"In here," Dan said, leading Phil into the bathroom of his house. He grabbed a bottle of peroxide, a cotton ball, and a box of band aids.
Phil stood to the side as Dan put some peroxide on the cotton ball before turning to Phil. Dan gently brushed Phil's hair to the side with his hand and began dabbing the peroxide onto the scratch. Once it was clean, he applied a band aid.
"Thanks." Phil smiled. "Dunno what I'd do without you."
Dan rolled his eyes. "It's basic first aid." Phil laughed and followed Dan to his room.
Dan set up his Mario Kart game and handed Phil a controller. After a while, Phil got frustrated. "How are you so good at this? I'm better than everyone in my house and you beat me every time!"
Dan laughed. "Well I don't have much else to do."
"What do you mean?" Phil seemed concerned.
"I mean, I don't really have anything to do other than homework and play video games."
"You don't like to go for walks or see any friends? Nothing?"
"No. I don't really have friends and I don't like going outside."
"Well....you have a friend now, I mean, if you consider me a friend." Phil smiled.
Dan stared at him for a moment. "I guess I do, I mean, it'd be weird to have someone in my house who wasn't a friend."
"You should come 'round my house sometime too."
Dan tensed up when he heard that. He wasn't sure Phil's parents would be as kind to him as their son was. He was a neko after all, and werewolves usually didn't think they were anything but a target.
"Dan?" Phil sounded a bit worried. Dan realized he'd been silent for about an entire minute. He went to respond, but Phil interrupted him with a question.
"Why do you wear your beanie to hide your ears inside your own house? And your tail, you don't show that either?"
"Oh, no, normally I...well...it felt weird to show them with someone from school over." Dan felt ashamed. He was worried Phil took it as an insult, thinking Dan was still convinced he'd hurt him.
"Oh, okay," Phil said gently, "Well, you don't have to hide them around me, if you don't want to. I mean, I don't hide my wolf ears and my tail from you, right?"
Dan stared at him for a second before laughing. "Yeah, good point, but you haven't had yours hidden from the start."
"Well I wish yours hadn't been hidden from the start either. Why do you hide them anyway? I thought it was to stop bullies, but it doesn't seem to help."
"The wolves used to grab me by the ears or tail and pull. This makes it harder for them to do that."
Phil frowned. "I won't let them do that anymore. If you ever want to show your ears and tail I mean."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'd rather die than take that chance. They'll just do it while you're not looking, like the shit they did today."
"I won't make that mistake again, I'm on guard all day at school from now on."
Dan laughed. "Thank you, knight in shining armor." He rolled his eyes. Despite his sarcastic remark, he did feel better, and removed his beanie while letting his tail out from under his shirt.
"I have one more question, if it's okay," Phil said a bit nervously. Dan nodded his approval. "Where are your parents? I mean, I don't know what jobs they have, but most people seem to be home by this time of day. Is everything okay?"
"Um, yeah, they work a lot. I don't really see my dad much, he gets home late from seeing friends after work, and leaves early in the morning. I see Mum in the morning and sometimes before I lay down at night."
"You must get lonely."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Do you eat dinner alone?"
"Yeah."
"Do you want to come to my place for dinner tonight? I could call my mum and make sure it's alright, and I'd walk you home after to make sure you're safe." Phil seemed nervous asking. Dan was surprised, he hadn't really thought Phil would want to be around him for long after he realized how much of a loser Dan was.
"Yeah, okay, sounds good." Dan reached for his beanie again.
"You don't have to wear that you know, it's dark out and my parents are nice, I promise."
Dan stood for a minute, thinking about it. "I'll bring it along in my pocket."
"Alright, if you feel scared and need to put it on, I'll be there."
Dan smiled as they left his house.
