#i literally googled 'expensive whiskey' for this so shhh if i chose the wrong brand lol

[lilyrizzy]

omg please share more about paying for it!!! that is a god tier concept. max WOULD objectively love that… loves doing things for daniel, daniel makes him so happy just existing, he wants to be able to repay daniel in ways that count— make sure he’s taken care of, etc.

(thank you anon for sending me number 12! i wrote more for this wip on the notes app on my phone like a year ago lol & then lost it when i had to factory reset - rip. so this is all i actually have of this wip anymore, based on this concept - max and daniel doing a lil sex worker roleplay)

“Maxy,” Daniel says, looking up from his phone. Max can see it’s open on their text thread, like maybe he was about to message Max. “I was beginning to think you’d stood me up.”

Max takes in the sight of him perched on the bar stool. The corkscrew of his curls that fall into his eyes, overdue a cut just the way Max loves. His tanned skin, the lovely curve of his nose. The softness to his eyes as he looks at Max, even though right underneath them are dark circles from the months of uncertainty, of bad race results.

There will never be a universe in which Max wouldn’t reach out, he knows that for certain. No matter what Daniel thinks, or what he says, Max will always want him.

“I have been looking at you since you walked in,” Max blurts out, clumsy. “What is your name?”  

Daniel narrows his eyes and frowns at Max, before letting out a laugh that doesn’t sound quite right.

"I’m a bit worried if you don’t-" 

No. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go, isn’t how Max imagined it when he tried to think of ways to make Daniel feel good. Max is interrupting before he can finish.  

“You are very beautiful,” he tries again. “Do you have a girlfriend, or of course a boyfriend?”  

Irritation gives way to confusion on Daniel's features as his mouth snaps shut. Then-

Licking his lips, he looks around the bar, over the top of Max’s shoulder, then over his own. Eventually, his eyes settle again on Max, and there’s something a little better there. Playful.  

“Well,” he says, drawing out the word, his accent thicker like it used to get when he would try to impress girls in bars, and Max would look on feeling jealous of the wrong person. “I’m supposed to be meeting my boyfriend, but right now I’m all alone.”  

As if punctuating his words, he picks up his drink and drains the glass. Max wants to breathe a sigh of relief but he doesn't think that would be very in character for someone confident enough to pick Daniel up at a bar.

“That is a shame,” he says evenly instead, “If you were my boyfriend, I would never leave you alone in a bar.” He slides into the stool beside Daniel. “Can I buy you a drink?”  

Daniel throws his head back and laughs, but this time it’s nice. Like he’s surprised, but flattered, which is exactly how Max wants him to feel. It’s working.  

“Sure,” he says with a smirk that makes something in Max’s belly flare hot. 

They don’t speak again, not until after the waiter has set down their drinks-- a Gin and Tonic for Max and whatever top shelf whiskey they have for Daniel-- and it’s Daniel breaking the silence.  

“Macallan, huh?" As he swirls the glass lazily, "you must really be trying to impress me.”  

Max nods, and feeling braver he puts his hand on Daniel’s thigh. Nobody can see them, not underneath the bar top, and so Max is surprised to feel his heart hammering in his throat, even though he’s done this thousands of times before. Put his hands onto Daniel. It feels new suddenly, like the first time all over again. The delicious anticipation of an overtake for first, knowing there’s everything to win or to lose.   

“I told you,” he says making sure to keep their eye contact, “I think you are the most beautiful person and I want you.”  

It’s the truth now like it’s always been. 

Daniel’s’ eyes flick down to the hand Max has on him and then back to his face, which Max can feel is burning red. The upturn of Daniel’s mouth is sly and sexy, like when he backs Max against their kitchen counters and dips his hand into the back of his shorts.  

“You think that’s all it takes, mate? An expensive shot of whiskey and I’m yours?”

There's a challenge in his voice, and this is the easy part, because it's something Max has never known how to back down from when it came to Daniel and getting what he wanted.

“How much would it take?” He counters, eyebrows raised.

Daniel leans back on the stool, spreading his legs wide so that the fabric of his trousers pulls tight. “You couldn’t afford me.”  

Max’s mouth goes dry, and in his underwear his dick twitches. It’s an effort to make sure the next words come out sounding sure and not croaky, desperate.

“Actually, I am a very famous race car driver,” he manages, “so I think that I could. I would pay anything to have you.”