The Fever: Late Night Editing
A/N: This fic was requested by Leah upon her realizing that Dan actually did a YouNow because he was scared of Sonic.exe. This fic is based prior to the editing and release of this video.
Lisbeth was just finishing up a Skype call with her parents when a new video-chat message popped up: Dan.
She answered, revealing a pale Dan sitting in his bedroom at his desk with all of the lights on. “Hey babe,” she said, grinning. “Bright enough for you?”
He scoffed and answered, “Not really.”
“Aw,” she cooed, “is that the Game of Thrones shirt I bought for you?”
“Huh?” He looked down at the shirt and nodded. “Yeah. What are you up to?”
“Just finished talking with my mom,” she said. She leaned back in her bed and stared at her wonderful boyfriend. “How about you? You usually don’t want to talk this late.”
“So,” he started, and took a sip of something from a mug, “you know how me and Phil are doing the spooky game series for our channel?”
She nodded.
He leaned forward, his nose almost pressing the camera. “It got too freaky.”
Lisbeth refrained from rolling her eyes. “Really, Dan? You were so excited about the spooky games!”
“That was old me,” he told her, resting back in his desk chair. “Naive me.”
“Okay,” she said, and turned on the lamp that was on her bedside table, “what’s up?”
“Watch this.” He sent her a video file.
Lisbeth watched the 18 minute uncut video of Dan and Phil playing something called Sonic.exe. She didn’t think that it was exactly scary. Weird? Yeah. Freaky? Definitely. But scary? That was a bit of a reach. When she returned to Dan, she didn’t realize she was smiling.
“You thought Phil scaring me was funny!” he complained, pointing at her.
“What? No, I’m Team Dan, all the way!” she insisted, though she was still laughing at her boyfriend’s reaction to his friends stupid trick.
“Anyway,” he said, “I’m trying to edit it and it’s freaking me out.”
“The Sonic ‘I AM GOD’ screen is going to haunt your dreams,” she said nonchalantly.
“It is!” he squeaked. “And Phil is out of town and I’m editing it and it’s night and it’s dark outside-”
“Do you want me to come over?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Are you kidding, Lis? You don’t know what crawls through the Tube at two in the morning!”
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a creepy Sonic creature,” she answered, thoroughly amused. “Really, Dan, I can come over. It’s not a problem.”
“Nope!” He put up a halting hand. “You stay right there where it’s safe! Geez, at least you’ve got Kaija.”
Lisbeth laughed and said, “Yes, my sleeping friend that is scared of Dumbo is gonna kick demon Sonic’s ass.”
“She’s- Wait, scared of Dumbo?”
“Something about his ears,” Lisbeth said dismissively.
“But they’re like giant warm blankets to curl up in!” he said, and brought his own blanket more securely around his shoulders.
“Are you going to be okay, Dan?” Lisbeth asked. She was actually starting to get nervous about his well being.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice cracking, “totally fine. I mean, I can just stay here and keep the video chat open if it would make you feel better.” He looked away from the screen, a tinge of red on his cheeks.
Lisbeth snuggled further into her bed and smiled at him. “It would,” she told him.
He heaved a sigh of relief and muttered, “Thank God.”
It was just after four in the morning when Dan completed editing the video, Lisbeth’s sleeping face on one screen and a YouNow on another. He signed off from the YouNow, feeling immensely better after not being all alone in his flat after playing the scariest video game ever. He turned his attention to Lisbeth.
Her nose was running, and hair was stuck against the wet snot. She was drooling and snoring softly, and her chin was pressed firmly to her chest, making it look like she had 8 or 9 chins. She snorted quietly and rolled onto her back.
He smiled gently and sighed quietly. “Good night, Lis,” he said quietly. He placed a hand on top of the laptop. “Love you,” he murmured, and shut it. He wound up in his pajamas, in bed with the lights off. He tried to shut his eyes, as he was exhausted, but he kept seeing Sonic. “This is not happening!” he announced, and turned on his bedside lamp. “Oh God,” he muttered, staring up at the ceiling, “I’m going to be haunted to the death by a hedgehog.”
