The X-Philes

Chapter 5

 "We'll check out as early as we can in the morning, so start packing your stuff tonight," Dan ordered. He couldn't believe he was following this stupid plan.

"Breakfast?"

Phil was laying on Dan's motel bed while Dan packed his clothes around him.

"We'll get something on the way. We don't have a moment to waste."

"Finally, something we can agree on," Phil announced dramatically.

Dan rolled his eyes.

"I don't know why you even followed me back in here. You have your own motel room."

"I'm bored," Phil whined.

"So turn on the tv and watch something," Dan dismissed.

Phil reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the remote.

"I meant in your room!"

"Too late," Phil smiled.

Dan paused his packing to wrestle the remote away from Phil.

"I'm bored," Phil whined again. Dan took a deep breath in and out, just like he'd learned in therapy.

"Fine. Go pack your things, and you can come back and we can watch something," Dan sighed.

"Okay!" Phil hopped off the bed and pulled his room key out of his pocket as he left Dan's room.

Dan finished packing his things and sat on the bed waiting to see if Phil would indeed come around knocking again. Unfortunately, he did.

Dan opened the motel door.

"You can sit in the desk chair," he instructed firmly.

Dan walked in front of Phil stopping at the desk and removing his leather jacket from the back and took it with him to the bed.

Phil pulled the chair up next to th bed so he'd have a good view of the television screen.

"What are we watching?" Phil asked.

"I don't know," Dan retorted.

"Can we make popcorn?"

"What on earth would lead you to believe I have unpopped popcorn in my room?" Dan asked.

Phil squinted.

"Unpopped?" he asked, suspicious.

Dan sighed. "Fine. Kitchen."

Phil eagerly jumped up from the chair and ran into the motel room's kitchen area, where he spotted a folded bag of smart food.

"Movie night!" he cheered.

Dan groaned.

Phil crossed in front of Dan's line of sight to sit back in the desk chair while Dan flipped through the channels.

"Yes!" Dan cheered under his breath.

Phil looked over at him, surprised. "I'm not used to you showing this much positive emotion," he mentioned with a wry smile.

"It's the X-Files," Dan gestured towards the tv with the remote.

"I see that," Phil smiled, eyes still on Dan.

"Iconic," Dan's whole body moved with the word.

Phil let out a quiet snort, eyeing Dan sitting criss-cross apple-sauce on the bed before turning to the tv screen.

"Do you think I'm like Mulder?" Phil asked after a while.

Dan snorted. "No."

"He believes in weird stuff too," Phil insisted. "Why don't you give me the time of day, but you like Mulder?"