This fic is dedicated to my Fairytale, the precious Dominique. I know your birthday is still a few days away, but I have a plan! If everything goes according to plan, you'll get a new chapter every Song Contest day and your bday ^^
A little background info: I've written the whole fic in about 12 days, so I guess it's bound to have mistakes. Feel free to tell me if you find anything wrong, also in later chapters, as I've not edited everything yet ^^' (too little time, sorry)
I've also put some cameo characters in this, though they'll only appear in later chapters, you should keep an eye out for them ;) On a second side note, I wrote all of this before the actual Eurovision Song Contest started, so things will be different than what is on TV.
Because I'm completely finished, it's possible I'm gonna edit this, but it'll be only minor things (I hope!)
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy~
Zoro frowned. No matter how hard he tried to find the source of the annoying noise, he wasn't able to locate it. The sound was oddly familiar to him, but Zoro couldn't think of where he knew it from.
He was simply lying on a beach, a bright yellow sun shining down on him, blinding his eyes. Nothing special. Zoro wondered if he could ask someone about the noise. It almost sounded like a ringtone…?
Zoro's head jerked up, his eyes wide open. His phone rang. With a startled look, Zoro saw his phone vibrating as it rang on the nightstand next to his bed. It must have been going on for a while, because the person on the other side sighed heavily when Zoro finally picked up. Zoro guessed it was a sigh in relief.
"Zoro." Franky's voice sounded through the phone, "turn on your TV."
For some reason, Zoro thought Franky sounded strained, nervous. His feet brought him to the sitting area of his hotel room, which was next to the bedroom and did as he was told. He turned on the TV and watched the screen.
"… A witness reported seeing the two making out in the corner of a bar, here in Vienna. Another source has sent us video footage of this and let us exclusively show it. I repeat, this is never before shown footage of the French representative of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, Sanji Janoir and one of the Australian participants, the native Japanese Zoro Roronoa."
Zoro could hit the woman, not only for saying his name in the wrong order (it's was Roronoa Zoro for God's sake), but also for the video he was currently looking at. Zoro could only stare at the moving image of him and the blond Frenchman making out.
"Fuck." He mumbled to himself.
"SUPER to hear you've realized your mistake, Zoro." Franky surprised him with talking again. He'd forgotten that the phone had been right next to his ear.
Zoro put a hand in his hair and sat down, leaning forward to rest one elbow on his leg.
"I guess it's good to see you had so much fun last night, but where did that Sanji guy go?" Franky asked, probably already guessing where he was. "Someone from the French department has already called three times, completely panicking since he isn't in his own room."
Zoro swallowed, though his dry throat protested. "Lemme check." He stood and lowered his phone, not waiting for Franky to respond.
With heavy feet, Zoro returned to the bedroom, his eyes glued to the ground, maybe a bit afraid of what – or rather who – he would find in bed.
A movement caught his eyes and before Zoro knew it, he was looking at the figure that was sprawled out on the bed, basking in the morning sun.
It occurred to Zoro that it had been no surprise he'd dreamt of the sun, as it was even shining where he'd been lying a few minutes ago. Zoro's eyes turned to Sanji.
Golden hair was decorating the pillow, partially covering his face. Sanji's eyes were still closed, his face was turned to the sun while lying on his stomach, hands tucked under the pillow and a blanket that only covered Sanji's lower back and further down. Zoro thought it would be the nicest thing to wake up to every morning. If there weren't more important things requiring his attention, he would have stared a little longer.
The phone in his hand reminded him that he had things to do, and cautiously, Zoro approached the sleeping guy. From far away, Zoro could hear Franky speak, demanding he'd be brought back next to Zoro's ear.
He looked down at the down, a little dazed, and discovered he wasn't wearing anything. A few curse words escaped his mouth as he frantically searched the ground for his underwear. Zoro found it next to 'his' side of the bed and quickly put it on.
Bringing the phone back to his ear, Zoro reassured Franky. "Franky, he's here."
Franky took a deep breath, but before he could lecture him, Zoro interrupted. "I know, I know, I don't know what I was thinking."
Franky sighed. Again. "Okay, just… wake the guy up and wait for me. I'll try to contact one of the French people and take them with me. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
Zoro nodded. He could do that. He wouldn't go anywhere anyway without his clothes on. When he realized Franky could never have seen him nod, he vocally agreed.
After telling Zoro that it wouldn't take long, they hung up the phone.
Sanji's face stirred for a moment. He must have heard Zoro's voice while he was talking to Franky. Zoro didn't wait for him to peacefully wake up.
"We have a problem." Zoro said, almost aggressively. There was no need to be nice about it, for all Zoro cared. They really were having a problem.
Sanji quietly opened his eyes and blinked a few times, his eyes readjusting to the sudden burst of light. They shifted to Zoro and before his mind had fully woken up, he was already sitting up straight, staring at Zoro with one eye as he rubbed in the other. He had a shocked expression on his face.
