"Why are you doing this, Chris?" Phil asked his best friend.
"I don't want it anymore. It's useless to me," Chris answered angrily.
"Well, what's the problem? You've had him for years, since he was a kitten!" he pointed out exasperatedly.
"He doesn't listen to me anymore. Doesn't do what I say," Chris claimed.
It was a Friday evening when Phil was at his best friends house. Chris was giving away a neko that he's had for years now…and Phil just didn't understand why. Phil knew the neko, and he seemed absolutely lovely. Admittedly, Phil was sometimes jealous that Chris had such an amazing neko, but Chris never appreciated him the way Phil would have appreciated him. Chris only wanted him for his own selfish pleasures, and Phil refused to understand how someone could treat a neko like that. It broke Phil's heart to see that people actually had the indecency to treat neko's so horribly.
"Are you mean to him?" Phil asked, folding his arms across his chest. Most of Phil's friends who had neko's weren't the best owners, they were just like everybody else, and Phil hated it. He hated seeing neko's in any type of pain, emotional or physical, it was just cruel and evil. He wished he could save them all, but deep down he knew that couldn't.
"Only when he doesn't do what I say," Chris admitted.
Phil rolled his eyes. "He's probably afraid of you," he mumbled. Though, he wouldn't even blame the poor neko if he was afraid of Chris. Chris was a horrible neko owner.
"Why are we even talking about this? Someone's coming to pick him up tomorrow anyways. I won't have to put up with him anymore. Thank God," Chris said, raking a hand through his hair and sighing in relief.
"What? Who are you giving him to?" Phil inquired, a little disappointed. He liked Dan, the neko.
Chris shrugged his shoulders noncommittally, "Someone that I met at the pub."
"No!" Phil yelled, standing up from the chair that he had been sitting in.
"No, what?" Chris asked, blinking a few times as he looked up at Phil.
"I'll take him," Phil said firmly. "I want to take him home with me."
"Are you being serious? There are more better nekos out there Phil," Chris said, also standing up. "He's fucking useless. He won't listen to me or… or anyone!" he remarked.
"I'll take care of him. He'll listen to me, just watch and see," Phil said calmly.
Chris threw his arms up. "Fine. Take him. He's all yours," he shook his head.
"Where is he? I'll get him out of your hands immediately."
"In his bedroom. Probably doing something useless," Chris grumbled.
Phil rolled his eyes, getting more and more annoyed with Chris, and then turned around and walked out of the kitchen, heading straight for Dan's bedroom. It was a pitiful sized bedroom, though Phil wasn't that surprised, considering the way Chris took care of the poor thing.
"Dan?" Phil called softly, walking into the bedroom. He glanced up and smiled when he saw that Dan was curled up tightly in his blankets on the bed. He looked positively adorable. Phil crept over to the bed, reaching over and gently shaking Dan a few times, attempting to wake him up.
Dan's eyes slowly fluttered open when he felt someone shake him. He looked over and jumped up as soon as he noticed Phil standing there. "Wh-What are you d-doing he-here?" he stuttered.
"Relax. I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I promise," Phil whispered. "I'm getting you out of here."
"M-M-Master Chris won't l-like th-that," Dan whimpered.
"No, I already talked to him. Don't worry. He's letting me take you home," Phil told him.
Dan's ears perked up. He knew Phil very well, and so he knew that Phil was nice… much nicer than his master was, but that sadly didn't stop him feeling afraid. He was afraid of most people these days, a rueful consequence of a life spent being so poorly cared for.
"R-Really?"
"Really. Let's pack your things and we'll get out of here immediately," Phil instructed. "Do you have a bag that we can put your clothes in? Knowing Chris, you probably don't have a lot anyway."
"Hey! I have more important things to spend my money on!" Chris yelled from the living room.
"Shut up, Chris!" Phil retorted loudly back at him. His eyes darted back over at Dan and his eyebrows furrowed when he saw the look on his face. "I'm sorry. I won't shout anymore." He smiled reassuringly.
