sysakiddo

[sysakiddo]

George Russell & Max Verstappen - BLUE by Billie Eilish

"two sides of the same coin"

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lolololol jd vance punching the air rn

[sysakiddo]

the unbearable lightness of being, philip kaufman 1988 / henri de toulouse-lautrec/ peter wever / egon schiele

[sysakiddo]

i come bearing gifts!

2.4k of alien max. maxiel. daniel has a bad night and max is the only thing that helps. (all of alien max verse here)

Daniel steers his car into the driveway, kicking up dust behind him. When he sneaks a glance over at Max, he's finishing his slushie from the beach, looking out the window happily. 

"It's getting a bit late already, wanna have dinner?" Daniel asks.

"Sure Daniel, I will try and fix the communicator," Max returns. 

They make their way inside, Daniel making a beeline for the freezer to see if he has any leftovers that would do.

Max on the other hand, spreads out his supplies and starts deconstructing his communications device into the tiniest bits. 

Daniel won't even try to comprehend what's going on and turns towards the stove. 

After dinner, Max continues working on his project and Daniel puts on Netflix, spreading out on the couch. He settles on some reality show he started a while back and is only half watching, intermittently turning back to watch Max work. He's intensely focused, taking apart little metal plates and replacing them. He's also taking apart some of the cables he bought, using the single copper threads to connect bits.

Sometimes, when he's frustrated he makes a clicking noise. Daniel's not sure whether that's just his equivalent of a huff or if he's cursing under his breath in alien. It's endearing either way. 

Eventually, Max groans loudly, pushes his hands into his blonde strands and slides down the barstool. 

"I think I give up, it's not working," Max says, looking downtrodden. 

"It's okay, it's getting late anyway. Let's just go to bed, hm?" Daniel says.

"Okay, Daniel," Max agrees.

Max mentions that he'd like to soak in the bath for a bit before going to his human bed so Daniel lets the bath run while he takes a quick shower and brushes his teeth. He's just crunching some gel into his curls when he sees Max hovering by the cracked door in his mirror. 

"C'mon then Maxy, I'm done. Goodnight, yeah?" Daniel says and lets Max into the bathroom. 

He is just settled into his bed, adjusting the pillow when he hears the faint sloshing of water in the tub. 

He closes his eyes and wills his brain to stop imaging Max stripped bare, soaking in the bath, one leg propped up on the side of the tub. Yeah, awesome Daniel. Not thinking about it is definitely working.

Daniel turns, trying to find a comfortable position to try and fall asleep in. It's not been the easiest of late. After a few minutes of trying to clear his mind, he turns onto his front and buries his face in the pillow. He chances a glance at the clock on his bedside. Great, 50 minutes have already passed.

Eventually, after much tossing and turning, he must fall asleep. The next thing he knows he's sitting upright in his bed, heart hammering in his chest, trying to gulp down a breath. His chest hurts, it feels all tight and achey. His lungs feel like they're on fire. He feels a wet sensation on his lower arm, like a raindrop.

He looks around. He's inside his room. That doesn't make any sense.

When he turns to his other side, he sees a figure half hunched over the edge of the bed. More panic spreads in his chest and he scrambles towards the other side of the bed.

"Daniel," a calm and steady voice asks.

Max. Oh thank fucking God. It's just Max. 

"Breathe with me, c'mon, just like earlier," Max says.

Daniel hears a deep breath echo through his darkened room and he tries to follow, he does, but it's not really working. He hears his breath stock before any air can even really enter his lung. 

"And again, c'mon," Max instructs. 

Daniel tries, he does, but it's not doing anything. He squeaks out a sound. It sounds distressed even to his own ears. Then, Max climbs onto the bed and takes Daniel's hand with his dripping wet one. 

It feels like a shock to Daniel's system, but it helps. His lungs stutter and finally let some air in. Max runs his damp thumb over Daniel's hand again. Just like before in the store. It feels familiar and calming. 

Daniel lets him, eventually lies back down, sideways, facing Max.

Max climbs into the bed too, settles next to Daniel and keeps running his thumb back and forth on the back of Daniel's hand. 

At some point Daniel huffs out a laugh. "Did you lie down in my sheets soaking wet, Maxy?" 

"Yes, it's much nicer like this, actually. Less dry and itchy," Max confirms. 

"I'm glad," Daniel murmurs. 

"Just go to sleep, Daniel, I will be here," Max says. 

"Yeah?" Daniel asks.

"Hm, I'm not going anywhere," Max says, like it's the most normal thing in the world. 

Like it's not an insane thing to say to someone you've known for a couple days. But the thing is. The thing is that Daniel believes him. Max is so fucking sincere with his words and actions and intentions. There's no second guessing. It gives Daniel whiplash. He's not been used to that level of sincerity over the last few years. 

So Daniel does just that, focuses on the repetitive motion of Max's fingertips on his skin and closes his eyes.

He falls into a dreamless sleep. 

Daniel wakes with a start. He hears someone walking up the stairs. The fifth step from the top creaks loudly, like it always does.

Daniel looks over at the bedside table. The clock reads 9:54am. This has to be the longest he's slept in weeks. 

He hears a familiar voice drift through his bedroom door "Danny, don't tell me you're still sleeping," his sisters voice sounds through the wood.

Daniel tries to sit up but he realises he's being held down. He looks over and Max is lying on his spare pillow, jaw slack and lips puckered in his sleep. Max has his hand wrapped around Daniel's wrist. Probably from where he's patted Daniel to sleep last night. 

He's so fucked.

Michelle barges through the door in that exact moment, yelling "Wakey, wakey, Daniel!"

When she takes in the scene in front of her, she stops in her tracks, breathes out a fuck and turns back around, slamming the door behind her.

All the commotion stirs Max out of his sleep. He lazily blinks his eyes open, pupils little slits that expand rapidly in the relative darkness of the room.

"Hello, Daniel," he says sleepily, voice shot. His hand around Daniel's wrist gives a slight squeeze and almost, as if out of instinct, his thumb starts its back and forth movement again, calming Daniel.

"Everything okay? You smell slightly off," Max asks, rolling his face into the pillow underneath him. 

"My sister just walked in on us," Daniel says, resigned. 

He'll never live this down, especially when she properly sees Max.

"It's okay, I'm of course happy to meet her," Max says.

