A recent habit of Dan and Phil's is texting if they are in the same room. Dan justifires it by saying that, "I want my money's worth out of my contract!" Phil doesn't justify it, he doesn't need to. He has Dan for that. Maybe it's a simple, 'Phil, will you get me a drink whilst you're in the kitchen?'. Maybe a 'Dan, want to watch Spirited Away tonight?'. There are things that must be said ,and they are said, but sometimes, the pair enjoys the silence within the flat. It's calm, nice. Peaceful.
Sometimes, they do it at night. Phil will be lying in bed, ready to sleep, whereas Dan is maybe pacing in his bedroom, or on Tumblr, or having a late night Netflix binge. And Dan has no one else to talk to, so he'll text Phil. Sometime's he'll say 'hey' or 'night'. It's often something Phil can choose to respond to. Dan doesn't want to put that sort of pressure on Phil, not when he's keeping the poor guy awake. Often, Phil responds with an emoji. It's normally the smiley face, but sometimes, when Phil knows Dan's feeling down, he will flick through the whole emoji keyboard to find something that will make Dan smile, something obscure or weird or so undoubtedly, undeniably Dan. He never tells Dan this. Ever. He probably knows, but Phil feels that it goes best unsaid. Other times, Phil will respond with a proper conversation starter. Sometimes he asks Dan how he is, or to send him a funny Tumblr post. He likes keeping Dan busy during the existential crisis.
Dan likes to return the favour. Phil doesn't get existential crisises like Dan does. Sometimes, he just gets down. Not depressed, just sad. He often just mooches about the place like this, and Dan can tell. Sometimes, he knows by the time Phil gets up. If it's late, if his smile doesn't reach the eyes, dan knows. It's the little things you find out after living with someone for so many years. Dan does things differently. He sends Phil photos of cute animals, or funny videos. Sometimes, when Phil is sat on the sofa, he'll text him asking for a movie choice. Phil will often respond. Then, Dan leaves. He'll come back, sometimes hours later, with the film. And he will watch it with Phil. That often gets a smile. Or, he goes on Phil's phone and unlock Crossy Road characters. When Phil wanted the capybara, Dan logged into his itunes and spent the 58 pence to buy the character for Phil. Dan also likes to text sweet things to Phil. Phil sometimes gets down, feeling that he isn't good enough. But he is for Dan. So, Dan tells him. He texts him encouragements, sweet messages. Fan art. Dan will sometimes list all the achievements that Phil has reached, or perhaps he'll just link him to a silly little youtube edit. He knows Phil reads them. And Phil never acknowledges them, but often, the next day, Phil smiles a little brighter, and it reaches his eyes, and Dan knows that maybe, what he is doing helps.
When Phil's mother comes around, she always tells them to get off of their phones. She says it's bad for their eyes, that it's ruining conversation. But, when she leaves the room, perhaps to hang her coat up or to use the bathroom, she returns to see the pair once more tapping away on their phones. She would scold them, were it not for the fact that both Dan and Phil had big smiles glowing up their entire face. So, she'd fondly tut and shake her head and sit down beside either Dan or Phil, and simply watch them with a sense of amusement. They were happy, and who was she to ruin their happiness?
