and all i can taste is this moment, and all i can breathe is your life
by firenati0n on ao3
T | 9999
tags: city of angels au, guardian angel henry, lawyer alex, 5+1, dual pov, hurt/comfort, angst with a HAPPY ENDING! NOT THE MOVIE ENDING I PROMISEEEEEEEEEEEEE
“In all the years, across all the universes, in the midst of all these people…you saw me. You felt me somehow. A gossamer fine thread connecting us, yet you grasped and tugged and held on tight. If losing my wings means I gain you, then that is a loss I will bear with gratitude.”
Five times Guardian Angel Henry yearns for a truly human sensory experience, and the one time he feels them all at once.
Or, Henry discovers the joys of humanity through Alex’s eyes, finds himself, and falls in love.
Or, Henry takes a leap of faith, and Alex catches him.
xoxo roop
also i know i talked about this in literally january so tagging some folks who expressed interest in this in the past pls don't mind me <3 ilysm xoxo
@ninzied @suseagull04 @onward--upward @duchessdepolignaca03 @@candyspandemonium @anincompletelist @inexplicablymine @heysweetheart-writes @wordsofhoneydew @nocoastposts @onthewaytosomewhere @magicandarchery @celeritas2997 @cha-melodius @junebugclaremontdiaz @kiwiana-writes @eusuntgratie @bigassbowlingballhead @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @littlestar2911 @leaves-of-laurelin @tinyarmedtrex @galitzine-nick @anchoredarchangel @gltzine @getmehighonmagic @thirdeye1234 @movetoheavens @starkfridays @indestructibleheart @littlemisskittentoes @songliili @theprinceandagcd @gay-flyboys
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for the 5 sentence fic game - malex (Max/Alex), forgiveness? if it's not too out of ur depth :3
ok this was such a good prompt that i bust past 5 sentences and just kept going. so…here we go:
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Forgiveness
a max/alex drabble, rated g
When Max meets Alex again, it’s a crisp autumn day — the kind where the leaves curl in on themselves, as if holding a secret. What secret, Max doesn’t know, but he has never really been in the habit of keeping many secrets.
The park is not where he expects to see Alex. But that’s the thing about parks. They’re a central nervous system for cities. City planners used to design with this in mind, before cars took over. Max remembers this fact from an encyclopaedia that he used to read, under blanket with a torchlight, when he still had the time to, during karting.
And now, Alex is in the park. Alex is older. Hair the same, if longer than it used to be in their F1 days. Face clean-shaven, but sharper in the cut of his jaw. Eyes, still creasing upwards when he sees a thing he likes.
As it turns out, Alex smiled a lot more when he left Red Bull. His smile practically a quantum force of its own when he finally won a GP.
And as it turns out, to his surprise, Max may be one of the things Alex also likes.
“Is that really you?” Alex exclaims, hands tucked in his pockets, wool scarf loose on his neck. Max feels somehow underdressed in his nondescript hoodie. Being a five time world champion, even over a decade later, meant people would stop you for photos.
“It’s me, mate.”
Alex makes a noise that seems like delight. They do the bro hug, and he animatedly explains that Lily is in Shanghai for a project involving augmented reality home golfing that is run through a mobile phone holoprojector. He rambles a little bit about weather — which for some reason the English still are obsessed with — and Alex asks whether Monaco has changed much (Max tells him it hasn’t).
“Are you heading up to Milton Keynes?” Alex says.
There is no loadedness behind the question. Max has only been back to Milton Keynes for Redline work since he retired.
One thing about Alex is that he was always carefully guarded when he needed to be. But Max never found him truly capable of ill intent.
“No,” Mad says. “I’m actually here because Pen has a thing about horses now. I have a break from touring stables and such.”
“Horses! Ah! There’s this great place down by Richmond, the owner’s an old classmate of mine. Let me pass it to you.”
Classic Alex. Always trying to help out, be nice, create a connection. So Max grabs his phone from his pocket, and lets Alex fuss around with it.
So the task is done, and there isn’t much to do now but move on. That is what Max has done well. Move on, in a way that he knows how, eking out a place for himself in Sim driver development and helping others learn the ropes. Much like Alex clearly has too, remaining as advisor to his last team.
Max finds himself reflecting on the younger men they were so long ago. Max was a lot more impulsive then. Quick to anger, a hunger inside him with so much to prove. But every person who did what they did always had the hunger. It just manifested in a lot of different ways.
And the interaction is nearing its end. But Max still can’t quite find a way to make his legs move. Around them, someone occasionally jogs past, and there are some ducks quacking happily at a nearby pond. It is peaceful.
Alex’s phone buzzes. He glances down at it, brows creasing in concern.
“Sorry, there’s some emergency at home involving my five year old and…” Alex squints at his phone. “A muffin tray of glitter. George is always far too lenient with his godson.”
Max smiles. “I heard about that. George, I mean. Not the glitter. I am not psychic.”
“That would explain your super-powered abilities, wouldn’t it?”
“Ha!” Max says, and he means it. “Anyway, I remember exactly how it is. That age.”
Alex smiles back knowingly.
The leaves rustle in the trees. The ducks are still quacking. The sun peeks out from behind a cloud, warming them both.
It is comfortable, in the way Alex always makes people feel, since the Williams years.
Max stops his leg from twitching.
“Listen, Alex. I never got a chance to say it before.”
“Say what?”
“That I…”
And Max finds himself pondering it. What does he mean? That he’s sorry? Sorry that a formula one team only truly ever has enough room for one person? That he should have asked how Alex was, like how he makes a point to do so now, with all his Redline youngsters? That he wishes he had called or texted him in the intervening years to see how he was, that he wishes they had stayed in touch? That he misses his old cars more than anything in the world, even if he’s happy with what he’s done and the way the puzzle pieces of his life have landed, and he always wonders if other drivers did too?
Max swallows a lump in his throat that he didn’t know was there. In the end, he says exactly what is on his mind.
“I’m really glad that you seem well.”
If that’s not the answer Alex was expecting, he doesn’t show it. He always seems borderline spiritual these days. As if he’s discovered a secret and invites you to understand it. A little bit like a monk, but one who definitely drives over the speed limit. (Max saw that video: a special karting one Alex did for family content, and he still carves a magnificent line.)
The monk in question smiles. It’s warm, like the sun. How lucky for those who grow close enough to Alex, to feel it.
And in that sage, still boyish way of his— surrounded by ducks, subjected to the inclement weather, in the artery of the place where worlds meet — Alex tells Max, back:
“I’m glad for us, too.”
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from prompt thing here except i will actually try to stick to 5 sentences for the next one(s)
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