Work Text:
Dan wears a mask when he's in the ring. It's a mask of performance and of makeup, black and white with down-turned eyes and mouth. It feels real, sometimes—there are days where it feels like the realest version of himself. Those days come and go and Dan keeps putting on the sad mask because he lives for the performance.
When Dan is in the ring it feels like magic. He feels magnetic as he draws the eyes, as he tumbles and rolls and tilts and lilts. He feels the mood rise and fall with him, as the audience feels his story and they believe. To be impactful is addicting, he craves it and he thrives in it, he does everything he can to enhance the performance.
However, when he looks across the tent and his eyes meet with the lion tamer's, his mask slips.
When Phil performs he is radiant. The lions roar and the crowd gasps and Phil laughs. Phil is lightness where there could be fear, kindness where there could be rage. He tames the lions with a measured hand and a thoughtful manner and they love him for it, love him like everyone does. He too feels the magic of performance. The pride in being amazing, to enthrall and distract. Dan and Phil love this together.
When Dan locks eyes with Phil from across the ring his mask slips because he can't help but to feel that joy.
What a privilege and what a luxury to perform with Phil: his best friend, his roommate, his boyfriend, his partner, his everything. What a delight to share the stage and entertain these people, to get to live that life every day, to chose that life every day. Dan feels it every time his eyes meet with Phil, and every time he breaks. He never wants it to stop, never wants to lose touch with the enormity of that joy. Then he fights back for the mask, the crowd doesn't see, and they close out the performance of the day.
On the stage he wears the mask, which is the caricature of himself and the truth the crowd knows. After the show when they remove their costumes and retire to their room they are their truest selves, always fully manifested off of each other. The Dan that Phil knows is rarely the caricature, the clown—he's light too, steady and warm, determined and brash. They glow together and thrive together. They do it for the audience and they do it for themselves, and the magic continues.