if you love Liam you’ll love this.” I can absolutely guarantee you that is not true, I love Liam and already hate everything about this collab, but his wording does make me think we’ll get a bit of Liam’s trademark emotional spillage which I suppose I might appreciate despite this self help CEO guy being there too. Liam does have one thing to say that could sway me in this guy’s favor though- “he has the cutest dog ever” apparently! Anyway I may as well get used to him he’s suddenly everywhere-- Liam also patched him into his live to try yet again to convince us that NFTs are good by awkwardly relating it to “fans of boybands” by saying you know this could eliminate like fake tickets and such… Sure Steve sure but anyway he also says of Liam, “the guy you see on camera is the exact same guy off camera”.

Harry and Olivia were seen together in London (well, a grainy ass video of their backs was seen anyway), walking, with some people who look to be her parents and Harry’s PA (so romantic! Not at all work related!) I was initially skeptical of the claim that it was her parents since this fandom is obsessed with saying everyone is so and so’s parents (we’ll NEVER top the time the fandom was sure Harry was seen having lunch with Eleanor’s father though) but it actually seems like maybe it was. More for Harry to add to his collection, that man truly loves an extended family! I mean the whole thing is sketchy as hell, from the assurance that that’s DEFINITELY actually Olivia in the grainy video, FOR SURE, to the confirmation that that’s her mom with them which came when a blank insta page produced a random old picture of her mom in the same skirt, but like is it them, sure I imagine so, and people making sure we get the story anytime they’re together isn’t exactly new. In other news, Dave Meyers, director of the Adore You music video, says he originally pitched the Eroda story idea (“I have this idea, of you love- liking a fish”) to Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas, ASJKJASKL CAN YOU IMAGINE?

For the Osaka Vlive Skeptics :)

I highly recommend you watch the Vlive in real time as you read each section so you can see my observations for yourself. If you can’t do this, I will provide screenshots of the important moments. 

Link to Vlive

1. Context

Around 4:13, after goofing around a little bit and singing a song for the audience, Tae admits that he has no idea what he wants to do during this Vlive, and asks the audience for ideas. At 4:50, he reads a comment that says “Attack the next door”, and he says “I don’t even know [the members’] room numbers.”

Tae proceeds to look on his phone and locate room numbers (perhaps there was some sort of document or text that had all of the room numbers for the members). Then, he sends a text to Jungkook informing him he is coming and immediately heads to his room.

The timing for all of this is extremely fast. He doesn’t even wait a second between texting Jungkook and leaving the room, so it’s safe to assume that Jungkook didn’t text back confirming it was okay for him to come. It explains Jungkook’s lack of preparedness and haste when opening the door. He clearly hadn’t seen the text on his phone. But let’s back up. 

During the walk, it is clear that Tae goes to the room directly next to his own. He doesn’t pass a single set of doors on the way there. This will become important later.

2. Tae’s Entrance

At 6:14, Tae arrives at the door and music can be heard blasting from outside the room. The song playing is “Body Electric” by Lana del Rey. It’s... frankly... a sex playlist kind of song. If you don’t believe me, give it a listen. 

After Tae knocks a couple times (6:14), Jungkook yells (very annoyedly) asking who it is. You can clearly hear him quietly say “Jimin” at 6:26. Turn up your volume if you can’t hear it. 

It’s pretty undeniable that he says this, however if you don’t buy it... what would he be saying? He’s in the room alone, right? So who is he talking to? He’s clearly not talking to Tae, because he thought he had to yell to be heard over the blasting music, and he said “Jimin” in a regular speaking voice. 

So.... we’ve established that he said Jimin’s name and is likely speaking to someone in the room. (We haven’t proven that it’s Jimin in the room with him yet, but just wait.) 

So he’s... naked? Playing sex music? With someone likely in the room with him? Aight. Let’s continue. (Devil’s advocate: he was taking a shower? And he likes to say “Jimin” to calm himself down?)

As Tae talks to the audience, there’s more flustered exclamations and banging heard in the background. Why is Jungkook so freaked out? Taking a shower isn’t a crime! 

Let’s take a moment to acknowledge how amused Tae is by all of this. It almost seems like he was expecting this... That’s just speculation, though. 

Anyway, at 6:50, Jungkook finally opens the door (a full 35 seconds after Tae knocks) wearing a robe that is untied, and the music is still blasting. What took Jungkook so long? He had plenty of time to tie the robe before opening the door, but for some reason he didn’t. He clearly wasn’t using that time to pause the music. What was he doing? There’s many valid explanations for this. Let’s move on. 

So... Tae walks in the room, and the lights are off. Huh? That’s odd considering Jungkook was already in the room........... Maybe he was taking a nap? With music blasting, naked? 

So one look at Jungkook and one of our excuses for him is already invalid. He wasn’t taking a shower- his hair is dry. (But hey!! Maybe he was napping naked with music blasting!!)

Side note, the fact that Jungkook doesn’t know the song kind of confirms my suspicions that he was listening to some sort of pre-made playlist.... just throwing that out there.

Jungkook just seems very shaken up by this whole encounter... but why? If he truly was just napping naked, I find it unlikely that he would be so flustered. Food for thought. 

At 7:20, Tae gets distracted by the music, and Jungkook lowers the volume from where he’s standing, confirming to Tae that the speaker is bluetooth. Interestingly enough, he’s standing across the room. Which means his phone is in his hand/on the other side of the room, not on the little table with the speaker. We will come back to this. 

So... when Tae tells him he is on Vlive, Jungkook finally gives an alibi for these weird circumstances.....

He.... was eating bread?

Let’s go over this again. 

Music was blasting. Tae knocked on the door. Jungkook was very frantic, said “Jimin” in a lowered tone, told Tae he was naked, knocked items around a bunch while Tae was waiting, and then let Tae in to reveal the room is dark, music still blasting, and Jungkook had thrown a robe on without even tying it. But... he was just eating bread? 

I’m sorry, none of this adds up. He could’ve said he was taking a nap, and I would’ve bought it, but there’s no reason for him to have been so frantic if all he was doing was eating bread. And why the lights off? Why “Jimin!”? Why naked??????

You could maybe argue that he was just having ‘alone’ time, and this is why he was so frantic about being interrupted.

But... here’s where we will get into the evidence (beyond him saying Jimin’s name), on why I don’t believe he was alone in the room. 

3. Jungkook wasn’t alone

At 8 minutes, Jungkook goes to the nightstand to look at something while audibly chewing bread. Tae lays down on the bed, staring at the camera. The screen goes black (someone turned off a light?), a door clicks open, and you then here a startled voice... “Oh, you scared me.”  Neither of them were near a door. Neither of them flipped a light switch. 

(Above is Tae’s reaction to the lights being turned off/door opening.)

Tae reacts to the voice but quickly schools his features and doesn’t respond. 

This is clearly Jimin’s voice. It’s a high pitched voice, much higher pitched than JK’s or Tae’s. You can hear the clear difference in voice pitch and tone because Jungkook speaks directly after ‘Jimin’ does, and... it’s just not the same voice. But hey; if you don’t buy it just based off vocal tone, let’s reason through this.

Jungkook had already calmed down by this point. He had expressed earlier in the Vlive that Tae had startled him, but had since calmed down and was rolling with the punches. He was also very audibly in the middle of chewing. Not to mention, the sound is clearly coming from behind the camera, not in front, where Tae and Jungkook were. 

If you’re STILL not buying it, I will link a video that does a voice comparison of Jimin saying “You scared me” at a previous point in time. I think it will become pretty clear who spoke. 

(4:20 for voice comparison)

This is pretty strong evidence, but it’s not tangible proof, I’ll give you that. So let’s keep watching. 

Oh look, further evidence that Jungkook wasn’t naked to shower. 

Uhh... the grainy video quality would’ve made it impossible to tell, but thank you for giving us another clue, Jungkook. His makeup was smeared... very interesting. 

Now an observation...

 The bathroom light magically turned on/the bathroom door magically opened? Remember the sounds we just observed hearing? That neither Jungkook or Tae were responsible for? 

As a reminder, here’s what the hallway looked like when Tae walked in... (The door with light coming out is from the hallway, not the bathroom. The bathroom door is to the right of where Tae is standing. Closed.)

Another screenshot showing the bathroom light was clearly off when Tae first walked in. 

Jungkook did not at any point go into the hallway to open the bathroom door after letting Tae in. There’s no explanation for this unless someone else is in the room. 

They proceed to start with a karaoke song, but while the intro is playing, there seems to be something on JK’s mind. 

He’s looking toward the bed distractedly. Why?

11:13, in the midst of their karaoking, Jungkook pans the phone at the perfect angle to see a white phone in the corner of the room, on the same chair where Tae was earlier looking at the Bluetooth speaker. As I noted earlier, Jungkook’s phone was either in his hand or on the other side of the room. And Tae’s phone is in his hand. Meaning... there’s just a random phone sitting in the room?

And in case you were to argue Jungkook just stuck his phone there when he was off screen, I will offer the infallible evidence that it is Jimin’s phone and not Jungkook’s. Jungkook had a ‘Space grey’ iPhone at the time, while Jimin’s was white. It is just very clearly not his phone. 

Proof of this can be seen at 27:11 of this video

Moving on, another odd moment happens, though this could be nothing. It feels worth including in the scope of everything else. 

I don’t even know what Tae is trying to imply by saying “Jin is taking a bath now” but directly after he says this, Tae makes a ‘pervy’ face and looks toward the corner of the room, and Jungkook looks in the corner as well. As if there was someone standing there... 

Then, Tae goes on to text Jimin that he wants to visit. What the heck? 

In my opinion, Tae clearly knows that someone (Jimin) is in the room with them. So why text him? Maybe to cover up for the fact that Jimin spoke earlier in the Vlive? Maybe as a way of teasing Jungkook? 

Now, as Tae leaves the room, the bathroom door.... Is miraculously closed?

There’s absolutely no way either of them closed it, as they were both on camera the entire time between us seeing the door open and him walking to the hallway. The only explanation is the paranormal. Or even spookier..... Jimin. 

Now, this is a point that isn’t necessarily proof but certainly adds to the entire picture of the situation that just occured. As soon as Tae leaves, the door clicks shut. (14:04). If you had been paying attention, when Tae entered the room, the door didn’t completely shut the entire time he was in there. It was an unweighted door. It seems likely to me that as soon as Tae left, Jimin came out from the bathroom and shut the door. (As Jungkook was at the opposite end of the room and didn’t seem like he was in any rush to close the door.)

At 14:14, Tae looks over toward where he came from with an extremely worried look on his face. If you turn up your volume, you can hear some men having a calm conversation, and then Jimin’s distinctive high pitched voice yelling something in a scolding kind of tone. A door slams open/shut, and Tae tells his audience that he locked himself out and he has to leave. Koreans have translated what Jimin was yelling and it is included in some video analyses I have seen, however since I can’t confirm the accuracy of these translations I won’t include them. If you speak Korean and want to give unbiased translations to what is overheard in this scene, please reblog or send me an ask! I’d love to include it. 

He promptly ends the Vlive here. 

4. Conclusion

So now that we’ve gone through the chronology of this, let’s just look at everything at face value. 

We hear Jungkook say Jimin’s name. We hear Jimin’s voice. We see (likely) Jimin’s phone. The bathroom door opens and closes by itself, the bathroom light turns on by itself. Tae and Kook both clearly look at someone in the corner of the room shortly before Tae leaves. We hear Jimin’s distinctive angry voice after Tae leaves the room. All of this evidence in mind, I feel justified in saying that Jimin was likely in the room. 

