Work Text:
There are not many things that Phil can do without falling over. He is prone to be the clumsiest person in existence and he has actually been given that title. There’s not much that he can do successfully without falling on his face, but however, ice skating is something that comes naturally to him.
From a young age, his parents very lowkey encouraged him to get a hobby. They did this because he would often find him in front of his television in his room for hours on end playing video games and whilst they happily would allow him to do those things, because they believed in the type of parenting that allowed their children to do whatever made them happy, but encouraging them to find a hobby that may lead into a career was also something they felt like they needed to do.
And this is why Phil had taken up ice skating at age twelve, because it seemed like the coolest thing (pardon the pun) to do. It never became a career worthy thing for him though. He went to university to study English Language and Linguistics, following with a masters degree in Video Postproduction with Visual Effects. Something completely different to ice skating but Phil was happy with the career he had set himself up with, but that was until YouTube became a thing and his career path was thrown out of the window and replaced with something magical with Dan.
It’s been over ten years into his relationship with Dan and until now, Dan has refused to step out onto the ice with Phil. It didn’t really bother Phil, because he knows that ice skating is a very niche thing that people enjoy doing. It’s dangerous to some degree and people always hear made up horror stories on how someone had fallen over on the ice and another person has run over their arm, delimbing them.
Phil has never seen that happen in his whole time ice skating, although he can’t deny that teenage Phil obsessed with all things gory would have potentially been interested in seeing that.
For some reason, after their ten year anniversary and the whole coming out situation that they had, Dan asked if Phil would teach him for funsies. Phil did not even have to think twice before saying he would definitely teach Dan how to ice skate.
“Look, the first thing you have to do is bend your knees?” Phil explains simply. They’ve been on the ice for ten minutes now, and Dan has refused to move from his space at the corner of the ice rink, clinging onto the railing for dear life. He has watched Phil skate around with every ease in the world, something Phil would hope would help him feel more comfortable, with someone as clumsy as Phil skating around the ice without falling over.
“I am bending my knees, Phil.”
“Yeah but like, the other way.”
“Like this?” Dan tries his best, and for that Phil is grateful but it simply isn’t how someone should bend their knees. He smiles and nods anyway, snaking his hand down to the backs of Dan’s thighs to adjust them slightly to the desired bend.
“Yes, now lean up a little bit.”
“I will fall on my ass.”
“You will not fall on your ass.”
“No, I will.”
“Not.”
“Phil,” Dan whines, and Phil is pretty sure that if Dan was not on the ice right now he would have thrown a little tantrum, the type of tantrum that small children throw with their arms in the air and wiggle their legs with no sense of purpose or direction. “I don’t think you can be the judge of that. You aren’t a professional.”
“I have skated on the ice for almost twenty years though, Danny boy, and I have yet to fall over by following basic ice skating etiquette.”
“Ugh,” Dan groans, but Phil knows he doesn’t mean it.
“Okay, so now stand up straight.”
Dan does but chuckles to himself.
“What?” Phil laughs along, even though he is not too sure what he is laughing at.
“You’re telling me to do something straight when we both know I have a little difficulty doing that,” Dan smiles, like he is proud of his own joke and Phil can’t help laughing at the genuine glee spreading across Dan’s face at the gay joke.
Maybe it’s because Phil has watched Dan in the most darkest times of his sexuality journey. Phil had watched as Dan experienced most of his firsts of men-loving-men experiences, after all, Phil had been present for most of them with them almost being most of his firsts too. Phil had watched as Dan slowly started opening up with himself, embracing his feminine side and not blinking before applying nail polish to his own nails or eyeshadow to his eyelids.
Phil also watched as Dan locked himself in his bedroom for hours, refusing to talk to Phil, and if Phil even attempted, he would shout to leave him alone and some other words that stung Phil.
Phil saw the journey through his own two eyes and seeing as Dan makes jokes about being gay, just warms him to his core.
“Are you trying to kill me? I’m going to fall!” Dan screams, shaking Phil out of his mindset.
“You’re not going to fall,” Phil says as he notices, that Dan was, in fact, going to fall. He isn’t going to admit it though, as he straightens his own body up and pulls Dan’s with him. Dan follows, albeit reluctantly.
It probably looks ridiculous, two six foot tall men attempting to skate on the ice, with one of them clinging to the other as if their life depended on it. Phil decides to not think about how hilarious this could be from a fly on the wall perspective, because he needs to keep himself together without laughing, too much.
“Nope. Not doing this. Absolutely not. Fuck this,” is a string of phrases that escape Dan’s mouth in rapid succession.
“Hold on a second,” Phil replies. “You’ve got this far, at least hold my hand and skate a lap around the rink with me?”
Phil holds out his hand, waiting for Dan to take it. When Dan grabs Phil’s hand with one palm, Phil works on gently coaxing him away from the wall so he was able to no longer rely on the barrier and the war for support, even if he does rely on Phil for the most part. It’s at least a work in progress.
Dan looks at him with fearful eyes and for a moment, Phil pities him. He remembers how he had felt on the ice for the first time all those years ago. He did not look exactly like how Dan is, clear fear spreading through his entire being, but he was terrified and that’s enough.
“Trust me,” Phil whispers, and Dan holds on even tighter before nodding as he skates forward, moving away from the wall. Dan’s legs are stiff and definitely not what is needed to successfully skate with passion and the ability to look carefree, but he is away from the wall now and that’s enough. “There you go.”
He speaks gently, almost like how Phil reminds his teacher talking to him when he was first learning to skate all those years ago. Any other moment, Dan would have complained and snapped at Phil for treating him like a child, but Dan doesn’t seem to care at the moment, or at least doesn’t realise.
Phil manages to pull him a little further away from the wall and takes a few glides forward and that’s when Dan follows him, gliding like a skater, not like a professional by no means but little things.
“You owe me for this, Lester.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
It turns out, that Dan doesn’t want to stop after one measly lap around the ice rink and twenty minutes later, Dan is almost comfortable enough to skate a little more carefree. He is still maintaining the death grip attaching himself to Phil, almost like their hands have both merged into one but he’s skating a lot better.
The two are skating just like everyone else on the rink for the most part, luckily not many people here on a Monday evening to notice them holding hands, and if they do no one knows them enough to point it out, or they do but they still do not care. Phil thinks that is one of the perks of them being out now, is that everyone has a we been knew approach to their relationship. Whilst Phil knows that Dan disagrees and finds it gross and annoying for people to assume they are dating just because they are two gay men who are known to be really close, he knows that Dan finds some comfort in it too.
The fact that they can just vibe in public now like every other couple who doesn’t dislike public displays of affection does, without anyone caring all too much. Phil knows that people have seen them act like a couple out and about during the last year, he’s seen the eyes that know but no one has ever screamed about it. A mutual understanding between them and their audience, which is enough to make him smile.
“What are you smiling about?” Dan tries to say this like he is annoyed, but it comes out all giddy when the smile appears on his face too.
Phil doesn’t know how to respond other than leaning forward and kissing Dan.
His lips feel so deliciously warm against his own, despite the ice cold weather around them. It isn’t necessarily cold, just as cold as December air would be in London, especially with an ice rink around them. He almost moves his hands to Dan’s curly hair on the top of his head but his arms are wrapped around Dan’s body in order to support him.
He moves them a little and it only results in Dan clinging on even stronger, not giving Phil any opportunity to actually move away even if he tries to.
They should be scared, because they are in public and this is definitely a lot more than being too close to each other or the brushing of their hands but Phil doesn’t seem to care all that much when he pulls away and the smile on Dan’s face is growing wider by the second. He can’t bring himself to.