Five Nights At Howell's

That's All Iconic, My Friend

'god, no Phil. I'm not doing that with you'
'but come on! Going up on a stage could be fun!'
'what if we go up and no one's there, or no one cares?'
'but they will care!'
'Phil, what do we do if we can't find a place to do this show?'
'but already talked to a few places in London and I found some openings available in the Americas.'
'you already thought this through, haven't you?'
'yes! Wanna hear the starting song?'
'are we singing it?'
'of course we are... 

Phil breaks out into song...

'whenever I'm alone...
Or if I'm feeling grey...
There's one place I can go to brighten up my day...'

'i refuse to sing with you.'

Phil's still singing...

'but wouldn't it be better if I...
Could sing it with a friend...??'

'alright fine whatever I'll sing along too...'

'thanks for agreeing to this Dan...

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

                                                           --∆--

'why do you always wear cat whiskers? We don't always wear the whiskers, do we Phil?'
'what whiskers?'

                                                          --∆--

)
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  °)
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    (°-°)
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'hi. My name is [Dan]'

'hello I am Phil and I hope you are all so pleased to be a part of my video.

See this monkey, it is in a cage. I bought it for my mum.'

                                                        --∆--

'CAN WE PLEASE GET A HAMSTER??'
'NO, PHIL.'
'CAN we get a dog?'
'I am NoT tAkInG cArE oF a DoG.'
'CAN WE PRETTY PLEASE GET A DOG?'
'Our landlord won't let us, Phil. It's in the contract.'
'THEN LET'S MOVE OUT!'
'PHIL! YOU EVEN KILLED YOUR PREHISTORIC FISH SHRIMP THINGS, HOW WILL YOU CARE FOR A DOG!?!'

Both Dan and Phil laughed and Phil continues to argue with Dan...

                                                        --∆--

*Dan's casually talking to YouNow*
'yeah well..'
*Dan falls off his chair*
'no. Shut up. Don't laugh at me'

*Dan casually talked to his YouNow*
'Phil? Is that the pizza?'
'yeah.'
'YES! I NO LONGER HAVE TO TALK TO YOU GUYS! PEACE.'

'I am not going to clean you guys. Why has this become a thing?'
*Phil laughed as the YouNow comments tell him to 'clean us daddy'*
'fine. I will clean you. But don't call me daddy, it's not appropriate'
*Phil smiles at something behind the camera*

                                                         --∆--

(A few days previous to the kidnapping...)

"Dan?"
"Yes Phil?"
"Do you... Nevermind."
"Do I what Phil?"
"Nothing. Wanna play Mario Kart?"
"I'll kick your... Yeah. Let's play. Dan vs. Phil?"
"Nah. Not today."
"Let's get it on!"

"YOU'RE CHEATING DAN!"
"I PROMISE IM NOT CHEATING!"

Both of the boys laugh and continue playing video games.

"You know Phil, I sometimes wonder what I would have done with my life if I hadn't met you. I wonder if I would even be here... Alive. Not to be sad or anything. You know you've really changed my life, right?"

"Of course, I realize that. I watched you grow up from that sixteen years old boy, up into the adult you are now. I wouldn't give anything to take that back, ever."

"I'm Glad I had someone like you, Phil. I really am. I'm no longer that sad boy who didn't have any friends. I have you and YouTube and so much more in my life, but none of it would have happened if I hadn't become Phil's Trash #1."

"True. True.
Are you going soft on me Howell? If you are I may finally beat you!"
"Never Lester. Game on."

                                                           --∆--

"Dan! Dan! Wake up Dan! Stop screaming, please!"

"Jesus Christ, Daniel. WAKE UP!"

"IM SORRY! I- I'm sorry. I'm u- up. I'm sorry I w- woke you two."
"Please stop crying. You're ok, I promise. You're ok."

"Dan, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Jason, nice of you to ask..."

Sarcasm filled Dan's voice just before he broke down again and Phil wrapped his arms around his back, pulling Dan into his neck.
They sat like that for a good half hour, Phil running his fingers through Dan's hair and Dan breathing in Phil's scent. They stayed up in that position until Dan was completely calm and ready to go back to sleep. When Dan was nearly asleep, Phil layed him down into the bed and covered him with the blanket. Phil stood, one hand still intertwined with Dan's hand, and slowly walked away.

Dan had come up just an hour after Phil had come upstairs and was laying on the floor next to the wall when Phil saw him. The clock then read 7:37 am. It now read 2:49 pm. Phil had left the bed and put Dan in it when he noticed Dan a few hours before.

"Does he do that often?"

Jason whispered loud enough for Phil to hear buy not loud enough for Dan to wake from.

"For a few years it was really bad. He would pace until three am and then I would find him staring into the window, wide awake but completely dead inside. It was scary, I eventually got him medicine to sleep, but the pills made Dan worse. He started getting these nightmares, and he couldn't wake up from them because he was so knocked out from the medication. He would scream and scream, but he never told me what was causing it. A few months ago they stopped, or so I thought. My they hadn't, Dan just got better at not screaming."

"That's... I'm sorry to hear he's had such a rough time."

"He's was worse during the day though. I know the fire scarred him badly. Coming out the only one alive, people say it's a miracle, but he had to live with the fact that his parents weren't coming back, that he would never see Adrian again. I don't know how to make him better? I don't think I could make him better."

"I'll tell you this, he sure seemed comfortable in your arms. Maybe you don't have to try so hard, Phil."

"Maybe, maybe not. It's hard to say. I'm going to go downstairs and make something to eat. I don't mind if you continue to talk to me, but we need to leave the upstairs so Dan can sleep. He'll sure need it for tonight."

"Yes, let's go downstairs. Phil? Do you think, one day not today or soon, but do you think Dan would be opposed to meeting me as a real person one day?"

"Hard to say, Jason. It's hard to say."

July 5, 2017