Chapter Text
Only the tips of Luka’s fingers were visible under the long sleeves of his Real Madrid rain jacket, reminding Toni of the armadillo’s claws he had seen the last time he visited a zoo.
That didn’t seem to stop his favourite Croat from scrolling and typing eagerly on his phone, face scrunched into a permanent smile. Toni couldn’t stop himself from watching Luka double tap the screen at an incredible speed to make a red heart appear under the pictures.
“Do you even take the time to read the captions?” Toni chuckled as he asked.
“Of course!” Luka chirped, not even taking a second to look up as an incoming notification distracted him.
He’s really trained like Pavlov’s dogs! Toni thought to himself, a fond smile weaving itself on his cheeks without meaning to.
To be fair, the notification in question was a text from a certain ‘Sese’ and Toni was well-versed in Luka’s hierarchy of needs to know that anything Sergio-related found itself at the bottom of the pyramid. In other words, Sergio Ramos was on equal ground with food, water, and shelter for Luka Modrić to thrive.
Toni listened to the incessant tapping of two thumbs on a glass screen. Luka was getting a little sloppy.
Not sloppy in the sense that he was making many typos and mistakes. But sloppy in the sense that Toni had a perfect view of his friend sending an incriminatingly long list of lovey-dovey words to their team’s captain.
Only when Sergio sent an embarrassing selfie of himself making a kissy face did Luka jolt and shut his phone, almost dropping it in between his legs in the process.
Toni wasn’t cruel. Before Luka glanced his way to verify whether he had seen the romantic text exchange, the German had already turned his body towards Casemiro who had just settled next to him on the bench.
“Nice pass down the middle,” Toni complimented the third pillar of their midfield trio, pretending like he hadn’t just spotted Luka and Sergio’s poor attempt at sneaking around for the fifth time this week.
Moving to a country like Spain where the social norm celebrates extroverts who like to talk a lot, Toni learned very quickly that he could gather a lot of information by just keeping to himself.
It wasn’t as though Toni was fishing for the most recent scoop or digging dirt on his teammates. Something about his quiet demeanour and his unwillingness to fill the silence with yapping nonsense made people around him divulge their deepest secrets.
At first, it was only small things like Marcelo telling him he cheated on his diet plan twice in the same week or Benzema confessing that he was the one who had clogged the toilet connected to the locker room.
But then, as Toni’s presence anchored itself into the gold and white waters of Real Madrid, these small things turned into big things. Like Lucas Vázquez, telling Toni about his idea of a surprise proposal for his girlfriend.
Or like Sergio, thinking he was sly when he asked the German whether he thought Luka would look cuter in a bunny or a kitty costume, only to completely out himself two weeks later when Toni caught him looking up a set of lingerie with bunny ears on his phone while they were on a bus trip to Valencia.
Toni had seen the lewd item getting added to Sergio's online shopping cart only because he had gotten up from his seat to put something in the overhead storage.
He had tried to warn Sergio that it was probably not a good idea to shop for your (secret) significant other's kinky lingerie while on a road trip with twenty other men around you, but Marcelo's curiosity had beat him to it.
"Shopping for someone else I hope?" Marcelo had grinned devilishly.
Sergio had screeched, caught red handed and had immediately shoved his hand in the Brazilian’s face to shut him up.
“None of your business, you big mouth!” Sergio had gritted out, which only got a string of giggles out of Marcelo in response. “I’m just playing a prank on someone.”
Toni had rolled his eyes, knowing that this was a straight up lie coming out of the Spaniard’s frowning lips. Sergio was an open book with a flashy cover and provocative title, waiting for anyone to pick him up and read his story.
But with Luka… With Luka, things were a little different.
Luka was frank and honest like Toni. But he was also slightly more outgoing and exuded a brighter – more natural – joie de vivre than the German ever could.
Luka didn’t start to shake uncomfortably under the pressure of a long silent pause like Sergio or Marcelo would. He was calm and composed. No need for meaningless small talk or flowery speech. Perhaps it was because of the language barrier on both sides, but things were so simple and straight with them that Toni cherished Luka especially for this quality.
Which explained why Toni found it odd to see Luka rambling like a nervous kid presenting in front of the classroom when the Croat brought up the topic of Christmas presents before the holidays.
“What do you even buy to someone who can afford anything they want? Someone who’s never had to wish for anything because it fell at their feet the minute they asked for it.”
Toni observed Luka, trying to figure out the reason for this uncharacteristic outburst during their usually serene stretching break. “I didn’t know you were buying a gift for a genie,” he teased his friend.
Luka gave Toni the same attitude he used whenever someone made a bad pass on the pitch, “Ugh, you’re of no help.”
“I’m kidding. I’m kidding.” Toni grabbed Luka’s wrist to show his sincerity. “But how can I help you if I don’t know who you’re talking about?”
Luka paused, clearly calculating his words. “It’s uh… Sergio always buys me a gift. And they’re always so great. But I want to do something special for him this time.”
“Ah,” Toni thought carefully. “It’s a little cliché but why don’t you try to do something with him. I remember how happy he was when you brought him to your hometown.”
