Work Text:
Technical errors sucked.
He wasn't blaming the camera operator who fell over, it wasn't their fault. Maybe he should've had some less complex staging, but what's done was done.
Well, at least he qualified into the grand finals...but was the last country to be called, which didn't help with his nerves. The damn thing nearly gave him a heart attack because if he and his delegations weren't announced to qualify then he was just going to break down. This was the first time Czechia has qualified since 2023, so it was something to be proud of. Daniel had watched Czechia's entries from 2024 and 2025 and both had the song quality to get through but sadly neither delivered on the vocals side. The nerves must've gotten to them.
It was a good thing the jury show leading up to the grand finals went off with no hiccups, but the live grand final show, where he really needed things to be on there A-game, his camera operator fell over.
The jury votes that came in were what he wished, even getting a 12 points from one or two, he had forgotten which. Daniel knew damn well that the televotes he received were going to be bad, and boy they were.
He just didn't have to look like a "sore loser" or whatever in the camera, because having done some research the night before, the Eurovision fandom were ready to pounce on you like mad if you made a negative face of some kind once receiving your points. The cameras were on him and it was a live television event broadcasted to hundreds of millions, so he hoped presented the "right" face to the audience.
But it really was a shame, all this effort and time spent was now down the drain by one camera operator falling.
Eurovision was a great experience for him though and although it didn't go the way he planned, he was excited to see if this opened some doors for him regarding his career. He even had a sweet moment with one of the contestants in semi-final 2, Eva Marija of Luxembourg, where they did a Viennese Waltz as instructed for the show. It sucked that she didn't qualify though, because she was nice to talk to.
Their waltz together was cute but it didn't mean nothing romantic because his heart belonged to Gjon.
Gjon? That was his boyfriend, they have been dating in almost secret for the past four months. He had also been in the Eurovision Song Contest, being in the strongest year: 2021, winning the jury vote and coming third overall in a very strong year which was notably won by the now-famous Måneskin.
Daniel loved Gjon, a lot. Despite only knowing each other for four months, there was a feeling in his gut that they were going to be together for a very long time. They shared kisses, his hugs were amazing and he was such a positive beam of sunshine, especially by being a little cheerleader for him on his Eurovision journey. Gjon also served as guidance on what to do and what not to do along the way. He was simply the best boyfriend Daniel could ask for.
And now, he wanted a bit of comfort from him.
He strolled around the arena for about five minutes before coming across Gjon. It was in a quiet area of the arena where almost no-one was there, so they were safe to be a bit affectionate towards each other, not like he was cautious about it.
Gjon walked over to him and gave him a silent hug. His hugs were one of the best things about their relationship, it had managed to cure all of Daniel's stage fright before a rehearsal and they contained so much comfort in them that Daniel was tempted to kiss Gjon right then and there.
"Thanks." Daniel whispered, still enjoying the warmth of Gjon's hug.
Gjon ran a finger through Daniel's hair, and whispered back into his ear, "No problem, I was so proud of seeing you up there."
Those words meant everything to him despite Gjon saying them a thousand times. They never got old.
Enjoying the embrace, Daniel sighed, "Me and my team spent so long and one damn mistake threw it all away."
What were they going to do though? The contest was done and finished with so he just had to crack on with life.
Gjon's pulled him closer, his voice as soothing as ever, "You can always try again."
Still dejected, he pulled out of the hug, looked down at his shoes and murmured to himself, "I poured my heart in Crossroads." He said, referring to the title of his Eurovision entry.
Without a word, Gjon wrapped him into another hug. He was so sweet.
Goosebumps were across his body as Gjon rubbed his back and gently kissed him, with a blush emerging from Daniel as his boyfriend reassured him, "I know, I know. It's why you were offered to try again."
They were, but he and his delegation decided to decline. Now looking back on it, he had no idea what he was thinking, but at the same time he didn't want to be given a second chance because he felt like it wasn't fair to anyone else who fucked up their performance.
He sighed, putting one hand on Gjon's shoulder, "Don't say that, you'll make me regret it."
Gjon swiftly kissed him once more, "Sorry, I'm just trying to say something nice."
It was the thought that counted, but Gjon was definitely much better at comforting someone physically than comforting them verbally.
"What was it like when you lost in Eurovision?" He asked, wanting to hear from Gjon's own experience. It must've been horrible to come so close. He had watched Gjon's reaction as it was something that all young singers should try to emulate, utter grace.
A laugh came out of Gjon. What was so funny?
The answer came shortly after which made Daniel wish he had never asked the question in the first place.
"I was more focused on having a pee." Gjon smirked and Daniel smiled back, even his smiles were contagious
Daniel's eyes widened as he stammered, "W-what?"
Unexpectedly, Gjon's warm hands brought Daniel in closer, catching him off-guard. He swooped in with a kiss on the cheek, making Daniel blush, "Just ignore me." Gjon softy giggled.
Yeah, no.
He needed to know more context, it was so bizarre, and WHY did he feel the need to just casually say that? It killed all the romantic tension that there was right now.
Daniel couldn't but laugh at the situation, quietly saying, "-anddd you've just killed the mood."
It wasn't exactly romantic to say, was it?
Gjon did walk himself right in that one, because he was going to refer to Gjon as "piss-boy" for all of eternity, no matter how much it pissed off – no pun intended – him.
