Dan & Phil Oneshots

Ignite (Part 1)

Inspired by K-391 and Alan Walker's music video, Ignite.

"Thomas Hovenkamp to Tokyo... Henry Guise to Cape Cod..." The low mumble of a voice sounded periodically along with the repeated clicking of a computer mouse. The figure's eyes darted from person to person, place to place, and headphone set to headphone set.

"Sam Jarvis to Denver... James Irwin to Belfast..." The headphones were placed strategically, only noticeable to the intended target. Once they were worn, the person of interest would hear an uplifting, electronically-tinged chorus as they were transported to a place or person of longing. From there, the headphones would disappear and pop up elsewhere in order to help someone else.

"Rachel Moody to Dubai... Zachery Campbell to San Francisco..." They called him their savior, though they haven't met him. No one knew who was in charge of the headphones or how they got there. They only knew that if they were in trouble or needed an escape, the headphones wouldn't be too far away.

~

"Eat this, you stupid idiot!" a grungy boy spat as he chucked a wad of wet toilet paper over the bathroom stall door. A lanky, posh boy (by the name of Dan) huddled against the metal frame, fearing for his life as yet another boy started banging on the door. A sob escaped his lips as someone else opened their water bottle and poured it on top of him. As the water seeped into his hair, he made eye contact with a pair of grey and white-speckled headphones. They seemed to have been misplaced and lying uselessly by the toilet.

The door to the stall rattled, startling the poor boy. He knew they would find a way in soon. The noises around him caused his hands to start shaking and his mind to become frazzled. In a last-minute attempt to remain calm, the boy lunged for the pair of headphones. His soaked, curly brown hair bobbed as he fell back against the door, headphones in his clutch. He fumbled with them as he slid them over his ears, immediately greeted with a happy tune.

He felt his face tingling from where the headphones lay, soon spreading to his torso and legs. He held his hands up and found there were glowing red lines spreading across them like a circuit board. He faintly heard the lock break and the door swing open behind him, but right as he was about to brace for a punch, his world went black.

~

"Daniel Howell to Wokingham..."

~

When Dan came to, he found himself in an eerily familiar village. He couldn't quite place his finger on where he was since he was still a bit disoriented from blacking out. He took in his surroundings and laid eyes on a tiny cafe on the corner of the street. Right outside the cafe, a boy was deep in a book and sipping an iced tea. Dan walked up and coughed awkwardly, prompting the guy to calmly put a bookmark in between the pages he was on. When he saw the lanky posh boy, his eyebrows shot upwards.

"Dan?" "Mathew?" The two best friends looked at each other, wondering if this was all a dream. "What are you doing here?" "I have no idea. One minute I was at school and the next...poof! I'm here." "What do you mean poof?" "There were these headphones-" "Oh yea! Those things. Man, they have saved me from so many poundings at school."

Mathew invited Dan to take a seat at his table so he could dive further into his experiences with the headphones. Bit by bit, Dan came to understand they would appear every time he was in trouble or mentally struggling. "And they send you to the place or person you want to see at the time. By the way, I am honored to be that person." "Don't get cocky," Dan replied with a smile.

They hung out for the rest of the day, catching up while visiting stores and going to Mathew's house to play video games. However, the good times came to an end and Dan found himself on a train platform with a ticket to home. "I'm sorry, man. I wish I didn't move and still lived back home. But remember, we can still text and Skype each other." "Yea," Dan sadly replied. He scuffed his shoe against the ground as the train pulled into the station.