Now let’s look back on the scene we walked in on, knowing Jimin was there... There was sexy music blasting, the lights were off, Jungkook was naked, had smeared makeup, and was VERY frantic that Tae came in. 

....

I think you get the point I’m trying to make here.

5. Counterpoints

Now to be fair, let’s get into a few common counterpoints I hear. 

a) The bed is still made

This is a valid argument. But I mean... to me it looks like the bed has definitely been sat on, at the very least. Just because the covers aren’t untucked does not mean that all of this other evidence is worthless. 

I don’t want to get graphic but there’s a lot that can be done naked in a dark room without messing up the blankets. All of this doesn’t even mean anything was “happening”, but it certainly is a scene that makes you pause and question.

b) Why would they hide being in the same room? They’re all bandmates and friends!

Uhh, okay, somewhat valid, but. Jungkook was naked. And he told us that. And the lights were off and there was music blasting. It would be VERY weird if he yelled “Hold on, I’m naked!!!” and then he let us in with an untied robe on and said “oh, by the way Jimin’s with me!”

Shan’s notes (I’m shan):

Anyway, in the process of making this I think I’ve only convinced myself even more that Jimin was in the room. I hope I’ve convinced some skeptics, but if you’re still not convinced, I hope you can at least see where we believers are coming from when we say it’s convincing! 

If you are intrigued and would like to see an AMAZING analysis of this with live edits for clarity of audio and visuals (and perhaps a few pieces of evidence I didn’t talk about) I will recommend you to watch the following video.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading.

Buy me a coffee if you liked what I wrote. I take requests :)

Remember, Remember - Chapter 2

Since Mulder is color blind in one episode only, I'm choosing to ignore this tidbit of information. Now he can appreciate Scully's gorgeous red hair. You're welcome, Mulder.

This chapter has been checked by Hemingway Editor and Grammarly. No Betas were ‘harmed’ in the making of this installment.

A big thank you to @mulderwantstobelieve, @frangipanidownunder, @greycoupons, @if-the-seascatchfire, and @baronessblixen for coming to the rescue when the English language got me and bit me in the butt. I hope there are no other bites left unnoticed by my Portuguese-native-speaker brain.

As always, feedback is much appreciated and cherished. It feeds the muse. Chapter 1 can be found here or at AO3.

 xXxXxXx

Chapter 2

 I drive my car as fast as I can to Scully’s place, hoping that no officer tries to stop me for speeding. The last thing I need right now is to waste time being pulled over and having to flash my badge. The streetlamps wash over me, wave after wave of dark and light. Buildings and a few vehicles buzz by me in a blur, as I change lanes and outpace slower drivers.

 A chill runs down my spine as I wonder what I might find when I get to her place. Will I find her blood smeared on a piece of furniture along with some of her red hair again? Will this be the time I will find her lifeless body lying on the floor?

 I halt at a red light, tires screeching. Fingers drum the steering wheel and I move my head from side to side to look at the intersection. I ease the car forward, inch by inch, and take advantage of the lighter flow of cars to run the red light.

 A black sedan behind me does the same trick.

I keep looking at the rearview mirror and the road ahead of me alternately. The car is there. It is always there on my tail. My hands sweat.

 As I enter George Washington Memorial Parkway, darkness surrounds me and I can only count on my headlights to show me the way. Fewer cars can be seen on the road, so I press the gas pedal further.

 The black sedan behind me does the same thing.

 I try to think of a way to mislead my pursuer, but all my ideas will slow me down and that I can not allow. I just keep driving and, even though the AC is on, the sweat drips down my body. One of my hands searches my hip holster to feel the cold of my gun. A sigh escapes my nose and I return the hand to the wheel again.

 After a few miles, I use the left lane to merge to Washington Boulevard, and the black sedan follows suit. My heart races faster, the mouth gets dry and I have to wipe the sweat out of my forehead. I grip the steering wheel as I keep driving around the Memorial Circle, instead of taking the right to the Arlington Memorial Bridge. The sedan, this time, continues onto Memorial Avenue making me release a deep breath and regain the circulation on my fingers.

 One more turn in the roundabout and I proceed to the original route, grieving those precious minutes lost to my paranoia. The Potomac River flows under me through the stone-arch bridge in an almost mockery. On both sides of the road, tall streetlights run by me. They lead me to Valor and Sacrifice, but The Arts of War are soon left behind in a blur of bronze.

 I pass by the Lincoln Memorial, hoping to be a savior as well, but to the reunion of Scully and her mother. The reunion of Scully to her future. I must save her one more time and balance out the endangerer plate on this scale of my role in our former alliance. 

 I finally reach the short buildings of Georgetown. My cell phone goes off and I fumble to answer it without losing control of the car.

 “Mulder, where are you?” Asks Langly on the other end of the line.

 “I’m getting to Scully’s place.”

 “Don't bother. Come to our office.”

 “I need to check if she is all right! Or at least if there is evidence that can help me find her!”

 “She's never made it home, Mulder. We’ve got something to show you. Come quick.”

 My cell phone falls. My hands turn the wheel fully to the left and the car skids to another lane, facing the direction where I came from. Squealing the tires, I drive off towards the Gunmen’s office.

  “We managed to hack some CCTV systems and we found footage from a camera near your place. It's from early this morning,” Langly says, as he turns on the computer screen for my inspection. “Take a look”.

 I sit on the chair in front of the screen and he presses the play button. In the grainy, black and white image, I recognize Scully crossing the street towards her car. She had parked some blocks away from my building and is now grabbing the car keys from her pockets. A white van halts next to her and a pair of arms tries to grab her from behind. Her elbow pounds the man’s chest. Then her knuckles find his nose. The man falls down to the ground and Scully tries to reach for her gun. A second man leaves the van and encircles her arm and neck in a chokehold, preventing her movements. She kicks his shin. His free hand places a white cloth on her face, making her movements slow down to a sudden stop. The guy on the floor stands up and grabs her feet. They place her torpid body inside the van, then get in the vehicle as it speeds off.

 “Where was this van headed?” I ask.

 “We’ve lost it after it reached Jefferson Davis Highway.”

 The one that leads people to the airport among other places. A cold wave washes over me from head to toe as I realize that by now she could be in Timbuktu.

 “Were you able to do your technological tricks and identify the plate?” I ask.

 They shake their heads with eyes cast downward. I pick up my phone and dial Skinner. I explain the situation and ask for an APB for a vehicle matching the description from the one on the video. I pace the room running my hands on my hair frantically. There has to be something that the Gunmen’s untrained eyes could not catch. That's why I ask them to rewind the footage.

 “Mulder, we have watched all these videos over and over while…”

 “Rewind the damn footage, please!” I interrupt Frohike.

 And they do it. Over and over again. After the fifth try, they teach me how to rewind it myself and leave me alone with the computer. I watch it one more time. Then another. And another. I try to burn it inside my mind. After almost an hour watching those same minutes, my eyes are the ones that seem on fire. I thump the desk, stand up and start to pace the room again. Think, Mulder. Think!

 “Mulder, you need to calm down and think straight. You will find her! You always do.” Says Byers.

 “It’s different this time!” I grab the clipping from the newspaper I had found this morning by my front door and show them. I had been keeping it in my jeans pocket since then.

 “‘Doctor accused of pedophilia found dead’? What does this have anything to do with Scully?” Asks Frohike.

 “This is the man who gave me the directions to all the clues in this case. He was murdered because he was feeding me information. Because we got too close to unveiling everything. First, he was discredited and then killed. Now they got Scully! They are targeting everybody who had aided me in exposing them!”

    I book myself the next flight to Dallas and rent another car as I arrive there. I thank my eidetic memory as I try to drive the same roads that had taken me and Scully to the domes and the cornfield. The scenery around me looks different, though; the colors are more vivid as the sun is getting high in the sky this time. The air conditioner can barely keep up with the heat from the desert outside.

 My eyes burn and I'm not sure if it's from not blinking enough or the dry air around me, but I focus solely on the drive ahead. One more time I reach the intersection at the end of the road. Without a second thought, I drive forward leaving a trail of dust behind me. Finding the train tracks, I follow it down, stop by the same hill and climb it.

 As I reach the top, my chest tightens and I shake my head in denial. I can’t believe my eyes. Instead of domes and cornfields, all I see now are flames, burning everything down.

 I fall down to my knees and weep.

  I fly back to DC. There's just nothing left for me to do. No leads, no double agent informants to point me where to go. Nothing.

 My eyes burn even more and now all the muscles in my body complain. That's what almost sixteen hours driving, and seven hours in airplanes can do to you. I drag my sorry, dehydrated ass out of the disembarking area. To my surprise, though, Skinner is waiting for me.

 “Where the hell have you been, Mulder?”

 I have no energy left, so I just keep walking as if he had never been there. If he follows me or not I don’t notice. And honestly, I don’t care. With every step, a deep breath to try and keep the tears out of my eyes.

 My arm is pulled. Skinner is demanding to know of my whereabouts and I see red. I make a lunge at him but am easily subdued by his alertness. He drags me out of the airport and into his car. Then everything is black.

 “Mulder! Wake up, Mulder! We’re here!”

 “Where is here?” I ask without bothering to open my eyes.

 “Your place.”

 I look out the window and notice night has fallen again. Another lost day. I must be too dry to shed tears, but my blood boils. Time was pivotal in disappearance cases. Didn't he know that?!

 “Why did you bring me here?! I need to find her!” I try to leave the car, but Skinner has still to unlock it.

 “You are not going anywhere, Mulder!”

 “They took Scully because I got too close to the truth. I need to find her, damn it! She is danger!” I jingle the lock to the door to no avail. “Unlock the fucking door!" I shout.

 “Mulder, listen to me!” Skinner barks and that stops me in my tracks. “You’re not going anywhere! You are not thinking straight. You’re just committing amateur errors and putting yourself in danger.” He sighs and softens his voice “You are not doing Scully any favors with such behavior. Get some rest and let the FBI handle this.”

 “One more thing.” Skinner adds “Why did Scully come to your place around 8:20 p.m and only left in the early hours of the following morning?”

 “That’s none of your business.”

 “It is if you are breaking the FBI's fraternization policy.”

 “We are not.” No lie in that statement, as she was not my partner anymore. “What does it matter anyway, she’s moving to Salt Lake City.”

 “Listen, we will find her. Get some rest and get ready for your OPR session tomorrow. I know the timing is the worst, but there’s nothing we can do about it. And it's your job at stake here.”

 “Why are you doing this?”

 “You saved my ass once. I owe you one and this is the least I can do. Good night, Mulder.”

 The lock clicks and I am out of the car. Skinner drives away as I get upstairs and pass out on my couch once again.

Creeped Out is a horror anthology series shown on CBBC in the UK and available on Netflix elsewhere. It’s an excellent show, fun for kids with loads of crossover appeal for adults. But the big entertainment sites tend not to cover it, and I haven't been able to find a definitive ranking of all the episodes anywhere. So I decided to create my own, because why not?! This list includes season 1 and season 2; I’ll add further episodes as they’re shown.

Before we get into this: there are some spoilers in here. I’ve tried to keep them to a minimum but sometimes, to describe what's good (or bad) about an episode, I need to discuss elements of the plot.

