frozen veggies

PROMPT: one of them gets scared and steps back 

"there's milk," stanley counts on his fingers, "coffee, frozen veggies, i remember jake mentioned a veggie soup."

"harry asked for yoghurt," roger adds.

"yeah, and raspberry jam and butter," stanley continues.

"chocolate milk," roger notes, "he likes it."

"sure," stanley grabs a cart and goes straight to the dairy section. "you know, i really regret not learning how to drive when i was..."

"you'd totally forget how to anyway. you are unusual, generationless, and don't remember a lot of things. so uh... maybe driving would have to wait."

stanley nods. it was a pill hard to swallow, and it stuck in his throat. he didn't care about being generationless. or defective, or broken. being a phone didn't bother him mentally. people looked at them strangely, true. and the literal phone on his shoulders bothered him, because it was wrong. but he was different from the others, apathetic almost. jake thought of himself as a monster, and it bothered him. harry literally couldn't be bothered. roger could, and was he most nervous and awkward about that. they all had their reasons to be this way and think this way. for stanley it was just... stupid. beyond comprehension. perhaps he just never allowed himself to truly think of what they have done to him at the factory. didn't want to or couldn't or never thought of it as significant enough. he was just annoyed at the lost memories. things were resufracing once in a while, sure, yet not fast enough. those gaps sucked worse than anything in the whole ordeal.

it was much easier to ignore.

"you ever had a driver's license?" he would rather continue doing so.

"i mean, sure. i think i can still drive. haven’t tried in a... uh... in a long while. since the 90's, you know."

"never thought of trying again?"

"i don't really need to. harry and jake do, and i, well. don’t really go places without them. i'm not sure if i want to, as well. i was always so nervous on the road by myself. my uh, ex usually said i suck, and then took the wheel."

stanley looks up at him.

"she sounds like a bitch."

roger awkwardly nods and grabs two cartons of milk.

"i don't talk about her all that much," he shrugs. bottle of chocolate milk and a yoghurt follow into the cart. "it's okay. she can't hurt me any more, right?"

"don't forget butter,"stanley says when they walk by. "how do you feel about butter? i mean i feel like its kinda useless unless you’re frying something. so... useless for us, end of story. people use oil for that anyway, but still."

"i never really thought about it."

"veggies maybe."

"yeah, probably."

"we should ask. we should cook more anyway. it'll be useful. especially for you."

"i'm gonna pretend i didn't hear that."

"no i'm serious! it'll be fun. quality time, you know."

"okay."

stanley sighs. sometimes it's a little difficult with him.

"maybe we should get some fruits too."

"tangerines are nice."

"i feel like i should be weirded out by you saying that but i can't really pinpoint why."

roger giggles and grabs a decent bag of mixed veggies.

they walk around for a little longer, remembering things they should get on the go, chat about nothing and everything at the same time. stanley thinks it would be more fun if all four of them were here, but the plan was a duo time, so duo time it will stay.

"how do you feel about soda?" stanley asks. "i'd love to share with you, in case you drink it."

roger turns his phone to him and stays silent for a second. wow, now this is awkward. did he say something wrong? that's a normal question. does roger have some secret fizzy trauma he was not aware of? that would be absurd- still, what-

roger suddenly pulls him into a tight hug, pushing all air out of his poor lungs, barely missing stanley's dial with his own, and whispers something stanley doesn't even process.

"woah,"

"wha- wait, sorry, no," roger pushes him away and steps back, "no, i should've-"

he hides his dial behind his hands and babbles something even less coherent. stanley stares at him.

"i should've- i'm sorry," stanley takes his hands and pulls them away to try and take a better look. it feels like a fitting thing to do, even if there's no face to see behind them. "i should've asked."

"jesus, rog, it's okay," stanley sighs. "the way you're reacting one'd think you killed a man."

roger sighs heavily and lowers his phone. stanley gently caresses its side, making sure that roger is breathing normally before speaking again.

"do you still want to hug?" he asks, and when roger nods, wraps his arms around roger's shoulders. "it's okay. we've done that already, what's gotten into you this time?"

"...never in public," is the only thing that roger says.

small talk at the registers never was their best skill.

"nice morning, isn't it?" roger asks, despite his voice slightly shaking. the cashier looks at him, scans the frozen veggie bag, then her head snaps back up again. for a second she seems confused, then amused, then confused again.

"sir, are you aware that your head is a phone?"