supermarket flowers // phan

aisle two

phil was angry. constantly. he was pissed off with the world. he couldn't vouch for his childhood, a constant outsider for being strange. what even was strange? he was creative, he liked telling stories, he liked reading stories. or rather, he did, before his creativity was bullied out of him.

dan was sad. constantly. he was upset with the world. he couldn't vouch for his family, a constant outsider for being gay. why did that even matter? he was loving, he liked caring for others, he liked making people smile. or rather, he did, before his personality was bullied out of him.

x

"lester!" phils boss, mark, shouted across the staff room, "you're on checkouts today" he explained, as he approached phil with the shift rota.

"okay" phil agreed meekly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"you might need to help dan out if he gets stuck" explained mark, shoving his pen behind his ear and checking his watch

"dan?" questioned phil

"yeah, yeah.. the new boy" mark replied, ambiguously waving his hand in the direction of dan, who was sat in the corner chatting to a few of the girls.

"right" phil said shortly, balling his fists in his pockets.

"be nice, lester" mark laughed, before heading off to scribble notes onto the schedule.

'be nice, lester' phil mimicked in his mind, rolling his eyes back into his head. he shoved his final things into his locker and headed into the shop floor.

closely behind him dan followed, jogging to catch up.

"hey, it's phil, right?" dan said through a grin, holding out his hand to shake.

phil just stared at the open hand, before shoving his hands in his pockets again, "right" he replied bluntly. he noticed how dans once bright eyes faltered.

"yeah... so.. um.. i was just wondering if you could help me out, im new to all of this, my last job didn't have fancy tills like this place, we had to add up the prices on paper and -" babbled dan, gesturing with his hands wildly, before phil interrupted

"i'm sure you'll get the hang of it by yourself" phil said cooly, trying to walk ahead

"oh.. um.. well.. thank you anyway" said dan, slightly disheartened as he sat down at checkout four.

beep

beep

beep

beep

phil's brain was swirling in a cycle of disinterest and constant flurry as he scanned the items for the elderly couple in front of him.

"smile deary" chuckled the elderly lady as she fumbled in her bag for her money

"i wouldn't bank on that love, i haven't seen him smile once yet" grinned dan, leaning back on his chair to join the conversation, or lack of.

"we must of chosen the wrong checkout then pete" joked the elderly lady, nudging her husband who joined in the laughter

phil simply shrugged and rolled his eyes, before letting a shallow breath escape his lungs and forcing a small smile through gritted teeth at the lady. it was pissing him off how cheerful they all were, especially dan. fucking dan. he can't recall ever asking dan to join the conversation.

"that'll be 32 pounds 40 pence please" stated phil, shoving the last of their frozen foods into the plastic bags.

"oh he does speak!" pete exclaimed, handing over a few notes.

phil stifled a laugh, very funny he thought to himself.

"have a nice day" phil forced out of his mouth while handing over the receipt.

"would it hurt to crack a smile every now and then phil?" dan said, getting up to lean against phil's checkout

"you have work to do" phil said with no emotion, not meeting dans eyes

"oh look around lester, the shop is empty, what's your issue?" dan asked, irritated

"why do you keep pestering me, jesus" phil shot back

"don't flatter yourself phil, stop being such an ass" dan retorted, tightly balling his fists

"whatever" mumbled phil, turning away to stand up, and assist the lady who was struggling to reach the top shelf in aisle two.