Every episode of Creeped Out, ranked from best to worst

1. ‘Slapstick’ (Season 1, Episode 1)

The first episode of a series is rarely the best, but Creeped Out bucks the trend—‘Slapstick’ hasn’t yet been bettered. It’s the perfect combination of cozy and creepy, with a quintessentially British setting (a seaside town complete with Punch & Judy shows), a puppet antagonist who’s somewhere between unnerving and amusing, and a relatable main character. Even the score is the best of the bunch: its sinister take on fairground music really adds to the atmosphere. The plot—Jessie wishes her parents were ‘normal’, and lives to regret it—is compelling, and in contrast to some of the weaker episodes, you actually understand why the characters do the things they do (even the bully is given a bit of a backstory). ‘Slapstick’ is a gem, and more than any other episode, it stands up to repeated rewatches.

2. ‘Trolled’ (Season 1, Episode 3)

Sam leads a double life: he’s secretly NoFace, an online troll who often targets his closest friends. When he ignores a message warning him to stop trolling, things start to go very wrong. This episode is set in the plush surroundings of a boarding school (one of Creeped Out’s more notable backdrops) and the contrast between Sam’s environment and his online life is both palpable and believable. The dynamic between Sam, Fitzy and Naini is established very effectively—you really feel Sam has something to lose. Extra points for the properly bleak ending, too.

3. ‘Kindlesticks’ (Season 1, Episode 9)

This episode is a fan favourite, and it’s not difficult to see why. ‘Kindlesticks’ came out of nowhere, landing in the middle of a few mediocre episodes, and doesn’t seem at first glance to have the most exciting setup: a bad babysitter getting her comeuppance. Yet you’ll likely find that the tale of Esme, her charge Ashley and his imaginary friend Kindlesticks will drag you in, spit you out and leave you reeling. It’s a simple idea executed perfectly, with what is undoubtedly Creeped Out’s best delivery of a twist. Seriously, I didn’t see that coming at all.

4. ‘Splinta Claws’ (Season 2, Episode 10)

Admittedly, it isn’t difficult to make a Christmas episode good—add lots of sparkly decorations and a bit of ‘Carol of the Bells’ and you’ve already nailed the atmosphere. ‘Splinta Claws’, in which two boys get trapped in a department store along with a possessed animatronic Santa, builds on that to create an inspired take on PG-13 seasonal horror. It’s the self-aware script that really makes this episode; the ‘frenemy’ relationship between anxious Mikey and street-smart Lawrence, plus the characters’ recognition that the slow-moving Santa isn’t that scary (despite its nightmare-fuel face). An effective combination of action, emotion and humour results in a spooky festive treat.

5. ‘Tilly Bone’ (Season 2, Episode 9)

Telling a story backwards is a bold move, and initially, it makes ‘Tilly Bone’ confusing. Some viewers might find themselves wanting to switch off as they wonder what the hell is going on. But stick with it, and a fascinating tale unfolds, with layers, details and clues to be picked apart, nods to classic horror, great performances (especially Alice Franziska Woodhouse as the disquieting Junebug) and some of the series’ most original and surprising ideas. It’s formally innovative, daring and altogether one of the most impressive pieces of work Creeped Out has yet produced.

6. ‘Marti’ (Season 1, Episode 4)

Kim is initially delighted when her new phone’s AI helps her to become more popular, but things take a turn for the sinister when ‘he’ claims to be in love with her. ‘Marti’ cleverly uses this premise as a kid-appropriate way to explore themes of coercive control and abusive relationships. I have a feeling this episode may have been inspired by the 2016 movie Bedeviled—there are lots of similarities, right down to Marti’s voice—and it says a lot that in 25 minutes it crafts a better, more meaningful story than a full-length horror movie for adults was able to manage. Often unfairly slept on, ‘Marti’ is the talented underdog of the series.

7. ‘Takedown’ (Season 2, Episode 8)

‘Takedown’ is intriguing because it departs completely from the series’ typical aesthetic—there's lots of shakycam, a grainy feel to the cinematography, a muted colour palette. It’s shot more like an indie film than an episode of a kids’ show. It focuses on Alexa, the only girl on her high school wrestling team, who uses a weird chain text to wish for more strength. Since this is Creeped Out, it’s no surprise that her ‘gift’ comes at a price. With its gritty feel and the authentic friendship between Alexa and Lucky (‘cheers to root beers’, anyone?), this episode is something really different, and all the more memorable for it.

8. ‘No Filter’ (Season 2, Episode 6)

Like ‘Trolled’, ‘No Filter’ is a thoroughly enjoyable example of what a series like this should be aiming for, which is essentially a junior version of a Twilight Zone episode. There’s a recognisable starting point—who hasn’t used filters or Facetune to make their selfies look better, and who bothers reading all the T&Cs?—and when Kiera’s eroded face is revealed, it’s one of the few moments in the series to create a genuine shock. Plus there’s a proper pantomime villain, just as it should be. The ending might be a little jumbled, but it’s entertaining enough that that can be forgiven.

9. ‘Cat Food’ (Season 1, Episode 2)

Happy-go-lucky prankster Stu pretends to be ill so he can skip school, but gets more than he bargained for when he discovers the elderly neighbour, Mrs McMurtle, is actually a shapeshifting monster. ‘Cat Food’ is a fun, comedic episode (the only one yet to make me laugh out loud) and, while there isn’t a great deal of substance to the story, it’s efficiently told and neatly resolved. Rhys Gannon is great as Stu and it’s just an all-round fun time.

10. ‘The Traveller’ (Season 1, Episode 11)

While the vast majority of Creeped Out episodes take place in a distinctly middle-class milieu, ‘The Traveller’ switches things up by focusing on Jodie and Brandon, troublemaking kids on an inner-city estate. They come across a device that can pause time, and it’s all fun and games until a blue-skinned man starts hunting them down. The plot is a bit more Doctor Who than your average episode, and the combination of urban setting and sci-fi story is surprisingly successful. There’s also an emotional gut-punch of a moment when Jodie finally understands the problems she’s been creating for her mum.

11. ‘The Call’ (Season 1, Episode 6)

‘The Call’ isn't one of the strongest stories in Creeped Out’s repertoire. An unpopular girl is drawn to an environmental activist and discovers she’s a siren, gaining powers into the bargain—interesting enough, but not enormously original, and inevitably a gateway to slightly tedious lecturing about plastic etc. It stands out mainly because of a stellar performance from Rebecca Hanssen, who reminds me of a young Olivia Colman. Hanssen really inhabits the character of Pearl, and shows how excellent acting can elevate an ordinary plot and script.

12. ‘The Many Place’ (Season 2, Episode 4)

With their holiday scuppered by torrential rain, three siblings wander a hotel and find themselves lost in a maze of realities. ‘The Many Place’ is designed as an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, and spotting the references is part of the enjoyment here. The story takes advantage of the liminal, disconcerting nature of a large hotel to craft a series of alarmingly plausible terrors, and the ending features the best twist since ‘Kindlesticks’.

13. ‘One More Minute’ (Season 2, Episode 1)

‘One More Minute’ kicks off the second season with a pure hit of enjoyment that doesn’t take itself too seriously. When Jack can’t tear himself away from his favourite videogame, he finds time passing quickly—scarily quickly. While it may not be among the best, everything about this episode is solid: it’s (appropriately) well paced, the relationships are soundly fleshed out, and it’s all wrapped up well.

14. ‘Itchy’ (Season 2, Episode 2)

It may have one of the show's sillier premises—the villains are... head lice—but I have a soft spot for ‘Itchy’. Perhaps it’s the setting: a military academy on an English island feels fresh when you compare it to the many identikit homes and high schools in the series. Perhaps it’s the strong performance from Oliver Finnegan as protagonist Gabe. Either way, there’s something low-key charming about this episode.

15. ‘Side Show’ (Season 1, Episodes 12 and 13)

This two-part season finale is set in the early 20th century and centres on a troupe of circus performance whose ringmaster won’t allow them to venture beyond a magical barrier. Overall, ‘Side Show’ isn’t especially creepy; it’s more of a fantasy story that feels like it could have been its own separate series. The advantage of this is that there’s more space for character development and worldbuilding. The disadvantage is that it doesn’t truly feel like part of the Creeped Out universe.

16. ‘A Boy Called Red’ (Season 1, Episode 5)

Vincent and his dad aren't getting along, but when they go to stay at the latter’s childhood home, Vincent finds an unusual way to reconnect: via a time-travelling portal. The switches between past and present are handled admirably, and Boris Burnell Anderson is a standout as AJ. There’s a lot to like about ‘A Boy Called Red’; it just doesn’t stand out as especially memorable when compared to some of the stronger Creeped Out stories, perhaps because there’s no real antagonist. 

17. ‘Bravery Badge’ (Season 1, Episode 7)

A troop of Girl Guides—sorry, ‘Hedgehog Rangers’—head into the woods for a camping trip. When the girls start falling into a strange trance, it’s up to a moody, reluctant Ranger to save the day. The setting here is promising, the campfire scene is a highlight, and the urban legend about the missing troop is a great touch. Unfortunately, the good stuff is undermined by questionable acting and a somewhat ridiculous supernatural menace. Though I will admit the singing is quite creepy.

18. ‘Shed No Fear’ (Season 1, Episode 10)

Set in the 1970s, with some decent period detail, this episode follows two boys as they battle a mysterious shadow-creature inhabiting an old shed. It’s cute to see Greg and Dave rekindle their friendship and tell the smarmy football captain to get lost, but the threat of the Shade is never particularly well-developed. The title also annoys me. Outside the context of this episode, nobody has ever uttered the phrase ‘shed no fear’. It isn’t even a good pun!

19. ‘The Unfortunate Five’ (Season 2, Episode 5)

Five kids in detention meet their match in a seemingly sweet, yoga-loving teacher who pits them against each other. Establishing five protagonists and two villains within the space of 25 minutes is a tall order, and it’s one this episode doesn't meet. ‘The Unfortunate Five’ has a good concept and also boasts one of the series’ goriest images (when Faye attacks Hawkins and blood spatters across the glass—I’m kind of surprised CBBC didn’t cut that). But the flimsy, unmemorable characters doom it to the lower reaches of this list.

20. ‘Only Child’ (Season 2, Episode 7) 

This could have been great: the story of a girl being menaced by her demonic baby brother, while her parents are convinced she’s just jealous, has lots of potential. Yet ‘Only Child’ doesn't really work. The denouement is rushed and muddled (exactly how does Mia identify the link between the baby’s power and the feedback sound?) and the low-budget special effects don't help. It also suffers from being set entirely within the Tuthill family’s apartment, which looks like a cheaply decorated show home. 

21. ‘Help’ (Season 2, Episode 3)

A very meh installment about a brother and sister who are overly reliant on their family’s Amazon Alexa-like virtual assistant. It’s basically a weaker version of ‘Marti’ with a much less impactful message. The siblings are barely fleshed out, and the episode shares with ‘Only Child’ a sterile-looking set that doesn’t resemble a real family home at all.

22. ‘Spaceman’ (Season 1, Episode 8)

If episodes like ‘Trolled’ and ‘No Filter’ represent what a show like Creeped Out should be, ‘Spaceman’ is exactly what it shouldn’t be. If ‘Cat Food’ proves how well humour can work within a scary story, ‘Spaceman’ shows exactly how it can go wrong. The tale of unlikely pals Spud and Thomas finding a crashed spaceship is by far the worst thing Creeped Out has come up with—it’s implausible, unfunny and not remotely creepy. Avoid.

