#Plus there's also the parallel that they were all self conscious about their quirks

[thyandrawrites]

I'm not touching bnha canon with a ten foot pole, but I feel like this is a prime time for a fic self plug. Friendly reminder that two years ago I wrote an AU where the next little stray the HPSC would prey on if they ever lost control of Hawks would 100% have been Shinsou

[ineverhadmyinternetphase]

Dan and Phil at the airport, delayed on the way to Vidcon. Dan falling asleep on Phil (hence why Phil had been awake for 47 hours when they finally went on stage)

They were disorientated, grumpy, and more than a little bit exhausted bythe time they finally found somewhere to camp.

The nightmare of a journey had passed in something like a dream. Infact, Dan wasn’t even sure it had really happened at all. In a paralleluniverse, they were probably already safely arrived at Vidcon, happily inAmerica, living in a different timezone (this time because they were supposedto be, Phil) and preparing for their act on stage.

They weren’t supposed to still be in an airport.

But time and events were against them, and through a series of minordisasters they were now trapped in an unfamiliar building, locked away in thebusiness class lounge with very little chance of getting out of it for the foreseeablefuture.

A flight in the middle of the night had seemed like the best option, butnow, sitting in an uncomfortable seat across from Phil with his head slowlystarting to ache, Dan was starting to regret it.

The hours passed sluggishly, slowly, but like they were happening tosomeone else. Dan would much rather be in that parallel world, where he wassuccessful and shining and everyone loved his content all the time and therewas no bone-crushing pressure to be constantly perfect. He was feeling it moreright now, the pressure, when he was trapped somewhere he hated and with theprospect of disappointing everyone at vidcon hanging right over his head.

Never mind the fact that Phil was still refusing to talk to him.

Well, no, they were talking, but it never went past. “This is allyour fault, Dan, you can’t complain about it now.” Which, really, Dan thoughtwas very unfair. So he’d temporarily misplaced his passport, fine, he hadn’t thoughtthey were living in a different timezone. And Phil was always in charge ofbooking the taxis. He should have known better.

Really, it was all Phil’s fault they were stuck in this situation atall.

Dan crossed his arms glumly and stared at the tiled groundbeneath his feet. The business class lounge was quieter than most of theairport, but it was still far from empty and far from comfortable. The back ofhis head was itching the way it did sometimes when they were out in public andhe had to worry that someone would spy them, and some creepshot would laterappear in some dark corner of the internet.

And he couldn’t even reach out to Phil the way he normallywould, because Phil was staring grumpily at the floor too. Phil’s forehead wascreased, that little furrow deep in his brows showing his stubbornness and unhappinesswith the situation. It made Dan’s stomach twist. He hated being miserable, butmore than that, he hated Phil being miserable.

That was enough to make Dan relent a little. He uncrossedhis legs and leaned forward, towards Phil in their uncomfortable seats. “Well.At least we got on another flight.”

Phil only grunted in reply, but he did look up at Dan andmet his eyes for the first time in a while. That was progress.

Dan tried for a smile. “Might even still make our stageslot.”

“Well, not because of you,”Phil muttered.

Dan winced. That was hardly fair. Phil had been the one tosit down stubbornly in the middle of the gate refusing to move until the airstewardess let them on the flight. It had taken a lot of fast talking on Dan’spart to convince her to let them on the next flight, and then even more fasttalking to get Phil to move at all. Then they’d found their way here, and Philsat opposite him from then on grumpily refusing to speak to him.

Dan really thought this was quite unfair.

Phil seemed to take note of Dan’s expression, because hiseyes softened a little. “I mean, you have to admit, Dan, losing your passportwas pretty ridiculous.”

Dan grimaced. “I didn’t book us a taxi in literally the wrong timezone, Phil.”

“That wouldn’t even have mattered if we hadn’t been delayedby you!” Phil slid down in his seat, almost pouting. He looked ridiculous. “Throwingyour entire suitcase out onto the street, I don’t know what happened to you.Wait, yes I do, because something alwaysgoes wrong when you travel.”

Dan glared at him. “Not it doesn’t.”

“Last summer you had me pouring every eye product availableonto your face,” Phil pointed out, still grouchy. “And that was because youtake so long. Never mind getting deported to the Bahamas.”

“Now wait, wait, wait,” Dan lifted a finger, “That one was not my fault, the lady clearly had it infor me.”

Phil huffed a sigh and then slid back into silence. Danthought they had pretty good communication most of the time, but when they werefighting or moody or tired, then one or the other would usually shut down. Thistime, it seemed to be Phil, and he was so stubborn that Dan could see this onestretching on for hours.

Dan sighed too, then moved one foot forward to hook aroundPhil’s ankle. At least if they were touching, things couldn’t be too bad.

A few minutes passed.

“Emptying your boxers onto the street,” Phil mutteredeventually, and the corner of his mouth quirked upward.

