#max/daniel

[magicalrocketships]

Rivers of Light || Max/Daniel || part 16 ||

(reminder that this in its entirety contains mpreg, reference to giving birth, Max Verstappen's bad dad, past abuse, and on-track accidents. Continue suspending that disbelief. Anything that's wrong we can just pretend is true in mpreg world. Pretend it didn't take me this long to write this little. Life is what it is)

All previous parts can be found in the masterpost here. This chapter is on AO3 here.

Hospital after his accident would have been better, Max thinks, kissing Bastiaan's hair, if Daniel had visited. Recovery would have been easier if Daniel had been in contact. Being dropped from the team would have been terrible anyway, but at least Daniel would have tried to make him laugh.

Part 16

Max has never liked early mornings, but Bastiaan seems to like them more than any other part of the day, so Max is trying to adapt. 

Bastiaan always wakes early, regardless of how much he's been awake during the night, and today is no different. Max watches the sun come up through the gap in the curtains as he feeds his hungry baby, then after that he opens the curtains so that Bastiaan knows that it's daytime and it's okay to play. They play with his giraffe, and his pink bunny, and his rattle. Bastiaan also likes the little jingle of Max's keys. Since Daniel suggested playing peekaboo, Max has started incorporating that into rotation too. Bastiaan had liked whatever YouTube video Daniel had found in the hotel, but there's barely any mobile signal here, no Wi-Fi, and Max's replacement phone doesn't have enough data in its allowance for Max to waste on videos. Max has got used to the isolation. 

The caravan owners have a CD player in the living room, and one of the CDs on the shelf is awful children's nursery rhymes so maybe he could try that, but Daniel's still sleeping out there and Max doesn't want to wake him. 

The sooner he wakes up, the sooner he'll leave. 

Max doesn't let himself want much, but he'd always wanted Daniel to stay. That hadn't ever changed. Everything was better with Daniel around. 

Hospital after his accident would have been better, Max thinks, kissing Bastiaan's hair, if Daniel had visited. Recovery would have been easier if Daniel had been in contact. Being dropped from the team would have been terrible anyway, but at least Daniel would have tried to make him laugh. 

Nobody wants a loser, his dad had said, over and over again. And you've ruined it for both of us. 

He hears Daniel moving around after a while, then the door to the bathroom opens. The shower turns on. 

He'll go soon, Max thinks, and his chest feels tight. He's always been able to go it alone before. His focus has never let him down. He doesn't know why it's different now, why it feels like he's underwater, why it feels like he's always moments away from drowning. He's always been so good at swimming. 

Bastiaan wriggles in his arms. His baby, his lovely baby. 

He'll be okay alone. It's got him this far, at least. The isolation is normal now. 

Bastiaan needs a nappy change, so Max gets them both up. "Maybe we'll have a bath, little baby, how does that sound? You like being in the water, don't you? Then we can get dressed and it'll just be me and you again. We like that, don't we?"

Max doesn't let himself think about the alternative. Not being alone. He opens the door out into the hall at the same time Daniel opens the bathroom door. He's wet from the shower and has the t-shirt he was wearing yesterday round his neck like a towel. He's wearing black boxer briefs. Max doesn't let his glance rest there for more than a moment. 

"I couldn't find a towel," Daniel says, and Max thinks he might be blushing. "Do you have a t-shirt I could borrow? Didn't plan on an extra night so I'm out of clean stuff."

"Of course, Daniel," Max says, although he's got to do laundry this morning and everything he owns is threadbare and stretched because - out of necessity - he wore it all too long into his pregnancy. Balancing Bastiaan in one hand, he opens his wardrobe and pulls out a shirt from the top of the pile. He hands it over. "Here."

"Thanks," Daniel says. "So I'm going to get dressed."

"Okay," Max says, trying to look anywhere but the golden planes of Daniel's shower-damp skin. It is very hard being close to someone so handsome after so long away. Max has always wanted to be as close to Daniel as he could be, but after the desperate months of being alone Max craves touch. He longs for it. He needs it. 

He turns away. "Bastiaan is going to have a bath, aren't you?" he says, kissing Bastiaan's little sleepy soft hair. "Maybe we will make some splashes, because you like that, don't you?" 

Max doesn't look back. He goes into the little bedroom where Bastiaan's changing mat is all set up. There's a towel hanging over the open cupboard door. Some babies have special towels with little hoods and teddy patterns but Bastiaan has Max's old towel, cut in half so it's more Bastiaan sized and less Max's gym bag sized. It frays a bit on the cut edge when it's washed but it's okay. He settles Bastiaan on the mat and starts to take off his little sleep suit and wet nappy. He has a little vest on too, and Max undoes the poppers and puts it in the Ikea bag where all the rest of Bastiaan's worn clothes are. 

It's got to be laundry day today. Bastiaan's almost out of everything. 

Max wraps Bastiaan up in his towel, asking him to try not and pee for a little bit if he could help it, then carries him out into the living room. Daniel's dressed in his jeans and Max's t-shirt. He's lacing up his Vans. 

He really is leaving, then. 

Max turns around so he doesn't have to see it happen. He takes the washing up bowl out of the kitchen sink, then wipes down the sink with a cloth. He starts to run the tap until the water runs warm, then he puts in the plug and lets the sink fill. 