@weekofhetalia Day 6: Mermaids/pirates

The Drowned Rose

Pairing: none Characters: America, China, Turkey, Estonia, Denmark, Prussia, England (mentioned). Rating: K+ Word count: 2445 Cross posted on FF.net Summary: A rumour of a lost pirate ship is all it takes to set a rag tag group of unlikely friends on the hunt for sunken treasure. But out in the deep blue sea, just what will they find? After all, no one really knows what just might live in the endless black…

“We’re close, I can feel it.” Alfred grins excitedly as he looks over the displays, watching the changing sonar graph for even the smallest object below. “You say that about every dive.” Spinning on his swivel stool, Al blinks up at the man leaning up against the cabin wall. Yao Wang, the supervisor and project manager for this little excursion, frowns down at him. “This time’s different,” Al insists, “it’s definitely here, it’s just gotta be.” “Humph, it better be, or this is coming out of your pay.” Yao huffs. This’ll be their sixth dive of the area, and Yao is far from pleased with their lack of progress. “Ah, lay off him.” Sadık calls as he comes in, “He’s got spirit, and out here that counts for more than you might think.” “Yeah!” Al proudly agrees, glad to have the backing of their lead historian. “None of that will matter if we don’t find anything.” Yao counters. “Just wait, you’ll see.” Al frowns, before the beep of the sonar grabs his attention. He spins his seat around, eagerly looking back to the graph. But, as a diver, Al’s no expert in reading the bright oranges and whites that form fuzzy shapes against the blue background, not that that stops him trying. Rather that job belongs to their navigator. “Is it the ship?!” Al cries at the strange block shape on the graph. Sitting at the other side of the console, Eduard leans over, only taking a second to scan the graph before deciding, “Could be a smaller wreck, but not the one we’re after. It’s far too small, and the depth is wrong.” Sagging at the false alarm, Al slumps a bit in his seat. “Chin up kid,” Sadık says, “if it’s out there, we’ll find it.” Turning to Eduard, he adds, “how much farther to our search zone?” “We should be entering it any minute now, right Mathias?” At hearing his name, the energetic blond up front gives a thumbs up, steering the boat out to the deep waters. “We should be over the drop riiiiight abouuuuut… now!” On cue, the sonar graph starts to change, showing the sudden increase in depth to the sea floor, and hopefully, the wreak they’re all looking for. “Look sharp boys, we’ll be heading down soon!” Gilbert shouts from the bow, getting the his and Al’s dive gear set up. “Now all we gotta do is cross our fingers.” Sadık grins, leaning over the controls to stare out at the open sea before them. X It all started with a rumour. As a salvage diver, Alfred makes his living recovering all sorts of lost or destroyed wreaks, but his favourites have always been sunken ships. There’s just something eerily beautiful about dropping down into waters so deep and dark, that only his flashlight can show him the way, to find the untouched remains of once grand seafarers. He’s been on hundreds of dives, and helped bring up everything from lost WW2 planes, to sea mines, to cargo containers. But ship wreaks have always had a special place in his heart. So when working on a dive in the Caribbean, and he over heard a rumour of a lost pirate ship, he just had to get in on it. Getting a team together was the easy part, he’s made more than a few crazy friends willing to go on a possible wild goose chase with him. Convincing Yao to dedicate the resources needed however, that was the hard part. He needed proof that this ship existed, and might still be out there. And who better to help him get it than his good friend Sadık? “A lost pirate ship huh?” The man parroted, quirking a brow at Al over his desk. “Yeah, you think it’s the real deal?” “Hmm, could be, plenty of pirates ran those parts in 15 to 1800’s. Know who’s it might be?” “Not a clue.” Al grins, “all I heard was it was an English ship, and apparently it had some sort of super important, stolen treasure on board when it sank.” Chuckling, Sadık shakes his head at the young man across from him, “Don’t they all?” But before Al can say anything more, he nods, “Alright, I’ll look into it.” And that was how Alfred and his rag tag team now find themselves searching the wide blue expanse far from the coast of the Caribbean. After several  weeks of research, and a few rough guesses on  location and time frame, Sadık came through, and with a bigger pitch to Yao than even Al could have hoped for. “I think we might be looking for the Blood Rose.” Sadık grins broadly, only to be met with blank stares from the rest of the group. “And what’s that?” Yao huffs. “Only the single most prolific pirate ship of the early 1600’s. Reported to have been responsible for sinking over 100 naval ships, both French and Spanish, committed upwards of 70 raids in more than 8 countries, and captained by one Arthur Ignatius Kirkland, a man arguably more blood thirsty than Red Beard himself.” Al, Gil and Mathias’s eyes all light up at the description, even Eduard seems intrigued, but Yao is a hard man to impress. “And?” He taps his foot impatiently, staring Sadık down. “Heh, always about the profit, right Yao?” Sadık smirks, “Well how’s this take your fancy?” Flipping open a rather old and tattered log book, he points to a page filled with writing. “This is a list of all the items stolen from a Spanish fleet transporting, among other things, silver and gold medallions from the New World back to Spain. And here we see it’s listed as having been attacked by an English ship. The date coincides with the last known sighting of the Blood Rose, before she mysteriously vanished eight days out to sea.” As Yao reads over the cursive script, the others can slowly see him being won over. “That’s a lot of gold.” He murmurs, blinking as he reads further down the page. He then frowns as something catches his eye. “Escalas de sirena? Mermaid scales, really?” he asks, pointing to the strangely circled item. Shrugging, Sadık gently closes the book. “All sailors believe at least some myths, why not Mermaids?” Choosing to ignore the strange item, Yao finally makes his decision. “Well what are you all just sanding around here for? Go pack, we’ve got a wreak to salvage.” X The beeping of the sonar brings Alfred out of his daydreaming to blink down at the screen. Lifting Al’s arm out the way, Eduard looks over the screen, before smiling. “Looks like we’re got a hit.” “Is it our ship?” Al asks, suddenly back to being full of energy. “Hmm, the size is right and it’s in the right place.” Eduard nods, adjusting the read out to get a better look, then turning to Al, “Only one way to find out.” “Sweet! Mathias, park us right here!” Al cries, jumping to his feet. “Way ahead of you!” The man laughs back, idling the engines. “Finally.” Yao sighs, finishing off his tea. Rushing to pull on his gear, Al hurries to join Gilbert on the stern. With oxygen tanks checked, wet suit snugly in place, and cameras at the ready, the pair waste no time in jumping in. Once off the boat, Gilbert leads the way down, following Eduard’s instructions to the suspected wreaks location. It’s an easy routine for both divers, but they also know they still have to be careful, anything could go wrong, and at these depths, pressure is their biggest danger. They continue on down, the dappled light from above quickly dying out as they encounter a shoal of fish being chased by dolphins. They both pause for a moment, Al turning his camera to the frenzy for a few shots of the rare sight, but time is against them here, so they carry on down, into the endless black below. A light mounted to their caps and one on their chest light the way, until finally, after a near twenty minute dive, they reach the seabed. All manner of fish and crustaceans scuttle away at their presence, Al even spots an octopus swim past, but none of that is what their here to find. Following the directions of the sonar, they swim onwards, keeping to the sea floor as they look for anything man-made to point them in the right direction. “You should be coming up on the structure now.” Eduard’s grainy voice crackles in Al’s ear, filling him with excitement as he hovers by Gil’s side. Then, finally, after weeks of searching, they find it. A huge man-of-war styled frigate sitting on it’s side, half resting upon a bed of rock and the centre of it’s large hull caved in. But they can’t be certain until they see the name. Not wasting a second, Al powers forward, heading for the broadside, where he know’s he’ll find what’s left of it’s name. While Al gets to work, Gil turns his camera to the wreak, transmitting the images back to their boat. “Holy shit.” He smirks, “Even if this isn’t our wreak, this is one hell of a find.” “It sure is.” Sadık’s voice crackles back in awe. “Gil!” Al shouts needlessly into his mask, “It’s her! It’s the Blood Rose, we found her!” Coming over to join Al, Gilbert dutifully films the uncovered name for the rest of the crew to see. In large fancy print, the mostly faded red letters spell out the ships name, even if it is half covered under coral and sea creatures. Though the ship has clearly seen better days, now mostly rotten at the bottom of the sea, it’s once grandeur is clear to imagine. But none of that interests Yao. “What are you two just floating about for?” The man snaps, crackling in their ears, “Get to work! I want to know everything this wreak has to offer.” Both divers roll their eyes at their boss’s demand, but they do as told anyway. This time it’s Al who takes the lead, carefully surveying the opening in the hull, before going in. Gilbert hovers close by, acting as Al’s early warning in case of danger. Who knows what’s made it’s home in here, sharks especially they have to watch out for. It takes some time, as they manoeuvre their way around broken beams and rotten floors, down to reach the cargo hold. It’s not like in the moves, where gold glints and shines back at them the second they’re in, rather they have to go looking if they want to find anything of value. In a wreak like this, the goods might not even be in the ship anymore, possibly having been lost in the sinking, now scattered across the seabed. If that’s the case, they’ll be lucky to find a single coin or two. Not to mention, Alfred’s least favourite part, all the skeletons. “Wah!” He jumps, flailing around as he comes face to face with a skull sitting beneath a beam. Laughing Gil swims past him, picking at the few remaining bits of cloth still covering the bones. “Kesesesese, never gets old.” “Oh shut up.” Al huffs, moving on. Seems they’ve found the crew, no doubt having been trying to save the ship from going down. But them all being in cargo hold is unusual. “Hey Gil, you see what I see?” “Hmm?” Looking over, Gil frowns at the sight before them. “If the ship had this much damage to it, why’d all the crew head here?” Dozens of skeletons clutter the very back of the hold, not where the damage is, but where a number of crates sit piled together. “If I had to guess,” Gil smirks, “I’d say they were trying to save whatever’s in those boxes.” Both divers know a jackpot when they see one, and, as much as Al hates skeletons, that doesn’t stop him from getting to work moving them out of the way. But unseen by the pair, a shadow watches from within the black, eyes trained on their every move. Tossing the bones to the side, they quickly uncover one of the crates, but it’s seized shut with years of rust and rot, making it impossible for the pair to open. Down here any way. Instead, testing the weight, and deeming it able to be moved, they make their decision. “Oxygen is getting low,” Gil sighs, “Mathias get ready for pick up, we’re coming back.” “And we got a present to boot!” Al laughs as the pair begin the long swim to the surface, crate carefully carried between them. “Good,” Yao crackles, “hurry back now.” “Will do.” Though they say that, surfacing is just as precarious as the rest of the dive, and both of them know they can’t rush it, not if they don’t want to get the bends. As they leave, the shadow trails after them from a safe distance, but it does not depart the ship, head tilting as it watches them take the box away, until both are nearly out of sight. Once gone, the shadow worms it’s way back through the ship, to bones scattered with little care. A strange whine escapes it at the sight, before gently reaching, it picks up a skull, holding it close in a strange hug as it moves to set it back atop one of the crates. By the time Al and Gil surface a short distance from the boat, both Sadık and Mathias are eagerly waiting at the stern for them. They swim over, lifting the box up to hand over first, before climbing on board. “Ahh…” Al sighs, flopping back across the floor the second he removes his tank. But he doesn’t lie about long, as Yao is quick to order everyone around. “Jones get up, your leaving a puddle. Beilschmidt I wan’t you ready to dive again as soon as possible. And Adnan, I-” “Want the crate open, yeah, yeah.” Sadık waves Yao off, doing his own inspection of the box first. “Aha!” He cries, “Look, there’s still a partial print of the Spanish navy on here. We’ve definitely found something stolen from them. While he gushes over the discovery, photographing the symbol for his records, Mathias returns from the cabin, looking a bit too happy to be wielding a crowbar. “Give me that.” Sadık laughs, “can’t have you destroying artefacts now.” Together the group gather around, all holding their breath as Sadık slips the bar in, and counts, “1, 2, 3!” Cracking the lid open, he hurriedly slides it back to reveal…

Hi My Name Is... (Ch. 7)

AO3 Link

It took longer than usual to get to Jaylee's house since they couldn't run down from the mine -- Zack tried, but the movement jostled Jaylee's leg too much.

