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Dan is lying on the floor, soon dust will begin to gather in the corners of the room, but for now the floor is shiny and clean – too much so almost, Phil very definitely nearly slipped and cracked his head earlier. There are boxes still too unpack, but Dan’s willowy under exercised body definitely cannot take it anymore.
“Dan?”
A head peeps throw the doorway – it echoes slightly.
“Ugh,” Dan responds. Not bothering to lift his head to look.
“You hungry?” It’s Phil of course, he moves closer, and now Dan can see his ankles, he makes the effort to move his pupils in order to just about see Phil’s torso and hips too.
“Yes, but we have no food,” Dan says.
“We could order pizza?” Phil says, Dan hearing the evident shrug in it - the casual easiness of it, like they aren’t down to their last dime in a new, strange, and most importantly, expensive city.
Dan perches up on his elbows, and Phil sits beside him, listlessly spreading his fingers out on the hardwood floor.
“Phil–“ Dan levels him with a look, that he hopes conveys, ‘we aren’t going to last long if we keep going like that.’Maybe he’s being mean, Dan wonders, maybe he’s just tired, or anxious – his mind is too foggy for him to be sure of his emotions right now.
“Okay, okay,” Phil, says, seemingly hearing Dan’s internal monologue.
Phil’s fingers have now drifted to dance a beat against Dan’s thigh, usually it would annoy him, but right now he’s comforted by the contact.
They sit there silently for a bite, before Phil pipes up suddenly, “maybe there’s some old pasta or something they forgot in the store cupboard! Come on!” Phil says, suddenly full of energy, Dan groans again but Phil is up on his feet and yanking Dan up by the arms till he follows limply behind.
Dan rests his head against Phil’s shoulder in the kitchen, only slightly hindering his voyage, moving hid head only when Phil stretches up a little bit to reach the top shelf.
“Mm, what’s this?” Phil ponders aloud.
Dan looks up to find Phil holding a plastic card – so not food, he’s about to quip.
“Dan, Dan, it’s a subway gift card!”
“Are you sure its even still valid?” Dan asks, much less excited.
“Yes, it says December 2012. And they wouldn’t give it back to someone if nothing were on it. It’s worth a try.”
Dan pouts, “Does this involve leaving the house? What if there is only £2 left?” The card said £10 but who’s to say there wasn’t a substantial dent in it.
“Yes, but it will be worth it. It’s an adventure. A night on the town!”
Dan rolls his eyes, but he can’t pretend his chest doesn’t fill with a sort of gleefulness, as it starts to hit him– they live in London now, he had Phil, a job and an apartment – It’s going to be okay.
Phil uses his phone data, and finds there is a subway round the corner, so they head down there, and manage not to get incredibly lost. It’s 10pm by the time they arrive, and it looks pretty dead – a member of staff listlessly resting on the back wall – she looks at them a bit like, she’s daring them to turn away. Dan has to commend her though; as they do enter, she plants on a soft smile, and stands up to attention.
“How can I help you?”
“Uh, yeah,” Phil says, surprising Dan by stepping in, “It’s an odd one, but can you tell me how much is on this card?”
“Um, sure,” She responds, swiping it, “£9.45.”
Dan, despite the cynicism deeply rooted within him, can’t dampen the spark of hope he feels in that moment, that says, this is a sign, a sign of good things to come.
They get two subs of the day with cokes, and even a cookie to share. Phil convinces Dan to sit in and eat, so they pick the window and glance out at London at 10pm, muttering mindless commentary back and forth. They break their cookie, knocking their own cookie halves together, their excited grins mirroring one another.