Supine 'til Aurora • Dan Howell

• Chapter 7 •

7:16

hey just landed x

7:34

Finland is 2 hours
ahead right

are you home from
work

I grinned at the fact he returned the little kiss.

Okay, so it isnt weird. It's just a nice friendly kiss, nothing weird at all about that. It shows I care.

My thumbs wiggled over the screen, scanning my mind for a reply.

Yeah; I'm home now.

And yes, we're 2
hours ahead, it's
7pm right now.

thought so

Did you have to
look that up?

i had to look that
up

Thought so. 😈

😂😂😭

do you wanna skype?

I raised my eyebrows at the question. He followed the message up with his skype name, so I figured I'd do it. It would be a better way to communicate, definitely. It would feel more personal and social, rather than just texting.

Grimacing, I glanced at myself in the reflection of my screen, in my baggy jumper and my messy bun, and my makeup-less face.
Switching my bedside light on, I ignored my hot mess of a look. A spot had come up on my head somehow in the last 10 hours and I was not happy about it.

I don't need looks. If he judges me for this, then that proves what kind of person he is; it isn't on me.

I exhaled slowly, and then pressed the video call, angling the laptop screen in a position at which he'd be able to see me despite the poor lighting.

"Hey!" The whole room lit up, as Dan's smiling face popped up on the screen. It was clearly much lighter in London, and so I could see him much easier. "Loving the hair." He grinned at me, shifting in his seat, which looked to be at the dining table.
"Hey shush. I'm tired." Pouting, I lolled my head back for a second, before he continued to chat.
"How've you been?"
"It's been less than 10 hours since you left, Dan." I smiled visibly, pulling the sleeves of my jumper over my hands.
"I know." He smiled back, "I just wanted to know how your closing shift was without me." He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
"Oh now it all comes out." I joked, glaring comically at him.
We talked for hours that evening, he took the laptop with him into the kitchen at one point, and I watched his pathetic attempt at cooking. Phil even had to come in and help him.
His face lit up when he saw Dan was on Skype with me.
"Ava!"
"Hello, Phil."
"Wow, Dan," Phil looked back at Dan, "You can't even leave poor Ava alone for a day can you?"
"Fuck off, Phil." Dan cringed, pushing him out the kitchen.
"Excuse me?" Phil joked as he was pushed out the door
"Sorry about that." Dan moaned.
"It's fine, don't worry." Laughing, we continued talking about literally everything possible - the conversation went from pets, to cereal, to holidays and even went onto University.
"Well, you know what happened when I tried university." Dan leaned his head on the back of the sofa, and looked down at the laptop next to him. "Did you go to university?"
"Yes. I did. I went to university at 21, and then spent 2 years doing an Art and Design course, and then 3 years doing a Photography course."
"You're 26?"
I hummed, nodding at the screen. "I'd love to do something to do with Designing or Photography, but I'm not sure what yet."
"Have you taken any pictures recently?"
"Yeah I-" Glancing at the window to my side, my eyes widened. "Oh my gosh." I nearly yelped, sitting up on my heels.
"What?" Dan questioned, scanning the screen with concerned eyes.
"It's snowing!" I screeched, my eyes glancing over the road sprinkled with white, "and it's settling!"
Leaping off the bed, I rushed over to the window, looking at the thin layer of snow landing on the floor; I could hear Dan laughing loudly in the background.
"I thought you'd gotten hurt or something." He sighed in relief, putting his hand on the his forehead, though he was still beaming and his eyes were scrunched in happiness.
Smiling at the screen, I sat back down on the bed, pulling the covers over me.
"Alright, Howell, I'm going to head off, I'm exhausted."
"Chat tomorrow?" He asked.
"Of course. I wanna find out more crap about you that I can use against you in the future."
Dan burst out laughing, his nose wrinkling up.
"Night." I looked up at him, and smiled.
"Goodnight, Virtanen."

○○○

"Dan!" I exclaimed as soon as his face popped up, "It's snowed lots!" It was true, there was atleast a foot of snow on the ground that had miraculously fallen over night. My guess was that the ground had frozen, and cleared the path for the heavy snowfall that had clearly been building up.
"Thats great! I love how excited you are." He laughed, his smile broad. Scanning his beaming face, I noticed he had a hoop earring in, in one ear.
Wow.
"Nice earring, Howell."
"Why, thank you" Dan flung his head back and duck pouted at me. He was still in bed, understandably so, seeing as it was 10 here, so still 8 over there, and I was honoured Dan woke up earlier than I assumed he usually would, just to talk to me. Though I had realised he was shirtless, but I decided to brush it off and not mention anything.
My apartment this morning was chilly, though I didn't need to leave it until about 11ish, so I had turned the heating on. I was meeting Lis down at one of our favourite winter themed cafes - and the weather had clearly happened at just the right time.
The cafe was a small corner shop, that sold a massive array of hot drinks, though I loved the Cherry and Chili Hot Chocolate and would almost always get that. They also sold small baked good aswell, from scones to muffins, from macaroons to éclairs, and me and Lis loved it.

○○○

"No! You're absolutely insane."
"Perhaps, but I'm more sane than you."
"Perhaps."
Dan and I had been talking for about 45 minutes, and Dan had been chatting to me about his psycho thoughts video while I washed up some cups.
"I mean, don't you just ever realise you could kill someone?"
"I mean. I guess so." I admitted, turning the warm water off, "But I've never actually thought about it in the moment."
"You're weird."
I chuckled, pulling one of my bobble hats onto my head.
"Anyway, I should head off. I'm meeting my friend for lunch."
"Ooh." Dan exclaimed, "Can I ask who?"
"Of course." I chuckled, slipping my shoes on, "Her name is Lis, and she lives just outside of Helsinki, she's also my ex girlfriend."
Pausing midway through putting my coat on, I glanced at Dan who's eyes were wide with confusion.
"You like girls?" He blurted out, and clearly shocked at his own fowardness, he then retracted the question, saying, "Shit. Sorry... I didn't mean-"
"No it's okay. And yes, partly. I'm bisexual, actually."
"Ah, that's awesome. When did you date?"
"Final year of high school. For a year. We decided to stay friends after we broke up."
We chatted for a few more minutes, then, smiling, I said goodbye to Dan, watching as he reached over to end the call; due to the fact I was winding a grey scarf round my neck. He timed it just right for me to catch him say: "Bye. Have a good time at lunch. Nice hat by the way."

__________

woooo chapter 7 done and dusted! slightly shorter than I would've liked, but it's leading up to big things! stick with it guys, it's gonna get good. Xx