Phan One Shots - jilliancares

Inspiration

"Is it?" Dan muttered, nodding a greeting of his own. The guy, who had apparently heard him, laughed and stepped forward from where he was leaning back against the wall.

"What can I get for you?" he asked, his eyes alight and sparkling with something that looked like happiness. Which, of course, it couldn't possibly be, because no one had the capability of feeling happy at this hour.

Inspiration, Dan thought. "Whatever has the most caffeine," he said. The guy immediately set forth to preparing something most certainly unhealthy for Dan's heart in a large cup.

The guy was cute, which was undeniable, but Dan didn't really have the capacity to appreciate it with how tired he was. He just needed to sit in a coffee shop, drink an unhealthy amount of coffee, and make it through the day. And, of course, he needed to finish his dreaded project. The prospect of that happening seemed unlikely though, and his chest clenched with stress and anxiety just thinking about it.

"Here you are," said the cute guy, whose black hair look ruffled, likely from his hand running through it throughout the night. He handed over a large, hot coffee, and Dan thanked him.

Dan slouched his way over to a small booth against the wall, and he pulled out his sketchbook. Surely, inspiration was about to hit him. He was sitting in a coffee shop at nearly four in the morning, with burns from hot coffee on his tongue, and a familiar ache of sleeplessness behind his eyes. He was sure that this was payment enough for whatever bad karma he had somehow earned, and now, surely, inspiration would come.

With nearly half his coffee gone, and his fingers aching from clutching his pencil so hard, Dan gave up. He stopped trying to come up with an idea for his art project, something that was supposed to represent unity, and turned his eyes toward the cute barista.

He was sitting on the counter, the one that was against the back wall and was home to all the coffee makers, with a textbook perched open on one knee. He was holding a pen in his hand, tapping it against his lip as he thought, and occasionally he bent down to write something.

Taking hold of a fleeting sensation which felt oddly like his lost inspiration, Dan yanked a napkin from the napkin holder and twirled his pen between his fingers. It didn't take long before the shape of a person was taking place, one who was sitting cross legged on an invisible surface, a textbook perched on their knee.

"Want more coffee?" said a voice quite suddenly, from directly beside him. Dan spluttered, awkwardly slapping his hand over his doodle and shoving it under his sketchbook, before clearing his throat.

"Sure," he squeaked while avoiding eye contact, his face red with embarrassment.

The cute barista swiftly returned, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. He set it in front of Dan, and then indicated the vacant seat in front of him.

"Do you mind?" he asked. Dan stared blankly, confused. "Unless you're busy. Or... expecting someone?"

Realization his Dan like a punch to the gut.

"Oh! No— I, I mean... yeah."

The cute guy, who Dan now wished couldn't see him, laughed. He hadn't seemed to make any more sense of that sentence than Dan had.

"Yes I can sit down or yes you're expecting someone?"

"You can sit," Dan said quickly, and the barista smiled.

"I'm Phil," he introduced, as he slid into the seat across from Dan.

"Dan," Dan replied with a nod.

"So What are you doing here at—" Phil glanced at the time on his phone, "five in the morning?"

Suffering, Dan thought. "Trying to finish my art project," Dan sighed.