Misfit (Phan AU)

Chapter Twenty-Four

*Dan's POV* 

Adrenaline buzzed through my veins as I crept slowly along behind the retreating back of the man I'd been stalking all morning. I hesitated as he started to fade into the tree line, not wanting to be noticed before I got my chance to disappear into the shadows after him. The trees were so tall and the underbrush so thick it would successfully shield anything inside their walls from any potential onlookers, but until I got inside I would have to continue using caution.

It was the opportune moment that I'd been waiting for, one of the rare instances where this man didn't have people flocking his sides and pairs of eyes on him at all times. Anything that happened now, it'd be between the two of us alone, and I was more than confident that I was prepared for anything he had up his sleeve.

I grit my teeth in concentration before leaning forward and starting ahead into the bushes. I kept a wide berth from the path he'd chosen to take, intentionally putting a lot of space between us so something didn't go wrong and end in me getting noticed before I had the chance to act on what I'd hunted him down for in the first place.

It was only a few short paces before I found myself coming to an abrupt halt though, pausing at the edge of a clearing before walking out into the open, warily eyeing the space around me. Sure enough, it was a moment later before my target stepped out of the trees and started across the small field, giving me the perfect advantage with my element of surprise.

I moved to withdraw my sword, holding my breath the entire time like so much as a huff would alert him of my presence, when suddenly something much, much worse rang out loud enough to make my ears ring. It wouldn't really be an issue, considering it was outside of the game, but it was enough to make me jump, and thus swing my blade prematurely.

"Honey, I'm home!" Phil's shout announcing his return to the apartment was absolutely obnoxious, not just because of how loudly he'd said the words, but because of what they were and that stupidly cheerful tone he'd used whilst saying them.

My sword sunk into the flesh of the nearest tree trunk, alerting my prey I was there immediately (given how short a time it took him to whip out a transportation crystal and vanish into thin air to any one of the tens of towns in the vast game). I didn't doubt that he'd be back though, to hunt down whomever had tried to ambush him when he wasn't backed up by the rest of his party, and with them in tow I was doubtful I'd be able to get anywhere near him, likely not even in a bow's draw distance.

This really was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Phil had gone and messed it up for me. Though, come to think of it, why is that surprising?

I groaned, flopping back against my abundance of pillows in annoyance and throwing my hands up to rub them roughly across my face with irritation. The steady sounds of bags thudding to the floor, cupboard doors creaking, and Phil's general anthem of presence could be heard all the way from here, only working to drive me further into the frustrated mood he'd introduced.

He was far from quiet when he made his way around the house, his steps so heavy they produced thudding noises with each step, and his yowls of pain a near constant with how often he worked himself into some unlikely form of accident. These varied from stubbing his toe to knocking over entire bookshelves onto his back, but by some miracle none had resulted in hospitalization since the squirrel incident.

However, all of that was only amplified by hundreds when he was returning from going out somewhere without me. It was like nothing mattered more than making his presence known. At first I thought it was because he was worried about walking in on something uncomfortable, but recently I was beginning to suspect he just genuinely wanted my attention as soon as he walked through the door.