Realization dawned on him and Zoro's lack of clothing might have just done the trick. "Oh God…" He started. "We didn't… did we?" Sanji didn't dare to actually say the words he implied.
Zoro awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Actually, we did."
"Oh my God." Sanji let himself fall back on the bed, covering his face with his hands.
Zoro nearly laughed at Sanji's reaction, if only his own wouldn't have been so similar.
"You're probably naked too." Zoro pointed at the hidden part of Sanji's body.
Sanji frowned in worry, completely awake now, as he peeked under the covers and immediately dropping them again, his face turning beet red. "I suggest you put something on and come with me. Our problem doesn't end here, unfortunately."
Sanji complied, grabbing his blanket to cover his body. To give the man some privacy, Zoro grabbed the jeans he'd been wearing the night before (he didn't feel like searching for something else) and left to hear what they were saying on TV.
The video was being showed again and Zoro compared the two people in the video to himself and Sanji. Day and night were really different. Zoro couldn't help it, his eyes were glued to Sanji's face as they were kissing, mostly because he looked very hot while doing that. He actually perfectly understood the actions of the Zoro from last night when Sanji looked like that.
Sanji appeared in the doorway, now wearing a familiar pair of black pants and a shirt that he hadn't buttoned up yet, giving Zoro the opportunity to get a peek at an exposed chest and stomach, which, if Zoro had to be honest, he didn't mind.
Zoro pointed at the screen. "You should take a look at this." He sat down, now wearing his jeans. He would try to find his shirt later.
Sanji followed the direction of Zoro's finger and dropped down on the couch next to him. His face in horror, he had to watch the same report two times before he turned to Zoro.
"We're going to be in so much trouble." He said in an agonizing voice.
Zoro raised his eyebrows. "Why? It's not like we did something illegal."
Sanji visibly relaxed a bit by hearing that, only for his face to darken again. "But what if they think we're biased now? That we want the other to win? Anyone can claim I've seduced you or something to make sure you perform badly or something." Sanji sounded scared. "They won't throw us out of the competition. Or will they?"
They were disturbed by someone knocking on the door and without answering Sanji, Zoro went to open it.
Franky walked in, bringing an old man with him who immediately starting talking to Sanji in French. They both seemed aggravated and their rattling didn't leave any space for Zoro or Franky to join.
"Do you know what they're saying?" Franky asked Zoro in a low voice and his mouth hidden behind his hand, making it seem extra suspicious. Luckily, the Frenchmen didn't notice.
Zoro shook his head. "The only French I know isn't even fully French."
When Franky looked at him expectantly, Zoro told him. "It's 'bonjour, motherfucker'. I don't even know where I got it from." Zoro wasn't finished or Sanji and the old man were staring at him.
Zoro put his hands up in defense. "Don't mind me, please continue your conversation, we'll wait."
Sanji looked a bit guilty for excluding them, but the old guy only shut up after a few more lines of French. He was looking angrily at Zoro, so he thought that the guy might be talking about him. Zoro didn't care what he thought of him, as long as they'd get this situation fixed. If he had to believe what they were saying on TV, the whole world was already talking about them, so one more person didn't really matter.
Franky cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. He looked a little uncomfortable. "Let this emergency meeting begin." He declared officially. "First, Brook, this is Zoro." Franky conveniently pointed at Zoro, "Zoro, this is Brook. He's from the French team and here to pick up Sanji. Sanji, I'm Franky. It's nice to meet you, even with the trouble we have on our hands."
Sanji agreed and shook the hand that Franky held out to him. Zoro and Brook did the same. "It's nice to meet you too."
Franky smiled. "SUPER! You can speak English too, I didn't know that yet. That'll make things easier then, since neither Zoro or I can speak French, as you might have noticed." He turned to the two wrongdoers. "Can you tell me – us – everything, so that we won't be surprised by anything that's said or published in the media?"
Zoro was surprised Franky was acting so calm. Then again, he'd never seen him angry so it was probably better this way.
He looked at Sanji and opened his mouth to talk. "We… we met in that bar last night. Luffy and Ace dumped me, as usual, so I stayed behind, met him and we got talking. What you saw on TV happened right before we left, so it wasn't like that was the only thing we did." Zoro made a face. "Anyway, we left the bar together, on foot, and… well, I think you can imagine what happened here." Zoro concluded, his cheeks warming up.
Now Sanji opened his mouth too. "I can't really add much more. We were both pretty drunk when we left the bar, so please excuse us for our actions." He remained silent for a moment. "I can't clearly recall everything that happened, but that's probably because I woke up just now."
