dishonesty // egobang

13. dishonesty

dan woke up the next morning with a sharp pain overtaking his sides and jaw. arin responded quickly, dropping his pencil and rushing into the bedroom with painkillers and water in hand.

"nurse arin has medicine for what ails you, sir!" he spouted enthusiastically, trying to tug a smile out of dan. he smiled weakly and took his painkillers. arin sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for dan to start a conversation.

"what even happened last night? i just remember getting your nes from your dad."

"well, you kind of let my dad beat you to this state. barry told me you said you wouldn't leave without me so you stayed, but you couldn't hurt someone if you wanted to, so you took the beating." dan smiled and rubbed his face.

"sounds about like me." arin laughed and clasped his hands together in his lap.

"i hooked the nes up to the tv, and as soon as you feel like playing something, i've got the legend of zelda waiting on you." dan furrowed his brows before moving to stand.

he shuffled into the living room with arin close behind, periodically shoving his hands out to hold dan around the waist, and he would laugh and keep walking. they ended up on the couch staring at the tv screen before arin started to talk about what he'd done that morning.

"i bummed an elgato capture card off some dude this morning while you were asleep, and i've moved some
cords around and shit so we can record the screen and post it on youtube." dan scoffed and pulled a blanket into his lap.

"jesus. well, we'd better start then." arin looked puzzled.

"start what?"

"recording."

"it's not that-"

"hold that thought, i'm gonna get some cereal. be right back." dan stood and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders before walking into the joint kitchen to make some breakfast. arin bit his lip and turned the recording on, leaving dan to wonder why he started narrating and introducing himself to his phone's microphone.

"the hell you doin'?" arin ignored him.

"hello everybody, welcome to the first ever in history ever episode of game grumps!" dan hurried to pour his cereal and get back to the couch.

"wait, don't start without me!"

"already have!" arin moved his phone closer to his mouth. "that was dan. he's disabled as of now, got major diarrhea."

"i can hear you, asshat. wait for me before you go and intro-"

"danny get over here before i start playing without you."

dan shuffled over to the couch with a bowl of cereal in his hands and scooted as close as he could to arin so his phone would pick up both their voices.

arin explained the setup as dan played, telling whoever was watching how they planned on getting better equipment and moving into a bigger space.

"-and next time on game grumps, i'll tackle dan in a hug and break some more of his ribs." dan scoffed defensively and saved the game.

"come on arin, i'm already in a lot of pain sitting next to you."

"fine. ill kiss his hair and tell him he's a good boy." dan punched arin's shoulder.

"dude, that's so gay." arin turned the capture off and stopped the voice recording.

"i know. can't handle a lil' bromance?"

"bromance? that was barely romance as much as it was from a bro." arin faked crying as he stood up.

"awe, danny, but i love you!" dan laughed and wrapped himself tighter in his blanket.

"i know, buddy."

"get some rest, i have to work on a project after i edit this and you won't be very interested in it." dan agreed and laid down on the couch, pulled his phone out, and started scrolling. arin headed back to continue animating and editing at the kitchen table.

the next hour or so was quiet. dan was asleep and arin had moved his tablet to the couch at his feet, letting the tv play whatever show in the background.

dan's breath was slow and steady, but he'd get choked when he moved around or pulled the blanket up to his neck. he hadn't shaved in a couple weeks and he was a bit scruffy for his liking, but he was too lazy to actually do it. he couldn't really walk with his back straight, although he should've.

arin enjoyed times like this. it didn't really happen too often, so he made sure to make the most of what he could. he took breaks to shake the stiffness out of his hands, and when he did, he would make sure dan was okay, feeling his forehead and neck for any signs of a fever, he got a glass of water for him if he woke up, just anything he could think of to make his friend feel better.

after the fourth hour of dan's nap, arin decided to wake him up so he wouldn't stay up all night.

"danny?" arin tapped dan's shoulder a couple times. he didn't move.

"dan? come on bud, i did somethin' i want you to see." one of dan's eyes opened weakly.

"describe it."

"i can't, i want you to see it."

"that requires me to get up out of my comfy spot. i thought my comfort was above all else? you said it y-" arin shook his hands.

"no no no, look, this'll make you feel even better than you feel right now."

"hard to believe, but fine." arin smiled and helped dan stand up.

"we have to drive there, first." a wide smile stretched across arin's face and he couldn't seem to contain it.

sorry about the late update, i was busy all weekend planning a wedding shower for my cousin. here's the chapter, though!