Work Text:
Phil went to work with a hop in his step. Finally they were setting him up with performance duty. I mean it wasn't as if he'd been wishing these past two weeks here that he could be out on the field instead of behind the tills, dressed as a jester in the gift shop handing wooden swords to excited children. Even though he'd only just gotten the chance to perform he still felt quite lucky to have this job. His dream of working in a theatre had to be put on hold when he realised just how hard it was to get any sort of acting job straight out of highschool, and this job is still acting, just not in the traditional sense. And today he's been given performance duty, at 4pm every day there is a jousting tournament followed by a battle to show what a medieval fight would have looked like. He wasn't going to be fighting today, but he'd be close to the action, passing swords to the performers. Soon, he was hoping to be out there on the field with them but he had yet to be trained on how to hit people without hurting them.
One of the performers catches his eye. Riding in on the black horse decked in all black and dubbed 'The Black Knight' is Daniel Howell. The girls gossiped about him constantly, his good looks, his charm, the way he took charge of his horse. As he rides past Phil he takes off his helmet and Phil sees what the girls were talking about. His brown curls swish in the wind as he laps around the arena waving to his adoring fans. Phil stands in awe watching him expertly catch a ring out of the air on the end of his jousting stick. His horse comes to a halt in front of Phil and he holds out his hand, Phil carefully passes him his helmet that had been discarded next to him. As Daniel takes it from his hand he sends Phil a sly smile, mouthing thank you as the helmet covers over the eyes that had just been intently watching Phil. He wasn't sure what Daniel had been smiling about, maybe his stupid medieval jesters outfit but he a blush spread across his cheeks all the while.
Phil watches the jousting admiring as Daniel seems to win every one, breaking his jousting stick and winning every match. As the performance continues the rest of the jousters accuse the black knight of cheating and challenge him to a duel. Now was time for Phil's part in the performance. Daniel expertly dismounts his horse passing it off to the handlers, coming over to Phil with his hand stretching out for a sword. Phil looks at him confused as Daniel is already holding his one for the battle. He holds one out anyways and Daniel reaches for the it sending Phil a cheeky smile before he grabs him by the wrist. Phil follows in shock; this isn't supposed to happen. Suddenly he is in the middle of the battle, swords flying left and right. The blows aren't meant to hurt, only look like they are hitting, but it's still terrifying.
Phil dodges his way through, probably not doing anything right as a fellow performer glares at him for not dying when he thinks he was supposed to. He feels a tap on the shoulder with a sword and turns around to face Daniel, the only one left standing on the battle field. Daniel sends him a smirk and Phil wants to wipe it off his face, so he poses, sword drawn ready for the final battle.
He hits and dodges Daniel's hits, who seems to grow frustrated but also impressed. Phil manages to knock Daniel's sword out of his hand and, in Daniel's moment of shock, he hits him against the chest and pushes him to the ground. Daniel lays in shock on his back looking up at Phil, a look of surprise but follows with a smirk. Phil pulls his sword in front of Daniel's chest and pretends to kill him with one final blow. Daniel winks at him before he closes his eyes and pretends to be dead.
Phil slowly comes back to the present when a loud cheer erupts from the crowd. He takes his eyes off Daniel's limp form and to the people cheering him on for defeating the undefeated. The performers including Daniel get off the ground to bow after an amazing performance. They pick Phil up onto their shoulders, parading him around. Daniel watches from the side staying in character but Phil can see him trying to hide a smile when they make eye contact. Daniel winks at him again before he expertly mounts his horse and riding out of the arena. Phil knows he's already going to get a talking to from his boss as he wasn't meant to go on the field regardless of Daniel dragging him out or not.
Carrying him back into the changing rooms up high leaving the cheering behind, they congratulate him for winning against Daniel with a pat on the back. Soon he's left alone by his locker putting away his things as the rest of the guys leave to the showers. A hand wraps itself around his waist and flips him over until he's being pinned against the lockers. He's face to face with Daniel and their breaths mingle together. Daniel raises one eyebrow at Phil as if to ask if this is okay. Phil just nods and Daniel quickly attaches their lips together. A different kind battle from the arena ...