"U- Uncle Phil and Dan?"
"Hey, kid! How've you been?" Dan smiled.
Dab looked up to him, then to Phil, then back to Dan in a state of utter astonishment.
"Do you want a hug?" Dan asked with a laugh.
Dab nodded his head and held his arms out for Dan to kneel down and hug him. He never thought he'd see either of them again after them leaving a few months ago. He'd missed them loads and constantly used them as excuses, as every child does, to get his own way ('If Uncle Phil was here, he'd let me-') and now he got to spend another week with them, he couldn't be happier.
Yet he was too in disbelief to verbalise that properly.
When Dan let go, he directly stretched up to wrap his arms about Phil's waist (he was only just tall enough now to reach) and immediately recognised his familiar smell: the scent that he'd smell all over the cushions and blankets for a whole week after he and Dan left back in February. It was a nice smell: warm, clean, slightly bitter from a faint whiff of cologne, but still homely like fresh linen. His breath also always had a sugary tinge of fruitiness, like red wine. It was odd, but not unpleasant in the slightest.
"I haven't seen you in forever!" Dab chirped, holding Phil so tightly that his hipbones started to dig into his arms.
Phil gave a laugh, pushed his black-rimmed glasses back up his nose and patted Dab on the back, bending his knees slightly so that his hip wouldn't break under the pressure.
"You know, it's not been that long…" he sniggered, "But still – haven't you grown?! Your feet reach all the way to the floor now," and he smirked at his own joke.
Dab did not get the joke.
Dil appeared in front of them a few moments later, wearing a content grin on his face, still holding a bottle of cleaner and a cloth in his hands,
"So, you think you'll be able to manage this time around, too?" He asked.
"Oh, I'm sure," Dan nodded, confidently, "Everything was fine last time, wasn't it?"
What he said wasn't quite the truth, but it wasn't a lie, either: nobody died, so everything was technically fine.
"It'll be tons of fun," Phil agreed as Dab released his leg, "We've been wanting to come back for months, and now you have the satellite, we finally can."
Dab looked up to him, confused at the mention of the satellite. He hadn't heard his father say anything about how he'd brought the duo here, but it didn't really matter, all he knew was that it was something to do with a satellite.
Dil gave a nod,
"I'm so glad to have you back again, too!" He said with a happy grin, "It feels like forever!"
Phil and Dan returned smiles but didn't say anything. They were still getting their breath back; after all, they'd only just arrived in a flurry of cipher and a twinkling of binary code too confusing to begin to recall. It had been the same sort of experience going home last time, only instead of coding, there had been shards of glass flashing around them and everything had happened much quicker.
"Come inside, then, you two!" Dil continued, "Don't just stay out here in the cold all day; make yourselves at home."
Making themselves at home wasn't a very difficult job for Phil and Dan: ever since February, Potter's Splay had been like a second home to them. It held memories (some good, some… not very good) for them, too, and as they walked through the door, they felt washed over with nostalgia.
It was like being transported straight back to February again, only much warmer.
As he scanned his eyes over the room, Dan noticed that there were neatly folded sheets placed delicately on the sofa next to the cushions.
The air was crisp and clean with the faint scent of cooking accompanying the smell of cleaning agents.
Phil always liked to relate experiences and places to smells and this particular mix of aromas just reminded him of the times (whether they be good or bad) spent here only a few months prior. Mostly of the times that he'd spent alone when the only thing he could do to occupy his mind was think about the smells.
They weren't great memories, but it had turned out all right in the end.
Shaking his head and closing his eyes to get rid of those recollections, Phil brushed himself off and righted his fringe. He turned to see Dan, who also looked very reflective about everything.
"Are you alright there?" Phil asked, quietly, with a wistful smile.
Dan looked across to him and nodded, shifting about on his feet as he did, before dragging him closer by the sleeve.
It was odd to be back in this world again.
It was strange the first time (Outré, as Dan had said), but being back was… almost even weirder. None of this was real, except it was becoming like a second home to them, and that was a very odd thought to consider.
Hopefully nothing bad would happen this time around, not like their-
No.
Let's forget all about that.
"It's really nice to be back here again," Dan said, eventually, as Dil made eye contact with him.
"It's great to have you back," Dil agreed with an enthusiastic smile, "Hey, are you two staying or what? Take your shoes off already, don't just stand there: come and sit down!"
Phil gave a firm nod and bent down to untie his laces, his spine clicking in several places as he did, and slipped his shoes off.
Taking your shoes off and feeling the floorboards underneath your feet emits a feeling that you've finally arrived home and for some reason it just fills you with a sensation of calm, like you're ready to snuggle down on the sofa (preferably with a friend) with almost all of the lights off apart from only one lamp that emits a warm glow and the television illuminating the room. Ideally you would also have a blanket and a mug of hot chocolate.
It was a relatively warm day today (as it always seemed to be in this idealistic world of aesthetic cherry blossom trees and fresh green grass) and Dan couldn't wait to sit down with a cold drink in the garden, on the bench opposite the pool, looking up at the stars that night.
He was looking forward to the week to come. He and Phil could finally get away from the stress of the move and the holiday and relax in a universe where nothing really mattered and they could return whenever they liked with nobody realising they'd ever left.
It was like Narnia, only with no talking lions or half goat human hybrids.
It was only when both Phil and Dan had laid their shoes to the side and gotten over their initial nostalgia that Tabitha came into the room with a beaming grin on her face, clearly ecstatic to see them again.
"Dan! Phil!" She chirped, heading over to them and reaching up to hug Phil, who'd been very polite and courteous to her the last time they'd been here.
She was only just tall enough to loop her arms around his neck before briefly hugging Dan, too.
"Oh, hey, Tabitha!" Dan hummed, "Looking forward to Phil and I house-sitting for you again whilst you're away?"
"As long as it's not too much work for you guys," Tabitha nodded, going slightly red, though you couldn't really tell through her makeup.
Tabitha had always been very polite to Dan and Phil, never asking anything of them and always making sure they were alright with the plans she and Dil had made before going through with them. Both Phil and Dan appreciated her motherly and considerate attitude, but sometimes it could make you feel like a bit of a burden.
"It's no problem at all," Dan assured her, "Trust me; we'll be fine. We managed alright last time, right?"
Tabitha's smile seemed to fall for a split second but she quickly regained it and continued,
"Well, if you say so," she nodded, "We trust you two, anyway."
Phil opened his mouth to speak but decided not to say anything at all in the end and instead slipped his hands into his pockets and cleared his throat.
"I certainly hope you'll find some way to entertain yourselves for a whole week," Dil chimed in.
"I'm sure we'll come up with something," Phil agreed.
"But all in all, I'm sure this time will be a whole lot more laid back than February," Dan put in.
"I didn't think February was eventful…" Dil replied, scratching the back of his neck.
"I think what Dan is trying to say is that hopefully we won't have any encounters with Erica," Phil hurriedly said, saving Dan from having to explain everything.
Dil laughed. He didn't seem to have connected any dots yet so they were safe for now.
"I hope so, too," he chuckled, "Now let's get you two settled back in…"