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The night was still young, if you asked Dan and his deranged sleeping schedule. It was well past 2 a.m. which is usually where he'd like to go to bed, but after being away on tour for several weeks he really missed staying up late, playing Guild Wars 2 in his office, in their forever home. He was mostly just messing around, farming and not specifically doing anything useful in the game, but he didn't even feel tired yet. The scented candle he had lit next to his keyboard was the only source of light in the dark room except for his screen, and the room had started to smell strongly of vanilla and honey.
Dan pulled back slightly from slouching over his desk to stretch out his arms and back for a bit, swinging softly from side to side on his chair. He removed his headset, thinking he'd heard something and stopped to listen closely. There was a small thud from upstairs, followed by complete silence. Dan shrugged it off and took a sip of his water.
"Dan," he heard Phil call from somewhere in the house.
"What?" Dan shouted back. Some silence followed after that, and Dan felt slightly uneasy. Phil was usually asleep at this time of night so something must be up. He got up from his chair, blew out the candle and stepped out of the room to listen more closely.
The house was dark except from a few cozy lights and the Christmas tree brightening up the corner of the living room as he entered. From there, he could see a shadow standing in the floating staircase and he made his way over into the hall.
"Phil? What're you doing?"
There, stood Phil, in the middle of the stairs, holding onto the railing and leaning his whole body against the wall. He seemed a bit flustered as he looked down at Dan.
"Can you come help," he said.
Dan hurriedly met him where he was on the stairs and wrapped an arm around his waist to help support his weight, as they slowly made their way down. At the bottom they stopped for a minute, Dan still holding onto Phil with a steady arm and trying to get a look at his face in the darkness. Phil had his eyes closed and face turned down, as if he wasn't really awake. His hands were gripping at Dan's sweatshirt.
"Phil?" Dan tried, cupping his chin with his free hand. Phil looked at him then, eyes squinted and blinking rapidly. He put a hand to his temple.
"I, uh," he could barely get his voice to work. "I.. think I'm gonna pass out."
Just as he uttered the words, his eyes rolled back in his head and his body became limp, Dan tried his best catching him. He gently sat down on the floor, Phil's head in his lap and his hands on the side of his face. It wasn't the first time Phil had passed out from feeling dizzy, but last time had been a while ago and Dan hadn't heard him complain about feeling the same since then.
Phil started blinking almost immediately after blacking out and tried to sit, but Dan shushed him, gently keeping him down.
"I'm sorry," Phil sighed, eyes closing slowly as Dan pushed his hair out of his face.
"Don't, it's okay," Dan comforted him. "We'll just stay here until you're better."
"Mm," Phil mumbled. "Room's still spinning."
They stayed like that on the floor in the darkness for a few minutes, Phil with his eyes closed and Dan gently stroking his head, massaging his shoulders and whispering comforting words. He didn't really know what else to do, and the worry in the pit of his stomach grew the longer they stayed like that. Phil tried to sit up again and this time, Dan let him. Slowly, he turned around to face Dan and tried smiling tiredly.
"Do you need me to call someone?" Dan asked. He was biting his bottom lip anxiously and only just then realised he could faintly taste metal. Phil frowned.
"No, no. I'm okay. This has happened before."
"That's not good, Phil," Dan pressed. "It's not normal."
"Well..." Phil sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I just wanna go back to sleep."
Dan was about to protest, but stopped himself. Phil looked really pale and exhausted, hair ruffled and dark circles under his eyes.
"Tomorrow, then?" Dan said at last. Phil nodded. "Promise?"
"Yes, now help me up, please."
-
Dan didn't sleep much that night. Phil was out like a light the second his head hit his pillow, but Dan stayed awake, watching him. Watching the darkness of the room, trying to calm his mind down. He felt dread, both existential and uncertainty of what the next day would bring. Was Phil really sick, or was this another of his mystery illnesses that would disappear as soon as it had come? He really hoped Phil would take it seriously and call a doctor the next day, but he also knew that Phil felt hopeless in doing so. It rarely led to any answers and took so much time and energy from them, he doubted it would be worth it.
-
Luckily, Phil was his normal self the next day. Normal as in grumpy in the morning, until he got his hands on a warm cup of coffee, snuggled up in their sofa, watching some Youtube video Dan had put on while having his breakfast. They didn't speak much for the entirety of the morning. Dan's eyelids felt heavy and he was still worried.
"How're you feeling?" He asked once he noticed Phil had finished his coffee and was now playing around on his phone, glasses on the tip of his nose.
Phil just shrugged.
"Phil."
"Yeah," Phil looked up. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You passed out, again!" Dan raised his voice, feeling his patience slip away.
"I know. I'll give 'em a call later, chill out," Phil mumbled.
Dan tutted. "Chill out?"
"I'm really not in the mood right now for a fight, Dan," Phil just sighed.
"I'm not fighting you. Just trying to get you to take this seriously," Dan tried explaining in a calmer tone. "I'm just really worried about you."
Phil set his phone down on the table and turned to face Dan more properly now, their knees touching. He took one of Dan's warm hands and held it.
"I know," he started. "I'm sorry. I know. It's just, there is no point really. Doctors can't find anything."
"Well, how long have you been feeling this, bad?" Dan asked.
Phil stared at their hands for a moment.
"Couple of weeks now. Not this bad though. I haven't been fainting."
"Just dizzy?" Dan asked. Phil nodded. "You need to tell someone, at least."
"I will," Phil said, squeezing Dan's hand reassuringly. "I will."
-
One call led to a doctor's appointment, but not much progress was made. They still couldn't say what was wrong, and the worry weighed heavy on Dan as Phil told him the tests they ran had led to a dead end once again.
"You're cute when you worry about me," Phil teased in an attempt to brighten the mood.
"You spork," Dan nudged him with his foot. "You shouldn't be allowed to use the stairs unsupervised. What if you passed out right there?"
"I almost did," Phil pointed out. "What a way to go."
"At least that's some sick looking stairs that kill you." Dan grinned. "We should cover them in cushions, just in case."
Phil rolled his eyes fondly.