Kim knocked on the door once they got there, giving Jaylee a quick smile.

Sam Scott yanked the door open and just stared for a minute.

"I'm fine," Jaylee said, and that seemed to snap her dad out of it.

"What happened?" he demanded, letting all of them inside and following Zack as he went to the living room couch.

Jaylee winced when Zack set her down on the couch, clenching her jaw at the pain.

"I'm fine," Jaylee repeated, as Kim hopped up on the arm of the couch at her head, Zack standing next to her, Billy at her feet and Trini standing at her shoulder almost protectively.

"How is this fine?" Sam demanded. "You're clearly hurt, is your leg broken?"

Jaylee winced. "It's just sprained, we already had it looked at, okay? Two days of wrapping it and keeping off it and it'll be fine."

Sam exhaled loudly, angry that his kid was hurt, glancing around belated at the rest of them. "Is everyone else okay?"

Trini nodded. "Yeah, we're fine."

"Good... how did this happen?" Sam asked.

"I, uh, fell during a tremor from the destruction," Jaylee said, thinking fast and hoping her lie was believable. "Uneven ground, landed wrong."

"They aren't airing much yet, just a few clips -- it was the same creatures attacking again?" Sam asked.

Jaylee nodded. "Yeah, I mean, we didn't stick around but yeah."

"They were defeated, though," Kim added.

"Yeah, the Power Rangers came back," Billy smiled.

"And kicked ass!" Zack added.

"We didn't stay and watch the fighting, we were just in the crossfire," Trini was quick to add. "We got to safety as quick as we could."

Sam looked around at them all, gaze landing on Jason. "You're sure you're okay?" he asked, reaching to squeeze his shoulder.

Jaylee nodded. "Yeah, Dad. I'm okay," she promised.

Sam nodded back. "Thank god your mother and Pearl were out of town when this happened."

"There were a lot of people running away, I don't think there were many who stuck around," Zack said.

"Yeah, hopefully there aren't too many people hurt," Kim nodded.

Sam sighed, looking around at them all again. "I'm sure they'll say on the news," he said, reaching for the remote to turn the TV on, grainy images of the Power Rangers fighting filling the screen.

"Did they give you something for pain, when they checked you out?" he asked.

Jaylee shook her head. "Uh, no, I didn't want to be admitted so no," she said, lying.

Sam nodded. "Let me get you something, then."

They watched him leave, everyone watching the TV, seeing themselves fighting the putties and Goldar.

"We look so badass," Zack whispered, wincing when Trini punched him and hissed at him to shut up.

Sam came back with some pills and a glass of water, handing them both to Jaylee.

Jaylee took the pills gratefully, doing her best to block the pain out, already planning on morphing in her room at night so she could use that circuit patch...

Sam turned to the TV at the announcement that so far only 5 people had been treated for minor injuries, the reporter saying it was miracle that the Power Rangers had once again shown up to save them before adding they were going to play new footage from the fight.

He watched closely with Jason and his friends, everyone watching as the rock and gold monster swang at the Power Rangers, the footage a bit grainy but you could clearly see Yellow, Pink, Blue, and Red charging at its legs.

The camera panned up to the sky and the flying jet shot at the monster, and you could hear the reporter commenting that Black was the pilot. The camera pulled back down just in time to see Red leap away from a kick and roll, not getting out of the way in time and getting stepped on. The rest of the Rangers immediately pulled rank, and the camera followed Yellow and Pink as they charged the monster, Blue staying with Red.

"We're still processing the rest of our footage, but one thing is certain: the Power Rangers once again saved Angel Grove," the reporter said.

Jaylee winced watching Goldar step on her, leg throbbing in pain, and everyone reached out to touch her in some way, to connect themselves, without even thinking about it.

Sam turned back to the kids, face set, glancing at Jason's leg and the ace bandages peeking out from beneath his sweatpants and then at how everyone was pressed close protectively... He ran a hand over his face, turning to Billy.

"Thank you for protecting Jason," he said, and everyone froze.

Jaylee stopped breathing for a minute, her heart racing in her chest and loud in her ears.

"Uh," Billy said, having no clue how to respond to that. "We, uh, all helped," he tried, but Jaylee's dad shook his head.

"I wish I could kill that thing myself, but I guess thanking you is all I can do," Sam added, looking at Trini.

"D-Dad?" Jaylee asked, eyes wide. He... what...

"Look, I don't know how it happened, or why. I mean, jesus, you are just kids," Sam said, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. "But you're heroes."

"Dad?" Jaylee repeated, voice cracking. Oh god, oh god, he knew, he knew, if he knew what they were, did he know which ones, did he see her armor, oh god.

"I love you, but subtle you are not," Sam said with a small smile, seeing them all panicking and trying to show it was okay.

"Pink," he said, pointing at Kim, who reeled backwards. "Blue," to Billy, who blinked at him, eyes wide. "Black," to Zack, who was slack-jawed. "Yellow," to Trini, who was glaring.

"Red," Sam said gently, pointing at Jason.

"Dad, I... I can..." Jaylee tried, breath quickening, panicking and glancing around at everyone. Seeing her team panicking, too, she forced herself to take a deep breath, her shoulders squaring.

"Relax," Sam said, "I won't tell anyone. No one else knows? None of your parents?" he added, but the others just shook their heads, all of them glancing at Jason for how to respond.

"You can't tell anyone," Jaylee said firmly, staring up at her dad. "Not mom or Pearl or anyone."

"I won't. This is incredibly dangerous--" Sam said.

"We'll be fine," Jaylee cut off. "We're strong. We're a team," she added, glancing at everyone reassuringly even though nerves and panic were like ice in her gut.

"Clearly the armor you wear isn't invincible," Sam said, waving at Jason's leg.

Jaylee winced. "I'm fine."

"This time," Sam conceded. "What if next time--"

"We'll be faster next time," Jaylee cut him off. "Look, like it or not, this is what we have to do. And you can't tell anyone, even you knowing is a risk -- how did you figure it out?"

Sam snorted. "You aren't subtle," he repeated. "The five of you fall together right when it all happens, and you all wear your colors all the time! And... I knew you were Red when you saved me from my truck."

Jaylee's breath stilled, because fuck, he'd known the whole time, the doctor's notes and covering with the school made so much more sense now, he'd known that Jaylee wasn't cutting to goof off but was cutting to fight putties, all his sudden focus on teaching her to be a man and a leader making sense and oh fuck.

The armor.

If he'd known from the start, he knew that Jaylee's armor changed. Hell, he'd just watched her get stepped on, he had to have seen it, he knew she was Red and her armor was female like Pink's and Yellow's.

Billy reached out to hold on to her right ankle, Kim placed one hand on her shoulder, Zack put his hand on her other shoulder, and Trini took her hand and squeezed, and then she could almost breath again, because she wasn't alone.

"You've always been a leader," Sam was saying, Jaylee tuning back in, watching her dad watching her team pull rank around her but continuing to talk, "you have the ability to push people to their best. And look at what you've accomplished, and without taking any credit or fame... It's dangerous and reckless and that's just like you, isn't it, to find some way to literally throw yourself into the fray. I'm so proud of you."

"Dad," Jaylee choked out, heart racing.

"You've grown up so much these last few months," Sam said. "I love you. And I'll always love you. No matter what."

Trini straightened in front of Jaylee, as if to physically protect her from anything else Sam could say, and Jaylee squeezed her hand. "Trin, it's okay," she whispered.

Sam shook his head. "I can see why you're the second-in-command," he said wryly.

Jaylee chuckled a bit even though she felt like she was going to cry or throw up or both. "If... if you know that I'm Red, that I've always been Red, then you've... you've seen...?"

"You've seen Red kick ass is what you've seen," Zack said fiercely.

"Red is the strongest of all of us," Kim said firmly.

"And the bravest," Billy added.

"Red is the one who holds this team together," Trini said, glare practically daring Jaylee's dad to say the wrong thing.

Sam had known that they must all know, but seeing them acting so protective, knowing Jason went to them when he couldn't go to his own father, it hurt.

"I'm proud of you," Sam repeated, knowing he needed to get this right. "I might not... know a lot, about this. Or what the right term even is... but I love both my children. Both my daughters."

Jaylee stopped breathing, tears pooling in her eyes. "Dad?" she whispered.

"Whatever this is, you can tell me. We'll get through it and make it work. I only ever wanted you happy, and these past few months... hell, these past few weeks... you've practically been glowing. I know I push you, but I just want you to be the best that you can be. You have so much potential, Jason, and I think you see that now, too," Sam said.

"It's, um," Jaylee said, clearing her throat and swiping quickly at her eyes with her free hand. "I, uh, prefer Jaylee, actually."

Sam blinked. "Oh. Okay. Jaylee."

"Y-yeah," Jaylee choked out, trying and failing not to cry.

Sam took a step closer and Trini took a step to the side, giving him room to lean down and hug Jason -- Jaylee.

Jaylee dropped Trini's hand in favor of wrapping both arms around her dad's shoulders, crying into his shoulder and feeling the team hovering close by but giving them this moment.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're okay. I love you, you think I'd turn you out for something like this? Never. I'm so proud of you, you're so strong, it's okay," Sam said, just holding her close.

"S-sorry," Jaylee muttered when she eventually pulled back, wiping at her face.

"No, I'm sorry, for not noticing. For not showing you enough support for you to feel comfortable coming to me," Sam said firmly. "Is this... new? The armor didn't change until recently..."

"No, ah, no," Jaylee answered. "It's... I've always. Um. This has always been me. The armor changed once I told the rest of the team."

"Okay," Sam said. "We can... we can talk more later, we can tell your mom, or I can tell her if you want. Pearl will probably love this," he joked.

Jaylee blushed a bit. "Pearl already knows, or at least, she won't be surprised when you tell her."

Everyone was surprised to hear that, even the rangers.

Jaylee shrugged. "She knew to keep the secret."

"Okay," Sam said, a little choked up because wow, was he that terrible a father that Jason -- Jaylee -- felt like she had to hide this and swear her sister to secrecy?

Jaylee nodded, shifting and wincing.

"Is your leg really just sprained?" Sam asked.

"Um," Jaylee hesitated. "No?"

"If it's broken, why didn't you go to the hospital? You need a cast," Sam chastised.

"It'll be healed in two days," Jaylee said. "Don't need a cast."

"Two days?" Sam repeated, shocked.

"Yeah," Kim confirmed. "Accelerated healing came with the package."

"Jesus," Sam cursed softly.

"Two days is the time factor when morphed in the armor, though," Trini added, shrugging at Jaylee's look. "What? He already knows, you might as well morph and then you can use the circuit patch."

"Morph?" Sam repeated, confused.

"Put on our armor," Zack clarified.

"Oh. I mean, if it will help you heal faster, you should," Sam said, nodding at Jaylee. "Where is it, do you need help getting it?"

"We have our armor with us right now," Billy said, hand over his chest.

"Zordon is gonna be so pissed," Jaylee muttered.

"Screw Zordon," Trini muttered back, making Jaylee smile a bit.

"It's probably better if I just show you," Jaylee said, waiting for Zack and Kim to pull the curtains closed, smiling hesitantly at her dad and pulling on her armor, morphing.

The morphing grid responded quickly, immediately tightening around her broken leg and supporting it.

Sam gasped, watching the armor grow and surround his kid, slightly panicked but then the mask dissolved.

"I'm okay," Jaylee said, sighing in relief when Kim slapped the circuit patch onto her leg and it went numb.

