Dan sleeps through the night and well into the next day, his body recovering slowly but surely. Phil tries not to fret, but between having someone in his house all the time and wanting to make sure Dan's okay, he can't help but be a bit nervous. To distract himself, he clasps his cloak around his throat and heads out into the forest.

The gentle breeze whispers through the grass and makes the leaves overhead rustle against one another. Phil moves silently through the dense trees, focusing all of his energy on the forest and the Earth beneath his feet. He can faintly feel the distress of a tree, so he picks up his pace until the sensation is rattling his bones. He reaches the sick tree and places his hands on the trunk, his skin turning green as he brings life back to the plant.

"It's not your time to die," he whispers to the young tree.

Phil spends the next hour moving through the forest, healing young, sick plants and leaving the older ones to die naturally. That way, the natural ebb and flow of life in the forest is maintained. If anything is throwing off the balance, Phil will feel it and be there to fix it.

When he's finished, he walks back towards home. He lets his head tip up towards the sky, where rain clouds start to form, and smiles to himself. Rain is always welcome. It has this beautiful ability to make Phil feel rejuvenated along with the forest itself.

Phil reaches his cottage and heads to his garden. He'll need some tomatoes and lettuce for supper tonight, so he reaches out and holds a nearly ripe tomato in his hand. His skin goes green as he applies his power, and the tomato grows to ripeness right before his eyes. As well as heal sick plants, he can also make them grow, which is very handy when he needs food ready for his meals. 

He continues to harvest vegetables and berries, humming softly to himself.

~*~ 

Dan stares at the ceiling, sick of being in bed and stationary. On Scara, one would never be still for this long. Especially in Renolds, the town where Dan grew up, it was very important to always be moving and productive. If you weren't, you were merely a hindrance to everyone else.

Body aching, Dan pulls himself upright in bed and then to his feet, leaning heavily on the headboard. His ribs scream their protests along with the other bruises on his body, but he ignores them. His curiosity is stronger than the pain he's in.

His first mission is to retrieve a shirt. The top he was in when he crashed is gone, leaving him with just pants on. His boots sit by the bed, and he can only assume that Phil is the reason for his missing clothing.

Dan shuffles across the floor to the dresser on the other side of the room. On top of it is a nicely folded shirt, and Dan pulls it on with some hesitation. He would hate to take something that wasn't meant for him, but he would hate being indecent in a stranger's house more. After a moment of deliberation, he decides that if Phil doesn't want him to wear this, he'll take it off and get something else.

With that out of the way, Dan moves slowly across the room towards the door. He breathes heavily, his lungs still struggling to recover from smoke inhalation, and when he reaches the exit to the room he leans on the doorframe to catch his breath. As he does, Phil reenters the cottage with an armful of produce. He places the vegetables and berries on the counter and turns, jumping when he comes face to face with Dan. He shuts his eyes and clutches his chest, right over his heart.

"Oh my gosh, Dan, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," Dan replies.

"You should be resting," Phil insists.

Dan shrugs a bit and looks down at the floor, shifting his weight from foot to foot and coughing into his elbow. Phil looks him up and down, taking in the t-shirt that hugs his chest and his white and grey pants that were designed to go with his space suit. Dan is tall and lean, yet muscular at the same time, and Phil finds his gaze travelling to the bandage on Dan's cheek.

"I should probably change your bandages," Phil comments.

Dan touches the dressing on his cheek with his fingertips and nods. With shuffling steps, he moves towards the nearest chair and settles into the cushions, a long exhale escaping him. Phil gathers some fresh bandages and walks towards Dan, kneeling on the floor between his knees.

"How are you feeling?" Phil asks as he reaches up and gently removes the covering on Dan's cheek.

Dan shrugs, his eyes meeting Phil's for a moment before darting away. "I'm okay."

"That's good." Phil takes a warm cloth and cleans the cut on his cheek, and as he does he catches a glimpse of Dan's eyes. With a start, he realizes that they look like the galaxy was taken from the sky and placed into the man before him in its purest form, and Phil feels his hand still. "Your eyes..."

Dan glances at him and lowers his gaze to his lap. "Yeah."

"They look like the galaxy."

Dan nods. "I'm healing."

"And that's what happens when you're healing?"

Dan nods again and Phil lowers the cloth from Dan's face, placing a new bandage over the wound. "It's beautiful," the guardian says, and Dan's cheeks flush pink. Phil smiles a little and bites his bottom lip. "I'll, uh, need you to take the shirt off. So I can change the bandages on your torso."

Dan blushes an even darker shade of pink and pulls his shirt off, gritting his teeth and inhaling sharply as he reveals an entire chest covered in dark bruises and old bandages. Phil winces and reaches forward, removing the old coverings and cleaning the wounds underneath before redressing them. In his peripheral vision he can see Dan watching him intensely, galaxy gaze dancing over his frame, his curiosity evident. Phil wants to look over, but he doesn't want to ruin the moment. He doesn't want to scare Dan away.

He covers the last of Dan's wounds and straightens up, handing Dan his shirt. The space boy takes it, glancing at the shirt before looking at Phil.

"Are you okay with me wearing this?" he asks, his voice quiet.

"Of course," Phil replies with a smile.

Dan nods and pulls the shirt on. Phil moves towards the kitchen and starts putting together the ingredients needed for dinner, and after a few moments Dan stands up and shuffles over.

"Thank you," Dan says softly.

"You're welcome," Phil replies.