"Bath time for babies," Max tells Bastiaan, because Bastiaan is starting to complain about either the absence of his nice sleep clothes or the slightly uncomfortable position he's forced into as Max leans over and checks the water temperature with his elbow. Celine had shown him how to do this when he'd first brought Bastiaan home from the hospital, showing him how to carefully hold Bastiaan so he was safe. It's the only thing anyone has shown him how to do, really. Even breastfeeding he'd mostly had to figure out by himself. 

He cradles Bastiaan now, holding him as he lowers Bastiaan into the warm water. He splashes water over Bastiaan's tummy. The umbilical cord stump had fallen off at the beginning of last week, and now it looks mostly healed and happy. He uses his little baby sponge to bathe Bastiaan clean, and Bastiaan moves his feet in the water and looks happy. 

When Max was pregnant, Bastiaan had always been happy when Max had been swimming. It had been the most peaceful place Max knew, out there in the water. Max had swum and swum and swum, day after day after day. 

His leg had stopped hurting by itself in the end. He didn't miss physio. He could do it by himself. 

When Max looks up, Daniel's watching them, a furrow between his brows. Max doesn't understand his expression. It's almost sad but there's nothing to be sad about. Bastiaan likes baths. He likes being bundled up into his towel afterwards and cradled against Max's chest. Max likes it too. 

Max swallows and looks away. "Come on, little baby," he says. "Let's get you into a clean nappy. No towel accidents, okay?"

"Max," Daniel says. 

Max knows that Daniel is leaving. "I have to get my baby dressed," he says. 

"Max."

"It is not okay for my baby to get cold," Max says. "He will cry if he is not warm."

Daniel follows him down the hall and into the baby room. Max reaches for a nappy and sits down with Bastiaan on the changing mat.

"Do you have a picture of your car? And the licence plate?"

Max puts a hand on Bastiaan's tummy. He blinks. "What?"

"I'm going to go pick up your car from the airport," Daniel says. "Then I've got a couple of things to buy on the way back if that's okay, but I'll pick you up some nappies too. Then I thought I could go with you to the supermarket later on, or I could go by myself if it's easier. Whatever you need."

"What," Max says again. He can't look at Daniel. He fastens Bastiaan's little nappy closed, then leans in to kiss Bastiaan's soft tummy. His lovely little baby. "You're leaving."

"Not yet," Daniel says. "I'm not leaving for Bahrain until Monday morning. I've got time to help out."

Max doesn't understand. Daniel hadn't come to see him after his accident. He didn't get in contact after Max was home. His dad had said, he's not your friend. He'd said, none of them are your friends. He'd said, they only want you around if you're a competitor, and you fucked that when you crashed. Everything we worked for and you fucked it up because you're too stupid to win. None of them want you. The only person you've got left is me, and that's because I'm stuck with you. 

But he'd pushed Max down the stairs when he'd found out he was pregnant, and Max had understood then that he had nobody. That he was alone. That he was the only protection his baby had, and Max would give up everything to keep him safe. 

And he had. He didn't regret it. 

He regretted not understanding that Daniel wasn't his friend earlier, though. It would have made it easier, after the accident. Not hoping every time the door opened that it would be him. Not telling his dad through the pain of a concussion that he was wrong, that Daniel was his friend, that he'd come. 

Daniel hadn't, though. He hadn't come. Max had been alone and he'd stayed alone. 

"Max," Daniel says. 

Max finishes pulling up Bastiaan's little leggings. He's wearing a t-shirt today with a sunshine on and he's got his little blue cardigan. He's Max's lovely, lovely baby. The best thing he's ever done in his life. 

He needs his car back. He doesn't want Daniel to leave. He's too tired to try and work out how to get it himself. He's too exhausted and sore to fight against getting to keep Daniel a little bit longer. 

"Okay," he says, leaning in to kiss Bastiaan's cheeks, his forehead, his tiny tiny nose. "I will give you the keys."

"Cool," Daniel says, shooting him finger guns. "Sooner I'm gone, sooner I'll be back, car and nappies in tow."

Sooner you'll leave, Max thinks, but he doesn't say it. 

He's got along without anyone so far. It's him and Bastiaan together. They'll be fine. There isn't any other choice. 

[onboardsorasora]

Daniel squeezed his way to the vip bar. Sure, he could have stopped one of the scantily clad waiters or even a bottle boy, but he’d wanted to get away from the awkward as hell conversation that was happening between Mark and Nando right now.

In the last five minutes he learned way too much about his friends’ sex life— specifically that they had one. With each other. And now we’re questioning what it meant. Here. At the club.

He finally made it to the bar and tried to make eyes with the seemingly most available bartender. Another one stepped into his eye line with a raised brow over blue eyes. He was cute which his shaggy blonde hair.

“A lemon drop please.” Daniel called, loud enough to be heard over the music. The bartender— the name pin attached to his harness said Max— nodded and reached for a glass. Daniel tried his best to not outright stare at his tits. They were massive and Daniel could see his nipples peaking through the elastic that banded them down.

Max kept eye contact, it was sexy as hell. Daniel pressed his tongue behind his teeth when Max shucked some ice in the glass, his broad shoulders and arms gleaming in the strobe lights.