Zoro nearly corrected Sanji (he hadn't been drunk, maybe a little tipsy, but absolutely not drunk), but he wisely stopped himself. He knew that Franky knew too though. Franky knew of Zoro's inability to get drunk. Brook was the only one to be left out in this. Maybe Sanji didn't want him to worry any more than he already did. Also, Zoro had thought about it earlier, but Sanji's English was really good, especially for someone from France. Everybody knew most French people refused to learn English.
The night before, the noise of people talking and the background music had been too loud to hear the nuances in Sanji's tone, so Zoro only heard the difference now. His French accent was only just audible. Zoro got distracted by listening to the blond's voice, not following the conversation at all. He could listen to that voice for hours.
Zoro's thoughts were interrupted by Brook. Unlike Sanji, his accent was heavy, although not French. To Zoro, it sounded more… German-like.
"There is one other thing we have to know." He looked them both in the eyes, switching between them. "Did you both consent to everything you've done last night?"
Now Zoro and Sanji looked at each other and both smiled and nodded. As far as Zoro remembered last night – and he remembered quite a bit – it wasn't a night he'd regret very easily. He had to shake the image of him and Sanji in bed, doing certain things, off. Now was not the time to think about that.
"That's good." Zoro could have sworn he heard a soft laugh coming from the not-so-French Frenchman. "Then that would be all for now. Sanji, we're leaving. Mister Franky, I'll call you about that statement in a few hours." Brook got up from leaning against the table. Sanji remained where he was.
"Sanji." Brook sighed. "You'll be in even more trouble when anyone finds you here, so it's best for us to leave. Now, where's your phone?"
Sanji checked his pockets. "Uhh…" He disappeared for a few seconds into the bedroom and emerged with his phone in his hand. "Got it."
"Yohohoho, let's go." This time Zoro knew for sure he didn't imagine it. The guy seemed to randomly through in some laughs here and there. At least he wasn't the type to get angry at them either, just like Franky. Or maybe Franky had talked to Brook before, on the phone, to calm him down.
Sanji followed Brook to the door and looked back at Zoro with an apologetic smile. Why he thought he had to apologize, Zoro wasn't entirely sure. What he did regret was that they didn't have a little more time to talk. Zoro would have liked that.
They left, barely saying their goodbyes. Franky went after them to make sure no one forgot anything, because they seemed to be in a hurry, but Brook didn't bring anything but himself. Sanji though had to go back once to grab the jacket that was hanging over the back of a dining chair. Zoro didn't even saw it before Sanji reached for it. He left and Franky returned in his place.
After making sure the door was closed, he dropped himself on the couch and Zoro happily did the same.
"Tell me, Zoro, how in the world did you get the idea to have sex with the singer for France the night before the final?" Franky asked bluntly, with a hint of a smile.
Zoro smiled back, more like an awkward grin. "To be honest, I didn't even realize who he was until you had me turn on the TV. Did you know he looks completely different on stage?"
"I noticed that when he was standing in front of me, yes. I saw it before too, when doing research on all of your opponents." Franky continued when he saw Zoro's surprised expression. "Yes, I did some research. And it was some SUPER research too. Your bandmates knew that, only you, and probably Luffy too, weren't exactly paying attention when I told you everything."
Zoro laughed. "You're probably right, yeah."
"He had almost no accent, that kinda surprised me."
"I didn't know either. I don't think I remember it from last night."
Franky laughed with him for a short time, then he turned all serious again. "What do you want to tell the rest? They've been watching the news all morning, but I said I wanted to talk to you first before I'd let them tackle you with their questions."
Zoro had to think about that. "Since they won't believe that I was drunk, I think it's best to tell them not to worry about tonight? If that's possible of course."
Franky patted Zoro on the back. "Like Luffy will worry about that. Ace trusts you not to do stupid stuff… or at least to screw up bad enough for it to have consequences." He shrugged. "I don't know if something like this has ever happened before, so as long as we can convince everyone you two are still gonna do your best to win, it won't be a problem."
"Thank you, Franky."
"Don't thank me yet. I first gotta fix this mess you made."
Zoro opened his mouth to apologize. Franky shushed him. "Don't be sorry. I bet you didn't do it on purpose and that's why I'm not angry at you." He got up. "Now then, Zoro, I got a few things to take care of. I'd rather have you not leaving your you until I come back with lunch, okay? Meanwhile, I'll let your friends come here after I've explained your situation a bit. Under no circumstances are you to leave the building or talk to anyone but me and the band, you understand?"
"I think I can do that." Zoro reassured him.
"Super. Then I'll see you at lunch."
Franky left Zoro alone and only then Zoro thought of checking the time.
9.14 in the morning.
Being too awake to go back to sleep for a while, Zoro made himself comfortable on the couch and checked his messages and twitter feed, making sure not to react or comment on anything. Too soon, he'd seen everything already and Zoro's mind wandered off to the night before.