Intriguing (phan)

2 - control

(phil)

when phil woke up, he didn't have that moment of wondering where he was, like seemingly all the characters in movies. he didn't even have to open his eyes to know exactly where he was and exactly who was in the bedroom next door.

for some reason, he felt eager for the day ahead. he quickly showered, before putting his favourite pair of joggers and a red t-shirt that he thought clung to his chest in a way that made him seem more attractive than he was. finally, he deemed himself presentable.

he'd barely made it out of his room when he heard a smashing noise. he sped up, almost running into the kitchen. dan was standing behind the breakfast bar, looking down sheepishly at the broken glass in front of him.

"what happened?" phil asked, eyes travelling between dan and the smashed glass, then back again.

"i-i dropped it?" dan said, tone bordering between confusion and irritation.

"it's ok, i'll help clean it up." phil offered, his helpful nature showing. "do you have a broom?"

"uh-yeah. but it's fine, i'll do it," dan answered, leaning down. before phil could figure out what he was doing, he reached forward to pick up a piece of the glass. "you probably want to have breakfa--"

and there it was, what phil knew would happen. dan yelped in pain, immediately dropping the glass and yanking his hand back towards his body. he was clearly bleeding, as the glass he had dropped was stained a light red. dan looked up at phil with an embarrassed look, before taking his thumb into his mouth and sucking on it.

"don't do that," phil laughed. "do you have a first aid kit?"

a few minutes later, dan was seated on top of the toilet cover, squeezing the life out of his poor thumb as phil carefully sorted through the first aid kit. honestly, phil was just confused about how this had happened. he knew little to nothing about dan, and they'd only met for the first time a few hours ago, yet here he was nursing dan back to health.

"ok," phil began, pulling out a plaster. he'd read about this before, and so, due to his photographic memory, he could remember exactly what to do. "step one," he read the information sheet he was envisaging in his mind. "is to stop the bleeding. so, it says 'apply pressure to the area using a clean and dry absorbent material – such as a bandage, towel or handkerchief – for several minutes. if the cut is to your hand or arm, raise it above your head to help reduce the flow of blood.'" phil recited flawlessly, picking up dan's arm and helping him to hold it above his head. he then grabbed a small, rectangular towell and pressed it against dan's thumb. dan was busy watching phil in wonder.

dan's dark blood seeped through the layers of the towell, so phil quickly got a new one.

"you know," phil began, "my mum told me when i was younger that the darker your blood was, the bigger a liar you were." he paused to laugh at dan's confused expression. "i don't know, she obviously loved to mess with me. so, in order to prove to myself that i was becoming a better person, i would spend a few days trying not to lie, then prick my finger to see if my blood was lighter."

phil didn't know why he had said that. he didn't know why he so desperately wanted to hear dan's voice again, wanted to see how he would react to such a weird story. he had a maddening urge to find out more about dan, and it would annoy him until it was fulfilled.

"that's pretty weird," dan finally claimed, meeting phil's eyes, before quickly looking away again. "but, i mean, it's kinda cute that you were trying so hard."

at the word cute, phil's heart went crazy, leaping all over the place. he was sure he was blushing, so he quickly looked down at the floor. he didn't know why he kept having such adverse reactions to everything dan said or did. he really needed to get a grip. dan either didn't notice or didn't care, as he glanced up at the hand that he was still holding above his head.