Something Borrowed
A Phan fanfiction
"Dan?"
"Yes, Phil?"
"Remind me again why Red Riding Hood's a children's fairytale again?" Phil asks. He's got the book open, Dil balanced carefully on his lap.
"Uh. It was kinda like a moral fable thing?" Dan calls from the kitchen, "Teaching children not to trust strangers? Or bipedal wolf people with sharp teeth."
"Yeah, but it's so gory!"
"Gory?"
"Lots of blood. And sharp teeth."
"...Phil, are you reading the Grimm Brother's version of it?"
"Uh, no. But this book doesn't have a woodcutter or someone trying to save her?"
"Yep, that's the Grimm Brother's version." Dan walks over to them, patting his apron, "Apparently, the idea that a little girl would die eaten up by a wolf was somehow decidedly non-kid-friendly. So they added a woodsman in the end to help chop her out."
"Ch-chopping doesn't seem very kid-friendly to me!"
"Considering that the wolf is a representation of child predators, I don't think that was even that big of an issue."
"Huh. Then, do you have a kid-friendly version?"
"Better. I just read about the story of Blanchette recently. The actual girl that red riding hood was based on."
"Blanchette?" Dil repeats. The name is somewhat mangled, but he's actually able to pronounce most of it. He leans close, eyes practically sparkling.
He wasn't the only one.
Who's the child here again? Dan thinks, snickering at the look on Phil's face. "Yeah, yeah. I'll just finish up." Dil and Phil collectively groan at that and Dan laughs again, "It's only for a couple of minutes! Geez. I'll be right back, ok?"
"Ok, but come on! Dil's about to drop off now and we have to watch Tatami Galaxy!"
"Yes, yes, we'll have our daily dose of existential crisis and test of subtitle reading speed later." Dan says as he ducks around the corner. And as Phil distracts Dil with stories of princesses and thieves, Dan leans against the wall to cool his head.
Stop hoping for things that can never happen, Dan.
Even if he repeats it over and over again...it never does get easier.
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Papa's smiling. Papa has a nice smile.
Papa smiles down at him from above.
He's wrapped in a warm hug in Papa's arms.
Papa's a gentle and kind.
In front of him was Dada. Dada stood proud and tall, arms sweeping grandly.
He couldn't understand all of Dada's words, but Dada said a fairy's name. Over and over again.
Blanchette.
In the light of the sun, Dada said words and they sounded powerful. Papa laughs and claps along with him, lost in Dada's story.
Dada was powerful and wise.
But...he was sad.
Dada smiled at him, but it didn't reach his eyes.
Why?
"Oh, whoa. Think he's drifting off." Papa says and he lifts him in his arms.
It's so nice. And warm. Warm like sunlight.
"Heh. He's quite cute when he's like this." He hears Dada say, "Come on. Give the little terror to me, I'll tuck him in."
Dada's hands are warm too. In the space where they touch, he feels the warmest he's ever been. But the moment is over and Dada takes him away.
Why are his eyes closed?
He opens him just as he feels something soft against his head.
"Hey. You have to sleep now, ok?" Dada's voice is gentle.
Why? Why was his gentle Dada hurt? "
Dada..."
"Huh? What is it?" Dada's skin is cold though his hands are warm. "Dil? Are you alright?" Dada asks, worried.
Sometimes, he could hear the thoughts in Dada's mind. They scared him, he couldn't understand them.
Why? A curse?
His hand is tiny over Dada's palm. "Dada..."
"Alright, alright. Here." Dada brought him close, made him sit on his lap and lean on Dada. Sleepy. His eyes kept closing. "...I'll stay here until you fall asleep. Ok? Then you can cuddle up to Susan 2 and dream about other fairies or uh...something. What do fairies even dream about anyway..." Dada mutters just out of his hearing.
He giggles.
Smiles and leans against Dada as he falls asleep.
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As he dreams, he dreams of the boy of the moon.
A lonely little boy that hid himself in the dark of the night. He runs along the surface, spreading the diamond dust of stars to every little bit of sky he could reach.
A lonely little boy who ran after collecting shards of the sun's light, making a crown of them in his hair.
The only things he treasures, the only things he could ever have.
After all, the Moon and the Sun can never meet or part. Simply they be, on the opposite sides of the sky always, always, always apart.
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Dan?"
"Yes Philly?"
"What are you doing?"
"Drafting out plans to steal the Declaration of Independence obviously." Dan says with a roll of his eyes, "I'm making some cereal."
"First off, you have to go to a different country for that. And second, you're pouring coffee in your cereal."
"What?" Dan blinks and glances down, "What?! Oh my god ugh what is this?!"
"I've heard of people having ice in their cereal before but never coffee." Phil says, poking at the lumpy brown mixture with a spoon.
"Why did I create this unholy mixture...wait, that means I poured milk in the mug."
"That's fine; people drink plain milk. I drink plain milk!"
"But that's kinda boring. And anyway...isn't this the fourth time this week? I also walked into the glass door in the night too...and I haven't done that for ages. Ugh."
Phil takes in the shadows under the boy's eyes, the sweat on his face, "Couldn't sleep again?"
"No. I'm starting to get worried now."
"It's been a week, shouldn't you be super sleepy right now? You can't sleep for more than three hours at a time, can't you?"
"No. I get those weird space dreams."
"I still say you're lucky; I want those dreams!"
Dan coughs. There's a slight blush on his face that Phil doesn't notice, "Trust me you don't want them."
"Fine. If you need my help, I'll be in the other room Bishi Bashi-ing away."
"Oh no, please don't let me get in the way of your one-man session there, Philly."
Phil giggles like a kid and leaves the room. Dan stands there, smiling after him dumbly.
Wake up there, lover boy.
He scratches his head with a yawn and reaches down to his back.
Pulls it out.
"Another one for today, then?" Dan asks, staring at the star he pulled out from his back, "I'm just collecting these at this rate, aren't I?"
There's words written on his skin, a tattoo he can't wash off.
Collect the stars and never tell,
You will get your wish.
Collect them for how long? Hell if Dan knew.
He stares at the door where Phil left through. But something was better than nothing.
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cliffhangeerrrrrr
no it's not supposed to make sense. dw
dil's magic does have an important part in this series as dan finds out for himself
but what does that mean for him and phil?
find out next time! when i actually fight college off for five seconds and write this!
thanks for reading
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