Then he reached for a bottle of tequila and poured. Daniel paused, wanting to stop him cause that wasn’t vodka. But he also didn’t want to tell him how to do his job. Also the eye fucking was kinda doing it for him.

Then Max squeezed a lemon in the tequila bath and followed it up with a wedge garnish. He placed the ‘drink’ on the counter in front of Daniel.

“Do you have a tab or want to close out?”

Daniel stared at Max’s lips while he told him to put it on Nando’s tab. They might as well pay for his drinks while they had couples therapy.

Daniel got two more of Max’s version of a lemon drop before also getting Max’s number on a napkin that he lost sometime before he finally left for the night.

It was fine, Daniel figured when he woke up in not his apartment with a cat sniffing at his naked chest

[qwerty019283ytrewq]

Tu tu tu du

Photo

[adimouze]

saw this post and thought of them (also @powerful-owl’s amazing analysis here)

[maxybabyy]

inspired by pictures of max on his yacht | maxiel | 900 words.

He doesn’t know why he sends it now. 

The text has been in his drafts for days, typed out for a laugh back when the news had dropped; nothing more than a quick thought. Only he hadn’t been able to delete it. Even now as he sends it, thumb pressed down until the whoosh sound rings in his ears, he wants to take it back. Erase it and retype it, rework it until it’s better, until he’s sure. 

It’s a joke, obviously, and Max would know that too. 

Daniel doesn’t know if it’s laugh worthy, but for sure Max’s face would do that adorable shit where his eyes crinkle and you somehow forget that he’s a 4-times world champion who kinda, maybe stole that from you. 

It would be a good opener, is what he’s saying. Something to get them going again. 

They haven’t seen each other in a bit: a padel match here, a drink with mutual friends there. But the season has been tough, and Max’s focus has been somewhere else. On shit more important than old friends who find themselves retired at 36. 

Life can be weird like that. 

One day, they’ll introduce you to a guy who has only ever known racing and maybe even still is a little too intense about it, and then someday you’ll find yourself spreading him out in your bed, making love to him like you’ve never done before. Because maybe you kinda like it when he’s that intense about you too.

Sometimes you give it all up because watching him win isn’t enough. You want that for yourself, you need it – almost as much as you need him too. It’s not an either/or – that’s what he tells you – but it kinda is. If you want to be the greatest, it is, and that’s still what you’re supposed to be, right? Only it’s still him holding you together when it all falls apart, when the guy you were brought in to replace somehow finds a way to replace you too. So what the fuck are you supposed to do now? 

hooking up w toto behind russell georges back? such a bad boy maxy

He swipes to the side of the screen, desperate for something to do with himself that isn’t throwing his phone against the wall. He’s halfway through a game of chicken with flight mode when it goes from being delivered to read with barely any change to the timestamp.

Daniel hasn’t had receipts on his texts since he figured out how to turn them off, but he’s always been bad at that, at replying right away. 

Max never was, and the dots appear just the same, mocking him, teasing until his heart has made a home nice and cosy in his throat. 

It’s a better joke now, he reckons. 

Pictures of Max just chilling on his boat and not actually having clandestine contract negotiations with Toto fucking Wolf just a dinghy away. Max in silly little yellow bathing shorts that make his pale thighs look thick and delicious. Daniel remembers how they would look after pressing his mouth against the delicate skin. The bluish marks that would bloom on the inside, barely visible to anyone who wasn’t them. How Max would moan when he rubbed his thumb over it, hips jerking against the bed, “Daniel, please –” 

always you have to go for the gap 

He squints at the screen, at the text he had sent that in no way warranted a Senna quote, when another text from Max ticks in. 

the age gap 😜

It’s such an awful pun – all puns are really. But Max’s crinkled face is back in his mind, wide eyes staring up at him for a response, and Daniel is too weak not to, chuckling to himself as the knot in his chest starts to loosen. 

less than a decade no longer doing it for u?

And then: 

 i hope youre having fun

He’s not a triple-texter, but his fingers twitch over the screen, ready to put in the work now that he’s committed to the bit. 

i like how u say this: less than a decade 

always in my head it is 8 years 

but i think this is very nice also daniel 

Daniel feels heart-sick at the thought of Max thinking about them too. Often, always – like he isn’t the only one kept up at night thinking about what could have been if he hadn’t been selfish. Still he doesn't know what to say, stuck in the same rut of apologies that won’t make anything right, promises that will mean little to Max now, when suddenly: 

always you were the one who did not think it was lovely 

He thinks of Max at 20, kissing him like he wasn’t afraid to touch a boy like that. He thinks of Max at 23, flying across the world to tell him that he loved him. At 25, screaming it in his face like it would make them not break up. He thinks of Heidi and the life he couldn’t give her. 

Martijn will come tomorrow so we will take out the jetskies maybe 

you should come stay a few days also 

He thinks of Max at 28. Sweet, incredible Max who has never asked for anything more than to be loved, and he reckons maybe 8 is kinda lovely after all. 

yeah maxy, i would love that ❤

[verstappentime]

if it's true that he's leaving, daniel just used his last lap in f1 to finally heal that old wound with max. teammates one last time

[magicalrocketships]

Rivers of Light by sunsetmog | F1 RPF | Max Verstappen/Daniel Ricciardo | Mature | (16/? an ongoing + occasional series)

|| part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 || part 5 || part 6 || part 7 || part 8 || part 9 || part 10 || part 11 || part 12 || part 13 || part 14 || part 15 || part 16 ||

Max's baby doesn't like it when Max isn't holding him.

