Chapter 2: A trip into town
Author Note: This chapter kind of plays the calm before the storm, so there will be more active chapters to come. Just a heads up to enjoy the domesticity.
Phil's POV
We were heading down to an outside market to film for the audience today; they had requested that we leave the house for once out of fear of us becoming recluse. The funny thing was their concern was wasted, we already were shut in's who rarely left the house, except, of course, to make them happy.
Dan was already talking to the camera as I focused on walking because apparently, I was "a clumsy person who's a danger to themselves". I couldn't even pretend to be angry at Dan's remark because it was completely and utterly true. "Here we are guys, outside! Walking! Doing the exercise," Dan faked a gasp, even placing his hand over his mouth. "And oh my God Phil is under the sun!" He panned the camera over to me and I reassured everyone that I was covered from head to toe in sunblock while also making reference to Dan's carelessness with such a cream.
"Hey, all I'm saying is it's not me that was puking in some poor guy's nice clean cab." Dan cringed in response and added a well-played remark.
"Do you have anything you want to get from the shops?" Dan enquired with a tone that felt so much like a normal conversation, if not for the camera watching our every move of course. And it, or more accurately, they did watch everything. Sometimes they're imaginations got the best of them, claiming we messed around in between shots when in reality I had just unbuttoned my top, but other times they were pretty on the mark.
All the images of "Heart-Eye Howell" came to mind. He really had to learn how to compose himself, not that I could say anything with how many times he's corrected my innuendos. Though, in all honesty, there were times I would say things just to get him all riled up, it could lead to some interesting pillow talk.
"Hey, what's going on in that head of yours?" Dan asked so gently that I knew I would have to edit it out for fear that everyone watching would explode from "asjkjije-ing". I shook my head and noticed I was smiling. It seemed I was not immune from an essence of enamor either.
Dan continued to watch me, not satisfied with my non-answer. "Thoughts of sweets and desires for another board game of course," I added with an awkward double eyebrow lift. Dan let out his big toothy grin before turning to the camera and repeating my "of course". Then he dropped the camera to his side, actually holding it himself for once.
We walked side by side for a while, making no effort to force conversation when in a portion of silence. As I looked off to a cluster of birds pecking at the ground under a now empty bench I felt his hand as it grazed mine. I jumped slightly, standing straighter as I glanced around us. There were few people in sight and those that were weren't paying us any attention. I smiled at him and he spared me one of his prized grins. Still making eye contact with him I rubbed the back of my hand to his. His cheeks flushed as he turned to look forward and slightly to the ground, keeping a consistent press of his hand against mine.
As we grew closer to the heart of the square the crowds of people grew and I stepped a half step away from Dan. Most everyone was used to us being obnoxiously close to one another, so I knew it wouldn't seem too suspicious. However, the huge grins spread over both of our faces might make a few people raise an eyebrow. Knowing I would never ask Dan to dim down his happiness, especially after years with such a complicated relationship with the emotion, I just accepted the possibility of future Tumblr and Twitter posts.
"Oh my gosh! Is that...That's Dan and Phil!" I could hear the excited remarks in the distance before I could ever see a face. Soon a group of three girls was in front of us, asking with embarrassed smiles for pictures and hugs, which we both gave with equal appreciation. When they began to walk away they watched us with big eyes as if they blinked the mirage would fade away into inexistence.
I couldn't help but cement a painfully wide smile on my face. There was a burden in working in the entertainment business no doubt, but there was a sense of community and satisfaction that made any minuscule negative even more insignificant. Glancing over at Dan, I saw a sense of awe that mirrored my own, "They're great aren't they?" I questioned without truly ever wondering his answer.
Dan nodded, "Is it possible to love 6 million people, without knowing their names or faces?
"You know some of their names," I added.
He laughed to himself, seemingly debating whether or not he should share what he found so comical, "Yes, their names. The-real-#1-Philtrash, truly, a name at its finest."
I glanced over at him., eyebrows raised. "Don't get any ideas," Dan warned, "I'm #1 Phil trash."
I was brought back to the memories of this morning, of Dan's hand wrapped around me. "I can't tell if I am terrified or in love with that look in your singular piercing blue eye," Dan whispered to me.