That startles a laugh out of Daniel. 

"Yeah? No cold feet?" he asks.

"I am obviously happy to meet your family, Daniel. It's very rude not to, considering everything," Max says. 

"Everything?" Daniel asks.

"Yes, of course. It is only proper. My mother raised me better than that. They should meet me," Max says, as if that explains anything. 

Daniel has that nagging feeling in the back of his head that he's missing something major.

"Max, what do you mean exactly? Before what?" Daniel asks.

In that moment, Michelle knocks on the door again.

"Get decent in there, yeah? I'm putting some coffee on downstairs. And don't even think of making a run for it out the window, I want to meet you so I can never let Danny live this down!" Michelle half-yells through the door. 

"Jesus, Mish!" Daniel yells back.

He hears her cackle and then her footsteps retreat down the stairs. 

"She seems nice," Max says from beside him. He has not stopped running his finger over Daniel's wrist. Daniel doesn't want him to stop. 

"She's an asshole," Daniel says through a laugh. 

"I'll go down for now, do you want to wake up properly and join us in a bit?" Daniel asks.

"Sure, I'll just get dressed," Max says. 

He gives Daniel one last squeeze, rolls off the side of the bed and frees himself from under Daniel's covers. He only wearing the shorts Daniel gave him yesterday. His chest is bare. Daniel tries not to stare, he really does but Max looks broad and toned, under a thin layer of squish. And his pecs are, quite frankly, obscene. They bounce with each movement and Daniel feels his mouth watering. 

Daniel gives himself a shake, gets out the bed and wills his morning wood to go down. 

When he enters the kitchen, Michelle is placing a cup under the coffee machine.

"Morning," Daniel ventures.

"Very good morning, actually," Michelle responds. 

"Oh shut up, Mish," Daniel says. 

"You know I won't," she sing-songs.

"I can explain, okay, it's ehm-" Daniel tries.

"Dan, you really don't need to explain. It's fine that it's a guy. I don't care. I just want you to be happy, hm?" she says. The look on her face is really sincere. Daniel doesn't know what to feel or say in response to that. 

He settles on "thanks, but ehm, it's a bit more complicated than that. Just don't freak out, yeah? Promise me, please."

"If this is a gender thing that's of course fine, too, Dan," she says, swapping out the cups now.

Daniel hears the stairs creak. Max is coming down. Before Daniel can say anything else, Max enters the kitchen. He walks straight past Daniel, making a beeline for Michelle, who is just fiddling with the pressure of the coffee machine. 

"Hello, you must be Daniel's sister. It's an honour to meet you, I'm MX.V331 but Daniel calls me Max," he says, folding his hands together in front of him and giving Michelle a slight bow. 

Daniel can see the exact moment Michelle registers first Max's eyes, then his pointy ears and then the Enchante t-shirt with the hole at the collar from Daniel's first ever collection. It's his favourite t-shirt and he's refused to throw it out despite his last girlfriend begging him to get rid of it for years. 

She throws Daniel a questioning look but recovers well and holds her hand out to Max. He looks a bit lost, throws a forlorn look back at Daniel who just nods encouragingly. So Max mirrors Michelle and they shake hands. 

"Nice to meet you, Max," she says.

Max smiles back at her and then makes his way to the bar. 

"So, Max, tell me about yourself. How long have you known my brother?" Michelle asks to break the silence. 

"Well, he pulled me out of my crashed plane about two days ago, so about that long," Max says. 

"Crashed plane, oh my god! Are you okay? What did the police say? Dan, what the hell why didn't you call?" Michelle asks alarmed.

"Well, uhm," Daniel starts.

"Well, Daniel said that the alien police might come and get me so I've been wearing a hat to hide," Max says matter of factly. 

"Alien police," Michelle says. She pauses. Daniel fiddles with his cuticles.

"You're having me on, right? You just picked him up in cosplay after a Star Trek convention, right? Please tell me this is some fetish thing. I won't judge," Michelle says to Daniel, throwing her hands up.

"No can do, I'm afraid. Maxy here is a full fledged humanoid alien I picked up in the desert. Kinda sick, eh?" Daniel says, putting his arm around Max where he's sitting on the bar stool. 

"Also you know damn well there are no conventions happening right now, nerd," Daniel needles. 

"You're being serious?" Michelle asks. 

"He is," Max pipes up, smiling his big, crinkly smile up at Daniel. 

"Prove it," Michelle says. 

"Would you be so kind, Max?" Daniel asks.

Max nods and goes to the sink to wet his hand. He splashes some on his neck as well for good measure.

"Go on," Daniel urges his sister.

She approaches Max with skeptical look on her face. Max points to his neck where his gills are opening and closing. He also holds up his hand where his webbing is more visible now. 

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Michelle shrieks.

"Don't be fucking rude," Daniel scolds.

"No, it's not that. Aliens exist, oh my god," she says. "This type of shit would only happen to you, Dan."

"You're technically not meant to know, so please can you-" Max starts.

Michelle just envelops Max in a hug in response. Max looks frozen in place and stands there, stock still, while his sister hugs him tight. 

"Of course, not a word," she says.

"Well, I mean, shall we have breakfast then?" Daniel asks.

+++ 

After breakfast, Daniel suggest that Max try out the pool and he's living his best life splashing away in it. He lamented the stinky acid smell before dipping his toe in but he seems to be enjoying himself now. 

He's currently sitting at the bottom of the pool and has been down there for a good three minutes.

Daniel and Michelle are sitting on the sun lounger, enjoying another coffee. 

Max had wrinkled his nose at the proposition after trying it earlier and doing his best to not spit the whole gulp back into his cup. No coffee for Max. Daniel has taken note.

"So," Michelle starts.

"Don't," Daniel responds.

"Daniel," Michelle says.

"It's not like that. He's," Daniel says, motioning towards the pool. Max is still sitting there at the bottom, legs crossed and eyes open, Daniel is pretty sure.

"Don't lie to me. I've known you all your life remember?" Michelle snorts out.

"I'm not lying. I can't. He's just lost and stranded. And I'm helping him. I'm nice like that," Daniel protests.

"He's weird," Michelle says.

"Hey!" Daniel shouts, affronted.

"You love weird! Plus, you were sleeping together, literally. Cuddled up," Michelle responds, throwing Daniel a look.