Contains mpreg, reference to giving birth, Max Verstappen's bad dad, past abuse, and on-track accidents.

Title is from Jacob Alon - Don't Fall Asleep.

Update 29/04: This is now at AO3. Hurray.

[onboardsorasora]

Something something Blake asking Daniel about a recurring charge and finding out that he subscribes to this one guy's OF. Blake's been working with Daniel for years now, so he's not phased by much anymore. Didn't even blink when Daniel told him it was an OF account.

After Blake heads out, Daniel pulls up the account in question. It wasn't as bad as Blake was thinking maybe. Max's main content was of him sitting in his underwear-- sometimes briefs, sometimes boxers, sometimes a thong-- and he's sim racing, or building Lego.

It's very niche content that apparently Daniel was also very into.

It also doesn't help that, if you tip him high enough, Max will send a special video of himself jerking off and coming on himself in his sim, or coming on the Lego he just built

It's probably for the best that Blake doesn't find those charges.

He forgets all about it when his phone vibrates and there's a dm from Max with a video.

[qwerty019283ytrewq]

Today, this cap has so much meaning.

[adimouze]

Interviewer: where would you take Max on a date, Daniel?

Daniel, immediately sweating: oh woah a FRIENDLY date!!! As FRIENDS!!!! We’re competitors!!!! We can’t DATE-

Max: ✨🥰✨I want to go to your farm, Daniel 🥰🥰❤️❤️ and we can go dirt bike racing 🥺❤️🥰❤️🎀 and then not go to the next four races ❤️❤️🥰 cause we’re together 🥰🥰🥰🥰 and you broke your collarbone 😈😈😈

[dilfgp]

🧶 maxiel 🥹

Hello hello hello, I'm so very late to the party but I hope you enjoy!

🧶 clothes on / desperation / teasing

Something about lazing in the sun turned Daniel on. It always had, truthfully. Just a little, just enough to rev his engine. As a teenager it had been problematic, embarrassing. He didn't sunbathe, because- well, there was no hiding his dick.

As a retired F1 driver lazing on his partner's roof terrace, it wasn't so much as a problem, but a way of life. There were fewer pleasures than soaking up the mediterranean sunshine, nowhere to be and nothing to do. Max wasn't as keen on the sunbathing, but he could be convinced to play in the pool for a little while.

After the triple header, Daniel was trying to force Max to relax. He'd earned a few days off, and with the weather on his side he'd hatched a plan.

First thing this morning he'd woken his boy by rutting lazily against him, erection hot and hard against the plush of Max's hip. When he'd come, messy on his pale tummy, he'd kissed Max on the cheek and left him wanting.

"Daniel-" Max had pleaded,

"Nah, baby, not yet,"

And then later, when Max had been closing off a sim session in the lounge, Daniel had paraded past in his tiniest swimshorts, new MV tattoo on display. It sat on the cut of his hip, where Max liked to leave love bites.

Like clockwork, Max followed him out onto the terrace, staring open-mouthed as Daniel worked SPF50 into his tattoos and SPF15 everywhere else. When he turned, asking, "could you get my back, baby?", Max had stumbled in his rush to comply.

He was still shifty when he got turned on, his Max, so Daniel got to enjoy the virginal way Max tugged at his shorts before he took the bottle from him. It's likely he was twice-covered given the extensive shoulder and back rub Max gave him, but it was worth it for the way Max's knees buckled when Daniel winked at him and said thank you.

"Are you gonna join me, Maxy?" Daniel had asked, cupping his cheek and brushing his lips against the younger's.

He'd whistled when Max emerged in his own swim shorts, tiny pale blue ones with steamboats all over, tight on his hips and thighs. There was something about Max, the pale expanse of plush, lovely skin. His boy was gorgeous, beautiful, all his.

Eager, eager, eager, Max held the bottle of sun cream out to Daniel, "I have not got anywhere, yet,"

"I gotcha baby," Daniel winks, "lie down on the lounger,"

Max had scrambled to comply, lying out on his back and gasping when Daniel straddled his waist. Starting with his left arm, then moving to his right, Daniel slowly worked the cream into his skin. Hands pressed to Max's throat, he knew if he sat backwards he'd feel Max's erection straining the fabric. Though he tried to be methodical, his plan somewhat unravelled the longer he spent staring at Max's tits, cupping them in his hands and brushing his thumbs in circles over his sensitive nipples. Max was straining, gasping, goosebumps erupting in the wake of Daniel's gentle touch.

He followed the curve of his stomach, tracing freckles and moles to Max's belly button, resisting the urge to break the mood with a raspberry. Grinding down just the once and then lifting himself back up, Daniel cleared his throat and instructed Max to roll over. Repeating the process with the cream on Max's back, he kept going until he felt Max's attempt to grind his hips down into the soft padding of the lounger. Then, he hopped up, even as his body screamed 'why?', and said, "yowza, it's hot out here. Best cool off,"

When his head popped back up out of the water, he spied Max - pouty, insolent, rolling his hips against the lounger. Mentally, he counted to three, hoping Max would play the game. At two-and-nine-tenths, Max's shoulders slumped and he rolled sideways off the lounger, landing on his feet like Jimmy or Sassy would.

