Dab had hurried out of his bedroom as soon as he woke up.
It was 9AM and the sun was streaming in through his window, so he sprang out of bed and put on his grey bunny slippers to bound out of the door.
First on his agenda was to wake up his childminders like he'd always do back in February. They never really appreciated it, but that added all the more reason to do it.
To his slight disappointment, though, when he entered the main room, he found that Phil was already awake, arms hanging, limply, over the back of the sofa as he rested his chin on the cushion.
"Good morning…" he murmured, sounding like he'd only just woken up.
"Good morning!" Dab grinned, "Can I have some breakfast?" He asked, wandering over and leaning on the arm of the sofa.
"Glasses," Phil ordered, blinking, his eyelids twitching.
Dab's face fell for a second, not knowing what he was talking about, but soon realised that his glasses were on the coffee table, so picked them up and handed them to him.
"Ta," Phil yawned, taking them and sliding them onto his nose, pushing them up and blinking until his vision cleared and he could finally see, "Oh, it's you," he muttered and flexed his fingers.
"Wow, you're really blind!" Dab gawped, "You couldn't even tell who I was…"
"I was joking," Phil laughed, trying to be as quiet as he could. After all, he didn't want to wake Dan, "You want something to eat, then?"
"Yeah!" Dab nodded, enthusiastically, attempting to pull Phil up off the sofa. He almost did, too, because of Phil being so tired and so thin, but he eventually decided to let Phil stand up on his own.
Without disturbing Dan in the process, Phil shakily got to his feet and rolled his shoulders, brushing his hair up into a soft quiff as he made his way across the room to the kitchen, child close in tow.
"Cereal?" Phil offered.
"Of course," Dab chirruped.
"Can tell we're related," Phil mused with a smirk, getting onto one knee to open the kitchen cupboard and take a box of cereal in his hand, standing up, closing the cupboard door with his foot, putting the box down on the counter and fluently skidding across the tiles to swing open the fridge.
He found that he suddenly had quite a lot of energy and, even though he hadn't had a coffee, his vigour came from the environment: he had stuff to do and that managed to wake him up.
He made breakfast in no time at all and set the bowl down with a spoon on the table before spinning around when he heard a ruffle of a blanket from behind.
"Danny! Morning!" Phil hummed with a smile.
Dan gave half of a laugh and turned around to put his elbows on the back of the sofa and look up at his friend.
"Hi…" he breathed, clearly still exhausted.
Dab gazed across to him from his seat at the table.
"Uncle Dan!" He grinned.
"Hey, kid. Looking forward to spending a week with me and Phil?" Dan asked, stretching and sitting up properly.
"Yeah!" Dab exclaimed, excitedly, "What can we do today?"
"Ask Phil."
"Phil, what can we-"
"I know, I heard you the first time," Phil chuckled, "Well… I did think that we could take a stroll down to Magnolia Promenade like we did last time, but then I thought maybe we should just stay inside and get ourselves sorted out, or we could draw, or… Really, it's up to you," he swallowed, his cheeks flushing, "I think I've thought this through a bit too much…"
"Nah, mate, you're all prepared; I'm impressed."
"Ach- I just got déjà-vu…"
"From what?"
"You saying that. Did you say exactly the same thing in February whilst leaning over the back of the sofa? Because I have a feeling you did."
"I think you're just tired-"
Dan would've gone on, but at that very moment, there came a brisk knocking at the door.
Phil looked to Dan, Dan looked to Phil, they both said nothing but they both raised their eyebrows and stared at the door in the corner before regaining eye contact.
This was a very practical and secretive way of having a conversation with nobody hearing it.
"I'll get it," Phil decided at last, brushing himself down and smartly stepping over to the door in not quite a bounce but what could be described as a very, very brisk walk.
When he unlocked the door and warily opened it, he was surprised to see none other than Eliza Pancakes stood there with a beaming smile on her face and her hands behind her back.
She was wearing a pink T-shirt, a powder blue cap and a pair of white, slightly striped trousers: a very pastel-aesthetic outfit that Phil was sure Dan would wholly approve of.
"Phil! Hi!" She greeted him, very merrily.