"Max is just. He's different. He doesn't understand our customs and it doesn't mean the same thing to him," Daniel say.

"Fuck that, he looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky. And he would know. That's where he's from," Michelle says.

"Human standards don't apply, Mich. He's not from here," Daniel says.

"But you are, and they do mean something to you. Don't even try your bullshit with me, Dan. I know your tells," Michelle says.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Daniel tells her, fiddling with one of the pebbles Max gave him yesterday in his short pocket.

[sysakiddo]

Previous part

Max can't get it out of his head. Everything is adding up.

Daniel is still a bed-wetter.

The music in the bathroom. That was to cover up his changing. He figured that out fast, but now it's the little things. Max pretends to be asleep in the morning when Daniel wakes up, catching him swear to himself and shuffle out of bed, the plastic crinkling sounding less... loud. Less empty. It's full. He's wet himself.

Max wills his breathing to slow, his eyes to relax, to seem perfectly asleep, just to hear Daniel waddle into the bathroom, peel off the tapes and let the wet diaper flop onto the tiled floor. He can hear a sharp inhale, then the bathroom door creaking open again. Daniel is checking. Max keeps pretending.

He doesn't say anything to Daniel and 'wakes up' late.

Fourty-five minutes later and they're at the paddock, with the bright Baku sky shining down.

Walking far behind Max, out of distance for an awkward conversation, is Daniel, with his special bag heaved onto his back. He's in shorts, and from the few glances Max got while getting out of the car, he's not wearing a diaper underneath. It must be a night-time only thing, what he experiences.

That, in turn, explains the naps, or lackthereof.

Daniel rubs at his eyes and shields them from the sunlight as he talks with his race engineer about the upcoming practice sessions. From across the room, Max finds a way to shuffle in place to face Daniel while chatting with GP, letting his eyes wander. He watches Daniel smile and shake his head at something Pierre says.

A offer of coffee, it has to be.

With the time remaining, if Daniel accepts and has a cup, then he'd be bursting for the toilet while in the middle of FP1. Bladder weakness. Is that a side effect of his bedwetting? Would he be leaking in the car? Has he done that before?

"Max. You look like a fuckin' cougar right now."

"Huh."

"Quit that. I said because of the low grip we're going to need to-"

Max zones out again, staring at the space between GP's eyes instead.

— — — — —

"...fuck, fuck!" Daniel hisses through his teeth.

He's running into the red bull hub building, aiming for his driver room, his private room, his quiet space, his bathroom, his diaper bag-

"Daniel, hey! What's the rush?"

Max has stuck a hand out, stopping Daniel from running past from where he's sat. Daniel smiles down at him, a pained grin, nodding and trying to excuse himself before he fucking pisses himself right here in front of Max, in front of everyone.

"Heading back, it's nothing-" he can feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, his body's first mistake.

Max's face drops, and he stands, his chair scraping on the floor, drawing the attention of every red bull team member in the lower floor to them. He floats his hands around Daniel, not touching, shielding, trying to look closely at his face.

"Are you okay? Has something happened?" he asks, hanging right behind Daniel as he stumbles up the steps into his driver room.

"Nothing! Fuck off!" Daniel's voice cracks.

It's like a spark of fury has gone off in Max's eyes, and he follows Daniel into his room, pushing through the slammed shut door. The space is cramped, even if it's a mirrored copy of Max's room, separated by a thin wall next to each other. He must think Daniel is- is hurt, or been yelled at by Helmut, or been the target of a joke, not that he's- not that he's going to-

"Max, I said fuck off! It's not big deal, just-"

He can't hold it anymore.

Daniel lets out a groan and spins on his heel, lifting up his toilet lid and frantically pulling his dripping dick out of his shorts. Behind him, he can hear Max going "huh?- Oh! Uh, oh shit, okay-" before the sound of piss streaming into the toilet bowl and Daniel moaning in relief fills the room.

He grabs onto the lipped shelf behind the toilet, stabilising himself, and looks over his shoulder. Max seems to be preoccupying himself with the coat hangers.

Daniel clenches his eyes shut as he feels his bladder nearing empty, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth.

He shakes his leg to get the last dribbles out, then pulls his pants and shorts back up. He doesn't turn to Max, just yet, but hears him step closer.

"Now why was that so bad? I thought you were about to cry."

"I just-" he sighs. Drags his hand over his face. "I've, like, got a tiny bladder, yeah? It's annoying. It hurts when... just- don't stop me from getting to the toilets, mate."

Max drops his head, like a bow, respect, an apology. He's taller than Daniel by a few inches, he's getting on his level.

"I did not realise it was such a... hassle for you."

"Yeah. It is. Leave it," Daniel says, avoiding Max's line of sight.

"Explains a lot, though," Max adds, which makes Daniel perk up. In fear. "The toilet breaks. Many, many of them. I thought you were trying to sneak some time on your phone, and you had a giiirl to talk to-"

That makes Daniel break into a giggle, followed by a shove to Max's arm.

This is the first little barrier of Daniel revealing his... vulnerability to Max. A small bladder, that works. Dismisses a few concerns without being a real, embarrassing medical condition.

It's all Max needs to know.

— — — — —

Max closes the door to his driver room, one door over from Daniel's, and has a raging boner.

[sysakiddo]

Daniel is used to it. Used to keeping it quiet, too.

When he's alone it's easy to be like "yeah, I piss myself at night, I can't control it, so what", the whole routine of baby powder, putting a diaper on, falling asleep, waking up wet, changing out of it and stashing it into a plastic bag into a bin is just so normal to him now. When he's alone.

Daniel caaan't be sharing a room with his teammate now. Not now, please, not now.

Max is a three time world champion, on his way to a fourth, stuck with red bull since the start and made that shitty drink synonymous with his name. He's so fucking cooool, Daniel has no idea how he's gotten to this level. He of course does, but- that's not the point.

He can't be sharing a room with Max now. Or at all. Ever. Fuck the crush he has on his new, cooler, older teammate, if Max catches him waddling to bed with a stupidly big and plastic-y sounding ass then he'll quit F1 and off himself right there and then. Suffocate himself with his own medical aids all taped over his head.

