Chapter Text
“for pump three.” a gruff-looking man huffed as he placed a crumpled 20 dollar bill on the counter.
“yessir..” phosphophyllite trailed off, swiping the bill of the counter as they watched the customer bundle his coat back up before walking out towards the gas pumps.
blinking away the tiredness from their eyes, phos straightened out the cash before stuffing it into the cash register. “..cannot believe I have three more hours of this left.” they complained to themselves.
phos has seen their fair share of jobs. fast food, retail, even corporate for a few weeks, but working the night shift for their local gas station was a type of boredom they've never experienced. at first, they were nervous to start this job; it being night and usually having to work alone due to staffing issues wasn't the most ideal working environment which definitely made them antsy about starting. but now, phos kinda wishes there was a little more action so the minutes would go by faster. the most they would get on wednesday nights such as this is your occasional insomnia-ridden college students or truckers passing through.
just as they had started to zone out to whatever top 100 song was playing over the scratchy overhead speakers, the familiar chime of the store’s doors brought them back to reality.
“welcome in!” phos’ well trained (or so they say) retail voice cuts through the otherwise dull atmosphere on reflex. hearing a hum in acknowledgment, they look over the register to look at the new customer. ‘ah, so an insomnia-ridden college student.’ they thought to themself.
the white hair was a surprise, despite phos’ own faded green hair they sported. the person was clad in pretty presentable clothing; a white t-shirt and jeans. it was unlike the usually outfit of choice of pajamas the other students that find themselves in here wear, especially at three in the morning. strange, phos had remarked in their head, but it wasn't the weirdest part about their outfit. their lack of any sort of coat is what really threw them off. it was definitely below freezing at this time of night, phos themselves had made sure to layer a jacket on top of their hoodie which barely kept them from shivering.
in the time phos took marveling on this person hadn't become a human popsicle, that said person plopped down the items they had set out for of the counter in front of them.
jumping slightly, phos straightened up and went to start checking out the items. a case of redbull and some altoid mints; pretty par for the course for college students. as they rang up the mints and placed them into a bag with the drinks, phos’ eyes flickered to the customers hands that mindlessly fidgeted on the counter. noticing how red their fingertips were, their gaze flickered up to their face which had an equally red nose. ‘well, they're definitely not some ice-witch that's immune to the cold, at least.’ they mused to themself.
giving them their total, phos handed the stranger their items and waited for their payment to process. “would you like a receipt?” they ask, watching as the person's hands twitched as they gripped onto the plastic band. it was obvious that the feeling of the bag digging into their cold fingers was irritating.
“no, thank you.” the other cleared their throat after they spoke, shifting the bag to the other hand in hopes to reprieve themself of the pins-and-needles feeling seeping into their fingers.
“alrighty, um…” phos trailed off, eyes scanning their side of the counter before they focused in on a pair of black gloves they bought a few days prior. “do- uh, do you want some gloves?” they held out the pair to them, “i have a pair here that i grabbed a few days back. it's like 15 degrees out there and i know i would hate to have our dingy plastic bags digging into my fingers.” they rambled on, something phos didn't catch until far too late when they say the other looking at them awkwardly.
“oh.. sure, yes- um, thank you..?” the jacketless stranger accepted, mainly due to the fact that they offered and would feel bad if they declined rather than out of an actual desire for the gloves. sliding their bag down to the crook of their elbow, they took and unraveled the gloves, slipping the pair on. it was a little small for their hands but not enough to be uncomfortable.
phos sighed internally out of relief that they accepted, not even knowing why they actually offered in the first place. “oh yeah, no problem. well, uh… have a good night!” they hurried, trying to rid themselves of the awkward atmosphere. the other nodded, readjusting their hold on the bag before exiting, the same chime as before ringing through the store as phos was left with just themself once again.
sighing out loud this time, phos clicked their phone to life and checked the time: 3:07 a.m…
ugh.
this was definitely the slowest day of their life.