Work Text:
After the cool air of the car (thank God for the A/C), the heat of the parc hit Roger like a punch in the face. The other players around him seemed to share his discomfort as some of them had already started to wipe their foreheads with the hem of their shirts, and other were quickly retreating towards the shadow provided by the numerous trees. But any complaining or grumbling was shut down the minute staffers arrived with a group of koalas.
A chorus of “Aaaaw”s echoed around Roger, and he moved forward along with his colleagues. The players exchanged excited whispers and giggles. He himself couldn’t contain a goofy smile as he stared at the cute little animals.
“Can we pick them up?” asked one of the younger guys.
“Sure.” said one of the Tour manager. “That’s the plan ; pick one of these guys each and we’ll walk around taking some pictures. Don’t worry, they’re used to people and the crew from the parc is here to supervise. We just ask that you behave calmly and listen to their instructions.”
At these words, the group of players dissolved, making their way to the koalas. Djokovic already had one climbing on one of his arms, looking ecstatic.
The Swiss joined a couple of young parc employees and started a conversation with them, as they showed him how to pet the marsupial they were holding. He was getting in a better mood, truly enjoying himself. Most of the players seemed to have picked an animal now, and a great atmosphere was reigning on the place. Andy Murray had provoked a huge wave of hilarity as he was trying to talk to a koala who was completely snobbing him. Roger was telling himself that the ATP communication director had had an excellent idea, when he spotted Rafa over a cameraman’s shoulder. The Spaniard was standing a few meters from the rest of the group, looking a little uncomfortable. Frowning, Roger excused himself and made his way towards him.
“Hey! You ok?”
Rafa turned his head sharply, startled.
“Roger! Si, si, I ok. Very cute. The koalas.” He was shuffling on his feet.
“Yes, they’re adorable! Don’t you want to hold one?”
“Eeh, is fine from here, no?” he answered hesitantly.
“Well, I know Andy is stealing the show, but I think they want a group picture with all of us on it…”
“Really?” Rafa asked, his voice a little high.
Roger did manage to repress his smile this time. Rafa being afraid of the fluffy animals was insanely cute, but he didn’t want to embarrass his fellow player.
“They’re really nice you know? And super soft too!”. He giggled a little as Rafa looked like he was bracing himself for a fight with a bear. “Come on, let’s go find you a friendly one!”.
He settled a hand on the younger man’s shoulder and led him towards a young woman who was feeding eucalyptus leaves to one of the smallest, most inoffensive looking koalas.
“Hey there!”
“Oh, hi!” she said, looking every bit as nervous as Rafa was.
“You think we can pick this little guy up?”
“Yeah, sure! You just need to put your hands here, and here”
Roger followed her instructions, reached for the small creature and scooped it up in his arms.
“Theeeere you go. Come on Raf, come say hello!”
The Spaniard shuffled a little closer, slowly.
“You can pet him on the head and back” the young staffer said shyly.
Rafa moved closer, looking very concentrated, but still hesitant. Roger extended his free arm and slowly grabbed his hand.
“Together ok?”
He gently closed the space between Rafa and him and guided the tanner hand to the soft hair of the animal. He felt the muscles under his fingers tense, but after a couple of minutes, the young man relaxed and started caressing the koala on his own.
“See? Not so bad”
“Is very cute” Rafa approved as the koala sniffed his fingers curiously.
“You want to feed him?” the young woman suggested.
Rafa accepted the leaves she was holding out to him and presented them to the koala. Roger was looking at him fondly, a tender smile forming on his lips as he listened to the delighted exclamations the Spaniard let out as the koala struggled to get closer to him.
“Well now he likes you better than me!” he laughed. “Come on, your turn to hold him!”.
A flash of panic passed in Rafa’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by an expression of determination.
“I gonna try…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll stay right there, I’ll be here if it gets too much”
Rafa nodded, his eyes fixed on the animal.
“Come on, just put your hands here, I’ll let go of him in your arms ok?”
Rafa nodded again, his whole body tensing as Roger positioned the koala in the crook of his left arm. He was still holding his breath as the small creature snuggled against his torso and his right hand squeezed on Roger’s forearm to prevent the Swiss from walking away.
“I’m here” the older man said softly, his hand settling on Rafa’s lower back. He whispered gentle words of comfort to his friend until he felt him relax a little, and stayed closeby for the whole afternoon. They were side by side on the group picture, one of the staffers having handed another koala to the Swiss.
**
“It was really a great day” Roger thought to himself as he got into bed that night. And if he later asked the communication director for a copy of the photo, maybe it wasn’t only for the cute little balls of fur.