It's a Small... Universe? (Phan AU)

Chapter 11

"You wanna watch a movie?" Phil asked as soon as they had finished their dinner and washed up the dishes. He flounced over to a shelf near his television, sifting through the array of DVDs for various movies and shows. Dan came up beside him to aid in the search, and loosed a barely stifled squeal as his hand grabbed the Free! Season 1 box set. Phil jumped, startled by Dan's reaction, before he shakily laughed as he took in what Dan was holding.

"I have the little collection in my room, but the majority of my anime is here."  Phil gestured to the shelves on the other side of the screen. This side had two instead of the seven in front of them, but they were overflowing with anime DVDs. "I don't know when I put that one over there, it belongs in this spot," Phil said and poked his fingers in a tiny slot wedged between the second season of Free! and the final season of Black Butler.

"It's probably over here because there's absolutely no way it would have fit in its proper place," Dan giggled, trying to hide how excited he felt at the sight of Phil's abundance of anime and Ghibli films. The collection in Phil's room dwarfed in comparison to the assortment on these walls.  Phil didn't miss the childlike glint in his eyes, no matter how hard Dan tried to keep it concealed.

That night closely mirrored the first they spent together, except this time they stayed in the living room.  Film after film was played, seasons showing through to their finales, and Dan falling dead asleep after the stress of the day.  Phil was close behind, dully noting in his sleep drunk mind how adorable Dan looked when he was asleep.  Yeah, his neck might have been bent at a weird angle and there was a little stream of saliva dripping out of the side of his lip, but it didn't make him any less cute.  His face was completely relaxed in sleep, not a wrinkle or worry line present.  He looked soft, delicate, and just the right amount of squishy.  He wanted to commit the sight to memory, map it the way Dan had the stars.

In the back of his mind, he realized Dan had skipped stargazing two nights in a row.  Guilt clouded his thoughts for a moment, but was quickly smothered out when he glanced at Dan's peaceful face.  He probably needs the sleep.  And he looks too content to wake, anyway.  With that last thought, Phil was slumbering just as soundly as his companion.

-

Phil awoke to the smell of coffee. Still partially unconscious, he stretched and groaned, "Louise?" His eyes opened fully and everything was fuzzy, but he could make out Dan's blurred outline with a mug in one hand, glasses in the other. His fingers gripped around the glasses, sliding them up the bridge of his nose, and he almost wished he hadn't put them on.  Dan's face was almost pained, smile faltering and eyes looking like glass fogged over and spider-webbed with confusion.  "'Morning?" Dan said, puzzlement seeping into his voice and arm extending to hand him the coffee.  Phil took it cautiously.

Dan sat next to him on the couch, looking out of place as an awkward silence enveloped them.  Dan was the first to break it.  "Uhmm, can I ask who Lou-" "Sh-She's my sister?  I mean, yeah, my sister.  Back on earth right now," Phil rushed, too quick to be true.  Dan could tell it was a blatant lie, and he wanted nothing more than to let his curiosity take control and press for details.  But Phil's eyes were pleading, practically begging him not to continue, pain evident in their piercing blue depths.  He was smiling, but it more closely resembled a grimace from the strain he was internally undergoing.  So Dan, desperate to have a friend for the first time, accepted his explanation, promising himself, Later.  I'll ask him later.  We just need more time to get to know each other.

He decided it was worth the crippling curiosity as he watched relief flood Phil's eyes and his muscles practically melt as he let himself relax. Dan's gaze followed him as he quickly stammered, "I need to use the bathroom," and sprinted toward the bedroom. His mind, now left on its own, filled with speculations and conspiracies, but Dan shrugged them off and set up Mario Kart. He smiled up at Phil when he returned and handed him a controller, deciding to push the previous conversation to the back burner and continue as if everything was normal. Or, as normal as they could possibly be.

-

Another day of gaming went by, and Dan was perfectly happy. Though, he was constantly being attacked by his brain repeating a mantra of Who is Louise? What is Phil hiding? It didn't matter, not right now anyways.

