The next morning, Dan was marginally less lazy. He actually got up before dinner time, and did the dishes after. Charlotte thought it was an improvement, but he was still preoccupied. He was still nervous about what was going to happen.
"Hey Dan, are you feeling okay?" asked Charlotte, knocking on his bedroom door after he washed the dishes.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, "Just resting. I stayed up pretty late last night, you know."
Charlotte smiled. "Well, I noticed you had a DDR mat right over there, and I happen to be the Queen of Dance Dance. Would you mind helping me hook it up?"
Dan hadn't actually played the game yet. He'd planned on doing it once he got more into shape, but soon after Phil had happened. Now it just held bad memories. "Sure," he said. Honestly, he would agree to do anything Charlotte said. Something about her was just brilliant.
"Thanks!" she smiled that model smile.
She led him to the office, where the platform sat neglected in the corner. "Just into the living room, yeah?" he asked, moving aside the rolling desk chair and trying to ignore the fact that there were two chairs, ignore all the memories of DanAndPhilGAMES and Dil Howlter.
"Yeah. Are you gonna play?" she asked. Dan shrugged.
"I might. Depends." He was tired, per usual. Recently, he was always tired. Wake up, be tired. Eat lunch, tired. Drink six cups of coffee a day, be tired. Always tired. Maybe it was just a weird mind trick he was playing on himself. He could never be sure.
They somehow managed to maneuver the mat over into the living room without landing it on each other's toes or breaking it. After plugging it in, Charlotte elected to go first. As she'd said, she was pretty good, landing pretty much every single move. Of course, Dan knew he was good too. He had to accept this challenge.
As those who play competitive Japanese arcade games would know, time seems to fly when you're dancing like there's no tomorrow. Before they knew it, it was tomorrow, and Charlotte had to get ready for a performance in some artsy district nearby. Dan was a little sad to see her leave. It was nice having someone around.
He missed Phil.
