untitled // phan

oblivion

oblivion // chapter six

"Please read some of what you wrote to me. If you want. I want to understand what you're talking about."

Dan stared Phil in the eyes, brown eyes meeting blue ones. "No."

"Pretty please," Phil begged, and chuckled a bit. But Dan just shook his head. He couldn't do this.

"No... I... No."

"How will you deal with strangers reading your work when you can't even read it to me?"

"That's... That's different. I can hide in my apartment so I don't have to face their reactions. And they don't know me personally. They don't know who exactly I am, or even what I look like, probably."

"I'll be nice, I promise."

"Phil..."

"Only a bit. Please."

Dan sighed. "Only a bit?" He couldn't believe he said that, but Phil nodded excitedly.

"Yes, that's more than fine."

Dan groaned and got up from the sofa. He walked into his bedroom to get his laptop and within less than a minute, he was sat next to Phil again.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Dan wasn't exactly comfortable, one could say. But he opened up his laptop and searched through his files anyway because his fear of disappointing Phil was much bigger.

"I... I'm honestly not sure what to read to you," he mumbled, but Phil just smiled reassuringly.

"Is there anything specific you're working on at the moment?"

"Yeah... kind of."

"Just read that. If you want."

Dan sighed. "Alright."

He opened up the document of the novel he'd been working on recently, the one with Michael as the main character. Dan bit his lip, not sure if he should read it. Maybe he could read out the part before he comes in... no, that'd be a little boring.

"This, uh... it's a novel kind of thing I've been working on lately. It isn't that good yet, but..."

"Go ahead," Phil said and once again smiled reassuringly.

"Alright," Dan said again and cleared his throat. Here we go, he thought, nervously biting his lower lip before he started and taking a deep breath.

"I've been trying to find the right metaphors, but he makes it impossible to find them. And I'm good at those. I know that.

"It's quite frustrating, actually. Just take his eyes. They're bluer than any sky I've ever seen, brighter than any diamond could ever shine - they're unlike anything I've ever laid my eyes on, and if you asked me to drown in them, I'd do so without a second thought.

"They can sparkle like the stars in a clear summer night when the flames of passion burn through him. And I want to take a picture of it, but no photograph could ever do justice to what he looks like when he's standing right in front of me.