The heel of his hand pressed to his erection, Max jumped into the pool to join him.

Max's arms around his shoulders, legs wrapped around Daniel's hips, they made out. He pressed Max against the side of the pool, groaning as he ground down into him.

"'m still open," Max gasped against his lips, "I- again, when I got changed, I-,"

"Oh you did, huh?" Daniel pulled back, hauling them away from the wall to slip his hand down the back of his boy's shorts. Gently pushing at his rim, he could feel the waterproof slick Max had used, and sank his finger inside. Tutting, he said, "getting ahead of yourself there, Maxy,"

"Please Daniel," he whined, tucking his face into Daniel's neck and sucking harshly at the spot that made his knees weak.

"Minx," he hissed, fucking his finger shallowly into Max, "don't be greedy, honey, you know how this works,"

"Want it,"

"I know, Maxy," he slowly withdrew his finger and then pulled away from his barnacle of a boyfriend, thumbing gently at his plush lower lip, "you have to be good for me, love,"

Max nodded, panting, and watched Daniel climb from the pool as he tread water.

"It's hot today, huh?" Daniel asked again, not expecting a response, "I'll dry off in no time, for sure,"

"Yes," Max said, watching dumbly as Daniel took a swig from his bottle of beer and sat heavily on the lounger again. As he settled in the sun, skin warming, he could hear Max splashing about in the water.

That lead to now, Daniel waking from his hazy dream, Max stood over him, eyes pleading.

"Maybe," Max begins, eyes flickering down to the tent in Daniel's shorts, "maybe we can play a different game now?"

Palming his dick, Daniel asks, "what's your colour?"

"Green," Max says immediately, "just- I just want you,"

Considering, Daniel hums, and then says, "take my shorts off, baby,"

It's a power play, but it helps bring Max back to that submissive space he likes. He helps Daniel work his now-dry shorts down his legs, hissing when he lets his legs splay. His erection sits heavy on his stomach, balls swollen, and Max kisses from the divot on the inside of his ankle up to the inside of his thigh. He nuzzles into the crease of Daniel's groin, mouthing at his sac, and whines when he doesn't find what he wants.

"Smell like chlorine instead of you," he pouts, resting his chin over his Max tattoo. Daniel smiles softly, running a hand through Max's damp hair, "I want- can I suck you? Please?"

"Yeah, baby, fuck. Like 'm gonna say no to that,"

He groans as Max drools over the tip of his cock, fitting what he can in his mouth and working the rest with a tight fist. When he blurts precome over Max's tongue, his boyfriend whines, trying to tease more from him by squeezing at his balls.

Yanking Max's hair unkindly, he pants, "Christ, baby,"

"Daniel-" Max begs, "please, I want- I want it- 'm green,"

"Fuck, baby, I know you are," he chuckles lowly, "I was gonna come far too quick, that's all,"

"I want it," Max promises, eyes wide, lips poised to suck him down again, "please, please Daniel,"

Torn, Daniel nods slowly, releasing his tight grip on Max's hair. He's so pretty. All the time, he's gorgeous, but especially so when he's sucking Daniel's cock. Eyes wide and wet, cheeks flushed, struggling to fit him in his mouth with spit-wet lips tight around his shaft.

It's barely another minute before Daniel comes with a shout too loud for the open space, Max humming happily as he swallows the load. Absently combing through Max's hair, he asks, "did you come too, baby?"

He waits for the shy nod he knows is coming, rewarding Max with a 'good boy' when he gets it. Sun beating down, Daniel rearranges them, peeling Max's come-sticky shorts from his body and cleaning him up with gentle kisses. He laughs delightedly as Max's dick twitches and begins to get hard again, thumbing at the tip as his boy whines.

"So good for me, darling," he praises, taking his dick into his mouth and bobbing his head rhythmically. Max whimpers, crying out when Daniel pushes a come-slick finger into his hole.

"Daniel," Max begs, hips fucking up into his mouth, "please, Daniel,"

Pulling back, he smirks at Max and says, "I fucking love when you're this desperate, baby. You're so good,"

"It is for you," Max promises, choking on his next breath and Daniel takes him into his throat.

When Max comes, it's messily across Daniel's tongue, some marking his dark beard pearly white. He giggles as the older man presses kisses to his soft tummy, trailing up and up and up to trade kisses, the taste of Max's come on their lips.

[sysakiddo]

*whispers respectfully* save me more maxiel bond verse save me. maxiel bond verse save m-

I got you, anon 🫡 (1,2,3,4,5,6)

It goes something like this. Max waits until the circle that is supposed to be Daniel on the map in his phone stops moving. It’s like a fucked up version of Find My, but instead of using the signal of Daniel’s iPhone, he uses the chip in his upper arm. 

He takes a cab to a fucking Soho. Daniel is waiting for him in a booth at the corner of the spacious bar, wearing a suit. Max feels underdressed in his white shirt and jeans, but he pushes that feeling down. 