Toni saw Luka purposefully looking away towards the other end of the field where half of the team was simulating a corner kick. The poor guy was probably trying his best to hide the blush that had risen on his cheeks.
Finally, Luka looked back at him, bottom lip squeezed under his bunny teeth. “It’s a good idea. I could make him show me Sevilla. I never visited the city properly and I’m sure he has lots of hidden gems he’d like to take me to.”
“Perfect!” Toni clapped Luka on the back. Now that this was taken care of, they could return to their beloved meditative stretching session.
It was at least five months later when Toni realized that he wasn’t the only one who had caught on to Luka and Sergio’s charade. Still, by some miracle, practically everyone on the team was still dupped. Toni almost wanted to pull his hair out when he saw the duo interact in public.
It wasn’t like no one else on the team kissed each other’s cheek to greet each other or to celebrate a wonderful goal. That was pretty common here.
But the way Sergio’s fingers lingered a second too long on Luka’s hips. The way Luka clamped his legs around Sergio’s hips when he jumped into the captain’s arms like it was second nature to him. The way Sergio was allowed to tangle Luka’s hair even when the blonde was in a pissy mood.
They just suck at being discreet.
And apparently, Toni wasn’t the only one thinking along this line because Marcelo had strikingly started to take on the role of professional third wheeler – cock blocker? – with the inseparable couple.
Toni noticed how the Brazilian started pulling Sergio to be his seat mate more often whenever they had an away game. He also took note of the way Marcelo began monopolizing Luka during celebrations whether it was during an official match or during practice when everyone got a little too excited.
Gone were the days where one could find a short Croat and an enthusiastic Spanish captain tumbling together on the green turf. Marcelo’s bouncy hair and puppy dog eyes were now always in the frame.
Toni’s assumption was solidified when Marcelo separated Luka and Sergio who were sat in the locker room together, hovering over Sergio’s phone and cackling at something that was certainly not warranting that much laughter from either of them.
Toni winced when Marcelo shoved himself in between the two, making Luka bang his head lightly on the wall behind him and Sergio glare at the Brazilian with daggers in his eyes.
“What the hell Marcelo!?”
“It’s not good for team building if you guys spend too much time together. Everyone should feel welcome to join you two when you’re with the team.” Marcelo argued, crossing his arms and unwilling to budge.
Luka got up and moved around to sit on Sergio’s other side, “Our team building is just fine the way it is. You’re the one who’s been acting weird for the past few weeks.”
Toni saw Nacho and Carvajal in their own corner of the locker room gaining interest in the altercation taking place.
“Marcelo! Come here, coach wanted to talk to us,” Toni interrupted, cutting the tension into pieces.
Marcelo didn’t seem convinced but followed Toni out of the room, nonetheless. The blonde led them to an empty meeting room where he was certain no one would eavesdrop on their conversation.
Toni didn’t waste any time and cut to the chase, “Hey. I love your enthusiasm, but you need to back off. You’re just bringing more attention to them.”
“Eh!? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marcelo tried to play dumb.
“Drop the act. I know they’re dating,” Toni looked at him unimpressed.
“They told you and not me?”
Toni pinched the bridge of his nose, his patience melting to a thin layer of ice. “They didn’t tell me anything! I figured it out like five months ago.”
“Five months!” The Brazilian couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Yes. And it’s probably been going on for much longer than that. I just caught them kissing in a hallway,” Toni related plainly.
“They know you know?” Marcelo asked.
“I don’t think so. Look, you just need to back off a bit. You’re doing too much.”
“But they’re driving me insane!”
“I know. But it’s not our place to intervene like that.”
Marcelo seemed genuinely distraught by Toni’s words, “Okay but what am I supposed to do. They’re basically advertising their relationship on a billboard. The media will eat them alive if people start to catch on.”
Toni nodded and pondered to himself for a few seconds. “Think you can free up a few days in your calendar to go on a trip with me during the holidays?”
“And why would I do that? Don’t take this the wrong way Kroos, but we barely talk outside of team activities.”
“Because if we do that, then Ramos and Modrić touring Sevilla together around Christmas time won’t be the only headline in the Spanish press,” Toni explained his reasoning and could see Marcelo’s face light up like he was about to shout eureka.
In the end, Toni and Marcelo’s plan worked as intended. There was a big uproar about a new friendship in the Real Madrid squad and little to no noise about Luka and Sergio’s many appearances together in Sevilla.
A direct negative consequence of this plan, however, was the whining from Lucas Vázquez who simply couldn’t believe he was left out from everybody’s planning. “How could you go with him but not me?”
“Marcelo offered to pay, and we both wanted a couple of days away from everyone. Nothing personal,” Toni brushed the Spaniard off, knowing he’d come back to complain about this again in an hour.
“It is so personal! I asked Luka why they didn’t include me in their plans, and he said Sergio would’ve been upset if I came along,” Lucas scoffed, evidently bothered.
“Fine, we’ll go somewhere together next time. It’s really no big deal,” Toni dismissed.
And this is what I get for being a good friend.