monochrome brushstrokes // phan

chapter 2

Dan scrolled through his dashboard, desperately looking for some sort of inspiration. However, he was just met with memes and shitposts. He didn't really expect much more from Tumblr, though. Procrastinating the only commission you've gotten in 2 months. Wow. Nice job, Dan. The brunet was momentarily distracted by the whistling of his small ruby tea kettle. After pouring himself a cup of tea, he settled back down.

A scream from upstairs reminded Dan of what he had originally turned on his laptop for. It had only been 2 days since his encounter with Phil, and he couldn't seem to erase him from his mind. Dan slumped farther in his seat, sighing dramatically.

He chewed at his bottom lip as he typed "phil the monochrome mane" into the search bar. His screen flooded with photos of the attractive neighbor he had met a few days before. Most of the shots were from photo shoots where Phil was giving the camera a sultry look, his lips in a slight pout. And, as Phil had warned, there were indeed shirtless photos. Many, many, shirtless photos. Dan tried his best to avert his eyes. Although, he might have peeked at some. Dan made a note to ask Phil to model for him if they ever became friends.

The boy clicked on one of the band's music videos. Dan had to turn down his volume to keep himself from going deaf. The music that Dan was accustomed to had soft acoustics and warm harmonies, rather than loud electric guitar solos. Even though he wasn't a fan of the genre, he had to grudgingly admit that their music wasn't too bad.

The visuals of the music video, however, were questionable. Phil was shown sitting in a large black throne, two lions lying on either sides of him. The camera was positioned so that it was looking up at him, as if emphasizing the vocalist's height. Phil wore a black suit, the corner of his lip slightly curled up in a small smirk. His eyelids were painted with black eyeshadow, contrasting his pale blue eyes. The next scene displayed the rest of the band members holding onto a thrashing boy. Phil slowly stood up from his dark throne before he had stopped in front of them. He touched two hands gently to the struggling boy's forehead. The boy automatically slumped and lay still. The video proceeded to show the other band members locking the boy in a hauntingly beautiful birdcage. Phil had been shown attempting visit the boy, but he was pushed away. Before the music video ended, it revealed Phil inside the birdcage, tracing the boy's jawline.

Dan couldn't quite place why, but the last scene made him uneasy. He opened another tab to read up about Phil, excusing his slightly creepy behavior as "research". In less than 10 minutes, Dan had learned that Phil was 26, had a burning hatred for cheese, almost always wore mismatched socks, had a tattoo dedicated to his mother, interacted constantly with his fans, and was really fucking attractive. He continued to scour the internet for information on his new neighbor, the cup of tea long forgotten.

****

Phil scrolled through his Twitter feed, his head propped comfortably on his pillows as he laid on his bed. Despite being in a metal band, his room was quite bright. Phil's long legs were tangled in his checkered green and blue bedspread. Posters of different characters lined his walls, indicating how much of a big nerd Phil was. Despite just recently moving in, the raven-haired man had already unpacked. His closet was crammed, not surprisingly, with all black. While inside his bedroom was a jungle of colors, his wardrobe consisted of black and only black. Ultimately, Phil had to keep his black aesthetic consistent when he was spotted outside.

He decided to log into YouNow, quickly posting a tweet about it. The band had finished recording almost all of their new album in the studio that morning and he was ready to talk to his fans about it. Phil felt that he had a good connection with his audience, often responding to them via Twitter. His replies usually consisted with a sassy comment or a cheesy pun, followed by a meme or a string of ironic emojis.

"Hey everyone! Welcome to my YouNow!" Phil grinned, staring into the chat. After a few moments of listing off the usernames of people who had arrived, the vocalist began to answer questions.

"How is my new apartment?" Phil read off of his Macbook screen. "Funny you should ask! Just the other day I got a complaint from a neighbor about how loud the band was being. I hope I don't get kicked out again for noise complaints." the ebony-haired man chuckled. He noticed a few people probing for more information about the new neighbor. "Describe them? Well, he was pissed off but still cute. He looked a bit like one of those people who would run an art/aesthetic blog." Phil was about to continue until the chat blew up with questions about his ex, Dean. His smile slightly faltered, but only for a moment before he moved on quickly. After an hour of live streaming, Phil waved goodbye to his fans and shut off his laptop. 

****

That night, Phil laid awake thinking about Dean. He was certain that he had moved on, but he could never seem to escape those deep green abysses.

In the apartment below, Dan tossed and turned. He was drenched in cold sweat, his heartbeat pounding in his head. Although he was alone in his room, he could still feel those rugged hands gripping at his hips hungrily. As much as Dan tried, some memories couldn't be repressed.

******

author's note // okay so i kind of made the end a tiny bit angsty but it will be explained in the next chapter or two probably. also, i keep alternating between describing d+p as men and boys oops. i kept updating the first chapter so i could keep certain spacings and such consistent