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“No way! I can’t believe that muppet. Must have been amazing.” Max’s genuine awe and fondness was evident in his voice as he walked along the paddock with Cisca, having taken her bag from her to carry while she regaled him with another gem from the ever giving box of joy that was Lando’s childhood stories.
“I could hardly ever keep up with him, keen little monkey. I swear my heart was in my throat as I watched. But was he scared? God no! He was always fearless, my little Lando.” Cisca adds as her animated laugh dwindles down to a nostalgic smile, with watery eyes as she shakes her head fondly at her little boy’s antics. He’s still the same, she thinks proudly, wild and brave and soft.
Max joins her with his own beaming smile at this chipper recollection of the tiny cheeky brat he had befriended on the race tracks, the same boy who had just parked his Mclaren at P3 today. He had always been amazing, special in a way Max couldn’t quite explain. Everyone else now saw it too. He was so lucky, wasn't he?
***
Lando, even surrounded by his mechanics as they talk over each other and pat him where they can reach in congratulations, can’t help but let his eyes drift to two of his favourite people, lost in conversation as they walked closer to where he was in front of the Mclaren garage.
Max walks a little awkwardly, with his body twisting towards Cisca in turns as she explains with animated gestures, a laugh shared between the two. Lando watches as Max carefully side steps a ferrari engineer rushing in their direction, gently steers Lando's mum to the left and creates a space for her to keep walking without slowing down. Cisca doesn’t miss a beat, hardly notices the slight interruption in her path as as she continues her story, Max still grinning at her with soft eyes. She isn’t paying attention to where she is going at all, Lando thinks, nothing new there. He knows where he gets it from.
But it's Max who’s baffling him. A little tense, back a little straighter, and body more mindful than usual, Lando observes. Lando knows Max, knows this look. He is nervous, though not uncomfortable. The affection between the two would be obvious even to an outsider and Lando has seen Max cry over his mum’s toffee pudding for years, hugging her in thanks as they dashed outside to play.
He hasn’t changed one bit, Lando thinks, as he watches Max get a little flustered when Cisca pats his cheek motherly, thanking him for unclipping the stray retractable barrier for her.
But Max might have known Cisca for years, this is still their first conversation since he and Lando got together a couple of months ago, Lando realises. That muppet!
Warmth spreads through Lando’s heart as he watches his idiot trying so hard, a giddiness in his stomach making him push through the swarm of people to meet them near the entry.
“It’s almost like you’re not even here for me!” Lando joins his mum with a dramatic complaint, his ear to ear grin betraying his petulant act.
“Well, Max has been my favourite since you broke my Judi Dench Mug at 13.” Cisca teases right back effortlessly even as she moves in to wrap Lando in her arms, pressing a kiss to his temple and letting him hold her as long as he wants, now that they aren’t surrounded by prying eyes and cameras.
Max waits patiently, the smile never dropping from his lips as Lando pulls back from Cisca to hug him quickly too, too shy for anything more with his mum right beside him. He doesn’t need to serve her more teasing material on a platter. She is relentless, Lando swears!
He leads them to a quieter corner, discussing the plans to go back to the hotel now that Lando is wrapped up with the team for today.
Max is oddly silent even as he sticks close to Lando, a stray hand on his back, though higher than where Lando would have liked. Max was always the more sensible of the two.
Still, Lando can’t help but nudge Max’s shoulder quickly, a silent question in his eyes. Max shrugs at him, limbs a little looser, eyes a little brighter now that Lando is within an arm’s reach and Lando gets it.
He’s happy. He's here and he’s Lando’s.
There is much to figure out, no doubt, there is Monaco, weeks without seeing each other, the hiding and the uncertainty of being young and ambitious with their entire lives ahead of them.
But they are both here, aren't they?
That’s enough for now. It's warm enough for now...