In theory, PJ's idea is the perfect solution. In practice, however, it's an entirely different story.
Dan groans for the hundredth time, falling sidewards until his body manages to securely flop onto the couch. "This is fucking stupid, Peej."
The look on PJ's face is a mix between sympathy and mild exasperation. "You need to keep trying Dan."
"It's not working, I can't mix up my emotions just like that, and I can't hide them under anything else when you're literally forcing me to feel them."
PJ sighs, sitting down on the arm chair. "We'll the point of the exercise is that you're supposed to counter the emotion with a different one."
Letting out another groan, Dan flips over; his face now up close and personal with the couch cushions. For some reason, he just can't seem to get a grip on this 'blockade', and no matter how hard he tries, he isn't able to block it out sufficiently. PJ is still able to manipulate his emotions into feeling whatever he desires, and there isn't a damn thing Dan has been able to do about it.
He feels tired, both mentally and physically. Somehow, Phil had managed to get a little bit of control within a few days, but it has been a week, and Dan is no closer to discovering how to block it then he was at the beginning.
"I'll get us both a drink. We can take a few minutes and then try again, okay?" PJ questions, standing up and stretching a little.
Dan's only response is an extra loud breath, mixed in with a small grunt. He looks like a mess, the lack of sleep is wearing him down. It's becoming more than just a hindrance now. His parents are asking questions that he is completely unable to give answers too.
The thing is, the nightmares don't even happen every night, and for the first few nights Dan had managed to have a peaceful sleep. But then PJ would see the aura the very next day and they were back to square one. In reality, Dan was beginning to fear falling asleep, because even though he didn't always wake up gasping for air, the feeling of knowing that someone was entering his subconscious as he slept was a terrifying thought.
PJ arrives back far too quickly for Dan's liking. Placing both glasses on the coffee table beside them, he sits back down in his previous seat. Almost letting out a sigh of relief at the fact they havn't started back up immediately, Dan flips himself over so he is partially facing towards the brunette.
"How are things with your family?" PJ asks, and it's not actually that surprising. They've been asking more questions than usual. Noticing Dan's semi odd behaviour and the ever growing set of bags under his eyes.
"Adrian asks more questions than my parents do. I think he's heard me up and about at night, mostly just walking around. Our rooms are a lot closer together then everyone else's. I think he knows Phil has been staying over a bit recently too. He hasn't said anything, but he just gives me that look in the morning. I think he's assuming my lack of sleep is due to different purposes."
PJ laughs, shaking his head. "That'd be the better option."
Dan gets a shy smile. It's almost a weird feeling, being able to talk to his best friend like this. It feels like forever since he has been able to chat with PJ just one on one. They used to have nothing but crap to talk about, including all the little, meaningless things that went on in their lives. Chris and PJ were always a good topic of conversation and even though the relationship talk was pretty much one sided, due to Dan never really having a significant other, he misses it. Now all anyone ever seems to talk about is what their next move is with nightmare guy. To say he missed this is an understatement.
"What about you and Chris?" Dan questions in return. "He has been sticking to you like glue recently."
"He tries to play most things off as a joke, but I know he's worried. Most of his shit stirs have an underlying tone to them. He's just as worried as the rest of us, even though he tries not to show it. He's worried that I can't defend myself if the guy tried to go after me like he did Phil. But I don't think he will. He would have tried by now."
Dan hums in agreement. He knows Chris almost as well as PJ himself. Well enough to know that Chris is a giant marshmallow on the inside, and sometimes the jokes are more than just for laughs.
It's almost strange to think about how quickly everything managed to change. Their long life group of three turned into a group of four –which Dan is super thankful for- but then quickly turned in a whole new unwanted direction. He could have done without the constant fear for both his and his friend's lives.
"Phil worries about you too, ya know. He has more reason than anyone else."
