Dil Howlter had always enjoyed people-watching.

Seeing neighbours and friends go about their days and wondering what their lives were like – wishing he could switch places with them sometimes, even if only for a few hours – was all very fascinating to him.

Perhaps he got it from his creators, but happily sitting and watching the world turn could keep him entertained for a whole day if he should put his attention to it.

Maybe he was just nosy, wanting to know the back story behind people's movements and observing little patterns in their behaviour, but as long as he wasn't harming anybody, he found it perfectly fine. Besides, his creators had the privilege of a bird's-eye-view of the world, snooping into anybody's lives and even controlling them if they so wished; how bad was sitting outside on the lawn compared to that?

He took a sip of his tea and thoughtfully stared down the road.

It was early morning and, seeing as it was Tuesday, he couldn't stay out for long before he had to head to work, so he'd gotten up early especially to spend the time the sun took to rise outside in the fresh air.

He could be quite productive if he wanted to – at least when he didn't have 2 people controlling almost every move.

He kept an eye out for the early risers as he thought, relaxed as could be, leaning back against the wall of his home, underneath his bedroom window.

One of these early risers was Bob Pancakes, who Dil usually gave a little wave to whenever he saw him, though Bob never really seemed at all bothered about anything. Probably what living with Eliza did to you, though he'd seemed to lighten up a little bit since Evan was born.

"Morning!" Dil called as he saw Bob, coffee in hand, wander out of the house in his housecoat to collect the newspaper. He gave a wave back but didn't say anything.

Typical.

Maybe he was just speculating about whether his son would be alright staying in Potter's Splay with his weird neighbours.

He had nothing to worry about, really.

Dan seemed like a good childminder, when Tabitha got home she took care of the children, too, taking a weight off Dan's shoulders, and although Phil didn't really do a whole lot and kept to his own, he felt like the type of person who could set things straight if any disputes happened.

All in all, they were a good team.

Hopefully Dan would be awake before the children this morning, because by the time they sprang out of bed, Dil and Tabitha would both already be at work.

Though, it didn't look like Howell was getting up without a few prods, because he was fast asleep on the sofa where he had been since late last night when he and his friend had drifted off in the middle of half-watching TV in the dim lighting and would probably be exhausted when he woke up.

Dil was sure he'd heard both of them talking last night as he sat in bed, reading beside Tabitha. He'd overheard Dan say something about 'lightening up' and 'it's going fine; don't worry about it', accompanied by Phil's quiet and tired replies, seeming weary, but sometimes a tiny snigger would creep out if ever Dan said anything that amused him, surprise hug-attacked him, or anything along those lines.

They went silent around 4AM, Dil remembered, as he lay in bed, and could only hear the relatively quiet noises coming from the TV.

Everything always seemed quite peaceful when he came home each day, but he couldn't help but wonder what went on whilst he was at work.

Dab would always tell him, happily, about what he'd done with Dan and Evan, but hardly ever mentioned anything about Phil, which led Dil to believe that Phil probably wasn't in the house most of the time, but he was, of course, wrong in that thought – though maybe it was for the best that he did believe it.

As for his own relationship with his creators, he got on very well with Dan – who he shared more common traits with – and would talk most with him when he came back from work, chatting about their days and how things were coming along at the lab, research-wise. Phil, though, he wasn't too sure about. You could never tell what was going on in his head, he didn't say a whole lot, he moved strangely quietly and always looked to be in deep thought, but Dan and Tabitha liked him and he was usually smiling – even if it was a side smirk – so Dil supposed he wasn't anybody to be concerned about. Besides; he'd seen the gaming videos: Phil wouldn't hurt a fly.

Closing his eyes, Dil noticed the sun slowly rising and the air gradually getting warmer. He should probably get dressed and start getting ready to head to work soon.

Mornings like this were always good mornings.

All mornings were usually good mornings – Dil loved his job and his family and the world he lived in, and found joy in little things like the walk to the lab every weekday – but ones where he got up early and could sit outside in the breeze as he drank his tea were the best ones.

"Hi."

Dil almost jumped at the sudden greeting and sharply turned to the right and stared up to the doorway, where stood Phil.

Of course: appearing out of nowhere as usual.

"Are you… OK?" He asked, huskily, as he normally had a bit of a rasp early in the day. He looked surprised at his unintentional jumpscare, but not as surprised as Dil had been.

"Oh, yeah!" Dil laughed, "I just kinda' zoned out there. Is Dan awake?"

Phil frowned,

"No," he replied, flatly.

Dil had no idea why he frowned, but brushed it off as he usually did.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to work?" Phil hummed, raising his eyebrows, "It's about time."

"Yeah, I should, really," Dil agreed, standing up with a nonchalant sigh, "Thanks, mate."

"No problem," Phil said as Dil walked past him into the house, and he flashed a glance over to the Pancakes' house before following his Sim back inside.

It was nice weather as per usual outside and Phil wouldn't have minded staying out, but standing in the middle of the garden path might look a bit unusual to… the untrained eye.

"You'll both be OK again, then?" Dil smiled to him as he closed the front door as quietly as he could to make sure he wouldn't wake Dan, who was still dead to the world, hopefully not dribbling on the sofa cushions.

"Definitely," Phil replied, flatly, because he knew that he wouldn't be doing much work and would probably be ignored again if he so much as tried to help.

The most interaction he'd gotten with either of the kids was when Evan came to him, asking about dog facts, and that was only because Dan had told him to ask – seeing as Phil was usually the one with the useless animal facts stored in his head – and so he did.

Not that he minded; he quite liked having time to himself. He only wished that when he attempted to do anything, he wasn't pushed aside, because that was happening a whole lot.

He stood back as Dil got ready, ate breakfast and engaged in random conversation that wasn't very involved, before he said goodbye and walked out of the door to make sure he was early enough to take time to think and appreciate his surroundings on his way to work.

And so Phil spent the early hours of his morning stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring ahead and contemplating just about anything that came into mind.

Dan had told him last night (or rather, very, very early today) that he was doing rather well in taking everything as it came (all in his stride, as it were) and he was determined to keep things that way.

He averted his eyes over to his best friend, still asleep on the sofa, and smiled to himself.

He was proud of himself. Even if he was ignored by some people, he hadn't let that drag him down, and so he set about making breakfast for the rest of the family.

After all, they were his family and it was his obligation to take care of them… even if the majority of them pushed him aside sometimes.