Dream a Little Dream // Daniel Howell x Reader

Chapter 15

Dan sat crumpled on the living room's couch, his back wedged into the dented cushions. His attention was fixated on the laptop in front of him, his eyes fogged over with the morning's weariness; he couldn't help but stifle a large yawn, stretching his limbs until a satisfying crack echoed throughout his body. He rubbed his eyes harshly, trying to regain focus for the device in front of him.

A shadow made its way across the room, slinking just out of sight of Dan's vision. Yet even without any visual queues, the clammer of dishes in the kitchen made their presence quite obvious. The curly haired brit leaned back, resting his head over the edge of the couch as a familiar form came into view- upside down nonetheless.

"Morning.", called Dan, his voice sounding a little tired. A friendly, affirmative grunt sounded from the kitchen, the sound of a spoon tapping against a porcelain cup becoming louder.

"Good morning, Dan. You're up early, aren't you?" Phil's voice was even more gravely than Dan's, his words coming out in a slight slur; Dan could heard a sharp intake of breath as Phil gave a lengthy yawn in the other room.

Dan's eyes drifted towards the clock on his laptop, revealing the current time; 9:45am. He shrugged nonchalauntly, returning his gaze to the abundance of memes in front of him. "Eh, it's not that early. I've done worse."

A muffled laugh was heard in the kitchen, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps as Phil walked up behind Dan, peering over his shoulder as he took a sip of some freshly made tea. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just a rare sight to see you up at this time. Usually I can't get you up until well after one o'clock!" Phil chuckled to himself, making his way around the couch so he could take a spot on one of the cushions beside his friend.

Dan looked over at Phil, raising his eyebrow quizzically when he spotted his friend's morning hairdo. "A quiff, huh? Not that often I see you with one of those. Guess this morning is full of surprises, yeah?"

Phil ducked his head slightly, adjusting his glasses nervously as his cheeks began to glow a faint pink. "What, does it look that bad?"

Dan snorted at how self conscious the man beside him sounded, reaching over and giving him a reassuring pat on the back, the friendly action almost causing Phil to spill tea all over himself. Phil gave Dan a quick, disapproving glare as he steaded the liquid within the cup. "Pssh, you look fine, Phil. Stop being such a worry wart." Dan tilted his head to the side as he studied his friend's curled up hair, his forehead exposed to the world. "Does this mean you're rebanding as well?"

The raven haired man giggled at the comment, shaking his head. "No plans on that anytime soon. I just wanted to try it out; I think it suits me quite well!" He ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the slicked black strands experimentally. Dan decided to nod along with his friend, finding himself agreeing with the idea of a new hairstyle. Truth be told, it would probably save him time getting ready in the morning if he didn't have to spend all his time straightening it.

With a supportive nod in Phil's direction, Dan brought his attention back to the screen in front of him, inwardly dying of uncontrollable amounts of laughter. Yet in reality, all that came from him was a sharp exhale of air and a crooked, goofy smile. When people say they're literally 'dying' and 'rolling on the floor laughing', they lie. All you really do is exhale forcefully at something you find especially pleasing.

In Dan's case it was a Shiba Inu howling to the tune of 'Take on Me' with an array of sporadic jump cuts. Ah yes, the pinnacle of meme culture

"-ear what I said? Dan? Helloooo?"

"Huh, what?" Dan blinked rapidly as he was jolted away from the good boi in front of him, bringing all his attention to the man beside him. "Sorry, didn't catch that."