Work Text:
i. Dan and Phil as told by Mitski: Once More to See You
https://youtu.be/xhqn-SeGDd0
2015
“Cat, Dan did it!” Phil called out, waving Cat over.
Dan had successfully flagged down a taxi for them.
Phil opened the back door, and Cat climbed in hurriedly, glad to escape the cold London evening.
Dan and Phil shot each other a look. A silent conversation in which they decided Dan would sit at the back with Cat, and Phil would sit in the front.
In the rearview mirror, I saw the setting sun on your neck.
Through the rearview mirror, Phil watched as Cat leaned in to whisper something in Dan’s ear, causing the two of them to fall into a fit of giggles.
And felt the taste of you bubble up inside me.
Phil stared at Dan’s face. It was slightly flushed from drinking. His wide smile bracketed by his dimples. His eyes were bright and happy. He looked so pretty.
“You eying your mate’s bird, lad?” the driver suddenly asked Phil. Dan looked up and met Phil’s eyes in the mirror. They both glanced away immediately.
“No! I— We’re all just friends. All of us,” Phil sputtered, and then chuckled nervously.
But with everybody watching us, our every move, we do have reputations
We keep it secret,
Won’t let them have it
“You’ve got to be more careful, Phil,” Dan said that night as they prepared for bed.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Dan sighed and went under the sheets. “It’s fine. Cat knows, anyway.”
“I’m sorry.”
Dan turned his back to him. “People are always watching,” he said, voice slightly muffled by the duvet.
Phil lay down beside him.
So come inside and be with me, alone with me
Alone, with me alone
“No one’s watching us now, Dan. It’s okay,” Phil comforted softly.
Dan turned over to look at Phil, whose eyes were shining with unspilled tears and unsaid words.
If you would let me give you pinky promise kisses
“You know, sometimes,” Phil found himself saying, with a voice that didn’t feel like his own.
Then I wouldn’t have to scream your name
Atop of every roof in the city of my heart
“I wish we could just… stop hiding.”
Their hands met under the duvet, fingers interlocking.
“Yeah?” Dan breathed.
“Yeah.”
If I could see you
Once more to see you
.
Dan stared at Phil from where he sat, resting his chin on his hand.
Phil was sitting just a chair away, chatting animatedly.
Unconsciously, his eyes never left Phil; his hand barely hiding his adoring grin.
“Dan. Dan, are you listening, mate?”
“What? Yes. Yes, I am.” Dan snapped back to reality, and tore his eyes away from Phil to give this person his full attention.
How he wished he could hear what Phil was saying. How he wished he could see Phil’s face.
Come inside and be with me, alone with me
Alone, with me alone
How he wished they could just be themselves.
If you would let me give you pinky promise kisses
Then I wouldn’t have to scream your name
Atop of every roof in the city of my heart
The two of them sat away from everyone else during lunch.
The silent reassurance of each other’s presence was enough.
Dan looked over at Phil, sitting cross-legged awkwardly, his tight skinny jeans barely allowing any more movement or flexibility.
Phil opened his mouth to take a bite out of his prepacked sandwich. Just as Phil raised it to his mouth, almost comically, bits of the lettuce and scrambled egg filling fell onto the carpeted ground.
Dan burst out laughing.
If I could see you
Once more to see you
Phil began giggling as well and tried to reach around for a tissue.
Dan doubled over, clapping his hands together as he cried laughing at the absurd sight of Phil, in his too tight jeans, trying his best to uncross his long, ungraceful legs, all just to reach around.
“Stop it! You’re going to make me drop my sandwich!” Phil exclaimed.
“Me?! You’re the one that doesn’t know how to give a reach around!”
“I’ll give you a reach around!”
If I could see you
Once more to see you
Turns out they could always be themselves, as long as they were together.