He tries to bargain out of it with Horner, one person who vaguely knows about Daniel's nighttime problems, but all he says is that Max is a good lad and won't pick on him for something he can't control. As if. Daniel knows the older drivers sit and gossip about the younger ones whenever they can, shared whispering when crossing paths in the garage corridors, side eyeing the rookies before press conferences. They always do that. Daniel's seen it. He's been in that position too many times.

Daniel tries one last time to get out of sharing the hotel room by begging his trainer to share instead. He understands the concern, but he's got a tiny room and a single bed, and gives a little nod down to Daniel's crotch when he says he doesn't want a leak all over his thighs in the morning.

With the last chance gone, Daniel has to suck it up and deal with it - find a way to hide any and every indication of something being wrong with him from Max.

Too bad diapers are the most obnoxious thing to deal with when trying to be discreet about them.

Daniel's used up all his pull-ups for naps during the week before. It would have been easy if he wasn't so tired, or took some more from home before this two week stint, or got nabbed some from the medical team, or just-

He sighs, lying on his back, scrolling on his phone with one earbud in, eyes unfocused on the screen.

Max is over in the corner, facetiming his sister, waving to his nieces. Daniel's half listening, picking out bits that sound somewhat English before they're interrupted with that khggrh sound.

He's hatching a plan, to get diaper up when Max is fast asleep, but even then, he might wake him up from the loud crinkling. What other plans can he go through with? Falling asleep in the bathtub? What if Max needs to go piss in the night and the doors locked? That's suspicious enough to warrant a interrogation conversation with Daniel about it. Run over to get ready in his trainers bathroom? Then he'll have to waddle back, up three floors and long corridors to get back. The diapers are too loud when they're empty.

"Are you doing okay, mate?" Max voice comes, from a bit closer. He's sat on the edge of his bed now. Yawns and stretches.

"It's getting late," he keeps talking. The implication is there.

"I gotta- uh, shower, I'll go in after you." Daniel nods to the bathroom. If he uses the shower and... and plays some music along with it, then maybe? Max won't hear the rustling of his diaper. Solid plan, Danny boy.

All Max does is nod and walk into the bathroom.

Leaving Daniel, and his totally-not-diaper-bag-backpack that needs to be smuggled in, alone to think.

Well, what if...

What if he just... told him?

[sysakiddo]

have some more alien max au cause he's my lil guy

pt. 4 (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)

"you saying i stink?" daniel asks.

"of course not. i just said you smelled upset," max says calmly, picking up one of the bread cubes on his plate. 

"how can you tell?" daniel asks.

"well when we arrived at your house, for example, you smelled much calmer and sweet. when you're anxious it turns more bitter," max says, shrugging his shoulder a bit. 

"you smell that much? oh god," daniel says lifting his t-shirt to his nose to give himself a sniff. it smells a bit like sweat and a bit like his fabric softener. daniel wrinkles his nose at himself.

"well usually you just smell like human and a bit like some sort of wood. i'm guessing it's a smell enhancer your kind put on. it was clinging to the seats in your car as well but i think it was different to yours. more sweet. hard to tell as i've not been outside much," max continues to explain.

"you're a pretty special guy, huh max?" daniel asks.

"i'm a pretty normal guy, actually," max deflects.

"yeah? are there many interplanetary pilots where you're from?" daniel asks.

"well, not that many, only twenty are picked every year but many try to get in, of course," max says, pushing the last cherry tomato on his plate around. 

"only twenty, huh. out of how many?" daniel asks.

"we got about 100 billion people in our system, so." max confirms, casually.

"yeah maxy, sorry to be the one to break this to you but i'm pretty sure you're not that average after all," daniel says.

max huffs out a laugh then. 

"what do you do, daniel?" max asks in return.

"guess," daniel challenges.

"maybe a farmer? this is a farm, right?" max asks.

"hit the nail on the head, maxy. farmer dan, that's me." daniel says, with a laugh.

"that's nice, very peaceful," max says earnestly. 

"yeah, no stress round here," daniel confirms, smile starting to strain. 

"what are you going to do now, though?" daniel asks max to change topics.

at that max buries his face in his hands, groaning. "my ship, i have to get to it and assess the damage. i'm so fucked. if you point me in the right direction, i can walk there and get out your hair."

a slight surge of panic passes through daniel at that. "what? max don't be stupid, i'll drive you, it's so hot out there, you'll burn and dehydrate. it's the middle of summer."

"it's totally okay, i can wait outside in the shade until the sun goes down. you've been much too nice to me already," max says. getting down from the barstool, folding his hands together and giving daniel a solemn nod. "thanks so much for all your help, daniel." 

with that, max turns on his heel and moves towards the door. 

"woah, wait max!" daniel yells after him, jogging round his kitchen island. 

max continues walking down the hallway, until daniel catches up with him, grabbing him by the elbow. 

"wait up, max. c'mon stop," daniel pleads.

max turns around then, eyes downcast and ears slightly twitching. that's new, daniel thinks. 

"i can't let you go out there with a clear conscience if the guest bedroom is too dry for you, mate. please. it's no bother, honestly." daniel says.

"my mother always taught me not to overstay my welcome." max responds.

"that's fine then. you haven't. and my mother taught me to be a good host and help people if they need it. we don't want to disappoint grace, do we?" daniel asks.

"if you're sure," max mumbles. 

"yeah, c'mon let's get you a water and then we can drive back out there. do you think we could load it onto the trailer?" daniel asks.

"i'd have to see the size and the damage but maybe. it's one of the more compact models," max says. 

after daniel fills up one of the tumblers usually reserved for his nephew with cold water, he hands it to max with a wink. "so you don't dry out like a frog on concrete."

max holds onto it with both hands and mutters a quiet "thanks," in return. 

after crossing the driveway, daniel slides the barn doors open, revealing a collections of bikes, quads and mechanical equipment as well as the trailer. 

"what d'ya reckon? would it fit?" daniel asks max. 

max is currently sucking on the blue straw of his tumbler looking around curiously at all the bikes. 

"hm, yeah probably. it'll probably stick out the sides though with the wings," max confirms. 

"that should be fine, c'mon help me hook it up," daniel says. 

+++

"i think it should be coming up on the right hand side soon," daniel says, scanning the horizon for any traces of shiny metal.

"i think i can see it, there, there," max says, pointing in the distance. 

daniel has his foot on the brake but before the car is even fully halted, max is opening the car door, jumping out.