“Q,” Daniel nods when Max sits down. “I already ordered for you,” 

“Hope not your shaken not stirred bullshit,” 

Daniel quirks his eyebrow. “You are obsessed with me,” 

Max scoffs, but he can feel his ears turn red. Luckily for him, the bartender shows up. He slides a gin tonic over to him, with a pepper, just like he likes it. He doesn’t have to look at Daniel to know he is already smirking. 

Max takes a big gulp of the drink, and Daniel says, “I have a theory,” 

“Of course you do,” Max snipes. He feels the alcohol heating up his insides and is quickly realising he hasn’t eaten anything other than a protein shake today. 

“You have theories too,” Daniel says, affronted. “You have theories about me, I bet,” 

“Of course I do,” Max shrugs. He finishes the drink, not caring about the optics. Nods to the bartender so he gets another one. “You have issues with sexual performance and have to make it up with a bunch of sweet talk,” he says before he can think better of it. 

Daniel blinks, surprised at first, quickly recovering and laughing. “Aww, Q, you’ve been listening to me having sex? Is that something that turns you on?” Max rolls his eyes, Daniel was the one who never took out his earpiece during- “I assure you I don’t have a ‘performance issue’”, 

A new gin and tonic appears in front of Max, his lifeline. He is so tired. “What’s your theory?” 

Daniel leans in, the light hitting his eyes just right and Max is reminded of his favourite childhood sweets, an almond with melted caramel. One of the only vegan sweets that was allowed in their house. 

Max thinks Daniel looks better now, the bruises have faded, and the bones in his fingers are all mended. 

“I found it weird that they knew where my locator was,” is what he comes up with. And yeah, Max’s thoughts kept circling to that as well. How odd it was that they knew so soon. 

“You don’t think-” Max shakes his head. “No, we found his body.”

Daniel clicks his tongue. “We found his teeth, that’s not a whole body. Plus, we still don’t know what Jos is looking for this time.” 

Max thinks this might be fishing, but Christian’s disappearance has been so odd, so unbelievable, that he didn’t thinkruling out that possibility was a wise choice, however painful it has been to think about the previous Q being kidnapped and tortured for information like this. 

Daniel can see Max’s mood dropping even further and feels like he has to do something immediately. He brushes his fingers across Max’s palm. 

“Hey,” he says softly and Max looks up. “When are we going to talk about it?” 

The bar is half empty, but he talks softly, doesn’t want to spook Max out. The lights are too dim for him to catch whatever crosses Max’s features. 

“Talk about what? We’re talking like, right now,” Max says bitchily.

Daniel bites the bullet, laces their fingers. “Us, I mean,” 

Max has the audacity to laugh. He has seen Daniel do this little dance with decoys so many times, it feels grotesque to be on the receiving end. 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he snaps, taking out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. Slaps a twenty on the table and stands up, feeling like an elephant when his chair screeches. 

“Don’t leave-” Daniel stands up too, tugging his hand. “I mean it, don’t tell me you don’t feel it too, Q,” 

Max yanks his arm out of his hold, glaring. He ignores the swoop of his stomach, the heaviness on his shoulders. “You don’t even know my name, Daniel.” he gulps, his throat suddenly dry. “Never mention this again.” 

He leaves without looking back. The storm in his mind makes him feel fuzzy. 

Maybe, he thinks, but quickly halts himself. He has so many people to look after, including Daniel himself. He is so worried about Seb and feels like he is failing Lewis again with not knowing what Jos wants, he knows he missed something, he just knows- 

In his anguish, he never notices the man who comes up behind him; he doesn’t even feel the needle in his neck. He only feels the darkness swallowing him afterwards. 

[magicalrocketships]

Rivers of Light || Max/Daniel || part 12 ||

(reminder that this in its entirety contains mpreg, reference to giving birth, Max Verstappen's bad dad, past abuse, and on-track accidents.) If you know anything about lawyering and sports management then I would ask you to please just suspend your disbelief.

All previous parts can be found in the masterpost here. This chapter is on AO3 here.

"I can't leave him behind," Max says. He hadn't even— he swallows. He knows he can't put hours in on a sim with Bastiaan in a carrycot next to him, but he hasn't got anywhere else for Bastiaan to be.

Part 12

The phone call with Daniel's lawyer ends up being an introductory meeting. Émeric takes Max's personal details, schedules in a follow-up call the next morning, and once he finds out that Max is a single parent without established childcare, suggests negotiating for that on any days Max will be working with Renault.

Max doesn't have a manager. He doesn't have anyone negotiating on his behalf. He can barely even rely on himself right now, because he's working so hard just to keep things ticking over so that Bastiaan is okay and he manages to eat every few hours. Everything else he's barely holding on to. For his entire future—and Bastiaan's too—he's just got these few hours with Daniel's lawyer, who presumably works alongside Daniel's team to get the contractual side of things sorted and doesn't do it all by himself. And Max is just too tired. For the first time in his life, he's too tired to fight.

"I can't leave him behind," Max says. He hadn't even— he swallows. He knows he can't put hours in on a sim with Bastiaan in a carrycot next to him, but he hasn't got anywhere else for Bastiaan to be. And Bastiaan is only safe when he's with Max; his dad has tried to hurt Bastiaan once and almost succeeded when he pushed Max down the stairs. Max won't let him try again.