Night had fallen and the boys realized they'd been so caught up, they hadn't eaten anything all day. If it weren't for the fact that both of their stomachs were audibly growling, they wouldn't have cared. But, they decided it was passed time they should eat, and scrounged together an interesting fruit and veggie mixture. It looked interesting, but tasted fine. And they were hungry enough to shove food in their mouths without really looking at it.

"Hmmph," Phil sounded with his mouth full and dripping. He quickly swallowed down his food and turned to Dan, flailing his arms to get the younger boy's attention and accidentally smacking him. "Ouch! Phil!" "I'm sorry! It's just, I forgot, there's this thing, and I think you'll love it! Come with me!" And with that, Phil grabbed Dan's hand, yanking him to his feet and pulling him to a door he hadn't been through yet.

"Ok, this is the library research area thing, but I wanted to show you-" Phil threw open the door, shooting his hand in an upward arch to gesture at the ceiling "-This!" Dan let his eyes take in the room. It was dusty looking, as if it hadn't been used in years, and filled completely with shelves upon shelves of books. In the center of the room was an enormous, circular desk that looked almost like a donut with a bite out of the side, creating a space for someone to sit in the center. The confusing part was the chair in the middle.

It was a perfect circle with no back, looked large enough for three or four people to lay across it, and was probably the fluffiest thing on the entire planet. That wasn't really saying much, there were few fluffy things on the planet, but still. It resembled a fuzzy marshmallow. And when Dan's gaze travelled upward, the reasoning behind this was suddenly crystal clear.

The roof, the entirety of it in this room, was made of glass. He could see the night sky, all the stars lighting the area, planets near this one and those far, far away, galaxies across the blanket of night. The view was completely unobstructed, and despite the dirty state of the room, the glass pane was untouched and untarnished. It took his breath away.

"Phil, this is absolutely stunning. You're amazing. I just have one question." Phil chuckled, "Of course you do." "How come I couldn't see it from outside? Like why isn't this huge glass panel sat in the ground visible from out there?"

Phil laughed and shook his head. "This isn't glass. I honestly don't know what it is, we found the material on this planet, but it can camouflage into its surroundings. I don't know how or why, but I think it's pretty neat." Dan didn't know how to react to this information, especially not the use of the word "we," but he was to enraptured by the sky to really pay attention to that at the moment.

He hurdled the desk, flopping down onto the central chair and sighing as he took in the stars above him. Phil was quick to join him, and there was somehow plenty of room for the two lanky, six-foot boys. They later there together, ear to ear grins encompassing their features. Dan rambled on and on about the stars, planets, moons, comets as one sped by, and anything else he could think of. And Phil listened, happy to be in his company, happy to have someone to sit with and talk to. He knew that it was the same for the both of them.

They were happy to have a friend.

As Dan's ranting trailed off into quiet whispered, he turned his head toward Phil. Phil had already been facing him, mesmerized by the joy in Dan's eyes and the sound of his voice and the hurried way his lips moved, like they couldn't get the words out fast enough.

"Phil?" Dan tentatively began. Phil hummed in reply, nodding for Dan to go on. "I think- no, I know. You're my best friend." The smile tugging on Phil's tired lips broadened, eyes crinkling with its intensity. "You're my best friend, too, Dan." With eyes slipping shut and hands brushing to meet one another, Dan softly uttered one last thing before sleep overtook him, the highlights of these past few days outweighing the bad, the time spent with Phil making him dizzy with joy.

"This is the most fun I've ever had."

A/N: Ok guys, I'm about to start back up at school, so whatever shambles of a schedule I have are going to most likely be thrown further askew than they probably already are. I'll try my best to stick to the whole two to three day thing I've got going on, but I can't make any promises until I have a sound schedule. Thanks so much for your patience with me, for telling me your thoughts, for voting, and especially for reading! I hope you're enjoying this story so far!