A/N: Petrichor... more like... Petri-BORE, amirite?

Help me

For Dan, a person who hardly ever went outside, summer was just the time of year when it was warm enough to walk around inside without trousers and leave the windows on the catch, but for some reason, as soon as he'd arrived here in this universe again, he had a sudden urge to not stay inside.

Maybe it was because this world had a vibe to it that made it that every day seemed like a new opportunity to get out of the house and do something.

Dan had always been somebody who procrastinated. He'd put off doing anything and everything and instead decide to mindlessly browse the internet all day, ignoring Phil's repeated efforts to get him to finally make the video he'd inevitably been postponing for weeks.

Today, though, Dan had an urge to get out into the fresh, June air.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Came a confused laugh from behind him all of a sudden.

It was Phil… of course.

Dan turned around to face him and smirked.

"I thought I should go for a swim," he replied, holding up a fluorescent green swimming shorts – Dil's, of course – with silhouettes of palm trees printed onto them.

Phil's expression turned to one of surprise and he laughed again, raising his eyebrows.

Dan didn't know whether he looked surprised because of the news that Dan was going outside or if it was just because of the bright green shorts.

"Not going to help me with housework?" Phil muttered, jokingly, folding his arms and leaning on the doorframe.

"There's no housework to do," Dan told him with a snort, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, there's…uh… there's things…" Phil stammered, trying to attempt to think of something that needed doing, "Like… socialising with Dab!" He decided, "Gotta keep him entertained, right?"

"Ah, just stick him on the internet and he'll be happy for hours," Dan said, nonchalantly, with a flick of his wrist as he turned away.

"In which case, I'd have to be there to supervise him," Phil retorted, "And wouldn't be able to do… other things."

"Other things?"

"Other things," he repeated.

Dan laughed and looked over his shoulder to his friend, throwing the swimming shorts down onto the bed in front of him.

"He'll be fine," he assured him, "Why don't you join me?"

"Nah, I'm alright, thanks, mate," Phil replied, standing up straight and tapping his foot on the floor, "You have your fun; I'm not really a pool person," and he smiled before walking away.

Dan was sure that Phil was actually a pool person and was just thinking of excuses, but he brushed this off and continued what he was doing, but not before casting a gaze up to Melapples on the wall and appreciating the fine art.

Maybe 'fine art' was glorifying it…

After getting changed and folding up his clothes, nice and neatly, Dan decided that something extra was needed to complete his pool experience, and that thing was a drink.

Good job they had a mixing bar, still, in the front room.

He'd never really mixed his own drinks before, but he just threw together whatever sounded interesting and hoped that it would come out palatable.

Through his mixing adventure, he could feel Phil's eyes watching him from the kitchen where he was stood. He'd been washing up the cups from earlier but had finished that now and was now drying them with a tea towel and staring at Dan in the process.

"You remind me of Dil," he sniggered before he turned to put the mugs back in the cupboard.

"Do I?" Dan hummed, walking over to him, feeling the rough floorboards beneath his bare feet, "It must be the trunks."

"You just need the green vest and you're all set," Phil nodded, but he didn't make eye contact.

"Where's Dab?"

"Getting dressed in his room."

"Right."

"Don't worry, I've got everything covered! You enjoy your float… I'd say swim but there's not quite enough room for that."

"We should really extend that pool," Dan mused, wandering out of the back door and making his way to the water. He just hoped that nobody he knew would walk by and see him. Especially Summer.

Which reminded him of the 'masquerade' thing that was supposed to be happening in two days.

Who even does masquerade parties anymore?

Summer, he supposed.

Nevertheless, even though it was weird, Dan thought it sounded like great fun and resolved to make sure he turned up. He was sure Phil would come, too, even if he had seemed a little uneasy about it earlier when Eliza had brought it up, but maybe he was just unnerved by the mention of Summer.

Dipping his feet in the water to test the temperature beforehand, Dan stepped down the ladder into the warm pool.

It was an odd pool: it was very deep – as deep as his thoughts, even. You could only just see the bottom of it and so you had to lean on the sides of the decking for safety; the only thing keeping you from slipping down what seemed like an unreal depth.

Dan made sure that he was supported on his shoulders before relaxing in the heat. The sun was shining down on him and he had to squint his eyes to stop himself being blinded as he gazed down the street to see what he could see.

Down the sunny road, past next-door's huge house, there was a large lake with a narrow footpath running alongside it. Dan was pretty sure that it was a shortcut to the park, but both he and Phil preferred to take the scenic route, even though it was a whole lot longer.

Dan smiled and closed his eyes to stop himself getting a headache from the sun.

He took a sip of whatever he'd mixed up in the glass in his hand and found it surprisingly nice. Maybe he should take up mixology in his spare time.

The only thing that could make his mood better would be having Phil beside him to talk to. He supposed he'd have to talk to himself instead.

"Nice day today…" he whispered. Hopefully Phil didn't hear.

He was indoors, so he probably didn't.

Unless he was eavesdropping.

How rude.

Waving his legs in the water, Dan pondered over all of the things that he and Phil could do this week to keep Dab happy whilst his parents were away. They could take him shopping, show him some of their videos maybe, do some crafts again, read him stories every night and maybe they could even build a pillow fort; pillow forts are always great fun.

Perhaps Phil would even be able to teach him a few card tricks so that he'd be able to impress the Pancakes when he went to stay.

Everything was very relaxed and unperturbed this time around. Even Phil seemed pretty laid-back for once.

Dan opened his eyes again and frowned, tapping his fingers on the decking beside him.

He wondered how long this tranquillity could last…