*A/n hey guys! Posting this tomorrow to Tumblr but thought I'd post it here first.
Enjoy!
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Somewhere, miles and miles from where Dan currently stood, the queen also stood, rather, facing her clear glass window that overlooked the city. She was probably smiling, at least he hoped, at the somewhat thin sheet of snow blanketed across the city, the first glimpse of yet another cold and snowy winter. Maybe she was frowning, but she would for sure crack a grin at how childlike he and his friend Pj were being down in the streets.
Because every manly man squealed at the first sight of snow on the pavements. Dan could easily recall being so excited he almost broke his hello kitty mug from jumping up and down so much , and as he got ready, his enthusiastic humming filled his empty flat almost as good as his piano could. He rang Pj almost immediately that morning, and that afternoon, there they were, in the middle of an apparent deserted street.
The skies were clear as they walked in sync, and Dan was too busy staring at the pavement before them to notice Pj bending down. He kept going for a moment before realizing his friend had fallen behind and slowly turned. Abruptly he was hit square in the face with a flying pile of cold slush that Pj hurled at his face.
Dan had to wipe the mess off his eyes in order to see clearly. He glared at Pj playfully, biting his lip and pretending to tolerate it as he strutted in the opposite direction. Sometimes being the bigger person doesn't help much, though. Another, whitish, sloppy sphere slammed into his back moments later. Dan whipped around almost fiercely, threw one at Pj's crotch, and missed by about a foot.
Dan scowled bitterly, laughing dryly as Pj poked his tongue out at him and after a moment they kept walking.
"Hey Dan?" Pj asked once he was sure he had cooled off, pun not intended. The boy gave him a sideways glance and a fleeting smile, listening closely to what he had to say.
"I'll make a bet with you. Hit me with a snowball from ten feet away, and I won't post an embarrassing video about it when we get home."
Pj looked so damn smug Dan couldn't resist showing him up, but he wanted, no needed, the stakes to be higher. He crossed his arms in a stubborn huff.
"I hit you, you make me hot chocolate when we get back to your flat."
He almost giggled when Pj pretended to be thinking about his response, fake stroking an imaginary beard. "Hm... I like my idea better." he joked.
Dan threw another snowball before he could say anything else, one Pj narrowly dodged by ducking near the ground, and Dan stomped his feet at this before pouting slightly.
"Damnit Pj!"
Pj had long rolled on his back in the small snowbank beside the sidewalk they were walking on. He blindly shot another handful of snow, which landed in Dan's hoodie and seeped down into his shirt, causing him to shiver violently. There was about a ten second period for Pj to bolt twenty feet from him before he heaved his own revenge, his fingers clenching, aching and red from his lack of gloves.
The snowball he threw last at the retreating Pj ended up falling perfectly into a man's shiny black hair who happened to be turning the corner, and he looked up from his Styrofoam cup in surprise, locking eyes with Dan before he could make a run for it.
Dan stood still with terror, breath hitched and wide eyes. The man grinned easily though, and tipped his head forward slightly. The half melted snowball slid down in front of his feet and he watched it briefly before lifting his eyes back to Dan, a smile aimed to make him less uncomfortable, he was sure.
Feeling himself blush, Dan adverted his eyes to searching around for Pj. The dude always seemed to leave him when something awkward happened, and he was about to shout for him, when the familiar iciness of a muddled up snow ball crashed into the back of his knees, making him wobble barely enough to notice.
"What the hell?!" He screeched. The man behind him was laughing, Pj was laughing, and suddenly Dan felt himself double over, struggling for breath as the laughter hit him in waves, and he held up a hand for time, hoping the two men would be patient and hold their fire.
"Wait wait wait, hold the fuck up." He hoped the man wasn't offended with his language, but knew Pj found it hysterical. "Are we actually having a snowball fight?"
The man made no attempt to move closer, yet cupped his hands to his forehead to block out the sunlight. "I guess so," he called, and the way his eyes crinkled at the corners gave Dan a fluttery feeling in his chest.
Pj threw the first official throw after that, and the entire time Dan was focused on how the man ran to them, ducking and dodging their attacks so swiftly. It was mesmerizing, until he figured out he had Dan's attention and used it to cream both him and Pj. Dan had to admit, the man had skills.
Come to think of it, the man reminded him vaguely of his second grade companion, the kid who was obsessed with the lions. When he laughed his tongue poked out the same way, and his hair looked stinkingly similar, but if he'd stopped to analyze, he might not have caught his name while Pj was panting on the sidelines.
"Thanks for making my day a million times better."
Dan, smiling lightly, nodded and felt his shoulders relax, because he felt he really made a friend with this guy, and was almost sad to see him part.
"Well, you can thank Pj for that."
They laughed together at that, a comfortable silence enveloping them once it had run its course. Dan could see the faint blink of green coming off the man's phone which was in his pocket, feeling both special and guilty for being the reason he wasn't answering it.
Other than that, everything around him seemed little insignificant while he was talking to his new acquaintance, who apparently went by the name of Phil. It didn't ring a bell, but the name brought clarity.
Dan asked Phil what he was drinking, as he saw Pj limping towards them, the sounds of laughter a ghost lingering against his lips.
"Hot chocolate." he replied.
Dan liked the way Phil smiled as he said it, and liked how he offered him some. He could tell it was almost gone as the cup was handed to him; the liquid swirling around the bottom lightly and his fingers felt the electric buzz from Phil's touch moments before. He took a grateful sip before handing the cup back.
The way Pj touched Dan was more casual, he wrapped his arms around his shoulder and leaned against him, but still Dan didn't take his eyes away from Phil.
Eventually the three found themselves walking to Pj's flat, and Dan enjoyed listening to Phil's soft voice as he talked the whole way. Once there the warmth overwhelmed him, but he still found himself slightly clingy towards Phil, which wasn't really a bad thing. At least he hoped.
It felt nice to have someone around with him, especially when Pj invited Chris over to watch movies and play twister. What was even cooler was the fact that Phil was going to uni for filming, and they made their own special video to remember the evening, one copy for Dan, one for Phil.
To say Dan could could have found a better companion than Phil would have been an understatement, even if they had only just met.
Something about him seemed so familiar though, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
Maybe he'd ask his new friend if he liked lions later. If he was lucky, Phil would do an imitation for him. If he was lucky, this was meant to happen, and maybe, just maybe, he'd get something great out of it.