"That... that stuff is inside you?" Sam asked, staring and trying not to linger on her chest.

"Yeah, but it's okay," Jaylee promised, sitting up.

"Whoa, take it easy!" Sam snapped, rushing to brace her.

"I'm good, Kim put the circuit patch on. It's numbing my leg, I can't feel the pain," Jaylee assured.

"We don't really understand the technology, either, we just know it works," Billy said.

"It's... it really doesn't hurt?" Sam asked.

Jaylee shook her head. "No, it doesn't hurt."

"Knowing you were the Red Ranger and then seeing it happen right in front of me... and you can all do that? Morph?" Sam asked, looking around and realizing he really had no clue what was going on with these kids or what these powers were. The only thing he did know was that they were using them to protect everyone.

Everyone nodded at Sam, and Jaylee reached out hesitantly. "You okay, Dad?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Sam said, hesitantly touching Jaylee's hand and tracing his fingers up her arm, feeling the smooth metal. He glanced at her leg again, replaying in his head that monster stepping on her. "How strong is this stuff?"

"Pretty strong," Jaylee said.

"And so are we," Trini added.

Sam nodded slowly. "Right... let's get you up to your room. And everyone else should probably go home, I'm sure all your parents are worried about you."

"They know we're okay," Trini said.

"Knowing and seeing are two different things," Sam said.

Jaylee nodded. "It's okay, guys, go."

Kim, Billy, and Zack glanced at Trini, who nodded, making Jaylee smile.

"We'll be back tomorrow, bosslady," Zack said, clapping her on the shoulder.

"Take it easy on that leg, Jaylee," Kim said.

"Don't forget to take off the circuit patch if you demorph," Billy reminded.

Trini glanced at Sam before meeting Jaylee's eyes. "Text us."

"I will," Jaylee promised, waving them out.

"C'mon, let's get you upstairs," Sam said, feeling a little bit of déjà vu helping Jaylee up the stairs, as he'd had to help Jason with the stairs after his truck accident and the damage to his knee.

"What about your knee?" Sam asked once Jaylee was sitting on her bed.

"Healed, for the most part. Takes a lot to push it, now," Jaylee answered, leaning back against her headboard.

Sam nodded, amazed.

"Dad?" Jaylee asked.

"Yeah?" Sam said, turning back from the door.

"You're really... okay with this?" Jaylee asked hesitantly.

"With you being a Power Ranger? Or with you being... Jaylee?" Sam asked.

Jaylee winced. "Both?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay with it."

Jaylee nodded back, lingering fear and nerves slowly fading. "Okay."

"Rest up," Sam said.

Jaylee nodded, watching her dad leave and close the door, settling to lay down and staring up at her ceiling, emotions whirling inside her. Mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted, she fell asleep.

In My Way - Chapter 20

AO3 link, First Chapter

Genre: Chaptered. Actor!Dan AU, fluff, bit of angst, slow burn, getting together (eventually)

Summary: Fiction. Daniel Howell is 21 and Britain’s newest star. He’s just been cast in the much-anticipated film adaption of Last Man Standing, the popular teen fantasy novel with a huge fanbase hanging off his every tweet. In other words, Dan has made it big.

Phil Lester couldn’t care less. He’s a stressed out PHD student working part time at a bookshop while he struggles to get into post-production. He’s 26 and still lives in a tiny flat on the fifth floor of a building with a lift more broken than it is in use. He loves books, but he thinks big film adaptions screw with the plot too much.

Needless to say, Phil is less than impressed when Last Man Standing is getting filmed in his hometown. And he certainly doesn’t want anything to do with obnoxious, arrogant, so irritatingly perfect leading actor   Daniel Howell.

Warnings: Swearing, Ace!Phil, Bi!Dan, slight a- and bi-phobia, discussions of sexuality

Word Count: 3000-5000 per chapter (ish)

A/N: Aaaaand I’m finally back. I’m just going to go ahead and say updates will forever be slow for this fic :P BUT it’s only 25 chapters, so we’re getting there! Just five to go now (well, four and a sort of epilogue thing). Thanks to everyone sticking with this story/commenting/sending me messages about it, that means an awful lot <3

Also massive thanks once again to @mecaka for betaing this despite drowning in her own schoolwork!! You are the best <33

---

Dan looked good.

Phil had to admit it, begrudgingly. He was curled up on his bed with his laptop open under the covers, buried deep in his own blanket fort, watching the interview Dan had given that morning to promote the premiere of Last Man Standing. As he’d promised, the media attention was definitely growing leading up to the premiere, which was apparently going to be a big sparkly event attended by all the most prominent members of the film industry. There was even Oscar talk.

Ordinarily, Phil would have been grumbling about a big film company profiting from one of his favourite books, but, well. That would be slightly hypocritical, seeing as he’d watched most of it being filmed, and it looked good.

Plus, they had Dan, so. It was bound to be a success.

Dan in the interview looked smooth and comfortable, exactly in his element. Gone were all of the awkward mannerisms that Phil knew he had, aside from the way his fists were clenched over the skinny jeans he was wearing (black, of course). Dan also had his public voice on, sounding smooth and suave and nothing like the stuttering and rambling rants he went on in Phil’s presence.

Phil was slightly proud of that. That Dan was solely his.

Not three minutes into the interview, Phil’s phone buzzed with a series of texts.

Dan: are you watching it

Dan: you’re watching it aren’t you

Dan: tell the truth do I look like an idiot

Dan: hated the seat they put me in it felt like a thousand bees stinging my butt

Dan: as you would say

Dan: Phil this is killing me are you watching

Phil rolled his eyes, but it was hard to deny the affectionate little flip his stomach did. The Dan currently blowing up his phone notifications also didn’t sound much like the Dan in the interview, who was cool and joking and just the right side of confident. Phil struggled to believe he’d ever thought of Dan as arrogant. Now he saw it for what it was – nerves making him talk a lot, and a deep-set fear that he really wasn’t good enough for the life he’d found himself in.

Phil planned to take every opportunity to reassure Dan that he was perfect exactly as he was. Starting with a text back.

Phil: Yes I’m watching it cool your beans

Dan: Well am I doing alright have I fucked up yet

Phil: As if. You’re the epitome of professional. Plus you look cute

There was a beat before the next reply, which had Phil gnawing nervously on his lower lip. Ridiculously.

Dan: You have to say that (but thanks <3)

Dan: Call me after?

Phil grinned at that, texting back immediately of course. Calls would do, they were the best thing they had right now, and Phil had to admit it was a little ridiculous, the amount of time he spent on the phone to Dan. Whenever he wasn’t working at the bookshop or working on his thesis then he was on the phone. He hadn’t called his mum all week, but he’d called Dan at least twice every day.

Did he have a problem? Was this level of co-dependency normal in a healthy relationship? Phil honestly had no clue, what with having no scale or measurement or any previous experience to relate it to, but it didn’t feel bad. Quite the opposite. What felt bad was not talking to Dan, when the gaping hole he’d carved for himself in Phil’s life and then unceremoniously abandoned started to itch and ache and fray at the edges.

Phil turned back to the interview, but it wasn’t long before he found his attention drifting. He got caught up in the crinkles that were just a shadow at the corners of Dan’s eyes, the hint of his dimple appearing on his cheek, the way his hair was ever so slightly wavy from the heat of the lights. These were all things Phil knew well, had studied in their private moments, but – it was different, seeing them up on a screen like this.

Sometimes, because Phil hated himself, he’d search Dan on google images. The pictures that showed up were always heavily choreographed, shot in some fancy studio or other, or screenshots from his films. Phil’s favourites were still the screenshots from Reckless, the film he’d loved for longer than he’d known Dan, and that was weird to think about, to look back on a time where he’d loved one of Dan’s characters but not known Dan himself. It made something funny twist inside Phil, something almost like nostalgia. He longed for Dan in every way he knew.

Which was why, as soon as the interview was over, Phil was pulling up a skype tab and calling Dan.

Predictably, Dan answered straight away, still in his rumpled pyjamas with his hair a mess. “It was awful, wasn’t it, don’t sugar coat it,” he said before the screen had even loaded properly.

“It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen, how dare you ever appear on television,” Phil deadpanned.

“Shut up.” Dan glared at him, flopping over on his bed and dragging the laptop in closer. “Ugh, I’m the worst.”

“You are,” Phil agreed mildly.

“The lines were all wrong, they didn’t ask the questions in the order they told me, and I swear the interviewer wouldn’t stop looking at my left cheek – like just my left, why was she so obsessed? – and—”

“Your dimple is there,” Phil stated, as if it was obvious.

Dan shot him a slightly startled look.

“What?” Phil answered defensively. “It’s a nice dimple.”

“Glad to hear you approve.” Dan was smiling again, which was good, though he still looked a little bit distressed. “It was terrible.”

“You were perfect, as ever,” Phil assured him gently. “It’s as if you’ve been doing this for years.”

“You know I have,” Dan grumbled, but he looked mildly placated. He gave Phil a soft smile, one that just hinted at the creases at the corners of his eyes. “Missed you.”

“Me too.” Phil dragged his laptop further under the blanket fort with him, missing having something to wrap his arms around. He felt kind of hollow. “This whole being apart thing isn’t going too well.”

“For me neither,” Dan agreed. He looked a little shy through the grainy, pixelated screen, and the picture wasn’t clear but Phil thought he was maybe a little pink. “It’s almost the weekend, though.”

“Does that mean you get a breather from all the interviews?” Phil asked.

Dan nodded. His eyes darted up to meet Phil’s, and then away again, and he was squirming against the bedsheets. “I could. Um. I have some free time, so like… I could come up and visit.”

Phil’s eyes widened. “Don’t you have to be in London?”

“Well, I’m supposed to be.” Dan made a face, hastening to add, “But, like, I could get out of it for a weekend. There’s this thing where I’m supposed to be picking out a suit, and a few invites but I ignore them all anyway, and—”

Phil tuned out for a moment. Dan could be back here, actual and tangible and real, a person with a presence and a warmth and a scent, and Phil could have that. Phil could have him back. For however short it might be, Phil could have him back.

“But you aren’t supposed to leave London,” Phil interrupted Dan’s rambling.

Dan looked a little bit nervous. “Uh, yeah, but like I said, I could get out of it—”

“What if I came down to you?” The words were out before Phil could catch them.

Dan blinked, lips twitching as he stared straight through the camera. “Like, you’d visit here?”

“I mean, I could.” Phil hesitated, tracing every flicker of emotion across Dan’s face, worried he’d missed something or accidentally put his foot in it, or something. “I mean, my thesis is due by the end of the week so I’d have to leave Friday evening at the earliest, but—”

“But you’d come down to London?” Dan was staring at him with something like awe through the screen. It was a look Phil was having to become accustomed to, but sometimes it was a little hard to be looked at like he was the most amazing thing in the universe. Dan just thought so much of him, when Phil really didn’t think he was that special at all.

It was Phil’s turn to smile a little shyly at the camera. “Yeah. I’d come down to London.”

Dan’s entire face lit up.

“I mean, if I was welcome,” Phil hastily added, “And assuming everything goes well with my thesis, and you wouldn’t mind, and Tyler wouldn’t mind, then yes. I could stay the weekend.”

“Of fucking course you’d be welcome,” Dan answered, his voice light. “Tyler’s actually been bugging me about meeting you properly for weeks.”

“He’s met me on skype,” Phil said defensively. There was a little knot of worry balling up in his stomach. He’d never really met anyone from Dan’s world – not properly, aside from Louise perhaps. But Tyler was an old friend of Dan’s, someone important to him, and he actually scared Phil a little bit. Tyler was just very… exuberant.

