Work Text:
”Ladies, Zoro, it’s the last rose of the night.”
Zoro suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, instead he held his serious expression, took the last rose, and had a look over the group of women. Actually, he wanted nothing more than this game to be over, but one reaps what one sows… So after a long pause he pinned his gaze upon a blond person and said aloud, ”Marguerite. Will you accept this rose?”
The blond woman was overjoyed as she got her rose and guaranteed her place in the show.
Then followed the most awkward part for Zoro. It was the same every damn time: the woman without a rose starts to cry, every other woman tries to comfort her, then she hugs Zoro and he must churn out some emphatic crap about how the woman is amazing, just not right for him blah blah blah!
For the thousandth time, he cursed Franky for their bet. Why had he let that eccentric man place the stake of the bet so high? If Franky had lost, he would have had to ask Robin for a date. When Zoro lost, he had to apply to the Bachelor TV show. In Zoro’s opinion, the stake he placed was a favor. Whereas Franky’s was just pure evil, and there was a special place in hell for friends like that. So one lost bet later, Zoro had no other choice than to be good to his word.
As soon as Zoro sent in the application for the show, it was obvious that he would be chosen. He had just won the World Kendo Championship, he was rich, he was famous, and he had the body of Greek god. The only downside was that he was grumpy and untalkative, but like the director said to him, in show business one could change their personality for the show, couldn’t they? So to Zoro’s disappointment, there he was, stuck for weeks in this monkey business.
One shared glass of champagne with the remaining women and finally Zoro could leave the rose ceremony. He started to look for his room, but once again some random irritating staff member intruded on his company until they were in front of Zoro’s door (He had not just been escorted to his room because the staff had found him wandering around lost before!). After an exchange of well-mannered good nights, Zoro opened the door and stepped inside.
Inside his room was a man, and for the thousandth time, he thanked Franky for their bet. This man was the reason why the media circus was worth it.
Sanji was the show’s stylist who was in charge of Zoro’s look, hair, make-up, clothes, basically the whole package. At first, they were like water and oil. They had found every possible way to rub one another the wrong way, till the day they found the right way to rub each other. It had taken two weeks for Zoro to realize that he could find his true love via the TV show, but not the way that the audience thought. During the shootings, they had fallen for each other and since then, they had just waited for the show to reach its end so that they could start to date officially in public. For now though, they couldn’t let anyone know.
The evenings were Zoro’s favorite time, when Sanji would remove his make-up and they had this moment of peace together. There were no contestant women, no other staff members and no cameras, just the two of them hidden from the outside world. Fortunately, this was not Big Brother so at least there was some privacy in his bedroom and they always made the most of it.
Sanji helped Zoro take off his microphone, ensuring their privacy. Smiling warmly they stood there, savoring this small moment. A simple brush of hands, lips and bodies, then Zoro sat down and Sanji began his work, hustling around Zoro. The occasion was like any other night, they chatted about this and that, about their day, the Bachelor and their lives outside of the show. But for some reason, Sanji seemed a little more reserved than normal.
When Sanji had finished, Zoro stood up to in front of him. “Oi shitty-artist, is something bothering you?”
Sanji was taken aback and averted his face. “You made yet another lady cry.” It was a statement, not a question. “You should never hurt a lady,” he said quietly.
“Then what should I do? Make them happy?” Zoro gently lifted Sanji’s chin. Sanji didn’t meet his eyes, but kept them riveted to the floor.
“So should I pick one of them, keep her till the very end and to make a great show proposing to her in the last episode like some of those moron bachelors before me?”
“You know I do not want that…” Sanji cautiously looked into his onyx eyes.
“So should I choose you instead?” There was a little hint of mocking in that tone.
Something flamed behind Sanji’s eyes and he smashed their lips together in a heated kiss. Smirking, Zoro let himself get absorbed in the other man’s soft lips, placing his hands to the blond’s cheek and hip.
Even though Sanji’s lips were soft, the kiss was anything but. The kiss was harsh and hard and it felt really possessive, like Sanji was trying to mark what was his. And Zoro let him have him.
Reluctantly, Sanji ended the kiss. Breathing heavily, he held Zoro close by keeping his hands around Zoro’s neck. If the kiss wasn’t possessive enough, Sanji’s eyes left no room for a second guess. Those deep blue eyes definitely held a possessive gaze.
“Idiot, you already have chosen me!” he groaned.
Zoro couldn’t help but to smile warmly and lean in to give a small confirming peck to the man. “Yes, I have.”
They stood there a while embracing, not wanting to say anything, just savoring each other’s presence. But too soon, they had to break apart.
“I should be going before it gets too suspicious,” Sanji sighed. Sharing a last brush of lips, Sanji started to walk towards the door.
Just when Sanji took a step out into the hallway, Zoro pulled a rose from his jacket lining, in the manner that he had done after every rose ceremony since they started to fall in love. He held it out to Sanji, saying, “Congrats blonde, you made it past this ceremony too, you are still in this show.”
Sanji snorted at the words but nevertheless took the rose. “Shouldn’t you ask if I accept this rose or not?”
“No,” the bachelor said, “because you don’t have any choice here anymore.”
Zoro reached out and plucked one petal from Sanji’s rose. Carefully he placed it into his breast pocket next to his heart.
“Like you said, I’ve already chosen you as much as you’ve already chosen me. And not a TV show or given flowers could ever change that fact. So don’t forget it, love,” Zoro stated earnestly as he closed the door after the very flustered and pleased blond.