"jesus, slow down!" daniel says but it's no use. max is basically running towards his ship, skipping over bushes of grass. 

daniel kills the engine and follows as quickly as he can. by the time he joins max, the other has his head stuck in the cockpit, rummaging around inside. he pulls some sort of square out, and taps it a couple times. then he lets out a frustrated clicking sound.

"everything alright?" daniel asks. 

"yes but no. my communicator is broken, i'll have to try and fix it as well to signal back home. my family will be worried, let alone my team."

"it's okay, i can give you some tools that might help?" daniel suggests.

"thanks, i hope i can make it work with the primitive tech you have here."

"alright, damn," daniel snorts. "i'll back the truck up out here and then we can load it up, yeah?"

once daniel got the trailer as close as he can get it, they attach the crane at the top to the cockpit and lift it on top of the loading zone.

max was right, the wings do stick out but hopefully they can get away with it.

on the drive back, max is tinkering away on his communicator with a tiny tool he must have stored in his cockpit but daniel isn't sure he made much progress. 

"so, what family you got waiting at home then?" daniel asks max.

max stops fiddling for a moment to hum in question.

"your family, i asked," daniel repeats. 

"oh, well my mum and dad, plus my sister and nephews. and my sister had another baby on the way. i haven't seen that one yet cause i'm always away months at a time," max explains.

"so, no girlfriend waiting at home?" daniel asks.

"no, no girlfriend, i don't have," max clears his throat, "one of those," max says, casting a sideways glance at daniel. 

"a boyfriend perhaps?" daniel asks, voice neutral. 

"no, no boyfriend either at the moment," max confirms, twiddling the tool between he thumb and forefinger.

okay. daniel refuses to examine why this makes him feel relieved. 

"same for me maxy, we can be alone together, eh?" daniel says.

"sure, daniel. that sounds good," max says, smiling over at him. 

once back home, they carefully unload the plane inside daniel's barn.

"if you want to try and find out what's broken, i can fix us some lunch?" daniel suggests.

max nods abesentmindely at that, already inspecting the sidepod of his plane. 

while heating up some of his mum's tomato soup and browning some baguette in the pan, daniel peers out the window to see max extracting his arm from inside the side of his plane and loads of wires hanging out. he sees max huff a deep breath and scratch his hair on the back of his head quickly. 

that doesn't look like a quick fix. daniel opens the window and yells "max, food is ready, if you wanna come back inside."

max startles slightly where he's standing, eyes searching for daniel before finding him. then max nods, picks up his water tumbler and starts jogging inside.

"i warmed up some tomato soup. i reckoned you'd like it since you liked 'em well enough this morning," daniel explains. 

he sets a bowl down in front of max and puts a smaller plate with some slices of baguette next to it, handing max a spoon along with it. 

he grabs his own bowl and sticks the baguette straight into his soup. climbing onto the barstool next to where max is still hovering. 

"you not hungry yet? i'm starving," asks daniel at max's hesitation, taking a bite of his baguette.

"you remembered," max says quietly.

"hm?" hums daniel over his mouthful of bread. 

"keeping it separate," max clarifies. 

"orgh myeah no biggie," daniel gets out. while hooking his ankle around max's chair to move it backwards for him to climb into.

"dig in, c'mon," daniel says. 

max's ears twitch again and it's much more obvious when he does it due to their pointy shape, almost like a cat. they look a bit red. max's cheeks look a bit pink, too now that daniel is looking at him. 

"mate, did you already get a sunburn out there? i need to find you some sunscreen, you look pink already," daniel says pointing at max's face. 

at that max quickly ducks his face downwards and starts climbing on the barstool quickly.

"sunburn? what's that?" max asks.

"if you stay out in the direct sun for too long, your skin get damaged and itchy. it might start to peel. well at least humans do," daniel says.

"i don't think it's that," max says matter of factly. 

"no, what is it then?" daniel asks.

"i'm just a bit nervous. it's okay," max says, lifting his spoonful of soup in front of his face to inspect it closely. 

"why're you nervous? it's just me," daniel asks, curious.

"well yes, but you are of course very beautiful as i said before," max  says in the most nonchalant tone, still focused on the consistency of the soup. like it's a simple fact of the universe. grass is green. daniel is beautiful. he's not felt beautiful in a little while and definitely nobody's said it to him for even longer. well, except max.

"oh," is all daniel can respond.

"mating season is coming up anyway so it's no surprise that i react like this. it's not personal. well it is because you are attractive of course but pay it no mind. i will deal with it," max continues. "in any case, i think the combustor is broken in my plane, and some electric circuits were fried upon entry into your atmosphere so i'll have to rewire lots of parts. it will be a bigger job than i had hoped. it might be best for me to focus on fixing the communicator first," max explains.

"sure," daniel says. he hadn't internalised much of that as he was still stuck on attractive and mating season and what. 

daniel shakes himself out of it and says "take as long as you need. it's really no biggie."

at that max stops meticulously tearing his bread into small chunks and looks over at daniel, blue eyes on full display. they pop more with the pink flush in max's cheeks, this close.

his lips pull into a bright smile, lip freckle stretching with it. 

daniel hadn't noticed it before but now, in the daylight, up close, it's like his entire focus zeroes in on it. daniel wants to scrape his teeth over it. 

fuck. 

[sysakiddo]

I want you to remember:

The fascists hate you too and they just will pretend otherwise until after they've killed the rest of us, before they turn on you.

[sysakiddo]

1,2,3,4,5

To add insult to injury, 007 is already in his office when he opens the door. To his credit, Max only skips a beat before moving again. 

Daniel is holding a prototype of a new grenade Max’s been working on in his hands. 

“Don’t touch that,” Max barks out and Daniel smirks. “In fact, don’t touch anything in here.” 

Daniel has his feet on Max’s desk, the leather of the shoes glimmering in the bright light. “I didn’t even touch anything,” he drawls, which makes Max sigh. He knows Daniel touched all of the weapons in the room the second he entered it. Agents are predictable like that. 

“Who let you in?” 

Daniel shrugs, tossing the grenade from one hand to another. Max is ready to fight him. It must show on his face because Daniel yields without him saying anything else. “It was the new guy.” 