I giggled, "You are definitely the filthiest of my internet pals…" I spoke without looking where I was going because Dan, with his hobbit hair, was very much distracting. This, of course, led me to nearly walking into the bike lane, a fate worse than death.
Dan snatched me, pulled me against him, and took that explainable moment to whisper in my ear, "If you're so distracted with what I believe you're thinking about, we could always head right back to our flat..." It was a tempting offer, the deep honey of his voice made it quite obvious he had been thinking about this morning on our walk. Well, that and the two bulges in his pants, it was the second bulge that reminded me why we were here.
I took a step back, being mindful of the people around us, "remind me of this when we get back home, but until then," I pointed to his pocket, "we have got to film this video before they think we've been kidnapped." Dan nodded, knowing very well what was needed from him, even though it got in the way of what he wanted at the moment, and at that moment what he wanted was me...in him. I shook my head, removing the thoughts through physical and mental forces.
"You are a distracting man," I informed him.
"I can accept that so long as you don't go and get yourself in the line of immediate peril again," he retorted as he fumbled with the camera. "I stop recording for five minutes, and Phil nearly gets himself shanked by a bicycle handle. If you thought his story time videos were in any way dramatized you were wrong." Dan's voice was a tad higher pitched and active when talking to the camera versus me.
We filmed us talking to one another and walking towards a shop we loved getting games from. Our banter on camera was pretty accurate to us normally, other than we had to avoid, or more so I had to edit out, anything that was too "cute" to handle or explain away. Which was usually Dan making a remark about my smile, or seeming too pleased with himself as he grazed against me.
Dan put away the camera as we stepped into the shop; neither of us wanted to make other people feel weird when shopping. Well, that and we didn't want to have that awkward conversation where the owner asks that the camera is put away. Once in the shop, we were each drawn to separate sections.
"How about this one?" Dan walked around a corner of one of the candy shelves I had been, eyeing with the same swagger as Dab checking out Evan. In his hand was a board game that we in no way needed but as it piqued both of our interests we agreed to add it to our collection at home. Just as I agreed with myself that the collection of sweets I had collected would be absolutely beneficial to my stomach and thereby, an absolute necessity.
"On the bright side this could make for an interesting gaming video," we agreed as he handed the game to the teller. Once we collected our perspective goods, we headed back out on the street. The sun was starting to set and we knew our filming time was quickly dwindling.
As we walked along the sidewalk Dan got distracted by some running shoes, as he was once again thinking about attempting the "I bought these shoes now I have to live the life they set for me" approach towards exercising. Before even uploading the video I was well aware that we all knew Dan was not going to take up running, but the shoes were nice and it was entertaining making fun of him collectively as I could feel the audiences support.
While Dan was distracted with buying a lifestyle, I was looking around. There was a box of plushies next to the exercise shop that I was going to look through before, across the street I caught a glimpse of something green. Owing it to my childhood, I made the dangerous journey across the bike lane to the moderately concerning street back to the safety of the sidewalk and examined the item.
I was distracted from my amused observations by the deep grunting and huffs made down an alleyway next to me. "Excuse me sir?" I glanced over to a large man peeking his head out from behind the wall, "would you mind helping me out? I think there's a dog stuck behind this container and I just can't seem to get it to budge." Being a good citizen, and alright, perhaps bribed by the prospect of meeting a new dog, I agreed.
There was a large trash bin pushed against the wall, except for a small crack at the back that would definitely be the perfect size for a small dog. The large man took his post at one end of the bin and gestured to the other side where he wanted me to push. I was starting to recall my muscle composition, or more accurately, lack thereof, and that if that man couldn't move the bin, I didn't know how he expected me to. But at that point, there was no backing out, so I took my post and heaved my entire weight against the chill metal.
The man let out a grunt before claiming he had an idea and moved behind me to grab something while still encouraging me to push for the sake of the trapped animal. I tossed my bag of sweets to the side and continued to do as asked without sharing the same belief in my abilities as the stranger did. Eventually, I knew all was futile and I began to turn to say we might just have to call animal services when the words and my sight failed me. All was lost except for the sensation of falling and a sense of heaviness.
