glory and gore ; phan

i

strobing white lights flickered from the depths of the dark, murky alleyway that dan was standing in. he could hear the chanting of names and booming music and the dramatized pre-match narration. he couldn't help but grin as all his worries of his real life were washed away by the noises and lights. he skimmed down the alley and turned right on the corner where two guards stood in front of the entrance. he skulked up to them, looking expectantly at them.

"dan howell," he muttered, the two men eyeing him oddly.

"you fightin' tonight?" one of them asked, his voice thick with a heavy northern accent. dan nodded, biting down on his bottom lip as they gestured for him to move on through.

"go on, then. good luck," the same one snarled, adding a chuckle to the last part. dan shrugged it off, he was used to being underestimated because of his age or lack of experience. although he did lose most of his fights, but there's always a fighter with a losing streak and zero chance of being successful that the crowd has a soft spot for. that, or the crowd truly enjoys watching him hopelessly lose every single fight.

he walked past them, running his fingers through his hair before cringing at how greasy and dirty his hair actually was. he glanced up to see the all too familiar underground arena where he spent more time than at his own apartment. he grimaced at the thought of his apartment, that shitty, run down apartment with the stack of unpaid bills and reminders of his debt sprawled across his counter, with empty beer cans and food wrappers right by them.

the only thing dan truly hated about this place was the noise, the announcer was announcing, people were placing bets, the crowd was screaming, people were throwing things. but he had gotten used to it. he looked past the crowd at the door with "restricted access" on it, that room being where he spent hours on end. it was the training room, hardly an actual training room, but it was good enough for dan. he went there nearly everyday to practice; his radio blasting music while he punched at the makeshift hanging bags.

he was dragged out of his thoughts of the training room as he bumped into chris, who grabbed tightly onto his right shoulder.

"fuck, you're late," he grumbled, dragging him past the bar and the betting tables into the back room. his 'crew', or more accurately his two friends and girlfriend. he was tossed a black robe and some clothes from his girlfriend, cat, as she ruffled his hair.

"get changed, babe," she said, pushing him in the direction of their makeshift 'dressing area', which was just a random grey curtain hung up in the back of the room. he heard them chattering mindlessly as he got dressed, shrugging on his black robe up over his shoulders. the second he emerged from the curtain he was thrown a water bottle and his mouth guard.

"who am i fighting, again?" dan questioned, downing the icy water. chris glared at him, rubbing his temples.

"i swear to god, you don't know anything about your own damn job," he grumbled, taking a swig of his beer beside him.

"that's your job, being my manager and all," dan laughed, his banged up boxing gloves being tossed into his chest. he heard the announcer say something about ten more minutes and slipped on his gloves.

"i don't understand why you make me wear this bullshit," he grumbled, earning a sigh from tyler.

"i swear, it's like you complain about those pieces of shit every fight you have," tyler said.

"i do, i hate them," dan said, stepping away from cat and skidding around the floor, punching the air in front of him and ducking imaginable blows.

"look, i don't know if you've noticed or not, but you work in an illegal underground fight club. no one gives a shit about whether your fighting style is boxing or wrestling or if you're cheating or not. if they did they'd be at a real fight, not here. but putting these shitty gloves on makes them think that they're at something more professional than the reality of the situation, and that impression makes them want to come back. more people, more money." tyler smirked, patting the gloves and walking away from dan. cat came up to him and softly bit down on his ear, slyly grinning at him. he wanted nothing more than to push her off of him and ask chris to ban her from the club, but instead he just stood there.

"i'll be in the crowd," she said, ruffling his hair again and leaving through the door. dan groaned and fixed his hair; he hated when she did that.

"i still hate this whole dating thing, you know," he said, glancing behind him at tyler, who was scrolling on his phone.

"if i didn't have to make you do it, i wouldn't. i just want to keep my job, here," he shrugged, not bothering to look away from his phone.

the people in charge of the club found out dan was gay due to one of his training room hookups and had threatened to ban him from the club if he didn't find himself a girlfriend. that's where cat came in, a 'fan' who had been going to every single one of his fights and following him around more often then he would've liked. he didn't hate her, but for obvious reasons he didn't want to date her. he knew he had to though, he needed to keep this job.

"this is all just a show, dan. this isn't real fighting. everything you do, like putting on those gloves and dating cat, it's all for entertainment. people want drama, they don't care whether it's real or not," tyler said, patting dan on his back and tossing a water bottle back and forth between his hands.

"and you're out in 2," chris announced, striding back into the room and talking deals into his phone. dan heard the announcer repeat the 2 minute warning and nodded to himself, something he did when he was thinking things over.

"ready?" tyler asked, before adding, "oh! and you're fighting franta today."

"thanks," dan muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes and slipping in his mouth guard.

"and, showtime!" tyler announced, and dan couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. he walked up to door, straightening his posture and swaying back.

he could hear the announcer hyping up the drunk crowd and introducing the fighters, "-and dan howell !!"

"showtime."