Max opens the door again and yells an angry “Liam!” tapping his foot impatiently. He should have already checked his messages four minutes ago. 

Daniel makes a face and says under his breath, “not good, not good,” but to be completely honest, he is glad he escaped Q’s wrath. For now. 

The new guy shows up and immediately gets pale when he sees the mood Max is in. 

“You can’t let strangers into my office without me. That’s honestly unacceptable and if it happens again, I won’t have no choice but to report it.” 

Liam gulps, trying to find a good enough excuse not to get fired. “I am sorry, I thought, well - He is your agent. He told me you were expecting him.” 

Your agent. Max wills down the electricity that runs through him. 

“And you trusted him? Honestly, I am disappointed. That will be everything.” He turns around and closes the door again. Daniel expected him to make him stand up from his own chair, but Max surprises him by plopping down on the chair across from him, which is meant for the visitors.

Max doesn’t say anything else, just focuses on massaging his forehead, where he has been feeling a throbbing pain since he woke up. 

“That was brutal, Q.” 

Max huffs. “Well, maybe his day would have been nicer if you didn’t fuck him over,” 

Daniel’s smile is so sharp it looks macabre. “I want to return to the field,”

The blonde tries to calculate if he can take another pain medication so early after the previous one. “Splendid, did you just return from the centre? I haven’t received the certificate yet, that’s weird. I’ll call them,”

Daniel is quiet for a beat too long, and it makes Max look up from his phone. 

“I’ve done them a week ago,” 

Max has seen the results. He has barely passed the physicals, limited rotation in his wrist, it said. He completely failed his psych evaluation, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, insomnia. Agent referred to therapy and not allowed to carry out any tasks until further evaluation. 

The note next to Daniel’s photo at the top of the document was blaring red. 

“Yeah, go there again, you know the procedure,” Max rolls his eyes. Daniel is not a rookie and he is making him lose time. 

He is still holding the damn grenade. “I’m not going to pass them,” 

Max shrugs, “Nice, paid vacation,” he says, like he hasn’t checked if Daniel has already visited the mandatory therapy sessions. He would rather die than watch Daniel become as broken as Sebastian is. “Now, if you excuse me, but some of us don’t have that and need actually to work, so like - fuck off, yeah?” 

“Q, I said I want to get back,” 

The throbbing behind his eyes is slowly blinding him. He is pretty sure he tastes copper on his tongue. “And I said come back when the med teams clear you. What does that have to do with me?” 

Daniel clicks his tongue, his hold on the grenade steady. “Well, for one, you are my quartermaster. You are also the only person who can fake the clearance.” 

The worst thing is that Max feels like he should have predicted this. He should have known. 

“I’m going to report you to your superior officer,” he says, voice like ice. Max regrets getting out of bed today.

Daniel’s right eye twitches. “I dare you to knock on M’s door right now.” 

Daniel noticed Max’s contempt for the older man a long time ago. He secretly thinks it’s because M doesn’t let him test his gadgets on mice. 

Truthfully, Max thinks it all started when Lewis took away his lion plushie when he was 10, claiming it was too childish. 

“I want to get back,” Daniel says again. “We need to finish this,” 

Max is so tired. “What’s in it for me? Why would I endanger my agent?” 

“Q, you are not finding him without me,” 

Max averts his gaze and huffs out a puff of air. “006 has actually done a good job-” 

“It’s not good enough, we both know it.” Daniel finally puts the grenade on the table. “Meet me at nine, we have to talk this through somewhere that’s not here,”

Max did his own mandatory six-month health check-up just a few weeks ago. The psychiatrist made him do word associations at the end of the session. He did well, like always.

But then the shrink said weak and the first thing that came to his mind was me.

[sysakiddo]

1,2,3,4

The atmosphere at the dinner is strained. Seb keeps talking and talking from his seat at the head of the table. Max chews his broccoli with distaste.

He is talking about the neighbors. Max has no idea why. It’s only when Seb utters his name that he snaps his attention back to the older man. 

“You wanna play some padel on Tuesday?” 

Max shakes his head, but doesn’t give an explanation. Seb frowns. For a few minutes, the only thing that fills the silence is their utensils scraping the plates. 

“Maybe a movie night, then?” Seb tries again, can’t help himself. 

Max sighs and puts down his knife. “Do I fucking look like I have time to watch a movie with you?” 

Sebastian is frozen at Max’s tone. They can all hear how loudly he gulps. Max’s stomach tightens. 

“Of course, you are right. I’m sorry,” 

Max can see it, can see how much Seb values his presence. He says nothing but he lets Seb put his palm over Max’s. Max knows the gentleness of his violent touch. 

He makes a decision then. “Either you tell him or I will,” he says lowly. 

The man sitting across from him narrows his eyes. Max doesn’t avert his gaze. 

Lewis slaps the table so hard that their wine glasses shake. 

Sebastian flinches and not for the first time, Max thinks it’s striking, how sensitive he has been lately. It’s getting bad again, he knows. 

“I just wanted to have a nice, calm dinner!” Lewis exclaims accusingly. 

“And I wanted to have a fucking steak, but it looks like we all can’t have what we want,” The grilled seitan on his plate looks particularly sad. 

Lewis points a finger at him, eyes full of fire. “Can’t you at least show a bit of respect to your father and shut the fuck up for one night a week?” 

“So you’re not going to tell him?” Max laughs bitterly. Sebastian’s eyes are so wide and blue. He could be his real father in another universe.

Lewis just purses his lips and looks at his husband before saying, “Jos came back,” 

The gasp Seb lets out makes a shiver run down Max’s back. “We can’t find him. We’re not sure what he’s after, either.” 

Max’s mom brought him to Sebastian when he was six, begging for him to spare his life. At least, that’s what Papa had told him. She didn’t live long enough to share her side of the story. 

Now, he looks absolutely devastated. He stands up and walks to the kitchen counter, where he fills a glass of water with shaking hands. Lewis goes after him, touches his shoulder in a comforting gesture. 

“I would like to be alone,” Sebastian shakes him off and walks away. 

Lewis turns on his heel and Max expects it, expects the vile words but it still makes his shoulders climb to his ears. “You just fucking have to ruin everything, don’t you?” 

Max shrugs, eats the last piece of broccoli on the plate to hide his hurt. “You think it makes his condition better, us fighting?” Lewis knows exactly where to hit him. “Get the fuck out.” 

