Dan and Phil Prefs

How to Play

"Just don't stop watching Youtube or we'll be unemployed!"

Dan: With the weather being what Dan had referred to as a "sweltering eighty degrees," it didn't leave the two of you with many desires to leave the flat, much less, your lazing spots on the couch. The oscillating fan that blew cool air was perched at a perfect diagonal angle to where you and Dan slouched on his sofa, the air leaving just enough tinge of cold to keep you comfortable. Dan's eyes were alight with amusement and his dimples were fully visibly as he grinned and watched you attempt to make it past the first obstacle of the first course of Donkey Kong. His smile would go from bearing no teeth to a full on beam as he tried to keep from breaking your focus with his laughter. "Now you have to jump over the thing," he said quietly, his concentration on the screen before you almost palpable. 

"What thing?" you retorted in confusion. You weren't a total newbie with video games. You had played them on your own and with friends plenty of times before. But this was just different. There were far too many controls, you had to constantly keep an eye out for moving objects were just rolling or falling onto the screen, and on top of that, it was an adventure game which meant button mashing wouldn't save you. You had to actually pay attention to the actions that went along with the endless button combinations.

"That thing!" Dan said, pointing as if it were obvious.

"I don't see the thi— " Before you could finish your sentence, a barrel had finished tumbling down the steps and knocked Donkey Kong off the ladder and down to his doom. "Aww! That's not fair! I almost made it to the top!"

Dan snickered and furrowed his brows at you. "Um, not really. You barely made it to the second floor," he said before bursting into laughter. You rolled your eyes and shoved his shoulder gently, looking over at him with a pout. "Okay, okay... Press the start button and I'll help you out a bit."

After doing as you were directed, the screen regenerated the level you had just died on, and suddenly, the hot air in the room became even thicker as you leaned forward a bit more, determined to outdo yourself. Dan watched the intensity as well, intervening whenever he could and vigorously shouting button names and commands for your fingers to follow. Quite some time passed before the screen of the t.v. to fall black again and for the menacing music of the boss level to begin to play.

"Alright, Y/N, no more dicking around. This is the real deal now," Dan said cautiously.

"Shh! Just tell me what to do!" You had made it thus far by him doing so and you were not ready to go back. You had no idea what point beating the silly game would prove, but you considered it a goal regardless.

Your grip tightened on the controller as a green, pixelated creature appeared on the screen, shaking the floors you stood on. He began to near Donkey Kong after he was able to pick up one of the largest barrels you had seen in the entire game.

"Alright, now you have to steal it by jumping on him and pressing 'x'. Just don't let him throw it at you 'cos you'll fall a few levels and lose a life," Dan directed.

"Okay!" It sounded easy enough, but when the creature's eyes flashed red and he began garbling at you, you became panicked. "Shit, what do I do?!" Your fingers began flying at dozens of button presses a minute, the gorilla character on the screen instantly moving from shaking the ground to jumping to smashing to shaking the ground again.

"Y/N!" Dan laughed. "Right, okay, you can't just mash the button's like that! He's gonna absolutely murder you! Y/N, that's not going to work!" he said in a frenzy between his chuckles, watching as his predictions rang true. The villainous character reached yours in a matter of seconds, lifted you up, then tossed you off the screen. Dan's hand went to his face and he sat back against the sofa, his body shaking from his contained laughter. "Oh..." he drawled. "Possibly one of the greatest defeats of all time... That was so bad."

"Well," you sighed. "At least I tried."

"Yes, darling, and you were much better than Phil," he commented sweetly, leaning over to kiss your cheek just before snatching the controller from your hands. "Now gimmie that, it's time for the pro to show you how to play."

Phil: Phil used the mousepad to move along the numerous clothing options he was faced with. It was actually endearing to see he was so invested in it, especially because you had a streak you began at the age of eight to maintain. "Should I add the little purse thingy?" he questioned, pointing at a handbag among the variety.

You pressed your lips together in consideration as you studied the dress-up animation and the work Phil had done so far. "If you want? I would get a smaller one, like the clutch!" you advised, waving your finger to show him to move the scroll bar to reveal the clutch purse underneath. Phil clicked it and dragged it to the model's hand. 

The two of you had been at it for at least half an hour. The dressup game you were playing used to be your favorite. Not only did it let you dress the model, but it let you submit the model for judging as well. You used to have a shockingly amazing fashion sense as you had scored major points in each level or "fashion capital." But the one level you could never seem to beat was New York, and luckily, your boyfriend was willing to help you with that. 

"Blonde or brown?" Phil consulted you.

"Brown. I feel like this an outfit that a brunette would wear," you said.

He laughed and gave you an entertained look after dragging the brown wig onto the head of the character. "What does that mean?"

"Beats me," you shrugged. Nothing in the game seemed to ever make sense. You could recall making the wisest of fashion decisions like matching a belt to purse, and yet, the judges would only give you three stars out of five. Though three was all you needed to pass, so you weren't horribly upset by it. "Give her the green and silver dangle earrings and then click submit."

"Okay," he mumbled as he placed the earrings on the model then lingered over the submit option. "Wow, she actually looks great! I feel like my mum would wear this in real life! Those jeans are so thicc."

The screen was loading, and you took that opportunity to pause and look over at him, stating all your disapproval of his use of that word with just a look. 

"What?" he giggled shyly.  "Was that bad?.. Okay, that was bad. I won't say it again."

"Never," you laughed along with him. The familiarly poor flashing camera graphics and applause soundboard played as you and Phil waited to see the score your model received from the judges. In just a few seconds, the words and stars swooped onto the screen. But only two of the five stars were illuminated.

"What?!" Phil complained, his mouth dropping open. "They said the pattern was five-star worthy when we put it on her shirt! It even gave us a thumbs up!"

You fought your smile at how offended he became, knowing secretly to yourself that this level was simply impossible to beat no matter the clothing variations you offered to the judges. "I know. I know, trust me. I have struggled with this game every weekend when I was eight."

"I dunno, maybe we should just have her go naked, not wear any clothes and the judges will like that better," he grumbled to you but with a smile, shaking his head at his computer screen. "The poor model's probably trapped in New York now because the judges think her clothes are ugly," he chuckled.

"So, how did you like it?" you asked. Even though beating the level was your main objective when you introduced him to the game, you were glad to have shared a piece of your childhood and spend a little bit of time with him as well.

"Um, I like the options. They're very fashion-forward..." he mused. "The judges can be a bit mean as they never let you pass a level if the model is wearing sneakers, but overall, the game was pretty addicting. I give it five stars!" he said, holding up his hand and wiggling his fingers to demonstrate. It was an official gaming rating.

"Aww... I give you five stars! Thanks for playing it with me," you murmured with a wide smile and wrapped your arms around his body, pulling him into was at first a hug, and then to lay back on his bed, pressing kisses all over his face. Phil gladly accepted them, allowing his laptop to slide onto the bed beside him and grinning enough to make his cheeks swell under his eyes.