Dan made a face back at him, but he couldn’t even bringhimself to be too mad. He was exhausted,and the expression on Phil’s face was the closest thing to a smile he’d seensince the mad rush to the airport earlier.

“Yes, well,” Dan muttered instead, kicking at Phil’s leg. “You’dhave done the same if you lost your passport, too.”

“I wouldn’t lose my passport,” Phil reminded him, but hislips were still twitching. “I wonder what the taxi driver thought of yourunderwear choices.”

“Shut up.” Danburied his face in his hands, groaning, glad their conversation was quietenough that none of the other few passengers in the lounge could hear them.

Phil chuckled in response. That was good. That was thehappiest he’d sounded in ages.

Dan smiled gratefully at him, glad that the worst of theirfight was behind them. Dan was so tired,he could feel it creeping around the edges of his skull, weighing down thecorners of his eyelids and making his limbs heavy and sluggish. He foldedhimself up as small as he could into the chair, but it wasn’t exactly sleepingmaterial. Plus, he missed his Phil-pillow.

It seemed, in a wonderful form of shared telepathy, thatPhil was on the same page as him, because his expression softened. “Want tofind somewhere more comfy?”

“Please,” Dan allbut begged, and dragged himself up to his feet.

The airport was busy, but eerily quiet so late into the night.There were still people, businessmen or tired families or backpackers millingaround, but everything took place in hushed whispers, the lights too bright forthe atmosphere. It sent chills down Dan’s spine.

They found a quiet corner against a wall, unfortunately nearthe toilets but it was one of the few places where not many people wereloitering. In fact, they managed to find a little corner by one of theemergency exits where there was no foot traffic, and they were free to curl uptogether in relative safety.

Also, Dan thought that if any of their audience members wereforced to be awake at this hour in the night, it was fair enough for them tocatch a creepshot in reward.

He shuffled in as close to Phil as he could get, both theirlegs stretched out across the tiled floor, their hands resting near each other,not quite intertwined. Phil had taken to pulling gently at the sleeves of Dan’slong jumper, shaking his head a little. “I don’t know how you manage to findbaggy clothes.”

“Lots of internet searching,” Dan answered through a yawn, “Afteryou’re asleep and I’m bored.”

Phil’s lips twitched. “I’d better work on staying awakethen, stop any more of your crazy fashion choices.”

“They are not crazy.”

“The rest of the world begs to differ, Dan.”

“Then the rest of the world can f - fuck off.” Dan wasovertaken by another yawn, stretching his arms out in front of him, feeling thesatisfactory click of his back. They’d been sitting down for hours and his bodyneeded to stretch, but he couldn’t find the energy to bother standing back upagain.

Phil glanced around, a lot more awake than Dan was. “It’salmost cool, anyway, being stuck here, isn’t it?”

Dan groaned. “In what way is it cool to be stuck in a building full of people for many hours?”

Phil nudged him in the side. “Where’s your sense ofadventure?”

“Departed about five hours ago along with my sense ofdecorum and hope.” Dan slid further down the wall, throwing his legs over Phil’s.No one was in their little corner, he figured he was allowed to be clingy.

Phil’s response was a low chuckle and another gentle tug onDan’s sleeve. Then he wound an arm around Dan’s shoulder and drew him closer. “You’regetting old.”

“Least I’m still in my twenties.” Dan yawned again, nestlinghappily into his new place pressed against Phil’s side. Everything somehow feltmore manageable when he had Phil’s warm comforting presence physically touchinghim, making him more real. Sometimes, Dan still wondered if he’d just dreamedPhil up, but one quick touch always reminded him how real this was. It was adesired source of comfort when they were in public spaces, but the most theycould normally manage was a pat on the back or a grip of the elbow. This was better.

Dan’s eyes were closing.

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Phil warned him quietly, but histone was fond. His hand was rubbing a soothing pattern over Dan’s back,up-and-down, up-and-down. It wasn’t really helping with the whole wakefulnessthing.

“’Won’t,” Dan mumbled in response, and then proceeded torest his head on Phil’s chest and do exactly that.

Phil rolled his eyes, but he didn’t move. Dan was tired, hecould see that in the tense lines of his body, the way his curls fell into hiseyes but he didn’t bother to swipe them away like normal, tucking them backinto place. Still a little self-conscious, even though everyone loved them.Phil certainly did. The temptation to poke his finger into the most prominentcurl on Dan’s forehead was an urge he had to fight frequently several times aday.

Dan shifted against him, so Phil tightened his grip andleaned his head back against the wall, resigning himself to his fate. He wasn’ttired enough to sleep, and Dan’s weight against his legs was making his rightfoot fall asleep. But he wasn’t going to be moving now, he knew what Dan gotlike when he was tired. Better that he stay still and let him rest than dealwith an exhausted Dan later.

Phil stared up at the ceiling, and held Dan close, and hopedthat the hours would pass quickly.