"We can add in travel and family accommodation too," Émeric suggests. Daniel has Bastiaan. They're sitting on Max's bed together, with Daniel making very silly faces at Max's baby, sticking his tongue out until Bastiaan, very slowly, sticks his tongue out back. Daniel looks at Max in sheer fucking delight.

Max wants to cry so much he has to pretend it's a bitten-off sneeze instead of a sob. He turns around so that Daniel can't see.

"Yes," he says, to Émeric. "My baby will be with me, so I will need that."

Émeric has other meetings. He'd just wanted to introduce himself and lay out next steps. He says goodbye, and for a moment after he hangs up, Max keeps holding the phone to his ear, facing away from Daniel and his baby. He blinks his eyes tight shut. Breathes in and out. "Bye," he says finally and puts the phone down on the table.

Daniel's still watching him, Bastiaan sitting in his lap. They're sharing Sophie la girafe between them, Daniel holding most of its weight and Bastiaan with his little hand around Sophie's neck.

"Okay?" Daniel asks.

Max nods. "We are talking again in the morning. You'll have to let me know what I owe you for his time." He can't afford it now but he will be able to. Probably.

"Like I said," Daniel says. "It's fine." He nods towards the takeaway box on the table. "You should eat the rest of your breakfast."

"In a minute," Max says. "Are you okay with him for a little bit?"

"Sure, we've got a lot to discuss, me and this little one. Haven't we, Bastiaan?"

Max doesn't wait around for an answer. He goes into the bathroom and locks the door. He leans over the sink and looks at himself in the mirror.

Get it together, he tells himself. Get it the fuck together.

He splashes water on his face. Brushes his teeth. Shoves his things and Bastiaan's back into the bags they came out of. Sits on the toilet for a minute and breathes in and out.

Nothing's changed when he comes back out. He holds his hands out for his baby and kisses the top of his head when Daniel hands him over.

He doesn't meet Daniel's eyes.

&&&

Bastiaan falls asleep less than five minutes into their drive south, and Max, relieved and exhausted, cups Bastiaan's little socked foot and lets his eyes close too. He's not going to fall asleep, but it saves him from having to meet Daniel's gaze in the rear view mirror.

He wakes up to Daniel pulling over in a petrol station car park.

"Need to piss," Daniel says apologetically. "Didn't mean to wake you."

"I didn't mean to sleep," Max says. He stretches.

"I'll go and then you can go." Daniel quietly opens the car door.

Max nods. He rests his cheek against the seat back. Bastiaan is still sleeping, Max's lovely little baby. Everything he's seen and everywhere he's been has been new to him. His first hotel. His first friend that isn't Celine. His first dinner out and his first hotel breakfast and his first long car journey. He's managed to half lose his sock despite sitting in a car seat since they left the hotel.

"Good at everything, aren't you, my baby? Even losing your little socks." He doesn't dare pull it back up in case he wakes him up. Asleep, Bastiaan's lashes are very long. Max thinks he has Max's mouth. He doesn't know about the nose. Maybe it's his other daddy's. "I'll be enough for two, okay, baby? You won't know that you're missing anyone. I'll be enough. I promise."

He doesn't know how, though. It feels like he's starting to crack apart at the edges.

&&&

Bastiaan sleeps for another twenty minutes, then he wakes up crying and won't stop. Max stroking his cheeks and his forehead and telling him he's a very lovely baby who's had a very nice sleep doesn't help either, because Bastiaan keeps on crying. When he starts to chew on his fist, Max looks desperately at Daniel.

"I need to feed him," he says, and Daniel nods.

"I'm already looking for somewhere to pull over," he says, but it's another five minutes before he can.

Bastiaan's cries are piteous now, like nobody has ever fed him or loved him and he's the saddest little baby that's ever lived. Max's chest hurts.

"I know, my Bastiaan, you are very unhappy." He waits until Daniel's pulled off the road and into a market car park, and into a parking space away from the main entrance. "You have been very brave, little baby, and I know you're hungry and want a hug. We can have one soon, okay? We're just waiting for Daniel to park the car."

Bastiaan, red faced and trying futilely to wriggle out from under his 5-point car seat harness, doesn't seem to agree he's been brave. He cries louder, even as Daniel's killing the engine and Max is unclipping Bastiaan's buckle.

"My baby," he says, scooping Bastiaan out of his seat and into his arms. He's forgotten to undo his own seatbelt and Bastiaan weeps as Max has to try and get himself out while still trying to comfort him. Clumsily freed, he hugs Bastiaan close and kisses the top of his head. "I know you couldn't get out. The straps have to keep you safe. Are you hungry?" The changing bag is in the footwell behind Bastiaan's seat and inside there's the little muslin blanket that Max uses to cover himself up when he's feeding. He can't reach it and Bastiaan is still crying, and his hoodie's still zipped up and he needs to pull his t-shirt up and try to undo the painful compression top he's wearing underneath to catch any leaks. It's enough to make him cry too.

"What can I do?" Daniel asks, and Max doesn't know what else to do other than to bundle Bastiaan through the gap between the seats and into Daniel's waiting hands.