Max stands up, leaves through the door Lewis is pointing at.

[sysakiddo]

winter warmers, day 16: secret santa. ~1800 words <-holy shit.

There’s a little box on the corner of Daniel’s desk, wrapped neatly in green paper and topped with a gold bow. The tag is a small square card, no more than about a couple inches across, with a short message on one side:

To: Daniel

From: Your Secret Santa

Daniel opens the box and unfolds the carefully wrapped tissue paper bundle inside to remove the expected Scrabble tile. Today is the letter H. He tucks it into the top drawer of his desk, along with the rest of the tiles. The bow is also gently removed and stuck up on the pinboard next to the other twenty-two bows that he’s gotten so far this month. Some are gold, some silver, a few red and green.

There’s one particularly sparkly bow that’s been shedding glitter on him and all of his possessions for the past week. Halfway through the marketing team meeting last Thursday, Max reached over and brushed his thumb across Daniel’s cheekbone.

“You are all shiny, Daniel,” he said and showed him the sparkles of golden glitter that he’d rubbed off. “Always you’re so handsome, but today you’re like a shining star, too.”

Daniel was pretty sure he’d turned bright red, not even the deep tan in the middle of an Australian summer able to hide the color rising in his cheeks.

“Oh, uh, thanks, mate,” he replied and then turned back to the meeting on the last marketing push for Christmas sales, while trying not to think about the feeling of Max’s hand against his skin.

Today’s bow isn’t quite as glittery, but it does glint prettily in the glow of Daniel’s desk lamp. It’s 8:52am on December 23rd. Early enough that he has time to sip his coffee without interruption for a few minutes as he waits for his computer to boot up and he has to hop into the workday.

He eyes the drawer that holds the Scrabble tiles and decides he’s got time. As he’s done so many times so far this month, he pulls them all out and scatters them across his desk. Twenty three tiles so far. One of them is a blank, but a little question mark has been drawn on in black sharpie.

The ? tile showed up on the 17th, and he assumed that that was the end of it, so he’d spent the entire day trying to unscramble the letters, but couldn’t get anywhere. When another N arrived the next day, he realized that it wasn’t quite over yet.

The first box had arrived on the first of December. He wasn’t expecting it. George, over in operations, had floated the idea of doing a Secret Santa exchange a few weeks prior, but there had been so much hemming and hawing, with no one really wanting to commit, that he’d given up and moved on. Daniel hadn’t given it any further thought until the first box showed up.

Like every day since, the little box was wrapped inexpertly, though neatly, with green paper, and had a red bow stuck right on top. The same note, from “your secret Santa,” was attached. The Scrabble tile that day had been a D. Daniel assumed it stood for Daniel and that someone was either playing a silly joke, or truly had the worst taste in gift giving.

That assumption was only further confirmed on the second, when another box arrived, containing an R, which he could only assume stood for Ricciardo.

Thoroughly confused, he stopped by George’s office to poke his head in the door and ask when the Secret Santa drawing had been and why he hadn’t been involved.

“There was no drawing, mate,” George told him. “You lot were all too cool for the idea, so I didn’t bother. Why d’you ask?”

“Huh,” Daniel said, flummoxed. “Never mind. Don’t worry about it.”

He brought it up to Max when they had lunch that Friday. It was Daniel’s favorite part of the week- getting Max all to himself for an hour, to make ridiculous jokes and watch Max turn pink from laughter.

“Strange, isn’t it? Just a random couple of Scrabble tiles. What, am I supposed to use them to make a name tag for myself?”

“Maybe you have a secret admirer,” Max replied. “And they are, of course, just using the Secret Santa as an excuse to send you gifts.”

“They’re some weird gifts, then,” Daniel said, and took a bite of his pastrami on rye. It was good. Mustardy.

“They might get better. It could be fun.” Max looked over at Daniel, who was in the middle of another big bite of his sandwich. “You’ve got a little-” and pointed to the corner of Daniel’s mouth. He reached out, as though he intended to swipe away the crumb with his own finger, but he pulled back and let Daniel dab at his mouth with a napkin.

“Thanks, Max. And I guess you’re right. But I reserve the right to be annoyed if it’s just a bunch of letters spelling my name.

Day three put a wrench in the name theory when he popped open the box and found a V. So definitely not his name then.

Over the next couple of days, he received a W and a Y. On the following Monday, he showed up to two Ls and another E, each tucked into one of three boxes lined up carefully along the edge of his desk. He’d wondered what would happen over the weekend, and he was quietly pleased that his secret Santa had taken into account the extra days.

And today, as Daniel sits sipping his coffee with twenty two letters and a question mark, he decides that he’s got to be able to figure this out. Christmas is in just two days, which means that he’s only expecting two more gifts. And really, he’s only expecting one gift, since the office is closed on the 25th, and he’s not coming in for anything- even a secret Santa surprise.

Daniel mixes the tiles around, trying different combinations of words. The twenty three tiles at hand read NOIVUHHTLEMIWARELDYNIE?, which he’s pretty sure isn’t a thing. He can spell various words. He’s got the letters for DANIEL, but not RICCIARDO, so he’s mostly ruled out his initial name tag theory.

He’s been able to make a few phrases, some more promising than others. He had “HAVE YOU LET ME DIE?” laid out when Max stopped by his desk last week.

Max had raised an eyebrow at the phrase and given Daniel a disapproving look. “You don’t think that’s what your secret admirer is saying, do you?”

Daniel shrugged. “No clue, mate. Your guess is as good as mine right now.”

Max didn’t offer any actual help, but he scrambled the tiles again so that the question was no longer visible. “I don’t know either, but probably it isn’t about death.”

Daniel tries a few more letter combos, but nothing is jumping out at him. As the clock on his desktop ticks over to 9:00, he gathers up the tiles and places them back into his drawer.

When he heads out of the office that afternoon, he bumps into Max in the elevator. “You’re wrapping up early today!” he exclaims.

Max is always staying late at the office, and Daniel is forever trying to get him to leave on time, have a life outside of work. But Max insists that software engineering waits for no man, and he’d rather just get as much work done in the office as possible, instead of having to take it home with him and continue with it there.