“Yeah, but he says it isn’t the same.” Dan rolled a bit on his bed, curls flopping into his eyes as he peeked up at Phil. “I have to say, after this I’m inclined to agree with him. Not having you here isn’t fun.”

“I know,” Phil agreed. He cuddled up a bit smaller in his blanket fort. “But this weekend?”

“This weekend.” Dan’s face lit up again, all bright smiles and twinkling eyes and the crease of his dimple appearing again. “Five days. You’ll come down Friday evening?”

“Booking a train right now,” Phil agreed, and clicked straight over to the site to do so.

--

Why was finishing a thesis so hard? Phil had made a big mistake. Why had he stayed in education so long? Why hadn’t he gone out and got a proper job like PJ and the rest of their uni acquaintances? Literally no one else had stayed on to do a PhD apart from Matt, and he’d randomly decided to become an accountant four months in because it was too much hard work. Phil had made an error of judgement.

Well, at least, he thought so when he was busily reading through his entire thesis for the seventh time, furiously editing as he went. It had to be perfect. He was sending it off to be bound today, and it had to be quadruple checked for any errors and all his reasoning had to be perfectly outlined. His viva would happen afterwards, after all, and then he’d be sat down in a tiny room with two experts who were going to question him intensely on every single aspect of his thesis. And if he didn’t pass that, then he wouldn’t be graduating.

So his thesis was important.

Dan had already phoned him that morning, but Phil had actually hung up because he was too stressed to listen to Dan tell him about calming breathing techniques and ways to find inner peace when he was drowning in rows and rows of paper.

Phil’s phone buzzed just as he was figuring out the final bits of formatting, and he glanced down without really caring to see, to his surprise, a twitter notification from Dan.

@danisnotonfire: guys pls send @amazingphil some love his final day working on his thesis is here

Something in Phil’s chest tugged.

He hadn’t been expecting something like that. Today of all days, when he was stressed and cranky and he knew he’d been short with Dan on the phone earlier, but rather than getting upset and mad, Dan had instead done this. It was clingy and sweet, and Phil had a feeling that Dan just wanted to get attention from him somehow. But Phil was rather flattered by that thought. Especially when it resulted in this kind of sweetness.

Suddenly, Phil missed Dan even more than usual. He was glad he’d booked those train tickets earlier – just one more day and he’d be back in Dan’s space.

Slowly, he abandoned his laptop and instead scooped up his phone, glancing down to see a stream of replies already flooding in. Dan and he had calmed down a bit on twitter recently, tending towards texting and skyping each other instead of publicly announcing things (plus they weren’t in the same city anymore, which meant spontaneous photos had had to stop). But the same old people were back, replying once more to Dan’s tweet and tagging Phil in every response.

@dansfans123: @amazingphil good luck omg that is so exciting

@phantrash4ever: look at @danisnotonfire being a supportive bf gl @amazingphil

@dangirl98: @danisnotonfire @amazingphil thanks for brightening up my twitter again missed you guys

There was a dusting of something warm fluttering in Phil’s chest from all these messages. People on the internet who he didn’t even know were wishing him well – people who’d been following him for a while, sure, but no one he knew personally. He’d always thought they were just following him for his sneaky creepshot photos of Dan, anyway – he’d never expected to get this kind of support from them.

It was a surprise, but a welcome one.

With a little smile, Phil reached for his phone and sent a quick text to Dan before he went back to battling with his thesis.

Phil: thank you <3

Dan: no problem now go back to work

Phil did so, but it was with a smile on his face.

---

His thesis was over.

Phil was sweating when he finally sent the email with the finalised copy to the people who would bind it for him. He felt like he’d just run a marathon. Well, more like ten marathons back to back whilst being chased by a rabid baboon, but the fact still remained that he’d made it. His thesis was done. The biggest part of his PhD was finished, actually finished, and he thought he’d maybe even be proud of it after a few hours’ sleep and a shedload of coffee.

As it was, he sat grinning at his sent emails for probably too long before he finally set about the rest of his day.

Clearing away the giant piles of books was rather like saying goodbye to old friends. At least he could finally give Lilith back a lot of the books she’d lent him over the past four years, and maybe even actually get back to doing a few shifts at the store rather than spending his entire life buried in his documents. He’d missed the shop. Everything always felt peaceful there (never mind that it also contained some rather fond memories of Dan).

Speaking of Dan, Phil was going to have to start packing. He was heading off to London that evening, after all, a thought which had a tight little knot of nerves and excitement balling up inside his stomach. He was so excited to see Dan again, there was no denying that, but there was also the tiniest hint of fear tied in with everything else.

Well, maybe not tiniest – more like a growling monster threatening to grow bigger with every moment that Phil spent thinking about this weekend. Being with Dan again would be wonderful, yes, but there was everything else that came with it. Being in a big city, one Phil had only visited a few times before, away from his family and friends and everyone who knew him and made him feel safe. Aside from Dan, of course, who for some reason was the only person who Phil would move across the country for, because he made him feel safe.

Temporarily. There was no guarantee this was going to last, but… Phil would be lying if he wasn’t thinking about the future a lot while he set about throwing things into his suitcase.

Dan was a haphazard packer, but Phil was anything but. It was a difference he’d noted when Dan was first preparing to move back to London, once the film set up here had finished. For weeks afterwards, Phil’s flat had played home to a constant stream of Dan’s possessions that had taken up every corner of his flat, watching with despair as Dan threw them casually into his many cases. Dan had simply laughed at him, calling him overly worried, until Phil ended up walking away with a despairing shake of his head, letting Dan create whatever mess he desired within Phil’s life.

When Phil packed, it was ordered. He had everything folded up into neat little piles, and then proceeded to worry that he didn’t have everything he needed, or that he’d overpacked for just a weekend. But it was a weekend with Dan. It had to be perfect.

Phil was just putting in his favourite Stephen King book for the fifth time when his phone rang. The caller ID said Dan with one of the derpiest pictures Phil had taken during their Twitter creepshot war, so Phil was already smiling as soon as he hit ‘answer’.

“Did you hand it in?” Dan asked immediately, as soon as the ringing tone stopped.

Phil let out a loud sigh. “Do you have so little faith in me?”

“I don’t know, with the panic you were in earlier I had no idea,” Dan defended himself.

Phil couldn’t even be mad. He was already smiling just from hearing Dan’s voice, and he caught himself pressing his phone tighter to his ear, as if that would somehow make Dan be closer. “Yes, I handed it in.”

“I knew you could do it.” Dan sounded smug. “And you were sooo stressed about it.”

“I’m the one who’s entire life is dependent on this going well,” Phil grumbled. “I think I can be allowed to stress.”

“Of course, you’re absolutely right, stress is of course allowed.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“Would I do that?” Dan chuckled. “Have you packed?”

“Staring at my suitcase right now,” Phil promised, settling on sliding the Stephen King book back into its bookshelf. He wouldn’t need it in London when there was a Dan to keep him occupied.

Dan made an odd sort of squealing noise down the line.

Phil grinned. “Same.”

“I’m going to be waiting on the platform when your train gets in,” Dan promised, and there was so much eagerness in his tone that it made Phil’s chest tug.

Every the practical one, though, Phil answered gruffly, “Isn’t that impossible? You won’t have a ticket, the barriers—”

“Do you think barriers can stop Daniel Howell,” Dan scoffed. “Speaking of which, we should talk about what might happen.”

Phil arched a brow. “That sounds serious.”

“It is, kind of.”

Phil stepped away from the suitcase in favour of settling down on his sofa cushions, feeling the sofa groan as it took his weight. Everything in this flat was old – he’d been here almost four years, it was tired and full of nothing but his student life. Hardly a home, really.

Home was the other person on the phone.

“I’m just aware that there may be… people on the platform who might… recognise us.” Dan sounded sheepish, a little nervous even, but his words were a bit of a relief to Phil. Phil had been imagining all sorts of bad scenarios from the moment Dan said it was serious – like, hey Phil, actually I don’t want you to come to London at all, see you never again!

But that didn’t seem to be the case. Dan would probably laugh at him if Phil admitted to even thinking that in the first place.

“Oh.” Phil sighed, but tried to keep the levels of relief in his voice fairly normal. “Well. Ok then.”

“That’s all you’ve got to say?” Dan was torn between sounding amused and annoyed.

“Well, what do you want me to say?” Phil scratched at his hair. “I mean, I’m kind of used to the idea that being around actual Dan Howell means people are going to stare.”

“But are you ok with that?” Dan sounded concerned, more than Phil had been expecting. “I mean – we haven’t properly talked about it.”

“We can talk about it tonight, if you like.”

“That’s a bit late.” Nerves were evident in Dan’s tone. “I mean, like, we’ll have already been seen out in public, probably. But I really want to meet you at the station.”

Phil deliberated over that for a while, considering what Dan was really getting at. A part of Phil wanted to tease Dan for thinking he was important enough to be spotted even on a quick trip out to a train station, but the other part of Phil knew that Dan was probably right – hardly a day passed when Dan wasn’t getting photographed with some fan on Twitter.

Phil wasn’t jealous. Not really.

He also wanted Dan to meet him at the station.

“We can talk about it tonight,” Phil decided. “And you can meet me at the station. Nothing too bad can happen between the station and your place, right?”

“...Right,” Dan agreed after a moment, if a little hesitantly. “You’re sure?”

“Positive,” Phil said, a lot more decisively than he felt.

---

The closer the train got to London, the more Phil’s nerves increased, until he felt rather like there was some kind of giant fluff monster trying to fight its way out of his stomach. Leaning his head against the cool window helped to settle his nausea some, but Phil was still feeling distinctly less than well as the train started to slow on its approach into the station.

Dan would be waiting there. On the platform, if he had indeed managed to wangle his way past the security barriers without a ticket (Phil wouldn’t put it past him, that face of his was annoyingly charming). Either way, very shortly Phil would be back in Dan’s space, and he was – honestly, he was terrified.

It had never felt this difficult in Manchester. There, Phil was at home, he’d never been the one to move into Dan’s world. No, Dan had always been the one visiting Phil, invading his spaces with his breezy charm and hasty personality, eyes dark and usually glittering with some annoying plot or other. Phil had got used to it, having Dan around, and not having him around left this awful ache that just kind of congealed inside Phil’s chest.

But this – travelling to Dan’s space, preparing to see him again – this was also just terrifying. Phil knew, logically, that he was being irrational – this was still just Dan, after all, his Dan – but that didn’t stop him from rolling around in nerves. Dan was Daniel Howell, so far out of his league it was basically a joke. Surely in these few weeks apart, Dan would have realised that he could have so much more than Phil could give.

He told you you’re enough, Phil reminded himself. He just wished that was easier to believe.

The train pulled to a halt. Phil got shakily to his feet (his knees were actually trembling, what was this), scooped up his rucksack, and joined the throng of people battling their way off the train and onto the platform. He felt awkwardly tall, as ever, and wished for Dan to be there to at least match his ridiculous height.

It took what felt like ages to get off the train, with all the commuters going to London, and the platform was crowded when Phil finally stepped down onto the concrete. The noise of the crowds sounded like a faded buzz to Phil, though, who was already scanning the crowd for another awkwardly tall, fringe-bearing human who would probably be lurking in a dark corner somewhere.

Sure enough, one glance around the station revealed a black-clad figure sequestered away under the stairs, near the lift. Phil was breaking into a smile before he realised. Dan looked just the same as ever – his Dan, not the Dan that appeared in TV interviews. No, this Dan had his head down and his fringe falling into his eyes, his shoulders bent in posture almost as bad as Phil’s own, hiding away from the crowds other than quick darting looks he sent towards the train.