Bastiaan has never been sadder, removed from his daddy when he's only just got his required cuddle, but Max moves quickly, shedding his hoodie and pulling his t-shirt up to his neck and disentangling himself from the sleeves so he can undo the compression top and take that off too. He should have got the blanket first, and he can't reach around the car seat to get to the changing bag.

Daniel gives Bastiaan back. "Let me," he says, and waits until Max has got a certain hold of his baby before he reaches down and back to get the bag.

Max cradles Bastiaan to him, helping him latch on, and there's half a second of Bastiaan's desperate little wail before it cuts off and he goes quiet around Max's tit, sucking. Max lets out a ragged, desperate breath of his own, wincing a little because his chest feels raw. He cups Bastiaan's face in his hand, stroking his cheek.

"Is that better, little one? Were you hungry? That's right, little baby. You can stop crying now. It's all right."

"What do you need?" Daniel asks. He's holding the open bag.

"There's a blanket," Max says, and he watches as Daniel holds out the muslin with the little faded ducks on, passed over from one of Celine's old ladies. Max nods, holding his hand out. He tries to cover Bastiaan with it, cover himself, but when he looks back up, Daniel's looking at his face and not at Max's tits.

"You don't have to cover up," Daniel says, after a moment. He turns back around. Doesn't look in the rear view mirror. "Not like that if you don't want to. I won't look. Not if you don't want me to."

Max has had to do all of this alone. He's been alone for months and months. He'd been alone before that too, for almost every day since his accident in Austria. Just him and his angry, disappointed, let-down dad. The only time he'd not been alone had been Ibiza, and Martijn had been so busy working most of the time and hadn't spoken to him since, so other than getting pregnant with Bastiaan, that weekend barely counted either. He didn't even know why he'd been invited, given that Martijn literally pulled up outside his house one morning when his dad was out, said, get in loser, we're going to Ibiza, and had waited for Max to get his passport and pack his bag and they'd flown out on a private jet two hours later. Max's dad had been so furious that he'd booked Max an earlier commercial flight back and Max had had to slip out of the villa on the Monday morning, three hours after Martijn's set had finished, and fly back alone. Max hadn't had a chance to ask why Martijn hadn't bothered getting in contact after his accident, and they hadn't talked since, so.

He's used to being alone now. He's done so much of it alone he hadn't realised he'd brought his dad's shame along for the ride, that his dad's disgust at parents feeding their babies in public had seeped into Max's soul too.

"Okay," Max says, but he doesn't take the muslin off completely. It falls off one of his shoulders. He doesn't pull it back up. He can't put his dad's shame down so easily as all that.

Daniel doesn't look back. He keeps on looking forward, through the window. "What's that thing you're wearing? Under your t-shirt. It looks like it hurts to wear."

"Oh," Max says. He goes red. "I leak sometimes. Milk. I had the vest from training. It soaks up sweat. It works for milk too."

"Right," Daniel says. There's a pause. "Does it hurt to wear it?"

"It's okay," Max lies. "It doesn't matter. It is of course bad to leak through your shirt when you are trying to make a good impression at work. And the baby does not go hungry so it is fine."

There's another long pause. Max looks down at his baby. His lovely little baby. He is hungry and he is being fed. He has Max, and Max will be enough.

"You don't have to make a good impression on me," Daniel says finally. "You don't have to put it back on if it hurts."

"I will maybe leak," Max says doubtfully.

"It doesn't matter," Daniel says. He sounds like he's going to sneeze. His voice sounds funny. He doesn't look back at him so Max can't tell what Daniel's face is doing, and sometimes he doesn't understand that either. "You can leak as much as you like so long as it doesn't hurt you."

Max strokes Bastiaan's cheek. His baby is being very hungry.

"Okay," he says finally. "If it is okay with you."

"It's okay with me," Daniel says. He still sounds funny. He looks out the window and not back at them. "Take as long as you need. You're good."

You're good, Max thinks. It seeps beneath his skin. Maybe it will find its way under Bastiaan's too, so he'll know how good he is. How loved. Max's lovely little baby.

"You're good," he whispers, looking down at Bastiaan. He pulls up Bastiaan's falling-down sock, and cradles him close. You're good.

[onboardsorasora]

Follow up to this maybe

Daniel was looking through his pantry, he was feeling the baking itch again. It only ever happened when he felt a little anxious, maybe. And recently it had been more often than usual. So his freezer was fully stocked of baked goods, all the stuff he couldn't pawn off on his friends cause they already had too much.

His phone chirped and he saw he had a message from Max. Daniel smiled, cause Max was fun. Super cute and sexy.

Max: I just saw this part of your bio, you bake???

Daniel shrugged sheepishly in the quiet of his kitchen.

Daniel: yeah, sometimes too much. So my freezer is like full.

Max: Do you have carrot cake?

Daniel: I haven't made that in a while

Max: Make me carrot cake and I'll spend the night

Well, Daniel didn't need the incentive but now he needed make the best fucking carrot cake he'd ever made in his life.

_-_

And it was.

[qwerty019283ytrewq]

This is Max's first "Like" under Scotty's post that I've ever seen.

I don't want to spin conspiracy theories, but I think I know why.

[adimouze]

max when asked to do media with liam lawson:

max when asked to do media with daniel: