Dan & Phil Oneshots

Paper Airplanes

(Dan's POV)
Get me out of here. The office complex isn't where I want to be at 5 in the morning! There are only seven other people desperate enough for money who are here with me right now, working to get ahead for tax season. But does that matter to me? No! I don't care if the boss bought us donuts as an incentive to stay here and get ahead. I would rather be alone in my tiny apartment, eating nachos, and watching American Horror Story. I've been working for about half an hour and I've already got a cramp in my back. I stood up, cracked my back, and sat back down. I hadn't even resumed calculating people's expenses when a paper airplane landed on my desk. Confused, I stood up and looked around the office a bit for the person who threw it, and I quickly made eye contact with one of the new guys.

The boss hired him about a week ago, claiming that he'd be a good person to have on "the team." I haven't made any effort to talk to him, just like I do with the rest of the people here. The only times I've seen him is when we have meetings. Otherwise we are stuck in our own cubicles. I smiled at him before sitting back down. Opening the airplane, I saw that there was some writing on it. "Hey. You probably don't know me, but I just wanted to say hi. Isn't it boring here?" I wrote my response on the paper, folded it up again, and chucked it into his stall. I got back to calculating how much of a refund this man would get when the airplane flew back into my cubicle. "I'm glad you agree with me. What's your name? Mine's Phil Lester." it said. "Dan Howell. You won't believe how much of a refund this guy named Greg is getting. I think almost all of his meals out are labeled as business meals." I wrote that and flew the plane back to him. It took a few minutes before I got a  paper airplane again, and in that time, I managed to finish up with Greg's suspiciously high refund total.

"Dan Howell. What a cute name for a hot guy like you." I started blushing like mad, but I kept my cool and wrote back, "Well you aren't so bad yourself." Right as I stood up to throw the airplane, our boss walks by my cubicle. I hurriedly hid the plane and stretched so I didn't look suspicious for standing. After he had left, I chucked the airplane into Phil's cubicle again and went back to work.

It had been half an hour and still no reply, so I decided to get up and go get some coffee. We have one of those machines that brews coffee from a little, plastic cup. Not my favorite, but it's necessary to survive this early day. I was patiently waiting for my cup to brew when Phil suddenly strolled out of the hallway that led to the restrooms. I didn't want to seem like I was stalking him, so I quickly looked back to the coffee after I noticed it was him. I heard footsteps and soon felt him standing beside me as I stared intently at the machine. "You might want to press the on button, mate," said Phil as he reached over and pressed the power button on top of the coffee maker. "Oh. Yea. Umm... Thanks." I risked looking up and saw a smirk plastered on his face as he stared back at me. As I looked at him, unsure of whether I should speak or not, we didn't notice the boss had seen us. "Hey, Lester! Got those reports done that I wanted?" "Not yet sir!" "Then get on it!" Phil looked back at me, smirked at me one last time, and walked away. In the process of his exit, his hand lightly brushed against mine, sending my stomach swooping.

I finally got my cup of coffee and went back to my cubicle. Already there was another airplane waiting for me. I went ahead and started on another person's tax returns, instead of reading the plane, to avoid the boss's wrath. After about 10 minutes of working, the curiosity was eating away at me, so I opened the airplane. "It's cute how nervous you get." I rolled my eyes as I wrote back, "I am not nervous," and chucked the airplane back to him.

For the next three rounds of passing the plane, all that was written was "Are too," and "Am not." Eventually, the paper airplane conversation went to topics such as the guy that Phil was doing taxes for. "I mean, who on earth would try to mark down every single lunch of every single day as a business affair just to try to get a refund! Does he not think we won't catch on??????" "At least you don't have to deal with an old woman named Betsy who's filing for a tax refund on a purchase of 7 cats." I heard an amused snort from his cubicle shortly after I threw the plane. However, I also soon heard the sharp voice of my boss. I turned around slightly and saw he was standing at the entrance to Phil's cubicle, and Phil was standing up with the paper airplane in his hands, ready to throw it to me. "And just what do you think you're doing there, Phillip?" he said as he snatched the plane from his hand. Crumpling it up, he exclaimed in a voice louder than necessary, "You haven't been here for more than a week and yet you find it satisfactory to provide distractions for the other people around you who are working twice as hard?" Phil stood there, unable to speak in fear of getting fired. Everyone in the room was now staring at Phil and the boss, since it was the most interesting thing that's happened all morning. "Well, this will be your final warning. No more airplanes, or else you're out of a job. Got it?" Phil nodded and the boss swiftly turned and walked away.

I gave Phil a half smile and turned back to my work. Almost 10 seconds later, a paper airplane landed right by my hands. I quickly unfolded it and found that he wrote, "Proper coffee after our shifts?" Scribbling a quick yes, I scanned the area around me to make sure the boss was away before throwing it. After that last word, no more airplanes were thrown between us. We worked quickly and quietly, and after the clock struck 9:00, Phil and I stood up, put on our coats, and walked out the doors of the building together.