Dan grimaces, because PJ is right. He's a wide open book and an easy target, and if he doesn't manage to get it under control, who knows what might happen. There might be a day when he doesn't wake up.
"I know, but everything just isn't working. And I don't know why."
PJ is quite for a moment, looking to the side and away from Dan as though trying to come up with a solution.
Dan pushes himself up, moving from lying down to sitting in a fluent motion.
"Well, I mean, what exactly are you thinking about when I change your emotion?"
"Anything that isn't what you are making my feel. Or at least I try, it's not exactly working."
"I dunno, maybe it's because whatever you are feeling isn't strong enough to contradict it."
Shrugging, Dan frowns. It's a good point. Usually he is trying to focus on any emotion to the one is he currently feeling. Maybe that's why it isn't working.
"What do you suggest?"
PJ moves, crossing his legs underneath him as he lifts himself off the couch. "Well, why not focus on something specific instead. Maybe, focus on something happy. If this guy is making you feel frightened, focus on the complete opposite. Think of something that fills you up with such strong positive emotion, that it forces the negative one to diminish."
Dan rakes his mind. He has so many memories though, that's half the problem. He something as small as the first time he rode his bike without training wheels, or when he finally managed to get his powers under a sense of control, like moving the salt and pepper shakers. He remembers what it was like to finally become friends with Chris and PJ, and realise that he wasn't alone. He wasn't a freak and that there were other people like him. Like Chris and Peej and Phil.
That strikes a chord.
"Okay. Try again." Dan demands, and PJ gives him an unknown look.
All of a sudden he feels it again, like a title wave of fear crashing over him. He takes a deep breath and he racks his brain, searching for the polar opposite. And he finds it. The memory floods into his mind, floating leaves filling the air and a smile on his face. Phil's lips pressed against his own and suddenly the fear ebbs away. Dissolves as quickly as it appeared.
Dan opens his eyes and he is met with a smile.
"You did it," PJ proclaims and Dan is pretty sure the dimples on his cheeks are about to pop off.
:::
In Dan's personal opinion, making out with his boyfriend is pretty much the best way to celebrate anything.
Mouths interlocked, Dan presses himself against Phil. One hand wrapping itself up in Phil's hair, gently pulling on his silky black locks, the other pressing against his back, a fist clinging onto his t-shirt almost desperately
Phil's tongue presses against Dan's bottom lip, and he is all too happy to oblige. Parting them, Dan almost groans as he feels Phil's tongue enter his mouth, twirling around with his own.
It doesn't take long before they break away for air, parting only for a second before it's all lips once again. He feels Phil shift, moving backwards so his back is against the frame. A hand suddenly placed on his thigh offering silent encouragement.
Dan moves, legs parting and pulling himself up and across until both legs are parted around Phil. His brain barely has time to register the fact that he is actually straddling Phil, instead his hands unwind from their previous positions and lock onto the blue eyed males hips. Clinging against them as their kiss turns slightly more passionate.
Phil's hands run around Dan's shoulders and his back. Breaking the kiss, Phil leans down and attaches his lips to the junction where Dan's neck and collar bone meet. He plants kisses, sucking slightly between every few.
Dan loses all train of thought, getting lost in the sensation as Phil works his way back up his neck. Their lips reattach with a new found passion. All Dan can feel is Phil and god, does he want more. Their tongues clash once again and this time it feels like something different entirety; hot and desperate. Dan can feel desire prickling in the pit of his stomach.
Phil hands move, skimming across the cloth on Dan's back before moving towards his thighs. His hands move slowly up, sliding towards his hips and moving under the edge of Dan's black tee.
A weird feeling suddenly courses its way through Dan. He shuffles, unknowingly before he brain finally clicks, coldness seeping though his skin at an exceedingly quick rate.
"Holy shit Phil!" Dan practically yells as he darts back. Scrambling off Phil's thighs, until he is no longer touching him and there is a good distance of bed spread between them. Dan wraps his arms around his middle, his entire body temperature feeling as though it has just dropped several degrees.