"But am I making you feel better?" Gjon cheekily smirked as Daniel nestled his head in his chest.
He tilted his head up and kissed him on the chin, trying to hold back more laughter, "Of course."
It did make him feel better though.
The two were wrapped in each others love and happiness, kissing the other without a care in the world, Gjon's hands caressing the back of Daniel's hair. He wondered if it was just him, but he heard a familiar voice approaching them.
Søren.
It was like he was waltzing in with a little happy twirl, more than delighted about his result, gleefully announcing, "Hey, Danie-"
Daniel darted his eyes at Søren who completely freezed in his tracks once locking eyes with the couple.
Daniel quickly noticed this and nudged for Gjon to stop kissing him, who was initially confused but then understood in a heartbeat.
Gjon murmured under his breath, "Maybe we shouldn't have kissed in public."
Never. He never wanted to stop kissing him in public, although this was the first time someone recognised them. Thankfully it was Søren, who he only knew once he struck a conversation with him at a Eurovision pre-party nearly last month.
He smirked, "And whose going to stop us?"
Daniel turned his attention to Søren, holding Gjon's hand tight as he forced a nervous grin, "Heyy, Søren."
It wasn't the best of introduction lines but he couldn't think of anything better.
Søren put his hands on his hips and attempted to force a polite smile despite seeing a snog-fest a second earlier, "I just wanted to check on how you were doing, but I see you're occupied."
Yeah, they were. He couldn't blame him for accidentally crossing paths with them, it was a public space.
He then heard Gjon's soft-spoken words from right next to him, who asked, "Is he your friend Daniel?"
Oh great, more awkwardness. He should just get this over and done with. Introduce the two out of politeness and hope that Søren will be on his merry way.
"Kinda, it just happened at one of the pre-parties, I don't remember. I think you got drunk and fell over." Daniel explained as Søren laughed.
The less he talked about that pre-party, the better. He took his eyes off of Gjon for one second and he was downing alcohol far too strong for his body to handle.
Gjon turned bright pink as he looked down on the floor, but then brought his head up face them, "Don't remind me, it was embarrassing."
This was the only instance he remembered of him and Søren interacting. They had similar things in common so they hit it off, but because they both had busy schedules, there was not much time left for talking in-between rehearsals. Søren was sincere enough to check up on Daniel right after the grand finals, so that was kind of him.
Daniel then introduced Søren to Gjon, as he tried to explain four amazing months to him in just a couple of sentences, "Søren, this is my partner Gjon. We've been together for four months and he's been like moral support for me since I got him."
Søren smiled and folded his arms, "Aww, that's so sweet."
Daniel added, "Gjon, this is Søren, I hope you didn't meet him during the pre-parties because that would've been awkward."
He was going to shut up about the pre-party thing now because Gjon definitely didn't need reminding of that one time he made an idiot out of himself.
Gjon nervously chuckled, his face still pink, "It's a good thing I didn't meet him."
He felt guilty for slightly embarrassing Gjon, so he took his hands off of his and wrapped him into a warm embrace, like Gjon always did.
Søren snapped his fingers and made an "ahh" as it looked like something had finally clicked, "Wait, are you the Gjon from last year? Because everyone's saying that you, Daniel and Benjamin have a resemblance?" He chirpily enquired.
He almost forgot who Benjamin was before remembering it was Cosmó, Austria's representative. Don't ask him on what his last name was because he had no idea, but he did look exactly like Gjon when he laid down on stage for his performance. It was uncanny.
No-one had told him that he and Gjon looked similar though? Maybe it was the curly hair, but this was the first time he was hearing about this.
"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you." Gjon replied to be polite as his body was wrapped around Daniel's hands.
Søren switched the topic, briefly pointing at both Gjon and Daniel with his fingers, "Have you told anyone yet about this?"
Daniel sighed, "No, and I swear to God if you tell anyone-"
He didn't know Søren as much as everyone else, but it definitely wasn't in his character, or anyone else's character for that matter, to leak a relationship to the public, but he had to make sure.
Søren cut him off and shook his head, "I won't, but just watch out for the press, they're hounds, especially on the night of the grand finals."
Point taken, but if they got on the front page of some shitty tabloid then so be it. It was just two people in a relationship expressing their love for each other, what was so newsworthy about that?
Daniel nodded with a smile, "Thanks Søren."
"Have a good night you two." He said, waving both him and Gjon goodbye, who feebly waved back. He left with a cheerful hum as Daniel and Gjon were left alone.
"Daniel?" He heard Gjon meekly whisper as he slipped out of Daniel's grip.
"Yeah?"
A wide smile came out of Gjon, which made Daniel buzz inside as he proposed, "Since we're in Vienna, can you treat me to a waltz?"
How romantic. Gjon witnessed the event of semi-final 2 unfold live and had expressed for Daniel to do the same after seeing him do it with Eva.
He was more than happy too treat his boyfriend to a waltz.
Daniel blushed, holding one hand out, "It'll be my pleasure even though you say you're not a dancer, which is the biggest lie ever told."
Gjon told him that once, but he had seen footage of him dancing. It was gorgeous, but at the same time or made Gjon world's cutest liar.
Daniel loved him, so he was forgiven.