In Reverse - Phan

Untitled Part 1

"Yeah, and I bet I could get a better shot from all the way over here."

Dan leans over to pick a rubber hoop up from the floor. He brings his arm back behind his head, aims carefully, and then throws the hoop in the direction of the metal cans. As if to add more salt to Phil's wounds, the hoop lands perfectly over one of the metal cans without so much as a sound. Dan laughs.

"Ding, ding, ding," he says, throwing his arms up. "You should have filmed that. It would have been my legacy."

Phil frowns and moves to collapse on the sofa, sprawling out over Dan's legs.

"You cheated."

"How could I possibly cheat at a throwing game? By having an affair with Physics?"

Dan smiles as he dances his fingers through Phil's hair for a few moments, styling it away from his forehead, before he has to stop and nudge Phil off his leg. He doesn't want to the circulation to cut off completely.

"I bet you used a magnetic hoop," Phil says as he sits up. "There's no way anyone could have done what you did just then."

"You caught me." Dan holds his hands up as he stands and starts to pack away the Hoopla equipment. "Guess I'm not as perfect when my secret's out, am I?"

Phil looks him over for a few moments as he picks up a hoop that Dan had missed. He aims to chuck it on top of Dan's head, but Dan is too quick and reaches out to grab it in midair. The victorious smile he emits in response pulls on the corners of Phil's lips despite himself.

"I beg to differ."

-

-

If Dan could will his eyes to stop focussing so intently on the sight before him, he would probably walk the few paces to the kitchen drawer so that he can get a knife to cut the tension with. But Phil's expression right now ispriceless.

"You look like the epitome of concentration."

"Thanks." Phil's voice is a quiet murmur as he focuses on the wire-loop game in front of him. His hands are shaking more than Dan's ever seen them shake before.

"I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to make this much noise." Dan leans forwards on his hands and stares at Phil from across the kitchen table. "Relax your hands a bit more."

Dan shifts on his chair slightly, but the motion is enough to distract Phil and cause the metal loop to make contact with the serpentine wire. Phil groans as a high-pitched buzzing sound fills the room once again.

"Sorry." Dan cringes and smiles at him sheepishly.

"I almost had it then." Phil frowns. "Did you see how close I was?"

"Oh, come off it. You had already lost like ten times. It was just a case of actually getting round the wire at all."

Phil pushes the wired toy towards him on the table. "It's your go then."

"Nah, it's okay." Dan pushes it back. "I think you deserve another go after my foul play."

Phil grins at him. "You sure?"

"I'll survive if I try not to think about it too much." Dan leans his chin on his hands and watches with a smile as Phil immediately resumes moving the metal loop over the wire with great precision. "Just don't fuck it up this time."

He expects at least a snort or a puff of breathy laughter in response, but Phil just remains silent. Dan had been joking earlier about him being the epitome of concentration, but now he's not so sure. He counts the amount of times Phil's tongue darts out to wet his lips until the tension starts to feel suffocating.

"You're doing so well," Dan says all of a sudden. He keeps one eye on Phil as he stands up slowly and walks to Phil's side of the table so that he's stood behind him. "Just a bit farther to go now."

"Whatever you're doing, stop it."

"I'm just getting up close and personal with the victor. I want to memorise the smell of success so that I can bottle it."

Dan leans down to hook his chin over Phil's shoulder and breathes out heavily through his nose. Phil's hand jostles imperceptibly and Dan giggles when a tiny buzz reverberates against the space between them. Dan can feel the muscles in Phil's neck rippling with concentration so he presses his lips there once to soothe the motion.

"Dan." Phil's annoyance isn't very well disguised by his concentration, but he still sounds somewhat calm. "Let me have this one. I know you're better at this than I am, but don't feel as though you need to emasculate me at every opportunity."

"I'm not." Dan tries to stave off his chuckle with a smirk. "I mean, I don't feel like I need to do that. Just concentrate." He punctuates his words with small pecks to Phil's shoulder and makes his voice sound as whispery as possible.

A cacophony of buzzing noises followed by a harrowing groan from Phil is the first thing that tells Dan he's succeeded in his quest to distract him. The second tell-tale sign is the way Phil turns around in his chair abruptly, almost sending Dan flying to the other side of the kitchen.

"I hate you," Phil states.

"No you don't." Dan feels himself growing in confidence as he smiles down at Phil. "If you hated me, you wouldn't be doing this whole thing in the first place."

"What's the next activity on the list then?" Phil asks, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth in his endeavour to change the subject. Dan manages to grab the note from the table before Phil does, and he reads from it with a frown.

Bingo. Fuck that.

"Cuddling," Dan says.

"What?" Phil goes to grab the letter, but Dan holds it above his head.

"There's only one activity left," Dan lies. "And it's cuddling."

Phil looks incredulous for a few moments, but he smirks when he catches on to what Dan's trying to do.

"Isn't that convenient?" Phil places his hands on Dan's hips and pulls him forwards so that he's straddling him. Dan just laughs.

"It's hardly convenient on a wooden chair, Phil."

"You think so?" Phil asks. "I think this is exceptionally comfortable."

Dan hums. "It's a step-up from your springy bed, I guess. I don't think my spine will ever forgive you. Or your furniture, for that matter."

"Such a shame." Phil nuzzles his nose into the small dip between Dan's shoulder and neck as he drags his fingers down his back. "I wonder if the rain has stopped."

Dan only realises his eyes are closed in bliss when he has to open them to look over at the window. He lets out a literal snort when he sees large droplets of rain pounding against the window, complemented appropriately by a dark-grey sky.

"I don't believe it."

"Don't believe what?" Phil detaches his lips from where they're moving steadily across Dan's jaw, and he meets his gaze. When he looks over to the window, he lets out an equally amused chuckle. "Oh, wow."

"Do we have to do everything in reverse?" Dan looks down at him with raised eyebrows. "Is that what we've become?"

"Maybe it's just our thing."

"That's gross, Phil." Dan leans down to hide his smile in Phil's neck. "I don't ever want to hear you say such sentimental filth again."

Phil meets his lips to Dan's skin with a smile. "No promises."