Phil quickly catches on, retracting his hands from where they had been suddenly left mid-air. He frowns, looking a mix between alarmed and upset.
"You're fucking freezing."
Dan tries not to shiver, the sense of sudden cold beginning to leave his body, but not at the rate he wants it to.
Phil gives him a guilty look, hands crumpling the sheets beside him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- it just, I must have lost control a bit and, i er-"
Dan offers him a small smile, dimples showing as he nods. "No it's okay, I get it. Emotions and all make everything a bit difficult. I understand, Phil."
Phil's shoulders drop slightly in relief. "Honestly, I don't even feel cold. I didn't realise that this would happen."
Dan can't help but let out a laugh. Only this situation would actually manage to happen to the two of them. "Yeah well when you think about supernatural abilities, almost freezing your boyfriend's insides while you're making out doesn't exactly spring to mind."
A small red tinge graces Phil's cheeks as he laughs. "I've been practicing with Chris while you've been having lessons with Peej. Figured we might as well put it to good use. I'm getting a lot better at the physical water control part, but not so much at temperature control, apparently."
"Chris seems to have that trouble too. Maybe it's just an elemental thing."
Phil shrugs, the tinge on his cheeks dying down as he begins to feel less embarrassed. Dan straightens up, no longer feeling absolutely freezing, and feeling a little guilty for making his boyfriend panic. He moves a bit closer, until he is sitting down next to the older male.
"How about you show me?"
"Show me?" Phil echoes questionably.
Dan has to stop himself from laughing at how adorable his boyfriend is when he's confused. "What Chris has been teaching you."
"Oh," Phil comments, "I mean, I'm still not that good, but I can do a few things, nothing fancy, but I'm okay at general movement and control…sort of."
Smiling at his boyfriend's slight hesitance and excitement, Dan nods. "I'd love to see it."
Phil makes his way across the bed, getting off and grabbing the bottle of water that is by his desk. He comes back, unscrewing the lid and reaching over to place the bottle on the bedside table.
He lets out a deep breath, his hand reaching over Dan like it had previously and slowly twisting around in a circular motion and gradually moving it upwards. Watching in fascination, Dan watches as the water rises out of its containment, twisting straight upwards in a thick line. It glistens slightly as it catches on the light in the room, and Dan feels the same sense of excitement and enchantment whenever he gets to watch Chris use his pyro-kinesis.
Phil moves his hand a different way, facing inwards and down. The water seems to follow his motions, dropping in height and floating across Dan and towards Phil. Once it reaches him, Phil moves his hands once again and the water responds, move effortlessly and gracefully from side to side in several long blobs. Phil halts his movements, focusing a little more and the water begins to separate, dividing and multiplying until there are hundreds on individual droplets littering their vision.
"Wow," Dan breaths, his mouth agape. He glances from drop to drop; almost unable to believe what is actually happening right in front of him. It looks beautiful. Almost as if someone paused rain mid down pour.
"I learnt that the other day." Phil admits, "It's actually a bit harder to control them separately than in one blob, I think maybe because it requires more focus to keep them apart and doing different things. The first time I did it, it failed and ended up getting Chris completely soaked. He wasn't happy."
Laughing, Dan can almost picture the scene perfectly. He pulls away from the drops, looking over at Phil, who has his hands resting on his lap, and eyes focused on the small droplets in front of him in full concentration.
Dan can't help but question, abilities be damned, without it, Phil is still just as transfixing.
Notes: Oh hey, look at that. I'm on time! Even though its technically 2am on Thursday, I'm still counting it! It's still Wednesday in another country, right? Holy crap I'm a bit proud of myself with this. I've manages to polish off two chapters and a one shot (Metanoia, read it if you want!) In less then two weeks. What.
Also I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I wanted to write something a little more...fun ;) The smut will come eventually, I promise!