"B-Bags in the cl-closet," Dan whispered timidly, pointing to his tiny closet.
Phil nodded. He reached over and grabbed the bag that Dan was talking about, and started throwing all of Dan's clothes into it. All he needed was Dan's clothes. He'd already decided he was going to buy Dan many more things, nicer things…things that he didn't have before with Chris.
About 15 minutes later, Phil finally had everything of Dan's ready and packed. "Can you walk?"
Dan nodded and stood up from the bed, immediately going over to Phil and clinging to his arm.
"Hey, you don't have to be afraid anymore, okay?" Phil reminded him quietly, "You're okay, now."
Dan took a deep breath and nodded, slowly loosening his grip on Phil.
Phil latched onto Dan's hand as they walked out of Dan's bedroom and down the hallway. It was a sign of defiance, a way to show Chris that Dan wasn't alone anymore, that he was finally going to have the life he deserved, away from the tumultuous, harsh life Chris had inflicted upon him.
"Leaving finally, are you?" Chris asked, raising his eyebrows when he saw Phil and Dan with twined hands.
"Yes. Even though I'm upset with you right now… you're still my friend," Phil told him.
"Oh, how nice of you Phil." Chris rolled his eyes.
"I need to get Dan home now," Phil said as he tried his best to stay calm. "Call you later."
"Good luck, fucking useless thing..." Chris laughed as he walked into the living room.
Dan let out a broken sob. He didn't like the way his master talked about him…it hurt his feelings, even after all this time. His master used to be so nice to him when he was younger, now he was relentlessly nasty and horrible to him, no matter how much the neko tried to please him.
"Shh, come on love," Phil soothed, leading Dan out of the house.
"Here we are, home sweet home!" Phil exclaimed as he and Dan walked into his house.
Dan bit his lip nervously as he looked around. It was a large house, that was for sure. It was much larger than Master Chris's house, and it would definitely take some time to get used to. "Come with me. We'll get you a bath and then we'll feed you. How does that sound?" Phil asked.
Dan nodded eagerly, trying to contain his excitement. It'd been a while since he'd been properly cared for, so much so that the sheer notion of that seemed alien to him.
"Chris didn't take good care of you, did he?" Phil asked sadly.
"At first he did. Not much anymore though," Dan sniffed. "I don't know why."
"You're what? 22 now? Chris probably thinks you're too old for him now. He likes his neko's nice and young and active. But, don't you worry Dan… I'll keep you here forever, no matter how old you get. You'll be safe and protected here, no matter what!" Phil promised.
Dan couldn't stop himself from running over to Phil and snuggling into him, hugging him tightly.
Phil laughed as he wrapped his arms around Dan's waist and hugged him right back, kissing the top of his head affectionately. He wanted the neko to know that he was safe here.
"Th-Thank you..." Dan whispered gratefully, looking up at his new master.
"Don't thank me. I'm glad I could help. I know Chris didn't treat you very well." Phil said.
"My fault. I stopped listening to him and he got angry," Dan pouted. "H-He only wanted me for-"
"No, shh, don't say anything further. I don't need an image of my best friend being with a neko,"
Dan giggled. "Sorry-" He let go of Phil. "R-Really though. If you don't want me to stay. I can just leave or something. I'll find somewhere else to stay. Someone else will buy me," he rambled, wringing his hands together.
Phil quickly shook his head. "No! I brought you home because I wanted to. I wouldn't have brought you home if I didn't want to, would I?" He asked, smiling reassuringly.
"I g-guess not. I'm just happy that I get to live my life happy again," Dan whispered.
"How about we clean you up, huh? I'm sure it's been a while since you've had a proper bath, considering the way Chris has been treating you lately," Phil said, rolling his eyes.
Dan nodded. "He never lets me use the bath unless I'm extra good to him," he muttered.
"Figures. Come on. We'll get you into a nice bubble bath." Phil prompted, gesturing to the stairs.