“Hello, Daniel,” Max says. “Yes, today is an early night. I have some things to do today. Before Christmas, you know.”

“I’m glad,” Daniel replies. “See you tomorrow?”

Max gives him a big smile. “Yes. Tomorrow. See you then.”

The next day is Christmas Eve, and, Daniel assumes, the last day of his Secret Santa gifts. He still has no clue what the tiles are supposed to be telling him, but he feels a nervous energy thrumming in his stomach. Something big is coming, he thinks.

He gets to his desk by 8:45, eager to unwrap his final gift and finally figure out what’s going on. To his surprise, instead of just the one little green box he’s expecting, there are three wrapped presents on his desk. The first is the usual green box, but the tag that he’s expecting to proclaim the usual salutations instead proclaims “open me first.” He checks the other two. The box to its right reads “open me second.” And, just to be sure, he confirms that the final box on the end says to open it last.

With a slight shake in his hand, he picks up the first box and plucks off the bow to secure it to the pinboard. He opens it up and pulls out the last tile, another W. He adds it to the stash in his drawer and then reaches for the second box.

It’s the same size as the first, wrapped in the same way- no bow on this one. Perhaps it’s a one bow per day kind of deal.

Inside, there’s a small slip of paper folded in half. Daniel unfolds it to find a clue:

W_ _ _ Y_ _ H_ _ _ D _ _ _ _ _ W _ _ _ M_?

He waffles for a moment. Does he open the third gift, or does he unscramble the letters? The opening instructions didn’t say, so he supposes he could do either. Tiles, he decides.

He pulls open the drawer and tips the tiles onto his desk, then carefully arranges each one face up and pointing in the right direction.

Slowly, he starts moving tiles around. The Y is probably You, he guesses. So perhaps the M is Me? And then H could be Have. W is What? No, he realizes; that wouldn’t make sense. W for Will?

A sentence begins to take shape.

WILL YOU HAVE D_ _ _ _ _ W _ _ _ ME?

Daniel is fairly certain where this is going. He arranges the last few letters into place and then reaches for the third box. He tears open the paper, carefully as usual, and opens the box.

Inside is a card, on which is printed the name of the fanciest restaurant in Perth, which Daniel has been wanting to try for months, but which he has lamented to Max several times is impossible to get reservations for.

Beneath the name of the restaurant is today’s date, the 24th, and a time, 7pm.

Beneath that, there’s a final line, which simply says “TURN AROUND.”

Daniel takes a deep breath, steadies himself, and then swivels in his chair.

Behind him, Max is leaned against the doorframe to his office.

“So?” he asks. “I asked a question, I think.”

Daniel looks back over the tiles, laid out neatly on his desk. He looks back at Max and grins helplessly. “Yeah, Maxy. I would love to.”

[sysakiddo]

The fact that these were next to each other on my dash is making me laugh. What a day!

This is like a Y/N fanfic come to life, the struggling barista with a heart of a gold and the hot, yet cold, millionaire. 😂

[sysakiddo]

I’ve been having this idea and idk where I’m going with it. I guess it could be another au of sugar baby daniel, but more angsty? Maybe escort/call boy daniel?

Anyway Lewis has been booking Daniel for a while now. They don’t hang out outside of their booked time but Lewis always wants to see him. And during one of their sessions he’s like ‘you should come to the gp’ and Daniel says sure but he doesn’t like believe him. 

Because men say anything during pillow talk, whatever they think will impress him or make them look better in his eyes. To him, Lewis is just one of those guys– saying things that they won’t backup. Inviting him everywhere in bed only to never bring it up once the moment passes. He likes him but, thats not what this is.

So he’s surprised when someone delivers a package to his apartment a couple weeks after. He hadn’t seen or spoken to Lewis since because he’d been away on a triple header (Daniel does follow the sport). He gets two paddock passes, he’s literally floored and not even sure if he should go. Lewis is his client, they don’t like talk like that. Anything they've done has been on paid time, all the dinners and sex. Sure there were a lot of them, but they weren’t dates.

Scotty convinces him to go, and he takes Scotty with him. They go, and don’t run into Lewis at all. Well Daniel tried to avoid him as much as possible and he seemed to have been having a very ‘on’ weekend so there was no reason to distract him.

The week after the gp is when Lewis books him again, and he’s revved up from his Monaco win and just happy to see Daniel.

“Thank you for the passes btw, it was fun.” Daniel tells him after, when they’re lying around. Lewis always books several hours so they have time to be lazy if they want to and have multiple rounds if he wants to.

“You were there?” Lewis is surprised, he didn’t even know. Daniel never said, never even acknowledged the passes. “Why didn’t you find me?”

“I originally wasn’t planning to.” Daniel shrugs, “and you seemed busy.”

“I would have made time for you.” 

“That wouldn’t have been like necessary. The passes were more than enough.” Daniel didn’t want it to be a thing, didn’t want to seem like he was expecting treatment of any kind. He sits up in the bed, and Lewis follows him.

“I would have–” Lewis frowns.

“Would have what? Introduced me to your mechanics? Your engineer? As what?” Daniel’s forehead creases because he doesn’t understand what Lewis is getting at, what he thinks this is. It doesn’t matter what it feels like, because at the end of the day it wasn’t. Daniel reminded himself of that daily, whenever he felt the swoop in his stomach at the notification that Lewis booked him.

Lewis is quiet for a bit, playing with Daniel’s fingers. He didn’t have an answer.

“It was a lovely gesture Lewis, and I really appreciated it.” Daniel said finally, when the silence started to fray into awkward. 

“As mine, I’d want to introduce you to them as mine.” Lewis said finally and Daniel bit his cheek against the rush of every emotion ever. He needed to be the level headed one here, clearly. 

“And then I’d be on the front page of the Daily Mail as the whore you’re trying to make a housewife.”

[sysakiddo]

“The big learning is that if you want to kill someone, you can kill them. It’s really scary but true,” said the executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It seems crazy that we’re just figuring this out.”

[sysakiddo]

"What would you tell small Max?"

"I wouldn't tell small Max anything because small Max was not worried about anything. Small Max was just loving life: driving quadbikes, go-karts, motocross bikes, having fun with his friends, not enjoying school. Honestly? That's the beautiful part of it. You shouldn't tell him anything and just let him live his life. I wish I could see myself with small Max. It was a good time."