Eleutheromania ; Dan and Phil

002

Phil Lester had always watched Dan from afar.

Or, in this case, from the desk next to him.

He'd always been fascinated with him, and the way his scowl never seemed to leave his face and how he never paid attention to anything aside to what he viewed to be important.  Right now, what seemed to be important was coloring the front of his notebook black.

He watched for a while, but the teacher started her lecture and Phil turned his head to pay attention.

He nodded and smiled at the teachers facts and opinions but still managed to sneak a few glances at the progress Dan had made.

He was a single line away from finishing when the bell rang.  Dan quickly stacked up his things and fled the classroom.

Phil grabbed his notebook and his novel and scurried after him, having to walk extra fast through the thick mass of students that all flooded the hallways towards the sweet release from this not-so-sweet building.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, when he'd finally caught up.  "You looked kind of down so I figured I'd try and make conversation."

Dan rolled his eyes and sped a bit.  Phil wasn't surprised, but he felt a little rejected.  He sped up as well.

"I'm always down.  I don't need a conversation." Dan responded.  His voice sounded almost completely monotone with a hint of annoyance.  It made Phil feel uneasy, but, still, he pressed on, intent on helping him.

Phil's abilities were in the 'emotional' category, meaning he could toy with people's emotions to an extent, and his version of toying was changing them to fit their innermost desire.

The other categories included medical, ethereal, weather & climate, and destructive.

And Phil was intent on using his emotional abilities to make Dan enjoy himself again.

"Are you sure?" Phil insisted, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder.  Dan pulled away roughly, turning towards him with anger embedded in his expression.

"I don't want you to mess with my head." He grumbled, shoving Phil out of the way and entering his locker combination.

"I know how to help you, Dan." He begged, touching his shoulder again.  Dan moved away, and Phil started to wonder why he was even bothering.

"Good, now go use your knowledge on someone else." Dan snapped, slamming his locker shut and walking away.

Phil stood there for a moment, letting the crowd encompass him.  He only wanted to help.  Was that too much to ask?

With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart, he turned on his heel and started towards his locker.

--

When he arrived home, he had returned to being all smiles.  His mother and father were sitting on the couch and chatting, and the little goldfish on the counter was swimming around and breathing out bubbles like cigarette smoke.  Phil smiled and dumped a couple flakes in the bowl for her to eat, before retreating to the upstairs to start with his homework.

Within an hour, he had it completed.  Friday workloads generally weren't that big, depending on your teachers, and Phil happened to get lucky.

He put everything into their folders, organized by class.  He slipped the folders into his backpack and zipped it up, taking a moment to admire the galaxy pattern.

He fell back onto his bed with a grin and watched his ceiling fan spin in slow circles, casting a gentle wisp of cool through his bedroom.

He knew he had to help Dan Howell.

But how?