Dan & Phil: Not of This Earth

25 | 20 Years a Secret Held

Word Count: 1821

     Clicking on the link immediately transferred the user to Phil's video. The video started out with a black screen, slowly fading until a lanky adult was seen sitting in Dan and Phil's place. He wore a plain, dark blue t-shirt under an open black button up. It was adorned with the eclipse from Dan's t-shirt as an embroidery over Phil's gem placement. His skinny jeans were black as usual.

     Gentle curls and soft waves of dark chocolate topped his head. There were loose curls against his forehead, reminiscent of bangs that flowed in the same direction as the Phil Fringe but weren't exactly a fringe.

     He waved at the camera with two fingers and his thumb. "Hey, Internet!" He let himself laugh a little, his tongue sticking between his teeth. "I know you were probably thinking of this video as something else, hence the duvets under my butt." He popped himself off the bed to reveal he was sitting crossed-legged. His socks were briefly visible. One was grey with corgis and the other was black with blue shark silhouettes.

     "I am Dilion Jamechal Howlter." He paused. "Yes, I'm real – I am not an actor. There's an explanation for this, I promise. It's just a matter of whether or not you're willing to believe me." He put a hand on his chest. "Us."

     "I am the literal embodiment of Dan and Phil; I am both Dan and Phil but I am entirely my own person." His expression fell with his eyes. After silently gulping, Dil returned his gaze to the camera. "How? Well, they're not human. For as long as you've been watching Dan and Phil, whether it be these last 20 wonderful years or these last two weeks, they haven't been telling you everything. Everyone is entitled to their privacy, and they've tried to keep this especially private.

     "There is a distinct possibility that after this video is posted, we might be taken by the government for God-knows-what. As aliens from a very distant world with other-worldly powers, that's a common fear they've had since...forever, basically.

     "After 20 years," he blinked, brown and blue washing over his green irises, "We've decided to tell you the truth." He closed his eyes and he was soon replaced by a bright white light. A heart shape was visible over the left portion of his chest and four points could be seen behind it. The white split into two separate blobs, the heart and four-point star separating. Dan and Phil were soon materialized in front of the camera.

     Phil offered a timid wave as Dan kept himself occupied with something on the floor to his right. Although it wasn't blatantly clear, they were holding hands out of the camera's view. Dan was still horrified at what they were doing, so this physical connection was the only thing keeping him from completely falling apart.

     "This isn't something I – we – wanted to keep from you guys but it was for our own safety."

     "Better late than never..." Dan commented, lifting his fingers to his lips. He still hadn't made eye-contact with the camera.

     Phil found himself staring at Dan, his auburn eyebrows knitted in concern for his friend. His thumb softly skimmed Dan's knuckles before he faced the camera again. "We're an alien race known as Gems. We're essentially physical light emitted from gemstones. 

     "As there are human races, there are Gem types. So, I'm a black opal and Dan is an obsidian. And, if we hadn't begun integrating ourselves into human society, we'd still be going by," he pointed to himself, "Black Opal," he pointed to Dan, "and Obsidian." Phil let his hand hit his jeans then. "Well, I suppose Dan would still be 'Dan.'"

     Dan nodded. He finally let his hand drift from his mouth and he looked into the camera lens. "It was what I preferred on Homeworld – although few respected it. Phil was one of the only Gems that did. The weirdo even knew about it without me saying a word to him."