One on such quick darting look, he caught sight of Phil. Phil’s smile widened instantly, and he lifted one hand in an awkward half-wave. It was different, seeing Dan here, in public when they were deliberately meeting. It made Phil almost… shy.

Dan, it seemed, had no such qualms. The minute he caught sight of Phil, he was striding across the platform with purpose in his steps, but a smile just gracing the corner of his lips. Phil reached for him automatically as soon as he was close enough, but their conversation earlier was enough to make him hesitate – what if there was someone watching? So in the end, Phil ended up just kind of tugging on the edges of Dan’s sleeves in lieu of actually holding his hand.

Dan grinned and tugged on Phil’s sleeve in return. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Phil was a bit breathless. “Wasn’t sure you’d charm your way onto here.”

“Never doubt my charms,” Dan admonished him, giving another tug on Phil’s sleeve. He was smirking, that stupid expression that made him look arrogant, but Phil could read the slight nerves dancing behind his eyes.

Phil could understand that.

“You’re ridiculous,” Phil ended up telling him. “And a pain, and I thought I’d never see you again.” He tugged once more at Dan’s sleeve, and then took one more step forward, right into Dan’s space. They weren’t touching, but Phil could finally breathe him in again, cement the fact that this was somehow real.

Dan was smiling, holding back a grin if the tightness to the edges of his mouth was anything to go by. He ducked his head a bit, nudging in closer, and murmured, “Of course you’d see me again, you spork.”

“I don’t know,” Phil confessed quietly. “Figured you’d have found someone more your level down here in the big city.”

“Better than you northerners,” Dan agreed, but he tightened his grip on Phil’s sleeve anyway. “Come on. I want to take you home.”

Phil could feel the tightness in his chest already receding just at those words. That fluff monster of nerves that had been trying to fight its way out of his stomach all day finally disintegrated, slowly, leaving him relaxed and feeling secure again.

So, with another deep breath, Phil reached out and took Dan’s hand in his own.

He felt Dan startle a bit, saw the way Dan turned his head with a questioning glance to Phil, but Phil just nodded his head firmly. “Home. Take me there.”

A beat of silence followed, but then Dan’s face relaxed into his open, easy, crinkly-eyed smile – Phil’s favourite. “Alright. Home.”

He kept his hand in Phil’s as he led him out of the station.

---

In all the nerves about getting to London and seeing Dan again, Phil had kind of… forgotten that Dan had a flatmate.

Tyler Oakley was larger than life, bouncing around the room like an excited weasel and leaving a whirlwind of order in his wake. The kitchen was so clean it almost sparkled, the sofa cushions were plumped and soft and arranged with aesthetic looking cushions, and the whole place smelled like flowers and lemon.

Phil blinked upon walking in, and then turned straight to Dan. “There is no way this is your doing.”

Dan looked vaguely affronted, which honestly just made the whole thing better.

Tyler shook Phil’s hand enthusiastically upon meeting him, looked him up and down in a way that made Phil shift a bit uncomfortably, and then turned to Dan with an approving nod. “I give you leave to like him.”

“Bit late for that,” Dan answered wryly, giving Phil’s hand in his a squeeze. “But thanks.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Phil added stupidly, and then wanted to burst into embarrassed flames.

Tyler, thankfully, just smirked at him with that odd thin-lipped smile, eyes twinkling. “And if you can put up with Dan for multiple hours when he’s working on set, then I know you’re already a saint, so.”

“I am not that bad,” Dan huffed.

“No?” Tyler turned to Phil. “Did he do that thing to you where he fell asleep in random inconvenient spaces?”

Phil arched a brow. “Yes, actually. In my bookshop.”

Tyler sent Dan a triumphant look. “And get you out walking at random hours so he wouldn’t have to be lonely?”

“I got many 5am calls,” Phil agreed with a heavy sigh.

“I hate you both,” Dan announced. “Officially.”

“Ooh, we’re terrified.” Tyler winked at Phil, and then proceeded to flick the hob on.

Tyler was a good cook, to add to his many talents, and he didn’t mind wittering on about nothing important while Dan and Phil curled up together on the sofa. Phil listened occasionally, feeling a bit bad about ignoring someone he’d only just met, but it was hard to focus on Tyler’s stories about stage make-up when he had Dan crawling rather determinedly into his lap.

“Do you mind,” Phil grumbled, but Dan just hushed him and got settled a bit more comfortably.

“There,” Dan said, with great satisfaction, and laid his head on Phil’s lap.

Phil pretended to grumble for a moment more, but he couldn’t keep it up for long when Dan was wriggling about and warm and here. They were in the same space again, and Dan had wasted absolutely no time crawling back into Phil’s space, attaching them together firmly and simultaneously quieting all of Phil’s fears that this wouldn’t last, that he wouldn’t be enough.

It didn’t take long for Phil’s fingers to find their way into Dan’s hair, which only made Dan melt more against him. When Tyler next turned around, it was to find the two of them cuddled up close, hands held, Dan’s head in Phil’s lap, Phil leaning down over him with the softest little smile on his face.

Tyler smiled at both of them, and went back to cooking dinner.

Having Dan back in his space was the best thing Phil had ever felt. He’d known he’d missed Dan, but it hadn’t quite felt as real or visceral as this before. When he had Dan’s hair under his fingers, Dan’s breath warm against his wrist, the warm weight of Dan’s torso sprawled across his lap, it was hard to remember what the empty space without him there had felt like. The unsettling ache that had burned its hole into Phil’s chest was placated somewhat when he had Dan so close.

Even when they ate, Dan made sure to keep touching Phil whenever was possible – a brush of the shoulder, a quick grip to his finger between courses (because Tyler was ridiculous and had cooked a full four courses, despite Dan insisting it wasn’t necessary, Tyler said he wanted a proper greeting for Dan’s Boyfriend). Phil appreciated it, even if the way Tyler’s gaze lingered on the two of them occasionally made him uncomfortable.

Phil tried to put it to the back of his mind. It was easier to do that than he’d imagined, what with Dan still insisting on lying on him at every possible opportunity.

The meal went well, and Tyler was surprisingly easy to get along with. At first, Phil found his brash, quick nature a bit difficult to get along with, but Dan and Tyler had a sort of easy banter that it was easy to listen to, so Phil fit himself in around that (and tried not to get jealous of how easily Tyler was able to tease Dan. Phil wanted to do that, too).

They cleared up together, but then Dan tugged at Phil’s hand rather determinedly and turned to Tyler, saying rather firmly, “We’re going to my room now.”

Tyler arched a brow at the both of them. “Will I need earplugs?”

Phil sputtered, but Dan spoke over him smoothly enough. “Don’t be a shithead.”

Tyler shook his head, backing up a bit to wave them on through. Phil did everything he could not to meet his eyes. He was sure his cheeks had gone a disgusting red colour, but Dan was still tugging on his hand, so he felt slightly more sheltered than before. Besides, he was quite looking forward to curling up with Dan without worrying about what Tyler was doing.

Heading into Dan’s room was oddly familiar, if only from the background to many skype calls. Phil instantly recognised the black and grey pillows on his bed (so depressing and so typically Dan trying to be cool), the soft fluffy blanket he had thrown carelessly across his bed sheets, the shelf in the corner of the room that housed many anime DVDs as well as a few of Dan’s own films.

Phil grinned a bit when he saw them. “A fan of yourself, are you?”

“Shush, someone has to buy them,” Dan grumbled. He’d already sprawled himself across his bed and was making grabby hands at Phil, accompanied by a pathetic little whining noise.

Phil bit his lip to try and hide his grin. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“Stop being a dick and get over here,” Dan grumbled. “It’s been ages.”

Phil would have argued, but he was really itching to be back with Dan again too, so he just let out a put-upon sigh and crawled up onto the bed with Dan. Dan immediately attached himself to Phil, which was really quite ridiculous seeing as they were both tall lanky humans who didn’t really fit, but Dan was insistent and Phil wasn’t complaining.

They ended up a tangle of limbs, Dan sprawled mostly on top of Phil with his head nestled on Phil’s chest, just over Phil’s heartbeat. Phil wrapped both his arms around Dan’s back and squeezed, placing his face into Dan’s hair for just a moment.

“Missed you,” he confessed, which made Dan give a little wriggle against him.

“Missed you too,” Dan answered in his softest inside voice. Looking down at him, it was hard for Phil to imagine this as the same human who’d been smooth and suave in an interview on TV just a few days ago.

This Dan and Daniel Howell didn’t always match up in Phil’s head.

But he would learn. And besides, Phil really quite liked this Dan, so he squeezed him tight again and nestled his face into Dan’s hair.

“You’ve done nothing but cling at me since I got here,” Phil remarked casually into Dan’s hair.

Dan made some kind of muffled snorting noise into his shirt. “Are you complaining?”

“Never.”

“Good.”

Phil chuckled softly, jostling Dan a bit, and squeezed him close.

Dan blinked up at him, a question furrowing his brow. “So earlier, at the station, what did you mean?”

Phil tilted his head. ���Uh, you might have to be a bit more specific?”

“When you said you thought you’d never see me again.”

Phil bit his lip. “Oh. That.”

“Yeah.” Dan shoved at him. “That. I wanted to ask you all through dinner, but—”

“Tyler,” Phil supplied wryly.

“Tyler.” Dan agreed. “So what did you mean?”

Phil let out a sigh. He debated for a moment just how honest to be, how much he should let Dan in. But Dan had already seen everything of him – and Phil had literally travelled across the country for him. It should be safe enough, shouldn’t it? Phil should feel secure enough to say this.

And the odd thing was, he did. With Dan there, back in his arms, it was much easier to feel secure.

“I don’t know,” Phil finally murmured. “I just – when you were in Manchester, right there every day, it was easy to think about this. About you. But when you were gone—”

“Are you saying you never thought about me when I was gone?” Dan demanded indignantly.

“No, no, of course not – I mean – you were always on my mind, but in a bad way.”

Dan squawked.

“Not bad bad,” Phil hastened to rescue the conversation. “I mean like – it was hard to imagine it had happened at all when you weren’t there.”

Dan tilted his head up enough to send Phil a hard stare.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Phil defended himself. “It was easy to imagine you never looking at me twice again, you’re actual Dan Howell.”

Dan continued to stare at him, though the look had turned into one of consideration. Thoughtfully, he answered, “We really need to work on your insecurities.”

“Thanks,” Phil grumbled gruffly.

“And you’re an idiot,” Dan added casually as if Phil hadn’t spoken. “Do you really think I could look at anyone else when you’re just sitting around in the north waiting for me?”

Phil hid a smile in Dan’s hair. “It just didn’t seem believable when you were on TV instead of sprawled all over my lounge.”

“I do not sprawl.”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Not sprawling,” Dan grumbled, even as he shifted to be more comfortably settled on top of Phil.

Phil chuckled, squeezing his arms tight around Dan’s body. “If you say so.”

“Can you be quiet now,” Dan mumbled into Phil’s shirt, wriggling and stretching out and burying his face more firmly into Phil’s shirt. “Only get to have you here for so long, would rather not spend that time together bickering.”

“So you want me to be a faceless lump for you to sprawl on,” Phil deadpanned, chuckling again when Dan whacked at him. He pressed his face back into Dan’s hair and breathed him in, and really, he wasn’t complaining about this either.

Dan was right, after all. They only had this weekend, and Phil would really like to just hide from the rest of the world for a little while and focus only on having Dan back in his space.

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