Phil stood, silently, for a few moments, rather taken-aback by the sudden visitor at his doorstep.
"Very well, thanks," he replied, eventually, when he realised he hadn't answered, yet then he realised that he'd given completely the wrong reply, "I- I mean- 'hi'!" He hurriedly corrected himself.
Eliza laughed,
"Saves me having to ask you," she giggled.
Phil twitchily returned the laugh and felt his face colour.
"So… how are you?" He asked, still kind of suspicious.
"Oh, I'm very good, too," Eliza told him, "I saw that you were back in town yesterday and I thought that I should greet you both back with a little something for the house and for yourselves…" and she swept her hands out from behind her back to produce a bouquet of assorted flowers and a bottle of red wine.
"Oh- you didn't have to!" Phil stuttered, slightly embarrassed, but he still smiled, gratefully.
"What do you mean? I wanted to welcome you back!" Eliza said, holding out her gifts.
Phil gingerly took them and inspected the flowers. What did he want with flowers? They'd only die after a day in his care.
"Thank you!" he thanked Eliza anyway, still tautly, and was quiet for a while before looking over his shoulder for a split second.
He gave a low, droning hum of thought, tapping his foot, rhythmically, on the floor.
"Why don't you come inside?" He offered, "I was just about to start making tea…"
"That'd be great, thanks!" Eliza grinned.
Phil had been half-hoping she would refuse.
But they both headed back inside anyway, into the warmth. Not that it wasn't warm outside: it was June, after all.
"Dan! Do we have a vase?" Phil asked, eying the water dripping from the flower stems and onto the floorboards.
He decided to mop up the water with his sock.
He now had a damp foot.
He decided that mopping up the water with his sock had not been the best idea.
Dan got up, tiredly, from the sofa, his hair a mess, and wandered off to find a vase. If he couldn't find a vase, he'd just have to use a very large glass.
Phil hoped he would hurry up because his foot was getting increasingly damp.
"Hey, take a seat," he offered, gesturing to the armchair, "Sorry about the… mess," he continued, observing the messy sofa and lonely cushion that had fallen on the floor, "Dan's only just gotten up. I'm still kinda' tired from yesterday, too, so I apologise if I look an absolute wreck…"
"You look great," Eliza assured him, sitting down on the arm of the chair so she could still face him.
Phil appreciated the compliment, yet was still mildly unnerved. Eliza still had a habit of confusing him in this way – much like Summer did, but surprisingly less weird.
Eliza was strange, sure, but you could get used to it once you got to know her.
"Good morning, Aunty Eliza!" Dab called from the breakfast table. Eliza wasn't his aunt, of course – as Phil and Dan weren't his uncles – but 'aunty' was just a nice way to address a family friend.
Eliza waved to him, merrily, before turning back to Phil.
"Are Dil and Tabitha out today?" She asked.
"All week, actually – Dan and I are house-sitting…" Phil replied, seeing Dan enter the room empty-handed and head to the kitchen to find a very large glass instead, "Isn't that right, Dan?"
"Yep!" Dan nodded, as happily as he could even though he was still tired. He wondered why Phil was in such a good mood, since he was usually terrifyingly miserable in the mornings when he hadn't had anything to eat or even just a cup of coffee.
"Are you going back home after this week's up, then?" Eliza queried, curiously, swaying her legs back and forth.
"Maybe…" Phil mused. He wasn't quite sure, either, how long they would be staying for. As long as it took him to mend friendships, he supposed.
"Hopefully you'll stay longer; we'll have to have another get-together like the house party you held last time! That was great fun!" Eliza stated.
"Yeah, maybe we will…" Phil smirked, making eye contact with Dan.
"What are you plotting now?" Dan asked, holding out the biggest glass he could find in the cupboard (a pint glass that was stored right at the back and looked as if it had never been used) filled halfway with water.
"Ah… nothing," Phil snickered, dropping the flowers into the glass and wiping his hands on his shirt, "Anyway, as I was about to say: I was supposed to make tea!"
A/N: Sorry this was kinda boring: I had no idea what to write ;-;
I do have some very good ideas for later, though, so stay tuned...
-Whisker