Work Text:
Dan was working on a new gaming video, his brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to match the different recordings together, when Phil said it.
“Stop biting your nails.”
Dan glanced up from his laptop and their eyes met. “What?”
“Stop biting your nails.”
Dan rubbed his hand over his mouth hastily, as if to pretend that he hadn’t just caught himself with the tip of his fingers resting in between his lips. “I’m not.”
Phil chuckled. “You are.”
“Shut up,” he mumbled and slid down a bit in his chair, looking back at the screen in front of him. “I’m not doing it on purpose.”
“It’s a bad habit, y’know. Unhygienic.”
“Says the man who drinks coffee from used cups in the morning.”
Phil scoffed. “That was like one time. Also, it’s irrelevant.”
“I’ve tried to stop,” Dan dragged another clip to the timeline, “I just can’t.”
“Of course you can.” Dan rolled his eyes and looked up at Phil, who was staring down at the phone in his hand. “Just stop.”
“Just stop.” Dan echoed mockingly as he turned his gaze back to the video.
Silence settled between them for a few minutes, until Dan broke it by shutting the lid of his laptop.
“I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” Phil hummed and looked up from his phone.
“I’m not telling, but, if I manage to stop biting my nails by june, will you promise me something?”
Phil tilted his head slightly. “Depends.. What do I need to do?”
“It’s not bad. It’s just.. a statement. A fun statement. And I’ll need your help for it.”
Dan was grinning, his face lit up with that excitement that was so rare and the kind that Phil had such a soft spot for. “Alright, but only if you stop biting.”
Dan nodded. “Yeah, only if I stop biting.”
“Are you sure you want to do this, Dan?” Phil’s voice was laced with caution as Dan secured the camera on the tripod. “You know what people are going to say.”
Dan took a deep breath, because yeah – he knew. He knew exactly what people were going to say, what people would insinuate and speculate about this, but he’d promised himself to start living his truth and this was one of those things he felt like he needed to do.
“Yeah.” He said, adjusting the lights for the last time before he pressed the record button. “I think I’m ready for that, though.”
Phil shrugged and ran his fingers through his quiff, pushing it up slightly and placing it right, when Dan took a seat next to him by the counter. The were sat in the kitchen since they both agreed that it would probably make things easiest, even though it felt slightly.. off.
He took a deep breath before he started.
“Hello internet.”
Phil added in with a wave and a quick, “Hi,” before Dan continued.
“So, as many of you know, this month is pride month – and it’s a very important time for all of us. It’s a wonderful time to educate ourselves about the world around us, to educate others and to feel proud of ourselves and others in every way we possibly can. It’s about acceptance, reassurance and happiness, and of course, it’s about not conforming to the stereotypes of our generation and living your life in a rainbow of colour.”
Phil added some dramatic gestures beside Dan as he spoke, and when he stretched out his arms above his head as Dan said ‘rainbow’ , they turned towards each other and broke out into a fit of giggles.
“In this video, in celebration for this wonderful time, I’ve decided to make something a bit special that many of you guys have asked me to do many, many times.”
He paused a few seconds for a dramatic effect.
“I’m gonna’ paint my nails!”
Phil added some typical explosion sound effects in the background as Dan stared into the camera, leaning in slightly.
“Yeah, that’s right people! Some painting of nails is going to go down. And as my assistant, and nailpolish expert, I have with me.. Phil.”
Phil gave another little wave and said, in his ‘AmazingPhil’ -voice, “That’s right, Danny boy, I’m here to save the day.”
It turned out a lot messier and a lot more time consuming than they’d thought it would, but after an hour or so of filming, Dan finally shut off the camera. His fingers were coated with colours, a different one for each finger, and even if Phil wasn’t the best at keeping the nail polish inside the lines, that wasn’t really the point of the video anyway.
He knew it was a big risk. Even though they hadn’t openly said anything or confirmed anything in the video, he knew what people would think. This was his coming out, their coming out, and even though he never wanted to make a video like that, he also didn’t want to pretend anymore. He wanted to feel confident and proud of himself, of Phil and of every other person in the LGBTQ community, and this was his way of showing that.
“You did amazing,” Phil said as he got up from the chair and walked up to Dan, gently placing his hand on his shoulder. “People are going to love it.”
Dan turned around so that he was facing Phil, a thick layer of uncertainty suddenly pushing down his chest. “Maybe it’s too much.”
“You don’t have to post it, but it was a beautiful video.”
“People.. they’re going to talk. Maybe--”
“I love you, Dan.” Phil interrupted him, placing his hands on Dan’s cheeks and tilting his head so that they were looking right at each other. “I am so proud of you, no matter what anyone says. I won’t go anywhere.”
Phil leant in and their lips collided, and the uncertainty that boiled inside of Dan disappeared in the matter of seconds.
“We’ll be alright,” Phil mumbled when they pulled apart, and Dan nodded.
“Yeah, we will.”