"Yay!" Dan squealed excitedly, his eyes going wide. "I love bubble baths!"
"It should be illegal for you to be this cute!" Phil commented with a laugh as he watched Dan play with the bubbles in the bath like a child. Dan has been in the bath for nearly an hour now. Phil would suggest that Dan get out, get dry and then get re-dressed. But he didn't have the heart to say it. It'd been a good few months since Dan had had a proper bath, he deserved to enjoy the moment, a moment he was certain he never thought he'd be experiencing again for a long time.
Dan looked up at Phil and smiled innocently. "I just really like bubbles," he blushed.
"Oh yeah? I can tell," Phil chuckled, standing up.
"Where are you going?" Dan asked quietly, sticking his bottom lip out. He didn't want Phil to leave him alone, he adored having Phil around. Phil was nice, one of the nicest humans he'd ever met so far and Dan wasn't actually afraid of him which was very rare for him.
Phil blinked a few times as he glanced over at Dan. "I'm going to go get you something to wear from your bag. Don't worry, I'll be right back. I promise," he said. He gave Dan a smile before he turned around and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Dan all by himself.
Dan was able to keep himself entertained while Phil was gone. He loved playing with the bubbles. He didn't know why, it just relaxed him. Watching the bubbles pop and bob up and down, there was something so calming about it all. It was one of his favorite things about baths.
A couple moments later and Phil finally came back into the bathroom with a pair of pajamas.
Dan broke into a wide smile when Phil walked back in. "You did come back!"
Phil laughed. "Of course I did silly!" He exclaimed. "Ready to come out yet?"
"No! Five more minutes, pl-please?" Dan begged, giving Phil the saddest face he could.
"Oh, alright! Five more minutes. Only because you're really cute right now," Phil said, grinning impishly.
Dan giggled, and then he went straight back to playing with the bubbles, captivated by the rainbow of colours being thrown off of them as the light hit them.
Once Dan was done in the bath, he got changed into the pajamas that Phil got for him. He was feeling cosy and warm, and he hadn't felt this way in a long time. Gosh, was he thankful for Phil.
"Would you like some milk?" Phil asked as he and Dan walked into the living room.
Dan's eyes went wide. "You have milk?!" He asked dubiously.
"I'm guessing that would be a yes," Phil laughed. "Make yourself comfortable on the couch if you want. The remote is on the table over there," Phil pointed to the coffee table in the middle of the living room. "You can turn the TV on if you want." He suggested. He glanced at Dan once before he turned around and walked out of the living room and went to the kitchen.
When Phil came back with two glasses of milk in his hand, he found Dan curled up on the couch, looking through the channels on the TV curiously. Dan was still young, so Phil guessed that he loved to watch TV just like everyone else. Phil wanted to make sure that Dan had as much freedom as possible. He had so little when he was living with Chris, which wasn't even slightly fair… to Phil at least. Everybody deserved freedom, even if they weren't fully human.
Dan started and sat bolt upright as soon as he saw Phil.
"You don't have to sit up, you know?" Phil told him as he sat down on the couch. He reached over and handed Dan the glass of milk. "I was thinking…tonight, we get you settled down, and then tomorrow, we go to the store and buy you lots of new things? How's that sound?"
"Phil-" Dan sighed as he took the glass of milk from him. "Don't waste your money on me."
"I've got all the money in the world Dan, it's completely fine. I want you to be happy here, and I want you to have all the things that I have and that Chris never gave you," Phil told him.
"As long as you're sure. I'm not worth spending money on," Dan grimaced.
"Stop it," Phil scolded. "You're not allowed to talk about yourself like that anymore."
Dan winced and immediately looked down, too afraid to say anything.
Phil sighed as he stared at Dan. "I'm not upset with you, Dan. I'm upset with Chris because he's the one who made you feel like this. You are worth something, and I'll do whatever it takes to make you feel like that," He leaned over and kissed Dan's cheek tenderly. "You'll see."