Stray Cat

Chapter Fifteen

Phil woke with a smile on his face. He felt the Neko shift at his side, so he stretched and said, "Morning, you."

Dan sighed, sounding like he had been hovering on the edge of sleep. He seemed to struggle closer to awareness, shifting again so that he was facing Phil with his cheek pressed against a pillow. He had taken a shower before bed and his hair dried in an adorably tousled mass of curls. His cheeks were pink and he looked lovely as he smiled back. "Hello, you. What time is it?"

"Um, not sure." He hadn't set his alarm since they had decided to sleep in. Phil grabbed his glasses, more out of a desire to bring Dan's face into perfect focus – he could see Dan's freckles and the flecks of darker brown in his irises now – and then he grabbed his phone to check the time. "Just after 12, so time to get up. I really want to film something."

Dan's smile broadened. "That sounds good to me."

They got up and after dressing and taking turns getting ready in the bathroom, they then met in the kitchen for cereal. While eating, Dan asked, "So, do you know what you want to talk about in your video?"

"I think so," Phil nodded. "I don't like to script my videos because then what I say doesn't come across as natural. So, I just decide what I have to say, maybe note some talking points, and then I just decide the rest while I'm filming." Phil squirmed slightly in his seat at the thought of Dan watching him while he filmed; he had never let someone watch him film a video before. No one had ever asked to watch before. "It probably won't make much sense to you while you're watching. I'm going to be filming it in a few parts since I want to play another character. It won't all make sense until I bring it together in editing."

Dan seemed to be even more excited to hear this. "Could I watched how you edit it, too? You know, if that's okay..."

Phil nodded, his nervousness vanishing as he saw how eager Dan was to learn, and it made Phil happy to teach him. While Phil had always loved sharing his passion with people – the various friends he had pushed away with his Buffy obsession could attest to that – he had never had anyone ask him about YouTube before. YouTube was a passion he had almost forgotten, but he felt the flame of it rekindle as he saw Dan's eyes light up talking about it. Dan's enthusiasm was contagious.

Dan glanced at the notebook that Phil placed on the table when he came into the kitchen. It was black and said 'Death Note' on the cover. There was a second notebook underneath of it. "What's that? Is that where you wrote your talking points?"

"Yup. This one is where I put my video ideas, although since I wrote them in a Death Note the ideas will probably die," he said, pointing to the Death Note. Then he handed the second notebook to Dan. "This one is blank. It's for your video ideas."

Dan accepted the notebook in stunned silence. Then he saw the funky turtle on the cover, which was covered with sparkles and he arched an eyebrow.

Phil laughed and he felt his tongue stick out of the corner of his mouth. "I work in a stationary store. I get free stuff sometimes when it doesn't sell."

"I wonder why no one wanted to buy it." Dan flipped through it though, admiring the quality of the paper. He closed it and smiled. "Thank you. Can I see yours?"

Phil shifted, feeling his nervousness returning. "Maybe later. Spoilers, you know?"

Dan nodded. "You don't want to tell me what the video is about?"

"Actually, I already told you all about it. I'm filming a story-time video about a strange person I met. I have a series on my channel all about weird people who come up to me and say or do odd things. It's all thanks to the Lester Family Curse," he tried to infuse the last few words with a dramatic flair.